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 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
ILLUSTRATIONS WILL ALSO BE
FOUND AT PAGES
171, 172, 184, 280, 294, 304,
307, 308, 319, 335.
 The Fleet:
Its River, Prison, and Marriages.
 CHAPTER I.

O
NLY a little tributary to the Thames, the River Fleet, generally,
and ignominiously, called the Fleet Ditch, yet it is historically
interesting, not only on account of the different places through
which its murmuring stream meandered, almost all of which have
some story of their own to tell, but the reminiscences of its Prison
stand by themselves—pages of history, not to be blotted out, but to
be recorded as valuable in illustration of the habits, and customs, of
our forefathers.
The City of London, in its early days, was well supplied with water,
not only by the wells dug near houses, or by the public springs,
some of which still exist, as Aldgate Pump, &c., and the River
Thames; but, when its borders increased, the Walbrook was utilized,
as well as the Fleet, and, later on, the Tye-bourne, or twin brook,
which fell into the Thames at Westminster. In the course of time
these rivulets became polluted, land was valuable; they were
covered over, and are now sewers. The course of the Fleet being
clearly traceable in the depression of Farringdon Street, and the
windings of the Tye-bourne in the somewhat tortuous Marylebone
Lane (so called from the Chapel of St. Mary, which was on the banks
of "le bourne," or the brook[1]). Its further course is kept in our
memory by Brook Street, Hanover Square.
The name of this little river has exercised many minds, and has been
the cause of spoiling much good paper. My own opinion, backed by
many antiquaries, is that a Fleet means a brook, or tributary to a
larger river, which is so wide, and deep, at its junction with the
greater stream as to be navigable for the small craft then in use, for
some little distance. Thus, we have the names on the Thames of
Purfleet, Northfleet, and Southfleet, and the same obtains in other
places. Its derivation seems to be Saxon—at least, for our language.
Thus, in Bosworth's "Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon Language," we
find, "Flede-Fledu: part. Flooded; overflowed: tumidus[2] : Tiber
fledu wearð[3]—the Tiber was flooded (Ors. 4. 7)."
Again, the same author gives: "Fleot (Plat fleet, m. a small river;
Ger. flethe. f. a channel). A place where vessels float, a bay, gulf, an
arm of the sea, the mouth of a river, a river; hence the names of
places, as Northfleet, Southfleet, Kent; and in London, Fleet ditch;
sinus.[4] Sœs Fleot, a bay of the sea.[5] Bd. 1. 34."
Another great Anglo-Saxon scholar—Professor Skeat, in "An
Etymological Dictionary of the English Language": "Fleet, a creek,
bay. In the names North-fleet, Fleet Street, &c. Fleet Street was so
named from the Fleet Ditch; and fleet was given to any shallow
creek, or stream, or channel of water. See Halliwell. M.E. fleet
(Promptorium Parvulorum, &c., p. 166). A.S. fleót, a bay of the sea,
as in Sœs Fleot, bay of the sea. Ælfred's tr. of Beda, i. 34.[5]
Afterwards applied to any channel or stream, especially if shallow.
The original sense was 'a place where vessels float,' and the
derivation is from the old verb fleet, to float, &c."
The French, too, have a cognate term, especially in Norman towns,
as Barfleur, Honfleur, Harfleur, &c., which were originally written
Barbeflot, Huneflot, and Hareflot: and these were sometimes written
Hareflou, Huneflou, and Barfleu, which latter comes very near to the
Latin flevus, called by Ptolemy fleus, and by Mela fletio. Again, in
Brittany many names end in pleu, or plou, which seems to be very
much like the Greek πλεω: full, swollen, which corresponds to our
Anglo-Saxon Flede; Dutch Vliet.
But it has another, and a very pretty name, "The River of Wells,"
from the number of small tributaries that helped to swell its stream,
and from the wells which bordered its course; such as Sadler's Wells,
Bagnigge Wells, White Conduit, Coldbath, Lamb's Conduit,
Clerkenwell—all of which (although all were not known by those
names in Stow's times) were in existence.
Stow, in his "Survey of London" (ed. 1603, his last edition, and which
consequently has his best corrections), says—
"That the riuer of Wels in the west parte of the Citty, was of
olde so called of the Wels, it may be proued
thus, William the Conqueror in his Charter to Riuer of Wels.
the Colledge of S. Marten le Grand in London,
hath these wordes: I doe giue and graunt to the same Church
all the land and the Moore, without the Posterne, which is called
Cripplegate, on eyther part of the Postern, that is to say, from
the North corner of the Wall, as the riuer of the Wels, there
neare running, departeth the same More from the Wall, vnto the
running water which entereth the Cittie; this water hath beene
long since called the riuer of the Wels, which name of riuer
continued, and it was so called in the raigne of Edward the first;
as shall bee shewed, with also the decay of the
saide riuer. In a fayre Booke of Parliament Decay of the
Riuer of the
recordes, now lately restored to the Tower,[6] it Wels.
appeareth that a Parliament being holden at
Carlile in the yeare 1307, the 35 of Edward the I. Henry Lacy
Earle of Lincolne, complayned that whereas, in times past the
course of water, running at London vnder Olde
bourne bridge, and Fleete bridge into the Parliament
Record.
Thames, had beene of such bredth and depth,
that 10 or 12 ships, Nauies at once with
Riuer of Wels
marchãdises, were wõt to come to the foresaid bare ships.
bridge of Fleete, and some of them to Oldborne
bridge: now the same course by filth of the Tanners & such
others, was sore decaied; also by raising of wharfes, but
specially by a diversiõ of the waters made by them of the new
Temple, for their milles standing without
Baynardes Castle, in the first yeare of King Patent Record.
Mils by Baynards
John, and diuers other impediments, so as the Castel, made in
said ships could not enter as they were wont, & the first of King
as they ought, wherefore he desired that the John.
Maior of London, with the shiriffs, and other
discrete Aldermen, might be appointed to view the course of the
saide water, and that by the othes of good men, all the
aforesaide hinderances might be remoued, and it to bee made
as it was wont of old: wherupon Roger le Brabazon, the
Constable of the Tower, with the Maior and Shiriffes, were
assigned to take with them honest and discrete men, and to
make diligent search and enquirie, how the said riuer was in old
time, and that they leaue nothing that may hurt or stop it, but
keepe it in the same estate that it was wont to be. So far the
record. Wherupon it folowed that the said riuer was at that time
cleansed, these mils remoued, and other things done for the
preseruation of the course thereof, not withstanding neuer
brought to the olde depth and breadth, whereupon the name of
riuer ceased, and was since called a Brooke,
namely Turnmill or Tremill Brooke, for that Turnemill
Brooke.
diuers Mils were erected vpon it, as appeareth
by a fayre Register booke, conteyning the foundation of the
Priorie at Clarkenwell, and donation of the landes thereunto
belonging, as also by diuers other records.
"This brooke hath beene diuers times since clensed, namely,
and last of all to any effect, in the yeare 1502 the 17th of
Henrie the 7. the whole course of Fleete dike, then so called,
was scowred (I say) downe to the Thames, so that boats with
fish and fewel were rowed to Fleete bridge, and to Oldburne
bridge, as they of olde time had beene accustomed, which was
a great commoditie to all the inhabitants in that part of the
Citie.
"In the yeare 1589, was granted a fifteene, by a common
Councell of the citie, for the cleansing of this
Brooke or dike: the money amounting to a Fleete dyke
promised to be
thousand marks collected, and it was clensed; the
undertaken, that, by drawing diuerse springes money collected,
about Hampsted heath, into one head and and the Citizens
deceiued.
Course, both the citie should be serued of fresh
water in all places of want, and also that by such a follower, as
men call it, the channell of this brooke should be scowred into
the riuer of Thames; but much mony being therein spent, ye
 effect fayled, so that the Brooke by meanes of continuall
incrochments vpon the banks getting ouer the water, and
casting of soylage into the streame, is now become woorse
cloyed and that euer it was before."

