------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s Note:
This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.
Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_.
The few minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected.
Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details
regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its
preparation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CIRCUS LIFE AND
CIRCUS CELEBRITIES
BY
THOMAS FROST
AUTHOR OF ‘THE OLD SHOWMEN AND THE OLD LONDON FAIRS,’ ‘LIVES
OF THE CONJURERS,’ ETC.
[Illustration]
_A NEW EDITION_
=London=
CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY
1881
PREFACE.
-------
There are probably few persons who do not number among the most pleasant
recollections of their youth their first visit to a circus, whether
their earliest sniff of the saw-dust was inhaled in the building made
classical by Ducrow, or under the canvas canopy of Samwell or Clarke. In
my boyish days, the cry of ‘This way for the riders!’ bawled from the
stentorian vocal organs of the proprietor or ring-master of a travelling
circus, never failed to attract all the boys, and no small proportion of
the men and women, to the part of the fair from which it proceeded.
Fairs have become things of the past within twelve or fifteen miles of
the metropolis; but ever and anon a tenting circus pitches, for a day or
two, in a meadow, and the performances prove as attractive as ever. The
boys, who protest that they are better than a play,—the young women, who
are delighted with the ‘loves of horses,’—the old gentlemen, who are
never so pleased as when they are amusing their grandchildren,—the
admirers of graceful horsemanship of all ages,—crowd the benches, and
find the old tricks and the old ‘wheezes,’ as the poet found the view
from Grongar Hill, ‘ever charming—ever new.’
What boy is there who, though he may have seen it before, does not
follow with sparkling eyes the Pawnee Chief in his rapid career upon a
bare-backed steed,—the lady in the scarlet habit and high hat, who leaps
over hurdles,—the stout farmer who, while his horse bears him round the
ring, divests himself of any number of coats and vests, until he finally
appears in tights and trunks,—the juggler who plays at cup and ball, and
tosses knives in an endless shower, as he is whirled round the arena?
And which of us has not, in the days of our boyhood, fallen in love with
the fascinating young lady in short skirts who leaps through ‘balloons’
and over banners? Even when we have attained man’s estate, and learned a
wrinkle or two, we take our children to Astley’s or Hengler’s, and enjoy
the time-honoured feats of equitation, the tumbling, the gymnastics, and
the rope-dancing, as much as the boys and girls.
But of the circus _artistes_—the riders, the clowns, the acrobats, the
gymnasts,—what do we know? How many are there, unconnected with the
saw-dust, who can say that they have known a member of that strange
race? Charles Dickens, who was perhaps as well acquainted with the
physiology of the less known sections of society as any man of his day,
whetted public curiosity by introducing his readers to the humours of
Sleary’s circus; and the world wants to know more about the subject.
When, it is asked, will another saw-dust _artiste_ give us such an
amusing book as Wallett presented the world with, in his autobiography?
When are the reminiscences of the late Nelson Lee to be published? With
the exception of the autobiography of Wallett, and a few passages in
Elliston’s memoirs, the circus has hitherto been without any exponent
whatever. Under the heading of ‘Amphitheatres,’ Watts’s _Bibliotheca
Britannica_, that boon to literary readers at the British Museum in
quest of information upon occult subjects, mentions only a collection of
the bills of Astley’s from 1819 to 1845.
Circus proprietors are not, as a rule, so garrulous as poor old Sleary;
they are specially reticent concerning their own antecedents, and the
varied fortunes of their respective shows. To this cause must be
ascribed whatever shortcomings may be found in the following pages in
the matter of circus records. Circus men, too, are very apt to meet a
hint that a few reminiscences of their lives and adventures would be
acceptable with the reply of Canning’s needy knife-grinder,—‘Story! God
bless you! I have none to tell, sir.’ There are exceptions, however, and
as a rule the better educated members of the profession are the least
unwilling to impart information concerning its history and mysteries to
those outside of their circle. To the kindness and courtesy of several
of these I am considerably indebted, and beg them to accept this public
expression of my thanks.
T. FROST.
LONG DITTON, _Oct. 1st, 1873_.
CONTENTS.
-------
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Beginnings of the Circus in England—Tumblers and Performing 1–37
Horses of the Middle Ages—Jacob Hall, the
Rope-dancer—Francis Forcer and Sadler’s Wells—Vauxhall
Gardens—Price’s Equestrian Performances at Johnson’s
Gardens—Sampson’s Feats of Horsemanship—Philip Astley—His
Open-air Performances near Halfpenny Hatch—The First
Circus—Erection of the Amphitheatre in Westminster
Road—First Performances there—Rival Establishment in
Blackfriars Road—Hughes and Clementina
CHAPTER II.
Fortunes of the Royal Circus—Destruction of Astley’s 38–57
Amphitheatre by Fire—Its Reconstruction—Second
Conflagration—Astley in Paris—Burning of the Royal
Circus—Erection of the Olympic Pavilion—Hengler, the
Rope-dancer—Astley’s Horses—Dancing Horses—The Trick
Horse, Billy—Abraham Saunders—John Astley and William
Davis—Death of Philip Astley—Vauxhall Gardens—Andrew
Ducrow—John Clarke—Barrymore’s Season at
Astley’s—Hippo-dramatic Spectacles—The first Circus Camel
CHAPTER III.
Ducrow at Covent Garden—Engagement at Astley’s—Double Acts 58–72
in the circle—Ducrow at Manchester—Rapid Act on Six
Horses—‘Raphael’s Dream’—Miss Woolford—Cross’s performing
Elephant—O’Donnel’s Antipodean Feats—First year of Ducrow
and West—Henry Adams—Ducrow at Hull—The Wild Horse of the
Ukraine—Ducrow at Sheffield—Travelling Circuses—An Entrée
at Holloway’s—Wild’s Show—Constantine, the Posturer—Circus
Horses—Tenting at Fairs—The Mountebanks
CHAPTER IV.
A few words about Menageries—George Wombwell—The Lion 73–87
Baitings at Warwick—Atkins’s Lion and Tigress at
Astley’s—A Bull-fight and a Zebra Hunt—Ducrow at the
Pavilion—The Stud at Drury Lane—Letter from Wooler to
Elliston—Ducrow and the Drury ‘Supers’—Zebras on the
Stage—The first Arab Troupe—Contention between Ducrow and
Clarkson Stanfield—Deaths of John Ducrow and Madame
Ducrow—Miss Woolford
CHAPTER V.
