A Dialogue Between the Cross in Cheap and Charing Cross

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A1r

Printer’s Ornament

A Dialogue betwene the Croſſe in
Cheape, and Charing Croſſe.

Cheap.

AH deere Siſter of the Strand how doe you, I am ſo Croſs’d
that I feare my utter ruine and deſtruction is at hand?

Char.

Siſter of Weſt-cheape, Croſſes are incident to us,
and all our kindred; the time hath beene when I have been
Croſs’d too, but I have been free, without, theſe foureſcore
and odd yeares.

Cheap.

Happie are you, and long may you ſo
continue.

Char.

But what’s the greateſt Croſſe that hath befallen you?

Cheap.

Nay Siſter if my Croſſe were fallen, I ſhould live at a great deale
more hearts eaſe then I doe.

Char.

I beleeve it is the Croſſe upon your head, that hath brought you into this trouble, is it not?

Cheap.

Yes indeed you are in the right.

Char.

How commeth this about?

Cheap. Truely I know not, except I ſhould be generally envied and hated,
becauſe I carry ſo much gold about me, and there ſo little to be had in
the land. Char. Siſter like enough, I wonder in my heart you are not rob’d
nor cheated. Cheap. A world of knaves and cheaters I confeſſe, paſſe a
long by me every day, but I am well look’d unto, and watch’d, by the Herbe
women on the one ſide of me, and the Coſtard-mongers and Tripe-wives on
the other, that I can take no wrong; beſides the Serjants of Woodſtreet
counter are not farre from me, whome they feare more then all the reſt.

Char. Had I bee ſo back’d when time was I had fare the better, my e
nemies havwe ſearch’d and undermind me maie a time, but I was ever too
hard for them. Cheap. Too hard for them? how? Char. I am made all
of white Marble (which is not perceived of every one) and ſo cemented
with morter made of the pureſt lime, Callis ſand, whites of egges and the
ſtrongeſt wort, that I defie all hatchets and hammers whatſoever.

Cheap. Were you never begd? Char. For what, for a Foole?

Cheap, No, by ſome neceſſitous Courter or other to ſupply his wnats.

Char. Oh yes, firſt in King Henry the eights daies I was begg’d and ſhould
have been degraded. Cheap. Why you never tooke any degrees in Scholes.

Char. No but you know I have a Stately aſſent of many ſteps, I ſhould
have been taken off from them. Cheap. Why did they begge you?

Char. Faith, according to the courſe of the world, for that I had; then in
Edward the ſixt when Summerſet houſe was in building, I was in danger: after
that in the raigne of Queene Elizabeth, one of her footmen had like to have
run away with me; but the greateſt danger of all I was in, when I quak’d

for

for feare, ’was in the time of King James, for I was eight times begg’d, yet
ſtill I ſtand. Cheap. You are ſo weatherbeaten and torne that you are not
worth the begging. I pray you what would they have done with you?

Char. Part of me was beſpoken to make a kitchin chimney for a chiefe
Conſtable in Shorditch; an Innekeeper in Holborne had bargained for as
much of me as would make him two troughes, one to ſtand under a pumpe to
water his gueſts horſes, and the other to give his ſwine their meate in; the
reſt of my poore carcaſe ſhould have been carried I know not whither to the
repaire of a decayed ſtone bridge (as I was told) on the top of Harrow hill:
Our Roiall fore-father and founder King Edward the firſt you know built
our Siſter Croſſes, Lincolne, Granthame, Woburne, Northampton, Stonie
ſtratford, Dunſtable, Saint Albanes, and our ſelves heere in London; in
the 21. yeare of his Raigne, and in the yeare of our Lord 1289. in me
mory of that incomparable Lady, Queene Eleanor his wife who died at Hard
by neere to Bullingbrooke in Lincolnſhire upon Saint Andrewes eeve
Anno 1288. Cheap. Siſter I have heard ſhe accompanied him in his jour
ney to the holy land againſt the enemies of Chriſt. Char. Moſt true, and
received a wound in his leg, by a poyſoned arrow, which poyſon this good
Queene never ceaſed till ſhe had ſucked out the venome, by which meanes
he was recovered, in memory of whoſe deare love he built us all.

Cheap. Truly, I was at the firſt one of the ſame foundatoin, but have loſt
the honor to be accounted one of thoſe, which indeed I am; our age is one
and the ſame, alaſſe Siſter ſince my firſt foundation I have endured a world
of miſery, as I ſhall relate unto you. Char. I pray doe.

