52 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



arbor, we will eat a last year's pippin of my own 

 grafting with a dish of carraways and so forth." * 



The uses of the Elizabethan garden were many: 

 to walk in, to sit in, to dream in. Here the courtier, 

 poet, merchant, or country squire found refreshment 

 for his mind and recreation for his body. The gar- 

 den was also intended to supply flowers for nose- 

 gays, house decoration, and the decoration of the 

 church. Sweet-smelling herbs and rushes were 

 strewn upon the floor as we know by Grumio's order 

 for Petruchio's homecoming in "The Taming of the 

 Shrew." One of Queen Elizabeth's Maids of 

 Honor had a fixed salary for keeping fresh flowers 

 always in readiness. The office of "herb-strewer to 

 her Majesty the Queen" was continued as late as 

 1713, through the reign of Anne and almost into 

 that of George I. 



The houses were very fragrant with flowers in 

 pots and vases as well as with the rushes on the floor. 

 Flowers were therefore very important features in 

 house decoration. A Dutch traveler, Dr. Leminius, 

 who visited England in 1560, was much struck by 

 this and wrote : 



"Their chambers and parlors strewed over with 

 sweet herbs refreshed me; their nosegays finely in- 



'"King Henry IV"; Part II, Act V, Scene III. 



