The Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Britain, by Washington Irving

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Title: Little Britain

Author: Washington Irving

Release Date: April, 1997 [Etext #877]
Posting Date: July 9, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE BRITAIN ***

Produced by Anthony J. Adam and David Widger

LITTLE BRITAIN

By Washington Irving

What I write is most true... I have a whole booke of cases
lying by me which if I should sette foorth, some grave
auntients (within the hearing of Bow bell) would be out of
charity with me.--NASHE.

In the centre of the great city of London lies a small neighborhood,
consisting of a cluster of narrow streets and courts, of very venerable
and debilitated houses, which goes by the name of LITTLE BRITAIN. Christ
Church School and St. Bartholomew's Hospital bound it on the west;
Smithfield and Long Lane on the north; Aldersgate Street, like an arm
of the sea, divides it from the eastern part of the city; whilst the
yawning gulf of Bull-and-Mouth Street separates it from Butcher Lane,
and the regions of Newgate. Over this little territory, thus bounded and
designated, the great dome of St. Paul's, swelling above the intervening
houses of Paternoster Row, Amen Corner, and Ave Maria Lane, looks down
with an air of motherly protection.

This quarter derives its appellation from having been, in ancient times,
the residence of the Dukes of Brittany. As London increased, however,
rank and fashion rolled off to the west, and trade, creeping on at their
heels, took possession of their deserted abodes. For some time Little
Britain became the great mart of learning, and was peopled by the busy
and prolific race of booksellers; these also gradually deserted it, and,
emigrating beyond the great strait of Newgate Street, settled down
in Paternoster Row and St. Paul's Churchyard, where they continue to
increase and multiply even at the present day.

But though thus falling into decline, Little Britain still bears traces
of its former splendor. There are several houses ready to tumble down,
the fronts of which are magnificently enriched with old oaken ca