Early Inns and Taverns through tradesmens tokens - Bloomsbury to Butcher row
This is a historical site about early London coffee Houses and Taverns and will also link to my current pub history site and also The London street directory
LONDON TRADERS, TAVERN, AND COFFEE-HOUSE TOKENS, CURRENT 1649-1672. :
Index of Tradesmens tokens.
BLOOMSBURY.
#214 ANDREW PASHLEY AT YE BULL A bull: above, an open mouth.
Rev. AND MOVTH IN BLOOMSBURY HIS HALFE PENNY.
Richard Pashley at ye Bull and Mouth in Bloomsbury. His Half Penny. And a Bull above an mouth.
The Bull and Mouth, said to be a perversion of Boulogne Mouth, sed qu. ? This was an elucidation that originated with George Steevens the commentator, a mischievous wag in literary matters.
B356. Obverse. THOMAS . CHAPMAN = A Crown.
R. IN. BLOOMESBURY . 1664 = HIS HALF PENY.
B357. Obverse. Rich . Gadd . at . ye . whit = A hart lodged.
R. IN . BLOOMSBURY.=R . H . G. 1663. 1/4
B358. Obverse. Jane . Keyes . in = A key.
R. BLOOMSBURY . MARKET = I . K. 1663. 1/4
B359. Obverse. Henry . Lane . at . ye . black . boy = A naked boy, holding; an
arrow.
R. IN . BLOMESBURY . MARKETT = HIS HALFE PENNY. 1666
The “ Bull and Mouth ” is probably a corruption of “ The Bowl and Mouth.”
For a tavern the sign of “ The Mouth,” see Bishopsgate Without, No. 323.
B361. Obverse. EDWARD . SMITH . IN = A bull.
BLOOMSBURY . MARKET = E . [L] . S. 1/2
B362. Obverse. ELIZEVS . SOUTHERN . 1667 = HIS HALFE PENNY.
R. IN . BLOOMSBERY . MARKETT = E . S . S.
B363. Obverse. RICHARD . WARD . IN . BLOOMSBERY = R . E . W in a monogram.
R. MARKET . OYLE . MAN . l666 = HIS HALFE PENNY.
B364. Obverse. EDMOND . WHITE . HIS . HALF . PENY = A Crown and anchor.
R. IN . BLOOMESBURY . MARKETT = E . A . W.
B365. Obverse. Thomas . Wigley . in = A cradle.
R. BLOOMSBURY = T . G . W. 1/4
B366. Obverse. ANTHONY . YEAL .IN... .GS = __ Arms.
R. STREET . IN . BLOOMSBURY = HIS HALF PENNY. A . C . Y.
BLOWBLADDER STREET (now Newgate Street).
B367. Obverse. Robert . Boys . in . 1664 = Three sugar-loaves.
R. BLOWBLADDER . STREET = R . B. 1/4
B368. Obverse. Rich . Joyce . at . the = The Fruiterers’ Arms.
R. IN . BLOWBLADER . STR = R . D . L. 1/4
B369. Obverse. RICH . MOORE . GOLDE . BAL = A ball.
R. IN . BLOWBLADE . STRET = R . M . M. 1/4
BOROUGH, Southwark.
#215 CHARLES WESTON, POTER Seven stars, in the field.
Rev. IN THE BVRROW. 1666 In the field, C. M..W.
BOSS ALLEY (Thames Street). See also under Somers Quay.
B370. Obverse. at . the . 3 . marrinrs = Three sailors.
R. IN . BOSS . ALLEY . 1653 = W . C . R. 1/4
BOSWELL COURT (Carey Street).
B371. Obverse. ELINOR . SEAWARD = E . S.
R. IN . BOSWELL . COVRT = 1659. 1/4
BOTOLPH LANE (Lower Thames Street).
B372. Obverse. JOHN . CRANE . IN = HIS HALF PENY.
R. BVTOLPH . LANE . 1666 = I . M . C.
BOW LANE, Cheapside.
Bow lane, from the occupation of its inhabitants, was formerly called
Cordwainers' street : when they left it, hosiers took possession ; it was then
called Hosier lane ; its present name is derived from its proximity to the
church of St. Mary de Arcubus, or St. Mary-le-Bow.
The old parish seal of St. Mary-le-Bow represents the tower of the church of St.
Mary de Arcubus, as finished in 1512. Stow thus describes it: " The arches or
bows thereupon, with the lanthorns, five in number ; to wit, one at each corner,
and one on the top, in the middle, finished with stone brought from Caen in
Normandy." The purpose was to have them glazed, and lights placed within, to
guide those who by the ferry crossed the Thames.
The celebrity of Bow bell arises from the fact that according to the Norman
practice the curfew or couvre-feu bell was sounded from the church on this spot.
As time passed on, the stringency of the mandate was relaxed, and Bow bell
sounded at nine o'clock*, when there were no church clocks to warn the time-
bound passer by. In Haughton's Englishmen for my Money, written in 1580, but not
printed till 1616, this is noticed as a late hour:
" Tis nine o'clock ! harke, Bow bell rings." Sign. E iv. rev.
[* Inclination, the vice, or fool, in the interlude of The Triall of Treasure,
1567, boasts he was so old, he could remember
" The same yeere the weathercocke of Paules caught the pip,
So that Bowe bell was like much woe to sustaine."
