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TRIVIA 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 PR3473.T8L8 1922 
 
 Trivia:or, The art of walking the street 
 
 3 1924 013 183 276 
 
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 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013183276 
 

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 1 ) 
 
 JOHN GAY 
 
 FROM THE PAINTING BY W. AIKMAN, ENGRAVED BY B. DICKENSON 
 
TRIVIA: 
 
 OR, THE Art of walking the 
 
 STREETS OF LONDON. BY JOHN £AY 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
 
 By W. H. WILLIAMS, M.A. 
 
 FORMERLY SCHOLAR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ; PROFESSOR 
 OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA 
 
 WITH A PORTRAIT 
 AND ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 LONDON: PUBLISHED BY DANIEL O'CONNOR 
 AT 90 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, W.C. MCMXXII 
 
^Sx^CS^ 
 
 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND GRIGGS (PRINTERS), LTD. 
 
 TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. 
 
TRIVIA: 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 ART of WALKING 
 
 THE 
 
 Streets of London. 
 
 By Mr. GA T. 
 
 Quo te Moeri pedes ? An, quo via duett, in < Vrbem ? 
 
 Virg. 
 
 LO N<D O N: 
 
 Printed for Bernard Lintott , at the Crop-Keys 
 
 between the Temple Gates in Fketftreet. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 List of Illustrations ..... 
 
 Introduction ....... 
 
 Bibliography ....... 
 
 Note ........ 
 
 Advertisement ...... 
 
 Book I. Of the Implements for Walking the Streets 
 and Signs of the Weather 
 II. Of Walking the Streets by Day 
 III. Of Walking the Streets by Night . 
 
 Index 
 
 Notes : Title-page 
 
 Advertisement 
 Book I. 
 II. 
 III. 
 Index to the Notes 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ix 
 
 xiii 
 
 xxiii 
 
 xxiv 
 
 3 
 15 
 
 33 
 
 49 
 
 59 
 
 59 
 6o 
 
 66 
 
 8o 
 89 
 
 Vll 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 TO FACE 
 PLATE PAGE 
 
 I. Portrait of Gay. From the painting byW. Aikman 
 engraved by B. Dickenson . . Frontispiece 
 
 II. Street Scene [Hogarth] .... 3 
 
 III. Funeral Procession of Duke of Marlborough 6 
 
 IV. Charing Cross ..... 
 V. Drummers at a Wedding [Hogarth] . 
 
 VI. Cheapside ...... 
 
 VII. Morning, Scene at Covent Garden [Hogarth 
 VIII. The Mackrell Seller .... 
 
 IX. Any Bakeing Peares ? . 
 X. Burlington House ..... 
 
 XI. "Under Sir John Cass' School . 
 XII. St. Clement's Church .... 
 
 XIII. The New Exchange .... 
 
 XIV. Lincoln's Inn ...... 
 
 XV. Where Katherine Street descends into the 
 
 Strand ...... 
 
 XVI. Somerset House ..... 
 
 10 
 l 5 
 
 '9 
 
 ] 2 3 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 28 
 
 3° 
 
 33 
 37 
 38 
 
 42 
 
 46 
 
 Facsimile of the title-page to the First 
 Edition ...... page v 
 
 IX 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
' The lighted shops of the Strand and Fleet Street ; 
 the innumerable trades, tradesmen, and customers, 
 coaches, waggons, playhouses; all the bustle and 
 wickedness round about Covent Garden ; the very 
 women of the Town; the watchmen, drunken 
 scenes, rattles; — life awake, if you awake, at all 
 hours of the night; the crowds, the very dirt and 
 mud, the sun shining upon houses and pavements; 
 the print-shops, the old book-stalls, parsons cheapen- 
 ing books, coffee-houses, steams of soups from 
 kitchens, the pantomimes — London itself a panto- 
 mime and a masquerade — all these things work 
 themselves into my mind, and feed me, without a 
 power of satiating me.' — Charles Lamb. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE eighteenth century was an age of ' Arts.' We have 
 an Art of Knowing Ones Self, and of Painting in Oil, an 
 Art of Pleasing in Conversation, and of Assassinating 
 Kings. It was also an age of burlesque. Addison claimed that 
 his generation surpassed the ancients in ' Doggerel, Humour, 
 Burlesque, and all the trivial Arts of Ridicule.' ' We meet,' 
 he says, ' with more Raillery among the Moderns, but more 
 Good Sense among the Ancients.' The note of the preceding 
 generation had been dignity — the dignity of the court of Louis 
 Quatorze, introduced into England at the Restoration, when, 
 ' in ev'ry taste of foreign courts improv'd,' Britain became * to 
 soft refinements less a foe"; the dignity symbolized by the 
 flowing periwig with its luxuriant ringlets, and expressed by 
 Dryden, when in 1700 he spoke of Chaucer as ' a rough dia- 
 mond,' who ' must first be polished e'er he shines.' But dignity, 
 in the hands of inferior artists, had inflated itself into pomposity 
 and become oppressive. The young wits revolted, and smote 
 the oppressor in the forehead with the smooth stone of ridicule. 
 Gay wrote Trivia primarily as a burlesque on versified ' Arts.' 
 But, in spite of Pope's epitaph, Gay was no satirist. He 
 may have been ' formed to delight,' but he was certainly not 
 formed ' to lash the age.' Pope was living in the past when 
 he wrote the epitaph on Gay in Westminster Abbey. ' The 
 sabbath of his days ' was not yet fully come, but it was already 
 the preparation of the sabbath. Satire was the vogue in his 
 youth, and he had made a reputation as a satirist. Satire, he 
 believed or affected to believe, was the consecrated weapon of 
 moral indignation. His satire, he flattered himself, * heals with 
 morals what it hurts with wit.' ' I am proud; I must be proud,' 
 he cried, ' to see men not afraid of God afraid of me.' But 
 Gay was one of those fat sleek-headed men who sleep o' nights. 
 He had no mission to cleanse the foul body of the infedted 
 world, To him it was no unweeded garden that runs to seed, 
 
 xiii 
 
xiv TRIVIA 
 
 but an easy, comfortable place, full of interests and pleasures. 
 He calls himself a ' fat Bard,' and in the epitaph he wrote for 
 himself says he had found that ' Life is a Jest.' In the fable of 
 The Hare and many Friends he describes the hare as one ' who 
 in a civil way complied with everything like Gay.' Pope is 
 reported to have said that ' he was a natural man without 
 design, who spoke what he thought, and just as he thought it.' 
 He was not savage like Swift, nor spiteful like Pope. If he 
 pricked an affectation, his sting did not inject that drop of 
 venom into the puncture which inflames the wound. By some 
 kindly freak of Nature, when uoluit iocari, the scheme of ridi- 
 cule seemed to suffer an unconscious change into gentle realism. 
 He came to scoff, but remained to pray. Instead of cursing he 
 blessed. The Shepherd's Week, originally intended to ridicule 
 the artificiality of the conventional pastoral as represented by 
 ' namby-pamby ' Philips, became popular as a realistic picture 
 of country life. ' Thou shalt not find my shepherdesses,' he 
 says in the preface, ' idly piping on oaten reeds, but milking 
 the kine, tying up the sheaves, or, if the hogs are astray, driving 
 them to their styes.' Yet in this avowed parody of the ' critical 
 gallimawfry made by certain young men of insipid delicacy ' 
 we find pieces of natural description like 
 
 Now the Sun drove adown the western road, 
 
 And oxen laid at rest forgot the goad, 
 
 The clown fatigu'd trudg'd homeward with his spade, 
 
 Across the meadows stretch'd the lengthen'd shade. 
 
 The What d'ye Call It, which contains parodies of Philips' 
 Distressed Mother, Otway's Venice Preserved, Rowe's Jane 
 Shore, and Addison's Cato, is now known only for the pathetic 
 ballad, ' Twas when the seas were roaring.' The Beggar's 
 Opera, written, according to Johnson, ' in ridicule of the musical 
 Italian drama,' was nearly damned, as Quin said, the first night, 
 but was saved by the song, ' Oh, ponder well ! be not severe ! ' 
 and by the innocent simplicity of Polly. 
 
 So Trivia, which began as a burlesque of the 'Arts,' 
 developed (as Joseph Andrews developed from its original 
 design of burlesquing Pamela) into an original poem, contain- 
 ing a series of picturesque scenes, the harvest of a quiet eye, 
 
INTRODUCTION xv 
 
 which had been fascinated by the panorama of the London 
 streets. 
 
 The streets of a great *city have always had a fascination 
 for poets, from the psalmist who walked about Zion telling the 
 towers thereof, to the mystic who mused over the domes and 
 temples of London asleep in the morning light. Horace used 
 to saunter through the Forum in the evening, pricing cabbages 
 and corn, and listening to the fortune-tellers. Juvenal has left 
 us etchings of the monkey performing as a legionary on the 
 back of a goat, and then munching a ri veiled apple in a corner 
 of the embankment ; and the long-shore crimping house, where 
 jack-tars caroused cheek by jowl with thieves, executioners, 
 and coffin-makers, to the fitful tinkling of the eunuch's tam- 
 bourine. Langland saw in his vision a London tavern, where 
 mine hostess makes the pudding-ale hot i' th' mouth with 
 pepper and peony seeds, and Clement the cobbler stakes his 
 cloak against Hick the hackney man's hood at the ' new fair,' 
 the loser to have his cup filled at the expense of the winner; 
 where tinker, rat-catcher, and scavenger hob-nob from matins 
 till evensong, to the tune of ' let go the cup,' with Clarice of 
 Cock's-lane and Peronelle of Flanders. Dan John Lydgate, 
 monk of Bury, tells how Flemings cry felt hats and spectacles 
 in the streets of mediaeval London; cooks offer pies, ribs of 
 beef, and bread, with ale and wine; costermongers shout hot 
 peas, strawberries ripe, and cherries on the branch; hawkers 
 vend silk, lawn, velvet, and Paris thread in Cheapside; hot 
 sheep's feet, mackerel, and green rushes are cried in Candle- 
 wick Street near London Stone. He sees his own hood, which 
 had been stolen from his shoulders in the crowd, hanging in a 
 shop in Cornhill. The bargeman at Billingsgate will not ferry 
 him across the Thames for less than twopence, and London 
 has already licked up his last penny for a pint of wine. 
 
 Gay was not, as Swift once called him, ' as arrant a cockney 
 as any hosier in Cheapside.' Though apprenticed to a London 
 silk mercer, he was born and educated at Barnstaple, and in 
 spite of Swift could ' distinguish rye from barley, and an oak 
 from a crab-tree.' He was not as arrant a cockney as Dr. 
 Johnson. To Johnson London was ' the fountain of intelligence 
 
XVI 
 
 TRIVIA 
 
 and pleasure.' The happiness of London, he said, is not to be 
 conceived but by those who have been in it. ' No, Sir, when 
 a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in 
 London allthat life can afford.' Boswell reports that they 
 were walking one evening in Greenwich Park, when Johnson, 
 to try him, asked, ' Is not this very fine ? ' Boswell, having, as 
 he confesses, ' no exquisite relish of the beauties of nature, and 
 being more delighted with the busy hum of men,' replied, 
 'Yes, Sir; but not equal to Fleet-street.' 'You are right, Sir,' 
 retorted the sage with enthusiasm. But Gay looked upon 
 London, not with Boswell as 'the great scene of ambition, in- 
 struction, and amusement; comparatively speaking, a heaven 
 upon earth '; nor with Wordsworth as ' a sight so touching in 
 its majesty'; but rather with Steele, when, after lying at 
 Richmond, he rose at four in the morning, and took boat for 
 London, with a resolution to rove by boat and coach for the 
 next four and twenty hours. The only moral he could draw 
 for his readers from the description of his day's ramble was 
 that he thought it of great use, if they could learn to keep 
 their minds open to gratification, and ready to receive it from 
 anything they met with. 
 
 If, with George Gissing, we define art as ' an expression, 
 satisfying and abiding, of the zest of life,' we may call Trivia, 
 with certain obvious limitations, a work of art. It gives ex- 
 pression to Gay's zest of life as seen in the streets of London. 
 And, if we adopt for the time a Protagorean or pragmatistic 
 definition of poetry, that what produces the effecl: of poetry 
 on me is poetry to me, Trivia may be called a poem by those 
 who find pleasure in the pictures of bygone days it brings up 
 before the imagination. In winter the stage-coaches with 
 miry sides and stiff" horses are late and move slowly through 
 the town. When the weather becomes milder, the nodding 
 coachman snores on his box, and chairmen idly crowd the 
 tavern doors. Before rain the swinging signs creak, the book- 
 sellers in the open square hastily strip the broad-sides from 
 the rails of their stalls, the watermen on the Thames spread 
 blue awnings over their wherries, and the stockings, hanging 
 on poles from the hosier's shop, flag in the damp air. In the 
 
INTRODUCTION xvii 
 
 morning the newsboy runs breathlessly through the streets, 
 crying The Flying Post, or The London Gazette, the little 
 chimney-sweeper skulks along to his work, the shops begin 
 to open, and carts rumble along. Later in the day hogsheads 
 are rolled from tilted carts down taut ropes into underground 
 cellars; carmen count the billets of firewood as they dump 
 them on the pavement; and the wheels of heavily laden 
 waggons clash in the narrow streets. Or we have a winter 
 scene, frozen gutters; snow falling in flakes; women's pattens 
 clogged ; men knocking clots of snow from their boots against 
 the posts; coaches rolling silently along; schoolboys snow- 
 balling the coachmen, or covering the treacherous slide with 
 a thin layer of snow to beguile the unsuspecting matron, or 
 make the damsel reveal her green stockings ; harnessed chair- 
 men standing idly outside White's, or swinging their numb 
 hands round their waists; the sempstress with red nose trip- 
 ping to the Exchange, or playing at shuttle-cock and battle- 
 dore across the counter with her companions; a fair on the 
 frozen Thames, the fat cook roasting an ox whole over the 
 blazing fire, the long avenues of booths, and the various games 
 played on the ice. 
 
 For the antiquary Trivia offers interesting descriptions 
 of the manners, customs, and dress of the period. We see the 
 beau with his amber-tipped cane held under his arm for orna- 
 ment rather than for use, or lolling at ease in his gilded chariot 
 or cushioned sedan-chair on his way ' to court, to White's, 
 assemblies, or the play.' We see the powdered footman 
 fastening his wig under his flapping hat on a rainy day. 
 Early in the morning we see the draggled fish-wife hawking 
 the fish she has just bought at Billingsgate; the she-asses 
 before great houses braying to be milked; sallow milk-maids 
 chalking up their scores on the doors; drummers rousing a 
 newly married couple from sleep. We see the fop treading 
 delicately in his red-heeled shoes, while his mantling peruke 
 sheds clouds of powder around ; the bully cocking his hat, 
 trimmed with tarnished gold lace, as he struts along, arro- 
 gantly taking the wall of every one who will give way to 
 him; the poor wretch standing in the pillory for perjury, 
 
 C 
 
xviii TRIVIA 
 
 pelted with turnips and rotten eggs by the mob ; the broker in 
 his broad beaver, intent on some mortgage, taking devious by- 
 ways to avoid the expense of a coach ; and the ruined spend- 
 thrift, with unkempt wig, dodging the Fleet Street draper's dun. 
 We see the rope with wisps of straw stretched across the 
 street to show that it is closed for repairs ; the hoops nailed 
 on newly painted stalls to protect the unwary passenger from 
 'oily woes'; and the lanterns hung at night over heaps of 
 rubbish or excavations. We see the London 'prentices kick- 
 ing the football through the streets, and the ' dexterous 
 glazier' strongly returning it. On Monday and Thursday, 
 the ' days of game,' we see the surly bull and muzzled bear 
 slowly walking through the streets to be baited at Hockley- 
 hole. On Wednesday and Friday, the fasting days of the 
 week, the stalls are covered with fish — carp, trout, salmon, 
 lobster, sole, and scallops. In spring the streets resound with 
 cries of flowers, elder-buds, and young nettles to cleanse the 
 blood ; mackerel are cried in June, even on Sundays ; walnuts, 
 plums, and pears in autumn, when the boys raffle for oranges. 
 Christmas is heralded with cries of rosemary, bay, holly, 
 laurel, and mistletoe. The brass knocker swathed in flannel 
 shows that there is sickness unto death in the house ; or a 
 funeral passes, the herse blazoned with scutcheons, and 
 crowned with nodding ostrich plumes. Chairmen sling the 
 poles of their sedans on their shoulders for a shilling fare, or 
 fall into the gutter when drunk, upset the passenger, and 
 break the glass windows of the chair. Runners distribute 
 handbills advertising cheap tailors, or seventh-born doctors. 
 Cutpurses, pickpockets, and shoplifters abound. The 'subtle 
 artist,' tempted by the silver hilt, steals your sword in the 
 crowd ; unfelt fingers lighten your pocket of watch and snuff- 
 box; even your wig is not safe from the child carried in a 
 basket on the thief's shoulders. The pickpocket, chased with 
 cries of Stop thief ! dodges nimbly through the crowd, but is 
 caught and put under the pump, or ducked in the horse- 
 pond. 'Guinea-droppers' play the confidence trick on the 
 unsuspecting countryman ; card-sharpers and thimble-riggers 
 tempt his credulity ; professional bravoes force a quarrel on him. 
 
INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 The evening has its perils for the pedestrian. Wooden 
 shop-fronts suddenly descend; tottering planks and long 
 ladders, carried on the shoulders of labourers returning from 
 their work, threaten his head. The night is still more 
 dangerous. If he essay to cross the road, unescorted by the 
 ' link-boy's smoky light,' he runs the risk of breaking his shins 
 against some porter's load, resting on an alehouse bench, or 
 besmirching his white stocking with the muddy wheel of a 
 barrow. He may fall into an open cellar, or upset a coster- 
 monger's stall. Even the link-boy is not to be trusted. In 
 some dark alley he may ' dowse the glim,' and rob his con- 
 voy with the help of his confederates. Then, too, wander 
 forth the sons of Belial, * flown with insolence and wine ' — 
 Nickers, Scourers, and Mohocks — and maltreat the belated 
 wayfarer. 
 
 We see some of the most famous buildings, streets, and 
 squares of London — the broad pavement of Cheapside ; Thames 
 Street, stretching from Fleet Ditch to the Tower with its 
 moated walls, malodorous with tallow-chandlers' boiling fat, 
 stale fish on the fishmongers' stalls, hogsheads exuding train- 
 oil, and piles of Cheshire cheeses; fair Pall Mall, with its 
 gilded coaches, its perfumed shops, its windows gay with 
 brilliant ribbons ; or blazing with flambeaux in the evening, 
 while the footmen wait to escort their mistresses home after 
 paying calls ; Drury Lane, haunted by ' fair recluses ' ; Ludgate 
 Hill, with straining horses slowly dragging huge carts up the 
 steep incline; the site of the once famous Arundel House, 
 now occupied only by a wooden pump and lonely watch- 
 house ; Burlington House, celebrated for its paintings and the 
 residence of Handel ; the meat-markets of Newgate, Leaden- 
 hall, and St. James'; the fruit-market of Covent Garden; 
 Moorfields, famous for second-hand books, and Monmouth 
 Street for old clothes ; Lincoln's Inn, infested with beggars in 
 the daytime, who will knock you on the head with their 
 crutches at night. 
 
 Trivia burlesques not only the didacticism but also the 
 classicalism of the period. Writers studied the Roman poets 
 of the Augustan age, especially Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, 
 
xx TRIVIA 
 
 either seriously imitating and adopting their thoughts, lan- 
 guage, and style, as having attained a standard of excellence 
 no longer possible, or using them for the purpose of parody in 
 treating a subject in a mock-heroic spirit. Gay had two pre- 
 cedents in the latter method — Garth's Dispensary and Pope's 
 Rape of the Lock — each of which he mentions in his poem. 
 It was part of his scheme of burlesque to compare incidents 
 of daily life in the streets of London with incidents borrowed 
 from classical poetry and mythology. It must be admitted 
 that his range of illustration is limited, and his examples trite 
 and commonplace, and not always very apposite. When 
 moisture gathers on church monuments before rain, * Niobe 
 dissolves into a tear.' The uncurling of the wig in wet weather 
 is compared to Aledlo's snaky tresses falling at the music of 
 Orpheus, or Glaucus' beard ' clotted and straight with briny 
 dew.' The countryman, bewildered by the maze of London 
 streets, is compared to Theseus in the labyrinths of Crete, or 
 a sailor caught between Scylla and Charybdis. Horses, fling- 
 ing mud from their heels as they strain up Ludgate Hill, are 
 compared to the Parthians throwing their javelins backward. 
 Doll, the apple-woman, drowned while crying 'pippins' on 
 the frozen Thames, becomes the severed head of Orpheus 
 floating down the Heber and calling for Eurydice. The poet, 
 forcing his way through the crowd in search of a lost friend, 
 is Aeneas seeking Creusa among the ruins of Troy, or Nisus 
 returning to find Euryalus. The beau, overturned from his 
 gilded chariot in the mud by the dustman's cart, is Phaethon 
 hurled down to the under world by the lightning of Jove. 
 The parting of the rabble by the passage of a coach or cart 
 is illustrated by the division of Greeks and Trojans by the 
 thunderbolts of Zeus. The walker who engages in a street 
 brawl risks the fate of Laius slain by Oedipus where three 
 roads met. Matrons trundled down Snow Hill in hogsheads 
 suggest Regulus in his legendary barrel. The fireman rescuing 
 an infant from the flames recalls Aeneas saving Anchises from 
 the ruins of Troy. 
 
 The language, as well as the similes, is often taken from 
 the Latin poets. Atoms of dust ' involve the skies,' and snow 
 
INTRODUCTION xxi 
 
 is ' the gathering fleece,' as in Virgil. Birds are sensitive to 
 changes of weather, ' not # that their minds with greater skill 
 are fraught.' As in Ovid, the horses on the frozen Thames 
 'wander Roads unstable, not their own.' As in Horace, ' Plenty 
 pours from liberal Horn '; and the man who first ventured to 
 eat the living oyster had ' a Palate cover'd o'er with Brass or 
 Steel.' Quid non ebrietas designat ? becomes ' What will not 
 Lux'ry taste ? ' and the epilogue beginning ' And now compleat 
 my gen'rous Labours lye ' parodies the Exegi monumentum. 
 Juvenal suggests the couplet: 
 
 When in long Rank a Train of Torches flame 
 To light the midnight Visits of the Dame. 
 
 Gay's style lacks the ' energy ' of Dryden and the 'correct- 
 ness ' of Pope. He is loose, careless, and slipshod, but his 
 simple realism escapes Pope's temptation to sacrifice truth to 
 antithesis and epigram. He calls himself ' the meanest of the 
 Muses' train.' The Muse of Trivia, as he describes her in one 
 of his Epistles, is shod with pattens, and draggled with walk- 
 ing through dirty lanes and alleys. A frequent blemish is the 
 confusion between thou, thy, and you, your. He often uses them 
 indiscriminately in the same paragraph, as in Trivia, I, 200-2 : 
 
 You jostle for the Wall ; the spatter'd Mud 
 Hides all thy Hose behind ; in vain you scow'r, 
 Thy Wig alas ! uncurl'd admits the Show'r. 
 
 In Rural Sports he applies you and your to Pope in the 
 first quatrain, and thy and thee in the second. 
 
 Though we are told by one of his editors that, whenever 
 he had money in his pocket, Gay ' preferred the ease of a 
 coach to the exertion inseparable from walking,' we should 
 infer from Trivia that he was an enthusiastic walker. In the 
 preface he deprecates the envy of the critics by confessing 
 that he ' walks on foot.' Rosy-complexion'd health, he says, 
 attends the steps of the walker, and exercise bestows ' unartful 
 charms ' on the glowing cheeks of the lady who trips along 
 the town on foot. While coaches disregard the appeal of orphan 
 and widow, the walker is moved by charity, and liberally 
 relieves the lame and blind. The walker escapes rheumatism, 
 
XX11 
 
 TRIVIA 
 
 jaundice, asthma, gout, and stone. The walker may loiter 
 over second-hand book-stalls, and dip into Plutarch's Morals, 
 or Bacon's Essays, Venice Preserved, or The Rape of the Lock. 
 Yet the walker has his dangers. He may be jostled by the 
 elbows of the crowd against the posts which protect the curb 
 of the causeway, or caught in the turnstile and beaten to the 
 ground, or soused with the offscourings of some fish-stall. 
 
 * Gay had a kindly and humane disposition. Though an 
 expert angler (he gives an admirable description of fly-fishing 
 in Rural Sports, highly praised by Andrew Lang), he would 
 not use live bait : 
 
 Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine, 
 No blood of living insedt stain my line. 
 
 And yet (unlike Sir Roger de Coverley, who ' could not find 
 in his heart to murther a Creature that had given him so 
 much Diversion'), after describing with apparent gusto how 
 the greyhound ' tears with goary mouth the screaming prey,' 
 he can exclaim, ' What various sports does rural life afford ! ' 
 In Trivia he urges that the due civilities of the street should 
 be strictly paid; the feeble steps of trembling age must not 
 be jostled ; the porter bending beneath his load, and panting 
 for breath, must have the road cleared for him; the groping 
 blind must be directed, and the lame shielded from the press- 
 ing throng. Barbarous men should not vent their rage on the 
 generous steed that earns their daily bread; Christmas charity 
 should ' bid meagre want uprear her sickly head, bid shiver- 
 ing limbs be warm ' ; the crossing-sweeper is to be rewarded 
 with half-pence, and the palsied hand of old age is not to be 
 kept waiting for alms; those who pass the house of sickness 
 should breathe a prayer that their fellow creature may be 
 spared. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Among the books of reference consulted in preparing the notes the 
 following have been found especially useful : 
 
 T. D'Urfey: Collin's Walk through London and Westminster (1690). 
 
 The Country Gentleman's Fade Mecum (1699). 
 
 The Works of Mr. Thomas Brown, Serious and Comical, in Prose and 
 
 Verse, 4 vols. (17 15). 
 The Art of Living in London, ed. 2 (1793). 
 Ashton : Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, 2 vols. (1882). 
 Wheatley and Cunningham: London Past and Present, 3 vols. (1891). 
 Wheatley : Hogarth's London ( 1 909). 
 Brand: Popular Antiquities, ed. Ellis, 3 vols. (1890). 
 Chambers: Book of Days, 2 vols. (1864). 
 Walford: Frost Fairs on the Thames (1887). 
 Andrews: Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs (1887). 
 Chancellor: Annals of Fleet Street; Annals of the Strand (19 12). 
 
 XXUl 
 
[NOTE] 
 
 The text of the present edition is reprinted from the first edition of Trivia, which 
 was published, according to an advertisement in the Daily Courant, on the 26th 
 of January, 17 16. A second edition, without date, was issued apparently soon 
 after, and Trivia was included in the sumptuous quarto edition of Gay's Poems 
 on Several Occasions, published in two volumes by Jacob Tonson and Bernard 
 Lintot in 1720, with a long list of wealthy and distinguished subscribers prefixed. 
 The second edition (ed. 2) and the Quarto (i^J generally agree in reading, 
 spelling, and punctuation, but j^ sometimes introduces changes of its own, together 
 with a few new readings : such as gray-ey'd for blushing, and streaks for warms (I, 
 233), Let for In (II, 254), and a for the (III, 56). It also contains an addition (II, 
 99-220), the episode of the genesis of the shoe-black from a scavenger and the 
 goddess Cloacina, justly condemned by Dr. Johnson as ' nauseous and superfluous.' 
 Ed. 2 and j^ omit part of the Advertisement and the Errata. In id. I and j^_ 
 proper nouns are printed in italics, but when they are in the possessive case the 
 suffix is in roman. Ed. 1 uses initial capitals for nouns, ed. 2 and j^ lower-case 
 letters. In the marginal notes ed. 2 uses capitals for nouns, j^ omits the marginal 
 notes, but occasionally inserts the note at the foot of the page. On the whole 
 ed. 2 is printed worse than ed. 1 and j^. It contains some rather bad misprints, 
 not found in the other two texts, e.g., spoil's (I, 50), tailing (I, 1 10), straight 
 (I, 206), riding-hoods (I, 2 10), stone's (II, 402), bacon (II, 438), semptresses (II, 
 441). But ed. 2 sometimes corrects the mistakes of ed. 1, as Chariots (I, 116), 
 Not (II, 180), and Jove (II, 413). In a few cases J^ corrects ed. 1 and ed. 2, as 
 Gondola's (I, 98), and Naples (I, 93). 
 
 xxiv 
 
IO 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 THE World, I believe, will take so little Notice 
 of me, that I need not take much of it. The 
 Criticks may see by this Poem, that I walk on 
 Foot) which probably may save me from their Envy. 
 I should be sorry to raise that Passion in Men whom 5 
 I am so much obliged to, since they allowed me an 
 Honour hitherto only shown to better Writers: That 
 of denying me to be the Author of my own Works. I 
 am sensible this must be done in pure Generosity; 
 because whoever writ them, provided they did not 
 themselves, they are still in the same Condition. 
 
 Gentlemen, If there be any thing in this Poem, good 
 enough to displease you, and if it be any Advantage 
 to you to ascribe it to some Person of greater Merit ; 
 I shall acquaint you for your Comfort, that among Z S 
 many other Obligations, I owe several Hints of it 
 to Dr. Swift. And if you will so far continue your 
 Favour as to write against it, I beg you to oblige 
 me in accepting the following Motto. 
 
