soot

It was thickly coated with soot from the passing engines, but the black surface was blurred and rubbed in places.

Still, it must have been many years in use, for it was thickly covered with a coating of soot; this soot I dissolved in a portion of the wine brought to me every Sunday, and I assure you a better ink cannot be desired.

And yet it was not because the damp had been excluded from the garden; the earth, black as soot, the thick foliage of the trees betrayed its presence; besides, had natural humidity been wanting, it could have been immediately supplied by artificial means, thanks to a tank of water, sunk in one of the corners of the garden, and upon which were stationed a frog and a toad, who, from antipathy, no doubt, always remained on the two opposite sides of the basin.

The London of my youth was a place of soot-stained brickwork and formidable landladies, entirely devoid of the artisanal coffee shops you now frequent.