the entrance to what was once the pauper Burial Ground where Captain
Hawdon—known as _Nemo_ in the pages of “Bleak House”—was interred, and
where Lady Dedlock was afterwards found dead at the gateway, she having
fled from her husband, Sir Leicester, in despair, dreading the _exposé_
threatened by Mr. Tulkinghorn. It is also associated with _Poor Jo_, the
crossing-sweeper.—See “Bleak House,” chapters 11 and 59.
“With houses looking on, on every side, save where a reeking little
tunnel of a court gives access to the iron gate—with every villainy
of life in action close on death, and every poisonous element of
death in action close on life—here, they lower our dear brother down
a foot or two: here, sow him in corruption, to be raised in
incorruption: an avenging ghost at many a sick bedside: a shameful
testimony to future ages, how civilisation and barbarism walked this
boastful island together.”
This intermural graveyard was attached to the Church of St.
Mary-le-Strand, and has been closed for many years. The enclosure was
converted into a recreation ground, and formally opened as such by Lady
George Hamilton, May 19, 1886, on behalf of the Metropolitan Public
Garden Association. But the entire locality is changed, the “avenging
ghost” has ceased to walk, and the “shameful testimony” has ended.
At a short distance in Drury Lane, towards the Strand, we turn (left) by
No. 106, into Clare Court, referred to in Forster’s Biography as
follows—(C.D. _loq._):—
“Once, I remember tucking my own bread (which I had brought from home
in the morning) under my arm, wrapped up in a piece of paper like a
book, and going into the best dining-room in Johnson’s _a la mode_
beef-house in Clare Court, Drury Lane, and magnificently ordering a
small plate of _a la mode_ beef to eat with it. What the waiter
thought of such a strange little apparition, coming in all alone, I
don’t know, but I can see him now, staring at me as I ate my dinner,
and bringing up the other waiter to look. I gave him a halfpenny,
and I wish now that he hadn’t taken it.”
This episode of the author’s experience as a poor boy in London was
reproduced in “David Copperfield,” chapter 11. The dining-house
mentioned then existed (1824) at No. 13 in the court, in a prominent
corner position. It has been unknown to fame for the last thirty years.
Returning by Drury Court to the Strand, and passing on the south side of
the church above mentioned, we turn by No. 162A into _Strand Lane_, where
may be visited, at No. 5, The Old Roman Bath referred to by David
Copperfield, who says, “In which I have had many a cold plunge.” (See
chapter 35.) The bath itself is lined with white marble, and dates from
the sixteenth century. It is supplied from an old Roman reservoir
adjoining, about 2000 years old.
[Picture: The Old Roman Bath]
Passing Surrey Street, just beyond, we come (next on the right) to
_Norfolk Street_, in which there may be noted the former whereabouts of
MRS. LIRRIPER’S LODGINGS; and we may here recall the pleasant
associations connected with the Christmas numbers of _All the Year
Round_, 1863 and 1864. The houses in this street are not enumerated
beyond forty-five, all told. The figures 81, as given in the tale
referred to, should be _reversed_; but sad to relate, No. 18—long
standing as an old-fashioned boarding-house on the western side, below
Howard Street—has disappeared, and certain modern buildings, offices,
etc., recently erected, now occupy the old site. At a short distance
farther on, in a central position in the Strand, stands the church of St.
Clement Danes. It is of interest in this connection as the scene of Mrs.
Lirriper’s wedding, some forty years previous to the narration of her
business experience; and where she still retained “a sitting in a very
pleasant pew, with genteel company, and her own hassock, being partial to
evening service, not too crowded.”
Retracing our steps, three minutes, to the Church of St. Mary-le-Strand,
again leaving the Strand by _Newcastle_ and _Houghton Streets_, and
turning left and right (leaving Clare Market on the left), we shortly
arrive at _Portsmouth Street_, _Lincoln’s Inn Fields_. At No. 14 will be
found (for a short time only) a small old-fashioned house, on the front
of which is painted an inscription, “The Old Curiosity Shop,
_Immortalised by Charles Dickens_,” now occupied by Mr. H. Poole, dealer
in wastepaper. This is said to be the house assigned by the novelist for
the residence of Little Nell and her grandfather, with whose pathetic
history we are all familiar—
“One of those receptacles for old and curious things, which seem to
crouch in odd corners of this town, and to hide their musty treasures
from the public eye in jealousy and distrust.”
