6 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



A religious significance was attached to almost every 



feature in these pre-Christian gardens. Beasts and 



birds might be the living incarnations of the gods for 



whom they stood as representatives, while trees and 



Religious flowers were revered as godlike attributes. In Egypt, 



pre-chris- the cat was as closely connected with Isis, as the peacock 



t ian 2fU> 



dene. in Italy with Juno, or doves in , v Greece with Aphrodite. 



Tree worship was observed in all these countries. Count 

 Goblet d'Alviella says in the " Migration des Symboles," 

 that the sacred tree as it migrated from country to 

 country was changed into that which was most precious 

 in the estimation of the people. Thus the date-palm in 

 Chaldea, the vine or the fir tree in Assyria, the lotus 

 in Egypt, and the fig in India were regarded with the 

 utmost veneration. 



Egyptian gardens are the earliest of which definite 

 records remain. Pictures and inscriptions, dating far 

 back in the centuries before Christ, show that every 

 Egyptian Egyptian dwelling was built around a series of court- 

 coorts. yards containing vegetation both useful and ornamen- 

 tal. Originally, a row of trees along the inner wall 

 of the building shaded it and the enclosed quadrangle. 

 Later, the tree trunks gave place to solid columns, 

 and the overhanging branches to projecting rafters, 

 which resulted in a general effect foreshadowing 

 the Greek peristyle and the monastic cloisters. In 

 the centre of the quadrangle was a fountain or a 



