Procession of the Cod Company from St. Giles to Billingsgate

Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827 · September 8, 1810

A view of old Billingsgate, overlooking the river, with the fish being landed from the crowds of smacks at the old covered jetty, since swept away. The pilgrimage of the sturdy members of The Cod Company, we presume, is made to the craft on the river to take in cargoes of fish. The procession is composed of corpulent old Irish women, of colossal breadth and strength, all balancing their fish-baskets on their heads, some smoking their cherished clay pipes, and carrying their stoutly enveloped arms crossed, akimbo, or on their hips, after their individual proclivities.