230
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. v. SEPT.,
century antiquary and collator, notes
another derivation which he says is quite
" legendary and fabulous." The substance
is that St. John the Evangelist, under the
guise of an old beggar, asked alms of
King Edward the Confessor. The King,
having nothing else at hand ready to
bestow upon him, gave him a ring off
his finger. Some years after, St. John
sent him this ring back by two English
pilgrims to Rome, with w r arning that
he would die within six months. They
delivered the message and ring to him at
Havering-Bower, which was the accustomed
retiring place of the Saxon kings, and
particularly of King Edward the Confessor,
for he took a great delight in its woody
solitudes as fitting for his private devotions
and saintly meditations. The suffix of
" Bower " added to it meant that it included
the Dower House as in the case of Rosa-
mund's Bower at Woodstock. Georgian
writers concur in describing the area as a
most charming spot in their clay, " having a
beautifully expansive prospect over a great
part of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middle-
sex, and Surrey, and also a view of the
Thames with shipping continually sailing up
and down."
And besides the palace here vouched to have been built there was another near by at Pyrgo which belonged to the Queens of England for centuries, where they resided at their own conveiiiency, and probably during their widowhood or the absence of their spouses on the wars. For Havering was usually part of the queen's jointure. Matilda, the wife of King Henry I., built Old Bow Bridge across the Lea in order to get to " Pyrgo " without danger at the ferry, and " as a mark of gratitude for her preservation from the peril of a great flood that beset the River Lea." Eleanor, Queen of King Edward I., appears to have enjoyed Pyrgo's peace ; and it otherwise appears that in her time both Havering-Bower and Pyrgo hfl.d parks. In the time of Anne, Queen of King Richard II., who held this Manor of Havering in dower, it was valued at 100Z. per annum. The old Georgian scholars used to suggest that " Pyrgo " (the name has been most variously spelt through the ages) derives its title from the fact that it was originally a park gateway before the Dower House itself was erected and its own demesne and park created out of the primeval forest land. Joan, widow of King Henry IV., died there in July, 1437. When Queen Mary was made the medium of pacification between her father and the Emperor Charles V., she
was residing with! her brother Edward a
her sister Elizabeth at Havering-BoM
Coming to post-Reformation times,
is seen that Queen Elizabeth, in Ap
1559, granted to Sir John Gray the i
and capital messuage of Pyrgo and 1
appurtenances and park. This Sir J<
Gray was the second son of Thomas Gri
the Marquis of Dorset who was the grand;
of Sir John Gray and Elizabeth Woodvi
afterwards Queen of King Edward !
And his eldest brother, Henry Gray, Di
of Suffolk, was the father of the Lady Jf
Gray, the Nine Days' Queen of Engla]
The estate was eventually sold to Sir Thon
Cheke, grandson of the learned Sir Jo
Cheke, who had got it, apparently,
one of the tutors of King Edward ^
When that family had died out it ca:
to Thomas Archer by marriage, and
was created Baron Archer on July 14, 17
and was the holder of the property a
in residence when Philip Morant publish
his portly tomes on the history and arc
quities of the county of Essex.
For the assistance of those who explore 1 county by map it may be stated that 1 Manor of Dagenham "stands south-east Pyrgo, bordering upon South Weald ; a that the road is, at normal times and seaso tolerably good, and certainly is full of inter to all concerned in Old England and its Ic and varied history. Me,
SWIFT AND MBS. OLDFIELD. In
' Journal to Stella,' Swift, under date April
1713, writes :
" I was this morning at ten at the rehearsal Mr. Addison's play, called Cato, which is to acted on Friday. There were not above haU score of us to see it. We stood on the stage, i it was foolish enough to see the actors promp every moment, and the poet directing the and the drab that acts Cato's daughter, out in midst of a passionate part, and then calling ' What's next ? ' '
Resenting this uncomplimentary appellati Mr. Fyvie in his ' Tragedy Queens of 1 Georgian Era,' 1909, runs to Mrs. Oldfiel protection, sword in hand :
" Swift's reference to her as ' the drab t acts Cato's daughter ' is merely an instance of habit that acrid genius had of flinging his grading epithets indiscriminately at high i low." P. 57.
Though Swift could, on occasion, rage w volcanic fury, the 'Journal' (1710-13), a whole, displays an evenness of temper wh is seldom ruffled save by excessively 1 weather, or when his man absents hims
