 A Swiss count who arrived in Italy in 1708, is credited with introducing to London the Venetian fashion of a semi-public masquerade ball, to which one might subscribe, with the first being held at Haymarket Opera House.London's public gardens, like Vauxhall Gardens, refurbished in 1732, and Ranelagh Gardens, provided optimal outdoor settings, where characters masked and in fancy dress mingled with the crowds.The reputation for unseemly behavior, unescorted women and assignations motivated a change of name, to the Venetian "ridotto", but as "The Man of Taste" observed in 1733;

In Lent, if masquerades displease the town,
Call 'em Ridottos and they still go down."