Of all the notable houses which are passed in following "the silver-winding" way of the Thames two cannot be overlooked, because, being perched in lordly situations, they command great vistas of the river. The first is Cliveden, standing high above the woods and facing down the river to Maidenhead. The present house dates only from the middle of the nineteenth century. It has had two predecessors, both destroyed by fire. The first one was built by "Steenie", first Duke of Buckingham, Charles I's favourite. His gay, arrogant life, which came to a fitting end by the assassin's knife, was carried on at Cliveden with unbridled licence and extravagance. His wardrobe for the journey to Spain with Charles, when Prince of Wales, consisted of "twenty-seven rich suits, embroidered and laced with silk and silver plushes, besides one rich satten incut velvet suit, set all over, both suit and cloak, of diamonds, the value whereof is thought to be about one thousand pounds". It was to Cliveden the duke brought the Countess of Shrewsbury after he had killed her husband by mortally wounding him in a duel, while she stood by disguised as a page and held his horse. There is nothing more curious than to discover how young were the principal actors in the dramas of history. After a life full of action, of intrigue, of excitement, the first Duke of Buckingham's career was ended at the early age of thirty-six. He left a son and daughter, and another son, Francis, was born shortly after. This boy is described as having been singularly lovable and handsome. He fought gallantly for his King in the civil wars, and was killed when only nineteen at Kingston-on-Thames, thereby, giving us another riverside association. He stood with his back against an oak tree, scorning to ask quarter from his enemies, and fell covered with wounds. It was an age of masques and dramas, and Buckingham was the patron of many a poet. Ben Jonson's masques, performed in costumes designed by Inigo Jones, were popular both with him and the King. In later days Cliveden was the scene of another masque, _Alfred_, written by James Thomson, who was staying in the house as a guest of Frederick, Prince of Wales, then the lessee. This masque itself is long forgotten, but it contained "Rule, Britannia!" the national song which thus first made the walls of Cliveden echo, before it echoed round the Empire. The masque was performed at a fête given in the garden, Aug. 1 and 2, 1740. Thomson's connection with the Thames does not end here. It was at the Mall, Hammersmith, that he had previously written _The Seasons_.