The Town: Its Memorable Characters and EventsHunt, Leigh
History
The Town: Its Memorable Characters and Events
Hunt, Leigh
London (England) -- Description and travel; London (England) -- History
a style, however, not without its merits, particularly in admitting so
many walks among the flowers, and inviting a pace up and down between
the trees. Milton, though he made a different garden for his Eden,
spoke of "trim gardens," as enjoyed by "retired leisure." In this
back front were the apartments of the court. The scene we have just
been reading in Pepys must have passed in one of them. Here Charles
the First's widow lived with her supposed husband, the Earl of St.
Albans; though she was not so constant to the place as Waller
prophesied she would be. She had been used to too much power as a
queen, and found she had too little as a dowager. Poor Catherine
remained as long as she could. She lived here till she returned to
Portugal, in the reign of William III. Speaking of Waller, we must not
quit the premises without noticing a catastrophe that befel him at the
water-gate, or Somerset-stairs (also, by the way, the work of Inigo
Jones). Waller, according to Aubrey, had but "a tender weak body, but
was always very temperate." ---- (we know not who this is) "made him
damnable drunk at Somerset House, where, at the water stayres, he fell
down, and had a cruel fall. 'Twas a pity to use such a sweet swan so
inhumanly."[166] Waller, who, notwithstanding his weak body, lived to
be old, was a water-drinker; but he had a poet's wine in his veins,
and was excellent company. Saville said, "that nobody should keep him
company without drinking, but Ned Waller."
[Illustration: OLD SOMERSET HOUSE, FROM THE RIVER.]
Subsequently to Catherine's departure, old Somerset House was chiefly
used as a residence for princes from other countries when on a visit.
It was pulled down towards the end of the last century, and the
present structure erected by Sir William Chambers, but left
unfinished. The unfinished part, which is towards the east, is now in
a state of completion, as the King's College. The only memorial
remaining of the old palace and its outhouses is in the wall of a
house in the Strand, where the sign of a lion still survives a number
of other signs, noticed in a list made at the time, and common at that
period to houses of all descriptions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account