Part 18

Practical joking was elevated to the status of a fine art at Brighton by the Prince and his merry men. A characteristic story of him is that told of a drive to Brighton races, when he was accompanied in his great yellow barouche by Townsend, the Bow Street runner, who was present to protect the Prince from insult or robbery at the hands of the multitude. "It was a position," says my authority, "which gave His Royal Highness an opportunity to practise upon his guardian a somewhat unpleasant joke. Turning suddenly to Townsend, just at the termination of a race, he exclaimed, 'By Jove, Townsend, I've been robbed; I had with me some damson tarts, but they are now gone.' 'Gone!' said Townsend, rising; 'impossible!' 'Yes,' rejoined the Prince, 'and you are the purloiner,' at the same time taking from the seat whereon the officer had been sitting the crushed crust of the asserted missing tarts, and adding, 'This is a sad blot upon your reputation as a vigilant officer.' 'Rather say, your Royal Highness, a sad stain upon my escutcheon,' added Townsend, raising the gilt-buttoned tails of his blue coat and exhibiting the fruit-stained seat of his nankeen inexpressibles."

XXXV

But it was not this practical-joking Prince who first discovered Brighton. It would never have attained its great vogue without him, but it would have been the health resort of a certain circle of fashion--an inferior Bath, in fact. To Dr. Richard Russell--the name sometimes spelt with one "l"--who visited the little village of Brighthelmstone in 1750, belongs the credit of discovering the place to an ailing fashionable world. He died in 1759, long ere the sun of royal splendour first rose upon the fishing-village; but even before the Prince of Wales first visited Brighthelmstone in 1782, it had attained a certain popularity, as the "Brighthelmstone Guide" of July, 1777, attests, in these halting verses:

This town or village of renown, Like London Bridge, half broken down, Few years ago was worse than Wapping, Not fit for a human soul to stop in; But now, like to a worn-out shoe, By patching well, the place will do. You'd wonder much, I'm sure, to see How it's becramm'd with quality.

And so on.

[Sidenote: GUIDES TO BRIGHTON]

Brighthelmstone, indeed, has had more Guides written upon it than even Bath has had, and very curious some of them are become in these days. They range from lively to severe, from grave to gay, from the serious screeds of Russell and Dr. Relhan, his successor, to the light and airy, and not too admirable puffs of to-day. But, however these guides may vary, they all agree in harking back to that shadowy Brighthelm who is supposed to have given his peculiar name to the ancient fisher-village here established time out of mind. In the days when "County Histories" were first let loose, in folio volumes, upon an unoffending land, historians, archæologists, and other interested parties seemed at a loss for the derivation of the place-name, and, rather than confess themselves ignorant of its meaning, they conspired together to invent a Saxon archbishop, who, dying in the odour of sanctity and the ninth century, bequeathed his appellation to what is now known, in a contracted form, as Brighton.

But the man is not known who has unassailable proofs to show of this Brighthelm's having so honoured the fisher-folk's hovels with his name.

Thackeray, greatly daring, considering that the Fourth George is the real patron--saint, we can hardly say; let us make it king--of the town, elected to deliver his lectures upon the "Four Georges" at Brighton, among other places, and to that end made, with monumental assurance, a personal application at the Town Hall for the hire of the banqueting-room in the Royal Pavilion.

But one of the Aldermen, who chanced to be present, suggested, with extra-aldermanic wit, that the Town Hall would be equally suitable, intimating at the same time that it was not considered as strictly etiquette to "abuse a man in his own house." The witty Alderman's suggestion, we are told, was acted upon, and the Town Hall engaged forthwith.

It argued considerable courage on the lecturer's part to declaim against George the Fourth anywhere in that town which His Majesty had, by his example, conjured up from almost nothingness. It does not seem that Thackeray was, after all, ill received at Brighton; whence thoughts arise as to the ingratitude and fleeting memories of them that were either in the first or second generation, advantaged by the royal preference for this bleak stretch of shore beneath the bare South Downs, open to every wind that blows. Surely gratitude is well described as a "lively sense of favours to come," and they, no doubt, considered that the statue they had erected in the Steyne gardens to him was a full discharge of all obligations. Nor is the history of that effigy altogether creditable. It was erected in 1828, as the result of a movement among Brighton tradesfolk in 1820, to honour the memory of one who had incidentally made the fortunes of so many among them; but although the subscription list remained open for eight years and a half, it did not provide the £3.000 agreed upon to be paid to Chantrey, the sculptor of it.

