The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green

The celebrated "Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green" was none other than a "laird of high degree," Henry de Montfort, son of the famous Earl of Leicester, who assumed this disguise to escape the vigilance of his enemies. Historical records of that time state that in 1257 King Henry III.'s debts were so enormous, and the rapacity of his foreign relatives so unbearable, that his barons, under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, who had married Henry's sister Eleanor, rose in insurrection, and practically overturned the constitution.

The royal forces finally encountered the barons in the battle of Evesham, August 4th, 1265. De Montfort, "fighting stoutly, like a giant, for the liberties of England," fell, overwhelmed by numbers, and Henry, his son, who had refused to leave his side, fell with him. De Montfort's body was treated with every indignity by the foot-soldiers of the royal army. Tradition reports that Henry was left for dead on the battlefield; he was there discovered by a baron's tender-hearted daughter, who, perceiving that life was not wholly extinct, although his sight was gone, had the wounded man carried to her father's house, and there nursed him back to consciousness and health--and love--for of course he married the fair maid who had thus saved his life. The fruit of this romantic union was the "pretty Bessie," whose name is familiar from that--

The original copies of this ballad have perished; but it has been quite satisfactorily proved by Percy that it was written in the reign of Elizabeth. It relates the further fortunes of the disguised nobleman, who, it appears, was forced to maintain his incognito up to the time of his daughter's nuptials, on which joyous occasion he threw off all restraint, and related to an admiring and interested audience many of the details of his life.

It seems that when the Blind Beggar and his wife took up their residence at Bethnal (Bednal) Green, the youth of the vicinity immediately became enamored of pretty Bessie. Before long four suitors "craved her favor" at once: a knight, a gentleman, a rich merchant, and the innkeeper's son. The knight offered his love, the gentleman silks and velvets and social success, the merchant proffered whole ship loads of jewels, and the innkeeper's son swore he would die for her. To each one she made the same reply, that if he would win her father's consent he should have her hand; but when they learned that he was--

and, moreover, that he was always accompanied by the customary--but to the fastidious, offensive--"dog and bell," they took their leave of her without urging their suit further.

There was one notable exception, however, for the knight remained faithful, and vowed that he did not weigh love by the weight of the purse; so he carried his ladylove off to ask her father's consent to their union. This eccentric individual, having heard the story of their love, ratified the contract with a purse of money almost fabulous in its amount; he having agreed to double the fortune of the young knight, and at the last threw in an extra $100 for the purchase of a new gown.

The second part of the ballad is given up to a description of the wedding-breakfast, and the sudden appearance on this festive scene of the ci-devant beggar, now "resplendent in silken coat, velvet cap, feathers, laces and jewels." He wore a lute slung over one arm by a silken cord, and with this instrument he accompanied the recital of his personal history. All his listeners were filled with admiration, declaring that his noble bearing had always led them to believe that his birth was above his circumstances; he was then received into their aristocratic midst with joyous congratulations, and everything ends happily for the young bridegroom,

The ballad was considerably altered by Percy, who made what he called "a modern attempt to remove the absurdities and inconsistencies which prevailed in the song as it originally stood." Eight of the stanzas in his version are the work of Robert Dodsley.

The Blind Beggar and his story are further celebrated in a drama, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednal Green," written by John Day and Henry Chettle, about 1592, which was acted in April, 1600, but was not printed until 1659. The drama followed the incidents of the ballad very closely; but in 1834 Sheridan Knowles recast Day's comedy, and produced it as "The Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green." In this there is no attempt made to adhere to historical facts. Bess, the daughter of a "blind beggar," named Albert, is beloved by Wilford, who, having seen her on the streets of London, follows her to her retreat at the "Queen's Arms" in Rumford, declares his passion, and discovers that Albert is his uncle, the brother of his father, Lord Woodville. Wilford marries his Cousin Bess, and Queen Elizabeth sanctions their union and takes them under her royal protection.

The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, still a public house on the Whitechapel road, has decorated the signboard for ages. Not only is he adopted as a sign by publicans, but he figured in olden times on the staff of the parish beadle; and so convinced were the residents of Bethnal Green of the truth of his story that the house called Kirby Castle was generally pointed out as his palace, and two turrets at the extremity of the court wall as the places where he deposited his gains.

Pepys, in his "Diary," gives, on June 25th, 1663, an account of a visit with Sir William and Lady Batten, and Sir John Minnes, to Sir W. Rider's, at Bethnal Green; "a fine place," he adds, "and this very house was built by the Blind Beggar, so much talked of and sung in ballads."