THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, December 30, 185G. 223 
chest full of brilliants, but not till opened giving evidence 
of its contents. 
Well, without demanding admittance by the sound of the 
battle axe or battering-ram, I took the more modern and 
agreeable mode of announcement—that of the bell. The 
gate opened, and there appeared a spare, pale-faced, little old 
man, whose time-worn face was furrowed over with years, 
and hoary was his hair, surmounted by a two-cornered hat, 
and dress to match. In fact, Garrick in his best days never 
had a better representation of an Echo. Coupled with the 
entrance hewn out of the rock, which our ancient friend ap¬ 
parently had just walked out from, he gave one of those sur¬ 
prises that keep their hold upon the memory. So much for 
the first visit. Last week I was again at the gate. Again 
it was opened. There were the pass and the rocks certainly; 
but, alas ! where was Echo? for sure enough there stood in 
! his place no Echo ; but a jolly, red-faced old coachman, 
dispelling, for the moment, my first favourite impression. 
Yes, Echo, like his lord, had, in the meantime, passed away. 
Their echoes will be heard no more, and the sword of the 
redoubtable and mighty Guy is wielded with abler, though 
not with more worthy and appropriate hands. Not having 
antiquarian enthusiasm enough to inspect the legendary and 
mystical lore when under the care of our ancient friend, I 
gladly responded to the call of his successor by way of hur¬ 
rying the passing cloud, and, as it were, catching a glimpse of 
the moon through the gloom of the night. Following the 
guide with this intent, I was soon immersed in the history 
of the warlike doings of Guy of Warwick, tried to wield 
his sword, and wished that Wallace in his need had had 
such a tool in good working order at the entrance be¬ 
twixt the rocks, in front of the base Monteith, Edward I., 
and some scores of his blood-thirsty hounds, that barked 
to see the patriot’s heart torn from its place before it 
ceased to beat, with a Bruce or an Andrew Hoffer at the 
other end similarly provided to prevent their retreat. With 
this warlike feeling I entered the gorge so happily cut 
out of the solid rock by one of Warwick’s lords', the sides 
and recesses of which are now here and there beautifully 
clothed with Ivy, Ferns, Grasses, Mosses, Lichens, &e., 
under the shade of overhanging Yews and Sweet Chestnuts. 
Emerging from this natural, assisted pass, you enter the 
outer court, formerly a vineyard, and said to produce a pro¬ 
fusion of rich clusters of Grapes, that were highly relished 
by the travel-worn, thirsty soldiers in the time of Henry IV. 
Here the stupendous fortifications stand out in bold 
relief and magnificence before you. On the right is the 
noble tower dedicated to Earl Guy, having twelve side walls 
ten feet in thickness, a base of thirty feet in diameter, rising 
to the height of 128 feet, and is a noble specimen of the 
architectural remains of the fourteenth century. On the 
left is Caisar’s Tower, said to be coeval with the Norman 
conquests, rising to the height of 147 feet, and bidding 
alike defiance to time as to the depredations of man, and 
eight hundred years of the former leave little impression, 
as its turrets stand entire, like the rock which forms its 
foundation. 
But I am forgetting, amongst embattled walls, ponderous 
arched gateways, portcullises, &c., that I am not 200 yards 
from the gate, and am writing a chapter for The Cottage 
Gardener. Well, this same former vineyard is now partly in 
grass, and here the worthy gardener, Mr. Spinks, has been 
displaying his taste, which, from what our kind friend states, 
must certainly be a great improvement on what he found; but 
I hope he will excuse me in stating that, though his some¬ 
where about twenty round clumps of Savin, Berleris aqui- 
folium, Rhododendrons, &c., on the grass are much to be pre¬ 
ferred to a hostile legion of mail-clad, ruthless warriors, or 
that they would not disgrace the grounds of the Crystal 
Palace, still, in my opinion, beds of any shape are out of 
place here. Had I my choice, nothing I should like to see 
better than a noble old Oak or two unmutilated by the hand 
of man, with some dozen colossal equestrian statues in groups, 
representing its ancient rulers, after the style of M. Simonds, 
of Brussels—Godfrey of Bouillon, or Richard Coeur de Lion, 
which would not be out of place, for more of Warwick lords 
than one joined the Knight Templars. But nothing con¬ 
nected in this way with England’s olden times could be 
placed amiss, as the lords of this noble fortalice truly de¬ 
served the motto, “ Aye ready," either in hurling his sove¬ 
reign from his seat, that his father had reinstated, or even 
undoing his own work in this way, and letting kings know, 
by practical experience, that they were mere puppets in their 
hands—in fact, the English Douglases; for, like them, they 
belled the cat, and were not afraid to take the head off their 
king’s favourite when it suited their purpose. 