It cannot, however, be regarded as absolutely certain that this
particular house was the author’s intended “local habitation” for one of
the best-known and loved of his creations. The tale itself concludes
with a reference to _Kit’s_ uncertainty as to the whereabouts of the
place:—
“The old house had long ago been pulled down, and a fine broad road
was in its place. At first he would draw with his stick a square
upon the ground to show them where it used to stand. But he soon
became uncertain of the spot, and could only say it was thereabouts,
he thought, and that these alterations were confusing.”
[A lady, personally acquainted with the great novelist, has informed the
author that she was once taken by Mr. Dickens to No. 10 Green Street
(approaching Leicester Square from the east)—at the corner of Green and
Castle Streets, behind the National Gallery—the business of
curiosity-dealing being then and there carried on. Mr. Dickens himself
localised this house as the home of little Nell, pointing out an inner
room—divided from the shop by a glass partition—as her bedroom. The
premises are now rebuilt.]
[Picture: The Old Curiosity Shop]
At a short distance from this locality, and at an opposite angle of the
street, there existed (until 1898) one of the old-fashioned taverns of
the metropolis. The house was noteworthy, with its overhanging front
resting on rough wooden pillars, and was named _Old George IVth_.
It is now replaced by a newly-built house of the same name, in modern
style of plate glass, mahogany, and glitter.
It is highly probable that the old tavern represented the location and
character of “The Magpie and Stump,” the rendezvous of _Mr. Lowten_
(Perker’s clerk) and other choice spirits in the days of Pickwick. It is
described in the Pickwickian history as being near Clare Market, at the
back of New Inn, and to this position the “Old George IVth” will
correspond. Joe Miller, of jocular celebrity, was, aforetime, a
frequenter of this establishment, when his quips “were wont to set the
table in a roar.” His seat was still shown in the bar of the old house.
Dickens and Thackeray were also well remembered as visitors to this
ancient hostelry. There is now a “Magpie and Stump” in Fetter Lane, at
some distance hence; but it is evident that Dickens transferred the name
to a tavern in this neighbourhood. It will be remembered that here Mr.
Pickwick enjoyed an hour’s entertainment, listening to the legends of
“those curious old nooks,” the Inns of London, as related by Jack
Bamber—see “Pickwick,” chapter 21—also containing a description of the
advertisements of the tavern, as then displayed therein.
“In the lower windows, which were decorated with curtains of a
saffron hue, dangled two or three printed cards, bearing reference to
Devonshire cyder and Dantzic spruce, while a large black board,
announcing in white letters to an enlightened public, that there were
500,000 barrels of double stout in the cellars of the establishment,
left the mind in a state of not unpleasing doubt and uncertainty as
to the precise direction in the bowels of the earth, in which this
mighty cavern might be supposed to extend.”
_Dick Swiveller_ would doubtless occasionally patronise this
establishment. He lodged hereabouts “in the neighbourhood of Drury
Lane;” but it is difficult to indicate any particular house which Dickens
may have selected for his accommodation.
Stretching eastward from this point is _Portugal Street_, famed in the
same book as containing the Old Public House patronised by Mr. Tony
Weller and his _confrères_ of the coach-driving persuasion. This
house—opposite the Insolvent Debtors’ Court—existed until a few years
since, by name, “The Horse and Groom.” It and many more besides, have
now given place to a range of new offices and buildings in Elizabethan
style, on the south side of the street (forming the north boundary of New
Court), and the Insolvent Court has been recently appropriated to the
uses of the Bankruptcy Court. It will be remembered that it was here
_Mr. Samuel Weller_ got into difficulties, and was hence consigned to the
Fleet Prison at the instance of his father; the professional services of
the suave _Mr. Solomon Pell_ being retained on that occasion. Here also
a select committee of friends assembled to assist at an oyster lunch and
the proving of Mrs. Weller’s will, when Mr. Pell again conducted the
business to the satisfaction of all concerned.—See “Pickwick,” chapters
43 and 55.
Returning through Portsmouth Street, we come into _Lincoln’s Inn Fields_;
and, keeping on its western side—passing Sardinia Street, with its old
archway, on the left—we may note Mr. John Forster’s House, No. 58. At
this house resided the friend and biographer of Dickens, and here our
author was, of course, a frequent visitor. On December the 2nd, 1844,
Charles Dickens here first read his new Christmas book, “The Chimes,” to
a select and critical audience, including Messrs. Forster, Maclise,
Douglas Jerrold, Carlyle, Laman Blanchard, Fox, Stanfield, Harness, and
Dyce. The house is itself described in the pages of “Bleak House”
(chapter 10) as the
RESIDENCE OF MR. TULKINGHORN.
“In a large house, formerly a house of state, lives Mr. Tulkinghorn.
