The present Guildhall is erected over the market-
house, and was built in 1770. It is ugly, and has
this alone to recommend it, that it is unpretentious.
On the dais within are three handsome carved oak
chairs, that for the mayor having the arms of the
borough on the panel—a lion rampant within a
bordure bezanted. On each side of the shield is
a Prince of Wales' ostrich plume.
A late mayor was the brother of the famous astronomer, Professor Adams.
The official costume of the mayor includes a robe of scarlet cloth trimmed with sable and a cocked hat ; the justice or ex-mayor has a black mantle ; and the mace-bearers have scarlet, silver-laced gowns and three-cornered hats. The maces date from 1696, and were presented by Francis Buller, Esq., and are three feet seven inches high.
Near the water, almost crushed under the mighty arch of Brunei's viaduct, is a little old shop with the date on it of 1584, and it is one of the very few specimens of a shop of that period that remain to us absolutely untouched.
It is precisely the sort of shop "in our alley" from which Sally must have issued to meet her lover.
And verily, as I stood drawing the quaint old place, there peeped out at me an absolutely ideal Sally.
"Her father he makes cabbage nets,
And through the streets does cry 'em;
Her mother she sells laces long,
To such as please to buy 'em.
But sure such folks could ne'er beget
So sweet a girl as Sally!
She is the darling of my heart,
And she lives in our alley."
