The Old Showmen and the Old London Fairs Part 13

"Striped untamable _Hyaena_, a tiger-wolf.

"An elegant _Leopard_, the handsomest marked animal ever seen.

"Spotted _Laughing Hyaena_, the same kind of animal described never to be tamed; but, singular to observe, it is perfectly tame, and its attachment to a dog in the same den is very remarkable.

"The spotted _Cavy_.

"Pair of _Jackalls_.

"Pair of interesting _Sledge Dogs_, brought over by Captain Parry from one of the northern expeditions; they are used by the Esquimaux to draw the sledges on the ice, which they accomplish with great velocitv.

"A pair of _Rackoons_, from North America.

"The _Oggouta_, from Java.

"A pair of Jennetts, or wild cats.

"The _Coatimondi_, or ant-eater.

"A pair of those extraordinary and rare birds, PELICANS of the wilderness; the only two alive in the three kingdoms.--These birds have been represented on all crests and coats of arms, to cut their b.r.e.a.s.t.s open with the points of their bills, and feed their young with their own blood, and are justly allowed by all authors to be the greatest curiosity of the feathered tribe.

"_Ardea Dubia_, or adjutant of Bengal, gigantic emew, or Linnaeus's southern ostrich. The peculiar characteristics that distinguish this bird from the rest of the feathered tribe,--it comes from Brazil, in the new continent; it stands from eight to nine feet high when full grown; it is too large to fly, but is capable of outrunning the fleetest horses of Arabia; what is still more singular, every quill produces two feathers.

The only one travelling.

"A pair of rapacious _Condor Minors_, from the interior of South America, the largest birds of flight in the world when full grown; it is the same kind of bird the Indians have a.s.serted to carry off a deer or young calf in their talons, and two of them are sufficient to destroy a buffalo, and the wings are as much as eighteen feet across.

"The great _Horned Owl_ of Bohemia. Several species of gold and silver pheasants, of the most splendid plumage, from China and Peru.

Yellow-crested c.o.c.katoo. Scarlet and buff macaws.--Admittance to see the whole menagerie, 1_s._--Children 6_d._--Open from ten in the forenoon till feeding-time, half-past nine, 2_s._"

Hone says that this menagerie was thoroughly clean, and that the condition of the animals told that they were well taken care of. The elephant, with his head protruded between the stout bars of his house, whisked his proboscis diligently in search of eatables from the spectators, who supplied him with fruit and biscuits, or handed him halfpence which he uniformly conveyed by his trunk to a retailer of gingerbread, and got his money's worth in return. Then he unbolted the door to let in his keeper, and bolted it after him; took up a sixpence with his trunk, lifted the lid of a little box fixed against the wall, and deposited it within it, and some time afterwards relifted the lid, and taking out the sixpence with a single motion, returned it to the keeper; he knelt down when told, fired off a blunderbuss, took off the keeper's hat, and afterwards replaced it on his head as well as the man's hand could have done it; in short, he was perfectly docile, and well maintained the reputation of his species for a high degree of intelligence.

"The keeper," says Hone, "showed every animal in an intelligent manner, and answered the questions of the company readily and with civility. His conduct was rewarded by a good parcel of halfpence when his hat went round with a hope that 'the ladies and gentlemen would not forget the keeper before he showed the lion and tigress.' The latter was a beautiful young animal, with playful cubs about the size of bull-dogs, but without the least fierceness. When the man entered the den, they frolicked and climbed about him like kittens; he took them up in his arms, bolted them in a back apartment, and after playing with the tigress a little, threw back a part.i.tion which separated her den from the lion's, and then took the lion by the beard. This was a n.o.ble animal; he was couching, and being inclined to take his rest, only answered the keeper's command to rise by extending his whole length, and playfully putting up one of his magnificent paws, as a cat does when in a good humour. The man then took a short whip, and after a smart lash or two upon his back, the lion rose with a yawn, and fixed his eye on his keeper with a look that seemed to say, 'Well, I suppose I must humour you.'

"The man then sat down at the back of the den, with his back at the part.i.tion, and after some ordering and coaxing, the tigress sat on his right hand, and the lion on his left, and, all three being thus seated, he threw his arms round their necks, played with their noses, and laid their heads in his lap. He rose, and the animals with him; the lion stood in a fine majestic position, but the tigress reared, and putting one foot over his shoulder, and patting him with the other, as if she had been frolicking with one of her cubs, he was obliged to check her playfulness.

Then by coaxing, and pus.h.i.+ng him about, he caused the lion to sit down, and while in that position opened the animal's ponderous jaws with his hands, and thrust his face down into the lion's throat, wherein he shouted, and there held his head nearly a minute. After this he held up a common hoop for the tigress to leap through, and she did it frequently.

