A new Race of Showmen--Yeates, the Conjuror--The Turkish
Rope-Walker--Pan and the Oronutu Savage--The Corsican Fairy--Perry's
Menagerie--The Riobiscay and the Double Cow--A Mermaid at the
Fairs--Garrick at Bartholomew Fair--Yates's Theatrical Booth--Dwarfs
and Giants--The Female Samson--Riots at Bartholomew Fair--Ballard's
Animal Comedians--Evans, the Wire-Walker--Southwark Fair--Wax-work
Show--Shuter, the Comedian--Bisset, the Animal Trainer--Powell, the
Fire-Eater--Roger Smith, the Bell-Player--Suppression of Southwark
Fair.
The limitation of Bartholomew Fair to three days, and the interdiction of
theatrical booths in two successive years, was a serious blow, regarding
the matter from the professional point of view, to the interests of the
fair. Though actors worked hard during the twelve or eighteen days of the
fair, they earned higher salaries during that time than they would have
received at the theatres, and looked forward to Bartholomew-tide as the
labourer to harvest. Though the theatres remained open during the fair
when theatrical booths and puppet-shows were interdicted by the Court of
Aldermen, actors missed their extra earnings, and managers found their
receipts considerably diminished. In these we have only a passing
interest; but the glory of the fairs began to wane when the great actors
ceased to appear on the boards of the canvas theatres, for the nobility
and gentry withdrew their patronage when the luminaries of Drury Lane and
Covent Garden were no longer to be seen, and fairs began to be voted low
by persons of rank and fashion.
The removal of the interdict on theatrical booths had little or no effect
in arresting the progress of the decadence which had commenced; for the
three days to which Bartholomew Fair remained limited did not afford to
actors engaged at the London theatres, opportunities for earning money
sufficient to induce them to set up a portable theatre, which, except for
Southwark Fair, they could not use again until the following year. The
case was very different when the fair lasted two or three weeks, and the
theatres were closed during the time; but when its duration was contracted
to three days, the attendance of a theatrical company could be made
remunerative only for inferior _artistes_ who strolled all through the
year from one fair to another.
Towards the middle of the last century, therefore, a new race of showmen
came prominently before the visitors to the London fairs, and two or three
only of the names familiar to fair audiences afterwards re-appeared in the
bills of the temporary theatres. Even these had, with the exception of
Mrs. Lee, come into notice only since the fair, by being limited to three
days, had lost its attractiveness for actors of the theatres royal. The
site made famous by Fielding was occupied in 1746 by a new manager,
Hussey, who presented a drama of Shakspeare's (without announcing the
title), sandwich-like, between the two parts of a vocal and instrumental
concert, concluding the entertainment with a pantomime called _The Schemes
of Harlequin_, in which Rayner was Harlequin, and his daughter, who did a
tight-rope performance, probably Columbine. Rayner was an acrobat at
Sadler's Wells, where his daughter danced on the tight rope. The pantomime
concluded with a chorus in praise of the Duke of Cumberland, whose victory
at Culloden in the preceding year had finally crushed the hopes of the
disaffected Jacobites.
The younger Yeates joined Mrs. Lee in a theatrical booth facing the
hospital gate, where they presented _Love in a Labyrinth_, a musical
entertainment called _Harlequin Invader_, and "stiff and slack
rope-dancing by the famous Dutch woman." This can scarcely be the woman
who did such wonders on the rope about the time of the Revolution, though
Madame Saqui performed on the rope at a very advanced age; she may have
been the same, for she does not appear again, but, considering that she is
spoken of as a woman at the time of her first appearance in England, it is
more probable that the rope-dancer of Mrs. Lee's booth was another Dutch
woman, perhaps a daughter of the elder and more famous performer.
Adjoining Mrs. Lee's booth was one of which Warner and Fawkes were the
proprietors, and in which a drama called _The Happy Hero_ was performed,
followed by a musical entertainment called _Harlequin Incendiary_, in
which the parts of Harlequin and Columbine were sustained by a couple
named Cushing, who afterwards appeared at Covent Garden. Warner personated
Clodpole, a humorous rustic. Not to be outdone in loyalty by Hussey, he
concluded the performance by singing a song in praise of the victor of
Culloden.
Entertainers are, as a class, loyal, under whatever dynasty or form of
government they live, providing that it does not interfere with the
exercise of their profession; and in this instance their sympathies
accorded with the popular political creed.
