142 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



THE GATE-HOUSE 



those who live at Cranborne. Lord Shaft :sbury had dis- 

 membered the chase towards the en i of the seventeenth 

 century, but even as late as 1828 it contained some 12,000 

 deer, and had as miny as six lodges, each with its " walk." 

 Two years afterwards a change came over the p'ace, for it was 

 deforested, and the reproach was removed, but the chase had 

 become a public evil and a haunt of profligates and smugglers. 

 The game of Cranborne Chase had been greatly prized. 

 " The deer of the forest of Groveley," says Aubrey, " were 

 the largest fallow deer in England, but some doe affirm the deer 

 of Cranborne Chase larger than these of Groveley. A gl >ver of 

 Tysbury will give sixpence more for a buckskin of Cranborne 

 Chase than of Groveley, and he saies that he can afford it." 



The troublous 

 times which dis 

 turbed the 

 peaceable in- 

 habitants of the 

 region have long 

 since passed 



away, and it has 



returned to a 



pastoral state, 



which makes it 



afractive amon;'. 



the beautiful 



regions of the 



West. It is a 



district of farms 



and dairies, with 



much pasturage. 



A great deal of 



the game- 



sheltering wood- 

 land has dis- 

 appeared, but 



Still the region of 



t!ie old chase is 



lull of sylvan 



THE BOW!. ING Al.l.r.Y. 



charm, though the leafy labyrinths of earlier days are replaced 

 in many parts by cultivated spaces. It was as noted for its 

 attractions in former times as it is in these. To quote Aubrey 

 once more, where he speaks of another part of what once was 

 known as the " King's Chase," " The Arcadia and Daphne is 

 about Fernditch and Wilton, and these romancy plaines and 

 boscages did no doubt conduce to the heightening of Sir Philip 

 Sydney's phansie." Lovely is the country about the Manor 

 House still, and readers of Thomas Hardy have dwelt many a 

 time upon his descriptions of its charms and his vivid pictures 

 of its life and character. It is a land of hill and hollow, wood and 

 meadow, that enframes the beautiful Tudor and Jacobean struc- 

 ture, and forms the foil to the loveliness of its fragrant gardens. 



^^^^ They are 



gardens of simple 

 beauties, their 

 attraction resid- 

 ing principally in 

 the old mossy 

 terrace, the long 

 flower borders, 

 the green alleys 

 and lawns, and 

 the charms of the 

 neighbouring 

 woodland. They 

 are trim and yet 

 not formal, 

 planned with art 

 and yet natural. 

 They are main- 

 tained as all 

 gardens that are 

 loved and valued 

 are k e pt 

 admirable there- 

 lore for en- 

 j o y m e n t and 

 example. 



