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Chronicles
OF
LONDON BRIDGE.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY D. S. MAURICE, FENCHURCH STREET.
[Illustration]
Chronicles
OF
LONDON BRIDGE:
BY
AN ANTIQUARY.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
SMITH, ELDER, AND CO.
CORNHILL.
M.DCCC.XXVII.
[Illustration]
TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL
JOHN GARRATT, ESQ.
ALDERMAN OF THE WARD OF BRIDGE WITHIN;
WHO, AS
LORD MAYOR OF LONDON,
LAID THE FIRST STONE
OF THE
NEW LONDON BRIDGE,
ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15th, 1825;
These Chronicles
ARE MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.
PREFACE.
The plan of narrative adopted in the ensuing pages, is recommended by
both the sanction and the example of very learned antiquity; since,
without referring to the numerous classical volumes, which have been
written upon the same principle, two of the most ancient and esteemed
works on English Jurisprudence have honoured it with their selection.
Of the accuracy of the historical events here recorded, the authorities
so explicitly cited are the most ample proofs; and, that they might be
the more generally interesting, whatever may have been their original
language, the whole are now given in English: so that an argument
should lose none of its effect from its too erudite obscurity, nor an
illustration any of its amusement by requiring to be translated.
The collection and arrangement of these materials have been a labour so
unexpectedly toilsome and extended, as, it is hoped, fully to excuse
every delay in the work’s appearance; and, but for the valuable aid
of those numerous friends who have so kindly assisted its progress,
it must have still been incomplete. Of these, the first and the most
fervent has been JOHN GARRATT, ESQ., who, by a singularly happy
coincidence, was at once the founder of the New London Bridge, as Lord
Mayor, and a native, and Alderman, of the Ward containing the Old one.
Of other benefactors to these sheets, the names of HENRY SMEDLEY,
ESQ.; H. P. STANDLEY, ESQ.; HENRY WOODTHORPE, ESQ., Town Clerk; MR.
JOSEPH YORK HATTON; MR. JOHN THOMAS SMITH, of the British Museum; MR.
WILLIAM UPCOTT, of the London Institution; and MR. WILLIAM KNIGHT, of
the New Bridge Works; will sufficiently evince the importance of their
communications; to whom, as well as to the many other friends, whose
kindnesses I am forbidden to enumerate, I thus offer my sincerest
acknowledgments. The Historians of the Metropolis have hitherto passed
over the subject of this work far too slightingly: it will be my most
ample praise to have endeavoured to supply that deficiency, by these
CHRONICLES OF LONDON BRIDGE.
_June 15th, 1827._
DESCRIPTIVE LIST
OF
THE EMBELLISHMENTS.
1. Historical Title-page, displaying a rich Gothic edifice,
surrounded by the Effigies, Armorial Ensigns, &c. of the most
eminent persons connected with the history of London Bridge. The
two upper figures represent Richard, Archbishop of Canterbury,
and Cardinal Hugo di Petraleone, who subscribed so liberally
to its original foundation, (see page 61,) and the two lower
ones, Kings John and Edward I., commemorative of the Bridge
having been finished in the reign of the former, and of the
several grants made to it by the latter. In the upper centre
is suspended a banner, with the present Royal Arms of England,
alluding to the foundation of the New London Bridge in the reign
of George IV.; and beneath it, a representation in tapestry, of
the triumphal entry of Henry V. across the ancient Bridge, in
1415, after the victory of Agincourt, described on pages 220-229:
at the sides of which are groups of banners, &c., commemorative
of some of the principal persons engaged in the battle. Below,
are the Armorial Ensigns of King Henry II., the Priory of St.
Mary Overies, the ancient device of Southwark, and the Monograms
of Peter of Colechurch, and Isenbert of Xainctes; the benefactors
and Architects of the First Stone Bridge at London. Beneath these
is a monumental effigy of Peter of Colechurch; under which appear
the ancient and modern Arms of the City of London, see page 177;
those of Robert Serle, Mercer, and Custos of London in 1214,
the principal citizen to whom the finishing of the Bridge was
entrusted, see page 73; those of Henry Walleis, Lord Mayor in
1282, and an eminent benefactor to London Bridge, see pages 131,
132; and in the centre, the shield of John Garratt, Esq., Alderman
of the Ward of Bridge-Within, and Lord Mayor in 1824-25, who laid
the First Stone of the New Edifice: see pages 635-660.--Designed
and Drawn by W. Harvey, from ancient Historical authorities.
Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
2. Antique Rosette Device on the Title-page, containing the
Armorial Ensigns of England, the City of London, the Borough of
Southwark, and the Priory of St. Mary Overies. Engraven by the
late W. Hughes.
3. Dedication Head-piece: An Ornamental Group, consisting of
the Armorial Ensigns, &c. of the City of London, the Company of
Goldsmiths, and the Right Worshipful John Garratt. Engraven by A.
J. Mason.
4. Page 1. Head-piece: Exterior view of the river-front of
Fishmongers’ Hall, with the Shades’ Tavern below it. Drawn and
Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
5. Initial Letter: View down Fish-Street-Hill, comprising the
Monument, St. Magnus’ Church, and the Northern entrance to London
Bridge. Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
6. Page 39. Ancient Monumental Effigy, from the Church of St.
Mary Overies, Southwark; reported to represent John Audery, the
Ferryman of the Thames, before the building of London Bridge.
Copied from an Etching by Mr. J. T. Smith, Keeper of the Prints
and Drawings in the British Museum. Drawn and Engraven by G. W.
Moore.
