Pages 283-308
A Survey of London. Reprinted From the Text of 1603. Originally published by Clarendon, Oxford, 1908.
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Volume 1, pp.101–200
101, l. 29. the vertue that a great fire hath. In his account of the great pestilence of 1563 Stow relates that on July 9 every householder was ordered 'to lay owt wooded and make bonfyers in ye stretes and lanes to that intent they should therby consume ye corrupte ayers, which othar wyse myght infecte yo sitie with ye plage … it wase commaundyd to contynew ye same iij tymes a weke'. (Memoranda, p. 123.)
101, l. 30. On the Vigil, &c. The Hanse merchants made provision in their expenses for 1400 for the hanging out of lamps on St. John's eve and on St. Peter's eve, and also for furnishing two torches for the Corpus Christi procession (cf. i. 230 above). See Lappenberg, Stahlhof, II. 27.
103, l. 13. a great muster. Some contemporary notices for 1538–9, apparently written by a citizen, and preserved amongst Stow's Collections (Harley MS. 530, f. 119), include the following:
'Memorandum. That on Thorsday the viij day of May, in the yere of our Lord M.vc. xxxix, was made a muster in London, suche a mouster seyn in no kynges day yt eny man can tell of: for ther was in nomber xxxvj M. men in harnys, wythe morys pykys, and handgonys, and bowys; wt all ye alldermen one horsebak, wtye shreffes in blake velvet, & chaynes of gold abowȝt ther neckes. And the fyrst settyng owt of euery warde was commaundyd to goo owt at Algat to myllend grene, & the ffeylde ther abowȝt; and browȝt forthe ageyn & set v in aray of all maner of wepons; & so forthe a longste throwȝ Chepsyde & throwȝ powlles chirche yard, & throwȝ ffleyt stret, & so to Westmyster throwȝ Kyng Stret, & ye seyntwary; and so Rounde abowȝt ye kynges parke, & by sent James, & so over ye feldes by ye condyt hede, & so forthe to holborne, and in at new gat, & so euery man home.
'God save the Kyng.
'Master Wyllm. fforman then beyng meare of London.'
See other accounts in Wriothesley's Chronicle, i. 95–7, and Letters and Papers, xiv. 940.
l. 20. forbad the marching watch. Wriothesley adds to a similar account, that the sheriffs had made their preparations, 'and had noe knowlege till two dayes afore Midsommer that yt should not be kept, which was a great losse to pore men' (Chronicle, i. 100; and ii. 3 for Gresham's revival). Another contemporary, after mentioning that there was to be no solemn watch on Midsummer night, continues: 'at which some of the citizens of London are not a little dissatisfied.' Letters and Papers, xiv. 1144.
l. 32. Some attemptes. Stow describes one such, made in 1564, in his Summarie for 1566 (f.275) thus: 'This yeare, thorough the earnest sute of the Armorers, there was on the Vigile of Sainct Peter a certayne kynde of a watche in the Citie of London, whiche dyd onely stande in the hyghest streetes of Cheape, Cornhyll, and so foorthe towardes Algate: whyche was to the commons of the same citie (for the most parte) as chargeable as when in tymes paste it was most commendably done, where as this beyng to very small purpose was of as small a number well lyked. This is some what fuller than the notice as finally incorporated in the Annales. There were other watches in 1566 on St. John's eve, and in 1567 on St. Peter's eve. These appear to be the last which Stow records.
l. 33. a book. John Mountgomery's book is still preserved in the City archives at the Guildhall. It is a thin folio of twenty leaves. See i. 83 for a similar instance of a book presented by W. Patten.
108, l. 33. William Seuenoke. For various wills see Cal. Wills, ii. 462, and C.P.R. Henry VI, ii. 216.
109, l. 12. monument of death See note on p. 346
112, l.12. a Cawsey. Norden refers to it in 1594; see Description of Essex (Camd. Soc.). It is described as 'now broken down', in 1735, by Farmer in his History of Waltham Abbey, p. 193.
l. 28. a rich coller of golde, &c. 'Att this Court [27 Oct. 1545] my lorde Mayer brought in and delyvered here in the Court to the handes of Mr. Chamberleyn the Coler of Esses lately gevyn to this Cittie by Sir John Aleyn, Knyght and Alderman, to be used alweyes and worne by the Lorde Mayer of this Cittie for the tyme beyng.' (Repertory II, f. 238, ap. Cal. Wills, ii. 695.) This was at the end of Laxton's year. Sir Martin Bowes, who was mayor 1545–6, left at his death in 1566 'a goodly cross of gold set with "perell" and stone to hang at the collar of gold which the Mayor wears at high feasts' (id.ib.).
114, l. 31. Barnard Randolph. His donation was made to enable Peter Morris or Morice to bring water by means of his engine from London Bridge to Old Fish Street, as he had already done to Leadenhall. See Remembrancia, p.553—date Dec. 1582; and i. 188 and ii. 3, II above
115, l. 20. the Hole, or two penny wardes. The two lowest wards in the Counters, occupied by the poorest prisoners, were so called. See Jo. Cook in Greene's Tu Quoque (Hazlitt, Old Plays, xi. 257): 'Holdfast. "If you have no money, you'd best remove into some cheaper ward." Spendall. "What ward should I remove in?" Holdfast. "Why, to the Two-penny ward; it's likeliest to hold out with your means: or if you will you may go into the hole, and there you may feed for nothing."'
The two higher wards were the Master's side and the Knight's side. So Webster, Westward Ho! Act III. sc. ii: 'Which is the dearest ward in prison, Sergeant? The Knight's ward?' 'No! Sir; the Master's side.' And Appius and Virginia, Act III, sc. iv: 'It is thought she shall lie neither on the Knight-side, nor in the Two-penny ward; for if he may have his will of her, he means to put her in the Hole.'
l. 35. One worthy citizen, &c. This no doubt refers to Robert Dowe's charity (see Introduction, p. xxiv above). But Dowe provided for thirteen almsmen, who received £6 13s.4d. apiece, with a gown, costing £2 3s. 4d every third year. Clode, Early History of the Merchant Taylors, i. 162–3.
117, l. 15. Hauing thus in generality handled, &c. Stow originally arranged his narrative otherwise. In Harley MS. 538, f. 24, he writes: 'Havyng spoken of the Walls and gates, the ditche, the Castles and Towers, and last of all of the bridges, all which for the moaste parte are but the outmoste inclosure of this Citye, I am next to towche of the Suburbes withoute the walls, and then returninge and enteringe the gates, whereof I have spoken, there to view how the sayde citie is and hath of old tyme bene devided into wardes, parishes, stretes, and lanes, of principall governors, inferior maiestrates, other officers, and matters as occasyon offerith.' Accordingly he treated first of the suburbs and of the Ward of Farringdon Without before he came to Portsoken. See also note on p. 365.
118, l. 24. as some haue fabuled. A reference to Richard Grafton's Manuell, f. xi, where this legend is given under date 235 A.D. The legend comes from Geoffrey of Monmouth. See note on p. 271 above as to the course of Walbrook.
119, l. 15. wardes, &c. The earliest list of Wards giving the names now in use is one for 1285–6 in Letter-Book A, 209. Farringdon (the undivided ward) there appears as 'Lodgate and Neugate'; Langborne as 'Langeford'; and Broad-Street as 'Lodingeberi'. A list of 1293 (Letter—Book C, 12) gives 'Langeburne' and 'Lotheberi' with the addition modo vocatur Bradestrate. A list of 1320 (Letter—Book E, 124–5) has 'Bradestrate' and 'Farndon'. (See also Cal. Wills, i. 702–4.) In earlier lists the wards are usually called by the names of the aldermen holding them. There is a list of this king for 1275 in the Hundred Rolls, giving, however, 'Bassingeshol,' 'Warda Fori,' Colemannestrate, Portsokne, Langeburne, Douegate, Walebrok, and Cornhull. A list for 1230 is given in Madox, Hist. Exchequer, i. 708–9 with a reference to one of 1228; the whole number of twenty-four already appear, Portsoken and Bassushage are alone described by name. A list of about twenty wards, mostly under the names of the aldermen, is contained in a document at St. Paul's; Warda Fori (Cheap), Alegate, the Bishop's Ward, and ' Brocesgange' (Walbrook) already appear; the document can be dated about 1130 (Hist. MSS. Comm. 9th Rep. 66; Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, 435–6). The last list is printed in facsimile in Price's Account of the Guildhall, p. 16 sqq. 'Langebrod' also occurs in the twelth century (see p. 307 below). The division of the wards into a western and eastern group by the Walbrook is given in a list of 1346 (Letter-Book F, 143–4).
120, l. 23. a Guild. The Knighten guild of London is known to us only through the gift of its soke to Trinity, and the consequent preservation of the documents in the Priory Chartulary. Its true character is uncertain, and its bearing on the history of municipal institutions in London has been disputed. See Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, 307–9, and Commune of London, 97–105, 221; and Gross, The Gild Merchant, i. 186–8. The documents have been printed in Trans. Lond. and Midd. v. 477–93, and in Letter-Book C, 73–5, 216–25. See also a deed, ap. Chron. de Rameseia, 241, Rolls Ser.
ll. 23–4. in the dayes of king Edgar. The Guildhali MS. 122 has 'temporibus Edgari', which supports Stow. But Letter-Book C, 216 reads 'temporibus Knwti'. Similarly lower down (p. 121, l. 20) C reads 'Knyty, Edgari, et Edredi'.
