London Bridge

George Seymour

c. 1883-84

Source: Watson, “The Lower Thames —III,” 252

Image capture and formatting by George P. Landow.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Internet Archive and the University of Toronto and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Billingsgate is awake almost as early as Covent Garden. Leaning over London Bridge when the first beam of sunlight shivers downwards and breaks into sparkles on the river, one may dimly discern two streams of white-jacketed figures, one rushing upward to the market and one downward to the boats. They seem to be hurrying for dear life, and until the morning is at least two hours older there will be no break in those restless streams of men. On Billingsgate quay they jostle against each other and swear. “Nautical terms are mingled with London slang,” wrote Mr. Sala sixteen years ago; “fresh mackerel competes in odour with the pitch and tar; the light-strained rigging cuts in dark indigo relief against the sky; the whole is a confusion, slightly dirty but eminently picturesque, of ropes, spars, baskets, oakum, tarpaulin, fish, canvas trousers, osier baskets, loud voices, tramping feet, and 'perfumed gales,' not exactly from 'Araby the blest.' [254]

Other images of London Bridge

• London Bridge, 1872 by Gustave Doré
• London Bridge, drawing by P. N. Boxer
• London Bridge in Modern Times, drawing by G. A. Symington
• Reconstructions of Old London Bridge in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
• Old London Bridge, drawing by G. A. Symington

Bibliography

Watson, Aaron. “The Lower Thames —III.” The Magazine of Art. 7: (1883-84): 251-57. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of Toronto Library. Web. 8 November 2014

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Last modified 14 November 2014