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THE
FOOD OF LONDON:
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of
THE CHIEF VARIETIES, SOURCES OF SUPPLY, PROBABLE, ºu AIX 1111...els,
MODES OF ARRIVAL, PROCESSES OF MANUFACTURE, SUSPECTED
ADULTERATION, AND MACHINERY OF DISTRIBUTION,
THE FOOD FOR A COMMUNITY OF TWO MILLIONS
AND A HALF.
BY
GEORGE DODD,
AUTHOR OF “BRITISH MANUFACTUREs,” ETC.
“Such is the majestic ensemble of the Capital of an Empire in which a Bundred and
Fifty Millions of subjects send scarcely ships enough to supply the ever-increasing
consumption of an accumulation of Two Millions and a Half of inhabitants.”
BARON DUPIN.
L ON DO N :
LONG MAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONG MANS.
1856.
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(, " . . . . T) (o
P. R. E. F. A. C. E.
THE subject of the following pages has never yet been
treated collectively in a distinct volume. The materials,
crude and heterogeneous, lie scattered in an almost end-
less number of works — in the Journals of learned Socie-
ties; in the Reports and statistical Tables published by
the government; in the chemical and dietetic works of
Scientific writers; in the old diaries and ‘ household
books’ published by the Camden, Shakspeare, and other
societies; in daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly
periodicals; in treatises on commercial and productive
industry; in reports and returns made by large trading
companies; and in familiar descriptive sketches — while
numerous other matters pertaining to the Food of Lon-
don, and to a due appreciation of the circumstances of
its supply, remain yet, and may perhaps long remain,
very obscurely known.
The author has endeavoured to survey this re-
markable social phenomenon, though necessarily in a
cursory manner, in most of its principal aspects, –
in its relation to the past history of London, the
a º
.* * *
vi PR.E.E.A.C.E.
modern improvements in means of locomotion and
transport, the commercial machinery whereby wholesale
trade is conducted, the docks and shipping of the
Thames, the processes of food manufacture, the old
markets and their modern substitutes, the retail'shop-
keeping of the metropolis, the open-air trading in the
public streets, the gradual changes in taste or custom
concerning diet, the influence of legislation on food-
supply, and the prevalence or otherwise of adulteration
in food. Wherever he could increase or improve the
materials by personal inquiry and observation he has
done so; and in this respect he has to acknowledge
the favour of much valuable information from railway
companies, clerks of the markets, and others possessed
of trustworthy data on particular points.
It is a circumstance deserving, perhaps, neither of
praise nor of blame, that this volume contains much
information relating, not strictly and merely to the food
of the metropolis itself, but to that of the United King-
dom generally. The truth is, that in numerous matters
connected with the Food of London there do not yet
exist the means for treating them otherwise than as
parts of a larger subject; we have to rely, as best we
may, on inferences drawn from the greater to the
ess. The future must supply materials for filling up
gaps in the present.
; G. D.
London, Feb. 1856. i.
C () N T E N T S,
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARES.
Wide Range of the Subject. — Food-supply of London self-go-
verning. — Archbishop Whately's Illustration. — Contrast between
London and Paris in this Sense— Imperfect Statistics relating to
Food. – Uncertain Limits of the Metropolis. – Supply and Prices,
Scarcity and Mortality.— Effect of Taxes on Food-supply. — Con-
sumption of Food affected by Changes in public Opinion. —
Adulteration of Food. — Theories concerning Dietetics and the
Chemistry of Food - * * tºº * Page 1
- CHAPTER II.
EIISTORICAL SKETCH - THE FOOD OF LONDON IN
PAST AGES.
Scanty Notices on the Subject by early Writers. — Cheap Prices and
low Wages. – Cooks' Shops in London Seven Centuries ago. —
Occasional Famines. – Origin of the Fair and Market at Smith-
field. — Early Days of Billingsgate. — Power of the old City Com-
panies over the retailing of Food. — Great Feasts in the 14th
Century. — Meat mostly salted in those Days. – Rivalry between
Queenhithe and Billingsgate as Fish Markets. – Influence of the
Fishmongers' Company. — Sale of Bread in London in the 15th
Century. — Vintners and the Beer Trade. —Lydgate's ‘London
Lyckpenny.”—Prices of Food. — Attempts to encourage the Use of
Fish as a Substitute for Meat. — Meat Markets in the Time of the
Tudors. — Stringent Regulation of Millers and Bakers. — Public
Granaries. – Power of the Grocers’ Company. — Ale and Beer in
Elizabeth's Reign. —Diet in London and in great Households. –
Market Arrangements under Cromwell.—Cessation of public
Granaries.—Milk-maidens of Walton's Time.—Food Monopolies.—
Establishment of Excise Duties on Beverages.—Taverns and Ordi-
naries in the 17th Century. —Smithfield and Billingsgate in the last
Century. — Assize on Bread. — Walpole and the “Gin Acts.” —
Gradual Changes in recent Times s ese sº - 24
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
RAPID TRANSIT AN AID TO *
Variety in the Modes in whicſ Food is brought to London.—Diversity
in the Sources of Supply—Effects of good Roads on Prices.—Roads
and Canals of England. — Transit of Scotch Cattle to London. —
Dr. Lardner's Illustration of the Relation between Speed and Supply.
–Loss in Weight of Live Stock by Road-travelling. — Economy
resulting from Railway Conveyance. — Facilities afforded in respect
to Country-killed Meat. — Fish-supply to Inland Towns aided by
Railways. – Fruit-trade and Egg-trade facilitated by Steamers. —
Provisions in general share these Benefits º - Page 101
CHAPTER IV.
TEIE FOOD OF LONDON IN ITS WEIOLESALE ASPECTS.
Variety and Extent of the Marts and Markets for Food. — Small In-
fluence of Government Control.—Baron Dupin's Sketch of the Port
and Docks of London. — Trade of our Merchant Shipping. —Share
of this Trade belonging to the Metropolis. – Origin of the Quays
and Docks on the Thames.—A Day’s Business in the Port of
London.—Quantities of Food brought to England by Ship.–Half the
National Revenue derived from Taxes on Food and Beverages. –
I’robable Quantities of Food brought to London. — Difficulty of the
Inquiry.—Estimates by Mr. Porter and others.-Marts for Food at
the Docks, Wharfs, Markets, Vaults, and Warehouses.— Metropo-
litan Railway Termini gradually becoming Food Depôts - 124
CHAPTER V.
CORN AND BREAD FOR LONDON.
Complexities in the Weights and Measures of Corn.—Acreage of Corn
Growth in the United Kingdom.— Probable Ratio of Produce per
Acre. — Relation borne by Wheat to other kinds of Corn. - Neces-
sary addition of Foreign Corn to our Home Supply. — Probable
Quantity consumed. — Corn Trade on the Thames.—Waterside and
Railway Granaries. – Strange Effect of Corn Laws in influencing
Supplies. – System of managing the Corn Trade at Mark Lane. —
Corn-grinding by the old Wind-mills. – Corn-grinding by the new
Steam-mills. – Co-operative Corn-mills among Artisans. – Qualities
and Quantities of Flour from Wheat, — Strange Episode concerning
CONTENTS. ix
Flour Sacks in London. — Bakeries and Bake-houses. – Contrast
between Paris and London in the Bread Trade. — Need of Reform
in the Condition of Bakers. — Bread Mills at Carlisle and Birming-
ham. — No Bread Mills in London, — Relation between Corm, Flour,
and Bread, in Quantities. – Controversies respecting White Bread
and Brown. — Adulteration of Bread - tºº - Page 155
CHAPTER VI.
CATTLE AND CATTLE-MARKETS FOR LONDON.
Aggregate of our national Live Stock. — Cattle Shows, their Objects
and Results.-Rearing of Live Stock as a commercial Undertaking.
—Increasing Consumption of Foreign Cattle.—Smithfield as the great
Cattle Market for the Metropolis. – A Hundred Years of Complaint
against the old Market. —Various projected Improvements in past
Times.—Picture of Smithfield on a Market Day. — Graziers, Sales-
men, Drovers, and Butchers. — Mode of conducting the Dealings. –
Extent of the Annual Sales. – Railway Contributions to our Cattle
Supply.—Great Christmas Sales at Smithfield.—Prices and Value of
London Cattle. — Recent Schemes for Improving Smithfield. —
The abortive Islington Cattle Market. — Final Closing of Smithfield
Market in 1855. — Planning and Formation of a Market in Copen-
hagen Fields. –Description of the new Market - - 21 1
CHAPTER VII.
COUNTRY-ISILLED MEAT AND CURED PROVISIONS.
Increasing use of country-killed Meat in London. — Peculiarities of the
Markets at Newgate, Leadenhall, and Whitechapel. — Anomalous
Position of Newgate Market. — Smaller Meat Markets. – Modes of
supplying these Markets. – Sketch of the Market Arrangements. –
Probable Quantities of country-killed Meat brought to London. —
Curious technical Limitation of the word ‘Provisions.”— Salt-Meat
Supply from Ireland and America.-Irish Bacon for London.—Hams
and the Ham-Trade. —Minor Kinds of prepared Meat.— Preserved
or Potted Foods: gradual Extension of their Use * - 265
CHAPTER VIII.
DADRY PRODUCE AND POULTRY FOR LONDON.
Milk-supply. —London ‘Milk-walks.”— Estimates concerning Quan-
tity.—M. Guénon's Theory of Milch Cows.-Economy of the great
London Dairies.— Milk-supply to London by Railway. --Adultera-
X CONTENTS.
tion of Milk. — Butter.— Dairy Produce as a Commercial Adventure.
—Butter Trade in Ireland.—Supply to London, and Nature of the
Trade.—Adulteration of Butter. —Cheese. —Warieties and Quanti-
ties. – Use of Anatto. —Eggs. – Egg-rearing in France, and Egg-
trade with England.—Egg-dealers in Ireland. —Bailway Conveyance
of Eggs to London.— Poultry and Poultry Manias. – Projects for
Artificial Hatching.—Goose and Duck rearing for the London Mar-
ket. – Contrast between Paris and London in Poultry Consumption.
—Poultry Markets at Leadenhall and Newgate. — Game, its Varieties
and Peculiarities of Supply º - - - Page 292
CHAPTER IX.
BILLINGSGATE AND THE FISEI-SUPEPLY.
Peculiarities of Fish-supply. — Projects for artificially rearing Fish.-
Early Projects for bringing Fish to London. — ‘Fish Association’
in 1813. — Maintenance of Billingsgate against all competing Mar-
kets. – Billingsgate Supply before the Railway Era. — Nature of
the Supply at the Present Day.— Great Fish Dealings at Yarmouth,
and between Yarmouth and London. — New Market at Billings-
gate. —Dealings between the Fishermen, Consignees, Salesmen,
Fishmongers, Bummarees, and Hawkers. — A Day at Billingsgate.
—Variety and Seasons of the Annual Supply.— Probable Quantities
sold. — Peculiarities in the Oyster Trade for the London Market.
– Street Dealers in Fish * - sº - - 330
CHAPTER X.
COVENT GARDEN : FRUITS AND VEGFTABLES.
No important Vegetable Market in London before Covent Garden. —
Gradual Establishment of this Market on the Site of the old Convent
Garden at Westminster. — Rebuilding of the Market in 1827.-
Sources of the Vegetable Supply for London. — Market-Gardens
around the Metropolis.-Distant Sources of some of the Supplies.—
Supply of Fruit. — Remarkable Nature of the Strawberry Trade. —
The Fruit Avenue at Covent Garden. — Daily Routine of Trade.—
Vegetables and Fruit at Spitalfields, Borough, Farringdon, Hunger-
ford, and Portman Markets. – Probable Quantities of Vegetables
and Fruit consumed in London. — Importance of Steamers and
Railways in expediting the Supply. —Increased Supply of Foreign
Fruit in London.—Electric Telegraph and the Market People. - 366
CONTENTs. xi
CHAPTER XI.
THE SUPPLY OF GROCERIES AND COLONIAL PRODUCE.
Colonial and Tropical Imports of Food mostly employed for Beverages.
—Mincing Lane the Mart for this Produce.—Tea.—Comparatively
recent Introduction.—Extensive Consumption at the present Day.
— Growth, Preparation, Sale, and Shipment in China. — Probable
Consumption in the United Kingdom. — Adulteration of Tea in
London. — Coffee. — Growth and Preparation Abroad. — Roasting
and grinding at Home. — Coffee-drinking at different Times and in
different Countries. – Probable Quantities consumed. —Chicory. —
Wrangles between Coffee Importers and Chicory Growers.—Chicory
and Coffee, adulterated and unadulterated. —Cocoa. — Chocolate a
Preparation of Cocoa, -Increasing Use in this Country.—Frequent
Adulterations.—Sugar.—Growth and Manufacture Abroad.—Sugar-
refining in London.—Probable Consumption.—Beet-root Sugar little
known in England. — Spiceries from the East: Pepper, Nutmegs,
Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves.—Rice. —Tobacco.—Is Tobacco a Food?
— Culture and Manufacture.—Wast Stores in the London Docks. –
Snuff-making. — Cigar-making. — Probable Consumption. — Adul-
teration of Tobacco gº ſº * ſº Page 396
CHAPTER XII.
THE BEVERAGES OF LONDON.
Increase or Decrease of Beer-drinking in London, which 2 — Malt
and Malting. —Quantities of Barley malted.—Hops and Hop-grow-
ing.—Hop-gambling. — Gradual Rise of Porter-brewing.—Wastness
of the London Breweries. – Manufacturing History of a Pint of
Porter. — Amount of Brewing and Beer-drinking in London. —
Public-houses of London. — Anomalies in the Licensing System. —
Oddities in the Signs of Public-houses.—Spirit-drinking.—Remark-
able Chemistry of Spirit-distilling. — Great London Distilleries. –
Distinction between Distillers and Rectifiers. — English Gin and
Scotch or Irish Whiskey.—Probable Consumption.—Wine—Causes
of its small Consumption in England.— Operations of the Vintage.
— Probable Quantities produced. — Names and Capacities of Wine
Casks. – Port and Sherry sophisticated for the English Market.—
Quantities imported.—Great Vaults at the London Docks,—“Tasting
Orders.’ — Adulteration of Wine. — British Wine. — Rise of this
Manufacture in Connection with Vinegar-making - - 4.52
xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
REMARRABLE ASPECTS OF FOOD-RETAILING IN LONDON.
Food Advertisements in the Newspapers. — Retailers of Food in Lon-
don.—Bazaar Principle observable among them.—Dining Rooms and
Cooks' Shops. – Old Taverns. – Chop-houses and Coffee-houses. –
West-end Clubs considered as Restaurants or Dining-rooms. –
Street Purchases on a Saturday Evening. — Itinerant Dealers in
Minor Articles of Food tº- - - tº Page 502
THE FOOD OF LONDON.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY IREMARKS.
Wide Range of the Subject. — Food-supply of London self-go-
verning. — Archbishop Whately's Illustration. — Contrast between
London and Paris in this sense. —Imperfect Statistics relating to
Food. — Uncertain Limits of the Metropolis. – Supply and Prices,
Scarcity and Mortality. —Effect of Taxes on Food-supply. — Con-
sumption of Food affected by Changes in public Opinion. —
Adulteration of Food. — Theories concerning Dietetics and the
Chemistry of Food.
THE Supply of food to a great city is among the most
remarkable of social phenomena — full of instruction
on all sides. It teaches much concerning the sub-
stances whence the food is formed ; the processes of
formation; the communities whose industry developes
the edible treasures from crude materials; the transport
of the food from the place of production to the busy
city itself; the aid rendered to this transport by modern
inventions relating to roads and canals, railways and
telegraphs, clippers and steamers; the mercantile ar-
rangements between those who sell and buy largely;
and the transactions between the wholesale dealers and
the retail distributors. It tells also of the establish-
ment of docks and wharfs, warehouses and granaries,
* |B
2 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. I.
markets and exchanges, to facilitate the wholesale deal-
ings; of the endless array of vehicles employed in the
distribution; of the busy ranges of shops in which the
provisions are sold to the actual consumers; of the large
staff of persons employed in this retailing; of the vast
sums spent in the provisioning of a mighty city; of the
influence of an adequate supply on the social and poli-
tical contentment of the people; and of the relative
conditions of different cities at different times, in all
these particulars. -
Perhaps the most wonderful characteristic is, that
— ‘Nobody does it,” — no one assumes the respon-
sibility. It is useless to ask by what central authority,
or under what controlling system, is such a city as
London supplied with its daily food. “Nobody does
it.” No one, for instance, took care that a sufficient
quantity of food should reach London in 1855, for the
supply of two millions and a half of human beings
during fifty-two weeks. And yet such a supply did
reach London. It is no refutation of this to say that
there are thousands every day in London whose scanty
food scarcely maintains life: this is painfully true; but
not less true is it that the food is at hand, although the
unfortunates are ill provided with the means for obtain-
ing a goodly share. And not merely are there nine
hundred millions of daily rations thus supplied annually
for our enormous metropolis; but these rations are so
infinitely varied as to meet all the caprices of taste. If
a gourmand wish for a dish of peacocks' brains, or
stewed humming-birds, or doves' hearts, doubtless his
taste might be gratified; it would simply be a ques-
CH. I. NO COMMISSARY REQUIRED. 3
tion of price. There are rations for all, and endless
variety in these rations; yet is there no commissary-
general to take charge of such matters.
“Let any one,” says Archbishop Whately, “pro-
pose to himself the problem of supplying with daily
provision of all kinds such a city as our metropolis,
containing above a million of inhabitants.” Let him
imagine himself a head commissary, entrusted with the
office of furnishing to this enormous host their daily
rations. Any considerable failure in the supply, even
for a single day, might produce the most frightful dis-
tress, since the spot on which they are cantonned pro-
duces absolutely nothing. Some, indeed, of the articles
consumed admit of being reserved in public or private
stores for a considerable time; but many, including
most articles of animal food, and many of vegetable, are
of the most perishable nature. As a deficient supply of
these, even for a few days, would occasion great incon-
venience; so would a redundancy of them produce a
corresponding waste. Moreover, in a district of such
vast extent as this (as it has been aptly called) “pro-
vince covered with houses,” it is essential that the sup-
plies should be so distributed among the different
quarters, as to be brought almost to the doors of the
inhabitants, at least within such a distance that they
may, without an inconvenient waste of time and labour,
procure their daily shares.” The Archbishop points
* The Archbishop, then Dr. Whately, wrote these words about a
quarter of a century ago, when population was not only less dense than
at present, but when many villages and parishes, now included in the
vast area of London, were regarded as extra-metropolitan.
B 2
4. TFIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. I.
out that the provisions required, instead of being uni-
form, as in a garrison, must be diversified to suit the
almost infinitely varying tastes of individuals; that they
must accommodate themselves to the varying number
of persons residing in London at different seasons
of the year; that they must bear some direct relation
to the richness or scarcity in the supply of different
kinds of food at different times; and he then proceeds,-
“Now let any one consider this problem in all its bear-
ings, reflecting on the enormous and fluctuating num-
ber of persons to be fed — the immense quantity, and
the variety, of the provisions to be furnished — the im-
portance of a convenient distribution of them — and
the necessity of husbanding them discreetly; and then
let him reflect on the anxious toil which such a task
would impose on a board of the most experienced and
intelligent commissaries, who, after all, would be able
to discharge their office but very inadequately.”
The striking feature here is, that no commissariat de-
partment is necessary. “This object is accomplished,
far better than it could be by any effort of human wis-
dom, through the agency of men who think each of
nothing beyond his own immediate interest: who, with
that object in view, perform their respective parts with
cheerful zeal, and combine unconsciously to employ the
wisest means for effecting an object, the vastness of
which it would bewilder them even to contemplate.
. . . . Each of these watches attentively the demands
of his neighbourhood, or of the market he frequents,
for such commodities as he deals in. The apprehen-
sion, on the one hand, of not realising all the profit he
CH. I. CRIME AN ILLUSTRATIONS, 5
might, and on the other hand, of having his goods left
on his hands, either by his laying in too large a stock,
or by his rivals’ underselling him, -— these, acting like
antagonist muscles, regulate the extent of his dealings,
and the prices at which he buys and sells. An abun-
dant supply causes him to lower his prices, and thus
enable the public to enjoy that abundance; while he is
guided only by the apprehension of being undersold.”
The mournful episode in the Crimea in 1854-5 illus-
trated this reasoning in an inverse way. The people of
England provided munificently for the wants of the
soldiers; the government officers, each in his sepa-
rate capacity, endeavoured to fulfil the duties of his
office honestly; yet, if anything disturbed the harmo-
nious action of the delicate machine, how sad were the
results It was well-intended to send coffee raw in
stead of roasted, to retain the aroma ; but what if the
soldiers had neither stoves nor fuel ? It was proper to
send salt beef and pork; but what if there were no
facilities for dressing it It was considerate to send
flour, and biscuits, and Christmas gifts of all kinds; but
what if there were neither horses nor waggons to con-
vey them from the ships to the camp? There is no need
to strain the illustration: these queries may suffice to
afford hints concerning probable disasters in govern-
mental food-supply to a town.
The true bearings of this subject can best be appre-
ciated by watching the effects of any attempt to feed
a great city by the state. Take the example of Paris,
* Introductory Lectures on Political Economy, Lecture iv. p. 103.
B 3
6 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. I.
for instance, sixty or seventy years ago. In 1793 the
harvest was late in France; the large farmers were re-
garded as enemies to the people, and were rendered timid
in their proceedings; and as a consequence, supplies
in Paris were scanty, and prices high. But this was
only a small part of the evil. The assignats, or na-
tional bank notes, had been issued in such prodigious
quantities that their real value became ridiculously
small in comparison with their nominal value; just as
if (could we suppose such a thing) a five-pound English
note should become worth only a few shillings instead
of five sovereigns. The working classes received their
wages in assignats; but the shopkeepers refused to
take these notes at more than their market value in
exchange for provisions. Hence ensued hunger and
distress; and hence food-riots of a dreadful kind. The
shopkeepers themselves became impoverished; for, esti-
mating a franc assignat at one-third of a silver franc in .
July, they found it worth only one-sixth of a silver
franc in August. Every one was dissatisfied; and
every one called loudly upon the government.
Let us now see how the state grappled with this
difficulty. An order was issued, compelling farmers to
bring all their corn to market, and to sell it at a price
determined by the government; the buyers, too,
might purchase only a stated limited quantity; and
the mode of trading in the bakers’ shops was strictly
laid down, with a view to each customer being served
in turn. These regulations, as may well be supposed,
failed to render food cheap; and ruffians were wont to
break open the provision-shops, and to waylay provi-
CH. I. STATE RATIONS IN PARIS. 7
sion-carts coming in from the country. The retail
dealers complaining bitterly of the hardship of the sys-
tem as it affected them, the government went one step
farther, and controlled the mode in which, and the prices
at which, wholesale merchants and dealers should sup-
ply the retailers. The state next thought of being
the great shopkeeper for the whole food of Paris; but
this threw matters into still greater confusion. In
1794 a deficiency in the supply of meat rendered the
official interference with butchers as minute and vex-
atious as it had before been with bakers. In 1795
the harvest was deficient; and the people had become
so dependent upon the government for benefits which
really did not exist, that Paris was at length placed
upon rations: a pound to a pound and a half of bread
per day was given to each individual; but if any
irregularity took place in the distribution, riot and
violence ensued. Although the ration system was aban-
doned in 1796, the executive was still compelled, during
many months, to buy provisions at the market price,
and to sell at a much lower price, as the only means
of preventing an émeute. The system gradually died
out from its very rottenness.
It was the knowledge of these deplorable proceedings,
perhaps, coupled with certain scenes which had occurred
in England, that led Burke to say, “Of all things, an
indiscreet tampering with the trade of provisions is the
most dangerous; and it is always worst at the time
when men are most disposed to it—that is, in the time
of scarcity ; because there is nothing on which the
passions of men are so violent, and their judgment so
B 4
8 THE FooD or LoNDON. CH. I.
weak, and on which there exists such a multitude of
ill-founded prejudices.”
But if we need not a commissariat for the supply of
food to our huge larder, there are difficulties enough in
obtaining an intelligible view of the whole subject.
The very circumstance that food-supply regulates itself,
with scarcely any interference on the part of the
government, is a source of embarrassment in relation
to the ascertainment of trustworthy facts concerning
quantities and qualities. Abundant proofs of this
have been afforded by changes in the Excise and
Customs' laws. When, some years ago, the trade be-
tween England and Ireland was assimilated to the
coasting trade, there at once ceased to be any official
record of the quantities of commodities transmitted from
the one country to the other. When a customs’ impost
is abolished, there frequently ensues a cessation of all
official records of quantities and values imported. These
and similar fiscal regulations—variations in the number
and location of the persons to be supplied — misconcep-
tions and miscalculations to which all are more or less
liable — the various demands of purchasers in seasons of
prosperity and of distress—the indirect effect of legisla-
tion in disturbing the ordinary currents of trade—all
interfere with any complete view of the machinery
whereby food-supply is kept up.
Let us illustrate this. In Belgium f committees or
commissions are appointed in every district to collect
information respecting the amount of corn and other
* Thoughts and Details on Scarcity.
f Porter, Progress of the Nation, p. 539.
CH. I. DEFICIENT STATISTICS. 9
crops in any given year; each member of each com-
mittee possessing local knowledge which enables him
in some degree to test the accuracy of the returns. In
France, in like manner, the prefects and sub-prefects of
the eighty-six departments prepare annual tables of this
kind. No such machinery exists in England. The
constabulary force in Ireland, it is true, has been em-
ployed, first in 1847, and then in later years, to visit
every farm in the island, and to obtain detailed informa-
tion concerning the acreage under crop, and the probable
quantity of produce: the work has been well done;
and the results are valuable. It is no cause for wonder
that English journalists should now be urging the
adoption of some such system of agricultural statistics in
England. A little progress in this direction was made
in 1854–5, but only sufficient to show how much yet
remains to be done. In Scotland the progress is more
rapid and satisfactory, under the management of the
Highland Society.
The Consumption in the towns, too, is as problematical
as the Production. The English, as a nation, are so
jealous of government interference in commercial trans-
actions, that we have much fewer materials for correct
tabulations than our continental neighbours. There
are at Paris certain tolls, or civic imposts, which en-
able the authorities to ascertain exactly the quantity
of food brought into the city from the country districts.
Nothing of this kind exists in London ; one conse-
quence of which is, that all attempts to determine the
amount of food brought into our metropolis are subject
to great liability of error. Even the tabulation of live
10 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. I.
stock sold at the great metropolitan Cattle-market
leaves us in uncertainty concerning the amount of
butchers’ meat consumed in London, owing to these
two circumstances — that many of the purchases made
in London are for consumption beyond the limits of the
metropolis; and that the quantity of dead meat brought
to London is not officially recorded by any central
authority. Until lately, when Sir Benjamin Hall's
new measure for the government of the ‘Great Metro-
polis,’ came into force (1855), there were said to be
213 Acts of Parliament, administered by 276 bodies,
relating especially to the metropolis, besides royal
charters having special application; and yet all these
statutes and charters, boards and corporations, were
wanting in official power to ascertain the quantity of
food which two millions and a half of human beings
yearly consume. - > * * * * - - - - - -
A further source of perplexity in connection with
this subject is, the uncertainty concerning the limits of
the metropolis. In men's minds, and in the pages of
journals and magazines, the question presents itself—
Where does London end? Shall we adopt, as our re-
presentative of the metropolis, the city of London, which
(including both ‘within' and “without' the walls) com-
prises only one square mile of surface P or the “Bills of
Mortality,’ which under the old system included the
cities of London and Westminster, and about forty out-
parishes P or the ‘Registrar General’s’ London, which
comprises the two cities, the borough of Southwark, the
forty out-parishes, and the suburban hamlets and villages
of Bow, Brompton, Bromley, Camberwell, Chelsea,
CH. I. MAGNITUDE OF TEIE METROPOLIS. 11
Deptford, Woolwich, Greenwich, Fulham, Hammer-
Smith, Hatcham, Kensington, Marylebone, Paddington,
Pancras, Highgate, and Stoke Newington? or the “Poor
Law London, which omits several marginal parishes
included by the Registrar General? or the ‘Parlia-
mentary London, which takes no account of the ex-
tensive district comprised in Chelsea, Pimlico, Knights-
bridge, Brompton, and Kensington? or the ‘Post Office’
London, which gives geometrical symmetry to the metro-
polis by confining it within a circle of a given number
of miles radius P or the ‘Police ’ London, which travels
out to a distance of fifteen miles from Charing Cross
in every direction? Which of these shall be selected ?
For the purposes of the present volume it will suffice
to consider London as the Registrar General and the
Census Commissioners have considered it—a wonderful
assemblage of 2,362,236 human beings, living in about
300,000 houses. It will be safe to assume that, in the
interval between the years 1851 and 1855 the popu-
lation has risen to two millions and a half. The Registrar
calculates that, if births, deaths, immigration, and emi-
gration advance in the ratios shown by the years 1841 to
1851, our dense London mass of human beings will be,
in 1863 = 3,000,000
1878 = 4,000,000
1889 = 5,000,000
Not only are men perplexed to determine the limits
of the place which they choose to call ‘London;' but
there is a frequent uncertainty in parliamentary and
statistical returns concerning the sense in which ‘Eng-
land ’ is to be understood. ‘England' is a short, com-
12 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. I.
pact, familiar word; its two syllables are more easily
managed than ‘England and Wales,’ ‘ Great Britain,
‘ Great Britain and Ireland,’ the ‘United Kingdom,”
or the ‘British Islands;’ and there can hardly be a doubt
that it is too often made to do duty for some of these.
Whoever has occasion to consult the ‘Blue Books,’ the
parliamentary papers issued by the Board of Trade and
other departments of the Government, must hold him-
Self on his guard concerning this source of error, error
in inferences drawn by himself from tabular statements,
one of which, perhaps, may relate to England and
Wales only, and another to Great Britain, or to the
United Kingdom. Our eminent writers are occasionally
obscure on this point. For instance, Mr. Macaulay,
in comparing the agriculture of 1848 with that of
1696”, leaves a doubt whether the word “kingdom'
has a like application in both cases — whether in one,
or neither, or both, he included Scotland.
Even if the means of obtaining statistical information
were trustworthy, writers are frequently misled by
verbal errors on the part of those who have preceded
them. A striking instance of this has been adduced by
Mr. M'Culloch. Newspaper readers are accustomed to
see that, in the market sales of butcher's meat in London,
the price is stated at so much per stone, ‘sinking the
offal; that is, when the skin, horns, viscera, &c., have
been removed. In oxen, calves, sheep, and pigs, the
offal bears a certain known ratio to the weight of the
whole animal. Now the error thus arose. “In a former
edition of this work,” says Mr. M'Culloch, “we inad-
* History of England, i. 314.
CH. I. VIERBAL CAUSES OF ERROR. 13
vertently deducted the offal from the nett instead of the
gross weight of the animals; and, we regret to say,
this obvious blunder was soon after quoted in the
Dictionnaire de Commerce to show that the weight of
the cattle slaughtered in Paris was greater than that of
those killed in London; and that the consumption of
animal food was greater in the former than in the
latter.”” It is not unlikely that the statement will go
the round of a large number of French publications;
and that the Parisians will learn to believe that they
obtain more ‘rosbifs' than an equal number of the
inhabitants of London.
Irrespective of the more familiar causes of variation
in the supply of food, and of consequent variation in
quantities and prices, there are others of special appli-
cation. For instance, there is the mutual dependence
of prices and mortality. Mr. Farr f has gone through
the Tables of Mortality in London for nearly two cen-
turies, from about 1602 to 1800. He finds that in ninety-
eight years when provisions were comparatively cheap,
the total deaths were fewer than in ninety-eight years
of comparative dearth; and he further finds that, if
periods of five or ten years be chosen, the deaths were
almost always lower in cheap years: the difference,
though not large, is sufficient to indicate a prevailing
law. Another point is, that the prices of agricultural
and manufactured products do not rise or fall equally
in a given time. An examination of the ‘official' and
‘ declared values of commodities at different times has
* Dictionary of Commerce, edit. 1854.
f Journal of the Statistical Society, ix. 164.
14 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. I.
shown this in a curious way. “A quantity of agri-
cultural produce which in 1694 was worth 100l., would,
at the present prices, be worth 1431. ; whilst a quantity
of manufactured goods which, in 1694, was worth 100l.,
would now only be worth 40l.”* In other words,
meat, corn, fish, butter, and cheese, are relatively much
dearer than cottons, linens, woollens, iron, and coal;
and in this sense a Londoner of 1694 might have been
better fed than clothed, while a Londoner of 1855
might be better clothed than fed.
It scarcely need be said that fiscal regulations greatly
influence the kind and quantity of food obtainable in
London. Where there are heavy duties, there will be
evasions of duty in some form or other. Strangely
circuitous is the commerce which taxation sometimes
superinduces. In 1844, the duty on sugar led to an
importation of confectionery which could not be ex-
plained on ordinary grounds; but a clue was found
thus: —in British America refined sugar sold at 27s.
per cwt. in bond; the duty, the freight, and the manu-
facture into lozenges, raised this to 74s.; while at the
same time English confectioners were charged 80s. per
cwt. for the sugar with which their lozenges were
made. Thus the Londoners were supplied with Halifax
lozenges because the sugar-duty was higher in London
than at Halifax. But, what is still more remarkable,
raw sugar was made into confections, called ‘Succades,’
at Halifax, which were sent to England to be re-
converted into sugar ; the sugar thus made, after the
* Economist, Nov. 4. 1843.
CH. I. MORAL CEIECKS TO TRADING. . 15
double journey and double process of manufacture, was
sold cheaper than any other in the English market.
Another circumstance which influences the supply of
food to a particular city at a particular time, is the pre-
vailing tone of morality concerning trade. At the
present day, ardent spirits find little sale in the State of
Maine—not through any deficiency in the supply, but
through the operation of an anti-liquor law which treats
dram-drinking as a social crime. Defoe, a clear-headed
man on most subjects, seems to have been perplexed
how to reconcile the interests of morality with those of
trade; he would gladly have lessened the consumption
of certain commodities, but was startled by the pro-
bable consequences to those who lived by supplying
them. “Suppose,” says he, “ that no drunkenness, no
extravagances, no excesses, were practised among us,
either among the poor or the rich; and let any one that
understands the general consumption of these liquors
tell me what defalcation he thinks would be made in
the revenue from what it is, as things now stand
amongst us, and whether at least a million and a half
of that vast revenue would not be taken off from the
account: but then let them tell us also what a dread-
ful blow would this reformation be to trade. However
necessary and called for by heaven and earth, however
required for the health of soul and body, that's not the
question; but it would be a clap of thunder to the
nation: as it would immediately save above a million of
money, so it would immediately starve above a million
of people. How many ale-houses must shut up ! how
many bushes be taken down what an array of drawers
16 TELE FOOD OF LONJOON. CEI. I.
and tapsters, that scum of the rabble, would imme-
diately go a begging ! What regiments of gaugers
and excisemen, tidewaiters and searchers, and all the
mob of custom-house and excise officers would be dis-
banded, and left to the grave and the gallows 1 and
what an innumerable throng of women and children,
the wretched dependants of these miserables, would
come to the parish for bread ' And what must be done
in this case ? It is a dreadful story, that's the truth of
it : the nation's prosperity is built on the ruin of the
22 #
nation's morals. Many are embarrassed at the pre-
sent day with the questions which thus perplexed Defoe
a hundred-and-forty years ago; while others run full
tilt at the indulgences without regard to the traders.
The matter is mentioned here simply to indicate one
mode in which the quantity and nature of the food
and beverages purchased by a community may to some
extent be influenced by conscientious scruples.
There is another direction in which morality, or
rather mere common honesty, is concerned with the
food of a great city. Are the commodities such as
they seem : Do we really know how much is eaten of
the several kinds 2 Is a pound of nominal coffee a
pound of authentic coffee? The tea or the chocolate,
the wine or the beer, the milk or the vinegar, the bread
or the flour — do these, as purchased and consumed,
correspond with their names; or if not, to what extent
do they depart from genuineness? These questions
are of no small moment when considering the quantity
of any article of food consumed by two millions and a
* Complete English Tradesman, ii. chap. iv.
CH. I. * DEATH IN THE POT.’ 17
half of human beings. Our chemists have not failed
to attend to this matter. Several years ago Mr. Accum
wrote a “Treatise on the Adulteration of Food,” in which
he gives the results of his analyses of water, wine,
bread, beer, tea, coffee, brandy, rum, gin, cheese, pepper,
cayenne, pickles, vinegar, cream, confectionary, sauces,
and seasonings; and these results were such as to in-
duce him to terminate his preface with the startling
words, arrayed in all the dignity of capitals, “THERE
Is DEATH IN THE POT.” More recently, in 1848,
Mr. Mitchell published a ‘Treatise on the Falsification
of Food, in which he traces, somewhat in the manner of
Accum, the results of his examination of food and
beverages purchased in the London shops; comprising
flour, bread, milk, beer, cider, wine, spirits, coffee, tea,
chocolate, sugar, honey, lozenges, cheese, vinegar,
pickles, sauces, oils, and seasonings. This was followed,
in 1850, by Dr. Normandy’s ‘Commercial Handbook of
Chemical Analysis,' containing about four hundred arti-
cles alphabetically arranged, and comprising among them
most varieties of food and drinks: each being treated in
relation to the chemical means whereby adulteration may
be detected. The French have published a work, by
Chevallier, on the same subject, the ‘Dictionnaire
des Altérations et Falsifications des Substances Ali-
mentaires, Médicamenteuses, et Commerciales.’
A more remarkable and extensive scrutiny has, how-
ever, lately been made into the honesty of manufacturers
and shopkeepers. Whether the English are more prone
to sophistication than other nations, we have, perhaps
not the means of fully knowing. Sam Slick, who has)
C
18 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. I.
his own peculiar mode of judging everything and every-
body, certainly represents an English dinner as being
otherwise than it seems : — “Weal, to be good, must
look like anythin’ else than veal; you must’nt know it
when you see it, or it’s vulgar. Mutton must be incog.
too. Beef must have a mask on. Anythin’ that looks
solid, take a spoon to ; anythin’ that looks light, cut
with a knife. If a thing looks like fish, you may take
your oath it is flesh; and if it seems rael flesh, it's only
disguised, for it's sure to be fish. Nothin' must be
materal ; mater is out of fashion here. This is a
manufacturin’ country ; everythin’ is done by ma-
chinery; and that that aint must be made to look
like it; and I must say the dinner machinery is per-
fect.” Sam Slick’s philosophy apart, however, we
must notice what has been effected through the instru-
mentality of the ‘Lancet.’ This journal, in 1851, com-
menced a series of searching examinations into the
quality of the food sold in the London shops; and pub-
lished the results at great length. In that year, the
substances which came under scrutiny were coffee,
arrow-root, sugar, pepper, chicory, mustard, flour,
bread, cocoa, oatmeal, tea, milk, isinglas, and gelatine;
in 1852, they comprised vinegar, pickles, spices, pre-
served meats, ale and beer, cayenne, curry-powder,
bottled fruits and vegetables, anchovies, potted meats,
and fish-sauces; in 1853 the researches had relation to
preserves, jellies, lard, butter, tobacco, cigars, and snuff;
while in 1854, after confectionary, the examination
passed on to drugs and chemicals. The proprietors of
the journal maintained an ‘Analytical Sanitary Com-
CH. I. * LANCET INVESTIGATIONS. 19
mission,’ by which the purchases were made, and the
analyses conducted; and the successive papers in the
* Lancet’ had the general heading — “Records of the
| Results of Microscopic and Chemical Analyses of the
Solids and Fluids consumed by all Classes of the
People.” A dozen, twenty, or even fifty samples of the
same substance were purchased, at as many different
shops, in various parts of London; and these were all
examined by the microscope, the balance, and the test-
tube, as a means of determining the exact component
ingredients in each. Of the average results obtained
in respect to the chief articles of food, more will be
said in later pages of this volume ; but it may be well
to show the spirit in which the investigations were
conducted : —
“Experience has shown that any merely general
exposure of the nature of the adulteration practised
on the public through their food, is not sufficient to
deter from a repetition of them; and that the only way
in which it can be hoped that such fraudulent practices
can be stayed, and the public protected, is by such pro-
ceedings as will entail personal discredit and possible
loss. . . . . . That the public at large will be greatly
benefited by these inquiries is obvious; and that many
of our colonists (at least such as import any article of
food into this country), and the revenue itself, will be
largely the gainers, might be very easily and satisfac-
torily proved. The honest tradesman or merchant will
also be benefited : he has nothing to fear, but on the
contrary much to gain; for while he will be able to
secure fair prices for a genuine commodity, his name
C 2
*
20 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. I.
also will be made known to the public, and he will be
upheld in his true light and character as an upright and
honourable tradesman. Who, then, need fear the dis-
closures it will be our duty to make? Fraudulent
dealers, whether they be wholesale merchants, knavish
manufacturers, dishonest brewers, or adulterating re-
tailers: they alone will have cause to fear, but none
whatever rightly to complain of the consequences of
their own unprincipled proceedings. The urchin who
filches a bun, a penny piece, or the value of one, breaks
the law, and is liable to punishment and even imprison-
ment. Is it to be supposed, therefore, that the cun-
ning and systematic adulterator of our food and drink,
who robs us not only of our money, but sometimes even
of our health and strength, is less guilty?”"
The main portion of the labour in these remarkable
investigations was borne by Dr. Arthur Hill Hassall,
who afterwards embodied the whole in a bulky illus-
trated volume: —“Reports of the Analytical Sanitary
Commission of the Lancet for the Years 1851 to 1854
inclusive, on Food and its Adulterations: 'a very cyclo-
paedia of dishonesty, so far as concerns the practices
therein examined and exposed. In the Session of 1855
a Committee of the House of Commons investigated
this subject, examining many witnesses in relation
thereto, with a view, apparently, of judging whether
the legislature could usefully interfere. These inquiries
and disclosures need not be further discussed here; the
subject is only mentioned to show that if, according to
a popular dramatist, we are ‘Not so bad as we seem,”
* Lancet, Jan, 4, 1851.
CH. I. DIETETIC TEIEORIES. 2]
there is, nevertheless, a strong impression abroad that
our provisions are not so good as they seem.
Still another circumstance may be briefly adverted
to, as among those which affect either the actual supply
of food to a great city, or the means of determining the
nature and quantity of that supply. This is the cur-
rency of particular opinions, chemical or physiological,
concerning the most suitable articles of food for man.
Chemists, within the last twenty years, have sedulously
examined the elementary constituents of food, with a
view to ascertain the part which each constituent takes
in sustaining animal life. Thus Dr. Pereira has clas-
sified man's food into twelve kinds —aqueous, muci-
laginous, Saccharine, amylaceous, ligneous, pectinaceous,
acidulous, alcoholic, oleaginous, proteinaceous, and
saline. Dr. Paris, another inquirer, strives to show
how the flesh of mature animals, such as beef, mutton,
venison, and hare, supplies fibrous food; eggs, albu-
menous ; the flesh of young animals, such as veal,
chicken, and calf's foot, gelatinous ; butter, cocoa,
ducks, pork, geese, and eels, fatty; corn, rice, potato,
Sago, and arrowroot, farinaceous ; milk and cheese,
glutenous; carrot, turnip, asparagus, and cabbage, muci-
laginous ; sugar and sweet fruits, saccharine ; oranges
and other acescent fruits, acidulous ; horse-radish, Salt,
and pepper, condimentary. But while some inquirers
are endeavouring to discover what part is taken by each
kind of diet in building up the complex structure of
man; others are debating which are the best kinds of
diet, or whether certain kinds are required at all—whe-
ther flesh ought to be included among them; whether
C 3
22 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. I.
some kinds of flesh only should be included; whether
fermented beverages are justifiable; whether tobacco is
a food or a poison, — and so on. Mr. Smith's volume,
“Fruits and Farinaceae,” is an example of this kind;
in which he attempts to show, from the Mosaic writings,
from comparative anatomy, from physiology, from
chemistry, from general history, and from private ex-
perience, that “the flesh of animals is not only unneces-
sary, but decidedly prejudicial to man's health and
wellbeing,” and that fruits and farinaceae are the proper
food of man. Diverging widely from this are the
opinions of Dr. George Fordyce, who thinks that there
is nothing which can properly be called the natural
food of man; that man, being decreed to earn his food
by the sweat of his brow, must by his own industry
discover substances from which he is to obtain food;
and that, if he cannot find such in a natural state, he
must cultivate and alter them to an artificial state.
There are also the opinions of inquirers such as
Dr. R. D. Thomson, who states that variety in food is
essential to the maintenance of the human frame in a
healthy state. It is easy to see that, according as any
one theory on these subjects may prevail, the natnre
of the supply of food to a particular community would
be affected, and inference from the past to the future
be erroneous.
These, then, are some of the remarkable aspects
under which the food-supply of London presents itself
for notice, and some of the difficulties which beset any
attempt to ascertain rightly its nature and quantity.
The difficulties in this matter are indeed considerable.
ſ
CH. I. SUMMARY OF DIEEICULTIES. 23
| There is no sufficient machinery for obtaining statis-
tical details; there is doubt respecting the actual limits
of the metropolis to be supplied; there are errors of
misconception and transcription; there are variations
in the relative values of food and other commodities;
there are changes wrought indirectly by taxation ; there
are changes resulting from the prevailing views con-
cerning the moral aspects of trade in food or drink;
there is the cloud of doubt which hovers around the
Quality of the commodities sold; and there are the
conflicting opinions of dietetic inquirers concerning
the best kinds of food, and the influence which these
opinions exert on the plans and purchases of food
consumers. All these throw embarrassment into the
determination of the kinds and quantities of the pro-
visions brought into and consumed in London at a
particular time. In all probability many of these
difficulties will be lessened by degrees, consequent
partly on the tabulation of trustworthy statistical in-
quiries by Societies or by the government, and partly
on the general desire now felt to probe to the bottom of
all great Social questions. .
24 THE FOOD OF LONDON.
CHAP. II.
EIISTORICAL SEETCEI : TEIE FOOD OF LONDON IN
PAST AGES.
Scanty Notices on the Subject by early Writers. — Cheap Prices and
low Wages. – Cooks’ Shops in Ilondon Seven Centuries ago. —
Occasional Famines. – Origin of the Fair and Market at Smith-
field. — Early Days of Billingsgate. — Power of the old City Com-
panies over the retailing of Food. — Great Feasts in the 14th
Century. — Meat mostly salted in those Days. – Rivalry between
Queenhithe and Billingsgate as Fish Markets. – Influence of the
Fishmongers’ Company. — Sale of Bread in London in the 15th
Century. —Wintners and the Beer Trade. —Lydgate’s ‘London
Lyckpenny.” — Prices of Food. — Attempts to encourage the Use
of Fish as a Substitute for Meat. — Meat Markets in the Time of
the Tudors. — Stringent Regulation of Millers and Bakers, –
Public Granaries. – Power of the Grocers’ Company. — Ale and
Beer in Elizabeth's Reign. —Diet in London and in great House-
holds. – Market Arrangements under Cromwell. — Cessation of
public Granaries. – Milk-maidens of Walton's time.—Food Mono-
polies. – Establishment of Excise Duties on Beverages. – Taverns
and Ordinaries in the 17th Century. —Smithfield and Billingsgate
in the last Century. — Assize on Bread. —Walpole and the ‘Gin
Acts.”— Gradual Changes in recent Times.
WHATEVER may have been the characteristic diet of
England generally during the Saxon and Danish times,
We may infer that this, subject to improvement in some
of the items, was also the diet of the Londoners. The
cattle, the Swine, the corn, the ale, were alike available
in the metropolis and in the provinces. It is probable
that difficulty of transport had as much effect as any
other circumstance in bringing about inequality in the
supply of food. There was a facility afforded to the
CH. II. EARLY FOOD-TARIFFS. 25
inhabitants of London, and a few other seaports, of
tasting the luxuries supplied by foreign countries, not
shared equally by the dwellers in inland districts; but
the imports of food were not large in extent until Com-
paratively modern times. -
One of the difficulties in estimating the relative com-
forts of two distant centuries lies in the determination
of the relative values of money as a measure of price.
The metals for conversion into money may be more
scarce at one time than at another, while the ratios
which these metals bear to other commodities, and to
man's labour, may be subject to great fluctuations. One
thing is certain —- that the shilling and the penny ex-
changed in past days for a much larger quantity of food,
and most other commodities, than in our times. For
instance, one of the Saxon laws of King Ethelred con-
veys indirectly the information that in his reign, an ox
was valued at six shillings, a cow at five shillings, a pig
at one shilling and three pennies, and a sheep at one
shilling — a most tempting tariff, this, to a modern
Londoner, who needs to pay as much for a pound of
mutton-chops as his Anglo-Saxon ancestor paid for a
whole sheep. But then, the Anglo-Saxon received, per-
chance, no more than a penny a day for his labour; a
fortnight's labour-wages might have procured for him
a whole sheep; a fortnight's labour-wages may buy a
whole sheep for the working-man in London at pre-
Sent; and thus the account would stand more equal
than at first might be supposed. We must guard
against inferences from the low prices of early times.
The practical question in regard to the state of a man's
26 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. II.
larder is — not what is the money price of provisions,
nor what is his money income, but what ratio does the
One bear to the other.
One of the earliest notices of the retailing of food in
the Metropolis occurs in the pages of Fitzstephen.
This monk of Canterbury wrote the first connected
account of London, about A.D. 1160 or 1170. ; and
in this he shows that a cook's shop is by no means
a modern invention. “ There is in London,” he says,
“ upon the river's bank, a public place of cookery,
among the wines to be sold in the ships and in the
wine-cellars. There every day ye may call for any
dish of meat, roast, fried, or boiled; fish both small
and great; ordinary flesh for the poorer sort, and
more dainty for the rich, as venison and fowl. If
friends come upon a sudden, wearied with travel, to
a citizen's house, and they be loth to wait for curious
preparations and dressings of fresh meat, let the ser-
vants give them water to wash, and bread to stay their
stomachs; and in the meantime they run to the water-
side, where all things that can be desired are at hand.”
Here we have the three-fold accommodation, complete
in all its forms, – a dining-room for the rich man, an
eating-house for the poor man, and a ready resource in
the event of a friend calling to take ‘pot-luck’ when
there is no pot-luck to give him. If there were only
one such establishment on the Thames' bank, it must
have been considerable in magnitude; for we are told
that, “Whatsoever multitude of soldiers or other
strangers enter into the city at any hour of the day or
night, or else are about to depart, they may turn in,
CH. II. IEEEECTS OF SCARCITY. 27
bait here, and refresh themselves to their hearts’ con-
tent, and so avoid long fasting, and not go away without
their dinner. If any desire to set their dainty tooth,
they take a goose; they need not to long for the fowl
of Africa; no, nor the rare godwit of Ionia. This is
the public cookery, and very convenient for the state of
a city, and belongs to it.” The old monk was right.
In those days of limited intercourse, scarcity of crops
was terrible in its results; the people had nothing to
fall back upon ; they were dependent upon growers
living within a short distance; and if those growers
had little to sell, the alternative of starvation became
painfully vivid. Just about six centuries ago, London,
as well as many other parts of England, suffered from
a visitation of this kind. Mr. Farr * has brought for-
ward a passage from Matthew Paris, in which the old
chronicler thus narrates, under date 1258: — “ Food
failing, innumerable multitudes of poor people died, and
their bodies were found all lying about swollen from
want, and livid, five or six together, in the pig-styes, in
muddy streets, and on dung-hills. Nor did those who
had homes dare to harbour the sick and dying, for fear
of infection. About the festival of Trinity, the pesti-
lence was immense, insufferable. It attacked the poor
particularly. In London alone, 15,000 of the poor
perished. . . . . . The nobility distributed bread on
certain days in London. When the famine began, the
summa of wheat in London sold for nine or ten solidi.
Fifty shiploads of wheat, barley, and bread, were pro-
cured from Germany, and the citizens of London were
* Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. ix.
28 THE FOOD OF Y.ONDON. CH. 11.
forbidden by proclamation to purchase that they might
sell the grain again at a high price to the poor, accord-
ing to their custom. The summa (about 100 lbs.) of
corn rose at last to fifteen shillings and more. The rich
only escaped death by purchasing foreign grain; the
middle classes sold their possessions; and many of
honourable degree were reduced to beg from strangers,
or, restrained by shame, to pass hungry, pale, and
dinnerless through the night, in uncounted sighs.” It
is evident that, under such a load of misery (as in
Ireland during 1847), the ordinary routine of commerce
could not suffice to fill up the fearful gap in food; other
aid was necessary to produce any alleviation. A fur-
ther observation of Matthew Paris records a fact which
has received much illustration during the autumn of
1854; viz., that a good crop in any one year does
not ensure good and cheap food in that year, unless
collateral circumstances tend in the same direction : —
“The harvest proved very abundant; but the grain was
spoiled, or not gathered.”
An incident is mentioned by Walsingham, showing
an extraordinary rise in the price of wheat in the year
1289. A tempest destroyed the seed; and as a con-
sequence, the modus of wheat rose in London from 3d.
to 2s., and afterwards reached 10s. Such a rise of price
is obviously beyond anything which modern times have
exhibited, let the ‘modus' have been what it may.
Four centuries earlier than this, the Anglo-Saxon monks
of Bury St. Edmund's ate barley-bread, “because the
income of the establishment would not admit of their
22
feeding twice or thrice a day on wheaten bread; ” and
CH. II. . ORIGIN OF SMITHFIELD. 29
there is reason to believe that this use of barley for
bread continued to be prevalent.
The supply of one of the great necessaries of life,
Meat, led at an early period to the establishment of a
cattle-market in the Metropolis. The history of Smith-
field, associated as it is both with the quiet of monastic
times, and with the bustle of the nineteenth century, is
full of interest. Nine hundred years ago Smithfield
was really a field, situated just beyond the City walls,
and selected by the citizens as a place for open-air
sports. Like other public fields, it became afterwards
the resort of the people on political occasions; and
it was graced, too, by the chivalry of tournaments.
Here it was that Edward III. and his mistress Alice
Piers, witnessed a tournament which lasted several
days; here it was that Richard II. held the splendid
tournay in celebration of his marriage, when sixty
fair ladies, riding on palfreys, sixty knights completely
armed, and sixty esquires of honour, entered Smith-
field, the knights being led by the ladies with chains
of silver: of the glories of this three days' tourna-
ment, the Chroniclers treat with much gusto. A more
painful association is with the persecutions and burn.
ings by intolerant zealots, when a flaming stake at
Saithfield was deemed the best cure for differences in
religious opinion. Yet another aspect under which
Smithfield presents itself to notice, is that of a fair-field
and a market-place: the establishment of a market at this
spot being connected with one of the earliest regulations
of English commerce—that relating to fairs. In olden
times, a commercial transaction was scarcely deemed
30 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
valid, unless openly conducted before witnesses; the
honour and probity of the counting-house were not then
fully understood; and hence every one attached import-
ance to open fairs and markets, for which a royal grant or
licence became necessary. Now, it appears that, durig
the reigns of the Norman and Plantagenet sovereigns,
several fairs were granted to Religious Houses in and
near London and Westminster, to benefit the monastic
revenues. Among these was one granted to the Prior
and Convent of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield. This,
however, was not the only legalised fair on that spot.
A charter, granted to the City Corporation by Ed-
ward III., contains a declaration that no other market
shall be granted by the Crown, to be holden within
several miles of the city; and this charter was the
foundation of all the monopolising proceedings of later
ages concerning Smithfield. Consequent on this dupli-
cate system, the fair of St. Bartholomew became a
compound of two distinct fairs, or a fair and a market.
The City fair was a market for live stock, and for mer-
chandise; whereas the Priory fair was for merchandise
only. That cattle and horses have been sold in Smith-
field for nearly seven hundred years is certain ; Fitz-
stephen mentions the existence of such a market at the
time he wrote; but how long before that period the same
state of things had endured, does not seem to be now
known. Two hundred years later, the Corporation held
a controlling interest in the market by prescription
rather than by any specific charter; nevertheless the
City authorities succeeded in obtaining from the Crown
the charter just adverted to. In what manner this
CH. II. ORIGIN OF BILLINGSGATE. 31
charter affected the future supply of cattle to the
Metropolis, will come for notice in later pages.
Another of our great emporia for the supply of food
to London, Billingsgate, can, in like manner, trace
its history back to early times. A ‘gate’ was an old
English name for a sort of landing place on the banks of
the Thames. There were many such ; and Billingsgate
was among the number. Billing was, in all probability,
the name of the person first instrumental in establishing
this landing-place. It is true that Geoffry of Monmouth
gives dignity to the matter by telling us that “Belin,
a king of the Britons, about four hundred years before
Christ's nativity, built this gate, and named it Belin's
Gate, after his own calling ; and when he was dead, his
body being burned, the ashes, in a vessel of brass, were
set on a high pinnacle of stone over the same gate.”
The story of King Belin has, at least, this advantage,
that we cannot disprove it; but Stow takes a humbler
view, and is content with the theory of some merchant
or citizen named Biling or Beling. Be the real origin
what it may, Billingsgate maintained, in very early
times, a rivalry with Queenhithe as a landing-place.
One was situated to the east, and the other to the west
of London Bridge; but both were well located for the
fish trade. The fishing-vessels brought their cargoes
to Billingsgate and to Queenhithe ; and the dealers lived
in the immediate neighbourhood. The rivalry seems
to have depended chiefly on this circumstance, that the
revenues of the one belonged to the City, while those of
the other were claimed by the Crown. Queenhithe, or
the Queen's Haven, was a kind of royal sinecure, the
32 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
revenues of which belonged to the consort of the Sove-
reign; and many were the struggles to maintain this
right in a flourishing state; for in 1225 the Constable of
the Tower was commanded by Henry III. to compel
vessels to bring all corn from the Cinque Ports to
Queenhithe only; and two years afterwards the King
issued a similar mandate in respect to fish, obviously
with a view to replenishing the purse of his lady queen.
There was, however, a strong disinclination on the part
of the dealers to obey these orders. The ships belong-
ing to the citizens of London were exempt from some
of the restrictions placed upon others; and this exemp-
tion was probably the ‘thin end of the wedge” which
was afterwards driven home effectually.
The fourteenth century presents very sparing in-
formation concerning the food of London: the notices
on the subject in our early chroniclers being but few and
short. During the reigns of the first three Edwards
and of Richard II., the marketing arrangements at
Smithfield and Billingsgate appear to have become
consolidated and extended; but of other large places of
commerce in food we hear little. Mr. Herbert * has
found an entry in one of the City records which tells
something concerning the butchers of London in the
year 1355. There were three Butchers’ Companies at
that time : the ‘Butchers of St. Nicholas’ occupied the
site now known as Newgate Market; the ‘Butchers of
the Stocks’ were those who had removed from shambles
anciently situated at Eastcheap to a new market on the
site of the present Mansion House; while the ‘Butchers
* History of the Livery Companies, i. 31.
CH. II. GROCERS AND WINTNERS’ COMPANIES. 33
of Westcheap' were located in Cheapside. It may not
be correct to designate these as separate companies;
but the three fratermities contributed respectively 97.,
17l., and 8. to the fund in aid of the French wars of
Edward III. : sums which must not be estimated by a
modern standard in respect to their smallness. A
* flesh-market” was at that time in existence, west-
ward of Temple Bar, in a place called Butcher Row;
it was for ‘foreign' butchers — that is, those who
brought meat from the country in carts and sold it
just without the bounds of the city liberties. We
hear a little more concerning butchers in a petition to
parliament in 1380, praying that slaughterers may not
throw blood and offal into the river Fleet, but do their
work at “ Knyghtsbrigg” or elsewhere. -
In this, as in former centuries, occasional dearth
afflicted London. Stow speaks of two bad seasons in
succession, 1392 and 1393, when the people sickened
by eating apples and nuts, wanting better food, and
when the mayor and aldermen advanced corn at very
low prices to the poor. -
Mr. Herbert has collected some curious details re-
specting two classes of London traders during this
century — Grocers and Vintners — illustrative of the
commercial regulations of the age. The grocers, it
appears, were incorporated in 1345, under the designa-
tion of Pepperers, pepper being then the chief article
sold by them. Thé word ‘grocer’ was a term at first
employed to distinguish merchants of this company
from humbler traders; in some old books the word
signifies a merchant who dealt wholesale or in the gross;
D
34 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
but in after times the expression became specially
employed in relation to kinds rather than to quantities
of goods. An old historian of the Grocers' Company,
quoted by Herbert, claims for them, however, a high
rank among the merchants of London. “ They have
been the most universal merchants that traded abroad;
and what they brought home, many artists of this
society found out ways afterwards to change and alter
the species, by mixture, confection, and composition of
simple ingredients; by which means many and various
ways of dealing and trading passed under the denomina-
tion of groceries; and, indeed, this city and nation do,
in a great measure, owe the improvement of navigation
to merchants originally exercising their mystery, as
trading into all foreign parts from whence we have
received either spices, drugs, fruits, gums, or other rich
aromatic commodities.” The other company men-
tioned in this paragraph, the Wintners’, was established
or incorporated by Edward III. A trade in wine with
Burgundy had originated two centuries earlier, conse-
quent on the marriage of Henry II. with Eleanor of
Aquitaine; Gascony wine-merchants were allowed to
sell wine in London: a course which led to many con-
tests between them and the citizens. Edward III. at
length gave a charter, which recognised the vintners as
the “merchant wine-tonners of Gascoyne; and the
company was composed of merchant-importers and
tavern-retailers. ..
Of a more important article of food than grocers and
vintners furnish, Bread, the early notices are equally
slight. In ‘Piers Plowman,’ a satirical poem, written
CH. II. OLD CORN MILLS. 5
3
by Robert Longlande, in the reign of Edward III.,
there is a couplet: —
“Woulde no beggar eat bread that in it beanes were,
But of coket and clemantyne, or else clene wheate.”
We can only infer from this that bean-bread was eaten
in those days: not by whom. In relation to London,
there are records which show that the monks of Ro-
chester were owners of a cornmill in Southwark before
the Conquest. The Templars, also, at a later date, had
mills on the Fleet; and a complaint was made by the
citizens that these mills diverted and interfered with
the current of the Fleet (then a river, now a sewer):
this complaint led to an official inspection by the Lord
Mayor and the Constable of the Tower; and the inspec-
tion led to the removal of the mills. About the middle
of the thirteenth century there were floating corn-mills
on the Thames, set in action by the ebb and flow of
the tide.
Records exist to show that the varieties of food ob-
tainable in England, in the days under notice, were
little if anything inferior in number to those now
known. The substantial solids, at any rate, were plen-
tiful to those who could purchase. In one of the later
volumes of the Camden Society’s publications”, an ac-
count is given of the household expenses of a bishop of
Hereford in 1289-90. We find that on Friday, a
‘ fish day, there were provided herrings, eels, lam-
preys, salmon, wine, and beer; that on the next day
there were the same kinds of fish, together with hake
and conger; that the Sunday's table was graced with
* Household Book of Bishop Swinfield, by the Rev. J. Webb.
D 2
36 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
pork, mutton, beef, fowls, pigeons, and larks; that
Monday presented much the same bill of fare, with the
addition of eggs, Saffron, and spices; that Tuesday and
Thursday resembled the Sunday; while Wednesday
had the same fish diet as Friday and Saturday.
A curious account of the etiquette observed at the
tables of the great about this period, or a few years
later, is contained in the “Boke of Curtasye,” edited by
Mr. Halliwell, in 1841 *, from one of the Sloane MSS.
A guest is instructed how to approach a great man's
gate, how to seat himself at dinner, how to lay his
trencher and cut his bread, and how to sit upright;
and then the instructions proceed thus:–
“Byt not on thy brede and lay hit doune,
That is no curtasye to use in tourne;
But breke as myche as thou wylle ete,
The remelant to pore thou shalle lete.”
He is directed not to make a noise while eating, and
is further told, -
“Let not thi spone stond in thi dysche,
Whether thou be served with flesche or fysche;
Ne lay hit not on thi dysche syde,
But cleanse hit honestly without pride;
Also eschew, withouten stryfe,
To foul the borde-cloth with thi knyfe.”
He is told, –
“With mete ne bere thi knyfe to mouthe.”
And is further exhorted, ~
“Dip not thi thombe thi drynke into,
Thou art uncurtasye yf thou hit do.”
* Percy Society's Publications.
CH. II. OLD MS. ON COOKERY. 37
There is one short passage which gives a little in-
formation concerning the size of the loaves eaten in
those days: —
“Of the baker now speke y wylle,
And wat longes his office untylle ;
Of a Lundon buschel he shalle bake
xx lovys, I undertake.” ”
The same old manuscript f which contains these
curious rules of etiquette, also comprises an equally
curious system of cookery ‘done into verse.’ It consists
of 137 recipes, each occupying on an average about a
dozen rhymed lines. Their general character may be
judged from a few examples: “ To make venegur in a
2
nede ; ’ ‘ Gruel of almondes; ' ' Butter of almonde
mylke;’ ‘Mylke rostyd;’ ‘For to make a potage of
whelkes;’ ‘Blancmaung of fysshe ;’ ‘ Gruel of porke;’
* For to boyle fesaunts and p’trykys;’ ‘Sawce best for
capons rostyd;’ ‘Pigges in Sawce;’ ‘For a broth of
elys.” One recipe will show how a “goose in a hotch-
potch' was prepared five hundred years ago: —
Grific in a jºgge pdf.
£n pere; thritt ºbalt pe qdāc struſte
Caſte ºuater antſ impric fidtje n' Ipăc
#Br; tıt fiji gr[äe antſ unpring trific
Ø grftſe guaittite as it cr spañe
Øſtfºſ crâug batãctſ pen tañc alăd
%Intſ cast p’m in cr firſtt more tſu
39'm get tiji put on pe fyre
%intſ ijnt ſucie stir for 11c pure
* If the “Lundon buschel’ corresponded with a bushel of flour at
the present day, these ‘lovys’ must have been a few ounces lighter
than our four-pound loaves.
f Sloane MSS., No. 1986.
IX
3
38 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
Øntſ maſte a ſprure IIf firctic anti filtſtic
Øſitti Inc ijut therſputi) fry but is guſtic
%ast paſutier fijertſ, and salt and it
Øntſ međăg it fijemic fijuu past time.
As we advance onward to the fifteenth century — the
century in which the contests between the rival Houses
of York and Lancaster formed the chief political object
of attention in England— the notices of the social con-
dition of the people become more numerous: we can
learn more concerning the food of the nation generally,
and of that of London in particular.
In respect of butchers’ meat, there is reason to believe
that the noble and the workman differed more than they
differ now. Excepting in the principal towns, the mass
of the people received their chief supply of meat from
the feudal barons and the rich monasteries. As there
was little winter feeding for cattle, the animals were
slaughtered in October and November, and put into
brine : there was thus a large supply of salt meat for
the better classes; but salt fish was the staple winter
food of the people ; and this, unrelieved by a sufficiency
of vegetables, gave rise to many diseases. The remark-
able ‘ PHousehold Book’ of the Earl of Northumberland
belongs to the next following century; but the details
there given concerning the supply of meat apply equally
to the century now under notice. Hume *, comment-
ing on this book, seeks to show how little of the ‘roast
beef of Old England’ could have fallen to the lot of
the people in those days. We are told that 109 fat
‘ beeves’ are to be bought at Allhallow tide, besides
* Hist, of Eng, chap. 26., notes.
CH. II. MEAT USUALLY SAILTED. 39
24 lean beeves; the latter are directed to be put into
the pastures to feed, and to serve from Midsummer to
Michaelmas. Now, this autumnal period was the only
time during which the Earl's family, consisting of 223
persons, could obtain fresh beef; during the rest of the
year the beef which they ate was salted. Besides the
‘ beeves,’ there were 620 muttons,’ which were also
eaten salted in all except the autumnal months; the
28 ‘ veals,’ 25 hogs, and 40 lambs were probably
reserved for his Grace's table; the servants ate Salt
meat, accompanied by very few vegetables. Working
men out of doors, we may assume, fared no better than
the servants of a grand noble. It was this which led
Hume to say that “there cannot be anything more
erroneous than the magnificent ideas formed of the
Roast Beef of Old England” in those days.
There were reasons, also, why the beef could not
have been equal in quality to that which London has
obtained in later days. The agriculture was bad; the
management of live stock was as imperfect as that of
vegetable produce ; the cultivation of such grasses as
lucerne, Sainfoin, and clover was little known; the root-
crops were clumsily treated; the art of stalling or house-
feeding for cattle was not then practised; and there was
very little wherewith to feed cattle in winter. Hence
it is probable that Young England eats finer beef
than Old England could command. The few fatted
cattle which were not killed and salted for winter use
were turned out soon after Michaelmas, to shift as they
could during the cold months; and miserable shifting it
must have been.
D 4
40 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. II.
The supply of fish to the Metropolis during the 15th
century has received more elucidation than that of
butcher's meat, partly on account of the numerous
records preserved by the Fishmongers' Company.
During the struggle between Queenhithe and Bil-
lingsgate, an arrangement was made, to the effect that
if only one vessel came at a time with herrings, sprats,
eels, whiting, plaice, cod, mackerel, &c., it should dis-
charge at Queenhithe, and the cargo be there sold by
retail; if two arrived, one should discharge at Queen-
hithe, and one at Billingsgate; if three, two at Queen-
hithe and one at Billingsgate. -
While Queenhithe yet retained its position as a fish-
market, the streets near Thames Street received a cha-
racteristic impress from the congregating of fish-dealers.
Old Fish Street is still existing, near the still existing
Queenhithe ; and in this street, as well as in Old Fish
Street Hill, the fishmongers were wont to assemble.
Stow says, in relation to the houses in these streets,
“ These houses, now possessed by fishmongers, were at
the first but moveable boards or stalls, set out on market
days, to strew their fish there to be sold ; but procuring
license to set up sheds, they grew to shops, and by little
and little houses, of three or four stories in height, and
now are called Fish Street. Walter Tuck, fishmonger,
Mayor, 1349, had two shops in Fish Street, over against
St. Nicholas church; the one rented at five shillings a
year, the other four shillings.” Old Fish Street, we
find, at the present day, to be a quiet thoroughfare
parallel with, and somewhat northward of, Thames
Street; Old Fish Street Hill leads from the one to
CH. II. FISH IN THE FIRTEENTH CENTURY. 41
the other; and Stow speaks of a stone and leaden cistern,
which was built near the northern side of St. Nicholas
Church, for the accommodation of the fishmongers in
and about Old Fish Street. The same authority tells
us that Friday Street, which leads from Cheapside to
Fish Street, derived its name from the circumstance
that the fishmongers who dwelt there supplied the Fri-
day’s market — a market of some significance in the old
Catholic times. The fish-market at Queenhithe ex-
tended east and west from Bread Street to Old Change ;
Fish Street itself was much wider than at present, thus
affording space for fish-booths; and in 1413 it was a
“void space,” having booths only along the centre.
The distance which the fish had to be brought from
the quay at Queenhithe was, as will be seen by a map,
very short. Yet, as the distance at Billingsgate was
still shorter, fish-stalls and shops gradually became nu-
merous near London Bridge, especially in the line of
street leading from the bridge to Grass-church or Grace-
church. Market; and this line received the names of
New Fish Street and New Fish Street Hill. There
is a record of two fishmongers, in the reign of
Edward II., who paid respectively the sums of 14s.
and 12s. per annum as rentals for their shops or
stalls in this street. Another fish-market was held in
One of the streets between Queenhithe and Lon-
don Bridge, for shell-fish only. Strange it certainly
is to trace the changes which must have taken place
in this vicinity: the building of the approaches to
new London Bridge has thrown Thames Street, as
it were, into a ravine almost escaping the ken of those
42 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CFI. II.
who have no direct business thither; and the mass of
Londoners know it only as the odd-looking spot whence
one steep and narrow avenue leads to the ‘Citizen”
steamboats, another to the * Waterman' steamboats,
and others to the ‘Penny’ and “Halfpenny’ boats,
and so on.
The regulations concerning the sale of fish in London
in those early days were greatly influenced by the Fish-
mongers’ Company, one of the “twelve great Livery
Companies.” From the time when a charter gave pri-
vileges to this company, those privileges were employed
as a weapon wherewith to repress the dealings of such
fishmongers as were not members of the guild : an old
story, which monopoly repeats over and over again. In
the reign of Edward I. stringent regulations were laid
down for the management of the fish trade: the market
price was prescribed beforehand :—mackerel, 1.d.; tur-
bot, 6d. ; soles, 3d per dozen ; pickled herrings, 1d. per
score; oysters, 2d. per gallon ; eels, 4d. per hundred;
while the profit of the fishmongers was limited to 1.d.
in a shilling. The influence of the Crown, under
Edward II., was often called into requisition to settle
disputes between the fish dealers; the fishmongers
endeavoured to suppress the trade of the itinerant
dealers; and though they failed in this, they succeeded
in preventing any other person from selling fish in
the City, unless members of the Fishmongers' Com-
pany. It was ordered that purveyors for the Court
should be first served, before any other of his Majesty's
subjects. The sellers of dry and of wet fish formed
different communities, having different interests and
CII, II. BREAD IN TEIE FIFTEENTEI CENTURY. 43
separate places of assemblage; but in 1483 a new
charter was granted, by which the different branches
of the trade were united in one body.
Corn and bread next claim notice. The London
arrangements in the fifteenth century, in relation to
these commodities, do not seem to have been on a large
scale: petty interferences by persons in authority were
frequent; but there are few records extant of the nature
of the dealings. In the ‘Paston Letters, a little informa-
tion is given concerning the price of corn in Norfolk
about the year 1480, which may, perhaps, serve as a
guide to the price in London. The Pastons were a
wealthy private family at Norwich; and Dame Mar-
garet Paston, in one of her letters to her son, says, “As
for your barley in this country, it cannot be sold above
10d. or 11d. ; that is the greatest price of barley here;
and but it be at a better price, I purpose for to do it
malt (malt it). Malt is sold here but for 13d., and
wheat 2s. or 26d. at this time, and oats 12d.”* The
quantity here indicated is supposed to have been the
‘coomb’ of two bushels; for in another letter Margaret
Paston says, “malt is here but 10d, a coomb; wheat, a
coomb, 28.d.; oats, a coomb, 10d.” These prices thus
present an average of about 9s. per quarter for wheat.
In regard to the London corn trade, the name Corn-
hill points to the locality of one of the early markets.
There was another corn market at St. Michael–le-Quern
or St. Michael-ad-Bladum, near Foster Lane in Cheap-
side; a third at Queenhithe ; others of minor import-
ance at Newgate, Leadenhall, Grasschurch or Grace-
* “I’aston Letters,” edited by A. Ramsay, ii. 91.
44 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
church, and Southwark. In the early part of the 15th
century, a place of confinement, called the Cage, was
constructed close to the conduit on Cornhill, with a
pillory and a pair of stocks upon it. It is in connection
with these dread implements of punishment that we
hear something of the London bakers; for the pillory,
as Stow tells us, was “for the punishment of bakers
offending in the assize of bread, and for millers stealing
of corn at the mills.” We learn, from Fuller and
Stow, that in 1435 Sir Simon Eyre, Mayor, erected
the first public granary at Leadenhall; and that from
thence the custom arose of maintaining granaries in the
City under corporate control. The conduct of Sir
Stephen Brown, Lord Mayor in 1438, is mentioned with
commendation, inasmuch as during a great dearth in
his mayoralty, “he charitably relieved the wants of the
poor citizens, by sending ships at his own expence to
Dantzig,
seasonable supply soon sunk grain to reasonable rates.”
The nature of the trade in groceries has been already
adverted to ; and it need only be mentioned here, in
connection with the 15th century, that there was a
City officer called the Garbeller of Spices, empowered
to enter shops and examine spices, chiefly to detect
which returned laden with rye, and which
adulteration. The Grocers’ Company obtained a
share in the appointment of this officer in 1450. The
articles originally placed under supervision were pepper
and other spices; but galls, rice, currants, aniseed,
cummin seed, dates, and Senna were afterwards in-
cluded. Concerning prices in those days, there are
occasional cntries to show that loaf sugar was rather a
CH. II. GROCERIES AND BEVERAGES. 45
choice luxury, commanding a high price. Margaret
Paston frequently mentions this article of housekeep-
ing; and in one of her letters she says, “send me word
what price a pound of pepper, cloves, mace, ginger,
almonds, rice, galangal, saffron, raisins of Corinth (cur-
rants), greynes (grains of Paradise), and comfits—of
each of these send me the price of a pound; and if it be
better cheap at London than it is here, I shall send you
money to buy with such as I will have.” Pity that
there is no record of the prices furnished to the thrifty
housewife. One thing we learn — that a wey of salt
sold for 20s. - -
There is no want of information concerning the
Sale of ale and beer in the Metropolis in this cen-
tury. As to the vintners, we gather from Stow that,
during the reign of Henry VI., the Lombard mer-
chants “corrupted their sweet wines,” and that John
Ranwell, then Mayor, “in divers places of the city
commanded the heades of the buts and other vessels in
the open streets to be broken, to the number of fifty,
so that the liquor running forth, passed through the
City like a stream of rain water, in the sight of all the
people.” This vinous torrent was, however, a trifling
affair when compared with the production and con-
sumption of malt liquors. The brewers of London
formed a corporation early in the 15th century, which
exercised much influence over the trade generally. In
1423 they ordered that “retailers of ale should sell the
same in their houses in pots of peutre, sealed; and that
whoever carried ale to the buyer should hold the pot
in one hand and a cup in the other; and that all who
46 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
had pots unsealed should be fined.” In the next year
the brewers tried to curry favour with the Lord Mayor,
John Michelle, “a good man and meek and soft to
speak with ; ” they made him a present of an ox which
cost 21s. 2d., and a boar priced 30s. 1d., “so that he
did no harm to the brewers, and advised them to make
good ale, that he might not have any complaint against
them.” The joyous commendations of the foaming
tankard were quite as warm in those days as afterwards.
Chaucer, writing early in this century, or perhaps a
few years before, had something to say of the South-
wark ale and its potent qualities : —
“The miller that for-dronken was all pale,
So that unethes upon his hors he sat,
He n'old avalen neither hood ne hat,
Ne abiden no man for his curtesie,
But in Pilate's vois he gan to crie,
And swore by armes and by blode and bones.”
The miller declares that if his back, and feet, and head
be bare, he will care not, if his “belly have good ale
enough ; ” and he makes a protestation, —
“I am dronke, I know it by my soun;
And therfore if that I misspeke or say,
Wite it the ale of Southwerk, I you pray.” "
The shops of London in the 15th century have re-
ceived illustration in a curious old poem, ‘London
Lyckpenny’ (Lickpenny, Lickpeny, Lackpenny, Lic-
penye: the old M.S. transcribers were not very par-
ticular in their orthography). It was written by John
Lydgate, a monk of Bury; a ‘garrulous monk,’ as
Some term him; a “ drivelling monk,’ as a few, more
* Canterbury Tales, – “The Miller's Tale.'
CH. II. * LONDON LYCKPENNY.” 47
severely, express it. There are two MS. copies of the
poem in the British Museum, differing greatly one from
another. The poem records the fortunes or misfortunes
of one Lyckpenny, showing how badly a man may fare
in the great Metropolis with empty purse and pocket.
He was doomed to see rich store of good things without
having wherewithal to purchase; and the poem depicts
the scenes of these ungratified yearnings. Thus the
provision shops of London are pictured : —
“Then to Westmynster Gate I presently went,
When the sonn was at hyghe pryme;
Cookes to me they tooke good entent,
And proferred me bread with ale and wyne,
Rybbs of befe both fat and ful fyne;
A fayre cloth they gan for to sprede,
But wantyng mony I might not be spede.
“Then unto London I dyd me hye,
Of all the land it bearyth the pryse;
Hot pescods one began to crye,
Strabery rype, and cherryes in the ryse;
One bad me come mere, and buy some spyce,
Peper, and sayforne, they gan me bede :
But for lacke of mony I myght not spede.”
He roamed about near Cheapside and Newgate, where
the mercers and drapers tempted him with velvets and
silks, which he lacked money wherewith to purchase.
Then -
“Comes me one, cryd hot shepes feete;
One cryd mackerel; ”
but all to no effect.
“Then I hyed me into Estchepe;
One crys rybbs of befe, and many a pye;
Pewter pots they clatter'd on a hepe.”
48 THE FOOD OF LONDON. Crſ. II.
In Cornhill a
“Taverner took me by the sleve;
Sir, Sayth he, wyll you oure wynne assay ?
I answered, that cannot much me greve,
A peny can do no more than it may :
I dranke a pynt, and for it dyd pay ;
Yet sore a hungerd from thence I gede,
And wantyng my mony I cold not spede.”
Quitting Lyckpenny, and the shops and stalls which
tempted him, it may be useful now to see how far the
records of grand feasts illustrate the kinds and prices of
articles of food in London in the 15th century. In
1827, the late Sir Harris Nicolas published a curious
MS., two copies of which are contained in the British
Museum library : it is a “ Chronicle of London, ex-
tending from 1189 to 1483; and under the date 1420
an account is given of the banquet prepared for the
marriage of King Henry V. with Catherine the
daughter of the French king. It comprised many curi-
ous ‘soteltes,’ as they are called, apparently devices
made in pastry or confectionary : —“A Sotelte, a tygre
lokynge in a mirour, and a man rydyng on horseback
armed with a tygre whelp in his barme (bosom), and
throwynge mirours for his defence;” “a sotelte, called
a pellican on hire nest with briddis, and an ymage of
Seint Katerine with a whele in hire hande dysputing
with the hethen clerkes;” “a mete in paste with inj.
aungels in fourme of Seint Katerine whele in the
myddes.” This being a French feast, however, and the
prices not given, we may pass it without further notice.
Among the publications of the Roxburghe Club is a
volume edited by Mr. Botfield", detailing the expenses
* Household Book of Sir John Howard,
CH. II. TRICES, FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 49
of a country family between the years 1462 and 1469.
Some of the items relating to food are curious: —
£ s. d.
Ffor perys (pears or perry P) tº gº gºe l
Ffor vi bollokys & viii scheype - gº - 4 13
Ffor iiij caponnys & xiii scheconnys (chickens) - 14
v pypys of byer - tº tº , wº gº 28 4
A potelle wyme - {-} tº- sº sº 5
vj lb reysonys off corawnce (currants) - gº 18
A botte of malmesyn * - * {- - 3 13 4
ix barelles of bere, every barelle - * gº 20
Three pence per pound for currants was a high price
for those days; indeed, all foreign produce was com-
paratively dear. An entry relating to a date somewhat
later (about 1490) taken by Lysons from the parish
books of Kingston-upon-Thames, contains the follow-
ing items: —
d.
A dishe of fysche - tº tº tº - 1 0 .
A kylderkyn of three halfpennye bere & a kylderkyn
of singgyl bere tº tº tº tº - 2 4
7 bushells of whete - *-*. an &= - - 6 3
2} bushells rye sº ſº tº tºº - 1 8
3 shepe cº tºº wº º tºm - 5 O
A lambe gº wº sº tº- * * – l 4
2 calvys wº tº * *sº - - 5 4
6 pyggys tº tº * º iº * = - 2 0
The price of wheat here indicated is about 7s. per
quarter, less by 2s. than the Norfolk price mentioned
by Margaret Paston about the same time.
But the London feasts are more to our purpose here.
The Companies attained a great pitch of luxury during
the reign of Henry IV., having halls in which, be-
E
50 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
sides the Mayor and Aldermen, many of the nobility,
and even royal princes, sought to partake of civic hos-
pitality. “ Then the mighty baron’ made the table
groan, towering over the lighter viands; furmentie
with venyson,’ brawn, fat swan, boar, conger, sea-
hog, and such other delicacies as were stored ‘above
the salt;’ whilst ‘sotelties’ of the Company's trade or
patron saint ‘marvelouslye cunnyng y wrought,’ re-
called the origin of the fraternity; and midst the
election ceremony that succeeded, the ‘brethren and
susterne were cheered with voydes of spice brede,
ypocras and comfits,’ to the renewed music of the
minstrels or ‘waits,” or the higher merriment of the
London clerks ‘playing some holy play.' . . . . We
find mention made of the porpoise, and of the conger,
in the fish course; of the baron, or ‘ribbes of beef,’ as
it is termed, amongst the meats; and of innumerably
more ‘delicacies’ of other kinds amongst their poul-
try, spices, and in their desserts; not to mention the
supernumerary ‘entremets” which were then common,
and consisted of delicious little dainties to keep the
appetite in play between the courses.””
The Brewers' Company, at their election dinner in
1419, provided a store of good things, the prices of
which are fortunately recorded in the company’s
books: — -
s, d. S. d.
2 necks of mutton, 3 2 gallons frumenty – 0 4
breasts, 12 marrow bones 2 5 || 2 gallons cream - - 0 8
6 SWans - - ſº - 15 0 || 1 pottel fresh grease - 0 8
12 conies - gº {º, 0 | Salt gº º - 0 1
200 eggs - sº - 1 6 || 1 quart of honey - - 0 4
* Hist. of the Livery Companies, i. 76.
CH. II. PRICES, FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 51
S. d. s, d
Divers spices wº - 2 4 White bread * - 2 0
Porterage of water - 0 4 Trencher bread - - 0 3
4 dozen pigeons - - 4 4 Payn cakes &s – 0 6
100 pears * ~ 0 7 || Half a bushel flour - 0 7
ll gallons red wine - 9 2 I kilderkin good ale - 2 4
4 gallons milk - - 0 4 I quart vinegar - - 0 1
There were also the items, 0s. 4d. for ‘washing the
napery, 1s. 4d. ‘given to the minstrels,' and 3s. 4d.
‘ to John Hardy, cook, for him and his servants.’
In the record of another Brewers' feast, in 1425, the
following items appear: —
s. d. S. d.
Porpeys - tº - 0 10 | Hogshead Gascony wine - 53 4
Oysters and mussels - 0 6 Kilderkin penny ale - 0 12
Salmon and herring – 0 15 2 geese - {-e - I 4
A salmon * - 0 21 40 capons tº – 20 0
Codling's head - - 0 8 40 coneys * - 13 0
5 pikes - ſº - 6 8 || 48 partridges º - 16 0
Lampreys * --> – 6 8 || 12 woodcocks - - 4 0
Turbot - es - 3 4 || 123 doz. small birds - 6 3
Eels gre sº - 2 4 || 3 doz. plovers - - 9 O
800 herrings sº - 10 0 | 18 doz. larks * – 6 O
21 Swans, at 3s. 9d. - 78 9 || 6 doz. little birds - - 0 9
2 boars - dº - 10 0 || 9% lb poudre de pepir - 3 0
43 marrow bones - - 5 0 || 21b Sugre blanch - - 2 0
2 rounds of beef, and 2
fillets pork * - 10 0
Besides 3d. each for the services of ten assistant cooks,
4d. for rushes on the floor, and 6d. for washing table-
cloths.
Passing now from the 15th to the 16th centuries, it
is observable that, socially speaking, the difference be-
tween the two centuries was very marked; for the in-
crease of regal power, and decrease of the feudal,
E 2
52 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
greatly lessened the dependence of the people on the
nobles; while the dissolution of the monastic establish-
ments threw many thousands of the poor upon their
own resources, instead of relying for partial support
upon the rich abbeys and convents. One of the effects
of this latter change is noticed in an old song in the
Somersetshire dialect, printed in Percy’s “Reliques of
Ancient Poetry,’ and evidently written soon after the
dissolution of the monasteries: — .
“I’ll tell thee what, good vellowe,
Before the vriars went hence,
A bushel of the best wheate
Was Zould for vourteenpence;
And vorty eggs a penny,
That were both good and new.”
* * *
The meat-supply for London continued to be fur-
nished through the medium of Smithfield. The market,
as explained in a former paragraph, was maintained by
a charter granting exclusive privileges. When the
charter declared that ‘ for ever’ should such and such
monopolies be secured, kings and mayors little dreamed
that a time would come when two or three millions of
human beings would be mainly dependent for their
supply of butchers’ meat on the purchases made in
Smithfield market. It shows how cautious charter-
givers should be in using the small but significant words
* for ever.’ Men, too, abstained from meat on lenten
days more generally than in our times; and on this, as
on other grounds, the consumption of meat per head is
supposed to have been less than at present. Thus the
population was small, the consumption per head small,
and the area of Smithfield quite removed from the busy
CH. II. SMITEIFIELD IN THE TUDOR TIMES. 53
centre of London traffic; it was only the two little
words above noticed that imparted a mischievous
character to the charter of 1327.
Of the actual condition of Smithfield in the 16th
century, we have little account; but on the occurrence
of a plague in 1593, a proclamation was issued to sus-
pend Bartholomew fair or market for that year, on
sanitary grounds; and this proclamation reveals a few
facts. It was ordered, “That in the usual place of
Smithfield there be no manner of market for any wares
kept, nor any stalls or booths for any manner of mer-
chandize, or for victuals, suffered to be set up ; but that
the open place of the ground called Smithfield be only
occupied with the sale of horses and cattle, and of stall
wares, as butter, cheese, and such like, in gross, and not
by retail. And for vent of woollen cloths, kerseys, and
linen cloths, to be all sold in gross, and not by retail;
the same shall be all brought within the Close Yard
(afterwards called Cloth Fair) of Bartholomew’s, where
shops are there continued. And that the sale and
went for leather be kept in the outside of the ring
in Smithfield, as hath been accustomed.” From this it
appears that cattle, horses, drapery, leather, and pro-
bably many other commodities, were sold in the open
area of Smithfield in the reign of Elizabeth.
Towards the close of the same reign, a pamphlet was
published — ‘Briefe Note of the Benefits that grow to
this Realme by the Observance of Fish Days,’ by John
Erswicke, in 1593. Concerning butchers’ meat, Erswicke,
after showing that there were 154 fish days and 211
flesh days in a year, argues thus: — “Let us say there
E 3
54 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
be 60 butchers that be freemen within the City, and
every butcher to kill weekly, the one with the other,
5 beeves apiece, that same amounteth to 13,500 beeves.
The foreigners” (as the non-freemen were often called)
“ in the suburbs, and such as come out of the country
to serve the markets in the City, as it is credibly
affirmed, kill and utter in the City weekly four times
so many as the freemen, which amounteth to 54,000.
So joining the beeves uttered by the freemen and
foreigners together, they extend to 67,500. If we
will now know what number of beeves might be spared
in a year, by one day’s abstinence in a week, let us say
in the week are five days accustomably served with
flesh (for that Friday and Saturday are by the laws
days of abstinence), whereof one being taken away, the
rest but four; in like case, divide the said 67,500 into
five parts, and the fifth part spared by the fifth day's
abstinence is 13,500.”
Unless the grounds whereon Erswicke's curious esti-
mate was based were known, we could not determine
its degree of trustworthiness. This may be learned,
however, that country butchers brought dead meat
into London for sale.
Of the London butchers, a few scattered notices are
to be met with, relating to different periods in the 16th
century. Stow mentions that, in 1547, upwards of
forty provision stalls or boards stood in Stocks' market
(where the Mansion House now stands); eighteen
butchers paid together 41. annually rent for eighteen
of these stalls. In another place he records that
‘foreign butchers’ were not allowed to sell meat at
CH. II. |BUTCEIERS IN THE TUDOR TIMES. 55
Leadenhall market until 1533. It was at that time
ordered that butchers should not demand more than a
halfpenny a pound for beef, and a halfpenny and half a
farthing per pound for mutton. Stow adds that this
order had not been found to work well ; for “ before
that time a fat ox was sold in London for six-and-
twenty shillings and eight pence at the most ; a fat
wether for three shillings and four pence; a fat calf the
like price; a fat lamb for twelve pence; pieces of beef
weighing two pounds and a half at the least, yea three
pounds or better, for a penny, on every butcher's stall
in this City, and of these pieces of beef, thirteen or
fourteen for twelve pence; fat mutton for eight pence
the quarter; and one hundred weight of beef for four
shillings and eight pence, at the dearest.” The gist of
Stow's argument is, that the price of meat was lower
before the issue of the royal ordinance than afterwards.
It appears that the ‘foreign' or suburban butchers for
a long time occupied standings in the “High Street of
the Lime Street Ward, probably Leadenhall Street,
where they took up their station on Wednesdays and
Saturdays; but they afterwards passed over into
Leadenhall market, and paid city dues for standing-
TOOTY),
A curious scrap of information is given by Stow in re-
lation to the Sale of pigs in London in the days of Queen
Elizabeth. There was at that time in Threadneedle
Street an establishment called St. Anthony's Hospital.
The officers charged with the inspection of the city
markets were accustomed to condemn diseased or ill-
conditioned swine, and to slit their ears. One of the
E 4
56 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
proctors of St. Anthony’s was accustomed to tie a bell
around the necks of these luckless animals, and let
them feed on the dunghills. “No man would hurt or
take them up; but if any gave to them bread or other
feeding, such would they know, watch for, and daily
follow, whining till they had somewhat given them.
Whereupon was raised the proverb, ‘Such an one will
follow such an one, and whine as it were an Anthony
pig.” But if such a pig grew to be fat, and came to
good liking (as oftentimes they did), then the proctor
would take him up to the use of the hospital.” — Sound
philosophy on the part of the proctor.
The sale of fish in London remained during the 16th
century more or less under the control of the com-
panies. It has been stated that in the preceding cen-
tury the stock-fishmongers were united with the rest
in one body; but in 1506 they were disunited, and so
remained for several years: the two companies having
each one hall in Old Fish Street, New Fish Street,
and . Thames Street. The stock-fishmongers were a
more important body of men than the dealers in other
fish; they kept up a large store, and required the com-
mand of considerable capital. The great families were
accustomed, towards the close of autumn, to lay in a
store of dried ling, or herring, or other fish, and preserve
it, interlaid with pease-straw, for winter use; and the
principal London dealers in this article of food became
thus men of extensive dealings. The famous Walworth,
mayor of London during the turbulent times of Wat
Tyler, was a stock-fishmonger; and so was Lovekin,
who was four times mayor, and who rebuilt the church
jºr
CH. II. FISEI IN THE TUDOR TIMES. 57
of St. Michael in Crooked Lane, besides founding a
hospital at Kingston-upon-Thames.