In the following year, Hussey's booth again stood in George Yard, and
presented _Tamerlane the Great_, with singing and "several curious
equilibres on the slack rope by Mahomet Achmed Vizaro Mussulmo, a Turk
just arrived from Constantinople, who not only balances without a pole,
but also plays a variety of excellent airs on the violin when on the slack
rope, which none can perform in England but himself." Though said to have
just arrived from Constantinople, this Turk was probably the same that had
performed at Bartholomew Fair three years previously.
Warner disconnected himself from Fawkes this year, and joined Yeates and
Mrs. Lee, whose booth stood in the same position as before, presenting the
_Siege of Troy_, and an entertainment of singing and dancing. Adjoining it
stood a new show, owned by Godwin and Reynolds, with "a curious collection
of wax-work figures, being the richest and most beautiful in England;" and
a panoramic view of the world, "particularly an accurate and beautiful
prospect of Bergen-op-Zoom, together with its fortifications and adjacent
forts, and an exact representation of the French besieging it, and the
Dutch defending it from their batteries, etc." The movements of this
exhibition were effected by clock-work. Opposite the Greyhound was another
new venture, Chettle's, in which a pantomimic entertainment called
_Frolicsome Lasses_ was presented, with singing and dancing between the
acts, and a display of fireworks at the end.
The only theatrical booth at Southwark Fair this year seems to have been
Mrs. Lee's, in which the entertainments were the same as at Bartholomew
Fair. In Mermaid Lane was exhibited "the strange and wonderful monstrous
production of Nature, a sea-elephant head, having forty-six teeth, some of
them ten inches long, fluted, and turning up like a ram's horn."
The shows increased in number and variety, though the theatrical booths
could no longer boast of the great names of former years. George Yard was
occupied in 1748 by a new theatre, owned by Bridges, Cross, Barton, and
Vaughan, from the theatres royal, who availed of the interest created by
recent events to present a new historical drama called _The Northern
Heroes_, followed by dancing and a farce called _The Volunteers_, founded
on the 'Adventures of Roderick Random.' Smollett was now running Fielding
hard in the race of fame, and the new managers were keen in turning his
popularity to account for their own interests. This booth was the most
important one in the fair, and the charge for admission ranged from
sixpence to half-a-crown.
Hussey's booth, at which the prices ranged from sixpence to two shillings,
stood opposite the gate of the hospital. The entertainments consisted of
the comedy of _The Constant Quaker_, singing and dancing, including "a new
dance called Punch's Maggot, or Foote's Vagaries," and a pantomime called
_Harlequin's Frolics_.
In Lee and Yeates's booth, opposite the Greyhound, _The Unnatural Parents_
was revived, "shewing the manner of her (the heroine) being forced to
wander from home by the cruelty of her parents, and beg her bread; and
being weary, fell into a slumber, in a grove, where a goddess appears to
her, and directs her to a nobleman's house; how she was there taken in as
a servant, and at length, for her beauty and modest behaviour, married to
a gentleman of great fortune, with her return to her parents, and their
happy reconciliation. Also the comical humours and adventures of Trusty,
her father's man, and the three witches." Then follow the _dramatis
personæ_, which show a strong company. "With the original dance performed
by three wild cats of the wood. With dancing between the acts by Mr.
Adams and Mrs. Ogden. A good band of music is provided, consisting of
kettle-drums, trumpets, French horns, hautboys, violins, etc. To begin
each day at twelve o'clock. The scenes and clothes are entirely new, and
the droll the same that was performed by Mrs. Lee fifteen years ago, with
great applause."
Near Cow Lane stood another new theatrical booth, that of Cousins and
Reynolds, at which the charges for admission ranged from threepence to a
shilling. Here the romantic drama of _The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green_
was presented, with dancing between the acts, an exhibition of life-size
wax figures, representing the Court of Maria Theresa, and the performance
of the Italian sword-dancers, "who have had the honour of performing
before the Prince of Wales, with great applause."
Among the minor shows was one at "the first house on the pavement, from
the end of Hosier Lane," where the sights to be seen were a camel, a
hyæna, a panther, "the wonderful and surprising satyr, call'd by Latin
authors, Pan," and a "young Oronutu savage." On the pavement, at the end
of Cow Lane, was a smaller show, the charge for admission to which was
threepence, consisting of a large hog, said to weigh a hundred and twenty
stones, and announced as "the greatest prodigy in Nature;" and an
"amazing little dwarf, being the smallest man in the world."
Bartholomew Fair was visited this year for the first time by the female
dwarf who obtained such wide-spread celebrity as the Corsican Fairy. It
will be seen from the following copy of the bill issued by her exhibitors
that she was not shown in a booth, but in a room hired for the purpose:--
"To the Nobility and Gentry, and to all who are Admirers of the
Extraordinary Productions of Nature.
