Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed]

CHAPTER IX.

London Stone-Anecdote of Jack Cade-Cannon-street-The Boar's HeadEastcheap-London Bridge-Historical Sketch of London BridgeWinchester Palace-St. Saviour's Church-The Ladye Chapel-The Globe Theatre-The Bear Gardens-Barclay and Perkins's BreweryThe Tabard-Bermondsey Abbey-Guy's Hospital-The MonumentBillingsgate-St. Michael's Church-Church of St. Mary-at-Hill-The Custom House-New Coal Exchange-Tower Hill, its Memories-The Tower of London, its History-The Armory-Jewel House-Record Office-Queenhithe-The Royal Mint.

[graphic]

T the junction of Leadenhall-street and Aldgate is Fenchurch-street, which leads to Cannon-street. Cannon-street is a corruption of Candlewick-street, which took its name from being formerly the residence of candlemakers. The London Stone, which is still to be seen in the wall of St. Swithin's Church, is the celebrated relic of the Roman London Wall. It is supposed to have been a Roman Milliarium, or point from which various distances were measured. It is at least venerable for age, for according to ancient chronicles it has existed some fifteen centuries. In early times even, it seems to have been invested with a degree of sanctity, or religious veneration, for treaties were ratified upon it, and proclamations

issued therefrom. Shakespeare refers to it as such. London Stone is one of the ancient shrines at which all the veritable and devout antiquaries do homage. The noted rebel, Jack Cade, in his progress through London, is said to have halted here, and striking this stone with his sword, exclaimed, "Now is Mortimer lord of this city, and here, sitting upon London Stone, I charge and command that of the City's cost the Priory conduit run nothing but claret wine this first year of our reign, and now henceforward it shall be treason for anyone to call me other than Lord Mortimer." In old St. Swithin's Church, Dryden, the poet, was married to Lady Elizabeth Howard. In the reign of Henry VII., the mansions of the Earls of Oxford and Dudley stood in St. Swithin's-lane. In Newcourt is the banking establishment of the celebrated Baron Rothschild. At the east end of Cannon-street is what remains of Eastcheap, rendered memorable by Shakspeare, in his historical drama, as the scene of the revels of Henry V., and that portly, facetious knight, Falstaff. Boar's Head Tavern, where Shakspeare makes Falstaff and his rollicking crew assemble, was destroyed by the Great Fire; it was afterwards rebuilt, and again demolished by ruthless hands, to make space for the approach to New London Bridge. Johnson

was a frequenter there; Goldsmith wrote in this tavern; and Washington Irving has an admirable paper on it in his "Sketch Book," which latter must become the delectation of every pilgrim to this classic site. The present statue of William IV. now marks the spot of the "Boar's Head," which was, in Shakspeare's time, "The Oldest Tavern in London."

We now reach London Bridge, a beautiful structure, perhaps the most splendid of the bridges of the Metropolis. Like the Tower of London, Old London Bridge, of which, however, not a vestige now remains, was an object of great historical interest. Volumes of its history have been written, which is interwoven with the leading events of centuries. Its details are rife with the records of crime and cruelty, some of the darkest passages in English history. The following, however, must suffice for a brief outline of its records:

In the year 994 there was but a low wooden bridge over the Thames; it was built in a rude style, and connected St. Botolph's Wharf with the opposite side of the River. The first stone bridge was erected about 1209-occupying thirty-three years in construction. It was, however, shortlived, for about four years afterwards, according to Stowe, it was destroyed by fire, together with the Church

of St. Mary Overy's, and three thousand persons. In the reign of Edward I. the subsequent bridge was disfigured by the heads of traitors-among them that of Sir William Wallace; and during the reign of Richard II. feats of chivalry were enacted, when the parapet of the bridge was decorated with rich hangings of tapestry and cloth of gold. In 1450 Jack Cade and his associates had a fierce encounter upon this bridge, and some time afterwards his head was exposed here. On the Traitors' Gate, in 1655, was placed the head of the Bishop of Rochester, who suffered martyrdom for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII. as supreme head of the Church of England; also, a month later, the head (of Sir Thomas More. His daughter, however, had it afterwards buried in the Roper family vault, in a chapel adjoining St. Dunstan's, Canterbury. Old London Bridge, that one most celebrated for its historic associations, which was covered with houses, suffered greatly from the conflagration of 1666. The most celebrated edifico that adorned that bridge was the "Nonsuch House." These houses, according to Pennant, "overhung and leaned in a most terrific manner.' Two fairs are mentioned as having taken place on the Thames, when it was frozen over; one in the time of Charles II., the other in 1814.

« PreviousContinue »