THE LITTLE TEA BOOK 



and their ease thereon. On Sundays, 

 finding the country lanes leading to 

 Kensington, Hainpstead, Highgate, 

 Islington, and Stepney, "to be 

 much pleasanter than the paths of 

 the gospel," the people flocked to 

 those suburban resorts with their 

 wives and children, to take tea under 

 the trees. In one of Coleman's plays, 

 a Spitalfield's dame defines the acme 

 of elegance as : 



" Drinking tea on summer afternoons 

 At Bagnigge Wells with china and gilt spoons. 11 * 



London was surrounded with tea- 

 gardens, the most popular being 

 Sadlier's Wells, Merlin's Cave, Crom- 

 well Gardens, Jenny's Whim, Cnper 

 Gardens, London Spa, and the White 

 Conduit House, where they used to 

 take in fifty pounds on a Sunday af- 

 ternoon for sixpenny tea-tickets. 



