etc., have been found, but the evidences of any Roman
occupation are not very convincing.

Royston is a somewhat quaint town, with some narrow byways and
odd-looking houses, amongst which the Old Plough Inn is not the least
noticeable.

_Rush Green_ (1 mile S. from Ware) is a small hamlet.

_Rushden_, formerly Risendene and Risden (5 miles S.E. from Baldock),
has a stuccoed brick church, Dec. and Perp. Chauncy saw in it, "no
Inscription, Monument, or other Remark," but in 1754 the monument of Sir
Adolphus Meetkerke, Kt., was brought here from St. Botolph's,
Aldersgate. Meetkerke was Ambassador from Flanders to the Court of Queen
Elizabeth, and the author of several volumes. Note the canopy in nave,
thought to have covered a statue of the Virgin. In the reign of Henry
II. the patronage of the church was given by William Basset, Sheriff of
Leicestershire, to the Canons and Church of St. Peter's at Dunstable.

_Rustling Green_ is midway between Knebworth and St. Paul's Walden
Parks. The district is prettily diversified by small woods. By the
shortest way through the park Knebworth Station is about 31/2 miles E.

THE RYE HOUSE, on the W. bank of the river Lea, is a famous resort of
fishermen, excursionists and folk wishing to see the Great Bed of Ware,
brought here from Ware in 1869. The bed is a huge construction of solid
oak, quaintly carved, and large enough to hold twelve adults, as is
proved by a story which can readily be found by the curious, but which
is unfit for repetition in these pages. It is alluded to by Shakespeare,
Byron and other writers. The present Rye House is modern, but attached
to it are some remains of the old House, some account of which must be
given here.

In his description of the "Mannor of the Rye" Chauncy says, "King Henry
VI. granted licence to Andrew Ogard and others, that they might impark
the scite of the Mannor of Rye, otherwise called the Isle of Rye in
Stansted Abbot, fifty Acres of Land, eleven Acres of Meadow, eight Acres
of Pasture and Sixteen Acres of Wood, erect a Castle there with Lime and
Stone, make Battlements and Loopholes &c."[6] The castle built by Ogard
passed into the hands of the Baesh family; it was doubtless in part
rebuilt at different times, for what remains of it is of brick. In
course of time it became the property of Lieut., afterwards Col.,
Rumbold, known as "Hannibal" among his associates, who had been a
private in Fairfax's famous regiment of 1648. This ma