CHAPTER II 



THIRTEENTH CENTURY 



" The rose rayWA hire rode 

 The leues on the lyhte wode 

 Waxen al vAth wille 

 The mone ma.nd.eth hire bleo 

 The lilie is lossom to seo 

 The fenyl and the fille." 



Springtime, MS., c. 1300. 



DURING the years which succeeded the Norman Conquest, 

 the country was constantly plunged in wars abroad and 

 troubles at home. There could be little thought of the quiet 

 pleasures of a garden while William I. and his sons ruled the 

 conquered English with a rod of iron ; while Stephen was 

 fighting for the crown against " the Empress Maud " ; while 

 men's minds were occupied by Crusades to the Holy Land ; 

 or while the Constitution of England was being slowly built 

 up, and her liberties gradually secured by bloodshed and 

 ceaseless struggles. 



It was necessary, in these troublous times, for security of 

 life and property, to live in as inaccessible a position as possible. 

 Castles were built on the tops of hills, or protection was sought 

 by placing the dwelling behind some river or marsh, when 

 no high ground or escarpments of steep rocks afforded a 

 suitable defence. This was the opposite course from that 

 pursued by the monks, who as a rule chose a fertile valley 

 in which to place their cloister, and plant their orchards, 

 gardens, and vineyards. There was no room for much garden 

 within the glacis of a feudal castle, and as it was not safe for 

 any of the inmates to venture beyond, it was scarcely worth 

 while making any garden or orchard outside, merely to see it 



3° 