The bronze statue presides to-day over a cab-rank, and the sea-salt breezes have strongly oxidised the face to an arsenical green; insulting, because greenness was not a distinguishing trait in the character of George the Fourth.

[Sidenote: LAST OF THE REGENCY.]

The surrounding space is saturated with memories of the Regency; but the roysterers are all gone and the recollection of them is dim. Prince and King, the Barrymores--Hellgate, Newgate, and Cripplegate--brothers three; Mrs. Fitzherbert, "the only woman whom George the Fourth ever really loved," and whom he married; Sir John Lade, the reckless, the frolicsome, historic in so far that he was the first who publicly wore trousers: these, with others innumerable, are long since silent. No more are they heard who with unseemly revelry affronted the midnight moon, or upset the decrepit watchman in his box. Those days and nights are done, nor are they likely to be revived while the Brighton policemen remain so big and muscular.

With the death of George the Fourth the play was played out. William the Fourth occasionally patronised Brighton, but decorum then obtained, and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert not only disliked the memory of the last of the Georges, but could not find at the Pavilion the privacy they desired. The Queen therefore sold it to the then Commissioners of Brighton in 1850, for the sum of £53,000, and never afterwards visited the town.

XXXVI

The Pavilion and the adjoining Castle Square, where one of the old coach booking-offices still survives as a railway receiving-office, are to most people the ultimate expressions of antiquity at Brighton; but there remains one landmark of what was "Brighthelmstone" in the ancient parish church of St. Nicholas, standing upon the topmost eyrie of the town, and overlooking from its crowded and now disused graveyard more than a square mile of crowded roofs below. It is probably the place referred to by a vivacious Frenchman who, a hundred and twenty years ago, summed up "Brigtemstone" as "a miserable village, commanded by a cemetery and surrounded by barren mountains."

From here you can, with some trouble, catch just a glimpse of the Watery horizon through the grey haze that rises from countless chimney-pots, and never a breeze but blows laden with the scent of soot and smoke. Yet, for all the changed fortune that changeful Time has brought this hoary and grimy place, it has not been deprived of interesting mementoes. You may, with patience, discover the tombstone of Phoebe Hassall, a centenarian of pith and valour, who, in her youthful days, in male attire, joined the army of His Majesty King George the Second and warred with her regiment in many lands; and all around are the resting-places of many celebrities, who, denied a wider fame, have yet their place in local annals; but prominent, in place and in fame, is the tomb of that Captain Tettersell who (it must be owned, for a consideration) sailed away one October morn of 1651 across the Channel, carrying with him the hope of the clouded Royalists aboard his grimy craft.

His altar-tomb stands without the southern doorway of the church, and reads curiously to modern ears. That not one of all the many who have had occasion to print it has transcribed the quaintness of that epitaph aright seems a strange thing, but so it is:

P.M.S.

Captain NICHOLAS TETTERSELL, through whose Prudence ualour an Loyalty Charles the second King of England & after he had escaped the sword of his merciless rebells and his fforses received a fatall ouerthrowe at Worcester Sept{r} 3{d} 1651, was ffaithfully preserued & conueyed into ffrance. Departed this life the 26{th} day of Iuly 1674.

----> ----> ---->

Within this monument doth lye, Approued Ffaith, hono{r} and Loyalty. In this Cold Clay he hath now tane up his statio{n}, At once preserued y{e} Church, the Crowne and nation. When Charles y{e} Greate was nothing but a breat{h} This ualiant soule stept betweene him & death. Usurpers threats nor tyrant rebells frowne Could not afrright his duty to the Crowne; Which glorious act of his Church & state, Eight princes in one day did Gratulate Professing all to him in debt to bee As all the world are to his memory Since Earth Could not Reward his worth have give{n}, Hee now receiues it from the King of heauen.

The escape of Charles the Second, after many perilous adventures, belongs to the larger sphere of English history. Driven, after the disastrous result of Worcester Fight, to wander, a fugitive, through the land, he sought the coast from the extreme west of Dorsetshire, and only when he reached Sussex did he find it possible to embark and sail across the Channel to France. Hunted by relentless Roundheads, and sheltered on his way only by a few faithful adherents, who in their loyalty risked everything for him, he at length, with his small party, reached the village of Brighthelmstone and lodged at the inn then called the "George."

That evening, after much negotiation, Colonel Gunter, the King's companion, arranged with Nicholas Tettersell, master of a small trading craft, to convey the King across to Fécamp, to sail in the early hours of the following morning, October 14th. How they sailed, and the account of their wanderings, are fully set forth in the "narrative" of Colonel Gunter.

