Chapter II: Part 2

A copper-plate of much larger dimensions, representing London at St. Paul’s, with the tents, &c., and with alphabetical references; “Printed and sold by John Bowles, at the Black Horse, in Cornhill.” In the right-hand corner above, the arms and supporters of the City; and on the left a cartouche, with the words “Frost Fayre, being a True Prospect of the Great Varietie of Shops and Booths for Tradesmen, with other Curiosities and Humors, on the Frozen River of Thames, as it appeared before the City of London, in that memorable Frost in yᵉ year of the Reigne of Our Sovereigne Lord King George, Anno Domini 1716.”

“An exact and lively View of the Booths, and all the variety of Shows, &c., on the ice, with an alphabetical explanation of the most remarkable figures, 1716.” A copper-plate.

“Frost Fair; or a View of the Booths on the Frozen Thames in the 2nd year of King George, 1716.” A wood-cut.

[Sidenote: 1739]

The following is a list of the most important memorials of this famous frost fair:--

A copper-plate, representing a view of the Thames at Westminster, with the tents, sports, &c., and alphabetical references, entitled “Ice Fair.” Printed on yᵉ River Thames, now frozen over. Jan. 31, 1739-40.

“Amidst yᵉ arts yᵗ on yᵉ Thames appear,
To tell yᵉ wonders of this frozen year.
Sculpture claims prior place, since yᵗ alone,
Preserves yᵉ image when yᵉ prospect’s gone.”

A coarse copper-plate, entitled “The view of Frost Fair,”--scene taken from York-buildings Water Works; twelve verses beneath.

A small copper-plate, representing an altar-piece with ten commandments, engraven between the figures of Moses and Aaron; and beneath, on a cartouche, “Printed on the Ice, on the River of Thames, Janʳʸ 15, 1739.”

A small copper-plate, representing an ornamental border with a female head, crowned at the top; and below two designs of the letter press and rolling press. In the centre, in type, “Upon the Frost in the year 1739-40,” six verses, and then, “Mr. John Cross, aged 6. Printed on the ice upon the Thames, at Queen-Hithe, January the 29th, 1739-40.”

“Behold the liquid Thames now frozen o’er,
That lately ships of mighty burden bore;
Here you may print your name, tho’ cannot write,
’Cause numb’d with cold; ’tis done with great delight.
And lay it by, that ages yet to come,
May see what things upon the ice were done.”

A coarse copper-plate engraving, looking down the river, entitled “Frost Fair,” with eight lines of verse beneath, and above, “Printed upon the River Thames when frozen, Janu. the 28, 1739-40.”

“An Extract Draught of Frost Fair on the River Thames, as it appears from Whitehall Stairs, in the year 1740,” with twelve lines of verse underneath. “Printed and sold by Geoᵉ Foster, Printseller, in St. Paul’s Church-yard, London.”

“The English Chronicle, or Frosty Kalender; a broadside containing a memorial of the principal frosts, with a view of the fair from the Southwark side of the river, opposite St. Paul’s. Printed on the Thames, 1739-40.”

[Sidenote: 1739-40]

The winter of 1739-40 was one of great severity. The frost commenced on Christmas-day, and lasted until the 17th February following. It caused much distress amongst the poor, coals could hardly be obtained for money, and water was equally scarce. It is recorded that “the watermen and fishermen, with a peterboat in mourning, and the carpenters, bricklayers, &c., with their tools and utensils in mourning, walked through the streets in large bodies, imploring relief for their own and families’ necessities; and, to the honour of the British character, this was liberally bestowed. Subscriptions were also made in the different parishes, and great benefactions bestowed by the opulent, through which the calamities of the season were much mitigated. A few days after the frost had set in, great damage was done among the shipping in the river Thames by a high wind, which broke many vessels from their moorings, and drove them foul of each other, while the large sheets of ice that floated on the stream, overwhelmed various boats and lighters, and sunk several corn and coal vessels. By these accidents many lives were lost; and many others were also destroyed by the intensity of the cold, both on land and water.

Above the Bridge, the Thames was completely frozen over, and tents and numerous booths were erected on it for selling liquors, &c., to the multitudes that daily flocked thither for curiosity or diversion. The scene here displayed was very irregular, and had more the appearance of a fair on land, than of a frail exhibition, the only basis of which was congealed water.”

Sports were enjoyed on the ice, and shops opened for the sale of fancy articles, food and drink. A printing press was in active operation, and amongst the papers printed was the following:

The noble Art and mystery of Printing, was first invented by
J. Faust, 1441, and publicly practised by John Gottenburgh, a
soldier of Mentz, in High Germany, anno. 1450. King Henry VI.
(anno. 1457) sent two private messengers with fifteen hundred
marks, to procure one of the workmen. These prevailed on
Frederick Corsellis to leave the Printing-house in disguise; who
immediately came over with them, and first instructed the English
in this most famous Art, at Oxford, in the year 1459.

WILLIAM NOBLE, M.A.

Amidst the Arts which on the THAMES appear
To tell the wonders of this _icy_ year,
PRINTING claims prior place, which at one view
Erects a monument of THAT and YOU.

Printed upon the river Thames, Jan. 29th, in the thirteenth year
of the reign of King George the IId. Anno Dom. 1740.

“Some venturers in the Strand,” says Timbs, “bought a large ox in Smithfield, to be roasted whole on the ice; and one, Hodgeson, claimed the privilege of felling or knocking down the beast as a right inherent in his family, his father having knocked down the one roasted on the river in the Great Frost, 1684, near Hungerford Stairs: Hodgeson to wear a laced cambric apron, a silver-handled steel, and a hat and feathers.”