In place of the base and a good part of the height of 
this noble castle being covered with Yew in one unbroken 
line, I should, in places, clear it to the ground, introduce 
here and there the large and small-leaved, variegated, and 
green Ivy, the latter intermixed with the Virginian Creeper, 
Clematis montana, a piece of Pyracantha, Cotoneasters, &c. 
As it is already flanked up with one of the noblest of trees 
for the purpose, the Cedar of Lebanon, all it would be neces¬ 
sary to do would be to thin out and give the grass a greater 
breadth, and the shrubberies a more natural and broken 
outline, and connecting the grass and shrubberies with 
masses of Daphne cneorum, Rhododendron ferritgineum, 
Heaths, Butcher’s Broom, Cotoneasters, Wallflowers, Ferns, 
&c., with a good group or two of Yucca gloriosa and other 
varieties. 
Turning to the right, a drive leads on to the stables, on 
each side of which Mr. Spinks has again brought his in¬ 
genuity into action by raising two undulating banks, and 
has planted the one on the right very happily and judi¬ 
ciously with Scotch and other Firs as a background, to shut 
out an uninteresting part of the town of Warwick, with 
Yews, Hollies, <fec., in the foreground, and broken it here 
and there with groups of Cupressus macrocarpa, Cryplomeria 
Japonica, &c. The bank on the left is planted with masses 
of Yew and Holly, thickly studded with Cedrus deodara, &c. 
Had means been allowed, Mr. Spinks, of course, would have 
introduced, on the side of the bank facing the principal 
lawn and the castle, massive groups of stone, giving it the 
appearance of nature, and, as it were, continuing out the 
character of the place. 
Having no business at the stables, I stepped over the 
left bank, and took a walk that leads to the greenhouse, 
where the celebrated vase forms the principal object, which 
truly deserves all that has been said of it. 
Keeping the same walk, I soon found myself at the 
kitchen-garden, and was pleased to see that about one of 
the first alterations the present noble lord effected in the 
garden was, not to turn away a good old servant, but to set 
about and build a comfortable and convenient house for him, ] 
where every gardener’s house ought to be in such places— j 
close to the garden. The garden is small; but, judging by 
the Apricot, Peach, and other fruit-trees on the walls, the 
situation is good. There are also some excellent espalier, i 
Pear, and other trees, which I saw, by the fruit stored in the 
fruit-room, even in this season of scarcity had not failed. 
There is a very limited quantity of glass; but what there 
is good use is made of. I am deceived if there is not some 
finer fruit, and more of it, gathered next season, according to 
its size, from a Peach-house planted only last year, than 
from any house of trees in pots in the kingdom. His Vines 
are healthy, and, what is of equal consequence, well ripened; j 
and the remnant of Pines he still clings to are worthy of 
bis former times—times the celebrity of which appears by j 
the barrow-load of first-prize tickets tastefully and appro- i 
priately arranged by one of the daughters of the house of ! 
Spinks along the front of the shelves of the fruit-room, j 
He has been a lion in his locality in this way. 
On leaving the kitchen-garden in company with Mr. I 
Spinks, we walked down a glade fronting the greenhouse, j 
at the end of which the present lord has planted an exten¬ 
sive avenue of Cedrus deodara, which, though only put in 
three years, are now fine plants. Behind them is a row of 
Pinus insignis, which are doing exceedingly well, and their 
cheerful light green foliage contrasts beautifully with the 
Cedrus deodara; but, unfortunately, they are planted so close 
to the latter', that in a few years, if left as they are, they 
will meet. In my opinion the Pinus insignis ought to be 
removed back without delay, as there is still time; and also 
a very fine-spreading young Oak ought to be cleared away, 
that completely shuts out the view of this avenue from the 
glade facing the greenhouse, as every year it stands it will 
be more difficult to reconcile the mind to sign its death 
warrant. 
Those that are about to plant avenues of this descrip_ 