XXXVII

A new era for Brighton and the Brighton Road opened in November, 1896, with the coming of the motor-car. Already the old period of the coaching inns had waned, and that of gigantic and palatial hotels, much more luxurious than anything ever imagined by the builders of the Pavilion, had dawned; and then, as though to fitly emphasize the transition, the old Chain Pier made a dramatic end.

The Chain Pier just missed belonging to the Georgian era, for it was not begun until October, 1822, but, opened the following year, it had so long been a feature of Brighton--and so peculiar a feature--that it had come, with many, to typify the town, quite as much as the Pavilion itself. It was, moreover, additionally remarkable as being the first pleasure-pier built in England. It had long been failing and, condemned as dangerous, would soon have been demolished; but the storm of December 4th, 1896, spared that trouble. It was standing when day closed in, but when the next morning dawned, its place was vacant.

Since then, those who have long known Brighton have never visited it without a sense of loss; and the Palace Pier, opposite the Aquarium, does not fill the void. It is a vulgarity for one thing, and for another typifies the Hebraic week-end, when the sons and daughters of Judah descend upon the town. Moreover, it is absolutely uncharacteristic, and has its counterparts in many other places.

But Brighton itself is eternal. It suffers change, it grows continually; but while the sea remains and the air is clean and the sun shines, it, and the road to it, will be the most popular resorts in England.

INDEX.

Ainsworth, W. Harrison, 209-222

Albourne, 248

Ansty Cross, 93, 222

Aram, Eugene, 172

"Autopsy," Steam Carriage, 37, 63, 88

Banks, Sir Edward, 136

Banstead Downs, 159-161

Barrymore, The, 6, 192, 267

Belmont, 159

Benhilton, 156

Bicycles, 64-71, 74-79, 85-91

Bird, Lieutenant Edward, murderer, 169-172

Bolney, 200, 243, 246

"Boneshakers", 65

Brighton, 2, 12, 37, 255-272 Railway opened, 42 Road Records tabulated, 88-91 Routes to, 1-4

Brixton, 92, 97-100 Hill, 68, 93, 98, 105

Broad Green, 108, 129

Burgess Hill, 223

Burgh Heath, 159-161

Carriers, The, 11-14

Charles II., 270

Charlwood, 175

Chipstead, 135-138

Clayton, 93, 102, 231, 250 Hill, 25, 229, 231-232 Tunnel, 229-231

Coaches:-- Accommodation, 26 Age, 29, 30, 35 1852-1862, 42, 45, 47 1875-1880, 1882-3, 46 Alert, 33, 34 Coburg, 30 Comet, 33 1887-1899, 1900, 46, 49, 55 Coronet, 33 Criterion, 41, 64, 74, 88 Dart, 33 Defiance, 28, 46 1880, -- Duke of Beaufort, 31 "Flying Machine," coach, 18-22 Life-Preserver, 30 Magnet, 33 Mails, The, 23, 26, 28, 33, 34, 42 Old Times, 1866, 45 1888, 49-51 Quicksilver, 38 Red Rover, 41, 63, 88 Regent, 33 Sovereign, 33 Times, 33 Union, 33 Venture (A. G. Vanderbilt), 61 Victoria, 42 Vigilant, 1900-05, -- Wonder, 38

Coaching, 5, 11-14, 18-34, 37-49, 228

Coaching Notabilities:-- Angel, B. J., 45, 46 Armytage, Col., 45 Batchelor, Jas., 14 Beaufort, Duke of, 45, 46 Beckett, Capt. H. L., 46 Blyth, Capt., 46 Bradford, "Miller", 26 Clark, George, 45 Cotton, Sir St. Vincent, 29, 45 Fitzgerald, Mr., 45 Fownes, Edwin, 46 Freeman, Stewart, 46, 49 Gwynne, Sackville Frederick, 29 Harbour, Charles, 41, 64 Haworth, Capt., 45, 46 Jerningham, Hon. Fred., 29 Lawrie, Capt., 45 Londesborough, Earl of, 46 McCalmont, Hugh, 46 Meek, George, 46 Pole, E. S. Chandos, 45, 46 Pole-Gell, Mr., 46 Sandys, Hon. H., 49 Selby, Jas., 41, 49, 64, 73, 74, 75, 89 Stevenson, Henry, 29, 30 Stracey-Clitherow, Col., 46 Thynne, Lord H., 45 Tiffany, Mr., 46 Vanderbilt, Alfred Gwynne, 61 Wemyss, Randolph, 49 Wiltshire, Earl of, 46 Worcester, Marquis of, 29, 38

