The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare
_Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 1 (28).
(25)
The Vine shall grow, but we shall never see it.
_Two Noble Kinsmen_, act ii, sc. 2 (47).
(26)
Even as poor birds, deceived with painted Grapes,
Do forfeit by the eye and pine the maw.
_Venus and Adonis_ (601).
(27)
For one sweet Grape, who will the Vine destroy?
_Lucrece_ (215).
Besides these different references to the Grape Vine, some of its
various products are mentioned, as Raisins, wine, aquavitæ or brandy,
claret (the "thin potations" forsworn by Falstaff), sherris-sack or
sherry, and malmsey. But none of these passages gives us much insight
into the culture of the Vine in England, the whole history of which is
curious and interesting.
The Vine is not even a native of Europe, but of the East, whence it was
very early introduced into Europe; so early, indeed, that it has
recently been found "fossil in a tufaceous deposit in the South of
France."--DARWIN. It was no doubt brought into England by the Romans.
Tacitus, describing England in the first century after Christ, says
expressly that the Vine did not, and, as he evidently thought, could not
grow there. "Solum, præter oleam vitemque et cætera calidioribus terris
oriri sueta, patiens frugum, fæcundum." Yet Bede, writing in the eighth
century, describes England as "opima frugibus atque arboribus insula, et
alendis apta pecoribus et jumentis Vineas etiam quibusdam in locis
germinans."[301:1]
From that time till the time of Shakespeare there is abundant proof not
only of the growth of the Vine as we now grow it in gardens, but in
large Vineyards. In Anglo-Saxon times "a Vineyard" is not unfrequently
mentioned in various documents. "Edgar gives the Vineyard situated at
Wecet, with the Vine-dressers."--TURNER'S _Anglo-Saxons_. "'Domesday
Book' contained thirty-eight entries of valuable Vineyards; one in Essex
consisted of six acres, and yielded twenty hogsheads of wine in a good
year. There was another of the same extent at Ware."--H. EVERSHED, in
_Gardener's Chronicle_. So in the Norman times, "Giraldus Cambrensis,
speaking of the Castle of Manorbeer (his birthplace), near Pembroke,
said that it had under its walls, besides a fishpond, a beautiful
garden, enclosed on one side by a Vineyard and on the other by a wood,
remarkable for the projection of its rocks and the height of its Hazel
trees. In the twelfth century Vineyards were not uncommon in
England."--WRIGHT. Neckam, writing in that century, refers to the
usefulness of the Vine when trained against the wall-front: "Pampinus
latitudine suâ excipit æris insultus, cum res ita desiderat, et fenestra
clementiam caloris solaris admittat."--HUDSON TURNER.
In the time of Shakespeare I suppose that most of the Vines in England
were grown in Vineyards of more or less extent, trained to poles. These
formed the "pole-clipt Vineyards" of No. 21, and are thus described by
Gerard: "The Vine is held up with poles and frames of wood, and by that
means it spreadeth all about and climbeth aloft; it joyneth itselfe unto
trees, or whatsoever standeth next unto it"--in other words, the Vine
was then chiefly grown as a standard in the open ground.
There are numberless notices in the records and chronicles of extensive
vineyards in England, which it is needless to quote; but it is worth
noticing that the memory of these Vineyards remains not only in the
chronicles and in the treatises which teach of Vine-culture, but also in
the names of streets, &c., which are occasionally met with. There is
"Vineyard Holm," in the Hampshire Downs, and many other places in
Hampshire; the "Vineyard Hills," at Godalming; the "Vines," at Rochester
and Sevenoaks; the "Vineyards," at Bath and Ludlow; the "Vine Fields,"
near the Abbey at Bury St. Edmunds;[302:1] the "Vineyard Walk" in
Clerkenwell; and "near Basingstoke the 'Vine' or 'Vine House,' in a
richly wooded spot, where, as is said, the Romans grew the first Vine in
Britain, the memory of which now only survives in the Vine
Hounds;"[303:1] and probably a closer search among the names of fields
in other parts would bring to light many similar instances.[303:2]
Among the English Vineyards those of Gloucestershire stood pre-eminent.
William of Malmesbury, writing of Gloucestershire in the twelfth
century, says: "This county is planted thicker with Vineyards than any
other in England, more plentiful in crops, and more pleasant in flavour.
For the wines do not offend the mouth with sharpness, since they do not
yield to the French in sweetness" ("De Gestis Pontif.," book iv.) Of
these Vineyards the tradition still remains in the county. The Cotswold
Hills are in many places curiously marked with a succession of steps or
narrow terraces, called "litchets" or "lynches;" these are traditionally
the sites of the old Vineyards, but the tradition cannot be fully
depended on, and the formation of the terraces has been variously
accounted for. By some they are supposed to be natural formations, but
wherever I have seen them they appear to me too regular and artificial;
nor, as far as I am aware, does the oolite, on which formation these
terraces mostly occur, take the form of a succession of narrow terraces.