The attempts to induce Londoners to become a fish-
eating people have been many and varied. A statute
passed in 1548, for the ‘Abstinence of Flesh, imposed
penalties on persons who ate flesh on fish-days; and
in another Act dated 1562, for the ‘Maintenance of
the Navy, these penalties were much increased. Pri-
vate theorists as well as public legislators took up the
matter. The pamphlet of John Erswicke, lately quoted,
had for its object the substitution of fish diet for flesh
diet. He states that the non-observance of the regu-
lations had greatly injured the fish-trade; that her
Majesty's navy suffered from want of a growing body of
fishermen-sailors; that many sea-coast towns had fallen
into decay; that Londoners, by eating more fish, would
benefit the fishers, fish-dealers, shipwrights, ropemakers,
and net-makers of such towns; and that the market-
arrangements of farmers, in respect of poultry and dairy
produce, were disturbed by the large demand of the
Londoners for beef and mutton.
Harrison's account of the bread eaten in England in
the time of Elizabeth does not indicate much that was
favourable to the condition of the people. “The
bread,” he says, “throughout the land is made of such
graine as the soil yieldeth; neverthelesse the gentilitie
commonlie provide themselves sufficientlie of wheat for
their owne tables, whilst their household and poore
neighbours, in some shires, are inforced to content
themselves with rie and barleie ; yea, and in time of
dearth, maine with bread made either of bran, peasen,
58 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
or otes, or of altogether, and some acorns among; of
which scourge the poorest doe soonest tast, sith they
are least able to provide themselves of better.”* That
oats and rye were much used in those days we learn
from one of the ‘Household Books,’ where entries occur
of ‘otmell to make the poore folkes porage,’ and ‘rie-
mell to make breade for the poore.’t
Reverting, however, more particularly to the supply
of London with bread, it appears that corn, being the
‘staff of life,’ was an especial object of protective care
on the part of the state. During the dynasty of the
Tudors a multiplicity of rules appeared relating thereto.
One prohibited corn-dealers from having more than
ten quarters of corn in their possession at one time, and
authorised justices of the peace to enter barns and order
any surplus quantities to be sold. Another imposed a
heavy penalty on persons who bought corn to sell again.
A third laid down the curious commercial equation, that
when a farmer bought corn for seed, he must sell an
equal quantity of corn from his store. A fourth gra-
ciously ordained, that although there might be a few
corn-dealers or ‘badgers’ to purchase corn at fairs and
markets for the supply of cities and towns, yet they
must be licenced by three justices of the peace, they
must be householders, they must be not less than thirty
years of age, they must be either husbands or widowers,
they must renew their licences annually, and they must
give security against ‘ engrossing’ and ‘forestalling.”f
The corporation of London put in force a plan for
* Description of England, p. 168.
† Household Book of Sir Edward Coke, 1596.
# This last severe statute was 5 Eliz. c. 12.
CH. II. CORPORATE GRAN ARIES. 59
establishing public granaries, filled when corn could be
purchased at a low price, and opened at a moderate
price when corn should become dear. The motive was
a kind one; but the result showed that the plan is not
fitted for adoption in a country like England, where so
much is left to individual enterprise. Several of the
mayors had formed granaries in times of scarcity;
and it came gradually to be regarded as a corporate duty.
In the year 1521, according to Stow, the granaries or
‘garners’ in the city were nearly empty, a state of
things evidently regarded as alarming; carts came from
Stratford every morning laden with bread; and “there
was such a press about them, that one man was ready
to destroy another, in striving to be served for their
money.” The mayor, however, purchased a large
quantity of corn and stored it in the city garners in
Leadenhall and elsewhere ; and a special encomium is
passed on him in respect that he “ kept the market so
well, that he would be at Leadenhall by four o'clock
in the summer mornings; and from thence he went to *
other markets, to the great comfort of the citizens.”
It was not for the purpose of giving, but of selling at
a price below that of the market, that these granaries
were kept up: not mere charity, but commerce softened
by kindness. Some of the corporate proceedings in
relation to the public granaries were injudicious ; others
were powerless; and others tended to show that, after
due allowance for purity of motive, such plans are ne—
cessarily inferior to the every-day operations of volun-
tary trading. On one occasion it was ordered, owing
probably to the general state of the supply, that none
60 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
of the corn should be sold below the lowest price in the
market; and on other occasions the exact quantity was
prescribed which should be sold on a particular day.
The mode in which funds were provided for storing
the granaries was peculiar. In 1521 the Common
Council passed a resolution to borrow 1000l. from the
* Fellowships of sundry Mysteries and Crafts of the
City,’ that is, from the great companies. The share to
be lent by each company was stated; while the wardens
of the companies determined the share to be paid by
each individual member. On some occasions the com-
panies did “lovingly grant, assent, and agree to dis-
burse and lay out, by the way of loan, for the provision
and buying of certain wheat,” sums of money of greater
or lesser amount. At other times, however, the com-
panies did not receive these applications in a very
gracious spirit; and when they asked for a return of
the money, they were occasionally offered corn instead,
when the city granaries happened to be better supplied
than the city coffers. In 1573 the companies must
have been refractory, for the Corporation obtained from
the Crown the issue of a mandate commanding them to
assist in storing the granaries, and expressive of her
Majesty’s “grief and displeasure’ at their laxity. A
change was made some few years afterwards, by virtue
of which the companies were deemed to be owners of
the corn purchased with their money : under proviso
that the corn should be stored in the corporation
granaries at Bridge house, and subjected to the con-
trol of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen. The grana-
ries were divided into twelve sections, each appropriated
CH. II. GROCERS IN TEIE TUDOR TIMES. 61
to one of the twelve great city companies. Under
this arrangement the companies stored the granaries
with 5000 quarters of corn, which they were obliged to
supply to the Corporation at 28s. per quarter. This
indicates an enormous increase of price beyond that
which prevailed in the preceding century.
The Pepysian Library at Cambridge contains a
curious drawing representing the granaries and corn-
mills at the end of old London bridge, about the year
1578; there were two water-wheels under the granaries,
between two of the starlings of the bridge; and these
wheels worked the mill-stones. The companies had
also ovens, ten in number, rendering the whole a great
flour-factory and bakehouse. “Sir John Throston,”
says Strype, “ sometime an embroiderer, then gold-
Smith, and one of the sheriffs in 1516, left 200l. to-
wards building these ovens.” The Corporation exer-
cised control both over the quantity and the price of
any corn purchased, operative against brewers as well
as bakers.
The above details will suffice to show that the supply
of bread to the Metropolis in the 16th century was a
subject of much solicitude. The sale of sugar, spices,
and similar commodities, was chiefly controlled by the
Grocers’ Company. One entry in the books of this
company”, dated 1561, is to the effect that the “bags
and remnantes of certeyne evil and naynte pepper”
were ordered to be conveyed over sea to be sold ; but
the dust of the “evil pepper, syrnamed ginger,” was
to be burned. Thus it appears that the company,
* Livery Companies, i. 326,
62 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
although holding a reverend care for the health of
their fellow-citizens, did not scruple to send the “evil
pepper” for sale to the inhabitants of other countries.
In 1562, the company made an order that “grocerie
wares should not be sold in the streetes, figges onlie
excepted;” and that the apothecaries, “freemen of the
companie, should not use or exercise any drugs, simple
or compound, or any other kynde or sorte of potecarie
wares, but such as shall be pure and perfyt good.” In
1571, one King, a member of the company, and certain
others, “ makers of comfytes, were charged before the
wardynes for their misdemeanours in minglinge starche
with the suger and such other thinges as be not tolerated
nor suffered; and the said King having now in his
place a goode quantitie of comfytes made with corse
stuffe, and mingled as aforsaid with starch and such
like, it was ordered that the comfytes should be put
into a tub of water, and so consumed and poured out.”
It was further ordered that “everie of the comfyt-
makers shall be made to enter into bondes in 20l. that
they shall not hereafter make any biskitts but with clere
sugar onlie, nor make any comfyts that shall be wrought
upon seeds or any other things, but with clere suger
onlie.” Three facts are made evident by these curious
orders : — that groceries, drugs, chemicals, and con-
fectionary were sold largely by the same persons; that
the Grocers' Company exercised great power over the
sellers of such commodities; and that the art of adul-
teration was not left for later years to invent.
Many London trades were at that period made sub-
jects of patent monopolies. Queen Elizabeth granted
CH. II. FOOD MONOPOLIES. 63
several such patents, either to favour individuals or
in return for a money contribution, “The English
Sovereigns had always been entrusted with the su-
preme direction of commercial police. . . . . . . It
was their undoubted prerogative to regulate coin,
weights, and measures, and to appoint fairs, markets,
and ports. The line which bounded their authority
over trade had, as usual, been but loosely drawn.
They therefore, as usual, encroached on the powers
which rightfully belonged to the legislature. The
encroachment was, as usual, patiently borne till it
became serious. But at length the Queen took upon
herself to grant patents of monopoly by scores. There
was scarcely a family in the realm which did not feel
itself aggrieved by the oppression and extortion which
this abuse naturally caused. Iron, oil, vinegar, coal,
saltpetre, lead, starch, yarn, skins, leather, glass, could
be bought only at exorbitant prices. The House of
Commons met in an angry and determined mood. It
was in vain that a courtly minority blamed the Speaker
for suffering the acts of the Queen's Highness to be
called in question. The language of the discontented
party was high and menacing, and was echoed by the
voice of the whole nation. The coach of the chief
minister of the Crown was surrounded by an indignant
populace, who cursed the monopolies, and exclaimed
that the prerogative should not be suffered to touch the
old liberties of England. There seemed for a moment
to be some danger that the long and glorious reign of
Elizabeth would have a shameful and disastrous end.
She, however, with admirable judgment and temper,
64 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II,
declined the contest, put herself at the head of the re-
forming party, redressed the grievance, thanked the
Commons in touching and dignified language for their
tender care of the general weal, brought back to herself
the hearts of her people, and left to her successors a
memorable example of the way in which it behoves a
ruler to deal with public movements which he has not
the means of resisting.” We shall presently see, how-
ever, that the monopolies were only suspended; for the
system revived in the next century.
In respect of the trade in malt liquor, some of the
London brewers of the 16th century brewed partly for
exportation to the Low Countries. A complaint was
made to the Treasurer of England, in 1586, that
“ there was deceit in the vessels of beer that were
transported; that under the name of these passed many
barrels stuffed with prohibited goods, as pike-heads,
halberd-heads, pistols and match, candles, and soles of
shoes of new leather, cut out in pairs of all sizes, and
the like; the bungs of the barrels being besmeared with
a little yeast; to the hindrance of the commonwealth,
and the profit of enemies.” It appears also, that foreign
merchants repacked the same barrels with silk, and sent
them over to England as empty casks; the brewers,
smearing the bungs with yeast, delivered the casks at
certain houses as if filled with beer, to the hindrance
of the Queen's Customs.’
The English ale of early days was poor, weak drink,
with broom, bay-berries, or ivy-berries instead of hops.
Hops were not cultivated in England until about 1524;
* Macaulay, History of England, i. chap. i.
CH. II. BREWERS IN ELIZABETH's REIGN. 65
and the malt was frequently mixed with oats. After it
became customary to use hops, the stronger liquor
bittered with that plant obtained the name of beer; but
in truth there never has been any clearly-marked dis-
tinction between the meaning of the two words ale and
beer. Stow says, that in 1585 there were about
twenty-six brewers in the city and in Westminster;
some of whom were foreigners, who brought over with
them the art of cultivating hops. These brewers are
stated to have produced 648,960 barrels of beer in the
year. Most of the breweries stood near the banks of
the Thames; and some of them brewed chiefly for export
to foreign countries.
In those days, when sovereigns deemed their subjects
unable to eat, or drink, or dress properly without go-
vernment supervision, the ale-drinking of the Londoners -
occasionally excited alarm. During the reign of Eli-
zabeth, the governing authorities suppressed many of the
ale-houses, on the plea that their number was more
than sufficient for the legitimate wants of the inhabit-
ants. But the sellers and brewers of malt liquor were
subject to other supervision, — that of the corporation.
It relates to a period somewhat earlier than the 16th cen-
tury; but the following incident will exemplify the
mode in which this supervision was sometimes exercised.
Robert Chichele, the Mayor, sent for the master and
twelve of the members of the Brewers’ Company to
appear at the Guildhall; to whom John Fray, the re-
corder, objected a breach of government, for which
20l. should be forfeited, for selling dear ale.' After
much dispute about the price and quality of malt,
F.
66 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
wherein Whityngtone, the late Mayor, declared ‘ that
the brewers had ridden into the country and forestalled
the malt, to raise its price,” they were convicted in the
penalty of 20l., “which objecting to, the masters were
ordered to be kept in prison in the chamberlain's cus-
tody, until they should pay it, or find security for the
payment thereof. The Mayor and Aldermen having
gone home to their meat, the brewers asked the cham-
berlain and clerk what they should do? who bade them
go home, and promised that no harm should come to
them; for all this proceeding had been done but to
please Richard Whityngtone, for he was the cause of
all the aforesaid judgment.” The Richard Whityng-
tone of this curious transaction was the far-famed hero
of the cat, and the stone, and the sound of Bow
bells.”
The feastings of the 16th century, like those of earlier
date, are worthy of notice, in so far as they convey
information concerning the kinds of food purchased, and
the prices paid. As for the personnel of a great man's
dining hall, nothing can be more striking than the
establishment of Cardinal Wolsey, as described by
Cavendish, and as embodied by Mr. Charles Kean in
his revival of Shakspere’s “Henry the Eighth.’ It is
the provisioning arrangements, however, for which such
matters are here noticed.
The ‘Northumberland Household Book’ has already
been adverted to. This remarkable document relates
to the household expenses of the Earl of Northumber-
* Herbert, i. 56.
CH. II. NORTEIUMBERLAND HOUSEHOLD BOOK. 67
land, about the year 1512, at his castles of Wresill and
Lekinfield in Yorkshire. The following are among
many entries relating to the prices of provisions : —
Wheat, 6s. 8d. per q1. Salt, 4S. per q1.
Wine 4l. 13s. 4d. per tun. Pepper, 1s. 4d. per lb.
Ale, 2d. per gall. Mace, 8s. per lb.
Bread, ld, for 6 loaves. Cloves, 8s. per lb.
Beer, #d. per gall. Ginger, 4s. per lb.
Young cattle, 10s, each. Prunes, 1%d. per lb.
Sheep, 1s. 5d. Sugar, 4%d. per lb.
Hops, 13s. 4d. per cwt. Currants, 2d, per lb.
Malt, 4d. per q1.
Some of the prices are remarkable ; a pound of mace
was more costly than five sheep. The store of pro-
visions for a year was prodigiously large, as the follow-
ing will show : —
124 ‘beeves, at 13s. 4d. for ‘fatt, and 8s. for “leyn.’
667 ‘muttons,’ at 1s. 8d.
25 ‘poorks,’ at 2s.
28 “veills,” at 1s. 8d.
60 lambs, at 10d. and 1s.
140 stockfish, at 2%d. each.
942 salt fish, at 4d.
9 barrels white herring, at 10s. the barrel.
104 score salt salmon, at 6d.
3 firkins salt sturgeon, at 10s, the firkin.
5 kegs salt eels, at 4s. the keg.
550 lb. hops, at 13s. 4d. per cwt.
40 gallons vinegar, at 4d. gallon.
It is not less interesting to note the kinds of viands
taken at breakfast by the rich and noble in those days.
The bill of fare for ‘lenten breakfasts’ runs thus : —
“For my Lord and Lady,
A loaf of bread in trenchers, 2 manchettes, a quart of beer, a
quart of wine, 2 pieces of salt fish, 6 bacon'd herrings, 4 white
herrings or a dish of sprats.”
F 2
68 THE FooD OF LONDON. CH. II.
Other lenten breakfasts are duly set forth for ‘my
Lord Percy, and Maister Thomas Percy, for the ‘Nur-
serie of my Lady Margaret and Maister Ingram,” for
‘my Lady's Gentlewomen,” for “my Lord's Gentle-
men, and so on through the different grades of the
household. On ‘flesh days’ the breakfasts underwent
modification : — -
“For my Lord and my Lady,
A loaf of bread in trenchers, 2 manchettes, 1 quart of beer, a
quart of wine, half a chine of mutton, or elles a chine of beef
boil’d.
“For my Lord Percy and Mr. Thomas Percy,
Half a loaf of household bread, a manchette, 1 potell of beer, a
chekynge, or elles 3 mutton bones boil’d.
“For the nurserie of my Lady Margaret and Mr. Ingram,
A manchette, 1 quart of beer, and 3 mutton bones boil’d.
“For my Lady's Gentlewomen,
A loaf of household bread, a potell of beer, and 3 mutton bones
boil'd, or elles a piece of beef boil’d.”
From a ‘brewing’ which took place at Wresill, we
learn that 6lb. of hops were employed with 6 quarters
of malt.
But it is of London food and feasts that this chapter
more especially treats. There is a record extant of
the list of viands provided for the funeral repast of Sir
John Redstone, Lord Mayor in 1531. There are the
payments made to the ‘Pykemonger, the ‘ Pulter,’ the
• Bowcher, the ‘Mylke-wyffe,' the ‘Brewer,’ the ‘Vyn-
tener, the ‘Grocer,’ the “Baker, the ‘Chandeler,’ and
the ‘Cooke.” Sugar was 7d. per lb.; eggs, 8 for a
penny; butter, 4}d. per gallon; Swans, 6s. each ; rab-
bits, 2d, each ; pigeons, 10d. per dozen ; a sirloin of
CH. II. E[OljSEEIOLD EXPENSES. 69
beef, 2s. 4d.; ‘four marybones,’ 8d.; cream, 6d. per
gallon; ale, 3s. 8d. per barrel; ‘bere,’ 1s. per kilder-
kin; “ half a veale, 2s. 8d.: claret, 10d. per gallon;
dried currants, 2%d. per lb. ; salt, 4d. per peck. These
prices are worthy of note, not only for the contrast
with those of modern times, but for the inequality of
cheapness (so to speak) among the items themselves.
The books of the Ironmongers' Company contain an
entry relating to the cost of a breakfast in 1542.*
Among the items are, a neck and breast of mutton, 6.d.;
a piece of beef, 4d.; a breast of veal, 9d.; a goose, 9d.;
two couple of rabbits, 12d.; bread, 6d.; Sugar, pepper,
cloves, mace, and Saffron, 6d. ; ‘ Onyons and erbys,’ 1d.;
mustard and vinegar, la, ; butter, 1.d.; beer, 7.d.;
claret and red wine, 6s. ; water, ld.; ‘the cook, turnspit,
and woman for dressing,’ 8d.
Although Massinger wrote somewhat later, his City
Madam’ may be taken as a tolerably correct picture of
London usages towards the close of the 16th century.
Holdfast thus laments his master's extravagance : —
“Men may talk of country Christmas and court gluttony,
Their thirty pounds for butter'd eggs, their pies of carps' tongues,
Their pheasants drench'd with ambergrise ; the carcases
Of three fat wethers bruis’d for gravy, to
Make Sauce for a single peacock : yet their feasts
Were fasts, compared with the City’s.”
Whereupon ensues a conversation between Tradewell
and Holdfast : —
“Tradewell. What dear dainty
Was it thou murmur'st at 2
* Livery Companies, ii. 607.
F 3
70 TFIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
“Holdfast. Did you not observe it?
There were three sucking pigs serv’d up in a dish,
Ta’en from the sow as soon as farrow’d,
A fortnight fed with dates and muscadine,
That stood my master in twenty marks apiece,
Besides the puddings in their bellies, made
Of I know not what. I dare swear the cook that drest it
Was the devil, disguis’d like a Dutchman.””
In the year 1575 the Lord Mayor ordered the fol-
lowing tariff of prices for poultry to be observed. First,
by shopkeepers: — capons, 16d. to 204. ; geese, 8d.
to 14d. ; pigeons, 16d. a dozen ; chickens, 3d. to 4d. ;
rabbits, 4d. to 5d. ; swans, 6s. to 7s. ; cranes, 6s. ;
herons, 2s. 6d. ; turkey cocks, 3s. ; turkey chickens,
ls. 4d. ; woodcocks, 6d. ; snipes, 2%d.; hens, 7d. to 9d. ;
plovers, 3d. to 4.d.; larks, 5d. to 8d. per dozen ; black-
birds, 10d. per dozen ; partridges, 10d. ; eggs, 4 a penny.
Secondly, in the market : — coneys, 3d. to 4.d.; larks,
6d. a dozen ; woodcocks, 5d. ; chickens, 4d. ; capons,
14d. ; pigeons, 1s. a dozen ; geese, 1s. ; eggs, 5 a penny.
This is a remarkable example of corporate interference
with prices.
One more example may be presented. Mr. Brayley f
gives extracts from a household account, under date
1594–5, belonging to an inhabitant of the parish of St.
Michael Bassetshaw. Among the items which indicate
price, are—a fore quarter of lamb, 2s. 2d.; a capon,
1s. 2d.; a quart of malmsey, 8d.; a lamb, 5s. ; 12
pigeons, 2s. 4d. ; 28 eggs, 8d.: 3 pecks of flour, 2s. 6d. ;
a side of veal, 8d.; a calf's head, 10d. ; a pint of claret,
3d, ; a peck of oysters, 4d, ; 50 oranges, 9d.
* ‘City Madam, Act ii. Scene 1. f Londiniana, ii. 47.
CH. II. MARKETs, SEVENTEENTEI CENTURY. 71
Pass we on now to the next century.
The “sellers of oxen, sheep, swine, and such like,”
says Stow, writing at or near the commencement of
the 17th century, “remain in their old market of
Smithfield;” and so they were destined to remain for
two centuries and a half longer. Some years later,
during the reign of Charles I., a charter was given to
the corporation of London, granting very precise and
extensive powers over the market at Smithfield. While
the charter from Edward III. prohibited the formation
of any cattle market elsewhere, the charter from
Charles I. held out an inducement to the corporation
to expand the market at Smithfield when the increase
of population in London should increase the demand for
cattle.
Concerning the supply of poultry, Stow states that
about his time (1603) the poultry-dealers removed from
the Poultry to Gracechurch street and St. Nicholas
shambles. He further mentions a place called Scalding
alley, near the Poultry, where the poulterers were wont
to scald their feathered commodities.
Much curious information concerning the market
arrangements of London is to be met with in a pam-
phlet published in 1647: — ‘Ten several Orders to be
put in Execution by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of
London, for the Price and Sale of Meal, Flesh, Butter,
and other Commodities; and to prevent Disorders in the
Markets; with the Penalties to be inflicted upon every
Person or Persons which shall not obey the same.’ The
pamphlet opens with a declaration that the supply of
food in London is very scarce, and that ‘regraters and
F 4
72 THE FOOD OF LONDON. . CH. II.
forestallers’ have been instrumental in keeping up the
price. Hence the following Orders : —
“First. In all the markets of this City, no victual
shall be sold but by the price set by the Mayor of the
City.
“ Second. No man shall forestall any victual coming
to the market as for to buy in any inn or other privy
place, or yet coming to the market, whether it be found
in the hands of the buyer or the seller, under pain of
forfeiture of the same; and no inn-holder shall suffer
anything to be sold in his house upon pain of forty
shillings.
“ Third. No man shall regrate any victual which is
in the market, or buy any victual to ingrate in the
market; so that the commons can or may have any part
of such victual, as in special such as be known for
hucksters or other people occupying their living by such
victual as they would so ingross, under pain of such
victual so regrated; provided always that any steward
for any noble feast may buy or ingrate such victual as
is convenient for the same feast.
“ Fourth. No butter shall be sold but according to
the time of the year allowed.
“Fifth. No poulterers shall deceivably occupy the
market to sell any stale victual, or such as the poulterers
of this City do stand in strange clothing so to do, under
pain of forty shillings and forfeiture of such victual.
“Sixth. No hucksters shall stand or sit in the
market but in lower places and ends of the market, to
the intent that they may be perfectly known, and the
stranger market people have the preheminence of the
CH. II. RULES OF TEIE MARIKETS. 73
market, under pain of three shillings and four pence if
the hucksters disobey the same.
“ Seventh. No unwholesome or stale victual shall
be sold under pain of forty shillings and four pence, and
forfeiture of the same victual.
“ Eighth. No butcher or his servant shall use to
drive any oxe or oxen a trot in the streets, but peace-
ably; and if any oxe happen to be let go, when he is
prepared for slaughter, the butcher shall forfeit two
shillings, besides recompence if any person be hurt
thereby.”
The Ninth and Tenth Orders relate to restrictions
against selling ‘measell hogs,’ and ‘old stale victual.”
Not the least characteristic among these rules is that
which gives favour to the ‘steward for any noble
feast.”
Throughout the 17th century the regulations for the
sale of fish in London underwent little change; but
just before the close of the century an Act was passed
to limit the powers of the principal fishmongers at
Billingsgate, and allow a better chance to their poorer
brethren. It appears that, partly through the influence
of the Fishmongers' Company, street hawkers had not
been allowed to buy of the fishermen, whereby the fish-
mongers held the control of prices; they were also in
the habit of employing one or two of their body to buy
for the whole, thereby limiting still further the chance
of competition.
But the corn and bread trades, in the 17th century,
were under much more stringent regulations than the
fish trade. The Court, the corporation, and the com-
74 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
panies, were curiously mixed up in these regulations.
Mr. Herbert quotes a letter from the officers of the
King's household to the wardens of the Grocers’ Com-
pany, dated September 27. 1622. It has a most affec-
tionate commencement, and a most significant purport:
“To our loving friends the wardens and assistants of
the Company of Grocers of the City of London. After
our hearty commendations: Whereas, by the neglect of
His Majesty's purveyors, his house is at this time alto-
gether unfurnished with wheat, by means whereof there
is a present want of one hundred quarters of wheat for
the service of his household: we do, therefore, pray
and desire you that out of your stock His Majesty may
be supplied with thirty or forty quarters of your best
and sweetest wheat, until his own provision may be
brought in, the which we do faithfully promise shall be
paid unto you again in November next at the furthest.”
Whether the worshipful grocers responded to this ap-
peal does not appear. During the reign of Charles I.,
arbitrary in this as in many other directions, unpleasant
contentions often arose concerning the city garners. In
1630, the companies were ordered to pay to the poor a
fine of three shillings for every bushel which they might
neglect to provide according to their due proportion ;
in the next year, when ordered to purchase corn from
abroad, they flatly refused; and in 1632, the wardens
of some of the companies were actually committed to
prison, for neglecting to supply their granaries. Some-
times the corporation and the Companies could not pur-
chase corn in certain specified counties without permis-
Sion of the Lords of the Council. On one occasion the
CH. II. BREAD, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 75
city authorities were in collision with the county
magistrates during a period of scarcity; the former wish-
ing to draw corn to London, and the latter wishing to
retain it in the country. Sometimes the government
bought of the city for the use of the navy; while on
other occasions the city purchased of the government.
Many wranglings took place between the conflicting
authorities; and it became evident that the system of
public granaries had outlived its uses. The great fire
of 1666, which burnt out the granaries and ovens, may
be said to have burnt out the system also ; for the
public granaries were not again revived.
Irrespective of the regulations concerning corn, there
was a tight hold maintained upon the bakers. Stow,
collecting information from all sources then available,
tells us how that in earlier times there was a bread
market in Bread street; that there was a large public
bakehouse in Basing lane ; that at one time the bakers
were “bounden to sell no bread in their shops or
houses, but in the market; ” that at another time they
were ordered to bring their bread to market in baskets,
that they might be held responsible for quality; that at
a later date a Stratford baker, as a punishment for sell-
ing light loaves, was drawn on a hurdle through the
London streets, with a fool's cap on his head, and light-
weight loaves suspended about his neck. Coming
down to the century now under notice, it appears that
the bakers were narrowly watched by the city autho-
rities as long as the granaries were kept up; sometimes
the bakers were prohibited from buying meal, except at
the city granaries, and then only in such quantities and
76 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
at such times and prices as the authorities might deter-
mine. The London bakers, too, were exposed to a
peculiar kind of rivalry from those of Stratford. These
latter bought corn which was brought down the river
Lea, and then made it into bread for the London
market; they came almost daily, by the Whitechapel
route, with long carts laden with bread; they took up
their station in Cheapside, between what are now Gutter
and Foster lanes, as well as in Cornhill and Grace-
church street. The bread, Stow tells us, was “ two
ounces in the penny wheat loaf heavier than the penny
wheat loaf baked in the city.”
The assize of bread, to which much importance was
attached during many centuries, was a declaration of
the weight that each kind of loaf should possess. The
penny loaf was a standard by which other loaves were
judged. With us, in the present day, the 41b. loaf
becomes cheaper when corn is cheaper; whereas in
former days the penny loaf became larger when corn
was cheaper. It is difficult to understand the principle
whereon the corporation or the legislature could deter-
mine what would be a fair or what an unfair price for
a loaf of bread. Nor is it more easily to be seen why,
as was once the case, the bakers should be prohibited
from baking loaves of household bread to sell at more
than twopence each, except at Christmas; nor why,
* except at funerals, and at Christmas, and Easter,’ they
should be debarred the liberty of making and baking
and selling spice-cakes, buns, biscuits, or other spice-
bread.
It appears, from Markham, that oatmeal was in
CH. II. TEIE ASSIZE OF BREAD. 77
those days much eaten in English households. It was
made into meat pottage, milk pottage, and gruel. He
speaks of “six several kinds of good and wholesome
bread” made with oatmeal; of oatcakes, with and with-
out an admixture of wheaten flour; of haggas or haggus,
made of oatmeal, and blood, and the liver of either
sheep, calf, or swine, “ of whose goodness it is in vain
to boast, because there is hardly to be found a man that
doth not affect them;’ and of washbrew or flammery
or flummery, made of oatmeal boiled to a jelly and
flavoured with honey, wine, beer, ale, or milk, accord-
ing to inclination. The unground oat appears also to
have been much employed for food. Of these oat-grits
were made puddings or pots, with blood, suet, and
herbs, if the puddings were to be ‘black,” but with
cream, eggs, bread crumbs, Suet, currants, and spices, if
for “white.” Oats and eggs to stuff a roast goose, are
recommended. For seamen, a suggestion is made to
eat oats boiled till they burst, and then mixed with
butter; “ which, although seamen call simply by the
name of loblolly, yet there is not any meat, how signi-
ficant soever the name be, that is more toothsome and
wholesome.” Markham calls the oat the “very crown
of the housewife's garland.””
In the 17th, as in preceding centuries, we meet with
very few notices of the vegetable food, such as potatoes
and so forth, obtainable in London. Just about two
centuries ago, Hartlib, writing on various agricultural
subjects, accidentally mentions that old men then living
* Farewell to Husbandry, 1649.
78 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
could recollect the first gardener who came into Surrey
to cultivate cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, carrots,
parsnips, and peas, for consumption in and near the
metropolis. From this and from other sources we may
infer that the meat and the fish, the bread and the ale,
were garnished with but few green vegetables.
In relation to such articles as grocery, the prices
approached gradually nearer to those of modern times.
The ‘pepperers’ and grocers formerly located in Soper's
lane, are said, by Stow, to have now taken up their
station chiefly in Bucklersbury. One particular article,
which now constitutes the leading item in English
grocery, was then a choice rarity. This was Tea. Ac-
cording to the courtly Waller, the consort of Charles II.
made tea-drinking fashionable : —
“The best of queens and best of herbs we owe
To that bold nation which the way did show
To the fair region where the sum doth rise,
Whose rich productions we so justly prize.
The Muse's friend, tea, does our fancy aid;
Repress those vapours which the head invade;
And keeps that palace of the soul serene,
Fit on her birthday to salute the Queen.”
In this way Waller, who during a long life sided
with all parties by turns, contrived to compliment the
Queen and the Portuguese in a breath.
The dairy produce of England, in those days, is rarely
noticed by contemporary writers; but there is reason to
believe that this portion of food-supply has undergone
fewer changes in regard to the modes of production
and supply, than most others which here engage notice.
The milkmaids and their cows, the Maydays and the
CH. II. DAIRY PRODUCE, wal.TON's DAYs. 79
garlands, it is true, attracted more attention from pas-
toral and lyrical poets then than now. In Playford's
• Musical Composition,’ published about 1687, there is
included a song entitled ‘The Praise of Milk,” which
certainly enunciates some peculiar theories concerning
that beverage. It tells us that,
“Among the rare virtues that milk does produce,
For a thousand of dainties it’s daily in use.
Now a pudding, I’ll tell ye,
Ere it goes in the belly,
Must have from good milk both the cream and the jelly;
For a dainty fine pudding without cream or milk
Is a citizen's wife without satin or silk.”
It also declares, among other truths, that
“Both pancakes and fritters of milk have good store,
But a Devonshire whitepot must needs have much more,
No state you can think,
Though you study and wink,
From the lusty sack-posset to poor posset-drink,
But milk's the ingredient, tho' sack's ne'er the worse,
For ’tis sack makes the man, tho' 'tis milk makes the nurse.”
The readers of Izaak Walton need hardly be re-
minded how numerous are the pleasant words which
Piscator had to bestow on this subject of milk, and
cows, and dairymaids in the country life of Charles's
days.
Mention has been made, in a former paragraph, of
the disgraceful system of patent monopolies which ex-
isted in such force in the preceding century. This
system continued, in spite of partial checks, down to
the century now under notice, when it received its
death-blow, chiefly through the exposure of Alderman
80 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. II.
Abell and Richard Kilvert, who held a patent in 1641.
Mr. Herbert* quotes from a scarce tract, of satirical
character, a supposed dialogue between these worthies.
They accidentally meet; Kilvert claims acquaintance
with the alderman as one at whose house he had often
been a guest, when he kept the Ship Tavern behind
Old Fish Street; and the two then converse about
schemes for patents: —
“ Kilvert. You are a vintner, Mr. Alderman; what
think you of a monopoly or patent for wines and for
dressing meat?
“Abell. I doe approve of the project exceedingly.”
“ Kälv. We must first pretend both in the merchant
and vintner Some gross abuses, and these no meane ones
either. And that the merchant shall pay to the King
forty shillings for every tun ere he shall vent it to the
vintner; in lieu of which, that the vintner may be no
loser, he shall rayse the price also of his wine, upon all
French wines a penny in the quart, upon all Spanish
wines two pence in the quart; it is no matter how the
subject suffer, so we get and gaine by it. Now to cover
this our craft (I will not say coinage), because all things
of the like nature carry a pretence for the King's profit,
so we will allow him a competent proportion of forty
thousand pounds per annum; when the power of the
patent, being punctually executed, will yield double at
least, if not treble that same, and returne it into the
coffers of the undertakers.”
There is sufficient in this bit of satire to indicate the
mode in which the patents were managed.
* Livery Companies, i. 157.
CH. II. EXCISE ON BEER AND ALE. 81
Next as to beer and ale. The sale of these beverages
in the 17th century was surrounded by more com-
plexities than in earlier times. After many abortive
attempts, Charles I. Succeeded in imposing excise duties
in 1643, increasing his unpopularity thereby ; ale,
beer, cider, and perry were the first articles brought
under the operation of these laws. All the brewers
were required to give notice of the quantity of beer
sold, and the names of the purchasers; the duty was
at first 25 per cent. on the value if sold to retailers,
but only 12% per cent, if sold at once to private families;
and a tax was payable also on beer brewed in private
houses. During the Commonwealth, the ruling powers
found it no less convenient than the deposed monarch
to hold such a tax ready at hand, although it was pro-
posed only as a war-tax: the Londoners were never-
theless very dissatisfied, and showed their dissatisfaction
by rioting and burning the Excise Office. The Re-
publican Government, nothing daunted, declared their
resolution, “through all opposition whatsoever, to
insist upon the due collection * of the tax; and they
authorised Fairfax, on application made to him,
“speedily to suppress all such tumults, riots, and un-
lawful assemblies.” There were numerous pamphlets
published for and against the tax; but they did not
assume the character of party weapons; for both
Royalists and Roundheads, whatever they may have
said when out of office, maintained the excise laws when
in office; and thus these laws, during the remainder
of the century, were not only maintained, but were
G.
S2 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
imposed upon other articles of food, such as groceries
and salt.
The 17th century, with its alternation from puri-
tanical republicanism to licentious royalty, presents
many a battle between lawful authority and the ques-
tionable influence of beer and ale. Mr. Brayley has
collected numerous notices, of the dates 1641 to 1659,
of proceedings against evil doers in the parish of St.
Giles in the Fields.” The following are a few of such
as relate to ale and beer: —
if s. d.
1641. Received of the vintner of the Catt in Queen
Street, for permitting of tippling on the Lord's
Day - s tº- tº- - 1 10 0
1644. Received of three poor men for drinking on the
Sabbath Day at Tottenham Court - – 0 4 0
1645. Received of Mrs. Thunder, by the hands of
Francis Potter, for her being drunk and swear-
ing seven oaths - * wº - 0 12 0
1646. Received of Mr. Hooker for brewing on a Fast
day - $º sº * * - 0 2 6
,, Paid and given to Lyn and two watchmen in
consideration of their pains, and the breaking of
two halberds, in taking the two drunkards and
swearers that paid E: sº — 1 4 0
1648. Received from the City Marshal, sent by the
Lord Mayor, for one that was drunk at the Forts
in our parish - sº gº - O 5 O
1655. Received of a maid taken in Mrs. Jackson's ale-
house on the Sabbath cº sº - 0 5 0
, Received of a Scotchman drinking at Robert
Owen’s on the Sabbath º [ _ - O 2 0
A curious pamphlet was published in 1641 : — ‘The
Tapster's Downfall and the Drunkard's Joy; or a
Dialogue between Leatherbeard, the Tapster of the
* Londiniana, iii. 12.
CH. II. BEER IN TEIE 17 TEI CENTURY. 83
Sheaves, and Rubynose, one of his ancient Acquaintance,
who hath formerly eaten Three Stone of Roast-Beef on a
Sunday Morning, but now (being debarred that Privilege)
slights him, and resolves to drink Wine altogether.” It
appears, from the tenor of this dialogue, that the Legis-
lature about that time encouraged the vintners more
than the tapsters, the wine-sellers more than the beer-
sellers. Leatherbeard reminds Rubynose of the profit
which his late master's widow realised every Sunday
morning “ by her thin-cut slices of roasted beef; how
she made the guests to pay for the vinegar and pepper
they ate with the roast-beef at prayer-time; and how I
sold the ale and beer at that time at double prices.” He
expatiated also on the “innumerable numbers of mince
pies we sold every Sunday at dinner, and what benefit
we made of the refuse of the slashed roast beef . . . .
how many great gross of plum cakes and cheese cakes;
what stewed prunes and custards we have sold every
Sunday at prayer-time in the afternoon.” But he com-
plains that now “we must fall to our prayers on a
Sunday, and keep our doors shut all the day long, and
sing psalms if we please.” He finally announces his
determination to abandon the tapster's calling, and
become a vintner.
From scattered notices of the period, it seems that
the general ale of the country districts was poor, thin
stuff, not so good as that brewed by private families.
Bitter ale or beer was a growth of prudence rather than
of inclination; for, the malt tax being proportionably
heavier than the hop tax, brewers economised their malt
and were liberal with their hops. The hopped beer was
G 2
84 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
a favourite with many old topers towards the close of
the century. Dr. Westmacott declared that old English
ale “ is a most wholesome connatural drink. He that
in his young days accustometh himself to drink his ale
mixed or dashed with a little beer shall never when he
is old have occasion to repent ; for beerish drink keeps
the stomach clear, excites the appetite, and carries off
ill humours; whereas fat, new, ropy, sweet ale (too
often none of the clearest) dulls the appetite, creates
clam in the viscera, and lodges too long.” “ The
bibulous doctor ends by saying, “ For myself, ye may
conclude that I am a toper at old beer, by my appearing
such an advocate for it.”
The prices of provisions in the 17th century, and the
dishes which were considered to form a good banquet,
receive various elucidations from writers of the period.
An account of a Kentish housekeeping in 1659 to 1670
is given in the ‘Household Book of Sir Roger Twysden.’
Among the items are the following : — beef, 2s. and
ls. 8d. per stone, loin of mutton 1s. 6d., shin of beef
1s. 10d., loin of veal 3s. 4d., calf's head #d., quarter
of mutton 4s. 4d. and 5s., side of mutton 9s., eight
quarters of mutton 32s., six stone of beef and 2 lb. suet
18s., chine and a quarter of veal 8s., chine and a quarter
of mutton 5s., quarter of lamb 2s. 6d. ; cheese varied
from 9s. 6d. to 14s. per 56 lb.f
It was about twenty years later than this that an
entry in the ‘Warrant Book of the Board of Green Cloth,”
Q
quoted by Mr. Peter Cunningham in his ‘Handbook of
* Historia Vegetabilium Sacra, 1694.
+ Paper by Rev. J. Larking, in Notes and Queries, i. 225.
CH. II. PRICES IN TEIF 17 TEI CENTURY. 85
London,’ speaks thus of the price of fruit: — “Order
on this day given, that the Maides of Honour should
have cherry tarts instead of gooseberry tarts, it being
observed that cherrys are at threepence per pound.”
This was in the month of June.
If the account which Markham gives of a ‘humble
feast,” such as a family man in good circumstances might
give to a party of about twenty guests, be taken as a
true picture of the times of Charles I., it indicates
rather a proud humility, to say the least. He enume-
rates sixteen dishes for the first course: viz. a shield
of brawn, with mustard; a boiled capon; a boiled piece
of beef; a chine of beef roasted; a neat's tongue
roasted; a pig roasted; chewets baked; a goose roasted;
a Swan roasted; a turkey roasted ; a haunch of venison
roasted; a pasty of venison ; a kid with a pudding in
the belly; an olive pie; a couple of capons; a custard or
doucet. And these sixteen are made up to thirty-two
by salads, fricasees, and other minor delicacies.
The taverns and ordinaries of London in the 17th
century meet with frequent mention by dramatists and
other writers of the period. Some of these notices are
exceedingly curious, especially those which relate to
the early part of the century, the close of the Eliza-
bethan era. Thus the ‘Diary of Philip Henslowe from
1591 to 1609, edited by Mr. Payne Collier from MSS.
in Dulwich College”, is full of characteristic entries.
Henslowe appears to have been a strange man; first a
dyer, then a starch-maker, then a pawnbroker, and
afterwards partner with Alleyne in the management of
* Shakspere Society's Publications, 1845.
G 3 -
86 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
the Hope and other theatres of those times. The fol-
lowing entry, which probably relates to his pawnbroking
days, is a rich specimen of spelling and writing : —
“Lent unto frances Henslow to descharge hime sealffe
owt of the whitte Lion from a hat-macker in barmsey
streete abowt his horsse which was stolen from hime
and he served my kynsman at the syes for hime and to
macke and end betwezte he payde hime fyve pownd
which I lent him.” But the tavern entries are more
to our purpose. He bought the copyright of a play, in
his managerial days, and gave a treat to wind up the
transaction : —
* Layd out the same tyme at the tavarne in fysh
streete for good cheare, the some of - tº vs.”
Precisely the same sum was paid for good cheer on
the occasion of his purchasing a play from Drayton,
Decker, and Chettell. On another occasion, —
“Layd out for the company, at the mermayd, when
we were at oure agrement, toward our super,
the some of - tº- gº wº - ixs.’
But the actual prices are better shown by two or
three items relating to Henslowe, Street, and Shaw,
with whom he was in negociation respecting the For-
tune theatre: —
• Payd for a bracke faste at that time with shawe - xiid.
Payd at the rede crosse for brackfaste when we
sowght streete - tº tº :- º ijs.
Payd for streete's diner and mine º - xiid.
Pd for workmen and our sellfes diner tº - xviijd.
Pd for diner for Poter, Easte, and mysellfe - xviiid.’
Many such repasts are recorded at prices varying
CH. II. ORDINARIES IN THE 17TEI CENTURY. 87
from 1s. to 1s. 6d. On one particular feast, where
venison was provided for apparently a large party, the
tavern bill amounted to three or four pounds.
An ordinary, in the year 1609, is pictured in curious
colours by Decker.” He gives satirical advice how
* a young gallant should behave himself in an ordinary;”
but in the midst of the satire we may pick up a few
facts. The gallant is recommended to repair to the
ordinary “ some half hour after eleven, for then you
shall find most of your fashionmongers planted in the
room waiting for meat.” Some of the viands are men-
tioned here :-" When you are set down to dinner, you
must eate as impudently as can be (for that's most
gentlemanlike). When your knight is upon his stewed
mutton, be you presently (though you be but a captain)
in the bosome of your goose; and when your justice of
peace is knuckle-deep in goose, you may, without dis-
paragement to your bloud, though you have a lady to
your mother, fall very manfully to your woodcocks.”
But the most curious mention, in regard to the in-
tormation afforded, is of a threepenny ordinary attended
by lawyers and others: — “There is another ordinary
to which your usurer, your stale bachelor, and your
thrifty attornie doe resort; the price threepence; the
roome is full of company as a jaile, and indeed divided
into several wards like the beds of an hospital. The
complement betweene these is not much, their wordes
few ; for the belly hath no eares; every man's eye
here is upon the other man's trencher, to know whether
his fellow lurch him or no; if they chance to discourse,
* Gull's Horn-Book, chap. v.
G 4
88 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
it is of nothing but statutes, bonds, recognizances, fines,
recoveries, audits, rents, subsidies, sureties, inclosures,
liveries, inditements, outlawries, feoffments, judgments,
commissions, bankerouts, amercements, and of such
horrible matter.”
The latter half of the century exhibits the rise of
the coffee-house system, as an addition to the tavern
accommodation of earlier days. Hutton, a writer in the
early part of the next century, says: — “I find it re-
corded, that one James Farr, a barber, who kept the
coffee-house which is now the Rainbow, by the Inner
Temple Gate (one of the first in England) was in the
year 1657 prosecuted by the inquest of St. Dunstan's
in the West, for making and selling a sort of liquor
called coffee, as a great nuisance and prejudice to the
neighbourhood.” The coffee-houses were evidently
places of resort for newsmongers during the later years
of Charles II. Mr. Fairholt, in a collection of old
London ballads, has included one, of which the follow-
ing is a stanza f : —
* “You that delight in wit and mirth,
And love to hear such news
That come from all parts of the earth,
Turks, Dutch, and Danes, and Jews ;
I’ll send you to the rendezvous,
Where it is smoking new ;
Go hear it at a coffee house,
It cannot but be true.”
Coffee was a recognised article of London trade be-
fore the end of the century. We meet with an adver-
* New View of London, 1708.
f Percy Society’s Publications, 1845.
CH. II. REFRESEIMIENT EIOUSES. 89
tisement * assuring us that “Walsall, the coffee-man,
against Cree Church in Leadenhall Street, keeps a
library in his coffee-room for his customers to read. He
also buys and sells books.” Two or three years later
an advertiser announces, ‘ I sell coffee-powder; and
I’ll take care that what I shall sell shall be fresh and
true; and all who will may have it in the roasted berry,
or see it ground.’ Does not this imply something like
the existence of coffee-adulteration, in the glorious days
of William and Mary 2
A curious illustration of the open-air refreshments of
London towards the close of this century, is furnished
in a collection of broadsheets edited by Mr. Rimbaulti,
and relating to the frost-fair on the Thames in 1683-4.
They are ballads or ‘copies of verses.” One tells us,
“They cry good beer and ale,
Coffee or mum or wine, the heart to cheer,
Roast beef, or mutton boil'd, or brandy clear.”
Another ballad sings that,
“Cooks' shops with roast victuals and taverns with wine,
Already are seen on the river with plenty,
Which are filled every morning before you can dine,
By twos and by threes, I may truly say twenty.
Jack, Tom, Will, and Harry
Nan, Sue, Doll, and Mary,
Come there to devour plum cakes and canary;
There's gingerbread, Small cole, and hot pudding pies,
With bread and cheese, brandy, and good ale and beer.”
Having thus noticed a few of the peculiarities relating
to the supply and distribution of food in London in the
* Houghton's Collection, Dec. 28. 1694,
f Percy Society’s Publications, 1844.
90 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
17th century, we may pass on to the 18th, limiting
the examples to a small number, for reasons that will be
explained presently.
Smithfield continued to be the market for live stock,
and Newgate and Leadenhall for dead meat. Between
1740 and 1750, the average sale at Smithfield is stated
to have been about 74,000 cattle, and 570,000 sheep.
Many circumstances led to the gradual improvement of
live stock; the cutting down of forests, and the drain-
ing of marshes, gradually led to more efficient modes of
conducting the operations of the grazier; those ope-
rations began to be practised more systematically,
and with a more steady appreciation of experimental
trials; and henee arose a gradual increase in the weight
of the animals, and an improvement in the quality of
the flesh.
Not only did Billingsgate continue to be the store-
house whence the metropolis was supplied with fish,
but there were from time to time projects advanced for
extending this supply to the cquntry districts, or at
least for increasing the taste for fish-eating, whether
supplied from London or elsewhere. Houghton
proposed a plan, in 1703, whereby all the towns and
villages within twenty miles of London were to be
supplied with fish from thence; the fish being conveyed
by horses, which would bring back loads of country
commodities to London or the sea-ports. He had plans
for salt fish, for fresh fish, and for preserving fish with-
out salting them; but his plans were fruitless.
Concerning bread and its price at the commence-
ment of the 18th century, there was an assize tariff,
CH. II. BREAD IN QUEEN ANNE'S REIGN. 91
which ordained that when wheat was at 30s. per quarter,
the penny loaf should weigh sixteen ounces, or 1 lb. This
does not differ much from the London ratio between
corn and bread in the autumn of 1855; but the ratio
was forced in the former instance, voluntary in the
latter. There was also a provision made for what was
evidently regarded as an enormous hypothetical price ;
it was ordained that when wheat was at 66s. per
quarter, the weight of the penny loaf should be 7 oz. ;
and that an equivalent inverse ratio should be observed
throughout the intervening range of prices. There
continued to be sufficient faith in the wisdom of Par-
liament, down to a comparatively late period, to lead
men to bow to the legislative decision that a loaf of
bread should not be sold for more than a certain sum :
but when the assize price tallied with the natural com-
mercial price, the aid of the legislature was not wanted;
and when the two prices clashed, the law was certain to
be evaded in one way or other; and thus it ended, in
1815, by the abolition of the assize on bread. Corpo-
rate granaries, companies’ granaries, Court control, and
parliamentary control, all were abandoned by degrees;
and London was left to make its own bargains for
bread with the farmers, the corn-dealers, the millers,
and the bakers. In the beginning of the century there
was a corn-market at Bear Quay, in Thames Street;
while Queenhithe presented a great market for flour
and meal; and there was also a meal-market held at the
White Hart Inn, near Holborn Bridge. Later in the
century, however, the dealings in corn centred at
92 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
Mark Lane, as will be more fully noticed in a subse-
quent chapter.
Of the machinery whereby London was supplied
with vegetables and fruit in the early part of this
century, we have a curious account in one of Steele's
papers in the ‘Spectator.” The writer professes
to have slept at Richmond, and to have taken boat
at four in the morning on a jaunt to the metro-
polis. “When we first put off from shore,” he says,
“we soon fell in with a fleet of gardeners, bound for
the several market ports of London; and it was the
most pleasing scene imaginable to see the cheerfulness
with which those industrious people plied their way to
a certain sale of their goods. The banks on each side
are as well peopled, and beautified with as agreeable
plantations, as any spot on the earth; but the Thames
itself, loaded with the product of each shore, added very
much to the landscape. It was very easy to observe
by their sailing, and the countenances of the ruddy
virgins who were supercargoes, the part of the town
to which they were bound. There was an air in the
purveyors for Covent Garden, who frequently converse
with morning rakes, very unlike the seeming sobriety
of those bound for Stocks Market. Nothing remark-
able happened in our voyage; but I landed with ten
sail of apricot boats, at Strand Bridgef, after having
put in at Nine Elms, and taken in melons, consigned
by Mr. Cuffe of that place to Sarah Sewell and Com-
* No. 454., Aug 11. 1712.
f The word bridge appears to have been used here as equivalent to
wharf, stairs, or jetty.
CH. II. BREAD IN QUEEN ANNE'S REIGN. 93
pany, at their stall at Covent Garden. We arrived at
Strand Bridge at six of the clock. . . . . . I could not
believe any place more entertaining than Covent Gar-
den; where I strolled from one fruit-shop to another,
with crowds of agreeable young women around me, who
were purchasing fruit for their respective families.”
Beverages were, in those days, ruled with a strong
hand, in respect to the obtaining of revenue by the
crown from fermented liquors. As the two Charleses
and the Protector had all levied excise duties on ale
and beer, however they might differ in other matters,
so did the Catholic James, the Orange William, Anne,
and the Georges. Many of those sovereigns would
doubtless have been well pleased to acquire popularity
by abolishing or lessening imposts which were always
obnoxious to the people; but the never-ending ne-
cessities of the state rendered the wish nugatory.
William and Mary, in addition to beer and ale, imposed
duties on malt and spirits; and other commodities were
afterwards included.
One of the most extraordinary attempts to make the
people moral by Act of Parliament was planned by Sir
Robert Walpole; or rather, if the attempt itself were
not extraordinary, the mode of frustration was so. A
gin law was passed, intended to put down intemperance
by rendering gin too dear for the humbler classes to
purchase; the duty was raised to the enormous amount
of 20s, per gallon; while the licence-duty for a retail
dealer in spirits was raised to 50l. per annum. But
how was this met? Let Sir Robert himself say, in a
letter to Horace Walpole: – “The scheme that was
94. TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
laid was, for all the distillers, that were able, to give
away gratis, to all that should ask for it, as much gin
and strong waters as they should desire; and the great
distillers were to supply all the retailers and small shops
with as much as they should want, to be distributed
and given away in like manner. The shops were to
begin to be opened on Tuesday evening, the eve of
Michaelmas-day, and to be continued and repeated on
Wednesday night, that the mob being made thus drunk,
might be prepared and ready to commit any sort of
mischief; and in order to this, anonymous letters were
sent to the distillers and town retailers in all parts of
the town, to instruct them and incite, them to rise and
join their friends and do as their neighbours did.”
For six years, from 1736 to 1742, the metropolis was
the scene of an almost uninterrupted conflict between the
Government and the people in respect to this Gin Act.
The riot shadowed forth by the letters of Sir Robert
Walpole was put down by the strong arm of the law,
aided by military power; but the opposition continued
to show itself in milder though not less pertinacious
forms, frequently quite ludicrous in character. The
apothecaries were permitted to sell spirits as a medicine;
and advantage was taken of this permission to drive a
trade under false colours. Almost immediately after
the Act came into operation, the apothecaries had a
prodigious demand for “gripe water,’ ‘cholic water,’
and so forth, the spirituous nature of which may be
pretty readily surmised. One apothecary sold drams
which were coloured red to appear medicinal; and
around the bottle was wrapped a paper with these
CH, II, WALPOLE AND THE GIN ACT. 95
directions: “Take two or three spoonfuls of this four
or five times a day, or as often as the fit takes you.”
The ginshops and low taverns, not allowed to sell gin
openly, exhibited numerous liquors which, though dis-
guised in name and appearance, contained gin as one
ingredient. The list of such drinks was quite formid-
able, “ sangaree,’ ‘tow-row,’ ‘ cuckold's comfort,” “par-
liament gin,’ ‘ make-shift, the “last shift, the ‘ladies
delight,’ the ‘baulk,” “Ring Theodore,’ ‘cholic water,’
‘ gripe water,’ &c. : even the modern Americans have not
a greater number of odd names for beverages than had
the London tavern-keepers of Walpole's time. More
than two thousand persons were, in various ways, pro-
secuted for offences against the Gin Act during the short
period of six years; but the attempt was all in vain, the
drinkers vanquished the Government, and the legislature
repealed the Act in 1742. It was to those days that
Hogarth’s “Gin Lane’ belongs, that wonderful but
terrible representation, in which the very houses seem
reeling with drunkenness.
There is a remark made by Defoe in one of his
works”, which certainly seems to be exaggerated: —
“Our very plough-fellows drink wine now-a-days;
our farmers, graziers, and butchers are above malt
liquors; and the wholesome breakfast of water gruel
and milk potage is changed for coffee and tea.” The
greater comparative use of wine may be admitted, as
also the increasing consumption of tea and coffee; but
it is difficult to believe the alleged disdain of farm-
ers, graziers, and butchers for beer.
Augusta Triumphans, 1728.
96 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
Defoe's account of the habits of London tradesmen
in his day is curious. He reprobates the tendency to
extravagant living displayed by the shopkeepers of
the metropolis about the times of Anne and George I.
He says that immoderate expenditure is a “terrible ar-
ticle' to a tradesman ; and that custom seems to have
sanctioned a very expensive style of living. “A man
cannot now support a family with the ordinary expence
which the same family might have been maintained
with some few years ago.” “ Such is the expensive
humour of the times, that not a family, no, hardly of
the meanest tradesman, but treat their friends with
wine, or punch, or fine ale, and have their parlours set
off with the tea-table and the chocolate pot; treats
and liquors, all exotick, foreign and new among trades-
men, and terrible articles in their modern expences.”
Another informant, who was a traveller and a careful
observer of men and manners, expressed to Defoe an
opinion that “there is at this time more waste of pro-
visions in England than in any other nation in the
world of equal extent of ground; and that England
consumes for their whole subsistence more flesh than
half Europe besides; and that the beggars of London,
and within ten miles round it, eat more white bread
than the whole kingdom of Scotland.”
Another passage in Defoe is not less interesting, inas-
much as it reveals something concerning the appearance
and fittings-up of the best shops wherein provisions
were sold. He speaks with wonderment and con-
demnation of a citizen who had spent 300l. in fitting up
* Complete English Tradesman, 10th Letter.
CH. II. SHOPS IN DEFOE's TIME. 97
a pastrycook's shop, in the year 1710. The sash-
windows had panes of plate glass, or of “ looking-glass
plates,’ with the prodigious dimensions of sixteen inches
by twelve; the walls of the shop were lined with galley-
tiles; and the back shop had a lining of galley-tiles in
panels, ‘painted in forest work and figures.’ There
were two large pier looking-glasses, and one chimney-
glass, in the shop ; a large pier-glass in the back shop ;
two large chandeliers, one in each shop; as well as
‘three great glasslanthorns,' eight small ones, twenty-five
sconces against the wall, and a large pair of silver can-
dlesticks which cost 25l. “Six fine large silver salvers,
to serve sweetmeats. Twelve large high stands of
rings, whereof three silver, to place small dishes for
tarts, jellies, &c. at a feast. Painting the ceiling, and
gilding the lanthorns, the sashes, and the carved work,
55l. These, with some odd things to set off the shop,
and make a show, besides small plates, and besides china
basins and cups, amounted to, as I am well informed,
near 300l. Add to this the more necessary part, which
WaS building two ovens, about 25l. ; and 207. in stock
for pies and cheese-cakes, &c.”.” The stock in trade
seems rather small; but the shop was evidently a
splendid affair; and Defoe thought that no honest, rea-
sonable tradesman was justified in running into such
extravagance as a means of catching customers.
Whatever may have been the nature of the feasting,
high or low, in the days of Defoe and other writers in
the first half of the last century, we have extant a
curious proof of the glorying in the ‘Roast Beef of Old
* Comp. Eng. Tradesman.
FI
98 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
England,’ which has not by any means yet died away.
A song under this title was printed in Walsh’s ‘British
Musician,’ published in 1740. The first two verses
have been attributed to Fielding, and the remaining four
to Richard Leveridge. It will hardly be excusable to
give it in full here ; suffice it to say, for the informa-
tion of those to whom the song may be unknown, that
the lyrists exalt the times when roast-beef was the
staple food of Englishmen, ennobling their hearts, en-
riching their blood, and making their soldiers brave;
that the effeminacy, the ragouts, and the dances of
France, imported at a later date, had deteriorated the
bold Briton; that in the good old days of Queen Bess,
before coffee and tea and such slip-slops were known,
and when roast-beef was in full vigour, our yeomen
were robust and strong, our plump tenants rejoiced and
sang, our soldiers had stomachs to eat and to fight, our
enemies' fleets dared not to appear on the ocean, and the
world was in terror if e'en the Queen did but frown.—
Such were the imputed virtues of roast-beef.
Smollett's picture of a cook's shop in a cellar, referring
to a state of things such as existed in London about
the year 1740, is valuable as denoting something con-
cerning the humble dining-rooms of the metropolis in
those days. When Roderick Random and Strap
made their visit to London, they put up at a humble
lodging near St. Martin's Lane. They asked their
landlord where they could dine ; and he told them that,
while there were eating-houses for those who could pay
well, there were dining-cellars for those poorer in pocket.
The three Sallied forth, and the landlord showed them
CH. II. PROCRASTINATED DINNER, EHOURS. 99
one of these places. “He carried us to a certain lane,”
says Roderick, “where stopping, he bid us observe
him, and do as he did; and walking a few paces, dived
into a cellar, and disappeared in an instant. I followed
his example, and descended very successfully : when I
found myself in the middle of a cook's shop, almost
suffocated with the steams of boiled beef, and sur-
rounded by a company consisting chiefly of hackney
coachmen, chairmen, draymen, and a few footmen out
of place, or on board-wages, who sat eating shin-of-beef,
tripe, cow-heel, or Sausages, at separate boards, covered
with cloths which turned my stomach.”
It is curious to mark how, in successive reigns and
centuries, the dinner hour became later and later in the
day. The whole social usages of a people would be
involved in a true history, on the one hand, of the causes
which led to this retardation, and, on the other, of the
consequences resulting from it. As a simple fact, how-
ever, distinct from all attempts at explanation, we have
evidence that the fashionable dinner hour has been
retarded no less than ten hours in the course of three
centuries 1 Perhaps, by and bye we may discover that,
— as errors in the old calendar brought the seasons in
the wrong place—so may midnight be a possible dinner
hour. The Earl and Countess of Northumberland, in
the time of Henry VIII., dined at ten o’clock in the
forenoon. Queen Elizabeth and her gentry dined at
eleven; while the merchants in her reign dined at twelve:
a difference which does not seem to be easily ex-
plained; for in our own time the higher the rank the
later the hour for dinner. Matters were exactly re-
H 2
100 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. II.
versed in the time of James I., for the commoners them
dined at eleven, and the gentry at twelve. Pepys,
Walton, and other writers, speak of twelve o'clock as a
very customary dinner hour in their day. By the time
of George II. the dinner-hour had been greatly retarded,
to one, two, and then three o’clock. In one hundred
years, an additional retardation of five hours has taken
place. Those who have read the gossip concerning
aristocratic dinner-tables, in Mrs. Beecher Stowe's
‘Sunny Memories,’ will have noticed that even eight
o'clock is now not the extreme of ton ; nine o'clock
dinners being more than once mentioned. Medical
men, whatever may be their opinions, have not been
strong enough to stem this course. It is instructive to
see how the old physicians wrote on the matter. In
1572, Dr. Jones wrote concerning ‘The benefit of the
ancient baths of Buckstones (Buxton); and in his
instructions to patients he says, “Now for your meats,
they will be best at ten or eleven o'clock, if you can
fast so long. Your hour of supper shall be about six
of the clock; but after that I would have you to use
no more meat that night, nor yet drink, if you can
abstain.”
This brief historical sketch may here terminate.
There will be a convenience in treating the more recent
years of food-history in connection with the modern
supply of each of the articles of consumption. *
CH. III. SUPEPLY OF FOOD TO LONDON. 101
CHAPTER III.
RAPID TRANSIT AN AID TO FOOD-SUPPLY.
Variety in the Modes in which Food is brought to London. —Diversity
in the Sources of Supply.— Effects of good Roads on Prices.—Roads
and Canals of England.—Transit of Scotch Cattle to London. —
Dr. Lardner's Illustration of the Relation between Speed and Supply.
—Loss in Weight of Live Stock by Road-travelling.—Economy
resulting from Railway Conveyance. — Facilities afforded in respect
to Country-killed Meat.—Fish-supply to Inland Towns aided by
Railways.-Fruit-trade and Egg-trade facilitated by Steamers. —
Provisions in general share these Benefits.
* TIME is money !? If this be so, then does a nation
indeed owe a debt of thanks to those, be they who they
may, who increase the facilities for rapid transport.
There is a double current of benefit, affecting both the
wayfarer himself, and the numberless commodities re-
quired for his daily life.
Truly does this apply to the subject of Food. It is
scarcely possible to exaggerate the value of quick and easy
transmission of food to so enormous a city as London;
the variety of the commodities, and the prices at which
they can be sold, are so intimately dependent thereon,
that it becomes almost a matter of life and death to the
inhabitants. There are few who trouble themselves
to inquire from what sources we obtain our food; but
if such an inquiry be made, the resulting answer would
show the full importance of this matter. Let the query
H 3
102 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. III.
be, whence does London obtain its butchers' meat P
We find that live stock is brought to the metropolis
by all the great turnpike roads, by seven railways, and
by steamers which land the animals at many quays and
wharfs on the Thames. We find that these animals
arrive from almost every part of England, from the
Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland, from Wales
and from Ireland, from Denmark and from Holland ;
and that, in addition thereto, freshly-killed meat is sent
in a sweet and perfect state from most of the northern
counties. And also concerning bacon and salt meat
from Ireland; hams from Yorkshire and Germany and
Spain; game from all the sporting counties of the
north ; rabbits from the southern counties and from
Ostend; poultry from half the counties in England;
eggs from Ireland and France; fish from all the seas
around and between the British Islands — of all these,
London receives a goodly store. If the daily bread of the
metropolis be the subject of inquiry, we must travel yet
farther to trace the sources of supply; for the southern
Tºussians around Odessa and Taganrog (unless war in-
terrupt), the Moldavians around Galatz, the Prussians
around Dantzig, the Americans in the Mississippi States,
to say nothing of nations nearer home, or of our own
farmers — all watch intently the London corn-market.
Then, in respect to dairy-produce, little indeed is fur-
nished by any places near the metropolis. Our cheese
comes from a dozen or more of English counties, and
from Holland and America; our butter from fully as
many counties, from Ireland, and from America: even
much of the milk which we require is now brought
CH. III. TRANSIT OF FOOD. 103
from distances of twenty or thirty miles. The fruits
and vegetables which furnish a subordinate but valuable
part of our food occupy a broad belt of market gardens
around London ; but we are also indebted for them to
foreign countries on all sides of us. If our beverages
come under inquiry, what a wide-spreading source of
supply we have to take into account! — the tea from
China; the coffee from Ceylon and Arabia, from Brazil
and the West Indies; the cocoa from the West Indies
and South America; the sugar from the Indies, East
and West, from Brazil, and other inter-tropical coun-
tries; the rum from the West Indies; the brandy from
France; the wine from France and Italy, Spain and
Portugal, Rhineland and Hungary; the whiskey from
Scotland and Ireland. Even our salt must travel a
hundred and fifty miles to reach London; while the
principal spices and condiments traverse one-half of the
circumference of the globe.
It becomes thus obvious that the great carrying ques-
tion is a great food question. The carrier is little less
important than the producer; for whether he make use
of road or rail, of Sail or oar, of screw or paddle, any
improvement in his means of transport is equivalent to
so much additional food placed within reach of the in-
habitants of a great city.
The influence of facility of transport on price is
illustrated by such abundant instances, that any ordi-
nary thinker can trace it. “The inhabitant of Western
Europe,” says Mr. Porter, “who has always been
accustomed to have brought to his door every article
that he can desire, and that his means can purchase,
H 4
104 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. III.
can have but a faint idea of the various privations ex-
perienced by great multitudes of inhabitants of Hin-
dostan; and it may be confidently said that the go-
vernment which should place within reach of the poor
cultivators an ample supply of salt — an article, the ob-
taining of which never costs us a thought — would be
sure to receive the blessings of millions. It has been
stated by a gentleman, acquainted, by long residence in
different parts of India, with the practices and capabili-
ties of the country, that the difference in the cost of
transporting goods along the present ill-formed roads
in the rude carts or hackerys of the natives, is less by
six-sevenths than the cost of conveyance on the backs
of oxen; a course so commonly rendered necessary
through the absence of everything to which the name
of a road can be applied. In the level plains of Can-
deish, and in many other parts of Hindostan, cotton
wool, freed from the seed, could be sold on the spot with
a profit to the cultivators at one penny per pound — a
cost which is trebled or quadrupled by the expense of
the conveyance to the ports of shipment.” The latter
illustration does not relate to the conveyance of food;
but the analogy is unquestionable.
The roads of England are of course the chief arteries
along which food flows to London; for even if railways
be employed, roads must bear the commodities to the
railways. The turnpike roads in England and Wales
are about 24,000 miles in length, while other roads of
minor character measure no less than 104,000 miles;
and it affords a striking proof of the magnitude of the
* Progress of the Nation, p. 372.
CH. III. ROADS, RAILS, AND CANALS. 105
internal commerce of the three kingdoms that with
such a splendid series of roads, so urgent a demand
should have been made in past days for canals, and in
the present for railways; a demand which has led to
the construction of about 2800 miles of canal, and
8000 miles of railway, now (close of 1855) in action
in the United Kingdom. The road-traffic of Eng-
land, just before the railway system was becoming im-
portant, was enormous. In respect to passenger trade
alone, Mr. Porter estimated that the mileage power
of stage coaches in 1834 was 600,000,000 miles, sup-
posing all the coaches to be full on all the journeys;
he considered the actual filling to bear to the real
power the ratio of about 3 to 5, which would give
360,000,000 miles travelled by stage coaches in that
year. A further estimate (but this can be nothing
more than a rough guess) was, that there were 2,000,000
travellers who made five journeys each on an average
in the year. What concerns us more nearly here is,
Mr. Porter's estimate that of 600,000,000 miles of
stage-coach journeys, no less than 400,000,000 were to
or from London. The passenger-traffic made a leap
at once from the road to the rail; but the goods traffic
had an intermediate history in connection with canals.
Articles of food, however, have never been brought to
London to any great extent by canal; the road was
the medium of transit until the modern days of rail-
ways and steamers. Even no longer back than 1843,
the coaches from Norwich carried off, in the Christmas
week, 3000 packages of turkeys, geese, fowls, and
game, of which two-thirds were for London.
106 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH, III.
The nature of food-transit to London in past days
could hardly be better illustrated than by the great
Falkirk Tryst, and the proceedings thence to the arrival
at Smithfield. This tryst or cattle fair is a very im.
portant commercial meeting, held on a level moor near
one of the stations of the Scottish Central Railway,
about three miles north of Falkirk. There are three
market days, the first for sheep, the second for cattle,
and the third as a miscellaneous clearing-off of any
remainders. On the first day (the greatest month
being October), flock after flock arrive, generally with
about a thousand sheep in each. Some of these have
travelled along the roads and over the hills for five
weeks, to reach Falkirk. Some are white-faced, some
black; some are horned, and some polled; every Scottish
breed is represented; and so many as a hundred thou-
sand sheep may be thus collected at one time, held
either by the breeders, or by dealers. The buyers are
either southern dealers, or are turnip growers from
other districts, who buy to fatten and sell again. The
qualities of the flocks are so well understood, that there
is but little haggling; a price is quickly determined,
and five hundred or a thousand sheep change owners at
one bargain. The immense array of sheep is cleared
off in the evening; and on the following morning the
cattle-fair begins. From every part of the northern
half of Scotland cattle arrive, mostly small ragged
blacks, but a few browns and duns; but all are
Speedily disposed of. The commercial arrangements are
remarkable. Many of the principal banking compa-
nies have tents or sheds on the ground. Almost every
CH. III. FALKIRIK. TRYST, 107
man in a respectable position in Scotland being ac-
customed to keep his banker, the buyers at the tryst
are provided with letters of credit; and when a pur-
chase is made, the buyer goes to a banking tent, obtains
notes for his letter of credit, pays for his purchase, and
the notes pass soon afterwards into another banking
tent.
Such was the Falkirk tryst in past years; and it
still retains many of these characteristics. We may
frequently meet with some such advertisement as this
in the Scotch papers, about the month of Septem-
ber : “John , cattle and sheep salesman, attends
all the leading markets in Scotland; sells sheep and
cattle at 4d, in the 11. , and buys lean or dairy stock
at 6d.”
So far as London was concerned, the cattle from the
Aberdeen and Forfar districts, in past days, were trans-
ferred at Falkirk into the hands of stall-feeders, who
drove them to Lincoln, Norfolk, and other English
counties, and there fattened them for Smithfield.
The old days of lowland cattle-driving, while they
exemplified the slow and lengthened transit of food to
London, were not without their picturesque attractions.
Nay, in this as in other matters, the picturesque has
lessened as the commercial and scientific have advanced.
Sir Walter Scott, Allan Cunningham, Robert Burns,
all have found piquant materials among the Scottish
drovers. Sir Walter, in the person of Mr. Croftangry,
when at a loss for a subject for a new “Chronicle of
the Canongate,’ catches an idea from an observation of
his servant Janet. He says that, as an oyster may be
108 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. III.
crossed in love, so may a drover be touched on a point
of honour; and he proceeds to write the tale of the
‘Two Drovers.” We have nothing to do here with
the fatal quarrel between Robin Oig and Harry Wake-
field; but it may be well to give Scott's own account
of the drovers of those days, premising that he wrote
the story somewhat under thirty years ago.
The opening scene of the story is at Doune fair, whi-
ther several dealers had been attracted from the northern
and midland counties of England; and much English
money passed into the hands of the Scotch. Many
large droves of cattle were about to set off for England,
under the protection either of their owners or of the
topsmen whom they employed in the tedious and respon-
sible office of driving the cattle from the market to the
fattening counties of the south. The Highlanders are
characterised by Sir Walter as being especially fitted
for this occupation. “It affords exercise for all their
habits of patient endurance and active exertion. They
are required to know perfectly the drove-roads, which
lie over the wildest parts of the country, and to avoid
as much as possible the highways, which destroy the feet
of the bullocks, and the turnpikes, which annoy the
spirit of the drover ; whereas, in the broad green or
gray track which leads across the pathless moor, the
herd not only move at ease and without taxation, but,
if they mind their business, may pick up a mouthful of
food by the way. At night the drovers usually sleep
along with their cattle, let the weather be what it will;
and many of these hardy men do not once rest under a
roof during a journey on foot from Lochaber to Lin-
CH. III. LOWILAND CATTLE DRIVING. 109
colnshire. They are paid very highly ; for the trust
reposed is of the last importance, as it depends on
their prudence, vigilance, and honesty whether the
cattle reach the final market in good order, and afford a
profit to the grazier. But as they maintain themselves
at their own expense, they are especially economical in
that particular. . . . . And there was the conscious-
ness of superior skill; for the Highlander, a child
amongst flocks, is a prince amongst herds; and his
natural habits induce him to disdain the shepherd's
slothful life, so that he feels himself nowhere more at
home than when following a gallant drove of his country
cattle in the character of their guardian.”
As in the central parts of Scotland, so was it also in
the Galloway district, subject to minor variations. The
Galloway cattle were sent southward by thousands
every year, to be fattened for the London butcher.
They were purchased by jobbers or dealers, at the va-
rious cattle fairs in the south-west of Scotland; they
were collected into droves of many hundreds, and driven
south-east to Norfolk and Suffolk. The topsman of each
drove made arrangements for their rest at different
stations, and took care that grass, hay, or turnips should
be forthcoming. The journey lasted about three weeks;
and it affords a striking proof of the costliness of this
slow mode of travelling, that the total expenses, when
divided by the number of cattle, varied from 24s. to
34s. per head. The prices paid by the jobber ranged
from 3!. to 12l. per head, according to the age and
excellence of the animals; and thus the jobber's ven-
* The Two Drovers, chap. i.
# 10 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. III.
ture became one of some magnitude. The Norfolk
or Suffolk graziers bought the cattle for the purpose of
fattening for Smithfield; and it sometimes happened
that, in unfavourable states of the market, the jobber
was forced to sell at prices which subjected him to a
loss. A jobber of more slender means would make
smaller purchases, and drive his herd over the border, to
sell at the first English fair which would offer a chance
of profit.
There were thus frequently two graziers and two
jobbers concerned in the ownership of a bullock, at
successive periods, before the animal finally reached
Smithfield; and during this time the poor beast had to
travel four or five hundred miles on foot. Some parts
of this complex system are still kept up ; but great
changes have ensued in other particulars; and it is
precisely on account of these changes that the old
system has been thus briefly described.
In most countries, the supply of the chief city with
food is a primary object of attention, not only on
account of the quantity required, but on account also
of the high prices which can generally be obtained for
the best qualities. Defoe, in one of his works, ex-
pressed a very exalted opinion of the influence which a
great capital exerts on the provincial districts. “It is
not the kingdom which makes London rich,” he asserts,
“but London makes the rest of the kingdom rich. The
country corresponds with London, but London corre-
sponds with all the world. The country supplies
London with corn and cattle; and if there were not
such a metropolis, what would become of the farmers?
CH. III. DEFOE ON LONDON DEALINGS. 111
How must the produce of the land be sold P. How
the rent paid 2 The land must lay waste and uncul-
tivated; the cattle would run wild and devour the
country, or would be starved and die. The country
send up their corn, their malt, their cattle, their fowls,
their coals, their fish, all to London; and London sends
back spice, sugar, wine, drugs, cotton, linen, tobacco, and
all foreign necessaries to the country. . . . . . . London
consumes all, circulates all, exports all, and at last pays
for all; and this is trade. This greatness and wealth of the
City is the soul of the commerce to all the nation; and
as there is the greatest number of tradesmen in this city
that are to be seen in any place in the world; so they
again support an innumerable number of shopkeepers of
every kind in the country, and in every part of the
country. It may be thought a little assuming to say
the City supports the tradesmen of the country; but
the fact is plain; you cannot go to a shopkeeper of any
note in the remotest town in England, but he holds
some correspondence at London ; or else he must be a
mean tradesman, that buys his goods of some of his
better furnished neighbours, and they buy at London;
so that the other may be said to buy at London too,
only he does it at second hand. Nor is this all; but
as all these country tradesmen buy at London, so are
they all in debt in London, more or less; they all owe
the London shopkeepers money; so that the whole
country may, in some respects be said to trade upon
the City’s stock, the London tradesmen giving them all
credit.””
* Complete Tradesman, ii. chap. vi.
} 12 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. III.
There is much force in this; but Defoe has carried
it too far. A writer in the time of Queen Anne could
not well have anticipated the wonderful rise of Liver-
pool, Manchester, Glasgow, and other towns to com-
mercial greatness.
Be it London, or any other great city, and be its
relation to other large towns in the same kingdom what
it may, its food supply is materially influenced by the
state of the district immediately surrounding it. Dr.
Lardner, in his ‘ Railway Economy,” exhibits, in a lucid
manner, the various advantages which quick and cheap
travelling produce in the supply of the metropolis and
other large towns with provisions. There is an attempt
made to arrive at something like general laws, appli-
cable to all great cities alike. A summary of Dr.
Lardner's reasoning may be useful here.
In the first place, the price paid for any commodity
consists of two elements — the price paid at the place
of its production, and the expense of conveying it to
the purchaser. This latter item includes not merely
the actual cost of carriage, but the interest of capital
for the time consumed in the transit, the insurance
against damage,_storage, package, transhipment, and
other items. In many cases these expenses of transport
amount to considerably more than half the real price of
the commodity; in some to three-fourths; in a few to
four-fifths. Nay, there are cases in which the cost of
transport is actually greater than the price paid ; towns–
men will, in some instances, give the farmers not only
all their sewage manure, but also a bonus to induce
them to take it away.
CH. III. LARDNER's ILLUSTRATION. 113
It is a point of some importance regarding the Sup-
ply of a large city with food, that the products of
agricultural labour have, generally speaking, great bulk
with proportionably small value, insomuch that, unless
the transport be effected with economy, such produce
can only be consumed at or near the spot where it
grows; it becomes too costly when a high freightage is
added to the original value. Besides this, in many
articles of animal and vegetable produce, speedy trans-
port is essential to cheapness on other grounds; since the
produce would deteriorate, and even suffer destruction,
by the operation of time alone. The disadvantage of
such a state of things is felt equally by the town and
the country population, but in a different way. Vegeta-
ble produce may be at a ruinously low price at the spot
where grown, while the price may be as ruinously
high at a distant town to which the carriage is slow and
expensive; the country price may be so low as scarcely
to repay the growers, while the town price may be so
high as virtually to close the market against all but the
wealthy; the country people would be over supplied,
whilst the townspeople would have an insufficiency.
An improved mode of transport would at once reconcile
these contradictions. Dr. Lardner adduces the case of
the central districts of France, as affording a striking
example of the evils resulting from inefficient transport.
France yields large and varied crops; and her produc-
tions, in the places where they are raised, can be ob-
tained almost invariably at a lower price than similar
produce in England; and yet, in consequence of the
cost of transport, they would attain, if brought to the
I
114 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. III.
great towns, a price which would amount almost to a
prohibition on their consumption. The urban popu-
lation would gladly purchase what the rural popula-
tion would be equally glad to sell; but the cost of
transport frustrates the wishes of both parties. Since
Dr. Lardner wrote, the opening of several railways in
central France has improved the condition of things in
this respect, but not to so great a degree as to vitiate
the above conclusions.
If the market price of food in a busy town be re-
duced by improved modes of transport, the demand
becomes increased in a two-fold direction—by enabling
former consumers to use it more freely, and by placing
certain commodities within the reach of other classes of
consumers who were before deterred from purchasing.
The second of these modes of increase is, perhaps, more
considerable than the first; but the first is also im-
portant, especially among the poor. In a family in easy
circumstances, the quantity of bread consumed daily,
when the price is sixpence per loaf, would not be
much larger than with the price at one shilling ; but in
the case of a poor family, the difference becomes most
sensible.
The interest of capital, and the preservation of quality,
are both aided by improved transport. A part of the
cost of transport consists of the interest on capital for
the time elapsed; and any increase in the speed of
transport, by diminishing this lapsed time, must dimi-
nish the amount for interest. As to preservation of
quality, the advantage becomes much more apparent.
Numerous kinds of farming produce become deteriorated
CH. III. SPEED LESSENS PRICE. 115
by time, and many of them absolutely destroyed if not
consumed within a certain time; and the supply to a
distant town, irrespective of all considerations as to
price, depends on the available means of transport before
the deterioration shall have commenced. Lambs and
calves, under the past system, were unable to bear
absence from the mother for so long a time as the jour-
ney to market frequently required; the grazier was
thus obliged to send the ewes and cows with them, at
least for a part of the way; and the fattening of the
ewes and cows was thus delayed. All kinds of live-
stock, too, are deteriorated by a long road-journey,
in the weight and in the quality of the flesh. Milk,
butter, and vegetables are affected by like causes, though
in different degrees, in price and quality. But when,
by the introduction of railways or other improved
modes of conveyance, far-away counties are brought
virtually within a few hours' distance, townsmen be-
come more independent of the little belt of garden-
ground and dairy-ground around them; they receive
food from a distance without paying exorbitantly for
carriage.
As a mathematician, Dr. Lardner makes use of the
‘ square of the radius, to illustrate one of the singular
modes in which increased speed augments supply. “The
extent of soil by which great cities are supplied with
perishable articles of food is necessarily limited by the
speed of transport. A ring of country immediately
about a great capital is occupied by market gardeners,
and other establishments for supplying the vast popula-
tion collected in the city with their commodities. The
I 2
116 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH, III.
width of this ring will be determined by the speed with
which the articles in question can be transported. It
cannot exceed such a breadth as will enable the products
raised at its extreme limit to reach the centre in such a
time as may be compatible with their fitness for use. It
is evident that any improvement in transport which will
double its speed will double the radius of this circle;
an improvement which will treble its speed will increase
the same radius in a three-fold proportion. Now, as the
actual area or quantity of soil included within such a
radius is augmented, not in the simple ratio of the
radius itself, but in the proportion of its square, it fol-
lows that a double speed will give a fourfold area of
supply, a treble speed a nine-fold area of supply, and so
on.”
The principle here enunciated is of considerable im-
portance. It is the same which, in its operation, ren-
ders Richmond, Gravesend, and even Brighton, suburbs
of London in respect to passenger traffic. Double the
speed, and you increase four-fold the number of sur-
rounding towns and villages which can be reached in a
given time from London ; double the speed, and you
increase four-fold the area of country from whence pro-
visions can be sent in a given time to London.
That increased speed of transport not only increases
the quantity of available produce, but tends to pre-
serve the quality, is evident from many sources of proof.
Mr. Wyndham Harding, an authority in railway mat-
ters, thus illustrated the matter both as to quantity and
* Railway Economy.
CH. III. SEPEED AIDS THE FARMERS. 117
quality, in 1848.* It appears from facts collected by
Mr. Harding, that when cattle are driven along a com-
mon road, they lose on an average 201b. per beast in a
journey of 100 miles; that sheep lose 8 lb. ; and that
pigs lose 10 lb. These losses appear high ; but some
graziers estimate them at a still higher figure. Be the
exact quantities what they may, nearly all the loss is
avoided by railway conveyance. So far as regards
actual farming, the late Mr. Smith of Deanston made
the following supposition and estimate. He took the
case of a farm of 200 acres; he supposed that the lime,
guano, oil-cake, coals, and other supplies for the farm,
had to be brought from an average distance of fifteen
miles, and that the corn, turnips, and other produce
had to be conveyed to an average distance of fifteen
miles to market or to some port; and he then estimated
that, while the farm-travelling and transit by common
road in a year would cost 140l., the conveyance by
railway at ordinary goods’ rates would only cost 40l.
The farm would be worth 100l. a year more to the
farmer in the latter case than in the former. All these
estimates, whether relating to quantity, quality, or
price, concur in showing that ‘time is money’ in rela-
tion to the conveyance of food and other commodities
from country districts to a busy town.
These facts, and others of similar tenor, are pro-
ducing their fruit. Railways bring live-stock to
London more quickly than the road; steamers bring
them more quickly from Scotland, and Holland, and
Denmark, than sailing ships; and steam is hence caus-
* British Association, Swansea Meeting.
I 3
1 18 TEIE FOOD OF DONIDO.N. CH, III.
ing a revolution in the mode of transport. There were
more than two millions of oxen, calves, sheep, lambs,
and pigs brought to the metropolis in 1854; and of
this enormous quantity, two-thirds were conveyed by
steam, either on railways or in steamers. *
But not only do live-stock arrive in better condition
when conveyed quickly; the country-killed meat is
similarly benefited. Under the old system of road
travelling, such meat could hardly be rendered available
for metropolitan supply, except from adjacent counties,
on account of its tendency to spoil by keeping. Meat-
laden railway-trucks now arrive from various counties,
to the advantage of all parties. The quantity so brought
to London in 1853, was estimated at not far short of
forty thousand tons, or about eighty millions of pounds;
and in '54 and ’55 it was yet higher. Mr. Caird has
thrown out a suggestion which may one day perhaps
be acted on ; it relates to the establishment of carcase-
butchers' slaughterhouses contiguous to stations on the
great lines of railway: the animals might reach those
establishments alive; and the dead meat might thence
be forwarded by rail to London.
The fish-trade has been influenced even more de-
cidedly than butchers’ meat, by improved modes of
transport. So long as road transit alone exists, inland
towns are almost debarred from the luxury of fish,
owing to the difficulty of keeping it in a proper state
of freshness; but when a railway places the inland
town within a few hours' distance of a sea port, the
state of matters becomes materially altered for the
better. Birmingham is a case in point. In the year
CH. III. SPEED AIDS FISEI-TRADE. 119
1829, before the railway was commenced, there were very
few fishmongers in this town, and fish were scarce and
dear; but now the fishmongers are numerous, and fish
constitutes a regular part of the food of the inhabitants.
Although Birmingham stands in the very centre of
England, and is distant from the nearest sea port a
hundred miles, fish caught in the morning on the east
and west coasts may be found in excellent order on the
boards of the Birmingham fishmongers in the evening.
As the season for a particular kind of fish may be
different on the west coast from that on the east, there
is an abundant supply throughout the year, from One
coast or the other. On one morning twenty tons of
crabs arrived by railway, and on another three-hundred
barrels of fresh herrings; and thus Birmingham became
benefited by an unexpectedly good haul of fish off one
or other of our coasts: a result which would have been
unattainable in the old days of waggons and vans.
Everywhere around us, these advantages from the
employment of steam power in conveying fish to
market are apparent. Thus, a valuable bed of oysters
has been discovered between the English coast and the
Channel Islands, and these oysters have been made
available for the London market through the medium
of the Brighton Railway. In the same way Southamp-
ton and Yarmouth send up their stores by the aid of
their respective railways. Again, there is a project for
rendering even the west coast of Ireland a mere suburb
of London in respect to the supply of fish; screw
steamers, are to bring the produce of the fisheries to
Milford haven, whence the broad gauge will bear it to
I 4
120 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. III.
the metropolis. But the Scotch salmon trade has
been especially marked by these improvements. Before
the year 1770, salmon was brought to London on horse-
back; after that, light carts and” other wheel carriages
were employed; and at a later date the custom arose of
bringing it up by ship. It was then (about the time
when Pennant wrote his ‘British Zoology’) that
Scotch salmon began to find its way to London in re-
spectable quantities. That which was caught in spring
was sent up by ship in baskets; but the Salmon caught
in warm weather was boiled, pickled, and sent off in
kits or small kegs as ‘kitted’ or “pickled’ salmon. The
next plan was to pack the fresh salmon in ice instead of
straw, whereby it was rendered possible to transmit the
fish at almost any season. The salmon was packed in
boxes; the boxes were filled up with ice; the ice froze
into a solid mass, and thus the fish remained secure
from warmth until its arrival in the Thames. When
the clippers superseded the Leith Smacks, the voyage
became shortened; when the steamers superseded the
clippers, the acceleration was carried yet farther; when
railway days arrived, yet another saving of time became
possible; and thus has arisen by degrees our present
regular supply of Salmon in London.
It is supposed that not much less than one half the
supply of fish for London is now brought by the rail-
ways; and, as the Scotch steamers bring a portion of
the other half, it is easy to see how rapid must be the
‘turning of ready money’ induced by this facility of
transport.
Again, fruits and vegetables are undergoing a steam-
CH. III. SPEED AIDS FRUIT-TRADE. 121
wrought revolution. In years gone by, Oranges were
brought by a tedious voyage up the Channel and round
the Foreland into the Thames; but now quick steamers
bring them from the Peninsula and its islands to South-
ampton, and a three or four hours' railway run brings
them thence to London — a lessening of time which
effects an important lessening of price. It is owing to
these steam routes that we now frequently meet with
West-India pine apples in London, saleable at prices
which would have been impossible a few years ago. As
to home produce, distant counties now send to London
vegetables which had to seek another market before the
days of railways. More than a thousand tons of green
food are said to be brought to London every week
by railway, in addition to the supply from other
channels. *
The egg-trade affords a striking example of the pro-
ductive and commercial energy induced by improved
modes of conveyance from Ireland to England. “Before
the establishment of steam vessels,” says Mr. Porter”,
“ the market at Cork was most irregularly supplied
with eggs from the surrounding district; at certain
seasons they were exceedingly abundant and cheap ;
but these seasons were sure to be followed by periods
of scarcity and high prices; and at times it is said to
have been difficult to purchase eggs at any price in the
market. At the first opening of the improved channel
for conveyance to England, the residents of Cork had
to complain of the constant dearness of this and other
articles of farm produce; but, as a more extensive
* Progress of the Nation, p. 344,
122 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. III.
market was now permanently open to them, the farmers
gave their attention to the rearing and keeping of
poultry; and at the present time eggs are procurable at
all seasons in the market at Cork.”
Another commodity, milk, has shared these advan-
tages in a remarkable degree. Mr. Salt states “ that
in 1844 he prevailed on the farmers living near the
Manchester and Birmingham Railway to try the ex-
periment of sending milk to Manchester by rail. They
did so, and the result was satisfactory. The Grand
Junction Railway then paid attention to this kind of
traffic, and speedily realised 4000l. a year by it. The
quantity of milk now brought to London by rail is pro-
digious, chiefly by the Eastern Counties Company; in
1854, the conveyance by this company exceeded three
million quarts. There is one remarkable fact which
may be adduced here to show the influence of improved
transit upon price. Until about the year 1846, St.
Thomas’s Hospital had a contract with a neighbouring
dairyman for a supply of milk at 1s. per gallon; but
this was superseded by a contract with another person
at Romford, in Essex, a dozen miles distant, at a price
varying from 9d. to 10d. per gallon; out of which the
dairyman had to pay for a milk-ride on the Eastern
Counties rail. Perhaps the Essex cows can be fed
more cheaply than cows in the southern suburbs of
London; but the fact is sufficiently striking, account
for it how we may.
In short, the railway service in assisting to supply
* Facts and Figures.
f Journal of the Statistical Society, xiii. 215.
CH. III. FOOD BY RAILWAY. 123
the metropolis with food has now become immense.
The seven railway companies” brought nearly twelve
hundred thousand head of live-stock to the metropolis
in 1853. One of these companies alone, the Eastern
Counties, brought 22,000 tons of solid food in that year;
and the Christmas week's conveyance by the same com-
pany, even at a time when the trade was not so fully
developed, was in one year as follows: — 7447 sacks of
flour, 11,546 sacks of malt, 3198 sacks of wheat, 3414
sacks of barley, 1374 sacks of oats, 1052 sacks of seeds,
353 tons of country-killed meat, 193 tons of fish, 94 tons
of poultry and game, 133 tuns of beer, 5594 sheep, 545
oxen, 181 pigs, 10,600 quarts of milk, and 2400 loaves
of bread; besides 6000 turkeys, which formed part of
the contents of 17,209 parcels sent up by passenger
trains. -
Enough has been stated, - not to show the total
amount of gain by improved means of transport; for
this is impossible, – but to indicate the general cha-
racter of the services rendered to the supply of London
with food, by the substitution of steam-ships for sailing-
ships, and of railroads for common roads. More de-
tailed illustrations will appear in future chapters.
