Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production
Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tray,
Speaker 1: C V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. Ages ago, we
Speaker 1: were looking for some ideas for winter or holiday like
Speaker 1: winter or winter holiday episodes. We put out a call
Speaker 1: on Facebook and what was then called Twitter and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. Listener Laurie asked for one about the London
Speaker 1: Frost Fairs, which were essentially festivals that were held out
Speaker 1: on the ice when the River Thames froze over. So yes,
Speaker 1: this is another in our recent line of episodes based
Speaker 1: on something that somebody asked us for years ago. But
Speaker 1: we have actually covered a lot of the other topics
Speaker 1: that were suggested during that call for suggestions, especially the
Speaker 1: ones that were more specifically about Christmas. So like NORAD's
Speaker 1: annual tracking of Santa Claus and the Yes, Virginia there
Speaker 1: is a Santa Claus story, and Charles Dickens's a Christmas
Speaker 1: Carol in Washington, Irving's influence on how Christmas is celebrated
Speaker 1: in the US, Like all of those were suggested during
Speaker 1: that call for suggestions. This one, though, this is really
Speaker 1: a winter episode, not a Christmas episode. Most of these
Speaker 1: fairs took place in January or February, which were usually
Speaker 1: a little bit colder than December, and this is also
Speaker 1: a story about climate, although the climate is not the
Speaker 1: only reason that the last of these fairs took place
Speaker 1: in eighteen fourteen. There are lots of places on Earth
Speaker 1: where rivers and lakes and other bodies of water freeze
Speaker 1: over in the winter and are made into roads or
Speaker 1: are used for other purposes. And in a lot of
Speaker 1: those places, those frozen bodies of water aren't a novelty
Speaker 1: like what we're talking about today. They're a critical part
Speaker 1: of the local infrastructure every winter as people turn them
Speaker 1: into roads. That's one of the many ways that global
Speaker 1: warming is already impacting people's lives and livelihoods. As winters
Speaker 1: get shorter and milder, people living in these areas lose
Speaker 1: a vital transportation route. That's really not the case, though,
Speaker 1: with the River Thames in southern England, especially the part
Speaker 1: of the river around London. There are reports of this
Speaker 1: part of the Thames freezing over going all the way
Speaker 1: back to the first century, but this wasn't something that
Speaker 1: happened often at all, and when it did happen, it
Speaker 1: could be deeply destructive. For example, one account from ten
Speaker 1: ninety two reads quote the great streams were congealed in
Speaker 1: such a manner that they could draw two hundred horsemen
Speaker 1: and carriages over them. Whilst at there thawing, Many bridges
Speaker 1: both of wood and stone were borne down, and diverse
Speaker 1: watermills were broken up and carried away. The part of
Speaker 1: the Thames that runs from London to the sea also
Speaker 1: experiences tides, and the rising and falling tides could shift
Speaker 1: this layer of ice, causing it to damage things that
Speaker 1: are around it, or if the ice couldn't move, then
Speaker 1: the rising water could break out underneath it and then
Speaker 1: just flood whatever was nearby. It also took a long
Speaker 1: period of very cold weather for this stretch of the
Speaker 1: Thames to freeze, and that wasn't something people were used
Speaker 1: to or prepared for. So many historical accounts of a
Speaker 1: frozen Thames also include a lot of references to other
Speaker 1: cold weather hardships, like people freezing to death or running
Speaker 1: out of food and fuel and being put out of
Speaker 1: work when industries had to shut down because of the
Speaker 1: weather or frozen over waterways. There are also mentions of
Speaker 1: fundraising efforts to help the poor or the monarch earmarking
Speaker 1: money or supplies for relief. The River Thames became somewhat
Speaker 1: more likely to freeze in London starting around the year
Speaker 1: thirteen hundred, at the start of the period known as
Speaker 1: the Little Ice Age. This term was coined in nineteen
Speaker 1: thirty nine to describe a period of relative cooling that
Speaker 1: stretched from about thirteen hundred to eighteen fifty or so.
Speaker 1: Older descriptions of the Little Ice Age often make it
Speaker 1: sound like an almost continual global period of colder than
Speaker 1: normal temperatures, but more recent research, including studies of tree
Speaker 1: rings and ice cores, suggest that this was a more
Speaker 1: complicated phenomenon. Globally, the average temperature was slightly colder than
Speaker 1: the thousand year average between the years one thousand and
Speaker 1: two thousand, but this was also relative because the Little
Speaker 1: Ice Age followed a warmer stretch known as the Medieval
Speaker 1: Warming Period, which spanned from about nine hundred to thirteen hundred.
Speaker 1: Some parts of the world, including much of northern and
Speaker 1: western Europe, were generally colder during the Little Ice Age.
Speaker 1: Glaciers expanded in some areas, including the European Alps, New Zealand, Alaska,
Speaker 1: and the southern Andes, but other areas were relatively warmer.
