Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol I
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
Cheapside Tributaries, North. Arms of City Companies
Cheapside Tributaries, North. Arms of City Companies
In , the turning out of northwards, our visit must be paid to the Hall of the Goldsmiths, of the richest, most ancient, and most practical of all the great City companies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The. original site of Goldsmiths' Hall belonged, in the reign of Edward II., to Sir Nicholas de Segrave, a Leicestershire knight, brother of Gilbert de Segrave, Bishop of London. The date of the Goldsmiths' building is uncertain, but it is mentioned in their records in (Edward III.). [extra_illustrations.1.353.2] is supposed to have been built by Sir Dru Barentyn, in (Henry IV.). The Livery Hall had a bay window on the side next to ; the roof was surmounted with a lantern and vane; the reredos in the screen was surmounted by a silver-gilt statue of St. Dunstan; and the Flemish tapestry represented the story of the patron saint of goldsmiths. Stow, writing in , expresses doubt at the story that Bartholomew Read, goldsmith and mayor in , gave a feast there to more than persons, as the hall was too small for that purpose. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From till the Restoration, Goldsmiths' Hall served as the Exchequer of the Commonwealth. All the money obtained from the sequestration of Royalists' estates was here stored, and then disbursed for State purposes. The following is a description of [extra_illustrations.1.353.3] :--- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
says Herbert,
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The guild of Goldsmiths is of extreme antiquity, having been fined in (Henry II.) as adulterine, that is, established or carried on without the king's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
354 | special licence; for in any matter where fines could be extorted, the Norman kings took a paternal interest in the doings of their patient subjects. In (Henry III.) the goldsmiths seem to have been infected with the pugnacious spirit of the age; for we come upon bands of goldsmiths and tailors fighting in London streets, from some guild jealousy; and snippers of cloth meeting, by appointment, hammerers of metal, and having a comfortable and steady fight. In the latter case many were killed on both sides, and the sheriff at last had to interpose with the City's and with bows, swords, and spears. The ringleaders were finally apprehended, and of them condemned and executed. In (Edward I.) many spurious goldsmiths were arrested for frauds in trade, Englishmen were hung, and more than a dozen unfortunate Jews. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The goldsmiths were incorporated into a permanent company in the prodigal reign of Richard II., and they no doubt drove a good business with that thriftless young Absalom, who, it is said wore golden bells on his sleeves and baldric. For --not a very tremendous consideration, though it was, no doubt, all he could get-Richard's grandfather, that warlike and chivalrous monarch, Edward III., had already incorporated the Company, and given of Goldsmiths the privilege of purchasing in mortmain an estate of per annum, for the support of old and sick members; for these early guilds were benefit clubs as well as social companies, and jealous privileged monopolists; and Edward's grant gave the corporation the right to inspect, try, and regulate all gold and silver wares in any part of England, with the power to punish all offenders detected in | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
355 356 | working adulterated gold and silver. Edward, in all, granted charters to the Worshipful Company. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Henry IV., Henry V., and Edward IV. both granted and confirmed the liberties of the Company. The Goldsmiths' records commence Edward III., and furnish much curious information. In this reign all who were of Goldsmiths' Hall were required to have shops in Chepe, and to sell no silver or gold vessels except in Chepe or in the King's Exchange. The charter complains loudly of counterfeit metal, of false bracelets, lockets, rings, and jewels, made and exported; and also of vessels of tin made and subtly silvered over. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Company began humbly enough, and in their year of incorporation () apprentices only were bound, the fees for admission being as, and the pensions given to per-. sons come to only In the number of apprentices in the year rose to ; and in there were payments for licensing foreign workmen and non-freemen. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
During the Middle Ages these City companies were very attentive to religious observances, and the Wardens' accounts show constant entries referring to such ceremonies. Their great annual feast was on St. Dunstan's Day (St. Dunstan being the patron saint of goldsmiths), and the books of expenses show the cost of masses sung for the Company by the chaplain, payments for ringing the bells at , for drinking obits at the Company's standard at , for lights kept burning at St. James's Hospital, and for chantries maintained at the churches of St. John Zachary (the Goldsmiths' parish church), St. Peter-le-Chepe, St. Matthew, , St. Vedast, , and others. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
