The Berners Street Hoax Poem by Sheena Blackhall

The Berners Street Hoax
Berners Street was located in a wealthy part of London, directly off of Oxford Street. Mrs. Tottenham herself was described by newspapers as "a woman of fortune." Her maid's anxiety rose when deliveries arrived not ordered by the household. This elaborate hoax was one of the main events in the news of 1810.


Six men bearing an organ,
Wine porters carrying permits,
Barbers delivering wigs
All of them clear of nits

Mantua-makers with band-boxes,
Opticians with objects of trade
Mourning coaches and undertakers
With coffins already made

The Lord Mayor came in his carriage
With two of his livery servants
All day tradespeople appeared
All manner of different merchants

Accoucheurs, tooth-drawers and artists
Auctioneers, poultry sellers and grocers,
Post chaises, philosophers, sages
Piano-fortes, coal waggons and mercers

Raspberry tarts by the thousands
Surgeons, apothecaries
Physicians, upholsters, dog carts
Architects, milk churns from dairies

Gigs, glass coaches, reporters
And constables came by the dozens
And such a hullabaloo
Everything there from marbles to muffins

The police put up a reward
For catching the criminal hoaxer
A writer called Theodore Hook
Admitted to being the prankster


Hook sent over 4000 letters,
To tradesmen and persons of rank
His motive was winning a bet
He could perpetrate such a prank.

Folk hated the hoax for its cruelty
A malignant species of wit
His victim was chosen at random
Was he sorry? Why not one bit!