274 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  4,  1901. 
gardener  must  have  been  a  necessity  in  a  Scottish  county  estate 
long  before  this  period,  but  it  is  difficult  to  clearly  show  how 
far  back  as  to  date  his  functions  have  been  exercised.  The  Lady 
Bass  we  know  kept  one  in  1616,  because  an  action  for  slander 
was  raised  in  that  year  by  her  greive  against  the  “  spous  to 
George  Key,  gardiner  in  pTyninghame ;  ”  and  still  earlier,  in  1524, 
■if  grant  of  land  was  [made  to  two  “hortuloni,”  but  the  last 
named  were,  not  improbably,  not  private  gardeners.  At,  or  previous 
to  the  last  named  date,  before  the  “  dinging-doon  ”  of  kirks,  which 
marked  the  Reformation  in  Scotland,  it  is  very  probable  that  gardening 
in  the  more  polished  districts  was  in  a  more  flourishing  condition  than 
it  was  for  some  time  succeeding  that  event.  Gawain  Douglas,  who 
wrote  eleven  years  previous  to  the  last  date,  describes  in  his  Twelfth 
Prologue,  “The  lusty  crafty  preambil  perl  of  May,”  “galzeard  gardingis,” 
their  many  flowers,  “  wortie  and  rutis  gant,”  “  grapis  zing,”  “seimlie 
seitis  poultry  picking  up  their  food  in  the  “Alayis,”  and  on  the 
trees  “birds  rejoisand  with  thare  mirthful  makis,”  in  a  manner  that 
shows  a  mediaeval  garden  in  Scotland  was  one  not  merely  in  name, 
but  one  also  in  fact. 
Fordoun  states  that  David  I.  had  a  garden  in  Edinburgh  in  which, 
like  some  of  the  Roman  consuls,  he  pottered  and  gardened  with  his 
own  royal  hand.  The  first  James’s  gardening  proclivities  are  fairly 
well  known,  and  Queen  Mary’s  garden,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Regent 
Murray,  is  matter  of  history.  Readers  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  are  aware 
that  he  entertained  no  doubt  of  the  existence  of  old  gardens  ;  in  “  The 
Abbott,”  for  instance,  there  occur  several  allusions  to  gardens  of  the 
16th  century,  and  also  to  the  horticultural  productions  of  Master 
Gilhoolie.  One  curious  fact  appears  from  the  various  details  of  dinners 
and  suppers  that  have  been  preserved,  which  is  the  absence  of 
vegetables  and  fruits  from  these  entertainments.  Even  as  late  as  1679 
at  a  dinner  given  by  an  earl,  this  peculiarity  continues.  It  may,  of 
course,  have  been  taken  for  granted  that  they  formed  a  part  of  every 
dinner,  and  therefore  not  worthy  special  mention,  because  in  old 
exchequer  accounts  and  in  household  books,  both  vegetables  and 
fruits  are  noted.  Apples  and  Onions  were  indeed  articles  that  the 
City  of  Edinburgh  taxed  at  their  port  of  Leith.  Both  must  have  been 
scarce  in  Scotland,  for  in  1329  they  were  bought  for  the  royal  table, 
nd  in  1511  and  in  1512  for  two  feasts  “  340  poma  ”  in  one  case,  and 
“  300  poma”  and  “12  lb.  cepi,”  in  the  other  were  purchased.  In 
connection  with  this  part  of  the  subject  it  may  be  convenient  to  notice 
here  the  almost  assured  fact  that  gardeners  disposed  of  surplus 
produce  to  their  own  advantage.  It  was  an  old  custom  in  England, 
and  Scott  in  “Rob  Roy”  refers  to  it  as  existing  in  the  north.  The 
Duchess  of  Buccleuch  in  1701-2  bought  from  her  neighbours’ gardens 
among  other  produce,  a  dozen  Artichokes  from  Pinkey  ;  a  peck  of 
baking  Apples  from  Monkton  Hall ;  and  a  peck  of  Green  Peas  from 
Newbattle.  Other  items  include  a  pint  of  Gooseberries,  twelve 
Apricots,  twelve  Plums,  100  Cherries,  with  Turnips,  Carrots,  and 
Potatoes. 
