WALBROOK
(Map O5)

A street in Lond., running from the Poultry into Cannon (a.k.a Candlewick) St. It was named from the W., a stream that ran down from Finsbury into the Thames. Originally a fresh stream, it became in course of time nothing but an open sewer, and before the end of Elizabeth's reign had been entirely vaulted over. The st. was chiefly occupied by furriers. Immediately behind the Mansion House is the Ch. of St. Stephen's W., rebuilt by Wren after the Gt. Fire, and one of the best of his churches. Stow, in Survey of London, says, "Walbrooke . . . is now in most places built upon, that no man may by the eye discern it, and, therefore, the trace thereof is hardly known to the common people."

WALL

See LONDON WALL.

WALL'S, MOTHER

A famous pie-shop in Abchurch St., London (q.v.).

WAPPING

A dist. in Lond., lying on the N. bank of the Thames, S. of Lond. Docks, and extending from St. Katherine's to New Crane. The first erection at W. was a gallows at Execution Dock (q.v.), where pirates and others were hung up at low water and left for the rising tide to drown. Stow tells us that within 40 years from his own time there was no other building there; but the gallows having been further removed, "a continual street or filthy strait passage, with alleys of small tenements or cottages [has been] built, inhabited by sailors, victuallers, along by the river of Thames almost to Radcliff, a good mile from the Tower." This is now the W. High St.; but the cottages have been mostly replaced by warehouses. In the early part of the 17th cent. an alum factory and a number of brewhouses were erected; but in 1628 the inhabitants petitioned against them as nuisances and they were removed. W. Old Stairs, immortalised by Dibdin, are just to the E. of the W. entrance to Lond. Docks. In Jonson's Augurs, Urson sings, "The wives of W., They trudge to our tapping, And there out ale desire." In Nash's Wilton B. 4, we find the phrase "God send him good shipping to W.!" i.e. good luck to him! In Dekker's Northward ii. 1, Hornet says, "Come, Master Belch, I will bring you to the water-side, perhaps to W., "where Belch's ship was lying. In Launching, it is said of the new East India Company: "Lyme House speaks their liberality; Ratcliff cannot complain nor W. weep nor Shadwell cry out against their niggardliness." In Davenant's Rhodes B., the Prologue says, "Skippers with wet beards at W. woo." In his Rutland, p. 217, the Parisian says sarcastically, "I will forbear to visit your courtly neighbours at W." In Killigrew's Parson iii. 5, Jolly says of Crop the Brownist: "He's married again to a rich widow at W." In Cowley's Cutter [ed. note The Guardian] i. 5, Jolly chaffs Cutter and Worm on their constant change of abode: "Today at W., and to-morrow you appear again at Mill-bank, like a duck that dives at this end of the pool and rises unexpectedly at the other."

Allusions to the execution of pirates at W. are common. Taylor, in Works ii. 21, calls it "W. whereas hanged drowned pirates die." Stow says that the wretches were hung in chains at low water mark and left "till three tides had overflowed them." In Temp. i. 1, 62, Antonio curses the Boatswain: "This widechopped rascal, would thou might'st lie drowning The washing of 10 tides!" Dekker, in News from Hell, says of a rich miser: "He built a pharos, or rather a blockhouse, beyond the gallows at W., to which the coal-carriers from Newcastle were brought a-bed, and discharged their bellies." Middleton, in Black Book, p. 13, refers to a criminal "new cut down, like one at W., with his cruel garters about his neck." (Note the pun on cruel and crewel.) In Eastward iv. 1, Slitgut says, "I hold my life there's some other a-taking up at W. now. Look what a sort of people cluster about the gallows there." In Cooke's Greene's Quoque i. 2, Bubble, when Staines threatens to turn pirate, says, "O Master, have the grace of W. before your eyes, remember a high tide; give not your friends cause to wet their handkerchiefs." In T. Heywood's Fortune v. 1, the Purser says, "W. is our harbour, a quicksand that shall swallow many a brave marine soldier." In B. & F. Fair Maid I. v. 2, the Clown says, "We shall never reach Lond., I fear; my mind runs so much of hanging, landing at W." In Eastward iv. 3, Quicksilver says, "Would it had been my fortune to have been trussed up at W., rather than ever to ha' come here." In Dekker's Northward ii. 1, when Hans proposes to take the party to W., Hornet says, "He says, Doll, he would have thee to W. and hang thee." Taylor, in Description of Tyburn, says, "And there's a waterish tree at W., Whereas sea-thieves or pirates are catched napping."

WAPPINGTON

Probably an imaginary place, introduced for the sake of the rhyme. There may possibly be a reference to Wapping (q.v.). In Jonson's Gipsies, the Patrico describes a tribe of gipsies as "Born first at Niglington, Bred up at Filchington, Boarded at Tappington, Bedded at Wappington."

WARDROBE
(Map K5)

A building in the Blackfriars, Lond., near Puddle-dock, erected by Sir John Beauchamp in the 14th cent. It was bought by Edward III and used as a repository for the royal robes; and, what is much more important, for the offices concerned with the administration of the King's Household, and even with "the general administration of the Realm" (see Tout, Place of Edward II in English History, p. 64, and other references in Index under WARDROBE). It was destroyed in the Gt. Fire, and the offices of the Master of the Wardrobe were removed, first to the Savoy, and then to Buckingham St. Shakespeare, in his Will, says, "I give, will, bequeath, and devise unto my daughter Susannah Hall all that Messuage or tenement, wherein one John Robinson dwelleth, situat, lying, and being in the Blackfriars in Lond., near the Wardrobe."

WARWICK LANE
(Map K4)

A narrow street in Lond., running from Newgate St. to Paternoster Row. It was originally Old Dean's Lane, but got its new name from a house built there by one of the Earls of W. Stow tells how W., the King-maker, lodged there in 1457 "with 600 men, all in red jackets."

WATERWORK
(Map M6)
(area only; site unmarked)

An engine or force-pump erected in the old mansion of the Bigods by Broken Wharf, Lond., to supply water from the river to the middle and W. parts of the city. It was set up in 1594–5 by one Bevis Bulmar, and was notable as the first attempt to have water laid on to individual houses. Hitherto all water had been carried from the various conduits in buckets to the houses. In Jonson's Alchemist ii. 1, Mammon proposes to serve the whole city with his Elixir Vitae "each house his dose, and at the rate." Surly breaks in: "As he that built the W. does with water?" In iii. 2, 2, we are told that Abel Drugger was "cessed at eighteen pence for the W." There is possibly a reference to the noise made by this machine in B. & F. Prize i. 1, where Tranio says of Petruchio: "The motion of a dial, when he's testy, is the same trouble to him as a water-work."

WATLING STREET
(Map M5)

The famous Roman Road which ran from Dover through Lond. to Chester, with an offshoot northwards (by Cannock, Stockport, Manchester, and Lancaster) to Carlisle and Glasgow. In Lond. a part of it still retains the old name. It runs E. from the S.E. corner of St. Paul's Churchyard to the junction of Queen and Queen Victoria Sts. It was and is inconveniently narrow; Stow says, "The inhabitants thereof are wealthy drapers, retailers of Woollen cloths, both broad and narrow, of all sorts, more than in any one st. of this city." It contained 4 churches, viz. St. Augustin's, Allhallows, St. Mary's, and St. Antholin's. Allhallows and St. Antholin's have now disappeared, and the E. end of the st. has been much altered through the construction of Q. Victoria St.

