THE district parish of St. Paul’s, Knightsbridge, stretching southward to the Thames, embraces in its bounds a considerable part of Pimlico. When St. Barnabas’ Church was built, for the local management of the parish, this southern portion was allotted to its minister’s care, and therefore I follow a division most suitable for my plan, and give a brief outline of the history of this part of the parish, in order that my notice may not be incomplete. Of course, I do not intend to describe the suburb now called Pimlico as a whole, but only that portion of it within the district of St. Paul’s; yet I cannot even do so without touching on one or two items of general history: and first, then, for the name. The first mention of the name Pimlico appears in the parish books of St. Martin in the year 1626. {245a} The ancient name of the place was Eybury, from the manor of Eia or Eye, signifying water; a most appropriate name for a spot bounded on three sides by running streams. There was a Manor House once existing, which we may infer was of some importance, from its being one of those houses for which a licence to crenellate or fortify was granted. This privilege was granted in 1307 to John de Benstede, by Edward I. {245b} Hence the addition of _bury_ to the original name of Eye or Eia, such addition meaning fortifications. But to the name. The true explanation of its origin is to be found in a rare, if not unique tract, entitled, “News from Hogsdon,” 1598:—“Have at thee then, my merrie boys, and hie for old Ben Pimlicoe’s nut brown.” {245c} This “old Ben Pimlico,” of Hoxton, kept, in the days of Queen Bess, a right famous hostelrie, a popular place of resort, as numerous allusions in the dramatists {246} of the period testify. Pimlico Walk still exists at Hoxton, and doubtless indicates the pathway along which the pleasure-seekers wended their way to Old Ben’s. It is evident in the above quotation that a _person_ is alluded to; but the word frequently expresses a _drink_, most probably derived from this worthy. This is evident from the following verses:— “Let Hogsdon’s scrapers on their base, Sound fum—fum—fum—from tattered case, Nor Mean nor Treble now take place, But Tenor. A Counter-Tenor is that note. Tho’ easy—’tis ne’er sung by rote, But got with wetting well your throat With claret. Or stout March beer, or Windsor ale, Or Labour-in-Vain (so seldom stale), Or _Pimlico_, whose too great sale Did mar it.” THE COUNTER RAT, 1670. This Ben Pimlico, and the ale named after him, are both spoken of with equal laudation by the dramatists—by Ben Jonson more especially, who lived in the neighbourhood, and doubtless was familiar with both. But in his play of “The Alchemist,” the allusion, I think, points to a bygone place:—