ellers of budge (lamb-skin) fur
that dwelt there. The word is used by Milton in his "Lycidas," where he
sneers at the "budge-skin" doctors.

Cordwainers' Hall, No. 7, Cannon Street, is the third of the same
Company's halls on this site, and was built in 1788 by Sylvanus Hall.
The stone front, by Adam, has a sculptured medallion of a country girl
spinning with a distaff, emblematic of the name of the lane, and of the
thread used by cordwainers or shoemakers. In the pediment are their
arms. In the hall are portraits of King William and Queen Mary; and here
is a sepulchral urn and tablet, by Nollekens, to John Came, a munificent
benefactor to the Company.

The Cordwainers were originally incorporated by Henry IV., in 1410, as
the "Cordwainers and Cobblers," the latter term signifying dealers in
shoes and shoemakers. In the reign of Richard II., "every cordwainer
that shod any man or woman on Sunday was to pay thirty shillings." Among
the Company's plate is a piece for which Camden, the antiquary, left
L16. Their charities include Came's bequest for blind, deaf, and dumb
persons, and clergymen's widows, L1,000 yearly; and in 1662 the "Bell
Inn," at Edmonton, was bequeathed for poor freemen of the Company.

The church in Cannon Street dedicated to St. Swithin, and in which
London Stone is now encased, is of a very early date, as the name of the
rector in 1331 is still recorded. Sir John Hind, Lord Mayor in 1391 and
1404, rebuilt both church and steeple. After the Fire of London, the
parish of St. Mary Bothaw was united to that of St. Swithin. St.
Swithin's was rebuilt by Wren after the Great Fire. The Salters' Company
formerly had the right of presentation to this church, but sold it. The
form of the interior is irregular and awkward, in consequence of the
tower intruding on the north-west corner. The ceiling, an octagonal
cupola, is decorated with wreaths and ribbons. In 1839 Mr. Godwin
describes an immense sounding-board over the pulpit, and an altar-piece
of carved oak, guarded by two wooden figures of Moses and Aaron. There
is a slab to Mr. Stephen Winmill, twenty-four years parish clerk; and a
tablet commemorative of Mr. Francis Kemble and his two wives, with the
following distich:--

"Life makes the soul dependent on the dust;
Death gives her wings to mount above the spheres."

The angles at the top of the mean square tower are bevelled off to allow
of a short octagonal spire and an octagonal balustrade.