As connected, more or less, with the Vagabonds of London, I add, opposite, a copy of the curious cut of the notorious Southwark brothel, 'Holland's Leaguer' in 1632, on which Mr. Rendle has commented in his "Bankside, Southwark," Harrison, Part II. p. ix-x, and the site of which is shown on the left of our first plan from Roque's Map, ib. p. 67*.
The Brothel is shown, says Mr. Ebsworth, (Amanda Ballads, 1880, p. 507*), fortified and sentried, as kept by a Mrs. Holland, before 1631. "The picture was frontispiece of a quarto pamphlet, 'Holland's Leaguer; or, an Historical Discourse of the Life and Actions of Donna Britanica Hollandia, the Arch Mistris of the wicked women of Eutopia: wherein is detected the notorious sinne of Pandarisme,' etc., sm. 4to. printed by A. M. for Richard Barnes, 1632....
"Holland's Leaguer claimed to be an island out of the ordinary jurisdiction. The portcullis, drawbridge, moat, and wicket for espial, as well as an armed bully or Pandar to quell disagreeable intruders, if by chance they got admittance without responsible introduction, all point to an organized system. There were also the garden-walks for sauntering and 'doing a spell of embroidery, or fine work,' i.e. flirtation; the summer-house that was proverbially famous FORETALK TO REPRINT OF 1880.or infamous for intrigues, and the river conveniently near for disposal of awkward visitors who might have met with misadventure.
"Shackerly Marmion's 'excellent comedy,' Holland's Leaguer, 1632, was reprinted in 1875, in William Paterson of Edinburgh's choice series, Dramatists of the Restoration. The fourth act gives an exposure of the Leaguers' garrison, where riot, disease, and robbery are unchecked. Thus Trimalchio says,
'I threw thy Cerberus a sleepy morsel,
And paid thy Charon for my waftage over,
And I have a golden sprig for my Proserpina.
Bawd: Then you are welcome, Sir!'
"Yet before long the visitors are shouting 'Murder! Murder!'
'They have spoiled us
Of our cloaks, our hats, our swords, and our money.
My brother talked of building of a score, [i.e. "Tick it.">[
And straight they seized our cloaks for the reckoning.'"
"The long-credit system did not suit at that establishment, where the health and lives of visitors were uninsured. The Proprietress had early declared the free list to be entirely suspended: