THE itinerant trade in pies is of the most ancient of the street callings of London. The meat pies are made of beef or mutton; the fish pies of eels; the fruit of apples, currants, gooseberries, plums, damsons, cherries, raspberries, or rhubarb, according to the season—and occasionally of mince-meat. A few years ago the street pie-trade was very profitable, but it has been almost destroyed by the "pie-shops," and further, the few remaining street-dealers say "the people now haven't the pennies to spare." Summer fairs and races are the best places for the piemen. In London the best times are during any grand sight or holiday-making, such as a review in Hyde-park, the Lord Mayor's show, the opening of Parliament, Greenwich fair, &c. Nearly all the men of this class, whom I saw, were fond of speculating as to whether the Great Exposition would be "any good" to them, or not.

The London piemen, who may number about in winter, and twice that number in summer, are seldom stationary. They go along with

A teetotal pieman in has a pony and "shay cart." His business is the most extensive in London. It is believed that he sells worth or pies a day, but his brother tradesmen sell no such amount. "I was out last night," said man to me, "from in the afternoon till half-past . I went from Somers-town to the , and looked in at all the public-houses on my way, and I didn't take above I have been out sometimes from the beginning of the evening till long past midnight, and haven't taken more than , and out of that I have to pay for charcoal."

The pie-dealers usually make the pies themselves. The meat is bought in "pieces," of the same part as the sausage-makers purchase— the "stickings"—at about the pound. "People, when I go into houses," said man, "often begin crying, 'Mee-yow,' or 'Bowwow-wow!' at me; but there's nothing of that kind now. Meat, you see, is so cheap." About -dozen pies are generally made at a time. These require a quartern of flour at or ; lbs. of suet at ; lb. meat at , amounting in all to about To this must be added for baking; for the cost of keeping hot, and for pepper, salt, and eggs with which to season and wash them over. Hence the cost of the dozen would be about , and the profit the same. The usual quantity of meat in each pie is about half an ounce. There are not more than -piemen now in London. There are some who carry pies about on a tray slung before them; these are mostly boys, and, including them, the number amounts to about all the year round, as I have stated.

The penny pie-shops, the street men say, have done their trade a great deal of harm. These shops have now got mostly all the custom, as they make the pies much larger for the money than those sold in the streets. The pies in Tottenhamcourt-road are very highly seasoned. "I bought there the other day, and it nearly took the skin off my mouth; it was full of pepper," said a street-pieman, with considerable bitterness, to me. The reason why so large a quantity of pepper is put in is, because persons can't exactly tell the flavour of the meat with it. Piemen generally are not very particular about the flavour of the meat they buy, as they can season it up into anything. In the summer, a street pieman thinks he is doing a good business if he takes per day, and in the winter if he gets half that. On a Saturday night, however, he generally takes in the winter, and about in the summer. At Greenwich fair he will take about At a review in Hyde-park, if it is a good , he will sell about worth. The generality of the customers are the boys of London. The women seldom, if ever, buy pies in the streets. At the public-houses a few pies are sold, and the pieman makes a practice of "looking in" at all the taverns on his way. Here his customers are found principally in the tap-room. "Here's all 'ot!" the pieman cries, as he walks in; "toss or buy! up and win 'em!" This is the only way that the pies can be got rid of. "If it wasn't for tossing we shouldn't sell ."

To "toss the pieman" is a favourite pastime with costermongers' boys and all that class; some of whom aspire to the repute of being gourmands, and are critical on the quality of the comestible. If the pieman win the toss, he receives without giving a pie; if he lose, he hands it over for nothing. The pieman himself never "tosses," but always calls head or tail to his customer. At the week's end it comes to the same thing, they say, whether they toss or not, or rather whether they win or lose the toss: "I've taken as much as at tossing, which I shouldn't have had if I had'nt done so. Very few people buy without tossing, and the boys in particular. Gentlemen 'out on the spree' at the late public-houses will frequently toss when they don't want the pies, and when they win they will amuse themselves by throwing the pies at another, or at me. Sometimes I have taken as much as halfa- crown, and the people of whom I had the money has never eaten a pie. The boys has the greatest love of gambling, and they seldom, if ever, buys without tossing." of the reasons why the street boys delight in tossing, is, that they can often obtain a pie by such means when they have only a halfpenny wherewith to gamble. If the lad wins he gets a penny pie for his halfpenny.

For street mince-meat pies the pieman usually makes lb. of mince-meat at a time, and for this he will put in doz. of apples, lb. of sugar, lb. of currants, lb. of "critlings" (critlings being the refuse left after boiling down the lard), a good bit of spice to give the critlings a flavour, and plenty of treacle to make the mince-meat look rich.

The "gravy" which used to be given with the meat-pies was poured out of an oil-can, and consisted of a little salt and water browned. A hole was made with the little finger in the top of the meat pie, and the "gravy" poured in until the crust rose. With this gravy a person in the line assured me that he has known pies days old to go off very freely, and be pronounced excellent. The street piemen are mostly bakers, who are unable to obtain employment at their trade. "I myself," said , "was a bread and biscuit baker. I have been at the pie business now about years and a

Calculating that there are only street piemen plying their trade in London, the year through, and that their average earnings are a week, we find a street expenditure exceeding , and a street consumption of pies amounting nearly to quarters of a million yearly.

To start in the penny pie business of the streets requires for a "can," for a "turn-halfpenny" board to gamble with, for a gross of tin pie-dishes, for an apron, and about for stock money—allowing for flour, for meat, for apples, for eels, for pork flare or fat, for sugar, for cloves, for pepper and salt, for an egg to wash the pies over with, for baking, and for charcoal to keep the pies hot in the streets. Hence the capital required would be about in all.