Transcriber's Notes: Some typographical and punctuation errors have beencorrected. A complete list follows the text. Variations in spelling andhyphenation have been left as in the original. Words italicized in theoriginal are surrounded by _underscores_. Words in bold in the originalare surrounded by =equal signs=. Characters superscripted in theoriginal are inclosed in {} brackets. 

_THE PLANT-LORE AND GARDEN-CRAFT OF SHAKESPEARE. _

PRESS NOTICES OF FIRST EDITION. 

"It would be hard to name a better commonplace book for summerlawns. . . . The lover of poetry, the lover of gardening, and the loverof quaint, out-of-the-way knowledge will each find something to pleasehim. . . . It is a delightful example of gardening literature. "--_PallMall Gazette. _

"Mr. Ellacombe, with a double enthusiasm for Shakespeare and for hisgarden, has produced a very readable and graceful volume on thePlant-Lore of Shakespeare. "--_Saturday Review. _

"Mr. Ellacombe brings to his task an enthusiastic love of horticulture, wedded to no inconsiderable practical and theoretical knowledge of it; amind cultivated by considerable acquaintance with the Greek and Latinclassics, and trained for this special subject by a course of extensivereading among the contemporaries of his author: and a capacity forpatient and unwearied research, which he has shown by the stores oflearning he has drawn from a class of books rarely dipped into by thestudent--Saxon and Early English herbals and books of leechcraft; theresult is a work which is entitled from its worth to a place in everyShakesperian library. "--_Spectator. _

"The work has fallen into the hands of one who knows not only theplants themselves, but also their literary history; and it may besaid that Shakespeare's flowers now for the first time find anhistorian. "--_Field. _

"A delightful book has been compiled, and it is as accurate as it isdelightful. "--_Gardener's Chronicle. _

"Mr. Ellacombe's book well deserves a place on the shelves of both thestudent of Shakespeare and the lover of plant lore. "--_Journal ofBotany. _

"By patient industry, systematically bestowed, Mr. Ellacombe hasproduced a book of considerable interest; . . . Full of facts, groupedon principles of common sense about quotations from our greatpoet. "--_Guardian. _

"Mr. Ellacombe is an old and faithful labourer in this field ofcriticism. His 'Plant-lore and Garden-craft of Shakespeare' . . . Is thefullest and best book on the subject. "--_The Literary World (American). _

 THE

 PLANT-LORE & GARDEN-CRAFT

 OF

 SHAKESPEARE. 

 BY

 REV. HENRY N. ELLACOMBE, M. A. , OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD, VICAR OF BITTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, AND HON. CANON OF BRISTOL. 

 SECOND EDITION. 

 PRINTED FOR W. SATCHELL AND CO. , AND SOLD BY, SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO. , LONDON. 

 1884. 

 "My Herbale booke in Folio I unfold. I pipe of plants, I sing of somer flowers. "

 CUTWODE, _Caltha Poetarum_, st. 1. 

TO THE READER. 

"Faultes escaped in the Printing, correcte with your pennes; omitted bymy neglygence, overslippe with patience; committed by ignorance, remitwith favour. "

 LILY, _Euphues and his England_, Address to the gentlemen Readers. 

CONTENTS. 

 INTRODUCTION 1

 PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 7

 GARDEN-CRAFT OF SHAKESPEARE 333

 APPENDIX--

 I. THE DAISY 359

 II. THE SEASONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS 379

 III. NAMES OF PLANTS 391

 INDEX OF PLAYS 421

 GENERAL INDEX 431

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

Since the publication of the First Edition I have received many kindcriticisms both from the public critics and from private friends. Forthese criticisms I am very thankful, and they have enabled me to correctsome errors and to make some additions, which I hope will make the bookmore acceptable and useful. 

For convenience of reference I have added the line numbers to thepassages quoted, taking both the quotations and the line numbers fromthe Globe Shakespeare. In a few instances I have not kept exactly to thetext of the Globe Edition, but these are noted; and I have added the"Two Noble Kinsmen, " which is not in that Edition. 

In other respects this Second Edition is substantially the same as theFirst. 

 H. N. E. 

 BITTON VICARAGE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, _February, 1884_. 

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 

The following Notes on the "Plant-lore and Garden-craft of Shakespeare"were published in "The Garden" from March to September, 1877. 

They are now republished with additions and with such corrections as thealtered form of publication required or allowed. 

As the Papers appeared from week to week, I had to thank manycorrespondents (mostly complete strangers to myself) for usefulsuggestions and inquiries; and I would again invite any furthersuggestions or remarks, especially in the way of correction of anymistakes or omissions that I may have made, and I should feel thankfulto any one that would kindly do me this favour. 

In republishing the Papers, I have been very doubtful whether I oughtnot to have rejected the cultural remarks on several of the plants, which I had added with a special reference to the horticulturalcharacter of "The Garden" newspaper. But I decided to retain them, onfinding that they interested some readers, by whom the literary andShakespearean notices were less valued. 

