A large audience of children were charmed with a lecture by_ Sir Frederick Bridge at the Royal Society of Arts, recently. Sir Frederick dealt with the cries of London which were familiar to the children in Shakespeare's day.
In the first place he expressed the opinion that England was more musical in Elizabethan times than it is to-day.
"Instead of playing that horrible game of bridge—a name abhorrent to me"—(laughter) said Sir roderick, people went out after dinner to sing madrigals. If they could not sing these on sight they were considered to be badly educated."
Sir Frederick then went to the piano, and with the assistance of several artists reproduced a day's street cries in the time of Shakespeare, simple, melodious, and quaint.
There was the watchman crying "Three o'clock and a fine morning." Then followed 13 different cries of fish, 18 of fruit, eight of vegetables, 13 of clothes, nine tradesmen's cries, and 13 tradesmen's "songs." Songs of the period, introducing some of these eries, were also rendered.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.