The Cries of London: Exhibiting Several of the Itinerant Traders of Antient and Modern TimesSmith, John Thomas
History
The Cries of London: Exhibiting Several of the Itinerant Traders of Antient and Modern Times
Smith, John Thomas
Cries -- England -- London; London (England) -- Social life and customs -- Illustrations; Peddling -- England -- London
1. In the View of the Old Houses in London Wall, p. 63, the man with two
baskets is JOHN BRYSON, well known in London, particularly in rainy
weather. He had been an opulent fishmonger in Bloomsbury Market, but
became, by several losses, so reduced, that he latterly carried nothing
except nuts in his basket; but his custom to the last was to cry every
sort of fish from the turbot to the perriwinkle, never heeding the calls
of those unacquainted with his humour. In the same Plate is WILLIAM
CONWAY, whose cry of "Hard metal Spoons to sell or change," was familiar
to the inhabitants of London and its environs. This man's portrait is also
given by Mr. Smith in the present work, p. 63.
2. In the View of old Houses at the West end of Chancery Lane, p. 48, are
several figures drawn from the life. The woman with crutches represents
ANNE SIGGS. She was remarkable for her cleanliness, a rare quality for her
fraternity. Slander, from whose sting the most amiable persons are not
invulnerable, tempted this woman to spread a report of her being the
sister of the celebrated tragedian, Mrs. Siddons. From a work of singular
character by Mr. James Parry, it appears that she was a daughter of an
industrious breeches-maker at Dorking in Surrey. Another back view of this
woman occurs in the Plate of Duke Street, Smithfield, in p. 54.
3. The man without legs, in the same print, is SAMUEL HORSEY, well known
in Holborn, Fleet Street, and the Strand. In 1816 this man had been a
London beggar for thirty-one years. He had a most Herculean trunk, and his
weather-beaten ruddy face was the picture of health. Mr. Smith has given a
back view of this beggar in "Vagabondiana," p. 37, where are some further
anecdotes of him.
4. The dwarf hobbling up Chancery Lane was JEREMIAH DAVIES, a native of
Wales. He was frequently shewn at fairs, and supported a miserable
existence by performing sleight-of-hand tricks. He was also very strong,
and would lift a considerable weight, though not above three feet high.
5. The tall slender figure next to Davies was a Mr. CREUSE, a truly
singular man, who never begged of any one, but would not refuse money when
offered. He died in Middlesex Court, Drury Lane, and was attended to the
burial ground in that street by friends in two mourning coaches. It is
said he left money to a considerable amount behind him.
6. In the View of Houses in Sweedon's Passage, p. 42, is a portrait of
JOSEPH CLINCH, a noisy bow-legged ballad-singer, who was particularly
famous, about 1795, for his song upon Whittington and his Cat. He likewise
sold a coarse old woodcut of the animal, with its history and that of its
master printed in the back ground.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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