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147-458: Costermongers met a need for rapid food distribution from the wholesale markets (e.g., in London: Smithfield for meat, Spitalfields for fruit and vegetables or Billingsgate for fish) by providing retail sales at locations that were convenient for the labouring classes. Costermongers used a variety of devices to transport and display produce: a cart might be stationary at a market stall;

294-666: A hawker centre . Across Asia, stalls have been set up with little to no government monitoring. Due to health concerns and other liability problems, the food culture has been seriously challenged in Indonesia , though without marked success. However, in Hong Kong, the lease versus licensed hawker restrictions have put a burden on this mobile food culture. The term Jau Gwei (literally: running from ghosts ) has been used to describe vendors often running away from local police. The costermongers of London , England were at their peak in

441-501: A pregón (announcement or street-seller's cry) is a type of song based on the hawking by street vendor of their goods ("canto de los vendedores ambulantes"). In Antigua , women, many from the Maya (including Kaqchikel people ) and Ladino ethnic groups, peddle handicrafts . Some sell textiles such a po't (blouses) and su't . The presence of street vendors in Mexico City dates to

588-451: A "quaintness of fancy" and humour. Other musicians, such as Robert and Harris Weston , drew inspiration from London's cockney culture when composing their songs, some of which were often sung in a cockney accent. Coster life and culture was also portrayed in Victorian music halls by vocal comedians such as Albert Chevalier , Bessie Bellwood , Charles Seel, Paul Mill and Gus Elen . Elen was

735-600: A Victorian journalist and social commentator, also used derogatory language to describe costermongers and their markets but was aware of the essential service they provided by noting that the poor would be the ultimate "losers" if they were denied access to the costermongering culture which supported them. The Methodist writer, Godfrey Holden Pike, argued that the Sabbath market was vulgar, but in later writings, he noted that "influential newspapers have often misrepresented him [the costermonger]." Historians such as Jones have argued that

882-498: A basket, hand cart or temporary stall. The term can be used to describe anyone who sells goods outdoors or in the streets and has come to be a synonym for street vendor . Most contemporary dictionary definitions of costermonger refer to them as retail sellers or street vendors of fresh produce, operating from temporary stalls or baskets or barrows which are either taken on regular routes for door-to-door selling or which are set up in high traffic areas such as informal markets or lining

1029-636: A blanket. They are, in their most part, illegal immigrants without documents and victims of human trafficking , subject to forced labor . They work at the sidewalks of locations with an important daily traffic, such as the Once railway station , the Retiro railway station , and the Florida Street . This commerce poses an illegal competition with the regular retail shops. The shops at the Avellaneda street estimated that

1176-558: A charitable foundation; it was the basis of the school named Charterhouse and almshouses known as Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse on its former site. The school was relocated to Godalming in 1872. Until 1899 Charterhouse was extra-parochial ; that year it became a civil parish incorporated in the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury . Some of the property was damaged during The Blitz , but it remains largely intact. Part of

1323-446: A comparative analysis of various socio-anthropological studies on street vendors, recurring and interconnected figures emerge, which can be categorized into distinct types: the recognized vendor, whose role is legitimate and/or institutionally accepted; the ephemeral vendor, whose activity is sporadic and often goes unrecognized; the clandestine trader, whose work lacks legitimacy. Furthermore, they can be classified based on their mobility:

1470-455: A costermonger (the "ruffian") and his girlfriend are riding alongside in their donkey cart, which is overturned in traffic. Gilbert Chesterton points out that slum novels , an early 20th-century genre, showed a great interest in costermongers, although Chesterton, himself, wrote he did not always approve of the novelists' motives which often came down to writing about the costermonger's "dim vices and delicate virtues" and their capacity to create

1617-500: A cow or a dozen sheep one could get 1 penny. The livestock market expanded over the centuries to meet demand from the growing population of the City. In 1710, the market was surrounded by a wooden fence containing the livestock within the market. Until the market's abolition, the Gate House at Cloth Fair ("Fair Gate") employed a chain ( le cheyne ) on market days. Daniel Defoe referred to

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1764-531: A day, and remain impoverished. Though the prevalent license-permit raj in Indian bureaucracy ended for most retailing in the 1990s, it continues in this trade. Inappropriate license ceiling in most cities, like Mumbai which has a ceiling 14,000 licenses, means more vendors hawk their goods illegally, which also makes them prone to the bribery and extortion culture under local police and municipal authorities, besides harassment, heavy fines and sudden evictions. In Kolkata,

1911-535: A day. The manteros are helped by retail shops at other locations, which store their products in the night, even if not allowed to work as warehouses. The government of Buenos Aires usually attempts to eradicate the manteros with police raids , removing them from the sidewalks and seizing their products. The police also made 35 successful search and seizures at illegal warehouses in January 2014. However, despite this operation, manteros return days, even hours, after

2058-405: A detailed description of the costermonger's attire: "The costermonger's ordinary costume partakes of the durability of the warehouseman's, with the quaintness of that of the stable-boy. A well-to-do 'coster,' when dressed for the day's work, usually wears a small cloth cap, a little on one side. A close-fitting worsted tie-up skull-cap, is very fashionable, just now, among the class, and ringlets at

2205-626: A few years earlier, upon the arrival of his consort Isabel of Bavaria . Geoffrey Chaucer supervised preparations for the tournament as a clerk to the King. It is told that, between 1389 and 1394, another large tournament was celebrated in the city which spawned the Portuguese legend of the Twelve of England , where twelve Portuguese knights were called to defend the honour of several ladies-in-waiting of John of Gaunt 's castillian wife Constance of Castile . At

2352-431: A fine summer's day send out his children to sell flowers, while on other days they may be selling watercresses or, perhaps, onions." Mayhew also pointed out that young coster girls often started out by selling cut flowers and small bunches of herbs: At about seven years of age the girls first go into the streets to sell. A shallow-basket is given to them, with about two shillings for stock-money, and they hawk, according to

2499-603: A former right of way . After the Reformation , a separate parish likewise dedicated to St Bartholomew was granted in favour of St Bartholomew's Hospital ; named St Bartholomew-the-Less , it remained under the hospital's patronage , unique in the Church of England , until 1948, when the hospital was nationalized in the National Health Service . The church benefice has since been joined again with its ancient partner,

2646-445: A given personal or collective situation of distress (real or perceived), whether it be social, legal, cultural, economic, or political. In many African metropolitan areas , hawkers, commonly referred to as "vendors", are seen everywhere. They sell a wide range of goods such as fish, fruits, vegetables, clothes and books. In suburban areas, they go door to door, and in more commercial areas, they usually have stands or lay their goods on

2793-414: A good strong boot is a singular prejudice that runs throughout the whole class." Costers were especially fond of mother-of-pearl buttons. Men decorated the legs of their trousers with a line of pearly buttons. By the 19th century, both men and women began adding these pearly buttons to their clothing as James Greenwood describes: "Any one, however, who knew the significance of; and took into consideration