The lion seemed more difficult to move to this sport. He did not appear to be excited by command or entreaty; at last, however, he went through the hoop, and having been once roused, he repeated the action several times; the hoop was scarcely two feet in diameter. The exhibition of these two animals concluded by the lion lying down on his side, when the keeper stretched himself to his whole length upon him, and then calling to the tigress she jumped upon the man, extended herself with her paws upon his shoulders, placed her face sideways upon his, and the whole three lay quiescent till the keeper suddenly slipped himself off the lion's side, with the tigress on him, and the trio gambolled and rolled about on the floor of the den, like playful children on the floor of a nursery.

"Of the beasts there is not room to say more than that their number was surprising, considering that they formed a better selected collection, and showed in higher condition from cleanliness and good feeding, than any a.s.semblage I ever saw. Their variety and beauty, with the usual accessory of monkeys, made a splendid picture. The birds were equally admirable, especially the pelicans and the emew. This show would have furnished a dozen sixpenny shows, at least, to a Bartlemy Fair twenty years ago."

The other menageries were penny shows. One was Ballard's, of which the great attraction was still, though nine years had elapsed since the event, the lioness which attacked the Exeter mail-coach. The collection contained besides a fine lion, a tiger, a large polar bear, and several smaller quadrupeds, monkeys, and birds. Hone has not preserved the name of the owner of the fourth collection, which he says was "a really good exhibition of a fine lion, with leopards, and various other beasts of the forest. They were mostly docile and in good condition. One of the leopards was carried by his keeper a pick-a-back." This was probably Morgan's, which we find at this fair three years later.

The daily cost of the food of the animals in a menagerie is no trifle. The amount of animal food required for the carnivora in a first cla.s.s menagerie is about four hundredweight daily, consisting chiefly of the s.h.i.+ns, hearts, and heads of bullocks. A full-grown lion or tiger will consume twelve pounds of meat per day, and this is said to have been the allowance in Wombwell's menagerie; but it is more, I believe, than is allowed in the gardens of the Zoological Society. Bears are allowed meat only in the winter, their food at other seasons consisting of bread, sopped biscuit, or boiled rice, sweetened with sugar. Then there are the elephants, camels, antelopes, etc., to be provided for; and the quant.i.ty of hay, cabbages, bread, and boiled rice which an elephant will consume, in addition to the buns and biscuits given to it by the visitors, is, as Dominie Sampson would say, prodigious. There is a story told of an elephant belonging to a travelling menagerie which escaped from the stable in which it had been placed for the night, and, wandering through the village, found a baker's shop open. It pushed its head in, and, helping itself with its trunk, devoured sixteen four-pound loaves, and was beginning to empty the gla.s.s jars of the sweets they contained when the arrival of its keeper interrupted its stolen repast.

I now come to the minor exhibitions, of which the first from Hosier Lane, where it stood at the corner, was a peep-show, in which rudely painted pictures were successively lowered by the showmen, and viewed through circular apertures, fitted with gla.s.ses of magnifying power. A green curtain separated the spectators from the outer throng while they gazed upon such strangely contrasted scenes as the murder of Weare and the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon, the execution of Probert and the conversion of St. Paul, the Greenland whale fishery and the building of Babel, Wellington at Waterloo and Daniel in the lions' den!

Next to this stood a show, on the exterior of which a man beat a drum with one hand, and played a hurdy-gurdy with the other, pausing occasionally to invite the gazers to walk up, and see the living wonders thus announced on the show-cloths:--"_Miss Hipson, the Middles.e.x Wonder, the Largest Child in the Kingdom, when young the Handsomest Child in the World.--The Persian Giant.--The Fair Circa.s.sian with Silver Hair.--The Female Dwarf, Two Feet Eleven Inches high.--Two Wild Indians from the Malay Islands in the East._" When a company had collected, the wonders were shown from the floor of a caravan on wheels, one side being taken out, and replaced by a curtain, which was drawn or thrown back as occasion required. After the audience had dispersed, Hone was permitted by the proprietor of the show, Nicholas Maughan, of Ipswich, to go "behind the curtain," where the artist who accompanied him completed his sketches for the ill.u.s.trations in the 'Every-day Book,' while Hone entered into conversation with the persons exhibited.

"Miss Hipson, only twelve years of age, is," he says, "remarkably gigantic, or rather corpulent, for her age, pretty, well-behaved, and well-informed; she weighed sixteen stone a few months before, and has since increased in size; she has ten brothers and sisters, nowise remarkable in appearance: her father, who is dead, was a bargeman at Brentford. The name of the 'little lady' is Lydia Walpole; she was born at Addis...o...b.., near Yarmouth, and is sociable, agreeable, and intelligent.