7. Page 57. Ancient Water-Quintain, as it was played at upon the
River Thames, near London Bridge, in the 12th century: Copied from
an Illuminated Manuscript in the Royal Library in the British
Museum. Drawn by W. H. Brooke; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
8. Page 57. Ancient Boat-Tournament of the same period: copied
from the same authority. Drawn and Engraven by the same.
9. Page 74. Architectural Elevation of the Centre and Southwark
end of the First Stone Bridge erected over the Thames at London,
A. D. 1209. Drawn from Vertue’s Prints, and other authorities;
Engraven by the late W. Hughes.
10. Page 80. Ground-plan of London Bridge, as first built of Stone
by Peter of Colechurch, A. D. 1209. Drawn from the measurements
and surveys of Vertue and Hawksmoor; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
11. Page 84. Western Exterior of the Chapel of St. Thomas, on the
centre pier of the First Stone London Bridge, A. D. 1209. Drawn
from the same authorities, and Engraven by the late W. Hughes.
12. Page 85. Interior View of the Upper Chapel contained in the
above, looking Westward. Drawn from Vertue’s Prints, and Engraven
by the late W. Hughes.
13. Page 86. Interior View of the Crypt, or Lower Chapel,
contained in the above, looking Eastward. Drawn from the same
authorities by W. H. Brooke; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
14. Page 87. Southern Series of Windows in ditto. Drawn from the
same authorities, and Engraven by the late W. Hughes.
15. Page 302. Ancient Date of 1497, carved in stone, found on
London Bridge in 1758, and supposed to commemorate a repair done
in the former year. Engraven by G. W. Moore.
16. Page 304. Eastern View of part of London Bridge, as it
appeared in the reign of King Henry VII.; shewing the houses, &c.
then erected upon it, and the whole depth of the Chapel of St.
Thomas. Copied from an Illuminated Manuscript in the Royal Library
in the British Museum; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
17. Page 308. Ancient Dates of 1509 and 1514, carved in stone, and
found in 1758 with the former. Engraven by G. W. Moore.
18. Page 336. Cage and Stocks on London Bridge, with the
confinement of a Protestant Woman, in the reign of Queen Mary.
Engraven by A. J. Mason.
19. Page 339. Southern View of Traitors’ Gate at the Southwark
end of London Bridge, with the heads erected on it in 1579. Drawn
from the Venetian copy of Visscher’s View of London, and other
authorities; Engraven by H. White.
20. Page 343. Southern front of the old Southwark Gate and Tower,
at the South end of London Bridge, as they appeared in 1647. Drawn
from W. Hollar’s Long Antwerp View of London; Engraven by G. W.
Bonner.
21. Page 344. Southern front and Western side of the Nonesuch
House and Drawbridge erected on London Bridge, at the above
period. Drawn from the same authority; Engraven by T. Mosses.
22. Page 346. Western side of the Nonesuch House on London
Bridge, as it appeared in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Copied
from a Tracing of an Original Drawing on vellum, preserved in the
Pepysian Library, in Magdalen College, Cambridge; Engraven by G.
W. Bonner.
23. Page 356. Ancient Corn Mills erected on the Western side
of London Bridge, at Southwark. Drawn from the same authority;
Engraven by H. White.
24. Page 357. Ancient Water-Works and Water-Tower standing on the
Western side of London Bridge, at the North end. Drawn from the
same authority; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
25. Page 367. General View of the Western side of London Bridge,
with all its ancient buildings, taken from the top of St. Mary
Overies’ Church in Southwark, at the close of the Sixteenth
Century. Drawn by W. H. Brooke; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
26. Page 384. Copy of a Brass Token, issued by John Welday,
living on London Bridge in 1657. Drawn from the Originals in the
Collection of the late Barry Roberts, Esq., in the British Museum;
Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
27. Page 385. Other Tokens in Brass and Copper, issued by
Tradesmen residing at London Bridge. Drawn from the Originals in
the British Museum; Engraven by G. W. Moore.
28. Page 387. Obverses of Two Medalets struck by P. Kempson, and
P. Skidmore, of London Bridge, and Bridge-Gate. Drawn from the
Originals, and Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
29. Page 397. Group of buildings at the Northern end of London
Bridge, destroyed in the Fire of 1632-33. Drawn from the Venetian
Copy of Visscher’s View of London; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
30. Page 403. Ground Plan of the Old Stone Bridge of London after
the Fire of 1632-33, the extent of which is indicated by the
dotted line attached to the seventh sterling from the left hand,
or City end, where the Waterhouse was situate. Copied from an
Original Drawing on Parchment, preserved in the Print Room of the
British Museum; Engraven by G. W. Moore.
31. Page 405. Northern end of London Bridge after the Fire of
1632-33, shewing the Old Church of St. Magnus, and the temporary
wooden passage erected on the sites of the houses, as it appeared
in 1647. Drawn from the Long Antwerp View by Hollar; Engraven by
G. W. Bonner.
32. Page 407. View of the same part of London Bridge in the
year 1665, before the Great Fire of London, shewing the last
wooden passage and King’s Gate, afterwards burned. Copied from a
contemporary etching by Hollar; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
33. Page 445. View of the Northern end of London Bridge, and part
of the banks of the Thames as they appeared in ruins after the
Great Fire of London in 1666. Copied from a contemporary view by
W. Hollar; Engraven by H. White.
34. Page 446. Ancient View of Fishmongers’ Hall from the river,
before the Great Fire of London, A. D. 1666. Drawn from the Long
Antwerp View, by W. Hollar; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
35. Page 462. View of the Northern end of London Bridge, with
the Water Works and Tower, as they appeared in 1749. Copied from
Buck’s View of London; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
36. Page 487. Southern side of Bridge Gate, as rebuilt in 1728.
Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
37. Page 501. Eastern side of London Bridge before the taking down
of the Houses in 1758. Drawn from Scott’s View, taken from St.
