Vanbrugh's Travels
'One Storey high, one postern Door,
And one small Chamber on a Floor.'
'He saw the edifice, and smiled,
Vowed it was pretty for a child:’
'Thrice happy poet, who may trail
Thy house about thee, like a snail;
Or harnessed to a nag, at ease,
Take journeys in it like a chaise;
Or in a boat, whene'er thou wilt
Canst make it serve thee for a tilt'
Swift's fictional history for Vanbrugh's 'Goose-pie' house, (poems of 1703, 1709 and 1710).
'a wooden chamber of sixteen foot square, and twelve high, with sash windows, a door, and two closets, like a London bed-chamber...'
‘...not much bigger than what I have seen in a London toy-shop, for the furniture of a baby-house.'
'In journeys, a servant on horseback would buckle my box, and place it on a cushion before him... My box... floated about five foot deep in water... they had. seen a swimming house... he laughed at their folly.'
Swift's Fictional History for Gullivers 'Little' house, Book II, 1726.
This article is available to History Today online subscribers only. If you are a subscriber, please log in.
Please choose one of these options to access this article:
- Purchase an online subscription
- Purchase a print and online subscription
- If you are already a print subscriber, purchase the online archive upgrade
Call our Subscriptions department on +44 (0)20 3219 7813 for more information.
If you are logged in but still cannot access the article, please contact us
If you enjoyed this article, you might like these:
- Home
- Location
- Period
- Themes
- Magazine
- Subscribe
- Archive
- Ebooks
- Reviews
- Blog
- Contact
From The Current Issue
|
Ian F.W. Beckett
|
|
Benn Steil
|
|
Roderick Beaton
|



This article is available to History Today online subscribers only. If you are a subscriber, please 














