The Children's Book of London

Produced by Bruce Albrecht, Martin Pettit and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net






The CHILDREN'S BOOK of LONDON

BY

G. E. MITTON

WITH EIGHT FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR


A. & C. BLACK, LTD., 4, 5 & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.1


[Illustration: THE TOWER BRIDGE.]


PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

_First Published 1903_


TO

RENA, CU, AND ELFIE




CONTENTS


BOOK I

LONDON AS IT IS


CHAPTER                                                    PAGE

    I. LONDON CHILDREN                                        3

   II. LONDON                                                16

  III. THE KING'S PALACES                                    29

   IV. TRAINS AND HORSES                                     42

    V. CHILDREN AT SCHOOL                                    52

   VI. LONDON MARKETS                                        64

  VII. CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS                                  77

 VIII. STREETS AND SHOPS                                     89

   IX. DOGS AND CATS                                        105

    X. ODDS AND ENDS                                        115


BOOK II

HISTORICAL STORIES


   XI. KING EDWARD V                                        131

  XII. TOURNAMENTS AND PAGEANTS                             154

 XIII. SIR THOMAS MORE                                      165

  XIV. LADY JANE GREY                                       182

   XV. GUNPOWDER PLOT                                       196

  XVI. CHARLES I                                            204

 XVII. THE GREAT PLAGUE AND FIRE                            222


BOOK III

THE SIGHTS OF LONDON


XVIII. THE TOWER OF LONDON                                  241

  XIX. THE TOWER OF LONDON--_continued_                     257

   XX. THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS                               270

  XXI. THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS--_continued_                  289

 XXII. THE BRITISH MUSEUM                                   303

XXIII. THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM                           311

 XXIV. WESTMINSTER ABBEY, ST. PAUL'S, AND THE CENOTAPH      332

  XXV. THE MINT, THE BANK, AND THE POST OFFICE              353

 XXVI. THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW AND OTHER THINGS               370




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


THE TOWER BRIDGE                                 _Frontispiece_

                                                    FACING PAGE

QUEEN VICTORIA MEMORIAL AND BUCKINGHAM PALACE                30

TRAFALGAR SQUARE                                            132

THE TRAITORS' GATE, TOWER OF LONDON                         180

THE CENOTAPH, WHITEHALL                                     216

ST. MARY-LE-STRAND AND BUSH HOUSE                           244

THE CORONATION CHAIR, WESTMINSTER ABBEY                     340

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL                                        348




BOOK I

LONDON AS IT IS

THE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF LONDON




CHAPTER I

LONDON CHILDREN


To begin with, the streets of London are not paved with gold; but I need
not have said that, for nowadays the very youngest child knows it. It
was Dick Whittington who first imagined anything so foolish; but then he
was only a country lad, and in his days there were not the same
opportunities for finding out the truth about things as there are now.
There were very few books for one thing, and those there were cost a
great deal of money, and would hardly be likely to come in Dick's way;
so that if there was by chance a book which described London as it was
then, it is not at all probable that he would have seen it. There were
no photographs, either, to show him what London was really like, so, of
course, he had to make up ideas about it himself, just as you who live
in the country and have heard people talking about London do now. Are
the stories you invent at all like the stories Dick Whittington made up
for himself? You can't answer because you're not writing this book, so I
must answer for you. Perhaps you think London is a place where there are
no lessons to do, and where there is always a great deal of fun going
on; where you can go to see sights all day long; the huge waxwork
figures at Madame Tussaud's, as big as real people; and lions and tigers
and elephants and bears at the Zoo; and you think that the boys and
girls who live in London spend all their time in seeing wonderful
things.

If this is what you think, some of it is true enough. There are a great
many wonderful things to be seen in London, and if you want to hear
about them at once you must skip all this chapter and a great many
others besides, and go on to page 241, where you will find them
described. But if you want to know what London itself is really like you
must wait a little longer. The best people to tell you would be the
children who live in London; they will read this book, and, of course,
they could answer all your questions, but they would not all answer in
the same way.

Some would say: 'Oh yes, of course we all know the Zoo, but that's for
small children; _we_ are quite tired of a dull place like that, where
everyone goes; we like balls, with good floors for dancing, and
programmes, and everything done as it is at grown-up balls; and we like
theatres, where we can sit in the front row and look through
opera-glasses and eat ices.