CHAPTER IX. 



The "Rochester Room" at the White Hart, Aylesbury— Its Decor- 

 ation and History — The Glories of Eythrope— Sir Walter Scott 

 — Vernon's Anecdotes about Turner — Anecdotes of Landseer — 

 " Swill " from Her Majesty's Kitchens — Charles Gow — A Pun 

 and its Interpretation by Punch. 



Amongst our most interesting of popular antiquities 

 are our ancient English mansions, their halls and 

 libraries, and surroundings. It is much to be deplored 

 that authentic records of these fast-disappearing land- 

 marks of our own national history have not more often 

 been preserved. The " Old Room " is an example of 

 such a landmark, most interesting in relation to the 

 event whose memory it was built to perpetuate, and 

 most curious in respect to its appearance. But the 

 " Old Rochester Room " at Aylesbury is now only a 

 memory; the site of the once well-known hostelry, the 

 White Hart, is now covered by the Corn Exchange and 

 public markets. The building, at the time of its demo- 

 lition, was in a most substantial state of preservation, 

 and the "Old Room," with its pictures, and elaborate 

 gilding and ornamentation, had only been lately cleaned 

 and restored, and looked, as it really was, in 1864, in as 

 good trim as the day it left the hands of the builder 

 and decorator. 



