The Cries of London Part 6

The reader may probably be amused with a list of those trades exercised in Holland, which in their p.r.o.nunciation and meaning resemble the same in this country, beginning with the

Sieve Maker, which in Dutch is Zeevmaker.

Baker Bakker.

Scale Maker Balansmaker.

Book Binder Boekbinder.

Brewer Broonwer.

Gla.s.s-blower Glasblazer.

Glazier Glazemaker.

Goldsmith Goudsmit.

Musical Instrument Maker Instrumentmaker.

Lanthorn Maker Lantaarnmaker.

Paper Maker Papiermaker.

Perriwig Maker Paruikmaker.

Pump Maker Pompemaker.

Potter, Pottebaker.

Shoemaker Schoenmaker.

Smith Smit.

Schoolmaster Schoolmeester.

Waggon Maker Wagenmaker.

Weaver Weever.

Sail Maker Zailmaker.

THE POTTER.

PLATE XVIII.

At about a mile from the back of Jack Straw's Castle, Hampstead Heath, through one of the prettiest lanes near London, the traveller will find that beautifully rural spot called "Child's Hill." This was the favourite walk of Gainsborough and Loutherburgh, both of whom occasionally had lodgings near the Heath for the purpose of study; and perhaps no place within one hundred miles of London affords better materials for the landscape painter's purpose than Hampstead Heath and its vicinity, particularly that most delightful spot above described, where the Pottery stands, which afforded the subject of the ensuing Plate.

At this Pottery, which is placed in a sequestered dell, the moulds used by the sugar bakers for casting their loaves of sugar in, are made. They are of different sizes, turned by the moulder, with the a.s.sistance of a boy, who is employed in keeping the lathe in motion. The clay is remarkably good, and burns to a rich red colour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Sugar-Mould Pottery Child's Hill, Hendon_]

The following is a list of the places where sugar bakers' moulds are made, for they are not to be had at the Potteries in general; viz. that above-mentioned, at Child's Hill, near Hampstead Heath, in the parish of Hendon; one at Brentford; one at Clapham; one at Greenwich; three at Deptford; and two at Plumsted. Though the clay varies in texture, and likewise in colour in some slight degree, when baked, on almost every spot where a Pottery is erected, yet in no instance does it so peculiarly differ as at the Pottery in High Street, Lambeth, leading to Vauxhall. The clay princ.i.p.ally used at that place is preferred by the sculptors for their models of busts, figures, and monuments. It never stains the fingers, and is of so beautiful a texture that all parts of the model may be executed with it, in the most minute degree of sharpness and spirit; and, when baked, it is not of that fiery red colour, like a tile, but approaches nearer to the tone of flesh, has a beautiful bloom with it, and is very similar, though not quite so dark, as those fine specimens of Terracottas in the Towneley Gallery, in the British Museum. The great sculptors Roubiliac and Rysbrach not only constantly preferred it, but brought it into general use among the artists.

At the Lambeth Pottery, the first imitations of the Dutch square white glazed tiles, decorated with figures of animals and other ornaments, painted in blue, and sometimes purple, were made in England. The fas.h.i.+on of thus decorating the backs of chimnies was introduced into this country soon after the arrival of William the Third, and continued till about fifty years ago. Chimnies thus ornamented are frequently to be met with in country houses, particularly in bed-rooms; but in London, where almost every body enters on a new fas.h.i.+on as soon as it appears, there are fewer specimens left. The chimney of the room in Bolt Court, in which Dr.

Johnson died, was decorated with these tiles, most of the subjects of which were taken from Barlow's etchings of aesop's Fables. Dinner services were produced of the same material, and painted blue or purple, like the above tiles. Sir James Thornhill, the painter of the pictures which adorn the dome of St. Paul's, and Paul Ferg, when young men, were employed at the Chelsea China manufactory, and there are specimens of plates and dishes painted by them now and then to be met with in the cabinets of the curious. At Mrs. Hogarth's sale (Sir James Thornhill's daughter), Lord Orford purchased twelve dinner plates painted by her father; the subjects were the Signs of the Zodiac, and they are preserved at Strawberry Hill.

In common ware, jugs, handbasins, dinner services, &c. are not painted, but printed, the mode of executing which is rather curious. Trees, hay-makers, cows, farm-houses, windmills, &c. are engraved on copper-plates, which are filled with blue colour (smalt). Impressions from them are taken on common blotting paper, through the rolling press. These impressions are immediately put on the earthen ware, and when the blotting-paper is dry, it is washed off, and the blue colour remains upon the dish, &c.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Staffords.h.i.+re Ware_]

STAFFORDs.h.i.+RE WARE.

PLATE XIX.

Of all the tradesmen who supply the domestic table, there are none more frequently called upon than the earthen-ware man. In great families, where constant cooking is going on, the dust-bin seldom pa.s.ses a day without receiving the accidents to which a scullery is liable, nor is there, upon an average, a private family in England that pa.s.ses a week without some misfortune to their crockery. Many householders set down at least ten pounds a year for culinary restorations; so that the itinerant Staffords.h.i.+re Ware vendor, exhibited in the following plate, is sure to sell something in every street he enters, particularly since that ware has been brought by water to Paddington, whence he and many others, who go all over the town to dispose of their stock in baskets, are regularly supplied; and in consequence of the safety and cheapness of the pa.s.sage, they are enabled to dispose of their goods at so moderate a rate that they can undersell the regular shopkeeper.