At the thaw a number of persons fell victims to their rashness, amongst those who lost their lives may be mentioned _Doll_, the noted pippin woman. Gay, in his “Trivia,” book ii, thus alludes to her death:--

“Doll every day had walk’d these treacherous roads;
Her neck grew warp’d beneath autumnal loads
Of various fruit; she now a basket bore;
That head, alas! shall basket bear no more.
Each booth she frequent past, in quest of gain;
And boys with pleasure heard her thrilling strain.
Ah, Doll! all mortals must resign their breath,
And industry itself submit to death!
The cracking crystal yields: she sinks, she dies,--
Her head chopt from her lost shoulders, flies;
Pippins, she cried, but death her voice confounds,
And pip, pip, pip, along the ice resounds.”

Many of the houses which, at this period, stood on London Bridge, as well as the bridge itself, sustained considerable damage.

Thomas Gent, the celebrated printer and historian, in his Life, relates how he set up a printing press on the river Ouse at York during this frost. “In January, 1739,” [1740 n.s.] he says, “the frost having been extremely intense, the river became so frozen, that I printed names upon the ice. It was a dangerous spot on the south side of the bridge, where I first set up, as it were, a kind of press--only a roller wrapped about with blankets. Whilst reading the verses I had made to follow the names--wherein King George was most loyally inserted--some soldiers round about made great acclamation, with other good people; but the ice suddenly cracking, they almost as quickly ran away, whilst I, who did not hear well, neither guessed the meaning, fell to work, and wondered at them as much for retiring so precipitately as they did at me for staying; but, taking courage, they shortly returned back, brought company, and I took some pence amongst them. After this I moved my shop to and fro, to the great satisfaction of young gentlemen and ladies, and others, who were very liberal on the occasion.”

It will not, we think, be without interest to reproduce particulars of a palace which was built solely of ice at this period. “In the year 1740, the Empress Anne of Russia, caused a palace of ice to be erected upon the banks of the Neva. This extraordinary edifice was fifty-two feet in length, sixteen in breadth, and twenty feet high, and constructed of large pieces of ice cut in the manner of freestone. The walls were three feet thick. The several apartments were furnished with tables, chairs, beds, and all kinds of household furniture of ice. In front of this edifice, besides pyramids and statues, stood six cannon, carrying balls of six pounds weight, and two mortars, entirely made of ice. As a trial from one of the former, a cannon ball, with only a quarter of a pound of powder, was fired off, the ball of which went through a two-inch board, at sixty paces from the mouth of the piece, which remained completely uninjured by the explosion. The illumination of this palace at night was astonishingly grand.”

[Sidenote: 1741]

“All frost or rain from 15th September to 1st February.”

[Sidenote: 1742]

A severe frost for some weeks. It is recorded in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 18 December, 1742: “The frost having continued near three weeks, the streets in some parts of the city, though there had been no snow, were rendered very incommodious, and several accidents happened.”

[Sidenote: 1754]

A very severe frost this year, especially at Bath and in the south-west of England.

[Sidenote: 1763]

The frost lasted ninety-four days. According to the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ it set in on Saturday, 25th December, 1762. It is thus described: “A most intense frost with easterly wind, which has since continued, with very little intermission, until the end of January. Some experiments have been tried during the course of it, which prove that on some days it was no less severe than that of 1740, though upon the whole it has not been attended with the same calamitous circumstances. On Friday, 31st December, a glass of water placed upon the table in the open air, in six minutes froze so hard as to bear 5 shillings upon it; a glass of red port wine placed upon the same table froze in two hours; and a glass of brandy in six, both with hard ice.” It is mentioned that in Cornwall, Wales, and Ireland, this frost was felt but slightly.

[Sidenote: 1767-68]

Both these years opened with severe frosts, which caused provisions to increase greatly in price. Navigation on the Thames was suspended, and great damage done to the small craft by the ice. It is chronicled that “many persons perished by the severity of the weather, both on the water and on the shore. During the latter frost, the price of butchers’ meat grew so exorbitant that the Hon. Thomas Harley, Lord Mayor, proposed that bounties should be given for bringing fish to Billingsgate market; and this plan having been carried into effect, the distresses of the poor were greatly alleviated, by the cheap rates at which the markets were supplied.”

We read in White’s “Selborne,” under date of January, 1768: “We have had very severe frost and deep snow this month; my thermometer was one day 14½ degrees below freezing point, within doors. The tender evergreens were injured pretty much. It was very providential that the air was still, and the ground well covered with snow, else vegetation in general must have suffered prodigiously. There is reason to believe that some days were more severe than any since the year 1739-40.” The frost this year was very severe in Scotland.

[Sidenote: 1776]

The following “Icy Epitaph” is said to be from the graveyard of Bampton, Devonshire:--

In memory of the Clerk’s son,
Bless my i, i, i, i, i, i,
Here I lies
In a sad pickle
Killed by an icicle,
In the year of Anno Domini 1776.

[Sidenote: 1782]

The Plymouth correspondent of the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ wrote under date of 16th February, 1782: “The most intense frost ever known … The grass, which on Friday was as green and flourishing as if it had been midsummer, on Sunday morning seemed to be entirely killed. This is mentioned by our correspondent as very unusual in that part of the country; and the snow lay on the ground in many places.”

[Sidenote: 1783-84]

The frost lasted eighty-nine days. It commenced in December, continued through January and February, and in March there was snow, and cold cutting winds. We gather from the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ that it was general. In the February number it is reported: “From different parts of the country we have accounts of more persons having been found dead in the roads, and others dug out of the snow, than ever was known in any one year in the memory of man.” On January 6th, “Thames not quite frozen over, but navigation stopped by ice.” The frost from the 10th to 20th February was extremely severe. The Thames frozen and traffic crossed in several places.

On the fifth bell of Tadcaster peal is recorded: “It is remarkable that these bells were moulded in the great frost, 1783. C. and R. Dalton, Fownders, York.”

[Sidenote: 1784]

In the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ for February the following appears: “From 10th December, 1783, to this day it has been 63 days’ frost; of these it snowed nineteen, and twelve days’ thaw, whereof it rained nine. Had the frost continued at 13 degrees as on the 31st December during the night, it would have frozen over the Thames in twenty-four hours.”

