32 THE FORMAL GARDEN IN ENGLAND n 



revived by the Italians of the fifteenth century. 

 The beautiful woodcuts to the Hypneroto- 

 machia Poliphili (Aldus, 1499) show several 

 designs of cut work. Poliphilus dreams that he 

 and Pollia are conducted over the island of 

 Cythera ; and some curious illustrations are 

 given of the clipped box-trees in the enchanted 

 garden. An English version of this book 

 appeared in England in 1592 ; but by this time 

 the habit of cutting box and yew and juniper 

 into different shapes was well established in 

 England. Bacon refers to it in his well-known 

 Essay on Gardens^ and the intricate hedge which 

 was to surround his main garden implies clip- 

 ping on a most elaborate scale. There is a 

 curious contemporary account of the garden 

 of Kenilworth in a letter from one of the 

 officers of the Court to Master Humphry 

 Martin, mercer, of London. This letter was 

 written from Kenilworth in 1575, during 

 Elizabeth's visit to the castle. In front of the 

 castle was a terrace walk raised 10 feet above 

 the garden, and 1 2 feet wide ; at either end 

 were arbours, " redolent by sweet trees and 

 flowers," and along the balustrade, on the garden 

 side, obelisks, spheres, and coats of arms in 

 stone were set out at equal distances. Below 

 this terrace was the garden, an acre or more 

 in extent, divided into four quarters by fine 

 sanded walks. In the centre of each plot rose 

 an obelisk of red porphyry with a ball at the 



