Glimpses of King William IV. and Queen Adelaide Part 2

'The dinners are always princely, gold plate, quant.i.ties of wax-lights, and servants innumerable, yet very agreeable and with less of form than you could suppose possible.

'Yesterday threatened much rain, but after luncheon it cleared, and we started, four carriages, four in each and a number on horseback, and went to the Fis.h.i.+ng Temple by the Virginia Water to see a model of a vessel to be moved by clockwork. After seeing it exhibited we all took boat, and in parties rowed about that beautiful lake. We had the six-oared boat and various little boats. Prince George and Mr. Hudson rowed Her Majesty about, and the whole had so much ease and good-humour it was very delightful.

'Our evenings are always the same, the band playing most beautifully, work-tables and cards for those who chuse.

'The first evening the Queen called us both to her table; the second she sat with the d.u.c.h.ess of Gloucester till her bedtime, so that we had not much of her company. She is always about some elegant work, which she does remarkably well, and has a great deal of cheerful conversation.

'This is our third day, and we leave on Monday. Our invitations say when we are to come and when to go, which is very agreeable. We have our time to ourselves in our own sitting-room from breakfast till luncheon at two.

'So I have scribbled to you, though no post goes till to-morrow. A trio of kind regards.

'Yours truly, 'M. c.l.i.tHEROW.'

V

THE ROYAL BIRTHDAY FeTES

THE following year found Colonel c.l.i.therow's time greatly occupied with the treasurers.h.i.+p of the Sons of the Clergy Corporation, and with a visitation of their estates in various parts of the country, which he found in such woeful condition that they would cost 'some thousands to repair and rebuild, or their ruin was certain.' This visitation, which took him and his party by slow stages as far as Yorks.h.i.+re, probably accounts for our finding but one letter about the Court this year. It was written from Rise Park, the seat of their cousin, Mr. Beth.e.l.l, M.P., on October 1, 1833. After an account of their journeys, and a description of Mr. Beth.e.l.l's well-kept grounds, Miss c.l.i.therow proceeds:

'Now, from the Fens I will take you to the Forest. The cottage where George IV. lived so much has been pulled down, except a banquetting room, the conservatory, and a few small rooms for the gardener. Here the preparations were made for a morning fete on the Queen's birthday [August 13], and, as a surprise to her, the magnificent Burmese tents, which she had never seen, were put up. I never saw anything prettier than the whole scene, and the day was lovely. The tents the most brilliant scarlet, ornamented with gold and silver, silver poles, and a silvered velvet carpet, embroidered with gold and silver. The hangings, sofas, and seats were all of Eastern splendour, and at the end was a large gla.s.s. The company was very select, and the morning dresses becoming and elegant. Two bands of music (Guards) played alternately. A guard of honour and numbers of officers were present. Everybody seemed gay and in their best fas.h.i.+on. The King and Queen, with about forty guests, dined in the room, about as many more in a long, canvas room.

The tables had fruit, flowers, ornaments, confectionery, a few pyramids of cold tongue, ham, chicken, and raised pies. Then you had handed to you soups, fish, turtle, venison, and every sort of meat. Toasts were given, cannon fired, and both bands united in the appropriate national airs. Altogether it was a sort of enchantment. At seven fifteen of the King's carriages and many private carriages took the party to the Castle to dress for an evening a.s.sembly, where about two hundred were asked. We were the envy of many in being allowed to go home, having had the cream of the day. Nothing could be a greater compliment than our being asked in the morning. We were the only unt.i.tled people. The King had filled the Castle, Round Tower, and c.u.mberland Lodge, and had not a bed to offer. So he invited us, saying: "Come at three. We dine at four. And then go away at seven, and be home by daylight, for we cannot give you beds."

'To his own birthday [August 21] we had the general invitation for the evening, and the old trio went from Boston House at seven, and got back by two. The n.o.ble Castle, so lit up, was a magnificent sight. The Queen was quite the Queen, for it was very mixed society--too much so for Royal presence. The good-humoured King asks everybody, and it was a crowd! But she sat with the Royal d.u.c.h.esses only, attended by her ladies, and she was dressed much finer than her usual style. She twice conversed with us, and when she left the room came up to us, shook each by the hand, and was so sorry we had to go home so far.

