37 



of ediicalion when compared with ihe laity ; and Lad ati iiitor- 

 course with foreign countries, through their hreth'.eii, whi<h 

 facilitated the comniunication of improvements ; even their 

 fasting from animal food, was of benefit to Horticulture, for it 

 rendered them more desirous of superior vegetables, and condi- 

 ments arising from their tribes. Thus Italy, Spain, Germany', 

 France, countries always abounding in the ministers of religion, 

 became distinguished for their culinary vegetables and fruits. It 

 may be added as another truly valuable advantage to Horticulture, 

 secured to it by Religious establishments, that whilst the country 

 at large was devastated in AVar, their property was usually 

 held sacred, and consequently many varieties of vegetables 

 were preserved, which otherwise would soon have become ex- 

 tinct if cultivated only in less hallowed ground. 



From the example of the Ecclesiastics, the higher orders of 

 the laity acquired a similarity of taste, and from these again the 

 fondness for the products of the Garden, and its improvements 

 extended in wider circles. 



Gardens and Orchards are mentioned as being in the posses- 

 sion of the Inhabitants of Monasteries and other Religious 

 establishments in the oldest Chartularios. Of Orchards many 

 ^traces still remain. One in Icolmnkiln, or Cohimbkill, one of 

 the Hebrides, is described by Dr. Walker,* as having existed 

 there probably from the 6th Century.f Canulen, and Leland 

 also mention various other instances in England. The Vine we 

 have seen was introduced by the Romans and was particularly 

 admired, and attended to by the carousing population of that 

 age, if for no other of its qualities than the liipior yielded by its 

 Fruit. Guin-uydden, Guin-bren, Guin-ien, or Fion-ras, its 

 names in the Welch, Cornish, Armorican, and Irish dialects, is 

 literally, the Wine Tree. Vineyards were flourishing here at 



* E-sayn, v. ii. p. 5. f The Monastery of SI. Columba, was foun.kJ 

 there, A. D 566, Gibbon^, Hint, of Koiiic. c xxwii. 



