Transcribed from the 1897 Edward J. Lupson edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org, using scans from the British Library.

                          WRITTEN FOR VISITORS.





                                   THE
                               ANCIENT ROWS
                                    OF
                             GREAT YARMOUTH:


                    Their Names.  Why so Constructed,
                                   AND
                  What Visitors have written about them,
                       ALSO A DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF

                             YARMOUTH BEACH.

                   [Picture: Signature of E. J. Lupson]

    “And the Rows! them long bars of the gridiron,
       That Dickens hev wrote on—so quare;
    Them ere Rows are a great institution,
       In the town at the mouth of the Yare.”

                                 ———:o———

                               ILLUSTRATED:
                             PRICE TWOPENCE.

                                 ———:o———

                                Yarmouth:
                     EDWARD J. LUPSON, CHURCH PLAIN.

                                * * * * *

                       ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL.




THE ROWS OF GREAT YARMOUTH.


[Picture: Entrance to row 117] THE two most remarkable and noteworthy
features of the ancient Borough of Great Yarmouth, that remain unchanged
to the present day, are the Parish Church, and the unique series of long,
narrow passages, known by the general name of Rows.  The wonderful
proportions and interesting features of the renowned Church having been
duly examined, these singularly confined thoroughfares next claim the
attention of the intelligent visitor.  On seeing them for the first time,
the query naturally arises in the mind, why were they constructed in this
peculiar manner, so opposed to all prevailing ideas?  Thoughtful minds
have ingeniously surmised sundry motives; but the preponderating belief
is probably the most correct one, viz., the builders’ desire to economise
the limited area at their disposal within the walls of the
fortifications.  In early times the population of Yarmouth grew apace;
numbers of enterprising persons from various places being attracted
thither by the flourishing fishing operations that were carried on here.
Manship, in his History of Yarmouth, states that within four hundred
years from the time when “from a sand in the sea, by the deflection of
the tides, Yarmouth grew dry and firm land, whereby it became habitable;
the population grew to a great multitude, over whom, at the beginning of
the Reign of Henry I., a Provost was appointed.”  It may be mentioned, by
the way, that it was in this reign the Parish Church of St. Nicholas was
built.  The population of Yarmouth, in the year 1348, numbered ten
thousand.  We can, therefore, without difficulty, understand how valuable
space would be in those early times, and how general the desire to make
the most of it.

It is interesting to notice that Manship, who wrote in the year 1619,
opined a very different reason for the circumscribed limits of the Rows.
When contemplating them patriotically, he prognosticated, with glowing
satisfaction, the bad half-hour that awaited any rash invader, who might
incontinently venture to approach them, feeling assured the brave and
hardy inhabitants “of those seven score passes” would render a good
account of themselves on any such occasion. {4}  But we must quote his
own words.  He says: “The number of them (‘the Rows’) at this day be 140;
whereby every householder to his private dwelling hath of all necessaries
very convenient conveyance, and the same in time of hostility, for the
defence and safeguard of the town, is very meet and necessary, for one
man against twenty, with shot and powder, is able to make resistance.”
Continuing the subject, he says: “These buildings, although dissevered
and disjoined each from the other by Rowes or Lanes, the same being in
number, as I have before declared, one hundred and forty, yet is there
not any more division in comeliness, to be by the eye discovered, amongst
them, than unpleasantness to the ear in music, consisting of many
discords which do make a perfect concord.  The streets being contrived
and built in such warlike manner, flankerwise, with such convenient
distance from the walls (fortifications) aforesaid, that the enemy having
gained the walls, and entered the town (both which God forbid), may with
few men, be enforced to retire, and the town recovered without any great
danger sustained.”

It seems the most reasonable supposition that the Rows were constructed
as we see them, in order that as large a population as possible might be
concentrated within the narrowest limits, to make the work of fortifying
the town as easy a matter as possible, and give, at the same time,
greater security to the whole.

[Picture: A Yarmouth Row] The following imaginative idea may be taken for
what it is worth, namely, that the ground plan of the Streets and Rows
were suggested by the fishermen’s nets, when spread out in long lines
upon the Denes for drying, a narrow pathway being left between the nets
of each fisherman, the pathways representing the Rows.

It has been sagely remarked by a reflective writer that the Rows “seem to
have been so constructed, that in the event of an unusually high tide,
the water might flow through them.”  And in like manner observes another,
“if the water swept over on one side, it would make its escape at the
other as if through a grating.”  Had such a contingency been in
contemplation, surely a greater breadth would have been given to allow
the water a freer flow.

These Rows, as might have been anticipated, have been objects of much
interest to Visitors generally, but especially to those of antiquarian
tendencies.  The minds of some have been so impressed with their
old-world appearance, that on returning to their distant homes, they have
relieved themselves by relating wonderful descriptions of them to the
unfortunate individuals who had not yet seen them.  Some have excitedly
rushed into print, and gladly made known to whole neighbourhoods, through
their local press, the striking phenomena they had witnessed here.  One
described the Rows to wondering readers as “fearsome apertures in the
street,” and then soothingly added, “but there is nothing to fear.”
Another, we imagine, well-versed in country life, said they were “like
rabbit burrows.”  A third descriptive writer asserted that “many of the
ancient thoroughfares might be appropriately termed cracks in the wall,
they are so narrow.”  Another less excitable individual wrote, “many of
them are so narrow that you can easily touch both sides at once, by
stretching out your hands while walking through, and it surprises the
stranger not a little to be told that these were the only communications
between the principal thoroughfares of the town.”  The critical pen of
another scribe declares them to be “very long alleys—needless alleys I
should say, if the architects had only known what they were about in the
days when these alleys were made.”  Ah! yes! and then, before leaving the
consideration of them, he thus describes their capabilities.  “They are
so narrow that neighbours can shake hands across their little street.”
Another, condescendingly, describes the way in which it may be done.
“The inhabitants might lean out of their windows and shake hands.”  Still
further capabilities were seen by another imaginative writer.  “You can
put your hand out of your bedroom window and put out the candle in your
neighbour’s;” and, I suppose, if necessary, borrow the candlestick; but
this he omitted to state.  One, whose presence had, doubtless graced
continental cities, as well as honoured the Rows of Great Yarmouth, saw
in them other possibilities, and stated “for intricacies they can compete
with the most confined of those of any Continental City you can mention,
where the inhabitants can converse and shake hands from upper stories,
visit each other in night-caps, quarrel in the upper world, or carry on a
general confab, peacefully or otherwise.”  Somewhat more definitely wrote
another: “They are passages between parallel streets, some with shops on
either side like Union Passage in Birmingham, but most of them only a few
feet wide, with dwelling houses on each side, where a jump from one
window to another would be an easy task for a gymnast.”  Who can but
admire the following graphic description?  “What a quaint old town.  The
fine Market Place is like an open plain; the scores of narrow ‘Rows’
running out of it may be likened to burrows leading in all manner of
directions.  However does each denizen find his, or her dwelling?  Do
they never get mixed, and give it up for a bad job?  Some of these Rows
are too narrow to permit of a man falling down if he got crosswise.”
Having investigated them with the eye of an antiquary, another gentleman
described the Rows as “the long series of narrow passages, running from
one principal street to another, numbering 145 in all, with houses on
each side.  Although none of them are sufficiently wide to allow of other
than pedestrian traffic, many quaint old-fashioned houses, dating several
centuries back, bearing both external and internal evidence of great
expense and labour being devoted to their erection and decoration.  In
fact, old Yarmouth is full of interest to the antiquary and to the
curiosity seeker.”  Of course, the visitor with an eye to sanitation, has
not allowed the Rows to be unexplored.  They have borne the scrutiny, and
we may breathe freely now the verdict has been given.  “A remarkable
appearance is presented to the visitor by the number of long narrow lanes
called ‘Rows’ that run east and west of the town.  It leaves little room
for doubt of the healthiness of the place when these Rows are examined,
for their cleanliness and orderly appearance must surely render them
conducive to the highest possible standard of health; and if these
observations can be applied with as much appropriateness to the internal
sanitary arrangements of the dwellings—as I have reason to believe it
may—the Corporation may congratulate themselves on the success of their
efforts in this respect.”

