of Peers, in Westminster Hall, on the 16th and 17th of April, 1765.
Lord Byron's defence was reduced by him into writing, and read by the
clerk. The Peers present, including the High Steward, declared Lord
Byron, on their honour, to be not guilty of murder, but of
manslaughter; with the exception of four Peers, who found him not
guilty generally. On this verdict being given, Lord Byron was called
upon to say why judgment of manslaughter should not be pronounced upon
him. His Lordship immediately claimed the benefit of the 1st Edward
VI. cap. 12, a statute, by which, whenever a Peer was convicted of
any felony for which a commoner might have Benefit of Clergy, such
Peer, on praying the benefit of that Act, was always to be discharged
without burning in the hand, or any penal consequence whatever. The
claim of Lord Byron being accordingly allowed, he was forthwith
discharged on payment of his fees. This singular privilege was
supposed to be abrogated by the 7 & 8 Geo. IV. cap. 28, s. 6, which
abolished Benefit of Clergy; but some doubt arising on the subject, it
was positively put an end to by the 4 & 5 Vict. cap. 22. (See
_Celebrated Trials connected with the Aristocracy_, by Mr. Serjeant
Burke.)
Mr. Chaworth was the descendant of one of the oldest houses in
England, a branch of which obtained an Irish peerage. His grand-niece,
the eventual heiress of the family, was Mary Chaworth, the object of
the early unrequited love of Lord Byron, the poet. Singularly enough,
there was the same degree of relationship between that nobleman and
the Lord Byron who killed Mr. Chaworth, as existed between the latter
unfortunate gentleman and Mr. Chaworth.[43]
Several stories are told of the high charges of the Star and Garter
Tavern, even in the reign of Queen Anne. The Duke of Ormond, who gave
here a dinner to a few friends, was charged twenty-one pounds, six
shillings, and eight pence, for four, that is, first and second
course, without wine or dessert.
From the _Connoisseur_ of 1754, we learn that the fools of quality of
that day "drove to the Star and Garter to regale on macaroni, or
piddle with an ortolan at White's or Pontac's."
At the Star and Garter, in 1774, was formed the first Cricket Club.
Sir Horace Mann, who had promoted cricket in Kent, and the Duke of
Dorset and Lord Tankerville, leaders of the Surrey and Hants Eleven,
conjointly with other noblemen and gentlemen, formed a committee under
the presidency of Sir William Draper. They met at the Star and Garter,
and laid down the first rules of cricket, which very rules form the
basis of the laws of cricket of this day.
FOOTNOTE:
[43] Abridged from the Romance of London, vol. i. pp. 225-232.
THATCHED-HOUSE TAVERN, ST. JAMES'S-STREET.
"Come and once more together let us greet
The long-lost pleasures of St. James's-street."--_Tickell._
Little more than a century and a half ago the parish of St. James was
described as "all the houses and grounds comprehended in a place
heretofore called 'St. James's Fields' and the confines thereof."
Previously to this, the above tavern was most probably a _thatched
house_. St. James's-street dates from 1670: the poets Waller and Pope
lived here; Sir Christopher Wren died here, in 1723; as did Gibbon,
the historian, in 1794, at Elmsley's, the bookseller's, at No. 76, at
the corner of Little St. James's-street. Fox lived next to Brookes's
in 1781; and Lord Byron lodged at No. 8, in 1811. At the south-west
end was the St. James's Coffee-house, taken down in 1806; the foreign
and domestic news house of the _Tatler_, and the "fountain-head" of
the _Spectator_. Thus early, the street had a sort of literary
fashion favourable to the growth of taverns and clubs.
The Thatched House, which was taken down in 1844 and 1863, had been
for nearly two centuries celebrated for its club meetings, its large
public room, and its public dinners, especially those of our
universities and great schools. It was one of Swift's favourite
haunts: in some birthday verses he sings:--
"The Deanery-house may well be matched,
Under correction, with the Thatch'd."
The histories of some of the principal Clubs which met here, will be
found in Vol. I.; as the Brothers, Literary, Dilettanti, and others;
(besides a list, page 318.)