Cheap. After this moſt valiant and excellent King had built me in forme
anſwerable in beauty and proportion to the reſt, I fell to decay, at which
one Iohn Hatherley Major of London, having firſt obtained a licence of
King Henry the ſixt Anno, 1441. I was repaired in a beautifull manner. John
Fiſher a Mercer after that gave 600. markes to my new erecting or building, which was finiſhed Anno, 1484. and after in the ſecond year of Henry the
eight I was guilded over, against the comming in of Charles the fift Em
peror, and newly then guilded againſt the Coronation of King Edward the
ſixt; and guilded againe Anno, 1554. againſt the Coronation of King Phillip;
Lord! how often have I beene preſented by Iuries of the queſt for incom
brance of the ſtreet, and hindring of Carts and Carriages, yet I have kept my
ſtanding; I ſhall never forget how upon the 21. of Iune, Anno 1581. my
lower ſtatues were in the nigh with ropes pulled and rent down, as the Re
ſurrection of Chriſt, the Image of the Virgin Mary, Edward the Confessor,
and the reſt. Char. It ſeemes people in former times were as vehement
againſt Croſſes as tehy are now, but how eſcaped you their furie?

Cheap. Then aroſe many diviſions and new ſects formerly unheard of, as
Martin Marprelate, alias Penrie, Browne and ſundrie others, as the Chronicle
will informe you?

Char. But I pray Siſter how came you to ſubſiſt untill this day?

Cheap. Truly my Croſſe ſhould have been taken quite away, and a Piramis

erected

erected in the place; but Queene Elizabeth (that Queen of bleſſed memory)
commanded ſome of her privie Councell, in her Majeſties name, to write unto
Sir Nicholas Moſeley, then Maior, to have me againe repaired with a Croſſe;
yet for all this, I ſtood bare for a yeare or two after: Her Highnes being very
angry, ſent expreſſe word ſhe would not endure their contempt, but expre sl y
commanded forthwith the Croſſe ſhould be ſet up, and ſent a ſtrict command
to Sir William Rider, Lord Maior, and bad him to reſpect my antiquity: for that
is the ancient Enſigne of Chriſtianity, &c. This letter was dated Decemb. 24.
Anno 1600. Laſt of all, I was marvellouſly beautified and adorned
againſt the comming in of King James, and fenced about with ſharp pointed
barres of Iron, againſt the rude and villanous hands of ſuch as upon condition
as they might have the pulling of mee downe, would bee bound to fifle all
Cheapſide.

Char. But ſiſter, I wonder after ſo often guilding and beautifying, you
commonly loſt your luſtre and glory in a ſmall time.

Cheap. That is long of the Citie ſmoke, proceeding from Sea-cole, that is
hourly burned in every houſe: if you walke but in Moore fields, you ſhall ſee
of thoſe trees, that part of the Bark next to the Citie, all blakce, and long of
ſmoake. But ſiſter, could I come and whiſper you in the eare, I had ſome
what elſe to tell you.

Alas ſiſter! I am like the belly, I have no eares, if it pleaſe you
to ſend your minde in in writing by a Curry-comb-makers wife, that reſortheth to
the Kings Stables at the Mewes, and I ſhould take it very kindly; but it is no
matter, tell me plainly the ſecret you would reveale, wee care not who heare
us.

Cheap. Then, Siſter, I muſt tell you, I am accuſed for a Papiſt, and not
not thought fit to have my abiding in the heart of the Citie: I am called and
preached againſt by the name of the Citie-Idoll. The Browniſts ſpit at mee
as they come along, the Familiſts hide their eyes with their fingers, the A
nabaptiſt will not come neere me, but goe about by Watling-ſtreet, and come
in againe by Bow-lane to buy their markets of the Countrey women.

Charing. It may bee the bright luſtre of your golden garment dazled
their ſight.

Cheap. No, it is the Croſſe above that is ſuch a Moat in their eyes; nay
they doe not onely ſay I am an Idol, but they alſo ſay I am a ſupporter of I
dols.

Char. That is, as we before diſcourſed, because you beare ſo many Images
about you.

Cheap. I wonder what offence they can take at my Croſſe, it never did them
hurt, there is no Image of Chriſt upon it, why doe they not as well goe tell his
Majeſty there is a Croſſe ſtanding above his Royall Crowne, and wiſh him to
file it off, as they did in Boſton the Croſſe upon the Towne Mace (though
it coſt them the ſetting on againe.) Nay, ſiſter of the Strand, ſo extreamly they
hate the Croſſe, that they abhorre every thing that maketh a ſhew, or car-

