Massinger, also Fletcher's intimate, lived and died near the same place, and was buried as a "stranger," that is a non-parishioner, in the St. Saviour's burial-ground, which was called the Bull Head Churchyard; and that Shakespeare's brother Edmond, "a player," was buried in St. Saviour's Church on December 31, 1607, "with a forenoone knell of the great bell." CHAPTER II THE CITY AND EAST END Oh! London won't be London long, W. MAGINN. OUR way now lies over London Bridge, and while crossing the river into the City the opportunity should not be lost of glancing at a few of Wren's beautiful steeples, one of the finest being here the most conspicuous, namely, that of St. Magnus which, be it remembered, stood more or less in a line with old London Bridge. The pathway for foot-passengers which formed part of the road leading straight to the bridge passed through the existing open passage under the tower. What we now call the City once comprised the whole of London, and it is a remarkable fact that the site of the Roman walls, of which traces still exist, continue to this day to be the limitations of what is, strictly speaking, the City, though districts "without" the walls have from time to time been added. The Great Fire of London swept away five-sixths of the older City, and time and the jerry-builder have almost completed the removal of the rest. But the Fire occurred many generations ago, and the structures erected within fifty years of that event have now a respectable antiquity. The three kinds of building to which, perhaps, the student of old London would first direct his steps in the City are the churches dating from before the Great Fire, St. Paul's Cathedral and the parish churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and thirdly, the Guildhall, together with some twenty halls of the City Companies, the rest of these being modern. Externally the Guildhall shows few traces of antiquity, but the interior of the fifteenth-century porch has considerable merit, and the large crypt is a remarkably interesting specimen of medieval architecture. With the exception, however, of some of Wren's churches destroyed within the last few years, and of others which, we fear, are in danger of destruction, these buildings fortunately do not come under the title of "vanished" or "vanishing." Thus it happens that the writer has turned his attention most to the study of old houses which, on account of their picturesqueness, sometimes of their historic interest, appeared worthy of record. He has, however, included views of churches, and of other relics, ranging from a piece of the Roman wall to buildings as late as the eighteenth century, which have been destroyed within the last few years. In the early days of English history Royalty itself and powerful nobles had dwellings in or near the City, and various place-names still surviving attest the fact. By Charles II.'s time, however, most of the great people had moved west, leaving the business part of the town to the merchants and traders, from whose ranks so many of the present aristocracy may trace their origin. Of the appearance of London before the Great Fire we can form a very good idea from views and descriptions, and from the few houses which until lately have survived. As a rule, they had their gables towards the street, and were of timber or half-timbered construction, many of the fronts being beautifully carved or decorated with fine plaster work. Stow records the existence of stone houses, but as if it were something uncommon. Doubtless brickwork was also used as a building material; Lincoln's Inn gateway, still happily in good condition in spite of reports to the contrary, dates from the year 1518, and, outside the area with which we are now dealing, the gateways of St. James's Palace and Lambeth Palace are also early examples of brickwork. After the Great Fire, brick became the almost exclusive building material for houses; and that eminently practical genius, Wren, while building St. Paul's and his great series of City churches, although not allowed to carry out his scheme for reconstructing the streets, also clearly set the fashion in domestic architecture. He was in truth the father of the style now called by the name of Queen Anne, though it began before her reign and, with gradual modifications, continued long afterwards. Most of the City houses to which reference will here be made are more or less in that style, but there are a few examples of earlier work. In the home of the city merchant, as rebuilt after the Fire, there was no attempt to vie with the sumptuous palaces which rose in the land during the early days of the Renaissance, but it had the supreme merit of being thoroughly suitable for its purpose. Outside there was little display, though cut brick, a charming material, often |