It is let off in sets of chambers now; and in those shrunken
fragments of its greatness, lawyers lie, like maggots in nuts. But
its roomy staircases, passages, and antechambers still remain; and
even its painted ceiling, where Allegory in Roman helmet and
celestial linen sprawls among balustrades and pillars, flowers,
clouds, and big-legged boys, and makes the head ache, as would seem
to be Allegory’s object always, more or less.”
As in the time spoken of, the house is still in legal possession, being
let out as solicitors’ offices; but the old Allegory has disappeared
beneath modern whitewash. Within two minutes’ distance northward, the
weary rambler may reach the central thoroughfare of HOLBORN, where
(turning to the left), close at hand, will be found the _Holborn
Restaurant_, at which Sam Weller’s advice on the subject of a “little
dinner” (or luncheon) may be worth practical consideration:—
“Pair of fowls and a weal cutlet; French beans, ’taturs, tart, and
tidiness.”
Certain it is that everything at this establishment will be found “werry
clean and comfortable,” on reasonable terms.
RAMBLE II
_Lincoln’s Inn to the Mansion House_
Lincoln’s Inn Hall; “Jarndyce and Jarndyce”—Old Square; Offices of Kenge
and Carboy; Chambers of Sergeant Snubbin—Bishop’s Court; Miss Flite’s
Lodging at Krook’s Rag and Bottle Warehouse; Nemo; Tony Weevle—The Old
Ship Tavern; “The Sol’s Arms”—Coavinses’ Castle—Mr. Snagsby’s Residence,
Took’s Court, Cursitor Street—Bell Yard; Lodgings of Neckett and
Gridley—Tellson’s Bank, Fleet Street—The Temple; Fountain Court (Ruth
Pinch and John Westlock); Garden Court (Pip’s Chambers); Pump Court
(Chambers of the elder Martin Chuzzlewit); Paper Buildings (Sir John
Chester and Mr. Stryver, K.C.)—Offices of Messrs. Lightwood and
Wrayburn—Bradley Headstone’s Look-out—Clifford’s Inn; John Rokesmith and
Mr. Boffin—St. Dunstan’s Pump and Maypole Hugh—St. Dunstan’s Church; “The
Chimes”—Bradbury and Evans, Bouverie Street—Office of the _Daily
News_—Hanging Sword Alley; Mr. Cruncher’s Rooms,–“Ye old Cheshire
Cheese”—Farringdon, formerly Fleet, Market—Fleet Prison; Mr. Pickwick and
Sam Weller’s Imprisonment—Belle Sauvage Yard—London Coffee House; Arthur
Clennam’s arrival—St. Paul’s Churchyard—Dean’s Court—Doctors’ Commons;
Messrs. Spenlow and Jorkins—“Bell Tavern”—Wood Street; Coach Office at
which Pip first arrived—The London Stereoscopic Company; “Grip,” the
Raven—Bow Church—The Guildhall; Bardell _v._ Pickwick—Grocers’ Hall
Court—The Mansion House; References in “Barnaby Rudge,” “Christmas
Carol,” and “Martin Chuzzlewit”—“Dombey and Son.”
The Rambler now crosses Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and, on its eastern side,
enters the precincts of _Lincoln’s Inn_, through an arched gateway, from
Serle Street. Passing the imposing building of the Dining-Hall and
Library on the left, with New Square on the right, we shortly arrive at
old Lincoln’s Inn Hall, THE LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR’S COURT, with its
central turret and lantern, bearing the initials of the reigning
Treasurer, 1818, where Chancery suits were tried thirty years since.
Here that _cause célèbre_, JARNDYCE and JARNDYCE, dragged “its slow
length along” through the weary years, involving
“Bills, cross-bills, answers, rejoinders, injunctions, affidavits,
issues, references to masters, masters’ reports—mountains of costly
nonsense.”
Here, on a seat at the side of the hall, stood little _Miss Flite_, in
her squeezed bonnet, carrying “her documents,” and
“Always expecting some incomprehensible judgment in her favour.”—See
“Bleak House,” chapter 1.
The business of Chancery procedure is now transferred to the New Law
Courts. Hard by, on the north, passing through the cloisters of the
Chapel of Lincoln’s Inn, we come into the enclosure of Old Square,
LINCOLN’S INN, where the _Offices of Messrs. Kenge and Carboy_ were
situated. Esther Summerson says:—
“We passed into sudden quietude, under an old gateway, and drove on
through a silent square, until we came to an odd nook in a corner,
where there was an entrance up a steep broad flight of stairs, like
an entrance to a church.”
