Another Embankment recreation ground is the Island Garden, Poplar, and it is one that is also much appreciated. It was made on some ground not required for ship-building or docks on the river front of the Isle of Dogs, and opened to the public in 1895. The idea of making a garden of it had for some few years been in contemplation, and as soon as the necessary funds were found, this space, somewhat less than three acres, was saved from being built over, and a wide walk of about 700 feet made along the river embankment. The view from the seats, with which it is plentifully supplied, over towards Greenwich Hospital and Park makes it a really charming promenade. The quaint name of this part of London is said to be derived from the fact that the kennels of the sporting dogs of the royal residents of Greenwich Palace were kept there, "which usually making a great noise, the seamen and others thereupon called the place the Isle of Dogs." This seems the most plausible of the various definitions of the name of this peninsula- for it is only an island by means of the dock canal, made in 1800. A quotation from a play of Middleton and Dekker, in 1611, shows that then, at any rate, it was associated with actual dogs.
Moll Cutpurse: O Sir, he hath been brought up in the Isle of Dogs, and can both fawn like a spaniel and bite like a mastiff, as he finds occasion.
The ground in those days and until much later times was a fertile marsh, subject to frequent inundations, but affording very rich pasture. Breaches in the embankment occurred at intervals until a solid pile and brick wall was made in the last century, above which the "Island Gardens" were laid.