Coaching Records, 41, 64, 73, 74, 88, 89

Cold Blow, 159

Colliers' Water, 108

Colliers of Croydon, 108

Coulsdon, 131, 133

County Oak, 178

Covert, Family of, 238-244

Crawley, 93, 173, 182-195

Crawley Downs, 191-193

Croydon, 106-123

Cuckfield, 30, 202-209 Place, 209-222, 242

Cycling, 64-71, 74-79, 85-91

Cycling Notabilities:-- Edge, Selwyn Francis, 75, 76, 89 Holbein, M. A., 74 Mayall, John, Junior, 66-69, 70, 88 Shorland, F. W., 74, 89 Smith, C. A., 75, 76, 77, 89 Turner, Rowley B., 66, 67, 69

Cycling Records, 68-79, 85-91

Dale, 93, 248, 250

Dance, Sir Charles, 37, 39

Ditchling, 224

Driving Records, 63, 73, 194

Earlswood Common, 93, 146, 148

Fauntleroy, Henry, 196

Foxley Hatch, 93, 126

Frenches, 93, 145

Friar's Oak, 226

Gatton, 141-145, 164

Gatwick, 155

George IV., Prince Regent and King, 3, 6, 8-11, 24, 62, 88, 132, 191-194, 256-262, 266

Hancock, Walter, 34, 88

Hand Cross, 24, 93, 195, 198-201 Hill, 61

Hassall, Phoebe, 268

Hassocks, 226

Hayward's Heath, 205

Hickstead, 200, 245

"Hobby-horses", 65

Holmesdale, 172

Hooley, 136

Horley, 93, 149, 151-155, 173

Ifield, 175, 178-182, 188

"Infant," Steam Carriage, 37

Inns (mentioned at length):-- Black Swan, Pease Pottage, 195 Chequers, Horley, 152 Cock, Sutton, 159 Friar's Oak, 24, 226 George, Borough, 12-14 Crawley, 114, 187, 189 Golden Cross, Charing Cross, 20, 33 Green Cross, Ansty Cross, 222 Greyhound, Croydon, 114 Sutton, 159 Hatchett's (_see_ White Horse Cellar). Old King's Head, Croydon, 115 Old Ship, Brighton, 12 Red Lion, Hand Cross, 200 Six Bells, Horley, 153 Surrey Oaks, Parkgate, 179 Tabard, Borough (_see_ Talbot). Talbot, Borough, 12-14, 17 Talbot, Cuckfield, 206 Tangier, Banstead Downs, 160 White Horse Cellar, Piccadilly, 34

Jacob's Post, 224

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 102-105, 257

Kennersley, 173

Kennington, 92-96

Kimberham Bridge, 173

Kingswood, 162

Lade, Sir John, 267

Lemon, Mark, 190

Little Hell, 159

Lowfield Heath, 173-175, 182

Merstham, 93, 134, 138-141

Milestones, 126-130, 159, 163

Mitcham, 155

Mole, River, 149, 152, 173-175, 196

Motor-cars, 50, 53, 54, 57-61, 63

Motor-car Day, Nov. 14th, 1896, 53-60

Motor-omnibus, Accident to, 60

Newdigate, 176

Newtimber, 247, 248

Norbury, 195

Old-time Travellers:-- Burton, Dr. John, 16 Cobbett, William, 161, 165, 168, 178 George IV., Prince Regent and King (_see_ "George the Fourth.") Walpole, Horace, 16-18

Pangdean, 253

Patcham, 25, 93, 250, 251-255

Pavilion, The, 256-261, 268

Pease Pottage, 195, 197

Pedestrian Records, 64, 69, 72, 75, 79-91

Pilgrims' Way, The, 164

Povey Cross, 155, 173, 175

Preston, 93, 250, 255

Prize-fighting, 5, 191, 248-250

Pugilistic Notabilities:-- Cribb, Tom, 190 Fewterel, 132 Hickman, "The Gas-Light Man", 192 Jackson, "Gentleman", 132, 159 Martin, "Master of the Rolls", 5, 192 Randall, Jack, "the Nonpareil", 5, 192 Sayers, Tom, 248

Purley, 93, 121-125, 130, 176

Pyecombe, 200, 249, 250

Railway to Brighton opened, 42, 131

"Records", 61-91 (_See_ severally, Coaching, Cycling, Driving, Pedestrian, and Riding). Tabulated, 88-91

