54 FAMILIAR TREES 



verdure, and arriving in time to emulate even some of 

 our lusty timber- trees ; so as I dare pronounce it to 

 be one of the most proper and ornamental trees for 

 walks and avenues of any growing." " The leaves/' he 

 continues, " boiled in milk, impart a very grateful 

 taste of the Almond ; and of the berries, or cherries 

 rather (which poultry generally feed on), is made a 

 wine, to some not unpleasant. . . . and of the wood 

 are said to be made the best plough-handles." 



He then relates, with speculations of his own as to 

 the tree having come more probably " from some 

 colder clime," the not unlikely story that the Laurel 

 was introduced " from Civita Yecchia in 1614, by 

 the Countess of Arundel, wife to that illustrious 

 patron of arts and antiquities, Thomas, Earl of 

 Arundel and Surrey." The Countess certainly did 

 return from Italy that year, which would be con- 

 sistent with Parkinson's possession of the shrub 

 prior to 1629, and there are still a number of very 

 old Laurels at Wardour Castle, the family seat. 



Ray, in 1688, in his " Historia Plantarum," speaks 

 of the Laurel as being then very common in gardens 

 and shrubberies, and remarkably hardy and quick in 

 growth, braving our winters even in exposed situa- 

 tions, but, on account of its thick and woody 

 branches, not fitted for the close-clipt " topiary- 

 work," then so much in fashion. We may, perhaps, 

 attribute to the introduction of the Laurel, and the 

 naturally rapid increase in the popularity of its 

 bright foliage, the victory of a more natural and less 

 formal style of gardening over the Dutch taste for 

 mazes, alleys, peacocks, and teapots in Yew or Box. 



