So, when not writing the adventures of Matthew Swift as Kate Griffin, I write children’s books – the adventures of Horatio Lyle – as Catherine Webb. (Which you may or may not enjoy, I dunno…?) These are stories set in Victorian London about a part-time detective and his unlikely mates, but the real point of this entry, apart from to say all of the above, is to talk about Henry Mayhew.
With my historian’s nerdy hat on, I gotta say right now, I love primary sources. It’s all very well being told by historians of today that in the dark old days the streets of London were knee-deep in horse manure, but when you read the actual documents written by the people of London who lived in London at the time, you get so much more. You get a sense of the stink of it, the feel of it, the noise and the bustle, the casual attitude of the inhabitants towards filth and the outrage of the people towards the conditions they live in, all jumbled up together; you get street seller’s cries and verbatim stories of nasty things done by improbable characters – you get, in short, a fantastic story, that has the added benefit of being real. And Henry Mayhew, praised be to historical fore-thought, left posterity one of the most comprehensive, most exciting accounts of Victorian London as he was living in it that I have ever read.
That said, the guy suffers from statistics, and in doing so arguably proves the point that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics – but he also spent years walking the streets of London and talking to everyone and everything from every class and every walk of society, going into places where even Charles Dickens (a man who prided himself on being indomitable) would hesitate to wander. The London of Mayhew reads like another world, full of rookeries and slums, no-go areas and vast contrasts and, if you ever find yourself contemplating the history of London and wanting to get to know it a little bit more, I heartily recommend the works of Henry Mayhew as an entertaining and wonderfully enlightening read.
2 comments
jess says:
September 23, 2009 at 5:25 pm (UTC 1 )
Horatio Lyle! Does this mean you’re working on a fifth installment for him, as well? I can’t wait for number four next spring.
And I might just have to check out Mayhew. I’ve had an historical hankering for a while.
daveyboond says:
October 3, 2009 at 5:35 pm (UTC 1 )
After a discussion about the origins of Polari, a friend sent me this image of a Victorian handbill:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/t.....085/page2/
- together with Mayhew’s transcription of it, below. It’s striking how much it some of it sounds like the ‘nadsat’ used in A Clockwork Orange’:
“Once try you’ll come again.
Slap-up Tog and out-and-out Kicksies Builder.
Mr. — nabs the chance of putting his cus-
tomers awake, that he has just made his escape
from Russia, not forgetting to clap his mawleys
upon some of the right sort of Ducks, to make
single and double backed Slops for gentlemen
in black, when on his return home he was
stunned to find one of the top manufacturers of
Manchester had cut his lucky and stepped off
to the Swan Stream, leaving behind him a
valuable stock of Moleskins, Cords, Velve-
teens, Plushes, Swandowns, &c., and I having
some ready in my kick, grabbed the chance,
and stepped home with my swag, and am now
safe landed at my crib. I can turn out toggery
of every description very slap up, at the fol-
lowing low prices for
Ready Gilt — Tick being no go.
Upper Benjamins, built on a downey plan, a
monarch to half a finnuff. Slap up Velveteen
Togs, lined with the same, 1 pound 1 quarter
and a peg. Moleskin ditto, any colour, lined
with the same, 1 couter. A pair of Kerseymere
Kicksies, any colour, built very slap up, with
the artful dodge, a canary. Pair of stout Cord
ditto, built in the `Melton Mowbray’ style, half
a sov. Pair of very good broad Cord ditto, made
very saucy, 9 bob and a kick. Pair of long
sleeve Moleskin, all colours, built hanky-spanky,
with a double fakement down the side and artful
buttons at bottom, half a monarch. Pair of stout
ditto, built very serious, 9 times. Pair of out-
and-out fancy sleeve Kicksies, cut to drop down
on the trotters, 2 bulls. Waist Togs, cut long,
with moleskin back and sleeves, 10 peg. Blue
Cloth ditto, cut slap, with pearl buttons, 14 peg.
Mud Pipes, Knee Caps, and Trotter Cases, built
very low.
“A decent allowance made to Seedy Swells,
Tea Kettle Purgers, Head Robbers, and Flun-
keys out of Collar.
“N.B. Gentlemen finding their own Broady
can be accommodated.”