The Royal Naval Club held its meetings at the Thatched House, as did
some art societies and kindred associations. The large club-room faced
St. James's-street, and when lit in the evening with wax-candles in
large old glass chandeliers, the Dilettanti pictures could be seen
from the pavement of the street. Beneath the tavern front was a range
of low-built shops, including that of Rowland, or Rouland, the
fashionable coiffeur, who charged five shillings for cutting hair, and
made a large fortune by his "incomparable _Huile_ Macassar." Through
the tavern was a passage to Thatched House-court, in the rear; and
here, in Catherine-Wheel-alley, in the last century, lived the good
old widow Delany, after the Doctor's death, as noted in her
Autobiography, edited by Lady Llanover. Some of Mrs. Delany's
fashionable friends then resided in Dean-street, Soho.
Thatched House-court and the alley have been swept away. Elmsley's was
removed for the site of the Conservative Club, In an adjoining house
lived the famous Betty, "the queen of apple-women," whom Mason has
thus embalmed in his _Heroic Epistle_:--
"And patriot Betty fix her fruitshop here."
It was a famous place for gossip. Walpole says of a story much about,
"I should scruple repeating it, if Betty and the waiters at Arthur's
did not talk of it publicly." Again, "Would you know what officer's on
guard in Betty's fruitshop?"
The Tavern, which has disappeared, was nearly the last relic of old
St. James's-street, although its memories survive in various modern
Club-houses, and the Thatched House will be kept in mind by the
graceful sculpture of the Civil Service Clubhouse, erected upon a
portion of the site.
"THE RUNNING FOOTMAN," MAY FAIR.
This sign, in Charles-street, Berkeley Square, carries us back to the
days of bad roads, and journeying at snail's pace, when the travelling
equipage of the nobility required that one or more men should run in
front of the carriage, chiefly as a mark of the rank of the traveller;
they were likewise sent on messages, and occasionally for great
distances.
The running footman required to be a healthy and active man; he wore a
light black cap, a jockey-coat, and carried a pole with at the top a
hollow ball, in which he kept a hard-boiled egg and a little white
wine, to serve as refreshment on his journey; and this is supposed to
be the origin of the footman's silver-mounted cane. The Duke of
Queensberry, who died in 1810, kept a running footman longer than his
compeers in London; and Mr. Thoms, in _Notes and Queries_, relates an
amusing anecdote of a man who came to be hired for the duty by the
Duke. His Grace was in the habit of trying their paces, by seeing how
they could run up and down Piccadilly, he watching them and timing
them from his balcony. The man put on a livery before the trial; on
one occasion, a candidate, having run, stood before the balcony. "You
will do very well for me," said the Duke. "And your livery will do
very well for me," replied the man, and gave the Duke a last proof of
his ability by running away with it.
The sign in Charles-street represents a young man, dressed in a kind
of livery, and a cap with a feather in it; he carries the usual pole,
and is running; and beneath is "I am the only running Footman," which
may relate to the superior speed of the runner, and this may be a
portrait of a celebrity.
Kindred to the above is the old sign of "The Two Chairmen," in
Warwick-street, Charing Cross,[44] recalling the sedans or chairs of
Pall Mall; and there is a similar sign on Hay Hill.
FOOTNOTE:
[44] The old Golden Cross Inn, Charing Cross, stood a short distance
west of the present Golden Cross Hotel, No. 452, Strand. Of the former
we read: "April 23, 1643. It was at this period, by order of the
Committee or Commission appointed by the House, the sign of a tavern,
the Golden Cross, at Charing Cross, was taken down, as superstitious
and idolatrous."--In Suffolk-street, Haymarket, was the Tavern before
which took place "the Calves' Head Club" riot.--See Vol. I., p. 27.
PICCADILLY INNS AND TAVERNS.
Piccadilly was long noticed for the variety and extent of its Inns and
Taverns, although few remain. At the east end were formerly the Black
Bear and White Bear (originally the Fleece), nearly opposite each
other. The Black Bear was taken down 1820. The White Bear remains: it
occurs in St. Martin's parish-books, 1685: here Chatelain and
Sullivan, the engravers, died; and Benjamin West, the painter, lodged,
the first night after his arrival from America. Strype mentions the
White Horse Cellar in 1720; and the booking-office of the New White
Horse Cellar is to this day in "the cellar." The Three Kings stables
gateway, No. 75, had two Corinthian pilasters, stated by Disraeli to
have belonged to Clarendon House: "the stable-yard at the back
presents the features of an old galleried inn-yard, and it is noted as
the place from which General Palmer started the first Bath
mail-coach." (J. W. Archer: _Vestiges_, part vi.) The Hercules'
Pillars (a sign which meant that no habitation was to be found beyond
it) stood a few yards west of Hamilton-place, and has been mentioned.
