202 BIBDS IN LO^WOX 



400 acres. It was acquired by the London 

 County Council for the pubhc in 1894, but 

 before its acquisition the East-end public had 

 the use of it, and, no doubt, some right in it, as 

 the owners of ponies and donkeys were accus- 

 tomed to keep their animals there. It was a 

 kind of no-man's-land in London, and it is 

 indeed w^itli the greatest bitterness that the old 

 frequenters of the Marsh of (to them) pleasant 

 memories recall the liberty they formerly 

 enjoyed in following their own devices, and 

 compare it with the restrictions of the present 

 time. There is no liberty now, they complain. 

 If a man sits down on the grass a policeman 

 will come and look at him to see if he is doing 

 any damage. The County Council have deprived 

 the public of its ancient sacred rights. It must 

 be borne in mind that the ' public ' spoken of 

 by the discontented ones means only a small 

 section, and not the most reputable section, of 

 the very large population of East London. 



To those who know Hackney Marsh from 

 having looked upon it from a railway carriage 

 window (and most of the dwellers in other 

 districts know it only in that way) it is l)ut a 

 green, flat, low ])ie('(' of land, Ijonnded Ijy 



