576 



LAYING OUT FLOWER-GARDENS. 



court-yards or in close proximity with the 

 mansion. The Tudor, or, as it has been 

 called, Henry the Seventh style, from hav- 

 ing originated in his reign, had the prin- 

 cipal windows looking into the court, 

 both for security, and also because at that 

 period the charms of landscape were little 

 felt. No garden of the Elizabethan age 

 remains; but we have a complete de- 

 scription of one in Sir Francis Bacon's 

 " Essays," written about the end of her 

 reign, from which we learn that the 

 walks and alleys should be spacious, and 

 some set with musk roses, wild thyme, 

 and peppermint, which perfume the air 

 most delightfully when trodden upon. 

 A fountain should occupy the centre. 

 Vases, unless they be turfed and have 

 living plants or bushes set in them, are 

 not to be introduced. The shrubbery is 

 to have a variety of walks finely gravelled, 

 not grass ; the borders set with fine 

 flowers, but sparingly; and, at the end, a 

 mound, breast high, from whence to look 

 abroad into the fields. 



Flower-gardens in the Stuart style, 

 like the architecture of the same period, 

 differed considerably from the Tudor 

 style, in whimsicality at the least. The 

 terrace in front of the mansion was a 

 novelty at this period, with its stone 

 steps, pedestals, and grotesque balus- 

 trades, ascending from the flower-garden 

 to the entrance, and the marble fountain 

 was in the centre of the garden; there 

 were also vases and figures, from the 

 heathen mythology, disposed in different 

 parts. The best example left of this 

 style we know of, is that at Holland 

 House, thus described by Brown as it 

 existed about thirty years ago : " Here 

 is a parterre on the west side of the man- 

 sion, beautifully laid out with box edgings, 

 in various scrolls and devices. On the 

 east was once a rosary, of a circular form, 

 now destroyed. A small garden farther 

 west is laid out in the Italian manner : 

 it has a white marble fountain in it, on 

 which water-lilies are floating. Fronting 

 this fountain, on a raised terrace, is a 

 beautiful alcove, and behind it a crescent- 

 formed wall, which has steps at the ends, 

 ornamented with vases, and the wall is 

 overgrown partially with woodbine and 

 China roses." Here the late Lord Hol- 

 land has written the following distich in 

 honour of Samuel Rogers, the author of 



the " Pleasures of Memory," it having 

 been a frequent resort of the poet — 



" Here Rogers sat, and here for ever dwell 

 To me those pleasures that he sings so well." 



Plate XXIV. presents part of this gar- 

 den as it now exists, which will be under- 

 stood from the following description : On 

 descending from the broad terrace walk, 

 which bounds the lawn on the south, by 

 the ten flights of steps at the left-hand cor- 

 ner of the Plate, we enter what is called the 

 embroidered box-garden, which, we should 

 observe, is only a very small portion of 

 the whole flower-garden as now finished 

 at this celebrated place, and which we 

 greatly regret cannot be given upon a 

 scale that would convey an adequate idea 

 of the extent and general arrangement of 

 the whole. In the square recess between 

 these flights of steps, is the small alcove 

 called Rogers' seat, already referred to, 

 where the poet used to spend many happy 

 hours. On each side of the entrance to 

 this alcove are the figures of two foxes in 

 box, cut to the height of about 9 inches. 

 The square they are placed upon is 

 covered with red sand, and margined 

 all round by a narrow border planted 

 with scarlet geraniums kept closely pegged 

 down. The two trees in front are ever- 

 green oaks, clipped into round symmetri- 

 cal forms ; and the two circles beside them 

 are round-headed box shrubs. The octa- 

 gon figure is a very handsome fountain, 

 and the square figure at the other end of 

 this compartment is a granite pillar, on 

 which is placed a bust of the Emperor 

 Napoleon. This compartment is bounded 

 on three sides by a box hedge 2j feet in 

 height, within which, on the two opposite 

 sides, is embroidery in dwarf box on a 

 ground of gravel. The narrow borders 

 along the front and semicircular ends of 

 these are planted with scarlet verbenas, 

 as is also the outer border round the 

 figure in the centre, which border is sepa- 

 rated from the box embroidery by a nar- 

 row border of turf. The circle in the 

 centre of this figure is planted with scar- 

 let geraniums, also margined with turf, 

 while the circle at the end is a basin of 

 water. A yew hedge, 8 feet in height, 

 separates this compartment at the lower 

 end from the shrubs, walks, &c, which 

 constitutes the adjoining parts of the 

 garden. 



