A Walk from London to Fulham Part 14

"To be sure on the Sat.u.r.day you mention, I was dressing for court, as you supposed, and have never been in the Park upon a Sunday; but you cannot be sure that I have not seen you. How came I to know that you have a mole upon your left cheek? But not to make myself appear more knowing than I am, I'll tell you, Sir, that I have only seen you in effigy, in company with your Clarissa at Mr. Highmore's, where I design making you another visit shortly."

All this and much more is followed by a most tantalizing and puzzling P.S. to poor Richardson. His fair, or rather "brown as an oak-wainscot, with a good deal-of-country-red in her cheeks" correspondent, requests him "to direct only to C. L., and enclose it to Miss J., to be left at Mrs. G.'s" etc. etc., previously observing that, "whenever there happens to be a fine Sat.u.r.day I shall look for you in the Park, that being the day on which I suppose you are called that way."

Roused into desperation, Richardson on the 2nd February writes to Mrs.

Belfour as follows:-

"What pains does my unkind correspondent take to conceal herself!

Loveless thought himself at liberty to change names without Act of Parliament. I wish, madam, that Lovelace-'A sad dog,' said a certain lady once, 'why was he made so wicked, yet so agreeable?'

"Disappointed and chagrined as I was on Friday night with the return of my letter, directed to Miss J---, rejected and refused to be taken in at Mrs. G---'s, and with my servant's bringing me word that the little book I sent on Thursday night, with a note in it, was also rejected; and the porter (whom I have never since seen or heard of, nor of the book) dismissed with an a.s.surance that he must be wrong; my servant being sent from one Mrs. G--- to another Mrs. G--- at Millbank; yet I resolved to try my fortune on Sat.u.r.day in the Park in my way to North End. The day indeed, thought I, is not promising; but where so great an earnestness is professed, and the lady possibly by this time made acquainted with the disappointment she has given me, who knows but she will be carried in a chair to the Park, to make me amends, and there reveal herself? Three different chairs at different views saw I. My hope, therefore, not so very much out of the way; but in none of them the lady I wished to see. Up the Mall walked I, down the Mall, and up again, in my way to North End. O this dear Will-o'-wisp, thought I! when nearest, furthest off! Why should I, at this time of life? No bad story, the consecrated rose, say what she will: and all the spiteful things I could think of I muttered to myself. And how, Madam, can I banish them from my memory, when I see you so very careful to conceal yourself; when I see you so very apprehensive of my curiosity, and so very little confiding in my generosity? O Madam! you know me not! you will not know me!

"Yesterday, at North End, your billet, apologizing for the disappointment was given me. Lud! lud! what a giddy appearance!

thought I. O that I had half the life, the spirit! of anything worth remembering I could make memorandums.

"Shall I say all I thought? I will not. But if these at last reach your hands, take them as written, as they were, by Friday night, and believe me to be,

"Madam, "Your admirer and humble Servant, "S. RICHARDSON."

Sir Walter Scott says, that "the power of Richardson's painting of his deeper scenes of tragedy has never been, and probably never will be, excelled;" and in Mrs. Inchbald's 'Life of Richardson,' we read, that "as a writer he possessed original genius, and an unlimited command over the tender pa.s.sions." He carried on a foreign literary correspondence, and was on terms of intimacy with many eminent and literary persons of his time, particularly Dr. Young, Dr. Johnson, Aaron Hill, and Arthur Onslow, Esq., Speaker of the House of Commons.

A short distance further on, we enter the Hammersmith Road, opposite a tavern called "The Bell and Anchor," which stands beside the turnpike, and pa.s.sing about twenty shops on the left towards Hammersmith, we notice in the fore-court of a house called "The Cedars," two n.o.ble cedar trees of immense girth, one of which is represented in the accompanying cut.

This was formerly the residence of Sir James Brans...o...b.. who, according to Faulkner, "in his early days had been a servant to the Earl of Gainsborough, and afterwards, for upwards of forty years, carried on a lottery office in Holborn. He was a common-councilman of the Ward of Farringdon Without, and received the honour of knighthood during his shrievalty." The house has been a ladies' boarding-school for many years. From the Kensington Road we can return direct to London, having in this chapter departed from our even course on the Fulham Road for the purpose of visiting the North End district.

[Picture: Tree in the fore-court of "The Cedars"]

CHAPTER VII.

THE PRYOR'S BANK, FULHAM.

