The street cries of major cities such as London and Paris became such an iconic feature of street life that the subject stimulated the interest of poets, writers, musicians and artists. One of the earliest literary works entirely devoted to the subject of street cries is
Les Crieries de Paris (Street Cries of Paris), a poem by Guillame de Villeneuve published in 1265, consisting of some 130 cries harmoniously inserted into octosyllables. The narrator recounts the cries heard while wandering Paris streets, beginning at dawn and continuing until late evening. The cries punctuate the day, according to the activity of the street vendors. One of the first cries of dawn is that of the public baths and steam rooms while the cries of the pastry sellers occur at day’s end. One of the earliest British works inspired by street cries is a ballad, allegedly written by an English monk,
John Lydgate, in 1409. Known as
London Lyckpeny, it refers to many street cries, including the often quoted "Strawpery ripe, and cherrys in the ryse". The ballad, is a satire that recounts the tale of a country person visiting London to seek legal remedies after having been defrauded. However, he finds that he cannot afford justice, and is soon relieved of his money through his dealings with street sellers, retailers, tavern-keepers and others. A
lyckpeny (or
lickpenny) is an archaic term for anything that soaks up money. Lydgate's ballad prompted generations of composers to write songs about the distinctive cries of street vendors. As early as the 13th century, musicians included street cries into their compositions. A tune known as
On Parole/ a Paris/ Frese Nouvelle, dating to the 13th century features a Parisian vendor's cry, 'Frèse nouvele! Muere france!' ('Fresh strawberries! Wild blackberries!'). From around 1600 English composers wrote tunes in which the text and probably the music incorporated street vendors' cries:
Weelkes,
Gibbons and
Deering composed tunes that consisted almost entirely of street vendors' cries. Such tunes became very popular in the 17th century. It has been suggested that street cries may have been one of the earliest forms of popular music. The 19th century folk song,
Molly Malone, is an example of a tune based on street cries that has survived into the modern era. The lyrics show the fish vendor, Molly Malone, chanting "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh". The tune may have been based on an earlier 17th or 18th century song. The 1920s popular song,
Yes! We Have No Bananas was inspired by the sales patter of a fruit vendor in Long Island. The tune, "El Manisero" (translated as the "
Peanut Vendor"), inspired by a Cuban peanut vendor's cries, was a popular hit in the 1930s and 1940s and was largely responsible for popularising Latin music and the
rhumba with American audiences. In art, a tradition of representing ‘street cries’ developed in Europe from the 15th century and reached a peak in 18th and 19th century London and Paris. These works were primarily folios consisting of a series of etchings,
engravings or
lithographs with minimal notation, depicting the exuberance of street life in which street vendors were prominently featured and often romanticised images of street vendors. Nevertheless, these representations have proved to be a valuable source for social historians. Certain scholars have described this tradition as a distinct 'genre'. A series of prints in this genre was found in the personal library of
Samuel Pepys. It was a mid to late 16th century series of woodcuts, illustrating a book which Pepys had catalogued as "Cryes consisting of Several Setts thereof, Antient and Moderne: with the differ Stiles us'd therein by the Cryers." in
Street Life in London One of the earliest of publications in
The Cries genre was Franz Hogenberg's series of street vendors in Cologne produced in 1589. One of the first English publications of the genre was John Overton's
The Common Cryes of London published in 1667. This was followed by a French publication,
Etudes Prises Dans let Bas Peuple, Ou Les Cris de Paris (1737) (roughly translated as
Studies Taken of the Lower People, Or The Cries of Paris); a title which became highly popular. There followed a plethora of similar publications across Europe:
The Cries of London Calculated to Entertain the Minds of Old and Young was published (1760). and followed by
Cries of London (1775) and
