Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
If you would like to write a summary for this topic, email phil [at] gyford [dot] com
Shoreditch…Brewers Phrase and Fable
according to tradition, is so called from Jane Shore, who, it is said, died there in a ditch. This tale comes from a ballad in Pepys’ collection; but the truth is, it receives its name from Sir John de Soerdich, lord of the manor in the reign of Edward III. 1
“I could not get one bit of bread
Whereby my hunger might be fed… .
So, weary of my life, at length
I yielded up my vital strength
Within a ditch … which since that day
Is Shoreditch called, as writers say.”
Duke of Shoreditch. The most successful of the London archers received this playful title. 2
“Good king, make not good Lord of Lincoln Duke of Shoreditch!”—The Poore Man’s Peticion to the Kinge. (1603.)
Shoreditch…Brewers Phrase and Fable
according to tradition, is so called from Jane Shore, who, it is said, died there in a ditch. This tale comes from a ballad in Pepys’ collection; but the truth is, it receives its name from Sir John de Soerdich, lord of the manor in the reign of Edward III. 1
“I could not get one bit of bread
Whereby my hunger might be fed… .
So, weary of my life, at length
I yielded up my vital strength
Within a ditch … which since that day
Is Shoreditch called, as writers say.”
Duke of Shoreditch. The most successful of the London archers received this playful title. 2
“Good king, make not good Lord of Lincoln Duke of Shoreditch!”—The Poore Man’s Peticion to the Kinge. (1603.)