Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/135

 It is little wonder that the death-rate was high in the Middle Ages, and that the wealthy mostly died under the age of forty, though this was due to many causes besides the enormous consumption of meat and the almost entire absence of vegetable diet.

In the garden of this period grew very few vegetables, for England was behind France, Italy and the Low Countries in this respect. Nevertheless, the garden, hitherto restricted mostly to the monasteries, now began to be a necessary addition to the new half-timbered house that was springing up in town and country. True, there had been pleasure grounds and "pleasaunt playing places" for the ladies of the wealthy long before this—grounds with grottoes and fountains and sweet-smelling herbs; here, too, was the trellised arbour half smothered in rose and honeysuckle, vines and creeping flowers. But the fifteenth-century garden was made mainly for the purpose of supplying and flavouring foods, as well as for medicinal purposes. Thus special flowers were grown for flavouring soups, including sweet violets, corn-marigolds, red nettles, daisies, and columbine; for making sauces, there were sorrel, violets, parsley, and