[Sidenote: 1788-89]

On the 25th November, 1788, a frost set in which lasted seven weeks. It is recorded that the thermometer stood at eleven degrees below freezing point in the very midst of the city. The Thames was frozen below London Bridge, and the ice on the river assumed all the appearance of a frost fair. A variety of amusements were provided for the visitors, including puppet-shows and the exhibition of wild beasts. In the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ for 1789 the following diary of remarkable events which transpired during this frost, is given:--

“Saturday, January 10, 1789--Thirteen men brought a waggon with a ton of coals from Loughborough in Leicestershire, to Carlton House, as a present to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. As soon as they were emptied into the cellars, Mr. Weltjie, clerk of the cellars, gave them four guineas, and as soon as the Prince was informed of it, his Highness sent them twenty guineas, and ordered them a pot of beer each man. They performed their journey, which is 111 miles, in 11 days, and drew it all the way without any relief.

Monday 12.--A young bear was baited on the ice, opposite to Redriff, which drew multitudes together, and fortunately no accident happened to interrupt their sport.

Tuesday 13.--The Prince of Wales transmitted £1000 to the Chamberlain for the benefit of the poor, during the severe frost.

Saturday 17.--The captain of a vessel lying off Rotherhithe, the better to secure the ship’s cables, made an agreement with a publican for fastening a cable to his premises; in consequence, a small anchor was carried on shore and deposited in the cellar, while another cable was fastened round a beam in another part of the house. In the night the ship veered about, and the cables holding fast, carried away the beam and levelled the house with the ground; by which accident five persons asleep in their beds were killed.”

In the Common Place Notes for February, 1789, is the following:--“With the new year, new entertainments commenced, or more properly speaking, old sports were revived in the neighbourhood of London. The river Thames, which at this season usually exhibits a dreary scene of languor and indolence, was this year the stage on which there were all kinds of diversions, bear-baiting, festivals, pigs and sheep roasted, booths, turnabouts, and all the various amusements of Bartholomew fair multiplied and improved; from Putney-bridge in Middlesex, down to Redriff, was one continued scene of merriment and jollity; not a gloomy face to be seen, nor a countenance expressive of want; but all cheerfulness, originating apparently from business and bustle. From this description the reader is not, however, to conclude that all was as it seemed. The miserable inhabitants that dwelt in houses on both sides the river during these thoughtless exhibitions, were many of them experiencing extreme misery; destitute of employment, though industrious, they were with families of helpless children, for want of employment, pining for want of bread; and though in no country in the world the rich are more benevolent than in England, yet their benefactions could bear no proportion to the wants of numerous poor, who could not all partake of the common bounty. It may, however, be truly said, that in no great city or country on the continent of Europe, the poor suffered less from the rigour of the season, than the inhabitants of Great Britain and London. Yet even in London, the distresses of the poor were very great; and though liberal subscriptions were raised for their relief, many perished through want and cold.

On this occasion, the City of London subscribed fifteen hundred pounds towards supporting those persons who were not in the habit of receiving alms.”

We cull from the _Public Advertiser_ of January 15th, 1789, the following piece of drollery, in the shape of an inscription on a temporary building on the Thames: “This Booth to Let. The present possessor of the Premises is Mr. Frost. His affairs, however, not being on a permanent footing, a dissolution, or bankruptcy may soon be expected, and a final settlement of the whole entrusted to Mr. Thaw.”

The printing-press was again at work on the ice, and in Crowle’s “Illustrated Pennant,” there is a bill, having a border of type flowers, containing the following lines:--

“The silver Thames was frozen o’er,
No difference twixt the stream and shore;
The like no man hath seen before,
Except he lived in days of yore.”

“On the Ice, at the Thames Printing-Office, opposite St. Catherine’s Stairs, in the severe Frost January, 1789. Printed by me, William Bailey.”

In the same collection is a stippled engraving entitled: “A View of the Thames from Rotherhithe Stairs, during the frost in 1789. Painted by G. Samuel, and engraved by W. Birch, enamel-painter.”

The end of the Fair we find thus described in the _London Chronicle_ of January 15th, 1789, “Perhaps the breaking up of the fair upon the Thames last Tuesday night below bridge, exceeded every idea that could be formed of it, as it was not until after the dusk of the evening that the busy crowd was persuaded of the approach of a thaw. This, however, with the crackling of some ice about eight o’clock, made the whole a scene of the most perfect confusion; as men, beasts, booths, turnabouts, puppet-shows, &c., &c., were all in motion, and pouring towards the shore on each side. The confluence here was so sudden and impetuous, that the watermen who had formed the toll-bars over the sides of the river, where they had broken the ice for that purpose, not being able to maintain their standard from the crowd, &c., pulled up the boards, by which a number of persons who could not leap, or were borne down by the press, were soused up to the middle.”

The next issue of the paper records that “on Thursday, January 15th, the ice was so powerful as to cut the cables of two vessels lying at the old Rose Chair, and drive them through the great arch of London bridge; when their masts becoming entangled with the balustrades, both were broken and many persons hurt.” The river remained frozen for some time after this.

[Sidenote: 1795-96]

The Antiquarian Society of Newcastle-on-Tyne recorded that the ice on the river Tyne was twenty inches thick. The Thames frozen.

[Sidenote: 1809]

We find in “Frostiana” the following particulars of the curious effect of cold on the feathered tribe:--“In February, 1809, a boy, in the service of Mr. W. Newman, miller, at Leybourne, near Malling, went into a field, called the Forty Acres, and saw a number of rooks on the ground very close together. He made a noise to drive them away, but they did not appear alarmed; he threw snow-balls to make them rise, still they remained. Surprised at this apparent indifference, he went in among them, and actually picked up twenty-seven rooks; and also in several parts of the same field, ninety larks, a pheasant, and a buzzard hawk. The cause of the inactivity of the birds, was a thing of rare occurrence in this climate; a heavy rain fell on Thursday afternoon, which, freezing as it came down, so completely glazed over the bodies of the birds, that they were fettered in a coat of ice, and completely deprived of the power of motion. Several of the larks were dead, having perished from the intensity of the cold. The buzzard hawk being strong, struggled hard for his liberty, broke his icy fetters and effected his escape.”