Olave’s Stairs. Copied by W. H. Brooke; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
38. Page 516. Chapel of St. Thomas on London Bridge, with the
adjoining houses, as they appeared at their taking down in 1758.
Drawn from a contemporary Etching; Engraven by the late W. Hughes.
39. Page 517. Southern front of the Nonesuch House on London
Bridge, with the Draw-Bridge, as they appeared in their
dilapidated state previously to their taking down in 1758. Drawn
from a picture then painted by J. Scott; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
40. Page 518. Eastern View of the Southwark Gate and Tower on
London Bridge, as they appeared previously to their taking down in
1758. Drawn from the same authority; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
41. Page 521. Northern View of the Temporary Bridge adjoining
London Bridge on fire during the night of April 11, 1758. Drawn by
W. H. Brooke from an Engraving by Wale and Grignion, with other
contemporary authorities; Engraven by H. White.
42. Page 526. Western side of London Bridge, shewing the ruins of
the Temporary Bridge, and the destruction occasioned by the fire
of 1758. Drawn by W. H. Brooke, from the view by A. Walker and W.
Herbert; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
43. Page 532. Part of the middle of London Bridge, shewing the
wooden Centering upon which the Great Arch was turned, when the
Chapel Pier was taken away, and the whole edifice repaired in the
year 1759. From a Drawing by Mr. W. Knight; Engraven by G. W.
Bonner.
44. Page 537. Section of the Northern Pier of the Great Arch of
London Bridge, shewing its modern state, and the ancient method
of constructing the Piers. From a Drawing by Mr. W. Knight, in
August, 1821, when open for examining the foundation. Engraven by
G. W. Bonner.
45. Page 578. Elevation and Ground-plan of Old London Bridge,
shewing the various forms, &c. of the Sterlings, the line of
soundings taken along their points, a section of the bed of the
River, and the different sizes of the several Locks; with Mr.
Smeaton’s method of raising the ground under the great Arch, and
the timbers laid down to strengthen it in 1793-94. Reduced from
the large survey made by Mr. George Dance in July, 1799, and
published with the Second Report on the Improvement of the Port of
London. Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
46. Page 604. South-Eastern View of London Bridge, A. D. 1825.
Drawn and Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
47. Page 612. Eastern View of the Sixth Arch of London Bridge,
from the City end, usually called the Prince’s Lock, as it
appeared in the great Frost of 1814; shewing the modern stone
casing, with the original building beneath it. Copied by
permission from a View taken on the spot and engraved by Mr. J. T.
Smith. Drawn and Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
48. Page 628. Silver Effigy of Harpocrates, discovered in digging
the foundations of the New London Bridge, and presented to the
British Museum by Messrs. Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell, November
12, 1825. Drawn from the Original by W. Harvey; Engraven by J.
Smith.
48. Page 631. Architectural Elevation and Ground-plan of the
New London Bridge, shewing its foundation-piles, and relative
situation to the former edifice. From the original authorities.
Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
50. Page 641. Entrance to the Coffer-Dam from London Bridge, as it
appeared decorated for laying the First Stone of the New Bridge
on Wednesday, June 15, 1825. Drawn on the spot; Engraven by G. W.
Bonner.
51. Page 642. Western end of ditto. Drawn from the River; Engraven
by G. W. Bonner.
52. Page 643. General View of the Exterior of ditto. Drawn on the
Southern side; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
53. Page 646. General View of the Interior of ditto, looking
Southward; shewing the position of the First Stone, with the
cavity beneath it for depositing the Coins, &c. From a Drawing
made on the spot; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
54. Page 651. Representation of the Silver-Gilt Trowel, presented
to the Right Honourable John Garratt, for laying the First Stone
of the New London Bridge. Drawn from the original; Engraven by G.
W. Bonner.
55. Page 662. Obverse of a Medal struck to commemorate the above
ceremony, containing busts of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress.
Drawn by W. H. Brooke from the original Model, in the possession
of Joseph York Hatton, Esq., executed by Peter Rouw and W. Wyon,
Esquires, Modeller and Die-Sinker to His Majesty. Engraven by A.
J. Mason.
56. Page 664. Western side of the New London Bridge, looking down
the River. Drawn by T. Letts; Engraven by G. W. Bonner.
“This is a Gentleman, every inch of him; a Virtuoso, a clean
Virtuoso:--a sad-coloured stand of claithes, and a wig like the curled
back of a mug-ewe. The very first question he speered was about
the auld Draw-Brig, that has been at the bottom of the water these
twal-score years. And how the Deevil suld he ken ony thing about the
auld Draw-Brig, unless he were a Virtuoso?”
CAPTAIN CLUTTERBUCK’S INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE TO THE MONASTERY.
[Illustration]
Chronicles
OF
LONDON BRIDGE.
So numerous are the alterations and modernisms in almost every street
of this huge metropolis, that I verily believe, the conservators of our
goodly city are trying the strength of a London Antiquary’s heart; and,
by their continual spoliations, endeavouring to ascertain whether it be
really made “of penetrable stuff.” For my own part, if they continue
thus improving, I must even give up the ghost; since, in a little time,
there will not be a spot left, where any feature of age will carry
back my remembrance to its ancient original. What with pullings-down,
and buildings-up; the turning of land into canals, and covering over
old water-ways with new paved streets; erecting pert plaister fronts
to some venerable old edifices, and utterly abolishing others from off
the face of the earth; London but too truly resembles the celebrated
keepsake-knife of the sailor, which, for its better preservation, had
been twice re-bladed, and was once treated with a new handle. One year
carried with it that grand fragment of our city’s wall, which so long
girdled-in Moorfields; while another bedevilled the ancient gate of St.