121, 1. 28. William king of England, &c. In this charter C reads G. de Magn. (sc. Magnavilla) et R. Delpare, and Henrico de Both as testes.
122, l. 3. insomuch that in the yeare 1115. The date should be 1125. The names of the members of the Knighten Guild should be 'Radulfus filius Algodi, Wlwardus le Doverisshe, Orgarus le Prude, Edwardus Upcornhill, Blacstanus et Alwynus cognatus ejus, Ailwinus et Robertus frater eius filii Leostani, Leostanus Aurifaber, et Wyzo filius eius, Hugo filius Wulgari, Algarus, Secusenne, Orgarus filius Deremanni, Osbertus Drinchepyn, Adelardus Hornepitesinne'. In the list of witnesses for 'John prior of Derland' read' John prior de Landa'. Letter-book C. pp. 219–20.
123, l. 2. Geffrey Clinton the Chauncellor. The copy in Letter-Book C, 220–21 reads 'Gaufrido Cancellario et Gaufrido de Clinton'. Geoffrey the Chancellor is Geoffrey Rufus, who was chancellor from 1124 on wards.
124, l. I. Helianor the queene wife to king Edward the first. St. Katherine's fell under the priory of Holy Trinity by the deed of William of Ypres (quoted in vol. ii. p. 6). In 1255 Eleanor of Provence, the queen of Henry III, recovered control, and it was she who refounded it in 1273 (Mon. Angl. vi. 694–6).
l. 14. inhabitants, English and strangers. There were many aliens
there. Ben Jonson in The Devil is an Ass, Act I. sc. i, writes:
To Shoreditch, Whitechapel, and so to St. Katherns,
To drink with the Dutch there and take forth their patterns.
125, l. 13. Sir Arthur Darcie. He had a grant of New Abbey, 24 Aug 1542 (Letters and Papers, xvii. p.399). Stow has preserved, in Harley MS. 544, f. 101, a list of burials at the Abbey from a visitation by Clarencieux in 1533.–'In the Chaple of our Lady liethe buried sir T. Mongomerye and his twoo wives; William Belknap, esquier; one of the heires of Rafe Butler Lord of Sudeley and treasurer of England; more, in a tomb one of the dowghters of ye sayd mongomery which was married to one of the mortimeres. Also Alice Spice, sister and heyre to the seyde sir Thomas, which had two husbands, first Clement Spice of Blake notley in Essex.
'On the south syde the quier sir Nicholas Loveyn, syme tyme lord of East Smithfield, and besyde hym on the flore his wyfe, doughter to Sir William Poultney (fn. 1). … Before the high altar Iyeth dame Elizabethe, one of the daughters to Edward late Duke of Buckyngham, she was wyfe to Robert lord Fitzewatar, Earle of Sussex; and besydes his brother George Ratclyffe, second sonn to the sayde lord and lady, which died without ysshew; and ryht before the high altar vnder a stone lieth dame Jane Stafford doughtar to Humphrey duke of Bokyngham, and wyfe to sir William Knyvet, knight. Also there Iyes on the north syde the qwire in a tombe Lewes John, esquier, and his wyfe doughter to the Earl of Oxforde. And besydes his tombe lyeth Eleanor dowghter to Lewes John, which had foure husbands, to wite John White, sir William Tirell, sir Henry Fitz Lewes, and Thomas Garthe, esquier, treasurer to Edward, late Duke of Bokyngham. In a chaple without the qwire on the southe syd lieth sir Thomas Charles, sometyme Lyvetenaunt of the Tower. Also at the qwire dore lay Walter Hayward, secretary to the lord treasurer. Also Elizabeth Rowley, gentlewoman. In a tombe in S. Annes Chaple on the south syde sir John Mongomery, elder brother to Sir Thomas; in the same chaple lyeth sir Andrew Cavendysshe and dame Rose his wyfe. On the north syde lieth Richard or John Walden, esquire, and Elizabeth his wife.'
126, l. 22. Goodman … Farmers there. Rowland Goodman seems to have been a considerable farmer in the eastern suburbs during the reign of Henry VIII. Besides Goodman's Fields here referred to, he had on 20 Jan. 1535 a lease from the Convent of St. Helen's of lands in St. Botolph without Bishopsgate; at the dissolution in 1543 he obtained a grant by purchase from the king (Cox, Annals of St. Helens, 16, 34). At his death in Sept. 1547 he also held lands in St. Botolph, late the property of the Hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate (Inq. p. m. London, i 95).
127, l. 7. Henrie Jorden, &c. He was a bell-founder of Billiter Lane, and founded a chantry here by will dated 15 Oct. 1468, and proved Nov. 1470. See Stahlschmidt, Surrey Bells and London Bell—founders, 56–71, and Cal. Wills, ii. 543.
l. 8. John Romeny, Ollarius, &c. John Romenye, Ollarius, by his will dated 23 April, 1349, left money for St. Botolph's. He and his wife Agnes both died in that year (id. i. 425, 555, 623; Letter-book F, 187). 'Olarie' in the text of 1603 is Stow's translation of Ollarius, a potter; but till late in the fourteenth century Ollarius or Poter is the invariable description of a bell-founder, which was probably Romany's business. See Stahlschmidt, u.s., pp. 2 and 20 (giving the will in full).
ll. 28–9. Garden plottes, teynter yardes. This alludes to the enclosure about 1574 by Benedict Spinola, a prominent Italian merchant, of eight acres of land to form twenty tenter-yards and certain gardens. In 1584 it was presented as an annoyance to the archers and others. But it was shown in reply that the ground had never been commonly used for archers, and that Hog Lane was so foul and filthy that none could pass there; Spinola had, moreover, spent much money, and the tenter-yards were of great use to the cloth-workers. (Strype, Survey, Bk. II, ch. ii.) The gardens were no doubt the 'Spinilas' pleasure' of vol. i. p. 166. The tenter-yards by Houndsditch are shown plainly in Agas's map of London.
128, l. 33. Gunfounders surnamed Owens. In the Annales (p. 571 ed. 1631) Howes inserted under date 1535: 'John Owen began to make brasse Ordinance … He was the first Englishman, that ever made that kind of Artillerie in England; issue of his name, and the name of Pit have continued unto the dayes of King James most ready and excellent gun-makers.'
Robert and John Owen were at work at Houndsditch before 1531; they had a grant of the 'Belfounders house' there in 1540. (Letters and Papers, v. 664, xvi. p. 717.)
129, l. I. Brokers, &c. For brokers in Houndsditch see Beaumont
and Fletcher, The Woman's Prize, Act II. sc. ii:—
More knavery and usury,
And foolery, and brokery than Dog's ditch.
And Rowlands, Letting of Humours Blood in the Head Vaine,
p. 45:—
But into Houndsditch to the Brokers row.
See also note on p. 361 below. Houndsditch and its neighbourhood are
still the haunt of brokers and second-hand clothes dealers.
131, l. 18. Monumentes … Alhallowes Barking. See a paper thereon by G.R. Corner in Trans. London and Middlesex, ii. 224–58. It is there suggested that Studenham is an error for Sir Thomas Tudenham, who was executed in 1462; but he was buried at Austinfriars (see i. 178 above). Sir John Stile, draper, was alive in 1526. A John Style, mercer, who died about 1505, was a benefactor of All Hallows Barking. In Harley MS. 538, f. 44vo, John Bolt is styled 'grocer and merchant of the Staple'. See also Maskell's Hist. of All Hallows Barking.
l. 35. John Crolys and Thomas Pike. John Croke (see vol. i. 131, l. 3) founded a chantry here in 1477. Pike is an error for Thomas Pilk, who founded a chantry in 1351 (Cal. Wills, i. 645; Maskell, u. s. 16).
l. 37. Sydon lane. 'Shyvethenestrat' in 1257 (Anc. Deeds, C. 1202), 'Syvidlane' in 1259, 'Sivendestrete' in 1291, 'Syvethenelane' in 1329, 'Sivedenelane' in 1334, and 'Syvedonlane' in 1516 (Cal. Wills, i. 2, 101, 352, 400, ii. 630). In a patent of 1312 it is called 'Sevyng lane' (C.P.R. Edw. II, i. 481). It is now Seething Lane.
132, l. 10. Richard Cely and Robert Cely. They were merchants of the Staple in the time of Edward IV. Their business correspondence is preserved in the Record Office, and has been in part published by the Royal Historical Society. Richard Cely the elder was patron of St. Olave's; he died in 1481; Richard the younger (d 1494) and Robert were his sons. They lived in Mark Lane, in St. Olave's parish. A present of a vernicle, or copy of St. Veronica's handkerchief, to St. Olave's Church by Robert is recorded (Cely Paper, pp. xlviii and 4; Povah, Annals of St. Olave, p. 22).
l. 12. John Clarentiaulx. Probably Sir John Arundell.
l. 16. Chapone. Peter Capony, or Capponi, died of the plague, Oct. 27, 1582, aged 32. His monument, with a kneeling effigy, describes him as 'Petrus Caponius. Florentinus' (Povah, Annals of St. Olave, 94). Referred to as 'Piero Capony a gentleman of Florence' in Acts of Privy Council, x. 67.
l. 23. Cokedon hall. It occurs in 1316 and 1342 (Cal. Wills, i. 262, 468).
l. 39. Galley halfe pence. In a churchwardens' account book sub anno 1521, appears the entry 'Resaved for ij vnces of galy-halfepenys sold this yere vjs. iiijd.', N. and Q., 4th ser. ii. 344. Stow's authority is Letter-Book I, f. clx.
l. 30. Sporiar lane, of old time so called. 'Sporieres lane' in 1295 and 1354, 'Water lane' in 1459, and 'the lane sometime called Sporyers lane now called Water lane' in 1513 (Cal. Wills, i. 122, 619, ii. 619).