About the reign of Henry VI. the records grow more interesting, and reflect more strongly the social life of the times they note. In we find the Company received a special letter from Henry VI., desiring them, as a craft which had at all times more especially at the king's return from his coronation in Paris, to meet his queen, Margaret of Anjou, on her arrival, in company with the Mayor, aldermen, and the other London crafts. On this occasion the goldsmiths wore and each past Warden or renter had his follower clothed in white, with a black hood and black felt hat. In this reign John Chest, a goldsmith of Chepe, for slanderous words against the Company, was condemned to come to Goldsmiths' Hall, and on his knees ask all the Company forgiveness for what he had myssayde; and was also forbidden to wear the livery of the Company for a whole month. Later still, in this reign, a goldsmith named German Lyas, for selling a tablet of adulterated gold, was compelled to give to the fraternity a gilt cup, weighing ounces, and to implore pardon on his knees. In (Henry VI.), a goldsmith was fined for giving a false return of broken gold to a servant of the Earl of Wiltshire, who had brought it to be sold. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the year of King Edward IV. a very curious trial of skill between the jealous English goldsmiths and their foreign rivals took place at the tavern (now Pope's Head Alley), . The contending craftsmen had to engrave puncheons of steel (the breadth of a penny sterling) with cat's heads and naked figures in high relief and low relief; Oliver Davy, the Englishman, won, and White Johnson, the Alicant goldsmith, lost his wager of a crown and a dinner to the Company. In this reign there were native goldsmiths in London, and foreignerstotal, . The foreigners lived chiefly in , , St. , , , and . | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In (Henry VIII.) the Company agreed to send men to attend the City Night-watch, on the vigils of St. John Baptist, and St. Peter and Paul. The men were to be cleanly harnessed, to carry bows and arrows, and to be arrayed in jackets of white, with the City arms. In the Company sent of their body to fetch in the new Queen, Anne of Cleves, as her disappointed bridegroom called her. The goldsmiths must have looked very gallant in their black velvet coats, gold chains, and velvet caps with brooches of gold; and their servants in plain russet coats. Sir Martin Bowes was the great goldsmith in this reign; he is the man whom Stow accused, when Lord Mayor, of rooting up all the gravestones and monuments in the Grey Friars, and selling them for . He left almshouses at Woolwich, and houses in , to the Company. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In (same reign) the Company sent twentyfour men, by royal order, to the king's army. They were to be This same year, the greedy despot Henry having discovered some slight inaccuracy in the assay, contrived to extort from the poor abject goldsmiths a mighty fine of . The year this English Ahab died, the Goldsmiths resolved, in compliment to the Reformation, to break up the image of their patron saint, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
357 | and also a great standing cup with an image of the same saint upon the top. Among the Company's plate there still exists a goodly cup given by Sir Martin Bowes, and which is said to be the same from which Queen Elizabeth drank at her coronation. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The government of the Company has been seen to have been vested in an alderman in the reign of Henry II., and in wardens as early as Edward I. The wardens were divided, at a later period, into a prime warden (always an alderman of London), a warden, and renter wardens. The clerk, under the name of is not mentioned till ; but a similar officer must have been established much earlier. auditors and porters are named in the reign of Henry VI. The assayer, or as he is now called, assay warden (to whom were afterwards joined assistants), is peculiar to the Goldsmiths. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Company's assay of the coin, or trial of the pix, a curious proceeding of great solemnity, now takes place every year. says Herbert, in his (a legal word used by Shakespeare in Hamlet's great soliloquy). There has been a complaint lately that the inferior jewellery is often tampered with after receiving the Hall mark. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An old book, probably Elizabethan, the observes, he adds, o acquaint the public the better with this business of the assay, the writer of the has prefixed a frontispiece to his work, intended to represent the interior of an assay office (we should suppose that of the old Goldsmiths' Hall), and makes reference by numbers to the various objects shown-as, i. The refining furnace; . The test, with silver refining in it; . The fining bellows; . The man blowing or working them; . The test-mould; . A wind-hole to melt silver in, with bellows; . A pair of organ bellows; . A man melting, or boiling, or nealing silver at them; . A block, with a large anvil placed thereon; io. men forging plate; ii. The fining and other goldsmith's tools; . The assay furnace; . The assay master making assays; . This man putting the assays into the fire; . The warden marking the plate on the anvil; . His officer holding his plate for the marks; and . goldsmiths' small workers at work. In the office are stated to be a sworn weigher to weigh and make entry of all silver-work brought in, and who re-weighs it to the owners when worked, reserving the ancient allowance for so doing,which is grains out of every i lb. marked, for a re-assay yearly of all the silver works they have passed the preceding year. There are also, he says, a table, or tables, in columns, whereof is of hardened lead, and the other of vellum or parchment (the lead columns having the worker's initials struck in them, and the other the owner's names); and the seeing that these marks are right, and plainly impressed on the gold and silver work, is of the warden's peculiar duties. The manner of marking the assay is thus:--The assay master puts a small quantity of the silver upon trial in the fire, and then, taking it out again, he, with his exact scales part of a grain, computes and re. ports the goodness or badness of the gold and silver. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The allowance of grains to the pound, Malcolm states to have been continued till after ; for gold watch-cases, from to , ; and all above, threepence each; and in proportion for other articles of the same metaL he adds,
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The ancient goldsmiths seem to have wisely blended pleasure with profit, and to have feasted right royally: of their dinner bills runs thus:-- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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359 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
With
and the total amount of the feast was | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A supper bill which occurs in the of Henry VIII. only amounts to , and it enumerates the following among the provisions:read, bushels of meal, a kilderkin and a firkin of good ale, capons, dozen of chickens, dishes of Surrey (sotterey) butter, lbs. of suet, marrow bones, a quarter of a sheep, eggs, dishes of sweet butter, oranges, gooseberries, strawberries, lbs. of cherries, lbs oz. of sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and mace, saffron, rice flour, dates, white salt, bay salt, red vinegar, white vinegar, verjuice, the hire of pewter vessels, and various other articles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In City pageants the Goldsmiths always held a conspicuous place. The following is an account of their pageant in jovial Lord Mayor Vyner's time (Charles II.) :--
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The Goldsmiths in the Middle Ages seem to have been fond of dress. In a great procession of the London crafts to meet Richard II.'s fair young queen, Anne of Bohemia, all the mysteries of the City wore red and black liveries. The Goldsmiths had on the red of their dresses bars of silver-work and Silver trefoils, and each of the score Goldsmiths, on the black part, wore fine knots of gold and silk, and on their worshipful heads red hats, powdered with silver trefoils. In Edward IV.'s reign, the Company's taste changed. The Liverymen wore violet and scarlet gowns like the Goldsmiths' sworn friends, the Fishmongers; while, under Henry VII., they wore violet gowns and black hoods. In Henry VIII.'s reign the hoods of the mutable Company went back again to violet and scarlet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In (Henry VI.) the London citizens seem to have been rather severe with their apprentices; for we find William Hede, a goldsmith, accusing his apprentice of beating his mistress. The apprentice was brought to the kitchen of the Goldsmith's Hall, and there stripped naked, and beaten by his master till blood came. This punishment was inflicted in the presence of several | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
360 | people. The apprentice then asked his master's forgiveness on his knees. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Goldsmiths' searches for bad and defective work were arbitrary enough, and made with great formality. say the ordinances,
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The manner of making this search, as elsewhere detailed, seems to have resembled that of our modern inquest, or annoyance juries; the Company's beadle, in full costume and with his insignia of office, marching ; the wardens, in livery, with their hoods; the Company's clerk, renter wardens, brokers, porters, and other attendants, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
also dressed, following. Their mode of proceeding is given in the following account, entitled (Henry VIII.):--
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Another order enjoins the wardens
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Amongst other charges against the trade at this date, it is said complained and found themselves aggrieved, that they came to the shops of goldsmiths within the Cityof London, and without the City, and to their booths and fairs, markets, and other places, and there bought of them new refreshed in gilding and burnishing; it appearing to all that such old plate, so by them bought, was new, sufficient, and able; whereby all such were deceived, to the grete
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In consequence of these complaints, it was ordained ( Henry VII.) by all the said fellow ship, that no goldsmith, within or without the City, should thenceforth put to sale such description of plate, in any of the places mentioned, without it had the mark of the All plate put to sale contrary to these orders the wardens were empowered to break. They also had the power, at their discretion, to fine offenders for this and any other frauds in manufacturing. If any goldsmith attempted to prevent the wardens from breaking bad work, they could seize such work, and declare it forfeited, according to the Act of Parliament, appropriating the half (as thereby | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
directed) to the king, and the other to the wardens breaking and making the seizure. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[extra_illustrations.1.361.1] was the design of Philip Hardwick, R.A. (-) and boasts itself the most magnificent of the City halls. The old hall had been taken down in , and the new hall was built without trenching on the funds set apart for charity. The style is Italian, of the and eighteenth centuries. The building is feet in front and feet deep. The west or chief facade has attached Corinthian columns, the whole height of the front supporting a rich Corinthian entablature and bold cornice; and the other fronts are adorned with pilasters, which also terminate the angles. Some of the blocks in the column shafts weigh from to tons each. The windows of the principal story, the echinus moulding of which is handsome, have bold and enriched pediments, and the centre windows are honoured by massive balustrade balconies. In the centre, above the floor, are the Company's arms, festal emblems, rich garlands, and trophies. The entrance door is a rich specimen of cast work. Altogether, though rather jammed up behind the Post-office, this building is worthy of the powerful and wealthy company who make it their domicile. The modern Renaissance style, it must be allowed, though less picturesque than the Gothic, is lighter, more stately, and more adapted for certain purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[extra_illustrations.1.361.2] are much admired, and are not without grandeur. They were in entirely lined with costly marbles of different sorts and colours, and the result is very splendid. The staircase branches right and left, and ascends to a domed gallery. Leaving that respectable Cerberus dozy but watchful in his bee-hive chair in the vestibule, we ascend the steps. On the square pedestals which ornament the balustrade of the flight of stairs stand [extra_illustrations.1.362.6] of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
362 | the seasons, by Nixon. Spring is looking at a bird's-nest; Summer, wreathed with flowers, leads a lamb; Autumn carries sheaves of corn; and Winter presses his robe close against the wind. Between the double scagliola columns of the gallery are a group of statues; the bust of the sailor king, William IV., by Chantrey, is in a niche above. A door on the top of the staircase opens to the Livery hall; the room for the Court of Assistants is on the right of the northernmost corridor. [extra_illustrations.1.362.3] [extra_illustrations.1.362.1] [extra_illustrations.1.362.2] , by feet, and feet high, has a range of Corinthian columns on either side. The lofty, arched windows are filled with the armorial bearings of eminent goldsmiths of past times; and at the north end is a spacious alcove for the [extra_illustrations.1.362.4] , which is lighted from above. On the side of the room is a large mirror, with busts of George III. and his worthy son, George IV. Between the columns are portraits of Queen Adelaide, by Sir Martin Archer Shee, and William IV. and Queen Victoria, by the Court painter, Sir George Hayter. The court-room has an elaborate stucco ceiling, with a glass chandelier, which tinkles when the scarlet mail-carts rush off after another. In this room, beneath glass, is preserved the interesting little altar of Diana, found in digging the foundations of the new hall. Though greatly corroded, it has been of fine workmanship, and the outlines are full of grace. There are also some pictures of great merit and interest. among them is Janssen's fine portrait of Sir Hugh Myddleton. He is dressed in black, and rests his hand upon a shell. This great benefactor of London left a share in his water-works to the Goldsmiths' Company, which is now worth more than a year. Another portrait is that of Sir Thomas Vyner, that jovial Lord Mayor, who dragged Charles II. back for a bottle. A is a portrait (after Holbein) of Sir Martin Bowes, Lord Mayor in (Henry VIII.); and there is also a large picture (attributed to Giulio Romano, the only painter Shakespeare mentions in his plays). In the foreground is St. Dunstan, in rich robes and crozier in hand, while behind, the saint takes the Devil by the nose, much to the approval of flocks of angels above. The great white marble mantelpiece came from Canons, the seat of the Duke of Chandos; and the large terminal busts are attributed to Roubiliac. The sumptuous drawing-room, adorned with crimson satin, white and gold, has immense