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ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Bathing 

 pools. 



Fish-ponds. 



sprinkles those that are standing round." The Duke 

 of Wirtemburg remarked upon one of Queen Elizabeth's 

 few erections at Hampton Court, "a splendid high 

 and massy fountain, with a water-work by which you 

 can, if you like, make the water play upon the ladies 

 and others who are standing by, and give them a 

 thorough wetting." It was evidently considered highly 

 amusing to victimize unfortunates with such practical 

 jokes. Our sense of humour has apparently changed 

 far more than our sense of beauty since the days of 

 the virgin queen. 



Bathing pools are mentioned by Bacon in his essay 

 " On Gardens." He describes a "faire Receipt of 

 Water of some Thirty or Forty Foot Square, but with- 

 out Fish or Slime or Mud," with sides and bottom 

 paved with stone, and water flowing in and out per- 

 petually. It was to be encompassed with "fine Railes 

 of low Statuas," and embellished with coloured glass. 

 A square pool at Penshurst may have been intended 

 for bathing. It is placed at a secluded end of the 

 gardens, and surrounded by a hedge. The illustration 

 shows a corner with steps conveniently placed for a 

 bather leading into the water. 



Many gardens contained fish-ponds, usually built of 

 brick or stone, and of square or oblong shape. In 

 Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia" is described a "fair 

 Pond whose shaking Crystal was a perfect Mirror to 



