Призраки Лондона: Город в предчувствии войны и воспоминаниях.

1939 book by Henry Vollam Morton

The Ghosts Of London is a book written by Henry Vollam Morton ("H. V."), published in 1939 by Methuen & Co Limited in London. Far from being on the subject of ghosts and the supernatural, Morton's book is instead a sentimental portrait of historic London juxtaposed with contemporary (1930s) London. The book is made up of 30 short histories and anecdotes, likely collected from his work as a journalist. Subjects profiled in the book include snuff, herb shops he heard on the wireless that Britain was at war with Germany and that "In a twinkling the world had changed." He writes about how in the event of war your priorities change, he decided he wanted to change his will but found that due to the war his solicitors had moved all their documents to the countryside for safe keeping. Civilian army defense are described as wearing shrapnel helmets and armlets, patrolling the streets, directing the traffic and manning alarm sirens ready to direct people to safety. Henry then goes on to describe the sandbagged buildings, windows criss crossed with gummed paper and an emptiness of London particularly Charing Cross. He describes how the sounds of London changed. Due to people leaving the city, dairy farmers were selling their ponies as there was not enough work for them. Henry writes about not wanting to contemplate not seeing the horse and carts, that because they are a familiar sight they usually go unnoticed. The book says that one of the strangest things about this war is the return of popularity in the London cellar. People began to show others around their cellars, Henry writes of his experience of being shown the cellar at his tailor's shop. The tailor led him down the stone steps into a crypt, the walls were framed with timber, there was a concrete crawl space that was said to be the emergency exit route that ran under the street. The book then goes on to describe Gas masks becoming an item that was necessary at all times, he describes that some companies tried to make fancy cases for the gas masks but they were out of tune with the times due to people not feeling any pride in owning a gas mask. Henry describes the blackouts in wartime London, the shops close at dusk and people travel home. He ends the chapter describing various battles London has overcome. "Wars come to an end, but London goes on

Chapter two describes Oak Apple Day, on 29 May. Up until 1859 people celebrated the birthday of King Charles II, he had been exiled for 12 years and returned to London on his 13th birthday. Henry gives an account of being a child in Warwickshire, the children would collect sprigs of Oak with Oak Apples attached and attach them to their caps and jumpers. They would then use handkerchiefs or paper to collect stinging nettles. He describes how they would search for boys without the Oak leaves and if any were found to not be wearing them would get stung across his knees or hands with the nettles. Henry goes on to give a description of the "six week wanderings of Charles II after Cromwell had beaten him from hedge to hedge in Worcester". Henry writes that Charles hid in the branches of a great oak for 24 hrs in Boscobel Woods with Colonel Careless. After his restoration the Oak became the symbol of loyalty to the crown, Royal Oak was soon a popular tavern name and on the anniversary villagers would decorate with oak boughs and gilded oak apples. He describes how The Chelsea Pensioners polished their medals and paraded before a statue of King Charles II decorated with oak boughs at The Royal Hospital which he founded. Henry then describes correspondence he had received from a newspaper article he had written enquiring about the tradition. In the west of England children would sing "It's Oak Apple Day, The twenty ninth of may, If you don't give us a holiday, We'll all run away." The other places said to be still following the tradition were Shropshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Burton on Trent, Stretton, Belton Loughborough Leicestershire, Fernhurst Sussex, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire and "nearly all the Midland Counties."

