on quarrelled and fought at the
Westbourne Bridge, and killed each other, and hence gave rise to the
name. This story may be dismissed as entirely baseless; the real
explanation is much less romantic. The word is probably connected with
the Manor of Neyt, which was adjacent to Westminster, and as
pronunciation rather than orthography was relied upon in early days,
this seems much the most likely explanation. Lysons says: "Adjoining to
Knightsbridge were two other ancient manors called Neyt and Hyde." We
still have the Hyde in Hyde Park, and Neyt is thus identified with
Knightsbridge.

Until the middle of the nineteenth century Knightsbridge was an outlying
hamlet. People started from Hyde Park Corner in bands for mutual
protection at regular intervals, and a bell was rung to warn pedestrians
when the party was about to start. In 1778, when Lady Elliot, after the
death of her husband, Sir Gilbert, came to Knightsbridge for fresh air,
she found it as "quiet as Teviotdale." About forty years before this the
Bristol mail was robbed by a man on foot near Knightsbridge. The place
has also been the scene of many riots. In 1556, at the time of Wyatt's
insurrection, the rebel and his followers arrived at the hamlet at
nightfall, and stayed there all night before advancing on London. As
already explained, the Borough of Kensington does not include
Knightsbridge, but only touches it, and the part we are now in belongs
to Westminster.

The Albert Gate leading into the park was erected in 1844-46, and was,
of course, called after Prince Albert. The stags on the piers were
modelled after prints by Bartolozzi, and were first set up at the
Ranger's Lodge in the Green Park. Part of the foundations of the old
bridge outside were unearthed at the building of the gate, and, besides
this bridge, there was another within the park. The French Embassy,
recently enlarged, stands on the east side of the gate--the house
formerly belonged to Mr. Hudson, the "railway king"--and to the west are
several large buildings, a bank, Hyde Park Court, etc., succeeded by a
row of houses. Here originally stood a famous old tavern, the Fox and
Bull, said to have been founded in the time of Queen Elizabeth; if so,
it must have retained its popularity uncommonly long, for it was noted
for its gay company in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It
is referred to in the _Tatler_ (No. 259), and was visited by Sir Joshua
Reynolds and George Morland, the