Montagu Street
Preserved but no longer current.
The tradition is that at the time of the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion two- brothers fought each other here till both were killed, and for many years forty impressions of their feet remained on the field, and no grass would grow there, or upon the spot upon a bank where the young woman they were fighting for sat watching the duel. The site was built upon about 1800.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Montagu Street” mean?
The tradition is that at the time of the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion two- brothers fought each other here till both were killed, and for many years forty impressions of their feet remained on the field, and no grass would grow there, or upon the spot upon a bank where the young woman they were fighting for sat watching the duel. The site was built upon about 1800.
Is “Montagu Street” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.