206 
was 2 flat fen, which continued be- 
youd Fulham: but a rife com- 
Mences oppofite to it, and forms a 
magnificent bend above the cur- 
vature of the Thames, even to the 
Tower. The Surry fide wasin all 
probability a great expanfe of wa- 
ter, a lake, a LJyx, as the Welfh call 
it; which an ingenious country- 
man of mine *, not without reafon, 
thinks might have given a name to 
our capital; Llyn a or the city 
on the lake. ‘This moft probably 
was the original name: and. that 
derived from L/ong a ship, and din a 
town, might have been beftowed 
when the place became a feat of 
trade, and famous for the concourfe 
of thipping. . The expanfe of water 
might have filled the {pace between 
the rifing grounds at Deptford, and 
thofe at Clapham ; and been bound 
ed to the fouth by the beautiful 
Surry Hills. Lambeth Marth, and 
the Bankfide, evidently were reco- 
vered from the water. Along Lam- 
beth are the names of Narrow 
Walls, or the mounds which ferved 
for that purpofe; and in South- 
wark, Bankfide again fhews the 
means of converting the antient 
Jake into ufeful land: even to this 
day the tract beyond Southwark, 
and in particular that beyond Ber- 
mondfey-ftreet, is fo very low, and 
beneath the level of common tides, 
that the proprietors are obliged to 
fecure it by embankments. 
Antiquity of Billingfgate, and antient 
Prices of Fifh and other Articles, 
From the fame. : 
FTER the Cuftom-honfe, 
the firft place of note is Bil- 
* Mr, William Owen, of Barmouth, now refident in London, 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 11799. 
lingfgate,; or, to adapt the fpelling 
to conjectures of antiquaries, “ who. 
go beyond the realms of Chaos and ~ 
old-night,” Belin’s-gate, or the gate 7) 
of Belinus king of Britain, fellow- 4 
‘adventurer with Brennus king of 
the Gauls, at the facking of Rome, 
three hundred and fixty years be- 
fore the Chriftian era: and the 
Beli mawr, who graces the pedi- ~ 
grees of numbers of us antient Bri- _ 
tons. 
inglorious name, I fubmit to the 
etymology; but muft confefs there 
does not appear any record of a 
gate at this place: his fon Lud was 
more fortunate, for Ludgate pre- 
ferves his memory to every citizen, 
who knows the juft value of anti- 
quity. Gate here fignifies only a © 
place where there was a concourfe 
of people ; acommon quay or wharf, 
where there is a free going in and 
out of the fame. This was a {mall 
port for the reception of fhipping, 
and, for a confiderable time, the 
moit important place for the land-: 7} 
ing of almoft every article of com- 
merce. It was not till the reign of 
king William that it became cele- 
brated as a fifh-market; who, in 
1699, by a& of parlement made it 
a free port for fifh, which might he 
fold there every day in the week 
except Sunday. The object of this 
has long been frultrated, and the 
epicure who goes (as was a frequent 
practice) to Billingfgate to eat fifh 
in perfection, will now be cruelly 
difappointed. i 
I cannot give a lift of the fifh of 
molt acceptable in the Saxon ages; 
but there is a lit left of thofe which 
were brought to market in that of 
Edward I. who defcended even to_ 
regulate the prices, that his fubjects 
might 
For fear of falling on fome* 
