Highways and Byways in LondonCook, Emily Constance Baird
History
Highways and Byways in London
Cook, Emily Constance Baird
London (England) -- Description and travel
Those who are interested in the children of the poor,--and who is
not?--should read Mr. Charles Morley's sympathetic "Studies in Board
Schools," a considerable portion of which refers to Walworth and the
Borough. The redeeming of the infant population of London is surely a
noble work, and nowhere are the parental methods of the Board Schools
so well set forth as in that delightful volume, real with the reality
of life, and, like life itself, something between laughter and tears.
Life has few mysteries for the Borough child, whose garments are
strange and weird, whose voice "soon loses any infantine sweetness it
may possess. Some of the ragged mites of girls of the Borough will
even rap out an oath which would shock your ears who live over the
water. But they mean nothing. It is like sailors' language, only sound
and a little temper. Why, even the chirrup of the Borough sparrow has
a minatory ring about it." Mr. Morley goes on to tell of a kindly
institution dubbed "the Farm House" (strange name in such
surroundings!), where, owing to Mr. G. R. Sims and the "Referee," six
or seven hundred hungry school-children are, like the sparrows and
sea-gulls, fed daily during the long winter:
"The Farm House" (he says), "is a strange mansion to find in
the heart of the Marshalsea--just over the way is the site
of the famous prison. The graveyard of St. George the Martyr
is now a public garden, grim enough, to be sure, with its
black tombstones and soot-laden balsam poplars. On one of
the walls is placed a board on which is printed the legend:
'This stands on the site of the Marshalsea Prison described
(or words to this effect) in Charles Dickens's well-known
novel, _Little Dorrit_.' The Farm House was once the town
dwelling of the Earls of Winchester. It has an ancient
time-worn front, a court, mysterious chambers, old oak
panels upon which you can just make out some of the old
Winchester ladies and gentlemen; a curious old staircase;
and I daresay a ghost or two if one went into the matter.
But for a long time past it has been a common lodging-house.
Beds in a haunted chamber may be had at fourpence a night.
Many a strange history could those white-washed walls tell
if they could speak, I dare say--of the good old days in
Henry the Eighth's time, and even of more recent years. Many
a man who began life with the hopefullest prospects has been
glad to hide his head in the old Farm House, down Marshalsea
way, Borough."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account