Id London .M- ■v^ ^^ I'kwifSypenHy a bunch" Old London Street Cries AND THE CRIES OF TO-DAY WITH Heaps of Quaint Cuts IXCLUDING Hand-coloured Frontispiece : BY Andrew W. Tuer, Author of " Bartolozzi and his\Vorks," &c 1887. NEW YORK: Published for The Old London Street Company, 728, BROADWAY. [Rights Reserved: Wrongs Revenged! k PRINTED AT THE LEADENHALL PRESS LONDON, E.G. T 4.237- Introductory. '' I ^HE " Cries" have been sufficiently well received In bolder form to Induce the publication of this additionally Illustrated extension at a more popular price. .A ZJ^JS Old London Street Cries, T^ATES, unless in the form of the luscious fruit of Smyrna, are generally diXy. It is enough there- fore to state that the earliest mention of London Cries is found in a quaint old ballad entitled " London Lyckpenny," or Lack penny, by that prolific writer, John Lydgate, a Benedictine monk of Bury St. Ed- munds, who flourished about the middle of the fifteenth century. These cries are particularly quaint, and especially valuable as a record of the daily life of the time. Then unto London I dyd me hye, Of all the land it beareth the pr^^se : Hot pescodes, one began to crye, Strabery rype, and cherryes in the ryse ; * * On the bough. ^' One " / love a Ballad in print, a'lije ; /or then we are sure they are //-«f."— Winter's Tale, Act. iv., Sc. iv. London Cries. One bad me come nere and by some spyce, Peper and safforne they gan me bede, But for lack of money I myght not spede. Then to the Chepe I began me drawne, Where mutch people I saw for to stande ; One spred me velvet, sylke, and lawne, Another he taketh me by the hande, " Here is Parys thred, the fynest in the land ;" I never was used to such thyngs indede, And wantyng money I myght not spede. Then went I forth by London stone, Throughout all Canwyke* Streete ; Drapers mutch cloth me offred anone. Then comes me one cryed hot shepes feete ; One cryde makerell, rysterf grene, an other gan greete On bad me by a hood to cover my head, But for want of mony I myght not be sped. Then I hyed me into Est-Chepe ; One cryes rybbs of befe, and many a pye ; Since Lydgate's time the cries of London have been a stock subject for ballads and children's books, of Candlewick. '\ Rushes green. which London Cries. which, in various forms, some hundreds must have appeared within the last two centuries. The cuts, un- less from the hand of a Rowlandson or a Cruikshank, are usually of the mechanical order ; and one finds copies of the same illustrations, though differently treated, constantly reappearing. In the books there is usually a cut on each page, with a cry printed above or underneath, and in addi- tion a verse of descriptive poetry, which, if not of the highest order, serves its purpose. With his machine and ass to help To draw the frame along, Pray mark the razor-grinder's yelp The burden of his song. His patched umbrella quick aloft He mounts if skies should lower. Then laughing whirls his wheel full oft, Nor heeds the falling shower. A well-known collection is that entitled " Habits ^<. "Cryes of the City of London, drawne after the Life ; P. [Pearce] Tempest, excudit," containing seventy-four plates, drawn by Marcellus Laroon [Lauron], and re- published in 171 1. The first edition, with only fifty illustrations, had appeared some three-and-twenty years earlier ; and many of the copper-plates in the later Londo7t Cries. later issue were so altered as to bring the costume into the fashion of the time of repubUcation. The hats had their high crowns cut down into low; and shoe-buckles were substituted for laces. Otherwise the plates, — with the exception of some of the faces, which were entirely re-engraved, — were left in their original condition.* The letter-press descriptions are in English, French, and Italian. The engraver, Mar- cellus Lauron, or Captain Laroon, who was born in London, has left on record that his family name was Lauron, but being always called Laroon, he adopted that spelling in early life. Of the seventy-four plates, those representing eccentric characters, etc., are omit- ted from the list that follows : — Any Card Matches or Save Alls } Pretty Maids, Pretty Pins, Pretty Women ! " I remember," says Hone, " that pins were disposed of in this manner, in the streets by women. Their cry was a musical distich : — ' Three Rows a Penny pins, Short, Whites, and Mid-dl-ings ! ' " Ripe Strawberryes ! * Mr, J. E, Gardner's collection of prints and drawings illus- trating London, and numbering considerably over 120,000, con- tains many fine prints illustrating Old London Cries, including numerous examples of the alterations here indicated. A LoJidou Cries, Three Rows a Penny pins i' A Bed Matt [mat] or a Door IMatt ! Buy a fine Table Basket? Ha, ha, Poor Jack ! Can hardly be called a London cry : the call of a well-known character, who, accompanied by his wife, sold fish. Buy my Dish of great Eeles ? Buy London Cries. Buy a fine Singing Bird?" London Cries. Buy a fine singing Bird ? Buy any wax or wafers ? Fine Writeing Ink ! A Right Merry Song ! Old Shoes for some Broomes ! Hott baked Wardens [stewed pears] Hott ! Small Coale ! Swift mentions this cry in his " Morning in Town." " The Small Coal Man was heard with cadence deep Till drowned in shriller notes of ' Chimney Sweep.' " Maids, any Coonie [rabbit] Skinns ? Buy a Rabbit, a Rabbit ? Chimney Sweep ! Crab, Crab, any Crab ? Oh, Rare Shoe ! Lilly White Vinegar ! Buy any Dutch Biskets? Ripe Speregas ! [asparagus] Buy a Fork or a Fire Shovel .? [See p. 13.] Maids, buy a Mapp ? [mop] Buy my fat Chickens ? ]5uy my Plounders .-* Old Cloaks, Suits, or Coats ? [Succeeding Old Doublets, the cry of a slightly earlier period.] Fair Lemons and Oranges ? Old London Cries. II Fine WriUing Ink ! " 1 2 London CiHes. Old Chaires to Mend ? Twelve Pence a Peck, Oysters ! Troope every one ! [See p. 17.] The man blowing a trumpet — troope every one ! — was a street seller of toy hobby-horses. He carried his wares in a sort of cage ; and to each rudely represented horse's head was attached a small flag. The toy hobby-horse has long since disappeared, and nowadays we give a little boy a stick to thrust between his legs as a Bucephalus. Hone opines that our fore- fatliers were better natured, for they presented him with some- thing of the semblance of the genuine animal. Old Satten, Old Taffety, or Velvet ! Buy a new Almanack ! Buy my Singing Glasses ! These were long bell-mouthed glass tubes. The writer recollects that when a boy he purchased, for a copper or two, fragile glass trumpets of a similar description. Any Kitchen Stuffe have you, Maids .'' Knives, Combs, or Inkhorns ! Four for Six Pence, Mackrell ! Any work for the Cooper ? Four Paire for a ShiUing, Holland Socks ! Colly Molly Puffe ! The cry of a noted seller of pastry. He is mentioned in the Spectator, No. -xw. Sixpence a pound, Fair Cl.erryes ! [See p. 21.] Knives London Cries. " Buy a Fork or a Fire Shovel 'i" 14 London Cries. Knives or Cisers to Grinde ! Long thread Laces, long and strong ! Remember the poor Prisoners ! In a series of early prints in the Bridgewatcr library, from copper plates, by an unknown artist, probably engraved be- tween 1650 and 1680, there is one thus titled : " Some broken Breade and meate for ye poore prisoners : for the Lorde's sake pittey the poore." Within the memory of our fathers a tin box was put out from a grated window in the Fleet prison, a prisoner meanwhile imploring the public to remember the poor debtors. In the " Cries of York, for the amusement of young children," undated, but published probably towards the end of the last century, are the following lines : — Of prisoners in the Castle drear Come buy a Kalendar, Their crimes and names are set down here Tis Truth I do declare. A brass Pott or an Iron Pott to mend ! Buy my four ropes of Hard Onyons ! London'' s Gazette here ! The London Gazette, established in 1665. Buy a White Line or a Jack Line, or a Cloathes Line. Any old Iron take money for } DeHcate Cowcumbers to pickle ! Any Bakcing Peares .'* New River Water ! The London Cries. 15 Fine Oysters . 1 6 London Cries. The cry of "Marking Stones," which marked black or red, and preceded the daintier cedar-encased lead pencil of our own time, is not mentioned by Laroon. J. T. Smith,"^ says that the colour of the red marking-stone was due to " Ruddle," a colour not to be washed out, and that fifty years ago (he wrote in 1839) it was the custom at cheap lodging-houses to mark with it on linen the words, " Stop thief I " The following lines are from a sheet of London Cries, twelve in number, undated, but probably of James the Second's time : — Buy marking-stones, marking-stones buy, Much profit in their use doth lie ; I've marking-stones of colour red, Passing good, or else black lead. In the British Museum is a folio volume con- taining another curious little collection, on three sheets, of early London cries; also undated and of foreign * "The Cries of London:" Copied from rare engravings or drawn from the life by John]JThomas Smith, late Keeper of the Prints in the British Museum, 1839. On inquiring at the Print Department of the British Museum for a copy of this work, the attendant knew nothing of it, and was quite sure the department had no such book. It turned up on a little pressure, however, but the leaves were uncut. — Les morts vont vite ! workmanship, London Crtes. 17 ' Troopc every one I ' i8 London Cries. workmanship, but attributable to the time of Charles II. The first sheet has a principal representation of a rat-catcher with a banner emblazoned with rats ; he is attended by an assistant boy, and underneath are these lines : — He that will have neither Ratt nor mousse, Lett him pluck of the tilles And set fire of his hows. Then come the following cries Cooper. En of golde ! Olde Dublets ! Blackinge man. Tinker. • I'ippins ! Bui a matte ! Coales ! Chimney swepes. Bui brumes ! Camphires ! [Sampinic] Cherrie ripe ! Alminake ! Coonie skine ! Mussels ! Cabeches ! Kitchen stuff ! Glasses ! Cockels ! Hartti Chaks ! Mackrill! Oranges, Lemens ! Lettice ! Place ! Olde Iron ! Aqua vita: ! Pens and Ink ! Olde bellows ! Herrings ! Eui any milke .'* Piepm Londo7i Cries. 19 Alilk below. Maids!" 20 London Crie s. Piepin pys ! Osters ! Shades ! Turneps ! Rossmarie Baie ! Onions. The principal figure on the second sheet is the " Belman,"' with halberd, lanthorn, and dog. ^layds in your Smocks, Loocke Wei to your locke — Your fire And your light, & God Give you good-night. At One o'clock. This is followed by : Buy any shrimps ? Buy some figs ? Buy a tosting iron ? Lantorne Candellyht. Buy any maydes ? The Water Bearer. Buy a whyt pot ? Bread and Meate ! Buy a candelsticke ? Buy any prunes ? Buy a washing ball ? Good sasages ! Buy a purs ? Buy a dish a flounders ? Buy a footestoole ? Buy a fine bowpot ? Buy a pair a shoes .'* Buy any garters .'* Featherbeds to dryue ? Buy any bottens ? Buy any whiting maps ? Buy any tape .'* Worcestersljyr London Cries. 21 Sixpence a pound, Fair Cherryes i 22 London Cries. Worcestershyr salt ! Ripe damsons ! Buy any marking stoes ? The Bear bayting. Buy any blew starch ? Buy any points ? New Hado.sf ! Yards and Ells ! Buy a fyne brush ? Hote mutton poys ! New sprats new ! New cod new ! Buy any reasons ? P. and glasses to mend The public " Cryer" on the third sheet, who bears a staff and keys, humorously speaks as follows : " O yis, any man or woman that Can tell any tydings of a little Mayden childe of the age of 24 Yeares. Bring worde to the Cryer And you shal be pleased for Your labor, And God's blessinge." Then follow : Buy any wheat ? Buy al my smelts ? Quick periwinckels ! Rype chesnuts ! Payres fyn ! White redish vvhyt ! Buy any whyting ? Buy any bone lays ? I ha rype straberies ! Buy a case for a hat ? Birds and hens ! Hote podding pyes ! Buy a hair line ? Buy any pompcons ? Whyt scalions ! Rype walnuts ! Fyne London Cries. 