[Sidenote: 1811]

In January this year the Thames frozen over.--_Timbs._

[Sidenote: 1813-14]

On the evening of the 27th of December, 1813, a great fog commenced in London, and the greatest frost of the century set in. We have taken from a work compiled during the frost, the following reliable account of it:--

“On the night of 27th the darkness was so dense that the Prince Regent, who desired to pay a visit to the Marquis of Salisbury at Hatfield House, was obliged to return back to Carlton House, not, however, until one of his outriders had fallen into a ditch on the side of Kentish Town. The short excursion occupied several hours. Mr. Croker, of the Admiralty, intending to go northward, wandered in the dark for some hours without making more than three or four miles progress.”

On the night of the 28th of December, the Maidenhead coach, on its return from town, missed the road near Harford Bridge, and was overturned. Amongst the injured passengers was Lord Hawarden.

It took, on the 29th of December, the Birmingham mail nearly seven hours in going a couple of miles past Uxbridge, or a distance of about twenty miles.

On this and other evenings in London, a couple of persons with links ran by each horse’s head; yet with this and other precautions some serious and many whimsical accidents occurred. Pedestrians even carried links or lanterns, and a number who were not provided with lights lost themselves in the most frequented and at other times well-known streets. Hackney coachmen mistook the pathway for the road, and _vice versa_--the greatest possible confusion took place.

The state of the Metropolis on the night of the 31st of December was in consequence truly alarming. It required both great care and knowledge of the public streets to enable anyone to proceed any distance, and those obliged to venture out carried torches. The usual lamps appeared through the haze not larger than small candles. Many of the hackney coachmen led their horses, and others drove only at walking pace. Until the 3rd of January, 1814, lasted this tremendous fog, or “darkness that might be felt.”

Immediately on the cessation of the fogs, a heavy fall of snow commenced. A writer of the time said, “There is nothing in the memory of man to equal these falls.” With the exception of a few short intervals, the snow continued incessantly for forty-eight hours, and this, too, after the ground was covered with a condensation, the result of nearly four weeks’ continued frost. Nearly the whole of the time the wind blew from the north and north-east, and was intensely cold.

The state of the streets was rendered dangerous by a thaw which lasted about a day. The mass of snow and water became so thick, that it was with difficulty that the carriages could progress even with the aid of an additional horse each. Nearly all trades and callings carried on out of doors were stopped, which considerably increased the distress of the lower orders. The frost continued and skating occupied the chief attention of the people. It will be interesting to furnish an account of the state of the river Thames at this period.

Sunday, January 30th: Immense masses of ice that had floated from the upper parts of the river, in consequence of the thaw on the two preceding days, now blocked up the Thames between Blackfriars and London Bridges, and afforded every probability of its being frozen over in a day or two. Some venturous persons even now walked on different parts of the ice.

Monday, January 31st: This expectation was realised. During the whole of the afternoon, hundreds of people were assembled on Blackfriars and London Bridges, to see several adventurous men cross and recross the Thames on the ice; at one time seventy persons were counted walking from Queenhithe to the opposite shore. The frost on Sunday night so united the vast mass as to render it immovable by the tide.

Tuesday, February 1st: The floating masses of ice with which the Thames was covered, having been stopped by London Bridge, now assumed the shape of a solid surface over that part of the river which entered from Blackfriars Bridge to some distance below Three Crane Stairs, at the bottom of Queen-street, Cheapside. The watermen, taking advantage of the circumstance, placed notices at the end of all the streets leading to the city side of the river, announcing safe footway over the river, which, as might be expected, attracted immense crowds to witness so novel a scene. Many were induced to venture on the ice, and the example thus afforded soon led thousands to perambulate the rugged plain, where a variety of amusements were prepared for their entertainment.

Among the more curious of these was the ceremony of roasting a small sheep, which was toasted, or rather burnt over a coal fire, placed in a large iron pan. For a view of this extraordinary spectacle, sixpence was demanded, and willingly paid. The delicate meat when done was sold at a shilling a slice, and termed Lapland mutton.

Of booths there was a great number, which were ornamented with streamers, flags, and signs, and in which there was a plentiful store of those favourite luxuries, gin, beer and gingerbread.

Opposite Three Crane Stairs there was a complete and well-frequented thoroughfare to Bankside, which was strewed with ashes, and apparently afforded a very safe, although a very rough path.

Near Blackfriars Bridge, however, the path did not appear to be equally safe, for one young man, a plumber, named Davis, having imprudently ventured to cross with some lead in his hands, he sank between two masses of ice, to rise no more. Two young women nearly shared a similar fate, but were happily rescued from their perilous situation by the prompt efforts of a waterman. Many a fair nymph, indeed, was embraced in the very arms of old Father Thames; three prim young quakeresses had a sort of semi-bathing near London Bridge, and when landed on _terra firma_, made the best of their way through the Borough, amid the shouts of an admiring populace, to their residence at Newington. In consequence of the impediments to the current of the river at London Bridge, the tide did not ebb for some days more than one half the usual mark.

Wednesday, February 2nd: The Thames presented a complete Frost Fair. The grand mall or walk was from Blackfriars Bridge; this was named the City-road, and lined on each side with tradesmen of all descriptions. Eight or ten printing presses were erected, and numerous pieces commemorative of the great frost were actually printed on the ice. Some of these frosty typographers displayed considerable taste in the specimens.

At one press an orange-coloured standard was hoisted, with the watch word “Orange Boven” in large characters, and the following papers were issued from it:--

FROST FAIR.

“Amidst the arts which on the Thames appear,
To Tell the wonders of this icy year,
Printing claims a prior place, which at one view
Erects a monument of That and You.”

Another:--

“You that walk here, and do design to tell
Your children’s children what this year befell,
Come, buy this print, and it will then be seen
That such a year as this has seldom been.”

