Grim the Collier of Croydon

Grim the Collier of Croyden; or, The Devil and his Dame: with the Devil and Saint Dunston is a seventeenth-century play of uncertain authorship, first published in 1662. The play's title character is an established figure of the popular culture and folklore of the time who appeared in songs and stories – a body of lore the play draws upon. The London coal and charcoal industry was centred on Croydon, to the south of London in Surrey;[1] the original Grimme or Grimes has been claimed to be a real individual, but evidence for this is not forthcoming.[2]

  1. ^ Thorne, James. Handbook to the Environs of London. London, John Murray, 1876; p. 127.
  2. ^ Parker, Eric. Highways and Byways in Surrey. London, Macmillan, 1908; p. 362.