Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol 3
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
Chapter XXXIX: The River Thames (continued).
Chapter XXXIX: The River Thames (continued).
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Happily in our latitude winter is not often so severe as to the river which runs through the heart of our metropolis but still, if the old annalists and historians are to be believed, the Thames from time to time has been frozen into ice-fields, and its surface has been made the scene of frost-fairs. To mention a few instances: we are told that in the reign of Stephen in the year , Again we read that in the Thames was frozen over, and that on the breaking up of the ice of the arches of old were carried away. says Northouck, In , too, carriages passed over on the ice from to . At this time it is said the frost and snow were so severe that arches of were On the , during the prevalence of a hard | |
p.312 | frost, we read of diversions on the Thames, some playing at football, and others The courtiers from the palace at mixed with the citizens, and tradition reports that Queen Elizabeth herself walked upon the ice. On the night of the following, however, it began to thaw, and on the there was no ice to be seen on the river. In a great frost enabled the Londoners to carry on all manner of sports and trades upon the river. |
In a curious volume of London ballads and broadsides in the is entitled being (continues the writer) The rude cut beneath the title shows the Middlesex shore, taken from the centre of the river, from Arundel House to the eastern end of the Temple; giving a view of Essex Buildings with its ugly round-headed arch, and the groups of stairs belonging to Arundel House, Essex House, and the Temple. The street of booths holds out all sorts of signs, just like the houses in the Strand. There are men and boys making slides, skating, and sledging in all directions; some of the sledges are of the ordinary type, like the low brewer's dray drawn by heavy horses; some are more artistic, made up like gondolas; some are apparently genuine boats, with sails; in places are carriages drawn by a single horse, and just opposite the a bull is being baited. Gallants in the fashionable dresses of the day are promenading, with wigs and swords; while the ladies, true to the instinct of their sex, are briskly. In a corner are men playing at skittles; of them is smoking a pipe. The doggerel verses below the cut tell how
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Another rough print in the same collection, taken from almost the very same point of view, | |
entitled gives a representation of the ox being roasted, and also of the Reynard being pursued by men with clubs andfive queer-looking dogs: in this of the carriages has horses; the verses are just a shade above those already quoted, but running in the same descriptive vein, as will be seen from the following specimen :--
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In the same collection is a ballad, of a few weeks' later date, the last stanza runs thus :
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In another ballad, printed and sold on the ice about this time, entitled Blanket Fair, or History of , being a Relation of the Merry Pranks played on the River Thames during the we read-
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On the , John Evelyn tells us that whole streets of booths were set out on the Thames, and that he crossed the river on the ice on foot upon the in order to dine with the Archbishop of Canterbury at , and again, in his coach, from to the at , upon the . On the he observes that the ice had By the the number of persons keeping shops on the ice had so greatly increased that Evelyn says, and by the the varieties and festivities of a fair appear to have been completely established. he states, In a poem commemorative of this frost, published at the time, there occurs the following passage relating to the printers; the concluding lines of which have been used in some of the verses produced at every frost fair, from that in to the last in :--
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Evelyn also quaintly tells us how that This traffic and festivity were continued until , when the same authority states that It was during the continuance of this fair that Evelyn saw a when he dined at Sir Stephen Fox's, and Evelyn quaintly remarks,
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The very curious original drawing of this fair, engraven on a reduced scale in Smith's represents the Thames, looking | |
p.315 | from the western side of the , appearing on the left, towards , which is faintly shown in the view at the back with all the various buildings standing upon it. says the author of that work,
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With our copy of this interesting drawing is introduced another equally curious relic of the same Frost Fair, from the collection of Henry Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, and formerly in the collection of Mr. William Upcott. It consists of an impression of the specimen of printing on the ice, executed for King Charles II. and the Royal Family who visited the fair with him. The names upon the paper are Charles, King; James, Duke (of York, his brother, subsequently King James II.); Katherine, Queen (Catharine, Infanta of Portugal, Queen of Charles II.); Mary, Duchess (Mary d'Este, sister of Francis, Duke of Modena, the duchess of James); Anne, princess (the daughter of the Duke of York, afterwards Queen Anne); George, prince (the princess's husband, George of Denmark). The concluding name, was no doubt dictated by the humour of the king; it literally signifies and alludes to the interesting situation of the Princess Anne. The card, which was printed with a type border, was worded as follows :--
