88 THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN 



a work stated to be " faithfully collected out of 

 sundry Dutch and French authors," a chapter is 

 devoted entirely to the times and seasons which 

 should be selected " to sow and replant all manner 

 of seeds," with special reference to the phases of the 

 moon. 



John Evelyn, in his " Sylva, or a Discourse on 

 Forest Trees," first published in 1662, remarks on 

 the attention paid by woodmen to the moon's 

 influence on trees. He writes: " Then for the age 

 of the Moon, it has religiously been observed; and 

 that Diana's presidency ' in sylvis ' was not so much 

 celebrated to credit the fictions of the poets, as for 

 the dominion of that moist planet and her influence 

 over timber." 



The Man in the Moon. 



There are, as may well be imagined, several 

 curious legends to account for the Man in the 

 Moon. One version says that on a Christmas Eve 

 a peasant felt a great desire to eat a cabbage; and 

 having none himself, he crept stealthily into his 

 neighbour's garden to cut some. Just as he had 

 filled his basket, the Christ-Child rode past on a 

 white horse, and said: " Because thou hast stolen 

 in this holy night, thou shalt immediately sit in the 

 Moon with thy basket of cabbage." 



Another version has it that a man stole some vine 

 shoots from a neighbour's garden on a Sunday, and 

 when taxed with the theft the culprit loudly 

 proclaimed his innocence, exclaiming: " If I have 

 committed this crime, may I be sent to the Moon." 

 There he was sent at once, and there he remains 

 to this day. 



