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Royal Tunbridge Wells
when the Court was there, however, its pleasures were less rural and simple than usual, the amours of the King and Prince Rupert and of lesser folk being notorious, and a visit of the players from Drury Lane to perform before their Majesties bringing a whiff of the atmosphere of the metropolis that may have been agreeable enough, but can scarcely be regarded as healthy. To Grammont historians of " The Wells " must be grateful, for from his Memoirs come the first descriptions of the place :—
" Tunbridge [Wells] is the same distance from London that Fontainebleau is from Paris, and is, at the season, the general rendezvous of all the gay and handsome of both sexes. The company though always numerous, is always select: since those who repair thither for diversion, ever exceed the number of those who go thither for health, every thing there breathes mirth and pleasure : constraint is banished, familiarity is established upon the first acquaintance, and joy and pleasure are the sole sovereigns of the place.
" The company are accommodated with lodgings in little, clean, and convenient habitations, that lie straggling and separated from 42 |
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