2IO THE FORMAL GARDEN IN ENGLAND ix 



in the formal garden, sometimes on the terrace, 

 sometimes as the centre of some little garden of 

 lilies and sweet flowers. Every one loves them 

 because they suggest the human interest of the 

 garden, the long continuity of tradition which 

 has gone before, and will outlive us. "Pereunt 

 et imputantur," " Scis horas, nescis horam," 

 " Sine sole sileo," " Horas non numero nisi 

 Serenas," " I mark time, dost thou ? " Such 

 were some of the mottoes used to point the 

 lesson of the sun-dial. Instances of eighteenth- 

 century sun-dials are still fairly common. There 

 is a graceful example on the side terrace at 

 Hampton Court and another rather similar 

 instance at Wrest. At Wroxton Abbey, in 

 Oxfordshire, there is a remarkable sun-dial ; the 

 plate is fixed on a moulded circular top, carried 

 by four draped female figures, who stand on a 

 square pedestal, the angles of which are decorated 

 with rams' heads and swags of fruit and flowers. 

 The pedestal stands on a circular step. The 

 whole is executed in white marble, and, unless it 

 is an importation, appears to date from the end 

 of the eighteenth century, though the base looks 

 much earlier. The dial plates were always of 

 bronze, many of them very well engraved, and 

 were, of course, designed by specialists who 

 understood the intricate process of dialing, 

 whether for side or top plates. In Scotland 

 and the north of England sun-dials were often 

 made of stone polygonal balls set on a pedestal 