23 "Songs, penny a sheet I" 24 London Cries. Fyne potatos fyn ! Hote eele pyes ! Fresh cheese and creame ? Buy any garlick ? Buy a longe brush ? Whyt carets whyt ! Fyne pomgranats ! Buy any Russes ? Hats or caps to dress ? Wood to cleave ? Pins of the Maker ! Any sciruy gras ? Any comes to pick ? Buy any parsnips ? Hot codhnges hot ! Buy all my soales ? Good morrow m. Buy any cocumber ? New thornebacke ! Fyne oate cakes ! From all this it will be seen that merchandise of almost every description was formerly " carried and cried" in the streets. When shops were little more than open shanties, the apprentice's ciy of" What d'ye lack, what d'ye lack, my masters ? " was often accom- panied by a running description of the goods on sale, together with personal remarks, complimentary or otherwise, to likely and unlikely buyers. A very puzzling London Cry, yet at one time a very common one, was " A tormentor for your fleas ! " * What the instrument so heralded could have been, one can but dimly guess. A contributor to Eraser's Magazine ^\.^\\s us that in a collection of London Cries appended to Thomas Heywood's Rape of Lucrece See Appendix. (l6c8), London Cries. 25 (1608), he gives us this one ; " Buy a very fine mouse- trap, or a tormentor for your fleaes ; " and the cry of the mouse-trap man in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair (1614), is, " Buy a mouse-trap, a mouse-trap, or a tormentor for a flea." The flea-trap is also alluded to in The Boiidiica of Beaumont and Fletcher, and in Travels of Tiuelve-Pence^ by Taylor, the Water Poet ; and it reappears in a broadside in the Roxburgh Col- lection of Ballads, " The Common Cries of London " [dated 1662, but probably written a hundred years earlier] : " Buy a trap, a mouse-trap, a torment for the fleas ! " When the great Bard of the Lake School was on a tour, he made a call at an inn where Shelley hap- pened to be ; but the conversation, which the young man would fain have turned to philosophy and poetry and art, was almost confined to the elder poet's prosaic description of his dog as " an excellent flea-trap." It may be assumed that fleas Avere plentiful when this cry was in vogue ; and it may have been that the trap was p^rt of the (undressed ?) skin of an animal with the hair left on, in which fleas would naturally take refuge, drowning, perhaps, being their ultimate fate. But all this is mere conjecture. It was unlikely that so close an observer of London life as Addison should leave unnoticed the Cries of London ; and the Spectator is interspersed with occa- sional 26 London Cries. sional allusions to them. In No. ccli.we read : "There is nothing which more astonishes a Foreigner, and frights a Country Squire, than the Cries of London. My good Friend Sir ROGER often declares that he cannot get them out of His Head, or go to sleep for them, the first Week that he is in Town. On the contrary, Will H0NEYC0?.IB calls them the Ra7)m^e de la Ville, and prefers them to the Sounds of Larks and Nightingales, with all the Musick of the Fields and Woods." In Steele's comedy of The Funeral^ Trim tells some ragged soldiers, "There's a thousand things you might do to help out about this town, as to ciy Puff-Puff Pyes ; have you any Knives or Scissors to grind ? or late in an evening, whip from Grub Street strange and bloody News from Flanders j Votes from the House of Commons ; Buns, rare Buns ; Old Silver Lace, Cloaks, Sutes or Coats ; Old Shoes, Boots or Hats." Gay, too, who, in his microscopic lyric of the streets. Trivia^ omitted little, thus sings of various street cries : — Now Industry awakes her busy sons ; Full charged with News the breathless hawker runs ; Shops open, coaches roll, carts shake the ground, And all the streets with passing cries resound. ******* When LoJidon Cries, 27 "Buy a doll, Miss\f \ 28 London Cries. When all the Mall in leafy ruin lies, And damsels first renew their Oyster cries. When small coal murmurs in the hoarser throat, From smutty dangers guard thy threatn'd coat. ******* What though the gathering mire thy feet besmear, The voice of Industry is always near. Hark ! the boy calls thee to his destined stand, And the shoe shines beneath his oily hand. Sadly he tells the tale of a poor Apple girl who lost her life on the frozen Thames : — Doll every day had walk'd these treacherous roads ; Her neck grew warpt beneath autumnal loads Of various fruit : she now a basket bore ; That head, alas ! shall basket bear no more. Each booth she frequent past, in quest of gain, And boys with pleasure heard her shrilling strain. Ah, Doll ! all mortals must resign their breath, And industry itself submit to death ! The cracking crystal yields ; she sinks, she dies, Her head chopt off from her lost shoulders flies ; Pippins she cry'd ; but death her voice confounds ; And pip^ pip^ pip, along the ice resounds. Street cries have, before now, been made the vehicle for London Cries. 29 for Political Caricature, notably in The Pedlars^ or Scotch Merchants of London (1763) attributed to the Marquis Townshend, which has particular reference to Lord Bute. Eliminating the political satire, we get a long Hst of street cries. The pedlars march two and two, carrying, of course, their wares with them. The vendors of food are numerous. One calls out " Dumplings, ho ! " another, who carries a large can, wishes to know " Who'l have a dip and a wallop for a bawbee?"* Then come "Hogs Puddings;" "Wall Fleet Oysters;" "New Mackrel;" " Sevil Oranges and Lemons ; " " Barcelona Philberts ; " " Spanish Chestnuts ; " " Ripe Turkey Figs ; " " Heart Cakes;" "Fine Potatoes;" "New-born Eggs, 8 a groat ; " " Bolognia Sausages." Miscellaneous wants are met with " Weather Cocks for little Scotch Cour- tiers ;" "Bonnets for to fit English heads ;" " Laces all a halfpenny a piece ; " " Ribbons a groat a yard ; " " Fine Pomatum ; " " Buy my Wash Balls, Gemmen and Ladies ; " " Fine Black Balls" (Blacking) ; " Buy a Flesh Brush;" "Buy my Brooms;" "Buy any Saveall or Oeconomy Pans, Ladies ; " "' Water for the Buggs ; " * " Buy my pack-thread ; " " Hair or Comb- ings " (for the manufacture of Wigs) ; " Any Kitchen Stuff ; " " Buy my Matches." * See page 125. Addison 30 London Cries. Addison accuses the London street criers of culti- vating the accompHshment of crying their wares so as not to be understood ; and in that curious medley of boits-mots and biographical sketches, " The Olio/' by Francis Grose, — dated 1796, but written .probably some twenty years earlier, — the author says, "The variety of cries uttered by the retailers of different articles in the streets of London make no inconsider- able part in its novelty to strangers and foreigners. An endeavour to guess at the goods they deal in through the medium of language would be a vain at- tempt, as few of them convey any articulate sound. It is by their tune and the time of day that the modern cries of London are to be discriminated." J. T. Smith says that the no longer heard cry of " Holloway Cheese-Cakes " was pronounced "y^// my Teeth Achej" and an old woman who sold mutton dumplings in the neighbourhood of Gravel Lane called, ^'' Hot M2itto7i Ti'twtperyj" while a third crier, an old man who dealt in brick-dust, used to shout something that sounded exactly like ^'' Do you want a lick on the head?" Another man — a vendor of chickweed — brayed like an ass ; while a stentorian bawler, who was de- scribed as a great nuisance, shouted " Cat's Meat," though he sold cabbages. Indeed, some of the cries in our own day would London Cries, 31 appear to be just as difficult to distinguish. A lady- tells me that in a poor district she regularly visits, the coal-cart man cries : " I'm on the woolsack ! " but what he means is, " Fine Wallsend Coal ! " The philologist will find the pronunciation of the peripatetic Cockney vendor of useful and amusing trifles — almost invariably penn'orths, by the way — worthy of careful study. Here are a couple of phonetically rendered examples : " Bettnooks, a penny fer two, two frer penny." [Button hooks, a penny for two, two for a penny.] " En endy shoo-awn frer penny." [A handy shoe-horn for a penny.] Amongst the twelve etched London Cries " done from the life " by Paul Sandby, in 1 766, and now scarce, are the following curious examples : — My pretty little gimy [smart] tarter for a halfpenny stick, or a penny stick, or a stick to beat your Wives or Dust your cloths ! Memorandum books a penny a-piece of the poor blind. God bless you. Pity the blind ! Do you want any spoons — hard metal spoons ? Have you any old brass or pewter to sell or change ? All fire and no smoke. A very good flint or a very- good steel. Do you want a good flint or steel ? Any tripe, or neat's foot or calPs-foot, or trotters, ho ! Hearts, Liver or Lights ! C The 32 London Cries. The simplers, or herb-gatherers, who were at one time numerous, supplied the herb-shops in Covent Garden, Fleet, and Newgate Markets. They culled from the hedges and brooks not only watercresses, of which London now annually consumes about ;^ 15,000 worth, but dandelions, scurvy grass, nettles, bitter- sweet, red valerian, cough-grass, feverfew, hedge mus- tard, and a variety of other simples. Notwithstanding the greater pungency of the wild variety, preferred on that account, of late years watercress-growing has been profitably followed as a branch of market gar- dening. In third-rate " genteel '^ neighbourhoods, where the family purse is seldom too well filled, " Creeses, young watercreeses," varied by shrimps or an occasional bloater, would appear to form the chief afternoon solace. Towards the end of the last century scurvy-grass was highly esteemed ; and the best scurvy-grass ale is said to have been sold in Covent Garden at the public-house at the corner of Henrietta Street. The modern dealer in simples, who for a few pence supplies pills and potions of a more or less harmless character, calculated for the cure of every bodily ail- ment that afflicts humanity, flourishes in the poorer districts of London, and calls himself a herbalist. During the progress ot an all too short acquaintance- ship London Cries. ship struck up with a simpler in an Essex country lane through the medium of a particularly fragrant and soothing herb, the conversation happened on de- pression of spirits, and dandelion tea was declared to be an unfailing specific. "You know, sir, bad spirits means that the liver is out of order. The doctors gives you a deadly mineral pizen, which they calls blue pill, and it certainly do pizen ^em, but then you run the chance of being pizened yerself " A look of astonish- ment caused him to continue. " You've noticed the 'oles in a sheep's liver after it's cut up, 'aven't you .