"There is to be seen in a commodious Apartment, at the Corner of Cow
Lane, facing the Sheep-Pens, West Smithfield, During the short time of
Bartholomew Fair,
MARIA TERESIA,
the Amazing CORSICAN FAIRY, who has had the Honour of being shown
three Times before their Majesties.
"[Pointing Hand] She was exhibited in Cockspur Street, Haymarket, at
two shillings and sixpence each Person; but that Persons of every
Degree may have a Sight of so extraordinary a Curiosity, she will be
shown to the Gentry at sixpence each, and to Working People, Servants,
and Children at Threepence, during this Fair.
"This most astonishing Part of the Human Species was born in the
Island of Corsica, on the Mountain of Stata Ota, in the year 1743. She
is only thirty-four Inches high, weighs but twenty-six Pounds, and a
Child of two Years of Age has larger Hands and Feet. Her surprising
Littleness makes a strong Impression at first Sight on the Spectator's
Mind. Nothing disagreeable, either in Person or Conversation, is to be
found in her; although most of Nature's Productions, in Miniature, are
generally so in both. Her Form affords a pleasing Surprise, her Limbs
are exceedingly well proportioned, her admirable Symmetry engages the
attention; and, upon the whole, is acknowledged a perfect Beauty. She
is possessed of a great deal of Vivacity of Spirit; can speak Italian
and French, and gives the inquisitive Mind an agreeable Entertainment.
In short, she is the most extraordinary Curiosity ever known, or ever
heard of in History; and the Curious, in all countries where she has
been shown, pronounce her the finest Display of Human Nature, in
Miniature, they ever saw.
"[Asterism] She is to be seen by any Number of Persons, from Ten in
the Morning till Nine at Night."
Hussey's theatrical booth attended Southwark Fair, where it stood on the
bowling-green, the entertainments being the same as in Smithfield. Lee
and Yeates can scarcely have been absent from a scene with which the
former had been so long and intimately associated. Yeates took a benefit
this year at the New Wells, near the London Spa, Clerkenwell, where a
concert was followed by a performance of the _Beggar's Opera_, with the
_bénéficiaire_ as Macheath and his wife as Polly, and the farce of _Miss
in her Teens_, in which the part of Captain Flash was sustained by the
former, and that of Miss Biddy by his wife. The place was probably
unlicensed for theatrical performances, as the dramatic portion of the
entertainment was announced to be free to holders of tickets for the
concert.
Tottenham Court Fair was continued this year for fourteen days, but does
not appear to have been attended by any of the shows which contributed so
much to the attractiveness of the fairs of Smithfield and Southwark Green.
The only advertisement of the entertainments which I have been able to
find mentions a "great theatrical booth," but it was devoted on the day to
which the announcement relates to wrestling and single-stick playing. As a
relic of a bygone time, it is curious enough to merit preservation:--
"For the entertainment of all lovers and encouragers of the sword in its
different uses, and for the benefit of Daniel French, at the great
theatrical booth at Tottenham Court, on Monday the 14th instant, will be
revived a country wake. Three men of Gloucestershire to play at
single-stick against three from any part, for a laced hat, value fifteen
shillings, or half a guinea in gold; he that breaks most heads fairly in
three bouts, and saves his own, to have the prize; half-a-crown for every
man breaking a head fairly, besides stage-money. That gentlemen may not be
disappointed, every gamester designing to engage is desired to enter his
name and place of abode with Mr. Fuller, at the King's Head, next the
booth, before the day of sport, or he will not be admitted to play, and to
meet by eight in the morning to breakfast and settle the play for the
afternoon. Money will be given for the encouragement of wrestling, sword
and dagger, and other diversions usual on the stage, besides stage-money.
That no time may be lost, while two are taking breath, two fresh men shall
engage. The doors to be opened at twelve o'clock, and the sport to begin
precisely at three in the afternoon. Note, there will be variety of
singing and dancing for prizes, as will be expressed in the bills and
papers of the day. Hob, clerk of the revel."
Newspapers of this year contain advertisements of several shows which
probably visited the London Fairs, where they were sufficiently announced
by their pictures. There are no fewer than three menageries, all on a
small scale. The best seems to have been Perry's, advertised as
follows:--"This is to give notice to all Gentlemen, Ladies, and others,
that Mr. Perry's Grand Collection of Living Wild Beasts is come to the
White Horse Inn, Fleet Street, consisting of a large he-lion, a he-tiger,
a leopard, a panther, two hyenas, a civet cat, a jackall, or lion's
provider, and several other rarities too tedious to mention. To be seen at
any time of the day, without any loss of time. Note.--This is the only
tiger in England, that baited being only a common leopard." The note
alludes to a recent baiting of a leopard by dogs, the animal so abused
being described in the announcements of the combat as a tiger.