Lions and Lion-tamers—Manchester Jack—Van Amburgh—Carter’s 88–99
Feats—What is a Tiger?—Lion-driving and Tiger-fighting—Van
Amburgh and the Duke of Wellington—Vaulting Competition
between Price and North—Burning of the Amphitheatre—Death
of Ducrow—Equestrian Performances at the Surrey
Theatre—Travelling Circuses—Wells and Miller—Thomas
Cooke-Van Amburgh—Edwin Hughes—William Batty—Pablo Fanque
CHAPTER VI.
Conversion of the Lambeth Baths into a Circus—Garlick and 100–122
the Wild Beasts—Gar-lick Company at the Surrey—White
Conduit Gardens—Re-opening of Astley’s—Batty’s Circus on
its Travels—Batty and the Sussex Justices—Equestrianism at
the Lyceum—Lions and Lion-tamers at Astley’s—Franconi’s
Circus at Cremorne Gardens—An Elephant on the
Tight-rope—The Art of Balancing—Franconi’s Company at
Drury Lane—Van Amburgh at Astley’s—The Black Tiger—Pablo
Fanque—Rivalry of Wallett and Barry—Wallett’s
Circus—Junction with Franconi’s
CHAPTER VII.
Hengler’s Circus—John and George Sanger—Managerial 123–134
Anachronisms and Incongruities—James Hernandez—Eaton and
Stone—Horses at Drury Lane—James New-some—Howes and
Cushing’s Circus—George Sanger and the Fighting
Lions—Crockett and the Lions at Astley’s—The Lions at
large—Hilton’s Circus—Lion-queens—Miss Chapman—Macomo and
the Fighting Tigers
CHAPTER VIII.
Pablo Fanque—James Cooke—Pablo Fanque and the 135–155
Celestials—Ludicrous affair in the Glasgow
Police-court—Batty’s Transactions with Pablo Fanque—The
Liverpool Amphitheatre—John Clarke—William
Cooke—Astley’s—Fitzball and the Supers—Batty’s
Hippodrome—Vauxhall Gardens—Garnett’s Circus—The
Alhambra—Gymnastic Performances in Music-halls—Gymnastic
Mishaps
CHAPTER IX.
Cremorne Gardens—The Female Blondie—Fatal Accident at Aston 156–173
Park—Reproduction of the Eglinton Tournament—Newsome and
Wallett—Pablo Fanque’s Circus—Equestrianism at Drury
Lane—Spence Stokes—Talliott’s Circus—The Gymnasts of the
Music-halls—Fatal Accident at the Canterbury—Gymnastic
Brotherhoods—Sensational Feats—Sergeant Bates and the
Berringtons—The Rope-trick—How to do it
CHAPTER X.
Opening of the Holborn Amphitheatre—Friend’s Season at 174–193
Astley’s—Adah Isaacs Menken—Sanger’s Company at the
Agricultural Hall—The Carré Troupe at the Holborn
Amphitheatre—Wandering Stars of the Arena—Albert Smith and
the Clown—Guillaume’s Circus—The Circo Price—Hengler’s
Company at the Palais Royal—Re-opening of Astley’s by the
Pal’s—Franconi’s Circus—Newsome’s Circus—Miss Newsome and
the Cheshire Hunt—Rivalry between the Sangers and Howes
and Cushing
CHAPTER XI.
Reminiscences of the Henglers—The Rope-dancing Henglers at 194–213
Astley’s—Circus of Price and Powell—Its Acquisition by the
Henglers—Clerical Presentation to Frowde, the Clown—Circus
Difficulties at Liverpool—Retirement of Edward
Hengler—Rivalry of Howes and Cushing—Discontinuance of the
Tenting System—Miss Jenny Louise Hengler—Conversion of the
Palais Royal into an Amphitheatre—Felix Rivolti, the
Ring-master
CHAPTER XII.
The Brothers Sanger—First Appearance in London—Vicissitudes 214–222
of Astley’s—Batty and Cooke—Purchase of the Theatre by the
Brothers Sanger—Their Travelling Circus—The Tenting
System—Barnum and the Sangers
CHAPTER XIII.
American Circuses—American Performers in England, and 223–253
English Performers in the United States—The Cookes in
America—Barnum’s Great Show—Yankee Parades—Van Amburgh’s
Circus and Menagerie—Robinson’s Combined Shows—Stone and
Murray’s Circus—The Forepaughs—Joel Warner—Side
Shows—Amphitheatres of New York and New Orleans
CHAPTER XIV.
Reminiscences of a Gymnast—Training and Practising—A 254–267
Professional Rendezvous—Circus Agencies—The First
Engagement—Springthorp’s Music-hall—Newsome’s
Circus—Reception in the Dressing-room—The Company and the
Stud—The Newsome Family—Miss Newsome’s wonderful Leap
across a Green Lane—The Handkerchief Trick—An Equine
Veteran from the Crimea—Engagement to Travel
CHAPTER XV.
Continuation of the Gymnast’s Reminiscences—A Circus on the 268–279
move—Three Months at Carlisle—Performance for the Benefit
of local Charities—Removal to Middlesborough—A Stockton
Man’s Adventure—Journey to York—Circus Ballets—The Paynes
in the Arena—Accidents in the Ring—A Circus
Benefit—Removal to Scarborough—A Gymnastic
Adventure—Twelve Nights at the Pantheon—On the
Tramp—Return to London
CHAPTER XVI.
Continuation of the Gymnast’s Reminiscences—Circus Men in 280–290
Difficulties—Heavy Security for a Small Debt—The Sheriff’s
Officer and the Elephant—Taking Refuge with the
Lions—Another Provincial Tour—With a Circus in Dublin—A
Joke in the Wrong Place—A Fenian Hoax—A Case of
Pikes—Return to England—At the Kentish Watering-places—Off
to the North
CHAPTER XVII.
Lions and Lion-tamers—Lorenzo and the Lions—Andros and the 291–304
Lion—The Successor of Macomo—Accident in Bell and Myers’s
Circus—Lion Hunting—Death of McCarthy—True Causes of
Accidents with Lions and Tigers—Performing
Leopards—Anticipating the Millennium—Tame Hyenas—Aggrieves
Menagerie—Performing Lions, Tigers, Leopards, and
Hyenas—Camels and Dromedaries—The Great Elephant
CHAPTER XVIII.