 — Non tu, in Triviis, Indo&e, solebas 20 
 
 Stidenti, miserum, stipula, disperdere Carmen ? 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 PAGE 35. Line 8. [23. 10 present edition] instead of around the Square, read 
 along the Square. Page 38. Line 14. [25. 5] instead of Clouds roll on, read 
 Clouds move on. Page 50. Line 9. [31. 21] instead of tinsilled Slaves, read tm- 
 sell'd Slaves. 
 
 B 
 
w 
 
 2 
 
 f-H < 
 
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 H 
 c/3 
 
TRIVIA 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 Of the Implements for walking the Street s, and 
 Signs of the Weather. 
 
 THROUGH Winter Streets to steer your 
 Course aright, 
 How to walk clean by Day, and safe by Night, 
 How jostling Crouds, with Prudence, to decline, 
 When to assert the Wall, and when resign, 
 I sing : Thou Trivia^ Goddess, aid my Song, 5 
 
 Thro' spacious Streets conduct thy Bard along; 
 By thee transported, I securely stray 
 Where winding Alleys lead the doubtful Way, 
 The silent Court, and op'ning Square explore, 
 And long perplexing Lanes untrod before. 10 
 
 To pave thy Realm, and smooth the broken Ways, 
 Earth from her Womb a flinty Tribute pays; 
 For thee, the sturdy Pavior thumps the Ground, 
 Whilst ev'ry Stroke his lab'ring Lungs resound; 
 For thee, the Scavinger bids Kennels glide 15 
 
 Within their Bounds, and Heaps of Dirt subside. 
 
 3 
 
4 TRIVIA 
 
 My youthful Bosom burns with Thirst of Fame, 
 From the great Theme to build a glorious Name, 
 To tread in Paths to ancient Bards unknown, 
 And bind my Temples with a Civic Crown; 20 
 
 But more, my Country's Love demands the Lays, 
 My Country's be the Profit, mine the Praise. 
 
 When the Black Touth at chosen Stands rejoice, 
 And clean your Shoes resounds from ev'ry Voice ; 
 When late their miry Sides Stage-Coaches show, 25 
 And their stiff Horses thro' the Town move slow ; 
 When all the Mall in leafy Ruin lies, 
 And Damsels first renew their Oyster Cries : 
 Then let the prudent Walker Shoes provide, 
 Not of the Spanish or Morocco Hide ; 30 
 
 The wooden Heel may raise the Dancer's Bound, 
 And with the 'scallop'd Top his Step be crown'd : 
 Let firm, well-hammer'd Soles proted thy Feet 
 Thro' freezing Snows, and Rains, and soaking Sleet. 
 Should the big Laste extend the Shoe too wide, 35 
 Each Stone will wrench th' unwary Step aside : 
 The sudden Turn may stretch the swelling Vein, 
 Thy cracking Joint unhinge, or Ankle sprain ; 
 And when too short the modish Shoes are worn, 
 You'll judge the Seasons by your shooting Corn. 40 
 
 Nor should it prove thy less important Care, 
 To chuse a proper Coat for Winter's Wear. 
 Now in thy Trunk thy Doily Habit fold, 
 The silken Drugget ill can fence the Cold ; 
 The Frieze's spongy Nap is soak'd with Rain, 45 
 
TRIVIA 5 
 
 And Show'rs soon drench the Camlet's cockled Grain. 
 True Witney Broad^cloath with it's Shag unshorn, 
 Unpierc'd is in the lasting Tempest worn : 
 Be this the Horse-man's Fence; for who would wear 
 Amid the Town the Spoils of Russia's Bear? 50 
 
 Within the Roquelaures Clasp thy Hands are pent, 
 Hands, that stretch'd forth invading Harms prevent. 
 Let the loop'd Bavaroy the Fop embrace, 
 Or his deep Cloak be spatter'd o'er with Lace. 
 That Garment best the Winter's Rage defends, 55 
 Whose shapeless Form in ample Plaits depends; 
 By * various Names in various Counties known, 
 Yet held in all the true Surtout alone : 
 Be thine of Kersey firm, though small the Cost, 
 Then brave unwet the Rain, unchill'd the Frost. 60 
 
 If the strong Cane support thy walking Hand, 
 Chairmen no longer shall the Wall command; 
 Ev'n sturdy Car-men shall thy Nod obey, 
 And rattling Coaches stop to make thee Way: 
 This shall diredr. thy cautious Tread aright, 65 
 
 Though not one glaring Lamp enliven Night. 
 Let Beaus their Canes with Amber tipt produce, 
 Be theirs for empty Show, but thine for Use. 
 In gilded Chariots while they loll at Ease, 
 And lazily insure a Life's Disease ; 70 
 
 While sorter Chairs the tawdry Load convey 
 To Court, to Whites, Assemblies, or the Play; 
 Rosie-complexion'd Health thy Steps attends, 
 And Exercise thy lasting Youth defends. 
 
 * A Joseph, a Wrap-Rascal, &c. 
 
6 TRIVIA 
 
 Imprudent Men Heav'ns choicest Gifts prophane. 75 
 Thus some beneath their Arm support the Cane; 
 The dirty Point oft checks the careless Pace, 
 And miry Spots thy clean Cravat disgrace: 
 O! may I never such Misfortune meet, 
 May no such vicious Walkers croud the Street, 80 
 May Providence o'er-shade me with her Wings, 
 While the bold Muse experienc'd Dangers sings. 
 
 Not that I wander from my native Home, 
 And tempting Perils foreign Cities roam. 
 Let 'Paris be the Theme of Gallia 's Muse, 85 
 
 Where Slav'ry treads the Streets in wooden Shoes; 
 Nor do I rove in 'Belgians frozen Clime, 
 And teach the clumsy Boor to skate in Rhyme, 
 Where, if the warmer Clouds in Rain descend, 
 No miry Ways industrious Steps offend, 90 
 
 The rushing Flood from sloping Pavements pours, 
 And blackens the Canals with dirty Show'rs. 
 Let others Naples smoother Streets rehearse, 
 And with proud Roman Structures grace their Verse, 
 Where frequent Murders wake the Night with Groans, 
 And Blood in purple Torrents dies the Stones ; 96 
 Nor shall the Muse through narrow Venice stray, 
 Where Gondola's their painted Oars display. 
 O happy Streets to rumbling Wheels unknown, 
 No Carts, no Coaches shake the floating Town! 100 
 Thus was of old Britannia's City bless'd, 
 E'er Pride and Luxury her Sons possess'd: 
 Coaches and Chariots yet unfashion'd lay, 
 Nor late invented Chairs perplex'd the Way : 
 
TRIVIA 7 
 
 Then the proud Lady trip'd along the Town, 105 
 
 And tuck'd up Pettigoats secur'd her Gown, 
 
 Her rosie Cheek with distant Visits glow'd, 
 
 And Exercise unartful Charms bestow'd; 
 
 But since in braided Gold her Foot is bound, 
 
 And a long trailing Manteau sweeps the Ground, 1 10 
 
 Her Shoe disdains the Street; the lazy Fair, 
 
 With narrow Step affects a limping Air. 
 
 Now gaudy Pride corrupts the lavish Age, 
 
 And the Streets flame with glaring Equipage ; 
 
 The tricking Gamester insolently rides, 115 
 
 With Loves and Graces on his Chariots Sides ; 
 
 In sawcy State the griping Broker sits, 
 
 And laughs at Honesty, and trudging Wits : 
 
 For you, O honest Men, these useful Lays 
 
 The Muse prepares ; I seek no other Praise. 1 20 
 
 When Sleep is first disturb'd by Morning Cries; 
 From sure Prognosticks learn to know the Skies, 
 Lest you of Rheums and Coughs at Night complain; 
 Surpriz'd in dreary Fogs, or driving Rain. 
 When suffocating Mists obscure the Morn, 125 
 
 Let thy worst Wig, long us'd to Storms, be worn; 
 This knows the powder'd Footman, and with Care, 
 Beneath his flapping Hat, secures his Hair. 
 Be thou, for ev'ry Season justly drest, 
 Nor brave the piercing Frost with open Breast ; 1 30 
 And when the bursting Clouds a Deluge pour, 
 Let thy Surtout defend the drenching Show'r. 
 
 The changing Weather certain Signs reveal. 
 
8 TRIVIA 
 
 E'er Winter sheds her Snow, or Frosts congeal, 
 You'll see the Coals in brighter Flame aspire, 135 
 And Sulphur tinge with blue the rising Fire : 
 Your tender Shins the scorching Heat decline, 
 And at the Dearth of Coals the Poor repine ; 
 Before her Kitchin Hearth, the nodding Dame 
 In Flannel Mantle wrapt, enjoys the Flame; 140 
 
 Hov'ring, upon her feeble Knees she bends, 
 And all around the grateful Warmth ascends. 
 
 Nor do less certain Signs the Town advise, 
 Of milder Weather, and serener Skies. 
 The Ladies gayly dress'd, the Mall adorn 145 
 
 With various Dyes, and paint the sunny Morn; 
 The wanton Fawns with frisking Pleasure range, 
 And chirping Sparrows greet the welcome Change : 
 Not that their Minds with greater Skill are fraught, 
 Endu'd by Instin6l, or by Reason taught, 150 
 
 The Seasons operate on every Breast; 
 'Tis hence that Fawns are brisk, and Ladies drest. 
 When on his Box the nodding Coachman snores, 
 And dreams of fancy'd Fares; when Tavern Doors 
 The Chairmen idly croud; then ne'er refuse 155 
 To trust thy busy Steps in thinner Shoes. 
 
 But when the swinging Signs your Ears offend 
 With creaking Noise, then rainy Floods impend; 
 Soon shall the Kennels swell with rapid Streams, 
 And rush in muddy Torrents to the Thames. 160 
 The Bookseller, whose Shop's an open Square, 
 Foresees the Tempest, and with early Care 
 
TRIVIA 9 
 
 Of Learning strips the Rails; the rowing Crew 
 To tempt a Fare, cloath all their Tilts in Blue : 
 On Hosier's Poles depending Stockings ty'd, 165 
 Flag with the slacken'd Gale, from side to side; 
 Church-Monuments foretell the changing Air; 
 Then Niobe dissolves into a Tear, 
 And sweats with secret Grief; you'll hear the Sounds 
 Of whistling Winds, e'er Kennels break their Bounds; 
 Ungrateful Odours Common-shores diffuse, 171 
 
 And dropping Vaults distil unwholesom Dews, 
 E'er the Tiles rattle with the smoaking Show'r, 
 And Spouts on heedless Men their Torrents pour. 
 
 All Superstition from thy Breast repel. 175 
 
 Let cred'lous Boys, and prattling Nurses tell, 
 How, if the Festival of 'Pau/be clear, 
 Plenty from lib'ral Horn shall strow the Year ; 
 When the dark Skies dissolve in Snows or Rain, 
 The lab'ring Hind shall yoke the Steer in vain ; 180 
 But if the threatning Winds in Tempests roar, 
 Then War shall bathe her wasteful Sword in Gore. 
 How, if on Swit kin's Feast the Welkin lours, 
 And ev'ry Penthouse streams with hasty Show'rs, 
 Twice twenty Days shall Clouds their Fleeces drain, 
 And wash the Pavements with incessant Rain. 186 
 Let not such vulgar Tales debase thy Mind; 
 Nor Taul nor Swithin rule the Clouds and Wind. 
 
 If you the Precepts of the Muse despise, 
 And slight the faithful Warnings of the Skies, 190 
 Others you'll see, when all the Town's afloat, 
 
io TRIVIA 
 
 Wrapt in th' Embraces of a Kersey Coat, 
 
 Or double-button'd Freize; their guarded Feet 
 
 Defie the muddy Dangers of the Street, 
 
 While you, with Hat unloop'd, the Fury dread 195 
 
 Of Spouts high-streaming, and with cautious Tread 
 
 Shun ev'ry dashing Pool; or idly stop, 
 
 To seek the kind Protection of a Shop. 
 
 But Bus'ness summons; Now with hasty Scud 
 
 You jostle for the Wall; the spatter'd Mud 200 
 
 Hides all thy Hose behind; in vain you scow'r, 
 
 Thy Wig alas! uncurl'd, admits the Show'r. 
 
 So fierce AleElos snaky Tresses fell, 
 
 When Orpheus charm'd the rig'rous Pow'rs of 
 
 Hell. 
 Or thus hung Glaucus' Beard, with briny Dew 205 
 Clotted and strait, when first his am'rous View 
 Surpris'd the bathing Fair ; the frighted Maid 
 Now stands a Rock, transform'd by Circe's Aid. 
 
 Good Huswives all the Winter's Rage despise, 
 Defended by the Riding-hood's Disguise; 210 
 
 Or underneath th' Umbrellas oily Shed, 
 Safe thro' the Wet on clinking Pattens tread. 
 Let Persian Dames th' Umbrellas Ribs display, 
 To guard their Beauties from the sunny Ray; 
 Or sweating Slaves support the shady Load, 215 
 
 When Eastern Monarchs shew their State abroad ; 
 Britain in Winter only knows its Aid, 
 To guard from chilly Show'rs the walking Maid. 
 But, O! forget not, Muse, the Tatten's Praise, 
 That female Implement shall grace thy Lays ; 220 
 
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TRIVIA ii 
 
 Say from what Art Divine th' Invention came, 
 And from its Origine, deduce the Name. 
 
 Where Lincoln wide extends her fenny Soil, 
 A goodly Yeoman liv'd grown white with Toil; 
 One only Daughter blest his nuptial Bed, 225 
 
 Who from her infant Hand the Poultry fed: 
 Martha (her careful Mother's Name) she bore, 
 But now her careful Mother was no more. 
 Whilst on her Father's Knee the Damsel play'd, 
 Tatty he fondly call'd the smiling Maid; 230 
 
 As Years increas'd, her ruddy Beauty grew, 
 And Pattys Fame o'er all the Village flew. 
 
 Soon as the blushing Morning warms the Skies, 
 And in the doubtful Day the Woodcock flies, 
 Her cleanly Pail the pretty Huswife bears, 235 
 
 And singing to the distant Field repairs: 
 And when the Plains with ev'ning Dews are spread, 
 The milky Burthen smoaks upon her Head. 
 Deep, thro' a miry Lane she pick'd her Way, 
 Above her Ankle rose the chalky Clay. 240 
 
 Vulcan^ by chance the bloomy Maiden spies, 
 With Innocence and Beauty in her Eyes, 
 He saw, he lov'd ; for yet he ne'er had known 
 Sweet Innocence and Beauty meet in One. 
 Ah Mulciberl recall thy nuptial Vows, 245 
 
 Think on the Graces of thy Taphian Spouse, 
 Think how her Eyes dart inexhausted Charms, 
 And canst thou leave her Bed for Tatty's Arms? 
 
12 TRIVIA 
 
 The Lemnian Pow'r forsakes the Realms above, 
 His Bosom glowing with terrestrial Love: 250 
 
 Far in the Lane, a lonely Hut he found, 
 No Tenant ventur'd on th' unwholesome Ground. 
 Here smoaks his Forge, he bares his sinewy Arm, 
 And early Strokes the sounding Anvil warm; 
 Around his Shop the steely Sparkles flew, 255 
 
 As for the Steed he shap'd the bending Shoe. 
 
 When blue-ey'd Patty near his Window came, 
 His Anvil rests, his Forge forgets to flame. 
 To hear his soothing Tales, she feigns Delays ; 
 What Woman can resist the Force of Praise? 260 
 
 At first she coyly ev'ry Kiss withstood, 
 And all her Cheek was flush'd with modest Blood: 
 With headless Nails he now surrounds her Shoes, 
 To save her Steps from Rains and piercing Dews; 
 She lik'd his soothing Tales, his Presents wore, 265 
 And granted Kisses, but would grant no more. 
 Yet Winter chill'd her Feet, with Cold she pines, 
 And on her Cheek the fading Rose declines ; 
 No more her humid Eyes their Lustre boast, 
 And in hoarse Sounds her melting Voice is lost. 270 
 
 This Vulcan saw, and in his heav'nly Thought, 
 A new Machine Mechanick Fancy wrought, 
 Above the Mire her shelter'd steps to raise, 
 And bear her safely through the Wintry Ways. 
 Strait the new Engine on his Anvil glows, 275 
 
 And the pale Virgin on the Patten rose. 
 
TRIVIA 
 
 13 
 
 No more her Lungs are shook with dropping Rheums, 
 And on her Cheek reyiving Beauty blooms. 
 The God obtain'd his Suit, though Flatt'ry fail, 
 Presents with Female Virtue must prevail. 280 
 
 The Patten now supports each frugal Dame, 
 Which from the blue-ey'd 'Patty takes the Name. 
 
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T R I r I A 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 Of Walking the Streets by Day. 
 
 THUS far the Muse has trac'd in useful Lays, 
 The proper Implements for Wintry Ways; 
 Has taught the Walker, with judicious Eyes, 
 To read the various Warnings of the Skies. 
 Now venture, Muse, from Home to range the Town, 
 And for the publick Safety risque thy own. 6 
 
 For Ease and for Dispatch, the Morning's best: 
 No Tides of Passengers the Street molest. 
 You'll see a draggl'd Damsel, here and there, 
 From Billingsgate her fishy Traffick bear; 10 
 
 On Doors the sallow Milk-maid chalks her Gains; 
 Ah! how unlike the Milk-maid of the Plains! 
 Before proud Gates attending Asses bray, 
 Or arrogate with solemn Pace the Way; 
 These grave Physicians with their milky Chear, 15 
 The Love-sick Maid, and dwindling Beau repair ; 
 Here Rows of Drummers stand in martial File, 
 And with their Vellom-Thunder shake the Pile, 
 To greet the new-made Bride. Are Sounds like these, 
 
16 TRIVIA 
 
 The proper Prelude to a State of Peace ? 20 
 
 Now Industry awakes her busy Sons, 
 Full charg'd with News the breathless Hawker runs: 
 Shops open, Coaches roll, Carts shake the Ground, 
 And all the Streets with passing Cries resound. 
 
 If cloath'd in Black, you tread the busy Town, 25 
 Or if distinguish'd by the rev'rend Gown, 
 Three Trades avoid; oft' in the mingling Press, 
 The Barbers Apron soils the sable Dress; 
 Shun the Perfumer 's Touch with cautious Eye, 
 Nor let the Bakers Step advance too nigh: 30 
 
 Ye Walkers too that youthful Colours wear, 
 Three sullying Trades avoid with equal Care; 
 The little Chimney-sweeper skulks along, 
 And marks with sooty Stains the heedless Throng ; 
 When Small-coal murmurs in the hoarser Throat, 35 
 From smutty Dangers guard thy threaten'd Coat: 
 The Dust-mans Cart offends thy Cloaths and Eyes, 
 When through the Street a Cloud of Ashes flies ; 
 But whether Black, or lighter Dyes are worn, 
 The Chandler 's Basket, on his Shoulder born, 40 
 With Tallow spots thy Coat; resign the Way, 
 To shun the surly Butcher 's greasy Tray, 
 Butchers, whose Hands are dy'd with Blood's foul 
 
 Stain, 
 And always foremost in the Hangman's Train. 
 
 Let due Civilities be strictly paid. 45 
 
 The Wall surrender to the hooded Maid ; 
 Nor let thy sturdy Elbow's hasty Rage 
 
TRIVIA i 7 
 
 Jostle the feeble Steps of trembling Age : 
 And when the Porter J}ends beneath his Load, 
 And pants for Breath ; clear thou the crouded Road. 
 But above all, the groaping Blind direct., 51 
 
 And from the pressing Throng the Lame protect. 
 You'll sometimes meet a Fop, of nicest Tread, 
 Whose mantling Peruke veils his empty Head, 
 At ev'ry Step he dreads the Wall to lose, 55 
 
 And risques, to save a Coach, his red-heel'd Shoes; 
 Him, like the Miller , pass with Caution by, 
 Lest from his Shoulder Clouds of Powder fly. 
 But when the Bully, with assuming Pace, 
 Cocks his broad Hat, edg'd round with tarnish'd Lace, 
 Yield not the Way; defie his strutting Pride, 61 
 And thrust him to the muddy Kennel's side; 
 He never turns again, nor dares oppose, 
 But mutters coward Curses as he goes. 
 
 If drawn by Bus'ness to a Street unknown, 65 
 Let the sworn Porter point thee through the Town; 
 Be sure observe the Signs, for Signs remain, 
 Like faithful Land-marks to the walking Train. 
 Seek not from Prentices to learn the Way, 
 Those fabling Boys will turn thy Steps astray; 70 
 Ask the grave Tradesman to direct thee right, 
 He ne'er deceives, but when he profits by't. 
 
 Where fam'd Saint Giles's ancient Limits spread, 
 An inrail'd Column rears its lofty Head, 
 Here to sev'n Streets, sev'n Dials count the Day, y$ 
 And from each other catch the circling Ray. 
 
 D 
 
18 TRIVIA 
 
 Here oft the Peasant, with enquiring Face, 
 
 Bewilder 'd, trudges on from Place to Place; 
 
 He dwells on ev'ry Sign, with stupid Gaze, 
 
 Enters the narrow Alley's doubtful Maze, 80 
 
 Trys ev'ry winding Court and Street in vain, 
 
 And doubles o'er his weary Steps again. 
 
 Thus hardy Theseus^ with intrepid Feet, 
 
 Travers'd the dang'rous Labyrinth of Crete ; 
 
 But still the wandring Passes forc'd his Stay, 85 
 
 Till Ariadne% Clue unwinds the Way. 
 
 But do not thou, like that bold Chief, confide 
 
 Thy ventrous Footsteps to a female Guide; 
 
 She'll lead thee, with delusive Smiles along, 
 
 Dive in thy Fob, and drop thee in the Throng. 90 
 
 When waggish Boys the stunted Beesom ply, 
 To rid the slabby Pavement; pass not by 
 E'er thou hast held their Hands; some heedless 
 
 Flirt 
 Will over-spread thy Calves with spatt'ring Dirt. 
 Where Porters Hogsheads roll from Carts aslope, 95 
 Or Brewers down steep Cellars stretch the Rope, 
 Where counted Billets are by Carmen tost; 
 Stay thy rash Steps, and walk without the Post. 
 
 Where elevated o'er the gaping Croud, 
 Clasp'd in the Board the perjur'd Head is bow'd, 100 
 Betimes retreat; here, thick as Hail-stones pour, 
 Turnips, and half-hatch'd Eggs, (a mingled Show'r) 
 Among the Rabble rain : Some random Throw 
 May with the trickling Yolk thy Cheek o'erflow. 
 
'Bow Church 
 
 CHEAFSIDE, 1720 
 
TRIVIA 
 
 l 9 
 
 Though Expedition bids, yet never stray 105 
 
 Where no rang'd Posts defend the rugged Way. 
 Here laden Carts with thundring Waggons meet, 
 Wheels clash with Wheels, and bar the narrow Street; 
 The lashing Whip resounds, the Horses strain, 
 And Blood in Anguish bursts the swelling Vein, no 
 O barb'rous Men, your cruel Breasts asswage, 
 Why vent ye on the gen'rous Steed your ^Rage ? 
 Does not his Service earn your daily Bread? 
 Your Wives, your Children, by his Labours fed! 
 If, as the Samian taught, the Soul revives, 1 1 5 
 
 And shifting Seats, in other Bodies lives; 
 Severe shall be the brutal Coachman's Change, 
 Doom'd, in a Hackney Horse, the Town to range: 
 Carmen, transform'd, the groaning Load shall draw, 
 Whom other Tyrants, with the Lash, shall awe. 120 
 
 Who would of Watling-street the Dangers share, 
 When the broad Pavement of Cheap-side is near? 
 Or who * that rugged Street Would traverse o'er, 
 That stretches, O Fleet -ditch ^ from thy black Shore 
 To the Tow'rs moated Walls? Here Steams ascend 
 That, in mix'd Fumes, the wrinkled Nose offend. 126 
 Where Chandlers Cauldrons boil; where fishy Prey 
 Hide the wet Stall, long absent from the Sea; 
 And where the Cleaver chops the Heifer's Spoil, 
 And where huge Hogsheads sweat with trainy Oil, 
 Thy breathing Nostril hold; but how shall I 131 
 Pass, where in Piles t Cornavian Cheeses lye; 
 
 * Thames-street. 
 
 f Cheshire anciently so called. 
 
20 TRIVIA 
 
 Cheese, that the Table's closing Rites denies, 
 And bids me with th' unwilling Chaplain rise. 
 
 O bear me to the Paths of fair Pell-mell^ 135 
 
 Safe are thy Pavements, grateful is thy Smell ! 
 At distance, rolls along the gilded Coach, 
 Nor sturdy Carmen on thy Walks encroach; 
 No Lets would bar thy Ways, were Chairs deny'd, 
 The soft Supports of Laziness and Pride; 140 
 
 Shops breathe Perfumes, thro' Sashes Ribbons glow, 
 The mutual Arms of Ladies, and the Beau. 
 Yet still ev'n Here, when Rains the Passage hide, 
 Oft' the loose Stone spirts up a muddy Tide 
 Beneath thy careless Foot; and from on high, 145 
 Where Masons mount the Ladder, Fragments fly; 
 Mortar, and crumbled Lime in Show'rs descend, 
 And o'er thy Head destructive Tiles impend. 
 
 But sometimes let me leave the noisie Roads, 
 And silent wander in the close Abodes 150 
 
 Where Wheels ne'er shake the Ground; there pensive 
 
 stray, 
 In studious Thought, the long uncrouded Way. 
 Here I remark each Walker's diff'rent Face, 
 And in their Look their various Bus'ness trace. 
 The Broker here his spacious Beaver wears, 155 
 
 Upon his Brow sit Jealousies and Cares; 
 Bent on some Mortgage, to avoid Reproach, 
 He seeks bye Streets, and saves th' expensive Coach. 
 Soft, at low Doors, old Letchers tap their Cane, 
 For fair Recluse, that travels Drury-lane 160 
 
TRIVIA 21 
 
 Here roams uncomb'd, the lavish Rake, to shun 
 His Fleet-street Draper's everlasting Dun. 
 
 Careful Observers, studious of the Town, 
 Shun the Misfortunes that disgrace the Clown. 
 Untempted, they contemn the Jugler's Feats, 165 
 Pass by the Meuse, nor try the * Thimble's Cheats. 
 When Drays bound high, they never cross behind, 
 Where bubbling Yest is blown by Gusts of Wind : 
 And when up Ludgate-hill huge Carts move slow, 
 Far from the straining Steeds, securely go, 170 
 
 Whose dashing Hoofs, behind them, fling the Mire, 
 And mark, with muddy Blots, the gazing 'Squire. 
 The Parthian thus his Jav'lin backward throws, 
 And as he flies, infests pursuing Foes. 174 
 
 The thoughtless Wits shall frequent Forfeits pay, 
 Who 'gainst the Centry's Box discharge their Tea. 
 Do thou some Court, or secret Corner seek, 
 Nor flush with Shame the passing Virgin's Cheek. 
 
 Yet let me not descend to trivial Song, 
 Not vulgar Circumstance my Verse prolong; 180 
 Why should I teach the Maid when Torrents pour, 
 Her Head to shelter from the sudden Show'r ? 
 Nature will best her ready Hand inform, 
 With her spread Petticoat to fence the Storm. 
 Does not each Walker know the warning Sign, 185 
 When Wisps of Straw depend upon the Twine 
 
 * A Cheat, commonly prattle 1 d in the Streets, with three Thimbles and 
 a little Ball. 
 
22 TRIVIA 
 
 Cross the close Street; that then the Pavior's Art 
 Renews the Ways, deny'd to Coach and Cart? 
 Who knows not, that the Coachman lashing by, 
 Oft', with his Flourish, cuts the heedless Eye ; 1 90 
 And when he takes his Stand, to wait a Fare, 
 His Horses Foreheads shun the Winter's Air ? 
 Nor will I roam, when Summer's sultry Rays 
 Parch the dry Ground, and spread with Dust the Ways ; 
 With whirling Gusts, the rapid Atoms rise, 195 
 
 Smoak o'er the Pavement, and involve the Skies. 
 
 Winter my Theme confines; whose nitry Wind 
 Shall crust the slabby Mire, and Kennels bind ; 
 She bids the Snow descend in flaky Sheets, 
 And in her hoary Mantle cloath the Streets. 200 
 
 Let not the Virgin tread these slipp'ry Roads, 
 The gath'ring Fleece the hollow Patten loads ; 
 But if thy Footsteps slide with clotted Frost, 
 Strike off the breaking Balls against the Post. 
 On silent Wheel the passing Coaches roll ; 205 
 
 Oft' look behind and ward the threatning Pole. 
 In harden'd Orbs the School-boy moulds the Snow, 
 To mark the Coachman with a dextrous Throw. 
 Why do ye, Boys, the Kennel's Surface spread, 
 To tempt with faithless Pass the Matron's Tread ? 
 How can ye Laugh, to see the Damsel spurn, 211 
 Sink in your Frauds and her green Stocking mourn? 
 At White s> the harness'd Chairman idly stands, 
 And swings, around his Waste, his tingling Hands: 
 The Sempstress speeds to 'Change with red-tipt 
 Nose; 215 
 
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 HOGARTH 
 
TRIVIA 23 
 
 The Belgian Stove beneath her Footstool glows, 
 
 In half-whipt Muslin Needles useless lye, 
 
 And Shuttle-cocks across the Counter fly. 
 
