SELL THE HEAD and WIFE FOR ISLINGTON

Enjoy a slice of London’s history by walking from Smithfield through Islington to Highbury Corner.

“He married Jane Carter,No damsel look’d smarter;But he caught a tartar,John Hobbs, John Hobbs;Yes, he caught a tartar, John Hobbs.He tied a rope to her, John Hobbs, John Hobbs;He tied a rope to her, John Hobbs!To ‘scape from hot water,To Smithfield he brought her;But no one bought her …”

“John Hobbs” from „Modern Street Ballads“, ed. J Ashton (publ. 1888).

Clerkenwell’s St Johns Street had been described in 1170 since the road: … which goeth through the club of Smithfield towards Yseldon i.e. Weiterlesen →