Bartholomew Fair was reduced by this step to a dozen stalls, and from that time may be considered as practically extinct. In Britannia Fields, what was called New Bartholomew Fair was attended by the shows which of late years had resorted to Smithfield and one or two others, among which was Reed's theatre, the prices of admission to which ranged from sixpence to two shillings. The performances consisted of _The Scottish Chieftain_, in which Saker played Ronald, the principal character, and a pantomime called _Harlequin Rambler_. Among the minor shows was that of Hales and his sister, the Norfolk giant and giantess, who issued a bill containing the following effusion of the Muse that inspired the poet of Mrs. Jarley's wax-work:-- "Miss Hales and her Brother are here to be seen, O come let us visit the sweet lovely Queen; Behold she is handsome--in manners polite-- Both she and her brother near eight feet in height! I have seen all the tallest in towns far and near, But never their equal to me did appear! All England and Scotland, and Ireland declare, Their like was ne'er seen yet in them anywhere. "Here's the smallest of women creation can show, Complete in proportion from top to the toe; And a Lady of rank from New Zealand secured, Escap'd from the murder her husband endured! And a fine youthful female presented to sight, All spangled and spotted with brown and with white; Large Crocodiles here, and a Boa behold, With a fine Anaconda all glistening with gold. "Here's a silver-haired Lady, with skin white as snow, Whose eyes are like rubies that roll to and fro! You will find her a species different from all, The black and the whites, or the low and the tall! But to sing all her beauties I need not begin, Nor the fine azure veins that appear through her skin; For these, mind, no poet or painter can show, But when you behold her, O then you may know! "Exhibitions like this may to us be of use-- What a contrast of creatures this world can produce! See the tallest and smallest before us in state. What a prodigy rare and phenomena great! From such wonders eccentric presented to view We now may our study of nature pursue; And philosophy truly may draw from it then, That Temp'rance produces the tallest of men." Hales made enough money by the exhibition of himself to purchase the lease and goodwill of a public-house in Drury Lane, where he lived several years. Many persons visited the house purposely to see him, but he never appeared in the bar before eleven o'clock, and was careful to avoid making himself too cheap. I saw him once, in crossing the street towards his house, stoop to raise in his arms a little girl, suggesting to my mind the giant and fairy of a pantomime.