killed here. And then, in the reigns of 'Bloody Mary' and of
Elizabeth, this was the place of public execution. Way back in 1305,
the patriot William Wallace was hanged here, and after him came a long
line of sufferers,--among them Anne Askew, Rogers, Bradford, and
Philpot, who were persecuted because of their adherence to the
Protestant Religion. After that terrible period, Smithfield was for
many years the only cattle-market in London; and here was held
Bartholomew Fair, also. Don't you agree that this square has had
about as varied a history as is very well possible?"
The church of St. Bartholomew the Great, one of the oldest and most
interesting in London, is reached from Smithfield by an inconspicuous
arch, which leads to a narrow walk close beside brick walls. At the
further end is the facade of the church, which boasts of having been
erected in 1123, by Rahere, who also founded the neighboring Hospital
of St. Bartholomew.
Once inside the doorway, the visitor feels as though he had actually
stepped back many centuries, for, as Baedeker says, "the existing
church, consisting merely of the choir, the crossing, and one bay of
the nave of the original Priory Church, is mainly pure Norman work, as
left by Rahere." Here again, the visitor encounters that strange
atmosphere which belongs to the place pervaded by great age.
"You see," explained Mrs. Pitt, "the church which we see is only a
very small part of the original edifice as Rahere built it. The
entrance from Smithfield was probably the door to the nave, which was
where the grave-yard now stands. It's curious, isn't it, how the
centuries alter things! Now, step over here, out of the way of the
door, and let me tell you a bit about this old church and its founder.
This Rahere was the King's jester, who came to see the error of his
ways, grew very religious, and went on a pilgrimage. While on his
journey back, he became seriously ill, and turned to St. Bartholomew
for healing, promising to build a hospital for poor men if his
petition were granted. He was cured, and on his return to London, he
built the hospital and also this church, in which he is himself
buried."
They were all delighted with this story, and went immediately to find
Rahere's tomb, of which the ancient effigy is covered by a fine canopy
of much later date. One other tomb is that of Sir Walter Mildmay, who
was Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth, and founder of
Emmanuel College, Oxford. John discovered the following quaint
epitaph, which greatly amused the entire party:
"Shee first deceased, Hee for a little Tryd,
To live without her, likd it not, and dyd."
This adorns the tomb of John and Margaret Whiting, in the north
transept.
Some time was passed in this wonderful church,--climbing the tiny,
spiral stairs up to the clerestory, and going cautiously along the bit
of a walk at this dizzy height above the floor of the church.
It needs time and much study to appreciate this sad old church, which,
in spite of its broken pieces of marble, and ruined splendor and
perfection of form, still bravely stands,--a lonely and pathetic relic
of its grand past. A young person can scarcely understand it at all;
it needs a grown man or woman whose experience enables him to read in
the crumbling pillars and walls, stories of the times when England was
young, the Church was the great glory and power, and there still lived
men who were "fair and fortunate."
In the vicinity of Smithfield are a number of quaint nooks and corners
of old London. Many consider that the very best idea of the ancient
city may now be had in Cloth Fair and Bartholomew Close, both of which
are in this neighborhood. Here are still standing genuine Sixteenth
Century houses amid much darkness and dirt.
"Here in Bartholomew Close," stated Mrs. Pitt, "Benjamin Franklin
learned his trade of printing, and Washington Irving, John Milton, and
the painter Hogarth, all lived."
From Smithfield they hastily betook themselves, by means of hansoms,
to Crosby Hall, there to have luncheon. Mrs. Pitt laughed heartily
when John said how glad he was to be able to eat amid ancient
surroundings. He declared that he had been spending the entire morning
so very far back in the Middle Ages, that it would have been too great
a shock had he been taken immediately to a vulgar, modern restaurant.
When they had finished their luncheon and were waiting on a street
corner for the arrival of a certain bus, suddenly a thrill of
excitement went through the crowd, all traffic was quickly drawn up at
the sides of the street where it halted, and a weird cry of
"Hi-yi-yi-yi-yi" was heard in the distance.
"It's the fire-brigade," cried Philip, whereupon he and John were
tense with anticipation.
