aging in 1665. But derivations of
this sort are very easy to make up and entirely unreliable.

Lower and Upper Terraces just behind are full of charming residences. In
the former Constable lived at intervals (No. 2) during 1821, and to the
latter Mrs. Siddons came in the autumn of 1804. In Montague House Sir G.
Scott lived.

Branch Hill runs down into Frognal Rise, and on the west there are one
or two big houses scattered about.

Branch Hill Lodge belonged to Sir Thomas Clarke, Master of the Rolls in
1745, who presented it to Lord Chancellor Macclesfield. It was for a
period the residence of the Earl of Rosslyn, and tradition connects Lord
Byron's name with it. It stands in beautiful and extensive grounds.
Further along Branch Hill Road there are many new terraces and one or
two big houses.

Hollybush Hill is in a straight line with High Street, and between it
and Heath Street there are curious little steep passages and alleys,
which resemble those found in some Continental towns. Hollybush Hill is
associated with the name of Romney the artist, who lived here and built
a studio in 1796. He was then sixty-two, the zenith of his career was
past, he suffered from ill-health and was morbid and irritable. The
studio was converted into Assembly Rooms after his death, and is now
incorporated into the Constitutional Club building which adjoins. This
club is social and Conservative. The exterior is of rusticated woodwork,
and a flagstaff stands before it. In the curious little side-street
known as Holly Mount is the front of the Hollybush Tavern, a stuccoed
building with a somewhat fantastic wooden porch or veranda. Three houses
in a row face the open space at the top of Hollybush Hill. The most
easterly possesses a charming old ironwork gate supported by old brick
piers and the inevitable stone balls. This is protected by an outer
modern gate. All three houses stand back behind gardens, so that only
glimpses of them can be seen from the road.

In Bolton House, the most westerly of the three, Joanna Baillie,
dramatic writer, and her sister Agnes lived. Mr. Shaw, writing in the
"Dictionary of National Biography," says: "Geniality and hospitality
were the characteristics of the two sisters during their residence at
Hampstead, and even when one became an octogenarian and the other a
nonagenarian they could enter keenly into the various literary and
scientific controversies of the day." This is next door to the house
known as