The Merry Past 



" hoped His Majesty would give them something to 

 drink." Displeased at this intrusion, but unwilling 

 to appear to resent it, the King felt in his pockets 

 for some coin, but finding none, he at length replied, 

 " I have got no money in my pockets." " Nor 

 I either, by G — ," said the workman ; " and as you 

 have none, I wonder where the devil it all goes to." 



South of the Le Notre's canal there was originally a 

 moat, thirty or forty feet wide, and more than that 

 distance from the rail of the lawn. Its water came 

 out of the canal, and ran parallel with it, preserving 

 its regular distance till it approached the Bird Cage 

 Walk ; it then turned and went parallel to that, 

 till opposite to the gate from Queen Square. It then 

 made another return, and ran straight towards the 

 north, about half the distance between the rail 

 on the outer side of the lawn and the ^^gt of the 

 canal. Again it turned to the west and ran parallel 

 to the Bird Cage Walk, about half the distance 

 from Queen Square to the end of the walk ; it then 

 turned once more to the north, and ran direct into 

 the canal. 



Within this moat, and in its whole circumference, 

 the ground, close to the water's edge, was thickly 

 planted with willows and other trees. Within the 

 western end and wide part of this enclosure the 

 ground was laid out in three channels, running into 

 one in a clever way : one received the water from 

 that end of the canal nearest the parade, within 

 the hedge that surrounded the ground, within the 

 moat ; a footpath passed round the whole enclosure, 



196 



