The History of London by Walter Besant (best classic books TXT) 📕

night as a sign to put out all lights. Ancient towns having much wood were liable to serious fires.


36. WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

~Thorney~, Isle of Thorns; _ey_ and _ea_ meaning island, as in Anglesey, Chelsea, Winchelsea.

~precinct~: the limit of the ground belonging to a church or other institution.

~commissioner~: appointed to see that the work was carried out.

~Sir G. Gilbert Scott~, born 1811, died 1878, was the greatest modern English architect.

~took sanctuary~: fled for shelter to the abbey, whence she could not be taken without violating the privileges of the Church.

~William Caxton~ set up in 1476 the first printing press in England.

~coronation chair~: under this is the famous stone brought from Scone by Edward I., over which all the Scottish kings had been crowned since about 800 A.D.


37. THE COURT AT WESTMINSTER.

~Star Chamber Court~, in which cases were tried before some members of the Privy Council and two judges without a jury. This was established in 1487 to restore order because great lords and landowners used to frighten juries from giving true verdicts.

~bear and ragged staff~: the arms of the Earl of Warwick consisted of a bear erect and hugging a rough stake. (See pictures on pp. 111, 113.)

~arras~: tapestry for hanging; so called from Arras, in the north of France, where it was made.

~refectory~: the hall where the monks or nuns took their meals.


38. JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENTS.

~executive officers~: those whose duty it is to enforce the law.

~contrition~: repentance.

~securities~: stocks and shares; papers which can be of no use to the ordinary thief.

~Bridewell~: the site of a prison, now demolished. It adjoined Whitefriars, and may be seen in the map to the west of Blackfriars.

~amende honorable~ (French): when one who has done wrong gives satisfaction without loss of honour.

~pillory~: a framework supported by an upright pillar. In it were holes through which the head and hands of offenders were thrust. In this uncomfortable position they had to stand exposed to the insults of the mob.

~cogged~: loaded so as always to fall in a certain way.

~title deeds~: writings drawn up in proper legal form to prove the possession of property.


39. THE POLITICAL POWER OF LONDON.

~Froissart~: an early French chronicler or historian who visited England in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II., and died in 1401.

~besotted with~: stupidly and excessively fond of.

~commonalty~: the common people.

~Berkeley Castle~, in Gloucestershire, where Edward II. was murdered in 1327.

~a son was born~: Edward, Prince of Wales, born in 1453. After the Yorkist victory of Northampton in 1460 Edward's claim to the throne was set aside in favour of Richard, Duke of York, father of Edward IV. The Prince was slain at the battle of Tewkesbury, 1471.

~benevolences~: loans of money, supposed to be voluntary, really compulsory, made by merchants and other rich men to the king.

~charts~: papers; ~blank cheques~: orders on the bank for money with all except the amount required filled up and properly signed.

~factor~: if 2 x 3 makes six, 2 and 3 are each factors of 6; hence it is something which helps to bring about some result.


40. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART I.

~Stow~ (born 1525, died 1605): a famous writer in Queen Elizabeth's reign on the antiquities of London and other places.

~Whitechapel~ takes its name from a white chapel-of-ease built to relieve Stepney, in which parish this district was till 1763.

~tenters~: pegs for stretching cloth. Sometimes hooks were used, from which we get the phrase 'to be on tenter hooks'--to be on a stretch with anxiety.

~St. Katharine's~ has given its name to the great docks east of the Tower.

~bull-, bear-baiting~: the sport of setting dogs to worry bulls or bears.

~Alsatia~: for a vivid picture of this haunt of rogues in the reign of James I. the reader is referred to Sir W. Scott's 'Fortunes of Nigel.'

~Austin Friars~: the space known as Drapers' Gardens (because the hall of the Drapers' Company is adjoining) in Throgmorton Street is on the site of this monastery.

~Canwicke (now Cannon) Street~ was so called because the wax-chandlers and candle-makers lived in that part.


41. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART II.

~William Shakespeare~ (born 1564, died 1616): the prince of poets, who lived in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I.

~ruins of the monasteries~ which had been suppressed by Henry VIII. in 1536-1540.

~Cold Harbour~: a merchant's mansion once standing on the bank of the Thames in Thames Street.

~Genevan bands~: a kind of collar worn by Protestant clergymen, so called because Geneva, the home of Calvin, was the centre of Protestantism.

~palaces along the Strand~: if you walk along the Strand you will notice that many of the short streets leading down to the river bear the names of noblemen, such as Arundel Street, Norfolk Street, Salisbury Street, &c. from the old palaces which once stood there.

~Staples Inn~: a picturesque group of old houses in Holborn was formerly a wool-market (_staple_ means a fixed market). ~Wych Street~ is near Holywell Street in the Strand.

~Cloth Fair~ is now a poor neighbourhood near Smithfield.


42. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART III.

~Impressment~: in the absence of some orderly arrangement, such as conscription (where all serve) or a voluntary system (like our own), the press-gang used to kidnap people and force them to serve.

~animosity~: anger, ill feeling against.

~The Steelyard~, on the site of which Cannon Street railway station now stands, was the house of the Hanse merchants (_see_ note on Chapter XXII.).

