The sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent[pseud.] together with Abbotsford and other selections from the writings of Washington Irving .. . y week, I am looked upon as the only indepen-dent gentleman of the neighborhood; and, being curious tolearn the internal state of a community so apparently shutup within itself, I have managed to work my way into allthe concerns and secrets of the place. 5. Little Britain may truly be called the hearts core of ^ It is evident that the author of this interesting communicationhas included, in his general title of Little Britain, many of those littlelanes and
The sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent[pseud.] together with Abbotsford and other selections from the writings of Washington Irving .. . y week, I am looked upon as the only indepen-dent gentleman of the neighborhood; and, being curious tolearn the internal state of a community so apparently shutup within itself, I have managed to work my way into allthe concerns and secrets of the place. 5. Little Britain may truly be called the hearts core of ^ It is evident that the author of this interesting communicationhas included, in his general title of Little Britain, many of those littlelanes and courts that belong immediately to Cloth Fair. LITTLE BRITAIN 95 the city, the stronghold of true John Bullism. It is a frag-ment of London as it was in its better days, with its antiquatedfolks and fashions. Here flourish in great preservation manyof the holiday games and customs of yore. The inhabitantsmost religiously eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, hot-cross-buns on Good Friday, and roast goose at Michaelmas; theysend love-letters on Valentines Day, burn the pope on thefifth of November, and kiss all the girls under the mistletoe. The Guildhall, London, 1820 at Christmas. Roast beef and plum-pudding are also heldin superstitious veneration, and port and sherry maintaintheir grounds as the only true English wines; all others beingconsidered vile outlandish beverages. 6. Little Britain has its long catalogue of city wonders,which its inhabitants consider the wonders of the world; suchas the great bell of St. Pauls which sours all the beer when ittolls; the figures that strike the hours at St. Dunstans clock- 96 THE SKETCH-BOOK the Monument; the Hons in the Tower; and the woodengiants in Guildhall. They still believe in dreams and fortunetelling, and an old woman that lives in Bull-and-Mouth Streetmakes a tolerable subsistence by detecting stolen goods, andpromising the girls good husbands. They are apt to be ren-dered uncomfortable by comets and eclipses; if a dog howlsdoleful
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