^ Well, them 'oles is caused by slugs, and 'uman bein's is infested just the same. So is awsiz (horses), but they don't never take no blue pill. Catch 'em ! The doctors knows all about it, bless yer, but they don't talk so plain as me. /calls out-of-sort-ishness ' slugs in the hver,' and pizens 'em with three penn'rth of dandelion tea, for which I charges thrippence. They calls it ' slug- gishness of the liver,' and pizens 'em with a penn'rth of blue pill, for which they charges a guinea, and as often as not they pizens the patient too." What a mine of " copy " that simple simpler would have proved to a James Payn or a Walter Besant ! The following at one time popular and often re- printed lines, to the tune of " The Merry Christ Church Bells,'' are from the Roxburgh Collection of Ballads : Kerens 34 London Cries. Here's fine rosemary, sage and thyme. Come and buy my ground ivy. Here's fetherfew, gilliflowers, and rue. Come buy my knotted marjorum ho ! Come buy my mint, my fine green mint. Here's lavender for your cloaths. Here's parsley and winter savoiy, And heartsease which all do choose. Here's balm and hissop and cinquefoil, All fine herbs, it is well known. Let none despise the merry, merry wives Of famous London town. Here's pennyroyal and marygolds. Come buy my nettle-tops. Here's watercresses and scurvy grass. Come buy my sage of virtue, ho ! Come buy my wormwood and mugwort. Here's all fine herbs of every sort, And southernwood that's very good, Dandelion and horseleek. Here's dragon's tongue and horehound. Let none despise the merry, merry wives Of famous London town. Less characteristic is an old undated penny ballad from which we cull the following lines : — Wood London Cries, 35 Wood, three bundles a penny, all dried deal ; Now, who'll buy a g-ood flint or steel ? Buy a walking stick, a good ash stump ; Hearthstone, pretty maids, a penny a lump. Fine mackrel ; penny a plateful sprats ; Dog's meat, marm, to feed your cats ? The cry of Saloop, a favourite drink of the young bloods of a hundred and fifty years back, conveys no meaning to the present generation. Considered as a sovereign cure for drunkenness, and pleasant withal, saloop, first sold at street corners, where it was con- sumed principally about the hour of midnight, even- tually found its way into the coffee houses. The ingredients used in the preparation of this beverage were of several kinds — sassafras, and plants of the genus known by the simplers as cuckoo-flowers, being the principal among them. Saloop finally disappeared some five and twenty years ago. The watchman cried the time every half hour. In addition to a lantern and rattle, he was armed with a stout stick. T. L. Busby, who in 1819 illustrated " The Costumes of the Lower Orders of London," tells us that in March the watchman began his rounds at eight in the evening, and finished them at six in the morning. From April to September his hours were from 36 London d'ies. from ten till five ; and from November to the end of February, twelve till seven. During the darkest months there was an extra watch from six to twelve, and extra patrols of sergeants walked over the beats at intervals. One of London's best known characters, the Water- man, does not appear to have adopted a cry ; or, if he did, no mention of it can be found. But a correspondent of Notes and Queries (5th S. I. May 2, 1874) says : " I heard this verse of a very old (water- man's) song from a very old gentleman on the occasion of the last overflow of the Thames : — "'Twopence to London Bridge, threepence to the Strand, Fourpence, Sir, to Whitehall Stairs, or else you'll go by land.' " The point of departure, however, is not given. *' Fine Tie or a fine Bob, Sir ! " According to Hone, this was the cry in vogue at a time when everybody, old and young, wore wigs.* The price of a common one was a guinea, and every journeyman had a new * " The best wigs are those made in Great Britain ; they beat the French and German ones all to sticks." The Book of Aphorisms, by a modern Pythagorean, 1834. one "Past om o'clock, an' a fne montiny / Loudon Cries. one every year ; each apprentice's indenture stipulat- ing, in the language of the officials who are still wig- wearers, that his master should find him in " one good and sufficient wig, yearly, and every year, for, and during, and unto, the expiration of the full end and term of his apprenticeship." A verse cjf the time tell? us : — Full many a year in Middle Row has this old barber been, Which those who often that way go have full as often seen ; Bucks, jemmies, coxcombs, bloods and beaux, the lawyer, the divine, Each to this reverend tonsor goes to purchase wigs so fine. " Buy my rumps and burrs ! " is a cry requiring a word of explanation. Before the skins of the newly flayed oxen were consigned to the tanner, the inside of the ear, called the burr, and the fleshy part of the tail were removed, and when seasoned and baked are said to have formed a cheap and appetising dish. Ned Ward, the author of that curious work, " The London Spy" (1703)1 alludes to the melancholy ditty of " Hot baked Wardens [pears], and Pippins ; " and, in describing the amusements of Bartholomew Fair, states London Cries. 39 states that in leaving a booth he was assailed with " Will you buy a Mouse Trap or a Rat Trap ? Will you buy a Cloath Brush, or Hat Brush, or a Comb Brush ?^' The writer possesses a veiy curious old scenic aquatint print in the form of a fan mount, representing Bartholomew Fair in 1721. The follow- ing descriptive matter is printed in the semicircular space under the fan : — "BARTHOLOMEW FAIR, 1721. This fair was granted by Henry the ist, to one Rahere, a witty and pleasant gentleman of his Court, in aid and for the support of an Hospital, Priory, and Church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, which he built in repentance of his former profligacy and folly. The succeeding Priors claimed, by certain Charters, to have a Fair every year, during three days : viz., on the Eve, the Day, and on the Morrow of St. Bartholomew. At this period the Clothiers of England, and drapers of London, kept their Booths and Standings there, and a Court of Piepouder was held daily for the settlement of all Debts and Contracts. About the year 1721, when the present interesting View of this popular Fair was taken, the Drama was considered of some import- ance, and a series of m.inor although regular Pieces were acted in its various Booths. At Lee and Harper's the 40 London Cries. the Siege of Berthulia is performing, in which is intro- duced the Tragedy of Holifernis. Persons of Rank were also its occasional visitors, and the figure on the right is supposed to be that of Sir Robert Walpole, then Prime Minister. Fawkes, the famous conjuror, forms a conspicuous feature, and is the only portrait of him known to exist. The remaining amusements are not unlike those of our day, except in the articles of Hollands and Gin, with which the louver orders were then accustomed to indulge, unfettered by licence or excise." Amongst the numerous figures represented on the fan mount, but not mentioned by its pubUsher, Mr. Setchel, is that of the crier of apples, whose basket is piled high with tempting fruit. Another woman has charge of a barrow laden with pears as big as pump- kins ; and a couple of oyster- worn en, whose wares are on the same gigantic scale, are evidently engaged in a hot wrangle. Although foreign to our subject, it may be mentioned that the statement as to the portrait of Fawkes the conjuror being the only one known, is incorrect. Let not the ballad singer's shrilling strain Amid the swarm thy listening ear detain : Guard well thy pocket, for these syrens stand To aid the labours of the diving hand ; Confederate Ye maidef7s and men, come for what you lack, And buy the fair Ballads I have in my pack." — Pedlar's Lamentation, 42 London Cines. Confederate in the cheat, they draw the throng, And Cambric handkerchiefs reward the song. A state of things very graphically delineated in another print of "Barthelemew Fair" (1739), where ^ ballad singer is roaring out a caveat against cut purses whilst a pick-pocket is operating on one of his audience. The old cry of" Marking Irons " has died out. The letters were cast in iron, and sets of initials were made up and securely fixed in long-handled iron boxes. The marking irons were heated and impressed as a proof of ownership. Hence ladders, bellows, tubs, and pails. Brooms, benches, and what not, Just as the owner's taste prevails. Have his initials got. " My name and your name, your father's name and mother's name." Hone says : " I well remember to have heard this cry when a boy. The type-seller composed my own name for me, which I was thereby enabled to imprint on paper with common writing-ink. I think it has become wholly extinct within the last ten years." Amongst later prints of the London Cries, none are at present so highly prized as the folio set engraved in the London Cries. the early part of this century by Schiavonetti and others after Wheatley. Treated in the sentimentally pretty style of the period, they make, when framed, wall decorations which accord well with the prevailing- old-fashioned furniture. If in good condition, the set of twelve will now readily fetch ^20 at Christie's ; and if coloured, ^30 would not be considered too high a price, though five-and-twenty years ago they might easily have been picked up for as many shillings. Their titles are as follows : — Knives, scissors, and razors to grind ! Old chairs to mend ! Milk below, maids ! Strawberrys, scarlet strawberrys ! Two bundles a penny, primroses, two bundles a penny ! Do you want any matches ? Round and sound, fivepence a pound, Duke cherries ! Sweet China oranges ! Hot spiced gingerbread, smoking hot ! Fresh gathered peas, young Hastings ! A new love song, only a halfpenny apiece ! Turnips and carrots, oh ! In connection with the last cry, here is Dr. Johnson's humorous reference thereto : — If 44 London Cries. If the man who turnips cries, Cry not when his father dies, 'Tis a proof that he had rather Have a turnip than a father ! The modern bootblack with his " Clean yer boots, shine 'em, sir?" is the successor of the obsolete shoe- black, whose stock-in-trade consisted of liquid black- ing, an old wig for removing dust or wet, a knife for use on very muddy days, and brushes. Towards the end of the last century, Finsbury Square— then an open field— was a favourite place for shoeblacks, who intercepted the city merchants and their clerks in their daily walks to and from their residences in the villages of Islington and Hoxton. At that time tight breeches and shoes were worn ; and the shoeblack was careful not to smear the buckles or soil the fine white stock- ings of his patrons. In a print of this period the cry is "Japan your shoes, your honour .?'' Cake blacking, introduced by that famous, but, as regards the last mentioned, somewhat antagonistic trio. Day, Martin, and Warren, " the most poetical of blacking makers and most transparent of poets," which was quickly taken into general use, snuffed out the shoeblack ; and from about 1820 until the time of the first Exhibition in 1 85 1, when the shoeblack brigade in connection with London Cities. 45 Fresh and sweet . 46 London Cries. with ragged schools was started, London may be said to have blacked its own boots. Bill Sykesthe coster- monger, or " costard "- monger, as he was originally called from his trade of selling apples, now flourishes under difficulties. What with the envious complaints of the small shopkeepers whom he undersells, and the supercilious rebuffs of the policeman who keeps him dodging about and always " on the move," Bill has a hard time of it indeed. Yet he is distinctly a benefactor to the He changes his ciy with Fresh Cabbidge !" poorer portion of humanity, the stock on his barrow. He will invest one day in pine-apples, when there is a glut of them — perhaps a little over-ripe — in Pudding Lane ; and in stentorian voice will then make known his willingness to ex- chansre London Cries. 47 change slices for a halfpenny each, or a whole one for sixpence. On other days it may be apples, or oranges, fish, vegetables, photographs, or even tortoises ; the latter being popularly supposed to earn a free, if un- comfortable, passage to this country in homeward- bound ships as wedges to keep the cargo from shifting in the hold. It is not often that goods intended for the thriving shopkeeper find their way to the barrow of the costermonger. Some time ago amber-tipped cherry or briar-wood pipes were freely offered and as freely bought in the streets at a penny each. Suddenly the supply stopped ; for the unfortunate wholesale dealer in Houndsditch, who might have known better, had mistaken "dozen" for "gross" in his advice ; and at 6s. 6d. per gross the pipes could readily be retailed for a penny each ; whereas at the cost price of 6^. 6d. a dozen, one shilling ought to have been asked. It seems that not only did the importer imagine that the amber mouthpieces were imitation, but Bill Sykes also thought he was "doing" the public when he announced them as real. In the present race of street criers there are trick- sters in a small way ; as, for instance, the well known character who picks up a living by selling a bulky- looking volume of songs. His long-drawn and never varied cry of "Three un-derd an' fif-ty songs for a D penny ! "' 48 London Cries. penny ! " is really " Three under fifty songs for a penny." The book is purposely folded very loosely so as to bulk well ; but a little squeezing reduces it to the thickness of an ordinary tract. Street criers are honest enough, however, in the main. If vegetables are sometimes a little stale, or fruit is suspiciously over- ripe, they do not perhaps feel absolutely called upon to mention these facts ; but they give bouncing penn'- orths, and their clients are generally shrewd enough to take good care of themselves. Petty thieves of the area-sneak type use well-known cries as a blind while pursuing their real calling, — match-selling often serv- ing as an opportunity for pilfering. Blacker sheep than these there are ; but fortunately one does not often come across them. Walking one foggy after- noon towards dusk along the Bays water Road, I was accosted by a shivering and coatless vagabond who offered a tract. Wishing to shake off so unsavouiy a companion, I attempted to cross the road, but a few yards from the kerb he barred farther progress " Sixpence, Sir, only sixpence ; I must have sixpence ! " and as he spoke he bared a huge arm knotted like a blacksmith's. Raising a fist to match, he more than once shot it out unpleasantly near, exhibiting every time he did so an eruption of biceps perfectly appall- ing in its magnitude. That tract is at home some- where. There "Antique Ballads, sung to crowds of old, N:zv cheaply bought at thrice their weight in gold,^* 50 London Cries, There are persons in London who get their living by manufacturing amusing or useful penny articles, with which they supply the wholesale houses in Houndsditch, who in turn' find their customers in the hawkers and street criers. The principal supply, how- ever, is imported from the Continent at prices against which English labour cannot compete. Soon for- gotten, each novelty has its day, and is cried in a different manner. Until the law stepped in and put a stop to the sale, the greatest favourite on public holidays was the flexible metal tube containing scented water, which was squirted into the faces of passers-by with strict impartiality and sometimes with blinding- effect. " All the fun of the fair," — a wooden toy which, when drawn smartly down the back or across the shoulders, emits a sound as if the garment were being rent — ranks perhaps second in the estimation of 'Arry and Emma Ann — she generally gets called Emma Ran — when out for a holiday. " The Fun of the Fair" is always about on public holidays, illumi- nations, Lord Mayor's day, and in fact whenever people are drawn out of doors in, such multitudes that the pathways are insufficient to hold the slowly moving and densely packed human stream, which perforce slops over and amicably disputes possession of the road London Cries. 51 road with the confused and struggling mass of vehicles composed of everything that goes on wheels. A real Malacca cane, the smallest Bible in the world, a Punch and Judy squeaker, a bird warbler, a gold watch and chain, and Scotch bagpipes, are, with numerous others, at present popular and tempting penn'orths ; while the cry of " A penny for shillin' 'lusterated magazine"— the epitaph on countless unsuccessful literary ventures — seems to many an irresistible at- traction. In connection with 'Arr)% the chief producer of street noises, it may be questioned whether London is now much better off than it was before the passing of the Elizabethan Statutes of the Streets, by which citizens were forbidden, under pain of imprisonment, to blow a horn in the night, or to whistle after the hour of nine o'clock p.m. Sudden outcries in the still of the night, and the making of any affray, or the beating of one's wife — the noise rather than the brutality appears to have been objected to — were also specially forbidden. If this old Act is still on the Statute-book, it is none the less a dead letter. Our streets are now paraded by companies of boys or half- grown men who delight in punishing us by means of that blatant and horribly noisy instrument of dis- sonant, unchangeable chords, the German concertina. In 52 Lo7idoii Cries. In many neighbourhoods sleep is rendered, until the early hours, impossible by men and women who find their principal and unmolested amusement in the shouting of music-hall songs, with an intermittent accompaniment of shriekings. Professional street music of all kinds requires more stringent regulation ; and that produced by perambulating amateurs might with advantage be well-nigh prohibited altogether. The ringing of Church bells in the grey of the morn- ing, and the early habits of the chanticleer, are often among the disadvantages of a closely populated neighbourhood. Nor are these street noises the only nuisance of the kind. London walls and partitions are nearly all thin, and a person whose neighbour's child is in the habit of practising scale exercises or " pieces," should clearly have the right to require the removal of the piano a foot or so from the wall, which would make all the difference between dull annoyance and distracting torment. But we are wandering, and wandering into a dismal bye-way. Returning to our subject, it is impossible to be melancholy in the presence of the facetious salesman of the streets, with his unfailing native wit. Hone tells us of a mildly humorous character, one " Doctor Randal," an orange-seller, who varied the description of his fruit as circumstances and occa- sions London Cries. D3 sions demanded ; as " Oratorio oranges/' and so on. A jovial rogue whose beat extends to numerous courts and alleys on either side of Fleet Street, regularly and unblushingly cries, " Stinking Shrimps,'' and by way of addenda, " Lor, ''ow they do stink to-day, to be sure ! " His little joke is almost as much relished as his shrimps and bloaters, and they appear to be always of the freshest. Were it not that insuf- ficient clothing and an empty stomach are hardly conducive there- to, the winter cry so generally heard after a fall of snow, " Sweep yer door away, mum?" might fairly be credited to an attempt at facetiousness under difficulties, while the grave earnestness of the mirth-provoking cry of the Cockney boot-lace man, " Lice, lice, penny a pair boot-lice ! " is strong evidence that he has no thought Stinking Fish 54 London Cries. thought beyond turning the largest possible number of honest pennies in the shortest possible space of time. A search in our collection of books and ballads for London Cries, humorous in themselves, discovers but two, — "Jaw- work, up and under jaw- work, a whole pot for a halfpenny, hazel-nuts ! " and — " New laid eggs, eight a groat — crack 'em and try 'em ! " A somewhat ghastly form of facetiousness was a favourite one with a curious City character, now defunct. He was a Jew who sold a nameless toy — a dried pea loose in a pill box, which was fastened to a horse-hair, and on being violently twirled, emitted a vibratory hum that could be heard for some dis- tance. Unless his unvarying cry, " On'y a 'a'penny," brought buyers to the fore, he gave vent to frequent explosions of strange and impious language, which never failed to provoke the merriment of the passer-by. Among the many living City characters is the man — from his burr evidently a Northumbrian — who sells boot laces. His cry is, " Boot laces — AND the boot laces." This man also has a temper. If sales are slow New la id es^^s, eigJit a groat — crack 'em and try 'em ! ' 56 L ondon Cries. slow, as they not uncommonly are, his cry culminates in a storm of muttered abuse ; after which mental refreshment he calmly proceeds as before, " The boot laces— AND the boot laces." Most of us know by sight the penny Jack-in-the-box seller, whose cry, as Jack pops up, on the spring of the lid being released, is a peculiar double squeak, emitted without move- ment of the lips. The cry is supposed to belong to the internal economy of the toy, and to be a part of the penn'orth ; but, alas ! Jack, once out of the hands of his music-master, is voiceless. The numerous street sellers of pipe and cigar lights must have a hard time of it. Following the lucifer match, with its attendant choking sulphurous fumes, came the evil- smelling, thick, red-tipped, brown paper slip charged with saltpetre, so that it should smoulder without flaming. These slips, in shape something like a row of papered pins, were divided half through and torn off as required. Like the brimstone match which preceded, and the Vesuvian which followed, these lights (which were sold in the shops at a penny a box, but in the streets at two and sometimes three boxes for the same sum) utterly spoilt the flavour of a cigar ; htnce the superiority of the now dominant wax vestas. The matches of a still earlier period were long slips of dry Avood smeared at either end with brimstone. They /?0H- IcLTl Q.-n o'j-cn Del in /8/? • ' Letters for post 58 London Cries. They would neither " hght only on the box," nor off it, unless aided by the uncertain and always trouble- some flint, steel, and tinder, or the direct application of flame. "Clean yer pipe; pipe-cleaner, a penny for two ! " is a cry seldom absent from the streets. The pipe-cleaner is a thin, flexible, double-twisted wire, about a foot long, with short bristles interwoven at one end, and now, " when everybody smokes who doesn't,'' the seller is sure of a more or less constant trade. The buyers of the so-called penny ices sold in the London streets during the summer months are charged only a halfpenny ; and the numerous vendors, usually Italians, need no cry ; for the street ga7ni?ts and errand boys buzz around their barrows like flies about a sugar barrel. For obvious reasons, spoons are not lent. The soft and half-frozen delicacy is consumed by the combined aid of tongue and fingers. Parti- coloured Neapolitan ices, vended by unmistakable natives of Whitechapel or the New Cut, whose curious cry of " 'Okey Pokey " originated no one knov/s how, have lately appeared in the streets. Hokey Pokey is of a firmer make and probably stiffer material than the penny ice of the Italians, which it rivals in public favour; and it is built up of variously flavoured layers. Sold in halfpenny and also penny paper-covered squares. Si m^i i^--;; '13 Knives and Scissors to Grind \ 6o London Cr^ les. squares, kept until wanted in a circular metal refriger- ating pot surrounded by broken ice, Hokey Pokey has the advantage over its rival eaten from glasses, inas- much as it can be carried away by the purchaser and consumed at leisure. Besides being variously flavoured, Hokey Pokey is dreadfully sweet, dread- fully cold, and hard as a brick. It is whispered that the not unwholesome Swede turnip, crushed into pulp, has been known to form its base, in heu of more expensive supplies from the cow, whose complex elaboration of cream from turnips is thus uncere- moniously abridged. Another summer cry recalls to memory a species of house decoration, which we may hope is rapidly )3ecoming a thing of the past. " Ornaments for yer fire stoves," are usually either cream-tinted willow shavings, brightened by the interspersion of a few gold threads, or mats thickly covered with rose-shaped bows and streamers of gaily-coloured tissue papers. Something more ornate, and not always in better taste, is now the fashion ; the trade therefore has found its way from the streets to the shops, and the old cry, " Ornaments for yer fire stoves," is likely to be seldomer heard. Many of the old cries, dying out elsewhere, may still be familiar, however, in the back streets of second and London Cries. 6i ■ ' W Clo / • 62 London C> vies. and repr third rate neighbourhoods. The noisy bell * of the privileged muffin-man can hardly be counted ; but "dust, O," — the dustman's bell is almost a thing of the past — "knives and scissors," — pronounced sitthers — "to grind," "chairs to mend" "cat's [and dawg's meat," the snapped-off short " o' clo" of the Jewish dealer in left-off garments, " fine warnuts, penny for ten, all cracked," " chestnuts all 'ot," " fine ripe strawberries," " rabbit or 'air skins," "fine biggaroon cherries," " fine oranges, a penny for three," and many others, are still shouted in due season by leathern-lunged itinerant traders. The " O' clo " man is nearly always historically esented, as in the Catnach illustration, wearing Dust, 0. * Francis Grose tells us, in 1796, that some trades have from time immemorial invoked musical assistance,— such as those of pie, post, and dust men, who ring a bell. My bell I keep ringing And walk about merrily singing My muffins. several ^ -, -v^^^. 1 Pf '■\'^\ '■,• i^'l E " CV/^'j- and Dog's Meat!" 64 London Cries. several hats ; but, though he may often be met with more than one in his possession, he is now seldom seen with more than one on his head. Calling the price before the quantity, though quite a recent in- novation, or more probably the revival of an old style, is almost universal. The cry of " Fine wamuts, ten a penny," is now " A penny for ten, fine warnuts," or " A penny for 'arf a score, fine wamuts." The cat's meat man has never, like some of his colleagues, aspired to music, but apparently confines himself to the one strident monosyllable. It has been stated, by the way, that the London cats, of which it seems there are at present some 350,000, annually consume ;^ 100,000 worth of boiled horse. Daintily presented on a skewer, pussy's meat is eaten without salt ; but, being impossible of verification, the statistics presented in the preceding sentence may be taken with a grain. " Soot " or " Sweep, ho ! " The sweep, accompanied by two or three thinly- clad, half-starved, and generally badly-treated apprentices, who ascended the chimneys and acted as human brushes, turned out in old times long before daylight. It was owing to the exer- tions of the philanthropist, Mr. Jonas Hanway, and before the invention of the jointed chimney sweeping machine, that an Act was passed at the beginning of this London Cries. ^ CO cd cj ^ •U 2^ nj O 1 1 "i S I •- o 1^ ^- ■<-» biH m S § fe Oh ^ London Cries. 67 this century, provid- ing that every chim- ney-sweeper's appren- tice should wear a brass plate in front of his cap, with the name and abode of his master engraved thereon. The boys were accustomed to beg for food and money in the streets ; but by means of the badges, the masters were traced, and an improvement in the general condition of the apprentices fol- lowed. But the early morning is still disturbed by the long-drawn cry, " Sw-e-e-p."' This, and the not unmusical "ow-00/' of the jodeling milkman — all that is left of " milk below maids," — the London milk-maids are usually strongly-built Irish or Welsh girls — and the tardier and rather too infrequent " dust-o " are amongst the few unsuppressed Cries of London-town. They are tolerated Sw-e-e-, 68 London Cries. tolerated and continued be- cause they are convenient, and from a vague sense of prescriptive right dear to the heart of an Englishman. Until quite recently, the flower girls at the Royal Ex- change — decent and well- behaved Irishwomen who work hard for an honest living— were badgered and driven about by the police. They are now allovv-ed to collect and pursue their call- ing in peace by the Wel- lington statue, where their cry, " Buy a flower, sir," is heard, whatever the wea- ther, all the year round. "Speshill 'dishun, 'orrible railway haccident," the out- come of an advanced civilization, is a cry that was un- known to our forefathers. Our forebears had often to pay a shilling for a newspaper, and the newsman made known his progress through the streets by sound of tin trumpet : as shown in Rowlandson's graphic illus- tration, a copy of the newspaper was carried in the hat- band Ow-c ' ' Great News ! ' 70 London Cries. band. " Cgar lights, 'ere y'ar, sir ; 'apenny a box," and " Taters all 'ot," also'belong to the modern school of London Cries ; while the piano-organ is a fresh infliction in connection with the new order of street noises. And although a sort of portable penthouse was used in remote times for screening from heat and rain, the ribbed and collapsible descendant thereof did not come into general use^much before the opening of the present century ; hence the cry, "Any umbrellas- termend," may properly be classed as a modern one. In the crowded streets of modern London the loudest and most persistent cry is that of the omnibus conductor — "Benk," " Chairin' Krauss," "Pic'dilly"; or it may be, " Full inside," or " 'Igher up " ; to which the cabman's low-pitched and persuasive ''Keb, sir?" — he is afraid to ply [too openly for ^hire — plays an indifferent second. Judging from Rowlandson's illus- tration, his predecessor the hackney coachman shared cabby's sometimes too pointedly worded objection to a strictly legal fare. The " under-street " Cries heard in our own time at the various stations on the railway enveloping London, in what by courtesy is termed a circle — the true shape would puzzle a mathematician to define— form an interesting study. While a good many of the porters are " Wot d'yer call that f ' /- London Cries. are recruited from the country, it is a curious fact that in calling the names of the various " sty- shuns " they mostly settle down — perhaps from force of association "downt-tcher-now"— into one dead level of Cockney pronunciation. As one seldom realizes that there is anything wrong with one's own way of speaking, pure-bred Cockneys may be expected to quarrel with the phonetic rendering given ; however, as Dr. James Cantlie, in his interest- ing and recently published " Degeneration amongst Londoners," * tells us that a pure-bred Cockney is a iwa avis indeed, the quarrelsomely inclined may not be numerous, and they may be reminded that the writer is not alone in his ideas as to Cockney pro- nunciation. Appended to Du Maurier's wonderfully powerful picture of " The Steam Launch in Venice " (Punch's Almanac, 1882), is the following wording : — 'Andsome ^Arriet : " Ow my ! if it 'yn't that bloom- in' old Temple Bar, as they did aw'y with out o' Fleet Street!," M?'. Belleville {referring to Guide-book) : " No, it 'yn't ! It's the fymous Bridge o' Sighs, as Byron *" "Degeneration amongst Londoners." By James Cantlie, M.A., M.B., F.R.C.S. One Shilling. The Leadenhall Press, Iv.C. went London Cries. J^ went and stood on ; 'im as wrote Our Boys, yer l:uow ! " 'Andsoine 'Arriet: "Well, I never ! It 'yn't much of a Size, any'ow ! " Mr. Belleville: '"Ear ! 'ear ! Fustryte ! " This paragraph is from the London Globe of January 26th, 1885 : " Spelling reformers take notice. The Eng- lish alphabet — diphthongs and all — does not contain any letters which, singly or in combination, can convey with accuracy the pronunciation given by the news- boys to the cry, ' A-blowin' up of the 'Ouses of Parlia- ment ! ' that rent the air on Saturday. The word ' blowin' ' is pronounced as if the chief vowel sound were something like ' ough ' in ' bough ' ; and even then an ' e ' and a ' y ' ought to be got in some- where." There are twenty-seven stations on the London Inner Circle Railway — owned by two companies, the Metropolitan and District— and the name of one only — Gower Street — is usually pronounced by " thet tchung men," the railway porter, as other people pro- nounce it. ["Emma Smith,"* while not a main line station, may be cited here simply as a good example * Hammersmith, of 74 London Cries. of Cockney, for 'Arry and 'Arriet are quite incapable of any other verbal rendering.] They are cried as follows : — " South Kenzint'nn."' " Glawster Rowd." (owd as in " loud.") " I Street, Kenzint'nn." "Nottin' IllGite.'*' (ite as in "flight.") " Queen's Rowd, Bize- water." (ize as in "size.") "Pride Street, Peddin- ten." " Edge-wer Rowd." (by common consent the Cock- ney refrains from saying " H edge-wer.") " Biker Street." " Portland Rowd." " Gower Street." " King's Krauss." (Often abbreviated to " 'ng's Krauss.") " Ferrindcn Street." Country cousins may " Oldersgit Street." (no preliminary " H.") " Mawgit Street." " Bish-er-git." " Ol'git." " Mark Line." " Monneym'nt." " Kennun Street." '•' Menshun Ouse." " Bleckfriars." " Tempull." (" pull-pull-Tempulh") " Chairin' Krauss." " Wes'minster." (One sometimes hears " Wes'- minister" : a provincialism.) " S'n Jimes-iz Pawk." (ime as in " time.") " A^ictaw-ia." " Slown Square." (own as in " town.") be reminded that the guiding Loiidon Cries. 75 TICKETS MARKED THIS WAY guiding letters | or Q so boldly marked on the tickets issued on the London underground railway, and, in the brightest ver- milion, as conspicuously painted up in the various stations, do not mean " Inner" or " Outer" Circle, but the inner and outer lines of rails of the Inner Circle Railway. Though sanc- tioned by Parliament more than twenty years ago, the so-called Outer Circle Railway is still incom- plete, its present form being that of a horse-shoe, with termini at Broad Street and Mansion House, and some of its principal stations at Dalston, Willesden, and Addison Road, Kensington. It has before been said that every- thing that could be carried has, at some time or other, been sold in the O streets ; and it follows that an approximately complete list of London Cries would reach a very large total. From its mere length and sameness such a list would moreover be apt to weary the reader ; for not all cries have the interest of a traditional phrase or intonation which gives notice of the nature of tickets! MARKED THIS WAY 76 London O 'les. of the wares, even when the words are rendered unintelHgible by the necessity of vociferation. But a few of the most constant and curious cries may be interesting to note. ""Hot Spice Gingerbnad ! *'^Tis all hot, nice fmoaking hoi You'll hear his daily ciy ; But if you won't believe, you fot You need but taste and try ''Old London Cries. 77 Old Cloathsr' Coats or preeches do you vant ? Or puckles for your fhoes ? Vatches too me can fupply : — Me monies von't refufe. 'Kmic. 78 London Cries. » ''Knives to Gri7id!'' Youn^ gentlemen attend my cry, And bring forth all your Knives ; The barbers Razors too I grind ; Bring out your Sciffars, wives. ' Cabbas^cj London Cries, 79 " Cabbages O ! Turnips With mutton we nice turnips eat ; Beef and carrots never cloy ; Cabbage comes up with Summer meat, With winter nice favoy. Holloway 8o London Cries. Holloway cheese cakes ! Large silvei* eels, a groat a pound, live eels ! Any New River water, water here ? Buy a rope of onions, oh ? Sand 'O.'" Buy a goose ? Any bellows to mend ? Who's for a mutton pie or an eel pie ? Who buys my roasting jacks ? Sand,*ho ! buy my nice white sand, ho ! Buy London Cries. 8r ^0 ^- c ^g- -^~-^£^ Buy a Live Goose f 82 London Cries. Buy my firestone ? Roasted pippins, piping hot ! Chcr/ics, O / rtjc i lurries, (J A whole market hand for a halfpenny — young ra- dishes, ho ! Sw-e-cp ! Brick COVENT GaR^FN. lune Stra7vb:rnes /" 84 London Cries. Brick dust, to-day ? Door mats, want ? Hot rolls ! Rhubarb ! Buy any clove- water ? Buy a horn-book ? Quick ilivifig) periwinkles ! Sheep's trotters, hot ! Songs, three yards a penny ! Southernwood that's very good ! Cherries O ! ripe cherries O ! Cat's and dog's meat ! Samphire ! All a-growin', all a-blowin'. Lilly white mussels, penny a quart I New Yorkshire muffins ! Oysters, twelvepence a peck ! Rue, sage, and mint, farthing a bunch Tuppence a hundred, cockles ! Sweet violets, a penny a bunch ! Brave Windsor beans ! Buy my mops, my good wool mops ! Buy a linnet or a goldfinch ? Knives, combs, and inkhornes ! Six bunches a penny, sweet lavender .' New-laid eggs, eight a groat ! An^ London Cries, 85 Sweet Lavender !" S6 London Cries. Any wood ? Hot peas ! Hot cross buns ! Buy a broom ? Old chairs to mend ! Young lambs to sell ! Tiddy diddy doll ! Hearth-stone ! Buy my nice drops, twenty a penny, peppermint drops ! Any earthen ware, plates, dishes, or jugs, to-day, — any clothes to exchange. Madam ? Holly O, Mistletoe ! Buy my windmills for a ha'penny a piece ! [a cliild's toy.] Nice Yorkshire cakes ! Buy my matches, maids, my nice small pointed matches ! Come, buy my fine myrtles and roses ! Buy a mop or a broom ? Hot rolls ! Will you buy a Beau-pot ? Probably of Norman-French origin, the term " beau- pot" is still in use in out-of-the-way country districts, to signify a posy or nosegay, in which sweet-smelling herbs and flowers, as rosemary, sweet-briar, balm, roses, London Cries. 87 ilPlii .,:;#» Ill Chairs to mend !' 88 London Cries. roses, carnations, violets, wall-flowers, mignonette, sweet-William, and others that we are now pleased to ^iiC a oioVJiu designate " old fashioned," would naturally predomi- nate. Come buy my sweet-briar ! Any v-A ^ ■t"*"*"'': ..>vis:s? * ••vi=^:-.vP-"^ ;. ^ > Q ^ O O iz; o^ »^ '" > ? O "^ > & ^' ^; w ^ ffi >• d ? H " >H 1^ H *"• H ^ rj CO ^ ^ W w H a 05 E a: w I > ^ H >" h < Being CO W O no London C^'ies. Being entirely unprotected and close to the ground, this curious relic of bygone times, which is surmounted by a boldly carved figure of a nude boy seated on a panyer pressing a bunch of grapes between his hand and foot, is naturally much defaced ; and that it has not been carried away piecemeal by iconoclastic curiosity-hunters, is probably due to its out-of-the-way position. Panyer Alley, the most eastern turning leading from Paternoster Row to Newgate Street, slightly rises towards the middle ; but is not, accord- ing to Mr. Loftie, an undoubted authority on all mat- ters pertaining to old London, the highest point in the city, there being higher ground both in Cornhill and Cannon Street. In describing Panyer Alley, Stow in- directly alludes to a " signe " therein, and it is Hone's opinion that this stone may have been the ancient sign let into the wall of a tavern. While the upper is in fair preservation, the lower part of the inscription can hardly be read. When last examined, a street urchin was renovating the figure by a heartily-laid-on surface decoration of white chalk ; and unless one of the numerous antiquarian or other learned societies interested in old London relics will spare a few pounds for the purchase of a protective grating, there will shortly be nothing left worth preserving. " New-laid eggs, eight a groat," takes us back to a time London Cries. 1 1 1 time when the best joints and fresh country butter were both sixpence a pound. Years ago the tin oven of the peripatetic penny pie- man was found to be too small to meet the constant and ever-increasing strain made upon its resources ; and the owner thereof has now risen to the dignity of a shop, where, in addition to stewed eels, he dispenses what Albert Smith happily termed "covered uncertain- ties," containing messes of mutton, beef, or seasonable fruit. Contained in a strong wicker basket with legs, or in a sort of tin oven, the pieman's wares were for- merly kept hot by means of a small charcoal fire. A sip of a warm stomachic liquid of unknown but ap- parently acceptable constituents was sometimes offered gratuitously by way of inducement to purchase. The cry of " Hot Pies" still accompanies one of the first and most elementary games of the modern baby learn- ing to speak, who is taught by his nurse to raise his hand to imitate a call now never heard. The specimens of versification that follow are culled from various books of London Cries, written for the amusement of children, towards the end of the last century, and now in the collection of the writer : — Large silver eels — a groat a pound, Hve eels ! Not the Severn's famed stream Could produce better fish, H Sweet 112 L 071 don Cries. Sweet and fresh as new cream, And what more could you wish ? Pots and Kettles to mend ? Your coppers, kettles, pots, and stew pans, Tho' old, shall serve instead of new pans. Tm very moderate in my charge. For mending small as well as large. Buy a Mop or a Broom ! My mop is so big, it might serve as a wig For a judge if he had no objection. And as to my brooms, they'll sweep dirty rooms, And make the dust fly to perfection. Nice Yorkshire Cakes ! Nice Yorkshire cakes, come buy of me, I have them crisp and brown ; They are very good to eat with tea, And lit for lord or clown. Buy my fine Myrtles and Roses ! Come buy my fine roses, my myrtles and stocks, My sweet-smelling balsams and close-growing box. Buy my nice Drops— twenty a penny, Peppermint drops ! If London Cries. 113 '' t'jcs and Kettles to Mend!" 1 14 London Cries. If money is plenty you may sure spare a penny, Jt will purchase you twenty — and that's a great many. Six bunches a penny, sweet blooming Lavender ! Just put one bundle to your nose, What rose can this excel ? Throw it among your finest clothes, And grateful they will smell. Buy a live Chicken or a young Fowl ? Buy a young Chicken fat and plump, Or take two for a shilling ? — Is this poor honest tradesman's cry ; Come buy if you are willing. Rabbit ! Rabbit ! Rabbit ! a Rabbit ! who will buy ? Is all you hear from him ; The rabbit you may roast or fry, The fur your cloak will trim. My good Sir, will you buy a Bowl .? My honest friend, will you buy a Bowl, A Skimmer or a Platter ? Come buy of me a Rolling Pin, Or Spoon to beat your batter. Come S/x hunches a fenny, noeet tloominj Lavender /" I -1 6 London Cries. Come buy my fine Writing Ink ! Through many a street and many a town The Ink-man shapes his way ; The trusty Ass keeps plodding on, His master to obey. Dainty Sweet-Briar ! Sweet-Briar this Girl on one side holds, And Flowers in the other basket ; And for the price, she that unfolds To any one who'll ask it. Any Earthen Ware, Plates, Dishes, or Jugs to-day, — any Clothes to exchange, Madam .? Come buy my Earthen Ware Your dresser to bedeck ; Examine it with care, There's not a single speck. See white with edges brown, Others with edges blue ; Have you a left-off gown. Old bonnet, hat, or shoe ? Do look me up some clothes For this fine China jar ; London Cries. 1 1 7 If but a pair of shoes, For I have travelled far. This flowered bowl of green Is worth a gown at least ; I am sure it might be seen At any christening feast. Do, Madam, look about And see what you can find ; Whatever you bring out I will not be behind. The Illustrations. Ten of the illustrations by that great master of the art of caricature, Thomas Rowlandson, are copied in facsimile from a scarce set, fifty-four in all, published In 1820, entitled " Characteristic Sketches of the Lower Orders," to which there is a powerful preface, as follows : — " The British public must be already acquainted with numerous productions from the inimitable pencil of Mr. Rowlandson, who has particularly distin- guished himself in this department. *' There is so much truth and genuine feeling in his delineations 1 1 8 London Cries. delineations of human character, that no one can inspect the present collection without admiring his masterly style of drawing and admitting his just claim to originahty. The great variety of countenance, ex- pression, and situation, evince an active and lively feeling, which he has so happily infused into the drawings as to divest them of that broad caricature which is too conspicuous in the works of those artists who have followed his manner. Indeed, we may ven- ture to assert that, since the time of Hogarth, no artist has appeared in this country who could be considered his superior or even his equal." The two illustrations — " Lavender," with a back- ground representing Temple Bar, and " Fine Straw- berries," with a view of Covent Garden— are from "Plates Representing the Itinerant Traders of London in their ordinary Costume. Printed in 1805 as a supplement to 'Modern London' (London: printed for Charles Phillips, 71, St. Paul's Churchyard)."" The set is chiefly interesting as representing London scenes of the period ; many parts of which are novr no longer recognisable. The crudely drawn, but picturesquely treated " Cat- nach" cuts, from the celebrated Catnach press in Seven Dials, now owned by Mr. W. S. Fortey, hardly require separately indicating. The London Cries. 119 The four oval cuts, squared by the addition of per- pendicular lines, " Hot spice gingerbread ! " "O' Clo!" " Knives to Grind ! " and " Cabbages O ! Turnips ! " are facsimiled from a little twopenny book, entitled, " The Moving Market ; or, Cries of London, for the amusement of good children," published in 1815 by J. Lumsden and Son, of Glasgow. It has a frontis- piece representing a curious little four-in-hand carriage with dogs in place of horses, underneath which is printed this triplet : — See, girls and boys who learning prize, Round London drive to hear the cries. Then learn your Book and ride likewise." The quaint cuts, " 'Ere's yer toys for girls an' boys !" " New-laid eggs, eight a groat,— crack 'em and try 'em ! " " Flowers, penny a bunch ! " (frontispiece), and the three ballad singers, apparently taken from one of the earliest chap-books, are really but of yesterday. For these the writer is indebted to his friend, Mr. Joseph Crawhall, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, who uses his cutting tools direct on the wood without any copy. Mr. Crawhall's " Chap-book Chaplets," and " Old ffrendes wyth newe Faces," quaint quartos each with many hundreds of hand-coloured cuts in his own peculiar and inimitable style, and " Izaak Walton, his Wallet Book," are fair examples of his skill in this direction. Two I20 London Cries. Two plates unenclosed with borders — " Old Chairs to mend ! " and " Buy a Live Goose ? " are from that once common and now excessively scarce child's book, The Cj'ies of Londoji as they are Daily Prac- tised^ published in 1804 by J. Harris, the successor of " honest John Newbery," the well-known St. Paul's Churchyard bookseller and publisher. George Cruikshank's London Barrow-woman (" Ripe Cherries"), "Tiddy Diddy Doll," and other cuts, are from the original illustrations to Hone's dehghtful " Every-Day Book," recently republished by Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co. The cuts illustrating modern cries — " Sw-e-e-p ! " ; " Dust, O ! " ; " Ow-00 ! " ; " Fresh Cabbidge ! " ; and " Stinking Fish ! " are from the facile pencil of Mr. D. McEgan. Finally, in regard to the business card of pussy's butcher, the veracious chronicler is inclined to think that an antiquarian might hesitate in pronouncing it to be quite so genuine as it looks. This opinion coincides with his own. In fact he made it himself. As a set-off, however, to the confession, let it be said that this is the solo^fantaisie d'occasion set down herein. APPENDIX. London Cries. i 2 1 APPENDIX. From " Notes a7id Queries^ London Street Cry.— What is the meaning ot the old London cry, " Buy a fine mousetrap, or a tor- mentor for your fleas " ? Mention of it is found in one of the Roxburghe ballads dated 1662, and, amongst others, in a work dated about fifty years earlier. The cry torments me, and only its elucidation will bring ease. Andrew W. Tuer. The Leadenhall Press, E.C. London Street Cry (6th S. viii. 348).— Was not this really a " tormentor {axyoMX flies '^ ? The mouse- trap man would probably also sell little bunches of butcher's broom {Rtiscus, the mouse-thorn of the Germans), a very effective and destructive weapon in the hands of an active butcher^s boy, when employed to guard his master's meat from the attacks of flies. Edward Solly. London 122 Londofi Cries. London Street Cry (6th S. viii. 348, 393).— The following quotations from Taylor, the Water Poet, may be of interest to Mr. Tuer : — " I could name more, if so my Muse did please, Of Mowse Traps, and tormentors to kill Fleas." The Travels of Twelve-pence. Yet shall my begg'ry no strange Suites devise, As monopolies to catch Fleas and Flyes." The Beggar. Faringdon. Walter Haines. I notice a query from you in N. and Q. about a London Street Cry which troubles you. Many of the curious adjuncts to Street Cries proper have, I apprehend, originally no meaning beyond drawing attention to the Crier by their whimsicality. I will give you an instance. Soon after the union between England and Ireland, a man with a sack on his back went regularly about the larger streets of Dublin. His cry was : " Bits of Brass, Broken Glass, Old Iron, Bad luck to you, Castlereagh." Party London Cries. \2X J Party feeling against Lord Castlereagh ran very- high at the time, I believe, and the political adjunct to his cry probably brought the man more shillings than he got by his regular calling. H. G. W. P.S. — I find I have unconsciously made a low pun. The cry alluded to above would probably be under- stood and appreciated in the streets of Dublin at the present with reference to the Repeal of the Union. London Street Cry. 88, Friargate, Derby. Dear Sir,-- The " Tormentor," concerning which you inquire in Notes and QitciHes of this date, was also known as a " Scratch-back," and specimens are occasionally to be seen in the country. I recollect seeing one, of superior make, many years ago. An ivory hand, the fingers like those of " Jasper Packlemerton of atrocious memory," were "curled as in the act of" scratching, a finely carved wrist-band of lace was the appropriate ornament, and the whole was attached to a slender ivory rod of say eighteen inches in length. The finger nails were sharpened, and the instrument was thus available for discomfiting " back-biters," even when engaged 124 London Cries. engaged upon the most inaccessible portions of the human superficies. I have also seen a less costly article of the same sort carved out of pear-wood (or some similar material). It is probable that museums might furnish examples of the "back scratcher," " scratch back," or " tormentor for your fleas." Very truly yours, Alfred Wallis. Junior Athen.eum Club, Piccadilly, W. Dear Sir,— On turning over the leaves of Notes a?td Queries I happened on your enquiry re " Tormentor for your fleas." May I ask, have you succeeded in getting at the meaning or origin of this curious street cry ? I have tried to trace it, but in vain. It occurs to me as just possible that the following circumstance may bear on it : — The Japanese are annoyed a good deal with fleas. They make little cages of bamboo— such I suppose as a small bird cage or mouse-trap — containing plenty of bars and perches inside. These bars they smear over with bird-lime, and then take the cage to bed with them. Is it not, as I ^:s.y, just possible^ that one of London Cries. 125 of our ancient mariners brought the idea home with him and started it in London ? If so, a maker of bird cages or mouse-traps is Hkely to have put the idea into execution, and cried his mouse-traps and " flea tormentors " in one breath. Faithfully yours, Douglas Owen. Fro7n ^^ Notes and Queries^'' April id>th, 1885. London Cries. — A cheap and extended edition of my London Street Cries being on the eve of publica- tion, I shall be glad of early information as to the meaning of " A dip and a wallop for a bawbee " * and " Water for the buggs." * I recollect many years ago reading an explanation of the former, but am doubtful as to its correctness. Andrew W. Tuer. The Leadenhall Press, E.G. One who was an Edinburgh student towards the end of last century told me that a man carrying a leg of mutton by the shank would traverse the streets crying " Twa dips and a wallop for a bawbee." This brought * See p. 29. the 'i2 6 London Cries. the gude-wives to their doors with pails of boiling water, which was in this manner converted into " broth." Norman Chevers, M.D. 32, Tavistock Road, W. April 18//^, 1885. COCKNEY PRONUNCIATION. 25, Argyll Road, Kensington, W., 24//^ Aprils 1885. Dear Mr. Tuer,— The Cockney sound of long a which is confused with received f, is very different from it, and where it approaches that sound, the long i is very broad, so that there is no possibility of confusing them in a Cockney's ear. But is the sound Cockney ? Granted it is very prevalent in E. and N. London, yet it is rarely found in W. and S.W. ]\Iy belief is that it is especially an Essex variety. There is no doubt about its prevalence in Essex, so that [very roughly indeed] " I say " there becomes " oy sy." Then as regards the o and on. These are never pronounced alike. The certainly often imitates received ow^ though it has more distinctly an commencement ; but when that Lofidon Cries. 127 that is the case, oic has a totally different sound, which dialect-writers usually mark as aow^ having a broad a commencement, almost a in bad. Finer speakers — shopmen and clerks — will use a finer a. The sound of short ti in nut^ does not sound to me at all like e in net. There are great varieties of this " natural vowel," as some people call it, and our received^??/// is much finer than the general southern provincial and northern Scotch sounds, between which lie the mid and north England sounds rhyming to foot nearly, and various transitional forms. Certainly the sounds of mit^ gnat are quite different, and are never confused by speakers ; yet you would write both as net. The pronunciation of the Metropolitan area is ex- tremely mixed ; no one form prevails. We may put aside educated or received English as entirely arti-- ficial. The N., N.E., and E. districts all partake of an East Anglian character ; but whether that is recent, or belongs to the Middle Anglian character of Mid- dlesex, is difficult to say. I was born in the N. district, within the sound of Bow Bells (the Cockney limits), over seventy years ago, and I do not recall the i pronunciation or a in my boyish days, nor do I recollect having seen it used by the older humourists. Nor do I find it in "Errors of Pronunciation and Im- proper Expressions, Used Frequently and Chiefly by the I Inhabitants 128 London Cries. Inhabitants of London," 1817, which likewise does not note any pronunciation of o like ow. Hence I am inclined to believe that both are modernisms, due to the growing of London into the adjacent provinces. They do not seem to me yet prevalent in the W. districts, though the N.W. is transitional. South of the Thames, in the S.W. districts, I think they are practically unknown. In the S.E. districts, which dip into N. Kent, the finer form of aow for oit is prevalent. The uneducated of course form a mode of speech among themselves. But I am sorry to find even school teachers much infected with the z, ow^ aow, pronunciations of a, 0, oit, in N. districts. Of course your Cockney orthography goes upon very broad lines, and you are quite justified in raising a laugh by apparent confusions, where no confusions are made by the speakers themselves, as Hans Breitmann did with the German. The confusion is only in our ears. They speak a language we do not use. To write the varieties of sounds, especially of diphthongs, with anything like correctness, requires a phonetic alphabet which cannot even be read, much less written, without great study, such as you cannot look for in readers who want only to be amused. But another question arises. Should we lay down a pronunciation ? There never has been any authority capable of doing so. London Cries. 1 29 so. Orthoepists may protest, but the fashion of pro- nunciation will again change, as it has changed so often and so markedly during the last six hundred years ; see the proofs in my Early English Profiunci- atio7i. Why should we not pronounce a as we do f, pronouncing f as we do oy ? Why should we not call o as we now call ow^ pronouncing that as aow'^. Is not our a a change from i (the German ei^ ai) in say^ aiaay, _pazn, etc. ? Is not our oz^ a change from our sound of 00 in cow, etc.? Again, our oo replaces an old oA sound. There is nothing but fashion which rules this. But when sounds are changed in one set of vowels, a com- pensating change takes place in another set, and so no confusion results. In one part of Cheshire I met with four sounds of y in wy, never confused by natives, although a received speaker hears only one, and all arose from different sources. Why is one pronunci- ation horrid (or aw-ud), and another not t Simply because they mark social grades. Of course I prefer my own pronunciation, it's been my companion for so many years. But others, just as much of course, prefer theirs. When I brought out the Pho?ietic News, in phonetic spelling, many years ago, a newsvendor asked me, "Why write neewz? We always say noozeP Very truly yours, Alexander J. Ellis. London Cries. Index. Page A dip and a wallop for a baw- bee ! 2g, 125, 126 Act, Chimney Sweeps' ... 64 Addison, Cries of London . 25, 30 Albert Smith's " Covered Un- certainties" . . . Ale Scurvy-grass . . All my teeth ache ! . All the fun of the fair Ancient tavern sign . Anecdote of a simpler Aphorisms, Book of Area sneak thieves . 'Arry and Emma Ann Bartholomew Fair . 38, 39, 42 Bartkoloine^v Fair, Ben Jon- son's (1614) 25 Beating of one's wife ... 51 Beaumont and Fletcher's Bon- duca 25 Beau pot ? Will you buy a . 86 Bellows-mender 94 Bells, Merry Christ Church . 33 Belman 20 Page Blacking, cake 44 Black sheep 4$ Blowing a horn in the night . 51 Bonduca, Beaumont and Flet- cher's 25 Book of Aphorisms .... 36 Boot-black, The modern . , 44 Boot laces — and the boot laces! 54 Brickdust 92 Bridgwater Library .... 14 British Museum, Collection of cries in 16 Buggs ! Water for the, 29, 125, 126 Buns ! Hot cross .... 97 Busby's Costumes of the Lower Orders 35 Business card of pussy's butcher 65, 120 Buy a beau pot ? 86 Buy a bill of the play ? . . 97 " Buy a broom " criers, Flem- ish 96 Buy a flower, sir ? .... 68 Buy my rumps and burrs ? , 38 Buy my singing glasses ? . , 12 1^2 London Cries. Page Cake blacking 44 Calling price before quantity. 64 Candlewick 5 Cantlie's (Dr. J.) " Degenera- tion among Londoners " • 72 Canwyke Street 5 Caricature, political. Cries the vehicle for 29 Catnach illustrations . . .118 Cats, London 64 Caveat against cut-purses . 42 Chairs in Queen Anne's time. 108 Chairs in Queen Elizabeth's time 108 Chairs, rush-bottomed . . , 108 Characteristic sketches of the lower orders (1820) . . .117 Characters, Humorous. . . 52 Charles II., Cries in the time of 18 Cherryes in the ryse ... 3 Chimney Sweeps' Act ... 64 Clean yer boots ? 44 Coachman, Hackney ... 70 Cockney pronunciation, 31, 53, 72, 73, 74, 126-129 Cockney pronunciation, Lon- don Globe 78 Colly Molly Puffe ! Spectator 12 Costermonger, or Costard- monger 46 Costumes oftheLower Orders, . Busby's 35 "Covered Uncertainties," Albert Smith's 11 1 Page Crawhall's (Joseph) illustra- tions 119 Cream made of turnips. . . 60 Cries — Collection in British Museum 16 Cries, Old London Street- Examples of .... 76-92 Cries, Tempest's 6 Cries in the time of Charles the Second 18 Cries, Under-street .... 70 Cries, vehicle for political caricature 29 Cries of London, Addison's mention of 25, 30 Cries of LoJidoti as they are daily Practised, J. Harris (1804) 120 Cries of London, earliest men- tion of 3 Cries of London, engraved by Schiavonetti and Wheatley 42 Cries of London for the amusement of good children 119 Cries of London, Humorous, 52, 53, 54 Cries of London, Lumsden's 119 Cries of London, Roxburgh collection of 25-33 Cries of London, Sandby's . 31 Cries of London (J. T.) Smith's 16 Cries of London. Specimens of versification . . . 111-117 Cries of London, Spectator . 25 Cries of York 14 London Cries, 133 Page Cruikshank's London barrow- woman 100 *'Cryer," Public 22 Cryes, Tempest's .... 6 Cuckoo flowers 35 Cut-purses, Caveat against . 42 Dead letter act, A .... 51 " Degeneration amongst Lon- doners," Dr. Jas. Cantlie's 72 Description of Illustrations 117- 120 " Doing " the public ... 47 Door Mats 94 Doublets, Old 10 Do you want a lick on the head ? 30 Du Maurier's Steam Launch in Venice 72 Earliest mention of London Cries 3 Early green peas .... 94 Early matches 56 Early umbrellas 70 Elizabethan Statutes of the streets 51 Everyday Book, Hone's, 36, 42, 52, 96, 102, no, 120 Facetious salesmen of the streets 52 Fair, Bartholomew . . 38, 39, 42 Faux, the Conjurer .... 40 Fine tie or a fine bob, sir ? .36 Fleas ! Tormentor for, 24, 121-125 Page Flea trap 25 Flemish "Buy a broom" criers 96 Flower girls at the Royal Exchange 68 " Flowers, Penny a Bunch ! " (frontispiece) 119 Frontispiece, "Flowers, Pen- ny a Bunch !" . . . .119 Gardner'sCollection of Prints 7 Gay's poor apple girl ... 28 Gay's Trivia 26 Gazette, Lo7idon 14 Gingerbread, Hot spiced . .102 Green peas, Early .... 94 Green rushes, O ! .... 98 Grose, Francis — The Olio, 30, 62 Ha ! ha ! Poor Jack ! . . . 8 Hackney Coachman ... 70 Hanway (Jonas) the philan- thropist 64 Herb gatherers 32 Heywood's Rape of Lucrece . 24 Highest ground in London, 109, no Hokey-pokey 58 Hone's Everyday Book . 36, 42, 52, 96, 102, no, 120 Honest John Newbery . . .120 Hot-baked wardens ! ... 38 Hot cross buns ! 97 Hot mutton trumpery ! . . 30 Hot pies Ill Hot pudding 96 134 London Cines. Page Hot rolls 96 Hot spiced gingerbread . . 102 Hogarth's Idle Apprentice . 104 Hogarth's Laughing Audience 98 Houndsditch 47> 5° Humorous characters ... 52 Humorous Cries of London . 52, 53. 54 Humorous nonsense . • . 104 Ices, Neapolitan 58 Ices, penny 58 Idle Apprentice, Hogarth's . 104 Illustrations, Catnach . . .118 Illustrations, Crawhall's . .119 Illustrations, Description of 117- 120 Illustrations, McEgan's . . 120 Illustrations, Rowlandson's . 117 I'm on the woolsack ! ... 31 Imitators of Tiddy Diddy Doll 104 Inner and Outer Circle Rail- way 75 Inner Circle Railway ... 