London Ballad Singers

Vol. 1 (171).

Returning home, about 10 o’clock at night, I observed one of those little circles which are very common in the streets of London; I allude to the audiences which gather around the ballad singers. These are usually poor women or little girls, with every appearance of extreme poverty, who collect a few pence by singing ballads at the corners of the streets, under the bow-windows of shops, and the porticoes of public buildings. Although their voices are usually harsh from being so often exerted, and their performances in every respect indifferent, they immediately draw a circle around and detain them a long time. Some stop from curiosity, some from pity, and some to pick pockets; the latter class hardly ever fail to find subjects in every crowd, for, although those who know London never trust themselves in throngs, with much property about them, there are always novices enough whom curiosity attracts, and ignorance of the arts of pick-pockets renders insensible to their danger.