UK

Oranges and Lemons – London Church Bells

Published

3 weeks ago

February 8, 2021

The Bells of St Clement Danes in the Strand, play the nursery rhyme, which lists the London church bells. Danish residents who lived there in the ninth century, named the church after St Clement, the patron saint of mariners. The church renovated by William the Conqueror, was demolished and rebuilt by St Christopher Wren in 1682. In 1941 the church suffered damage after being hit by an incendiary bomb. The ten bells crashed to the ground and were put into storage and recast after the war. The church was not completely restored and reconsecrated until 19th October 1958.

The church has become known as the Orange and Lemons church on account of the playing of the seventeenth century nursery rhyme by the bells. “Oranges and Lemons say the bells of St Clements” refers to the fruits, unloaded at the wharfs nearby.

“You owe me five farthings, say the bells of St. Martins” These bells were the bells of St Martin Orgar Church, destroyed in the Great Fire of London 1666, of which only the original bell and bell tower survived. The nursery rhyme refers to the money lenders who traded nearby. o

“When will you pay me?, say the bells of Old Bailey” These are the bells of the church of St. Sepulchre within Newgate, as the Old Bailey didn’t have a church and therefore no church bells. These bells of St Sepulchre were heard inside Newgate prison, by debtors waiting to be tried at the Old Bailey.

“When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch. These are the bells of St Leonards Church Hackney. This expresses seventeenth century irony, as the whole area, was known for its poverty.

“When will that be? say the bells of Stepney” This refers to St Dunstan’s Church in the High Street, which had a maritime population. Wives would be waiting for husbands to return from sea with money for housekeeping. Probably a long wait!

“I do not know, says the Great Bell of Bow” As in the case of St Clement Danes, the Church of St Mary-Le-Bow in Cheapside was severely damaged by bombing in 1941. The bells crashed to the floor and when restoration took place in 1956, they had to be recast. The bells were finally heard ringing again in 1961.

People born within the sound of Bow Bells were historically regarded as being genuine Cockney. The word was a derogatory reference to town dwellers, who were regarded as having an easy life compared to people who lived in the country. These would be the EastEnders, who became known for this London dialect.

The Bow Bells are associated with Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London. The story that he was a poor boy who came to London and was about to leave, until the sound of the Bow Bells, convinced him to stay, has no basis in reality. Whittington, a younger son of a wealthy family was already wealthy on arrival and there is no evidence that he ever owned a cat!

St Clements Dane Bells

London St. Clement Danes Bells

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History

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – a pub with a literary history

Published

2 days ago

February 27, 2021

Carole Ford

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is a Grade 11 listed building at 145 Fleet Street, City of London. There has been a public house at this location since 1538, when Henry V111 was the monarch. It was called the Horn and like many city pubs burnt down in the Great Fire of London 1666, but was swiftly rebuilt the following year. The pub is a short walk (about 700 yards) away from both St Pauls Cathedral and Blackfriars tube station.

Photo: © Copyright Colin Smith and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

There is a single narrow entrance to a building that is deceptively small as it extends up to four storeys. The lack of natural light is evocative of its past history, as a cosy meeting place for famous literary figures. Charles Dickens liked to sit at a table right of the fireplace on the ground floor, opposite to the bar. The pub is thought to have been referred to in “A Tale of Two Cities” as a dining place for Charles Darnay. Robert Lewis Stevenson, Antony Trollope, and P. G Wodehouse all referred to the pub by name. In “The Dynamiter” Stevenson writes that ‘a select society at the Cheshire Cheese engaged my evenings”. In Anthony Trollope’s novel “Ralph the Heir”, one of the characters, Ontario Moggs, is described as speaking “with vigour at the debating club at the Cheshire Cheese in support of unions and the rights of man…”

P G Wodehouse on at least one occasion preferred to dine there, rather than at his club The Garrick. Agatha Christie wrote that her fictional detective Poirot dined with a new client at the Cheshire Cheese in her 1924 story, “The Million Dollar Bank Robbery” adding a description of “the excellent steak and kidney pudding of the establishment.” Oysters and Larks were also on the menu served up in pies.

The Rhymers Club was a group of London-based poets, founded in 1890 by W. B. Yeats and Ernest Rhys. They met as a dining club at the Cheshire Cheese, producing anthologies of poetry in 1892 and 1894.

The founding meeting of the Medical Journalists Association took place at the Cheshire Cheese on 1 February 1967. At that time, doctors who wrote articles under their own name could be reported to the General Medical Council. From an initial membership of 48, the MJA now represents around 500 journalists, broadcasters and editors.

Last by not least, the pub had a famous parrot, whose death on October 30th 1926 was marked by worldwide obituaries. Polly, a grey parrot, of unknown gender, passed out on Armistice night in 1918, exhausted from imitating the popping of champagne corks. The bird was in the habit of addressing customers as “Rats” and placed orders with instructions to “Hurry Up!” Deservedly Polly holds pride of place as a Stuffed Parrot in the Bar.

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Books

The historic Kensington pub where Dickens and DH Lawrence used to drink

Published

4 days ago

February 24, 2021

Laura S Hamlin

A traditional pub in South Kensington, famous for being patronised by Charles Dickens (who lived on this street at number 11 for a while) and DH Lawrence.

Even now it is a pub that is often packed with people in the evening and you won’t always find a seat if you don’t eat. If you want to experience the atmosphere of a historic pub but without the crowds, you can do it in the afternoon when you will also find a seat.

Charles Dickens used to drink in this pub

The pub also offers food and has a garden for nice days or you could go downstairs where you can find tables to eat in an area not too crowded. To get there you have to find a side door. The menu is typical of a pub, but if you are passing through and want to have traditional fish & chips or a pie with a pint of beer, this is a great place to do it. It is not far from the museums of South Kensington so we are in an area where many tourists will be passing through.

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Travel

In Hampshire looking for Jane Austen

Published

5 days ago

February 23, 2021

Laura S Hamlin

Many people when they think of Jane Austen, they think of Bath, in fact, the well-known British writer lived for 25 years in the county of Hampshire.

This county appears relatively little in her novels, but if you go to Hampshire, you can visit some places related to the writer. In particular we can visit a museum dedicated to her which is located in a small brick cottage where the writer lived from 1809 to 1817.

This after having lived in Southampton and Bath. Clearly these larger places gave her ideas and inspiration that she would not have had in the country but it is only after returning to a quiet place that Jane Austen resumed writing.

The museum is located in Chawton and you can still see the original furniture such as the desk where Austen àwrote some of her works.

Edward, the writer’s brother had become rich and while Austen frequented wealthy circles, she was not from a wealthy family. The brother lived nearby and visiting him meant frequenting a wealthy and fashionable environment. His brother’s house still stands today and is called Chawton House, a 16th century Tudor-style house.

The house now houses in its library a collection of books written by women if you go just outside the house of St Nicholas church you will see the graves of Austen’s mother and sister. If you want to continue your Jane Austen tour in Hampshire you can take the scenic railway called Watercress Line to Aston where the Jane Austen festival is held every June. Aston was where Austen used to shop regularly.

The Vyne is a house definitely worth visiting, it is located near Basingstoke and was a house from the Tudor times, where Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon and many others also stayed. Jane Austen was a friend of the family who lived here at the time and therefore she used to come often and participate in the dances and other social gatherings.

Jane had to leave her beloved cottage when her health deteriorated and so she went to live in Winchester to be near her doctors. That is why her grave is in Winchester Cathedral. Originally her grave did not say she was a writer because all of her books were published anonymously when she was alive