* Quarterly Review, No. 190.
124 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI, IV.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FOOD OF LONDON IN ITS WHOLESALE ASPECTS,
Variety and Extent of the Marts and Markets for Food. — Small In-
fluence of Government Control. —Baron Dupin's Sketch of the Port
and Docks of London. — Trade of our Merchant Shipping.—Share
of this Trade belonging to the Metropolis. – Origin of the Quays
and Docks on the Thames. – A Day’s Business in the Port of London.
— Quantities of Food brought to England by Ship. —Half the Na-
tional Revenue derived from Taxes on Food and Beverages. – Pro-
bable Quantities of Food brought to London. —Difficulty of the
Inquiry. —Estimates by Mr. Porter and others.-Marts for Food at
the Docks, Wharves, Markets, Vaults, and Warehouses. – Metropo-
litan Railway Termini gradually becoming Food Depôts.
WHAT a busy world of activity is indicated by the
wholesale commerce in the food for London | What
enterprise, what capital, what inventions and discove-
ries, what anxieties, what fortunes made and fortunes
lost, what wonderful influences and results — moral,
commercial, social, political, geographical, are brought
to one's attention | The wholesale marts for food in
London are looked up to by a far larger population
than two millions and a half of Souls; for the supplies
from foreign lands are disembarked here in quantity
sufficient, perhaps, for five, or even ten millions — it is
difficult to name the limit.
These wholesale food-marts are, indeed, many and
important. It would be a shallow view of the ques-
CH, IW. DIVERSITY OF FOOD-MARTS, 125
tion that would limit the word “mart’ to the meaning
of ‘market.’ To welcome the arrival of ships from
other shores, and examine their cargoes; watch the
stream of coasters bringing rich produce from half the
counties of the kingdom; trace these abundant food-
supplies into the docks which line the Thames; observe
the wonderful arrangement of warehouses, and vaults,
and quays in these docks; number the granaries and
wharves fringing both banks of the Thames for many
miles; peep into the contents of the barges which arrive
laden on the canals from the north and centre of England;
visit the vast depôts or goods-stations of the several
companies whose lines of railway begin or end in Lon-
don; trace how the supplies of live-stock, dead meat,
poultry, dairy-produce, fish, corn, vegetables, fruit, are
arranged and sold at the markets of Copenhagen Fields,
Newgate, Leadenhall, Whitechapel, Billingsgate, Mark
Lane, Covent Garden; thread a way into the coffee-
houses and commercial sale rooms about Cornhill and
Mincing Lane, as a means of ascertaining how and
where colonial and foreign produce is sold — all this
must be done by any one who would really understand
the nature and extent of the wholesale food-supply of
our mighty metropolis.
The conducting of such a vast trade — the organizing
of the commercial machinery whereby everything shall
be in its right place, at the right time, and in the right
quantity, can have very little aid from the government
of this country. As a general rule, the government
can best serve merchants by letting them alone; active
beneficial interference being an exception to this rule.
126 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV
Our monarchs in past days did not think so; but about
a century and a half ago, the impression was growing
up that mercantile men had better carve out their own
destinies than look to kings and parliaments. About
the middle of the reign of William and Mary, trade in
general was bad in London; and in 1693 one John
Whiston wrote an essay concerning it.” In the essay
he proposed the appointment of a committee to inquire
into the causes of the stagnation; of which committee
members were to be chosen by the East India Com-
pany, the African Company, the Turkey Company, the
chief foreign countries trading with England, all the
colonies, the Trinity House, and the ship, silk, coal,
lead, tin, woollen, iron, and fish trades. He thus ar-
gued on the propriety of merchants and manufacturers
making the inquiry for themselves: — “ Upon the fit-
ness of persons chosen depends the good or ill success
of the whole design. For the arts, man is ever the
best councillour in his own profession, and every honest
able man is safest to be credited in the better improve-
ment of the mistery he proposes. If the busines of sal-
vation be in dispute, we apply ourselves to some pro-
fessing the ministry; if the dispute be concerning the
title to an estate, we desire the judgment of a lawyer;
if sick, we consult a physician; so when the trade of a
nation is to be secured or advanced, the merchant's and
tradesman's advice is questionless best able to accom-
plish the same.”
But to return to the more immediate subject — the
wholesale marts of London.
* Discourse on the Decay of Trade.
CH, IV. DUPIN’S PICTURE. 127
Although these pages deal with the food of the great
city, rather than with the external features which the
metropolis presents to the eye of a stranger; yet it
may be well to know what a distinguished Frenchman
thought of our Thames, and docks, and warehouses, in
1851 : — “How can I give you an idea of London in
regard to its prosperity, opulence, grandeur, and intel-
lectual advancement, the result of the wealth and dis-
coveries of two happy centuries Imagine a monster
city, occupying a territory equal in Superficial extent
to the whole department of the Seine, and containing a
population as numerous as our five departments of
Normandy Imagine this immense population spread
over the two banks of a river, which bears vessels of
the largest burden up to the docks forming its maritime
portion | Imagine the ships of all countries lying
in order at anchor, from the last of the bridges,
arrayed like an army of giants in transversal ranks,
succeeding each other almost without interval for a
league in length, and leaving in the middle of the
crowded mass a space animated with vessels, either
steamers or under sail, which are going to or coming
from all quarters of the globel To supply the in-
sufficiency of this fine natural port, imagine five groups
of floating docks, which receive the vessels devoted to
the commerce of the East Indies, the West Indies, and
other special sources of commerce. Imagine by these
means a surface of water always available, never sub-
ject to the rise and fall of the tides, and nearly equal to
the area of the Champ de Mars. Imagine around those
docks establishments of warehouses and workshops for
128 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
the rigging and armament of the ships of commerce
and war. In this first of cities thrive an infinity of
industries which are not to be found at Paris, and of
which Paris has not even the idea. Such is the mari-
time city, which includes, like three continuous fau-
bourgs, the ports, the towns, and the arsenals of
Greenwich, Deptford, and Woolwich.” In a similar
strain the writer speaks of the central or shop-keeping
city, and of the western or fashionable city. This
eloquent tribute from the pen of a foreigner formed
part of an inaugural lecture by Baron Dupin, delivered
at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, on the 4th
of January, 1852; the baron had been one of the
French Commissioners to our Great Exhibition; and
his lecture was one of the results of the Exhibition.
A motto for the present volume has been selected from
this lecture.
Well may a foreigner marvel at the maritime trade
of our little group of islands ! It is, indeed, wonder-
ful to think that the ships which arrive at our coasts
yearly, besides vessels in ballast, coasting-vessels, and
vessels engaged in trade between Great Britain and
Ireland, should amount in number to thirty or forty
thousand In 1854, the numbers stood thus: —
27,642 sailing vessels, averaging 232 tons = 6,411,764 tons.
4,886 steam vessels, about 300 tons = 1,487,978 tons.
The ships which depart from our coasts are, as may be
expected, about equal in number to the arrivals; and
thus there are seventy thousand cargoes sent to or re-
ceived from foreign countries in a year! Considerably
CH, IV. TEIAMES COMMERCE. 129
more than half are British ships. And this, be it re-
membered, is wholly exclusive of the coasting trade
and the Anglo-Irish trade.
Our business here, however, is with London com-
merce. When the Victoria Dock Company gave
evidence before parliament in 1853, they presented a
remarkable paper, showing the number of ships which
entered the port of London in 1851. These vessels,
engaged in the foreign, colonial, Irish, coasting, colliery,
and fishing trades, amounted to the enormous number
of 38,151, having a burden of more than seven million
tons, Classified, they presented these numbers—
Foreign Trade - * tºº, - 10,239
Irish 59 *- * - tº sº 561
Coasting , tº-º: ſº ſº – 9,243
Colliery , gº {- --> - 11,765
Fishing , º º * = - 6,343
More than one hundred vessels per day, besides
steam-tugs and passenger-steamers |
Although the imports, the exports, the shipping, and
the general commerce of the port of London increased
prodigiously during the 18th century, yet little was
effected in providing the requisite facilities for this
commerce. Docks there were none; and merchandise
was perforce kept afloat in barges, from the sheer
impossibility of finding room on the quays and wharves.
Very frequently the legal quays were filled up to a
great height with sugar hogsheads, bales, boxes, barrels,
bags, and packages of every description; the commo-
dities were often bought and sold at these spots, for
want of better arrangements; and thus the quays
EC
130 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
became sugar markets, spirit markets, fruit markets,
and so on.
Mention is made above of ‘legal quays.” These,
having their origin in the time of Queen Elizabeth, were
appointed as the only places where goods might be landed:
a monopoly being established in their favour. They
occupied the greater part of the space between Billings-
gate and the Tower, where now the Custom House is
situated, extending backward to a distance of forty or
fifty feet from the river. There were, however, other
wharves authorised from time to time, mostly on the
south side of the river; but nearly all foreign and
colonial produce was required to be landed at the legal
quays. These quays were not suited to the mooring of
vessels close to them; the ships anchored in the middle
of the river, and barges or lighters transported the
cargoes from them to the quays. At the close of the
last century the East Indiamen were wont to cast
anchor off Blackwall, and to discharge their cargoes
into decked vessels of fifty to a hundred tons burden.
West-India produce was transhipped in nearly a similar
way. So absolutely impossible was it to accommodate
the ships, except in the middle of the river, that from
three to four thousand barges, lighters, punts, lugger-
boats, sloops, cutters, hoys, and other small craft, were
employed in bringing commodities from the ships to the
quays and wharves.
The amount of depredation on the river, at that pe-
riod, was almost incredible. Mr. Colquhoun * enumerates
the following among the depredators:—the ‘river pirates,’
* Commerce and Police of the River Thames, p. 50.
CH. IV. TEIE TEIAMES WITEIOUT DOCES. 131
men connected with the marine store-shops; they recon-
noitred by day, and made their attacks in armed boats
on dark nights; they cut adrift the lighters and barges,
and took out the packages of merchandise — the ‘night
plunderers,’ watermen of the lowest class, who attacked
unprotected lighters, and made over the stolen goods
to receivers close at hand—the “light-horsemen ‘ com-
prising mates of ships, and revenue officers, who would
wink at the robbery of the ship, in which coopers,
porters, and watermen took part ; casks were opened,
and some of the contents transferred to bags or skins
or bladders — and the ‘ heavy horsemen,’ porters and
labourers, who wore an inner dress, called a “jemmy,’
provided with multitudinous pockets wherein to stow
away small quantities of colonial produce, while por-
tering about the ships and quays. Besides these de-
predators, the wine-coopers pilfered while opening and
repairing casks; the watermen aided all in pilfering;
the “mudlarks’ picked up stolen bits which others, by
previous concert, had thrown into the mud; the rat-
catchers, employed to catch rats in the ships, carried
away much besides rats; the lightermen concealed
goods while going from the ships to the quays; the
warehousemen, when sugar reached the warehouses,
pilfered and sold the stolen sugar to small dealers at
public houses. In short, there was a most fearful
amount of dishonesty and crime connected with the
commerce of the Thames in those days.
It may seem strange that the merchants of London
should have borne with such enormities until the close
of the last century; but in truth, any proposals for a
K 2
I 32 • TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
change had to struggle against numerous difficulties.
The House of Commons took up the matter, however,
in 1796, by appointing a Committee to inquire into the
extent of accommodation needed in the port of London.
The Committee listened on the one hand to the plans
of projectors, and on the other to the arguments of
those whose interests rendered them inimical to all re-
form. Numerous engineering projects were brought
forward; and the Committee had no easy matter in
weighing the respective merits and demerits; for, be-
sides the rival claims of the projectors themselves, there
were the objections of interested parties, each of whom
sought to throw out one or other of the schemes. The
tackle-house porters, the city porters, the carmen, the
watermen, the lightermen, the proprietors of legal
Quays and sufferance-wharves, the city corporation, the
Board of Customs, the Trinity Board, Christ's Hospital
— all had something to say against measures of reform ;
and, with that surprising logic men are so apt to em-
ploy when their interests are concerned, they sought
to show that it was nationally important that their par-
ticular objections should be especially attended to.
The result of these inquiries was that several plans,
growing out of the suggestions made to the Committee,
were one by one sanctioned by Parliament. The West
India Docks Act was passed in 1799; the London
Docks Act in 1800; and the East-India Docks Act in
1803. At various periods afterwards were passed the
statutes relating to the East Country, the Commercial,
and the Regent's Canal docks. After an interval of
many years the St. Katherine's Docks Act received the
CH. IV. DOCKS OF LONDON. 133
sanction of parliament in 1826; while a second long
interval has been closed by the plan for the new Vic-
toria Collier Dock, now (1855) being constructed be-
tween Blackwall and North Woolwich, and partially
opened. This last-mentioned dock, although destined
for the reception of a commodity connected only in-
directly with the food of London, is worth a passing
word, if it be only a word of astonishment at the vast
bulk of coal which our metropolitan fire-places and fur-
naces and ovens consume. We require more than ten
thousand tons every day! In the year 1854 nearly twelve
thousand coal-laden ships arrived, bringing 3,400,000
tons of coal; and as the railways brought nearly
1,000,000 tons more, the figures show how extensively
large was the aggregate quantity.
Some of these docks are vast establishments. The
London Docks, for instance, have room for 300 ships
and 220,000 tons of goods; and can stow away in
warehouses 80,000 pipes of wine and spirits, 120,000
chests of tea, and 30,000 hogsheads of tobacco. The
dock companies, in the early part of 1855, made
an attempt to obtain increased powers from parlia-
ment; but the attempt was resolutely opposed by the
mercantile community, and failed. It would be inter-
esting to notice the nature of the object in view, and
the grounds on which it was supported on the one hand
and opposed on the other: this, however, would carry
us beyond the scope of the present volume.
A Lecture on “A Day's Business in the Port of
London’ was published a few years ago by Mr. Howell,
presenting in a clear form an outline of this won-
K 3
134 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
derful subject. He shows, from official custom-house
returns, how that, on a day selected indiscriminately,
as being neither better nor worse than other days,
there were 121 ships arrived in the Thames, with a
registered burden of 29,699 tons, and manned by 1387
seamen; that 106 of this number were British built ;
that 52 brought cargoes from the colonies, while the re-
maining 69 were laden with foreign produce; that these
were wholly irrespective of coasting and collier vessels;
and that these ships from beyond the seas brought the
following articles of food:—
Sugar , - 32,280 packages. Peas - 1,960 quarters,
Oxen sº 3.17. Fruit - 5,424 baskets.
Sheep - 2,734. Ginger - 1,737 packages.
Wheat - 3,967 quarters. Nutmegs - 97 cases.
Oats - 13,314 55 Pepper sº 848 packages.
Onions - 1,200 packages, Anchovies - 100 barrels.
Tea - - . 16,000 chests. Pine apples 120 dozen.
Coffee - 7,400 packages. JRum - 1,742 casks.
Cocoa wº 532 bags. Raisins sº 365 CaSeS.
Rice - 14,600 bags. Wine - 1,888 packages.
Tapioca tº 350 bags. Eggs - 900,000.
Butter - 8,000 packages. Barley - 1,715 quarters.
Dutch cheese 50,000. Molasses - 1,312 puncheons.
Beans tºº 380 quarters.
It is almost impossible, for reasons already given,
to determine the total quantities or values of the food
brought to London. Inlikemanner are there perplexities
in ascertaining the quantities and values in regard to the
articles of food imported into the United Kingdom from
foreign and colonial possessions — partly because some
of the articles, which pay no import duties, are not re-
corded in official tables; and partly because certain
commodities are used for other purposes besides food.
But, in order to give a slight notion of the subject, we
CH. IV. FOOD IMPORTS INTO LONDON. 135
will abstract from the Board of Trade tables a list of
some of the principal articles of food imported in the
year 1854.
ARTICLES OF FOOD IMPORTED IN 1854,
Living Animals, viz. :—
Oxen and Bulls - sº - 62,937
Cows º º º º- º 25,261
Calves - - - g- º 26,130
Sheep º sº - gº - 176,354
Lambs - - - arº __ sm- 7,098
Swine and Hogs - - º º 11,077
Cocoa - º sº tº- tº - 6,258,445 lb.
Coffee, viz.:- • ‘
Colonial me * – 48,934,814 * = 66,501,672 lb.
Foreign - º - 17,566,858
Corn, viz.:- * *
Wheat - - - 3,431,227.T
Barley - - - 552,972
Oats tº - - 1,014,949
Rye ... • 5,916
Peas gº - - 109,177 H = 6,850,498 quarters.
Beans º - - 385,666
Maize º º - 1,349,698
Buckwheat º º 287
Bere or Bigg - º 606 |
Corn-meal and Flour, viz.: —
Flour gº * - 3,646,505-
Barley meal P- - 75
Oatmeal - º tº- 455
Rye meal - - . - 2,840
Pea meal - º - 5 * = 3,705,161 cwts.
Bean meal & - I
Maize meal - - 55,214
Buckwheat meal - º 66.J
Fruits, viz.:- -
Currants - - - ſº - 120,255 cwts.
Figs gº º - * º 29,903 cwts.
Lemons and oranges. - º - 816,908 bushels.
Raisins - tº- * gºs - 286,998 cwts.
Potatoes ſº º - º - 116,446 cwts.
136
CH. IV.
THE FOOD OF LONDON.
Provisions, viz.:-
IRice
Bacon -
Beef, salted
, fresh
Pork, salted
, fresh
Hams sº
Poultry -
Butter -
Cheese -
Eggs -
Lard &_&
in the husk
Spices, viz.:-
Cassia lignea
Cinnamon
Cloves -
Mace *s
Nutmegs -
Pepper -
Pimento -
Spirits, viz. –
Rum sº
Brandy -
Geneva -
Sugar, viz.:-
Tea
Colonial -
Foreign -
Refined and Candy
Molasses -
Tobacco tº
Wine, viz. : —
Red ſº
White tºº
1,252,526
9,428,948
2,262,176
...} smº
5,658,686
410,703)
192,165
109
160,877 } =
21
12,805 J
513,766-
778,193
116,860 ).
438,315
8,585,455
2,920,625 \, =
184, 182
5,875,210
3,220,343
=
405,649
1,024,238
776,680 cwts.
38,177
483,902 cwts.
390,594 ,
85,279,323 number.
184,816 cubic feet.
274,595 cwt.
1,343,215 cwt.
19,048 qrs.
14,770,784 lb.
11,690,262 galls.
10,526,140 cwts.
85,792,760 lb.
35,202,914 lb.
= 10,877,270 galls.
It must be borne in mind that the imports do not re-
present the actual quantities of foreign and colonial
produce consumed in England; for a taxed commodity
CH. IV. FOOD IN BOND. 137
may remain in bond until a year or more after it is im-
ported; and moreover, much of that which has been
imported is re-exported to other countries. Thus (in
round numbers), although there were 64 million pounds
of cocoa imported in 1854, only 4% million paid duty,
and were ‘entered for home consumption '; 37 million
pounds of coffee out of 66 million : 43 million pounds
of spices out of 143 million; 5 million gallons of spirits
out of 113 million; 94 million cwts of sugar and molasses
out of 10; million; 62 million pounds of tea out
of 86 million; 7 million gallons of wine out of 10;
million; and so on. Were these differences disregarded,
we should often be puzzled at finding that something
had apparently been created out of nothing, or that the
whole is not greater than the greatest part; there are
occasions on which more of a particular commodity is
entered for home consumption than is imported, in a
particular year: a reserve store being taken out of
bond and sent into the home market.
The same Board of Trade return that enlightens
us concerning the quantities of foreign and colonial
produce imported to assist in feeding the population of
United Kingdom, gives similar information in relation
to the export of food grown or manufactured in our
own country. The quantities, however, of beer, ale,
butter, cheese, fish, salt, &c. which we were enabled to
sell to our neighbours was small, valued at only
2% millions sterling, so far as official records show.
The balance shows to how vast an extent we are a food-
importing nation, and how deeply we are concerned in
maintaining peace, so long as peace is honourably
possible.
138 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.,
One of the most remarkable inquiries connected with
our national food supply is this, – how far are the
national revenues derived therefrom ? We know that
England is the most heavily taxed nation upon earth;
but few are aware how large a portion of the taxation is
laid upon articles of food. Still more singular is it
when we come to consider that this food-taxation is not
laid upon our solid substantial food, but mainly upon
beverages or their materials. Malt, hops, and the
licences taken out by victuallers, may all be regarded,
so far as they are taxable, as contributions to the reve-
nue in respect to beer and ale; the excise duty on
whiskey and gin, and the customs duty on brandy and
rum, belong to the class of imposts on spirits; wine
occupies an obvious position; tea, coffee, and cocoa, all
of them taxed foreign productions, are all imported
simply as ingredients for beverages; sugar, although
employed for other purposes, is mainly used by us to
Sweeten beverages; and tobacco, though neither a food
nor a beverage, has become almost a substitute for both
in many instances, and an incentive to drinking in
many others. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, butter, cheese,
corn, bread, fruit, vegetables, contribute very little to
the national revenues in relation either to customs or
excise ; whereas malt, hops, beer-licences, spirits, wine,
tea, coffee, cocoa, Sugar, and tobacco contribute to a most
enormous amount. Perhaps the magnitude may best be
shown by placing in juxtaposition, for three recent
years, the total national revenue derived from all
sources, and the revenue derived from beverages only,
sugar and tobacco being included in the latter, for rea-
Sons just stated:
CH. IV. REVENTUES FROM FOOD. 139
Revenue
from Total
Beverages. Revenue.
1849. 33 tº º 'º ºf º 59
1851 millions sterling, illi li
51. 34 out of 59 × millions sterling.
1853. 34 U 60
It will here be seen how uniformly the taxes on
beverages exceed all other taxes combined. When
7,000,000l. additional taxes were imposed in 1854, to
defray the expenses of the war, beverages still main-
tained nearly their old ratio; for the raising of the
malt-duty from 2s. 9d, to 4s. was estimated to yield an
additional two millions and a half sterling. Even if
tobacco were omitted, as a doubtful item in the list,
the remaining items would still yield about half the
TeVenlle.
London, of course, contributes its full ratio to all the
elements of commercial activity treated above. Its
docks, its wharves, its ships, its imports, its exports, its
contribution to the revenue, all bear, unquestionably,
as large a ratio to those for the United Kingdom, as
two millions and a half of souls bear to thirty mil-
lions; and in many instances much more so. In the
duties on imports, constituting the customs duties,
the London contribution amounts to as much as that
from the whole of the rest of the United Kingdom
combined This is owing to the vast quantity of
highly taxed commodities, such as tea, sugar, foreign
wines and spirits, and tobacco brought into the Thames.
Mr. M'Culloch made an estimate a few years ago, that
the London imports and exports together amount to
the enormous value of 65,000,000l. Sterling annually;
of which the imports are far more valuable than the
exports, as may readily be conceived.
140 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. IV.
Quitting now these facts connected with the general
commerce of London, and laying aside for the present
any further concern for the modes by which, and the
channels through which, the food-supply reaches the
metropolis, we may at once anticipate a question likely
to occur to the mind of a reader, — What is the
total quantity of food consumed in London P. It is
very easy to put forth astonishing paragraphs on this
subject; for the whole subject is astonishing, view it
how we may. About twenty years ago, an account
was given in the ‘Farmers’ Magazine’ of the quantity
of the principal articles of food consumed in London,
comprising a formidable array of tons and millions and
pounds sterling: it may have been correct, or it may
not ; but as no hints are given concerning the data on
which it was founded, it is useless as an authority.
Why such estimates must necessarily be uncertain
may easily be shown. This subject has been adverted
to in an earlier page; but the reasons may here receive
a little more elucidation. Let us say a few words in
succession concerning official tables, commercial re-
turns, population averages, and personal expenses.
The official tables, prepared principally by the Board
of Trade from customs and excise returns, tell us con-
cerning the importation of such foreign commodities as
pay duty to the State, and concerning the delivery
into the market of such home commodities as pay duty.
But these are stated, some in quantities and some in
values, which it is difficult to reduce into each other.
Moreover, there is an absurd difference between “official’
value and ‘declared’ value, which trips up many a reader
who does not carefully watch his steps through these
CII, IV. STATISTICS OF SALE. 141
entries. And lastly, the government authorities are
not very solicitous concerning commodities which yield
nothing to the revenue ; there are, for instance, large
quantities of Irish provisions consumed in London;
but the Government has no official knowledge of these
quantities. - .
The commercial returns are such as commercial esta-
blishments may make if they choose; but it is not com-
pulsory; and there is no central authority to reconcile and
bring all these returns into a focus. The several railway
companies might prepare each a tabulated statement of
food brought to London by them in a given period: the
dock companies might do the same in respect of ship-
loads of food brought to their quays and warehouses;
the clerks of the ten or twelve markets might make
out returns of the quantities of corn, fish, live stock,
dead meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetables, brought to
and sold at those markets; the market salesmen and
the colonial brokers might prepare rough estimates
of the London consumption, appearing to them pro-
bable, of the commodities with which they are con-
versant. But even if all this were done, and all these
returns collected, they would be very loosely approxi-
mate ; for neither railway companies nor dock com-
panies, neither market clerks nor colonial brokers, can
determine how much of the food brought to London
is consumed in London. -
The population averages afford a guess-work assist-
ance to another kind of guess-work. Taking the end
of the year 1855 for our point of attention, we shall
not be far wrong in assuming that the metropolis con-
tains one-twelfth of the whole population of the United
142 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
Kingdom. Now a question presents itself, - Does the
metropolis consume one-twelfth of the food consumed
in the United Kingdom? No one can answer this
question otherwise than by hypothesis; and yet there
are many cases in which this affords the only ground
for estimate and reasoning. We know, for instance,
that so many thousand bullocks were sold at Smithfield
in 1854; but we are not told how many of these were
required to supply dinner-tables beyond the limits of
the metropolis. We know how much corn was im-
ported; and our agricultural authorities guess how
much corn was home-grown, in 1854; but the means
are wanting to determine whether one-twelfth of this
went into London mouths.
The personal expenses of individuals are sometimes
added up to determine whether they afford any clue
to the total consumption in families, classes, towns,
or counties. The late Mr. Porter made many valu-
able inquiries of this nature; but it is easy to see how
little way this will carry us. In the first place, fami-
lies and individuals are not always disposed to be
communicative on such matters; and the number of
correct facts thus obtained ought to be extremely
large to warrant any definite conclusions respecting the
average consumption of all the inhabitants of such a
place as London. -
In regard to this question of personal consumption of
food, it may not be out of place to notice a few of the
attempts made to ascertain facts on the subject. Mr.
Tufnell, in the Second Annual Poor Law Report,
stated that agricultural labourers and their families,
throughout England and Wales, eat on an average
CH. IV. STATISTICS OF CONSUMIPTION. 143
about 122 oz. of solid food per head per week (equal
to about 400 lb. per annum); that this is chiefly bread;
and that it is less than the quantity usually given to
paupers. A few years ago, a calculation was made *
that the average weekly cost per head of in-door pau-
pers in all the union workhouses of England and
Wales, during the quarter ending Michaelmas, 1846,
was in some unions so low as 18.8%d., and thence rose
to 3s. 0#d., which was the maximum in any one union.
The metropolitan average was just about midway
between these two extremes: being 2s. 5d. per head
per week. The year 1846 exhibited comparatively
low prices for food; the averages must have been
much higher in 1853 and 1854.
The late Mr. Porter's inquiries, just adverted to,
were remarkable. In his statement of the resultsf, he
dwells pointedly on the difficulties and uncertainties of
all such researches. In some cases no adequate account
is kept of the expenditure for food; in others, tempo-
rary or local circumstances may render the expenditure
of a particular family exceptional and unfitted to be
taken as a basis for inference; while in a yet larger
number of instances the head of a family might not
choose to give information concerning the exact amount
of his yearly tradesmen’s bills for food. One example
related to a private family residing in a fashionable
part of London, and consisting of a gentleman, his
wife, six children, and ten servants, in all eighteen
persons, of whom two-thirds were adults. A second
was a large trading establishment in the city, consist-
* Journal of the Statistical Society, x, 366,
f Progress of the Nation, p. 582.
144 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
ing of 114 persons, male and female, all adults. A
third was a case in which some degree of control was
probably exercised over the quantities eaten by each
person; it being an asylum containing 9 superinten-
dents and servants, and 158 female children, together
167 persons. A fourth was an asylum containing 290
children of both sexes; a fifth, an asylum consisting of
139 persons of both sexes; a sixth, an asylum containing
116 persons, nearly all children; a seventh, a large public
establishment comprising 646 persons, nearly all boys;
an eighth, another public establishment containing 365
boys and 67 girls. The varieties were thus consider-
able; but Mr. Porter points out how necessary it would
be to observe caution in drawing conclusions from the
facts obtained, as to London consumption generally.
So far as regards one item, bread, the 1902 persons
consumed 331 lbs. per head on an average in a year,
or rather less than 1 lb. per day each.
The labours of two other inquirers may be noticed,
as examples among many. In 1841, Mr. Neeld, at
that time mayor of Manchester, endeavoured to ascer-
tain the family expenditure of persons in the cotton
district. He selected 12 families in Manchester, and
7 in Dukinfield, belonging to the working classes.
There were from 2 to 10 persons in each family, com-
prising 106 in all, or between 5 and 6 in an average
family. The wages per individual varied from 2s. 3d.
to 9s. 8d. per week; the wages per family varied from
8s. 8d. to 90s. The total earnings were 26]. 11s. per
week, or 28s, per average family, or 5s. per head
equalised among the whole 109. Now it was found
that the per-centage on total income spent in bread
CEI, IV. RATIONS OF FOOD. 145
and flour varied from 12 to 39 per cent. ; in meat,
bacon, butter, eggs, cheese, and vegetables, 22 to 56
per cent. ; in tea, coffee, sugar, treacle, and tobacco, 8
to 23 per cent. The families thus differed greatly in
relative kinds of food; but, combining the whole 109.
persons, it was found that the outlay per head per
week for bread, &c., was 1s. 2d.; for meat, &c.,
1s. 10d. ; for tea, &c., 9d., -3s. 9d. in all, or just
three-fourths of the entire earnings."
Dr. Pereira, in his ‘Treatise on Diet, gives a valu-
able list of dietaries adopted in several public establish-
ments. Without going into details, a few of his results
may be given. In the Naval service, the solid food
amounts to about 300 ounces per week, of which 135
ounces consist of bread and flour; and in order to suit
different tastes and constitutions, the naval authorities
permit substitution to be made of some kinds of food
for others; for which purpose the following scale of
equalities or equivalents has been prepared : — 1 lb.
flour = 1 lb. raisins = } lb. currants and # lb. Suet; 11b.
biscuit = 13 lb. soft bread = 1 lb. rice = 1 lb. flour;
1 oz. cocoa = 1 oz. coffee = }, oz. tea; 1 pint peas = 1 lb.
rice; 1 lb. cocoa = } lb. butter = 2 lb. cheese; 1 gallon
beer = 1 pint wine = } pint spirits. The East India
Company's troops, ‘going out,’ are supplied with 226 oz.
of solid food per head per week, of which 106 oz. is
biscuit and flour. The government emigrant allowance
is about 200 oz. per week of solid food, of which 112 oz.
is bread and flour. The army rations amount to 196 oz.
of meat and bread weekly: the soldier purchasing his
* Journal of the Statistical Society, iv. 320,
L
146 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
other food as he pleases. The Poor Law Board gives
to the guardians of union workhouses a power of select-
ing from any one among several dietaries; taking the
average of all these, it gives 170 oz. of solid food per
week for each man, and 150 oz. for each woman or
child; and of this quantity, about 107 oz. of the man's
ration, and 90 oz. of the woman or child's ration, consists
of bread. The prison dietaries are greatly varied,
ranging from 126 to so much as 254 oz. of solid food
per man per week. At the Foundling Hospital, the
weekly rations of solid food for children under nine
years of age amount to 130 oz., of which 72 oz. is
bread; and for children of nine or upwards, 180 oz.,
of which 92 oz. is bread. In the Chelsea Military
Asylum, for boys between five and fourteen years of
age, the weekly rations are 190 oz. solid food, of which
54 oz, is bread. In the Greenwich Naval Asylum the
numbers show a much larger proportion of bread, and a
smaller of other solid food : being 187 oz. altogether,
of which bread figures at 94 oz. The Dalston Orphan
Asylum is mentioned as having a superior dietary, un-
limited in quantity, and therefore unfitted to be placed
in comparison with the others. At the Merchant-
Seamen's Orphan Asylum, containing children from
seven to fifteen years of age, the rations amount to
206 oz. of solid food weekly, of which 142 is bread and
flour.
Now, it scarcely needs much argument to show that,
however trustworthy may be the facts elicited by these
various inquiries, they furnish a very slender basis
whereon to rest any theory concerning the consumption
CH. IV. TJNCERTAINTY OF ESTIMATES. | 47
of food in England generally, or in London in par-
ticular. There is here another proof of that which we
have already had occasion to mention — the network of
embarrassments in which all such inquiries are involved.
And as in respect of personal expenses, so also (as
lately shown) is it regarding official tables, commercial
returns, and population averages. Yet, it is only by
combining facts derived from all these sources, that
inquirers can arrive even at a guess of the quantity of
food consumed annually in mighty London.
This London — this metropolis of Britain, and in
many respects of the world; this ‘wen,” as one of our
writers has designated it; this city which has as many
suburban villages, according to another authority, as
there are postscripts to a lady's letter; this realm of
Cockneydom, containing more inhabitants than a dozen
of the small states of Germany, as many as Denmark,
five-sixths as many as the whole of Scotland, more than
Norway, or Baden, or Hanover, or Saxony, or Switzer-
land, or Tuscany, or Würtemberg — requires indeed
a goodly store for its annual provisioning; and although
no one has yet been enabled to decide, from any such
data as those above mentioned, concerning the exact
quantities; yet estimates have been roughly formed.
One of the most remarkable attempts to present statis-
tics in a graphic form, to present numbers and quanti-
ties to the mind's eye by means of a written picture,
is, perhaps, that which is displayed in an article in the
* Quarterly Review : '*—
“If we fix upon Hyde Park as our exhibition-
* No. CXC.
L 2
148 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH, IV.
ground, and pile together all the barrels of beer con-
sumed (annually) in London, they would form a thou-
sand columns not far short of a mile in perpendicular
height. Let us imagine ourselves on the top of this
tower, and we shall have a look out worthy of the feast
we are about to summon to our feet. Herefrom we
might discern the great northern road stretching far
away into the length and breadth of the land. Lo! as
we look, a mighty herd of oxen, with loud bellowing,
are beheld approaching from the north. For miles and
miles the mass of horns is conspicuous, winding along
the road ten abreast; and even then the last animal of
the herd would be seventy-two miles away, and the
drover goading his shrinking flank considerably beyond
Peterborough. On the other side of the Park, as the
clouds of dust clear away, we see the great western
road, as far as the eye can reach, thronged with a
bleating mass of wool; while the shepherd at the end of
the flock (ten abreast), and the dog that is worrying
the last sheep, are just leaving the environs of Bristol,
121 miles from the beer-built pillar. Along Piccadilly,
Regent Street, the Strand, Fleet Street, and Cheap-
side, and the eastward Mile End Road line, for seven
miles and a half, street and causeway are thronged with
calves, still ten a-breast; and in the great parallel
thoroughfares of Bayswater Road, Oxford Street, and
Holborn, we see nothing for nine long miles but a
slowly-pacing, deeply-grunting herd of swine. As we
watch this moving mass approaching from all points of
the horizon, the air suddenly becomes dark, a black
pall seems drawn over the sky – it is the great flock of
birds, game, poultry, and wild fowl, that like Mrs.
CH. IV. QUARTERLY REVIEWER'S PICTURE. 149
Bond's ducks, are come up to be killed. As they fly
wing to wing and tail to beak, they form a square whose
Superficies is not much less than the whole enclosed por-
tion of St. James's Park, or fifty-one acres. No sooner
does this huge flight clear away, than we behold the
park at our feet inundated with hares and rabbits;
feeding two thousand abreast, they extend from the
Marble Arch to the Round Pond in Kensington Gar-
dens, at least a mile. Let us now pile up all the half
quartern loaves consumed in the metropolis in the year,
and we shall find they form a pyramid which measures
two hundred square yards at the base, and extends into
the air a height of 1293 feet, or nearly three times the
height of St. Paul's. Turning now towards the sound
of meeting waters, we find that the seven companies
are filling the mains for the day; if they were allowed
to flow into the area of the adjacent St. James's Park,
they would in the course of the twenty-four hours flood
its entire space with a depth of thirty inches of water;
and the whole annual supply would be quite sufficient
to submerge the city (one mile square) ninety feet. Of
the fish we confess we are able to say nothing; when
numbers mount to billions, the calculations become too
trying to our patience. We have little doubt, however,
that they would be quite sufficient to make the Serpen-
tine one solid mass. Of hams and beef, preserved
meats, and all the countless comestibles, we have taken
no account; and in truth, they are little more to the
great mass than the ducks and geese were to Sancho
Panza's celebrated mess — the ‘skimmings of the
pot!” -
I, 3
150 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH, IV.
The reviewer must have bestowed his arithmetical
skill on a formidable number of sums in multiplication,
to work out the above results. The basis of calculation
was probably a series of such returns as clerks of the mar-
kets, railway companies, steam-ship companies, custom-
house officers, salesmen, and others, are enabled to make,
concerning the quantities of food which enter London :
the supposition being that most of this food finds its
way into the mouths of the Londoners. A rough guess,
if it be put forth candidly as only a guess, may be use-
ful and entertaining; but the day has hardly yet arrived
for a trustworthy summing up of results.
Be the total amount of food-consumption in the me-
tropolis what it may, the wholesale commerce relating
to its supply is truly wonderful. A stranger could in
no way obtain a more striking idea of our metropolis
and its never-ceasing industry, than by a visit, or rather
a series of visits, to the wholesale marts for food.
There are the docks, some of them veritable magazines
of supply; the almost endless vaults at the London
and the St. Katherine's docks, filled to overflowing
with wines and foreign spirits; the vast tobacco ware-
houses, with their millions of pounds weight of smoke-
producing material; the sugar warehouses at the East
India Docks, in which the filled hogsheads are in
tens of thousands; the innumerable chests of tea, bags
of coffee and cocoa, packages of spices of all shapes and
sizes; the rice, the arrow-root, the sago, all the riches
of the east and west. Then the railway depôts should
not be forgotten; where, among the countless treasures
which are handed over to the tender care of the car-
riers, are live stock for the new Smithfield ; country-
CH. IV. MARIKET DIVERSITIES. 151
killed meat and poultry and game for Newgate and
Leadenhall; cheese and butter, bacon and eggs, for the
large provision dealers in the city; fish for Billings-
gate; corn for the granaries; vegetables and fruit for
Covent Garden; milk for the itinerant dairymen.
Then the open markets themselves should be seen ;
old Smithfield, for what it has been ; new Smithfield,
as the largest cattle-market in the world; Billingsgate,
as a proof how enormous an amount of business may
be done in a small space under good regulations; the
Corn Exchange, as an example of a system (factors and
samples) under which men purchase, from other men
whom they do not know, commodities which they have
never seen : commercial honour being the one security
for all; Covent Garden, as a proof that a public
market may be owned and well managed by a private
individual without any statute relating thereto; New-
gate, as a standing reproof of the folly of maintaining
a market in a spot utterly unsuited in size and locality
for great commercial transactions in dead meat and
poultry; Whitechapel, as an example of a market in
which the wholesale and the retail have grown up to-
gether no one knows how ; Leadenhall, as probably the
largest poultry market in the world; Farringdon, as a
proof that a corporation cannot make a market ‘pay,’
unless it have other and independent elements of suc-
cess. Next, the explorer should dive into the recesses
of Mincing Lane and its neighbourhood, and see the
mode in which tea and coffee, sugar and cocoa, rice and
spices, wines and spirits, and other foreign and colonial
produce are bought and sold; how that the sellers are
L 4
152 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
the consignees, and that the buyers are wholesale
grocers and wine merchants; how that the sales are
effected by brokers, who hold a kind of auction at their
own offices, or at the Commercial Sale-rooms in
Mincing Lane, or in the queer nooks and corners known
as ‘Garraway’s’ or other coffeehouses. Then the
wholesale warehouses are wonderful places, filling up
miles of street within a very short distance from the
Thames, and choked to their roofs with cheeses, firkins
of butter, cases of eggs, sides of bacon, hams and
tongues, corn and flour, oranges and lemons, groceries
and spiceries, tobacco and cigars, wines and spirits.
The greatness of our metropolis is, indeed, pictured in
these great commercial arrangements, whereby rations
of food are daily supplied to the millions of London.
The railway system has yet to see its great develop-
ment in connection with this subject. We have to look
forward to the railway depôts becoming food markets.
Something of this kind has already commenced. Among
the numerous buildings at the King's Cross terminus,
may be seen a large shed or warehouse wholly appro-
priated as a potato market. If the Great Northern
Railway bring to London thousands of tons of potatoes
from Bedfordshire, from Lincolnshire, from Yorkshire,
from Scotland, why should they be carted thence to
the markets, and again carted from the markets to the
retail dealers? The Great Northern directors asked
themselves this question; and replied to it by building
a potato market at their vast London depôt. Offices
or counting-houses have been built for letting out to
potato-salesmen as places of business, under the same
roof as the warehouse; trucks laden with potatoes
CEI. IV. FOOD DEPóTS AT RAILWAYS. 153
arrive on the rail into the very warehouse itself; while
the carts of retail dealers find accommodation along
side. Here, during the night, potatoes arrive in im-
mense quantities; the salesmen assemble in the morning
at their places of business; the retailers assemble with
their carts; and very speedily the red potatoes and the
white, the big and the little, the round and the oblong,
change hands. This is in accordance with the legiti-
mate course of trade; if one carting through the
crowded streets of London will suffice instead of two,
then is there a positive gain in time, in money, and in
convenience, by the adoption of this market system at
the railway depôts.
It is not for all commodities that such a system would
be available. Experience alone will show which articles
of consumption might more easily be subjected thereto.
Something of this kind has been adopted at the Nine
Elms depôt, where the South-Western Company,
instead of sending up to the city, by barge or by van,
the foreign fruit imported at Southampton, might
establish a fruit market, attended by Salesmen and
dealers, might thereby lessen the crowding about the
wholesale-fruit region of Thames Street, and might dis-
pense with the line of conveyance from the depôt to that
region. Many persons think that the system may
advantageously be adopted in the fish trade. Lower
Thames Street is absolutely blocked up in early morn
by vans bringing fish from the various railways; inso-
much that, not only are other departments of com-
merce seriously impeded, and the safety of foot-pas-
sengers imperilled, but the fish can scarcely reach the
stalls of the Billingsgate salesmen in time for the com-
154 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IV.
mencement of the market. Pickford and Chaplin,
Macnamara and Younghusband, are struggling to
Squeeze their vans into a space too small to contain them ;
much time is wasted, and many whipsters' oaths are
uttered, in the almost hopeless struggle. The question
is asked, therefore, and is at the present time waiting
for solution — might not fish-markets be established
at the railway depôts, thereby saving valuable time and
horse-labour, and lessening the blockade of the Lon-
don streets? Again, country-killed meat. This arrives
in London early every morning, in enormous quanti-
ties, at the several railway depôts, whence it is mostly
conveyed to Newgate market. Newgate Street is sadly
narrow, even for ordinary traffic; but it is nearly
impassable at the hours when the meat-vans arrive;
for the market itself is too small to admit the vans;
and thus those vehicles, as well as the hundreds of carts
belonging to the butchers who come to purchase, must
of necessity find a temporary location in an already
crowded street. If railway companies, and salesmen,
and butchers, could agree concerning meat markets at
the railway depôts, the wayfarers of London would be
benefited by the change, and assuredly time, that
precious element in trade, would be economised.
Should these anticipations be realised, then will the
railway depôts occupy a remarkable position among
the wholesale marts for food in London.
CH. W. EREAD-FOOD. 155
CHAPTER V.
CORN AND BREAD FOR LONDON.
Complexities in the Weights and Measures of Corn.—Acreage of Corn
growth in the United Kingdom.— Probable Ratio of Produce per
Acre. — Relation borne by Wheat to other kinds of Corn. — Neces-
sary addition of Foreign Corn to our Home Supply. — Probable
Quantity consumed. — Corn Trade on the Thames.—Waterside and
Railway Granaries. – Strange Effect of Corn Laws in influencing
Supplies. – System of managing the Corn Trade at Mark Lane. —
Corn-grinding by the old Wind-mills. – Corn-grinding by the new
Steam-mills.- Co-operative Corn-mills among Artisans. – Qualities
and Quantities of Flour from Wheat. — Strange Episode concerning
Flour Sacks in London. — Bakeries and Bake-houses. – Contrast
between Paris and London in the Bread Trade. — Need of Reform
in the Condition of Bakers. — Bread Mills at Carlisle and Birming-
ham. — No Bread Mills in London, — Relation between Corn, Flour,
and Bread, in Quantities. – Controversies respecting White Bread
and Brown. — Adulteration of Bread.
“SHARE a Leicestershire man by the collar,” says an
old proverb of the seventeenth century, “ and you will
hear the beans rattle in his belly.” Whether the
natives of that county had greater proneness for beans
than their neighbours; whether beans were more
largely eaten in those days than in the present;
whether London shared in this bean-eating tendency —
the proverb does not afford means for determining.
But there are other sources of information, whence we
may learn that bread, good wheaten bread, did not
in former days constitute so large a portion as at
present of the food of the people ; and it may
156 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
possibly be, that beans, a wholesome though not easily
digested kind of food, constituted a standard dish on
the humble tables of country folk. This we may
reasonably admit, without any acquiescence in the
peculiar ‘rattling’ theory mentioned above.
The supply of bread to London, without reference
to bean-eating past or present, is a subject not only vast
in itself, but complicated with various difficulties which
have already been touched upon. How are we to sepa-
rate the supply for London from that for the kingdom
generally 2 We are told how many acres of land are
under corn culture, and how many bushels per acre
constitute an average yield; we learn that so many
millions of quarters of foreign corn have been imported
within a given period; we know that at one time much
corn passes over from England to Ireland, while under
altered circumstances the transit may be in the opposite
direction; but in what way London is especially
affected by these circumstances cannot be determined
otherwise than in a loosely approximate way. Thus it
happens that a notice of the corn and bread trades
generally throughout the kingdom becomes necessary,
even though the object held in view relate more espe-
cially to the metropolis.
There are a few embarrassments connected with the
weights and measures of corn which interfere with
any discussions concerning quantities, and prices, and
consumption. A bushel of wheat is a bushel of wheat.
True. But a bushel of wheat at 58 lbs. or 60 lbs. per
bushel is regarded by the dealer in a very different
light from a bushel at 62 lbs. or 64 lbs. ; although the
CH. W. MEASURES OF CORN. 157
corn-inspectors, in their returns, know nothing of this
difference. If the wheat be of poor quality, it is light,
it weighs less per bushel, and the buyer expects two
or three pounds extra, as the case may be, upon every
bushel, to bring it up to a certain standard agreed upon
in the market. The official returns and tables are
silent on this point; they recognise nothing but ‘im-
perial measure.’ This measure, so far as corn is con-
cerned, consists in the use of a bushel of definite capa-
city ; a vessel, whatever be its shape, that will hold
10 lbs. avoirdupois of pure water, will contain a gallon
of corn; eight such gallons make a bushel; eight such
bushels make a quarter; and thus an imperial bushel-
measure would contain 80 lb. of pure water. A bushel
of English corn of average quality weighs about as
follows:– Wheat, 60 lb. ; maize, 60 lb.: rye, 52 lb.;
barley, 48 lb. ; and oats, 40 lb.
For commercial purposes, it is desirable to be able to
determine the ratios between bulks and weights readily ;
and Mr. Braithwaite Poole has given some convenient
tables for facilitating this in respect to corn and other
kinds of provisions. He states” that a ton of wheat,
rye, beans, or peas, contains about 5 quarters ; a ton
of barley, 6; a ton of oats or malt, 8 ; a ton of bran or
pollard, 10; and a ton of flour 8 sacks. He further
states that the Irish barrel, in respect to several kinds
of food, weighs thus: — A barrel of potatoes, 280 lb. ;
of wheat, 280 lb.; of barley, 224 lb. ; of oats, 196 lb. ;
and of malt, 168 lb. A yet more extensive table is one
that relates to the weight of a sack of different kinds of
* Statistics of British Commerce.
158 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
provisions. These weights vary from 140 lbs. to 336 lbs.
— potatoes being 168 lbs., barley 240 lbs., and flour
280 lbs. These are strictly conventional quantities,
however; for any person may give the name of “sack’
to any quantity, if the buyer and seller agree thereto.
Some of the above are technically known as ‘bags”
rather than “sacks.’
These few facts being premised, we will proceed to
notice some of the estimates taken respecting the
growth of corn in England.
In Smith's ‘Tracts on the Corn Trade,’ published
in 1764, when the means of obtaining trustworthy
statistics were very slender, it was estimated that
England and Wales consumed yearly 33 million quar-
ters of wheat, 1 million of barley, 1 million of rye, and
13 million of oats. But coming down to recent dates,
when estimates are more carefully made, we find that
Mr. M'Culloch gives, for 1846, the following distribu-
tion of about 12,000,000 acres of cultivated land in
England and Wales: — -
Wheat ſº tºs tº- - 3,800,000
Barley tºº E. ſº - 1,500,000
Oats and Rye * º – 2,500,000
Root crops - gºs * * - 2,000,000
Beans and Peas * ſº - 500,000
Clover fº * - is s - 1,300,000
Hops - sº ſº gº * 50,000
Gardens * {-} tº º * 150,000
Total gº se - 11,800,000 acres.
The total crops, at the prices of 1846, he estimated
at about eighty millions sterling in value.
C.H. W. PRODUCE AND VALUE OF CROPS. 1.59
A later estimate by the same authority” takes in
the whole of the United Kingdom. According to this
the produce exhibits the following average : —
England Lnited
and Wales. Kingdom.
Acres. Acres.
Wheat gº - 3,600,000 4,450,000
Barley tº - 1,200,000 1,970,000
Oats and Rye - 2,400,000 5,800,000
Total & - 7,200,000 12,220,000
England, in ratio to population, grows most wheat,
Scotland most barley, Ireland most oats; rye is now
very little grown or eaten in any part of the United
Kingdom. Assuming a certain produce per acre, and
a price agreeing with the average of several years pre-
ceding 1854, Mr. M'Culloch considers that the annual
value of the corn crop in the whole United Kingdom
may be taken at about fifty-four millions sterling. The
whole farm-produce, everything which is sown in order
that it may yield annual crops — corn, beans, peas,
rape, turnips, potatoes, clover, hops, garden produce —
he supposes may perhaps be set down at 120 millions
sterling annually, being a little under 6l. per acre for
the produce of about twenty-one million acres under
crop. Limiting our attention to corn alone — wheat,
barley, oats, rye — we have, in round numbers, about
one million sterling as the weekly average value of the
corn grown in the United Kingdom – a value conve-
nient to bear in memory, and worth remembering if
the estimate be based on sound data; but we must not
* Dictionary of Commerce, ed. 1854.
160 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
forget that two years of high prices, 1854 and 1855,
have since occurred, and should guard against hasty
conclusions.
Another computer on this subject, a ‘Hampshire
Farmer, who wrote to the ‘Times’ on corn topics in
October 1854, estimated the wheat area of England and
Wales in that year at 34 million acres. Mr. Braith-
waite Poole, writing in 1851, sets down 43 million
acres under corn crop, not in England and Wales, but
in the whole United Kingdom.
Setting these estimates one against another, it may
perhaps be permitted to strike a sort of average among
them, until the day arrives when trustworthy agricul-
tural statistics shall be obtainable. Seeing that the
great bread question, especially in relation to London,
is almost wholly associated with wheat, we may dis-
pense, as concerns the purpose of the present volume,
with any further consideration of other crops: and may
perhaps, without any very glaring departure from cor-
rectness, assume that England and Wales have about
three and a half million acres, and Scotland and Ireland
about one million, under wheat culture. Even here,
however, caution is necessary; for the Highland So-
ciety, in 1854, found reason to believe that Mr.
M’Culloch had over-estimated the cultivated average in
Scotland.”
What does this tell, however, concerning the quan-
tity of wheat grown? Who shall say that a given
acre will produce so many bushels of wheat, of so many
pounds to the bushel ? Bountiful as nature is, she
* Report of House of Lords Committee on Agricultural Statistics, 1855.
CH. W. FLUCTUATING CORN CROPS. 161
insists on a stern fulfilment of all the conditions re-
quisite to the growth of a luxuriant crop. The tem-
perature of the air, the variation of seasons, the quantity
of moisture in the atmosphere, the quality of the soil,
the nature of the subsoil, the excellence of the seed
chosen, the proper observance of the seasons, the mani-
pulative details of culture — all are conditions whereon
the abundance of the crop depends. The estimates of
probable average crops are very conflicting; and well
may they be so; for the growth is influenced by a host
of disturbing circumstances, fluctuating in themselves,
and wholly beyond man's control. How irresistibly this
tells upon commerce, we are occasionally reminded in
a curious and even startling way. Thus, the barometer
in the Liverpool Exchange was tampered with by dis-
honest speculators on one occasion in 1855. Why?
If the barometer fell or seemed to fall, bad weather
might portend, bad weather might denote bad crops, and
bad crops denote high prices : —the links of the chain
will easily be detected.
The practical question, however, is, to determine the
actual average rate of produce in a given country. The
wheat produce is said to vary between the extreme
limits of three fold and sixty or seventy fold, in countries
which possess the two extremes of capability for its
growth. Mr. Stevenson, who wrote in the “Edinburgh
Encyclopædia’ about 1815, and who is regarded as an
authority, estimated the wheat produce of England at
24 bushels per acre. Mr. M'Culloch, in 1846, adopted
an estimate of 32 bushels for wheat, 34 for barley, 40
IM
162 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
for oats and rye, and 30 for beans and peas. Mr.
Caird, the “Agricultural Commissioner” for the ‘Times’
in 1851, set down 27 bushels as the average wheat
crop per acre in England. Mr. Braithwaite Poole
leans rather to an estimate of 26 bushels for wheat, 32
for barley, and 40 for oats. Mr. M'Culloch, in the
edition for 1854 of his valuable Dictionary, adopts
different ratios for the three kingdoms, giving 30
bushels as the wheat produce in England, 26 in Scot-
land, and 24 in Ireland; with 32 as an average for
barley, and 40 for oats. A ‘Hampshire Farmer’ and
Mr. Caird both took part in the newspaper discussion
concerning corn prospects in the autumn of 1854: the
‘Farmer’ estimated the English wheat-yield of that
year at 34 bushels per acre; while Mr. Caird, leaving
his old estimate untouched, thought that the crop of 1854
was four bushels per acre better than the usual English
average, besides another bushel gained per acre in
virtue of the unusual weight or density of the corn-
grains. -
Now here we have an ‘embarras de richesses, a range
of estimates from 24 to 34 bushels per acre. Striking
a balance among all these authorities, we may perhaps be
warranted in assuming 28 bushels, or 3; quarters, as
about an average produce of wheat per acre in England
and Wales, taking the good years with the bad, and the
fertile counties with the unfertile. If this be a little
under the estimate of M*Culloch, it is a little over
those of Caird and Braithwaite Poole; if not right, it is
not likely to be far wrong. Combining this supposition
CH. W. ESTIMATES OF CROPS, 163
with the former, we shall have 3% million acres of
wheat in England and Wales, at 28 bushels per acre,
making about 100 million bushels or 12; million
quarters, as an average crop for the last few years —
omitting 1854 and 1855, as being, owing to the war,
and other disturbing causes, exceptional years. The
Scotch and Irish produce would probably be about 23.
million quarters more — making a total of about four
bushels or half a quarter of wheat grown annually in the
United Kingdom for every inhabitant.
In relation to price of home-grown wheat, it need
hardly be said how greatly this varies. Mr. Braith-
waite Poole states the average of twelve years (1840
to 1851) at 52s. per quarter; this, for 15,000,000
quarters in the United Kingdom, would bring in about
40,000,000l. annually. Mr. M'Culloch's estimate, at
the close of 1853, was 30,500,000l. for about 16,000,000
quarters; but this related to a special price of about
44s. per quarter. To show how necessary it is to take
long periods in estimating prices, it is stated by Mr.
M’Culloch " that, in the first fifty years of the present
century the price of wheat ranged from 36s. (the
lowest in 1837) to 155s. (the highest in 1812). One
of the most valuable estimates, perhaps, ever made in
respect to the average price of corn, is that of Mr.
Farri, on account of the large number of years over
which it spread. He gives the decennial averages for
no less than 245 years (1601 to 1845); and he deduces
* Statistical Account of the British Empire, vol. ii. Appendix.
f Journal of the Statistical Society, ix. 70.
M 2
164 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
from these, that the average price of wheat in England
for the last two hundred years, or rather from 1645 to
1845, was about 40s. 6d., - much less than the average
of the last dozen years, and still further below the
average of the last fifty years. Mr. Willich, actuary of
the Universal Insurance Office, communicated to the
London newspapers, in October, 1855, a valuable paper,
showing the average prices of wheat in four different
countries during a period of 27 years, viz. 1828 to
1854. The countries were England, France, Belgium,
and Prussia. He took the imperial quarter as being
equal to 2-9 French hectolitres, or 5; Prussian scheffels.
His figures come out thus: —
In England - se lºss - 54 10
France - tº * - 45 6
Belgium - tºs tº - 46 3
Prussia - {-º es - 34 10
The figures hitherto given, although more perhaps
than a general reader would care to wade through, do
nevertheless fail to give the requisite solution to the
bread question. It is the lot of England to possess a
population greater than can be fed from her own
home-growth ; and she is dependent in part on the
fertile fields of foreign lands. A glance at the Board
of Trade tables will show that in the three years 1852,
°53, and ’54, we purchased from foreign nations no less
than 22,000,000 quarters of wheat and other kinds of
corn, besides 12,000,000 cwts. of flour and other kinds
of meal. Leaving out all other kinds of corn, the
wheat and flour together are equivalent to something
CH. W. VALUE OF CORN CONSUMED. 165
near 5,000,000 quarters yearly,–an important addition
to our home-growth. During the 54 years of this
century the excess of imports over exports has been
about 68,000,000 quarters of wheat, or 1,250,000
quarters per average year, besides the flour or wheat-
meal. -
It may not, then, be a wide departure from the truth
if we assume, as a sort of convenient summary or resumé
of the above figures, that the United Kingdom contains
about 4% million acres under wheat crop; that the
average produce is about 28 bushels per acre ; that the
average price has been about 52s. per quarter during a
range of several years, excluding 1854 and ’55; that
the total value at that price would be about 40,000,000l.
annually ; that we require, besides this, something like
10,000,000l. worth of foreign wheat annually; that from
3,000,000 to 5,000,000 cwts. of foreign flour come in
aid of the supply; and that all this is in addition to the
barley, oats, and Indian corn, consumed chiefly in Scot-
land and Ireland. These are very general average esti-
mates, set down for familiar illustration, but with a
full consciousness that they might not accord with the
numbers for any one selected year.
How much corn, in the form of bread and pastry,
is consumed by each average individual yearly, is
equally conjectural. Smith, in the ‘Tracts on the Corn
Trade,’ lately quoted, made a guess (for it could be
little more than a guess) that about a century ago the
six million of inhabitants in England and Wales con-
sumed corn about in the following ratios : —
M 3
166 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
3,750,000 ate 1 quarter of wheat each annually
740,000 , 13 25 barley 35
890,000 , 1, 33 rye 53
610,000 , 24 , Oats 35
Whatever may be the value of this estimate in other
respects, the rye-eaters have since almost disappeared
from England and Wales. In recent times Mr. Porter
gave an estimate of the number of persons who live on
foreign wheat in our country (after the home-growth
has been exhausted), amounting to two or three
millions in Great Britain ; but so little did he trust
the existing means of determining such questions, that
he made two different estimates— one of 6 bushels,
and one of 8 bushels — as the average quantity of
wheat eaten per head per annum in Great Britain
(excluding Ireland); leaving to subsequent experience
to determine which of the two estimates approaches
more nearly to correctness. Mr. M'Culloch, more
recently, endeavoured to apportion the supply and the
consumption of 54,000,000 quarters of all kinds of
corn and pulse — wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, beans;
his figures give 10 bushels per head per annum through-
out the United Kingdom. He also remarks that, about
half a century ago, 8 bushels of corn per annum was
deemed a fair average consumption; but this probably
excluded peas and beans.
Under present circumstances there seems no reason
to depart far from an opinion pretty extensively enter-
tained, that the quantity of wheat, barley, oats, rye, and
Indian corn, consumed as food by man in the United
CH. W. CORN FOR LONDON. 167
Kingdom, amounts to something like 1 quarter or 8
bushels per head per annum, viz. 5 of wheat, and 3
of other grain. But the reader will at once see how
embarrassed all the computers are by the difficulties
inherent in the question.
The DAILY BREAD of London The daily bread of
two millions and a half of persons, among whom the
obtainment of ‘good wheaten bread” has come to be
considered one of the indispensable conditions of life
This is indeed a large subject. If a Londoner would
content himself with preparations of meal and of coarse
corn, made into cakes or paste, into parritch or gruel,
and combined with vegetables; if he would consent that
oats or rye should be substituted for fine wheat, or that
pollard and bran should be mixed in his loaf, to obtain
cheapness at the expense of colour—then the daily
supply would be more easily obtained, and the com-
mercial arrangements less complicate. But a loaf of
wheaten bread is a London staple; an artisan demands
it as well as a peer; and we must be prepared to
hear of marketing arrangements on a great scale.
Since very early times, corn-grinding and bread-
baking have been less extensively practised as domestic
employments in London than in other parts of England.
This is easily accounted for on two grounds; first, that
the density of population facilitates the division of em-
ployments; and secondly, that the consumer is too far
distant in locality from the producer. The London
housewife finds her time too valuable to justify her
in buying small quantities of corn from the dealer,
M 4
168 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON." CH. W.
taking it to the miller to be ground, and then making
her own bread: others render her these services better
than she can perform them for herself; it is one of the
concomitants of advancing civilisation.
The London supply of corn in past days was, of
course, obtained from home before foreign countries
were applied to, and from neighbouring counties in
preference to those more distant. A corn-market, and
a system of corn-factorage, may be said to have grown
up together in London. It was a custom among the
Essex farmers, about the end of the 17th century, to
congregate at a particular inn at Whitechapel, on occa-
sion of their visits to London to sell corn. They were
wont to leave with the landlord of the inn samples of
such corn and meal as happened to remain unsold; and
they named a minimum price at which the corn and
meal corresponding to these samples might be sold.
The landlord was thus converted into a commission
agent, who received a small per centage for his
trouble ; and the farmer was often enabled to save
thereby the time and expense of a journey to London.
This is an illustration of the principle whereon all
Salesmen, factors, brokers, and commission-agents build
their claim to employment; they save much time and
trouble to the sellers, and frequently make better bar-
gains than the sellers and buyers can make for them-
selves, because they are on the spot to watch all minute
fluctuations in the state of the market. This corn-
agency, then, having been found advantageous at
Whitechapel, a few persons ventured to seek a living
as corn-agents professedly, occupying stands on Tower
CH. W. FREIGHT OF CORN TO LONDON. 169
Hill and elsewhere; and when their number had con-
siderably increased, they felt emboldened — aided pro-
bably both by buyers and sellers — to establish a corn-
market or corn-exchange in Mark Lane, about the year
1748. During seventy or eighty years this building
sufficed for the corn-trade of London, so far as the corn-
factors were concerned; but at length the factors became
too many for the house; and thus arose the project for
the now-existing structure, planned and built about the
year 1828. It did not supersede the old building, but
was added to it on one side : both together forming
one Corn Exchange.
Most of the corn now reaches London either by rail-
way or by ship; although some is brought by canal
and river-barges, and some by waggons along the roads
from neighbouring districts. The South Eastern Rail-
way brought up 16,000 sacks of wheat in the first half
of 1855; together with 21,000 sacks of flour; but
Some of the other railways far exceed this limit. The
foreign vessels, or British vessels from foreign ports,
frequently bring enormous cargoes, of 2000 to 3000
quarters. It is curious to see how many items combine
to make up the price of a quarter of foreign wheat in
London. It was computed a few years ago, that a
quarter of Odessa wheat incurs a charge of about 16s.
for insurance, commission, freight, primage, charter-
party, metage, lastage, lighterage, landing, wharfage,
housing, delivery, granary-rent, damage, and factorage,
besides the profit to the importer. Mr. M'Culloch, on
the authority of Mr. Reuss, gives an account of the
import of 604 quarters of wheat from New York, in
170 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
which the small charges are even still more numerous
— comprising winnowing, measuring, delivery, bro-
kerage, insurance, commission, and freightage, before the
corn reaches the Thames; and afterwards primage,
entry, city dues, metage, lighterage, porterage, granary-
rent, fire-insurance, turning, factorage, commission,
guarantee, interest, and petty charges: the whole of
these expenses together being set down at about 10s.
The city dues, mentioned above, are among the many
anomalies connected with the commerce of the Thames.
When a corn-laden ship enters the port of London, the
corn has to pass through an ordeal — not at the will of
the seller, or the buyer, or the factor, but by command
of the corporate authorities. There is water-bailliage
to pay, and groundage to pay ; there are Lord Mayor's
dues to pay, and cocket-dues to pay: the corn or its
owners may receive no earthly benefit in return, yet
these dues must be met. And, again, the owner is not
allowed to measure his own corn, or to take it to gra-
naries or wharfs: the sworn meters insist upon the
fulfilling of the former of these services for him, whe-
ther he will or no; while the fellowship porters equally
insist upon carrying his corn from the ship to the shore.
There are certain corn-meters, appointed by the ‘Corn
and Coal Committee; they attend at certain offices
contiguous to the spots where their services may be
required. When a corn-laden ship arrives, notice must
2
be given to these meters, who claim the right (in
virtue of certain ancient grants or charters) of meting
or measuring the corn while being transferred to a
barge or lighter alongside. Such arrangements are sadly
CH. W. CORN EXCHANGE. 171
uncommercial and unsuitable to our age; they have
‘nothing but their antiquity to recommend them.
Let the corn arrive in London how it may, nearly
all the sales are effected in the Corn Exchange. This
great mart of commerce is worth a visit, even on the
part of those who have no immediate interest in the
dealings; for it illustrates a definite mode of conduct-
ing important departments of commerce. Externally,
the Corn Exchange presents certain Ionic pretensions,
in its six columns, its cornice, and its entablature. The
building was much injured by fire in 1850, but was
speedily restored. Within, it presents to view a large
open hall, lighted by a lantern over the centre ; around
the hall are stands or counters belonging to corn-
factors, corn-merchants, millers, granary-keepers, and
lightermen; but the chief owners or renters are corn-
factors, who act as agents or middlemen between buyers
and sellers. The sellers are mostly farmers who have
home produce to sell, and merchants who have received
Shiploads of corn from abroad; the purchasers are
chiefly millers, who buy the corn to grind it into meal
or flour, and dealers or speculators, who buy to sell
again at a profit.
A busy scene it presents on Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays, when the corn-market is held. Farmers,
millers, merchants, shippers, speculators, granary-
keepers, lightermen, factors — all are to be met there ;
but principally factors, millers, and speculators. About
and within the area of the hall, on any market
day between ten o’clock and three, we may see from
eighty to a hundred stands, with, perhaps, eighty to a
172 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
hundred groups round them. Most of these stands are
decked with small wooden bowls and canvas bags con-
taining samples of the corn to be sold. The factor has
a desk at which he rapidly transacts the book-entries
arising out of the day's dealings. There is the most
unquestioned and unquestioning faith in the probity of
the factors in this respect; that the bulk of each pur-
chase will correspond in quality with the sample; the
very existence of the factorage system depends upon
scrupulous honesty in this particular. As to the bargain-
ing, it is the same here as elsewhere; the chaffering
about price speedily comes to an end between two men
who pretty well know that, even if so inclined, they
could not easily overreach each other. The purchaser
generally gives the factor a bill at one or two months’
date in payment for the corn; and the factor accounts
for the proceeds to the seller, receiving a commission for
his trouble. The sweepings, after each day's market,
constitute a nice little perquisite ; many a London
chanticleer gets his dinner therefrom.
Driblets, mere driblets of corn, are seen at Mark
Lane. A stranger might wonder wherein could be the
mighty dealings of such a place, seeing that only a few
score of small sample-bags are exhibited. But herein
is one of the peculiarities of the factor or salesman
system; the salesman need not encumber himself or his
stall with the actual corn to be sold; he requires only a
Sample ; the bulk may be in a ship, or in a dock, or,
more likely than either, in a granary.
The granaries of the metropolis are necessarily very
large, and the scene of important commercial opera-
CH. W. GRANARIES. 173
tions. The owner of a granary may or may not be the
owner of any part of the corn stored therein; the
granary system is distinct from the actual purchase and
sale of the corn; for it is, in fact, a warehousing of the
corn until required to be sold. The granaries are struc-
tures six or seven stories in height; some will contain
only two or three thousand quarters of corn, while
others have a capacity for eight or ten thousand. Along
both banks of the Thames, from Greenwich in the east
to Vauxhall in the west, these granaries are to be met
with ; but most numerous about the neighbourhood of
Bermondsey and Shad Thames. While threading a
path through this strange district, amid stores of horns,
hides, skins, guano, barrelled provisions, sea biscuits,
and multitudes of other products of home or foreign
origin, we cannot fail to notice the granaries, which
predominate in height over all the other buildings.
Since the repeal of the corn laws, and the consequent
free admission of corn from all parts of the world, this
Bermondsey district has acquired a vastly increased
amount of trade. The granaries and the steam flour-
mills have extended on every side. When the ships
bring their loads of corn, the granaries are resorted to
as safe warehouses, where it can be stored until required
for sale or for grinding. The granary-keeper tends
and turns and screens the corn; and for this service,
together with granary-rent and insurance, the owner of
the corn pays something under a penny per week for
each quarter. -
It was not always so. It was not always thus depend-
ent on the mutual inclinations of buyers and sellers.
174 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
Mighty changes have taken place in this granary
system, consequent on the removal of restrictions and
import duties. Before the great measure was carried
by Sir Robert Peel, the granaries in which foreign corn
was bonded were places of greater security than ordi-
nary granaries, admitting of custom-house regulations
being fully attended to. Such granaries were mostly
situated in or near the various docks. It frequently
happened that the peculiar state of the corn market,
in relation to the supply on the one hand and the im-
port duty on the other, rendered it expedient to keep
corn in the bonded warehouses for months, and even
years. The duty was not payable until the corn was
received from the warehouses; the fluctuating duty or
sliding-scale might happen to range so high that the
corn could not be liberated from bond at a profit. It
takes its place among the past records of the corn-
trade, that in or about 1836 nearly 2000 quarters of
wheat were on one occasion thrown into the Thames:
the owners not being inclined to pay the high duty
upon it, or to pay further granary rent, —a sad pro-
ceeding, viewed in any light it may. Under the
‘sliding scale, the duty became lower as the market-
price became higher; and the merchants were fre-
quently able to ‘rig' the market so as to bring about
the maximum or nearly maximum price; they would
then suddenly pay the Small duty on an immense quan-
tity of bonded corn, and make large profits by selling
at that particular juncture. It not unfrequently oc-
curred that a ship, by bringing its cargo one single day
after the price had fallen and the duty risen, lost the
CH. W. CORN SPECULATORS. 175
advantage of the market, and the corn remained in the
bonded granaries for months.
All these spasmodic fluctuations are past. The price
of corn may vary, on account of many contingencies; but
it is no longer embarrassed by the shackles of taxation;
and buyers and sellers manage their dealings without
the intervention of the finance minister—at least so far
as our own country is concerned.
The granary proceedings are briefly told. When a
ship, in the Thames or the docks, is ready to discharge
its cargo of corn, a meter and several fellowship-porters
go on board, and mete the corn with a bushel measure,
before it goes into the granary. It undergoes one or even
two measurings in the granaries, according to the cir-
cumstances of its detention there. To prevent heating
and spoiling, the corn is occasionally turned and
Screened; it becomes harder and more easily ground. .
That most delicate and important matter, the price
at which corn is obtainable at a particular time, is depend-
ent on a multitude of circumstances, as the most cursory
consideration will show. But popular favour and dis-
favour visit the dealers in corn in a more direct and
personal way than most other dealers. This is scarcely
to be wondered at, considering the vital importance of
bread for food; but it may yet be unjust. Archbishop
Whately defends corn-dealers from the abuse often
showered down upon them in precarious times. “Corn-
dealers in particular are often exposed to odium, as if they
were the cause of the scarcity; while, in reality, they
are performing the important service of husbanding the
supply in proportion to its deficiency, and thus warding
#76 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
off the calamity of famine; in the same manner as the
commander of a garrison or a ship regulates the allow-
ances according to the stock and the time it is to last.
But the dealers deserve neither censure for the scarcity
which they are ignorantly supposed to produce, nor
credit for the important public service which they in
reality perform. They are merely occupied in gaining
a fair livelihood. And in the pursuit of this object,
without any comprehensive wisdom, or any need of it,
they co-operate, unknowingly, in conducting a system.
which, we may safely say, no human wisdom directed
to that end could have conducted so well, the system
by which this enormous population is fed from day to
25 +
e
day
Let us advance one stage more in the eventful com-
mercial history of the London loaf — from CORN to
FLOUR.
* Merrily goes the mill,’ as it was wont to go in past
ages. But the inhabitants of London see very little of
this merry work. Windmills are driven away, in part
by bricks and mortar, and in part by steam. Our busy
city cannot now spare room for windmills; and if there
were such room, the wind could barely get at them.
However, that mighty worker, steam, has taken corn as
well as other commodities under its protection; it
claims to be independent alike of busy streets and murky
atmosphere ; it says virtually, “give me but a ration of
coals and water, and I will thrash your corn, convey it
to your wharfs, haul it up into your granaries, grind it
* Introductory Lectures on Political Economy, Lecture 4.
CH. W. WIND CORN MILLS. 177
into meal, separate the chaff, and make your meal into
bread or into biscuits.’ Steam-power does all this, and
it will probably do so in yet greater ratio in years to
come. Still we have our old windmills left in the
country, and would not willingly lose sight altogether
of the jolly miller and his men.
A plain old-fashioned corn-mill, with nothing special
or patent about it, contributes to the bread-eater's
service somewhat in the following way. The wheat,
when brought to the mill in sacks, is hoisted to an
upper floor to be cleansed. A part of the miller's skill
consists in mealing’: that is, mixing different qualities
of wheat to produce flour such as may be required.
The wheat is mixed ; then exposed to a kind of winnow-
ing or blowing, to drive off dust and light particles;
then beaten by revolving arms against a kind of sieve,
to clean the surface of each little grain ; and then very
likely winnowed or blown again—for the more trouble
the miller takes to cleanse his wheat, the finer and
better will be the flour. The cleansed wheat descends
through a hopper to the space between two millstones.
These stones may be from three to five feet in diameter,
and their surfaces are grooved or channelled to increase
the abrasive action; the lower one is fixed, but the
upper one revolves from eighty to a hundred and twenty
times in a minute, through the agency of a wind-mill
or a water-wheel. The rolling motion of the upper
stone crushes and grinds the wheat into flour, which
flies out laterally from between the stones, and is caught
within a large wooden case. The flour descends through
N
178 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
a spout into a bin in a lower story of the mill. The
husk or ‘bran’ escapes into the bin as well as pure
flour; and to effect a separation of the two is the object
of dressing. The dressing-machines differ greatly in
complexity and efficiency; but however constructed,
this much may be said of them,--that they separate the
mingled meal and husk into several kinds of flour, one
of which is wholly free from husk, while the others re-
tain varying degrees of husk mixed with the meal.
Whether it be the old-fashioned bolting-mill, with its
sieve of fine cloth, or the modern dressing-machine,
with its sieve of fine silk or fine wire, the principle is
still the same—a separation, with different degrees of
completeness, of the meal from the husk.
Ingenuity has not been wanting in the contrivance
of new and improved corn-grinding apparatus. There
is Messrs. Swayne and Bovill's contrivance; there is
the comical-mill contrivance ; there is the Gruaux con-
trivance. The first of these, patented by the engineers
above named, consists in enclosing the millstones in a
kind of box, and directing a blast of air upon the grind-
ing surfaces: the air cools the stones, and also drives
out the flour as soon as it is ground; whereby the
flour is kept in a cooler state than by the ordinary
process; and moreover the box prevents the fine par-
ticles from being wafted out into the mill-room. So
much merit is claimed for this method by its inventors,
that bakers are said to be thereby able to produce four
or five additional loaves from a sack of flour, on account
of its superior condition ; while, as far as the miller is
concerned, the new method is said to economise both
CH. W. MoDERN CORN MILLS. 179
flour and time. The conical mill is founded on this
circumstance, that in the ordinary mill a circular stone
of enormous weight, perhaps as much as three quarters
of a ton, flies round a hundred times or more in a minute,
crushing the grain very rapidly ; but the flour cannot
quickly escape at the edge because the stone is of such
large diameter, and thus it becomes unduly heated. To
obviate this is the object of the new invention. The
conical mill exhibits many novelties: the upper stone.
is fixed, and the lower moveable, and both are conical
at their surfaces of contact; the lower stone, too, is
comparatively small in size. In this case, also, a claim
is put in for great advantage over the ordinary process.
The Gruaua system relates to the mode by which the
beautifully fine French pastry flour is produced: hard
wheat is selected, and is ground twice and sifted three
times; the processes are tedious, but the flour produced
is very fine and beautiful in quality.
No doubt there are numerous other novelties in corn-
grinding; and no doubt many of them are likely to be
advantageous to the inventors and to the public. In-
deed it would be strange if such were not the case; for
man's ingenuity is ever on the watch for improvements
relating to the supply of man's food.
The pleasant places at which this corn-grinding was
wont to be carried on are certainly departing from the
pent-up Londoners. No longer may we look on the
green belt of country once familiar ; the villages
are becoming absorbed in the great hive; and the
windmills are being pressed out and expelled, as if
N 2
180 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
they had no business there, insomuch that it requires
half a day's walk to visit a windmill.
But how smart we are with our steam-mills | Let
us glance at the head of the list. The City flour-mill,
the many-windowed structure just below Blackfriars
bridge– a structure already becoming whitened by
the vicinage of countless Sacks of flour — contains all
the appliances for grinding corn by steam-power on
a most complete scale. It is 260 feet in length, 60 feet
in width, and six or seven stories in height. It contains
no less than thirty-two pairs of millstones, all provided
with a patent blowing-apparatus to economise the flour
and keep the building free from dust. The wheat is
hoisted from barges in the river, or from waggons in
the street, to the topmost floor of the mill; it is cleansed
by certain processes; and it falls in between the several
millstones, where it is ground into flour. The wheat
travels onward and upward, by means of Archimedian
screws, and “Jacob's ladders,’ and other contrivances, to
rooms wherein it is distributed among sixteen dressing
machines. Each of these is a sort of octagonal barrel,
nearly forty feet in length by three or four in diameter,
and is covered with tightly stretched fine silk gauze.
The meal flows into the octagon, which is inclined
in position; it flows along the silken surface; and the
octagon, by being both rotated and agitated, causes the
fine flour to fall through the meshes of the silk. Only
the finest flour thus escapes; the bran, and pollard, and
seconds travel onward to the lower end of the octagon,
whence they are removed for separation by other ma-
chines. The working capabilities of the mill are im-
CH. W. STEAM CORN MILLS. I 81
mense. No less than 2500 quarters of wheat can be
ground in a week Wheat can be ground and dressed
within the short space of fifteen minutes, during which
time it travels twice or thrice from the top to the
bottom of the mill, and back again.”
Smoke-consumption or smoke-emission, be our lot
which it may, such steam corn-mills are likely to in-
crease in number in London. If the rail and the ships
bring corn almost to our doors, it is an obvious saving
both of time and of freight to grind the corn into flour
on the spot; and the windmills in the rural districts
will have tough work to maintain ground against such
a competition in supplying the wants of the metro
polis.
Household corn-mills are very little employed in
London. It is easier, as we lately remarked, to buy
flour than to buy and grind corn; it is easier to buy
bread than to buy and bake flour. There are, how-
ever, many ingenious contrivances, adapted for emi-
grants, farmers, and private families, whereby corn can
be ground in small quantities as it is wanted. Witness
Lloyd's machine, which grinds and dresses the flour at
once. It is a kind of chest, with a hopper at the top,
and a handle and fly-wheel at the side; the hopper is
filled with corn, the handle is turned, and the process
goes on within. The meal, after being ground, passes
into an inclined cylinder ; revolving brushes within the
cylinder keep the meal in motion ; the heaviest parti-
cles fall lowest; and perforations in the cylinder allow
* Tomlinson, Cyclopædia of Arts.
N 3
I 82 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
fine flour, seconds, pollard, and bran, to fall into four
separate boxes or compartments. The inventors say
that a bushel of wheat, weighing 62 lbs., yields by this
machine 43% lbs. of fine flour, 8% of coarse, and 10 of
pollard and bran. Another hand-machine, by Dray,
will grind 24 lbs. of wheat per hour.
‘Every man his own miller’ is not yet a maxim
received by the world generally; yet attempts have
been made to apply the doctrine in a limited degree to
communities of men. The artisans of Leeds have be-
come millers. During the scarcity of 1847, when flour
was dear, it was determined to save the expense of all
middleman agency, by a more direct system of dealing
between the corn-sellers and the bread-eaters. A few
persons subscribed a fund, leased or purchased an old
flax-mill at Leeds, converted it into a flour-mill, ap-
pointed a committee of management, purchased corn,
ground it into flour, and distributed the flour among
themselves. The scheme did not at first work well;
the committee had no experience as corn-buyers or
corn-grinders; and the state of the law of partnership
hampered their proceedings. They did not despair,
however; they spent 5000l. in the first year, and lost
80l. by it; but they looked for better results after a
little time. The principle of action was, to sell to the
co-operators at or as near the cost-price as possible. To
the main charge for the corn was added a small item
for grinding, and another paid to certain shopkeepers
who took upon themselves the trouble of being distribu-
tors: this total price was less than the ordinary retail
price of flour, perhaps by five per cent. In a period of
C.H. W. CO-OPERATIVE CORN MILLS. 183
about four years, from 1847 to 1851, the co-operators
thus supplied themselves with upwards of 4000 stones of
flour per week on an average, or 850,000 stones alto-
gether. On this quantity they effected a saving of
nearly 4000l., besides obtaining better flour than had
before fallen to their lot. In 1851 their business
amounted to 27,000l. ; and they then began to sell
flour also to the general public, at a small profit. This
extended their operations, which amounted to 70,000l.
in 1853, leaving a clear profit of about 4,400l. At the
end of 1854 the association comprised 3200 members :
they had a small capital in the mill, twelve pairs of
stones, machinery and out-buildings, and six horses and
carts. This is an interesting experiment, based on
frugal forethought among working men. Whether it
would succeed generally, and on a larger scale, is just
one of those questions not yet ripe for Solution.
But to return to London, and its supply of flour.
The technical classification of wheat-flour into ‘firsts,
‘seconds,’ &c., may be thus understood. The firsts are
obtained by sifting the first grinding of wheat through
a sieve of 64 to 80 meshes to an inch ; they constitute
the finest flour, used for pastry, &c. The seconds are
the next quality, sifted through sieves of 50 to 60
meshes in the inch, and intended for ‘household’ or
second-class bread. The thirds, coarser than either of
the other two, are principally used for sea-biscuits and
the coarser varieties of brown bread. The pollard is
the finest kind of bran or husk produced from wheat;
it is used in making sea-biscuits, and for feeding pigs
N 4
184 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
and poultry. This, however, is by no means the only clas-
sification of flour. The truth is, that as there is no limit to
the number of times that a miller may grind his flour if
he so think proper, no limit to the degrees of fineness
in the gauge through which the flour is sifted, no limit
to the number of times that the sifting-process may be
performed — the miller may establish as many grada-
tions of quality as he likes, beginning at the most deli-
cate Gruaux pastry flour, and ending with plain unmis-
takeable bran. Nor does the familiar appellation ‘best
wheaten bread’ really indicate anything concerning the
name of the flour; since the miller may have mixed two
or three different qualities of corn to produce the flour,
or two or three different qualities of flour together after
grinding. The following is one among many detailed
accounts of the quantities and designations of the pro-
duce from the grinding of one quarter, or 8 bushels, or
about 480 lbs. of wheat:—
Fine flour - * tº - 5% bushels
Seconds - * > * - 0# ,
Fine Middlings - gº - 0# ,
Coarse , tºº s - 0# ,
Bran 53 * - * - 3 $ 2
Twentypenny tº mº - 3 39
Pollard *g * gº - 2 5 y
14; ,
So light is the produce, that there are thus about 64
bushels of meal, and 8 of husk, from 8 of wheat.
Another tabulated statement will show how little there
is of a definite character in these designations. In this
case the wheat employed was of rather superior density,
CH. W. FLOUIR AND BRAN. 185
weighing 63 lbs. per bushel, or 504 lbs. instead of
480 lbs. to the quarter:-
Flour sº sº * - 392 lbs.
Fine Middlings º *º- - 10
Toppings or Specks - sº sº 8
Best Pollard - sº-º * - 15
Fine Pollard - gº sº - 18
Eran and coarse Pollard *-* - 50
Loss and Waste * tº - 11
504
In round numbers, this estimate pretty nearly agrees
with the former, that about four-fifths of the wheat,
whether in bulk or in weight (for a bushel of flour
weighs nearly as much as a bushel of wheat) are ob-
tainable in the shape of meal or flour. Into how many
4 lb. or 2 lb. loaves the magic of the baker's act converts
this produce of a quarter of corn, we shall see presently;
but the technical names of the flour and bran are quite
formidable in number — firsts, seconds, thirds, best,
whites, household, middlings, fine middlings, coarse
middlings, toppings, specks, pollard, best pollard, fine
pollard, coarse pollard, twentypenny, bran
There appear to be two principal modes of bringing
corn and meal to London, in casks and in Sacks. The
former is chiefly adopted in respect of foreign supplies,
and the latter of the home market. Large quantities
of American meal are imported in casks or barrels: the
barrels are well made, and present a neat and clean
appearance; yet they are very much out of favour
among London bakers and corn-chandlers. They have
three or four inconveniences: —a barrel cannot, like a
186 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. V.
sack, be folded up and thrown aside when empty, and it
thus remains an incumbrance in a place where room is
scanty ; meal, too, has a tendency to settle down in a
clodded form in barrels — to consolidate indeed, to such
a degree that it requires to be dug out, and sometimes
to be repulverised by rotation in a cylinder; and a
third fault found with the barrels is, that the ‘fast'
Americans occasionally make them of unseasoned wood,
which tends to impart a disagreeable flavour to the meal.
On these grounds the London bakers will not willingly
receive their meal in barrels; and there is thus an opera-
tion frequently going on in the wharfs on the banks of
the Thames, of shooting the meal from barrels into
sacks. The English corn and meal dealers find the
barrels so accumulate on their hands, that they are
glad to get rid of them at very low prices. The
American wheaten flour is of four qualities, and is
packed for shipment, under strict superintendence, in
barrels of 196 lbs. and half-barrels of 98 lbs.
This preference for sacks over barrels naturally leads
to the manufacture of an immense number of the former
in London: the strong canvas of which they are made
being chiefly woven by power-looms at Dundee. There
are large manufactories of sacks and bags in and around
Tooley Street, near the granaries. Persons who are in
the habit of crossing London Bridge betimes in the
morning cannot fail to have seen troops of women laden
with piles of canvas; these women go to the warehouses
for canvas, take it to their own humble homes, sew it
up into sacks, carry the sacks to the warehouses, and
receive a small pittance for their labour. The best
CH. W. PERILS TO THE FLOUR SACKS. 187
sacks are made of hemp ; while for inferior varieties
there is an admixture of jute, a fibrous plant imported
from the East Indies. Some among the recently-in-
vented sewing-machines are said to be making deep
inroads into the avocation of these women; there is
here just the rough sort of work which the machines
seem best able to accomplish.
Strange indeed are the diversities of employments
and arrangements springing out of the supply of food to
London | Who would have thought that, not only is
the making of sacks for corn an extensive branch of
business, but that the protection of these sacks is the
avowed object of a Society P A very curious account
of this system was given a year or two ago in ‘Cham-
bers’ Journal,’ of which the following is an abstract.
It appears that there is much peril to the safety of the
flour-sacks—peril from dishonesty. The sacks are not
charged to the purchaser, but are returnable to the
owner when empty; and herein lies the mischief, for
large numbers of the sacks never find their way back
at all : they evaporate,’ to use the language of the
millers, and go through a new career as bed-sacking,
door-mats, loft-roofing, summer-house wainscoting, and
paper material. There is mention made of a miller who
lost 16,500 sacks in three years and a half, being
one-third of the whole number required for his trade.
When the buyer has made his purchase at Mark Lane,
he receives an order on the wharfinger or granary-
keeper for a certain number of sacks of corn or flour,
the empty sacks to be returned. He is not required to
send them back; but there are persons who carry on
188 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
the singular trade of sack-collectors, some of whom
keep a number of light carts continually driving about
the town and suburbs on this errand. About twenty
or thirty years ago the losses are said to have become
enormous: sometimes collectors were found to be the
wrong-doers; sometimes buyers of corn and flour;
sometimes wharfingers; while there was no want of
temptation from various petty tradesmen and dealers,
who would wink at the means whereby they might
acquire sacks at a very cheap price. The remedy
sought was — not a change in the mode of transacting
business — but the formation of a ‘Sack-Protection
Society.’ The members of this Society pay an annual
sum each, out of which a protecting and prosecuting
agency can be managed. They maintain a policeman
in plain clothes, who surveys the operations of suspected
persons; he acquires a sort of instinctive knowledge of
a flour sack; he knows it again if he happen to see it
doing duty as a potato sack, or — betarred and be-
blackened — as a coal sack. The robberies are lessened,
but not extinguished. A well-made hempen sack,
price about two shillings, may be used as a flour sack
forty or fifty times during an active life of ten years;
but a country miller, who would employ such sacks
about his own mill, has ‘no notion' of sending such to
London, where they are liable to be dishonestly appro-
priated; he will have very mediocre sacks, for he doubts
whether he shall ever see them again. He would con-
consider as a triumph of ingenuity a sack not worth the
Stealing.
Such is this strange episode in the corn and flour
CH. W. BAKERS’ SHOPS. 189
trade of London. Surely it is very uncommercial, to
say the least of it! Why not buy the sack with the
flour, and credit the buyer with the value of such sacks
as he may return to the miller 2
‘Wanted a BAKERY, doing ten to twenty sacks a week.’
Some such advertisement frequently appears in certain
of the London newspapers which circulate principally
among small tradespeople. It illustrates the readiness
wherewith capital, be it great or small in amount, seeks
to find a useful employment for itself in the metropolis;
and also the technical phraseology that by degrees
envelopes every trade and occupation. A bakery doing’
so many sacks a week tells more to the mind of a baker
than any elaborate statement of income and expendi-
ture; knowing how many loaves he can obtain from a
sack of flour, a very simple arithmetic will tell him what
is the status of a shop which is ‘doing’ ten sacks a
week. The 2500 bakers’ shops existing in the me-
tropolis at the present time are all ‘doing” a greater
or lesser number of these sacks; and it is one of the
wonders of our city, although too familiar to attract
much attention, that, be the state of trade bad or good,
and the price of corn high or low, there are always
bakeries enough ‘doing' for all our millions who can
pay for bread. -
How strangely should we feel if the bakers of Lon-
don were placed under such restrictions as those of
Paris | Some would say, when aggrieved by the sto-
ries of alum, and potatoes, and chalk in bread, that it
would be better if our bakers were so controlled; but
190 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
it is not a matter to be so summarily dismissed, when
we consider how much Englishmen wish to be ‘let
alone’ in their daily commercial transactions. The
Paris bakers were placed under government control
many centuries ago, and have never since been freed
therefrom. The weight, the quality, the time of baking
and drawing, all are to a certain extent regulated by
authority. Even the dress of the apprentices is pre-
scribed by law ; and all the bakers are ranked in
classes, according to the quantity of flour they use
daily.
Let it not be supposed that such a system, whatever
may be its advantages, is free from evil. In England a
famine could now scarcely occur; unless, indeed, there
were a deficient harvest in most parts of the world at
one time. In France, however, private enterprise
being rendered in some degree stagnant by government
interference, the food-question becomes more perilous
in times of dearth. Circumstances occurred at Paris in
1853 that brought out many of the defects of the
system. The price or assize of bread is determined
every fifteen days by municipal authority, with refer-
ence to the average price of flour, with the well-meant
intention that the consumer may have the full benefit
of any fall in the price. It happened, however, that
flour became very dear in September, 1853, and the
government, fearing any exasperation on the part of
the people at the high price of bread, compelled the
bakers to charge the same price as before; but as the
bakers could not, of course, stand long against this loss,
the government undertook to reimburse them at some
CH. W. BREAD MAKING IN LONDON. 191
future time. It was not without considerable embar-
rassment that the Imperial Government steered through
that time of difficulty. . Even so late as March, 1855,
the Municipal Council of Paris voted a large sum as
indemnity to the bakers for maintaining the price of
bread at eighty cents for the two-kilogramme loaf, re-
gardless of the high price of corn at the time. The
peculiarity of the system gave in past times a gloomy
appearance to the bakers' shops, which were protected
by a strong grille or iron railing, imparting to them
the appearance of a prison; this system of iron bars was
adopted to prevent the attacks of the populace, who, in
periods of dearth, have on many occasions turned their
fury against the bakers, and pillaged their shops.