The second menagerie under notice was advertised as follows:--
"To be seen, at the Flying Horse, near the London workhouse, Bishopsgate
Street, from eight in the morning till nine at night, the largest
collection of living wild creatures ever seen in Europe. 1. A beautiful
large he-tiger, brought from Bengal by Captain Webster, in the Ann. He is
very tame, and vastly admired. 2. A beautiful young leopard, from Turkey.
3. A civet cat, from Guinea. 4. A young man-tiger, from Angola. 5. A
wonderful hyæna, from the coast of Guinea. 6. A right man-tiger, brought
from Angola by Captain D'Abbadie, in the Portfield Indiaman. This is a
very curious creature, and the only one that has been seen in England for
several years. It comes the nearest to human nature of any animal in the
world. With several others too tedious to mention." Perry seems to have
been in error in announcing that he had the only tiger in England; though
the one exhibited at the Flying Horse may have been a more recent
importation. The "man-tigers" of the latter collection were probably
gorillas, though those animals seem to have been lost sight of
subsequently until attention was recalled to them by M. Du Chaillu.
The third collection was advertised as follows:--
"To be seen, at the White Swan, near the Bull and Gate, Holborn, a
collection of the most curious living wild creatures just arrived from
different parts of the world. 1. A large and beautiful young camel from
Grand Cairo, in Egypt, near eight feet high, though not two years old, and
drinks water but once in sixteen days. 2. A surprising hyæna, from the
coast of Guinea. 3. A beautiful he-panther, from Buenos Ayres, in the
Spanish West Indies. 4. A young Riobiscay, from Russia: and several other
creatures, too tedious to mention. Likewise a travelling post-chaise from
Switzerland, which, without horses, keeps its stage for upwards of fifty
miles a day, without danger to the rider. Attendance from eight in the
morning till eight at night." What the riobiscay was is now beyond
conjecture; but the panther from Buenos Ayres was, of course, a jaguar,
the panther being limited to the eastern hemisphere. This collection was
exhibited in Holbom early in the year, and removed at Easter to the Rose
and Crown, near the gates of Greenwich Park.
There was a bovine monstrosity shown this year as a "double cow," probably
at the fairs, as the following paragraph, extracted from a newspaper of
the time, refers to a second locality:--
"As we are well assured that that most wonderful living curiosity, the
double cow, has given uncommon satisfaction to the several learned bodies
by whom it has hitherto been seen, we hope the following account and
description of it will not be disagreeable to our readers. This wonderful
prodigy was bred at Cookfield in Sussex, being one entire beautiful cow,
from the middle of whose back issues the following parts of the other cow,
viz., a leg with the blade-bone quite perfect, and about two feet long;
the gullet, bowels, teats, and udder, from which udder, as well as from
the udder of the perfect cow, it gives milk in great plenty, though more
than a yard asunder; and what is very extraordinary, and has astonished
the most curious observers, is the discontinuation of the back-bone about
sixteen inches from the shoulder. This wonderful beast is so healthy as to
travel twenty miles a day, is extremely gentle, and by all the gentlemen
and ladies who have already seen it is thought as agreeable as
astonishing. It is now shewn in a commodious room, facing Craigg's Court,
Charing Cross, at one shilling each person."
There was also exhibited at the Heath Cock, Charing Cross, "a surprising
young Mermaid, taken on the coast of Aquapulca, which, though the
generality of mankind think there is no such thing, has been seen by the
curious, who express their utmost satisfaction at so uncommon a creature,
being half like a woman, and half like a fish, and is allowed to be the
greatest curiosity ever exposed to the public view."
In 1749, there was again a large muster of shows on the ancient arena of
West Smithfield. Yates re-appeared as a theatrical manager, and in some
measure restored the former repute of the fair, Oates and Miss Hippisley
being members of his company. His booth stood in George Yard, where he
played Gormandize Simple, while Oates personated Jupiter and Miss
Hippisley the wanton chambermaid, Dorothy Squeezepurse, in "a New,
Pleasant, and Diverting Droll, call'd the DESCENT of the HEATHEN GODS,
with the LOVES of JUPITER and ALCMENA; or, Cuckoldom no Scandal.