From this account of Stow's we find that the stream of the Fleet,
although at one time navigable, had ceased to be so in his time, but
we see, by the frontispiece, which is taken from a painting (in the
Guildhall Art Gallery) by Samuel Scot, 1770 (?) that the mouth of the
Fleet river, or ditch, call it which you like, was still, not only
navigable, but a place of great resort for light craft.
The name "River of Wells" is easily to be understood, if we draw
again upon Stow, who, in treating of "Auncient and present Riuers,
Brookes, Boorns, Pooles, Wels, and Conduits of fresh water seruing
the Citie," &c., says—

"Aunciently, vntill the Conquerors time, and 200 yeres after, the
Citie of London was watered besides the famous Riuer of
Thames on the South part; with the riuer of the WELS, as it was
then called, on the west; with water called Walbrooke running
through the midst of the citie into the riuer of Thames, seruing
the heart thereof. And with a fourth water or Boorne, which ran
within the Citie through Langboorne ward, watering that part in
the East. In the west suburbs was also another great water,
called Oldborne, which had his fall into the riuer of Wels: then
was there 3 principall Fountaines or wels in the other Suburbs,
to wit, Holy Well, Clements Well, and Clarkes Well. Neare vnto
this last named fountaine were diuers other wels, to wit,
Skinners Wel, Fags Wel, Loders Wel, and Rad Well; All which
sayde Wels, hauing the fall of their ouerflowing in the foresayde
Riuer, much encreased the streame, and in that place gaue it
the name of Wel. In west Smithfield, there was a Poole in
Recordes called Horsepoole, and one other Poole neare vnto the
parish Church of Saint Giles without Cripplegate. Besides all
which they had in euerie streete and Lane of the citie diuerse
 fayre Welles and fresh Springs; and, after this manner was this
citie then serued with sweete and fresh waters, which being
since decaid, other means haue beene sought to supplie the
want."

