The Fleet. Its Rivers, Prison, and Marriages 16

The Fleet. Its Rivers, Prison, and Marriages 16

Sir Richard Steele, writing in 1715, says thus:

 

"ON THE COLD BATH AT OLDCASTLE'S."

 

"Hail, sacred Spring! Thou ever-living Stream,

Ears to the Deaf, Supporters to the Lame,

Where fair Hygienia ev'ry morn attends,

And with kind Waves, her gentle Succour lends.

While in the Cristal Fountain we behold

The trembling Limbs, Enervate, Pale and Cold;

A Rosy Hue she on the face bestows,

And Nature in the chilling fluid glows,

 

The Eyes shoot Fire, first kindled in the Brain,

As beds of Lime smoke after showers of Rain;

The fiery Particles concentred there,

Break ope' their Prison Doors and range in Air;

Hail then thou pow'rful Goddess that presides

O'er these cold Baths as Neptune o'er his Tides,

Receive what Tribute a pure Muse can pay

For Health that makes the Senses Brisk and Gay,

The fairest Offspring of the heavenly Ray."

 

At one time there was a famous house of refreshment and recreation,

either called the Cobham's Head, or the Sir John Oldcastle--or there

were one of each. Authorities differ, and, although I have spent some

time and trouble in trying to reconcile so-called facts, I have come

to the conclusion that, for my reader's sake, _le jeu ne vaut pas la

chandelle_. There is a tradition that Sir John Oldcastle who was a

famous Lollard in the time of Henry V., either had an estate here,

or hid in a house of entertainment there, during his persecution for

faith. But the whole is hazy.

 

We know that there was a Sir John Oldcastle, who was born in the

fourteenth century, and who was the fourth husband of Joan, Lady

Cobham, in whose right he took the title of Lord Cobham. We know also,

that he enjoyed the friendship of Henry V., and was of his household.

But he got imbued with the doctrines of Wyclif, was cited to appear,

more than once, before the ecclesiastical authorities, declined the

invitations, and was duly excommunicated. He wrangled with the priests,

got committed to the Tower, escaped and hid in Wales, was accused of

heading a trumpery insurrection, and was, finally, captured, tried, and

hanged in chains alive, upon a gallows in St. Giles' Fields, when,

fire being put under him, he was slowly roasted to death in December,

1417. A pious nobleman, like the late Lord Shaftesbury, for instance,

was not popular at that time, if we may believe a few lines from

"Wright's Political Songs from Edward II. to Henry VI."

 

"Hit is unkindly for a Knight

That shuld a kynges castel kepe,

To bable the Bible day and night,

In restyng time when he shuld slepe,

And carefoly away to crepe;

For alle the chefe of chivalrie,

Wel ought hym to wail and wepe,

That swyche[49] lust is in Lollardie."

 

The English were always famous bowmen, and archery--although gunpowder

has long superseded bows and arrows in warfare--still is a favourite

and fashionable pastime, witness the Toxopholite Society in Regent's

Park, and the various Archery associations throughout the kingdom;

so that it is not remarkable that an open space like Coldbath Fields

should vie with the Artillery ground at Finsbury, in favour with the

citizens, as a place for this sport; and we find, in Queen Anne's

reign, that the _Sir John Oldcastle_ was frequented by Archers. And for

this information we may thank that old sinner, John Bagford (who spoilt

so many books for the sake of their title-pages) for preserving. It

tells its own story:--[50]

 

"All gentlemen of the ancient and noble exercise of Archery,

are invited to the annual dinner of the Clerkenwell Archers,

Mrs. Mary Barton's, at the sign of Sir John Oldcastle (Cold Bath

Fields) on Friday, July 18, 1707, at one o'clock, and to pay

the bearer, Thomas Beaumont, Marshall, 2s. 6d., taking a sealed

ticket, that a certain number may be known, and provision made

accordingly. Nath. Axtall, Esq., and Edward Bromwich, Gent.,

Stewards."

 

There were very pleasant gardens attached to this tavern, and, like

all the suburban places of recreation, they were well patronized, and

they gave a very decent amusement in the shape of music--instrumental

and vocal--and, occasionally, fireworks. But there seems to have been

the same difficulty then, as now, as to keeping outdoor amusements,

if not select, at least decorous, for, acccording to the _Daily

Advertisement_ of June 3, 1745, "Sir John Oldcastle's Gardens, Cold

Bath Fields. This evening's entertainment will continue the Summer

Season. The Band consists of the best masters. Sixpence for admission,

for which they have a ticket, which ticket will be taken as sixpence

in their reckoning. Particular care will be taken that the provisions

shall be the very best in their separate kinds; likewise to keep a just

decorum in the gardens. Note.--Several ladies and gentlemen that come

to the gardens give the drawers their tickets, which is no benefit to

the proprietor; therefore it's humbly desired that if any gentlemen or

ladies don't chuse to have the value of their tickets in liquor, or

eating, they will be so kind as to leave them at the bar."

 

[Illustration:

THE SMALLPOX HOSPITAL IN COLD BATH FIELDS.]