The Hercules' Pillars, and another roadside tavern, the Triumphant
Car, were standing about 1797, and were mostly frequented by soldiers.
Two other Piccadilly inns, the White Horse and Half Moon, both of
considerable extent, have given names to streets.
The older and more celebrated house of entertainment was Piccadilly
Hall, which appears to have been built by one Robert Baker, in "the
fields behind the Mews," leased to him by St. Martin's parish, and
sold by his widow to Colonel Panton, who built Panton-square and
Panton-street. Lord Clarendon, in his _History of the Rebellion_,
speaks of "Mr. Hyde going to a house called Piccadilly for
entertainment and gaming:" this house, with its gravel-walks and
bowling-greens, extended from the corner of Windmill-street and the
site of Panton-square, as shown in Porter and Faithorne's Map, 1658.
Mr. Cunningham found (see _Handbook_, 2nd edit. p. 396), in the parish
accounts of St. Martin's, "Robt Backer, of Pickadilley Halle;" and the
receipts for Lammas money paid for the premises as late as 1670. Sir
John Suckling, the poet, was one of the frequenters; and Aubrey
remembered Suckling's "sisters coming to the Peccadillo bowling-green,
crying, for the feare he should lose all their portions." The house
was taken down about 1685: a tennis-court in the rear remained to our
time, upon the site of the Argyll Rooms, Great Windmill-street. The
Society of Antiquaries possess a printed proclamation (_temp._ Charles
II. 1671) against the increase of buildings in Windmill-fields and the
fields adjoining Soho; and in the Plan of 1658, Great Windmill-street
consists of straggling houses, and a windmill in a field west.
Colonel Panton, who is named above, was a celebrated gamester of the
time of the Restoration, and in one night, it is said, he won as many
thousands as purchased him an estate of above 1500_l._ a year. "After
this good fortune," says Lucas, "he had such an aversion against all
manner of games, that he would never handle cards or dice again; but
lived very handsomely on his winnings to his dying day, which was in
the year 1681." He was the last proprietor of Piccadilly Hall, and was
in possession of land on the site of the streets and buildings which
bear his name, as early as the year 1664. Yet we remember to have
seen it stated that Panton-street was named from a particular kind of
horse-shoe called a _panton_; and from its contiguity to the
Haymarket, this origin was long credited.
At the north-east end of the Haymarket stood the Gaming-house built by
the barber of the Earl of Pembroke, and hence called Shaver's Hall: it
is described by Garrard, in a letter to Lord Strafford in 1635, as "a
new Spring Gardens, erected in the fields beyond the Mews:" its
tennis-court remains in James-street.
From a Survey of the Premises, made in 1650, we gather that Shaver's
Hall was strongly built of brick, and covered with lead: its large
"seller" was divided into six rooms; above these four rooms, and the
same in the first storey, to which was a balcony, with a prospect
southward to the bowling-alleys. In the second storey were six rooms;
and over the same a walk, leaded, and enclosed with rails, "very
curiously carved and wrought," as was also the staircase, throughout
the house. On the west were large kitchens and coal-house, with lofts
over, "as also one faire Tennis Court," of brick, tiled, "well
accommodated with all things fitting for the same;" with upper rooms;
and at the entrance gate to the upper bowling-green, a parlour-lodge;
and a double flight of steps descending to the lower bowling alley;
there was still another bowling alley, and an orchard-wall, planted
with choice fruit-trees; "as also one pleasant banqueting house, and
one other faire and pleasant Roome, called the Greene Roome, and one
other Conduit-house, and 2 other Turrets adjoininge to the walls. The
ground whereon the said buildings stand, together with 2 fayre Bowling
Alleys, orchard gardens, gravily walks, and other green walks, and
Courts and Courtyards, containinge, by estimacion, 3 acres and 3
qrs., lying betweene a Roadway leading from Charinge Crosse to
Knightsbridge west, now in the possession of Captayne Geeres, and is
worth per ann. clli."[45]
FOOTNOTE:
[45] In Jermyn-street, Haymarket, was the One Tun Tavern, a haunt of
Sheridan's; and, upon the site of "the Little Theatre," is the Café de
l'Europe.