2940-450: A great Institution like Smithfield, [the French] are unable to form the least conception. A Beast Market in the heart of Paris would be regarded an impossible nuisance. Nor have they any notion of slaughter-houses in the midst of a city . One of these benighted frog-eaters would scarcely understand your meaning, if you told him of the existence of such a British bulwark. An Act of Parliament

3087-525: A highly popular performer whose tunes included; The Coster's Mansion , The Coster's Muvver and The Coster's Pony . Chevalier, was a popular comedic entertainer, who himself never worked as a coster, but appeared in character as a costermonger, and sang The Coster's Serenade , The Nasty Way 'e Sez It , and Funny Without Being Vulgar . A few costermongers, such as Alec Hurley , made a living composing and performing songs about their own careers as costermongers. The Costermonger's Song (also known as Going to

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3234-540: A highly popular publication with a new edition published in 1791 and in its tenth edition by 1806. Other 18th-century titles included: The Cries of London: for the Instruction of Good Children; decorated with twenty-four cuts from life , (1795). Similar titles appeared in the 19th century including: The New Cries of London; with characteristic engravings (1804); The Cries of London; embellished with twelve engravings , The Cries of Famous London Town: as they are exhibited in

3381-414: A hot drink. Some 700 local residents petitioned against the laws. In spite of the apparent public support, the vestry's persistence resulted in many street vendors being fined. Costermongers in the markets of Club Street and Sclater Street were subject to verbal abuse, had their stalls overturned, their barrows and carts impounded and occasionally their products tipped down a nearby drain. In February, 1888,

3528-638: A huckster. Mayhew estimated the number of licensed pedlars in 1861 as 14,038 in England, 2,561 in Scotland, and 624 in Wales. Hawkers have been known since antiquity and possibly earlier. Claire Holleran has examined literary, legal and pictorial sources to provide evidence for the presence of hawkers in antiquity, especially ancient Rome. Her findings indicate that the Romans had no specific term for hawkers – rather they went by

3675-819: A hundred miles from the metropolis. Some, again, confine their callings chiefly to the neighbouring races and fairs. Technically, costermongers were hawkers since they rarely traded from fixed stalls. They filled a gap in the food distribution system by purchasing produce from the wholesale markets, breaking it down into smaller lots and offering it for retail sale. Their fruit and vegetables were placed in baskets, barrows , carts or on temporary stalls. From an economic viewpoint, they provided form utility (breaking down wholesale lots into smaller retail sizes); place utility (making produce available close to shoppers' place of work or residence) and time utility (making goods available at times that are convenient to shoppers such as when they are on their way to work). Some costermongers walked

3822-422: A lower-pattern—ornament the front; but if the cord be of a dark rat-skin hue, then mother-of-pearl buttons are preferred. Two large pockets—sometimes four—with huge flaps or lappels, like those in a shooting- coat, are commonly worn. ... The costermonger, however, prides himself most of all upon his neckerchief and boots. Men, women, boys and girls, all have a passion for these articles. ... The costermonger's love of

3969-507: A magnet for debauchery and public disorder. In 1348, Walter de Manny rented 13 acres (0.05 km ) of land at Spital Croft , north of Long Lane, from the Master and Brethren of St Bartholomew's Hospital, for a graveyard and plague pit for victims of the Black Death . A chapel and hermitage were constructed, renamed New Church Haw ; but in 1371, this land was granted for the foundation of

4116-415: A mobile (horse-drawn or wheelbarrow ) apparatus or a hand-held basket might be used for light-weight goods such as herbs and flowers. Costermongers experienced a turbulent history, yet survived numerous attempts to eradicate their class from the streets. Programmes designed to curtail their activities occurred during the reigns of Elizabeth I , Charles I and reached a peak during Victorian times. However,

4263-466: A peak by the late 1870s. The vestry, claiming that costers were obstructing the streets, contributing to street litter and encouraging gambling and prostitution, resurrected an ancient law to prevent street trading at certain times. They created a Street Regulation Committee and employed a salaried Street Inspector to oversee compliance. They insisted that coffee stalls close by 7.30am daily, precisely when workers, on their way to work, might be in need of

4410-420: A peak in 18th and 19th century London and Paris. These works were primarily folios consisting of sets of engravings or lithographs with minimal notation. Nevertheless, these representations have proved to be a valuable source for social historians. One of the first such publications was a French publication, Etudes Prises Dans let Bas Peuple, Ou Les Cris de Paris (1737) (roughly translated as Studies Taken of

4557-509: A peculiar slang language." Mayhew was aware of this reputation, but exhibited an ambivalent attitude towards them. On the one hand, he described them as usurers and pointed out that cheating was widespread. Weights were flattened to make products look bigger and heavier, and measures were fitted with thick or false bottoms to give false readings. On the other hand, Mayhew also noted that in his own personal experience, "they are far less dishonest than they are usually believed to be. James Greenwood,

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4704-459: A period of decline for retail markets. While wholesale markets continued to prosper, retail markets lost their foothold. Costermongers filled the gap by providing inexpensive produce in small quantities to the working classes, who, for their part, worked long hours in arduous occupations leaving them no time to attend markets far from the city centre. With the influx of people in London, in the years after

4851-501: A problem. Many vendors operate illegally. In order to avoid overwhelming tourists or shoppers, ambulantes are known to establish territories and limit their numbers. Thieves stealing their goods can be a problem. The street vendors in Argentina are known as manteros , after the Spanish word for blanket, manta . They sell varied products in an informal way, in most cases placing them over

4998-650: A profit. In Peru , water cannon were used against the ambulantes in Arequipa, Peru . Many of the ambulantes come from rural areas to sell their goods including prickly pear cactus , bordados (embroideries) and polleras (embroidered skirts). In large cities across North America , hawkers are commonly known as street vendors , who sell snack items, such as deep-fried bananas, cotton candy, fried noodles, beverages like bubble tea, and ice cream, along with non-edible items, such as jewelry, clothes, books, and paintings. Hawkers are also found selling various items to fans at

5145-534: A royal herald's timely announcement that Queen Mary had died shortly before the wooden faggots were to be lit at the Smithfield Stake . Under English Law death warrants were commanded by Sign Manual (the personal signature of the Monarch ), invariably upon ministerial recommendation, which if unexercised by the time of a Sovereign's death required renewed authority. In this case Queen Elizabeth did not approve

5292-621: A sensation. In the 1972 animated television film Oliver and the Artful Dodger , a reformed Artful Dodger works as a costermonger dealing in scrap iron to support a group of orphans he's rescued from the workhouse . Jeffrey Archer's 1991 novel As the Crow Flies features a costermonger mentoring his grandson in the trade in the Covent Garden area of London. Smithfield Market Smithfield , properly known as West Smithfield ,

