Busking History

(If you just want to watch the buskers - scroll down.)

Entertainers have performed in public arenas since Roman antiquity. The Laws of the Twelve Tables in 451 BC were specifically aimed at street performers parodying or defaming the government through songs or poems. Flouting the laws carried the death penalty.

Busking is a relatively recent term however, first recorded in Victorian Britain (1860s) from the Spanish Buscar - 'to seek' (either fame and fortune, or money). During medieval times it was common for shop or innkeepers to employ entertainers to perform outside their premises - drawing crowds and slowing up the passers by.

There are three types of street performance:

• - Circle shows - where a crowd gathers around a performer. Performances, like theatrical shows, have a beginning and end.
• - Walk-by acts - typically musical where the busker plays continuously and crowds don't gather. Exceptional walk-by acts can turn into circle shows.
• - Cafe busking - generally in cafe dives and certain pubs - the musician gets tips for playing instead of a fee. Not so popular these days.

Commonly the busker will use an open music case (violin, guitar) or hat to collect coins in. A bottler is an old term to describe the person collecting money and the device they collected the money in. Fashioned from the top half of a bottle, held upside down, with a leather flap covering the glass. It allowed money in, but if you tried to pull a coin out it would 'chink' against the glass - alerting the bottler.

Covent Garden - London's Street Entertainment Capital

Covent Garden, just north of the Strand (the old riverbank of the Thames) is a former fruit and vegetable market. It was the centre of the old Anglo-Saxon trading town Lundenwic (Londinium was sacked and abandoned for many years, which resulted in this area to the west, being populated instead). During Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, land here belonging to Westminster Abbey was seized and passed to the Earls of Bedford. The fourth Earl commissioned Inigo Jones (architect of The Banqueting House) to 're-gentrify' the area in the 17th century by building three terraces of impressive houses, to attract wealthy clients. This he did, but the area became a mish-mash of styles, appealing to both the wealthy and criminal fraternity. During the Victorian era it was a hotbed of crime and the area to the north, Seven Dials was London's most notorious criminal district. The main Piazza was built during this period to 'freshen' up an area sliding into anarchy.

It is well documented that Samuel Pepys saw his first Punch and Judy show here in May 1662, however it does not follow that this was the first time entertainment was seen in the market. It's more attributable to the fact that Punch was shockingly lewd and would have been a 'sensation' worth recording by Pepys. Markets such as Covent Garden were natural performing spaces since they attracted suppliers and buyers from afar (including other countries). The street entertainer stood before ever changing crowds, who had come to the market to buy - so it was safe to assume they had money. The fact that Covent Garden is surrounded by London's 'Theatreland', dance and opera venues (ENO and Covent Garden Opera House) as well as numerous comedy venues is no accident. These entertainments began on the street and pre-date the formal venues.

Covent Garden licenses buskers and street performers - who have to audition and perform during regulated slots. Busking in the City, administered by the Corporation of London - is not permitted. Camden allows busking without a permit, but the other 31 boroughs do not. It's generally permissible to busk throughout the UK as long as the performers don't 'cause a nuisance'. Brick Lane Market - especially on Sunday mornings is often host to the most original current acts which don't fit into the current Covent Garden mould. The trouble with having a committee deciding what's appropriate is that the offerings can become prescriptive and don't reward innovative style.

Famous and Infamous London Buskers on Video

The Famous...

 

And Not Yet Famous