Here, then, we have a list of Wells, which are, together with those I
have already mentioned, quite sufficient to account for the prettier
name of the "River of Wells." Of these wells Stow writes in his
deliciously-quaint phraseology:—

"There are (saith Fitzstephen) neare London,

on the North side special wels in the Suburbs, Fitzstephen. Holy
well.
sweete, wholesome, and cleare, amongst which
Holy well, Clarkes wel, and Clements wel are most famous, and
frequented by Scholers, and youthes of the Cittie in sommer
evenings, when they walke forthe to take the aire.
"The first, to wit, Holy well, is much decayed, and marred with
filthinesse laide there, for the heightening of the ground for
garden plots.
"The fountaine called S. Clements well, North
from the Parish Church of S. Clements, and Clements well.
neare vnto an Inne of Chancerie, called
Clements Inne, is faire curbed square with hard stone, kept
cleane for common vse, and is alwayes full.
"The third is called Clarkes well, or Clarkenwell,
[7] and is curbed about square with hard stone, Clarks well.
not farre from the west ende of Clarkenwell
Church, but close without the wall that Playes by the
Parish Clarks at
incloseth it; the sayd Church tooke the name of Clarks well.
the Well, and the Well tooke the name of the
Parish Clarkes in London, who of old time were Players at the
accustomed there yearely to assemble, and to Skinners well.
play some large hystorie of holy Scripture. And,
for example, of later time, to wit, in the yeare 1390, the 14 of
Richard the Second, I read the Parish Clarks of London, on the
18 of July, playd Enterludes at Skinners well, neare vnto Clarkes
well, which play continued three dayes togither, the King,
Queene, and Nobles being present. Also the yeare 1409, the 10
of Henrie the 4. they played a play at the Skinners well, which
lasted eight dayes, and was of matter from the creation of the
worlde. There were to see the same, the most part of the
Nobles and Gentiles in England, &c.
"Other smaller welles were many neare vnto
Clarkes well, namely Skinners well, so called for Skinners well.
that the Skinners of London held there certaine
playes yearely playd of holy Scripture, &c. In Wrestling-place.
place whereof the wrestlings haue of later
yeares beene kept, and is in part continued at Bartholomew
tide.
"Then was there Fagges well, neare vnto
Smithfield by the Charterhouse, now lately Fagges well.
dammed vp, Tod well, Loders well, and Rad
well, all decayed, and so filled vp, that there places are hardly
now discerned.
"Somewhat North from Holy well is one other well curbed
square with stone, and is called Dame Annis the Cleare, and not
farre from it, but somewhat west, is also one other cleare water
called Perillous pond[8], because diuerse youthes by swimming
therein haue beene drowned; and thus much bee said for
Fountaines and Wels.
"Horse poole in Westsmithfield, was sometime a great water,
and because the inhabitants in that part of the Citie did there
water their Horses, the same was, in olde Recordes, called
Horspoole, it is now much decayed, the springs being stopped
vp, and the land waters falling into the small bottome,
remayning inclosed, with Bricke, is called Smithfield pond.
"By S. Giles Churchyard was a large water,
called a Poole. I read in the year 1244 that Poole without
Cripplegate.
Anne of Lodburie was drowned therein; this
poole is now for the most part stopped vp, but the spring is
preserued, and was cooped about with stone by the Executors
of Richard Wittington."

Footnotes
[1] The name of this church has been Latinized as "Sancta
Maria de Ossibus"!
[2] Swollen.
[3] The real quotation in Orosius is "þa wearð Tiber seo eâ
swa fledu."
[4] A bag, or purse, a fold of a garment; a bay, bight, or gulf.
[5] I cannot find this quotation in " Boedoe Historia
Ecclesiastica," &c., in any edition I have seen, but in 1.33. I
do find Amfleet, and in John Smith's edition (Cambridge,
1722) as a note to Amj-leor he says "Vulgo Ambleteau or
Ambleteuse, about 2 miles north of Boulogne"
[6] The Records were kept in the Tower, and at the Rolls
Office, in a very neglected state, until they were removed to
the present Record Office in Fetter Lane.
[7] This is the only one left whose position is a matter of
certainty.
[8] Afterwards known as "Peerless Pool," an unmeaning
cognomen.
 CHAPTER II.

