London Cries. By Andrew W. Tuer. (Field and Tner.)—There is
a considerable literature of "street cries," going back to the seven- teenth century. Into this Mr. Tuer has made diligent inquiry, and has now given the results to the public in this handsome volume. Not a little information about the social and economic side of history may be picked out from these quaint records of the city life of the past. Our ancestors were accustomed to have their streets made much more musical with these announcements than are the streets of the present. Some things are still sold in this way, though the chief commerce is of a kind that has sprung up in this genera- tion, the sale of penny and halfpenny newspapers. But the cries have, for the most part, been silenced ; in the main thoroughfares they have ceased entirely, and in the baci.streets they are less fre- quent, The disappearance of some of these articles of sale speaks of an improvement; for one of the cries was a cry of scurvy- grass, for instance, which was still prized at the end of the last century, and another was of "New-Diver water," which it is not now necessary to buy in the street. Herbs generally have gone out of fashion, "Chickweed and groundsel, for your fine singing birds," being almost the only cry that one commonly hears. Somehow, these chickweed-sellers seem to be the most miserable of the human race. Among prices, we find, "New-laid eggs, eight a groat," (but were they new-laid ?) "Cherries, black and white-heart, two- pence a pound" (but we sometimes find the price as high as six- pence); "Mackerel, four for sixpence ;" and "Four pair for a shilling, Holland socks !" The gems of Mr. Tuer's illustrations are —wo Charming Children," given in duplicate in red and brown, and very pleasing specimens of the engraving of seventy years ago. Quaint pictures in the "Dr. Syntax" style, rude coloured prints, and other miscellanies make up a curious volume.
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