                         [Picture: Yarmouth Row]

We will now present the reader with the observations of writers who have
less cursorily investigated this wonderland.  A writer in a metropolitan
newspaper gave the following well-considered description:—“These openings
are the famous Yarmouth ‘Rows,’ 154 in number, running parallel to each
other, between the river and the sea, and so narrow that the meanest
London Lane would look a very Regent Street if placed alongside of them.
I measured one, it was the narrowest I saw, and found, that at the
entrance, it was little more than two feet across.  It is probably
reserved for thin natives, since no fat man, with all his clothes on,
could safely venture to tread it.  In all points of comparison, however,
but narrowness, the Yarmouth Rows have a decided advantage over the
London Lanes, and it is this that makes their appearance so extraordinary
to a Londoner.  He naturally associates poverty, filth, squalor, and all
sorts of misery and crime with courts in which the inhabitants can shake
hands with each other out of the opposite windows, or step at one stride
across the so-called street or lane.  Everyone with a watch to lose,
carefully shuns such localities, or instinctively buttons up his coat if
he happens to wander into them.  At night the narrow gloomy jaws of the
Yarmouth Rows must, to a cockney pilgrim of a lively imagination, look
even more formidable; but in daylight, one glance down them suffices to
show that they are widely different from anything that his experience had
taught him to expect.

         [Picture: “Kitty Witches’ Row”—widest part looking east]

“The model Row is respectability itself; its tiny toy pavement of brick
or stone is easily kept clean, and shines like the deck of a man-of-war;
the houses on each side, so far from betraying any signs of squalor or
painful poverty, are, some of them, so nicely kept with rows of flower
pots brightening the windows, and clustering creepers draping the naked
wall, that one begins to wonder how people, who are in a position to
consider the amenities, as well as the necessaries of life, consent to
live in such close, crowded quarters, and is driven to conjure that they
are a jolly neighbourly race, who like, out of pure good fellowship, to
be always in talking and hand-shaking distance of each other.

“And this theory that the grotesque construction of the Yarmouth Rows is
due not to strategic, but to social considerations, is supported by the
fact, in the ‘good old times,’ each Row took its name, in friendly
fashion, from the best-known or the principal person living in it.  In
these degenerate days of scientific classification, arithmetic has
triumphed over flesh and blood, and each Row is known by its number, with
the single exception, I believe, of ‘Kitty Witches’ Row’—once a pet
preserve of the invaluable public servant, the witch-finder Hopkins, who
could always count upon unearthing enough ugly women in Yarmouth, with
the unmistakeable witch marks on their sea-tanned shrivelled old skins,
to make a respectable official return, and satisfy Government that public
money was not being wasted.  The Rows are, I am told, chiefly the resort
of the seafaring population, who constitute Yarmouth’s working class.”

A writer in _Cassell’s Magazine_ says: “the Rows are not wooden arcades
like those of Chester, but straight and extremely narrow alleys, running
between the principal streets and the river, like the rungs of a ladder,
to the number of 156.  Now-a-days only the humbler class of people live
there, but having penetrated into a good many of them, I am bound to say
that in no instance have I seen the squalor and misery of a low
neighbourhood in London.  There are vice and poverty in Herring-haven, as
elsewhere, but you see none of those sights which saddens the heart of
the reflective Londoner.  I think the filthy coal smoke has something to
do with the degradation of our metropolitan poor.  Country folks who come
and settle in Babylon grow in time weary of contending with the blacks,
and suffer their children to grow up grimy and ragged, while the children
playing about the doors in the Rows are clean, healthy, decently dressed,
and civil spoken. * * * Whitewash is laid liberally on every accessible
place, the causeway is plentifully supplied with gutters made of
semi-circular yellow tiles, and in no instance have I encountered those
vile odours which offend you on the Continent.  It would be false to say
that I never smelt fish; there is a vast deal of shrimp boiling done in
some of these Rows, but of those filthy stenches of which Coleridge
numbered seventy-two in the city of Cologne, I detected not one.”

_Harper’s Magazine_ of June, 1882, gave the following interesting
description:—“At one time the inhabitants of this old borough took up to
living on a plan almost entirely their own, and the Rows in which they
built their houses remain to this day the most curious of all the
features of the ancient town.  The Rows are narrow streets leading to and
from the quay,—not narrow in the ordinary sense, but narrower, perhaps,
than any other streets in the world, their average width being six feet.
They are not isolated infrequent lanes left between more commodious
thoroughfares by the incomplete modifications of early plans, but they
form a system and their aggregate length is about eight miles.  Six feet
is their average width, but some of them are scarcely more than three
feet, and two persons cannot pass one another without contracting
themselves and painfully sidling in the opposite directions.  The
pavement is of rough cobble-stones, with sometimes a strip of flags down
the middle to ease the way of the pedestrian.  The houses tower up with
smooth perpendicular walls, like cliffs, on both sides, and shut out the
light, the upper stories projecting in many cases beyond the lower, and
forming an arch over the narrow passage below.  Most of these houses are
very old, and the material of which they are built is flint or stone,
often white-washed, though occasionally left in its natural condition
with open timbering in the fronts; in one or two the masonry is of the
herring-bone pattern; but huddled up as they are, without regard to
privacy or ventilation, staring into one another’s faces with undesirable
intimacy, they are of a good class, and in good condition, and some of
them have courtyards before them with nasturtiums and scarlet runners
dragging a tender green web over their white walls.  The narrowest of the
Rows is only 2 feet 3 inches in width.  There are in all 156 of them,
each known by its number.  The object of the frugal plan in which they
originated is a mystery.  One of the guesses at it is this:—‘The
fishermen spread out their nets to dry very carefully, and leave on the
four sides of each net a clear passage, four, five or six feet wide.’  It
is suggested that the ground on which the Rows stand was once used for
this purpose, and that the passages became so well defined from constant
traffic that eventually they were perpetuated as streets.  However this
may be, it is certain that some of the houses in the Rows were among the
first built in the town, and certain also that, leading from the main
street, they give easy access to the Quay, whereon Yarmouth finds its
chief interest.  When the moon is full and throws black beams of shadows
across these alleys, and opens seeming pitfalls in their rugged pavement,
a stranger hesitates to enter them.  At all times they seem properly to
belong to conspirators, but they are quite safe and reputable.  In olden
times the Watchmen patrolled them, ‘crying the wind’ for sleepless
merchants and anxious skippers; and the bellmen of the Church of St.
Nicholas prayed in them for the souls of those who had bequeathed money
for the purpose. {11}  The wind holds pretty well to one quarter in
Yarmouth, and it is said the watchmen seldom had occasion to vary their
announcement: ‘East is the wind, east-north-east; past two and a cloudy
morning.’