The bakers of London, like others engaged in the
preparation of articles of food, have gradually intro-
duced improvements in their art. Among these is the
use of an oven heated by a furnace exterior to it, in-
stead of by fuel introduced into the oven itself. The
following description represents pretty nearly the ge-
neral course of proceeding in the making and baking of
4 lb. and 2 lb. loaves, forming the majority of the bread
consumed in London : — Boiled potatoes are mashed
with a little water, flour, and yeast; and the mass is
left covered up for several hours, to ferment. When
in the proper state, this mixture is brought to a liquid
condition with water, and is strained through a sieve.
The mixture is poured upon or into a mass of flour,
with which it is well mixed by the hands; and the
‘ sponge’ thus produced is allowed to remain several
hours to rise, or ferment. At a particular stage in
192 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
this process the ‘sponge” is softened by water, in which
a little salt and alum have been dissolved, and is mixed
up there with until it forms a kind of paste. Another
portion of flour is then added, and well mixed up with
the paste into dough. After a due amount of knead-
ing, performed in a most primitive and uncouth way,
the dough is separated into portions large enough for
loaves; and in due time these portions are placed in the
oven, where, adhering slightly together, they form one
continuous mass or batch. The “under crust’ is formed
by contact with the heated floor of the oven; the
‘ upper crust’ by the action of the hot air of the oven;
while the ‘crumb’ of the sides is a consequence of the
contact of the several loaves, each one sheltering its
neighbour from the browning effect of the heat. Much
of the difference between common bread and fancy
bread is due to an alteration in the mode of placing the
loaves in the oven. -
Numberless variations occur in the details of the
baking-trade. Take the use of yeast as an ex-
ample. Ale-yeast is good, but too small in quantity
for London requirements; distillers' yeast is also good,
and also too small in quantity; beer-yeast is too bitter;
and there is thus a necessity for employing artificial or
‘patent” yeasts. One kind of patent yeast imported
from Rotterdam is made from malt and rye, treated che-
mically, and converted into a dry mass, having a plea-
Sant fruity smell. Then, again, there are differences in
the quality of the flour used; for although the distinc-
tions between ‘best,’ ‘household,” and “brown' bread
are convenient, they are not so precise as to indicate
CH. W. LONDON BAKERS. 193
exactly the quality of the flour. Different wheats may
have been mixed before grinding; different qualities of
flour may be mixed by the miller; different sacks of
flour may be appealed to by the baker himself; and
differences may be made in the small amount or in the
Kind of the other substances added — even without
suspicion of anything which can justly be deemed adul-
teration. Indeed, as was before remarked, ‘ best
wheaten bread” is by no means a uniform commodity
in London. If there were nothing else to show this,
it would suffice to remember that a difference of two-
pence per 4 lb. loaf is observable at different shops,
albeit for ‘best wheaten.”
There is much that is sad and unsatisfactory in the
condition of those who make bread for the millions of
London. Dr. Guy, in evidence given before a Parlia-
mentary Committee a few years ago, stated that the
London journeymen bakers often work eighteen or
twenty hours a day. Their health is injured by high
temperature; and they become old in constitution
while yet young in days. The master-bakers of Scot-
land are in the habit of employing apprentices, to whom
they pay no wages: these apprentices, when their time
has expired, finding insufficient employment as journey-
men in their own country, come up to London in search
of a living; and this constant accession of young hands
gives rise to a competition which keeps down the posi-
tion of the London bakers. If the bread-eaters will
have ‘hot rolls’ for breakfast and ‘new bread for tea,
the bakers must work at night to prepare the rolls and
loaves; and it thus becomes a contest between the con-
O
194. THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
sumer's wishes on the one hand and the baker's inde-
pendence on the other; the latter gives way, and hence
the poor baker works when others sleep.
That a baking establishment might be differently
planned, is proved by one or two significant examples.
Dr. Lonsdale communicated to the ‘Journal of Public
Health an account of Messrs. Carr's great bakery at
Carlisle, shortly after Dr. Guy had given his evidence.
He found, in a room ninety feet long by about one-
fourth that amount in width, and in subsidiary rooms,
about a hundred persons employed. They were mostly
in good health, – many having recovered from mala-
dies they had contracted in other and less skilfully
managed establishments. Dr. Lonsdale attributed the
good condition and healthy appearance of the men to
four causes: —the airiness of the apartments, the ar-
rangements for cleanliness, the temperate habits of the
men, and the short working hours. In all these points
the men and boys were much more favourably circum-
stanced than the bakers of London; they worked
less than eleven hours per day. Bread and biscuits
they made, but no ‘hot rolls.’
The bread-making processes are, indeed, clumsily
managed in the majority of London establishments.
Whoever has seen the rude and primitive mode in which
dough is kneaded, by a man straddling and wriggling
on the end of a lever or pole, may well marvel that
such uncouthness should not long ago have been super-
seded by something better. Our Parisian neighbours
appear to be somewhat in the same plight as ourselves.
On a recent occasion, M. Payen, a distinguished French
CH. W. TJNSIKILFUL PROCESSES. 195
chemist, made a Report to the Académie Française on
the bread and baking of Paris. He said: “A day
will doubtless come when our descendants, who shall
read the technology of the 19th century, will ask them-
selves whether at this time of industrial progress we
really prepared the chief of our aliments by the rude
way which we now witness — in plunging the arms
into the dough, lifting it up, and crushing it down
with such effort as to exhaust the energy of the half-
naked arms, and make the perspiration run down into
the food; whether at such an epoch the baking was
effected on the very hearth itself from whence the fuel
had just been withdrawn; whether it could be be-
lieved that during these fatiguing operations the chief
part of the heat should seem destined to heat, or rather
to roast, the workmen, than to bake the bread ' " The
Parisian practice is tolerably well marked out in this
passage; but improvements seem to be in progress.
A committee of the Académie, MM. Payen, Poncelet,
and Boussingault, have reported in high terms on a
system invented and patented by M. Rolland, in
which a kneading machine, worked by hand, will
knead a sack of flour into dough in 20 minutes, with
a vast saving of muscular labour.
It is strange that, in the greatest city in the
world, we have nothing that can be called a large
bread-factory. Steam-mills there are on a gigantic
Scale, as has already been noticed ; biscuit-bakeries,
in which steam-power is employed to mix and knead
the dough ; bakers who make frequent changes and
improvements in their ovens; but no establishment
O 2
196 . TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. W.
wherein the plain familiar four-pound loaf is made by
machinery. -
Carlisle has attempted this, if London has not.
The establishment in that city belonging to Messrs.
Carr comprises a finely-built stone structure, in
which steam-power grinds the flour, carries it to the
sifters or dressing machines, dresses it, raises it by
an endless chain of buckets to an upper floor, mixes
and makes the flour into dough, The ovens, built of
stone, and of great thickness, retain so equable a heat
that all the loaves receive an exactly similar tint of
brown — a ‘brown crust’ being in no danger of be-
coming a burnt crust.
Some years ago, a bread-mill was established at
Hinckley in Leicestershire, introducing peculiarities
both in the corn-grinding and in the baking. The
millstones were smaller than usual, and revolved with
much greater rapidity; and all the corn passed through
two pairs of stones, being crushed by the first pair and
ground by the second. The flour was rotated in a sort
of barrel churn, with a stream of water and a stream of
carbonic acid gas, until it became dough. The loaves
made from this dough were transferred to an immense
oven, containing shelves formed of double iron plates;
and steam, circulating in the vacuities between the
respective plates, baked the bread without burning it.
What were the commercial results of this attempt, we
are not aware.
There has been a system established at Birmingham
so remarkable that it is worth noticing here, as a con-
trast to anything observable in the metropolis.
CEI. V. EREAD MILLS. 197
It appears, from a sketch of the system in ‘House-
hold Words,’ that in the year 1795, when wheat was
dear and damp, and flour mouldy and sour, a company
was formed to supply Birmingham with good flour and
good bread. The company struggled against numerous
difficulties, among which was the fierce opposition of
the millers and bakers; but the mill maintained its
ground. When the millers found that they could not
crush the interloper, they made the best of their posi-
tion, and set up town mills of their own; and there
are now six large bread mills in Birmingham. The
Birmingham work-people have the reputation of a spe-
cial liking for buying at the small hucksters’ or chan-
dlers' shops; and thus there are facilities for the main-
tenance of the steam-mill system, which would not be
presented in a city where the inhabitants would rather
purchase bread at a baker's than a huckster's. At one
of the largest of these mills, belonging to Mr. Lucy,
lately Mayor of Birmingham, steam-worked cranes haul
up the Sacks of wheat from a canal to granaries at the
top of the building; steam works fourteen pairs of
millstones to grind the corn; steam mixes the wheat
before grinding, and the flour after grinding; steam
kneads the flour, and water, and yeast, and salt into well-
made dough; and then comes the manipulative pro-
cesses. The bakehouse has tables of large size; and
around its walls are eight ovens of great capacity. The
dough is made into loaves; the loaves are nicely baked
in the ovens; and the baked bread is placed on shelves
in a store-room which will contain 2000 loaves. The
mill sells flour as well as bread. At an early hour
O 3
198 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
in the morning waggons draw up to the mill; they are
filled with loaves, which are quickly conveyed to the
several hucksters’ shops, and the waggoner, or an at-
tendant servant, returns with the ready money. The
huckster sells the bread to the families of the working
men of Birmingham. It is curious, as an indication of
the influence of price on demand, that in dear times
Mr. Lucy finds his bread go off more readily than his
flour, whereas in cheap times the flour sells rapidly;
puddings and pies, and such like, cannot be afforded
when prices are high. It was estimated in 1851 that
the inhabitants of Birmingham, one with another, con-
sumed a sack of flour per head per annum, in bread
and other forms; and that, of this quantity, the ovens
at the various bread-mills baked nearly a quarter, the
ordinary bakers nearly a half, and private ovens the
remainder. Two of the mills have each frequently
sent out 500 sacks of flour per week, in the form of
well-made, well-baked, unadulterated bread.
Whether, and how soon, we shall see a London
bakery ‘doing 500 sacks a week, the future must
show.
The inhabitants of the metropolis are not biscuit-
eaters, unless in holiday fashion, and in small quan-
tities. Nevertheless, the manufacture is conducted on
a scale of considerable magnitude, chiefly for the sup-
ply of shipping. Mr. Braithwaite Poole states that the
various railway companies carried 6000 tons of ‘fancy’
biscuits in three years, to and from various parts of
the United Kingdom. He roughly estimates the quan-
tity of sea-biscuits made annually at 60,000 tons, or
CH. W. BISCUIT IMILLS. 199
124 millions of pounds. This estimate was, how-
ever, made in peaceful times, when our soldiers were
living in barracks, and our navy was maintained on a
peace establishment; it tells very little concerning the
enormous demand when sailors and soldiers have to be
Supplied abroad at sea. Stupendous, indeed, is the
biscuit-trade in war-time. The government biscuit
establishments at Plymouth and elsewhere are on an
immense scale, and adequate to the supply of enor-
mous quantities in a brief space of time, machinery
being employed in almost every part of the operations.
None of the government bakeries, probably, have
adopted the remarkable arrangement of oven invented
by M. Rolland in France. In his patented oven,
there is a cast-iron floor, covered with tiles; this
floor can be raised or lowered by means of a vertical
axis, to vary the internal capacity of the oven; and
it has also a rotatory movement around this axis.
The fireplace is built in masonry under the floor;
and the heated air and smoke circulate around the
top and bottom and sides of the oven. Any kind
of fuel, it is said, can be used; and the heat is greatly
economised. The floor is made to revolve while the
oven is being filled, insomuch that each part may in
time be brought opposite the oven-door. There is a
Small window or peep-glass in the ovendoor, which,
with the aid of a jet of gas, enables the baker to watch
the progress of his batch while baking.
In relation to the supply of ordinary loaves of bread
to London, there are many minor but interesting
O 4
200 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
points concerning weight and quality. It has been
mentioned, in the Historical Sketch, that an assize on
bread existed for many centuries ; indeed it was in
force in London from 1266 till 1815. The power of
establishing an assize still exists in some other towns;
but it is seldom enforced, the prevailing custom in
England now being to avoid any artificial interference
with price. It was found, during the early years of
the present century, that in towns where no assize was
appointed the price of bread was generally lower than
in the assize towns; and this fact was mainly instru-
mental in bringing the assize system into disfavour.
The old assize acts used to determine, that a sack of
flour must weigh 280 lbs., and must produce 80 quart-
ern loaves. Practically, the number was sometimes less
than 80, and sometimes rose as high as 86; for dif-
ferent qualities of flour differ greatly in bread-making
power. A quartern loaf loses more than half a pound
in baking; and even when baked and cold, one-fifth
of its weight consists of water. Good flour absorbs
more water than bad, new flour more than old; and
thus there are many circumstances which influence the
weight of bread obtainable from a given weight of
flour. Under the old assize, loaves of bread were per-
mitted to vary under three sizes and three qualities.
The legal weight of the quartern loaf was 4 lb. 5% oz. ;
so that 128 quarterns were equal to 139 of the present
4 lb. loaves, or about 12 to 13. Since the Bread Act
of 1836 *, bakers have been permitted to make bread
of any kinds or mixtures of corn, and in loaves of any
• 6 & 7 Will.4 c. 37.
CEI. V. WEIGHT OF FLOUIR AND BREAD. 20%
size; they must, however, sell by avoirdupois weight,
except in relation to rolls and ‘fancy’ bread. All
‘ unwholesome ingredients are prohibited, under
penalty —a very proper prohibition, but difficult, it
would seem, to enforce.
A writer in the ‘Farmer's Magazine’ some years
ago", who claimed to be tolerably well acquainted with
the trading relations between the farmer, the miller,
and the baker, stated that a quarter of wheat will
yield on an average 6 bushels of flour; that a baker
generally produces 94 quartern loaves from a sack of
flour; that as a sack of flour contains 5 bushels, and
as a quarter of wheat yields 6, the number of quartern
loaves produced from a quarter of wheat is about 113.
But the paper was written during a period of tran-
sition; and it is not certain whether the writer re-
ferred to the old-fashioned ‘quartern or the more
modern ‘four-pound 'loaves.
A correspondent of the ‘Times” (Oct. 26th, 1855),
when best wheat was 84s. and medium at 72s., gave
an array of figures to prove that, at those prices, the
4 lb. best loaf ought to be sold at 9d. and the ‘se-
conds’ at 7#d. ; 96 4 lb. loaves being made from a
sack of flour. These prices were 1%d. below the cur-
rent prices of the day; and the millers and bakers
would doubtless have picked some holes in his arith-
metic.
Another estimate depends on an attempt to deter-
mine the proper ratio between the weights of different
kinds of corn, meal, and bread. A writer f assumes
* Wol vii. p. 430. ºf Farmer's Magazine, 1842.
202 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
that a bushel each of wheat, barley, rye, oats, beans,
and peas, is selected; that each bushel has a certain
definite weight; that a definite weight of flour or meal
ought to be obtained from it; and that a definite weight
of bread should be produced from the meal. His
numbers run thus : —

Weight per Weight of Weight of
Bushel. Meal. Bread.
lbs. Ibs. Ibs.
Wheat - ę. tº 60 48 64
Barley - tº *- 48 37% 50
Rye * :- * 54 - 42 56
Oats * tº- {- 40 22} 30
Beans - tº tº 60 51 68
Peas ſº * ſº 60 51 68
So far as wheat and flour are concerned, this corresponds
with the flour-produce at one of the steam-mills; where,
on grinding a bushel of wheat weighing 60lbs., there
were produced 48lbs. of flour and 12 lbs. of pollard and
bran. A bushel of wheat, it thus appears, should yield
about sixteen 4 lb. loaves. -
The quantity of bread produced from a given weight
of flour is not more important than the quality —
concerning which there are one or two curious queries.
It certainly seems desirable, in view of the enormous
quantity of bread consumed daily in London, that
medical men, as well as consumers, could come to a
Satisfactory conclusion on the questions— White or
Brown 2 Fermented or Unfermented 2 The number of
persons has largely increased within the last few years,
who resolutely maintain that brown bread is more
wholesome than white, – flour and bran more whole-
aſ y.
CH. W. WHITE AND BROWN BREAD. 203
some than flour without bran. Omitting, even, all
mention of the alum which is alleged to be employed
to whiten most London bread, there are chemical virtues
in bran which we are bidden not to disregard. Cap-
tains of ships have declared that where, in exceptional
cases, sea-biscuits have been made entirely of white
flour without bran, the sailors have become weaker and
less healthy than when dieted on their ordinary biscuits.
There are warm advocates, too, of unfermented bread,
made simply of meal, water, and a little salt. They
say that fermented bread has a tendency to ferment a
Second time in the stomach, and thus bring on acidity
and other inconveniences. It is an opinion held by
Dr. R. D. Thomson that if bread can be “raised, so
as to be rendered digestible, without fermentation, it
retains the sugar of the meal, and incurs less loss than
by fermentation with yeast. As an experiment, he
* raised or lightened some bread by means of hydro-
chloric acid and carbonate of soda instead of yeast, and
another batch by means of yeast; he produced 107
loaves from a sack of flour in the former case, and only
100 in the latter. The same authority points to the
facts that barley-bread, oat-bread, peas-bread, and
potato-bread, all unfermented, prove to be healthy food
for sturdy Scotchmen; that the Jew does not appear
to suffer from eating the unleavened cakes during his
Passover; that the biscuits so largely consumed by
seamen are unfermented; that unleavened bread is
often recommended to the sick by physicians; and that
the inhabitants of the northern parts of India and Aff-
ghanistan very generally make use of unfermented
204 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
cakes, similar to Scotch ‘scones.’ The inquiry is im-
portant, too, in a monetary sense; if the statement
be correct which was made by Dr. Maclagan before the
Glasgow meeting of the British Association in 1855
—that a sack of flour will make 100; 4 lb. loaves of
unfermented bread, agrinst 94% of fermented.
This is certainly a matter worthy of notice; for, as
has been remarked by one of our chemists, if un-
leavened bread would suffice, then our bakers need not
work all night in an unwholesome heated atmosphere.
But fashion is a tyrant. A Londoner deems it deroga-
tory to his position, and a sign of poverty, if he do not
eat ‘best wheaten 'bread; whereas many chemists, as
just observed, affirm that brown bread really contains
more nutriment. In 1847, when the 4 lb. loaf cost
from 11d. to 13d, in the metropolis, and when the Queen
is reported to have adopted the use of brown bread in
the royal household, as an example to her subjects, Mr.
Towers wrote an essay on the qualities of brown bread,
embodying the views of Professor Johnston and other
eminent chemists; and the subject has been frequently
written upon since. The assertion respecting the ex-
cellence of brown bread rests simply on this ground:
that brown bread contains more than white of the con-
stituents which make up bone, muscle, and fat—which
make up man, in fact, considering him as a chemical
product. If wheat be ground with the husk or bran,
it is browner than the pure flour, but contains more
nutriment. Professor Johnston presents it in the fol-
lowing curious form. Supposing there to be 1000 lbs.
CH. W. MIXED MEAL FOR BREAD. 205
of flour, it produces, according as it is mixed or fine,
the subjoined weights of living animal substance: —
Mixed Flour. Fine Flour.
lbs. lbs. ,
Muscular Material tº - 156 130
Fat gº * ſº – 28 20
Bone Material - Eº - 170 60
354 210
This table is certainly a remarkable one, tending to
show, so far as chemical analysis is concerned, the ad-
vantages resulting from the use of brown or household
bread. Majendie has stated that animals die in a few
weeks when fed only upon fine flour, but live long upon
mixed flour. Professor Johnston says, “We give our
servants household bread, while we live on the finest of
the wheat ourselves;” but the servants, according to
him, have the best of it; for while “ the mistress eats
that which pleases the eye more, the maid eats what
sustains and nourishes the body better.”
A union of different kinds of flour or meal is recom-
mended by many chemists and physicians; and our
Scottish neighbours can poke a little fun at the Lon-
doners, in relation to the question — oatmeal or flour P
Professor Johnston tells us that oats contain more
muscular matter, more fatty matter, more farinaceous
matter—in fact, more nutritious matter altogether —
than wheat; whereupon Blackwood gives the Londoners
a bit of raillery in the following style:– “What do
you say to this, Mr. Cockney P You wont pity us,
Scotch oatmeal-eaters, any more, we guess. Experience
and science are both on our side. What makes your
206 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
race-horses the best in the world, may be expected to
make our peasantry the best too. We offer you, there-
fore, a fair bet. You shall take English ploughmen,
and ſeed them upon two pounds and a half of wheaten
flour a day, and we shall take as many Scotch plough-
men, and feed them upon the same weight of oatmeal a
day — if they can eat so much, for that is doubtful; we
shall back our men against yours for any sum you like.
They shall walk, run, work—or fight you, if you like :
and they shall thrash you to your hearts' content. We
should like to convince you that Scotch parritch has
some real solid metal in it. We back the oat-cake and
the parritch against all the wheaten messes in the
world. We defy your home-made bread, your bakers’
bread, your household bread, your leaven bread, and
your brown Georges, your fancy bread, and your raisin-
bread, -your baps, rolls, Scones, muffins, crumpets, and
cookies—your bricks, biscuits, bakes, and rusks—
your Bath-buns and your Sally Lunns—your tea-cakes,
and saffron-cakes, and slim cakes, and plank-cakes, and
pan-cakes, and seed-cakes, and girdle-cakes, and singing-
hinnies—your short bread and your currant-buns; and
if there be any other names by which you designate
your wheaten abominations, we defy and detest them
all. We swear by the oat-cake and the parritch, the
substantial bannock and the brose; long may Scotland
produce them, and Scotchmen live and fight upon
them l’ All very well; but we wonder whether Black-
wood himself (supposing Blackwood to personify a
Scotchman) avoids wheat and sticks to the oat?
The Germans frequently make bread of wheat-flour
CH. W. BREAD ADULTERATION. 207
and beet-root: the white beet-root being the best, the
red the next in quality, and the common mangel-wurzel
the worst, for this purpose. Parsnips, also, are occa-
sionally mixed with flour to make bread. Indeed there
is no end to the varieties that might he produced; but
whether Londoners would eat them, is another question.
Before quitting the daily bread' of London, it may
be well to say a few words concerning an unpleasant
subject — the alleged adulteration of bread. Such
adulteration is practised, there is no doubt; but pos-
sibly not to so great a degree as to justify the alarm
sometimes manifested. Mr. Mitchell, in his work on
Adulteration, states, that on one occasion he purchased
ten 4lb. loaves, and found that they contained, one with
another, 82 grains of alum in each, equal to llb. of
alum in making a sack of flour into 92 loaves. This
does not seem a very glaring fraud. The ‘Lancet’
analytical commissioners make the following observa-
tions, resulting from their inquiries on this subject: —
“The adulteration with alum and ‘stuff’ is prac-
tised with a two-fold object; first, to render flour of a
bad colour and inferior quality white and equal in
appearance to flour of superior quality; and secondly,
to enable the flour to retain a larger proportion of water,
by which the loaf is made to weigh heavier. Some
bakers buy rock-alum in powder, and mix it up in
certain proportions with salt; the majority, however,
make use of an article known in the trade as ‘hards’ or
‘ stuff.” This consists of a mixture of alum and salt.
It is kept in bags holding from a quarter to a cwt. ; it
is sold by the druggist, who supplies either the baker or
208 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.
the corn-chandler. The latter again, in some cases,
furnishes the baker with it from time to time as he may
require. In country towns and villages the baker is
put to considerable trouble to procure his supply of
‘stuff; for as he is unwilling that his friends and neigh-
bours should know that he makes use of such an article
in his bread, he generally contrives to procure it of a
druggist living some miles away from his own town.
On a Saturday, a druggist in good business will have
several applications in the course of the evening for
alum, ‘hards,’ and ‘stuff!” y
There has been much battling, pro and con, in relation
to the use of alum in London bread. The bakers in
general do not like to admit that the practice is much
followed; and yet chemists assert that the alum is really
to be found in the loaves. The ‘Lancet’ commissioners
analysed 49 samples of London bread; they found alum
in all; but they found nothing else that could justly be
termed adulterants — a fact certainly satisfactory ;
for various kinds of queer substances have often been
supposed to exist in our bread. There is one state-
ment, however, not quite so satisfactory to read; the
commissioners bought bread — new and stale, 41b. and
2lb. loaves—of thirteen London bakers, equal to thirty-
two 4lb. loaves in all; and they found that there was a
deficiency of weight amounting to 2% oz. on each average
4lb. loaf. Two ounces and a half out of sixty-four
ounces may not be much ; but still it is a ‘turn of the
scale’ not easily to be justified. London families do
not, as a rule, see their bread weighed; it is just possible
that a reform in this matter might be useful.
CH. W. OATMEAL ADULTERANTS, 209
Who would have thought that the London work-
houses, supported by rates paid by housekeepers, con-
ducted on a large scale, and frequently visited by medi-
cal men, would, in some cases, be provided with adul-
terated oatmeal among the store of provisions P In the
year 1849 Dr. Fane and Mr. Grainger made a report
to the Board of Health concerning the internal economy
of the workhouses or poor-houses of the metropolis;
from which it appears that, during their visits to
different workhouses, the observations made led to a
Suspicion that the genuineness of the oatmeal Sup-
plied could not be relied on. “In several of these esta-
blishments we found that what is called ‘round oatmeal,
or oatmeal coarsely ground, is preferred, because it is
more difficult to adulterate this description than the fine
oatmeal. In two instances it was also stated to us that
oatmeal has been recently supplied which was of an ob-
jectionable quality; and one individual, having a large
number of paupers under his care, for some years before
he was led to abandon the use of oatmeal altogether,
was in the habit of procuring it direct from Scotland,
he having found it difficult to obtain good meal in
London. Further inquiries have satisfied us that,
although the oatmeal sold in the wholesale market
comes up to London pure and unadulterated, it is liable
to subsequent adulteration. Instances have been men-
tioned to us in which oatmeal has been sold by retail
dealers at the same price as that paid to the first sellers,
and yet with a considerable profit.”* This is one of
the black spots in the theory of cheapness; if a retailer
* Report, p. 24.
P
210 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. W.
offer to sell a commodity at wholesale price, the world
shows a tendency to rush to the purchase at once, with-
out pausing to consider whether bad quality or short
measure be not a necessary concomitant of such a
tempting offer.
All the various kinds of meal appear to be occasion-
ally subject to adulteration. Of the two principal varie-
ties, oatmeal and wheatmeal or flour, the former has just
been adverted to ; and flour has yielded some unpleasant
resultants to chemical analysis — such as potato-flour,
gypsum, crushed bones, bean-flour, pea-flour, rye-flour,
powdered chalk, and rice-flour. The ‘Lancet’ com-
missioners, however, give a moderately fair character to
London flour; they state that out of 44 specimens ex-
amined, the adulteration presented itself only in a few
samples, and to a small extent. Oatmeal obtains from
them a worse verdict than flour; it being about twice
the price of barley-meal, the latter is often used as an
adulterant; out of 30 samples examined, about half were
thus Sophisticated. Arrowroot, another kind of meal
somewhat largely consumed, is found to be frequently
adulterated with potato-flour.
Such are the manifold aspects under which is pre-
sented to us the commercial philosophy of that most
important member of the London commissariat — the
BIG LOAF.
CH, VI, ANIMAL EOOD. 2]. 1
CHAPTER VI.
CATTLE AND CATTLE-MARKETS FOR LONDON.
Aggregate of our national Live Stock. — Cattle Shows, their Objects
and Results. – Rearing of Live Stock as a commercial Under-
taking. — Increasing Consumption of Foreign Cattle. — Smithfield
as the great Cattle Market for the Metropolis. – A Hundred Years
of Complaint against the old Market. — Warious projected Improve-
ments in past Times.—Picture of Smithfield on a Market Day. —
Graziers, Salesmen, Drovers, and Butchers. — Mode of conducting
the Dealings. – Extent of the Annual Sales. – Railway Contribu-
tions to our Cattle Supply. — Great Christmas Sales at Smithfield.—
Prices and Value of London Cattle. — Recent Schemes for Im-
proving Smithfield. —Islington Cattle Market. — Final Closing of
Smithfield Market in 1855. — Planning and Formation of the new
Market in Copenhagen Fields. – Description of the new Market.
|UNTIL the ‘ROAST BEEF OF OLD ENGLAND’ shall
cease to be one of the ‘institutions’ of the country — one
of the characteristics whereby foreigners believe, at any
rate, that they may judge us as a nation — butchers'
meat will continue to be (with the exception of bread) the
chief article in our commissariat; the ox will continue
to be the chief animal among those devoted to the
table; and the cattle market will continue to be the
chief of our food-marts in the metropolis. Little does
it now import whether theorists may by and by settle
the controversy for or against animal food as contrasted
with vegetable; the meat-eating propensity is a fact,
and a great fact, among our metropolitan millions;
and as such we must treat it. None of the battles
P 2
212 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. VI.
fought by the legislature with the corporation of
London, within the last few years, has been more
toughly contested than the meat battle, in so far as the
cattle market is connected with it; and the whole con-
troversy has shown how important the subject has be-
come in London. -
An estimate has been given by Mr. Braithwaite
Poole * concerning the number of live stock existing at
one time in Great Britain. He supposes that, in the
present day, an average ox may weigh about 670 lb., an
average sheep 84 lb., and an average porker or a bacon
hog 168 lb. Then the number, the total live weight,
the average prices of 1851, and the total value, stand
thus in his tabular statement:—
Cattle. Sheep. Pigs.
Number - 4,200,000 28,500,000 1,500,000.
Total weight 1,250,000 tons 1,017,857 tons 112,500 tons.
Price each # 9 25s. 50s.
Total value 37,800,000l. 35,625,000l. 3,750,000l.
If there be tolerable correctness in the estimate some-
times made, that about one-fourth of the total number
are killed for food every year, the above figures would
lead to a conclusion that 20,000,000l. is about the
market value of the cattle, sheep, and pigs sold and
killed in Great Britain annually. A rough estimate
has been made, that all the agricultural and grazing
stock consumed annually in Great Britain has a value of
150 millions sterling, and that the capital sunk in pro-
ducing it amounts to 230 millions.
But all such estimates must be received with caution;
* Statistics of British Commerce.
CEI. VI. LIVE STOCK IN GREAT BRITAIN. 213
for they clash sadly one with another. Mr. M'Culloch
— after expressing an opinion that British live stock,
consequent on improved methods of rearing, have
doubled in average weight per head in a century and a
half— supposes that our average ox now weighs 800 lb.,
a calf 140lb., a sheep 80 lb., and a lamb 50 lb. He
moreover estimates the total number of cattle in Great
Britain in 1846 at about 5,600,000 (4,500,000 in Eng-
land and Wales alone). This estimate, it will be seen,
is considerably above that of Mr. Poole, both in the
weight and the number of the cattle. The London
cattle-salesmen agree rather with Mr. Poole than with
Mr. M*Culloch, regarding the average weight of the ox.
Thisis one of the matters adverted to in the Introductory
Chapter, showing how vague must necessarily be our
estimates on such a subject, until a system of national
statistics shall have been established. However, re-
garding London, we are fortunately better provided
with data, as will presently be seen.
The annual CATTLE-SHOWS in London and elsewhere
afford the means of judging whether, and in what
direction, improvements have been wrought during the
preceding twelve months. The monstrously-fattened *
animals are often erroneously estimated. So far as re-
spects the creatures themselves, they are certainly
rather to be pitied than otherwise; for a pig so fat that
he can neither see out of his eyes nor stand upon his
legs, and who is furnished with a block of wood to
support his snout for fear of suffocation among the
straw of his litter, must have rather a burdensome life
of it. Nevertheless the motive of the breeders and
P 3
214 TEIR FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
feeders is a judicious one. In estimating the value and
excellence of live stock, breed, contour, age, the nature
of the diet, its quantity, and the time of fattening — are
all taken into consideration; and hence an over-accu-
mulation of fat might be regarded simply in the light of
a test by which the properties of such and such breeds
are tried. An ox is fattened for exhibition to show how
vegetable food may best be converted into beef.
Those who visit the Smithfield Cattle Show with
nothing more than a curiosity to see the fattened stock,
will bring away no other ideas than such as relate to the
number of inches of fat by which the ribs of the animals
are covered; but there is much information to be picked
up, even by one who has nothing to do with grazing or
butchering. Let us take the show of December 1855 as
an example. There were 113 cattle, 261 sheep, and
64 pigs exhibited. The visitor would observe that the
cattle were catalogued singly, but that the sheep and
pigs were mostly catalogued in ‘pens’ or groups of
three each, all three of each “pen’ being of the same
age, and competing collectively for a medal or a prize.
He would observe that the exhibitors adopt three desig-
nations for the chief kinds of cattle, viz., “ Devons,’
‘Herefords,” and ‘Short Horns;’ while Highland
Scots,’ ‘ Galloway Scots,’ ‘Irish,’ ‘Welsh,’ ‘Pure Long
Horns,’ and ‘Mixed Breeds,’ are other names for cattle.
Hémight learn that these kinds can in a little time be
recognised by their external appearance; for instance,
that the “Devons’ have long horns and rather glossy
brown coats; that the ‘Herefords, also long horns, are
larger than the Devons, and have much white mixed
}
CH. W.I. CATTLE-SEIOWS. 215
with the brown; that the ‘Short Horns” are very diver-
sified in colour; and that black cattle are chiefly of the
* Scotch' breed. He would further see that the animals
were classified into groups, not only according to the
breed, but according as they were steers, oxen, heifers,
or cows, and according as they were under three years
old, between three and four, or over four. Concerning
the food of the animals, the visitor would also learn a
little; for although no restrictions were placed on the
kind or quantity of food, the judges required “that the
kind or kinds of food should be certified.” This food,
it would be seen, has a wide range in variety — five
sorts of meal — oat, barley, bean, pea, and linseed;
three kinds of root—turnip, carrot, and mangel-wurzel;
grass of various kinds; hay, straw, and clover; vetches,
oil-cake, and prepared linseed; and small quantities of
miscellaneous articles;—but it would be seen that grass,
hay, turnips, oil-cake, and some kind of meal, have
been components in the food of nearly all the cattle ex-
hibited. And although it affords no information con-
cerning the ages of cattle brought to London on ordinary
market days, it might not be wholly valueless to know
that the average age of all the cattle exhibited was 50%
months. The Parisians, in their cattle-shows about
Easter, have in recent years given the names of ‘ Oncle
Tom,’ ‘Bomarsund,’ and ‘Sebastopol’ to the prize ox
— we have not yet risen to the dignity of thus naming
our choice bullocks. - -
Again, the sheep and pigs might be made to furnish
a few items of knowledge, either by their appearance
or by the mode of cataloguing them. The inquiring
P 4
216 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. VI.
visitor would have seen that the sheep were “Long-
woolled Leicesters,” “Long-woolled other than Leices-
ters, ‘Crossbreeds,' ‘Southdowns, and ‘Short-woolled '
other than Southdowns; that some were “under
22 months, others ‘between 22 and 34 months,”
and others of greater age; that the Leicesters are
rough-looking, the Shropshires dirty-looking, and the
Southdowns clean-looking; and if he took an average of
the catalogued ages of all the sheep exhibited, he would
have found this average to be about twenty-two months.
Again, our supposed visitor would have seen that the
pigs were classified according to age — between 13
and 26 weeks, between 26 and 52 weeks, between 12
and 18 months, and over 18 months; that the average
age of the porcine stock was 103 months; and that the
food with which the animals had been fattened com-
prised a remarkable variety of delectable viands —
barley-meal, peas, skim-milk, pollard, whey, barley,
tailings of wheat, potatoes, coarse middlings, chats,
oat-meal, pea-meal, bean-meal, bran, stale milk, sharps,
turnips, mangel-Wurzel, dry beans, hay tea, wash,
toppings, offal, cabbage, brewers’ grains, and dairy
slops.
But this is not all. The Smithfield Cattle Show
displays at one view all the improvements the past
year had brought forward in agricultural implements
and processes. While the graziers and butchers are
admiring, and feeling, and pinching, and measuring
the exhibited animals, the farmers are deeply absorbed
in the relative merits of Crosskill, Deane and Dray,
CH. VI. STOCK-REARING. 217
Ransome, Garrett, Clayton, Wedlake, and other cele-
brated makers.
Teeming as she is with a busy population, all these
matters are becoming deeply interesting to England.
Whatever may be the facilities for imports from abroad,
she is commercially and socially interested in knowing
how much live stock is reared at home, whether it in-
creases in number, whether the animals increase in size
and weight, whether the flesh improves in quality, and
whether the rearing and feeding are better managed
than formerly.
The conversion of vegetable food into flesh is not
more surprising as a specimen of Nature's bountiful
work, than important in relation to the well-being of
man. What species of animal will most economically
convert vegetable produce into meat fitted for the
butcher ? Some give the verdict in favour of swine,
while others would rather select sheep. The cottager
estimates very highly the omnivorous qualities of his
pig, manifested as they are by the disappearance of all
sorts of waste and offal, thus rendering the purchase of .
food scarcely necessary. Not only does the hog eat
offal, but he produces less offal than the ox or the
sheep; that is, the Offal, or rejected part of the slaugh-
tered animal, bears to the whole living weight a less
ratio in the hog than in the ox or sheep. Mr. Morton,
an authority on these subjects, states” that the propor-
tion of offal to carcass, in a well-reared hog, is often not
more than 1 to 2, or that the offal is only one-third of
the live weight; while in the sheep the offal amounts to
* Agricultural Society's Journal, vol. X.
218 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
nearly one-half the live weight, and in the ox frequently
to more than a half. Mr. Morton thinks that a fair
average ox, ready for the butcher, may be expected to
yield about 55 per cent. of the live weight in carcass,
and 45 per cent, offal. Sheep, according to the same
authority, convert vegetables into meat somewhat more
profitably than oxen; a winter's experience gave him
1 lb. of mutton for every 150 lb. of turnips consumed
by the sheep. The word ‘carcass’ implies bone as well
as flesh; it includes all the ‘meat' sold by the butcher
at so much per pound.
The fine fat bullocks for London are, as has been
before stated, frequently fattened in districts other than
those in which they were reared. The Scotch cattle,
for instance, are often fattened in Suffolk and Norfolk.
But this is not all. When Mr. Youatt wrote his work
on ‘Cattle,’ he calculated that at that time there were
from 6000 to 7000 head of cattle fattened in and about
London, within the precincts of various brewers' and
distillers’ establishments. There are certain kinds of
refuse collected in those places which are very valuable
for such a purpose. The cattle fattened by means of
distillers’ grains take very little green food, hay, or oil-
cake; rough clover chaff, mixed with the solid and
liquid refuse of the distillery, seems to suffice for
fattening up the animals to the point required by the
butcher.
The artisans of London would probably show them-
selves more dainty respecting cow-beef than the nobles
of many countries. Cow-beef is regarded with some
little contempt in the metropolis; yet cow-beef there
CH. VI. CALF-FATTENING. 219
must be, and is, in some form or other; for the owner
of a cow is not likely to forget that the flesh of the
animal is still beef, although perchance not fine beef.
The great dairies in the vicinity of London con-
tain many hundred cows each ; there is a period at
which the daily yield of milk becomes less in value
than the daily consumption of fodder; and at this crisis in
his trading career, therefore, the dairyman must decide
whether to kill, or to sell, or to fatten for the shambles.
At the establishments in question there are stalls in
which the cows are fattened on grains, clover-chaff, oil-
cake, and other rich food; the food, in effect, is made
to produce flesh instead of milk; and at length the
animal reaches the shambles.
The fattening of calves for the London market is a
distinct branch of grazing operations. Whether to
convert the milk of cows into butter or cheese, into
veal or pork, is a question determined in a great mea-
sure by the vicinity of a large town. Before railways
were formed, the food-markets were so much governed
by the circumstance of distance, that the whole country
round London was easily separable into zones or annu-
lar belts, in which the different operations of milking,
calf and lamb fattening, butter-making, cheese-making,
and pork-fattening, were respectively carried on. Milk-
ing, for the supply of the metropolis, was carried on
within a circuit of six or eight miles, either by cow-
Reepers in the vicinity, or by farmers who sent the milk
in large upright tin cans by spring vans, to the retailers
in town. Beyond, and surrounding this zone, was the
veal and lamb suckling district, extending from ten to
220 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
thirty miles; while still farther off was the fresh-
butter district, whence heavy, broad-wheeled waggons
brought the butter to London.*
Railways, as noticed in a former chapter, have
wrought great changes in these as in other matters;
but the calf-fattening is probably conducted on nearly
the same plan now as twenty years ago. The calf-
fattener keeps several cows, whose milk is appropriated
to the fattening, and whose quality is selected with
especial reference to their milk. Each cow suckles her
own calf, and also another calf if the milk be sufficiently
abundant. In about ten weeks the calf becomes ‘prime
veal;’ it weighs perhaps 17 to 20 stone of 8 lb. each
(120 lb. to 160 lb.). A calf grows and fattens more
rapidly after it is ten weeks old than before, and also
requires less milk to maintain it in a course of improve-
ment; but the meat is more choice, and the price ob-
tainable higher at about the age of ten weeks than
when older: hence it becomes a commercial question
to calf-fatteners at what age it is most profitable to
bring the animals to market. The calf-fatteners are
supplied with stock by a class of men called calf-dealers,
who travel in carts built for the purpose into the dairy
districts and buy up all the calves to be disposed of.
The system may have been affected by the introduction
of railways; but some years ago the calf-dealers at-
tended at Smithfield, and bought calves from the Lon-
don dairymen. These calves were sold to the fatteners
at prices varying frem 20s. to 35s, when the animal
was perhaps about a week old; and nine weeks after-
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, 1835.
f
CEI, WI. SHEEP-REARING. 22]
wards the fatted calves would command a price of 4l.
to 5l. at the London markets, thence to be speedily
converted into veal.
Our proud little country is not content with the pro-
duction of ‘prime beef and veal; she claims in addi-
tion the merit of producing — if not the finest mutton
in the world — mutton that has, at any rate, no supe-
rior. The plans and experiments of the sheep-farmer
are guided in a remarkable way by the never-ceasing
demand for good mutton and good wool. Which will
pay best, wool or mutton? Will a system of rearing
that leads to the formation of good and abundant
wool also lead to the formation of prime butcher's
meat? and if not, which should be sacrificed to the
other? These are questions of most potent meaning
to the sheep-farmer, and are not forgotten in any esti-
mate of improvements in the breed of sheep. All that
we hear concerning the merino and the alpaca relates
to the wool; but it would appear, from the general
state of the markets, that mutton rather than wool has
been the object of the English sheep-farmer's attention
during the last half-century. Mr. Bakewell, the great
“improver’ of sheep, candidly acknowledged that, in
improving the mutton, he lowered the quality of the
wool.
Another animal, a contributor to the London din-
ner-tables, which has been made the subject of experi-
ments and improvements, is the pig. The pig, it ap-
pears, is not too obstinate to be ‘improved.” Mr.
Fisher Hobbs, of Boxstead in Essex, has the repu-
tation of having introduced the improved breed of
222 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
black pigs, now largely reared for the London mar-
Ret. They are of rather small size, and of somewhat
delicate appearance, remarkable for early maturity and
fineness of flesh ; at the age of three months they
weigh about 50 lb., and increase about 20 lb. per
month for six or eight months. Mr. Caird * describes
an Essex farm in which pigs of this kind are reared
but not bred; the farmer buys pigs at about 18s,
each, feeds them for five weeks, and then sells them
for the London market. They are fed on meal of dif-
ferent kinds, and sometimes on boiled Indian corn.
The modern improver of the porcine breed may per-
haps hardly be aware that his labours have been duly ho-
noured in a popular tale. Mr. Kingsley, in ‘West-
ward Ho!’ compares John Brimblecombe to “A Fisher
Hobbs pig of twelve stone on his hind legs — that
was what he was, and nothing else; and, if you do not
know, reader, what a Fisher Hobbs is, you know no-
thing about pigs, and deserve no bacon for breakfast.”
The Fisher Hobbs is further characterised as “A pig
of self-helpful and serene spirit, fatting fast, while
other pigs’ ribs are staring through their skins.”
There is (or was lately, for sanitary improvers
ought to have removed it ere this) an extraordinary
piggery at Kensington, which supplied part of the
London demand. Dr. Sunderland, of the Board of
Health, described it as a group of wretched tenements,
known as ‘The Potteries,’ inhabited by a population
of 1000 or 1200 persons, all engaged in the rearing of
pigs; the pigs usually outnumbered the people three
* English Agriculture, p. 140.
CH, WI. SWINE-REARING. 223
to one, and had their sties mixed up with the dwelling-
houses; some of the pigs lived in the houses and even
under the beds. -
It would, perhaps, be difficult to say whether Lon-
doners, in ratio of population, were more or less pork-
eaters in past days than at present; but the balance
of evidence seems to be in favour of the former view,
because pigs were more cheaply reared in the forest days
than at present. The New Forest in Hampshire still
supplies a portion of swine-food. Bloomfield” pictures
the happy pigs in their forest abode in his days: —
“From oak to oak they run with eager haste,
And, wrangling, share the first delicious taste
Of fallen acorns, yet but thinly found
Till the strong gale has shook them to the ground.”
It may perchance appear strange to an inhabitant of
London to learn that, in a place So near town as the
western slope of the hill on which Sydenham Crystal
Palace is now situated, and at a time no longer back
than the middle of the seventeenth century, Norwood
was described as a place where the inhabitants of Croy-
don had a right to all kinds of herbage and mastage
for swine without stint.
As an example of forest-fed swine, contrasted with
those which are farm-fed or dairy-fed, nothing can be
better than those of Boldre Wood in the New Forest,
as described by Gilpin.f The ‘Forest’ hogs are led
to this wood in the autumn, to fatten on acorns and
beech-mast. The forest borderers have a right to this
* Farmer's Boy. f Forest Scenery.
224 TFIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
masting on payment of a trifling sum at the steward's
court at Lyndhurst. The swineherd's course of pro-
ceedings, as sketched by Gilpin, is exceedingly curious;
but several years have elapsed since the ‘Forest Sce-
nery’ was written, and changes may probably have
since occurred in the system to which it relates. The
fact, however, remains untouched, that forest-feeding
or wild-feeding is one of the modes by which the
‘swinish multitude” are supplied with sustenance.
There is more variety in pig-meat than in that of
the ox or the sheep, owing in part to the peculiar
process of pickling and curing to which such large
quantities are subjected. Hence the distinction be-
tween sucking-pigs, porkers, and bacon-hogs. The
sucking-pigs are simply the young of the breed gene-
rally, and therefore bear the same relation to swine
that lambs do to sheep, in being killed during the
period of lactation. The pigs destined to be porkers
or bacon-hogs are weaned at the age of eight or ten
weeks, and are fed for a time on dairy refuse, together
with potato-flour or barley-meal. According as they
are to be porkers or bacon hogs, their subsequent
treatment somewhat differs. Porkers are killed at
ages varying from three to seven months; the young
pig sells for a higher price per pound, but weighs
less than when kept to a later age, and it is a ques-
tion of balance account which age is the most pro-
fitable. The ‘dainty, dairy-fed pork’ has, as its name
implies, been fed on butter milk and other dairy refuse,
instead of the coarser refuse of fields and farm-yards;
CH. W.I. IRISH AND SCOTCH STOCK. 225
it has cost the owner more, and it brings him a higher
price in the market.
The bullocks, the cows, the calves, the sheep, the
lambs, the pigs — all, in the early periods of their
career, are affected, for good or for harm, by numerous
circumstances in the highest degree interesting to the
farmer and grazier. But we have not here to do with
that subject; the questions are, rather, how many of
their number reach London 2 How are they con-
veyed? Where and how bought and sold P. Where
and how slaughtered?
Scotland and Ireland, as was noticed in a former
chapter, contribute largely to the supply of London
with cattle. They have shared largely, too, in the
advantages accruing from improved modes of transport.
The formation of railways from Holyhead and Liver-
pool to London, and from Cork, Limerick, and Gal-
way to Dublin, combined with the establishment of
steam-transit across the Channel from Dublin to Holy-
head, have largely facilitated the power of Ireland to
aid in supplying London and other large towns in
Great Britain with animal food. At the great annual
fair at Ballinasloe there are on some occasions cattle
sold to the value of a quarter of a million sterling.
The Irish pig is perhaps better known in the metropo-
lis than the Irish ox. On his way to London or any other
part of England he frequently passes through some
such ordeal as the following. The Irish pig-farmers,
unlike the English sheep farmers, have very small
herds; indeed Paddy's riches not unfrequently consist
in one single pig, whose duty and destiny it too often
Q
226 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
is to ‘pay the rint.” Such a state of things gives rise
to a system of job-trading. Pig-jobbers are very
numerous in Ireland; and in the dealings between them
and the small farmers and cottiers there is much fun
and blarney, much waste both of words and of time.
Whether matters have changed in this respect within
the last dozen years could only be determined by one
intimately acquainted with the habits and usages of
the humbler class of Irish farmers; but Mr. Inglis's
picture of a pig-bargain is very graphic in illustration
of the past and perhaps of the present. Most of the
pigs thus purchased in the interior of Ireland are either
sent to the nearest shipping port, by road or rail or
canal, or are taken to establishments where they are
further fattened for the market, and then sold to the
pork-curers of Cork and its neighbourhood.
Owing to circumstances already noticed, means are
wanting for determining clearly the number of Irish
live-stock that reach Great Britain since the assimi-
lation of the trade between the two countries to a
coasting trade; but Mr. Porter, taking an average of
the four years 1846–7–8–9, gave the number at about
200,000 cattle and calves and 250,000 sheep and lambs
annually. The pig-the poor Irishman's solace in
time of trouble—was so disturbed by the famine of
1847, that the exports about that period bore very
little relation to any general average.
The change made by Sir Robert Peel in the tariff of
import duties has had an important influence on the
food of our principal towns; for not only corn, but
cattle and vegetables, can enter our ports with as little
CH, WI. FOREIGN CATTLE. 227
obstruction as other articles of merchandise. It is true
that the quantities thus available at a particular time
may not always be such as to ensure a cheap market;
but the sphere is widened within which a supply can
be obtained, and this alone will enlarge the choice at
the disposal of the purchasers.
It was in the year 1842 that the prohibition on the
import of live cattle was removed. The trade grew
gradually; and by 1845 the imports included 17,000
oxen and 16,000 sheep; the next year witnessed an
enormous rise, the number of oxen increasing three-
fold and that of sheep sixfold. Since 1846 the rise,
although steady and nearly continuous, has not been
rapid ; the highest year was 1853; in 1854 the
number fell off, except in oxen, the diminution in the
number of sheep being especially remarkable: a de-
cline attributable in all probability in some way to
the war. The following entries apply to the two years
in question: –
1853.
1854.
Oxen and bulls 56,220 62,937
Cows - * 38,328 25,261
Calves &= 30,705 26,130
Sheep - * 249,446 176,354
Lambs - wº 9,974 7,098
Swine and hogs 12,757 11,077
397,430 308,857
London receives far more of these animals than all
the rest of the United Kingdom taken altogether; for,
besides the arrivals in the Thames, those which come
from Denmark to Lowestoft or Harwich find their way
to the metropolis for a market. It is interesting to
Q 2
228 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
observe how this subject—the supply of our large
towns with food — has been instrumental towards the
establishment of the railway system in Denmark. Dan-
ish produce, until recently, reached England mostly viá
Hamburg, on account of a deficiency in good roads, good
ports, and rapid means of transit. An English company,
headed by Sir S. M. Peto, after forming Lowestoft
docks and establishing a line of swift steamers, under-
took the construction of a railway across Denmark. A
portion of this work, the ‘Royal Danish Railway,’ was
opened in October, 1854, from the port of Tonning into
the heart of Denmark; and Danish cattle for the Lon-
don market will probably follow that route instead of
taking a long journey by way of Hamburg.
Imbedded in the midst of a busy city, surrounded
on every side by miles of streets and thousands of
houses, associated by its burnings with the intolerant
zeal of past ages, by its fairs with the amusements of
thirty generations, and by its markets with the daily
wants of two or three millions of people, -subject to fre-
quent struggles on the part of the corporation to main-
tain privileges granted by indulgent monarchs, – viewed
with distrust by sanitary reformers and street improvers,
—attacked in the committee-rooms of parliament and in
the columns of the daily journals for numberless short-
comings, – defended with a pertinacity worthy of a
better cause by those who insist on the sacredness of
vested interests, LSMITHFIELD will ever remain a great
landmark in the history of London. Even those born
after the fair and the market are no more will still note
the busy part which this spot has played. In the
CH. VI. SMITHEIELD FIFTY YEARS A GO. 229
Historical Sketch a few of the salient points in the
rise and progress of Smithfield were noticed: we now
take up its ‘decline and fall.”
The corporate rights over the fair and over the mar-
ket at Smithfield were distinct throughout. The mar-
ket became city property partly by prescription and
partly by charter. At the time of the dissolution of
monasteries the priory rights to Bartholomew fair
passed into other hands, and brought in revenues to
various persons down to about a quarter of a century
ago, when the city purchased the rights, licensed the
fair, and received rental for stalls. Public opinion
frowned down Bartholomew fair a few years ago, be-
coming, as it had, obstructive, disorderly, dirty, and de-
moralising.
The complaints against Smithfield as a spot unsuit-
able for a cattle-market in a great city are not of
modern origin. Nearly ninety years ago Mr. Gwynn *
animadverted strongly on “the intolerable practice of
holding a market for the sale of live cattle in the centre
of the metropolis.” He pointed out the numerous evils,
and concluded by saying, “It is a great pity, therefore,
that, in respect to the lives and safety of the people, as
well as of elegance and decorum, this market is not
removed to some convenient spot.”
A curious light is thrown upon the condition of the
butchers’ trade, and the relation held by the butchers
towards the Smithfield dealers, in a publication which
appeared in 1795. It is a sixpenny pamphlet of six-
teen pages, having a title commencing with the ex-
* London and Westminster Improved, 1766.
Q 3
230 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. VI.
citing cry, “Roguery ! Rogueryl Roguery !” It pro-
fesses to be written by ‘A Philanthropic Butcher of
Leadenhall,’ who writes in the name of the whole body;
and its burden is, “the cutting-butchers’ appeal to the
government and the people upon the high price of meat;
in which the base practices of Smithfield market are
completely exposed, and a remedy pointed out for the
poor.” It appears to have been a sort of contest, Leaden-
hall v. Smithfield. The grazier, the salesman, and the
carcase-butcher of Smithfield are accused of practising
shameful arts whereby to oppress the cutting-butcher,
who is the apparent agent for supplying the community
with meat. The ‘Philanthropic Butcher’ asserts, that
very early on market mornings three-fourths of the
cattle at Smithfield were forestalled by the carcase-
butchers, who compelled the cutting or retail butchers
to pay a higher price than the abundance of supply
would otherwise justify. Even if a cutting-butcher
were willing to purchase a whole bullock, the salesman
is accused of delaying any transaction with him until
the wealthy carcase-butchers have been served. The
carcase-butchers are further accused of going out to
meet the different droves at the roads leading to the
metropolis, purchasing the best cattle in large numbers
before they could reach Smithfield, and thereby limiting
the supply, and raising the price in Smithfield itself to
the disadvantage of the cutting-butchers. The ‘Philan-
thropic Butcher’ does his best to support the theorem
that the public interests and the cutting-butcher's in-
terests are identical, both being victims to the salesmen
and the carcase-butchers. After a fierce and bitter
CH. VI. MEAT ASSOCIATIONS. 231
tirade, he says: “Some effectual means must be used
to stop this Smithfield wickedness, or all parties may
equally rue the issue; for the carcase-butchers are in-
creasing daily, and the cutting-butchers are decreasing
daily.”
These mutual jealousies between wholesale and retail
dealers frequently meet our view in the history of trade;
but they are interesting here, in so far as they illustrate
the retail sale of meat in London sixty years ago.
But it was not merely by contests between different
classes of traders that a sort of butchers' war was
manifested,—there was evidently on the part of the
London public much anxiety concerning the supply
of meat sixty or eighty years ago. Even twenty years
before the ‘Philanthropic Butcher’ made his appearance
the question was much agitated. An ‘Association for
reducing the exorbitant Price of Butchers’ Meat” was
formed in 1772, and held its meetings for a time at
the Chapter Coffee house. An elaborate scheme was
formed, the basis of which consisted in an attempt to
get rid of butchers’ profits, by selling to consumers at
wholesale prices; and in an endeavour to enforce all
the existing laws against “ingrossers,’ ‘regrators,’ ‘fore-
stallers,’ and so forth. Such attempts, however kindly
meant, seem to have failed almost universally. Whether
relating to meat, fish, bread, or any other article of
food, the middleman or dealer is always to be met
with between the producer and the consumer, and any
attempt to proceed without his aid is found, in almost
every case, to be futile: the ‘co-operative unions' of
modern days exemplify this. As to the ‘Butchers'
Q 4
232 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
meat Association,’ it does not appear to have proceeded
much farther than the publication of a prospectus.
When we pass over the boundary between the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries we find Smithfield
to be still a great eyesore in the city of London. In
1814 a pamphlet was published”, the anonymous author
of which comments with much severity on the metropo-
litan markets for cattle, dead meat, fish, poultry, vegeta-
bles, and fruits. He declares that the whole of these mar-
kets were mean and filthy, and needed a radical reform.
He deals severely with Smithfield, and lays down the
proposition that, for the supply of nearly a million
people in such a city, and the villages within ten
miles of it, two cattle-markets at least ought to be pro-
vided. These, he thinks, should not be in the city, but
in the suburbs; one in the neighbourhood of the New
River head or Islington, and one on the south side
of the river, between Blackfriars and Westminster
bridges. .
It is not a little curious, now that the grand move
has been made from Smithfield to Copenhagen Fields,
to look back at the views of two writers, the one about
forty and the other about ninety years ago, concerning
the best mode of appropriating Smithfield if the cattle-
market were removed. Mr. Glynn, in the pamphlet
lately noticed as being published in 1766, when he
recommended the removal of the cattle-market from
Smithfield, suggested a locality somewhere near Isling-
ton. He proposed that the old Smithfield should be
* Observations on the principal Defects of the Public Edifices and
Architectural Ornaments of London.
CH. VI. SMITEIFIELD PROJECTS. 233
converted “ into a noble regular square, which might
be applied either for the purpose of trade, or else as
dwellings for merchants and people of opulence, as
should be found most convenient.” In like manner,
the anonymous author of the pamphlet in 1814, after
recommending the establishment of one or two cattle-
markets elsewhere, would have “converted Smithfield
into a grand square or circus, with piazzas all round
for the sale of butchers' meat, fish, poultry, vegetables,
&c.”
Approaching, as we now do, the circumstances im-
mediately connected with the abolition of the cattle-
market at Smithfield, a description of Smithfield “as
it was is especially called for. Never, perhaps, did
any other country see so extraordinary a market;
never, in all probability, shall we again witness such
another market in our own country. It was a con-
tinued struggle against difficulties, almost against im-
possibilities; a continued protest against the dictates
of good sense; a continued manifestation of prejudiced
adherence to an old system; a continued display of the
meat-buying powers of the London public; and, not
less important, it was a sort of perennial declaration of
the wonderful improvements gradually introduced in
the size, quality, and condition of grazing-stock.
The nature of the proceedings on a market-day at
Smithfield in the bygone times gave rise to much that
was exciting and even Savagely picturesque. Nothing
like it must be looked for at Copenhagen Fields. Salva-
tor Rosa, or perhaps the Rosa Bonheur of our own days,
might have relished old Smithfield, especially by torch-
234 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
light on a winter's morning; the new market would
better suit a Cuyp or a Paul Potter.
Whether the animals arrived by road, by rail, or by
steamer, they might be seen moving along the suburbs
of London by about nine o'clock in the evenings of
Sunday and Thursday; especially on Sunday, since
the Monday’s market has always been more extensive
than that of Friday, providing, as it does, for the next
Sunday’s London dinners. On they proceeded, con-
centrically verging from all quarters, until they found
themselves assembled to the number of many thousands
in Smithfield. Nine, ten, eleven, midnight, the “sma'
hours of the morning, all witnessed successive arri-
vals; and the area of four or five acres, by the time
the Salesmen and butchers arrived, presented an extra-
ordinary scene. If it were wintry weather, with fog or
rain, mist or snow, mud or flooding, as an accompani-
ment, the discomforts were such as to scare away all
but those attracted by the ordinary requirements of
business. Drovers were hurrying hither and thither,
carrying flaming torches in their hands, and arranging
the cattle in rings and sheep in pens. The poor cattle
could not, from very want of room, be tied up in rows,
in quiet side-by-side brotherhood; large numbers were
separated into groups of about twenty each, called
‘rings,’ in which all the animals stood together with
their heads towards a common centre. The confusion
and the exertion necessary for this grouping were great;
and in bygone years, before the “Editor of the Times’
was uniformly called in to remedy every abuse and every
short-coming, there was great cruelty practised, the
CH. VI. MARKET DAY AT SIMITEIFIELD. 235
poor animals being goaded on the flanks and struck on
the head before they could be marshalled in their
proper places. And when one of them was sold, a
further scene of turmoil and ill-usage presented itself;
for the poor animal was likely to run into other ‘rings’
in the attempt to cross a crowded market, and had to
undergo another ordeal of goading and striking.
The different classes of drovers point to three succes-
sive stages in the management of a market-day at Smith-
field. There were country drovers, salesmen's drovers,
and butchers’ drovers. The grazier in the country con-
signed a number of cattle or sheep to a Smithfield sales-
man, and intrusted to a drover the conveying of the
animals to London. There was a certain locality
agreed upon where the grazier's drover should meet the
salesman's drover. The former had fulfilled his com-
mission when the animals had reached the vicinity of
the metropolis, and the second drover then assumed
the duty of safely depositing the animals at Smithfield.
When a sale was effected, the animals were placed
under the care of a third set of drovers, those with
whom we are most familiar in the streets of London.
These butchers’ drovers, aided by their dogs, navigated
(so to speak) the animals through the long and busily-
thronged metropolitan thoroughfares to the respective
slaughter-houses; and a very trying and difficult navi-
gation it was, – full of harass to the drovers, activity
and watchfulness to the dogs, injury to the animals,
and annoyance to the passengers. Many an “unpro-
tected female’ was set into terrible commotion by the
quadrupedal force; many an animal became lamed by
236 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. W.I.
the rude treatment it received; and many an angry
word was uttered by those who thought it a little too
bad that our already over-crowded streets should be
still more blocked up by these drovers. When an ani-
mal was sold, the salesman cut off a small portion of
hair from the hide as a mark; and when the final bar-
gain was made the salesman's drover made a cabalistic
mark with red-ochre, to indicate that his labours in the
Service had arrived at an end.
That the street-drover, or butcher's drover, has a hard
life of it, who can doubt who has watched the progress
of the animals through our thoroughfares? It is a con-
tinuous struggle against obstacles. And if the personal
characteristics of an animal — the proverbial obstimacy
of a pig for instance — be taken into account, the
difficulties become yet more formidable. Leigh Hunt,
in his droll “Essay on the Graces and Anxieties of Pig
Driving *,” pictures the tormenting worry which any
man must bear who endeavours to steer a drove of
pigs through the crowded streets of London. A pig is
“sluggish, obstinate, opinionate, not very social; has
no desire of seeing foreign parts. Think of him in a
multitude, forced to travel, and wondering what the
devil it is that drives him Judge by this of the talent
of his drover !” The Smithfield drovers, however, had
much more to do with cattle and sheep than with pigs.
The licensed drovers were about a thousand in number;
there were about a hundred “master drovers,” who took
the contracts, attended the market, and hired the men.
The cattle salesman is a remarkable exemplar of a
class which becomes important in all great commercial
* The Companion.
CH. VI. SALESMEN AND DROVERS. 237
cities, the class of brokers or factors who act as me-
dia between buyers and sellers. In so far as concerned
old Smithfield, the grazier or cattle-owner had no need
to enter the place at all; he consigned his stock to the
hands of a particular salesman, with a full confidence
that the latter would obtain the highest market-
price, and that the proceeds would be scrupulously
accounted for. As soon as the drovers, early on mar-
ket mornings, had arranged the animals in Smithfield,
the salesmen examined the stock, ascertained the total
number likely to be exposed for sale on that morning,
and formed a judgment on all the circumstances which
determined prices at that particular time. Each sales-
man personally knew the butcher who would give a
good price for the best animals; and also those who
sought rather to make ‘bargains; ' and it hence fol-
lowed that by the time the butchers had arrived, the
salesman had formed his plans for the day. His en-
deavour was, on the one hand, not to sell at too low a
price; and on the other, not to stagnate the market by
holding out for too much. For all this trouble he re-
ceived no more than about half-a-crown per head from
the seller for cattle, and a proportionate sum for smaller
animals. The butcher purchased from the salesman
without knowing aught of the grazier or dealer to whom
the animals actually belonged; he paid the purchase-
money to the salesman, who remitted it to the grazier
through the medium of one of the Smithfield bankers.
There were about six hundred of these salesmen at
Smithfield, about half of whom gave their ‘directory’
business-addresses at one or other of seven or eight
banking houses in Smithfield.
238 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH, WI.
The bankers just adverted to were intimately con-
nected with the Smithfield system. When the sales-
man had received from the graziers an account of the
animals consigned to his care, he communicated to one
of the bankers the particulars respecting names, num-
ber, &c., in order that the banker might be ready to
make out the accounts between buyers and sellers.
When a sale was effected the buyer paid the price to
the banker, and the salesman was responsible to the
grazier or country dealer for the due fulfilment of the
various transactions. The banker usually charged about
6d. per head of cattle, and #d. per head of sheep, as com-
mission for his trouble. One of the bankers has been
known to take 40,000l. in respect of the live-stock sold
in a single morning.
During the palmy days of old Smithfield, when
steamers and railways contributed little towards the
supply, the great northern road was the main artery of
arrival; and the lairs at Islington formed a temporary
resting place for the animals. The great stream that
passed through St. John's street during the night was
amazing, comprising thousands, or it might be tens of
thousands, of fine well-fattened animals. But the old
scenes are gone; the rail and the paddle interfered with
them; and the curtain dropped when the market was
wholly removed.
Before the era of railways, farmers living at a dis-
tance of fifteen to thirty miles from London were
accustomed to send their fatted calves to Smithfield by
a salesman, who kept horses and covered spring vans
for the purpose. Each salesman had a tract of country
CH, WI. SMALL LIMITS OF SMITHEIELD. 239
which he frequented, and in which he was well known.
His van called twice a week at the farm-houses on his
route to market, to take up the fatted stock. On the
next day he sold the stock at Smithfield early in the
morning ; and in the evening he repassed homeward,
leaving the proceeds of the respective sales at the farms
of his employers, enclosed in a printed market bill, with
the name of the purchaser, and the amount as stated by
the clerk of the market. The commission for the sales-
man's purchases depended in part on the distance and
in part on the value of the animal.
What vast numbers for such a small area Even with
the utmost enlargement of Smithfield, the number of
animals that could be accommodated at one time was
not more than 4000 cattle and 25,000 sheep. When,
therefore, five, six, or seven thousand cattle were
present, the crushing and crowding were amply ac-
counted for. There were rails for less than 3000 oxen;
the rest had to stand in rings, wherever they could.
There were also pens for about 1000 pigs and 500
calves. For this limited space, certain tolls were
charged — a shilling for a permanent pen; tenpence for
a hurdle pen; one penny for a ‘tye’ of beasts or calves;
twopence for a sale of a score of sheep; fourpence for a
Sale of a score of pigs; twenty-pence for a sale of a
score of cattle ; and a few others. There was a collec-
tor of these dues, who, on the Sunday and Thursday
afternoons, received notices from the salesmen of the
amount of space required, and on Monday and Friday
received the dues.
How many fat ‘beeves’ and good ‘muttons’ are
240 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
now eaten yearly in the huge metropolis’ Until re-
cent years, much doubt surrounded the solution of this
question ; and even now, all that we really know on the
subject relates to the number of animals exhibited and
sold at Smithfield. Stowe states that the cattle and
sheep sold at Smithfield in 1698 were about 610,000;
Maitland gives the number, for 1725, at 630,000 — a
very small increase, supposing both estimates to be
correct. About a century ago the numbers were
guessed to be about 660,000. Forty years ago the
cattle reached an annual average of 140,000, and the
sheep about 1,000,000; irrespective of calves and pigs,
which may perhaps have amounted to 16,000 and
220,000. In later years the increase, although observ-
able, was much less rapid than the increase of metro-
politan population. This might lead to false conclu-
sions, were we not to bear steadily in mind a fact (to be
more fully treated in a later page), that there has been
a rapid increase in the transmission of country-killed
meat to London.
At a time when the population of London was some-
what under 2,000,000, but when — on account of pur-
chases made by butchers living eight or ten miles from
Smithfield — it was computed that at least 2,000,000
derived their butchers' meat from the metropolitan
markets, the following calculation was made, as being
approximately applicable to the year 1839. The sales
at Smithfield in that year were 180,780 cattle, 1,360,250
sheep and lambs, 254,672 pigs, and 22,500 calves. It
was assumed that the cattle, one with another, weighed
640 lbs. each, the sheep and lambs 96 lbs., the pigs 96 lbs.,
CH. VI. SMITHEIELD SALES. 241
and the calves 140 lbs. This supposition would give,
for the entire supply, 116 million lbs. of beef, 130 million
lbs. of mutton and lamb, 24 million lbs. of pork, and 3
million lbs. of veal. Equally divided among the two
million consumers, this would supply 136 lbs. each per
annum. But there are two defects in this estimate, in
opposite directions — even if the weight of the animals
be rightly averaged : on the one hand, the total weights
given above are those of the living animal, with offal in-
cluded; while, on the other hand, the country-killed
meat brought to London is not included.
The total numbers of cattle and sheep sold at Smith-
field during the last thirteen years, according to the
official returns of the clerk of the market, were as
follow : —
Years. Cattle. Sheep. Years. Cattle. Sheep.
1842 - 175,343 - 1,438,960 || 1849 - 223,560 - 1,514,130
1843 - 175,333 - 1,571,760 || 1850 - 226,728 - 1,540,000
1844 - 184,524 - 1,609,130 || 1851 - 240,699 - 1,563,980
1845 - 192,890 - 1,441,980 || 1852 - 258,942 – 1,565,320
1846 - 199,558 - 1,457,220 || 1853 - 276,888 - 1,461,070
1847 - 223,101 - 1,441,190 || 1854 - 263,008 - 1,539,380
1848 - 220,193 - 1,343,770
A few comments are suggested by this table. In
the first place, these are the numbers actually sold : the
numbers exhibited are greater; for it never happens
that the whole supply is carried off on the same day.
In the second place, while the sale of cattle has steadily
increased, that of sheep has remained almost stationary:
nay, if we were to refer back a quarter of a century, we
should find that nearly as many sheep were sold at
Smithfield in 1828 and 1829 as in 1853 and 1854.
This peculiarity is doubtless attributable to the fact that
R
242 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH, WI.
an increased supply of mutton is country-killed, and
does not reach Smithfield; while the increased supply
of beef is in the form of live cattle imported from abroad,
and mainly sold at Smithfield. Spread equally over
the whole period of thirteen years, the numbers give —
220,059 cattle, and 1,499,068 sheep sold at Smithfield
annually; or 4232 cattle, and 28,828 sheep weekly.
Twenty years ago, the sheep were eightfold the number
of cattle; now they are less than sevenfold.
An interesting Report was made in 1850 before a
Committee of the House of Commons, concerning the
exact modes in which the supplies of live-stock reached
Smithfield. It is valuable in so far as it measures the
progress made, up to that time, in opening new Sources
of supply and new means of conveyance. The four
principal kinds of live-stock, and the ten routes of
arrival, were thus given for the year 1849: —

Cattle. Sheep. l?igs. Calves.
Lond. and N. W. Ry. 55,545 285,016 9,721 4,607
Eastern Counties tºº 57,391 275,336 || 10,661 4,113
Great Western - * 7,850 153,146 824 3,837
South Western - sº 4,247 130,068 7,510 4,467
Brighton - - - 558 18,591 63 323
South Eastern * 541 11,231 230 186
By sea from North - 21,841 6,911 4,275 561
,, from Ireland - 2,579 5,062 8,160 114
,, from Continent 33,535 I25,269 1,949 11,318
By Road - - - || 39,336 523,992 || 10,000 50,000
Totals – me - 223,443 1,534,622 63,393 79,526
This gives a total of 1,900,804, of which rather more
than half arrived by railway. -
Now comes another year,in which the Great Northern
railway enters the list. According to a tabular state-
CH, WI. SUPPLIES FOR SMITHEIELD. 243
ment quoted by the ‘Quarterly Review”, the following
were the numbers of live-stock brought to London in
1853, by seven railway companies, by three routes of
steam-boat conveyance, and by road. We will first give
the railway entries : —

Cattle. Sheep. Pigs Calves.
Eastern Counties * 81,744 277,735 23,427 3,492
Lond. and N. Western 70,435 248,445 24,287 5,113
Great Western - tºº 6,813 104,607 2,909 2,320
Great Northern - tºº 15,439 120,333 8,973 563
South Western - * 4,885 100,960 516 1,781
South Eastern - tºº 875 58,320 142 114
Brighton - * tºº 863 13,690 54 117
Totals - º * 181,254 927,090 60,308|| 13,500
Next we take the sea and road traffic : —
Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Calves.
By sea from North - 14,662 11,141 3,672 421
,, from Ireland - 2,311 3,472 5,476 2I
,, from Continent 55,065 229,918 10,131 25,720
By road - - - || 69,096 || 462,172 48,265 62,114
Totals – $º * 141,134 706,703 67,544 88,276

Thus the grand total increased from about 1,900,000
in 1849 to 2,200,000 in 1853. Some of the numbers
do not quite accord with those in the Smithfield return,
owing perhaps to a confusion between the “arrivals’
and the ‘sales.’
Of all the market days in the year, there has been
nothing to compare with the ‘Great Day’ at Smithfield,
the day in each successive December when the live-
stock for the Christmas dinners was mainly purchased.
* No. cxc.
R 2
244 TFIE FOOD OF DONDON. CH. VI.
What a day was this Take, as an exemplar of the
whole, the last ‘ Great Day’ old Smithfield was
destined to witness, in December 1854. On that day
30,000 of the finest animals in the world were concen-
trated within an area of four or five acres. They had
been pouring in from ten o’clock on the Sunday
evening, insomuch that by daylight on the Monday
they presented one dense animated mass, an agitated
sea of brute life. All around the market, the animals
encroached on space rightfully belonging to shop-
keeping traffic; Giltspur street, Duke street, Long
lane, St. John's street, King street, Hosier lane—
all were invaded; for the caldron of steaming animal-
ism overflowed from very fulness. In one place was a
group of brown-coated Devons; in a second a group of
bulky Herefords; here and there were the favourite
short-horns; a black mass of Scotch cattle diversified
the picture in one spot, a cargo of Holsteiners in
another, and a small number of rugged-coated mon-
strously-horned Spanish cattle in a third : the sheep
— wedged up in dense masses in pens wholly beyond
the reach of water — bleated away their wretched
hours in the north-east corner of the market ; while
the pigs squeaked lustily in the north-west. Here,
at one place, was an ox towering over all the rest, and
having the reputation of weighing 300 stones; and there,
at another spot, was a pig of 40 score — a weight
at least equal to that of an average Smithfield ox.
The salesmen, drovers, and butchers, many of them
booted to the thighs, dashed in amongst the dense
masses, and — after incredible difficulties — separated
the animals sufficiently to enable the butchers to inspect
CH. VI. THE ‘GREAT DAY' AT CHRISTMAS. 245
them before purchasing. Thus engaged, it seemed to
others scarcely conceivable that those men could escape
injuries from horns and hoofs ; especially when the
conglomerated heap was disturbed by another drove
passing across or into or out of the market. It was a
sad sight to witness how the animals were beaten and
goaded, in the almost impossible attempt to make them
move into the right places at the right time: the
heart sickened at it. Yet any charge of cruelty against
the buyers and sellers, the salesmen and drovers, would
have been 'unjust ; for they had work to do, with in-
sufficient room to do it in. The ‘Great Day’ at old
Smithfield was a sight worth seeing once; but it is well
that the scene is closed for ever.
The great market day, in each of the seven years
1849 — 1855, displayed the following results — in the
numbers of cattle, sheep, calves, and pigs exhibited;
and the average prices of beef, mutton, veal, and pork,
at per stone of 8 lbs. : —
Monday, December 17. 1849.
Beef - 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. Beasts - tº tº 5,788
Mutton 3s. 6d. 4s. 6d. Sheep - tº - 24,000
Veal - 3s. 0d. 4s. 0d. | Calves - *ge gº 180
Pork - 3s. 2d. 4s. 0d. | Pigs - tº. *. 230
Monday, December 16. 1850.
Beef - 2s. 6d. to 4s. 0d. Beasts - * - 6,720
Mutton 3s. 0d. 4s. 4d. Sheep - & - 26,800
Veal - 2s. 8d., 3s. 8d. l Calves - * gº 200
Pork - 3s. 0d. 3s. 10d. Pigs - tº sº 300
Monday, December 15. 1851.
Beef - 2s. 6d. to 4s. 0d. Beasts - gº - 6,123
Mutton - 3s. 4d. 4s. 4d. | Sheep - tºº - 23,284
Veal - 3s. 0d. 4s. 0d. | Calves - º º 74
Pork - 3s. 0d. 3s. 8d. | Pigs - ſº * 260
R 3
246 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
Monday, December 13, 1852.
Beef - 2s. 10d. to 4s. 4d. Beasts - wº - 6,270
Mutton - 3s. 8d. 4s. 6d. | Sheep - tº - 20,560
Veal - 2s. 10d. 4s. 2d. Calves - sºy tº 222
Pork - 2s. 8d. 3s. 10d. | Pigs - tº * 308
- Monday, December 12, 1853.
Beef - 3s. 4d. to 5s. 0d. Beasts - - - 7,037
Mutton - 3s. 10d 5s. 6d. | Sheep - sº - 25,832
Veal - 3s. 10d. 4s. 10d. Calves - sº gº 260
Pork - 3s. 6d. 4s. 2d. | Pigs - sº º 290
Monday, December 11, 1854.
Beef - 4s. 0d. to 5s. 4d. Beasts - º - 6,180
Mutton - 4S. 3d. 5s. 4d. | Sheep - * - 22,822
Veal - 4s. 6d. 5s. 8d. | Calves - * * tº e 106
Pork - 3s. 6d. 4s. 8d. | Pigs - tº gº 238
Monday, December 17, 1855.
Beef - 4s. 0d. to 5s. 6d. l Beasts - sº - 6,677
Mutton - 4s. 0d. 5s. 2d. Sheep - tº - 22,870
Veal - 4s. 4d. 5s. 4d. | Calves - ſº- sº 103
Pork - 3s. 10d. 4s. 10d. | Pigs - sº & 480
The above were the numbers exhibited, being rather
in excess of the numbers sold. The total, it will be
Seen, was generally about 30,000 on each of the above
days.
Striking is the aspect in which our London supply
presents itself to view when we consider the question
—how many animals are alive and growing at once,
destined for the London cattle market? It is sup-
posed that, taking the average ages of bullocks and
sheep when brought to market at four years and two
years respectively, the numbers cannot be far short
of 1,000,000 bullocks and 4,000,000 sheep, thus
marked out for metropolitan dinner-tables. Some are
on the wild moors of northern Scotland; some are on
CH. VI. COST OF MEAT IFOR LONDON. g 247
their way to the trysts at Falkirk and Galloway; some
are under the charge of railway companies, for trans-
port to the richer soil of Suffolk and Norfolk; some
are fattening in those two counties, or in the midland
districts; some may be growing in Flanders, Holland,
or Holstein, and some in Ireland; the short-woolled
sheep may be luxuriating on the Downs of Sussex; the
long-woolled may be grazing in Leicestershire; some
are suckling, and some are fattening. There are twice
as many oxen and sheep always existing, destined for
London consumption, as there are human beings in
London —five millions for two millions and a half.
Not less curious are the estimates concerning the
amount of money spent for meat in London — curious
as illustrating the discrepancies in opinion on a subject
not yet susceptible of exact determination. Mr. Hicks,
when examined by a Committee of the House of Com-
mons in 1848, estimated the Smithfield selling price
of cattle to average 18l. 10s. per head, sheep 1!. 18s.,
calves 31, 15s., and pigs ll. 10s. Mr. Giblett, in evi-
dence before a Commission in 1849, gave the probable
average prices at 16l. for cattle, Il. 15s. for sheep, 4!.
for calves, and 21, for pigs. Taking the numbers sold
in the respective years, the total proceeds at Smithfield
amounted to 7,251,375l. on Mr. Hicks' estimate, and
6,182,800l. on that of Mr. Giblett. The Commis-
sioners themselves — probably not wishing to be posi-
tive when ‘ doctors disagree — assumed medium
prices, which gave a total value of about 6,600,000l.
Mr. M'Culloch takes the number of live-stock sold at
R 4
248 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON, CH. VI.
Smithfield in 1852, guesses at their probable average
gross weight when alive, deducts the amount of ‘offal”
that results from slaughtering, and finds the quantity
of butchers’ meat to be about 300,000,000 lbs. This,
at 6d. per lb., would bring 7,400,000l.; and at 8d.,
about 9,900,000l. ; he offers no opinion as to the
average price. Mr. M'Culloch thinks that the coun-
try-killed meat, the edible offal, the sucking pigs, and
the sucking calves, may about equal in value the meat
sold at Smithfield for victualling ships and for country
supply: if so, the Smithfield sales will about corre-
spond with the London consumption. We shall see,
in a future page, that the dealers in country-killed
meat estimate at a higher standard the value of the
commodity wherein they deal.
Every newspaper reader may see that there is a
technical classification of live-stock at market, accord-
ing to the prices and qualities. The cattle are ‘in-
ferior beasts,’ ‘second class,’ ‘third class’ (large prime),
and ‘fourth class’ (Scots); the sheep are ‘inferior
sheep,’ ‘second class,’ ‘third class’ (long-wooled), and
‘ fourth class' (South Downs); the lambs occupy a
place by themselves; the calves are separated into
“coarse’ and ‘small prime;’ and the pigs into ‘large
hogs’ and “ small neat porkers.” These are sold at
per stone of 8 lbs. We find, in a series of years,
every degree of price from half-a-crown to six shil-
lings per stone,—the average being about 3s. 6d. for
fair medium beef, and 3s. 10d. for mutton of analogous
quality. The clerk of the market adopts a simpler
classification; he contents himself with two qualities,
CH. VI. CONSUMPTION PER EIBAD. 249
“inferior,’ and ‘first.” Thus, for October 5th, 1855,
his list stood thus: —
Inferior. First Quality.
Beef - 3s. 8d. to 4s. 6d. 4s. 8d. to 4s. 10d
Mutton - 3s. 6d. 4s. 8d. 4s. 10d. 5s. 0d.
Weal - 4s. 0d. 4s. 10d. 5s. 0d. 5s. 2d.
Pork - 4s. 2d. 4s. 8d. 4s. 10d. 5s. 0d.
These prices, of course, apply to a dear year.
A rough idea may be formed of the average prices
of meat in London from the official records kept in
certain of the government establishments, and occa-
sionally published. The prices paid by the Board of
Ordnance, in 1850–1-2-3, for meat intended for mili-
tary rations, were much lower than many persons
would have supposed; they averaged, for the whole of
England and Wales, 3%d. in 1850, 33d. in 1851, 4d.
in 1852, and 43d. in 1853. The meat comprised
chiefly beef and pork. At Greenwich Hospital, the
whole of the meat provided for seven years' consump-
tion (1845 to 1851) cost 43d, per lb. on an average.
The share of meat that comes to every average
individual in London throughout the year depends, of
course, on the circumstances before adverted to — the
number of animals killed, the average weight of the
animals, and the quantity of country-killed meat
brought to London. It has been calculated that, if
the cattle were as small as many writers at the time
stated, the London consumption of meat in 1750 could
not have exceeded 70 lbs. pe. head per annum. An
estimate, for 1840, brings the average so high as
153 lbs. per head; but this depends upon an average
weight of 800 lbs. for all the cattle sold in Smithfield.
250 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. VI.
Mr. M'Culloch sets it down at about 122 lbs. in recent
years, and Mr. Mayhew at 140 lbs. The consumption
in the great towns of England, taken one with another,
is set down at about 100 lbs. per head per annum.
All this is very instructive, as showing the difficulties
that surround any attempts to arrive at exact results
concerning the consumption of food in the metropolis.
It will have been noticed that most of the fore-
going descriptions and statements relating to SMITH-
FIELD are written in the past tense. This was design-
edly done. The Smithfield system was one united
whole, complete in itself. The paved area, the bars
and pens, the mud and filth, the drovers, the dogs, the
Salesmen, the butchers, the bankers, the publicans, the
oaths, the blows, the noise, the confusion — all formed
part and parcel of one complexus. It is dead; but
the better parts of its composition have been resus-
citated, to render better service at a better spot;-of
the rest, when Smithfield died, the system died also.
Great has been the struggle to bring about this
change. We have shown how, in the last century, in-
dignant words were uttered against a spot so dis-
creditable to the largest city in the world. The pre-
sent century has exhibited an almost continuous pro-
test against it. The Corporation, influenced by loud
public complaints, formed a project in 1802 for re-
moving the market to some other locality, -still retain-
ing the control over it and property in it, as before.
They chose a field near Sadlers’ Wells theatre. But
-— mark the result! Bartholomew's hospital had
CH. VI. SMITEIFIELD INQUIRIES. 251
an interest in the then existing market; so had the
Butchers' company; so had the Rugby charity; so had
the Foundling hospital; so had the Highgate Roads
trust; so had the salesmen; so had the publicans and
other inhabitants around Smithfield; and the united
strength of all these component forces was sufficient
to defeat the attempt. Another plan was formed in
1810; another site selected; another opposition organ-
ised; and another defeat sustained. The City autho-
rities have not been so remiss as some persons imagine;
for they have obtained six or eight Acts for enlarging
and better managing Smithfield market, and proposed
three or four plans for removing the market to a more
fitting locality — always insisting, however, that the
market should not be far distant, and that the corpo-
rate control over it should not be disturbed.
In more recent years, Parliamentary Committees and
Royal Commissions entered into minute inquiries re-
specting the state of Smithfield, and the best mode of
substituting some other locality. The strangest con-
trariety was exhibited by the witnesses examined.
Some contended that Smithfield was healthy, others
that it was a hotbed of insalubrity; some thought a
central market best, others advocated a suburban mar-
ket; some urged that one market would be better than
two, others deemed two to be better than one. The
City authorities themselves brought forward a project
in 1849, for a new Smithfield market on a large scale
—comprising a cattle market, a dead-meat market, and
abattoirs, on a site westward of Smithfield. The outlay
would have been enormous, and the scheme fell to the
252 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
ground. A Committee of the House of Commons in
1848 made certain recommendations respecting a new
market, and suggested the appointment of a Commission
to put them in force. The government assented, and
appointed Mr. (now Sir G.) Cornewall Lewis, Sir James
Duke, Colonel Werney, Mr. Miles, Professor Owen,
and one or two other gentlemen, as Commissioners.
They examined numerous witnesses, published a volu-
minous report, and made such recommendations as led
to the Act of 1851.
A curious episode here calls for notice, in the history
of our market-improvements.
It was just about twenty years ago that a Bill, for
authorising the construction of a cattle market at
Lower Islington, projected by a Mr. Perkins, was
brought into Parliament. The Bill met with fierce
opposition from the Corporation and others; and it
is curious to look back at the nature of some of
the weapons employed by the belligerent forces. The
periodical publications took opposite sides in the mat-
ter. The ‘Farmer's Magazine,’ an anti-Smithfield
authority, sought to throw a little sarcasm at the
opponents of the Bill, in the form of a hypothetical
resolution passed by the worshipful company of
Butchers — declaring, among other things, that if the
Islington market were formed, “the citizens will be
deprived of the wholesome excitement occasioned
by the sight of half-strangled oxen dying of thirst,
the bellowing of bullocks, and yelling of drovers; the
Salubrious smells arising from the City cellar-hole
slaughter-dens; and many other delights which the
said citizens have hitherto enjoyed in full swing.”
CH, WI. ISLINGTON CATTLE MARKET. 253
When sarcasm and argument had done their work, on
the one side and the other, the Act was finally passed
and received the royal assent in 1835*; and a sum of
100,000l. was speedily laid out in forming the market.
Wells were dug; pipes were laid for the conveyance
of water to every requisite spot; a lofty boundary-
wall was erected; nearly half a mile of slated sheds
were built, and separated into compartments; open-
air lairs were formed, bounded by oak palings; pens
were constructed for 40,000 sheep; separate pens were
formed in a distinct compartment for 500 calves and
1000 pigs; efficient accommodation was provided for
7000 cattle; offices for clerks and salesmen were built;
plans were laid for abattoirs, in which the animals
might be slaughtered instead of being driven through
the streets of London to the existing slaughter-houses;
a market tavern was built, provided with stables and
sheds; and arrangements were made for building a
row of shops, for the supply of various commodities
incident to the wants of the market-people. The
area of the market, four times as large as that of
Smithfield, seemed alone to claim for it a large mea-
sure of support, as affording the means for treating
the animals much more comfortably and humanely.
The new market opened in March 1836, under appa-
rently favourable auspices; but the adherents of the
old system maintained so fierce an opposition, as to
deter the country graziers from sending their live-
stock to Islington. After a struggling existence of
seven months, the new market died, and the property
* 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 111.
254 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
became almost valueless. In the course of a few
years, a mass of houses will alone mark the spot once
occupied by the abortive Islington cattle market.
A very necessary stage in the proceedings connected
with the supply of meat is one usually shunned by
those for whom the meat is intended, as a subject
unpleasant and unsightly. This is the slaughtering
of the animals. The vegetarian points to this spectacle
as one of the grounds of his creed, one of the justifi-
cations of his practice, one of the proofs of his moral
superiority over the meat-eater. London will have
reason to welcome the change from shambles to abat-
toirs, whenever it arrives. Considering that the mar-
kets of London have in past ages been so dispersed,
small, ill-planned, and ill-organised, there is no reason
to believe that the shambles were ever better than at
present — except in so far as they were in the midst
of a less dense population. The sovereigns and par-
liaments of former days were not insensible to the
necessity of exercising some control over these places.
In the 4th of Henry VII, a statute was passed,
which, among other things, enacts that “No butcher,
nor his servant, shall flea (flay) no manner of beast
within the said house called the Scalding-house [this
Scalding-house has been mentioned in the Historical
Sketch], or within the wall of London.” Then, after
setting forth the penalties for disobedience, the Act
proceeds: — “The same ordinance, act, and law, ex-
tend and be observed and kept in every city, borough,
and walled town, within this realm of England, and in
the town of Cambridge: the towns of Barwike [Ber-
CH. VI. SIAUGIITER-EIOUSES. 255
wick] and Carlisle only except and foreprised.” It is
difficult to see the ground for this last curious excep-
tion; possibly it related to the doubtful authority of
the English law over two towns so near the Scottish
border.
The slaughtering of cattle has been carried on for
many ages in the neighbourhoods of Smithfield and
Leadenhall. Concerning Newgate and Leadenhall
markets, Mr. Fletcher may well characterise them as
places disgraceful to any large city at the present
day.” They are great slaughtering places as well as
markets, in which the cattle are killed and flayed in
dark, confined, and filthy cellars; and in which the
poor sheep are packed closely together before killing,
from sheer want of sufficient space. Sir Gardner
Wilkinson tells us that, when in Turkey and Monte-
negro, he “always took care not to mention to a Turk
that our Smithfield and our slaughter-houses were in
the heart of London, lest he should think we took a
pleasure in this disgusting custom.” And these sinks
of garbage are close to one of the great avenues of
London traffic. It is true that the actual slaughtering
does not come under the public eye, for it is carried on
underground, in a space still more confined than that
into which the business of the market itself is com—
pressed. Whitechapel is the chief place where the
Hebrew community purchase their meat. The Jews
retain the opinions held by them from olden times
concerning the killing of meat for the table. There
are some kinds of animal food, eaten by Christians,
* Statistical Society's Journal, vol. x.
256 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
which are avoided by Jews; there is great scruple
concerning the condition of the animals at the time of
being slaughtered; and there must be certain rules fol-
lowed in the operation itself. The slaughterman must
himself be a Jew; he is appointed by the Jewish
ecclesiastical authorities, who also appoint an ex-
aminer to inspect the meat after the animals are killed.
If found defective in any particular, the carcase is re-
sold to those whose religious scruples may be no bar in
the matter; but if the meat be approved, a leaden
seal, stamped with Hebrew characters, is affixed to it,
and the meat becomes thenceforward appropriated to
Jews exclusively.”
The slaughter-houses are indeed most unsightly
places. Situated behind the shops in Whitechapel, and
under the shops in Newgate market, and in various
obscure localities about Smithfield, they bring scenes of
blood into the midst of scenes of commerce, death into
the midst of life. If we were to say that they bring
savagery into the midst of civilisation, it might be unjust
to those concerned, for there is no absolute necessity
that a slaughterman should have less of the “milk of
human kindness” within him than other men; but still
the daily putting to death, even of mere oxen and
sheep, comports but harshly with the literary labours of
Paternoster Row and the ecclesiastical sobriety of St.
