GARDEN DESIGN IN THE NETHERLANDS 



167 



feet above the ground, and unfortunate is the house that fails to secure a 

 tenant for its nest. 



In Holland, which Butler sarcastically describes as 



" A land that rides at anchor and is moored 

 In which they do not live, but' go aboard," 



the vyvers, or fish ponds, were important accessories in all country 

 houses. They often covered a considerable area and had a system of dams, 

 water-wheels, and 

 sluices to prevent 

 the water from 

 becoming stag- 

 nant. The ar- 

 rangement of 

 moats and canals, 

 with their varying 

 levels, was of the 

 utmost import- 

 ance, and as a 

 sanitary precau- 

 tion great care 

 and attention 

 were required to 

 regulate the levels 

 of the water 

 courses and to 

 prevent the accu- 

 mulation of weeds. The edges of the canals were carefully trimmed and 

 kept in position either by lattice work or by an edging of stone. When these 

 precautions were neglected and the sluices and dams allowed to fall into 

 disrepair they were soon liable to become plague spots, and Alderman Beck- 

 ford, who toured in Holland in 1780, must have suffered considerably, for 

 he notes in his diary that although "Every flower that wealth can purchase 

 diffuses its perfume on the one side, every stench a canal can exhale poisons 

 the air on the other. Who knows, but their odour is congenial to a Dutch 

 constitution ? One should be inclined to this supposition by the numerous 



GALLERIES IN THE GARDEN OF ADRIAAN VAN DE VENNE AT 

 MIDDLEBURG, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 



