The Cock Lane Ghost found its way into history in this wise. In this lane in 1762, lived a man named Parsons. Passers-by heard strange noises coming from his house, and neighbours thought they saw a luminous lady who bore a resemblance to a Mrs. Kemt who had died here a few years earlier. The rumour spread that Mrs. Kemt had been poisoned. The supposed ghost submitted to questioning, making replies by knockings. Mr. Kemt finally was suspected of having done away with his wife. Great crowds came to see the ghost and hear her ghostly rappings. Many were sceptics, and eventually the daughter of Parsons, who was suspected of causing the ghostly sounds, was spirited away from her home and taken to the crypt of St. John's Church, close by the square of that name. There Dr. Samuel Johnson and others of prominence who had taken deep interest in the affair, by inducement, argument and threats, cleared up the deception. It was learned that the girl had taken a board into bed with her and by scratching upon it had produced the mysterious sounds. As a result of the exposure, Parsons was prosecuted for imposture, and condemned to stand three hours in the pillory. [Illustration: The Martyrs' Memorial--Smithfield] Wide-spreading Smithfield Market stretches over ground that for centuries has witnessed scenes of butchery, both human and animal. It was originally a "smoothfield" beyond the wall of the City, where tournaments took place, and where Bartholomew Fair was held annually for more than seven centuries until its extinction in 1855. This Fair, planned to foster trade and establish useful relations in buying and selling, degenerated into an excuse for unrestrained license and pleasure seeking. In the 13th century, Smithfield became a place of public execution, the forerunner of Tyburn and Newgate, and on this ground was beheaded in 1305, William Wallace, the Scotch patriot, hero of Jane Porter's once famous "Scottish Chiefs." It was here, too, that Wat Tyler was slain by Lord Mayor Sir William Walworth in 1381; here too Protestants were burned at the stake in the days of "Bloody Mary," and Nonconformists in Queen Elizabeth's time. To the south of the market there is an open square, and in the centre of this is a statue erected as a memorial to the Martyrs. Smithfield came to be the great cattle mart of London, and so remained until 1855 when it was removed and the present market soon after established.