 These Sports warm harmless; why then will ye prove, 
 
 Deluded Maids, the dang'rous Flame of Love ? 220 
 
 Where Covent~garden\ famous Temple stands, " 
 That boasts the Work of jf ones' immortal Hands ; 
 Columns, with plain Magnificence, appear, 
 And graceful Porches lead around the Square: 
 Here oft' my Course I bend, when lo ! from far, 225 
 I spy the Furies of the Foot- ball War: 
 The 'Prentice quits his Shop, to join the Crew, 
 Encreasing Crouds the flying Game pursue. 
 Thus, as you roll the Ball o'er snowy Ground, 
 The gath'ring Globe augments with ev'ry Round; 
 But whither shall I run? the Throng draws nigh, 23 1 
 The Ball now Skims the Street, now soars on high ; 
 The dext'rous Glazier strong returns the Bound, 
 And gingling Sashes on the Pent-house, sound. 
 
 O roving Muse, recal that wond'rous Year, 235 
 When Winter reign'd in bleak Britannia's Air ; 
 When hoary Thames, with frosted Oziers crown'd, 
 Was three long Moons in icy Fetters bound. 
 The Waterman, forlorn along the Shore, 
 Pensive reclines upon his useless Oar, 240 
 
 Sees harness'd Steeds desert the stony Town ; 
 And wander Roads unstable, not their own: 
 Wheels o'er the harden'd Waters smoothly glide, 
 And rase with whiten'd Tracks the slipp'ry Tide. 
 
24 TRIVIA 
 
 Here the fat Cook piles high the blazing Fire, 245 
 And scarce the Spit can turn the Steer entire. 
 Booths sudden hide the Thames^ long Streets appear, 
 And num'rous Games proclaim the crouded Fair. 
 So when a Gen'ral bids the martial Train 
 Spread their Encampment o'er the spatious Plain ; 
 Thick-rising Tents a Canvas City build, 251 
 
 And the loud Dice resound thro' all the Field. 
 'Twas here the Matron found a doleful Fate: 
 In Elegiac Lay the Woe relate, 
 Soft, as the Breath of distant Flutes, at Hours, 255 
 When silent Ev'ning closes up the Flow'rs ; 
 Lulling, as falling Water's hollow noise ; 
 Indulging Grief, like Philomelas Voice. 
 
 Doll ev'ry Day had walk'd these treach'rous 
 Roads ; 
 Her Neck grew warpt beneath autumnal Loads 260 
 Of various Fruit; she now a Basket bore, 
 That Head, alas ! shall Basket bear no more. 
 Each Booth she frequent past, in quest of Gain, 
 And Boys with pleasure heard her shrilling Strain. 
 Ah Doll I all Mortals must resign their Breath, 265 
 And Industry it self submit to Death ! 
 The cracking Crystal yields, she sinks, she dyes, 
 Her Head, chopt off, from her lost Shoulders flies: 
 Pippins she cry'd, but Death her Voice confounds, 
 And Pip-Pip-Pip along the Ice resounds. 270 
 
 So when the Thracian Furies Orpheus tore, 
 And left his bleeding Trunk deform'd with Gore, 
 His sever'd Head floats down the silver Tide, 
 
CRIES OF LONDON: 
 FOUR FOR SIX PENCE MACKRELL 
 
TRIVIA 25 
 
 His yet warm Tongue for his lost Consort cry'd ; 
 Eurydice, with quiv'r>ing Voice, he mourn'd, 275 
 And Heber\ Banks Eurydice return'd. 
 
 But now the western Gale the Flood unbinds, 
 And black'ning Clouds roll on with warmer Winds, 
 The wooden Town its frail Foundation leaves, 
 And Thames' full Urn rolls down his plenteous 
 Waves: 280 
 
 From ev'ry Penthouse streams the fleeting Snow, 
 And with dissolving Frost the Pavements flow.* 
 
 Experienc'd Men, inur'd to City Ways, 
 Need not the Calendar to count their Days. 
 When through the Town, with slow and solemn Air, 
 Led by the Nostril, walks the muzled Bear; 286 
 Behind him moves majestically dull, 
 The Pride of Hockley-bote, the surly Bull ; 
 Learn hence the Periods of the Week to name, 
 Mondays and Thursdays are the Days of Game. 290 
 
 When fishy Stalls with double Store are laid ; 
 The golden-belly'd Carp, the broad-finn'd Maid, 
 Red-speckled Trouts, the Salmon's silver Joul, 
 The jointed Lobster, and unscaly Soale, 
 And luscious 'Scallops, to allure the Tastes 295 
 
 Of rigid Zealots to delicious Fasts ; 
 Wednesdays and Fridays you'll observe from hence, 
 Days, when our Sires were doom'd to Abstinence. 
 
 When dirty Waters from Balconies drop, 
 
 E 
 
26 TRIVIA 
 
 And dextrous Damsels twirle the sprinkling Mop, 300 
 And cleanse the spatter'd Sash, and scrub the Stairs; 
 Know Saturdays conclusive Morn appears. 
 
 Successive Crys the Season's Change declare, 
 And mark the Monthly Progress of the Year. 
 Hark, how the Streets with treble Voices ring, 305 
 To sell the bounteous Product of the Spring ! 
 Sweet-smelling Flow'rs, and Elders early Bud, 
 With Nettle's tender Shoots, to cleanse the Blood : 
 And when Junes Thunder cools the sultry Skies, 
 Ev'n Sundays are prophan'd by Mackrell Cries. 310 
 
 Wallnuts the Fruiterers Hand, in Autumn, stain, 
 Blue Plumbs, and juicy Pears augment his Gain ; 
 Next Oranges the longing Boys entice, 
 To trust their Copper-Fortunes to the Dice. 
 
 When Rosemary, and Bays, the Poet's Crown, 315 
 Are bawl'd, in frequent Cries, through all the Town, 
 Then judge the Festival of Christmas near, 
 Christmas, the joyous Period of the Year. 
 Now with bright Holly all your Temples strow, 
 With Laurel green, and sacred Misletoe. 320 
 
 Now, Heav'n-born Charity, thy Blessings shed ; 
 Bid meagre Want uprear her sickly Head: 
 Bid shiv'ring Limbs be warm ; let Plenty's Bowie, 
 In humble Roofs, make glad the needy Soul. 
 See, see, the Heav'n-born Maid her Blessings shed. 
 Lo ! meagre Want uprears her sickly Head; 326 
 
CRIES OF LONDON: 
 ANY BAKEING PEARES 
 
TRIVIA 27 
 
 Cloath'd are the Naked, and the Needy glad, 
 While selfish Avarice* alone is sad. 
 
 Proud Coaches pass, regardless of the Moan, 
 Of Infant Orphans, and the Widow's Groan; 330 
 While Charity still moves the Walker's Mind, 
 His lib'ral Purse relieves the Lame and Blind. 
 Judiciously thy Half-pence are bestow'd, 
 Where the laborious Beggar sweeps the Road. 
 Whate'er you give, give ever at Demand, 335 
 
 Nor let Old-Age long stretch his palsy'd Hand. 
 Those who give late, are importun'd each Day, 
 And still are teaz'd, because they still delay. 
 If e'er the Miser durst his Farthings spare, 
 He thinly spreads them through the publick Square, 
 Where, all beside the Rail, rang'd Beggars lie, 341 
 And from each other catch the doleful Cry ; 
 With Heav'n, for Two-pence, cheaply wipes his 
 
 Score, 
 Lifts up his Eyes, and hasts to beggar more* 
 
 Where the brass Knocker, wrapt in Flannel Band, 
 Forbids the Thunder of the Footman's Hand ; 346 
 Th' Upholder, rueful Harbinger of Death 
 Waits, with Impatience, for the dying Breath ; 
 As Vultures, o'er a Camp, with hov'ring Flight, 
 Snuff up the future Carnage of the Fight. 350 
 
 Here canst thou pass, unmindful of a Pray'r, 
 That Heav'n in Mercy may thy Brother spare ? 
 
 Come, F*** sincere, experienc'd Friend, 
 
28 TRIVIA 
 
 Thy Briefs, thy Deeds, and ev'n thy Fees suspend ; 
 Come, let us leave the Temples, silent Walls, 355 
 Me Bus'ness to my distant Lodging calls: 
 Through the long Strand together let us stray, 
 With thee conversing, I forget the Way. 
 Behold that narrow Street, which steep descends, 
 Whose Building to the slimy Shore extends ; 360 
 Here ArundelVs fam'd Structure rear'd its Frame, 
 The Street alone retains an empty Name: 
 Where Titian 's glowing Paint the Canvas warm'd, 
 And Raphael's fair Design, with Judgment, charm'd, 
 Now hangs the Bell-man's Song, and pasted here, 
 The colour'd Prints of Overton appear. 366 
 
 Where Statues breath'd, the Work of Phidias'' Hands, 
 A wooden Pump, or lonely Watch-house stands. 
 There Essex stately Pile adorn'd the Shore, 
 There Cecil's, Bedford's, Fillers, now no more. 370 
 Yet Burlington s fair Palace still remains ; 
 Beauty within, without Proportion reigns. 
 Beneath his Eye declining Art revives, 
 The Wall with animated Picture lives ; 374 
 
 There Hendel strikes the Strings, the melting Strain 
 Transports the Soul, and thrills through ev'ry Vein; 
 There oft' I enter (but with cleaner Shoes) 
 For Burlington s belov'd by ev'ry Muse. 
 
 O ye associate Walkers, O my Friends, 
 Upon your State what Happiness attends! 380 
 
 What, though no Coach to frequent Visit rolls, 
 Nor for your Shilling Chairmen sling their Poles ; 
 Yet still your Nerves rheumatic Pains defye, 
 
TRIVIA 
 
 29 
 
 Nor lazy Jaundice dulls your Saffron Eye ; 
 No wasting Cough discharges Sounds of Death, 385 
 Nor wheezing Asthma heaves in vain for Breath ; 
 Nor from your restless Couch is heard the Groan 
 Of burning Gout, or sedentary Stone. 
 Let others in the jolting Coach confide, 
 Or in the leaky Boat the Thames divide; 390 
 
 Or, box'd within the Chair, contemn the Street, 
 And trust their Safety to another's Feet, 
 Still let me walk ; for oft' the sudden Gale 
 Ruffles the Tide, and shifts the dang'rous Sail. 
 Then shall the Passenger, too late, deplore 395 
 
 The whelming Billow, and the faithless Oar; 
 The drunken Chairman in the Kennel spurns, 
 The Glasses shatters, and his Charge o'erturns. 
 Who can recount the Coach's various Harms; 
 The Legs disjointed, and the broken Arms ? 400 
 
 I've seen a Beau, in some ill-fated Hour, 
 When o'er the Stones choak'd Kennels swell the 
 
 Show'r, 
 In gilded Chariot loll ; he with Disdain, 
 Views spatter 'd Passengers, all drench'd in Rain ; 
 With Mud fill'd high, the rumbling Cart draws near, 
 Now rule thy prancing Steeds, lac'd Charioteer ! 406 
 The Dustman lashes on with spiteful Rage, 
 His pond'rous Spokes thy painted Wheel engage, 
 Crush'd is thy Pride, down falls the shrieking Beau, 
 The slabby Pavement crystal Fragments strow, 410 
 Black Floods of Mire th' embroider 'd Coat disgrace, 
 And Mud enwraps the Honours of his Face. 
 
30 TRIVIA 
 
 So when dread Jove, the Son of Phoebus hurl'd, 
 Scarr'd with dark Thunder, to the nether World ; 
 The headstrong Coursers tore the silver Reins, 415 
 And the Sun's beamy Ruin gilds the Plains. 
 
 If the pale Walker pants with weak'ning Ills, 
 His sickly Hand is stor'd with friendly Bills : 
 From hence, he learns the seventh-born Doctor's 
 Fame, 419 
 
 From hence, he learns the cheapest Tailor's Name. 
 
 Shall the large Mutton smoak upon your Boards? 
 Such, Newgate?, copious Market best affords ; 
 Would'st thou with mighty Beef augment thy Meal? 
 Seek Leaden-hall ; Saint James\ sends thee Veal. 
 Thames-street gives Cheeses; Covent-garden Fruits; 
 Moor-fields old Books ; and Monmouth-street old 
 Suits. 426 
 
 Hence may'st thou well supply the Wants of Life, 
 Support thy Family, and cloath thy Wife. 
 
 Volumes, on shelter'd Stalls, expanded lye, 
 And various Science lures the learned Eye ; 430 
 
 The bending Shelves with pond'rous Scholiasts groan, 
 And deep Divines to modern Shops unknown : 
 Here, like the Bee, that on industrious Wing, 
 Collects the various Odours of the Spring, 
 Walkers, at leisure, Learning's Flow'rs may spoil, 435 
 Nor watch the Wasting of the Midnight Oil, 
 May Morals snatch from Plutarch's tatter'd Page, 
 A mildew'd Bacon, or Stagyras Sage. 
 
PENT-HOUSE OR BULKHEAD SHOPS UNDER SIR JOHN CASS SCHOOL 
 IN ALDGATE, CORNER OF HOUNDSDITCH, 1710 
 
TRIVIA 31 
 
 Here saunt'ring 'Prentices o'er Otway weep, 
 O'er Congreve smile, or over D** sleep ; 440 
 
 Pleas'd Sempstresses the Lock's fam'd Rape unfold, 
 And f Squirts read Garth, 'till Apozems grow cold. 
 
 O Lintott, let my Labours obvious lie, 
 Rang'd on thy Stall, for ev'ry curious Eye ; 
 So shall the Poor these Precepts gratis know, 445 
 And to my Verse their future Safeties owe. 
 
 What Walker shall his mean Ambition fix, 
 On the false Lustre of a Coach and Six ? 
 Let the vain Virgin, lur'd by glaring Show, 
 Sigh for the Liv'rys of th' embroider'd Beau. 450 
 
 See, yon' bright Chariot on its Harness swing, 
 With Flanders Mares, and on an arched Spring, 
 That Wretch, to gain an Equipage and Place, 
 Betray'd his Sister to a lewd Embrace. ' 
 This Coach, that with the blazon'd 'Scutcheon 
 glows, 455 
 
 Vain of his unknown Race, the Coxcomb shows. 
 Here the brib'd Lawyer, sunk in Velvet, sleeps; 
 The starving Orphan, as he passes, weeps ; 
 There flames a Fool, begirt with tinsilled SlaveSj 
 Who wastes the Wealth of a whole Race of Knaves. 
 That other, with a clustring Train behind, 461 
 
 Owes his new Honours to a sordid Mind. 
 This next in Court Fidelity excells, 
 
 f The Name of an Apothecary in the Poem of the Dispensary. 
 
3* 
 
 TRIVIA 
 
 The Publick rifles and his Country sells. 
 May the proud Chariot never be my Fate, 
 If purchas'd at so mean, so dear a Rate ; 
 O rather give me sweet Content on Foot, 
 Wrapt in my Vertue, and a good Surtout! 
 
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 BOOK III 
 
 Of Walking the Streets by Night. 
 
 O TRIVIA, Goddess, leave these low Abodes, 
 And traverse o'er the wide Ethereal Roads, 
 Celestial Queen, put on thy Robes of Light, 
 Now Cynthia nam'd, fair Regent of the Night. 
 At Sight of thee, the Villain sheaths his Sword, 5 
 Nor scales the Wall, to steal the wealthy Hoard. 
 Oh ! may thy Silver Lamp in Heav'n's high Bow'r 
 Direct my Footsteps in the Midnight Hour. 
 
 When Night first bids the twinkling Stars appear, 
 Or with her cloudy Vest in wraps the Air, 10 
 
 Then swarms the busie Street; with Caution tread, 
 Where the Shop- Windows falling threat thy Head; 
 Now Lab'rers home return, and join their Strength 
 To bear the tott'ring Plank, or Ladder's Length ; 
 Still fix thy Eyes intent upon the Throng, 15 
 
 And as the Passes open, wind along. 
 
 Where the fair Columns of Saint Clement stand, 
 Whose straiten'd Bounds encroach upon the Strand\ 
 
 33 F 
 
34 TRIFLA 
 
 Where the low Penthouse bows the Walker's Head, 
 And the rough Pavement wounds the yielding Tread; 
 Where not a Post protects the narrow Space, 21 
 
 And strung in Twines, Combs dangle in thy Face ; 
 Summon at once thy Courage, rouze thy Care, 
 Stand firm, look back, be resolute, beware. 
 Forth issuing from steep Lanes, the Colliers Steeds 25 
 Drag the black Load ; another Cart succeeds, 
 Team follows Team, Crouds heap'd on Crouds ap- 
 pear, 
 And wait impatient, 'till the Road grow clear. 
 Now all the Pavement sounds with trampling Feet, 
 And the mixt Hurry barricades the Street. 30 
 
 Entangled here, the Waggon's lengthen'd Team 
 Crack the tough Harness ; Here a pond'rous Beam 
 Lies over-turn'd athwart ; For Slaughter fed, 
 Here lowing Bullocks raise their horned Head. 
 Now Oaths grow loud, with Coaches Coaches jar, 35 
 And the smart Blow provokes the sturdy War ; 
 From the high Box they whirl the Thong around, 
 And with the twining Lash their Shins resound: 
 Their Rage ferments, more dang'rous Wounds they 
 
 And the Blood gushes down their painful Eye. 40 
 And now on Foot the frowning Warriors light, 
 And with their pond'rous Fists renew the Fight ; 
 Blow answers Blow, their Cheeks are 'smear'd with 
 
 Blood, 
 'Till down they fall, and grappling roll in Mud. 
 So when two Boars, in wild * Ttene bred, 45 
 
 * New Forest in Hampshire, anciently so calfd. 
 
TRIVIA 
 
 35 
 
 Or on Westphalia\ fatt'ning Chest-nuts fed, 
 Gnash their sharp Tugks, and rous'd with equal Fire, 
 Dispute the Reign of some luxurious Mire ; 
 In the black Flood they wallow o'er and o'er, 
 'Till their arm'd Jaws distill with Foam and Gore. 50 
 
 Where the Mob gathers, swiftly shoot along, 
 Nor idly mingle in the noisy Throng. 
 Lur'd by the Silver Hilt, amid the Swarm, 
 The subtil Artist will thy Side disarm. 
 Nor is thy Flaxen Wigg with Safety worn; 55 
 
 High on the Shoulder, in the Basket born, 
 Lurks the sly Boy; whose Hand to Rapine bred, 
 Plucks off the curling Honours of the Head. 
 Here dives the skulking Thief, with practis'd Slight, 
 And unfelt Fingers make thy Pocket light. 60 
 
 Where's now thy Watch, with all its Trinkets, 
 
 flown ? 
 And thy late Snuff-Box is no more thy own. 
 But lo ! his bolder Thefts some Tradesman spies, 
 Swift from his Prey the scudding Lurcher flies ; 
 Dext'rous he scapes the Coach, with nimble Bounds, 
 While ev'ry honest Tongue Stop Thief resounds. 66 
 So speeds the wily Fox, alarm'd by Fear, 
 Who lately filch'd the Turkey's callow Care ; 
 Hounds following Hounds, grow louder as he flies, 
 And injur 'd Tenants joyn the Hunter's Cries. 70 
 Breathless he stumbling falls : Ill-fated Boy ! 
 Why did not honest Work thy Youth employ ? 
 Seiz'd by rough Hands, he's dragg'd amid the Rout, 
 And stretch'd beneath the Pump's incessant Spout : 
 
36 rRIFIA 
 
 Or plung'd in miry Ponds, he gasping lies, 7$ 
 
 Mud choaks his Mouth, and plaisters o'er his Eyes. 
 
 Let not the Ballad-Singer's shrilling Strain 
 Amid the Swarm thy list'ning Ear detain: 
 Guard well thy Pocket ; for these Syrens stand, 
 To aid the Labours of the diving Hand ; 80 
 
 Confed'rate in the Cheat, they draw the Throng, 
 And Cambrick Handkerchiefs reward the Song. 
 But soon as Coach or Cart drives rattling on, 
 The Rabble part, in Shoals they backward run. 
 So Joves loud Bolts the mingled War divide, 85 
 And Greece and Troy retreats on either side. 
 
 If the rude Throng pour on with furious Pace, 
 And hap to break thee from a Friend's Embrace, 
 Stop short ; nor struggle thro' the Croud in vain, 
 But watch with careful Eye the passing Train. 90 
 Yet I (perhaps too fond) if chance the Tide 
 Tumultuous, bears my Partner from my Side, 
 Impatient venture back; despising Harm, 
 I force my Passage where the thickest swarm. 
 Thus his lost Bride the Trojan sought in vain 95 
 Through Night, and Arms, and Flames, and Hills of 
 
 Slain. 
 Thus Nisus wander'd o'er the pathless Grove, 
 To find the brave Companion of his Love, 
 The pathless Grove in vain he wanders o'er: 
 Euryalus alas ! is now no more. 100 
 
 That Walker, who regardless of his Pace, 
 
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TRIVIA 37 
 
 Turns oft' to pore upon the Damsel's Face, 
 
 From Side to Side by^thrusting Elbows tost, 
 
 Shall strike his aking Breast against the Post ; 
 
 Or Water, dash'd from fishy Stalls, shall stain 105 
 
 His hapless Coat with Spirts of scaly Rain. 
 
 But if unwarily he chance to stray, 
 
 Where twirling Turnstiles intercept the Way, 
 
 The thwarting Passenger shall force them round, 
 
 And beat the Wretch half breathless to the Ground. 
 
 Let constant Vigilance thy Footsteps guide, 1 1 1 
 And wary Circumspection guard thy Side ; 
 Then shalt thou walk unharm'd the dang'rous Night, 
 Nor need th' officious Link-Boy's smoaky Light. 
 Thou never wilt attempt to cross the Road, 115 
 
 Where Alehouse Benches rest the Porter's Load, 
 Grievous to heedless Shins ; No Barrow's Wheel, 
 That bruises oft' the Truant School-Boy's Heel, 
 Behind thee rolling, with insidious Pace, 
 Shall mark thy Stocking with a miry Trace. 120 
 
 Let not thy vent'rous Steps approach too nigh, 
 Where gaping wide, low steepy Cellars lie; 
 Should thy Shoe wrench aside, down, down you fall, 
 And overturn the scolding Huckster's Stall, 
 The scolding Huckster shall not o'er thee moan, 125 
 But Pence exad: for Nuts and Pears o'erthrown. 
 
 Though you through cleanlier Allies wind by Day, 
 To shun the Hurries of the publick Way, 
 Yet ne'er to those dark Paths by Night retire ; 
 Mind only Safety, and contemn the Mire. 130 
 
38 TRIVIA 
 
 Then no impervious Courts thy Haste detain, 
 Nor sneering Ale- Wives bid thee turn again. 
 
 Where Lincoln s-Inn, wide Space, is rail'd around, 
 Cross not with vent'rous Step ; there oft' is found 
 The lurking Thief, who while the Day-light shone, 
 Made the Walls eccho with his begging Tone: 136 
 That Crutch which late Compassion mov'd, shall 
 
 wound 
 Thy bleeding Head, and fell thee to the Ground. 
 Though thou art tempted by the Link-man's Call, 
 Yet trust him not along the lonely Wall ; 140 
 
 In the Mid-way he'll quench the flaming Brand, 
 And share the Booty with the pilf'ring Band. 
 Still keep the publick Streets, where oily Rays 
 Shot from the Crystal Lamp, o'erspread the Ways. 
 
 Happy Augusta I Law-defended Town ! 145 
 
 Here no dark Lanthorns shade the Villain's Frown; 
 No Spanish Jealousies thy Lanes infest, 
 Nor Roman Vengeance stabs th' unwary Breast; 
 Here Tyranny ne'er lifts her purple Hand, 
 But Liberty and Justice guard the Land ; 1 50 
 
 No Bravos here profess the bloody Trade, 
 Nor is the Church the Murd'rer's Refuge made. 
 
 Let not the Chairman, with assuming Stride, 
 Press near the Wall, and rudely thrust thy Side : 
 The Laws have set him Bounds; his servile Feet 155 
 Should ne'er encroach where Posts defend the Street. 
 Yet who the Footman's Arrogance can quell, 
 
r R I V I A 
 
 39 
 
 Whose Flambeau gilds the Sashes of Pell-mell f 
 When in long Rank a^Train of Torches flame, 
 To light the Midnight Visits of the Dame ? 1 60 
 
 Others, perhaps, by happier Guidance led, 
 May where the Chairman rests, with Safety tread ; 
 Whene'er I pass, their Poles unseen below, 
 Make my Knee tremble with the jarring Blow. 
 
 If Wheels bar up the Road, where Streets are crost, 
 With gentle Words the Coachman's Ear accost: 166 
 He ne'er the Threat, or harsh Command obeys, 
 But with Contempt the spatter'd Shoe surveys. 
 Now man with utmost Fortitude thy Soul, 
 To cross the Way where Carts and Coaches roll; 
 Yet do not in thy hardy Skill confide, 171 
 
 Nor rashly risque the Kennel's spacious Stride ; 
 Stay till afar the distant Wheel you hear, 
 Like dying Thunder in the breaking Air ; 
 Thy Foot will slide upon the miry Stone, 175 
 
 And passing Coaches crush thy tortur'd Bone, 
 Or Wheels enclose the Road; on either Hand 
 Pent round with Perils, in the midst you stand, 
 And call for Aid in vain ; the Coachman swears, 
 And Carmen drive, unmindful of thy Prayers. 1 80 
 Where wilt thou turn ?. ah ! whither wilt thou fly ? 
 On ev'ry side the pressing Spokes are nigh. 
 So Sailors, while Charybdis Gulphs they shun, 
 Amaz'd, on Scyllds craggy Dangers run. 
 
 Be sure observe where brown Ostrea stands, 185 
 Who boasts her shelly Ware from Wallfieet Sands; 
 
4© TRIVIA 
 
 There may'st thou pass, with safe unmiry Feet, 
 Where the rais'd Pavement leads athwart the Street. 
 If where Fleet-Ditch with muddy Current flows, 
 You chance to roam; where Oyster-Tubs in Rows 
 Are rang'd beside the Posts; there stay thy Haste, 191 
 And with the sav'ry Fish indulge thy Taste : 
 The Damsel's Knife the gaping Shell commands, 
 While the salt Liquor streams between her Hands. 
 
 The Man had sure a Palate cover'd o'er 195 
 
 With Brass or Steel, that on the rocky Shore 
 First broke the oozy Oyster's pearly Coat, 
 And risqu'd the living Morsel down his Throat. 
 What will not Lux'ry taste? Earth, Sea, and Air 
 Are daily ransack'd for the Bill of Fare. 200 
 
 Blood stuff'd in Skins is British Christian's Food, 
 And France robs Marshes of the croaking Brood ; 
 Spungy Morells in strong Ragousts are found, 
 And in the Soupe the slimy Snail is drown'd. 
 
 When from high Spouts the dashing Torrents fall, 
 Ever be watchful to maintain the Wall; 206 
 
 For should'st thou quit thy Ground, the rushing 
 
 Throng 
 Will with impetuous Fury drive along; 
 All press to gain those Honours thou hast lost, 
 And rudely shove thee far without the Post. 210 
 Then to retrieve the Shed you strive in vain, 
 Draggled all o'er, and soak'd in Floods of Rain. 
 Yet rather bear the Show'r, and Toils of Mud, 
 Than in the doubtful Quarrel risque thy Blood. 
 
TRIVIA 41 
 
 O think on OEdipus' detested State, 215 
 
 And by his Woes he warn'd to shun thy Fate. 
 
 Where three Roads join'd, he met his Sire un- 
 known; 
 (Unhappy Sire, but more unhappy Son!) 
 Each claim'd the Way, their Swords the Strife decide, 
 The hoary Monarch fell, he groan'd and dy'd! 220 
 Hence sprung the fatal Plague that thinn'd thy Reign, 
 Thy cursed Incest! and thy Children slain! 
 Hence wert thou doom'd in endless Night to stray 
 Through Theban Streets, and cheerless groap thy 
 Way.. 
 
 Contemplate, Mortal, on thy fleeting Years; 225 
 See, with black Train the Funeral Pomp appears! 
 Whether some Heir attends in sable State, 
 And mourns with outward Grief a Parent's Fate; 
 Or the fair Virgin, nipt in Beauty's Bloom, 
 A Croud of Lovers follow to her Tomb. 230 
 
 Why is the Herse with 'Scutcheons blazon'd round, 
 And with the nodding Plume of Ostrich crown'd ? 
 No : The Dead know it not, nor Profit gain ; 
 It only serves to prove the Living vain. 
 How short is Life! how frail is human Trust! 235 
 Is all this Pomp for laying Dust to Dust? 
 
 Where the nail'd Hoop defends the painted Stall, 
 Brush not thy sweeping Skirt too near the Wall ; 
 Thy heedless Sleeve will drink the colour'd Oil, 
 And Spot indelible thy Pocket soil. 240 
 
 G 
 
42 TRIVIA 
 
 Has not wise Nature strung the Legs and Feet 
 With firmest Nerves, design'd to walk the Street? 
 Has she not given us Hands, to groap aright, 
 Amidst the frequent Dangers of the Night? 
 And think'st thou not the double Nostril meant, 
 To warn from oily Woes by previous Scent? 246 
 
 Who can the various City Frauds recite, 
 With all the petty Rapines of the Night ? 
 Who now the Guinea-Dropper 's Bait regards, 
 Trick'd by the Sharper's Dice, or Juggler's Cards ? 
 Why shou'd I warn thee ne'er to join the Fray, 251 
 Where the Sham-Quarrel interrupts the Way? 
 Lives there in these our Days so soft a Clown, 
 Brav'd by the Bully's Oaths, or threat'ning Frown ? 
 I need not strict enjoyn the Pocket's Care, 255 
 
 When from the crouded Play thou lead'st the Fair; 
 Who has not here, or Watch, or Snuff-Box lost, 
 Or Handkerchiefs that India's, Shuttle boast ? 
 