L
ONDON, for its size, was indeed very well supplied with water,
although, of course, it was not laid on to every house, as now,
but, with the exception of those houses provided with wells, it
had to be fetched from fixed public places, which were fairly
numerous. When the waters of the Fleet, and Wallbrook, in the
process of time, became contaminated, Henry III., in the 21st year
of his reign (1236), granted to the Citizens of London the privilege of
conveying the waters of the Tye-bourne through leaden pipes to the
City, "for the poore to drinke, and the rich to dresse their meate."
And it is only a few years since, that close by what is now called
"Sedley Place," Oxford Street, but which used to be the old hunting
lodge of bygone Lord Mayors, some of these very pipes were
unearthed, a fine cistern being uncovered at the same time.
For public use there were the great Conduit in West Cheape: the
Tonne or Tun in Cornhill, fountains at Billingsgate, at Paul's Wharf,
and St. Giles', Cripplegate, and conduits at Aldermanbury, the
Standard in Fleet Street, Gracechurch Street, Holborn Cross
(afterwards Lamb's Conduit), at the Stocks Market (where the
Mansion House now stands), Bishopsgate, London Wall, Aldgate,
Lothbury—and this without reckoning the supply furnished from the
Thames by the enterprising German, or Dutchman, Pieter Moritz,
who in 1582 started the famous waterworks close to where
Fishmongers' Hall now stands.
The Fleet river (I prefer that title to the other cognomen, "Ditch"),
flowing through London, naturally became somewhat befouled, and
in Henry the VII.'s time, circa 1502, it was cleansed, so that, as
aforesaid, "boats with fish and fewel were rowed to Fleete bridge,
and to Oldburne bridge." We also know, as Stow records, that more
springs were introduced into the stream from Hampstead, without
effect, either as to deepening or purifying the river, which had an evil
reputation even in the time of Edward I., as we see in Ryley's
"Placita Parliamentaria" (ed. 1661), p. 340—

"Ad peticionem Com. Lincoln. querentis quod cum cursus aque,

que currit apud London sub Ponte de Holeburn, & Ponte de
Fleete usque in Thamisiam solebat ita largus & latus esse, ac
profundus, quod decem Naves vel duodecim ad predictum
Pontem de Fleete cum diversis rebus & mercandisis solebant
venire, & quedam illarum Navium sub illo Ponte transire, usque
ad predictum Pontem de Holeburn ad predictum cursum
mundanmum & simos exinde cariand, nunc ille cursus per
fordes & inundaciones Taunatorum & p varias perturbaciones in
predicta aqua, factas & maxime per exaltationem Caye &
diversionem aque quam ipsi de Novo Templo fecerunt ad
Molendina sua extra Castra Baignard, quod Naves predicte
minime intrare possunt sicut solebant, & facere debeant &c.
unde supplicat quod Maior de London assumptis secum Vice
com. & discretionibus Aldermannis cursum pred̄ ce aque videat,
& quod per visum & sacrm̃ proborum & legalium hominum faciat
omnia nocumenta predicte aque que invinerit ammovere &
reparare cursum predictum, & ipsum in tali statu manutenere in
quo antiquitus esse solebat &c. Ita responsum est, Assignentur
Rogerus le Brabazon & Constabularius Turris, London Maior &
Vice Com. London, quod ipsi assumptit secum discretionibus
Aldermannis London, &c., inquirant per sacramentum &c.,
qualiter fieri consuevit & qualis cursus. Et necumenta que
invenerint ammoveant & manueri faciant in eadem statu quo
antiquitus esse solebat."
Latin for which a modern schoolboy would get soundly rated, or
birched, but which tells us that even as far back as Edward I. the
Fleet river was a nuisance; and as the endorsement (Patent Roll 35
Edward I.) shows—"De cursu aquæ de Fleta supervivendo et
corrigendo," i.e., that the Fleet river should be looked after and
amended. But the Commission issued to perfect this work was
discontinued, owing to the death of the king. (Patent Roll 1 Edward
II., pars 1. m. dorso.) "De Cursu Aquæ Flete, &c., reducend et
impedimenta removend."
And Prynne, in his edition of Cotton's "Records" (ed. 1669, p. 188),
asks "whether such a commission and inquiry to make this river
navigable to Holborn Bridge or Clerkenwell, would not now be
seasonable, and a work worthy to be undertaken for the public
benefit, trade, and health of the City and Suburbs, I humbly submit
to the wisdom and judgment of those whom it most Concerns."
So that it would appear, although otherwise stated, that the Fleet
was not navigable in May, 1669, the date of the publication of
Prynne's book.
As a matter of fact it got to be neither more nor less than an open
sewer, to which the lines in Coleridge's "Table Talk" would well apply
—