Staffords.h.i.+re is the princ.i.p.al place in England for the produce of earthen ware; the manufactories cover miles of land, and the minds of the people appear to be solely absorbed in their business. Coals cost them little but the labour of fetching; they work from twelve to fourteen hours a day, and those who choose to perform what they call over-time, are employed sixteen hours in each day. The men have for twelve hours in each day, being common time, seven s.h.i.+llings per week; the women four s.h.i.+llings, and the children, who turn the lathes, two s.h.i.+llings and sixpence. These people are so constantly at work and perpetually calling out "turn," when they wish it to go faster, to the boy who gives motion to the lathe, that it is said that those who fall into intoxication are sure, however drunk they may be, to call to the boy to turn, whether at work or not. There are men who make plates, others who make basins, &c.; and those who make jugs, tea and milkpots, have what they call handle-men, persons whose sole business it is to prepare the handles and stick them on. Their divisions of land, similar to banks or hedges, as well as their roads, for miles, are wholly constructed of their broken earthen-ware.

They have their regular packers, who pique themselves on getting in a dozen of plates more than usual in an immense basket.

When they meet with a clay that differs in colour from that they have been using, they will apply themselves most readily to make up a batch of plates, basins, or tea-cups, well knowing the public are pleased with a new colour; and it is a curious fact that there are hundreds of varieties of tints produced from the different pits used by these Staffords.h.i.+re manufactories. There are men whose business it is to glaze the articles, and others who pencil and put on the brown or white enamel with which the common yellow jug is streaked or ornamented. In the brown or yellow baking dishes used by the common people, the dabs of colour of brown and yellow are laid on by children, with sticks, in the quickest way imaginable. The profits of earthen-ware in general are very great, as indeed they ought to be, considering the brittleness of the article, and the number of accidents they are continually meeting with, as is demonstrated by their hedge-rows and roads.

An article that is sold for fourpence in London, costs but one penny at the manufactory.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Hard Metal Spoons_]

HARD METAL SPOONS TO SELL OR CHANGE.

PLATE XX.

William Conway, of Crab Tree Row, Bethnall Green, is the person from whom the following etching was made. He was born in 1752, in Wors.h.i.+p Street, which spot was called Windmill Hill, and first started with or rather followed his father as an itinerant trader, forty-seven years ago. This man has walked on an average twenty-five miles a day six days in the week, never knew a day's illness, nor has he once slept out of his own bed. His shoes are made from the upper leather of old boots, and a pair will last him six weeks. He has eleven walks, which he takes in turn, and these are all confined to the environs of London; no weather keeps him within, and he has been wet and dry three times in a day without taking the least cold.

His spoons are made of hard metal, which he sells, or exchanges for the old ones he had already sold; the bag in which he carries them is of the thickest leather, and he has never pa.s.sed a day without taking some money.

His eyes are generally directed to the ground, and the greatest treasure he ever found was a one pound note; when quarters of guineas were in currency, he once had the good fortune to pick up one of them.

He never holds conversation with any other itinerant, nor does he drink but at his dinner; and it is pleasant to record, that Conway in his walks, by his great regularity, has acquired friends, several of whom employ him in small commissions.

His memory is good, and among other things he recollects Old Vinegar, a surly fellow so called from his brutal habits. This man provided sticks for the cudgel players, whose sports commenced on Easter Monday, and were much frequented by the Bridewell-boys. He was the maker of the rings for the boxers in Moorfields, and would cry out, after he had arranged the spectators by beating their s.h.i.+ns, "Mind your pockets all round." The name of Vinegar has been frequently given to crabbed ringmakers and boxers.

Ward, in his "London Spy," thus introduces a Vinegar champion:

"Bred up i' th' fields of Lincoln's Inn, Where _Vinegar_ reigns master; The forward youth doth thence begin A broken head to loose or win, For shouts, or for a plaister."

It is to be hoped that this industrious man has saved some little to support him when his sinews are unable to do their duty; for it would be extremely hard, that a man who has conducted himself with such honesty, punctuality, and rigid perseverance, should be dependent on the parish, particularly as he declares, and Conway may be believed, that he never got drunk in his life. The present writer was much obliged to this man for a deliverance from a mob. He had when at Bow commenced a drawing of a Lascar, and before he had completed it, he found himself surrounded by several of their leaders, who were much enraged, conceiving that he was taking a description of the man's person in order to complain of him.

Conway happened to come up at the moment, and immediately exclaimed, "Dear heart, no, this gentleman took my picture off the other day, he only does it for his amus.e.m.e.nt; I know where he lives; he don't want to hurt the man;" on hearing which speech, a publican kindly took upon him to appease the Lascars.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Dancing Dolls_]

DANCING DOLLS.