Circus Slang—Its Peculiarities and Derivation—Certain 305–318
Phrases used by others of the Amusing
Classes—Technicalities of the Circus—The Riders and Clowns
of Dickens—Sleary’s Circus—Circus Men and Women in Fiction
and in Real Life—Domestic Habits of Circus People—Dress
and Manners—The Professional Quarter of the Metropolis
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CIRCUS LIFE
AND
CIRCUS CELEBRITIES.
-------
CHAPTER I.
Beginnings of the Circus in England—Tumblers and Performing Horses of
the Middle Ages—Jacob Hall, the Rope-dancer—Francis Forcer and
Sadler’s Wells—Vauxhall Gardens—Price’s Equestrian Performances at
Johnson’s Gardens—Sampson’s Feats of Horsemanship—Philip Astley—His
Open-air Performances near Halfpenny Hatch—The First Circus—Erection
of the Amphitheatre in Westminster Road—First Performances
there—Rival Establishment in Blackfriars Road—Hughes and Clementina.
Considering the national love of everything in which the horse plays a
part, and the lasting popularity of circus entertainments in modern
times, it seems strange that the equine amphitheatre should have been
unknown in England until the close of the last century. That the Romans,
during their occupation of the southern portion of our island,
introduced the sports of the arena, in which chariot-racing varied the
combats of the gladiators, and the fierce encounters of wild beasts, is
shown by the remains of the Amphitheatre at Dorchester, and by records
of the existence of similar structures near St Alban’s, and at Banbury
and Caerleon. After the departure of the Romans, the amphitheatres which
they had erected fell into disuse and decay; but at a later period they
were appropriated to bull-baiting and bear-baiting, and the arena at
Banbury was known as the bull-ring down to a comparatively recent
period. An illumination of one of the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts in the
Harleian collection shows one of these ancient amphitheatres, outside a
town; there is a single musician in the arena, to whose music a man is
dancing, while another performer exhibits a tame bear, which appears to
be simulating sleep or death; the spectators are sitting or standing
around, and one of them is applauding the performance in the modern
manner, by clapping his hands.
But from the Anglo-Saxon period to about the middle of the seventeenth
century, the nearest approximation to circus performances was afforded
by the ‘glee-men,’ and the exhibitors of bears that travestied a dance,
and horses that beat a kettle-drum with their fore-feet. Some of the
‘glee-men’ were tumblers and jugglers, and their feats are pourtrayed in
several illuminated manuscripts of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries. One of these illuminations, engraved in Strutt’s _Sports_,
shows a boy leaping through a hoop; another, in the Cottonian
collection, represents a juggler throwing three balls and three knives
alternately. What is technically called ‘the shower’ is shown in another
illumination of mediæval juggling; and that there were female acrobats
in those days appears from a drawing in one of the Sloane collection of
manuscripts, in which a girl is shown in the attitude of bending
backward. One of the Arundel manuscripts, in the British Museum, shows a
dancing bear; and other illuminations, of a later date, represent a
horse on the tight-rope, and an ox standing on the back of a horse.
Strutt quotes from the seventh volume of the _Archæologia_, the
following account of a rope-flying feat performed by a Spaniard in the
reign of Edward VI. ‘There was a great rope, as great as the cable of a
ship, stretched from the battlements of Paul’s steeple, with a great
anchor at one end, fastened a little before the Dean of Paul’s
house-gate; and when his Majesty approached near the same, there came a
man, a stranger, being a native of Arragon, lying on the rope with his
head forward, casting his arms and legs abroad, running on his breast on
the rope from the battlement to the ground, as if it had been an arrow
out of a bow, and stayed on the ground. Then he came to his Majesty, and
kissed his foot; and so, after certain words to his Highness, he
departed from him again, and went upwards upon the rope, till he came
over the midst of the churchyard, where he, having a rope about him,
played certain mysteries on the rope, as tumbling, and casting one leg
from another. Then took he the rope, and tied it to the cable, and tied
himself by the right leg a little space beneath the wrist of the foot,
and hung by one leg a certain space, and after recovered himself again
with the said rope, and unknit the knot, and came down again. Which
stayed his Majesty, with all the train, a good space of time.’
Holinshed mentions a similar feat which was performed in the following
reign, and which, unhappily, resulted in the death of the performer. In
the reign of Elizabeth lived the famous Banks, whom Sir Walter Raleigh
thought worthy of mention in his History of the World, saying that ‘if
Banks had lived in older times, he would have shamed all the enchanters
in the world; for whosoever was most famous among them could never
master or instruct any beast as he did.’ The animal associated with the
performer so eulogized was a bay horse named Morocco, which was one of
the marvels of the time. An old print represents the animal standing on
his hind legs, with Banks directing his movements.
Morocco seems to have been equally famous for his saltatory exercises
and for his arithmetical calculations and his powers of memory. Moth, in
_Love’s Labour Lost_, puzzling Armado with arithmetical questions, says,
‘The dancing horse will tell you,’ an allusion which is explained by a
line of one of Hall’s satires—
‘Strange Morocco’s dumb arithmetic.’
Sir Kenelm Digby records that the animal ‘would restore a glove to the
due owner after the master had whispered the man’s name in his ear; and
would tell the just number of pence in any piece of silver coin newly
showed him by his master.’ De Melleray, in a note to his translation of
the _Golden Ass_ of Apuleius, says that he witnessed the performance of
this animal in the Rue St Jacques, in Paris, to which city Banks
proceeded in or before 1608; and he states that Morocco could not only
tell the number of francs in a crown, but knew that the crown was
depreciated at that time, and also the exact amount of the depreciation.
The fame which Banks and his horse acquired in France, brought the
former under the imputation of being a sorcerer, and he probably had a
narrow escape of being burned at a stake in that character. Bishop
Morton tells the story as follows:—
‘Which bringeth into my remembrance a story which Banks told me at
Frankfort, from his own experience in France among the Capuchins, by
whom he was brought into suspicion of magic, because of the strange
feats which his horse Morocco played (as I take it) at Orleans, where
he, to redeem his credit, promised to manifest to the world, that his
horse was nothing less than a devil. To this end he commanded his horse
to seek out one in the press of the people who had a crucifix on his
hat; which done, he bade him kneel down unto it, and not this only, but
also to rise up again and to kiss it. And now, gentlemen (quoth he), I
think my horse hath acquitted both me and himself; and so his
adversaries rested satisfied; conceiving (as it might seem) that the
devil had no power to come near the cross.’
