the manors of Esher and Hulbourne, with a house on the edge of the park, which was formerly occupied by the late Mr. Justice Hardinge, and is now the residence of Sir Robert Gardiner, aid-de-camp and equerry to Prince Leopold. Five of the farms immediately adjoining the park being stocked with game, are leased by Mr. Ellis to Prince Leopold.

Sir Samuel Garth, in the preface to his poem on Claremont, says, "The situation is so agreeable and surprising, that it inclines one to think, that some place of this nature put Ovid at first upon the story of Narcissus and Echo." This is an allusion to a grotto built on a beautiful lake in the park, in the vicinity of which there is a very distinct echo. Dr. Garth thus describes it:

A got there was with hoary moss o'ergrown,
Rough with rude shells, and arch'd with mould'ring stone;
Sad silence reigns within the lonesome wall,
And weeping rills but whisper as they fall;
The clasping ivies up the ruin creep,

And there the bat and drowsy beetle sleep.
This cell sad Echo chose, by Love betray'd,
A fit retirement for a mourning maid;
Hither fatigued with toil, the sylvan flies,
To shun the calenture of sultry skies,
But feels a fiercer flame; Love's keenest dart,
Finds through her eyes a passage to his heart.
Pensive the virgin sate with folded arms,
Her tears but lending lustre to her charms;
With pity he beholds her wounded woes,
And wants himself the pity he bestows.

:

It appears, by an old document of 1697, that this now celebrated spot was originally called Esher House or Park; until, coming into the possession of the Earl of Clare, afterwards Duke of Newcastle, it was named by him Claremont. On this subject Sir Samuel Garth says,

Direct me, Clare, to name some nobler Muse,
That for her theme thy late recess may choose ;
Such bright descriptions shall the subject dress,
Such varied scenes, such pleasing images,

That swains shall leave their lawns, and nymphs their bowers,
And quit Arcadia for a seat like yours.

But say, who shall attempt the th' adventurous part,
When Nature borrows dress from Vanburgh's art;
If by Apollo taught, he touch the lyre,
Stones mount in columns, palaces aspire,
And rocks are animated with his fire:
'Tis he can paint in verse those rising hills,
Their gentle valleys and their silver rills;

}

Close groves and op'ning glades with verdure spread,
Flowers sighing sweets, and shrubs that balsam bleed;
The gay variety the prospect crown'd,
And all the bright horizon smiling round;
Whilst I attempt to tell how ancient fame
Records from whence this villa took its name.

To enter into an analysis of the origin of Claremont, as given to us by Sir Samuel Garth, would be to transcribe a motley farrago of mythological foolery, of druidical superstition, of metaphysical absurdities of natural history, including an account of the misletoe*, and a laboured panegyric on those primeval ages, when

No cook with art increas'd physicians' fees,
Nor serv'd up death in soups and fricassees.

* The origin of this plant is not generally known, and well may Sir Samuel Garth say, :

The naturalists are puzzl'd to explain

How trees did first this stranger entertain.

It

According to Sir William's account, the site of Claremont was formerly the abode of the Druids'; for the truth of which assertion, it is presumed he has no other foundation, than the discovery of a few circular plats in the vicinity of the house; and as the circle was the mystic figure of the Druids, in the midst of which their altars were raised, it amounted, in his opinion, to almost a syllogistic demonstration, that these circular plats were formed, and could not be formed by any other individuals than the Druids.

It also appears, that the misletoe grows in abundance in the vicinity of Claremont; and as the Druids bestowed religious honors on that noxious plant, it became another presumptive proof, that they fixed their residence in that quarter, for as the misletoe could not come to them, they were obliged to go to the misletoe; and for aught I know, although Sir Samuel is silent upon the subject, for the very same purpose as we, in our degenerate days, go to the misletoe.

These, it must be allowed, are very vague grounds to be assigned for the antiquity of Claremont; and there is reason to believe, that they were adduced more with a view to gratify the vanity of the patron

It has been ascertained, that the seeds of the misletoe are of an indigestible nature. In the winter they are picked up by the thrushes and blackbirds, and passing through them are deposited on the branches of trees, where they take root; and thus, like the blood-suckers in society, they are nurtured and fed by foreign aid.