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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  24,  1897. 
deserves  notice  as  showing  to  what  size  and  dignity  this  handsome  Cedar 
attains  in  a  comparatively  short  space  of  time.  It  is  now  50  feet  high, 
and  has  a  spread  of  branches  of  63  feet,  the  girth  of  the  stem  6  feet 
from  the  ground  being  11  feet. 
Another  handsome  tres  is  also  noticeable — a  Wellingtonia,  planted  to 
commemorate  the  confirmation  of  H.R.H.  the  Princess  Royal  of  England. 
This  is  the  first  Wellingtonia  planted  at  Windsor,  and  is  probably  one 
of  the  first  introiuced  into  this  country.  By  the  drive  leading  from  the 
kennels  to  the  Ca9tle  is  the  finest  Oak  associated  with  Windsor  Castle 
(if  we  except  William  the  Conqueror’s.  Oak  in  the  Great  Park).  How 
old  the  veteran  is  no  one  knows,  but  judging  by  its  ancient  and  hoary 
appearance  it  may  be  safely  conjectured  that  it  is  as  old  as  the  Con¬ 
queror’s  Oak,  and  therefore  dating  back  at  least  to  the  Norman  period. 
Its  girth  at  4  feet  from  the  ground  is  36  feet.  Near  it  is  one  of  the 
handsomest  of  the  many  thousands  of  Elms  round  Windsor.  This  is 
about  120  feet  high,  with  a  girth  of  trunk  4  feet  from  the  ground  of 
26  feet.  This  is  a  splendid  tree,  in  perfect  health. 
The  Roundabout  Garden. 
Passing  along  on  the  way  to  Frogmore  House  Gardens  we  arrive  at 
the  “  Roundabout  Garden.”  This  has  been  formed  in  an  open  position 
in  the  park,  not  far  from  the  Castle,  by  planting  a  round  belt  of  trees, 
those  on  the  outer  boundary  consisting  of  now  large  and  well-grown 
specimens  of  scarlet  Chestnuts,  Limes,  Oaks  Evergreen  and  English, 
Birch,  Hollies,  Araucarias,  and  many  species  of  Pines,  having  a  splendid 
face  to  the  interior  of  huge  bushes  of  Rhododendrons,  Lilacs,  and 
Thorns,  with  an  old  specimen  of  the  Judas  Tree  just  opening  into 
bloom.  In  the  centre  of  the  garden  is  an  immense  bed  of  Rhododen¬ 
drons  and  standard  Roses.  This  unpretentious  little  garden  possesses 
in  combination  the  charms  of  perfect  seclusion,  quietness,  repose,  and 
simplicity,  with  the  brightness  and  fragrance  of  flowers.  So  we 
thought  as  we  admired  it  from  a  rustic  arbour  it  contains  embowered 
ii  trees. 
Romantic  Ground. 
From  the  garden  just  left  the  Fairy  Pit  Pond  is  soon  reached.  This 
is  now  a  piece  of  artificial  water  used  for  skating  on  in  winter,  and  close 
to  Herne’s  Oak  of  historic  memory.  There  are  few  things  connected 
with  Windsor  which  have  excited  greater  interest  than  the  question  of 
the  position  and  identity  of  Herne’s  Oak.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
that  the  interest  attached  to  the  point  is  founded  on  a  certain  tradition 
and  the  allusion  to  the  employment  of  that  tradition  in  Shakespeare’s 
play,  the  “  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor” — namely,  that  Herne,  one  of  the 
keepers  of  the  Forest,  was  to  be  seen  after  his  death,  with  horns  on  his 
head,  walking  by  night  round  about  an  Oak  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Cast'e.  It  is  said  that,  having  committed  some  great  offence  for  which 
he  feared  to  lose  his  situation,  he  hung  himself  on  this  Oak,  which  his 
ghost  afterwards  haunted.  The  first  reference  to  the  tradition  occurs 
in  the  fourth  scene  of  the  fourth  act,  where  Mrs.  Page  says — 
“  There  is  an  old  tale  goes  that  Herne  the  hunter, 
Some  time  keeper  here  in  Windsor  Forest, 
Doth  all  the  winter  time  at  still  midnight 
Walk  round  about  an  Oak  with  ragg’d  horns; 
And  there  he  blasts  the  tree,  and  takes  the  Castle, 
And  makes  milch  kine  yield  blood  and  shakes  a  chain 
In  a  most  hideous  and  dreadful  manner.” 