"In Cöln, that town of monks and bones,

And pavements fang'd with murderous stones,
And rags, and hags, and hideous wenches,
I counted two-and-seventy stenches;
All well-defined and genuine stinks!
Ye nymphs, that reign o'er sewers and sinks,
The river Rhine, it is well known,
Doth wash the City of Cologne;
But, tell me, nymphs, what power divine
Shall henceforth wash the River Rhine?"
The smell of the Fleet river was notorious; so much so, that
Farquhar, in his Sir Harry Wildair, act ii., says, "Dicky! Oh! I was just
dead of a Consumption, till the sweet smoke of Cheapside, and the
dear perfume of Fleet Ditch made me a man again!" In Queen
Anne's time, too, it bore an evil reputation: vide The Tatler (No. 238,
October 17, 1710) by Steele and Swift.[9]

"Now from all parts the swelling kennels flow,

And bear their trophies with them as they go:
Filth of all hues and odours seem to tell
What street they sail'd from, by their sight and smell.
They, as each torrent drives, with rapid force,
From Smithfield or St. Pulchre's shape their course,
And in huge confluent join'd at Snow Hill ridge,
Fall from the Conduit, prone to Holborn Bridge.
Sweepings from butchers' stalls, dung, guts, and
blood,
Drown'd puppies, stinking sprats, all drench'd in mud,
Dead cats and turnip-tops come tumbling down the
flood."

We get a glimpse of prehistoric London, and the valley of the Fleet,

in Gough's "British Topography," vol. i. p. 719 (ed. 1780). Speaking
of John Conyers, "apothecary, one of the first Collectors of
antiquities, especially those relating to London, when the City was
rebuilding.... He inspected most of the gravel-pits near town for
different sorts and shapes of stones. In one near the sign of Sir J.
Oldcastle, about 1680, he discovered the skeleton of an elephant,
which he supposed had lain there only since the time of the Romans,
who, in the reign of Claudius, fought the Britons near this place,
according to Selden's notes on the Polyolbion. In the same pit he
found the head of a British spear of flint, afterwards in the hands of
Dr. Charlett, and engraved in Bagford's letter." We, now-a-days, with
our more accurate knowledge of Geology and Palæontology, would
have ascribed a far higher ancestry to the "elephant."
As a matter of course, a little river like the Fleet must have become
the receptacle of many articles, which, once dropped in its waters,
could not be recovered; so that it is not surprising to read in the
Mirror of March 22, 1834 (No. 653, p. 180), an account of
antiquarian discoveries therein, which, if not archæologically correct,
is at least interesting.

"In digging this Canal between Fleet Prison and Holborn Bridge,
several Roman utensils were lately discovered at the depth of 15
feet; and a little deeper, a great quantity of Roman Coins, in
silver, brass, copper, and all other metals except gold. Those of
silver were ring money, of several sizes, the largest about the
bigness of a Crown, but gradually decreasing; the smallest were
about the size of a silver Twopence, each having a snip at the
edge. And at Holborn Bridge were dug up two brazen lares, or
household gods, about four inches in length, which were almost
incrusted with a petrified matter: one of these was Bacchus,
and the other Ceres; but the coins lying at the bottom of the
current, their lustre was in a great measure preserved, by the
water incessantly washing off the oxydizing metal. Probably the
great quantity of coin found in this ditch, was thrown in by the
Roman inhabitants of this city for its preservation at the
approach of Boadicæa at the head of her army: but the Roman
Citizens, without distinction of age or sex, being barbarously
murdered by the justly enraged Britons, it was not discovered
till this time.
"Besides the above-mentioned antiquities, several articles of a
more modern date were discovered, as arrow-heads, scales,
seals with the proprietors' names upon them in Saxon
characters; spur rowels of a hand's breadth, keys and daggers,
covered over with livid rust; together with a considerable
number of medals, with crosses, crucifixes, and Ave Marias
engraven thereon."
A paper was read, on June 11, 1862, to the members of the British
Archæological Association, by Mr. Ganston, who exhibited various
relics lately recovered from the bed of the river Fleet, but they were
not even of archæological importance—a few knives, the earliest
dating from the fifteenth century, and a few knife handles.
Previously, at a meeting of the same Society, on December 9, 1857,
Mr. C. H. Luxmore exhibited a green glazed earthenware jug of the
sixteenth century, found in the Fleet.
And, before closing this antiquarian notice of the Fleet, I cannot but
record some early mention of the river which occur in the archives of
the Corporation of the City of London:—