The fair Circa.s.sian is of pleasing countenance and manners. The Persian giant is a good-natured, tall, stately negro. The two Malays could not speak English, except three words, 'drop o' rum,' which they repeated with great glee. One of them, with long hair reaching below the waist, exhibited the posture of drawing a bow. Mr. Maughan described them as being pa.s.sionate, and showed me a severe wound on his finger which the little one had given him by biting, while he endeavoured to part him and his countryman, during a quarrel a few days ago. A 'female giant' was one of the attractions of this exhibition, but she could not be shown for illness: Miss Hipson described her to be a very good young woman.

"There was an appearance of ease and good condition, with content of mind, in the persons composing this show, which induced me to put several questions to them, and I gathered that I was not mistaken in my conjecture. They described themselves as being very comfortable, and that they were taken great care of, and well treated by the proprietor, Mr.

Maughan, and his partner in the show. The 'little lady' had a thorough good character from Miss Hipson as an affectionate creature; and it seems the females obtained exercise by rising early, and being carried out into the country in a post-chaise, where they walked, and thus maintained their health. This was to me the most pleasing show in the fair."

Between this show and Richardson's theatre was a small temporary stable, in which was exhibited a mare with seven feet: the admission to this sight was threepence. The following is a copy of the printed bill:--

"To Sportsmen and Naturalists.--Now exhibiting, one of the greatest living natural curiosities in the world; namely, a thorough-bred chesnut MARE, with seven legs! four years of age, perfectly sound, free from blemish, and shod on six of her feet. She is very fleet in her paces, being descended from that famous horse Julius Caesar, out of a thorough-bred race mare descended from Eclipse, and is remarkably docile and temperate. She is the property of Mr. J. Checketts, of Belgrave hall, Leicesters.h.i.+re; and will be exhibited for a few days as above."

Each of this mare's hind legs, besides its natural foot, had another growing out from the fetlock joint; one of these additions was nearly the size of the natural foot; the third and least grew from the same joint of the fore leg. Andrews, the exhibitor, told Hone that they grew slowly, and that the new hoofs were, at first, very soft, and exuded during the process of growth.

The line of shows on the east side of Smithfield, commencing at Long Lane, began with an exhibition of an Indian woman, a Chinese lady, and a dwarf; and next to this stood a small exhibition of wax-figures, to which a dwarf and a Maori woman were added. On a company being a.s.sembled, the showman made a speech: "Ladies and gentlemen, before I show you the wonderful prodigies of nature, let me introduce you to the wonderful works of art;"

and then he drew a curtain, behind which the wax-figures stood. "This,"

said he, "ladies and gentlemen, is the famous old Mother s.h.i.+pton; and here is the unfortunate Jane Sh.o.r.e, the beautiful mistress of Edward the Fourth; next to her is his Majesty George the Fourth of most glorious memory; and this is Queen Elizabeth in all her glory; then here you have the Princess Amelia, the daughter of his late Majesty, who is dead; this is Mary, Queen of Scots, who had her head cut off; and this is...o...b..ien, the famous Irish giant; this man here is Thornton, who was tried for the murder of Mary Ashford; and this is the exact resemblance of Oth.e.l.lo, the Moor of Venice, who was a jealous husband, and depend upon it every man who is jealous of his wife will be as black as that negro. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the two next are a wonderful couple, John and Margaret Scott, natives of Dunkeld, in Scotland; they lived about ninety years ago; John Scott was a hundred and five years old when he died, and Margaret lived to be a hundred and twelve; and, what is more remarkable, there is not a soul living can say he ever heard them quarrel."

Here he closed the curtain, and while undrawing another, continued his address as follows: "Having shown you the dead, I have now to exhibit to you two of the most extraordinary wonders of the living; this is the widow of a New Zealand chief, and this is the little old woman of Bagdad; she is thirty inches high, twenty-two years of age, and a native of Boston, in Lincolns.h.i.+re."

The next show announced, for one penny, "_The Black Wild Indian Woman--The White Indian Youth--and the Welsh Dwarf--All Alive!_" There was this further announcement on the outside: "_The Young American will Perform after the Manner of the French Jugglers at Vauxhall Gardens, with b.a.l.l.s, Rings, Daggers, &c._" The Welsh dwarf was William Phillips, of Denbigh, fifteen years of age. The "White Indian youth" was an Esquimaux; and the exhibitor a.s.sured the visitors upon his veracity that the "black wild Indian woman" was a Court lady of the island of Madagascar. The young American was the exhibitor himself, an intelligent and clever fellow in a loose striped frock, tied round the middle. He commenced his performances by throwing up three b.a.l.l.s, which he kept constantly in the air, as he afterwards did four, and then five, with great dexterity, using his hands, shoulders, and elbows apparently with equal ease. He afterwards threw up three rings, each about four inches in diameter, and then four, which he kept in motion with similar success. To end his performance, he produced three knives, which, by throwing up and down, he contrived to preserve in the air altogether. The young American's dress and knives were very similar to those of the Anglo-Saxon glee-man, as Strutt has figured them from a MS. in the Cotton collection.

