Vauxhall until 1798, and then but occasionally. At Bermondsey Spa, and various tea-gardens, they have since been displayed, in inferior style. There have been some grand exhibitions at the Government expense: as in the Green Park at the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748; and on August 1, 1814, in celebration of the general Peace, and the Centenary of the accession of the Brunswick family to the British throne; these Fireworks being by Sir William Congreve, of "rocket" celebrity. There have been similar Firework galas in Hyde Park at coronations. At the Coronation of King William IV. and Queen Adelaide, Sept. 1831, the amount expended for Fireworks and for keeping open the public theatres was 3,0347. 18s. 7d.

At the Surrey Zoological Gardens, Walworth, there have been Fireworks since 1837.

FOOT-BALL was played in the twelfth century by the youth of the City in the fields; and five centuries later, we find foot-ball players in Cheapside, Covent Garden, and the Strand.

HUNTING." The Common Hunt" dates from a charter granted by Henry L to the citizens to "have chaces, and hunt ;" and Strype, so late as the reign of George I., reckons among the modern amusements of the Londoners, "riding on horseback, and hunting with my Lord Mayor's hounds, when the Common Hunt goes out." The Epping Hant was appointed from a similar charter granted to the citizens.

Stow describes a visitation of the Lord Mayor Harper, and other civic authorities, to the Tyburn Conduits, in 1562, when "afore dinner they hunted the hare and killed her," at the end of St. Giles's, with great hallooing and blowing of horns.

MASQUERADES were introduced into England from Italy in 1512-13, by Henry VIII. They were frequent among the citizens at the Restoration. In 1717-18, a very splendid masquerade was given at the Opera House by Heidegger, at which there was high play; heaps of guineas passing about with as little concern in the losers as in the winners. Soon after, the Bishops preached against these amusements, which led to their suppression, 9 George I., 1723. They were, however, revived, and carried to shameful excess by connivance of the Governinent, and in direct violation of the laws. At Ranelagh, and the Pantheon in Oxford Road, the most costly masquerades were given. At the Pantheon, in 1783, a masquerade was got up by Delpini, the famous clown, in celebration of the Prince of Wales attaining his majority; tickets, three guineas each. In the same year, Garrick attended a masked fête at the Pantheon as King of the Gipsies. In the present day, a mascerade is a dull affair: as Steele remarks: "the misfortune of the thing is, that people dress themselves in what they have a mind to be, and not what they are fit for."

MATINGS AND MAY-GAMES were celebrated by "the citizens of London of all estates" with Maypoles and warlike shows, "with good archers, morrice dancers, and other devices for pastime, all day long; and towards evening they had stage-plays and bonfires in the streets." The games were presided over by the Lord and Lady of the May, decurated with scarves, ribands, and other finery; to which were added Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

May-poles were regularly erected in many parts of London on May-day morning: as in Leadenhall Street (then Cornhill), before the south door of St. Andrew's Church, therefore called Under-Shaft; this pole being referred to by Chaucer as "the great Shaft of Cornhill!" it was higher than the church steeple (91 feet). After Evil-May-day, in 1517, the pole was, in 1549, sawn into pieces, and burnt as "an idol." Another celebrated May-pole was that placed in the Strand, upon the site of the

present church of St. Mary: this pole was 134 feet high, and was set up with great pomp and festivity in 1661; but, becoming old and decayed, in 1717 it was obtained by Sir Isaac Newton, then of the parish, and conveyed in 1718 to Sir Richard Child's park at Wanstead, as a stand for a telescope presented by Mons. Hugon to the Royal Society. The custom of milkmaids wearing head-dresses of silver dishes, tankards, and crosses, intermixed with flowers, on May-day, is certainly as old as the reign of Queen Anne. Yet, how different is all this from the youths of the city on May-morning going out into the fields, which then stretched just outside the city-walls, to "fetch in May;" and the city maidens gathering May-dew; and the sober citizens all up betimes, walking forth into the "green meadows to rejoice their hearts with the sweet melody of the birds," as worthy Master Stow says.