A  gardener’s  income  at  and  previous  to  this  time  was  not 
invitingly  large,  and  in  one  case  that  has  come  under  my  notice, 
current  coin  was  not  included  in  the  wages  at  all.  At  the  same 
time  it  may  be  noted  that  a  schoolmaster  was  glad  of  £2  or  £3  a 
year,  and  when  a  position  with  £7  could  be  secured  the  Scots 
dominie  was  delighted  with  his  good  fortune.  By  1775,  according 
to  Boucher,  £10  to  £40  represented  the  money  portion  of  the 
gardener’s  wage,  and  Neil  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  century  states 
£60,  with  oatmeal,  cow,  house,  &c.  During  the  eighteenth  century 
the  gardener’s  duties  were  largely  increased  by  the  vigorous  improve¬ 
ment  of  estates,  particularly  in  the  forming  of  plantations  and 
planting  hedges,  with  the  products  n  of  material  necessary  to  thefe 
ends  and  their  annual  keeping,  all  of  which  devolved  on  the  gardener. 
“  Hot  ”  walls  for  fruit  culture  were  also  introduced  early  in  this 
century,  and  in  1731,  Justice,  having  erected  Pine  stoves,  an  impetus 
was  at  once  given  to  fruit  culture  under  glass,  and  before  long  it 
was  a  poor  garden  that  did  not  boast  its  Pine  stove — which 
occasionally,  as  at  Moreton  Hall,  included  Vines  on  rafters — or  seme 
form  of  glass  structure.  A  large  number  of  new  gardens,  greatly 
increased  in  extent,  were  also  laid  out  at  a  distance  from  the  mansion, 
replacing  those  of  former  times,  which  formed  appendages  of  the 
dwelling.  Sometimes  the  kitchen  garden,  flower  garden,  shrub 
garden,  and  orchard  were  walled-in  in  one  enclosure,  and  at  Smeaton, 
for  example,  a  bowling  green  was  also  found  room  for.  “The 
Wilderness”  was  also  introduced,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  it  long 
continued  to  be  kept  as  such.  This  century  saw  also  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  the  natural  as  opposed  to  the  formal  style  of  landscape 
gardening,  and  no  doubt  that  the  gardener  to  a  large  extent  was  made 
to  bear  the  extra  labour  incurred  by  all  these  changes. 
It  cannot  escape  notice  that  the  Edinburgh  Botanical  Garden, 
founded  about  1670,  and  for  which  space  was  first  found  on  a  bit  of 
ground  now  included  in  the  Waverley  {Rail  way  Station  and  the  old 
flower  garden  attached  to  Holyrood  Palace,  exerted  a  great  influence 
on  Scottish  gardening.  A  gardener  who  was  not  also  a  “botanist”  in 
the  old-fashioned  seme  of  the  word  would  have  been  a  curiosity  in 
those  days.  He  was  familiar  with  every  weed,  and  was  soon  acquainted 
with  every  exotic  that  arrived  in  the  country  ;  be  also  liked  a 
term  in  one  of  the  big  Durseries  which  came  to  be  established  in  his 
midst.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  previous  century  small 
nurseries  existed  in  the  burghs,  but  not  till  this  one  did  they  atiain, 
to  any  influence  or  extent. 
The  gardening  literature  of  this  period  naturally  increased  from 
the  one  solitary  book  of  the  previous  century,  but  it  was  not  extensive. 
Two  editions  of  “The  Scots  Gardiner”  appeared,  and  in  1764 
Justice’s  “Scots  Gardiner’s  Director,”  which  continued  for  a  long 
time  to  occupy  the  foremost  place  as  a  standard  work,  especially  on 
floriculture.  Sir  A.  Murray  wrote  on  vineyards,  but  this  I  have  been 
unable  to  procure  or  consult  ;  Lord  HaddingtOD,  and  later,  Boucher 
on  forestry  ;  and  John  Gibson,  a  surgeon,  on  fruit  trees.  Gardening 
was  also  incidentally  treated  bj  Lord  Karnes,  Dr.  Alston,  Home,  and 
some  others  ;  and  in  “  The  Statistical  History  of  Sir  John  Sinclair  ” 
interesting  as  well  as  curious  information  is  to  be  fohnd. 
