Notes & Queries Archive
QUERY1851

Did St. Paul's Clock ever strike Thirteen

By HENRY CAMPKIN.

There is a very popular tradition that a soldier, who was taxed with having fallen asleep at midnight, whilst on guard, managed to escape the severe punishment annexed to so flagrant a dereliction of duty, by positively averring, as evidence of his having been "wide awake," that he had heard the clock of St. Paul's Cathedral strike *thirteen* at the very time at which he was charged with having indulged in forbidden slumbers. The tradition of course adds, indeed this is its point, that, upon inquiry, it was found that the famous horary monitor of London city had, "for that night only," actuall…

Topics: Tradition, Historical Customs, Horology

Locations: St. Paul's Cathedral, London