154 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



the Sermon on the Mount, while at Cleeve Prior 

 Manor the twelve apostles hand in hand stand six 

 on one side and six on the other along the pathway 

 from the road to the house. There are fine collec- 

 tions of topiary work at Elvaston and at Ascott 

 "Your Gardiner," writes Lawson, in 1618, "can frame 

 your lesser wood to the shape* of men armed in the 



field, ready to give 

 battell : or swift run- 

 ning Grey Hounds 

 to chase the Deere, 

 or hunt the Hare. 

 This kind of hunt- 

 ing shall not waste 

 your corne nor much 

 your coyne." Bacon 

 despised images cut out in juniper or other gar- 

 den stuff as only fit to amuse children, but when 

 in suitable surroundings, they certainly have a dis- 

 tinct charm. For, above all, a garden should furnish 

 food for the imagination, and these fantastic forms 

 are indeed made of such stuff as dreams. In the 

 sunshine their shapes are vaguely outlined behind 

 the gayly hued flowers; but as the light grows dim, 

 shadows lengthen, and colour becomes indistinguish- 

 able, the quaint images of men and beasts, moving 

 darkly forward from the background, have a mysterious 



A BUTTRESS OF CUPPED YEW rARLEY 



