Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 3.djvu/416

402 Baronial Hall, Charlecote

The riots of the apprentices, however, had generally something of a John-Bullish assertion of right and justice in them; But the streets and alloys of London were infested with an equally boisterous, and much more villainous crew of thieves and cut-purses. Pocket-picking was then, as now, taught as a science, and was carried to a wonderful perfection of dexterity. All kinds of rogueries were practised on country folk, the memory of which remains yet in rural districts, and is still believed applicable to the metropolis. These vagabonds had their retreats about the Savoy and the brick-kilns of Islington, but their great headquarters were in Whitefriars, called Alsatia, which possessed the right of sanctuary, and swarmed with debtors, thieves, bullies, and every species of miscreants, who were ready on an alarm, made by the sound of a horn, to turn out in mobs and defend their purlieus from constables and sheriffs' officers.

Ancient Kitchen with Dog Wheel.

Walking the streets in the daytime was dangerous from the affrays often going on betwixt the apprentices and the students of the Temple, or between the butchers and weavers, or from the rude jostling and practical jokes of bullies and swash-bucklers; but at night there was no safety except under a strong guard. Then Alsatia, the Savoy, and the numerous other dens of vice and violence, poured forth their myrmidons, and after nine o'clock there was no safety for quiet passengers. If we add to this description the narrowness of the streets and alleys, the unpaved and filthy state of the streets, and undrained and ill-ventilated houses, London was anything at this period but an attractive place. The plague was a frequent visitant, and we are told that kites and ravens were much kept to devour the offal and filth of the streets, instead of scavengers. In the country things were not much better. The roads were