Old Cries Of London

~ beetleypete

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the streets of London were full of people selling their wares to anyone passing by. To get themselves noticed, the sellers would invent cries, which were often elaborate rhymes which they hoped would attract customers. Many of these are now lost to history, but I found some accompanying a selection of printed woodcuts.


My game are round and fat you see,
If on the price we can agree:
These ducks but one day since were shot,
And suit alike the spit or pot.
Or if for game you’re not inclin’d,
Here is a chicken to your mind.


Here is spice-cake for those good boys,
Who better love their books than toys;
And little girls may have their share,
As often as they sew with care:
Here he comes! his basket smokes;
BUY SOME SPICE, good little folks.


Here little girls will doubtless find
What cannot fail to please their mind;
Bedsteads of every size the best,
On which their painted dolls may rest:
And ‘tis but right that you should grant,
What you yourself so often want.


Alive and fresh, good herrings oh!
Six a groat, is cheap, you know.
Off Britain’s coast they late were caught,
And in a ship but just now brought.
If Mrs. Cook will dress them well,
Of their goodness you will tell;
Or if, to salt them you’re inclin’d,
There’s not a doubt they’ll suit your mind.


Little folks will lend an ear
When this pair approaches near;
Their buns are found so very nice,
They are always eager for a slice,
But if flour should rise anew,
To hot-cross buns we bid adieu.


In the Gazette GREAT NEWS to day,
The enemy is beat, they say. –
But, what, alas! will that avail?
Since war we still have to bewail.
Yet all are eager to be told
The news that new events unfold.


Nice mutton dumplings! smoking hot,
And just brought boiling from the pot:
Take my word, they are very good;
Besides, they make substantial food.
Consider now the price of meat,
And you’ll say they are also cheap.


These radishes, so fair and round,
To please the palate will be found;
Fourteen a penny is the price,
You’ll surely buy, they are so nice.
Try with a few good radishes,
How bread and butter relishes.


Old shoes! old hats! come little dear,
To hear me cry you need not fear;
There’s difference great between us two,
I always cry but seldom you,
And you cry tears I should suppose,
While I cry nothing but old Cloaths.

49 thoughts on “Old Cries Of London”

  1. Pingback: *Press This* Old Cries Of London #254 | Its good to be crazy Sometimes

  2. Fabulous! I’ve been reading a book on Victorian jargon (Speak Chuckaboo by Teagan Geneviene), and I do love to learn about old language, expressions, songs, and ditties. I’ll have to do a bit of digging here as well. Enjoy the rest of the week, Pete, and thanks!

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    1. That one is from Ireland, but the same thing. Thanks, Don.

      Molly Malone.

      In Dublin’s fair city
      Where the girls are so pretty
      I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
      As she wheeled her wheelbarrow
      Through streets broad and narrow
      Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”
      Alive, alive, oh
      Alive, alive, oh
      Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
      She was a fishmonger
      And sure ’twas no wonder
      For so were her father and mother before
      And they both wheeled their barrows
      Through streets broad and narrow
      Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh
      Alive, alive, oh
      Alive, alive, oh
      Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh
      She died of a fever
      And no one could save her
      And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
      But her ghost wheels her barrow
      Through streets broad and narrow
      Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh
      Alive, alive, oh
      Alive, alive, oh
      Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh
      Alive, alive, oh
      Alive, alive, oh
      Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  18. I remember my father pulling a book off the shelf, I was probably ten. It was a British mystery of some sort and what recall is the character making his way through the crowded streets of Olde Towne and the “criers” and thought for a long time that London back then was full of miserable people crowding the street, sitting on the sidewalks and crying their eyes out.

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  19. All I remember was the Winkle Man on Sunday afternoons. He’d come along pushing his cart and shouting ‘Winkle!’ at the top of his voice. Nan would send me out to buy a pint of winkles for Grandad’s tea.

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  21. Outside Waterloo station it was “Apples 10p or I can do you a bargain Guv. Tell ya what, just for you I do ya 2 for 20p. Can’t get a better deal than that”.

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