OLD BAILEY TRADITION TO THIS DAY.

BOUQUETS AT THE OLD BAILEY

THE TIMES.

4^th MAY, 1937.

The Judges, Aldermen, Sheriffs and others who occupy seats on the benches at the Central Criminal Court appeared in Court yesterday carrying bouquets. The custom, which is kept every year from May to September, dates back to the time of the gaol fever in 1756, when two Judges, a Lord Mayor, an Under-Sheriff, and 40 other persons died. Since then it has been the annual custom at the Sessions House , Old Bailey, during the summer months,  to strew the benches of the four Courts and the ledges of the docks with sweet herbs, and the Judges and other  eminent persons connected with the Central Criminal Court are each provided daily with a posy of “sweet-smelling Old English flowers.”