Bow bell had the same use in London as the great bell at Oxford, commonly called
" Tom of Christ church." By the statutes of the university, Christ-church bell
was to sound at nine of the clock every night, to call all scholars to their
colleges, and the townspeople to their own dwellings ; but the college being at
one end of the town and on low ground, it was deemed not sufficiently loud in
its sound, and the enlargement of the compass and weight was determined. Tom,
after three fruitless attempts, was at a cost of 800Z. successfully recast at
Oxford, on April 8th, 1680. Oxford Tom is still a sign near Bride lane in Fleet
street. ]
And in Rowland's 'Tis merry when gossips meet, 1609, the crew of kind gossips,
while drinking claret at the tavern, break up with the exclamation
" Harke ! Bow bell rings ; before the Lord, 'tis late."
John Dunne, mercer, and a parishioner, buried in St. Pancras churchyard, Soper
lane, bequeathed two houses in Bow lane for the maintenance of Bow bell, not
only familiar to us, from the cradle, by the fabled warning of Bow bellf to the
runaway Richard Whittington, but eternized also in Pope's portentous line
" Far as loud Bow's stupendous bells resound."
Pope referred only to past notoriety ; it was one bell, not a set of bells, and
Whittington 's bell perished in the great fire of September, 1666.
Londoners, or persons born within the sound of Bow bell, are derisively called
"Cockneys;" but why has long been subject of dispute. Blount says, Camden
derives " the etymology of cockney from the river Thamesis, that runs by London,
and was of old time called Cockney. Others say, the little brook that runs by
Turnbole or Turnmill street was so called." Glossographia, 1670, 8vo. As
derivations they deserve no attention. The plenteous land of Cokeney or Cokaigne,
from coquina, a kitchen, is memorable in the rhymes of our forefathers :
" In Cokaygne is met and drink,
Withute care, how and swink."
The superabundance showing
<e Ther beth rivers gret and fine,
Of oile, melk, honi, and wine."
There, too, was a fair abbey of white and gray frocked monks, so well provided,
" The gees irostid on the spitte
Fleey to that abbai, god hit wot,
And gredith ' gees al hote, al hot!' "
The Anglo-Saxon word cocnunga, signifying cooked fare, meats roasted or prepared
for eating, and other viands, appears to have conferred an immortality of
epithet on the natives of London, and their mayor, as " the king of Cockneys,"
from their close alliance to feasting and revelry, in the olden day, whatever
reform may have effected in the present. The French phrase, " le pais de Cocagne,"
in old French coquaine, implies the land of good cheer. The Italian cocagna has
the same meaning, and both seem derived from the Latin coquina. The famous
country alluded to, both by the French and the Italian writers, is described by
them as a region where the hills are made of sugar-candy, and the loaves run
down the hills, crying, come, eat me ! Where is this region ?
Cokeney, in very early times, was used to designate London. Camden has recorded
of the rebellious baron Hugh Bigod, in the reign of King Henry the Second, that
he boasted, and in rhyme too,
" Were I in my castle of Bungay,
Upon the river Waveney,
1 would ne care for the king of Cockeney."
If these lines had any reality beyond mere tradition, they could only have been
expressed in contempt of the monarch, and the subserviency to him of the
Londoners. Certain it is, " the KING OF COCKENETS" had long been the butt of
sport ; and in the Christmas revelries at Lincoln's Inn was formerly a prominent
personage. The following extracts from the Black Book of that society, vol. iii.
fol. 8 7 a, under the regulations " For Cristmas," will afford some illustration
of the fact :
February 9th, 1519, 10 Hen. VIII. " Item, hit is agreed and ordeyned that he
that shalbe chosen hereafter to be king on Christmas-day shall occupy then the
said room if he be present, and if he be absent, the marshal for the time being,
by the advise of the utter barristers, to name another to occupy the same room;
and for learning of young gentlemen to do service, that the marshall sit as king
on new-year's day, and have like service as was on Christmas -day ; and that the
master of the revels during the dinner-time occupy the marshal's room.
" Item, that the KING or COKNEYS on Childermas day sit and have due service, and
that he and all his officers use honest manner and good order, without any waste
or destruction making in wine, brawn, chely, or other victuals ; and that he and
his marshal, butler, and constable marshal, have their lawful and honest
commandments by delivery of the officers of Christmas ; and that the said king
of Cockneys, ne none of his officers, medyll neither in the buttery, nor in the
steward of Christmas his office, upon pain of 40s. for every such meddling.
" Item, that Jack Straw and all his adherents be from henceforth utterly
banished, and no more to be used in Lincoln's Inn, upon pain to forfeit for
every time five pounds: the said cs. to be levied of every fellow that shall
happen to offend against this rule aforesaid."
A Cockney is therefore simply, as Burton affirms, one who is curious in the
observation of meats prepared from the coquina, the kitchen, or cooking-place ;
a practice more anxiously observed within the sound of Bow bell than elsewhere.
Shakespeare has caustically alluded to this excess of solicitude in his King
Lear, who when chagrined by his daughter's unkindness, the old time-beaten king,
amid his unforeseen misfortunes, exclaims
" me, my heart, my rising heart ! but down."
The fool, to quiet him, promptly adds
" Cry to it, nuncle, as the Cockney did to the eels, when she put them i' the
paste alive ; she rapped 'em o' the coxcombs with a stick, and cried Down,
wantons down ! 'T was her brother, that in pure kindness to his horse, butter'd
his hay." Act ii. sc. 4.
So also in the interlude of Thersites, written in 1537, though probably not
printed till after 1561, Thersites promises, among other provisoes, to remember
Mulciber's kindness in equipping him,
" Whyle that the cat shall love well mylke,
And women love to go in sylke,
Whyle beggars have lyce,
And cockneys are nyce."