'My brother and Mrs. c.l.i.therow called at Windsor to take leave before we left home for so many weeks, and after luncheon with her and the King, she took them into her own room to see a bust of the little niece that she nursed with such motherly affection, Princess Louise, and then gave them two prints of herself and two of Prince George of Cambridge, the best likeness I have seen of her. She said, "One for Miss c.l.i.therow, the other for you two, because you are as one." All she does in such a gracious, pretty manner.'

In the winter the c.l.i.therows spent three days at Brighton, dining each day at the Pavilion. The King was remarkably well, but the Queen unfortunately was confined to her room, and was only able to see Mrs.

c.l.i.therow on one evening. 'Then,' Miss c.l.i.therow adds:

'She could really enjoy her society, which in the drawing-room is impossible. Grandees must come in your way. Lady Falkland only was with her, which made a trio.

'I hope you and your belongings are well, and, with our united, kind regards,

'Believe me, 'Sincerely yours, 'MARY c.l.i.tHEROW.'

VI

DINNER TO THEIR MAJESTIES AT BOSTON HOUSE

OUR next glimpse of their Majesties is not _from_, but _at_ Boston House. This unsought honour was rather deprecated, though thoroughly appreciated by their hosts, who, in spite of their intimacy with the King and Queen, never made any pretension to be more than simple gentlefolk. Colonel c.l.i.therow was the first commoner whom William IV.

so honoured, probably the only one, and instances of other monarchs doing the like must be few and far between. In this case, doubtless, both their Majesties regarded it as an act of simple friends.h.i.+p, and not in any way as one of condescension.

'BOSTON HOUSE, 'July 10, 1834.

'On June 28, 1884, their Majesties honoured old Boston House with their company to dinner. They came by Gunnersby and through our farm at our suggestion; it is so much more gentlemanly an approach than through Old Brentford.

'The people were collected in numbers and Dr. Morris's school, and they gave them a good cheer. We then let the boys through the garden into the orchard by the flower-garden, where my brother had given leave for the neighbours to be, and it seemed as if two hundred were collected.

'We had our haymakers the opposite side of the garden, and kept the people, hay-carts, etc., for effect, and it was cheerful and pretty.

The weather was perfect, and the old place never looked better.

'They arrived at seven, and we sat down to dinner at half-past. During that half hour the Queen walked about the garden, even down to the bottom of the wood. The haymakers cheered her, and had a pail of beer, and when she came round to the house, instead of turning in she most good-humouredly walked on to the flower-garden, and stood five minutes chatting to the party, which gave the natives time to get her dress by heart. It was very simple--all white, little bonnet and feathers.

'The King had a slight touch of hay asthma, the Princess Augusta a slight cold, and therefore they declined going out, which separated the party, and was a great disappointment to the people. We had police about to keep order, the bells rang merrily, and all went well. We received them in our new-furnished library.

'When dinner was announced the King took Jane, my brother the Queen, and they sat on opposite sides, the d.u.c.h.ess of Northumberland[*] the other side of the King, Lord Prudhoe[**] the other side of the Queen, General c.l.i.therow and General Sir Edward Kerrison top and bottom, and the rest as they chose--Princess Augusta, Lord and Lady Howe, Lady Brownlow,[***] Lady Clinton,[****] Lady Isabella Wemyss, Colonel Wemyss, Miss c.l.i.therow, Miss Wynyard, Mrs. Bullock, and Mr. Holmes.

That makes nineteen. The Duke of c.u.mberland[*****] was to have been the twentieth, but Mr. Holmes brought a very polite apology just as we were going in to dinner. The House of Lords detained him.

[*] Wife of Hugh, third Duke, and daughter of the first Earl Powis. She was governess to H.R.H. the Princess Victoria, our late gracious Queen.