Drayton, Polyolb. xiii. 312, says that W. St. "doth hold her way From Dover to the farth'st of fruitful Anglesey." In Chaucer's House of Fame ii. 939, the eagle says to the poet: "See yonder, lo, the Galaxye the which Men clepe the Milky Wey, for it is white And somme parfey callen hit Watlynge strete." This is a very primitive, perhaps a mythological, reference. The same name is found in Gavin Douglas, Aen. v. 316 (see Skeat's note on the passage in the House of Fame in his edition of Chaucer's Works). In Cambises v., Ambidexter says, in reference to the mourning required for the Q.'s death, "I believe all the cloth in W. st. to make gowns would not serve." In Nash's Summers prol., we have: "God give you good night in W. st." In Cooke's Greene's Quoque, p. 548, Staines, commending the life of a serving-man, says, "He wears broad cloth, and yet dares walk W. st.. without fear of his draper." Deloney, in Newberie ix., tells the story of "Randoll Pert, a draper, dwelling in W.-streete." In his Reading vi., he tells how the clothiers' wives, visiting Lond., "in W.-st. viewed the great number of drapers." In Dekker's Shoemaker's iv. 3, Ralph is sent "to the sign of the Golden Ball in W. st. "for Master Hammon, who is a wealthy citizen of Lond. In the alternative title of The Puritan, Lady Plus is called "The Widow of W.-st."

WEST CHEAP

(i.e. CHEAPSIDE, q.v.). In Deloney's Reading 36., a man comes to Colebrook with a report "that Lond. was all on a fire, and that it had burned down Thomas Becket's house in West cheape." See THOMAS (ST.) of AKERS.

WESTMINSTER
(Map A6–A8)

Properly speaking, means the Abbey built on Thorney Island by K. Sebert; but was soon a applied to the vill. which gradually sprang up in its neighbourhood. Its boundaries extended in the 16th cent. from Temple Bar to Kensington, and from the Thames to Marylebone. The Abbey lies near the N. bank of the Thames, just over 1( m. in a direct line from St. Paul's, and a little over 1( m. by way of Fleet St., the Strand, and Whitehall. W. became a city when Henry VIII in 1540 appointed Thomas Thirlby Bp. of W. He held that position till 1550, but on his translation to Norwich the bishopric was abolished; and so he was the first and Last person to enjoy that dignity. Partly because of the privilege of sanctuary possessed by the Abbey, partly through the presence of the Court, W. became notorious as a haunt of bad characters, both male and female. In Haughton's Englishmen iv. 1, Frisco says, "This post? Why, 'tis the Maypole on Ivy-bdge, going to W." (see IVY BRIDGE). In Killigrew's Parson i. 1, the Capt. says of the Parson: "he stood at the corners of streets and whispered gentlemen in the ear and so delivered his wants like a message; which being done, the rogue vanished and would dive at W. like a dabchick and rise again at Temple Bar." In Dekker's Edmonton v. 2, one of the country-people avers that Mother Sawyer's sow cast her farrow; "yet were they sent up to Lond., and sold for as good W. dog-pigs at Bartholomew Fair as ever ale-wife longed for." I find no other allusion to the excellence of the Boar-pigs of W. Nash, in Pierce F. 4, exclaims: "W.! W.! much maidenhead hast thou to answer for at the day of judgment!" Greene, in Thieves Intro., says of foysts: "In W., the Strand, . . . they do every day build their nests." The dialogue between the He-foyst and She-foyst opens: "Fair Kate, well met! what news about your W. building, that you look so blythe?" In News from Hell, mention is made of "all the whores and thieves that live in W., etc., etc." In Gamester v. 1, Hazard advises a frail woman: "Let her set up shop i'the Strand or W.; she may have custom." In T. Heywood's Hogsdon ii. 1, the Wise woman mentions, amongst other swindlers and fortune-tellers, "one in W. that practiseth the book and the key, and the sieve and the shears "–both methods of telling fortunes.

Long Meg of W. has come down to fame as a "roaring girl" who wore men's clothes, and in that disguise played many merry and daring pranks. She kept a house of ill-fame in Southwark in the reign of Henry VIII. Her life was published in 1582, and she had already, in 1594, been immortalised in a Ballad and a Play. She is the heroine of a story in Deloney's Craft ii. 1. In Dekker's Satiro. iii. 1, 240, Tucca calls Mrs. Miniver "My long Meg a W." In Jonson's Fortun. Isles, Skelton speaks of "W. Meg With her long leg, As long as a crane, And feet like a plane With a pair of heels As broad as 2 wheels." In Dekker's Westward v. 2, Sir Gosling says to Birdlime: "What kin art thou to Long Meg of W.? Th'rt like her." In Middleton's R.G. v. 1, Jack Dapper says to Moll, "Was it your Meg of W.'s courage that rescued me from the Poultry puttocks?" In Tailor's Hog hath Lost i. 1, Haddit has written a jig or ballad for the player; when the player speaks of it as "that small matter," Haddit rejoins, "A small matter! You'll find it worth Meg of W., altho' it be but a bare jig." The reference is to the play above mentioned. The black marble slab, 11 ft. long, in the S. cloister of the Abbey, which covers the tomb of Gervase de Blois, son of K. Stephen, has long been called "Long Meg." A fair was held in W. on St. James's Day, July 25th. In Deloney's Craft ii. 11, it is said of the Green K. of St. Martin's: "St. James his day at last being come, he called up his wife betimes and bad her make ready if she would to the Fair"; but he dragged her all the way to Bristol, where there was also a fair on St. James's Day.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY
(Map A8)

The ch. of St. Peter at W., said to have been founded by Sebert, K. of the East Saxons, about A.D. 616; his tomb, erected in 1308, is still to be seen in the Choir, Drayton, in Polyolb. xi. 227, says that Sebert "Began the goodly ch. of W. to rear." Edward the Confessor rebuilt it, and it was completed in 1065, a week before his death. His ch. covered the whole space occupied by the present A, and it had a central tower and 2 smaller towers at the West end. Nothing remains of this building except some pillar-bases under the N. side of the Choir. The K was buried in his new A., in the side of the Choir; but his body was removed to its present resting-place behind the Altar in 1269. In 1245, Henry III decided to remove the tower and the whole of the E. end and rebuild it; it was reopened for service in 1269, but was not completed till about 1285. The mosaic pavement before the High Altar was laid in 1283, and was the gift of Abbot Ware. In the 14th cent. Abbot Litlington built the College Hall, the Jerusalem Chamber, the Abbot's House, now the Deanery, and the tower in Dean's Yard. The West end was rebuilt during the reign of Richd. II. The Chapel of Henry VII at the E. end was built in 1502. The A. by this time presented much the same appearance as it does now, except that it had no towers at the West end; these were added at the beginning of the 18th cent. Opening out of the Ambulatory round the Altar and the Chapel of Edward the Confessor came in order, starting at the S.E. corner, the chapels of On the S. side of the Abbey are There was a peal of bells in the N.West tower. The principal tombs in the A. in Shakespeare's time were those of Kings and also These tombs were already objects of interest to visitors, and in the 17th cent. a charge of a penny was made by the verger who exhibited them. All the Kings and Queens of England have been crowned in the A., from Edward the Confessor to George V [ed note: to Elizabeth II as of 2002]. The Coronation Chair, which, since the time of Edward I, has enclosed the famous stone of Scone on which the old Scottish Kings were crowned [ed. note: the stone of Scone was returned to Scotland in the year 2000], stands at the West end of the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, with a 2nd similar chair made for the coronation of Mary the Q. of William III.

