suffered death at this spot. When the gallows were afterwards moved further to the westward, it became a melancholy custom for malefactors, on their way to execution, to be allowed to stop a few minutes opposite St. Giles's church, when a large goblet of ale, the famous St. Giles's Bowl, was offered to them as the last refreshment they were to receive in this life. The gallows at Tyburn, it is almost needless to remark, stood nearly at the end of Park Lane, which appears to have been used as a place of execution as early as the middle of the twelfth century. When we read, however, of a criminal being executed at Tyburn, we are not as a matter of course to presume that it was at this particular spot. The gallows were unquestionably shifted at different periods to different places, and the name of Tyburn appears to have been given for the time being to each distinct spot. The present St. Giles's church was rebuilt by Flitcroft in 1735, and does great credit to the taste of that architect. The exterior, which is of Portland stone, is plain and striking; the steeple is peculiarly light and graceful; and the interior is a happy combination of elegance and simplicity. The great fault of the artist is in the small size of the doors, which gives a certain poverty of appearance to the rest of the building. But the principal interest which attaches to St. Giles's church, is the number of celebrated persons whose remains are interred here. In the churchyard, near the south side of the church,-as Anthony 1. The first 'Giless Church 2 Remains of the Walls anciently enclosing the Hospital precints.3, Site of the Gallows and afterwards of the pound 4 Way to Uxbridge now Oxford St 5Elde Street since called Hog Lane. 6 Le Lane, now Monmouth St 7.Site of the 1Dials formerly called Cock and Bye Fields 8. Elm close, since called Long Acre. 9. Drury Lane London Richard Bentley 1847 ST. GILES'S CHURCHYARD. 103 Wood informs us in his Athenæ Oxonienses,-rests the honoured dust of George Chapman, the poet; the friend and companion of Shakspeare, Spenser, Daniel, and Marlowe, but principally remembered by his translation of Homer, which is still read and appreciated, notwithstanding the more modern versions of Pope and Cowper. He lived to the advanced age of seventy-seven, and, according to Wood, was a person of reverend aspect, religious and temperate. He was the intimate and beloved friend of the great architect, Inigo Jones, who erected a monument over his grave. Chapman died in the neighbourhood of St. Giles's church, as did also the celebrated dramatic poet, James Shirley. The end of the latter was a painful one. He had previously resided in Fleet Street, when the great fire of 1666 burnt his house to the ground, and compelled him to seek refuge in some lodgings in St. Giles-in-the-Fields. Deeply affected, either by the loss of his property, or by the sublime and terrible sight which he had just witnessed, he survived his change of residence scarcely twenty-four hours. Overcome by the same melancholy events, and by the loss of a beloved husband, his wife expired the same day, and both were buried in the same grave in St. Giles's churchyard.* It is remarkable how many of the devoted adherents of the unfortunate house of Stuart rest in the church or church-yard of St. Giles. Shirley him"Athena Oxonienses." self, in the civil wars, had followed his patron, the Duke of Newcastle, to the field; but, on the decline of the royal cause, had returned to London, where, in order to obtain a livelihood, he set up a school in Whitefriars. Here, too, sleeps another author, the celebrated controversialist, Sir Roger L'Estrange, who defended the cause of Charles the First, with equal zeal, both with his sword and his pen. In the middle pillar, on the north side of the church, may be seen the following brief inscription : Sir Roger L'Estrange, Knt. Alluding to his well-known failings, the Queen of William the Third is said to have composed the following anagram, if so it may be called, on his name. Roger L'Estrange, In the church of St. Giles lies the body of the gallant Philip Stanhope, first Earl of Chesterfield, who took up arms for Charles the First, and suffered imprisonment for his loyalty. His monument in the old church, we are told, was ornamented by "enrichments of seraphims, coronets, cartouches, &c." In the old church was also a monument to another gallant cavalier who lies buried here, on which was the following inscription, "This monument was erected, Anno 1670, in memory of the Honourable Biog. Brit." Art. L' Estrange. + Collins' "Peerage," Art. Chesterfield. |