 O ! may thy Virtue guard thee through the Roads 
 Of Drury\ mazy Courts, and dark Abodes, 260 
 
 The Harlots' guileful Paths, who nightly stand, 
 Where Katherine-street descends into the Strand. 
 Say, vagrant Muse, their Wiles and subtil Arts, 
 To lure the Stranger's unsuspecting Hearts; 
 So shall our Youth on healthful Sinews tread, 265 
 And City Cheeks grow warm with rural Red. 
 
 'Tis She who nightly strowls with saunt'ring Pace, 
 No stubborn Stays her yielding Shape embrace; 
 
O 
 
 Q 
 Z 
 < 
 
 H 
 
 C/3 
 
 W 
 
 h 
 
 O 
 H 
 g 
 
 Q 
 £ 
 W 
 U 
 en 
 W 
 Q 
 
 h 
 W 
 
 w 
 
 H 
 
 CO 
 
 W 
 
 5 
 w 
 
 h 
 < 
 
 2 
 w 
 
T r i r i a 
 
 43 
 
 Beneath the Lamp her tawdry Ribbons glare, 
 The new-scower'd Manteau, and the slattern Air; 
 High-draggled Petticoats her Travels show, 271 
 
 And hollow Cheeks with artful Blushes glow; 
 With flatt'ring Sounds she sooths the cred'lous Ear, 
 My noble Captain ! Charmer ! Love ! my Dear ! 
 In Riding-hood, near Tavern-Doors she plies, 275 
 Or muffled Pinners hide her livid Eyes. 
 With empty Bandbox she delights to range, 
 And feigns a distant Errand from the Change, 
 Nay, she will oft' the Quaker's Hood prophane, 
 And trudge demure the Rounds of Drury-Lane. 
 She darts from Sarsnet Ambush wily Leers, 281 
 
 Twitches thy Sleeve, or with familiar Airs, 
 Her Fan will pat thy Cheek; these Snares disdain, 
 Nor gaze behind thee, when she turns again. 
 
 I knew a Yeoman, who for thirst of Gain, 285 
 To the great City drove from Devon s Plain 
 His num'rous lowing Herd; his Herds he sold, 
 And his deep leathern Pocket bagg'd with Gold; 
 Drawn by a fraudful Nymph, he gaz'd, he sigh'd; 
 Unmindful of his Home, and distant Bride, 290 
 
 She leads the willing Victim to his Doom, 
 Through winding Alleys to her Cobweb Room. 
 Thence thro' the Street he reels, from Post to Post, 
 Valiant with Wine, nor knows his Treasure lost. 
 The vagrant Wretch th' assembled Watchmen spies, 
 He waves his Hanger, and their Poles defies ; 296 
 Deep in the Round-House pent, all Night he snores, 
 And the next Morn in vain his Fate deplores. 
 
44 TRIVIA 
 
 Ah hapless Swain, unus'd to Pains and Ills ! 
 Canst thou forgo Roast-Beef for nauseous Pills ? 300 
 How wilt thou lift to Heav'n thy Eyes and Hands, 
 When the long Scroll the Surgeon's Fees demands ! 
 Or else (ye Gods avert that worst Disgrace) 
 Thy ruin'd Nose falls level with thy Face, 
 Then shall thy Wife thy loathsome Kiss disdain, 305 
 And wholesome Neighbours from thy Mug refrain. 
 
 Yet there are Watchmen, who with friendly Light, 
 Will teach thy reeling Steps to tread aright; 
 For Sixpence will support thy helpless Arm, 
 And Home conduct thee, safe from nightly Harm; 
 But if they shake their Lanthorns, from afar, 3 1 1 
 To call their Breth'ren to confed'rate War, 
 When Rakes resist their Pow'r; if hapless you 
 Should chance to wander with the scow'ring Crew; 
 Though Fortune yield thee Captive, ne'er despair, 
 But seek the Constable's consid'rate Ear; 316 
 
 He will reverse the Watchman's harsh Decree, 
 Mov'd by the Rhet'rick of a Silver Fee. 
 Thus would you gain some fav'rite Courtier's Word; 
 Fee not the petty Clarks, but bribe my Lord. 320 
 
 Now is the Time that Rakes their Revells keep; 
 Kindlers of Riot, Enemies of Sleep. 
 His scatter'd Pence the flying * Nicker flings, 
 And with the Copper Show'r the Casement rings. 
 Who has not heard the Scowrer\ Midnight Fame? 
 Who has not trembled at the Mohock's Name? 326 
 
 * Gentlemen, who delighted to break Windows with Half-pence. 
 
TRIVIA 
 
 45 
 
 Was there a Watchman took his hourly Rounds, 
 Safe from their Blows „ or new-invented Wounds? 
 I pass their desp'rate Deeds, and Mischiefs done, 329 
 Where from Snow-hill black steepy Torrents run ; 
 How Matrons, hoop'd within the Hogshead's Womb, 
 Were tumbled furious thence, the rolling Tomb 
 O'er the Stones thunders, bounds from Side to 
 
 Side. 
 So Regulus to save his Country dy'd. 
 
 Where a dim Gleam the paly Lanthorn throws 
 O'er the mid' Pavement ; heapy Rubbish grows, 336 
 Or arched Vaults their gaping Jaws extend, 
 Or the dark Caves to Common-Shores descend. 
 Oft' by the Winds, extindr. the Signal lies, 
 Or smother'd in the glimm'ring Socket dies, 340 
 E'er Night has half rol I'd round her Ebon Throne; 
 In the wide Gulph the shatter'd Coach o'erthrown, 
 Sinks with the snorting Steeds ; the Reins are broke, 
 And from the cracking Axle flies the Spoke. 
 So when fam'd Eddy st one s far-shooting Ray, 345 
 That led the Sailor through the stormy Way, 
 Was from its rocky Roots by Billows torn, 
 And the high Turret in the Whirlewind born, 
 Fleets bulg'd their Sides against the craggy Land, 
 And pitchy Ruines blacken'd all the Strand. 350 
 
 Who then through Night would hire the harness'd 
 Steed, 
 And who would chuse the rattling Wheel for Speed ? 
 
46 TRIVIA 
 
 But hark! Distress with screaming Voice draws 
 
 nigh'r, 
 And wakes the slumb'ring Street with Cries of Fire. 
 At first a glowing Red enwraps the Skies, 355 
 
 And born by Winds the scatt'ring Sparks arise; 
 From Beam to Beam, the fierce Contagion spreads; 
 The spiry Flames now lift aloft their Heads, 
 Through the burst Sash a blazing Deluge pours, 
 And splitting Tiles descend in rattling Show'rs. 360 
 Now with thick Crouds th' enlighten'd Pavement 
 
 swarms, 
 The Fire-man sweats beneath his crooked Arms, 
 A leathern Casque his vent'rous Head defends, 
 Boldly he climbs where thickest Smoak ascends; 
 Mov'd by the Mother's streaming Eyes and Pray'rs, 
 The helpless Infant through the Flame he bears, 366 
 With no less Virtue, than through hostile Fire, 
 The Dardan Hero bore his aged Sire. 
 See forceful Engines spout their levell'd Streams, 
 To quench the Blaze that runs along the Beams; 370 
 The grappling Hook plucks Rafters from the Walls, 
 And Heaps on Heaps the smoaky Ruine falls. 
 Blown by strong Winds the fiery Tempest roars, 
 Bears down new Walls, and pours along the Floors : 
 The Heav'ns are all a-blaze, the Face of Night 375 
 Is cover'd with a sanguine dreadful Light; 
 'Twas such a Light involv'd thy Tow'rs, O Rome, 
 The dire Presage of mighty Ccesar\ Doom, 
 When the Sun veil'd in Rust his mourning Head, 
 And frightful Prodigies the Skies o'erspread. 380 
 Hark! the Drum thunders! far, ye Crouds, retire: 
 
h 
 
 CO 
 
 < 
 
 Q 
 H 
 
 CO 
 W 
 
 CO 
 
 D 
 
 O 
 
 h 
 W 
 
 CO 
 
 w 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
TRIVIA 47 
 
 B ehold ! the ready Match is tipt with Fire, 
 The nitrous Store is laid, the smutty Train 
 With running Blaze awakes the barrell'd Grain; 
 Flames sudden wrap the Walls; with sullen Sound, 
 The shatter'd Pile sinks on the smoaky Ground. 386 
 So when the Years shall have revolv'd the Date, 
 Th' inevitable Hour of Naples' Fate, 
 Her sap'd Foundations shall with Thunders shake, 
 And heave and toss upon the sulph'rous Lake ; 390 
 Earth's Womb at once the fiery Flood shall rend, 
 And in th' Abyss her plunging Tow'rs descend. 
 
 Consider, Reader, what Fatigues I've known, 
 The Toils, the Perils of the wintry Town; 
 What Riots seen, what bustling Crouds I bor'd, 395 
 How oft' I cross'd where Carts and Coaches roar'd; 
 Yet shall I bless my Labours, if Mankind 
 Their future Safety from my Dangers find. 
 Thus the bold Traveller, inur'd to Toil, 
 Whose Steps have printed Asia's desert Soil, 400 
 The barb'rous Arabs Haunt; or shiv'ring crost 
 Dark Greenland Mountains of eternal Frost; 
 Whom Providence, in length of Years, restores 
 To the wish'd Harbour of his native Shores; 
 Sets forth his Journals to the publick View, 405 
 To caution, by his Woes, the wandring Crew. 
 
 And now compleat my gen'rous Labours lye, 
 Finish'd, and ripe for Immortality. 
 Death shall entomb in Dust this mould'ring Frame, 
 But never reach th' eternal Part, my Fame. 410 
 
4 8 
 
 TRIVIA 
 
 When W * and G * *, mighty Names, are dead; 
 
 Or but at Chelsea under Custards read; 
 
 When Criticks crazy Bandboxes repair, 
 
 And Tragedies, turn'd Rockets, bounce in Air; 414 
 
 High-rais'd on Fleetstreet Posts, consign'd to Fame, 
 
 This Work shall shine, and Walkers bless my Name. 
 
 FINIS 
 
INDEX 
 
 [In the earliest editions, the Index references were to pages. Here, the pagina- 
 tion not agreeing with the original, the numbering by Books and Lines has 
 been adopted.] 
 
 A 
 
 A- 
 
 UTHOR,for whom he wrote the Poem, I, 119 
 
 Asses their Arrogance, II, 13 
 
 .Ariadne'* Clue, II, 86 
 
 Alley, the Pleasure of Walking in one, II, 149 
 
 Almanacks, useless to judicious Walkers, II, 284 
 
 Autumn, what Cries then in use, II, 311 
 
 Arundel-street, II, 361 
 
 Author, his Wish, III, 1 
 
 Alley, not to be walk'd in by Night, III, 127 
 
 B 
 
 Bavaroy, by whom worn, I, 53 
 
 Brokers keep Coaches, I, 115 
 
 Bookseller, skill 'd in the Weather, I, 1 6 1 
 
 Barber, by whom to be shun'd, II, 23 
 
 Baker, to whom prejudicial, II, 23 
 
 Butchers to be avoided, II, 43 
 
 Bully, his Insolence to be corrected, II, 59 
 
 Broker, where he usually walks, II, 155 
 
 Burlington-house, II, 371 
 
 Beau's Chariot overturn d, II, 398 
 
 Bills dispersed to Walkers, II, 418 
 
 Ballad-Singers, III, yj 
 
 H 
 
5o TRIVIA 
 
 
 c 
 
 Country, the Author's Love of his, 
 
 I, 21 
 
 Civic-Crown, 
 
 I, 20 
 
 Cane, the Convenience of one, 
 
 I,6i 
 
 An Amber-headed one useless, 
 
 1,67 
 
 'The Abuse of it, 
 
 ib. 
 
 Camlet, how ajfeSled by Rain, 
 
 I, 46 
 
 Coat, how to chuse one for the Winter, 
 
 I, 42 
 
 Chairs and Chariots prejudical to Health, 
 
 1,70 
 
 Coachman asleep on his Box, what the Sign of, 
 
 I, iSS 
 
 Chairmen, an Observation upon them, 
 
 I, 153 seo. 
 
 Church-Monuments foretell the Weather, 
 
 I, 167 
 
 Common-shores, 
 
 I, 171 
 
 Cold, the Description of one, 
 
 I, 268 
 
 Clergy, what Tradesmen to avoid, 
 
 11,27 
 
 Chimney-Sweeper, by whom to be avoided, 
 
 11,33 
 
 Chandlers prejudicial to Walkers, 
 
 II, 40 
 
 Civility to be paid to Walkers, 
 
 11,45 
 
 Coachman, his Metamorphosis, 
 
 11, 118 
 
 Carman when unmerciful, his Punishment, 
 
 II, 119 
 
 Cheapside, 
 
 II, 122 
 
 Cheese not lovd by the Author, 
 
 II, 132 
 
 Country-man perplex 'd to find the Way, 
 
 11,78 
 
 Coachman, his Whip dangerous, 
 
 II, 190 
 
 His Care of his Horses, 
 
 II, 192 
 
 Coaches dangerous in snowy Weather, 
 
 II, 206 
 
 Chairmen, their Exercise in frosty Weather, 
 
 II, 214 
 
 Covent-Garden, 
 
 II, 221, 425 
 
 Cries of the Town, Observations upon them, 
 
 II, 303 sea. 
 
 Christmas, what Cries fore-run it, 
 
 II, 3 J 7 
 
 A Season for general Charity, 
 
 II, 321 
 
 Coaches, those that keep them uncharitable, 
 
 II, 329 seq. 
 
 Charity most practised by Walkers, 
 
 II, 33* 
 
 Where given with "Judgment, 
 
 H, 335 
 
 Not to be delay'd, 
 
 II, 337 
 
 Chairs, the Danger of them, 
 
 II, 393 
 
 Coaches attended with ill Accidents, 
 
 II, 399 
 
 Despised by Walkers, 
 
 II, 447 
 
INDEX 51 
 
 Coaches Kept by Coxcombs and Pimps, II, 453 
 
 Clement'/ Church, the Pass of it described, III, 17 
 
 Colliers Carts, III, 25 
 
 Coaches, a Stop of them described, III, 26 seq. 
 
 Coachmen, a Fight of them, III, 36 
 
 Crowd parted by a Coach, III, 84 
 
 Cellar, the Misfortune of falling into one, III, 123 
 
 Cu-de-Sac, III, 131 
 
 Chairmen, Law concerning them, III, 153 seq. 
 
 Their Poles dangerous, III, 163 
 
 Coachmen despise dirty Shoes, III, 168 
 
 Coaches, a Man surrounded by them, III, 177 
 
 Constable, his Consideration, III, 316 
 
 Coach fallen into a Hole, described, III, 342 
 
 Cr kicks, their Fate, III, 413 
 
 D 
 
 D'oily Stuffs, useless in Winter, I, 43 
 
 Drugget-Silk, improper in cold Weather, I, 44 
 
 Dress, Propriety therein to be observed, I, 121 seq. 
 
 Drummers improper at a Wedding, II, 19 
 
 Dustman, to whom offensive, II, 37 
 
 Drays, when not to be walk'd behind, II, 167 
 
 Doll, a melancholy Story of her Death, II, 259 seq. 
 
 Dustman spiteful to gilded Chariots, II, 407 seq. 
 
 Drury-Lane dangerous to Virtue, III, 259 seq. 
 
 E 
 
 Evening described, III, 9 
 
 Eddystone Light-house, III, 345 
 
 F 
 Frieze, its Defects, I, 45 
 Footman, his Prudence in rainy Weather, I, 1 27 
 Fair Weather, Signs of it, I, 143 seq. 
 Farrier'/ Shop, a Description of one, I, 258 
 Fop, the Description of one walking, II, 53 
 The til Consequence of passing too near one, II, 58 
 
52 TRIVIA 
 
 Female Guides not to be made use of , II, 186 
 
 Foot-ball described, II, 226 
 
 Frost, an Episode of the great one, II, 235 seq. 
 
 Fair, one kept on the Thames, II, 248 
 
 Fishmonger, the Description of his Stall, II, 291 seq. 
 
 Friday, how to know it, II, 297 
 
 Friend, the Author walks with one, II, 355 
 
 Rules to walk with one, III, 87 seq. 
 
 Fox, like a Pick-pocket, III, 67 
 
 Foot-man very arrogant, III, 157 
 Fleet-Ditch, I, 124; III, 189 
 
 Funeral, the Walkers Contemplation on one, III, 225 seq. 
 
 Fire, the Description of one, III, 353 seq. 
 
 Fire- man, his Vertue, III, 362 seq. 
 
 Fire- Engines, III, 369 
 
 G 
 
 Gamester, his Chariot described, I, 115 
 
 Glasier, his Skill at Foot-Ball, I, 233 
 
 Guinea-droppers, III, 249 
 
 H 
 
 Health acquired by Walking, 1,73 
 
 Holland, the Streets of that Country described, 1, 87 
 
 Hosier's Poles, what observed by them, I, 165 
 
 Hawker, at what Time he crys News, II, 22 
 
 Horses like Parthian's, II, 173 
 
 Hands, their Use, III, 243 
 
 House blown up, the Description of it, III, 382 
 
 I 
 
 Invention of Pattens, I, 221 seq. 
 
 fugglers to be avoided, II, 165 
 
 Industry not exempt from Death, II, 266 
 
 June, what Cry denotes that Month, II, 309 
 
 James St. its Market, II, 425 
 
 K 
 
 Knocker of a Door, an Observation on one, II, 345 
 
 Katherine-street, III, 262 
 
INDEX 53 
 
 London, its Happiness before the Invention of Coaches and Chairs, 
 
 I, IOI 
 Ladies walking the Streets, 
 
 In the Park what they betoken, 
 
 Dress, neither by Reason nor InstinSi, 
 
 Letcher s old, where they frequent , 
 
 Leaden-hall Market, 
 
 Lintott Mr. Advice to him, 
 
 Lawyer passing the Street in a Coach, 
 
 Labourers returned from Work, 
 
 Lincoln's Inn Fields, 
 
 Linkman, where not to be trusted, 
 
 Luxury, a Reflection on it, 
 
 Legs, their Use, 
 
 Lanthorn, what it shews in the middle of the Street, 
 
 M 
 
 Martha, a Milk-maid ^/"Lincolnshire, 
 
 Morning, then what first to be considered, 
 
 Morning described, 
 
 Milk-maid of the City, unlike a Rural One, 
 
 Mercy recommended to Coachmen and Carmen, 
 
 Masons, dangerous to pass where at Work, 
 
 Modesty not to be offended, 
 
 Monday, by what Observations to know it, 
 
 Miser, his manner of Charity, 
 
 Moor-Fields, 
 
 Monmouth-Street, 
 
 Mobs to be avoided, 
 
 Mohocks, a Sett of modern Rakes, 
 
 Matrons put in Hogsheads, 
 
 N 
 
 Naples, the Streets of that City, 
 Newgate Market, 
 Nisus and Euryalus, 
 
 I, 
 
 JOS 
 
 I, 
 
 HS 
 
 I, 
 
 ! 5° 
 
 II, 
 
 J 59 
 
 II, 
 
 425 
 
 II, 
 
 443 
 
 II, 
 
 457 
 
 III 
 
 , 13 
 
 III, 
 
 x 33 
 
 III, 
 
 i39 
 
 III, 
 
 199 
 
 III, 
 
 241 
 
 III, 
 
 335 
 
 I, 
 
 227 
 
 I, 121 
 
 seq. 
 
 II, 7 seq. 
 
 II 
 
 , 12 
 
 II, 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 II, 
 
 146 
 
 II, 
 
 178 
 
 II, 
 
 290 
 
 II, 
 
 2 39 
 
 II, 
 
 426 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 til, 51 
 
 seq. 
 
 III, 
 
 326 
 
 HI, 
 
 331 
 
 ] 
 
 [ > 93 
 
 II, 
 
 422 
 
 III, 97 
 
54 TRIVIA 
 
 Nose, its Use, III, 245 
 
 Nicker, his Art, III, 324 
 
 Naples, its Fate, III, 389 
 
 O 
 
 Oysters, at what time first cry'd, I, 28 
 
 Old Woman, an Observation upon one, I, 139 
 
 Observations on the Looks of Walkers, II, 154 
 
 Ox roasted on the Thames, II, 246 
 
 Orpheus, his Death, II, 271 
 
 Overton the Print-Seller, II, 366 
 
 Oyster-Wench, III, 185 
 Oyster, the Courage of him that first eat one, III, 195 seq. 
 
 OEdipus, III, 215 
 
 P 
 
 Pavers, their Duty, 1,13 
 
 Paris, the Streets of that City, I, 85 
 
 Poor, their Murmurs, what the Sign of, I, 138 
 
 Paul Saint, his Festival, I, 177 
 Precepts, what the Consequence, if neglecled, I, 189 seq. 
 
 Pattens, a Female Implement, I, 2 1 2 
 
 Presents better than Flattery, I, 280 
 
 Patten, its Derivation, I, 282 
 
 Perfumer, by whom to be avoided, II, 29 
 
 Porter sworn, useful to Walkers, II, 66 
 
 Prentices not to be rely'd on, II, 69 
 
 Post, when to walk on the outside of it, II, 98 
 
 Pillory not to be gaz'd upon, II, 99 
 
 Pall-Mali celebrated, II, 135 
 
 Pythagoras his Doctrine, II, 115 
 
 Petticoat, its Use in bad Weather, II, 184 
 
 Pavers, a Signal for Coaches to avoid them, II, 187 
 
 Pattens inconvenient in snowy Weather, II, 202 
 
 Phaeton, a Beau compared to him, II, 413 
 
 Perriwigs, how stolen off the Head, III, 55 
 
 Pick-pocket, his Art and Misfortunes, III, 59 
 
 Paint, how to be avoided, III, 237 
 Play-house, a Caution when you lead a Lady out of it, III, 256 
 
INDEX 55 
 
 Quarrels for the Wall to be avoided, 
 Quarrels, sham ones, dangerous, 
 
 R 
 
 Riding-hood, its Use, 
 
 Rome, the Streets of it, 
 
 Rain, Signs of it, 
 
 Rakes, how they avoid a Dun, 
 
 Raphael Urbin, 
 
 Rakes, their Time of walking, 
 
 Regulus, his Death, 
 
 Reader, the Author addresses him, 
 
 S 
 Scavengers, their Duty, 
 Stage-Coaches, an Observation upon them, 
 Shoe-cleaning Boys, the Time of their first Appearance, 
 Shoes, when to provide them, 
 
 What sort improper for Walkers, 
 
 What proper for Dancers, 
 
 What most proper for Walkers, 
 
 Surtout Kersey, its Description, 
 
 Shower, a Man in one described, 
 
 Shins, what they betoken when scorched, 
 
 Signs creaking, what they betoken, 
 
 Superstition to be avoided, 
 
 Swithin Saint, bis Festival, 
 
 Smallcoal-Man, by whom to be avoided, 
 
 Summer foreign to the Author's Design, 
 
 Signs, the Use of them, 
 
 Seven Dials of St. Giles 's Parish described, 
 
 Stockings, how to prevent their being spatter d, 
 
 Streets, narrow ones to be avoided, 
 
 Snowy Weather, 
 
 Shoes, bow to free them from Snow, 
 
 Snow-Balls, Coachmen pelted with them, 
 
 School-Boys mischievous in frosty Weather, 
 
 III, 
 
 III, 206 
 
 204 
 seq. 
 
 I, 
 
 209 
 
 I 
 
 , 94 
 
 I, 1 57 seq. 
 II, 161 
 
 II, 
 HI, 
 
 3 6 4 
 321 
 
 HI, 
 HI, 
 
 334 
 393 
 
 I 
 
 , *5 
 
 I>*5 
 
 seq. 
 
 :e, I, 23 seq. 
 ib. 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 I 
 
 ,58 
 
 I, 
 
 l 95 
 
 I, 
 I, 
 
 *37 
 158 
 
 I, 
 I, 
 
 *7S 
 188 
 
 II 
 
 II, 
 II 
 
 , 35 
 J 93 
 >6 7 
 
 II, 73 seq. 
 
 II, 98 
 
 II, 108 
 
 II, 
 
 201 
 
 II, 
 II, 
 
 204 
 208 
 
 II, 
 
 21 1 
 
56 
 
 TRIVIA 
 
 Sempstress, the Description of her in a frosty Morning, 
 
 Saturday, by what Observations to know it, 
 
 Spring, the Cries then in Use, 
 
 Streets formerly Noblemens Houses, ] 
 
 Sempstress, Advice to her, 
 
 Swords silver, lure Thieves, 
 
 Street, how to cross it, 
 
 Scylla and Charybdis, 
 
 Street, where to cross it by Night, 
 
 Scowrers, a Sett of Rakes, 
 
 Snow-Hill, 
 
 Trivia, the Goddess of Streets and High-Ways, invoked, 
 
 Trades prejudicial to Walkers, 
 
 Tradesman, in what to be trusted, 
 
 Theseus in the Labyrinth of Crete, 
 
 Thames-Street, 
 
 Trades offensive to the Smell, 
 
 Tea-Drinkers, a necessary Caution to them, 
 
 Thames, Coaches driven over it, 
 
 Thaw, the Description of one, 
 
 Thursday, by what Observations to know it, 
 
 Titian, 
 
 Trivia invoked as Cynthia, 
 
 Turnstiles, 
 
 Tragedies, their Fate, 
 
 V 
 Umbrella, its Use, 
 Vulcan in Love with a Mtikmaia, 
 
 Advice to him, 
 
 Venice, the Streets of it, 
 
 Vaults, an Observation upon them, 
 
 Vulcan metamorphos'd to a Country Farrier, 
 
 ■ The Inventor of Hob-Nails and Sparables, 
 
 The Inventor of Pattens, 
 
 Upholder, where he frequents, 
 
 II, 
 
 215 
 
 II, 
 
 302 
 
 II, 
 
 306 
 
 [1, 361 
 
 seq. 
 
 II, 
 
 219 
 
 II] 
 
 •>53 
 
 III, 
 
 170 
 
 III, 
 
 183 
 
 III, 
 
 325 
 
 III, 
 
 325 
 
 III, 
 
 330 
 
 
 I»5 
 
 II 
 
 , 27 
 
 II 
 
 '7 1 
 
 II 
 
 ,84 
 
 II, 
 
 123 
 
 I, 123 seq. 
 
 II, 
 
 176 
 
 II, 
 
 237 
 
 II, 
 
 277 
 
 II, 
 
 290 
 
 II, 
 
 3 6 3 
 
 111,4 
 
 III, 
 
 108 
 
 III, 
 
 4i5 
 
 I, 
 
 21 1 
 
 I, 241 
 
 seq. 
 
 I, 
 
 245 
 
 I 
 
 >97 
 
 I, 
 
 172 
 
 I, 249 seq. 
 
 I, 
 
 263 
 
 I, 272 
 
 seq. 
 
 II, 
 
 347 
 
I N D EX 
 
 57 
 
 w 
 
 Winter, the beginning of it described, I, i seq. 
 
 Witney Broadcloath proper for Horsemen, I, 47 
 
 Wig compared to Alefto'j Snakes, I, 243 
 
 To Glaucus' Beard, I, 245 
 
 What to be 'worn in a Mist, I, 125 
 
 Waterman, judicious in the Weather, I, 163 
 
 Winds whistling, what they foretell, I, 1 8 1 
 
 Wall, to whom to be given, II, 46 
 
 To whom to be denyd, II, 59 
 
 Way, of whom to be enquired, II, 65 seq. 
 
 Watling-Street, II, 121 
 
 Walkers inadvertent, to what Misfortunes liable, II, 151 
 
 Wits, a Caution to them, II, 175 
 
 Walker distressed by a Foot-Ball, II, 226 
 
 Watermen, their Dominion invaded, II, 239 
 
 Wednesday, how to know it, II, 297 
 
 Walkers, their Happiness, II, 379 
 
 ' Free from Diseases, II, 383 seq. 
 
 Water, the Danger of being upon it, II, 393 
 
 Walking advantageous to Learning, II, 429 seq. 
 
 Women, the ill Consequence of gazing on them, III, 101 
 
 Wheel-barrows, how they prejudice Walkers, III, 117 
 
 Whore, how to know one, III, 267 
 
 Watchmen, the Method of treating with them, III, 307 
 
 Their Signal to their Fellows, III, 311 
 
 What to do, if taken by them, III, 313 seq. 
 
 Wall, when to keep it, I IT, 205 
 
 Yeoman, a dreadful Story of one, III, 285 seq. 
 
NOTES 
 
 The following abbreviations are used in the notes : 
 
 L.P.P. = London Past and Present. S. = Spectator. 
 
 N.E.D. = New English DiSiionary. T. = Tatler. 
 
 D.N.B = Dictionary of National Biography. 
 
 Title-page 
 
 Title. The title Trivia is probably not intended to be the name of the goddess, 
 but the plural of trivium, ' a place where three roads meet,' commonly used in 
 Latin in the plural, with the meaning ' public streets,' as in Horace, Ars Poetica, 
 245, innati triviis ac paene forenses. So in the quotation at the end of the Adver- 
 tisement. 
 
