Merrie England in the Olden Time. George Daniel

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       ** So called after an ancient conduit that once stood hard

       by. Goldsmith, in the “Citizen of the World,” celebrates the

       “hot rolls and butter' of White Conduit House. Thither

       himself and a few friends would repair to tea, after having

       dined at Highbury Barn. A supper at the Grecian, or Temple

       Exchange Coffeehouses, closed the “Shoemaker's Holiday” of

       this exquisite English Classic—this gentle and benignant

       spirit!

      Passing by the Old Red Lion, bearing the date of 1415, and since brightened up with some regard to the taste of ancient times; and the Angel—now a fallen one!—a huge structure, the architecture of which is anything but angelic, having risen on its ruins, we enter Islington, described by Goldsmith as “a pretty and neat town.” In ancient times it was not unknown to fame.

      “What village can boast like fair Islington town

      Such time-honour'd worthies, such ancient renown?

      Here jolly Queen Bess, after flirting with Leicester,

      'Undumpish'd'' herself with Dick Tarleton her jester.

      Here gallant gay Essex, and burly Lord Burleigh,

      Sat late at their revels, and came to them early;

      Here honest Sir John took his ease at his inn—

      Bardolph's proboscis, and Jack's double chin!

      Here Finsbury archers disported and quaff'd,

      Here Raleigh the brave took his pipe and his draught;

      Here the Knight of St. John pledged the Highbury Monk,

      Till both to their pallets reel'd piously drunk.” *

      In “The Walks of Islington and Hogsdon, with the Humours of Wood Street Compter,” a comedy, by Thomas Jordan, 1641, the scene is laid at the Saracen's Head, Islington; and the prologue celebrates its “bottle-beer, cream, and (gooseberry) fools and the “Merry Milkmaid of Islington,

      * “The Islington Garland.”