Speaker 1: Some regions also faced much wetter weather during these centuries,
Speaker 1: while others experienced prolonged drought, so it wasn't just so
Speaker 1: that temperatures in some regions were getting generally colder. The
Speaker 1: overall weather tended to be more extreme, and we don't
Speaker 1: know exactly why this happened, but possible causes include volcanic activity,
Speaker 1: changes in atmospheric circulation and ocean currents, and low solar output.
Speaker 1: There are two known periods of very reduced sunspot activity
Speaker 1: during these centuries, which is believed to correspond to lower
Speaker 1: output from the sun. The Little Ice Age is not
Speaker 1: the only reason that the River Thames periodically froze over
Speaker 1: in London during these centuries. Another is the Old London Bridge,
Speaker 1: which was completed in twelve oh nine. This bridge was
Speaker 1: built with nineteen arches, and each of those was built
Speaker 1: like the feet of them were built on piers that
Speaker 1: extended out into the water, so the space under each
Speaker 1: of these arches was narrow, and as the river started
Speaker 1: to freeze, ice could collect around those piers. It basically
Speaker 1: created a dam that slowed or stopped the river. The
Speaker 1: river itself was also wider and slower moving than it
Speaker 1: is today, and it's easier for that slower moving water
Speaker 1: to freeze. The first reports of people setting up tents
Speaker 1: or booths on the frozen Thames date back to the
Speaker 1: year six ninety five, and there are accounts of various
Speaker 1: activities happening on the ice in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
Speaker 1: but the term frost fars wasn't used until the seventeenth century.
Speaker 1: The River Thames through London is known to have developed
Speaker 1: ice thick enough to walk on at least twenty four
Speaker 1: times between sixteen hundred and eighteen fourteen, and those of
Speaker 1: the centuries that are associated with occasional frost fairs, at
Speaker 1: least some of these fares were spearheaded by people who
Speaker 1: had been put out of work by the river freezing over,
Speaker 1: especially watermen who moved passengers around the Thames by boat,
Speaker 1: and lightermen who did the same but with cargo. Watermen
Speaker 1: and lightermen were often the ones to declare the surface
Speaker 1: of the Thames safe to walk on based on their
Speaker 1: own judgment, and they also did things like build little
Speaker 1: bridges to help people get from the shore out onto
Speaker 1: the ice. Since they weren't being paid to ferry passengers
Speaker 1: or cargo, they would basically make up for it by
Speaker 1: collecting tolls for using these temporary bridges. At the same time,
Speaker 1: these fares were somewhat spontaneous, starting once people thought the
Speaker 1: ice could support a crowd, and ending as warmer weather
Speaker 1: made the ice start to saw vendors set up shops
Speaker 1: and little food stalls. There was lots and lots of
Speaker 1: food and drink. A little bit of it is still around.
Speaker 1: There's some gingerbread from the eighteen fourteen fare in the
Speaker 1: collection of the Museum of London. There were also activities
Speaker 1: like ice skating and bowling and archery, as well as
Speaker 1: blood sports like bull baiting. In eighteen fourteen, there was
Speaker 1: even an elephant brought onto the ice. I can't imagine
Speaker 1: that elephant was happy about that. No. There were also
Speaker 1: lots of souvenirs, things like US spoons and other household
Speaker 1: objects that were engraved with the fact that they had
Speaker 1: been bought at the frost fair. One souvenir that showed
Speaker 1: up at multiple fairs was printed materials, so people would
Speaker 1: set up a printing press on the ice and then
Speaker 1: print tickets with people's names and the date, or add
Speaker 1: people's printed names to like a personalization area on something
Speaker 1: like a souvenir woodcut. These would often say something like
Speaker 1: quote printed by sea cream on the ice on the
Speaker 1: River Thames. That's a real example. It came from a
Speaker 1: ticket that was printed for King Charles the Second and
Speaker 1: members of the royal family and court in sixteen eighty four.
Speaker 1: Aside from these souvenirs, we have tons of written documentation
Speaker 1: related to these fairs. People's correspondents, diaries, newspapers, histories and
Speaker 1: chronicles of London written during these centuries. It just goes
Speaker 1: on and on. There were at least six major frost
Speaker 1: fairs on the Thames between sixteen oh seven and eighteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: as well as various smaller events, and there is so
Speaker 1: much surviving written material about them. We're going to hit
Speaker 1: some highlights from the seventeenth century after we paused for
Speaker 1: a sponsor break. As we said before the break, there
Speaker 1: were times before the seventeenth century that the River Thames
Speaker 1: froze and people had some kind of event out on
Speaker 1: the ice in London, but the first one to be
Speaker 1: described as a frost fair was in sixteen oh seven.
