The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 17, No. 495, June 25, 1831

Excerpt

HERMITAGE AT FROGMORE.

Frogmore is one of the most delightful of the still retreats of Royalty. It was formerly the seat of the Hon. Mrs. Egerton, of whom it was purchased by Queen Charlotte, in 1792, who made considerable additions to the house and gardens. The grounds were laid out by Uvedale Price, Esq. a celebrated person in the annals of picturesque gardening. The ornamental improvements were made by the direction of the Princess Elizabeth, (now Landgravine of Hesse Homburg,) whose taste for rural quiet we noticed in connexion with an Engraving of Her Royal Highness' Cottage, adjoining Old Windsor churchyard.

Frogmore occupies part of a fertile valley, which divides the Little Park from Windsor Forest, and comprises about thirteen acres. Mr. Hakewill describes it as "diversified with great skill and taste, and a piece of water winds throughout it with a pleasing variety of turn and shape. The trees and shrubs, both native and exotic, which spread their shade and diffuse their fragrance, are disposed with the best effect; while buildings are so placed as to enliven and give character to the general scene. The Ruin was designed by Mr. James Wyatt, and being seated on the bank of the water, as well as in part in the wood, it presents, with its creeping ivy and fractured buttresses, a most pleasing object from various points of the garden. The Hermitage (see the Engraving) is a small circular thatched building, completely embowered in lofty trees, and was constructed from a drawing of the Princess Elizabeth. There is also a Gothic Temple, sacred to solitude, and a well-imagined and picturesque barn, which heighten the appropriate scenery. Too much cannot be said of the secluded beauty of this charming spot, and nothing further need be said of the taste and judgment of Major Price, to whom its arrangements have been entrusted."

The Hermitage contains a tablet spread with fruit, eggs, and bread, and a figure of a hermit reading the Scriptures; at the entrance are the following lines, written on the marriage of the Princess Royal:—

Ye whom variety delights,

Descend awhile from Windsor's heights,

And in this hovel deign to tread,

Quitting the castle for the shed;

Such were the muse's favourite haunts,

From care secluded and from wants.

What nature needs this but can give,

Could we as nature dictates live;

For see, on this plain board at noon

Are placed a platter and a spoon,

Which, though they mark no gorgeous treat,

Suggest 'tis reasonable to eat.

What though the sun's meridian light

Beams not on our hovel bright,

Though others need, we need him not,

Coolness and gloom befit a cot.

Our hours we count without the sun.

These sands proclaim them as they run,

Sands within a glass confined,

Glass which ribs of iron bind;

For Time, still partial to this glass,

Made it durable as brass,

That, placed secure upon a shelf,

None might crush it but himself.

Let us here the day prolong

With loyal and with nuptial song,

Such as, with duteous strains addrest,

May gratify each royal guest;

Thrice happy, should our rural toils

Be requited by their smiles....