The Cries of London, as they are daily exhibited in the streets: with an epigram in verse, adapted to each. Embellished with sixty-two elegant cuts (1775); a highly popular publication with a new edition published in 1791 and in its tenth edition by 1806. Other 18th century titles included:
The Cries of London: for the Instruction of Good Children, (1795). As the number of street vendors burgeoned in the early 19th century, many similar titles appeared, with many titles targeting specific audiences such as children or country folk. Some of these titles include:
The New Cries of London; with characteristic engravings (1804);
The Cries of London; embellished with twelve engravings,
The Cries of Famous London Town: as they are exhibited in the streets of the metropolis: with twenty humorous prints of the most eccentric characters;
The Cries of London: shewing how to get a penny for a rainy day, (1820) Lord Thomas Busby's
The Cries of London: drawn from life; with descriptive letter-press, in verse and prose (1823); James Bishop's
The Cries of London: for the information of little country folks; embellished with sixteen neatly-coloured engravings, (1847);
The London Cries in London Street: embellished with pretty cuts, for the use of good little boys and girls, and a copy of verses (1833). and Charles Hindley's
A History of the Cries of London: Ancient and Modern, (1881). The "Cries of London" was also a recurring theme in European painting. In the mid 1700s, the English water-colourist,
Paul Sandby created a series entitled
London Cries depicting English shopkeepers, stall-holders and itinerant street vendors. The Dutch engraver,
Marcellus Laroon began working in London in the mid-1700s where he produced his most famous work, the series,
The Cryes of London. William Hogarth's "The Enraged Musician" depicts a musician driven to despair by the cries of street vendors. The Flemish engraver and printmaker,
Anthony Cardon, spent time in England in the 1790s where he produced a series of engravings of London's street sellers, known as the
Cries of London.
Francis Wheatley, the English painter, who had been born in Covent Garden and was well acquainted with London's street life, exhibited a series of artworks, also entitled
Cries of London, between 1792 and 1795.
Augustus Edwin Mulready, made his reputation by painting scenes of Victorian life which included street sellers, urchins and flower sellers. By the 18th century, card sets were being decorated with coloured woodcuts in the
Street Cries genre and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the images of
Cries were being used on
cigarette cards and other advertising cards. For example, John Players' cigarettes produced two series of advertising cards entitled
Cries of London in 1913 (1st series) and 1916 (2nd series). Grenadier cigarettes also produced a two sets entitled
Street Cries, one in 1902 and another in the post-war period.
Selected engravings from the Street Cries genre, as published in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries File:Buy my fat Chickens.jpg|"Buy my fat Chickens" engraving by
Marcellus Laroon from
Cryes of the City of London Drawne after the Life 1687 File:Buy a White Line, a Iack Line, or a Cloathes Line.jpg|"Buy a White Line, a Iack Line, or a Cloathes Line" engraving by
Marcellus Laroon from
Cryes of the City of London Drawne after the Life 1687 File:The Enraged Musician MET DP827069.jpg|The Enraged Musician by
William Hogarth, 1741 File:Paul Sandby - London Cries- A Girl with a Basket on Her Head ("Lights for the Cats, Liver for the Dogs") - Google Art Project.jpg|"Lights for the Cats, Liver for the Dogs" from the
London Cries series by
Paul Sandby, c. 1770 File:Paul Sandby - London Cries- "Turn your Copper into Silver Now before Your Eyes" (Title Page Design) - Google Art Project.jpg|"Turn Your Copper into Silver, Now Before Your Eyes", from the
London Cries series by Paul Sandby, 1770 File:Cries of london plate8 by CARDON, ANTHONY (ANTOINE) - GMII.jpg|"Round & Sound Five Pence Pound Duke Cherries from the
Cries of London, by Anthony Cardon. 1795 File:Le Cris de Paris, A Racomoder les Vieux Souflets.jpg|"Mend the Old Bellows" from
Le Cris de Paris 18th century Le Cris de Paris, Balais Balais.jpg|Brushes, brushes! By Jacques Philippe Le Bas, 1707-1783 FOURNEL(1887) p021 Fig.6.jpg|Herrings, Come Out! From Cris de Paris du XVe siècle, 1887 FOURNEL(1887) p017 Fig.4.jpg|Who will buy good milk? from Cris de Paris du XVe siècle, 1887 FOURNEL(1887) p023 Fig.8.jpg|Little pastries, all hot! From, Cris de Paris du XVe siècle, 1887 FOURNEL(1887) p025 Fig.10.jpg|Buy My Larders! From, Cris de Paris du XVe siècle, 1887 ==See also==