THE PARKS had their pastimes upwards of two centuries ago. The French game of Paille-mall, (striking a ball with a wooden mallet through an iron ring,) was introduced in the reign of Charles I. Skating was first introduced into England on the new canal in St. James's Park. Evelyn enters it, 1st Dec. 1662, "with scheets after the manner of the Hollanders.' Pepys records, 10th Aug. 1664, Lords Castlehaven and Arran running down and killing a stout buck in St. James's Park for a wager, before the King; and Evelyn enters, 19th Feb. 1666-67, a wrestling match for 10007. in St. James's Park, before his Majesty, a world of Lords, and other spectators, 'twixt the western and northern men, when the former won. At this time, there were in the Park flocks of wild fowl breeding about the Decoy, antelopes, an elk, reddeer, roebucks, stags, Guinea fowls, Arabian sheep, &c.; and here Charles II. might be seen playing with his dogs and feeding his ducks. In one of St. James's Park walks, in 1770, Tom Brown tells us, there walked a beau bareheaded, here a French fop, there a cluster of senators talking of state affairs and the price of corn and cattle, disturbed by cries of A Can of Milk, Ladies; A Can of Red Cows' Milk, Sir." St. James's Park has long been deserted as a fashionable promenade, which it was sixty years since. "The Mall," wrote Theodore Hook, "is now only useful as a thoroughfare from Whiteball to Pimlico; and evening promenade there is none, for the strongest possible reason, that the class of persons who give the tone to society dine at the hour at which their grandfathers supped, and dress for dinner at the period when their ancestors, two centuries since, were undressing for bed. But the beautiful garden has superseded the swampy meadow, and the Dutch canal within the inclosure is thronged in the summer evenings with those who have dined, and enjoy themselves as much as those who have not." Hyde Park was celebrated for its deer-hunts, foot and horse races, musters and coach races, boxing-matches, and Mayings.

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Poaching was common in the metropolis three centuries since; for, in a proclamation of Henry VIII., 1546, (preserved in the library of the Society of Antiquaries), the King is desirous to have the "Games of Hare, Partridge, Pheasant, and Heron," preserved from Westminster palace to St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, &c.

PIGEONS are kept in vast numbers in and round the metropolis: many persons convert the spaces between the garrets and roofs of their houses into lofts, by making an aperture in the tiling, which opens on a platform fixed on the outside. The cats should, however, be kept out by fences. But there are other enemies: pigeon-poachers set traps to decoy their neighbours' pigeons; and "it is calculated that we have in London upwards of 2000 men thus graduating for the penal settlements." Hundreds of pigeon-traps are set on a Sunday morning: the gains are small, but the excitement is great, much artifice and patience being essen

tial to success; at the utmost, "a green dragon" may produce 2s., or "a fine pouter" 58. Great numbers of pigeons, too, are lost during the winter, by the slight falcon taking up its abode every year, from October and November until the spring, upon Westminster Abbey, and other churches. Pigeons build about these and other edifices; they have made nests at Somerset House, both on the side towards the water and inland, for the last sixty years; the birds are blue, but whether originally wild, or returned to their wild habits from the domesticated state, is uncertain. Carrier-Pigeons are kept in London as messengers to the race-course and the prize-ring, and for stock-jobbing transactions: in 1800, a pigeon flew from London to Maestricht, 260 miles, in 6 hours. la Hogarth's print of the Execution of the Idle Apprentice, a pigeon is flying off with the intelligence of the felon's death. Pigeon-shooting is extensively practised in the neighbourhood of London: the crack shots assemble at the Red House at Battersea on matches of importance, when rarely a single bird escapes the shooter. To describe the varieties of tame pigeons, as tumblers, croppers, jacobins, runts, spots, turbits, owls, nuns, &c., would fill a volume.

PRISON BARS, OR BASE, is as old as the reign of Edward III., when it was, by proclamation, prohibited to be played in the avenues of the Palace at Westminster during the session of Parliament, from its interruption of the members and others in passing to and fro. About 1750, a grand match at base was played in the fields behind Montague Hcase, by twelve gentlemen of Cheshire against twelve of Derbyshire, for a considerable stake.

PUPPET-SHOWS were common at the suburban fairs in the early part of the last century; they also competed with the larger theatres, until they were superseded by the revival of pantomimes. But the Italian Fantoccini was popular early in the present century. The puppet-showman, with his box upon his back, is now rarely seen in the street; but we have the artist of Punch, with his theatre. Clockwork figures appeared early in the last century. In the reign of Queen Anne, a celebrated show of this kind was exhibited at the great house in the Strand over against the Globe Tavern, near Hungerford Market. A saraband, danced with castanets, and throwing balls and knives alternately into the air and catching them as they fall, with catching oranges upon forks, formed part of the puppet-showman's exhibition.