5439-450: A suburban part; the shortest are through streets thickly peopled by the poor, where duly to "work" a single street consumes, in some instances, an hour. There are also "chance" rounds. Men "working" these carry their wares to any part in which they hope to find customers. The costermongers, moreover, diversify their labours by occasionally going on a country round, travelling on these excursions, in all directions, from thirty to ninety and even

5586-531: A surge in their numbers in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were most numerous during the Victorian era , when Mayhew estimated their London numbers at between 30,000 and 45,000 in the late 1840s. In the decades after the Great Fire of London, a major rebuilding programme led to the removal of London's main produce market, Stocks Market , in 1773. The displacement of the open market to a less strategic location led to

5733-403: A symbolic association. For example, a sorrowful tale means three months in jail. Following the second world war, condensed versions of popular terms were more commonly used, such that trouble and strife meaning wife simply became trouble and the phrase down the frog and toad (meaning down the road ) would be condensed to down the frog . Historians have advanced various explanations for

5880-421: A temporary pitch in a public place. Similarly, hawkers tend to be associated with the sale of non-perishable items such as brushes and cookware while costermongers are exclusively associated with the sale of fresh produce. When accompanied by a demonstration or detailed explanation of the product, the hawker is sometimes referred to as a demonstrator or pitchman . Social commentator Henry Mayhew wrote, "Among

6027-469: A term also used in Italy. In Argentina they are known as manteros . In Brazil, they are also known as "camelôs". Some ambulantes set up in a fixed location while others are mobile. Some ambulantes sell their goods door-to-door . Puestos are market stalls or stands. Street vendors face various regulations and fees. There are sometimes disputes between established merchants and ambulantes. Bribes are also

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6174-474: A tributary of the Fleet, which marked the City's northern boundary in the area. The Bars are first documented in 1170 and 1197, and were a site of public executions. Since the late 1990s, Smithfield and neighbouring Farringdon have developed a reputation for being a cultural hub for up-and-coming professionals, who enjoy its bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Nightclubs such as Fabric and Turnmills pioneered

6321-449: A variety of fresh and prepared foods as well as beverages—from ginger beer through to iced confections. Mayhew provided extensive descriptions of costers selling potted plants and cut flowers: The coster ordinarily confines himself to the cheaper sorts of plants, and rarely meddles with such things as acacias, mezereons, savines, syringas, lilacs, or even myrtles, and with none of these things unless cheap. [. . .] A poor costermonger will on

6468-427: A variety of labels including: ambulator (a person who walks around); circitor (to go around); circulator (a broad term which included itinerant entertainers) and institor (a business manager). She found that hawkers and street vendors were an important part of the distribution system. The vendors mainly sold everyday food at low prices and clustered around temples, theatres, bathhouses and forums where to take advantage of

6615-513: Is a large market with permanent buildings, designed by architect Sir Horace Jones , who also designed Billingsgate and Leadenhall markets. Work on the Central Market , inspired by Italian architecture, began in 1866 and was completed in November 1868 at a cost of £993,816 (£113 million as of 2024). The Grade II listed main wings (known as East and West Market ) are separated by

6762-670: Is a district located in Central London , part of Farringdon Without , the most westerly ward of the City of London , England. Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Bartholomew's Hospital and livery halls , including those of the Butchers' and Haberdashers' Companies . The area is best known for the Smithfield meat market , which dates from the 10th century, has been in continuous operation since medieval times , and

6909-476: Is an archaic term for anything that soaks up money. Lydgate's ballad prompted generations of composers to write songs about the distinctive cries of street vendors. By the 18th and 19th centuries, ballads extolling the beauty of the women selling lavender, pretty flowers and water cresses had become a ripe subject for composers of popular songs. Selected popular 19th-century tunes with references to costermongers Specific references to costermongers can be found in

7056-573: Is called the "Irishman's harvest." Costers developed their own culture; notoriously competitive, respected "elder statespeople" in the costermonger community could be elected as pearly kings and queens to keep the peace between rival costermongers. However, crimes such as theft were rare among costermongers, especially in an open market where they tended to look out for one another. Even common thieves preferred to prey on shop owners rather than costers, who were inclined to dispense street justice . London based costermongers had their own dress code . In

7203-408: Is computed that there are, including men, women, and children, upwards of 10,000. Assuming the street-sellers attending the London fish and green markets to be, with their families, 30,000 in number, and 7 in every 20 of these to be Irish, we shall have rather more than the total above given. Of this large body three-fourths sell only fruit, and more especially nuts and oranges; indeed, the orange-season

7350-514: Is now London's only remaining wholesale market . From the 12th century to the 19th century the area hosted Bartholomew Fair . Smithfield's principal street is called West Smithfield , and the area also contains the City's oldest surviving church building, St Bartholomew-the-Great , dating from 1123 (most City churches were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 ). The area has borne witness to many executions of heretics and political rebels over

7497-631: Is suffered to continue year after year, from generation to generation, in the very heart of the most Christian and most polished city in the world. In 1843, the Farmer's Magazine published a petition signed by bankers, salesmen, butchers, aldermen and City residents against further expansion of the meat market, arguing that livestock markets had been systematically banned since the Middle Ages in other areas of London: Our ancestors appear, in sanitary matters, to have been wiser than we are. There exists, amongst

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7644-649: The Bengal Hawkers Association and the Calcutta Hawkers' Men Union . In September, 2012, long-awaited Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha (Lower of Indian Parliament) aimed at providing social security and livelihood rights, and regulated the prevalent license system. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on 6 September 2013 and by

7791-590: The Bethnall Green Costermongers' and Stallkeepers' Society was formed. Its primary aim was to fight prosecutions against costers with the help of a solicitor, who was paid a retainer. When the group learned that similar crackdowns on costers were occurring in St Luke's Parish and St Georges Parish, the group broadened its base, by forming the London United Costermongers' League . Public support

7938-404: The City , granting property and income to the new foundation the following month. King Henry VIII's sergeant-surgeon , Thomas Vicary , was appointed as the hospital 's first superintendent . The King Henry VIII Gate, which opens onto West Smithfield, was completed in 1702 and remains the hospital's main entrance. The Priory's principal church, St Bartholomew-the-Great, was reconfigured after

8085-468: The Grand Avenue , a wide roadway roofed by an elliptical arch with decorations in cast iron . At the two ends of the arcade, four prominent statues represent London, Edinburgh , Liverpool and Dublin ; they depict bronze dragons charged with the City 's armorial bearings . At the corners of the market, four octagonal pavilion towers were built, each with a dome displaying carved stone griffins . As

