I get new property for rent alerts from a Cotswolds agency and tonight's has this description:

quote:

Drawing Room, Dining Room, Kitchen/breakfast Room
Master Double bedroom with Ensuite Bathroom, Double Bedroom 2 and Bathroom 2.
Lovely garden divided into 3 terrace levels running down to a ha-ha.
Fabulous views.

So, what is a "ha-ha"?

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language." George Bernard Shaw

It is a garden term.

Article from BBC

"A boundary to a park or garden that doesn't interrupt the view."

"A sunken fence formed by a ditch between slopes - also spelled haw-haw"

Google on garden ha-ha to get more examples and definitions.

To keep the livestock out of the garden, the land drops off maybe five feet; this drop is usually grassed over. From above, the terraces or gardens or whatever whould seem to flow right into the parkland, with no unsightly fence, and the sheep couldn't nibble the clematis.

The etymology, probably mythical, is that some day-dreaming Frenchman fell over an unnoticed ha-ha, and exclaimed, "Ah, ah!" Which the Brits wrote down as ha-ha.

Yrs, Robert

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Santa Monica:
The etymology, probably mythical, is that some day-dreaming Frenchman fell over an unnoticed ha-ha, and exclaimed, "Ah, ah!" Which the Brits wrote down as ha-ha.Yrs, Robert

Alternatively, it may derive from the sound of the Brit laughing at the Frenchman who had just fallen over.

It is a boundary that prevents the cattle from getting on to the lawn of a house. A ditch is dug and supported by a wall in the ditch. From the house the view is seamless but the animals cannot get on to the manicured garden. It's an extremely common feature in landscapes designed by Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-hah1.htm

Thanks everyone! I could not even imagine what it could be!

Pauline, the first place I ever saw a ha-ha was at Hidcote Gardens near Chipping Campden.

If you don't end up renting the place with its own ha-ha, you might want to visit Hidcote Gardens when you are in the Cotswolds. It's one of our favorite places in England... even without the ha-ha!

Kathy

We will visit them on this trip - if only to document a ha-ha! Thanks!

There's a Jane Austin book with a ha ha. Which one?

Edit by me I googled it, it's Mansfield Park chapter 10.

I was trapped on the phone so was reading this site instead of listening and staring at the bluebells...
Then I read all the posts under the bluebells and it made me think of Jane.

We saw a ha-ha in Hidcote Gardens. And someone told me there is one on the Royal Crescent in Bath - but I did not notice it.

We went to the small town of Adlestrop in the Cotswolds, just east of Stow on the Wold, where Jane Austen's uncle (I think) was the rector. She visited him there many times and they think she based part of Mansfield Park there. I bought a brochure about it all at the church and will post more about it later.

What a great quote about the ha-ha!!

>> Fanny, feeling all this to be wrong, could not help making an effort to prevent it. "You will hurt yourself, Miss Bertram," she cried; "you will certainly hurt yourself against those spikes; you will tear your gown; you will be in danger of slipping into the ha-ha. You had better not go." <<

This THREAD has my photo of the ha-ha in Hidcote.

And another great quote:

Miss Bertram to Mr. Crawford

>> Yes, certainly, the sun shines, and the park looks very cheerful. But unluckily that iron gate, that ha-ha, give me a feeling of restraint and hardship. <<

-Krista

Hi All,

Was just reading the Phoenix Park (Dubin!) Management Plan today (don't ask...) and it's full of ha-ha's! I had just read this question yesterday evening and immediately connected with SlowTravel... Was glad to get back to the website and figure out what they are.

Thanks all.

Patricia