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Charles II. seems to have been very partial to He is reported to have joined in a fox-hunt on the Thames; and a French traveller present in London at the time, states, in a small volume printed at Paris, that the king on occasion passed a whole night upon the ice. | |
p.316 | |
A contemporaneous notice of Frost Fair contained in a diary cited in for , states that on , in , an ox was roasted whole over against , and that King Charles and the Queen ate a part of it. His Majesty appears to have taken much pleasure in viewing the lively scene from his palace, since in the poem also printed upon the ice, entitled there occur the following lines :
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The print of Frost Fair, referred to in the diary of Evelyn, is entitled It consists of a whole sheet copper-plate, the prospect being represented horizontally from the and to . In an oval cartouche at the top of the view, within the frame of the print, appears the title; and on the outside, below, are the alphabetical references with the words, An impression of this plate will be found in the Royal Collection of Topographical Prints and Drawings given by George IV. to the , vol. xxvii., art. . There is also a variation of the same engraving in the City Library at , divided with common ink into compartments as if intended to be used as cards, and numbered in the margin in type with Roman numerals, in series of each and extra. A descriptive list of the other prints, printed papers, and tracts relating to the Frost Fair of -, will be found in Wilkinson's vol. i., whence much of the preceding notices has been derived; another list is contained in the catalogue of the Sutherland collection of Prints and Drawings inserted as illustrations in Lord Clarendon's and and Burnet's
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Again the Duke of York (James II.) writes to his son-in-law-and destined supplanter-William of Orange, under date - :-- During the continuance of the frost at this time, which lasted until the , about coaches plied on the Thames as on dry land, and the scene enacted on the glassy surface of the river in its course through London was known as or fair. | |
In the Thames was again frozen over, but the frost was not sufficiently permanent to allow of a repetition of Frost Fair, although several persons crossed over on the ice. | |
In the winter of - the frost was again so intensely severe that the river Thames was frozen over during almost the space of months. Booths were erected on the congealed river for the sale of all kinds of commodities, and all the fun of the fair of was revived. On the , large oxen were roasted whole on the ice; the vast quantities of snowwhich had fallen at different times in the season rendered the City almost impassable. The Prince of Wales was attracted to the fair, and a newspaper of the day intimates that the theatres were almost deserted. | |
The winter of the year , generally known as was a season of distress to the labouring part of the public. A most severe frost began on Christmas Day, and continued till the ensuing February. Its severity was beyond precedent, and the effect produced was long felt. Many persons who had lived in Hudson's Bay territory declared that they had never known it colder in that frozen region than it was in England during that winter. The Thames was soon covered with floating rocks and shoals of ice; and when these were fixed, the river represented a snowy field rising in many places in hillocks and huge heaps of icebergs, and many artists seized the opportunity of making sketches of the strange scene thus presented The river Thames was so solidly frozen that great numbers of people dwelt upon it in tents, and a variety of booths was erected on it for the entertainment of the populace. A few days after it began there arose a very high wind, which did considerable damage to the shipping, that happened at that time to be very numerous. Several vessels laden with corn, others with coals, &c., were sunk by the ice; many had holes beat in their sides by falling on their anchors: several lighters and boats were confined under the ice; in short, | |
p.317 | a more dismal scene presented itself on the river Thames than had ever been beheld by the oldest man living. The damage done between the Medway and was computed at , and besides many persons lost their lives from the severity of the weather. The watermen and fishermen were entirely disabled from earning their livelihood, as were the lower classes of labourers from their employment in the open air; and the calamity was rendered more severe by coals and other necessaries being advanced in their price in proportion to the intenseness and continuance of the frost. Happily for the poor, the hand of charity was liberally extended; great benefactions were given by persons of opulent fortunes, and considerable collections were made in most of the parishes in London; and from this benevolent assistance many wretched families were preserved that otherwise must have inevitably perished. During the weeks' continuance of the frost coaches plied upon the Thames, and festivities and, diversions of all kinds were enjoyed upon the ice. Little or no novelty, however, appears to have been introduced into the amusements of this fair, and the same things were done as on the former occasion, even to the roasting of the regulation ox on the ice, a feat which appears to have been accomplished with some little ceremony, for we read that The beast was fixed to a stake in the open market, and Mr. Hodgeson Printing-booths were again set up on the ice, and at of these establishments, bearing the sign of the was sold with a frontispiece of at the time of the frost, which purported to have been printed on the ice. Another popular publication was in which we read that In this fair alluded to in Gray's lost her life:-- [extra_illustrations.3.317.1] |
