XIII 

 THE COLONIAL GARDEN 



In Van Cortlandt Park, near the railroad station 

 and the skating-pond, was until a few years ago a 

 marshy depression lying four-square between high 

 banks. To the north of it stood the colonial 

 mansion of the Van Cortlandts. 



In the course of time the Colonial Dames 

 leased this mansion for a long term of years and 

 filled it with all kinds of revolutionary and colonial 

 treasures. 



Coincident with the development of this colonial 

 treasure house the idea of a sunken garden was 

 conceived. As it progressed in development, it 

 took on naturally the term colonial by virtue of 

 its association with the colonial mansion and 

 because its character suggested the formality of 

 the gardens of those days. Circumstances which 

 very properly govern the design of gardens led 

 to the use of canals on three sides. Owing to the 

 fact that a rapid stream ran out of Van Cortlandt 

 Lake a few hundred feet away, these canals were 

 employed to curb the irregularities of the stream 

 and give a definite boundary to a greater part of the 

 garden. The presence of these canals has sug- 

 gested the name Dutch Garden which it is some- 

 times called, but in reality the Dutch character 



[49] 



