OLD LONDON

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 128, 4 June 1929, Page 11

OLD LONDON

SOME ANCIENT EATING-HOUSES

The guest of honour at the Welling--' ton Eotary Club luncheon this afternoon, was Mr. A. 8. Butler, an ex-mem-ber of the City of London Corpora-; tion and of the council of the London Chamber of; Commerce,, now on-his fourth visit'to-New Zealand. Mr^fijtl. ler, ( who was received' with applause, gave an interesting and chatty address on some of the old eating-houses -of London. The first mentioned was the" Old, Cheshire Cheese, in/-Wine Office Court, off Fleet street,,, famous for itssteak, kidney;, mushrooms, oyster, and lark pie, ; and for the old chair, once occupied, by the famous Dr. Johnson, in which visitors are allowed to; sit.' Then Simpson's Fish Restaurant, in Bird-in-Hand Court,: just off The Poultry—a quiet retreat, close to all, the hubbub of the, dense., traffic in the yicinity of the Bank of England, the Boyal Ex. change, and the Mansion House—-\yith its tables decorated with the flags of the Allies, and particularly the Union Jack, and the flags of Australia, New Zealand, and the other Dominions. There every day the guests guess the height,; breadth, and weight, of the cheese,' and a successful: guess of all three is considered of sufficient interest to be recorded in the London "Times " The speaker referred'also to the Eondon Tavern, at the corner of Mark lane, and Fenchurch; street, a building replacing the original Old-London Tavern, built in 1545, in; which-it was recorded, Queen Elizabeth lunched the day she was released from -the Tower In Vl^t,°i tha*; historic fact, there was exhibited to visitors the old platter and cover, in which were served'to her the pork and beans off which she lunched. Last, but not least, he spoke of the wine cellar in Bishopsgate, known as "Dirty Dick's." Over a hundred" years ago, he safd, the.story ran that a man named Eichard was jilted by his promised bride on the .wedding day? and she married another man. The wedding breakfast was ready, and. the. woebegone lover determined : that it should remain untouched and be left -just as it was for all time. To this day, it was to be seen by visitors to the wine cellar, hence called "Dirty Dick's." ' Mr Butler dealt also with the stystem of government of the City of London, outlining its many activities, its ancient charities, and its educational institutaon, S including: the . City ,of London behool, which was proud to number amongst its er ß twhile; pupils no less a person than the late Lord Askwith