192 A BOOK OF ENGLISH GARDENS 



" Tour through Great Britain," mentions " Ham 

 and Petersham, little villages, the first famous for 

 a pleasant palace of the late Duke of Lauderdale, 

 close by the river, possessed by the late Earl of 

 Dysart, a house, King Charles II. used to be 

 frequently at, and was exceedingly pleased with 

 the avenues of this fine house." Then Horace 

 Walpole, that mainstay of lovers of gossip, has 

 much to say about his niece's secret marriage, in 

 1760, with Lord Dysart's son. He writes: "I 

 announce my Lady Huntingtower to you. I hope 

 you will approve the match a little more than 

 I suppose my Lord Dysart will, as he does not 

 yet know, though they have been married these 

 two hours, that at ten o'clock this morning, his 

 son espoused my niece, Charlotte, at St. James' 

 Church. The moment my Lord Dysart is dead 

 I will carry you to see Ham House ; it is pleasant 

 to call cousins, with a charming prospect over 

 against one." 



He gives a long description of Ham, and 

 biassed as all his remarks and judgments are, 

 they are too valuable to omit, as they throw 

 such side-lights on every nook and corner. " I 

 went yesterday to see my niece in her new 

 principality of Ham. It delighted me and made 

 me peevish." "Close to the Thames, in the centre 

 of a rich and verdant beauty, it is so blocked up and 

 barricaded with walls, vast trees, and gates, that 