Down the cleared street came the galloping horses with the
fire-engines, the men clinging to them wearing dark-blue uniforms with
red bindings, big brass helmets, which gleamed in the sunshine, and
hatchets in their belts.
It happened that the fire was very near where our friends were
standing, so at the eager solicitations of the two boys, Mrs. Pitt
consented to follow on and watch operations.
"So it really is a fire this time," she said to Betty, as they hurried
along. "We have very, very few in London, and when the brigade is out,
it is generally only for exercise or practice. But, it will interest
you and John to see how we fight a fire, and to observe whether the
methods differ from yours."
A building on Bishopsgate Street was really very much on fire when the
party reached the spot, and the firemen were hard at work. Although
the buildings are not high (or at least not according to American
standards), the men use very strong ladders, which can be pulled out
so that they will reach to great heights. But the queerest thing of
all in John's estimation was the way in which the people on the top
floor of the building were rescued.
A long canvas tube was carried up a ladder by a fireman, who attached
it to the frame of an upper window. The occupants of that floor were
then slid one by one to the ground through this tube, being caught at
the bottom by the firemen.
"Well, did you ever see anything like that!" cried John, amazed at the
funny sight. "It's great, I say! I'd like to try it!"
All the way up town, the talk was of fires. John had been tremendously
interested in the English methods, and was planning to introduce the
use of the canvas tube to his own city through a good Irish friend of
his at a Boston fire-station.
"Honor bright, don't you have many fires over here?" he demanded of
Mrs. Pitt. "We have 'em all the time at home. It must be stupid here
without 'em!"
"No, we really have very few," Mrs. Pitt responded. "In winter, there
are a number of small outbreaks, but those are very slight. You see,
we burn soft coal, and if the chimney is not swept out quite
regularly, the soot which gathers there is apt to get afire. When a
chimney does have a blaze, the owner has to pay a fine of one pound,
or five dollars, to make him remember his chimney. In olden times,
perhaps two hundred and fifty years ago, there used to be a tax
levied on every chimney in a house. There's a curious old epitaph in
a church-yard at Folkestone, which bears upon this subject. It reads
something like this:
'A house she hath, 'tis made in such good fashion,
That tenant n'ere shall pay for reparation,
Nor will her landlord ever raise her rent,
Nor turn her out-of-doors for non-payment,
From chimney-money too, this house is free,
Of such a house who would not tenant be.'"
They all joined in a good laugh over this, but Betty remarked that she
thought it was "more of an advertisement for a house than an epitaph."
Their particular bus had been slowly making its way down Ludgate Hill,
along Fleet Street, into the Strand, through Trafalgar Square and
Piccadilly Circus, into Piccadilly itself, and had now reached Hyde
Park Corner, where our friends climbed down the stairs and swung
themselves off.
Betty was grumbling just a little. "I never can get down those tiny
stairs," she exclaimed, "without almost bumping my head and catching
my umbrella in the stair-rail!"
Mrs. Pitt smiled. "That shows you are not a true Londoner, my dear. We
are never troubled. But, never mind; they don't have buses in
Switzerland."
At this, Betty was instantly herself again. "London wouldn't be London
without the funny, inconvenient buses, I know. And it's dear, every
inch of it,--buses and all!"
Mrs. Pitt pointed out Apsley House, where lived the great Duke of
Wellington. A curious fact about this stately old mansion is that on
fine afternoons, the shadow of a nearby statue of this hero is thrown
full upon the front of his former home.
[Illustration: OLD GENTLEMEN, STOUT LADIES, YOUNG PEOPLE, AND SMALL
CHILDREN, ALL RIDE IN ENGLAND. _Page 287._]
As they were about to enter Hyde Park through the imposing gate, Mrs.
Pitt said:--
"When we stand here and gaze at this scene before us,--the crowd,
beautiful park, fine hotels, houses, and shops,--it is hard to realize
that this was a dangerous, remote district as recently as 1815. That
was the time of many daring robberies, you know, when it was not safe
walking, riding, or even traveling in a big coach, because of the
highwaymen. Even so late as the year I just mentioned, this vicinity
from Hyde Park to Kensington was patrolled, and people went about in
companies so as to be comparatively secure."
