_Ornamental Hermits_ (Vol. v., p. 123.).--Some fancy of this kind at Mr.
Weld's of Lulworth Castle, in Dorsetshire, exaggerated or highly
coloured by O'Keefe, was supposed to afford the title and principal
incident of his extravagant but laughable comedy of _The London Hermit;
or, Rambles in Dorsetshire_, first played in 1793, with great success,
and revived (cut down to a two-act farce) in 1822. I, too, have heard
the story as told of Mr. Hamilton and Payne's Hill; but I a little doubt
it, because in the elaborate and somewhat pompous description of Payne's
Hill there is no mention of the _Hermitage_; and when I saw it as a show
place a great many years ago, I saw no building of that description;
but, after all, this may have been the original story which O'Keefe
transported into Dorsetshire.