Come into the garden Maud

click photo to enlarge

The other day, with a group of friends and neighbours, we visited Harrington Hall in Lincolnshire. This fine country house with six acres of gardens is known for two contrasting reasons. Firstly, in 1991, whilst undergoing renovation, it suffered a devastating fire that caused damage to much of the interior and destroyed the roofs. The building we see today is a careful restoration that still retains parts built by the Copledyke family in the reign of Elizabeth I, the work done from 1673 by Vincent Amcotts, and the extensions of the eighteenth century and later. However, all this has been supplemented by walls, floors, panelling, ceilings etc that are either newly made in the style of the originals, or combine new work with what could be salvaged from the old.

The second well-known reason that people have heard of Harrington Hall is its Tennyson connection. Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892), who later became a Lord and the Poet Laureate, was born at the nearby village of Somersby where his father was the rector. It is said that in 1832, at the age of 23, Tennyson met the Baring family who lived at Harrington Hall, and became infatuated by their daughter, Rosa. His later poem ,"Come into the garden Maud" (1855)*, with its theme of an idealistic young man's love for the girl of a wealthy family, is thought to reflect that early episode in his life. The story goes that Tennyson's "High Hall Garden" is based on Harrington's extensive gardens and that the Viewing Terrace (from where my main photograph was taken) features in the poem. There is nothing conclusive linking the location and poem, but all circumstantial evidence, including poems later in life to "Rose" and a shared garden ("Rose, on this terrace fifty years ago, When I was in my June, you in your May..."), suggest that the reference is to his experiences at Harrington.

*  In 1857 Michael Balfe added music to "Come into the garden Maud". In consequence Tennyson's words (slightly modified) became better known through the song than the poem.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28mm macro
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Writers and locations

click photo to enlarge

When I was growing up in the Yorkshire Dales I was always aware of the relative proximity of "Bronte Country", the hills around Haworth where the Bronte sisters and their family lived, worked and wrote. I also noted that in more recent times the northern Dales assumed the title, "Herriot Country" on the back of the popularity of James Herriot's books and their TV adaptations, though I confess to never having read or seen any of his work. This mania for giving areas names based on the works of writers or painters is of relatively long standing, though it does seem to have increased in the past thirty years or so.

Thomas Hardy's books are largely set in Wessex, an old name that describes an area that includes including Dorset, Berkshire, Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire. He gives fictional names to actual towns - Puddletown becomesWeatherbury, Bridport is changed to Port Bredy, Bournemouth to Sandbourne etc - and this has, for tourist authorities and readers, created an area that is now recognised as "Hardy's Wessex". This kind of association is sometimes disputed when more than one artist is connected with a location. Thus, the Lake District in the minds of some is linked with Beatrix Potter, but others see it as closely intertwined with the "Lakes Poets" - Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and others.

What has this to do with my photograph of oilseed rape and ash trees? Well, it was taken over the past couple of days when I spent some time walking, cycling and driving in a small part of England that has acquired the title of "Tennyson Country". The rolling hills of the south Lincolnshire Wolds in the vicinity of Somersby, Bag Enderby and Harrington is the area where Alfred (later Lord) Tennyson was born, grew up, and where he wrote much of the early poetry that led to him becoming the most admired poet of Victorian England.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28mm
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On