[**] Algernon Percy, second surviving son of the second Duke of Northumberland, F.R.S., and Captain R.N.; born 1792. Created Baron Prudhoe 1816. On the death of his brother he succeeded to the dukedom, which, on his death in 1865, pa.s.sed to his cousin, the second Earl of Beverley.

[***] Emma Sophia, daughter of the second Earl of Mount Edgec.u.mbe; born 1791, married, 1828, the first Earl Brownlow. She was Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Adelaide.

[****] Widow of the seventeenth Baron Clinton, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Adelaide. In 1835 she married Sir Horace Beauchamp Seymour, K.C.H.

[*****] He became King of Hanover on the death of William IV.

'As to the dinner, it was so perfect that it was impossible to know a single thing on the table, and that, you know, must be termed a proper dinner for such a party. My brother gave a _carte blanche_ to Sir Edward Kerrison's Englishman cook, and, to give him his due, he gave us as elegant a dinner as ever I saw. Our waiting was particularly well done--so quiet, no in and out of the room. Everything was brought to the door, and there were sideboards all round the room, with everything laid out to prevent clatter of knives, forks, and plates. Etiquette allows the lady's own footman in livery, and we had ten out of livery, the King and Queen's pages, seven gentlemen borrowed of our friends, and our own butler. They all continued waiting till the ladies left the room.

'We were well lit, wax on the table and lamps on the sideboards, and many a face I saw taking a peep in at the windows. The room was cool, for the Queen asked to have the top sashes down.

'The King was not in his usual spirits. He said had it been the day before he must have sent his excuses. The Queen was all animation, and the rest of the party most chatty and agreeable. The King bowed to the Queen when the ladies were to move.

'Our evening was short, as they went at half-past ten. The Princess played on the piano, and my brother and Mrs. Bullock sang one of Ariole's duets at the Queen's request. When they went the sweep was full of people to see them go, and their Majesties were cheered out of the grounds.

'We had with us our little nephew Salkeld,[*] whom my brother puts to Dr. Morris's school. He came in to dessert, a day the child can never forget. The King asked him many questions, which he answered distinctly, with a profound bow, and then backed away. He looked so pretty, for the awe of Royalty brought all the colour to his cheeks. I felt rather proud of him, he did it so gracefully. The Queen told him she hoped he would make as good a man as his excellent uncle. After dinner the Princess Augusta called him to her in the drawing-room, saying, "I like that little fellow's countenance; he is quite a c.l.i.therow." She talked to him of cricket, football, and hockey, telling him when she was a little girl she played at all these games with her brother, and played cricket particularly well.

[*] He became a hero in the Indian Mutiny, losing his life in volunteering to blow up the Cashmere Gate at Delhi in 1857.

'That we are proud of this day we cordially own, for my brother is the first commoner their Majesties have so honoured; but we feel we ought not to have done it. When Jane, with her honesty, told the Queen we were not in a situation to receive such an honour, her answer was: "Mrs. c.l.i.therow, you are making me speeches. If it is wrong I take the blame, but I was determined to dine once again at Boston House with you.'

'The absurd conjecture of people at the expence of the day to my brother induces me to tell you what it actually was, as we should be ashamed at the sum guessed at. I have made the closest calculation I possibly can, which includes fees to borrowed servants, ringers, police, carriage of things from and to London, and I have got to 44.

Never was less wine drank at a dinner, and that I cannot estimate, but 6, I think, must cover that. We had two men cooks, for he brought his friend, and we got all they asked for. Really, I think we were let off very well at 50.

'And now a word of our delights at the Abbey. The good Bishop of Landaff, Copleston, gave us six reserve tickets, and we bought three.

Mrs. Bullock, Jane, and myself went twice, my brother three times, and we all four went to the first rehearsal. We did enjoy it most thoroughly!

'I delight in the thought of you surrounded by your family party, and wish I could peep in. Remember us most kindly to them.

'Ever yours affectionately, 'MARY c.l.i.tHEROW.'

VII