Nestling in trees beneath the old tower of Fulham Church, which has been judiciously restored by Mr. George G.o.dwin, there may be seen from Putney Bridge a remarkable group of houses, the most conspicuous of which will be conjectured from a pa.s.sing glance to belong to the Gothic tribe. This house, which has been a pet kind of place of the Strawberry Hill cla.s.s, is called the Pryor's Bank, and its history can be told in much less than one hundredth part of the s.p.a.ce that a mere catalogue of the objects of interest which it has contained would occupy. In fact, the whole edifice, from the kitchen to the bedrooms, was a few years since a museum, arranged with a view to pictorial effect; and if it had been called "The Museum of British Antiquities" it would have been found worthy of the name.

In a print, published about forty years since, by J. Edington, 64 Gracechurch Street, of Fulham Church, as seen from the river, the ancient aspect of the modern Pryor's Bank is preserved. [Picture: Fulham Church]

The situation of this humble residence having attracted the fancy of Mr.

Walsh Porter, he purchased it, raised the building by an additional story, replaced its latticed cas.e.m.e.nts by windows of coloured gla.s.s, and fitted the interior with grotesque embellishments and theatrical decorations. The entrance hall was called the robber's cave, for it was constructed of material made to look like large projecting rocks, with a winding staircase, and mysterious in-and-out pa.s.sages. [Picture: Vine Cottage] One of the bed-rooms was called, not inaptly, the lion's den.

The dining-room represented, on a small scale, the ruins of Tintern Abbey; and here Mr. Porter had frequently the honour of receiving and entertaining George IV., when Prince of Wales. It was then called Vine Cottage, {213} and having been disposed of by Mr. Porter, became, in 1813, the residence of Lady Hawarden; and, subsequently, of William Holmes, Esq., M.P., who sold it to Mr. Baylis and Mr. Lechmere Whitmore about 1834.

By them a luxurious vine which covered the exterior was cut down, and the cottage, named after it, replaced by a modern antique house. Mr. Baylis being a zealous antiquary, his good taste induced him to respect neglected things, when remarkable as works of art, and inspired him and his friend Mr. Whitmore with the wish to collect and preserve some of the many fine specimens of ancient manufacture that had found their way into this country from the Continent, as well as to rescue from destruction relics of Old England. In the monuments and carvings which had been removed from dilapidated churches, and in the furniture which had been turned out of the n.o.ble mansions of England-the "Halls" and "old Places"-Mr. Baylis saw the tangible records of the history of his country; and, desirous of upholding such memorials, he gleaned a rich harvest from the lumber of brokers' shops, and saved from oblivion articles ill.u.s.trative of various tastes and periods, that were daily in the course of macadamisation or of being consumed for firewood.

The materials thus acquired were freely used by him in the construction of a new building upon the site of Vine Cottage, and adapted with considerable skill; but when neither the vine nor the cottage were in existence, it appeared to Mr. Baylis ridiculous to allow a misnomer to attach itself to the spot. After due deliberation, therefore, respecting the situation upon a delightful bank of gravel, and the a.s.sociation which an a.s.semblage of ecclesiastic carvings and objects connected with "monkish memories," there collected, were likely to produce upon the mind, the new house was styled the "Pryor's Bank."

As Horace Walpole's villa was celebrated by the Earl of Bath, so the charms of the Pryor's Bank have been sung in "the last new ballad on the Fulham regatta"-a _jeu d'esprit_ circulated at an entertainment given by the hospitable owners in 1843:-

"Strawberry Hill has pa.s.s'd away, Every house must have its day; So in antiquarian rank Up sprung here the Pryor's Bank, Full of glorious tapestry,- Full as well as house can be: And of carvings old and quaint, Relics of some mitr'd saint, 'Tis-I hate to be perfidious- 'Tis a house most sacrilegious.

"Glorious, glowing painted gla.s.s, What its beauty can surpa.s.s?

Shrines bedeck'd with gems we see, Overhung by canopy Of embroider'd curtains rare- Wondrous works of time and care!

Up stairs, down stairs, in the hall, There is something great or small To attract the curious eye Into it to rudely pry.

"Here some niche or cabinet Full of rarities is set; Here some picture-'precious bit'- There's no time to dwell on it; Bronzes, china-all present Each their own sweet blandishment.

But what makes our pleasure here, Is our welcome and our cheer; So I'll not say one bit more,- Long live Baylis and Whitmore!"

I would endeavour to convey some idea of the Pryor's Bank and its now dispersed treasures as they were in 1840, in which year we will suppose the reader to accompany us through the house and grounds; but before entering the house, I would call attention to a quiet walk along the garden-terrace, laved to its verdant slope by the br.i.m.m.i.n.g Thames.

