MEDIEVAL GARDENS 



and how " channelled brooks " flowed from clear 

 fountains through u thymy herbage and gay 

 flowers." 



The debt which the mediaeval world owed 

 to the East is shown both in the fruits. and the 

 spices which are described as growing in the 

 garden, and in the pastimes said to have been 

 enjoyed in its cool shade. We read of pome- 

 granates, nutmegs, almonds, dates, figs, liquorice, 

 aniseed, cinnamon, and zedoary, an Eastern plant 

 used as a stimulant. When the poet would tell 

 of dance and song, he goes by 



A shaded pathway, where my feet, 

 Bruised mint and fennel savouring sweet, 



to a secluded lawn. Here he sees one whose 

 name is " Gladness " : 



Gently swaying, rose and fell 



Her supple form, the while her feet 



Kept measured time with perfect beat : 



While minstrels sang, the tambourine 

 Kept with the flute due time I ween. 



Then saw I cunning jugglers play, 

 And girls cast tambourines away 

 Aloft in air, then gaily trip 

 Beneath them, and on finger-tip 

 Catch them again. 



In every garden there was a fountain or sheet 

 of water with a small channelled way carrying 

 the water to the castle and through the women's 

 apartment. Sometimes these waterways were 

 made use of by the lover as a means of com- 

 munication with his beloved, as we read in the 



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