The remainder of that lovely afternoon was spent in Hyde Park,
watching the riding and driving. Having paid the fee of threepence
each for the use of their chairs, it was pleasant to sit and look on
at the gay sight. Old gentlemen, stout ladies, young people, and small
children, all ride, in England, and at certain times of the day,
during "the season" (May and June), Hyde Park is always filled with a
merry company. In midsummer it is rather more deserted, and yet the
walks stretching between the flower-beds, and the Serpentine stream,
are always flocking with people on summer Sundays or "bank holidays."
And so passed the last days which John and Betty spent in London. All
the favorite spots--Westminster Abbey, the Tower, Kensington Palace,
and many others--had to be revisited, just as though the young people
never thought to see them again; and then, at last came the day when
the father and mother were expected. They all trooped to Euston
Station to meet the train, and in triumph escorted the American
friends back to Cavendish Square. There they remained for two short
days and then carried the almost reluctant John and Betty away with
them. Mrs. Pitt, Philip, and Barbara remained behind on the platform,
waving a last good-by, and still hearing the many thanks and
expressions of gratitude which John and Betty had repeatedly poured
into their ears, in return for their delightful visit to England.
THE END.
INDEX
Addison, Joseph, 136
Alfred the Great, 222, 227, 229
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 223, 227
Anne of Cleves, 255, 257
Anne, Queen, 70, 112, 114
Arden, Forest of, 158, 169, 202
"As You Like It," 157
Austen, Jane, 226
Bankside, 90
Bartholomew Close, 281
Bear-baiting, 90
Becket, St. Thomas a, 254, 264
Bell Inn, Edmonton, 118
"Big Ben," 107
Blackheath, 256
Black Prince, Edward the, 120, 263
Boleyn, Anne, 61, 103, 128, 136
"Bow Bells," 17, 118
Bunyan, John, 89
Bus-drivers, 16
Buses, 11
Cambridge, 91
Canterbury, 261
Cathedral, 262
Chequers of Hope Inn, 267
Cloisters of Cathedral, 265
Pilgrims, 90, 252, 267
Shrine of St. Thomas a Becket, 263
St. Martin's Church, 269
Tales, 253
Carlyle, Thomas, 124
Caroline, Queen, 129
Chalfont St. Giles, 105
Charing Cross, 67
Charlecote, 167
Park, 167
Charles I, 100, 102
Charles II, 114, 257
Chatsworth House, 216
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 28, 112, 120, 252
Cheshire Cheese, 78
Clopton, Sir Hugh, 148
Cloth Fair, 281
Clovelly, 238
Court, 248
Hobby Drive, 248
Cockney, 16
Coventry, 200
Ford's Hospital, 201
"Peeping Tom," 200
St. Mary's Hall, 200
Cromwell, Oliver, 109, 136, 186, 198
Crosby Hall, 115
"Deans, Jeanie," 129
Deptford, 254
Devonshire, 238
Cream, 243
Legends of, 245
Dickens, Charles, 28, 257
Doomsday Book, 121
Drake, Sir Francis, 249, 255
Druids, 235
Edward I, 67, 113
III, 99, 113, 277
the Confessor, 112
Elizabeth, Queen, 52, 60, 69, 102, 112, 114, 129, 136, 169, 171, 197,
220, 255
Essex, Earl of, 61, 124
Eton School, 98
Evans, Mary Ann (George Eliot), 124
Fawkes, Guy, 58, 120
Fire Brigade, 282
Fountains Abbey, 208
Franklin, Benjamin, 282
Gastrell, Rev. Francis, 148
George III, 56, 126
Gilpin, John, 118
Globe Theatre, 90
Gray, Thomas, 96
Greville, Fulke, 192
Grey, Lady Jane, 61, 120
Gunpowder Plot, 58
