_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ THE COTSWOLDS By G. F. NICHOLLS and FRANCIS DUCKWORTH NORTH DEVON By HENRY B. WIMBUSH and F. J. SNELL SOUTH DEVON By C. E. HANNAFORD and CHARLES ROWE, M.J.I. GALLOWAY By JAMES FAED, Jun., and J. M. SLOAN IRELAND By FRANCIS S. WALKER, R.H.A., and FRANK MATHEW LIVERPOOL By J. HAMILTON HAY and DIXON SCOTT THE PEAK COUNTRY By W. BISCOMBE GARDNER and A. R. HOPE MONCRIEFF KEW GARDENS AGENTS AMERICA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK AUSTRALASIA THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, MELBOURNE CANADA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD. 27 RICHMOND STREET WEST, TORONTO INDIA MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD. MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY 309 BOW BAZAAR STREET, CALCUTTA [Illustration: THE RHODODENDRON DELL] KEW GARDENS PAINTED BY T. MOWER MARTIN, R.C.A. DESCRIBED BY A. R. HOPE MONCRIEFF WITH 24 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR [Illustration] LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1908 PREFACE Kew Gardens contain what seems the completest botanical collection in the world, handicapped as it is by a climate at the antipodes of Eden, and by a soil that owes less to Nature than to patient art. Before being given up to public pleasure and instruction, this demesne was a royal country seat, specially favoured by George III. That homely King had two houses here and began to build a more pretentious palace, a design cut short by his infirmities, but for which Kew might have usurped the place of Windsor. For nearly a century it kept a close connection with the Royal Family, as the author illustrates in his story of the village and the Gardens, while the artist has found most effective subjects in the rich vegetation gathered into this enclosure and in the relics of its former state. CONTENTS PAGE I ROYAL RESIDENCES 1 II KEW IN FAVOUR 31 III THE STORY OF THE GARDENS 83 IV THE VILLAGE: IN AND ABOUT IT 113 V VISITING THE GARDENS 157 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS