UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES Elizabethan Bookselle Waukegan, Illinois Cfnuniclts OF LONDON BRIDGE. LONDON: Cfmmtttaf OF LONDON BRIDGE BY AN ANTIQUARY. LONDON : SMITH, ELDER, AND CO. CORNHILL. M.DCCC.XXVII. 1 DA TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL JOHN GARRATT, ESQ. ALDERMAN OF THE WARD OF BRIDGE WITHIN; WHO, AS v LORD MAYOR OF LONDON, LAID THE FIRST STONE NEW LONDON BRIDGE, ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15TH, 1825; ARE MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. ' PREFACE. THE plan of narrative adopted in the ensuing pages, is recommended by both the sanction and the example of very learned antiquity ; since, without referring to the numerous classical volumes, which have been written upon the same principle, two of the most ancient and esteemed works on English Jurisprudence have honoured it with their selection. Of the accuracy of the historical events here re- corded, the authorities so explicitly cited are the most ample proofs ; and, that they might be the more generally interesting, whatever may have been Vlll PREFACE. their original language, the whole are now given in English : so that an argument should lose none of its effect from its too erudite obscurity, nor an illustration any of its amusement by requiring to be translated. The collection and arrangement of these ma- terials have been a labour so unexpectedly toilsome and extended, as, it is hoped, fully to excuse every delay in the work's appearance ; and, but for the valuable aid of those numerous friends who have so kindly assisted its progress, it must have still been incomplete. Of these, the first and the most fervent has been JOHN GTARRATT, ESQ., who, by a sin- gularly happy coincidence, was at once the founder of the New London Bridge, as Lord Mayor, and a native, and Alderman, of the Ward containing the Old one. Of other benefactors to these sheets, the names of HENRY SMEDLEY, ESQ. ; H. P. STANDLEY, ESQ. ; HENRY WOODTHORPE, ESQ., Town Clerk ; MR. JOSEPH YORK HATTON ; MR. JOHN THOMAS SMITH, of the British Museum; PREFACE. IX MR. WILLIAM UPCOTT, of the London Institu- tion ; and MR. WILLIAM KNIGHT, of the New Bridge Works ; will sufficiently evince the impor- jtance of their communications ; to whom, as well as to the many other friends, whose kindnesses I am forbidden to enumerate, I thus offer my sin- cerest acknowledgments. The Historians of the Metropolis have hitherto passed over the subject of this work far too slightingly : it will be my most ample praise to have endeavoured to supply that deficiency, by these CHRONICLES OF LONDON BRIDGE. June 15th, 1827. DESCRIPTIVE LIST THE EMBELLISHMENTS. 1. HISTORICAL TITLE-PAGE, displaying a rich Gothic edifice, surrounded by the Effigies, Armorial Ensigns, &c. of the most eminent persons connected with the history of London Bridge. The two upper figures represent Rich- ard, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Cardinal Hugo di Petraleone, who sub- scribed so liberally to its original foundation, (see page 61,) and the two lower ones, Kings John and Edward I., commemorative of the Bridge having been finished in the reign of the former, and of the several grants made to it by the latter. In the upper centre is suspended a banner, with the present Royal Arms of England, alluding to the foundation of the New London Bridge in the reign of George IV.: and beneath it, a representation in tapestry, of the triumphal entry of Henry V. across the ancient Bridge, in 1415, after the victory of Agincourt, described on pages 220 229 : at the sides of which are groups of banners, &c., commemorative of some of the principal persons engaged in the battle. Below, are the Armorial Ensigns of King Henry II., the Priory of St. Mary Overies, the ancient device of South- wark, and the Monograms of Peter of Colechurch, and Isenbert of Xainctes ; the benefactors and Architects of the First Stone Bridge at London. Beneath these is a monumental effigy of Peter of Colechurch ; under which appear the ancient and modern Arms of the City of London, see page 177 ; those of Robert Serle, Mercer, and Custos of London in 1214, the principal citizen to whom the finishing of the Bridge was entrusted, see page 73 ; those of Henry Walleis, Lord Mayor in 1282, and an eminent benefactor to London Bridge, see pages 131, 132 ; and in the centre, the shield of John Garratt, Esq., Alderman of the Ward of Bridge-Within, and Lord Mayor in 1824-25, who laid the First Stone of the New Edifice : see pages 635-660 Designed and Drawn by W. Harvey, from ancient Historical authorities. Engraven by G. W. Bonner. EMBELLISHMENTS. XI 2. Antique Rosette Device on the Title-page, containing the Armorial Ensigns of England, the City of London, the Borough of Southwark, and the Priory of St. Mary Overies. Engraven by the late W. Hughes. 3. Dedication Head-piece : an Ornamental Group, consisting of the Armorial Ensigns, &c. of the City of London, the Company of Goldsmiths, and the Right Worshipful John Garratt. Engraven by A. J. Mason. 4. Page 1. Head-piece: Exterior view of the river-front of Fishmongers' Hall, with the Shades' Tavern below it. Drawn and Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 5. Initial Letter: View down Fish-Street-Hill, comprising the Monument, St. Magnus' Church, and the Northern entrance to London Bridge. Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 6. Page 39. Ancient Monumental Effigy, from the Church of St. Mary Overies, Southwark; reported to represent John Audery, the Ferryman of the Thames, before the building of London Bridge. Copied from an Etching by Mr. J. T. Smith, Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. Drawn and Engraven by G. W. Moore. 7- Page 57. Ancient Water-Quintain, as it was played at upon the River Thames, near London Bridge, in the 12th century : Copied from an Illumi- nated Manuscript in the Royal Library in the British Museum. Drawn by W. H. Brooke : Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 8. Page 57. Ancient Boat-Tournament of the same period : copied from the same authority. Drawn and Engraven by the same. 9. Page 74- Architectural Elevation of the Centre and Southwark end of the First Stone Bridge erected over the Thames at London, A. D. 1209. Drawn from Vertue's Prints, and other authorities ; Engraven by the late W. Hughes. 10. Page 80. Ground-plan of London Bridge, as first built of Stone by Peter of Colechurch, A.D. 1209. Drawn from the measurements and surveys of Ver- tue and Hawksmoor ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 11. Page 84. Western Exterior of the Chapel of St. Thomas, ou the centre pier of the First Stone London Bridge, A.D. 1209. Drawn from the same authorities, and Engraven by the late W. Hughes. 12. Page 85. Interior View of the Upper Chapel contained in the above, look- ing Westward. Drawn from Vertue's Prints, and Engraven by the late W. Hughes. 13. Page 86. Interior View of the Crypt, or Lower Chapel, contained in the above, looking Eastward. Drawn from the same Authorities by W. H. Brooke; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. Xll DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF 14. Page 87. Southern Series of Windows in ditto. Drawn from the same authorities, and Engraven by the late W. Hughes. 15. Page 302. Ancient Date of 1497, carved in Stone, found on London Bridge in 1758, and supposed to commemorate a repair done in the former year. Engraven by G. W. Moore. 16. Page 304. Eastern View of part of London Bridge, as it appeared in the reign of King Henry VII. ; shewing the houses, &c. then erected upon it, and the whole depth of the Chapel of St. Thomas. Copied from an Illumi- nated Manuscript in the Royal Library in the British Museum ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. I/. Page 308. Ancient Dates of 1509 and 1514, carved in stone, and found in 1758 with the former. Engraven by G. W. Moore. 18. Page 336. Cage and Stocks on London Bridge, with the confinement of a Protestant Woman, in the reign of Queen Mary. Engraven by A. J. Mason. 19. Page 339. Southern View of Traitors' Gate at the Southwark end of London Bridge, with the heads erected on it in 1579. Drawn from the Venetian copy of Visscher's View of London, and other Authorities ; Engraven by H. White. 20. Page 343. Southern front of the old Southwark Gate and Tower, at the South end of London Bridge, as they appeared in 1647- Drawn from W. Hollar's Long Antwerp View of London ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 21. Page 344. Southern front and Western side of the Nonesuch House and Drawbridge erected on London Bridge, at the above period. Drawn from the same authority ; Engraven by T. Mosses. 22. Page 346. Western side of the Nonesuch House on London Bridge, as it appeared in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Copied from a Tracing of an Original Drawing on vellum, preserved in the Pepysian Library, in Mag- dalen College, Cambridge ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 23. Page 356. Ancient Com Mills erected on the Western side of London Bridge, at Southwark. Drawn from the same authority ; Engraven by H. White. 24. Page 357. Ancient Water- Works and Water-Tower standing on the Western side of London Bridge, at the North end. Drawn from the same autho- rity ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 25. Page 367. General View of the Western side of London Bridge, with all its ancient buildings, taken from the top of St. Mary Overies' Church in South- wark, at the close of the Sixteenth Century. Drawn by W. H. Brooke ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. THE EMBELLISHMENTS. xiii 26. Page 384. Copy of a Brass Token, issued by John Welday, living on Lon- don Bridge in 1657. Drawn from the Originals in the Collection of the late Barry Roberts, Esq. in the British Museum ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 27. Page 385. Other Tokens In Brass and Copper, issued by Tradesmen residing at London Bridge. Drawn from the Originals in the British Museum ; Engraven by G. W. Mooie. 28. Page 387- Obverses of Two Medalets struck by P. Kempson, and P. Skid- more, of London Bridge, and Bridge-Gate. Drawn from the Originals, and Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 29. Page 397. Group of buildings at the Northern end of London Bridge, des- troyed in the Fire of 1632-33. Drawn from the Venetian Copy of Visscher's View of London ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 30. Page 403. Ground Plan of the Old Stone Bridge of London after the Fire of 1632-33, the extent of which is indicated by the dotted line attached to the seventh sterling from the left hand, or City end, where the Waterhouse was situate. Copied from an Original Drawing on Parchment, preserved in the Print Room of the British Museum ; Engraven by G. W. Moore. 31. Page 405. Northern end of London Bridge after the Fire of 1632-33, shewing the Old Church of St. Magnus, and the temporary wooden passage erected on the sites of the houses, as it appeared in 1647. Drawn from the Long Antwerp View by Hollar; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 32. Page 407. View of the same part of London Bridge in the year 1665, before the Great Fire of London, shewing the last wooden passage and King's Gate, afterwards burned. Copied from a contemporary etching by Hollar ; Engra- ven by G. W. Bonner. 33. Page 445. View of the Northern end of London Bridge, and part of the banks of the Thames as they appeared in ruins after the Great Fire of London in 1666. Copied from a contemporary view by W. Hollar ; Engraven by H- White. 34. Page 446. Ancient View of Fishmongers' Hall from the river, before the Great Fire of London, A.D. 1666. Drawn from the Long Antwerp View, by W. Hollar ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 35. Page 462. View of the Northern end of London Bridge, with the Water Works and Tower, as they appeared in 1749. Copied from Buck's View of London ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 36. Page 487. Southern side of Bridge Gate, as rebuilt in 1728. Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 37. Page 501. Eastern side of London Bridge before the taking down of the Houses in 1758. Drawn from Scott's View, taken from St. Olave's Stairs. Copied by W. H. Brooke ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. XIV DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF 38. Page 516. Chapel of St. Thomas on London Bridge, with the adjoining houses, as they appeared at their taking down in 1758. Drawn from a con- temporary Etching ; Engraven by the late W. Hughes. 39. Page 517. Southern front of the Nonesuch House oil London Bridge, with the Draw-Bridge, as they appeared in their dilapidated state previously to their taking down in 1758. Drawn from a picture then painted by J. Scott ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 40. Page 518. Eastern View of the Southwark Gate and Tower on London Bridge, as they appeared previously to their taking down in 1758. Drawn from the same authority ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 41. Page 521. Northern View of the Temporary Bridge adjoining London Bridge onfire during the night of April 11, 1758. Drawn by W. H. Brooke from an Engraving by Wale and Grignion, with other contemporary authorities ; Engraven by H. White. 42. Page 526. Western side of London Bridge, shewing the ruins of the Tempo- rary Bridge, and the destruction occasioned by the fire of 1758. Drawn by W. H. Brooke, from the view by A. Walker and W. Herbert ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 43. Page 532. Part of the middle of London Bridge, shewing the wooden Cen- tering upon which the Great Arch was turned, when the Chapel Pier was taken away, and the whole edifice repaired in the year 1759. From a Draw- ing by Mr. W. Knight; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 44. Page 537. Section of the Northern Pier of the Great Arch of London Bridge, shewing its modern state, and the ancient method of constructing the Piers. From a Drawing by Mr. W. Knight, in August, 1821, when open for ex- amining the foundation. Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 45. Page 578. Elevation and Ground-plan of Old London Bridge, shewing the various forms, &c. of the Sterlings, the line of soundings taken along their points, a section of the bed of the River, and the different sizes of the several Locks; with Mr. Smea ton's method of raising the ground under the great Arch, and the timbers laid down to strengthen it in 1793-94. Reduced from the large survey made by Mr. George Dance in July, 1799, and pub- lished with the Second Report on the Improvement of the Port of London. Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 46. Page 604. South-Eastern View of London Bridge, A.D. 1825. Drawn and Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 47- Page 612. Eastern View of the Sixth Arch of London Bridge, from the City end, usually called the Prince's Lock, as it appeared in the great Frost of 1814; shewing the modern stone casing, with the original building beneath it. Copied by permission from a View taken on the spot and engraved by Mr. J. T. Smith. Drawn and Engraven by G. W. Bonner. THE EMBELLISHMENTS. XV 48. Page 628. Silver Effigy of Harpocrates, discovered in digging the founda- tions of the New London Bridge, and presented to the British Museum by Messrs. Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell, November 12, 1825. Drawn from the Original by W. Harvey ; Engraven by J. Smith. 48. Page 631. Architectural Elevation and Ground-plan of the New London Bridge, shewing its foundation-piles, and relative situation to the former edifice. From the original authorities. Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 50. Page 641. Entrance to the CofFer-Dam from London Bridge, as it ap- peared decorated for laying the First Stone of the New Bridge on Wednesday, June 15, 1825. Drawn on the spot ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 51. Page 642. Western end of ditto. Drawn from the River ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 52. Page 643. General View of the Exterior of ditto. Drawn on the Southern side ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 53. Page 646. General View of the Interior of ditto, looking Southward; shewing the position of the First Stone, with the cavity beneath it for de- positing the Coins, &c. From a Drawing made on the spot; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. 54. Page 651. Representation of the Silver-Gilt Trowel, presented to the Right Honourable John Garratt, for laying the First Stone of the New London Bridge. Drawn from the original ; Engraven by G. W. Bouner. 55. Page 662. Obverse of a Medal struck to commemorate the above ceremony, containing busts of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress. Drawn by W. H. Brooke from the original Model, in the possession of Joseph York Hatton, Esq., executed by Peter Rouw and W. Wyon, Esquires, Modeller and Die- Sinker to His Majesty. Engraven by A. J. Mason. 56. Page 664. Western side of the New London Bridge, looking down the River. Drawn by T. Letts ; Engraven by G. W. Bonner. " This is a Gentleman, every inch of him ; a Virtuoso, a clean Vir- tuoso : a sad-coloured stand of claithes, and a wig like the curled back of a mug-ewe. The very first question he speered was about the auld Draw-Brig, that has been at the bottom of the water these twal-score years. And how the Deevil suld he ken ony thing about the auld Draw- Brig, unless he were a Virtuoso ?" CAPTAIN CLUTTEHBTJCK'S INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE TO THE MONASTERY. CJjronuIess OF LONDON BRIDGE. O numerous are the alterations and modernisms in almost every street of this huge metropolis, that I verily believe, the conser- vators of our goodly city are trying the strength of a London Antiquary's heart; and, by their continual spoliations, endeavour- ing to ascertain whether it be really made " of pene- trable stuff." For my own part, if they continue thus Z CHRONICLES OF improving, I must even give up the ghost ; since, in a little time, there will not be a spot left, where any fea- ture of age will carry back my remembrance to its ancient original. What with pollings- down, and buildings-up ; the turning of land into canals, and co- vering over old water-ways with new paved streets ; erecting pert plaister fronts to some venerable old edifices, and utterly abolishing others from off the face of the earth ; London but too truly resembles the ce- lebrated keepsake-knife of the sailor, which, for its better preservation, had been twice re-bladed, and was once treated with a new handle. One year car- ried with it that grand fragment of our city's wall, which so long girdled-in Moorfields; while another bedevilled the ancient gate of St. John's Priory with Heraldry, which Belzebub himself could not blazon, and left but one of the original hinges to its antique pier. Nay, there are reports, too, that even Derby House, the fair old College of Heralds, where my youth was taught " the blasynge of Cote Armures/' under two of the wisest officers that ever wore a ta- bard, that even that unassuming quadrangle is to be forthwith levelled with the dust, and thus for ever blotted from the map of London ! Alas for the day ! Moorgate is not, and Aldgate is not ! Aldersgate is but the shadow of a name, and Newgate lives only as the title of a prison-house ! In the absence, then, of many an antique building which I yet remember, I have little else to supply the vacuum in my heart, but to wander around the ruins of those few which still LONDON BRIDGE. 6 exist: to gaze on the rich transomed bay-windows that even yet light the apartments of Sir Paul Pin- dar's now degraded dwelling; to look with regret upon the prostituted Halls of Crosby House ; or to roam over to the Bankside, and contemplate the fast- perishing fragments of Winchester's once proud Epis- copal Palace. It was but recently, in my return from visiting the spot last mentioned, that I betook me to a Tavern where I was erst wont to indulge in another old- fashioned luxury, which has also been taken away from me, that of quaffing genuine wine, drawn reaming from the butt in splendid silver jugs, in the merry old SHADES by LONDON BRIDGE. I loved this custom, because it was one of the very few fragments of an ancient Citizen's conviviality, which have de- scended to us : a worthy old friend and relative, many a long year since, first introduced me to the goodly practice, and though I originally liked it merely for his sake, yet I very soon learned to admire it for its own. It was a most lovely moonlight night, and I placed myself in one of the window boxes, whence I could see the fastly-ebbing tide glittering with silvery flashes ; whilst the broad radiance of the planet, cast upon the pale stone colour of the Bridge, strikingly contrasted with the gas star-like sparks which shone from the lamps above it. " Alas !" murmured I, " pass but another twenty years, and even thou, stately old London Bridge ! even thou shalt live only in memory, and the draughts which are now made of 4 CHRONICLES OF thine image. In modern eyes, indeed, these may seem of little value, but unto Antiquaries, even the rudest resemblance of that which is not, is worth the gold of Ind ; and Oh ! that we possessed some fair limning of thine early forms ; or Oh ! for some faithful old Chro- nicler, who knew thee in all thine ancient pride and splendour, to tell us the interesting story of thy foun- dation, thine adventures, and thy fate !" It was at this part of my reverie, that the Waiter at the Shades touched my elbow to inform me, that a stout old gentleman, who called himself MR. BARNABY POSTERN, had sent his compliments, and desired the pleasure of my society in the drinking of a hot sack- posset. " My services and thanks," said I, " wait upon the ancient, I shall be proud of his company : but for sack-posset, where, in the name of Dame Woolley, that all-accomplished cook, hath he learned how to ? but he comes." My visitor, as he entered, did not appear any thing very remarkable ; he looked simply a shrewd, hale, short old gentleman, of stiff formal manners, wrapped in a dark-coloured cloak, and bearing in his hand a covered tankard, which he set upon the table betwixt us ; after which, making a very low bow, he took his seat opposite to me, and at once opened the conver- sation. " Your fame," said he, " MR. GEOFFREY BARBICAN, as a London Antiquary, is not unknown to me ; and I have sometimes pleased myself with the thought, that you must be even a distant relation of my own, LONDON BRIDGE. 5 since tradition says, that the Barbicans and the Po*- terns originally received their names from having been gate-keepers in various parts of this fair city : but of that I will not positively speak. Howbeit, I am right glad of this fellowship, because I have some commu- nications and reflections which I would fain make to you, touching the earlier days of that Bridge, under which the tide is now so rapidly running." " My dear Mr. Postern," said I, in rapture, " no- thing could delight me more than an Antiquary's sto- ries of that famous edifice; but moralising I abominate, since I can do that for myself, even to admiration ; so, my good friend Mr. Barnaby, as much description, and as many rich old sketches, as you please, but no reflections, my kinsman, no reflections." " Well," returned my visitor, " I will do my best to entertain you ; but you very well know, that we old fellows, who have seen generations rise and decay, are apt to make prosing remarks. However, we'll start fairly, and taste of my tankard before we set out: trust me, it's filled with that same beverage, which Sir John FalstafF used to drink o'nights in East Cheap ; for the recipe for brewing it was found, written in a very ancient hand upon a piece of vellum, when the Boar's Head was pulled down many a long year ago. Drink, then, worthy Mr. Barbican ; drink, good Sir ; you'll find it excellent beverage, and I'll pledge you in kind." Upon this invitation, I drank of my visitor's tan- kard ; and believe me, reader, I never yet tasted any 6 CHRONICLES OF thing half so delicious; for it fully equalled the eulogium which Shakspeare's jovial knight pronounces upon it in the Second part of " King Henry the Fourth," Act iv. sc. iii. ; where the merry Cavalier of Eastcheap tells us, that " a good Sherris sack hath a two-fold operation in it : it ascends me into the brain, dries me there all the foolish, and dull, and crudy vapours which environ it: makes it apprehen- sive, quick, forgetive, full of nimble, fiery, and delect- able shapes ; which, delivered o'er to the voice, (the tongue,) which is the birth, becomes excellent wit. The second property of your excellent Sherris is, the warming of the blood ; which, before cold and settled, left the liver white and pale, which is the badge of pusillanimity and cowardice : but the Sherris warms it, and makes it course from the inwards to the parts extreme. It illumineth the face; which, as a bea- con, gives warning to all the rest of this little kingdom, man, to arm; and then, the vital commoners, and inland petty spirits, muster me all to their Captain, the heart ; who, great, and puffed up with this retinue, doth any deed of courage ; and this valour comes of Sherris: so that skill in the weapon is nothing, without Sack : for that sets it a- work : and learning, a mere hoard of gold kept by a devil, till Sack com- mences it, and sets it in act and use. If I had a thou- sand sons, the first human principle I would teach them, should be, to forswear thin potations, and addict themselves to Sack !" Truly, indeed, I felt all those effects in myself; LONDON BRIDGE. whilst my visitor appeared to be so inspired by it, that, as if all the valuable lore relating to London Bridge had been locked up until this moment, he opened to me such a treasure of information con- cerning it, that, I verily believe, he left nothing con- nected with the subject untouched. He quoted books and authors with a facility, to which I have known no parallel ; and, what is quite as extraordinary, the same magical philtre enabled me as faithfully to retain them. Indeed, the posset and his discourse seemed to enliven all my faculties in such a manner, that the very scenes of which my companion spake, appeared to rise before my eyes as he described them. When Mr. Postern had pledged me, therefore, by drinking my health, in a very formal manner, he thus commenced his dis- course. " You very well know, my good Mr. Barbican, that Gulielmus Stephanides, or, as the vulgar call him, William Fitz-Stephen, who was the friend and secretary of Thomas a Becket, a native of London, and who died about 1191, in his invaluable tract ( Descriptio Nobilis- simce Civitatis Londonice,' folio 26, tells us that to the North of London, there existed, in his days, the large remains of that immense forest which once covered the very banks of this brave river. ' Proxime patet ingens foresta,' &c. begins the passage; and pray observe that I quote from the best edition with a commentary by that excellent Antiquary Dr. Samuel Pegge, pub- lished in London, in the year 1772, in quarto. Ever, Mr. Barbican, while you live, ever quote from the 8 CHRONICLES OF editio optima of every author whom you cite ; for, next to a knowledge of books themselves, is an acquaintance with the best editions. But to return, Sir; in those woody groves of yew, which the old citizens wisely en- couraged for the making of their bows, were then hunt- ed the stag, the buck, and the doe ; and the great Nor- thern road, which now echoes the tuneful Kent bugle of mail-coach-guards, was then an extensive wilderness, resounding with the shrill horns of the Saxon Chiefs, as they waked up the deer from his lair of vert and brush- wood. The very paths, too, that now behold the herds of oxen and swine driven town- ward to support London's hungry thousands, then echoed with the bellowing of sa- vage bulls, and the harsh grunting of many a stout wild boar. But, as you have observed, / am to describe scenes, and you are to moralise upon their changes, so we'll hasten down again to the water-side, only ob- serving, that the site of the ancient British London is yet certainly marked out to you, by the old rhyming stone in Pannier Alley, by St. Paul's, which saith : 'WHEN Y T HAVE SOVGHT THE CITY KOVND, YET STILI, THIS IS THE HIGHEST GROVND.' " Now, Julius Caesar tells you in his Commentaries ' De Bella Gallico,' lib. v. cap. xxi. that 'a British town was nothing more than a thick wood, fortified with a ditch and rampart, to serve as a place of retreat against the incursions of their enemies.' Here, then, stood our LONDON BRIDGE. 9 good old city, upon the best 'vantage ground of the Forest of Middlesex ; the small hive-shaped dwellings of the Britons, formed of bark, or boughs, or reeds from the rushy sides of these broad waters, being in- terspersed between the trees ; whilst their little moun- tain metropolis, the ' locum reperit egregie naturd, atqtie opere munitum,' a place which appeared extremely strong, both by art and nature, as the same matchless classic called those primitive defences, was guarded on the North by a dark wood, that might have daunted even the Roman Cohorts; and to the South, where there was no wilderness, morasses, covered with fat weeds., and divided by such streams as the Wall-brook, the Shareburn, the Fleta, and others of less note, stretched downward to the Thames. As Caesar and his Le- gions marched straight from the coast, worthy old Bagford was certainly in the right, when, in a letter to his brother-antiquary Hearne, he said, that the Roman invader came along the rich marshy ground now sup- porting Kent Street, in truth very unlike the road of a splendid conqueror, and, entering the Thames as the tide was just turning, his army made a wide angle, and was driven on shore by the current close to yonder Cement Wharf, at Dowgate Dock. This you find prefixed to Tom Hearne's edition of Leland's ' Collectanea de Rebus Britannicis,' London, 1774, 8vo., vol. i. pp. Iviii.lix.: and many an honest man, since ' the hook-nosed fellow of Rome/ before a bridge carried him over the waters dry-shod, has tried the same route, in preference to going up to the Mill-ford, in the Strand, 10 CHRONICLES OF or York-ford which lay still higher. In good time, however, the Romans, to commemorate their own successful landing there, built a Trajectus, or Ferry, to convey passengers to their famous military road which led to Dover. -But history is not wholly without the mention of a Bridge over the Thames near London, even still earlier than this period ; for, when Dion Cassius is recording the invasion of Britain by the Emperor Claudius I., A. D. 44, he says, ' The Britons having betaken themselves to the River Thames, where it discharges itself into the Sea, easily passed over it, being perfectly acquainted with its depths and shal- lows : while the Romans, pursuing them, were thereby brought into great danger. The Gauls, however, again setting sail, and some of them having passed over by the Bridge, higher up the River, they set upon the Britons on all sides with great slaughter ; until, rashly pursuing those that escaped, many of them pe- rished in the bogs and marshes.' This passage, which it must be owned, however, is not very satisfactory, is to be found in the best edition of the ' Histories Romance,' by Fabricius and Reimar, Hamburgh, 1750-52, folio, volume ii. page 958; in the 60th Book and 20th Section. The Greek text begins, ' Avat- &c. ; and the Latin c Inde se Britanni ad fluvium Tamesin.' I have only to remind you that Dion Cassius flourished about A. D. 230. Before we finally quit Roman London, however, I must make one more historical remark. The inscription on the monument LONDON BBIDGE. 11 which I quoted from Pannier Alley, is dated August the 27th, 1688; and if even at that period, through all the mutations of the soil, and more than sixteen cen- turies after the Roman Invasion, the ground still re- tained its original altitude, it yet further proves on how admirable a site our ancient London was origin- ally erected : well worthy, indeed, to be the metro- polis of the world. This also is remarked by honest Bagford, in his work already cited, where, at page Ixxii., he says, ' For many of our ancient kings and nobility took delight in the situation of the old Roman buildings, which were always very fine and pleasant, the Romans being very circumspect in regard to their settlements, having always an eye to some river, spring, wood, &c. for the convenience of life, particularly an wholesome air. And this no doubt occasioned the old Monks, Knights Templars, and, after them, the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, as also the Friars, to settle in most of the Roman buildings, as well private as public, which thing, if duly considered, will be found to be a main reason why we have so few remains of them.' " As I have always considered that the Romans had no more to do with Britain, than Joe the waiter here would have in a Conclave of Cardinals, I will not trouble you with any sketch of the dress or manners of the ferryman and his customers, during their go- vernment. Indeed, as a native of London, I always lament over it as the time of our captivity ; and so I shall hasten on to the tenth century, when our Runic 12 CHRONICLES OF Ancestors from Gothland were settled in Britain ; when courage was the chiefest virtue, and the rudest hospitality " " Have pity upon me, my excellent Mr. Postern," interrupted I, " for I am naturally impatient at reflec- tions ; if you love me, then, give me scenery without meditations, and history without a moral." " Truly, Sir," said he, " I was oblivious, for I'd got upon a favourite topic of mine, the worth of our Saxon fore-fathers ; but we'll cut them off short by another draught of the sack-posset, and take up again with the establishment of a ferry by one Master Audery, in the year nine hundred and ninety Ah ! see now, my memory has left me for the precise year, but nevertheless, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican, my service to you." When he had passed me the tankard, after what I considered a very reasonable draught, Mr. Postern thus continued. " I hold it right, my friend, to mix these convivialia with our antiquarian discussions, because I know that they are not only ancient, but in a manner peculiar to this part of the water-side ; for we find Stephanides, Stephanus ab Stephana, as I may jocularly call him, whom I before quoted, saying at folio 32, ' Prceterea est in Londonia super ripamfluminis,' &c. but we'll give the quotation in plain English. ' And moreover, on the banks of the river, besides the wine sold in ships' that is to say, foreign wines of Anjou, Auxere, and Gascoigne, though even then we had some Saxon and Rhenish wines well worth the LONDON BRIDGE. 13 drinking, ' besides the wines sold in ships and vaults, there is a public eating-house, or cook's shop. Here, according to the season, you may find victuals of all kinds, roasted, baked, fried, or boiled. Fish, large and small, with coarse viands for the poorer sort, and more delicate ones for the rich, such as venison, fowls, and small birds. In case a friend should arrive at a Citizen's house, much wearied with his journey, and chuses not to wait, an-hungered as he is, for the buying and cooking of meat, The water's served, the bread's in haskets brought, . Mn. i. 705. and recourse is immediately had to the bank above- mentioned, where every thing desirable is instantly procured. No number so great, of knights or stran- gers, can either enter the city at any hour of day or night, or leave it, but all may be supplied with pro- visions, so that those have no occasion to fast too long, nor these to depart the city without their dinner. To this place, if they be so disposed, they resort, and there they regale themselves, every man according to his abilities. Those who have a mind to indulge, need not to hanker after sturgeon, nor a guinea-fowl, nor a gelinote de bois/ which some call red-game, and others a godwit ' for there are delicacies enough to gratify their palates. It is a public eating-house, and is both highly convenient and useful to the city, and is a clear proof of its civilization.' " Thus speaks Fitz-Stephen of the time of Henry 14 CHRONICLES OP II. between the years 1170 and 1182 ; and if you look but two centuries later, you shall find that John Hol- land, Duke of Exeter, held his Inn here at Cold Harbour, and gave to his half-brother, King Richard the Second, a sumptuous dinner, in 1397- Then too, when this spot became the property of the merry Henry Plantagenet, Prince of Wales, by the gift of Henry the Fourth, the same King filled his cellars with ' twenty casks and one pipe of red wine of Gas- coigne, free of duty.' This you have on the authority of John Stow, on the one part, in his ' Survey of Lon- don,' the best edition by John Strype, c. London, 1754, folio, volume i. page 523; and of Master Thomas Pennant, on the other, in his ' Account of London,' 2nd edition, London, 1791;, 4to, page 330." " Aye, Master Postern," said I, " and that same Cold Harbour is not the less dear to me, forasmuch as Stow noteth, in the very place which you have just now cited, that Richard the Third gave the Messuage, and all its appurtenances, to John Wrythe, Garter Prin- cipal King of Arms, and the rest of the Royal Heralds and Pursuivants, in 1485." " True, Mr. Geoffrey, true/' answered my visitor ; ' ' and you may remember that here also, in these very Shades, did King Charles the merry, regale incognito ; and here, too, came Ad- dison and his galaxy of wits to finish a social evening. Then, but a little above to the North, was the famous market of East Cheap ; of which our own Stow speaks in his book before cited, page 503, quoting the very rare ballad of ' London Lickpenny,' composed by Dan LONDON BRIDGE. 15 John Lydgate, of which a copy in the old chronicler's own hand writing, is yet extant in the Harleian Manu- scripts, No. 542, article 17? folio 102, of which stanza 12 says, ' Then I hied me into Estchepe ; One cried ribes of befe, and many a pie, Pewtar potts they clatteryd on a heape, Ther was harpe, pipe, and sawtry, Ye by cokke, nay by cokke, some began to cry, Some sange of Jenken and Julian, to get themselves mede ; Full fayne I wold hade of that mynstralsie But for lacke of money I cowld not spede !' " Lydgate, you know, died in the year 1440, at the age of sixty. In the present day, indeed, we have only the indications of this festivity in the names of the ways leading down to, or not far from, the river j as, Pudding Lane, Fish Street Hill, the Vine-tree, or Vintry, Bread-street, " " Hold ! hold ! my dear Mr. Barnaby," interrupted I, " what on earth has all this long muster-roll of gluttony to do with London Bridge ? You are, as it were, endeavouring to prove, that yonder is the moon lighting the waters ; for certes, it is a self-evident truth, that the citizens of London have from time immemo- rial been mighty trencher-men ; nay, if I remember me rightly, your own favourite Stephanides says, 1 The only plagues of London are, immoderate drinking of idle fellows, and often fires :' so that we'll take for granted, and get on to the Bridge." " You are in the right," answered Mr. Postern; 16 CHRONICLES OF A. D. " the passage begins ' Solos pestes Londonice,' Sec. at folio 42, and truly I wished but to shew you how proper a place these Shades are to be convivial in ; but now we will but just touch upon the Saxon Ferry and Wooden Bridge, and then come at once to the first stone one, founded by the excellent Peter of Cole- church, in the year 1176. I would you could but have seen the curious boat in which, for many years, Audery the Ship- wight, as the Saxons called him, rowed his fare over those restless waters. It was in form very much like a crescent laid upon its back, only the sharp horns turned over into a kind of scroll ; and when it was launched, if the passengers did not trim the barque truly, there was some little danger of its tilting over, for it was only the very centre of the keel that touched the water. But our shipman had also another wherry, for extra passengers, and that had the appearance of a blanket gathered up at each end, whilst those within looked as if they were about to be tossed in it. His oars were in the shape of sho- vels, or an ace of spades stuck on the end of a yard measure ; though one of them rather seemed as if he were rowing with an arrow, having the barb broken off, and the flight held downwards. It is nearly certain, that at this period there was no barrier across the Thames ; for you may remember how the ' Saxon Chronicle,' sub anno 993, tells you that the Dane Olaf, Anlaf, or Unlaf, ' mid thrym et hundnigenli- gon scipum to Stane,' which is to say, that ' he sailed with three hundred and ninety ships to Staines, 994.] LONDON BRIDGE. 17 which he plundered without, and thence went to Sandwich.' " Before I leave speaking of this King Olaf, how- ever, I wish you to observe the paction which he made with the English King Ethelred, for we shall find him hereafter closely connected with the history of Lon- don Bridge. The same authority, and under the same year and page, tells you that, after gaining the battle of Maldon, and the death of Alderman Britnoth, peace was made with Anlaf, ' and the King received him at Episcopal hands, by the advice of Siric, Bishop of Canterbury, and Elfeah of Winchester.' On page 171, in the year 994, you also find this peace more solemnly confirmed in the following passage. ' Then sent the King after King Anlaf, Bishop Elfeah, and Alderman Ethelwerd, and hostages being left with the ships, they led Anlaf with great pomp to the King, at An- dover. And King Ethelred received him at Epis- copal hands, and honoured him with royal pre- sents. In return Anlaf promised, as he also per- formed, that he never again would come in a hostile manner to England.' I quote, as usual, from the best edition of this invaluable record by Professor Ingram, London, 1823, 4to. It is generally believed, however, that the year following Anlaf's invasion, namely 994, there was built a low Wooden Bridge, which crossed the Thames at St. Botolph's Wharf yonder, where the French passage vessels are now lying; and a rude thing enough it was, I'll warrant; builtof thick rough- hewn timber planks, placed upon piles, with move- c 18 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. able platforms to allow the Saxon vessels to pass through it Westward. A Bridge of any kind is not so small a concern but what one might suppose you could avoid running against it, and yet William of Malmesbury, the Benedictine Monk, who lived in the reign of King Stephen, and died in 1142, says, that, in 994, King Sweyn of Denmark, the Invader, ran foul of it with his Fleet. This you find mentioned in his book, ' De Gestis Regum Anglorum,' the best edition, London, 1596, folio : though, by the way, the pre- ferable one is called the Frankfurt reprint of 1601, as it contains all the errata of the London text, and adds a good many more of its own ; for I am much of the mind of Bishop Nicolson, and Sir Henry Spelman, who observe that the Germans committed abundance of faults with the English words. In this record, which is contained in Sir Henry Savile's ' Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores Post Bedam,' of the foregoing date and size, at folio 38 b , is the passage beginning ' Mox ad Austrahs regiones,' Sfc. of which this is the purport. " Some time after, the Southern parts, with the in- habitants of Oxford and Winchester, were brought to honour his' that is to say King Sweyn' s ' laws : the Citizens of London alone, with their lawful King' Ethelred the Second ' betook themselves within the walls, having securely closed the gates. Against their ferocious assailants, the Danes, they were sup- ported by their virtue, and the hope of glory. The Citizens rushed forward even to death for their li- berty; for none could think himself secure of the 994] LONDON BRIDGE. 19 future if the King were deserted, in whose life he committed his own : so that although the conflict was valiant on both sides, yet the Citizens had the victory from the justness of their cause ; every one endea- vouring to shew, throughout this great work, how sweet he estimated those pains which he bore for him. The enemy was partly overthrown; and part was destroyed in the River Thames, over which, in their precipitation and fury, they never looked for the Bridge.' " I know very well that the truth of this circum- stance is much questioned by Master Maitland, at page 43 of his ' History of London,' continued by the Rev. John Entick, London, 1772, folio, volume i. ; wherein he denies that any historian mentions a Bridge at London, in the incursion of Anlaf or Sweyn ; and asserts that the loss of the army of the latter was occasioned ' by his attempting to pass the River, without enquiring after Ford, or Bridge.' He affirms too, that Stow mistakes the account given by William of Malmesbury; and that the Monk himself distorts his original authority in saying that the invaders had not a regard to the Bridge. Now, if, as the margin of Maitland's History states, the Saxon Chronicle were that authority, the Library-keeper of Malmesbury had no greater right to speak as Maitland does, than he had for using those words which I have already translated, ' part were destroyed in the River Thames, over which, in their precipitation and fury, they never looked for the Bridge :' for the words of the 20 CHRONICLES OP A. D. Saxon Chronicle, at page 170, are, in reality, ' And they closely besieged the City and would fain have set it on fire, but they sustained more harm and evil than they ever supposed that the Citizens could inflict on them. The Holy Mother of God' for the Inva- sion took place on her Nativity, September the 8th, ' on that day considered the Citizens, and ridded them of their enemies.' Here then is no word of a Bridge, nor, indeed, does any Historian record the event as William of Malmesbury does. Lambarde whom I shall quote anon, when he relates it, cites the 'Chroni- cle of Peterborough,' and the ' Annals ofMargan,' but neither of them have the word Bridge upon their pages. He, most probably, took this circumstance from Marianus Scotus, a Monk of Mentz, in Ger- many, who wrote an extensive History of England and Europe ending in 1083, but, of this, only the German part has been printed, although it was ama- zingly popular in manuscript. " We have, however, an earlier description of London Bridge in a state of warlike splendour, than is commonly imagined, or at least referred to, by most Antiquaries ; and that too from a source of no incon- siderable authority: for the learned old Icelander Snorro Sturlesonius, who wrote in the 13th century, and who was assassinated in 1241, on page 90 of that rather rare work by the Rev. James Johnstone, entitled ' Antiquitates Celto-Scandicce,' Copenhagen, 1786, quarto, gives the following very interesting par- ticulars of the Battle of Southwark, which took place 1008.] LONDON BRIDGE. 21 . in the year 1008, in the unhappy reign of Ethelred II., surnamed the Unready. " < They' that is the Danish forces ' first came to shore at London, where their ships were to remain, and the City was taken by the Danes. Upon the other side of the River, is situate a great market called Southwark/ Sudurvirke in the original ' which the Danes fortified with many defences ; framing, for instance, a high and broad ditch, having a pile or rampart within it, formed of wood, stone, and turf, with a large garrison placed there to strengthen it. This, the King Ethelred,' his name, you know, is Adalradr in the original, ' attacked and forcibly fought against ; but by the resistance of the Danes it proved but a vain endeavour. There was, at that time, a Bridge erected over the River between the City and Southwark, so wide, that if two carriages met they could pass each other. At the sides of the Bridge, at those parts which looked upon the River, were erected Ramparts and Castles that were defended on the top by penthouse-bulwarks and sheltered tur- rets, covering to the breast those who were fighting in them : the Bridge itself was also sustained by piles which were fixed in the bed of the River. An attack therefore being made, the forces occupying the Bridge fully defended it. King Ethelred being thereby enraged, yet anxiously desirous of finding out some means by which he might gain the Bridge, at once assembled the Chiefs of the army to a conference on the best method of destroying it. Upon this, King 22 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. Olaf engaged/ for you will remember he was an ally of Ethelred, ' that if the Chiefs of the army would support him with their forces, he would make an attack upon it with his ships. It being ordained then in council, that the army should be marched against the Bridge, each one made himself ready for a simultaneous movement both of the ships and of the land forces. 1 " I must here entreat your patience, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican, to follow the old Norwegian through the consequent battle ; for although he gives us no more scenery of London Bridge, yet he furnishes us with a minute account of its destruction, and of a conflict upon it, concerning which all our own historians are, in general, remarkably silent. I say too, with FalstafF, ' play out the play / for I have yet much to say on the behalf of that King Olaf, who, we shall find, is the patron protector of yonder Church at the South-East corner of London Bridge, since he died a Saint and a Martyr. Snorro Sturleson then, having cleared the way for the forcing of London Bridge on the behalf of King Ethelred, thus begins his account of the action, entitling it, in the Scandinavian tongue, Orrosta, or the fight. ' King Olaf, having determined on the con- struction of an immense scaffold, to be formed of wooden poles and osier twigs, set about pulling down the old houses in the neighbourhood for the use of the materials. With these Vinea, therefore/ as such de- fences were anciently termed ' he so enveloped his ships, that the scaffolds extended beyond their sides ; 1008.]] LONDON BRIDGE. 23 and they were so well supported, as to afford not only a sufficient space for engaging sword in hand, but also a base firm enough for the play of his engines, in case they should be pressed upon from above. The Fleet, as well as the forces, being now ready, they rowed towards the Bridge^the tide being adverse ; but no sooner had they reached it, than they were violently assailed from above with a shower of missiles and stones, of such immensity that their helmets and shields were shattered, and the ships themselves very seri- ously injured. Many of them, therefore, retired. But Olaf the King and his Norsemen having rowed their ships close up to the Bridge, made them fast to the piles with ropes and cables, with which they strained them, and the tide seconding their united efforts, the piles gradually gave way, and were with- drawn from under the Bridge. At this time, there was an immense pressure of stones and other weapons, so that the piles being removed, the whole Bridge brake down, and involved in it's fall the ruin of many. Numbers, however, were left to seek refuge by flight: some into the City, others into Southwark. And now it was determined to attack Southwark : but the Citizens seeing their River Thames occupied by the enemy's navies, so as to cut off all intercourse that way with their interior provinces, were seized with fear, and having surrendered the City, received Ethelred as King. In remembrance of this expedition thus sang Ottar Suarti.' "And now, Sir, as this is, without any doubt, the first 24 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. song which was ever made about London Bridge, I shall give you the Norse Bard's verses in Mac- pherson's Ossianic measure, as that into which they most readily translate themselves ; premising that the ensuing are of immeasurably greater authenticity. ' And thou hast overthrown their Bridges, Oil thou Storm of the Sons of Odin ! skilful and fore- most iu the Battle ! For thee was it happily re- served to possess the land of London's winding City. Many were the shields which were grasped sword in hand to the mighty increase of the conflict ; but by thee were the iron-banded coats of mail broken and destroyed.' And ' besides this,' continues Snorro/he also sang:' ' Thou, thou hast come, Defender of the Earth, and hast restored into his Kingdom the exiled Ethelred. By thine aid is he advantaged, and made strong by thy valour and prowess : Bitterest was that Battle in which thou didst engage. Now, in the presence of thy kindred the adjacent lands are at rest, where Edmund, the relation of the country and the people, formerly governed.' ' Besides this, these things are thus remembered by Sigvatus.' ' That was truly the sixth fight which the mighty King fought with the men of England : wherein King Olaf, the Chief himself a Son of Odin, va- liantly attacked the Bridge at London. Bravely did the swords of the Volscs defend it, but through the trench which the Sea-Kings, the men of Vikes- 1008.] LONDON BRIDGE. 25 land, guarded, they were enabled to come, and the plain of Southwark was full of his tents.' " Such were the martial feats of King Olafus, upon the water ; and now let us turn to his more pious and peaceful actions upon the land, that caused the men of Southwark to found to his honour yonder fane, which still bears his name and consecrates his memory. And in so doing, I pray you to observe that I am not wandering from the subject before us ; for that Church is one of the Southern boundaries of London Bridge, and, as such, possesses some interest in its history. The other, on the same side, is the Mo- nastery of St. Mary Overies, of the which I shall here- after discourse ; whilst the two Northern ones are St. Magnus' Church, and that abode of festivity which rises above us, Fishmongers' Hall, of which the story will be best noticed when we shall have arrived at the time of the Great Fire. There are within the City walls and Diocese of London, three Churches dedi- cated to the Norwegian King and Martyr, St. Olaf ; and in consequence, Richard Newcourt, in his ' Reper- torium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense,' which I shall hereafter notice, vol. i. page 509, takes occasion to speak somewhat of his history ; collected, most pro- bably, from Adam of Bremen's ' Historia Ecclesiarum Hamburgensis et Bremensis.' He was the Son of Herald Grenscius, Prince of Westfold, in Norway, and was celebrated for having expelled the Swedes from that country, and recovering Gothland. It was after 26 CHRONICLES OF A. D. these exploits that he came to England, and remained here as an ally of King Ethelred for three years, expelling the Danes from the Cities, Towns, and For- tresses, and ultimately returning home with great spoil. He was recalled to England by Emma of Normandy, the surviving Queen of his friend, to assist her against Knute ; but as he found a paction concluded between that King and the English, he soon withdrew, and was then created King of Norway by the voice of the nation. To strengthen his throne, he married the daughter of the King of Swedeland ; but now his strict adherence to the Christian faith, and his active zeal for the spread of it, caused him to be molested by domestic wars, as well as by the Danes abroad : though these he regarded not, since he piously and valiantly professed, that he had rather lose his life and King- dom than his faith in Christ. Upon this, the men of Norway complained to Knute, King of Denmark, and afterwards of England, charging Olaf with altering their laws and customs, and entreating his assistance ; but the Norwegian hero was supported by a young soldier named Amandus, King of Swethland, who had been bred up under Olaf, and taught to fight by him. He, at first, overthrew the Dane in an engagement ; but Knute, having bribed the adverse fleet, pro- cured three hundred of his ships to revolt, and then attacking Olaf, forced him to retreat into his own country, where his subjects received him as an enemy. He fled from the disloyal Pagans to Jerislaus, King of Russia, who was his brother-in-law, and remained 1008.] LONDON BRIDGE. 27 with him till the better part of his subjects, in the commotions of the Kingdom, calling him to resume his crown, he went at the head of an army ; when, whilst one party hailed his return with joy, the other, urged by Knute, opposed him by force, and in a dis- loyal battle at Stichstadt, to the North of Drontheim, says Newcourt, page 510, with considerable pathos, they ' murthered this holy friend of Christ, this most innocent King, in Anno 1028,' but he should have said 1030. His feast is commemorated on the fourth of the Kalends of August, that is to say on the 29th of July; for Grimkele, Bishop of Drontheim, his capital City, a pious priest whom he had brought from England to assist him in establishing Christianity in Norway, commanded that he should be honoured as a Saint, with the title of Martyr. His body was buried in Drontheim, and was not only found undecayed in 1098, but even in 1541, when the Lutherans plun- dered his shrine of its gold and jewels ; for it was es- teemed the greatest treasure in the North. Such was St. Olave, to whose memory no less than four Churches in London are dedicated; for, says New- court, he ' had well deserved, and was well be- loved of our English Nation, as well for his friendship for assisting them against the Danes, as for his holy and Christian life, by the erection of many Churches which to his honourable memory they built and dedi- cated to him.' I notice only one of these, because it is contiguous to London Bridge, which is called St. Olave, Southwark. It stands, as you very well know, on 28 CHHONICLKS OF QA. D. the Northern side of Tooley Street; and although many people would think St. Tooley to be somewhat of a questionable patron for a Church, yet I would remind you that it was only the more usual ancient English name of King Olave, as we are told on good authority, by the Rev. Alban Butler in his ' Lives of ike Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints,' London, 1812, 8vo. volume vii. where also, on pages 378 380, you have many further particulars of the life of this heroic Prince. You may also meet with him under a variety of other names, as Anlaf, Unlaf, Olaf Haraldson, Olaus, and Olaf Helge, or Olave the Holy. Of his Church in Southwark I will tell you nothing as to its foundation, but remark only that its antiquity is proved by William Thorn's ' Chronicle of the Acts of the Abbots of St. Austin's Canterbury ;' which is printed in Roger Twysden's ' Histories Angli- cancB Scriptores Decem;' London, 1652, folio. Thorn, you may remember, was a Monk of St. Augustine's, in 1380 ; and on column 1932 of the volume now re- ferred to, he gives the copy of a grant from John, Earl of Warren, to Nicholas, the Abbot of St. Augus- tine's, giving to his Monastery all the estate which it held in 'Southwark standing upon the River Thames, between the Breggehouse and the Church of Saint Olave.' By this we know it to be ancient, for that grant was made in the year 1281. And now I will say no more of St. Olave, but that a very full and interesting memoir of him, and his miracles, is to be found in that gigantic work entitled the ' Act a 1008.] LONDON BRIDGE. 29 Sanctorum,' Antwerp, 1643 1786, 50 volumes, folio, and yet incomplete, for the year descends to October only : see the seventh volume of July, pages 87 120. " And now let me chaunt you his Requiem, by giving you, from the same authority, a free translation of the concluding stanza of that Latin Hymn to his memory, which Johannes Bosch tells us was inserted in the Swedish Missal, and sung on his festival ; it is in the same measure as the original. ' Martyr'd King! in triumph shining, Guardian Saint, whom bliss is 'shrining ; To thy spirit's sons inclining From a sinful world's confining By thy might, Oh set them free ! Carnal bonds are round them 'twining, Fiendish arts are undermining, All with deadly plagues are pining, But thy power and prayers combining, Safely shall we rise to thee ! AMEN.' " One of the last notices of London Bridge which occurs in the days of King Ethelred, and I place it here because it is without date, is in his Laws, as they are given in the ' Chronicon' of John Brompton, Abbot of Jorvaulx, in the City of York, who lived about the year 1328. His work was printed in Twysden's Scriptores, which I last quoted ; and at column 897, in the xxiii. Chapter of the Statutes there given, is the following passage. 30 CHRONICLES OF A. D. " ' Concerning the Tolls given at Bylyngesgate. 1 If a small ship come up to Bilynggesgate, it shall give one halfpenny of toll : if a greater one which hath sails, one penny : if a small ship, or the hulk of a ship come thereto, and shall lie there, it shall give four pence for the toll. For ships which are filled with wood, one log of wood shall be given as toll. In a week of bread' perhaps a festival time, ' toll shall be paid for three days ; the Lord's day, Tuesday, and Thursday. Whoever shall come to the Bridge, in a boat in which there are fish, he himself being a dealer, shall pay one halfpenny for toll ; and if it be a larger vessel, one penny.' " Concerning Brompton's translation of these laws, Bishop Nicolson, in his ' English, Scotch, and Irish Historical Libraries,' London, 1736, folio, page 65, says that they are pretty honestly done, and given at large : but they may be seen with several variations and additions very fairly written in the collections of Sir Simonds D'Ewes, preserved with the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, No. 596. John Brompton, however, at column 891 of his Chronicle, tells us one circumstance more concerning London Bridge before the Invasion of Knute; for he says, under the year 1013, ' After this, many people were overthrown in the Thames, at London, not caring to go by the Bridge ;' that is to say, because it had been broken in the two recent battles as I have already told you, and there were also erected several for- tifications about the City.' 1016.] LONDON BRIDGE. 31 " Perhaps it was the error of Sweyn in getting his Fleet foul of London Bridge, which made Knute the Dane, his Son, go so laboriously to work with the Thames, upon his Invasion in 1016; and I shall give you this very wonderful story in the words of the Saxon Chronicle, page 197- ' Then came the ships to Greenwich, and, within a short interval, to London ; where they sank a deep ditch on the South side, and dragged their ships to the West side of the Bridge. Afterwards they trenched the City without, so that no man could go in or out, and often fought against it ; but the Citizens bravely withstood them.' There are some who doubt this story, but honest William Maitland, who loved to get to the bottom of every thing, as he went, sounding about the river for Caesar's Ford, also set himself to discover proofs of Knute's Trench : and you may remember that he tells us, in his work which I have already cited, volume i. page 35, that this artificial water-course began at the great wet-dock below Rotherhithe, and passing through the Kent Road, continued in a crescent form to Vaux- hall, and fell again into the Thahies at the lower end of Chelsea Reach. The proofs of this hypothesis were great quantities of fascines of hazels, willows, and brushwood, pointing northward, and fastened down by rows of stakes, which were found at the digging of Rotherhithe Dock in 1694 ; as well as numbers of large oaken planks and piles, also found in other parts. " Florence of Worcester, who, you will recollect, wrote in 1101, and died in 1119, in his * Chronicon ex 32 CHBONICLES OF A. D. Chronicis,' best edition, London, 1592, small 4to. page 413; and the famous old Saxon Chronicle, page 237; also both mention the easy passage of the rapa- cious Earl Godwin, as he passed Southwark in the year 1052. The tale is much the same in each, but per- haps the latter is the best authority, and it runs thus. ' And Godwin stationed himself continually before London, with his Fleet, until he came to Southwark ; where he abode some time, until the flood came up. When he had arranged his whole expedition, then came the flood, and they soon weighed anchor and steered through the Bridge by the South side.' This relation is also supported by Roger Hoveden, in his Annals, Part I. in ' Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores post Bedam,' by Sir H. Savile, folio 253", line 41. " And now, worthy Mr. Barbican, before we enter upon the conjectures and disputes relating to the real age and founders of the first Wooden Bridge over the Thames at London, let me give you a toast, closely connected with it, in this last living relique of old Sir John FalstaiF. You must know, my good Sir, that when the Church- Wardens and vestry of St. Mary Overies, on the Bankside yonder, meet for conviviality, one of their earliest potations is to the memory of their Church's Saint and the patroness who feeds them, under the familiar name of ( Old Moll !' and there- fore, as we are now about to speak of them and their pious foundation most particularly, you will, I doubt not, pledge me heartily to the Immortal Memory of Old Moll !" 1052.] LONDON BRIDGE. 33 " I very much question/' returned I, " if either the good foundress of the Church, or she to whom it was dedicated, if Mary the Saint, or Mary the Sinner, were ever addressed by so unceremonious an epithet in their lives ; but, however, as it's a parochial custom, and your wish, here's Prosperity to St. Saviour's Church, and the Immortal Memory of Old Moll !" Mr. Postern having made a low bow of acknowledg- ment for my compliance, thus continued. " I have made it evident then, and, indeed, it is agreed to on all sides, that there was a Wooden Bridge over the Thames, at London, at least as early as the year 1052 j and Maitland, at page 44 of his History, is inclined to believe that it was erected between the years 993 and 1016, at the public cost, to prevent the Danish incursions up the River. John Stow, however, in volume i., page 57, of his ' Survey,' attributes the building of the first Wooden Bridge over the Thames, at London, to the pious Brothers of St. Mary's Monas- tery, on the Bankside. He gives you this account on the authority of Master Bartholomew Fowle, alias Fowler, alias Linsted, the last Prior of St. Mary Over- ies; who, surrendering his Convent on the 14th of Oc- tober, 1540, in the 30th year of Henry VIII., had a pension assigned him of ,100 per Annum, which it is well known, that he enjoyed until 1553. This honest gentleman you find spoken of in John Stevens's ' Sup- plement to Sir William Dugdale's Monasticon Angli- canum,' London, 1723, folio, volume ii., page 98; and from him old Stow states, that, ' a Ferry being kept in 34 CHRONICLES OF A. D. the place where now the Bridge is built, the Ferryman and his wife deceasing, left the said Ferry to their only daughter, a maiden named Mary ; which, with the goods left her by her parents, as also with the pro- fits rising of the said Ferry, built a house of Sisters in the place where now standeth the East part of St. Mary Overies Church, above the choir, where she was buried. Unto the which house she gave the oversight and profits of the Ferry. But afterwards, the said house of Sisters being converted into a College of Priests, the Priests built the Bridge of Timber, as all the other great Bridges of this land were, and, from time to time, kept the same in good reparations. Till at length, considering the great charges of repairing the same, there was, by aid of the Citizens of London, and others, a Bridge built with arches of stone, as shall be shewed.' " The first who attacks this story is William Lam- barde, the Perambulator of Kent, in his ' Dictionarium Anglice Topographicum et Historicum,' London, 1730, quarto, page 176; wherein he scruples not to call Prior Fowler 'an obscure man,' whom he charges with telling this narrative, ' without date of time, or warrant of writing/ and then sums up his remarks in these words. ' As for the first buildinge, I leave it to eche man's libertye what to beleve of it; but as for the name Auderie, I think Mr. Fowler mistoke it, for I finde bothe in the Recordes of the Queene's Courtes and otherwise, it signifieth over the water, as Southrey, on the South side of the water : the ignorance whereof, 1052.] LONDON BRIDGE. 35 might easily dryve Fowler a man belyke unlearned in the Saxon tongue, to some other invention.' " Maitland and Entick, at page 44 of their History, are not much more believing than Lambarde, the Lawyer; for they assert that the Convent of Ber- mondsey, founded by Alwin Child, a Citizen of Lon- don, in the year 1082, was the first religious house on the South side of the River, within the Bills of Mortal- ity. The second, say they, speaking after Sir Wil- liam Dugdale in his ' Monasticon Anglicanum,' Lon- don, 1661, folio, pages 84, 940, was the Priory of St. Mary Overies, founded by William GifFard, Bishop of Winchester, in the reign of King Henry I. Now Bishop Tanner, in his ' Notitia Monastica,' best edi- tion by James Nasmith, Cambridge, 1787* folio, XX. Surrey, for you know the book is unpaged and ar- ranged alphabetically under Counties, of which Pen- nant heavily complains, is inclined to think that Stow was in the right, although he had not discovered any thing either in print or manuscript to support his narrative. He is also willing to believe, that Bishop GifFard did not do more for St. Mary Overies, than rebuild the body of the Church : and, certainly, that he did not, in 1106, place Regular Canons there, since he refers to Matthew of Westminster to prove that they were then but newly come into England, and placed in that Church ; whilst Bishop GifFard was himself in exile until the year 1107- The ' Domesday Book,' also, the most veritable and invaluable record of our land, thus hints at a Religious House in Southwark ; 36 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. which, as that Survey was made about the year 1083, was, of course, long anterior to the times of which I spake last. You will find the passage in Nichols' edition of the register, London, 1783, folio, volume i. Sudrie, folio 32 a, column 1 ; and the words are as follow. ' The same Bishop,' that is to say, Odo, Bishop of Baieux, ' has in South wark one Monastery, and one Harbour. King Edward held it on the day he died.' January the 5th, 1066 ' Whoever had the Church, held it of the King. From the profits of the Harbour, where ships were moored, the King had two parts.' ' Now,' concludes the worthy Dr. Tanner, 1 if Monasterium here denote any thing more than an ordinary Church, it may be thought to mean this Re- ligious House, there being no pretence for any other in this Borough to claim to be as old as the Confes- sor's time, or, indeed, as the making of the Domesday Book, A. D. 1083.' Vide Sign. U u 2 ; Notes r, and s. " Maitland, however, cannot be brought to believe in the foundation of a Wooden Bridge by the Brethren of St. Mary ; and on page 44 of his work, already cited, he thus gives the reasons for his non- conformity. ' As the Ferry,' he commences, ' is said to have been the chief support of the Priory, 'twould have been ri- diculous in the Prior and Canons, to have sacrificed their principal dependence, to enrich themselves by a wild chimera of increasing their revenues in the exe- cution of a project, which, probably, would have cost six times the sum of the intrinsic value of their whole estate; and, when effected, would, in all likelihood, 1052. J LONDON BRIDGE. 37 not have brought in so great an annual sum as the profits arising by the Ferry, seeing it may be presumed that foot-passengers would have been exempt from Pontage.' He next proceeds to quote a deed of King Henry I., which I shall produce in its proper order of time, exempting certain Abbey lands from being charged with the work of London Bridge : which he considers as a sufficient proof that the Priestsof St. Mary did not preserve the erection in repair, and therefore, says he, ' as the latter part of this traditionary ac- count is a manifest falsehood, the former is very likely to be of the same stamp.' He then sums up all by these bold words. ' As it appears that some reli- gious foundations only were exempt from the work of this Bridge, and they, too, by charter, / think 'tis not to be doubted, but all civil bodies and incorpora- tions were liable to contribute to the repairs thereof. And, consequently, that Linsted and his followers exceed the truth, by ascribing all the praise of so public a benefaction to a small House of Religious ; who, with greater probability, only consented to the building of this Bridge, upon sufficient considerations and allowances, to be made to them for the loss of their Ferry, by which they had been always sup- ported.' Such are the objections against the attribu- ting the building of the First Wooden Bridge to the Monks of Southwark ; but we may remark, by the way, that Stow was a laborious and inquisitive An- tiquary, who saw and inquired, as well as read for himself, and, in all probability, had both seen and 38 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. conversed with Prior Fowle; whilst Maitland and Entick were often contented to write in their libra- ries from the works of others, and speak of places with which they were but very slightly acquainted. We may add too, that, as the Priests of St. Mary were Regular Canons of St. Austin, by their rule they were not permitted to be wealthy, but were to sell the whole of their property, give to the poor, have all things in common, and never be unemployed. I know very well, that in opposition to Stow's account of Mary Audery's foundation, you may bring forward that assertion made in Stevens's 'Supplement to Dug- dale,' which I have already cited, volume ii. page 97," wherein she is called ' a noble woman,' and, conse- quently, could not be the Ferryman's daughter. But of this let me observe, that the authority of Stow's ' Survey,' given in the margin, is mis-quoted ; for al- though it is certain that the action itself was suffici- ently noble, yet the old Citizen never calls her other than ' a Maiden named Mary.' You may see the place to which Stevens refers, in Strype's edition of the 1 Survey,' volume ii. page 10 ; and let me remark now, before I quit the history of St. Mary Overies, as con- nected with that of London Bridge, that there is yet extant there, a monumental effigy conveying the strong- est lesson of man's mortality ; it being the resemblance of a body in that state, when corruption is beginning its great triumph. Prating Vergers and Sextons com- monly tell you, that the persons whom these figures represent, endeavoured to fast the whole of Lent, in 1052.] LONDON BRIDGE. 39 imitation of the great Christian pattern, and that dying in the act, they were reduced to such a cadaverous appearance at their decease. There has, however, been a new legend invented for this sculpture, as it is com- monly reported to be that of AUDERY, THE FERRYMAN, father of the foundress of St. Mary Overies. It was formerly placed on the ground, under the North window of the Bishop's Court, which, before the pre- sent repairs, stood at the North East corner of the Chapel of the Virgin Mary. Where it will be removed 40 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. to hereafter, time only can unfold, for, as yet, even the Churchwardens themselves know not. " In speaking of this person's tomb, I must not, however, omit to notice, that there is a singularly curious, although, probably, fabulous tract of 30 pages, of his life, the title of which I shall give you at length. ' The True History of the Life and sudden Death of old John Overs, the rich Ferry-Man of London, shewing, how he lost his life, by his own covetousness. And of his daughter Mary, who caused the Church of St. Mary Overs in Southwark to be built ; and of the building of London Bridge.' There are two editions of this book, the first of which was published in 12mo., in 1637, and a reprint of it in 8vo., which, though it be shorn of the wood-cuts that decorated the Editio Princeps, is, perhaps, the most interesting to us,inasmuchas it bears this curious imprint. ' London: Printed for T. Harris at the Loofcing-Glass, on London Bridge : and sold by C. Corbet at Addison's Head, in Fleet-street, 1744. Price six pence.' You may see this work in Sir W. Mus- grave's Biographical Tracts in the British Museum ; its first nine pages are occupied with a definition and exhortation against covetousness, in the best Puritanic style of the seventeenth century ; and then, on page 10, the history opens thus : 'Before there was any Bridge at all built over the Thames, there was only a Ferry, to which divers boats belonged, to transport all pas- sengers betwixt Southwark and Churchyard Alley, that being the high-road way betwixt Middlesex, and Sussex, and London. This Ferry was rented of the 1052.] LONDON BRIDGE. 41 City, by one John Overs, which he enjoyed for many years together, to his great profit ; for it is to be im- agined, that no small benefit could arise from the ferrying over footmen, horsemen, all manner of cattle, all market folks that came with provisions to the City, strangers and others.' " Overs, however, though he kept several servants, and apprentices, was of so covetous a soul, that not- withstanding he possessed an estate equal to that of the best Alderman in London, acquired by unceasing labour, frugality, and usury, yet his habit and dwell- ing were both strongly expressive of the most miser- able poverty. He had, as we have already seen, an only daughter, ' of a beautiful aspect/ says the tract, ' and a pious disposition; whom he had care to see well and liberally educated, though at the cheapest rate ; and yet so, that when she grew ripe and mature for marriage, he would suffer no man of what condition or quality soever, by his good will, to have any sight of her, much less access unto her.' A young gallant, however, who seems to have thought more of being the Waterman's heir than his son-in-law, took the op- portunity, whilst he was engaged at the Ferry, to be admitted into her company ; ' the first interview,' says the story, ' pleased well ; the second better ; but the third concluded the match between them. In all this interim, the poor silly rich old Ferryman, not dreaming of any such passages, but thinking all things to be as secure by land as he knew they were by water,' continued his former wretched and penurious 42 CHRONICLES OF A. D. course of life. From the disgusting instances which are given of this caitiff's avarice, he would seem to have been the very prototype and model of Elwes and Dancer ; and, as the title-page of the book sets forth, even his death was the effect of his covetous- ness. To save the expense of one day's food in his family, he formed a scheme to feign himself dead for twenty-four hours ; in the vain expectation that his servants would, out of propriety, fast until after his funeral. Having procured his daughter to consent to this plan, even against her better nature, he was put into a sheet, and stretched out in his chamber, having one taper burning at his head, and another at his feet, according to the custom of the time. When, how- ever, his servants were informed of his decease, instead of lamenting, they were overjoyed ; and, having danced round the body, they brake open his larder, and fell to banquetting. The Ferryman bore all this as long, and as much like a dead man, as he was able ; ' but, when he could endure it no longer,' says the tract, c stirring and struggling in his sheet, like a ghost, with a candle in each hand, he purposed to rise up, and rate 'em for their sauciness and bold- ness ; when one of them thinking that the Devil was about to rise in his likeness, being in a great amaze, catched hold of the butt-end of a broken oar, which was in the chamber, and, being a sturdy knave, thinking to kill the Devil at the first blow, actually struck out his brains.' It is added, that the servant was acquitted, and the Ferryman made accessary and 1052.] LONDON BRIDGE. 43 cause of his own death. The estate of Overs then fell to his daughter, and her lover hearing of it, hastened up from the country ; but, in riding post, his horse stumbled, and he brake his neck on the highway. The young heiress was almost distracted at these events, and was recalled to her faculties only by having to provide for her father's interment ; for he was not permitted to have Christian burial, being considered as an excommunicated man, on account of his extor- tions, usury, and truly miserable life. The Friars of Bermondsey Abbey were, however, prevailed upon, by money, their Abbot being then away, to give a little earth to the remains of the wretched Ferryman. But upon the Abbot's return, observing a grave which had been but recently covered in, and learning who lay there, he was not only angry with his Monks for hav- ing done such an injury to the Church, for the sake of gain, but 'he also had the body taken up again, laid on the back of his own Ass, and, turning the animal out at the Abbey gates, desired of God that he might carry him to some place where he best deserved to be buried. The Ass proceeded with a gentle and solemn pace through Kent Street, and along the highway, to the small pond once called St. Thomas a Waterings, then the common place of execution, and shook off the Ferryman's body directly under the gibbet, where it was put into the ground, without any kind of ceremony. Mary Overs, extremely dis- tressed by such a succession of sorrows, and desirous to be free from the importunity of the numerous 44 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. suitors for her hand and fortune, resolved to retire into a cloister; which she shortly afterwards did, hav- ing first provided for the foundation of that Church which still commemorates her name. " Such is the story related by this tract ; and, if it were possible, one might suppose, that the pious maiden, out of her filial love, had placed that effigy in her fane, which I before mentioned to be sculptured in memory of her father; since it would, by no means, improperly represent the cadaverous features of the old Waterman. The figure, itself, is of the third form of the classes of Sepulchral Monuments, invented by Maurice Johnson, Esq., namely, tables with effigies or sculptures, and the last of the arrangement adopted by Smart Lethullier, Esq., that is to say, the representation of a skeleton in a shroud, lying either under, or on, a table tomb. Richard Gough, you know, in his ' Sepulchral Monuments,' London, 1786-96, folio, volume i., part 1, Introduction, page cxi. where you will find all these particulars, attri- butes most of these figures to the fifteenth century, and Audery certainly died very long before the time of William I. However this may be, as I am laying before you all the illustrations of Bridge history, both authentic and traditional, which are now to be found, I must not omit to add, that the supposed effigy of Audery is six feet eight inches in length ; and repre- sents his decayed body lying in its winding-sheet. His hair is turned up in a roll above his head, though in the ' History of Southwark,' by M. Concannen, 1052.] LONDON BRIDGE. 45 Junior, and A. Morgan, Deptford, 1795, octavo, page 101, Note, he is erroneously stated to have ' a shorn crown/ and is, therefore, supposed to represent Linsted, the last Prior of St. Mary's. " Captain Francis Grose has inserted this figure, not very respectably engraven, in his ' Antiquities of England and Wales,' London, 1773-87, royal quarto, six volumes, in the Addenda attached to volume iv., plate iii. ; and he observes, on page 36, that ' it is a skeleton-like figure, of which the usual story is told, that the person thereby represented attempted to fast forty days, in imitation of Christ,' as he remarks on the preceding page, but died in the attempt, having first reduced himself to that appearance. The best engraving of this effigy was published in ( Mr. J. T. Smith's Antiquities of London, and its Environs,' Lon- don, 1791, quarto. " Be this figure, however, who it may, the Water- man or the Priest, his tomb has outlived both his name and his dust. Whether he only carried passengers over the River Thames, or was occupied in teaching them how to cross that last fatal River, which John Bunyan quaintly tells you hath no Bridge, 'after life's fitful fever he sleeps well,' " Aye, and so shall I soon," cried I, stretching my- self, and interrupting Mr. Postern ; " let him rest in peace, my good Sir, and come out of Church now; for, truly, it's high time to close your Sermon, and let us hear somewhat about a River which hath a Bridge, that was once the wonder of the world." 46 CHRONICLES OP A. D. " I thank you/' replied my narrator, " I thank you, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican, for recalling me to the subject of our conversation ; for this is the very point at which I would proceed with my history. You know, Sir," continued he, in a much brisker tone, " I have already observed to you, that the First Wooden Bridge was erected much farther to the East than yonder stone bulwark ; for when King William I. granted a Charter to the foundation of St. Peter's Abbey, at West-Minster, in the second year of his reign, A. D. 1067, he confirmed to the Monks serving God in that place, a Gate in London, then called Bu- tolph's Gate, with a Wharf which stood at the head of London Bridge. This has ever been received as a well-established fact ; for Stow relates it in his ' Survey,' volume i., pages 22 and 58 ; and Mr. John Dart, in his ' History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster,' London, 1723, folio, volume i., page 20, supports it, in his List of Benefactors to the Abbey, in the time of King Edward the Confessor. " The record is also given at length, by Stow, in English ; but you may see it in the original Latin, in a curious Manuscript in the Cotton Library, marked Faustina, A. iii., which is entitled, ' A Registry of the Regal and Pontifical Charters, Privileges, Agreements, and Covenants, of the Bishops and Abbots of Ike Church of the blessed Peter of Westminster ; many whereof are Saxon ones, written in the Norman-Saxon characters' This volume is a little stout quarto, 1067-] LONDON BRIDGE. 47 written in a small fair Church text, on parchment ; adorned with many vermillion initial letters, and rubrics, or heads of chapters. The Charter to which I have now referred you, chapter xliv., is the last but one in the reign of King William I., folio 63, b, of the modern pagination ; and, put into English, is as follows : " ' Concerning the lands of Almodus, of St. Bu- tolph's Gate, and of the Wharf at the head of London Bridge. " ' William, King of England, to the Sheriffs and all Ministers, as, also, to his faithful subjects of London, French and English, greeting : Know ye, that I have granted unto God and to St. Peter of Westminster, and to the Abbot Vitalis, the House which Almodus, of the Gate of St. Botolph, gave to them when he was made a Monk , that is to say, his Lord's Court, with his Houses, and one Wharf which is at the head of London Bridge, and others of his .lands in the same City, like as King Edward more fully and beneficially granted them : and I will and command that they shall enjoy the same well, and quietly, and honoura- bly, with sake and soke, and shall hold all the customs and laws of the aforesaid. And I defend them that none shall do them any injury. Witness, Walkeline, Bishop of Winchester, and William, Bishop of Dur- ham, and R., Earl of Mell., and Hugh, Earl of War- wick/ " And now let me remark that, by this we are in- formed that the City end of the Bridge was not an- 48 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. ciently the foot of it, which is asserted by the evidence of Richard Newcourt, in his ' Ecclesiastical History of the Diocess of London,' London, 1708-10, folio, volume i., page 396, where he says, that ' St. Magnus' Church is sometimes called, in Latin, the Church of St. Magnus the Martyr, in the City of London, near the foot, or at the foot, of London Bridge.' " This First Wooden Bridge, however, was not fated to stand long for, on the sixteenth of November, the feast of St. Edmund the Archbishop, in the year 1091, ' at the hour of six, a dreadful whirlwind from the South-East, coming from Africa, blew upon the City, and overthrew upwards of six hundred houses, several Churches, greatly damaged the Tower, and tore away the roof and part of the wall of the Church of St. Mary 'le Bow, in Cheapside. The roof was carried to a considerable distance, and fell with such force, that several of the rafters, being about twenty-eight feet in length, pierced upwards of twenty feet into the ground, and remained in the same position as when they stood in the Chapel.' " The best accounts of this terrible event are to be found in the ' Chronicle' of Florence of Worcester, page 457, which was literally copied into the ' Annales' of Roger de Hoveden, Chaplain to King Henry II., printed in the ' Scriptores post Bedam,' already cited, page 462 ; in William of Malmesbury, page 125 ; and in the ' Chronicle' of John of Brompton, which I have also before quoted, page 987- " During the same storm, too, the water in the 1091.] LONDON BRIDGE. 49 Thames rushed along with such rapidity, and in- creased so violently, that London Bridge rvas entirely swept away ; whilst the lands on each side were overflowed for a considerable distance. I cannot help observing how slightly, and erroneously, the ' Annals of Waverley' notice this most dreadful devastation ; for at page 137, of the best edition by Dr. Thomas Gale, volume ii. of his ' Historic? Anglicance Scriptores xv.' Oxford, 1691, folio, they merely state that ' a vehement wind struck down London the 6th of the kalends of November/ that is to say, on the 27th of October, ' at the hour of six !' I doubt not but the truth was, that the good Monks of Waverley Abbey in Surrey felt nothing of this ventus vehemens them- selves, and therefore gave a much more trivial record of it, than if it had shaken but a single bell in the turrets of their own Cenobium. The ' Annals of Wa- verley,' you know, were, down to about 1120, almost a translation from the ' Saxon Chronicle,' executed in the twelfth century. The following year, 1092, the sixth of the reign of William Rufus, was marked by a season fatal to bridges in general ; although there is no mention that our's at London participated in the destruction. This fact is related by William of Malmesbury, page 125, and by Roger de Hoveden, page 464, in these words : ' Also, in his sixth year, there was such an excessive rain, and such high floods, the rivers overflowing the low grounds that lay near them, as the like was remembered by none. And afterward, in the winter, ensued a sudden frost ; E 50 CHRONICLES OP A. D. whereby the great streams were congealed in such a manner that they could draw two hundred horsemen and carriages over them ; whilst at their thawing, many bridges, both of wood and stone, were borne down, and divers water mills were broken up and carried away !' " Frequent destructions by fire seem, also, to have been a very general fate of all our ancient buildings ; for, in 1093, the wooden houses and straw roofs of the London Citizens were again in flames, and a great part of the City was thus destroyed. " Too soon after this calamity, at a most inauspicious time for commencing, or executing, expensive public works, in 1097, King William Rufus imposed a heavy tax upon his subjects for the re-building of London Bridge, though that might very well be defended, the erecting of the palace of West-Minster Hall, and the construction of a wall round the Tower. The { Saxon Chronicle' speaks of these ill-advised under- takings in the blended tones of sorrow and of anger. { This was, in all things,' says that faithful old history, at pages 316, 317, ' a very heavy- timed year, and beyond measure laborious from the badness of the weather, both when men attempted to till the land, and, afterwards, to gather the fruits of their tilth ; and from unjust contributions they never rested. Many counties also, that were confined to London by work, were grievously oppressed, on account of the wall that was building about the Tower, and the Bridge that was nearly all afloat, and the King's Hall that 1114.] LONDON BRIDGE. 51 they were building at West- Minster ; and many men perished thereby.' " Our brave old River of Thames itself, however, is of the same changeful nature as Luna, the mistress of his tides ; for, if at one time, he overflows his banks, blows up his Bridge, or drowns an invading army, by the fury of his waves ; at another season he con- tracts his waters into their narrowest channel, or draws them back into his urn, without leaving enough to float a wherry over his bed. Of this I shall give you several instances, as we get lower down the stream of time; and now only remark, in chronological order, that on the 6th of the Ides of October, videlicet the 10th, in the 15th Year of the reign of Henry I. 1114, the River was so dried up, and there was such want of water, that between the Tower of London and the Bridge, and even under it, ' a great number of men, women, and children,' says Stow, in his ' Survey,' volume i. page 58, ' did wade over both on horse and foot,' the water coming up to their knees. " The original account of this is to be found in the ' Annales' of Roger de Hoveden, page 473; from whom we derive the additional information, that this defect of water commenced in the middle of the night preceding, and lasted until the darkest part of the next. The same historian, also, records, on the same page, that in the year 1115, the winter was so severe, that all throughout England the Bridges were broken by the ice. " Bnt although London Bridge was an edifice to 52 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. which there was a continual and heavy cost attached, yet its possessions were, even anciently, very extensive ; for you find that so early as in the 23d year of Henry I., A. D. 1122, Thomas de Ardern, and Thomas his son, gave to the Monks of Bermondsey, and the Church of St. George in South war k, the tenth of his Lord's corn lands in Horndon, and the immense sum of Five Shillings per annum rent, out of the Lands pertaining to London Bridge. Calculate this, my good Sir, at twenty times its present value ; for we know that in the Great Charter of King John, Chapter II. a knight paid but five pounds to the King as a Relief when he came to his estate ; and that, Lord Coke tells you in his Second Institute, even several years later, was the fourth part of his annual income. Remember too, that sixpence by the week was then a living stipend to an ordinary labourer ; that the Black Book of the Exchequer which was written about the reign of Henry I. ordains that a tenant shall pay one shilling to the King, instead of providing bread for one hundred soldiers for one meal ; that the provender of twenty horses for one night, also to be paid by a tenant, was commuted for four pence; that in 1185, the tenants of Shireburn paid by custom two pence, or four hens, which they would; and, lastly, recollect, that in 1125, called by Robert de Monte, the dearest year ever known, a horseload of wheat was sold but for six shillings : in ordinary times, as in 1043, it was sixpence the quarter. Of all this you may see most abundant and 1122.] LONDON BRIDGE. 53 curious proof, in Bishop Fleetwood's ' Chronicon Pre- ciosum,' London, 1745, 8vo. pages 55, 56 ; and there- fore the gift of Thomas de Ardern was munificent. " I should observe that Stow obtained the knowledge of this donation from the manuscript ( Annals of Ber- mondsey Priory,' which are now preserved in the Harleian Library in the British Museum, No. 231, very fairly written in a good legible black text upon vellum ; having vermillion rubrics of the King's Reign, and the date of the year. It is a rather small quarto volume, of 71 written leaves, delicately paged by some later hand ; and the passage occurs on the reverse of folio 11. The Harleian Catalogue calls it, in Latin, ' the Annals of the Abbey of St. Saviour's of Bermondesie, from the year of our Lord 1042, down to the year of our Lord 1433 ; in which, beside the public affairs of each reign,' told in the words of other Chronicles ' many things are narrated which belong to the history of the same Abbey.' " You have already seen that London Bridge was a public work, to which all England furnished some labourers; but, as I mentioned some time back, Maitland, in his ' History of London,' volume i. page 44, notices a deed cited by Stow, exempting the lands of Battle Abbey, in Sussex. This was granted by King Henry I. but is perhaps now lost, for it remains wholly unnoticed by the learned Editors of the new edition of Dugdale's ' Monasticon / and I must therefore give it you in the very words of the old Antiquary himself, who says, page 58, that in his 54 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. time it remained with the seal very fair, in the custody of Joseph Holland, Esq. ; it is as follows : " ' Henry, King of England, to Ralph, Bishop of Chichester, and all the Officers of Sussex, sendeth greeting. Know ye, &c. I command by my kingly authority, that the manor called Alceston, which my father gave with other lands to the Abbey of Battle, be free and quiet from shires and hundreds, and all other customs of earthly servitude, as my father held the same, most freely and quietly ; and namely, from the work of London Bridge, and the work of the Castle at Pevensey : and this I command upon my forfeiture. Witness, William Pont de 1'Arche, at Berry.' " The second year of the succeeding King, how- ever, namely Stephen, saw London Bridge in a state to require the exertions of all England to raise it : for, in 1136, a fire broke out in the dwelling of one Aileward, near London Stone, that consumed East- ward as far as Aldgate; and to the Shrine of St. Erkenwald, in St. Paul's Cathedral, to the West. On the Southern side of London the Wooden Bridge over the Thames was destroyed, but was soon after re- paired, since Stephanides, whose description of London was written between 1170 and 1182, speaks of it as affording a convenient standing place to the spec- tators of the Citizens' Water Tournaments. I shall give you the whole passage, because it describes a very curious sport of the twelfth century, which was celebrated in the immediate vicinity of this very spot; 1136.] LONDON BRIDGE. 55 and the account is at page 76, beginning ' In feriis Pasckalihns ;' we'll content ourselves, however, with Dr. Pegge's translation of it, which runs thus. " ' At Easter, the diversion is prosecuted on the water; a target is strongly fastened to a trunk or mast, fixed in the middle of the River, and a youngster standing upright in the stern of a boat, made to move as fast as the oars and current can carry it, is to strike the target with his lance ; and if in hitting it he break his lance, and keep his place in the boat, he gains his point, and triumphs ; but if it happen that the lance be not shivered by the force of the blow, he is of course tumbled into the water, and away goes his vessel without him. However, a couple of boats full of young men is placed, one on each side of the target, so as to be ready to take up the un- successful adventurer, the moment he emerges from the stream, and comes fairly to the surface. The Bridge, and the balconies on the banks, are filled with spectators, whose business it is to laugh.' " Of this singular sport, Joseph Strutt copied in his ' Sjtorts and Pastimes of the People of England,' London, 1801, 4to. page 92, plate x. a very curious illumination, contained in a volume of the Royal Manuscripts in the British Museum, 2 B. vii. which consists of a history of the Old Testament, the Psalter, the Hymns of the Church, and a Calendar ; all richly painted in water-colours, and beautified with gold, ' yellow, glittering, precious gold,' so 56 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. highly embossed, as to be ' sensible to feeling as to sight.' " That volume brings back old days to my recol- lection, whenever I behold it ; for, in the year 1553, it belonged to Queen Mary of England, and is bound in a truly regal style for her ; being in thick boards covered with crimson velvet, richly embroidered with large flowers in coloured silks and gold twist; be- sides being garnished with gilt brass bosses and clasps, on the latter of which are engraven the Royal devices and supporters. Another, and more pleasing proof of its having been her's, inasmuch as it records a good action of a London Citizen con- cerned with the affairs of this brave river, is to be found in a Latin note written in a beautiful black text hand, on the reverse of the last leaf of the volume. ' This Book/ it states, ' formerly a gift, was afterwards carried away by a sailor ; but that excellent and honest person, Baldwin Smith, Re- ceiver of the Customs of the Port of London, hath restored and given it unto the most illustrious Mary, Queen of England, France, and Ireland, in the month of October, in the year of our Lord, 1553, in the first year of her reign.' The text of this volume is said to have been written, and the illuminations executed, in the fourteenth century, though, from their style, I cannot help thinking that the period is nearly an hundred years too late; for beneath the pages of the Psalter is a series of most interesting and excellent drawings, in pen-and-ink outlines, very 1136.] LONDON BRIDGE. 57 slightly and delicately tinted with colours, which was certainly a far more ancient custom. However that may be, this series consists ' de omnibus rebus, et quibusdam aliis,' for there are the representations of animals and birds, field-sports, games, legends, mar- tyrdoms, battles, and fables, of an almost infinite variety ; and in the course of them occur the figures of a water- quintain, both as it is described by Fitz- stephen, and also of a more warlike character. The first of these was engraved by Strutt in the work which I have before referred to, and gives a very perfect idea of the RIVER TILTING OP THE TWELFTH CENTURY, which the illuminator had, no doubt, personally wit- nessed in his own time. The other, which has also been engraven in the same work, page 113, plate xv. shews two armed knights getting ' grysly together,' as the ' Morte d' Arthur' calls it, in boats ; 58 CHRONICLES OP QA. D. and you will find it under the 60th Psalm, ' Dominus repulisti nos,' &c. " Stow, in his ' Survey,' volume i. page 301, men- tions a very rude imitation of this kind of jousting on the water at London ; when he says, ' I have seen also in the summer season, upon the River of Thames, some rowed in wherries, with staves in their hands, flat at the fore-end, running one against another, and, for the most part, one or both of them were overthrown and well ducked.' In Queen Mary's Manuscript, under the psalm of ' Misericordiam et judicium cantabo,' is also a representation of two fiends hurling a Monk from a rude stone Bridge ; but as I rather think that did not occur at London, I mention it no farther. " But now, to return to our subject : Stow relates the particulars of the great fire of 1135-36, at page 58 of his ( Stirvey,' citing in the margin the ' Annals of Bermondsey,' and the ' Book of Trinity Priory,' as his authorities. The latter of these is, perhaps, now no more ; but in the former you may find the con- flagration mentioned at page 13 b, where it is said to have happened in the year 1135, and to have ex- tended to the Church of St. Clement Danes. It was probably in the Register of Trinity Priory, that Stow found a notice that. London Bridge was not only repaired, but a new one erected of elm timber, in 1163, by the most excellent Peter of Colechurch, Priest and Chaplain ; since I find it in none of the historians with whom I am acquainted. It is, however, much LONDON BRIDGE. 59 better authenticated that the same pious architect began his labours upon the first stone one in 1176; for, in the ' Annals of Waverley,' at page 161, you find the following entry. ' 1176. In this year, the Stone- Bridge at London is begun by Peter, the Chaplain of Colechurch.' Here, therefore, ends the history of the infancy of London Bridge : and a very chargeful infancy it was, for, as old Stow says, ' it was main- tained partly by the proper lands thereof, partly by the liberality of divers persons, and partly by taxa- tions in divers shires, as I have proved, for the space of 215 years.' And now, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican, your very good health." " Sir, my hearty thanks to you," replied I, rubbing my eyes, " for this Bridge Story is as dull as proving a Peerage, where there's no reliance, and much doubting : but how's this, Master Postern !" con- tinued I, looking into the tankard, " you have drank, and I have drank, and yet the jug is as full as ever, and as hot as it was as first ?" " You're pleased to be facetious, good Sir," an- swered my visitor, " for truly I'm no Saint Richard to work such miracles ; but, if you please, we'll now return to the Bridge again. " We are here entering upon the golden age of London Bridge, for the new stone building, by Peter of Colechurch, was such an ornament as the Thames had never before witnessed ; indeed, in my poor judgment, it very far surpassed that erection, of which I shall hereafter have occasion to speak ; and perhaps, 60 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. for its time, even that which now stretches itself across the flood. The person to whom was entrusted the building of the first stone Bridge at London, was, as I have already told you, named Peter, a Priest and Chaplain of St. Mary Colechurch; an edifice, which, until the Great Fire of London, stood on the North side of the Poultry, at the South end of a turning denominated Conyhoop Lane, from a Poul- terer's shop having the sign of three Conies hanging over it. This Chapel, of which the skilful Peter was Curate, was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and was famous as the place where St. Edmund and St. Thomas a Beckett were presented at the baptismal Font ; still it must have been something very like having a church on a first floor, for you may re- member Stow says, in his ' Survey,' volume i. page 552, that it was ' built upon a vault above ground, so that men are forced to ascend into it by certain steps.' Of the architectural knowledge of the Curate thereof, I have already shewed you that the Citizens of London had experienced some proofs, since he is said to have rebuilt their last wooden Bridge : and John Leland the Antiquary whom I shall anon quote more particularly, observes, in the notes to his famous ' Song of the Swan,' a book of which I will also speak hereafter, that Radulphus de Diceto, Dean of London, who wrote about 1210, states from his own knowledge, that he was a native of this City. The same venerable Antiquary also tells us in his ' Itinerary,' edited by Thomas Hearne, Oxford, 1176.] LONDON BRIDGE. 61 1768-69, octavo, volume vii. part I. marginal folio 22, page 12, that ' a Mason beinge Master of the Bridge Howse, buildyd afundamentis the Chapell on London Bridge, a fundamentis propriis impensis ;' or, as we should now say, from bottom to top, at his own costs and charges. The property of Peter of Colechurch, however, would not stand Bridge-building by itself; and therefore the present will be the most fitting place, to give you some account of the other contributors to this great national work. " Master Leland, in the same place which I last quoted, observes that c a Cardiriale, and Archepisshope of Cantorbyri, gave 1000 Markes or li. to the erectynge of London Bridge.' Now, the Cardinal who is here alluded to, was Hugo, Hugocio, or Huguzen di Petraleone, a Roman, Cardinal Deacon of St. Angelo, whom Pope Alexander III. sent, in 1176, to France, Scotland, and England, as his Legate; which you may find stated in Alphonso Ciaconio's noble book entitled ' Fitce et Res Gestce Pontificum Romanorum, et Sanctce Romance Ecclesice Cardinalium,' Rome, printed with the Vatican types, in 1630, folio, page 578, a work of about 3000 pages in extent ; of an enormous size, fairly bound in embossed vellum, and adorned with a prodigious number of copper-plates and wood-cut Armorial Ensigns; by the latter of which we are shewn, that this foreign contributor to the building of London Bridge bore for his arms, Quarterly, Argent and Gules, and over all, in the centre point, a sieve of the first. Whilst the Cardinal re- 62 CHRONICLES OF A. D. sided in England, he took some notice of the dispute which was then going on concerning the Primacy, between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York : when at a meeting held at Westminster, Roger de Ponte, the turbulent possessor of the latter see, ar- rogantly took his seat at the Cardinal's right hand. Upon which the domestics of Richard, the mild and amiable Archbishop of Canterbury, took him thence by force, and in the ensuing scuffle he was beaten, and turned out of the assembly, with his episcopal robes sadly rent. Now this Richard was a Benedictine Monk, and Prior of the Monastery of St. Martin's, Dover; who was elected to the See of Canterbury on the death of Thomas a Beckett, in 1174. ' He was a man,' says Bishop Godwin, when writing his memoirs, ' very liberal, gentle, and passing wise ;' and, what gives him great honour in my sight, he was the very Prelate whom Leland mentions in the passage I quoted, as subscribing so nobly to the foundation of London Bridge. And yet, 'tis strange, that only in his ' Itinerary,' and in Stow's ' Survey,' volume i. page 58, is this donation recorded; for even in the best and most splendid edition of Bishop Godwin's volume, ' De Prcesulibus Anglice Commentarius,' by William Richardson, Canon of Lincoln, Cambridge, 1743, folio, page 79, the old Citizen is referred to at note y, as his authority for the fact. I cannot omit now giving you the blazon of this Prelate's own arms, as they appear in that noble illuminated copy of Arch- bishop Parker's work, ' De Antiquitate et Privilegiis 11J6.] LONDON BRIDGE. 63 Ecclesice Cantuariensis cum Archiepiscopis ejusdem 70,' Lambeth, 1572, folio, page 123, which is estimated to be fully worth its weight in gold. This truly valu- able volume was presented by our late good King George the Third to the British Museum, and for- merly belonged to Queen Elizabeth. The arms, however, were Azure, three Mullets in bend, between two Cottises Argent ; and whenever you turn to this volume, on which the ancient Art of Illuminating shed its latest rays, I pray you fail not carefully to inspect it : for you will find it a copy of that edition printed at his own palace, by John Day ; with many leaves impressed on vellum, and the whole of the book carefully ruled with red-ink lines, the initials coloured and gilded, and all the Armorial Ensigns, with the Frontispiece, excellently well emblazoned. And I pray you also, forget not well to note the binding ; since a richer, or more fancifully embroidered covering there are few tomes which can exhibit. The ground of it is green velvet, intended to represent the vert of a park, and it is surrounded by a broad border of pales with a gate, worked in brown silk and gold twist ; whilst within are trees, flowers, shrubs, tufts of grass, serpents, hinds, and does, all executed in richly coloured silks, and gold and silver wire. At the back are the Queen's badges of red and white roses ; the edges of the leaves are gilt, and the volume was once secured by ribbons of crimson silk. " Of this most splendid book I must, indeed, yet add another word, that it may be estimated as it so well 64 CHRONICLES OP [A. D. deserves. Dr. Ducarel, in his account of that asto- nishing copy of it which is deposited in the Archi- episcopal Palace at Lambeth, says, ' It was first printed at Lambeth by John Daye in 1572 ; and so small a number were then published, that, except this complete copy, there is but one extant in England, known to be so, which is preserved in the Public Library of Cambridge, as I am informed/ See his Letter of July the 15th, 1758, addressed to Arch- bishop Seeker, which is inserted in the Rev. H. J. Todd's ' Catalogue of the Archiepiscopal Manuscripts in Lambeth Palace.' London, 1812, folio, page 242, Art. 959. " The life of Archbishop Richard, which this book contains, is nearly the same as that related by Francis Godwin, Bishop of Landaff; and before I leave speaking of this early and Reverend patron of London Bridge, let me endeavour to clear his memory from something like a stain which attaches to it. He received the Archbishop's Pall, immediately after the death of a man of unconquerable spirit and insur- mountable pride, for you will remember that he was successor to Beckett : and, perhaps, it was the strong contrast afforded by his yielding and quiet disposition, which has made some suppose that he did nothing worthy of memory. I am, however, myself rather surprised at the manner of his decease, when it is allowed by all his biographers, that he was a man so charitable, of such benefit to the revenues of the church, and was so liberal both to the poor, the 1176.] LONDON BRIDGE. 65 nation, the King, and even the Pontiff himself. The story of his death is related by Gervase of Dover, by Henry Knyghton, the Canon of Leicester, and in the Chronicle of William Thome, the Monk of St. Augustine's, Canterbury ; but I shall recite it to you from the old English edition of Francis Godwin's ' Catalogue of the Bishops of England, from the Jlrst planting of the Christian Religion in this Island: London, 1615, 4to. page 96. ' The end of this man/ says the Prelate, ' is thus reported, how that being a sleepe at his Mannor of Wrotham, there seemed to come vnto him a certaine terrible personage' Knyghton and Thorne say ' the Lord appeared unto his sight,' ' demaunding of him, who he was ; where- unto, when for feare, the Archbishop answered nothing, Thou art he, quoth the other, that hast destroyed the goods of the Church, and I will destroy thee from off the earth : this having said, he vanished away. In the morning betime, the Archbishop got him up, and taking his iourney toward Rochester, related this fearfull vision vnto a friend of his by the way. Hee had no sooner told the tale, but hee was taken suddenly with a great cold and stifenesse in his limmes, so that they had much adoo to get him so farre as Haling, a house belonging to the Bishop of Rochester. There he tooke his bed, and being horribly tormented with the cholike, and other greefes, vntill the next day, the night following, the 16th of February, hee gaue vp the ghost, anno 1183.' " Though such was his untimely end, yet his being 66 CHRONICLES OF A. D. so great a benefactor to the original building of old London Bridge, ought to make his name revered by every true-hearted Citizen of London ; and, indeed, Bridge-building has been thought by some to be an act of real piety, witness those rude old verses printed in Leland's ' Itinerary ,' volume vii. part I. Marginal folio 64 b, page J9, which were composed on the erecting of the Bridge at Culham, in Oxfordshire, and hung up by Master Richard Fannand, Iron- monger, of Abingdon, in the Hall of St. Helen's Hospital. ' Off alle werkys in this worlde that ever were wrought, Holy Chirche is chefe, there children been chersid. For by baptim these barnes to blisse been ybrought, Thorough the grace of God, and fayre refresshed. Another blessid besines is Brigges te make, Where, that the pepul may not passe after greet showers ; Dole it is to drawe a deed body out of a lake, That was fulled in a fount stoon, and a felow of oures. King Herry the fifte, in his fourthe yere, He hathe yfounde for his folke a Brige in Berke schyre, For cartis with carriages may goo and come clere, That many Wynters afore were mareed in the myre. And some oute of ther sadels flette to the grouude Went forthe in the water wist no man whare ; Fyve wekys after or they were yfounde, Ther kyn and ther knowlech caught them uppe with care.' " By this then, you see there is much virtue in your Bridge-builder. The names of all the Bene- factors to London Bridge, indeed, were fairly painted on a tablet, and hung up in St. Thomas's Chapel, 1J76.] LONDON BRIDGE. 67 which stood upon the middle of it ; and, doubtless, the donation of King Henry II. would be found there recorded, if that grateful testimonial were yet in existence. The King's gift, however, is supposed to have been, in fact, the gift of the people, being the produce of a tax upon wool ; and hence arose that absurd tradition, which the commonalty invented to make a wonder of the matter, that ' London Bridge was built upon woolpacks.' I am, indeed, inclined to think that the measure was not very popular ; for the people of England seldom failed to complain of any additional duty placed upon that commodity ; and of this you find some reliques in Lord Coke's Commentary on the 30th Chapter of the ' Magna Charta' of King Henry III., contained in his ( Second Institute,' pages 58, 59. He is there speaking, you know, of the taking away of evil tolls and customs, and he observes, that some have supposed that there was a tribute due to the King by the Common Law, upon all wools, wool-fells, that is, the undressed sheep skins, and leather, to be taken as well of the English as of strangers, known by the name of Antiqua Custuma. This amounted to half a mark, or 6*. 8d. for every sack of wool of 26 stone weight ; and a whole mark upon every last of leather. But even this his Lordship also endeavours to prove a recent custom, by a Patent Roll from the Exchequer, of the 3rd of Edward I., A. D. 1274, which states, that the Prelates, Chiefs, and the whole Common Council of the kingdom, had consented to grant this 68 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. new custom of wool to him, and to his heirs. Now, even the words ' novam consuetudinem' may signify only a revival of the ancient tax, for some specific cause ; as it might have lain dormant since the days of building London Bridge ; thus having reference to a new occasion, and not to the date. But shortly previous to the final confirmation of the Great and Forest Charters, however, in the 25th of Edward I., 1296, the King set a new toll of forty shillings upon every sack of wool, without the consent of his Par- liament ; which the Commonalty felt to be a very heavy imposition. Against this they petitioned, and in the aforesaid ' Confirmationes Chartarum,' Chapter vii. it was provided that such things should be abolished, and not taken, but by common consent and good will ; excepting the customs before granted. There appears to me, however, even a still nearer connection between the Duties raised for the building of London Bridge, and the xxiii. Chapter of the ' Magna Charta' of King John, for you there find that ' No City, nor Freeman, shall be distrained to make Bridges or water- banks, but such as have of old been accustomed to do so :' from which it is evident, that the taxation was general, and that this instrument was to make it particular; though, according to Lord Coke's expo- sition, there was nothing gained by it : for, in his ' Second Institute,' folio 29, he says, that in the reigns of Richard I. and John, fictitious exactions were made in the names of Bridges, Bulwarks, and the like, but that neither the erection, nor the paying for 1176.] LONDON BRIDGE. 69 them, was abolished by this act, since they could not be erected but by the King himself, or by an Act of Parliament. But Mr. Barbican ! You doze, worthy Sir !" " Why truly, Mr. Postern," said I, rubbing my eyes, " Tax-gathering is always dull work ; and I verily thought we'd lost sight of the Bridge in the paying for it. You're as minute with all your autho- rities, as a Flemish painter that marks every hair on a cat's back, and I can turn over your old dull authors in my own dusty book-room." " I must acknowledge," said my visitor, " that such details are rather dry ; but you very well know, my good friend, as Father Le Long said, ' Truth is so delightful, that we should consider no labour too great to obtain it:' and, indeed, I wished to bring before you some circumstances which lie widely scat- tered, although they, nevertheless, most excellently illustrate the story, and I would do all honour to the memory of the worthy Peter of Colechurch." " Really, Sir," answered I, " if his blessing be worth having, it ought to rest upon your head ; for had you been Peter of Colechurch himself, ten times over, you could scarcely have taken more pains with your history : and so, here's your health, and his, Mr. Barnaby." " My best thanks to you, my honoured friend," replied Mr. Postern, " and I'll shortly repay your attention by a piece of a more brilliant description ; for having once got the Bridge built, and paid for, 70 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. we'll take a look at the picturesque old edifice itself, and at some of the many gorgeous sights and inte- resting scenes which took place upon it : indeed it shall go hard but what I'll find you amusement. The building, then, which the never-to-be-forgotten Peter of Colechurch began, took as long to complete as Solomon's Temple, for thirty and three years were employed in erecting it. Ere that period, however, the charitable Priest who designed it, the learned Architect and wise builder who watched its progress, went the way of all flesh ; as we shall find hereafter, in 1205, and not, as Maitland erroneously says, in the third of King John, A. D. 1201, though he also sup- poses that he might then be worn out by age or fatigue, since in the Patent Rolls of the Tower of London, of that year, M. 2, No. 9, is the following Letter Missive of the King to the Mayor and Citizens of London, recommending a new Architect. For other references you may consult Maitland's History, page 45 ; Thomas Hearne's edition of the ' Liber Niger Scaccarii,' London, 1771; octavo, volume i. page *470, where it is printed in the original Latin ; and the ' Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium in Turri Londi- nensi, Printed by Command,' London, 1802, folio, page 1, column 1. The Letter is as follows : r- " ' John, by the Grace of God, King of England, &c. to his faithful and beloved the Mayor and Citizens of London, greeting. Considering how the Lord in a short time hath wrought in regard to the Bridges of Xainctes and Rochelle, by the great care and 1201.] LONDON BRIDGE. 71 pains of our faithful, learned, and worthy Clerk, Isenbert, Master of the Schools of Xainctes : We therefore, by the advice of our Reverend Father in Christ, Hubert, (Walter) Archbishop of Canterbury, and that of others, have desired, directed, and en- joined him to use his best endeavour in building your Bridge, for your benefit, and that of the public : For we trust in the Lord, that this Bridge, so requisite for you, and all who shall pass the same, will, through his industry, and the divine blessing, soon be finished. Wherefore, without prejudice to our right, or that of the City of London, we will and grant, that the rents and profits of the several houses which the said Master df the Schools shall cause to be erected upon the Bridge aforesaid, be for ever appropriated to repair, maintain, and uphold the same. And seeing that the requisite work of the Bridge cannot be ac- complished without your aid, and that of others, we charge, and exhort you, kindly to receive and honour the above-named Isenbert, and those employed by him, who will perform every thing to your advantage and credit, according to his directions, you affording him your joint advice and assistance in the premises. For whatever good office or honour you shall do to him, you ought to esteem the same as done to us. But, should any injury be offered to the said Isenbert, or to the persons employed by him, which we do not believe there will, see that the same be redressed so soon as it comes to your knowledge. Witness myself, at Molinel,' in the Province of Bourbon, in France, 72 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. ' the eighteenth day of April.' ' A Letter/ adds Hearne, on page *471, ' of the same form, was written to all the King's faithful subjects constituting the realm of England;' and the instrument itself is also to be found at length in the original Latin, in Sir Symonds D'Ewes' extracts from the Records, Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, No. 86, page la. " It is, however, by no means clear, notwithstanding this Royal Writ, that Isenbert was employed by the Citizens to complete the building of London Bridge ; indeed, the Rev. John Entick, in his edition of Mait- land's ' History of London,' volume i. page 45, imagines quite otherwise, because he found that King John, in the seventh 'year of his reign, 1205, three years, as he says, before the Bridge was finished, granted the cus- tody of it to one Friar West, taking it from the Lord Mayor, and obliging the City to apply certain void places within its walls to be built on for its support. Strype also quotes the former instrument as being yet preserved in the ' Rotuli Clausi,' or Close Rolls, in the Tower, 7 John, c. 19, for you know it was a private instrument, and therefore sealed up, and directed to the persons whom it specially concerned. " But now let us see how far this supposition is founded in truth. In the first place, the reference to the Close Rolls is erroneous, for the writ is to be found on the 15th Membrane, there being no such article as c. 19; and, in the next place, there was no such person as Friar West, for the title of Friar was not in use until the fourteenth century, and the 1209-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 73 person referred to was called Wasce, though the name of West has been copied and re-copied, and the error thus perpetuated ad infinitum. The actual words of the writ are, in English, as follow. " ' The King to Geoffrey Fitz Peter, &c.' Chief Justice of England. ' We will that Brother Wasce, our Almoner, and some other lawful man of London, pro- vided by you and the Mayor of London, be Attorney for the custody of London Bridge. And, therefore, we command you that they give the whole to these men, like as Peter, the Chaplain of Colechurch, possessed the same from them. Witness for the same, the Prior of Stoke, at Marlebridge, the 15th day of Sep- tember.' Notwithstanding this instrument, we hear no more of Frater Wasce, nor of Isenbert of Xainctes, but are told by Stow, page 58, without his refer- ring to any other authority, that ' this work, to wit the Arches, Chapel, and Stone Bridge over the Thames at London, having been thirty-three years in building, was, in the year 1209, finished by the worthy Merchants of London, Serle Mercer, William Almaine, and Benedict Botewrite, principal masters of that work.' " This new Bridge consisted, then, of a stone plat- form, erected somewhat westward of the former, 926 feet long, and 40 in width, standing about 60 feet above the level of the water ; and containing a Draw- bridge, and 19 broad pointed arches, with massive piers varying from 25 to 34 feet in solidity, raised upon strong elm piles, covered by thick planks, bolted 74 CHKONICLES OF [A. D. together. Such was the FIRST STONE LONDON BRIDGE, commenced by PETER OF COLECHURCH, A. D. 1176. 1209.] LONDON BRIDGE. 75 " Deeply as I venerate the memory of the great builder of that Bridge, which continued for so many centuries the wonder of Europe, yet I must not omit to notice to you, that many persons have grievously condemned his labours; the principal objections to which are summed up in the ' Londinium Redi- vivum,' of Mr. James Peller Malcolm, London, 1802-1807, 4to. volume ii. page 386, where he thus heavily censures that erection. ' Whatever were the pretensions of Peter of Colechurch to eminence as an Ecclesiastical Architect, I think any person who views Vertue's print of London Bridge, as it stood in 1209, will allow that he was a very bad Civil Engineer. He seems to have delighted in the number of his piers, which amounted to nineteen ; and he was so ignorant of the true principles by which he should have been governed, that the centre was swelled into a Chapel, reducing the adjoining arches to half the diameter of the remainder. Indeed, it is wonderful that those piers maintained their situation, when we reflect how the torrent now rushes through, hurling heavy laden barges along as if they were feathers on the stream, when every practicable remedy to enlarge them has been applied.' " An Architect of nearly an hundred years since, however, has considered these objections with some- what more of mathematical proof; and what is better, even whilst he admits their full force, he still vene- rates the memory, and dares to applaud the public spirit, of the blessed Peter of Colechurch. You will 76 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. readily guess that I allude to Master Nicholas Hawksmoor's ' Short Historical Account of London Bridge, with a proposition for a New Stone Bridge at Westminster,' a quarto pamphlet of 47 pages, and 5 folding Copper-plates, originally published in the year 1736, for two shillings. The Author observes, at page 9, that the whole breadth of the River from North to South is nearly 900 feet, and that in his time there were eighteen solid piers of different di- mensions, varying from 34 to 25 feet in thickness. According to this disposition, he argues, ' the greatest water way is when the tide is above the sterlings, which is 450 feet, and, considering the impediments, it is not half the width of the River for the water to pass ; but when the tide is fallen below the sterlings, the water- way is reduced to 1 94 feet, which is during the greatest part of the flux and reflux of the tide, and the river of 900 feet broad, is forced through a channel of 194 feet, which is not a quarter of the whole.' We can at last, however, hardly judge of the Bridge of Peter of Colechurch with any degree of fairness, for that great .benefactor of London died before he completed his Pontificate, as I may jocularly call it; and the au- thor whom I last quoted, very candidly observes of him, that he, perhaps, ' did not intend to add those immense Sterlings that have so much obstructed the River's passage betwixt the Stone piers/ and which, after all, are the great cause of the evil : for, says the same person, at page 13, when answering the common objection to altering London Bridge, on 1209.] LONDON BRIDGE. 77 account of the expense attending it, ' I have heard some masters of Hoys and Lighters say, that a Ton- nage would willingly be paid for such a conveniency and security of their goods and vessels; and, as I have heard, an offer was made to pay Tonnage, if the Drawbridge had been opened, when the City last repaired it, to avoid the losses they suffered frequently by the Sterlings.' ' It is very probable,' continues the same authority, ' that the Sterlings were made afterwards, to keep the foundation of the piers from being undermined ; or, perhaps, these Sterlings might be increased after some damages that befell the piers, by the great quantity of ice which might be stopt by the narrowness of the arches; and those that intended to make the legs more secure, used such means as rendered them the less so, by the violent rapidity which they gave to the River so restrained.' In addition to this, he also attempts an apology even for that very part of Peter's Bridge, which has been the most condemned; having, perhaps, designed, says Mr. Hawksmoor, ' by the narrowness of his arches, to restrain the ebbing of the tide, the better to preserve the navigation of the River above the Bridge, though it would not have any great effect if the Sterlings were taken away,' considering ' that if the River had its free course, it would ebb away so fast, that there would be scarce any navigation above the Bridge, a little time after high-water.' This pamphlet also contains a defence of the Great Pier, which so violently excited the censure of Malcolm, 78 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. who thought a Church on a Bridge was thrown away ; for at page 12, he states that it might be intended ' firstly to be a steadying of the whole machine, instead of making an angle, as it is in the famous Bridge at Prague, and in some of the Bridges in France ; so that this fortress was placed in the middle of the Bridge, to stem the violence of the floods, ice, and all other accidents that might be forced against it. Se- condly, that if by any accident of the ice or flood, or undermining any of the legs/ he means the piers, but Hawksmoor frequently uses this very ungraceful epithet, ' some of the arches might fall, as five did, Anno 1282, yet, by the help of this great buttress, though this damage was done on one side, the arches on the other side stood firm, so that there was less expense, and greater encouragement to make the repair. The third reason was, that he had an opportunity to shew his piety, having a situation for erecting a Chapel, which was done, and his body deposited in it.' " At the great repair of London Bridge, which took place between 1757 and 1770, several additional argu- ments were brought forward against the original edi- fice; of which Mr. Robert Mylne, in his Answers to the Select Committee of the House of Commons, for im- proving the Port of London, dated May the 15th, and October the 30th, 1801, printed in the Fourth Report of that Committee, states the following particulars. ' The houses,' says he, ' being then taken down, and the sides of the Bridge being dismantled, the internal masses of its great bulk were found little better than 1209-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 79 rubbish, and of bad mason- work, &c. without active exertion, or even inert resistance. The original Piles, under the original stone- work of a very narrow Bridge, between the two modern sides and extreme parts, by cutting into the sides of the piers, and by one old being opened up, and totally removed, have been found composed of Sapling Oak and some Elm, carelessly worked, neither round nor square, but much decayed.' " And now, worthy Mr. Barbican, having told you some of the objections to, and apologies for, the Bridge of the venerable Peter of Colechurch, before we ascend to the parapet, to examine the buildings which stood upon it, let me observe to you, that there are engraved Ground-plans of this Bridge, in George Vertue's prints, which I shall mention more par- ticularly hereafter, and also in Hawksmoor's tract from which I have so largely quoted*" Here let me for a moment interrupt the nar- rative of Mr. Postern, by stating that on the next page the Reader has a reduced copy of the interesting plan last mentioned, to which are subjoined Hawks- moor's own measurements, and some additional par- ticulars, also taken from Vertue ; on the accuracy of every part of which, we have the best authority for placing the most complete reliance. CHRONICLES OF [A. D. GROUND PLAN OF THE FIRST STONE BRIDGE AT LONDON : COMMENCED A. D. 1176, AND COMPLETED A. D. 1209. 1209-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 81 DIMENSIONS AND REFERENCES. COMMENCING AT THE CITY, OR NORTH END. Feet Inches. Breadth of First Arch 10 Pier 30 Second Arch 15 Pier . 18 Length of Second Pier 47 6 Breadth of Third Arch 25 Pier 17 Length of Third Pier 41 6 Breadth of Fourth Arch 21 Pier 18 Length of Fourth Pier 47 6 Breadth of Fifth Arch 27 Pier 21 Length of Fifth Pier 47 6 Breadth of Sixth Arch 29 6 Pier 21 Length of Sixth Pier . . 54 Breadth of Seventh Arch ..... 29 6 Pier 21 Length of Seventh Pier 54 Breadth of Eighth Arch 26 Pier 21 Length of Eighth Pier 54 Breadth of Ninth Arch 32 9 Pier 21 Length of Ninth Pier 54 Breadth of Tenth Arch 25 6 Centre Pier 36 Length of Centre Pier 95 Extreme Length of ditto 125 VERTUE makes the extreme length of this Pier but 115 feet only. Breadth of Chapel on the Centre Pier . 20 Length of ditto 60 6 82 CHRONICLES OF [[A. D. Feet. Inches. Exterior height from the Water . about 110 Breadth of Eleventh Arch 16 - Pier 21 Length of Eleventh Pier 37 Breadth of Twelfth Arch 24 6 - Pier 21 Length of Twelfth Pier 38 Breadth of Thirteenth Arch .... 25 8 Pier 27 Length of Thirteenth Pier 50 Breadth of Drawbridge, or Fourteenth Arch 29 4 VERTUE makes this space 30 feet broad, Breadth of Fourteenth Pier 17 Length of Fourteenth Pier 26 Breadth of Fifteenth Arch 22 10 Pier 26 Length of Fifteenth Pier 47 7 Breadth of Sixteenth Arch 21 10 Pier 15 Length of Sixteenth Pier 46 Breadth of Seventeenth Arch .... 29 4 Pier .... 25 Length of Seventeenth Pier .... 46 Breadth of Eighteenth Arch .... 24 - Pier 17 Length of Eighteenth Pier 46 Breadth of Nineteenth Arch .... 27 Pier 17 Length of Nineteenth Pier, North Side . 49 Breadth of Twentieth Arch 15 The Piers and Arches were both measured from the squares of the latter, the triangular ends being left un- 1209.] LONDON BRIDGE. 83 noticed, excepting in the instance of the Great Pier. The length of the whole Bridge was 926 feet ; its height, 60 ; and the breadth of the Street over it, 40 feet. " Let us now then, my good Sir," continued Mr. Postern, " ascend to the Platform or Street of the old London Bridge, erected by Peter of Colechurch, and look at the buildings which stood upon it ; the most celebrated of which was the famous Chapel dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, the Martyr of Canterbury, whence it was familiarly called St. Thomas of the Bridge. This was erected upon the Tenth, or Great Pier, which measured 35 feet in breadth, and 115 from point to point ; whilst the edifice itself was 60 feet in length, by 20 feet broad, and stood over the parapet on the Eastern side of the Bridge, leaving a pathway on the West, about a quarter of the breadth of the Pier, in front of the Chapel. The face of the building itself was forty feet in height, having a plain gable, surmounted by a cross of about six feet more; whilst four buttresses, crowned by crocketted spires, divided the Western end into three parts. The wide centre contained a rich pointed- arch window, of one mullion, ^with a quatrefoil in the top ; and the two sides were occupied by the en- trances to the Chapel from the Bridge-Street, each being ascended by three steps. Such was the general 84 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. appearance of the WEST FRONT OF THE CHAPEL ON LONDON BRIDGE. " The interior of this edifice consisted of two stories, both consecrated to sacred purposes, and greatly resembling each other in their appearance. The Upper Chapel was lofty, being supported by fourteen groups of elegant clustered columns, and lighted by eight pointed-arch windows divided by stone mullions into a double range of arches, sur- mounted by a lozenge. Beneath each of the windows were three arched recesses, separated by small pillars ; and the roof itself was also originally formed of lofty pointed arches; though, when this magnificent fane was transformed into a warehouse, a wooden ceiling, with stout beams crossing each other in squares, was erected, 1209.] LONDON BRIDGE. 85 which cut off the arches where they sprang from the pillars, and divided into two parts the INTERIOR OF THE UPPER CHAPEL OF ST. THOMAS. The Eastern extremity of this building formed a semi-hexagon, having a smaller window in each of its divisions, with richly carved arches under them, corresponding with the series already mentioned on the side : and the architectural lightness and elegance of the whole, meriting the highest encomium. Be- neath this principal edifice, was a short descending passage, having, on the left hand, a stone basin cut in a recess in the wall, for containing Holy Water, and leading, through the solid masonry of the Pier, into [A.D. the LOWER CHAPEL OF ST. THOMAS, which was con- structed in the Bridge itself. " This CRYPT was entered both from the upper apartment and the street, as well as by a flight of stone stairs winding round a pillar, which led into it from the nearest Pier : whilst in the front of this latter entrance, the Sterling formed a platform at low water, which thus rendered it accessible from the River. The Lower Chapel, which even decorated as that was, in my estimation, very far exceeded the upper one in architectural beauty, was about 20 feet in height, and its roof supported by clustered columns, similar to those I have already described ; from each of which sprang seven ribs, the centre, and the two adjoining it in every division, being bound by fillets with roses on the intersections ; whilst the great horizontal ribs had clusters of regal and eccle- siastical masks, producing an effect little to be ex- pected in such a structure, in such a situation ; though 1209.J LONDON BRIDGE. 87 I may trust to your correct taste, my good Mr. Bar- bican, for duly appreciating it. There was also a rich SERIES OF WINDOWS IN THE LOWER CHAPEL, which looked on to the water, similar in character to, though much smaller than, those above : whilst the floor was beautifully paved with black and white mar- ble; for in this place did the pious Architect propose to rest his bones. His monument, remarkable only for its plainness, was formed, according to Maitland's ' History,' page 46, under the Chapel staircase, in the middle of the building ; and it measured seven feet and an half, by four in breadth. There was, indeed, neither brass plate, nor inscription, nor carving found about the sepulchre, when Mr. Yaldwin, the inha- bitant of the Chapel in 1737, then a dwelling, and warehouse, discovered the remains of a body in re- pairing the staircase ; though, from the ' Annals of Waverley,' page 168, we know that the reliques of Peter were certainly entombed in this place. ' In 1205/ runs the passage, ' died Peter the Chaplain of Colechurch, who began the Stone Bridge at London, and he is sepultured in the Chapel upon the Bridge.' 88 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. By this entry then, we are assured that he lay there ; and as for an epitaph, was not the whole edifice an everlasting catafalco to his memory, which should speak for all times ? How finely, indeed, might we apply to him that inscription, which the son of Sir Christopher Wren composed for his father's burial- place in St. Paul's, ' He lived, not for himself, but for the public ! Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you ! ' " And now, before we enter upon an examination of the bed of the Thames at London Bridge, and con- sider whether the River were turned, as Stow thinks, to admit of its erection, let me cite you some ancient authorities concerning St. Thomas's Chapel. The first of these shall be the ' Itinerary of Symon Fitz Simeon, and Hugo the Illuminator, both of whom were Irish Monks, of the Order of Friars Minors, who visited London on their pilgrimage to Palestine, in 1322. ' This flux and reflux/ say they, at pages 4, 5, ' continues to the sea from the famous River named Thames, upon the which is a Bridge, filled with inha- bitants and wealth ; and in the midst of them is a Church dedicated to the blessed Thomas, Archbishop and Martyr, which is well served continually.' About the year 1418, also, William Botoner, a Monk of Worcester, of the Parish of St. James in Bristol, who then travelled from that City to St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, in his ' Itinerarium,' pages 301, 302, thus spake of London Bridge and the Chapel. ' The length of the Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, upon London 1209.] LONDON BRIDGE. 89 Bridge, is about twenty yards; having an under Chancel in the vault, with a choir, but the length of the nave of the said Chapel contains fourteen yards. The width of the middle steps is one yard. The length of the Bridge on the South, from the posts to the first gate newly founded by Henry the Cardinal, unto the two posts erected near the Church of St. Magnus, consists of five hundred of my steps. Item : there are five great windows on one side/ of the Chapel, ' each of which contains three panes :' or rather divisions. Of these Itineraries I will observe nothing farther, than that they were published from the original Manuscripts in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by James Nasmith, the Editor of Tanner's ' Notitia Monastica ;' in 1778, octavo; under the title of ' Itineraria Symonis Simeonis, et Willielmi de Worcestre.' " Of this Chapel, and also of the first Stone Bridge, there are two large folio engravings, taken and pub- lished, by George Vertue, in 1744-48, which, after his decease, were, with many of his other plates of Antiquities, presented by his widow to the Antiqua- rian Society in 1775. The first engraving measures 18| inches by 20 inches and , and contains ' A View of the West Front of the Chappel of St. Thomas, on London Bridge ; also the Inside View from West to East of the said Chappel, as it was first built An . 1209:' and also 'London Bridge as it was first built, An . 1209:' a Ground plan, and some measurements of the same, and a short Historical 90 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. account of the structure, drawn up by Sir Joseph Ayloffe, Bart. Vice- President of the Society of Anti- quaries. The publication line states, that it was ' drawn, engrav'd, and publish'd by G. Vertue, in Brownlow- Street, Drury-Lane, 1748.' A second edition was printed by the Society, in 1777- " The other plate contains ' The Inside Perspective View of the Under Chappel of St. Thomas within Lon- don Bridge, from the West to the East end,' and beneath it: the ' Inside South View of the Under Chappel from East to West, representing the manner and form of this rare piece of Ancient Architecture, thus drawn and transmitted to posterity, by G. V., Antiquary, 1744. Published and sold by G. Vertue, in Brownlow- Street, Drury-Lane, 1747-' This plate, which measures 18| inches by 20, contains a few additional historical notes, by Sir Joseph Ayloffe ; and a reduced copy of the lower View was engraved in the 23d volume of the ' Gentleman's Magazine,' for October, 1753, page 520. I must observe, also, that, in the large interior View on that plate of Vertue last-mentioned, there are introduced the portraits of the learned Samuel Gale, and the eccentric Dr. Ducarel. The former, by whose patronage and assistance Vertue produced these prints, is standing on the left hand, holding a plan of the Chapel, and listening to an outlandish-looking man, designed for Peter of Colechurch; whilst the latter Antiquary is employed in measuring. You find this information given from Gale's own lips, in that mo- nument of labour, the ' Literary Anecdotes of the 1209.^] LONDON BRIDGE. 91 Eighteenth Century,' by John Nichols, volume iv. London, 1812, 8vo. page 552, and volume vi. part I. page 402. I shall close this notice of these most an- cient views of London Bridge, by observing to you, that there is a view and a ground-plan of it, with measurements, engraved by Toms, on the second plate in Hawksmoor's work, already cited. " Let me remark to you, however, Mr. Barbican, as touching the Chapel which I have thus described to you, that the custom of erecting Religious Houses on Bridges, is certainly of great antiquity. A notable instance of this kind was on the Bridge at Droitwich, where the road passed through the Chapel and se- parated the congregation from the reading-desk and pulpit. Another famous Bridge Chapel is also to be found erected over the River Calder, at Wakefield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ; of which, a folding view, by W. Lodge, is inserted in the ' Ducatus Leo- diensis' of Ralph Thoresby, London, 1715, folio, some- times placed at page 164. This beautiful fane, you know, was built by King Edward IV. in memory of his father, Richard, Duke of York, who was killed in the battle fought near Wakefield, on December the 31st, 1460. The Bridge Chapel, however, though extremely rich in its architecture, was not so singular as our's at London, since it was not built in the pier, and descending even to the water's edge, but upon the pier, and the platform of the Bridge itself. Somewhat like our shrine of St. Thomas, however, as it belonged 92 CHRONICLES OP [A. D. to the poor of the town, it was, about 1 779? converted into a dwelling-house, and let at a small annual rent to a retail dealer in old clothes ! as that industrious Antiquary, Richard Gough, tells us, in his ' British Topography,' London, 1780, 4to. volume ii. page 437, note, r. ' To what base uses may we not return, Ho- ratio !' The edifice which had been erected for Monks to chaunt forth their Requiescats in solemn procession ; the shrine which had been endowed for the sweet re- pose of a warrior's soul ; the " " I'll tell you what, Mr. Barnaby Postern," said I, starting up, " you'll contribute to my sweet repose, unless you leave wandering in Yorkshire, and return again to London Bridge : what have we to do with a bead-roll of all the Bridge Chapels that are scattered through England? I desire to know but of one; for, by its having existed, we are sure that there might have been some sort of custom for their erection ; and, as old Chaucer saith, ' Experience, though none auctoritye Were in this world, is quite enough for me.' " " True, Sir, true," said the mild old Antiquary ; " you have once more brought me back to my starting- post ; for I own that I am too apt, when discoursing upon one subject, to branch out into others which seem to illustrate, or are in any degree connected with it. You will, however, I dare say, allow me to remark, that Plutarch denies the derivation of the word Pon- 1209-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 93 tifex from the old Roman custom of sacrificing on Bridges, which might, nevertheless, be the origin of Chapels being built upon them. He mentions this in his Life of Numa Pompilius, in his ' Vitce Parallelce,' best edition, by Augustine Bryan, and M. du Soul, London, 1729-24, 4to. volume i. page 142. The Greek passage begins, Ne^a Se K* rev iSv a^ie^fuv,' &c., and the Latin, ' Jam etiam sacerdotum ;' but I shall give you the excellent modern English version of Dr. Langhorne, in his very popular translation of the old Classic, from the edition of Mr. Archdeacon Wrangham, London, 1813, 8vo. volume i. pages 181, 182 : ' To Numa/ says the passage, ' is attributed the institution of that high order of priests, called Pontifices ; over which, he is said to have presided himself. Some say, they were called Pontifices, as employed in the service of those powerful gods that govern the world; for potens, in the Roman language, signifies powerful. Others, that they were ordered by their law-giver to perform such offices as were in their power, and standing excused when there was some great impediment. But most writers assign a ridiculous reason for the term, as if they were called Pontifices, from their offering sacrifices upon the Bridge, which the Latins call Pontem ; such kinds of ceremonies, it seems, being looked upon as the most sacred, and of the highest antiquity. These Priests, too, are said to have been commissioned to keep the Bridges in repair, as one of the most indispensable 94 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. parts of their sacred office.' Plutarchus, the author of this, you remember, died about A. D. 140; and the period of which he wrote, was about 630 years before the birth of Christ. That giant of learning, also, John Jacob Hoffmann, denies that the word Pontifex had any thing to do with a Bridge ; as you may see discussed at considerable length, in his ' Lexicon Universale,' Ley den, 1698, folio, volume in- page 836, column 2, where he says, it is compounded of posse andjacere, that is to say, such persons as are able to do the thing, or sacrifice : but as the article is equally long, erudite, and curious, I refer you to the original. " And now we come to speak of Stow's singular hypothesis, that the River Thames was turned in its current, during the erection of the first Stone Bridge at London. He states this in his ' Survey,' volume i. page 58, where he also says, that the course of the stream was carried through ' a trench cast for that purpose; beginning, as it is supposed, East about Rotherhithe, and ending in the West about Patricksey, now termed Battersey.' Strype, the last, and, perhaps, the best Editor of our old Metropolitan Historian, on the page above cited, seems inclined to support this idea ; for he says, ' It is much controverted whether the River Thames was turned, when the Bridge over it was built, and whether the River was more subject to overflow its banks anciently than at present ; and from all that hath been seen and written upon the 1209rj LONDON BRIDGE. 95 turning of the River, it seems very evident to me, that it was turned while the Bridge was building, and that it is more subject to overflow its banks now, than it was formerly; for the channel of the River must have been deeper than it is now, or the Palace of West- minster would never have been built where the Hall and the rest of its remains are now situated. Is it to be supposed that any Prince would have built a Palace, where the lower rooms were liable to be overflowed at a spring-tide, as we see the Hall has been several times of late years, and the lawyers brought out on porters' backs ? The reason whereof is, that the sands have raised the channel, and, consequently, the tides must rise higher in proportion, than they did formerly; and unless some care is taken to cleanse the River, the buildings on the same level with the floor of West- minster-Hall, will not be habitable much longer, as the sand and ouse are still daily increasing, and choking up the bed of the River.' Nicholas Hawks- moor, also, on page 8 of his work, which I have already quoted, says, that ' many skilful persons have thought that the River Thames was not turned, but that the flowing of the tides was then different, and that the water did not rise so high at the Bridge; for the Thames might heretofore overflow the marshes near the sea, and have a greater spreading ; which being now restrained by the bank, called the wall of the Thames, into narrower limits, and the water which comes from the sea into the mouth of the Thames during the flood, not being received by the marshes, 96 CHRONICLES OF [A.D, must come up into the country, and so swell the tide higher at London than it usually did. The celebrated Sir Christopher Wren was of opinion, that when the foundation of London Bridge was laid, the course of the River was not turned, but that every pier was set upon piles of wood, which were drove as far as might be under low-water mark, on which were laid planks of timber, and upon them the foundation of the stone piers : the heads of the said piles have been seen at a very low ebb, and may be so still when some of the chalk or stone is removed to mend the Sterlings.' " Maitland, and his Editor Entick, are also both opposed to the idea that the River was turned during the erection of London Bridge, as they evince on page 46 of their 'History;' where they ground their ob- jections to it on the following arguments. Firstly, it is supposed that the vestiges of Knute's Canal which, as we have seen, took the same course as Stow supposes the River to have taken, might have deceived him ; a reason also adopted by Hawksmoor, in the place I last cited. Secondly, the charge of such an immense work is next objected to ; as the cost of the ground intended for the trench, the embankment of it, and the damming off the River itself, must have amounted to at least treble the sum which would otherwise have been required to erect the Bridge. The total silence of those Historians who mention the construction of London Bridge, upon the subject of so great a work as the turning of the River, is next insisted upon : and, finally, the length of time which the building 1209.] LONDON BRIDGE. 97 occupied, thirty-three years, is adduced as alone sufficient to overthrow the whole hypothesis. ' For/ adds the author, ' had the people concerned in erecting it, had dry ground to have built upon, it might have been finished in a tenth part of the time, and in a much more durable manner/ Maitland then proceeds to state, that, in 1730, he surveyed the Bridge, in com- pany with Mr. Bartholomew Sparruck, the Water- Carpenter of the same ; and that he observed in many places, where the stones were washed from the ster- lings, the mighty frames of piles whereon the stone piers or pillars were founded ; the exterior parts of which, consisted of huge piles driven as closely to- gether as art could effect. ' On the tops of these,' he continues, ' are laid long planks, or beams of timber, of the thickness often inches, strongly bolted; whereon is placed the base of the stone pier, nine feet above the bed of the River, and three below the sterlings ; and on the outside of this wooden foundation, and for its preservation, are drove the piles called the ster- lings.' He then goes on to observe, that Mr. Sparruck informed him, that he and the Bridge-Mason had fre- quently taken out of the lowermost layers of stones in the piers, several of the original stones, which were laid in pitch instead of mortar ; and that from this cir- cumstance they imagined, that all the outside stones of the piers, as high as the sterlings, were originally bedded in the same material, to prevent the water from damaging the work. This labour was, he thinks, continued at every ebb tide, until the piers M r ere raised 98 CHRONICLES OF A. D. above high- water mark ; and hence he argues, that if the Thames had been turned, there would not have been any occasion for the use of pitch, and that Plaster of Paris was not then in use in this country. These are the principal heads of the dispute con- cerning the turning of the River: to which I only add my own settled conviction, that the course of the Thames rvas not altered." " But pray, my worthy friend," said I, as he con- cluded, " what other buildings stood upon the Bridge built by Peter of Colechurch, besides the Chapel of St. Thomas?" " That is a point," replied he, " upon which Anti- quaries are very far from being decided : for whilst some assert, with Sir Joseph AylofFe in his account of the Bridge attached to Vertue's prints, that, at first, there were no houses upon it, and that it was only plainly coped with stone until 1395, late in the reign of Richard II., others argue that it was built upon to some extent two centuries before, and, indeed, there is proof of this being the case in the reign of King Edward I., as I shall shew you anon. Stow, in his ' Survey,' volume i. page 22, says that the Bridge Gate, which was erected at the Southwark end, was one of the four first and principal gates of the City, and stood there long before the Conquest, when there was only a Bridge of timber, being the seventh and last mentioned by Fitz-Stephen. Mait- land, at page 30 of his first volume, when he comes to speak of the same erection, denies not only the 1209.] LONDON BRIDGE. 99 truth, but even the probability of Stow's assertions ; and, indeed, Stephanides himself says only at page 24, 1 On the West,' that is of London, ' are two Castles well fortified; and the City wall is both high and thick with seven double gates, and many towers on the North side, placed at proper distances. London once had its walls and towers in like manner on the South, but that vast River, the Thames, which abounds with fish, enjoys the benefit of tides, and washes the City on this side, hath, in a long tract of time, totally subverted and carried away the walls in this part.' The Latin of this passage commences at ' Ab Occidenie duo Castella munitissima,' &c. Maitland then goes on to argue, that Fitz-Stephen could have no regard to a gate on the South, there being no wall remaining; ' whereas,' says he, ' on the contrary, it is manifest that his seven gates were in the continued wall on the land side.' " It is probable, however, that, at a very early period after its erection, towers were reared upon London Bridge, for there was one standing at each end ; but of these I shall speak more largely under future years : remarking only, that it is by no means im- possible for a Watch-tower and gate to have stood upon the Bridge, even from its very first erection, seeing that it was, as it were, a new key to the City. A sort of Barbican, Mr. Geoffrey, such as you derive your name from ; for you remember the essential importance which such buildings were of, and how Bagford speaks of them in his Letter to Hearne, which I have already quoted, page Ixii. ' Here,' says 100 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. he, ' they kept Cohorts of Souldiers in continual service' for your Barbican Tower was of Roman in- vention, ' to watch in the night ; that if any sudden fire should happen, they might be in a readiness to extinguish it, as also to give notice if an enemy were gathering or marching towards the City to surprise them. In short, it was a Watch-tower by day ; and at night, they lighted some combustible material on the top thereof, to give directions to the weary traveller repairing to the City, either with provision or "on some other occasion.' " But to pass from probabilities to certainties, let us now, having got the Bridge fairly built of stone, consider the many events and changes which it hath experienced, from its infancy in the thirteenth Cen- tury, to its old age in the nineteenth : and so, my excellent auditor, Here begin the Books of the Chronicles of London Bridge. " That sorrowful exclamation, ' No sooner born than dead !' may well, at the period at which we are now arrived, be uttered over this scarcely completed edifice; for in the night of the 10th of July, 1212, within four years after its being finished, a dreadful conflagration took place upon it. Stow, at page 60 of his ' Survey,' cites the Book of Dunmow, William de Packington, and William of Coventry, as his au- thorities for that excellent account of it which I shall presently repeat to you. Let me, however, first observe, that Packington was Secretary and Treasurer m to Edward the Black Prince, in Gascoigne, about 1380. 1212.] LONDON BRIDGE. 101 For William of Coventry, I conceive that we should read Walter of Coventry; because the former, who wrote about 1360, is celebrated in page 148 of Bishop Nicolson's ' Historical Libraries,' already cited, as the Author of a work ' concerning the coming of the Carmelites into England.' Walter, on the contrary, at page 61, is mentioned as having compiled three books of Chronicles, about the year 1217, which yet remain in Manuscript in Bennet College, Cambridge. The ' Chronicle of Dunmow,' which is the other autho- rity quoted by Stow, is now to be found only in a small quarto volume in the Harleian Library of Manu- scripts, No. 530, article ii. page 2 a. It consists of a miscellaneous collection of notes, in the hand writings of Stow, Camden, and perhaps Sir Henry Savile; transcribed upon old, stained, and worn-out, paper. The notice of this great fire is very brief, and, with the heading of the extracts, runs thus : ' Collectanea ex Chronico de Dunmowe.' ' 1213. London was burned and the Brydge also, and many peryshed by violence of the fyre.' Stow's own account, however, is the most interesting extant, and is as follows. ' The Borough of Southwark,' says he, ' upon the South side of the River of Thames, as also the Church of our Lady of the Canons there/ that is to say the Church of St. Mary Overies, which changed its name upon being re-founded, in 1106, for Canons Regular, by William de Pont de 1'Arche, and William D'Auncy, Norman knights , these ' being on fire, and an ex- ceeding great multitude of people passing the Bridge, 102 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. either to extinguish and quench it, or else to gaze and behold it; suddenly the North part, by blowing of the South wind was also set on fire ; and the people which were even now passing the Bridge, perceiving the same, would have returned, but were stopped by the fire : and it came to pass, that as they stayed or protracted the time, the other end of the Bridge also, namely, the South end was fired ; so that the people, thronging themselves between the two fires, did no- thing else but expect present death. Then there came to aid them many ships and vessels, into which the multitude so unadvisedly rushed, that the ships being thereby drowned, they all perished. It was said, that through the fire and shipwreck, there were destroyed above three thousand persons, whose bodies were found in part or half burned, besides those that were wholly burned to ashes, and could not be found.' " Such is Stow's account of this melancholy event, which is best confirmed by the ' Annals of Waverley,' page 173 ; but they state also, that under this year, ' 1212, London, about the Bridge, was great part burned, together with the Priory of Southwark.' Now, if we might credit the ' Histories Anglice' of that wily, but elegant Italian, Polydore Vergil, we might be sure, that even at this period, London Bridge was built upon : ' Ipso illo anno,' says he, at page 276 of his book, setting out, however, with an erroneous date, ' In that same year' 1211, > therefore the Abbot was dismissed without a day. But another of the Jurors has found that it is the said Abbess who ought to repair the Bridges. And at length,' that is to say in 1315,' ' an agreement was made between the said Abbot and Abbess, in the presence of the Earl of Hereford and Essex, and Chancellor of England ; also Chief Justice, Chief Baron, and Escheater of our Lord the King on this side Trent, and it was enrolled that the said Abbot obliges himself, and his successors, to repair for ever : for which the said Abbess gives to the said Abbot two hundred pounds, yet saving to her the annual four marks.' See the Pleadings before the King at Westminster, in Easter Term, 6 Edward II., Roll 95. " After this very long, though curious document, I have nothing farther to observe on the connection of the Bridge Master of London, and his Mill and Bridge on the River Lee, than that, although he at first traversed, as the Lawyers say, or denied his right to repair them, yet, in 1315, the original claim was confirmed against his denial, as is asserted by Stow, in his ' Survey,' volume ii. page 25." " Methinks, Mr. Barnaby Postern," said I, " that 1302.] LONDON BRIDGE. 145 before you entirely quit the connection of the Lee River and London Bridge, it would not be irrelevant to speak somewhat of that Cantiuncula, that little song, or, as I may properly call it, that Lallus, for it is truly a nurse's song, in which they are both united." " You say well, Sir," answered my visitor ; " and seeing that I have already spoken somewhat at length, ' shall I,' as Izaak Walton says, ' have nothing from you, that seem to have both a good memory, and a cheerful spirit ?' Come, then, my honoured kinsman, do you relate what hath been written and collected concerning that same Cantiuncula ; nor deem that any fragmenta, touching the history of London Bridge, can be uninteresting ; wherefore, doubt not but your narrative will be to me like that which Adam made to Raphael : * Nor are thy lips ungraceful, Sire of men, Nor tongue ineloqueut. But thy relation now ; for I attend, Pleased with thy words no less than thou with mine.' " " After the deep reading and extensive knowledge," returned I, " which you, Mr. Postern, have displayed in your discourse, it is unfortunate for me to have to speak upon a subject, where I am no less perplexed by the paucity of materials, than by my own igno- rance of many which may be in existence. For you must know, my fellow-antiquary, that searching out the origin and history of a ballad, is like endeavouring to ascertain the source and flight of December's snow ; L 146 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. since it often comes we know not whence, is looked upon and noticed for awhile, is corrupted, or melts away, we know not how, and thus dies unrecorded, excepting in the oral tradition or memory of some village crones, who yet discourse of it. However, Sir, to proceed methodically, I will first give you the words of this very popular song ; then the customs and history connected with it ; and, lastly, the musical notation to which it is most commonly sung. " One of the most elegant copies of this ballad you will find in the late Joseph Ritson's rare and curious volume, entitled, ' Gammer Gurton's Garland : or the Nursery Parnassus. A choice collection of pretty Songs, and Verses, for the amusement of all little good children who can neither read nor run.' London, 1810. 8vo. Part i., page 4 ; where it is called ' The cele- brated song of London Bridge is broken down;' and is as follows : ' LONDON BRIDGE is broken down, Dance o'er my Lady Lee ; London Bridge is broken down, With a gay lady. How shall we build it up again, Dance o'er my Lady Lee ; How shall we build it up again ? With a gay lady. Silver and gold will be stolen away, Dance o'er my Lady Lee ; , Silver and gold will be stolen away, With a gay lady. 1302.] LONDON BRIDGE. 147 Build it up with iron and steel, Dance o'er my Lady Lee ; Build it up with iron and steel, With a gay lady. Iron and steel will bend and bow, Dance o'er my Lady Lee ; Iron and steel will bend and bow, With a gay lady. Build it up with wood and clay, Dance o'er my Lady Lee. ; Build it up with wood and clay, With a gay lady. Wood and clay will wash away, Dance o'er my Lady Lee ; Wood and clay will wash away, . With a gay lady. Build it up with stone so strong, Dance o'er my Lady Lee ; Huzza ! 'twill last for ages long, With a gay lady.' " In that treasury of singular fragments, the ' Gen- tleman's Magazine,' for September, 1823, volume xciii., page 232, there is another copy of this ballad, with some variations, inserted in a Letter, signed M. Green, in which there are the following stanzas, wanting in Ritson's, and coming in immediately after the third verse, ' Silver and gold will be stolen away ;' though it must be observed, that the propositions for building the Bridge with iron and steel, and wood and stone, have, in this copy also, already been made and ob- jected to. 148 , CHRONICLES OF QA. D. * Then we must set a man to watch, Dance o'er my Lady Lea ; Then we must set a man to watch, With a gay La-dee: Suppose the man should fall asleep, Dance o'er my Lady Lea ; Suppose the man should fall asleep, With a gay La-dee. Then we must put a pipe in his mouth, Dance o'er my Lady Lea ; Then we must put a pipe in his mouth, With a gay La-dee. Suppose the pipe should fall and break, Dance o'er my Lady Lea ; Suppose the pipe should fall and break, With a gay La-dee. Then we must set a dog to watch, Dance o'er my Lady Lea ; Then *we must set a December, page 507, observes, that the ballad con- cerning London Bridge formed, in his remembrance, part of a Christmas Carol, and commenced thus : ' Dame, get up and bake your pies, On Christmas day in the morning :' ' The requisition/ he continues, ' goes on to the Dame to prepare for the feast, and her answer is 1 London Bridge is broken down, On Christmas day in the morning.' ' The inference always was, that until the Bridge was rebuilt, some stop would be put to the Dame's Christ- maa operations; but why the falling of a part of London Bridge should form part of a Christmas Carol at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, I am at a loss to know.' This connection has, doubtless, long since been gathered into the ' wallet which Time carries at 150 CHRONICLES OF A. D. his back, wherein he puts alms for oblivion ;' though we may remark, that the history and features of the old Bridge of that famous town had a very close re- semblance to that of London ; as you may find upon reading the Rev. John Brand's ' History and Anti- quities of Ike Town and County of the Town of Netv- castle-upon-Tyne.' London, 1789. 4to. volume i., pages 31 53. The chief points of resemblance between these two Bridges, were, that both were founded in the hidden years of remote antiquity ; that in each instance wooden Bridges preceded the stone ones; that to each was attached a Chapel dedicated to St. Thomas ; that continual dilapidations and Patents for repair characterised each ; that both formed a street of houses, having towers, gates, and drawbridges ; and, finally, that in 1771? a violent flood reduced the Bridge of. Tyne to the same hapless state as erst marked that of London, when ruinated by the ter- rible fire of 1757- Such, Mr. Postern, are the words, and such are the very few historical notices that I am able to give you, of a song, of which there is, perhaps, not a single dweller in the Bills of Mortality, who has not heard somewhat ; and yet not one of whom can tell you more concerning it, than that they have heard it sung ' many years ago,' as the gossiping phrase is. If one might hazard a conjecture concerning it, I should refer its composition to some very ancient date, when London Bridge lying in ruins, the office of Bridge Master was vacant ; and his power over the River Lee for it is doubtless that River which is 1302-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 151 celebrated in the chorus to this song, was for a while at an end. But this, although the words and melody of the verses be extremely simple, is all uncertain ; and thus, my good Sir, do general traditions float down the stream of Time, without any fixed date ; for none regard them as of value enough to record, whilst they are yet known in all their primitive truth. Oh ! how many an interesting portion of History has been thus lost ! How many a " " I am glad," interrupted my visitor at this part of my apostrophe, " to find that I am not the only Anti- quary who is apt to be led away from narrative to rhetoric ; and who is sometimes induced to declaim when he set out to describe. But you were speaking of the melody to this song, Mr. Barbican ; now I would fain hear it, if it live in your memory." " Give me a draught of sack," said I, taking up the tankard, " and you shall hear it, as well as my feeble voice, now ' turning again to childish treble,' Mr. Postern, hath the skill to chaunt it. But look for nothing fine, Mr. Barnaby : here are none of Von Weber's notes ; and, indeed, I know of nothing which so well characterises it, as that fine description of a popular ballad in Twelfth Night : ' Mark it, Cesario, it is old and plain ; The Spinsters, and the Knitters in the sun, And the free maids that weave their thread with bones, Do use to chaunt it ' " " Come, my good Sir," replied Mr. Postern, " no more words on't, but sing, I pray you." 152 CHRONICLES OF [A.D. " Then listen," answered I, clearing my throat to reach the treble C, with which the melody commences ; " but you must sing a part of it, as it stands in this paper, Master Barnaby, for it begins with the chorus ; and so here follows the ancient Music to the Song and Dance of London Bridge is broken down." ffif CJilJ J Lon-don Bridge is broken down : Dance o'er my La-dy Lea ! Lon-don Bridge it bro-ken down, With a gay La - dee. Sotb. How shall we build it up a-gain ? Dance o'er my La-dy Lea . Si How shall we build it up a-gain ? With a gay La - dee, " A choice piece of simple melody, indeed," said Mr. Postern, as I finished the last strain of the solo, " and, certainly, from its extreme plainness, not un- likely to be of some considerable antiquity ; but you called it also a dance, Mr. Barbican ; pray was it ever adapted to the feet, as well as to the tongue?" "You shall hear, Sir," returned I, " for I learn from a Manuscript communication, from a Mr. J. Evans, of Bristol, which has been most kindly placed in my hands by the venerable proprietor of the ' Gen- 1302.] LONDON BRIDGE. 153 ileman's Magazine,' and which enclosed the notes of the tune we have now concluded ; that ' about forty years ago, one moonlight night, in a street in Bristol, his attention was attracted by a dance and chorus of boys and girls, to which the words of this ballad gave measure. The breaking down of the Bridge was announced as the dancers moved round in a circle, hand in hand ; and the question, ' How shall we build it up again ?' was chaunted by the leader, whilst the rest stood still.' The same correspondent also farther observes, that it is possible some musical critics may trace in these notes sundry fragments that have sailed down the stream of Time, beginning with ' Nancy Dawson,' and ' A frog he mould a wooing go;' though the Lament of London Bridge is certainly far, very far, anterior to the latter. I cannot, however, imagine, that the air of our ballad has more than a very distant consanguinity with either ; for the melody of Nancy Dawson is generally supposed not to be more than sixty years old, about which time its heroine flourished ; and the metre of that worthless song is perfectly different, each verse having eight lines instead of four. Now, when Isaac Bickerstaff pro- duced his Opera of ' Love in a Village,' he composed his 14th air, in the last Scene of the first Act, to that very tune ; for there the Housemaid commences the Finale, and thus it runs : ' I pray ye, gentles, list to me, I'm young, and strong, and clean, you see, 154 CHRONICLES OF A. D. I'll not turn tail to any she, For work, that's in the county : Of all your house the charge I'll take, I wash, I scrub, I brew, I bake, And more can do than here I'll speak, Depending on your bounty.' " Thus, you observe, my good Sir, that the verse has no resemblance at all ; and the only similitude of the music lies in a very few notes in the second and third bars of the first and fourth lines. The Ad- ventures of the Frog who went a courting is certainly much more like the ballad of London Bridge ; but, in addition to its variations in the latter part, it is quite a modern composition, and, therefore, cannot illustrate the antiquity of that other song, of which it is itself merely a musical parody." ".My hearty thanks are due to you, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican," began Mr. Postern, as I concluded ; " I have to thank you very heartily for the agreeable manner in which you have contrived to carry on the history of London Bridge, whilst I have breathed from continuing my duller detail: and now, let me observe, that having brought you down to the 31st year of the reign of Edward I., 1302, I shall give you a translation of what was, perhaps, his last and fullest Charter to London Bridge, in the form of a Patent of Pontage, or Bridge Tax, granted in 1305, the 34th year of his sovereignty ; which is curious, inasmuch as it enumerates so many of the articles of commerce in that day. The original is, of course, in 1305-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 155 the Tower, in the Patent Rolls for that year, mem- brane 25, entitled ' Pontage for London ;' and the Latin you may see in Hearne's ' Liber Niger,' already cited, volume i., page *478 : the English, no very easy matter to discover, is as follows. " ' The King to his beloved the Mayor and Sheriffs, and to his other Citizens of London, Greeting. Know ye, that in aid of repairing and sustaining the Bridge of London, we grant that from the day of making these presents, until the complete end of the three years next following, the underwritten customs shall, for that purpose, be taken of saleable goods over the Bridge aforesaid, and of those which cross under the same, that is to say : of every poise, or weight of cheese/ namely, 256 pounds, ' fat of tallow, and butter for sale, one penny. Of every poise of lead, for sale, one farthing. Of every hun- dred of wax for sale, two pence. Of every hundred of almonds and rice for sale, one penny. Of every hundred of barley corn for sale, one penny. Of every hundred of pepper and ginger, cotewell and cinnamon, Brazil-wood, frankincense, quicksilver, vermillion and verdigrease for sale, two pence. Of every hundred of cinior, alum, sugar, liquorice, syro-montanian ani- seed, pion, and orpiment for sale, one penny: Of every hundred of sulphur, orchel, ink, resin, cop- peras, and calamine stone for sale, one farthing. Of every great frail of figs and raisins for sale, one half- penny ; and of every smaller frail, one farthing. Of every pound of dates, musk nuts, mace, the drug cubebs, saffron, and cotton for sale, one farthing. Of 156 CHRONICLES OF [A. B. every store butt of ginger for sale, one penny. Of every hundred weight of copper, brass, and tin, for sale, one halfpenny. Of every hundred weight of glass for sale, one farthing. Of every thousand of the best Gris, or grey squirrel skins dressed,' the famous Vaire fur you remember, ' for sale, twelve pence. Of every thousand of red skins dressed, for sale, six pence. Of every thousand bark-skins for sale, four pence. Of every hundred of rabbits for sale, one halfpenny. For every timbria' an ancient Norman law phrase, signifying a certain, number of precious skins, ' of wolves' skins for sale, one halfpenny. For every timbria of coats for sale> one halfpenny. For every twelfth gennet-skin for sale, one halfpenny. For every hundredth sheep-skin of wool for sale, one penny. Of every hundredth lamb-skin and goat-skin for sale, one halfpenny. Of every twelfth alicum,' a kind of vest with sleeves, ' for sale, one penny. Of every twelfth Basane,' this old Norman word, you know, meant either a purse, or shoe, or any thing made of tanned leather, ' for sale, one halfpenny. Of every quarter of woad,' the famous blue dye, ' for sale, one halfpenny. Of every dole,' a Saxon word signifying a part or portion, ' of honey for sale, six pence. Of every dole of wine, six pence. Of every dole of corn, crossing over the Bridge, the same going into countries beyond the sea, one penny. Of every bowl of salt for sale, one penny. Of every mill-stone for grinding, for sale, two-pence. Of every twelfth hand-mill for sale, one penny. Of every smith's mill for sale/ perhaps a forge or a grindstone, ( one farthing. Of every dole 1305.] LONDON BRIDGE. 15J of ashes and of fish for sale, one halfpenny. Of every hundredth board of oak, coming from parts beyond the seas for sale, one halfpenny. Of every hundred of fir boards, coming from parts beyond the seas for sale, two pence. Of every twenty sheafs of wooden staves and arrow heads, for sale, one halfpenny. Of a quarter of a hundred of pountandemir for sale, one penny. For all horses laden with serge, stuff, grey cloth and dyed cloth for sale, one penny. Of every hundred ells of linen cloth, coming from parts beyond the seas, for sale, one penny. Of every twelfth poplorum/ mantle or carpet, ' for sale, one halfpenny. Of every silk or gold cloth, for sale, one halfpenny. Of all satins and cloths worked with gold, two pence. Of every twelfth piece of fustian for sale, one penny. Of every piece of sendal,' thin Cyprus silk, ' embroidered, for sale, one farthing ; and of every other two sendals for sale, one farthing. Of every pound of woven cloth coming from parts beyond the seas, six pence. Of every hundred pounds weight of Bateria,' beaten work of metal, ' namely, of basins, platters, drinking pots, and cups, for sale, one penny. Of all Flanders cloth bound, and embroidered, for sale, two pence. Of every Estanford,' a species of cloth made at Stanfort, ' for sale, from the same parts, one penny. Of every twelfth pair of nether-stocks, for sale, coming from the same parts, one halfpenny. Of every hood for sale, one penny. Of every piece of Borrell,' coarse cloth, ' coming from Normandy, or elsewhere, one halfpenny. Of every twelfth Monk's cloth, black or white, one 158 CHRONICLES OF A. D. penny. Of every trussell cloth,'< perhaps a horse- cloth ' for sale, the same coming from parts beyond the seas, eighteen pence. Of all English dyed cloth and russet for sale, excepting scarlet, crossing the Bridge for the selling of the same, two pence. Of all scarlets for sale, six pence. Of all thin, or summer cloth, for sale, coming from Stamford or Northampton, or from other places in England, crossing the same, one penny. Of every twelfth chalonum,' which is to say, a carpet or hangings, ' set for sale, one penny. Of every pound of other merchandise for sale, crossing the same, and not expressed above, four pence. Of every ship-load of sea-coal for sale, six pence. Of every ship-load of turf for sale, two pence. Of every sci- tata of underwood for sale, two pence. Of every small boat-load of underwood for sale, one penny. Of every scitata of hay for sale, two pence. Of every quarter of corn for sale crossing the same, one farthing. For two quarters of white corn, barley, mixed corn, pease, and beans, for sale, one farthing. For a quarter of a seme,' a horse load, or eight bushels ' of oats for sale, one penny. For two quarters of groats, and brewers' grains for sale, one farthing. For every horse for sale, of the price of forty shillings and more, one penny. For every horse for sale, of a price less than forty shillings, one halfpenny. For every ox and cow for sale, one halfpenny. For six swine for sale, one halfpenny. For ten sheep for sale, one halfpenny. For five bacon hogs for sale, one halfpenny ; and for ten pervis for sale, one halfpenny. Of every small 1305-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 159 boat which works in London for hire, and crosses by the same, one penny. Of every cart freighted with fish for sale, crossing the same, one penny. For the hull of every great ship freighted with goods for sale, excepting these present, crossing by the same, two pence. For the hull of every smaller ship freighted with the same goods, excepting these present, one penny. For every little boat loaden, one halfpenny. For every twelfth salted salmon for sale, one penny. For twenty-five milnell for sale, one halfpenny. For one hundred salted haddocks for sale, one halfpenny. For one hundred salted mackerel for sale, one farthing. For every thousand of salted herrings for sale, one farthing. For every twelfth salted lamprey for sale, one penny. Of every thousand salted eels for sale, one halfpenny. Of every hundred pounds of large fish for sale, one penny. Of every hundred pieces of sturgeon for sale, two pence. For every hundred of stockfish, one farthing. For every horse-load of onions for sale, one farthing. For every horse-load of garlick for sale, one farthing. And of every kind of mer- chandise not here mentioned, of the price of twenty shillings, one penny. And, therefore, we command you, that the said customs be taken, until the aforesaid term of three years be completed ; but at that term, the aforesaid customs shall cease, and be altogether taken away. In which, &c. for their lasting the term aforesaid, Witness the King, at Winchester, the seventh day of May. By writ of Privy Seal.' " Such, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican, is a tolerably exact 160 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. translation of this long and very curious Patent of Pontage for London Bridge j but a perfect rendering of it into English is a matter attended with more than usual difficulty ; since it is composed of so many bar- barous Anglo-Norman nouns, with Latin terminations attached to them ; of quaint legal phrases, of which Fortescue and Rastall must be the interpreters ; and of numerous articles of which both the names and the nature are to us almost utterly unintelligible. How- ever, Sir, I here give it you to the best of my poor skill j and in doing so, let me add to it the apologetical words of your namesake and fellow citizen, the ami- able old Chaucer ; ' Now pray I to them all that hearken this treatise, or rede, that if there be any thing that liketh them, that thereof they thank HIM, of whom proceedeth all wit and goodness. And if there be any thing that displease them, I pray them also that they arrette it to the default of mine unknonnyng, and not to my will, that would fain have said better if I had knowing.' " " Doubtless, Mr. Postern," answered I, " my civi- lities are at the least due to you, for the labour you bestow upon me ; but yet I must be so plain as to tell you, that your Pontage Patent reminded me mightily of a Table of Tolls at a Turnpike- Gate, whereon we read ' For every horse, mare, gelding, or mule, laden or unladen, not drawing, two pence.' So again, and again, I say, let me have stories, man ! I want stories ! ' for/ as Oliver Goldsmith said of old to the Ghost of Dame Qitickly, ' if you have nothing 1305.] LONDON BRIDGE. 161 but tedious remarks to communicate, seek some other hearer, I am determined to hearken only to stories.' " " Be of a sweet temper, however you may be dis- appointed, Mr. Geoffrey," replied the old Gentleman ; " if I possessed the wit either of honest Oliver, or the Ghost of Mistress Quickly, you should, indeed, be entertained ; but, seeing that we lack humour, we must make it up in the real, though somewhat dull, formula of past days. This time, I have, however, a romantic scene for you in petto, and even now we have arrived at a point of the history of London Bridge, which, when skilfully managed, with a little fiction, has drawn tears from many an eye, and a- wakened an interest in many a heart : I mean the capture and death of the brave and unfortunate Sir William Wallace. ' Joy, joy in London uow ! He goes, the rebel Wallace goes to death ; At length the traitor meets a traitor's doom. Joy, joy in London now !' " It was after the return of the fourth expe- dition of King Edward I. into Scotland, about the beginning of August, 1305, that London Bridge was defaced, by the placing upon it the trophies of his vengeance. Matthew of Westminster, in his ' Flowers of Histories,' which I have already cited to you, tells the sorrowful story of Sir William Wallace's exe- 162 CHRONICLES OF [\A.. D. cution, in his Second Book, page 451 ; beginning at f Hie vir Belial,' for he treats the Scottish hero with but little reverence, and in plain English thus runs the narrative. ' This man of Belial, after innu- merable crimes, was at last taken by the King's officers, and, by his command, was brought up to be judged by himself, attended by the Nobles of the kingdom of England, on the Vigil of St. Bartholomew's day,'- the 23rd of August, ' where he was condemned to a most cruel, yet most worthy death. Firstly, he was drawn at the tail of a horse through the fields of London, to a very lofty gibbet, erected for him, upon which he was hung with a halter ; afterwards, he was taken down half dead, embowelled, and his intestines burned by fire ; lastly, his head was cut off, and set upon a pole on London Bridge, whilst the trunk was cut into four quarters. His body, thus divided, was sent into four parts of Scotland. Behold ! such was the unpitied end of this man, whom want of pity brought to such a death !' " The head of the gallant but ill-fated Wallace was not, however, the only ghastly spectacle upon London Bridge; for the Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts, under the Number 2253, has the fol- lowing notice at article 25 : ' A long Ballad against the Scots, many of whom are here mentioned by name, as also many of the English, besides the King and Prince. But, particularly of William Walleys, taken at the Battle of Dunbar, A. D. 1305, and of Simon Frisell, or Fraser, taken at the Battle of Kyrkenclyf, A. D. 1306, 1305.] LONDON BRIDGE. 163 both of whom were punished as traitors to our King Edward I. and their heads set among others of their countrymen upon London Bridge.' The passage which immediately concerns our purpose, you will find at folio 61 a, and, in its own rude dialect, thus it runs : " ' With feters and with gyues ichot lie wos to drowe, Ffrom the tour of Londone that inonie myght knowe, Jn a curtel of burel aselkethe wyse Thurh Cheepe ; And a gerland on hys heued of the newe guyse : Moniinon of Engefo written on parchment in an old Court-hand, ornamented with vermillion chorusses and lines, in No. 565, of the Harleian Manuscripts, in the British Museum. You will find them forming Articles 8 and 9 of that volume, and thus entered in the Catalogue, volume i. page 351. ' A Poem upon the Wars of King Henry the V. in France ; and his return to England, after the battle of Agincoure ; composed perhaps by John Lidgate.' ' The making of (i. e. Poem upon) the comynge of the Kynge (Henry V.) out of Fraunce, to London. By John Lidgate, the Monke of Bury.' Such are the titles of these verses, from which I shall repeat to you all that concerns the King's entry at London Bridge; and, firstly, at page lllb. the story runs thus, beginning at the second stanza of ' Passus Tercius.' 141 5.] LONDON BRIDGE. 227 " The Mayr of londou was Redy bown, With all y e craftes of that Cite Alle clothyd in red, thorugh out y e town A semely sight it was to se : To y e black Hethe thanue rod he, And spredde y e way on euery syde ; Xx ti M 1 . men inyght wel se Oure comely kynge for to abyde. Wot ze right well that thus it was Gloria tibi Trinitas. The kyng from Eltham sone he nam, Hyse presoners with hym dede brynge ; And to y e Blake Heth ful sone he cam, He saw london with oughte lesynge. ' Heill Ryall london,' seyde our kyng, ' Crist y e kepe from euere care !' And thanne zaf it his blessyng And preied to Crist that it well fare. Wot ze right well that thus it was, Gloria tibi Trinitas. The Mair hym mette with moche honour With alle y e Aldermen with oughte lesyng ; ' Heyl,' seide y 6 Mair, ' thou couquerour, The grace of God with the doth spryng : Heil Duk, Heil Prynce, Heil comely Kyng; Most worthiest Lord vndir Crist ryall, Heil rulere of Remes with oughte lettyng, Heil flour of knyghthood now ouer all.' Wot ze right well that thus it was, Gloria tibi Trinitas. ' Here is come youre Citee all Zow to worchepe, and to magnyfye ; 228 CHRONICLES OF A. D. To welcome zow bothe gret and small, With zow euere more to lyue and dye.' ' Graunt mercy Sires,' oure kyng 'gan say, And toward london he 'gan ryde ; This was vp on Seynt Clementys day They welcomed hym on euery side. Wot ze right well that thus it was, Gloria tibi Trinitas. The lordes of Fraunce thei 'gan say then, ' Jngelond is nought as we wene ; Jt farith by these Englyssh men, As it doth by a swarm of bene : Jngeland is lik an hyve with jnne, There fleeres makith vs full evell to wryng, Tho ben there arrowes sharpe and kene, Thorugh oure barneys they do vs styng.' Wot ze right well that thus it was, Gloria tibi Trinitas. To london Brygge thanne rood oure kyng, The processions there they mette hym ryght ; ' Ave Rex Anglorum,' thei 'gan syng, ' Flos Mundi,' thei seide, ' goddys knyght.' To london Brigge whan he com right, Vp on the gate ther stode on hy A gyaunt, that was full grym of myght, To teche the Frensshe men curtesy. Wot ze right well that thus it was, Gloria tibi Trinitas. And at the Drawe brigge that is faste by, Two toures there were vp pight ; An Antelope and a Lyon stondyng hym by, Above them Seynt George oure lady's knyght. 1415.] LONDON BRIDGE. 229 Be syde hym many an Angell bright, ' Benedictus ' thei 'gan synge ; ' Qui venit in nomine domini, goddys knyght ' Gratia Dei with zow doth sprynge.' Wot ze right well that thus it was, Gloria tibi Trinitas." " Thus finish Lydgate's verses, so far as they relate to these Pageants on London Bridge ; but as they tell us nothing of the Royal display upon that occasion, let me remark to you, that we are told, in an Heraldical Manuscript in the Harleian Collection, No. 6079, folio 24 a, that 'At the cominge in of Kinge Henry the V th out of Fraunce into Englande, his coursers were trapped w th trappers of partye colours : scilicet, one syde blewe velute embroudered w th Antellopes sit- tinge vpon stayres w th longe flowers springinge be- twixt their horns.' Which trappings were, by the King's order, subsequently given to the Abbey of Westminster for the vestry, where they were con- verted into copes and other Ecclesiastical habits." " But before you quite shut up your account of these Pageants, my good Mr. Postern," said I, .as he came to a close, " let me say a word or two, touching those Royal supporters, which sat upon the columns on London Bridge; since there are many curious little points of Antiquity to be met with in the history of Heraldic bearings. The first use of an Antelope as a supporter to the King's Arms, is doubtfully hinted at in a Manuscript in the Harleian Library in the British Museum, No. 2259, as having been so 230 CHRONICLES OF A. D. ancient as the reign of King Richard II. ; though we are much more certain that King Henry IV. enter- tained a Pursuivant named Antelope, and probably adopted such an animal as his dexter supporter, from the family of Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, into which he married. The instance of a Lion also appearing as a supporter, is mentioned in Gough's ' Sepulchral Monuments,' which you have already quoted, volume ii., part ii., page 68, from the infor- mation of John Charles Brooke, Esq., Somerset Herald, who says that when Henry V. became King, he bore on the dexter side of his Arms, a Lion ram- pant guardant, and on the sinister, an Antelope. We read also that he bore an Antelope and a Swan, and two Antelopes ; and you may see all these excellently drawn and described in Mr. Thomas Willement's ' Regal Heraldry,' London, 1821, 4to., pages 21. 28. 30. 33. and 36." " Many thanks to you, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican," re- commenced my visitor, " for this most opportune display of your Heraldical learning : and, in returning to London Bridge, I must observe, that as all history is but a record of the evanescent scenes of human life, it must, of course, be formed of all those strong lights and shades which are so very conspicuous in its original ; and hence arises that striking contrast of events, which so frequently fills us with solemnity and awe. We retire, perchance, from a banquet to a prison, or from a triumph to an execution ; at least, such is the nature of the next event which I find for 1416-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 231 our Chronicles, for the Towers of London Bridge usually claimed a portion in most of the victims of the axe and the scaffold. The principles of the Lol- lards, as they were invidiously called, were then ra- pidly spreading ; and Sir John Oldcastle, commonly called the good Lord Cobham, was one of the most active leaders in the religious reform commenced by Wickliffe : as he was not only at a very considerable cost in collecting and transcribing his works, which he caused to be widely distributed, but he also main- tained many of his disciples as itinerant preachers throughout the country. Oldcastle had, however, es- caped from the power of the Clergy who had con- demned him as a heretic, and confined him in the Tower ; when King Henry being persuaded by them that he headed 20,000 Lollards for his destruction, he was attainted, and a large reward offered for his head : in confirmation of which Stow informs us, in his 'An- nals,' page 352, that on the ' viii day of October' 1416 ' was a Parchment -maker of Trill-melle Streete drawne, hanged, and headed, for that he had har- boured Sir John Oldcastle :' and the Harleian Chro- nicle, No. 565, page 77 a, adds, that his head ' was set upon London Bridge for tretory.' Another ob- scure person, most probably concerned in the same unhappy society, is also recorded as coming to a similar end : for, ' John Benet, Woolman,' says Stow, in the place I last cited, ' who had in London scat- tered sceduls full of sedition, was drawne, hanged, and beheaded on Michaelmas-day : ' and the Harleian 232 CHRONICLES OF [[A. D. Chronicle adds, that his head was also fixed upon London Bridge. " Our next ceremonial procession over this edifice was the solemn and splendid funeral of King Henry V. ; when that gallant Sovereign had departed this life, on Monday, the last day of August, 1422, at the Castle of Bois de Vinciennes, a short distance from Paris. That sumptuous spectacle is described in several places, although I do not find it mentioned either in the Life by Thomas of Elmham, or in that by Henry's Chaplain ; but Stow, in his ' Annals,' page 363, says that the Royal body arrived in London about the tenth of November, and so was conveyed by London Bridge through Cheapside, to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, where funereal exequies were performed; and thence it was carried and interred in Westminster Abbey. As the corse advanced in rich and solemn procession over the Bridge, it was truly a magnificent and imposing spectacle. On a royal chariot, deco- rated with cloth of gold like a bed of state, was laid a figure exactly representing the late King, habited in a robe of purple velvet, lined with ermine ; wearing an imperial diadem of gold and jewels on the head, and bearing in the hands, the regal sceptre, and the mound and cross. The face, which was painted ex- actly to resemble the life, was uncovered, and looking towards Heaven ; and on the bed lay a covering of red silk beaten with gold. The chariot was drawn by six stout horses, richly harnessed, with heraldic devices upon their housings : thus, the first bore the Arms 1422.] LONDON BRIDGE. 233 of St. George ; the second, of Normandy ; the third, those of King Arthur ; the fourth, those of St. Ed- ward the Confessor; the fifth, the coat of France, alone ; and the sixth, those of France and England quarterly. When the chariot passed through any town of eminence, a rich and costly canopy was held over it, by some of its more honourable attendants ; and it was surrounded by three hundred torch-bearers habited in white ; by five thousand men-at-arms on horseback in black armour, holding their spears re- versed ; and by a multitude of Lords bearing pennons, banners, and bannerolls ; whilst twelve captains went before carrying the King's achievement. After the body followed- the servants of the Household all in black ; then came James I., King of Scotland, as Chief Mourner, with the Princes and Lords of the Royal blood, in mourning habits ; and lastly, at the distance of two miles in the rear, followed Queen Katharine, no less honourably attended. " We learn, also, from a very interesting history of King Henry V. in English, contained in the Har- leian Manuscripts, No. 35, folio 138 a, that when the funeral ' should enter the Cittye, ten Bishopps, w th their pontificall adornments revested, and many Abbotts mytored, and other men of the Church in greate number, with a right great multitude of Citti- zens of the same Cittie, went out thereof to meet the Corps, and receaued it with due honnour. And all y e saide Spiritualls singinge, the officers accustomed in like case, conveyed the same Corps by London 234 CHRONICLES OP QA. D. Bridge, and by Lumbart Streete, thoroughe the Cheape vnto y e Cathedrall Churche of Saint Paule.' This life of King Henry is partly a translation from the Latin of Titus Livius, an Historian of his reign, who called himself by that name, and the French Chronicles of Enguerrant. The other particulars you will find set down in Stow, as I have already cited him, and in two Manuscript volumes of Heraldic ceremonies, in the Harleian Library, No. 2076, folio 6 b, and No. 6079, folio 23 b ; and in finishing our imperfect notices of this reign, let me close with al- most the very words of the good old London Historian to whom we are so much indebted ' Thus this most victorious and renowned King entred the way decreed for every creature, in the flower and most lusty time of his age, to wit, when he was six and twenty years old, when he had reigned nine years, and five months with glory.' " You must, doubtless, worthy Mr. Barbican, well remember the discord which Shakspeare represents to have existed between the Protector, Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester ; and Cardinal Beau- fort, Bishop of Winchester : and the fray which takes place between their serving-men in blue coats and tawny coats, on Tower-hill. This is in his ' First Part of Henry the Sixth/ Act 1, Scene 3; but we learn from Fabyan's ' Chronicle,' page 413, that they once disturbed London Bridge with a brawl that wore a much darker aspect. It was customary in the more ancient days of this City, that the Lord 1425.] LONDON BRIDGE. 235 Mayor should be elected on the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, on the 28th of October ; and that on the day following he should be sworn in at Westminster. It was then, during the subsequent banquet of Sir John Coventry, Citizen and Mercer, that the Protector sent for him in great haste, and commanded him to watch the City securely during the night following ; and on Tuesday, the 30th of Oc- tober, for, in 1425, St. Simon and St. Jude's day happened on a Sunday, and therefore the Lord Mayor was elected the day after, about nine in the morning, some of the Bishop's servants came from his Palace on the Bankside, to enter at the Bridge Gate, when the warders, as they were commanded, kept them out by force. Upon which repulse, they retired in great discontent, and, gathering together a larger body of Archers and men-at-arms than that which kept the gate, assaulted it as a hostile City. All London was immediately alarmed; the Citizens shut their shops and hastened down to the Bridge in great multitudes ; and a conflict would speedily have commenced, had it not been for the prudence and mediation of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, Henry Chicheley, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, and the Prince of Portugal ; who rode between the Protector and the Bishop, eight several times, ere they could bring them to any agreement ; until, at length, they both consented to refer their dispute to the decision of John Planta- genet, Duke of Bedford, and Regent of France. The quarrel was, however, not concluded until the fol- 236 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. lowing Easter, which began on the last day of March. In defending London Bridge, the Protector appeared to be only retaliating upon the Bishop ; for, in the third article of his charges against him, he stated, that once, when he was quietly riding to attend the King, the Bishop attempted his death at the Bridge foot, by assembling archers and soldiers in Southwark; by setting up engines to stop his way ; by drawing the chain, used in ancient fortifications, across the Bridge ; and by placing men in windows and turrets to cast down stones upon the heads of him and his followers. " I have already mentioned to you, that there were several Towers erected on London Bridge, both for defence and ornament ; although we have not any au- thentic historical notice concerning them, until we arrive at the year 1426, when Stow tells us in his ' Survey,' volume i., pages 61, 65, that the Tower at the North end of the Drawbridge, over which the heads of Traitors were wont to be set, was then began to be newly built, in the Mayoralty of Sir John Raynewell, Citizen and Fishmonger ; who bore for his Arms, Parted per pale indented Argent and Sable, a Chevron Gules. He laid one of the first stones of the edifice, and the Bridge-Master, with John Arnold and John Higham, the Sheriffs, laid the others. Upon each of these four stones, the name IHESUS was engraven in fair Roman characters, and at the rebuilding of this Gate and Tower in April 1577, they were laid up as Memorials in the Bridge House. The Drawbridge 1428.] LONDON BRIDGE. 237 over which it was erected, was, at this period, readily raised up or lowered, that ships might pass up the River to Queenhithe ; which was, during the use of this convenience, a principal strand for their lading and unlading, as being in the centre and heart of the City. " In the year 1428, we find a short, but certain proof, that the passing beneath London Bridge was not less dangerous, than it is at present. You will see the circumstance mentioned in Stow's ' Annals,' page 369, but I prefer giving it you in the words of the often-mentioned Harleian Manuscript, No. 565, folio 87 b, which was, very probably, the original authority of the good old Chronicler. ' Also this same yere,' says the record, ' the viij day of No- uember, the Duke of Norfolk, with many a gentil man, squyer, and yoman, tok his barge at Seynt Marye Ouerye be twen iiij and v of y e belle a yens nyzt, and proposyd to passe thorugh London Bregge. Where of the forseid barge, thorugh mysgouer- nance of stearyng, fell vp on the pyles and ouer- whehnyd. The whyche was cause of spyllyng many a gentil man and othere ; the more ruthe was ! But as God wolde, y e Duke him self and too or iij othere gentyl men, seying that myschief, leped vp on y e pyles, and so were saved thorugh helpe of them that weren a bove y e .Brigge with castyng downe of ropes.' The Duke of Norfolk, to whom this misfortune hap- pened, was John Mowbray, the second of that title, 238 CHRONICLES OF [[A. D. who had served under King Henry V. in France, and who died October the 19th, 1432. " We next come down to the April of 1431, when an association was formed at Abingdon, in Berkshire, headed by one William Mandeville, a weaver, and Bailiff of the Town, who entitled himself Jack Sharp, of Wigmore's land, in Wales. The Protector took instant order for his apprehension, and when exa- mined, he confessed that it was intended ' to have made Priests' heads as plenty as Sheeps' heads, ten for a penny.' His own, however, did not remain on his shoulders long after, for he was executed as a traitor, at Abingdon, and his head erected on London Bridge, whilst his companions were also hanged and quar- tered in other places. You find this fact related by Fabyan in his ' Chronicle,' page 422. " From these scanty notices of misery, infatuation, and crime, it is with much delight that we turn to a spectacle of the greatest magnificence, and the most distinguished character, which London Bridge ever witnessed : the entrance of King Henry VI. to the City, after his Coronation as King of France, in the Church of Notre Dame, at Paris, on Friday, the 7th of December, 1431. On the 9th of the February fol- lowing, he landed at Dover, and upon Thursday, the 21st of the same month, he was met by the Mayor and Corporation of London at Blackheath. Of their ceremony in conducting him towards the City, and the numerous Pageants which they had prepared to meet him at London Bridge, I shall now proceed to give 1431.] LONDON BRIDGE. 239 you an account, extracted from Alderman Fabyan's ' Chronicle,' volume ii., pages 423 425, and from Lydgate's Poem on the { Comynge of y e Kynge out of Fraunce to London ; ' of which a very fair copy is pre- served in that Harleian Manuscript which I have al- ready quoted, No. 565, folio 114b. The verses by Lydgate are not very common in any form, and they have, as I think, been but once printed in connec- tion with the history of London Bridge, which is in Malcolm's ' Londinum Redivivum,' already cited, vo- lume ii., page 397; and, although you may conceive that I quote too much of them, I cannot deny myself the pleasure of beginning at the very commencement, since it is but little less beautiful than Chaucer's im- mortal Tales. Listen, then, Mr. Barbican, I pray you listen ; if you have ears for either Poesy or Romance. ' Towarde the ende of wyndy Februarie, Whanue' Phebus was in y e fyssh ronue Out of the signe whiche callyd is Aquarie ; Newe kalendas were entred, and begonne Of Marches comyng, and the mery sonne Vp on a thorsday, shed hys bemys bright Vp on londou, to make them glad and light. The stormy reynes of all there heuynesse Were passyd a way, and alle there greuaunce ; For the syxte Henry, rote of there gladnesse, Ther herty's joye, the worldis suffissaunce, By trewe assent was crownyd king of Fraunce. The heven reioysyng the day of his repaire, Made at his comynge the wether to be so faire. 240 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. A tynie J trowe of God for hym prouydyd, Jn alle the heuenes there was no clowde" sayne ; From other dayes that day was so deuydyd, And fraunchisyd from mystys and from rayne. The erthe attempred, the wyndes smothe and playne, The Citezeines thorughe out the Citte Hallow'd that day with gret solemnnyte. And, lyk for Dauid after his victorie, Reioysyd was al Jerusalem ; So this Cite" with laude, pris, and glorie, For ioye mustred like the sonne" beme, To gene ensample thorughe out this reem. Al of assent who can so couceyue, There noble Kyng were glad to resceyue. There clothyng was of colour ful couenable, The noble Mair was clad in red velvet ; The Shireves, the Aldermen ful notable In furryd clokes, the colour of Scarlet; In stately wyse whanne 1 they were met Ech one were wel horsyd and mad no delay, But with there Maire rood forthc in there way. The Citezeyns, ech one of the ditte", (In there entent that they were pure and clene) Chose them of white a ful faire lyuerye, In euery crafte" as it was wel sene : To showe the trowthe that they dede mene Toward the kyng, hadde made them feithfully Jn sundry deuyses embrowdyd richely. And for to remembre of other alyeus, First Geneweys, though thei were strangeres Florantynys and Venycie"ns, And Esterlynge*s clad in there manures ; Conveyd with serj aunts aud othere officeVes, 1431.] LONDON BRIDGE. 241 Statly horsyd after the Mair ridyng Passyd the subbarbes to mete with the Kyng. To the Blake heth whanne 1 they dyd atteyne The Mair, of prudence in especiall, Made them hove in renges tweyne A strete be twen ech party lik a wall ; All clad in whit, and the most principall A fore in red, with the Mair rydyng Tyl tyine 1 that he saw the Kyng comyng. Thanne with his sporys he tok his hors a non That to be holde it was a noble sight How lyk a man he to the Kyng is gon, Right well cheryd of herte" glad and light ; Obeinge to hym as hym ought of fight, And after that he kunnyngly a braid, And unto the King even thus he sayd. ' Souereigne Lord and noble Kyng ze be welcome out of youre Rem of Fraunce in to this zoure blessyd Rem of Jngelond, and in especial vn to zoure most notable Citee of London, other wise called youre chambre ; we thankynge Almyghty God of the good and gracious acheuyng of zoure crowne of Fraunce : Besechynge of his mercyful grace to sende zow prosperite. and many yeris to the comfort of alle zoure lovyng pepille.* ' But for to tellen alle the circumstauncys Of euery thyng, shewyd in centents, (sentence) Noble deuyses, diuerse ordinauncya Conveid by Scripture with ful gret excellence, Al to declare y have none eloquence ; Wherfore y pray to alle tho that it schalle rede For to correcte, where as they se nede,' " " So came the procession to London Bridge ; and R 242 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. I very much suspect that the Corporation of our good City was so economical, as to entertain King Henry with some of the very same pageants which it had displayed to his father seventeen years before : for we find Fabyan stating, that ' when the Kyng was comen to y e Bridge, there was deuised a mightie Gyaunt, standyng with a sweard drawen.' However, Lydgate will tell the story in the more interesting terms, and he continues thus : . ' First, when they passyd, was y e Fabour Entring y c Brigge" of this noble Towne, There was a peler reysyd lik a Tour, And theron stod a sturdy chanipyoun ; Of look and chere 1 stern as a lyoun, His swerd, vp rered prowdly, 'gan manace Alle foreyn enemyes from the Kyng to enchace. And in defens of his estat Rialle The geaunt wolde abyde ech auenture ; And alle assautes that were inarcyall For his sake he proudly wolde endure ; In token wher of he hadde a long scripture On either syde, declaryng his entent, Whyche sayde* thus by good avisement. ' Inimicos ejus induam confusione.' Psalm cxxxii. 18. ' Alle those that ben enemys to the Kyng J schal them clothe withe confucion : Make hym myghti by vertuos leuyng, His mortall fone to oppressen and here a down ; And hym to encreasen as Criste's champion, Alle myschevys from him to abrigge With the grace of God at the cntryng of this Brigge.' 1431.] LONDON BRIDGE. 243 Too Antilopis stondyug on either syde, With the Armes of Jngeloud and of Fraunce ; Jn token that God schalle for hym provide As he hath title by iuste eneritaunce, To regne in pees, plente, and alle plesaunce : Cesyng of werre, that men myzte ryden and gon, As trewe liegis there hertys mad bethe oon.' " ' And when/ says Fabyan, ' the Kyng was passed the first gate, and was comen to the Draw- bridge, there was ordeined a goodly tower, hanged and apparailed with silke and clothes of arras, in most riche wise.' Of which building thus speaks Lydgate. ' Forthermore, so as the Kyng 'gan ryde, Myddes of the Brrgge ther was a toure on lofte ; The Lord of Lordcs beynge ay his gyde As he hath be, and yit wil be full ofte : The toure araied with velwetty softe, Clothys of gold, silk, and topicerie, As apperteynyth to his Regalye. And at his comyng, of excellent beaute" Benygne of port, most womanly of chere, There issued out Emperesses thre, Ther hair displaced as Phebus in his sphere ; With crownettys of gold, and stone's clere, At whos out comyng thei gaf swyche a light That the beholders were stonyed in there sight. Nature. The first of them was callyd Nature, As sche that hathe" vndyr here demayne Man, beest, and foul, and euery creature, With jnne the bondys of here goldyn cheyue : Eke heuene, and erthe, and euery creature, 244 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. This Emperesse of custurn dothe embrace ; Grace. And next her com her S lister callyd Grace. Passyng famous and of gret reuerence, Most desyryd in alle" regiouns ; For where that euere shewith here presence She bryngith gladnes to Citees and to townys ; Of all well fare she halt the possessionys : For, y dar sey, prosperite in no place No while abidith, but if there be Grace. Jn tokene that Grace shal longe -continue, Vn to the Kyng she shewyd here ful benygue ; Fortune. And next here com the Emperesse Fortune, To hym aperyng with many a noble signe And Eialle tokenys, to shewe that he was digne Of God disposyd, as lust ordeygne Vp on his hed to wereCTOwne"s tweyne. Natura, These thre Ladies, al of on entent, Gratia, Thre goostly gyfte"s, heuynly and deuyne, et For- Vn to the Kyng a non they dyd present, tuna. And to his hignesse they dyd a non enclyne : And what they weren pleyuly to determyne, Grace gaf hym first at his comynge Two rych6 gyfte"s, Sciens and Cunnynge. Nature gaf hyin eke Strengthe and Fayrnesse, For to be louyd and dred of euery wight ; Fortune gaf hym eke Prosperite and Richesse, With this scripture aperyng in ther sight, To hym applied of verey due right : ' First vndirstonde, and wilfully precede, And longe to regne,' the Scripture seide in dede. ' Intends prosperitate procede et regna' ' This is to mene, who so vndirstondith a right, Thou schalt by Fortune haue long proaperite ; 1431.] JJONDON BRIDGE. 245 And by Nature thou shall have strenghthe and might, Forth to precede in long /elicit e ; And Grace also hath grauntyd vn to the, fertuosly long in thi Roialle Citee ffith Sceptre and crowne to regne in equyte' On the right hand of these Emperesses Stode vij madenys, very celestiall ; Like Phebus bemys shone there golden tresses, Vp on there hedes ech hauyng a crownall : Of port and chere" semyng immortall, In sight transsendyng alle erthe"ly creatures, So angelik they weren of there figures. All clad in white, in token of clennesse, Liche pure Virgyne"s as in there ententys, Schewynge outward an heuenly fresh brightnesse ; Stremyd with sonnys weren alle there garmentys. A forum prouydyd for pure jnnocentys, Most columbyne of chere and of lokyng, Mekly roos vp at the comyng of the Kyng. They hadde on bawdrikes al on saphir hewe Goynge outward, 'gan the kyng salue ; Hym presentyng with ther gyfte"s newe, Lik as thei thought it was to hym duwe : Whiche gostly gifte's here in ordre 'suwe Down descendyng as siluer dewe from heuene, Al grace includyd with jnne the gifte's sewene. These riall giftes ben of vertu most, Goostly corages most soueraygnely delite ; The gifte's callyd of the Holy Goost Outward figuryd by seven dowys (doves') white ; Seyenge to hym, lik as clerked write, ' God the fulfill? with intelligence, And with a spirit of goostly sapience,' 246 CHHONICLES OP QA. D. ' Impleat te Deus Spiritu sapienfuc, et intellectus, Spiritu consilii, et fortitudinis, scientia;, et pietatis, et spiritu timoris Domini.' ' God sende also, to thi moost availe, The to present from all heuynesse, A spirit of strenghthe, and of good counsaele, Ofcunnynif, drede,pite, and of lownesse.' Thus thise ladies 'gau there gyftes dresse, Graciously at there out comyng, By influence light vp ou the kyng. These Euiperesseshadde on there left syde Othere vij Virgines pure and dene ; By accordauuce continually to a hyde, (shining stars) Al clad iu white samete, (satin~) ful of sterres shene ; And to declar6 what they wolde" mene Vn to the Kyng with ful gret reuereuce, These wreten there gyftes shortly iu sentence : ' Induat te Domimis Corond Glorite, Sceptro Cietnentiee, Gladio JustiticE, Pallia Prudentice, Scuto Fidei, GaKd Salutis, et Vinculo Pads' 1 God the endue with a crowne of glorie, And with a Sceptre of clennesse and pit e ,- And with a sheld of right and victorie, And with a mantel of prudence clad thou be : A shelde offeithfor to defende thee, An helme of helthe wrought to thine encres, Girt with a girdell of loue and perfect pees' These vij Virgynes of sight most heuenly With herte, body, and handys reioysyng, And of there cheres aperid murely, For the Kynge's gracious horn comyng : And for gladnesse they be gan to synge Most augelik, with heueuly annouye, This same roundell which y shall now specifie. 1433.] LONDON BRIDGE. 247 ' Souerayne lord wolcome to zoure Citee, Wolcome oure Joye, and our hertys plesaunce ; Wolcome, wolcome, right wolcome mote ye be, Wolcome oure gladnes, wolcome oure suffisaunce : Syngyng to fore thi Rialle mageste We saye ofherte with oughten variaunce Souereign lord wolcome, wolcome oure Joye, Wolcome you be, vnto your owne netce Troye.' ' Mayr, Citezines, and al the commonte, At zoure horn comyng newe out of Fraunce, By grace releuyd of there olde greuaunce, Synge this day with gret solempnyte' Thus resceyuyd, an esy paas rydyng The King is entred in to yis Citee.' " The King next passed on to the Conduit in Corn- hill, where he was awaited by other Pageants equally sumptuous and interesting ; but as these are out of our province, we shall mention them no farther. " There seems to have gone abroad a singular con- ception, that the Chapel of St. Thomas on London Bridge did not exist beyond the time of King Henry the Sixth ; in the 23rd year of whose reign, 1458, there were four Chaplains serving in it; though it was originally founded but for two Priests, four Clerks, and their officers, independently of the several chantries, or revenues, left to the establishment, for the singing of daily mass for the souls of its benefactors. The income of the Chapel, however, more than ten years before that period, was consi- dered as worthy of some inquiry on the part of a neighbouring ecclesiastic ; for we find, in Newcourt's 248 CHRONICLES OF \_A. D. ' Repertorium,' which I have already cited, volume i., page 396, the following particulars concerning it. ' In the year 1433/ says this Author, ' Sir John Brockle, then Mayor of London, upon a controversie that was then like to arise, between the said Mayor and Commonalty of London, and the Bridge-Masters on the one part, and Richard Morysby, Archdeacon of London, and Rector of St. Magnus Church, on the other, about the oblations and other spiritual profits, which were made in a certain Chapel, called the Chapel of St. Thomas on the Bridge, within the precincts of this parish ; there was a composition, or agreement, then made, and confirmed by Robert Fitzhugh, then Bishop of London, whereby (inter alia), it was agreed, that the Chaplains of the Chapel, and their successors, should receive all the profits of the Chapel to the use of the same, and the Bridge, and should pay yearly at Michaelmas the sum of xxd. to the said Church of St. Magnus, and to the Rector of the same, and to his successors for ever.' " And now that we are speaking of the property appertaining to London Bridge, it will be a fit place to give you some idea whence it was in general de- rived ; I say, in general, because the inquiry into all its sources would be not only difficult, but almost impossible. Stow tells you in his ' Survey,' volume i., page 59, that after the erection of buildings upon London Bridge, ' many charitable men gave lands, tenements, or sums of money, towards the mainte- nance thereof: all which was sometimes noted, and. 1436.] LONDON BRIDGE. 249 in a table fair written for posterity remaining in the Chapel, till the same Chapel was turned to a dwelling- house, and then removed to the Bridge-House.' The honest old Antiquary states, however, that he would willingly have given a copy of this table of bene- factors, but that he could not procure a sight of it ; for, as he was known to be a notable restorer of de- cayed and dormant charities, he was occasionally re- fused admission to such records as would have en- abled him to compile a lasting register of all the pious gifts and benefactions in London. He never hesitated to reprove unfaithful Executors, whether Corporations, or private persons, some of which he caused to perform the testaments which they proved ; whilst the dishonesty of others he left on record to fu- turity. It is then not to be wondered at, if he often- times met with a repulse instead of information ; ig- norance opposed him in one quarter, and interest in another ; and he might very well have taken up the significant, though homely complaint of Ames, when he was composing his History of Printing, ' Some of those persons treats folks, as if they came as spies into their affairs.' We have, however, some parti- culars of the Bridge property, as well collected by Stow, as gathered since his time ; and, firstly, I must notice to you, that at page 60 of his ' Survey,' he states that ' John Feckenham, Civis et Bracciator,' Citizen and Brewer, or perhaps, Corn-Meter, ' by his will, dated May llth, 1436, bequeathed to the Mayor and Commonalty of the City of London, a Tenement 250 CHRONICLES OP [A. D. with a Shop and Garden, in the Parish of St. Augus- tine Pappey,' that is to say in St. Mary at Axe, ' between the tenement and lands of the Bridge of the City of London on the East, &c. To have to the Mayor and Commonalty of London, ad usum et sustentationem operis Pontis prcedictis in perpetuum,' for the use and support of the work of the aforesaid Bridge for ever, ' on condition that the Chaplains of the Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, on the Bridge, celebrating, have his soul, apd also the souls of the late Lord Richard II., King of England, Edward Boteler, knight, and the Lady Anne his wife, Richard Storme, and Alice his wife, and the soul of Joan, his' the said Feckenham's ' wife, perpetually recommended in their prayers/ You may see both the original and an authentic copy of this Will, and that which I shall hereafter mention, in the Bishop of London's Registry in St. Paul's Cathedral. The Chamber in which they are kept, is entered through the Vestry on the Northern side of the nave ; whence a flight of dark winding stairs, lighted only by loop-holes, leads you to a small square room, surrounded by oaken presses containing the original Wills tied up in bundles. The Calendar, or Index to the Register Books, extends from 1418 to 1599 ; all after that year being kept at the Bishop's Consistory Court in Great Knight- Ryder Street. It is a small folio volume, having a parchment cover, anciently tied with strings, and is written in a small neat black text upon parchment, though now much soiled by time and the continual dust of the 1436-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 251 chamber. If ever you visit this Registry, however, I would not have you trust too much to this Calendar ; for in referring to the Will which I have now quoted, . its volume and page are called ' Moore, prima pars, folio iiij. ;' though the true reference is '3 Moore, folio cccclxij a.' This volume, Moore, is so called from the first Will entered in it, and it contains registers- of Wills from the year 1418 to 1438, beautifully written in a small black text upon parchment, in a very thick square folio. " Another benefactor to London Bridge mentioned by Stow, was one John Edwards, Citizen and Butcher, who ' gave by his Will, dated the 8th of November, 1442, to John Hatherle, Mayor of the City of London, and to John Herst and Thomas Cook, Masters of the work of the Bridge of London, for ever, his tene- ment, with a garden, in the Parish of St. Botolph, Aldgate, situate between the tenement iately John Cornwallys's on the South, &c., and extending from the King's Street leading from Aldgate towards the Tower on the West, &c. towards the sustaining and reparation of the said Bridge.' You will find this Will in the Register called 4 Stacy, now Prorvet, folio ciiij b, which extends from 1438 to 1449 ; though the Calendar marks it as entered at folio xxv. Both of these Wills are in Latin. " Without, at present, referring to the multitudes of books and records of Bridge property, which must exist in the office of the Comptroller of its Estates, I will give you an abstract of one of these volumes, 252 CHBONICLES OP A. D. of which a Manuscript copy is to be found in the Harleian Collection in the British Museum, No. 6016, folio 152. This book is entitled c A Repertory by way 'of Survey, of all the forren landes belonging lo London Bridge, to geather with all the quitt rents due to, and other rents due from the same : ' and the industrious mortal who copied it out has added, ' Borrowed the booke21. ffiebr. 1653 of Captaine Richard Lee, Clarke of the Bridge-house.' The Survey is written in corrupt and abbreviated Latin, which, from the expressions which are made use of, would appear like the lan- guage of the fifteenth century ; and it contains many curious particulars of the names of persons and places, not elsewhere to be found. I purpose, how- ever, giving you only a general statement of the amount of Bridge property in different places, with a few notices and extracts from the more interesting parts ; reminding you, that these abstracts have never yet been printed. In the Parish of St. Andrew the Bishop, London Bridge possessed 20 huts or cabins, occupied by the Brotherhood of Friars Minors, which were valued at 12. 3s. 4d. Then follows an entry of ' Lands and Meadows belonging to the Bridge of London without the bar of Southwark, at Le Loke, in Hattesham, Camerwelle, Lewesham, and Stratford.' In Lambeth field without Southwark, or St. George's bar, 19 acres of land, lying towards Newington and Lambeth, held of the Prior of Bermondsey, for the yearly rent of 14*. IQd. At Le Loke, that is to say, partly on the site of the New Kent Road, and 1436.] LONDON BRIDGE. 253 on part of which was, doubtless, built that row of houses in Blackman Street, now called Bridge-house- Place, 4 acres of arable land, called Longland, and 2 1 acres and 1 rood of meadow land, held by the yearly rent of 5s. lOrf., payable at the Feast of St. Michael. Also, on the South part of King Street, 2 acres of arable, and 2 acres of meadow land, called Carpenterishawe, held of the Archbishop of Canter- bury, at the yearly rent of 6d., payable at the Feast of St. Michaiel the Archangel. Also near St. Thomas Wateringgs, on the South part of King's Street, 7 acres of arable, and 2 acres of meadow land, called Fourecrofts, by the yearly rent of 4*. 8d., payable at the Feast of St. Michael, and at Easter ; another piece of land lying towards Hattesham, perhaps Hatcham Manor, containing 10 acres of arable, and 2 acres and 1 rood of meadow land, called Tevatree, was held for the same sum. At Le Steerte, near the wall of Bermondsey, one acre of meadow ground, for the rent of 2d. per annum ; and at Hattesham, at the entrance of the Marsh, 6 acres of arable land enclosed by a ditch, were held of the heirs of Simon de Kyme, for the rent of one penny per annum. In Lewisham, London Bridge seems to have had large possessions, since they were let out to farm at the immense rent of 3. 4*. ; and to the property of the Manor was attached the ancient feudal rights of heriot, taking of the best beast, when a new tenant came on the estate; wardship, the holding and enjoying the profits of a tenant's land, who was a minor ; marriage, 254 CHRONICLES OP [A. D. claiming assistance from all the tenants once, to furnish a dowry for the Lord's eldest daughter ; Re- liefs and Escheats, the payment of a certain sum on the entry of a new tenant, and the return of for- feited estates. The land itself was divided, and the original rents were as follow. " ' 24 and 11 acres of arable land, called the Gregge- house, 5 acres of wood, in two groves, 42 acres of arable land, and 2 acres of meadow land, held of the Abbot of Gaunt, at the yearly rent of 14*. $\d ; 22 acres held of the heirs of Lord John de Backwell, Knight, at the yearly rent of 3*. ; 10 acres, and 10 acres in the field called Edwinesfelde, held of the Abbot of Stratford, at the yearly rent of Wd. ; 2 acres held of the heirs of Lord William Bonquer, Knight, at the yearly rent of 8d. ; 1 \ acre lying in the road near Depeford Bregge, held of the heirs of William Clekots, at the yearly rent of \\d. ; 3 acres in a croft near Leuesham Street, held of the heirs of Henry Boyding, and William Atteford, at the yearly rent of 2d. ; 1 \ acre at Rombeigh, for which nothing is paid; 10 acres in the field called Brodefelde, held of the heirs of William de Hinntingfeld, Knight, at the yearly rent of 1*. 8d. Item. There is owing for the said Manor to the heirs of Nicholas de Farndon, the yearly rent of Id. At Leuesham, a water-mill, with 2 acres of pasture belonging to it, held of divers persons for the rent of 1*. 5d. and half a quarter of corn out of the tolls yearly, and the value of the tenths, from this time forth for ever.' 1436.]] LONDON BRIDGE. 255 " The possessions of London Bridge, at Stratford, have been already referred to, but for the sake of per- spicuity, I repeat them, and they were as follow : - One water-mill, called ' Saynesmelle,' and four "acres of meadow land belonging to the same ; ' whereof one acre lies within the close of the said mill, and four roods opposite to it on the East ; and they are every where planted round with willows.' One acre and one rood of meadow land lie near ' Wyldemersh- bregge,' and are called ' Horslese.' They are held of the heirs of the Lord Richard de Playz, Knight, for the yearly rent of <1. 17*- Also at Stratford are ten acres of meadow-land held of the same, and for the same rent : whereof four acres are adjoining to the mill-pond called ' Spileman's Melle/ and four acres are lying near to the meadow called ' Gryggewyche's Mead,' and adjoin, in like manner, to the same mill- stream. And one acre lies near the Bridge called ' Wildenmersshbregge,' and is enclosed by willows ; and three roods of the same meadow lie near ' Goly- nant/ and one acre and one rood of the same meadow are lying in one piece, adjoining to the mill-stream of ' Saynesmelle.' At Royeshope, is one acre of meadow land, formerly held by John Breggewrythe, at the yearly rent of 2*. which is held, &c. as aforesaid. Also there are of the same, 1| rood near Horslese, origin- ally bought by Roger Atte-vyne, and John Sterre, then Keepers of the Bridge, which are held of the heirs of Thomas le Belevere, for the annual rent of Irf.' The Vicar of West-Ham also held one acre of 256 CHRONICLES OF [A.D. meadow, assigned to him for his tythe for the whole meadow ; and 13*. 4d, were paid to him yearly, as tythe for the two mills. At Stratford, also, was ano- ther water-mill belonging to London Bridge, called ' Spylemanne's Melle,' which was held of the heirs of Lawrance Stede, for the payment of Id. yearly; which mill being of Sutler's estate, tythes were paid for it by that estate, and it was therefore free for ever. There were also four acres of meadow and pasture belonging to it. All the foregoing were, at the time of this survey, let out to farm by London Bridge. " Such were some of its possessions out of the me- tropolis ; and I now proceed to notice that more inte- resting part of the volume, entitled ' Quit-rents of London Bridge, issuing from divers tenements of London and Southwark, according as they lie in different Pa- rishes ; and, firstly, of its property in the Parish of St. Magnus the Martyr.' " ' Three shops, with galleries built upon them, now held by Robert Kots and Lawrence Schrouesbury, Glovers, standing at the Bridge stairs towards Lon- don, with the houses belonging to London Bridge on the South side. They were formerly belonging to the Fraternity called ' Le Salue,' in the Church afore- said. Two shops with galleries built thereupon, held by Peter Wydynton, Spicer, belonging to the same Fraternity, which are situated by the same stairs, between the way leading down to the common sewer on the South ; the tenements belonging to the same Fraternity on the North, the tenements of John 1436.] LONDON BRIDGE. 257 Zakesle on the East, and the King's road on the North ; and they owe yearly to the Bridge of London, 3*.' Another Tenement, held by Henry Ziuele, Mason, paid 5*. : and it was situate between the King's Road on the East, and the Oyster Gate on the West. Another Tenement paid 5 marks, 3. 6s. 8d. ; it stood ( at the corner opposite to St. Magnus' Church,' between the King's Road towards ' Byllyngesgate' on the South, and the King's Road, called ' Brigge- streete,' on the West. It belonged to a certain per- petual Chantry in St. Magnus' Church, for the soul of Thomas le Bener; also belonging to the same Chantry, and standing about the same spot, was a tavern, which paid to the Bridge 2s. 6d. yearly, and the shop of the same paid 1*. 3d. Certain other shops and tenements belonging to Richard, the son of John Home, perhaps the eminent Town-Clerk of that name, whom I have already mentioned, paid 2. of yearly rent; and they were lying near the narrow way called Rederes lane on the East, in the Parishes of St. Magnus and St. Roth'i. A house belonging to the Priory and Convent of St. Mary, in Southward paid 1*. : it stood between Oystergate on the East ; and the houses belonging to St. Magnus' Church on the West ; and extended from the King's Road called ' Stokfissmongeres Rewe,' on the North, down to the River Thames on the South. Another house in the Bridge Street, standing by that of John Somervyle, the Goldsmith, paid 8*. 9rf. to the Bridge; as did also an adjoining shop and house ; thus making the 258 CHRONICLES OF []A. D. whole Bridge Rents in St. Magnus* Parish amount to 7- 8*. lid. per annum. I have been the more parti- cular in detailing the property of London Bridge in this part of City, because it in some measure illus- trates the ancient state of it ; but I shall be much more brief, and, I dare say, much more to your content, in speaking of its possessions in the other parishes mentioned in this Manuscript. " ' In the Parish of St. Botolph, near Byllynges- gate/ the Bridge owned the following : " ' One Tenement in the King's Street leading to ' Byllyngesgate/ 16*. One Tenement, a Granary, or Brewery, with twt> Shops in the same, I2d. Total 17*- " ' In the Parish of St. Mary atte Hulle.' One Messuage on ' Byllyngesgate' Quay, called the ' Bole- heued,' ll.y. 8d. The Priory and Convent of the Holy Trinity on the Quay called ' Treyerswarfe,' 6*. 8d. The house of William Walworth in the narrow way leading to ' Treyerswarfe/ 3*. 4d. Total 1. Is. 8d. " ' In the Parish of St. Dunstan the Bishop, towards the Tower of London.' A Tenement called ' Cokeden- halle,' standing ' at the corner of the narrow way called Martelane,' on the East, and the Tenements belonging to St. Dunstan's Church on the West, and the King's Road called ' le Tourstreete' on the South,' 8*. A Tene- ment adjoining the same, 7s. A Tenement belonging to John Atte Vyne, son and heir of William Atte Vyne, standing near 'the narrow way called Mengehouslane/ 3*. A Tenement belonging to ' Gyhalle/ standing 1436.] LONDON BRIDGE. 259 between the corner of the narrow way called ' le Chirchelane/ Eastward, and the foregoing, 4*. 8d. The House of Andrew the Canon, standing West of the foregoing, 4*. 8d. Tenements of John Pyebaker, be- longing to the same Canon, 2*. 6d. ; of Alie. Bemehoo, belonging to the same Canon, 2s. 6d. ; of John Morton, Clerk, in the corner of the Church-yard of St. Dunstan's, near the narrow passage leading to the Tower, 4s. Sd. ; of Isabella Rotheryng and her sister, standing by the Thames, 2s. Total \. 19*. " ' In the Parish of All Saints de Berkyngcherch.' A Tenement of John Longe, the Fishmonger, standing between the Tenements of London Bridge, on the East, the Tenements of Walter Denny, the Fish- monger, on the West, and ' le Tourstreete' on the North, 3*. " ' In the Parish of St. Andrew Hubert in Est- chepe.' A corner Tenement held by Richard Croydon, standing by the said Church on the North, between the narrow way adjoining, and the King's way called ' Seyntandrewys-lane' on the West, 12*. " ' In the Parish of St. Margaret in Brigge Streete.' A Tenement of John Littele, the Fishmonger, standing in ' le Crokedelane/ 4*. " ' In the Parish of St. Leonard, the Abbot, in Estchepe.' One Tenement in ' Candelwykstreete/ held by William Yuory, 1. Qs. 8d. A Shop held by the same, between the Tenements of the Prior and Convent of ' Cristecherche/ on the North, and 260 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. the King's road, called ' Grascherchestrete/ on the East, 8*. Another Tenement, 1*. Another Tenement standing by the corner Tenement of the Hospital of the Blessed Mary without ' Busshopisgate,' on the North, and the King's road, called ' Estchepe,' on the East, 2*. A Tenement of the Prioress of St. Helen's, having ' Grascherchestrete' on the West, 13*. 4d. There was also another Tenement of Is. rent, having Eastcheap on the East. Total 2. 12s. " ' In the Parish of St. Benedict de Grascherche.' One Tenement, a Granary, or Brewery, with two Shops, of Benedict de Cornewayle, having the King's road, called ' Fancherchestreete' to the South, 9*. 4d. " ' In the Parish of All Saints de Grascherche.' One Tenement with a forge and 4 Shops, standing between the corner Tenement of the Prior and Con- vent of Ely on the South, and the Tenement be- longing to the Brethren of the Cross, called ( le Cardinaleshat' on the North, and the King's road, called ' Grascherchstrete' on the West, 40*. A Gra- nary, 5*. Total 2. 5*. " ' In the Parish of St. Katherine de Cricherch.' A Granary standing in a corner between the narrow way called called Bellezeterslane on the East, and the Tenement of Philip Page on the West, 8*. " ' In the Parish of St. Mary Attenaxe.' Ten Shops, with Galleries built upon them, standing in a corner, between the King's way, which is between London Wall and the aforesaid Shops, and the way 1436-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 261 that leads from the Church of St. Mary Attenaxe, to the Church of ' St. Augustine Papheye/ on the West, 1*. " ' In the Parish of St. Augustine Papheye.' The Tenement of Richard Schet, Fuller, standing by the Tenements of London Bridge on the East, and the King's road under London Wall on the North, and the Garden of the Prior of Cricherch on the South, 12d. " ' In the Parish of St. Martin Otiswych.' A Tene- ment with a large door, and a Shop on both sides of it, standing between the Church-yard on the North, and the King's road, called ' Bisshopisgatestreete,' on the East, 3*. " In the Parish of St. Michael upon Cornhulle.' A Tenement with two Shops, having Cornhill upon the South, 8*. " ' In the Parish of St. Edmund in Lumbardstrete.' Certain Tenements with Shops, standing between the Tenements of St. Thomas's Hospital in ' Sothewarke,' on the North, and the King's way, called ' Berchers- lane/ on the West. They owe yearly to London Bridge, by the Will of Henry of Gloucester, Gold- mith, 5*. " ' In the Parish of St. Clement, near Candelwyk- stret.' A tenement of the Abbot and Convent of Stratford, standing between the Tenement of Thomas Clench, Fishmonger, on the South, the Tenement of the perpetual Chantry of the said Church, which was 2()2 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. formerly John de Charteneys, on the North, and the narrow way called ' Seyntclementslane' on the West. It owes yearly to London Bridge, by the legacy of Henry of Gloucester, 2s. A Tenement with four Shops, 2*. Three Shops with galleries erected upon them, and a certain place called ' Wodehagh,' bounded on the South by Candlewick-street, 4*. Total 8*. " ' In the Parish of St. Michael in le Crokedelane.' A Tenement in ' Stokfisschmongeresrewe,' belonging to the Chaplain of ' Kyngeston,' 5*. An ancient Tenement, having the Tenement of the perpetual Chantry of the said Church, which was formerly John Abel's, on the West, and the narrow way called ' Crokedelane' on the North, 5*. Total 10*. " ' In the Parish of All Saints the Less.' A Tene- ment having the Tenements of St. Bartholomew's Hospital on the West, and the King's way called * Tamystrete' on the South, 4*. Certain Tenements standing in the short narrow way of St. Lawrence, between the Tenement of the Master of St. Law- rence's College on the North, and Thames- street on the South, 10*. The Tenement of the said Master, 6*. Total 20*. " < In the Parish of St. Lawrence, near Candelwyk- stret.' A Tenement belonging to ' Gyldhalde' of London, having the College of the said Church on the East; the narrow way which goes from the Church-yard of the same Church to Candlewyck- street, on the West; the said Church-yard on the 1436.] LONDON BRIDGE. 263 South; and a Tenement belonging to a perpetual Chantry in the Church of St. Swythin on the North, 19*. 8d. " < In the Parish of the Blessed Mary of Abbe- cherch.' A Tenement, having the Tenement of the Hospital of St. Katherine, near the Tower, on the North, and the Burial-place of the aforesaid Church on the East, 10*. " ' In the Parish of St. Swythin the Bishop. A Tenement held by Solomon Faunt, standing between the Church aforesaid on the South ; the Tenement of Henry Fyuyan, Draper, on the North, and the King's way called ' Swythynislane' on the East, 2s. 6d. The Tenement of the said Henry Fyuyan, standing by that of John Hende, Draper, 2s. Total 4*. Qd. " ' In the Parish of St. Mary de Bothhaghe.' A Tenement held by Lord Thomas de Salesbury, Knight, standing between the Tenement with the Great Gate also belonging to the same, on the East, and Candle- wick-street on the South, I2d. " ' In the Parish of St. Stephen de Walbrok.' Two Tenements under one edifice, standing by the Tene- ment of John Norwich, the Goldsmith, on the South, and the King's way, called Walbrook, on the West, 2s. " ' In the Parish of St. Mary Woolnoth.' A corner Tenement, which formerly was Hamon Lumbard's, having the narrow street, called ' Seyntswythinislane/ to the East, and that called ' Berebyndereslane,' to the South, 13*. 4d, Another Tenement standing in a corner in ' Schytelboanelane/ 2*. Total 15*. 4d. 264 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. " ' In the Parish of St. Bartholomew the Less. A Tenement, a Granary, or Brewery/ having the King's way called ' Braddestrete' on the North, 2*. 6d. " ' In the Parish of St. Pancras.' One Cell, called ' le Brodecelde/ of which one entrance is by the large open place towards ' Soperslane' on the East, and another is toward ' Chepe/ at the sign of the Key, on the North, 6*. 8d. " < In the Parish of St. Michael at Queen's bank,' or Wharf. ' A Tenement, with its offices, which belongs to the Abbot and Convent of the Monastery of the Blessed Mary of Grace, near the Tower of London : it stands in a corner between the narrow way that leads to the Saltewarf on the East, and the Tenement of the Abbot of Jesus on the West, and it extends from the narrow way, called ' Ratonneslane,' on the North, down to the Thames Southward/ 2s. " ' In the Parish of St. Martin at Ludgate.' A Tenement with a forge standing in a corner without Ludgate, having the narrow street, called ' Little- bayly/ on the West, and the King's way, called ' Fletestrete, on the North, 9*. " ' In the Parish of St. Bridget, the Virgin, in Flet-strete.' A Tenement, a Granary called ' le Horsothehop/ with two Shops, having Fleet-street on the North, and belonging to a certain Chantry in St. Paul's Church, for celebrating Mass for the Soul of Walter Thorpe, 8*. " ' In the Parish of St. Alban de Wodestret.' A Tenement, called ' le Horsscho/ 4s. Another Tene- 1436-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 265 ment, having the Tenement of the Hospital of the Blessed Mary without ' Busschopesgate/ on the South, and the King's way, called ' Wodestret,' on the West, 2s. Total 6*. " < In the Parish of the Blessed Mary of Athel- manbery.' A Tenement standing in a corner between the narrow way called ' Phylippeslane,' on the West; that called ' Paddelane' on the South, and the Tene- ments of St. Paul's Church on the North, 2*. " ' In the Parish of St. Michael de Bassyngeshawe.' A Tenement with eight Shops, standing in a corner, towards London Wall, having the King's way, called ' Bassyngeshawe,' on the West, 2s. Two other Tene- ments, 6*. 6d. Total 8*. 6d. " ' In the Parish of St. Olave at the Wall.' A Tenement, formerly .belonging to the Prior of the Hospital of the Blessed Mary without Bishopsgate, having the King's way, called ' Mugwelle stret/ to the East, 3*. 6d. " ' In the Parish of St. Stephen in Colmanstret.' Certain vacant places, by the legacy of Henry of Gloucester, 2*. " ' In the Parishes of St. Faith and St. Gregory.' Certain Shops standing in ' Paternostrerewe/ under the Palace of the Bishop of London, newly erected by the venerable Lord Michael de Northborough, formerly Bishop of London, 40*. " A Tenement in ' Redecrouchstrete,' which cannot be found, 4rf. Also in < Est Smethfeld' was formerly a Tenement, which is now the common Church-yard, 266 CHRONICLES OF A. D. 4d. Another in ' Blachynglegh,' 12d. Also in Strat- ford, a piece of meadow land, formerly held to farm of the Bridge keepers, being the sixth part of a meadow called ' Ruschope,' 2s. Also at ' Sabrysches- worth,' a Tenement, 3d. Total 3*. llrf. " ' In the Parish of St. Olave of Sothewerk.' Two Shops of the Hospital of St. Thomas of Sothewark, standing in a corner at the stairs of London Bridge towards Southwark, between the Tenements belong- ing to the said Bridge on the North, the King's way of Southwark on the South, and the stairs aforesaid on the East, 8*. A corner Tenement, now belonging to the Church of St. Michael in ' le Reole, which is called Paternostercherche,' and standing at the afore- said stairs, having the King's way leading to ' Ber- mundeseye,' on the South; the Tenements of the Bridge aforesaid on the North, and the aforesaid stairs on the West, 13*. 4d. Total 21*. 4d. " ' In the Parish of St. Margaret in Sothewerk.' One Tenement of the Hospital of St. Thomas of ' Sothewark,' having the King's way of ' Sothewerk' on the East, 4*. " e In the Parish of St. George in Sothewerk.' A certain Tenement and Garden called ' Exuuiwe,' which the Prior and Convent of the Blessed Mary of South- wark now hold ; standing in a corner at the Cross in 1 Kentestreete,' between the King's way which leads to Bermondsey on the North, the King's way called Kent- street on the West, and a garden on the South, 13*. 4d. A Tenement called ' le Mote,' having the Tenement 1436.] LONDON BRIDGE. 267 of the Hospital of St. Thomas of Southwark on the North, a garden on the South, and Kent- street on the West, 8*. A Tenement standing at ' Le Loke,' near the Bridge Tenements, 2*. Total 23*. 4d.' " Such, Mr. Barbican, were the gifts to London Bridge of Quit-rents, or small sums reserved by various landlords out of their charters and leases, for the support and improvement of this noble edifice. Their whole amount was 30. O.y. 2d. per annum, a splendid revenue, if, as I imagine from several circum- stances, this very curious survey was made about the middle of the thirteenth century. Several of these gifts are authenticated by references to the original grants, read and enrolled in the Court of Hustings at Guildhall, at various meetings held during the reign of King Edward I. : whilst another authority, often cited, is called ' the Red Rental,' which also makes mention of Godardus, a Chaplain, and his brethren of London Bridge. The light these very brief but cu- rious notices shed upon Parochial history and anti- quities, has made me give you a more particular account of them, than might be perfectly agreeable to you ; though, as I have not quite finished the volume, I must request you patiently to hear me a little longer speak of the ancient landed property of London Bridge." " Oh ! go on, Sir, pray go on !" said I, in a tone of mock resignation, " take your own time, Mr. Bar- naby ; though, to be sure, there seems but little reason why I should say so. I had, indeed, fondly hoped, 268 CHBONICLES OF A. D. that when you could no longer plague me with a Patent Roll, I might rest secure from any thing more provoking; but I must certainly own I was a most short-sighted mortal for thinking so, since your genius can never want a weapon to be drowsy with : but, I suppose that you rarely meet with a hearer so quiet, so mild, so undoubting, and so easily satisfied as I have proved : and therefore, suffer I must." " I have truly," said he, in a short dry voice, " seldom met with a companion like you : but, I am sure, you will not think these extracts wearisome, when you remember that so little is known about the possessions of London Bridge ; and that the fragments which I Tiave repeated to you are all of the most un- doubted authority, as yet unprinted, and almost locked up in a barbarous mixture of abbreviated and corrupt French, Saxon, and Latin. To return then to the Survey, which, I assure you, I have very nearly concluded, it next records the Bridge property at ' Les Stocks,' somewhat of which, you may remember, I have already spoken : and contains one of the most curious and ancient descriptions of that once-famous market now extant : thus commences the entry. " ' Near the Church of the Blessed Mary of Wol- cherchehawe, is a certaine Cattle-Fold called les Stocks, ordained for Butchers and Fishmongers, where the same may sell flesh and fish ; the rent of which is uncertain, because any greater or smaller value arises from the way in which places in it may be occupied by the Butchers upon Flesh-days, and by 1436.] LONDON BRIDGE. 269 the Fishmongers on Fish-days. Upon this Cattle- stall are three mansions, and one slaughter-house, built above it, the principal of which mansions is towards Cornhill, being now held by William Vale, Fishmonger, and it yields to London Bridge, yearly, 30*. Also, on the West side, towards the Conduit, is another mansion, held by John Louekyn, Fish- monger, which pays yearly 20*. Also there is another little mansion in the middle of the house upon the Stocks on the North side, paying 10*. Also on the South part of the Stocks is a slaughter-house, for which rent is not paid. Total 60*. And in the stalls aforesaid, called the Stocks, are places measured for the Fishmongers' tables, namely four feet and a half and two thumbs breadth in length, and called Pou- lisset, having legs, the which places are occupied by the Butchers on Flesh-days at the price of 4d. the week. And the same places are occupied by the Fishmongers on Fish-days, at the price of 3d. by the week. Of these places there are 19 on the South part next the Church ; 18 on the North ; 15, in one row, in the middle of the house on the South ; and at the Eastern front of the said house are four places for Fishmongers, three of which are occupied by Butchers on the Flesh-days. In the West front of the said house are two places, occupied as well by Butchers as by Fishmongers ; but the certain amount of the rents of these cannot be ascertained, because any of the aforesaid places may be occupied or not, and thus a larger or a smaller sum may appear upon the 270 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. account-rolls of the gate-keepers of the place afore- said, in different weeks and years. Without the Stocks, at the West front, are five places for Fish- mongers, where, on Fish-days, they sell their fish; and, on Flesh-days, three of them are occupied by the Butchers. There are also 22 places and a half under the walls of the house, appointed for Butchers to sell flesh on Flesh-days ; whereof 18 places are under the North wall, and 4 places and a half are under the wall of the Eastern front, of which places the value, when they are occupied, is 4d. per week : but now they are not fully engaged, and therefore no certain sum can be stated.' " ' Also, it is to be known that the gifts, legacies, and oblations of the Corbell-Chapel, standing on the Bridge, with' the Pontage from ' the carts carry- ing bread for sale crossing over it, and the passage of vessels under it, are uncertain in amount, because they may be greater or less in value, as they appear in the account-rolls of the Keepers of the said Bridge for different years.' " The Survey concludes with an abstracted list of rents paid by London Bridge for lands and tenements held in various places, both in, and out of, the City ; but as I have already given you several particulars of these, and as they do not contain any great additional information, I shall but observe from them that their total amount appears to be 20. 0. Q^d. ; and as we are occasionally informed that the lands were let out to farm, we may conclude that the Bridge-keepers were 1437-] LONDON BRIDGE. 271 amply recompensed for the payment of a sum even so great as this. The disbursements of London Bridge were, indeed, always considerable, for Stow ob- serves in his ' Survey,' page 59, that the account of William Mariner and Christopher Elliott, Wardens of that edifice, from Michaelmas, in the 22nd year of Henry VII. 1506, to the Michaelmas ensuing, a- mounted to 815. 17*- 2|d., all payments and allow- ances included. " We must now set sail again on the ocean of English History, as it is connected with London Bridge ; and you are to remember that we are yet in the reign of King Henry VI., though we have men- tioned a multitude of dates since the commencement of our digression : and the next event in its Chro- nicles, relates to the destruction of a considerable portion of it in the year 1437- I have already cited to you some of the writings of William of Wor- cester, and in another work of which he was also the author, entitled ' Annales Rerum Anglicarum,' he gives a slight notice of this event, which you will find in the edition printed in Hearne's ' Liber Niger,' vo- lume ii. page 458, taken from an autograph manu- script in the Library of the College of Arms. The best accounts, however, are furnished by Fabyan, on page 433, of his Chronicle, and by Stow in his ' Annals,' page 376. From these we learn that on Monday, January the 14th, the Great Stone Gate, and Tower standing upon it, next Southwark, fell sud-' denly down into the River, with two of the fairest 272 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. arches of the same Bridge : ' and yet/ adds the habi- tually pious Stow, ' no man perished in body, which was a great worke of God.' " In the year 1440, the Annals of London Bridge became again interwoven with the great historical events of the kingdom, which impart such dignity to its own records, inasmuch as the Bridge-Street, by which is meant as well the passage over the Thames as the main street beyond it on each side, was one scene of the public penance of Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, for Witchcraft. The inflexible honesty of the Duke, who was Protector of England during the minority of Henry VI., and pre- sumptive heir to the crown, had created a violent party against him, the heads of which were Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and William de la Pole, first Duke of Suffolk. With regard to his Sovereign, however, not all the spies, which were placed about Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, by these powerful and inveterate enemies, could find even a pretence for the slightest charge ; though that which they were unable to discover in him, they found in his Duchess, who was then accused of Witchcraft and High Treason: it being asserted that she had frequent conferences with one Sir Roger Bolinbroke, a Priest, who was supposed to be a necromancer, and Margaret Jourdain, a witch, of Eye, near West- minster ; assisted and advised by John Hum, a Priest, and Thomas Southwell, Priest, and Canon of St. Stephen's, Westminster. Shakspeare, in his ' Second 1440.] LONDON BRIDGE. 