West End Chronicles, by Ed GLINERT 300 years of glamour and excess in the heart of London. [Had to raise the eye brows over some of this] Evening all. Have not had time to Google any of this but I am sure the clever researchers on this List will find something to add to this story which is recounted under the chapter of " Visions ". I had never heard of the term "baby-smuggled-in-the-warming-pan variety " as below I will only give brief details of the persons mentioned, first some back ground. Pg 90 Prince of Hebrews William BLAKE, he channelled his mysticism into art and poetry, his two main maverick contemporaries - Richard BROTHER'S and Joanna SOUTHCOTT - chose the other well-trodden path, that of prophet. BROTHERS, a resident of Marylebone, was born in Newfoundland, Canada, in 1757, the same year as BLAKE, on 25th December, no less. He came to London to work in the Woolwich shipyards but in 1790, after studying various ancient tracts, announced that ' the spirit of God began to enlighten my understanding '. he then announced he was Prince of the Hebrews, descended from King David through James, one of the brothers [italic] of Jesus, hence his fraternal surname. Joanna SOUTHCOTT was a Devonian upholsterer [not sure if this means she was from Devon, but the way I see it she was] who led a breakaway movement from the Methodists in 1777. She moved to 38 Manchester Street, only a few hundred yards from BROTHER'S now vacated Paddington Street address, in 1801. That year she announced herself as a millennial prophet: ' the woman clothed with the sun' of revelations 12 and the 'bride of the lamb' of revelations 19. With pamphlets and through speaking tours SOUTHCOTT amassed some 20,000 followers who cited her as a true visionary and claimed she had accurately predicted the war with France, and the failed harvest of 1794, 1795 and 1797. There is quite a bit of religious jargon over the next few paragraphs [This next bit astounds me a bit, but this is what people I presume believed in at that time, bit like a cult really] In 1814 at the age of sixty-four SOUTHCOTT announced she was pregnant. It would be a virgin birth, the child 'Shiloh' as prophesied by Jacob in Genesis 49.10: Some twenty doctors asserted she was pregnant etc etc, supporters sending gifts etc. These same supporters suggested it might be best if she acquired a husband prior to the birth, so that the child would not be declared illegitimate. On 12 November 1814 she married John SMITH, a steward to the earl of Darnley. Her followers sold their businesses and travelled to the capital, camping on the outskirts and waiting the great event. The newspapers of the day were not enthusiastic. Many journalists alleged the the birth would be of the ' baby-smuggled-in-the-warming-pan variety'. And as the birth day approached it looked as if they might be right, for by November signs of pregnancy had disappeared. SOUTHCOTT herself declared it to have been an 'illusion'. The pregnancy over, she grew increasingly weak and died, of dropsy, it is believed on 27 December 1814. They [supporters] placed hot water bottles around the late prophetess's body, to keep it warm in expectation of either a resurrection or the appearance of Shiloh. But when neither happened after four days her remains were taken to St John's Wood cemetery, where she was buried. There is lots more to this story, but too drawn out to be written in full here, even this e-mail is a bit long winded. Sorry about that. Bev