John’s Priory with Heraldry, which Belzebub himself could not blazon,
and left but one of the original hinges to its antique pier. Nay,
there are reports, too, that even Derby House, the fair old College of
Heralds,--where my youth was taught “the blasynge of Cote Armures,”
under two of the wisest officers that ever wore a tabard,--that even
_that_ unassuming quadrangle is to be forthwith levelled with the dust,
and thus for ever blotted from the map of London! Alas for the day!
Moorgate is not, and Aldgate is not! Aldersgate is but the shadow of
a name, and Newgate lives only as the title of a prison-house! In the
absence, then, of many an antique building which I yet remember, I have
little else to supply the vacuum in my heart, but to wander around the
ruins of those few which still exist:--to gaze on the rich transomed
bay-windows that even yet light the apartments of Sir Paul Pindar’s
now degraded dwelling; to look with regret upon the prostituted Halls
of Crosby House; or to roam over to the Bankside, and contemplate the
fast-perishing fragments of Winchester’s once proud Episcopal Palace.
It was but recently, in my return from visiting the spot last
mentioned, that I betook me to a Tavern where I was erst wont to
indulge in another old-fashioned luxury,--which has also been taken
away from me,--that of quaffing genuine wine, drawn reaming from the
butt in splendid silver jugs, in the merry old SHADES by LONDON BRIDGE.
I loved this custom, because it was one of the very few fragments of an
ancient Citizen’s conviviality, which have descended to us: a worthy
old friend and relative, many a long year since, first introduced me
to the goodly practice, and though I originally liked it merely for
_his_ sake, yet I very soon learned to admire it for its own. It was a
most lovely moonlight night, and I placed myself in one of the window
boxes, whence I could see the fastly-ebbing tide glittering with
silvery flashes; whilst the broad radiance of the planet, cast upon the
pale stone colour of the Bridge, strikingly contrasted with the gas
star-like sparks which shone from the lamps above it. “Alas!” murmured
I, “pass but another twenty years, and even thou, stately old London
Bridge!--even _thou_ shalt live only in memory, and the draughts which
are now made of thine image. In modern eyes, indeed, these may seem
of little value, but unto Antiquaries, even the rudest resemblance of
that which is not, is worth the gold of Ind; and Oh! that we possessed
some fair limning of thine early forms; or Oh! for some faithful old
Chronicler, who knew thee in all thine ancient pride and splendour, to
tell us the interesting story of thy foundation, thine adventures, and
thy fate!”
It was at this part of my reverie, that the Waiter at the Shades
touched my elbow to inform me, that a stout old gentleman, who called
himself MR. BARNABY POSTERN, had sent his compliments, and desired
the pleasure of my society in the drinking of a hot sack-posset. “My
services and thanks,” said I, “wait upon the ancient, I shall be
proud of his company: but for sack-posset, where, in the name of Dame
Woolley, that all-accomplished cook, hath he learned how to----? but he
comes.”
My visitor, as he entered, did not appear any thing very remarkable;
he looked simply a shrewd, hale, short old gentleman, of stiff formal
manners, wrapped in a dark-coloured cloak, and bearing in his hand a
covered tankard, which he set upon the table betwixt us; after which,
making a very low bow, he took his seat opposite to me, and at once
opened the conversation.
“Your fame,” said he, “MR. GEOFFREY BARBICAN, as a London Antiquary,
is not unknown to me; and I have sometimes pleased myself with the
thought, that you must be even a distant relation of my own, since
tradition says, that the _Barbicans_ and the _Posterns_ originally
received their names from having been gate-keepers in various parts of
this fair city: but of that I will not positively speak. Howbeit, I am
right glad of this fellowship, because I have some communications and
reflections which I would fain make to you, touching the earlier days
of that Bridge, under which the tide is now so rapidly running.”
“My dear Mr. Postern,” said I, in rapture, “nothing could delight me
more than an Antiquary’s stories of that famous edifice; but moralising
I abominate, since I can do that for myself, even to admiration;
so, my good friend Mr. Barnaby, as much description, and as many
rich old sketches, as you please, but no reflections, my kinsman, no
reflections.”
“Well,” returned my visitor, “I will do my best to entertain you; but
you very well know, that we old fellows, who have seen generations
rise and decay, are apt to make prosing remarks:--However, we’ll
start fairly, and taste of my tankard before we set out: trust me,
it’s filled with that same beverage, which Sir John Falstaff used to
drink o’nights in East Cheap; for the recipé for brewing it was found,
written in a very ancient hand upon a piece of vellum, when the Boar’s
Head was pulled down many a long year ago. Drink, then, worthy Mr.
Barbican; drink, good Sir;--you’ll find it excellent beverage, and I’ll
pledge you in kind.”