                        [Picture: A Yarmouth cart]

“Having invented the narrowest streets in the world, the inhabitants had
to devise an original vehicle for their locomotion, as no ordinary carts
could enter them, and this necessity was relieved by the ‘trolly,’ a
peculiar cart about 12 feet long, with two wheels revolving on a box
axle, placed underneath the sledge, the extreme width of the vehicle
being about 3 feet 6 inches.

“Even in the dead of night the Rows are not quite still.  All of them
lead toward the river, and some of them reveal the black lines of
clustered masts and rigging.  Many of the houses are occupied by
fishermen, who are astir at all hours.  The shrimpers go out to meet the
tide at eleven or twelve o’clock, and though the river has some traffic
with distant ports, the most frequent vessels on it are the
‘dandy-rigged’ boats and the rakish cutters which belong to the great
industry of the town.”

Were we to omit the characteristic description given in _Household
Words_, Vol.  VII., p. 163, that is very generally ascribed to the pen of
the late Charles Dickens, our list of noteworthy quotations would be
rightly deemed by many readers to be very incomplete.  We gladly insert
the following from that excellent magazine, heading the extract with some
lines from a rhyming description of Yarmouth, written by Mr. H. J.
Betts:—

    “And the Rows! them long bars of the gridiron,
       That Dickens hev wrote on—so quare;
    Them ere Rows are a great institution,
       In the town at the mouth of the Yare.”

“Great Yarmouth is one vast gridiron, of which the bars are represented
by ‘Rows,’ to the number of one hundred and fifty-six.  Repel the
recollection of a Chester-row, a Paradise-row, or a Rotten-row.  A Row is
a long, narrow lane or alley, quite straight, or as nearly as may be,
with houses on each side, both of which you can sometimes touch at once
with the finger tips of each hand, by stretching out your arms to their
full extent.  Now and then the houses overhang, and even join above your
head, converting the Row, so far, into a sort of tunnel or tubular
passage.  Many and many picturesque old bit of domestic architecture is
to be hunted up among the Rows.  In some Rows there is little more than a
blank wall for the double boundary.  In others, the houses retreat into
tiny square courts, where washing and clear starching are done, and
wonderful nasturtiums and scarlet runners are reared from green boxes,
filled with that scarce commodity, vegetable mould.  Most of the Rows are
paved with pebbles from the Beach, and, strange to say, these narrow
gangways are traversed by horses and carts which are built for this
special service, and which have been the cause of serious
misunderstanding among antiquaries, as to whether they were or were not
modelled after the chariots of Roman invaders.  Of course, if two carts
were to meet in the middle of a Row, one of the two must either go back
to the end again, or pass over the other one, like goats upon a single
file ledge of a precipice.  The straightness of the passage usually
obviates this alternative.  A few Rows are well paved throughout with
flagstones.  [Picture: A Yarmouth Row, with horse and cart]  Carts are
not allowed to enter these, and foot passengers prefer them to the pebbly
pathways.  Hence they are the chosen locality of numerous little
shopkeepers.  If you want a stout pair of hob-nail shoes, or a
scientifically oiled dreadnought, or a dozen of bloaters, or a quadrant
or a compass, or a bunch of turnips, the best in the world, or a woollen
comforter and night-cop for one end of your person, and worsted overall
stockings for the other, or a plate of cold boiled leg of pork stuffed
with parsley, or a ready-made waistcoat, with blazing pattern and bright
glass buttons—with any of these you can soon be accommodated in one or
other of the Paved Rows.  Here you have a board announcing the luxurious
interval, during which hot joints are offered to the satisfaction of salt
water appetite; from twelve to two no one need suffer hunger.  Elsewhere
is the notice over the door, that within are ‘LIVE AND BOILED SHRIMPS
SOLD BY THE CATCHER.’  Shrimps, unadulterated, boiled and sold by the
very catcher himself,—the original article, and no mistake!  From time
immemorial, there has been a Market Row, in which two people _can_ walk
arm-in-arm, as they stare at the _elite_ of Yarmouth shop windows, and
there is a Broad Row, across which, if an Adelphi harlequin could not
skip from first floor to first floor, he would get from the manager very
significant hints about his abilities.”

The reader cannot fail to have observed the numerical diversity in the
above quotations, as to the total number of the Rows.  The discrepancy
probably arose through a compositor, when engaged upon a Yarmouth
publication, transposing two of the numerals, thus turning the number 145
to 154, and the error passing unobserved remained uncorrected; and
succeeding writers, instead of drawing inspiration from the
fountain-head—the Rows themselves, have complacently copied, and so
perpetuated the blunder.  This, however, does not explain the number
given as 156.

Considerable allowances must be made for many of the statements given by
the various writers, in consideration of the length of time that has
since elapsed.  The onward march of improvement has become so general, it
has penetrated even into the recesses of these old-world thoroughfares.
Although they remain, as in all probability they will continue to be, the
picturesque, tumble-down Rows of Yarmouth, a “Paradise for painters,” as
_Punch_ described them, still the signs of the times are now apparent
within their precincts.  Pedestrians are no longer compelled to tread
gingerly upon uncrushed “petrified kidneys,” when threading their way
through them, but may proceed satisfactorily and pleasantly along a
pathway of concrete or flagstone, and if disposed to enter them at night,
he will discover that nearly all are now illuminated by gas.  When
preparation was being made for these improvements in the year 1884, an
official measurement of eighty-one of the Rows was taken, and the total
length of them was ascertained to be 8,372 yards, or rather more than 4¾
miles.  The entire length of the 145 Rows exceeds seven miles.  Within
the eighty-one Rows which were measured, the number of the
dwelling-houses was found to be 1,811.