That Banks travelled with his learned horse from Paris to Orleans, and
thence to Frankfort, is shown by this extract; but his further
wanderings are unrecorded. It has been inferred, from the following
lines of a burlesque poem by Jonson, that he suffered at last the fate
he escaped at Orleans; but the grounds which the poet had for supposing
such a dreadful end for the poor horse-charmer are unknown.
‘But ’mongst these Tiberts, who do you think there was?
Old Banks, the juggler, our Pythagoras,
Grave tutor to the learned horse; both which,
Being, beyond sea, burned for one witch,
Their spirits transmigrated to a cat.’
These itinerant performers seem to have divided their time between town
and country, as many of them do at the present day. Sir William
Davenant, describing the street sights of the metropolis in his curious
poem entitled _The Long Vacation in London_, says—
‘Now, vaulter good, and dancing lass
On rope, and man that cries, Hey, pass!
And tumbler young that needs but stoop,
Lay head to heel to creep through hoop;
And man in chimney hid to dress
Puppet that acts our old Queen Bess;
And man, that while the puppets play,
Through nose expoundeth what they say;
And white oat-eater that does dwell
In stable small at sign of Bell,
That lifts up hoof to show the pranks
Taught by magician styled Banks;
And ape led captive still in chain
Till he renounce the Pope and Spain;
All these on hoof now trudge from town
To cheat poor turnip-eating clown.’
About the middle of the seventeenth century, some of these wandering
performers began to locate themselves permanently in the metropolis.
Jacob Hall, the rope-dancer, was scarcely less famous as an acrobat,
being clever and alert in somersaults and flip-flaps, performing the
former over naked rapiers and men’s heads, and through hoops. He is
mentioned by contemporary memoir writers as the first lover of Nell
Gwynne, who appears, however, in a short time to have transferred her
favours to Harte, the actor. In 1683, one Sadler opened the music-house
at Islington which, from the circumstance of a mineral spring being
discovered on the spot, became known by the name of Sadler’s Wells,
which it has retained to this day. It was not until after Sadler’s
death, however, that rope-dancing and acrobats’ performances were added
to the musical entertainments which, with the water, were the sole
attraction of the place in its earliest days. The change was made by
Francis Forcer, whose son was for several years the principal performer
there. Forcer sold the establishment to Rosamond, the builder of
Rosamond’s Row, Clerkenwell, who contrived, by judicious management, to
amass a considerable fortune.
Of the nature of the amusements in Forcer’s time we have a curious
account in a communication made to the _European Magazine_ by a
gentleman who received it from Macklin, the actor, whom he met at
Sadler’s Wells towards the close of his life. ‘Sir,’ said the veteran
comedian, ‘I remember the time when the price of admission here was
threepence, except a few places scuttled off at the sides of the stage
at sixpence, and which were usually reserved for people of fashion, who
occasionally came to see the fun. Here we smoked and drank porter and
rum-and-water as much as we could pay for, and every man had his doxy
that liked; and, although we had a mixture of very odd company,—for I
believe it was a good deal the baiting-place of thieves and
highwaymen,—there was little or no rioting.’
During the period between Rosamond’s management and the conversion of
the place into a theatre for dramas of the kind for which the Adelphi
and the Coburg became famous at a later day, the entertainments at
Sadler’s Wells consisted of pantomimes and musical interludes. In
Forcer’s time, according to the account said to have been given by
Macklin, they consisted of ‘hornpipes and ballad singing, with a kind of
pantomime-ballet, and some lofty tumbling; and all done by daylight,
with four or five exhibitions every day. The proprietors had always a
fellow on the outside of the booth to calculate how many people were
collected for a second exhibition; and when he thought there were
enough, he came to the back of the upper seats, and cried out, “Is Hiram
Fisteman here?” That was the cant word agreed upon between the parties
to know the state of the people without: upon which they concluded the
entertainment with a song, dismissed the audience, and prepared for a
second representation.’
Joseph Clark, the posturer, was one of the wonders of London during the
reigns of James II. and William III., obtaining mention even in the
Transactions of the Philosophical Society, as having ‘such an absolute
command of all his muscles and joints that he could disjoint almost his
whole body.’ His exhibitions do not seem, however, to have been of a
pleasing character, consisting chiefly in the imitation of every kind of
human deformity. He could produce at will, and in a moment, without
padding, the semblance of a Quasimodo or a Tichborne Claimant, his ‘fair
round belly, with good capon lined,’ shift his temporary hump from one
side to the other, project either hip, and twist his limbs into every
conceivable complication. He could change his form so much as to defy a
tailor to measure him, and imposed so completely on Molins, a famous
surgeon of that time, as to be regarded by him as an incurable cripple.
His portrait in Tempest’s collection shows him shouldering his leg, an
antic which is imitated by a monkey.
There was a famous vaulter of this time, named William Stokes, who seems
to have been the first to introduce horses in the performance; and in a
book called the _Vaulting Master_, published at Oxford in 1652, boasts
that he had reduced vaulting to a method. The book is illustrated by
plates, representing different examples of his practice, in which he is
shown vaulting over one or more horses, or leaping upon them; in one
alighting in the saddle, and in another upon the bare back of a horse.
It is singular that this last feat should not have been performed after
Stokes’s time, until Alfred Bradbury exhibited it a few years ago at the
Amphitheatre in Holborn. It is improbable that Bradbury had seen the
book, and his performance of the feat is, in that case, one more
instance of the performance of an original act by more than one person
at considerable intervals of time.
May Fair, which has given its name to a locality now aristocratic,
introduces us, in 1702—the year in which the fearful riot occurred in
which a constable was killed there—to Thomas Simpson, an equestrian
vaulter, described in a bill of Husband’s booth as ‘the famous vaulting
master of England.’ A few years later a bill of the entertainments of
Bartholomew Fair, preserved in Bagford’s collection in the library of
the British Museum, mentions tight-rope dancing and some performing
dogs, which had had the honour of appearing before Queen Anne and ‘most
of the quality.’ The vaulters, and posturers, and tight-rope performers
of this period were not all the vagabonds they were in the eye of the
law. Fawkes, a posturer and juggler of the first half of the eighteenth
century, started, in conjunction with a partner named Pinchbeck, a show
which was for many years one of the chief attractions of the London
fairs, and appears to have realized a considerable fortune.