273 Part of Henry the Sixth,' Act i. Scenes 2 and 4, and Act ii. Scenes 1 and 4, has recorded several parti- culars of this circumstance ; and makes the Duchess ask some questions concerning the King's fate ; though she was, in reality, charged with having his image made of wax, which, being placed before a slow fire, should cause his strength to decay as the wax melted. The result of the enquiry was, that Jourdain was burned in Smithfield ; Southwell died before his exe- cution, in the Tower ; Bolingbroke was hanged, drawn, and quartered, at Tyburn ; and, on November the 9th, the Duchess was sentenced to perform public penance at three open places in London. On Monday the 13th, therefore, she came by water from West- minster, and, landing at the Temple-bridge, walked, at noon-day, through Fleet-street, bearing a waxen taper of two pounds weight to St. Paul's, where she offered it at the High Altar. On the Wednesday fol- lowing she landed at the Old Swan, and passed through Bridge-street and Grace-Church-street to Leadenhall, and at Cree-Church, near Aldgate, made her second offering : and on the ensuing Friday, she was put on shore at Queen- Hythe, whence she pro- ceeded to St. Michael's Church, Cornhill, and so com- pleted her penance. In each of these processions her head was covered only by a kerchief, her feet were bare ; scrolls, containing a narrative of her crime, were affixed to her white dress, and she was received and attended by the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Companies of London. 274 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. " The leading features of these events are of course in all the numerous volumes of English History, but for the more particular circumstances I must refer you to Stow's ' Annals,' pages 381, 382; to folio Ixiiii. a, of the Chronicle of Edward Hall, an eminent Lawyer who died in 1547, and whose work is entitled ' The Vnlon of the two Noble Houses of Lancastre and Yorke,' London, 1550, folio; and, finally, to the Harleian Manuscript No. 565, page 96 a. Of which latter most curious work we now take leave, for soon after recording this event it terminates imperfectly ; though I may observe, that when speaking of the fate of Roger Bolingbroke, on page 96 b, it adds, concerning him, that the same day on which he was condemned at Guildhall, he ( was drawe fro y e Tower of London to Tiborn and there hanged, hedyd, and quartered, and his heed set up on London Bridge.' His quarters were disposed of at Hereford, Oxford, York, and Cambridge. " In 1444, William de la Pole, whom I have just mentioned, was one of the King's Ambassadors in France, when, with his usual lofty and impetuous spirit, he suddenly proposed a marriage between Henry VI., and Margaret, daughter of Rene, Duke of Anjou, and titular King of Jerusalem, Sicily, Ar- ragon, Valence, &c. without any instructions from his Sovereign, or even acquainting his fellow-commis- sioners with his design. Notwithstanding the Duke of Gloucester opposed this union at the Council Board in England, yet the Earl managed his proposal so skil- 1445.] LONDON BRIDGE. 2?5 fully, that he procured himself to be created a Duke, and despatched into France to bring over the Queen : and on Thursday, the 22nd of April, 1445, she was consequently married to Henry at Tichfield Abbey, Southwick, in the County of Southampton. It was, probably, in her way from Eltham Palace to West- minster, before her Coronation, that she was greeted by the famous pageants prepared for her on London Bridge, on Friday, the 28th of May ; for you will re- member that she was crowned at Westminster Abbey, on Sunday, the 30th of the month, by John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury. However it might be, she was met at several places by many persons of rank, with numerous attendants having their sleeves embroidered, or decorated in the most costly manner, with badges of beaten goldsmith's work; and espe- cially by the Duke of Gloucester, who received her with 500 men habited in one livery. At Blackheath, according to custom, the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Alder- men, clothed in scarlet, attended her with the several City companies, all mounted and dressed in blue gowns, having embroidered sleeves and red hoods: and in this manner Queen Margaret and her followers were conducted through Southwark and the City, ' then beautified,' says Stow in his ' Annals,' page 384, where he relates all these particulars,' with pa- geants of diuers histories, and other showes of welcome, maruellous costly and sumptuous.' He gives, how- ever, but a very brief statement of them in his printed book ; though in his Manuscripts, several of which 276 CHRONICLES OP QA. D. are extant in the Harleian Collection in the British Mu- seum, there are the very verses spoken to the Queen on the Bridge, composed, as he says, by John Lyd- gate. The Manuscript I allude to, is one to which I have already made a reference, being No. 542, a small quarto volume written on antique paper, in Stow's own plain, but minute hand-writing. In this volume, therefore, article 16, on page 101 a, is en- titled, ' The speches in the pagiaunts at y' cominge of Qwene Margaret ivyfe to Henry the syxt of that name Kynge of England, the 28th of Mayc, 1445, y 23rd of his reigne.' The first pageant, which was an allegorical representation of Peace and Plenty, was erected at the foot of London Bridge, and the motto attached to it was ' Ingredimini et replete Terram,' Enter ye and replenish the earth, taken from Genesis ix. ac- cording to the Vulgate Latin. The verses addressed to Queen Margaret were as follow : ' Most Christian Princesse, by influence of grace, Doughter of Jherusalem, owr plesaunce And joie, welcome as ever Princess was, With hert entier, and hoole affiaunce : Cawser of welthe, ioye, and abundauiice, Youre Citee, yowr people, your subgets all, With hert, with worde, with dede, your highnesse to avauuce, Welcome ! Welcome ! Welcome ! vnto you call.' " Upon the Bridge itself appeared a pageant re- presenting Noah's Ark, bearing the words ' Jam non ultra irascar super terram,' Henceforth there shall no 1445.] LONDON BRIDGE. 277 more be a curse upon the earth, Genesis viii. 21. and the following verses were delivered before it : ' So trustethe your people, with assuraunce Throwghe yowr grace, aud highe benignitie. 'Twixt the Realmes two, England and Fraunce, Pees shall approche, rest and vnite* : Mars set asyde with all his crueltye", Whiche too longe hathe trowbled the Realmes twayne ; Bydynge yowr comforte, in this adversite", Most Christian Princesse owr Lady Soverayne. Right as whilom, by God's myght and grace, Noe" this ark<; dyd forge and ordayne ; Wherein he and his might escape and passe The flood of vengeaunce cawsed by trespasse : Conveyed aboute as god list him to gye. By meane of mercy found a restinge place Aftar the flud, vpon this Armonie. Vnto the Dove that browght the braunche of peas, Resemblinge yowr symplenesse columbyne, Token and signe" that the flood shuld cesse, Conducte by grace and power devyne ; Sonne of comfort 'gynneth faire to shine By yowr presence whereto we synge and seyne Welcome of ioye right extendet lyne Moste Christian Princesse, owr Lady Sovereyne.' " We shall here take our leave of the poet Lyd- gate, by whose descriptive verses we have illustrated three splendid scenes in the history of London Bridge ; and I pray you, if it be but in gratitude for this single circumstance, reject, as malignant and untrue, the 273 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. character given of him by Ritson, when he calls him a f voluminous, prosaick, and drivelling Monk.' War- ton is not only more liberal, but more just, in his estimate, when he says that ' no poet had greater ver- satility of talents, and that he moves with equal ease in every mode of composition.' He admits that he was naturally verbose and diffuse, tedious and languid : but he asserts, also, that he had great excellence in flowery description; that he increased the power of the English language ; and that he was the first of our writers whose style is clothed with modern perspi- cuity. ' His Muse was of universal access/ he con- tinues, ' and he was not only the poet of his monas- tery, but of the world.' Alike happy in composing a Masque, a Disguising, a May-game, a Pageant, a Mummery, or a Carol, for Ritson's list of his poems, amounting to 251, embraces all these, and numerous other subjects. " The year 1450 was made memorable by the daring insurrection of Jack Cade and the commons of Kent, which arose, partly, out of the popular belief that the Duke of Suffolk had caused the loss of a great portion of France to the English Crown ; and, partly, from the preteilsions of Richard, Duke of York, to the throne ; in consequence of the haughtiness, despotism, and usurpation of Queen Margaret, and William De la Pole, her favourite. After some vain attempts to satisfy the commons concerning the Duke of Suffolk, King Henry banished him from the realm for five years ; when after his embarkation his vessel was 1450.] LONDON BRIDGE. 279 chased by an English ship called the Nicholas, be- longing to the Constable of the Tower, by which it was captured, the Duke seized, and his head struck off on the side of a boat in Dover-roads ; after which, it was carelessly cast with the body upon the sands. This murder, however, did not restore quietness to England, for the Duke of York being thus relieved from a powerful enemy, immediately proceeded in his own designs upon the Crown. By his instigation, therefore, one John Cade assumed the name of Sir John Mortimer, of the house of March, who, in re- ality, had been beheaded in 1425, on a charge of treason. Cade was a native of Ireland, and formerly a servant to Sir Thomas Dacre, Knight, of Sussex ; but having cruelly murdered a pregnant woman, he took sanctuary, and forsware the kingdom. With such a character, he began his work of reformation in Kent, in May, 1450 ; assuming also, as some tell us, the title of John Amendall, and easily drew so many malcontents together, that, in a few days, he was enabled to approach London, and to encamp with his rebel forces upon Blackheath. When Henry marched against him, he retired into a wood near Sevenoaks ; where he remained, until the King, supposing his followers dispersed, returned to London, and con- tented himself with despatching after them a detach- ment of his army commanded by Sir Humphrey Stafford ; which division falling into the ambush, was cut in pieces, and its leader slain. Elated by this 280 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. success, Cade again marched towards London, whilst Henry and his Court retreated to Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire ; leaving a garrison in the Tower, under command of the Lord Scales. The rebels, how- ever, now became increased by multitudes, which joined them from all parts; and on Wednesday, the 1st of July, Cade arrived in South wark, where he lodged at the Hart, for, says Alderman Fabyan, in his ' Chronicle,' from whom Stow almost verbally copies this story, ' he might not be suffered to enter the Citie.' Jack Cade, however, had but too many friends within the gates of London. The Commons of Essex were already in arms, and were mustered in a field at Mile-end ; and upon a discussion in the Court of Common-Council on the propriety of admitting the rebels over the Bridge, the loyal-hearted Alderman Robert Home so incensed the populace, by speaking warmly against the motion, that they were not re- duced to order until he was committed to Newgate. About five o'clock then, on the afternoon of Thursday, July 2nd, London stained her Annals by opening the Bridge-gates to Cade, and his rabble rout. As he crossed the Draw-bridge, he cut with his sword the ropes which supported it ; and on entering into the City, so beguiled the inhabitants, and even Nicholas Wilford, or Wyfold, the Lord Mayor, that he pro- cured a free communication between his followers and London, though he himself again withdrew to his lodging in Southwark. 1450.Q LONDON BRIDGE. 281 " In Shakspeare's vivid scenes of this rebellion, in his < Second Part of King Henry the Sixth,* Act iv., Scene 4th, a messenger tells King Henry, ' Jack Cade hath gotten London Bridge ; the Citizens Fly and forsake their houses :' and in the next scene a Citizen says, ' they have won the Bridge, killing all that withstand them.' In Scene 6th, Cade cries, ' Go and set London-Bridge on fire;' and Edmund Malone, in his note upon this passage, tells us, what we certainly cannot find by any other history, that ' at that time London Bridge was built of wood ; ' adding, from Hall, that ' the houses on London Bridge were, in this rebellion, burnt, and many of the inhabitants perished.' This note you may see in the Variorum edition of ' Shakspeare's Plays,' by Isaac Reed, London, 1803, 8vo., volume xiii., page 341. London Bridge, however, was not even yet entirely captured, and two robberies which Cade had committed in the City, speedily roused the wealthier inhabitants to a sense of his outrage, and their own danger. Whereupon, ' what do they,' as honest John Bunyan says of the Captains in Mansoul, ' but like so many Samsons shake themselves ? ' and send unto the Lord Scales, and the valiant Matthew Gough, at the Tower, for assistance. The latter of these commanders was appointed to aid the City, whilst the former supported him with a frequent dis- charge of ordnance ; and on the night of Sunday, July 5th, Cade being then in Southwark, the City 282 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. Captains, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of London mounted guard upon the Bridge. ' The rebelles,' says Hall in his ' Chronicle,' folio Ixxviii. a, which contains the best version of the story, ' the rebelles, which neuer soundly slepte, for feare of sodayne chaunces, hearing the Bridge to be kept and manned, ran with greate haste to open the passage, where betwene bothe partes was a ferce and cruell encounter. Matthew Gough, more experte in mar- ciall feates than the other Cheuetaynes of the Citie, perceiuing the Kentishmen better to stand to their tacklyng than his ymagination expected, aduised his company no farther to precede toward Southwarke, till the day appered ; to the entent, that the Citizens hearing where the place of the ieopardye rested, might occurre their enemies and releue their frendes and companions. But this counsail came to smal effect : for the multitude of the rebelles drave the Citizens from the stoulpes/ wooden piles, ' at the Bridge foote, to the Drawe-bridge, and began to set fyre in diuers houses. Alas ! what sorow it was to beholde that miserable chaunce : for some desyringe to eschew the fyre lept on hys enemies weapon, and so died : fearfull women, with chyldren in their armes, amased and appalled lept into the riuer ; other, doubtinge how to saue them self betwene fyre, water, and swourd, were in their houses suffocate and smol- dered, yet the Captayns nothyng regarding these chaunces, fought on this Draw-Bridg all the nyghte valeauntly, but in conclusion the rebelles gat the 1450.] LONDON BRIDGE. Draw- Bridge and drowned many, and slew John Sutton, Alderman, and Robert Heysande, a hardy Citizen, with many other, besyde Matthew Gough, a man of greate wit, much experience in feates of chiualrie, the which in continuall warres had va- leauntly serued the King, and his father, in the partes beyond the sea. But it is often sene, that he which many tymes hath vanquyshed his enemies in straunge countreys, and returned agayn as a conqueror, hath of his owne nation afterward been shamfully mur- dered and brought to confusion. This hard and sore conflict endured on the Bridge till ix. of the clocke in the mornynge in doubtfull chaunce and Fortune's balaunce: for some tyme the Londoners were bet back to the stulpes at Sainct Magnes Corner; and sodaynly agayne the rebelles were repulsed and dryuen back to the stulpes in Southwarke, so ihat both partes beynge faynte, wery, and fatygate, agreed to desist from fight, and to leue battayll till the next day, vpon condition that neyther Londoners shoulde passe into Southwarke, nor the Kentish men into London.' William Rastall, who produced his curious Chronicle, called ' The Pastimes of People,' in the year 1529, adds to this account, that ' the Kentysshemen brent the Brydge ;' see page 265 of the excellent edition of that work, by the Rev. T. F. Dibdin, D. D. &c. London, 181 1, quarto. " During the truce that followed this most valiant defence of London Bridge, and which nearly effaced the deep stain of the Citizens opening their gates to 284 CHRONICLES OF A. D. a rebel, a general pardon was procured for Cade and his followers, by John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord High Chancellor. Upon which, some accepted of the King's grace, and all began, by degrees, to withdraw from Southwark with their spoil, whilst Cade himself was soon after slain by Alexander Iden, Esquire, of Kent, in consequence of a reward being offered for his apprehension. His dead body was brought to London, and his head erected on the Bridge-gate, where he had so recently placed that of one of his greatest victims, Sir James Fynes, Lord Say, Treasurer of England. Concerning these events see also Shakspeare's ' Second Part of King Henry the Sixth,' Act iv., Scenes 7th and 10th ; Fabyan's 'Chronicle,' pages 451 453; and Stow's < Annals,' pages 391, 392. " I have but little more to subjoin to close the his- tory of this rebellion ; but I may add, that in January 1451, twenty-six of the Kentish rebels were tried before the King and his Justices Itinerant, and exe- cuted at Dover, and other places in the County ; and that on Tuesday, February 23rd, as Henry returned to London, great numbers more met him on Black- heath, dressed in their shirts only, and imploring his clemency on their knees, were all pardoned. Against his entering the City, nine heads of those who had been executed were erected on London Bridge, that of their leader standing in the centre. ' This,' says Hall, in closing his account of Cade's insurrection, ' ' is the successe of all rebelles, and this fortune chaunceth 1461.] LONDON BRIDGE. 285 ever to traytors: for where men striue against the streame, their bote neuer cometh to his pretensed porte.' " In June 1461, previously to his Coronation, King Edward IV. crossed London Bridge with some cere- mony, on the way from his Palace of Sheen to the Tower ; whence it was anciently customary for the English Sovereigns to ride to Westminster in solemn procession the day before they were crowned. We have this information in an article printed by Hearne, and attached to his ' Thomas Sprotti Chronica.' Oxford, 1719, 8vo. It is entitled ' A remarkable Fragment of an old English Chronicle, or History of the Affairs of King Edward the Fourth, Transcrib'dfrom an old MS,;' and on page 288, we find the following particulars. ' The same xxvi th of Juny, the King Edward movid from Sheene towardis London, then being Thursday ;' in reality though it was Friday, as this very extract subsequently shews ' and upon the way receyvid him the Maire and his brethirn all in scarle, with iiii c commoners well horsid and cladde in grene, and so avauncing theime self passid the Bridge, and thurgh the Cite they rode streigte unto the Toure of London, and restid there all nigt.' The day follow- ing, King Edward made 32 Companions of the Bath. He then proceeded to Westminster, attended by the new Knights habited in the white silk dress of the Order ; and on the morrow, which was St. Peter's day, and Sunday, he was crowned at Westminster by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury. 286 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. " The revenues of London Bridge seem greatly to have flourished under the reign of this Sovereign, for in his 5th year, 1465, the Wardens of the same, Peter Alford and Peter Caldecot, paid, on account thereof, the immense sum of 731 10*. 1^; as you may see in Maitland's ' History,' volume i., page 48, which information he has quoted from Stow's ' Survey.' You, doubtless, remember, that although Edward IV. was, at this period of our history, seated on the English throne, yet that King Henry VI. was only deposed by the partizans of Edward Plantagenet, Earl of March, and son to the late Duke of York, and the Earl of Warwick, in March, 1461. In October 1470, there- fore, Henry was again restored to his crown, which he retained with a disturbed sway for seven months only, and in April, 1471, was again imprisoned in the Tower, whence he had been taken to remount the throne. There were, however, not even then wanting some zealous adherents to the declining House of Lancaster, who made several brave, though unavailing efforts on the behalf of King Henry, Margaret of Anjou, and the young Edward, Prince of Wales. Under the sanction of their cause an impudent attack was made upon London in 1471, which forms an im- portant feature in the history of this Bridge ; which being mentioned by Stow in his ' Survey,' volume i., page 61, is thence copied by all who have written its Annals. The Earl of Warwick had appointed to be Vice- Admiral of the Channel, one Thomas Neville, an illegitimate son to William, Lord Falconbridge, 1471-] LONDON BRIDGE. 287 and thence called ' the Bastard of Falconbridge.' When he lost this employment, as he was a man alike devoid of morals and of money, he saw, says Rapin, with a very singular expression, ' no other way to subsist than turning Pirate ;' for which, however, he probably required very little transmutation. As Edward was, at this time, engaged in pursuit of Eli- zabeth, his Queen, Falconbridge collected some ships, and a number of persons of desperate fortunes, and landing on the coast of Kent, intended no less than to surprise London, and enrich himself with the plunder of the City. He arrived in Southwark in May, giving out that he came to free King Henry from his captivity, and soon becoming possessed of that place, on Tuesday, the 14th, he ordered 3000 of his followers to cross the river in boats, and assault Aid-Gate and Bishops-Gate, whilst he himself at- tempted to force the Bridge. This he endeavoured to effect by firing it, by which he destroyed sixty houses standing upon it ; though the Citizens were so well provided with ordnance, that even if the passage had been entirely open, says an ancient Chronicler, ' they should have had hard entering that way/ It is sin- gular, however, that in this account of the number of the houses burned on London Bridge, Stow should be so greatly at variance with the earlier Historians ; since they state it to be sixty, whilst, in his ' Survey,' he says only that Falconbridge ' burned the Gate and all the houses to the Draw-Bridge, being at that time thirteen in number.' It is, perhaps, possible that the 288 CHRONICLES OF A. D. old Citizen is in the right ; and that the other An- nalists include some of those buildings which were destroyed in the suburbs of Southwark. " One of the bravest defenders of London Bridge was Ralph Joceline, Alderman and Draper, after- wards made a Knight of the Bath, and Lord Mayor, in 1464 and 1476 ; since he not only manfully resisted Falconbridge and his party, when they attacked the Draw-Bridge, but upon their retiring, as they were at last forced to do, as well from the City as from the Bridge, he sallied forth upon them, and following them along the water-side beyond Ratcliffe, slew and cap- tured very many of them. The Arms of this worthy were Azure, a mullet within a circular wreath Argent and Sable, having four hawk's bells joined thereto in quadrature, Or. I have given you these particulars from Stow's ' Annals,' page 424 ; from Holinshed's e Chronicle,' volume ii., page 690 ; and from Fabyan's f Chronicle,' page 590; in which last authority it is added that ' the Bastarde, with his shipmen, wer chased vnto their shippes lying at Blackewall, and there in the chase many slaine. And the saied Bas- tarde, the night followyng, stale out his shippes out of the riuer and so departed, and escaped for that tyme.' " Another record of the destruction of part of London Bridge, marks the year 1481, for page 61 of volume i. of Stow's ' Survey,' informs us, that a house called ' the Common Stage,' then fell down into the Thames, and by its fall five men were drowned. 1482.] LONDON BRIDGE. 289 What this building really was, you may see in Ho- linshed's ' Chronicle,' volume ii., page 705, where this fact is quoted from the volume entitled ' Scala Tem- porum,' or, the Ladder of the Times, a contemporary record of remarkable occurrences. " We are indebted to that singularly curious work, known by the name of ' Arnold's Chronicle,' for an account of the expenses of London Bridge in several of the latter years of the fifteenth century, beginning with 1482, and terminating with 1494. The best edition of this volume is that edited by Francis Douce, Esq. London, 1811, quarto, for the series of modern reprints of ancient English Chronicles, which ap- peared about that time. The modern title of the book is ' The Customs of London, otherwise called Arnold's Chronicle;' but in its original state it was devoid of a Title-page, the Table of Contents being headed thus : e In this booke is conteyned the names of y e Bayliffs, Gustos, Mairs, and Sherefs of the Cite of London, from the tyme of King Richard the Furst; and also th' Artycles of the Chartur and Libarties of the same Cyte ; and of the Chartur and Libarties off England, wyth odur dyuers matters good for euery Citezen to vndirstond and knowe ; whiche ben shewid in Chaptirs after the fourme of this kalendir following.' The first edition of ' Arnold's Chronicle' is usually supposed to have been printed by John Doesborowe, at Antwerp, about the year 1502, in small folio; though it is without either date, or name of place, or Printer. Tt seems that Richard v 290 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. Arnold liimself was a Citizen and Haberdasher, who resided in the Parish of St. Magnus, London Bridge, where he flourished in the year ]519. His work is a most singular compilation, for it not only contains all the subjects which I have already named to you, but numerous others which seem to have no sort of connection with it : such, for instance, as forms for legal instruments, ' the crafte to make a water to haue spottys out of clothe ;' ' the vij aegesse of the worlde fro Adam forewarde ;' ' the crafte of graffyng and plantyng of tryes ;' ' to make a pickell too kepe fresh sturgeon in ;' and the ancient original of Prior's beautiful ballad of the Nut-brown Maid ! But now to shew you its references to London Bridge in par- ticular, I must observe that one of its articles is en- titled ' The lerning for to make a count by y e yerly rentis of London Brygge, Fo. 270;' nearly all of Arnold's examples being given from real and public documents : indeed, he was, as Mr. Douce observes of him, ' a very active, and even a meddling cha- racter.' To that activity and meddling, however, we owe too much extremely valuable information, to visit his sins of officious curiosity with any very severe censure ; or to blame him too violently for having compiled his volume of such very singular materials. The first extract from these Account-rolls is for 1482, and is as follows : " ' The , Yerely stint of the Ly uelod belonging to London Brydge. Fyrst, for all maner ressaitis in y e yere vii. C. li. or therabout ;' namely 700. ' The Chargis goyng out. 1482.]] LONDON BRIDGE. 291 Li. s. d. ' For wagis and fees of the Officers Ixix, vj. viij. Item, for rewardis of the Officers.. xxiij. vj. viij. Item, paid out for quyt rentis .. . .xxx. xiiij. vj. Item, for quyt rentis dekayed ix. iij. viij. Item, for vacacions xxx. Item, for costis of the Chapell .. ..xxxiiij. v. iij. Item, the expencis vpon the Auditors xl. Somme of this parte C.lxxxxviij. xvj. ix. 198. 16*. 9 gate, and then coming down into the Porter's lodge, about eleven at night, he found the Porter sleeping, but his wife, with several others, watching over a coal fire. On beholding Wyat, they suddenly started, when he commanded them to be silent, as they loved their lives, and they should have no hurt ; and, they timidly yielding to him, he and some others went upon the Bridge to reconnoitre. On the other side of the Draw-Bridge he saw the Lord Admiral, the Lord Mayor, Sir Andrew Judd, and one or two more in consultation, for defence of the Bridge, as we may sup- pose, by fire or torch light ; and after, for some time, carefully observing their deliberations, he returned to 1554.] LONDON BRIDGE. 333 his party, unseen and in safety. Having stated to his followers the active measures of the Citizens, they began to consult what course they had better adopt to secure their own success and safety. The advice of some was to return to Greenwich, and crossing the water into Essex, enter London at Aldgate ; others, though they were suspected of treachery, were for going back into Kent to meet some friends and sup- plies ; when, at length, it was concluded that they should march along the Thames towards Kingston, and, crossing the Bridge of that place, enter the City on the West. " On the night previously to their departure, Monday, the 5th of February, as ' Thomas Menschen, one of the Lieutenant's men of the Tower/ says Stow, in his 'Annals,' page 619, ' rowed with a sculler over against the Bishop of Winchester's Palace, there was a water-man of the Tower stayres, desired the sayd Lieutenant to take him in, who did so, which being espied of Wyatt's men, seauen of them with harque- busses called to them to land againe, but they would not, whereupon each man discharged their piece, and killed the sayd Waterman, which foorthwith falling downe dead, the sculler with much paine rowed through the Bridge to the Tower wharfe, with the Lieutenant's man and the dead -man in his boat ; which thing was no sooner knowne to the Lieutenant, but even the same night, and the next morning, hee bent seauen great pieces of ordnance, cvluerings and demi-canons, full against the foote of the Bridge, and 334 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. against Southwarke, and the two steeples of Saint Olaues and Saint Mary Queries, besides all the pieces on the White Tower, one culuering on the Diueling Tower, and three fauconets ouer the Water-gate : which so soone as the inhabitants of Southwarke vnderstood, certaine both men and women came to Wyat in most lamentable wise, saying, ' Sir, wee are all like to bee vtterly vndone, and destroyed for your sake, our houses shall by and by bee throwne downe vpon our heads, to the vtter spoyle of this borrough, with the shot of the Tower, all ready bent and charged towards vs, for the loue of God therefore take pittie vpon vs : ' at which wordes hee being partly abashed, stayed a while, and then sayd : ' I pray you my friends bee content a while, and I will soone ease you of this mischiefe, for God forbid that you, or the least here, should be killed, or hurt, in my behalfe.' And so, in most speedie manner, hee marched away/ " He next proceeded to Kingston, where he devised the means of crossing the river, though the bridge was destroyed ; and on the 7th of February he en- tered London. His unhappy story is no farther con- nected with that of London Bridge ; and it will therefore be sufficient to observe that he was executed on the llth of April, on Tower-hill, his quarters being set up in several places, and his head on the gibbet at Hay-hill, near Hyde Park ; whence, how- ever, it was soon after stolen and carried away. In addition to Stow's ' Annals,' let me observe that I 1555-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 335 have also quoted from Holinshed's ' Chronicle,' vo- lume iii., page 1097- " Although, as I have fully shewn you, London Bridge was, in general, most intimately connected with the principal executions of the times, yet I do not read that it was rendered remarkable, in the days of Queen Mary, by being made the scene of any of the numerous Protestant martyrdoms, which have eternally blotted her short, but sanguinary reign. There is, however, in Fox, a short anecdote connected with our present subject, which I quote the more rea- dily, as it also bears a reference to the Church of St. Magnus. Upon the death of Pope Julius III., in 1555, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor, wrote to Bonner, Bishop of London, to command him, in Queen Mary's name, to order those prayers to be used throughout his diocese, which the Roman Church has appointed during a va- cancy in the Papal See. ' Vpon this commandment,' says John Fox, in his immortal ' Acts and Monuments of Martyrs ;' London, 1610, volume iii., page 1417, co- lumn 2, ' on Wednesday in Easter weeke,' which, in 1555, was the 17th of April, ' there were hearses set vp, and diriges sung for the said Julius, in diuers places. At which time it chanced a woman to come into Saint Magnus Church, at the Bridge-foot in London, and there seeing an hearse and other pre- paration, asked what it meant : and other that stood by, said that it was for the Pope, and that she must pray for him. ' Nay,' quoth she, ' that I will not, 33(5 CHRONICLES OF [A.D. for he needeth not my prayer : and seeing he could forgiue vs all our sins, I am sure he is cleane himselfe: therefore I neede not to pray for him.' She was heard speake these words of certaine that stood by : which by and by carried her vnto the cage at London Bridge, and bade her coole her selfe there.' In some of the editions of Fox there is an engraving representing this circumstance, which shews that the Stocks and Cage stood by one of the archways on the Bridge, and in one of the vacant spaces which looked on to the water. I will but add, that Cages and Stocks were ordered to be set up in every Ward of the City by Sir William Capell, Draper, and Lord Mayor, in 1503. " I cannot illustrate the year 1556 farther than by an extract from the Account-Rolls of the Bridge- 1556.] LONDON BRIDGE. 337 Keepers, taken from the printed document already mentioned ; and the general particulars are as follow. ' 1556. Andrew Woodcock and William Maynard, Bridge-Masters, received for this year's fee, each, 26. 13*. 4^. 53. 6*. 8d. Horse-keeping, to each, 2. 4, Livery, each 1. 2, Total, to each of them, 29. 13*. 4d. Sum of the whole 59. 6*. 8d. Rental, 1069. 11*. 6d.' " The next view which we find representing Lon- don Bridge, is supposed to have been taken about this time, or at least before the year 1561, since it shews the Cathedral of St. Paul surmounted by its famous spire, which was then destroyed. The picture, itself, is a prospect of London, taken from St. Catherine's, below the Tower, over the gate of which are two turrets, since gone, and behind the Tower is a view of Grace Dieu Abbey in the Minories, with the spires and tops of several other Churches and buildings. Mr. Gough, in his ' British Topography,' volume i., page 748, esteems this to be the oldest view of London extant; and states that it was a painting in the possession of Mr. John Grove, of Richmond, who had it engraven in Nov. 1754, by J. Wood, and dedi- cated to the Right Honourable Philip, Lord Hard- wicke, Lord Chancellor, &c. This view consists of a whole-sheet folio plate, executed in the line- manner ; the Bridge is shewn in the distance, having fifteen arches only, with three separate piles of build- ings and towers above : and in the front are several ancient vessels and boats. Though Mr. Gough states 338 CHRONICLES OF A. D. that the plate has been mislaid, impressions from it are by no means exceedingly rare, excepting when they are in fine preservation, as to colour and margin ; and, it should be remarked, that there is also a quarto copy of it in the second number of a singular, but unfinished work, published by Messrs. Boydell and Co. in 1818, entitled ' London before the Great Fire.' This view of London Bridge is, however, much too distant for our purpose ; even if its authority were less apocryphal, than it is generally supposed to be. " The year 1564 was remarkable, inasmuch as it concerned London Bridge, for a severe frost upon the Thames, which began on Thursday, December the 21st, and of which Stow, in his ' Annals,' page 658, and Holinshed in his ' Chronicle,' volume iii., page 1208, give you some particulars. It is there stated, that the frost continued to such an extremity, that on New- Year's Eve ' people went ouer and alongst the Thames on the ise from London Bridge to West- minster. Some plaied at the football as boldlie there, as if it had beene on the drie land: diuerse of the Court being then at Westminster, shot dailie at prickes set vpon the Thames ; and the people, both men and women, went on the Thames in greater numbers, than in anie street of the Citie of London. On the third daie of January at night, it began to thaw, and on the fift there was no ise to be scene betweene London Bridge and Lambeth, which sudden thaw caused great floods and high waters, that bare downe bridges and houses, and drowned manie people 1577-] LONDON BRIDGE. 339 in England: especiallie in Yorkshire, Owes Bridge was borne awaie with others.' " Stow relates in his ' Survey,' volume i., page 64, that in April, 1577> the Tower which stood at the Northern end of the Draw- Bridge on London Bridge, was become so decayed as to require taking down and removing. A new building was consequently then com- menced, and the heads of the traitors which had for- merly stood upon it were re-erected on the Tower over the Gate at the Bridge foot, Southwark ; which was subsequently known by the name of TRAITORS' GATE. " Whilst I am speaking to you of the removal of these heads to the South end of London Bridge, 340 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. though it comes a little out of the order of time, I must not forget to notice the increase of their num- ber, by those of several persons who were executed for not acknowledging King Henry VIII. as Supreme Head of the Church of England. The Act, by which he was so constituted, was passed in the 27th year of his reign, 1535, and it ordained that all who re- fused to take the Oath of the King's Ecclesiastical Supremacy, and renounce that of the Pope, whether Clergyman or layman, should be considered as guilty of High Treason. The first who suffered under this Act were several of the Carthusian Monks of the Charter-house, preceded by their Prior, John Hough- ton, on Tuesday, May the 4th, whose heads were then set up on the Bridge : but two of the most emi- nent and remarkable instances, were those of Bishop Fisher, and Sir Thomas More, to which I shall re- quest your attention whilst I give you a few parti- culars. " John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was executed on St. Alban's day, Tuesday, the 22nd of June, 1535, about ten in the morning ; and his head was to have been erected upon Traitors' Gate the same night, but that it was delayed to be exhibited to Queen Anne Boleyn. We gather these particulars from that most curious little duodecimo, written by Hall, but attributed to Dr. Thomas Baily, entitled e The Life and Death of that renowned John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester,' London, 1655; in which also, at page 211, there is the following interesting passage concerning 1577-] LONDON BRIDGE. 341 London Bridge. ' The next day after his burying, the head, being parboyled, was pricked upon a pole and set on high upon London Bridge, among the rest of the holy Carthusians' heads that suffered death lately before him. And here I cannot omit to declare unto you the miraculous sight of this head, which, after it had stood up the space of fourteen dayes upon the Bridge, could not be perceived to wast nor con- sume : neither for the weather, which then was very hot, neither for the parboyling in hot water, but grew daily fresher and fresher, so that in his life-time he never looked so well ; for his cheeks being beautified with a comely red, the face looked as though it had beholden the people passing by, and would have spoken to them, which many took for a miracle, that Almighty God was pleased to shew above the course of Nature, in this preserving the fresh and lively colour in his face, surpassing the colour he had being alive, whereby was noted to the world the innocence and holinesse of this blessed father, that thus inno- cently was content to lose his head in defence of his Mother, the Holy Catholique Church of Christ. Wherefore the people coming daily to see this strange sight, the passage over the Bridge was so stopped with their going and coming, that almost neither cart nor horse could passe : and, therefore, at the end of fourteen daies, the executioner was commanded to throw downe the head, in the night time, into the River of Thames, and, in the place thereof, was set the head of the most blessed and constant martyr, Sir Thomas More, his companion, and fellow in all 342 CHRONICLES OP QA. D. his troubles, who suffered his passion' on Tuesday, ' the 6th of July next following/ about nine o'clock in the morning. " The circumstances attendant upon the relique of this most eminent man, were but little less singular than the preceding ; and Thomas More, his great-grandson, in his very interesting Life of him, printed at London, in octavo, 1726, pages 276, 277j says, ' his head was putt vpon London Bridge, where as trayters* heads are sett vpon poles : and hauing remained some moneths there, being to be cast into the Thames, because roome should be made for diuerse others, who, in plentiful sorte, suffered martyrdome for the same Supremacie, shortly after it was bought by his daughter Margarett, least, as she stoutly affirmed before the Councell, being called before them for the same matter it should be foode for fishes; which she buried where she thought fittest. It was very well to be knowen, as well by the liuelie fauour of him, which was not all this while in anie thing almost diminished ; as also by reason of one tooth which he wanted whilst he liued : herein it was to be admired, that the hayres of his head being almost gray, before his martyrdome, they seemed now, as it were, readish or yellow.' The pious daughter of this most celebrated Chancellor, is said to have preserved this relique in a leaden case, and to have ordered its interment, with her own body, in the Roper vault, under a chapel adjoining St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, where it was seen in the year 1715 ; and again very recently. " About the time of removing the black and de- 1579.] LONDON BRIDGE. 343 caying fragments of these heads, there seem to have been several other alterations and improvements ef- fected upon London Bridge ; for Stow tells us that, to replace the Tower which was taken down, ' a new foundation was drawn, and Sir John Langley, the Lord Mayor, laid the first stone of another building, in presence of the Sheriffs, and Bridge Masters, on Wednesday, the 28th of August, 1577- In September, 15J9, the Tower was finished, being a beautiful and chargeable piece of work, and having all its fabric above the Bridge formed of timber.' This erection, then, formed a second SOUTHWARK GATE AND TOWER. 344 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. The structure consisted of four circular turrets, con- nected by curtains, and surmounted by battlements, containing a great number of transom casements; within which, having their roofs and chimneys rising above the Tower, were several small habitations, whilst beneath, was a broad covered passage; the building itself projecting considerably over each side of the Bridge, the width of the carriage-way, at this part, being about 40 feet. Perhaps, however, the most splendid and curious building which adorned London Bridge at this time, was the famous NONESUCH HOUSE ; 1579.] LONDON BRIDGE. 345 so called, because it was constructed in Holland, en- tirely of wood, and, being brought over in pieces, was erected in this place with wooden pegs only, not a single nail being used in the whole fabric. It stood at some distance beyond the edifice which I last de- scribed to you, nearer the City, at the Northern entrance of the Drawbridge ; and its situation is even yet pointed out to you, by the 7th and 8th Arches of London Bridge, from the Southwark end, being still called the Draw Lock, and the Nonesuch Lock. On the London side of the Bridge, the Nonesuch House was partly joined to numerous small wooden dwellings, of about 27 feet in depth, which hung over the pa- rapet on each side, leaving, however, a clear space of 20 feet in the centre ; though, over all these, its carved gables, cupolas, and gilded vanes, majestically towered. Two Sun-dials, declining East and West, also crowned the top on the South side ; on the former of which was painted the old and appropriate admonition of ' Time and Tide stay for no man ;' though these orna- ments do not appear to have been erected until the year 1681, in the Mayoralty of Sir Patience Ward. This we learn from Edward Hatton's ' New View of London,' volume ii., page 791. " Like most of those other buildings, this celebrated edifice also overhung the East and West sides of the Bridge ; and there presented to the Thames two fronts, of scarcely less magnificence than it exhibited to Southwark and the City ; the columns, windows, and carving, being similarly splendid; and, thus, equally 346 CHRONICLES OF [A.D. curious and interesting, was the NONESUCH HOUSE ON LONDON BRIDGE, SEEN FROM THE WATER. Its Southern front only, however, stood perfectly un- connected with other erections, that being entirely free for about fifty feet before it, and presenting the appearance of a large building projecting beyond the Bridge on either side ; having a square tower at each extremity, crowned by short domes, or Kremlin 1579.] LONDON BRIDGE. 347 spires, whilst an antiquely-carved gable arose in each centre. The whole of the front, too, was ornamented with a profusion of transom casement windows, with carved wooden galleries before them; and richly sculptured wooden panels and gilded columns were to be found in every part of it. In the centre was an arch, of the width of the Drawbridge, leading over the Bridge; and above it, on the South side, were carved the Arms of St. George, of the City of London, and those of Elizabeth, France and England quarterly, supported by the Lion and Dragon; from which cir- cumstance, only, can we estimate the time when the Nonesuch House was erected." " Allow me, however, to observe at this place," said I, as Mr. Postern pronounced these last words, " that we have another, and a very curious piece of evidence too, for believing that the Nonesuch House on London Bridge was placed there about this very period : in- asmuch as that excellent and indefatigable antiquary, Mr. Sharp, of the most ancient City of Coventry, has discovered, in the manuscript accounts of that place, a memorandum which certainly has reference to this very building ; and which, as he has favoured me with a copy, I shall repeat to you. ' 1585. Paid to Durrani, the paynter, to bye Coulors to paynt the Vawte at the Maior's palace, in parte of payment of xxx s. } to ley the vawte in oyle Colers substancially, the greate posts in jasper Collur, as the nerve house on London Bridge ys : all the rayles in stone Coulo', the smale pillors in white leade Coulors, the great pillars in 348 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. perfect greene Coullo r xiij.j. iiij.d.' ' The Vaivte,' he adds, ' was a balcony, or colonnade, in front of the Mayor's Parlour, supported by large pillars, and having a ballustrade of smaller pillars round the flat- leaded roof of it.' This, Mr. Barnaby, it must be confessed, is very like the features of the Nonesuch House on London Bridge : and it is not at all impro- bable but what we have here almost the very year of its erection." " You are right, worthy Mr. Barbican, you are right," said the old Historian of the Bridge ; " and I would to Heaven, that no Antiquarian discussion ever demanded a heavier concession. But now let us return for a while from the buildings on London Bridge, to the scattered events which illustrate its history ; for I purpose again speaking of its appearance when we arrive at the close of this century, and of then mentioning all the ancient prospects of it, whence I have drawn my descriptions of its edifices. " It was in 1582 that the idea was first formed of erecting Water- works against the Arches of London Bridge ; and of adapting the violence of the torrent, as it rushed through its narrow locks, to some purpose of general utility. As a good account of these ori- ginal works is given in Stow's ' Annals,' page 696, and in Holinshed's ' Chronicle,' volume iii., page 1348, I shall give you the very words, as conveying the best illustration of them. ' This year/ says Abraham Fleming, Holinshed's continuator, ' Peter Moris, a Dutchman, but a Free-Denizen, having made an 1582.] LONDON BRIDGE. 349 engine for that purpose, conueied Thames water in pipes of lead ouer the steeple of St. Magnus Church, at the North end of London Bridge, and so into diuerse men's houses in Thames Street, New Fish Street, and Grasse-street, vp vnto the North-west corner of Leadenhall, the highest ground of the Citie of London, where the waste of the first maine pipe ran first this yeare, one thousand five hundred eightie and two, on Christmasse eeuen ; which maine pipe, being since at the charges of the Citie brought vp into a standard there made for that purpose, and di- uided there into foure severall spouts, ranne foure waies, plentifullie seruing to the vse of the inha- bitants neere adioining, that will fetch the same into their houses, and also clensed the chanels of the streets, North towards Bishopsgate, East towards Aldgate, South towards the Bridge, and West towards the Stocks Market. No doubt a great commoditie to that part of the Citie, and would be farre greater, if the said water were mainteined to run continuallie, or at the least at euerie tide some reasonable quantitie, as at the first it did ; but since is much aslaked, thorough whose default I know not, sith the engine is sufficient to conueie water plentifullie : which, being well con- sidered by Bernard Randolph, Esquier, Common Ser- geant of the Citie of London, he, being aliue, gaue and deliuered to the Company of Fishmongers, in London, a round sum to be imploied towards conducting the Thames water, for the good seruice of the Common- wealth, in conuenient order.' It was probably the 350 CHRONICLES OF A. D. success of this engine which occasioned another of four pumps, worked by horses, to be erected at Broken- Wharf, near Queenhithe; invented, as Stow observes in his ' Annals,' page 769, by Bevis Bulmar, 'a most ingenious gentleman.' It was at first intended to convey the Thames water, by leaden pipes, to the whole Western part of London ; but after working it for a short time, it was laid aside, on account of its great charge both to the tenants and the proprietors. " After this I meet with but little to notice in our Bridge Annals, for several years, excepting, that in 1583, Sir Edward Osborne, being then Lord Mayor, is said to have introduced the custom of drinking to the new Sheriffs, although there is a ludicrous instance of such a ceremony in 1487 ; and that Stow's ' Annals' inform us, at page 698, that on the conclusion of the Irish rebellion, James, Earl of Desmond, a principal leader, ' secretly wandering without any succour, being taken in his cabine by one of the Irish, his head was cut off and sent into England, where the same, as the head of an arch-rebell, was set on London- Bridge on the thirteene of December.' " It was on December the 4th, 1586, that the Com- missioners appointed to try the unfortunate Mary ? Queen of Scots, issued their sentence against her from Richmond ; which, on the 6th, was openly read in London, by William Sebright, the Town-Clerk. This proclamation, as Stow relates in his ' Annals,' page 741, was made with the Serjeants at Arms, and by sound of trumpets, about ten o'clock in the morning, 1586.] LONDON BRIDGE. 