EVOLUTION OF THE GARDEN 11 



he was destined to love and which, after many ad- 

 ventures and trials, he was eventually to pluck and 

 cherish. 



This fanciful old allegory made a strong appeal 

 to the illustrators of the Thirteenth and later cen- 

 turies; and many beautiful editions are prized by 

 libraries and preserved in glass cases. The edition 

 from which the illustration (Fifteenth Century) is 

 taken is from the Harleian MS. owned by the British 

 Museum. 



II 



The Garden of Delight 



The old trouveres did not hesitate to stop the 

 flow of their stories to describe the delights and 

 beauties of the gardens. Many romantic scenes are 

 staged in the "Pleasance," to which lovers stole 

 quietly through the tiny postern gate in the walls. 

 When we remember what the feudal castle was, 

 with its high, dark walls, its gloomy towers and 

 loop-holes for windows, its cold floors, its secret 

 hiding-places, and its general gloom, it is not sur- 

 prising that the lords and ladies liked to escape into 

 the garden. After the long, dreary winter what joy 

 to see the trees burst into bloom and the tender 