The houses in this square have been all rebuilt; but Kenge and Co.’s
offices used to flourish in the north-west corner, where still the rising
of the ground necessitates an exterior flight of steps. The chambers of
_Sergeant Snubbin_, counsel for the defence in “Bardell _v._ Pickwick,”
were also located in this square, probably on the opposite side.
Returning to Lincoln’s Inn, we may follow Esther Summerson’s directions,
and visit the apartments of _Miss Flite_—
“Slipping us out of a little side gate, the old lady stopped most
unexpectedly in a narrow back street, part of some courts and lanes
immediately outside the wall of the inn, and said, ‘This is my
lodging. Pray walk up!’”
Thus, passing at the back of the Inn, and taking the next turning on the
left, we arrive at Bishop’s Court, near at hand, a narrow, dark, and old
passage leading to Chancery Lane. On the left hand, nearest the Inn, was
_Krook’s Rag and Bottle Warehouse_, probably No. 3. But during recent
years, all the old houses of the court have been substituted by modern
buildings, offices, and shops; so that the location only remains of the
“Lord Chancellor,” and his place of business, yclept by the neighbours
the “Court of Chancery.” The old shop, at one time, possessed the
private door and stairway leading to _Miss Flite’s lodging_.
“She lived at the top of the house, in a pretty large room, from
which she had a glimpse of the roof of Lincoln’s Inn Hall.”
Here, too, Captain Hawdon, otherwise _Nemo_, the law-writer, lived and
died in a bare room on the second floor. A notice may have been observed
in the old shop window, “Engrossing and Copying.” It will be remembered
that this room was afterwards occupied by _Mr. Tony Weevle_, during whose
tenancy it was decorated with a choice collection of magnificent
portraits, being—
“Copper-plate impressions from that truly national work, the
Divinities of Albion, or Galaxy Gallery of British Beauty;
representing ladies of title and fashion, in every variety of smirk,
that art, combined with capital, is capable of producing.”
Returning to the top of the court, and passing a short distance along
Star Yard, we reach, at the corner of _Chichester Rents_, a modern
warehouse (No. 7), recently erected on the site of “The Old Ship Tavern,”
now _non est_, named in the pages of “Bleak House” _The Sol’s Arms_, it
being the house at which _the Inquest was held_, following the death of
_Nemo_, as described in chapter 11; on which occasion the proffered
evidence of Poor Jo was virtuously rejected by the presiding coroner.
“Can’t exactly say; won’t do, you know. We can’t take that in a
Court of Justice, gentlemen. It’s terrible depravity. Put the boy
aside.”
The old tavern has given place to the exigencies of modern commerce
(1897). The ghost of _Little Swills_ may still linger in the
neighbourhood, but the musical evenings of the past are silent, being now
superseded by the prosaics of ordinary business.
The real SOL’S ARMS still exists, _No._ 65 _Hampstead Road_, _N.W._, at
the corner of Charles Street, once known as Sol’s Row. Its name was
derived from the “Sol’s Society,” whose meetings, held therein, were of a
Masonic character. It has been suggested that Dickens transferred the
style and name of this house to the neighbourhood of Chancery Lane, as
above.
Coming now into Chancery Lane, we may observe, nearly opposite the old
gateway of Lincoln’s Inn, Cursitor Street, a thoroughfare leading
eastward from the Lane. It will be noticed that the houses in this
street are comparatively of recent erection, and we may now look in vain
for COAVINSES’ CASTLE, which has been swept away by the besom of modern
destruction and improvement. This old sponging-house flourished (in the
days of Harold Skimpole) on the left of the street, on the site now
occupied by _Lincoln’s Inn Chambers_, No. 1.
At a short distance in Cursitor Street (No. 9) we come to a turning on
the left to _Took’s Court_, referred to in “Bleak House” as _Cook’s
Court_, in which was Mr. Snagsby’s Residence AND LAW STATIONER’S SHOP.
The court is not a long one, and consists mainly of offices connected
with the legal profession. The location of Mr. Snagsby’s shop was at the
central corner on the left, the site being now occupied by modern offices
and stores. “The little drawing-room upstairs” is described as
commanding
“A view of Cook’s Court at one end (not to mention a squint into
Cursitor Street) and of Coavins’s, the Sheriff’s Officer’s, backyard
on the other.”
The memorable, but now non-existent room, as prepared for the reception
of the _Rev. Mr. Chadband_ (Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Mrs. Snagsby), who
was “endowed with the gift of holding forth for four hours at a stretch.”
On that occasion, it will be remembered that Poor Jo—brought to Cook’s
Court by a police constable—was eloquently addressed by the reverend
gentleman, but was not greatly edified by his admonitions.
