226 LONDON PARKS © GARDENS 
might have been written in the twentieth instead of the 
eighteenth century. 
“ She shall have all that’s fine and fair, 
And the best of silk and satin shall wear ; 
And ride in a coach to take the air, 
And have a house in St. James’s Square.” 
Less cheerful has been the fate of Golden Square, 
which has a forsaken look, and the days when it may 
have justified its name are past. Originally Gelding 
Square, from the name of an inn hard by, the grander- 
sounding and more attractive corruption supplanted the 
older name. Another derivation for the word is 
also given—“ Golding/’ from the name of the first 
builder; but anyhow it was called Golden Square soon 
after it came into being. The houses round it were 
built about the opening years of the eighteenth century, 
when the dismal memories of the Plague were growing 
faint. For the site of Golden Square, “ far from the 
haunts of men,” was one of the spots where, during 
the Plague, thousands of dead were cast, by scores 
every night. These gloomy scenes forgotten, the Square 
was built, and at one time fashionable Lord Boling- 
broke lived here, while Secretary for War. It is still 
“not exactly in anybody’s way, to or from anywhere.” 
The garden is neat, with a row of trees round the 
Square enclosure, and a path following the same lines. 
In the centre stands a statue of George II., looking 
thoroughly out of place, like a dilapidated Roman 
emperor. It was bought from Canons, the Duke of 
Chandos’s house, near Edgware, when the house was 
pulled down and everything sold in 1747. There are 
a few seats, but they are rarely used, and it has a 