Chapter six gives a description of the curfew in London, that it was decreed by William the Conqueror the author notes that a curfew was rung at Oxford in the reign of Alfred the Great and that William may have tightened up those rules. When the bells rang it symbolised that fires had to be put out to lessen the chances of causing fire to the wooden buildings. Henry goes on to describe how in Norman times the curfew bell rang from St Martin's le Grande a church at eight pm. Henry writes that the location of the church is now the General Post Office. "Those bells could be heard far away among the open fields of charing to the west, across the marshy Thames to the south, over the moors to the east and among the forests that lay to the north." He describes the closing of the gates of London which began at the first chime, he writes "There were originally four main gates: Aldgate, on the east; Aldersgate, on the North; Ludgate, on the West; and Bridgegate, to the South bank of the Thames. It was possible, however, for travellers to gain entrance after the first notes of the Curfew by the wicket gates, which were not closed until the last of the warning." At least four bells still sounded at the curfew time every night and they were the bells of Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, The Tower of London and The Charterhouse. Henry questions why the tradition has been continued, he describes a story from York of a lost traveller who was afraid of being eaten by wolves, heard the bells and followed the sound to safety in Bootham Bar, in thankfulness he donated his money " for the curfew bell to be rung in York forever." Henry describes his visit to Charterhouse at half past seven, he describes the place as being a slip back through time to the "England of the sixteenth century." "When Carthusian monks were driven from this property, it came at length into the possession of Thomas Sutton, a shrewd Elizabethan soldier who, when on service in the north of the country had foreseen the commercial properties of the Durham coalfield. Coal and marriage with an heiress, made Sutton the richest commoner of his time. It was said that his annual income was £5,000 and his capital over £60,000." Henry writes that Charterhouse was "a school for poor boys and a retreat for old men who had fallen on bad days." Henry describes how 63 old men, bachelors and widows now live here, eat together, attend the chapel once a day and that they receive a pension of £1 per week. The bell rings once for each person who lives there, in this instance 63. Henry writes about watching the bell ringer, who asks him to not speak to him once he had started because it was important that he did not loose count. The author ends the chapter "I thought that this curfew is the only one left in England that is really a curfew, because now and then, when it misses a note, it signifies. to all who know the meaning, that a light has been quenched."

Chapter seven gives an account of the ceremony of the keys at The Tower of London. The author for several years at the request of 2LO would go to the Byward Tower every night to speak the introduction of the ceremony. He writes: "The Tower is not only one of the most ancient buildings in use in England, but it is the only fortress that has been in continuous occupation for over eight centuries. The function of the Tower today is the same as when William the Conqueror founded it eleven years after the Battle of Hastings. It is still a royal palace. It is still a garrison and an armoury." He tells us of how it was customary for kings to spend the night in the tower before their coronation. Henry VII was moved here when Perkin Warbeck claimed to be heir to the throne. The author says that nobody knows when the ceremony of the "King's keys" was first observed, but the first was recorded in the time of Edward III performed by John of London. The ceremony begins "Shortly before ten at night" the Chief Warder dresses in "a long red cloak with his Tudor bonnet", he carries a lamp with a "tallow candle," he picks up the keys to the "Wicket Gate and the Byward Tower" and calls for an "escort for the keys." "One N. C. O and four men fall in with rifles and fixed bayonets. The Chief Warder, with his lantern and the keys places himself in the centre, and off they march towards the Wicket Gate on Tower Hill." He describes how usually the Chief Warder would usually salute an officer, but during the ceremony the roles are reversed. "As they march along, every sentry on the way to the main gate stands to attention and presents arms. Civilians encountered on the march stand still and lift their hats." First the wicket gate is closed, then the towers of the Outer ward, when the keys reach the arch of the Bloody Tower a sentry challenges them "Halt! Who comes there?" "The keys! cries the Chief Warder." "Whose keys?" "King George's Keys! cries the warder" "Pass, King George's Keys, All's well cries the sentry:" they continue up towards the guards room the warder steps forward with his lantern, lifts his bonnet and cries: "God preserve King George." the guard replied "Amen." The story ends wit a story that the author is unsure if it is true or not but it was said that a line regiment took over the Tower, they rehearsed the ceremony well except for one sentry who remained silent a few times but he then replied "All right I'll bite Whose Keys?"