Upon this invitation, I drank of my visitor’s tankard; and believe me,
reader, I never yet tasted any thing half so delicious; for it fully
equalled the eulogium which Shakspeare’s jovial knight pronounces upon
it in the Second part of “_King Henry the Fourth_,” Act iv. sc. iii.;
where the merry Cavalier of Eastcheap tells us, that “a good Sherris
sack hath a two-fold operation in it: it ascends me into the brain,
dries me there all the foolish, and dull, and crudy vapours which
environ it: makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full of nimble,
fiery, and delectable shapes; which, delivered o’er to the voice, (the
tongue,) which is the birth, becomes excellent wit. The second property
of your excellent Sherris is,--the warming of the blood; which, before
cold and settled, left the liver white and pale, which is the badge
of pusillanimity and cowardice: but the Sherris warms it, and makes
it course from the inwards to the parts extreme. It illumineth the
face; which, as a beacon, gives warning to all the rest of this little
kingdom, man, to arm; and then, the vital commoners, and inland petty
spirits, muster me all to their Captain, the heart; who, great, and
puffed up with this retinue, doth any deed of courage; and this valour
comes of Sherris: so that skill in the weapon is nothing, without Sack:
for that sets it a-work: and learning, a mere hoard of gold kept by a
devil, till Sack commences it, and sets it in act and use.--If I had
a thousand sons, the first human principle I would teach them, should
be,--to forswear thin potations, and addict themselves to Sack!”
Truly, indeed, I felt all those effects in myself; whilst my visitor
appeared to be so inspired by it, that, as if all the valuable lore
relating to London Bridge had been locked up until this moment, he
opened to me such a treasure of information concerning it, that, I
verily believe, he left nothing connected with the subject untouched.
He quoted books and authors with a facility, to which I have known no
parallel; and, what is quite as extraordinary, the same magical philtre
enabled me as faithfully to retain them. Indeed, the posset and his
discourse seemed to enliven all my faculties in such a manner, that the
very scenes of which my companion spake, appeared to rise before my
eyes as he described them. When Mr. Postern had pledged me, therefore,
by drinking my health, in a very formal manner, he thus commenced his
discourse.
“You very well know, my good Mr. Barbican, that Gulielmus Stephanides,
or, as the vulgar call him, William Fitz-Stephen, who was the friend
and secretary of Thomas à Becket, a native of London, and who died
about 1191, in his invaluable tract ‘_Descriptio Nobilissimæ Civitatis
Londoniæ_,’ folio 26, tells us that to the North of London, there
existed, in his days, the large remains of that immense forest which
once covered the very banks of this brave river. ‘_Proxime patet ingens
foresta_,’ &c. begins the passage; and pray observe that I quote from
the best edition with a commentary by that excellent Antiquary Dr.
Samuel Pegge, published in London, in the year 1772, in quarto. Ever,
Mr. Barbican, while you live, ever quote from the _editio optima_
of every author whom you cite; for, next to a knowledge of books
themselves, is an acquaintance with the best editions. But to return,
Sir; in those woody groves of yew, which the old citizens wisely
encouraged for the making of their bows, were then hunted the stag,
the buck, and the doe; and the great Northern road, which now echoes
the tuneful Kent bugle of mail-coach-guards, was then an extensive
wilderness, resounding with the shrill horns of the Saxon Chiefs,
as they waked up the deer from his lair of vert and brushwood. The
very paths, too, that now behold the herds of oxen and swine driven
town-ward to support London’s hungry thousands, then echoed with the
bellowing of savage bulls, and the harsh grunting of many a stout wild
boar. But, as you have observed, _I_ am to describe scenes, and _you_
are to moralise upon their changes, so we’ll hasten down again to the
water-side, only observing, that the site of the ancient British London
is yet certainly marked out to you, by the old rhyming stone in Pannier
Alley, by St. Paul’s, which saith:--
‘WHEN Y^V HAVE SOVGHT
THE CITY ROVND,
YET STILL THIS IS
THE HIGHEST GROVND.’
“Now, Julius Cæsar tells you in his Commentaries ‘_De Bello Gallico_,’
_lib._ v. _cap._ xxi. that ‘a British town was nothing more than a
thick wood, fortified with a ditch and rampart, to serve as a place of
retreat against the incursions of their enemies.’ Here, then, stood
our good old city, upon the best ’vantage ground of the Forest of
Middlesex; the small hive-shaped dwellings of the Britons, formed of
bark, or boughs, or reeds from the rushy sides of these broad waters,
being interspersed between the trees; whilst their little mountain
metropolis, the ‘_locum reperit egregiè naturâ, atque opere munitum_,’
a place which appeared extremely strong, both by art and nature,--as
the same matchless classic called those primitive defences,--was
guarded on the North by a dark wood, that might have daunted even
the Roman Cohorts; and to the South, where there was no wilderness,
morasses, covered with fat weeds, and divided by such streams as
the Wall-brook, the Shareburn, the Fleta, and others of less note,
stretched downward to the Thames. As Cæsar and his Legions marched
straight from the coast, worthy old Bagford was certainly in the right,
when, in a letter to his brother-antiquary Hearne, he said, that the
Roman invader came along the rich marshy ground now supporting Kent
Street,--in truth very unlike the road of a splendid conqueror,--and,
entering the Thames as the tide was just turning, his army made a wide
angle, and was driven on shore by the current close to yonder Cement
Wharf, at Dowgate Dock. This you find prefixed to Tom Hearne’s edition
of Leland’s ‘_Collectanea de Rebus Britannicis_,’ London, 1774, 8vo.,
volume i. pp. lviii. lix.: and many an honest man, since ‘the hook-nosed
fellow of Rome,’ before a bridge carried him over the waters dry-shod,