Men and monkeys dancing upon ropes, or walking upon wires; dogs dancing minuets, pigs arranging letters so as to form words at their master's command, hares beating drums, or birds firing off cannons,— these were favourite exhibitions early in the last century. Raree-shows, ladder-dancing, and posturing, are also of this date.

"PUNCH" has for nearly two centuries delighted the Londoners; there being entries of Punchinello's Booth at Charing Cross, 1666, in the Overseers' Books of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. (Cunningham's Handbook, 2d edit.) His costume closely resembles the Elizabethan peasecod-bellied doublets. Covent Garden was another of Punch's early locations, where Powel's performances thinned the congregation in St. Paul's Church, as we learn from No. 14 of the Spectator; and in 1711-12, he lessened the receipts at the opera and the national theatres: the showman worked the wires, and by a thread in one of Punch's chops, gave to him the appearance of animation. Such was the olden contrivance: at present, the puppets are played by putting the hand under the dress, and making the middle finger and thumb serve for the arms, while the fore finger works the head. Mr. Windham, when one of the Secretaries of State, on his way from Downing Street to the House of Commons, was seen to stop and enjoy the whimsicalities of Punch; and in 1850, we

frequently saw Punch exhibiting for the special amusement of an infant Duke in Piccadilly.* Punch has not, however, been always a mere puppet; for we read of a farce called "Punch turned Schoolmaster;" and in 1841, was commenced "Punch; or the London Charivari," which attained circulation co-extensive with our language, and is known to have effected high moral service, besides giving a tone to our lighter literature. George Cruikshank's "Punch and Judy," published in 1828, and Haydon's picture, painted in 1830, are truthful illustrations of Punch.

RACKETS is nearly coeval with Tennis, which it so much resembles; Rackets being striking a ball against a wall, and Tennis dropping a ball over a central net. There are Racket-grounds at the Belvidere, Pentonville; and in the Queen's Bench Prison. Rackets was also much played in the Fleet Prison, taken down in 1844.

At Westminster School is a paved court for playing the game. SKITTLES, Corrupted from kayles of the fourteenth century, and afterwards kettle, or kittle-pins, was much played in and near London until 1780, when the magistrates abolished all Skittle-grounds. To this succeeded Nine-holes, or " Bubble-the-justice," on the supposition that it could not be set aside by the justices, as it was not named in the prohibitory statutes: it is now called "Bumble-puppy," and the vulgarity of the term is well adapted to the company who play it. Ninepins, Dutch-pins, and Four-corners are but variations of Skittles; and as these games originated in the covering of open grounds in London and its neighbourhood with houses, they will probably be forgotten when additional parks and walks are provided for public recreation.

TEA-GARDENS were the favourite resorts of the middle classes in the last century; and, in most cases, they succeeded the promenades of mineral springs. Such was Bagnigge Wells, Cold Bath Fields, taken down a few years since: we remember its concert-room and organ, its grottoes, and fountains, and grotesque figures, and bust of Nell Gwynne, who is said to have had a country-house near this spot. Next were "Sadler's Wells Music House," before it became a theatre; Tunbridge Wells, or Islington Spa; and the Three Hats, at Islington, mentioned in Bickerstaff's comedy of the Hypocrite: the house remained a tavern until 1839, when it was taken down. White Conduit House, Pentonville,

* Street Shows and Performers have become very numerous in the present day. Such are Punch, Fantoccini, Chinese Shades, and Galantee Shows; jugglers, conjurors, balancers, posturers, stiff tumblers, pole-balancers, salamanders or fire-eaters, and sword and snake swallowers; street dancers; and performances of trained animals, as dancing dogs, acting birds, and mice. The street musicians include brass and other bands, Ethiopians, farm-yard fiddlers, horse organs, Italian organ-boys, hurdy-gurdy players, blind and crippled fiddlers, and violoncello and clarionet players. Next are the peep-showmen and the proprietors of giants, dwarves, industrious fleas, alligators, "happy families," and glass ships; together with street telescopes, microscopes, thaumascopes, and weighing, lifting, and measuring machines. Porsini and Pike were celebrated Punch exhibitors: the former is said to have frequently taken 107. a day; but he died in St. Giles's workhouse. A set of Punch figures costs about 157., and the show about 31. The speaking is done by a "call," made of two curved pieces of metal about the size of a kneebuckle, bound together with black thread, and between them is a thin metal plate. Porsini used a trumpet. The present artists maintain that "Punch is exempt from the Police Act." The most profitable performance is that in houses; and Punch's best season is in the spring, and at Christmas and Midsummer: the best" pitches" in London are in Leicester-square, Regent-street (corner of New Burlington-street). Oxford Market, and Belgrave-square. There are sixteen Punch and Judy frames in England, eight of which work in London. Fantoccini are puppets, which, with the frame, cost about 10%. Chinese Shades consist

