The Proof of the Pudding

The long, hot summer left London high and dry.

Way back the prediction was consummation by fire.

But death-carts of plague were still the main ‘goodbye’.

Late summer 1666 and the emotional tinderbox

Was spilling into the narrow streets of Pudding Lane.

On the 2^nd of September it was 2am by the clocks.

A workman in the King’s Bakery noticed a burning smell,

He woke the household and from the scene they fled.

A maid did not escape - the first casualty as far as we can tell.

The Mayor, Sir Thomas Bloodworth turned away with just a kiss

He could not see any urgency and waved away the crowd

Mocking it was so insignificant it could be snuffed out ‘with women’s piss’.

At dawn the flames licked onwards and engulfed the London Bridge.

The screams rang out, the populace ran out.

The flames could not cross to the southern bank across the open ridge.

The flames were fanned and firebreaks faltered,

Smoke was reportedly seen up in the Home Counties.

The people grabbed their things and ran - only four officially slaughtered.

The King and the Duke of York began to fight the fire

And Pepys blew up houses in order to limit its run

But sparks together a bigger inferno did conspire.

The scaffolding around St. Paul’s burned brightly yellow and red

And soon the rafters were burning and the metal roof

Melted like a lava flow down the street where damage was widespread.

The wind it slackened and the direction changed

As it blew towards the water it began to blow itself out.

The question then – who started this? Who could be so deranged?

From the Tower to Fleet Street and over to the Temple

10,000 residents made homeless and lost.

So the suspects and scapegoats were required to assemble.

A wretch was found, confession obtained amid a lot of concern.

The judges did not think him guilty but that did not deter them

From carrying out the jury’s wishes at Tyburn.

Who was Jack the Ripper? Who was on that grassy knoll?

Who killed the people’s beautiful Diana?

Conspiracy theories abounded and the usual suspects were named.

Foreigners, the pious and those without mental self-control.

Why is treachery and malevolence always on someone else blamed?

By Linda Prince

Pudding Lane © Simon Montgomery