Barn Elms replaced the earlier one occupied by Sir Francis Walsingham, "Elizabeth's Spymaster". Queen Elizabeth I would visit Barn Elms to see her Spymaster. Barn Elms features in English literary history from the time the royalist poet Abraham Cowley moved to the house belonging to John Cartwright in 1663. In the 1660s Barn Elms became a fashionable destination for boating picnics. Samuel Pepys, who arranged many a Sunday afternoon or moonlit evening boating party to Barn Elms himself, recorded that on 26 May 1667: "I walked the length of the Elmes, and with great pleasure saw some gallant ladies and people come
The Merry Monarch (musical) The Merry Monarch (musical) The Merry Monarch is an 1890 comic opera that debuted at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. It is an English adaptation of L'étoile by J. Cheever Goodwin, with new music by Woolson Morse. Presented by actor-manager Francis Wilson and his company, which also featured Marie Jansen, "The Merry Monarch" debuted on August 18, 1890, and ran for 49 performances, through October 4. Though this was not considered a long run for the time, the show was turning large profits, and crowds were being turned away from every performance. The "New York Times" reported on