Club Life of London, Vol. 2 (of 2): With Anecdotes of the Clubs, Coffee-Houses and Taverns of the Metropolis During the 17th, 18th, and 19th CenturiesTimbs, John
History
Club Life of London, Vol. 2 (of 2): With Anecdotes of the Clubs, Coffee-Houses and Taverns of the Metropolis During the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries
Timbs, John
Clubs -- England -- London; Literary landmarks -- England -- London; London (England) -- Social life and customs
The Dog and Duck was a place of entertainment in St. George's Fields,
where duck-hunting was one of its brutal amusements. The house was
taken down upon the rebuilding of Bethlehem Hospital; and the
sign-stone, representing a dog squatting upon his haunches, with a
duck in his mouth, with the date 1617, is imbedded in the brick wall
of the Hospital garden, upon the site of the entrance to the old
tavern; and at the Hospital is a drawing of the Dog and Duck: it was a
resort of Hannah More's "Cheapside Apprentice."
Bermondsey Spa, a chalybeate spring, discovered about 1770, was
opened, in 1780, as a minor Vauxhall, with fireworks, pictures of
still life, and a picture-model of the Siege of Gibraltar, painted by
Keyse, the entire apparatus occupying about four acres. He died in
1800, and the garden was shut up about 1805. There are Tokens of the
place extant, and the Spa-road is named from it.
A few of the old Southwark taverns have been described. From its being
the seat of our early Theatres, the houses of entertainment were here
very numerous, in addition to the old historic Inns, which are fast
disappearing. In the Beaufoy collection are several Southwark Tavern
Tokens; as--The Bore's Head, 1649 (between Nos. 25 and 26
High-street). Next also is a Dogg and Dvcke token, 1651 (St. George's
Fields); the Greene Man, 1651 (which remains in Blackman-street); ye
Bull Head Taverne, 1667, mentioned by Edward Alleyn, founder of
Dulwich College, as one of his resorts; Duke of Suffolk's Head, 1669;
and the Swan with Two Necks.
FOOTNOTE:
[52] See the Descriptions of Vauxhall Gardens in _Curiosities of
London_, pp. 745-748. _Walks and Talks about London_, pp. 16-30.
_Romance of London_, vol. iii. pp. 34-44.
FREEMASONS' LODGES.
Mr. Elmes, in his admirable work, _Sir Christopher Wren and his
Times_, 1852, thus glances at the position of Freemasonry in the
Metropolis two centuries since, or from the time of the Great Fire:
"In 1666 Wren was nominated deputy Grand Master under Earl Rivers, and
distinguished himself above all his predecessors in legislating for
the body at large, and in promoting the interests of the lodges under
his immediate care. He was Master of the St. Paul's Lodge, which,
during the building of the Cathedral, assembled at the Goose and
Gridiron in St. Paul's Churchyard, and is now the Lodge of Antiquity,
acting by immemorial prescription, and regularly presided at its
meetings for upwards of eighteen years. During his presidency he
presented that Lodge with three mahogany candlesticks, beautifully
carved, and the trowel and mallet which he used in laying the first
stone of the Cathedral, June 21, 1675, which the brethren of that
ancient and distinguished Lodge still possess and duly appreciate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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