Henry Buttes, in his Dyets Dry Dinner, 1599, sm. 8vo, describing aprecocks, or
apricots, observes, " called in Greek bericoccia, in Latin prcecocia, or
prcemativra,
id est, soone ripe, or first ripe, for they offer themselves about the end of
spring. Hence we call a ripe-headed young boy, a prin-cock. Horace saith 'non
amo puerum praecocis ingeni,' id est, I love no aprecocks; and so on the
contrary, a cockni is inverted, being as much as incoct, unripe. "
#216 AT THE GREENE DRAGON - A dragon, in the field.
Rev. IN BOWE LANE In the field, I. C. K.
The vane on the steeple of Bow church, in Cheapside, is a dragon, a profanation
of the asserted symbol of the cock, as being typical of St. Peter's cock.
#217 JOHN WOLRICH AT THE A game cock, in the field.
Rev. COK . IN BOW. LANE . 1652 In field, I. S. W.
#218 JOHN WOLRICH AT THE A game cock, in the field.
Rev. COK . IN BOW. LANE . 1658 In the field, I. W.
In the interim, Wolrich appears to have become a widower, the initial of the
wife's name being omitted in the latest dated piece.
From a comparison of the dates and initials on the last three tokens, it appears
that Wolrich was a bachelor in 1650, a married man in 1652, and a widower in
1658.
An advertisement of a cure for toothache, 1719, is dated from the Green Ball,
next door but one to the Cock, in Bow lane.
The Cock in Bow lane, a house of considerable notoriety even prior to these
dates, was destroyed in the great fire of September, 1666 ; but on being
rebuilded resumed the old sign; and after the lapse of two centuries "crows
still" the house with its cognomen is yet extant.
#219 THE MERMAYD TAVERN A mermaid, in the field.
Rev. IN BOWE LANE . 1652 In the field, I. A. P.
The Mermaid Tavern, Bow lane. 1652. Initials I A P. And A mermaid, in the field.
#220 BARTHOLOMEW HILL A stag, in the field.
Rev. IN BOWE LANE In the field, B. M. H.
Possibly a leather-seller, the stag being the crest of the Leathersellers' arms.
B373. Obverse. Will : Bingham . dark = A lion sejant.
R. HOVSE . BOW . LANE = W . I . B. 1/4
B374. Obverse. Prt . Brailsford = A horseshoe.
R. IN . BOW . LANE = P . B . 1/4
B375. Obverse. at . the . hors . shoo . in = A man dipping candles.
R. BOW . LANE . TOLOW . CHAND = D . I . C. 1/4
B377. Obverse. JOHN . DAVIS . 1657 = Three Arrows
R. In . Bow . Lane = I . M . D . 1/4
B378. Obverse. JOHN . DIX . TALLOW - A man dipping candles
R. CHANDLER . IN . BOW. LANE = HIS HALF PENY I . E . D .
B379. Obverse. MICHELL . HIGH .... = A dragon ; abive it, GREN
R. IN . BOWE . LANE = M . M . H . 1/4
B382. Obverse. JOHN . MICHELL . IN . BOW = Arms of Michell, Lord Mayorof London in 1425 and 1436; a chevron between three escallop shells.
R. LANE . APOTHECARY = I . C . M . 1/4
B383. Obverse. AT . THE . BELL = A bell.
R. IN . BOW . LANE = W . P . 1/4
B384. Obverse. ANDREW . RAGDALE = A man dipping candles
R. IN . BOWE . LANE = A . B . R. 1/4
B388. Obverse. at . the . black . talbut = A dog with collar and chain.’
R. Bowe . lane . mele . shop = The same.
BOW STREET, Westminster.
Bow street is shown by Porter's map of London, published in or about 1654, to
have been semi-circular in form, and extended from King street, Westminster,
behind the Westminster market, the site now occupied by the sessions-house, and
communicating to Broken cross, at the foot of Tothill street. In Blome's map of
St. Margaret's parish, retained in the booksellers' edition of Stow's Survey,
1754, Bow street is there designated " Thieving lane." It would seem, on the
extinction of Westminster market, the neighbourhood became the abode of much
squalid misery, rogues, and thieves.
#221 AT THE BLEW LION IN Lion rampant, in the field.
Rev. BOW STRET . WESTMIN In the field, E. F. O.
#222 THE CROS SHUFLES Corn-porters' shovels, crosswise.
Rev. IN BOW STRET . 1653 In the field, H. B. S.
The Crossed Shovels in Bow street. 1653. Initials H B S. And Crossed shovels, crosswise.
Maltsters used the crossed shovels as a sign. The issuer was possibly a meal-man, or what is now termed a corn-chandler.
#223 BOW STREET . BACKER In the field, a baker's peel.
Rev. IN WESTMINSTER . 1659 T. A. S., in the field.
#224 JAMES BEECH IN BOW STREET Grapes within hoop.
Rev. IN WESTMINSTER . 1667 HIS HALFE PENNY.
Beech was located in Swan alley, at the foot of Garlick hill, in Thames street, till September, 1666, when the great fire compelled his moving westward. See No. 1130.
The sign as here depicted exhibits a deficiency of the ivy, which was wont to be entwined about the hoop, and conferred, during centuries long prior to this date, a certain elegancy of form beyond the adventitious irregularities of the ivy-bush. These entwined hoops were in addition to the sign ; hence, the horse on the hoop, the swan on the hoop, and many others ; but with the disuse of the ivy-bush, the hoop, that was its latest representative, is now almost forgotten.
B390. Obverse. JOHN . BROWNE . AT . THE = A griffin.
R. GRIFIN . IN . BOWE . STRET = I . A . B. 1/4
BREAD STREET, Cheapside.
