Read Online London Labour and the London Poor: Selection (Classics) by Henry Mayhew - Free Book Online

“Soldier’s Dream”, “The Dream of Napoleon”, or “I’ad a dream – an ’appy dream”.’
    The songs in ridicule of Marshal Haynau, and in laudation of Barclay and Perkin’s draymen, were and are very popular among the costers; but none are more popular than Paul Jones – ‘A noble commander, Paul Jones was his name’. Among them the chorus of ‘Britons never shall be slaves’, is often rendered ‘Britons always shall be slaves’. The most popular of all songs with the class, however, is ‘Duck-legged Dick’; of which I give the first verse.
     
    Duck-legged Dick had a donkey,
    And his lush loved much for to swill,
    One day he got rather lumpy,
    And got sent seven days to the mill.
    His donkey was taken to the green-yard,
    A fate which he never deserved.
    Oh! it was such a regular mean yard,
    That alas! the poor moke got starved.
    Oh! bad luck can’t be prevented,
    Fortune she smiles or she frowns,
    He’s best off that’s contented,
    To mix, sirs, the ups and the downs.
    Their sports are enjoyed the more, if they are dangerous and require both courage and dexterity to succeed in them. They prefer, if crossing a bridge, to climb over the parapet, and walk along on the stone coping. When a house is building, rows of coster lads will climb up the long ladders, leaning against the unslated roof, and then slide down again, each one resting on the other’s shoulders. A peep show with a battle scene is sure of its coster audience, and a favourite pastime is fighting with cheap theatrical swords. They are, however, true to each other, and should a coster, who is the hero of his court, fall ill and go to a hospital, the whole of the inhabitants of his quarter will visit him on the Sunday, and take him presents of various articles so that ‘he may live well’.
    Among the men, rat-killing is a favourite sport. They will enter an old stable, fasten the door and then turn out the rats. Or they will find out some unfrequented yard, and at night time build up a pit with apple-case boards, and lighting up their lamps, enjoy the sport. Nearly every coster is fond of dogs. Some fancy them greatly, and are proud of making them fight. If when out working, they see a handsome stray, whether he is a ‘toy’ or ‘sporting’ dog, they whip him up – many of the class not being
very
particular whether the animals are stray or not.
    Their dog fights are both cruel and frequent. It is not uncommon to see a lad walking with the trembling legs of a dog shivering under a bloody handkerchief, that covers the bitten and wounded body of an animal that has been figuring at some ‘match’. These fights take place on the sly – the tap-room or back-yard of a beer-shop, being generally chosen for the purpose. A few men are let into the secret, and they attend to bet upon the winner, the police being carefully kept from the spot.
    Pigeons are ‘fancied’ to a large extent, and are kept in lath cages on the roofs of the houses. The lads look upon a visit to the Redhouse, Battersea, where the pigeon-shooting takes place, as a great treat. They stand without the hoarding that encloses the ground, and watch for the wounded pigeons to fall, when a violent scramble takes place among them, each bird being valued at 3
d
. or 4
d
. So popular has this sport become, that some boys take dogs with them trained to retrieve the birds, and two Lambeth costers attend regularly after their morning’s work with their guns, to shoot those that escape the ‘shots’ within.
    A good pugilist is looked up to with great admiration by the costers, andfighting is considered to be a necessary part of a boy’s education. Among them cowardice in any shape is despised as being degrading and loathsome, indeed the man who would avoid a fight, is scouted by the whole of the court he lives in. Hence it is important for a lad and even a girl to know how to ‘work their fists well’ – as expert boxing is called among them. If a coster man or woman is