Compter in Bread Street to the New
Compter in Wood Street, Cheapside. This compter was burnt down in the
Great Fire, but was rebuilt in 1670. It stood on the east side of the
street, and was removed to Giltspur Street in 1791. There were two
compters in London--the compter in Wood Street, under the control of one
of the sheriffs, and the compter in the Poultry, under the
superintendence of the other. Under each sheriff was a secondary, a
clerk of the papers, four clerk sitters, eighteen serjeants-at-mace
(each serjeant having his yeomen), a master keeper, and two turnkeys.
The serjeants wore blue and coloured cloth gowns, and the words of
arrest were, "Sir, we arrest you in the King's Majesty's name, and we
charge you to obey us." There were three sides--the master's side, the
dearest of all; the knights' ward, a little cheaper; and the Hole, the
cheapest of all. The register of entries was called the Black Book.
Garnish was demanded at every step, and the Wood Street Compter was hung
with the story of the prodigal son.

When the Wood Street counter gate was opened, the prisoner's name was
enrolled in the black book, and he was asked if he was for the master's
side, the Knight's ward, or the Hole. At every fresh door a fee was
demanded, the stranger's hat or cloak being detained if he refused to
pay the extortion, which, in prison language, was called "garnish." The
first question to a new prisoner was, whether he was in by arrest or
command; and there was generally some knavish attorney in a threadbare
black suit, who, for forty shillings, would offer to move for a habeas
corpus, and have him out presently, much to the amusement of the
villanous-looking men who filled the room, some smoking and some
drinking. At dinner a vintner's boy, who was in waiting, filled a bowl
full of claret, and compelled the new prisoner to drink to all the
society; and the turnkeys, who were dining in another room, then
demanded another tester for a quart of wine to quaff to the new comer's
health.

At the end of a week, when the prisoner's purse grew thin, he was
generally compelled to pass over to the knight's side, and live in a
humbler and more restricted manner. Here a fresh garnish of eighteen
pence was demanded, and if this was refused, he was compelled to sleep
over the drain; or, if he chose, to sit up, to drink and smoke in the
cellar with vile companions till the keepers ordered every man to his
bed.

Fennor, an actor in 161