134, l. 34. Edwaters. Strype corrects to 'Edward Waters'.
135, l. 3. John Tate. In Harley MS. 538, f. 46, 'son to Sir John Tate, sometyme maior of London, was theyre buried in the sayd chaple of W. Hariot, vnder a tombe in the northe wall now defaced, sir Christopher Draper, Ironmonger, maior of London, 1566, deceased 1580.'
l. 21. Passekes wharffe. 'Pesokes wharf' and a tenement called 'Horneres keys' appear as the property of William Harendon in 1448 (Cal. Inq. p.m. iv. 236).
137, ll. 25–6. Hospitall … founded by Robert Denton. It was founded as stated, but proving impracticable, was changed in July, 1378, to a bequest for a Chantry-priest at St. Katherine's by the Tower (Mon. Angl. vi. 708–9; Cal. Inq. p. m. ii. 307). Stow here follows Leland (Collectanea, i. 110); he is more accurate in his own note on vol. ii. p. 143.
l. 32. Cobhams Inne. As belonging to Sir John Oldcastle in right of his wife, who died seized of it in 1434 (Cal. Inq. p. m. iv. 38, 155).
138, l. 21. Mistresse Cornewallies.'Principall Place' in St. Katherine, Christchurch, which had formerly belonged to Evesham Abbey, was granted to Edward and Alice Cornwallis by Henry VIII, in Sept. 1540 (Letters and Papers, xvi. p. 55). Alice Cornwallis died seized thereof on Jan. 8, 1556. Her son, Thomas, sold it in 1562 to Nicholas Throckmorton, who died there on Feb. 12, 1571 (Inq. p. m. Lond. i. 143, ii. 143). The puddings are not mentioned in the grant, but the story is illustrated by items of Henry's expenditure, e.g. on Oct. 26, 1530– To the wife that made the King podings at Hampton Corte, vjs. viijd.' (Letters and Papers, v. p. 752, cf. also pp. 749, 750, 758).
l. 29. Belzettars lane. Stow is right as to the older form, but wrong as to the derivation. Belzeters means bell-founders; the first person to be described as 'belyeter' is William Burford of St. Botolph without Aldgate in 1390 (Cal. Wills, ii. 301). But the lane is called ' Belzeterslane' in 1298, and 'Belleyeterslane' as late as 1468 (id. i. 134, ii. 543). See also Stahlschmidt, Surrey Bells and London Bellfounders, pp. 2, 3, 37; and notes on p. 288 above.
139, l. 29. Thus much for the bounds. In the foregoing description Stow has in part followed a statement in the Trinity Cartulary (Guildhall MS. 122, f. 13): 'Praeterea sciendum est quanta sit ista Soka, cujus fines tales sunt. A porta de Algate usque ad portam Bally Turris, que nuncupatur Tungate, et tota venella vocata Chykenlane versus Berkynchurche usque ad cimiterium, excepta una domo viciniore cimiterio, et iterum redditur eadem via usque ad ecclesiam Sancti Olavi, et tunc redditur per viculum qui tendit ad ecclesiam de Colemanschurche, deinde versus Fenchurch usque ad domum brasineam, ubi nunc habetur signum Columbe. Extitit itaque ibi olim viculus, per quem ibatur usque ad domum Teol filii Ivonis Aldermanni in Lymestrete, qui viculus nunc obstructus est quia suspectus erat pro furibus nocturnis, et ideo, quod non ibi patet via, redditur iterum per viculum versus capellam Sancti Michaelis, et sic versus Lymstratam ad domum Ricardi Canel, et deinde itur per vicum juxta ecclesiam Sancti Andree usque ad ecclesiam Sancti Augustini juxta murum Trinitatis. Deinde usque ad portam de Algate.'
'Teol' should be 'Theobald'. 'Trinitatis' in the last line is probably an error for 'ciuitatis'.
140, l. 12. in the parishes of. Stow translates from the Trinity Cartulary, ff. 25–6: 'In parochiis sancte Marie Magdalene, sancti Michaelis, sancte Katerine, et beatissime Trinitatis, que nunc una est parochia, scilicet Sanctissime Trinitatis, que antiquissime extitit Sancte Crucis.'
For supposed ruins of St. Michael's in 1789 see Gent. Mag. Library, xvi. 56–7
l. 16. The Priorie was builded, &c. Stow has fallen into a confusion. The deed which he quotes does not relate to the site of the Priory, but to a plot of land on the opposite side of Aldgate Street. By this deed, dated July 7, 1314, the Prior and Convent 'confirmaverunt Johanni de la Marche civi London. quandam placeam terre cum pertinenciis in parochia Sancte Katerine versus Algate London., que quidem placea terre jacet in longitudine inter vicum regium, quo itur versus Algate, juxta capellam sancti Michaelis versus Aquilonem et terram Johannis Page versus austrum, et continet in eadem longitudine iiijxxiij ulnas et dimidium et j quartarium, et dimidium quartarii unius ulne de ulnis ferreis domini Regis; et jacet in latitudine inter murum cimiterii dicte capelle versus occidentem et terram Willelmi Manhale versus orientem, et continet in eadem latitudine in capite Aquilonis xv ulnas et unum quartarium unius ulne et tres polices, et continet in capite australi a terra domini Johannis Cokermuth versus orientem usque ad venellam vocatam Bellezeterlane versus occidentem xlviij ulnas unum quartarium et dimidium quartarii unius ulne. 'The rent was to be 53s. 4d. annually. This is from the Trinity Cartulary, u. s. f. 44.
141, l. 7. according to their estates. In Harley MS. 538, f. 48, Stow continues: 'In so moche that as eny man mowght come into theyr church to prayer, so mowght they enter the hall at meale tymes and fill theyr bellyes, and at all tymes of the day come to the buttre and sellar and have breade and drinke, or to the kitchen in the fore none and require of the coke a peace of befe, which shuld be given hym roste or sod on his knife or dagger's poynt, and so to beare it abrode, whither he would for himselfe and his frinds. The liberalite of this house, as I have hard and partely sene, is rather to be wondered at than reviled of them that have not sene the lyke.'
l. 8. monuments. There are lists in Harley MSS. 6033 and 6069. The former reads for 'Heningham' Hemmyngham, and for 'Charcam' Charchand de Mille; the latter Mannyngham, and Charthano de Mille. Both have Nycke for 'Nucke.' For 'Beringham' Bermyngham or Bernyngham. In 6069 Margaret Chenie's second and third husbands are called Thomas Breus and William Burcestur (Berners and Burcestur, ap. Anc. Deeds, A. 7356); for 'Halling' read Helmyng; and for 'Auesey', Anestie. Stow has copied a list in Harley MS. 544, f. 66vo.
l. 24. Henrie Fitzalwine … 1213. See note on p. 315.
l. 37. gaue to sir Thomas Audley. On April 9, 1534. (Letters and Papers, vii. 587 (10).)
142, l. 36. Monuments. A list in Harley MS. 6069, f. 30, supplies the variants: 'Sir Thomas Fleming, knight, Lord of the Rowles in Essex'; 'John Good'; and 'Sanche' for 'Sewch' (p. 143, l. 4).
143, l. 12. S. Andrew Vndershaft. In deeds of Prior Norman (d. 1147) the Church is St. Andrew 'ad sanctam Trinitatem' (Anc. Deeds, A. 2338, 7285). Later it was usually called St. Andrew, Cornhill. In 1361 it is called St. Andrew Aneknappe (atte Knappe), or 'on the hill', from knap, O.E. cnaep, the top of a hill. St. Andrew 'atte Shafte' occurs in 1477 (Cal. Wills, ii. 30, 583). For the history of the church see a paper by Mr. Philip Norman in Transactions of the St. Paul's Ecclesiological Society, vol. v.
margin. Chaucer. chance of dice. No such poem appears in Stow's own edition, nor amongst Chaucer's accepted works. Professor Skeat has, however, identified this verse with the sixth stanza of an anonymous poem entitled Chance of the Dice in Fairfax MS. 16, f. 194. He says further: 'the poem is certainly not Chaucer's, but it may be Lydgate's.' The Fairfax MS. supplies the following corrections: line 2, 'floon' (=arrows) for 'flying'; line 4, 'when that' for 'when'; line 6, 'crokke' (=crock, a round paunch) for 'croke'; line 7, 'clokke' (=cluck) for 'cloke'. 'Crowdeth' in line 6 means presses forward. See The Chaucer Canon, p. 126.
144, ll. II, 12. neighbours and Tenants. In Harley MS. 538 the text continues: 'of the sayd houses and alley, over whose dores and gate… dined, gathered to them more strengthe,' &c.
l. 20. as he tearmed it. Stow, in Harley MS. 538, wrote 'as they termed it'.
l. 25. the Baylife of Romfort. Wriothesley has 'taylor of Raynesford in Essex' (Chronicle, ii. 19). But the Greyfriars Chronicle has simply 'one that came from Romford' (Monumenta Franciscana, ii. 221).
145, l. 37. Hugh offley. 'Deceased 1594', Harley MS. 538. He died Nov. 26, 1594 (Inq. p. m. Lond. iii. 224).
