his eldest son-Viscount Cranbourne. The late Lord Erskine being on a visit to the late Marquis at Hatfield House, and the latter being anxious for his lordship's opinion on his new picture gallery, took the earliest opportunity of showing it to him, when his lordship made the following happy impromptu :

"Your room, though long and narrow,

And as straight as an arrow,

Will ne'er with your other rooms tally;

But give it to your son,-'twill be excellent fun
To hear it call'd Cranbourne Alley."

In 1843, the whole south side of Cranbourne Alley was taken down, and the street widened, making a carriage way from Coventry Street to Long Acre. The new street was opened in March, 1844.

COLEMAN STREET.

Coleman street derives its name from Coleman, the first builder and owner thereof. The Star in Coleman Street was a tavern where Oliver Cromwell and several of his party occasionally met.

CLARE MARKET.

From the Clare family, who had a house contiguous to Clement's Inn.

CARNABY MARKET.

On this site formerly stood the mansion of Sir Raynold Carnaby, who figured in the reign of Henry VIII., and who enjoyed a great portion of that monarch's favour. His descendants continued to reside there till the reign of James I., when the present market was built, and which was named after the family of the Carnabys.

CARLTON HOUSE.

Carlton House, once the celebrated town residence of George IV., derives its name from its original possessor, Henry Boyle, Baron Carlton, who built it on a piece of ground leased to him by Queen Anne in 1709. Lord Carlton died without issue in 1725, and his house and grounds descended to his nephew, Richard Boyle, Lord Burlington; he bestowed it in 1732 upon his mother, the Countess-dowager of Burlington, who in the same year transferred it to Frederick, Prince of Wales, father of George the Third. Carlton House was taken down in 1826, and the columns of the Portico transferred to the National Gallery.

CRIPPLEGATE.

St. Giles is the patron of beggars. Going to church in his youth, he gave his coat to a sick beggar who asked alms of him

-the mendicant was clothed, and the garment miraculously cured a disorder with which he was afflicted. He was also the patron of Cripples. It is related of him by that pious chronicler of the saints, Ribadeneira, that one day when the French king was a hunting near a thicket where St. Giles was concealed, he was wounded by an arrow from a huntsman's bow while in the act of praying; whereupon, being found unmoved from his position, the king fell at his feet, craved his pardon, and gave orders for the cure of his wound; but this the Saint would not permit, preferring to remain a Cripple, and thereby increase his merits. The church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, is dedicated to him; hence the name of the locality.

COAL-HARBOUR LANE.

Here stood a spacious and stately edifice, denominated Cold Herberg, or Harbrough, the latter being a corruption of the former, which signifies an Inn or Mansion-house; the epithet of Cold was probably added on account of its bleak situation, so near the river Thames. However, the site thereof, and buildings thereon, are at present known by the name of Coalharbour lane, in Upper Thames Street.

CHARING CROSS.

Here formerly stood the village of Charing, from whence the present name is derived. The Cross was an ancient Gothic structure, placed there in 1291 to Eleanor, queen of Edward I., being the last stage at which the queen's body stopped, previous to its interment in Westminster Abbey. "But neither its ornamental situation, the beauty of its structure, nor the amiable design of its erection," says an intelligent writer, "could preserve it from the merciless zeal of the times." It was demolished by the House of Commons, during the Commonwealth, as a relic of Popish superstition.

CHARLES THE FIRST'S STATUE.

This noble equestrian statue at Charing Cross is the work of Hubert le Sœur, a Frenchman, who came to England about the year 1674. "The commanding grace of the figure, and the exquisite form of the horse, are striking to the most unpractised eye," says Horace Walpole. This piece was cast in 1633, in a spot of ground near to Covent Garden, and not being erected before the commencement of the civil war, it was sold by the Parliament to John Rivet, a brazier, living at the Dial, near Holborn Conduit, with strict orders to break it to pieces. This worthy, we may presume, was a royalist. At any rate, ho was a sagacious wight, for he produced a quantity of fragments of old brass, and concealed the statue and horse under ground

until the Restoration. "He cast a number of knives and forks," says M. de Archenholz, "in brass, which he sold as manufactured from the statue. These were purchased with avidity by the royalists, out of affection to their unfortunate sovereign; and sought with equal eagerness by the rebels, as a trophy of the downfall of a despot.'

COVENT GARDEN.

On the site of the western Piazza of Covent Garden, or as it is vulgarly called Common Garden, formerly stood a Convent of Sisters, which was with other monasteries seized and confiscated by order of our Eighth Harry. Where the market is held now, formerly was the Convent Garden, and which circumstance gave it its present name. "I conclude with being Edward Honeycomb, in the time of Henry the Eighth, helping to undo the convent that stood there. I strike his Majesty's warrant on the door, and change every thing like a harlequin. The convent becomes a playhouse, monks and nuns turn actors and actresses. The garden, formal and quiet, where a salad was cut for a lady abbess, and flowers were gathered to adorn images, becomes a market, noisy and full of life, distributing thousands of fruits and flowers to a social metropolis. Who is this coming this way, looking so earnest and full of frown? Is it a little Dominican friar, longing to denounce us all to the Inquisition? No; it is Mr. Kean, in his great-coat, who delights us all, and does us good, in a profane playhouse. Miss Stephens, and Miss Tree, too, instead of

'Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon,'

raise their voices in delightful duets, and have good warm benefits.”

