CHAPTER X.

Wat Tyler and Jack Cade's riots in Cheapside-Outrage on an Italian, and riots of the London Apprentices--Execution of Walter Walker-Henry VIII's visit to Cheapside in disguise-The Grand Civic Procession described-" Evil May Day;" riots which gave rise to this term-The Standard in Cheapside; penance performed at, by the wife of the Duke of Gloucester-Execution of Margery Jourdain, the Witch of Eye-The Conduit in Cheapside-Manner in which the city was anciently supplied with water-The New River-The Cross in Cheapside-St. Mary-le-bow; sanctuary there Outrage committed there - The Sildam -- Romantic tradition connected with the church-Richard Whittington-Lydgate's "London Lack-penny"-The Poultry-Bucklersbury-Melancholy death of Buckle-Mercers' Hall, on the site of the Hospital of St. Thomas of Acon-The Old Jewry-Great Synagogue there-Milton's birth place in Bread Street; Sir Thomas More's in Milk Street-Allhallows Church; quarrel of the priests there-Basing Lane-Sopar Lane; origin of the

name.

IN Cheapside, Wat Tyler's mob beheaded several persons; and Jack Cade also shed the blood of Lord Say and Sele upon the same place. The spot seems to have been marked out for deeds of violence. The famous riot of the apprentices, in the reign of Henry VI., began here. A linen-draper's apprentice, in the year 1454, set upon an Italian, to whom he owed a grudge, who was walking along Cheapside, and stabbed him with a knife. He was taken into custody immediately, and led off towards Newgate; but the other apprentices hearing of the circumstance, assembled in great numbers, rescued him from the hands of the watch, and bore him off in triumph. A cry was raised that an English apprentice should not suffer for a vile Italian-the cry spread; the Italians were wealthy, and the houses of several rich people of that country, who resided in Lombard Street, were attacked and plundered by the apprentices, who were joined, as soon as havoc began, by all the idle vagabonds of London. The mayor collected an armed force to suppress the riot. The mob were attacked, and several persons were killed, and many others wounded before the disturbance was appeased. Some of the ringleaders were taken into custody and conveyed to Newgate; but the apprentice who was the original cause of all the mischief escaped, and took refuge in the Sanctuary at Westminster.

The Dukes of Buckingham and Exeter were sent with a con

siderable force to assist the mayor in the trial of the offenders. On the day of trial, however, such a crowd collected in Cheapside and opposite Guildhall, threatening to take the lives of the king's commissioners, and pull down the Guildhall, if the trial was proceeded with, that it was judged advisable to postpone it to a future day. The mob were so far satisfied; and their leaders said the trial should proceed, if it were left wholly to the city authorities. This was agreed to; the lord mayor convened a court of common council, and sent orders to all the guilds of the city, praying the wardens and members of each, to use, individually, every exertion to keep their respective neighbourhoods in quiet, and to furnish, privately, the names of all parties whom they knew to be implicated in the late riots. These measures had the desired effect. The trial, after the lapse of some weeks, when the angry passions of the apprentices had somewhat cooled down, was proceeded with. Three of the delinquents were sentenced to be hanged, and were hanged accordingly at Tyburn, and about fifty others were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, with fines or whipping.

At the very commencement of the reign of Edward IV., a man named Walter Walker, who kept a shop, the sign of the "Crown," in Cheapside, was hanged opposite his own door. His only crime, if we may believe the old historians, was his joke, "that he would make his son heir to the 'Crown,' which was construed into a charge of high treason. Edward had only reigned eight days when this occurrence took place; and it seems very improbable that he would have allowed this man to be executed if there had not been some graver charge against him than this. The matter, however, remains in doubt.

Henry VIII., in the year 1509, went to Cheapside to witness one of the singular customs of the ancient Londoners. Having heard many tales of the splendour of the procession of the city watch on the eve of St. John, he disguised himself in the habit of a yeoman of the guard, and witnessed it from the public thoroughfare of Cheapside. He was so pleased with what he saw, that on the next procession, on the eve of St. Peter and St. Paul, he brought the queen and all the ladies of the court to Cheapside, that they also might see it. The procession on this occasion is thus described :

"The city music preceded the lord mayor's officers in particoloured liveries; then followed the sword-bearer, on horseback, in beautiful armour, before the lord mayor, mounted also on a stately horse richly caparisoned, attended by a giant and two

pages on horseback, three pageants, morris-dancers, and footmen. The sheriffs marched next, preceded also by their officers in proper liveries, and attended by their giants, pages, morrisdancers, and pageants: then followed a large body of demilancers in bright armour, on stately horses; and after them a body of carabineers in white fustian coats, with the city arms upon their backs and breasts; a division of archers, with their bows bent, and shafts of arrows by their side; a party of pikemen in crosslets and helmets; a body of halberdeers in crosslets and helmets also; and a great party of billmen with helmets and aprons of mail, brought up the rear. The whole consisting of about 2000 men, in several divisions, with musicians, drums, standards, and ensigns, ranked and answering each other in proper places; who marched from the conduit at the west end of Cheapside, through Cheapside, Poultry, Cornhill, and Leadenhall Street, to Aldgate; and back again through Fenchurch Street, Gracechurch Street, Cornhill, and so back to the conduit from whence it first set out; illuminated with 940 cressets or large lanthorns, fixt at the ends of poles, and carried on men's shoulders; of which 200 were provided at the expense of the city, 500 at the expense of the incorporated companies, and 240 at the expense of the city constables. And besides these, the streets were well lighted with a great number of lamps hung against the houses on each side, decorated with garlands of flowers and greens."

