LONDON OF SHAKESPEARE & DICKENS

One of the things that I love doing is walking. I can walk and walk and walk. As soon as I read about the London Walks I had to go on the walk. Today was the 5th in the series, when I went on a tour called "The Dickens and Shakespeare Walk". It started from the St. Paul's Cathedral tube station. The walk was for two hours. Our guide has been taking people on these walks for the last 30 years. Was he good?? He was excellent!!! He loved his work and one could see the pride he took in conducting us through all those places connected with both Shakespeare and Dickens. It was aptly very theatrical and a lot of recitation of lines was a bonus.

As we walked we first reached the Guildhall. In Shakespeare's time, in fact even before that, in London, there were Guilds for the various trades conducted. They controlled the way in which trade was conducted in the town. The members of the Guilds also became involved with civic duties and were appointed to important and influential positions in the community. The chief spokesman of the Guilds became the Mayor of London. The various guild halls were Armourer's, Brazier's, Haberdasher's, Brewer's, Girdler's, Pewterer's, Goldsmith's, Wax chandler's, Carpenter's, Draper's, Grocer's, Mercer's, Barber-surgeons's. Note surgeons and barbers were termed together!! The barbers practiced surgery.

London was founded by the Romans in 50 AD, and they fortified the city within a wall which had seven gates. The four original gates were on the North, South, East, and West. They were Alders gate to the north, Ludgate to the west, Aldgate to the east, and the Bridge Gate to the south, over London Bridge at Southwark end. Besides this there are Bishopsgate, Moorgate, Cripplegate and Newgate. They were, and still are referred to collectively as the “Seven gates to the City” None of these gates have survived. Yet the names still continue to exist.

"The City" as it is called has very fascinating names of lanes. Aptly they were all named after the trade that took place on the street. There is Cheapside along which are lanes like the Pudding Lane, Milk Street, Bread street, Ironmonger lane, Threadneedle street, Oat lane, Honey lane, Wood street, Gutter lane, Mason's Avenue, Ropemaker's Street, Shoe Lane. Besides this there is the better side of trade like the Goldsmith Row, Silver Lane, Silk Street, etc.

As we reached the place where Shakespeare lived, near The London Wall, in Bishopsgate, we crossed the place where St. Leonard's Church existed in Shoreditch. It is believed that Shakespeare was either an atheist or an agnostic. However he would have regularly attended Church, as it was compulsory to attend the Church every Sunday. If anyone missed Church then he would have to pay a fine. (The photo in the center is the exact place where Shakespeare lived).

At that time, Shoreditch was a haven for artists and actors, and notorious for boozing, prostitution and violence. As plays and playhouses were banned within the City, Shoreditch, on its northern fringe, had become a haven for actors and writers. The St Leonard's church was also local for the playwright-spy Christopher Marlowe, and later Ben Jonson, Shakespeare's friend and rival.

None of the plays of Shakespeare were published during his lifetime. They were published by John Hemminge and Henry Condell, his co partner's in the Globe Theatre in 1623, almost seven years after his death. This publication was called "The First Folio". They gave their rights away and did not get any pecuniary benefits. What they did was priceless, as had they not got these dramas published, the world would have been deprived of the same.

Shakespeare owned the Globe theatre which was one of four theatres in London. The others were The Rose, Swan, and The Theatre. Theatre was booming business and a new form of entertainment. The ticket for the play was 1 penny so that people could afford to go to the theatre, theses spectators were called Groundlings as they stood in front of the stage and watched the performance.

Close by there is a famous meat market in this area which is called Smithfield . It has existed in this place for 800 years. In earlier times the cattle was brought and slaughtered in open air. The names of streets in this area are Cow Cross Road, Lamb's Pas, Poultry. After the cattle was slaughtered and meat removed for selling, the remaining portions which was of no use to the butchers went southwards into the river so we have street names like Skinner Street, Saddler's Hall etc.. Ultimately the skin went across the Thames to the other side of the river, where leather work was done. Smithfield place was also used for public executions. "Wife sale was also popular in early 19th century. Divorce was difficult, so men brought their unwanted wives alongwith normal goods to the meat market to sell them." - Quoted from plaque in this market. Barbaric!! (Picture on top left is of present day Smithfield Market). St. Giles Church in Cheapside was the church associated with beggars and cripples. It was also another place where executions were conducted publicly. (The picture on bottom left is of this church.)

Most of the buildings which existed at the time of Shakespeare would have been destroyed in the great fire of 1666. A few survived like the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, where the movie "Four weddings and a funeral" was picturised. (A picture of this church is given on top right).There is also the St. John's Gate where the Revel's Office was located and Shakespeare had to get all his plays registered there before they could be played at the theatre. The author with his manuscript had to go their often as it was not easy to get the registration done. This office was the ancient version of the censor of today.

Charles Dickens lived in the 19th Century. The London of that time was quite crowded. There was a lot of poverty and filth. Houses were taxed as per the ground space occupied by them, therefore the ground floor was small and overhanging protrusions were made as top stories were added. This made the streets very dark and damp. Street sweepers attempted to keep the streets clean of manure, which was the result of thousands of horse-drawn vehicles. The city's thousands of chimney pots would belch coal smoke, resulting in soot which seemed to settle everywhere. Therefore we have stories of chimney sweeps going down the chimney to clean them. In many parts of the city raw sewage would flow in gutters that emptied into the Thames. There were street vendors who would hawk their wares and add to the cacophony of street noises. Pick-pockets, prostitutes, drunks, beggars, and vagabonds were everywhere.

Dickens, because of the childhood trauma caused by his father's imprisonment for debt and his consignment to the blacking factory to help support his family, was a true champion to the poor. He repeatedly pointed out the atrocities of the system through his novels. He also wrote vividly about children and apprentices and debt.

In Oliver Twist we have Oliver and Sykes passing through Smithfield Live Cattle Market, when they are on their way to burgle the Maylie home. They passed through this market as Sykes wanted to make Oliver horrified.

Walking across roads and streets which were used by Shakespeare and Dickens is a great experience. Imagining their world, seeing the nooks and alleys about which Dickens wrote was a journey walk back in time. Except for the stench, squalor, poverty of those days, London and its lanes and streets remain the same. I had a fantastic time and enjoyed my walk.