crowned in the same Chair, as appears from Sandford, as were also William of Orange, Queen Anne, and all our succeeding Sovereigns to the present time.

During the preparations for the late coronation, the frame-work of this Chair was strengthened with iron braces, and the Prophetic Stone more securely fixed. At the same time, the old crockets and turrets at the back were sawn off, and new ones of a different character substituted, under the direction of the Upholsterers employed by the Board of Works! Soon after the ceremony, however, the new crockets, &c. were taken away, and the Chair left in a more dilapidated state than before, although a positive promise had been given to the present writer that the old parts should be preserved and restored.

With this Chair another is kept, which is stated to have been made for the coronation of Queen Mary, consort of William III. It is wholly unornamented, but similar in its general form to the ancient one, of which it is an unskilful attempt to imitate.

FISHMONGERS' COMPANY AND HALL.

THE Fishmongers' Company, as it now exists, was formed by the junction of the two Companies of Salt Fishmongers and Stock Fishmongers, and was incorporated by Henry VIII. by the name of "the Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Fishmongers," &c. in the year 1536. The Salt Fishmongers had been first incorporated so early as 1433, the Stock Fish

mongers not till 1509; yet long before either of those dates, the Fishmongers were united as a brotherhood; and, from the great extent of their trade during the prevalence of the Catholic religion, they had obtained great sway and affluence. In the reign of Edward I. (anno 1290) they were fined 500 marks for being guilty of forestalling, contrary to the laws and constitutions of the city; and during the following century, so strong a prejudice had been excited against them, from charges of fraudulent dealing, that, in 1382, the Parliament enacted that "no Fishmonger should for the future be admitted Mayor of the City." This prohibition, however, was removed in the following year. About that time there seems to have been a very strong prejudice existing against these traders; and in the Parliament then held, Nicholas Exton, speaker for the Fishmongers, "prayed the King to receive him and the Company under the immediate Royal protection, lest they might receive corporeal hurt." This request originated from the various street tumults, wherein the Fishmongers were the objects of popular indignation and insult. For a considerable period, also, there were continued disputes between this Company and the Goldsmiths in regard to precedence, so much so, indeed, that the Lord Mayor and aldermen were obliged to repel the mutinous from the City by proclamation.*

* From the great demand for Fish in the times of Catholic superstition, the Fishmongers formed one of the chief trades of the metropolis. Their stalls, or standings, were principally on

Before the union of the two Companies, we learn from Stow, that the Fishmongers had "six several Halls; in Thames Street, twain, in New Fish Street, twain, and in Old Fish Street, twain ;" but after their joint incorporation they agreed to have but one, namely "in the house given unto them by the Lord Fanhope (Sir John Cornewell), in the parish of St. Michael, Crooked Lane.' "* The fabric here mentioned was destroyed by the fire of London; after which the late Hall, (delineated in the annexed print) was erected from the designs of Sir Christopher Wren; and it may be considered as a noble specimen of his intention to orna

Fish Street Hill; and many wealthy individuals of that craft dwelt upon the spot, whose names shine conspicuously in the annals of civic honour, as Lovekin, Turk, Sir William Walworth, Sir Stephen Foster, and others. The ancient statutes of this Company are to be found in the Liber Horn, still kept at Guildhall; according to which, (circa 1320) no Fishmonger was to buy fish beyond the bounds appointed, which were, the Chapel on London Bridge, Baynard's Castle, and Jordan's Quay, near Billingsgate. No fish were to be bought from any boat, unless first brought to land. No fishmonger was either to buy or sell any fresh fish before mass was ended at the Chapel upon the Bridge; but salt fish might be sold after prime.

* The Fishmongers' arms are, azure, three Dolphins, naiant in pale, between two pairs of Lucies, in salterwise, proper, crowned, or; on a chief, gules, three couple of keys, crossed, as the crowns; supported on the dexter side by a merman, armed, and on the sinister by a mermaid, holding a mirror in her left hand: crest, two arms sustaining a crown: motto, " All worship be to God only."

ment the banks of the river Thames with stately mansions, had his entire plan for rebuilding the city been carried into effect. In consequence of the site of the new London Bridge having been fixed at a short distance westward from the old Bridge, and of the Company having sold a portion of their land to the City for the purpose of forming a new Street, the materials of Fishmongers' Hall were sold by auction in July 1827, and the whole building has been since pulled down. For the small portion of ground purchased by the City the Company was paid a very considerable sum, which is intended to be expended towards defraying the charges of a more splendid edifice to be built near the same spot.

Behind the seat of the Prime-warden, in the late Hall, within a niche, was a full-sized statue, carved in wood, and painted in proper colours, of Sir William Walworth, Knt., who was represented in the dress of his time, his right hand grasping a real dagger, reported to be (but without any truth) the identical weapon with which he struck Wat Tyler from his horse, in Smithfield.* Below the niche were these lines:

Brave WALWORTH, Knight, Lord Mayor, yt slew
Rebellious Tyler in his alarmes,

The King, therefore, did give in lieu

The dagger to the Cytyes arms.

Walpole says, that the above statue was made by Edw. Pierce, the statuary and architect, who died in 1696.