The Story of LondonWheatley, Henry B. (Henry Benjamin)
History
The Story of London
Wheatley, Henry B. (Henry Benjamin)
London (England) -- History
In 1370 'the Mayor, aldermen and commonalty were given to understand
that certain galleys, with a multitude of armed men therein, were lying
off the foreland of Tanet' [Thanet], and it was therefore ordered that
'every night watch shall be kept between the Tower of London and
Billingsgate, with 40 men-at-arms and 60 archers,' which watch the men
of the trades underwritten 'agreed to keep in succession each night, in
form as follows: On Tuesday, the drapers and the tailors; on Wednesday,
the mercers and the apothecaries; on Thursday, the fishmongers and the
butchers; on Friday, the pewterers and the vintners; on Saturday, the
goldsmiths and the saddlers; on Sunday, the ironmongers, the armourers
and the cutlers; on Monday, the tawers [curriers], the spurriers, the
bowyers and the girdlers.'[290]
These pirates gave a great deal of trouble up to a much later date, and
the wardenship of the Cinque Ports (then held by Cecil) was a busy post
when, as in May 1616, pirate vessels were captured between Broadstairs
and Margate.[291]
In connection with the trade and commerce of London, fairs and markets
held a very important position, but here it will only be possible to
make a passing allusion to them.
Bartholomew Fair, Smithfield, granted to the Prior of St. Bartholomew's
by Henry II., 1133, was for several centuries the great cloth fair of
England. Its memory is kept alive by the street which is still known as
Cloth Fair. After the dissolution of the monasteries the fair was
annually opened by the Mayor, attended by the aldermen. It long outlived
its use and reputation, and was not finally abolished until the
nineteenth century had run its course for some years.
In the City Letter Books there are references to other less important
fairs; thus a fair then only recently established in Soper Lane (now
Queen Street, Cheapside), and known as Nane (or Noon) Fair, was
abolished about 1307 owing to its being the resort of thieves and
cutpurses.[292]
There was also a fair called _la novele feyre_ which was held in the
parish of St. Nicholas Acons.[293]
[Illustration: CLOTH FAIR.]
Many fairs were held at different times in Southwark, Westminster, and
other places in the neighbourhood of London. How important the great
fairs of the Middle Ages were may be seen in one instance among others
by the fact that the citizens of London resorted in such numbers to St.
Botolph's Fair, annually held at Boston, county Lincoln, on St.
Botolph's Day (17th June), that all business in the Court of Husting
ceased, and the Court was closed for a week.[294]
In the fourth book of the _Liber Albus_ there is a list of letters and
other documents relating to markets and fairs, several of which relate
to St. Botolph's Fair.[295]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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