(17 Edward III., A.D. 1343, Letter-book F, fol. 67.) "Be it

remembered that at the Hustings of Common Pleas, holden on
the Monday next before the Feast of Gregory the Pope, in the
17th year of the reign of King Edward, after the Conquest, the
Third, Simon Traunceys, Mayor, the Aldermen and the
Commonalty, of the City of London, for the decency and
cleanliness of the same city, granted upon lease to the butchers
in the Parish of St. Nicholas Shambles, in London, a piece of
land in the lane called 'Secollane' (sea coal), neare to the water
of Flete, for the purpose of there, in such water, cleansing the
entrails of beasts. And upon such piece of land the butchers
aforesaid were to repair a certain quay at their charges, and to
keep the same in repair; they paying yearly to the Mayor of
London for the time being, at the Feast of our Lord's Nativity,
one boar's head." [10]
(31 Edward III., A.D. 1357, Letter-book G, fol. 72.) "Also, it is
ordered, that no man shall take, or cause to be carried, any
manner of rubbish, earth, gravel, or dung, from out of his
stables or elsewhere, to throw, and put the same into the rivers
of Thames and Flete, or into the Fosses around the walls of the
City: and as to the dung that is found in the streets and lanes,
the same shall be carried and taken elsewhere out of the City by
 carts, as heretofore; or else by the raykers [11] to certain spots,
that the same may be put into the dongebotes, [12] without
throwing anything into the Thames; for saving the body of the
river, and preserving the quays, such as Dowegate, Quenhethe,
and Castle Baynards, (and) elsewhere, for lading and unlading;
as also, for avoiding the filthiness that is increasing in the water,
and upon the banks of the Thames, to the great abomination
and damage of the people. And, if any one shall be found doing
the Contrary hereof, let him have the prison for his body, and
other heavy punishment as well, at the discretion of the Mayor
and of the Aldermen." [13]
(7 Henry V. A.D. 1419, Journal 1, fol. 61.) "It is granted that the
risshbotes[14] at the Flete and elsewhere in London shall be
taken into the hands of the Chamberlain; and the Chamberlain
shall cause all the streets to be cleansed."[15]

The northern heights of London, the "ultima Thule" of men like

Keats, and Shelley, abound in springs, which form the bases of
several little streams, which are fed on their journey to their bourne,
the Thames (to which they act as tributaries), by numerous little
brooklets and rivulets, which help to swell their volume. On the
northern side of the ridge which runs from Hampstead to Highgate,
birth is given to the Brent, which, springing from a pond in the
grounds of Sir Spencer Wells, is pent up in a large reservoir at
Hendon, and finally debouches into the Thames at Brentford, where,
from a little spring, which it is at starting, it becomes so far a "fleet"
as to allow barges to go up some distance.
 SHEPHERD'S WELL, HAMPSTEAD.

On the southern side of the ridge rise the Tybourne, and the
Westbourne. The former had its rise in a spring called Shepherd's
Well, in Shepherd's Fields, Hampstead, which formed part of the
district now known as Belsize Park and FitzJohn's Avenue, which is
the finest road of private houses in London. Shepherd's Well is
depicted in Hone's "Table Book," pp. 381, 2, and shows it as it was
over fifty years since. Alas! it is a thing of the past; a railway tunnel
drained the spring, and a mansion, now known as The Conduit
Lodge, occupies its site. It meandered by Belsize House, through St.
John's Wood, running into Regent's Park, where St. Dunstan's now
is, and, close to the Ornamental Water, it was joined by a little
rivulet which sprang from where now, is the Zoological Gardens. It
went across Marylebone Road, and, as nearly as possible,
Marylebone Lane shows its course; then down South Molton Street,
passing Brook Street, and Conduit Street, by Mayfair, to Clarges
Street, across Oxford Street and into a pond in the Green Park called
the Ducking Pond, which was possibly used as a place of punishment
for scolds, or may have been an ornamental pond for water-fowl.
Thence it ran in front of Buckingham Palace, where it divided, which
was the cause of its name. Twy, or Teo (double), and Bourne, Brook
—one stream running into the Thames west of Millbank, doing duty
by the way in turning the Abbey Mill (whence the name), and the
other debouching east of Westminster Bridge, thus forming the
Island of Thorns, or Thorney Isle, on which Edward the Confessor
founded his abbey, and the City of Westminster.
The Westbourne took its rise in a small pond near "Telegraph Hill,"
at Hampstead; two or three brooklets joined it, and it ran its course
across the Finchley Road, to the bottom of Alexandra Road, Kilburn,
where it was met by another stream, which had its source at
Frognal, Hampstead. It then became the West bourne, as being the
most westerly of all the rivers near London, taking the Wallbrook,
the Fleet, and the Tybourne.
Its course may be traced down Kilburn Park Road, and Shirland
Road. Crossing the Harrow Road where now is Westbourne Park
Station, Eastbourne and Westbourne Terraces mark the respective
banks, and, after crossing the Uxbridge Road, it runs into the
Serpentine at the Engine House. Feeding that sheet of water, it
comes out again at the Albert Gate end, runs by Lowndes Square,
Cadogan Place, &c., and, finally, falls into the river at Chelsea
Hospital.