The names of some of the Rows were sufficiently remarkable to justify
Dickens in amusingly referring to them as “Jumber’s Row,” and “Mopus’s
Row.”  Known as the Rows were to succeeding generations all down the
ages, by name only, it was no easy matter to wean the Yarmouthians from
the method so familiar to them and their forefathers, of recognising each
Row by its name.  The change from name to number was adopted by the
Corporation in the year 1804, and although a century of years have since
nearly run their course, many of the old inhabitants still recognise a
Row by name, in preference to its number.  The writer has found it a
common occurrence for persons, after long residence in Rows, to be
utterly unable to state their numbers.  A woman when asked the number of
the Row she lived in, said, “57, but I don’t know whether it is the same
number at both ends.”  Quite recently, “Row 161” was given to the writer
as a place of residence of an individual.  A woman born in Row 21, in
1869, wrote in 1893, “I was born in Row 100, where some houses were
pulled down for Sir E. Lacon’s Brewery.”  An illustration of a similar
character may be given from one of the Register Books at the Parish
Church.  In 1840, at their marriage, a couple were asked their place of
residence, and it was given as “Row 171,” and they evidently stood
uncorrected, as “Row 171” was recorded.  Still further proofs may be
culled from these Registers, showing the tenacity with which the old
names were cherished.  Most of the following designations have been
obtained from entries which were made within the first four years of Her
present Majesty’s reign:—

Angel Row
Almshouse Row
Adam the Barber’s Row
Buck Row
Barnaby Baker’s Row
Boulter’s Row
Brown, Grocer’s Row
Bennet, Cooper’s Row
Blue Anchor Row
Broad Row
Black Swan Row
Baptist Meeting Row
Black Horse Row
Blower’s, Cabinet-maker’s Row
Budd, Sail-maker’s Row
Blue Bell Row
Bessey’s Half Row
Bank Paved Row
Bell and Crown Row
Child, Blacksmith’s Row
Castle Row
Chapel Row
Chapel Paved Row
Conge Row
Cart and Horse Row
Custom House Row
Crown and Anchor Row
Crown and Heart Row
Dove Row
Doctor Smith’s Row
Doughty’s Row
Dog and Duck Row
Dover Court Row
Dr. Bayly’s Row
Doctor Ferrier’s Row
Dene Side Austin Row
Duncan’s Head Row
Esquire Palmer’s Row
Esquire Steward’s Row
Excise Office Row
Elephant and Castle Row
Earl St. Vincent’s Row
Fighting Cock Row
Foundry Row
Fulcher’s Row
Ferry Boat Row
Fourteen Stars Row
Frere’s Row
Gun Row
Gallon Can Row
Globe Row
George and Dragon Row
Garwood, Painter’s Row
Garden Row
Glass House Row
Golden Lion Row
Humber Keel Row
Horn Row
Horse and Cart Row
Half Moon Row
Huke, Carpenter’s Row
Jail Row
Kitty Witches’ Row
King’s Head Row
Law’s Baker’s Row
Lamb, Butcher’s Row
Lawyer Cory’s Row
Lacon’s Garden Row
Lion and Lamb Row
Mr. Paget’s Row
Mr. Blake’s Row
Mr. Butcher’s Row
Mr. Cobb’s Row
Mr. Skill’s Row
Mr. Woolverton’s Row
Mr. Yett’s Row
Meeting House Row
Mariner’s Compass Row
Market Row
Money Office Row
Morley Grocer’s Row
Miller, Basket Maker’s Row
Mews Half Row
Martin, Shoemaker’s Row
Nine Parish Row
New White Lion Row
Newcastle Tavern Row
Nichols, Shoemaker’s Row
Naunton, Baker’s Row
North Pot-in-hand Row
Old Fountain Row
Old Meeting Row
Old Post Office Row
Old Prison Row
Oakes, Grocer’s Row
Old White Lion Row
Page, Pipe-maker’s Row
Paternoster Row
Plummer, Schoolmaster’s Row
Pike, Sailmaker’s Row
Present, Butcher’s Row
Pot-in-hand Row
Post Office Half Row
Priory Row
Queen’s Head Row
Quay Angel Row
Quay Austin Row
Quay Mill Row
Quaker’s Meeting-House Row
Rampart Row
Rose and Crown Row
Rivett, Baker’s Row
St. John’s Head Row
South Walking Row
Saving’s Bank Row
Steward, Chemist’s Row
Say’s Corner Row
South Say’s Corner Row
Star and Garter Row
Spotted Cow Row
Stamp Office Row
Split Gutter Row
Snatchbody Row
South Garden Row
Sewell’s Row
Ship Tavern Row
Star Tavern Row
Synagogue Row
St. George’s Tavern Row
St. George’s Row east
St. George’s Row west
St. Peter’s Row east
St. Peter’s Row west
Sons of Commerce Row
Taylor, and Fulcher’s Row
Turnpike Row
Took, Baker’s Row
Two-Neck Swan Row
Three Herrings Row
Thornton, Grocer’s Row
Utting’s Row
Unitarian Chapel Row
White Lion Row
Wheatsheaf Row
Well Row
White Horse Row
Wheel of Fortune Row
White Swan Row
Wrestler’s Row
Yett’s Foundry Row

                                * * * * *

In some instances two names were given to the same Row.

Rampart Row no longer exists.  The cottages have been removed and the old
rampart wall exposed to view; the space thus gained has been converted
into a carriage way, and the thoroughfare named Rampart Road.

It has been asked, why are these thoroughfares called Rows?  In Palmer’s
_Notes on Manship_, p. 271, we find the following reply:—“‘Row’ is
supposed to be derived from _rhodio_, to walk; or from the Saxon _rowa_
(a rank); or, which is more probable in the sense in which it is used in
Yarmouth, from the French _rue_, a street, or lane.”




                             YARMOUTH BEACH,
                           ITS HOLIDAY ASPECTS.


Now for a sudden transition from the ancient to the modern, from mediæval
shadows to undimmed sunlight, from the comparatively humdrum stillness
and gravity of ordinary daily life into the midst of vivacious holiday
activities, from the pent-up Rows to the glorious freedom of Yarmouth’s
magnificent Marine Drive and unrivalled Beach.  Who could reasonably
desire the realisation, in the course of a few brief moments, of a wider
contrast or a change more refreshing?  Where, but in Yarmouth, could such
a transition take place in so short a time, for where, but in the
renowned old borough can _such_ a series of such Rows be found?  And
where else can be seen a Beach of such proportions, with its far-reaching
stretches of dry, clean, soft, “golden” sand, and its uninterrupted view
of the German Ocean, continuous from north to south, and bounded along
the east by the horizon alone?  Measured by miles, both Beach and Marine
Drive afford ample scope for the enjoyment of thousands of visitors of
all classes.  Small cause for wonder is it that a veritable army of
recreationists, at least a hundred thousand strong (including
day-trippers), should be attracted thither year by year, it would be
surprising were they not to come.  From the Rows to the Beach we go, with
anticipations of pleasure of an altogether different description, and
find amusement in watching for a time the varied ways in which the
present detachment of the season’s welcomed battalions of visitors are
disporting themselves.  Let us see what delights on a favourable day in
summer our splendid sands afford!