The  site  on  which  the  old  tree  stood  is  now  occupied  by  a  healthy 
young  Oak,  planted  by  her  Majesty  ia  order  to  perpetuate  s,o  interesting 
a  tradition.  Near  this  spot  are  the  dead  trunks  of  two  old  Oaks, 
supported  in  position  by  props,  and  which  may  be  fairly  supposed  are 
twin  sisters  of  the  old  haunted  tree. 
Drive8  and  Dutch  Gardbn. 
A  few  yards  from  this  romantic  ground  we  come  on  to  the  main 
drive  leading  from  the  Long  Walk  by  Frogmore  House  to  the  Royal 
kitchen  gardens,  and  also  to  Old  Windsor,  and  to  the  right  of  us  is 
another  drive  communicating  with  Frogmore  House  and  the  Oastle. 
Speaking  of  drives  and  walks  we  may  here  say  that  there  are  twenty-five 
miles  of  walks  and  drives  in  the  Royal  Gardens  department  at  Windsor, 
and  no  better  ean  be  found  in  the  kingdom. 
As  we  stand  on  the  drive  at  this  spot  the  Queen's  little  entrance  gate 
to  Frogmore  House  Gardena  is  immediately  before  us.  It  is  called  the 
Queen’s  Gate.  Before  entering  a  glance  is  taken  to  the  left,  and  there 
for  a  distance  of  200  yards,  close  to  the  drive,  and  separated  from  it  by 
a  low  bank  of  Laurels  only,  is  seen  one  side  of  as  perfect  a  specimen  of 
an  old  Dutch  garden  as  it  is  possible  to  conceive,  with  its  immensely 
thick  Yew  hedges  (fig.  107,  page  552),  supported  and  lighted  up  by  some 
of  the  finest  standard  trees  of  Acer  Negundo  variegata  we  have  seen. 
Further  on  this  diive  we  pass  the  east  froDt  of  Frogmore  House, 
and  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  grounds,  faced  by  scarlet  and  white 
Chestnuts  in  full  bloom  and  altogether  beautiful. 
Frogmore  House  Gardens. 
We  believe  this  is  the  first  time  that  permission  has  been  given  for 
these  delightful  old  gardens  (in  which  her  Majesty  takes  so  great  an 
interest,  and  with  which  the  Queen’s  whole  life  has  been  so  closely 
associated)  to  be  described  and  illustrated  to  any  extent  desired.  For 
this  privilege  we  are  most  grateful  ;  but  however  loyal  the  pen  and 
pleasanl  the  task,  a  difficulty  is  felt  in  adequately  portraying  the  many 
fascinating  and  interesting  features  of  this  cherished  enclosure  and 
beautiful  haven  of  repose  for  the  living  and  the  long-mourned  dead. 
Before  entering  on  a  description  a  few  brief  words  relative  to  the  history 
of  the  gardens  may  prove  of  interest. 
Among  the  Crown  lands  sold  after  the  Civil  War  was  Frogmore, 
which  came  into  the  possession  of  George  Fitzroy,  Duke  of  Northumber¬ 
land,  whose  widow,  the  Dowager  Duchess,  died  here  at  a  very  advanced 
age.  About  1748  Frogmore  was  purchased  by  Sir  Edward  Walpole,  K.B., 
who  made  many  improvements  in  the  gardens,  and  to  whom  we  are  no 
doubt  much  indebted  for  the  wealth  of  magnificent  and  interesting 
deciduous  trees  found  therein.  Queen  Charlotte  purchased  the  lease  of 
Frogmore,  when  it  became  her  Majesty’s  favourite  residence,  and  sub¬ 
sequently  that  of  her  Royal  Highness  the  Princess  Augusta  ;  then 
afterwards  for  many  years  of  her  Royal  Highness  the  Duchess  of  Kent ; 
and  since  her  mother’s  death  it  has  been  in  the  occupation  of  her 
Majesty  the  Queen.  Their  Royal  Highnesses  the  Prince  and  Princess 
of  Wales  lived  here  for  a  short  time,  and  this  was  the  birthplace  of 
their  first-born  child — the  late  Duke  of  Clarence,  whose  pathetic  and 
tragic  end  is  still  alive  in  the  memory  of  all.  It  was  also  the  home 
of  their  Royal  Highnesses  Prince  and  Princess  Christian  before  they 
took  up  their  residence  at  Cumberland  Lodge. 