Another of these stainers of paper addressed the spectators in the following terms:--

“Friends, now is your time to support the freedom of the press. Can the press have greater liberty? Here you find it working in the middle of the Thames; and if you encourage us by buying our impressions, we will keep it going in the true spirit of liberty during the frost.”

One of the articles printed and sold contained the following lines:--

“Behold the river Thames is frozen o’er,
Which lately ships of mighty burden bore;
Now different arts and pastimes here you see,
But printing claims the superiority.”

Besides the above the Lord’s Prayer and several other pieces were issued from these ice bated printing offices, and were bought with the greatest avidity.

Thursday, February 3rd: The adventurers were still more numerous. Swings, book-stalls, dancing in a barge, suttling-booths, playing at skittles, and almost every appendage of a fair on land was now transferred to the Thames. Thousands of people flocked to behold this singular spectacle, and to partake of the various sports and pastimes. The ice now became like a solid rock of adamant, and presented a truly picturesque appearance. The view of St. Paul’s and of the city with its white foreground had a very singular effect; in many parts mountains of ice were upheaved, and these fragments bore a strong resemblance to the rude interior of a stone quarry.

Friday, February, 4th: Every day brought a fresh accession of “pedlars to sell their wares,” and the greatest rubbish of all sorts was raked up and sold at double and treble the original cost. Books and toys labelled “bought on the Thames” were seen in profusion. The waterman profited exceedingly, for each person paid a toll of 2d. or 3d. before he was admitted to the Frost Fair. Some _douceur_ also was expected on your return. These men were said to have taken £6 each in the course of a day.

This afternoon, about five o’clock three persons, an old man and two lads, having ventured on a piece of ice above London Bridge, it suddenly detached itself from the main body, and was carried by the tide through one of the arches. The persons on the ice, who laid themselves down for safety, were observed by the boatmen at Billingsgate, who with laudable activity, put off to their assistance, and rescued them from their danger.

One of them was able to walk, but the other two were carried in a state of insensibility to a public-house in the neighbourhood, where they received every attention their situation required.

Many persons were seen on the ice till late at night, and the effect by moonlight was singularly picturesque and beautiful. With a little stretch of imagination, we might have transported ourselves to the frozen climes of the north--to Lapland, Sweden or Holland.

Saturday, February 5th: The morning of this day augured rather unfavourably for the continuance of Frost Fair. The wind had shifted to the south, and a light fall of snow took place. The visitors of the Thames, however, were not to be deterred by trifles. Thousands again returned, and there was much life and bustle on the frozen element.

The footpath in the centre of the river was hard and secure, and among the pedestrians we observed four donkeys which trotted at a nimble pace and produced considerable merriment. At every glance, the spectator met with some pleasing novelty. Gaming in all its branches threw out different allurements, while honesty was out of the question. Many of the itinerant admirers of the profit gained by E. O. Tables, wheel of fortune, the garter, &c., were industrious in their avocations, leaving their kind customers without a penny to pay their passage over a plank to the shore. Skittles was played by several parties, and the drinking tents filled by females and their companions, dancing reels to the sound of fiddles, while others sat round large fires, drinking rum, grog, and other spirits. Tea, coffee, and eatables were provided in ample order, while passengers were invited to eat by way of recording their visit. Several respectable tradesmen also attended with their wares, selling books, toys, and trinkets of every description.

Towards evening the concourse became thinned; rain fell in some quantity; Maister Ice gave some loud cracks, and floated with the printing presses, booths, &c., to the no small dismay of publicans, typographers, &c. In short, this icy palace of Momus, this fairy frost work, was soon to be dissolved, and doomed to vanish like the baseless fabric of a vision, but leaving some “wrecks behind.”

A short time before the thaw, a gentleman standing by one of the printing presses, and supposed to be a limb of the law, handed the following _jeu d’esprit_ to its conductor, requesting that it might be printed on the Thames. The prophecy which it contains has been most remarkably fulfilled:--

“To Madam Tabitha Thaw.

Dear dissolving dame,--

Father Frost and Sister Snow have boneyed my borders, formed an
idol of ice upon my bosom, and all the Lords of London came to
make merry: now, as you love mischief, treat the multitude with a
few cracks by a sudden visit, and obtain the prayers of the poor
upon both banks. Given at my press the 5th February, 1814. Thomas
Thames.”

It was evident that a thaw was rapidly taking place, yet such was the indiscretion and heedlessness of some persons that one fatal accident occurred.

Two genteel looking young men fell victims to their temerity in venturing on the ice above Westminster Bridge, notwithstanding the warnings of the waterman. A large mass on which they stood, and which had been loosened by the flood-tide, gave way, and they floated down the stream. As they passed under Westminster Bridge they cried out most piteously for help. They had not gone far before they sat down, but, going too near the edge, they overbalanced the mass, and were precipitated into the stream, sinking not to appear again.

This morning, also, Mr. Lawrence, of the Feathers, in High Timber street, Queenhithe, erected a booth on the Thames opposite Brook’s Wharf, for the accommodation of the curious. At nine at night he left it to the care of two men, taking away all liquors, except some gin, which he gave them for their own use.

Sunday, February 6th: At two o’clock this morning, the tide began to flow with great rapidity at London Bridge; the thaw assisted the efforts of the tide, and the booth just mentioned was hurried along with the quickness of lightning towards Blackfriars Bridge. There were nine men in it, and in their alarm they neglected the fire and candles, which, communicating with the covering, set it in a flame. The men succeeded in getting into a lighter which had broken from its moorings, but it was dashed to pieces against one of the piers of Blackfriars Bridge, on which seven of them got, and were taken off safely; the other two got into a barge while passing Puddle Dock.

On this day, the Thames towards high tide (about 3 p.m.) presented a very tolerable idea of the frozen ocean; grand masses of ice floating along, added to the great height of the water and afforded a striking sight for contemplation.

