. The century illustrated monthly magazine . tern, called Pryors Bank. The back lookstowards the church; the front, with its gar-dens, faces the river. Its present name was given to it in 1834, when it came into the pos-session of two kindly disciples of CaptainGrose, who filled it with good-fellowship, andan omnium gatherum of auld nick-nackets,Rusty airn cups, and jingling jackets, long since dispersed under the hammer,but of which Mr. Crofton Croker has givena minute account in his Walk from Londonto Fulham. Farther down the lane, on aspot now occupied by the unsightly aqueductwhich crosses
. The century illustrated monthly magazine . tern, called Pryors Bank. The back lookstowards the church; the front, with its gar-dens, faces the river. Its present name was given to it in 1834, when it came into the pos-session of two kindly disciples of CaptainGrose, who filled it with good-fellowship, andan omnium gatherum of auld nick-nackets,Rusty airn cups, and jingling jackets, long since dispersed under the hammer,but of which Mr. Crofton Croker has givena minute account in his Walk from Londonto Fulham. Farther down the lane, on aspot now occupied by the unsightly aqueductwhich crosses the river at the old bridge,stood Egmont Lodge, where Theodore Hookresided for the last ten years of his life. Hewas a frequent guest at Pryors Bank, and anindispensable ally in the mediaeval mummeriesand modern high-jinks which delighted itsantiquarian proprietors. Barham has left us apassing idea of this secluded little retreat,with its high-walled garden and pet gulls;but his unwilling picture of the failing joke- 178 A LITERARY ALONG THE TOW-PATH. spinner, sinking deeper and deeper into debt,over-burdened with literary work, and makingdesperate efforts (with the aid of brandy andwater) to sustain his reputation as a diner-out,is a profoundly depressing one. It was whileHook was at Egmont Lodge that the authorof Ingoldsby Legends, calling one day atthe house in its masters absence, left the fol-lowing impromptu lines behind him—lineswhich Mr. Locker has thought good enoughto be preserved in Lyra Elegantiarum : As Dick and I Were a-sailing byAt Fulham bridge, I cocked my eye, And says I, * Add-zooks ! Theres Theodore Hooks,Whose Sayings and Doings made such pretty books. I wonder, says I, Still keeping my eyeOn the house, if hes in — I should like to try. With his oar on his knee, Says Dick, says he, Father, suppose you land and see! A LITERARY RAMBLE. 179
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectamerica, bookyear1882
