other legacies, the sum of L.100, the interest of which was directed
to be applied in the following manner: one guinea to be paid to the
vicar for a sermon to be preached by him on Good-Friday; 10s. to the
curate for reading the prayers on that day; _and the remainder to be
equally distributed among such poor women as chose to remain and
receive the sacrament after the service!_

A Mr James Wood, amongst other curious provisions, devised to the
church-wardens of the parish of St Nicholas Cole Abbey, the sum of
15s. annually, to be given away in twopences to such poor people as
they should meet in the streets when going and returning from church
on a specified day.

The inhabitants of Watling Street, and other districts in the vicinity
of St Antholin's Church, are familiar with the sound of what is known
in the neighbourhood as the 'Fish-bell.' This is a bell which rings
out every Friday night from St Antholin's tower, to summon the
inhabitants to evening prayers: very few people attend to the summons,
which comes at an inconvenient time for that busy locality. There
stands almost against the walls of the church a pump, which is always
in good repair, and yields an excellent supply of water, greatly to
the convenience of the neighbourhood. Both the pump and the prayers
are the legacy of an old fish-woman of the last century. It is said,
that for forty years of her life she was in the habit of purchasing
fish in the small hours of the morning at Billingsgate Market; these
she washed and prepared for her customers at a small spring near St
Antholin's Church, and afterwards cried them about the town upon her
head. Having prospered in her calling, she bequeathed a sufficient sum
to perpetuate a weekly service in the church, and a good and efficient
pump erected over the spring of which she had herself enjoyed a