Speaker 1: That year, the Thames upstream of the London Bridge froze
Speaker 1: over for six weeks. The ice was thick enough to
Speaker 1: walk on by late December, but it was really in
Speaker 1: January that the fair got going on the ice. One
Speaker 1: of the things to come out of this fair was
Speaker 1: a pamphlet titled the Great Frost Cold Doings in London
Speaker 1: except it to be at the Lottery with news out
Speaker 1: of the country. A familiar talk between a countryman and
Speaker 1: a citizen, touching this terrible frost and the Great Lottery
Speaker 1: and the effects of them, the description of the Thames
Speaker 1: frozen over. So this is written as a dialogue between
Speaker 1: a citizen, that being, a city person and a countryman,
Speaker 1: and it kicks off with quote a table of the
Speaker 1: most special matters of note contained in this short discourse.
Speaker 1: Those special matters are quote one a description of the
Speaker 1: Thames being frozen over. Two the dangers that hath happened
Speaker 1: to some persons passing upon the Thames. Three the harms
Speaker 1: that this frost hath done to the city, for the
Speaker 1: misery that the country people are driven into by the
Speaker 1: means of this frost. Five the frosts in other Kings
Speaker 1: times compared with this six a description of the lottery.
Speaker 1: The citizen explains to the countryman that quote the Thames
Speaker 1: began to put on his frieze coat, which yet he
Speaker 1: wears about the week before Christmas. And he makes it
Speaker 1: clear that this freezing weather was dangerous and difficult. He
Speaker 1: describes people falling through weak patches in the ice, some
Speaker 1: of them up to their knees or their armpits, and
Speaker 1: all the way under, with some of those last never
Speaker 1: being seen again. And he says that a lot of
Speaker 1: people are out of work because of the ice, forced
Speaker 1: into what they called the dead vacation, the frozen vacation,
Speaker 1: the cold vacation. The citizen talks about how much the
Speaker 1: poor were being charged for candles and wood, and how
Speaker 1: much they were suffering because of it. The countryman says
Speaker 1: it is just as bad out where he lives. Quote
Speaker 1: the poor plowman's children sit crying and blowing their nails
Speaker 1: as lamentsably as the children and servants of your poor artificers.
Speaker 1: Hunger pinches their cheeks as deep into the flesh as
Speaker 1: it does into yours. Here you cry out, here you
Speaker 1: are undone for coal, and we complain we shall die
Speaker 1: for want of wood. All your care is to provide
Speaker 1: for your wives, children and servants, and this time of sadness,
Speaker 1: but we go beyond you in cares. Not only our wives,
Speaker 1: our children, and household servants are unto us a cause
Speaker 1: of sorrow. But we grew as much to behold the
Speaker 1: misery of our poor cattle in this frozen hearted season
Speaker 1: as it doth to look upon our own affliction. At
Speaker 1: the same time, the citizen makes the fair on the
Speaker 1: Thames sound like a lot of fun. Quote thirst you
Speaker 1: for beer, ale usquebath, et cetera, or for victuals? There
Speaker 1: you may buy it, because you may tell another day
Speaker 1: how you dined upon the Thames? Are you cold with
Speaker 1: going over? You shall ere? You come to the midst
Speaker 1: of the river, spy some ready with pans of coals
Speaker 1: to warm your fingers. If you want fruit after you
Speaker 1: have dined, there stands costumongers to serve you at your call.
Speaker 1: And thus do people leave their houses and the streets,
Speaker 1: turning the goodliest river in the whole kingdom into the
Speaker 1: broadest street to walk in. If you're thinking, wasn't there
Speaker 1: something about the lottery in the name of this pamphlet
Speaker 1: and the table of contents. This sounds more like what
Speaker 1: we might describe as a raffle of quote, spoons, cups, bowls, basins, viewers,
Speaker 1: et cetera, fairly graven and richly gilded. This was similar
Speaker 1: to a lottery that had been arranged under Queen Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: the first to raise money for public projects. But this one,
Speaker 1: according to this account, was set up by strangers. Also
Speaker 1: ruskwa bath. This was listed in the drinks you could
Speaker 1: get that is usqueba, which is a type of whiskey
Speaker 1: which I have like an early type of whiskey, never
Speaker 1: heard of, despite my years of enjoying beverages. Edmund House
Speaker 1: has a more straightforward description of the sixteen oh seven
Speaker 1: fair in his continuation of the abridgement of Stowe's English Chronicle.
Speaker 1: Quote from Sunday the tenth of January until the fifteenth
Speaker 1: of the same the frost grew so extreme as the
Speaker 1: ice became firm and removed not and then all sorts
Speaker 1: of men, women and children went boldly upon the ice.
Speaker 1: In most parts, some shot at pricks, others bold and
Speaker 1: danced with other variable pastimes, by reason of which concourse
Speaker 1: of people were many that set up booths and standings
Speaker 1: upon the ice as fruit sellers, victuallers that sold beer
Speaker 1: and wine, shoemakers, and a barber's tent, et cetera. Uh,
Speaker 1: that's just the note. I think shot at pricks means
Speaker 1: they did some archery. Another major fair was held during
Speaker 1: the Great Frost of sixteen eighty three to sixteen eighty four.