Proceeding by a convenient wooden gangway laid upon the sand from the
Marine Drive to high water mark, close to the Britannia Pier, we are at
once in the midst of a lively spectacle, people of all ages and sizes are
here, happy in the consciousness of being able to enjoy themselves in the
way their fancy leads them.  Pleasure is the prevailing object on which
all minds are set.  Many of the fair sex are quietly seated upon the
accommodating sands, perusing their favourite books, papers, and
periodicals, or engaged in some light and fanciful work whilst quietly
noting the ever-changing scene going on around them.  Nursemaids in
charge of juveniles are keeping guard over sundry cast-off shoes and
stockings, whilst carefully watching the youngsters paddling joyously in
the foaming surf.  Paterfamilias, too, is in the surf, and provides a
centre of attraction to a number of ladies whose interest, however, is
not in him, but in the young olive branch—his very smallest—whose
wriggling extremities he is endeavouring to bathe in the spreading waves.
As his holiday inexpressibles appear likely to receive more from the sea
than the unwilling child, his better half rushes forward to the rescue
and hastily “reefs” them.

[Picture: Beach sketches] Bare-legged children in goodly numbers are
paddling about and with shovels and tiny buckets are busily engaged in
digging small docks and trying to fill them with water, others are making
sand pies or erecting buildings in original styles of architecture, and
castles and towers not remarkable for stability.  From the paddlers to
the bathers our attention turns.  Two young ladies have emerged from the
bathing machines and are bravely swimming away, whilst the bathing of the
other naiads consists in tightly holding the ropes attached to the
machines, and giving a succession of hysterical jumps that display the
intense ugliness of their dresses.  In this ugliness we detect a device.
The main desire of the designer, surely, must have been to divert the
unwelcome attentions of too obtrusive individuals of the opposite sex.
In the distance are the gentlemen’s machines, and near them can be seen a
number of heads dotting the restless waters. {25}  For lovers of the sea
seeking enjoyment upon, rather than immersion in it, the boatmen are on
the _qui vive_.  “Hi, hi, hi, any more going!” shouts one.  “Here you
are, sir, a jolly sail out,” says another.  Whilst a third, on business
bent, cries, “Come along, we’re going to give you a treat, sixpence for a
sail, any more going?”  We watch the filling and launching of one or two
of the boats, and note the jaunty air and smiling faces of some
adventurers as they go aboard, and have little doubt that some of their
smiles will soon be exchanged for more reflective countenances.
Presently we are invited to have a trip in a rowing boat, “Have a row,
sir, nice day for a row.”  Numbers at the time are indulging in that
pleasant form of enjoyment.  A party of eight are seated in a rowing boat
waiting to be launched, when a little stripling about seven summers old,
bare-legged and brave, seeing their readiness, tries with all his might
to give the boat the impetus it needs.  Some day, his indomitable will
and energy will, we hope, be more amply rewarded.

Watching the return of the sailing boats and the landing of the
passengers is found by many to be interesting, especially when the sea is
inclined to take a mean advantage of those standing awaiting their turn
to land, by unceremoniously bumping the boat, and causing the whole
company simultaneously to lose their equilibrium and receive a shower of
spray.  Of course they laugh as well as their friends on shore, indeed,
everybody regards it as great fun.  Turning from the sea to the beach, we
often find a small “dock,” caused by the incoming flood or left by the
last tide upon the beach.  This is a source of supreme enjoyment to
numbers of juveniles.  Here, with perfect safety, paddling is being
indulged in.  Here miniature vessels are sailing, and, as from a
reservoir, water is being conveyed in buckets for supplying the various
needs of those actively engaged in raising fortifications, planning
gardens, and making fish ponds.

                     [Picture: Toilers in the sands]

This central position of the beach being most frequented by visitors, it
is also the chief resort, the happy hunting ground of the numerous class
who have a keen eye to business.  Nearly all of them are vendors of only
one kind of article each, and this peculiarity tends to multiply their
numbers, the variety of merchandise among the whole being considerable.
There are so many—and some of them are strangers to Yarmouth—that, were
they not civil, and usually take the first refusal, persistency with
frequency would be an annoyance little short of a nuisance.  Take a seat
and your troubles begin.  “Here’s your chocolate creams.”  “Buns, two a
penny.”  “Yarmouth rock, penny a box.”  “Apples, penny a bag.”  “Hokey
Pokey, two a penny.”  “Nuts or pears—fine Williams.”  “Lemonade,
three-a-pence a bottle.”  “Pears or grapes, all ripe, buy a nice bunch of
grapes, sir.”  “Walnuts, eight a penny, fine walnuts.”  “Milk, penny a
glass.”  These and many other solicitations are made to unfortunate
visitors whilst reclining upon the sands or occupying seats, reading the
morning papers, Conservative, Radical, and Sporting, or engaged in
knitting, sewing, or fancy work of some kind, nursing, chatting, novel
reading, or lazily watching the ever-changing scene on the Beach, or
meditatively listening to the everlasting music of the sea.  Fancy the
effect of such a succession of interruptions upon a couple who had passed
the spooning period of life and were intently engaged in writing,
probably letters to their friends, jotting down their impressions fresh
from the sands; before subscribing themselves as ‘Yours ozoneously, Jim,
or Jemima,’ we can imagine they would be able to lay much to the charge
of these itinerating traders.

              [Picture: Yarmouth beach in its summer aspect]

