For residents of Plumstead/Woolwich and surrounings interested in our very own Ha Ha: The etymology of the term is generally given as being an expression of surprise—someone says ha ha or ah! ah! when they encounter such a feature. This is the explanation given in French, where it is traditionally attributed to Louis, Grand Dauphin, on encountering such features at Meudon, by dArgenville (trans. James), above, and by Walpole, who surmised that the name is derived from the response of ordinary folk on encountering them and that they were ... then deemed so astonishing, that the common people called them Ha! Has! to express their surprise at finding a sudden and unperceived check to their walk. Thomas Jefferson, describing the garden at Stowe after his visit in April 1786, also uses the term with exclamation marks: The inclosure is entirely by ha! ha![7] In Britain, the ha-ha is a feature of the landscape gardens laid out by Charles Bridgeman and William Kent and was an essential component of the swept views of Capability Brown. Horace Walpole credits Bridgeman with the invention of the ha-ha but was unaware of the earlier French origins. The contiguous ground of the park without the sunk fence was to be harmonized with the lawn within; and the garden in its turn was to be set free from its prim regularity, that it might assort with the wilder country without.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 14:53:21 +0000
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