The weekly preparation of the Papers was a very pleasant study tomyself, and introduced me to much literary and horticultural informationof which I was previously ignorant. In republishing them I hope thatsome of my readers may meet with equal pleasure, and with some littleinformation that may be new to them. 

 H. N. E. 

 BITTON VICARAGE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, _May, 1878_. 

INTRODUCTION. 

All the commentators on Shakespeare are agreed upon one point, that hewas the most wonderfully many-sided writer that the world has yet seen. Every art and science are more or less noticed by him, so far as theywere known in his day; every business and profession are more or lessaccurately described; and so it has come to pass that, though the maincircumstances of his life are pretty well known, yet the students ofevery art and science, and the members of every business and profession, have delighted to claim him as their fellow-labourer. Books have beenwritten at various times by various writers, which have proved (to thecomplete satisfaction of the writers) that he was a soldier, [1:1] asailor, a lawyer, [1:2] an astronomer, a physician, [1:3] a divine, [1:4] aprinter, [1:5] an actor, a courtier, a sportsman, an angler, [2:1] and Iknow not what else besides. 

I also propose to claim him as a fellow-labourer. A lover of flowers andgardening myself, I claim Shakespeare as equally a lover of flowers andgardening; and this I propose to prove by showing how, in all hiswritings, he exhibits his strong love for flowers, and a very fair, though not perhaps a very deep, knowledge of plants; but I do not intendto go further. That he was a lover of plants I shall have no difficultyin showing; but I do not, therefore, believe that he was a professedgardener, and I am quite sure he can in no sense be claimed as abotanist, in the scientific sense of the term. His knowledge of plantswas simply the knowledge that every man may have who goes through theworld with his eyes open to the many beauties of Nature that surroundhim, and who does not content himself with simply looking, and thenpassing on, but tries to find out something of the inner meaning of thebeauties he sees, and to carry away with him some of the lessons whichthey were doubtless meant to teach. But Shakespeare was able to gofurther than this. He had the great gift of being able to describe whathe saw in a way that few others have arrived at; he could communicate toothers the pleasure that he felt himself, not by long descriptions, butby a few simple words, a few natural touches, and a few well-chosenepithets, which bring the plants and flowers before us in the freshest, and often in a most touching way. 

For this reason the study of the Plant-lore of Shakespeare is a verypleasant study, and there are other things which add to this pleasure. One especial pleasure arises from the thoroughly English character ofhis descriptions. It has often been observed that wherever the scenes ofhis plays are laid, and whatever foreign characters he introduces, yetthey really are all Englishmen of the time of Elizabeth, and the scenesare all drawn from the England of his day. This is certainly true of theplants and flowers we meet with in the plays; they are thoroughlyEnglish plants that (with very few exceptions) he saw in the hedgerowsand woods of Warwickshire, [2:2] or in his own or his friends' gardens. The descriptions are thus thoroughly fresh and real; they tell of thecountry and of the outdoor life he loved, and they never smell of thestudy lamp. In this respect he differs largely from Milton, whosedescriptions (with very few exceptions) recall the classic and Italianwriters. He differs, too, from his contemporary Spenser, who hascertainly some very sweet descriptions of flowers, which show that heknew and loved them, but are chiefly allusions to classical flowers, which he names in such a way as to show that he often did not fully knowwhat they were, but named them because it was the right thing for aclassical poet so to do. Shakespeare never names a flower or plantunnecessarily; they all come before us, when they do come, in the mostnatural way, as if the particular flower named was the only one thatcould be named on that occasion. We have nothing in his writings, forinstance, like the long list of trees described (and in the mostinteresting way) in the first canto of the First Book of the "FaerieQueene, " and indeed he is curiously distinct from all hiscontemporaries. Chaucer, before him, spoke much of flowers and plants, and drew them as from the life. In the century after him Herrick may benamed as another who sung of flowers as he saw them; but the realcontemporaries of Shakespeare are, with few exceptions, [3:1] very silenton the subject. One instance will suffice. Sir Thomas Wyatt's poems areall professedly about the country--they abound in woods and vales, shepherds and swains--yet in all his poems there is scarcely a singleallusion to a flower in a really natural way. And because Shakespeareonly introduces flowers in their right place, and in the most purelynatural way, there is one necessary result. I shall show that the numberof flowers he introduces is large, but the number he omits, and which hemust have known, is also very large, and well worth noting. [4:1] He hasno notice, under any name, of such common flowers as the Snowdrop, theForget-me-Not, the Foxglove, the Lily of the Valley, [4:2] and manyothers which he must have known, but which he has not named; becausewhen he names a plant or flower, he does so not to show his ownknowledge, but because the particular flower or plant is wanted in theparticular place in which he uses it. 

