The Colloquies of Edward Osborne, Citizen and Clothworker of LondonManning, Anne
History
The Colloquies of Edward Osborne, Citizen and Clothworker of London
Manning, Anne
Biographical fiction; London (England) -- History -- 16th century -- Fiction; Osborne, Edward, 1530?-1591 -- Fiction
_Miles_, with Mischief in his Eye, proposed to me a Row on the River,
which I, nothing afeard, agreed to, for I had been in a Punt aforetime,
if not in a Wherry. He refused the Aid of a Waterman, saying lightly,
"This young Gentleman knows the Use of a Scull;" and, running hastily
along the Boat to secure the Stroke-oar, his Foot tripped against a
Thwart, and he lost his Balance and fell into the River. I guessed where
he would come up, and, sitting on the further Gunnel to trim the Boat,
held the Oar to him, and guided his Hand to the Side, which enabled him
to scramble in. The Watermen, who had run down to us as soon as they saw
him fall over, laughed when they saw him safe, and cheered me; and he,
looking rather foolish, sayth, "Well, I told them thou knewest the Use
of a Scull." I asked him which Way we should pull; howbeit, he was so
drenched that he must needs go Home to change his Clothes, and bade me
give the Waterman a Penny, saying he had not so much as a _Genoa_
Halfpenny about him just then to buy a Custard at Mother _Mampudding's_.
When he had changed his Under-garments, and hung his Gown at the Kitchen
Fire, he amused himself by dropping Pellets from the Window on the
People in the Boats that shot the Arch beneath; and _Tib_, with her Head
stretched forth of the other Half of the Lattice, offered to Rehearse
unto me the Name and Calling of every Dweller on the Bridge, from the
Parson and Clerk at the one End, to the old Lady that lived all alone by
herself with her Cats at the other. Howbeit, _Miles_, tiring of waiting
for his Gown to dry, put on another, and bade me bear him Company to
_Finsbury Fields_. But first he lay in Wait behind the Door, and then
stole subtilly forth, like a Cat that had been stealing Cream; and on my
asking him why, he laughed and said, only that Mistress _Fraunces_ might
not see him in his Sunday-gown of a Saturday, for that would be contrary
to Rules and Regulations.
[Illustration: J.Jellicoe
"Held the oar to him"]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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