rieth

rieth but the reſemblance of a Croſſe: As this laſt weeke a Brokers wife in
Houndſditch, beat her maid pittifully, for laying (as ſhee made her maſters
bed) by chance two bed-staves a croſſe. And another, a Pariſh Clarke, a pet
ty Schoolmaſter, would not ſuffer a Chriſt Croſſe in any Horne-booke, but
cut them all out, and rub’d over the place where it ſtood, with Chalke, or
butter. Char. Theſe fellowes ſeeme to me to agree much in one opinion
with the Turkes, who becauſe they would not offend againſt the ſecond Com
mandement, will in their paintings and Carpets make not onely not the image
of a man, but of no other living creature, be it Beaſt, Bird, Fiſh, Worme, or
whatſoever, no not ſo much as the draught of a perfect Flower, becauſe they
would avoid the note of Idolatry. Cheap. Dum vit int vitium, ſtulti in con
traria currunt. Concerning our Croſſes, if our fantatick brethren had lived in
the time of Conſtantine the Great, they would have attempted to have pluck’d
victory againſt his enemies, with In hoc ſigno vinces in this ſigne thou ſhalt o
vercome. Char. That Croſſe indeed was out of their reach. Cheap. But
if I goe downe, being the Metropolitan Croſſe of the land, what will become
of our other ſiſters, Northampton, Waltham, S. Albanes, &c. beſide thoſe beau
tifull ones of Abington in Berkſhire, and of Coventry in Warwickſhire, Che
ſter? &c. Char. They will finde friends I’le warrant you: I know Mr. Maior
of Coventry will have a care of his, it being ſo faire an ornament of that an
cient and well governed Citie, whoſe liberties and freedome were long ſince
obtained by Godwina, wife as I take it, of Leofricus, a Saxon Prince, who being
incenſed againſt that Citie, ſhee procured their priviledges againe by riding
as was enjoyned by her husband) naked through the Citie at noon day; and
her picture ſo riding, is ſet up in glaſſe n a window in St. Michaels Church in
the ſame Citie. Cheap. I wonder that window is not beaten down by the
Browniſts in all this time! a womans picture riding naked ſet up in a Church
window? Char. Why not as well as the Divels in many windowes?

Cheap. It is indeed not ſo decent, but in regard that act of her gained the,
their liberties, they did it in a gratefull remembrance of her love. Char. It
was the cuſtome of ancient times, yea even from S. Baſils time, to pain the
hiſtories of Martyrs, Confeſſors, and publick Benefactors in their Church win
dowes, as in Linne is artificially painted in glaſſe the whole hiſtory of the mar
tyrdome of S. Margaret under Diocleſian. Cheap. But ſiſter, if all manner of
Croſſes run the ſame fortune, my Lord Maior and the Aldermen his brethren,
were beſt to look well to the Citie Armes, for that is a plaine Croſſe Gules in
in a field Silver, the ſword of S. Paul (not that of Sir William Walworth where
with Wat Tiler was ſlaine) in the dexter point: All his Majeſties ſhips muſt
take downe the red Croſſes from their main tops too, and the Croſſes in every
Market Towne where the Countrey wenches ſit with their butter and cheeſe,
muſt be aboliſhed for feare of giving offence to a Feltmaker and his fellowes.

Char. Many a Coach have I obſserved paſſing by mee to our Engliſh Court,
whoſe owners, Kings, Princes, Lords, &c. have borne Croſſes in their Armes, as
K. Edward the Confeſſr, the King of Denmark in King Iames his time, Duke

Memorancie

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MLA citation

Peacham, Henry. A Dialogue Between the Cross in Cheap and Charing Cross. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/DIAL1.htm. Draft.

Chicago citation

Peacham, Henry. A Dialogue Between the Cross in Cheap and Charing Cross. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed May 05, 2022. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/DIAL1.htm. Draft.

APA citation

Peacham, H. 2022. A Dialogue Between the Cross in Cheap and Charing Cross. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 7.0). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/7.0/DIAL1.htm. Draft.

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Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

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T1  - A Dialogue Between the Cross in Cheap and Charing Cross
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 7.0
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/05/05
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/DIAL1.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/xml/standalone/DIAL1.xml
TY  - UNP
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<bibl type="mla"><author><name ref="#PEAC16"><surname>Peacham</surname>, <forename>Henry</forename></name></author>. <title level="a">A Dialogue Between the Cross in Cheap and Charing Cross</title>. <title level="m">The Map of Early Modern London</title>, Edition <edition>7.0</edition>, edited by <editor><name ref="#JENS1"><forename>Janelle</forename> <surname>Jenstad</surname></name></editor>, <publisher>U of Victoria</publisher>, <date when="2022-05-05">05 May 2022</date>, <ref target="https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/DIAL1.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/DIAL1.htm</ref>. Draft.</bibl>