l people lived
in the neighbourhood of Woodbridge, and it had a society to which it can
lay no claim at the present time. Edward Fitzgerald, the friend of
Thackeray and Carlyle, himself an author of no mean repute, lived close
by.

That genteel people should have pitched their tents in or around
Woodbridge is not much to be wondered at, as the neighbourhood was
certainly attractive and convenient at the same time. The scenery around
is as interesting as any that could be found, at any rate, in that part
of England. The drive from Tuddenham to Woodbridge, says Mr. Taylor, in
his 'Ipswich Handbook,' is perhaps unequalled in Suffolk. On the road
you pass through the villages of Little and Great Bealings, and if you
are on the look-out for spots which an artist would love to study, you
may make a very short detour to Playford. The churches, both of Little
and of Great Bealings, are very ancient, and well deserve a visit; but
the Woodbridge Road itself passes through some very pretty scenery.
Rushmere Heath, in the early summer time, when the gorse is in bloom, is
one mass of yellow, in the cleared spaces of which may usually be seen a
gipsy encampment. The gibbet once stood on this heath, and in former
times it seems to have been the place where executions usually took
place. It was here that in 1783 a woman, named Bedingfield, was burnt
for murdering her husband. In the early part of this century, when there
were many alarms as to a French invasion, and it was the firm belief of
the old ladies that one fine morning Bony would land upon our shores, and
carry them all away captive, many were the reviews of soldiers held there
by the Duke of Cambridge--whose house has been pointed out to me at
Woodbridge--and the Duke of Kent. At that time it was the fashion to
exercise the volunteers on a Sunday, a practice which would not be
sanctioned in our more religious age. It is a beautiful ride through
Kesgrave. Dense plantations abound on both sides, and in May the chorus
of nightingales is described as something wonderful. In the word
'Kesgrave' we have an allusion to the barrows or tumuli to be seen on
Kesgrave Heath. There are several of these erections remaining to this
day, and perhaps tradition is warranted in speaking of the spot as the
site whereon the Danes and Saxons met in deadly fight. It is certain
that the former frequently came up the Deben and the Orwell. At
Martlesham you see a creek, richly wooded on