Interspersed with several Diverting Scenes, both Satyrical and Comical,
particularly the Surprising Metamorphosis of _Jupiter_ and _Mercury_; the
very remarkable Tryal before _Judge Puzzlecause_, with many Learned
Arguments on both sides, to prove that One can't be Two. Likewise the
Adventures and whimsical Perplexities of _Gormandize Simple_ the Hungarian
Footman; with the wonderful Conversation he had with, and the dreadful
Drubbing he received from, _His Own Apparition_; together with the
Intrigues of _Dorothy Squeezepurse_ the Wanton Chambermaid."
Opposite the George stood the theatrical booth of the elder Yeates, who
had been absent from the fair for a few years, and whom Mr. Henry Morley
confounds with his son, now in partnership with Warner and Mrs. Lee. He
produced _The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green_, with singing and dancing
between the acts, and the pantomime of _The Amours of Harlequin_. Cross
and Bridges, whose booth stood opposite the gate of the hospital, produced
a new drama, called _The Fair Lunatic_, "founded on a story in real life,
as related in the memoirs of the celebrated Mrs. Constantia Phillips,"
with dancing by Master Matthews and Mrs. Annesley. Next to this booth
stood that of Lee, Yeates, and Warner, in which was revived the "true and
ancient history of _Whittington_, Lord Mayor of London," as performed in
Lee's booth fourteen years before, with singing and dancing between the
acts. Cushing whom we have seen playing Harlequin three years before in
Warner and Fawkes's booth, but who was now performing at Covent Garden,
set up a booth opposite the King's Head, and produced _King John_, the
part of Lady Constance being sustained by Miss Yates, a Drury Lane
actress, while Cushing's wife personated Prince Arthur, and the manager
the mirth-provoking Sir Lubberly Lackbrains.
At a house in Hosier Lane (No. 20), a performing Arabian pony was
exhibited. There were also shows in the fair, which did not advertise, and
the memory of which has, in consequence, not been preserved. Of one, owned
by a person named Phillips, the only record is a very brief newspaper
report of a fatal accident, occasioned by the breaking down of the
gallery, by which four persons were killed, and several others severely
injured.
Garrick, who had married the dancer Violette two months previously, took
his bride to Bartholomew Fair, where they visited the theatrical booth of
Yates, which was the best in the fair. He was one of the few great actors
of the period who had not performed in the fair; and was probably impelled
by curiosity, rather than by the expectation of seeing good acting, though
it was not many years since he had made his first appearance on any stage
at Goodman's Fields, playing Harlequin at a moment's notice when Yates was
seized with a sudden indisposition as he was about to go on the stage. The
crowd pressing upon his wife and himself very unpleasantly as he
approached the portable theatre, he called out to Palmer, the Drury Lane
bill-sticker, who was acting as money-taker at the booth, to protect them.
"I can't help you here, sir," said Palmer, shaking his head. "There aren't
many people in Smithfield as knows Mr. Garrick."
It was probably not at Yates's booth, but at one of much inferior grade,
that the money-taker rejected Garrick's offer to pay for admission, with
the remark, "We never take money of one another." The story would be
pointless if the incident occurred at any booth in which dramatic
performances were given by comedians from the principal London theatres.
We now approach a period when a new series of strenuous efforts for the
suppression of the London fairs was commenced by persons who would
willingly have suppressed amusements of every kind, and were aided in
their endeavours by persons who had merely a selfish interest in the
matter. In the summer of 1750, a numerously signed petition of graziers,
cattle salesmen, and inhabitants of Smithfield was presented to the Court
of Aldermen, praying for the suppression of Bartholomew Fair, on the
ground that it annoyed them in their occupations, and afforded
opportunities for debauchery and riot. The annual Lord Mayor's procession
might have been objected to on the same grounds, and the civic authorities
well knew that the riots which had sometimes occurred in the fair had been
occasioned by their own acts, in the execution of their edicts for the
exclusion of puppet-shows and theatrical booths. Their action to this end
was generally taken so tardily that booths were put up before the
proprietors received notice of the intention of the Court of Aldermen to
exclude them; and then the tardiness of the owners in taking them down,
and the sudden zeal of the constables, produced quarrels and fights, in
which the bystanders invariably took the part of the showmen.
The revenues which the Corporation derived from rents and tolls during the
fair constituted an element of the question which could not be
overlooked, and which kept it in a state of oscillation from year to
year. The civic authorities would have been willing enough to suppress the
fair, if the question of finance had not been involved. If the fair was
abolished, some other source of revenue would have to be found. So they
compounded with their belief that the fair was a fount of disorder and
immorality by again limiting its duration to three days, and excluding
theatrical booths and puppet-shows, while abstaining from interference
with the gambling-tables and the gin-stalls.