Towards the end of , a violent frost began, which continued to increase, and was very severe till the following, During its continuance, the distresses of the poor in town and country were truly pitiable. Fuel and other necessaries of life were remarkably dear: the river Thames was frozen so hard, that the navigation was entirely stopped both above and below the bridge: many persons perished in boats and other craft that were jammed in by the ice; and the wherries in the river were wholly unemployed. Many accidents happened in the cities of London and , and several people perished by the cold in the streets. The severity of the frost was equally felt in the country; many persons were found dead in the snow, the roads were rendered quite impassable, and it was at the imminent hazard of their lives, that the coachmen and mail-drivers performed their journeys. This was followed by a violent hurricane, by which damage was sustained, in the City and its neighbourhood, to the amount of . | |
Again there was a very severe frost in -, and the Thames was frozen over at Kingston. In the winter of [extra_illustrations.3.317.2] the Thames was again frozen over, and a bear-hunt is stated to have taken place on the ice off . During this frost the fair on the ice occupied a considerably larger space than on any previous occasion, extending as it did from to Putney; it included, among other amusements, a travelling menagerie of beasts which moved about from place to place. | |
At the beginning of , a very severe frost set in. On the , the Thames was so much frozen, that there was only a narrow channel in the centre free from ice. The banks of the river were so firmly set with ice and snow that people could walk upon it from to . | |
In Hughson's we read that
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Cyrus Redding records in his having spent this winter in London, and having He describes it as He adds, however,
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A cotemporary account states, with minute precision, that on the morning of Sunday, the , huge masses of ice quite blocked up the Thames between London and Blackfriars Bridges, and that no less than , persons walked across from to the opposite shore. On the same night the frost so welded the | |
p.319 p.320 | vast mass together into compact field as to render it almost immovable by the tide. On Tuesday the river presented a solid surface from to some distance below , and continues the account,
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Another paper runs thus:-- | |
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A handbill printed and sold on the ice contains the following notice:-- Copies of the Lord's Prayer and several other pieces, both sacred and profane, were at these icy printingpresses, and found many willing purchasers at high prices. On Thursday the number of booths and stalls, and also that of the visitors, was largely increased. Swings, book-stalls, skittles, dancing booths, merry-go-rounds, sliding barges, and all the other usual appendages of Greenwich and Bartlemy Fairs, now appeared in scores. The ice seemed to be a solid rock, and presented a truly picturesque appearance. Friday, the , brought a fresh accession of booths and of pedlars to sell their wares, and the greatest rubbish that would have long remained unsold on the land was raked up from cellars and garrets and sold at double and treble its value. Books and toys labelled with the words found purchasers on every side. The Thames watermen, who, it might have been supposed, would have been ruined by the weather, their reaped a considerable harvest; for every person was made to pay a toll of twopence or threepence before he was admitted into the precincts of and some douceur was expected besides on quitting the scene. Indeed, some of them were said to have made as much in coppers as a day! On this afternoon, however, there occurred an incident which warned the most venturesome that the ice was not so solid, or at all events so safe, as it appeared; for persons, a man and lads, being on a piece of ice just above , the latter suddenly became detached from the main body, and was carried by the tide through of the arches. They laid themselves down at full length for safety, and happily were rescued by some fishermen. On the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday was in full favour, and the grand walk between Blackfriars and London Bridges was crowded till after nightfall. Saturday, the , augured but badly for the continuance of the for the wind veered round to the south, and there was a slight fall of snow and sleet. The visitors, however, were not to be deterred by trifles. Thousands again ventured on the surface, and still there was as much life and bustle as before on the frozen element; the footpath down the middle of the river was hard and secure and amongst the crowd were some donkeys, which brought in to their owners considerable profit, as a donkey ride on the ice was charged a shilling. | |
p.321 | These caused much merriment, as may very easily be supposed. Towards the evening the crowd thinned very much, for the rain began to fall and the ice to crack, threatening to float away and carry off booths, donkeys, printing-presses, and all the amusements of the last few days, to the no small dismay of stall-keepers, shop-keepers, typographers, and (unlicensed) publicans. The thaw, however, advanced rapidly, more rapidly indeed than heedlessness and indiscretion retreated. young men ventured on the ice above , notwithstanding the warnings of the watermen; the mass on which they stood was carried away, and they perished. On Sunday morning, , at an early hour the tide began to flow, and the thaw assisted the rising tide to break up the ice-field. On Monday, the thaw continuing, immense fragments of ice were in motion, floating up and down according to the set of the tide, carrying, of course, many of the barges and lighters from their moorings above bridge, and drifting them into positions where they speedily became wrecks and sunk. In or days more the frozen element again became fluid, and old Father Thames, under the bright rays of the sun, relaxed his and very soon looked as cheerful and as busy as ever. |