Speaker 1: This one was known as the Blanket Fare, possibly because
Speaker 1: the booths were made of blankets draped over the oars
Speaker 1: that the watermen couldn't use because everything was frozen over.
Speaker 1: There's a reference to this in a broadside ballad that
Speaker 1: was printed in sixteen eighty four, which includes the lines
Speaker 1: quote in Roast Beef and Brandy, much money is spent
Speaker 1: in booths made of blankets that pay no ground rent.
Speaker 1: This ballad, which is pretty long, makes the frozen Thames
Speaker 1: sound very dangerous at night, suggesting that the people who
Speaker 1: do not stay home safely warm in their beds might
Speaker 1: wind up being pickpocketed or sexually assaulted. There are definitely
Speaker 1: a lot of reports of pickpocketing in all of these fairs,
Speaker 1: as is often the case with very crowded festival type places.
Speaker 1: This fair was also documented by famed diarist John Evelyn.
Speaker 1: That year, the river was iced over for about two months,
Speaker 1: and Evelin noted that the river was frozen on January sixth,
Speaker 1: and three days later he wrote quote, I went across
Speaker 1: the Thames on the ice now become so thick as
Speaker 1: to bear not only streets of booths in which they
Speaker 1: roasted meat and had diverse shops of wares quite across
Speaker 1: as in a town, but coaches, carts and horses passed over.
Speaker 1: So I went from Westminster Stairs to Lambeth and dined
Speaker 1: with the Archbishop, where I met my Lord Bruce, Sir
Speaker 1: George Wheeler, Colonel Cook, and several divines. After dinner and
Speaker 1: discourse with disgrace till evening prayers, Sir George Wheeler and
Speaker 1: I walked over the ice from Lambeth Stairs to the
Speaker 1: horse Ferry. On the sixteenth, evel And described the Thames
Speaker 1: as filled with people in tents quote selling all sorts
Speaker 1: of wares as in the city. Then on the twenty
Speaker 1: fourth he wrote, quote the frost continues more and more severe.
Speaker 1: The Thames before London was still planted with booths in
Speaker 1: formal streets, all sorts of trades and shops furnished and
Speaker 1: full of commodities, even to a printing press, where the
Speaker 1: people and ladies took a fancy to have their names
Speaker 1: printed and the day of the year set down when
Speaker 1: printed on the Thames. This humor took so universally that
Speaker 1: it was estimated that the printer gained five pounds a
Speaker 1: day for printing a line only at sixpence a name,
Speaker 1: besides what he got by ballads, et cetera. Coaches plied
Speaker 1: from Westminster to the Temple and from several other stairs
Speaker 1: to and fro as in the streets, sleds sliding with skates,
Speaker 1: a bull baiting horse and coach races, puppet plays and interludes,
Speaker 1: cooks tippling, and other lewed places, so that it seemed
Speaker 1: to be a Bacchanalian triumph or carnival on the water.
Speaker 1: His description of what was going on on land at
Speaker 1: the same time isn't nearly so cheerful, though, quote the
Speaker 1: trees not only splitting as if the lightning struck, but
Speaker 1: men and cattle perishing in diverse places, and the very
Speaker 1: seas so locked up with ice that no vessels could
Speaker 1: stir out or come in. The fowls, fish and birds,
Speaker 1: and all are exotic plants and greens universally perishing. Many
Speaker 1: parks of deer were destroyed, and all sorts of fuel
Speaker 1: so dear that there were great contributions to preserve the
Speaker 1: poor alive. Nor was this severe weather much less intense
Speaker 1: in most parts of Europe, even as far as Spain.
Speaker 1: In the most southern tracts London, by reason of the
Speaker 1: excessive coldness of the air hindering, the ascent of the
Speaker 1: smoke was so filled with the fuliginous steam of the
Speaker 1: sea coal that hardly could the one sea across the street,
Speaker 1: And this filling the lungs with its gross particles exceedingly
Speaker 1: obstructed the breast, so as one could scarcely breathe. Here
Speaker 1: was no water to be had from the pipes and engines,
Speaker 1: nor could the brewers and diverse other tradesmen work, and
Speaker 1: every moment was full of disastrous accidents. Many of the
Speaker 1: frost Fairs were commemorated in art and verse, and this
Speaker 1: was no exception. Charles the Ion ordered the creation of
Speaker 1: a panoramic description of the fair, as well as a
Speaker 1: collection of funds for the poor who were struggling because
Speaker 1: of the weather that made the fair possible. And here's
Speaker 1: a poem commemorating the sixteen eighty four fair Behold the
Speaker 1: wonder of this present age. A famous river now becomes
Speaker 1: a stage question. Not what I now declare to you.
