$44 RiVERSlDE LETTERS XXXI 



garden at Dulwich College when going there 

 to choose works for the R.A. students, or 

 for the ' Old Masters' shows.' My father 

 planted a Catalpa which was one of the 

 summer glories of our garden. Taplow 

 House, now inhabited by Mr. Walter Barron 

 and his family, was formerly the residence of 

 the Marquis of Thomond ; I can fancy Sir 

 Joshua's niece plucking armfuls of tulip tree 

 blossoms, as I have seen the little Barron 

 girls, from the branches that sweep the lawn. 

 Theophila Palmer in a white gown, and laden 

 with branches of tulip tree in flower, would 

 have made a good portrait-model for her 

 uncle. 



"It is curious how we live with certain 

 plants almost under our eyes and do not 

 notice them. You say you never but once 

 before had seen the tulip tree blossom ; until 

 last summer / had never seen the water 

 violet. My daughter and self walking in a 

 lane near the ' Welsh Harp ' came upon a 

 pond filled with the plant which we at 



