Darn it!
You beat me to the buzzer.
Upstream it is.
In the attached .gif (courtesy of Mapquest), you'll see that the River Lea joins the Thames near Canary Wharf, a good ways downstream of the Middle Temple, denoted by the red star on the left.
>>> andrew zurcher <[log in to unmask]> 05/16/08 3:36 PM >>>
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Subject: Re: up or down
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> As the swan brides of the "Prothalamion" approach the former Leicester
> House, now occupied by Essex, are they proceeding upstream, or
> downstream?
Hi David,
I think: Essex House was located directly upstream from Temple stairs on
the north bank of the Thames. So, given that those birds passed the Temple
first (st. 8: 'those bricky towres'), and only then reached the 'stately
place', it looks as if they were travelling upstream.
(If you're looking at the Agas map, Essex House was Leicester House was
Paget Place.)
andrew
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