14 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY 
Gerard (1545-1607), the famous old Herbalist who 
was gardener to Lord Burghley in the reign of Elizabeth, 
does not enlighten us as to the use of clipped trees, but 
Parkinson, another and equally famous Herbalist, who 
was born in 1567 and died about 1640, does give us a 
little information on the subject. Parkinson was 
Apothecary to James I., and Charles II. made him 
Botanicus Regius Primarius; he therefore had the 
advantage of exceptional opportunities for studying the 
plants of his time and their uses. Indeed some of the 
quaintest things ever printed are the accounts of the 
‘‘ Virtues” of the several parts of the plants described 
by Parkinson and by Gerard. Pointing out that the yew 
was largely used both for ‘‘ shadow and an ornament,” 
Parkinson seems to regret that the privet had not re- 
ceived proper attention at the hands of Topiarists simply 
because of its widespread use as a hedge plant, and he 
advocates its further employment by remarking that 
‘“to make hedges or arbours in gardens . . . it is so apt 
that no other can be like unto it, to be cut, lead, and 
drawn into what forme one will, either of beasts, birds, 
or men armed or otherwise.” 
Because of its comparatively slow rate of growth the 
yew has been the subject usually employed by topiarists, 
while box is a good second in point of popularity. Both 
these trees or shrubs have the additional merit of 
longevity. Wordsworth points out both the slow 
growth and longevity of the yew in his lines :— 
‘¢ There is a yew-tree, pride of Lorton Vale, 
Which to this day stands single, in the midst 
Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore, 
Not loth to furnish weapons for the bands 
Of Umfraville or Percy ere they marched 
To Scotland’s heaths; or those that crossed the sea 
And drew their sounding bows at Azincour, 
Perhaps at earlier Crecy, or Poictiers. 
Of vast circumference and gloom profound 
This solitary tree !—a living thing 
