646 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [4] 



the same time. The market opens at 5 o'clock a. m., before which hour 

 no fish is allowed to be sold. As there are no vacant spaces or " lay- 

 byes," for carts, for costermonger's barrows, and for vans, the streets 

 adjoining the market are completely blocked as the hour of 5 a. m. ap- 

 proaches. The scene is of a nature to fill the spectator who witnesses 

 it for the first time with wonder that, in the largest and most civilized 

 capital upon the face of the globe, such a disgraceful anachronism 

 should hav'e been tolerated for so a long a time. Every lane and street 

 leading to Lower Thames street is choked with costermonger's bar- 

 rows and with fishmonger's carts, which extend as far as Cannon Street 

 Arch, King William street, Monument Yard, East-cheap, and 'Tower 

 Hill. The market, as we have already laid, closes at 9 a. m. When 

 the clock strikes nine the police interfere and clear all the closely-packed 

 vehicles, sometimes amounting to nearly four thousand in number, out 

 of the city, in order to make way for the ordinary day trafiic of the 

 streets. 



The market being open for four hours only, it follows, as a matter of 

 course, that there are many customers who cannot complete their pur- 

 chases before their barrows and vehicles are driven away. The nearest 

 points to which they can retire are Tower Hill, Toolej^ street, or some 

 other convenient spot outside the city bounds, where they wait until 

 the fish is brought to them upon the heads of porters who charge heavy 

 fees, and waste, into the bargin, no small amount of precious time. 



So far as costermongers and fishmongers are concerned, the Billings- 

 gate trade ceases at 9 a. m. After that hour the reign of the middle- 

 man or "bummaree" commences. It is of little moment to inquire how 

 old this word may be, or whether, as suggested by Mr. Walter Thorn- 

 bury, it is of Dutch origin, but at least it is certain that bummarees 

 were known to Robert Burns's friend, the antiquarian and wag, Cap- 

 tain Grose. We find in Jonathan Bee's Lexicon Balatronicum, or 

 Slang Dictionary, published in 1823, that "bummaree" is defined as 

 "the man who at Billingsgate takes the place of the salesman, and 

 generally after 8 o'clock a. ra. buys the last lot. Derived partly from 

 mare, the sea, to which most of them have been addicted." Writing 

 in 1853, Mr. Mayhes says: "The market opens at 4 a. m., but for the 

 first two hours it is attended solely by the regular fishmongers and by 

 bummarees. As soon as these are gone the costers' sale begins. 

 Many of the costers who deal usually in vegetables buy a little fish, es- 

 pecially if it is cheap, on the Friday, which is the fast day of the Irish ^ 

 not to mention that the wives of mechanics run short of money at the 

 end of the week and are compelled to eke out their dinners with fish." 

 Since Mr. Mayhew wrote these words there has been a slight change 

 in the conduct of the market. At present the bummaree is the first 

 to reach and the last to leave the market. He is still of great use, but 

 not so necessary as in 1853. At that time fish were sold in large lots^ 

 which the bummaree, as a member of the Billingsgate ring, bought, and^ 