Footnotes
[9] Journal to Stella, October 17, 1710—"This day came out
The Tatler, made up wholly of my Shower, and a preface to
it. They say it is the best thing I ever writ, and I think so
too."
[10] "Memorials of London and London Life in the Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Centuries," by H. J. Riley, 1868, p.
214.
[11] The street sweepers.
[12] Dung boats.
[13] See Riley, p. 299.
[14] This was probably because the rushes were spilt in the
river. At that time the house-floors were strewn with rushes,
which were brought to London in "Rush boats;" and an
ordinance, temp. 4 Henry V., provides that "all rushes in
future, laden in boats or skiffs, and brought here for sale,
should be sold by the cart-load, as from of old had been
wont to be done. And that the same cart-loads were to be
made up within the boats and skiffs in which the said rushes
are brought to the City, and not upon the ground, or upon
the wharves, walls, or embankments of the water of Thames,
near or adjacent to such boats or skiffs; under a heavy
penalty upon the owner or owners of such boats, skiffs, and
rushes, at the discretion of the Mayor and Aldermen."
[15] See Riley, p. 675.
 CHAPTER III.

T
HE Fleet, as far as can be ascertained, owes its birth to an
ornamental water, fed by springs—one of the numerous ponds in
Highgate and Hampstead—in the park of Ken Wood, the seat of
Earl Mansfield, now occasionally occupied by the fourth successor to
that title; who, being keeper of the royal Castle of Scone, prefers, as
a rule, his northern residence. In the No Popery riots of 1780, with
which Lord George Gordon was so intimately connected, Ken Wood
House was on the brink of being destroyed by the rioters, who had,
already, wrecked his lordship's house in Bloomsbury Square, and
destroyed his most valuable library. Tradition says that Ken Wood
was saved owing to the landlord of "The Spaniards," well known to
all pedestrian frequenters of Hampstead, giving them his beer, &c.,
until they were incapacitated, or unwilling, to fulfil their quest,
meanwhile sending messengers for the Horse Guards, who
opportunely arrived, and prevented the destruction of the mansion.
It is quite possible that this is a true story, for a footnote (p. 69) in
Prickett's "History of Highgate" says: "The following is copied from a
receipt of one of the constables of the Hundred of Ossulston:
'Received 8s. 6d., being the proportion taxed and assessed for and
towards the payment of the several taxations and assessments
which have been made upon the said Parish (amounting to the sum
of £187. 18s. 7d.) towards an equal contribution, to be had and
made for the relief of the several inhabitants of said Hundred;
against whom, the several persons who were damnified by rioters
within the same Hundred, in the month of June, 1780, have
obtained verdicts, and had their executions respectively.'"
Commencing thus in one of the prettiest parts of the most
picturesque suburbs of London, it flows from one to the other, right
through the chain of the Highgate Ponds, fed by several rills, the
first being near the Hampstead end of Millfield Lane—which is, by
some, regarded as its source. From the lower pond it crossed the
Highgate Road, and, for some distance, it ran parallel with it,
although a little way eastward. It again crossed the Highgate Road
not far from its junction with the Kentish Town Road, the course of
which it followed, until it came to Hawley Road, where it was joined
by a sister brook, whose source was the pond in the Vale of Health
at Hampstead, flowing from which, it was fed by a brooklet, over
which the abortive viaduct of Sir Thomas Marion Wilson's
construction is carried. It ran into, and through, the Hampstead
Ponds, which end at the lower east heath, near Pond Street (a
locality easily recognized when once any one has seen St. Stephen's
Church, Haverstock Hill, one of the most beautiful churches in
London). These ponds are immortal, if they needed immortality, as
the very first page of "Pickwick" gives an entry in the Transactions of
the Pickwick Club:

"May 12, 1827. Joseph Smiggers, Esq., P.V.P., M.P.C., presiding.

The following resolutions unanimously agreed to—
"'That this Association has heard read, with feelings of
unmingled satisfaction, and unqualified approval, the paper
communicated by Samuel Pickwick, Esq., G.C., M.P.C., entitled,
"Speculations on the Source of the Hampstead Ponds, with
some observations on the Theory of Tittlebats"; and that this
Association does hereby return its warmest thanks to the said
Samuel Pickwick, Esq., G.C., M.P.C., for the same.'"

Its memory is still retained in the Fleet Road.

On its way through Kentish Town it passed through a purely pastoral
country, such as we, who know the district only as covered with
houses, can hardly reconcile with existing circumstances. The
Guildhall Collection relating to the Fleet River, is very rich in water-
colour drawings and pen-and-ink sketches of undoubted authenticity,
and from them I have selected what, in my opinion, are the most
suitable for this work. [16]
From the above, and this view of Highgate, so late back as 1845, we
can fairly judge of the pleasant scenery which existed almost at our
doors—before the iron roads brought population, which begat
houses, which destroyed all rusticity, leaving bricks and mortar on
the site of verdant meads, and millions of chimneys vomiting
unconsumed carbon and sulphur, in the place of the pure fresh air
which once was dominant.

