MONASTIC GARDEXIXG. 23 



century in the days " when Cnut the King came saihng b}'," as 

 it rose from out the dreary and undrained fen land, the sunny 

 slopes around the cloisters, so thickly planted with vineyards, 

 tended by those monks who sang so merrily, that the Normans 

 gave it the name of the " Isle des Vignes." 



Another old rhyme thus celebrates these vines : — 



" Quatuor sunt I\lire: Lanterna Capella Maria;, 

 Et Molendinuni, nee non claus Vinea vinum." 



" Englished " thus by Austin, in 1653 : — ■ 



" Foure things of Elie towne, much spoken are. 

 The Leaden Lanthorn, Marie's chappell rare 

 The mighty Milhill in the Minster field, 

 And fruitful vineyards whicli sweet wine do yeeld."* 



El}- long continued to be famous for its grapes. From 

 time to time, when the manors were in the king's hands, during 

 some interregnum caused by the death of the Bishop ; the papers 

 relative to the administration of the lands give evidence of the 

 vineyards as well as of the orchards and gardens belonging 

 to the See, from which a profit was derived. t The chief 

 entries refer to the "herbage of the garden," "apples," 

 " pears " and nuts sold, also hemp and reeds. The farm of the 

 " rosery " often occurs, but the word is disappointing; and it 

 stands for " roseria," " rosar," or bed for reeds or rushes, at 

 places in the Fens.J 



In the " Bailiwick of Cambridge, except the island," and 

 at Somersham Manor, there were vineyards which yielded 

 grapes, but the principal one was at Ely itself. In 1298 as 

 much as twenty-seven gallons of verjuice, " viridi succo," from 

 the grapes, were sold ; and the next year, twenty-one gallons. 



* Ralph Austin, A Treatise on Fruit Trees. 1653. 



f Exchequer Q. R. Bishops' Temporalities, fi ; and Ministers' Accounts, 

 i-'cp. (Record Office.) 



:j: " Litilport 40s. of yearly rent of the 'Roseria' at the Annunciation," 

 A.D. 1302. 



The following are examples of the entries of most of the Manors: — 

 1286. Downham. gs. of apples and nuts sold there. 



1286. Littlelburi. 7s. 2d. of apples and pears sold there during the same time. 

 1286. Derham. 15s. of apples sold there. 

 1298. Feltevelle. 55s. gd. of herbage and fruit of the garden and pasture sold. 



