The fate of the Cheshire Cheese, however, proves that while tradition as an asset may be of great value to such a place, yet it has its limits. Just as soap and the "spellin' school" have done away with the romance of the noble Red Man, so against the influence of the marble of modernity, even the full flavoured aura of Dr. Johnson was unable to hold its own.
Thus I am brought back--not too late, I hope--to my original theme, which 1 think took the form of a protest against the protestations of those writers who believe that marble should not find its way into the ornamentation of an English garden. I have had seats and tables and vases and columns of various marbles in my House Garden--I have even had a fountain basin and carved panels of flowers and birds of the same material--but although some of them show signs of being affected by the climate, yet nothing has suffered in this way--on the contrary, I find that Sicilian and "dove" marbles have improved by "weathering."
I have a large round table, the top of which is inlaid with a variety of coloured marbles, and as I allow this to remain out-of-doors during seven months of the year, I know what sorts best withstand the rigours of an English South Coast June; and I am inclined to believe that the ordinary "dove" shows the least sign of hardship at the end of the season. Of course, the top has lost all its polish, but the cost of repolishing such a table is not more than ten shillings--I had another one done some years ago, and that is the sum I was charged for the work by a well-known firm on the Fulham Road; so that if I should get tired of seeing it weather-beaten, I can get it restored without impoverishing the household.
And the mention of this leads me on to another point which should not be lost sight of in considering any scheme of garden decoration.
My Garden of Peace has never been one of "peace at any price." I have happily been compelled to give the most inflexible attention to the price of everything. I like those books on garden design which tell you how easily you can get leaden figures and magnificent chased vases of bronze if you wish, but perhaps you would prefer carved stone. You have only to go to a well-known importer with a cheque-book and a consciousness of a workable bank balance, and the thing is done. So you will find in the pre-war cookery books the recipe beginning: "Take two dozen new-laid eggs, a quart of cream, and a pint of old brandy," etc. These bits of advice make very good reading, and doubtless may be read with composure by some people, but I am not among their number.