The earliest notice of Vauxhall Gardens occurs in the _Spectator_ of May
20th, 1712, in a paper written by Addison, when they had probably just
been opened. They were then a fashionable promenade, the entertainments
for which the place was afterwards famous not being introduced until at
least a century later. In 1732 they were leased to Jonathan Tyers, whose
name is preserved in two neighbouring streets, Tyers Street and Jonathan
Street; and ten years later they were purchased by the same individual,
and became as famous as Ranelagh Gardens for musical entertainments and
masked balls. Admission was by season tickets only, and it is worthy of
note that the inimitable Hogarth, from whose designs of the four parts
of the day Hayman decorated the concert-room, furnished the design for
the tickets, which were of silver. Tyers gave Hogarth a gold ticket of
perpetual admission for six persons, or one coach; and the artist’s
widow bequeathed it to a relative. This unique relic of the departed
glories of Vauxhall was last used in 1836, and is now in the possession
of Mr Frederick Gye, who gave twenty pounds for it.
Hogarth’s picture of Southwark Fair introduces to us more than one of
that generation of the strange race whose several varieties contribute
so much to the amusement of the public. The slack-rope performer is
Violante, of whom we read in Malcolm’s _Londinium Redivivus_ that, ‘soon
after the completion of the steeple [St Martin’s in the Fields], an
adventurous Italian, named Violante, descended from the arches, head
foremost, on a rope stretched thence across St Martin’s Lane to the
Royal Mews; the princesses being present, and many eminent persons.’
Hogarth shows another performer of this feat in the background of his
picture, namely, Cadman, who was killed in 1740, in an attempt to
descend from the summit of a church-steeple in Shrewsbury. The
circumstances of this sad catastrophe are set forth in the epitaph on
the unfortunate man’s gravestone, which is as follows:—
‘Let this small monument record the name
Of Cadman, and to future times proclaim
Here, by an attempt to fly from this high spire
Across the Sabrine stream, he did acquire
His fatal end. ’Twas not for want of skill
Or courage to perform the task, he fell:
No, no—a faulty cord, being drawn too tight
Hurried his soul on high to take her flight,
Which bid the body here beneath good night.’
The earliest advertisement of Sadler’s Wells which I have been able to
find is one of 1739, which states that ‘the usual diversions will begin
this day at five o’clock in the evening, with a variety of rope-dancing,
tumbling, singing, and several new entertainments of dancing, both
serious and comic; concluding with the revived grotesque pantomime
called _Happy Despair_, with additions and alterations.’ An
advertisement of the following year introduces Miss Rayner as a
performer on the tight rope, who in 1748 appeared in conjunction with a
younger sister. The acrobats of the latter period were Williams, Hough,
and Rayner, the latter probably father or brother of the fair performers
on the _corde elastique_.
The New Wells, at the bottom of Leman Street, Goodman’s Fields, were
opened at this time, and introduced to the public a French rope-dancer
named Dugée, who also tumbled, in conjunction with Williams, who had
left the Islington place of entertainment, and another acrobat named
Janno. Williams is announced in an advertisement of 1748 to vault over
the heads of ten men. The admission here was by payment for a pint of
wine or punch, which was the case also at Sadler’s Wells at this time;
but in an announcement of a benefit the charges for admission are stated
at eighteen-pence and half-a-crown, with the addition that the night
will be moonlight, and that wine may be obtained at two shillings per
bottle.
Twenty years later, we find announced at Sadler’s Wells, ‘feats of
activity by Signor Nomora and Signora Rossi, and many curious and
uncommon equilibres by Le Chevalier des Linges.’ In 1771 the
rope-dancers here were Ferzi (sometimes spelt Farci) and Garmon, who
was, a few years later, a member of the first company formed by the
celebrated Philip Astley for the Amphitheatre in the Westminster Road.
The first equestrian performances ever seen in England, other than those
of the itinerant exhibitors of performing horses, were given on the site
of Dobney’s Place, at the back of Penton Street, Islington. It was then
a tea-garden and bowling-green, to which one Johnson, who obtained a
lease of the premises in 1767, added such performances as then attracted
seekers after amusement to Sadler’s Wells. One Price, concerning whose
antecedents the strictest research has failed to discover any
information, gave equestrian performances at this place in 1770, and
soon had a rival in one Sampson, who performed similar feats in a field
behind the Old Hats.
About the same time, feats of horsemanship were exhibited in Lambeth, in
a field near Halfpenny Hatch, which, it may be necessary to inform your
readers, stood where a broad ditch, which then ran through the fields
and market gardens now covered by the streets between Westminster Road
and Blackfriars Road, was crossed by a swivel bridge. There was a narrow
pathway through the fields and gardens, for the privilege of using which
a halfpenny was paid to the owners at a cottage near the bridge. In one
of these fields Philip Astley—a great name in circus annals—formed his
first ring with a rope and some stakes, going round with his hat after
each performance to collect the loose halfpence of the admiring
spectators.
This remarkable man was born in 1742, at Newcastle-under-Lyme, where his
father carried on the business of a cabinet-maker. He received little or
no education, and after working a few years with his father, enlisted in
a cavalry regiment. His imposing appearance, being over six feet in
height, with the proportions of a Hercules, and the voice of a Stentor,
attracted attention to him; and his capture of a standard at the battle
of Emsdorff made him one of the celebrities of his regiment. While
serving in the army, he learned some feats of horsemanship from an
itinerant equestrian named Johnson, perhaps the man under whose
management Price introduced equestrian performances at Sadler’s
Wells,—and often exhibited them for the amusement of his comrades. On
his discharge from the army, he was presented by General Elliot with a
horse, and thereupon he bought another in Smithfield, and commenced
those open-air performances in Lambeth which have already been noticed.
After a time, he built a rude circus upon a piece of ground near
Westminster Bridge which had been used as a timber-yard, being the site
of the theatre which has been known by his name for nearly a century.
Only the seats were roofed over, the ring in which he performed being
open to the air. One of his horses, which he had taught to perform a
variety of tricks, he soon began to exhibit, at an earlier period of
each day, in a large room in Piccadilly, where the entertainment was
eked out with conjuring and _ombres Chinoises_—a kind of shadow
pantomime.
One of the earliest advertisements of the Surrey side establishment sets
forth that the entertainment consisted of ‘horsemanship by Mr Astley, Mr
Taylor, Signor Markutchy, Miss Vangable, and other transcendent
performers,’—a minuet by two horses, ‘in a most extraordinary manner,’—a
comical musical interlude, called _The Awkward Recruit_, and an ‘amazing
exhibition of dancing dogs from France and Italy, and other genteel
parts of the globe.’