Giants and dwarfs, and learned pigs and performing ponies had now the fair
to themselves, though their showmen probably took less money than they did
when the theatrical booths and puppet-shows attracted larger numbers of
people. Henry Blacker, a native of Cuckfield, in Sussex, twenty-seven
years of age, and seven feet four inches in height, exhibited himself at
the Swan, in Smithfield, during the three days to which the fair was
restricted in 1751. The principal show seems to have been one containing
two dwarfs, a remarkable negro, a female one-horned rhinoceros, and a
crocodile, said to have been the first ever seen alive in this country.
The more famous of the two dwarfs was John Coan, a native of Norfolk, who
at this time was twenty-three years of age, and only three feet two
inches in height, and of thirty-four pounds weight. His fellow pigmy was a
Welsh lad, fourteen years of age, two feet six inches in height, and
weighed only twelve pounds. The negro could throw back his clasped hands
over his head and bring them under his feet, backward and forward; and was
probably "the famous negro who swings his arms about in every direction,"
mentioned in the 'Adventurer.'
The exclusion of the theatrical booths and puppet-shows from the fair
produced, in the following year, a serious disturbance in Smithfield, in
the suppression of which Birch, the deputy-marshal of the City, received
injuries which proved fatal. This resistance to their edict did not,
however, deter the civic authorities from applying the same rule to
Southwark Fair, which was this year limited to three days, and diminished
of its attractions by the exclusion of theatrical booths and puppet-shows.
The principal shows were Yeates's, which stood in George Yard, and
consisted of an exhibition of wax figures, the conjuring tricks of young
Yeates, and the feats on the slack wire of a performer named Steward; and
the female Samson's, an Italian woman, who exhibited feats of strength in
a booth opposite the Greyhound, similar to those of the French woman seen
by Carter at May Fair, with the addition of supporting six men while
resting on two chairs only by the head and heels.
Towards the close of this year a man named Ballard brought from Italy a
company of performing dogs and monkeys, and exhibited them as a
supplementary attraction to the musical entertainments then given at a
place in the Haymarket, called Mrs. Midnight's Oratory. The Animal
Comedians, as they were called, became famous enough to furnish the theme
of an 'Adventurer.' The author states that the repeated encomiums on their
performances induced him to be present one evening at the entertainment,
when he "was astonished at the sagacity of the monkies; and was no less
amazed at the activity of the other quadrupeds--I should have rather said,
from a view of their extraordinary elevations, bipeds.
"It is a peculiar happiness to me as an Adventurer," he continues, "that I
sally forth in an age which emulates those heroick times of old, when
nothing was pleasing but what was unnatural. Thousands have gaped at a
wire-dancer daring to do what no one else would attempt; and thousands
still gape at greater extravagances in pantomime entertainments. Every
street teems with incredibilities; and if the great mob have their little
theatre in the Haymarket, the small vulgar can boast their cheaper
diversion in two enormous bears, that jauntily trip it to the light tune
of a Caledonian jig.
"That the intellectual faculties of brutes may be exerted beyond the
narrow limits which we have hitherto assigned to their capacities, I saw a
sufficient proof in Mrs. Midnight's dogs and monkies. Man differs less
from beasts in general, than these seem to approach man in rationality.
But while I applaud their exalted genius, I am in pain for the rest of
their kindred, both of the canine and cercopithecan species." The writer
then proceeds to comment humorously upon the mania which the exhibition
had created for teaching dogs and monkeys to perform the tricks for which
the Animal Comedians were famous. "Every boarding-house romp and wanton
school-boy," he says, "is employed in perverting the end of the canine
creation."
The contributor of this paper seems to have had a familiar acquaintance
with the shows attending the London fairs, for it was he, whoever he was,
who wrote the third number of the 'Adventurer,' in which, giving the
details of a scheme for a pantomime, he says that he has "not only
ransacked the fairs of Bartholomew and Southwark, but picked up every
uncommon animal, every prodigy of nature, and every surprising performer,
that has lately appeared within the bills of mortality." He proceeds to
enumerate them, and to assign parts in his intended entertainment for "the
Modern Colossus," "all the wonderful tall men and women that have been
lately exhibited in this town," "the Female Sampson," "the famous negro
who swings his arms about in every direction," "the noted ox, with six
legs and two bellies," "the beautiful panther mare," "the noted
fire-eater, smoking out of red-hot tobacco pipes, champing lighted
brimstone, and swallowing his infernal mess of broth," "the most amazing
new English _Chien Savant_," "the little woman that weighs no more than
twenty-three pounds," "the wonderful little Norfolk man," "the fellow with
Stentorian lungs, who can break glasses and shatter window-panes with the
loudness of his vociferation," and "the wonderful man who talks in his
belly, and can fling his voice into any part of a room." Incidentally he
mentions also "the so much applauded stupendous ostrich," "the sorcerer's
great gelding," "the wire dancer," and dancing bears.
