PART TWO

The Brewer of Southwark

SOUTHWARK AND LONDON 1407–1409

Images

But first I make a protestation round

That I’m quite drunk, I know it by sound:

And therefore, if I slander or mis-say

Blame it on the ale of Southwark, so I pray.

Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Millers Tale’

Southwark for the most part pursued its accustomed way, unruly and unruled.

David Johnson, Southwark and the City