-Landor's Conversations.

CANNON STREET.

Cannon Street was originally Candlewick Street, deriving its name from its formerly being principally occupied by the wax and tallow trades, which were of great importance till 1548, when, by order of Henry VIII., the burning of candles in religious services were prohibited.

CROSBY SQUARE.

The house in Crosby Square called Crosby House, built by one Sir John Crosby, was the city residence of Richard III., and is alluded to in the play. After passing through various hands, it was in 1672 converted into a Presbyterian Meetinghouse, and in 1677 the present houses in Crosby Square were erected on a portion of the offices attached to the mansion. The lease expiring 1831, a subscription was raised to restore the hall to its original state. The first stone of the new works

was laid June 27, 1836, and the hall re-opened July 27, 1842, for a Literary and Scientific Institution.

CURTAIN ROAD.

The road which runs parallel with Shoreditch, from Worship Street to Old-street Road, is thus denominated from one of the earliest theatres being here. The Curtain theatre was erected on that part of the Haliwell priory called the curtain close, from which its name was derived, and not, as is generally supposed, from a striped curtain hung round the playhouse. Curtis monasterii, and Curtis cenobii, signify the inner court or cloisters of a monastery.-See ante, p. 87.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE.

Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate, derives its name from the mansion formerly there, the residence of the Devonshire family.

DUKE'S PLACE.

Duke's Place, in the city, the great resort of the Jews, took its name from Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, who had his residence here, and was beheaded in 1572.

DRURY LANE.

Near this place stood Drury-house, the habitation of the great family of the Drurys-built by Sir William Drury, K. G., from which it derived its appellation. It is remarkable that this lane, of later times so notorious for intrigue, should receive its title from a family name, which, in the language of Chaucer, had an amorous signification—

"Of bataille and of chevalrie,

Of lady's love and druerie,
Anon I woll you tell."

EAST-CHEAP.

East-Cheap, from Chepe, a Market, and East, the aspect it bears to Cheapside. This street was famous in old times for its convivial doings. "The cookes cried-hot ribbes of beef roasted, pies well baked, and other victuals. There was clattering of pewter pots, harpe, pipe, and sawtrie," evident symptoms of the jollity of this quarter. Here, too, was the celebrated "Boar's Head," the resort of Prince Hal and his pot companion, Falstaff.

EXETER CHANGE.

This place received its name from being built on the site of the old mansion-house of the Earls of Exeter. In the ancient

plans of London, the original house covered a large space, and had its quadrangles, towers, and turrets, in the style of Burleighhouse, the country residence of the Marquis of Exeter. It was erected for the purposes of trade, and consisted of three floors. The upper ones, which are spacious, have been the scenes of many interesting exhibitions. The last tenant of the upper rooms was Mr. Cross, with his menagerie; and there, in March 1826, Chunee, the famous elephant, was shot. Exeter Change was taken down in 1829. The present Exeter Change is a modern structure, between Bridges Street in the Strand, and Upper Wellington Street.

EXETER HALL, STRAND.

This has been erected on the site of the old Exeter Change, and is distinguished for its musical assemblies, as well as for its religious meetings, in May. The hall was completed in 1831, the architect J. P. Deering; and its magnificent organ was built by Mr. Walker. The great hall is 90 feet broad, 138 long, and 48 wide, and will accommodate about 4000 persons.

FETTER LANE.

This lane was formerly called Fewter Lane, from the name of Fewters (idle people), it having been a way leading to gardens and waste grounds, extending from this lane to Shoe Lane.

FINSBURY SQUARE.

Finsbury is supposed to be a corruption from Fens-bury, from that locality being originally a large Fen. Fitzstephen, however, says it took its name from Sir William Finnes, a knight of Rhodes (A.D. 1044), who left the fields of Finsbury to his two daughters, who subsequently became nuns in the monastery of Bedlam, afterwards an hospital. The chief magistrate of the metropolis is Mayor of London, and Lord of the Manor of Finsbury.

FLUDYER STREET.

Fludyer Street, near to Downing Street, derives its name from Sir Samuel Fludyer, Lord Mayor of London, about the year 1740; he having built it in 1766.

FORSTER LANE.

This lane derives its name from Sir Stephen Forster, knight, some time Lord Mayor of London, and the founder of the privileges of Ludgate prison, himself having been a prisoner there, from whence he was released by a lady whom he afterwards