One of the advertisements of Astley’s performances for 1772, one of the
very few that can be found of that early date, is as follows:—
‘Horsemanship and New Feats of Activity. This and every Evening at six,
Mr and Mrs Astley, Mrs Griffiths, Costmethopila, and a young Gentleman,
will exhibit several extraordinary feats on one, two, three, and four
horses, at the foot of Westminster Bridge.
‘These feats of activity are in number upwards of fifty; to which is
added the new French piece, the different characters by Mr Astley,
Griffiths, Costmethopila, &c. Each will be dressed and mounted on droll
horses.
‘Between the acts of horsemanship, a young gentleman will exhibit
several pleasing heavy balances, particularly this night, with a young
Lady nine years old, never performed before in Europe; after which Mr
Astley will carry her on his head in a manner quite different from all
others. Mrs Astley will likewise perform with two horses in the same
manner as she did before their Majesties of England and France, being
the only one of her sex that ever had that honour. The doors to be
opened at five, and begin at six o’clock. A commodious gallery, 120 feet
long, is fitted up in an elegant manner. Admittance there as usual.
‘N.B. Mr Astley will display the broad-sword, also ride on a single
horse, with one foot on the saddle, the other on his head, and every
other feat which can be exhibited by any other. With an addition of
twenty extraordinary feats, such as riding on full speed, with his head
on a common pint pot, at the rate of twelve miles an hour, &c.
‘☞ To specify the particulars of Mr Astley’s performance would fill this
side of the paper, therefore please to ask for a bill at the door, and
see that the number of fifty feats are performed, Mr Astley having
placed them in acts as the performance is exhibited. The amazing little
Military Horse, which fires a pistol at the word of command, will this
night exhibit upwards of twenty feats in a manner far superior to any
other, and meets with the greatest applause.’
An advertisement issued at the close of the season, in 1775, announces
‘the last new feats of horsemanship, four persons on three horses, or a
journey to Paris; also, the _pynamida_ on full speed by Astley, Griffin,
and Master Phillips.’ This curious word is probably a misprint for
‘pyramids.’
In this year, Richer, the famous harlequin, revived the ladder-dancing
feat at Sadler’s Wells, where he also joined in the acrobatic
performances of Rayner, Garmon, and Huntley, the last being a new
addition to the _troupe_. Other ‘feats of activity’ were performed by
the Sigols, and Ferzi and others exhibited their evolutions on the
tight-rope. The same names appear in the advertisements of the following
year, when rivals appeared in vaulting and tight-rope dancing at
Marylebone Gardens.
‘As Mr Astley’s celebrated new performances at Westminster Bridge draws
near to a conclusion,’ says one of the great equestrian’s advertisements
of 1776, ‘it is humbly requested the present opportunity may not escape
the notice of the ladies and gentlemen. Perhaps such another exhibition
is not to be found in Europe. To the several entertainments of the
riding-school is added, the Grand Temple of Minerva, acknowledged by all
ranks of people to be extremely beautiful. The curtain of the Temple to
ascend at five o’clock, and descend at six, at which time the grand
display will be made in a capital manner, consisting of rope-vaulting on
full swing, with many new pleasing additions of horsemanship, both
serious and comic; various feats of activity and comic tumbling, the
learned little horse, the Roman battle, _le force d’Hercule_, or the
Egyptian pyramids, an entertainment never seen in England; with a
variety of other performances extremely entertaining. The doors to be
opened at five, and begin at six precisely. Admittance in the gallery
2_s._, the riding school 1_s._ A price by no means adequate to the
evening’s diversion.’
Having saved some money out of the proceeds of these performances,
Astley erected the Amphitheatre, which, in its early years, resembled
the present circus in Holborn more than the building subsequently
identified with the equestrian triumphs of Ducrow. Chinese shadows were
still found attractive, it seems, for they constitute the first item in
one of the programmes of 1780, in which year the Amphitheatre was
opened. Then came feats of horsemanship by Griffin, Jones, and Miller,
the clown to the ring being Burt. Tumbling—‘acrobatics’ had not been
extracted from the Greek dictionary in those days—by Nevit, Porter,
Dawson, and Garmon followed; and it is worthy of remark that none of the
circus performers of the last century seem to have deemed it expedient
to Italianize their names, or to assume fanciful appellations, such as
the Olympian Brothers, or the Marvels of Peru. After the tumbling, the
feat of riding two and three horses at the same time was exhibited, the
performer modestly concealing his name, which was probably Philip
Astley. Next came ‘slack-rope vaulting in full swing, in different
attitudes,’ tricks on chairs and ladders, a burlesque equestrian act by
the clown, and, lastly, ‘the amazing performance of men piled upon men,
or the Egyptian pyramid.’
About the same time that the Amphitheatre was opened, the Royal Circus,
which afterwards became the Surrey Theatre, was erected in Blackfriar’s
Road by the elder Dibdin and an equestrian named Hughes, who is
described as a man of fine appearance and immense strength. The place
being unlicensed, the lessees had to close it in the midst of success;
but a license was obtained, and it was re-opened in March, 1783.
Burlettas were here combined with equestrian performances, and for some
time a spirited competition with Astley’s was maintained. The
advertisements of the Circus are as curious for their grammar and
strange sprinkling of capitals as for their personal allusions. A few
specimens culled from the newspapers of the period are subjoined:—
No. 1.—‘The celebrated Sobieska Clementina and Mr Hughes on Horseback
will end on Monday next, the 4th of October; until then they will
display the whole of their Performances, which are allowed, by those who
know best, to be the completest of the kind in Europe. Hughes humbly
thanks the Nobility, &c., for the honour of their support, and also
acquaints them his Antagonist has catched a bad cold so near to
Westminster bridge, and for his recovery is gone to a warmer Climate,
which is Bath in Somersetshire. He boasts, poor Fellow, no more of
activity, and is now turned Conjuror, in the character of ‘Sieur the
Great.’ Therefore Hughes is unrivalled, and will perform his surprising
feats accordingly at his Horse Academy, until the above Day. The Doors
to be opened at Four o’clock, and Mounts at half-past precisely. H. has
a commodious Room, eighty feet long. N. B. Sobieska rides on one, two,
and three horses, being the only one of her Sex that ever performed on
one, two, and three.’
No. 2.—‘Hughes has the honour to inform the Nobility, &c., that he has
no intention of setting out every day to France for three following
Seasons, his Ambition being fully satisfied by the applause he has
received from Foreign Gentlemen who come over the Sea to See him.