146, l. 3. one faire greate house. It came to Sir Edward Wotton with his wife Hester, daughter of William Pickering the younger (Inq. p.m. London, iii. 240–3). Sir William Pickering the elder had a grant of the site from Henry VIII in 1538 (Letters and Papers, xiii. Pt. ii. 491 (18)).
l. 9. Robert Beale. A member of the old Society of Antiquaries. He died in 1601, and was buried at All Hallows on the Wall. See i. 176.
l. 12. The Papey. The original documents show that the Hospital of le Papey was really founded (or refounded-for the brethren of St. Augustine are mentioned in 1365, Anc. Deeds, A. 2273) in 1442 by Thomas Symmineson or Symson, William Cleve ('Oliver' is a misreading, derived, as it would seem, from Leland, Collectanea, i. III), William Barnaby, and John Stafford, priests. It was for the benefit of priests disabled by age or sickness. A contemporary refers to: 'Pappy Chyrche on the Wall betwyne Algate and Bevysse Markes. And hyt ys a great Fraternyte of prestys and othyr seqular men. And there ben founde of almys certayne prestys, both blynde and lame, that be empotent; and they have day masse, and xiiijd. a weke, barber and launder, and one to dresse and provyde for hyr mete and drinke' (Collections of a London Citizen,) p. viii. Camd. Soc.). The patronage of the church belonged to the soke, which Queen Matilda gave to Trinity Priory; in the fourteenth century document, where this is recorded, it is called 'ecclesia sancti Augustini Pavie super murum' (Lansdowne MS. 448, f. 8). St. Augustin de Pavy occurs in 1417 (see p. 297 below). Trinity was a priory of Augustinian Canons, and St. Augustine's relics were preserved in the church of San Pietro at Pavia (Papia)—held by the Augustinian canons of Mortara from 1221. This probably explains the name 'Papey' as used to distinguish St. Augustine on the Wall from the church of St. Augustine of Canterbury by Paul's Gate. In 1170–87 the church is simply St. Augustine 'super murum': in 1252–3 we get 'Parochia Sancti Augustini Pappay' (Guildhall MS. 122, f. 508). For an account of the Papey by T. Hugo see Trans. Lond. & Midd. v. 183–221. For the 'Liber Papie' see note on p. 297.
l. 30. Buries Markes, corruptly Beuis markes. A Bury chronicler refers to the abbot's house at 'Burys markys' about 1470 (Memorials of St. Edmunds, iii. 299). But 'Bewesmarkes' occurs in 1407, and 'Bevys Marke' in 1450 (Cal. Wills, ii. 372, 518). It was granted to Sir Thomas Heneage in 1541 (Letters and Papers, see xv. 942 (118), xvi. p. 715).
147, l. 21. Thomas Mollington, Lord of Wem in Shropshire in the time of Henry IV. See Eyton, Shropshire, ix. 178. A list in Harley MS. 6069, f. 25 has 'Thomas Molington, baron of Wem'. The same list gives John Tyrrell for 'Tirres' (l. 20); Brosted for 'Brosked' (l. 28); and Condorow for 'Couderow' (l. 29).
ll. 33, 34. Skeuington and Milborne. In Harley MS. 538 the dates of death, viz. 1524 and 1539, are given.
148, margin. These poyntes not performed. Munday (Survey, p. 157, ed. 1633) says that Stow was mistaken, and that Milborne's will contained no bequest of bread and coal, but provided for Almshouses only. See also Strype, ii. ch. iv.
l. 34. Lord Lumleyes house. Crutched Friars was granted to Sir Thomas Wyatt on July 10, 1540 (Letters and Papers, xv. 942 (49); for his messuage called 'Pekes Gardeyn' in 1540, see Anc. Deeds, A. 12598). John, sixth Lord Lumley, who died at Lumley house in 1609, was a member of the old Society of Antiquaries. The Navy Office was here in Pepys's time.
149, l. 7. Monte Joues or Monasterie Cornute. Hornechurch Priory or Monasterium Cornutum was founded by Henry II as a cell to the Hospital de Monte Jovis, on the Great St. Bernard. Richard II granted it to William of Wykeham for New College, Oxford. (Mon. Angl. vi. 652–3.) Stow follows the Trinity Cartulary (Guildhall MS. 122, f. 35) for the grant of this site.
l. 15. made into bowling Alleys. In Dec. 1553 'the Lord Maior and the sheriffes went to these three common bowlinge allies, that is to say, Northumberland alley by Algate, St. Nicholas shambles alley, and an alley in the Old Baylie; and with mattockes did breake and digge up all the said alleys' (Wriothesley's Chronicle, ii. 105). Three years before the Mayor and Sheriffs 'rode to the bowlinge allyes and play-houses at Pawles wharfe and by Aldgate', and broke up the tables, and sent the players to the Counters (id. ii. 43). See more on bowling alleys on p. 368. This Northumberland House is to be distinguished from another in Aldersgate (p. 343).
l. 36. Blanch apleton. 'Blanches appeltuna' in the soke of Robert de Valoniis (de Vaux) occurs in 1177 (Anc. Deeds, A. 7295). A part of the manor came to the family of Ros of Hamelake with one of the co-heiresses of John de Vaux in 1288 (Cal. Inquisitions, ii. p. 404—new ed.). Another part belonged to the Bohuns, Earls of Hereford. The name was finally corrupted into Blind Chapel Court, through the intermediary Blanch Chapulton.
150, l. 3. Mart lane. It appears as 'Marthe lane' from the beginning of the thirteenth century down to 1280; for the next two hundred years 'Marte lane' is the usual form. 'Marke' is a corruption of the sixteenth century. (Anc. Deeds, A. 2679, 7354, 7820; Cal. Wills, i. 50, ii. 613, 689.)
l. 5. Basket makers, &c. By order of the Court of Common Council on October 12, 1464. See Archaeologia, xxxii. 131, quoting, somewhat inaccurately, City Record, ap. Jor. Cooke, No. 7, f. 43.
l. 19. Limestreete, of making or selling of Lime. This is confirmed by the occurrence of Ailnoth the lime-burner of 'Lim Strate' in the twelfth century (Anc. Deeds, A. 11559).
l. 37. diuerse fayre houses. Lime Street was in Stow's time a good residential quarter. See quotation on p. 338 below.
151, l. 2. the king's Artirce. I am unable to identify the reference or explain the word. It is 'Artirce' in Harley MS. 538. Possibly it may be an error for 'Artirie'.
l. 6. belonging to the Lord Neuill, see note on p. 295.
l. 13. Benbriges Inne. In Holand's will called Penbridge's Inn (Cal. Wills, ii. 525). Probably the house which Sir Richard de Pembridge or Pembrugge held in 1375 (Cal. Inq. p. m. ii. 348).
l. 33. Lord Sowches Messuage. The lords Zouch of Harringworth had a hospice in St. Andrew parish 'juxta Lymestrete', 1381–1415 (Cal. Inq. p. m. iii. 43, 192, iv. 15).
152, ll. 35, 36. a faire house, &c. In Harley MS. 538, f. 52vo: 'a fayre large house for an alderman or other of good worship, wherein, &c.'
l. 9. the greene gate. It fell to the crown in 1391 by the death of Michael, son of Simon Pistoye(Cal. Inq. p.m.iii.140), and was granted on December 24 to Roger Croppehulle and Thomas Brounflete (P.R.C., Richd. II, v. 12). Henry IV granted it on March 1, 1408, to Thomas Walsyngham (id. Henry IV, iii. 409). Malpas by his will—proved May 8, 1468—left his great place in Cornhill and Lime Street to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Sir Thomas Cooke. Cooke by his will—proved June 1, 1478— left 'Greene Gate' to his wife, with remainder to his son Philip (Orridge, Illustrations of Jack Cade's Rebellion, 11, 18). Possibly, however, 'The Green Gate had been forfeited through Cooke's troubles in the regin of Edward IV, for on April 28, 1486, Henry VII granted it to John Forester (Campbell, Materials Hist. Henry VII, i. 417). Sir William de Ryvers was a Breton in the service of Henry VII, and Master of the King's hawks (Chron. Lond. 202, 249, 251.) John Mutas or Meautys was French secretary to Henry VIII; for the sack of his house in 1517, see Letters and Papers, ii. 3204. David Woodroffe was seized of 'The Greene Gate' at his death in 1563 (Inq. p. m. Lond. ii. 12).
153, l. l. Leaden Hall. The earliest mention is in 1296 as 'La Ledene halle' (Cal Wills, i. 128). It occurs as 'la sale de plom' in 1302 (Lib. de Ant. Legg. 249; 'aula plumbea' in Ann Lond. 127), and in 1321 when inspectors were appointed for the poultry-market there (Mun. Gild. II. i 305). In 1345 there is reference to 'Ledenhalle gardyn' belonging to Sir John Neville (Letter-Book F, 86), and in the will of William de Kyngeston (see below) in 1375 there is a note of a tenement called 'le ledenhall' formerly belonging to Sir John Nevill (Cal. Wills, ii. 173; translation in Strype, ii. ch. viii).
l. 32. The Horsemill. Apparently a building which included tenements belonging to several persons. In 1353 Peter de Blithe disposed of rents issuing from tenements called 'le Horsmille'; a share in the Horsemill was included in the land which William de Kyngeston gave to St. Peter's Cornhill in 1375; and in 1413 William Baret left his share in a tenement, 'le Horsmelle, to the chruch of St. Dunstan in the East (Cal. Wills, i. 674; ii. 139, 173, 396).
