Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 11.djvu/31

 s. XL Jut. lo, iocs.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

another public-house, now and for many years known as the "Queen's Arms," but originally the " Bull's Head," under which name it had fallen into disrepute, so when it was taken by Mr. Edward Taylor the sign was altered.

I knew some of the proprietors, among them being Mr. W. Jewitt, who had been previously connected with the evening paper the Glow- worm^ published in the Strand in premises now occupied by the Vaudeville Theatre ; Mr. Van der Kiste, a first officer in the P. and O. service ; Mr. J. E. Parker ; Mr. Mark Johnson, a well- known music-hall performer ; and later Mrs. Julia Boak, Mrs. Dovey, Mr. W. H. Hiscox, Mr. F. Hand, and Mrs. Kaye.

It is said that the limit of land for this great scheme is the south side of Tufton Street, and it is devoutly to be hoped, if such really be the case, that Barton and Cowley Streets, as well as what yet remains of Great College Street, will be spared ; but this appears doubtful, for, as already stated, 9, 10, and

II in the latter thoroughfare are now empty, preparatory to some steps being taken which may, and very likely do, mean demolition. A crumb of comfort may be found in the fact that these houses are among the least interesting in the street. One of the houses higher up will be eventually vacated, as new premises for the Westminster Female Refuge are being built in Tufton Street, on the south side, next to the Drill Hall of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. From this building to the corner of Wood Street and for some distance down that street the ground backing on to the houses in Cowley and Barton Streets has been cleared.

The house at the corner, No. 19, Tufton Street, was the " Adam and Eve " public- house, of which the last proprietor was Charles Ran ton in fact, in this neighbour- hood almost every prominent corner is occupied by licensed premises. No. 23, Tufton Street, late in the occupation of Mrs. Susannah Simson, who carried on a grocer's business, was the house in which, according to Sir Frederick Bridge and other competent authorities, the immortal Henry Purcell resided, there being very many evidences in the house, behind its slightly modernized frontage, that favoured the theory. It was also some years ago occupied by Mr. Robert Jekyll, and here, I believe, were born two of his sons, James and Charles, both musicians, one of them being deputy at Westminster Abbey and afterwards for a time the organist of the Chapel Royal.

In Wood Street a little cul-de-sac, Young's -. lace, has now gone, and will be seen no more

upon the map of London. At the reference previously given I alluded also to the empty- ing of a considerable number of small houses in Tufton Street, Romney (formerly Vine) Street, Little Tufton Street, and Carpenter Street. The sale of a great number of them took place on 13 June, 1901, and it may be worth while to place on record the num- bers that are now unoccupied : 3 to 7, Little Tufton Street; 67 to 79, Tufton Street; Lane's Cottages (four houses), Romney Street ; 62 and 64, 38 to 48, 30, 15 ("The George" public-house), and 13, Romney Street; the whole of Grub Street ; 2, 12, 18, 30, and 32, and 36 to 46, Horseferry Road. As yet Champion's Alley, a double row of small houses, is not touched, but one side of Carpenter Street, 1 to 6, is condemned, the houses being empty and closed. In con- nexion with this scheme it may be well to mention that the portion of Tufton Street from Great College Street to the corner of Wood Street was formerly known as Bowling Street, and kept alive the memory of the bowling green where, according to Walcott, " the members of the convent amused them- selves at the game of bowls." At the corner of Millbank Street and Church Street a plot of ground has been cleared for some con- siderable time ; and at the corner of Vine Street a newly erected building has been set back in anticipation of further changes. W. E. HARLAND-OXLEY. C2, The Almshouses, Rochester Row, S.W

A CHINESE ANALOGUE OF BEN JONSON'S

'ALCHEMIST.'

AMONGST the literature of fiction in China, the 'Kin Kou Ki Kouan' has excited the interest of many European students, and Stanislas Julien, Samuel Birch, Gustavo Schlegel, and the Marquis d'Hervey Saint Denis have translated parts of it. The ' Trois Nouvelles Chinoises ' of the last named (Paris, 1885) contains a narrative of some interest in relation to the British drama. The story of the deception of Pan-kien-tseng recalls in some particulars the plot of ' The Alchemist' of Ben Jonson. Pan is a rich man who dreams of obtaining possession of the secret of the transmutation of metals, and in that manner of becoming the master of illimitable wealth. At a famous pleasure resort he meets a stranger, who has a retinue of servants and a pretty wife, and who lives in the style of an ostentatious Croesus. The two become acquainted, and Pan learns that the illustrious stranger is an alchemical adept who can make gold at pleasure. By a well-