vag[=a]tur, negligentia dominorum, redduntur illiciti, & emendetur
regi pro illicitis, &c. Quòdsi intra septa forestæ reperiantur, talis
[Sidenote: Pretium hominis mediocris.]
exquiratur herus, & emendet secundum pretium hominis mediocris, quòd
secundum legem Werinorum. I. Churingorum, est ducentorum solidorum.
34. "Si canis rabidus momorderit feram, tunc emendet secundum
[Sidenote: Pretium liberi hominis.]
preti[=u] hominis liberalis, quod est duodecies solidis centum. Si
verò fera regalis morsa fuerit, reus sit maximi criminis."
And these are the constitutions of Canutus concerning the forrest,
verie barbarouslie translated by those that tooke the same in hand.
Howbeit as I find it so I set it downe, without anie alteration of my
copie in anie iot or tittle.
OF GARDENS AND ORCHARDS.
CHAP. XX.
After such time as Calis was woone from the French, and that our
countriemen had learned to trade into diuerse countries (wherby they
grew rich) they began to wax idle also, and therevpon not onlie left
off their former painfulnesse and frugalitie, but in like sort gaue
themselues to liue in excesse and vanitie, whereby manie goodlie
commodities failed, and in short time were not to be had amongst vs.
Such strangers also as dwelled here with vs, perceiuing our
sluggishnesse, and espieng that this idlenesse of ours might redound
to their great profit, foorthwith imploied their endeuours to bring in
the supplie of such things as we lacked, continuallie from forren
countries; which yet more augmented our idlenes. For hauing all things
at reasonable prices as we supposed, by such means from them, we
thought it méere madnesse to spend either time or cost about the same
here at home. And thus we became enimies to our owne welfare, as men
that in those daies reposed our felicitie in following the wars,
wherewith we were often exercised both at home and other places.
Besides this, the naturall desire that mankind hath to estéeme of
things farre sought, bicause they be rare and costlie, and the
irkesome contempt of things néere hand, for that they are common and
plentifull, hath borne no small swaie also in this behalfe amongst vs.
For hereby we haue neglected our owne good gifts of God, growing here
at home as vile and of no valure, and had euerie trifle and toie in
admiration that is brought hither from far countries, ascribing I wot
not what great forces and solemne estimation vnto them, vntill they
also haue waxen old, after which they haue béene so little regarded,
if not more despised amongst vs than our owne. Examples hereof I could
set downe manie, & in manie things, but sith my purpose is to deale at
this time with gardens and orchards, it shall suffice that I touch
them onelie, and shew our inconstancie in the same, so farre as shall
séeme & be conuenient for my turne. I comprehend therefore vnder the
word garden, all such grounds as are wrought with the spade by mans
hand, for so the case requireth. Of wine I haue written alreadie
elsewhere sufficientlie, which commoditie (as I haue learned further
since the penning of that booke) hath beene verie plentifull in this
Iland, not onlie in the time of the Romans, but also since the
conquest, as I haue séene by record: yet at this present haue we none
at all or else verie little to speake of growing in this Iland: which
I impute not vnto the soile, but the negligence of my countrimen. Such
herbes, fruits, and roots also as grow yéerelie out of the ground, of
seed, haue béene verie plentifull in this land, in the time of the
first Edward, and after his daies: but in processe of time they grew
also to be neglected, so that from Henrie the fourth till the latter
end of Henrie the seuenth, & beginning of Henrie the eight, there was
litle or no vse of them in England, but they remained either vnknowne,
or supposed as food more méet for hogs & sauage beasts to feed vpon
than mankind. Whereas in my time their vse is not onelie resumed among
the poore commons, I meane of melons, pompions, gourds, cucumbers,
radishes, skirets, parsneps, carrets, cabbages, nauewes, turneps, and
all kinds of salad herbes, but also fed vpon as deintie dishes at the
tables of delicate merchants, gentlemen, and the nobilitie, who make
their prouision yearelie for new séeds out of strange countries, from
whence they haue them aboundantlie. Neither doo they now staie with
such of these fruits as are wholesome in their kinds, but aduenture
further vpon such as are verie dangerous and hurtfull, as the
verangenes, mushroms, &c: as if nature had ordeined all for the
bellie, or that all things were to be eaten, for whose mischiefous
operation the Lord in some measure hath giuen and prouided a remedie.