Haddon Hall, 216
Hampton Court, 130
Harvard, John, 90, 146
Hathaway, Anne, 153, 157, 162
Henrietta Maria, Queen, 129
Henry II, 267
IV, 59, 263
V, 104, 113, 257
VII, Chapel of, 111
VIII, 100, 124, 128, 131, 257, 259
Hogarth, William, 282
Holbein, Hans, 89, 133
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford, 152
Horse Guards, 21, 275
Houses of Parliament, 13, 107, 123
Howard, Queen Catharine, 133, 136
Hyde Park Corner, 16, 285
Irving, Washington, 161, 282
James I of Scotland, 104
Jerusalem Chamber, 35
Kenilworth Castle, 196
Kew Gardens, 125
Palace, 126
Kingsley, Charles, 248
Lambeth Palace, 123
Leamington, 182
Leicester, Earl of, 59, 135, 171, 191, 198
"Little John," 206
Lollards, 124
London Bridge, 87
Mansfield, 203
Marlowe, Christopher, 255, 267
Mary, Queen, 76, 226
Queen of Scots, 112
"Midsummer Night's Dream," 157
Milton, John, 105, 282
Miracle Plays, 200
More, Sir Thomas, 53, 62, 89, 115, 124
National Gallery, 13, 275
Nelson, Lord, 13, 74, 114
Nottingham, 204, 214
Oxford, 18, 92
Paternoster Row, 118
Pembroke, Countess of, 48, 115
Penshurst Place, 42
Pepys, Samuel, 259
"Pickwick Papers," 258
Pitt, William, 26, 114
Pope, Alexander, 136
Prentices, 22
"Princes, the Little," 54
Public Record Office, 119
Rahere, 279
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 63, 120
Richard I, 211
II, 59, 113, 277
III, 115
Richmond Palace, 129
Park, 128
Robin Hood, 203
Robsart, Amy, 182, 194
Rochester, 258
Bull Inn, 258
Crown Inn, 259
Falstaff Inn, 260
Gad's Hill, 260
Restoration House, 259
White Hart Inn, 259
Round Table, the, 228
St. Augustine, 270
Bartholomew the Great,
Church of, 279
Cross Hospital, 230
Helen's Church, 116
Mary Overy, Southwark, 88
Paul's Cathedral, 69
Swithin, 223, 226
Salisbury Cathedral, 232
Sarum, Old, 234
Scott, Sir Walter, 196
Shakespeare, William, 28, 90, 117, 140, 169
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 99
Shooter's Hill, 257
Shottery, 163
Sidney, Sir Philip, 41, 73, 120
Smithfield, 276
Market, 276
Southwark, 90, 252
Cathedral, 88
Tabard Inn, 90, 252
Spenser, Edmund, 28, 49
Star and Garter Inn, Richmond, 127
Stoke Poges, 96
Stonehenge, 234
Stoneleigh Abbey, 201
Stone of Scone, 113
Stratford-on-Avon, 138
the "Birthplace," 140
Grammar School, 151
Guild Chapel, 150
Holy Trinity Church, 152
John Harvard House, 146
New Place, 147
Red Horse Hotel, 138
Shakespeare Hotel, 145
Shakespeare Memorial, 155
Weir Brake, 156
Streets in London, names of, 119
Swift, Dean, 136
Tabard Inn, 90, 252
"Tale of Two Cities," 257
Thames River, the, 122
Tower of London, 50
Trafalgar Square, 13, 21
Tyler, Wat, 278
Vauxhall, 124
Vernon, Dorothy, 217
Wallace, William, 278
Walpole, Horace, 136
Warwick Castle, 183
Guy of, 184, 195
Guy's Cliff, 194
Leicester's Hospital, 192
St. Mary's Church, 190
"The King-maker," 184
Vase, 187
Warwickshire, 167
Weir Brake, Stratford, 156
Wellington, Duke of, 74, 286
Westminster Abbey, 20
Chapter House, 34
Cloisters, 30
Hall, 108
School, 32
"Westward Ho!" 248
White Lodge, 129
William and Mary, 112, 114
William III, 134
Rufus, 108, 226
Winchester, 222
Cathedral, 224
County Court, 228
Hospital of St. Cross, 230
Windsor Castle, 99, 128
"Winter's Tale," 162
Wolsey, Cardinal, 120, 130
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