Historical references to London's sounds

Ned Ward and friend escape the attentions of confidence tricksters

As soon as we came near the bar, a thing started up, all ribbons, lace and feathers, and made such a noise with her bell and her tongue together that had half a dozen paper-mills been at work within three yards of her, they'd have signify'd no more to her clamorous voice than so many lutes to a drum. This alarmed two or three nimble-heel'd fellows aloft, who shot themselves downstairs with as much celerity as a mountebank's Mercury upon a rope from the top of a church steeple, every one charged with a mouthful of 'Coming! Coming!'

[. . .]

All our empty plates and dishes were, in an instant, changed into full quarts of purple nectar and unsullied glasses. Then a bumper to the Queen led the van to our good wishes, another to the Church Established, a third was left to the whimsy of the toaster, till at last their slippery engines of verbosity coin'd nonsense with such a facile fluency [. . .] Oaths were plenty as weeds in an almshouse garden, and in triumph flew about from one to t'other like squibs and crackers in Cheapside [. . .] But, thanks to good fortune, my friend in a little time redeemed me out of this purgatory; perceiving my uneasiness, he made an apology for our going, and so we took our leaves.