S 1904. SHAKESPEARE'S LONDON. By LIEUT.-COL. H. FISHWICK, F.S.A. HAKESPEARE was married in 1582 when he was only 18 years old, and in little less than four years afterwards he went away from his native town leaving behind him a wife and three children. For this procedure various reasons have been assigned, but none of them are quite satisfactory nor have sufficient evidences been produced to warrant their acceptance. Shakespeare may have had a scolding wife or he may have taken part in a midnight poaching expedition, but of positive proof of either we have none. He is said to have, shortly after his marriage, been employed as a schoolmaster, for which profession he was well qualified, having obtained a good sound education at the Grammar School at Stratford, of which town his father was an alderman-it may be that in search of employment of a scholastic character he gradually drifted to London. Another theory is that having a natural love of poetry and drama and having many times been an admiring spectator of the private companies of actors, who from time to time performed at Stratford-he became stagestruck and deliberately set off to London with the intention of throwing in his lot with the histrionic world. Be that as it may, some time about the year 1586 we find Shakespeare in London. After the Reformation the old Miracle Plays were succeeded by what were known as Morality Plays (such as Everyman, lately performed in Manchester) which became gradually treated in a more dramatic manner, requiring scenery and other adjuncts, and so paved the way for the 66 early theatres. There were in the latter half of the 16th century many companies of players, which, to avoid being treated as rogues and vagabonds were in name at least attached to the houses of the great landed proprietors, whilst other companies were called the servants of Royalty. These troops travelled about to the large towns and having obtained the consent of the Mayor or Bailiff, gave public performances in the Guild Hall, in the court-yard of an inn, or even in some large barn or unoccupied building; thus at Stratford in 1579 appeared the players of Lord Strange; in 1580 the players of the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Essex; and in 1584 those of my Lord of Oxford. But this kind of patronage was not confined to the nobility, and as showing how widespread was the custom, may be quoted the will of Alexander Houghton, of Lea Hall, near Preston, in Lancashire, who, in 1581, bequeathed to his brother, Thomas Houghton, all his "instruments belonging to mewsicke and all manner of playe clothes yf he be mynded to keppe and manteyne players." This all clearly shows how widespread throughout the country was the love of spectacular shows whether in the form of miracle plays, morality plays, or the more modern historical or tragic drama. The London which attracted Shakespeare was of course a very different place to the vast ever-increasing metropolis of to-day-but it was then as now the great centre of the kingdom, and in it was to be found all that was best in art, science, and literature, and amongst its inhabitants were numbered the leading men in every branch of learning and industry. Of its topography (which in itself is an intensly interesting subject) the time at our disposal will not admit of more than a passing glance, and that must be of London in its broadest meaning and without allusions to its municipality, its various parishes, wards, and liberties, or any of the sub-divisions of modern times. The Tower of London on the east stood almost alone and presented much the appearance that it does at the present time; a little further east stood St. Katherine's Church with a small cluster of houses around it; to the north was the vacant land of Smithfield which was only separated by a few houses near St. Botolph's Church from the open country called Spittlesfields on account of its belonging to St. Spittle Priory and Hospital; from the Tower following the Thames to Charing Cross there were clusters of buildings, but more or less detached all along the river side, and evidently built from no uniform design as to streets or surroundings, some standing just above the water line, and others set back a considerable distance and having sloping gardens down to the river's edge; as we get further away from the centre of the city the buildings increased in importance such as The Temple, The Savoy (at this date a suppressed religious hospital), and Somerset House. Charing Cross stood in a fairly large open space and between it and Westminster Hall, the Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament, were the Court of Whitehall and Queen's Gardens, Spring Gardens, the Cock Pit, and a few houses surrounded with gardens, to the west lying St. James's Park. To the north of Charing Cross was the Mewes, forming one side of the short St. Martin's Lane, to the west of which were only green fields and parks, the chief of which was Hyde Park, to which the public was not admitted. Returning to the Strand, which was a well-defined street to the Temple, except a few houses in Drury Lane and at St. Giles its northern side was the open country; the city boundary was marked by posts with chains across the road; the Temple Bar, upon which so many heads of traitors were exhibited as a warning to others, was not built until after the Great Fire in 1666. Along Fleet Street and through the gate in what is now known as Ludgate Hill and on to St. Paul's there were only comparatively few houses outside the street line. From St. Martin's-le-Grand along Cheapside, Cornhill, and Leadenhall to the Old Gate (Aldgate) which gave a |
