During The
Time That This Guard, Which Consists Of The Tallest And Stoutest Men
That Can Be Found In All England, Being Carefully Selected For This
Service, Were Bringing Dinner, Twelve Trumpets And Two Kettledrums
Made The Hall Ring For Half An Hour Together.
At the end of all
this ceremonial, a number of unmarried ladies appeared, who, with
particular solemnity, lifted the meat off the table, and conveyed it
into the Queen's inner and more private chamber, where, after she
had chosen for herself, the rest goes to the ladies of the Court.
The Queen dines and sups alone with very few attendants, and it is
very seldom that anybody, foreigner or native, is admitted at that
time, and then only at the intercession of somebody in power.
Near this palace is the Queen's park, stocked with deer. Such parks
are common throughout England, belonging to those that are
distinguished either for their rank or riches. In the middle of
this is an old square tower, called Mirefleur, supposed to be that
mentioned in the romance of "Amadis de Gaul;" and joining to it a
plain, where knights and other gentlemen use to meet, at set times
and holidays, to exercise on horseback.
We left London in a coach, in order to see the remarkable places in
its neighbourhood.
The first was Theobalds, belonging to Lord Burleigh, the Treasurer.
In the gallery was painted the genealogy of the Kings of England;
from this place one goes into the garden, encompassed with a ditch
full of water, large enough for one to have the pleasure of going in
a boat and rowing between the shrubs; here are great variety of
trees and plants, labyrinths made with a great deal of labour, a JET
D'EAU, with its basin of white marble, and columns and pyramids of
wood and other materials up and down the garden. After seeing
these, we were led by the gardener into the summer-house, in the
lower part of which, built semicircularly, are the twelve Roman
emperors in white marble, and a table of touchstone; the upper part
of it is set round with cisterns of lead, into which the water is
conveyed through pipes, so that fish may be kept in them, and in
summer-time they are very convenient for bathing. In another room
for entertainment, very near this, and joined to it by a little
bridge, was an oval table of red marble. We were not admitted to
see the apartments of this palace, there being nobody to show it, as
the family was in town, attending the funeral of their lord. {10}
Hoddesdon, a village.
Ware, a market town.
Puckeridge, a village; this was the first place where we observed
that the beds at inns were made by the waiters.
Camboritum, Cantabrigium and Cantabrigia, now called Cambridge, a
celebrated town, so named from the river Cam, which after washing
the western side, playing through islands, turns to the east, and
divides the town into two parts, which are joined by a bridge,
whence its modern name - formerly it had the Saxon one of
Grantbridge.
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