SION 



possibly represent the laying out of the grounds by Protector 

 Somerset, but, be this as it may, the whole was swept away by 

 " Capability " Brown, probably about the time when Adam 

 made the alterations inside the house. 



The estate altogether, as it appears at present to one privileged 

 for a time to wander over it and sketch, is undoubtedly beautiful 

 particularly when one remembers its nearness to London. Owing, 

 no doubt, to the neighbourhood of the river, and the artificial 

 waters fed by it, it is astonishingly verdant, and the grounds are 

 well kept ; but there is an entire and rather singular absence of 

 life about Sion. No doubt it is animated enough when the Duke of 

 Northumberland is in residence ; at other times it is a little lone- 

 some, the great house shows no sign of activity ; and sequestered 

 and charming as the grounds are, one misses the peacocks and 

 the water-fowl, and even the bold grey rabbits that scud across 

 the lawns at Chiswick House soon to be described in places 

 where, of course, they have no business to be ! 



Therefore one welcomes, as the only relief from the immobility 

 of the scene, the gentle movements of the cattle on the green 

 sward lying between the flower gardens and the river, and hails 

 the appearance, even in the distance, of gardeners or woodmen 

 and I jumped up eagerly from my work one sunshiny day in 

 September, 1914, when one of the former, with considerable excite- 

 ment, called my attention to the then unusual sight of a vast cigar- 

 shaped airship, flying so low that it appeared to be little above the 

 dome of the conservatory. There were three or four men in it, 

 clearly seen, and it flew the British ensign at its stern, as any ship 

 at sea might do ; but its ocean, the air, was very calm and still, 

 and the sky serenely blue. It was an incident charged with 

 undue excitement and importance, because it happened at the 

 very outbreak of war, when the attributes and powers of Zeppelins 

 and airships were comparatively unknown. As a rule one may 

 walk for an hour at Sion, or paint undisturbedly, with nothing 

 whatever to remind one that the dirtiest hamlet in Middlesex 

 is at its very gates, and that the trams to Hampton Court pass 

 them every few minutes. 



I do not know with what authority a writer, quoted by Waif or d, 

 suggested that Capability Brown's work at Sion, was in its turn 

 also " swept away." He says, " the extensive pleasure-grounds 



109 