THE FLEET, KENTISH TOWN. Circa 1837.

Here we see the Fleet running its quiet course—and the other
sketches bear witness to its rurality.

VIEW OF THE VALLEY OF THE FLEET AND

HIGHGATE
CHURCH, FROM FORTESS TERRACE, KENTISH
TOWN,
SEPT. 28, 1845.
(Water colour by A. Crosby.)

After the Fleet had recrossed the Highgate Road near the junction of
that road and the Kentish Town Road, it passed near the Gospel
Oak, which now gives its name to a railway station in the locality.
About this oak, there was a tradition that it was so called because
St. Augustine preached underneath its boughs—a fact which is
probably as correct as the story that the Church of St. Pancras was
the first Christian Church in England. In truth, there are, or were,
many Gospel Oaks and Elms throughout the country; for instance,
there is an iron foundry near the parishes of Tipton and Wednesbury
called Gospel Oak Works. It was, as a matter of fact, a traditionary
custom, in many places, when, on Holy Thursday (Ascension Day),
the parochial bounds were beaten, to read a portion of the Gospels
under some well-known tree, and hence its name. One or two
quotations will easily prove this.

THE FLEET AT KENTISH TOWN

In the "Bury Wills," p. 118, is the following passage in the will of
John Cole of Thelnetham, dated May 8, 1527: "Item, I will haue a
newe crosse made according to Trappett's crosse at the Hawe lanes
ende, and set vp at Short Grove's end, where the gospell is sayd
vpon Ascension Even, for ye wch I assigne xs."
And, in the poem of Herrick's "Hesperides," which is addressed "To
Anthea."

Dearest, bury me
Under that holy Oke, or Gospel Tree;
Where, (though thou see'st not,) thou may'st
think upon
Me, when thou yerely go'st procession."

It also passed near Parliament, or Traitors', Hill—a name which is

much in dispute; some maintaining that it was fortified by the
Parliamentary Army, under Cromwell, for the protection of London,
others that the 5th of November conspirators met here to view the
expected explosion of the Houses of Parliament. This, which forms
the most southern part of Hampstead Heath, and therefore the
nearest, and most accessible to the great bulk of Londoners, has a
beautiful view of Highgate and London, and has, I am happy to say,
been preserved as an open space for the public.

THE FLEET AT KENTISH TOWN.

We have now followed the Fleet in its course to Kentish Town, the
etymon of which is, to say the least, somewhat hazy. Being so, of
course, an immense amount of theory has been expended upon it.
Some contend that it springs from the Prebendary attached to St.
Paul's Cathedral, of Cantelupe, or Cantelows, now (in Crockford,
called Cantlers): one antiquary suggesting that it owes its name to
the delta formed by the junction of the two branches of the Fleet—
from Cant or Cantle, a corner;—whilst yet another authority thinks
that, as the Fleet had its source from Ken Wood—it was called Ken-
ditch—hence Kenditch or Kentish Town. Be it as it may, it was a very
pleasant and rural suburb, and one of some note, for herein William
Bruges, Garter King-at-Arms, had a country house, at which he
entertained, in the year 1416, the Emperor Sigismund, who came
over here, in that year, to try and mediate between our Henry V. and
the King of France.
In still older times it formed part of the great Middlesex forest, which
was full of wolves, wild boars, deer, and wild oxen; but we find that,
in 1252, Henry III. granted to Thomas Ive, permission to inclose a
portion of the highway adjoining his mansion at Kentessetone. And
in 1357, John of Oxford, who was Mayor of London in 1341, gave,
amongst other things, to the Priory of the Holy Trinity, in London, a
mill at Kentish Town—which, of course, must have been turned by
the Fleet. The kind donor was one of the very few Mayors who died
during his mayoralty.
It is said, too, that Nell Gwynne had a house in Kentish Town, but I
can find not the slightest confirmation of the rumour; still, as there is
a very good pen-and-ink sketch of the old house said to be hers, I
give it, as it helps to prove the antiquity of Kentish Town, now, alas!
only too modern.
 OLD HOUSE, KENTISH TOWN, SUPPOSED TO
HAVE BEEN NELL GWYNNE'S.

And there was another old house close by the Fleet there, an old
farmhouse known as Brown's dairy.
 THE FLEET AT KENTISH TOWN—BROWNE'S
DAIRY FARM,
SEPT. 21, 1833.

This old Farmhouse had, evidently, a nobler origin, for it was

moated; and, in 1838, the moat existed on the east and north sides.
It belonged to the College of Christ Church, Oxford, and was held of
the Manor of Cantelows at a small fine. There was a good orchard,
which at the above date (the time of its demolition) contained a
large walnut tree and some mulberry trees. The building materials
were sold for £60, so that it evidently had done its work, and passed
away in the ripeness of old age.
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