Footnotes
[41] See next page.
[42] J. T. Smith in his "Vagabondiana," ed. 1815-1817, p. 51, alludes thus to the prison: "Perhaps the only waggery in public-house customs now remaining, is in the tap room of the Appletree, opposite to Cold Bath Fields Prison. There are a pair of hand cuffs fastened to the wires as bell-pulls, and the orders given by some of the company, when they wish their friends to ring, are, to 'Agitate the Conductor.'"
[43] "After this I was in a vision, having the angel of God near me, and saw Satan walking leisurely into London" ("Brothers' Prophecies," part i. p. 41).
[44] I have met with a Newspaper Cutting, with no clue to its authenticity or date. "Dreadful Ravages of the Influenza in the House of Correction.—Yesterday afternoon, Inquests were holden by William Baker, Esq., one of the Coroners for the County of Middlesex, at the House of Correction, Coldbath Fields, on no less than five individuals, namely, Peter Griffiths, Michael Hughes, James Jones, Thomas Lillie, and Ann Connard, all of whom had died from the effects of the present prevalent epidemic, or influenza, and who were inmates of that prison, and had been sentenced to different periods of imprisonment. It is a fact that, for the last two months, more prisoners have died in this prison, principally from the effects of influenza, than had died there during the whole of the preceding year." Possibly the poor Fleet River, at that time hardly degraded to the level of the Sewer—which now it is—may have had something to do with the unsanitary condition of the prison.—J. A.
[45] Adopted at Coldbath Fields Prison, July, 1822.
[46] Let any one compare, for instance, reports for 1884 and 1886.
CHAPTER X.
COLDBATH FIELDS were, a hundred and twenty years ago, fairly rural, for (although it certainly is recorded as an abnormal occurrence) we find, in the Daily Courant, November 12, 1765, "Friday afternoon, about two o'clock, a hare crossed the New Road, near Dobney's Bowling green, ran to the New River Head, and from thence to Coldbath Fields, where, in some turning among the different avenues, she was lost. She appeared to have been hard run, by her dirty and shabby coat."
These fields took their name from a spring (part of the River of Wells) which had its source there. A Mr. Walter Baynes of the Temple, who was, for his day, far-seeing, and made the most of the "town lots" which were in the market, bought this plot of land, and at once utilized it to his profit. It was of some note, as we read in a book published in Queen Anne's reign, "A New View of London," 1708, vol. ii. p. 785. "Cold Bath. The most noted and first[47] about London was that near Sir John Oldcastle's, where, in the Year 1697, Mr. Bains undertook and yet manages this business of Cold Bathing, which they say is good against Rheumatisms, Convulsions of the Nerves, &c., but of that, those that have made the Experiments are the best judges. The Rates are 2s. 6d. if the Chair is used,[48] and 2s. without it. Hours are from five in the morning to one, afternoon."
We learn two things from this—the pristine existence of "tub," and the fact that it was purely matutinal. Nay, from the same book we learn more, for, under the heading of "Southwark Cold Bath," we find that the "utmost time to be in, three minutes." At this latter places were "ex votos," so frequently seen at shrines on the Continent. "Here are eleven Crutches, which they say, were those of persons cured by this Water." Bathing was a luxury then—water was bought by the pailful, and a warm bath at the Hummums cost 5s., equal to between 10s. and 15s. of our money.
Walter Baynes, Esq., of the Middle Temple, seems to have been a pushing man of business, and willing to make the most of his property. He traded on the uncleanliness of the times, when baths were mostly used in case of illness, and daily ablution of the whole body was unknown. Ladies were quite content to dab their faces with some "fucus" or face wash, or else smear them with a greasy larded rag. The shock of a veritable cold bath from a spring, must have astonished most of those who endured it, and no doubt invested it with a mysterious merit which it did not possess, otherwise than by cleansing the skin, both by the washing, and the subsequent rubbing dry.