" Bread street, so called of bread sold here, as in a market, is now wholly
inhabited by rich merchants ; and divers fair inns be there, for good receipt of
carriers and other travellers to the city." Stow, 1598.
John Milton, the poet, was born in this street, December 9tb, 1608, his father
being a scrivener, at the sign of the spread-eagle, an heraldic symbol that
appears in the family arms ; so that possibly the sign originated by being set
up by the elder Milton, who had another house, " the Rose," in the same street.
Aubrey, who intimates that foreigners who came into England would see the house
and chamber where the poet was born, quaintly adds " he was much more admired
abroad than at home." The fire in 1666 destroyed the street wholly, and with it
every vestige of his birth-place.
#225 WILLIAM BARNES IN A still, in the field.
Rev. BREAD STREET . DISTILLER In field, W. I. B.
#226 RICHARD CROFT Object in the field worn and illegible.
Rev. IN BREAD STRET R. c., in the field.
#227 JOHN JENNENS AT THE Sun in rays.
Rev. LOWER END. BRED STREET Ironmongers Company arms.
#228 EDWARD LEWIS A porridge-pot, in the field.
Rev. IN BRED STRETE . 1659 In the field, E. R. B.
The porridge-pot, or iron vessel with three legs, as in the armorial bearings of
the Braziers company, since united with the Armourers.
Some error appears on the reverse, in the initials E. E. B.
Mermaid in Bread Street, see Mermaid in CHEAP, No, 310.
B394. Obverse. THE . STAR . ON . breed = A star of eight points.
R. STREETE . HILL . 1649 = G . M . B. 1/4
B395. Obverse. WILLIAM . BARNES . IN = A Still.
R. BREAD . STREET . DISTILER = W . I . B. 1/2
B396. Obverse. at . the . mearmayd . tavern = A mermaid.
R. IN . BREAD . STREET . 1665 = 1 . S . C. 1/2
B397. Obverse. Richard . Croft = Detrited.
R. IN . BREAD . STREET = R . C. 1/4
B398. Obverse. ye . Mermayd . tavern = A Mermaid.
R. IN . BREAD . STREET . 57 = T . M . D. 1/4
B399. Obverse. ye . whit . hart . tavern = A hart lodged.
R. IN . BREAD . STREET . 57 = R . E . H. 1/4
B400. Obverse. JOHN . JENNENS . AT . THE = The Sun.
R. lower . end . of . bred . street = The Ironmongers’ Arms. 1/2
B401. Obverse. Edward . Lewis = A porridge-pot.
R. BRED . STREET . 1659 = E . R . B. 1/4
402. Obverse. Rob . Marshall . at = The Mercers’ Arms.
R. BRED . STREET . HILL = R . M . N.
The position of the initials is contrary to the usual rule.
B403. Obverse. WILL. NOBLE. IN . BREAD . STREET = HIS HALFE PENY. 1668.
R. confectioner . and . grocer = Grocers’ Arms. W . N. 1/2
B404. Obverse. at . the . white . hores = A horse galloping.
R. IN . BREAD . STREET . 1649 = R . E . R. 1/4
B405. Obverse. Benjamin . Sallowes = Three cups with covers (as Salters’ Arms).
R. IN . BREAD . STREET . 1656 = B . M . S. 1/4
“ If any one can hear news of him [a “ Lusty black Gelding ”], they are desired
to bring or send word to Mr. Richard Pauley , at the signe of the three Cups, in
Bredstreet .”—Mercurius Publicus , No. 17, April 23-30, 1663, p. 265.
“Lost on the 28 Instant from Edmonton ... a dark gray Gelding 15 hand
high. . . . Also a dapple-gray Mare about 15 hand and a half high, and a large
Trotter. Whoever can give notice of them, or either of them, to the Three Cups
in Breadstreet . . . shall be well rewarded for their peins.”—The Nezues, No.
71,
August 31, 1665, pp. 803-4.
B406. Obverse. ARTHUR . AND . THO . STONE = A Castle.
R. IN . BREAD . STREET = A . S . T . S. 1/4
B407. Obverse. Solyman = A Turk’s head, occupying the whole field.
R. Wards . Coffee . house . in . Bread . Street . 1671 (in five lines).
Wards Coffee house in Bread street 1671 - with Solyman and a Turks Head
B408. Obverse. at . the . coffee . hovse . in = A hand pouring from a coffee-pot into a cup.
R. Starr . court . bread . street = A star of eight points.
BRICK LANE (Spitalfields).
B409. Obverse. John . Churchly . in . brick = Guy, Earl of Warwick, standing,
holding a boar’s head on a spear.
R. LANE . IN . SPITTLE . FEILDS = HIS HALF PENNY.
B410. Obverse. Thomas . Cowly . in . brick = The sun.
R. lane . his . half . peny . 1666 = T . M . C . in monogram. 1/2
B411. Obverse. Charles . Day . brewer = A pentagon.
R. IN . BRICK . LANE . HIS . HALFE . PENNY . C . M . D 1660 (in six lines across
the field). ( Heart-shape .)
B412. Obverse. Giles . DiSHLEY = An archer.
R. IN . BRICK . LANE = HIS HALF PENY.
B413. Obverse. Thomas . Ely . at . the . guy . of = Guy standing, holding a
spear.
R. WARWICK . IN . BRICK . LANE . l666 = HIS HALFE PENNY.
B414. Obverse. Samuell . Newman . at . the . guy = Guy standing, holding a
boar’s head on a spear.
R. OF . WARWICK . IN . BRICK . LANE = HIS HALFE PENNY. 1665.
ST. BRIDE’S.
B2451. Obverse. William . Norse . in . ST = A Turk’s head.
R. BRIDES . CHURCH . YARD = COFFEE HOVSE.
BRIDE LANE, Fleet Street.
#229 WILL : HEARNE AT YE= WHIT A bear, in field.
Rev. IN BRIDE LANE In the field, W. M. H.
419. A variety has the initials W . H only. 1/4
So early as 1252, a white bear was sent as a present from Norway to King Henry
the Third ; by him it was sent to the Tower, and four-pence per day for its keep
was directed to be paid by the sheriffs of London.
A white bear, with collar and chain, and muzzled, was the badge of Queen Anne,
consort of King Richard the Third. The bear was the badge of the earls of
Warwick, who are supposed to have derived it from Urso d'Abitot.
B415. Obverse. WILLIAM . ADLEY . IN = HIS HALFE PENY.
R. BRIDE . LANE . 1663 = W . I . A.
B416. Obverse. Daniell . Birtwissell . at = A bear; over it, white.
R. BEARE . IN. BRIDE. LANE = HIS HALF PENY. 1666.
B417. Obverse. at . the . 3 . coltes = Three colts galloping.
R. IN . BRIDE . LANE . l652 =R.E.C. 1/4
B420. Obverse. William . at . the = Detrited.
R. IN . BRIDE . LANE . 1665 = W . M . P. 1/4
B421. Obverse. BARBEREY . PAINE = HER HALF PENY.
R. IN . BRIDE . LANE . 1669 = B . P.
BRIDEWELL
#230 AT YE PYD.BVLL IN A bull, in the field.
Rev. OVLD BRID. WELL 1652 In the field, M. A. E.
B428. Obverse. this . halfpeny . belongs . to . YE = The City Arms.
R. hospitall . of . bridewel . London = The City Arms.
BRIDEWELL DOCK.
Bridewell Dock was formerly a landing-place used by the Thames watermen ; hence
the many houses of entertainment. In Lodowick Barry's Ram Alley, or Merrie
Trickes, printed in 1611, 4to, Will Smallshankes and the rest of his fellows,
while being conducted after supper by torchlight, from the Mitre in Fleet street
to the Savoy, are set on, swords drawn, by Throat and his desperadoes, who carry
off the pretended heiress unperceived towards St. Giles's; Thomas Smallshankes,
nettled at this scurvy luck, affirms she had run off towards Fleet bridge ; but
Will asserting it as a thing not possible, Thomas reiterates
" Upon my life,
They went in by the Greyhound, and so strooke
Into Bridewell, to take water at the dock." Sign. E I.
The Greyhound was a well-known tavern on- the south side of Fleet street.
#231 ROBERT CHAPMAN AT BRIDE Woodmongers arms.
Rev. WELL DOCK . HIS HALF PENY In field, R. E. C.
#232 ROBERT CHAPMAN AT Woodmongers" arms, in the field.
Rev. BRIDEWELL DOCKE In the field, R. E. C.
The farthing ; of less size than the preceding. Bridewell dock, described by
Pope, in his caustic lines
" where Fleet ditch with disemboguing streams
Rolls its large tribute of dead dogs to Thames,"
was that portion of New Bridge street from Tudor street to Chatham place ; the
now road-way for carriages and horses being then w r ater issuing into the
Thames
from Fleet ditch. See Whishaw's Plan of London before and after the Fire.
“ Lost, on Nov. 29, a red Letter-case bound with Green, and 3 folds, wherein
were two Bonds with other Writings. He that shall give notice hereof to Mr.
Robert Chapman, Woodmonger at Bridewell Dock , or to Mr. Farre, at the Rainbow
Coffee-House, near Temple-Barre, shall have a good Reward for his peyns.”
—The Intelligencer , No. 95, Dec. 5, 1664, p. 778.
#233 GILES RAY . WOODMONG Woodmongers' arms, in field.
Rev. AT BRIDWELL DOCKE In the field, G. I. R.
B427. Obverse. Tho . Templeman = A fleur-de-lis on a fagot.
R. AT . BRIDWEL . DOCKE = T . M . T. 1/4
BRIDEWELL STEPS.
#234 AT THE SVNN TAVERN The sun in rays, in the field.
Rev. VPON BRIDEWELL - STEPS In the field, A. E. C.
BRIDGE FOOT, Southwark
#235 JOSEPH BROCKET A hound, collar and chain, in field. >
Rev. BRIG FOOT SOUTHWARK In the field, I. M. B.
#236 CORNELIUS COOKE AT THE A bear passant, with collar and chain.
Rev. BEARE . AT THE BRIDGE FOT In the field, C. A. C.
Abraham Browne at the Bear at Bridge-foot, his halfpenny
The Bear at Bridge-foot was a house of considerable antiquity. Among the
disbursements for Sir John Howard, in the steward's accounts yet extant, are
noticed, " March 6th, 1463-4. Item, payd for red wyn at the Bere in Sowthewerke,
iijeZ." And again, " March 14th," same year, " Item, payd at dyner at the Bere
in Sowthewerke in costys, iijs. iiijc?. Item, that my mastyr lost at shotynge,
xxeL"
Gerrard, in a letter to Lord Strafford, printed among the Strafford Papers,
dated January, 1633, intimates that "all back doors to taverns on the Thames are
commanded to be shut up, only the Bear at the Bridge -foot is exempted, by
reason of the passage to Greenwich." The tavern was situated on the west side,
opposite the end of St. Olave's or Tooley street. Query, whether this " passage
to Greenwich" was the avenue or way called Bear alley ? See No. 136.