Thousands of disappointed persons thronged the banks; and many a ’prentice boy and servant maid sighed unutterable things at the sudden and unlooked-for destruction of Frost Fair.

Monday, February, 7th: Large masses of ice are yet floating, and numerous lighters, broken from their moorings, are seen in different parts of the river, many of them complete wrecks. The damage done to the craft and barges is supposed to be very great. From London Bridge to Westminster, twenty thousand pounds will scarcely make good the losses that have been sustained.

An interesting account of an “Ice Festival” is given in the pages of _The Champion_ of February 6th, 1814. It is chronicled that “Saturday se’nnight afforded to the inhabitants of Kelso a scene to which there has been nothing similar for the last 73 years. The late severe weather having frozen the Tweed completely over, a number of the respectable inhabitants were desirous of dining on the ice, and gave orders to Mr. Lander, of the Queen’s Head Inn, to provide what was necessary for the occasion. He accordingly erected an enormous tent in the midst of the river, opposite Ednam House, and served up an excellent and hot dinner to a numerous and respectable company. The tent, which was well heated by stoves, was surmounted by an orange flag, and the union flags of England and Holland were displayed on tables. From forty to fifty sat down to dinner. The following toasts were drunk with glee:--‘General Frost, who so signally fought last winter for the deliverance of Europe, and who now supports the present company.’ ‘Both sides of the Tweed, and God preserve us in the middle.’ The company were much gratified by seeing among them an old inhabitant of the town who was present at the last entertainment given under similar circumstances, in the winter of the year 1740, when part of an ox was roasted on the ice. No accident happened to disturb the pleasures of the scene.”

From a scene of rejoicing let us turn to a record of a painful death occurring at this period. We find in the “Annals of Manchester,” edited by W. E. A. Axon, (pub. 1886) a note as follows, under the year 1814:--“Miss Lavinia Robinson was found drowned in the Irwell, near the Mode Wheel, February 8. This young lady, who possessed superior mental accomplishments, as well as personal beauty, was engaged to Mr. Holroyd, a surgeon, but on the eve of her intended marriage she disappeared from her home in Bridge Street, December 6th, and owing to the long frost, her body remained under the ice for a long period. It appears most probable that the rash act of the ‘Manchester Ophelia’ was due to a quarrel in which her betrothed had repeated some slanderous statements respecting her. There was, however, a strong suspicion that she had met with foul play. The slanders were shown to be baseless, and the feeling against Mr. Holroyd was so strong that he had to leave the town. (Procter’s ‘Bygone Manchester,’ pages 268, 269. ‘City News Notes and Queries,’ vol. I., p. 265.)”

We extract from the _Newcastle Weekly Chronicle_ the following lines by an anonymous author:--

TYNE FAIR; OR, THE GREAT FROST, JAN. 31, AND FEB. 1, 1814.

The frost here commemorated began about the 8th December, 1813, and continued in a gentle manner until the morning of the 14th January, 1814, when a stronger frost covered the Tyne below bridge with a smooth and perfect sheet of ice, on which, the succeeding day, a number of people ventured, and skaters, for three successive days. A partial thaw came on which damped the ardour of skaters, until the night of the 29th of January, when again a severe frost considerably strengthened the ice, and presented a glassy surface above bridge. On Monday, 31st January, no less than seven tents were erected on it for the sale of spirits, and fires kindled on that and the succeeding day. Parties dined in various of the tents. The desire of recreation shone forth in every face. Horse shoes, football, “toss or buy,” rolly polly, fiddlers, pipers, razor grinders, recruiting parties, and racers with and without skates, were all alive to the moment. Hats, breeches, shifts, stockings, ribbons, and even legs of mutton, were the rewards of the racers, who turned night into day; the brilliancy of the full moon contributing to their diversions until late beyond midnight. A horse and sledge above bridge added to the novelty of the scene; and it is worthy of remark that not one accident of consequence happened, although thousands ventured their persons upon the ice. Owing to the severity of the season, the London Mail for Friday, the 21st January, and three following days, was brought to Newcastle on the fifth day, in the Lord Wellington Coach, with eight horses; a circumstance quite new to the inhabitants of canny Newcastle.

The angry winter storms aloud,
In icy chains the floods are bound;
And on the Tyne the people crowd,
As if it were on level ground.

The keelmen now lay many a plank,
To make safe footing on the Tyne;
And old and young of every rank
Pay them a toll to pace the Tyne.

There’s next erected many a tent,
And blazing fires the fancy charm;
Where the shivering lookers-on soon went,
And dine and drink to keep them warm.

From Red Heugh down to Ouse Burn Quay,
The river’s crowded like a fair;
And many a group of people play
At horse shoes for a quart of beer.

Two asses on the ice were brought--
A smock displayed, for which a race
Upon the Tyne, who would have thought
To see such sport in such a place?

There’s “Bambro’ Jack,” and “Mutton Pies,”
With plump-fac’d Nell and hot black puddings,
“Come taste them, hinny,” oft she cries,
“Believe me, lad, they’re very goodens.”

There’s Jack the razor-grinder too,
Rolling his wheel o’er icy Tyne;
Tho’ he’s as “drunk as Davey’s sow,”
Yet he obtains some skates to grind.

Here Jim the fiddler screw’d his pegs,
While stripling wenches round him dance;
And bold recruits a party begs
To gather laurels e’en in France.

In Jemmy Nelson’s tent we see,
A toping party do combine,
To pass the afternoon with glee,
And drown their cares in rosy wine.

Now turn your eyes west of the bridge,
And you will view a sight that’s rare,
A horse there draws a Northern sledge,
Like unto Neptune’s stately car.

Peg Swinney, she to seek her mate,
Made her first passage o’er a ship,
But on the plank she slipp’d her feet,
Fell on the ice and lamed her hip.

A barber, bred in Thespis’ school,
With a new pair of skates well shod,
Display’d his anticks like a fool,
And through the arch he took his road.

But here the faithless ice soon broke,
Up to the shoulders sous’d was he,
Where he remain’d till with a rope,
Some sailors dragg’d him to the quay.

