44 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [PART 1. 



House in Hodsden, 1 and I think not to rest till I come 

 thither, where I have appointed a friend or two to meet 

 me : but for this gentleman that you see with me, I know 

 not how far he intends his journey ; he came so lately into 

 my company, that I have scarcely had time to ask him the 

 question. 



Auceps. Sir, I shall by your favour bear you company as 

 far as Theobald's, 2 and there leave you ; for then I turn up 

 to a friend's house, who mews a hawk 3 for me, which I now 

 long to see. 



trooper, Richard Franks, begins his ' Contemplative Angler ' in the month 

 of April, when he says, " every bough looked big with blessings, and the 

 florid fields and fragrant meadows, adorned with green, send forth their 

 sweet and radiant perfumes to refresh the universe. The early lark, 

 earlier than the sun, salutes the air, whilst blushing Phoebus paints and 

 gilds the azure globe. The birds begin to build their nests, and every 

 bird to choose its mate ; whilst the groves and delightful springs celebrate 

 the fragrant month." It is curious, and perhaps interesting, to contrast the 

 different descriptions of country scenery, as found in the writings of two per- 

 sons of such opposite politics, as Izaak Walton and Richard Franks. ED. 



1 The Thatched House at Hoddesdon is stated by the Rev. Moses 

 Browne to be seventeen miles from London on the Ware road. It is now 

 quite unknown, but it is supposed that a thatched cottage, once distin- 

 guished by the sign of the Buffalo's Head, standing at the further side 

 of Hoddesdon, on the left of the road in going towards Ware, was the actual 

 building. MAJOR. (See view of it, page 63.) 



2 Theobalds, in the county of Hertford, about twelve miles from London 

 (in the parish of Cheshunt) ; built by Cecil, Lord Burleigh, who often 

 entertained Queen Elizabeth here. It was much improved by his son, 

 Robert, Earl of Salisbury, who ceded it to King James the First in exchange 

 for Hatfield. The park has been converted into farms. The small remains 

 of Theobalds were demolished in 1765 by Mr. Prescott, who leased out the 

 site of it to a builder, and erected a house for himself, about a mile to the 

 south of it, which is now the seat of Sir GL W. Prescott, Bart. Its ancient 

 magnificence is described by the early topographers in glowing terms, 

 especially by Norden and Chauncy. And since by Lysons and Clutterbuck. 

 (See a view of Theobalds, after an engraving published in the Vetusta 

 Monumenta, at page 62.) 



3 Mews a hawk, from the French word mue : the care taken of a hawk 

 during the moulting season, from about the first of .March till August; 

 hence the places where hawks were trained and kept were called Mews. 

 The King's Mews at Charing Cross, an area of about four acres, existed 

 for two centuries (Edw. III. to Hen. VIII.) as a receptacle for hawks, 

 but after 1537 was used as stables, and so gave a new acceptation to the 

 term. The King's-mews was demolished in 1830 to make way for the 

 improvements ; and Trafalgar-square, the National Gallery, &c. now 

 occupy its site. 



