26 NATURAL HISTOEY 



by means of premiums, within these twenty- 

 years only ; and are much esteemed here 

 now by the poor, who would scarce have 

 ventured to taste them in the last reign. 



Our Saxon ancestors certainly had some 

 sort of cabbage, beause they call the month 

 of Februari/ sprout-cale ; but long after 

 their days, the cultivation of gardens was 

 little attended to. The religious, being 

 men of leisure, and keeping up a constant 

 correspondence with Italy, were the first 

 people among us that had gardens and 

 fruit-trees in any perfection, within the 

 walls of their abbies* and priories. The 

 barons neglected every pursuit that did 

 not lead to war or tend to the pleasure of 

 the chase. 



It was not till gentlemen took up the 

 study of horticulture themselves that the 



* " In monasteries the lamp of knowledge continued 

 " to burn, however dimly. In them men of business 

 " were formed for the state : the art of writing was cul- 

 tivated by the monks ; they were the only proficients 

 in mechanics, gardening, and architecture." 



See Dalrymple's Annals of Scotland, 