 Motto. 0$uo te, Moeri, pedes ? ' Whither away on foot, Moeris ? following 
 the road to town ? ' The quotation, which is the first line of Virgil's ninth 
 Eclogue, is very appropriate. Moeris is a farmer, coming to town, on foot. 
 
 Bernard Lintott. Barnaby Bernard Lintot (1675-1736) published poems for 
 Pope, Gay, Farquhar, and others, including Pope's translation of Homer. Cf. 
 Pope, Dunciad, II, 53 seq. 
 
 the Cross-Keys, in full 'the Cross Keys and Cushion.' Bernard Lintot 
 advertised his address in 1707 as 'the Cross Keys and Cushion next Nando's 
 Coffee House, Temple Bar.' The Cushion may be seen in the engraving on the 
 title-page of the first edition. In the second edition it has been superseded by the 
 engraving of a street scene. In a note on the Dunciad, II, 82, ' Down with the 
 Bible, up with the Pope's arms,' Pope remarks, ' The Bible, Curl's sign; the 
 Cross-Keys, Lintot's.' 
 
 the Temple Gates, i.e., the gates leading from Fleet Street into the Temple. 
 ' Moses Greenbag,' in Steele's paper (S. 498), was diverting himself with a 
 pennyworth of walnuts ' at the Temple-Gate,' when he saw the puer Automedon 
 take the reins from the hackney coachman. 
 
 Advertisement 
 
 Dr. Swift. Gay seems to have been indebted chiefly to Swift's Description of the 
 Morning, written in April 1709, and first printed in The Tatler, and Description 
 of a City Shower, in imitation of Virgil's Georgics, written in Odtober 1710, and 
 firs^ printed in The Tatler. 
 
 Non tu, etc., from Virgil, Eclogue III, 26-7. ' Used you not, ignoramus as you 
 are, to murder some wretched song on skirling pipe at the corners of the streets? ' 
 [The first edition has the misprint Stidenti, which is corrected in the second.] 
 
 59 
 
60 TRIVIA 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 Line 5. Trivia, epithet of Diana as worshipped where three ways met. 
 
 13. Pavior, may be seen at work in the frontispiece to the second edition. 
 15. Kennels. 'A kennel, in the sense of gutter, represents the Anglo-French 
 canel; but the Old French form was chattel, which is our channel, and there is 
 yet a third form, viz. canal, which is very close to the Latin canalis. The kennel 
 for a dog is from Norman ken, the equivalent of French chien ; the Late Latin 
 canlle is explained as meaning " domus canis " in a glossary ' (Skeat, The Science 
 of Etymology, p. 8). 
 
 20. Civic Crown. The corona ciuica among the Romans was made of oak 
 leaves, and was given for saving a citizen's life in battle. Gay means that Trivia 
 will save his countrymen from the dangers of London. Cf. Ill, 397-8, ' Yet 
 shall I bless my Labours, if Mankind | Their future Safety from my Dangers 
 find.' 
 
 23. Black Youth. The anonymous author of The Art of Living in London 
 (ed. 2, 1793), p. 9, speaks of 'some son of Fleet-street, or the Strand, | Some 
 sooty son, with implements at hand, | Who hourly watches with no other view, | 
 Than to re-polish the bespatter'd shoe.' 
 
 27. the Mall. ' The first Mall, originally a part of St. James's Park, was the 
 street now called Pall Mall. It was so named from having been enclosed for 
 playing the game of pall-mall, a game somewhat resembling the modern croquet, 
 played with a wooden ball and mallets, the ball being struck through an iron 
 ring or arch, " in long alleys made on purpose, which are surrounded by a pal- 
 ing." Charles II, for whom the Mall in the park was formed, was very fond of 
 the game' (L.P.P.). 
 
 28. Oyster Cries. For a description of 'brown Ostrea' see Book III, 185-94. 
 ' A great critic,' in a treatise against operas, ' has made a very elaborate digression 
 upcn the London cries, wherein he has shown from reason and philosophy why 
 oysters are cried . . . with an accent and tone neither natural to man or beast ' 
 (T. 4). In Lauron-Tempest's Cryes of the City of London (171 1) one of the 
 engravings represents a man with a wheelbarrow of oysters, and the cry is 
 ' Twelve Pence a Peck Oysters.' 
 
 30. Spanish Hide. Stubbes, Anatomie of Abuses (ed. Turnbull, p. 72), speaks 
 of women's shoes as ' some of Spanishe leather, and some of Englishe.' Howell, 
 Familiar Letters (ed. Jacobs, p. 87), 'they ruffle in Silks and Sattins, and wear 
 good Spanish leather shoes.' Cf. Massinger, The City Madam, I, i, 97. Planchc, 
 Cyclopaedia of Costume, quotes from Malcolm, Anecdotes of the Manners and Cus- 
 toms of London in the Eighteenth Century, to the effect that Spanish leather shoes 
 laced with gold were common about this time. 
 
 31. wooden Heel. In Dekker's Shoemaker's Holiday, III, iv, 35, Simon Eyre's 
 wife asks Roger, the journeyman, to let her have ' a pair of shoes made, cork, 
 good Roger, wooden heel too.' In a letter to The Speclator ' an old Fellow, ex- 
 tremely troubled with the Gout' writes: 'Having always a strong Vanity 
 towards being pleasing in the Eyes of Women, I never have a Moment's Ease, 
 but I am mounted in high-heel'd Shoes with a glased Wax-leather Instep' (S. 48). 
 'Jack Lightfoot ' (ib. 332), escapes the Sweaters with the 'Dislocation of one of 
 my Shoe-heels.' 
 
 32. 'scallofd Top. A Lawyer of the Middle Temple riding the Western 
 Circuit describes (S. 129) the dress in the country as behind the London fashion 
 
NOTES 61 
 
 and scarcely changed since the time of Charles the Second, but meets to his sur- 
 prise ' a Gentleman that had accoutered himself in a Night-Cap Wig, a Coat with 
 long Pockets and slit Sleeves, and«a pair of Shoes with high Scallop Tops,' who 
 was resolved to 'live and die in the Mode.' 'Will Sprightly' (S. 319) claims to 
 have ' struck a bold stroke ' by introducing the ' Long Pocket ' and the ' Frosted 
 Button.' About the same time he produced ' the Scallop Flap, the Knotted 
 Cravat, and made a fair Push for the Silver-clocked Stocking.' 
 
 35. Should the big Laste, etc., perhaps suggested by Horace's calceus olim \ si 
 pede maior erit subuertet, si minor uret (Ep. I, x, 42). 
 
 40. shooting Corn. Cf. The Shepherd's Week (First Pastoral, 27-8), ' He first 
 that useful secret did explain, | That pricking corns foretold the gath ring rain.' 
 Swift, A City Shower (T. 238), 'A coming shower your shooting corns presage.' 
 
 43. Doily, the name of a woollen stuff, ' at once cheap and genteel,' intro- 
 duced for summer wear in the latter part of the seventeenth century (N.E.D.). 
 Named from the maker Doily or Doyley, a linen-draper in the Strand. ' The 
 famous Doily is still fresh in every one's Memory, who raised a Fortune by find- 
 ing out Materials for such Stuffs as might at once be cheap and genteel ' (S. 283). 
 
 44. Drugget, formerly a kind of stuff, all of wool, or mixed of wool and silk 
 or wool and linen, used for wearing apparel (N.E.D.). 
 
 fence, keep out, ward off, repel. Greene, Shepherd's Ode 66 (1592), 'a 
 cloak of grey fenc'd the rain ' (N.E.D.). Cf. Lat. defendo. 
 
 45. Frieze, a kind of coarse woollen cloth, with a nap, usually on one side 
 only (N.E.D.). Tom Brown, Comical View, in the heading to his predictions 
 for the week from October 16 to Oftober 22, says, 'several of Her Majesties 
 good Subjedts have put on their Frieze Coats, expecting it should rain ' (Works, 
 I, 163). 'It being a very cold Day when he made his Will,' Sir Roger de 
 Coverley ' left for Mourning, to every Man in the Parish, a great Frieze Coat ' 
 
 (S.517). 
 
 46. Camlet, a name originally applied to some beautiful and costly eastern 
 fabric, afterwards to imitations and substitutes, the nature of which has changed 
 many times over (N.E.D.). According to Johnson, ' a kind of stuff originally 
 made by a mixture of silk and camel's hair; it is now made with wool and silk.' 
 When Swift went for a riding party with the Duke and Duchess of Shrewsbury, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Masham, and Dr. Arbuthnot, he wore a coat of ' light camlet, 
 faced with red velvet, and silver buttons' (Journal to Stella, 4 October 171 1). 
 
 cockled, puckered, shrivelled. Cf. Skelton, Why Come Ye, 285, ' nat worth a 
 cockly fose ' [i.e., fringe]. 
 
 47. Witney, in Oxfordshire, long famous for the manufa&ure of blankets 
 and rough coatings. 
 
 50. Russia's Bear. Cf. Pope, Essay on Man, III, 44, ' The fur that warms 
 a monarch warmed a bear.' 
 
 51. Roquelaure, a cloak reaching to the knee, worn by men during the 
 eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth. Named after the Duke 
 of Roquelaure, 1656-1738 (N.E.D.). 
 
 53. Bavaroy, a kind of cloak or surtout. Probably from Fr. bavarois, Bavarian 
 (N.E.D.). 
 
 57. (Footnote.) Joseph, a long cloak, worn chiefly by women in the eighteenth 
 century when riding, and on other occasions ; it was buttoned all the way down 
 the front, and had a small cape (N.E.D.). In Shadwell's Squire of Alsatia (II, i), 
 when Sir William Belfond unexpectedly appears at the door, his elder son 
 
6i TRIVIA 
 
 exclaims, 'Ounds! Who's here? my Father! Lolpoop, Lolpoop, hide me: give 
 me my Joseph.' 
 
 58. Surtout, an over-coat (Fr. sur tout). One of Will Sprightly's rivals was 
 'disingenuous enough' to steal his suggestion about 'the new-fashioned 'Surtout ' 
 (S. 319). The final / was sounded. See the last line of Book II, where it rhymes 
 with foot. 
 
 59. Kersey, a kind of coarse narrow cloth, woven from long wool and usually 
 ribbed. Possibly named from the village of Kersey in Suffolk (N.E.D.). 
 
 61. Cane. ' Irus came out thoroughly equipped from Head to Foot, with a 
 little oaken Cane, in the form of a substantial Man that did not mind his Dress, 
 turned of fifty ' (S. 264). 
 
 62. Chairmen, i.e., bearers of sedan chairs. ' The sedan chair was a convey- 
 ance that was getting into vogue in Anne's reign. Taking its name from the 
 town of Sedan in France, it was first used in England in 1581, and in London 
 in 1623. In 1711 an A&. (9 Anne, c. 23) was passed licensing 200 public sedan 
 chairs at ten shillings each yearly, and their fare was settled at is. a mile. 
 Next year, another A6t (10 Anne, c. 19) was passed, licensing 100 more, but 
 keeping the fares unaltered ' (Ashton, Social Life, II, 177). 
 
 the Wall command. Cf. Book III, 153, 'Let not the Chairman, with 
 assuming Stride, | Press near the Wall, and rudely thrust thy Side.' 
 
 66. Lamp. 'Instead of Lanterns, they set up in the streets of London Lamps, 
 which by means of a very thick Convex Glass throw out great Rays of Light, 
 which illuminate the Path for people that go on Foot tolerably well. They 
 begin to light up these Lamps at Michaelmas, and continue them till Lady Day ; 
 they burn from Six in the Evening till Midnight, and from every third Day 
 after the Full Moon to the sixth Day after the New Moon ' — Misson (quoted 
 by Ashton, Social Life, II, 162). Cf. Ill, 144. 
 
 67. Canes with Amber tipt. Charles Lillie, the famous perfumer in the 
 Strand, and chief agent for The SpeSfator, so often referred to in The Tatler, was 
 celebrated for his canes. ' If this virtuoso excels in one thing more than another, 
 it is in canes; he has spent his most seleft hours in the knowledge of them, and 
 is arrived at that perfection, that he is able to hold forth upon canes longer than 
 upon any one subjecl: in the world. Indeed his canes are so finely clouded, and 
 so well made up, either with gold or amber heads, that I am of the opinion it is 
 impossible for a gentleman to walk, talk, sit, or stand, as he should do, without 
 one of them' (T. 142). In spite of Bickerstaff's raillery, 'the amber-headed 
 cane still maintains its unstable post' (T. 71). The beaux of the period used to 
 hang the cane by a ribbon to the button of the waistcoat (T. 26). Sir Plume 
 was justly vain of ' the nice conduct of a clouded cane ' (Pope, Rape of the Lock, 
 IV, 124). A dozen pairs of red-heeled shoes and an amber-headed cane are 
 among the effedts of a deceased beau (T. 113). In Farquhar's Recruiting 
 Officer, IV, iii, Sergeant Kite gives an imaginary description of a ' tall slender 
 gentleman . . . with a cane hanging upon his button.' The cane has 'an 
 amber head with a black ribbon.' 
 
 69. gilded Chariots. In the Dunciad the dunces pour forth ' on horse, on 
 foot, in hacks and gilded chariots ' (II, 24). Antenor visits Amoret * in a gilt 
 Chariot and new Liveries ' (S. 401). 
 
 72. White's. White's Chocolate House in St. James' Street, notorious as an 
 aristocratic gaming house, was opened in 1693 by Francis White at a house on 
 the site of the present Boodle's Club (38 St. James' Street). It was removed in 
 
NO TE S 
 
 63 
 
 1697 to the site of the present Arthur's Club on the opposite side of the street. 
 Swift calls it * the common Rendezvous of infamous Sharpers and noble Cullies,' 
 and Pope describes Colley Cibbej as ' chaired at White's ', teaching ' oaths to 
 Gamesters and to Nobles Wit' (Dunciad, I, 203-4). It was burnt down in 
 1733, the beginning of the fire being depicted in Plate 6 of Hogarth's Rake's 
 Progress. See Wheatley, Hogarth's London, 293-8, and London Past and Present, 
 III, 491-6. 
 
 76. beneath their Arm. BickerstafF licenses the bearer of a cane to pass 
 through the streets of London ' provided that he does not walk with it under his 
 arm ' (T. 103). Tom Brown, Letters from the Dead to the Living {Works, II, 9), 
 describes the cane of a beau that ' hung negligently down in a string from his 
 Right Arm.' 
 
 78. Cravat (an application of the national name Cravate Croat, Croatian), 
 ' came into vogue in France in the seventeenth century in imitation of the linen 
 scarf worn round their necks by the Croatian mercenaries. When first intro- 
 duced it was of lace or linen, or of muslin edged with lace, and tied in a bow 
 with long flowing ends, and much attention was bestowed upon it as an orna- 
 mental accessory' (N.E.D.). 'An Academical Beau,' writing from Oxford to 
 The Guardian (No. 10), 18 March 1712-13, claims to have prepared a 'Treatise 
 against the Cravat.' Cf. Congreve, The Way of the World, III, iii, ' thou art so 
 becravated and so beperiwigged.' 
 
 85. Paris. Howell, in his Familiar Letters, 1 May 1620, describing the 
 dangers of the streets of Paris, says, ' this makes me think often of the excellent 
 nocturnal Government of our City of London, where one may pass and repass 
 securely all hours of the Night, if he gives good words to the Watch.' 
 
 86. Slav'ry treads the Streets. So Gay, in his Epistle to William Pulteney 
 (1720), which gives a lively description of fashionable Paris, contrasts the freedom 
 of England under George I with the servitude of France under Louis XV. The 
 just and good king, he says, 'scorns to rule a wretched race of slaves.' 
 
 no. Manteau, defined by Phillips, The New World of Words (1720), as 'a 
 loose upper Garment, now generally worn by Women, instead of a straight- 
 body'd Gown.' In 1698 Farquhar speaks of it as no longer distinctive of the 
 upper class: ' Love. But was she a gentlewoman? Roe. Psha! no; she had no 
 fortune. She wore indeed a silk manteau and high-head ; but these are grown as 
 little signs of gentility now-a-days as that is of chastity ' (Love and a Bottle, I, i). 
 Gay speaks of ' the manteau's sweeping train ' (The Fan, I, 232). It was often 
 spelt tnanto. 'Mrs. Turnup, the Manto Maker,' is one of the characters in 
 Mrs. Centlivre's The Platonick Lady. D'Urfey makes it rhyme with curanto: 
 ' And now in Petticoat and Manto | Like buxom Lass, that trips Curanto ' 
 (Collin's Walk,?. 115). 
 
 1 15-17. Gamester . . . Broker, perhaps suggested by Juvenal, Sat. I, vv. 30-3, 
 64-8. 
 
 121. Morning Cries. So, when Tom Collin and the Major came to town, 
 they were ' awaked with London Cryes and Coaches ' — D'Urfey, Collin's Walk 
 through London (1690), p. 45. 
 
 126. Wig, long us d to Storms. Ashton (Social Life, I, 144) quotes an advertise- 
 ment of ' The Secret White Water to curl Gentlemen's Hair, Children's Hair, 
 or fine Wigs withal, that are out of Curl; ... if any single Lock or part of 
 a Wig be out of Curl, by the pressing of the Hat or riding in windy or rainy 
 Weather, in one Night's time it may be repaired hereby to Satisfaction.' 
 
6 4 
 
 T R I F I A 
 
 128. flapping Hat. 'The hats were rather low crowned, made of felt, with 
 very broad flapping brims' (Ashton, Social Life, I, 141). 
 
 130. open Breast. 'Having the waistcoat unbuttoned to show the shirt is 
 very frequently mentioned, but it was eminently a young man's practice ' (Social 
 Life, I, 149). In A Tale of a Tub, Jack 'in winter went always loose and un- 
 buttoned, and clad as thin as possible, to let in the ambient heat.' 
 
 132. defend, ward off, like Latin defender/. 
 
 133. certain Signs, from Virgil, Georgia, I, 351, atque haec ut certis possemus 
 discere signis. 
 
 135. Coals, etc., perhaps suggested by Virgil, Georgics, I, 390 seq.: Ne nodlurna 
 quidem carpentes pensa puellae | nesciuere hiemem, testa cum ardente uiderent \ scin- 
 tillare oleum et putris concrescere fungos. 
 
 145. the Mall. Pope (Perses to Mr. C.) speaks of morning walks along 
 the Mall, and Swift in his Journal to Stella (15 May 17 11) says: 'When I pass 
 the Mall in the evening it is prodigious to see the number of ladies walking 
 there.' He describes Sir Henry St. John, father of the Secretary of State, as 'a 
 man of pleasure, that walks the Mall, and frequents St. James' Coffee-house, and 
 the chocolate-houses' (ib., 11 November 1 7 10). Cf. Tom Brown, Amusements 
 Serious and Comical (Works, III, 49), 'From hence we went to take a turn in the 
 Mall ; . . . there were none but Women there that Day as it happen'd, and the 
 Walks were cover'd with them.' Congreve, The Way of the World, I, ii, ' Mir. 
 Fainall, are you for the Mall? Fain. Ay, I'll take a turn before dinner. Wit. 
 Ay, we'll all walk in the Park ; the ladies talked of being there.' 
 
 149. Not that their Minds, etc., from Virgil, Georgics, I, 415 seq.: baud 
 equidem credo quia sit diuinitus illis \ ingenium aut rerum fato prudentia maior. 
 
 153. nodding Coachman. Cf. The Art of Living in London (ed. 2, 1793), 
 p. 22 : ' Now drunken coachmen, free from every care, | Nod on their boxes, and 
 negledf. their fare.' 
 
 161. The Bookseller. Steele (S. 304) has an imaginary letter from 'Anthony 
 Title-Page, Stationer, in the Centre of Lincolns-Inn-Fields,' in which he states 
 that his 'Ancestor, Crouch-back Title-Page, was the first of that Vocation in 
 Britain; who, keeping his Station (in fair Weather) at the corner of Lothbury, 
 was by way of Eminency called the Stationer, a Name which from him all 
 succeeding Booksellers have affedted to bear.' 
 
 1 63. the Rails. ' Anthony Title-Page ' says that the Spectator made his first 
 * rudimental Essays in Spe£tatorship ' in his shop, where he often practised for 
 hours together, ' sometimes on his Books upon the Rails.' Cf. Pope, Satires and 
 Epistles, V, 415 seq. 'And when I flatter, let my dirty leaves, [ Like journals, 
 odes,and such forgotten things | As Eusden, Philips, Settle, writ of Kings, | Cloath 
 spice, line trunks, or, flutt'ring in a row, | Befringe the rails of Bedlam and Soho.' 
 
 164. Tilts. Misson (quoted by Ashton, Social Life, II, 146), says: 'The 
 little Boats upon the Thames, which are only for carrying of Persons, are light 
 and pretty; some are row'd but by one Man, others by two ; the former are 
 called Scullers, and the latter Oars. . . . You sit at youf Ease upon Cushions, 
 and have a Board to lean against; but generally they have no Covering, unless a 
 Cloth, which the Watermen set up immediately, in case of Need, over a few 
 Hoops ; and sometimes you are wet to the Skin for all this.' For a long and 
 realistic description of the watermen on the Thames, see Tom Brown, A Walk 
 round London and Westminster (Works, III, 322-9). In A Comical View of London 
 and Westminster (Works, I, 174) he speaks of 'the Gravesend Tilt-Boat,' 
 
NO TE S 
 
 65 
 
 168. Niobe. Cf. Sophocles, Antigone, 828 [of Niobe], Kai viv 6/i(5poi toko- 
 fitvav I wg Aarig avSpwv, \ \iwv r ovoafid Xeiirei, riyyei 8' vir' 6(j>pv<ri irayKXav- 
 roig I SupaCag. 'And the rains fwil not, as men tell, from her wasting form, 
 nor fails the snow, but makes wet her neck beneath her mournful brows.' 
 
 169. sweats with secret Grief. Cf. Homer, Iliad, XXIV, 617 [of Niobe], IvQa 
 \180Q Trip iovaa dewv ek kjjSeci irhati. ' There she, albeit a stone, broodeth still 
 over her troubles from the gods.' 
 
 171. Common-shores. 'Common Shore [corrupted for Sewer] ' (Bailey). 
 Cf. Shakespeare, Pericles, IV, vi, 186, 'Empty old receptacles, or common shores, 
 of filth.' Shirley, Love Tricks, I, i, ' the common shore of a city.' Dryden, The 
 Hind and the Panther, II, 556, ' Our sailing ships like common shores we use.' 
 
 177. Festival of Paul. The festival of the Conversion of St. Paul is kept on 
 the 25th of January. 'It has been an article of constant belief in Western 
 Europe, during the Middle Ages, and even down to our own time, that the 
 whole character of the coming year is prognosticated by the condition of the 
 weather on this day' (Chambers, Book of Days, I, 157). This belief is expressed 
 in the following monkish verses (quoted /. c), which Gay seems to have adapted : 
 clara dies Pauli bona tempora denotat anni ; | si nix uel pluuia, designat tempora 
 cara; \ si fiant nebulae, per eunt animalia quaeque; | si f ant uenti, designat proelia 
 genti. 
 
 178. Plenty from liVral Horn, Horace's copia benigno cornu {Carm. I, xvii, 
 J 4-i6). 
 
 183. Swithin's Feast. 'The common adage regarding St. Swithin is to the 
 effecl that, as it rains or is fair on St. Swithin's Day, the 15th of July, there will 
 be a continuous track of wet or dry weather for the forty days ensuing : 
 ' St. Swithin's Day, if thou dost rain, 
 For forty days it will remain : 
 St. Swithin's Day, if thou be fair, 
 For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.' 
 
 Chambers, Book of Days, II, 61-4. 
 Cf. Brand, Popular Antiquities, I, 340-2. Churchill {Gotham, I, 391) speaks 
 of 'July, to whom, the Dog-star in her train, | Saint James gives oysters, and 
 Saint Swithin rain.' 
 
 185. Fleeces. So, in Rural Sports, Gay has 'floating clouds their spongy 
 
 fleeces drain.' From Virgil, Georgics, I, 397 : tenuia nee lanae per caelum uelleraferri. 
 
 195. Hat unloop'd. The brims of hats were 'looped up or cocked, very 
 
 much at the fancy of the wearer' (Ashton, Social Life, I, 141). (See note on 
 
 1. 128 above.) 
 
 200. jostle for the Wall. ' Peter Plumb,' being indifted at ' the Court of 
 Honour ' before Isaac BickerstafF, ' Censor of Great Britain,' for having ' stolen 
 the wall ' from ' Mr. Gules,' alleged in defence ' that he had taken it inad- 
 vertently, to save himself from a shower of rain which was then falling ' (T. 256). 
 
 203. Aletfo, one of the three Furies. Cf. Virgil, Georgics, IV, 482 : caeru- 
 leosque inplexae crinibus anguis | Eumenides. 
 
 204. Orpheus. The story of Orpheus' essaying to fetch back his wife Eurydice 
 from the dead is told by Virgil, Georgics, IV, 454-527, and by Ovid, Metamor- 
 phoses, X, 1-85. 
 
 205. Glaucus 1 Beard. Glaucus, once a fisherman of Anthedon in Boeotia, 
 threw himself into the sea, and was changed into a sea-god by Oceanus and 
 Tethys. ' He was represented in works of art as an old man with a fish's tail, 
 
 K 
 
66 TRIVIA 
 
 with sea-blue scales, long hair and beard, and breast covered with sea-weed and 
 shells ' (Seyffert, Dictionary of Classical Antiquities). 
 
 207. the bathing Fair, i.e., Scylla, once a sea-nymph, transformed by Circe 
 into a rock. Cf. Ovid, Met, XIII, 900-68; XIV, 1-74. 
 
 210. Riding-hood. Sir Roger de Coverley, 'it being a very cold Day when 
 he made his Will, left for Mourning, to every Man in his Parish, a great Frieze- 
 Coat, and to every Woman a black Riding-hood' (S. 517). 
 
 211. Umbrella. Cf. Swift, City Showers (T. 238), ' The tucked-up sempstress 
 walks with hasty strides, | While streams run down her oiled umbrella's sides.' 
 Ashton (Social Life, I, 174), quotes from The Female Tatter, 'The Young 
 Gentleman belonging to the Custom House, that for fear of rain borrowed the 
 Umbrella at Will's Coffee House in Cornhill of the Mistress, is hereby advertised 
 that to be dry from head to foot on the like occasion he shall be welcome to 
 the Maid's Pattens' Tom Brown, Letters from the Dead to the Living 
 {Works, II, 164), speaks of 'a Cony-wool Umbrella.' For an interesting article 
 on the history of the umbrella, see Chambers, Book of Days, I, 241-4. 
 
 212. Pattens. Gay (Epistles, III, 12) speaks of himself, with reference to 
 Trivia, as one ' who late Britannia's city trod, | And led the draggled Muse, 
 with pattens shod, | Through dirty lanes, and alley's doubtful ways.' Dicky, 
 in Farquhar's Sir Harry Wildair, I, i, says he would ' rather kiss an English pair 
 of pattens than the finest lady in France.' 
 
 213. Persian Dames. So in The Fan, 3, Gay calls the umbrella 'the wide fan 
 by Persian dames display'd.' 
 
 245. Mulciber, surname of Vulcan. 
 
 246. Paphian Spouse, Venus, worshipped at Paphos, a city of Cyprus. 
 
 249. Lemnian Pow'r, Vulcan, who was supposed to dwell in Lemnos, an island 
 in the Aegean Sea. 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 10. Billingsgate, on the Thames, a little below London Bridge, the great 
 fish-market of London. 
 
 11. sallow Milk-maid. Steele, on the contrary, speaks of 'a clean fresh- 
 colour'd Girl, under the most elegant and the best-furnished Milk-Pail I had 
 ever observed ' (S. 38c). 
 
 13. Asses. Aitken, on T. 224, quotes an advertisement from the Post-Boy, 
 6 Dec. 171 1, ' Ass's milk to be had at Richard Stout's, at the sign of the Ass, 
 at Knightsbridge, for three shillings and sixpence per quart ; the ass to be brought 
 to the buyer's door.' So Pope, Dunciad, II, 247, in what he calls ' a simile with 
 a long tail ' — ' As, when the long-eared milky mothers wait | At some sick miser's 
 triple-bolted gate.' Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical (Works, III, 31), 
 speaks of an ' Advertisement of a Milch-Ass, to be sold at the Night-Man's in 
 Whitechapel.' Cf. Low Life (1752), 'The keepers of she-asses about Brompton, 
 Knightsbridge, Hoxton, and Stepney, are getting ready to run with their cattle 
 all over the town to be milked for the benefit of sick and infirm persons.' 
 
 17. Drummers. It was customary for musicians, especially drummers, to 
 serenade newly-married couples. In the sixth plate of Hogarth's Industry and 
 Idleness a band, including a butcher, who performs on marrow-bone and cleaver, 
 is celebrating the wedding of the Industrious Apprentice, who is seen at the 
 window giving a coin to the drummer. See the description of the engraving in 
 
NO T ES 
 
 6 7 
 
 Wheatley's Hogarth's London, p. 256. Cf. Tom Brown, Letters from the Dead 
 (Works, II, 296), ' as for Drums, you have a Set of them under every Devil's 
 Window, ratling and thumping ljjke a Consort of his Majesty's Rat-tat-too's at an 
 English Wedding.' Garth, The Dispensary, III, 57, ' Drums, Trumpets, Haut- 
 boys, wake the slumb'ring Pair.' 
 
