DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67417#0128
94 HAMPTON COURT
toilet set of massive gold given her by the Queen-
mother, and the bed of crimson velvet embroidered
in silver, costing £8000, which had been presented
to Charles II. by the States of Holland, were among
the objects which Evelyn describes as “ very curious
and particular.” The “ sweet rows of lime-trees
planted in the Park, formerly a flat and naked
piece of ground, the canal for water now nearly
perfected, the cradle-work of hornbeam, for the
perplexed twining of the trees, very observable,
and Fanelli’s rich and noble fountain with Sirens
and statues cast in copper,” all excited his ad-
miration. The “ pretty Banqueting House in the
Mount Garden ” also attracted his notice, but in his
opinion the gardens were too narrow for such a
palace, and might be exceedingly improved. As
for the rich gondola presented to his Majesty by
the Doge of Venice, he pronounced that it was not
comparable for swiftness to our common wherries,
although managed by Venetian gondoliers.
One day he saw the Queen dining in state, and
after she had received the judges, was taken by the
Duke of Ormonde to kiss her hand himself. Another
evening he was admitted to her Majesty’s bed-
chamber, when she was privately at supper, and
heard her Portugal music, consisting of pipes, harps,
and “ very ill voices.” Katharine’s maids-of-honour,
with their “ monstrous fardingales and olivader
complexions,” seemed to him “ sufficiently unagree-
able.” Other courtiers were less guarded in their
expressions. Clarendon described these ladies as
old, ugly, and quite incapable of conversation with
toilet set of massive gold given her by the Queen-
mother, and the bed of crimson velvet embroidered
in silver, costing £8000, which had been presented
to Charles II. by the States of Holland, were among
the objects which Evelyn describes as “ very curious
and particular.” The “ sweet rows of lime-trees
planted in the Park, formerly a flat and naked
piece of ground, the canal for water now nearly
perfected, the cradle-work of hornbeam, for the
perplexed twining of the trees, very observable,
and Fanelli’s rich and noble fountain with Sirens
and statues cast in copper,” all excited his ad-
miration. The “ pretty Banqueting House in the
Mount Garden ” also attracted his notice, but in his
opinion the gardens were too narrow for such a
palace, and might be exceedingly improved. As
for the rich gondola presented to his Majesty by
the Doge of Venice, he pronounced that it was not
comparable for swiftness to our common wherries,
although managed by Venetian gondoliers.
One day he saw the Queen dining in state, and
after she had received the judges, was taken by the
Duke of Ormonde to kiss her hand himself. Another
evening he was admitted to her Majesty’s bed-
chamber, when she was privately at supper, and
heard her Portugal music, consisting of pipes, harps,
and “ very ill voices.” Katharine’s maids-of-honour,
with their “ monstrous fardingales and olivader
complexions,” seemed to him “ sufficiently unagree-
able.” Other courtiers were less guarded in their
expressions. Clarendon described these ladies as
old, ugly, and quite incapable of conversation with