HAM HOUSE, 



RICHMOND, . . 



THE SEAT OF ... 



THE EARL OF DYSART. 



GARDENS 

 OLD-&NEW 



A' 



FTHR dinner I walked to Ham, to see the house 

 and garden <>f the Duke of Lauderdale. which 

 is indeed inferior : the h t \Ml.is ot Italy 



itself ; the house furnished like agreat prm, 

 the parterres. tln\\cr gardens, orangeries, 

 courts, st.itiu-s, perspectiws, tountains aviaries, 

 and all this at the banks of the sweetest river in the world, 

 must needs he admirable." v ' 'lin Hvelyn of the 



famous house of Him. which stands amid ancestral t 



THE TERRACE AND ENTRANCE. 



somewhat set back from t!:e river, where Petersham meadow* 

 lie at the foot ot Richmond Hill on the right Kink <! the 

 Thames. The house and the region are alike l.imous. mi. 

 its historic interest and r.ire charms, the other li-r its noble: 

 and umbrageous Iv.mty. which made it the haunt < I' 

 Swift, Gay, and many other /Y./MV <>/>/;/" ot tlu-ir time, and that 

 endear it iviw to .ill w IM lind tlu-ir pleasuie by the 

 Thames. "()|.i trees, the most placid of UMTS, Thnin"i. 

 up ab-\e yi'ii, l'"pe near \ou. Cow le\ lum-eli ii"t t.ir 



-I h"pe here is a nest 

 ot repose both material and 

 spiritual of the most Cow 

 le\ i.in and H\elynian sort," 

 s.is s l.i-igh Hunt. 



The great charm 

 Ham House is its oKI-wo.l.l 

 chataiter and seihisi.o, the 

 "pillared dusk" ot its 

 a\eniif. and thickets, the 

 :id'Hir "t the tiees, an 1 

 delight "t scented paths 

 and (lower borders hy the 

 mossy w.i, K. The lions.- 

 its t -lt is se\eiel\ plain in its 

 quaint ilnr.uter, though 

 ninjj 1 be ornate in its 

 porch, and in the series nt 

 busts .it tarn 'Us men in niches 

 in its \\ .ills. I hey look 

 out up n a garden that has 

 chang'.-d since Stuart 

 ive that the . 



mjre deeplx lusted, and the 

 brick is mellower than ot yore. 

 Ham House was built by Sir 

 I hom.is \a\asour in lOlO, 

 but it SIHIII Lime into the 

 hands ot the 'I olli in.it. lies, 

 I:. ills ..| hys.irt. I lie tirst 

 harl was a Murray, but his 

 daughter, who \\.is Com 

 n her own right, man u-d Sir 

 l.ioiu-l I ''llemache, and atter- 

 wards the harl of l.auderdale, 

 tamous f.,r in the 



Cabal wh"se members otten 

 \ iHted him at Ham. 



Thi-tc are t.' I au- 



derdale's altt r.r .ut 



the place, but since that time 

 very I. Hie has changed. Let 

 it tv I b)w the house 



and gar^len are quaintly asso- 

 uated by the lines of busts 

 in ovals adorning the old 

 k enclosing walls, which 

 rul> out * rom 'he terrai 

 the sunk wall tl at s< | arateb 



