Old and New London, Volume I: A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its PlacesThornbury, Walter
History
Old and New London, Volume I: A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its Places
Thornbury, Walter
London (England) -- Description and travel; London (England) -- History
The Whig "mug-house" of Salisbury Court deserves notice. The death of
Queen Anne (1714) roused the hopes of the Jacobites. The rebellion of
1715 proved how bitterly they felt the peaceful accession of the Elector
of Hanover. The northern revolt convinced them of their strength, but
its failure taught them no lesson. They attributed its want of success
to the rashness of the leaders and the absence of unanimity in their
followers, to the outbreak not being simultaneous; to every cause,
indeed, but the right one. It was about this time that the Whig
gentlemen of London, to unite their party and to organise places of
gathering, established "mug-houses" in various parts of the City. At
these places, "free-and-easy" clubs were held, where Whig citizens could
take their mug of ale, drink loyal toasts, sing loyal songs, and arrange
party processions. These assemblies, not always very just or forbearing,
soon led to violent retaliations on the part of the Tories, attacks were
made on several of the mug-houses, and dangerous riots naturally ensued.
From the papers of the time we learn that the Tories wore white roses,
or rue, thyme, and rosemary in their hats, flourished oak branches and
green ribbons, and shouted "High Church;" "Ormond for ever;" "No King
George;" "Down with the Presbyterians;" "Down with the mug-houses." The
Whigs, on the other side, roared "King George for ever," displayed
orange cockades, with the motto,--
"With heart and hand
By George we'll stand,"
and did their best on royal birthdays and other thanksgivings, by
illuminations and blazing bonfires outside the mug-house doors, to
irritate their adversaries and drive them to acts of illegal violence.
The chief Whig mug-houses were in Long Acre, Cheapside, St. John's Lane
(Clerkenwell), Tower Street, and Salisbury Court.
Mackey, a traveller, who wrote "A Journey through England" about this
time, describes the mug-houses very lucidly:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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