CHAPTER III
THE PARKS AND GARDENS
1. The Medieval garden: the Tudor garden: its remains at Hampton Court: the Mount garden: the parks.—2. Elizabeth and her garden: the symmetrical taste: the decorations: Bacon's idea of gardens.—3. The Rebellion a break in English horticulture: Cromwell: Charles II.: the imitation of Versailles: Le Notre: Evelyn's description of the gardens: Queen Mary's bower.—4. William III.'s changes: his personal interest: the Royal gardeners: the wilderness: the Maze: Latin poem thereon: Queen Mary's collection of plants: the oranges: the gates :suspension of the works on the Queen's death: the new plans: the great Parterre: the Lion gates.—5. The gardens under George I.: the Frog Walk: the passion for Nature: Thomson's description of a garden: the changes under the Landscape gardeners.—6. The fish and fowl: the great vine: the characteristics of the gardens.
I
"God Almighty first planted a garden," says Bacon, "and, indeed, it is the purest of humane pleasures." If it needs some training of the eye to appreciate the architecture and the art of Hampton Court, there are few visitors indeed who do not enjoy the gardens and the parks. The exquisite neatness appeals to some, the brightness, the peace, the variety to others. No
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