8232-463: The Industrial Revolution , demand outstripped retail capacity, such that costermongers performed a 'vital role' providing food and service to the labouring classes. Throughout the 18th century, the streets of London filled with costermongers and competition between them became intense. To stand out amid the crowd, costers began to develop distinctive cries. Mayhew describes a Saturday night in

8379-630: The Marian martyrs , were executed at Smithfield during the reign of Mary I . G. K. Chesterton observed ironically: It is foolish, generally speaking, for a philosopher to set fire to another philosopher in Smithfield Market because they do not agree in their theory of the universe. That was done very frequently in the last decadence of the Middle Ages , and it failed altogether in its object. On 17 November 1558, several Protestant heretics were saved by

8526-642: The New Cut , a street in Lambeth , south of the river, Lit by a host of lights… the Cut was packed from wall to wall…. The hubbub was deafening, the traders all crying their wares with the full force of their lungs against the background din of a horde of street musicians. During the 19th century, costermongers gained an unsavoury reputation for their "low habits, general improvidence, love of gambling, total want of education, disregard for lawful marriage ceremonies, and their use of

8673-659: The Rajya Sabha (upper house) on 19 February 2014. The bill received the assent of the President of India on 4 March 2014. Only three states have implemented the bill as of April 2017. The bill handed governance over public space and vendors over to municipalities. Although, one of the main purposes of the Street Vendors Act was to allow the vendors to have a voice in governance, the bill made conditions more difficult for vendors as they have become more heavily scrutinized. In

8820-531: The Reformation , and their lands broken up. The Priory Church of St John remains, as does St John's Gate . John Houghton (later canonized by Pope Paul VI as St John Houghton ), The prior of Charterhouse went to Thomas Cromwell , accompanied by two other local priors, seeking an oath of supremacy that would be acceptable to their communities . Instead they were imprisoned in the Tower of London , and on 4 May 1535, they were taken to Tyburn and hanged – becoming

8967-527: The West Smithfield Bars . The site of the hall continued to be used as the starting point for mileages even after it was demolished soon after 1778. The road followed St John Street, and continued north, eventually leading to Edinburgh . Using the former site of the hall as the starting point ended in 1829, with the establishment of the General Post Office at St Martin's-le-Grand , which became

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9114-462: The dissolution of the monasteries , losing the western third of its nave . Reformed as an Anglican parish church , its parish boundaries were limited to the site of the ancient priory and a small tract of land between the church and Long Lane. The parish of St Bartholomew the Great was designated as a Liberty , responsible for the upkeep and security of its fabric and the land within its boundaries. With

9261-451: The parish of St Sepulchre , was founded in 1137, and was endowed by Prior Rahere , who also founded St Barts. The ancient parish of St Sepulchre extended north to Turnmill Street , to St Paul's Cathedral and Ludgate Hill in the south, and along the east bank of the Fleet (now the route of Farringdon Street ). St Sepulchre's Tower contains the twelve "bells of Old Bailey", referred to in

9408-420: The swagger and the showiness of it all." Costermongers also developed their own linguistic forms. In the 1800s, they spoke back slang ; in which ordinary words are said backwards. Examples of back slang include yob for boy ; ecslop for police ; elbat for table and yennep for penny . Back slang was used as a secret language, a code which only other costermongers understood. In her book, Shadows of

9555-413: The "coster" style and atmosphere in London, around 1900, in her autobiography Tiger Woman: My Story : "I am often caught with a sudden longing regret for the streets of Limehouse as I knew them, for the girls with their gaudy shawls and heads of ostrich feathers, like clouds in a wind, and the men in their caps, silk neckerchiefs and bright yellow pointed boots in which they took such pride. I adored

9702-433: The "subversive potential" of the coster class, because of their ability to make broad social connections that cut across geographic boundaries and "related forms of power and exploitation." Costermongers' distinctive identity meant that they were prime targets for songwriters and musicians. Mayhew pointed out that a ballad, London Lyckpeny written by John Lydgate in about 1409, was a very early example of music inspired by

9849-501: The 1880s, a man by the name of Henry Croft who had long admired the costermonger's way of life as well as their showiness and panache, smothered his worn out suit and accessories with pearly buttons arranged in geometric patterns. Costermongers soon recognised that the public loved these shimmering outfits and began wearing more and more heavily decorated outfits and soon became known as the Pearly Kings and Queens . Betty May spoke of

9996-452: The 18th and 19th centuries. Their loud sing-song cry or chants used to attract attention became part of the fabric of street life in large cities in Britain and Europe. Costermongers exhibited a distinct identity. Individuals signalled membership of the coster community through a dress code, especially the large neckerchief , known as a kingsman , tied round their necks. Their hostility towards

10143-528: The 19th century, the area included boundary markers known as the West Smithfield Bars (or more simply, Smithfield Bars). These marked the northern boundary of the City of London and were placed at a point approximating to where modern Charterhouse Street meets St John Street, which was historically the first stretch of the Great North Road . The Bars were on the route of the former Fagswell Brook ,

10290-637: The 19th century. Organised, yet semi-obvious, they were ubiquitous, and their street cries could be heard everywhere. The soft drinks company, R. White's Lemonade , began in 1845 with Robert and Mary White selling their drinks around south London in a wheelbarrow . Muffin men, a type of hawker who would travel door to door selling English muffins as a snack bread, also became common in 19th century London. Street vendors in Latin America are known in local Spanish and Portuguese variously as vendedores ambulantes ("mobile vendors") or simply ambulantes ,

10437-572: The Advocates for the Removal of Smithfield Market , applauding those "philanthropic men" who aim at removing to a distance the "vile Zoology" of the market and "routing that great nest of Hornithology [sic]". Charles Dickens criticised locating a livestock market in the heart of the capital in his 1851 essay A Monument of French Folly drawing comparisons with the French market at Poissy outside Paris: Of

10584-636: The Charterhouse, originally a Carthusian monastery . Nearby and to the north of this demesne, the Knights Hospitaller established a Commandery at Clerkenwell, dedicated to St John in the mid-12th century. In 1194 they received a Charter from King Richard I granting the Order formal privileges. Later Augustinian canonesses established the Priory of St Mary, north of the Knights of St John property. By

10731-506: The Derby ) was a Lloyd composition. Hurley's wife, Marie Lloyd , had some success with tunes he composed including, The Coster's Christening and the Costermonger's Wedding . Many of these were pictorial texts, heavily adorned with engravings or lithographs depicting the exuberance of street life in which street vendors were prominently featured. Selected engravings from works of non-fiction on

10878-477: The Global South, the practice of street vending has, in recent decades, extended its reach to even the most developed nations, taking on various forms. While not strictly confined to the informal economy, since street entrepreneurs can theoretically position themselves along a continuum ranging from entirely formal to entirely illegal, contemporary societies are unmistakably trending towards the informal extreme. From

