HATFIELD HOUSE 217 



Lord Salisbury seems to have been fortunate in 

 receiving presents of fruit for his new Garden ; for 

 Lady Tresham, at Lyndon, sent him fifty Cherry 

 trees ; Nectarines came from Sir Edmund Sulyard ; 

 and Sir Edmund Coke "a Norfolk Tumbler for his 

 Warren." 



But to return to the so-called Vineyard, so 

 beautiful, and so impossible to describe ; it delighted 

 even Pepys' coarse old soul, for he alludes to it 

 again in 1667. "As soon as we had dined we 

 walked out into the Park, through the fine walk of 

 trees, and to the Vineyard, and there showed them 

 that, which is in good order, and indeed a place of 

 great delight ; which together with our fine walk 

 through the Park, was of much pleasure, as could 

 be desired in the world for country pleasure and 

 good ayre." The old Dell and Vineyard is always 

 associated with the " wicked Marchioness," whose 

 exquisite portrait is still to be seen at Hatfield 

 House a lady possessed of a love for gorgeous 

 and picturesque effects, and of posing in them as 

 the central figure. On Sundays, seated in a vividly 

 painted state barge, rowed by servants in blue 

 liveries, her appearance roused much interest and 

 amazement among the village people who watched 

 the proceedings from the banks of the river Lee. 

 This lady was burnt to death in one of the wings 

 of the House (since restored), and people said the 

 devil had come to fetch her, setting fire to the 



