SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 165 



away the years of inaction and waiting until the Restoration. 

 He took up gardening not only as a pastime, but really gave 

 his brains to it, as well as his time, and made himself a thorough 

 master of the art, as further notes from his pen show. Another 

 Royalist who has always been recognized as one of the greatest 

 patrons of gardening was Lord Capel, son of the Lord Capel 

 who was beheaded in 1648. He was created Earl of Essex 

 in 1661, and died in the Tower in 1683. He made the garden 

 at Cassiobury, which is frequently referred to as one of the 

 most beautiful gardens of the seventeenth century. His 

 brother, Sir Henry Capel, was also a gardener, and introduced 

 " several sorts of fruits from France." 1 He had a garden at 

 Kew; in it were " curious greens " ; it was " as well kept as any 

 about London," and his " flowers and fruits " were " of the 

 best." 2 Sir Henry was created Baron Capel of Tewkesbury 

 in 1692, hence there is apt to be some confusion in the various 

 allusions to Lord Capel, as both were gardeners. The Earl of 

 Essex seems to have confided the chief care of his gardens to 

 Cooke, a celebrated gardener and author of a work on fruit- 

 trees, though, as Evelyn remarks, 3 " no man has been more 

 industrious than this noble Lord in planting about his seate 

 adorn' d with walkes, ponds, and other rural elegancies. . . . 

 The gardens at Cassiobury are very rare, and cannot be other- 

 wise, having so skilful an artist to govern them as Mr. Cooke, 

 who is, as to the mechanical part, not ignorant in mathe- 

 matics, and pretends to astrology." Sir Henry does not 

 appear to have had such assistance : "his garden has the 

 choicest fruit of any plantation in England, as he is the most 

 industrious and understanding in it." 4 



Another distinguished Royalist and gardener was John 

 Evelyn. His great work on Forest trees does not really come 

 within the scope of this work. It was written for the Royal 

 Society (of which Evelyn was one of the first Fellows) with the 

 idea of giving practical assistance in the planting of trees in 

 parks, woods, and forests, and went far beyond the narrow limits 

 of a garden. But gardens are incidentally referred to ; as the 



1 Switzer, Ichnographia Rustica, 1718. 



2 Gibson, Gardens about London, 1691. 



3 Evelyn's Diary. l Ibid. 



