THE HISTORY OF GARDEN-MAKING 



gardening was made the subject of serious study, and that it was 

 carried out on elaborate hnes. How great was the attention it 

 received can be judged from the number of books on garden-making 

 written at this period. There was Dr. Andrew Borde's " Boke for 

 to lerne a man to be wyse in buyldyng of his house for the 

 health of his body, e to hold quyetnes for the helth of his 

 soule and body " ; there was Thomas Hill's " A most briefe and 

 pleasaunt treatyse teachynge how to dress, sowe, and set a garden, 

 gathered out of the principallest authors in this art " ; there was 

 Bacon's " Essay on Gardens " ; and there was " The Gardener's 

 Labyrinth," by Didymus Mountaine, which last seems to have 

 been chiefly derived from one of the many editions of HilFs book. 

 Borde and Hill were little more than compilers who drew their 

 material from earlier works by Italian writers, and Bacon's " Essay " 

 was merely a gathering of theories set forth with all the charm of a 

 scholarly style. But all these books are interesting, because they 

 provide evidence that the subject with which they deal was one 

 which made an appeal to many readers. 



Bacon's theoretical garden inclines decidedly towards what may be 

 called the extreme development of the Renaissance manner. He 

 accepts, certainly, much of the medieval tradition, but he prescribes 

 all sorts of additions which are clearly suggested by his sympathy 

 with the importations from Italy — the fountains and statues, the 

 clipped trees, the arcades, and the fantastic ornaments of coloured 

 glass " gilt for the sunne to play upon." In Hill's book, and in 

 " The Gardener's Labyrinth," the bulk of the information offered is 

 openly taken from Roman authorities, whose works are either 

 quoted directly or freely referred to ; but, besides, there are some 

 hints given about garden-making, as it was understood at that time, 

 which are not without value to the student of garden history, because 

 they refer to a somewhat less ambitious type of design than Bacon 

 had in mind. Hill and Bacon were both theorists, but the former 

 addressed himself to average people who wanted but a modest 

 pleasure ground, the latter offered advice to the few men who could 

 afford to do things on a large scale. 



One famous garden is supposed to have been laid out in accordance 

 with the prescriptions in Bacon's essay — that at Moor Park for the 

 Countess of Bedford. Of this place an account exists written by 

 Sir William Temple, who evidently admired it unreservedly : — " The 

 perfectest figure of a garden I ever saw, either at home or abroad, 

 was that of Moor Park in Hertfordshire. I will describe it for a 

 model to those that meet with such a situation, and are above the 

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