Book I, 



GARDENING IN THE BRITISH ISLES, 



83 



through that kingdom. He does not once mention a garden as appertaining either to a 

 castle or to a monastery ; he only observes, " that the best sorts of flowers and fruits are 

 much rarer in Ireland than in England ; which, notwithstanding, is more to be attri- 

 buted to tlie inhabitants than to the ayre." In an inedited account of a Tour in 1634, 

 also quoted by Walker ( Trans. R. I. A. ), Bishop Usher's palace is said to have a " pretty- 

 neat garden." 



367. Of remains of ancient gardens in Ireland we may quote a few examples. Some 

 of the largest sculptured evergreens are at Bangor, in the county of Down ; and at 

 Thomas-town, in the county of Tipperary, are the remains of a hanging garden, formed 

 on the side of a hill, in one corner of which is a verdant amphitheatre, once the scene of 

 occasional dramatic exhibitions. Blessington gardens, if tradition may be relied on, 

 were laid out during the reign of James II. by an English gentleman, who had left his 

 estate at Byfleet in Sussex, to escape the persecution of Cromwell. In King William's 

 time, knots of flowers, curious edgings of box, topiary works, grassy slopes, and other 

 characteristics of the Dutch style, came into notice. Rowe and BuUein, Englishmen, 

 who had successively nurseries at Dublin, wei-e in these days tlie principal rural artists 

 of Ireland ; though Switzer and Laurence, as well as Batty Langley, occasionally 

 visited that country. 



368. The first attempts to introduce the modem style into Ireland are supposed to have 

 been made by Dr. Delany at Delville near Glassnevin, about tiie year 1720. Swift has 

 left a poetical description of these scenes. Dr. Delany, Walker says, impressed a vast 

 deal of beauty on a very small spot of ground ; softened tlie obdurate straight line of 

 the Dutch into a curve, melted the terrace into a sloping bank, and opened the walk to 

 catch the vicinal country. Walsh {^History of Dublin, 1820) says, these grounds retain 

 all the stiffness of the old garden. As there existed an intimacy between Pope and 

 Delany, it is supposed the former may have assisted his Irish friend. Tliis example 

 appears to have had the same sort of influence in Ireland, that the gardening of Lord 

 Kames had in Scotland. It gave rise to a demand for artists of the new school ; and the 

 market was supplied by such as came in the way. Much less, hov/ever, was done in that 

 country, partly from the abundance of picturesque scenery in many districts, and partly 

 from other obvious causes. Mount Shannon, near Limerick, the seat of the late Chan- 

 cellor Clare, is said to have been laid out from his lordship's designs, and the recent 

 improvements at Charleville forest, where one of the most comfortable and magnificent 

 castles in Ireland has been executed by Johnson of Dublin, were the joint productions 

 of Lord and Lady Charleville. Walker mentions Marino, Castle-town, Carton, 

 Curraghmore, the retreat of St. Woolstans, and Moyra, as exhibiting the finest garden- 

 scenery in Ireland. Powerscourt, and 

 Mucross, near the lakes, are reckoned the 

 most romantic residences, and are little in- 

 debted to art. St. Valori, Walker's own 

 seat, is a beautiful little spot near the well- 

 known village of Bray. Miss Plumtree 

 mentions Blarney Castle {fg. 31.), as one 

 of the most enchanting spots in the world. 

 There have been delightful shrubberies, 

 which might easily be restored. The cas- 

 tle stands on a rock not very high, and 

 below are fine meadows, with an ample 

 stream flowing through them ; there is 

 plenty of wood, and a considei-able lake at 

 a short distance from the house, which furnishes excellent itunt : in short, nature has left 

 little for art to supply; and yet this charming spot is deserted, abandoned, looking 

 wholly neglected and forlorn. {Residence in Ireland, 1817, 240.) 



369. EngUsli artists p^'ofessing the modern style have been but little employed in Ireland, 

 the common practice being to engage a good kitchen-gardener from England, and leave 

 every thing to him. Sutherland was, in 1810, the local artist of greatest repute. A, 

 M'Leish has since settled in this country, and, from what we know of this artist, we 

 have little doubt he will contribute, in an eminent degree, to establish and extend a 

 better taste than has yet appeared there. W. T. Mackay, curator of the Trinity-college 

 garden, is said to excel in laying out grounds. Though landscape-gardeners from the 

 metropolis have not been called to Ireland, yet it has happily become not an unfrequent 

 practice to employ eminent English architects, — a practice, as far as taste is concerned, 

 certain of being attended with the most salutary effects. 



Sect. II. British Gardening, in respect to the Culture of Flowers and Plants of Ornament, 



370. Flowers are more or less cultivated wherever gardening is practised ; but a parti- 

 cular attention to this department of the art can only take place under circumstances of 



G 2 