351 at four places in the City ; namely, at the end of Chancery lane ; at the Cross in Cheapside ; at the corner of Leadenhall ; and also at St. Magnus, London Bridge. It was witnessed by several of the Nobility ; the Lord Mayor, and Aldermen, in their scarlet dresses ; the City Officers ; the principal part of the gentry of London, and the most eminent Citizens habited in velvet with gold chains; all mounted on horseback. The tidings which were thus made known, were received by the people with every kind of rejoicing ; ' as manifestly appeared,' says Stow, ' by ringing of bells, making of bonfires, and singing of psalmes in euery of the streetes and lanes of the Citie.' " I do not find, in the preparations for defending London against the Spaniards, in 1588, any orders concerning the guarding of the Bridge ; though in the scheme for marshalling the City, then drawn up by Edmund York, and printed in volume ii. of Stow's ' Survey,' page 569, it is observed that the Bridge is to be one of the places watched as a gate of London. This, however, was not the first time that the Citizens had been under military discipline, for Stow relates, in the same volume, page 567, that in September, 1586, when so much danger was anticipated from the conspiracies of the Papists, a series of orders was drawn up for their instruction. In these regulations it was stated, that the gates should be shut every night, and the Portcullises put in order ; and that one of the stations of the watch by the water-side, should 352 CHRONICLES OF A. D. be by the engine which supplied the City with water, which was at the North- West corner of London Bridge, and almost adjoining to the present site of Fishmongers' Hall. Both these anticipated dangers, however, passed away without any other effect upon London, than that of evincing the courage of the Citizens ; and, after the notable defeat of the Armada, eleven of the captured standards were hung upon London-Bridge, towards Southwark, on Monday, September the 9th, the day of the Fair in that place, to the great re- joicing of all who saw them. " Besides the before-mentioned engines for sup- plying the City with water, there were, however, also Corn Mills erected near London Bridge, at a very early period in the sixteenth century : for Stow, in volume i. of his ' Survey,' page 42, observes that they were built on the Thames, about the year 1508. These were, however, not the most ancient machines of that nature erected about this place; for in the year 1197, m an exchange of the Manor of Lambeth e for the Manor of Darent, made between Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Monks of Rochester, there is a notice of a Mill which ' the aforesaid Monks have without Southwark on the Thames, towards the East, against the Tower of Lon- don.' You may see the original instrument in the third volume of Dugdale's ' Monasticon Anglicanum,' London, ' In the Savoy/ 1673, folio, page 4. It was therefore, upon these precedents, for the better supply of the City, in consequence of the dearth and scarcity 1588.] LONDON BRIDGE. 353 of corn which had extended for several miles round London, and also on account of the difficulty of grinding meal for the poor, that in March 1588, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, petitioned Queen Elizabeth that they might erect four Corn Mills under two roofs on the Thames, near the Bridge, in parts where they could not occasion any injury. On the 1st of April, therefore, a commission was ad- dressed from the Court, at Greenwich, to Mr. Rokesby, Master of St. Katherine's, Mr. Fanshaw, Master of the Requests, and Mr. Peter Osborn, Remembrancer of the Exchequer, to call before them such persons as should be appointed by the City to manage their cause ; some of the principal Officers of the Navy, and certain Masters of the Trinity-House, to consult with them whether the erection of such Mills would be beneficial, or inconvenient ; and to consider in what places they should be set up, in order that the Queen might be moved to grant the City's petition. After this consultation, a certificate, dated May the Ib'th, was returned by all the parties summoned, and the eight Masters and Overseers of the River, and others of the Assistants of the Company of Watermen, that the erecting of such Mills could not in any way be hurtful to the Thames. But as Stow has left on record the Trinity-House Certificate, I shall give it you in the original form and words. " ' Whereas it hath pleased the Lords of Her Ma- jesty's most Honourable Privy Council to direct their letter to the Worshipful Mr. Rookesby, Master of 2 A 354 CHRONICLES OP A. D. St. Katherine's, Mr. Fanshaw, Mr. Osborn, Commis- sioners for the building of certain Mills on the South side of Thames upon the starlings above the Bridge : and the Commissioners above-named, have sent for us, the Master and Assistants of the Trinity-House of Deptford-Strand in Kent, that we should make the survey, whether the erecting of those Mills might be prejudicial, or hurtful, to the said River ; We whose names are hereunder written, with others, have taken a view of the said place, and do find, as far as we can judge and foresee, it will not be hurtful, nor preju- dicial, to the said River in any way. April 4th, 1588. John Hawkins. William Holstock. Richard Gibs, Master. By me, Edw. Wilkinson. By me, Will. Harris. By me, Peter Hills.' By me, Tho. Andros. " In Stow's same work and volume, page 62, he states, that as soon as these Mills were set up, com- plaint was made to the Court, which produced the foregoing enquiry ; and that it was then ordered, that the water should have free course through the arches of the Bridge, and that the parts of the Mills which stood nearest to the stone- work of the edifice, should still be twelve feet distant from any part of it. The intent of these Mills was to provide a remedy for times of dearth, when the common people paid from 4d. to 6d. the bushel for grinding their corn, and often, for a considerable time, could not get it ground at all ; to supply which they were constrained to buy 1588.] LONDON BRIDGE. 355 meal at the meal-sellers' own prices, which they in- creased at their pleasure. " We have no very perfect idea left us of the ap- pearance of either the Mills, or the ancient Water- works erected against London Bridge. Gough, in his ' British Topography,' volume i., page 735, states on the authority of Bagford, that in the Pepy- sian Library, at Cambridge, there is ' a draught of London Bridge, expressing the Mill at the end ; as also a very old drawing of this Bridge on Fire, on vellum.' " ' Yes, Master Postern," said I, " he does so ; and that same ' very old drawing,' is nothing less than a most fair and interesting view of the Western side, as it appeared about the time of Elizabeth, or James I., delicately drawn with a pen, slightly shaded, coloured, and gilded, but all faded by time, and nearly worn out by having been folded in two, from the continual friction of the surfaces. It measures about 24^ inches, by 4| inches ; and is now contained in the portfolio marked ' London and Westminster, 1. 246, 247. C.' As the Bridge is represented with the Northern end in a perfectly entire state, it must have been drawn anterior to the great conflagration which destroyed it in 1 632-33 ; though it was probably to commemorate that event, that some rude and barbarous hand has disfigured it with those numerous streaks of red, which Bagford and Gough supposed to represent flames. From the minute and careful manner in which it is drawn, it may certainly be esteemed as peculiarly 356 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. authentic ; and, therefore, I proceed to notice to you, that it, very probably, contains a representation of the four Mills, which you have already mentioned as being set up near this place. At the Southern end, below the Traitors' Gate, is a kind of long shed, formed of shingles, or thin boards, erected on three of the ster- lings, and covering, as the Citizens proposed, four water wheels, which edifice is, doubtless, intended to repre- sent the ANCIENT CORN MILLS AT LONDON BRIDGE. " Now, Mr. Barnaby, as this building stands out so far from the Bridge itself as to leave a considerable space between them, though enclosed on all sides, a sort of water-square open at the top, it appears to me 1588.] LONDON BRIDGE. 357 an evident proof that it represents those very Mills. In the roof of the building are three sets of windows ; and an open stage, or floor, appears a short distance below it. At the North end, also, of this most inte- resting prospect, against the first sterling, is a high square building, like a tower, having a low wooden gallery in front of it ; and a single water-wheel turning beneath it; which are, most probably, intended for the WATERWORKS AND TOWER AT LONDON BRIDGE. " With regard to the other principal features of the Pepysian view, I shall remark to you only, that the Western side of the Nonesuch House is delineated in 358 CHRONICLES OP [[A. D. the richest and most delicate manner, all its carvings and columns being minutely drawn and touched with gold; whilst a whole grove of heads and quarters raised upon staves stands upon the top of the Traitors' Gate beyond it ; and so much then for a brief descrip- tion of this ancient prospect of London Bridge." " I am much your debtor, most worthy Master Geoffrey," said Mr. Postern, as I concluded, " I, truly, am greatly your debtor, for these curious notices of a view, at once so rare, so interesting, and so antique : and, touching the Water-house, or Tower, to which you have alluded, although we have not any certain infor- mation of the time when it was erected, yet from the circumstance of its appearing with a name in John Norden's very scarce view of London Bridge, which I shall presently mention, it may be supposed to have been set up in the time of Elizabeth, and was, perhaps, as old as the Water-works themselves. In the first edition of Stow's ' Survey,' by Strype, London, 1720, volume i., book ii., page 174, there is a passage re- lating to the Water-house, which does not appear either in the original edition of 1598, nor in the last ancient one of 1 633 ; and therefore may be very justly supposed to refer to the wooden building erected after the Great Fire ; when it will most properly be noticed. , " I must here again refer to the Account-rolls of the Bridge Keepers, for the memoranda of some past years' revenues and expenditure, to inform you that in the year 1562 the rental was 1071. 6*. The salaries, and allowance for horsekeeping, to William Draper 1591/] LONDON BRIDGE. 359 and Robert Essington, the Wardens, were the same as those paid in 1556 ; but the liveries were increased to 3. 6s. 8d. each. The whole amount for the year being 64. In 1565, says the same authority, the allowance to each Bridge-Master for fees, livery, &c. was 33. : and the rental of the estates amounted to 1168. 8*. 5^d. : while in 1590, the Bridge rental was 1369. "Js. 2d. ; and Robert Aske and James Conneld, the Wardens, paid the two Bridge-Masters for their Year's fee, 50. each, with 3. each for their horses and liveries; making the whole charge 106. " In the year 1591, a most singular instance of drought occurred in the vicinity of our history, as you may read in Stow's ' Annals,' page 765, where he states, that on ( Wednesday, the sixth of September, the wind West-and-by-South, as it had beene for the space of two days before, very boysterous, the riuer of Thamis was so voyd of water, by forcing out the fresh and keeping backe the sault, that men in diuers places might goe 200 paces ouer, and then fling a stone to the land. A Collier, on a mare, rode from the North side to the South, and backe againe, on either side of London Bridge, but not without danger of drowning both wayes.' " The year 1594 was particularly remarkable for a dearth of corn, occasioned, as Stow tells 'us, it was supposed, see his ' Annals,' page 769, by the Eng- lish Merchants having exported it too largely. The summer had been extremely wet ; for not only much rain fell in May ; but, in the following two months, 360 CHRONICLES OP [A. D. it commonly rained every day, or night, until the 25th of July, the Feast of St. James, and two days after, without intermission. Notwithstanding these floods a fair harvest followed in August, but the price of grain rose to 5*. for a bushel of Rye, whilst Wheat was sold from 6*. to 8*. the bushel, and increased even still higher. In consequence of this, Sir John Spencer, the Lord Mayor, procured it to be ordered, that the several Companies of the City should presently pro- vide themselves with certain proportions of wheat and rye, to be laid up in the public granaries at the Bridge House. In December, however, the greatest part of their stores was yet wanting, and the Lord Mayor, therefore, issued a new order on the 13th of that month, directing that the whole quantity should be laid up in the Bridge-House before the 8th of the ensuing January ; since corn was then being imported into England. At this period, Elizabeth was, most probably, preparing those twenty-six vessels, which she despatched, the following year, to Spanish America, under Sir John Hawkins; since, in his capacity of Treasurer of the Navy, he demanded of the Lord Mayor the Bridge-House, granaries, ovens, &c. for the use of the Queen's Navy, and baking biscuits for the fleet. Cecil, Lord Burleigh, who was then Lord Treasurer, being a great patron and protector of the City; to him the Lord Mayor addressed a remon- strance against Sir John Hawkins, stating all the fore- going circumstances, that the City would be deprived of its provision, if he lent the granaries; that the Companies would neglect to lay up the corn they 1594.] LONDON BRIDGE. 361 were enjoined to do, and that grain must either be bought from the Badgers, or Meal-sellers, or else the Merchants be discouraged from importing any more. He added also, that the ovens in the Bridge-House were required for baking bread for the City poor, at reduced rates ; and he concluded by representing that the Queen had not only granaries about Tower Hill, Whitehall, and Westminster, but that Winchester House was also in her possession, in which large quan- tities of corn might be deposited. This honest and spirited conduct of the Lord Mayor produced, on the part of Admiral Hawkins, the reply ' that he should hear more to his further dislike/ as well as some letters from the Privy Council in censure of his pro- ceedings. Upon which he again addressed the Lord Treasurer, entreated his favour and protection, and petitioned that the granaries might still be employed for the use of the City, lest the dearth of corn should yet increase, or the poor of London should be dis- tressed for provision : adding that, as the City was then unprovided, his Lordship would hold him ex- cused from resigning the Bridge House, and sub- mitting himself to his good pleasure. With these answers, Hawkins was probably forced to be content, as we meet with no farther correspondence upon this subject. " With these particulars, then, terminate our annals of London Bridge for the sixteenth century ; but before we pass on to the opening of the following one, let me mention to you the views of this edifice which we possess, illustrative of the period we have now 362 CHRONICLES OF [~A. D. arrived at, and give you a general idea of its ap- pearance, whilst it yet remained in its greatest state of splendour. " One of the most ancient representations of London Bridge is contained in that painting of the proces- sion of King Edward VI. from the Tower, to his Coronation at Westminster, February the 19th, 1547 ; the original of which was executed to decorate a part of the Great Dining Room of Cowdray Hall, Sussex, the seat of Viscount Montague, where it was de- stroyed by fire in 1793. An engraving of this inte- resting picture was, however, published by the So- ciety of Antiquaries in May, 1797; and the Bridge is there represented at the left hand of the engraving, containing four or five buildings erected on the side, in the centre of which rises a spire, perhaps meant for the Chapel of St. Thomas ; and at the Southern end appears the gate. This, however, is but an ob- lique view, and by no means to be depended upon for its accuracy ; though, at the same time, the plate contains numerous other interesting features of anti- quity, which render it invaluable to all the admirers of London in the olden times. The next most ancient prints of this edifice are those maps and plans of London which include the Bridge ; such as that con- tained in the ' Civilates Orbis Terrarum,' by George Braun and Francis Hohenberg, volume i., Cologne, 1523, folio, signature A : the famous map of Ra- dulphus Aggas, published about 1588; and some others of less note, of which you have a tolerably accurate account in Richard Gough's ' British Topo- 1599-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 363 graphy,' volume i., pages 743 760. These plans, however, although exceedingly interesting, are, from their great extent, less pleasing than a view, as it regards particulars; for the buildings are sometimes so rudely and minutely sketched, as to convey no perfect idea to the minds of such as desire to contem- plate old London in all its original quaintness and antique beauty. " But, perhaps, the rarest and most curious prospect of London Bridge in the reign of Elizabeth, is that engraven by John Norden, of which an impression rests in Mrs. Sutherland's sumptuously-illustrated copy of Lord Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, in 31 volumes imperial folio, comprising 5800 prints and original drawings. Norden, you will recollect, was Surveyor to Henry, Prince of Wales, and died about 1626 ; and his view of London Bridge was, most probably, published two years before, for, though it is without date, it bears the arms of, and is dedicated to, Sir John Gore, Lord Mayor in 1624. The dedi- cation states, however, that Norden had ' described it in the time of Queene Elizabeth, but that the plate had bene neare these 20 yeares imbezeled and de- tained by a person till of late vnknowne.' The view of the Bridge is taken from the Eastern side, and the edifice is represented horizontally, from South to North ; though it is singularly enough stated to be from East to West : it measures 20^ inches by lOf , and is engraved in a border surmounted by the arms and supporters of James I., having its name written upon a scroll. At each end of the print is a naked 364 CHRONICLES OP A. D. boy flying; the one bearing a shield with the City Arms, and the other those of the person to whom it is dedicated. With respect to the Bridge itself, it is filled with buildings, in which the Traitors' Gate with the heads, the Nonesuch House, and the Chapel of St. Thomas, are particularly visible ; whilst above the houses, at the North end, is seen the top of ' The Water Worked From the windows of several of the houses, buckets are being let down by long ropes into the water, which is seen rushing through the arches with great impetuosity, although there is no fall. On the right appears a boat overturned, its oars floating about, one man drowning, and two others being saved by another boat ; whilst two or three more vessels, &c. are seen in different parts of the picture. Along the lower part of the water are en- graven the words ' Tame Isis Flvvius vulgo Temms ;' and below the print are the Dedication, and ' The description of London Bridge,' in letter-press in three columns, surrounded by a border of metal flowers, and signed John Norden. As this account is, of course, very short, and is chiefly taken from Stow, it gives us but little information ; though, perhaps, the concluding paragraphs may not be unworthy of your attention. ' It were superfluous to relate vnto such as well know, and duely do consider the forme and beauty of this famous Bridge : but to intimate it to the apprehension of strangers, I haue deliniated the same to the eye, how it is adorned with sumptuous buildings, and statelie and beautifull houses on either side, inhabited by wealthy Citizens, and furnished 1599.] LONDON BRIDGE. 365 with all manner of trades, comparable in it selfe to a little Citie, whose buildings are so artificially con- triued, and so firmely combined, as it seemeth more than an ordinary streete, for it is as one continuall vaute or roofe, except certaine voyde places, reserued from buildings, for the retire of passengers from the danger of carres, carts, and droues of cattell, vsually passing that way. This description representeth vnto the eye the true forme of this famous pyle, as neare as arte in this kinde of deliniation, can be demon- strated : the number and forme of euery arch, and all the buildings ; their true height, breadth, and distance of euery particular, from the East towards the West : as for the other side it like wise appeareth in my prospectiue description of the Citie ; the vaults, sellers, and places in the bowels as it were of the same Bridge, which are many and admirable, ex- cepted, which arte cannot discouer to the outward view. The situation, arte, and workmanship, in and about the Bridge, are affirmed by obseruing trauailers in all respects to exceede all the Bridges of the world. And, therefore, I thought it fit to represent it to the view of the world, that it may know, that if one part of this Citie be so famous, how much more the whole : which, for state and Christian gouernment, may well challenge place before any Citie in Christendome. And therefore I present vnto you this simple modell of one of the wonders of the world.' So concludes the descriptive eulogy of Master Norden. And now, Sir, having mentioned to you the great rarity of this print of London Bridge, and that if another impres- 366 CHRONICLES OP A. D. sion of it were to appear, it would probably produce the respectable price of ten, or fifteen guineas ; I must add that there has been an excellent fac-simile of it published by Mr. William Scott, of Great May's Buildings, St. Martin's Lane, for the more moderate sum of 10*. 6d., which no genuine lover of London, or London Bridge, should hesitate to procure. " The last view of this edifice which I shall at present notice to you, is one copied by Thomas Wood, Engraved by J. Pye, and dedicated to Brass Crosby, Esq., Lord Mayor, the Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of London ; and it represents the ' South View of the said City and part of Southwarke, as it appeared about the year 1599.' 1 am half in- clined to believe, however, that this prospect is made up from Hollar's View, published in 1657; as it is certainly taken from the same point. The Bridge rises obliquely on the right hand : at the South end of it appears the Southwark Gate, and beyond it is placed the rich tower which I have already described to you ; whilst a series of buildings, forming two distinct groups, with spaces between them, finish the picture, which has the old Church of St. Magnus for its Northern boundary. Even at this period, probably, some of the Arches of London Bridge had received those names by which they were so long afterwards known, though they were first inserted in Stow's ' Survey,' by Richard Bloome, one of the last of his Continuators before Strype ; but his account of these locks I shall speak of in the next century, and I will now only observe that such were the features of 1599-3 LONDON BRIDGE. LONDON BRIDGE IN THE YEAR 1599. 367 368 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. " ' Thanks be praised !' Master Barnaby," said I, as my indefatigable historian arrived at this period, " ' thanks be praised !' as the Countryman says in the Play, ' I thought we would never ha' got hither, for we've had a power of crosses upo' the road.' If you do not make the better speed through the next two centuries, mine honest friend, you will scarcely allow me time to conclude your narrative by a brief account of the New Bridge, and the grand ceremonial of its foundation : here's your health, however, and if con- tributing to one's repose, be a praiseworthy action, why, truly, I'm much your debtor, good Mr. Postern." " Rest you merry, Sir," replied he of the sack tank- ard ; " I see that you're one of the humourists of Old London ; and, methinks, you ought to be somewhat grateful to me for furnishing you with occasion to be witty ; but, to speak more seriously, I pray you to recollect that I have conducted you through a period of more than six hundred years, and that too in a his- tory of which the materials are to be sought for, and extracted, from a vast multitude of very opposite sources. And even when we have found them, you know, my good Mr. Barbican, that they resemble those grains of gold which the wandering Bohemians re- cover from the sand ; of little or no value till col- lected into a mass, and even then surprising by their insignificance. Surely, he is to be pitied, who becomes the historian of a subject equally ancient, interesting, hopeless, and unknown." " A very good reason," answered I, " for not be- 1605.] LONDON BRIDGE. 369 coming one at ail, Master Barnaby ; Odzooks ! do men write your thick folios, only because they know nothing of the matter ? But you have no such excuse, for you quote me a dozen authors to tell of one event; and then there's such 'fending and proving* about a handful of years, that where subjects are lacking, 'fore George ! you seem to me to create them." " Well, Sir, well," resumed the mild old man, " your wit becomes you ; but as we may never meet again, I would fain pour into your bosom all the little knowledge which I possess upon this point ; and so we will pass on to the Chronicles of London Bridge in the seventeenth century. " The inhuman cruelties which Queen Mary, Bishop Bonner, and others of their faith, practised upon the Protestants, may reasonably be supposed to have so embittered their minds, as to have excited in them no slight feelings of revenge, when, in their turn, they came into power. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine any other cause for the severities which they practised, or for the laws which were enacted to authorise them. The principal of these Statutes, you may remember., were five: one in the 27th of Elizabeth, 1585, chapter ii., entitled ' An Act against Jesuits, Seminary Priests, and other suck like disobedient persons;' and a second passed in her 35th year, 1593, chapter ii., and called ' An Act for restraining Popish Recusants to some certain place of abode.' Under King James I., were introduced three others strengthening 2s 370 CHRONICLES OF A. D, and confirming the former, the first of which was made in the 1st year of his reign, 1604, chapter iv., being ' An Act for the due execution of' the Statutes against Jesuits, Seminary Priests, Recusants, 4*c.' . and in his third year, 1606, were passed two others, see chapters iv. and v., namely, ' An Act for the better discovering and repressing of Popish Recusants ;' and ' An Act to prevent and avoid dangers which grow by Popish Recusants' History, Master Barbican, blushes to record what cruelties were perpetrated under the sanction of those laws; and I should have omitted all notice of them, but that they are so in- terwoven with several anecdotes of London Bridge. My authority is a work, entitled ' The Catholic Book of Martyrs, or a true British Martyrology commencing with the Reformation / by the Right Rev. Richard Challoner, Bishop of Debora ; of which the new edi- tion of 1825 is a singularly curious book. He states from Stow, in Volume ii,, page 9, that , in 1578, February 3rd, John Nelson, a Priest, was executed at Tyburn, for denying the Queen's supremacy, and that his head was erected on London Bridge ; whilst, on page 74, is a similar relation of another Priest named James Fenn ; but I proceed to notice a much more remarkable instance. In the year 1605, Father Henry Garnet, the Principal of the English Jesuits, was taken up and imprisoned in the Tower, for being a party concerned in the famous Gunpowder Plot : after many , examinations, he acknowledged that Father Greenway, a Jesuit, had communicated it to 1605.] LONDON BRIDGE. 371 him under the seal of confession from Catesby, the Chief of the conspirators. Both the Priests were struck with horror at the design, and vainly endea- voured to prevent its execution. Greenway fled beyond the seas, but Father Garnet was taken, con- demned, and executed in St. Paul's Church Yard, on the 3rd of May, the Anniversary of the Invention, or Finding of the Holy Cross by the Empress Helena, the Mother of Constantine. ' His head,' says Bishop Challoner, in his ' Catholic Book of Martyrs,' vo- lume iii., page ii., ' was fixed on London Bridge, and it was much remarked, that his countenance, which was always venerable, retained, for above twenty days, the same lively colour which it had during life, which drew all London to the spectacle, and was interpreted as a testimony of his innocence ; as was also an image of him wonderfully formed on an ear of straw, on which a drop of his blood had fallen.' Dr. Challoner gives his authorities for this narrative at its com- mencement. " But to pass from these unhappy subjects to the story of London Bridge, and the River Thames, let me next observe that the year J 608 was remarkable for a great frost near this edifice, of which we have a very curious account in Edmond Howe's ' Continu- ation of the Abridgement of Stow's English Chronicle,' London, 1611, duodecimo, page 481 ; from which take the following extract. ' The 8th of December began a hard frost, and continued vntill the 15th of the same, and then thawed : and the 22nd of December it began 372 CHRONICLES OP A. D. againe to freeze violently, so as diuers persons went halfe way ouer the Thames vpon the ice : and the 30th of December, at euery ebbe, many people went quite ouer the Thames in diuers places, and so con- tinued from that day vntill the third of January : the people passed daily betweene London and the Bank- side at euery halfe ebbe, for the floud remoued the ice and forced the people daily to tread new paths, except onely betweene Lambeth and the ferry at West- minster, the which, by incessant treading, became very firm and free passage, vntill the great thaw : and from Sunday, the tenth of January, vntill the fifteenth of the same, the frost grew so extreme, as the ice be- came firme, and remoued not, and then all sorts of men, women, and children, went boldly upon the ice in most parts ; some shot at prickes, others bowled and danced, with other variable pastimes; by reason of which concourse of people, there were many that set vp boothes and standings vpon the ice, as fruit-sellers, victuallers, that sold beere and wine, shoemakers, and a barber's tent, &c.' He adds, that all these had fires ; that the frost killed all the artichokes in the gardens about London ; and that the ice lasted until the afternoon of the 2nd of February, when ' it was quite dissolued and clean gon.' There is a very rare tract, containing an account of this frost, mentioned by Gough in his ' British Topography,' volume i., page 731, which has a wood-cut representation of it, with London Bridge in the distance: and is en- titled ' Cold doings in London, except it be at the 1608.] LONDON BRIDGE. 373 Lottery : with newes out of the Country. A familier talk, between a Countryman and a Citizen, touching this terrible Frost, and the Great Lottery, and the effect of them.' London, 1608, quarto. I may ob- serve that the Lottery was then drawn at St. Paul's, the prizes were all of plate, the highest being 150, and the price of each ticket was one shilling only. The same year~of 1608 was also memorable for two tides flowing at London Bridge, on Sunday, the 19th of February. Edmond Howes records it in his Con- tinuation of Stow's ' Annals,' page 893, and states that ' when it should haue beene dead low water at London Bridge, quite contrary to course it was then high water ; and, presently, it ebbed almost halfe an houre, the quantitie of a foote, and then sodainly it flowed againe almost two foote higher than it did before, and then ebbed againe vntill it came neere the right course, so as the next floud began, in a manner, as it should, and kept his due course in all respects as if there had beene no shifting, nor alteration of tydes. All this happened before twelue of the clocke in the forenoone, the weather being indifferent calme; and the sixt of February, the next yeere following, the Thames againe shifted tydes very strangely.' " We know not, Mr. Barbican, at what exact pe- riod London Bridge was first occupied by shops, but in the Survey of Bridge-lands which I have already repeated to you, it appears very probable that some of the shops in the Bridge Street were actually erected on the Bridge. Houses with distinguishing 374 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. signs, however, must have been built upon this edi- fice at a very early period ; for the first notice of one, which I can now recollect, is in the fire which brake out at the Pannier, at the North end of the Bridge in 1504; whilst the next is not older than 1619, and occurs in a letter written October the 6th, by George Herbert, the pious author of the ' Temple,' and printed at the end of Izaak Walton's ' Lives,' fourth edition, London, 1675, 8vo., page 340. ' I pray, Sir, therefore/ says this epistle, ' cause this inclosed to be carried to his brother's house,' Sir Francis Nethersole, ' of his own name, as I think, at the sign of the Pedlar and his Pack on London Bridge, for there he assigns me.' Nor den, as I have already shewn you, says that this place was ' furnished with all manner of trades ;' and as this is rather a curious, though an unexplored portion of Bridge story, I shall at once lay before you all the information which I have collected upon it, under the present period of time, since it is infinitely too small to be divided into different years. The principal ancient residences of the Lon- don Booksellers were, St. Paul's Church Yard, Little Britain, Paternoster Row, and London Bridge ; and of books published at the latter place let me first exhibit to you some titles, taken from that vast col- lection, which John Bagford made for a General History of Printing, preserved with the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum. The ensuing are from No. 5921, pages 5 b, 6 a, 7 a, and 9 b, " ' The Merchandises of Popish Priests ; or, a Dis- 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 375 couery of the Jesuites Trumpery, newly packed in England. Laying open to the world how cunningly they cheats and abuse people with their false, deceitfull, and counterfeit wares. Written in French, by Joint Chassanion, and truly translated into English. Printed at London, for Henry Gosson, and are to be sold at his Shop on London Bridge. 1629.' Small quarto. Above the imprint is a rude wood-cut of a corded bale, labelled with the words ' A Packe of Popish Trinkets,' and exhibiting a crucifix, rosary, bell, book, taper, a chalice signed with the cross, and an Asper- gillum for scattering holy-water. ' The Wise Mer- chant, or the Peerless Pearl; set forth in some medi- tations, delivered in two Sermons upon Matth. xiii. 45, 46. By Thomas Culvert. London. Printed by H. Bell, for Charles Tyns, dwelling at the Three Bibles on London Bridge. 1660.' octavo. ' The Seaman's Ka- lender : By Henry Phillippes, Pkilo-Nauticus. Lon- don. Printed by W. G., for Benjamin Hurlock, and are to be sold at his shop over-against St. Magnus Church, on London Bridge, near Thames Street. 1672.' small quarto. ' England's Grievances, in times of Popery. London. Printed for Joseph Collyer, and Stephen Foster, and are to be sold at the Angel on London Bridge, a little below the Gate, 1679.' small quarto. ' The Saints' Triumph ; or, the Glory of Saints with Jesus Christ. Discoursed in a Divine Ejaculation ; by J(phri) B(unyan). Printed by J. Millet for J. Blare, at the looking Glass on London Bridge. 1688.' small quarto. A rude, but characteristical 376 CHRONICLES OF QA. D, wood-cut portrait of Bunyan is indented in the margin of this title-page. We also find one Hugh Astley living ' at St. Magnus corner,' in 1607 ; and, in 1677* R" Northcott kept ' the Marriner and Anchor upon Fish-street Hill, near London Bridge' " " Whilst you are speaking of the Booksellers and Tradesmen who lived on old London Bridge, Mr. Postern," observed I, as he came to a period, " let me add to your account some other circumstances which, at various times, and from different sources, 1 have collected illustrative of that subject. The sign of ' the Three Bibles' seems to have been a very fa- vourite device upon that edifice, and, most probably, continued so until the houses were removed ; for we trace it into the eighteenth century, at which time there were two shops so denominated ; and one of them also appears to have been famous for the sale of a Patent Medicine, as you will find from the fol- lowing particulars communicated to me by Mr. John Thomas Smith, Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. ' The Mariner's Jewel; or, a Pocket Companion for the Ingenious. By James Love, Mathematician. The sixth edition, corrected and en- larged. London. Printed for H. and J. Tracy, at the Three Bibles on London Bridge. 1724.' duodecimo. At the end of the volume bearing this title, is an ad- vertisement of a medicine, called ' The Balsam of Chili,' which is succeeded by the following curious note. ' All persons are desired to beware of a pre- tended Balsam of Chili, which, for about these seven 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 377 years last past, hath been sold, and continues to be sold, by Mr. John Stuart, at the Old Three Bibles, as he calls his sign, although mine was the sign of the Three Bibles twenty years before his. This pre- tended Balsam sold by Mr. Stuart, resembles the true Balsam in colour, and is put up in the same bottles; but has been found to differ exceedingly from the true sort by several persons, who, through the care- lessness of the buyers intrusted, have gone to the wrong place. Therefore all persons who send, should give strict order to enquire for the name Tracy ; for Mr. Stuart's being the very same sign, it is an easy matter to mistake. All other pretended Balsams of Chili, sold elsewhere, are shams and impositions ; which may not only be ineffectual, but prove of worse consequence. The right sort is to be had of H. Tracy, at the Three Bibles on London Bridge, at 1*. Qd. a bottle, where it hath been sold these forty years.' There also appear to have been two Book- sellers' shops known by the sign of ' the Looking Glass on London Bridge ;' for you have already men- tioned that ' the Life and Death of John Overs' was printed for T. Harris at such a sign, in 1744 ; and at the very same time, as well as earlier, one T. Hodges was an extensive publisher of popular books, ' at the Looking Glass on London Bridge over against St. Magnus Church,' as you will find in the title-pages to a multitude of small volumes of that period. One of the little tracts to which his name appears, is ' The whole Life and merry exploits of bold Robin Hood, 3J8 CHRONICLES OF A. D. Earl of Huntingdon,' 1 737- duodecimo ; and we also read the name of S. Crowder and Company, London Bridge, attached to ' The Delightful, Princely, and Entertaining History of the Gentle Craft ; adorn' d with Pictures suitable to each story' 1760. duodecimo. I could easily, Mr. Postern, increase this list of books published on London Bridge, from the advertisements which continually appeared in the columns of ' The Daily Post,' ' The Daily Courant,' and other News- papers of the early part of the last century, but I rather wish to point out to you the names and signs of some other persons dwelling in the same place ; for it seems to have been occupied by a variety of trades. Thus, in 1722, we have John Body, Silversmith, at the White Horse on London Bridge ; Hotham, Bookseller, at the Black Boy ; and E. Herne, Milliner, at the Dolphin and Comb. The shop-bills of these tradesmen, however, from whence we generally derive this kind of information, are so exceedingly rare, that after a very careful search through that extensive collection belonging to the late Miss Banks, now pre- served in the Print Room of the British Museum, I have found only one ! although the Portfolios contain many thousands. But what I there sought for in vain, has been supplied to me from two private sources; for Henry Smedley, Esq., of Whitehall, and Mr. William Upcott, of the London Institution, are in possession of impressions of several, of which they have kindly permitted me to take the following copies. 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 379 "LA copper-plate shop-bill, card size, having the figure of a Roebuck enclosed in a rich architectural square frame, surmounted- by a shield of arms, 3 roe- bucks statant regardant, probably a copy from the sign of the house. On the lower parts of the frame are the date ' 1714,' and the initials ' W. O. ;' beneath which is ' William Osborne, Leather seller, at the Roe-buck upon London Bridge.' " 2. A copper-plate shop-bill, 5 inches by 3|, having, within a rich cartouche frame, a pair of embroidered small-clothes and a glove ; beneath is written ' Walter Watkins, Breeches Maker, Leather Seller, and Glover, at the Sign of the Breeches and Glove, on London Bridge, Facing Tooley Street, Sells all sorts Leather Breeches, Leather, and Gloves, Wholesale and Retail, at reasonable rates' " 3. The copper-plate head of a bill, ' London 17- . , Bought of Churcher and Christie, Leather Sellers and Breeches Makers, at the Lamb and Breeches, London Bridge.' " 4. Copper-plate shop-bill, 5f inches by 3f , with the device of a Crown and Anchor, in a square car- touche frame ; below which appears ' James Brooke, Stationer, at y Anchor and Crown, near the Square, on London Bridge, sells all sorts of Books for Accounts, StamptPaper, and Parchm"'', variety of Paper Hangings for Rooms, and all sorts of Stationary Wares, Wholesale and Retail, at reasonable rates.' " 5. A small copper-plate Tobacco-paper, with a coarse and rude engraving of a Negro smoking, and 380 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. holding a roll of tobacco ; above his head a crown, two ships in full sail behind, and the sun issuing from the right hand corner above. In the fore-ground are four smaller Negroes planting and packing tobacco, and beneath is written ' lohn Winkley, Tobacconist, near y e Bridge, In the BurrOugh Southwark, London.' " 6. An elegant ornamental copper-plate shop-bill, 5 1 inches by 4f, with an allegorical design of two figures representing Genius and Prudence, with books and articles of stationery below ; and between them, a circle, with the words, ' John Benskin, Sta- tioner, at y' Bible and Star on y e Bridge, London.' " 7- A copper-plate shop-bill, 6 inches by 3^, with a rich cartouche shield, enclosing three tufts of hair curled and tied ; beneath is written ' John Allan, at the Locks of Hair on London Bridge. Sells all sorts of Hair Curled or Uncurled, Bags, Roses, Cauls, Ribbons, Weaving, Sewing Silk, Cards and Blocks. With all goods made use of by Peruke Makers at the Lowest Prices.' " One of the most eminent and well-known trades- men on London Bridge, however, was William Her- bert, the Print-seller, and Editor of Joseph Ames's ' Typographical Antiquities ;' who, Upon his return from India, having probably acquired a considerable knowledge of the relative situations of the coasts, countries, and rivers, which he had seen and surveyed abroad, thought himself qualified to undertake the occupation of an Engraver, and Publisher, of Maps and Charts. With this view he took a house upon 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 381 London Bridge, and continued in it, until the houses were taken down in 1757-58 ; when he removed to Leadenhall Street, and thence to Goulston Square, White-Chapel. The very first night which Mr. Her- bert spent in his house on London Bridge, there was a dreadful fire in some part of the metropolis, on the banks of the Thames ; which, with several succeeding ones, suggested to him the plan of a floating fire- engine. He proposed it to Captain Hill, of the Royal Exchange Assurance, who told him that ' there must be a fire every now and then for the benefit of the insurance :' Herbert, however, published his proposal in the Gazetteer, and it was soon after adopted. You will find these anecdotes originally printed in the ' Gentleman's Magazine,' for 1795, volume Ixv., part i., page 262; supposed to have been written by Mr. Gough ; whence they were incorporated into the Memoirs of Herbert, attached to the Rev. Dr. Dibdin's edition of the ' Typographical Antiquities,' volume i., London, 1810, quarto, page 76. The pretty copper- plate shop-bill of Master Herbert is yet preserved in a most beautiful state, in the vast collection of the late Miss Banks, to which I have already alluded, vo- lume iii., class, Print-sellers. It bears the date of 1749, and represents a country view, surrounded by columns, vases, temples, statues, &c. On the left are two figures, one in the full dress of the time, and the other in a morning dress, exhibiting a portrait to him. Round the whole print is a rich ancient frame, orna- mented with flowers, laurel branches, busts, books, 382 CHRONICLES OP QA. D. instruments, scrolls, and a globe standing in the centre beneath. At" the top is an eagle supporting a large robe, or piece of drapery, which hangs half way down, and on which the following words are inscribed in ornamental writing. ' Great variety of English Maps and Prints, plain and colour'd. Also French, and other Foreign Prints, chiefly collected from the works of the most celebrated artists. Sold by William Herbert, at the Golden Globe, under the Piazzas on London Bridge. N. B. Prints neatly framed and glazed for Exportation, Rooms and Staircases Jitted up in the modern or Indian taste.' " Another source whence we derive much of our information concerning the old shopkeepers of London, and, of course, those of London Bridge, is to be found in that species of unauthorised coin commonly known by the name of Tradesmen's Tokens. For many cen- turies, you remember, gold and silver money only was regularly current in this kingdom ; for, though the earliest inhabitants of Britain probably used copper, there was none coined of an authorised mintage, until the time of Charles II. The silver pence, and even halfpence, which were previously current, were of so minute a size, that, as an eminent author on this subject observes, ' a dozen of them might be in a man's pocket, and yet not be discovered without a good magnifying glass ;' and, consequently, they were not adapted to any very extensive circulation. To remedy this, and to provide change for the increase of retail trade, these Tokens were originally issued ; 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 383 being pieces of coin of a low value, to pass between Grocers, Bakers, Vintners, &c., by wKich the lower classes might have smaller quantities of goods, than they would otherwise be obliged to procure. These Tokens were first issued about the latter end of the reign of Henry VII., or the beginning of the fol- lowing one, when they were made of lead, tin, latten, and even of leather. In the time of Elizabeth their numbers increased ; and, though the silver farthings, coined by James I., and Charles I., for a while sup- plied the want of small coins, yet, in the Civil Wars, the private Tokens multiplied to a great excess, and every petty tradesman had his pledges for a half- penny payable in silver, or its value in goods, to bearer upon demand, at his shop : upon the credit of which it therefore depended, whether they should circulate through one or two streets, a whole town, or to some little distance in the country round. The London Gazettes for July the 25th, 1672, and Fe- bruary the 23rd, 1673, contained advertisements against these Tokens, and of the issuing of the first national copper coinage, referring to ' the Farthing Office in Fen-Church Street/ as the place of exchange. Previously, however, to the issue of a lawful coinage in 1797} the debased state of the copper money gave rise to another general striking of Provincial and Tradesmen's Tokens, which was commenced by the famous Anglesey Penny in 1784. Such, then, is a general view of the nature and history of these coins, and we now proceed to notice those which record for us some particulars of London Bridge. 384 CHRONICLES OP [A. D. " The general impresses of these Tokens consisted of the names, residences, initials, and signs of their owners, by whom they were issued and paid ; and the quantity used in London was so great, that Sir Robert Cotton supposed, about 1612, that there were 3000 persons who cast leaden Tokens to the amount of 5. annually, upon the average ; of which they had not one tenth remaining at the year's end. Not- withstanding this immense quantity, we meet with but few relating to London Bridge ; and yet, by the experience and kindness of Edward Hawkins, Esq., Assistant Keeper of the Coins and Medals of the British Museum, and of Mr. M. Young, the well- known Dealer in those articles, I am furnished with a list, and drawings, of most of those which are known to be extant, and of which I shall now give you a de- scription. " 1. A Brass Token Farthing size : Obverse, a Lion rampant, Legend, ' JOH. WELDAY. AT. Y E LYON,' Reverse, ' ON LONDON BRIDGE. I.W. 1657-' " 2. A Brass, or base copper Token, Farthing size : Obverse, a Sugar Loaf, Legend, ' EDW. MUNS AT THE SUGAR' Reverse, ' LOAF ON LONDON BRIDGE. 1668. His HAI-FEPENNY.' 