The Cavaliers' ballad on the magnificent funeral honours rendered to Admiral
Dean (killed June 2d, 1653), while passing by water to Henry the Seventh's
chapel, has the following allusion :
" From Greenwich towards the Bear at Bridge-foot,
He was wafted with wind that had water to't,
But I think they brought the devil to boot,
Which nobody can deny."
In another ballad, " On banishing the Ladies out of Town," by the Commonwealth
authorities, the notoriety of the Bear at Bridge-foot is again manifest :
" Farewell Bridge-foot and Bear there-by,
And those bald pates that stand so high ;
We wish it from our very souls
That other heads were on those poles !"
Pepys, in his Diary, February 24th, 1667, says "Going through bridge by water,
my waterman told me how the mistress of the Beare tavern, at the Bridge-foot,
did lately fling herself into the Thames, and drown herself." Query, A. Cooke ?
The Bear tavern was demolished in December, 1761 ; on the 24th of that month the
labourers employed found money to a considerable value., chiefly gold and silver
coins of the time of Elizabeth*. The wall that enclosed the tavern remained till
early in December, 1764, when the ground was wholly cleared, and " levelled
quite up to the present inconvenient wooden stairs at Pepper alleyf."
The Bear tavern token in this cabinet, as also several others issued by
Southwark traders, now of rare occurrence, were on the demolition of St. Olave's,
or Queen Elizabeth's Grammar-school, in 1839, found between the joists, below
the floorings of the school-room, and purchased from the labourers then
employed.
#237 HENRY PHILLIPS AT Sugar-loaf, in field.
Rev. BRIDGE FOOT . SOVTHWARK In the field, H. S. P.
BRIDGES STREET, Covent Garden.
Built, as appears by the rate-books of St. Martin's in the Fields, in 1637,
before the parish of St. Paul, Covent garden, was constituted ; and said to have
derived that appellation from George Bruges or Brydges, who succeeded to the
barony of Chandos in 1621, and died in 1654. Sir John Brydges, of Wilton castle,
bart., died in this street in February, 1651-2, but no entry of his burial
occurs in the parish register of St. Paul.
#238 AT THE FLEECE TAVERN A fleece, in field.
Rev. IN COVEN[T] GARDEN In the field, W. C.
William Clifton, at the Fleece tavern on the west side of Bridges street,
appears on the rate-book, 1651. The churchwardens' accompts 1656-7, notice a
disbursement of 26 s., " for mending the grate over the sewer, by the Fleece
tavern." He appears to have been the chief taverner, and in the rate-book of
1657 he is rated at 26s., while Long, at the Rose, was assessed at but 13s.,
only half the amount. The churchwardens' accounts for the year ending at Easter,
1658, mention a payment on April 12th, " to Mr. Clifton, 31. 13s., for wine for
the last yeare." The burial register of 1658 records, on November 12th, the
interment of " Mr. Clifton's man," and on March 21st, 1660-61, " Thomas, sonne
of William Clifton."
The taverns in Covent garden, immediately after the restoration of royalty,
became the receptacles of bullies and vicious characters, places of most
licentious resort. L'Estrange, in his translation of Quevedo's Visions, 1667,
8vo, p. 137, alludes to the notoriety of the Fleece tavern broils, where the
bully or hector says, " I was never well, but either at the Fleece tavern, or
Bear at Bridge foot, stuffing my guts with food and tipple, till the hoops were
ready to burst." Aubrey, under "local fatality/' observes, " the Fleece tavern
in Covent garden (in York street), was very unfortunate for homicides ; there
have been several killed there in my time. It is now, 1692, a private house."
The burial register of St. Paul notices, September 13th, 1672, the consigning to
the earth of " Amey Watts, Mr. Clifton's servant;" and again, on February 26th,
1675, " widow More, from the Fleece ;" the parish-clerk has left a blank, with a
memorandum, that he did " not lerne her Christian name."
* Public Adveitiser, Dec. 26th, 1761. f Ibid., Dec. 15th, 1764.
Aubrey says " in York street;" but if so, there must have been a back or second
way to the Fleece, as the tavern appears by the rate-books to be about six
houses down, south of the corner of Bridges street and Russell street.
#239 AT THE ROSE TAVERN A blown rose, in the field.
Rev. IN COVEN[T] GARDEN In the field, W. M. L.
William Long appears in the rate-books, 1651 and 1657, among the assessed on the
east-side of Bridges street ; and in the burial register he is noticed as buried
in the churchyard, August 5th, 1661. His widow, Mary Long, issued a token as
from Russell street, also in this collection, No. 974 ; her name is on the
rate-book, 1663, assessed at 12s., and the Theatre Royal, 40s. Her burial is
recorded in the parish register, " Jan. 29, 1673-4, Mary Long, widow." Their
place of sepulture was in the north-west ground, behind the houses in King
street. The headstone recorded "William and Mary Long as the parents of
twenty-four children. See Maitland, vol. ii. p. 665. Nothing of the stone is now
known.
The Longs continued the tavern, which from its contiguity to the theatre, and
close connection with it, became the vortex of libidinism, and was frequented by
court bullies, literary men of loose character, and other gentry of no character
at all. The scenes of the Morning Ramble ; or the Town Humowrs, 1673, 4to, is
laid at " the Rose tavern, in Co vent garden." The drunken broils that arose
from these midnight orgies led to murderous assaults, the fiendlike operations
of bullies, who considered themselves men of fashion and were designated by the
appellation of " the Hectors ;" whose chief pleasure consisted in frequenting
taverns for the glory of pinking or running through the body some fuddled fool,
whom wine had made valiant, as an opposing party. Shadwell, in his comedy of The
Scow'rers, 1691, written at a time when some consistency of an obedience to the
laws was enforced, and these excesses had consequently greatly declined,
observes of these cowardly ruffians " They were brave fellows indeed ! In these
days a man could not go from the Rose tavern to the piazza once, but he must
venture his life twice."
