“Another point, connected with this part of the edifice, concerning which I am very desirous of giving some little information, is the etymology of the word Sterling, or perhaps Starling, according to the general pronunciation; yet what can I presume to say upon it, when we find that, in the meaning of a defence to bridges, it is unnoticed in the learned glossaries of Somner, Minsheu, Stephen Skinner, Sir Henry Spelman, John Jacob Hoffman, Du Fresne, Edward Phillips, Francis Junius, Doctors Johnson and Jamieson, and Archdeacon Nares? In the last edition of ‘Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary,’ indeed, by the Rev. H. J. Todd, this signification is inserted, though the Editor candidly adds, ‘I know not the etymology;’ and, therefore, it seems alike futile to search after, and presumptuous to conjecture it; howbeit, take what hints I have met with upon the subject. And firstly, in a small tract entitled ‘A short Review of the several Pamphlets and Schemes that have been offered to the Public, in relation to the building of a Bridge at Westminster,’ by John James, of Greenwich; London, 1736, octavo, at page 16, we find the following conjecture. ‘It is very probable, that the Stallings,—as I choose to call them, our workmen after the Normans, having, perhaps, taken the name from the French word, créche, which signifies a manger, or crib in a stall,—may have been much enlarged since the first building of the Bridge.’ For my own part, however, I am greatly inclined to think that the term is of Northern origin, not very much corrupted, since the Danish word Staer, and the German, Starr, or Starck, a defence, evidently appear to be the root of it; and Christian Ludwig, in his ‘Dictionary of English, German, and French,’ Leipsic, 1763, quarto, volume i., page 840, translates the word Starling by Stahr, explaining it to be ‘a spur to the pillar of a stone bridge, for dividing the water.’ It is common, in most Dictionaries, to consider the word Sterling as referring only to that authorized coin, originally manufactured by the Flemings or Easterlings, whose name it has made immortal. Even in this sense, however, it is still connected with the history of London Bridge; since in Thomas Hearne’s ‘Collection of Curious Discourses,’ edit. London, 1771, octavo, volume ii., article xliii., page 316, is a paper on the derivation of the expression Sterling Money, written by that eminent Antiquary Arthur Agarde, containing a singular anecdote on this subject; which, however, I shall give from the original manuscript in the Cottonian collection, marked ‘Faustina,’ E V., article 10, folio 52 a. ‘I suppose,’ says he, ‘the name came by meanes the Easterlinges from vs, being Germaynes, brought vp in the mynes of syluer and copper there, were vsed here in Englaunde for the reducynge and refyninge the diuersyte of coynes into a perfecte Standarde. As in the beginning of the Quenes Mats raigne, they were brought hyther by Alderman Lodge, (wth whom I was famylyarlye acquaynted,) by her Mats order, for the refining of or base coignes: And this he toulde me, That the mooste of them in meltinge fell sycke to deathe wth the sauoure, so as they were advised to drynke in a dead man’s skull for theyre recure. Whereupon he, wth others who had thoversyght of that worke, procured a warrant from the Counsaile to take of the heades vppon London Bridge, and make cuppes thereof, whereof they dranke and founde some reliefe, althoughe the mooste of them dyed.’ This wild and romantic circumstance probably took place about the year 1560 or 1561, when Queen Elizabeth had all the base coin in the Realm brought to the Tower and melted there; when it is supposed that the fumes of the arsenic which it contained induced the illness of the foreigners: see Ruding’s ‘Annals of the Coinage,’ which I have already quoted, volume iii., page 38, note. When, to these particulars, I have added, that you will find a view of part of Old London Bridge with the houses, in the sixth plate of Hogarth’s ‘Marriage à la Mode,’ my reminiscences of this edifice are concluded to the end of the eighteenth century.”
“Well, sir, well,” said I, fetching a long breath, which sounded a good deal like a yawn, “I know what you would say,—another libation of Sack, to the memory of Old London Bridge; in the which I more readily join you, seeing that your history of it is rapidly closing, and that we are something like the Merchant Abudah, in Ridley’s Tales of the Genii, when he first saw the distant light after his wanderings in the murky caverns of Tasgi: though, indeed, Master Barnaby, I should ask you, on your veracity, if we really are coming to a conclusion, or am I only deceiving myself in thinking so?”
“No, truly,” answered the Antiquary, “I have but little more to speak, and you but little to hear; for, excepting the usual accidents of London Bridge, which I shall omit to notice, the great employment of the last quarter of a century has been coming to the resolution of building a new one, and considering the best means of doing it. Whilst, however, I give you my hearty thanks for your attention and assistance during upwards of eight hundred years of our Bridge-history, I would only remind you of the great mass of information which we have collected upon it, much of which was either never before brought together, or adapted to it.”
“Why, really,” said I, with that kind of half agreement with which men admit a truth not discovered by themselves, “there is something in your remark; and he who next writes the history of London Bridge will have some difficulty in finding new materials for it, at least in any ordinary authorities. But then, you know, others, who are not acquainted with the mass of matter relating to it, may accost us with the old Italian saying of, ‘Where the Devil did you get all this rubbish from?’”
“Out upon them for unthankful knaves, then,” replied Master Postern; “let us console ourselves with the thought that virtue rewards itself; and so, as I see that you are again set in a position either for listening or sleeping, I shall, for the last time, take up my tale.” To this remark I nodded assent, and the old Gentleman thus went on.
“The present century, Mr. Barbican, commenced with some active exertions for the immediate erection of a new London Bridge, upon the most extensive and elaborate scale; of the numerous schemes for which, however, I can give you little more than a catalogue, referring you for full particulars to various parts of ‘The Third Report from the Select Committee upon the Improvement of the Port of London,’ 1800, Folio, and the large volume of engraved ‘Plans and Drawings’ belonging to it. It is stated in sections i. ii. of the former authority, pages 4-6, that the great, continual, and ineffectual expenses of the old Bridge, its irremediable insecurity, and the dangers of its navigation, had induced the Committee to collect information and provide designs for the building of a new one. In this edifice it was proposed to construct a free passage for vessels not exceeding 200 tons’ burthen, to that part of the River between London and Blackfriars’ Bridges; where it was supposed, upon examination, that they would always have a depth of from 12 to 15 feet above low-water, formed and maintained at only a slight expense after the shoals had been cleared away. To ascertain the number of ships which might be expected to use this passage, the Committee procured an account of the Foreign and Coasting Trade of London for 1799, with the measurements of their masts, by which it appeared that an Arch of 65 feet above high-water mark, at medium Spring-Tides, would allow vessels of 200 tons to pass it with their top-masts struck; and that of Coasters under that burthen the number was 7248. Such, then, being the general design, the Artists, who proposed sending in drawings, were directed particularly to consider a convenient passage over the Bridge, with as little acclivity as possible, as well as its access to the principal avenues of London; to the attainment of these objects with the least interference with private property; to the embellishment of the Metropolis of London; and to the length of time, and expense of the whole work. The designs presented were of three different characters: being, firstly, for a Bridge with a lofty Centre Arch, and a descending causeway leading to some principal street on each side of the River; secondly, for a similar Bridge, having its approaches at right angles, and parallel to the shores, to be raised on Arches on a new embankment in front of the old wharfs, &c.; and, thirdly, for two Parallel Bridges, enclosing a space sufficient for so many vessels as would probably pass in one tide, their passage being through corresponding drawbridges, one of which should always remain lowered for the use of passengers. See the ‘Third Report,’ already cited, page 7; and having mentioned these particulars, let us now take a glance at some of the plans themselves.
“1. Mr. Ralph Dodd, Engineer, proposed the erection of a stone Bridge of six Arches, 60 feet wide, and a centre one of iron 300 feet span, and about 100 high, to admit shipping up the River; calculating that the space between London and Blackfriars’ Bridges contained 3,353,180 square feet, and would accommodate nearly 1000 vessels. As this Bridge was to be erected on the old foundations, and even to be built in such a manner over the original structure as not to interfere with the passage across it, it was to consist of two separate tiers, somewhat in the manner of an aqueduct, excepting at the Centre Arch; the lower range consisting of small elliptical Arches lying horizontally, and the upper,—which was to be about 100 feet high,—of segmental Arches. The whole was to be adorned with an entablature and ballustrade, statues, sculptures on the lower Piers, and Corinthian columns above them; and its declivity to extend from the upper corner of Monument Yard to St. Thomas’s Street, Southwark, at an inclination of about 2½ inches in a yard. A pictorial elevation and ground-plan of this design, with its relative bearing to the old Bridge, are to be seen in Plates ii. and vii. of the Plans and Drawings belonging to the Third of the Port of London Reports. Vide also the ‘Report’ itself, section 3, page 7, and ‘Appendix,’ B. 1, page 49.
“This Plan, however, having led Mr. Dodd attentively to survey the foundations of old London Bridge, he became convinced of their insecurity and of its impracticability, and referring to it only as a specimen of its peculiar character, he sent the Committee another design (2) for a highly decorated Stone Bridge, which he proposed to be erected about 40 yards above the ancient one, on the East side of Fishmongers’ Hall on the North, and near Pepper-Alley on the South Shore. It was to consist of five elliptical Arches, the centre being 160 feet span and 80 feet high, the succeeding two 140 feet span and 75 in height, and the outer two 120 feet span, and 70 in height; the structure was to be raised 90 feet from high-water, and occupy 210 feet of the river, leaving 840 for water-way. The whole was to be embellished with statues, columns, &c.; and the estimate for building it, including the avenues, &c. &c. was £350,000 for a Centre Arch of 80 feet; £332,000 for one of 70 feet; and £314,000 for one of 60 feet; the erection to occupy five years. An Elevation and Ground-plan of Mr. Dodd’s second design are in the volume of Plates already referred to, Plate iii.; and farther particulars will be found in the ‘Report,’ page 7, Appendix B. 1, page 51. These plans are also farther illustrated by a pamphlet published in 1799, entitled ‘Letters to a Merchant;’ for which see the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine,’ volume lxix., part ii., November, page 965.
“3. The next design, upon the principle of a large Centre Arch, was by Mr. Samuel Wyatt, constructed wholly of cast-iron, with granite piers, and the bulk of the superstructure filled up with chalk. This Architect, however, sent only a model, without drawings, plans, or estimates; see the ‘Report,’ page 8.
“4. The design furnished by Mr. Robert Mylne, proposed that a Bridge of 5 Arches, the centre being 60 feet above high-water mark, and 150 feet wide, should be directed towards the Monument, which was to form the centre of a square, and terminate in a new road into Kent on the South. The particulars of this plan also propose a considerable improvement in all the streets connected with the Bridge, as may be seen in the ‘Third Report,’ Appendix B. 2, pages 51-56; but it has neither estimates nor drawings.