Speaker 1: The Thames is now both fair and market. I and
Speaker 1: many thousands daily to resort there. To behold the pastime
Speaker 1: and the sport early and late, used by young and old,
Speaker 1: and valued. Not the fierceness of the cold, and just
Speaker 1: because I found it delightful. Here's the title of one
Speaker 1: of the print works that came out after this fair
Speaker 1: quote and historical account of the late Great Frost, in
Speaker 1: which are discovered in several comical relations the various humors, loves, cheets,
Speaker 1: and intrigues of the town, as the same were managed
Speaker 1: upon the River Thames during that season. We'll move on
Speaker 1: to the eighteenth century and the eventual end of the
Speaker 1: frost fairs after a sponsor break. There were three major
Speaker 1: frost fairs in the eighteenth century, and the first was
Speaker 1: in seventeen sixteen. Here's a description from Dox's newsletter dated
Speaker 1: January fourteenth quote, The Thames seems now a solid rock
Speaker 1: of ice and booths for the sale of brandy wine,
Speaker 1: ale and other exhilarating liquors have been for some time
Speaker 1: fixed thereon. But now it is in a manner like
Speaker 1: a town. Thousands of people cross it, and with wonder
Speaker 1: view the mountainous heaps of water that now lie congealed
Speaker 1: into ice. On Thursday, a great cook shop was erected,
Speaker 1: and gentlemen went as frequently to dine there as at
Speaker 1: any ordinary over against Westminster, Whitehall and Whitebriar's printing presses
Speaker 1: are kept upon the ice, where many persons have their
Speaker 1: names printed, to transmit the wonders of the season to posterity.
Speaker 1: Here's a description of the winter that made a frost
Speaker 1: fair possible a little more than twenty years later in
Speaker 1: seventeen thirty nine, which is reprinted in the eighteen eighty
Speaker 1: seven book Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs in Great Britain,
Speaker 1: Chronicled from the earliest to the present time. It reads
Speaker 1: quote the watermen and fishermen with a peter boat in mourning,
Speaker 1: and the carpenter's bricklayers, etc. With their tools and utensils
Speaker 1: in mourning, walk through the streets in large bodies, imploring
Speaker 1: relief for their own and families necessities to the honor
Speaker 1: of the British character. This was liberally bestowed. Subscriptions were
Speaker 1: also made in the different parishes, and great benefactions bestowed
Speaker 1: by the opulent, through which the calamities of the season
Speaker 1: were much mitigated. The same account reports huge damage to
Speaker 1: the shipping trade on the Thames below the bridge, with
Speaker 1: vessels being damaged by ice floes and breaking away from
Speaker 1: their moorings, crashing into things, with smaller vessels being sunk entirely.
Speaker 1: But at the same time quote above the bridge, the
Speaker 1: Thames was completely frozen over, and tents and numerous booths
Speaker 1: were erected on it for selling liquors, et cetera, to
Speaker 1: the multitudes that daily flocked thither for curiosity or diversion.
Speaker 1: The scene here displayed was very irregular, and had more
Speaker 1: the appearance of a fair on land than of a
Speaker 1: frail exhibition, the only basis of which was congealed water.
Speaker 1: Fifty years later, in seventeen eighty nine, visitors to the
Speaker 1: Frost Fair could buy a souvenir print with this verse.
Speaker 1: The silver Thames was frozen, or no difference TwixT the
Speaker 1: stream and shore, the like no man hath seen before
Speaker 1: except he lived in days of yore on the ice
Speaker 1: at the Thames Printing Office opposite Saint Catherine Stairs in
Speaker 1: the severe frost, January seventeen eighty nine. Printed by me,
Speaker 1: William Bailey. I love the printed by me part not
Speaker 1: just printed by William Bailey. Printed by me, William Bailey.
Speaker 1: I wrote this and I'm doing it. That year the
Speaker 1: London Chronicle recorded how treacherous a fair could be as
Speaker 1: the weather started to warm. On January fifteenth, that printed
Speaker 1: this quote. Perhaps the breaking up of the fare upon
Speaker 1: the Thames last Tuesday night below Bridge exceeded every idea
Speaker 1: that could be formed of it, as it was not
Speaker 1: until after the dusk of the evening that the busy
Speaker 1: crowd was persuaded of the approach of a thaw. This, however,
Speaker 1: with the cracking of some ice about eight o'clock, made
Speaker 1: the whole a scene of most perfect confusion, as men, beasts, booths, turnabouts,
Speaker 1: puppet shows, et cetera, et cetera, were all in motion
Speaker 1: and pouring towards the shore on each side. The confluence
Speaker 1: here was so sudden and impetuous that the watermen who
Speaker 1: had formed the toll bars over the sides of the
Speaker 1: river where they had broken the ice for that purpose.
