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CONTENTS.MARY'S MEADOWLETTERS FROM A LITTLE GARDENGARDEN LORESUNFLOWERS AND A RUSHLIGHTDANDELION CLOCKSTHE TRINITY FLOWERLADDERS TO HEAVEN * * * * *MARY'S MEADOW.PREFACE.MARY'S MEADOW first appeared in the numbers of _Aunt Judy'sMagazine_ from November 1883 to March 1884. It was the last serialstory which Mrs. EWING wrote, and I believe the subject of it arosefrom the fact that in 1883, after having spent several years in movingfrom place to place, she went to live at Villa Ponente, Taunton, whereshe had a settled home with a garden, and was able to revert to thepractical cultivation of flowers, which had been one of the favouritepursuits of her girlhood.The Game of the Earthly Paradise was received with great delight bythe readers of the story; one family of children adopted the wordMary-meadowing to describe the work which they did towardsbeautifying hedges and bare places; and my sister received manyletters of inquiry about the various plants mentioned in her tale.These she answered in the correspondence columns of the Magazine, andin July 1884 it was suggested that a Parkinson Society should beformed, whose objects were to search out and cultivate old gardenflowers which have become scarce; to exchange seeds and plants; toplant waste places with hardy flowers; to circulate books on gardeningamongst the Members; and further, to try to prevent theextermination of rare wild flowers, as well as of garden treasures.Reports of the Society, with correspondence on the exchanges of plantsand books, and quaint local names of flowers, were given in theMagazine until it was brought to a close after Mrs. EWING'S death; butI am glad to say that the Society existed for some years under themanagement of the founder, Miss ALICE SARGANT, and when she wasobliged to relinquish the work it was merged in the SelborneSociety, which aims at the preservation of rare species of animals aswell as plants.The Letters from a Little Garden were published in _Aunt Judy'sMagazine_ between November 1884 and February 1885, and as they, aswell as Mary's Meadow, were due to the interest which my sister wastaking in the tending of her own Earthly Paradise,--they are insertedin this volume, although they were left unfinished when the writer wascalled away to be Fast in Thy Paradise, where no flower can wither!HORATIA K.F. EDEN._December, 1895._ * * * * *NOTE.--If any readers of Mary's Meadow have been as completelypuzzled as the writer was by the title of John Parkinson's old book,it may interest them to know that the question has been raised andanswered in _Notes and Queries_.I first saw the _Paradisi in sole Paradisus terrestris_ at Kew, someyears ago, and was much bewitched by its quaint charm. I grieve to saythat I do not possess it; but an old friend and florist--the Rev. H.T.Ellacombe--was good enough to lend me his copy for reference, and tohim I wrote for the meaning of the title. But his scholarship, andthat of other learned friends, was quite at fault. My old friend'syouthful energies (he will permit me to say that he is ninety-four)were not satisfied to rust in ignorance, and he wrote to _Notes andQueries_ on the subject, and has been twice answered. It is an absurdplay upon words, after the fashion of John Parkinson's day. Paradise,as _Aunt Judy's_ readers may know, is originally an Eastern word,meaning a park, or pleasure-ground. I am ashamed to say that theknowledge of this fact did not help me to the pun. _Paradisi in soleParadisus terrestris_ means Park--in--son's Earthly Paradise!J.H.E., _February 1884._
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