TOPIARY 5 



examples of Topiary work on a large scale still exist 

 in several British gardens." Turning to the very 

 recent " CasselPs Dictionary of Gardening "an all too 

 concise account is found, but Mr W. P. Wright admits 

 therein that Topiary " finds favour in many quarters 

 to-day, although it only differs in degree and not in 

 principle from the best examples of the Topiary art of 

 the sixteenth century." 



Encyclopaedias tell us very little of Topiary, and even 

 that monumental work the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " 

 contains within its portly tomes no reference to so 

 historically interesting a subject, unless it be curiously 

 hidden away. And even that very useful work 

 " Chambers' s Encyclopaedia" passes over Topiary as 

 though such an art never existed. 



To students of Etymology the word Topiary itself is 

 of considerable interest. For the present work it must 

 suffice to say that it is derived from the Latin topiarzus, 

 pertaining to ornamental gardening. One dictionary 

 definition or meaning of the word is "shaped by cutting 

 or clipping " and horticulturists will agree that this 

 definition is both clever and descriptive, for Topiary 

 work consists in giving all kinds of more or less fanciful 

 forms to trees, hedges, and arbours. 



An interesting reference is made in the " History of 

 Oxfordshire " to the use of the phrase " Topiary Work." 

 It is stated therein that " at Hampton Court, which was 

 laid out about the middle of the reign of Henry VIII. 

 by Cardinal Wolsey, there was a labyrinth, which still 

 exists, covering only the quarter of an Acre of ground, 

 yet its walks extending by their volutions over nearly 

 half a mile. The walls also were covered with Rosemary. 

 It was also long celebrated for its trees cut into grotesque 

 forms, which Dr Plot admired and dignified with the 

 name of Topiary Works." 