mirrors, and a stucco ceiling, wrought with fruit, flowers, birds, and animals, with coats of arms blazoned on the corners. The court dining-room displays on the marble chimney-piece boys holding a wreath encircling the portrait of Richard II., by whom the [extra_illustrations.1.362.7] were incorporated. In the livery tea-room is a conversation piece, by Hudson (Reynolds' master), containing portraits of Lord Mayors, all Goldsmiths. [extra_illustrations.1.362.8] , as might suppose, is very magnificent, and comprises a chandelier of chased gold, weighing ounces; superb old gold plates, having on them the arms of France quartered with those of England; and, last of all, there is [extra_illustrations.1.362.5] at her coronation, and which was bequeathed to the Company by Sir Martin Bowes. At the Great Exhibition of this spirited Company awarded to the best artist in gold and silver plate, and at the same time resolved to spend on plate of British manufacture. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the Report of the Charity Commissioners it appears that the Goldsmiths' charitable funds, exclusive of gifts by Sir Martin Bowes, amount to per annum. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
was in old times chiefly inhabited by working goldsmiths. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
says Strype,
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On the west side of stood the small parish church of . This church, says Stow, was repaired and enlarged about the year . A very fair window at the upper end of the chancel () cost . | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In this church were some curious monumental inscriptions. of them, to the memory of Robert Trappis, goldsmith, bearing the date , contained this epitaph:-- On a stone, at the entering into the choir, was inscribed in Latin, On a fair stone, in the chancel, nameless, was written:-- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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363 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
St. Vedast, otherwise St. Foster, was a French saint, Bishop of Arras and Cambray in the reign of Clovis, who, according to the Rev. Alban Butler, performed many miracles on the blind and lame. Alaric had a great veneration for this saint. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In , some workmen digging a drain discovered, or feet below the level of , and opposite No. , a curious stone coffin, now preserved in a vault, under a small brick grave, on the north side of St. Vedast's whether Roman or Anglo-Saxon, it consists of a block of freestone, feet long and inches thick, hollowed out to receive a body, with a deeper cavity for the head and shoulders. When found, it contained a skeleton, and was covered with a flat stone. Several other stone coffins were found at the same time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The interior of St. Foster is a melancholy instance of Louis Quatorze ornamentation. The church is divided by a range of Tuscan columns, and the ceiling is enriched with dusty wreaths of stucco flowers and fruit. The altar-piece consists of Corinthian columns, carved in oak, and garnished with cherubim, palm-branches, & c. n the centre, above the entablature, is a group of well-executed winged figures, and beneath is a sculptured pelican. In Mr. Godwin spoke highly of the transparent blinds of this church, painted with various Scriptural subjects, as a substitute for stained glass. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
says Maitland,
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Among the odd monumental inscriptions in this church are the following :
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Coachmakers' Hall, , originally built by the Scriveners' Company, was afterwards sold to theCoachmakers. Here the held its meetings, and here originated the dreadful riots of the year . The Protestant Association was formed in , in consequence of a bill brought into the to repeal certain penalties and liabilities imposed upon Roman Catholics. When the bill was passed, a petition was framed for its repeal; and here, in this very hall (), the following resolution was proposed and carried : | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
His lordship, who was present on this occasion, remarked that
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Upwards of promptly answered the summons of the Association, and [extra_illustrations.1.363.1] commenced, to the days' terror of the metropolis. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Footnotes: [extra_illustrations.1.353.2] The second hall [extra_illustrations.1.353.3] the earlier hall [extra_illustrations.1.361.1] The present Goldsmiths' Hall [extra_illustrations.1.361.2] The hall and staircase [extra_illustrations.1.362.6] four graceful marble statuettes [extra_illustrations.1.362.3] The great banqueting-hall [extra_illustrations.1.362.1] Banquet to Ministry [extra_illustrations.1.362.2] Goldsmiths at dinner [extra_illustrations.1.362.4] display of plate [extra_illustrations.1.362.7] Goldsmiths [extra_illustrations.1.362.8] The Company's plate [extra_illustrations.1.362.5] the gold cup (attributed to Cellini) out of which Queen Elizabeth is said to have drank [extra_illustrations.1.363.1] the Gordon riots |