156, l. 32. Carts of Stratford. The London Chronicle, ap. Harley MS 540, f. 7, has the following under 1527, with reference to another time of dearth: 'Ye bread carts yt came from Stratford to London were mett by ye way at Myll ende by ye citisens of London, yt ye mayr and ye shrives were fayne to goo and reskue them, and see them brought to ye markytes apoynted'. This is reproduced by Stow in his Annales, p. 904, ed. 1605.
157, l. 5. Comfort of the Citizens. In Harley MS. 538, f. 55vo, Stow adds: 'He dyd more than ryde about the market and away.'
l. 21. a Barker named John of Stratforde. See Letter-Book D, 311, and compare for bakers of Stratford, Mun. Gild. 1. 241–2, III. 412–29.
l. 26. I read in the visions of Pierce Plowman. Stow's version,
written as prose, is inaccurate. The text as given by Professor Skeat,
Piers Plowman, vol. i. p. 402, II. 266–71, is as follows:—
There was a carful comune ˙ whan no carte come to toune
With bake bred fro Stretforth ˙ tho gan beggeres wepe,
And werkmen were agaste a litel ˙ this will be thou3te longe.
In the date of owre dryȝte ˙ in a drye Apprile,
A thousande and thre hondreth ˙ tweis thretty and ten,
My wafres there were gesen (fn. 2) ˙ whan Chichestre was maire.
The reference to John Chichester fixes the date as 1369–70. John Malvern, whose name Stow puts in the margin, was author of a continuation of Higden's Polychronicon from 1346 to 1394 (Dict. Nat. Biog. xxxvi. 8). The description of him as author of Piers Plowman is an error due to the obvious connexion of William Langland with Malvern.
160, l. 29. S. Marie at the Axe. It occurs as St. Mary del Ax about 1200, and this is the regular form throughout the thirteenth century (Anc. Deeds, A. 2416, 2425, 2447). In the Rotuli Hundredorum it is called Sancta Maria apud Ax, atte Ax, atten Ax, atte Nax. As S. Mary de Ax it was in the patronage of the Nuns of St. Helen's in 1303 (Mun. Gild. II. i. 236). In 1514 the parishioners in a petition to the king declared that 'the Churche ys in soo great decaye that yt ys lyke every day to fall downe', and 'the parson ys departyd frome the same Churche where it pleasethe hym and left the parishyns withoute any maner of devyne service'. They begged for assistance on account of their poverty, and because the 'said poore Church ys honored by kepyng of an holly relyke an axe, oon of the iij. that the xj.m1 Virgyns were be hedyd wt all, the whiche holly relyke as yett remayneth in the said Churche' (Bills signed 5 Hen. VIII, No. 79, ap. Gent. Mag. Library, xvi. 45–6; cf Letters and Papers, i. 4993). After the suppression of St. Helen's the decay grew worse, and ultimately on March 3, 1561, St. Mary Axe was united to St. Andrew Undershaft (Hennesey, Novum Repertorium Lond. 94). It is impossible to reject Stow's statement that there was a house with the sign of the Axe close by; but the house may have borrowed its name from the Church; or it may be that the name was the cause and not a consequence of the relic. An alternative suggestion is that the name 'axe' was due to the proximity of a stream; but for this there is no proof (see N. and Q. 9th ser. x. 425, xi. 110, 10th ser. i. 90). St. Mary 'Pellipariorum' occurs as a heading in the Trinity Cartulary, and occasionally elsewhere.
161, l. 10. Grey a Pothecarie. Presumably Balthasar Gwercye, or Guersye, the physician (Dict. Nat. Biog. xxiii. 316), who at his death in 1557 owned 'the house of preistes of the brotherhed of the Holy Trinite', and messuages in St. Mary Axe (Inq. p. m. Lond. i. 144).
162. l. 5. inst boundes of Aldgate—see note on p. 290.
l. 15. grounde letten. In 1539 the Churchwardens of St. Martin's paid 2l. 13s. 4d. 'to the Masters of Pappe, for the porchase of the churche yrde'. Nichols, Illustrations of Manners, &c., p. 247.
l. 21. the fraternity of Papie. The 'Liber Papie' consists only of eleven leaves, now Cotton MS., Vitellius, F. xvi, ff. 113–23, which suffered terribly in the fire of 1731; the loss is in part made good by a partial transcript written about 1550 in Harley MS. 604, f. 12. (Both the MSS. seem to have been in Stow's possession.) The grant from the mayor on f. 119 of the Cotton MS., though imperfect, corrects Stow's transcript: 'Be hit remembered that where nowe late the maister and wardeyns of the ffraternitee of Pappey haue made a bryke walle closyng in the Chapell of Seint Austyn called Pappey Chapell sette in the paroch' of all saintes in the walle in the warde of lymestrete of the citee of London. ffrom the south est corner of the which brike wall is a Skuncheon of xxj fote of assise from the said corner westward. And from the same Skuncheon there to a mesurage of lv. fote and di. westward. The forsaid Skunchon brekith oute of lyneright southward betwixe the mesures aforesaid three fote and v. ynches of assise vpon the comyn ground of the Citee aforsaid. Rauf Verney maire of assise vpon the comyn ground of the Citee aforsaid. Octobre the yere of the reigne of Kyng Edward the fourth the sixth granted vnto John Hede, Prest, maister, John Bolt and Thomas Pachette, also Preestes, wardeyns of the ffraternitee of Pappey aforsaid and their successours for euermore, the said Skuncheon which brekith oute of the Brike walle aforsaid and is sette thre foote and v. ynches vpon the comyn grounde like as it is abouesaid. To haue and to holde the same withoute any interupcion of the said maire and aldermen or their successours …' The 'skuncheon' or triangular projection of the wall is clearly shown in Agas's map. From f. 120 it appears that the master and wardens employed Thomas Hardyng, citizen and Scrivener, to write the book in Sept. 1477. Additions carrying on the history, with lists of the brethren, were afterwards made. The chief documents with two facsimiles are given in Hugo's account—see p. 293 above.
163, l. 5. one large messuage. The hostel of the Earl of Oxford near Bishopsgate street is mentioned in 1348 (Cal. Wills, i. 513). Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, had a messuage 'in parochia S. Augustini Pavy' in 1417, as also his mother in 1401 (Cal. Inq. p. m. iii. 277, iv. 26). John, 13th Earl (d. 1513), had a house described as 'Bevesmarkes' in ward of Lime Street (Inq. p. m. Lond. i. 30). John, 14th Earl, died in 1526; his second sister and co-heiress, Elizabeth, married Sir Anthony Wingfield (d. 1552), father of Sir Robert (d. 1597), who was living here in 1587 (Cal. State Papers, 1581–90, p. 395).
164, l. 24. the ditch. On Agas's map the ditch appears clearly, and is shown to widen here to a point where a stream flows into it from the north. On Faithorne's map (prepared 1643–7) the ditch has completely disappeared. See further Archaeologia, lx. 197–200 with illustration. Recent excavations have proved the accuracy of Stow's statement as to the filling up of the ditch with soilage and other filthiness (id. lx. 202).
l. 37. purchased the patronage. From a document in Letter-book F, 154, it appears that on Oct. 15, 1346, the House and Order 'Fratrum milicie beate Marie de Bethlem' were taken under the protection and patronage of the Mayor, Aldermen, &c., of the City of London. See also Letter-books F, 163, and H, 338, where it is claimed in answer to a royal writ that the patronage and appointment of a keeper rested with the Mayor and citizens. In 1406 Henry IV again claimed the patronage and right of visitation (C. P. R. Henry IV, iii. 231).
165, l. 10. banke of deepe ditch. In the foundation charter of Bethlehem Hospital mention is made of the 'fossatum quod vocatur Depediche' (Mon. Angl. vi. 622). Recent excavations revealed a part of its course near Blomfield Street, and showed it as a deep, sluggish, stagnant stream. It was ten feet below the base of the original Walbrook, which was somewhat further west. It is the stream referred to in the last note but one. See Archaeologia, lx. 206–7 with plan.
166, l. I. Fishers folly. It is to this large and sumptuously-built
house that Fletcher must refer in The Nice Valour, Act V. sc. iii.:—
Moulbazon. Is't possible such virtue should lie hid,
And in so little paper?
Lapet. How! …
Your Herring (fn. 3) proved the like, able to buy
Another Fisher's Folly.
The commentators have, however, interpreted this as an allusion to a tract written in 1624 by the Puritan George Walker, in his controversy with Piercy, a Jesuit, who was known as Father Fisher, and entitled: Fisher's Folly unfolded, or The Vaunting Jesuites Vanity discovered. Partly on this ground Dyce and others have held that The Nice Valour was left incomplete by Fletcher, who died in 1625, and finished by another hand (Dyce, Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, x. 363, and A. H. Bullen, ap. Dict. Nat. Biog. xix. 309). But clearly Walker was punning on Jasper Fisher's notorious building.