A gentle thaw took place at last,
The keels are all afloat we see;
And dingy Tyne, late bound so fast,
Now rolls its current to the sea.

[Sidenote: 1814]

The winter very severe in Ireland.

[Sidenote: 1838]

On the 7th January a very severe frost set in and continued a month. This frost was predicted in “Murphy’s Almanack,” and the fulfilment of the prediction rendered the publication extremely popular. A rhyme of the period was as follows--

Murphy hath a weather eye,
He can tell whatever he pleases,
Whether it will be wet or dry,
When it thaws and when it freezes.

It is recorded in January this year, that the thermometer at Walton, near Claremont, fell to 14 deg. below zero; at Beckenham it was 13½ deg. below zero; at Wallingford, 5 deg. below zero; at Greenwich, 4 deg. below zero; and at Glasgow 1 deg. below zero.

The principal rivers of this country were frozen over. This winter is frequently called “Murphy’s winter.”

[Sidenote: 1855]

On January 16th a very strong frost commenced, and prevailed for about six weeks. Rivers were frozen over, and inland navigation was entirely suspended. The working classes were subject to many privations on account of the dearness of food and depression of trade. In London 10,000 dock porters were out of work, and such was their sufferings that bread-riots occurred in the east end of the town. During this frost traffic was established on the Ure in Lincolnshire to the distance of thirty-five miles.

[Sidenote: 1860-61]

Very severe frost from 20th December to 5th January. Says the _Northern Daily Telegraph_, in a recent article on “Old Fashioned Winters” “on the 25th of December, 1860, the thermometer in London fell to 15 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 17 degrees below freezing point. In the country the same intensity of cold was felt, and a certain meteorologist wrote to the _Times_ stating that at Boston, in Nottinghamshire, the temperature four feet above the ground was 8 degrees below zero, whilst on the grass it was 13 degrees, or 45 degrees of frost. Fortunately this extreme cold only lasted three days, and the inconveniences attending it--in themselves bad enough--were not to be compared with the miseries which accompanied the great Frost Fair.”

[Sidenote: 1879-1880]

In the middle of January, 1880, it was expected by many that a Frost Fair would once more be held on the Thames. The last two months of 1879 and the opening month of 1880 were extremely cold. The President of the Meteorological Society in his report, 1880, says, “The period through which we have been passing since October, 1878, has been one of great cold, in many respects without precedent during nearly a quarter of a century. The harvest of 1879 is recorded as the worst ever known. Shrubs, even hollies, little short of 100 years old were killed. Birds were destroyed, Robin Redbreasts took shelter in our houses; all the rivers in England were frozen over. It is stated that Major Slack of the 63rd Regiment, at Oakamoor Station, railway lamps were frozen out, and that rabbits pushed for food had attacked the oil and grease on the station crane.” At Chirmside Bridge a temperature of 6° below zero was observed. Peach trees 60 years old were killed to the roots. The evergreens, laurels, rhododendrons, hollies in many instances, Wellingtonias, and many others were all killed, and many people frozen to death. This frost began on the 22nd November, 1879, and on the 2nd February, 1880, a thaw began.

[Sidenote: 1881]

Severe frost from the 7th to the 27th January. Snow fell daily from the 9th to the 27th of the month.

[Sidenote: 1886-7]

The concluding pages of this work are being written and printed during a hard frost. The closing days of the past year, and the early days of the current year will long be remembered amongst severe winters.

Perhaps we cannot more fitly close our account of “Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs,” than by quoting the following lines from the facile pen of Edith May, culled from the pages of Hale’s “Selections of Female Writers,” published in 1853.

FROST PICTURES.

When like a sullen exile driven forth,
Southward, December drags his icy chain,
He graves fair pictures of his native North
On the crisp window-pane.

So some pale captive blurs, with lips unshorn,
The latticed glass, and shapes rude outlines there,
With listless finger and a look forlorn,
Cheating his dull despair.

The fairy fragments of some Arctic scene
I see to-night; blank wastes of polar snow,
Ice-laden boughs, and feathery pines that lean
Over ravines below.

Black frozen lakes, and icy peaks blown bare,
Break the white surface of the crusted pane,
And spear-like leaves, long ferns, and blossoms fair
Linked in silvery chain.

Draw me, I pray thee, by this slender thread;
Fancy, thou sorceress, bending vision-wrought
O’er that dim well perpetually fed
By the clear springs of thought!

Northward I turn, and tread those dreary strands,--
Lakes where the wild fowl breed, the swan abides;
Shores where the white fox, burrowing in the sands,
Harks to the droning tides.

And seas, where, drifting on a raft of ice,
The she bear rears her young; and cliffs so high,
The dark-winged birds that emulate their rise
Melt through the pale blue sky.

There, all night long, with far diverging rays,
And stalking shades, the red Auroras glow;
From the keen heaven, meek suns with pallid blaze
Light up the Arctic snow.

Guide me, I pray, along those waves remote,
That deep unstartled from its primal rest;
Some errant sail, the fisher’s lone light boat
Borne waif-like on its breast!

Lead me, I pray, where never shallop’s keel
Brake the dull ripples throbbing to their caves:
Where the mailed glacier with his armed heel
Spurs the resisting waves!

Paint me, I pray, the phantom hosts that hold
Celestial tourneys when the midnight calls;
On airy steeds, with lances bright and bold,
Storming her ancient halls.

Yet, while I look, the magic picture fades;
Melts the bright tracery from the frosted pane;
Trees, vales, and cliffs, in sparkling snows arrayed,
Dissolve in silvery rain.

Without, the day’s pale glories sink and swell
Over the black rise of yon wooded height;
The moon’s thin crescent, like a stranded shell,
Left on the shores of night.

Hark how the north wind, with a hasty hand,
Rattling my casement, frames his mystic rhyme.
House thee, rude minstrel, chanting through the land,
Runes of the olden times.

INDEX.