[Picture: Spooning] Real fun, that is thoroughly appreciated by all
classes, is supplied when a sailing boat has to be drawn above high water
mark upon the beach.  Young and old of both sexes and all classes
willingly lend a helping hand at the long rope, and merrily runs the
boat, responsive to the united pull, to the destined place.  Spooning
couples are in profusion upon the sands.  The vicinity of the Beach
Concert-ring appears to be a favoured spot with them.  Groups of pleasure
seekers are reclining upon the clean, soft sand in all directions.  Some
of them, like children, finding amusement in trifling things.  The most
objectionable form of “larking” with each other is the throwing handfuls
of sand.  Country bumpkins find special delight in this.  Such a Tom
Tiddler’s ground would not be overlooked by gipsies; three of the tribe
are present with keen eyes for clients, and a sharp look out for
policemen.  One of the gipsies tries to effect a capture, but the desired
coin is not forth-coming.  But gipsies have not a monopoly in
fortune-telling.  A bronzed peasant from the sunny south is here, with
birds and papers, ready to make any ninny-hammer giggle at the small
charge of one penny.  “Ladies and gentlemens, these Indian birds will
take a planet of your fortune.”  The next moment, and we find yet another
opportunity of peering into futurity, being invited to “try the Fairy
Press for your fortune” to be announced in the form of an Instantaneous
Photograph of your future partner; this also for one penny.
Photographers, without future pretences, of course, are here, and appear
to be in eager demand.  Edwins and Harrys, who have already selected
their Angelinas, are prepared to pose placidly with them by their sides,
under the searching scrutiny of the Photographers’ lens.  At the _al
fresco_ concert a small and select company are informed by the singer, in
connection with his song that his “wife was gone where briny breezes
blow, after being married four years and sixteen months.”  At an Electric
Battery an interested group are watching a sturdy individual, who
declines to cry “peccavi” to the evident surprise of the electrician.
The next who submits himself is soon satisfied with his pennyworth.  The
open door of the Camera Obscura invites those who prefer less excitable
pleasures to enter within its calm and retired seclusion, and there see
what is to be seen.  The Happy Family is at hand to throw more
entertainment into the morning’s programme, and to give a lesson in
social and domestic felicity.  Then the familiar face presents itself, of
one who is on excellent terms with himself, and with all around.  Our
Beach friend, an illusionist, has just planted his little table upon the
sands, placed his guinea pig upon it, and is gratified to see the circle
of expectant admirers who immediately gather round.  After widening the
circumference of the circle a second time, turning up his sleeves, etc.,
he prefaces his usual performance with “Ladies and gentlemen, I shall
have much pleasure in showing you some entirely new tricks.”  Before
performing the culminating trick, which is really extremely clever, he
favours the company with what he terms his “shell trick,” collecting
contributions first from the outsiders, whom he names “the gallery,” and
next from those within “the stalls.”  For those desirous of being told
something about their own craniums and capabilities, there are three
Professors ready to enlighten them.  The first we reach is delineating a
most unsatisfactory skull.  He is advising the young woman, if she is in
the habit of drinking tea, to give it up, and to drink Cocoa instead, to
eat plenty of fruit, and to take all the out-door exercise she can, and
be in the sunshine as much as possible.  He says, with much frankness,
“Her head is a large one; she has little respect for other people, will
tell them what she thinks of them, and will say much more than they like.
She thinks herself as good as other people.  When anything happens she
does not like, she will go down in the dumps, and be like a dying duck in
a thunderstorm.  She is not generous, and has not much confidence in
herself.  She will be influenced more by love of approbation than by
religious influence.  She is inclined to be severe to people, and I would
advise her to keep her monkey down, as when it is up it is a very warm
monkey indeed.  She has a keen sense of the ridiculous, and can
appreciate it, and I would advise her to read Dickens’ works.  She can
reason well and criticise well, and her tongue could go nineteen to the
dozen.”  We find that Palmistry is being practised by the next Professor
upon the hand of a female.  We hear him inform her that her fingers are
long; that she does not achieve all that she would like to achieve; that
her thoughts and imaginations are of a romantic kind; that her character
is flexible; that she has a disposition for a broad circle of friends,
and so on.  The seat when vacated, is soon filled by a man.  “This is the
hand of a mechanic, large, broad, takes a broad grasp.  He would do very
well as a Civil Engineer.  He does not confine his thoughts to every-day
life.  He has a love of home, and a fondness of seeing the world very
broadly.  He likes to know, and he _will_ know; he will stir up the water
till the mud rises but what he will know.  He is a type of man who could
command as a general in the Army.  In mercantile life he would succeed in
everything he undertakes.  In politics he takes rather a broad range.  He
is not an eloquent exponent of his own thoughts.  He has a good memory,
can tell a story he has heard, and add a little to it.  Imaginativeness
is well developed in his nature.  He has the hand of one that is
tolerably cool; were he a gentleman with nothing in his pocket, he would
push on until he had made a fortune.”  All this, and more the Professor
saw with the aid of a powerful magnifying glass.  The third professor, a
lady, is endeavouring to get an occupant for an empty seat.  “If any lady
be present who doesn’t wish to take her bonnet off, I am as able to read
her face as her head; or, if there are any persons present who would like
to have their hands read, I am quite prepared to do it.”  How very
accommodating!

                        [Picture: Yarmouth sands]

All these things are going on within a comparatively small compass,
between the Britannia Tier and the Jetty.  And now without being allured
into the “Skylark Tea Saloon,” where “small parties are catered for on
the Sands;” whether small parties of skylarks, or skylarking parties, we
were left to imagine; or, pausing to scan the Roadstead through the
telescope placed in readiness, or indulging in a seat in the weighing
machine, we pass on to a calmer region, where gratifications of a less
exciting character may be enjoyed.  For this we had not to travel far.
Passing the boundary line of the Jetty we instantly find, between that
greatly improved structure and the Wellington Pier, a great
transformation scene has taken place.  Loose sand and shingle have given
place to a capacious and beautifully terraced garden artistically laid,
adorned with vases and fountains, and with a bandstand in the centre.
While the young, the healthy and the boisterous may find the fullest
opportunities for thorough enjoyment elsewhere; here the quiet, the
weakly and the meditative may get away from the madding crowd and calmly
indulge in reflection.  Between this garden and the sea, an Esplanade of
magnificent proportions has been made, and provided with sitting
accommodation along the entire length, where Visitors may, free of
charge, recline, facing the sea; and, whilst taking rest, may take in the
strains of sweet operatic music discoursed by the Military Band upon
their instruments; or, while perusing their favourite books, inhale the
fragrance of the flowers, or the ozone from the sea.  When promenading
upon this Esplanade, we overheard the remark made by a Visitor (which is
probably often to be heard), “I don’t think Lowestoft is a patch upon
this place.”

                [Picture: The Esplanade and Beach Gardens]

To lovers of peace and solitude, Yarmouth can hold forth an inviting
hand, and point to its miles of Marine Drive and its level Beach, with
its soft sands, rendered agreeably smooth and firm by the retreating tide
and dried by the sun.  Seats and shelters in abundance have been provided
upon the Drive and the Jetty.  A short rest in one of these agreeable
shelters will now be welcome, and, while resting, the visitor will find
ample food for reflection in observing the infinite variety in the
appearance and bearing of the many passers by.  One thing is obvious:
there is unmistakable evidence of enjoyment stamped upon them all.

By the Jetty are numerous Drags, awaiting the time to convey into the
country their complements of passengers.  Persons fond of variety are
willing, for a short time, to leave the attractions of the Beach and
Jetty in exchange for a pleasant drive.  A good choice of destinations is
given, Caister Castle, Ormesby Broad, Fritton Lake, Somerleyton Park and
Lowestoft being amongst the number.

As we perambulate our spacious and recently much-improved Promenade on
the Marine Drive, we cannot fail to notice how great is the supply of
vehicles provided for all classes; numerous well-appointed carriages meet
our view; omnibuses, brakes, traps, bicycles, tricycles, goat chaises,
perambulators, Bath chairs, and donkeys are in readiness for all who
desire them.  On the latter, venturesome visitors may feel perfectly
safe.

Much more might be said, but we must now close and allow the second Beach
Garden, the Jetty, the two Piers, the Aquarium, the Tower, the Switchback
and Bicycle Railways, and the Sailors’ Home Museum to speak for
themselves.  All we need remark is that each and all of these have
special attractions that are sought out and enjoyed by multitudes of
delighted Visitors.

The busy scene we have depicted, of life and animation, of good temper
and well-earned enjoyment may be witnessed through the entire season in
propitious weather.  The whole assembled multitude may be divided into
two classes, the pleasure seekers and those who minister to their
gratifications.  Were some of the latter more considerate, and less
persistent in their endeavours “to make hay while the sun shines,” and
bear well in mind the fact that the enjoyment of seaside visitors
(although the bracing air conduces to appetite) does not altogether
consist in eating chocolate, sucking sweets, cracking nuts, drinking
half-pints of milk, consuming penny buns, or munching “beautiful
Williams:” our lovely and much resorted-to Beach, attractive as it is, in
spite of all these unnecessary drawbacks, would be more thoroughly
enjoyed and appreciated by the tens of thousands of Visitors who resort
to it year after year.