Chapter eight begins by describing that the term "an ordinary" was used to describe something "that is habitual, is very ancient. Henry describes "an ambassador in ordinary" as "an ambassador who is constantly resident in a foreign country." and a "physician in ordinary" as "a doctor who is always in attendance on the monarch. The rest of the chapter informs the reader about the tradition and meaning of an ordinary in the Taverns of London. Henry writes "In the reign of Queen Anne there seem to have been "ordinaries" for every purse. We read of "Fivepenny Ordinaries," and even a "Twopenny Ordinary." I suppose the modern substitute for the old fashioned "ordinary" is the four or five course table d'hôte made popular by the restaurants of Soho." Henry describes a tavern with an Innkeeper called Simpson, who began supplying fish dinners in 1723. The tavern was called the three tons and was in Bell Alley, near Billingsgate. Simpson retired and sold his Tavern but he opened a new tavern called the Queen's Arm in Bird in Hand Court, off Cheapside. The court was described as "essentially the same court that Keats saw when he sat in his lodgings there and wrote On first looking into chapman's homer." Henry states that Simpson's Two Shilling fish ordinary was one of the few things that hadn't gone up in price since 1914. He describes attending one of the fish ordinaries they happened at 1pm everyday and Henry attended on a Friday. He describes being shown into a "brown experienced looking apartment on a upper floor where a large horseshoe table was set for fifty guests." In the room there was three throne like chairs that were said to have been made from wood rescued from the tavern during a fire in 1898. These seats were for the chairman and his two chief guests. Above the chairs where framed names of people who had correctly guessed "the weight, height and girth of a cheese". When it was guessed correctly it was celebrated by giving everyone champagne. He describes the guest who arrived as "city men and regular habitués; and few of them curious sight seers like myself. For nearly two centuries the Fish Ordinary fought desperately against the inclusion of women, but about seventeen years ago the stronghold fell and now women sit down every day with men." The chairman was handed an apron, he was in charge of carving and serving the food. First up was soup, then stewed eels, next was fried plaice portioned to one fillet per person, Whitebaite and a four foot roly poly with hot syrup. The diners used the same Knife and forks for each course so it was easy to spot new comers as they lost their Knives and forks when the dirty plates were cleared away. The event ended with the guessing of the "colossal Cheshire cheese" was said to be on an Oak stand from "Nelson's Victory". Slices of cheese and pieces of paper were passed around, no one guessed all three correctly but a man who guessed the height and girth correctly was said to had been trying to win the competition for ten years but had never managed to correctly guess all three. The guests are said to have given the chairman a friendly nod or a handshake before going back to their business.

Chapter nine Gives an account of a conversation with the driver of a Hansom cab, a man called Mr Albert Frisbee who lived in a bed sitting room in Newington Butts. He tells the author of how the world of the Hansom cab drivers were changing. Mr Frisbee had been a cab driver for 40 years, Mr Frisbee and his companions, Mr Lamont an Mr Woolf are said by the author to be the last 3 drivers left out of the 15,000 that used to be, Mr Frisbee's licence number was 14,037. Mr Frisbee begins by saying "There's a funny ring about gold" "a blind man could tell a falling sovereign from a shilling. But perhaps you have never heard the sound sovereigns make when they fall on the pavement fifty jimmy o' goblins coming down like hail?" Henry says no he had not, Mr Frisbee tells him that he never will because "the days when the toffs and the mashers used to chuck there money about is gone, finally and forever there isn't any money to chuck about today." Mr frisbee gets side tracked and describes the past days as happier times and that things where cheaper. Mr Frisbee continues with the sovereign story, he said that when he was in his cab one morning outside a nightclub in Regent Street, a man who Mr frisbee describes as "a toff in evening dress" threw sovereigns on to the floor and that all the drivers scrambled down to collect them, he then threw another handful and the drivers again collected them. Mr Frisbee says that there was over 50 sovereigns picked up. Mr Frisbee describes the mornings standing in Leicester square as cold, that he used to meet 6 people and they would go to The Continental when it opened at 5 o'clock and started the day with "a pint of rum and a jug of hot water". The passengers who use the cab are described as the curious, the romantic, the people who have had too much to drink and find it comical, Mr Frisbee is said to take a bleak view of the people who saw the Handsome as a joke. Mr frisbee is said to have commented on carrying old gentlemen who remember what London was like before the Boer War. He goes on to describe the difficulties in getting a Hansom cab repaired, that he needed a new pump shaft, after trying various places he finally managed to track down an 80 year old man who he persuaded to do the job even though he had retired. He describes the pride they had in their horses and that they used to call the embankment "the racecourse". Henry finishes the chapter giving a brief account of the invention and inventor of the Hansom cab. Henry gives the name Joseph Aloysius Hansom born in York in 1903. he says that Hansom "sold the rights to his Patent Safety cab in 1834 for £10,000 but the company never paid, and all he was paid was £300." Henry writes that after Hansom designed and built Birmingham Town Hall but the transaction, owing to a reckless agreement, caused his bankruptcy." Hansom died when he was 80 and long before the motor car was invented. Henry lists other places attributed to Hansom which are St Walpurge's church Preston Lancashire, The cathedral in Plymouth, the Jesuit Collage in Manchester and the church of St Philip Neri at Arundel.