Clementina and Miss Huntly ride one, two, and three horses at full
speed, and takes Leaps surprising. A little Lady, only Eight Years old,
rides Two Horses at full gallop by herself, without the assistance of
any one to hold her on. Enough to put any one in fits to see her. H.
will engage to ride in Twenty Attitudes that never were before
attempted; in particular, he will introduce his Horse of Knowledge,
being the only wise animal in the Metropolis. A Sailor in full gallop to
Portsmouth, without a bit of Bridle or Saddle. The Maccaroni Tailor
riding to Paris for new Fashions. This being Mr Pottinger’s night, he
will speak a Prologue adapted to the noble art of Riding, and an
Epilogue also suited to Extraordinary Leaps. Tickets (2_s._) to be had
of Mr Wheble, bookseller, Paternoster-row, and at H.’s Riding School.
Mounts half-past four.’
No. 3.—‘Hughes, with the celebrated Sobieska Clementina, the famous Miss
Huntly, and an astonishing Young Gentleman (son of a Person of Quality),
will exhibit at Blackfriars-road more Extraordinary things than ever yet
witnessed, such as leaping over a Horse forty times without stopping
between the springs—Leaps the Bar standing on the Saddle with his Back
to the Horse’s Tail, and, _Vice-Versa_, Rides at full speed with his
right Foot on the Saddle, and his left Toe in his Mouth, two surprising
Feet. Mrs Hughes takes a fly and fires a Pistol—rides at full speed
standing on Pint Pots—mounts pot by pot, higher still, to the terror of
all who see her. H. carries a lady at full speed over his
head—surprising! The young gentleman will recite verses of his own
making, and act Mark Antony, between the leaps. Clementina every night—a
commodious room for the nobility.’
The excitement of apparent danger was evidently as much an element of
the popular interest in circus performances a century ago as at the
present day.
Colonel West, to whom the ground on which the circus was erected
belonged, became a partner in the enterprise, and invested a large
amount in it. On his death the concern became very much embarrassed, and
struggled for several years with a load of debt. Hughes was succeeded as
manager by Grimaldi, a Portuguese, the grandfather of the famous clown
whom some of us remember at Covent Garden; and Grimaldi, in 1780, by
Delpini, an Italian buffo singer, under whose management the novel
spectacle of a stag-hunt was introduced in the arena.
Sadler’s Wells continued to give the usual entertainment, the
advertisements of 1780 announcing ‘a great variety of singing, dancing,
tumbling, posturing, rope-dancing,’ &c., by the usual very capital
performers, and others, more particularly tumbling by Rayner, Tully,
Huntley, Garmon, and Grainger, ‘pleasing and surprising feats of
strength and agility’ by Richer and Baptiste, and their pupils, and
tight-rope dancing by Richer, Baptiste, and Signora Mariana, varied
during a portion of the season by the last-named _artiste’s_ ‘new and
extraordinary performance on the slack wire, particularly a curious
display of two flags, and a pleasing trick with a hoop and three glasses
of wine.’
Astley’s soon became a popular place of amusement for all classes.
Horace Walpole, writing to Lord Stafford, says:—
‘London, at this time of the year [September], is as nauseous a drug as
any in an apothecary’s shop. I could find nothing at all to do, and so
went to Astley’s, which, indeed, was much beyond my expectation. I do
not wonder any longer that Darius was chosen King by the instructions he
gave to his horse; nor that Caligula made his Consul. Astley can make
his dance minuets and hornpipes. But I shall not have even Astley now:
Her Majesty the Queen of France, who has as much taste as Caligula, has
sent for the whole of the _dramatis personæ_ to Paris.’
Among the expedients to which Astley occasionally had recourse for the
purpose of drawing a great concourse of people to the Surrey side of the
Thames was a balloon ascent, an attraction frequently had recourse to in
after times at Vauxhall, the Surrey Gardens, Cremorne, the Crystal
Palace, and other places of popular resort. The balloon was despatched
from St George’s Fields on the 12th of March, 1784, ‘in the presence,’
says a writer in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, ‘of a greater number of
spectators than were, perhaps, ever assembled together on any occasion;’
and he adds that, ‘many of the spectators will have reason to remember
it; for a more ample harvest for the pickpockets never was presented.
Some noblemen and gentlemen lost their watches, and many their purses.
The balloon, launched about half-past one in the afternoon, was found at
Faversham.’ This ascent took place within two months after that of the
Montgolfiere balloon at Lyons, and was, therefore, probably the first
ever attempted in this country; while, by a strange coincidence, the
first aerostatic experiment ever made in Scotland was made on the same
day that Astley’s ascended, but about an hour later, from Heriot’s
Gardens, Edinburgh.
Horace Walpole writes, in allusion to a subsequent balloon ascent, and
the excitement which it created in the public mind,—
‘I doubt it has put young Astley’s nose out of joint, who went to Paris
lately under their Queen’s protection, and expected to be Prime
Minister, though he only ventured his neck by dancing a minuet on three
horses at full gallop, and really in that attitude has as much grace as
the Apollo Belvedere.’ The fame of the Astleys receives further
illustration from a remark of Johnson’s, that ‘Whitfield never drew as
much attention as a mountebank does: he did not draw attention by doing
better than others, but by doing what was strange. Were Astley to preach
a sermon standing on his head, or on a horse’s back, he would collect a
multitude to hear him; but no wise man would say he had made a better
sermon for that.’
The earliest displayed advertisement of Astley’s which I have been able
to discover, is as follows, which appeared in 1788:
ASTLEY’S AMPHITHEATRE, WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.
YOUNG ASTLEY’S
SURPRISING EQUESTRIAN EXERCISES.
_In the intervals_
A NEW WAR ENTERTAINMENT,
In which will be introduced a SINGLE COMBAT with the BROADSWORD between
YOUNG ASTLEY, as a British Sailor, and MR J. TAYLOR, as a Savage Chief;
after which a General Engagement between British Sailors and Savages.
The Scenery, Machinery, Songs, Dances, and Dresses, adapted to the
manners of the different Countries.
TUMBLING
By a most capital Group.
A NEW COMIC DANCE, CALLED
THE GERMAN CHASSEURS,
With New Music, Dresses, &c.
A MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT, CALLED
THE INVITATION.
The Songs and Choruses, together with the
Dresses, entirely new.
A GRAND ENTRY OF HORSES.
A MINUET DANCE BY TWO HORSES,
And other extraordinary performances by the Horses.