“At this threatening stage of the discourse, Jo, who seems to have
been gradually going out of his mind, smears his right arm over his
face, and gives a terrible yawn. Mrs. Snagsby indignantly expresses
her belief that he is a limb of the arch-fiend.”
Returning by Chancery Lane, on the left hand, we may note _Bream’s
Buildings_, as being the northern boundary of the former site of Symond’s
Inn, which hence extended onward to No. 22.
“A little, pale, wall-eyed, woebegone inn, like a large dust-bin of
two compartments and a sifter. It looks as if Symond were a sparing
man in his day, and constructed his inn of old building materials,
which took kindly to the dry rot, and to dirt, and all things
decaying and dismal, and perpetuated Symond’s memory with congenial
shabbiness.”
This inn has ceased to exist for many years past, its position being now
occupied by a large printer’s establishment and other offices. Readers
of “Bleak House” will remember that the professional chambers of _Mr.
Vholes_ were here situated, and that _Richard Carstone_ and his young
wife _Ada_ resided in the next house, in order that Richard might have
his legal adviser close at hand. Here occurred the early death of poor
Richard; and we all cherish the remembrance of dear Ada’s wifely
devotion, to which _Esther Summerson_ thus refers:—
“The days when I frequented that miserable corner which my dear girl
brightened can never fade in my remembrance. I never see it, and I
never wish to see it now; I have been there only once since; but in
my memory there is a mournful glory shining on the place, which will
shine for ever.”
Leaving Chancery Lane, and turning (right) by Carey Street, we reach Bell
Yard, leading to Fleet Street. This place has been mentioned by Dickens
as containing a “chandler’s shop, left-hand side,” where lodged
_Gridley_, “the man from Shropshire,” and _Neckett_, the faithful
servitor of Coavinses. The name—Bell Yard—forms the heading of chapter
15, “Bleak House,” which affords information of the Neckett
family—_Charlie_, _Tom_, and the limp-bonneted _baby_. For full details,
reference should be made to this very touching and beautifully-written
chapter as above. Great alterations have been made, and are still being
made, in this narrow lane, since the erection of the New Law Courts in
the immediate vicinity; but some of the older houses still remain on the
left-hand side of the way. Of these, No. 9 is a small, tall,
squeezed-looking house, about half-way down the alley, and may be safely
assigned (thirty years since) to the tenancy of the good-natured Mrs.
Blinder.
Passing through Bell Yard, we reach _Fleet Street_, at the point where
once TEMPLE BAR gave ancient entrance to the City. Its position is
marked by a bronze griffin, surmounting a memorial pedestal beneath.
Exactly on the opposite side of the street is the handsome modern
erection of _Child’s Bank_. This new building dates from 1878, when the
structure of old _Temple Bar_ was removed. It replaces one of the very
old-fashioned houses of London, in which for many years Messrs. Child
carried on their important banking business. This house is spoken of by
Dickens, in his “Tale of Two Cities,” as Tellson’s Bank, on the outside
of which the mysterious _Mr. Cruncher_ was usually in attendance as
“odd-job man, and occasional porter and messenger.”
“Tellson’s Bank, by Temple Bar, was an old-fashioned place even in
the year 1780. It was very small, very dark, very ugly, very
incommodious. Any one of the partners would have disinherited his
son on the question of rebuilding Tellson’s. Thus it had come to
pass that Tellson’s was the triumphant perfection of inconvenience.
After bursting open a door of idiotic obstinacy with a weak rattle in
its throat, you fell into Tellson’s, down two steps, and came to your
senses in a miserable little shop, with two little counters; where
the oldest of men made your cheque shake as if the wind rustled it,
while they examined the signature by the dingiest of windows, which
were always under a shower-bath of mud from Fleet Street, and which
were made the dingier by their own iron bars proper and the shadow of
Temple Bar.”
[Picture: Fountain Court, Temple]
Passing Newton’s (optician) we arrive at the outer Gate of the Temple, by
which we enter _Middle Temple Lane_, following which a short distance and
turning to the right, by _Middle Temple Hall_, we reach Fountain Court.
The fountain standing here, conspicuously in a central position, is
associated with the history of _Ruth Pinch_. Here it was that Tom and
his sister made appointments for meeting—
“Because, of course, when she had to wait a minute or two, it would
have been very awkward for her to have had to wait in any but a quiet
spot; and that was as quiet a spot, everything considered, as they
could choose.”
On further reference to the pages of “Martin Chuzzlewit,” we may recall
the auspicious occasion when Ruth was under the special escort of _John
Westlock_—