 At Easter 1819 , in The Talking Bird , or , Perizade Columbine , he introduced perhaps his best known song " Hot Codlins " , an audience participation song about a seller of roasted apples who gets drunk on gin while working the streets of London . Songs about trades were popular on the stage in the 1800s . Grimaldi sought inspiration for the character of the apple seller by walking around the streets of London and observing real @-@ life tradespeople . 