The dramatists of our period buried in the A. are as follows:
  1. Ben Jonson,
  2. Michael Drayton,
  3. Francis Beaumont, and
  4. William Davenant.
There is a monument to Shakespeare, but his body lies in the chancel of the ch. of the Holy Trinity at Stratford-on-Avon. The only scene in Shakespeare which takes place in the A. is H6 A. i. 1 (the funeral of Henry V). But H4 B. v. 5 is in the immediate neighbourhood of the A. after the coronation of Henry V; and H8 iv. 1 describes the procession to the coronation of Anne Boleyn in the A. The scene of H4 B. iv. 4 is the Jerusalem Chamber (q.v.). In H6 B. i. 2, 37, the Duchess of Gloucester says, "Methought I sat in seat of majesty In the cathedral ch. of W., And in that chair where kings and queens are crowned." In iv. 4, 31, the Messenger announces that Jack Cade "vows to crown himself in W." In R3 iv. i. 32, Stanley says to Anne, "Come, Madam, you must straight to W. There to be crowned Richd.'s royal q." In H8 iv. 1, 57, the 3rd gentleman tells how he has been "among the crowd i'the A." at the coronation of Q. Anne Boleyn. In S. Rowley's When You F. 1, the K. sends word to Lady Katherine Parr that "she shall be Q. and crowned at W." In Trag. Richd. II. i. 2, 50, Greene says, "We must attend his Grace to W., To the high nuptials of fair Anne a Beame," i.e. Anne of Bohemia, 1st q. of Richd. II. In True Trag., p. 126, Richmond says, "Now for our marriage and our nuptial rites, Our pleasure is they be solemnized In our A. of W. according to the ancient custom due." The Abbot of W., who appears in R2 iv. 1, and whom Northumberland in line 152 addresses as "my lord of W.," was almost certainly Richd. Harounden. He took part in Aumerle's plot, fled for his life, and died suddenly of an apoplectic fit; in v. 6, 19, Percy announces: "The grand conspirator, Abbot of W, Hath yielded up his body to the grave."

In Shirley's Hyde Park iii. 1, Mrs. Carol says, "Can they tell what they do in this noise? Pray heaven it do not break into the tombs at W. and wake the dead!" Dekker, in Hornbook vii., speaks of a country gentleman who "brings his wife up to see the tombs at W., the lions in the Tower." Peacham, in Worth of a Penny, says, "For a penny you may hear a most eloquent oration upon our English Kings and Queens, if you wilt seriously listen to David Owen, who keeps the Monuments at W." In Shirley's Bird iv. 1, Bonamico says, "I talk as glib, methinks, as he that farms the monuments." Donne, in Satires iv. 74, says, "At W . . . . the man that keeps the A. tombs And for his price doth with whoever comes Of all our Harrys and our Edwards talk." Earle, in Microcos. lxxv., says of the mere great man: "One of just as much use as his images, only he differs in this, that he can speak himself, and save the fellow of W. a labour." In Verses prefixed to Coryat's Crudities, Peacham mentions among the sights of Lond. "W.'s monuments." Beaumont has a poem On the Tombs in Westminster Abbey.

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE
(Map B7)

Also W. STAIRS or FERRY. A landing place for boats at the foot of Old Palace Yard. These bdges., like Ivy Bdge., Whitehall Bdge, King's Bdge., etc., were not bdges. over the river–of which there was only one, viz. Lond. Bdge–but short gangways connecting the landing stages with the shore. The easiest way from the City to W. was by taking a pair of oars up the river; hence the W. bdge. was very busy and constantly in use. Latimer, in Sermon (vi.) before Edward VI (1549) says, "There is never a wherryman at W.-bdge. but he can answer to this." In Foxe's Book of Martyrs, we read of Ralph Morris going from Lambeth "unto W. Bdge. with a sculler." In Dekker's Westward ii. 1, Justiniano says, "A number of better things between W. Bdge. and Temple Bar are fallen to decay since Charing fell." In News from Hell, Dekker says, "In hell you are not baited by whole kennels of yelping watermen as you are at W. Bdge." In Middleton's Quarrel ii. 2, Trim thinks that "roaring" will last "as long as the water runs under Lond. Bdge. or watermen ply at W. Stairs." In the title to St. Hilary's Tears (1642), it is said that they are shed "upon all professions from the Tower-stairs to W.-ferry."

WESTMINSTER GATE

The New Palace Yard was entered by 3 gates It is doubtless the first of these that is intended in the following passages (see also GATE–HOUSE). John Lydgate, in Lickpenny, says, after he had visited W. Hall, "Then to W. Gate I presently went; Cooks to me they took good intent And proferred me bread with ale and wine." Hoccleve, in Misrule 178, says, "Who was a greater master eke than I, or bet acquainted at W. gate among the taverners namely and cooks!"

WESTMINSTER HALL
(Map A7)

The great Hall of the royal palace of W., founded by William Rufus, and reconstructed in its present form by Richd. II in 1397. The roof, of Irish oak, is one of the finest in the world. The Hall measures 290 by 68 ft., and is one of the largest apartments in existence unsupported by pillars. It was intended as the Banqueting Hall of the Palace, and is still used for the Coronation Banquets. In Trag. Richd. II. ii. 2, 213, the K. says, "The H. at W. shall be enlarged And only serve us for a dining room." Greene, in Quip, p. 232, says that K. Stephen "did count W. H. too little to be his dining chamber "and later, "When lowliness, neighbourhood, and hospitality lived in England, W. H. was a dining chamber, not a den of controversies." From the time of Henry III the courts of Common Law and Chancery were fixed in W. H. The Court of King's Bench sat on the S.E. side, and the Court of Chancery on the S.West, behind a wooden lattice, or cancellus. Towards the end of the 18th cent. the Courts were transferred to a new building on the West side of the H.; and are now removed to the New Law Courts on the N. side of Fleet St. close to Temple Bar. Many of the great State Trials were held in the H., notably those of Sir William Wallace, Sir Thomas More, Q. Anne Boleyn, Protector Somerset, Strafford, Charles I, and Warren Hastings. Hence W. comes to be used as a synonym for the Law.