Hops in time past were plentifull in this land, afterwards also their
maintenance did cease, and now being reuiued, where are anie better to
be found? where anie greater commoditie to be raised by them? onelie
poles are accounted to be their greatest charge. But sith men haue
learned of late to sow ashen keies in ashyards by themselues, that
inconuenience in short time will be redressed. Madder hath growne
abundantlie in this Iland, but of long time neglected, and now a
little reuiued, and offereth it selfe to prooue no small benefit vnto
our countrie, as manie other things else, which are now fetched from
vs; as we before time when we gaue ourselues to idlenesse, were glad
to haue them other. If you looke into our gardens annexed to our
houses, how woonderfullie is their beautie increased, not onelie with
floures, which Colmella calleth _Terrena sydera_, saieng:
"Pingit & in varios terrestria sydera flores,"
and varietie of curious and costlie workmanship, but also with rare
and medicinable hearbes sought vp in the land within these fortie
yeares: so that in comparison of this present, the ancient gardens
were but dunghils and laistowes to such as did possesse them. How art
also helpeth nature in the dailie colouring, dubling and inlarging the
proportion of our floures, it is incredible to report: for so curious
and cunning are our gardeners now in these daies, that they presume to
doo in maner what they list with nature, and moderate hir course in
things as if they were hir superiours. It is a world also to sée, how
manie strange hearbs, plants, and annuall fruits, are dailie brought
vnto vs from the Indies, Americans, Taprobane, Canarie Iles, and all
parts of the world: the which albeit that in respect of the
constitutions of our bodies they doo not grow for vs, bicause that God
hath bestowed sufficient commodities vpon euerie countrie for hir owne
necessitie; yet for delectation sake vnto the eie, and their
odoriferous sauours vnto the nose, they are to be cherished, and God
to be glorified also in them, bicause they are his good gifts, and
created to doo man helpe and seruice. There is not almost one noble
man, gentleman, or merchant, that hath not great store of these
floures, which now also doo begin to wax so well acquainted with our
soiles, that we may almost accompt of them as parcell of our owne
commodities. They haue no lesse regard in like sort to cherish
medicinable hearbs fetched out of other regions néerer hand: insomuch
that I haue séene in some one garden to the number of three hundred or
foure hundred of them, if not more; of the halfe of whose names within
fortie yéeres passed we had no maner knowledge. But herein I find some
cause of iust complaint, for that we extoll their vses so farre that
we fall into contempt of our owne, which are in truth more beneficiall
and apt for vs than such as grow elsewhere, sith (as I said before)
euerie region hath abundantlie within hir owne limits whatsoeuer is
needfull and most conuenient for them that dwell therein. How doo men
extoll the vse of Tabacco in my time, whereas in truth (whether the
cause be in the repugnancie of our constitution vnto the operation
thereof, or that the ground dooth alter hir force, I cannot tell) it
is not found of so great efficacie as they write. And beside this, our
common germander or thistle benet is found & knowne to bée so
wholesome and of so great power in medicine, as anie other hearbe, if
they be vsed accordinglie. I could exemplifie after the like maner in
sundrie other, as the Salsa parilla, Mochoacan, &c: but I forbeare so
to doo, because I couet to be bréefe. And trulie the estimation and
credit that we yéeld and giue vnto compound medicines made with forren
drugs, is one great cause wherefore the full knowledge and vse of our
owne simples hath bene so long raked vp in the imbers. And as this may
be verified, so to be one sound conclusion, for the greater number of
simples that go vnto anie compound medicine, the greater confusion is
found therein, because the qualities and operations of verie few of
the particulars are throughlie knowne. And euen so our continuall
desire of strange drugs, whereby the physician and apothecarie onlie
hath the benefit, is no small cause that the vse of our simples here
at home dooth go to losse, and that we tread those herbes vnder our
féet, whose forces if we knew, & could applie them to our necessities,
we wold honor & haue in reuerence as to their case behooueth. Alas
what haue we to doo with such Arabian & Grecian stuffe as is dailie
brought from those parties, which lie in another clime? And therefore
the bodies of such as dwell there, are of another constitution, than
ours are here at home. Certes they grow not for vs, but for the
Arabians and Grecians. And albeit that they maie by skill be applied
vnto our benefit, yet to be more skilfull in them than in our owne, is
follie; and to vse forren wares when our owne maie serue the turne is
more follie; but to despise our owne and magnifie aboue measure the
vse of them that are sought and brought from farre, is most follie of
all: for it sauoureth of ignorance, or at the leastwise of negligence,
and therefore woorthie of reproch.
