How am I fill’d with wonder for to see A flooding river now a road to be, Where ships and barges used to frequent, Now may you see a booth of fudling tent; And those that us’d to ask where shall I land ye, Now cry, what lack ye, sir, beer, ale, or brandy? Here, here, walk in, and you shall surely find Your entertainment good, my usage kind. Booths they increased dayly, more and more, People by thousands flocking from the shore; And in such heaps they thither did repair, As if they had been hasting to a fair. And such a fair I never yet came near, Where shop-rents were so cheap, and goods so dear. Then might you have all kind of earthenware, You can scarce name a thing but what was there. There was to sell both French and Spanish wine, And yet, perhaps, a dishclout for a signe; In short, the like was never seen before, Where coaches run as if upon the shore; And men on horseback to and fro did ride, Not minding either current, or the tide: It was exceeding strange at first to see, Both men and women so advent’rous be; And yet at last it grew so very common, ’Twas not admir’d, it seemed strange to no man. Then from the Temple there was built a street, Made old and young, and all admire that see’t; Which street to Southwark reached. There might you see Wonders! if you did love variety, There was roast beef, and gamon to be sold, But at so dear a rate, I dare be bold To say, ’twas never sold so on the shore, Nor on the Thames, in haste, be any more. There were Dutch whimsies turning swiftly round, By which the owners cleared many a pound; And coles and corn was there in sledges draw’d, As if the Thames would never have been thaw’d. All kinds of trades did to this market come, Hoping to get more profit than at home: And some whose purses were a little swel’d, Would not have car’d how long the frost had held. In several places there was nine-pins plaid, And pidgeon holes for to beget a trade. Dancing and fidling too there was great store, As if they had not been from off the shore; The art of printing there was to be seen, Which in no former age had ever been; And goldsmiths’ shops were furnished with plate, But they must dearly pay for’t that would hav’t. And coffee-houses in great numbers were, Scattered about in this cold freezing fair, There might you sit down by a char-cole fire, And for your money have your heart’s desire, A dish of coffee, chocalet or tea, Could man desire more furnished to be? No, no, if you the world should wander through, No fair like this could pleasant seem to you. There was the baiting of the ugly bear, Which sport to see hundreds did repair, And I believe since the world’s first creation, The like was never seen in this our nation: