IZAAK WALTON'S ASSOCIATION WITH THE RIVER LEA. 193
Elizabeth frequently stayed there, and it was the favourite hunting
seat of James I., who, on his way from Scotland to London, was
nobly entertained there by Sir Robert Cecil (afterwards Earl of
Salisbury). So pleased was the king with this place that he gave
Hatfield in exchange for it. He then enlarged the park, and
enclosed it with a brick wall ten miles in circumference. Here
he kept not only red deer and fallow deer, but also elk, which
were presented to him in 1612 by the Marquis of Brandenburgh.
They were still there in 1624. The red deer were imported from
Denmark in 1612. There were still wild red deer, however, as well
as fallow deer outside the park walls, in Epping Forest, Enfield
Chace, and Hoddesdon Woods. It is probable that he also turned
out in this park some of the wild boars which he imported from
France and Germany. At Theobalds he had a heronry, and a large
pigeon-house wherein he kept pigeons for his hawks, and he also
kept silkworms. On a large pool with an island in it, he kept wild
fowl which were netted for him in Lincolnshire.
It does not appear that he cared much for fishing, except by
proxy with trained cormorants, with which he sometimes amused
himself." His chief delight was in hunting and hawking, and to
these sports while staying at Theobalds nearly all his time was
devoted. It was here that the king died on the 27th March, 1625. In
1650 the greater portion of the building was taken down, and what
remained of the place in 1765 was demolished in that year, when
the park was converted into farms.3
The inhabitants of Edmonton formerly had right of common
upon Enfield Chace, and when the Chace was divided in 1777, a
tract of some 1,200 acres was allotted to the parish. Upon part of
the Chace a fair, known as "Bush Fair," was held twice a year.
James I. threw this part of the Chace into his park of Theobalds,
but granted a patent for holding the fair elsewhere, and under the
name of "Beggar's Bush Fair," it continued to be held until about
five-and-twenty years ago.
Before quitting Theobalds, it may be of interest to mention that
the owner of the modern house upon this ancient site, Sir Henry
Meux, having purchased the old "Temple Bar" upon its demolition
in Fleet Street, caused it to be removed and re-erected as an entrance
gate to his park.
2 Harting, "Essays on Sport and Natural History,'' p. 430.
3 Harting's edition of Walton's "Angler," vol. i., p. 38 note.