This  carries  us  to  the  commencement  of  last  century,  when  a  new 
era  may  be  said  to  have  commenced.  Neill,  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Caledonian  Horticultural  Society  in  1809,  was  a  fluent  writer,  and 
to  him  Sinclair  entrusted  the  general  report  on  Scottish  gardening. 
His  remarks  on  fruits  are  particularly  valuable.  We  have,  indeed, 
fuller  lists  of  names  elsewhere,  but  he  named  the  districts  where 
certain  varieties  were  most  popular,  or  alone  to  be  found.  His 
assumption  that  a  I  the  od  Pear  trees  and  Apple  trees  then  existing 
in  towns  with  abbeys  had  been  planted  by  members  of  the  ancient 
faith  previous  to  the  Reformation  cannot,  however,  be  sustained. 
Some  of  the  sorts  are  purely  English,  many  French,  but  cultivated 
in  England,  and  we  have  abundant  proof  that  during  the  seventeenth 
century  English  nurserymen  supplied  fruit  trees,  and  that  more  were 
imported  from  the  Continent.  All  these  old  trees,  or  such  of  them  as 
had  been  removed,  were  found  to  have  been  planted  with  “flag” 
stones  under  their  roots.  Neill  also  meutions  seats  of  Chamomile  as 
still  existing  in  country  place-.  Most  of  the  old  town  gardens,  which 
in  1742,  as  shown  in  Maitland’s  map,  had  been  destroyed  iu  Edinburgh 
before  this,  and  gardening  henceforth  was  confined  to  countiy  seats. 
We  find  da'a  to  prove  the  introduction  of  steam  as  a  heating 
medium  to  glass  structures  in  1805.  Cunningham’s  establishment  at 
Comeley  Bank  was  noted  for  open-air  Mushroom  culture,  and  later  lor 
exotic,  tender,  and  hardy  shrubs,  particularly  Hollies  Heaths  were 
also  already  largely  cultivated,  and  gardening  generally  was  in  a 
satisfactory  condition.  One  remarkable  fact  in  these  earlier  years  is  that 
not  a  few  novelties  originated  in  Scotland  or  appeared  there  directly  after 
their  introduction  in  England.  The  “Caledonian”  has  all  along 
exerted  a  beneficial  influence,'  which  perhaps  has  not  been  lessened 
because  its  first  members  and  officials  failed  in  their  wish  to 
establish  an  experimental  garden.  It  was,  however,  the  means  of 
introducing  into  country  gardens,  where  the  gardener  or  proprietor 
was  so  inclined,  much  rare  or  tender  exotic  vegetation  that  otherwise 
would  not  have  been  thought  of,  and  where  we  find  very  old  Wistarias, 
Judas  Trees,  Paulownias,  or  Brugmanstas  still  existing  ;  their  intro¬ 
duction  may  be  safely  referred  to  this  period.  The  training  of  wall 
trees  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  was  also  carried  to  great 
perfection,  and  with  the  culture  of  herbaceous  plants,  and  forcing  by 
means  of  dung-heated  frames,  formed  the  chief  aim  of  the  young 
gardener  to  excel  in.  The  exhibitions  instituted  by  the  Royal 
Caledonian  have  also  had  a  markedly  good  effect,  both  those  held  by 
the  society,  but  largely  also  bv  those  established  everywhere 
throughout  the  country. 
Besides  Neill,  already  mentioned,  Nicol  wrote  early  in  the  century 
of  fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetables;  Sang,  an  interesting  work  on 
forestry ;  and  Sir  Henry  Stewart  one  equally  valuable  on  transplanting 
trees  ;  Sir  Walter  Scott  also  wrote  one  or  two  essays.  Later  we  had 
the  book  on  “Vines”  by  W.  Thomson,  and  various  books  by  his 
brother.  “  The  Gardener,”  a  monthly,  published  by  Blackwood  &  Co., 
also  exerted  a  good  influence  during  the  quarter  of  a  century  it  lived. 
Messrs.  Burbidge,  Iggulden,  Douglas,  Dean,  Thomson,  aod  Simpson, 
are  writers  still  with  us  whose  pens  were  employed  on  that  journal ; 
and,  to  conclude  this  too  extended  sketch,  are  not  Scottish  trained 
gardeners  everywhere  exhibiting  the  effects  of  their  early  training  ?— B. 