11025-574: The Lower People, Or The Cries of Paris ). Two decades later, in England, The Cries of London Calculated to Entertain the Minds of Old and Young; illustrated in variety of copper plates neatly engrav'd with an emblematical description of each subject , was published. and followed by Cries of London (1775) and The Cries of London, as they are daily exhibited in the streets: with an epigram in verse, adapted to each. Embellished with sixty-two elegant cuts (1775);

11172-521: The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great. Following the diminished influence of the ancient Priory, predecessor of the two parishes of St Bartholomew, disputes began to arise over rights to tithes and taxes payable by lay residents who claimed allegiance with the nearby and anciently associated parish of St Botolph Aldersgate – an unintended consequence and legacy of King Henry VIII's religious reforms. Smithfield and its market, situated mostly in

11319-497: The Rolls of Parliament of the year 1380, a petition from the citizens of London, praying – that, for the sake of the public health, meat should not be slaughtered nearer than " Knyghtsbrigg ", under penalty, not only of forfeiting such animals as might be killed in the "butcherie", but of a year's imprisonment. The prayer of this petition was granted, audits penalties were enforced during several reigns. Thomas Hood wrote in 1830 an Ode to

11466-558: The Workhouse , Jennifer Worth observed that "Costers... spoke to each other almost entirely in back slang; incomprensible to an outsider." Many costermongers also used rhyming slang ; where any word can be substituted with another word that rhymes with it. Examples of rhyming slang include: tin lids or dustpan lids for kids ; jimmy grant for emigrant ; apple and pears for stairs ; rubbidy dub for pub and trouble and strife for wife . The selection of rhyming words often suggested

11613-559: The advent of street lighting, mains water, and sewerage during the Victorian era, maintenance of such an ancient parish with so few parishioners became increasingly uneconomical after the Industrial Revolution. In 1910, it agreed to be incorporated by the Corporation of London which guaranteed financial support and security. Great St Barts' present parish boundary includes just 10 feet (3.048 m) of Smithfield – possibly delineating

11760-422: The area's reputation for trendy night life , attracting professionals from nearby Holborn , Clerkenwell and the City on weekdays. At weekends, the clubs and bars in the area, having late licences , draw people into the area from outside London too. Smithfield has also become a venue for sporting events. Until 2002 Smithfield hosted the midnight start of the annual Miglia Quadrato car treasure hunt , but with

11907-467: The buildings lining Aldersgate Street , the Priory site has left a continuing legacy of limited connectivity between the Smithfield area and Aldersgate Street. The Priory thereafter held the manorial rights to hold weekly fairs , which initially took place in its outer court on the site of present-day Cloth Fair , leading to "Fair Gate". An additional annual celebration, the Bartholomew Fair ,

12054-468: The capital city of Dhaka, street vendors such as small tea stalls, and popular food stalls (fuchka, chotpoti) along the public spaces (university campuses, bus terminals, market places) have a significant role to cater to the urban population. Street vendors are a source of food security, especially to the poorer section of the urban population. Street vending is significant portion of Dhaka's informal economy, an employment opportunity for better livelihoods of

12201-495: The centuries, as well as Scottish knight Sir William Wallace , and Wat Tyler , leader of the Peasants' Revolt , among many other religious reformers and dissenters. Smithfield Market, a Grade II listed - covered market building , was designed by Victorian architect Sir Horace Jones in the second half of the 19th century, and is the dominant architectural feature of the area. Some of its original market premises fell into disuse in

12348-781: The community of costermongers faced increasing opposition from three distinct quarters: the vestry , which viewed street markets as the focus of public disorder; the movement to abolish Sunday trading; and public authorities who were concerned with the rise of unregulated markets and problems associated with street congestion. Throughout the 1860s, the Commissioner of the Police, Richard Mayne, waged war on costermongers and succeeded in closing several markets while authorities and prominent philanthropists began constructing new covered market places designed to replace street selling. In London's Bethnal Green, hostilities between authorities and costers reached

12495-420: The cries of costermongers as they spruiked cherries and strawberries in the streets. The ballad, is a satire that recounts the tale of a country person visiting London to seek legal remedies after having been defrauded. However, he finds that he cannot afford justice, and is soon relieved of any money he has through his dealings with street sellers, retailers, tavern-keepers and others. A lyckpeny (or lickpenny )

12642-402: The day served to perpetuate costermongers' stigmatised status by stories of the moral decay that surrounded places where costers congregated. Initiatives to rid the city of street traders were by no means new to the 19th century. Charles Knight wrote of various attempts to curtail street-based trading during the reigns of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and Charles I (1625–1649). However, from the 1840s,

12789-529: The end of the 14th century, these religious houses were regarded by City traders as interlopers – occupying what had previously been public open space near one of the City gates . On numerous occasions vandals damaged the Charterhouse, eventually demolishing its buildings. By 1405, a stout wall was built to protect the property and maintain the privacy of the Order, particularly its church where men and women alike came to worship. The religious houses were dissolved in

12936-471: The executions, thus freeing the Protestants. During the 16th century, the Smithfield site was also the place of execution of swindlers and coin forgers , who were boiled to death in oil. By the 18th century, the "Tyburn Tree" (near the present-day Marble Arch ) became the main place for public executions in London. After 1785, executions were again moved, this time to the gates of Newgate prison, just to

13083-454: The extraordinary number of mother-o'-pearl buttons that adorned the waistcoat and well-worn fustian jacket of the gentleman in question, would have been at once aware that he was somebody of consequence in costerdom, at all events. ... The pearl button is with him a symbol of position and standing, and by the number of glistening rows that rather for ornament than use, decorate his vestment, his importance amongst his own class may be measured." In

13230-453: The first Catholic martyrs of the Reformation. On 29 May, the remaining twenty monks and eighteen lay brothers were forced to swear the oath of allegiance to King Henry VIII; the ten who refused were taken to Newgate Prison and left to starve. With the monks expelled, Charterhouse was requisitioned and remained as a private dwelling until its reestablishment by Thomas Sutton in 1611 as

13377-572: The following terms: Under the term "costermonger" is here included only such "street-sellers" as deal in fish, fruit, and vegetables, purchasing their goods at the wholesale "green" and fish markets. Of these some carry on their business at the same stationary stall or "standing" in the street, while others go on "rounds." The itinerant costermongers, as contradistinguished from the stationary street-fishmongers and greengrocers, have in many instances regular rounds, which they go daily, and which extend from two to ten miles. The longest are those which embrace

13524-639: The ground. In the afternoon, many of them sell commercial goods in the more crowded parts of the cities, and at night, they sell juices, tea and snacks. The prices are lower than in shops and so attract people on low incomes. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation , there are 10 million street vendors in India , with Mumbai accounting for 250,000, Delhi has 200,000, Kolkata , more than 150,000, and Ahmedabad, 100,000. Most of them are immigrants or laid-off workers, work for an average 10–12 hours