"Women of a certain freedom of character frequented taverns at the commencement
of the last century, and the Rose tavern was doubtless like the box -lobby of a
theatre. In the Rake Reformed, 1718, 8vo, after describing the theatre, the Rose
tavern is thus noticed :
" Not far from thence appears a pendant sign,
Whose bush declares the product of the vine,
Whence to the traveler's sight the full-blown Rose
Its dazzling beauties doth in gold disclose ;
And painted faces flock in tally'd cloaths."
Dramatists and poets resorted to the house ; and about 1726, when possibly
something like order was established, Gay and other wits, by clubbing verses,
concocted the well-known love ditty, entitled " Molly Mogg of the Rose," in
compliment to the then barmaid or waitress. The Welsh ballad named GWINIFBID
SHONES, printed in The Choke: a Collection of English Songs, 1733, duod., vol.
iii. pp. 92, 93, has also a passing notice of Molly as a celebrated toast :
" Some sing Molly Mogg of the Rose,
And call her the Oakingham pelle ;
Whilst others does ferses compose
On peautiful Molle Lepelle."
Yet whatever were the extent of her charms to induce the adoration of such
renowned wits, she appears to have retained her maiden name to the last, The
record of her death, on Sunday, March 9th, 1766, at Oakingham in Berkshire,
describes her as " Mrs. Mary Mogg, greatly advanced in years, but in her youth a
celebrated beauty and toast, possessed of a good fortune that she had left among
her relations."
Hogarth's third print of the Rake's Progress, published in 1*735, exhibits a
principal room at the Rose tavern. Leathercoat, the fellow with a bright pewter
dish and a candle, is a portrait ; he was for many years a porter attached to
the house.
Garrick, when he enlarged Drury lane theatre in 1776, previous to which it was
little better than a barn, and raised the new front designed by Robert Adam,
took
in the whole of the tavern as a convenience to the theatre, and retained the
sign in an oval department, a conspicuous part of the decoration, as shown in
the engraving by J. T. Smith.
#240 IOHN MORE IN BRIDGE In the field, a crowned rose.
Rev. STREET . IN COVEN GARDEN HIS HALFE PENNY.
The notoriety of the Rose tavern appears, after the death of William Long, to
have created an opponent in this rival Rose. John Moore, in the rate-book, 1663,
assessed at but 4s. 4d, follows so closely after Clifton that his Rose was
apparently between the Fleece and York street.
Query, whether the widow More, who died in 1675, noticed in the pre-ceding note,
was the widow of John More, and successor to Clifton, at the Fleece ?
#241 ROBERT WHITE IN BRIDGE A windmill on stand.
Rev. STREET . COVENT GARDEN HIS HALFE PENNY. R. E. W.
BROAD STREET.
#242 STEPHEN SLANEY In the field, three sugar-loaves.
Rev. IN BROAD STREET The initials, S. S., in the field.
In the British Museum is a specimen with no obverse, the reverse only having
been stamped.
#243 AT THE WHITE HORSE A packhorse ; R above the saddle.
Rev. IN BROAD STREETE In the field, E. A. B. 1658.
The engraver's mark R, shows the dies of this token were the work of THOMAS
RAWLINS, chief die-sinker of King Charles the First's ambulatory mint. Rawlins
was the engraver of the memorable rare Oxford crown, struck at Oxford in 1644 ;
the metal obtained by melting down the university and college plate. George
Hollington Barker's specimen, now in the British Museum, was purchased by Miss
Banks for eighty guineas. The Oxford penny, by the same artist, purchased at
Dimsdale's sale for the Bodleian cabinet, had twenty guineas, or rather an
unlimited sum, named in the instructions to secure it ; so rare are the
productions of Rawlins. See also No. 638.
The White Horse, a house for the reception of travellers, was destroyed in the
great fire in September, 1666. On excavating the area for the new Royal
Exchange, but one token was found, that issued from the White Horse in Broad
street ; it is, however, differently described in the Guildhall Museum
Catalogue, p. 73, No. 16.
Glasshouse Hall, Broad Street, see No. 532.
#243* Silvester Deane : his halfe Penny, in script characters.
Rev. IN BROD STREET. 1667 A hand pouring coffee.
B431. Obverse. Richard . Dunn . at . the = The French Arms.
R. IN . BROAD . STREETE = R . M . D. 1/4
B432. Obverse. John . How . at = A helmet.
R. BROAD . STREET . CORNER = I . M . H. 1/4
For George Ithell near Broad Street, vide London Wall, No. 1766.
B433. Obverse. Hugh . Lumbard . at . the = The Prince of Wales’s Feathers.
R. IN . BROAD . STREET . 1667 = HIS HALF PENY. H . I . L.
The issuer seems to have moved a few years later to Woolchurch Market.
B434. Obverse. Stephen . Mabberly . at = The Pewterers’ Arms.
R. BROAD . STREET . EAND = S . E . M. 67. 1/4
BROKEN CROSS, Westminster.
The roadway, formerly called Broken Cross, is now named Princes street, leading
from Storey's gate, at the end of the Birdgate walk, to Victoria street.
#244 AT THE BROKEN CROSS A heart, Qu. G-olden Heart ?