Redhill, 93, 145

Reigate, 27, 93, 164-172 Hill, 162-164

Riding Records, 62, 88

Roman Roads, 102

"Rookwood", 209-222

Routes to Brighton, 1-4

Rowlandson, Thomas, 157, 185, 187, 203, 263

Ruskin, John, 106, 115

Russell of Killowen, Baron, 161

Russell (_or_ Russel), Dr. Richard, 262

St. John's Common, 103, 223

St. Leonard's Forest, 196, 199

Salfords, 93, 149, 173

Sayers Common, 248

Sidlow Bridge, 173

Slaugham, 238-246 Place, 240-242

Slough Green, 93

Smitham Bottom, 68, 129, 131-133, 136

Southwark, 12-14

Staplefield Common, 200

Steam Carriages, 34, 37, 50, 63

Stoat's Nest, 132

Stock Exchange Walk, 80-82

Stonepound, 93, 227, 231

Streatham, 100, 103-105, 107

Surrey Iron Railway, The, 122, 136

Sussex Roads, 15, 178, 237, 242, 237, 242

Sutton, 93, 156-159, 161

Tadworth Court, 161

Tettersell, Captain, 268, 270

Thackeray, W. M., 9, 10, 266

Thornton Heath, 103, 105-108

Thrale Place, 103-105

Thrales, The, 103-105

Thunderfield Castle, 149-152

Tilgate Forest Row, 173, 196

Tooke, John Horne, 124

Turnpike Gates, 92, 126, 145, 195, 226-228, 253

Velocipedes, 65-69

Walking Records (_see_ Pedestrian Records).

Westminster Bridge, 1, 3, 14, 129

Whiteman's Green, 202

Whitgift, Archbishop, 109-114

Wilderness Bottom, 161

Withdean, 253, 255

Wivelsfield, 224

Woodhatch, 93

Wray Park, 93

FOOTNOTES:

[1] He was a baker; hence the nickname.

[2] Henry Barry, Earl of Barrymore, in the peerage of Ireland.

[3] _Hiatus_ in the Journals, arranged by the editor for benefit of the Young Person!

[4] Kirkpatrick Macmillan, in 1839-40, invented a dwarf, rear-driving machine of the "safety" type, and was fined at Glasgow for "furiously riding." He made and sold several, but they attained nothing more than local and temporary success.

[5]

"There's nothing brings you round Like the trumpet's martial sound."--W. S. GILBERT. "The Pirates of Penzance."

[6] In 1829 there were three additional gates: one at Crawley, another at Hand Cross, before you came to the "Red Lion," and one more at Slough Green. Meanwhile the Horley gate on this route had disappeared. At a later period another gate was added, at Merstham, just past the "Feathers." On the other routes there were, of course, yet more gates--e.g., those of Sutton, Reigate, Wray Park, Woodhatch, Dale, and many more.

Salfords gate was the last on the main Brighton Road. It remained until midnight, October 31st. 1881, when the Reigate Turnpike Trust expired, after an existence of 126 years. Not until then did this most famous highway become free and open throughout its whole distance.

[7] Preface to "Præterita," dated May 10th, 1885.

[8] The name derives from a farm so called, marked on a map of 1716 "Stotes Ness."

[9] "Sir Edward Banks, Knight, of Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, and Adelphi Terrace, Strand, Middlesex, whose remains are deposited in the family vault in this churchyard. Blessed by Divine Providence with an honest heart, a clear head, and an extraordinary degree of perseverance, he rose superior to all difficulties, and was the founder of his own fortune; and although of self-cultivated talent, he in early life became contractor for public works, and was actively and successfully engaged during forty years in the execution of some of the most useful, extensive, and splendid works of his time; amongst which may be mentioned the Waterloo, Southwark, London, and Staines Bridges over the Thames, the Naval Works at Sheerness Dockyard, and the new channels for the rivers Ouse, Nene, and Witham in Norfolk and Lincolnshire. He was eminently distinguished for the simplicity of his manners and the benevolence of his heart; respected for his inflexible integrity and his pure and unaffected piety; in all the relations of his life he was candid, diligent, and humane; just in purpose, firm in execution; his liberality and indulgence to his numerous coadjutors were alone equalled by his generosity and charity displayed in the disposal of his honourably-acquired wealth. He departed this life at Tilgate, Sussex ... on the 5th day of July, 1835, in the sixty-sixth year of his age."

[10] Matthew Buckle, Admiral of the Blue; born 1716, died 1784.

[11] He really drove the other way; from Carlton House to Brighton.

Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.

Letters printed in reverse are indicated by =X=.

Superscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}.

The original text contains a few letters with diacritical marks that are not represented in this text version.

The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these letters have been replaced with transliterations.