Chapter eleven the author writes about a trip he was taken on by the official of The Gas Light and Coke company. He writes that he got in the officials car on Horseferry Road and they were heading to the Albert hall but the suddenly stopped just inside hyde park. the official showed him "Two tall lamp standards that rise just inside the park gates." The official states that the lamps are "some of the earliest in London." he ways that they were put up in 1831, he showed the author the worn inscriptions W. R. IV, he said that "There are not many about now; a few round Carlton House Terrace." The official is said to have turned out of the park and ran down Queen's Gate, he showed the author "a line of lamp posts on the left hand side as you go towards Cromwell Road." The official says that the lamps are different that all the others and that they cannot match them. The official tells the author that he believes that the lamps "are a relic of the Great Exhibition of 1851." They are said to continue taking the first left turn out of Queen's Gate into Prince Consort Road. The Official ask the author if he notices anything strange about Prince Consort Road. The author writes that there are a lot of lamps. The official tell the author that it is the best lit street in all of London and tells the author to note that there are no houses on the street only a hostel for students, the College of Music, and a few big buildings. The official says that nobody know why there is so many but it is said that a young man who lived in Queen's Gate was run over and killed in the road by a horse and carriage, the coroner in the inquest is said to have stated that the accident happened due to bad lighting. The mother of the young man is said to have left money in her will to the local parish for better lighting on the road. The next stop was said to be Trafalgar Square where the parked in a side street, crossed the traffic and stood in front of the National Gallery. The official shows the author two octagonal lanterns on bronze standards. At the front of the Square was said to be two squat towers and two slightly larger lanterns. The official tells the author that the four old oil lamps are known by the lamplighters and cleaners as the "Battle Lamps" and are fro, the ship Nelson's Victory and went to the Battle of Trafalgar. Their next stop was St James's Square, opposite the head office of the Canada Life Assurance Company at number 2, which used to be the house of Lord Falmouth. The official tells him that this lamp is unique and says that the gas company only discovered it when they had to take up the lamps in St James Square. The official said that it was a cannon that was captured from a French ship off Cape Finisterre in May 1747, Lord Falmouth's brother, Admiral Edward Boscawen commanded a ship called Namur, he gave the cannon to Lord Falmouth and 60 years later it was used as a lamp standard. There is a photograph in the book called The Cannon Lamp Post, St. James's Square by H. Bedford Lemere. The chapter ends with the enthusiastic official confirming he had shown the author "The ghosts of London." the author confirms that he had. The official continues with statements of his fondness for gas and waves goodbye.

In chapter twelve the author writes that The Houses of Parliament are built on land that used to be the Palace of Westminster, that it has been occupied as a royal palace since the time of Canute, that William the Conqueror added to it and Rufus built Westminster Hall. He goes on to tell the reader that parliament was first started in the Chapter House of the Abbey Church and that in 1547 it moved to St. Stephens Chapel within the precincts of the palace. It was enacted by parliament in the time of Henry VIII that ruled that all these premises should be called the Kings Palace of Westminster and so be called forever. The Palace of Westminster was destroyed by a fire, parliament moved to York Palace and was rebuilt as the Palace at Whitehall It then moved back to St James's Palace. Parliament continued meeting at the Palace of Whitehall until it burnt down in 1834 leaving only Westminster Hall and the crypt of the Chapel of St. Stephen's, called St. Mary Undercroft. He then goes on to describe the present day Houses of Parliament were built in 1840 1867 and cover the land of the old royal residences. He writes that the entrance in to the Central Hall called St. Stephen's Hall shares the same ground plans as St Steven's Chapel where there Commons met for 287 years, he says that there are brass studs on the floor marking the sites of the speaker's chair and the table. He describes the speaker as being known as First Commissioner of the Realm since 1688. He writes about an encounter with Speaker Lenthall and Charles I. He also describes the speaker's carriage as being built in Holland in 1689 for William of Orange, he writes that he has been told that the weight of the speakers carriage is "two tons an fifteen hundred deadweight." He tells of the importance of the Mace being upon the table in front of the speaker while the house sitting, he tells of a time when the members of the house waited until 11pm for the arrival of the keys to the Mace cupboard before they could begin session. The author says that people have also tried to disrupt the sitting by removing the Mace. He gives an account of the Black Rod ceremony, he describes that the red lines are an indicator to keep back so you are out of sword reach from the opposing bench.