DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70302#0426
382 ACCOUNT OF LORD ROKEBY.
if it happened to rain, he would make his attendants get
into the carriage, observing, “ that they were gaudily
dressed, and not inured to wet, and might therefore
spoil their clothes, and occasion an illness.” He after-
wards constructed a bath contiguous to his house, which
was so contrived as to be rendered tepid by the rays of
the sun only. The frequency of his ablutions was asto-
nishing ; his constitution was at length accustomed to the
practice, and was materially improved by these repeated
purifications.
A gentleman, who happened a few years since to be in
the neighbourhood of Mountmorris, resolved to procure a
sight of this extraordinary character, who had then ac-
ceded to the title of Lord Rokeby. On my way, says he,
at the summit of the hill above Hythe, which affords
a most delightful prospect, I perceived a fountain of pure
water, over-running a bason which had been placed for
it by his lordship. I was informed that there were
many such on the same road, and that he was accus-
tomed to bestow a few half crown pieces, plenty of
which he always kept in a loose side-pocket, on any
water-drinkers he might happen to find partaking of his
favourite beverage, which he never failed to recommend
with peculiar force and persuasion. On my approach, I
stopped some time to examine the mansion. It is a good
plain gentleman’s seat; the grounds were abundantly
stocked with black cattle, and I could perceive a horse
or two on the steps of the principal entrance. After the
necessary enquiries, I was conducted by a servant to a
little grove, on entering which, a building with a glass
covering, that at first sight appeared to be a green-house
presented itself. The man who accompanied me opened
a little wicket, and on looking in, I perceived imme-
diately under the glass, a bath with a current of water,
supplied from a pond behind. On approaching the door,
two
if it happened to rain, he would make his attendants get
into the carriage, observing, “ that they were gaudily
dressed, and not inured to wet, and might therefore
spoil their clothes, and occasion an illness.” He after-
wards constructed a bath contiguous to his house, which
was so contrived as to be rendered tepid by the rays of
the sun only. The frequency of his ablutions was asto-
nishing ; his constitution was at length accustomed to the
practice, and was materially improved by these repeated
purifications.
A gentleman, who happened a few years since to be in
the neighbourhood of Mountmorris, resolved to procure a
sight of this extraordinary character, who had then ac-
ceded to the title of Lord Rokeby. On my way, says he,
at the summit of the hill above Hythe, which affords
a most delightful prospect, I perceived a fountain of pure
water, over-running a bason which had been placed for
it by his lordship. I was informed that there were
many such on the same road, and that he was accus-
tomed to bestow a few half crown pieces, plenty of
which he always kept in a loose side-pocket, on any
water-drinkers he might happen to find partaking of his
favourite beverage, which he never failed to recommend
with peculiar force and persuasion. On my approach, I
stopped some time to examine the mansion. It is a good
plain gentleman’s seat; the grounds were abundantly
stocked with black cattle, and I could perceive a horse
or two on the steps of the principal entrance. After the
necessary enquiries, I was conducted by a servant to a
little grove, on entering which, a building with a glass
covering, that at first sight appeared to be a green-house
presented itself. The man who accompanied me opened
a little wicket, and on looking in, I perceived imme-
diately under the glass, a bath with a current of water,
supplied from a pond behind. On approaching the door,
two