n
known as apprentices, and likewise by comely wenches.

At corners and nooks of streets, under eaves of churches and great
buildings, and other places of shelter, sat followers of various trades
and vendors of divers commodities, each in the place which had become
his from daily association and long habit. These good people, together
with keepers of stalls and shops, extolled their wares in deafening
shouts; snatches of song, shouts of laughter, and the clang of pewter
vessels came in bursts of discord from open tavern doors; women
discoursed with or abused each other, according to their temper and
inclination as they leaned from the jutting small-paned windows and open
balconies of their homesteads; hackney coaches or "hell carts," as they
drove by, cast filth and refuse lying in kennels upon the clothes of
passengers; the carriers of sedan-chairs deposited their burthens to
fight for right of way in narrow passages and round crowded corners.

Through the busy concourse flowing up and down the thoroughfares from
dawn to dusk, street-criers took their way, bearing wares upon their
heads in wicker baskets, before them on broad trays, or slung upon their
backs in goodly packs. And as they passed, their voices rose above the
general din, calling "Fair lemons and oranges, oranges and citrons!"
"Cherries, sweet cherries, ripe and red!" "New flounders and great
plaice; buy my dish of great eels!" "Rosemary and sweet briar; who'll
buy my lavender?" "Fresh cheese and cream!" "Lily-white vinegar!"
"Dainty sausages!" which calls, being frequently intoned to staves
of melody, fell with pleasant sounds upon the ear. [These hawkers so
seriously interfered with legitimate traders, that in 1694 they were
forbidden to sell any goods or merchandise in any public place within
the city or liberties, except in open markets and fairs, on penalty of
forty shillings for each offence, both to buyers and sellers.] Moreover,
to these divers sights and sounds were added ballad singers, who piped
ditties upon topics of the day; quacks who sold nostrums and magic
potions; dancers who performed on tight-ropes; wandering musicians;
fire-eaters of great renown; exhibitors of dancing dolls, and such like
itinerants "as make show of motions and strange sights," all of whom
were obliged to have and to hold "a license in red and black letters,
under the hand and seal of Thomas Killigrew, Esq., master of the revels
to his sacred majesty Charles II."

A