It seems certain that the ground was artificially formed into these
terraces with very little labour, and that they were utilized for some
special cultivation, and as likely for Vines as for any other.[303:3] It
is also certain that as the Gloucestershire Vineyards were among the
most ancient and the best in England, so they held their ground till
within a very recent period. I cannot find the exact date, but some time
during the last century there is "satisfactory testimony of the full
success of a plantation in Cromhall Park, from which ten hogsheads of
wine were made in the year. The Vine plantation was discontinued or
destroyed in consequence of a dispute with the Rector on a claim of the
tythes."--RUDGE'S _History of Gloucestershire_. This, however, is not
quite the latest notice I have met with, for Phillips, writing in 1820,
says: "There are several flourishing Vineyards at this time in
Somersetshire; the late Sir William Basset, in that county, annually
made some hogsheads of wine, which was palatable and well-bodied. The
idea that we cannot make good wine from our own Grapes is erroneous; I
have tasted it quite equal to the Grave wines, and in some instances,
when kept for eight or ten years, it has been drunk as hock by the
nicest judges."--_Pomarium Britannicum._ It would have been more
satisfactory if Mr. Phillips had told us the exact locality of any of
these "flourishing Vineyards," for I can nowhere else find any account
of them, except that in a map of five miles round Bath in 1801 a
Vineyard is marked at Claverton, formerly in the possession of the
Bassets, and the Vines are distinctly shown.[304:1] At present the
experiment is again being tried by the Marquis of Bute, at Castle Coch,
near Cardiff, to establish a Vineyard, not to produce fruit for the
market, but to produce wine; and as both soil and climate seem very
suitable, there can be little doubt that wine will be produced of a very
fair character. Whether it will be a commercial success is more
doubtful, but probably that is not of much consequence.
I have dwelt at some length on the subject of the English Vineyards,
because the cultivation of the Vine in Vineyards, like the cultivation
of the Saffron, is a curious instance of an industry foreign to the soil
introduced, and apparently for many years successful,[304:2] and then
entirely, or almost, given up. The reasons for the cessation of the
English Vineyards are not far to seek. Some have attributed it to a
change in the seasons, and have supposed that our summers were formerly
hotter than they are now, bringing as a proof the Vineyards and
English-made wine of other days. This was Parkinson's idea. "Our yeares
in these times do not fall out to be so kindly and hot to ripen the
Grape to make any good wine as formerly they have done." But this is a
mere assertion, and I believe it not to be true. I have little doubt
that quite as good wine could now be made in England as ever was made,
and wine is still made every year in many old-fashioned farmhouses. But
foreign wines can now be produced much better and much cheaper, and that
has caused the cessation of the English Vineyards. It is true that
French and Spanish wines were introduced into England very early, but it
must have been in limited quantities, and at a high price. When the
quantities increased and the price was lowered, it was well to give up
the cultivation of the Vine for some more certain crop better suited to
the soil and the climate, for it must always have been a capricious and
uncertain crop. Hakluyt was one who was very anxious that England should
supply herself with all the necessaries of life without dependence on
foreign countries, yet, writing in Shakespeare's time, he says: "It is
sayd that since we traded to Zante, that the plant that beareth the
Coren is also broughte into this realme from thence, and although it
bring not fruit to perfection, yet it may serve for pleasure, and for
some use, like as our Vines doe which we cannot well spare, although the
climat so colde will not permit us to have good wines of them"
("Voiages, &c.," vol. ii. p. 166). Parkinson says to the same effect:
"Many have adventured to make Vineyards in England, not only in these
later days but in ancient times, as may well witness the sundry places
in this land, entituled by the name of Vineyards, and I have read that
many monasteries in this kingdom having Vineyards had as much wine made
therefrom as sufficed their convents year by year, but long since they
have been destroyed, and the knowledge how to order a Vineyard is also
utterly perished with them. For although divers both nobles and
gentlemen have in these later times endeavoured to plant and make
Vineyards, and to that purpose have caused Frenchmen, being skilfull in
keeping and dressing Vines, to be brought over to perform it, yet either
their skill faileth them or their Vines were not good, or (the most
likely) the soil was not fitting, for they could never make any wine
that was worth the drinking, being so small and heartlesse, that they
soon gave over their practise."
There is no need to say anything of the modern culture of the Vine, or
its many excellent varieties. Even in Virgil's time the varieties
cultivated were so many that he said--
"Sed neque quam multæ species, nec nomina quæ sint
Est numerus; neque enim numero comprendere refert;
Quem qui scire velit, Lybici velit æquoris idem
Discere quam multæ Zephyro turbentur arenæ;
Aut ubi navigiis violentior incidit Eurus
Nosse quot Ionii veniant ad littora fluctus."
_Georgica_, ii, 103.
And now the number must far exceed those of Virgil's time. "The
cultivated varieties are extremely numerous; Count Odart says that he
will not deny that there may exist throughout the world 700 or 800,
perhaps even 1,000 varieties; but not a third of these have any
value."--DARWIN. These are the Grapes that are grown in our hothouses;
some also of a fine quality are produced in favourable years
out-of-doors. There are also a few which are grown as ornamental shrubs.
The Parsley-leaved Vine (_Vitis laciniosa_) is one that has been grown
in England, certainly since the time of Shakespeare, for its pretty
foliage, its fruit being small and few; but it makes a pretty covering
to a wall or trellis. The small Variegated Vine (_Vitis_ or _Cissus