Trades

It's me still on a shop-front and antient trades journey. From Sean Rotherry's The Shops of Ireland [recent] TSoI, I finally twigged why Shambles was the name of the street where butchers plied their bloody trade. It is short for Fleshamble, a derivation cognate with Fishamble Street [amble as in walk?] in Dublin which famously witnessed the premier of Handel's Messiah in 1742. Back in the day, the slaughter and gore-letting was carried out in the street with the carcass then carried into the butcher's shop; for cuttjng into 'cuts'. It was expected that the rain (or the corporation, we pay our rates) would wash away the offal, although stray dogs and the very poor doubtless helped. In England they are 'butchers', in Ireland 'victuallers' [Southish] or fleshers [Northish]. You can still see these designations on shop-fronts, but I [ymmv!] don't know anyone who sends a child to "the victualler for a pound of sausages". p.84 of TSoI features [here R] the picturesque revival style…

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