Posted by The Mysterious H.C. on August 13, 1997 at 23:48:02:

In reply to Re: Convent Garden Ladies!!! posted by Carolyn on August 13, 1997 at 22:33:41

] ] ] I finally read the graphic posted at the top of the board-HEE! What did the inside calender look like, pray tell?
] ] ________________
] ] I was wondering when somebody was going to comment on that. Henry scanned it in from a magazine of stories about Covent Garden and was going to post it in a message here, and I said, "No, wouldn't it be more fun just to put it up and see if anybody says anything about it."
] ] He can tell you more.
] __________________
] Is it pronounced Convent even though it is spelled Covent?

The old pronunciation was "KUVV-ant" (1st syllable rhymes with "love"), but I think nowadays KOVV-ant is also heard.

] I read someplace that Covent Gardens was actually a convent with gardens prior to Henry VIII (English Reformation)

Yes. Here's what the magazine says about the "Covent Garden Calendar":

Caption: "One of the numerous `guides' to Covent Garden's houses of ill-repute and their inhabitants which were compiled by unselfish connoisseurs."

Text: "A Who's Who of Covent Garden prostitutes was collated by one Jack Harris, a waiter at the Shakespear Head Tavern. Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies -- alternative title, The Man of Pleasure's Calendar for the Year -- first saw print in 1770 and was still appearing in 1793. In it, Harris listed up to 200 prostitutes operating in the Garden area; he was in an excellent position to know and write about them: he arranged their liasons, and was eventually sent to Newgate prison as `a common pimp and procurer of lewd women for bawdy purposes'."

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