Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-01-28
A Great Poet but had Neighbour.
LORD TENNYsON By NO MEANS POPULAR ON tn
ISLE OF WIGHT.

ISLE OF WIGHT.
Correspondence OF st. Louis Republican
My lord, the laureate, was OF ON o visit to Lon.
don when came down, ami that was one reason
went, for had heard that he lived the life of a
hermit, except to his most intimate friends, and
that when he was at home no stranger was
allowed within the grounds. His place is fanci.
ful, picturesque old house, covered with Ivy and
climbing roses, with quaint old Dutch dorper
windows and an Odd-lOOking roof. 1t would puzzle
an architectural expert to determine the order to
which the structure belongs, and 1t looks like q
congOmerate, originally built without design, and
OF an increasing family, without rhyme or reason.
AS bright young lady In my party remarked: at
looked like his last poem"
failed to enter his lordships castle. The lodge
keeper got very much excited when asked per-
mission to enter the grounds and said that 1t was
as much as mis- place was worth to open the gates
gers proving around. He used to admit them, the
man said, but they cut the shrubbery with their
knives. and carried away with them large punches
would tear his house down. He had therefore ap-
piled for permission to have his carry
agun, favor granted by the authorities OF England
only upon the payment Of a license fee, and had
instructed him to shoot all trespassers according
to a notice that was posted cOnSpicuOuSly at the
gates But the silver key that opens everything
for me. The l0dge-keeper growled a little, and
said that he was afraid OF summary discharge II he
did not divide with the housekeeper, SO gave him
road that leads TO the residence.
The neighbOr5 give his lOrdShip bad name.
They say he is most diSagreeable persOn-stingy,
crusty, and the cause OF much annoyance to them.
Not long ago he mad a farmer arrested Tor burning
the stuDble in his fields. There was no danger to
his property from the fire. but the smoke made the
laureate cough. The court refused to punish the
man, but II cost him almost the entire profits on
his crop to pay the court fees and the lawyers.
The hOusekeeper let me look about the place,
and rambled through the rOSe-covered arbOrs and
among the lilies, OF which he Is very fond and has
great prOfusion but she would not admit me
within the walls, even for a fee as she said It
would certainly lie found out, as 'his ludship was
as sharp as ferret" so l had TO be content with
looking at the outside.
Tennyson came to live in the Farringford house
soon after his marriage to the daughter OF Henry
Snellwood nearly half a century ago, and 1t has
since been his residence. 1t is one Of the Oldest
seats on the island. having been the property of
the FarringfOrd family for several centuries. and
although he has other residences, he likes it the
best and spends most OF his time here. The neigh
borS told me he Was much away during the FASH
1onaDe season on the island, as the summer cot
tagers disturb his meditatiOnS while he is at home
and annoy him by driving on the narrow road
ways and stirring up the dust. When they come
he goes not TO return till they leave that they
see Little OF him. He entertainS few friends and
leads The lie OF hermit. Some say that 1t Is his
Liver and others that it Is the govt.
He works in the morning in little room under
the roof with an Oriei window, and In the after
noon drives about or walks alone among the mon
Strous trees that decorate his grounds.