[Picture: Terrace at Pryor's Bank] Suppose, then, we leave those beautiful climbing plants-they are Chilian creepers that so profusely wanton on the sunny wall-and turning sharply round an angle of the river front, cut at once, by the most direct walk, the parties who in luxurious idleness have a.s.sembled about the garden fountain; and, lest such folk should attempt to interrupt us in our sober purpose, let us not stop to see or admire anything, until we reach the bay-window summer-house at the end of the terrace. "How magnificent are those chestnut-trees!" I hear you exclaim; "and this old bay-window!"

Ay, this summer-house which shelters us, and those n.o.ble bal.u.s.ters which protect the northern termination of the terrace, how many thoughts do they conjure up in the mind! [Picture: Fountain at Pryor's Bank] These bal.u.s.ters belonged to the main staircase of Winchester House. Do you remember Winchester House in Broad Street, in the good city of London, the residence of "the loyal Paulets?" Perhaps not. There is, however, a print of its last appearance in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for April, 1839, and by which you will at once identify this summer-house as the bay-window of the princ.i.p.al apartment. Indeed the editor tells you that "the greater part of the remaining ornamental wood-work has been purchased by Thomas Baylis, Esq., F.S.A., who is fitting up with it the kitchen and some of the new rooms of his house, Pryor's Bank, Fulham."

It is stated in the same magazine, that in 1828 the motto of the Paulets, AYMES LOYAULTE, was to be seen in the windows of the princ.i.p.al apartment on the first floor, in yellow letters, disposed in diagonal stripes; which motto, it is added, "was probably put there by the loyal Marquis of Winchester, in the time of Charles I., by whom the same sentence was inscribed in every window of his residence at Basing House, in Hants, which he so gallantly defended against the Parliamentarians." {218}

Now, is it not more probable that the recollection of this motto in the windows of his paternal mansion, conveyed through the medium of coloured gla.s.s, indelibly stamped by suns.h.i.+ne (or daguerreotyped, as we might term it) upon the youthful mind of the gallant marquis those feelings of devoted loyalty which influenced his after conduct, and led him to inscribe with the point of his diamond ring the same motto upon the windows of Basing House? [Picture: Turn Buckle] Be this as it may, it is gratifying to know that many of the panes of gla.s.s which bore that glorious yellow letter motto in Winchester House, at the period when it was doomed to be taken down, are preserved, having been with good taste presented to the present Marquis of Winchester; and two or three which were overlooked have come into the possession of Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence. But much of the diamond-shaped gla.s.s in this bay-window, as it stood upon the terrace of the Pryor's Bank, was ancient, and very curious. You could not fail to remark the quaint window-latch, termed "a Turn Buckle."

Had we time to linger here, how amusing it might be to attempt to decipher the monograms, and names, and verses inscribed upon the various lozenge-shaped panes of gla.s.s, which practically exemplified the phrase of "diamond cut diamond."

The fragments of the old Royal Exchange, with a Burmese cross-legged idol perched thereon-the urn to the memory of "POOR BANQUO;" the green-house, with its billiard-table, and even an alcove, the most charming spot in "the wide world" to talk sentiment in, must not detain us from returning to another angle of the river front, after [Picture: Alcove: and Angle of the River Front] glancing at which, we enter the outer hall or pa.s.sage, wainscoted with oak and lined above with arras, separated from the inner hall by an oak screen, which was usually guarded upon gala nights by most respectable "Beef-eaters," who required the production of invitation [Picture: Inner Hall with oak screen] cards from all visitors. They permit us to pa.s.s without question; and that is a very proper example for you to follow, and a good reason why you should not question me too closely:-

"Do you think that I Came here to be the Pryor's Bank directory?"

You must use your own eyes, and judge for yourself. I will tell you, however, all that I know as briefly as possible, and point out whatever occurs to me in our scamper, for a scamper it can only be termed: just such a kind of run as a person makes through London who has come up by railroad to see all its wonders in a week. But I cannot allow you to examine so closely that curiously carved oak chimney-piece in the inner hall, although I admit that it may be as early as Henry VIII.'s time, and those interesting old portraits. Where shall we begin? You wish to inspect everything. Suppose, then, we commence with the kitchen, and steam it up-stairs to the dormitories, going at the rate of a high-pressure engine.

You are already aware that the kitchen was panelled with oak from the drawing-room of Winchester House, and now you see the whole style of fitting-up accords with that of "bygone days." Look, for instance, towards the kitchen window, and you will find that the various cupboards, presses and dressers-even the cooking utensils-correspond; but, although modern improvements have not been lost sight of, antique forms have been retained. Let one example suffice, that of an ancient gridiron, of beautiful and elaborate workmans.h.i.+p.