                                * * * * *




                           By the same Author.


                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                  A New and “Up-to-date” Edition of the

                       FRIENDLY GUIDE TO YARMOUTH,

       A pleasant companion to Visitors when making an intelligent
                perambulation of the interesting Old Town.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Fully Illustrated                TWOPENCE.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      May be had at the Parish Clerk’s Office, by the Parish Church
                  Gates, and at many shops in the Town.




                           ADVERTISEMENTS. {0}


                       ESTABLISHED OVER A CENTURY.

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



                              ALDRED & SON,
                           Gold & Silversmiths,


                               WATCHMAKERS,

                          Jewellers & Opticians.

                                * * * * *

                                1837–1899
                             Diamond Jubilee
                                Souvenirs
                         IN GOLD & GEM JEWELLRY.

                                * * * * *

                 [Picture: Flag brooches] FLAG BROOCHES,
                            Yacht Club Badges,
                                PINS, &c.

                                * * * * *

                            56, GEORGE STREET,
                             GREAT YARMOUTH,
                   (_BETWEEN THE QUAY AND BROAD ROW_.)

                                * * * * *



                            BY THE SAME AUTHOR


                 [Picture: St. Nicholas Church, Yarmouth]

                             JUST PUBLISHED.

                                * * * * *

                          _A NEW EDITION OF THE_
                     History of St. Nicholas’ Church
                             GREAT YARMOUTH,

              Containing many new and interesting additions.

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The tendency of this book is to entertain, and aid in brightening dull
hours at home.

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To persons desirous of presenting friends with something really connected
with Yarmouth, in preference to an article made in Germany, this book
affords a favourable opportunity for so doing.

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

               In Paper Wrapper, 1/=.  In Cloth, 2/- nett.

Postage 3d.  Or sent to any address in the town on receipt of the
published price, by the Author,

       E. J. LUPSON, Parish Clerk’s Office (Near the Church Gate.)

                                * * * * *



                         FREEMAN, HARDY & WILLIS
                        THE GREAT BOOT PROVIDERS,


               Have the Largest and Best Assorted Stock of
                               TAN & BEACH
                              BOOTS & SHOES
                               IN YARMOUTH.

                            103, MARKET ROAD,
                                   AND
                            36, REGENT STREET.

                                * * * * *



[Picture: Illustration of Yarmouth Beach]


Visitors wishing to have their PHOTOGRAPHS artistically taken should go
to MILLER’S ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO, and Fine Art Repository,14a, King
Street (corner of Regent Road), Great Yarmouth.  A large stock of views
of the Town and Neighbourhood.

                [Picture: Illustration of Yarmouth Beach]



                                 VISITORS


                       CAN OBTAIN SINGLE BOTTLES OF

                                  WINE,
                                 SPIRITS,
                                  BEER,
                                  CIDER,

                           AT WHOLESALE PRICES,
                                    AT
                         WILLIAMS, FRERE & Co’s.

                         Old Established Stores,
                            148, KING STREET,
                             GREAT YARMOUTH.

                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                       PRICE LISTS ON APPLICATION.

                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                   GOODS DELIVERED AT GORLESTON DAILY.

                                * * * * *



                        The Pioneer Screw Steamer
                                 ‘LILY,’


            [Picture: Graphic of hand with heart symbol on it]

_This popular Boat not only originated those delightful trips to
Gorleston_, _but is still the favourite_, _and is patronised_, _during
the season by_

                          THOUSANDS OF VISITORS,
                      _And Inhabitants of the Town_.

                                * * * * *

The Boat leaves the Town Hall Quay, hourly, every day (except Sundays),
commencing at 10 a.m.

                                * * * * *

                    FARES:—TWOPENCE; Children under 12
                                ONE PENNY.

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

             Special arrangements for Parties: See Conductor
               on board, or by letter, Mr. W. C. Harrison,
                         69, Southtown, Yarmouth.

                                * * * * *



                           WHERE SHALL WE DINE?
                                    AT
                                Randell’s


                       New Cafe Central Restaurant

                                   AND

                            TEMPERANCE HOTEL,

                            42, MARKET PLACE,
                             GREAT YARMOUTH.

                                * * * * *

            Central Situation.            Commanding Position.

               Terms Moderate.    No Charge for Attendance.

                  CONTRACTS FOR LARGE OR SMALL PARTIES.
                       ACCOMMODATION FOR CYCLISTS.

                                * * * * *

                          BED AND BREAKFAST 2/6.

                   _Comfort_, _Cleanliness & Economy_.

                                * * * * *



                             R. & T. MARTINS,
                            PRACTICAL TAILORS,
                               OUTFITTERS,
                           HATTERS AND HOSIERS.


                                * * * * *

OUR CLOTH PURCHASES for the Present Season are from the Newest and most
Fashionable Shades and Colourings.

SCOTCH AND IRISH Tweed Suitings.

BLACK AND BLUE SERGES specially noted for Fast Colour and great
durability.

OUR READY-MADE STOCK comprises Gentlemen’s Overcoats, Morning and Lounge
Suits, Vests and Trousers.

ALSO Ready for immediate wear, Youths’ School Suits in Norfolk and Rugby
shapes.

SAILOR SUITS in Serges and other materials.

TENNIS AND BOATING SUITS.

WATERPROOF of the best manufacture.

                                * * * * *

                Latest Styles in Paris & Felt Hats & Caps.

                                * * * * *

                GENTLEMEN’S HOSIERY IN PURE WOOL, MERINO,
                            GAUZE, COTTON, &c.

           White and Coloured Shirts.  The Newest Dress Shirts.

               NOVELTIES IN TIES, SCARFS, COLLARS, GLOVES.
                                UMBRELLAS.

                                * * * * *

                       MARKET ROW, Great Yarmouth.

                                * * * * *

                   THE GREAT YARMOUTH CARPET WAREHOUSE.



                          H. BIDDLECOMBE & Co.,


                         Linen & Woollen Drapers,
                   SILK MERCERS & CARPET WAREHOUSEMEN.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              The latest styles in MANTLES, JACKETS & CAPES.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

           Special shows during the Season of the Latest Styles
                     in English and French Millinery.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An immense Stock of the NEWEST MATERIALS FOR DRESSES, COSTUME TWEEDS,
COVERT COATINGS, SERGES, HABIT CLOTHS.

                    WELSH FREIZE FOR CYCLING COSTUMES.

                 Mourning Orders promptly attended to.
                    FUNERALS COMPLETELY FURNISHED.

                      THE YARMOUTH LINEN WAREHOUSE,
                  HOUSEHOLD LINENS, CALICOES, SHEETINGS,
                     BLANKETS, QUILTS, FLANNELS, &c.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Design Book of Lace Curtains for 1897 Free on Application.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                      THE YARMOUTH CARPET WAREHOUSE

 The Cheapest House in the Eastern Counties for FLOOR CLOTHS, LINOLEUMS,
             all kinds of CARPETS, HEARTHRUGS and BLINDS.  An
                      immense stock to select from.