* In October, 1855, a remarkable inquiry took place at the Mansion
House, to determine whether the Hebrew mode of slaughtering live-
stock gives more pain to the animals than the ordinary mode; the
inquiry, instituted by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, resulted in a decision that there is no call for the interference
of the law in the matter.
CH. VI. SCIENTIFIC SLAUGHTERING, 257
Paul’s — both of them close at hand to Newgate
market. There is an avenue called Rose Street, said
to possess slaughter-cellars under nearly all the houses.
Most of the oxen are, however, slaughtered somewhat
beyond the limits of the City. The slaughtermen ob-
tain threepence per head for the blood of cattle, to be
used in various manufacturing processes; besides some-
thing more for the tripe, and for various portions of
the animals which meat-eaters care little to hear about.
The Corporation of London obtained control over the
City slaughter-houses in 1848, and caused them to be
registered; the control is exercised by the City Com-
missioners of Sewers, who have a power of inspection.
The slaughter-houses registered soon after that time
were 148, -61 in cellars and 87 on a level with the
street, mostly in and around Whitechapel and Newgate,
but some at Leadenhall. A few of the butchers
slaughter their own live-stock; one, said to be the
largest in London, slaughters 20 cattle and 200 sheep
per week: he frequently purchases direct from the
graziers.
There is a question which has frequently engaged the
attention of ingenious men—whether the present mode
of slaughtering gives least pain to the animal and least
injury to the meat. The reader will gladly dispense
with any minute description of the sanguinary work;
but it may be well to notice a project started some years
ago in relation thereto. Dr. Carson, of Liverpool,
announced in 1838 a new mode of slaughtering animals
for the supply of butchers’ meat." The method de-
* 8vo. Whittaker, pp. 32.
S
258 THE FOOD OF LONDON . CH. VI,
pends on this fact — that the elasticity of the lungs re-
tards the dying of the slaughtered animal to a length of
time that unnecessarily increases the suffering endured;
whereas by bringing about a collapse very quickly, the
animal dies from want of breathing-power; and the
proposed mode of killing has reference to this collapse.
An incision is made by a sharp instrument between the
fifth and sixth ribs; the external air obtains entrance
through a small tube into the cavity of the chest;
and the animal speedily dies. Dr. Carson gives the
following high character to his plan: – “The result
is an increase of the edible parts of a carcase, to the
amount of at least one-tenth beyond that which it
would supply by any mode of slaughtering hitherto in
use. The meat thus obtained is more juicy, tender, and
far better flavoured. It sets sooner, and is of course
earlier fit for use. It keeps much longer sweet and un-
tainted. This remarkable and important property is
evidently derived from none of the vessels being empty so
as to admit the external air, and from an oozing of juice
or lymph from the full vessels, when any portion is cut,
upon the raw surface of that portion, and, by its tena-
city, forming a sealing cement.” It would be satisfac-
tory to know whether the plan, thus highly eulogised
by its inventor, is practically followed in Liverpool or
other towns, and whether its advantages are admitted
by those most nearly concerned in the matter.
The future of the London slaughter-houses may be
considered as pretty well marked out by the terms of
the ‘Smithfield Market Removal Act’ (14 & 15 Wict.
c. 61.), passed in 1851. By one of the clauses of this
CH. VI. SMITHFIELD MARKET REMOVAL ACT. 259
act it is declared that slaughter-houses within the me-
tropolitan district must be licensed, “from and after
December the 1st in the year next following the
opening” of the abattoirs connected with the new cattle
market in Copenhagen Fields; the licenses are to be
obtained at the Michaelmas quarter-sessions; and a
penalty attaches to any one who may carry on the
avocation without such license. We must not, it is
true, expect golden results from such a law ; licensing
does not always ensure good conduct; but still a
slaughterman's license, followed by frequent inspection of
premises, will do something towards an amelioration of
the system. The great cure will be when thenew abattoirs
become so efficient as to lead to the compulsory closing
of all the miserable shambles in and near the City.
Surely it is not too much to hope for such a result
We must now notice this ‘Smithfield Market Re-
moval Act’ a little more closely. This Act, as already
remarked, was the chief result of the Commissioners’
labours in 1849; and many persons will remember the
fierce opposition against which it had to struggle.
While it was passing though the various stages, a mul-
titude of discordant views presented themselves; some
witnesses would have enlarged the old area, some would
remove the market to the vicinity of a railway station,
some preferred the north of London, some the centre.
The Bill, however, passed. By the terms of the Act,
the City Corporation were to do certain things within
six months after the passing of the statute; in default
of which the Crown was to appoint a body of ‘Metropoli-
tan Cattle Market Commissioners.’ The Commissioners,
s 2 *
260 THE FOOT) OF LONDON. CEI. VI.
so appointed, and acting with the approval of the
Secretary of State for the Home Department, were to
construct a cattle market, a dead-meat market, abattoirs,
and cattle-lairs. They were empowered to let on
annual rentals the abattoirs, shops, and stalls, that might
be constructed ; and when the works were finished,
the Secretary of State was to announce in the ‘London
Gazette’ the closing of Smithfield market and the
opening of the new market. The Commissioners were
to be empowered to borrow 200,000l., to execute the
works; and were, together with the Treasury, to fix
a tariff of tolls and rates in the new market. All
this was to be done by the Commissioners, and the
new market to become a national undertaking, if
the City authorities did not signify their willingness
to take up the matter within the prescribed limit of
time. If, however, the City still wished to retain a
corporate hold over the beef and mutton of the Lon-
doners, the Commissioners were not to be appointed,
but the provisions of the Act were to be carried out by
the Corporation. In this case three years were to be
allowed for the Corporation to finish a new market;
failing which, the Crown might take the matter out of
their control. -
Such is a general outline of the Act. The Corpora-
tion delayed until almost the very last day the an-
nouncement of their willingness to accept the terms of
the statute: it required six months to wipe off their
disappointment. This done, however, the business gra-
dually assumed a systematic form. A Committee was
appointed to conduct the whole affair, and to select a
CEI. VI. PLAN FOR A NEW MARKET. 261
site for the new market; the City architect was in-
structed to prepare plans and estimates; the opinions
of various projectors were listened to; the markets
and abattoirs of Paris were studied; the wants and
wishes of graziers and salesmen and butchers were
considered; the extension and station plans of various
railway companies were examined; the facility of ac-
cess to various localities was weighed; and arrange-
ments for borrowing money were made. -
The plan that ultimately met with the approval of
the City authorities was to purchase a large piece of
land in the centre of which stood the Copenhagen
House tavern, between Islington and Camden Town.
This once famous house was opened by a Dane, about
a century and a half ago; he named it after the capital
of his native country; and it had, with the ground
around, a long career as a tavern, tea-garden, racket-
ground, fives-court, crickët-ground, and footrace-ground.
It is no more ; the Great Northern railway cut deeply
into the field bounding it on the south-east; and the
new cattle market has extinguished it altogether.
The excellent market that has resulted from these
long struggles is situated on a slightly rising plot of
ground. It abuts on Maiden lane or York road on
the west; nearly reaches the Camden road villas on
the north (a sore subject to the villa residents); is
bounded by the North London and Great Northern
railways on the south; and has three outlets to the
Caledonian road on the east. Its contiguity to the
railways is very important; for by the construction of
a few small branches, all the lines round London could
S 3
262 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
be brought into connection with it —and most pro-
bably will be so ere long. No less than 75 acres of land
were purchased by the Corporation; but the actual mar-
ket covers i5 acres, while the lairs, &c. absorb about
as much more, — leaving an ample surplus for future
contingencies. At 800l. per average acre, the cost
amounted to 60,000l. for land; while the total outlay
for land and works nearly reached 400,000l.
The market itself forms a square area, paved through-
out with granite, surrounded by a handsome railing
with gates, ornamented with a lofty clock-tower in the
centre, and provided with an abundant supply of water.
In its present state it would accommodate 36,000 sheep,
6400 bullocks, 1400 calves, and 900 pigs; but when-
ever it may be needed, increased accommodation may
speedily be provided. The area is divided into four
nearly equal portions by two broad avenues, crossing
each other at the centre; at which point, surrounding
the clock-tower, are offices for bankers and others —
designated ‘Bank Buildings.’ The cattle occupy the
eastern sections; the sheep, calves, and pigs are placed
in the western. The cattle and sheep pens are con-
veniently arranged in relation to access and to sup-
ply of water; while covered sheds, alongside of which
butchers' carts can draw up, are provided for the calves
and pigs. Everything that can conduce to the con-
venience of buyers and sellers, and to the lessening of
suffering to the animals, seems to have been thought of
by Mr. Bunning, the City architect.
The encircling adjuncts to the market comprise, –
on the north, two large hotels, with shops on the ground
CH. VI. OPENING OF NEW MARIKET. 263
floor, sheds for the reception of butchers' carts, and a
large area of ground available for useful purposes here-
after ; on the south, lairs or covered sheds for cattle,
abreuvoirs or long drinking troughs, public and pri-
vate slaughter-houses, and a convenient space for rail-
way approach; on the east, two large taverns, and a
space reserved for a hide market and other purposes;
on the west, lairs and abreuvoirs for sheep, and
three taverns; lastly, at the extreme south-east and
south-west corners are two large spaces available for
future slaughter-houses. All the taverns and offices
have been built by the Corporation, and are let at annual
rentals. In the old days, the live-stock could be housed
for a few hours only, at places most inconveniently
situated around St. John Street and Islington; but the
lairs will now afford a quiet, clean home for the poor
animals during as long a period as their owners may
be willing to pay a small rent or toll for this service.
The new market is indeed a work worthy of all
concerned in it, and affords a pleasant termination
to a long and unpleasant contest. When, on the
ceremony of inauguration (June 13, 1855), Prince
Albert took part in the proceedings, his royal high-
ness judiciously observed: — “A certain dislocation
of habits and interests must inevitably attend the re-
moval of the great City market from the site it has
occupied for so many centuries; and this may possibly
retard for the moment the full development of the un-
dertaking; but any opposition arising from such causes
will soon cease; and the farmers will, doubtless, soon
learn to appreciate the boon thus conferred upon them
S 4
264 TEHE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VI.
by the London Corporation, in the increased facility
afforded to them for the transaction of their business,
and the comparative security with which they will be
enabled to bring up and display their valuable stock
in the great metropolitan cattle market.”
It has been placed upon record, –as something to
boast of in future years, which Norfolk grazier sent in
the first bullock, - which butcher purchased it, which
salesman disposed of it, which banker received payment
for it, which slaughterman killed it, and at which
slaughter-house the quietus was thus given to the ani-
mal. On Monday, June 11th, old Smithfield witnessed
its last market; on Friday, June 15th, the new market
began its career, and fatteners and consigners, salesmen
and bankers, butchers and slaughterers, drovers and dogs,
at once transferred their allegiance from the one to the
other. It might have been that old Smithfield would
have made a grand demonstration on the last day of
its eight hundred years’ existence; but such was not
to be — it died quietly.
265
CHAPTER VII.
COUNTRY-ISILLED MEAT AND CURED PROVISIONS.
Increasing use of country-killed Meat in London.— Peculiarities of the
Markets at Newgate, Leadenhall, and Whitechapel. — Anomalous
Position of Newgate Market. — Smaller Meat Markets. – Modes of
supplying these Markets. – Sketch of the Market Arrangements. –
Probable Quantities of country-killed Meat brought to London. —
Curious technical Limitation of the word ‘Provisions.”— Salt-Meat
Supply from Ireland and America.-Irish Bacon for London.—Hams
and the Ham-Trade. — Minor kinds of prepared Meat.— Preserved
or Potted Foods. – Gradual Extension of their Use.
GREAT as is the supply of live-stock for the London
market, enormous as are the commercial arrangements
connected with its purchase and sale, and important as
are the improvements recently wrought in grazing, we
do not yet reach the limit in relation to this kind of
animal food. There has been an increasing tendency,
in recent years, to send up to London country-killed
meat; there is a large amount of pig-meat consumed in
the forms of salt-pork, hams, and bacon; and there is a
portion of butchers’ meat — increasing every year,
though not yet large – prepared in the form of pre-
served meat, fitted to keep good for months or even
years.
Country-killed meat, then, comes to London; but
nothing less than Swiftness of conveyance would render
such a system practicable. The meat must be fresh
266 TEIIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
and appear fresh, to command a good position in the
market; any taint arising from the long-continuance
of a journey would exercise a most injurious influence
on the price obtained. Newgate, Whitechapel, and
Leadenhall markets might be improved in any way
that capital and ingenuity could effect; but without
the railways and the steamers, the country-killed meat
would fail to constitute an important part of the mar-
lcetable commodities. ‘Time is money,' to a most
significant degree, in this particular.
It is necessary to bear in mind, to understand the
machinery of meat supply in London, that many of the
butchers are men possessed of capital too small for pur-
chases of live-stock at Smithfield. Such retailers
transact business with the carcase-butchers, or the
wholesale dealers in dead meat; and it is in Whitechapel,
Newgate, and Leadenhall markets that these carcase-
butchers principally congregate. They purchase live-
stock in Smithfield, and slaughter for sale. The same
dealers are also purchasers of country-killed meat,
which arrives in the metropolis in considerable quantity,
especially in the cooler periods of the year; thus saving
a freightage or carriage for hides, hoofs, horns, &c.,
which remain in the country, applicable to manufactu-
ring purposes. The butchers open shop and make pur-
chases where they please, and conduct their operations
with as little interruption from the government, or
from any trading guild, as can well be conceived. They
ask no permission from the executive, where, or how,
or when, or in what quantities, to provide a stock for
their daily business. The Paris butchers, as well as
CH, VII. MEAT MARIKETS. 267
the Paris bakers, are under much restriction in these
particulars.
Leadenhall, Whitechapel, and Newgate have been
briefly noticed in connexion with slaughter-houses; we
have now to regard them as the three chief meat
markets. Leadenhall market has certainly undergone
curious changes; for there was once a manor-house
where the market now stands; and this manor-house,
or at least its site, became in succession a granary, a
wool-market, a fish-market, and finally a meat and
poultry-market. The sale of butcher's meat is much
smaller than at Newgate; but the poultry-market at
Leadenhall is believed to be the largest in the world—
not in area, perhaps, but in the amount of annual sales.
Whitechapel market, besides being the place where
most of the meat for the London Jews is purchased and
slaughtered, has other peculiarities that distinguish it.
There is simply a row of butchers' shops, on one side of
a high street through which great traffic is always
flowing. In so far as the meat itself is concerned, these
shops constitute the real market, but there are nume-
rous slaughter-houses behind on the southern side of the
shops; and these give an additional importance to the
market. It is, taken in all its parts, a market that has
grown up conventionally, without any very precise cor-
porate or official control; and beyond the appointment
of an inspector of meat, the City authorities exercise
little Supervision. There are meat-salesmen, who sell
on commission for country sellers to London butchers;
and there are retail shops at which private persons can
purchase joints of meat. The supply to the market is
268 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
chiefly from two sources — live stock from Smithfield,
and dead meat from Scotland.
Newgate market must necessarily be a place of extra-
ordinary activity and bustle; being, as it unquestionably
is, the largest dead-meat market in the kingdom, and
situated in a very dense part of the metropolis. The
greater portion of the site belongs to the Corpora-
tion; but a private individual owns the building once
known as the old College of Physicians; and this, or
the interior area, is now occupied as a subsidiary depôt,
designated sometimes the ‘College market. A strange
change of fortune this Where learned physicians were
once wont to meet and discuss and lecture, there are
now butchers, and meat, and saw-dust; both the outer
octangular porch and the inner quadrangle are thus oc-
cupied ; and we are on all sides reminded that the pur-
veyors of food have supplanted the purveyors of health.
The room over the octangular porch was the lecture-
room, with windows looking into Warwick lane. The
finest part of the old building, comprising the hall, the
dining-room, and the grand staircase, lie on one side of
the meat-market; but these, as well as the interior
frontages of the College itself, are so completely ob-
scured by the shed and roof of the market, that the
butchers themselves know little or nothing about
them: the architecture has been smothered behind beef
and mutton.
The market is held every day in the week; but
Mondays and Fridays are the chief market days.
Business commences so early as four in the morning;
and it is ‘high change’ between five and seven; by
CH. VII. NEWGATE MARIKET. 269
nine or ten o'clock the larger dealings are concluded;
and when the principal salesmen have consigned over
to smaller salesmen any meat that may be yet unsold,
they close their shops and retire for the day. There
is an afternoon sale for the convenience of butchers
who have been to the cattle market, and who may
wish to purchase dead meat before returning home.
There are also evening markets, especially on Saturday,
for the sale of any remaining stock; but butchers have
nought to do with this: the purchases are made by the
humbler class of consumers.
The system of transacting business here is analogous
to that at the cattle market. The salesman is the
medium between the seller and the buyer. A grazier
or dealer, in any part of the three kingdoms, writes
to his salesman to announce that a certain quantity
of country-killed meat will reach London by rail-
way or by steamer at a particular time; and the meat
arrives in waggons, or vans, or carts, from the station
or the wharf. How these vehicles can take up their
places in the narrow thoroughfare of Newgate Street
is almost inexplicable. No time is lost, however. The
blue-jacketed porters are ready to carry the meat from
the carts into the salesmen’s shops; and if a black hat or
a black coat should chance to be in one of the narrow
avenues at the time, a shouting of “Time's up, Guv'nor,”
and probably a thump from a huge piece of beef, will
suggest to the owner of the hat or coat the expediency
of getting out of the way as quickly as possible.
When the butchers arrive, purchases are made and
money paid with great rapidity. The salesman charges
270 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
a small commission to the grazier or country dealer,
and, with this deduction, transmits the money by any
of the usual modes adopted in commercial transactions.
He may not see his employer from one year's end to
another, or may indeed be personally altogether un-
known to him; for the transactions are managed with
so much regularity, that a penny post letter will be
as efficient as a personal conference. The salesman's
commission is so trifling as a penny or three half-pence
per stone of 8 lb. ; it is the same whether the market-
price of meat be high or low, and on this account, when
meat is cheap and the demand brisk, the salesman's
profits are greater than in a time of high prices and
a slack demand. The salesmen pay a weekly rental for
their shops or stalls; and it is they who employ the
porters that bring the meat from the vans and carts
into the shops.
The markets at Newgate, Leadenhall, and White-
chapel, are so much the largest and most important
of those whence the metropolis is supplied with but-
cher's meat, that the others may be passed over with
a very brief notice. These others are not so much
markets as meat bazaars — places which have grown
up on the true bazaar principle, viz., a congregating of
persons selling one kind of commodity, for the greater
convenience of purchasers. Of these minor places,
Clare market is small but densely packed; it serves
middle-class purchasers in the day-time, and the poorer
classes in the evening; and there is also a great diver-
sity of small dealers, other than those who sell meat.
Newport market is nearly a counterpart of the former.
CEI. VII. SUPPLY FROM THE COUNTRY. 271
Oxford market, belonging to the Duke of Portland,
has shopkeepers and stall-keepers who sell poultry
and vegetables as well as meat. St. George's market
comprises simply a few shops on the south side of
Oxford Street; while Brook's market, near Holborn
Bars, is a poor decaying affair.
It is not a little interesting to trace the routes and
the modes whereby dead meat reaches Newgate mar-
ket. Many years ago, when railways were not, and
when steamers were few, waggons and carts brought
country-killed meat from neighbouring counties; but
this system has become so altered, that very few coun-
try waggons now bring the Supply. Dead oxen and
sheep — or as we may as well call them, beef and
mutton — are sent largely from Scotland. Until the
railway companies made a resolute attempt to compete
with the steamers for goods’ traffic, most of this Scotch
meat came by sea; but the time of transit is so much
shortened by railway, that inland conveyance has again
taken precedence of maritime. The country-killed
meat is brought to Camden station, King's Cross,
Shoreditch, &c., and is thence quickly transmitted to
Newgate market. In many of the midland counties
the inhabitants are accustomed to purchase only the
secondary joints of beef, for cheapness, while the prime
joints find their way up to the metropolis. The rail-
way companies charge from 1s. 6d. to 4s. per cwt.,
according to the distance of the county whence the
meat is brought. Mutton for London is brought from
almost as large a number of counties as beef. Weal
comes principally from Some of the South-western coun-
272 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
ties, but also from Suffolk and Essex. Ireland is the
great source of supply for pork, although some comes
from Scotch and English counties; the dairy-fed pork is
brought from the latter counties, and frequently reaches
the shops of the pork-butchers without being trans-
mitted to Newgate market at all.
There are rogues in flesh as well as rogues in grain ;
and both require a little watching. Among the thou-
sand of tons of country-killed meat sent up to New-
gate market are occasionally to be found pieces un-
fitted for human food; and unless a power of inspec-
tion and rejection were given to some officer of the
market, the sale of such meat might produce dis-
astrous consequences. Mr. Pocklington, Inspector of
Newgate market, stated to one of the Parliamentary
Committees, that he has condemned in one month as
much as 48 quarters of beef, 56 sheep, 8 pigs, and 5
calves. In the autumn of 1854, when cholera was
rife in the metropolis, there were discreditable attempts
made to sell meat in a state wholly unfitted for food.
It is unfortunately too true that if a country dealer
can have the conscience to send up bad meat, there
are persons in London who will buy it — wherewith
to concoct some of the steaming messes which are sold
at a low price among the poor. It is said that some
of this meat is sold for a penny per pound; a price
which may give a clue to the quality. Any meat
condemned by the Inspector is taken to a boiling-
house, and boiled down until there is no further chance
of its being employed as food. The larger number of
CH. VII. QUANTITIES SOLD. 273
the salesmen, it is reasonable to hope, would not lend
themselves to such disreputable proceedings.
The sale of country-killed meat at Newgate market
has increased so wonderfully within the last few years,
that whereas there were only about a dozen salesmen
in 1810, the number had increased to two hundred by
the year 1850. Another curious feature presented by
this system is, that carcase-butchers have established
themselves at some of the towns in the north, to pur-
chase live stock, slaughter them, cut them into a small
number of large pieces, and pack them for transport to
Newgate market. Beef is usually sent in quarters,
pigs whole, calves and sheep both whole and in quarters.
The carcases are usually packed in cloths, and the
quarters in hampers. On the South Eastern Railway
the packages average about 100 lbs. each; and this
average may perhaps apply in respect to other compa-
nies likewise. The Eastern Counties railway com-
pany has adopted the plan of supplying cloths and
hampers to small farmers and graziers, to enable them
to compete with men of larger means.
There have been many accounts put forth of the
quantity of country-killed meat sent to London, and
sold at the three markets. Mr. Mayhew, noticing the
subject about the year 1849, in the ‘Morning Chro-
nicle, stated the quantity of dead meat sold annually
at Whitechapel to be about 70,000 stones of beef,
108,000 stones of mutton, 148,000 stones of pork, and
73,000 stones of veal—the stone, in this as in similar
cases, being equal to 8 lb. ; the whole amounting, as
will be seen, to somewhat above 3 millions of pounds.
T
274 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. WTT.
The dead meat sold at Leadenhall at the same time
was estimated at about 580,000 stones of beef, 950,000
of mutton, 450,000 of lamb, 540,000 of pork, and
400,000 of veal,—making a total of nearly 3 million
stones, or 24 million pounds. These numbers did not
include 27,400 sucking pigs. It is known that, in
that year, the Eastern Counties railway brought 600
tons of dead meat to London weekly; while Messrs.
Pickford and Messrs. Chaplin and Horne, between
them, brought about 30 tons per day from Camden
station to Newgate market. The Great Northern
brought 17,000 tons of meat and poultry to Lon-
don in 1854. So extraordinary is the inefficiency of
space at Newgate, compared with the requirements
of the market and the market-people, that even in
1849, when the trade in country-killed meat was
much smaller than it is now, there would sometimes
be 25 or 30 Eastern Counties waggons, and nearly
an equal number of Camden station waggons, arrive
with meat cargoes in one morning — although the
interior space of the market can only receive six
waggons at a time ! It was to the year 1850 that Mr.
Braithwaite Poole seems to refer, when he states that
67,500 tons of country-killed meat were brought to
Newgate and Leadenhall markets alone, of which
20,000 tons were brought by the Eastern Counties
railway. The Quarterly Reviewer” mentions 37,000
tons as he quantity brought in 1853, by all the rail-
ways and the Scotch steamers: an estimate which, in
some of its items, is either much too low, or convicts
Mr. Poole's of being much too high.
* No. cxc,
CH, VII. PRICES PAID. 275
Useful as these statistical conjectures may be, it
is necessary to employ caution both in making and in
using them. Mr. Pocklington, clerk of Newgate mar-
ket, states that there are no means, so far as his office
is concerned, of determining the quantity of meat sold
at Newgate. The tolls are charged in a manner which
does not require, and indeed does not admit, of any
entry of the weight of meat brought in or sold. All
the consigners, all the carriers, all the salesmen —
one or other of these groups, or all collectively, could
alone give the real figures. Nothing better than an
approximate guess can be made at present.
Without any more array of figures, it may be well
to notice the opinion of an experienced man concerning
the actual value of the meat sold at the principal of
these markets. When the Smithfield commissioners
made their inquiry in 1849, Mr. Giblett, a butcher
who ranks among the first in his trade, made the follow-
ing rough calculation—that the animals slaughtered in
London for sale at Newgate market are worth about
one million sterling annually; that the country-killed
meat sent up to the same market is three times as large
in quantity; and that the whole amount of Newgate
market sales would thus be nearly four millions sterling
annually The average price assumed by Mr. Giblett
was 2s. 10d. per stone; but the commissioners deemed
this too low, and thought that the sum total would be
higher even than he had placed it.
The meat-markets, as may be supposed, are supported
by certain tolls paid by those who make use of them.
Thus, the salesman at Newgate pays a penny for each
T 2
276 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
“hamper’ of meat, twopence for a ‘bundle' of meat,
sixpence for a ‘pack’ of meat; and the other dealers
pay for the privilege of bringing in poultry and game,
and other eatables into the market—besides paying
rent for the shops and stalls. At Leadenhall, in like
manner, there are charges of a few pence for a ‘tray of
beef,” a “quarter of beef, a ‘hamper of meat,’ and so
OIl.
Among the oddities of nomenclature in connection
with commercial matters, is the technical acceptation of
the word PROVISIONS. We are in the habit of consider-
ing this term to apply to all our food collectively. Not
so the merchants. Are live-stock provisions P No.
Are quarters of beef and saddles of mutton provisions 2
No. Are poultry and game, or bread and flour, or
fruit and vegetables, provisions? No. Provisions, in
the market acceptation, are certain preparations of
animal food not included under any of the above items.
Pickled or salt meat, cured or smoked meat, bacon,
ham, lard, cheese, butter : these are the articles which
engage the attention of the ‘provision merchant’ in
our wholesale regions. It may not be that every such
merchant deals in all of these, or confines himself strictly
to this list; nor need all these commodities necessarily
pass through the hands of the provision merchant; but
such is the general average scope and nature of the
trade. If we glance at the London market news in a
newspaper, we are pretty certain to find, under the
heading of ‘provisions,’ that ‘bacon is looking up,” or
that ‘Stilton is brisk, or that “Dutch is heavy,” or
that “York hams go off rapidly,” or some other an-
CH. VII. * PROVISIONS.’ 277
nouncements relating to the supply and demand of the
“ provisions’ here named. -
The salted or pickled meat eaten in London is
chiefly prepared by the butchers themselves. Most of
these shopkeepers have bins or boxes for the purpose ;
the meat and the salt (of two or three kinds) consti-
tute all the stock in trade necessary, and the process is
a very simple one. It seems to be a custom of the
trade that the pickling of pork shall be left to one par-
ticular section of the butchers. From the very nature
of the trade, it is scarcely possible to guess the quantity
of such food consumed in the metropolis; for it is a
matter of detail, managed by each butcher individually,
without any concert with the others. The pickled
meat cannot be deemed an addition to the London food;
for it is simply an altered form of that which has
already been included under the entries of Smithfield
or at the dead-meat markets.
A patent salting apparatus was invented a few years
ago, acting in principle like a forcing-pump. In the
ordinary process of salting meat, the joint is placed in
the brine, which is left to find its way into the pores
as best it may ; but with the ‘patent Salting apparatus'
this entry is more forcible. The instrument resembles
a common syringe or Squirt, having a nipple perforated
with three or four holes. The brine being properly
prepared, the syringe is filled with it; the nipple of the
syringe is forced into the most solid parts of the meat;
the piston is worked by strong pressure, and in a very
short time the brine is driven into and through all the
pores of the meat, making its appearance again at the
T 3
278 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
surface. The excellences claimed for this method by
its inventor are many — a smaller quantity of brine is
said to be requisite than by the ordinary method; the
nutritive qualities of the meat are better preserved ;
and the time for thorough salting is said to be not
more than ten minutes. Whether these claims are
justified, the butcher must determine.
London has probably very little to do with Cincinnati
pork, else it might be desirable to notice at some length
the extraordinary staple trade of that American city, in
which fatted hogs, collected from a range of country
three hundred miles in diameter, are slaughtered to the
number of about 500,000 annually. The slaughtering
is effected by persons who take the offal in payment;
and the carcases are sold to curers, who cut them up
into the proper pieces for pork, bacon, and hams. So
vast are some of the establishments, and so efficient the
arrangements, that 500 hogs, weighing 200lb. or 250lb.
each, can be cleansed, weighed, cut up, pickled, bar-
relled, branded, and shipped, in twenty-four hours.
Lard, lard-oil, bristles, brushes, and pig-leather for
saddles, are among the residuary results of this remark-
able pork trade.
Sweet is the din of war to the pork-curer or meat-
salter. It is a charmed sound to him, breathing of
brisk trade and large profits. When fleets and armies
are being fitted out, barrels of pickled beef and pork are
required in tens of thousands; because fresh meat is
obviously non-available for such requirements, except
under special circumstances. Pigs being largely reared
in Ireland, relatively to other kinds of live-stock, the
CH. VII. SALTED AND CURED MEATS. 279
barrelled-pork trade has become extensive in that
country. Cork is the place at which this trade prin-
cipally centres; and during the warlike period of 1854
and 1855, the supplies shipped thence were of vast
magnitude; the government made contracts on some
occasions for a million pounds at a time. The coopers
who made the barrels earned high wages; they felt
their importance, and re-enacted the part of the tra-
ditional organ-blower who insisted on the ‘we.’ At
the slightest whisper of returning peace, the meat-
curers became fidgetty, for it was a question of thou-
sands to them. To give an idea of the quantity of this
kind of meat required by a large fleet, it may suffice to
say that the ‘Duke of Wellington, the gigantic 131–
gun screw war steamer that towered over the Baltic
fleet in 1854 and ’55, included among her stores, when
fitted for active service, 20 tons of salt beef, in 8 lb.
pieces, and 20 tons of Salt pork, in 4 lb. pieces, making
about 90,000lb. of salt meat altogether
Put if London has little concern with these salted
provisions, except in so far as it is supplied by the re-
tail butcher, such is not the case in relation to bacon.
Bacon is very little, if at all, a London product : our
metropolis is not to any great extent a pig-killing
place; and none but a Cincinnati, large or small, new
world or old world, affords the requisite facilities. The
size and quality of the pigs, the extent and nature of
the market, often determine whether pig-meat shall
assume the form of bacon or of barrelled salt-meat.
When swine are to be finally disposed of as bacon-
T 4
280 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
hogs, they are taken from their indiscriminate feeding
at the age of twelve to eighteen months, to undergo
the fattening ordeal. They are cleaned and coddled,
provided with clean straw beds and clean troughs of
water; their getting up and their lying down and their
sleeping are all attended to ; and they receive a varied
diet of middling flour, potato meal, peas, barley meal,
wash, whey, butter-milk, skim-milk, cut grass, green
vegetables: man carefully fattens them, in order that
they may fatten man in return. Some pig-owners,
however, are not so careful; they allow the animals to
fatten on what they may or can ; but this must obvi-
ously affect the quality of the bacon. The bacon-hog
is generally fattened in autumn and killed about Christ-
mas. Occasionally prodigies of fatness are produced,
which have been gormandizing for five or six months;
but the age at killing is generally somewhere between
fourteen and twenty weeks.
Irish bacon, in the large flat pieces technically known
as ‘sides,’ is roughly salted, and is sent in that state to
the English ports; here it is bought by bacon-curers
or provision merchants, by whom the processes are
carried on to completion, and the bacon finally brought
to market.
How much of this bacon is eaten in London can
hardly be known. Since the assimilation of the Anglo-
Irish trade with the coasting trade, means have been
wanting to determine the quantity of food which reaches
Great Britain from Ireland. 30,000 tons have been
named as the probable weight of salt beef and pork con-
sumed in the United Kingdom ; and there has been a
CH. VII. BACON AND SALT ME AT TRADE. 281
like estimate of 56,000 tons in respect of bacon and ham,
—both uncertain estimates. In so far as regards imports
from foreign countries, the import of bacon and hams
during the last few years has averaged about 20,000 tons
annually, worth, probably, from 600,000l. to 700,000l.
Limiting the range to the port of London, there appear
to have been about 9000 tons of Irish and 6000 tons of
foreign bacon and hams imported annually on an average
during the last six or eight years. If we take the last
three years, the import of various foreign “ provisions’ has
exhibited such violent fluctuations, that we must pro-
bably attribute the disturbance in some way or other to
the war. The following are the Board of Trade re-
turns for 1852–3–4.
1852. 1853. 1854.
Cwts. Cwts. Cwts.
Salted beef * = tº tºge 124,694 183,286 192,274
Salted pork es * * 95,555 152,731 160,898
Bacon * * -º º * 73,952 190,134 410,703
Hams * gº * * 7,484 15,533 12,805
The total for 1854 was thus nearly 1000 million
pounds. But this is just one of the cases where infer-
ences concerning consumption must be cautiously made;
for we have no means of determining what ratio the
London consumption bore to the total import.
Hams may be regarded, practically, as certain parts
of bacon cured in a particular way. Taking West-
phalia hams as a representative of all, the processes they
undergo are something such as this: the hams are piled
in deep vessels, and covered with layers of salt, salt-
282 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
petre, and bay leaves. In this state they are left for
Some days, after which they are immersed in strong
brine, and when this brine has thoroughly soaked into
the meat, the hams are steeped for several hours in
spring water; they are lastly hung up for two or three
weeks in a smoke formed by burning juniper berries.
Most varieties of bacon and ham are cured in a less
elaborate way.
At Paris the ham trade is conducted on a different
principle from that of London. There has for many
ages been a ham fair held in some open place, about
Easter, and lasting three or four days; the ham dealers
come from every part of France, display their hams on
stalls and in booths, and transact a very large amount
of business.
London, as well as Great Britain generally, is mainly
indebted to Ireland and to the United States for a sup-
ply of bacon. In America the flitches are packed in
boxes weighing about 3 cwts.; while the shoulders, hams,
and shanks are shipped in hogsheads of 8 cwt. each.
Hams are frequently brought in bulk from New Orleans.
It is a curious circumstance, characteristic of the low
quality of diet in Ireland, that while the better kinds
of Irish bacon are sent to England, large quantities of
cheap American bacon are consumed in Ireland.
Although, as above noticed, the imports from Ireland
into Great Britain cannot be accurately known, yet an
attempt has been made by Mr. M'Culloch to arrive at
an approximation to the quantity, from a careful exam-
ination of the seven years 1838–1844. He estimated the
annual value at the average prices of these seven years,
CH. VII, MISCELLANEOUS CURED MEATs. 283
of the cattle, sheep, lambs, pigs, poultry, eggs, fish,
Salt beef, salt pork, butter, bacon, hams, and lard, im-
ported into Great Britain from Ireland, at little short of
three million and a half sterling; but confining the
entries to those which concern the present chapter, he
gives them as follows: —
Salt beef - - 8,682 tierces, (3) 84| = £ 48,727
Salt pork - - 22,926 barrels, (3) 64/10 = 75,096
Bacon and ham - 83,546 cwts. (6) 41/8 = 174,067
It is believed that London absorbs by far the larger
portion of the Irish provisions brought to Great Britain.
Besides salt beef, salt pork, bacon, and hams, there
is a nameless group of odds and ends which appear very
trifling individually, but which collectively form a con-
siderable item in the prepared meats consumed in Lon-
don. Sausages, saveloys, polonies (not unlikely first
made in Poland, for the Russians and Poles are rather
prone to the sausage genus of food), black puddings,
German sausages, hung beef, spiced beef, cured tongues,
Bath chaps — these commodities, attended to by a
special class of London shopkeepers, must be sold
in enormous quantities, though not determinable with
any degree of precision. When Mr. Braithwaite Poole
tells us that 5000 tons of black puddings, worth 210,000l.,
are made annually in England, what are we to think?
has he made a slip in his figures, or does the sale of
this apparently insignificant article really reach such an
astonishing amount P Sausages are made on a large scale
in some of the London establishments; a steam-engine
being employed to work the knives or cutters that
dissever the ingredients. There has, however, been
284 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
lately invented an ingenious hand-worked machine, ap-
plicable not only to the making of sausages, but to the
mincing of meat, suet, herbs, vegetables, mince-meat,
&c.; the machine is screwed down to the edge of a
dresser or table, and worked by a handle; it will, ac-
cording to the patentee’s statement, mince eight pounds
of meat in four or five minutes; and there is also a pro-
vision for forcing the sausage-meat into skins.
Whether or not a quarter of mutton could be pre-
served for a month without taint; whether a joint of
fine beef would remain a joint of fine beef after a
Summer's warmth had visited it; whether butchers’
meat or poultry, wild fowl or game, eggs or fish,
milk or Soup, fruit or vegetables, – can be shielded
from contamination for weeks, or months, or even
years — are questions the denizens of London do
not take much trouble to answer. Happily for them,
the store of fresh food is practically inexhaustible,
limited only by the means of purchase; long ere the
food can have lost the freshness that is one of its most
indispensable characteristics, a purchaser has appro-
priated it. The discredit that attaches to the very
existence of a piece of tainted food in London shows,
by implication, how relatively small must be the quan-
tity; the Londoners are seldom driven to keep meat
until this tainted state is induced, or to preserve it by
artificial means as a means of repelling the taint. It is
nevertheless well to know that such a resource is left;
that food-preservation has become an art; and that the
art is welcomed as a benefit by our tourists, our voyagers
CH. VII. MEAT PRESERVING. 285
in distant seas, our Arctic explorers, our soldiers in
distant camps, our invalids in distant hospitals, our
emigrants, our adventurers bound for the golden lands
of other continents. -
Meat-preserving is a chemical affair. Meat decays
— not because it is dead, but because certain changes
ensue consequent on the death. Death and decay are
not inseparable links in the same chain — at least, not
in such a degree as our every-day language would seem
to imply. When life has left the animal, the complex
organised structure is attacked by three active agents
—air, moisture, and heat: and these, if not warded off,
will inevitably reduce the inanimate flesh to its ultimate
atoms; fibres and gelatine, fat and albumen, all will
go, “ leaving not a wrack behind.” It becomes a war
of chemistry against these three antagonists; and if the
war be skilfully waged, a piece of meat may be kept
sweet and pure, not only for years, but for a whole
generation. A canister of Gamble's boiled mutton, left
in Prince Regent's Inlet by one of the Arctic expedi-
tions in 1824, was found in excellent condition by Sir
James Ross, when he visited the spot in 1849, a quarter
of a century afterwards.
The idea of preserving meat seems to have arisen
nearly half a century ago; but it is only within the
last thirty years that the plan has been seriously enter-
tained of including preserved meats among special naval
stores. In 1830, preserved meats were issued to the
navy as ‘medical comforts,’ and were much approved
by the ships' surgeons. The use of them extended :
286 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
until at length, in 1847, such food became included
among the rations for particular services.
A contract was made by the Admiralty in 1844, with
Mr. Goldner, who had a commercial establishment in
Houndsditch, and a curing establishment near Galatz, in
Moldavia, where the cheapness of ox-flesh enabled him
to preserve and pot the meat at a low price: his tallow
factory at Galatz, in fact, was the primary part of his
enterprise: the making of money by the lean meat
was a secondary and subsidiary source of profit. This
contract was terminable at any time, on three
months' notice; and as many complaints were made
year after year, the engagement was terminated by the
government in 1849. A renewed contract was made,
under more stringent conditions; but this in its turn
was rescinded in 1851. -
The Government has not confined its dealings to
one firm. For instance, there was one contract with
a house at Leith in 1850, for a supply of 1000 pints of
mutton broth, at 5d. per pint canister; 1000 quarter-
pints of concentrated gravy, at 4:#d. per quarter pint ;
1000 lb. of soup and bouilli, at 5%d.; and 1000 lb. of
boiled mutton, at 7d. ; all to be regarded as ‘ medical
comforts’ for the navy, and to be delivered at various
times. Another contract, with a London firm, was for
24,000 lb. of preserved boiled beef, at the curiously-
fractional price of 54%d. per lb., to be delivered in 9 lb.
and 12 lb. canisters. Another was for the enormous
quantity of 800,000 lb. of preserved boiled beef, at
4; d., 5d., and 5; d. per lb., according to the size of the
canisters in which it was packed. In 1850 the Ad-
CH. VII. ADMIRALTY CONTRACTS. 287
miralty advertised for tenders for the supply of pre-
served provisions; and this advertisement was responded
to by eight or nine parties, who were either meat pre-
servers, or agents for foreign firms so employed. The
provisions were to comprise soup and bouilli, boiled
mutton, mutton broth, concentrated gravy, and boiled
beef. The tenders for preserved soup and bouilli varied
between the wide limits of 5d, to 8d. per lb.; the boiled
mutton from 7d. to 9d.; the boiled beef from 53d. to
7#d.; the mutton broth from 5d. to 7%d. per pint; and
the concentrated gravy from 4; d. to 6d. per quarter
pint. These wide differences indicate either that the
contractors looked forward to very different rates of
profit, or that there would have been very different
degrees of quality in the provisions supplied. The
government accepted the lowest tenders; thus relying
on a hope that the quality would be sufficiently good.
Eight contractors, between the years 1844 and 1852,
supplied no less than 4,000,000 lbs. of preserved meats
and soups, of which 3,250,000 lbs. were from the firm
of Goldner.” Any one who has watched the newspaper
accounts of the Crimean campaigns, must have noticed
preserved meats among the entries of commissariat and
hospital stores. -
In the appendix to the Report of the Parliamentary
committee on Preserved meats, a letter is inserted from
Mr. Cunningham, British consul at Galatz, affording
information concerning the mode of manufacture adopted
in Moldavia. Mr. Goldner pursued exactly the same
system in his factory as is pursued in the tallow fac-
* Report of Parliamentary Committee on Preserved Meats. 1852.
288 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
tories; that is, he made the production of tallow the
first and chief object, and that of meat quite secondary.
“As the best way of showing how Mr. Goldner prepared
the meat for the navy, I will describe how the meat is
treated in the tallow factories. The ox being killed,
the inside fat or suet is easily separated from the beef;
and then the workmen commence cutting every particle
of fat from the meat; wherever a seam of fat is found
it is followed out; and thus the meat is cut up into
very small pieces. Such is the system followed in Mr.
Goldner's factory. The small pieces thus produced in
the tallow factories are, I believe, a perquisite of the
workmen, or an addition to their wages, and is sold at
ten paras, Ibraila money, per oke, or one-third of a
penny per lb.; and of this a large quantity of ordinary
sausages is made. . . . . . After the meat has been
separated from the fat in Mr. Goldner's factory, it is put
into vats, and scalded or boiled, and then it is put into
the canisters; as much soup is put into each canister as
it will hold, and the crevices are filled with soup out of
the vats in which the meat has been boiled. The
canisters are then submitted to the air-expelling process.
I believe that in the boiling process a further quantity
of fat is taken from the meat.”
According to an estimate given by Mr. Cunningham,
the value of a pound of Goldner's preserved boiled beef
is thus curiously made up: — The raw beef, Id, ; pre-
paring, 0}d.; canisters, 1; d. ; freight to England, 0#d.;
insurance, 0#d. ; petty expenses, 0#d. ; =4d. He con-
siders that 5d. per lb. wholesale contract price is about
a fair estimate for this beef, to cover loss, interest, com-
CH. VII, OTHER PRESERVED FOODS. 289
mission, and profit. An ox in Moldavia is bought for
about a fourth the English value of an average English
ox; and it is reckoned that the cost of the ox is repaid
by the hide and the tallow.
Perhaps the curtain may be allowed to remain down,
that has fallen over the disgraceful proceedings of
1851, when out of 6000 canisters of preserved food
supplied to the Admiralty, considerably more than
5000 were found to be wholly unfit for human food—
filled not merely with tainted meat, which had once
been good, but with substances that could not be
designated meat in any sense. It was an atrocity, to
be treated as such; but not in any way to be taken as
evidence against the value of the processes whereby
provisions may be kept in excellent order for a length-
ened period.
It is not merely meat that is thus preserved. The
ingenuity of the manufacturers who apply themselves
to this particular art has devised the means of potting
or ‘canistering’ an almost countless variety. There
are nearly twenty kinds of soup, broth, and meat
essences; twelve or fifteen kinds of fish; poultry;
game, and venison; butchers’ meat of every kind;
tongues, hams, bacon, kidney, tripe, marrow ; nearly
all the fruits and vegetables ordinarily eaten; milk
and cream — all are now preserved in canisters for
lengthened keeping: the process depending of course
on the kind of commodity operated on. Doubtless a
sumptuous banquet might be made out of a selection
from these viands — albeit a rather costly one,
Australia is making a bidding for popularity in
U
290 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VII.
respect to this manufacture: she has cattle that feed
themselves at small expense, and she can provide beef
and mutton for potting at a low charge. The principle of
action in Australia is something like that prevailing in
southern Russia and Moldavia. When the ‘Marquis of
Chandos’ merchant vessel, in 1846, brought into St. Ka-
therine's docks 25,000 canisters of preserved beef from
Taganrog, the lowness of price astonished English deal-
ers. The truth is, that up to that time the cattle of
southern Russia had been valued for the bones, tallow,
and hides; but when Sir Robert Peel made the change
in the customs' law, which so facilitated the importation
of food from abroad, a market was opened for the
beef of those cattle; and the meat was sent over pre-
served in canisters. Something like this has occurred
in Australia. A London merchant established a beef
depôt at Newcastle, near Sydney, mainly for the
supply of English ships; he preserved and supplied
280,000 lbs. in 1851, and 400,000 lbs. in 1852; and his
establishment is equal to the production of 700,000 lbs.
per annum. An Australian ox, weighing six to
seven cwt., will yield about two cwt. of tallow, and a
hide worth about 8s.
Several miscellaneous kinds of preserved food have
been brought under public notice; such as pemmican,
meat-biscuit, dried vegetables, preserved milk, &c. When
the juries of the Great Exhibition made their several re-
ports, the jury on class 3. reported very highly concern-
ing the preserved meats. “It is impossible to over-
estimate the importance of these preparations. The in-
vention of the process by which animal and vegetable food
CH. VII. F[IFPPOPEIAGY. 291
*f
is preserved in a fresh state for an indefinite period has
only been applied practically during the last twenty-
five years, and is intimately connected with the annals
of Arctic discovery. The active measures taken to
discover a north-west passage, and to prosecute scienti-
fic research in all but inaccessible regions, first created
a demand for this sort of food; and the Admiralty
stimulated the manufacturers to great perfection in the
art. As soon as the value of these preparations in
cold climates became generally admitted, their use was
extended to hot ones.”
The use of preserved meats in London, however, is
small, and hence the subject may here be dismissed.
Chemists, in France and Germany, have begun to
interest themselves in the subject learnedly called
Hippophagy — horse-eating. They inquire whether
the flesh of the horse is good for human food; and
whether, if good, prejudice ought not to be pruned
down that might interfere with its adoption. But
supposing all repugnance to be removed, the hippo-
philosophers would still have to encounter this dilemma
—if a horse be unsound, or worn out with a life of
hard service, his flesh would not be in a favourable
state; if he were in sound condition his value would
be too great to justify slaughtering for human food.
Such, at least, would be the case in a country like
England.
292 THE FOOT) OF LONDON. CH, VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
DADRY PRODUCE AND POULTRY FOR I.ONDON.
Milk-supply. —London ‘Milk-walks.”— Estimates concerning Quan-
tity.— M. Guénon's Theory of Milch Cows.--Economy of the great
London Dairies.— Milk-Supply to London by Railway. — Adultera-
tion of Milk. —Butter.—Dairy Produce as a Commercial Adventure.
— Butter Trade in Ireland.—Supply to London, and Nature of the
Trade.—Adulteration of Butter. —Cheese. —Warieties and Quanti-
ties.—Use of Anatto. —Eggs.-Egg-rearing in France, and Egg-
trade with England. —Egg-trade in Ireland. — Railway Conveyance
of Eggs to London. — Poultry and Poultry Manias. – Projects for
Artificial hatching. — Goose and Duck rearing for the London Mar-
ket. — Contrast between Paris and London in Poultry Consumption.
–Poultry Markets at Leadenhall and Newgate.— Game, its Varieties
and Peculiarities of Supply. f
• A MILK-WALK for sale.” This advertisement, which
occasionally finds admission into the columns of the
newspapers, is a little perplexing to those who are not
familiar with London and its usages. A milk-walk might
be a milky walk, milky way, or via lactea : if sarcasm
could be supposed to have any place here, London milk
and the milky way might be said to have a certain
analogy, in So far as they present to view a thin bluish
tint having little of a creamlike appearance.
The truth is, that this phrase is one of the conven-
tionalisms so profusely employed in daily commerce.
‘The goodwill of a milk-trade for sale;’ this is what is
meant. A dairyman counts upon the patronage of
some dozens, be it more or less, of customers, who pur-
CH. VIII. MILIK SUPEPLY. 293
chase from him their daily supply of milk. He has no
rightful claim to insist on this custom ; he has no copy-
right, so to speak, in his customers; but he has a fair
chance of being called upon to supply them three
hundred and sixty-five times in a year, or perhaps
double this number. When he offers a “milk-walk
for sale,’ he simply sells his chance; no one of the
customers is bound to transfer allegiance from the old
milkman to the new. It is true that he obtains, occa-
sionally, a kind of despotic power over them; he chalks
cabalistic marks on the railings, or the doorpost, or on a
tally-stick, denoting the number of small portions of
milk supplied on credit; and this chalk-score is a kind
of mortgage of their future custom, which may be dis-
counted or rendered of marketable value. A London
boy, holding a gentleman's horse, will sometimes ‘sell
his chance' to another boy for a halfpenny—under the
supposition, entertained by both, that the gentleman
will give a penny. Something analogous to this is
the sale of a milk-walk.
Mr. Braithwaite Poole's estimate of the quantity of
milk consumed may well astonish by its vastness those
who are in the habit of regarding this beverage as a tri-
fling article. The consumption in the United Kingdom
—comprising only such as is used in the form of milk,
and excluding cheese, butter, &c. —is roughly taken at
1150 million quarts annually. Mr. Poole assumes
that an average milch cow yields 7 quarts of milk
as a daily average; and that the average retail price is
3d, per quart: and from these data a result is arrived
at that the whole supply requires 450,000 milch cows,
gº
U C
294 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
and that the retail value amounts to the prodigious sum
of 14,000,000l. per annum. -
But limiting the inquiry to London, the same
authority assumes that the carefully-reared cows that
furnish most of the supply for the metropolis yield 9
quarts per daily average; that the number thus em-
ployed is 24,000; that the quantity of milk consumed
is about 80 million quarts annually; and that the con-
Sumers pay not less than 1,600,000l. for it.
So little is really known of total numbers and
quantities in these matters, that many estimates differ
widely from Mr. Poole's. One computer thinks that
there are 20,000 cows in and around London, yielding
12 quarts per day each; and that this quantity, aided
by ‘the cow with the iron tail, i. e. the pump, would
give a quarter of a pint per day to every inhabitant
of the metropolis. Middleton, in 1806, supposed there
were 8500 cows employed in supplying milk to Lon-
don, at 9 quarts per day each. Mr. Youatt, in 1840,
estimated that there were 12,000 cows thus em-
ployed, who supplied in a year 38 million quarts of
milk, for which the public paid 800,000l. Mr. Low
has offered an opinion that every inhabitant of the king-
dom, one with another, takes half a pint per day, in the
various forms of milk, butter, cheese, &c.; and that the
cows, besides this supply, furnish also 200 million
gallons of milk in a year for rearing young calves. Mr.
Poole thinks there are a million and a half of cows in
the United Kingdom, requiring two acres and a half of
land to feed each of them. It is evident, not only that
these estimates are inconsistent one with another, but
CH. VIII. QUANTITIES CONSUMED. 295
that they take up the matter from opposite points of
view, scarcely capable of furnishing analogies: the
whole is, indeed, mere guess-work.
One of the important objects of a dairyman's atten-
tion must be, to determine the ratio between the value
of the fodder eaten, and that of the milk yielded, by a
milch cow — not the daily yield at any particular time,
but the whole quantity during the period of her effi-
ciency as a milker. An abundant supply per day for a
few weeks may not in the end be so profitable as a more
moderate supply during a longer period. It is just one
of those matters which practical men alone can handle;
and there is very little doubt that dairy-stock has
shared in the recent improvements of grazing-stock —
yielding more milk per cow now than at the beginning
of the present century. In 1846. Dr. R. D. Thomson,
who undertook an examination, for the government, into
the dietetic properties of different articles of food,
found that cows give more milk from a variety in
their food, than from any one kind; and that an alter-
nation of grass, barley, malt, molasses, linseed, hay, and
bean-meal, is advantageous.” ... •
About the year 1850, the periodicals devoted to
farming subjects were engaged in the discussion of a
remarkable theory concerning milch cows. Supposing
a question to be put — how can a good milch cow be
known, by external characteristics, from one that
will yield milk only in small quantities, and for a short
period 2 – there is a Frenchman who thinks that he
* R. D. Thomson, “Food of Animals.’
U 4
296 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
can give a trustworthy answer. M. François Guénon,
of Bordeaux, tells us that, more than forty years ago,
he was accidentally led to the consideration of this
question. He found a certain appearance in a good
milch cow; and he sought to ascertain whether other
good milch cows always had that appearance, or
whether all having that appearance were good milch
cows. This was analogous to the principle whereon
Gall endeavoured to ascertain the functions of the
brain, as a foundation for Phrenology; and it is in-
deed a legitimate mode of applying the inductive logic
towards the ascertainment of principles— always pro-
vided that it be rigidly and fairly conducted. M.
Guénon asserts that there are no less than 192 va-
rieties of cows, every one of which, according to the
theory, differs from every other in the quantity of
milk yielded per day, or in the continuance of the
supply, or in the quality. The quantity varies from
one quart to twenty-four quarts per day”. Guénon's
theory is just one of those empirical formulae which,
resting on no antecedent probability, must be scru-
pulously tested in actual practice by competent per-
sons before being accepted.
But to return to our subject, the supply of London
with milk. At the outskirts of the metropolis are
still a few large dairies, maintained at a considerable
annual expenditure for fodder and other supplies. Be-
fore the railway milk-supply for London had become
considerable, the management of these large dairies,
such as Laycock's at Islington, was somewhat as fol-
* Découverte Guénon, ‘Tracte des Vaches Laitières.’
CH. VIII, METROPOLITAN DAIRIES. - 297
lows. At three o'clock in the morning a bevy of milk-
women assembled, each with her pail and her stool, to
milk the cows – of which four or five hundred, per-
haps, would be milked in an hour and a half. The
milk was carried away, in tall cans or in milk-pails, to
the houses of the small traders who were not so
wealthy as to possess cows; and by those dealers it
was dispensed to the breakfast consumers. At twelve.
at noon another milking took place, and another dis-
tribution among the humble dealers. The milkers
were employed by the buyers, if they were not the
buyers themselves; they brought their own vessels,
milked the cows at stated hours, and paid so much per
gallon, This system, though still continued, has been
shaken by the more recent plan of bringing milk to
London by railway. At the dairy just named, each
cow is said to consume per day about a bushel of
grains, 56 lbs. of turnips or of mangel-wurzel, and
12 lbs. of hay. At another dairy, near Peckham,
there are three hundred cows, with a farm to supply
them with fodder. It was stated a year or two ago,
that this dairy contained one cow which had yielded
28 quarts per day for six weeks; and that the average
yield of all the cows was as high as 15 quarts. There
is a sort of quarantine-ground' for newly-purchased
cows, where they are kept until their condition wa-
rants their introduction to the company of the high-
conditioned milkers. Scrupulous cleanliness is every -
where maintained ; the men engaged with the cows
frequently bathe and change their clothes. The milk
when drawn, is strained, and poured into upright cans;
298 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
these cans are sealed, put into vans, started off at
3 o'clock in the morning, and arrive at a depôt in
the city; the seals are removed by a clerk, the milk is
poured into other cans; and these cans, being locked by
the clerk, are carried off by milkmen, who supply the
breakfast tables of the various customers. All this
scruple is manifested in order to ensure that which is
Somewhat rare in the metropolis — pure milk.
The high price paid for milk in London ought cer-
tainly to ensure a more unadulterated article than falls
to the lot of most consumers. How large the profit must
be in various quarters, will be understood from the fol-
lowing details, on the authority of Mr. Braithwaite
Poole, concerning the conveyance of milk by railway.
This conveyance is effected in cans holding from 6 to
18 gallons each ; the companies usually charge at the
rate of three farthings per gallon for carriage, if the
distance be within 40 miles, and one penny if for a
longer distance — returning the empty cans free of
charge. Now this milk is sold by the farmers to
large dealers at 5d. to 7d. per gallon; the dealers sell
it to retailers at 7d. to 9d per gallon; while the re-
tailers sell it to the housekeepers of the metropolis at
3d. to 4d. per quart. Nor is this all; the rich milk at
(say) 8d. per gallon becomes too often milk and water
at 4d. per quart. The real produce of the cow, con-
sidering that cream commands a price of 2s. to 3s. a
quart in London, certainly cannot bring in less than
5d. to 6d. per quart to the retailers. The railways are
bringing more and more milk to London; and there
is every probability that this branch of traffic will in-
-CEI. VIII. * COW WITH THE IRON TAIL.’ 299
crease. It is estimated that in 1853 the quantity thus
brought considerably exceeded 3,000,000 quarts, of
which by far the largest proportion travelled on the
Eastern Counties railway. Some of the itinerant
dealers are beginning to announce their “railway milk’
at threepence, or even less than this, per quart; and
we may hope that this rivalry will after a time improve
the average quality of London milk.
When the ‘Lancet’ Commissioners examined London
milk, they purchased small quantities from 26 dairy-
men ; and, rather to their own surprise, though of
course to their satisfaction, they found 12 of them to
be genuine; 2 had some of the cream removed; the
rest were adulterated with water, to an extent varying
from 10 to 50 per cent. No adulterant was detected
except water. All these specimens were purchased at
the west end of the town; what results would have
been afforded by an examination of the milk sold in
the poorer districts of London the report does not
enable us to determine. The inhabitants of New
York, it would appear, have to contend against a
probability of bad milk, as well as those of other
cities. The ‘Veterinary Record’ for April, 1850,
gives the following extract from a New York paper:
“There exists, on Long Island, near Brooklyn, several
manufactories of milk, the process of conducting which
should be known. One of these dairies covers a space
of six hundred feet by three hundred, carefully fenced
in so as to be as private as possible. There are four
hundred cows which are fed on the refuse slop of the
whiskey distilleries, given warm ; the animals are fond
300 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. VIII.
\
4
of it; they become vitiated in taste; but they yield
a large quantity of milk. This milk, originally bad in
quality, is further sophisticated by admixture with
molasses, whiting, and water.”
It is assuredly not pleasant to associate these thoughts
of adulteration and sophistication with ideas of milk-
maidens, and bright May mornings, and butter-cups and
daisies. Gay, in his “Trivia,’ says: —
“On doors the sallow milkmaid chalks her gains;
Ah! how unlike the milkmaid of the plains.”
Perhaps the milk has changed also, as well as the milk-
maids.
BUTTER must have made its appearance in the
world nearly as soon as milk; for nothing more than
a good shaking is necessary to convert the one into
the other; and the good shaking might in the first
instance have been brought about as well by accident
as design. It is interesting to notice the relation
which the various milky liquids and solids bear one to
another. Milk consists of three substances — one
watery, or whey ; another curdy, or cheese ; and ano-
ther fatty, or butter; and the various dairy arrange-
ments have much to do with the separation of these
one from another. Skim-milk contains nearly all the
cheese, and some of the butter; butter-milk contains
less butter than skim-milk; cream contains most of
the butter, with a little of the whey and of the cheese;
butter is or ought to be almost wholly without whey
or cheese ; cream-cheese contains the butter and
CH. VIII. YBUTTEE M AIXING, 301
cheese, but no whey ; ordinary cheese contains little
butter, and ought to contain no whey. Such, in
a general way, are the relations they bear one to
another.
The ordinary butter consumed in London is made
by processes that may be readily understood. As
the cream for making butter tends to rise to the sur-
face of the whey in milk, and as the curd for making
cheese tends to sink to the bottom, the difference
between the two is clearly marked. In making butter
the milk is strained; then poured into a shallow pan to
a depth of four or five inches, and left several hours in
a cool clean place, shielded from the sun, but exposed
to a draught of air. The cream rises to the surface;
it is removed and placed in a separate vessel, and other
cream is added to it until there is sufficient for a pro-
cess of butter-making. The cream is a mixture chiefly
of butter and butter-milk; and the former is separated
from the latter by the agitation and heat produced
during the process of churning. If a little cream were
shaken in a bottle, butter would be produced by the
severance of the butter-milk; and the whole process of
churning, by whatever apparatus conducted, is nothing
in effect but a shaking. Some churns have an agitator
or stirrer rotating vertically, some horizontally; but the
process is just the same. It is certainly a remarkable
operation, for, after perhaps an hour's churning, small
kernels of butter suddenly make their appearance in
the midst of the cream, and gradually accumulate into
a mass. When all is finished the butter is removed
from the remaining liquid or butter-milk. There is
302 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
always a little butter remaining in the butter-milk,
and a little butter-milk remaining in the butter; but
according to the perfection of the process, so is the
completeness of the separation. The butter is washed
and beaten to expel the Small remnant of butter-
milk. The product may at once be sold as fresh
butter; but most of that consumed in London is firkin-
butter, packed in firkins with the addition of a little
salt. The separation of cream from milk, and the
extrication of butter from the cream, are the essential
operations; all else are minor details, on which minor
differences of quality depend, and minor varieties in
colour and hardness.
In a curious pamphlet published shortly before the
close of the last century it is stated, among other
grievances, that the contractors for butter could deter-
mine the price of the market according to their own
wishes; and the narrative affords a little information
concerning the mode in which the London supply was
kept up. It appears that the principal butter counties
were Bedford, Buckingham, Essex, Cambridge, and
Oxford. The general plan was to bring the butter to
London in waggons, and deposit it at warehouses in
the markets; but another plan excited the ire of the
writer: “The butter is principally conveyed to a
few houses at the west-end of the town, who retail it
on their own terms. There is a waggon that comes
regularly from Ampthill in Bedfordshire, which con-
veys butter to different persons in town who keep
shops, but which is never brought to market. The
Summer contract, from May-day to Michaelmas, is,
CH. VIII, BUTTER TRADE SIXTY YEARS AGO, 303
generally speaking, cheaper than the winter contract
by one penny per pound. About twenty years ago
the obnoxious custom of contracting for dairies was
but little known, and the butter was then sold at a
reasonable rate, as it came fairly to the market. Fresh
butter commonly sells three-pence per pound dearer
than Cambridge butter, and Cambridge butter two-
pence per pound dearer than Irish butter. The great
butter jobbers in Newgate and Leadenhall markets
engross an immense quantity of butter; one person in
Newgate market sold in one year 18,400 flats of
fresh butter (which he had engrossed) to the dealers in
that article. Their practice is to ride from dairy to
dairy in the country and buy up all they can. This
means of engrossing such large quantities enables them
to sell at two prices, the dealers being obliged to apply
to them first. It (the butter) was formerly sent from
the dairies to factors, who sold it to the customer;
but now, by engrossers going into the country, the
price is enhanced.”
The above is but a repetition of an old story in re-
lation to food supply,–complaints against ‘engrossers’
or large dealers, who were supposed by their mediate
agency to raise the retail price of the commodities sold.
The same accusation has been brought against Smith-
field dealers, dead-meat buyers, corn-dealers, and
others; but the introduction of free trade has done
much to remove both the complaint and the cause.
In a former chapter mention is made of the system
whereby young calves are fattened for the London
_* Crying Frauds of the London Markets.
304 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. VIII.
market in Essex and neighbouring counties. The
system admits of a singular mode of commercial com-
parison, thus stated — which is the better, to convert
milk into veal or into butter and cheese? It may
sound strangely to talk of the conversion of milk into
veal; but practically such is the result to the calf-rearers,
as may be shown by a very simple illustration. Among
the many useful balance-sheets drawn up within the
last few years by farmers, and published in various
journals, is one referring to this matter of veal pro-
duce and dairy produce. A farmer tried what 100
gallons of milk would effect, in suckling a calf for veal,
in making butter, and in making cheese. His balance
account came out thus : —
£ s. d.
100 gallons of milk produce 112 lbs. of cheese, worth
6d. per lb. - º * gº • - 2 16 0
And 5 lbs. of whey butter, worth 8d. per lb. * - 0 3 4.
& 2 19 4
100 gallons of milk produce 34 lbs. of butter, worth 10d.
per lb. is a º º Ǻ • • I 8 4
And 74 lbs, of poor cheese, worth 3d. per Ib. - - 0 18 6
iſ 2 6 10
100 gallons of milk produce veal to the value of about - 1 17 0
So far as these figures show, dairy produce ‘looks up.’
Mr. Aiton, the author of ‘Dairy Husbandry,’ is among
those who think that cheese and butter are too much
neglected by farmers, for the sake of beef and veal; that,
at average prices, dairy produce yields more profit than
live-stock: he quotes Sir John Sinclair in support of
his views. The same line of argument was adopted by
Mr. Haywood in 1849, in a paper read before the
CH. VIII. CONSUMEPTION OF BUTTER. 305
Geological and Polytechnic Society of West Yorkshire.
He founded his reasoning on the chemical analysis of
milk on the one hand and of butchers’ meat on the
other. He showed, by figures at least, that vegetable
food produces a greater weight of nutriment if converted
into milk than into beef : that is, if cattle be fed for
the dairy than if for the slaughter-house. This is the
chemical or dietetic side of the question; but he
claimed no less an advantage in connexion with its
commercial aspects.”
But enough of this, we have here only to know
that butter and cheese, whether more or less profitable
than beef and veal, constitute an important part of
London food. Concerning the average amount of butter
yielded by a cow, doctors disagree.” Mr. Marshall
thought about 168 lbs. ; Mr. M'Culloch leans rather
to 180 lbs. ; and the latter authority, moreover, supposes
that 140,000 cows are required for the butter supply to
the London market. In a later edition, when the
population had increased, he raised this number to
160,000; and we may suppose there will be a talk
about 200,000 by and by, when great London is still
greater. From 3 to 4 million lbs. are sold annually
at Newgate market, and a considerable quantity at
Leadenhall and Portman; but the greater portion
of the supply does not reach any of the public
markets. Some writers have supposed that 16 lbs. per
head per annum for two-thirds of the whole population
would about represent the total consumption. Mr.
M’Culloch's estimate for London is 10 lbs. per head ;
* Farmers’ Magazine, 1849.
X.
306 TIII FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. VIII.
together with 3000 tons for shipping and other pur-
poses: in all 29 million lbs., worth about a million
and a quarter sterling, if we suppose 10d. per lb. to
be about an average wholesale price.
Butter comes to market in diverse packages and
weights. The Irish dairy farmers usually pack their
produce in firkins’ containing about 80 or 85 lbs, each ;
while the English farmers more frequently employ a
basket called a ‘flat, containing from 3 to 6 dozen lbs.
There are also ‘boxes” of 3 to 3% cwt. of butter;
° pannings,’ or earthenware crocks, containing # cwt. ;
* cools,” or tubs cut in two, that will hold from a half
to a whole cwt. ; and small Scotch ‘firkins’ con-
taining about ; cwt. So far as London is concerned,
the butter from Cambridge and Epping, the highest
in favour, arrives in rolls from one to two feet in
length, but so small in diameter as to weigh only
about 11b. each; and it is slightly salted before being sent
to market. The Cambridge and the Epping butters
are both made up nearly in the same form; but they
differ in quality, the Cambridge being produced from
the milk of cows fed on chalky uplands and rich mea-
dows; whereas the cows that yield the milk for
Epping butter feed during the summer in the shrubby
pastures of Epping Forest. The terms Epping, Cam-
bridge, and Dorset do not, however, always denote the
places where the butter is really made.
The butter trade is an important one to Ireland.
There are twenty or thirty butter merchants in Cork
alone, and a large number in Waterford and Wexford;
they employ agents, who go into the country districts to
CH. VIII. JBUTTER, TRADE, 307
buy up all the butter made by the peasants. These
peasants, or rather small dairy farmers, are accustomed to
salt their butter in the ratio of 7 lbs. of salt to 50 lbs. of
butter; it is pressed into firkins, and the firkins con-
veyed by carts to the merchant's warehouse. The far-
mers, if very needy, will sell their butter beforeit is made;
there are agents who come twice a year, make an offer
of so much per firkin, and pay part or the whole of the
money; with this money (always in such case below the
current market price) the farmer carries on his dairy-
ing, and has the butter ready by an appointed time.
At Cork a committee of members superintends the
transactions between buyers and sellers; all the butter
brought to market is inspected and branded by order
of the committee, and is divided into four classes accord-
ing to its quality. A sub-committee each morning
fixes the prices for that day; the four kinds differ in
value about 5s. per cwt. from each other. The number
of firkins branded annually at Cork has risen from about
100,000 to 400,000, in the last seventy years. The
firkins in which the butter is sent to the merchant are
opened before he dispatches them to his customers; he
takes off the head of each cask; he turns the cask up-
side down; he shakes out the butter; he scrapes the
soiled exterior with a wooden knife; he powders it
with fine salt; he replaces the cask; he tightens the
hoop ; and, finally, he brands the firkin. This branding,
or marking with the name and address of the exporter,
and certain trade marks, is more properly stencilling
than branding; since it is effected by means of black
x 2
308 THE ENOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
paint smeared through a stencil plate. The firkins of
butter, thus branded, are exported to London, to
Liverpool, and to the Continent. Most of it is very
salt, and is in fact salted for long keeping; small
shopkeepers are said to prefer it; as a firkin will stand
for weeks on their counters without injury, where
English or Dutch would become rank from exposure to
the air. The dirty state of many of the Irish dairies
causes the butter to acquire a peaty and Smoky taste
and smell, which lessen its value in the market. It is
supposed that the quantity of Irish butter that reaches
London annually is from 300,000 to 400,000 firkins.
But home butter and Irish butter do not keep us
from the knowledge of that made in foreign countries.
The Dutch, or, as it is called, ‘Ostend butter, is now
consumed in considerable quantity in London: it is of
good quality, and comes over well packed in oaken
casks. The whole quantity imported lately has been
thus: about 32 million lbs. in 1852, 45 million in
1853, and 54 million in 1854: this article of provisions,
like many others, having been raised in demand during
war time. How much of the whole is consumed in
London, no one can tell.
Who would have thought that butter is sometimes
adulterated? The ‘Lancet’ Commissioners assert that
such is the case. Out of 48 samples examined by them,
they found that nearly one-fifth of the whole weight
consisted of salt and water, the water having been
stirred up with the butter rendered semi-fluid by heat-
ing, to increase the weight. Potato-flour, too, has been
met with both in butter and in lard.
CH. VIII. CHEESE MAIKING. 309
Another important member of the dairy family,
CHEESE, now claims a little notice.
“CHEESE is a surly elf,
Digesting all things but itself.”
So says one of our old bits of wisdom in the form of an
adage ; if not absolutely true, it meets with some
corroboration from every-day experience. Cheese is
more eaten than butter by the labouring classes; butter
more than cheese by the upper classes. There is some-
thing more than a mere difference of price to account
for this; a labouring man, using his thews and sinews
every day, suffers little from indigestion; he can digest
cheese as well as other commodities; whereas a Seder-
tary man, or a man in easy circumstances, often feels
within him a warning against cheese. The chief organic
principle of cheese, casein, is said by our chemists to be
rich in flesh-making elements; and thus, if the cheese-
eater can manage to digest this “surly elf, the elf
may become a good muscular friend after all. Physio-
logists and medical men alone can decide this; mean-
while, London continues to eat its cheese.
The processes concerned in the manufacture of the
cheese principally consumed in London may be readily
understood. Milk, as already explained, consists essen-
tially of butter, cheese, and whey ; and the question is,
how to separate these components. In making plain
good cheese from plain good milk the first process is to
separate the whey. This may be done either by allow-
ing the milk to become sour, or by adding a little acid
to it, or by the use of “rennet—a dried piece of the
inner coating of the stomach of a sucking calf; this
X 3
310 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
rennet speedily causes the milk to coagulate, or to
suffer a separation between the curd and the whey.
The curd is broken by a piece of wood or a cutter,
until it sinks to the bottom of the whey ; the whey
is removed, to make whey-butter; while the curd is
employed to make cheese. Every precaution being
taken to expel all the whey, the curd, placed in the
cheese-press, is confined within a sort of vat or tub,
that determines the diameter of the cheese to be
made, and the pressure is exerted in any one of many
different ways. The mass is well wrapped in coarse
linen cloths, which absorb the remaining whey pressed
out; and a repetition of this pressing, with frequent
wiping, cooling, Salting, and drying, transform the
whey into cheese. In fact, however great may be the
difference in cheeses, cheese-making resolves itself
virtually into two processes, – separating the curd of
milk from the butter and the whey, and pressing this
curd until it hardens into the form of cheese; all the
other processes are merely adjuncts to these two. The
points of difference in the various English cheeses are
explained briefly, but with much clearness, by Professor
Johnston.*
It is difficult to account for the taste that led to
the use of anatto in cheese. This substance, the dried
juice of a tree called the Biwa orellana, is used to
deepen yellow pigments, to give an orange-yellow dye
to silk, and to impart a similar tint to cheese. It does
not appear that any one pretends to taste an improved
flavour in cheese imparted by this anatto. Mr. White,
* Chemistry of Common Life, i. 137.
CH. VIII. USE OF ANATTO. 3] 1.
in a letter to the ‘Times’ (September 18th, 1855),
states that anatto is used only in the cheese destined for
London; that its use is a mere conventialism, like that of
very white bread ; that anatto is 7s.6d. per lb. ; that it is
used in the rate of about one pound to a ton; that dis-
honest makers sometimes employ cheap turmuric and
oil instead of dear anatto; and that our absurd taste
for richly tinted cheese thus tempts men to adulterate.
The cheese made in Cheshire has had a long-
established reputation. Fuller, in his ‘Worthies,”
after laying down the doctrine that “poor men
eat cheese for hunger, rich for digestion,” proceeds
to say that “the county of Cheshire doth afford the
best for quantity and quality; and yet their cows are
not (as in other shires) housed in the winter; so that it
may seem strange that the hardiest kine should yield
the tenderest cheese. Some essayed in vain to make
the like in other places, though hence they fetched
both their kine and dairymaids.” He winds up thus
quaintly : “It seems they should have fetched their
ground too (wherein surely some occult excellency in
this kind), or else so good cheese will not be made. I
hear not the like commendation of the butter in this
county; and perchance these two commodities are like
stars of a different horizon, so that the elevation of
the one to eminency is the depression of the other.”
There are not wanting grounds for thinking that cheese
made in other counties is sometimes designated Cheshire
cheese — a too frequent mode of stealing a bit of repu-
tation belonging to one's neighbours.
According to Mr. White, who has investigated the
x 4
312 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
statistics of the cheese trade in Cheshire with much
care, the produce of the county amounts to 12,000
tons annually. The cheese dairies average about 16
or 18 cows each; the produce of cheese per dairy is
from 36 lbs. to 54 lbs. per day during four or five
summer months; and on land let at 30s. per acre
about 3 cwt. of cheese per annum per cow is regarded
as a pretty fair produce. According to another esti-
mate, a Cheshire cow produces 2% to 4 cwt. of cheese,
and a little butter, annually. A third authority says
that Cheshire, a few years ago, had 1200 cows on 6600
acres of dairy-farm land; the greater part of the farms
having four cows to an acre. Gloucestershire yields
about 34 cwt. per cow per annum; much of the so-
called ‘double Gloucester, however, is really Wilt-
shire. Suffolk has the reputation of making very good
butter and very poor cheese. The Suffolk cows are
capital milkers, yielding a large annual quantity, well
adapted for butter-making; a good cow, in the prime
of her season, will yield six gallons a day, and in some
cases eight; or, if estimated in a different way, a well-
conditioned Suffolk cow will, it is said, bring to the
dairy-farmer, in a year, three firkins of butter, three
quarters of a wey of cheese, a calf, and skim-milk
enough to fatten a hog. As to Suffolk cheese, there is
an old saying that ‘pigs grunt at it, dogs bark at it,
but neither of them dare bite it;’ and Bloomfield treats
it with some severity : —
“If drought o’ertake it faster than the knife,
Most fair it bids for stubborn length of life;
CLI. VIII. IENGLISH CHEESE DISTRICTS. 3.13
And, like the oaken shelf whereon ’tis laid,
Mocks the weak efforts of the bending blade;
Or in the hog-trough rests, in perfect spite,
Too big to swallow and too hard to bite.”
There is no end to the modes of estimating the quan-
tity of butter or cheese yielded by the milk of a cow in
the course of a year. We have just given a Suffolk
maxim; and here are two others, on the authority of
Mr. Braithwaite Poole—that 450 gallons of milk should
make 430 lbs. of cheese; and that a cow ought to pro-
duce her own weight and value in cheese annually.
Among many estimates concerning the supply and
consumption of cheese in the United Kingdom, one ar-
rives at 120,000 tons annually, and another at 100,000.
The former depends upon the supposition, said to be
adopted by many factors and dealers, that, if we allow
12 lbs. of cheese yearly to each individual of two-thirds
of the population, it will bring us pretty near to the
total consumption. The other estimate, by Mr. Poole,
limiting the quantity of cheese consumed to 100,000
tons, and placing it under different headings, accord-
ing to the principal names applied to it, presents us
with the following results : —
Tons.
Cheshire Cheese - - - - 18,000
Gloucester - º º - - 14,000
Shropshire tº- -* - - 12,000
Derbyshire - - - - 10,000
Stilton es sº - - - 7,000
Cambridge tº- - - - 6,000
Lancashire -* - - – 2,000
Scottish - -- -> - - 8,000
Irish tº * - - - 4,000
Foreign - tº- - - - 19,000
Total - - - - 100,000
3.14 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
It will here be seen that Mr. Poole's estimate of
Cheshire cheese is greatly in excess of that made by
Mr. White ; insomuch that, if both can be reconciled,
much of the cheese called Cheshire by Mr. Poole must
be made in other countries.
It is a strange circumstance, explicable perhaps by the
demand for Irish butter, that scarcely any cheese is
made in Ireland; the milk of the Irish cows being ap-
plied to the former article instead of the latter. Ireland,
therefore, cannot assist us; if we do not make enough
for English consumption, we import; and Holland
and America are the chief countries whence this foreign
supply is derived. The globular Dutch cheeses come
over as a sort of ballast and packing, wedging up bales
and casks of other commodities in the holds of vessels.
The use of American cheese in England is of recent
date, but is extending year by year. As to the total
quantities imported from all countries, they have lately
been as follows: about 33 million lbs. in 1852, 45.
million in 1853, and 44 million in 1854.
If it be asked, how much of all this cheese is eaten
in London? the answer must be but a repetition of one
frequently given — nothing better than guess-work.
The popular taste delights in throwing any items of .
wisdom into the form of maxims, theorems, proverbs,
adages ; and resolutely combats any attempt to over-
turn them. Thus: “An EGG contains as much nourish-
ment as a quarter of a pound of meat.’ Who laid down
this doctrine it would be useless to attempt to deter-
mine; but it is so meat, so easy to remember, so nice an
CH. VIII. ECONOMY OF EGG-IFOOD, 3 15
excuse for purchasing a pleasant kind of food, that it
will probably remain an article of the popular creed.
There is no doubt that, if eggs were cheaper, they would
be consumed in a much larger ratio than at present, in
London and in England generally ; for they are liked
both by the sick and the healthy, both by the physician
and the patient. So far as the metropolis is concerned,
the inhabitants are almost wholly dependent on other
regions for eggs; a cockney who ‘keeps fowls” is
likely to pay somewhat dearly for the eggs he obtains.
The conversion of vegetable into animal food is as
instructively shown in the formation of an egg as of
butchers’ meat; and there are the same means of de-
termining the cost at which this food is obtained.
The following is an account” of one experiment
in egg-rearing. A farmer near Guildford purchased
three Polish pullets, which had been hatched about
half a year previously; in a fortnight they began
to lay, and they laid in twelve months 524, or about
175 each on an average. During this period they con-
sumed 3 bushels of barley, 17 lbs. of rice, and a small
quantity of barley-meal and peas; the cost of this food
was 16s. 10d., or one shilling for 32 eggs produced.
Supposing the eggs to average 1+ ounces each, there
were 41 lbs. of the most nutritious of all kinds of animal
food produced for 16s. 10d., or about 43d, per lb. Of
course if the object in view had been poultry rather
than edible eggs, other items would enter into the cal-
culation.
* Farmers’ Magazine, vol. vii.
316 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
Our intelligent French neighbours are frequently
striking out some new idea, which, if not quite sound
in the form first adopted, may yet suggest a useful
course of proceeding to others. Thus, as before
noticed, M. Guénon thinks he has discovered external
symptoms to denote the milk-producing excellence of
cows; and now another Frenchman, M. Orange, claims
to have discovered external symptoms to denote the egg-
laying excellence of poultry. This latter observer
says that, at the period when laying commences, the
comb, beard, and ear-flap of the hen present different
appearances according to the egg-laying power of the
animal. Practical men should be able to test the
value of such a theory; for the world cannot yet afford
to despise empirical rules on such subjects.
Quitting egg-philosophy, however, we proceed to
egg-commerce. The egg-trade between France and
England is a remarkable one. Before the peace of
1815 the home supply was obtained from various parts
of England; but the lower price of French eggs soon
led to a large trade across the channel, when com-
mercial intercourse was renewed. The departments
nearest to the English Channel are visited by dealers,
who purchase all that the country people have to sell:
nay, there is even said to be a farm of two hundred
acres at Bastoign, maintained solely for the supply of
eggs to the London market. At most of the ports
between Calais and Cherbourg vessels take in cargoes
of French eggs. It is estimated that 100,000,000 eggs
weigh about 3000 tons; so that a considerable number
of Small vessels would be required to bring over such a
CH. WIII. CONSUMEPTION OF EGGS. 317
number to England, even if laden with no other com-
modity. The French excel us in egg-eating as in egg-
rearing; it has been estimated that the Parisians con-
sume more than a hundred eggs per head annually, on an
average of the whole population; while the average for
the country districts of France is placed still higher,
for junkets composed of eggs and milk constitute the
principal items in most of the meals in some places. The
egg-produce of France is so high as 7000 to 8000
millions annually — enough to form a string of beads
that would coil twice round the earth. But then
France is essentially a poultry country; the small pro-
prietor-farmers are better able to rear poultry than
cattle on their much-divided estates.
It is supposed by Mr. Poole that our consumption of
eggs in the United Kingdom may be about 1500
millions annually ; of which Great Britain produces 900
millions, Ireland 500, and foreign countries 100. This
latter item is gradually increasing ; it has amounted to
about 110, 123, and 130 millions, in three recent years
(1852–3–4). It is probable that as the home demand
increases, we shall import more and more, rather than
increase the home production — unless, indeed, the
‘poultry-mania’ effect anything in this latter respect.
Before the railway system arrived at its present
degree of completeness, eggs were brought to London
from a district so far north as Dumfries, on a very
singular plan. Wholesale egg-merchants purchased
at the market in that town, and conveyed the eggs
to Carlisle by a species of land-carriage requiring
skilful packing; a layer of straw was placed in the
3.18 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII,
bottom of a cart, and on this a layer of eggs, so closely
wedged together as to leave no openings but such as
necessarily resulted from the shape of the eggs; this
done, another stratum of straw, and another layer of
eggs succeeded; and so on until the body of the cart
was filled. It is said that a mass thus packed is so
firm, that a load of meal might be placed upon the eggs
without breaking them. When the eggs had been
brought to Carlisle, thus packed in carts, they were sold
to other dealers, who conveyed them along the New-
castle and Carlisle railway to Newcastle; from New-
castle they were shipped to the metropolis by steamers.
This system has necessarily undergone modification,
consequent on railway extension.
Among the changes Ireland has witnessed with-
in the last few years, some may have occurred in
the mode of conducting the egg-trade — irrespective of
those relating to the employment of steam-power in
bringing them over to England, mentioned in a former
chapter. About twenty years ago Mr. Weld” de-
scribed a remarkable system, tending to show how com-
merce subdivides itself when left to its own spontaneous
operation. The eggs were collected from the cottiers
by runners, boys from nine years old upwards, each of
whom had a regular beat or route. The runner would
go ever his beat daily, bringing back the eggs carefully
packed in a basket; and the necessity for steadiness and
caution in carrying the frail charge imparted a kind of
trustworthy stability to the boys. The beat frequently
embraced a range of fifteen English miles in a day.
* Statistical Survey of the County Roscommon.
CEI. VIII. EGG TRADE. 3.19
The boy's share of the produce was one shilling upon
every six score of eggs brought in, a penny for every
ten : the risk of purchase and carriage resting entirely
on himself; the price paid to the cottiers varied from
2s. 6d. to 5s. per long hundred of six score. The
dealers, at Lanesborough, Tarmonbarry, and other
towns, then packed the eggs in layers with straw, in
crates containing about 10,000 each, which were sent
on to Dublin on speculation, or direct to England. The
sale of eggs from Ireland to England at that time was
roughly estimated to bring in about 70,000l. annually;
taking a medium price at 4d. per dozen, this would be
equivalent to the number of 50,000,000 eggs.
Before the opening of the Holyhead railway, the
London and North Western Company sometimes received
a million eggs from Ireland in a day at the Liverpool
station, for conveyance to London and other parts; but
this trade is now in part shared by Holyhead. The
boxes in which they are packed contain from one to
eight thousand eggs each.
Even at one halfpenny each, the 1500 million eggs
supposed to be eaten annually in the United Kingdom
would cost 3,000,000l. — a large sum for such apparent
trifles. How large a share of the consumption may be
attributed to London, any one may guess, but no one
determine.
What will result from the ‘ POULTRY MANIA 2' At
present amateurs are giving extravagant prices for
favourite breeds, and are full of lore concerning the
320 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
merits of Dorkings and Cochin Chinas. In many quarters
it is really a mania; but those who take the lead in the
matter are influenced by a praiseworthy desire to im-
prove and increase a very welcome article of food. A
society for this object was formed in 1852, and held its
first show in January, 1853; since which time there
have been several shows. The Smithfield Cattle Club
and the Royal Agricultural Society have both lent
countenance to this new movement. If, by any such
means, an increased number of eggs and fowls can be
reared by the expenditure of a given sum, a material
benefit will be obtained, in which London will share at
least in ratio to its population ; it is of no national
advantage, however, that an enthusiast should give a
hundred guineas for a ‘Cochin China.”
One of the most curious processes connected with
the supply of animal food is that whereby nature is
aided in extricating a chick from its egg — a convert-
ing, so far as commerce is concerned, of a penny egg
into a shilling chicken. What does this ‘artificial
hatching’ mean? Persons with a fair amount of in-
telligence need not be ashamed to ask this question;
for the rationale of the subject is not so easy as may at
first appear. The egg, after being laid, requires a cer-
tain number of days to arrive at maturity — time
enough for the little imprisoned chick to grow in
strength, and burst through its white walls. It re-
quires to be kept warm during this period; and the
hen, like a tender mother, knows better than any one
else what is needed. But during the twenty days, or
CH. VIII. ARTIFICIAL EGG-HATCHING. 321
whatever it may be, that the hen is tending the egg,
there is what commercial men might call a loss of the
interest on capital; if an artificial mother could be de-
vised for hatching the eggs, the hen might be liberated,
and live her ordinary life, and render her ordinary ser-
vice in the farm-yard. Hence the use of boxes kept
warm by external heat; hence the complicated Egyp-
tian plan of egg-ovens; hence Mr. Bucknell's ‘Ecca-
leobion'; hence Mr. Cantelo’s ‘ hydro-incubator.” All
are ingenious, and all will aid in hatching fowls; but
until evidence is afforded that any of these plans are
practically adopted in England in a commercial spirit,
they will have very little bearing on the supply of
London with its daily food.
Let us proceed to another member of the poultry-
family — the goose. Enclosure Acts hawe interfered
with the liberty of geese, as with that of bipeds of a
higher class. In bygone years, farmers had the right
of grazing geese on the commons within reach of their
farms; and hence geese were reared by many persons
who afterwards abandoned that mode of grazing when
the commons became enclosed. Some of the commons
of Wiltshire, now enclosed, were formerly grazing-
grounds for thousands of geese belonging to different
owners; each owner had his own mark impressed by a
punch on the web between the toes of the birds; and
thus, though many flocks intermingled, each goose was
easily identified; they were attended by gooseherds,
whose duty it was to watch over their safety. Many of
these geese were consigned to fatteners for the London
- Y
322 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
market. Geese are still largely reared on the commons
and heaths of Surrey and Lincolnshire; the best are
said to come from Suffolk, Norfolk, and Berks; but the
best feathers are from Somersetshire geese. The fodder
picked up on the heaths and commons does not suffice
for the birds; they require a daily supply of oats and
barley; and thus the rearing of geese becomes a regular
branch of grazing.
The fattening for the London market is a sepa-
rate occupation. The fatteners pay unremitting at-
tention to the wants of the geese, – classing them
according to their condition; keeping them always
clean; feeding them three times a day, alternating
dry with soft food; and supplying them with good
water and an exercise ground. The young geese begin
to reach the fatteners about the month of March, from
which time they arrive weekly throughout the season.
Some of the fatteners have pens capable of containing
four or five thousand geese. Young or green geese are
brought early and in large numbers to the London
market, where they command high prices; they have
been fed on oats, oatmeal, peas, and buttermilk or skim-
milk; whereas the Michaelmas geese have picked up a
portion of their food in the stubble-field and the barn-
yard. There appear to be magnates among the goose-
fatteners, as among other purveyors to the public
wants; for one fattener, at Boston, is reputed to have
sent to London, at one Christmas time, no less than
2500 dead geese, which, together with 1000 ducks,
and 500 turkeys, weighed twenty tons, or more than
40,000 lbs. This is one among many examples of
CH, VIII. GEESIE FOR LONDON. 323
the enormous supplies required for a London Christ-
I\\?\S.
London is not supplied with its Michaelmas geese
without an awful amount of slaughter: the battle-field
being in the fens of Lincolnshire and the neighbouring
counties. Sometimes there will be 5000 geese penned
closely together, ‘ cackling their sorrows to the winds,
and awaiting their melancholy doom.’ When the fatal
hour arrives, a boy drives about a dozen geese from a
pen into a room, a second boy takes each poor bird in
its turn, entangles its pinions behind its back, and in-
serts its legs into a noose hung against the wall over
a trough; a third boy finishes the tragedy by means of
a knife. When the bird is dead, its legs are disen-
tangled from the noose, and it is tossed through a
window into the plucking-room, where, behind a large
table, sit several men and women, who speedily become
enveloped in a cloud of dust and down; their duties
consist in plucking the feathers from the geese, for
which they receive a shilling a score. Every goose, so
soon as plucked, is thrown upon a dresser, whence a man
takes it for the purpose of trussing; and when scores or
hundreds have thus been treated, the geese are packed
in baskets containing twenty-five birds each. In the
days of broad-wheeled waggons, twenty-five baskets
Imade a waggon-load; if the average weight of a fat-
tened goose be estimated at 10 lbs., each waggon would
thus contain nearly three tons of goose-flesh; but these
goose-waggons must now be numbered among the
things of the past. Thus did the goose-supply reach
the London householder, the ‘paterfamilias,” who, to
Y 2
324 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
quote the quaint description of Sir George Head”,
“whether his income be large or small, and no matter
what his religious or political persuasions, in conformity
with irrefragable custom, at least once in every year,
at the head of an obedient family, like a mail-coachman
mounted on the coach-box on a gala-day, sits in the
pomp of conjugal and paternal authority, knife and fork
in hand, behind a fat fragrant goose on Michaelmas
Day.”
Buckinghamshire, especially near Aylesbury, is the
great source of ducks for the London market. The
* Aylesbury breed' is in much repute; and many
families derive a considerable portion of their support
from the ducks which they rear for the metropolis. The
rooms of the cottagers may be seen furnished with
boxes, pens, &c. ranged round the walls for the protec-
tion of the ducks; and the good-wife devotes the greater
portion of her time and attention to the feeding of her
young brood. The ducks hatched early in the season
are brought up almost wholly by hand on this indoor
system. There is thus, in respect both of ducks and of
common fowls and other poultry, a certain localisation,
a tendency in some districts rather than others, to
attend to poultry-rearing as a départment of profitable
employment ; cottagers, however, in most counties,
manage to economise the odds and ends from their
gardens, and apply them as food for poultry.
The capture of wild ducks in the Lincolnshire fens
is managed in a remarkable way; requiring the use of
* Home Tour in the Manufacturing Districts.
CH. VIII. COST OF POULTRY. 325
artificial ditches, screens and fences of withes, nets,
dogs, and decoy-ducks; and calling for the exercise of
a wonderful amount of patience and circumspection, to
Overreach the no less wonderful sensitiveness of the
ducks, who have a natural dislike to ‘come and be
killed.’