Entering  the  garden  at  the  Queen’s  little  gate  previously  mentioned, 
immediately  on  the  left  is  the  quaint  and  interesting  old  Dutch  garden 
with  its  immense  Yew  hedges  and  beds  of  old-fashioned  herbaceous 
plants,  the  whole  kept  as  near  as  possible  in  the  same  fashion  as  it 
was  in  those  far-off  days  of  William  and  Mary.  To  the  right  is  the 
sheltered  and  cosy  garden  belonging  to  Frogmore  Cottage — now  the 
residence  of  her  Majesty’s  native  Indian  Secretary.  At  a  turn  of  the 
walk  a  few  yards  further  we  come  upon  a  beautiful  lawn,  almost  of  an 
oval  shape,  bounded  on  three  sides  by  a  belt  of  high  trees,  giving  one  a 
momentary  impression  that  we  have  the  whole  of  the  garden  before  ns, 
so  cleverly  are  the  other  portions  hidden  from  view.  In  the  centre  of 
this  lawn  is  a  beautiful  Indian  marble  kiosk,  sent  to  the  Queen  by  the 
first  Governor-General  of  India,  Lord  Canning.  To  the  right  are  the 
glass  houses  in  which  plants  for  the  decoration  of  Frogmore  House  and 
gardens  are  grown,  and  in  which  wa3  observed  the.  bright  and  elegant 
old  Begonia  fuchsioides  growing  and  flowering  in  great  luxuriance, 
trained  over  pillars  and  arches,  loaded  with  its  beautiful  coral-like 
heads  of  drooping  flowers. 
The  plan  (fig.  108,  page  553)  of  these  beautiful  grounds  is  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Harry  Thomas,  a  promising  student  in  the  Royal 
Gardens,  Kew. 
The*  Lake  and  Island. 
Passing  these  houses,  and  skirting  the  belt  of  plantation  to  our  right, 
we  have  a  charming  panoramic  view  of  a  portion  of  the  garden. 
Immediately  in  front  of  us  is  a  large,  well-wooded  island,  and  at  its 
base  a  first  peep  of  the  beautiful  lake,  which  plays  so  important  a  part 
in  the  embellishment  of  these  delightful  grounds,  is  obtained.  Looking 
to  the  left  along  a  portion  of  the  lake  the  eye  first  rests  on  what 
appears  a  small  Gothic  ruin,  nestling  under  the  branches  of  an  immense 
Cedar  of  Lebanon,  and  guarded  in  front  by  an  equally  ancient  and 
noble  giant  Plane  tree.  Near  this  is  a  small  rustic  bridge,  crossing  a 
neck  of  the  lake,  and  over  which  hangs  in  a  caressing-like  way  the 
drooping  branches  of  a  Babylonian  Willow. 
Glancing  a  little  farther — still  over  the  lake — we  have  a  peep  at 
another  pleasant  lawn,  flanked  on  the  right  and  left  by  high  banks  of 
Rhododendrons,  flowering  Chestnuts,  pink  and  white  Laburnums,  Bird 
Cherries,  Thorns,  Lilacs,  and  other  flowering  shrubs.  On  this  lawn  are 
growing  many  single  specimen  treas  of  great  rarity  and  beauty,  some 
of  them  perhaps  the  finest  examples  of  the  kind  to  be  seen  in  any 
garden.  Very  conspicuous  is  an  immense  column-like  tree  of  Libo- 
cedrus  decurrens,  65  feet  high,  of  great  girth,  a  splendid  specimen 
without  fault  or  blemish.  It  was  planted  in  1857  by  the  Princess 
Hohenlohe.  It  is  shown  in  fig.  109,  page  555,  with  its  reflection  in 
the  water,  and  a  glimpse  is  also  had  of  the  west  front  of  Frogmore 
House. 
Near  this  is  a  singularly  fine  example  of  the  Maidenhair  Tree 
