les" or
"plots"--

"Mark out the tables, ichon by hem selve
Sixe foote in brede, and xii in length is beste
To clense and make on evey side honest."

_Palladius on Husbandrie_, i. 116.

"Note this generally that all plots are square."--LAWSON'S _New
Orchard_, p. 60.

[344:1] For an account of Levens, with a plate of the Topiarian garden,
see "Archaeological Journal," vol. xxvi.

[347:1] Including shrubs--

"'Tis another's lot
To light upon some gard'ner's curious knot,
Where she upon her breast (love's sweet repose),
Doth bring the Queen of flowers, the English Rose."

BROWNE'S _Brit. Past._, i, 2.

[347:2] For a good account of mazes and labyrinths see "Archaeological
Journal," xiv. 216.

[349:1] Queen Elizabeth's love of gardening and her botanical knowledge
were celebrated in a Latin poem by an Italian who visited England in
1586, and wrote a long poem under the name of "Melissus."--See
_Archaeologia_, vol. vii. 120.

III.--GARDENERS.

(1) _Queen._

But stay, here come the gardeners;
Let's step into the shadow of these trees.

* * * * *

Thou, old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden,
How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing news?
What Eve, what serpent, hath suggested thee
To make a second fall of cursed man?
Why dost thou say King Richard is deposed?
Darest thou, thou little better thing than earth,
Divine his downfal?

_Richard II_, act iii, sc. 4 (24, 72).

(2) _Clown._

Come, my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners,
ditchers, and grave-makers; they hold up Adam's profession.

_Hamlet_, act v, sc. 1 (34).

Very little is recorded of the gardeners of the sixteenth century, by
which we can judge either of their skill or their social position.
Gerard frequently mentions the names of different persons from whom he
obtained plants, but without telling us whether they were professional
or amateur gardeners or nurserymen; and Hakluyt has recorded the name of
Master Wolfe as gardener to Henry VIII. Certainly Richard II.'s Queen
did not speak with much respect to her gardener, reproving him for his
"harsh rude tongue," and addressing him as a "little better thing than
e