Speaker 1: Not being able to maintain their standard from the crowd
Speaker 1: et cetera, pulled up the boards, by which a number
Speaker 1: of persons who could not leap or were borne down
Speaker 1: by the press, were southd up to the middle. The
Speaker 1: breakup of the ice also led to at least one
Speaker 1: tragedy that year, as described in the Gentleman's Magazine quote.
Speaker 1: The captain of a vessel lying off rotherhithe the better
Speaker 1: to secure the ship's cables, made an agreement with a
Speaker 1: publican for fastening a cable to his premises. In consequence
Speaker 1: of small anchor was carried on shore and deposited in
Speaker 1: the cellar, while another cable was fastened found a beam
Speaker 1: in another part of the house. In the night, the
Speaker 1: ship veered about, and the cables holding fast carried away
Speaker 1: the beam and leveled the house with the ground, by
Speaker 1: which accident five persons asleep in their beds were killed.
Speaker 1: London's last frost Fair was held in eighteen fourteen, and
Speaker 1: it was probably the largest of them, even though it
Speaker 1: only lasted a few days. The temperature was below freezing
Speaker 1: overnight from late December to the early weeks of February,
Speaker 1: but it was really only at the end of January
Speaker 1: and beginning of February that the ice was thick enough
Speaker 1: to really support a crowd. Like the fares that came before,
Speaker 1: this one featured a whole lot of food and drink.
Speaker 1: We talked about that gingerbread at the top of the episode.
Speaker 1: There particularly was an emphasis on gin. According to what
Speaker 1: I read, well, Yeah, an entire book resulted from this
Speaker 1: frost Fair, which is titled Frostiana, or a History of
Speaker 1: the River Thames in a frozen state and the wonderful effect.
Speaker 1: It's of frost, snow, ice and cold in England and
Speaker 1: in different parts of the world, interspersed with various amusing anecdotes,
Speaker 1: to which is added the art of skating. The title
Speaker 1: page of this book claims that it was quote printed
Speaker 1: and published on the ice on the River Thames, February fifth,
Speaker 1: eighteen fourteen by G. Davis. It later clarifies that what
Speaker 1: was printed on the ice was the title page and
Speaker 1: not the entire book. It did not make logistical sense
Speaker 1: that it was the whole book, but because that's on
Speaker 1: the title page, some people have taken it that way.
Speaker 1: This book describes previous frost fairs, along with the freezing
Speaker 1: of the Thames more generally. Plus, there are chapters on
Speaker 1: cold weather phenomena like ice and snow. There's also an
Speaker 1: assortment of other stuff related to cold and water, sometimes
Speaker 1: tenuously related, including an ice cream recipe and instructions on
Speaker 1: how to save someone from drowning. And, as that title suggests,
Speaker 1: there is information on ice skating, including rules for learners.
Speaker 1: This sounds like a great book to me. I want it.
Speaker 1: I mean you can read it for free on the internet. Great.
Speaker 1: I could send you a pdam if you have doubts
Speaker 1: about the feasibility of learning ice skating from a book.
Speaker 1: Here is how that part begins. Quote. Those who wish
Speaker 1: to be proficient should begin in an early period of life,
Speaker 1: and should first endeavor to throw off the fear which
Speaker 1: always attends the commencement of an apparently hazardous amusement. They
Speaker 1: will soon acquire a facility of moving on the inside.
Speaker 1: When they have done this, they must endeavor to acquire
Speaker 1: the movement on the outside of the skates, which is
Speaker 1: nothing more than throwing themselves upon the outer edge of
Speaker 1: the skate and making the balance of their body tend
Speaker 1: toward that side. Which will necessarily enable them to form
Speaker 1: a semicircle. In this much assistance may be derived from
Speaker 1: placing a bag of lead shot in the pocket next
Speaker 1: to the foot employed in making the outside stroke, which
Speaker 1: will produce an artificial poise of the body. This, afterwards
Speaker 1: will become natural by practice. Well, of course, there you go.
Speaker 1: Now I know how to ice skate perfectly clear. Just
Speaker 1: stop being afraid and put some buckshot in your pocket.
Speaker 1: Frastiana includes a day by day description of this fair,
Speaker 1: including various things that were for sale and how much
Speaker 1: they cost, such as quote. Among the more curious of
Speaker 1: these was the ceremony of roasting a small sheep, which
Speaker 1: was toasted, or rather burnt, over a coal fire placed
Speaker 1: in a large iron pan. For a view of this
Speaker 1: extraordinary spectacle, sixpence was demanded and willingly paid. The delicate meat,
Speaker 1: when done, was sold at a shilling a slice and
Speaker 1: termed lapland mutton of boots. There were a great number
Speaker 1: which were ornamented with streamers, flags and signs, and in
Speaker 1: which there was a plentiful store of those favorite luxuries
Speaker 1: gin beer and gingerbread. By February fourth, the author sounds
Speaker 1: kind of annoyed by the whole thing. Quote. Every day
Speaker 1: brought a fresh accession of peddlers to sell their wares,
Speaker 1: and the greatest rubbish of all sorts was raked up
Speaker 1: and sold at double and treble the original cost. Books
Speaker 1: and toys labeled bought on the Thames were seen in profusion.
