ANTICKE WORKS" 



229 



formed the garden borders hyssop or thyme, laven- 

 der, marjoram and such. These of course were not in- 

 tended really to bewilder the uninitiated, but only to 

 entertain by their tortuous ways. The labyrinth 

 which set the limits for the restless feet of unhappy 

 Mrs. Alexander of Boston was hardly of this order, 

 but rather of the first, set with box probably, which 

 is substantial and lasting. Low-growing and weak 

 herbs would not have met the requirements of so ex- 

 acting a gentleman as this lady's husband, I am sure. 



The terms "maze" and "labyrinth" have practically 

 the same meaning, and are used interchangeably, al- 

 though "labyrinth" appears to have been the earlier. 

 In the remote past, labyrinths were made by cutting 

 their tortuous paths into the earth, like canals, so that 

 a person within one was actually a prisoner between 

 substantial walls of earth. The maze, on the other 

 hand, has always been made by enclosing the walks 

 with plantings of trees and shrubs, on the level ground 

 surface. 



Neither of them is "any necessarie commoditie in a 

 garden but rather ... as a beautifying unto 

 your garden: for that mazes and knots aptly made, 

 doe much set forth a garden, which neverthelesse I re- 

 fer to your discretion, for that of all persons be not of 

 like abilitie," says Didymus Mountain. So he ad- 

 vises putting them in that "void place . . . that 



