Secret Lore of London – edited by John Matthews with Caroline Wise

I love London!  I love legends! Put the two together and you have this wonderfully woven collection of stories that introduce the reader to London lore.

So, what is lore? Lore is belief or tradition passed on through the generations – generally oral tradition.  Lore serves to teach about the foundations of our culture. It is human nature to question and to seek answers and we are never satisfied with just information – we need to feel that there is a reason for things. Through the ages we have used lore to share knowledge and explain why we are here, why we do things the way we do, how things work, why structures look the way they do and what makes us human. Lore is thus born to help us understand ourselves.

Lore fascinates me. It generally asks more questions than it answers, and I love that!

But, how much of it is real?  How much of it is fantasy? Are the legends that make up our understanding of lore merely fairy stories, or do they provide a foundation for the history we believe to be factual? Who were the authors of the documents we use to research our own history? What were their agendas?  Who were their patrons? This means we continue to question and we never accept history as pure truth. We thus take lore to be our human, social foundation on which we build our history.

The Secret Lore of London is a wide ranging collection of really well-researched, clearly thought out, well-connected, easy to read and exciting to share essays about the legends of London – and they are not only entertaining, they are interesting and captivating.

The book comes in three distinct parts, which I feel could’ve stood alone as separate books.  Each book would appeal to a different type of reader.

As a trained guide I feel that the first part would appeal to those with a deeper understanding and knowledge of the city – it fills in the gaps and adds colour to previous knowledge.

The second part is a wonderful collection of short pieces – packed with varied and interesting bits that are perfect for someone with little or no knowledge of London, as well as for those who have an extensive knowledge of the city.  The pieces all relate to different sights, buildings or landmarks and will thrill and surprise with every page turn. This part can be used to explore London with insight that is generally not found in other guide books. Whether the reader is a tourist, a resident of London or an academic, part two is a real treat!

The third part….now this is the part that kept me entranced.  The stories about London are fresh and fascinating!  From the Druids to the Romans and to Arthurian lore that put London on a wonderful historical journey. I craved to read more.

London is such a vast city with a long, interesting and fascinating history, so to tackle this subject is very brave and admirable. If you have an insatiable hunger for knowledge, this book will give you food for thought as it opens a wonderfully colourful world that forms the foundations of what we believe to be ‘solid’ history.

The Secret Lore of London is for everyone – whether you are a London academic, a tour guide, or simply someone who wants to know more about their home city or are visiting this remarkable place. A world of legend, which plays such an important role in laying the foundation for what we take as gospel – what we accept as history. We all love a story, we love a tale – old and young alike. Some legends fill us with a warm and fuzzy feeling – others give us another perspective, a unique angle and often an explanation for why or how something came about.

To sum up the book in one word – fascinating!

Roman Londinium

London, as a settlement, began in the middle of the first century AD when the Roman Emperor Claudius invaded. The settlement grew rapidly during the Roman occupation and it was known as Londinium. Although not important politically, it flourished as a major port due to its ideal location in relation to the river and of course the European continent. All main Roman roads converged on London and mileage and distances were all measured from London radiating outwards, and mostly north into the country.

By the end of the third century Londinium had become the centre of Roman administration and a prosperous walled city with a fort, a large temple, a basilica and a governor’s palace. The fortified city wall around the city can still be traced in fragments – it roughly corresponds with a square mile, which is what the financial centre of London, or the City of London, is known as today – The Square Mile.

Dogs & Canaries

The Canary Wharf Tower was until recently (when it was overtaken by the Shard), the tallest building in London, and is named after a quay that was owned by a company that traded with the Canary Islands. Interestingly enough, the Canaries are named after dogs – canes is Latin for dogs – that lived on the islands.

The Docklands, which is the area the Canary Wharf Tower is situated in, is also known as the Isle of Dogs, and this may be because it was the site of King Henry VIII’s hunting kennels.

I love it when history is all connected….!

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Tally Tax

The amount of tax a person in London paid during the Middle Ages was recorded on a tally stick. Notches were made on the stick for every payment and the stick was then split lengthways, in half. The one half was left with the government as a record – an early tax receipt. The government’s halves were kept in the Palace of Westminster, and as you can imagine they piled up over the centuries.

Finally, in 1834, someone suggested that maybe they get rid of them, so they were burnt in a furnace under the House of Lords…but the furnace was overloaded and the fire spread rapidly. Sadly the fire destroyed most of the Palace and some very valuable, historical documents (such as the warrant for the execution of Charles I).

Turner immortalised the event in his painting ‘The Burning of the Houses of Parliament’ and a stunned spectator described it as “Certainly the grandest thing we have ever witnessed”!

 

Quaking London

Earthquakes were recorded in London in 1247, 1275, 1382, 1439, 1626 and 1750. In 1580 the last significant quake struck, which originated in the Strait of Dover. This tremor was so large that people watched in fear as two men who were sitting on cannons at Tower Hill, were thrown to the ground. The church bells in the City were all set off, a pinnacle fell off Westminster Abbey, two children died when a chimney stack collapsed and Thomas Grey, a City cobbler was crushed by falling masonry in Newgate Street.

London is overdue a major earthquake and according to Dr Roger Musson, of the British Geological Survey, a quake measuring 6.0 on the Richter Scale could be caused by a slip in a fault line running from Dover to the Rhine region of Germany. Even though London is not on a fault line a quake can strike at any time.  “All we can say is that something that has happened twice can, and probably will, happen three times.”

