By another old comedy by the same author as the preceding one, which he entitles:--"The pleasant and Stately Morall of the _Three Lords and Three Ladies of London_. With the great Joye and Pompe, Solemnized at their Marriages: Commically interlaced with much honest Mirth, for pleasure and recreation, among many Morall observations, and other important matters of due regard. By R. W., London. Printed by R. Ihones, at the Rose and Crowne, neere Holburne Bridge, 1590," it appears that woodmen went about with their beetles and wedges on their backs, crying "_Have you any wood to cleave?_" It must be borne in mind that in consequence of the many complaints against coal as a public nuisance, it was not in common use in London until the reign of Charles I., 1625. There is a character in the play named _Simplicity_, a poor Freeman of London, who for a purpose turns ballad-monger, and in answer to the question of "What dainty fine ballad have you now to be sold?" replies:--"I have '_Chipping-Norton_,' '_A mile from Chapel o' th' Heath_'--'_A lamentable ballad of burning of the Pope's dog_;' '_The sweet ballad of the Lincolnshire bagpipes_;' and '_Peggy and Willy: But now he is dead and gone; Mine own sweet Willy is laid in his grave_.'" [Illustration: SHAKESPEARE'S LONDON. "City of ancient memories! Thy spires Rise o'er the dust of worthy sons; thy walls, Within their narrow compass, hold as much Of Freedom as the whole wide world beside."] The London of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Co.,--_Limited_ as it was within its great wall, occupied very much the same space as that now covered by the City proper; its streets were narrow and winding, yet there were still left many open spaces; it was covered with people; its river was full of shipping; it was rich, prosperous, and possessed of a considerable amount of liberty. The great wall of London, broad and strong, with towers at intervals, was more than two miles long, from end to end, beginning at the Tower of London on the east, and ending at the Fleet River and the Thames on the west. [Illustration: ALDERSGATE.]