Jasper Fisher, son of John Fisher, was warden of the Goldsmiths' Company in 1567 (Prideaux, Memorials of the Goldsmiths, i. 68). He purchased six gardens of Sir Martin Bowes, on which he built his house. He died on February 28, 1579 (Inq. p. m. London, iii. 20). In 1588 William, son of Thomas Cornwaleys, purchased Fisher's Folly from the Earl of Oxford (Cal. Hatfield MSS., iii. 376–7). In May, 1594, Mr. Cornwallis of Fisher's Folly was suspect of Popery (Cal. State Papers, 1591–4, p. 503). He was still living there in 1598 (see p. 241 above). Sir Roger Manners purchased it before 1603. After him the Earl of Argyll dwelt there: 'the Lord of Argyll's house, called Fisher's Folly, offered to the East India Company—held unfit for their service' (Cal. East Indies, p. 368—Jan. 10, 1615). Then it passed to the Marquis of Hamilton, who died in March, 1625: 'His body was carried to Fisher's Folly, his house without Bishopsgate' (Cal. State Papers, 1623–5, p. 697). After this it was the residence of William Cavendish, second Earl of Devonshire, who died there in 1628 (Survey, p. 175, ed. 1633), and of his widow, Christiana (d 1675), who entertained Charles II there in 1660 (Gent. Mag. Library, xv. 171). Part of the site was occupied by a Baptist meeting-house, whence Samuel Butler (Hudibras, Pt. III, canto ii. 894) refers to 'The Rump' as representing: 'But Fisher's Folly congregation.' Fisher's Folly stood on the site of Devonshire Square, Finsbury. See Wheatley, London Past and Present, i. 503, and ii. 47–8.
For 'Spinilas pleasure' see note on p. 288 above.
'Kirkebyes Castell' is explained by a letter from William Fleetwood to Burghley, in which he wrote, on July 21, 1578: 'John Kirby that buylded the fayre howse upon Bednall Greene is ded, so is Fairfax and Bower, all riche men. They died of surrfaite' (Lansdowne MS. 26, f. 191vo). Strype identifies it with 'that now called the Blind Beggars House' (Survey, iv. ch. ii). Kirby may be the Kirkbie named on vol. i. p. 228 above. 'Megses glorie' was probably a house in the same neighbourhood, for the Meggs family were connected with St. Mary Matfellon (Strype, u.s.).
171, l. 26. William Basing Deane of paules was the first founder. Stow has made some confusion. About 1212 Alard, the dean, and the chapter of St. Paul's, made a grant to William, son of William, the Goldsmith, to establish Nuns at St. Helen's. The Canons of St. Paul's had held the Church of St. Helen's for many years previously (Cox, Annals of St. Helen's, 4–6, 359). There was no dean called William Basing. On the monuments at St. Helen's see Cox, Annals, &c., 57–74. John Langthorpe should be John Leenthorp (or Leventhorpe). the date of William Bond's death was 1576.
l. 38. Purchased by the Companie of the Lethersellers. Henry VIII granted it in 1542 to Sir Richard Williams, alias Cromwell (nephew of Thomas Cromwell, and great-grandfather of the Protector), who sold it to Thomas Kendall in 1544. Kendal was a leatherseller, and no doubt purchased for his company, to whom he at once demised the property (Inq. p. m. Lond. iii. 143; Letters and Papers, xvii. 220 (95)). On Leathersellers Hall see Gent. Mag. Library, xv. 296–8.
173, l. 18. since the which time, &c. Sir Bartholomew Rede dwelt in Crosby Place in 1501–2, and Sir John Best in 1516. After him Sir Thomas More, who, on Jan. 20, 1523, sold his lease to his friend Antonio Bonvisi of Lucca (see Dict. Nat. Biog. v. 365). Bonvisi acquired the reversion in 1542 (Letters and Papers, xvii. 881 (17)), and on April 1, 1547, demised Crosby Place to William Rastell and William Roper, who in turn surrendered their interest to Benedict Bonvisi and German Ceo or Cyoll. Rastell, Roper, the Bonvisis, and Cyoll all left England in 1549–50. Crosby Place was thereupon seized to the King's use (Wriothesley's Chronicle, ii. 34). Afterwards it was occupied by Thomas, Lord Darcy. Bonvisi returned in the reign of Queen Mary, and died seized of Crosby's Place on Dec. 7, 1558. German Cyoll and his wife Cicely, daughter of Sir John Gresham, lived there from 1560 to 1567, when he sold it to William Bond (d. 1576). The French ambassador was living there in 1592. Bond's sons sold it in 1594 to Sir John Spencer. In Feb. 1601, Crosby Place, the house of Sir John Spencer, 'being very large and he seldom using it,' was suggested as suitable for the reception of the Earl of Mar. Sir Walter Ralegh was living there in the following September (Hist. MSS. Comm. Hatfield MSS. xi. 88, 382). It was prepared for the reception of the Duc de Biron in the same year (Acts Privy Council, xxxii. 190). See Inq. p. m. London, i. 114–6, 183, ii. 200, iii. 133–4; A Memoir of Crosby Place, by T. Hugo, ap. Trans. Lond. and Midd. i. 35–55; Gent. Mag. Library, xv. 249–66. For an account of seven original documents relating to Crosby Hall see N. and Q. 10th ser. viii. 30; they are dated 1552–67, the last being the sale by German Cyoll to William Bond.
174, l. 20. Alice Smith. The notice of her benefactions was inserted in the edition of 1603 on p. 580 as an addendum. It is now put in its intended place.
l. 38. well with two buckets. See note on p. 301 below.
175, l. 24. grate of Iron. See note on p. 334.
176, l. 17. as large an house, builded, &c. It had been lately built by Sir William Paulet, when in April, 1540, he obtained a grant of part of Austinfriars. Another part of the site had belonged to Thomas Cromwell, and was granted in 1543 to Sir Thomas Wriothesley. Paulet eventually acquired the whole, receiving a grant of the upper part of the church in 1550 (Inq. p. m. Lond. iii. 283–6).
177, l. 39. There lye buried in this Fryers church. An article on
Austinfriars by T. Hugo, in Trans. Lond. and Midd. ii. 1–20, includes
a list of burials compiled from Harley MSS. 544, ff. 66 and 68vo, and
6033. It furnishes the following variants from Stow's list, p. 178, l. 5,
Hyndercke or Hynndemole (for Lindericle); l. 11, Graynsers or Greynfers;
l. 17, Walter Maynell; l. 19, Sir Bartholomew Badlesmere (probably
correct); l. 21, Merventon; l. 28, Talmache; l. 35, Chybury; l. 35, Peter
Morowes; l. 36, Berland; Chitting; l. 37, Chornott; l. 38, Howche;
p. 179, l. 1, Attepole (i.e. de la pole); l. 7, Boell; l. 7, Mawney (Mauny
is correct); l. 7, Deskay. A third list is in Harley MS. 6069, f. 23.
Harley MSS. 544 and 6033 give the epitaph of Lucia de Visconti,
beginning:—
Magnifice nata Bernabensis ecce Lucia,
Mediolanensis olim clarissima proles.
179, ll. 38–9. that …to forget themselues. Stow wrote in Harley MS. 538, f. 62vo: 'Of this unconscionable dealynge of hym, wherein he forgate hymselfe.'
180, ll. 14, 15. Lethbury … now corruptly called Lothbury. See the longer passage on i. 277, and note on p. 334.
ll. 22, 23. an house pertayning to the Abbot of S. Albons. Edward Keacher or ketcher, pewterer, purchased the Abbot of St. Alban's Inn from the grantee at the dissolution, and when he died in Jan. 1563, left it to his son John, the Alderman Catcher of Stow's text (Inq. p. m. London, ii.38).
l. 29. saint Martin called oteswich. John de Oteswich founded a chantry here in Dec. 1331, for his father William and others (C. P. R. Edw. III, ii. 230; cf. id. Henry IV, iii. 56). A Martin de Ottewich occurs in connexion with the church about 1246 (Anc. Deeds, A. 2683). But the name is much older; St.Martin Otteswich occurs in 1216 (see note on 'Finkes Lane' below), and Otheswych in 1222 (Anc. Deeds, A. 2698). The Alfwin Fink who held land in St. Martin Otteswich (id. A. 2658) may be the same as the alderman of 1180 (Madox, Hist. Exchequer, i. 562). Machyn (Diary, 175, 211, &c.) refers habitually to St. Martin Oteswich as 'Sant Martin's with the well and ij bokettes'; see also vol. i. pp. 164, 174. For a similar list of burials see Harley MS. 6069, f. 54, reading 'Wodehouse' for 'Woodroffe' (p. 181, l. 2). For the tomb of John de Oteswich see Gough, Sepulchral Monuments, and for inscriptions, Gent. Mag. Libr. xvi. 42. For extracts from Churchwardens' Accounts see J. Nichols, Illustrations of Manners, &c., 270–4. The site is now 39 Threadneedle Street.
182, l. 2. after some Record. See Memorials, 183–5; Letter-Book E, 269. The date was 10 May, 1331, i. e. the fifth (not the sixth) of Edward III. Yakesley is a better from than Yakley.
l. 38. Finkes lane, &c. Stow gets his information from a series of Charters in Cotton MS., Faustina, B. II, f. 80—the Cartulary of the Nuns' Priory at Clerkenwell. Rosamond, daughter of James Finke, gave to the Priory in 1216–7 her stone house in the parish of St. Benet Finck, and tenements in St. Martin Oteswich. The Priory regranted them to Robert, son of Robert Finke.
183, l. 11. William Coolby. The list in Harley MS. 6069, f. 55, reads 'Welbye'.
l. 15. the little Conduit, called the pissing Conduit. So Middleton in
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Act III. sc. ii:
Come along presently by the Pissing-conduit,
With two brave drums and a standard-bearer.