 

As a place of amusement, it seems, even in 1745, to have been on the

wane. In 1758 the Smallpox Hospital was built close to it, and in 1761

the Sir John Oldcastle was bought by the trustees of the hospital, in

order to enlarge it, and was pulled down in 1762. Noorthouck ("New

History of London," ed. 1763, p. 752), speaking of Cold Bath Square,

in which was the famed cold bath, says, "The North side of this square

is, as yet, open to the fields, but a little to the east stands the

Small Pox Hospital for receiving patients who catch the disease in the

natural way; and is a very plain, neat structure. The Center, which

projects a little from the rest of the building, is terminated on the

top by an angular pediment, on the apex of which is placed a vase upon

a small pedestal. This excellent charity was instituted in the year

1746, and is supported by a subscription of noblemen, gentlemen, and

ladies, who were desirous that a charity useful in itself, and so

beneficial to the public, might be begun near this great metropolis,

there not being any hospital of the kind in Europe. A neat hospital for

inoculating this disorder has been lately built clear of the town on

the north side of the New Road."[51]

 

In 1791 this hospital wanted extensive repairs, which would need an

outlay of about £800; and the trustees, not willing to incur this

expense, built another on the site of the Inoculating Hospital at

Islington; and thither, when it was finished, all the patients were

removed from Cold Bath Fields. But their new home was wanted for the

Great Northern Railway, and another place was built, and still is, on

Highgate Hill. The old building in Cold Bath Fields was first of all

used as a distillery, and afterwards subdivided.

 

Quoting again from Noorthouck: "Eastward from the Small Pox Hospital,

on the south side of the Spawfield, is an humble imitation of the

Pantheon in Oxford Road; calculated for the amusement of a suitable

class of company; here apprentices, journeymen, and clerks dressed to

ridiculous extremes, entertain their ladies on Sundays; and to the

utmost of their power, if not beyond their proper power, affect the

dissipated manners of their superiors. Bagnigge Wells and the White

Conduit House, two other receptacles of the same kind, with gardens

laid out in miniature taste, are to be found within the compass of

two or three fields, together with Sadler's Wells, a small theatre for

the summer exhibition of tumbling, rope-dancing, and other drolls, in

vulgar stile. The tendency of these cheap, enticing places of pleasure

just at the skirts of this vast town is too obvious to need further

explanation; they swarm with loose women, and with boys, whose morals

are thus depraved, and their constitution ruined, before they arrive

at manhood; indeed, the licentious resort to the tea-drinking gardens

was carried to such excess every night, that the magistrates lately

thought proper to suppress the organs in their public rooms."

 

There is no doubt but that some of these tea-gardens needed reform;

so much so, that the grand jury of Middlesex, in May, 1744, made

a presentment of several places which, in their opinion, were not

conducive to the public morality; and these were two gaming-houses near

Covent Garden, kept by the ladies Mordington and Castle; _Sadler's

Wells near the New River head_, the New Wells in Goodman's Fields,

the New Wells near the London Spaw in Clerkenwell; and a place called

Hallam's Theatre in Mayfair.

 

A possibly fair account of these gardens is found in the _St. James's

Chronicle_, May 14-16, 1772:

 

"To the Printer of the S. J. CHRONICLE.

 

"SIR,--Happening to dine last Sunday with a Friend in the City,

after coming from Church, the Weather being very inviting, we

took a walk as far as Islington. In our Return home towards

Cold Bath Fields, we stepped in, out of mere Curiosity, to view

the Pantheon there; but such a Scene of Disorder, Riot, and

Confusion presented itself to me on my Entrance, that I was

just turning on my Heel, in order to quit it, when my friend

observing to me that we might as well have something for our

Money (for the Doorkeeper obliged each of us to deposit a

_Tester_ before he granted us Admittance), I acquiesced in

his Proposal, and became one of the giddy Multitude. I soon,

however, repented of my Choice; for, besides having our Sides

almost squeezed together, we were in Danger every Minute

of being scalded by the Boiling Water, which the officious

Mercuries[52] were circulating with the utmost Expedition thro'

their respective Districts: We began therefore to look out for

some Place to sit down in, which, with the greatest Difficulty,

we at length procured, and, producing our Tickets, were served

with Twelve pennyworth of Punch. Being seated towards the Front

of one of the Galleries, I had now a better Opportunity of

viewing this dissipated Scene. The Male Part of the Company

seemed to consist chiefly of City Apprentices, and the lower

Class of Tradesmen. The Ladies, who constituted by far the

greater Part of the Assembly, seemed, most of them, to be Pupils

of the Cyprian Goddess, and appeared to be thoroughly acquainted

with their Profession, the different Arts and Manoeuvres of

which they played off with great Freedom, and I doubt not with

equal Success. Whatever Quarter I turned my Eyes to, I was sure

to be saluted with a Nod, a Wink, or a Smile; and was even

sometimes accosted with, 'Pray, Sir, will you treat me with a

Dish of Tea?'... A Bill, I think, was in Agitation this Session

of Parliament for enforcing the Laws already made for the

better Observance of Sunday. Nothing, in my Opinion, tends more

to its Profanation, among the lower Class of People, than the

great Number of Tea Houses, in the Environs of London; the most

exceptionable of which that I have had Occasion to be in, is the

_Pantheon_. I could wish them either totally suppressed or else

laid under some Restrictions, particularly on the Sabbath Day.

 

"I am,

 

"Sir,

 

"Your Constant Reader,

 

"and occasional Correspondent,

 

"_Chiswick_, May 5. SPECULATOR."