has tried the same route, in preference to going up to the Mill-ford,
in the Strand, or York-ford which lay still higher. In good time,
however, the Romans, to commemorate their own successful landing there,
built a _Trajectus_, or Ferry, to convey passengers to their famous
military road which led to Dover. But history is not wholly without the
mention of a Bridge over the Thames near London, even still earlier
than this period; for, when Dion Cassius is recording the invasion of
Britain by the Emperor Claudius I., A. D. 44, he says,--‘The Britons
having betaken themselves to the River Thames, where it discharges
itself into the Sea, easily passed over it, being perfectly acquainted
with its depths and shallows: while the Romans, pursuing them, were
thereby brought into great danger. The Gauls, however, again setting
sail, and _some of them having passed over by the Bridge, higher up the
River_, they set upon the Britons on all sides with great slaughter;
until, rashly pursuing those that escaped, many of them perished in
the bogs and marshes.’ This passage, which it must be owned, however,
is not very satisfactory, is to be found in the best edition of the
‘_Historiæ Romanæ_,’ by Fabricius and Reimar, Hamburgh, 1750-52, folio,
volume ii. page 958; in the 60th Book and 20th Section. The Greek
text begins, ‘Ἀναχωρησάντων δ’ ἐντεῦθεν τῶν Βρεττανῶν ἐπὶ τὸν Ταμέσαν
ποταμὸν,’ [Greek: Anachôrêsantôn d’ enteuthen tôn Brettanôn epi ton
Tamesan potamon] &c.; and the Latin--‘_Inde se Britanni ad fluvium
Tamesin_.’ I have only to remind you that Dion Cassius flourished about
A. D. 230. Before we finally quit Roman London, however, I must make
one more historical remark. The inscription on the monument which I
quoted from Pannier Alley, is dated August the 27th, 1688; and if even
at _that period_,--through all the mutations of the soil, and more than
sixteen centuries after the Roman Invasion,--the ground still retained
its original altitude, it yet further proves on how admirable a site
our ancient London was originally erected:--well worthy, indeed, to be
the metropolis of the world. This also is remarked by honest Bagford,
in his work already cited, where, at page lxxii., he says,--‘For many
of our ancient kings and nobility took delight in the situation of the
old Roman buildings, which were always very fine and pleasant, the
Romans being very circumspect in regard to their settlements, having
always an eye to some river, spring, wood, &c. for the convenience
of life, particularly an wholesome air. And this no doubt occasioned
the old Monks, Knights Templars, and, after them, the Knights of St.
John of Jerusalem, as also the Friars, to settle in most of the Roman
buildings, as well private as public, which thing, if duly considered,
will be found to be a main reason why we have so few remains of them.’
“As I have always considered that the Romans had no more to do
with Britain, than Joe the waiter here would have in a Conclave of
Cardinals, I will not trouble you with any sketch of the dress or
manners of the ferryman and his customers, during their government.
Indeed, as a native of London, I always lament over it as the time of
our captivity; and so I shall hasten on to the tenth century, when our
Runic Ancestors from Gothland were settled in Britain;--when courage
was the chiefest virtue, and the rudest hospitality----”
“Have pity upon me, my excellent Mr. Postern,” interrupted I, “for I
am naturally impatient at reflections; if you love me, then, give me
scenery without meditations, and history without a moral.”
“Truly, Sir,” said he, “I was oblivious, for I’d got upon a favourite
topic of mine, the worth of our Saxon fore-fathers; but we’ll cut them
off short by another draught of the sack-posset, and take up again
with the establishment of a ferry by one Master Audery, in the year
nine hundred and ninety----Ah! see now, my memory has left me for the
precise year, but nevertheless, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican, my service to
you.” When he had passed me the tankard, after what I considered a very
reasonable draught, Mr. Postern thus continued.
“I hold it right, my friend, to mix these convivialia with our
antiquarian discussions, because I know that they are not only ancient,
but in a manner peculiar to this part of the water-side; for we find
Stephanides, _Stephanus ab Stephano_, as I may jocularly call him, whom
I before quoted, saying at folio 32, ‘_Præterea est in Londonia super
ripam fluminis_,’ &c. but we’ll give the quotation in plain English.
‘And moreover, on the banks of the river, besides the wine sold in
ships’--that is to say, foreign wines of Anjou, Auxere, and Gascoigne,
though even then we had some Saxon and Rhenish wines well worth the
drinking,--‘besides the wines sold in ships and vaults, there is a
public eating-house, or cook’s shop. Here, according to the season,
you may find victuals of all kinds, roasted, baked, fried, or boiled.
Fish, large and small, with coarse viands for the poorer sort, and more
delicate ones for the rich, such as venison, fowls, and small birds. In
case a friend should arrive at a Citizen’s house, much wearied with his
journey, and chuses not to wait, an-hungered as he is, for the buying
and cooking of meat,
The water’s served, the bread’s in baskets brought,
_Virg. Æn._ i. 705.
and recourse is immediately had to the bank above-mentioned, where
every thing desirable is instantly procured. No number so great, of
knights or strangers, can either enter the city at any hour of day or
night, or leave it, but all may be supplied with provisions, so that
those have no occasion to fast too long, nor these to depart the city
without their dinner. To this place, if they be so disposed, they
resort, and there they regale themselves, every man according to his
abilities. Those who have a mind to indulge, need not to hanker after
sturgeon, nor a guinea-fowl, nor a gelinote de bois,’--which some
call red-game, and others a godwit--‘for there are delicacies enough
to gratify their palates. It is a public eating-house, and is both
highly convenient and useful to the city, and is a clear proof of its
civilization.’