 18. Vellom-Thunder. So The Spectator, 617, speaks of the 'Parchment Thun- 
 der' of drummers. 
 
 19. Sounds like these. This seems to have been suggested by an imaginary 
 letter from ' Robin Bridegroom ' in Steele's paper (S. 364), in which he says : ' I 
 was marry'd on Sunday last, and went peaceably to bed; but, to my Surprize, 
 was awaken'd the next Morning by the Thunder of a Set of Drums. These 
 warlike Sounds (methinks) are very improper in a Marriage-Consort, and give 
 great Offence; they seem to insinuate, that the Joys of this State are short, and 
 that Jars and Discord soon ensue.' 
 
 22. breathless Hawker. Addison (S. 251) complains that there was 'no just 
 Time nor Measure ' in the London street cries. ' Our News should indeed be 
 published in a very quick Time, because it is a Commodity that will not keep 
 cold. It should not, however, be cried with the same Precipitation as Fire : yet 
 this is generally the Case.' Cf. S. 150, 452. So Pope (Prologue to the Satires, 
 217) speaks of ' smoaking forth, a hundred hawkers' load, | On wings of wind 
 came flying all abroad.' 
 
 29. Perfumer's. Among the commodities sold by ' Mr Charles Lillie, the 
 perfumer at the corner of Beaufort Buildings,' are ' amber, orange-flower, musk, 
 civet-violet; wash-balls perfumed, camphored, and plain; and snuffs, Barcelona, 
 Seville, musty, plain, and Spanish' (T. 101. Cf. 94). The sub-title of The 
 French Perfumer (1696) is, 'teaching the several ways of extracting the Odours 
 of Drugs and Flowers, and making all the Compositions of Perfumes for Powder, 
 Wash-balls, Essences, Oyls, Wax, Pomatum, Paste, Queen of Hungary's Rosa 
 Solis, and other Sweet Waters. The Manner of preparing Sweet Toilets, Boxes, 
 etc., with the Preparations and use of Perfumes of all kinds whatsoever. Also 
 how to Colour and Scent Gloves and Fans. Together with the Secret of 
 Cleansing Tobacco, and Perfuming it for all sorts of SnufF, Spanish, Roman, etc' 
 33. Chimney-sweeper. Cf. Tom Brown (Works, IV, 299), ' about two months 
 ago he put on a Milk-white Suit, designing to shew himself in it that Evening 
 in the Park . . . Coming by Catherine-Street, a sawcy impudent Chimney- 
 sweeper daub'd his Coat.' 
 
 35. Small-coal. 'Retailers of Small-coal' are mentioned with the Chimney- 
 sweeper in Addison's paper on London cries (S. 251) as having no certain pitch, 
 but crying sometimes in the deepest base, and sometimes in the sharpest treble. 
 Pope (Moral Essays, III, 62) satirizes Edward Wortley Montague as ' Worldly 
 crying coals from street to street.' Tom Brown, in an imaginary letter ' to his 
 Mistress, upon seeing his Rival go into her Lodgings,' begs her to persuade him 
 that ' the Gallant was the Fellow that furnishes you with Small-coal ' (Works, 
 III, 244). 
 
 44. Hangman, executioner. Shakespeare, Macbeth, II, ii, 28, ' As they had 
 seen me with those hangman's hands.' 
 
 52. the Lame protest. Steele (S. 354) contrasts the modesty of the young 
 men in the streets of Sparta, as described by Xenophon, with the coarse practical 
 jokes played by young fellows in London on country visitors. He attributes 
 their behaviour to ' an Affe&ation of Smartness, Wit, and Courage.' Otway, he 
 
68 TRIVIA 
 
 says, ' makes a Man, to boast his Agility, trip up a Beggar on Crutches.' The 
 reference is to Friendship in Fashion, III, i, where Malagene describes, as a good 
 jest, how, to show his parts, he tripped up both the wooden legs of a lame man 
 who asked his charity, and ' walked off gravely about his business.' 
 
 54. mantling Peruke. Addison describes a rural squire whose ' periwig fell 
 in a very considerable bush upon each shoulder' (T. 96). 
 
 56. red-heel'd Shoes. Wearing red-heeled shoes, and hanging the cane on 
 the button, were ' essential parts of the habit belonging to the order of " smart 
 fellows " ' (T. 26). So ' red-heeled shoes, and a hat hung upon one side of the 
 head, shall signify a Smart ' (T. 96). In the inventory of the effe&s of a deceased 
 beau are 'a dozen pair of red-heeled shoes' (T. 113). Isaac Bickerstaff claims, 
 as one result of his censorship of dress, that ' there is not a pair of red heels to be 
 seen within ten miles of London' (T. 162). Addison declines 'to sink the 
 Dignity of this my Paper with Reflections upon Red-heels or Top-knots ' (S. 16). 
 
 59. the Bully. So Tom Brown, in Amusements Serious and Comical, says: 
 ' Turn out there you Country Putt, says a Bully, with a Sword two yards long 
 jarring at his heels, and throws him into the Kennel' {Works, III, 15). 
 
 60. Cocks his broad Hat. Among ' many weighty points that daily perplex 
 the youth of the British nation,' which Bickerstaff proposes to discuss, is ' How 
 a man should resent another's staring and cocking a hat in his face ' (T. 250). 
 Colley Cibber {Apology, p. 195) says of Powel, the aftor, that ' he cock'd his Hat, 
 and in his Passion walk'd off to the Service of the Company in Lincoln's Inn 
 Fields.' 
 
 63. never turns again. The cowardice of the bully is thus described in The 
 Country Gentleman's Fade Mecum (1699), p. 43: 'his way of proceeding with 
 you, is either to tread on your Toes, cough in your Face, ruffle, crowd, or dis- 
 compose you. But after all, if he finds you resent his Behaviour and grow rough 
 with him upon the Matter, he flies presently to his Grand Reserve, begs your 
 Pardon, and sneaks off.' 
 
 67. Signs. ' The street signs, which were necessary, as houses were not num- 
 bered, were very numerous and large, and some were exceedingly costly. Misson 
 was very much struck with them. "At London they are commonly very large, 
 and jutt out so far, that in some narrow Streets they touch one another; nay, 
 and run across almost quite to the other Side. They are generally adorn'd with 
 Carving and Gilding; and there are several that, with the Branches of Iron 
 which support them, cost above a hundred Guineas'" (Ashton, Social Life, II, 
 159). Cf. Addison (S. 28). 
 
 69. Prentices. Swift calls them ' the gibing prentices' {Tale of a Tub, Seft. 
 XI), and ' Sophrosunius ' (S. 354) complains that 'the Prentice speaks his dis- 
 respect by an extended finger.' 
 
 75. sevn Dials. 'Seven Dials, an open area in the parish of St.-Giles-in-the 
 Fields, on what was once " Cock and Pye Fields," from which seven streets . . . 
 radiate, and so called because there was formerly a column in the centre, on the 
 summit of which were (as was always said) seven sun-dials, with a dial facing 
 each of the streets' (L.P.P.). Evelyn (5 Odt. 1694) 'went to see the building 
 beginning neere St. Giles's, where 7 streets make a star from a Doric pillar placed 
 in the middle of a circular area.' 
 
 79. dwells on ev'ry Sign. So Steele says : ' If a Country Gentleman appears a 
 little curious in observing the Edifices, Signs, Clocks, Coaches, and Dials, it is 
 not to be imagined how the Polite Rabble of this Town, who are acquainted 
 
NO T ES 
 
 6 9 
 
 with these Obje&s, ridicules his Rusticity ' (S. 354). For an amusing description 
 of a countryman in London see Macaulay, History of England, Ch. Ill (Pop. 
 Ed., I, 181). „ 
 
 86. Ariadne. Cf. Ovid, Heroides, XI. 
 
 90. Fob, ' a small pocket formerly made in the waist-band of the breeches, 
 and used for carrying a watch, money, or other valuables.' (N.E.D.). 
 
 92. slabby, ' plashy, full of Dirt ' (Bailey). Cf. 1. 410. 
 
 98. the Post. Posts used to mark the edge of the pavement*in most of the 
 London streets. They may be seen in the engraving on the frontispiece of the 
 second edition of Trivia, and in plate 12 of Hogarth's Industry and Idleness. So 
 in III, 156, ' where Posts defend the Street.' 
 
 100. The Board, i.e., the pillory. 
 
 102. Eggs. Cf. Tom Brown, A Collection of Letters {Works, I, 242): 'He 
 chanc'd to be in a Gentleman's Company that fainted away at the Sight of a few 
 Eggs. What does my Doftor do upon this, but whipt streight into Essex, where 
 the Gentleman liv'd; enquires privately into the secret History of his Family, and 
 finds his Grandfather had stood in the Pillory for forging a Bond.' Pope, The 
 Dunciad, III, 34, c As thick as eggs at Ward in pillory.' Epilogue to the Satires, 
 
 II, 189, 'And must no egg in Japhet's face be thrown?' 
 
 109. the lashing Whip, etc. See Hogarth's Four Stages of Cruelty, the Second 
 Stage. 
 
 110. the swelling Vein. So, in Rural Sports, II, 303, Gay speaks of ' the 
 lab'ring horse with swelling veins.' 
 
 115. the Samian, i.e., the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, born at Samos about 
 580 B.C., who is said to have taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. 
 So Dryden, Of the Pythagorean Philosophy (from Ovid, Met., XV), 240 sea., 
 ' Here and there th' unbodied spirit flies, | By time, or force, or sickness dis- 
 possess'd, I And lodges, where it lights, in man or beast.' Addison quotes this 
 passage from Dryden in S. 211. 
 
 121. Watling-street, ' was two centuries ago notorious ... for its incon- 
 venient and almost dangerous narrowness ' (L.P.P.). 
 
 122. Cheap-side. Howes (163 1 ) speaks of Cheapside as ' worthily called the 
 Beauty of London,' and Strype (1 721) says, ' Cheapside is a very stately spacious 
 street, adorned with lofty buildings' (L.P.P.) Plate 12 of Hogarth's Industry 
 and Idleness is a ' brilliant representation of the west end of Cheapside ' (Wheat- 
 ley, Hogarth's London, 260). 
 
 1 23. that rugged Street. * Thames Street, on the north bank of the Thames, 
 stretches from Blackfriars Bridge to the Tower, and is rather more than a mile 
 in length ' (L.P.P.). Tom Brown {Works, IV, 128) speaks of ' a jolly red-fac'd 
 Preacher at the upper-end of Thames-street.'' 
 
 124. Fleet-ditch, a stream which rose in the Hampstead and Highgate Hills, 
 and flowed into the Thames at Blackfriars. It became a 'receptacle for every 
 description of tanners' refuse, house sewage, and all kinds of offal ' (L.P.P.). 
 Pope {Dunciad, II, 271-4), speaks of it as ' the king of dykes,' and describes it as 
 rolling ' the large tribute of dead dogs to Thames.' So Garth {The Dispensary, 
 
 III, 124) says that it 'descends in sable Streams, | To wash his sooty Naiads in 
 the Thames ' ; and Dicky, in Farquhar's Sir Harry Wildair, I, i, on returning 
 to London from the Continent, sniffs with delight ' the sweet smoke of Cheap- 
 side and the dear perfume of Fleet-ditch.' Cf. Beresford Chancellor, Annals of 
 Fleet Street, 25-7. 
 
jo TRIVIA 
 
 132. Cornavian Cheeses. Cf. The Connoisseur, 13 June 1754, 'I had rather 
 live all my days among the cheesemongers' shops in Thames Street, than pass 
 such another spring in this filthy country' (L.P.P.). 
 
 134. Chaplain. Macaulay in his description of England in 1685 {History, 
 Ch. Ill), says of the domestic chaplain: 'he might fill himself with the corned 
 beef and the carrots : but as soon as the tarts and cheesecakes made their appear- 
 ance, he quitted his seat, and stood aloof till he was summoned to return thanks 
 for the repast, from a great part of which he had been excluded.' This custom 
 of the chaplain's withdrawing after the first course forms the subject of papers by 
 Addison and Steele in The Tatler (255 and 258). Addison quotes from Oldham's 
 Satires: ' Soon as the tarts appear, Sir Crape, withdraw, | These dainties are not 
 for a spiritual maw.' So Garth, Dispensary, I, 149-50: 'Constant at Feasts, and 
 each Decorum knew; | And soon as the Dessert appear'd, withdrew.' Sir William 
 Belfond's elder son in Shadwell's Squire of Alsatia, I, i, ' rises at second Course, 
 takes away his Plate; says Grace, and saves me the Charge of a Chaplain.' 
 
 135. Pell-mell, 'a spacious street extending from the foot of St. James's 
 Street to the foot of the Haymarket, and so called from a game of that name, 
 somewhat similar to croquet, introduced into England in the reign of Charles I, 
 perhaps earlier . . . Pell Mell, it will be seen, was the genteel pronunciation of 
 the name in the days of Queen Anne, and so it has continued to be down to the 
 present day. " If we must have a villa in summer to dwell, | O give me the 
 sweet shady side of Pell Mell." Captain Morris, The Contrast' (L.P.P.). 
 
 138. Carmen. So Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical (JVorks, III, 
 15), 'Stand up there, you blind Dog, says a Carman, will you have the Cart 
 squeeze your Guts out? ' 
 
 139. Chairs. Similarly Tom Brown (I.e.) describes the occupants of sedan 
 chairs: 'Some Carry, others are Carried: Make way there, says a gouty-leg'd 
 Chairman, that is carrying a Punk of Quality to a Morning's Exercise [i.e., 
 morning service at a place of worship] ; or a Bartholomew-Baby Beau' [i.e., like 
 a doll bought at Bartholomew Fair], newly launch'd out of a Chocolate-house, 
 with his Pockets as empty as his Brains.' 
 
 155. Beaver. The fur of the beaver used to be largely employed in the 
 manufacture of hats. 
 
 159. old Letchers. Cf. The Art of Living in London (1793), p. 22: 'Their 
 lofty garrets Drury's nymphs forsake; | Down the dark alley pants the batter'd 
 rake.' 
 
 160. Drury-lane. Steele (T. 46) describes Drury as 'purchased by the 
 Queen of Paphos before the days of Christianity'; and Pope (Satires of 
 Dr. Donne versified, II, 64) speaks of ' drabs in Drury-lane.' 
 
 162. Dun. Jeremy, Valentine's servant, in Congreve's Love for Love (I, i), 
 dispatches 'some half-a-dozen duns with as much dexterity as a hungry judge 
 does causes at dinner time.' 
 
 1 66. the Meuse, i.e., the Mews, stood on the site of Trafalgar Square. 
 Originally, according to Stow, the king's falcons were kept there. 'Then is the 
 Mewse, so called of the king's falcons there kept by the king's falconer.' It was 
 afterwards ' new built and prepared for stabling of the king's horses in the reign 
 of Edward VI and Queen Mary.' In 1635 in the fields behind the Meuse was 
 ' built a faire house, and 2 bowling greens made to entertain gamesters and 
 bowlers.' The shoe-black in the final draft of Trivia (Poems on Several Occasions, 
 1720), II, 213-16, 'the labour ply'd | Where branching streets from Charing- 
 
NO r ES 71 
 
 cross divide; j His treble voice resounds along the Meuse, | And White-hall 
 echoes — Clean your Honour's shoes.' D'Urfey, describing the Play House 
 [Collin's Walk through London and^ Westminster, Canto IV), speaks of 'ragged 
 Wight that once did use | As bad a Station as the Mews.' 
 
 Thimble's Cheats, now called thimble-rigging. ' A sleight-of-hand trick played 
 with three small cups shaped like thimbles, and a small ball or pea. The ball or 
 pea is put on a table and covered with one of the cups. The operator then begins 
 moving the cups about, offering to bet that no one can tell under which cup the 
 pea lies. The one who bets is seldom allowed to win ' (Century Dictionary). Cf. 
 Borrow, Lavengro, Ch. 53. 
 
 169. Ludgate-hill, and Ludgate Street, are 'portions of the main artery of 
 London, leading from Fleet Street to St. Paul's : the latter term is now abolished, 
 and it is named Ludgate Hill throughout. The hill extended from Fleet Street 
 to the site of old Ludgate, and the street thence to St. Paul's churchyard ' (L.P.P.). 
 
 197. nitry, nitrous, 'as an epithet applied to the air, on the supposition that 
 it was charged with particles of nitre ' (N.E.D.). Cf. Cowper, The Task, III, 
 32, ' The nitrous air | Feeds a blue flame, and makes a cheerful hearth.' 
 
 211. spurn, to kick out (Phillips, New World of Words, 1720). 
 
 213. White's. Cf. Book I, 72 (note). 
 
 215. 'Change, i.e., the New Exchange, c a kind of bazaar on the south side 
 of the Strand, so called in contradistinction to the Royal Exchange' (L.P.P.). 
 According to Strype it was ' furnished with shops on both sides the walls, both 
 below and above stairs, for milleners, sempstresses, and other trades, that furnish 
 dresses.' It was demolished in 1737. Defoe (Complete English Tradesman, Ch. 51) 
 speaks of ' the two great centres of the women merchants : I mean the Exchange 
 shops, particularly at the Royal Exchange, and the New Exchange in the Strand.' 
 Tom Trusty's mistress ' would often cheapen Goods at the New Exchange ' 
 (S. 96) The SpeSiator receives long letters from the Royal and the New 
 Exchange complaining that ' a young Fop cannot buy a Pair of Gloves, but he 
 is at the same time straining for some Ingenious Ribaldry to say to the young 
 Woman who helps them on' (S. 155). Melissa's 'Shop, or, if you please to call 
 it so, my Cell, is in that great Hive of Females which goes by the Name of The 
 New Exchange' (S. 211). Clarinda records in her diary for Wednesday, ' From 
 One till Half an Hour after Two. Drove to the Change. Cheapned a Couple 
 of Fans ' (S. 323). Steele, in his Ramble from Richmond to London (S. 454), 
 describing the New Exchange, speaks of ' pretty Hands busie in the Foldings of 
 Ribbands, and the utmost Eagerness of agreeable Faces in the sale of Patches, 
 Pins, and Wires, on each Side the Counters.' In The Lying Lover (1704), 
 II, 26, he makes Young Bookwit describe his distraction among 'the pretty 
 Merchants and their Dealers ' in the New Exchange: ' One little lisping Rogue, 
 Ribbandth, Gloveths, Tippeths. — Sir, cries another, will you buy a fine Sword- 
 knot; then a third, pretty Voice and Curtsie, — Does not your Lady wanted 
 Hoods, Scarfs, fine silk Stockins? ' According to Tom Brown (Works, IV, 182) 
 ' the Country Ladies, when they come up to Town, enquire in the first place, 
 Which is the newest Play or Lampoon? Which is the topping Mistress of the Court? 
 Or the most fashionable Suit of Ribbons at the Exchange? ' 
 
 216. Belgian Stove, a warming stove for the feet. 'The word was first used 
 in English in this sense as applied to foot-stoves' (Century Dictionary). 
 
 221. Covent-garderi s famous Temple, i.e., St. Paul's, Covent Garden, ' a parish 
 church on the west side of the market, the design of which is attributed to Inigo 
 
72 TRIVIA 
 
 Jones, begun 1631 . . . and consecrated 1638 . . . When first erefted the 
 church was greatly admired for its classic simplicity of form and outline, and 
 especially for its "noble Tuscan portico," exactly in accordance, as was said, 
 with one described by Vitruvius ' (L.P.P.). In Hogarth's ' Morning ' {The Four 
 Times of the Day) this church forms the principal objedl in the east end of the 
 pidture. See Wheatley, Hogarth's London, p. 133. 'Ralph Bellfry, Sexton of the 
 Parish of Covent-Garden ' (S. 372), complains that, 'as I was tolling in to 
 Prayers at Eleven in the Morning, Crowds of People of Quality hastened to 
 assemble at a Puppet-Show on the other Side of the Garden.' 
 
 222. Jones, i.e., Inigo Jones, the famous architect (1573-1652). 
 
 226. Foot-ball War. Cf Waller, On the Danger his Majesty [being Prince] 
 escaped in the Road at St. Anders, 45-50 : ' As when a sort of lusty shepherds 
 try I Their force at football, care of victory | Makes them salute so rudely breast 
 to breast, | That their encounter seems too rough for jest ; | They ply their feet, 
 and still the restless ball, | Toss'd to and fro, is urged by them all.' Tom Brown 
 [Works, IV, 128) compares the citation of the Fathers in support of truisms to 
 'sending for the Sheriff to come with the Posse Comitatus to disperse a few Boys 
 at Foot-ball.' For an amusing description of Elizabethan football see Stubbes, 
 Anatomie of Abuses, ' Playing at Footeball.' 
 
 234. gingling, found as early as Chaucer, C. T, Prol., 1 70, of the bells on 
 the Monk's bridle, and as late as Congreve, The Old Bachelor, V, v, ad fin., 
 ' with gaudy plumes and gingling bells made proud, | The youthful beast sets 
 forth, and neighs aloud.' Cf. Gay, Work for the Cooper, ' Let your keys gingle at 
 her side.' 
 
 235. that woncTrous Tear, i.e., 1709-10, when, according to Maitland, a very 
 hard frost began on Christmas Day at night, and lasted three months. As Trivia, 
 according to an advertisement in the Daily Courant, was published on the 26th 
 of January 1 716-17, it cannot be the great frost described in Dawks' s News- 
 Letter of 14 January, 171 6, which lasted seven weeks, when the Thames was 
 again frozen over. See Andrews, Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs, pp. 40-4 ; 
 Walford, Frost Fairs on the Thames, pp. 34-5; Chambers, Book of Days, I, no ; 
 Hone, Every Day Book, II, 51-7. 
 
 239. the Waterman, etc. In the ' Blanket Fair ' (so called because the booths 
 were largely formed of blankets), which was held on theoThames during the 
 great frost of 1683-4, ' hackney coaches plied for hire, as in the Strand, thus 
 ousting the Thames watermen, who, driven from their proper employment, 
 dragged boats and sledges on the ice, or set up " fuddling tents " : 
 ' And those that us'd to ask, Where shall I land ye ? 
 Now cry, What lack ye, Sir ? Beer, ale, or brandy r' 
 
 Frost Fairs, p. 32. 
 In a broadside, printed for J. Shad, London, in 1684, and now preserved in 
 the Ashmolean Museum, we find : 
 
 ' The watermen with folded arms doe stand, 
 And grieve to see the water firm as land, 
 Their boats hal'd up, their oars laid useless by, 
 Nor oars, nor skuller, master, do they cry.' 
 
 Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs, p. 33. 
 241. Sees harness' d Steeds, etc. Cf. Ovid, Tristia, III, x, 3 1 -4, quaque rates 
 ierant, pedibus nunc itur; et undas \ frigore concretas ungula pulsat equi. \ perque 
 nouos pontes, subter labentibus undis, | ducunt Sarmatici barbara plaustra boues. 
 
NOTES 73 
 
 243. Wheels o'er, etc. Cf. Virgil, Georgics, III, 361-2: undaque iam tergo 
 ferrates sustinet orbis, | puppibus ilia prius, patulis nunc hospita plaustris. 
 
 245. the fat Cook, etc. Eveljjn thus describes the great frost of 1683-4: 
 'Jan. 9. I went crosse the Thames on the ice, now become so thick as to beare 
 not only streetes of boothes, in which they roasted meate, and had divers shops 
 of wares, quite acrosse as in a towne, but coaches, carts, and horses passed over.' 
 In the frost of 1 7 16, as described in Dawks 's News-Letter (see note on v. 235), 
 ' a great cook's-shop was eredted, and gentlemen went as frequently to dine 
 there, as at any ordinary.' 
 
 246. the Steer entire. At these frost fairs on the Thames it was customary 
 to roast an ox whole. Broadsides describing the great frost of 1683-4, preserved 
 in the British Museum, speak of ' An ox roasted whole, which thousands saw,' 
 and, ' Here roasted was an ox before the court.' ' Roasting the ox ' may be seen 
 in & facsimile of a contemporary print representing 'Blanket Fair,' in Walford's 
 Frost Fairs on the Thames. 
 
 247. long Streets appear. Evelyn (24 Jan. 1684) says, 'the frost con- 
 tinuing more and more severe, the Thames before London was still planted 
 with boothes in formal streetes, all sorts of trades and shops furnish'd and full or 
 commodities.' So, in the broadsides mentioned above, we find mention of a street 
 reaching from the Temple to Southwark, which can be clearly seen in the print 
 of ' Blanket Fair,' with a continuous line of booths on each side. It was named 
 Temple Street. 
 
 248. numerous Games. At the ' Blanket Fair ' among other pastimes were 
 ' bowls for ladies of " the quality," and ninepins for the wives and daughters of 
 citizens ; football for the lads, and " throwing at cocks " for the cruel-hearted 
 roughs. There were also horse races, donkey races, and coach races ; there was 
 music, a large bear-garden, and a ring for bull-baiting close to Temple Stairs : 
 and, not far off, a fox was hunted on the ice ' (Frost Fairs, pp. 32-3). 
 
 257. Lulling, etc. Notice the use of liquids to burlesque the principle that 
 ' The Sound must seem an Eccho to the Sense ' (Pope, Essay on Criticism, II, 365). 
 So in Pope's Satires and Epistles, I, 29-31 : 'Then all your muse's softer art 
 display, | Let Carolina smoothe the tuneful lay, | Lull with Amelia's liquid 
 name the Nine, | And sweetly flow thro' all the royal line.' 
 
 270. Pip-Pip-Pip. Cf. Virgil, Eel., VI, 44 : clamassent, ut litus Hyla Hyla 
 omne sonaret. 
 
 271. Orpheus. The tale is told by Ovid, Met., XI, 1-66. 
 
 273. His severed Head, etc. Ovid, Met., XI, 50-3 : caput, Hebre, lyramque \ 
 excipis ; et, mirum, medio dum labitur amne, \ flebile nescio quid queritur lyra ; 
 flebile lingua \ murmurat exanimis ; respondent flebile ripae. It will be noticed 
 that Ovid does not represent Orpheus' tongue as calling for Eurydice. 
 
 280. Thames' full Urn. River-gods were represented in ancient art with 
 water pouring out of pitchers at their sides. Cf. Virgil, Jen., VII, 792 : caelataque 
 amnem fundens pater Inachus urna.' Garth, The Dispensary, Canto IV, ' And 
 River Gods their thirsty Urns supply.' 
 
 288. Hockley-hole. ' Hockley-in-the-Hole, memorable for its Bear Garden, 
 was on the outskirt of the town, by Clerkenwell Green ; with Mutton Lane on 
 the east and the fields on the west. By Town's End Lane (called Coppice Row 
 since the levelling of the coppice-crowned knoll over which it ran), through 
 Pickled-Egg Walk (now Crawford's Passage), one came to Hockley-in-the-Hole, 
 or Hockley Hole, now Ray Street. In Hockley Hole dealers in rags and old 
 
 L 
 
74 TRIVIA 
 
 iron congregated. This gave it the name of Rag Street, euphonized into Ray 
 Street since 1774. In the Spectator's time its Bear Garden, upon the site of 
 which there are now [1870] metal works, was a famous resort of the lowest 
 classes' (Henry Morley, on S. 31). Cf. Fables, XXXIV, < Both Hockley-hole 
 and Mary-bone | The combats of my dog have known.' References to Hockley 
 Hole are very numerous in the literature of the time, e.g., S. 31, 436, 630 ; 
 T. 28 ; Pope, Dunciad, I, 222, Imitations of Horace, II, i, 49 ; Tom Brown, 
 Works, I, 217, where ' Jumping through a Hoop, Dancing upon the high Ropes, 
 Leaping over eight Men's Heads, Wrestling, Boxing, Cudgelling, Fighting at 
 Backsword, and Quarter-staff' are mentioned among the ' noble exercises that 
 divert the good Folks at Hockley.' 
 
 290. Mondays and Thursdays. In Tom Brown's Comical View {Works, I, 
 163), under Wednesday occurs the entry: 'Afternoon noisy and bloody at her 
 Majesties Bear-Garden in Hockley in the Hole' 
 
 292. Maid. ' A name given to the Skate and Thornback (Raia batis and 
 R. clavata) when young. Also to the Twait Shad, Alosa finta (in Fr. similarly 
 called pucelle). (N.E.D., which quotes from Pennant, Brit. Zool. (1769), 'Their 
 [the thornbacks'] young . . . which, (as well as those of the skate) before they 
 are old enough to breed, are called maids '). Tom Brown, in his description of the 
 streets of London, Amusements Serious and Comical (Works, III, 15), says: ' One 
 draws his Mouth up to his Ears, and howls out, Buy my Flounders, and is follow'd 
 by an old burly Drab, that screams out the sale of her Maids and her Soul at the 
 same instant.' 
 
 293. Joul, ' the head of a fish ; hence (as a cut or dish) the head and shoulders 
 of certain fish, as the salmon, sturgeon, and ling ' (N.E.D.). ' A jowl of ling ' 
 (Middleton, Blurt, Masier*Constable, II, ii). 
 
 297. Wednesdays and Fridays. Our ancestors used to fast till three in the 
 afternoon on Wednesday and Friday. Cf. ' She made grete abstynence, and 
 wered the hayre [i.e., a hair shirt] upon the Wednesday and upon the fryday ' 
 (Knight de la Tour, ed. Wright, p. 193). 
 
 299. Balconies, with accent on penultima. Spelt balcones in Milton's Areo- 
 pagitica. 'The penult is long with Sherburne (161 8-1 702), and with Jenyns 
 (1704-87), and in Cowper's John Gilpin; Swift has it short ' (Hales). 
 
