136 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND 
dressing and keeping the vines/' 1 The first Earl of Salisbury 
planted a vineyard at Hatfield, on the north bank of the River 
Lea, on a piece of ground sloping to the south, hedged in with 
privet and sweet briar. Hatfield had been given to Cecil by 
James I., in 1607, in exchange for Theobalds, to which the King 
took a great fancy. This was the second time that Hatfield 
had changed hands in this way. The manor belonged to the 
Abbey of Ely before the Conquest, and after Ely became a 
bishopric, the bishops made their residence at Hatfield until 
Henry VIII/s time. This King, also wishing to possess the 
place, effected an exchange of land with the Bishop. Ely was 
in early times famous for its vines, and doubtless vineyards 
existed also at Hatfield during the centuries it was Church 
property, so that when Cecil planted a vineyard it was no new 
experiment. Madame de la Boderie, wife of the French Am¬ 
bassador, sent thirty thousand vines to be set in the new vine¬ 
yard, which are referred to in the following letter to Cecil : 2 
“ . . . understanding your Lordship’s speech yesterday, that 
you were about to send some present of gratification to Mme. 
de la Broderye in regard of your vines, Lest your Lordship’s 
bounty which knows the true limitts of honor of it self, should be 
misledd by my disesteeming the things upon a sodayne when 
I valued them but att £40 I thought good to let your Lordship 
know before it be too late that I misreckned myselfe for 20,000 
at 8 crowns the thousand, cometh to near £50 sterling, besydes 
the cariage, and besydes, the ambassador sent me word yester¬ 
day by his maistr-d’Hostel that there are 10,000 more a coming 
which he hath consigned to be delivered heer to me for your 
Lordship’s use.” As these were more plants than the vineyard 
would hold, some were kept in a nursery to put later in the 
place of any that were “ defectyve or dying.” A few muscat, 
and other vines, not grown before in England, were brought 
from Paris by Tradescant, who was then director of Cecil’s 
garden, and he also received five hundred plants from the 
Queen of France ; Pierre Collin and Jean Vallet, who probably 
brought over this present, were permanently engaged to plant 
and dress the vineyard. This vineyard does not appear to 
1 Issue Rolls of the Exchequer, James I., by Devon, July 23, 1619. 
2 From family papers belonging to the Marquess of Salisbury. 