“Thus speaks Fitz-Stephen of the time of Henry II. between the years
1170 and 1182; and if you look but two centuries later, you shall find
that John Holland, Duke of Exeter, held his Inn here at Cold Harbour,
and gave to his half-brother, King Richard the Second, a sumptuous
dinner, in 1397. Then too, when this spot became the property of the
merry Henry Plantagenet, Prince of Wales, by the gift of Henry the
Fourth, the same King filled his cellars with ‘twenty casks and one
pipe of red wine of Gascoigne, free of duty.’ This you have on the
authority of John Stow, on the one part, in his ‘_Survey of London_,’
the best edition by John Strype, &c. London, 1754, folio, volume i.
page 523; and of Master Thomas Pennant, on the other, in his ‘_Account
of London_,’ 2nd edition, London, 1791, 4to, page 330.”
“Aye, Master Postern,” said I, “and that same Cold Harbour is not the
less dear to me, forasmuch as Stow noteth, in the very place which you
have just now cited, that Richard the Third gave the Messuage, and
all its appurtenances, to John Wrythe, Garter Principal King of Arms,
and the rest of the Royal Heralds and Pursuivants, in 1485.”--“True,
Mr. Geoffrey, true,” answered my visitor; “and you may remember that
here also, in these very Shades, did King Charles the merry, regale
incognito; and here, too, came Addison and his galaxy of wits to finish
a social evening. Then, but a little above to the North, was the famous
market of East Cheap; of which our own Stow speaks in his book before
cited, page 503, quoting the very rare ballad of ‘_London Lickpenny_,’
composed by Dan John Lydgate, of which a copy in the old chronicler’s
own hand writing, is yet extant in the Harleian Manuscripts, No. 542,
article 17, folio 102, of which stanza 12 says,--
‘Then I hied me into Estchepe;
One cried ribes of befe, and many a pie,
Pewtar potts they clatteryd on a heape,
Ther was harpe, pipe, and sawtry,
Ye by cokke, nay by cokke, some began to cry,
Some sange of Jenken and Julian, to get themselves mede;
Full fayne I wold hade of that mynstralsie
But for lacke of money I cowld not spede!’
“Lydgate, you know, died in the year 1440, at the age of sixty. In the
present day, indeed, we have only the indications of this festivity
in the names of the ways leading down to, or not far from, the
river; as, Pudding Lane, Fish Street Hill, the Vine-tree, or Vintry,
Bread-street,----”
“Hold! hold! my dear Mr. Barnaby,” interrupted I, “what on earth
has all this long muster-roll of gluttony to do with London Bridge?
You are, as it were, endeavouring to prove, that yonder is the moon
lighting the waters; for certes, it is a self-evident truth, that the
citizens of London have from time immemorial been mighty trencher-men;
nay, if I remember me rightly, your own favourite Stephanides says,
‘The only plagues of London are, immoderate drinking of idle fellows,
and often fires:’ so _that_ we’ll take for granted, and get on to the
Bridge.”
“You are in the right,” answered Mr. Postern; “the passage begins
‘_Solæ pestes Londoniæ_,’ &c. at folio 42, and truly I wished but to
shew you how proper a place these Shades are to be convivial in; but
now we will but just touch upon the Saxon Ferry and Wooden Bridge, and
then come at once to the first stone one, founded by the excellent
Peter of Colechurch, in the year 1176. I would you could but have seen
the curious boat in which, for many years, Audery the Ship-wight, as
the Saxons called him, rowed his fare over those restless waters.
It was in form very much like a crescent laid upon its back, only
the sharp horns turned over into a kind of scroll; and when it was
launched, if the passengers did not trim the barque truly, there was
some little danger of its tilting over, for it was only the very centre
of the keel that touched the water. But our shipman had also another
wherry, for extra passengers, and that had the appearance of a blanket
gathered up at each end, whilst those within looked as if they were
about to be tossed in it. His oars were in the shape of shovels, or
an ace of spades stuck on the end of a yard measure; though one of
them rather seemed as if he were rowing with an arrow, having the barb
broken off, and the flight held downwards. It is nearly certain, that
at this period there was no barrier across the Thames; for you may
remember how the ‘_Saxon Chronicle_,’ sub anno 993, tells you that
the Dane Olaf, Anlaf, or Unlaf, ‘_mid thrym et hundnigentigon scipum
to Stane_,’--which is to say, that ‘he sailed with three hundred and
ninety ships to Staines, which he plundered without, and thence went to
Sandwich.’
“Before I leave speaking of this King Olaf, however, I wish you to
observe the paction which he made with the English King Ethelred, for
we shall find him hereafter closely connected with the history of
London Bridge. The same authority, and under the same year and page,
tells you that, after gaining the battle of Maldon, and the death of
Alderman Britnoth, peace was made with Anlaf, ‘and the King received
him at Episcopal hands, by the advice of Siric, Bishop of Canterbury,
and Elfeah of Winchester.’ On page 171, in the year 994, you also
find this peace more solemnly confirmed in the following passage.
‘Then sent the King after King Anlaf, Bishop Elfeah, and Alderman
Ethelwerd, and hostages being left with the ships, they led Anlaf with
great pomp to the King, at Andover. And King Ethelred received him at
Episcopal hands, and honoured him with royal presents. In return Anlaf
promised, as he also performed, that he never again would come in a
hostile manner to England.’ I quote, as usual, from the best edition of
this invaluable record by Professor Ingram, London, 1823, 4to. It is
generally believed, however, that the year following Anlaf’s invasion,
namely 994, there was built a low Wooden Bridge, which crossed the
Thames at St. Botolph’s Wharf yonder, where the French passage vessels
are now lying; and a rude thing enough it was, I’ll warrant; built
of thick rough-hewn timber planks, placed upon piles, with moveable
platforms to allow the Saxon vessels to pass through it Westward. A
Bridge of any kind is not so small a concern but what one might suppose
you could avoid running against it, and yet William of Malmesbury, the
Benedictine Monk, who lived in the reign of King Stephen, and died in
1142, says, that, in 994, King Sweyn of Denmark, the Invader, ran foul
of it with his Fleet. This you find mentioned in his book, ‘_De Gestis
Regum Anglorum_,’ the best edition, London, 1596, folio:--though, by
the way, the preferable one is called the Frankfurt reprint of 1601,
as it contains all the errata of the London text, and adds a good many
more of its own; for I am much of the mind of Bishop Nicolson, and
Sir Henry Spelman, who observe that the Germans committed abundance
of faults with the English words. In this record, which is contained
in Sir Henry Savile’s ‘_Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores Post Bedam_,’ of
the foregoing date and size, at folio 38^b, is the passage beginning
‘_Mox ad Australes regiones_,’ _&c._ of which this is the purport.