Now that the city is far more densely inhabited, fatalities would be higher and damage more extensive.
Scary stuff!

Image: http://www.clubdepensadoresuniversales.blogspot.co.uk

Cabbie Rules

It is, in fact, illegal to hail a cab while it is in motion – you should go to a rank or a ‘place appointed’
A cabby is supposed to ask each passenger if they have a ‘notifiable disease such as smallpox or the plague’, as it is illegal to carry a sufferer.
It is also illegal for a cabby to carry a a rabid dog or a corpse, so it really is in the best interests of the cabby to ensure his passenger is not going to die in the cab.
It is also the cabby’s responsibility, not the passenger’s, to ensure nothing has been left in the vehicle.
The law required a cabby to carry a bale of hay on the roof of the cab to feed the horse. This law was only repealed in 1976. It is also no longer required to carry a bag of oats.
As a cabby was not allowed to leave his cab on the public highway, the driver was however allowed to urinate in public. He was required to urinate on the rear wheel of the vehicle, with his right hand placed on it. It is not clear how this law would’ve applied to women cabbies…..

London Time Capsule

Cleopatra’s needle, which stands on the banks of the River Thames is one of a pair that was erected in 1500BC, and stood in front of the temple of Heliopolis in Egypt, where Moses was born. It was offered by the Viceroy of Egypt to the British people in 1819 as ‘a worthy memorial of our distinguished countrymen Nelson and Abercromby’, after Nelson’s victory over the French in the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Due to an unfortunate chain of events, it took 70 years for it to finally arrive in London and sadly gained the distinction of being the first London monument to be hit in an air attack in World War I.  A bomb exploded near the plinth and one of the lions suffered shrapnel damage (which you can still see today).

But this monument holds a historic secret …. in its plinth is a time capsule which holds items such as Imperial weights and measures, four Bibles in different languages, a railway guide with timetables of the day and copies of newspapers from 1879, which was the year it was erected on the Embankment. It is also said to contain cigars, a gentleman’s lounge suit, the complete outfit a fashionable lady of the day would’ve worn, magazines of the day, popular childrens’ toys, a razor, twelve photographs of the most beautiful famous women of the time and a complete set of currency used throughout the Commonwealth ranging from a farthing to five pounds.

I often wonder what we would put in a time capsule to tell future genrations what we were about….!

 

Daffodil for a Prince

A brand new sturdy variety of daffodil was unveiled at the 2014 Chelsea Flower Show.

This bright yellow and white ‘Georgie Boy’ has been named in honour of the young Prince George of Cambridge.

Money raised from the sale of the daffodil bulbs sold at the flower show were donated to London’s Royal Marsden cancer hospital, which has a very special place in the heart of Prince William, HRH The Duke of Cambridge.  He is president of the hospital  – a position held by his mother,  Princess Diana, before she died in 1997.

The bulbs are currently available on  the Bulbs website, and money will continue to be donated to the Royal Marsden Hospital to support their wonderful work.

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Images: The Daily Mail

Cheapside – The City Market

Cheapside has been the market and shopping centre of the City of London for centuries and was the main market place in the whole of London.

The word ‘cheap’ comes from the Anglo Saxon word to barter or ‘market place’ – “of good cheap” or “’tis good cheap” (being sold at a fair price).  The word evolved into the modern use of using it to express when something is inexpensive and today the word is no longer used to denote a market.

Many cities in the United Kingdom have a Cheapside or a Cheap Street.  Those towns or cities with the prefix of Chipping in their name, also refers to it being a market town.

Street names running from Cheapside tell you where the cows were kept, bought and sold, or where the bread was made, or the wood was delivered. And to this day the City of London has the same street plan and the same street names, which dates back to medieval times.

The Market rights of the City of London were based on a charter granted by Edward III in 1327.  The charter did not allow for anyone to set up a rival markets within 6.6 miles of the City.  This was a reasonable distance a person walk to market with their produce, sell his goods and return home in the same day.

Today London has more than three hundred markets.  Many specialise in food, some in arts and crafts but many focus on funky fashion, exotic people and trendy places to be seen.

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The Savoy Hotel

In 1899 The Savoy Hotel opened in London. It was the first hotel in Britain to have electric lights and a lift! Cesar Ritz (of the Ritz Hotel who was later known as “hotelier to Kings and King of hoteliers”) was the first manager and his chef was Auguste Escoffier (which may be where we get the expression of ‘scoffing’ your food!).

Together they built up a clientele of the rich and famous and also created dishes they named after their guests. One of these was Peach Melba, which was made in tribute to the Australian diva of Covent Garden Dame Nellie Melba (she had adopted the name Melba after her hometown of Melbourne). Other famous guests have included Oscar Wilde, (who conducted his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas in The Savoy), Claude Monet (who painted his famous ‘Waterloo Bridge’ from a balcony at the hotel) and Fred Astaire (who danced on the roof of the hotel with his sister in 1923).

The forecourt of the hotel is also the only street in Britain where traffic drives on the right. This was because of the limited space in the courtyard, which did not allow for coachmen to keep to the left and still be able to pull up to the front doors smoothly.

After being closed for what seemed like decades and a £100 million restoration project, the Savoy reopened more splendid than before. According to its website “London will once again be itself as The Savoy dazzles”!

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Image source: www.hotel-fly-car.com