In Piers, there are many references to W. as the home of the Law. "Here come Fals and Favel to have their deed executed "(B. ii. 160); "they that wonyeth in Westmynster "all worship Mede (B. iii. 12). In C. xi. 239, it is complained: "The sonne for the syres synnes sholde nat be werse; Westmynster law, ich wot well, worcheth the contrarie." In C. xxiii. 133, we are told that Simony "Bar adoun with meny a bryghte noble Muche of the wit and wisdom of Westmynster H." In C. xxiii. 284, we read of false folk who flee to Westmynster in order to cheat the Law. In Hycke, p. 84, Imagynacyon says, "In W. H. every term I am; an I were dead, the lawyers' thrift were lost." Later on, p. 105, Frewyll, speaking of himself and his fellow-highwaymen, says, "We have a sure canell at W., A thousand ships of thieves therein may ride sure." Lydgate, in Lickpenny, says, "In W. H. I found out one Which went in a long gown of ray . . . . Within this H. neither rich nor yet poor Would do for me aught, although I should die; Which seeing, I got me out of the door Where Flemings began on me to cry, Master, what will ye copen or buy? Fine felt hats or spectacles to read? ay down your silver and here you may speed." In World Child, p. 180, Folly says, "In Lond. is my chief dwelling. In Holborn was I brought forth and with the courtiers to W. I used to wend, for I am a servant of the Law." In Respublica v. 9, Avarice, being told that Peace is coming to the Earth, says, "W. H. might go play, if that came to pass." In Nature 112, Envy says, "Sir, it happened in W. H., before the judges all." In Three Lords, Dods., vi. 412, Dissimulation says, "Once in a month I stole in o' th' market-day to Leadenhall and about, and sometime to W. H." In Cobler of Canterbury, we read: "When W. H. is quite without benches And Southwark Bankside hath no pretty wenches, Then the cobler of Rumney shall a cuckold be." In Nobody 1151, Nobody says, "From thence [Charing Cross] I went to see the law Courts, held at W."

The post-knight (or Termer) was a fellow who hung round the Courts, ready to be engaged to give false evidence, or do any other dirty work for the litigants.

In Fair Women ii. 1174, Brown is conveyed "to the justices of the Bench, at W." In K. K. Knave, Dods., vi. 538, Coney Catcher says, "I have been a post-knight in W. this 12 year." In Underwit Courtwell says, "I am not now in Lond. marching with the puisnes to W. in our tom gowns embroidered with Strand dirt, to hear the Law." In Dekker's Northward i. 2, Chartley asks, "Hast any suits to be tried at W.?" In Shirley's Honour i., Riches says, "I will be racked at W. ere be confined to hear thy learned nonsense." Dekker, in Bellman, says, "Some of these Boothalers are cared Termers, and they ply W. H.; Michaelmas Term is their harvest." These Termers, like the post-knights, haunted the Courts to pick up bits of shady business. J. Heywood, in Spider and Fly (1556) xiv. 11, says, "In W. H. I . . . may be a termer all times and hours." In Middleton's Chaste Maid i. 1, Yellow-Hammer says to his wife: "The City cannot hold you, wife, but you must needs fetch words [i.e. legal terms] from W." In Jonson's Staple iv. 1, Picklock says he can cant "in all the languages in W. H., Pleas, Bench, or Chancery." In his Devil i. 1, Iniquity suggests to Pug that he should come to the Strand "'Gainst the lawyers come dabbled from W. H." In Epicoene iv. 2, Morose mentions W. H. as one of the noisiest places in Lond. In Dekker's Edmonton v. 1, Cuddy says to his dog: "If thou canst rub thy shoulder against a lawyer's gown, as thou passest by W. H, do." In Cooke's Greene's Quoque, p. 561, Staines says of Joice: "She's as dumb as W. H. in the long vacation." In W. Rowley's Match Mid. ii. 3, Alexander says, "He tramples upon the bosom of a tavern with that dexterity as your lawyers' clerks do to W.-h. upon a dirty day with a pair of white silk stockings." In Puritan i. 1, the Widow tells her son how his father was "up every morning betwixt 4 and 5; so duty at W. H. every term-time with all his cards and writings." In Jonson's Barthol iii. 1, Nightingale sings of pickpockets: "Examples have been Of some that were seen In W. H., yea, the pleaders between." Dekker, in Jests, says of the foyst or pickpocket: "W. H. is his good soil." Jonson, in Underwoods li., says, "The great H. at W., the scene Where mutual frauds are fought and no side yield." In St. Hilary's Tears (1642), we read: "On both sides of the H. they complain; at Heaven they say there is not a lawyer nor a clerk comes near them; and at Hell they come dropping in but now and then one." Heaven and Hell were popular names for 2 taverns at the end of the H. In Dekker's Westward iii. 2, Whirlpool says, "I have departed thence as hungry as ever came country attorney from W." The country practitioner would have little chance to get a case. Fuller, in Church Hist. ii. 7, 2, says, "A palm-tree served Deborah for her W. H., wherein she judged Israel."

The Irish oak of which the roof was made was supposed to be fatal to vermin of all kinds, including spiders. In Dekker's Westward iv. 1, Lucy says, "W. never breeds cobwebs." To make a W. matter of a thing means to go to law about it. Latimer, in Sermon (i.) before Edward VI (1549), says, "Thus this bargain became a W. matter; the lawyers got twice the value of the horse; and when all came to all, 2 fools made an end of the matter." In Phillips' Grissill, p. 49, Persuasion says, "Through the clouds I had a marvellous fall That I had like to broke my neck on the top of W. H." In J. Heywood's Play of Love, p. 185, the Lover says, "It would be as pleasant as to a covetous man to behold Of his own W. H. full of gold."

There were numerous shops or stalls along the sides of the H., occupied by booksellers, dealers in small wares, seamstresses, etc. Swetnam was "Printed for Richd. Meigher and are to be sold at his shops . . . and at W. H." Glapthorne's Wit was "Printed by Io. Okes for F. C. and are to be sold at his shops in King St. at the sign of the Goat and in W. H."

WESTMINSTER PALACE
(Map A8)

The chief Palace of the Kings of England from Edward the Confessor to Henry VIII. It lay between the Abbey and the river on part of the site of the present Houses of Parliament. William the Conqueror added to its strength and splendour, and William Rufus completed it by the building of the Great Hall facing on to the New Palace Yard. Stephen immortalised his name by the famous Chapel of St. Stephen, which, after being rebuilt, first by Edward I and then after its destruction by fire by his 2 successors, was for a long time the meeting place of the Parliament. The P. was so much damaged by fire in 1512 that Henry VIII deserted it and transferred his Court to Whitehall, which he took from Wolsey in 1530. There still remained, however, the Star Chamber, the Painted Chamber, the Chapel, and the Hall, as well as other minor buildings. The fire of 1834 swept everything away except the Hall and the crypt of the Chapel, now the sole survivors of the old P. In the New P. Yard N. of the Hall, were a fountain or conduit on the N.West side, a bell-tower with an ancient clock opposite the entrance to the Hall, and the noble portal called the High Gate on the Western side.

In the historical plays of our period it may generally be assumed that scenes located "in the P." are to be supposed to take place at W., unless there is some definite indication to the contrary. Thus, in Shakespeare the following scenes are to be assigned to W. P. K.J. iv.2; R3 i. 3, ii. 1, 2, 4; iv. 2, 3, 4; H4 A. i. 1, 3, iii. 2; H4 B. iii. 1, iv. 5, v. 2; H5 i. 1, 2; H6 A. v. 1, 5; B. i. 1, 3, iv. 4; C. iii. 2, iv. 1, v. 7; and H8 v. 4 takes place in the New P. Yard. In Trag. Richd. II. ii. 1, 148, York says, "The Peers of England now are all assembled To hold a Parliament at W." In H4 B. ii. 4, 383, Peto says, "The K. your father is at W." In Contention, Part I, Haz., p. 495, Cade says, "Tomorrow I mean to sit in the K.'s seat at W." In Ford's Warbeck i. 1, the K. says, "It is our pleasure to remove our Court From W. to the Tower." In Middleton's Mad World ii. 2, Sir Bounteous says, "I was knighted at W." In i. 1, Follywit says, "I can hire bluecoats for you all by W. Clock." In Oldcastle iii. 4, the K. says, "I'll to W in this disguise." The Lord Mayor of Lond. on the day after his election paid a state visit to the Court at W., in his state barge with trumpets and drums. In Jonson's Epicoene iv. 1, Morose cries to the musicians: "Out of my doors, ye sons of noise and tumult, begot on an ill May-day, or when the galley-foist is afloat to W." In Shirley's Honour, Clod speaks of "the next day after Simon and Jude, when you go a-feasting to W. with your galley-foist and your popguns, to the very terror of the paper-whales." In his Honoria (a.k.a. Honor and Riches) i. 1, Maslin says, "The next day after Simon and Jude all your liveries go a feasting by water to W." In Sharpham's Fleire iii. 351, Fleire refers to the firing of a salute at Lambeth "when the Mayor and Aldermen land at W."

WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, or ST. PETER'S COLLEGE
(Map A8)

There was a school connected with the Abbey as early as the 14th cent., but the present school was founded by Q. Elizabeth in 1560. The original school room was a dormitory of the Abbey; and the school-hall was the Abbot's Refectory, built by Abbot Litlington in the reign of Edward III. The boys have the privilege of being present in the Abbey at the coronation and other State ceremonies. Plays were regularly performed by the pupils, and the custom of giving a Latin play has survived to the present day. Five performances are recorded between 1568 and 1574, including Appius and Virginia, Paris and Vienna, and Truth, Faith, and Mercy. In the seventies John Taylor and William Elderton organised from the school companies of boy-actors who played at Court and elsewhere. Udall, the author of Roister, was head-master from 1553 to 1556. Amongst the pupils of the school were Ben Jonson, Thomas Randolph, Thomas Goffe, Nathaniel Field, Jasper Mayne, and Abraham Cowley. In Shirley's Pleasure ii. 1, Frederick says, "Prithee commend me to the library at W.; my bones I bequeath thither and to the learned worms that mean to visit them"–where there is also a reference to the tombs of the Abbey. In Jonson's Staple i. 2, Mrs. Mirth says of Jonson: "He kept school upon the stage, could conjure there, above the school of W., and Dr. Lamb too." In the Induction to his Magnetic, the Boy says, "I understaad that; since I learned Terence in the 3rd form at W." Richard Hakluyt, in Epist. Dedicat. to Principal Navigations (1589), tells how he was "one of her Majesty's scholars at W., that fruitful nursery."

WHITECHAPEL
(Map T4–V4)
(area only)

A parish in Lond., E. of Aldgate. It derived its name from the chapel of St. Mary Matfellon, which was in existence as early as 1329 and is now the parish ch. The W. Rd, which is often called simply W., is a broad thoroughfare running from Aldgate to Mile-end. It was the main road from Lond. to Essex and the eastern counties, and, having fallen into disrepair, was newly paved in 1572. A row of butchers' shops ran along one side of the road; and there were also many shoemakers' shops there. The whole dist. had a bad name as a resort of thieves and prostitutes. The local prison for debtors was known as Lord Wentworth's Gaol.

In Dekker's Shoemaker's i. 1, Eyre says, "Fight for the gentlemen shoemakers, the flower of St. Martin's, the mad knaves of Bedlam, Fleet st., Tower st., and W." In B. & F. Pestle v. 2, Ralph says, "Ancient, let your colours fly; but have a care of the butchers' hooks at W.; they have been the death of many a fair ancient." In Jonson's Ev. Man I. iv. 5, Bobadil tells how he has been assaulted "in divers skirts of the town, as Turnbull, W., Shoreditch, which were then my quarters." In Devil i. 1, Iniquity says to Pug: "We will survey the suburbs and make forth our sallies Down Petticoat Lane and up the smock alleys To Shoreditch, W., and so to St. Katherns." Kemp, in Nine Days Wonder, tells how he danced through W. on his way to Norwich. Taylor, in Works ii. 131, says, "Lord Wentworth's gaol within W. stands." In ii. 296, he says, "At W. near Lond. how many have been buried weekly, but have merely perished for lack of bread." In Penn. Parl., article 45 runs "We ordain and appoint that, if there be no great store of tempests, two half-penny loaves shall be sold for a penny in W."

WHITECROSS STREET
(Map M2)

Lond., running N. from the West end of Fore St. across, the E. end of Beech St. to Old St. It was so named from a white cross which stood at its junction with Beech St. The Fortune Theatre (q.v.) stood to the West of Upper Whitecross St., between it and Golden Lane.

WHITEFRIARS
(Map H5)
(area only; site unmarked)

A precinct in the city of Lond. lying on the N. bank of the Thames between the river and Fleet St., bounded on the West by the Inner Temple and on the E. by Water Lane, now re-christened W. St. It was named from the ch. of the White Friars, or Carmelites, built in 1241, towards the N. boundary of the precinct, E. of Bouverie St. and N. of Tudor St. The refectory of the monastery occupied the site of the present offices of the Daily News. At the dissolution of the monasteries the ch. was pulled down and nothing was left of the buildings but the Hall, or Refectory. On the site many fair houses were built; but the privilege of sanctuary, still claimed and allowed, attracted to the neighbourhood a crowd of disreputable characters of all kinds, and these houses were divided up into tenement lodgings and taken possession of by the riff-raff of Lond. A lawless community of fraudulent debtors, refugees from justice, and women of the streets quickly grew up who defied the officers of the Law and governed themselves in a wild sort of fashion. Shadwell's Squire of Alsatia presents a vivid picture of this locality, which assumed the name of Alsatia during the 17th cent., from the no-man's land between the borders of Germany and France. Scott describes it graphically in The Fortunes of Nigel. This state of things continued all through the 17th cent., until the right of sanctuary was abolished in 1697.

In R3 i. 2, 227, Gloucester orders the attendants to convey the body of Henry VI, not to Chertsey, but "to W." Holinshed says the body was taken to Blackfriars; so that Shakespeare's memory seems to have made a slip. Towards the end of his life James Shirley lived in W, but was driven out by the Gt. Fire of 1666. In Tarlton's Jests, an ordinary in W. is mentioned as a favourite resort of the actor's. Harman, in Caveat C. 11, says, "Anno Domini 1566 there came a counterfeit crank under my lodging at the whyte Fryares within the cloister in a little yard or court, being without the liberties of Lond., whereby he hoped for the greater gain." In Dekker's Westward ii. 2, Birdlime says, "The student has his nun in W." In Middleton's Chess ii. 1, the Black Knight says, "Here's [letters] from Blanche and Bridget from their safe sanctuary in W." In his Black Book, he speaks of "the dice running as false as the drabs in W." In Brome's Couple ii. 1, Careless, having got hold of some money, says, "I need no more insconsing now in Ram Alley nor in the sanctuary of W." In Glapthorne's Wit iv. 1, Busie says, "A sedan shall carry them unseen through the watch at Ludgate into W.; there you shall find a little Levite "to marry the couple. In Davenport's New Trick i. 2, Slightall, wanting a lady of pleasure, bids Roger go and search several localities of bad reputation, including "White Fryers." In Eastward v. 4, one of the prisoners says of Quicksilver: "He will discourse admirably of running horses, and White Friars, and against bawds and of cocks." In Jonson's Volpone iv. 1, when Sir Politick says, "The gentleman is of worth and of our nation," his Lady rejoins, "Ay, your W. nation; Come, I blush for you, Master Would-be." In his Prologue to Epicoene, Jonson says of his play: "Some [of it is fit] for lords, knights, and squires; Some for your men and daughters of W." In his Epigram xii., he calls Lieut. Shift "meanest among squires That haunt . . . W." Middleton, in Hubburd, p. 79, says, "Our young prodigal steps into W. Nunnery, where he kept his drab."

