He was a man of singular temper and habits ; for ten years preceding his death, on January 24th, 1781, he lived here part of the year, and when in residence, nothing but the most urgent business could draw him out of doors. He occasionally visited the Collier family at the Mansion (now Old Hastings House) and the Earl of Ashburnham, while his friend, Garrick, frequently visited him here. Capel was one of the Commentators of Shakespeare. An account of this singular man is given in Nichol's "Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century," vol. J., p. 475-6. It is said that Garrick brought him a slip from Shakespeare's Mulberry Tree at Stratford-on-Avon. and planted it in the garden of East Hill House, and it is still there. Capel held the office of Censor of Plays under
the Government. He was born at Troston, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, and was buried there. This house was for many years occupied by the Rev. J. H. Fiske, well remembered for his charitable nature, and his peculiar custom of walking through the streets on New Year's Day, followed by a crowd of fisher lads, who scrambled for the money he threw amongst them, singing the following:
" Bundle 'em in and bundle 'em out,
Turn 'em in and turn 'em out,
New Year's in and Old Year's out,
Rout, Rout, Your money out."