The showmen's bills and advertisements of the period enable us to identify
most of the wonders enumerated by this writer. The female Samson and the
wire-walker had been seen that year in the fairs, the famous negro and
the Norfolk dwarf the year before, and the Corsican fairy and the double
cow in 1748. The fire-eater was probably Powell, though I have seen no
advertisement of that human salamander earlier than 1760.
The Bartholomew Fair riot was repeated in 1753, when Buck, the successor
of the unfortunate Birch, was very roughly handled by the rioters, and
severely bruised. This tumult was followed by an accident to a
wire-walker, named Evans, who, by the breaking of his wire, was
precipitated to the ground, breaking one of his thighs and receiving other
injuries. This was the year of the demonstration against the claim of the
Corporation to levy tolls upon the goods of citizens, as well as upon
those of strangers, during the time of Bartholomew Fair. Richard Holland,
a leather-seller in Newgate Street, had, in the preceding year, refused
the toll demanded on a roll of leather with which he had attempted to
enter the fair, and, on the leather being seized by the collector, had
called a constable, and charged the impounder with theft. The squabble
resulted in an action against the Corporation, which was not tried,
however, till 1754, when the judge pronounced in favour of the citizens.
While the action was pending, Holland's cart was driven through the fair
with a load of hay, and was not stopped by the collector of the tolls,
who had, probably, been instructed to hold his hand until the matter was
determined. The horses' heads were decorated with ribbons, and on the
leader's forehead was a card, upon which the following doggrel lines were
written in a bold round hand:--
"My master keeps me well, 'tis true,
And justly pays whatever is due;
Now plainly, not to mince the matter,
No toll he pays but with a halter."
On each side of the load of hay hung a halter, and a paper bearing the
following announcement:--
"The time is approaching, if not already come,
That all British subjects may freely pass on;
And not on pretence of Bartholomew Fair
Make you pay for your passage, with all you bring near.
When once it is try'd, ever after depend on,
'Twill incur the same fate as on Finchley Common.
Give Cæsar his due, when by law 'tis demanded,
And those that deserve with this halter be hanged."
The disturbances occasioned by the interference of the authorities with
the entertainers of the fair-goers were not renewed in 1754, though the
elements of disorder seem to have been present in tolerable strength; for
on a swing breaking down in Smithfield, without any person being
seriously hurt, a number of persons broke up the apparatus, and throwing
the wreck into a heap, set it on fire. Every swing in the fair was then
attacked and wrecked in succession, and the frames and broken cars thrown
upon the blazing pile, which soon sent a column of fire high into the air,
to the immense danger of the many combustible erections on every side. To
keep up the fire, all the tables and benches of the sausage-vendors were
next seized, and cast upon it; and the feeble police of that period was
inadequate to the prevention of this wholesale destruction, which seems to
have gone on without a check.
The exclusion of theatrical entertainments from Southwark Fair was not
maintained in 1755, when Warner set up a booth on the bowling-green, in
conjunction with the widow of Yeates (who had died about this time), and
revived the favourite London fair drama of _The Unnatural Parents_. In the
following year, Warner's name appears alone, as the proprietor of a "great
tiled booth," in which he produced _The Lover's Metamorphosis_, with
dancing between the acts, and a pantomimic entertainment called _The
Stratagems of Harlequin_.
In 1757, Yates and Shuter, the former engaged at the time at Drury Lane,
and the latter at Covent Garden, tried the experiment of a variety
entertainment, at the large concert-room of the Greyhound Inn, in
Smithfield, "during the short time of Bartholomew Fair," as all bills and
advertisements had announced since the duration of the fair had been
limited to three days. By this device, they evaded the edict of the Lord
Mayor and the Court of Aldermen, which applied only to temporary erections
in Smithfield. They did not repeat the experiment in Southwark, where the
only booth advertised was Warner's, with "a company of comedians from the
theatres," in _The Intriguing Lover_ and _Harlequin's Vagaries_.
Yates and Shuter re-appeared at the Greyhound next year, when they
presented _Woman turned Bully_, with singing and dancing between the acts,
and a representation of the storming of Louisbourg. Theatrical
representations were this year permitted or connived at in the fair, for
Dunstall and Vaughan set up a booth in George Yard, associating with them
in the enterprise the more experienced Warner, and announcing "a select
company from the theatres royal." _The Widow Bewitched_ was performed,
with an entertainment of singing and dancing. Next door to the George Inn
was an exhibition of wax-work, the chief feature of which was a collection
of figures representing the royal family of Prussia.