73 Irons ! Marking 42 Itinerant traders, Plates repre- senting (1805) 118 Jack-in-the-box seller ... 56 Japan your shoes, your honour? 44 Jaw-work, up and under jaw- work ! 54 Page Johnson (Dr.), Turnips and carrots, O ! 43 Jonson's (Ben) Bartholoniezv Fair (1614) 25 Knives to grind ! 98 Laughing Audience, Hogarth's 98 Laroon, Capt 7 Laroon, Marcellus .... 6 Lice, penny a pair, boot lice ! 5 j Lights — pipe and c'gar ... 56 Loftie's Old Lo>idon . . . i la London barrow-woman, Cruik- shank's 100 London cats 64. London Cries, as they are daily Practised, J. Harris (1804) I20> London Cries, earliest men- tion of 3 London Cries, engraved by Schiavonetti and Wheatley ^-z London Cries, Humorous, 52, 53, 54. London, Cries of— for the A iHusemetit of Good Chil- dreji iiQv London Cries, Sandby's . . 31 London Cries, Specimens of versification . . . . 111-117 London Gazette 14 London, Highest ground in 109, 110 London Lyckpenny .... 3 Londo7t Spy (1703) Ned Ward's 38 London Cries. \ Page London street cries. Old, Ex- amples of 765 92 London, The Three Ladies ?/"(i584) Lord Mayor's day . . . Ltnuer Orders, Busby Costumes of the . . . Lower orders. Characteristic sketches of (1820) . . . Lucifer match, The . . . Lumsden's CT^es 0/ London Lyckpenny, London . . Lydgate, John .... 96 50 35 117 56 119 3 3 Marking irons ! 42 Marking stones 16 Marquis Townshend's, TJic Pedlars {\-]6i) .... 29 Match, Brimstone .... 56 Match, Lucifer 56 Match-selling 48 Match, Vesuvian 56 Matches, Early 56 McEgan's illustrations . . .120 Merry Christ Church bells . 33 Metropolitan and District Railways 73 Milk below, maids ! .... 67 Modem boot-black .... 44 Modern street cries, 62, 64, 67-70 Mornvig itt Town, Swift's . 10 Muffin man 62 My name and your name, etc. 42 Page: Nameless toy, A 54, NeapoHtan ices 58 New laid eggs, crack 'em and try 'em ! 54 New laid eggs, eight a groat no Newsman, The 68 Newspaper, Shilling for a . . 68 Nonsense, Humorous . . . 104. Notes a?td Queries, Refer- ences to . . 36, 121, 122, 125 Novelties from the continent 50 Newbery, Honest John . . 120 O'Clo! 62 Old chairs to mend ! ... 106 Old doublets 10 'Okey-pokey 58 Old London, 'Loiiv^^ . . .110 Old London street cries, Ex- amples of 76-92 Olio, The — Francis Grose. 30, 62 On the bough 3, On'y a ha'penny ! .... 54 Orange seller. Dr. Randal, The 52 Oranges ! Oratorio .... 53 Ornaments for your fiio stoves ! 60 'Orrible railway haccident — speshill 'dishun .... 68 OuLcnes in the night ... 51 Panyer Alley ....... 109. Pedlars, The (1763) List of Cries in 29 136 London Cries, Page Penny for a shillin' Musterated magazine ! . . ... 51 -Penny ices ! . . • ... 58 Penny pieman, The . . . .111 Philanthropist, Jonas Hanway, The 64 Pieman, The penny . . , .111 Pins, Hone's Reference to . 7 Pipe cleaner— penny for two ! 58 Pipe-lights 56 Plates representing itinerant traders (1805) 118 Play ! Buy a bill of the . . 97 Political caricature, Cries the vehicle for 29 Poor apple girl, Gay's ... 28 Prisoners! Remember the poor 14 Pronunciation, Cockney, 31, 53. 72, 73i 74. 127-130 Pronunciation (Cockney) Lon- don Globe 73 PubHc"Cryer" 22 Pudding, Hot 96 Pussy's butcher, Business card of 65, 120 •Queen Anne's time, Chairs in 108 Queen Elizabeth's time. Chairs in 108 Rabbits 98 Railway, Underground . . 70 Railways, Inner and Outer Circle 75 Railways, Metropolitan and District 73 Page Randal (Dr.), the orange seller 52 Rape of Lucrece, Heywood's 24 Rat-catcher 18 Remember the poor prisoners ! 14 Rolls, Hot 96 Rowlandson's illustrations . 117 Roxburgh Collection, Cries of London 25-33 Royal Exchange, Flower girls at the 68 Ruddle 16 Rumps and burrs ! Buy my . 38 Rush-bearing 100 Rush-bottomed chairs . . . 108 Rushes, green 5 Ryster grene 5 Salesmen of the streets, Facetious 52 Saloop 35 Samphire 98 Sandby's (Paul) London Cries 31 Scurvy-grass, Ale .... 32 Shilling for a newspaper . . 68 Shrimps ! Stinking .... 53 Simpler, Anecdote of a . . 32 Simplers 32 Singing glasses ! Buy my . 12 Small coale, Swift's reference to 10 Smith (J. T.) Cries of London 16 Soot ! or Sweep O ! ... 64 Spectator— CoWy Molly Puffe ! 12 London Cries. m Page Spectator, Cries of London . 25 Speshill 'dishun, 'orrible rail- way haccident ! .... 68 Statutes of the streets, Eliza- bethan 51 Steam Launch in Venice, Du Manner's 72 Steele's comedy of The Fjineral 26 Stinking shrimps ! .... 53 Stones, Marking 16 Stop thief ! 16 Street cries, Modern, 62, 64, 67-70 Street music, Regulation of . 52 Sweep your door away, mum ? 53 Swift's Morning in Town . 10 Swift's reference to small coale 10 Tavern sign, Ancient . . .110 Taylor's Travels of Twelve- petice 25 Tempest's Cryes 6 The Funeral, Steele's comedy of 26 Thieves, Area sneak ... 48 Three ladies of London (1584) 96 Tiddy Diddy Doll .... 102 Tiddy Diddy Doll's imitators 104 Tinker 94 Tormentor for your fleas ! 24, 121-125 Page Townshend, Marquis — The Pedlars 29 Toy, A nameless 54 Travels ofT-welvepettce, Tay- lor's 25 Tricksters 47> 48 Trivia, Gay's 26 Troope every one ! . . . . 12 Turnips and carrots, O ! Dr. Johnson's reference thereto 43 Turnips, Cream made of . . 60 Type seller 42 Umbrellas, Early .... 70 Underground Railway ... 70 Under-street Cries .... 70 Versification, Specimens of, in London Cries . . . 111-117 Wardens ! Hot baked ... 38 Ward's (Ned) London Spy (1703) 38 Watchman 35 Water for the Buggs ! 29, 125, 126 Waterman, The 36 "What d'ye ack?". ... 24 Whistling prohibited after 9 o'clock 51 White sand and grey sand ! . 97 Wigs, The best 36 Woolsack ! I'm on the . . 31 York, Cries of . .... 14 Young lambs to sell ! . . . 105 EXTRACTS FROM FIELD & TUER'S BOOK LIST, SEJe ILcatiBiti^all Press, 50, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON^ E.C. ^SS° All these books are on sale at The Old London Street, 728, Broadway, New York. MR. F. G. HILTON PRICE, F.S.A. The Signs of Old Lombard Street. By F. G. Hilton Price, F.S.A. , with Sixty full-page 410 Illustrations by James West. LONDON: Field 6^ Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.G. [One Guinea. MR. NORMAN PRESCOTT DAVIES. Gray's Elegy : with Sixteen beautiful Illustrations by NoRMAN Prescott Davies, facsimiled from his original drawings in the possession, and published by the gracious permission, of H.R.H. The Princess of Wales. Bound in gold lettered vellum, with broad silken bands and strings. LONDON : Field 5f Tuer, The Leaden, hall Press, E.G. [One Guinea. *' A work of very great beauty." — Leeds Mercury. MR. ANDREW W. TUER. {^Dedicated by gracio7is permission to Her Majesty the Queen.) Bartolozzi and his Works. (New Edi- tion.) Biographical, Anecdotal, and Descriptive. By Andrew W. Tuer. LONDON : Field 6" Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.G. [Twelve-and-Sixpence. A GUIDE to the study of old-fashioned prints of the Bartolozzi "^"^ school. Revised with new and interesting matter : in one thick handsome vellum-bound volume, gold lettered, broad silken bands and strings. Limited to 500 signed and numbered copies. Views of English Society. By a little Girl of Eleven. Illustrated. LONDON : Field 6^ Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.G. [Two-and-Eightpence. "We have read through the 'Views 'with intense amusement and satisfaction. " — Tablet. MISS ALICE CORKRAN. The Bairns' Annual : for 1886-7. Edited by Alice Corkran. Illustrated with marginal sketches of child life by Lizzie Lawson. LONDON : Field 6-" Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.G. [Sixteen- Pence. SAMUEL RICHARDSON. Sir Charles Grandison. By Samuel Richardson. With Six Illustrations from the original copper-plates engraved in 1778 by Isaac Taylor ; and a Preface by John Oldcastle. LONDON : Field ^ Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.G. [Sixteen-Pence. THE beautiful illustrations have been carefully and separately struck off direct from the original copper-plates themselves — the only method of printing by whicla the minuteness and beauty of the engraved work can be properly rendered. " A marvellously cheap series illustrated with charming survivals of the age of copperplate printing." — Saturday Revieiv. SOLOMON GESSNER. Solomon Gessner, '' The Swiss Theo- critus." With Six Illustrations and Extra Portrait from the Original Copper-plates engraved in 1802 by Robert Cromek, from Drawings by Thomas Stothard, R.A., and a Preface by John Oldcastle. LONDON : Field &* Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.G. [Sixteen-Pence. THE beautiful illustrations have been carefully and separately struck off direct from the original copper-plates themselves — the only method of printing by which the minuteness and beauty of the engraved work can be properly rendered. "The choice engravings from the original plates will have a charm or thousands." — St. Jafues's Gazette. MR. ANDREW W. TUER. {Dedicated by gracioiis permission to Her Majesty the Qtieen.) The Follies and Fashions of Our Grand- Fathers (1807). Embellished with Thirty-seven whole-pagc- Plates, including Ladies' and Gentlemen's Dress (hand- coloured and heightened with gold and silver), Sporting and Coaching Scenes (hand-coloured), Fanciful Prints, Portraits of Celebrities, etc. (many from original copper-plates). By Andrew W. Tuer, author of " Bartolozzi and his Works,' etc. LONDON : Field 6- Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.C. Large paper copies, crown 4to, with earliest impressions: of the plates ; 250 only, signed and numbered, at Three Guineas. Demy 8vo copies at Twenty-five Shillings. QUAINT, amusing, dependable, and distinctly covetable. The binding more than suggests buckskin breeches and needlework samplers : in fact, they are there. The extra illus- trations include many quaint prints of the period printed direct from the original copper-plates. " May at any time be confidently dipped into by readers in search of quiet diversion." — Graphic. 1,000 Quaint Cuts from Books of Other Days, including Amusing Illustrations from Children's Story Books, Fables, Chap-books, etc., etc. ; a Selection of Pic- torial Initial Letters and Curious Designs and Ornaments from Original Wooden Blocks belonging to The Leadenhall Press. LONDON : Field 6^ Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E. C. [Sixteen-Pence. A limited number printed on one side of the paper only at Two-and-Eightpence. ** A wonderful collection of entertaining old wood engravings . . . any one of these delights is worth the one-and-fourpence." — Saturday- Review. MR. A. R. COLQUHOUN. Amongst the Shans : By A. R. Colqu- HOUN, F.R.G.S., etc., Author of "Across Chryse," "The Truth about Tonquin," "The Opening of China," " Burma and the Burmans," &'c. With upwards of Fifty Illustra- tions, and an Historical Sketch of the Shans by Holt S. Hallett, preceded by an Introduction on the " Cradle of the Shan Race," by Terrien de Lacouperie. LON- DON : Field &- Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.C. [Twenty-one Shillings. " Should be read by every English merchant on the look-out for new markets. '" — Globe. MR. JOSEPH CRAWHALL. Izaak Walton : his Wallet Book, being the Songs in "The Compleat Angler " newly set forth and niustratedbyJoSEPH Crawhall. Hand-made paper; vellum bound, with inside humorously lettered silk-sewn pockets. Edition de luxe, limited and numbered. The numerous illustrations all separately hand-coloured. LON- DON : Field &^ Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E.C. [One Guinea (500 Copies only) ; Large Paper, Two Guineas (100 copies only). ONE of Mr. Crawhall's engraved blocks — that is, the boxwood block itself — is attached as a pendant to a silk book- marker to each copy of the large paper edition only. ^ MRS. ALFRED W. HUNT. Our Grandmothers' Gowns. By Mrs. Alfred W. Hunt. With Twenty-four Hand-coloured Illustrations, drawn by G. R. Halkett. LONDON : Field 6^ Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E. C. [Seven- and-Sixpence. MRS. HUNT gives a short history of the dress of the period, in which she carefully preserves the original descriptions of the plates as given in contemporary fashion-books. 63° AH these books are on sale at The Old London Street, 728, Broadway, New York. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parlcing Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. ■■Soi6 385 7 rf&^.'