Ale, Hot, used for mixing mortar, 9.

Anne, Princess, visits the Frost Fair, 19, 20.

Armitage, John, High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 12.

Artichokes, growth of, in London in 1608, 11.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, a Broadside in, 32.

Axon’s, W. E. A., _Annals of Manchester_, quoted, 74.

Bailey, Wm., printer on the Thames, 58.

Bampton, Devonshire, Icy Epitaph at, 53.

Barley, Price of, in 1614, 12.

Bartholomew Fair, 33, 56.

Bath, Severe Frost at, in 1754, 51.

Beale, Dr., on the frost of 1672, 17.

Beans, price of, in 1614, 12.

Bear-Baiting on the Ice, 55.

Beckenham, 79.

Bess of Hardwick, Death of, 9.

Birch, W., Enamel-painter and Engraver, 58.

Birmingham Mails delayed through a dense Fog, 61.

_Blanket Fair, A True description of, upon the River Thames, 1683. A
broadside_, 22-26.

Bodleian Library, Oxford, _Cold Doings in London_, a tract in, 11.

_Book of Liberty_, read in Churches, 13.

Boston, Notts., Severe Frost at, 80.

Bowles, John, Printseller at “The Black Horse,” 44.

Bowyer, William, Printer, 43.

Brugis, H., Printer, 26.

Catherine, Queen, Infanta of Portugal, 19.

_Champion, The_, on the Ice Festival of 1814, 73.

Charles II., Visit to the Frost Fair on the Thames in 1683-84, 19.

Chatsworth, 9.

Chirmside Bridge. Temperature at, 81.

_Cold Doings in London_, quoted, 11.

“Cold Yeare, The” quoted, 13.

Cornwall, slight frost of 1763, 52.

Corsellis, F., Oxford’s first Printer, 48.

Croker, J. Wilson, 61.

Croom, G., Printing done on the Thames by, 19, 20.

Cross, John, 45.

Crowle’s _Illustrated Pennant_, quoted, 58.

Dalton, C. and R., Bell-founders, York, 54.

Davis, Mr., Drowning of, 65.

Derbyshire, Chatsworth, 9;
Hardwick, 8, 9.

Dawks’s _News-Letter_, on the frost of 1715-16, 41, 42.

D’Este, Mary, 19.

Doll, the pippin Woman, death of, 49,
Gay’s verse on, _ibid._

Drake’s _Eboracum_, quoted, 10, 12.

“Drunk as Davey’s Sow,” a phrase, 77.

Ecclesfield Parish Register, extract from, on mixing Mortar with
Malt-Liquor, 9.

Ednam House, Kelso, 73.

Eggs used for pointing Churches, 9.

Elizabeth, Queen, 8.

England, 73,
Introduction of Printing into, by Henry VI., 48;
Rivers Frozen, 80;
Severe frost in 359, 1.

_English Chronicle, The, or Frosty Calendar_, a broadside, 1739-40, 46.

E. O. Tables, gambling by, practised, 69.

Epitaph, Icy, at Bampton, Devonshire, 53.

_Erra Pater’s Prophesy, or Frost Fair in 1683_, quoted, 39.

Evelyn, John, on the Frost of 1648-49, 14;
frost of 1683-84, 17, 20.

Faust, J., Inventor of Printing, 48.

Foss, River, 12.

Foster, Geo., Printseller, St. Paul’s Church-yard, 46.

_Frost Fair, An Extract Draught of, on the River Thames_, 46.

_Frost Fair on the River Thames_, 1715-16, 43-44.

_Frost in the Year 1739-40_, quoted, 45.

Frost Pictures, a Poem, by Edith May, 82-83.

_Frostiana_, Curious effect of the cold on birds in the Frost of 1806
mentioned in, 60.

Gainsborough, 13.

Gent, Thos., His Printing shop on the river Ouse, at York, in 1719,
49-50.

_Gentleman’s Magazine_ on the Frost of 1742, 51,
on the Frost of 1763, _ibid._,
of 1782, 53, 54,
of 1784, 55,
and of 1789, 55.

George, Prince, of Denmark, 20.

Glasgow, 79.

Gottenburgh, John, Printer, 48.

Gough, Richard. 11.

Gravesend, 7.

_Great Britain’s Wonder: or London’s Admiration_, A Broadside, 26.

Greenwich, 79.

_Grey Friars, Chronicles of the_, quoted, 7.

Hale’s _Selections of Female Writers_, quoted 81.

Haly, M., Printer, 32.

Harford Bridge, 61.

_Harleian Miscellany_, quoted, 3.

Harley Thos., Lord Mayor of London, 52.

Hatfield House, 61.

Hawarden, Lord, Accident to, 61.

Hay, price of, in 1614, 12.

Heaton, John, Printer, 40.

Henry II. 5.

⸺ III. 5.

⸺ VI. and the Introduction of Printing into England, 48.

Hodgeson, Mr., 48.

Holinshed’s “_Chronicle_,” quoted, 8.

Holland, 69, 73.

Holroyd, Mr., 74, 75.

Horse Shoe, Game of, 77.

Howe’s “_Stow’s English Chronicle_,” quoted, 6, 10.

Hulse, Sir Henry, Knt, 39.

_Ice Fair_, quoted, 45.

Icy Epitaph, 53.

Ireland, 73;
slight frost of 1763, 52.

Irwell River, Drowning of Miss Robinson in, 74.

Jackson’s _Pictorial Press_, quoted, 32.

Kelso, Ice Festival at, 73;
Ednam House, 73;
Queen’s Head Inn, 73.

Kentish Town, 61.

Lambeth, 6, 7, 8, 18.

Lander, Mr. Publican, Public dinner served on the river Tweed by,
during the frost of 1814, 73.

Lapland, 69;
Lapland Mutton, 64.

Lawrence, Mr., Publican, erected a booth on the Thames, 71.

Leeds, 13.

Leybourne, Birds fettered with Ice at, 60.

Lintott, Bernard, Bookseller, 43.