Among the Indians, who haue the most present cures for euerie disease,
of their owne nation, there is small regard of compound medicins, &
lesse of forren drugs, because they neither know them nor can vse
them, but worke woonders euen with their owne simples. With them also
the difference of the clime dooth shew hir full effect. For whereas
they will heale one another in short time with application of one
simple, &c: if a Spaniard or English man stand in need of their helpe,
they are driuen to haue a longer space in their cures, and now and
then also to vse some addition of two or thrée simples at the most,
whose forces vnto them are throughlie knowne, because their exercise
is onelie in their owne, as men that neuer sought or heard what vertue
was in those that came from other countries. And euen so did Marcus
Cato the learned Roman indeuor to deale in his cures of sundrie
diseases, wherein he not onelie vsed such simples as were to be had in
his owne countrie, but also examined and learned the forces of each of
them, wherewith he dealt so diligentlie, that in all his life time, he
could atteine to the exact knowledge but of a few, and thereto wrote
of those most learnedlie, as would easilie be séene, if those his
bookes were extant. For the space also of 600 yéeres, the colewort
onelie was a medicine in Rome for all diseases, so that his vertues
were thoroughlie knowne in those parts.
In Plinies time the like affection to forren drugs did rage among the
Romans, whereby their owne did grow in contempt. Crieng out therefore
of this extreame follie, lib. 22. cap. 24, he speaketh after this
maner: "Non placent remedia tam longè nascentia, non enim nobis
gignuntur, immò ne illis quidem, alioquin non venderent; si placet
etiam superstitionis gratiâ emantur, quoniam supplicamus, &c. Salutem
quidem sine his posse constare, vel ob id probabimus, vt tanto magis
sui tandem pudeat." For my part I doubt not, if the vse of outlandish
drugs had not blinded our physicians of England in times passed, but
that the vertues of our simples here at home would haue béene far
better knowne, and so well vnto vs, as those of India are to the
practisioners of those partes, and therevnto be found more profitable
for vs than the forren either are or maie be. This also will I ad,
that euen those which are most common by reason of their plentie, and
most vile bicause of their abundance, are not without some vniuersall
and especiall efficacie, if it were knowne, for our benefit: sith God
in nature hath so disposed his creatures, that the most néedfull are
the most plentifull, and seruing for such generall diseases as our
constitution most commonlie is affected withall. Great thanks
therefore be giuen vnto the physicians of our age and countrie, who
not onelie indeuour to search out the vse of such simples as our soile
dooth yéeld and bring foorth, but also to procure such as grow
elsewhere, vp[=o] purpose so to acquaint them with our clime, that
they in time through some alteration receiued from the nature of the
earth, maie likewise turne to our benefit and commoditie, and be vsed
as our owne.
The chiefe workeman, or as I maie call him the founder of this deuise,
is Carolus Clusius, the noble herbarist, whose industrie hath
woonderfullie stirred them vp vnto this good act. For albeit that
Matthiolus, Rembert, Lobell, and other haue trauelled verie farre in
this behalfe, yet none hath come néere to Clusius, much lesse gone
further in the finding and true descriptions of such herbes as of late
are brought to light. I doubt not but if this man were in England but
one seuen yéeres, he would reueale a number of herbes growing with vs,
whereof neither our physicians nor apothecaries as yet haue anie
knowledge. And euen like thankes be giuen vnto our nobilitie,
gentlemen, and others, for their continuall nutriture and cherishing
of such homeborne and forren simples in their gardens, for hereby they
shall not onlie be had at hand and preserued, but also their formes
made more familiar to be discerned, and their forces better knowne
than hitherto they haue béene.
