Part 2 — 41. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART II.
Reading edition
41. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART II.
William Shakespeare (born 1564, died 1616): the prince of poets, who lived in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I.
ruins of the monasteries which had been suppressed by Henry VIII. in 1536-1540.
Cold Harbour: a merchant's mansion once standing on the bank of the Thames in Thames Street.
Genevan bands: a kind of collar worn by Protestant clergymen, so called because Geneva, the home of Calvin, was the centre of Protestantism.
palaces along the Strand: if you walk along the Strand you will notice that many of the short streets leading down to the river bear the names of noblemen, such as Arundel Street, Norfolk Street, Salisbury Street, &c. from the old palaces which once stood there.
Staples Inn: a picturesque group of old houses in Holborn was formerly a wool-market (staple means a fixed market). Wych Street is near Holywell Street in the Strand.
Cloth Fair is now a poor neighbourhood near Smithfield.