In Henry VI, Pt. 2, Act IV. sc. vi, Cade says: 'Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here sitting upon London-stone, I charge and command, that of the City's cost, the possing-conduit run nothing but claret wine this first year of our reign.'
184, l. 21. one of the Proctors for saint Anthonies, &c. The pigs of St. Anthony were privileged. But the Renter of the Hospital had to swear that he would not claim any pigs wandering in the City, nor hang bells round the necks of any which had not been given to the hospital in pure alms. Other pigs were such a nuisance that at an early date men were appointed to kill all that were found loose in the streets (Mun. Gild. I. 590–1, and Preface, p. xlii; Letter-Book D, 251).
185, l. 24. sir John Lepington. Apparently the same person as the Sir John Lenthaine of vol. ii. p. 83.
l. 25. Alderban a Gascoyne. No doubt the 'Aldebrand Gascone, Lombard' of 1376 (Letter-BookH, 27).
ll. 26 and 34. Capell and Barne. The dates of death, viz. 1519 and 1557, are added in Harley MS. 538.
186, l. 3. Margaret Norford. Margery de Nerford founded a chantry here in 1407 (C. P. R., Henry IV, iii. 292, 316).
l. 4. John Clauering, 1421. His will, dated 8 Jan., enrolled 31 May, 1422, includes donations to St. Christopher's Church, but no bequest of lands (Cal. Wills, ii. 429).
l. 7. had taken the Mantell and ring. It was a common custom for a widow to take a vow of chastity, and thereon to receive in church the mantle and ring. Cf. Cely Papers, p. 88: 'On the xxvij day [27 March, 1482] whos Byfelde berryd, and the morrow Herby hys whyfe toke the mantell and the rynge.' For a description of the ceremony at the taking of the mantle and ring, see Liber Pontificalis of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, ed. R. Barnes.
l. 16. John Norryholme. The list in Harley MS. 6069, f. 55, reads: 'John Norrye,—Holme.'
187, l. 14. Rippers of Rye. In 1384 an ordinance was made concerning foreigners called 'Ripiers' bringing sea-fish to the city for sale; they then occupied the Stocks. Elsewhere there is reference to 'les Ripiers qi amesnent pessoun del mier a la cite', distinguishing them from the 'Peters' or fishers in the Thames (Letter-Book H, 234).
188, l. 25. but now no such matter, &c. In Harley MS. 538, f. 65vo: 'A great comoditie, if the sayd water were mayntayned to come at every tyde some reasonable quantitee as at the first it dyd; but since the same is almoaste altogether ceased, through whose defaute I know not.' The text of 1598 stopped short at 'Stockes Market' (see p. 243 above). The notice in the Annales (p. 1171, ed. 1605) agrees very nearly with the Harley MS. In another place (Harley MS. 540, f. 123) Stow writes: 'The Standart at Ledenhall is to be reformed or pulled downe; it standeth as a shadow, or rathar a playne mockery yildinge no comodytie to the Citie, suche as was promised, but contrarywise it comberith the strete with the let of cariage.'
Middleton in Michaelmas Term writes: 'I tell you what I ha' done. Sometimes I carry my water all London over only to deliver it proudly at the Standard.'
189, ll. 18, 19. brake up … the Tunne. On 18 April, 1299, pardon was granted to the persons of the City of London who broke the Tun (tonelli) erected for the punishment of suspected persons wandering about the city at night (C. P. R. Edw. I, iii. 408). The breaking of the Tun seems to have taken place in the previous summer (Letter-Book B, 74–5); the fine of 20,000 marks was remitted on payment of 1000l. (id. C, 38). It is curious that the original in B has 'cuiusdam dolei', and in C 'pro condonatione rancoris sui pro factione (fractione) cuiusdam doley.' The Tun is called dolium in Letter-Book H, 339. Neither Stow nor his authorities explain the incident; the persons concerned were all aldermen.
190, l. 10. punishment of Priests in my youth. One may suspect here a covert allusion to the different treatment of a minister in later times. In 1563 the minister of St. Mary Abchurch was caught in adultery with another man's wife and taken to Bridewell, 'his breache hangynge aboute his knes, his gowne and his (kyvar knave) hatt borne afftar hym with myche honor; but he lay not longe ther, but was delyveryd with owt punishment and still injoyed his beneffyssis. They were greatly blamed that apprehended hym and comitted him' (Memoranda, 127). On this latter incident see also Machyn, Diary, p. 310. At the end of LetterBook I, there is a long list of the punishment of priests taken in adultery. See also Letter-Book H, 339, for a record of the custom in 1388–9.
191, ll. 4, 5. prison … called a Cage. So Dick the butcher said of Jack Cade: 'his father had never a house but the cage.' Henry VI, Pt. 2, Act IV. sc. ii.
l. 20. saith Robert Fabian. This passage does not appear in the printed continuation of Fabyan's Chronicle, and must have been derived by Stow from his manuscript. See Introduction, P. xxxv.
margin. a man … that had sworn foolishly against his brother. Referring to John Stow's quarrel with his brother Thomas. See Introduction, pp. xviii, xix.
192, l. 25. the Royall Exchange. Stow in his Memoranda (pp. 134–5) has this note: 'The xxij day of February, 1565, beynge Friday, the howsys nere to ye Conduit in Cornhylle, abowt ye nombar of lx housholds, poore and ryche, were cryed by the bell man abowte ye citie of London to be solde to them that wowld gyve moaste for them, and remeve the same from thens, that in the place ye marchaunts mowght buyld theyr bursse. Thos howsys were dyverse tymes so cryed and at ye last solde, and they begane to pull downe ye same shortly aftar owr Lady day in Lent. In ye pullynge downe wherof dyverse persons were sore hurt and ij in great peryll of deathe; and by Whitsontyde next followynge in 1566 ye same howsys were all pullyd downe and ye grownd clearyd; all whiche chargis was borne by ye citizens of London, and then possessyon given by sertayn aldarmen to Syr Thomas Gressham, who layed ye fyrst stone (beynge bryke) of ye fowndacion on ye vij day of June, beynge Friday, in ye aftar none next aftar Whitson halydays, betwen 4 and 5 of ye cloke.' On lands in St. Michael, Cornhill, taken for the site of the Royal Exchange, see Churchwardens' Accounts, pp. 213, 217, 233.
193, l. 17. the Pawne. It was a covered walk on the south side of the
Exchange. The word is derived from the Dutch pandt, originally meaning
a covered cloister, and now used for a store or shop. In the Remembrancia (p. 520) there is reference to the Pawne or Exchange built at Durham
House in the Strand in 1608. The Exchange, and the Pawne in parti
cular, was famous for the sale of fine silks and draperies. Webster,
Westward Ho ! Act II. sc. i: 'You must go to the Pawn to buy lawn.'
Rowlands, in A Crew of King Gossips, p. 13:
One of them gave me this same ruffe of Lawne,
It cost three pound, but laste week in the Pawne.
Middleton, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Act I. sc. ii: 'As if she lay
with all the gaudy-shops in Gresham's Burse about her.'
194, l. 14. a table. The inscription is given by Weever in his Funeral Monuments, p. 413, by Strype, and in Trans. Lond. and Midd. iv. 301. According to Strype the original dated from the time of Edward IV. It was destroyed in the Great Fire. The story of the foundation of St. Peter's by Lucius appears, in Letter-Book I (Memorials, 651–3), in 1417, when it was decided that the Rector should have precedence among the City clergy, because his church was for four hundred years and more the Metropolitan See. On 'Archbishops of London' see Stubbs, Reg. Sacrum Anglicanum, pp. 214–5. The Lucius legend (which Stow describes at more length on ii. 125) first appears in the Liber Pontificalis not later than 700 A.D. Thence it found its way into general circulation through Nennius, and Bede's Ecclesiastical History. See art. by Prof. Haverfield ap. Eng. Hist. Rev. xi. 419. The church of St. Peter 'binnon Lunden' is mentioned in a charter of Bishop Ælfric about 1040 (Kemble, Cod. Dipl. dcclix).
l. 30. This Library. Leland in his Collectanea, iv. 48, has a note of four manuscripts 'in bibliotheca Petrina Londini'.
l. 39. foure Grammar schooles. See Rot. Parl. v. 137, and note on William Lichfield on p. 321 below.
195, l. 6. William Kingston. The reference to the Horsemill makes it clear that William Kingston, fishmonger, who left tenements to St. Peter's in 1375, is intended (Cal. Wills, ii. 173; compare i. 153 and note on p. 295 above, and Hist. MSS. Comm. 6th Rep. 409).
l. 13. A Brotherhoode of Saint Peter. For a register of the Fraternity of the Guild of St. Peter on Cornhill see Hist. MSS. Comm. 6th Rep. 407–18. The grant, on April 26, 1403, was to William Aghton, parson of St. Peter's, Richard Rybrede, John Bury, and Peter Mason; Askham and Brampton took part in the establishment of the Fraternity, but there is nothing to connect it with the Fishmongers. The Ordinances are printed in the Report, u.s. Mason died Dec. 20, 1412. Foxton founded his chantry in 1391. Richard Manhale (see i. 195, l. 6), who died in 1410, was another benefactor. See also Cal. Wills, ii. 286, 384, 397, 494, and C. P. R. Henry IV, ii. 260.
l. 20. Elrington. According to the inscription given by Strype 'Erlington', ob. Feb. 16, 1558.
l. 23. Alonthus. See Chron. Evesham, 75: 'Alnod, sacerdos, dedit ecclesiam beati Michaelis in Cornehalle London.' This was in 1055.
l. 34. Elizabeth Peake. The records of the Drapers' Company under date Aug. 14, 1518, note the burial 'this day of Mistress Elizabeth Peke, widow, from the Crane in the Vintre'; the Company lent their 'best beryall clothe' and 'every of the vj berers had a sylver spone for his labor' (London Past and Present, iii. 377).