Southwark Fair was this year extended to four days, so fitful and varying
was the policy of the Court of Aldermen with regard to the fairs, which,
while they professed to regard them as incentives to idleness and vice,
they encouraged in some years as much as they restricted in others. The
names of Dunstall and Vaughan do not appear in the bills issued by Warner
for this fair, but the comedy performed was the same as at Bartholomew
Fair, followed by a representation of the capture of Louisbourg,
concluding with a procession of colours and standards, and a song in
praise of the heroes of the victory.
Yates and Shuter again attended Bartholomew Fair in the following year.
Mr. Henry Morley claims for the latter the invention of the showman's
device of announcing to the players, by a cant word, that there was
another audience collected in front, and that the performances might be
drawn to a close as soon as possible. Shuter's mystic words are said to
have been "John Audley," shouted from the front. The practice appears,
however, to have been in operation in the earliest days of Sadler's Wells,
where, according to a description of the place and the entertainments
given by Macklin, in a conversation recorded in the fortieth volume of the
'European Magazine,' the announcement was made in the query, "Is Hiram
Fistoman here?"
It was about this time that the "cat's opera" was announced by the famous
animal-trainer, Bisset, whose pupils, furred and feathered, were regarded
as one of the most wonderful exhibitions ever witnessed. Bisset was
originally a shoemaker at Perth, where he was born in 1721, but, on coming
to London, and entering the connubial state, he commenced business as a
broker, and accumulated a little capital. Having read an account of a
performing horse, which was exhibited at the fair of St. Germain in 1739,
he was induced to try his own skill in the teaching of animals upon a dog,
and afterwards upon a horse, which he bought for the purpose. Succeeding
with these, he procured a couple of monkeys, one of which he taught to
play a barrel-organ, while the other danced and vaulted on the tight-rope.
Cats are generally regarded as too susceptible of nervous excitement to
perform in public, though their larger relatives, lions, tigers, and
leopards, have been taught to perform a variety of tricks before
spectators, and cats are readily taught to perform the same tricks in
private. Bisset aimed at something higher than the exhibition of the
leaping feats of the species, and succeeded in teaching three cats to play
the dulcimer and squall to the notes. By the advice of Pinchbeck, with
whom he had become acquainted, he hired a large room in the Haymarket,
and announced a public performance of the "cat's opera," supplemented by
the tricks of the horse, the dog, and the monkeys. Besides the
organ-grinding and rope-dancing performance, the monkeys took wine
together, and rode on the horse, pirouetting and somersaulting with the
skill of a practised acrobat. One of them also danced a minuet with the
dog.
The "cat's opera" was attended by crowded houses, and Bisset cleared a
thousand pounds by the exhibition in a few days. He afterwards taught a
hare to walk on its hind legs, and beat a drum; a feathered company of
canaries, linnets, and sparrows to spell names, tell the time by the
clock, etc.; half-a-dozen turkeys to execute a country dance; and a turtle
(according to Wilson, but probably a tortoise) to write names on the
floor, having its feet blackened for the purpose. After a successful
season in London, he sold some of the animals, and made a provincial tour
with the rest, rapidly accumulating a considerable fortune. Passing over
to Ireland in 1775, he exhibited his animals in Dublin and Belfast,
afterwards establishing himself in a public-house in the latter city.
There he remained until 1783, when he reappeared in Dublin with a pig,
which he had taught to perform all the tricks since exhibited by the
learned grunter's successors at all the fairs in the kingdom. He was on
his way to London with the pig when he became ill at Chester, where he
shortly afterwards died.
The question of suppressing both Bartholomew and Southwark Fairs was
considered by the Court of Common Council in 1760, and the City Lands
Committee was desired to report upon the tenures of the fairs, with a view
to that end. Counsel's opinion was taken, and the committee reported the
result of the inquiry, upon which the Court resolved that Southwark Fair
should be abolished henceforth, but that the interests of Lord Kensington
in the revenues of Bartholomew Fair prevented the same course from being
pursued in Smithfield. The latter fair was voted a nuisance, however, and
the Court expressed a determination to abate it with the utmost
strictness. Shuter produced a masque, called _The Triumph of Hymen_, in
honour of the approaching royal nuptials; it was the production of a
forgotten poet named Wignell, in a collected edition of whose poems it was
printed in 1762. Among the minor entertainers of this year at Bartholomew
Fair were Powell, the fire-eater, and Roger Smith, who gave a musical
performance upon eight bells, two of which were fixed upon his head-gear,
and one upon each foot, while two were held in each hand.