Strand, The (London, England); Streets -- England -- London
During Wyatt's insurrection in 1554, the mob passed along this road, and
the Earl of Pembroke planted artillery on the high ground of Hay Hill
and Piccadilly, when a piece of the Queen's ordnance, we are told, "slew
three of Wyatt's followers, in a rank, and after carrying off their
heads passed through this wall into the park" (Jesse). In 1682 Thynne
was murdered at the instigation of Count Konigsmarck in what is now Pall
Mall East, because he had married the heiress of the Percys, whom the
Count wished to marry himself. The principal was acquitted, but his
three accomplices or tools, who had actually committed the murder, were
executed, according to the poetic justice of the time, at the scene of
their offence, in 1682.
The Star and Garter Hotel, nearly opposite the War Office, was a
fashionable tavern in the time of Queen Anne. Here took place the famous
duel between the fifth Lord Byron and Mr. Chaworth in 1765. They fought
in the house by the light of only a single candle. Byron killed his
opponent, and was found guilty of manslaughter by his peers. However, he
claimed benefit of a statute of Edward VI., and was discharged. The
original dispute was merely as to which gentleman had the larger amount
of game on his estate.
Among other famous taverns in this street are mentioned the King's Arms,
under the Opera Colonnade in Pall Mall East. Also the Rumpsteak Club,
which consisted of five Dukes, one Marquis, fifteen Earls, three
Viscounts, and three Barons, all in opposition to Sir Robert Walpole.
The King's Head, the George, the Smyrna Coffee-house, Giles'
Coffee-house, Hercules Pillars, and the Tree, were among the ancient
places of resort in this street--a foreshadowing of the palatial
mansions of Clubland.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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