EARLY TUDOR GARDENS. 85 



hourly." The designs of these knots were very varied. They 

 were either geometrical patterns, or fanciful shapes of animals ; 

 the intricate geometric designs being evidently the most popular, 

 as they occur most frequently in books. (See illustration.) The 

 other st3'le is described in the following poem"^ : — 



' ' Then we went to the garden glorious 



Like to a place, of pleasure most solacious : 

 With Flora painted and wrought curiously 

 In divers knottes of marveylous greatnes 

 Rampande lyons, stode by wonderfly 

 Made all of herbes, with dulset swetenes 

 With many dragons, of marveylous likenes 

 Of diuers floures, made full craftely 

 By Flora couloured, with colours sundrye." 



The following are some of the flowers that were cultivated 



in these knottes, or in the borders, in Tudor times, that 



are mentioned by contemporary writers : — -Acanthus, asphodel, 



auricula, bachelor's buttons, amaranthe, or "blites," cornflowers. 



or " bottles," cowslips, daffodils, daisies, " French broome,'" 



gilliflowers (3 varieties), hollyhock, iris, jasmine, lavender, lilies, 



lily of the valley, marigold, narcissus (yellow and white), pansies, 



or heartsease, peony, periwinkle, poppy, primrose, rocket, 



roses, rosemary, snapdragon, stock gilliflowers, sweet william, 



wall-flowers, winter-cherry, violet, and besides these, other 



sweet smelling herbs, such as mint and marjoram. 



Having now gone through some of the principal features of a 



Tudor garden, the railed beds, knottes, the mount, arbours, and 



galleries, let us consider further, not only what gardens were 



made, but what happened to the old gardens in existence during 



the first part of this period. We have seen, in an earlier chapter, 



something of the position held by the monastery gardens 



throughout the land. Now we have reached the years of the 



Reformation, and so far as this great movement affected 



gardens, we must glance at its progress. The work of the 



visitation and then the suppression of the monasteries was 



begun in 1534. The greater ones were first attacked, and the 



lesser ones followed. The work was carried on rapidly; in the 



* The Historic of Graitnde A))ioiii-e ami la bcll Piicell, called the Pastime 

 of Pleasure. By Stephen Hawes. Ed. 1554. 