 300. Damsels . . . Mop. Cf. Swift's Description of the Morning (quoted by 
 Steele, T. 9) : ' Now Moll had whirl'd her mop with dextrous airs, | Prepar'd 
 to scrub the entry and the stairs.' City Shower (T. 238): 'Such is that sprink- 
 ling which some careless quean | Flirts on you from her mop, but not so clean.] 
 You fly, invoke the gods; then turning, stop | To rail; she singing, still whirls 
 on her mop.' Steele (T. 124) 'took a particular satisfaction in the sight of a 
 young country wench, whom I this morning passed by as she was whirling her 
 mop, with her petticoats tucked up very agreeably.' 'The most constant of 
 Lovers', in a letter to Mopsa (T. 128), assures her that 'the dexterous twirl ' of 
 her mop has more native charms than the studied airs of a lady's fan. 
 
 302. conclusive, i.e., ending the week. 
 
 303. Successive Crys. For London street cries in general see Tom Brown, 
 Letters from the Dead to the Living (Works, II, 144-6). 
 
 308. Nettle's. Cf. The English Physitian Enlarged : ' This is also an herb 
 Mars claims dominion over. You know Mars is hot and dry, and you know as 
 well that winter is cold and moist ; then you may know as well the reason why 
 Nettle-tops eaten in Spring consume the flegmatick superfluities in the body of 
 
NO T E S 75 
 
 man that the coldness and moisture of winter hath left behind.' Tom Brown, 
 Letters from the Dead to the Living {Works, II, 362): 'It being now Spring 
 time ... I would advise you to corredt the saline Particles, with which I per- 
 ceive your Blood is overcharg'd, with good wholesome Nettle-broth and Water- 
 gruel every Morning alternately.' 
 
 310. Mackrell Cries. In Tom Brown's Letters from the Dead to the Living 
 {Works, II, 275) Lilly writes to Cooley, the Almanac-Maker, that 'the Cry 
 of Cooky's Almanack for two Months in the Year, is as universally brawl'd about 
 Hell's Metropolis, as Mackrel among you when they come to be six a Groat.' 
 In his description of London cries {Atnusements Serious and Comical [Works, III, 
 I5])> ' anot her Son of a Whore yelps louder than Homer's Stentor, Two a groat, 
 and Four for six-pence, Mackerel.' 
 
 311. Wallnuts. 'Moses Greenbag ' was 'diverting himself with a penny- 
 worth of Walnuts at the Temple-Gate ' (S. 498). « Hezekiah Thrift ' complains 
 that ' the Walnut Trade is carry'd on by old Women within the Walks, which 
 makes the Place [the Royal Exchange] impassable by reason of Shells and Trash ' 
 (S. 509). 
 
 312. Pears. ' The next Street we came into, we saw a tall thin-gutted Mortal 
 driving a Wheel-Barrow of Pears before him, and crying in a hoarse Tone, 
 Pears Twenty a Penny.' 
 
 313. Oranges. It used to be the custom for children to raffle for oranges on 
 Shrove Tuesday. The ruined gambler in Steele's paper (T. 13) 'is now gaming 
 in Lincoln's Inn Fields among the boys for farthings and oranges.' 
 
 315. Rosemary. Cf. Middleton, Blurt, Master-Constable, II, ii, 'quick, quick, 
 quick, buy any rosemary and bays ? ' ' Jenny Simper ' complains that ' our Clerk, 
 who was once a Gardener, has this Christmas so over-deckt the Church with 
 Greens, that he has 'quite spoilt my Prospeft. . . . The Pulpit itself has such 
 Clusters of Ivy, Holly, and Rosemary about it that a light Fellow in our Pew 
 took occasion to say, that the Congregation heard the Word out of a Bush, like 
 Moses' (S. 282). Brand (Popular Antiquities, I, 521) quotes from the accounts 
 for the parish of St. Margaret, Westminster, 1647: 'Item, paid for rosemarie 
 and bayes that was stuck about the church at Christmas, is. 6d.' 
 
 319-20. Holly . . . Misletoe. For 'evergreen-decking' at Christmas, see 
 Brand, Popular Antiquities, I, 519-25. 
 
 345. Knocker. ' A very old fellow,' who visited Steele at his lodgings with ' a 
 new invention of knockers to doors,' gave him a demonstration of ' a complete 
 set of knocks, from the solitary rap of the dun and beggar, to the thunderings of 
 the saucy footman ' (T. 105). So Pope to his man, John Searle, 'Tie up the 
 knocker, say I'm sick, I'm dead ' (Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, 2). 
 
 347. Upholder, undertaker. Also upholster, corrupted to upholsterer. Phillips, 
 New World of Words (1720), ' Upholster or Upholsterer, a Tradesman that deals 
 in all sorts of Chamber Furniture; as Tapestry, Bedding, &c.' For 'upholders' 
 as undertakers, see the letter from ' The Master and Company of Upholders ' 
 (T. 99). 
 
 353- F***, i.e., William Fortescue (1687-1749), Barrister of the Inner 
 Temple in 1715 ; Attorney- General to Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1730 ; Baron 
 of the Exchequer in 1736; Justice of Common Pleas in 1738; and Master of the 
 Rolls in 1 741. He was very intimate with Gay and Pope. Pope used to con- 
 sult him on business matters, and dedicated the first of his Satires and Epistles 
 to him. 
 
76 rRIVIA 
 
 358. With thee conversing, a parody of Milton's ' With thee conversing, I for- 
 get all time ' {Paradise Lost, IV, 639). 
 
 359. that narrow Street, i.e., Arundel Street, Strand, which was built in 
 1678 on the site of Arundel House. 
 
 361. Arundell 's farri 'd Structure, i.e., Arundel House. In the time of Thomas 
 Howard, Earl of Arundel, it became * the repository of that noble collection of 
 works of art, of which the very ruins are ornaments now to several principal 
 cabinets. The collection contained, when entire, 37 statues, 128 busts, and 250 
 inscribed marbles, exclusive of sarcophagi, altars, gems, and fragments ' (L.P.P.). 
 At the Restoration his grandson gave the library to the Royal Society and the 
 marbles to the University of Oxford. The house was taken down by his suc- 
 cessor, and the present Arundel Street, Surrey Street, Howard Street, and Nor- 
 folk Street erected on the site. 
 
 363. Titian's glowing Paint. So Pope {Epistle to Mr fervas, 36-8) speaks 
 of ' Raphael's grace . . . and Titian's warmth divine.' Gay, Epistle to William 
 Pulteney, ' Titian's strong fire.' 
 
 364. Raphael's fair Design. Cf. Gay, Epistle to William Pulteney, ' Talk of 
 the spirit Raphael's pencil gives, | Yet warm with life whose speaking picture 
 lives.' For Steele on the cartoons of Raphael, see S. 226 and 244. 
 
 365. Bell-man's Song. The bellman was what we now call a night-watch- 
 man, so called from the hand-bell which he carried to give an alarm in case of 
 fire. ' He was a regular parish official, visible by day also, advertising sales, crying 
 losses, or summoning to weddings or funerals by ringing his bell. ... In the 
 Luttrell Collection of broadsides (Brit. Mus.) is one dated 1683-4, entitled, A 
 Copy of Verses presented by Isaac Ragg, Bellman, to his Masters and Mistresses of 
 Holbourn Division, in the parish of St. Giles' s-in-the Fields. It is headed by a 
 wood-cut representing Isaac in professional accoutrements, a pointed pole in the 
 left hand, and in the right a bell, while his lantern hangs from his jacket in front. 
 Below is a series of verses on St. Andrew's Day, King Charles the First's Birth- 
 day, St. Thomas's Day, Christmas Day, St. John's Day, Childermas Day, New 
 Year's Day, the thirtieth of January, etc' (Chambers, Book ofDays,!, 496 ; II, 410). 
 
 366. Overton. John Overton, principal vendor of mezzotints of his day 
 (D.N.B.). Cf. Tom Brown {Works, 111,236): 'had thy noble Design taken 
 Effect [i.e., hanging herself], thou would'st have been immortaliz'd in all the 
 News-Papers about Town, and thy Phy% most curiously engrav'd in Wood, by 
 honest "John Overton, to adorn the Walls of every Coffee-house in Drury-Lane.' 
 Tempest's Cryes of the City of London (171 1) were 'printed and sold by Henry 
 Overton at the White Horse without Newgate.' 
 
 367. Statues breath'd, a reminiscence of Virgil's spirantia aera {Mneid, VI, 
 847) ; spirantia signa {Georgics, III, 34). 
 
 369. Essex stately Pile, i.e., Essex House, Strand, which stood on the site of 
 the Outer Temple, and of the present Essex Street and Devereux Court. It 
 derived its name from Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth's 
 favourite (L.P.P.). ^ 
 
 370. Cecil's, i.e., Cecil House, the town residence of Sir William Cecil, the 
 great Lord Burleigh. It stood on the north side of the Strand, on the site of 
 Burleigh Street, and the old Exeter 'Change (L.P.P.). 
 
 Bedford's, i.e., Bedford House, Strand, the town house of the Earls of Bedford. 
 It stood on the north side of the Strand, on the site of the present Southampton 
 Street, and was taken down in 1704. 
 
NOTES 77 
 
 Filler's, i.e., York House in the Strand, an old London lodging of the Arch- 
 bishops of York, by whom it was let to the Lord Keepers of the Great Seal. 
 Here Francis Bacon was born in Ij6i. After Bacon's fall it passed to Bucking- 
 ham, the first duke of the Villiers family. It was sold in 1672, the houses pulled 
 down, and the grounds and gardens converted into streets, called from the last 
 owner, George Street, Villiers Street, Duke Street, and Buckingham Street 
 (L.P.P.). 
 
 371. Burlington's fair Palace, i.e., Burlington House, Piccadilly, between 
 Bond Street and Sackville Street. The first house was built for Richard Boyle, 
 the second Earl of Cork and first Earl of Burlington, by Sir John Denham. 
 Lord Burlington, great-grandson of the first Earl, made it into a mansion by 
 a new front, taken from the palace of Count Chiericati at Vicenza by Palladio, 
 and the addition of a grand colonnade, behind what Ralph has called ' the most 
 expensive wall in England' (L.P.P.). Cf. Gay, Epistles {Poems, 1720, p. 306), 
 ' While Burlington s proportion'd columns rise, | Does not he stand the gaze of 
 envious eyes ? | Doors, windows are condemn'd by passing fools, | Who know 
 not that they damn Palladia's rules.' Hogarth's The Man of Taste ' contains the 
 best view in existence of the old wall and gate of Burlington House, cleared away 
 in 1866' (Wheatley, Hogarth's London, pp. 124-5). Hogarth's Masquerades 
 and Operas has the entrance gate of Burlington House in the background 
 {ib. pp. 348-50). 
 
 374. The Wall, etc. The wall and some ceilings of Burlington House were 
 painted by Marco and Sebastian Ricci and Sir James Thornhill (L.P.P.). 
 
 375. Hendel. Handel lived for three years at Burlington House. 
 
 376. Transports the Soul. Cf. Pope, Dunciad, IV, 65-8, ' Strong in new 
 Arms, lo Giant Handel stands, | To stir, to rouse, to shake the soul he comes.' 
 
 377. oft' I enter. So Pope {A Farewell to London) speaks of 'Burlington's 
 delicious meal.' 
 
 379. O ye associate Walkers, etc. Imitated by the anonymous author of 
 The Art of Living in London (1793), p. 39, ' O ye associate frugals ! O my 
 friends ! ' 
 
 391. box 'd within the Chair. So the 'Indian Kings' [i.e., the four Iroquois 
 chiefs who visited England in 1710] are made to say in their imaginary descrip- 
 tion of London (S. 50), ' The Men of the Country are . . . so very idle, that 
 we often saw young lusty raw-boned Fellows carried up and down the Streets in 
 little covered Rooms by a Couple of Porters, who are hired for that Service.' 
 
 396. the faithless Oar. So Swift in the Journal to Stella (17 June 17 12), 
 ' On Saturday I dined with the Duchess of Ormond, at her lodge near Sheen, 
 and thought to get a boat back as usual; I walked by the bank to Kew, but no 
 boat, then to Mortlake, but no boat; and it was nine o'clock; at last a little 
 sculler called, full of nasty people. I made him set me down at Hammer- 
 smith, so walked two miles to this place [i.e., Kensington], and got here by 
 eleven.' 
 
 410. slabby. Cf. 1. 92. 
 
 413. Son of Phoebus, i.e., Phaethon. Cj. Ovid, Met., II, 311-5 : intonat : et 
 dextra libratum fulmen ab aure \ misit in aurigam; pariterque animaque rotisque \ ex- 
 pulit, et saeuis compescuit ignibus ignes. \ consternantur equi; et saltu in contraria 
 faSio I colla iugo eripiunt, abruptaque lora relinquunt. 
 
 418. friendly Bills. So Steele (S. 444) : ' As I was passing along to-day, a 
 Paper given into my Hand by a Fellow without a Nose tells us as follows what 
 
7« 
 
 TRIVIA 
 
 good News is come to Town, to wit, that there is now a certain Cure for the 
 French Disease, by a Gentleman just come from his Travels.' Zachary Pearse 
 (S. 572): 'There is another Branch of Pretenders to this Art, who, without 
 either Horse or Pickle-Herring, lie snug in a Garret, and send down Notice to 
 the World of their extraordinary Parts and Abilities by printed Bills and 
 Advertisements.' 
 
 419. seventh-born DoSlor. The seventh son of a seventh son was believed 
 to be an infallible doftor. See Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, 265-6. Addison, 
 in a paper on physicians (T. 240), says: 'There are some who have gained 
 themselves great reputation for physic by their birth, as the seventh son of a 
 seventh son.' Tom Brown, in the advertisement to his Comical View of the 
 Transactions that will happen in the Cities of London and Westminster {Works, I, 
 163), warrants his predictions to be true, 'tho' he never travelled abroad, nor 
 pretends to be the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'; and in his Letters from the 
 Dead to the Living {Works, II, 167), makes Giusippe Hanesio describe himself 
 as ' High-German Astrologer and Chymist ; Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 
 unborn Do£tor, of above sixty Years Experience, educated at twelve Universi- 
 ties, having travelled through fifty two Kingdoms.' Apollo, in the Fable of 
 Apollo and Daphne {Works, IV, 40), says he is Chief of Physicians, and can 'do 
 more than the best Seventh Son of 'em all.' A quack, ' not content to be the 
 seventh Son of a seventh Son, must needs call himself the unborn Dodtor ' 
 {Works, IV, 116). 
 
 422. Newgate. Newgate Market, between Newgate Street and Paternoster 
 Row, and Ivy and Warwick Lanes, was originally a meal market, and after- 
 wards a meat market. ' Where were only butchers' shops and shambles, are 
 now publishers' offices and warehouses ' (L.P.P.). 
 
 424. Leaden-hall. Strype describes Leadenhall Market as 'one of the 
 greatest, the best, and the most general for all provisions, in the City of 
 London, nay of the kingdom ; and if I should say of all Europe, I should not 
 give it too great a praise.' The first court contained 'about a hundred standing 
 stalls for butchers for the selling only of beef, and therefore this court is called 
 the Beef Market.' Swift, however, in A Tale of a Tub, Sedl. IV, speaks of ' true, 
 good, natural mutton, as any in Leadenhall market.' Tom Brown, in his Comical 
 View (Works, I, 164), couples Leadenhall and Newgate: 'Twenty Butchers 
 Wives in Leadenhall and New gate- Markets overtaken with Sherry and Sugar by 
 Eight in the Morning.' 
 
 Saint James's. St. James's Market, Westminster, is described by Strype (1 720) 
 as ' a large place, with a commodious Market-House in the midst, filled with 
 Butchers' Shambles ; besides the Stalls in the Market-Piace for Country 
 Butchers, Higglers, and the like.' 
 
 425. Thames-street. Cf. II, 123-34. 
 
 Covent-Garden. Strype describes Covent Garden at the end of the ssventeenth 
 century : ' The south side of Covent Garden Square lieth open to Bedford 
 Garden, where there is a small grotto of trees, most pleasant in the summer 
 season ; and on this side there is kept a market for fruits, herbs, roots, and 
 flowers, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, which is grown to a consider- 
 able account and well served with choice goods, which makes it much resorted 
 unto.' Steele, in his Day in London (S. 454), visited Covent Garden Market: 
 ' I could not,' he says, ' believe any Place more entertaining than Covent-Garden ; 
 where I strolled from one Fruit-Shop to another, with Crowds of agreeable 
 
no r E S 
 
 79 
 
 young Women around me, who were purchasing Fruit for their respective 
 Families.' 
 
 426. Moor-fields, ' a moor or fjen without the walls of the City to the north, 
 first drained in 1587; laid out into walks for the first time in 1 606, and first 
 built upon late in the reign of Charles II. . . . This low-lying district became 
 famous for its musters and pleasant walks ; for its laundresses and bleachers ; for 
 its cudgel players and popular amusements ; for its madhouse, better known as 
 Bethlehem Hospital; and for its bookstalls and ballad-sellers' (L.P.P.). Thoresby 
 (Diary, 1709) bought 'a very rare edition of the New Testament in English' 
 in Moorfields ('£.). Tom RrownJJVorks, III, 21), speaks of 'those redoubted 
 Authors that take the benefit of the Air upon the rails in Morefields,' and 
 describes the contempt with which 'a well-grown Paul's Church-yard Bookseller 
 looks upon one of the Trade that sells second-hand Books under the Trees in 
 Morefields' (Works, IV, 122). In 1793 it is described as a place 'where 
 wretched paupers ply | Round clothless tables in an open sky ' (Art of Living in 
 London, ed. 2, p. 18). 
 
 Monmouth-street, ' afterwards called Dudley Street, runs from High Street and 
 Broad Street to Grafton Street in St. Giles's. ... It was noted throughout the 
 eighteenth century for the sale of second-hand clothes, and several of the shops 
 continued to be occupied by Jew dealers in left-oiF apparel ' (L.P.P.). Prior 
 (Alma, I, 170) speaks of Nature as cutting out clothes for all the town, and 
 then sending them to Monmouth Street to try what persons they would fit. 
 ' Monmouth Street shall furnish Versailles with Riding-hoods,' cries Colorynthis 
 in Garth's Dispensary, ' before we will submit to the Faculty.' Cf. Pope, Prologue 
 to the Three Hours after Marriage : ' Poets make characters, as salesmen clothes, ] 
 We take no measure of your fops and beaus, | But here all sizes and all shapes 
 you meet, ] And fit yourselves, like chaps in Monmouth-street.' 
 
 431. Scholiast s, commentators. ' Scholiast , one who makes Notes upon an 
 Author, a Commentator ' (Bailey). 
 
 433. like the Bee. Cf. Horace, Carmina IV, ii, 27-9 : apis Matinae \ more 
 modoque | grata carpentis thyma per laborem \ plurimum. 
 
 437. Plutarch. The so-called Moralia of Plutarch consist of about eighty- 
 three miscellaneous papers attributed to him, of which many are probably 
 spurious, and only about half deal with ethical questions. 
 
 438. Stagyra's Sage. Aristotle was born about 384 B.C. at Stageira, a Greek 
 colony in Thrace. 
 
 440. D** evidently refers to John Dennis. 
 
 441. Lock's fam'd Rape. Pope's Rape of the Lock was written and published 
 in its first form in 1711. 
 
 442. Squirts. Cf. The Dispensary, II (ad fin.) : ' Officious Squirt in Haste 
 forsook his Shop, | To succour the expiring Horoscope.' In the Compleat Key 
 added to the poem, Horoscope is explained as Dr. Barnard, and Squirt as 
 Dr. Barnard's man. In Fable XXXVI Gay quotes from The Dispensary: 
 ' petty rogues submit to fate | That great ones may enjoy their state.' 
 
 Apozems. 'Apozem' is defined by Bailey as 'a Medicinal Decoction of 
 Herbs, Flowers, Roots, Barks, &c.' Cf. The Dispensary, V, ' But in a Flood of 
 Apozem was drown'd.' From Greek arro^Ejua. 
 
 443. Lintott. Pope, Z>«»«W,I,40,speaks of 'Lintot's rubric post,' and in a note 
 says he ' usually adorned his shop with titles in red letters.' Cf. Dunciad, II, 53, seq. 
 
 452. Flanders Mares. Tom Brown, in his Amusements Serious and Comical 
 
8o TRIVIA 
 
 (Works, III, n), describes a court favourite as having 'six as good Flanders 
 Mares to his Coach as English Money could purchase.' Macaulay (History of 
 England, Ch. Ill) says, ' the coaches of the aristocracy were drawn by grey 
 Flemish mares, which trotted, as itwas thought, with a peculiar grace, and endured 
 better than any cattle reared in our island the work of dragging a ponderous 
 equipage over the rugged pavement of London.' 
 
 453. That Wretch, etc. Steele (T. 144) deals with this subject. He com- 
 plains that 'the horses and slaves of the rich take up the whole street, while we 
 peripatetics are very glad to watch an opportunity to whisk across a passage, 
 very thankful that we are not run over for interrupting the machine, that carries 
 in it a person neither more handsome, wise, nor valiant than the meanest 
 of us.' 
 
 454. Betray 'd his Sister. So Pope, Epilogue to the Satires, I, 1 1 1-2: 'And at 
 a peer, or peeress, shall I fret, | Who starves a sister, or forswears a debt ? ' 
 
 BOOK III 
 
 4. Cynthia. Diana was Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, Hecate in Hades. 
 Cf. Horace, Carm. Ill, xxii, 4, diua triformis; Virgil, Am., IV, 54, tergemin 
 amque Hecaten, tria uirginis ora Dianae. 
 
 17. Saint Clement, i.e., the church of St. Clement Danes in the Strand, 
 opposite Clement's Inn, so called, according to Stow, 'because Harold, a Danish 
 king, and other Danes, were buried there.' The old church was taken down in 
 1 68 1, and rebuilt immediately. Dr. Johnson used to attend this church. Steele 
 explains ' the Pass of St. Clement's ' as a ' military Term, which the Brothers of 
 the Whip have given the Strait at St. Clement's Church . . . where there are 
 always Coaches in waiting' (S. 498). In T. 137 he makes a choleric old army 
 friend exclaim, 'Lookee, there is forever a stop at this hole by St. Clement's Church.' 
 
 35. Oaths grow loud. Cf. Pope, 1740, A Poem, 73-4, 'Alas ! the people curse, 
 the carman swears, | The drivers quarrel, and the master stares.' 
 
 with Coaches Coaches jar. Cf. Dryden, The Hind and the Panther, II, 1 61, 
 ' Where piles with piles, and eagles eagles met.' Pope, The Rape of the Lock, I, 
 101-2, ' Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword-knots strive, | Beaux 
 banish beaux and coaches coaches drive.' Lucan, Pharsalia, I, 6, infestisque obuia 
 signis I signa. 
 
 38. the twining Lash. Cf. D'Urfey, Collin's Walk through London and 
 Westminster, II, 'At this his whip with knotted Lash, | Lifted by Arm as strong 
 as rash, | Round Collin's Shoulders smartly twang'd.' 
 
 45. Ttene, i.e., the New Forest, from Iotena, gen. plur. of Iotan, Jutes. 
 
 46. Westphalia. Cf. Pope, Epilogue to the Satires, II, 172, 'As hog to hog 
 in hutsofWestphaly.' Tom Brown, New Maxims of Conversation (Works, III, 77), 
 speaks of a gammon of bacon as ' the topping Dish of the Country ' [i.e., 
 Westphalia]. 
 
 59. dives the skulking Thief. So Tom Brown, in his Amusements Serious and 
 Comical (Works, III, 77) : ' put the Bilk upon a Pick-Pocket; who measuring my 
 Estate by the Length and Bulkiness of my Ne«v Wig, which (God knows) is 
 not paid for, he made a Dive into my Pocket, but encountring a Disappoint- 
 ment, rub'd off, cursing the Vacuum! 
 
NO TES 81 
 
 6i-2. Watch . . . Snuff-Box. Cf. Ill, 257, 'Who has not here, or Watch, 
 or Snuff-Box lost ? ' 
 
 64. Lurcher, ' one who lies upon the Lurch or upon the Catch ; also a kind 
 of Hunting-Dog ' (Bailey). 
 
 68. callow Care. Cf. Virgil, Eclogue, I, 57, raucae, tua cur a, palumbes. 
 
 74. beneath the Pump. Cf. Pope, Epilogue to the Satires, II, 41, ' Go, drench 
 a pickpocket, and join the mob.' D'Urfey, Collin's Walk, II (ed. 1690, p. 59), 
 'Pump'd in my sense, is cooling Courage; | When th' People for diversion, or 
 rage; | Do punish Pick-pockets.' 
 
 77. Ballad-Singer. Steele complains of his 'unhappy curiosity,' which was 
 always leading him into some odd adventure among beggars, ballad-singers, or 
 the like, and throwing him into expense. He was listening to a new ballad at 
 the corner of Warwick Street, when he fell a victim to the wiles of ' a ragged 
 Rascal, a Beggar,' who knew him (S. 454). 
 
 95. lost Bride. Virgil, Aeneid, II, 768-70: ausus quin etiam uoces iaclare per 
 umbrarn \ inpleui clamore uias, maestusque Creusam | nequiquam ingeminans iterum- 
 que-iterumque uocaui. 
 
 97. Nisus. Virgil, Aeneid, IX, 390-3 : Euryale infelix, qua te regione re- 
 liqui\ I quaue sequar, rursus perplexum iter omne reuoluens | fallacis siluae\ simul et 
 uestigia retro \ obseruata legit, dumisque silentibus errat. 
 
 108. Turnstiles. One may be seen in the frontispiece to the second edition 
 of Trivia. 
 
 114. Link-Boy. A link was a torch, and is said to be derived from lint, 'a 
 match,' as in lint-stock, the old form of linstock, a stick to hold a lighted match, 
 used by gunners. Cf. Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, 188, 'The linstocks touch, the 
 ponderous ball expires.' Steele, at the end of his day's ramble through London, 
 tells us that he passed the evening at Wills's, ' till I heard the Streets in the 
 possession of the Bell-man, who had now the World to himself, and cry'd Past 
 Two of Clock. This rous'd me from my Seat, and 1 went to my Lodging, led by 
 a Light, whom I put into a Discourse of his private Oeconomy, and made him 
 give me an Account of the Charge, Hazard, Profit and Loss of a Family that 
 depended upon a Link, with a Design to end my trivial Day with the Generosity 
 of Six-pence, instead of a third part of that Sum' (S. 454). 
 
 116. Alehouse Benches. An alehouse bench may be seen in the second plate, 
 ' Canvassing for votes,' of Hogarth's series of election pictures. 
 
 126. Nuts. '■Make room there, says another Fellow, driving a Wheelbarrow 
 of Nuts' — Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical {Works, III, 15). 'We 
 mov'd on till we came to Fleet Bridge, where Nuts, Ginger bread, Oranges, and 
 Oysters lay pil'd up in Moveable Shops that run upon Wheeles, attended by ill 
 looking Fellows, some with but one Eye, and others without Noses ' — The London 
 Spy (Ashton, II, 158). 
 
 133. Lincoln s-Inn, i.e., Lincoln's Inn Fields, a square immediately west of 
 Lincoln's Inn. 'In the reign of Elizabeth and the early years of James I the 
 site was an open waste, the haunt of beggars and idle persons.' Cf. Tom Brown, 
 London and Westminster {Works, I, 171), 'Beggars take up their respective 
 Posts in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields and other Places by Seven.' The Country Gentle- 
 man's Companion, p. 97, ' The General Places where the Masters of this Art [i.e., 
 Guinea-dropping] Rendezvous, is Lincoln's-Inn Fields and Covent Garden.' lb., 
 p. 51, 'Lincoln's-Inn Fields, where the Mountebank and his Andrew will divert 
 you as well.' 
 
 M 
 
82 TRIVIA 
 
 raiVd around. ' The rail to which Gay alludes was only a wooden post-and- 
 rail ; the square itself was enclosed with iron rails for the first time pursuant to 
 an Act passed in 1735' (L.P.P.). 
 
 137. That Crutch, etc. 'Scarecrow, the Beggar in Lincoln? s-Inn-Fields, who 
 disabled himself in his Right Leg, and asks Alms all Day ' (S. 6). 
 
 144. Crystal Lamp. Cf. Note on I, 66. 
 
 145. Augusta. According to Ammianus Marcellinus (XXVII, viii, 7), 
 writing of the year a.d. 368, London was then uetus oppidum, quod Augustam 
 posteritas appellauit. It was originally the capital of the British tribe called 
 Trinobantes, and one of its names was Augusta Trinobantum, from which came 
 the Anglo-French Troynovant. So Swift {On Poetry, 280) calls it Augusta 
 Trinobantum. Cf. Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, 295. 
 
 159. Train of Torches. Cf. Juvenal, Sat., Ill, 284-5, comitum longissimus 
 or do, I multum praeterea flammarum et aenea lampas. 
 170. To cross the Way. Cf. Note on II, 453 above. 
 
 185. Ostrea, an oyster-woman. So Pope [Dunciad, II, 415) speaks of Norton 
 De Foe as ' from Daniel and Ostroea sprung.' 
 
 186. Wallfleet, i z. Place in Essex famous for Oisters' (Bailey). Cf. Drayton, 
 Poly-olbion, XIX, 125, 'Think you our Oysters here unworthy of your 
 praise? | Pure Walfleet, which do still the daintiest palates please.' 
 