196, l. 2. blemished by the building. In 1548 the Wardens of St. Michael's sold the Church plate, weighing 322 ounces, for 84l. 5s. 4d., and with the proceeds bought ten chambers or dwellings in the Churchyard. The sale of vestments and ornaments in the two following years realized 151l. 5s. 7d., and in 1551 there was a further sale of 660 oz. of plate for 222l. 17s. 10d. These sacrilegious gains were then spent in building the new houses in the Churchyard, of which Stow justly complains. The entry to the church from Cornhill was through one of the houses, and the use of back-doors and windows proved such a nuisance that in 1855, when new leases were granted, openings in the south wall were prohibited (Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Michael's, Cornhill, ed. Overall, pp. 69–70, 77–80, 90, 91, 98, 217–18, 231, 290).
l. 10. Bell named 'Rus'. In 1587 'Rus' was recast by Lawrence Wright at a total cost of 65l., (fn. 4) to weigh 31 cwt. 56 lb. The bell soon wanted repairs, and did not give satisfaction. Next year it was decided that 'Rus' should be recast, though 'to stay tell somer come yt she may be conveniently cast'. A new founder, Mr. Motte, was employed, and the bell recast at the cost of 21l. 17s. 5d. There was also paid 3l. 2s. for copper for 'Rus', and 3l. 12s. 9d. for tin, besides smaller items such as a shilling 'for a company of musicions to take a noate of the same bell'. 'Rus' now weighed 34 cwt. 42 lb. Ten years later it was proposed to recast 'the great bell Rous', but agreed to 'let it rest a while and use it as it is'. Ultimately in 1600 Motte recast the bell again to weight 30 cwt. 108 lb.; after allowing for the old metal the cost was 11l. 2s. 2d., 'and so we are content to make it up xij li. by reason he casted it so often.' An unsatisfactory bell seems to have been cast in 1599. As Stow hints, the fault was not entirely with the founders; in 1597 orders were given 'for the bells with fewer men to be rong' (Churchwardens' Accounts, 176–80, 245, 252–4). From the statement on pp. 244–5 above it will be seen that in 1598 'Rus' was broken, and 'therefore not rong as heretofore'. The charge for 'a knyll wt Rus' was 8s. (id. 178–9). On Robert Mot, the bell-founder of Whitechapel, see Stahlschmidt, Surrey Bells and London Bell-founders, 91–2.
l. 36. William Comerton. Probably identical with the William Combarton of vol. i. p. 228. Cf. Cal. Wills, ii. 385–6.
197, l. 24. Robert Fabian. He died on 28 February, 1513 (Inq. p. m. Lond. i. 29). The original draft in Harley MS. 538, f. 67vo, reads: 'Robart fabian, draper, one of the shryves and alderman of London in the year 1491 (sic). He wrote a chronicle of London, England, and of France, beginning at the creation and endynge in the third of Henry the 8, which both I have in written hand.' Dr. Busch has suggested that Stow must, by speaking of 'both', have intended to distinguish the 'Chronicle of London' and the 'Chronicles of England and France'. If so, the former may have been the lost work coming down to 1512, and omitting the extraneous portions of the original. It should, however, be noted that a line has been drawn through the word 'London' in the Harley MS. Fabyan styled his original work, which ends at 1485, The Concordance of Chronicles. Richard Pynson published it in 1516 as The new Chronicles of England and of France.
See further, Introduction, p. xxxv and notes on pp. 275, 280, 283, 303 and 365–6. See also the Introduction to my Chronicles of London, pp. xxviii–xxxi and Busch, England under the Tudors, i. 410.
l. 34. Richard Garnam, &c. The original draft in Harley MS. 538, f. 67vo, reads: 'Elizabeth Peke, widow, who gave the patronage or gyfte of benefice to the drapars of London, buried vnder a tombe of marble in the belfrey, 1518. Richard Garnam, Skynner, in the belfrey, 1527. Edmond Trindle, draper and Robert Smythe, clothworker, my godfathers at the font. William dixson, draper, and Margaret his wyfe, which Margaret was my godmother. In the cloyster: Thomas Stowe my graundfather, and his wife my graundmother; Thomas Stowe my father and Elizabeth my mother.' See Introduction, pp. vii, xlvi, xlvii. The Churchwardens' Accounts (p. 146) have under 1559 the entry: 'Res. of Mrs Stowe for here husbandes grave in the Cloyster, ijs.'
198, l. 2. John Tolus. In 1548, Lodge, Heade and Bolde record the receipt of 6l. 10s. from 'Mr Tolloz, Allderman', for half a year's rent. There is no record in the Churchwardens' Accounts of any charity of his, but in 1563 the Vestry ordered 'a certaine brasse potte which was in the keping of the late Mr. Tolorge' to be demanded of his executor (pp. 231, 87).
l. 13. Philip Gonter. Gonter or Gunter, skinner, was elected Alderman of Portsoken Ward in 1569, but discharged at the request of the Earl of Leicester and Cecil, not 'only from serving the office of Alderman but also from that of sheriff and collector of any fifteenths or subsidies upon payment of £400.' He died on Feb. 15, 1582/3 (City Records, ap. Churchwardens' Accounts, p. 231). See also below.
ll. 38–9. Burcheouer lane … now corruptly called Birchin lane. The most usual form from 1260 and a century after was Bercherverelane, but it appears also as Bercheners– lane and Berchernerelane (Cal. Wills i. 7, 74, 286). Berchenes-lane occurs in 1301 (Mun. Gild I. 242), and Berchen-lane in 1430 (Cal. Wills, ii. 489).
For drapers in Berchin Lane see Middleton, Blackbook (Works, viii. 29). 'Passing through Berchin Lane amid a camp-royal of hose and doublets.'
Rowlands, The Melancholie Knight, p. 21:
Come traveler from Turkey, Roome, or Spaine,
And take a sute of trust in Birchin Lane.
199, l. 29. one great house, &c. Philip Gunter at his death owned three tenements in Cornhill, in one of which 'commonly called the Sarazens Heade he dwelt, being on the west part of the Back Alley or approach of the tenement or wine tavern commonly called the Popeshead'. He lived here before 1538, and purchased the property of George Monox in 1553. (Inq. p. m. London, i. 52, iii. 58.) The tenement next 'le Popyshed' in Lombard Street was the property of Sir William Eastfield, mayor in 1436–7 (Anc. Deeds, A. 644, 12276). The Popes Head was bought by George Monox from Sir Henry Owen in 1517 (Letters and Papers, xv. 806). John Wolfe, who published the first edition of the Survey, had his shop in Pope's Head Alley.
200, l. 9. Langborne warde. Stow's 'long borne' is a myth based on the supposed meaning of the name. Mr. J. E. Price (Safe Deposit, 25) has shown that the levels alone make it impossible that such a stream should have existed. Like other wards Langbourn took its name from its chief street. Geoffrey the alderman of 'Langebord' occurs in the twelfth century (Anc. Deeds, A. 5853). St. Edmond in 'Longbord strete' is mentioned in a document of the fourteenth century, which may, however, have followed one of the twelfth century (Lansdowne MS. 448, f. 8). In 1252 some property opposite to the cemetery of St. Mary de Neucherch (Woolchurch) is described as lying between the street running to 'Longebrod' on the north and a lane on the south (Cal. Charter Rolls, i. 407). In 1285 and 1312 the street is called 'Langburnestrate' (Cal. Wills, i. 74, 226). The ward appears as 'Langeford' about 1285, but 'Langeburn' in 1293 (id. i. 702–3). The name 'Lombard Street' first appears in 1318, when a tenement there was granted to the merchants of the society of the Bardi at Florence (C. P. R. Edw. II, iii. 246) as described by Stow in vol. i. p. 201. Lombards or Langeberdes were resident in London in the twelfth century; Meinbod and his son Picot the Lombard are mentioned in documents at St. Paul's (Hist. MSS. Comm. 9th Rep. 67). 'Lombard' was used at an early date as a generic name for bankers or money-dealers.
l. 14. Share borne lane. Like the 'Lang borne', the 'Share borne' rests solely on Stow's conjectural etymology. The name first occurs in 1272 as 'Shitteborwelane', and so continues for two centuries with variations like 'Schiteboroulane', and 'Shiteburgh lane' (Watney, Account of St. Thomas Acon, 289; Cal. Wills, i. 13, 162, 171, 220). 'Shirboruelane' appears in 1467, and 'Sherborne Lane' in 1556 (id. ii. 586, 666). See also vol. i. p. 14 above.
l. 21. for suspition of theeues. See note on pp. 290–1.
l. 24. Fenne-church. The derivation is obscure. There cannot well have been any fen here, though the statement in Lansdowne MS. 448 f. 11 that the 'Ecclesia de Fancherche' had belonged to the Knighten-guild may conceivably suggest some connexion with the Fen or Moor outside the city. There may, on the other hand, have been a hay-market (faenum) here, as well as near Allhallows ad Faenum in Dowgate. The form Fanchurch is common both in early deeds and in the sixteenth century. See also N. and Q. 8th ser. xii. 201, and 10th ser. iii. 181.