And euen as it fareth with our gardens, so dooth it with our orchards,
which were neuer furnished with so good fruit, nor with such varietie
as at this present. For beside that we haue most delicate apples,
plummes, peares, walnuts, filberds, &c: and those of sundrie sorts,
planted within fortie yéeres passed, in comparison of which most of
the old trées are nothing woorth: so haue we no lesse store of strange
fruit, as abricotes, almonds, peaches, figges, corne-trees in noble
mens orchards. I haue seene capers, orenges, and lemmons, and heard of
wild oliues growing here, beside other strange trees, brought from
far, whose names I know not. So that England for these commodities was
neuer better furnished, neither anie nation vnder their clime more
plentifullie indued with these and other blessings from the most high
God, who grant vs grace withall to vse the same to his honour and
glorie! and not as instruments and prouocations vnto further excesse
and vanitie, wherewith his displeasure may be kindled, least these his
benefits doo turne vnto thornes and briers vnto vs for our annoiance
and punishment, which he hath bestowed vpon vs for our consolation and
comfort.
We haue in like sort such workemen as are not onelie excellent in
graffing the naturall fruits, but also in their artificiall mixtures,
whereby one trée bringeth foorth sundrie fruits, and one and the same
fruit of diuers colours and tasts, dallieng as it were with nature and
hir course, as if hir whole trade were perfectlie knowne vnto them: of
hard fruits they will make tender, of sowre sweet, of sweet yet more
delicate, béereuing also some of their kernels, other of their cores,
and finallie induing them with the sauour of muske, ambre, or swéet
spices at their pleasures. Diuerse also haue written at large of these
seuerall practises, and some of them how to conuert the kernels of
peaches into almonds, of small fruit to make farre greater, and to
remooue or ad superfluous or necessarie moisture to the trées, with
other things belonging to their preseruation, and with no lesse
diligence than our physicians doo commonlie shew vpon our owne
diseased bodies, which to me dooth seeme right strange. And euen so
doo our gardeners with their herbes, whereby they are strengthened
against noisome blasts, and preserued from putrifaction and
hinderance, whereby some such as were annuall, are now made
perpetuall, being yéerelie taken vp, and either reserued in the house,
or hauing the rosse pulled from their rootes, laid againe into the
earth, where they remaine in safetie. What choise they make also in
their waters, and wherewith some of them doo now and then keepe them
moist, it is a world to sée; insomuch that the apothecaries shops maie
séeme to be needfull also to our gardens and orchards, and that in
sundrie wise: naie the kitchin it selfe is so farre from being able to
be missed among them, that euen the verie dishwater is not without
some vse amongest our finest plants. Whereby and sundrie other
circumstances not here to bée remembred, I am persuaded, that albeit
the gardens of the Hesperides were in times past so greatlie accounted
of because of their delicacie: yet if it were possible to haue such an
equall iudge, as by certeine knowledge of both were able to pronounce
vpon them, I doubt not but he would giue the price vnto the gardens of
our daies, and generallie ouer all Europe, in comparison of those
times, wherein the old exceeded. Plinie and other speake of a rose
that had thrée score leaues growing vpon one button: but if I should
tell of one which bare a triple number vnto that proportion, I know I
shall not be beléeued, and no great matter though I were not, howbeit
such a one was to be séene in Antwarpe 1585, as I haue heard, and I
know who might haue had a slip or stallon thereof, if he would haue
ventured ten pounds vpon the growth of the same, which should haue
bene but a tickle hazard, and therefore better vndoone, as I did
alwaies imagine. For mine owne part, good reader, let me boast a litle
of my garden, which is but small, and the whole Area thereof little
aboue 300 foot of ground, and yet, such hath béene my good lucke in
purchase of the varietie of simples, that notwithstanding my small
abilitie, there are verie néere thrée hundred of one sort and other
conteined therein, no one of them being common or vsuallie to bee had.
If therefore my little plot, void of all cost in keeping be so well
furnished, what shall we thinke of those of Hampton court, Nonesuch,
Tibaults, Cobham garden, and sundrie other apperteining to diuerse
citizens of London, whom I could particularlie name, if I should not
séeme to offend them by such my demeanour and dealing?
OF WATERS GENERALLIE.
CHAP. XXI.