 189. Fleet-Ditch. See note on II, 124. 
 
 190. Oyster-Tubs. 'In Gay's time oysters were sold in the street by wheel- 
 barrow men at " Twelvepence a Peck." The " choicest of oysters, called Col- 
 chester oysters," fetched prices ranging from is. 8d. to 3.5. per barrel ; while pickled 
 oysters from Jersey could be bought for is. 8d. per hundred ' (Underhill). 
 
 196. Brass or Steel, suggested by Horace's illi robur et aes triplex | circa 
 peSfus erat {Carmina I, iii, 9). 
 
 201. Blood stuff'd in Skins, i.e., black-puddings, a kind of sausage made of 
 blood, suet, etc. Hudibras' breeches were lined with ' fat Black-Puddings, proper 
 Food I For Warriors that delight in Blood ' (I, i, 315-6). 
 
 203. Morell, ' an edible fungus of the genus Morchella, especially Morchella 
 esculenta ' (N.E.D). Evelyn describes it as a 'delicate red Mushroom.' 
 
 Ragousts. ' Ragoo [F., ragout] a high seasoned Dish of Meat ' (Bailey). ' I 
 hate French Fricasies and Ragousts,' says Clodpate in Shadwell's Epsom Wells, 
 IV, i. Colley Cibber [Apology, 1740, p. 38) speaks of 'a mere Ragoust, toss'd up 
 from the offals of other authors.' Cf Tom Brown, Diverting Letters {Works, 
 III, 153), 'No Pagan Ragoo's, nor high-flown Kickshaw.' Spelt 'raggou' in 
 Collin's Walk, p. 144. 
 
 210. shove thee far without the Post. So a ' reverend sire, whom want of 
 grace | Has made the father of a nameless race,' is 'shoved from the wall ' by his 
 unrecognized son (Pope, Moral Essays, I, 232-5). 
 
 215. Oedipus' detested State. Oedipus unwittingly slew his father, Lai'us, 
 who met him in the way and 'was for thrusting him rudely from the path' 
 (Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 800-12). 
 
 217. Where three Roads join' d. Oed. Tyr., 800-1, TjonrXijc | or rj ki\sv8ov 
 rrjfTS' oSonropwv iriXag. 
 
 221. fatal Plague. The opening scene of the Oedipus Tyrannus shows a 
 band of suppliants waiting before the palace of Oedipus at Thebes. In answer 
 to the question of Oedipus as to the cause of their coming, the priest of Zeus 
 tells him that the city is sorely distressed with a plague (Oed. Tyr., 22-30). 
 
NO TE S 
 
 8.3 
 
 222. cursed Incest, i.e., the marriage of Oedipus with his mother Iocasta. 
 
 Children slain, i.e., Eteocles and Polynices, who slew one another in battle, 
 when Polynices with six Argive chiefs besieged Thebes (Sophocles, rfntigone, 13-4). 
 
 224. Theban Streets. In the interval of about twenty years which is sup- 
 posed to elapse between the end of the Oedipus Tyrannus and the beginning of 
 the Oedipus Coloneus, Oedipus after blinding himself was at first allowed to 
 remain at Thebes, but was ultimately expelled, and wandered as a blind beggar 
 about the country under the guidance of his daughter Antigone. In the Coloneus 
 he is found at Colonos about a mile from Athens. 
 
 231. Herse with 'Scutcheons. In Ireland's Graphic Illustrations from Hogarth, 
 p. 10, is an etching from a very scarce print by Hogarth called The Funeral 
 Ticket, in which the hearse, scutcheons, and plumes are clearly shown. Cf. Gay's 
 Journey to Exeter {Poems, p. 285), ' As herses pass'd, our landlord robb'd the 
 pall, I And with the mournful scutcheon hung his hall'. Miscellanies (ib., p. 422), 
 ' Thy heir with smiles shall view thy blazon'd herse.' 
 
 242. Nerves, in the old sense of ' tendons, sinews ' (vcvpov, neruus). Cf. 
 Hamlet, I, iv, 83, ' the Nemean lion's nerve.' 
 
 249. Guinea-Dropper. Guinea-dropping, or ' Sweetening,' is thus described 
 by ' One of the Chief Masters of the Faculty ' in The Country Gentleman's Fade 
 Mecum (1699), pp. 97-101. 'To make us a Compleat Set, there must be three 
 of us ; One to Personate a Merchant, the other a Country Gentleman, and the 
 third a Tradesman. When we have hit of our Cully, (and they have commonly 
 a damnable Notion of a Person for their Turn), One of our Gang marches 
 direcTtly before him, and another follows close behind, till they come to a con- 
 venient Place, where the Mouth (as they are pleas'd to term him) must needs 
 observe ; and then the Spark that is in the Front, drops the Guinea : Faith 
 (says he, turning about to the Stranger), I have found a Piece of Mony here, 
 I think 'tis a Guinea ; and then if he that's in the Rear perceives he's insensible 
 to the Cheat, up he steps, and claims Halfs. After a little Sham-squabble between 
 the two Cheats, says the first, If any body has any right to a Snack, 'tis this Gentle- 
 man, who saw me take it up : But to prevent Disputes, Come (saith he), 'tis a 
 lucky hit, we'll ev'n go all to the Tavern, and spend the odd Mony, and then 
 divide the Remainder fairly and equally amongst us. The third still continues 
 at a distance, to observe the Success of their Management, and in what Tavern 
 they house him, which is one where they commonly have a thorow Acquaintance 
 and Familiarity: when he's fixt, then in comes he, in a mighty Hurry, and pre- 
 tended Confusion, for the Loss of a Bill, which he says he supposes he dropt 
 just now, in the very Room where they are drinking: and to colour the Matter, 
 one of the other two conveys a Sham-bill under the Table, which he immediately 
 takes up, and as a testimony of his Joy for the Recovery of it, will needs call for 
 his Pint. After they have drank two or three Pints, and begin to grow a little 
 warm, up starts one of 'em, and pretends to have discovered a Pack of Cards, 
 which he has before plac'd in some convenient part of the Room, for his pur- 
 pose. Ha ! says he, here 's a Pack of Cards ; Come, Faith, I'll shew you one of 
 the prettiest Tricks, that I was taught by a Dutchman t'other Day, that ever I 
 saw in my Life. And so to possess their Cully of their Innocence, etc., they 
 shew several of the ordinary Tricks upon the Cards. At last, he that is the 
 most Dexterous, starts the Grand Trick ; which they call Preaching the Parson ; 
 how the Dogs came to call it by that Name, I know not ; unless it be, that so 
 many honest Clergymen, above the rest, have been impos'd upon by it. As to 
 
8 4 
 
 T R I V I A 
 
 the manner of their Trick, 'tis no great matter, my Design is not to teach you 
 Tricks, but how to avoid 'em : 'tis a Palm, and a Slip that they have, a sort of 
 Deceptio Visits, which if you have a Curiosity to see, there's enough in Town 
 will equip you. If this Cheat takes, then they will have no need to try any 
 othet Expedients ; but if this don't pass upon you, then they'll try you with 
 false Dice, Rug and the Leather, or twenty other Projects, that they have ready 
 upon such Occasions. For, in short, your Money they will have, before they 
 part with you ; or rather than fail, knock you down, and rifle you, or pick your 
 Pocket.' 
 
 Tom Brown, in his Comical View of London and Westminster (Works, I, 182), 
 speaks of ' a son of Bacchus ' as being ' as pale as a Guinea-dropper, when he 's 
 carried before a worshipful Justice ' ; and in his Letters from the Dead to the 
 Living (Works, II, 145), describes Alexander the Great in Hades as ' Bully to a 
 Guinea-Dropper.' 
 
 262. Katherine-street, ' a street running from the Strand to Russell Street, 
 Covent Garden. The northern half was formerly called Brydges Street. Drury 
 Lane Theatre is at its north-east corner ' (L.P.P.). According to Strype it was 
 originally ' well built and inhabited, and of great resort for the theatre there.' 
 Cf. Chancellor, Annals of the Strand, p. 60. In The Art of Living in London 
 (ed. 2, 1793), p. 15, it is described as ' that street where Venus holds her reign, | 
 And Pleasure's daughters drag a life of pain.' 
 
 274. Charmer! Love! my Dear! imitated in The Art of Living in London, 
 p. 27, 'In well-feign'd accents now they hail the ear | "My life, my love, my 
 charmer, or my dear."' 
 
 307. Watchmen. Cf. The Art of Living in London, p. 22, ' The drowsy 
 watchman hobbles to his stand, | Prepar'd to free the thief who gilds his hand.' 
 Garth, Dispensary, III, ' So aweful Beadles, if the Vagrant treat, | Straight turn 
 familiar, and their Fasces quit.' 
 
 311. Lanthorns. 'The Constable going his Rounds quickly made me the 
 Centre of a Circle of Jack of Lanthorns ' — Tom Brown, Letters from the Dead to 
 the Living (Works, II, 234). ' To understand the pidture it is needful to remem- 
 ber that the watch consisted of watchmen with staves and lanterns led by a con- 
 stable, who carried a staff but not a lantern ' (Wheatley, Hogarth's London, 
 
 P- 378). 
 
 314. scow' ring Crew. ' Scowrers ' was one of many cant names for the drunken 
 bullies who infested the streets of London at this time. 'When night | Darkens 
 the streets, then wander forth the sons | Of Belial, flown with insolence and 
 wine ' (Milton, Paradise Lost, I, 500-2). Their predecessors were called ' Hec- 
 tors,' ' Muns,' and ' Tityre Tus.' Their doings are thus described in ShadwelPs 
 play, The Scowrers. 'We Scour'd the Market People, overthrew the Butter 
 Women, defeated the Pippin Merchants, wip'd out the Milk Scores, pull'd off 
 the Door Knockers, dawb'd the Gilt Signs.' The term was evidently obsolescent 
 in 1 7 12, when Steele (S. 276) makes the old Bencher of one of the Inns of Court 
 say that he had been ' a Scowrer, a Scamperer, a Breaker of Windows, an Invader 
 of Constables, in the Days of Yore, when all Dominion ended with the Day, 
 and Males and Females met helter skelter, and the Scowrers drove before them 
 all who pretended to keep up Order or Rule to the Interruption of Love and 
 Honour.' 
 
 316. Constable. D'Urfey (Collins Walk, p. 76) thus describes the Con- 
 stable : 
 
no r E s 
 
 85 
 
 ' A Wight of Conduct great, and Powers, 
 
 Especially at Midnight hours, 
 
 When in his Wooden Throne he sits, 
 
 To judge without, of others Wits, 
 
 To put the puzzling questions too, 
 
 Of whence d'ee come, and where d'ee go: 
 
 And when the minutes Twelve repeat, 
 
 Profoundly tell us that 'tis late ; 
 
 Then with his Guard in State retire, 
 
 To Smoak and Tope by Sea-cole fire.' 
 323. Nicker. Steele(T. 77) says : 'When I was a middle-aged man, there were 
 many societies of ambitious young men in England, who, in their pursuits after 
 fame, were every night employed in roasting porters, smoking cobblers, knocking 
 down watchmen, overturning constables, breaking windows, blackening sign-posts, 
 and the like immortal enterprises, that dispersed their reputation throughout the 
 whole kingdom. One could hardly find a knocker at a door in a whole street after 
 a midnight expedition of these beaux esprits. I was lately very much surprised by 
 an account of my maid, who entered my bedchamber this morning in a very great 
 fright, and told me, she was afraid my parlour was haunted; for that she had 
 found several panes of my windows broken, and the floor strewed with halfpence.' 
 'A young Man of very lively parts ' may frequently be traced to his lodgings by 
 a range of broken windows (S. 576). A ' gay young gentleman' th-us describes 
 the Nickers in The British Apollo (1 April 1709): 'We take a Hackny-Coach, 
 and make the Coach-man drive up and down the Town, always providing our- 
 selves with good store of Copper Halfpence, which we throw at Sash-windows as 
 we drive along ' (Quoted by Underhill). 
 
 326. Mohocks. Steele (S. 324) describes the Mohocks as 'a Set of Men, who 
 have lately eredled themselves into a Nodlurnal Fraternity, under the Title of 
 the Mohock Club, a Name borrowed, it seems, from a Sort of Cannibals in India, 
 who subsist by plundering and devouring all the Nations about them.' After 
 inflaming themselves with strong drink, he says, ' they make a general Sally, and 
 attack all that are so unfortunate as to walk the Streets through which they 
 patrole. Some are knock'd down, others stabb'd, others cut and carbonado'd. 
 To put the Watch to total Rout, and mortify some of those inoffensive Militia, 
 is reckon'd a Coup a" eclat. . . . Some are celebrated for a happy Dexterity in 
 tipping the Lion upon them ; which is performed by squeezing the Nose flat to 
 the Face, and boring out the Eyes with their Fingers: others are called the 
 Dancing-Masters, and teach their Scholars to cut Capers by running Swords 
 thro' their Legs : a third sort are the Tumblers, whose Office it is to set 
 Women on their Heads.' The ' Sweaters ' used to surround their vidlim, each 
 member of the circle pricking him with his sword as he turned his back, till he 
 was thought to have sweat sufficiently, when he was rubbed down by some 
 attendants and discharged (S. 332). Budgell gives an imaginary proclamation 
 issued by the ' Emperor of the Mohocks,' in which he sets forth the limitations 
 of time and place in which his subjecls may ' tip the Lion,' 'sweat,' ' hunt,' and 
 practise the art of ' Tumblers ' (S. 437). Swift, in his Journal to Stella, has 
 many references to the Mohocks, e.g., 8 March 1711-12: 'Did I tell you of a 
 race of rakes, called Mohocks, that play the devil about this town every night, 
 slit people's noses, and bid them, etc' He comes home early, or in a chair, for 
 fear of the Mohocks. The Lord Treasurer advises him not to go in a chair, 
 
86 TRIVIA 
 
 because the Mohocks insult chairs more than they do those on foot ; and young 
 Davenant tells them at court how he was set upon by Mohocks, and how they 
 ran his chair through with a sword. 
 
 330. Snow-hill, ' the confined, circuitous, narrow and steep highway between 
 Holborn Bridge and Newgate. . . . When Skinner Street was built in 1802 
 Snow Hill ceased to be the highway between Newgate Street and Holborn. It 
 remained little improved till cleared away in forming the Holborn Viadudt and 
 approaches, 1867 ' (L.P.P.). Swift, in his City Shower (T. 238), describes how 
 
 ' the swelling kennels 
 From Smithfield or St. Pulchre's shape their course, 
 And in huge confluent joined at Snow Hill ridge, 
 Fall from the Conduit, prone to Holborn Bridge.' 
 
 334. Regulus, according to the legend, on returning to Carthage from Rome, 
 where he had dissuaded the Senate from accepting the Carthaginian terms, was 
 placed in a chest, covered inside with iron nails, and thus perished. Cf. Horace, 
 Carmina III, v, 13-56. 
 
 345. Eddystone. ' Eddystone lighthouse, off the port of Plymouth, eredted by 
 the Trinity-house, to enable ships to avoid the Eddystone rock. The first light- 
 house was commenced under Mr. Winstanley in 1696; finished in 1699 ; and 
 destroyed in the dreadful tempest of 27 November, 1703, when Mr. Winstanley 
 and others perished ' (Haydn, Dictionary of Dates). 
 
 355. Cries of Fire. In Hogarth's engraving, 'The Times, Plate I,' published 
 in 1762, representing a fire in London, the firemen may be seen squirting water 
 from syringes, and the fire-engine of the Union Fire Office worked by one of its 
 firemen. In The Microcosm of London, II, 36, a coloured plate by Pugin and 
 Rowlandson shows the. great fire which took place in 1 791 at the Albion Mills 
 on the Surrey side of Blackfriars Bridge. 
 
 356. scattering Sparks. Cf. Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, CCXVII, ' And first 
 few scattering sparks about were blown.' 
 
 366. helpless Infant. Cf. Annus Mirabilis, CCXXVI, 'And frighted 
 mothers strike their breasts too late, | For helpless infants left amidst the fire.' 
 
 368. Dardan Hero. In the second book of the Aeneid (vv. 707-8, 804), 
 Aeneas describes how he bore his aged father Anchises on his shoulders from 
 the blazing ruins of Troy. 
 
 378. Caesar's 'Doom. Plutarch {Life of Caesar) speaks of 'the fires in the 
 element ' [i.e., the sky], that were said to have been seen before the death of 
 Caesar. Cf. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, I, iii, 1-78. 
 
 379. veil'd in Rust, from Virgil, Georgics, I, 466, ilk etiam exstinEio miseratus 
 Caesar e Romam, | cum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine texit. 
 
 383. nitrous Store. So in Annus Mirabilis, CCXLV, 'the powder blows up 
 all before the fire.' Evelyn, Diary, Sept. 5, 1666, ' began to consider that nothing 
 was likely to put a stop but the blowing up of so many houses as might make a 
 wider gap than any had yet been made by the ordinary method of pulling them 
 downe with engines.' 
 
 411. W* and G**, probably Ward and Gildon, Edward (commonly called 
 Ned) Ward (1667-1714) published coarse poems satirizing the Whigs and the 
 low-church party, and descriptive of life in London. He is best known as the 
 author of The London Spy. Charles Gildon (1 665-1 724) attacked Pope as 
 ' Sawney Dapper,' and was included by him in The Dunciad (D.N.B.). He is 
 coupled with Dennis (fDunciad, III, 173) and with Ward (ib., I, 296). Pope 
 
NO T E S 
 
 87 
 
 calls him ' a writer of criticisms and libels of the last age,' and says that he wrote 
 some very bad plays. In the Prologue to the Satires (151), where he is again 
 connected with Dennis, Pope speaks of his ' venal quill.' 
 
 412. Chelsea used to be famous for its buns. Swift writes to Stella (1 May 
 1711),' Pray, are not the fine buns sold here in our town ; was it not r-r-r-r-r-r-rare 
 Chelsea Buns? I bought one to-day in my walk; it cost me a penny.' The 
 imaginary correspondent in Budgell's paper (S. 175) describes how the 'Butt,' 
 whom he had taken as a foil in an ' Entertainment upon the Water,' which he 
 gave to some ladies, turned the tables upon him, and ' rallied and tossed ' him in 
 a ' most unmerciful and barbarous manner,' till they came to Chelsea, where he 
 had some small success while they were eating Cheese-Cakes. Chelsea is coupled 
 with Knightsbridge, Spring Gardens, and Barn Elms by Mrs. Frail in Congreve's 
 Love for Love (II, ii), as a suburban pleasure resort. 
 
 412. under Custards. So Swift imagines Lintot saying to a country squire 
 who wants to purchase his works a year after his death : ' Sir, you may find them 
 in Duck Lane; | I sent them with a load of books | Last Monday to the pastry- 
 cook's ' (On the Death of Dr. Swift). ' Anthony Title-page, Stationer,' in a letter 
 to the Spectator (S. 304), asks to be allowed to print the rejected letters, or ' to 
 sell them by the Pound Weight to his good Customers the Pastry-Cooks of 
 London and Westminster.' Cf. Pope, Dunciad, I, 155-6, 'Of these twelve 
 volumes, twelve of amplest size, | Redeemed from tapers and defrauded pies.' 
 Epistle to a Lady, 37, ' One common fate all imitators share, | To save mince- 
 pies, and cap the grocer's ware.' So in Latin the mediocre poet fears lest deferar 
 in uicum uendentem tus et odores \ et piper et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis 
 (Horace, Epistles, II, i, 269) ; ne nigram cito raptus in culinam \ cordylas madida 
 tegas papyro \ uel turis piperisue sis cucullus (Martial, Epigrams, III, ii, 3-6); nee 
 scombros metuentia carmina nee tus (Persius, Satires, I, 43). 
 
 413. Bandboxes repair. So Pope, Satires and Epistles, V, 4 1 5-9, 'And when 
 I flatter, let my dirty leaves, | . . . Cloath spice, line trunks, or flutt'ring in a 
 row, I Befringe the rails of Bedlam and Soho.' 
 
 414. Rockets. Cf. Garth, Dispensary, VI, ' When Bonfires blaze, your vagrant 
 Works shall rise | In Rockets, 'till they reach the wond'ring Skies.' 
 
 415. Fleetstreet Posts. Fleet Street was famous for its publishers' shops. 
 Here Drayton's Poems were published by John Smithwick in 1608; The Corn- 
 pleat Angler, by Richard Marriot in 1653; Locke's Essay on the Human Under- 
 standing was first printed by Eliz. Holt for Thomas Basset in 1690. Here 
 Edmund Curll, Jacob Robinson, Lawton Gilliver, Bernard Lintot, and Jacob 
 Tonson had their shops. See Annals of Fleet Street, by E. Beresford Chancellor. 
 
 Posts. Publishers used to decorate the door-posts and walls of their shops with 
 the titles of books in red letters. So Pope speaks of his name as ' standing rubric ' 
 on the walls, and 'plastering posts' with capitals (Prologue to the Satires, 215-6). 
 In The Dunciad, Lintot's ' rubric post ' (I, 40), and Osborne's ' lettered post ' 
 (II, 171) are mentioned. Mark Pattison shows that the practice was earlier, 
 quoting from Hall, Satires, V, 2, ' When Maevio's first page of his poesy | Nail'd 
 to a hundred postes for novelty.' Ben Jonson, Epigrams, ep. 3, ' Nor have my 
 title-leaf on posts or walls.' In fad it was as old as Horace. Cf. Satires, I, 71, 
 nulla taberna meos habeat neque pila libellos. Ars Poetica, 372, mediocribus esse 
 poetis I non homines, non di, non concessere columnae. Martial (I, cxvii, 10-12) 
 speaks of a bookseller's shop as scriptis postibus hinc et inde totis, | omnes ut cito 
 perlegas poetas. 
 
INDEX TO THE NOTES 
 
 ALEHOUSE Benches, III, 116. 
 Apozems, II, 442. 
 Arundel House, II, 361. 
 Arundel Street, II, 359. 
 Asses' Milk, II, 13. 
 Augusta, III, 145. 
 
 Balconies, II, 299. 
 Ballad-Singer, III, 77. 
 Bandboxes, III, 413. 
 Bavaroy, I, 53. 
 Beaver, II, 155. 
 Bedford House, II, 370. 
 Belgian Stove, II, 216. 
 Bell-man, II, 365. 
 Billingsgate, II, 10. 
 Bills, II, 418. 
 Black-puddings, III, 201. 
 Black Youth, I, 23. 
 Board, II, 1 00. 
 Boat, II, 396. 
 Bookseller, I, 161. 
 Breast, open, I, 180. 
 Burlington House, II, 371. 
 
 Camlet, I, 46. 
 
 Cane, I, 61, 67, 76. 
 
 Carmen, II, 138. 
 
 Cecil House, II, 370. 
 
 Chairmen, I, 62. 
 
 Chairs, II, 391. 
 
 'Change, II, 215. 
 
 Chaplain, II, 134. 
 
 Chariots, I, 69. 
 
 Cheap-side, II, 122. 
 
 Chelsea, III, 412. 
 
 Chimney-sweeper, II, 33. 
 
 Classical allusions, I, 35, 115, 117, 133, 
 135, H9> 168, 169, 178, 185, 203, 
 204, 205, 207, 245, 246, 249 ; II, 86, 
 
 241,243, 270, 271, 273, 367, 413, 
 433; III, 68, 95, 97, 196, 215, 217, 
 221, 222, 224, 334, 368, 378, 379, 
 412,415. 
 
 Clement, Saint, III, 17. 
 
 Coachman, I, 153. 
 
 Cock hat, II, 60. 
 
 Cockled, I, 46. 
 
 Common-shores, I, 171. 
 
 Conclusive, II, 302. 
 
 Constable, III, 316. 
 
 Cook, II, 245. 
 
 Corn, shooting, I, 40. 
 
 Cornavian Cheeses, II, 132. 
 
 Covent-garden, II, 221, 425. 
 
 Cravat, I, 78. 
 
 Cries, I, 121 ; II, 303. 
 
 Crown, civic, I, 20. 
 
 Crutch, III, 137. 
 
 Custards, III, 412. 
 
 Cynthia, III, 4. 
 
 Defend, I, 132. 
 Dennis, II, 440. 
 Doily, I, 43. 
 Drugget, I, 44. 
 Drummers, II, 17. 
 Drury-lane, II, 160. 
 
 Eddystone, III, 345. 
 
 Eggs, II, 102. 
 
 Essex House, II, 369. 
 
 Fence, I, 44. 
 
 Fire, III, 355- 
 
 Flanders Mares, II, 452. 
 
 Fleet-ditch, II, 124; III, 189. 
 
 Fleetstreet, III, 415. 
 
 Fob, II, 90. 
 
 Foot-ball, II, 226. 
 
 N 
 
9° 
 
 TRIVIA 
 
 Fortescue, II, 353. 
 Fridays, II, 297. 
 Frieze, I, 45. 
 Frost, the great, II, 235. 
 
 Games [on ice], II, 248. 
 Gildon, III, 41 1. 
 Singling, II, 234. 
 Guinea-dropper, III, 249. 
 
 Hangman, II, 44. 
 Hat, I, 128, 195. 
 Hawkers, II, 22. 
 Heel, wooden, I, 31. 
 Hendel, II, 375. 
 Herse, III, 231. 
 Hockley-hole, II, 288. 
 Holly, II, 319. 
 
 James's, Saint, II, 422. 
 Jones, Inigo, II, 222. 
 Joseph, I, 57. 
 Joul, II, 293. 
 
 Katherine-street, III, 262. 
 Kennels, I, 15. 
 Kersey, I, 59. 
 Knocker, II, 345. 
 
 Lame, the, II, 52. 
 Lamp, I, 66; III, 144. 
 Lanthorns, III, 311. 
 Leaden-hall, II, 424. 
 Lincoln's-Inn, III, 133. 
 Link-Boy, III, 114. 
 Lintott, II, 443. 
 Lock, Rape of the, II, 441. 
 Ludgate-hill, II, 166. 
 Lurcher, III, 64. 
 
 Mackrell, II, 310. 
 Maid, II, 292. 
 Mall, the, I, 27, 145. 
 Manteau, I, no. 
 Meuse, the, II, 166. 
 Milk-maid, II, 11. 
 Misletoe, II, 320. 
 Mohocks, III, 326. 
 Mondays, II, 290. 
 Monmouth-street, II, 426. 
 Moor-fields, II, 426. 
 
 Mop, II, 300. 
 Morell, III, 203. 
 
 Nerves, III, 242. 
 Nettles, II, 308. 
 Newgate, II, 422. 
 Nicker, III, 323. 
 Nitrous, III, 383. 
 
 Oranges, II, 313. 
 Ostrea, III, 185. 
 Overton, II, 366. 
 Oyster Cries, I, 28. 
 Oyster-Tubs, III, 190. 
 
 Paris, I, 85. 
 Pattens, I, 212. 
 Paul, Festival of, I, 177. 
 Pavior, I, 13. 
 Pears, II, 312. 
 Perfumer, II, 29. 
 Persian Dames, I, 213. 
 Peruke, II, 54. 
 Plutarch, II, 437. 
 Posts, II, 98 ; III, 210. 
 Posts, booksellers', III, 415. 
 Prentices, II, 69. 
 Pump, III, 74. 
 
 Ragousts, III, 203. 
 Rails, I, 163. 
 Raphael, II, 364. 
 Riding-hood, I, 210. 
 Roquelaure, I, 51. 
 Rosemary, II, 315. 
 Russia's Bear, I, 50. 
 
 Samian, the, II, 115. 
 'Scallop'd Top, I, 32. 
 Scholiasts, II, 431. 
 Scowrers, III, 314, 325. 
 'Scutcheons, III, 231. 
 Seven Dials, II, 75. 
 Seventh-born Dodtor, II, 419. 
 Shoes, red-heel'd, II, 56. 
 Signs, II, 67, 77. 
 Slabby, II, 92, 410. 
 Slav'ry [of Paris], I, 86. 
 Small-coal, II, 35. 
 Snow-hill, III, 330. 
 
INDEX TO THE NOTES 
 
 Snuff-Box, III, 62. 
 
 Sound [echoing sense], III, 257. 
 
 Spanish Hide, I, 30. 
 
 Spurn, II, 211. 
 
 Squirt, II, 442. 
 
 Stagyra's Sage, II, 438. 
 
 Streets [on ice], II, 247. 
 
 Surtout, I, 58. 
 
 Swithin's Feast, I, 183. 
 
 Thames Street, II, 123, 425. 
 
 Thief, III, 59. 
 
 Thimble's Cheats, II, 166. 
 
 Thursdays, II, 290. 
 
 Tilts, I, 164. 
 
 Titian, II, 363. 
 
 Torches, III, 159. 
 
 Trivia, I, 5. 
 
 Turnstiles, III, 108. 
 
 Umbrella, I, 211. 
 
 Upholder, II, 347. 
 
 Urn [of river-gods], II, 280. 
 
 Vellom-Thunder, II, 18. 
 
 Wall, command the, I, 62. 
 Wall, jostle for, I, 200. 
 Wallfleet, III, 186. 
 Wallnuts, II, 31 1. 
 Ward, III, 411. 
 Watch, III, 61. 
 Watchmen, III, 307. 
 Waterman, II, 239. 
 Wednesdays, II, 297. 
 Westphalia, III, 46. 
 White's, I, 72; II, 213. 
 Wig, I, 126. 
 Witney, I, 47. 
 
 York House, II, 370. 
 Ytene, III, 45. 
 
LONDON: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND GRIGOS (PRINTERS), LTD. 
 CHISWICK PRESS, TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. 
 

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