Considering poultry in its collective sense, without
further relation to the rearing or capture of particular
Rinds, a little must now be said on the subject of
price.
That poultry is a more costly food in London than
butcher's meat is a fact too well known to need de-
monstration; although in Paris there is an impression
that the advantage lies the other way. About twenty
years ago, before the railways had begun to bring food
to London, the following rough estimate was made : —
The average weight of a turkey is about 10 lbs. ; the
average price is 10d. per lb. ; the loss in preparing for
the spit is 24 lbs. ; so that the turkey in effect costs
13d. per lb., at a time when a leg of mutton costs 8d.
per lb. Again: a goose may be taken as also 10 lbs.
weight, and the price 7s.; about 4 lbs. of giblets and
offal will have to be removed; the giblets may be
worth 1s; and thus the price of the whole will be
practically 1s. per lb. Again : a fowl of 3 lbs. costs
3s.; but as the offal is to be deducted, the real cost is
more than a shilling per pound. All are thus much
dearer than butcher's meat. The French, as lately
remarked, eat more poultry, and less butcher's meat,
than the English; and thus poultry, rearing constitutes
Y 3
326 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
an important element in French farming. The Pari-
sian consumption is said to be about—2,000,000 fowls,
1,500,000 pigeons, 900,000 turkeys, 600,000 geese,
400,000 capons, 300,000 ducks, annually,– quantities
much larger than those consumed in London, relatively
to the population. The Londoners are famous for
their devotion to the goose, when they purchase poul-
try at all; not so the Parisians — they consume more
turkeys than geese.
Our London markets for these articles of food are,
as is well known, very scattered. At Portman mar-
Ret, a few years ago, it was estimated that about 16,000
nead of poultry were sold annually. A few other mar-
Rets contain poultry stalls; but Leadenhall and New-
gate are the chief marts. Inferior as it may be in
arrangement, Leadenhall is believed to be the largest
poultry-market in the world, regarding the amount of
business transacted. Not only are the ordinary kinds
of poultry sold, such as fowls, ducks, geese, turkeys,
and pigeons; and the ordinary kinds of game, such as
grouse, partridges, pheasants, Snipes, hares, rabbits,
&c.; but also a number of birds and other animals
not very easily classed together—white rats, gold-
fish, ravens, hawks, hedgehogs, foxes, fancy dogs, owls,
ferrets, guinea-pigs, squirrels, Swans, fancy cats, parrots
— all are to be met with at Leadenhall.
The trade in Game is a strange one. Until about
twenty years ago, the sale was illegal; and game
reached the market only by surreptitious means. Whe-
ther the noble owner of a ‘preserve kills the wild
CH. VIII. GAME SOLD IN I,ONDON. 327
poultry or game for sport, or whether he has an eye
more especially to Leadenhall market, is known best
to himself; but on either supposition the traffic is
peculiar. Pheasants and partridges are brought by
railway chiefly from Norfolk and Suffolk; but other
kinds of game reach London from various places:—
thus, wild ducks are brought principally from Holland
and Lincolnshire; Cambridgeshire is perhaps the chief
county for turkeys, and Lincolnshire for geese; the
two million fowls, or thereabouts, sold annually in Lon–
don, are reared chiefly in Surrey and Sussex; in Nor-
folk and Cambridgeshire the farmers attend so much to
this matter, that small farmers often pay their rent with
the profit on poultry.
According to Mr. Poole, the quantities of game sold
annually in Newgate and Leadenhall markets, taking
an average of the last few years, are about as fol-
lows: —

Leadenhall. Newgate. Totals.
Rabbits - 680,000 180,000 860,000
Hares – - 48,000 55,000 103,000
Larks - 213,000 100,000 313,000
Partridges - 85,000 66,000 145,000
Snipes tº- 60,000 47,000 107,000
Pheasants - 44,000 20,000 64,000
Wild Ducks 40,000. 20,000 60,000
Grouse - 45,000 12,000 57,000
Plovers º 28,000 18,000 46,000
Woodcocks - 27,000 17,000 44,000
Widgeons - 30,000 8,000 38,000
Teal - - 10,000 5,000 15,000
Totals 1,310,000 542,000 1,852,000
Y 4
328 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. VIII.
In like manner the quantities of poultry present the
following numbers : — -

Leadenhall. Newgate. Totals.
Fowls, dead- ſº gº 1,266,000 490,000 1,756,000
35 alive - * sº 45,000 15,000 60,000
Geese, dead tº- fº- 888,000 114,000 1,002,000
Ducks, dead º * - 235,000 148,000 383,000
53 alive tº e {-º. 20,000 20,000 40,000
Turkeys, dead - gº 69,000 55,000 124,000
Pigeons sº * = gº 285,000 98,000 383,000
Totals - gº sº 2,808,000 940,000 3,748,000
The ‘Morning Chronicle' estimate agrees with this
pretty nearly, but omits a few of the items. Alto-
gether, it presents a total of about five millions and a
half head of poultry and game, sold annually in the
two markets. Newgate has the additional credit of
selling 40,000 stone of venison in a year. Ostend
rabbits are becoming a remarkable element in the Lon-
don supply; they are skinned in Holland or Belgium,
sent over quickly by steamers, and sold while fresh
and good at a very reasonable price: this trade is ra-
pidly increasing. Strange cargoes come over some-
times from other quarters; thus it is said that not
very long ago 17,000 quails were sent by steam from
Tºome to Liverpool, and by rail from Liverpool to
London; and it may be supposed that the Londoners
had an unusual quail-feast accordingly.
What all these good things may be worth in the
market is very doubtful. Mr. Poole thinks that, one
with another, poultry may perhaps weigh 3 lbs. per
CH. VIII. CONSUMEPTION OF POULTRY. 329
head, and may sell at 8d. per lb., taking the average
of all the English markets; thus 36 million head, in
the United Kingdom, would weigh 48,000 tons, and
would bring 1,200,000l. But is 3 lbs. a fair average
weight; and is 8d, per lb. a fair average price; and is
the total number 36 millions ? Where there are three
elements of uncertainty, the estimate must of course
be taken with all due allowance.
It is obvious that the period of the year in which
each kind of food is most abundant and in finest con-
dition depends primarily upon natural causes, beyond
the control of man,—subject, however, to slight modi-
fications; and it is needless to say that the commerce
in these articles of food, whether poultry or any other,
must be regulated by these seasons.
330 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
CHAPTER IX.
EILLINGSGATE AND TEIE FISEI-SUPBLY.
Peculiarities of Fish-supply.— Projects for artificially rearing Fish.-
Early Projects for bringing Fish to London. — ‘Fish Association’
in 1813. — Maintenance of Billingsgate against all competing Mar-
kets. – Billingsgate Supply before the Railway Days. – Nature of
the Supply at the Present Day.— Great Fish Dealings at Yarmouth,
and between Yarmouth and London. — New Market at Billings-
gate. — Dealings between the Fishermen, Consignees, Salesmen,
Fishmongers, Bummarees, and Hawkers. — A Day at Billingsgate.
—Variety and Seasons of the Annual Supply.— Probable Quantities
sold. — Peculiarities in the Oyster Trade; for the London Market.
— Street Dealers in Fish.
THE bounty of Providence, in regard to the supply of
FISH, is exhibited in a manner somewhat peculiar, so
far as man's' wants are concerned. The denizens of
the deep grow ready to our hands, without demands on
our care. The animals that supply our meat-markets;
the poultry, more of a luxury; the hams and bacon
prepared for long keeping; the dairy produce of
butter and cheese, milk and eggs; the bread and other
preparations from corn and flour; the fruits and vege-
tables constituting so valuable a proportion of our
daily food; the tropical productions—tea, coffee, cocoa,
sugar; the beer and ale, the spirits and wine—all require
much care, patience, industry, capital, ground, house-
room, utensils. It is true that, in countries little ad-
vanced in civilisation, men may still obtain such food
without any great solicitude, provided nature has
CH. IX. NATURAL STORE OF FISEI. 331
been bountiful at the particular spot in question.
Natty Bumpo and Leatherstocking were able to
obtain a delicious roast from a bison's hump in the
prairies; the South American Indians prepare beverages
of many kinds, and many substitutes for corn-bread,
from vegetables growing wild in the forests and plains;
the sportsman can obtain game by the aid of his gun
and a little powder; and those who grudge the trouble
of preparing artificial beverages, can find a resource in
the crystal spring or the nearest river. Nevertheless it
remains true that the supply of edible fish is less de-
pendent on man's exertions (except in the actual cap-
ture) than any other considerable article of human food.
Relying trustingly on this truth, there has been
too great a tendency to neglect the welfare of the
piscine class. Fish have their likings and dislikings,
as other beings; they have their preferences, some
for salt and others for fresh water, some for turbid
and others for placid streams; most fish prey upon
other fish, and are in their turn liable to be preyed
upon; and there are certain seasons and temperatures
necessary for the full development of each particular
kind. Now it is unquestionable that carelessness in
our fishery arrangements leads to the wasteful destruc-
tion of an immense quantity of fish, by a want of due
attention to some or other of the above conditions.
There may be such a thing as fish-culture as well as
corn-culture; man does not cause the corn to grow,
but he brings about the conditions necessary for the
growing; and the analogy may be applied, within a
certain limit, to fish. The popular opinion is, that fish
332 º THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
are inexhaustible, and that we have naught to do but to
catch them ; the scientific view, on the contrary, is,
that man by careful attention can store with fish streams
and lakes unprovided with this natural wealth at
present.
This subject is a very curious one: many persons
regard it as a means of multiplying food to an enormous
extent; but be this an exaggerated estimate or not, it is
clearly a very legitimate problem for inquiry, how far
the supply of fish is under man's control. Jacobi
wrote and experimented on the matter ninety years
ago; and within the last twenty years the subject has
been taken up by Rusconi, Agassiz, Shaw, De Quatre-
fages, Boccius, Gervais, Milne Edwards, Coste, Haxo,
Ashworth, Millet, and other writers. Dr. Allman,
Professor of Botany at Dublin University, has given a
very useful summary of the whole inquiry”, from which
a few facts may be condensed.
It has long been known that the salmon rivers of
Scotland and Ireland have become impoverished by in-
judicious fishing. Laws have been passed to prevent this,
but the laws have been disobeyed; it is found necessary
to keep a sharp watch on such rivers, to prevent im-
proper modes and times of fishing. But this is not all;
there is a diminution of supply occurring, for which no
One can account; fish which were wont in past years
to visit certain rivers now avoid them. Be the
causes of diminution few or many, an inquiry arises
whether a supply can be artificially kept up 2 The
attempts to answer this question consist in a sort
* Sullivan's Journal of Industrial Progress, 1854.
CH. IX. FISH-CULTURE. 333
of artificial breeding. Jacobi formed an artificial
rearing-pond at Hanover, nearly a century ago; but it
does not appear that he met with any marked success,
and the subject slept for seventy or eighty years. In
1836 Mr. Shaw, manager of the Duke of Buccleuch's
salmon-fisheries at Drumlanrig, took up the matter,
with a view of experimenting thereon; and in 1841 Mr.
Boccius of Hammersmith wrote concerning it. But
the most remarkable experiments have been made in
France. Joseph Rémy, a fisher of trout in the Mo-
selle, observing a gradual diminution in the supply,
resolved to watch the habits of the fish: day and night
he persevered in his self-imposed task; in summer
and in winter. Another fisher, Géhin, joined him in
a series of experiments; and the two together at length
reared many hundred thousand fine trout, by a careful
management of the milt and roe; with these fish they
stocked many streams and rivers. M. Haxo, a physi-
cian of Epinal, then brought the subject under the
notice of the French government; and in 1850 the
government appointed M. Milne Edwards and other
distinguished men as a committee to investigate the new
enterprise. This enquiry resulting in a very favour-
able report, Rémy and Géhin received appointments in
connection with a kind of national fish-rearing scheme.
French scientific commissions are rather prone to issue
highly-coloured reports; but practical men, both in
Erance and England, assert with much distinctness that
salmon really can be taught to grow or made to grow
in rivers which they have before not visited. The
French Government, consequent on Milne Edwards’
334 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
report, founded an establishment on the canal which
connects the Rhine with the Rhone. M. Coste, one of
the commissioners, travelled in various parts of France,
to collect all the available facts relating to the artificial
rearing of fish, and to apply his knowledge in further-
ance of the government plan. Poor Rémy died in the
early part of 1855, from the effects of constant exposure
to streams, rains, and variations of temperature.
All the facts connected with the growth of fish have
been ascertained by narrowly watching the proceedings
of the animals; and the fish-rearers have laid down
certain rules for the management of their young broods.
M. Coste, one of the directors of the French establish-
ment, has embodied these rules into a code. One cu-
rious part of this system is, that the fecundated eggs,
or roe of the fish, may be packed in sand in boxes,
and conveyed from place to place, or kept for weeks
in rooms: by this means, rivers may be stocked with
salmon or other fish not before contained therein.
Another plan of packing consists in interlaying the
ova with aquatic plants instead of sand; or bog-moss
may be substituted for aquatic plants. The young
brood can be more safely transported before than after
the fish have extricated themselves from their confine-
ment.
There are differences of opinion among experimenters
on almost all parts of the method of proceeding; and
some of the fish-philosophers entertain extravagant
hopes concerning the ultimate advantage of the sys-
tem. One advantage certainly is, that the plan may
be adopted either to stock new rivers, or to replenish
CH. IX. ARTIFICIAL FISEI-STREAMS. 335
those which are exhausted ; in France the first of these
objects has been more successfully attained than the
second; many of the French rivers are now being
artificially stocked with trout by this means; and it
has been suggested that smelt, char, carp, and eels,
might be similarly treated. There are eel-preserves,
at the Lagune of Commachio, communicating with the
Adriatic, which yield 2,000,000 pounds of eels annu-
ally. The artificial breeding of salt-water fish may
be considered as an art more in its infancy, on account
of the difficulty of ascertaining the habits of the fish
— a knowledge of which is necessary to the due ar-
rangement of the plan.
Towards the close of 1854 it was stated in some of
the Scottish newspapers that an experiment was in
progress at Perth connected with fish-rearing. The
annual salmon rental of the Tay is 10,000l., of which
|Perth city obtains about 1000l. ; and it was deemed
wise economy to expend a little money in the new ex-
periment of preserving the ova and re-stocking the
river. It may exemplify some of the danger and de-
struction to which the ova are exposed to state that,
on a late occasion in the Tay, a trout was caught with
200 salmon ova in its inside At the Glasgow meet-
ing of the British Association, in 1855, Mr. Ashworth
gave an interesting account of the progress of this
experiment, from which favourable results seem likely
to be obtained.
These remarkable views and researches, interesting
as they may be both to naturalists and to economists,
have, however, little to do at present with the supply
336 | THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
of fish to London: we must wait many years to
witness any appreciable result in this respect. But,
without reference to any increase in the total quantity
of fish, there have been many attempts to increase the
supply available for the London market. The His-
torical Sketch has shown that, at many former periods,
sovereigns and parliaments made endeavours to induce
the English to become a fish-eating people ; and we
have now to notice two later projects of a similar kind,
both relating to London.
About the close of the last century a remarkable
pamphlet of twelve pages was published, containing
“A Plan for the better supplying this Metropolis with
plenty of Fish, from distant Seaports and Rivers, by
Land Carriage.” In these days of railways and clippers,
it may be interesting to see what were the go-a-head
notions of former times — illustrative, as they are, of
the points brought forward in a former chapter, on the
influence of quick transit on the price of food.
The author of the plan proposes to have “machines'
capable of carrying eight or ten cwt. of fish each; se-
cured from jolting, but ventilated by fresh air. They
were to be drawn by two horses each; they were to
ply on the coach-roads leading to London from all the
eastern and southern ports; they were to travel six
miles an hour, and to change horses at stations twelve
miles apart; and the same horses, after an hour or two
of rest, would carry back an empty ‘machine’ over
the same stage of twelve miles. There would thus be
a constant double string of carriages on each road; the
one coming to London laden with fish, the other re-
CH. IX. SCLIEMES FOR FISEI SUPPLY. 337
turning from London empty. The projector makes
out an estimate that fish might thus be brought to
London from an average distance of 72 miles at a
cost of a penny per pound. There appear two woful
deficiencies, however, in his estimate; for there is
nothing charged as interest on the capital expended in
building the “machines, nor is there any entry for
turnpike tolls. Another part of the plan is, the ap-
pointment of an agent at each of the principal fish
ports, to purchase the fish, see it well packed, and
despatched in a proper manner to London in the ‘ma-
chines.’ A general depôt was to be provided for these
machines and their contents; and the neighbourhood
of the Orphan School in the Westminster Road is
pointed out as a spot whence the supply could be equi-
tably distributed between the two cities of London
and Westminster. The fish-supplying theorist ex-
presses a hope that the Corporation of London, and
the Fishmongers' Company, and the fish salesmen and
others, would not take umbrage at his plan; and he
proceeds to give a delightful picture of the manner in
which his fish-market would be conducted. “Many
persons are deterred from going to market for fish, on
account of being asked double the price of what may
afterwards be taken. This manner of haggling has
proved a hindrance to many, both as purchasers and
sellers; but by this plan, it is intended that the stalls
for the sale of the fish brought by land-carriage shall
be parted into several divisions, according to the dif-
ferent kinds and qualities of the fish ; where each sort
will be sold at a stated moderate price, for ready
Z
338 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
money, either by weight or tale; and papers of the price
of such fish, according to their different kinds, daily
affixed over each stall or division; so that the customer
will be enabled to purchase at a certainty, without
being subject to exaction, or being asked a higher price
by the seller than what will be taken. And as these
stalls will not be opened till nine in the morning, the
buyer will have the opportunity of choosing and pur-
chasing such fish as he shall like best, without further
trouble.” But then comes one provision, showing how
anxious the projector was to conciliate ‘ vested inte-
rests’: — “No person will be kept to carry fish home
to the purchasers' houses, that those usually employed
in such service about the markets may have the oppor-
tunity of getting their livelihood thereby.” There
were other benefits ‘looming in the distance to
the eye of the projector. By bringing up the fish
regularly to London, the fishermen on the coasts would
be induced to enter more heartily into their work; by
obviating the delays Cecasioned by stormy weather to
fish-laden vessels on the coast, the fish would reach
London more generally fresh; by encouraging the
consumption of fish, there would be an increase in the
number of fishing-vessels and fishermen; and these
fishermen might perchance learn to be good sailors in
time of war.
Such was the project–out of which, however, nothing
came ; London did not profit by the wisdom.
A later project, a ‘Fish Association,’ originated in a
meeting held at the Thatched House tavern in 1813, of
which the Duke of Kent was chairman. A report, soon
CII. IX. FISEI ASSOCIATIONS. 339
afterwards issued by the association, commences by an
expression of the necessity for encouraging the use of a
greater variety of food, owing to the vast requirements
for fleets and armies and the rapid increase of popula-
tion; and fish is adverted to as a specially suitable
item in this variety. “The uncontrolled command of
the sea,” it is alleged, “ and the insular situation of
Great Britain and Ireland, encircled by inexhaustible
shoals of nourishing and gratifying food, are capable
of affording at all seasons an abundant supply, and
require only that the marine harvest should be reaped,
which the bounty of Providence has bestowed. It is
also to be observed, that the immense quantities of
salt, which the surrounding ocean and our own inter-
mal salt-mines afford for preserving fish, at a price
exclusive of duty so low as not to exceed sixpence a
bushel, offer the means of preserving cod, haddock,
mackerel, herrings, and other fish, to an indefinite ex-
tent, both for our own use, and for exportation to
Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean, in exchange
for the corn, wine, and other articles of those coun-
tries.* The Report insists that one wholesale fish-
market, especially so far eastward as Billingsgate, can-
not suffice for the wants of the metropolis. Many
obstructions to the fish-trade are noticed. A poor
basket-woman, who can afford to buy only a small
quantity of fish at once, must lose much time in the
necessity of resorting to Billingsgate between three
and six o'clock in the morning, and carrying her small
* Report, p. 6.
Z 2
340 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
store of fish many miles on her head before she could
distribute it among her customers. Then, again, con-
cerning price:– “The housekeeper who is going to
market knows pretty correctly what will be the price
of mutton, beef, bread, cheese, butter, milk, and al-
most every other article of subsistence, but has no
means of guessing whether fish will that morning be
twopence or two shillings per pound. The restric-
tion and uncertainty thence arising injure the fish-
monger as well as the fish-buyer; for at times when
there is even a glut of fish, there is very little means
of diffusing the information, or of increasing the
facilities for sale.”
To remove these various obstructions, and to remedy
the defects, the members of the association thought that
it would be necessary to enlarge Billingsgate, and to
establish a second wholesale fish-market somewhere in
Westminster. They advised that the fisherman who
brought his store up the Thames should be assured a
certainty of sale, to a limited amount and at a low price,
of the fish sought by the middle and lower ranks of
society, and which might be preserved by salt or
vinegar. A third obstacle it was thought to remove
by having the Westminster fish-market in proximity to
Covent Garden market; not only to enable the itinerant
fishwives to supply the west-end of London without
trudging through the busy streets from Billingsgate,
but that they might also be able readily to substitute
dealings in fruit and vegetables for dealings in fish, at
times when the latter commodity was scarce or dear.
The uncertainty concerning abundance or scarcity of
CEI. IX. BILILINGSGATE. 341
supply was to be removed by the adoption of some plan
whereby, on occasion of any extraordinary glut of fish,
notice thereof might be given in different parts of the
metropolis. In relation to uncertainty as to price, it
was recommended to fishmongers to adopt the custom
of affixing prices each day to their stock, whereby
housewives might readily judge whether the prices
were within their available means.
For carrying out these several measures, money was
required; and the association expressed a hope that
housekeepers generally would subscribe one guinea a
year each towards the establishment of the necessary
fund. But the fate of the association was the fate of
most organised attempts to interfere with the supply of
commodities in England. It failed. Albeit the motive
was a kind one, the project never went beyond the
publication of the report.
BILLINGSGATE remains, as it was in the old Norman
times, the chief fish-market of our great metropolis. All
the other markets for food-supply have been changed,
removed, modified in some way or other in locality; but
Billingsgate is where it has been any time these eight
hundred years. It may have put on a new face, and
decked itself out with new adornments; but it is still the
same Billingsgate at heart. It has seen out the Nor-
mans and the Plantagenets, the Lancasters and the
Yorkists, the Tudors and the Stuarts, the Orangists and
the Georges; and it has supplied fish to all of them. It
has witnessed great fires, great plagues, frost fairs, gilded
barges, river pageants, Tower executions, City insurrec-
Z 3
342 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
tions, custom-houses new and old, London Bridge with
houses and without; and yet there it is still. Beling's
Gate supplied the old city in 1055, as Billingsgate now
supplies the monster metropolis in 1855.
In the old times all the fish was brought to Billings-
gate by vessels: the waggons could not have brought
it by road with sufficient quickness; and quick road-
conveyances there were none. But there have been
mighty changes wrought within the last few years;
rapid steamers bring the fish to our coasts, and still
more rapid railways reduce to a few hours the journey
from the coast to Billingsgate. The localities whence
the supplies are obtained must of course depend in some
degree on the distance. The coasts of Ireland and of
the northern and western districts of Scotland are
fringed with countless shoals of herrings and other fish;
and it becomes a question of quickness and cheapness of
freight, whether such fish can profitably be brought to
Billingsgate. The sea-fisheries, also, must, for the same
reason, depend on a swift means of conveyance, so far
as London supplies are concerned. It is now unques-
tionable, however, that the British Channel, the Irish
Sea, and the German Ocean, are virtually brought by
steamers and railways within reach of our metropolitan
fish-market; and the Scotch rivers, rich in salmon, have
a command both of steamers and of railways as media
of fish conveyance to London.
Any description of the fisheries, per se, would be
beyond the scope of the present volume; but there are
reasons why the Yarmouth district calls for a little
notice.
CEI. IX. YARMOUTEI FISEI-TRAIDE. 343
: The fishing off the Norfolk and Suffolk coast does
not refer exclusively to London as the great centre of
consumption; but still the transmission of fish to the
metropolis from Yarmouth and Lowestoff has become
an appreciable item in relation to the food of London.
That which is known collectively as the Yarmouth
fish-trade is not conducted wholly by vessels belonging
to that and the neighbouring ports; for north-country
fishing-boats frequently come into Yarmouth as a con-
venient port. The herring season at Yarmouth occurs
during the last three months of the year; it being
brought- to a close shortly before Christmas. The
owners of the fishing-vessels employ their crews at
stipulated wages; but the herring-boats that enter
Yarmouth from other localities are manned by crews
who share the produce among them. This diversity
gives rise to a difference in the modes of conducting the
sales; and the Yarmouth men are frequently obliged
to accept prices forced upon them by the keen com-
petition of the ‘foreigners.’ It would be more cor-
rect, however, to describe the Yarmouth system as a
combination of two other systems — those of wages
and of partnership; for while the owner provides meat
and drink for the crew, each man receives a definite
money-payment according to quantity. The fishing-
vessels anchor at half a mile or so from the shore,
because the beach is too shallow to permit a nearer
approach ; and the services of boatmen or beachmen are
required to bring the fish ashore. Sometimes Yarmouth
boats, when they go to great distances in search of
mackerel, sell their fish at the nearest port, instead of
Z 4 -
344 TEIF FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
returning home with it; but the usual custom is to
bring-to off the port whence they started, and de-
pend on the services of the beachmen to convey the
fish to land. No sooner do the glittering silvery fish
make their appearance on the beach, than all is life
and bustle; each fish salesman has his domain on the
sands, marked by a flag; and he immediately begins to
carry on the dealings between sellers and buyers. The
fish belong to the vessel-owners; there are large dealers
who attend to purchase the finest kinds; there are small
dealers or hawkers who pick up at a cheap price what
is left; and there are salesmen who, having no fish to
buy or sell for themselves, buy and sell for others. It is
wonderful to see how quickly the whole produce of a
night's fishing is carried off; and one must needs admire
the ‘chaff” and gammon and wheedle and coaxing with
which the salesman manages to get rid of the inferior
portions of his store; for got rid of they must be, on
some terms or other.
So far as regards the London trade, the fish caught
off the Yarmouth coast are speedily packed in hampers,
and placed in a “fish-train' on the Eastern Counties
railway; at Lowestoft this is still more conveniently
done, on account of the railway coming down to the
quay of the excellent new harbour; the fish-train starts
every evening, in time to accommodate Billingsgate
next morning. The dealers of course send their store
to the best markets they can find; and Billingsgate is
at most times the best. This refers to the fresh fish;
but the Yarmouth herring-boat owners are for the most
part herring-curers also: they prepare the famous
CH. IX. IBLOATERS AND FIERRINGS. 345
‘Yarmouth bloaters.’ which come to the metropolis in
such prodigious quantities. The fresh herrings are in
the first instance stored in sheds; and then they are
converted either into ‘bloaters’ or into “dried herrings’:
the former for home consumption; the latter for sale to
catholic countries, where they are largely eaten on fish-
days. The herrings that are to be dried are kept in
salt for ten or twelve days, then hung upon spits in the
drying-house, which is heated by large oak logs; and
after thus hanging for a week or a fortnight, they are
ready for packing. But the more delicate ‘bloater’ is
otherwise treated; a little Salting and a little drying
suffice; for the bloaters are frequently packed within
twenty-four hours after the fish were taken out of the
Water.
The Yarmouth arithmetic is very strange, in the
numbering of fish : 4 herrings make a “warp;’ 33
warps, or 132 herrings, make a ‘hundred;’ and 100
hundreds, or 13,200, make a “last.’ Practically the
fishermen and salesmen do not count a last ; for they
employ a basket called a “swill,’ which will contain
just about 5 long hundreds (660) average herrings;
and 20 of these basketsfull are deemed to make a last.
But let us hasten to Billingsgate, and witness the
animated, busy, exciting scene there exhibited.
Former pages of this volume have contained notices
of various attempts to establish a fish-market in rivalry
to Billingsgate. Queenhithe was such a rival during
many reigns; but it is now wholly given up to com-
modities of other kinds. Hungerford, an attempt
of recent days, has undergone some curious modi-
346 TIII. FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. IX.
fications. The old market, belonging to the Hungerford
family, was established in the seventeenth century; but
the present structure was built in 1831. A resolute
attempt was made, shortly after the opening of the new
building, to establish a wholesale fish-market; but this
utterly failed; and the Hungerford fishmongers obtain
their supply from Billingsgate, as do the fishmongers
elsewhere. The central area, at first intended for the
wholesale fish-trade, is now covered over by a sort
of music-hall or exhibition-room; many of the shops are
Occupied by venders of penny ices, photographs and
miniatures, frames and prints; while the avenues of the
market itself are traversed rather by steam-boat and
bridge passengers than by persons whose direct object
is marketing. -
Billingsgate, the undoubted and ‘only original' Bil-
lingsgate, has been rebuilt within the last few years.
Formerly it was a group of sheds and stalls, accumu-
lated — no one knew how. The extension of business
led to an extension of premises; until the sheds and
the people became so crowded that the prosecution of
business met with much obstruction. At length a new
market was built, partially opened in time for oyster-
day,” in August 1852, and finished soon afterwards.
The structure is of red brick, and is a somewhat novel
and pleasing specimen of the Italian style. There is a
central tower, which serves at once as a clock-tower and
a ventilating shaft. The market itself is divided into
two stories, one above another; the upper one, on a
level with the street, is for the ordinary kinds of fish;
while the lower story is the market for shell-fish.
CII. IX. NEW BILLINGSGATE MARIKET. 347
Large as the market is, when compared with old
Billingsgate, it will be yet larger when the lease of
certain dilapidated premises adjoining terminates. Mr.
Billing, the able architect of the structure, has con-
trived to obtain much additional space by making a
stone river-wall, and levelling the surface from thence
to Thames Street. The lower market is lighted by two
large galleried openings from the upper; and the upper
market is itself so divided that the northern part is
chiefly appropriated to the dried fish-dealers. The roof
is formed of semi-circular bays of corrugated iron, Sup-
ported by iron pillars, and lighted by thick rough glass.
The river-front presents an arcade of seven round-top
arches, supported on iron columns; over the centre
arch is the clock-tower, and over the remaining arches
are the offices of the clerk of the market, &c. For
purposes of ventilation an air-chamber has been con-
structed by Mr. Bessimer, containing two of his re-
volving pump-discs; these draw out the air from the
lower vaults and market by suction, and propel it up
the air-shaft enclosed within the clock-tower; by which
contrivance it is said that 50,000 cubic feet of conta-
minated air can be expelled in a minute. For the
supply of water there are two filters placed near the
bed of the Thames, through which 70,000 or 80,000
gallons of water can pass in an hour ; as much is drawn
up, by a centrifugal pump, as will suffice for washing
fish, washing hands, washing the market, and keeping
everything neat and clean — a quantity which, if sup-
plied by the water companies, would be charged at
something like 4000l. per annum. When, finally, we
348 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. IX.
add that the whole space is brilliantly lighted with gas
on dark mornings, it will be apparent that the new
Billingsgate is an excellent market, highly creditable to
those who have planned and executed the various
arrangements, and who were required to effect so much
in a little space.
At this market, then, is bought and sold nearly all
the fish eaten by two millions and a half of persons.
Nay, more, large quantities of fish are transmitted from
Billingsgate to the country districts for retail sale; and
this still further enlarges the circle of operations.
Salesmen, fishmongers, bummarees, porters, street-
hawkers — all have their peculiar characteristics, as
relating to Billingsgate.
First, for the salesmen. There is a tradition of a
Billingsgate salesman having retired with a fortune of a
quarter of a million sterling; but be this as it may,
there are doubtless some warm purses among them, in
despite of the ‘ very ancient and fishlike smell” that they
have to endure. They succeed, son after father, to the
same stalls, which thence come to be regarded as a kind
of family heirloom. They are not fish-catchers, fish-
owners, or fish-buyers; they simply sell fish, and re-
ceive a small per-centage for so doing. The system is
analogous to that observed at the cattle and dead-meat
markets, and is attended with similar advantage to all
parties. The Billingsgate salesmen receive consign-
ments of fish from the various owners, and exercise
their own judgment as to prices demanded ; if they ask
too low, they injure their clients; if their demands be
too high, the sale may slacken, and the fish remain on
CEI. IX. SALESMEN AND BUMIMAREES. 349
hand too long; and the salesmen watch attentively
every circumstance likely to occasion fluctuations in the
state of the market. Some confine their attention chiefly
to trawl-fish, to salmon, to cod, to herrings, to shrimps,
or to lobsters; while others attend equally to all kinds.
Some are salesmen on a large scale, who supply the
first-class fishmongers; others, of humbler rank, look
rather for customers among the street-dealers.
The ‘bummarees' are in possession of a mysterious
designation; no one seems to know the origin of such
a strange name, Be the meaning what it may, however,
the bummarees are speculative dealers, who buy largely
of the salesmen, and sell in smaller quantities to the
fishmongers. There is an element of hazard in their
trade; for there is no certainty that the purchase which
they have made at an early hour in the morning will go
off briskly at an enhanced price : indeed many of the
market arrangements in regard of fish are influenced
by the singular precariousness in the supply. In the
dealings between bummarees, salesmen, fishmongers,
and hawkers, much technical gibberish is employed;
the stock-broker talks of ‘contango' and * back’arda-
tion' in a manner only to be understood by one of his
craft; and something of the kind is observable in most
fraternities, who do not choose that ‘ outsiders’ should
know more than is necessary; thus the Billingsgate
dealers had, in past years — and perhaps yet have — a
knack of applying words wrong end foremost, to form
a new lingo: using flah for half, eno for one, owt for
two, dnuop for pound, and so forth.
The porters are also a peculiar body at Billingsgate.
350 THIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
Two of the ‘ vested interests’ in the metropolis are the
fellowship-porters and the ticket-porters; the former,
so far as concerns Billingsgate, claim the privilege of
bringing from the ships all fish to be sold by tale or
measure: they employ ‘foreigners’ or non-freemen as
assistants, at (of course) a lower rate of remuneration;
whereas the ticket-porters bring in the dry fish, mostly
from the waggons ranged along in Thames Street.
At an hour when London is fast asleep, and when
half a million fires have not yet begun to vomit forth
their smoke into the unfortunate atmosphere, Billings-
gate is alive and busy. Fishing vessels and railway
vans arrive as near the spot as possible by five
o'clock, to catch the prime of the market. The sales-
men place themselves at their stalls; the porters bring
in the fish, brushing ruthlessly past any idle lookers
on ; and the fishmongers arrive. All the best fish
are displayed and sold first. The bargains are soon
made; for both salesmen and shopkeepers contrive to
ascertain the state of the market; and the fishmongers
carry away their purchases in the carts which, for want
of sufficient accommodation, blockade Fish Street Hill
as far up as Gracechurch Street. Perhaps no other place
in the world exhibits so great a variety of fine fish at
one time as Billingsgate in early morn; but vast as is the
quantity, it speedily disappears, the best kinds first and
then the second best ; insomuch that, by the time the
City merchants have commenced business, the Billings-
gate salesmen have nearly ended their day's labour.
The sprat season is one of especial excitement: it is
‘high change’ with the fustian-jackets; for, probably,
CLI, IX. SOURCES OF SUPPLY. 351
ninety-nine hundredths of all the sprats are bought by
street-dealers. The sprat-vessels draw up as near to
Billingsgate quay as is practicable; boards and gang-
ways are laid down, and incessant streams of people
flow to and fro: the sprats, at a busy time, are not
brought up to the market, for the buyers go to the vessel,
and there make their purchases. It is no exaggeration
to say that five hundred of these persons may be seen
thus engaged at one time; and the eager earnestness
of countenance shows that the transactions are to them
matters of commerce, of profit or loss. Baskets of all
shapes and sizes, laden with glittering sprats, are
brought ashore, sometimes by the itinerant dealers
themselves, sometimes by porters who earn a halfpenny
or so for their services. Another turmoil, of somewhat
similar kind, is exhibited at the height of the oyster
SC3LSOI].
Such is the animated picture presented by Bil-
lingsgate during its hours of business. The fish, as may
well be supposed, come from widely-separated sources.
There is salmon from the Tweed, the Tay, the Forth,
the Clyde, the Dee, the Don, the Spey, the Ness, the
Linn; there is cod from Holland, from Norway, from
the Yarmouth coast; there are brill, turbot, halibut,
sole, plaice, haddock, whiting, and skate, all trawl-fish
(caught by the trawl-net), and brought from nearly
the same waters as the cod; there are mackerel from
Devon and Cornwall, eels from Holland, oysters from
the Thames and the Channel Islands, lobsters from
the coasts of Scotland and Norway, crabs from the
south coast, shrimps from the Thames and Boston.
*-
352 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. IX.
But it is becoming more than ever difficult to define
the localities whence particular kinds of fish are brought;
for, as improved means of rapid transit are provided,
portions of our coast fisheries become available for the
London market, which until lately were virtually ex-
cluded. The rail, in this, as in so many other circum-
stances, almost annihilates distance.
The present regulations of Billingsgate market are
mainly determined by an Act passed in 1846, de-
signating it a free and open market both for the whole-
sale and the retail trade in fish. The City authorities
are, by this Act, confirmed in their ancient control
over the market. Every fishing-vessel passing the
Nore, with fish intended for Billingsgate, pays a cus-
toms’ toll, of which a part is presented to the Marine
Society; the tolls depend in amount partly on the
size and kind of vessel, and partly on the kind of
fish. The various designations of peter-boat, small
boat, wherry, skiff, hatch-boat, great boat, smack,
lighter, barge, lug-boat, and cock-boat, are given to
the vessels that bring the fish : the toll per vessel
varying from 6d. to 5s. ; an oyster-boat pays 2d. per
day groundage, #d. per bushel metage, and 13d. per
voyage ; while the vehicles bringing fish from the rail-
way termini pay 18, or 1s. 6d. according to the number
of horses.
Besides these tolls levied on the vessels or vehicles
there are others depending on the privilege of using
the market. There are wholesale stands, with the use
of a table and gas; there are retail stands and casual
stands; there are planks and ladders to lay down from
CH. IX. RAILWAY FISEL SUPPLY. 353
the vessels to the quay; and there are sheds for
mussel and other shell-fish. A rental of 3s. to 9s.
per week is paid for the principal stands; 6d. to 1s.
per day for casual stands and sheds; and 5d. to 1s.
for the use of planks and ladders in landing a boat-
load of fish.
Nearly half the fish-supply for London now reaches
Billingsgate by rail. The Eastern Counties is the
great fish line, owing to its connection with the Yar-
mouth district; but the Great Northern, the North
Western, the Great Western, the South Western, the
Brighton, all bring up their thousands of tons annually.
There may be seen, in early morn, fifty or sixty rail-
way fish-vans, drawn by two or four horses each, mar-
shalled along in Thames Street, blocking up the already
too narrow thoroughfare, and shedding forth their
barrels, boxes, and baskets of finny prisoners. So far as
the boats and vessels are concerned, salmon are brought
to Billingsgate in boxes, soles in hampers called pads
and pots, oysters in bulk, cockles and periwinkles in
sacks, haddock in baskets, cod in hatch-boats, mackerel
in pads; but the requirements of land conveyance lead
to modifications in some of these particulars. Lately the
value of screw steamers in the conveyance of fish has
become so evident, that the lobster trade has assumed
remarkable features; screw-propellers have been fitted
into deep-welled fishing-Smacks, which have been known
to bring twenty thousand lobsters in one cargo, without
any deaths; whereas a slower conveyance is generally
attended by Some loss in this particular. A sum of
1300l., it may here be remarked, has been spent upon
A. A
354 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
a lobster-ground near Southampton, where lobsters,
brought from the coasts of Brittany and Ireland, are
kept for several weeks, to the number of 70,000 at a
time, and fattened on fish. Salmon are occasionally
brought to London from the furthermost coasts of
Scotland, and cod from distant parts of the German
Ocean, by screw steamers; some of the northern
fish are brought only to Grimsby by steamers, and
thence to London by the Great Northern railway.
The Barking fishermen, who are the principal of those
that supply Billingsgate, keep vast storehouses of ice;
they send out this ice to the deep-sea fisheries, to keep
the fish cool while in the vessels; and they have a relay
of swift vessels to bring the fish to land.
The South Eastern railway, though not remarkable
for the quantity of fish brought by its trains to London,
illustrates one among many modes in which commerce
carves out its own line of procedure. Of course the
quantity, on all railways and in all districts, depends
greatly on the season: thus, in June 1855, there were
about 24,000 baskets of fish, weighing 670 tons, brought
to London on that line,—far more than in any earlier
month in the year; but the fishermen and the railway
people contrive to know beforehand something con-
cerning the probabilities of the case. Certain fish make
their appearance in a shoal off the north of Scotland,
some days afterwards they are found off Yarmouth,
and still later they appear off Ramsgate and Dover; the
fishermen off the Foreland, therefore, when they hear
of a shoal far up in the north, look out for a good haul
after a certain interval; and the railway folk prepare
accordingly.
CH. IX. QUANTITIES CONSUMED. 355
A convenient classification of fish—convenient in a
commercial rather than a scientific sense — is into Wet,
Dry, and Shell-fish, of which the following are about
two dozen kinds : — -
WET FISH,
Herring. Whiting. Eels.
Plaice. Cod. Flounders.
Soles. Sprat. Turbot.
t Mackerel. Salmon. Haddock.
DRY FISH.
Haddock. Cod. Sprat.
Bloater. Herring. Salmon.
SHELL-FISH.
Oysters. Cockles. Lobsters.
Periwinckles. Shrimps. Crabs.
Mussels. Whelks. Crawfish.
But a matter more immediately interesting than the
mere classification of fish, is the available quantity at
any given time. How much fish is sold in a year at
Billingsgate? Many estimates have been made on this
subject. Mr. Mayhew, in 1849, gave the following
(in the ‘Morning Chronicle') as one year's sale of fish
at Billingsgate : —
Salmon º - 29,000 boxes, 7 in a box.
Cod, live - - 400,000, averaging 10 lbs. each.
,, barrelled - - 15,000 barrels, 50 to a barrel.
, Salt º - 1,600,000, averaging 5 lbs. each.
Haddock º - 2,470,000, at 2 lbs. each.
33 smoked * 65,000 barrels, 300 in a barrel.
Soles - - - 97,520,000, at #1b. each.
Mackerel tº - 23;620,000, at 1 lb. each
Herrings º - 250,000 barrels, at 150 each.
33 red - g- 100,000 barrels, at 500 each.
95 bloaters -- 265,000 baskets, at 150 each.
Eels - sº - 9,800,000, at 6 to 1 lb.
Whiting º - 17,920,000, at 6 oz. each.
A A 2
356
CH. IX.
THE FOOD OF LONDON.
Plaice - tº
Turbot - º
Brill
Mullet } s
Oysters * -
Crabs - tºº
Lobsters tºº
Brawns s
Shrimps tº
- 500,000,000, at 400 to a peck,
600,000. .
1,200,000.
36,600,000, at 1 lb. each.
800,000, at 7 lbs, each.
1,220,000, at 3 lbs. each.
12 tons, at 120 to 1 lb.
192,295 gallons, at 320 to a pint.
Mr, Braithwaite Poole gives an elaborate table
differently arranged : —
Description. Number. Tons. Value.
WET FISH. Millions. &
Herrings, in bulk - - || 1050 112,500 1,050,000
,, . 250,000 barrels - 175 18,750 175,000
Plaice, 1 lb. each - wº 34 15,000 90,000
Soles, # lb. each - * 98 12,000 20,000
Mackerel, 1 lb. each º 24 10,500 130,000
Whiting, 6 oz. each º 18 3,000 9,000
Cod, 10 lbs. each - {-º 0% 1,785 5,000
Sprats tº º gº ? 1,780 12,000
Salmon, 29,000 boxes sº 0% 1,555 124,000
Eels sº *-*. tº 10 730 26,800
Flounders - gº gº 0+ 20 100
Dabs - sº tºs # 21 100
Haddock, 2 lbs. each º 2} 2,250 30,000
DRY FISH.
Haddock, 65,000 barrels - 20 4,873 20,000
Bloaters, 265,000 baskets" - 147 4,732 75,000
Cod, 5 lbs. each - gº º 3,571 4,000
,, . 15,000 barrels gº 0} 1,875 3,000
Herrings, 100,000 barrels - 50 625 25,000
Sprats, 9,600 bundles *_º 03: 42 3,000
SHELL-FISH.
Oysters, 309,935 barrels - 496 31,000 125,000
Periwinkles, 76,000 baskets 304 1,900 15,000
Mussels, 50,400 baskets - 50 1,260 4,000
Shrimps, 192,295 gallons - 498 875 6,000
Cockles, 32,400 bushels - 69 8] 0 3,000
Whelks, 24,300 bushels - 5 608 2,500
Lobsters - *º tº 1#. 535 30,000
Crabs gº º º 0} 262 7,500
CH. IX. ESTIMATES DOUBTFUL. 357
In the above table we have swept away a large array
of figures in the column of numbers,’ by approxima-
ting to the nearest quarter of a million. Mr. Poole
does not venture to estimate the number of sprats; but,
omitting those, we have a stupendous total of 3000
millions of fish, weighing 230,000 tons, and valued at
about 2,000,000l.
One computer estimates that the fish sold at Billings-
gate bring, one with another, about 2; d. per lb. But
a puzzling embarrassment presents itself here — how
about the oyster shells? If the oysters weigh 31,000
tons, the shells must present a formidable item in this
account. According to Mr. Poole's list the fish —
oyster-shells, mussel-shells, cockle-shells, winkle-shells,
and all included — bring rather less than a penny a
pound; if the shell-fish be omitted altogether, Mr.
Poole's entries still give less than a penny a pound for
the remainder. The above refers not to the retail
prices but to the prices obtained, first hand, by the
salesmen: what may be the profit made by the various
dealers is a trade secret.
It is worthy of note, however, as a commentary
on all such estimates, that Mr. Goldham, clerk of
Billingsgate, is himself quite without means of know-
ing the quantity of fish sold at that market. The
rates and tolls are not charged according to the weight
of fish, as was lately explained; and he possesses no
record of quantities. Unless all the salesmen were
candidly to announce each the exact amount of business
transacted by him, it is difficult to see how a correct
aggregate could be arrived at ; for even if the railway
A A 3
358 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
arrivals were added up, there would still he the in-
definite quantities which arrive by ship or boat, and
the owners of which are — no one knows whom, except
the salesmen. Guess-work, it appears, must suffice at
present.
Whatever may be the recognised seasons for fish, the
quantities brought to market fluctuate to a degree quite
beyond all control: whether the supply be deficient
or in excess, seems to be a matter wherein the dealers
are wholly at the mercy of the seas and rivers. Some-
times the supply is so scarce as to drive up prices to an
inordinate amount. As much as four guineas has been
known to be given for a lobster; there was only one to
be had at a particular time and place, and as two epi-
cures longed for it to make lobster-sauce, they purchased
and divided it between them. It is recorded that in
May, 1807, the first cargo of mackerel on a particular
morning brought forty guineas at Billingsgate, being
equivalent to seven shillings each; the next cargo,
coming when the wealthy buyers had been supplied,
was sold at the rate of two shillings each; but the later
cargoes speedily sank to an ordinary rate. Hence
there were wonderful exertions made to be ‘first in
the market,” to obtain the crack prices. On the other
hand, soles have been sold at Billingsgate at 3 lbs. per
penny. At some of the fishing-ports, the glut of a par-
ticular fish at a particular time is occasionally such that
the fishermen scarcely know how to dispose of their
treasures; mackerel have been hawked about Dover at
five for a penny ; and on one fishing night off the
Brighton coast the mackerel swarmed into the nets in
such countless myriads that fish, nets and all, fairly
CH. IX. OCCASIONAL AIBUNDANCE. 359
went to the bottom. Mackerel are sometimes very
abundant in London in the summer; and a curious
inquiry arose out of this abundance, in July, 1855.
As many as 1,200,000 mackerel arrived at Billingsgate
on a Sunday morning, for several weeks in succession.
What were the salesmen to do? The market is closed
by law on Sundays; and yet the fish would spoil if kept
till Monday. The salesmen held fish-auctions in Love
Lane and Billingsgate Alley, and disposed of the
mackerel chiefly to hawkers; the police authorities
interfered; but the matter was compromised by the
salesmen undertaking to clear off all their store before
nine o'clock in the morning.
The fish ordinarily eaten vary greatly in the amount
of nutriment contained. MM. Payen and Wood lately
made an investigation * into this matter. They found
that in 100 lbs. of eels there are 63 lbs. of oily or fatty mat-
ter; that in cod there is only 1 lb. to the 100 lbs., and that
the other common kinds of fish occupy medium positions
in respect to the fatty quality; herrings come next to
eels, and skate to cod; nearly nine tenths of the live
weight of barbel and skate consist of water. Oily or
watery, however, the finny tribe present a beautiful
appearance while their freshness is yet upon them. “It
would gladden the heart of a Dutch painter,” says the
Quarterly Reviewer f, in relation to the appearance of
the fish at Billingsgate, “ to see the piled produce of a
dozen different seas glittering with silver and brilliant
with colours. Gigantic salmon, fresh caught from
firths and bays of Scotland, or from the productive Irish
* Comptes Rendus, Aug. 1854. f No. cxc.
A A 4
360 TEIE FOOD OF I.ONDON. CH. IX.
seas, flounder about, as the boxes they have travelled in
disgorge them upon the board. Quantities of delicate
red mullet, that have been hurried up by the Great
Western, all the way from Cornwall, for the purpose of
being furnished fresh to the fastidious palates at the
West-end ; smelts brought by the Dutch boats, their
delicate skins varying in hue like an opal as you pass;
pyramids of lobsters, a moving mass of spiteful claws and
restless feelers, savage at their late abduction from some
Norwegian fiord; great heaps of pinky shrimps; tur-
bots that lately fattened upon the Doggerbank, with
their white bellies bent as for some tremendous leap ;
and humbler plaice and dabs from our own craft, — all
this bountiful accumulation forms a mingled scene of
strange forms and vivid colours, that no one with an eye
to the picturesque can contemplate without interest.”
Many of the kinds of fish sold at Billingsgate deserve
a few words of separate mention. Such fresh-water
fish as plaice, roach, and dace, are said to be purchased
chiefly by the Jews. Salmon, as sent to Billingsgate,
weigh about 8 lbs, each on an average; about half the
Scotch salmon are sent to London, and realise, one
season with another, from 9d. to 10d. per lb. ; it is salmon
that constitutes most of the fish brought by the North
Western railway to the metropolis. Herrings are sold
at Billingsgate in enormous quantities: indeed, Yar-
mouth depends almost wholly on London as a market
for its herrings, and will sometimes send up 100 tons
per night by the Eastern Counties railway; of the
cured herrings, it is estimated that about half the whole-
Sale price is for the fish, and half for the barrel, salt, and
CH. IX. S.HELL-FISFI TRADE. 3.6 L
labour of the curers. Lobsters, in hampers containing
1 cwt. to 3 cwt., are more influenced by recent im-
provements in rapid conveyance than most other fish.
We lately spoke of the screw steamers which bring
them from the north; there is one particular salesman
to whom they are consigned in larger quantity than to
any other, and who is said to receive and sell 15,000
sometimes in a single morning; they are sent to
boiling-houses in Duck Lane and Love Lane, near the
market, and here they are boiled for twenty minutes in
huge caldrons, a small charge per score being made
for this service. Eels are brought mostly from Hol-
land in clumsy vessels that anchor midway in the
river; two of those boats have been known to bring
600 or 700 tons of eels to Billingsgate in a morning.
The oyster trade is especially remarkable in many
of its features. Oysters are quite revolutionised as to
Seasons, owing to the influence of quick transit from
distant stations. There was a mid-channel bed dis-
covered a few years ago, between Shoreham and Havre;
and it depended on the railways to determine whether
these oysters could be rendered available for the London
market. The Brighton company solved the problem,
by enabling the fishers to transmit the fish at a low rate ;
there are ponds, or rather embanked portions of the
river Adur, near Shoreham, where many of the oysters
are washed and kept for a few hours before being sent
up to London. The mid-channel oysters are, however,
coarse; and although cheap, they cannot compete with
the ‘natives’ in quality. There are oyster-cultivating
companies, so to speak, in various places on the banks of
362 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. IX.
the Thames, and along the south coast; they purchase
the ‘spat,' or fecundated sperm of the oyster, which is
kept in pits; and this they carefully develope on beds or
oyster-nurseries. The ‘native’ oyster may thus really be
considered as a cultivated product. There is one oyster-
fisher, or oyster-bed owner, who sent up 40,000 bushels
of oysters in 1853, and paid 800l. metage dues to the
city for services, or rather ceremonies, which were per-
fectly useless to him. The same extensive dealer lost
many thousand pounds in 1854–5, because in the cholera
season of '54 the public distrusted oysters; and in the
second place, because the severe cold early in ’55 killed
millions of his bivalve protégés. One result of the
changes in the oyster trade is, that the glories of oyster-
day’ are past: the seasons for this fish have undergone
a revolution, and no one can determine when oysters are
really ‘out.” A curious novelty in the oyster-trade was
established at Southampton a few years ago; there is
a wide margin of muddy shore near the town, a part of
which was leased by an oyster company ; the company
brought the oysters from the Channel fisheries, fattened
them on beds, took them up, opened them, placed them
in tin cans without their shells, and sent them up to
London by the South Western railway, for the making
of sauces and pickles.
Out of so many thousand tons of fish, it of course
happens that some are too far decayed to be fitted for
use. Unless stringent rules were observed at Billings-
gate, a most offensive and disastrous state of things
might result; but the inspection is strict and effective.
Dr. Pereira states that, in 1841, there were 50,000 plaice,
CH. IX. STREET, DEALERS. 363
40,000 mackerel, 28,000 haddocks, 27,000 herrings, 36
bushels of sprats, 1200 lbs. of eels, 5600 large shell-
fish, and 173 bushels of small shell-fish, condemned.
The bad fish are put into lighters, mixed with gas-tar,
and carried off to be sold as manure.
The fish-dealing in the London streets is curious.
As may readily be supposed, the finest kinds are bought
up by those who supply the wealthier classes, leaving
to the humbler dealers the cheap and too often decayed
residue. Still their cheapness need not necessarily be
accompanied by questionable freshness; for in an abund-
ant season there is plenty for all. Salmon and cod
occasionally find their way into the hucksters’ baskets,
whence they are sold by , weight; mussels, cockles,
periwinkles, shrimps, and a few other kinds of fish, these
hucksters sell by measure; but most kinds are sold by
tale — unless, indeed, we except sprats, which are
parcelled out in that indefinite quantity called a ‘plate-
ful.” That the scales, the weights, and the measures of
these itinerant fish-dealers will bear scrutiny, is more
than can safely be asserted. One dealer carries his whole
stock in trade upon his head; another shares with a
companion the burden of carrying a basket by the two
ends; a third rises to the dignity of a wheelbarrow ;
while a fourth has a veritable donkey-cart, and relies
upon the profit of his business to support both his
donkey and himself. Many of these dealers borrow
their baskets, barrows, trucks, and carts, paying a rent
which, though small per day, amounts to an enormous
rate of interest on the value of the articles borrowed.
Some, indeed, are so poor that they borrow the money
364 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. 1X.
wherewith to buy their fish at Billingsgate, paying for
this also a most usurious rate of interest.
The hucksters or stall-keepers — those who have the
privilege of trading rent-free—although they wait until
the regular fishmongers have made their purchases, do
nevertheless carry off an amazing quantity of fish.
There was a rough estimate made a few years ago, that,
of the whole Billingsgate supply, one-third is bought by
the London fishmongers, one-third by the London huck-
sters, and one-third sent into the country. Be this as it
may, the hucksters, in whatever part of the metropolis
they may reside, soon learn when a glut of fish occurs
at Billingsgate; there is some sort of conventional tele-
graphic system among them, whereby the news is
disseminated with wonderful celerity; and the apple-
woman may become a fish-woman; for many of these
street-dealers impartially share their favours between
Covent Garden and Billingsgate, according as fruit or
fish happen to be most cheap and abundant. The ‘half-
penny steamers,’ from London Bridge to the Adelphi,
are much patronised by these fish-people, who find that
the halfpenny is well laid out in the saving of time,
strength, and shoe-leather,
The specimens of the fair sex engaged in the Billings-
gate trade have had a peculiar and long-enduring repu-
tation,-language and persons strong rather than elegant.
We may learn from Lupton that they were notable
dames more than two hundred years ago: – “These
crying, wandering, and travelling creatures carry their
shops on their heads; and their storehouse is ordinarily
Billingsgate or the bridge-foot, and their habitation
CII. IX. BILLINGSGATE FISEI-WIVES. 365
Turnagain Lane. They set up every morning their
trade afresh. They are easily set up and furnished,
get something, and spend it jovially and merrily. Five
shillings, a basket, and a good cry, is a large stock for
one of them. They are merriest when all their ware is
gone. In the morning they delight to have their shop
full; at even they desire to have it empty. Their
shop's but little, some two yards' compass!” "
IBut has not the march of intellect touched the fish-
wives? Are they not a shade less Scurrilous than in
times of yore?
* Country and City Carbonaded, 1632
366 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
CHAPTER X.
COVENT GARDEN : FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
No important Vegetable Market in London before Covent Garden. —
Gradual Establishment of this Market on the Site of the old Convent
Garden at Westminster. — Rebuilding of the Market in 1827,-
Sources of the Vegetable Supply for London. — Market-Gardens
around the Metropolis.-Distant Sources of some of the Supplies.—
Supply of Fruit. — Remarkable Nature of the Strawberry Trade. —
The Fruit Avenue at Covent Garden. — Daily Routine of Trade.—
Vegetables and Fruit at Spitalfields, Borough, Farringdon, Hunger-
ford, and Portman Markets. – Probable Quantities of Vegetables
and Fruit consumed in London. — Importance of Steamers and
Railways in expediting the Supply. — Increased Supply of Foreign
Fruit in London. —Electric Telegraph and the Market People.
SUBORDINATE as may be the produce of the garden,
compared with that of the farm or the fold; secondary
as may be the value of such produce on the tables of
the metropolis — there is nevertheless much that is in-
dispensably necessary, much that is of unquestioned
importance, and much employment of skill, experience,
capital, and labour, in the supply of London with
vegetables and fruit. One computer has ventured to
surmise that there are 50,000 persons always employed
in growing, or carrying, or selling fruit and vegetables
for London consumption; but this seems excessive.
Our green fields are departing; our trees and shrubs,
herbs and wild flowers, are being swallowed up in the
wilderness of new streets and squares exhibited by
CH. X. VEGETABLE MARIKETS. 367
the metropolis on all sides; and were it not for the
market-gardens, the suburbs would be still more weari-
some. The grounds about Fulham, Hammersmith,
Putney, Mortlake, Battersea, Mitcham, Deptford, ren-
der this service, in warding off for a time the approach
of the builders. But only for a time: building-
societies are bidding for these plots of land; and rail-
ways are bringing up vegetables and fruit from distant
counties; insomuch that we are perhaps destined to
lose our suburban market-gardens ere long.
Little was said in the Historical Sketch concerning the
sale of fruit and vegetables in London in early times;
for the arrangements to this end were much scattered,
and barely subjected to any system or organisation.
When one bridge only spanned the Thames in or near
London, the market for vegetable food, as well as for
live-stock, would naturally be established within a
moderate distance of that bridge; and thus it happened
that the chief depôts for vegetable produce were in the
City. The Stocks market and Honey Lane market
were for many generations the chief of these localities.
When the former of these, preparatory to numerous
street improvements, was removed, two other markets
gradually became established — one in Spitalfields for
the east end, and one in Covent Garden for the west.
There appears to have been no formal establishment of
Covent Garden market, at a particular time by a par-
ticular authority; it resulted from casual grouping of
market people in an open space. Persons interested in
the maintenance of a vegetable market in the city com-
plained of the effect produced by the formation of
368 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
Spitalfields and Covent Garden markets, and advocated
the establishment of a new market near Dowgate.
When Westminster bridge was opened, in 1750, thus
affording a second channel of communication over the
Thames, the utility of Covent Garden market was in-
creased. Where once was the Stocks market is now
the Mansion house; where the Honey Lane market
was once located, is now the City of London School;
and since those removals, the City has never had a vege-
table market equal to that at Covent Garden.
Few of our market-places link the present with the
memory of the past so fully as the Convent Garden
market — for Convent Garden it was, before men
clipped it and shortened it to Covent. The open area
was once a garden belonging to the monks of West-
minster Abbey; the ground is known to have been
thus appropriated as far back as the year 1222; and
there has probably never been a week, during a period
of six centuries and a half, in which this plot of ground
did not contain fruit, flowers, and vegetables — first as
a garden, and then as a market. In the time of Queen
Elizabeth, the (former) Convent Garden was a walled
space, very much larger than the present market; ex-
tending from Drury Lane on the east to St. Martin’s
Lane on the west, and from open meadows on the north
to Bedford House on the south. This house, the town-
residence of the lordly family of Russell, occupied a
part of the ground now constituting Southampton
Street. The open space thus marked out comprised
fields and gardens, with rows of trees, and a few build-
ings. The change of destination in this open space
CH. X. ORIGIN OF COVENT GARDEN. 369
occurred at the time of the Reformation, when the Con-
vent Garden, as well as a field called the Long Acre,
were taken from the monks of Westminster, and given to
the Duke of Somerset; on whose attainder they passed
into the possession of the Earl of Bedford in 1552. It
was this earl who built Bedford House, standing until the
year 1704. One of his descendants, in the seventeenth
century, in spite of prohibitions against the undue ex-
tension of London, planned large building arrange-
ments on the them wide-spreading Convent Garden.
The north side of the present market, with its Italian-
looking arcades (misnamed piazzas), was built after the
designs of Inigo Jones, and formed part of a plan in-
tended to be of much magnificence ; with the excep-
tion of the northern, and one half of the eastern sides,
the boundary of Covent Garden was finished in a much
inferior style; while King Street, Charles Street, Hen-
rietta Street, Russell Street, &c., were built on other
portions of the old Convent Garden.
At the period when the marginal portions of the old
garden were thus covered with straight streets of new
houses, the central area or square was enclosed by rails,
and had a sun-dial in the middle. The south side of
the area alone, between the enclosure and the garden of
Bedford House, was used as a market for fruit and
vegetables. When Tavistock and York and South.
ampton Streets were built, at a somewhat later date,
the market-people were driven nearer to the centre of
the enclosure; this offended the aristocratic dwellers on
the north side, who one by one left; their deserted
mansions became occupied mostly as hotels; and to this
B B
370 - THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
day the Covent Garden hotels constitute a distinguishing
feature in the locality. The market grew and grew, in
area and in importance; but it did not grow in cleanli-
ness or comfort. Until, within the last quarter of a
century it was very unsightly and incommodious; the
sheds and wooden structures were in ruinous condition;
the filth and disorder were terrible ; and the reckless
character of the market-people was rendered still more
reckless by the total neglect of all means of conducing
to their comfort and orderly management. The Earls
and Dukes of Bedford have for three centuries been the
owners of the site ; and public opinion, as well as pri-
vate interest, impelled the noble member of the house
of Russell who was Duke in 1827 to make important
changes: he obtained an Act of Parliament to empower
him to rebuild the market; and by degrees the struc-
ture now presenting itself to view was reared.
The buildings of the present market, as is known to
most persons at all familiar with London, occupy the
centre of the quadrangle: a wide space being left be-
tween these buildings and the houses bounding the
whole area. There are three piles of structure running
east and west, connected only at the eastern end: the
central pile consisting of a double row of shops, with a
covered walk or avenue; while the two outer piles
have colonnades on the north and south. The central
pile contains the shops in which the choicest fruits and
flowers are exposed for Sale; the central avenue is the
favourite lounge of those who would see the wonders
and costly rarities of the market; while the lateral piles
are occupied chiefly by the shops wherein vegetables,
CH. X. PLAN OF THE MARECET. 3.71
herbs, and seeds are sold. There are two open courts
between the ranges or piles of buildings, crowded during
market hours with green produce and the buyers and
sellers whom that produce brings to the spot. Nearly
the whole area is excavated beneath, to form vaults and
cellars wherein produce may be warehoused or kept for
a time: some of these underground places being pro-
vided with all the conveniences for washing potatoes.
The blessing of a plentiful supply of water is ensured
by means of an artesian well, sunk to a depth of about
three hundred feet; and this supply, aided by a well
arranged system enforced by the clerk or agent main-
tains Covent Garden market in an admirable con-
dition as to cleanliness. At the east end of the build-
ings is a terrace raised on columns; it is occupied partly
as a promenade, and partly by two conservatories.
The fruit and vegetable dealers in the shops apply
the names ‘centre row,’ ‘fruit-market,” “long-market,”
* north row,” “south row,’ and “square market' to the
several groups of buildings; but the peculiar character- ... - - --
istics of the market are better exemplified in the open-
air dealings than in the shop-dealings. Without any
very precise regulations tending thereto, the area of the
market has gradually become appropriated in certain
divisions, convenient for buyers and sellers. There
are, for instance, fruit-stands, flower-stands, potato-
stands, yearly pitching stands, yearly cart-stands,
and casual cart-stands. The fruit-stands or stalls are
congregated chiefly about the north-eastern portion
of the quadrangular cluster of buildings; and, for retail
Sales of choice fruits, in the central avenue, which,
B B 2
372 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
especially near the western end, is the flower-market also:
subsidiary to this are the conservatories at the eastern end
of the buildings. The potato-stands are on either side of
the central avenue, but chiefly the southern. The yearly
pitching stands are plots of ground, exterior to the cluster
of buildings, for which an annual rental per square foot is
paid; and the yearly cart-stands are of similar character.
The casual cart-stands are hired at a daily rental. The
rents, tolls, and dues are definite and well understood be-
tween those immediately concerned. At the fruit-stands,
besides a small rental for space, there is a toll per sieve,
bushel, head-load, sack, chest, box, or score, according
to the nature of the packages of fruit exposed for sale.
The flower-dealers in like manner pay a rental for space,
and a toll per waggon-load, cart-load, head-load, basket,
or dozen roots, of flowers. The potato-dealers, besides
rent, pay a certain toll per sack or per ton, according to
the quantity; and so of the others. So completely does
this obtain the lead before all other vegetable and fruit
markets in the metropolis, that the property will doubt
less become more and more valuable as years roll
on ; for there will arise a more eager competition for
the space and facilities afforded by the market. Un-
questionably it was capital well invested, when the
present market replaced the dirty, dingy, dilapidated,
unsightly, unhealthy, inconvenient bundle of sheds and
stalls that constituted the older market, — a market
which had grown up, no one knew how, or when, or by
what authority.
A question that early presents itself to the notice of
an observer who attentively watches the arrivals at
Crſ. X. VEGETABLE SALESMEN. 373
Covent Garden market is—whence are the supplies
obtained P And another question is, what is the value
of these supplies 2 Towards the close of the last cen-
tury, Middleton, in his Agricultural Survey of Middle-
sex, set down the London consumption of vegetables
at an average annual value of somewhat over one million
sterling; of which about two-fifths was for fruit. This
was not the amount of the consumers’ payments, but of
the growers’ receipts; consequently all the profits of
wholesale and retail dealers would have to be added to
the above sum ; and as the ratio between the grower's
price and the retailer's price varies extremely, accord-
ing to the fluctuating state of the market, very little
inference can be drawn from Middleton's estimate.
That the London supply has been obtained from a
wide-spreading belt of suburban country during a period
of at least a hundred and forty years, is well shown in
Steele's pleasant paper in the ‘Spectator,’ from which
an extract was given in the Historical Sketch. In all
probability, the extent of market-garden required for
the supply of London has never been equalled at any
other time or place. What are we to think when told
that there are pea-salesmen at Covent Garden whose
business is almost wholly confined, during the season,
to managing the sales of peas for country growers; that
one grower will sometimes send to one salesman in a
single day five or six thousand pecks of peas; that he
will supply daily seven or eight waggon-loads of cab-
bages, each comprising a hundred and fifty dozen ; at
B B 3
//--
| `.
374 THIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
_--~~~
another time fifteen hundred baskets of cabbage-sprouts
in a day; while the same grower will transmit five or
six thousand tons of potatoes in a year?
One of the market-gardens at Fulham has often been
adduced as an example of the wonderful completeness of
the arrangements for supplying London with vegetables.
Such a course of activity as a piece of ground here goes
through meets with no parallel except in the vicinity of
large towns. Towards the close of October, cabbages are
planted out; in November, when these are off, the land is
trenched and cropped with early celery, rows of lettuce
or colewort being interposed between the rows of celery;
when the celery is removed, the ground is cropped
with winter greens, which form a speedy and profitable
crop for the London market; by the beginning of
March the colewort is cleared off, and is speedily re-
placed by onions; when the onions are gathered, more
cabbage or colewort is put in; and then come cauliflowers,
gherkin cucumbers, French beans, or scarlet runners.
So the gardener proceeds, never allowing his ground to
remain idle for a single day, and acting upon the well-
assured maxim that the enormous expense of manure
and labour will be more than repaid by the enormous
returns per acre per annum. It is said that, in the
month of November, this garden contains more than
twenty acres of London greens: every hole and corner
under trees, and every bit of spare space, being filled
with them. There are fifty acres of apple, pear, and
plum plantations; the trees are pruned after the manner
of currant bushes; and the ground under them is cropped
with rhubarb, currants, and gooseberries in summer,
CII. X. MARIKET CARDEN.S. 375
and with colewort and cabbages in winter. That the
rental should be high, may be easily understood; for the
soil must necessarily be of rich quality; and the land-
owner would be tempted to convert his estate into
building-land in such a locality, unless paid a high
rental for it as market-garden ground.
There is a sort of conventional distribution of produce
among the suburban gardens; thus we hear of the
onion-gardens of Deptford, the cabbage-gardens of Bat-
tersea, the asparagus-gardens of Mortlake, the celery-
gardens of Chelsea, the pea-gardens of Charlton, the
potato-fields of Dagenham, &c.; but the truth is that
/ distant counties now compete with all these gardens
and gardeners, being enabled so to do by railway faci-
lities. Peas, asparagus, new potatoes, are thus brought,
to the advantage of the London consumers, if not of the
suburban growers. Some of these growers hold very
large tracts of garden-ground; one at Dagenham is said
to possess 500 acres; and one of the asparagus-gardens
contains 80 acres, devoted to this vegetable alone! Many
of the peas grown in Essex are subject to a curious com-
mercial arrangement; a London dealer finds the seed, the
Essex grower cultivates the peas, the dealer takes all the
crop, and a certain understood payment is made by the
dealer to the grower.
Before the railways had begun to bring potatoes to
London, there was a rough estimate that the quantity
required could not be much less than 3000 tons per
week. About half of this supply was obtained from
the neighbouring counties, chiefly Kent and Essex;
but when prices ranged high, and offered a temptation
B B 4
376 ATEIE EOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
to the farmers, waggons would come in laden from
more distant counties. Very nearly half the supply
reached London by sailing vessels, arriving from the
districts on the banks of the Humber, Trent, and
Ouse,_districts fertilised by artificial flooding and the
deposit of a rich silt. Scotland, Jersey, and Devon-
shire aided the supply. At certain seasons of the
year potato-laden vessels were always to be seen lying
off the wharfs at Tooley Street, the great centre of the
trade : vessels varying from 50 to 300 tons, accord-
ing to the distance whence they had come ; the potato-
salesmen had large warehouses, and the daily arrival and
departure of the carts of purchasers caused a busy scene.
** About the year 1843, Mr. Platt sought to arrive at
something like a fair estimate of the probable quantity
of potatoes eaten annually in the metropolis. He ad-
verted to the fact that the Irish Railway Commissioners,
a few years before, had estimated the quantity of food
consumed by an adult living wholly upon vegetable
food at 11 lbs. per day, inclusive of waste, which is very
great; the quantity of vegetables consumed by the
next class, who enjoy a limited use of other kinds of
food, is set down at 2 lbs. ; while those who are unre
stricted as to the nature of their food consume about
1 lb. of vegetable food daily. “Now, taking the popu-
lation of London, requiring a supply of potatoes from
the market at 1,500,000,” says Mr. Platt, “ and allow-
ing the consuming powers of a population of 1000
adults and children to be equal to that of 655 adults,
we have in the metropolis the full consuming power of
982,250 persons. As so many other vegetables are
CH. X. • * * POTATO TRADE. z. 377
t
used besides potatoes, would it be very far wrong to
estimate the consumption at 1 lb. for each adult per day,
that is, 3070 tons per week, or say 3000 tons, or
156,000 tons per year P” *
The above is one of that class of estimates derived by
an inverse process; we shall presently speak of esti-
mates made in a different way. The potato-trade, it
may here be remarked, has undergone a great revolution
lately, by the introduction of railways. There have been
years in which 1,200,000 sacks of potatoes have been
landed at the wharfs in the Tooley Street vicinity; but
a new aspect has lately been given to the trade — as
was explained in a former page, relating to food-mar-
kets at railway-depôts. -
The water-cress trade in London, humble as at first
it may appear, is in many respects an interesting one.
Growing in brooks and on the borders of fresh and
running streams, the water-cress may be regarded as a
wild plant; but the great demand in London has also
made it a cultivated plant. Time was, when Tothill
Fields contained water-cress, growing in the marshy
hollows of a district now wholly covered with houses.
… About the beginning of the present century, cress was
brought to London in Sacks, by stage-coaches running
from Newbury and Hungerford in Berkshire — the
coachman sharing in the profits derived from the trade.
The Great-Western railway is said to bring up a ton
a week from the neighbourhood of Cookham and
Shrivenham. Many acres of water-meadow have been
laid down with cress near Rickmansworth in Hertford-
* Knight's London, No. cik.
378 TEIE FOOD OF T, ONDON. CH. X.
shire; and other water-cress grounds are to be met with
near Waltham Abbey, and in other directions around
the metropolis. But none are so well known to the
Londoners as those at Springhead near Gravesend.
Who that has enjoyed a steam-boat run down the river
is ignorant of Springhead and its water-cresses 2 The
joyous walk across the hay and corn fields on a bright
summer's day; the rich ripe fruit in the garden; the
cold and transparently-clear rivulet; the water-cress
growing in the stream; the arrangements for gathering
and sending to market — all are elements in a very
pretty picture. At Springhead, as at the other water-
cress grounds, the plant requires careful and constant
attention, especially in winter; and it is really sur-
prising, when this attention and the cost of carriage
have been duly taken into account, that this little ad-
junct to the tea-table can be sold so cheaply. A round
guess has been made that London disposes annually
of 15 millions of the ‘ bunches’ in which water-cress is
usually tied up, weighing something like 700 or 800
tons.
Well may we be assured that fruit receives its due
share of attention at Covent Garden, although vegetables
may, commercially and dietetically, be perhaps more
important. So far as classification is concerned, the
botanists and the market-people do not care much for
each other; the two employ different systems of
arranging fruits in groups. One mode of grouping is
into ‘stone,’ ‘pip,’ and ‘shell’ fruits; the first com-
prising such as the olive, palm, cherry, apricot, peach,
plum ; the second consisting of the quince, pear, apple,
CH. X. STRAWIBERRY TRADE. 379
lemon, orange, fig, raspberry, strawberry, mulberry,
currant, gooseberry, grape; and the third including the
almond and the various kinds of nut, such as hazel,
Brazil, walnut, chestnut, filbert, pistachio, and so forth.
But any such classification is of very little consequence
in relation to market arrangements; the point to appre-
ciate is, that London is becoming more and more richly
supplied with fruit as means of conveyance improve.
It is true that there are many tropical fruits whereof
... we yet know little in the metropolis, on account of the
" difficulty of transport; but it is equally true that many,
Once strangers, are now familiar. .
Among the past curiosities of the London markets
was the system whereby the metropolis was supplied
with strawberries. The supply was chiefly from the
neighbourhoods of Isleworth, Brentford, Ealing, Ham-
mersmith, Fulham, and Mortlake, where were nearly
a thousand acres of garden ground appropriated to the
growing of this fruit for the metropolis. From about
the middle of May in each year, the strawberry-trade
afforded employment to a large number of women, who
assembled in the gardens as soon as daylight appeared,
and commenced plucking the fruit; the best fruit was
taken to the packing room, and carefully put into pottles;
fifty or sixty of these were placed in a larger basket;
and before seven o'clock in the morning the women
were despatched to the metropolis, each bearing a
Jarge basket supported by a cushion on her head. The
weight of these laden baskets varied from 30 lbs. to 40 lbs. ;
and yet those sturdy dames trotted along at an astound-
ing pace — not walking, not running, but a something
380 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. XI.
between the two, which enabled them to cover five
miles within the hour. The skill and address necessary
for the retention of the burden in its poised position led
the women to adopt a very erect posture; and it is just
possible that a young lady, whose stooping gait is re-
garded as a defect, might have reaped benefit from a
short apprenticeship to these strawberry-women. Many
of these porteresses migrated from Worcestershire, Shrop-
shire, and Wales; they earned a decent pittance in the
metropolis during the strawberry season, and returned
home with a little store for the winter. Railways and
| light spring vans have, however, in modern days, effected
ſ changes in this system. The pottles are made by women
and girls in some of the Kentish villages, at a penny per
dozen. -
It is a fragrant treat to walk along the fruit-laden
arcade at Covent Garden market; for none of the fruit
remains so long as to acquire that sickly odour which
marks the first symptoms of decay. All is good, the
best of the best kinds; all is abundant; all well kept
and well served. The fruiterers know that they can
command a sale for their store, be it high-priced or
otherwise: there are long purses in London that will
command the best of everything, regardless of price.
Sir Richard Steele was in love with these shops a cen-
tury and a half ago; and Mr. Leigh Hunt has been in
love with them in our own day; for he says: —“There
is great beauty as well as agreeableness in a well-dis-
posed fruiterer's window. Here are the round, piled-up
oranges, deepening almost into red, and heavy with
juice ; the apple with its brown-red cheek, as if it had
CH. X. IFRUIT SEIOPS. # 38].
slept in the Sun; the pear, swelling downwards;
thronging grapes, like so many tight little bags of wine;
the peach, whose handsome leathern coat strips so
finely ; the pearly or ruby-like currants, heaped in
light long baskets; the red little mouthfuls of straw-
berries; the large purple plums; cherries, whose old
comparison with lips is better than anything new ; mul-
berries, dark and rich with juice, fit to grow over what
Homer calls the deep black-watered fountains; the
swelling pomp of melons; the rough inexorable-looking
cocoa-nut, milky at heart; the elaborate elegance of
walnuts; the quaint cashew-nut.”
Put indeed Covent Garden market is a place to
spend a day in. There are rich fruits for the epicure;
there are wholesale vegetables for the family circle;
there are large commercial dealings to attract the notice
of the merchant; there are rough and homely scenes
for the observer of every-day life; there are organised
arrangements which show how much can be done in a
few hours when good generalship has a hand in it;
there are picturesque bits of colour and still-life and
moving-life, for the artist; and there is much to call
forth a spirit of thankfulness that our busy city can be
so amply supplied with wholesome food from the
fields and gardens. - -
An intelligent observer will soon make out a multi-
tude of little facts for himself in Covent Garden market.
He will find that on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays
wholesale markets are held, while the other three days
exhibit the characteristics of retail trade; that during the
* The Indicator.
382 .T.EIE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. X.
busy market hours carts fill up the whole of the open
space from Long Acre on the north to the Strand on
the south, from Drury Lane on the east to St. Martin's
Lane on the west; that the servants of the salesmen
unload the carts, but that hired porters take away the
fruit and vegetables when sold ; that large shopkeepers
purchase first, then cooks and private families, and then
costermongers take off all that is left, frequently at
very cheap prices; that the porters employed, several
hundreds in number, are mostly sturdy Irishwomen,
who are registered and badged, and who live in some of
the humble courts about Wyld Street and Drury Lane;
that the east side of the market is mostly taken up by
the Essex people, and the south by those from Surrey;
while the northern area, from James Street to the
Opera Piazza entrance, is the ‘ casualty side, for those
who pay for standing-room by the day. He will per-
chance learn that, in the pea-season, one salesman will
keep sixty women constantly employed in shelling
peas; that 3000 costermongers are supposed to attend
the market in summer, and buy up what no one else
will buy ; and that in early season, when fruits and
vegetables can only be developed by forcing, there are
persons in London, having more riches than sense, who
will give extravagant prices merely for the pleasure of
enjoying that which no one else can afford — such as
grapes at 25s. per lb., strawberries at 1s. per oz., French
beans at 3s. per hundred, new potatoes at 4s. 6d. per lb.,
and peas at two guineas per quart.
No feature connected with a day's business at Covent
CH. X. COSTERMONGERS. 383
Garden is more remarkable than the portering, or
carrying of the heavily-laden baskets; women, as we
have said, are the chief porters; and sturdy dames they
are, who in power of fist and power of tongue would
yield to few lords of the creation. The outlying parts
of the market, exterior to the buildings, are those best
worth visiting, in early morn; when laden waggons,
baskets without number, vegetables in incalculable
quantity, Salesmen, greengrocers, costermongers, and
feminine Sampsons, completely fill the open spaces, and
a busy hum of voices is heard on all sides. Wonderful
is it to think of the power of ordinary commerce in this
place. Whether there be or be not an extra supply of
any one vegetable on any one morning — offit all goes:
the costermongers will buy whatever the greengrocers
do not want ; insomuch that the afternoon sees the
market-place clear and clean, swept and washed,
whether the supply have been large or small. What
Commissariat department could do the work so well?
As has before been implied, none of the other vege-
table markets — Spitalfields, Borough, Farringdon,
Hungerford, or Portman — can at all compare with
Covent Garden, in the choiceness of quality or the
abundance in quality. Nevertheless, they require a
brief notice here.
Spitalfields market is perhaps the most important of
these five; it lies in the midst of the poorest neigh-
bourhood in London; one consequence is, that the
provisions in demand at the market must be almost
wholly of a cheap kind. The potato-trade is extensive
384 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
here; indeed, one salesman was said, a few years ago,
to be able to store 1400 sacks at once on his premises.
The market covers a space of three or four hundred
feet square, and is occupied in part by unsightly
buildings. It is private property, supported by rents
and tolls: the stalls and standings being rented, some
by salesmen, and some by growers who sell for them-
selves. Many purchasers obtain their supply of vege-
tables at this market for the shipping in the Thames;
the greengrocers throughout the vast area known as
the Tower Hamlets attend here ; while the coster-
mongers or street-dealers of the eastern half of the
metropolis assemble here in great force. The produce
is, as may be supposed, obtained from various quarters,
but principally from Middlesex and Essex, brought
chiefly by the Eastern Counties railway, the goods’
station being near the market; the growers who act
as their own salesmen bring their produce mostly in
waggons and carts, which are only emptied as the pro-
duce is sold. A singular circumstance is recorded in
connexion with this market—that any produce brought
from Enfield is exempt both from road-tolls and market-
tolls; this exemption is traced to the fact that when
the metropolis was visited by the plague in 1665, En-
field was almost the only place having the courage
to send vegetable supplies to the stricken city; and
the toll-exemption is a kind of perpetual reward for
this service.
Farringdon market has not had a very bright
history. It was formerly held in Farringdon Street,
under the name of Fleet market, the stalls and stand-
CH. X. MINOR MARKETS. 385
ings being placed under sheds in the middle of the
street; but the Corporation of London, to whom it
belonged, removed the market from the open street
and built a commodious structure for it between Far-
ringdon Street and Shoe Lane. There are stands for
Salesmen, and ‘pitchings’ for other dealers; and the
expenses are (or ought to be) defrayed by a rental from
these, in addition to a toll on the produce exposed for
sale. The green-market, however, is a poor affair, as
is the meat-market; for there is generally a melan-
choly intermingling of closed shops and stalls.
The Borough market, small but busy, is situated
mear St. Saviour's Church ; it supplies the neighbour-
ing greengrocers and fruiterers wholesale, and the
humbler inhabitants retail, with all but the choicest
kinds of fruits and vegetables. This market is one of
the most ancient in the metropolis, having existed
nearly three centuries; it was formerly held in the
Borough High Street, but was removed to its present
locality about a century ago, and is under the control
of commissioners, churchwardens, and other inhabitants
of St. Saviour's parish. The market having undergone
enlargement more than once, to accommodate the in-
creasing trade, now comprises about two hundred
stands or stalls. The wholesale market is held on
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but there are
retail dealings every day; the wholesale venders pay a
yearly and the retail venders a daily rental for the
stands.
Hungerford market, in relation to its sale of fruit
C C
386 TEIF FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
and vegetables, is quite insignificant; there are, in
fact, only a few retail shops in this trade. r
Portman market, situate in a comparatively modern
part of the metropolis, owes its existence and prospe-
rity to the necessity for some nearer market than those
of older date; it has become a somewhat valuable pro-
perty to the nobleman from whom it is named, and on
whose estate it is situated ; the stands are rented
chiefly by the growers of market vegetables; but
wholesale and retail dealers occupy a few of them.
How much vegetables and fruit the two millions and
a half of dwellers in London consume in a year, no one
knows, but the quantity must necessarily be enormous.
When Mr. Mayhew wrote his account, in 1849, of the
London markets in the ‘Morning Chronicle,' he gave,
among other tables, lists of the good things sold at
Covent Garden, Spitalfields, and Farringdon markets.
We read of 18 million heads of celery, of 60 million
heads of asparagus, of 2 million heads of brocoli and
cauliflowers, of 35 million cabbages, of 20 million tur-
nips, of 12 million carrots — all sold at one market in
one year. Indeed the millions roll about here most
prodigally. And concerning fruit, too, Covent Garden
market receives credit for its 360,000 bushels of apples,
its 230,000 bushels of pears, its 90,000 bushels of cher-
ries, and as much of plums, its 150,000 bushels of cur-
rants, its 600,000 pottles of strawberries, its 1000 tons
of filberts. Spitalfields, in like manner, is credited
with 50,000 tons of potatoes, 50,000 sacks of peas, 12
million cabbages, 250,000 bushels of apples, and so
forth, in long strings of figures. One would almost
CH. X. ESTIMATED SALES. 387
imagine, on looking at the formidable array, that Lon-
doners had nought else to do but eat sacks of vegetables
and bushels of fruit.
Mr. Braithwaite Poole, from the usages of his office
as goods’ manager on a great railway, is accustomed to
estimate quantities by the ton weight, which some-
times renders it difficult to compare his estimates with
those of other authorities. The following remarkable
table is given by him as representing the weight of the
principal kinds of vegetables sold at the London mar-
kets in 1850: —

3. #. | Total
Tons. Tons. Tons.
Potatoes * * * 72,000 66,000 138,000
Cabbages sº - 30,000 50,000 80,000
Turnips * tº- 25,150 18,450 43,600
Onions & º 12,500 24,350 36,850
Brocoli wº ** 400 31,550 31,950
Carrots tº $E: 5,350 2,700 8,050
Turnip tops - gº 650 3,500 4, 150
Peas - * tº 2,400 1,500 3,900
Cucumbers - tºº 50 2,150 2,200
Rhubarb tºº º 150 1,950 2,100
Lettuces * ** 350 1,700 2,050
Beans - tº & 1,800 830 2,630
Celery- sº * 350 450 800
Radishes *s * 50 700 750
Spanish onions * 200 450 650
Vegetable marrow - 150 150 300
Asparagus - tº 160 100 260
Herbs – - º 50 200 250
Totals | 155,360 206,230 361,590
Mr. Poole gives the detailed quantities for the
Borough, Spitalfields, Farringdon, and Portman mar-
kets separately; but we have combined them as above.
C C 2
588 'I'EIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
It is worthy of note that, although Covent Garden
market far excels any of the rest in importance,
there are certain kinds of vegetables that appear to
reach some of the other markets in larger quantities.
The total weights, in round numbers, are nearly as
follow : —
Covent Garden wº tºº - 155,000 tons.
Borough - * tº - 68,000 ,
Spitalfields - *- tº – 69,000 ,
Earringdon - tº tº- - 36,000 ,
Portman - &= gº – 29,000 ,
The same authority, adopting the same grouping
into tons' weight instead of measures of capacity, gives
another table relating to fruit. As before, we combine
the four minor markets under one entry : —

§. M. | Total.
Tons. . Tons. Tons.
Apples gº * 9,000 8, 150 17,150
Pears - tºº * 5,750 3,575 9,325
Gooseberries - , ºs 3,500 3,400 6,900
Plums – º * 2,375 2, 175 4,550
Currants gº & 1,500 2,400 3,900
Damsons sº º 515 537 1,052
Cherries * *- 482 445 927
Strawberries - {- 300 400 700
Filberts tº * 100 130 230
Hazel nuts * *g 70 156 226
Mulberries tº gº 8 46 54
Raspberries - sº 10 6 16
Totals 23,610 21,420 45,030
Other computors, wishing to get rid of wearisome
columns of figures, have regarded rather the value than
the quantity; and have roundly estimated the value
ſ
CH. X. TJNCERTAIN DATA, ! 38.9
of the fruit and vegetables consumed annually in
London, at about three millions sterling.
Here, as in former chapters, however, it may be
well to hint a caution respecting the too ready accept-
ance of any such estimates. The clerk of Covent
Garden market is himself entirely unacquainted with
the quantity or value of produce sold there annually,–
the tolls and dues being so calculated as to involve no
record either of quantities or values. If he do not know,
who does? Each grower of course knows the amount
of his consignments, and each salesman the amount of
his sales; but there is no available machinery for fer-
reting out all the consignments or all the sales.
Unless we know the modes in which the before-men-
tioned estimates were arrived at, it cannot be well
decided whether they are anything more than mere
guesses.
Certain it is that, be the quantities and values what
they may, steam-ships and railways are gradually
effecting changes both in the quality and the extent
of the supply. Look, for instance, at the pine-apples
in the London streets; how would our forefathers
have wondered at such a choice fruit being sold in
pennyworths l It was about a dozen years ago that
steamers and rapid clippers began to afford the means
of bringing this fruit to Southampton with sufficient
speed to meet the requirements of the London mar-
kets; and there are now said to be 200,000 pine-apples
in a year thus brought.
The Orange-trade in London has reached a degree of
immensity that few persons would imagine. “As we
& A
C C j
390 THE FOOD OF LONT)ON. CH. X.
listen,” it has been well asked, “ to the street child,
crying “fine St. Michael's, four a penny l’ how many
of us have bestowed a single thought upon the many
interests involved, the many energies brought into
action, in the production and transport of these fruits
from the south to our cold dull countries of the north 2
How few of us have any conception of the vast tracts
of land required to rear these pleasant products of the
soil; of the hands employed in the culture; of the
beautiful ships, of the noble steam-vessels engaged in
transporting them from foreign lands to these shores;
of the railway trains employed at certain seasons, to
whisk the cooling cargoes from Southampton to Lon-
don, while their consumers are sleeping in their beds;
of the large piles of massive warehouses required to
store, to sample, and to sell them by auction ; of the
mean squalor and desolation of the great retail orange-
mart in Duke's Place ; of the thousands of men, wo-
men, and children, who draw a subsistence from their
sale in the streets, in steam-boats, at fairs, in theatres,
or wherever people congregate.”
It appears, from details given in the article just
quoted, that before steam-boat days, our oranges and
lemons were derived almost wholly from Spain and
Portugal; but that now the Azores, the Madeiras,
Malta, and Crete are laid open to us for a supply. The
import-duty, too, until lately about 1s. 6d. per bushel,
has been reduced to less than one-half; and this still
farther increases the abundance of the supply. What-
ever names the Oranges may bear — “ St. Michael's,’
* Household Words, No. 210.
CH. X. ORANGE TRADE. 39 |
* China,’ ‘Maltese,’ ‘Seville,’ — they all appear to
be brought from the Peninsula, and the islands
above-named. St. Michael, one of the Azores, annually
exports 200 shiploads of oranges, comprising altogether
200,000 boxes of 1000 oranges each; Terceira, Fayal,
and the other Azores, also export largely. It is men-
tioned, as one of the disastrous effects of high duties,
that in bygone years all the large oranges at the Spa-
nish and Portuguese orange-gardens were thrown into
the rivers rather than being packed for England, since
the small oranges would better support the tax Our
lemons mostly come from Sicily, in square boxes;
whereas oranges are packed in oblong boxes. It is sup-
posed that altogether not less than 300 millions of
oranges are brought to this country yearly, of which
100 millions are absorbed by the great metropolis. The
transport of such an enormous quantity employs more
than 200 smart clipper-built schooners, which arrive
below London Bridge during the winter and spring
months. Sturdy porters carry the boxes of oranges to
warehouses in Botolph Lane, Pudding Lane, and their
vicinity; and any one who passes down Lower Thames
Street at such a time will do well to look to his hat, or
think of his head. The bulk of the oranges arrive in
this way; but the choice cargoes land at Southampton,
and are whipped up to London by rail with great cele-
rity; barges convey them from Nine Elms to Thames
Street; and they are eagerly purchased by the
fruiterers. One-fourth of our London supply of
oranges, Say 25 millions annually, is said to be sold in
the streets and theatres; leaving 75 millions to be sold
C C 4
392 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
by the shopkeepers. Duke's Place, in the Hebrew
regions of Houndsditch, is the head-quarters for the
costermongers in the east end of the town, and perhaps
for the west also ; the Jews buy largely at the fruit
auctions, and dispense to the itinerant dealers. The
London consumption of lemons is supposed to be about
20 millions annually.
The foreign fresh-fruit trade has a clearly-marked
character in London. It has its own locality, its own
salesmen, its own buyers, its own porters. Around the
lanes just named the warehouses are placed and the
salesmen transact their business. In more than one of
them we may see the names of Keeling and Hunt
written up on the fronts of warehouses which appear
more like vast granaries than mere fruit store-houses;
this firm has the reputation of being at the head of the
trade. The wilderness of sweets about this neighbour-
hood is graphically sketched by the writer just quoted:
“ The huge warehouses in Botolph and Pudding
Lanes are the great fruit-emporiums of our metropolis.
