Madrigirls // Leaves of Life

Leaves of life, the latest album by The Glasgow University Madrigirls.
Our new album includes loads of Madrigirls favourites, recorded over the past 2 years. Ideal Gift.

Cover image originally entitled ‘The perfect form of a fruit tree’ is from The University of Glasgow’s extensive Special Collections.

It can be found in a beautifully illustrated collection of early print bound together to form a book entitled A New Orchard and Garden and The Country Housewife’s Garden. These were the only published works by William Lawson. They were first printed together in 1618* and proved popular enough to warrant further reprints in quick succession.

Gardening had become a national passion in the Sixteenth Century. Then, as now, it was a recreation that brought peace and contentment, and a welcome escape from the trials of a turbulent age. An increase in travel abroad and geographical discovery brought back new plants and ideas. There was a subsequent demand for new knowledge and exchange of information, spurring the production of horticultural manuals such as this.

The work deals with all aspects of orchard management, covering: the kind of soil required the best kind of site and how to protect it from animals, birds, thieves, disease and the weather; how to plant, space and prune your trees; the different types of fruit trees and bushes and their qualities; and how to gather, store and preserve the fruits of your labours. As Lawson sums up, ‘skill and pains, bring fruitful gains’.

Madrigirls

Keyhole Collection is closely linked to the Glasgow University Special Collections and has produced this album cover to celebrate the amazing early print held in their archives and The Madrigirls love of early music with a modern twist.

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More from the Collection

Surgical instruments
Amorum, Cherubs
Architectural Drawing by Sir Rowand Anderson
Compass detail from Marine Charts of Scotland

Let's work together

If you truly treasure something the best way to show that love is to share it. The Keyhole Collection is dedicated to bringing artwork and artefacts to a new audience. We do this by sharing and collaborating. Working with museums, archives, organisations and stately homes we unearth the quirky and the curious. Images and objects which may have lain unloved and out of sight for centuries can be admired and appreciated again. The stories behind their creation seen through new eyes. The cards we produce celebrating the original work and the history behind it but with a fresh, colourful approach designed to appeal to everyone. So if you are curator or archivist and would like to bring your collection to life and attract new visitors please just get in touch. We also work with families and individuals who own special collections and would like to share these in memorable ways with friends and loved ones. Find out more about how we work and the organisations we work with.