The inscriptions and paintings on the outside of the next show announced "_The White Negro, who was rescued from her Black Parents by the bravery of a British Officer--the only White Negro Girl Alive--The Great Giantess and Dwarf--Six Curiosities Alive!--Only a Penny to see them All Alive!_"

One side of the interior was covered by a pictorial representation of a tread-mill, with convicts at work upon it, superintended by warders. On the other side were several monkeys in cages, an old bear in a jacket, and sundry other animals. When a sufficient number of persons had a.s.sembled, a curtain was withdrawn, and the visitors beheld the giantess and the white negro, whom the showman p.r.o.nounced "the greatest curiosity ever seen--the first that has been exhibited since the reign of George II.--look at her head and hair, ladies and gentlemen, and feel it; there's no deception--it's like ropes of wool!" The girl, who had the flat nose, thick lips, and peculiarly-shaped skull of the negro, stooped to have her hair examined. It was of a dull flaxen hue, and hung, according to Hone's description, "in ropes, of a clothy texture, the thickness of a quill, and from four to six inches in length." Her skin was the colour of an European's. Then there stepped forth a little fellow about three feet high, in a military dress, with top boots, who "strutted his tiny legs, and held his head aloft with not less importance than the proudest general officer could a.s.sume upon his promotion to the rank of field marshal."

The next show was announced as an "exhibition of real wonders," and the following bill was put forth by its proprietor:--

"REAL WONDERS!

SEE AND BELIEVE.

Have you seen THE BEAUTIFUL DOLPHIN, _The Performing Pig, and the Mermaid_?

If not, pray do! as the exhibition contains more variety than any other in England. Those ladies and gentlemen who may be pleased to honour it with a visit will be truly gratified.

TOBY, _The Swinish Philosopher, and Ladies' Fortune Teller_.

That beautiful animal appears to be endowed with the natural sense of the human race. He is in colour the most beautiful of his race; in symmetry the most perfect; in temper the most docile; and far exceeds anything yet seen for his intelligent performances. He is beyond all conception: he has a perfect knowledge of the alphabet, understands arithmetic, and will spell and cast accounts, tell the points of the globe, the dice-box, the hour by any person's watch, &c.

_The Real Head of_ MAHOURA, THE CANNIBAL CHIEF!

At the same time the public will have an opportunity of seeing what was exhibited so long in London, under the t.i.tle of

THE MERMAID:

The wonder of the deep! not a fac-simile or copy, but the same curiosity

ADMISSION MODERATE.

[Asterism] _Open from Eleven in the Morning till Nine in the Evening._"

Foremost among the attractions of this show were the performing pig and the show-woman, who drew forth the learning of the "swinish philosopher"

admirably. He went through the alphabet, and spelt monosyllabic words with his nose; and did a sum of two figures in addition. Then, at her desire, he indicated those of the company who were in love, or addicted to excess in drink; and grunted his conviction that a stout gentleman, who might have sat to John Leech for the portrait of John Bull "loved good eating, and a pipe, and a jug of ale better than the sight of the Living Skeleton." The "beautiful dolphin" was a fish-skin stuffed. The mermaid was the last manufactured imposture of that name, exhibited for half-a-crown in Piccadilly, about a year before. The "real head of Mahoura, the cannibal chief," was a skull, with a dried skin over it, and a black wig; "but it looked sufficiently terrific," says Hone, "when the show-woman put the candle in at the neck, and the flame illuminated the yellow integument over the holes where eyes, nose, and a tongue had been."

Adjoining this was another penny show, with pictures large as life on the show-cloths outside of the living wonders within, and the following inscription:--"_All Alive! No False Paintings! The Wild Indian, the Giant Boy, and the Dwarf Family! Never here before. To be seen alive!_" Thomas Day, the reputed father of the dwarf family, was also proprietor of the show; he was thirty-five years of age, and only thirty-five inches high.

There was a boy six years old, only twenty-seven inches high. The "wild Indian" was a mild-looking mulatto. The "giant boy," William Wilkinson Whitehead, was fourteen years of age, stood five feet two inches high, measured five feet round the body, twenty-seven inches across the shoulders, twenty inches round the arm, twenty-four inches round the calf, and thirty-one inches round the thigh, and weighed twenty-two stones. His father and mother were "travelling merchants" of Manchester; he was born at Glasgow, during one of their journeys, and was a fine healthy youth, fair complexioned, intelligent looking, active in his movements, and sensible in speech. He was lightly dressed in plaid to show his limbs, with a bonnet of the same.