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ℂ Here begynneth the maryage of London Stone and the fayre pusell the bosse of Byllyngesgate.
HErken vnto me / bothe lowde and styll
And to this matter / laye to your eere
And of your aduyse & also your good wyll
Of this lytell prosses / yt after doth appere.
Of.ii. The special character y͑ (LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH REVERSED HOOK ABOVE) does not display on all browsers and has been replaced by its simplified form.ye haue dwelte ĩ londõ many a yere.
And nowe is dysposed / to be man and wyfe
Helpe thẽ with your charyte / to bye theyr weddynge gere
For they be bothe naked / & not worth an halfpeny knyfe.
ℂ To you theyr names / I wyll declare
If ye knowe ony Impedymente.
The one is the bosse at Byllyngesgate of beaute so fayre.
And the other London Stone / curtes and gente
This is theyr purpose and hole entente
To be maryed / as soone as they maye
He that wolde let them I wolde he were shente
It wolde do you good to se them daunce and playe.
ℂ For now The special character y͑ (LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH REVERSED HOOK ABOVE) does not display on all browsers and has been replaced by its simplified form.ye grete loue / The special character y͑ (LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH REVERSED HOOK ABOVE) does not display on all browsers and has been replaced by its simplified form.ye is bytwene them twayne.
And neyther of them loked other in the face.
London Stone answered / full wysely agayne.
Where is no loue / there lacketh grace
But euyll tunges is so vnmylde
And of late hath sayd / in a place where they dyde mete
How the Bosse of byllyngesgate / hath had a chylde.
By the well with two buckettes in byshop gate strete.
ℂ It were able to make ony woman wepe
To be so deedly belyed as is the good Bosse.
The man is in synnes depe
That robbeth her so of her good lose1
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For to his soule it is daungerouse.
Thus sayth London Stone / of prudence so wyse
He that in sclaunder / ony wyll dysclose,
Of the deuylles rewarde / he shall not mysse
ℂ Therfore let my wyfe and me alone.
For by my study and wakynge many a nyght
I knowe by the sterres / that shone by the moone,
That fayre Bosse / hooly was in my syght
And that to my nature / she sholde be coequall.
And remayne as my fere2 / euer in my syght.
By the purueyaunce / of the goddes Imperyall
To my comforte shynynge as the sterres bryght
ℂ Wherfore I beseche you / in humble wyse
To reporte the beste in euery place
And saye no worse / than maye be to your prayse.
Whiche Jupyter had ordeyned of his grete grace
Longe or that we came in to this towne
For our comforte / and for our solace.
As man and wyfe by dyuyne prouysyowne
Therfore are we greed to remayne in this place.
ℂ Syth the goddes aboue / hath destyned them so,
Let vs be mery and thynke howe they daunce
For it is a goodly couple of them two.
For in theyr behauoure / was neuer founde varyaunce
As knoweth all that here be present
Whiche brynge the herers / to lyfe eternall,
Where god is regnynge permanent
Amonge his aungelles celestyall
ℂ Finis.

Notes

  1. I.e., reputation (OED lose, n.1.). (JJ)↑
  2. I.e., companion (OED fere, n.1.). (JJ)↑

Cite this page

MLA citation

Anonymous. The Marriage of London Stone and the Boss of Billingsgate. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/MARR1.htm.

Chicago citation

Anonymous. The Marriage of London Stone and the Boss of Billingsgate. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed May 05, 2022. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/MARR1.htm.

APA citation

Anonymous. 2022. The Marriage of London Stone and the Boss of Billingsgate. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 7.0). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/7.0/MARR1.htm.

RIS file (for RefMan, RefWorks, EndNote etc.)

Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

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T1  - The Marriage of London Stone and the Boss of Billingsgate
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 7.0
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/05/05
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/MARR1.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/xml/standalone/MARR1.xml
ER  -

TEI citation

<bibl type="mla"><author><name ref="#ANON2"><name ref="#ANON2">Anonymous</name></name></author>. <title level="a">The Marriage of London Stone and the Boss of Billingsgate</title>. <title level="m">The Map of Early Modern London</title>, Edition <edition>7.0</edition>, edited by <editor><name ref="#JENS1"><forename>Janelle</forename> <surname>Jenstad</surname></name></editor>, <publisher>U of Victoria</publisher>, <date when="2022-05-05">05 May 2022</date>, <ref target="https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/MARR1.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/MARR1.htm</ref>.</bibl>

Documents relating to the Boss at Billingsgate

The Boss at Billingsgate gave its name to Boss Alley and was memorialized in an anonymous poem called The maryage of London Stone and the fayre pusell the boss of Byllyngesgate.

Personography

Locations