ISLINGTON TAVERNS.
If you look at a Map of London, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the
openness of the northern suburbs is very remarkable. Cornhill was then
a clear space, and the ground thence to Bishopsgate-street was
occupied as gardens. The Spitalfields were entirely open, and
Shoreditch church was nearly the last building of London in that
direction. Moorfields were used for drying linen; while cattle grazed,
and archers shot, in Finsbury Fields, at the verge of which were three
windmills. On the western side of Smithfield was a row of trees.
Goswell-street was a lonely road, and Islington church stood in the
distance, with a few houses and gardens near it. St. Giles's was also
a small village, with open country north and west.
The ancient Islington continued to be a sort of dairy-farm for the
metropolis. Like her father, Henry VIII., Elizabeth paid frequent
visits to this neighbourhood, where some wealthy commoners dwelt; and
her partiality to the place left many evidences in old houses, and
spots traditionally said to have been visited by the Queen, whose
delight it was to go among her people.
Islington retained a few of its Elizabethan houses to our times; and
its rich dairies were of like antiquity: in the entertainment given to
Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth Castle, in 1575, the Squier Minstrel of
Middlesex glorifies Islington with the motto, "_Lac caseus infans_;"
and it is still noted for its cow-keepers. It was once as famous for
its cheese-cakes as Chelsea for its buns; and among its other
notabilities were custards and stewed "pruans," its mineral spa and
its ducking-ponds; Ball's Pond dates from the time of Charles I. At
the lower end of Islington, in 1611, were eight inns, principally
supported by summer visitors:
"Hogsdone, _Islington_, and Tothnam Court,
For cakes and creame had then no small resort."
Wither's _Britain's Remembrancer_, 1628.
Among the old inns and public-houses were the Crown apparently of the
reign of Henry VII., and the Old Queen's Head of about the same date:
"The Queen's Head and Crown in Islington town,
Bore, for its brewing, the brightest renown."
Near the Green, the Duke's Head, was kept by Topham, "the strong man
of Islington;" in Frog-lane, the Barley-mow, where George Morland
painted; at the Old Parr's Head, in Upper-street, Henderson the
tragedian first acted; the Three Hats, near the turnpike, was taken
down in 1839; and of the Angel, originally a galleried inn, a drawing
may be seen at the present inn. Timber gables and rudely-carved
brackets are occasionally to be seen in house-fronts; also here and
there an old "house of entertainment," which, with the little
remaining of "the Green," remind one of Islington village.
The Old Queen's Head was the finest specimen in the neighbourhood of
the domestic architecture of the reign of Henry VII. It consisted of
three storeys, projecting over each other in front, with bay-windows
supported by brackets, and figures carved in wood. The entrance was by
a central porch, supported by caryatides of oak, bearing Ionic
scrolls. To the left was the Oak Parlour, with carved mantelpiece, of
chest-like form; and caryatid jambs, supporting a slab sculptured with
the story of Diana and Actæon. The ceiling was a shield, bearing J. M.
in a glory, with cherubim, two heads of Roman emperors, with fish,
flowers, and other figures, within wreathed borders, with bosses of
acorns.
White Conduit House was first built in the fields, in the reign of
Charles I., and was named from a stone conduit, 1641, which supplied
the Charterhouse with water by a leaden pipe. The tavern was
originally a small ale and cake house: Sir William Davenant describes
a City wife going to the fields to "sop her cake in milke;" and
Goldsmith speaks of tea-drinking parties here with hot-rolls and
butter. White Conduit rolls were nearly as famous as Chelsea buns. The
Wheel Pond close by was a noted place for duck-hunting.
In May, 1760, a poetical description of White Conduit House appeared
in the _Gentleman's Magazine_. A description of the old place, in
1774, presents a general picture of the tea-garden of that period: "It
is formed into walks, prettily disposed. At the end of the principal
one is a painting which seems to render it (the walk) in appearance
longer than it really is. In the centre of the garden is a fish-pond.