[Picture: Kitchen Window: and Ancient Gridiron]

The history of the plates and dishes displayed in this kitchen would afford an opportunity for a dissertation on the rise and progress of the fine arts in this country, as they present most curious and important specimens of early drawing, painting, and poetry. The old English plate was a square piece of wood, which indeed is not quite obsolete at the present hour. The improvement upon this primitive plate was a circular platter, with a raised edge; but there were also thin, circular, flat plates of beech-wood in use for the dessert or confection, and they were gilt and painted upon one side, and inscribed with pious, or instructive, or amorous mottoes, suited to the taste of the society in which they were produced. Such circular plates are now well known to antiquaries under the name of "roundels," and were at one time generally supposed by them to have been used as cards for fortune-telling, or playing with at questions and answers. More sober research into their origin and use shows that they were painted and decorated with conventional patterns by nuns, who left blank s.p.a.ces for the mottoes, to be supplied by the more learned monks; and a set of these roundels generally consisted of twelve.

As specimens of the style of these mottoes about the time of Henry VII.

or VIII. the following may be taken:-

"Wheresoever thou traveleste, Este, Weste, Northe, or Southe, Learne never to looke A geven horsse in the mouthe."

"In friends ther ys flattery, In men lyttell trust, Thoughe fayre they proffer They be offten unjuste."

There are many sets of verses for roundels extant in ma.n.u.script, and a few have been printed; indeed, it appears likely that to the love for this species of composition we owe Tusser's "Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry," and most of his other admonitory verses.

After the Reformation, coloured prints superseded the painted and ma.n.u.script "poesies" of the nuns and monks, and the elder De Pa.s.se, and other artists of the period of James I. and Charles I., produced a variety of oval and circular engravings, which were pasted upon roundels and varnished over. The subjects generally selected were those which naturally arranged themselves into a set of twelve, as the months. By the Puritans the beechen roundels thus decorated were regarded with especial dislike, and they returned to the use of the unadorned trencher and "G.o.dly platter." When the "Merry Monarch" was restored he brought over with him from Holland plates and dishes manufactured at Delft, where the porcelain known as Faenza, Faience, Majolica, and Fynlina ware, made during the fifteenth century in the North of Italy, and upon the embellishments of which, according to Lamartiniere, the pencils of Raffaelle, Giulio Romano, and the Caracci, were employed, had been successfully, although coa.r.s.ely imitated. And it must be confessed that many of the old Dutch plates, dishes, and bowls, upon the kitchen-shelves of the Pryor's Bank, deserved to be admired for boldness of design, effective combinations of colour, and the manual dexterity displayed in the execution of the patterns. The superior delicacy of the porcelain of China, which about this time began to be imported freely into England from the East caused it to be preferred to the "Dutch ware," and the consequence of international commerce was, that the Chinese imitated European devices and patterns upon their porcelain, probably with the view of rendering the article more acceptable in the Dutch and English markets. But while the Chinese were imitating us, we were copying their style of art in the potteries of Staffords.h.i.+re, with the commercial manufacturing advantage given by the power of transferring a print to the clay over the production of the same effect by means of the pencil, an idea no doubt suggested by our roundels of Charles I.'s time, and which process became of the same relative importance as printing to ma.n.u.script.

This was the origin of our common blue-and-white plate, or what is known as "the willow pattern," where

"Walking through their groves of trees, Blue bridges and blue rivers, Little think those three Chinese They'll soon be smash'd to s.h.i.+vers."

The popularity of this porcelain pattern must not be ascribed to superior beauty or cheapness, for to the eye of taste surely a pure plain white plate is infinitely superior to an unfeeling copy of a Chinese paG.o.da, bridge, and willow-tree "in blue print." The fact is that the bugbear of a vulgar mind-"fas.h.i.+on"-long rendered it imperative upon every good housewife and substantial householder to keep up a certain dinner-set of earthenware, consisting of two soup-tureens and a relative proportion of dishes and vegetable-dishes, with covers, soup-plates, dinner-plates, and dessert-plates, which were all to correspond; and should any accidental breakage of crockery take place, it was a manufacturing trick to make it a matter of extra-proportionate expense and difficulty readily to replace the same unless it happened to be of "the blue willow pattern." The practice, however, of using for the dessert-service plates of Worcester china painted by hand, and the execution of many of which as works of art call for our admiration as much as any enamel, created a taste for forming what are called harlequin sets, among which, if a few plates happen to be

"Smash'd to s.h.i.+vers,"

the value of the whole set is only proportionately depreciated, and what has been broken may perhaps be advantageously replaced.

[Picture: Earl of Ess.e.x]