“‘Some time after, the Southern parts, with the inhabitants of
Oxford and Winchester, were brought to honour his’--that is to say
King Sweyn’s--‘laws: the Citizens of London alone, with their lawful
King’--Ethelred the Second--‘betook themselves within the walls, having
securely closed the gates. Against their ferocious assailants, the
Danes, they were supported by their virtue, and the hope of glory. The
Citizens rushed forward even to death for their liberty; for none could
think himself secure of the future if the King were deserted, in whose
life he committed his own: so that although the conflict was valiant on
both sides, yet the Citizens had the victory from the justness of their
cause; every one endeavouring to shew, throughout this great work,
how sweet he estimated those pains which he bore for him. The enemy
was partly overthrown; and part was destroyed in the River Thames,
over which, in their precipitation and fury, they never looked for the
Bridge.’
“I know very well that the truth of this circumstance is much
questioned by Master Maitland, at page 43 of his ‘_History of London_,’
continued by the Rev. John Entick, London, 1772, folio, volume i.;
wherein he denies that any historian mentions a Bridge at London, in
the incursion of Anlaf or Sweyn; and asserts that the loss of the
army of the latter was occasioned ‘by his attempting to pass the
River, without enquiring after Ford, or Bridge.’ He affirms too, that
Stow mistakes the account given by William of Malmesbury; and that
the Monk himself distorts his original authority in saying that the
invaders had not a regard to the Bridge. Now, if, as the margin of
Maitland’s History states, the Saxon Chronicle were _that_ authority,
the Library-keeper of Malmesbury had no greater right to speak as
Maitland does, than he had for using those words which I have already
translated,--‘part were destroyed in the River Thames, over which, in
their precipitation and fury, they never looked for the Bridge:’ for
the words of the Saxon Chronicle, at page 170, are, in reality,--‘And
they closely besieged the City and would fain have set it on fire,
but they sustained more harm and evil than they ever supposed that
the Citizens could inflict on them. The Holy Mother of God’--for the
Invasion took place on her Nativity, September the 8th,--‘on that day
considered the Citizens, and ridded them of their enemies.’ Here then
is no word of a Bridge, nor, indeed, does any Historian record the
event as William of Malmesbury does. _Lambarde_--whom I shall quote
anon,--when he relates it, cites the ‘_Chronicle of Peterborough_,’ and
the ‘_Annals of Margan_,’ but neither of them have the word Bridge upon
their pages. He, most probably, took this circumstance from Marianus
Scotus, a Monk of Mentz, in Germany, who wrote an extensive History of
England and Europe ending in 1083, but, of this, only the German part
has been printed, although it was amazingly popular in manuscript.
“We have, however, an earlier description of London Bridge in a
state of warlike splendour, than is commonly imagined, or at least
referred to, by most Antiquaries; and that too from a source of
no inconsiderable authority: for the learned old Icelander Snorro
Sturlesonius, who wrote in the 13th century, and who was assassinated
in 1241, on page 90 of that rather rare work by the Rev. James
Johnstone, entitled ‘_Antiquitates Celto-Scandicæ_,’ Copenhagen, 1786,
quarto, gives the following very interesting particulars of the Battle
of Southwark, which took place in the year 1008, in the unhappy reign
of Ethelred II., surnamed the Unready.
“‘They’--that is the Danish forces--‘first came to shore at London,
where their ships were to remain, and the City was taken by the Danes.
Upon the other side of the River, is situate a great market called
Southwark,’--Sudurvirke in the original--‘which the Danes fortified
with many defences; framing, for instance, a high and broad ditch,
having a pile or rampart within it, formed of wood, stone, and turf,
with a large garrison placed there to strengthen it. This, the King
Ethelred,’--his name, you know, is Adalradr in the original,--‘attacked
and forcibly fought against; but by the resistance of the Danes it
proved but a vain endeavour. There was, at that time, a Bridge erected
over the River between the City and Southwark, so wide, that if two
carriages met they could pass each other. At the sides of the Bridge,
at those parts which looked upon the River, were erected Ramparts
and Castles that were defended on the top by penthouse-bulwarks and
sheltered turrets, covering to the breast those who were fighting in
them: the Bridge itself was also sustained by piles which were fixed
in the bed of the River. An attack therefore being made, the forces
occupying the Bridge fully defended it. King Ethelred being thereby
enraged, yet anxiously desirous of finding out some means by which he
might gain the Bridge, at once assembled the Chiefs of the army to a
conference on the best method of destroying it. Upon this, King Olaf
engaged,’--for you will remember he was an ally of Ethelred,--‘that
if the Chiefs of the army would support him with their forces, he
would make an attack upon it with his ships. It being ordained then in
council, that the army should be marched against the Bridge, each one
made himself ready for a simultaneous movement both of the ships and of
the land forces.’