nine o'clock
On the extreme east of the marine horizon , St. Aldhelm 's Head closed the scene , the sea to the southward of that point glaring like a mirror under the sun . Inland could be seen Badbury Rings , where a beacon had been recently erected ; and nearer , Rainbarrow , on Egdon Heath , where another stood : farther to the left Bulbarrow , where there was yet another . Not far from this came Nettlecombe Tout ; to the west , Dogberry Hill , and Black ` on near to the foreground , the beacon thereon being built of furze faggots thatched with straw , and standing on the spot where the monument now raises its head . At nine o'clock the troops marched upon the ground -- some from the camps in the vicinity , and some from quarters in the different towns round about . The approaches to the down were blocked with carriages of all descriptions , ages , and colours , and with pedestrians of every class . At ten the royal personages were said to be drawing near , and soon after the King , accompanied by the Dukes of Cambridge and Cumberland , and a couple of generals , appeared on horseback , wearing a round hat turned up at the side , with a cockade and military feather . -LRB- Sensation among the crowd . -RRB-