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 385 " 3. A Copper Token, Farthing size: Obverse, a Bear passant, chained, Legend, ' ABRAHAM BROWNE. AT. Y E> Reverse, ' BRIDG FOOT. SOVTHWARK. His HALF PENY.' " 4. A Brass, or base Copper Token, Farthing size : Obverse, a Dog, Legend, ' JOSEPH BROCKET,' Re- verse, ' BRIDGFOOT SOUTHWARK. ^ " 5. A Copper Token, Farthing size : Obverse, a Bear passant, chained, Legend, ' CORNELIVS.COOK. AT THE' Reverse, f BEARE. AT. THE. BRIDG. FOT. <%.' " 6. A Brass Token, Farthing size: Obverse, a Lion rampant, Legend, ' AT. THE. WHIT. LYON,' Reverse, ' NEIR LONDON BRIDGE. T ^/ " 7- A Copper Token, Farthing size : Obverse, a Sugar loaf, Legend, ' HENRY. PHILLIPS. AT.' Re- verse, ' BRIDG. FOOT. SOVTHWARK. s! " Such, then, are some specimens of the Trades- men's Tokens current on London Bridge ; and though 2c 386 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. they are sufficiently rude in their workmanship, and base in their metal, yet with some collectors, they are of a far greater degree of rarity, and of value too, than the handsomest modern silver coin you could present them with. You will observe, however, that I have noticed those Tokens only, on which the Bridge is actually mentioned ; but an extensive list of such as were issued in Southwark, will be found in Messrs. Manning's and Bray's ' History of Surrey,' already referred to, volume iii., Ap- pendix, pages cxi cxv. Let me add too, that my authorities for these historical notices of coins, have been ' An Essay on Medals} by John Pinkerton, London, 1789, octavo, volume i. ; and ' Annals of the Coinage of Britain,' by the Rev. Rogers Ruding, London, 1819, octavo, volume iii., pages 127, 319, 324, iv., page 61. I must not, however, conclude these particulars of the numismatic reliques of Lon- don Bridge, without observing to you that there are some Medalets also extant, commemorative of its buildings. Of these coins we find a list in James Conder's elegant volumes, entitled ' An Arrangement of Provincial Coins, Tokens, and Medalets, issued in Great Britain, Ireland, and the Colonies, within the last twenty years, from the farthing to the penny size' Ipswich, 1798, octavo. Medalets, you know, Mr. Postern, are of that description of coins which were struck by the Romans, and used for scattering to the people upon solemn occasions : and those of which I am now speaking are of the class distinguished by 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 387 bearing the representation of public buildings. In volume i., pages 72 and 73, of Mr. Conder's work, are mentioned the following Medalets of London Bridge, of the penny size, executed by P. Kempson. No. 40. A Bronzed or Copper Medalet : Obverse, a view of a Bridge, Legend, ' LONDON BRIDGE THE FIRST OF STONE, coMPLEATED 1209.' Legend on the Exergue, ' THE HOUSES ON THE BRIDGE TAKEN DOWN, AND THE BRIDGE REPAIR^, 1758.' Reverse, a figure of Britannia with spear and shield, seated on a rock, holding an olive-branch ; Legend, indented on a raised circle round the field, ' BRITISH PENNY TO- KEN.' On the Exergue a cypher ' P.K. MDCCXCVII.' Legend on the edge, ' I PROMISE TO PAY ON DEMAND THE BEARER ONE PENNY.' No. 47. A Bronzed or Copper Medalet : Obverse, an ancient gateway, Legend, ' BRIDGE GATE AS REBUILT 1728.' Legend on the Exergue, ' TAKEN DOWN, 1766.' Reverse, an upright figure of Justice. Legend and date on the rim as before. 388 , CHRONICLES OP A. D. There were also two Medalets of the halfpenny size, executed by P. Skidmore, of Coppice Row, Clerkenwell, which are likewise mentioned by Conder, in volume i., pages 103, 106. No. 267- A Bronzed or Copper Medalet : Obverse, a view of a church, Legend, ' ST. MAGNUS LONDON BRIDGE. 1676.' Reverse, a cypher, ' P.S.C ./ in a circle, Legend, ' DEDICATED TO COLLECTORS OF MEDALS AND COINS.' No. 300. A Bronzed or Copper Medalet : Obverse, an ancient gateway, Legend, ' BRIDGE GATE, BT. 1728 :' within the Archway the name of ' Jacobs.' Reverse, as before. " I am inclined to think, Mr. Barnaby Postern, that there have been several traditional mistakes perpe- tuated, as to persons supposed to have dwelt upon London Bridge ; for, upon investigating the subject, I can find no authority to support my recording them as inhabitants of that part of London. The author of an exceedingly amusing work, entitled ' Wine and Walnuts, 1 London, 1823, octavo, in which are contained many witty scenes and curious conversations of emi- nent characters in the last century, has entitled the seventh chapter of his second volume ' Old London Bridge ; with portraits of some of its inhabitants.' In this article, on page 81, we are told that ' Master John Bunyan, one of your heaven-born geniuses, re- sided, for some time, upon London Bridge ;' though I cannot discover any such circumstance in either of the lives of that good man now extant, though he cer- 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 389 tainly preached, for some time, at a Chapel in South- wark. Perhaps, however, this assertion may be ex- plained by the following passage from the Preface af- fixed to the Index attached to the first volume of ' The Labours of that eminent servant of Christ Mr. John Bunyan,' London, 1692, folio. It is there stated, that in 1688 ' he published six books, being the time of K. James 2d's. liberty of conscience, and was seized with a sweating distemper, of which, after his some weeks going about, proved his death, at his very loving friend's Mr. Strudwick's, a Grocer,' at the sign of the Star, ' at Holborn Bridge, London, on August 31st.' It is also recorded on the same page of ' Wine and Walnuts,' that ' Master Abel, the great importer of wines, was another of the marvels of old London Bridge ; he set up a sign, Thank God I am Abel, quoth the wag, and had, in front of his house, the sign of a bell.' As I have also heard the same particulars repeated elsewhere, it is possible that there may be some traditionary authority for them ; but upon carefully reading over the very rare tracts re- lating to Mr. Alderman Abel, preserved in the British Museum, I find nothing concerning his residence on London Bridge, and I should rather imagine, from their statements, that he lived at his Ticket, or Patent Office, situate in Aldermary Church- Yard. The same chapter, however, contains some authentic notices of Artists who really did live upon this venerable edifice. Of these, one of the most eminent was Hans Holbein, the great painter of the Court of Henry VIII. ; but 390 CHRONICLES OF QA. B. though we can hardly suppose that he inhabited the Nonesuch House, yet his actual residence here is cer- tified by Lord Orford, in his ' Anecdotes of Painting,' vide his ' Works,' edit. London, 1798 1822, quarto, volume iii., page 72, note. ' The father of the Lord Treasurer Oxford' says the noble author in that place, ' passing over London Bridge, was caught in a shower ; and stepping into a goldsmith's shop for shelter, he found there a picture of Holbein, who had lived in that house, and his family. He offered the goldsmith 100. for it, who consented to let him have it, but desired first to shew it to some persons. Immediately after, happened the fire of London, and the picture was destroyed.' Another famous Artist of London Bridge, who is mentioned in both the works which I last cited, was Peter Monamy ; so excellent a painter of marine subjects, as to be considered but little inferior to Vandevelde himself. Lord Orford says of him, at page 421, that he ' received his first rudiments of drawing from a sign and house-painter on London Bridge/ and that 'the shallow waves, that rolled under his window, taught young Monamy what his master could not teach him, and fitted him to paint the turbulence of the ocean.' This artist died at Westminster in 1749. We are also informed, by Edward Edwards, in his ' Continuation of Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting,' London, 1808, quarto, page 214, that Dominic Serres, the Marine Painter, who died in 1793, also once kept a shop upon London Bridge. To these celebrated men, the author of ' Wine and Walnuts' 1619.] LONDON BRIDGE. 391 adds Jack Laguerre, the Engraver, ' a great hu- mourist, wit, singer, player, caricaturist, mimic, and a good scene-painter,' son to that Louis, who painted stair-cases and saloons, where, as Pope says, ' sprawl the saints of Verrio and Laguerre.' His residence, according to our lively author, who states that he received his information from ' old Dr. Monsey and others,' was on the first floor of the dwelling of a waggish bookseller, and author of all- work, named Crispin Tucker ; the owner of half-a-shop on the East side, under the Southern gate. The artist's studio was, chiefly, in a bow- windowed back room, which projected over the Thames, and trembled at every half-ebb tide ; in which Hogarth had resided in his early life, when he engraved for old John Bowles, of the Black Horse in Cornhill. It re- sembled, we are told, on page 135 of the work and volume which I have already quoted, one of the al- chemist's laboratories from the pencil of the elder Teniers. It was ' a complete smoke- stained confu- sionary, with a German-stove, crucibles, pipkins, nests of drawers, with rings of twine to pull them out ; here a box of asphaltum, there glass-stoppered bottles, varnishes, dabbers, gravers, etching-tools, walls of wax, obsolete copper-plates, many engraved on both sides, caricatures, and poetry scribbled over the walls; a pallet hung up as an heir-loom, the colours dry upon it, hard as stone ; an easel ; all the multifarious arcanalia of engraving, and, lastly, a Printing- press!' This curious picture is also from the 392 CHRONICLES OF QA. D. information of Dr. Monsey, but I cannot produce you any other authority for its truth; and I shall likewise, therefore, leave you to read, and judge for yourself, the amusing account of Dean Swift's and Pope's visits and conversations with Crispin Tucker, of London Bridge, in chapters viii. and ix. of the work I have referred to. " It was, however, not only the ordinary buildings in the Bridge-street, which were formerly occupied as shops and warehouses, but even the Chapel of St. Thomas, which, in its later years, was called Chapel- House, and the Nonesuch-House, were used for si- milar purposes before they were taken down. Mr. John Nichols, in his ' Literary Anecdotes,' tells us, volume vi., part i., page 402, note, on the authority of Dr. Ducarel, that ' the house over the Chapel be- longed to Mr. Baldwin, Haberdasher, who was born there ; and when, at seventy-one, he was ordered to go to Chislehurst for a change of air, he could not sleep in the country, for want of the noise,' the roaring and rushing of the tide beneath the Bridge, ' he had been always used to hear.' My good friend, Mr. J. T. Smith, too, in his very interesting volume of the ' Ancient Topography of London,' which you have already quoted, page 26, has also the fol- lowing observations concerning the modern use of this Chapel. ' By the Morning Advertiser,' says he, ' for April 26th, 1798, it appears that Aldermen Gill and Wright had been in partnership upwards of fifty years; and that their shop stood on the centre of 1624-3 LONDON BRIDGE. 393 London Bridge, and their warehouse for paper was directly under it, which was a Chapel for divine service, in one of the old arches ; and, long within legal memory, the service was performed every sab- bath and Saint's day. Although the floor was always, at high-water mark, from ten to twelve feet under the surface ; yet such was the excellency of the ma- terials and the masonry, that not the least damp, or leak, ever happened, and the paper was kept as safe and dry as it would have been in a garret.' In that " Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster,' printed in 1734, and purporting to have been com- piled by Robert Seymour, Esq., but which was in reality the production of the Rev. John Motley, the famous collector of Joe Miller's Jests, it is stated in volume i., book i., page 48, that at that time one side of the Nonesuch House was inhabited by Mr. Bray, a Stationer, and the other by Mr. West, a Dry-Salter. So much then, Mr. Barnaby, for the few anecdotes which I have been able to collect of the dwellings and inhabitants of old London Bridge." " And a very fair Memorial too, Master Geoffrey," answered the Antiquary, " especially when we con- sider the extreme difficulty of procuring such infor- mation as this is: but, to carry on our history, I must now enter upon a less amusing subject; the summary of the Bridge Accounts for the years 1624 and 1625, taken from the printed sheet which I have so often cited. ' 1624. To John Langley, and Richard Foxe, Bridge-Masters, half a year's fee at our Lady- 394 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. day, 50 : and for the other half year augmented by order of the Court of Aldermen, 66. 8*. 4d., and for their Liveries, &c. 6. Total 122. 8*. 4d. Rental 2054. 4*. 2d. 1625. To the said Bridge-Masters, 133. 6*. 8d. Liveries, &c. 6. Total to each of them, 69. 3*. 4d. Rental, 2054. 4*. 2d.' These notices of the prosperity of this edifice, conduct us down to the time when so much of its glory was lost in devas- tating flames and mouldering ruins. " The year 1632-33 must be ever memorable in the history of London Bridge: for scarcely in the awful conflagration which consumed almost the whole City, did our brave old edifice suffer so severely. And now, Mr. Barbican, you must forgive me if I be a little prolix in describing that desolating fire, since it not only destroyed more than a third part of the Bridge Houses, but, at one time, its ravages were feared even in the City itself. I shall commence my account then by reminding you that Richard Bloome, one of Stow's continuators, on page 61 of his ' Survey,' thus speaks of the calamity. ' On the 13th day of February, between eleven and twelve at night, there happened in the house of one Briggs, a Needle-maker near St. Magnus Church, at the North end of the Bridge, by the carelessness of a Maid-Servant setting a tub of hot sea-coal ashes under a pair of stairs, a sad and lamentable fire, which consumed all the buildings before eight of the clock the next morning, from the North end of the Bridge to the first vacancy on both sides, containing forty-two houses; water 1633.] LONDON BRIDGE. 395 then being very scarce, the Thames being almost frozen over. Beneath, in the vaults and cellars, the fire remained glowing and burning a whole week after.' " There are not wanting several general views of London taken before this fire, by which we are made acquainted with those extensive piles of dwellings it destroyed ; several of which I have already men- tioned to you. Another also, which is most excellent and rare, is that entitled in Latin, ' London the most flourishing City of Britain, and the most celebrated em- porium of the whole world.' It was engraven by John Visscher in 161 6, and published in Holland, ' by Jud. Hondius at the sign of the Watchful Dog ;' a four sheet print measuring 7 feet 1^ inch by 1 foot 4f inches, with an English description beneath it.' ' A Capital View,' adds Gough, in his ' British Topography,' al- ready cited, vol. i., page 749, ' the plates destroyed in Holland about twenty years ago. T. Davies sold the only impression of it to the King for ten guineas.' There is, likewise, a variation of this view, without a date, having eight Latin verses at either corner, with the name of ' Ludovicus Hondius Lusitt.' It is, says Mr. J. T. Smith, in his ' Ancient Topography of Lon- don,' page 25, extremely well executed, and exhibits a wind-mill standing in the Strand, very near where the New Church is now erected; and another above the Water- works at Queenhithe.' He considers it as earlier than the productions of Hollar, from the cir- cumstance that the Palace of Whitehall appears in its 396 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. original state, before the Banquetting House and York and Somerset Water-gates were erected by Inigo Jones. It is also shewn to be a view of the time of King James I., by a royal procession being introduced on the water, in which the royal barge is surmounted by the thistle. London Bridge forms a very large and important feature in this engraving, and I have been informed, that the edifice alone was copied in quarto, for the work entitled ' London before the Great Fire ; ' but as that publication stopped with the second number, it was never exhibited for sale. Of the very curious print by Visscher, however, and I must not forget to observe that a fine impression of it is in the possession of John Dent, Esq. there was also an imitation of the same size, but somewhat inferior, called, from the place where it was engraven, ' the Venetian copy of Visscher's View.' It is, like its prototype, entitled in Latin, ' London the most flou- rishing City in Britain,' &c. to which is added, ' Printed in Venice, by Nicolo Misserini, 1629, Franco Valegio fecit :' it also contains a Latin dedication, and a description in Italian. There is an impression, probably, of this latter print, preserved in volume xiii. of the famous illustrated Pennant's London, be- queathed by the late Charles Crowle, Esq. to the British Museum; but all the inscriptions have been cruelly cut away, and the print itself doubled in nu- merous folds to make it fit to the size of the volume ! This engraving, however, bears the name of Rombout Vanden Hoege, and shews us, with great minute- 1633.] LONDON BRIDGE. 397 ness, on rather a large scale, the GROUP OP BUILD- INGS ON LONDON BRIDGE, BURNED DOWN IN 1632-33, which extended to the first opening, and which, from the very appearance which they present, must have contained a considerable number of inhabitants ; but of the fire itself, and of all the distressing events at- tending it, I am about to give you a very particular and interesting account, from the pen of an eye- witness of the conflagration. This narrative is con- tained in a coarse paper Manuscript volume, of a small quarto size, written in the print-hand of the 17th century, with some lines of faded red ink and 398 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. chalk interspersed. The volume contains 517 pages in all, and is entitled ' A Record of the Mercies of God ; or, a Thankefull Remembrance;' it being a col- lection, or journal, of remarkable providences and reflections, made by one Nehemiah Wallington, a Puritan Citizen and Turner, who lived in Little East- cheap, and who was evidently a friend of Burton and Bastwick, he having been several times examined concerning them before the Court of Star-Chamber. In this most singular record then, at pages 479 488, is an article entitled ' Of the great Jire vpon the Bridge ;' preceded by Mottoes from Psalms Ixvi. 5; Ixxi. 17; cxi. 2; Isaiah xlv. 7 ; and Amos iii. 6; which runs in the following terms. " < 1633. It is the bounden dutie of vs all that haue beene the beholders of the wonderfull workes of the Lord our God, his mercyes and iudgements shewed heretofore; and now of late of a fearefull fire, wee should not forgett itt ourselues, and we should declare it to all others, euen to y e gene- rations to come. On the xi. day of February, (being Monday, 1633) began, by God's iust hand, a fearefull fire in the house of one Mr. lohn Brigges, neere tenn of the clocke att night, it burnt down his house and the next house, with all the goods that were in them ; and, as I heere, that Briggs, his wife, and childe, escaped with their Hues very hardly, hauing nothing on their bodies but their shurt and smoke : and the fire burnt so fearcely, that itt could not be quenched till it had burnt downe all the houses on both sides of 1633.] JLONDON BRIDGE. 399 the way, from S. Magnes Church to the first open place. And allthough there was water enough very neere, yet they could not safely come at it, but all the conduittes neere were opened, and the pipes that carried watter through the streets were cutt open, and the watter swept down with broomes with helpe enough ; but it was the will of God it should not preuaile. And the hand of God was the more scene in this, in as much as no meanes would prosper. For the 3 Engines, which are such excellent things, that nothing that euer was deuised could do so much good, yet none of these did prosper, for they were all broken, and the tide was verie low that they could get no watter ; and the pipes that were cutt yeilded but littel watter. Some ladders were broke to the hurt of many, for some had their legges broke, some had their armes, and some their ribbes broken, and many lost their liues. This fire burnt fiercely all night, and part of the next day (for my man was there about twelue a cloke, and he said he did see the fardest house on fire) till all was burnt and pulled downe to the ground. Yet the timber, and wood, and coales in the sellers, could not be quenched all that weeke, till the Tuesday following, in the after- noone, the xix of February, for I was there then my selfe, and had a Hue cole of fire in my hand, and burnt my finger with it. Notwithstanding there were as many night and day as could labour one by another to carry away timber, and brickes, and tiles, and rub- bish cast downe into the liters. So that on Wensday 400 CHRONICLES OF A. D. the Bridge was cleared that passengers might goe ouer.' " ' At the begining of this fire, as I lay in my bed and heard y e sweeping of the channels and crying for water, water, I arose about one of the cloke, and looked downe Fish-street-hill, and did behold such a fearfull and dreadfull fire vaunting it selfe ouer the tops of houses, like a Captaine florishing and dis- playing his banner ; and seeing so much meanes and so little good, it did make me thinke of that fire which the Lord threateneth against Jerusalem, for the breach of his Sabbath day. He saith thus : ' But if ye will not here me to sanctifie the Sabbath day, and to beare no burden, nor to goe through y e gates of Jerusalem in the Sabbath day, then will I kindle a fire in y e gates there, and it shall deuoure the pa- laces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.' lere. xvii. 27- " ' I did heere that on the other side of y e Bridge, the Bruers brought abundance of watter in vessells on their draies, which did, with the blissing of God, much good; and this mircie of God I thought on, that there was but littel wind ; for had y e wind bin as high as it was a weeke before, I thinke it would have indangered y e most part of the Citie; for in Thames Street there is much pitch, tarre, rosen, and oyle, in their houses : Therefore, as God remembers mercy in iustice, let us remember thankefullnes in sorrow. ' Therefore will I praise the Lord with my whole heart, and I will speake of all thy marvellous 1633.] LONDON BRIDGE. 401 workes ; ' 'for it is of the Lord's mercy that wee are not consumed/ Lament, iii., 22. The Names, and Trades, and number of the Houses burnt vpon the Bridg, heere you may see vnder nethe. " ' 1. Mr. William Vyner, Haberdasher of smal Wares. 2. Mr. lohn Broome, Hosier. 3. Mr. Arther Lee, Haberdasher of smal Wares. 4. M MS . lohane Broome, Hosier. 5. Mr. Ralph Panne, Shetvmaker. 6. Mr. Abraham Marten, Haberdasher of Hattes. 7- Mr. leremiah Champney, Hosier. 8. Mr. John Terrill, Silke man. 9. Mr. Ellis Midmore, Mil- liner. 10. Mr. Francis Finch, Hosier. 11. Mr. An- drewe Bouth, Haberdasher of small Wares. 12. Mr. Samuel Petty, Glouer. 13. Mr. Valentin Beale, Mercer. 14. M ris . Chambers, Senior. 15. Mr. leremiah Chamley, Siflce man: 16. The Blew Bore, empti. 17- Mr. lohn Gouer, Stiller of Strong Waters. 18. Mr. lohn Wilding, lunior, Girdler. 19. Mr. Daniel Conney, Silke man. 20. Mr. Stephen Beale, Lyning Draper. 21. M ris . lane Langham, Mercer. 22. Mr. lames Dunkin, Wolfing Draper. 23. Mr. Matthew Harding, Salter. 24. Mr. Abra- ham Chambers, Haberdasher of smal Wares. 25. and 26, Mr. Lyne Daniel, Haberdasher of Hattes, a double house. 27- M ris . Brookes, Glouer. 28. Mr. Couerley, Hosier. 29. Mr. John Drans- fielde, Grocer. 30. Mr. Newman, emptie. 31. Mr. Edward Warnett, and 32. Mr. Samuel Wood, par- toners, Haberdashers of Small Wares. 33. Mr. lohn Greene, Haberdasher of Hattes. 34. Mr. Heugh 2o 402 CHRONICLES OP QA. D. Powel, Haberdasher of Hattes. 35. Mr. Samuel Armitage, Haberdasher of Small Wares. 36. Mr. lohn Sherley, Haberdasher of Small Wares. 37- Mr. John Lawrymore, Grocer. 38. Mr. Timothy Drake, Woolling Draper. 39. Mr. lohn Brigges, Needle-maker.' at whose house the fire commenced, ' 40. Mr. Richard Shelbuery, Scriuener. 41. Mr. Edward Greene, Hosier. 42. Mr. Hazard, the Curate, and 43. Mr. Hewlett, the Clarke, at S. Magnus Cloyster.' " This narrative has, however, already appeared in print in the ' Gentleman's Magazine' for November, 1824, pages 387, 388 ; the extract having been fur- nished by the possessor of the volume, Mr. William Upcott, of the London Institution. " Of the ground-plot of London Bridge, after the damage done by this fire, there is yet extant a very curious survey, preserved under the care of Mr. Smith, in the British Museum. It consists of an un- published drawing on parchment, measuring four feet five inches in length, by ten inches in breadth : and it, perhaps, belonged to Sir Hans Sloane, as it is kept with some other fragmenta of his property. In this drawing, the piers are represented in a tint of yellow, placed upon sterlings of Indian ink ; and it was executed, as I suppose, soon after this fatal con- flagration, since there is a note written in an ancient hand attached to the seventh pier from the City end, stating that ' the Fire burnt to the pricJct line,' which is drawn from it ; and which accords with all the sub- 1633.] LONDON BRIDGE. 403 sequent views taken of the platform, and houses on the Bridge. 404 CHRONICLES OF . QA. D. " I am next to speak," continued my unwearied Historian, " of the manner in which this terrible de- struction of London Bridge was repaired : and con- cerning this we are informed by Richard Bloome, a Continuator of Stow, who tells us in his ' Survey,' volume i., page 61, that after the fire, ' this North end of the Bridge lay unbuilt for many years, only deal boards were set up on both sides, to prevent people's falling into the Thames, many of which deals were, by high winds, oft blown down, which made it very dangerous in the nights, although there were lanthorns and candles hung upon all the cross beams that held the pales together.' We have two views of London Bridge, in which the North end of it appears in this state, but in each of them the temporary erec- tion is of quite a different nature ; and it is somewhat singular that the writer whom I last cited, should positively speak as follows, concerning the early resto- ration of the destroyed houses, when there seems no real authority to support his assertions. ' For about the year 1645,' says he, ' the North end of this part last burned, began to be rebuilt ; and in the year 1646 was finished : the building was of timber, very substantial and beautiful, for the houses were three stories high, besides the cellars, which were within and between the piers. And over the houses were stately platforms leaded, with rails and ballusters about them, very commodious and pleasant for walking, and enjoying so fine a prospect up and down the River, and some had pretty little gardens with 1633.]] LONDON BRIDGE. 405 arbours. This half being finished, the other half was intended to be rebuilt answerable to this, which would have been a great glory to the Bridge and honour to the City, the street, or passage, being twenty feet broad ; whereas the other part, at the South end, was not above fourteen, and, in some places, but twelve/ " Now, notwithstanding this particular description of these new buildings, neither of the engravings which I have alluded to have any indications of them , al- though one of them was published in 1647, and the other in 1666. The first of these represents the North end of London Bridge, from St. Magnus' Church to the houses beyond the first opening, as occupied by a covered passage formed of planks, leaving recesses standing out from the main erection, which was sup- ported by buttresses of wood fastened to platforms on the outside of the Bridge. We derive this view of the dilapidations of London 406 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. Bridge from a very rare and magnificent print, well known to collectors and antiquaries, by the name of the ' Long Antwerp men of London ;' for which, Mr. Geof- frey Barbican, if you ever meet with it, you may con- sider twenty guineas as a very moderate price. This famous engraving is an etching by the matchless Wen- ceslaus Hollar ; it is in seven sheets, measuring two yards and an half in length, by 17 g inches in height : it bears a dedication to Queen Henrietta Maria, and William Prince of Orange, with a copy of Latin verses written by Edward Benlowes, Esq.; and, though it was sold in London, the following publication line appears on one side written in Latin : ' Sold at Amsterdam by Cornelius Danckers, in Calf Street, at the sign of the Image of Gratitude, in the year 1647-' There is, by the way, a pretty fair, but smaller copy of this view of London and Westminster in two sheets, in a series of prints commonly called ' Boydelfs Perspectives,' measuring 37^ inches, by 10 inches, signed ' R. Benning, del. et sculp./ and entitled ' A View of London as it was in the year 1647-' The publication line is, ' Sold by J. Boydell, Engraver, at the Unicorn in Cheapside, London, 1756.' You will find both the original, and the copy, in the xiii.th and xiv.th volumes of Mr. Crowle's Illustrated Pennant, which I have al- ready cited to you, and the view takes in from above the Parliament House at Westminster to beyond St. Ca- therine's ; but the Bridge is the keimelion of the plate, for that noble edifice is represented with all its build- ings, from St. Magnus' Church, down to the Southwark 1633.] LONDON BRIDGE. 407 Tower, the size of 10 inches in length, with the prin- cipal buildings about two inches square. The other view to which I have alluded, was also etched by Hollar, upon two sheets measuring 27 inches by 4j : and it consists of two prospects, one over the other, on the same plate, the upper one representing ' London from St. Mary Overies Steeple in Southrvark, in its flou- rishing condition before the Fire ;' and the lower one entitled ' Another prospect of the said City, taken from the same place, as it appeareth now after the said calamity and destruction by Fire.' Copies of these interesting etchings are, however, neither dear nor uncommon ; though, if you would have so fine an im- pression as that in the Print Room of the British Mu- seum, you will scarcely procure it under three Guineas. In the upper of these prospects, the North end of London Bridge is shewn to be a passage fenced by wooden palings without any houses, excepting one building, which occupies the whole width of the Bridge ; having a gate in it surmounted by the King's Arms, and standing immediately before the old Church of St. Magnus. 408 CHRONICLES OF A. D. " Independently of these views, we have another very strong evidence that this part was not built upon even in the year 1665, contained in that most inte- resting and curious work, the ' Memoirs and Diary of Samuel Pepys, Esq. F.R.S. and Secretary to the Admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and James II.' Edited by Richard, Lord Braybrooke, London, 1825, 4to. volume i., page 388 : where, under the date of January 24th, 1665-66, that observant journalist has the following entry. ' My Lord,' Edward Montague, Earl of Sandwich, ' and I, the weather being a little fairer, went by water to Deptford ; and the wind being again very furious, so as we durst not go by water, walked to London round the Bridge, no boat being able to stirre ; and, Lord ! what a dirty walk we had, and so strong the wind, that in the fields, we many times could not carry our bodies against it, but were driven backwards. It was dangerous to walk the streets, the bricks and tiles falling from the houses that the whole streets were covered with them ; and whole chimneys, nay, whole houses, in two or three places, blowed down. But above all, the pales on London Bridge, on both sides, were blown away;' almost the very words, you observe, which I have quoted you from Richard Bloome, ' so that we were forced to stoop very low, for fear of blowing off the Bridge. We could see no boats in the Thames afloat, but what were broke loose, and carried through the Bridge, it being ebbing water. And the greatest sight of all was, among other parcels of ships driven 1633.] LONDON BRIDGE. 409 here and there in clusters together, one was quite overset, and lay with her masts all along in the water, and her keel above water/ The desolation, and wintry chillness of this picture, is enough to make one shiver even in the Dog-days." When the worthy old Chronicler had arrived at the conclusion of this narrative, as usual I took up the story, and began thus : " This, Mr. Barnaby Postern, was indeed a fatal destruction, and one would imagine that it was no such happy event as to cause a jesting ballad to be made to commemorate it ; but yet, though in the following verses there are some discordant circumstances, and even the date is at va- riance with that which you have already given, there can bejittle doubt but that they relate to the Fire of which you have now spoken. You will find them printed at the end of a very rare, but, at the same time, a very worthless publication, entitled ' The Loves of Hero and Leander, a mock Poem : Together with choice Poems and rare pieces of drollery, got by heart, and often repeated by divers nitty Gentlemen and Ladies that use to tvalke in the New Exchange, and at their recreations in Hide Park' London, 1653, 12mo., pages 44 48. There is also another edition of 1682; but I pray you to remember, that many of the fes- cennine rhymes, some of which would have done honour to Hudibras, and many of the witty points of this song, are, in that latter copy, most vilely per- verted ; I shall give it you, therefore, as it stands in the former impression. 410 CHRONICLES OP QA. D. ' Some Christian people all give ear Uuto the grief of us : Caused by the death of three children dear. The which it happen'd thus. And eke there befel an accident, By fault of a Carpenter's son, Who to saw chips his sharp ax-e-lent Woe worth the time may Lon May London say : Woe worth the Carpenter ! And all such block-head fools ; \Vould he were hanged up like a sarpent here For meddling with edge tools. For into the chips there fell a spark, Which put out in such flames, That it was known into South-wark Which lies beyond the Thames. For Loe ! the Bridge was wondrous high With water underneath : O'er which as many fishes fly As birds therein do breathe. And yet the fire consumed the Brigg, Not far from place of landing ; And though the building was full big, It fell down, not with standing. And eke into the water fell So many pewter dishes, That a man might have taken up very well Both boil'd and roasted fishes ! And thus the Bridge of London Town, For building that was sumptuous, 1(533.] LONDON BRIDGE. 411 Was ail by fire half burnt down, For being too contumptteus ! Thus you have all but half my song, Pray list to what comes ater ; For now I have cool'd you with ihejlre, I'll warm you with the water! I'll tell you what the River's name's Where these children did slide a, It was fair London's swiftest Thames Which keeps both Time and Tide a. All on the tenth of January, To the wonder of much people ; 'Twas frozen o'er that well 'twould bear Almost a country steeple ! Three children sliding thereabout, Upon a place too thin ; That so at last it did/// out, That they did all fall in. A great Lord there was that laid with the King, And with the King great wager makes ; But when he saw that he could not win He sigh'd, and would have drawn stakes. He said it would bear a man for to slide, And laid a hundred pound ; The King said it would break, and so it did, For three children there were drown'd. Of which, one's head was from his should ers stricken, whose name was John ; Who then cried out as loud as he could ' Oh Lon-a! Lon-a! Lon-don !' 412 CHRONICLES OF [[A. D. ' Oh! tut tut turn from thy sinful race!' Thus did his speech decay ; I wonder that iu such a case He had no more to say. And thus being drown'd, Alack ! Alack ! The water ran down their throats, And stopp'd their breath three hours by the clock, Before they could get any boats ! Ye parents all that children have, And ye that have none yet, Preserve your children from the grave, And teach them at home to sit. For had these at a sermon been, Or else upon dry ground, Why then I never would have been seen, If that they had been drown'd ! Even as a huntsman ties his dogs, For fear they should go fro him ; So tye your children with severity's clogs, Untie 'em and you'll undo 'em. God bless our noble Parliament, And rid them from all fears ; God bless all the Commons of this land, And God bless some of the Peers !' " And now, Sir, I shall, by your favour, say a few words with respect to the tune to which these verses were formerly sung ; which I am the better enabled to do by the researches of a gentleman, to whom, in several other particulars of our history, I have been considerably indebted. By his information, I 1633.] LONDON BRIDGE. 413 shall first inform you, that the foregoing Song exists in its original state, in the Pepysian Collection of Ballads preserved in Magdalen College, Cambridge, volume ii., page 146; where it is called ' The La- mentation of a bad market, or the drorvnding of three children on the Thames. To the tune of the Ladies' Fall. Printed for F. Coles, T. Fere, J. Wright, and J. Clarke.' Now the old verses, entitled ' A Lamen- table Ballad of the Lady's Fall,' you will find, with some account of it prefixed, in Bishop Percy's ' Re- liques of Ancient English Poetry,' volume iii., book ii., article x., page 137, fourth edition, London, 1794, octavo; or, indeed, you may consult any edition but the last. From the Editor's notice of this latter poem, we learn that it was sung to the tune of the verses called ' The Shepherd's Slumber ; ' better known by the first three words of the commencing stanza. ' In pescod time, when hound to home Gives eare till buck be kill'd ; And little lads with pipes of come, Sate keeping beasts a-field.' " I have not, Mr. Barnaby, found the musical nota- tion of this song, though I am almost inclined to think it was sung to the very common tune of ' Flying Fame,' so familiar to every body under the name of ' Chevy Chace;' for in volume iv., page 1, of Tom D'Urfey's collection of Songs called ' Wit and Mirth,' London, 1719, 12mo., you may see this very ballad on London Bridge, entitled ' Three children sliding on the Thames. Tune, Chevy chace.' Listen then, my good CHRONICLES OF [A. D. Sir, whilst, with my very unmelodious voice, I attempt to give you some idea of it ; the music I have alluded to, runs thus : bj the dtalh of tliree CLil-drtn dr. Th which it hap-pened thus.'" " Thank ye, thank ye, honest Master Geoffrey Bar- bican," said my visitor, as I concluded ; " my thanks to you, both for your music and poetry ; for I verily think as you do, that the verses which you have re- peated relate to this conflagration of 1633, although there was the difference of a month between the ac- tual fact, and your rhyming record of it. It appears to me, too, as if I recognized in the 16th stanza, where the last words of the drowning victim are uttered by his head in broken accents, the original of Gay's description of the death of Doll, the Pippin- woman, contained in the 2nd book of his ' Trivia,' since she died in much the same place and manner. " The rental of the Bridge House was, doubtless, considerably lessened by this destructive fire ; but in the printed document of the Bridge- Masters' Accounts, there is not any notice of the amount of rents for some years after it. In 1636, however, we are in- formed that the salaries, horsekeeping, and liveries, 1638.] LONDON BRIDGE. 415 of John Potter, and David Bourne, the Wardens, a- mounted to 71- 3*. 4d. each ; and in the following year the rental is stated to have been only 1836. 7*. 6d., whilst the fees, &c. of John Hawes and Noa- diah Rawlins amounted to 72. In that Manu- script treatise on the payment of Tythes, which I have mentioned to you as being in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth, Cornelius Burgess, the then Rector of St. Magnus, observes that ' the best third part of the Parish was consumed by the late fire on London Bridge : yet no part of the annual charges lying on the Parsonage is abated. And it is yet ca- pable of a large improvement, by reason that a good part of it being Citty land, provisions have been accordingly made to keepe downe the tithes generally throughout the Parish to vnreasonable low propor- tions, some very few houses excepted.' According to Newcourt, in his ' Repertorium Ecclesiasticum,' vo- lume i., page 396, these tythes before this conflagra.- tion amounted to 109. for 90 houses, of which about 40 houses were destroyed ; though, in the Manuscript valuation of 1638, they are reduced to 81. 12.J. Qd. " The destruction of London Bridge, however, was not allowed to pass without a more appropriate me- morial than the song which you have repeated ; for in the parochial records of the Church adjoining, it is stated, that Susanna Chambers by her will, dated the 28th day of December, 1640, left ' unto the Parson of the Parish Church of St. Magnus, on, or near, London Bridge, or unto such other Preacher of God's word 416 CHRONICLES OF A. D. as my said son Richard Chambers, hia heirs, adminis- trators, and assignees shall yearly appoint, the yearly sum of twenty shillings of lawful English money, for a Sermon to be preached on the 12th day of Fe- bruary, in every year, within the said Parish Church of St. Magnus, London Bridge, or any other near thereunto, in commemoration of God's merciful pre- servation of the said Church of St. Magnus from ruin in the late and terrible fire of London Bridge ; and also the sum of seventeen shillings and sixpence to the poor of that Parish of St. Magnus ; and two shillings and sixpence to the clerk and sexton.' This gift is mentioned by most of the London Historians ; and I would observe to you that I am informed, with regard to the present state of this bequest, that the money for the Sermon, the Clerk, and the Sexton, has not been claimed within the memory of the oldest inhabitant of the Parish : but that the poor have, ever since, duly received their legacy. Whilst I am speak- ing of St. Magnus' Church, I may also remark, that in consequence of the dissolution of the Frater- nity belonging to it, which I have before mentioned, there has been a perpetuity of 21. 6s. 8d. paid by the Exchequer ever since the time of Queen Mary. " In the 43rd volume of that most extraordinary collection of Tracts, which the late excellent King- George III. presented to the British Museum, there is a pamphlet of four leaves commemorating a re- markable flow of the Thames at London Bridge, the title to which is given by Gough in his ' British To- 1641.] LONDON BRIDGE. 417 pugraphy,' volume i., page 731 : and it bears the same proportion to its contents, as the show-cloth of a travelling menagerie does to the actual exhibition. ' A Strange Wonder, or the Citie's Amazement. Being a Relation occasioned by a wonderfull and vnusuall ac- cident, that happened in the River of Thames, Friday, Feb. 4, 1641. There flowing Two Tydes at London Bridge, within the space of an houre and a halfe, the last camming with such violence and hideous noyse, that it not onely affrighted, but even astonished above 500 watermen that stood beholding it on both sides the Thames. ' Which latter Tyde rose sixefoote higher then the former Tyde had done, to the great admiration of all men.' London, 1461. Small quarto. This tract is subsequently named ' True N ewes from Heaven,' and the author takes occasion, from the event which he records, to lament the vices and confusion of his time. The fact itself occupies but a small portion of his text ; and he relates it thus. ' Fryday, Februarie 4, 1641, it was high water at one of the clocke at noone, a time by reason so accommodated for all imploy- ments by water or land, very fit to afford witnesse of a strange and notorious accident. After it was full high water, and that it flowed its full due time as all Almanacks set downe; and water-men, the vnquestion- able prognosticators in that affaire, with confidence mainetaine it stood a quiet still dead water, a full houre and halfe, without moving or returning any way never so litle : Yea, the water-men flung in stickes to the streame, as near as they could guesse. 2E 418 CHRONICLKS OF [A. D. which lay in the water as vpon the earth, without moving this way or that. Dishes likewise, and wodden buckets, they set a swimming, but it proved a stilling, for move they would not any way by force of stream or water ; so that it seemed the water was indeed asleepe or dead, or had changed or borrowed the stability of the earth. The water-men not content with this evidence, would needs make the vtmost of the tryall, that they might report with the more boldnesse the truth of the matter ; and with more credible confidence they tooke their boates and lanched into the streame or very channell: but the boates that lay hailed up on the shore moved as much, except when they used their oares ; nay, a thing worthy the admiration of all men, they rowed under the very arches, tooke up their oares and slept there, or, at least, lay still an houre very neare, their boates not so much as moved through any way, either up- ward or downeward : the water seeming as plaine, quiet, even, and stable as a pavement under the arch, where, if any where in the Thames, there must be moving by reason of the narrownesse of the place. In this posture stood the water a whole houre and halfe, or rather above, by the testimony of above five hundred water-men, on either side the Thames, whom not to believe in this case were stupiditie, not discre- tion. At last, when all men expected its ebb, being filled with amazement that it stood so long as hath been delivered, behold a greater wonder, a new Tyde comes in ! A new Tyde with a witnesse, you might 1642/] LONDON BRIDGE. 419 easily take notice of him ; so lowde he roared, that the noise was guessed to be about Greenwich when it was heard so, not onely clearly, but fearfully to the Bridge ; and up he comes tumbling, roaring, and foaming in that furious manner, that it was horror unto all that beheld it. And as it gave suffi- cient notice to the eare of its comming, so it left suf- ficient satisfaction to the eye that it was now come ; having raised the water foure foote higher then the first Tyde had done, foure foote by rule ! as by evident measure did appear, and presently ebbed in as hasty, confused, unaccustomed manner. See here, Reader ! a wonder, that all things considered, the oldest man never saw or heard of the like.' " Lord Clarendon, in his ' History of the Rebellion,' volume i., part ii., book iv. page 521, Oxford, 1819, 8vo., states that when John Hampden and the four other members of Parliament were accused of High Treason, and were, by their own party, brought back in triumph from the City, January the llth, 1641-42, ' from London- Bridge to Westminster, the Thames was guarded with above a hundred lighters and long- boats, laden with small pieces of ordnance, and dressed up with waistclothes and streamers, as ready for fight.' These forces, together with the City Trained- bands under Major General Skippon, were not less to honour, than to defend, the return of the accused Members. The same noble Historian tells us farther, in the same volume and part, book v. page 661, that about the end of March in the same year, the Justices, 420 CHRONICLES OP [[A. D. and principal gentlemen of the County of Kent, prepared a Petition to the two Houses of Parliament, that the Militia might not be otherwise exercised in that County than according to Law, and that the Common Prayer Book might still be observed. This was construed by the Parliament into a commotion in Kent; the Earl of Bristol and Judge Mallet were committed to the Tower only for having seen it; and strong guards were placed at London Bridge, where the petitioners approaching the City were dis- armed, and forced to return, and only a very few per- mitted to proceed with the petition to Westminster. " That it was the unhappy custom, even late in the seventeenth century, to erect heads over the South Gate on London Bridge, we have, Alas! too many proofs ; though, indeed, it seems to have been only the case with such as were considered traitors, as were those unfortunate Romish Priests executed under the Statutes of Elizabeth and James I. When Bishop Challoner is speaking, in his work already cited, vo- lume iii. page 112, of the death of Bartholomew Roe, a Priest of the Order of St. Benedict, in January, 1642, he states that, on the morning of his execution, he exhorted the Catholics who were present at his Mass in the prison, and desired them ' that as often as in passing through the City, they should see that hand of his fixed on one of the Gates, or in crossing the water, should see his head on London Bridge, they would remember those lessons which he had preached to them, of the importance of holding fast the Ca- 1642.] LONDON BRIDGE. 421 tholic faith, and of leading a Christian and holy life.' In October, 1642, the head of Thomas Bullaker, a Priest of the Order of St. Francis, was also set up on London Bridge. See Bishop Challoner, page 132, in the same volume : and another unhappy instance of a similar execution is to be found in Dr. Chall oner's life of Henry Heath, a Father of the Order of St. Francis, contained on pages 141, 143, of the same volume of his work. Having left Douay and landed in England, this Priest travelled to the metropolis in the greatest poverty. ' At London he arrives wearied, as well he might, having travelled barefoot forty miles that day, and it being the Winter season. It is now time to take up his quarters, and give some little rest and refreshment to the body. But how shall this be done, for money he has none, nor acquaintance ? how- ever, he ventures to call at the Star Inn, near London Bridge, but the people of the house finding that he had no money, turned him out of doors at eight o'clock in a cold winter night.' In this distress, he laid down to rest at a Citizen's door, where the owner of the house had him seized for a shoplifter, and, when examined by the watch, some writings in de- fence of the Romish faith being found in his cap, he owned himself to be a Priest. He was then tried and convicted upon the Statute of Elizabeth, and was executed on April the 17th, 1643, at Tyburn, and his head erected upon London Bridge. " On the 7th of March, 1642, the two Houses of Parliament ordered that the City of London should 422 CHRONICLES OF [A. D. be fortified, for its better security and safety ; and on the day following the order was printed, in small quarto, a copy of which is in the King's Collection of Tracts in the British Museum, volume 97 ; and of which, if I repeat you a portion of the title, you will receive all the information contained in the pamphlet itself. ' An Ordinance and Declaration of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, that the Lord Mayor and Citizens of the City of London, for the belter securing and safetie thereof, shall have full power and authority, according to their discretion, to trench, stop, and fortifie all high-waies leading into the said City, as well within the Liberties, as without, as they shall see cause. And for the better effecting thereof, shall impose upon all the inhabitants within the same, upon every house worth 5. a year, six pence, and every house of greater rent, after the rate of two pence in the pound' Another copy of this ordinance was printed in April, 1643, and is to be found in volume 104 of the same collection. Maitland, in his ' History,' volume i., pages 368, 369, also mentions an act of Common Council passed for the same purpose, February the 23rd, 1642-43 : and gives a plan of the fortifications erected round the City. It was enacted, says he, that ' all the passages and ways leading to the City should be shut up, excepting those entering at Charing Cross, St. Giles's in the Fields, St. John's Street, Shoreditch, and Whitechapel ; and that the exterior ends of the said streets should be fortified with breast- works and turnpikes, musket-proof; and all the sheds and 1643.] LONDON BRIDGE. 423 buildings contiguous to London- Wall without, be taken down; and that the City Wall, with its bul- warks, be not only repaired and mounted with artil- lery, but, likewise, that divers new works be added to the same at places most exposed.' When this act had been confirmed by the above ordinances of Par- liament, the fortifications were commenced and car- ried on with considerable rapidity ; men, women, and children, were employed upon the works ; and, in a short time, an earthern rampart, with redoubts, horn- works, batteries, forts, and bulwarks, was erected round the Cities of London and Westminster, and the Borough of Southwark. We have no particular ac- count, however, of the manner in which London Bridge was fortified at this period; and the great events which took place in the history of the Civil Wars se