 Around the same time, these criers or street vendors filled the streets of other European cities including Paris, Bologna and Cologne.The 19th century social commentator Henry Mayhew describes a Saturday night in the New Cut, a street in Lambeth, south of the river; 
Lit by a host of lights … the Cut was packed from wall to wall… The hubbub was deafening, the traders all crying their wares with the full force of their lungs against the background din of a horde of street musicians.Each trade developed its own unique type of street cry; a distinctive set of words or a unique tune.