Cheapside is also remarkable in the romantic annals of London, as the place where the disturbances broke out on the 1st of May, 1517, which have given to that day the name of "Evil May-day." There is a ballad on the subject reprinted by the Percy Society, in a collection of songs and ballads relating to the London apprentices and trades. It does not, however, give a correct account of this singular passage in London story; but the introduction to the ballad details it truly:

"The 1st of May, 1517, is a remarkable day in the annals of London, and has been called 'Evil May day,' on account of the calamities which it occasioned. For some time previous there had existed a growing jealousy in the city towards the foreigners and non-freemen who were permitted to exercise their craft within the walls, to the detriment of the freemen, whose profits were in consequence much reduced. One John Lincoln, a broker, was loud in his complaints, and made himself very conspicuous in his enmity to the foreign artisans. He had influence enough with a popular preacher, named Bell, to induce

him to make allusions in his sermons to the injustice of suffering these foreigners to take the bread out of the mouths of nativeborn Englishmen. The preacher entered into the cause with so much zeal, and expatiated with so much eloquence on the hardships of the oppressed freemen, that the whole city was in a ferment. This was about the middle of April; and day after day it was whispered abroad, among the people, that on Mayday some dreadful event would take place. It was impossible to trace this dark and menacing rumour to its source-nobody knew what was to happen, but every one was prepared for something extraordinary.

"While the popular mind was in this state of excitement, the young men of the city insulted and abused every foreigner they passed. Three young men, named Studley, Stevenson, and Betts, made themselves particularly conspicuous; and having, on the 28th of April, met five or six foreign traders in Cheapside, they abused and beat them in so shameful a manner, that the lord mayor deemed it necessary to interfere, and sent out a strong party of the city watch to capture the offenders, who were immediately conveyed, bound hand and foot, to the Compter.

"The indignation of the people against the foreigners now began to assume a more threatening complexion, and the vague rumours of the preceding fortnight hourly acquired a fearful consistency; and it was openly asserted, that on May-day evening every foreigner in London would be put to the sword. This rumour having reached the ears of Cardinal Wolsey, he sent in all haste for the lord mayor, the sheriffs, and the principal aldermen, and told them what he had heard, and that he should hold them responsible for the tranquillity of the city. This was on the 30th of April, or May-day eve; and as soon as the lord mayor was dismissed from the presence of the cardinal, he returned to the city, and immediately summoned a commonhall, to adopt such measures as should appear advisable for the preservation of the peace. The Guildhall was in less than an hour crowded by the aldermen and common councilmen, all filled with the most intense anxiety as to the fearful rumours that were abroad.

"After a long debate, it was agreed that orders should be immediately issued to every householder in the city, calling upon him to shut up his house, and keep his children, apprentices, and servants, strictly within doors, from nine o'clock that night until nine on the following morning. It was nearly eight

o'clock before they agreed to this resolution, and it was necessary that they should acquaint Cardinal Wolsey of what they had resolved, as they could do nothing without his approbation. The recorder was, in consequence, charged to proceed with the utmost haste to Westminster, and inform the cardinal. The latter signified his approval of this precautionary measure, and the recorder rode back again into the city, where he arrived at half-past eight. There now remained but the short space of half an hour to proclaim this order in every part of the city; the consequence was, that the clock struck nine before the proclamation had been read in more than two or three places.

"An unfortunate, and certainly unpremeditated, circumstance, rendered all the precautions vain, and let loose the flood of angry passions. Alderman Sir John Mundie, having just left the common-hall, was passing through the Cheap, on his way home, when he saw two apprentices playing at buckler in the middle of the street. It was a few minutes past nine o'clock; and, without staying to inquire whether the order had yet been published in that quarter, he threatened to send the two young men to the Compter. The over-zealous alderman met with an insolent answer from the youths, who had no idea of leaving off their sport; and this having roused his ire, he seized hold of one of them, with the intention of dragging him off to prison. This unfortunate act was the signal for the commencement of the riot. Several other apprentices, who were looking on, no sooner saw this act of violence offered to their companion, than they raised the customary cry of 'Prentices! prentices!-Clubs! clubs!' In less than a minute the cry was responded to by a boisterous crowd of the young men of the city, armed with clubs, bills, staves, and weapons of every description. They rescued the apprentice from the grasp of the alderman, who had great difficulty in escaping with his life from the hands of his enraged

assailants.

"The riot had now begun in earnest, and the apprentices were joined by upwards of seven hundred watermen, porters, and idle fellows, from all parts of the city. Another mob, with a similar purpose, collected about the same time in St. Paul's Churchyard, and the two having effected a junction, and being increased every minute by fresh bands of riotous apprentices from all parts of the town, commenced the work of destruction. Their first object was the release of Stevenson, Studley, and Betts, who had been committed to Newgate two days before, and they proceeded in that direction, bearing down all opposition,