Jack in the green, who is often an
individual acquaintance, and
does not belong to the trade 3_s._ „
And the boys, who have no term
term applied to them, receive
from 1_s._ to 1_s._ 6_d._ „
The share accruing to the boys is often spent in purchasing some
article of clothing for them, but the money got by the other
individuals is mostly spent in drink.
The sweepers, however, not only go out on May-day, but likewise on
the 5th of November. On the last Guy-Fawkes day, I am informed, some
of them received not only pence from the public, but silver and gold.
“It was quite a harvest,” they say. One of this class, who got up a
gigantic Guy Fawkes and figure of the Pope on the 5th of November,
1850, cleared, I am informed, 10_l._ over and above all expenses.
For many years, also, the sweepers were in the habit of partaking of a
public dinner on the 1st of May, provided for every climbing-boy who
thought proper to attend, at the expense of the Hon. Mrs. Montagu. The
romantic origin of this custom, from all I could learn on the subject,
is this:--The lady referred to, at the time a widow, lost her son,
then a boy of tender years. Inquiries were set on foot, and all London
heard of the mysterious disappearance of the child, but no clue could
be found to trace him out. It was supposed that he was kidnapped, and
the search at length was given up in despair. A long time afterwards a
sweeper was employed to cleanse the chimneys of Mrs. Montagu’s house,
by Portman-square, and for this purpose, as was usual at the time,
sent a climbing-boy up the chimney, who from that moment was lost to
him. The child did not return the way he went up, but it is supposed
that in his descent he got into a wrong flue, and found himself, on
getting out of the chimney, in one of the bedrooms. Wearied with his
labour, it is said that he mechanically crept between the sheets, all
black and sooty as he was. In this state he was found fast asleep by
the housekeeper. The delicacy of his features and the soft tones of his
voice interested the woman. She acquainted the family with the strange
circumstance, and, when introduced to them with a clean face, his voice
and appearance reminded them of their lost child. It may have been that
the hardships he endured at so early an age had impaired his memory,
for he could give no account of himself; but it was evident, from his
manners and from the ease which he exhibited, that he was no stranger
to such places, and at length, it is said, the Hon. Mrs. Montagu
recognised in him her long-lost son. The identity, it was understood,
was proved beyond doubt. He was restored to his rank in society, and
in order the better to commemorate this singular restoration, and the
fact of his having been a climbing-boy, his mother annually provided
an entertainment on the 1st of May, at White Conduit House, for all
the climbing-boys of London who thought proper to partake of it. This
annual feast was kept up during the lifetime of the lady, and, as
might be expected, was numerously attended, for since there were no
question asked and no document required to prove any of the guests to
be climbing-boys, very many of the precocious urchins of the metropolis
used to blacken their faces for this special occasion. This annual
feast continued, as I have said, as long as the lady lived. Her son
continued it only for three or four years afterwards, and then, I am
told, left the country, and paid no further attention to the matter.
Of the story of the young Montagu, Charles Lamb has given the following
account:--
“In one of the state-beds at Arundel Castle, a few years since--under
a ducal canopy (that seat of the Howards is an object of curiosity to
visitors, chiefly for its beds, in which the late duke was especially
a connoisseur)--encircled with curtains of delicatest crimson, with
starry coronets interwoven--folded between a pair of sheets whiter
and softer than the lap where Venus lulled Ascanius--was discovered
by chance, after all methods of search had failed, at noon-day, fast
asleep, a lost chimney-sweeper. The little creature having somehow
confounded his passage among the intricacies of those lordly chimneys,
by some unknown aperture had alighted upon this magnificent chamber,
and, tired with his tedious explorations, was unable to resist the
delicious invitement to repose, which he there saw exhibited; so,
creeping between the sheets very quietly, he laid his black head on
the pillow and slept like a young Howard.”.... “A high instinct,”
adds Lamb, “was at work in the case, or I am greatly mistaken. Is it
probable that a poor child of that description, with whatever weariness
he might be visited, would have ventured under such a penalty as he
would be taught to expect, to uncover the sheets of a duke’s bed, and
deliberately to lay himself down between them, when the rug or the
carpet presented an obvious couch still far above his pretensions?--is
this probable, I would ask, if the great power of nature, which I
contend for, had not been manifested within him, prompting to the
adventure? Doubtless, this young nobleman (for such my mind misgives
me he must be) was allured by some memory not amounting to full
consciousness of his condition in infancy, when he was used to be lapt
by his mother or his nurse in just such sheets as he there found,
into which he was now but creeping back as into his proper incubation
(_incunabula_) and resting place. By no other theory than by his
sentiment of a pre-existent state (as I may call it) can I explain a
deed so venturous.”
There is a strong strain of romance throughout the stories of the lost
and found young Montagu. I conversed with some sweepers on the subject.
The majority had not so much as heard of the occurrence, but two who
had heard of it--both climbing-boys in their childhood--had heard
that the little fellow was found in his mother’s house. In a small
work, the “Chimney-Sweepers’ Friend,” got up in aid of the Society for
the Supersedence of Climbing Boys, by some benevolent Quaker ladies
and others (the Quakers having been among the warmest supporters of
the suppression of climbers), and “arranged” (the word “edited” not
being used) by J. Montgomery, the case of the little Montagu is not
mentioned, excepting in two or three vague poetical allusions.
The account given by Lamb (although pronounced apocryphal by some)
appears to be the more probable version; and to the minds of many is
shown to be conclusively authentic, as I understand that, when Arundel
Castle is shown to visitors, the bed in which the child was found is
pointed out; nor is it likely that in such a place the story of the
ducal bed and the little climbing-boy would be _invented_.
The following account was given by the wife of a respectable man (now
a middle-aged woman) and she had often heard it from her mother, who
passed a long life in the neighbourhood of Mrs. Montagu’s residence:--
“Lady M. had a son of tender years, who was supposed to have been
stolen for the sake of his clothes. Some time after, there was an
occasion when the sweeps were necessary at Montagu House. A servant
noticed one of the boys, being at first attracted by his superior
manner, and her curiosity being excited fancied a resemblance in him
to the lost child. She questioned his master respecting him, who
represented that he had found him crying and without a home, and
thereupon took him in, and brought him up to his trade. The boy was
questioned apart from his master, as to the treatment he received; his
answers were favourable; and the consequence was, a compensation was
given to the man, and the boy was retained. All doubt was removed as to
his identity.”
The annual feast at “White Condick,” so agreeable to the black
fraternity, was afterwards continued in another form, and was the
origin of a well-known society among the master sweepers, which
continued in existence till the abolition of the climbing-boys by Act
of Parliament. The masters and the better class of men paid a certain
sum yearly, for the purpose of binding the children of the contributors
to other trades. In order to increase the funds of this institution, as
the dinner to the boys at White Conduit House was an established thing,
the masters continued it, and the boys of every master who belonged to
the society went in a sort of state to the usual place of entertainment
every 1st of May, where they were regaled as formerly. Many persons
were in the habit of flocking on this day to White Conduit House to
witness the festivities of the sweepers on this occasion, and usually
contributed something towards the society. As soon, however, as the Act
passed, this also was discontinued, and it is now one of the legends
connected with the class.