13671-623: The increased night club activity around Smithfield, the UHULMC (a motoring club) decided to move the event's start to Finsbury Circus . Since 2007, Smithfield has been the chosen site of an annual event dedicated to road bicycle racing known as the Smithfield Nocturne . Number 1, West Smithfield is head office of the Churches Conservation Trust . Meat has been traded at Smithfield Market for more than 800 years, making it one of

13818-635: The late 20th century and faced the prospect of demolition. The Corporation of London 's public enquiry in 2012 drew widespread support for an urban regeneration plan intent upon preserving Smithfield's historical identity. In the Middle Ages, it was a broad grassy area known as Smooth Field , located beyond London Wall stretching to the eastern bank of the River Fleet . Given its ease of access to grazing and water , Smithfield established itself as London's livestock market , remaining so for almost 1,000 years. Many local toponyms are associated with

13965-432: The livestock market in 1726 as being "without question, the greatest in the world", and data available appear to corroborate his statement. Between 1740 and 1750 the average yearly sales at Smithfield were reported to be around 74,000 cattle and 570,000 sheep. By the middle of the 19th century, in the course of a single year 220,000 head of cattle and 1,500,000 sheep would be "violently forced into an area of five acres, in

14112-411: The livestock trade: while some street names (such as "Cow Cross Street" and " Cock Lane ") remain in use, many more (such as "Chick Lane", "Duck Lane", "Cow Lane", "Pheasant Court", "Goose Alley" ) have disappeared from the map after the major redevelopment of the area in the Victorian era . In 1123, the area near Aldersgate was granted by King Henry I for the foundation of St Bartholomew's Priory at

14259-530: The major cities and towns of Britain, as can be noted from 19th-century commentaries such as Henry Mayhew 's London Labour and the London Poor : According to Mayhew, An Irish costermonger, however, is no novelty in the streets of London. "From the mention of the costardmonger," says Mr. Charles Knight, "in the old dramatists, he appears to have been frequently an Irishman." Of the Irish street-sellers, at present, it

14406-435: The market in the first half of the 19th century were often described as a major threat to public health: Of all the horrid abominations with which London has been cursed, there is not one that can come up to that disgusting place, West Smithfield Market, for cruelty, filth, effluvia, pestilence, impiety, horrid language, danger, disgusting and shuddering sights, and every obnoxious item that can be imagined; and this abomination

14553-457: The market was being built, a cut and cover railway tunnel was constructed below street level to create a triangular junction with the railway between Blackfriars and Kings Cross through Snow Hill Tunnel . Closed in 1916, it has been revived and is now used for Thameslink rail services. The construction of extensive railway sidings , beneath Smithfield Park, facilitated the transfer of animal carcasses to its cold store , and directly up to

14700-402: The meat market via lifts . These sidings closed in the 1960s. They are now used as a car park, accessed via a cobbled descent at the centre of Smithfield Park. Today, much of the meat is delivered to market by road. Hawker (trade) A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with costermonger or peddler . In most places where

14847-433: The medieval period are relatively rare. Hawkers, hucksters and peddlers occupied a different social position to merchants and were regarded as marginal in society. However, English narratives from the 12th and 13th centuries suggest that hardworking hawkers could advance to positions as packmen and ultimately wealthy wholesalers or merchants. Traditionally deeply rooted in the social and economic fabric of many countries in

14994-527: The mid-nineteenth century, men wore long waistcoats of sandy coloured corduroy with buttons of brass or shiny mother of pearl . Trousers, also made of corduroy, had the distinctive bell-bottomed leg. Footwear was often decorated with a motif of roses, hearts and thistles . Neckerchiefs —called king's men—were of green silk or red and blue. Covent Garden's flower sellers were immortalised in George Bernard Shaw 's Pygmalion . Henry Mayhew gave

15141-405: The more ancient of the trades, then carried on in England, is that of the hawker or pedlar", and he notes, "the hawker dealt, in the old times, more in textile fabrics than in anything else." In several passages of his work, Mayhew categorises hawkers, hucksters , and peddlers as a single group of itinerant salesman, and claims that he is unable to say what distinction was drawn between a hawker and

15288-401: The new starting point, with the route following Goswell Road before joining Islington High Street and then re-joining the historic route. In the Victorian period , pamphlets started circulating in favour of the removal of the livestock market and its relocation outside of the City, due to its extremely poor hygienic conditions as well as the brutal treatment of the cattle. The conditions at

15435-642: The novels and plays of the 17th century. Shakespeare , in the play, King Henry IV, (published about 1600) wrote that "virtue is of so little regard in these coster-monger times, that true valor is turned bear-heard." The playwright, Ben Jonson mentioned costermongers in Epicœne, or The Silent Woman , written in about 1609. The character, Morose, a man who craved silence, could "not endure the costermonger" and "swoons if he hears one." Playwrights, John Ford and Thomas Dekker, also mentioned costers in The Sun's Darling (1656) in

15582-466: The nursery rhyme " Oranges and Lemons ". Traditionally, the Great Bell was rung to announce the execution of a prisoner at Newgate . As a large open space close to the City, Smithfield was a popular place for public gatherings. In 1374 Edward III held a seven-day tournament at Smithfield, for the amusement of his beloved Alice Perrers . Possibly the most famous medieval tournament at Smithfield

15729-467: The oldest markets in London. A livestock market occupied the site as early as the 10th century. In 1174 the site was described by William Fitzstephen as: a smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horses to be traded, and in another quarter are placed vendibles of the peasant, swine with their deep flanks, and cows and oxen of immense bulk. Costs, customs and rules were meticulously laid down. For instance, for an ox,

15876-414: The optimal commercial opportunities. Their street cries were part of the fabric of street life yet were largely viewed as an unwelcome disturbance. In Roman society, hawkers experienced the same disdain that Romans held for retail generally; hawkers were low in social status, with privileged groups often referring to them in pejorative terms. Literary references and images of hawkers and peddlers during

16023-501: The passage, "Upon my life, he means to turn costermonger, and is projecting how to forestall the market. I shall cry "pippins" rarely." A popular comedy, The Scornful Lady (1616), written by playwrights, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher , referred to costers in: "Pray sister, do not anger him, And, then he'll rail like a rude costermonger." From the 15th century, a tradition of representing ‘street cries’ developed in Europe and reached

16170-451: The police was legendary. The distinctive identity and culture of costermongers led to considerable appeal as subject-matter for artists, dramatists, comedians, writers and musicians. Parodies of the costermonger and his way of life were frequent features in Victorian music halls. Costermongers were ubiquitous in mid- Victorian England , but their numbers began to decline in the second half of the 20th century when they began to take up pitches in