WHITEFRIARS DOCK
(Map H6)
"Whitefriars Stairs"

A landing place for boats at the bottom of Water Lane, now W. St., about where the Sion College Library now stands on the Thames Embankment. In Brome's Covent G. i. 1, Madge says, "I lay not long ago at the Venice by W. D."

WHITEFRIARS THEATRE
(Map H5)


Plays seem to have been performed as early as 1580 in the old Refectory of the Carmelite Monastery, which stood on the E. of Bouverie St. just N. of George Yard, where now are the offices of the Daily News. There is no evidence that any of the regular companies played there before 1607, when the children of the King's Revels are recorded to have acted at W.; they were dispersed in 1609, and their place was taken in 1610 by the Children of the Queen's Revels, who performed Jonson's Epicoene in March of that year, Ben himself taking the part of Morose. Other plays staged there were Tailor's Hog Hath Lost (1613); Field's Weathercock (1612); Chapman's Bussy D'Ambois, his Revenge and Widow's Tears; Marston's Insatiate; B. & F. Coxcomb, Pestle, and Cupid's Rev. The Hall ceased to be used for plays by 1616; and its place was not taken for 15 years–and that was by the new theatre in Salisbury Court (q.v.). In Lady Mother ii. 1, Crackby says, "This boy doth sing as like the boy at the Whitefryers as ever I heard."

WHITE GREYHOUND

A bookseller's sign in St. Paul's Churchyard, Lond. Venus and Adonis was "Imprinted by Richd. Field and are to be sold at the sign of the w. G. in Paules Churchyard. 1593." Lucr. was published at the same place in 1594.

WHITEHALL
(Map B6)

The palace of the Kings of England from Henry VIII to William III. It lay on the left bank of the Thames, and extended from nearly the point where Westminster Bdge. now crosses the river to Scotland Yard, and from the river back to St. James's Park. Hubert de Burgh had a palace here in the reign of Henry II, and left it in 1240 to the Black Friars; they soon after sold it to the Archbp. of York, and it remained the town house of the Archbps. of York, under the name of York House (or Place), until the time of Cardinal Wolsey. He greatly improved and enlarged it, but on his disgrace it was transferred to the K. in 1530. The Westminster Palace having been recently severely damaged by fire, Henry took York House as his Palace and gave it the name of W. He added to it considerably, and put two gates across the road which led through the grounds from Charing Cross to Westminster, one, nobly designed by Holbein, near the S.Western corner of the present Banqueting Hall, the other, known as the King St. Gate, where Richmond St. debouches into W. Both were removed in the 18th cent. as obstructing the traffic. Elizabeth carried out further improvements, including a Banqueting Hall. This (and much more of the Palace) was destroyed by fire in 1619, and James I planned to have the whole rebuilt on a magnificent scale by Inigo Jones; all that he completed, however, was the Banqueting Hall, the only part of the Palace now remaining. From one of its windows, or from an aperture broken through for the purpose, Charles I was led to execution. The Court of Charles II was located in the Palace, and during his reign it was the centre of fashion. In 1698 a disastrous fire swept away almost the whole of the buildings. It was never rebuilt, and all that is now left is Inigo Jones's Banqueting Hall, which was converted by George I into a Chapel Royal, though it was never consecrated, and is now used as the United Service Museum.

From the dramatic point of view W. is chiefly interesting for the series of Court Masques produced there in the 17th cent. Already plays had been acted there before Q. Elizabeth e.g. Damon and Pythias in 1564; but in the reign of James masques were performed almost every year, amongst them Jonson's Blackness (1605), Beauty (1608), Queens (1609), and Oberon (1611). The splendid series in connection with the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth in 1613 included Chapman's Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn, Beaumont's Inner Temple Masque, and Campion's Lords' Masque. Jonson's Augurs was the first to be played in the Hall rebuilt after the fire by Inigo Jones. In 1634 was produced Shirley's Triumph of Peace, "the most magnificent pageant ever, perhaps, exhibited in England." These plays were usually presented in the Banqueting Hall. (Map A6)–"Cockpit-in-Court."

James I began to use the Cock-Pit in the N.E. corner of the palace for this purpose, and Charles I, about 1632, had it made by Inigo Jones into a small theatre, which was known as the Cockpit [ed. note: more appropriately the "Cockpit-in-Court"] and must not be confused with the Cockpit in Drury Lane [ed. note: the Drury Lane playhouse was open to the public and built in 1617]. It [ed. note: the "Cockpit-in-Court"] was destroyed in the fire of 1698.

Deloney, in Newberie vi., tells how Wolsey "sent for the clothiers afore him to W., his new-built house by Westminster." In H8 iv. 1, 97, the 1st Gentleman says, "You must no more call it York-Place, that's past; For, since the Cardinal fell, that title's lost; 'Tis now the K.'s and called W." The date of the scene is 1533. In Armin's Moreclacke B. 4, a Messenger brings word: "The Court goes from Richmond to W." Jonson, in Vulcan, commemorates the fire of 1619–" Nay, let W. with revels have to do, Though but in dances, it shall know his power; There was a judgment seen too in an hour." In Middleton's Chaste Maid i. 1, Yellowhammer says, "Honour and Faithful servant! they are compliments for the worthies of W. or Greenwich." In Scot. Presb. ii. 1, Moneyless says, "The K. must not yet see W.; Cromwell won't have it so." In verses prefixed to Coryat's Crudities, Peacham mentions amongst the sights of Lond. "the White Hall whale bones." On the "lucus a non lucendo" principle, coal-ships were dubbed "W. men" because they were black. In Devonshire ii. 1, the Capt. says, "The W. men did good service; 4000 bullets their ordnance and the Hollanders discharged upon the castle." There were 10 of these coal-ships in the attack on Puntal.

WHITE HART (Tavern)

A tavern sign in Lond. The most famous W. H. was in the Borough of Southwark, on the E. side near the S. end of the High St. It had the largest sign in Lond., except that of the Castle in Fleet St. It was Jack Cade's head-quarters in 1450. Fabyan, in his Chronicles, says, "On July 1st 1450, Jack Cade arrived in Southwark, where he lodged at the H." In the Chronicle of the Grey Friars, it is related, in connection with Cade's rebellion. "At the Whyte H. in Southwarke one Hawaydyne of St. Martin's was beheaded." In H6 B. iv. 3, 25, Cade says, "Hath my sword therefore broke through Lond. gates that you should leave me at the W. H. in Southwark?" The old Inn was burnt down in 1676 and rebuilt; in July 1889 it was pulled down. The later W. H. is chiefly memorable for the discovery there of Sam Weller by Mr. Pickwick. There was another W. H. in Bishopsgate St. Without, next to St. Botolph's Ch. It was pulled down in 1829, but W. H. Court still preserves the name. There was another in the Strand, which has left its name in H. St., Covent Garden. In the list of Taverns in T. Heywood's Lucrece ii. 5, we have "The huntsmen to the W. H. go." It is impossible to say which of them is intended.