There floor upon floor, story upon story, may be seen
piled, and heaped, and blocked up with chests, boxes,
sacks, baskets, barrels, all bursting with their rich
fruitiness. In cold, dark, stone cellars, in lofty ground-
floors, in topmost cockloft, not a foot of space is wasted;
every square yard is economised, and made to perform
its utmost function. Grapes, chestnuts, pine-apples,
citrons, hazel-nuts, oranges, lemons, all are there in
overwhelming abundance, in waggon-loads, in heaped-
up piles, in towering pyramids. A busier and a noisier
scene is going on in another part of the great ‘Orange
CH. X. FOREIGN ERUIT. * 393
territory.” In Monument Yard is one of the largest
fruit firms in this metropolis — in the world. They
are the brokers who, almost daily during the season,
hold auctions of the fruits they have on hand. In a
long, not over-cleanly room, looking out upon the great
stone Monument, are some desks, a solid table, and rows
of benches, on which, in all sorts of attitudes, are to be
seen all sorts of fruit-buyers. When pine-apples,
grapes, and French and Dutch soft fruit are on sale,
the assembly will be rather more select; but for the
orange and lemon business the company comprises
several west-end buyers, with a motley crew of noisy
greasy folk from the purlieus of Duke's Place, Covent
Garden, and Spitalfields. Those men it is who, buying
the fruit in lots of eight cases, retail them out at a good
profit to costermongers and small shopkeepers.” An
electro-telegraphic message announces that a clipper-
load of fine early oranges has just arrived at Southamp-
ton; when immediately, “all is bustle at Monument
Yard; and in a few minutes circulars are conveyed by
messengers to the buyers, north, south, east, and west
of the metropolis, informing them that by ten o’clock
on the following morning their first parcel of the new
St. Michael crop will be on view in their warerooms,”
— trusting securely in the fact that the railway com-
pany will transmit the fruit in due time.
This foreign fruit trade has become, indeed, a large
one. No less than a million and a half of bushels of
foreign nuts, of various kinds, were brought to London
in 1853, and a million and a half pounds of grapes;
besides the immense stores of oranges and lemons, and
394 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. X.
a goodly quantity of pine-apples, cherries, apples, pears,
and other fruits.
Fruit and vegetables, the costly and the humble, the
British and the foreign — all are now experiencing the
benefit of rapid conveyance, so far as the supply of
London is concerned. The Great Northern brings up
enormous quantities of potatoes — 64,000 tons in 1854;
and all the railways together now convey hundreds of
thousands of tons of fruit and vegetables to London
in a year. One of the curious results of our modern
improvements is, that if Covent Garden has a plethora
of good things on any one morning, she sends off a
telegraphic message to Birmingham, or other large
towns, to ascertain the state of the supplies there; if
there be room for more, waggon-loads of fruit are sent
off by rail; and thus prices become equalised and Sup-
plies diffused. On one night several tons of gherkins
arrived at the King's Cross terminus ! The South-
Eastern railway brought up to the Bricklayers’
Arms depôt, in the first half of 1855, no less than
48,000 baskets and other packages of fruit and vege-
tables, weighing 1150 tons. But this is far below the
amount in the second half of the year, when more
vegetable products are in their prime; on three days in
the months of July and August, the arrivals amounted
to more than 10,000 packages each day. On one very
busy night, the goods’ trains brought up 120 tons of
peas, and 40 tons of filberts, grown in Kent, together
with 40 tons of ripe plums from abroad, superadded to
a fair average of other vegetables and fruits. The
Kent Road was in a turmoil all night, nothing but
CH. X. BUSY MARIKET TYAYS. 395
laden waggons following in a stream almost continuous.
Of the wonders of the hop-trade at the Bricklayers’
Arms depôt, a future chapter will tell. It is obvious
that, when Covent Garden market receives such spe-
cial inundations of good things, it would be advan-
tageous to avoid an excessive laxity of price by send-
ing portions into the country for sale; and the electric
telegraph offers a peculiar aid here, by diffusing a
knowledge of the state of the markets in any part of
England.
396 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
CHAPTER XI.
TEIE SUPPLY OF GROCERIES AND COLONIAL PRODUCE.
Colonial and Tropical Imports of Food mostly employed for Beverages.
—Mincing Lane, the Mart for this Produce.—Tea.—Comparatively
recent Introduction.—Extensive Consumption at the present Day.
— Growth, Preparation, Sale, and Shipment in China. — Probable
Consumption in the United Kingdom. — Adulteration of Tea in
London. — Coffee. — Growth and Preparation Abroad. — Roasting
and grinding at Home. — Coffee-drinking at different Times and in
different Countries. – Probable Quantities consumed. — Chicory. —
Wrangles between Coffee Importers and Chicory Growers.-Chicory
and Coffee, adulterated and unadulterated. —Cocoa. — Chocolate a
Preparation of Cocoa. —Increasing Use in this Country.—Frequent
Adulterations.—Sugar.—Growth and Manufacture Abroad. —Sugar
refining in London.—Probable Consumption.—Beet-root Sugar little
known in England. — Spiceries from the East: Pepper, Nutmegs,
Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves.—Rice. —Tobacco.—Is Tobacco a Food?
Culture and Manufacture. — Wast Stores in the London Docks. –
Snuff-making. — Cigar-making. — Probable Consumption. — Adul-
teration of Tobacco.
IT is one of the consequences of the position of Eng-
land in the temperate region, that the foreign pro-
ductions we receive from near neighbours include the
more important articles of food; whereas those derived
from tropical climes are less essential, though unques-
tionably valuable. Our bread and our meat, in so far
as home growth will not supply the whole demand,
are obtainable from temperate climes like our own ;
but coffee, cocoa, chocolate, sugar, spices — these we
must purchase from the sunny regions of the South.
How large a part of the vigour, bodily and mental, of
CH. XI. TROPICAL PRODUCE. 397
the inhabitants of temperate regions, may be traceable
to this cause, the physiologist must say ; but it is im-
portant to remember that bread and meat, the real
flesh-makers, belong to regions of medium temperature,
being of finer quality there than in very hot or very
cold countries, saving a few special examples.
Another peculiarity connected with the tropical pro-
duce above named is, that most of it is employed in the
preparation of BEVERAGES – as if the very spirit of
thirstiness dwelt within the hot countries. It is true
that tea, that general English favourite, is grown not in
a hot, but in a temperate part of Asia; but in the in-
stances of coffee, and cocoa, and sugar, the glowing heat
of tropical climes is evidently wanted for their growth.
The first three of these are almost wholly employed in
the making of beverages; and as to the fourth, sugar,
far more of this is employed for an analogous purpose
than for the preparation of solid foods. In respect of
tobacco, few will doubt that it serves, if not for food, at
least as a substitute for food, or as an accompaniment
to beverages; and the finance minister is well pleased
with the existence of a taste or habit bringing four
or five millions sterling per annum into the national
exchequer. Another member of this tropical series is
spicery, used indifferently both with solid and liquid
food.
Mincing Lane, as stated in a former chapter, is the
great ‘exchange’ for all these commodities, so far as the
metropolis is concerned. Supposing a London sight-
seer to be in search of knowledge in this particular, he
must ferret his way into the ‘Commercial Sale-rooms”
398 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XI.
in that region. The busy men in the news-room,
glancing rapidly over newspapers, shipping-lists, customs'
entries, and market returns; the group in the refresh-
ment-room, snatching a hasty bit or sup in a few minutes
or even seconds, and then off again— all are more or less
connected with the foreign and colonial trade. Our Sup-
posed visitor mounts the stairs, and threads a labyrinth of
passages almost as intricate as those of the Law Courts
at Westminster. Room No. 1., room No. 2.- any one
will serve the purpose. He enters one of these. He
sees one man in a kind of pulpit, and perhaps fifty
others apparently in a state of violent excitement,
judging from the spasmodic mode in which they jerk
out syllables in a loud voice. Every man has a pam-
phlet in his left hand and a pen in his right. The
visitor understands nothing of this at first; the syl-
lables uttered are unintelligible; but suddenly the fifty
men lay down the fifty pens, and walk away with the
fifty pamphlets; and the man in the pulpit puts on his
hat and walks away likewise.
The seeker for information has witnessed a sale of
groceries or drugs by public auction. The colonial
brokers, whose offices are in or near Mincing Lane, are
mostly licensed auctioneers also, in their respective de-
partments; they may sell either by public auction or
by private contract; and their auctions are held at the
Commercial Sale-rooms, at Garraway’s, or the Baltic
Coffee-house, or at their own offices, as they may
please. They personally know most of the wholesale
dealers in the trade. A sale being announced, cata-
logues provided, and pens and ink for whomsoever may
CH. XI. MINCING LANE SALES. 399
wish to take notes, the auction proceeds. In no de-
partment of London commerce, perhaps, is business
conducted more rapidly. The broker knows almost
to a fraction the probable prices of the day; and
when the biddings have reached that limit, he waits
not an instant : he ‘knocks down the lot at once,
and thus gets rid of several lots within one single mi-
nute. This renders the mode of bidding very remark-
able; the dealers present — partners or clerks in
wholesale grocery and drug firms — must make up their
minds instanter, and must speak loudly but tersely —
in one single syllable, if possible — that the broker
may at once recognise the voice. He knows every
face, every voice; to a stranger, the bidding is a mere
convulsive shout ; to the broker, it is an intelligible
number of shillings per cwt. for “Muscovado’ or
* Plantation,’ or so many farthings per lb. for rice or
pepper.
In the newspapers devoted to these matters, Mincing
Lane and its vicinity occupy a prominent place. In
the midst of the drug sales, relating to gum, opium,
scammony, colocynth, mastic, asphaltum, bark, castor
oil, Senna, camomile, aloes, and so forth; in the midst
of the skin sales, relating to “salted Newfoundland
Seals,’ ‘Cape goats,’ ‘African monkeys,’ ‘South
American kids,’ &c.; in the midst of the savoury
array of bones, guano, and the like, we are certain to
meet with numerous advertisements concerning gro-
ceries and spiceries : — ‘3 cases nutmegs,’ ‘28 cases
Trinidad chocolate,’ ‘710 bags Arracan rice,' tea,
coffee, cocoa, Sugar, ginger, cinnamon, mace, pepper —
400 TEIE EOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
all present themselves. And then, under the head of
Market Intelligence, we may perhaps find that “the tea
market is quiet; Congou at 8%d, or 9d.,” or “brown
lumps 60s. to 61s.”—information which, though leaving
us in ignorance of the retail prices charged by the
grocers, is significant to the grocers themselves.
Of the grocery supplies thus brought by our ships
from distant climes, and sold by the Mincing Lane
brokers for the importers to the wholesale dealers, it
may now be well to treat a little in detail— so far as
they contribute to the food-supply for the metropolis.
Suppose we allow TEA to head the list.
The story of the tea-trade is pretty well known : —
how that the establishment of the mighty East India
Company virtually rested on tea; and that tea-drinking
and the China trade grew up together. For a long
period the company's sole object was to import tea; all
of which was brought to London, to be sold quarterly
—the company retaining one year's stock in hand.
Great was the curiosity when two packages of tea were
first brought over; and when the import rose to 5000
lbs. in 1678, men marvelled at the spread of luxury in
England. A Quarterly Reviewer has recently met
with a curious notice of tea in the ‘Mercurius Politicus,’
under date Sept. 30. 1658.-“That excellent and by all
physicians approved China drink called by the Chineans
Tcha, by other nations Tay alias Tee, is sold at the
‘Sultaness Head’ Coffee-house, in Sweeting's Rents, by
the Royal Exchange, London.”
From five thousand to fifty, from five hundred thou-
CH. XI. TEA CULTURE. 401
sand to five millions, from five millions to seventy mil-
lions —thus have the imports increased. How far this
traffic has led to warlike contention, or to peaceful de-
velopment, is among the problems of the day: if China
tea led to the growth of the East India Company, if
this growth led to the establishment of a British Em-
pire in India, and if this empire has led to wars in
Scinde, Caubul, the Punjab, Burmah, and China, then
has tea much of good or evil to answer for.
Tea drinkers are not much concerned with the pro-
cesses whereby Long-Chin-Pooh makes the black and
green tea brought in such millions of pounds to London;
yet, considering that adulteration does much of its ne-
farious work in reference to the supposed differences
between the two classes of teas, it may be well to know
what our travellers say on the subject.
The tea-plant yields leaves fit for the market from
about the third to the sixth or seventh year, generally
three crops each year—or perhaps about twenty crops
from each plant altogether; the leaves in the earlier
years are better than in the later, and better in the
spring crop than in the summer or autumn. The most
scrupulous care is taken in gathering them ; the
gatherers must wear gloves, must bathe and wash fre-
quently, and must refrain from eating anything that
may affect the breath. A fine and high-priced tea
might degenerate into a poor and cheap tea, by any
want of caution at or a little before the time of gather-
ing. The gathered leaves are placed in open baskets,
dried in the air or the sunshine, and then roasted in a
flat cast-iron pan over a charcoal stove. The leaves are
ID D
402 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. Xi.
heated, and stirred, and rubbed between the hands, and
heated and rubbed again—until they have become
curled up, dry, and changed to a certain colour. This
‘ certain' colour is the chief mystery of John China-
man. It used to be supposed that green tea and black
tea are two distinct growths, having slight botanical
differences; but later investigators assert that the
differences are rather in manipulation than in growth;
and that any tea may become either black or green at
the pleasure of those who prepare it for market.
An estimate has been formed of the mode in which
the price of a pound of tea was made up, before the late
reductions in duty. A fair average quality of black
tea, at 4s. 6d. per lb., paid very nearly half its retail
selling price in duty. The cost of such tea at the ship's
side was about 11d. or 12d.; export duty in China,
1}d. ; freight to England, 2d.; insurance and small
charges 2d.; interest on merchant's capital, #d. ; profit
of merchant in China, 2d.; duty, 26d. ; profit of brokers
and dealers in England, 8d. Thus the retail price in
England was four and a half times as much as the whole-
sale price in China. This vast augmentation of price
is not now so great, consequent on a reduction of the
duty; and if war had not interfered with the national
coffers, the change would have gone yet further.
It is very easy for retail grocers, aspirants for pub-
lic favour, to advertise the ‘Empress of China's Tea,’
or “Howqua's Mixture,” or any other superexcellent
specimen of the Chinese leaf; but it is believed that
mone of the really choice teas reach England. The
Chinese regard us as barbarians, who do not deserve
CH. XI. CONSUMPTION OF TEA. 403
their exquisite Yen Pouchong, which they themselves
will, on the spot, readily purchase at fifty shillings per
pound ! The extreme grades of society in China differ
more in the quality of their daily tea than the extreme
grades in England; for while our nobles certainly do not
indulge in tea at fifty shillings a pound, the servants who
wait at table on an ambassador would still more certainly
‘turn up the nose’ at tea made from second-hand leaves
—such as was eagerly sought by the Chinese attendants
on Lord Macartney during his embassy. But then
servants are not the very poor in our own country,
whatever they may be in China. A rough guess has
been made that the enormous quantity of 1500 million
lbs. of tea is made into beverage annually by the Chinese.
Statists have tried how to make most intelligible the
amount of tea consumed in the United Kingdom. If
a person, says one computer, takes tea of average
strength and in average quantity once a day, he will
probably consume about 73 lbs, in a year; but our home
consumption would only allow 7 million persons to enjoy
the luxury to this extent; therefore, either less than
one-fourth of the population take tea once a day, or
else the tea so taken must be poorer in quantity or
quality than is here assumed. Mr. Porter, without any
attempt to determine how many persons drink tea, com-
pared the home consumption in particular years with the
total population in those years; and he found that the con-
sumption per head has remained more steady than might
perhaps have been supposed. Curiously enough, this an-
nual ratio fell between 1801 to 1821, and rose between
1821 to 1851 ; it was 20 ounces in 1801, 16 ounces in
D D 2
404 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XI.
1821, and 22 ounces in 1851. But the great bulk of
the inhabitants of Ireland drink very little tea, inso-
much that the English average probably exceeds 2 lbs.
per head; and as the Londoners are perhaps ‘the most
tea-drinkingest of her Majesty’s subjects, the metropo-
litan average must be placed yet higher.
Be the ratio of distribution what it may, the imports
now increase faster than the population, showing that
tea-drinking is increasing among us. Besides supplying
our wants, Mr. M*Culloch estimates that China sends
about an equal quantity to other countries—the
choicest being sent overland to Russia. Other esti-
mates, however, differ widely from this; Mr. Mont-
gomery, in 1847, thought that the total exports from
China were only 72 million lbs. ; Mr. Simmonds, in
1851, set them down at 90 millions. We re-export
several million pounds a year, to the colonies and else-
where; and deducting this, the quantity lately retained
for home consumption has been—55 million lbs. in 1852,
59 millions in 1853, and 62 millions in 1854. This
shows that, whatever may have been the case a few
years ago, our consumption has reached, if not a little
overpassed, 2 lbs. per head per annum on the entire
population. The tea comes over in chests; and it is
customary, in ‘trade intelligence' in newspapers, to
state the amount of imports in a given week or day by
the number of chests. Congou, a low-priced tea, con-
stitutes five-sixths of all imported. In the early days of
the tea-trade, when the Chinese leaf was regarded as a
choice luxury, 1 lb. of tea was worth 40 bushels of
wheat; the equivalent fell in 1680 to 12 bushels, in
CH. XI. EXCESSIVE TEA TAX. 405
1784 to 1 bushel, and in 1854 to about 1 peck — so
enormous has been the change. This, be it remem-
bered, is the wholesale price of tea in bond, without
duty and without retailers’ profit. In recent years
Congou of fair quality, in bond, has been about a
shilling a pound ; what the retail grocer charges, after
the duty has been paid, every housekeeper knows.
According to the scheme on which the tea-duty was
reduced in 1853, the duty, until then 2s. 2d. per lb.,
was to be 1s. 10d. until April 1854, 1s. 6d. until April
1855, 1s. 3d. until April 1856, and 1s. thereafter; but
the wants of the public purse have nipped this bene-
ficial change halfway on the road. As to the whole-
sale prices in bond, they vary from about 6d. for the
cheapest Congou, to 4s. for the finest Hyson.
The accusations brought, and the suspicions enter-
tained, concerning the adulteration of tea, are some-
what formidable. The leaves of the beech, elm, chest-
nut, plane, oak, willow, poplar, hawthorn, sloe, and
many things that are not leaves of any kind, find ad-
mission among the list of suspected ingredients. Old
tea-leaves, re-dried, are largely used. There are, it must .
be confessed, many temptations held out to the dis-
honest in respect of this commodity. The public pay
twelve millions sterling per annum for tea; and so much
of this large sum goes away in the form of duty, that
the probity of the seller is likely to be tempted. The
article itself, too, the mass of little crooked curly dark-
greenish leaves, is so indefinite in its character, that it
holds out further hopes of the non-detection of surrep-
titious practices. -
D L 3
406 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
The ‘Lancet’ commissioners set to work on the
examination of tea with great minuteness of detail. It
was ascertained that the Chinese frequently adulterate
the tea before shipping it to England, and that the
materials used consist chiefly of ash and plum leaves.
The leaves used by English adulterators, after the tea
arrives, are more numerous in kind; they are dried,
crushed, made into a paste with gum and catechu,
ground, coloured, and mixed with genuine tea. Mr.
George Phillips, an officer of the Inland Revenue, sent
a letter to the ‘Lancet’ commissioners relating to the
re-manufacture of exhausted tea-leaves. “In the year
1843, there were many cases of re-dried tea-leaves which
were prosecuted with vigour by this Board; and the
result was, so far as we could ascertain at the time, the
suppression of the trade. It was supposed, in 1843,
that there were eight manufactories for the purpose of
re-drying exhausted tea-leaves in London, and several
besides in various parts of the country. The practice
pursued was as follows:—Persons were employed to
buy up the exhausted leaves at hotels, coffee-houses,
and other places, at 2:#d. and 3d. per lb. ; these were
taken to the factories, mixed with a solution of gum,
and re-dried ; after this the dried leaves, if for black
tea, were mixed with rose-pink and black-lead, to ‘face'
them, as it is termed by the trade.” The newspapers
record that, on May 26. 1851, two persons living in
Clerkenwell were detected making spurious tea; the
officers found a large furnace, before which was sus-
pended an iron pan containing the leaves, and also
tea-leaves which had been purchased from coffee-shop
CH. XI. TEA AIOULTERATION. 407
keepers. On searching the premises, they further
found an immense quantity of used tea, bay-leaves, and
other spurious ingredients — all to be mixed with
copperas and a solution of gum to aid in the manufac-
ture of illicit tea. The heat of the place was excessive ;
the woman was employed in stirring the ingredients in
an iron pan; in one part of the room was a quantity
of spurious finished tea, closely resembling the genuine
article; and in a back room was nearly 100 lbs. weight
of bay and other leaves drying on the floor. Another
police report of earlier date, related to a seizure made
in another part of London; the rogue was wont to
employ men to buy up the old tea-leaves at 2d. per lb.,
boil the leaves, squeeze them in a press, dry them on
sheets of copper over the fire, curl them by rubbing
with the hand, and dry them.
When the ‘Lancet’ commissioners began their
inquiry, they purchased about eighty specimens of tea,
from almost as many retail grocers in London. They
found, somewhat against their expectation, that in 59
specimens of black tea there were very few that ex-
hibited any symptoms of adulteration —thereby showing
that popular suspicion had gone a little beyond the
truth. In the green teas, however, nearly all the spe-
cimens were more or less adulterated, apparently with a
view to the presentation of a fine bloom.
Many substitutes for tea, under the names of
* Weno Beno, “ Chinese Tea Improver,’ ‘Chinese Bo-
tanical Powder,’ &c., the commissioners found to be
very worthless affairs. Mr. Phillips told them that
* Veno Beno’— which, according to the high-sound-
D D 4
4.08 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XI.
ing advertisement, “ has four times the strength of the
strongest tea; is delicate, healthful, strengthening, and
an improver of the voice ’— consists of three-fourths
catechu or terra japonica and one-fourth Sumach-leaves;
and that the ‘Chinese Botanical Powder’ consists mainly
of catechu and wheat-flour.
COFFEE stands next on our list of drink-making
commodities.
There are many who think that the London coffee-
shops — the rooms in which refreshment and reading can
be obtained by the outlay of a few pence—are among the
civilising agents of the day: not that the decoction
of a tropical berry is itself a civiliser; but that it.
brings with it certain collateral usages. It is as an an-
tagonist to the public-house that the coffee-room is in
this sense regarded. Leaving medical men to deter-
mine whether a pennyworth of good beer or a penny-
worth of good coffee possesses most strength-giving
power, this at least may be said — that a man is never
tempted to get drunk upon coffee, to lower himself
below the level of the brutes. The evil connected with
fermented beverages is, not that the liquid is bad in
itself, but that men do not ‘let well alone' by stopping
in time. A beer-drinker, too, in the evening, cares to
read nothing but a newspaper; a coffee-drinker has a
head in a sufficiently clear state for appreciating books
and periodicals of various kinds. This, however, is
touching upon many disputed questions, into which
there is no occasion to enter here ; nevertheless it is
certain, whatever else be doubtful, that the establish-
C.H. XI. COFFEE CULTURE. 409
ment of coffee-shops has worked some change in the
prevailing usages of the London working-classes in re-
lation to beverages.
Coffee is fully as curious a plant as tea. As met
with in America, Brazil, Arabia, and other hot countries,
the plant is generally from four to five feet in height;
it does not arrive at maturity until its fourth or fifth
year, but then it retains its fruit-bearing powers for
about twenty years. The crop is gathered late in the
autumn, when the berries present a dark-red colour;
in Jamaica the berries are picked by hand, a good
picker being able to bring in four bushels per day; but
in Arabia the trees are shaken, and the ripe berries
drop upon cloths placed underneath ; whence they are
then spread out to dry. Each tree will yield from half
a pound to two pounds at one crop. It is not the berry
itself that constitutes the coffee of commerce, but the
seed within the berry; the berry is much like an ordi-
nary cherry in size and colour, and thus there is a con-
siderable substance of pulp surrounding the seed. The
pulp being removed by crushing, the two halves of the
seed are seen closely enveloped in a thin membrane; at
a subsequent period this membrane is removed by
rubbing, washing, and winnowing; and there is then left
the ‘raw coffee such as our grocers purchase from the
merchants. Many weeks are required after the gather-
ing, before the coffee is in a state fitted for the market;
and many circumstances combine to bring about those
differences that determine the relative prices of the
product – such as the temperature of the climate, the
humidity, the quality of soil, the mode of culture, and
410 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
the care bestowed by the planters on the subsequent
processes.
During the disasters in the Crimea in the winter of
1854–5, it must have been especially provoking to the
soldiers to be supplied with unroasted coffee at a time
when there was scarcely a possibility of roasting it; for
unroasted coffee is a greenish sickly-tasting bean, un-
fitted for yielding any decoction. The change pro-
duced by roasting is remarkable; and we need not be
surprised if the quality of the decoction depends very
much on the degree of skill displayed in this process.
There is a point at which the aroma becomes fully de-
veloped, and beyond this the roasting is a kind of scorch-
ing. The English are said to roast their coffee more
than the French ; and the superior delicacy of French
coffee is in part attributed to this circumstance. Per-
haps it is with our coffee as with our port wine: we may
have acquired a sort of national taste for strong in
preference to delicate flavours. The seeds (for it is an
error to call them berries; they cease to be berries when
the pulp that surrounds the seed is removed) are placed
by the coffee-roasters in cylindrical vessels, sometimes
lined with silver to prevent injury to the aroma of the
coffee; the cylinder, heated on the outside, is kept
slowly rotating, that all the seeds may be equally affected
by the heat. The process is the simplest possible in its
nature, for it consists merely in the application of a
certain degree of heat to the seeds; but there is much
nicety required in its conduct to catch and secure the
aroma just at the critical time. Real coffee-drinkers
bring forward two complaints against the customary
CII. XI. ORIENTAL COFFEE DRINICING. 411
mode of preparing and selling coffee in the London
shops — irrespective of any defects either in the coffee
itself or in the roasting ; it is roasted too long before
being ground, and it is ground too long before being sold.
We must learn from the natives of the southern lands
how to drink coffee; they understand it; they are
bred as it were to it; they know the taste of the un-
sophisticated berry. As the Chinese would deem us
barbarians for putting milk and sugar into our tea, so
do the coffee-drinkers of tropical countries consider it
to be barbarism to introduce such additions to the
fragrant decoction of their favourite berry. Lieutenant
Welsted gives an amusing illustration of this:– “A
party of Bedouins were disputing respecting the sanity
of Lady Hester Stanhope, one party strenuously main-
taining that it was impossible a lady so charitable, so
munificent, could be otherwise than in full possession
of her faculties. Their opponents alleged acts in proof
to the contrary. An old man with a white beard
called for silence—a call from the aged among the
Arabs seldom made in vain. “She is mad,” said he ;
and lowering his voice to a whisper, as if fearful such an
outrage against established custom should spread beyond
his circle, he added, “for she puts sugar to her coffee l’
This was conclusive.”
It may be well to notice the curious mode in which
coffee and coffee-houses were introduced into Paris and
London. In 1669, an embassy having arrived at Paris
from the Sultan to Louis the Fourteenth, Soliman Aga,
chief of the mission, received much Parisian company,
including ladies, and caused coffee to be served to his
412 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
guests according to the custom of his country. The
very novelty of the circumstance induced the ladies to
drink of that which they might otherwise possibly have
declined; the beverage became talked about ; the
merchants began to import the berry; and in 1672 an
Armenian named Pascal opened the first coffee-house at
Paris, on the plan of those at Constantinople. It ap-
pears to have been about the same period that coffee
was first known in London ; a Greek named Pasqua
opened a coffee-house in George Yard, Lombard Street;
this was really a coffee-house, and not a tavern, like the
so-called coffee-houses of the ‘Spectator,’ and “Tatler’
days.
Coffee-drinkers have so rapidly increased in number,
that the cultivation of the berry must have spread in
various directions. One rough guess, a few years ago,
was to the effect that the quantity of coffee grown in
the whole world amounts to 480 million lbs. per annum;
while another estimate has recently placed it so high
as 616 millions. An ambiguity appears, however, in
these guesses; for in some cases it is not clear whether
is meant the total growth in, or the total exports from,
all the coffee-growing countries. There is very little
doubt, whatever be the total quantity, that Brazil grows
far more coffee than any other country. The European
consumption alone has been roundly estimated at 400
million lbs. per annum.
The use of coffee in London, and in England gene-
rally, has advanced steadily since the introduction of
the berry in the time of Charles the Second; but our
economists think that the extension is not such as it
CH. XI. CONSUMPTION OF COEIFEE. 4] 3
would and ought to have been if import duties had not
interfered. The imports rose from 1 million lbs. in
1805 to 6 millions in 1810, 8 millions in 1824, 31 millions
in 1850, and to 35 millions in 1852; in 1853 and 1854,
the quantity entered for home consumption, after
making allowance for the quantity re-exported, was
just about 37 million lbs. in each year. The price has
considerably lessened within the last twenty years,
leading many economists to think that the consump-
tion ought to have increased more rapidly. The
truth is, however, that coffee has even yet hardly be-
come a national beverage among us. About the time
when George the Third ascended the throne, the coffee
consumed in the United Kingdom was so small that it
did not amount to an ounce per head per annum on the
whole population; from this it has risen to about a
pound and a quarter. Mr. Crawford, in a paper on
this subject in the Statistical Society's Journal, points
out how small our consumption is compared with that
of most European countries. While the United King-
dom consumes per head only about 13 lb. per annum,
the account in other countries stands thus:--
Brussia tº-> #sº {-, - 3% lbs.
Zollverein (average) * - 3:# ,
Denmark - tºs t- - 5; ,
Belgium * & tº - 9 33
The Americans appear to have made extraordinary
strides in this respect, having risen from a consumption of
1 lb. to about 8 lbs. per head, during the last thirty-five
years. We, in the United Kingdom, drink nearly twice
as much tea as coffee ; whereas our Anglo-Saxon breth-
414 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
ren across the Atlantic drink nearly four times as much
coffee as tea. Query P Could our ethnologists discover
any national differences of character, arising from these
diversities in tea-drinking and coffee-drinking? It
must be remembered, concerning the relative quan-
tities of tea and coffee consumed in our own country,
that not only is the weight of the dry tea nearly twice
as great as that of the dry coffee, but that each pound
of tea produces two or three times as much beverage
as a pound of coffee – the tea-beverage must be at least
five times as great, in liquid measure, as the coffee-
beverage.
The Brazilians are said to be thinking about coffee-
leaves instead of coffee berries. The leaf is used in
Sumatra like tea-leaf, to make an infusion instead of a
decoction; the Sumatrans prefer it; and some of our
chemists deem it more wholesome. Should such a taste
extend, it would be commercially very important; for
the leaf will arrive at maturity in a greater number of
districts than the berry; it can be bought at 2d. per lb.
in Sumatra ; and Brazil is ‘looking ahead’ in the same
direction.
From coffee to CHICORY the leap is but short.
A curious battle has been fought in many parts of the
country, and in London in particular, within the last
few years, between what may be called the coffee-
interest and the chicory-interest. Men are so apt to
make their own welfare a measure of the excellence of
public laws, that while the coffee merchant insists
on the moral propriety of a restriction on chicory, the
CH. XI. CHICORY. 415
chicory-dealer expatiates on the wisdom of that kind of
free-trade which would lead to an extension in the use
of chicory as a substitute for coffee. So long, as there
are excise duties and customs’ duties, however, there
will necessarily be these occasional antagonisms; for the
dealer in a duty-paid article will naturally feel aggrieved
at any facilities offered for the admission of a substitute
on which no duty is levied. *
Chicory was first imported in 1832, the duty being
levied on it the same as on colonial coffee; it was, how-
ever, rendered imperative that the chicory should be
sold separately from coffee. In 1840 the high prices
of tea and coffee led the Treasury to give permission
that chicory might be sold mixed with coffee, to pro-
duce a compound commodity at a moderate price.
A few whispers of complaint against this were heard
in some quarters; but it was not until about 1845
that the complaints became loud and frequent —
consequent on the growing of chicory in England, and
the admission of this chicory in the market free of duty.
The coffee-importers rebelled; they said “either tax
chicory, or remove the tax from coffee’— a request not
altogether unreasonable. About the year 1850 Mr.
Simmonds supposed that there were 18 million lbs. of
chicory then sold annually in England, as a surreptitious
substitute for coffee; while Mr. M*Culloch about the
same time estimated the total consumption at 28
million lbs. – quantities of serious import to coffee-
growers and dealers. In 1852 a Treasury order was
issued, declaratory that chicory must not be sold mixed
with coffee. The arguments in newspapers and at
416 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
public meetings have been very conflicting on the sub-
ject; but matters have settled down to this basis — that
retail grocers may mix chicory with coffee, provided the
fact of the mixture be honestly stated on the printed
wrapper.
Chicory appears to have been used in France earlier
than in England, as a substitute for coffee. The plant,
however, grows in abundance in England as well as in
central Europe; insomuch that there is no difficulty in
obtaining it, if once a taste for it should arise. There are
many reasons why, used alone, chicory is less pleasant
and less wholesome than coffee; it has a narcotic qua-
lity, but neither oil nor alkaloid. As a substitute for
coffee, chicory is poor; as an imitation of coffee, it is
fraudulent; but as an addition to coffee it is wholesome
and economical; and there is a growing opinion in
England that it is pleasant also. Chicoried coffee is
largely used in France and Germany; but especially in
Belgium, where 4% million persons are said to consume
20 million lbs. of chicory annually. It appears pro-
bable that, whatever may be the ‘ Orders in Council’ or
the Acts of Parliament relating thereto, the mixture
will become a recognised part of the ingredients for
beverages in England ; for no statutes can permanently
check the sale of an article of food which meets the
public approval: the difficulty is, how to render justice
to all while obnoxious imposts press upon some com-
modities and not upon others which may be used as
substitutes. \
That an acquired taste may mislead the judgment is
exemplified in connection with coffee as with more im-
CH. XI. CEIICORY WITH COFFEE. 4.17
portant articles. Dr. Lankester, in a lecture delivered
some years ago, stated that he knew a coffee-dealer who
conscientiously objected to mix chicory surreptitiously
with the coffee sold by him ; if he designated it coffee,
coffee it should really be. Persisting in his coffee-
purism, he gradually found his sale of that article dimi-
nish. He was for some time unable to account for the
decline; but a lady one day said to him, “You do not sell
such good coffee as your neighbour.” The dealer ex-
amined his neighbour's coffee, and found chicory in it.
The next coffee he sold to her he treated with an admix-
ture of a little chicory; and she said, “ Now your coffee is
very good.” He then resolved on experimenting with
his own family; he gave them common coffee mixed
with chicory; whereupon surprise was expressed that
he had favoured them with ‘some of his best coffee l’’
The appearance of chicory is that of a pale brown
powder; and a few words will describe how it arrives
at that condition. Chicory is not, like coffee, a berry;
nor like tea, a leaf; it is a root. The chicory plant
belongs to the same class as the garden lettuce and the
dandelion ; it is cultivated in France for the use of its
leaves as herbage, and in Germany, Flanders, and
England, for its root; Arthur Young introduced its
cultivation into England in 1780. The plant grows
readily in poor Sandy soils, and is useful for pigs and
cattle, irrespective of the purpose to which its root is
applied. In Flanders the leaves are sometimes eaten at
table instead of endive, to which they bear some resem-
blance in taste. Wheat is said to alternate well with
chicory, so that the crop is not likely to be in disfavour
E. E.
4.18 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
with farmers of certain qualities of soil. Mr. Caird,
the ‘Times commissioner on agriculture, describes a
Norfolk farm in which chicory is cultivated. The chi-
cory is taken after wheat instead of an oat-crop; it is
drilled in May with artificial manure, and is treated ex-
actly like a carrot-crop ; it is taken up in autumn in
quantities as it can be manufactured, being uninjured
by frost, and receiving no damage by being left in the
ground. An acre produces from 12 to 15 tons, dry-
ing to about one ton in the state in which it is sent to
London; Mr. Braithwaite Poole makes the produce
per acre much less, and the ratio of dried root to fresh
root much more, than Mr. Caird; but the latter gentle-
man's estimate has the advantage of being formed from
actual observation of a particular farm.
In preparing chicory for the London market, the
roots are thoroughly washed, and placed in a cutting-
machine, resembling one of the numerous varieties of
turnip-cutter; this cuts the chicory-root into pieces
about half an inch in length. These pieces being
dried, and roasted in cylinders exposed to a steady fire,
the chicory is ready for pulverisation, effected either
by revolving stones or by small mills. A rough estimate
is made that chicory brings in the farmer about 201 per
ton on an average, or perhaps a little more.
In the present state of matters in London, the worst
that can be said of chicory is, that it is often unfairly
sold as a substitute for coffee. Let them be sold sepa-
rately, and purchasers can select as they may ; but
when chicory at 4d. per lb. is mixed with coffee
at 1s. 4d., and the mixture sold at 1s. 4d., every
CH. XI. COFFEE AIDULTERATION. 419
schoolboy versed in ‘Alligation' knows that the sum
will come out wrong, — in plain words it is a cheat and
a fraud. The love of cheapness is somewhat to blame
here; if buyers will have low-priced coffee, say at a
shilling per lb., the grocer has a temptation to mix un-
acknowledged chicory with it. But chicory is not the
only addition unfairly used in London coffee. The
* Lancet’ commissioners, out of 42 specimens of coffee,
found 31 to be adulterated with chicory only, while
12 had roasted corn in addition to chicory; I had
beans, and 1 had potato-flour; the total result was that
one-third of the whole weight consisted of adulterants;
and in some cases chicory was present to the extent of
more than one-half. It was found that some of the
grocers use a ‘coffee colourer,’ of a rich brown colour: it
consists chiefly of burnt Sugar, and appears to be used to
deepen the colour of poor coffee, or of coffee which has
been chicoried. The sellers of cups of coffee at a
cheap price are said to be very familiar with this ‘im-
prover.’ The commissioners adduce some curious ex-
amples of the discrepancy between the quality and the
high-sounding names of particular samples; thus, a
packet of “ celebrated Jamaica,’ was found to be nearly
all chicory; “finest Java coffee' consisted of half coffee,
much roasted corn, and a little chicory; ‘superb coffee’
was principally chicory and roasted corn, with very
little coffee; ‘fine plantation Ceylon’ was nearly all
chicory; “fine Java’ contained much chicory and
potato; ‘delicious drinking coffee' contained a large
quantity of chicory and roasted corn. In short, if the
commissioners’ experience be anything like a fair repre-
E E 2
420 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
sentative of average results, there seems to be only one
certain plan to follow — to purchase the coffee whole,
and grind it at home, or see it ground.
Another strange fact in relation to this unpleasant
subject is, that not only is coffee frequently adulterated
with chicory, but that chicory itself is adulterated
The commissioners examined 34 samples purchased in-
discriminately at different shops; and amongst them
they found carrot, parsnip, mangel-Wurzel, beans,
acorns, roasted corn, biscuit-powder, and burnt sugar.
It has been stated in other quarters that such strange
substances as burnt rags, red earth, and rope-yarn
have been found in chicory; but this belongs to the
transcendental regions of rascality.
Concerning this jugglery of coffee and chicory, there
is one statement made by the commissioners so extra-
ordinary, that we must give it in their own words:
“An article has lately been introduced into the market
under the attractive name of ‘coffina,” said to be a
“Turkish plant,’ and to have been found highly nutri-
tious on analisation. It is in the state of powder, and
has much the appearance of coffee in colour, a very
bitter taste, and emits the odour of lentils. On an ex-
amination of this powder with the microscope, we find
if to consist entirely of a seed, including even the husk,
belonging to the family Leguminosae. Of this worth-
less if not pernicious article, no less than eighty tons
were offered within the last few day for sale by a Scotch
house, at about 12l, perton, that is at less than 1; d. per
lb. On this single transaction, therefore, the revenue
would be defrauded of no less a sum than 44807., and
CEI. XI. COCOA. 421
the public of at least four times that amount, viz.,
nearly 18,000l. This article, the name of which is
borrowed from another substance, of which it does not
contain a particle, is not recommended as a substitute
for chicory, but to be used with chicory in place of
coffee A recent importation of about one hundred
tons of lupine-seeds from Egypt into Glasgow has led,
a correspondent writes, to the suggestion that this
‘coffina’ is made from them ; from a careful compa-
rison of the structures found in ‘coffina” with those of
lupine seed, we are of opinion that this conjecture is
well founded. The same firm to which a sample of
* coffina” was sent has recently been offered five hundred
tons of acorns, at 5l. per ton, or less than three far-
things a pound; should these find a purchaser, as they
will doubtless do, if they have not already been bought
up, the revenue will be cheated to the extent of 28,000l.
and the public to about 112,000l. : these also were
intended to be used in the adulteration of coffee.”
Among the beverages common in London, COCOA
may be said to occupy some such position as tea and
coffee held a century or two ago. It is growing gra-
dually in favour; it is becoming an object of large
commercial arrangements; and its use is being advo-
cated by those who wish to establish some rivalry or
antidote to fermented drinks.
Cocoa and chocolate are two forms of the same sub-
stance, obtained from a tree growing in the West
Indies. The tree, twice in a year, yields a crop of
* Lancet, March 13, 1851.
E E 3
422 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
reddish spongy fruit, shaped like a cucumber: the ripe
fruit being collected at the decline of the moon. The
tree itself, about the size of a dwarf apple-tree, con-
tinues its yield for twenty or thirty years. Each
fruit or pod contains from 6 to 50 beans, usually
about 20 ; and there are from 10 to 20 lbs. of such
beans from each tree at each crop. The beans are
usually about as large as almonds; they are frequently,
from a confusion of language, called indifferently beans,
seeds, nuts, berries, and fruits; but their character
will be better understood by regarding them as beans
contained within a pod. They are picked out and
dried before exportation. Besides the beans, the pulp
contains a creamy and cordial juice; and by steaming
and pressing, the beans will yield one-third of their
weight of a kind of butter, to which the richness of
cocoa is due. The three words cocoa, cacao, and
chocolate, are used very confusedly; for the substances
cacao and chocolate are the same in origin, whereas
cacao and cocoa are not the same; cocoa-nuts are ob-
tained from the “cocos nucifera; ” whereas the bever-
age-material is derived from the ‘Theobroma cacao, an
entirely different tree.
I'or preparing the beverage material, the beans are
brought to England in the original state, to be con-
verted either into cocoa or chocolate by a manufac-
turing process. They are first roasted in slowly-
rotating ovens; then broken by a machine, to such a
state that the husks may be separated from the ker-
nels by a blast of air; afterwards heated and beaten,
and converted into a pulp by means of their own oil.
CEI. XI. CEIOCOL.A.T.E. 423
The pulp, when ground between millstones till it as-
sumes a consistence something like that of treacle, is
in a state to receive any of the modifications that will
fit it for the market. It may be ‘plain cocoa’ or
‘homoeopathic cocoa,’ or ‘soluble chocolate,” or “Vanilla
chocolate ’; it may have arrow-root, or Sago, or sugar
mixed with it; or, if the manufacturers be tinctured
with roguery, there may perchance be bean-meal or
red-earth mixed with the pulp. The pulp, when fully
prepared in any of these diverse ways, is cast into large
moulds; the cakes thus produced are cut into minute
shreds by a machine, and the shreds are sifted and
packed for sale. The preparations of cocoa and choco-
late made by the Parisians are more numerous than
those usually made in London; they comprise vanilla
chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate bonbons, chocolate
papillotes, chocolate crackers, chocolate pastiles, choco-
late with taraxacum or with Sarsaparilla—in short there is
no end to the list; for once admit the principle of mixing
the cocoa with vegetable infusions or decoctions or
essences, and the variety becomes interminable. The
French limit themselves to the use of the word ‘choco-
late,’ derived from the Mexican name (chocolatl) of the
plant: they seldom speak of ‘cocoa.” What are called
cocoa-nibs, in the London market, are the beans roughly
crushed ; flake-cocoa, also, is another name for the beans
when crushed between rollers, but before anything else
has been added to them. The husk of the seed, after
roasting, contains a good deal of nutriment; indeed so
do the pods likewise; and all three are more or less
employed in making cheap cocoa. The plant is cer-
E E 4
424 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XI.
tainly used in more ways than coffee – drunk as a
decoction, made into a kind of gruel, eaten as
bombons, &c.; while a poor decoction is drunk in some
places, made by boiling the husks separated from the
beans.
Mr. Simmonds gives a high character to chocolate —
designating it as literally meat and drink. He wishes
that our “half-starved artisans, over-wrought factory-
children, and ricketty millinery-girls,” would drink
chocolate instead of tea, as being more nutritious.
“The price, too,” he urges, “is in its favour; cacao
being eightpence per lb. ; while the cheapest black tea,
such as the Chinese beggar would despise, drunk by
milliners, washerwomen, and the poorer class in the
metropolis, is three shillings a pound, or three hundred
and fifty per cent dearer, while it is decidedly injurious
to health. The heads of the naval and military medical
departments in England have been so impressed with
the wholesomeness and superior nutriment of cacao,
that they have judiciously directed that it shall be
served out twice or thrice a week to regiments of the
line, and daily to the seamen on board H. M. ships.””
It would not be difficult to cite expressions of opinion
antagonistic to this, in relation to tea; but medical men
unquestionably admit that cocoa is nutritious.
Londoners, it would appear, are not permitted to
enjoy their cocoa or chocolate in its purity. The
‘Lancet’ commissioners detected flour, potato-starch,
Sugar, cocoa-nut oil, lard, tallow, mutton-suet, ochre,
chalk, old sea-biscuit, and bran, in various specimens
* Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom, p. 31.
CH. XI. COCOA ADUL TERATION. 4.25
they examined. If cocoa were sold, or professed to
be sold, in an unsweetened, unprepared state, there
would be a better chance of meeting with it genuine;
but the very circumstance of mixing it up into a paste,
to which a high-sounding name is given, offers a tempt—
ation to the dishonest to introduce unacknowledged sub-
stances. The commissioners assert that out of 56
specimens, bearing a formidable array of designations,
only 8 were in a genuine state — a sad truth, if truth
it be.
During the last fourteen years, our imports of cocoa
have varied from 3 million to 8 million lbs. per annum,
the maximum having been in 1853. These, however,
are the total imports: the quantity retained for home
consumption, and charged with duty, has risen within
the last few years from 3 to 4% million lbs. per annum
—equal to about one-eighth of our consumption of
coffee, and one-fourteenth of that of tea. If we content
ourselves with a rough approximation, it might suffice
to say that the inhabitants of the United Kingdom con-
sume as much weight of tea in a day as coffee in two
days, or as cocoa in a fortnight; and there is no reason
to doubt that London would present a nearly similar
ratio.
One more of these curious estimates may be given,
before passing onward to a saccharine region. It has
been roughly guessed that, in the whole world,—
500 million 2240 million tea.
| 12 600 lb coffee.
50 f P º 80 ; tº chicory.
50 100 COCOa.
*mºmº
7 12 3020
426 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XI.
— or, in the whole, 712,000,000 human beings drink
annually the decoctions and infusions prepared from
3,020,000,000 lbs. of these substances !
The wilderness of sweets, exhibited in London and
other populous towns in the shape of shop-window
attractions for the palate, owe their sweetness for the
most part to one single product — SUGAR. Of course
ripe fruit is exempt from this classification, as it carries
the source of its own sweetness within it.
Every one knows that the sugar-cane is a native of
hot climates; the West Indies, the East Indies, Cen-
tral America, Brazil, the Mauritius and other islands—
these are the countries whence our sugar is obtained.
It appears that the Saracens introduced the cultivation
of sugar into the warm countries of southern Europe
many centuries ago, and that Columbus took a few
canes with him to America in 1493 — whence the
sugar-culture of the New World has been derived.
Sugar might still be grown in the sunny lands of Spain,
Sicily, and Italy, but not with sufficient luxuriance to
enable the growers to compete with those of hotter
climes.
We are seldom in the habit of thinking that the
poor dark-skins carry on manufacturing processes to
a considerable extent in connection with the sugar-
trade — much more than in the product of a bale of
cotton. What is it that the sugar-field actually yields?
Nothing more than an assemblage of juicy reeds or
canes. The golden-yellow canes, when ripe, are cut
down ; they are severed into smaller pieces, which are
CH. XI. SUGAR CTJILTURE. 427
tied up in bundles and conveyed to the sugar-mill;
they are crushed in this mill, two or three times in
succession, until all the juice is expressed; and the re-
maining dry cane is useful as fuel. The juice, liable
to become acid if not operated on immediately, is con-
ducted into large clarifying vessels, each containing
several hundred gallons; here it is rapidly boiled, until
brought to the state of a thick syrup; and the syrup,
being cooled in open vessels, becomes a mass of sweet
crystals imbedded in molasses or a kind of treacle.
Now as this molasses, from its chemical constitution,
never can and never will granulate or crystallise,
it must be separated from the rest before dry sugar
can be produced; the whole mass is put into casks
having small holes in the bottom; the molasses trickles
through a filtering layer placed over these holes, and
leaves the brown granulated sugar in the cask. The
molasses is distilled for rum, while the granulated par-
ticles are shipped as ‘raw or “Muscovado’ sugar.
The swarthy workmen are thus manufacturing chemists,
or chemical manufacturers, although they may not be
fully aware of the dignity of their position as such.
Of the disasters of the West India planters, and of the
improvements lately introduced into the machinery of
the sugar estates, we have not here to speak: suffice
it to know that hogsheads of brown sugar are shipped
to London.
According to certain calculations recently made, it ap-
pears that the quantity of sugar obtained from one acre
varies between the wide limits of 500 lbs. and 3000 lbs.,
but that the average may be about 900 lbs. It requires
428 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. XI.
about 25 tons of cane to yield one hogshead of (15 or
16 cwts.) of sugar. From 6 lbs. to 8 lbs. of juice is the
usual quantity required to produce 1 lb. of sugar.
So far as London is concerned, the processes of the
sugar-trade are mainly limited to the transformation of
brown moist into white loaf sugar. This is the work
of sugar-refiners, nearly all of whom carry on their
operations in the neighbourhood of Whitechapel and
the Commercial Road — one of the curious examples,
so numerous in London, of the congregation of similar
traders in one locality. The sugar-refineries are among
the largest buildings in the eastern half of the me-
tropolis; from their numerous floors, their ranges
of innumerable windows, and the nature of the pro-
cesses conducted, they are in every way remarkable
establishments. Any one who travels on the Black-
wall railway will have ample means of becoming
familiar with the external aspect of the refineries:
the railway threads its path through the midst of
them. The interiors are a very labyrinth of sweets
and dirt.
The differences between brown moist and white
lump sugar are mainly two — all the remaining uncrys-
tallisable sugar is removed; and all colour is bleached
out of the syrup. The alphabet of transformation —
brown sugar into white — may be rendered very brief.
Coarse brown sugar is discharged from the hogsheads
into large vessels; it is boiled up with water, and also
with lime or some other ingredient that will cause im-
purities to float at the top ; it is filtered through tubes
of cloth, to remove yet more impurities; and it is again
CH. XI. SUGAR CONSUMPTION. 429
filtered through a thick bed of powdered charcoal,
until the syrup presents itself as a liquid clear and
transparent as water. The syrup is boiled in vacuo
to drive off the water; and the thickened residue, after
being heated and stirred in a separate vessel, is poured
into conical sugar-moulds; the liquid or syrup that
flows from an aperture at the apex of each mould is
treacle, and the remaining solid, after a few more pro-
cesses, becomes beautiful white loaf sugar.
Like that of most other tropical products, the use of
sugar in England has greatly extended since the spread
of intercommunication between distant countries. Our
consumption is forty times as great as it was a century
and a half ago, although the population has not much
more than trebled in this period. It has been roundly
estimated that the total production of sugar all over
the world may amount to 2% millions of tons, or 6000
million lbs., annually; and that the European con-
sumption may be about one-third of this quantity;
but such estimates are very uncertain. At any rate,
we have the means of knowing how much sugar comes
to the United Kingdom; for, being a taxed commodity,
an exact entry is made of all the imports. At the
beginning of the present century we consumed about
300 million lbs. annually ; and this average did not
rapidly rise until the change in the duties in recent
years; in 1852 it reached 1000 million lbs., and in
1853 and 1854 it was still higher. Every one is aware
that the price of sugar in London (exception being
made of a short period at the close of 1855) is very
much lower than was the wont a few years ago; and .
430 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
there can be no doubt that this lowering of price has
materially increased the consumption.
As with other articles of diet and beverage, so
with sugar, we want means of knowing whether the
London consumption is greater or less than would be
due to the ratio of population. Our statists have found
that, if all the sugar consumed in the United Kingdom
had been equally divided, there were about 16 lbs. per
head per annum during the first forty years of the
present century; but during the last fifteen years the
consumption has increased much faster than the popu-
lation, insomuch that in 1854 it amounted to about
36 lbs. per head. Mr. Porter, in speculating how the
supply was distributed among the different classes of
society, arrived at the following conclusion, at a time
when the consumption was about 24 lbs. per head : he
supposed that the rich and middle classes take about
40 lbs. per head per annum, and that this quantity
remains pretty nearly equal year after year, whether
the price be constant or variable; consequently, any
cheapening of sugar must affect its sale chiefly among
the humbler classes. His idea evidently was, that the
enormous increase in the consumption is due to the
extension of this luxury to those who could not afford
to purchase it when prices were high ; that it is, in
short, a distinct and positive increase to the comforts of
four-fifths of our population — being those who are not
included in Mr. Porter’s ‘rich and middle classes.’
London has little reason to care about beet-root
sugar; but a few words concerning it may be desirable.
The root of the beet yielding a sweet juice whence
CH. XI. BEET-ROOT SUGAR. 431
sugar may be obtained, the question arises whether
such sugar can be made and sold at a price sufficiently
low to compete with cane-sugar in the market: if it
cannot, then are the beet-projects likely to languish.
The estimates put forth on this subject are occasionally
so extravagant, marked with a pen dipped in ink of
such glowing colour, that they have done more harm
than good, by raising hopes not likely to be realised.
Viewing the subject soberly, however, it is believed
that 150,000 tons of beet-root sugar are now made
annually in Europe. Foreign nations have not such
easy access as England to colonial-grown sugar; and
they have thus a greater inducement to obtain beet-
Sugar from home-grown plants. It was rather more
than a century ago that the chemist Margraf discovered
or invented a mode of obtaining sugar from beet; fifty
years later, Achard published minute details concerning
the processes; and since then the French have published
numerous treatises bearing on the subject. A factory
was established at Thames Bank about twenty years
ago, for making sugar from beet, and then making
brown paper from the refuse ; but it failed. There was
an estimate in 1851 that at that time France produced
60,000 tons and Germany 45,000 tons of beet-root sugar
annually. A newspaper paragraph has stated that there
were 337 beet-sugar factories in France in 1853, and
303 in 1854, several firms having shown a disposition to
withdraw from the trade, as not being sufficiently remu-
nerative ; the quantity said to have been made in 1854
was 77 million kilogrammes, equal to 169 million lbs.
The statements concerning the culture of the beet,
432 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
and the production of sugar therefrom, are so conflict-
ing, that little reliance can be placed on them. One
set of figures leads to the following: —That we may
obtain 13 to 3 tons of sugar per acre, according to the
soil; that in Ireland an average crop will yield 26 tons
of root per acre, from which may be obtained 2 tons of
sugar; that the European produce ranges from 16 to
26 tons of root per acre; that the expense of growing an
acre of beet in Ireland is about 8l. 10s. ; and that the
expense of manufacturing sugar from that acre would
be about 10l. 10s, more. From these and similar data,
some enthusiasts have arrived at a conclusion that Irish
beet-root sugar might be produced at 1; d. per lb. 1 Pro-
fessor Hancock, in a paper read in 1851 *, gave a sad
blow to such estimates. He analysed the farmer's
expense in growing an acre of beet, the produce of root
per acre, the percentage of sugar in the root, and the
cost of the sugar manufacture; then, comparing the
sum total with the market-price of cane-sugar, he came
to a conclusion that English or Irish beet-sugar could
not compete with cane-sugar—unless by a protective
duty, which is of course out of the question in these
free-trade days. It has been proved by experience
that in Canada and the United States maple sugar can
be made at an expense ranging from 2d. to 3}d. per
lb., and can therefore be advantageously introduced
into the market ; but the capabilities of the beet-sugar
manufacture in the United Kingdom have yet to be
shown. The well-intended schemes brought forward
in Ireland with this view are yet in the early stage of
* British Association, Meeting at Ipswich.
CH. XI. SUGAR ADULTERATION, 433.
their career. Supposing the manufacture to be worth
attending to, the processes are somewhat as follow : —
The roots are washed and scraped ; they are rasped and
reduced to a pulp ; the pulp is squeezed in a press, to
yield the juice; the juice is heated and boiled, with
provision for removing both scum and sediment; the
clear liquor is evaporated to a syrup; and the syrup is
treated much in the same way as cane-syrup, until it
becomes granulated sugar. -
A word concerning adulteration. Sugar is cer-
tainly less sophisticated than many other articles of
food; yet did the ‘Lancet’ commissioners meet with
a few adulterants in some of the many specimens
examined by them. It is worthy of being remembered,
however, that they found nearly all the specimens of
lump sugar pure; indicating (supposing the honesty
were the same in both cases) that crystallised white
sugar is less easily adulterated than granulated brown.
It appears, however, that cheap confectionery is much
more extensively adulterated than any kind of sugar;
gamboge, lead, copper, mercury, chalk, starch, plaster,
pipe-clay, Cornish-clay, are items in a list of strange
things met with in cheap sweetmeats; some as a fraudu-
lent substitute for white sugar, and some as colour-
ing ingredients. Mr. Accum’s ‘ Death in the Pot' may
perhaps be applied more seriously to such trifles than to
articles of solid food; for medical men have, it is said.
been able to trace disease and death to the eating by
children of cheap and adulterated Sweetmeats.
The wonders of the East, in past times, were a sso-
E. E.
434 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
ciated quite as much with balmy SPICES as with any-
thing else. The fragrant essences and spices, perfumes
and cosmetics, have always been more largely produced
in the East than in the West; and at the present day a
considerable tonnage of shipping is employed in bring-
ing over to England such portion of the produce as we
require. A few lines will suffice for such a notice of
the subject as need be given in connection with the
Food of London.
Pepper is imported by England in vast quantities.
Simple as is this spice or condiment, its consumption
carries us into the region of millions; for we season
our food with more than 33 million lbs. annually in
the United Kingdom; besides purchasing nearly as
much more to sell again to foreign countries. This
humble-looking article of commerce is the dried unripe
fruit or berry of an oriental plant; it is supposed that
50 million lbs. are annually grown, of which about one-
half is the produce of Sumatra. The accumulation of
price, as the commodity passes from hand to hand, is
remarkable; for it appears that white pepper, worth
1%d. per lb. in Singapore, rises to two shillings or
more by the time it is retailed in England. In the
culture of pepper in Sumatra, 1000 trees yield about
450 lbs. of the spice; and one acre of such trees about
1160 lbs. Like as green tea and black tea are two pre-
parations from the same plant, so are black and white
pepper; the berries are gathered when yet green, and
quickly dried on mats, by which their colour darkens,
and they become “black’ pepper; but when “white’
pepper is required, the berries are steeped in water until
CEI. XI. SPICERIES. - 435
the outer husk can be removed; and the greyish-white
berries then remaining are smaller, Smoother, and less
powerful in taste and smell, than black pepper. It is
worthy of note, that while the price of pepper in England
was 6s. per lb. just before the discovery of the route to
India round the Cape of Good Hope, it lowered to
1s. 3d. very soon after that discovery.*
Ginger is the ‘rhizome or rootstock of a plant
growing abundantly in the East and West Indies.
When cut at the proper season, the rootstock is scalded
in boiling water, and dried by artificial heat, to produce
‘black ’ginger; or peeled, and dried in Sunshine, to con-
stitute ‘white' ginger: it presents, as is well known,
the appearance of branch-like pieces, two or three
inches in length. When the rootstock is gathered young,
it is used for preserves and syrups. The produce is
said to be about 1500 to 2000 lbs. of ginger per acre.
It is imported in bags containing about 1 cwt. each ;
the quantity imported being three or four times as large
as that of pepper. -
Nutmegs are the seed or fruit of a tree growing in
the Moluccas and other islands of the East. More
familiarly, nutmeg may be regarded as the kernel of a
nut; the fruit itself is similar in size and shape to a
peach; the pulp is removed, the nut remains exposed,
and of this nut the kernel constitutes nutmeg, and the
shell mace. Two or three gatherings of the nuts occur
in a year; and the nuts being dried to separate the mace,
the mace is peeled off, flattened, dried, and screwed down
for shipment. An acre is said to accommodate about
* Simmond's Com. Prod. of Weg. Kingd. p. 427.
F F 2
436 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
92 trees, and each tree to yield about 1000 nutmegs
annually; one pound of mace is obtained from about
430 nutmegs. The nutmegs are smoke-dried for many
weeks before being fitted for shipment. Our consump-
tion of these products in the United Kingdom is not
very considerable; about 210,000 lbs. of nutmegs, and
one-ninth of this quantity of mace, annually.
Allspice is the berry of a tree cultivated with great
care in Jamaica; a single tree will sometimes yield a
hundred lbs. of dry berry in a year; but the average is
much less. The berries are gathered unripe, and are
then dried for shipment: they come over in bags of
about 1 cwt. each. The berries combine in some de-
gree the taste of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; and to
this is attributed the name of ‘allspice: ' the Customs
authorities recognise it only by the name of ‘pimento.”
We consume about 400,000 lbs. annually.
Cinnamon is the aromatic bark of a small tree growing
in Ceylon. The bark-peeling is carried on during the
latter half of the year; it is effected by slitting the bark
longitudinally, and then cutting it across, so that it can
be readily turned back from the wood underneath. The
bark, when removed, is tied up in bundles, left twenty-
four hours to undergo fermentation, deprived of the cu-
ticle or inner skin, rolled up into long slender pipes, sent
to Colombo, and assorted into three kinds for the English
market. . The best cinnamon occurs in pieces about a
yard in length, containing six or eight narrow strips
rolled up together; it is about as thick as vellum
paper, and is shipped in bales containing about 90 lbs.
each. Cassia bears much resemblance to cinnamon,
CH. XI. - RICE. 437
being the bark of a plant belonging to the same genus.
About 40,000 lbs. of cinnamon, and three times this
weight of cassia, are used annually in the United King-
dom.
Cloves are the flower-buds of a tree growing in the
Moluccas and other tropical regions: they are gathered
before they open, and are dried in the sun. A tree yields
from 5 to 60 lbs. of these flower-buds annually, accord-
ing to its age; and as the plant is very long-lived, one
single stem may yield more than 1000 lbs. weight during
its career. We consume about 200,000 lbs. in a year.
Rice stands apart from all these colonial or tropical
products, inasmuch as it belongs to the farinaceous
class, and may be used as a substitute for bread; it
is grown in India, China, the West Indies, and many
parts of America, in large fields requiring abundant
irrigation. There are many different varieties; but
in all the rice is thrashed from the ears, and cor-
responds to barley-corns or grains of wheat ; when
separated from the stalk it is known by the name of
‘paddy,’ with the husk adhering closely to the grain ;
this husk is separated by grinding, sifting, and winnow-
ing; and afterwards another envelope, a reddish skin
or cuticle, is removed by friction. As the import duty
is much lower on paddy than on cleaned rice, many of
the imports are in the former state, and the rice is
cleaned in England. Rice comes to us in bags of
1 cwt., and tierces of 6 cwts. ; in 1852, 53, '54, we
imported on an average about 150 million lbs. annually;
but this was more than was required for home use, and
we re-exported two-fifths of it. Many persons think
F F 3
438 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XI.
that the London population might increase the present
ratio of consumption in this article of food, with advan-
tage both tohealth and to pocket.
It would be useless to attempt any extension in this
list of tropical items: only those largely used in London
have any claim to a place here, insofar as they aid to
swell the enormous catalogue of comforts and luxuries
now taking part in our daily food. If we were to look
nearer home, and bestow a few thoughts on the two
humble ‘seasonings' salt and mustard, we should find
that, although the latter may be trifling in amount, the
former is used in quantities truly immense. Our own
salt-works, chiefly in Cheshire and Worcestershire,
turn out 800,000 tons of salt annually; one Cheshire
work alone makes 50,000 tons in a year, and can store
10,000 tons at once. Nearly all the rock-salt, dug in
a solid state in pits, is exported ; but nearly all the
fine table-salt is obtained from brine, pumped up from
a great depth underground, and then evaporated by
heat. M. Necker, the French statesman, once esti-
mated that Salt is consumed in France at the rate of
19% lbs. per head per annum; Mr. M'Culloch, a few
years ago, estimated the English consumption at
22 lbs. ; but the average must now be largely increasing
on account of the great cheapness of the commodity.
According to the experience of the ‘Lancet’ com-
missioners, spices are not more exempt than other
commodities from the degradation of adulterants.
About 40 samples of pepper were examined by them;
and among the ground powder were found linseed,
mustard-seed, wheat-starch, pea-meal, Sago-meal, pepper-
CH. XI. SPICE ADULTERATION. 439
sweepings, and pepper-husks; it is indeed said that,
‘ Once upon a time, the pepper-corns themselves were
actually imitated, by a mixture of oil-cake and com-
mon clay rendered pungent by cayenne. Ginger has
sometimes an improved external appearance given to it
by processes of barking and bleaching, to pass off in-
ferior as superior ; if ginger be purchased in a ground
state, increased facilities for fraud are given; and ac-
cordingly there have been found flour, arrow-root,
potato-starch, Sago-meal, turmeric, mustard-husk, and
ground rice, in what purported to be ground ginger.
The commissioners found most of the samples of all-
spice, cinnamon, mace, and cloves examined to be pure,
or nearly so. Mixed spices offer a temptation to
roguery; and they are frequently treated somewhat in
the same way as ground ginger. . It would hardly be
Supposed, perhaps, that so humble a product as mus-
tard falls under the same ban ; mustard is (or ought
to be) a meal obtained from the orange-coloured seed
of the mustard-plant, grown extensively in Durham
and Yorkshire, the black husk of the seed being sepa-
rated before grinding. But of the 2000 tons of mus-
tard, said by Mr. Braithwaite Poole to be annually
sold in the United Kingdom, we must not be quite
certain that it is what it professes to be ; for the com-
missioners, out of 42 samples examined, found most to
contain an admixture of flour, cayenne, bay-salt, radish-
seed, pea-meal, turmeric, rape-seed, or capsicum.
One more example, and we have done with this
vegetable series.
FF 4
440 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
TOBACCO among the ‘Food of London.' Is this
right, morally or dietetically, commercially or cour-
teously? It is of little use now to determine whether
this conjunction be ‘right’ or not ; the plain fact
stares us in the face, that men of all classes do now
consume tobacco, not only in London but in almost
every part of the world, civilised or uncivilised; and
another fact is, that to thousands among the humbler
classes the tobacco serves virtually as a substitute for
wasting
food. If our poor soldiers in the Crimea
upon half-cooked meat, green coffee, ragged clothes,
snow for beds, piercing winds for blankets — if they
had been asked whether a pipe in such circumstances
would have been food to them, how joyful would
have been their ‘Yes'! Professor Johnston treats
this as part of a larger subject — a sort of craving of
mankind for some kind of narcotic indulgence : —
“The aborigines of Central America rolled up the
tobacco-leaf and dreamed away their lives in smoky
reveries ages before Columbus was born or the colo-
mists of Sir Walter Raleigh had brought it within the
precincts of the Elizabethan court. The coca’ leaf,
now the comfort and strength of the Peruvian muleteer,
was chewed as he does it in far remote times, and among
the same mountains, by the Indian natives whose blood
he inherits. The use of opium, or hemp, or of the
betel nut, among Eastern Asiatics, mounts up to the
time of most fabulous antiquity. The same, probably,
is true of the pepper plant among the South Sea
Islands and the Indian Archipelago, and of the thorn-
apples used among the natives of the Andes and on
CH. XI. INTRODUCTION OF TOIBACCO. 441
the slopes of the Himalaya; while in northern Eu-
rope the ledum and the hop, and in Siberia the nar-
cotic fungus, have been in use from time immemorial.”
It is nevertheless a truly strange circumstance, that
tobacco, now used all over the world, was not known
in Europe three centuries ago! The moralists made
a terrible onslaught soon after its introduction; and
royalty took up the cudgels also. King James's
‘Counterblast to Tobacco was written about 1616,
only thirty years after Raleigh had introduced the
plant into England. The rebuke was intended to
be grave and severe. “Have you not reason,” asks
the royal moralist, “to be ashamed, and to forbeare
this filthy noveltie, so lately grounded, so foolishly
received, and so grossly mistaken in the right use
thereof P A custome loathsome to the eye, hateful to
the nose, harmfulle to the braine, dangerous to the lungs,
and in the blacke stinking fume thereof neerest re-
sembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that
is bottomlesse.” He adverts to what appears to have
been a dinner-table abuse — “making the filthy and
smokey stinke thereof to exhale athwart the dishes.”
Smoking, in fine, “maketh a kitchen of the inward
parts of man, soyling and infecting them with an
unctuous and oyly kind of soot.” But all in vain : the
smokers heeded not the kingly rebuker.
The tobacco, as we know it in the shops, gives but
little information concerning the appearance of the
leaf at the plantations. The tree attains a height of six
or eight feet; and the leaves vary from ten to twenty
* Chemistry of Common Life, ii. 3.
442 THE FOOD OF LONIDO.N. CH. XI.
inches in length; they have a yellowish tint and a
rough surface. At the proper season, the plants being
cut down nearly close to the ground, they are hung
upon slender sticks to dry, either in the air or by the
aid of a wood-fire. When properly dried they are
taken in-doors to be ‘stripped;’ a party of negroes —
men and women, boys and girls — squat in a circle on
the floor, and pull the leaves from the stalks : the leaves
being placed in three or four heaps, according to their
quality and appearance. Some of the leaves are sent
to England with the midrib attached, while others are
stripped from the midrib ; but in either case they
are left some time in heaps on a platform to “sweat’
or undergo a slight fermentation. The leaves are
finally packed in hogsheads, to the extent of ten or
twelve cwts, in each; the pressure applied being so in-
tense as to convert them into a mass nearly as hard and
solid as wood.
The stores of tobacco in our docks are truly extra-
ordinary. The London Dock Company have built a
vast warehouse, which the Crown rents at a large
annual sum ; and it is thus virtually in the hands of
the government — a structure well built, well glazed,
and well barricaded. We can imagine that an enemy
to smoking would be quite disheartened by an explo-
ration ; for the sight and the odour of tobacco en-
counter him on every side. Roaming east and west
along one series of avenues, and then changing to an-
other series of north and south avenues, he finds ranks
and double ranks of hogsheads on either side, piled one
on another and ranged one behind another; five acres
CEI. XI, TOIBACCO WAREHOUSES. 443
of space are thus occupied ; or, to change the scene a
little, square chests of tobacco alternate with round
hogsheads and flattish matting bags, according to the
countries whence the tobacco is brought. A cigar
warehouse attached has doors and locks and keys
to itself; and we may perchance find 24,000 hogs-
heads of tobacco, and 1500 chests of cigars, under one
roof.
There are some curious operations carried on when
the hogsheads of tobacco, after being stored at the Lon-
don or St. Katherine's Docks, are about to be removed
for sale. Almost every hogshead of tobacco becomes
slightly injured by the voyage to England; and as the
duty is enormous, the importer takes care not to pay
on any but saleable portions. The Chancellor of the
Exchequer is a hard man to deal with ; but there is
still a little mercy in some of his dealings; his official
language to tobacco importers is virtually this: “You
have here a hogshead containing a thousand pounds’
weight of tobacco; you must pay me duty on the whole
of this before you can be permitted to remove it from
the docks: if, however, any portion has been so injured
that you would lose money by the sale, then I will
permit you to abandon it and save the duty—but, ob-
serve, I insist on the absolute destruction of that which
escapes duty.” The bargain thus made is carried out.
The hogshead is loosened and lifted from off the mass of
tobacco ; the tobacco is examined, and any damaged
portions of exterior are cut off by the aid of large
Knives; the remainder, all good and saleable, is weighed
for the calculation of duty; and the damaged shreds
444 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
or cuttings are burnt in a kiln within the precincts of
the docks. It is to prevent any subterfuge in connection
with this drawback of duty that the damaged tobacco is
destroyed; and thus the shredded refuse, useless to the
importer and useless to the finance minister, becomes
nothing but —a material for tooth-powder. The ex-
plorer at the London Docks will not have failed to
meet, in the vast tobacco warehouses, an inscription
directing him to the ‘Riln,” or, as it is familiarly
termed, the “Queen's tobacco pipe.” In this pipe her
Majesty officially smokes not only tobacco, but kid
gloves, mutton hams, or any other commodities which,
being injured, are left with the import duty unpaid.
The connoisseurs in smoking may be supposed to
know all about the differences between ‘ returns,”
‘ bird’s-eye,’ ‘shag,” “Cavendish,’ ‘ Orinoco,’ ‘knaster,’
* negro-head,” “pig-tail,’ &c., but the origin of many of
these names it would be no easy matter to find out.
Some of the kinds of tobacco are made from dark leaf;
some from light; some are more wetted and darkened
in the preparation than others; some are better in
the leaf; some are cut into threads finer than others;
some have small bits of stalk shredded with the leaf;
some are not shredded at all—and thus arise the many
diversities in price and appearance. The ordinary cut
tobacco, constituting, perhaps, nineteen-twentieths of
all that is consumed in England, is prepared for retail
sale somewhat in the following way:—the hard masses
of tobacco require to be dug out of the hogshead by
forcible means, and moistened with water before they
can be separated; the midrib is stripped from each
CH. XI. SNUFF AND CIGAIRS, 445
leaf, if that process had not already been done at the
plantations; the leaves are packed together into a hard
cake; the cake is placed in an apparatus acting some-
thing like a chaff-cutting machine; and the leaves of
tobacco become the shreds so familiar to us.
If tobacco be often a substitute for food to an En-
glishman, there is some reason to think that snuff may
frequently serve the same purpose to a Scotchman : it
has been said that Celts and Scandinavians snuff more
than Smoke; while Germans and Anglo-Saxons smoke
rather than snuff. Be this as it may, a large quantity
of tobacco-powder is forced up the nostrils of her Ma-
jesty's subjects. Much of the snuff consumed in Lon-
don is ground in the neighbourhood of Mitcham, in
Surrey. Snuff is prepared from various parts of the
tobacco-leaf; some kinds are made from leaf without
stalk, some from stalk without leaf, and some from
a combination of stalk and leaf; there is also great
attention paid to the colour and quality of the leaves.
The ‘Scotch' and the ‘Welsh’, the “Lundyfoot' and
the ‘Hardham', the “rappee and other well-known
kinds—all differ in the modes of preparation; but the
chief processes are those of grinding and drying. Some-
times the drying is carried on to such an extent that
the snuff becomes ‘ high-dried.’
Another form in which the ‘Virginian weed’ is con-
sumed largely is that of cigars. The making of Ma-
nilla cheroots appears to be thus managed, according
to the account given by Mr. Mac Micking. Women
only are engaged in this employment; the number
thus employed in the great factory at Manilla is generally
446 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XI.
nearly four thousand; but, besides these, numerous
men are employed in another establishment making
cigarillos, small cigars enveloped in paper instead of
tobacco-leaf, and usually smoked by the Indians of
the island. The women work eight hundred or a
thousand together, in very large rooms — all seated
or squatted, Indian-like, on their haunches, upon the
floor; they are grouped around tables, at each of which
presides an old woman to keep the younger hands in
order. The women are supplied with a certain weight
of tobacco, of the first, second, or third qualities, used
in forming a cigar ; they are obliged to account for a
proportionate number of cheroots, the weight and size
of which are thus regulated; they employ stones for
beating out the leaf on the wooden tables before them ;
and the noise thus produced, by perhaps a thousand
working together, is described as almost deafening.
The workers are well paid by the government, to whom
the monopoly belongs.”
As with Manilla cheroots, so with Bengal cheroots,
Havanna cigars, and all the members of the cigar
family; they are all made by rolling up tobacco-
leaves, slight differences being observable in the mani-
pulations. An enormous proportion of those sold in
London, under the high-sounding designations of Ha-
vannas, Mexicans, Regalias, Lopez, Cubas, Principes,
Bengals, Fragancias, Queen's, and so forth, are made
in the neighbourhood of Whitechapel. A real foreign
cigar must necessarily be high-priced on account of the
enormous duty; insomuch that we may safely infer
* Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines.
CEI. XI. TOBACCO CONSUMPTION. 447
that a cheap cigar is made at home, although the to-
bacco itself may possibly be genuine.
Contrary as it may be to expectation, there is not
more tobacco consumed now, per head of population,
than at the commencement of the present century — so
far as the customs’ returns afford the means of judging.
Mr. Dalton, Mr. Porter, Mr. Crawford, and other
inquirers, have set down the quantity ‘entered for
home consumption’ in certain years, and the amount
of population in those years; and from these compara-
tive columns they have found that if all the tobacco
were equally divided among all the inhabitants, it would
have amounted — in 1801 to about 16 oz. per head per
annum, in 1811 to 18% oz., in 1821 to 113 oz., in 1831
to 123 oz., in 1841 to 13% oz., and in 1851 to 16 oz.
The pounds consumed annually are now just about
equal to the total number of inhabitants in the United
Kingdom — about 30 millions, or 1 lb. per head per
&Il Ill II]].
It has been conjectured that the money paid retail
for tobacco in the United Kingdom cannot be less than
6,000,000l. annually, of which three-fourths go to the
crown in the form of duty l Five-sixths of all our
tobacco is brought from the United States—a ratio of
dependence nearly as complete as that in cotton. As
an illustration of the small quantity of coffee consumed
in Ireland a few years ago, it was stated that the Irish.
get rid of four times as much tobacco as coffee. We
nevertheless occupy a very humble position as smokers;
for Mr. Crawford, in an essay in the Statistical Society’s
Journal, states that the United Kingdom consumes less
448 Ti-II) FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
than most other European nations per head; that Europe
takes less than the other quarters of the globe; that
France consumes 18 oz., Denmark 70, and Belgium so
high as 73 per head annually; that this latter is far
above the European average, but far below the Asiatic
average, and that it may possibly be a fair average for
the whole world. In short, he thinks that 1000 million
people may take 70 oz. per year each, making a total an-
nual consumption of tobacco amounting to 2 million tons !
He further supposes that the average price all over
the world may not exceed 2d. per lb., which would
give a total retail expenditure for tobacco of 36 millions
sterling per year, mostly driven offin smoke. The aver-
age wholesale price of tobacco in England is about
4}d. per lb. Some of the tobacco-brokers have observed
that when times are good the cigar-trade ‘looks up ;’ at
such times working men frequently indulge in cigars;
but when hard times supervene, the humble pipe of
humble tobacco is made to suffice. -
Another singular computation relates to all the nar-
cotics—tobacco, opium, hemp, betel, and coca—con-
cerning which it is guessed that 1560 million persons
use them, consuming 6000 million lbs. annually, re-
quiring 7 million acres of land to grow them, and
paying 60 millions sterling for them. Such an estimate
must necessarily rest on a slender foundation. More
interesting is Professor Johnston's query, --Plow far
is race, or national character, affected by the usage,
during a long period of time, of particular narcotics P
This query, however, takes us too far from London
and its tobacco.
CEI. XI. VARIETIES OF TOBACCO. 449.
Of the various sorts of tobacco best known in Lon-
don, Virginia is a strong common kind, Kentucky less
strong, Maryland still milder, and Orinoco mildest of
the four ; Cuba and Columbia tobaccos are mostly
used for cigars, and Manilla and Bengal for cheroots;
Turkey, Levant, and Persian tobacco are more delicate
in flavour and higher in price. It has been found in
the United States that an acre of Maryland tobacco
produces about 600 lbs. of dry leaf, that 6000 plants
produce 1000 lbs. of dry leaf, and that 8 lbs. of dry leaves
produce 1000 cigars of average size. Another estimate
gives for the whole world 5% million acres of land at
800 lbs. of tobacco per acre. Not only are the Ame-
ricans great tobacco-growers, but 'great tobacco-con-
Sumers also ; for their consumption is said to reach
7 lbs. per head per annum.
It follows as an almost necessary consequence of the
enormous duty imposed upon tobacco in the United
Kingdom, that much adulteration takes place: even
upon ordinary tobacco the duty is far higher than the
actual value of the commodity itself; while on cigars it
exceeds this manifold. An Act of Parliament was passed
in 1842, which shows that the government suspected the
practice of adulteration, consequent in a great measure
on the inordinate amount of duty ; for it contained a
clause prohibiting all tobacco manufacturers from having
on their premises any sugar, treacle, molasses, honey,
malt, roasted grain, chicory, lime, sand, umber, ochre,
seaweed, ground wood, moss, weeds, or leaves other than
those of tobacco. The truth is that all these have been
met with in some of the many varieties of manufactured
G G
450 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XI.
tobacco or snuff. Generally speaking, however, dis-
honest practices in this trade are not exhibited so much
in actual adulteration as in certain by-ways and side-
paths; the wrongdoers either contrive to evade the
payment of duty on real foreign cigars, or they palm
off British-made cigars as foreign. The duty is evaded
in an endless number of ways, usually on small quanti-
ties at a time ; but there is a record relating to the
year 1843, of 20,000 lbs. of snuff having been imported
from Holland, so packed as to pass for Dutch cheeses,
and thereby evading a duty of 6s. per lb. It is a
common practice, in the shops of London tobacconists,
to sell cigars made in London, but which—in the shape
of the boxes, the words branded thereon, or the mode
of fastening the cigars into bundles—may present the
appearance of having been imported from abroad.
The ‘Lancet’ commissioners present some odd details
concerning the wretched substitutes for cigars occa-
sionally thrust upon unwary purchasers in London.
An agent employed by them bought a few very ‘cheap”
cigars of a hawker in Whitechapel; and these, on ex-
amination, were found to consist of twisted wrappers
made of thin brown paper, stuffed with hay, but con-
taining not a particle of tobacco. Another cigar,
bought at a review in Hyde Park, bad a tobacco out-
side but an interior of hay. “About the neighbourhood
of Whitechapel,” the commissioners remark, “ the sale
of spurious cheroots constitutes a regular business.
Men dressed as sailors, and appearing as though they
had just returned from a long voyage, are constantly
on the look-out for young gentlemen who are supposed
..CH. XI. CIGAR ADULTERATION. 451
to have a little money in their pockets, and to be some-
what inexperienced. To such these fellows address the
inquiry in a mysterious manner, as though they feared
to be overheard by the police — ‘Do you want to buy
a box of real Manillas? I have got a few boxes “on the
cross; ”just come with me down this passage, and I will
show you them, and let you taste them l’ At the same
time holding out a genuine Manilla cheroot as if taken
from the box for the young gentleman to try. He,
being satisfied with the quality and flavour, closes the
bargain, and walks off home with a box of brown paper
and hay under his arm, congratulating himself on his
purchase, and anticipating the pleasure in store for him
in smoking his acquisition.” The mortification is here
all the greater, for the ‘young gentleman’ cannot even
ask for condolence: it is true that the hawker cheats
him ; but it is equally true that the young gentleman
believes himself to have been cleverly aiding to cheat
the revenue.
Thus may we close this chapter with these few
notices of the Smoky vegetable which Master Salvation
Yeo, in the warmth of his admiration, calls “a lone
man's companion, a bachelor's friend, a hungry man's
food, a sad man's cordial, a wakeful man's sleep, and a
chilly man's fire.”
G G 2
452. TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
CHAPTER XII.
TEIE BEVERAGES OF LONDON.
Increase or Decrease of Beer-drinking in London, which 3 — Malt
and Malting.— Quantities of Barley malted.—Hops and Hop-grow-
ing.—Hop-gambling. — Gradual Rise of Porter brewing.—Wastness
of the London Breweries. – Manufacturing History of a Pint of
Porter. — Amount of Brewing and Beer-drinking in London. —
Public-houses of London. — Anomalies in the licensing System. —
Oddities in the Signs of Public-houses.—Spirit drinking.—Remark-
able Chemistry of Spirit-distilling. — Great London Distilleries. –
Distinction between Distillers and Rectifiers. — English Gin and
Scotch or Irish Whiskey.—Probable Consumption.—Wine—Causes
of its small Consumption in England.—Operations of the Vintage.—
Probable Quantities produced. — Names and Capacities of Casks —
Port and Sherry sophisticated for the English Market. — Quantities
imported.—Great Vaults at the London Docks,—“Tasting Orders.”—
Adulteration of Wine. — British Wine. — Rise of this Manufacture
in Connection with Vinegar-making.
POPULAR opinions require occasional revision. That
London is a beer-drinking city — a city in which por-
ter-breweries, dray-horses, draymen, beer-butts, and
public-houses are especial characteristics — is in many
quarters a received doctrine, a theorem not to be gain-
Said.
But is this true? Will the current opinion bear
the test of examination ? It may be incontrovertible
that our great brewers send forth a larger amount
of malt-liquor than any other brewers in the world;
but this is not conclusive. The inquiry is — not how
much beer is brewed and drunk—but what ratio does
CH. XII. IBEER. D.R.INIKING. 453
this quantity bear to the number of inhabitants. Now
there is strong reason to think that, both in the me-
tropolis and in the country generally, this ratio is
smaller than in past times. In the Historical Sketch
many passages have been quoted from writers of au-
thority, tending to show how great was the love of
‘good fat ale’ and “foaming tankards’ and ‘lusty
flagons’ in the days that are past. But the writers of
the present century have become accustomed to apply
a new test to such matters; they endeavour to reach
the fountain-head, and to determine what have been
the quantities of ingredients or materials employed.
Now Mr. Porter, Mr. Dalton, and other inquirers,
have ascertained what quantities of malt were made
at different periods; and, comparing these quantities
with the population, it becomes unquestionable that
the consumption per head was much larger in past
times than in the present. Just a century ago the
quantity was enormous, quadrupling that of recent
years, per head of population: it is true that some of
the malt may have been used in distilling spirits, or in
making vinegar; but the same is equally applicable at
the present day. In one of Mr. Porter's statistical
tables it appears that the malt made was equal to
nearly five bushels per head throughout the kingdom
in 1750; but that this ratio decreased to two bushels
and a half per head in 1790. At no time during the
present century does the quantity appear to have been
so much as two bushels; and in many recent years it
has been less than one bushel. The same authority
G G 3
454 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
has ascertained that the beer and ale made in Eng-
land and Wales, if shared rateably among the in-
habitants, would have given about 25 gallons per
head per annum, in the early years of the present
century; but that this quantity diminished to 21
gallons about the year 1829. The Beer tax was
repealed in 1830 ; and since that time there have
been no official means of determining the quantity of
malt-liquor brewed: we only know how much malt
has paid duty to the Exchequer. One curious fact
elicited by Mr. Porter is this — that whatever may be
the whiskey-making and whiskey-drinking tendencies
of the Scotch, the taste for malt-liquor is much less
strongly developed there than in England; at the time
when the English average gave about 21 gallons per
head, the Scotch average barely amounted to 6 gal-
lons; and if, as seems probable, more Scotch ale is
consumed in England than English porter and ale in
Scotland, this latter average is reduced still lower.
Of outlandish beer, Londoners know little. The
chica, or maize-beer of South America; the bouza,
or millet-beer of the Crim-Tatars; the quass, or rye-
beer of the Russians; the koumiss, or milk-beer of
the Turcomans; the cava, or pepper-beer of the
South-Sea Islanders — are beverages only to be read
about in books, so far as London is concerned.
Beer being brewed from malt, and malt being made
from barley, the problem in reality is, how to get the
sugar out of the grain ; or rather, how to convert the
starch into sugar It is left for the brewer afterwards
CH. XII. MALTING. 455
to determine how to convert the sugar into beer.
Other kinds of grain, such as wheat, oats, rye, and
Indian corn, contain starch, and can be malted, but
barley is better fitted for this than any of the others.
The malting process does not extract the starch from
the barley, but changes its character while yet enve-
loped within the husk. The grain is wetted and
steeped; it swells, becomes heavy, and changes colour;
it is spread out in a layer; it becomes drier and warmer
and sweeter; its starch changes into sugar; it is kiln-
dried on a perforated floor; and it becomes malt —
‘pale,” or ‘amber,” or “brown,” according to the mode
and degree of drying. The barley diminishes in
weight, but increases in bulk, by the malting process;
thus 100 pounds of barley produce about 92 pounds
of malt, but 100 bushels of barley produce about 108
bushels of malt.
As to our supplies of this important item, London
depends in great degree on the neighbourhood of
Hertford and Ware, in which malting is carried on
to a remarkable extent; some years ago, Kingston-
upon-Thames took the lead above all other towns in
supplying this article of London wants; but Ware is
considered to occupy the first rank at present. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer, whoever he may be—Pro-
tectionist or Freetrader — does not feel that he can play
at hazard with a revenue of five or six millions sterling
annually from malt ; and thus he looks very sharply
after the maltster. Indeed, the finance minister is vir-
tually the maltster himself; for his rigorous supervision
G G 4
456 TEIF FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
of the maltsters is applied to the one end of producing
the greatest possible bulk of malt from a given quan-
tity of barley, - the malt-duty being estimated by bulk
and not by weight.
The malt for London is not made in London; how
much it amounts to, we shall see presently ; but will
first give a few figures relating to the production of
malt as a whole. The malt account for 1854 presents
itself thus : —
Duty paid. Home Consumption.
JBushels. JBushels.
England -> - 31,869,127 31,863,739
Scotland º tº 3,412,950 3,411,511
Ireland *-* £º 1,537,477 1,537,477
36,819,554 36,812,727
Showing that nearly all the malt made in the United
Ringdom is consumed at home. The quantities charged
with duty were larger in 1852 and 1853 than in 1854;
being respectively about 41 and 42 millions of bushels
against 37 millions. As there were nearly 30 million
inhabitants in the United Kingdom in 1854, the above
quantity is equal to about a bushel and a quarter of
malt per head per annum.
The other chief ingredient of malt-liquors, HOPs, is
in many respects remarkable. It is precarious as a
crop; it will grow on a few soils only; it gives rise to
a species of gambling from which malt is altogether
exempt; and it may be dispensed with altogether, for
many other plants would impart a bitter flavour to
beer, albeit not equal to that of the hop.
Whatever ratio the consumption of beer and ale in
CEI. XII. F[OP GAIRDEN.S. 457
London may bear to that in the whole kingdom, the
hop-growers depend on London customers in a yet
larger ratio; for London dealers purchase and sell
much more hops than are needed for London brewing.
However it may be in other counties, the hops from
Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, are unquestionably depen-
dent principally on the metropolitan market. It is
estimated that 201. to 25l. per annum is expended on
an acre of hops, mostly as wages of labour for prepar-
ing the ground, manuring it with chopped rags and
stale fish, digging, planting, weeding, poling, cutting,
picking, drying, and packing in sacks or bags. It is
a pretty sight in September, when the plants arrive
at maturity, and when a hop-garden presents the most
animated appearance: men and women, boys and
girls, trudge to the gardens in considerable numbers
from other parts of the country; for, when the hop is
once ripe it must be picked with as little delay as
possible, and hence all hands are called into requisition.
The portion used by the brewer is simply the seed-pod
of the plant; and the powerful properties are possessed
chiefly by a yellow aromatic powder formed at the
base of the flower.
There has been a rough estimate that England
contains fifty to sixty thousand acres of hop-gardens;
nearly half of this whole quantity is in Kent. East
Farleigh is said to be the richest hop parish — a
parish that claims to have had one grower who pos-
sessed 70,000l. worth of hop-poles | Another of the
magnates of the hop-trade, in a different part of Kent,
458 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
is popularly said to possess five hundred acres of hops,
and to have on some occasions employed four thousand
persons during the picking-season. The hops vary
from a minimum of one cwt. to a maximum of twenty
cwts. per acre; and thus the grower is kept in anx-
iety and uncertainty concerning the profitableness or
otherwise of his year's exertions. Hence arises the
strange system of hop-gambling, in which two men
wager upon the probable amount of the hop-duty
—itself depending on the richness of the crop; it is
analogous to the system of ‘time-bargains' on the
Stock Exchange, wherein two men strive which shall
make the more correct guess concerning a future un-
certain event, and agree that a sum of money shall con-
stitute a reward given by the loser to the winner. Many
a Kentish man has been ruined by hop-gambling. As
to the real produce, it has sometimes been estimated
that eight or ten cwts. per acre may possibly be about
an average of all seasons and all soils.
The hop-flowers are reduced to one-fourth or one-
fifth of their weight by drying. They are well com-
pressed for the market into sacks — the finer into
‘pockets’ of 13 cwt. each, and the coarser into ‘bags’
of 2; cwts. The properties of hops in beer or ale are
said to be four — to impart a tonic aromatic bitter; to
increase the soporific tendency; to clarify the beer;
and to delay the acidifying. So much do we, as a
nation, appear to admire this adjunct, that we are sup-
posed to grow as many hops as all the rest of the
world together.
CH. XII. EIOP TRADE IN LONDON. 459
No department of railway commerce in connection
with London food is more remarkable, perhaps, than
the hop-trade on the South Eastern railway. As Kent
is the chief county, and as September and October are
the chief months, the pressure of business is sometimes
enormous. This was especially the case in 1855—the
richest hop-year ever known. On some days the
country stations were literally choked with hops: 2000
or 3000 pockets at one station, waiting until trains
could be provided for conveying them to London. The
Bricklayers' Arms depôt often appeared like one vast
magazine of hops; and Mr. Shaw, the goods manager,
was nearly overwhelmed by this flood of bitters. The
hop-salesmen in the Borough, too, were bewildered;
for the arrivals were more rapid than the clearances,
insomuch that their warehouses could not contain the
vast stores sent up for sale. The waggons from the
railway conveyed through the London streets quantities
of hops scarcely credible; the company made arrange-
ments for the reception of 40,000 pockets per week, if
the salesmen could have carried them off so rapidly,
which, however, was found to be by no means the case.