16317-416: The poor and treated their donkeys very well. They enjoyed relative autonomy in terms of their working hours and appeared to be "under the command of no-one." Their distinctive identity combined with their highly visible position on London streets led to costermongers becoming a symbol of the working class. As Ian Peddie explains: "Perhaps the most crucial figure in the rearticulation of the working-class image

16464-443: The pre-Hispanic era and the government has struggled to control it, with the most recent clearing of downtown streets of vendors occurring in 2007. Still, there is a persistent presence of many thousands illegally. In 2003 it was estimated that there were 199,328 street vendors in Mexico City. In Oaxaca, Mexico there are many tortilla vendors. In Oaxaca the term regatones (hagglers) is used for those who buy goods to resell for

16611-649: The presence of manteros would make them lose 200 million pesos in the Christmas and holiday season . According to the Confederación Argentina de la Mediana Empresa (CAME), as of December 2013 there were 463 manteros working in Once, 16.8% of the total in Buenos Aires. The daily sales of manteros are worth 300 million pesos in Buenos Aires, and 52 million in Once. A single mantero may earn between 2,000 and 3,500 in

16758-490: The profession was a cognisable and non-bailable offense. Over the years the street vendors have organized themselves into trade unions and associations, and numerous NGO 's have started working for them. In fact, The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) based in Delhi, is a federation of 715 street vendor organizations, trade unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Kolkata has two such unions, namely

16905-450: The promulgation of a stereotypical image of costermongers was part of a broader agenda to clear London's streets of unruly street vendors, who obstructed traffic in a rapidly growing metropolis that was barely coping with an increasing amount of vehicular traffic and street congestion. In addition, a movement to eradicate Sunday trading altogether was gathering momentum and set its sights on the informal, unregulated retail trade. Broadsheets of

17052-528: The raids. Still, the government attempts to weaken the organizations that back the manteros with constant raids. The manteros reacts to the raids with common demonstrations. Camelô is a Brazilian Portuguese name given to street vendors in major Brazilian cities . Law enforcement often enters into conflict – sometimes physical – with camelôs, for selling low-quality products (often imported from Asia ), making improper use of public space (blocking sidewalks and pedestrian traffic), and for not paying

17199-493: The regulated markets. The term costermonger first appeared in written English in the early 16th century. The term coster is a corruption of costard , a kind of apple; and the word monger means a trader or broker. The first known use of the term costermonger occurs in the writings of Alexander Barclay , poet and clergyman, in the Fyfte Eglog of Alexandre Barclay of the cytezene and vpondyshman published around 1518. "I

17346-438: The request of Prior Rahere , in thanks for his being nursed back to good health. The Priory exercised its right to enclose land between the vicinity of the boundary with Aldersgate Without (to the east), Long Lane (to the north) and modern-day Newgate Street (to the south), erecting its main western gate which opened onto Smithfield, and a postern on Long Lane. By facing the open space of Smithfield and by having 'its back to'

17493-485: The rise of a unique coster tongue. One possible explanation is that it protected costers from close surveillance. Both historians and contemporary commentators have pointed to additional distinctive elements of coster culture. In general, they were a hard-working and hard-drinking lot. They were not party political, showed a "complete disregard for the lawful marriage," were not members of any Church, were intensely loyal to other costermongers, were inclined to lend support to

17640-475: The same taxes that licensed retailers pay. Their presence is considered to be a result of the alarming rise in unemployment , although their lifestyle might be better referred to as "subemployment." Many people who work as camelôs sell their products knowing that they are of low quality, and charge high prices nonetheless. The word is borrowed from the French camelot , meaning "merchant of low-quality goods", and

17787-690: The site is now occupied by Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry . From its inception, the Priory of St Bartholomew treated the sick . After the Reformation it was left with neither income nor monastic occupants but, following a petition by the City Corporation, Henry VIII refounded it in December 1546, as the "House of the Poore in West Smithfield in the suburbs of the City of London of Henry VIII's Foundation". Letters Patent were presented to

17934-423: The social cohesion within the coster community, along with sympathetic public support, enabled them to resist efforts to eradicate them. They became known for their melodic sales patter, poems and chants, which they used to attract attention. Both the sound and appearance of costermongers contributed to a distinctive street life that characterised London and other large European cities, including Paris, especially in

18081-534: The south of Smithfield. The Smithfield area emerged largely unscathed by the Great Fire of London in 1666, which was abated near the Fortune of War Tavern, at the junction of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane, where the statue of the Golden Boy of Pye Corner is located. In the late 17th century several residents of Smithfield emigrated to North America, where they founded the town of Smithfield, Rhode Island . Until

18228-442: The stationary vendor, conducting business in a fixed location; the semi-stationary vendor, operating in makeshift structures; and the mobile vendor, conducting business by moving to different locations. According to M. Meneghetti, informal street vending in global society often represents a complex and highly flexible form of agency that allows for the adaptation and functional development of the social actor practicing it in relation to

18375-485: The steam out of the vestry's programme of opposition. The costers also pleaded for assistance from a philanthropist, the Earl of Shaftesbury, who pressed the costers' case with the vestry. Punitive orders were eventually rescinded. The events surrounding the costermongers' resistance to various attempts to eradicate them from the streets only heightened their animosity towards the police, which could be extreme. For many members of

18522-415: The street sellers' distinctive cries and sales patter appearing in a ballad, entitled London Lyckpeny by John Lydgate probably written in the late 1300s and first performed around 1409. Shakespeare and Marlowe mention costermongers in their writings. Although the term 'costermonger' was used to describe any hawker of fresh produce, it became strongly associated with London-based street vendors following

18669-650: The streets crying out to sell their produce, while others operated out of unauthorised, but highly organised informal markets, thereby contributing to an informal system of food distribution which was highly valued by the working classes and poorer customers. While the term costermonger is typically used to describe sellers of fresh produce, primarily fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat, both Victorian commentators and historians point out that costers sold an "astonishly large amount of raw and prepared food." In their photographic essay, Street Life in London , published in 1877, John Thomson and Adolphe Smith depict costermongers selling

18816-464: The streets of busy thoroughfares. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a costermonger as "a person who sells fruit and vegetables outside rather than in a store" while the Collins Dictionary defines a costermonger as "a person who sells fruit or vegetables from a cart or street stand. Henry Mayhew, a Victorian social commentator, distinguished between itinerant and stationary costermongers in

18963-560: The streets of the metropolis: with twenty humorous prints of the most eccentric characters ; The Cries of London: shewing how to get a penny for a rainy day , (1820) Lord Thomas Busby's The Cries of London: drawn from life; with descriptive letter-press, in verse and prose (1823); James Bishop's The Cries of London: for the information of little country folks; embellished with sixteen neatly-coloured engravings , (1847); and The London Cries in London Street: embellished with pretty cuts, for