WHITE HART (Printer's shop)

The sign of a printer's shop in Fleet St., Lond., near St. Dunstan's. A quarto of M.N.D. was published "for Thomas Fisher and are to be sold at his shop at the sign of the W. H. in Fleet st. 1600."

WHITE HORSE (Tavern)

A common tavern sign in Lond. There was a W. H. in Friday St. much frequented by George Peele; another outside Cripplegate; and a third in Southwark. In Peele's jests, we are told: "George was invited one night to supper at the W. H. in Friday St." In the opening of Old Wives, Fantastic says, "I had even as lif the chamberlain of the W. H. had called me up to bed." Taylor, in Carriers Cosmography, says, "The Carrier of Lincoln do lodge at the W. H. without Cripplegate." In True and Wonderful (1614), appeal is made for the truth of the story to "the carrier of Horsam who lieth at the W. H. in Southwark."

WHITE HORSE (Bookseller)

A bookseller's sign in St. Paul's Churchyard, Lond. Merry Devil was "Printed by Henry Ballard for Arthur Johnson dwelling at the sign of the w.-h. in Paules Churchyard over against the great N. door of Paules. 1608." Middleton's Phoenix was "Printed by E. A. for A. I. and are to be sold at the sign of the W. H. in Pauls churchyard. 1607."

WHITE LION (Tavern)

Originally a tavern but converted about 1560 into a prison for the county of Surrey. It stood in the Borough High St., Southwark, at the S. end of St. Margaret's Hill, near St. George's Ch. It became unfit for its purpose towards the end of the 18th cent, and in 1811 the New Marshalsea was built on its site. In Henslowe's Diary 192, the author tells us how he lent 5/- to Francis Henslow "to discharge himself out of the W. L." In T. Heywood's Ed. IV B., Jane Shore asks, "Have you bestowed our small benevolence On the poor prisoners in the common gaol Of the W. L. and the King's Bench?" This is an anachronism, as the prison was not in existence in the reign of Edward IV. Taylor, in Works i. 91, says, "The ocean that Suretyship sails in is the spacious Marshalsea; sometimes she anchors at the King's Bench, sometimes at the W. L. creek." In Works ii. 138, he speaks of "the common prison of Surrey called the W. L."

WHITE LION (Bookseller)

A bookseller's sign in St. Paul's churchyard, Lond. An edition of the Shepherds Kalender (not Spenser's, but a translation of Le Compost et Kalendrier des Bergers) was "printed at Lond. by G. Elde for Thomas Adams dwelling in Paules Church-yard at the sign of the W. L. 1604." B. & F. Maid's Trag. was "printed for Francis Constable and are to be sold at the W. L. in Pauls churchyard. 1622." Nabbes' C. Garden was "printed by Richd. Dalton for Charles Greene and are to be sold at the sign of the W. L. in Paul's Churchyard. 1638."

WHITE LION AND BALL

A bookseller's sign in Paul's Churchyard, Lond. Nabbes' Spring was "printed by J. Dawson and are to be sold at the sign of the W. L. & B. in St. Paul's churchyard. 1639."

WHITTINGTON'S COLLEGE
(Map N6)

A set of alms-houses in Lond., built by Sir Richard Whittington, on the N. side of St. Michael's Paternoster Royal, on the E. side of College Hill, which runs S. from Cannon St. to Upper Thames St. to the E. of Queen St. Provision was made for 13 poor men and the necessary officials. In 1808 the Mercers' School was transferred to this site and the College was removed to Archway Road, Highgate. In T. Heywood's I.K.M. B., Nowell says of Sir Richd.: "His executors after him did build Whittington College, 13 almshouses for poor men." In Eastward iv. 4, Touchstone says to Golding: "I hope to see thee one of the monuments of our city, to be remembered when the famous fable of Whittington and his puss shall be forgotten, and thou and thy acts become the posies for Hospitals." In Dekker's Bellman, Whittington's College is used as thieves' slang for Newgate, which had been rebuilt and enlarged by Sir Richd. about 1425.

WINCHESTER HOUSE
(Map P8)

The London Palace of the Bps. of W., built in 1107 by Bp. William Giffard and occupied by successive Bps. until the death of Lancelot Andrewes in 1626. After his death it was used for a time as a prison, and was sold in 1647 to one Thomas Walker. It was restored to the Bp. in 1660; but in 1663 it was let in tenements and the park dismantled. It was destroyed by fire in 1814, and its site is now occupied by warehouses and other business premises. It stood immediately West of the ch. of St. Mary Overy on the Bankside, Southwark, and had its chief frontage towards the river, to which access was given by a landing place called W. Stairs. To the S. and West it was surrounded by a park, the name of which survives in Park St. It is a prominent feature in the views of Wyngrerde and Vischer, in which last it is shown as a Gothic Hall, running E. and West, with a lantern in the centre. The Bankside with its notorious Stews was in the liberties of the Bp.; hence arose the slang name of W. goose or pigeon for a prostitute, and also for the venereal disease. In the foreword to I. Temple, it is stated that "The Masquers with their attendants set forth from W. H., which was the rendez-vous, towards the Court." Howes, describing the same Masque, says, "These masquers took barge at W. Stairs, and rowed to Whitehall against the tide."

In H6 A. i. 3, 53, Gloucester cries to the Bp.: "W. goose, I cry, a rope, a rope!" In Troil. v. 10, 55, Pandar, addressing the audience, says, "My fear is this, Some galled goose of W. would hiss." Taylor, in Works i. 105, says, "There's a goose that breeds at W. and of all geese my mind is least to her." In Webster's Cuckold iv. 1, Pettifog says, "This informer comes into Turnbull st. to a victualling house and there falls in a league with a wench and there got a goose; she deposes that she gave him true W. measure." Jonson, in Vulcan, speaks of "the Winchestrian goose Bred on the Bank in time of popery, Where Venus there maintained the mystery." In Chapman's D'Olive iv. 2, D'Olive says, "The Court is the only school of good education, especially for pages and waiting-women; Paris or Padua or the famous school of England called W. (famous I mean for the goose) where scholars wear petticoats so long till their pen and ink-horns knock against their knees; all these are but belfries to the body or school of the Court." There is here an allusion to William of Wykeham's famous school. In Bacchus, we read of a youth who "carried a water-wagtail ready to fly at the fairest goose in W." In Penn. Parl., it is said: "Those who play fast and loose with women's apron-strings may chance make a journey for a W. pigeon." In Nomenclator (1585), we are told: "A sore in the groin . . . if it come by lechery, is called a W. goose, or a botch." See also under WINCHESTER.