Speaker 1: The watermen profited exceedingly, for each person paid a toll
Speaker 1: of twopence or threepence before he was admitted to frost Fair.
Speaker 1: Some dusour also was expected on your return. These men
Speaker 1: are said to have taken six pounds each in the
Speaker 1: course of a day. Frostiana also describes the thawing conditions
Speaker 1: at the end of this fair is kind of frightening quote.
Speaker 1: Towards the evening, the concourse became thinned, rain fell in
Speaker 1: some quantity, measter ice gave some loud cracks and floated
Speaker 1: with the printing presses boosts, et cetera. And to the
Speaker 1: no small dismay of publicans, typographers, et cetera, and short
Speaker 1: this icy palace of moments, This fairy frost work was
Speaker 1: soon to be dissolved and doomed to vanish, like the
Speaker 1: baseless fabric of a vision, but leaving some wrecks behind.
Speaker 1: There is also this description from February sixth, after the
Speaker 1: fare had ended, and the fate of a booth that
Speaker 1: was still lingering on the ice. Quote. The booth just
Speaker 1: mentioned was hurried along with the quickness of lightning, towards
Speaker 1: Blackfriar's Bridge. There were nine men in it, and in
Speaker 1: their alarm they neglected the fire and candles, which, communicating
Speaker 1: with the coverings, set it in a flame. The men
Speaker 1: succeeded in getting into a lighter which had broken from
Speaker 1: its moorings, but it was dashed to pieces against one
Speaker 1: of the piers of Blackfriar's Bridge, on which seven of
Speaker 1: them got and were taken off safely. The other two
Speaker 1: got into a barge while passing puddle dock. So those
Speaker 1: folks seem to have been okay. But according to famous
Speaker 1: Frosts and frost Fairs, there was also a tragedy. At
Speaker 1: the end of this one quote, two genteel looking young
Speaker 1: men fell victims to their temerity and venturing on the
Speaker 1: ice above Westminster Bridge, notwithstanding the warnings of the watermen.
Speaker 1: A large mass on which they stood and which had
Speaker 1: been loosened by the flood tide, gave way and they
Speaker 1: floated down the stream. As they passed under Westminster Bridge,
Speaker 1: they cried out most piteously for help. They had not
Speaker 1: gone far before they sat down, but going too near
Speaker 1: the edge, they overbalanced the mass and were precipitated into
Speaker 1: the stream, sinking, not to appear again. A couple of
Speaker 1: humorous bits of print material marked the end of this fair.
Speaker 1: One was a souvenir ticket that read, notice, whereas you J. Frost,
Speaker 1: have by force and violence taken possession of the River Thames,
Speaker 1: I hereby give you warning to quit immediately A thaw
Speaker 1: printed by S. Warner on the Ice, February fifth, eighteen fourteen.
Speaker 1: Then there was also this one quote, Dear dissolving Dame,
Speaker 1: father Frost and sister Snow have honeyed my borders, formed
Speaker 1: an idol of ice upon my bosom, and the lads
Speaker 1: of London come to make merry now as you love mischief,
Speaker 1: treat the multitude with a few cracks by a side,
Speaker 1: and visit and obtain the prayers of the poor upon
Speaker 1: both banks. Given at my own press, the fifth, February
Speaker 1: eighteen fourteen, Thomas Thames. I don't know why the phrase
Speaker 1: honeyed by borders sounds to me, I'm like, all right,
Speaker 1: then that eighteen fourteen frost Fair was the last one.
Speaker 1: One reason was at the Little Ice Age ended around
Speaker 1: eighteen fifty and the planet has continued to get warmer
Speaker 1: since then. Very broadly speaking, London is an average of
Speaker 1: about two degrees celsius warmer today than it was during
Speaker 1: the age of the frost Fairs. But another factor is
Speaker 1: that the old London Bridge was demolished in eighteen thirty
Speaker 1: one and its replacement had only five arches with far
Speaker 1: more room between them, and that made it easier for
Speaker 1: boats to navigate under the bridge, but it also made
Speaker 1: it much harder for ice to create a dam there.
Speaker 1: The Thames River was also dredged in the nineteenth century
Speaker 1: and Stoneham bankments were built between eighteen sixty four and
Speaker 1: eighteen seventy four, so it is a deeper and faster
Speaker 1: moving river than it was prior to the nineteenth century. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think even if it got a lot lot colder,
Speaker 1: it would be a lot harder for the Thames to
Speaker 1: freeze there. Yeah, that makes sense. If it did freeze there,
Speaker 1: it would be a like Day after Tomorrow apocalypse horror
Speaker 1: movie situation. I mean, we're facing a different situation with
Speaker 1: the warming of the planet, But like that would be
Speaker 1: just a drastic, drastic shift in climate based on the
Speaker 1: trajectory that we're on currently. Yeah, I'm sort of waiting
Speaker 1: for someone to be like, We'll do a man made
Speaker 1: blocking of the Thames and cause it to freeze over
Speaker 1: and that leading to some sort of magical film level disaster.