19110-488: The temples are looked up to as the height of elegance. Hats they never wear—excepting on Sunday—on account of their baskets being frequently carried on their heads. ... Their waistcoats, which are of a broad-ribbed corduroy, with fustian back and sleeves, being made as long as a groom's, and buttoned up nearly to the throat. If the corduroy be of a light sandy colour, then plain brass, or sporting buttons, with raised fox's or stag's heads upon them—or else black bone- buttons, with

19257-928: The term marreteiro is also sometimes used. The difference between camelôs and so-called "ambulantes" is that camelôs have fixed "storefronts" on a particular sidewalk, whereas "ambulantes" sell their wares throughout an area. In the English-speaking Caribbean, hawkers are commonly referred to as haggler s or informal commercial importers. They sell items in small roadside stands, public transit hubs, or other places where consumers would want items such as snacks, cigarettes, phone cards, or other less expensive items. Higglers often break larger items into small individual consumable portions for re-sale and use. Buying these items from more traditional vendors, farmers, or merchants for re-sale via their informal network in communities. In Cuban music and Latin American music ,

19404-566: The term is used, a hawker sells inexpensive goods, handicrafts , or food items. Whether stationary or mobile, hawkers often advertise by loud street cries or chants, and conduct banter with customers, to attract attention and enhance sales. A hawker is a type of street vendor; "a person who travels from place-to-place selling goods." Synonyms include huckster , peddler , chapman or in Britain, costermonger . However, hawkers are distinguished from other types of street vendors in that they are mobile. In contrast, peddlers, for example, may take up

19551-499: The theme of costermongers By the 19th century, writers were using known coster locations as settings for literary works. George Gissing 's first published novel, Workers in the Dawn , published in 1880, described the costermongers at Whitecross Market in the late 1850s. In The Forsyte Saga , Swithin Forsyte is driving Irene Forsyte in his carriage through the streets of London in 1886 and

19698-430: The time of year, either oranges, apples, or violets; some begin their street education with the sale of water- cresses. Images from Street Life in London , by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith, 1877 Costermongers were known to have been in London from at least the 15th century, and possibly much earlier. Mayhew, writing in the 1840s, called costermongering an "ancient calling" and attributed the first written descriptions of

19845-437: The time, John of Gaunt's daughter Philipa of Lancaster was married to John of Aviz , King of Portugal , lending credence to the story, although how much and which parts of it are true is still debated. Along with Tyburn , Smithfield was for centuries the main site for the public execution of heretics and dissidents in London. The Scottish nobleman Sir William Wallace was executed in 1305 at West Smithfield. The market

19992-599: The urban poor. Balut is a popular dish sold by hawkers in the Philippines , Laos , Cambodia , and Vietnam . Another common food you will see in Southeast Asia is taho , which is soft tofu served with syrup. In both China and Hong Kong , hawkers' inventories often include fish ball , beef ball , butzaigo , roasted chestnuts , and stinky tofu . In Singapore and Malaysia, these stands have become so successful that many have chosen to set up shop more permanently in

20139-400: The use of good little boys and girls, and a copy of verses (1833) . From the 18th through to the early 20th century, music hall entertainers, songwriters and musicians mined coster culture and language, seeking inspiration for parodies, sketches and songs. Alfred Peck Vance (1838–1888), also known as The Vance , was one of the first to exploit the coster image in the music halls. Arthur Lloyd

20286-407: The very heart of London, through its narrowest and most crowded thoroughfares". The volume of cattle driven daily to Smithfield started to raise major concerns. The Great North Road traditionally began at Smithfield Market, with St John Street and Islington High Street forming the initial stages. Road mileages were taken from Hicks Hall , a short distance up St John Street, some 90 metres north of

20433-401: The working class, the costermongers' highly-visible resistance made them heroes. As one historian noted: By the end of the 19th century, the costermongers were in gradual decline. They did not disappear as mobile street-sellers until the 1960s, when the few that remained took pitches in local markets. Irish immigrants and their descendants made up a considerable number of the trade all across

20580-399: Was a composer and singer, who achieved great success with his character-songs in the 1870s, many of which were devoted to the lives of costermongers. Lloyd's repertoire, which included songs such as The Costermonger's Song , unlike other music hall compositions, was less dependent on the ability of the performer to mimic Cockney accents and mannerisms, but rather relied on the lyrics to deliver

20727-586: Was acquaynted with many a hucster [= huckster ], with a costardemonger and an hostler." The derivation of the term "costermonger" appears in Samuel Johnson 's Dictionary of the English language , published in 1759. Charles Knight's London , published in 1851, also notes that a costermonger was originally an apple-seller. Although the original costermongers worked as itinerant apple-sellers, the word gradually came to refer to anyone who sold fresh fruit or vegetables from

20874-469: Was established in 1133 by the Augustinian canons . Over time, this became one of London's pre-eminent summer fairs , opening each year on 24 August. A trading event for cloth and other goods as well as being a pleasure forum, the four-day festival drew crowds from all strata of English society. In 1855, however, the City authorities closed Bartholomew Fair as they considered it to have degenerated into

21021-533: Was passed in 1852, under the provisions of which a new cattle market should be constructed at Copenhagen Fields, Islington . The Metropolitan Cattle Market opened in 1855, leaving West Smithfield as waste ground for about ten years during the construction of the new market. The present Smithfield meat market on Charterhouse Street was established by act of Parliament : the Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Market Act 1860 ( 23 & 24 Vict. c. cxciii). It

21168-418: Was that commanded in 1390 by Richard II . Jean Froissart , in his fourth book of Chronicles , reported that sixty knights would come to London to tilt for two days, "accompanied by sixty noble ladies, richly ornamented and dressed". The tournament was proclaimed by heralds throughout England, Scotland, Hainault, Germany , Flanders and France, so as to rival the jousts given by Charles of France at Paris

21315-567: Was the meeting place prior to the Peasants' Revolt and where the Revolt's leader, Wat Tyler , was slain by Sir William Walworth , Lord Mayor of London on 15 June 1381. Religious dissenters ( Catholics as well as other Protestant denominations such as Anabaptists ) were sentenced to death in this area during the Crown 's changing course of religious orientation started by King Henry VIII . About fifty Protestants and religious reformers , known as

21462-429: Was the costermonger... Costermongers composed their own broadsides wherein they asserted their own political identity in songs." Mayhew referred to costermongers as a "dangerous class." The coster community was seen as the "vanguard of resistance" in the 19th century. Their open hostilities with police drew widespread public support and costers who were 'sent down' were seen as martyrs and heroes. Historians have pointed to

21609-517: Was very much on the side of the costermongers. Members of the public were skeptical of the vestry's motivations and believed that shopkeepers were using the issue to eliminate the cheaper produce in order to reduce competitive pressures. Justice of the Peace, Montagu Williams, visited Sclater Street personally and concluded that the vestry had little cause for complaint. From then on, the justices ensured that stall-holders were given minimal fines, taking much of

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