During the season nearly 250,000 pockets, averaging
13 to the ton, or about 170 lbs. each, were thus brought
up to the Bricklayers' Arms depôt ; the largest con-
veyance on any one day was 7864 pockets, more than
1,330,000 lbs. of hops | The heaviest train brought
2600 pockets at one time. The waggons and vans that
conveyed the hops from the depôt to the salesmen's
warehouses, or to other railway stations, contained
460 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
from 40 to 60 pockets each; and on one particular day
7326 pockets were thus conveyed, comprising 140 mon-
ster waggon-loads. The mere bittering of our beer and
ale, it will thus be seen, gives rise to a vast scene of
commercial activity.
The Hertfordshire malt and the Kentish hops be-
ing, as we will suppose, brought to London, the rest
devolves on the brewers. But before noticing the
great porter breweries, a few words may be said
concerning London beer in the second half of the
last century.
About the beginning of the reign of George the
Third, the price in London was 30s. per barrel for
‘pale’ ale, and 19s. to 22s. for “brown,’ — these being
at that time the two principal designations; the two
lvinds were for the most part brewed by different
parties, who emulated each other in the attempt to
obtain popular favour. This emulation led to the pre-
paration of mixed malt liquors; the brewers of brown
ale, or beer, began to hop their beverage more highly,
to render it more like the pale ale. Dealers were
then wont to buy ales of two or three kinds, keep
them some time, and mix them to form interme-
diate ales of different flavours, saleable at about 26s.
per barrel: a beer called “three threads’ was pro-
duced by mixing three kinds together. The brewers
next tried to imitate these intermediate ales by a kind
which, being drawn entirely from one butt, became
called ‘ entire;’ and being deemed nutritious for porters
and other labouring men, it also obtained the name of
‘porter beer’ or ‘porter.” This is the explanation
CH. XII. BEER SIXTY YEARS AGO. 461
given of the familiar ‘entire’ and ‘porter’ of the Lon-
don breweries.
A pamphlet, published in 1795, adverted to in a
former chapter, presents a very gloomy view of the
morality of the metropolitan beer-trade at that time.*
The pamphleteer states that the high price of malt
had led the brewers to employ deleterious drugs
as a substitute. In abundant times, when grain was
cheap, there was but one brewery in London where
the beer was sophisticated—the Sophistication being
made manifest by the muddling and headache symp-
toms on the part of the drinkers. “But now,” ex-
claims he, in wrath, “the greater quantity of the
porter consumed in this kingdom is polluted from a
similar cause.” He proceeds to inform us that the chief
adulteration was effected with cocculus indicus, or
Indian berry; and that five bushels of malt, aided by
this berry, was made to do the duty of eight. “There
is an Act in being which imposes five hundred pounds
penalty for every twelve berries of the cocculus indicus
found in any brewhouse by an exciseman; but to
elude the statute, they make a strong decoction which
is infused in the boiling liquor in the copper, by the
head brewer, who in the dread moment of the poisonous
immersion, turns all the usual assistants out of the
brewhouse, and does the deed of ruin alone.” The
brewers seem to have been as well acquainted with
‘ doctoring’ their beer as any of later days, according
to the disclosures of this writer; for he accuses them
of strengthening it with cocculus indicus, rendering it
* The Crying Frauds of the London Markets.
462 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
thirst-creating instead of thirst-allaying by means of
tobacco, colouring it with Spanish liquorice, giving it a
cauliflower ‘head’ by means of copperas, and fining it
with isinglas. “Thus,” he says, “all these arts and
ingredients form that charming beverage called London
porter, which is swilled in such immense quantities by
the unconscious multitude, who gladly receive that into
the stomach, as the fair issue of malt and hops, which
is generally speaking innocent of both !”
The wrath of the writer has here a little clouded his
judgment; for, whatever may be the case in respect of
hops, London porter without malt would certainly be a
puzzle. Sheridan, nevertheless, once threw a witticism
at Whitbread containing such an insinuation; the two
being together at Brookes's club, Sheridan is said to
have let off the following squib : —
* They’ve raised the price of table-beer.
What's the reason, do you think 2
The tax on malt's the cause, I hear;
Put what has malt to do with beer P’
But let us on, and speak of the London breweries as
they are at the present day.
The great brewing firms have become almost ‘house-
hold words’ in London. A few of the breweries are
carried on by descendants of the same families which
established them in the last century. The following
table presents the trade of these great houses in a curious
light: the trade of a brewer being measured by the
quantity of malt used by him, the following were the
quantities, in quarters, supplied to fifteen of the principal
CH. XII. GREAT BREWERS. 463
brewers in the metropolis in three different years, at
intervals of ten years apart : —
1830–1. 1840—l. 1850–1.
q7's. q1’S. qYS.
Barclay and Co. - º 97,198 106,345 115,542
Truman and Co. - wº 50,724 88,132 105,022
Whitbread and Co. wº- 49,713 51,482 51,800
Reid and Co. e- 3- 43,380 47,980 56,640
Combe and Co. ** tº- 34,684 36,460 43,282
Calvert and Co. - gº 30,525 30,615 28,638
Meux and Co. t- * 24,339 39,583 59,617
Hoare and Co. º wº 24,102 29,450 35,000
Elliott and Co. *E- gº 19,444 25,275 29,558
Taylor and Co. – gº 21,845 37,300 15,870
Goding and Co. - * 16,307 14,631 13,064
Charrington and Co. * 10,530 18,328 21,016
Courage and Co. – gº 8,116 11,532 14,469
Thorne and Co. – tº 1,445 20,846 22,022
Mann and Co. º {- 1,302 1 1,654 24,030
These immense establishments are well known, even
to those who have not actually visited them, to be
among the most complete manufacturing concerns in
the metropolis. The famous brewery of Barclay and
Perkins, standing at the head of the list, was founded,
on a small scale, by Mr. Halsey, much more than
a century ago; he made out of it an ample fortune,
and then sold it to the elder Thrale, who in 1758
left it to the younger Thrale, the friend of Dr.
Johnson; and it is among the by-gone but not less
cherished glories of the place that the great lexico–
grapher wrote a portion of his Dictionary in a room
within the precincts of the brewery. When the second
Thrale died, in 1781, the establishment was sold by
auction, at which Johnson bustled about with an ink-
horn dangling to his button-hole. A Mr. Barclay and a
Mr. Perkins, clubbing their means together, purchased
464 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
the whole concern for the large sum of 135,000l. ; and
the brewery has remained for three quarters of a cen-
tury nominally if not really in the hands of the descend-
ants of those gentlemen. There is said to be a million
and a half of capital sunk in this concern. With
another of these great firms is connected the name of
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, favourably known in a
wholly different walk in life; while the Whitbreads
carry us back to the memory of many a public event in
the reign of George the Third.
When it is considered that two of the great breweries
consume more than a hundred thousand quarters of
malt each in a year, it may well be conceived that the
working operations must be on a gigantic scale. These
two are Barclay and Perkins's in Southwark, and
Truman and Hanbury's in Spitalfields. The malt, the
water, the hops, the fuel, the vessels — all are vast.
For instance, Barclay's premises cover an area of ten
or twelve acres, and have a boundary nearly a third of
a mile in circuit ; they require a hundred thousand
gallons of water per day; they have twenty or thirty
malt-bins, each as large as a moderately-sized house;
they have a porter-brewing room or brewhouse very
little smaller than Westminster Hall; they have five
copper boilers, each of which will contain twelve
thousand gallons of wort or malt extract; they require
six or seven hundred tons of coals in a year; they have
many thousand Square feet of flooring, on which the
beer is cooled; they have several square wooden vessels
for the fermenting process, each of which will contain
fifteen hundred barrels of beer; there is a tank, for con-
CH. XII. PORTER-BEEWING. 465
taining the beer before barrelling, that, when full, would
float a large barge; there are nearly two hundred store
vats, the average capacity of which is thirty thousand
gallons, and of some of them more than a hundred
thousand — a quantity that reduces the celebrated
Heidelberg tun to insignificance; they have seventy-
thousand butts and barrels and other vessels, wherein
the beer and ale are conveyed from the establishment;
and lastly, they have two hundred of the finest horses
in the world, to drag the clumsy butts upon the clumsy
drays through the streets of the metropolis — horses,
draymen, butts, and drays, being worthy of each other.
If the working details at Truman and Hanbury’s, or at
Reid's or Meux's, were similarly noticed, we should
probably find some of the items still more extraordinary
than those here given. Messrs. Truman are said to
possess four vats that will contain 80,000 gallons each,
and store-wats altogether for 3,500,000 gallons. The
store in spring has even reached 4,000,000 gallons
at one of these vast establishments.
The chemical niceties of porter-brewing lie beyond
the scope of the present volume ; but a general outline
of the operations may be easily understood. The malt
is of course the groundwork of the whole proceedings;
it is brought from the maltsters in sacks, stored in bins
until wanted, conveyed to a mill-room, and there
crushed into grist by the action of steel rollers. The
grist passes into a large vessel, the “mash-tun, where it is
stirred with hot water until the water has extracted the
beer-making qualities of the malt. The extract, now
called wort, is transferred to a copper, where it is boiled
E[ ][[
466 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CII, XII.
with hops until a sufficient amount of bitterness is im-
parted to the liquor. The contents of the copper, both
wort and hops, then descend into a large square vessel,
having a false perforated bottom; the spent hops re-
hain in the vessel, but the liquid flows into another
building where it undergoes a rapid cooling. The malt
is mashed and the hops are boiled two or three times
over, to extract as much as possible of their useful
qualities; and when quite spent, the one constitutes
grains for cattle-food, while the other is available as
manure. The cooled wort undergoes the strange pro-
cess of fermenting, in enormous wooden vessels; and
when this process has continued to a certain stage, the
wort is transferred to smaller vessels, where it frets
away until the yeast has worked itself off. The wort
has now become beer; and the beer is pumped or forced
into enormous vats that retain it till wanted. After
storing for a certain time, the beer is transferred to the
butts so familiar to us in the London streets, each of
which contains 108 gallons, or three barrels of 36
gallons each.
‘Thirsty Soul,” and other writers to the editor of the
‘Times, maintained an animated controversy in 1853
concerning the price of London porter. Malt was
plentiful and cheap, and yet the great brewers charged
as highly for their beverages as in less favourable years.
It was obviously a departure from the ordinary laws
that regulate price; and there can be little doubt that
it resulted from the enormous power possessed by about
a dozen firms which monopolise the trade. The London
masses will have London porter; the London porter
CEI. XII. VARIETIES OF BEER. 4.67
is associated with the names of only a small number
of brewers; and thus the brewers have a formidable
hold on the beer-drinkers. It offers a curious example
—analogous to that of the ‘Times’ itself — of the
growth of a mighty power, something akin to monopoly
in aspect, yet all the time open to the influence of
Free Trade.
The genuine unadulterated London beer, the brown
stout, is certainly a special beverage. One drinker may
prefer London ale, another the Burton productions of
Bass or Allsopp, another the almost overcloying Edin-
burgh ale, another the ale of Suffolk or Winchester, of
Alton or Llangollen, another the bottled stout of the
famous Guinness; but the real London brown stout
differs from them all, and has its resolute defenders and -
admirers. Smokers have sometimes discoursed learnedly
upon the fitness of London stout for companionship
with tobacco; how that ‘ the mucilaginous properties,
which are well developed in stout, valuably neutralise
the narcotic properties of tobacco’— a hypothesis which,
be it good or bad, the great porter-brewers would be
very glad to endorse. Concerning adulteration, it will
be remembered that a great stir was made a few years
ago, by an assertion on the part of a French chemist
that Strychnine, a bitter but poisonous herb, is em-
ployed by the Burton ale-brewers in the preparation of
their “bitter ale.’ The accusation raised a ferment
among the ale-drinkers, and this in its turn roused the
Burton brewers; a paper-war ensued, and eminent
chemists were called in to ascertain the facts of the
matter. The inquiry certainly tended to show that
H II 2
468 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XII.
Burton ale is what it professes to be — a genuine pro-
duct of malt and hops.
So far as regards London porter, any sophistication
is likely to be practised rather, perhaps, by the publi-
cans in low neighbourhoods than by the brewers; for
the ‘Barclay' or the ‘Meux’ at one house is frequently
a very different beverage from that sold at another.
Chemists assure us that cocculus indicus, a very bitter
drug, often serves as a substitute for hops; that it
gives a fulness and thickness and inebriating quality to
beer, gaining for that beverage the reputation of being
‘strong;' and that hence arises a temptation to tamper
with the liquor, by lessening the quantity both of malt
and hops. The beer-drinkers are in part to blame here,
for thinking that the darkness and clammy thickness
are necessarily indicative of strength.
In round numbers, the malt consumed in the United
Kingdom, by private families as well as by public
brewers, is about 40,000,000 bushels or 5,000,000
quarters annually, with which about 15,000,000 bar-
rels of ale and beer are brewed, equal to 540 million
gallons. At the average estimate of 50s. per barrel,
the value amounts to nearly 40,000,000l. annually.
It is with London only, however, that we have here
more particularly to do. Some computers have guessed
that there are 1,200,000 barrels of beer and ale con-
sumed in London annually; while another computer
has set down 2,000,000 barrels as the probable quan-
tity brewed in London; and a third has named about
2
a thousand million ‘tumblers’ as a probable quantity—
estimates but little accordant, and tending to show
CH. XII. PRICES OF BR.E.R. 469
how difficult it is to arrive at correct results on such
a subject. If, as there seems not much doubt, the two
great breweries send forth 50,000 gallons per day each,
the magnitude of the trade is rendered sufficiently ap-
parent. -
It may be convenient, while speaking of quantities in
respect of malt liquor, to bear in mind that, although
beer and ale are usually estimated in barrels of 36
gallons each, there are six kinds of casks wherein the
products of the London breweries are contained: viz.
butts, puncheons, hogsheads, barrels, kilderkins, and
firkins, containing respectively 108, 72, 54, 36, 18, and
9 gallons — all multiples of the firkin or 9 gallons.
Numerous minor facts present themselves for no-
tice in connection with London beer. So far as the
malt is concerned, beer is made from high-dried malt,
which renders it dull, dark, and bitter; while ale is
made from low-dried malt, whence it obtains the cha-
racteristics of being brisk, light, and sweet. While
an excise duty was imposed on beer, ‘strong beer’
was considered to be that which sold for 16d. or up-
wards per gallon, while ‘ table beer’ was at lower
prices. There was an attempt made by the legisla-
ture to encourage the brewing of a third kind, called
‘ intermediate;’ but this attempt, embodied in an Act
passed in 1823, did not meet with ultimate success.
Brewers can obtain more good wort from a bushel of
low-dried malt than from an equal quantity of high-
dried; but as the beer thus resulting would not be so
dark or bitter as ordinary London porter, the brewers
are tempted to add certain chemical ingredients to
II H 3
470 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
bring about the darkening process. Strong Scotch
ale is rich both in malt and in hops — there being, it
is said, four or five bushels of the former, and four
or five pounds of the latter, to a barrel. The ‘four-
penny ale, at the beer-shops (as distinguished from
the public-houses) contains from three to four bushels
of malt, and two pounds of hops, to the barrel, and is
bought from the brewers at 36s, or 38s. per barrel.
Will the inhabitants of London ever carry their
beer in their pockets P A question, this, not so strange as
at first may appear; for a Moravian, M. Rietsch, has
invented a mode of making what may be termed solid
beer. He brews a malt-extract; he bitters it with
hops and sweetens it with sugar; he concentrates it
by heat; he pours the thickened mass into wooden
boxes lined with tinfoil; and he sells it in this form.
The purchaser, when inclined for a draught of beer,
takes some of the concentrated extract, dissolves it,
ferments it, and — lo! the beer appears. It is obvious
that the only question here is — not whether such
beer can possibly compete with draught beer where
brewers and malt and hops are plentiful — but whether
it may not be a valuable addition to the commissariat
stores of travellers or sojourners in distant and ill-
provided countries; since the concentrated extract is
suited for keeping. The substance is called ‘bierstein’
or beerstone. A company has been established for
manufacturing it at Bömish-Rudoletz in Moravia.
The PUBLIC-HOUSEs of London, as distinguished
from hotels, inns, chop-houses, eating-houses, and cof-
CH. XII. T, ONIDON PUBLICANS. 471
fee-rooms, have undergone great changes within the
last few years. They have been transformed from
dingy pot-houses into splendid gin-palaces, from painted
deal to polished mahogany, from small crooked panes
of glass to magnificent crystal sheets, from plain
useful fittings to costly luxurious adornments. The
old Boniface, with his red nose and his white apron,
has made way for the Smart damsels who prepare at
their toilettes to shine at the bar. The comfortable
old landlady is less seen than formerly, ensconced
behind and amongst her rich store of cordials and
compounds and liqueurs; she, too, must pass under
the hands of the milliner before making her daily
appearance in public. Even the pot-boy is not the
pot-boy of other days; there is a dash of something
about him that may almost be called gentility; his
apron is cleaner than were the aprons of pot-boys
twenty years ago; and the tray filled with quarts
and pints of dinner-beer, carried out to the houses of
the customers, seems to have undergone some change,
for it is less frequently seen than “in days of yore.’
The great porter-brewers, as is generally known, are
the owners or lessees of a large number of public-
houses: indeed, much of the enormous capital of these
firms is sunk in this way. Their object is, not to ob-
tain a very large return as landlords, but to ensure the
custom of the house; for the publican of a ‘brewer's
house,” whether he be a mere agent or servant, or has
some little stake of his own in the concern, is expected
to purchase his beer and ale of that particular brewer.
We rarely or ever see any change in the name of the
II II 4
472 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XII.
brewer who supplies a particular house; the inscrip-
tion ‘Barclay, Perkins, & Co.'s Entire adorned the
front of the ‘ Red Lion’ twenty years ago, as it does
now, and will probably do twenty years hence; “Tru-
man, Hanbury, & Buxton’ cling to the ‘Lord Nelson’
year after year; and Henry Meux, & Co.'s Entire
has been the beverage supplied at the ‘King's Head
for a generation past. During a turmoil in London a
few years ago, one of the great brewers offended the
working classes concerning some political question; it
was determined to desert the public-houses that ob-
tained their supply from that brewery; and the result
soon became so serious, that the brewer thought it best
to ‘eat humble pie,’ and beg for a return of favour to
the hostelries under his control.
Mr. Lawson draws attention to a few facts that
strikingly illustrate the defects of the public-house
licensing system in past years. It was found in the
year 1817, by a Parliamentary Committee, that the
ordinary mode of obtaining a license in the metropolis
was to give the beadle of the parish a bribe of a few
shillings, whereon he produced the signature of the
T. clergyman of the parish, or of the other persons
whose recommendation was essential. Public-house
licenses were obtained in various other ways, with a
scandalous disregard to public necessity, and merely by .
the influence of builders, landlords, and others, who had
an object in enhancing the value of property. At the
period in question, in High Street Shadwell, there was
one public-house to every twelve other houses; in New
Gravel Lane one to eight; in Lower Shadwell one to
CH. XII. LICENSING SYSTEM. . 473
six; in Norton Folgate there were twenty-four public-
houses to 1752 inhabitants, being one to every 73
persons; in Whitecross Street, within a length of 300
yards, there were 23 public-houses.”
This licensing, whether intended as a source of re-
venue or as a measure of moral police, extends through-
out the malt-liquor trade. There must be a license for
a public brewer, a license for a victualler or publican, a
license for one who sells beer to be drunk on the pre-
mises,’ a license for one who sells beer not to be drunk
on the premises;’ and in addition to these there are
licenses for spirit-sellers and for wine-sellers. The
whole number thus amounts to something considerable
— not less than 270,000 licenses in the United King-
dom, granted to these dispensers of beverages. In
1830, a change was made, whereby the excise could
grant licenses as well as the magistrates; hence arose
the beer-shops, and hence the establishment of new ale-
breweries, and hence the brewing of ale by the great
porter-brewers.
In relation to the metropolis only, the number of
public-houses is of course enormous — intended, as they
are, to supply malt-liquor to two million and a half of
drinkers. In London, the licensed victuallers are pro-
bably about 4500; while the beer-sellers are somewhat
over half this number — very likely 7000 altogether,
equal to one in about every 45 houses, or one to 350
inhabitants.
The public-houses of London are as motley an
assemblage as can well be imagined — so far as signs
* Merchant's Magazine, 1853.
474 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
are concerned. We find among them about 70 royal
dukes—“Cambridge,’ ‘Clarence,’ ‘Cumberland,’ ‘Glou–
cester,’ ‘Sussex,” and ‘York'; a few royal duchesses; 60
or 70° Georges' and “George the Fourths’; ‘Victorias'and
‘Royal Alberts' in great abundance; 80 ‘Crowns' and 20
‘Crown and Anchors'; 70 “Ring's Arms' and 90 °King's
Heads’; 20 * Queen's Arms’ and 50 * Queen's Hèads.”
Next comes a menagerie of extraordinary animals, —
30 ° Green Men,” with or without * Stills,” “Bells,” and
* French Horns’; 120 * Lions’ — red, white, blue, or
black; 25 Black Horses,’ and 45 ‘White'; 70 ° White
Harts”; 55 ‘Swans,’ black or white as the case may be
—and so forth. Then we have a series of couplets—55
* Coach and Horses’; 25 ° Horse and Grooms’; 55 “Rose
and Crowns' ; and numerous ‘Ships,’ combined in an ex-
traordinary way with ‘Blue Balls,’ ‘Blue Coat Boys,’
* Punchbowls,’ ‘Rising Suns,’ ‘’Shears,’ and ‘Shovels.’
The system of numeration has been carried out by the
licensed victuallers more fully than they themselves,
perhaps, are aware; for we shall find ‘ One Tun,’ ‘Two
Bells,’ ‘Three Suns,’ ‘Four Swans,’ ‘Five Pipes,’ ‘Six
Cans,’ ‘Seven Stars,” “Eight Bells,’ ‘Nine Elms,’ ‘Ten
Bells,” and “Twelve Bells’: let any enterprising publican
hit upon ‘Eleven 'something—“Cricketers,' ‘Virgins,”
or what not — and the duodecimal system will be com-
plete. Some numbers are great favourites, especially
number three, which developes itself in all the varieties
of ‘Three Brewers’ and ‘Three Colts’; three each of
* Compasses,’ ‘Cranes,’ ‘Cups,’ ‘Doves,’ ‘Elms,’ ‘Foxes,”
* Goats,’ ‘Hats,’ ‘Herrings,’ ‘Horseshoes,’ and ‘Johns';
‘Three Jolly Bakers,’ ‘Three Jolly Butchers,’ and
CEI. XII. PTJBI,IC-FIOUSE SIGNS. 475
‘Three Jolly Gardeners’; ‘Three Kings,’ ‘Three Log-
gerheads,’ and ‘Three Lords’ (three loggerheads be-,
tween three kings and three lords might appear sarcas-
tic, were not the order of the alphabet alone respon-
sible); three ‘Mariners,” “Merry Boys,” “Neats'
Tongues, ‘Nuns,’ ‘Pigeons,’ ‘Spies,’ ‘Sugar-loaves,’
‘Stags,' ‘Suns, ’ ‘Swedish Crowns, ’’ and ‘Wheat
Sheaves.” A wonderful display of tapsters’ ingenuity
occurs in such signs as ‘Blade Bone,’ ‘Coffee-pot,’
* Essex Serpent,’ ‘ Rnave of Clubs,’ ‘Lilliput Hall,'
• Naked Boy and Woolpack,’ ‘Old Centurion,’ ‘Pickled
Egg,’ ‘ Prospect of Whitby,’ ‘Tippling Philosopher,’
* Widow's Son,' ‘Valiant Trooper,’ ‘Sun in Splendour,”
* Running Footman,” “Experienced Fowler, ' ' Good
Man,’ ‘ Rentish Wag, and ‘World Turned Upside
Down.” .
If the drinking of GIN in Hogarth's time, mentioned
in the Historical Sketch, can be relied upon as an
indication, the consumption of ardent spirits in London
in those days must have been larger than at present,
relatively to the population at the two periods. Indeed
there seems much reason to believe that the besotting
influence of beer, and the cankering effects of gin, were
both fearfully great at that time. We are in the dark
concerning the distilleries of the last century; they are
seldom mentioned by topographers or other writers;
and it is doubtful whether they were, as at present, few
in number but great in magnitude, or whether there
were a large number of small distilleries. A probable
circumstance is, that—in so far as excise duties were
476 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XII.
levied on spirits—there were more illicit stills in those
days than at present, —stills whereof the world knew
nothing, but not the less influential in sending forth
gin and whiskey into the market.
The extraction of fierce burning spirit from mild
wholesome corn is one of the wonders of chemistry.
Many well-wishers to mankind would be glad to think
that the process were not only wonderful, but impos-
sible: they look around at the misery produced by in-
temperance, and they wish that no such thing as ardent
spirit were obtainable. But chemistry is not respon-
sible for the evil; the process remains as beautiful as
before, however grossly man may abuse it; and if dis-
tillation were forcibly repressed by law, there are
multitudes of hot exciting liquids which a depraved
appetite might employ as substitutes.
Wonderful, we may well say, is this transformation.
Wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, rice—all these, and
many other kinds of vegetables, will yield spirit. They
contain starch ; the starch may be changed into sugar;
the sugar may yield a wort or sweet liquor; and this
sweet liquor may yield a spirit by distillation. Gin,
whiskey, hollands, rum, brandy, however they may
differ, all spring primarily from the sugar contained in
fruits or vegetables, or from the starch convertible into
sugar; and the same may be said of the intoxicating
beverages common in Russia, India, China, and other
countries. The list of vegetable substances is almost
countless, from which spirit may be obtained: of the
kinds best known in England, however, gin, whiskey,
and hollands are produced from corn, either raw or
CH. XII. DISTILLERIES. 477
malted; rum, from the molasses of the Sugar-plantations;
and brandy from wine, itself a product of the grape.
The metropolitan distilleries, of which the number is
small, are establishments of considerable magnitude,
necessitating a large supply of capital; indeed the
capital required is one of the reasons why they are
few in number. The revenue raised by the excise
duty on British-made spirits is very large; and as the
money must be paid before the spirit leaves the distil-
leries, there is always a large amount of capital thus
locked up: indeed some of the great metropolitan dis-
tillers pay as much as three or four hundred thousand
pounds a year each to the government. This money
is of course refunded by the purchaser, in the form of
an enhanced price for the spirit.
Gin, the ardent spirit chiefly made in London, is
produced in greater part from raw barley; but wheat,
rye, oats, and malt may be mixed therewith, as any
of the five will suffice: it is chiefly the market price
that determines the selection. The corn is ground, and
the malt is crushed; the grist thus produced is stirred
up with hot water in a mash-tun; the hot water ex-
tracts a sweet liquor or wort from the grist; the wort
is cooled, fermented with yeast, and converted into a
lighter liquid called wash; this wash is distilled two or
three times over, until gin or spirit results from it; and
thus does bland corn become caustic spirit. Meanwhile
the exciseman is busying himself in everything; he
has keys to most of the vessels and stills; he gauges and
measures whenever he pleases; he knows and marks
every vessel throughout the establishment; he, or his
478 TEIE E'OOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
co-officers, are constantly within the premises day and
night; he knows the number of openings in every
vessel; he controls the days and hours when the dis-
tiller may carry on his spirit-producing operations; he
will not allow spirit to be made from the wash on the
same day in which wash is made from the grist — in
short, the exciseman is virtually the master within the
distillery. It is certainly an extraordinary system, due
to the great value of the revenue derived by the govern-
ment, and to the necessity that the distiller should pay
duty on all the spirit made, in ratio to its strength.
One statement in the above paragraph, however, needs
correction. The spirit made is not gin. Gin is a com-
plex ‘doctored’ beverage; whereas the spirit just de-
scribed is a crude, rough, unpalatable product. All
the spirit goes from the distiller to the rectifier, before
it reaches the consumer in the form of gin; for the
distiller must not rectify his own spirit—another item
in the excise supervision. We have few spirit-distillers
in the metropolis, but many spirit-rectifiers or gin-
makers. Whether werequire ‘spirits of wine,’ ‘British
brandy,’ ‘cordial gin,’ ‘peppermint,’ ‘cloves,” or ‘ani-
seed,” the rectifier prepares them from the raw spirit pur-
chased in large quantities from the distilleries. In recti-
fying, the spirit is heated in a still; the vapour, flowing
into another vessel where it cools, condenses into a
spirit more pure than before ; and this rectified spirit
is again distilled in company with certain herbs, berries,
and seeds, which impart to it any flavour desired.
Juniper-berries are understood to be among the ingre-
dients that impart flavour to gin.
CII. XII. SPIRIT CONSUMIPTION. 479
Whiskey, the favourite spirit in Scotland and Ireland,
is purer and stronger than gin; it imbibes a peculiarity
of flavour from circumstances connected with the dis-
tilling, and receives (or ought to receive) no ‘doctoring’
after it leaves the still. Although whiskey is so much
stronger than gin, however, it does not contain half
its bulk of pure alcohol; wine has only from 12 to
25 per cent. ; while beer, ale, mead, perry, and cider
vary from 4 to 10 per cent. Scotch distillers are said
to produce about 12 gallons of proof whiskey from 6
bushels of malt.
The quantity of gin rectified in England is not ex-
actly known; it has been estimated at about 100,000
puncheons of 100 gallons each, or 10 million gallons,
annually, worth probably 4,250,000l, If nearly all the
gin is consumed in England and Wales (Scotland and
Ireland, having their own whiskey, consume very little
gin), and if, as some computers think, about three
eighths of the whole quantity finds its way down the
throats of Londoners, this would give a London con-
sumption of nearly 4 million gallons.
Mr. Porter endeavoured to estimate the quantity of
home-made spirits consumed, per head of population,
at different periods. The quantity which paid duty in
the United Kingdom rose from 9 million gallons in
1802 to 23 millions in 1849. Now if this were divided
among all the inhabitants at the time, it would yield
an average of about 4% pints per head in 1802, and
6 pints per head in 1849. If this be correct, and if no
allowance be made for illicit distillation, it seems to
show that spirit-drinking is more prevalent now than
480 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. XII.
at the beginning of the present century—whatever
may have been the case a hundred years ago.
That the Irish drink more spirits per head than the
English, and the Scotch more than the Irish, is known
both from popular observation and from excise returns;
while it is unquestionable that the English drink more
beer than the Irish or Scotch. A startling accusation
was brought against Scotland two or three years ago,
concerning the quantity of spirits consumed therein
within a year; but it was afterwards found that large
errors had crept into the estimate; and it is better to
pass in silence over any doubtful numbers, than draw
from them inferences unfavourable to a whole nation.
The spirit trade at present, so far as regards the three
kingdoms, appears thus in the excise returns for the
year 1854 : — .
Duty paid. Home Consumption.
Gallons. Gallons. ,
England wº º 11,138,047 10,889,611
Scotland tº º 6,569,730 6,553,239
Ireland tº º tº 8,440,734 8,443,734
26, 148,511 25,886,584
The ‘home-made spirits, mentioned above, are of
course exclusive of rum, brandy, and hollands — all of
which are under the tender care of the customs instead
of the excise. In 1854 there was duty charged on
about 5 million gallons of these three kinds of spirits;
and the quantities were about the same in the two pre-
ceding years.
If the reader would see on what basis estimates of
consumption are formed, he may take the spirit entries
CII, XII. SPIRIT-DRINIKING. 481.
for the year 1854. About 26 million gallons of British
spirits, and 5 million gallons of foreign spirits, were
divided among 29 million inhabitants in the United
Kingdom ; giving an average of a little more than a
gallon of spirits per head per annum. " If foreign spirits
be smuggled, and if British spirits be illicitly distilled,
these constitute two additional items, concerning the
amount of which we are of course quite in the dark.
Twenty gallons of beer per head per annum, one gallon
of spirits per head per annum — these, if not quite
correct, are sufficiently near correctness to form a useful
memento on the subject. But caution must be observed
in applying any such formula as this to the metropolis
alone; for it is certain that London gin-drinking goes
beyond it, although means are wanting for estimating
the real quantity. -
Professor Johnston looks more deeply into this sub-
ject than most writers; for, in relation to spirit-drinking,
he takes account of this spirit in more forms than one.
Spirit or alcohol is contained in beer and in wine as well
as in gin and in whiskey ; the ratio is small, it is true;
but then the amount of beer and ale drunk is enormously
greater than that of gin and whiskey, insomuch that we
take, he estimates, twice as much alcohol in the former
state as in the latter. These chemical results have led
him to the following curious comparison — that England
drinks so much more beer than Scotland and Ireland,
relatively to the population, as to render Englishmen
spirit-drinkers in a greater ratio than the natives of the
sister countries. Taking spirits, beer, ale, and wine, col-
lectively, he calculates that the English consumption of
I I
482 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XII.
alcohol per head per annum is 3; gallons, the Scotch
‘24% gallons, and the Irish 1% gallons —not enough to
intoxicate if taken equally by all; but unfortunately
some obtain more than their share, and then become
lower than the brutes.
The desolating glories of the gin-palace are among
the most painful sights in London. If the gorgeous
display of plate-glass, polished mahogany, gilding, and
gas-splendour were associated with anything that really
contributed to the comfort of the people, there might be
points to admire in the artistic arrangements of some of
these places; but degraded wretchedness brings more
money to the gin-palace than working-class respecta-
bility; and the drinkers, at every visit, rivet the chain
that already binds them to the thriftless and impo-
verished part of the community.
Is it not to be regretted that the Londoners, in
common with the rest of the nation, should be de-
barred by fiscal arrangements from the power of ob-
taining good and cheap WINEP Let the Temperance
question be handled as it may ; let men, in candid
discussion, arrive at what conclusions they may con-
cerning it — the truth still remains, that the easy
acquisition of wine at a reasonable price in England is
hampered and checked, not by any tender anxiety on
the part of the legislature in relation to the morals of
the people, but by injudicious treaties made with Spain
and Portugal, and by taxation. So much encourage-
ment has been offered to the drinking of heavy port,
in comparison with light French or German wines, and
CII. XII. WINE AND WINTAG.E. 483
so much does this port undergo sophistication to adapt
it to the popular English taste, that foreigners are
prone to deny to us any power of really appreciating
good wine. Our gin is fiery, our beer is heavy ; and
instead of obtaining light wine to alternate with these,
we submit to heavy port. Four fifths of all the wine
we drink are port and sherry. It is impossible to
touch upon the subject without regretting that matters
should have been brought into so artificial a state ; for
sobriety, honesty, good Sense, economy, cannot have
fair play when liberty of selection is supplanted by
arbitrary official preference.
The vintage of sherry may be taken as a fair repre-
sentative of wine-making generally. Those who have
witnessed the process describe it as follows: — The
grapes, picked about the middle of September, when
perfectly ripe, are allowed to remain exposed to the
sun for a few hours, and carefully turned at intervals.
They are thrown into shallow wooden vessels, each
containing about enough grapes to make a butt of
sherry. Three or four men, shod with heavy wooden
shoes, enter the vessel, and perform a violent dance
among the grapes — a ‘pas de quatre’ in Sabots, it
may be ; this expels much of the juice from the fruit,
and breaks the skins; but the chief effect is produced
by a ponderous hand-worked screw, which presses all
the must or juice from the grapes: the must flows
into other vessels placed beneath, from which it is
poured into butts. The skins or husks are not yet
quite exhausted; they are again thrown into the press-
trough; they have water added to them ; they are
I I 2
484 TEIE E'OOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
again subjected to the powerful action of the screw ;
and a weaker must exudes from them, destined to form
an inferior kind of wine. The must changes itself
into wine, rather than yields to the manipulative pro-
cesses of the wine-maker; yet much delicate care is
required. The must ferments in casks, and gradually
gives up its sweetness in exchange for the vinous qua-
lity. Old sherry, as well as old wine of any other
kind, is better than that more recently made; and
therefore at Xeres, the head-quarters of the sherry
trade, the birthdays of the respective vintages, so to
speak, are well recorded. The vast cellars contain
wine of all ages from one year to fifty. The casks of
very old wine are never emptied ; only a little is
drawn out, to mix with a larger bulk of newer wine ;
and the deficiency is immediately made up from casks
of the next succeeding year's vintage. A cask of
good Sherry, as brought to England, may contain por-
tions of twenty or thirty vintages: indeed it is stated
that under no circumstances is the very old sherry
sold without admixture with vintages of later date.
Port wine, it is pretty generally known at the present
day, is not port wine, but a mixture of many things
with a wine which may (or may not) have come from
Portugal. At Oporto, the wine-manufacturers are said
to mix elder-juice, apple-juice, sloe-juice, logwood de-
coction, and many other liquids with port wine, to accom-
modate it to the purses of their respective customers.
The real wine of the Douro scarcely reaches England
at all; and foreigners are astonished that we still con-
tinue to purchase an adulterated substitute. Nor do
CH. XII. PORT AND SIFIERRY. 485
the Spaniards tamper less with our sherry than the
Portuguese with our port : both nations consider that
the English taste for wine is vitiated, and moreover,
that we are easily victimised on this subject. It was
stated before the Committee on the Wine duties, in 1852,
by Mr. Forrester, an extensive wine-grower in Portugal,
that no port is brought to England with less brandy in
it than 3 gallons to a pipe of 115 gallons; that the ratio
varies from this minimum of 3 up to a maximum of 17
gallons; and that if it contained no brandy, or less than
3 gallons to a pipe, the English would not purchase it.
In so far as concerns brandy, the wine-growers and
merchants of Oporto and Xeres are perhaps justified
in yielding to vitiated English taste; but when elder-
berries are introduced into port to dye the wine, and
other ingredients as substitutes for the wine itself, the
temptation to dishonesty becomes great. A pipe of
port rises remarkably in value during its successive
stages; its value varies from 5l. to 171, when in the
grower's hands; this 171, becomes 271, at Oporto; after
which are added the English charges.
Mr. Laurie, in his evidence before the Committee,
gave a useful table, showing how variable are the
contents of wine-casks, and how indefinite the exact
measure of a cask known by a particular name. In
some kinds of wine, such as sherry and muscat, it is
customary to measure the quantity by the “butt,” which
is considered to hold 108 gallons. In others the ‘pipe’ is
adopted; a pipe of Madeira or of Cape being 92 gallons,
of Marsala or of Bronti 93, of Canary or of Sack 100,
of Mountain or of Malaga 105, of Port or of Masdeu
II 3
486 TELE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XII.
115, of Lisbon or of Bucellas 117. In respect of Claret
and Burgundy, a ‘hogshead' of 46 gallons is the usual
measure; while Hock and Moselle are measured by the
continental ‘aum' of 30 gallons.
Of all the wine made in Europe, the quantity of
which can perhaps hardly be estimated, there is supposed
to be about 60 million gallons exported annually from
wine-producing countries to other countries. We, in
England, obtain a very humble portion of this. The
Committee gave a table of the quantity of wine im-
ported into the United Kingdom for a period of about
a table remark-
ninety years, viz., from 1697 to 1785
able as exhibiting the almost stationary nature of the
wine-trade during a period, when most other depart-
ments of commerce advanced rapidly; the quantity never
varied far from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 gallons an-
mually. Another table exhibited the imports from 1786
to 1851, a period of sixty-six years, both inclusive;
the quantity varied from 4,000,000 to 11,000,000
gallons. The Portuguese wines maintained an as-
cendency over Spanish until about the year 1830;
since which time the balance has been rather the other
way. During the last quarter of a century, the quan-
tity entered for home-consumption, as distinguished from
the quantity imported, has never varied far from the
average of the whole, which is about 6+ million gallons.
Cape wine, almost the only wine brought from our
own colonies, began to figure in the customs’ books
about the beginning of the present century. During
the last few years Marsala, a Sicilian wine, has been
growing in favour in England; it is better than Cape,
CIY, XII. QUANTITIES IMPORTED. 487
and cheaper than sherry or Madeira, and has a flavour
somewhat resembling that of sherry.
It may be convenient to record here the average
quantities of the different kinds of wine brought to
England annually for the last quarter of a century
(1830 to 1854). They were about as follow : —
Gallons.
Spanish - º - ess - 3,300,000
Portuguese - - s - 3,000,000
French - tº - sº - 500,000
Cape º- * - - º - 400,000
Madeira - º - - - 230,000
Canary - º - - - 220,000
Rhenish - - º - 70,000
All other tº- - tº- sº 480,000
8,200,000
This relates to the total quantities imported; the pro-
portion retained for home use has been about three
fourths. The quantities imported in the last three
years, omitting distinction of kinds, was as follows: —
Gallons:
1852 - - - - - 6,793,304
1853 º tº- - º - 11,029,568
1854 - - - * = - 10,877,272
The ‘home consumption, however, remained nearly
equal throughout these three years — about 7 million
gallons annually. “Red” wines and ‘white' wines
reach us in about equal quantity.
The St. Katherine's Dock Company made a return
to the Wine Duties Committee of the kinds and
quantities of foreign wine warehoused by the company
from the time of its establishment till 1852. This
list is interesting, in so far as it presents the names of
I T 4
488 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
thirty-two kinds of wine consumed in London :-Barsac,
Burgundy, Canary, Cape, Champagne, Claret, Con-
stantia, Figueira, French, Frontignac, Hock, Italian,
Lisbon, Madeira, Malaga, Marsala, Masdeu, Mountain,
Moselle, Pontac, Port, Red Wine, Rhenish, St. Peraz,
Sack, Sauterne, Sherry, Sicilian, Sillery, Spanish,
Teneriffe, and White Wine. The designations “French,’
‘Italian,’ ‘ Red Wine,’ ‘Sicilian,' ‘Spanish, and ‘White
Wine,’ are given conventionally to groups of wines,
the quantities of which, or the quantities of the respec-
tive kinds in each group, were too small to be noted
individually. -
The wonders of the “East Vault,’ at the London
Docks, are known to most who have obtained a ‘tast-
ing order.” The metropolis is the great port of entry
for foreign wines; and the London Docks are the
chief place to which the wine-ships arrive, although
the St. Katherine's Docks have a fair share of the
trade. The wine is mostly consigned by mercantile
houses at Oporto and Cadiz to English firms; and it
remains in the vaults at the docks until the duty is
paid. The ship arrives; it disburdens itself of its
vinous cargo; the casks are rolled along railways into
the vaults beneath the warehouses; and there they lie,
in their rotund immensity, diffusing a peculiar odour
throughout their subterranean dwelling-place. How-
ever much reliance a buyer may place on the honesty
of a seller, the quality of the wine cannot be known
without trial; and hence ‘tasting-orders’ are frequently
given by the owners of wine in the docks, empowering
the wine-coopers to draw, in behoof of the favoured
CH. XII. WINE AT THE DOCKS. 489
holder of the order, sundry glasses of wine from any or
all of the casks belonging to that particular owner.
Armed with such an order, a visitor descends a
dozen or more steps into the formidable East Vault,
where twelve acres of wine is diffusing its aroma.
The order is examined and ratified at a counting-house,
and its holder is placed in the care of a wine-cooper.
On one side is a Genius of the Lamp — a functionary
whose office is to supply trimmed and lighted lamps, one
for each visitor, the lamp being fixed to the end of a
long stick or handle. Each Aladdin, with his wonderful
lamp, then roams along the miles of passages—for miles
they are, literally and truly. He follows the footsteps
of his leader, drinking in wine-odour in the midst of
darkness visible. There are casks on his right hand,
casks on his left, casks along every main avenue, casks
along every side avenue, casks upon casks, and casks
behind casks, casks little and casks big. Every avenue
is bounded by bays or ports, vaulted recesses extending
back a few feet, and heaped up with casks to the roofs.
Suspended lamps afford a glimmering light along the
avenues; and at a few far distant spots may be seen a
speck of daylight, marking the doorways where the
casks descend from the world above by means of steep
little railways. There is a mixing vat somewhere at
hand that will contain twenty thousand gallons; but
Aladdin has naught to do with this: he follows his
conductor. Over-head is a truly remarkable fungous
growth, consisting of strange weedy-looking fantastic
forms depending from the vaulted roof, and developed
in some way by the vinous fumes of the place. Under-
490 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
foot is an earthen pathway, laid with iron rails to
facilitate the rolling of the casks. Once now and then
a group of men will be discovered, pursuing — not
knowledge, but wine — under difficulties; they have to
bring forth to the light of day a cask which is buried
behind or beneath several others; and the 'space for
working being very limited, no little tact is required
to extricate the imprisoned cask without setting a
dozen others rolling about the vault. Every cask has
certain cabalistic marks upon it, — a mystery to the
uninitiated, but conveying to those concerned all the
required information respecting ownership, quality,
quantity, and so on. Aladdin, mindful of the tasting-
order, follows his leader to the casks from which he is
privileged to taste. The cooper, provided with a few
tall wine-glasses and a sort of auger or gimlet, bores a
small hole in the selected cask, and out pours a ruby or
an amber stream, which is received in a glass; a small
peg, speedily hammered into the orifice, stops the wine-
current. The privileged visitor then enjoys the object
of his search, the ‘taste; "
not a man of good sense, so does he stop in time, or
appeal from cask to cask until the lights and the casks
all dance around him; or it may be that he leaves his
and according as he is or is
Subterranean saloon, and is not conscious until reaching.
the open air that the vinous fumes as well as the wine
itself have tended to make him a giddy-brain. The
East Vault, if visited simply in a wine-bibbing spirit,
teaches the visitor little that is worth knowing; but,
viewed rationally, it is full of instruction — illustrating
the effect of import duty in keeping wine in enormous
CEI. XII. WINE DUTIES. 491
store until the duty is paid, the rigorous measures
taken by the customs to control the admission and
delivery of wine at the docks, the care and cleanliness
observed in the various arrangements of the dock com-
panies, and the commercial dealings between the com-
panies, the sellers, and the buyers.
London can scarcely be said to have a wine-market.
The neighbourhood of Mincing Lane, Mark Lane, and
Trinity Square is that in which the wholesale firms con-
nected with the wine-trade are chiefly to be found; but
there is no such place as a wine-market proper. The
vast vaults at the docks are bonded warehouses, not a
market.
In London, and in the United Kingdom generally,
there are two circumstances greatly affected by the
existence, and the peculiar adjustment, of the wine-duty
— viz., the extent of adulteration, and the limited range
of consumption. The duty on Cape wine–favoured
because of British colonial growth — is 2s. 9d, plus 5
per cent. per gallon; and on all other wines 5s. 6d.
plus 5 per cent. If we assume that there are about six
average bottles of wine to a gallon (“imperial quarts'
are of course, in this case, out of the question), this
would show that every bottle of foreign wine incurs a
duty of about 11:#d, and every bottle of colonial wine a
duty of 5; d. ; consequently the English duty alone
amounts to more than the whole value, per bottle, of
much of the wine consumed in France — a circumstance
which, in itself, would amply account for a wide
difference between the wine-drinking of the two
countries.
492 TEIE EOOD OF LONDON. CFI. XII.
Alas for the fine old ‘crusted port l’ It appears, from
the revelations occasionally made, that glass-makers as
well as wine-makers are clever in producing this so-called
* crust.” Mr. Warrington stated, at one of the meet-
ings of the Chemical Society, that some green glass
bottles had been sent to Apothecaries' Hall for ex-
amination, on account of a certain unpleasant flavour
they were supposed to impart to wine contained in
them. He found, on close scrutiny, that the inner
surface was very rough and opaque, and that the glass
contained an unusually large proportion of lime and
other bases readily acted upon by tartaric acid. He
ascertained that a considerable quantity of wine had
been put into bottles made of this glass, and that one
merchant alone had bottled three hundred dozens: the
motive being — that in these ‘improved ’ bottles the
crust of port wine will form earlier, and adhere more
firmly to the glass, than in the ordinary bottles.
The extent to which adulteration of wine is carried
in England was never distinctly set forth until the
Wine Duties Committee made their investigation.
Foreign wines, it is now known, are ‘doctor'd by dis-
honest dealers to an astonishing extent; oak bark,
turnsole, elder, privet, beet, Brazil root — all are used;
cudbear and red saunders wood are employed to aid the
colour; catechu is added to give a ‘fine old crust;’ and
for certain objects, the ends of the bungs and corks are
dipped in a solution of Brazil wood and alum. Mr.
Redding mentioned a circumstance to show that no
kind of wine is safe from the adulterant :-“I remember
an instance that occurred in Carlton House, told me by
CII. XII. WINE AD UILTERATION. 493
Colonel M*Mahon. The Prince of Wales had a small
quantity of remarkably fine wine, and his household
chose to drink it out. The Prince ordered some for
the table, and none could be got : there were only two
bottles left. The man who had the management of the
wine went to the city to a merchant, and stated what
he wanted. The dealer said —“Send me a bottle of
what remains; and what I send must be drunk imme-
diately; I can imitate it.’ The trick was successful,
and was repeated three or four times.”
Recipes for making port wine seem to be abundant
enough, and to be known to many persons who were
certainly not intended to be in the secret. Thus, Mr.
Redding stated, in his evidence before the Committee,
that the following is one mode of manufacturing surrep-
titious port in London : —
230 gallons of Beni Carlos tº gº gº tºº ;
230 33 Figueiras - *º- s tº *-* 90
137 55 Cape - tº $º º * ës 48
165 , Good Port - - - - - 109
115 35 Common Port - gº tº se 63
20 33 Mountain - {º tº - º 11
26 55 Brandy-cask washings, colouring
liquid, &c. º gºe gº trifling
About gº - iſ 400
There would thus result 8 pipes, or 920 gallons,
which would have cost about 8s. 8d. per gallon, or
ls. 6d. per bottle; and if sold as “fine old crusted port”
ever so many years ‘in bottle, there might obviously
be a very handsome profit made out of the juggle.
Another recipe recorded is — 12 gallons of strong port,
494. THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XII.
6 of rectified spirit, 3 of brandy, and 42 of rough cider;
making 63 gallons of imitative ‘port,” which would cost.
the knave about 1s. 6d. per bottle to produce. Mr. Porter
mentioned an instance in illustration of one among many
modes of Sophistication adopted in our own country:—
“A friend of mine who invented, some years ago, a
substitute for corks, made with india-rubber stuffed
with wool, was asked if he could make some to re-
semble champagne corks; and he undertook to do so,
and was desired to make a small quantity by way of
trial;” he found ten days afterwards that the corks
were to be used in bottles filled with ‘champagne’ made.
in London. A sophistication of port is said to be per-
formed in the cellars of many of the London public-
houses where ‘genuine wines’ are sold:—8 gallons of
port, 6 of brandy, 45 of cider, and 2 lbs. of sloes stewed
in 2 gallons of water. In 1842 an action was tried at
Birmingham in respect to the sophistication of a pipe of
wine; a price had been paid adequate to the value of
port of fair quality; and yet it was proved that the
wine had been made by mixing 50 gallons of cider, 60
of pontac, and 5 of British brandy — not a drop of port
in it ! - * .
All this is very sad. The rascality of adulteration
is bad enough at all times; but it is doubly grievous
when a temptation is held out to such malpractices by
the operation of Customs’ duties. If there were not
a shilling per bottle levied on wine in the form of duty,
the price would be moderate, and the moderate price
would lessen the temptation to adulterate and sophis-
ticate. It is especially on low-priced wine that the
C.H. XII. WINE CONSUMPTION. 495
duty presses heavily, because it is not a per-centage
on value. The French are not encouraged to send
their wines hither, for the duty tells against them;
and we really are not in a position to determine at
what price French wine of moderate quality might be
procurable in England. Mr. Porter made a statement
before the Wine Committee which brings the cheap-
ness of French wine to a point hardly believable : —
“I have wine in my own cellar, which I have had
seventeen years in bottle; a better wine I would
never wish to drink: it came from the south of France,
and cost me in that country 5 sous, or 24d. per bottle.”
Our wine-drinking has fallen off very decidedly.
Mr. Porter estimates that, a century and a half ago,
the consumption was about a gallon per head per annum
throughout the kingdom; towards the close of the last
century it was about half a gallon; whereas for many
years past it has been under a quart. In France the
consumption is set down at so high an average as 19
gallons per head per annum — nearly eighty times as
much as in the United Kingdom | A knotty ques-
tion lately discussed by the economists is — whether
there would not be an actual increase of revenue by
lowering the duty, on account of the great increase of
consumption which would follow ; Sir Emerson Ten-
nant is at issue with the economists on this point; while
other advocates insist on the propriety of a change on
Sanitary and moral grounds, based on the belief that
wine would be a more desirable stimulant than spirits,
and a less muddling beverage than beer. A small
retail wine-trade is springing up, but it is only small,
496 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI, XII.
in London; there is an establishment near London
Bridge, and another near the Royal Exchange, a third
in Holborn, and a sprinkling in other localities, where
a considerable quantity of port and sherry is sold “over
the counter” at fourpence or sixpence per gill glass; but
these exceptional cases only show the more strongly
what is the ruling custom.
The curious sort of guess-work that sometimes stands
in the place of statistics could not be better illustrated,
perhaps, than by a recent attempt to determine the
extent, or rather the distribution, of wine-drinking in
this country.” If any reader should deem the estimate
fanciful, this can hardly be a reproach to the theorist,
for trustworthy data are sadly deficient. The question
sought to be solved is—In what proportion do the
different classes of the English community drink wine?
The computer studied the income tax returns, the
census returns, the Board of Trade tables, the peerage
list, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners' reports, with
a view to enable him to classify English families in
regard to position and fortune. Having done this, he
proceeds to distribute our imported wine among 29
million inhabitants in the United Kingdom. He gives
his reasons for thinking that there are about 3 million
persons in a position to take wine occasionally. If the
whole community share the wine equally, there would
be the trifling quantity of a bottle and a half each in
the whole year, taking the quantity entered for home
consumption in a year at 6% million gallons. Allowing
this number one bottle per week each, averaging the
* Lawson's Merchant's Magazine, Oct. 1852.
CH. XII. LIQUEURS AND CORDIALS. 497
ages and the sexes, it would require four times as much
wine as we actually import, and would even then leave
no wine whatever for the remaining 26 millions of the
population. The computer hypothetically gives a trifle
to all of these, as follows: —
3 millions, at 1 bottle per week, 26,000,000 gall.
2 * * I bottle per month, 4,000,000
24 x, y, 1 glass per month, 4,000,000
29 millions 34,000,000
whereas only 6 or 7 million gallons are entered yearly
for home consumption. The object of the estimate is
to show that, even for such a humble distribution as
this, the imports must increase five-fold to supply such
a total consumption. -
The BRITISH WINEs, and the “liqueurs’ and ‘cor-
dials’ that take part in the preparation of mixed
beverages, are not a little formidable in number. There
are gooseberry, grape, raisin, red currant, white cur-
rant, black currant, damson, raspberry, mulberry, black-
berry, brambleberry, apricot, orange, quince, ginger, pars-
nip, cowslip, &c. Then there are others which, homestly
or surreptitiously, are intended to imitate Champagne,
Constantia, Madeira, Malaga, Frontignac, Hock, and
other foreign wines. Next come the group, for which
it is not easy to find a general name, comprising mead,
ginger beer, spruce beer, lemonade, orangeade, orgeat,
sherbet, currant water, raspberry water, &c. Then
there are the liqueurs that undergo some kind of dis-
tillation, such as cherry brandy, usquebaugh, Mara-
schino, spirit of cloves and of orange, and the whole
FC IK
498 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. XII.
Prench family of ‘parfait amour,’ ‘crème de rose,”
* crème de café,” “liqueur de quatre fleurs,’ ‘nonpareil,’
“admirable,” and a host besides. To these must be
added the ratafias or infusions of cherry, orange, goose-
berry, raspberry, rose, noyau, peach, &c.; and the
cordials of citron, peppermint, aniseed, caraway, cin-
namon, and ginger; and the miscellaneous list com-
prising badiane, liqueur au bouquet, Rossolis, capil-
laire, eau douce, milk punch, curaçao, nectar, noyau,
rum and other shrubs, cherry and other brandies.
Sweets and nectars of the above numerous kinds are
better known in France than in England; and such
among them as are familiar in our own country are
more frequently the handiwork of some Lady Bounti-
ful, some housewife more than ordinarily clever in do-
mestic economy, than of the manufacturers who prepare
them for sale. British wines, ginger beer, and soda-
water are perhaps exceptions; they are largely manu-
factured for sale, especially in London. There is one
firm in the metropolis which is said to produce 10,000
gallons of ‘British port, and about an equal quantity
of ‘British sherry,’ annually. If the word “ British ’
be honestly and persistently used here, there is no dis-
honesty, for we have in that case an acknowledged
substitution instead of a concealed sophistication.
Notwithstanding the little resemblance between
British wine and vinegar, it happens that their manu-
facture in London is connected in a way that may
merit a little notice. The late Mr. Henry Beaufoy,
proprietor of the extensive vinegar works at South Lam-
beth, and distinguished by his munificent contributions
CH. XII. BRITISH WINE. S. 499
in aid of education, communicated to the author of
the present volume, a few years ago, some curious
information on this point, as follows : —
The rise of the British wine trade dates back to about
a century ago. At that time — as Hogarth's print of
* Gin Lane” amply attests — the scenes of drunkenness
witnessed in the metropolis had reached a fearful ex-
tent. The Legislature, endeavouring to give a healthy
turn to the public taste, held out strong inducements
for the manufacture of ‘Sweets or home-made wines
for sale. For many years, however, although sweets
had been reckoned among excisable articles ever since
1696, the manufacture continued utterly insignificant.
It happened about that time that Mark Beaufoy, a
member of the Society of Friends, at Bristol, who
had abandoned his original trade of a distiller from
conscientious scruples, went to Holland to learn the
process of malt-vinegar making ; and on his return
established a vinegar-factory on the site of the once
celebrated Cuper's Gardens, near the present southern
end of Waterloo Bridge. The works grew in extent
and in fame, and were visited many years afterwards
by Pennant, who described them in his ‘London.’
Mark Beaufoy had to encounter a great difficulty, in
the want of rape' (raisin stalks and skins) wherewith
to construct the filters to fine and flavour his vinegar,
as was done by the vinegar-makers in Holland. He
was constrained to purchase raisins, and after steeping
them for the purpose of extracting the Saccharine and
mucilage of the fruit, the liquor was thrown away,
and the rape alone (comprising all the solid parts of the
K K 2
500 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XII.
raisin) reserved for use in the vinegar manufacture. It
happened, however, that Dr. Fothergill, the Quaker
physician, became acquainted with this waste of raisin-
juice; and after demonstrating how wine might be
made from it, advised Mark Beaufoy to commence it as
a branch of manufacture. He did so, and entered his
name at the Excise as a “maker of sweets,’ about a cen-
tury ago. From that time the raisin-wine trade rose
into distinction and importance.”
Raisin-wine is the best of those receiving the general
designation of British wines. The raisins are grapes
which have been dried either by the sun or by an
oven. Arrived in England, the raisins are removed
from their baskets or boxes, thoroughly soaked and
softened in water, and pressed by hydraulic presses
until all the vinous and saccharine elements are driven
out of them; the water, thus brought to the state of
a kind of sweet juice, is allowed to ferment slightly ;
and then repeated rackings, together with fining and
sweetening, bring it to the state of raisin-wine. As to
the manifold “sweets made from English fruits, their
name is legion. Chemically considered, they are very
humble productions, in which sugar artificially intro-
duced plays a considerable part. -
We have mentioned WINEGAR, in this matter. Wine-
gar is a London manufacture, as well as beer and gin;
and — strange as it may appear to many persons — all
three liquids are produced from nearly the same sub-
stances. Corn or malt, sugar or molasses, wine or beer,
cider or perry — all can be made into vinegar; and
* Penny Magazine, 2nd Series, No. 679.
CII. XII. VIN EG AR. 50 i
therefore the manufacturer of this useful acid has a
wide range to choose from, and can adapt his arrange-
ments to the country in which he lives, or to the ex-
igencies of particular seasons. A considerable portion
of the London vinegar is made from malt. The malt
is ground into meal; the meal is mashed or stirred with
hot water, which then becomes wort; the wort is cooled
in a refrigerator; the cooled wort is fermented to a
greater extent than if for producing beer or wine, and
is brought to the state of a slightly acid liquor called
gyle; the gyle is converted into vinegar, either by ex-
posure to the temperature of a highly-heated room, or
to two or three months' action of the open air; the
vinegar is clarified or refined, by filtering through a
thick layer of raisin stalks; and the vinegar is finally
barrelled in casks for the market.
The ‘Lancet’ commissioners found that vinegar is
no more exempt from the taint of adulteration than
other articles of food or beverage. To increase the
quantity, vinegar is often watered considerably; and
to restore the hot acid quality thus diluted, sulphuric
acid, chilies, grains of paradise, mustard seed, or long
pepper, are added; while a dark rich colour is produced
by burnt sugar. It is said that at some of the street
stalls, where oysters are dispensed in liberal pen-
nyworths, the so-called vinegar contains no vinegar
whatever: being composed of water in which a few
drops of sulphuric acid and a little burnt sugar have
been introduced. Luckily, the oyster itself cannot
very easily be sophisticated. .
K K 3
502 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
REMAIRIXABLE ASPECTS OF FOOD-RETAILING IN LONDON.
Food Advertisements in the Newspapers. — Tetailers of Food in Lon-
don. — Bazaar Principle observable in London. — Dining-rooms and
Cooks' Shops. – Old Taverns.—Chop-houses and Coffee-houses. –
West-End Clubs, considered as Restaurants or Dining-rooms. –
Street Purchases on a Saturday Evening. — Itinerant Dealers in
minor Articles of Food.
A RAMBLE through the London streets will teach us
much concerning the retailing of London food. The
untiring activity; the hours early and late; the display
of taste in one place, and splendour in another; the
temptation to the wealthy bon-vivant; the earnest
attempts to provide ‘bargains” for those who regard a
penny as something not to be squandered : the groups
that throng the busy thoroughfares on a Saturday
evening; the open-air trade carried on by the itinerant
dealers; the glittering tea-mart in one spot, and the
all are elements
mouldy chandler's shop in another
concerned in the food-history of London.
The newspapers, too, among their miscellaneous ad-
vertisements, do not fail to furnish episodes in that
history. The columns of the ‘Times' being consulted,
we shall find that ‘wild boars’ heads from Troyes’ are
obtainable at a certain esstablishment, together with
‘ truffled Perigord pies,’ ‘Strasburg patés, and ‘Bussian
caviare; ' that ‘ Hampshire bacon,’ and ‘fine breakfast
CH. XIII. FOOD RETAILERS. 503
bacon,’ and ‘foreign hams,’ are in full excellence; that
wines of all kind are abundant; that brandy, rum,
whiskey, gin, and Hollands, were never better in flavour;
that pale ale and famous stout have now adopted ‘im-
perial measure; that 12 lbs. of codfish and a barrel of
oysters will be forwarded in exchange for a post office
order for 10s. ; that a hundred fine Yarmouth bloaters
will be sent carriage-free for a few shillings; that Jersey
pears are just in season; that East Lothian potatoes
have just arrived; that farinaceous food is infinite in
variety and cheap in price; that portable mock turtle
can be purchased at so much per quart; that a case
containing five pounds of choice tea is obtainable for
one sovereign ; that a similar sum will ensure for us a
hamper filled with sundry bottles of wine and spirits,
these are some of the many advertisements that almost
daily meet the eye, telling of the wondrous food-supply
for the metropolis.
The supply of food gives origin to a formidable num-
ber of distinct trades and avocations. Taking them
alphabetically, we shall find in London, arrow-root
dealers, bacon driers, bakers, beer retailers, brewers,
butchers, chandlers' shop keepers, cheesemongers, coffee
roasters, coffee-room keepers, confectioners, dining-room
keepers, dairymen, distillers, egg merchants, fishmongers,
fruiterers, greengrocers, grocers, ham and tongue dealers,
hotel and inn-keepers, market-gardeners, millers, mus-
tard manufacturers, orange merchants, Orange and lemon-
peel cutters, pork-butchers, poulterers, potato dealers,
provision merchants, rice merchants, Salesmen at Billings-
gate and the other great marts of trade, salt merchants,
R IC 4
504 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XIII.
ship-biscuit bakers, ship butchers, sugar brokers, sugar
refiners, tea brokers, treacle boilers, tripe dressers,
vinegar makers, wine merchants, wine fining manu-
facturers, wine brokers, yeast merchants. These form
a body of 24,000 strong, all master-tradesmen or manu-
facturers, and having 24,000 shops or places of business
in the metropolis. Besides these, are numerous mer-
chants and traders whose dealings in food are combined
with dealings in many other commodities. The highest
numbers in the above list are, — 4400 publicans, 3000
grocers and tea-dealers, 2550 bakers, 1750 butchers,
1500 greengrocers and fruiterers, 1450 beer retailers,
1300 dairymen, 1150 coffee-room keepers, 950 cheese-
mongers, 950 wine merchants, 700 pastrycooks. There
was a rough guess some years ago, that there are
70,000 shopkeepers, and 30,000 stall-keepers and coster-
mongers, employed in selling food in London; but the
former estimate can only be correct under the supposition
that shopmen and errand-boys are included. Another
estimate, founded on census returns, presents a list of
19,000 persons engaged in various ways in selling and
distributing animal food; 31,000 in relation to corn,
bread, fruit, and vegetable food; and 50,000 in respect
of beverages or their materials, whether of the breakfast
and tea class, or of the dinner and supper class. The
total presents a round number of 100,000 persons in
London engaged in the trade in creature comforts.
Many indications of the bazaar principle are observ-
able in the distribution of trades in London: that is, the
congregation in one spot of many dealers engaged in one
trade. Of about twenty such bazaar-groupings, we
CH. XIII, FOOD BAZAARS, 505
shall find several relating to food; such as the hop
dealers in the Borough, the wholesale grocers in Mincing
Lane, the orange merchants in Botolph Lane, the pro-
vision merchants in Lower Thames Street, the potato
merchants in Tooley Street, the wholesale wine mer-
chants about Crutched Friars, the sugar refiners near
Goodman's Fields, the granary keepers near Horsley-
down; besides the obvious congregation of salesmen, or
factors, or brokers, near the public markets.
The shops for the retail sale of provisions in the
ordinary state, such as butchers, poulterers, fishmongers,
cheesemongers, bakers, grocers, fruiterers, greengrocers,
and the like, are simply means of distribution; they
afford the opportunity for selling in small quantities
food that has been purchased wholesale. But there is
much of a curious character associated with those places
in which food is brought to a state ready for the hungry
stomachs of the consumers, and supplied — it may be —
all hot and steaming. In the mighty world of London
there are always thousands who, either from necessity
or inclination, take many of their repasts at places
other than their own firesides; men who “ dine in
public,’ in fact, or breakfast, or tea, or Sup, in public,
and for whose accommodation much provision is made.
When a poor hungry mortal is gazing into one of
the numerous cooks' shops the London streets exhibit,
and is Sniffing the savoury odour of roast meat, he
might, if he were a reader, call to mind Charles
Lamb’s ‘Dissertation on Roast Pig ;’ in which the
* crisp, tawny, well-watched, not over-done crackling,’
and the ‘cream and quintessence of the child-pig's yet
506 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XIII.
pure food called fat,’ are discoursed on in such droll
fashion; it is in this essay that Lamb propounded
his theory of the “Origin of Roast Pig’ — a theory
that certainly beats hollow all that Beckmann has
done in the history of inventions and discoveries. The
visitors at cooks' shops, however, are likely to know
very little of Charles Lamb and his theory; they
know much more concerning the art of applying their
penny or few pence to the purchase of a dinner. In
some of the thickly inhabited districts an enormous
trade is carried on in these shops; the meat purchased
is cheap and common, often bad ; the Soups and puddings
are of questionable character; the charges made are ex-
ceedingly low; and the demand, about twelve or one
o'clock in the day, is immense.
One of the remarkable contrasts in London is between
the eating-house and the dining-room — a difference of
designation wholly conventional. The whity-brown
apron and the paper cap take their meal at an ‘eating-
house; but the black coat and the silk hat abjure this as
vulgar—they will have nothing lower than the “ dining-
room.’ And it is worthy of remark, too, that many of
these cleanly kept dining-rooms are nearly as economical
as the dirty and unsavoury eating-houses or cooks' shops.
Let any one look around him in the neighbourhood of
Cheapside; he will there see the dining-rooms of which
we are speaking. The large warehouses in the drapery
and other trades employ vast numbers of shopmen and
clerks, who do not return home until an hour too late
for dinner, and whose homes are too far distant for a
dinner visit during business hours. For the accommo-
CEI. XIII. DINING-IROOMS. 507
dation of such dining-rooms have been established, sup-
plied with a succession of hot dishes from twelve at
noon till six in the evening, to suit the convenience of
different relays of diners. The business transacted at
these places is immense; the provisions are uniformly
good; the cookery and serving are fairly managed;
and yet the charges are so low that nothing less than a
daily stream of diners for several hours would yield an
aggregate return sufficient to pay all expenses.
At some of these commercial dining-rooms — in
themselves a characteristic of the middle-class respecta-
bility of our times — an attempt is being made to break
down the old-fashioned system of “fees to waiters.”
Whether it will succeed is still a problem. The
waiter seems to be a member of society apart from all
others; if he did not receive his fee he would not be
such an oddity; and if he were not such an oddity, we
should never have had Leigh Hunt's picture of him :—
“He has no feeling of noise, but as the sound of dining;
or of silence, but as a thing before dinner. Even a loaf
with him is hardly a loaf, it is so many “breads.’ His
longest speech is the making out of a bill vivá voce —
* Two beefs, one potatoes, three ales, two wines; six and
twopence’—which he does with an indifferent celerity
amusing to new comers who have been relishing their fare,
and not considering it as a mere set of items. . . . . .
He would drop one of the two syllables of his ‘Yes, Sir,’
if he could ; but business and civility will not allow it,
and therefore he does what he can by running them
together in the swift sufficiency of ‘Yezzir.’ ‘Thomas.”
‘Yezzir.”—“Is my steak coming 2' ' Yezzir.”—“And
508 TFIE FOOD OF LONDON. CFI. XIII.
the pint of port P’ ‘Yezzir.’ — ‘You’ll not forget the
postman?’ ‘Yezzir,’ — for in the habit of his ac-
quiescence Thomas not seldom says ‘Yezzir’ for ‘No,
Sir," the habit itself rendering him intelligible.”” It
is evident that Thomas belongs not to the commercial
dining-rooms of the present day; he is part of the fur-
niture of the old-fashioned taverns, where wine is a
recognised accompaniment to the dinner table.
The old taverns and coffee-houses of Fleet Street
were briefly noticed in a former page as connected with
a past phase of London life; they still continue, how-
ever, to maintain a reputation among their own diners
and drinkers. There are certain so-called coffee-houses
further east, which are rather taverns, frequented by
merchants engaged in particular departments of com-
merce; such as the “Jamaica,” the ‘North and South
American,’ the ‘Jerusalem,” the ‘Baltic; ' and in past
days, the ‘Levant,’ the ‘New York, and the ‘Vir-
ginia’— names which, in part, indicate the class of
merchants frequenting these coffee-houses. -
There was an anonymous poem published in 1785,
which, albeit its poetry is of a very sorry kind, places
us in possession of a few curious facts connected with
dining-rooms and taverns in London seventy years ago.{
While descanting on the creature comforts of London,
the poet tells us that behind the Royal Exchange—
“There stands a steak-house of distinguish’d fame,
The sign the Cock—Threadneedle-street's the name.”
The merits of the steaks are duly versified; and the
The Seer. f The Art of Living in London.
CH. XIII. TAVERNS AND CEIOP-HOUSES. 509
poet next declares that at the Spread Eagle in the
Strand, and at the Dog in Holywell Street, we can
“ dine in quiet,” and be “serv'd with decency at small
expense.” We are advised not to—
“Indiscreetly stray
Where Giles's ruins mark the broaden'd way;
Where, for what end most obviously appears,
The knives are chain'd, and ladder forms the stairs;
Or to Moorfields, where wretched paupers ply
Round clothless tables in an open sky.”
As evening approaches, we are advised to resort to
some noted porter-house, of which there are said to be
many, “alike in goodness and alike in fame.” The
Strand, we are told—
“Her Spread Eagle justly boasts,
And Maiden-lane exhibits her Blue Posts.
Northink the Cock with these not on a par,
The celebrated Cock of Temple Bar,
Whose porter best of all bespeaks his praise —
Porter that’s worthy of the poet's lays.”
Many of the taverns handed down to fame in this
poetical effusion are still in existence; and some of them
have a character distinct from all the dining-rooms
hitherto noticed ; they are chop-houses, in which city
men take a hasty luncheon at mid-day, and return
to business. A butcher in Threadneedle Street stated
before a committee of the House of Commons, a
few years ago, that he frequently cuts up a hundred
saddles of mutton in a day into chops, to be cooked
at the neighbouring-chop houses. Some of the city
taverns have a specialty about them; such as Simp-
510 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XIII.
son's at Billingsgate, where “fish dinners’ have ac-
quired celebrity, on account of the reasonableness of
the charge, and the unquestioned excellence of the
fish. The “whitebait ’ taverns are almost beyond the
limits of London; but the epicure can nevertheless find
evidence, at Blackwall and Greenwich, of the impor-
tance attached to a dish of tiny fish, and the expenses
into which the indulgence may very easily lead him.
The pages of ‘Notes and Queries’ contain a curious
history of the origin of the ministerial whitebait dinner,
which takes place every year at the close of the parlia-
mentary session. Another specialty is the “turtle’
class of taverns; at one of these, two or three hundred
turtles are kept alive at once in stone vaults; and
turtle-soup has given fame to the house.
May we include the West-end CLUBS among dining-
rooms? A few details will enable the reader to decide
this for himself.
The club system of London commenced at the ‘Mer-
maid’ in Fleet Street, in the brilliant Elizabethan days;
Sir Walter Raleigh was its founder, and the wit of
Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont, and Fletcher threw
a halo around it. A second club was founded by Ben
Jonson, and held at the “Devil,” another of the Fleet
Street taverns: rare old Ben was here in his glory,
in an apartment to which the dignified name of
the “Apollo’ was given. Clubs, as meetings for wit
and mirth, we do not however touch upon : it is
under another aspect they are here regarded. The
battle of Waterloo was in one sense the cause of
the present club system. When the cessation of war
CII. XIII. LONDON CLUBS. 511
threw so many soldiers “out of work, the officers,
accustomed to mess together when on duty, and appre-
ciating the advantages of economy (for military and
naval officers are anything but wealthy as a class), es-
tablished a club, mainly with a view of making their
slender incomes carry them on as comfortably as might
be. Hence originated the ‘United Service,” the “Ju-
nior United Service,” the ‘Navy, the ‘Guards,’ and
the ‘Army and Navy’ clubs—the great success of the
first-named having acted as an incentive to the others.
The dignitaries of the church, the clergy, and university
professors, observing how well the military and naval
men were served, and wishing to share the advantage,
established the ‘United University’ and the ‘Oxford
and Cambridge' clubs. Then arose the ‘Athenaeum,”
for judges, barristers, physicians, authors, philosophers,
artists; the ‘Travellers, open to those who had ‘seen
the world, by penetrating a certain number of miles
beyond the limits of England; the ‘Oriental,’ chiefly
for old Indian officers; the ‘Carlton’ and the “Conser-
vative,’ for politicians of a certain hue; the “Reform,”
for politicians of opposite stamp ; and others of lesser
celebrity. They are now nearly thirty in number.
In the more important of these clubs there are certain
characteristics in common—such as the grandeur of the
building, and the arrangement of the interior into
morning-room, coffee-room, dining-room, drawing-
room, &c. In the restaurant department, the only
characteristic for which the clubs are noticed here, the
coffee-room and the kitchen are the localities most
nearly concerned. The coffee-room, here as at most
512 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XIII.
English hotels, is the general dining-room. It is fur-
nished with rows of small tables, laid out for breakfasts
and luncheons until about 4 o'clock; after which hour
the arrangements are made suitable for dinners. A
‘ carte de jour,” or bill of fare, is prepared each day;
from this carte the diner selects according to his taste;
a butler, waiters, and clerks expedite both the serving
and the making out of the bill; and the diner pays
individually for his refection: the clerk of the kitchen.
and the clerk of the coffee-room conduct their accounts
with all the regularity of a commercial house. But the
kitchen is the grand centre of food-operations. Whether
the achievements of M. Soyer at the Reform club house
have been since excelled elsewhere may perhaps be
doubted; but from the eighteen pages devoted by
that celebrated ‘chef-de-cuisine” to a description of the
Teform club kitchen, it would appear that an effective
culinary establishment is quite a chemical laboratory.
A suite of rooms measuring 110 feet by 40—a kitchen,
a cold-meat larder, a sauce larder, a pastry room, a
butler's pantry, a plate closet, a boucherie, a game
larder, a vegetable kitchen; slate-dressers, ice-drawers,
pickling-tubs, slate-Wells for soaking hams, boxes for
storing vegetables, slate and marble slabs, suspended
frames, Safes, mortars, tin-lined drawers, steam-heated
drawers, French charcoal stoves, steam closets, racks
for Spits, rails for moulds and coppers, steam-boilers,
gas-stoves for made dishes, broiling stoves, “bains-
maries' or sand-baths for delicacies that require a
* Gastronomic Regenerator.
CEI. XIII. CLUE DINNERS. 513
definite temperature, hot plates and hot closets—the
apparatus is, indeed, formidable; and the roasting fire-
place is quite a triumph of heat-saving philosophy.
It appears that many of the clubs pique themselves
on the superiority of their “chef-de-cuisine’ and that
some of them, indeed, owe their chief celebrity to their
cooks. The select committee of members for managing
the club consists of the most veteran diners and prac-
tised wine-drinkers of the fraternity: on them devolves
the important duty of selecting the viands and tasting
the wines; and as their responsibility is great, their
experience is of course commensurate. In general, the
viands are provided by first-rate tradesmen.
The gastronomic glories, however, are hardly those
on which the distinguishing character of London clubs
mainly depends. These clubs may be said to have
brought economy into fashion: an excellent dinner at
a club costs no more than a mediocre dinner at a tavern
or a dining-house. Moreover, clubs have aided in
abolishing the once fashionable vice of drunkenness;
and indeed so much is this the case, that an intemperate
man stands a close chance of being ejected altogether.
Mr. Walker, who wrote his ‘Original’ about twenty
years ago, and who devoted one of the essays to an
account of the London clubs, says:– “Clubs, as far as
my observation goes, are favourable to economy of time.
There is a fixed place to go to ; everything is served
with comparative expedition, and it is not customary or
general to remain long at table. They are favourable to
temperance. It seems that when people can freely
please themselves, and when they have an opportunit
I, L. -
514 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XIII.
of living simply, excess is seldom committed. From
an account I have of the expenses at the ‘Athenaeum ”
in the year 1832, it appears that 17,323 dinners cost,
on the average, 2s. 9; d. each ; and that the average
quantity of wine for each person was a small fraction
more than half a pint.” From another source it ap-
pears that, in 1839, the 29,527 dinners served at the
* Junior United Service ’ cost on an average about
2s. 3d, each, exclusive of wine. Organised thus into
large families comprising from 500 to 1500 members
each, and providing their twenty or thirty thousand
dinners each in the course of a year—it must be ad-
mitted that these clubs, exclusive though they be, take
rank among the dining-houses of London.
The clubs, hotels, old-fashioned coaching-inns, com-
mercial dining-rooms of the city, chop-houses, old
taverns of the Fleet Street district, humble ‘ cook's
shop - are all distinct from the ‘coffee-shop’ fami-
liarly so called, and one of the modern creations of
London society. These were, in their origin, breakfast
and tea houses for working men, who, on various
grounds, could not conveniently enjoy those repasts at
their own homes. But, by degrees, the coffee-shops
have extended their range of business; they manage to
provide simple dinners for such as are willing to take
coffee instead of malt-liquor as a beverage; while in the
evenings they are reading rooms, convenient to thou-
sands of persons who have not the comforts of domesti-
city at home. The good fire, the bright light, the
supply of newspapers and magazines, and the cup of
simple beverage, are obtainable for a few pence; and
CH. XIII. COEFEE SEIOPS. 515
there can be little question that these places conduce
to sobriety and general intelligence.
Numerous as have been the examples of retail food-
supply treated in this chapter, they have hitherto left
quite unnoticed one great and very remarkable class —
open air trading in those commodities.
Whoever would know how the working classes spend
their earnings on a Saturday evening in London,
should pass an hour in any one of about half a dozen
localities graphically described by Mr. Mayhew. One of
theseis Shoreditch, near the church; another is the New
Cut in Lambeth; a third is Whitecross Street; a fourth
is the line formed by Skinner and Brewer Streets,
Somers Town ; a fifth is Tottenham Court Road and
the lower part of the Hampstead Road; a sixth is
Leather Lane, Holborn. As the hour approaches when
artisans receive their weekly wages, so do the itinerant
dealers take their stand in these and similar busy locali-
ties. There is occasionally a battle of opinion with the
police concerning the propriety or otherwise of this
open-air trading ; and in some cases where the higher
class of shopkeepers deem their dignity offended by the
vicinage of the humbler traders, an explosion of feel-
ing may perchance occur; but the retail shopkeepers
and the kerb-stone stall-keepers generally agree pretty
well: the influx of customers is so vast that there is
trade for all.
It would be impossible to name all the wares ex-
posed for sale at these places on a Saturday evening,
say from six till twelve. The wife of the journey-
man, as soon as a portion of the week's earnings is
L L 2
5 16 THE FOOD OF LONDON. CII. XIII.
placed in her hands, bethinks herself of the Sunday’s
dinner; and the theory of these people's bazaars is,
that every thing that may be wanted can be obtained
near at hand. Certain of the commodities are not sold
by the humble stall-keepers; butchers’ meat, bacon,
and grocery are rarely to be seen on the stalls; nor do
bread and flour make their appearance there: the
shops occupied by butchers, bakers, grocers, and cheese-
mongers, experience very little rivalry from the stalls.
Cheap poultry sometimes finds its way thither; but
cheap fish much more largely. How many ‘fine fresh
mackerel' we may obtain for a shilling; how many ‘fresh
herrings’ for a groat (a groat, curiously enough, is never
mentioned by a London dealer except in connection
with herrings); how many ‘pairs of live soles,' or
platefuls of sprats, or pounds of eels, or quarts of
mussels, or measures of periwinkles, for a few pence,
would astonish housewives whose means enable them
to make their marketings in other localities, True it is,
that the odours are not quite satisfactory, revealing the
fact that the fish have been out of water for rather a
serious length of time. Vegetables are in unquestioned
abundance. Potatoes in their dirty jackets, cabbages
of monster size, greens in straggling bunches, onions
in arm-long strings, peas and beans and scarlet runners,
if they be in season and cheap enough; parsley and
celery, mint and Sage, carrots and turnips, rhubarb,
brocoli, cauliflowers, asparagus (or, in cockneydom,
* sparrowgrass'), chickwced and groundsel (that the
bird may have a Sunday’s dinner as well as his master)—
all are sold so cheaply, that we may reasonably wonder
CII. XIII. SATURDAY EVENING DEALINGS. 517
how such articles, many of them bulky, can return any
profit to those who have had to trudge with them from
Covent Garden or other markets. The cheaper kinds
of fruits are sold by these stall keepers in immense
quantity. Apples, pears, Oranges, nuts, walnuts, chest-
nuts, cherries, plums, damsons, currants, gooseberries,
disappear from the stalls with great rapidity. Nor is
there any want of the humanizing influence of flowers,
if the season be such as to bring flowers within the
range of cheapness.
Then, as provision is made for the Sunday meal, so
are the means of cooking it not forgotten. The stall
keepers, with candles in paper lanterns, candles on the
Cnd of sticks, links, torches, and a sort of self-generating
gas lamp, display, in a flickering glittering light, all
sorts of spits, ovens, roasting-jacks, gridirons, frying-
pans, bachelors' kettles, toasting-racks, toasting-forks,
footmen, trivets, saucepans, stew-pans, tea-kettles,
crocks and pots, baking dishes, pie-dishes, pudding-
basins, sugar-basins, plates, cups and Saucers, Salt cellars
and pepper-casters, iron skewers, cabbage nets—all of
these may be met with, or such of them, at least, as
can possibly be made at a cheap price. A joint of
meat, a huge cabbage, a quartern loaf, and a saucepan,
sometimes march off in procession, under the care of
different members of a working man's family.
Not the least remarkable among these Saturday even-
ing traders are those who deal in little Savoury knick-
knacks that may serve for a supper, or for a penny
treat to the errand-boy who has just received his weekly
wages. At one point is the ‘baked 'tato' man, with his
518 TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XIII.
brightly polished, hot and steaming, tripedal or quadru-
pedal apparatus, redolent of large potatoes and strong
butter. Near him is the vendor of hot pies — mutton,
eel, veal, beef, kidney, or fruit — all at a penny. A
little farther on is a table decked out with saucers, con-
taining hot stewed eels, sold in pennyworths, or even
still smaller quantities. The periwinkle man is near
at hand, with his half-pint measure of doubtful capacity.
The stall of another dealer displays certain meat-like
attractions, which prove to be pig's chaps and pig's
pettitoes; and probably sheep's trotters are there like-
wise. Baked chestnuts appear to have come somewhat
into favour lately in London; and the oven or stove
of the vendor of such comestibles may very likely be
met with in these street bazaars. It is just possible
that a coffee-room al fresco may present itself to notice.
Innumerable varieties of confectionary and “sweet stuff"
are spread in tempting array before the boys and girls,
the chief customers for such things. The ginger-beer
man, either with his penny bottles or his majestic appa-
ratus on wheels, is ready to supply the wants of thirsty
Souls.
There have been occasional instances in London in
which small articles of food have been purchased in
large quantities, not so much for their excellence, as for
more extraneous reasons. Such, for instance, were the
* Chelsea buns' of past days. Mr. Timbs” states that
the Chelsea bun-house was in favour as much as a century
and a half ago; sometimes 50,000 persons were known to
visit it on a Good Friday; and the members of George the
* Curiosities of London.
CH. XIII. BUIN AND PIE DEALERS. 519
Third's family were wont to make frequent visits thither.
Another instance of special purchase of food was that
connected with the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, in
1851, when 75,000l. was spent in refreshments, averaging
525l. per day for the 144 days during which the exhi-
bition was open, or averaging three-pence per visitor for
six million visitors; when nearly two million buns were
purchased and eaten, and a hundred thousand pounds
weight of patés and biscuits, and a hundred thousand
loaves of bread cut up into slices, and four hundred
thousand pounds of meat; and when these solids were
washed down with a million bottles of ačrated beverages,
sixty thousand quarts of milk and cream, and the drinks
prepared from twenty thousand pounds of coffee, tea,
and chocolate.
To return, however, to our open air food-dealers.
There has been a remarkable change in the ‘hot pie’
trade of London. It is sometimes asked, “What has
become of the pieman P’ We certainly do not now see
him as he was wont to be seen in past days. Penny
pies are eaten in enormous quantity; and if the
itinerant pieman does not sell them, who does? In
Hogarth's days the penny pieman was in his glory: we
meet with him in numberless prints and books; he was a
wag, with a dash of shrewdness in him, and a fondness
for pitch-and-toss with his customers. Whether flour
became too dear, or whether piemen became less honest,
it appears that hot penny pies first deteriorated in quality,
and then gradually disappeared, or nearly so, from among
the street viands. They have been replaced by the pies
of regular shopkeepers, men who make a formidable
520 - TEIE FOOD OF LONDON. CEI. XIII.
display, and boast of plate-glass windows. The modern
commercial system has been adopted to its fullest ex-
tent; the pies are sold at a price yielding an almost
infinitely small profit on each, and, therefore, a large sale
and an efficient management are requisite. Such pie-
shops are now numerous in London — not only in
the humbler streets, but in the leading thoroughfares
where a high rental must be paid. The little tin dishes,
as bright as silver, receive a constant round of pies from
the forenoon of one day to two or three o'clock on the
next morning.
In our own day the out-door orange trade has put on
new features. The Jews, who buy oranges in lots of
a few cases each from the merchants around Botolph
Lane, retail them to street dealers; their depôts are in
the dirty fusty regions of Duke's Place, where even the
fragrance of the oranges can hardly kill the compound
of villanous smells arising from other causes. “The
open-air shops,” says an eye-witness, “piled up with
ripe, luscious, radiant fruit, are duplicates of the Indian
bazaars we have walked through in our eastern travels,
though without their sunshine. The handsome nut-
brown, dark-haired daughters of Israel, jewelled and
ribbon'd, and smiling, seen dimly amidst the shadows
of these murky spots, appear like breathing pictures of
a master hand. All day, and every day, Saturdays
alone excepted, these busy fruit-wives ply their avoca-
tions; whilst their lords and masters are out on weighty
matters, attending fruit-Sales at the brokers', inspecting
and valuing cargoes of newly-landed oranges and nuts,
or gathering information, or bartering. . . . . Fridays
CH. XIII. ORANGE. l E.A.L.E.R.S. 521
and Sunday mornings are the great fair days of orange
and nut dealing in this quarter. At such times it
presents a busy aspect, with the motley crowd of men,
boys, and women from all parts of the metropolis– the
* costers’ of London, and who are said to number about
four thousand. Carts, hand-barrows, flats, baskets, sacks,
all are ready for their destined loads; and so active are
these people, that in a few hours all will be quiet again:
the business of the day is done: and it is not an unusual
thing for one of these Duke's Place merchants to handle
between one and two hundred pounds within a very
brief space of time.”” For some reason or other, the
Irish have supplanted the Jews in the street-sale of
oranges in London; the Jew orange-boy was a well-
marked feature some years ago, but ragged urchins
from the sister-isle now in great part engross the trade.
Pies and oranges are only two among many varieties
of the street-dealer's commodities, in past and present
days. The sellers of fruit, or costermongers or cos-
tardmongers, have been an undying fraternity for
many ages. We may find mention in Beaumont and
Fletcher of -
“A rude costermonger,
That schoolboys had cozen'd of his apple ; ”
but we fancy it would take a very sharp school-boy
to cozen a costermonger in 1856. At the time when
Defoe wrote, the street-dealing system seems to have
been in full work. “It is ordinarily said, that there
are thirty thousand higglers and travelling market
folks, as we call them, about this city; a poor sort
* Household Words, No. 210.
M. M.
622 .* THE FOOD OF LONDON. CH. XIII.
of people that are employed to bring butter, eggs,
pigeons, fowls, chickens, &c., to London market, and
bring veal and pork, and smaller things, up and down
from house to house; and every one of them has a
horse, some more, some carts. Some of them come
forty or fifty miles.” This number appears very large;
but the hawkers named are such as are seldom seen
now in London; our poultry is not brought to market
by hawkers, nor are veal and pork hawked from door
to door.
It is hard to tell whether the “tea gardens’ should
be included among the means for the retail distribution
of food; but, at any rate, tea and beer, bread and butter,
buns and biscuits, have been dispensed at those places
for a century past, combined more or less with open-
air pleasures or with concert-room music. Many of
those named in a former page are extinct. Maw-worm
was wont to go into the country to the ‘Three Hats’
at Islington on Sundays, in his unregenerate days; but
Islington is no longer in the country. Such old gardens
are gone—in most cases because their sites have been
required for new houses and new streets in the ever-
increasing London. Successors to them have sprung
up in the belt of debateable ground, which scarcely
knows whether to regard itself as town or country.
Changed, too, are the days for the old coaching inns,
those establishments in which the provision of food and
drinks was subsidiary to that of means for travelling.
The glory of the “Belle Sauvage’ and its companions
* Complete Tradesman, ii, ch. 4.
CH. XIII. CONCLUSION. 523
has departed; for though all or nearly all of these old
inns may still be kept up, they have become virtually
* railway offices,’ and are the humble servants of the
seven railway termini. And as for their refreshment
departments, people live in so great a hurry now-a-days
that they have no time to make lengthened sojourns in
these inns. A Manchester man, bound for Paris,
would in the old coaching days have stopped at least one
day at his inn in London to rest and refresh ; but now
he is just as likely to hasten over from Euston Square
to London Bridge to catch the “tidal service ’ train
bound for Folkstone.
Here we finish. It is not inappropriate that a rail-
way train should have the last word in connection with
the ‘Food of London: ' the relation between them being
so intimate and momentous. It cannot have escaped the
notice of the reader, during the perusal of these pages,
that among the various aspects under which this large
and interesting subject has been presented, that of
statistics is the least definite and determinate. The
prescribed space has not permitted anything beyond a
rapid glance, — whether at the past history, the growth
and culture, the manufacture and preparation, the means
of conveyance, the market arrangements, the wholesale
dealings, or the retail distribution, of the Food of
London: still, if fuller treatment had been consistent
with the plan, available materials are abundant; but
when the subjects of enquiry are the quantity and value
of this wondrous mass of sustenance, then are the data
found to be insufficient. Our national statistics have not
524. TEIE EOOD OF LOINDON. CH. XIII.
yet risen to the level of this subject: men are groping
in the dark in relation thereto; and perhaps the pre-
sent volume, if it have any merit, may assist in showing
—not only the links whereby the great food question is
connected with so many other subjects of daily com-
merce, reading, and thinking — but also the narrowness
of the limits that bound the sources of information con-
cerning parts of the topic. It is wholesome occasionally
for us, as a nation and as individuals, to become
conscious how little we know.
TEIE END.
London :
Printed by Spottiswoope & Co.,
New-street-Square.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
GRADUATE LIBRARY
DATE DUE
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