QUEENHITHE, or QUEENHIVE
(Map M6)
A quay on the N. bank of the Thames in Upper Thames St., a little W. of Southwark Bdge. It was originally called, from its owner, Edred's Hithe, but K. John gave it to his mother Eleanor, and hence it was named Q. It was the landing place for all kinds of goods brought to Lond. by sea, and the revenue from tolls and wharfage dues came to the Queen. They were sold to the city of Lond. in Harry III's reign for £50, but by the time of Henry VII they had sunk to £15 per annum, owing to the growth of the size of ships so that they could not come through Lond. Bridge. An old legend told how Eleanor, Queen of Edward I, on telling a lie about her share in the murder of the Lady Mayoress, sank into the ground at Charing Green and rose up again at Q., or, as it is alternatively called, Potter's Hithe. The story is enacted in Peele's Ed. I , which has on the title-page: "Lastly, the sinking of Queen Elinor, who sunk at Charing Cross and rose again at Potters Hith, now named Queen Hith." There is an old ballad on the same subject. In Middleton's Quiet Life v. 3, Knavesby says, "I will sink at Queen Hive and rise again at Charing Cross, contrary to the statute in Edwardo Primo." In his Witch i. 1, Almachildes says to Amoretta, "Amsterdam swallow thee for a Puritan and Geneva cast thee up again! Like she that sunk at Charing Cross and rose again at Q." In Cartwright's Ordinary v. 4, Hearsay, when the Watch cannot find the sharpens, says, "Sunk like the Queen! They'll rise at Q., sure!"

In Bale's Laws ii., Idolatry says, "Give onions to St. Cutlake and garlic to St. Cyriac, if ye will shun the headache: ye shall have them at Q." In iv., Infidelity says, "He that spake of ye was selling of a cod in an oyster-boat a little beyond Q." in Dekker's Westward iv. 1, Birdlime says, "I'll down to Q. and the watermen which were wont to carry you to Lambeth Marsh shall carry me thither." i.e. to Brainford. In v. 3, Moll says, "I warrant they [the husbands of the ladies who have gone on a jaunt to Brainford] walk upon Q., as Leander did for Hero, to watch for our landing." In Middleton's Chaste Maid ii. 2, one of the Promoters says, "Let's e'en to the Checker at Q. And roast the loin of mutton till young flood: Then send the child to Brainford." In Jonson's Staple iii. 1, Fitton says, "The eel-boats here, that lie before Q., came out of Holland." In Penn. Parl., one of the provisions is "Poor bargemen at Q shall have a whole quart [of beer] for a penny." In Westward for Smelts, we read of "the watermen's garrison of Q." which met at the Red Knight. In B. & F. Thomas iv. 2, Launcelot tells how the Watchman followed him: "The sts. are dirty, takes a Q. cold," i.e. such a cold as would easily be caught in the damp and mud there. In Wit S.W. v. 1, Pompey says, "I hear more than I eat: I'd ne'er row by Q. while I lived else." I suppose he means if he could eat indefinitely he would never pass by Q., but put in to visit one of the many taverns in the neighbourhood.

QUEEN'S HEAP ALLEY
(Map K4)
(area only, site unmarked)
(now Q. H. PASSAGE) Lond., running from No. 41 Newgate St. to Paternoster Row. It was named from a tavern at the corner, where the professors of Canon Law lodged before they removed to Doctors' Commons. R. Harford had a bookshop in Q. H. A. in 1638 with the sign of the Gilt Bible.