~John Colet~, Dean of St. Paul's (born 1466, died 1519), was one of the leaders of the revival of learning in England. St. Paul's School, which he founded in 1512, has been moved to Hammersmith.


43. TRADE. PART I.

~Forestall their market~: that is, to buy things before they arrived at the market, so as to sell them at a higher price.

~Luebeck~: a large port in north Germany in the Baltic.

~staples~, originally all kinds of raw produce, came to be applied only to wool. Staples Inn was once a wool-market.

~instead of selling our wool~: Edward III. brought Flemish weavers into England to encourage manufactures. Till then England produced and exported wool to Antwerp and other manufacturing centres, but did not make it into cloth.

~Hamburg~ was a member of the Hanseatic League.

~The screen~ was presented to the Church of All Hallows the Great, Thames Street, in 1710, by the Hanseatic merchants.


44. TRADE. PART II.

~Incubus~: something that weighs down and hinders.

~religious wars in the Netherlands~: between the Protestant Dutch and the Catholic Spaniards, who were oppressing the country through great part of the sixteenth century.

~Bourse~: the same as ~Exchange~, where merchants meet to transact their business.

~English wool~ in Bruges, because it was much exported thither from England before the growth of home manufactures.

~Flemings~: the natives of Flanders; who were the chief manufacturers of Europe long before England took the lead.

~14 per cent.~: the height of this rate may be seen by comparing it with the 21/2 per cent., which is all England now pays as interest upon her debt.

~Bethlehem Hospital~, corrupted into Bedlam, is still a hospital, but only for the insane.


45. TRADE. PART III.

~Bruges ... civil wars~: that is, the religious wars referred to in Chapter XLIV.

~Venetians~: before the discovery of the sea route to India and the East Venice was the first maritime and commercial power in the world. The route round the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by Vasco de Gama in 1497.

~Moluccas~: a group of tropical islands between Celebes and New Guinea, rich in pearls, spices, and precious woods.

~Calicut~: the port in Madras, where Vasco de Gama first landed in May 1498. The cotton cloth called _calico_ was first brought thence.

~Moorish pirates~: North Africa has always been a haunt of pirates. In 1816 Lord Exmouth had to bombard Algiers, and even as late as 1860 the European Powers had to suppress piracy in Morocco.

~Dordrecht~: a commercial town in the south of Holland, near Rotterdam.

~The South Sea Company~ is celebrated above the other trading companies for the great speculation in its shares called the ~South Sea bubble~ in 1720.


46. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART I.

~Mummers~: men who played in entertainments masked and in various disguises.

~masque~: a kind of play in which the actors wore masks. Milton's 'Comus' is a well-known masque of high character.

~mystery~: a name for a religious play representing some scene from the Bible or scenes from the life of a saint.

~admonition~: warning.

~frescoes~: paintings on a wall covered with plaster--done while the plaster is still wet or _fresh_.

~sequence~: that is, the connection of one event with another.

~properties~: the articles used in the play, scenery, dress, &c.

~realistic~: looking as though they really were the persons represented.

~tableau~: scene.

~lessee~: one who rents a theatre or holds it on a lease from the owner.


47. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART II.

~Pageants~: grand shows, processions.

~censers~: vessels for burning incense.

~conduit~: a pipe or channel for leading or _conducting_ water.

~Cross of Chepe~: a memorial erected in the centre of the chepe, or market, in memory of Queen Eleanor.

~jerkins~: a kind of jacket often made of leather.

~panoply~: full armour.

~banneret~: a little banner.

~blackjacks~: leather vessels for holding liquor.

~malmsey~: a strong sweet wine.

~marshal~: draw up and arrange.

~Lord Mayor's Show~: on November 9--when the people have an opportunity of welcoming the new Lord Mayor on his entering into office.


48. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART III.

~libretto~: the words of a masque or play set to music.

~scenic~: on the stage.

~Ben Jonson~ (born 1574, died 1637): a great English play writer and poet, and a friend of Shakespeare.

~Francis Bacon~, Lord Verulam (born 1561, died 1626), was Lord Chancellor and a great writer on philosophical subjects.

~Oberon~: the king of the fairies and husband of Titania, as in Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream.'

~save James~: that is, King James I.; a piece of courtly flattery due to Jonson's connection with the court.

~Prince Henry~, who is meant by Oberon in the masque, died in 1612, to the great regret of the people.

~Phosphorus~: Lucifer, the morning star that brings the day.


49. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART IV.

~Gammer (i.e. Old Mother) Gurton's Needle~ is a very rough old play about an old woman who lost her needle while mending a pair of breeches, and, after accusing everyone of stealing it, finds it after all in the garment itself. It was written some time before 1560. ('Gammer,' the French _grand'-mere_, grandmother, contracted into 'ganmer,' and then 'gammer.')

~contortionist~: one who twists himself into extraordinary attitudes to amuse the public.

~octagonal~: with eight sides.

~prologue~: the verses spoken before a play to introduce it to the audience.

~Golden Lane~: a street near the Barbican, turning out of Aldersgate Street.

~Bankside~, in Southwark, on the southern side of the Thames.


50. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. PART I.

~Pretensions~: ambitious claims.

~Wars of the Roses~: a civil war lasting 1455-1485. In thinking of the loss of life occasioned by