GARDEN-CRAFT. 



old writer of the sixteenth century, describes them as 

 placed in divers corners of the orchard, their ascent 

 being made by "stares of precious workmanship." 

 When of wood, the mount was often elaborately 

 painted. 



An account of works done at Hampton Court 

 in the time of Henry VHI,, mentions certain ex- 

 penses incurred for " anticke " works ; and referring 

 to Bailey's Dictionary, published early in the last 

 century, the word "antick," as applied to curiously- 

 shaped trees, still survives, and is explained as " odd 

 figures or shapes of men, birds, beasts, &c., cut out." 

 From the above references, and others of like nature, 

 we know that the topiary art ("opus topiarum"), 

 which dealt in quaintly-shaped trees and shrubs, was 

 in full practice here throughout the latter half of the 

 middle ages. Samuel Hartlib, in a book published 

 in 1659, writes thus : " About fifty years ago Ingenu- 

 ities first began to flourish in England." Lawson, 

 writing in a jocose vein, tells how the lesser wood 

 might be framed by the gardener "to the shape of 

 men armed in the field ready to give battell ; or 

 swift-running greyhounds, or of well-scented and 

 true-running hounds to chase the deere or hunt 

 the hare"; adding as a recommendation that "this 

 kinde of hunting shall not waste your corne, nor much 

 your coyne ! " 



I find that John Leland in his Itinerary, 1540, 

 further confirms the use of highly-decorated mounts : 

 as at Wressel Castle, Yorkshire, he tells of the gar- 

 dens with the mote, and the orchards as exceeding 



