Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/226

 184 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. vi. SEPT. s, woo. his death. 22nd May, 1746, at the age of eighty-eight." But be this as it may, there is a letter from the poet Gray to Horace Walpole from Burn ham in Buckingham, dated September, 1737, which tells us that "we have old Mr. Southerne at a gentleman's house, a little way off, who often conies to see us ; he is now seventy-seven years old, and has almost wholly lost his memory, but is as agreeable an old man as can be—at least 1 persuade myself so when I look at him and think of Isabella and Uroonoko." Probably Walcott is right in this case, as the residence at Buruham may have been only of a temporary character, for on 29 May. seven days after his death, Southerne was laia to rest in St. Margaret's Church. The house is altogether very different now from what it was in those days, and my old friend Mr. Poole, who lias only gone over to the majority within the last year or two, speaks of the old house, and says that " the house in my boyhood was, and even now is, two steps below the street, as also were many of the shops in Tothill Street. The shop of Mr. Mucklow. the then occupier of these premises, was called ' The Gully Hole,' because opposite to it was a large sewer grating which received all the storm waters of the gutter on the south side of the street, young people being amused to witness the whirlpool as it fell through the grating. The gully was especially useful in receiving the overflow water from the plugs of the Chelsea Water Works, when dams were made by the householders in the gutters of pieces of wood roughly cut to the re- quired shape, to which small pieces or sheets of sailcloth were nailed, and by means of wooden and other shovels the water was thrown all over the road, an operation most welcome in sultry weather. Be it remembered that in those days there were no watercarts and—no police." There is on record another letter—given in Wood's ' Athense Oxonienses '—dated from "Mr. Whyte's, Oylman, in Tothill Fields against Dartmouth Street, 1787," where Southerne had lived for many years, going far to prove that his presence in Buckingnam- shire was not permanent. Mr. Poole aLso records that it was still an oilman's shop in 1850, and, if I mistake not, for some years later so continued to be. He says that once—in 1841—when he thought that the house was undergoing " too effectual and radical repairs, the then tenant informed me that his father had the business of a man named Girdler, and Girdler had the business of a man named Whyte. The house has the date of 1761 upon it, and here Thomas Southerne the poet lived.'r Southerne wrote ten plays, of which ' Isa- bella ; or, the Fatal Marriage,' and ' Oroonoko,' are the best remembered, both of them being directed against the slave trade. These are sometimes even now said to find their way upon the stage in country places. The latter, by the way, was not allowed to be played in Liverpool, owing to the reputed connexion of the Liverpool merchants with the slave trade, of which Southerne may be looked upon as the first denunciator. This short ana imperfect summary of Southerne will probably be of interest to all who love old Westminster, for they can trace back- wards from William Girdler Mucklow all his predecessors at No. 4, including Mr. Whyte. When the District Railway was made Tothill Street was much widened,and the whole of the houses on the opposite side were demolished. No. 4 now came into the occupation of ft printer named Lane, whose works it re- mained for some time, afterwards becoming a licensed house, the licence of "The Cock Tavern " being transferred across the street to this house, which on the opening of the Aquarium became known as The Cock and Aquarium Tavern," its reputation not being of a particularly good character in. many ways. As a licensed house it remained until about twelve months ago, when it became one of the dep6ts of Cannon's Restau- rant Company, ana as such is now being used, although the probability is that a large clearance will be effected here before long, when this old house will add another to the long list of Westminster memories. It may be of interest to conclude with an extract or two from the St Margaret's registers :— "Thomas Southerne, Esq.—G. D. (Great Duty). Buried 2yth May, 1746V' "Married— William Mucklow to Elizabeth Gird- ler, 6th January, 1780." " Baptized—29th November, 1780, W. G. Muck- low." The last named was well known, and is still lovingly remembered by the West- minster poor on account of a benefaction left for them. W. E. HARLAND-OXLEY. 14, Artillery Buildings, Victoria Street, S.W. "CHAEITY-FAIE." — In the 'Memoir and Correspondence of Mrs. Grant of Laggan,' ii. 119, a letter, written from Edinburgh on 4 June, 1816, to a London correspondent, opens thus :— "I congratulate you on the splendid success of your Charity-fair. If ever you have another, I hope to add to it a curious specimen of a little art of imitation, of which I claim the title of inventor It is really pleasant to see such happy and useful results arising from the by-play, as one may call it, of female ingenuity." " Charity-fair" does not occur in the ' Encyclopedic Dictionary,' which is the bnl^ available authority at the moment, but it