Rev. IN WESTMINSTER . 1659 In the field, F. A. H.
BROBROKEN WHARF, Thames Street.
#245 HUGH ANDRVS . 1667 In the field, pair of sheep-shears.
Rev. AT BROCKEN WHARFE HIS HALF PENY.
#246 ROBERT AVSTIN WOODM[ONGER] A faggot, in the field.
Rev. AT BROKEN WHARFE Woodmongers' crest.
Two faggots are symbols emblazoned on the arms of the Woodmongers ; as a
company, now extinct.
#247 WILL . AND ELIZABETH Three hammers crowned.
Rev. NORTH AT BROKEN WHARF W. E. N., in the field.
Three hammers surmounted by crowns, are the charge on the Smiths' arms.
B433. Obverse. Will . Dod . at . ye . whit . lyon = A lion rampant.
R. AT . BROKEN . WHARFE = W . E . D.
BUCKLERSBURY.
Bucklersbury was formerly distinguished for the number of its houses of public
entertainment. Richard Smith, formerly secondary of the Poultry compter,
records, in his Obituary, " April 14th, 1639, died Tho. Houff, Bucklersbury,
that sold the nappy ale." In front of number 7, ^over the first-floor windows,
are still the sculptured effigies of the three magi, the kings of the east ;
that, on the rebuilding of the house after the fire of 1666, was possibly a
revival of the sign of an earlier day.
A token of John Moorcock, which was formerly placed under this locality, has
been transferred to Bucklebury, Berkshire (q.v. ) ; a specimen having been found
there in 1879.
#248 IOHN MOORECOCK A pickled or neat's tongue ? in field.
Rev. IN BUCKELBERY . 1666 In the field, J. I. M.
B440. Obverse. at . ye . flower . de . lvce = A fleur-de-lis, and S . R.
R. in . bvcklersbvry . 57 = The Drapers’ Arms. 1/4
BUDGE ROW, Cannon Street.
Budge row, according to Stow, was ' ' SO called of the budge furre, and of
skinners dwelling there."
#249 THOMAS SNOW A hawk with bells, in the field.
Rev. IN BUDGE ROE A stick of candles, and T. A. S.
Grocers, as appears by the Paston Letters, were formerly dealers in hawks, and
the requirements of falconry ; later, though a chandler, Snow seems also to have
been a chapman in these matters ; unless possibly it was the sign of his
predecessor.
249* FRAN : SMITH . AT Ye RED Bull, standing, in the field.
Rev. IN BUDGE ROWE Pewterers Company arms.
B441. Obverse. at . the . Dyall . in = A clock-face with hands.
R. BVDG . ROW . 1657 = M . M . S. 1/4
BULL AND MOUTH STREET (Aldersgate).
B444. Obverse. Drings . coffee . house . in = A hand pouring from a coffee-pot.
R. BULL . AND . MOUTH . STREET . BY = ALLDERSGATE . 1671.
BULWARK GATE, Tower Hill.
#250 AT THE CROOKED BILLET In the field, R. I. S.
Rev. AT THE BULWORKE GATE A crooked billet, in field. 1/4
#251 RICHARD GOODWIN AT A lion rampant, in the field.
REV. THE BULWARKE GATE In the field, R. D. G. 1/4
B446. Obverse. Henry . Hayward . at = The Grocers’ Arms.
R. THE . BULWORKE . GATE = H . A . H. 1/4
B448. Obverse. THOMAS . STARES = T . E . S.
R. IN . THE . BULLWORKE = 1653. 1/4
B449. Obverse. THO . TONGE . AT . THE . SHIP = A ship.
R. IN . THE . BULWORKE = T . C . T. 1/4
BURY STREET, BEVIS MARKS.
B450. Obverse. ISAAC . PEADE . IN . BURY . STREET = A hart.
R. IN . BEYERS . MARKS . l666 = HIS HALFE PENY.
BUTCHER ROW, without Temple Bar.
Catesby, Percy, Winter, and others of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot,
now conjectured to have been one of the many wily schemes of King James the
First, held their meetings in the Butcher row, or " the back of St. Clement's,"
its usual appellation.
#252 MATHEW DUNE AT YE BACON SHOP In field, a flitch.
Rev. IN BUTCHER ROW. AT TEMPLE BAR HIS HALFE PENNY . M. E. D.
#253 SAMVEL JONES AT THE A fleece, in the field, S . A . I.
Rev. IN YE BUTCHER ROW.TEM.BARR HIS HALFE PENNY.
B454. Obverse. SAMUEL . JONES . . at . the = Detrited.
R. BUTCHER . ROW . TEMPLE . BAR = S . A . I. 1/4
#254 AT THE GOLDEN FLEECE A fleece, in the field.
Rev. WITHOVT TEMPLE BARR In the field, S. A. S.
#255 RICHARD CHARTER A bell, in the field.
Rev. IN BUTCHER ROW In the field, R. I. C.
Storer's engraving of " Temple Bar, from Butcher row, 1796," presents the best
graphic illustration of this vicinity, of which a portion of the inconvenient
buildings, with projecting stories, are yet extant on the south side, at the
east end of Wyche street.
B455. Obverse. YE . SWAN . WITHOUT . TEM = A Swan.
R. PLE . BAR . BVCHER . ROW = E . H . M. 1/4
B456. Obverse. Edward . Starry . in = Bust of Henry VIII.
R. BVCHER . ROW . 1657 = E . E . S. 1/4
###
As ever I am appreciative of the archive.org site and google books for
showing old and non-copyright scripts which can be used for research (copied).