of a frame like Punch's, with a transparent curtain and movable figures; shewn only at night, with much dialogue.-Selected from a Letter by Henry Mayhew; Morning Chronicle, May 16, 1850.

was originally built in the fields, in the reign of Charles I., and named from a conduit in an adjoining meadow: here Topham, the Strong Man, frequently exhibited his feats; it was originally a small ale and cake house, but was lately so extensive as to dine upwards of 2000 persons in its largest room. An association of Protestant Dissenters, formed in the reign of Queen Anne, met at this house; the Wheel Pond, close by, was a fanious place for duck-hunting; Sir William Davenant describes a city wife going to the fields to "sop her cake in milke;" and Goldsmith speaks of tea-drinking parties, with hot rolls and butter, at White Conduit House. A description of the place in 1774 presents a general picture of the Tea-Garden of that period: "The garden is formed into walks, prettily disposed. At the end of the principal one is a painting, which seems to render it (the walk) longer in appearance than it really is. In the centre of the garden is a fish-pond. There are boxes for company, curiously cut into hedges, adorned with Flemish and other paintings. There are two handsome tea-rooms, one over the other, and several inferior ones in the house." The fish-pond was soon after filled up, and its site planted, the paintings removed, and a new dancing and tea saloon, called the Apollo-room, built. In 1826, the gardens were opened as a "Minor Vauxhall;" and here Mrs. Bland, the charming vocalist, last sung in public. In 1832, the small house, the original tavern, was taken down, and rebuilt upon a much larger plan; but in 1849 these premises were also taken down, and re-erected on a smaller scale, and the garden-ground let on building leases.

Next we reach Highbury, where originally stood the Barn of the Monks of Clerkenwell: hence the old name of the Tavern, Highbury Barn. Opposite Pentonville Prison is Copenhagen House, (Coopen Hagen, in Camden's Britannia, 1695,) first opened by a Dane.

Toten Hall, at the north-west extremity of Tottenham Court Road, was the ancient court-house of that manor, and subsequently a place of public entertainment. In the parish books of St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, year 1615, is an entry of Mrs. Stacye's maid and others being fined "for drinking at Tottenhall Court on the Sabbath daie, xijd. a-piece." The premises next became the Adam and Eve Tea-Gardens. Before the house is laid the scene of Hogarth's March to Finchley; and in the grounds, May 16, 1785, Lunardi fell with his burst balloon, and was but slightly injured. The Gardens were much frequented by respectable company; but the place falling into disrepute, the music-house was taken down, and upon the site of the Skittle-grounds and Gardens was built Eden Street, Hampstead Road, the public-house being rebuilt. Chalk Farm was "the White House," to which, in 1678, the body of Sir Edmundberry Godfrey was carried, after it had been found about two fields distant, upon the south side of Primrose Hill, Chalk Farm is still a white-washed tavern, with a tea-garden, and a field where wrestling is occasionally exhibited. Several duels have been fought here: here John Scott, (of the London Magazine), was shot by Mr. Christie, Feb. 16, 1821; and here the poet Moore, and Jeffrey, of the Edinburgh Review, met in 1806.

The above were the most celebrated Tea-Gardens north and northwest of London. Westward lay Marybone Gardens, opened for public breakfasts and evening concerts to high-class company; fireworks being added. In 1777-8 these gardens were shut up, and the site let to builders; the ground being now occupied by Beaumont and Devonshire Streets, and part of Devonshire Place. Next were the Bayswater Gardens, once thePhysic Garden" of Sir John Hill; and Ranelagh, the costly rival of Vauxhall, but a Tea-Garden in the present century. Mulberry Garden, upon the present site of Buckingham Palace and its gardens, dates from temp. Charles I.; Pimlico was noted for its tea-gardens and ale to