A collection of descriptions and references to sounds drawn mainly from primary sources such as autobiographies, diaries and statutes, as well as novels written around the times they depict.
| Sub-category | 1st to 10th |
11th to 15th |
16th to 17th |
18th | Early 19th |
Late 19th |
Early 20th |
Late 20th |
| General sounds of street and town | 7 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 6 | ||
| Open-air markets | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Road traffic | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Communal living and confinement | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| River traffic and related sounds | 5 | 2 | 3 | |||||
| Plague, war and disaster | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Sound qualities of buildings | 1 | |||||||
| Sounds of crowds | 1 | 1 |
Period referred to: Mid-13th century
Sound category: Ambient > Sounds of crowds
Title of work: Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs of London
Type of publication: Administrative record
Author: Unknown
Year of publication: 1257
Page/volume number: n/a
A crowd cries out in agreement at the Guildhall in 1257
Afterwards, on the Vigil of the Purification, the Mayor and a countless multitude meeting in the Guildhall, Michael Tovy and Adam de Basing were sent thither by his lordship the King, to say that the King was willing to preserve all their franchises unimpaired; but that, for the benefit of the City, he was wishful that inquisition should be made, and that too upon oath, by what persons his commons had been so aggrieved in reference to tallages and other instances of transgression; as also, that no one should be punished unless he had offended, and that too, without detriment to the community. In the same words John Maunsel and the others, sent by the King, made affirmation; and so, by reason of such words and pleasant promises, the populace gave assent, crying aloud, 'Ya, ya,' to taking the oath, in disparagement of their own franchises; which in fact these same most wretched creatures had not been the persons to secure.
[The footnote in H.T. Riley's 1863 volume Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs of London states that 'Ya, ya' is an early form of 'Yea, yea'.]
Period referred to: Mid 19th century
Sound category: Ambient > Sounds of crowds
Title of work: Private correspondence
Type of publication: Private correspondence
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Year of publication: 1851
Page/volume number: 7 June 1851
Charlotte Bronte at the Great Exhibition of 1851
The multitude filling the great aisles seemed ruled and subdued by some invisible influence. Amongst the thirty thousand souls that peopled it the day I was there not one loud noise was to be heard, not one irregular movement was seen; the living tide rolls on quietly, with a deep hum like the sea heard from a distance.