WINDMILL [1]

A famous tavern at the corner of Old Jewry and Lothbury, in Lond. Originally a Jewish synagogue, it was transferred to the Fratres de Sacca on the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1291. It then passed in succession to Robert Fitxwater (1305); Robert Lange (Lord Mayor in 1439); and Hugh Clopton (Lord Mayor in 1492). It became a tavern at the beginning of the 16th cent., and in 1522 was able to supply 14 feather-beds, and stabling for 20 horses. Fuller, in Church History iii. 13, 33, says of the Jews: "After their expulsion, their synagogue was turned into the Convent of the Friars of the Sack, or De Poenitentia Jesu; and after their suppression it became successively the house, first of a lord, then of a merchant, since of any man for his money; being turned into a tavern with the sign of the W.; a proper sign to express the moveableness of that place, which, with several gales of success, hath been turned about from so many owners and to so many uses." In T. Heywood's I.K.M. B. 282, Tawniecoat, coming from the Stocks market, says, "Sure this is the lane; there's the W." In Jonson's Ev. Man I. i. 1, young Wellbred addresses his letter to young Knowell "from the W."; and begins it: "Why hast thou forsworn all thy friends i' the Old Jewry?" In iv. 6, Formal takes Brainworm "to the W.; there we shall have a cup of neat grist, we call it"; and in v. 3, Brainworm says that the newly-married couple "are ready to bespeak their wedding supper at the W." In the list of Taverns in News Barthol. Fair, we have "The W. in Lothbury." There was also a W. tavern in St. George's Fields (q.v.). In H4 B. iii. 2, 208, Shallow says to Falstaff: "O Sir John, do you remember since we lay all night in the W. in St. George's field?"

WINDMILLS

Certain windmills erected in the reign of Elizabeth in Finsbury Fields, Lond, on a piece of ground where 1,000 cartloads of bones from the charnel house of St. Paul's had been buried in 1549; it was afterwards used for the interment of criminals who had been hanged. The W. stood somewhere near the N.West corner of the present Finsbury Sq. In Stucley 616, Blurt says of Jack Dudley: "He's in Finsbury gaol for hurting a man behind the w. last Saturday." In Middleton's Quarrel iv. 1, Chough says, "I have heard 'em roar from the six w. to Islington." In Shirley's Wedding iv. 3, a man, speaking at Finsbury, says, "I see nothing but 5 or 6 w.!" The road past them was called Windmill Hill. In Middleton's Hubburd, p. 96, the soldier, who has gone to Finsbury Fields to beg, says, "Looking down Wind a I might espy a fine-fashioned dame."

WOLF

The sign of a house in Cheapside, Lond. In Wilkins' Enforced Marriage iv. 2, the butler says, "I am now going to their place of residence, situate in the choicest place in the city, and at the sign of the Wolf, just against Goldsmiths-Row."

WOOD'S CLOSE

Possibly the same as WOOD'S or WOOD GREEN. A vill. abt. 31/2 m. N. of Islington, just beyond Hornsey. In T. Heywood's Royal King iv., the Clown says, "Away, betake you to the end of the town; let me find you between Wood's Close and Islington."

WOOD STREET
(Map M4)
"Great Wood Street"

Lond., running N. from Cheapside between Cutter Lane and Milk St. Probably it derived its name from the article sold there, like most of the streets running off Cheapside; cf. Bread St., Milk St., etc. At the S.West corner of W. St. and Cheapside was the Ch. of St. Peter in Cheap, on the site of which grew the tree immortalised by Wordsworth. A little higher up on the E. side was the Compter, or Counter (q.v.). At the corner of Hugin Lane is the Ch. of St. Michael; and at the corner of Love Lane on the E. side that of St. Alban. The Cheapside Cross stood opposite the end of W. St.

Taylor, in Works ii. 239, says, "They have set up a Cross post in Cheapside on Sundays near W.-st. end, which makes the coaches rattle further from the Ch." Peacham, in Worth of a Penny, p. 1, mentions that the lodging of the Ambassador of the K. of Morocco was in W. St. In Curtain Drawer of the World (16l2), it is mentioned that the well-known strong man from High Germany (for whom see under GERMANY) lived in W. St. Gascoigne, in Steel Glass 791, speaks of young roisterers who are sent "To read Arithmetic once every day In W.-st., Bread-st., and in Poultery, Where such schoolmasters keep their counting-house "; i.e. the Counter. In W. Rowley's New Wonder iv., Speedwell says, "I love tobacco, but would be loth to drink in W.-st. pipes." In Dekker's Westward iii. 1, Tenterhook says to his wife: "Buy a link and meet me at the Counter in W.-st." In Middleton's Michaelmas ii. 3, Shortyard speaks of "the a city hazards, Poultry and Wood-st." In his Phoenix iv. 3, the Officer says, "In London stand 2 most famous Universities, Poultry and W.-st, where some have taken all their degrees from the Master's side down to the Mistress' side, the Hole." In his R.G. iii. 3, Wengrave says, "Sir Davy, send your son to W.-st. College, A gentleman can nowhere get more knowledge." In W. Rowley's Match Mid. ii. 2, when Alexander says that the Lieutenant was a serjeant first, Tim asks, "Of the Poultry, or of W.-st.?" In Sharpham's Fleire iv. 160, Ruffel tells of a serjeant and a yeoman who have been put out to nurse "at the Counter in W.-st." Liberality was "printed by Simon Stafford for George Vincent and are to be sold at the sign of the Hand-in-Hand in W.-st. over against S. Michael's Ch. 1602." Wilkins' Enforced Marriage was published by Vincent at the same place in 1607.

WOOLSACK

A tavern in Lond., without Aldgate, famous for its pies. In Jonson's Alchemist v. 1, Subtle says to Dapper: "Her Grace would have you eat no more W. pies, no Dagger frumety." In his Devil i. 1, Iniquity says, "We will put in at Custom-house key there And see how the factors and prentices play there False with their masters, and geld many a full pack, To spend it in pies at the Dagger and W." There was another W., in Ivy Lane. In Dekker's Shoemaker's iv. 5, Firk says, "A mess of shoemakers meet at the W. in Ivy Lane."

WOOLSTAPLE

The central woolstaple for England was established in Westminster in 1353. All wool sent out from Lond. had to be brought there for registration and to pay duty. The site of the W. was on the N. of New Palace Yard, where Bridge St. now runs. It was divided into 2 parts, the long and the round. In Jonson's Staple iii. 2, Mrs. Tattle enumerates the places where she seeks for the latest news: "The conduits in Westminster, all the news of Tuttle St., and both the Alm'ries, the two Sanctuaries, long and round W., with King's st. and Canon-Row to boot." Taylor, in Works ii. 225, tells of a soldier who "dwelt lately in Westminster, in the round W."

WORLD

Another name for the GLOBE THEATRE (q.v.), the sign of which was Hercules carrying the world on his shoulders. Jonson, in Vulcan, describes the burning of the Globe in 1613 and says, "See the World's ruins; nothing but the piles Left, and wit since to cover it with tiles."

WORLD'S END

The sign of a tavern in Spring Gardens, Knightsbridge, Lond. The Gardens lay S. of Knightsbridge, at the N. end of what is now Lowndes Sq., nearly opposite the Albert Gate of Hyde Park. Pepys more than once mentions carouses he had there. There was another W. E. tavern in King's Rd., Chelsea, just West of Battersea Bridge; the sign is still retained at 459 King's Rd. In both cases the name indicated the distance of the tavern from Lond. In T. Heywood's Lucrece ii. 5, Valerius sings in his list of taverns: "The banquerout [goes] to the W. E."

WYLSDOME

Now WELLESDEN. A suburb of Lond., now a well-known railway junction. It was formerly a small vill., lying 7 m. N. West of St. Paul's. Then was an image of the Virgin Mary there which was much visited by pilgrims. Along with several other such images, it was brought to Chelsea and burnt in 1538. In J. Heywood's Four PP. i. 1, the Palmer claims to have been "at Wylsdome."