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Database: The Map of Early Modern London
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TY - ELEC
A1 - Ferbrache-Darr, Dana
ED - Jenstad, Janelle
T1 - Cuckolds Haven
T2 - The Map of Early Modern London
PY - 2020
DA - 2020/06/26
CY - Victoria
PB - University of Victoria
LA - English
UR - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/CUCK1.htm
UR - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/xml/standalone/CUCK1.xml
ER -
RT Web Page
SR Electronic(1)
A1 Ferbrache-Darr, Dana
A6 Jenstad, Janelle
T1 Cuckolds Haven
T2 The Map of Early Modern London
WP 2020
FD 2020/06/26
RD 2020/06/26
PP Victoria
PB University of Victoria
LA English
OL English
LK https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/CUCK1.htm
hoeplays
The city of London, not to be confused with the allegorical character (
Cuckold’s Haven or Cuckold’s Point and the horn-topped pole that stood on the banks of the Thames were notorious in early modern London. The location was known for adultery both committed and threatened, and was referred to widely in the period’s literature. The Horne Faire of Charlton celebrated the association of the site with an act of cuckoldry involving
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Playwright, translator, and poet.
Playwright, poet, and author.
Writer.
King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine
King of England
Poet and playwright.
Chronicler. Member of the
Playwright and poet.
Naval officer and diarist.
Historian and author of
Historian and author of
Poet.
Poet and playwright.
Surveyor, architect, and engraver.
Painter.
Dramatic character in
Dramatic character in
German lawyer.
Lawyer. Cousin of
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The marry’d mans miſerie, who muſt abide The penaltie of being Hornify’d: Hee unto his Neighbours doeth make his caſe knowne, And tells them all plainly, The caſe is their owne. From the title of the ballad, 1638 Cuckolds Haven .
Located in Rotherhithe, Surrey, south of the Thames, Cuckold’s Haven or Cuckold’s Point was notorious in early modern London.
Several locations on the Surrey Peninsula have been associated with Cuckold’s Haven:
the alternative name, tree that is all fruit and no leaves
(Chapman, Jonson, and Marston 149).
LIMEHOUSE, a very populous Place, with fair Buildings next the River(Strype 43).On the other Side, (viz. that of Surrey) is Rotherhithe. Near to this Place is Cuckolds Point; where there is a large pair of Horns fixed upon a Pole
I know not the Fancy for it) somewhat suspect (Strype 43).
Maps from the
In early modern usage, the word
cuckold-constable,
cuckolated,and
cuckoldage.
One of the earliest descriptions of the horned pole is in the diary of merchant-tailer
was set up at Cuckold’s Haven a great Maypole by butchers and fishermen, full of horns.
And they made great cheer, for there weas two firkins of fresh sturgeons and great conger and great turbots and great plenty of wine,
that it came to eight pounds
(Machyn 283).
Although the precise origin of the pole is unknown, stories from the early modern period suggest it was in place as far
back as
The second origin tale for the in perpetuity.
The horns were apparently often stolen and needed replacing on a regular basis. Loss of these lands would have been costly to the butchers, which may have fuelled the notoriety of the pole (Bruster 196). Nothing is known about who owned the fields in question—or why the owner would have concerned with maintaining the pole.
The story of Charlton miller is connected to a market fair held in nearby Bermondsey. Known as the
infamous for rudeness and indecency.Apparently many efforts were made over the years to limit the antics of the participants (Hasted).
Cuckold’s Haven was also a site of public executions where pirates were hung from a gibbet that stood alongside the pole.
The pole at Cuckold’s Haven was so well known that several literary works make use of the location as a sort of geographical punchline,
while
popular ballads often warned of the consequences of cuckoldry via references to the pole (Bruster 196). For example,
Lady Fortune,who is said to have given men marriage as a blessing on the one hand and cuckoldry as its companion on the other (Fennor 43).
In the public theatre, where cuckoldry was a common plot device, references to Cuckold’s Haven and the horned pole are ubiquitous (Blaisdell 15, 36; Bruster 197; St. Pierre 561-563). In
References to Cuckold’s Haven also appear in more prosaic texts like travel narratives and diaries. The German lawyer on the opposite shore is a fixed a long pole with ram’s-horns upon it, the intention of which was vulgarly said to be a reflection upon willful and contented cuckolds
(Hentzner 45-46). The diarist
Up and by water with Commissioner Pett to DeptfordThence thinking to have gone down bo Woolwich in the Charles pleasure boat, but she run aground, it being almost low water, and so by oars to the town, and there dined, took boat and to the pleasure boat, which was come down to fetch us back, and I could have been sick if I waould in going, the wind being very fresh, but very pleasant it was, and the first time I have sailed in any one of them. It carried us to Cuckold’s Point, and so by oars to the Temple, it raining hard, where missed speaking with my cousin Roger , and so walked home and to my office; there spent the night till bed time, and so home to supper and to bed.
The Horn Fair itself flourished until the