It will be well to take Grosvenor Square as our starting-point, but before we set out a word must be said about the name, which is generic to the whole area. It almost speaks for itself; and is derived from that “Fair” formerly held here during the first fortnight in May, and dating from the time of James II. Unlike our conception of fairs, however, this one was instituted specifically “for musick, showes, drinking, gaming, raffling, lotteries, stage-plays, and drolls,” and appears to have had nothing to do with the traffic and barter with which we are accustomed to associate these fast disappearing institutions. Nor was it merely the resort of the _profanum vulgus_; the nobility and gentry, we are told, made a point of frequenting it; and the fields in which it was held,--for then all this part was occupied by meadows and open ground--must have presented a gay appearance, with its booths and shows, surrounded by a brilliantly dressed throng, brought into still greater prominence by the more soberly attired crowd which surrounded it. The “May Fair” continued as a regular institution until 1708, when it was put a stop to, chiefly on account of the disorders arising from it, and the questionable company that attended its equally questionable exhibitions; but partly on account, no doubt, of the erection of houses and the formation of streets, which began about this time. It, however, died hard, and was intermittently revived, in gradually lessening form; prize-fighting, boxing, and bull-baiting taking the place of “stage-plays and musick,” till nearly the end of the 18th century, when it ceased altogether to exist, and left only its name as evidence of its former vitality. [Sidenote: DAVIES STREET.] Before entering Grosvenor Square, Davies Street has a particular interest in that it takes its name from that Mary Davies, daughter of Alexander Davies, of Ebury, who married Sir Thomas Grosvenor, and through whom the bulk of this great property came into the possession of the Westminster family. At its Oxford Street end, Davies Street practically forms one with South Molton Lane, which at the beginning of the 18th century rejoiced in the not very euphonious designation of Shug Lane. There is, however, little to delay us here, unless we have a mind to glance into the modern church of St. Anselm, designed by Messrs. Balfour and Thackeray Turner, in the Byzantine style, and opened about eleven years since. I may, however, remind the reader that “Joe” Manton, the great gunmaker, carried on business at Nos. 24 and 25; and also that Tom Moore was living in the street, in 1817. Turning into Brook Street, let us enter Grosvenor Square at its north-east corner. [Sidenote: GROSVENOR SQUARE.]