ON GARDENS 13 



land. During his imprisonment at Windsor he 

 wrote the charming poem, the " King's Quhair," 

 which is supposed to be a description of the Garden 

 beneath his window : 



" Now was there made, fast by the Towns wall, 

 A Garden fair; and in the corners set 

 An Arbour green, with wandis long and small 

 Railed about, and so with trees set, 

 Was all the place and Hawthorne hedges knet, 

 That lyf was none walking there forbye 

 That might within scarce any wight espy. 



So thick the boughes and the leaves green 



Beshaded all the Alleys that there were, 



And raids of every Arbour might be seen 



The sharpe greene sweet Juniper 



Growing so fair with branches here and there, 



That as it seemed to a lyf without, 



The boughes spread the arbour all about." 



It may be here noted that the mediaeval Gardens 

 were generally square ; possessed a fountain ; were 

 fully planted with hedges and alleys ; the little 

 paths sanded. Few Gardens, moreover, were 

 without a " Privy playing place." Lastly, all 

 Gardens were enclosed, either with thick-set 

 hedges or stone walls made use of in the first 

 place as a safeguard, and later retained for their 

 beauty and the privacy they secured. 



The "wandis" mentioned in King James's poem 