A New Comic Dance, called
THE ETHIOPIAN FESTIVAL,
In which will be introduced a New Pas de Trois, never performed in
London, Composed by Mons. Vermigli, _Eleve de l’Opera_, and danced by
him, Mr Marqui, and Mr J. Taylor, representing the whimsical Actions and
Attitudes made use of by the Negroes. After which a Pas de Deux,
composed by Mons. Ferrer, and danced by him and Mad. Fuzzi, in the
character of an Indian Prince and Princess. The Music and Dresses
entirely new.
A New favourite Song, by MR JOHANNOT, Called
Bow-wow-wow.
HORSEMANSHIP.
AND OTHER EXERCISES,
By Master Crossman, Mr Jenkins, Mr Lonsdale, Mr J. Taylor, and Miss
Vangabel; Clown, Mr Miller.
The whole to conclude with a New Entertainment of Singing, Dancing, and
Dumb-Shew to Speaking Music, called the
MAGIC WORLD.
In which will be introduced, behind a large transparent Painting,
representing the enchanted World, a variety of Magical, Pantomimical,
Farcical, Tragical, Comic Deceptions; together with a grand Procession
of Caricature Figures, displaying a variety of whimsical Devices in a
manner entirely New.
Doors to be opened at half-past Five, and to begin precisely at
half-past Six.
BOXES 3_s._—PIT 2_s._—GALL. 1_s._—SIDE
GALL. 6_d._
I found this advertisement, and the following one, which was issued in
the same year, but at a later period, in a collection of similar
literary curiosities purchased at the sale of the effects of the late Mr
Lacey, the well-known theatrical bookseller, of the Strand.
THIS EVENING, will be presented at
ASTLEY’S,
An entire new pantomimic Dance, called
THE HUMOURS OF GIL BLAS
(A Parody)
As performed with applause at the Theatres on the Boulevards, Paris.
Gil Blas, _Mr Jenkins_—His Father, _Mr Henley_—Uncle, _Mr
Lonsdale_—Servant, _Mr Bell_—Flash the Spaniard, _Mr Ferrere_—Mungo,
his Servant, _Master Collet_—Doctor, _Mr Fox_—Maria (fat Cook), _Mr
Connell_—Spanish Lady, _Mrs Stevens_—Gil Blas Mother, _Mrs
Henley_—Post Boy, _Master Crossman_—Captain of the Banditti, _Mr
Johannot_—Lieutenant, _Mr Fox_—Signal Man, _Mr De Castro_—Spy, _Mr
Millard_—Captain of the Cavern, _Mr Wallack_.
The Rest of the Banditti, by the Remainder of the Company. Dancers,
_Mons. Vermigli_, _Madame Ferrere_, and _Mademoiselle Meziere_.
To conclude with
A SPANISH FAIR,
In which will be introduced a multiplicity of Drolls, Shews, &c., with a
surprising Real Gigantic Spanish Pig, measuring from head to tail 12
feet, and 12 hands high, weighing 12 cwt., which will be rode by a
Monkey.
HORSEMANSHIP
By YOUNG ASTLEY, and other Capital
Performers.
A Musical Piece, called
THE DIAMOND RING:
Or, THE JEW OUTWITTED.
Israel, _Mr De Castro_—Harry, _Mr Millard_—Feignlove, _Mr Fox_—Maid,
_Mrs Wallack_—Lucy Feignlove, _Mrs Henley_.
TUMBLING
By Mr Lonsdale, Mr Jenkins, Mr Bell, Master Crossman, Master Jenkinson,
Master Collet, and others.
A favourite Dance, composed by Mons. Vermigli, (_Eleve de l’Opera_)
called
THE SPORTS OF THE VILLAGE.
A Musical Piece, called
THE BLACK AND WHITE MILLINERS.
Tiffany, _Mr Connell_—Myrtle, _Mr Wallack_—Timewell, _Mr Miller_—Doctor
Spruce, _Mr Fox_—Sprightly, _Mr Johannot_—Nancy, _Mrs Wallack_—Fanny,
_Mrs Wigley_—Mrs Tiffany, _Mrs Henley_.
The whole to conclude with a Pantomime, called
THE MAGIC WORLD,
In which will be introduced behind a large transparent Painting,
representing the enchanted World, a variety of magical, pantomimical,
farcical, tragical, comic Deceptions, together with a Grand Procession
of Caricature Figures, displaying a variety of whimsical Devices, with
the Emblems of the Inhabitants of the Four Quarters of the Globe, in a
Manner entirely New.
To finish with
THE GIBRALTAR CHARGER:
Surrounded by a Chain of Fire.
Equestrianism does not make a very important figure in the announcements
of the Royal Circus at this period, which simply inform the public that
‘the performances will commence with horsemanship by Mr Hughes and his
unrivaled pupils.’ The programme was chiefly musical, and concluded with
a pantomime, in which Rayner, the acrobat, from Sadler’s Wells,
sustained the part of Harlequin. At the latter place of amusement,
charges ranging from a shilling to three shillings and sixpence were now
made for admission, and the performances, other than music and dancing,
consisted of posturing by a boy called the Infant Hercules, and
tight-rope dancing by Madame Romaine, another female _artiste_ known as
_La Belle Espagnole_, and two lads, one of whom was a son of Richer, the
other known as the Little Devil. Grimaldi the Second, son of the manager
of the Royal Circus, and father of the famous Joey Grimaldi, was clown
at this establishment for many years, commencing, it is said, at the
munificent salary of three shillings per week, which was gradually
raised until, in 1794, we find him receiving four pounds per week.
I cannot better conclude this chapter than with the following strictures
upon the places of amusement to which it chiefly relates, culled from a
newspaper of 1788:—
‘If the objections which are made to permitting the present existing
theatres or places of public amusement to continue arises from a
principle of morality, which indeed is the only plea of opposition which
can be alleged, it is somewhat strange that the only exception should be
made in favour of Sadler’s Wells, at which _alone_, it is worthy of
remark, a man may if he chooses get drunk. A pint of liquor is included
in the price of admittance, but as much more may be had as any person
chooses to call for. The heat of the place is a great inducement, and we
believe many _females_ have from that cause drank more than has let them
depart in their sober senses, the consequences of which are obvious.
This is not permitted at Astley’s, the Circus, or the Royalty.’
The last-mentioned place of amusement was a Variety Theatre, in Wells
Street, Goodman’s Fields, which had risen out of the New Wells, and gave
entertainments similar to those of Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Circus.