There are boxes for company, curiously cut into hedges, adorned with
Flemish and other paintings. There are two handsome tea-rooms, and
several inferior ones." To these were added a new dancing and
tea-saloon, called the Apollo Room. In 1826, the gardens were opened
as a minor Vauxhall; and here the charming vocalist, Mrs. Bland, last
sang in public. In 1832, the original tavern was taken down, and
rebuilt upon a much larger plan: in its principal room 2000 persons
could dine. In 1849, these premises were also taken down, the tavern
rebuilt upon a smaller scale, and the garden-ground let on building
leases.
Cricket was played here by the White Conduit Club, as early as 1799;
and one of its attendants, Thomas Lord, subsequently established the
Marylebone Club.
White Conduit House was for some years kept by Mr. Christopher
Bartholomew, at one time worth 50,000_l._ He had some fortunate hits
in the State Lottery, and celebrated his good fortune by a public
breakfast in his gardens. He was known to spend upwards of 2000
guineas a day for insurance: fortune forsook him, and he passed the
latter years of his life in great poverty, partly subsisting on
charity. But his gambling propensity led him, in 1807, to purchase
with a friend a sixteenth of a lottery-ticket, which was drawn a prize
of 20,000_l._, with his moiety of which he purchased a small annuity,
which he soon sold, and died in distress, in 1809.
Bagnigge Wells, on the banks of the Fleet brook, between Clerkenwell
and old St. Pancras church, was another tavern of this class. We
remember its concert-room and organ, its grottoes, fountain and
fishpond, its trim trees, its grotesque costumed figures, and its bust
of Nell Gwynne to support the tradition that she had a house here.
A comedy of the seventeenth century has its scene laid at the
Saracen's Head, an old hostelrie, which in Queen Mary's reign had been
hallowed by secret Protestant devotion, and stood between River Lane
and the City Road.
Highbury Barn, upon the site of the barn of the monks of Canonbury,
was another noted tavern.[46] Nearly opposite Canonbury Tower are the
remains of a last-century tea-garden; and in Barnsbury is a similar
relic. And on the entrance of a coppice of trees is Hornsey Wood
House, a tavern with a delightful prospect.
Islington abounds in chalybeate springs, resembling the Tunbridge
Wells water; one of which was rediscovered in 1683, in the garden of
Sadler's music-house, subsequently Sadler's Wells Theatre; and at the
Sir Hugh Myddelton's Head tavern was formerly a conversation-picture
with twenty-eight portraits of the Sadler's Wells Club. In Spa Fields,
was held "Gooseberry Fair," where the stalls of gooseberry-fool vied
with the "threepenny tea-booths," and the beer at "my Lord Cobham's
Head," which denotes the site of the mansion of Sir John Oldcastle,
the Wickliffite, burnt in 1417.
FOOTNOTE:
[46] Canonbury Tavern was in the middle of the last century a small
ale-house. It was taken by a Mr. Lane, who had been a private soldier:
he improved the house, but its celebrity was gained by the widow
Sutton, who kept the place from 1785 to 1808, and built new rooms, and
laid out the bowling-green and tea-gardens. An Assembly was first
established here in the year 1810. Nearly the entire premises, which
then occupied about four acres, were situated within the old park wall
of the Priory of St. Bartholomew; it formed, indeed, a part of the
eastern side of the house; the ancient fish-pond was also connected
with the grounds. The Tavern has been rebuilt.
COPENHAGEN HOUSE.
This old suburban tavern, which stood in Copenhagen Fields, Islington,
was cleared away in forming the site of the New Cattle Market.
The house had a curious history. In the time of Nelson, the historian
of Islington (1811), it was a house of considerable resort, the
situation affording a fine prospect over the western part of the
metropolis. Adjoining the house was a small garden, furnished with
seats and tables for the accommodation of company; and a fives ground.
The principal part of Copenhagen House, although much altered, was
probably as old as the time of James I., and is traditionally said to
have derived its name from having been the residence of a Danish
prince or ambassador during the Great Plague of 1665. Hone, in 1838,
says: "It is certain that Copenhagen House has been licensed for the
sale of beer, wine, and spirits, upwards of a century; and for
refreshments, and as a tea-house, with garden and ground for skittles
and Dutch pins, it has been greatly resorted to by Londoners." The
date of this hostelry must be older than stated by Hone. Cunningham
says: "A public-house or tavern in the parish of Islington, is called
Coopenhagen in the map before Bishop Gibson's edition of Camden,
1695."