Westward, Beyond The Still Pleasant, But Even Then No Longer Solitary,
Hamlet Of Charing, A Broad Space, Broken Here And There By Scattered
Houses And Venerable Pollards, In the Early Spring of 1467, Presented
The Rural Scene For The Sports And Pastimes Of The Inhabitants Of
Westminster And London. Scarcely Need we Say That Open Spaces For The
Popular Games And Diversions Were Then Numerous In the Suburbs Of The
Metropolis,--Grateful To Some The Fresh Pools Of Islington; To Others,
The Grass-Bare Fields Of Finsbury; To All, The Hedgeless Plains Of
Vast Mile-End. But The Site To Which We Are Now Summoned was A New
And Maiden Holiday-Ground, Lately Bestowed upon The Townsfolk Of
Westminster By The Powerful Earl Of Warwick.