There can be little doubt, if reliance can be placed on the calculations of civil engineers, that the Thames would have been frozen over in the winter of , and again in , if it had not been for the removal of old , the narrow arches of which prevented the masses of ice from escaping seaward. The removal of this impediment has much increased what is called the of the river; and it is highly improbable that, however protracted, the frost will be able to coagulate the ice into mass as it did, at all events, in the winters of , , , , , , , and (as we have said above) in -. | |
The Thames in its normal and unfrozen state has been the scene of some curious experiments, wagers, &c. For instance, Mr. John Timbs, in his states that in , a man safely crossed the Thames in a butcher's tray from for a wager; upon which feat depended . Again, towards the latter portion of his life, M. Lunardi, the successful aeronaut in London, made several excursions on the Thames in a sort of tin life-buoy, which he named a waterballoon. This invention, however, has perhaps been improved on by Captain Paul Boyton, who, in the early part of the present year of grace , might be seen making his way up and down the river between and Greenwich in a very novel manner. Dressed in an oil-skin or india-rubber suit of clothes, of sufficient capacity to allow of its being inflated, the captain could lie at full length on the surface of the water, or, placing himself partly in a sitting posture, propel himself comfortably along (canoe fashion) by means of a short paddle. Captain Boyton belongs to an American organisation, entitled the Its mission is to save, not to slay; and Captain Boyton boasts that, armoured in the uniform of his invention, he has rescued persons from the waves off the coast of New Jersey. The waterproof suit, which weighs about , is in separate parts--that is to say, head, breast, back, and legs; and when all are inflated, it is capable of sustaining men in addition to the wearer. | |
About the year an American diver, named Scott, created some sensation by leaping from the parapet of and Waterloo Bridges into the river beneath, which was nearly full of floating ice, but the poor fellow shortly afterwards killed himself by hanging from a scaffold upon the latter bridge. Now and then a theatrical clown navigates the river in a washing-tub drawn by geese; and occasionally there are wonderful stories of sharks, porpoises, and other strange things-all --leaving their ocean sire and disporting themselves
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Sometimes, by a freak of nature, the tide in the Thames falls very low; and by a very high wind from the south-west the river is occasionally --or, in other words, the bed is left nearly dry from shore to shore-so that many an adventurous or frolicsome wight has been known to As a rule, however, the tide in the Thames is generally regular in its ebb and flow, though a very strong wind from the northwest, if it comes at spring-tides, causes the river to rise higher on account of the volume of water which it forces up from the Northern Ocean. It is perhaps worthy of note that on Friday, , the tide in the Thames rose feet inches above Trinity mark, and inundated the south bank of the river along , , and , and even as far as Woolwich, causing a considerable loss of property and at least life. | |
Hunter in his records the fact that in , the tide overflowed the banks to such an extent that casks and other articles of merchandise were swept away from the | |
p.322 | wharves and quays, and the prison-yard of the Borough compter was some inches under water, and in the next month at spring-tide, the water rushed in a body into Hall The same thing seems to have happened in the following September, when the water is said to have risen feet perpendicular in hours. The worst effects of this high tide, it appears, were felt below bridge; the cattle being carried away-so Hunter says--in the marshes about and Bow. The same thing appears to have recurred in the February of the following year, and again in . He also tells us the tide in the Thames ebbed and flowed, in , times within hours, its waters being thrown into the most violent agitation. |
In order to maintain the flow and of the Thames, an Act of Common Council was passed in to enforce an early statute of Henry VIII. forbidding persons to throw solid matter or refuse into the river, but allowing them to scoop out and carry away the shelves of sand, gravel, &c., as ballast, or for any other purpose, and compelling the owners to keep the banks on either side in a fit and proper state of repair. From time to time, we may here remark, a variety of projects have been put forward having for their immediate object the improvement of the bed and course of the river both below and above , and more than once it has been seriously proposed to dig an entirely new course, in a direct line from to ; but though these plans were canvassed and agitated from time to time, the vested interests which opposed them have succeeded in carrying the day, and for a brief period the subject has fallen through, only to be again and again brought forward and as often disposed of in a similar manner. | |
Footnotes: [extra_illustrations.3.317.1] Frost and Fog [extra_illustrations.3.317.2] 1788-9 [] Frozen Thames--1854 [] Frozen Thames--1855 [] Dredger at Tower |