Speaker 1: This does seem like something somebody would do. Yeah, do
Speaker 1: you have listener mail for us? I do. It is
Speaker 1: from Mara, and Mara wrote Holly and Tracy. I just
Speaker 1: finished her episode on Christine Quintasket, and I made sure
Speaker 1: I sat down and listened to it during a time
Speaker 1: when I could really pay attention. I've lived my entire
Speaker 1: life here in Washington, and I have to admit I
Speaker 1: had never heard about Christine. I was so happy to
Speaker 1: hear the story of an Indigenous woman so close to
Speaker 1: my home. I live very close to Medical Lake and
Speaker 1: often walk and drive near the hospital where she died,
Speaker 1: and have hiked and backpacked the foothills and plains of
Speaker 1: the Okanagan. The eastern side of the state is wildly
Speaker 1: different from the drizzly and damp Seattle region and has
Speaker 1: a completely different beauty to it. I'm so glad Christine
Speaker 1: fought so hard to maintain the history and beauty of
Speaker 1: it and document the culture of the people who have
Speaker 1: called it home for millennia. I was particularly impressed with
Speaker 1: the attention you both paid to pronunciation of names and
Speaker 1: regions and towns in Washington. Most people managed to butcher
Speaker 1: the pronunciation of Callville, not to mention Oglala and Okanagan.
Speaker 1: I'm also attaching a recent news article about how tribes
Speaker 1: in Washington are working to restore the presence of the
Speaker 1: on native lands. Attached is my pet tax. As stated
Speaker 1: in the subject, it will be excessive. I did not
Speaker 1: read the subject, but it does say mourning dove and
Speaker 1: excessive pet tax. I have way too many animals, four cats,
Speaker 1: a dog, and three horses. Here are Lilith and Evy,
Speaker 1: my spoiled orange house cats, Betty Lou and Grumps, the
Speaker 1: mischievous sister farm kiddies, and my horse Mickey and her
Speaker 1: adorable companion Nutella, the thirty year old wonder mini horse, Indy,
Speaker 1: the world's most cuddly catalog and Nail, my hearthorse and
Speaker 1: adventure companion Mara. So these are great pictures. Of so
Speaker 1: many animals. Oh goodness, orange kitties in a basket. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think that seems like the right number of animals
Speaker 1: if you can take care of them. Yeah, I mean yes.
Speaker 1: If I had, you know, a farm, I would for
Speaker 1: sure have more animals than we have currently. I wanted
Speaker 1: to read this now for a couple reason on what
Speaker 1: great animal pictures. Yes. Two, I will definitely admit that
Speaker 1: I said Calville as Colville in my head before going
Speaker 1: to look it up as a just in case, because
Speaker 1: it is spelled like you would think, just based on
Speaker 1: patterns of you know how words are often pronounced in English,
Speaker 1: that it's Colville, but it is Calville. And I actually
Speaker 1: found as I was working on the pronunciations for that
Speaker 1: episode a couple of different contradictory pronunciations for Okanagan. There
Speaker 1: was also okanag gain, which I think is a more
Speaker 1: like Salish language pronunciation and one that almost like didn't
Speaker 1: really have the final syllable on it at all. So
Speaker 1: I think there are some variations on that regionally. And
Speaker 1: I was very interested with this article about introducing some
Speaker 1: buffalo as a food sovereignty effort. We did not talk
Speaker 1: about it in this episode. These bison I think came
Speaker 1: from Yellowstone. A lot of the efforts to reintroduce bison
Speaker 1: in the United States, the bison have come from Canada,
Speaker 1: which is where the bison from the US were sent
Speaker 1: to in the episodes on Morning Doves. So thank you
Speaker 1: so much for sending this article and these horse pictures
Speaker 1: and cat pictures and dog pictures. Yes, I love them,
Speaker 1: puppies and kiddies and horses. Yeah, if you'd like to
Speaker 1: send us a note about this or any other podcast,
Speaker 1: we're at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and you
Speaker 1: can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app or
Speaker 1: wherever else you like to get your podcasts. And I
Speaker 1: also usually say you can send us a note if
Speaker 1: you like, at History Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. But
Speaker 1: now I think I might have said that already I
Speaker 1: interrupted my normal flow of this show outro, and now
Speaker 1: I don't remember what I've said and what I haven't.
Speaker 1: So for the three or four people still listening this
Speaker 1: late in the episode, you know now that sometimes it
Speaker 1: goes off the rails, So yeah, thanks for listening. Stuff
Speaker 1: you missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.