   Linoleums, Carpets, &c., fitted and planned by Experienced Workmen.

                         _H. BIDDLECOMBE & Co._,

Pay Carriage on parcels of Drapery, to the value of Twenty Shillings and
upwards, when ordered by post and remittance sent same time.

   Anything supplied in this manner and not approved can be exchanged.

                                * * * * *

                 3, 4, 5, 6, KING STREET, GREAT YARMOUTH.

                                * * * * *

                     Visitors when in Yarmouth should
                          not fail to visit the



                             RIVERS & BROADS


                               OF NORFOLK,
                         THE ONLY CIRCULAR ROUTE,
                   (65 Miles change of Scenery), is by
                         THE YARMOUTH & GORLESTON
                         Steamboat Company, Ltd.,
                               (BRADLEY’S)

                       WELL-APPOINTED STEAMERS, THE

                            ‘YARMOUTH BELLE,’
                          ‘Queen of the Broads,’
                                   AND
                           ‘PRIDE OF THE YARE.’

                                * * * * *

                          Fares - 3/-, 2/6, 2/-.

                                * * * * *

           Refreshments on Board.  Separate Saloon for Ladies.

                                * * * * *

                          ESTABLISHED 22 YEARS.

                                * * * * *



                      The Noted Fish Establishment,
                               FROG’S HALL,
                            SOUTH MARKET ROAD
                             GREAT YARMOUTH.


                                * * * * *

                                J. FLERTY.

Having purchased the Good-will, Premises, and Plant of the above
Business, begs to inform the inhabitants of Great Yarmouth and
surrounding district that he will be daily receiving large consignments
of Soles, Turbot, Brill, Cod, &c., also Salmon, Trout, and all kinds of
Shell Fish in Season, which will be supplied at strictly moderate prices,
and trusts, by strict attention to all orders, promptitude of despatch,
and the supplying of Fish of the best quality only, to merit a
continuance of the support bestowed upon his predecessors.

Bloaters, Kippers, and Smoked Haddocks of the finest quality.  Hotels,
Visitors and Families waited upon daily.  Fresh Fish carefully cleaned,
packed and sent to all parts of the kingdom.

                                * * * * *

ESTABLISHED 1880.



                                   THE
                           ‘YARMOUTH MERCURY,’
               GORLESTON HERALD & EAST NORFOLK ADVERTISER.


                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                        _Best Penny Local Paper_.

                                * * * * *

                           LARGEST CIRCULATION.

                                * * * * *

                                 OFFICES:
                     36, KING STREET, GREAT YARMOUTH.
                     BRANCH: HIGH STREET, GORLESTON.

                                * * * * *



                                   THE
                                 STORES,


                          _Opposite the Bridge_,
                           QUAY, GT. YARMOUTH.

Teas and Coffees,                   Aerated Waters and Drinks,

Spices,                             Foreign Mineral Waters,

Cocoas and Chocolates               Perfumery,

Dried Fruits,                       Toilet Brushes, Combs, &c.,

Groceries,                          Patent Medicines,

Provisions,                         Homœpathic Medicines

Household Brushes,                  Mats, Wooden Goods, &c.

Italian Goods,

Drugs and Chemicals,

                                    AT
                          _CO-OPERATIVE PRICES_.

                                * * * * *

                              J. E. CLOWES,
                               PROPRIETOR.




FOOTNOTES.


{0}  In the printed pamphlet the advertisements are scattered throughout
the pamphlet, but in this transcription they have been moved to the end
to make the whole more readable.  They retain their original page
numbers.—DP.

{4}  “The menne of Yarmouthe at that tyme beganne to growe in greate
strengthe and estimacion, for it appearethe by the Records in the Tower,
that in those daies there was some controversy between the men of the
Synque Portes of the one parte, and the men of Yarmouth on the other
parte, insomuch as the men of Yarmouthe prevayled in the sea greatlie
agenste the men of the Synque Portes, and did burn and take and spoyle
divers of there shippes, for which the Synque Portes compleyned to King
Edward Second.”

In the year 1545, “Warres being betwene England and France, there were in
Yarmouthe Rode two Shippes laden with wheat to goe for Bolleyn” (to
Bolougne), “for the King’s Maties provisions, and upon Saint Andrews Daye
there came two Frenche Schippes of Warre throughe the Roade and boarded
the said two Englishe Shippes and cutte their cables, and were carreyenge
them away, whereof when tidenge was brought to Mr. Bailifes in the
Church” (it being a Saints day, the Corporation was attending morning
service at St. Nicholas’ Church).  “All the whole Townsmen went out and
got there weapons and manned two other Shippes and rescued the said
King’s provisions and took six Frenchmen in the prises, and brought them
to Yarmouthe, and the two French Shippes did very hardlie escape the
takinge, but yet got awaye in the nyght tyme.”—Manship’s Foundation and
Antiquitye of Greate Yarmouthe.

{11}  In Swinden’s History, page 823, we find, “In the name of God Amen;
I, William Okey of Great Yarmouth, &c., bequeath to the beadmen of the
Church of St. Nicholas. 2s. of silver annually, to be received for ever,
out of my capital messuage, with the edifices and appurtenances, the
beer-house and ale-house in Great Yarmouth, &c., that the said beadmen
shall be chargeable to keep the anniversary of me, Juliana, my late wife;
Margaret, my wife; William, my brother; and Robert, my father; and Maud,
my mother; and for the faithful deceased, and for them pray annually for
ever at every head of a row in the town of Great Yarmouth.”  The date of
this will appears to be 1349.

{25}  The following is inserted for the behoof of ardent admirers of the
“good old times,” when the Yarmouth Rows were in their meridian glory.
No better period for reflection could be selected than when in the full
glow of an enjoyable dip in the briny; the mind could then fully realise
the degeneracy of the present times as compared with the year 1571.  “On
May 8th, 1571, Dr. Whitgift, Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Cambridge, and the Heads of Colleges, for many and weighty reasons,
decreed that if any scholar should go into any river, pool or other water
in the County of Cambridge, by day or night, to swim or wash, he should,
if under the degree of Bachelor of Arts, for the first offence, be
sharply and severely whipped publicly in the common hall of the College,
and on the next day should be again openly whipped in the public school
where he was, or ought to be, an auditor before all the auditors, by one
of the proctors, or some other assigned by the Vice-Chancellor; and for
the second offence every such delinquent shall be expelled his college
and the University for ever.  But if he should be a Bachelor of Arts,
then for the first offence he should be put in the stocks for a whole
day, in the common hall of his College, and should, before he was
liberated, pay ten shillings towards the Commons of the College, and for
the second offence he should be expelled his College and the University.
And if he should be a Master of Arts, or Bachelor of Law, physic, or
music, or of superior degree, he should be severely punished, at the
judgment and discretion of the Master of his College, or, in his absence,
of the President and one of the Deans.”  Cooper’s _Annals of Cambridge_
Vol. ii. p. 377.