Another point of interest in the Plant-lore of Shakespeare is the widerange of his observation. He gathers flowers for us from all sorts ofplaces--from the "turfy mountains" and the "flat meads;" from the "boskyacres" and the "unshrubbed down;" from "rose-banks" and "hedgeseven-pleached. " But he is equally at home in the gardens of the countrygentlemen with their "pleached bowers" and "leafy orchards. " Nor is he astranger to gardens of a much higher pretension, for he will pick usfamous Strawberries from the garden of my Lord of Ely in Holborn; hewill pick us White and Red Roses from the garden of the Temple; and hewill pick us "Apricocks" from the royal garden of Richard the Second'ssad queen. I propose to follow Shakespeare into these many pleasantspots, and to pick each flower and note each plant which he has thoughtworthy of notice. I do not propose to make a selection of his plants, for that would not give a proper idea of the extent of his knowledge, but to note every tree, and plant, and flower that he has noted. And asI pick each flower, I shall let Shakespeare first tell us all he has tosay about it; in other words, I shall quote every passage in which henames the plant or flower; for here, again, it would not do to make aselection from the passages, my object not being to give "floralextracts, " but to let him say all he can in his own choice words. Thereis not much difficulty in this, but there is difficulty in determininghow much or how little to quote. On the one hand, it often seems cruelto cut short a noble passage in the midst of which some favourite floweris placed; but, on the other hand, to quote at too great a length wouldextend the book beyond reasonable limits. The rule, therefore, must beto confine the quotations within as small a space as possible, onlytaking care that the space is not so small as entirely to spoil thebeauty of the description. Then, having listened to all that Shakespearehas to say on each flower, I shall follow with illustrations (few andshort) from contemporary writers; then with any observations that maypresent themselves in the identification of Shakespeare's plant withtheir modern representatives, finishing each with anything in thehistory or modern uses or cultivation of the plant that I think willinterest readers. 

For the identification of the plants, we have an excellent andtrustworthy guide in John Gerard, who was almost an exact contemporaryof Shakespeare. Gerard's life ranged from 1545 to 1612, andShakespeare's from 1564 to 1616. Whether they were acquainted or not wedo not know, but it is certainly not improbable that they were; I shouldthink it almost certain that they must have known each other's publishedworks. [5:1]

My subject naturally divides itself into two parts--

 First, The actual plants and flowers named by Shakespeare; Second, His knowledge of gardens and gardening. 

I now go at once to the first division, naming each plant in itsalphabetical order. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1:1] "Was Shakespeare ever a Soldier?" by W. J. Thoms, F. S. A. , 1865, 8vo. 

[1:2] "Shakespeare's legal acquirements considered in a letter to J. P. Collier, " by John, Lord Campbell, 1859, 12mo. "Shakespeare a Lawyer, " byW. L. Rushton, 1858, 12mo. 

[1:3] "Remarks on the Medical Knowledge of Shakespeare, " by J. C. Bucknill, 1860, 8vo. 

[1:4] Eaton's "Shakespeare and the Bible, " 1858, 8vo. 

[1:5] "Shakespere and Typography; being an attempt to show Shakespere'spersonal connection with, and technical knowledge of, the Art ofPrinting, " by William Blades, 1872, 8vo. 

[2:1] "Was Shakespeare an Angler, " by H. N. Ellacombe, 1883, 12mo. 

[2:2] "The country around Stratford presents the perfection of quietEnglish scenery; it is remarkable for its wealth of lovely wild flowers, for its deep meadows on each side of the tranquil Avon, and for itsrich, sweet woodlands. "--E. DOWDEN'S _Shakespeare in LiteraturePrimers_, 1877. 

[3:1] The two chief exceptions are Ben Jonson (1574-1637) and WilliamBrowne (1590-1645). Jonson, though born in London, and living there thegreatest part of his life, was evidently a real lover of flowers, andfrequently shows a practical knowledge of them. Browne was also a keenobserver of nature, and I have made several quotations from his"Britannia's Pastorals. "

[4:1] Perhaps the most noteworthy plant omitted is Tobacco--Shakespearemust have been well acquainted with it, not only as every one in his dayknew of it, but as a friend and companion of Ben Jonson, he must oftenhave been in the company of smokers. Ben Jonson has frequent allusionsto it, and almost all the sixteenth-century writers have something tosay about it; but Shakespeare never names the herb, or alludes to it inany way whatever. 

[4:2] It seems probable that the Lily of the Valley was not recognizedas a British plant in Shakespeare's time, and was very little grown evenin gardens. Turner says, "Ephemerū is called in duch meyblumle, infrench Muguet. It groweth plentuously in Germany, but not in Englandthat ever I coulde see, savinge in my Lordes gardine at Syon. ThePoticaries in Germany do name it Lilium Cōvallium, it may be calledin englishe May Lilies. "--_Names of Herbes_, 1548. Coghan in 1596 saysmuch the same: "I say nothing of them because they are not usuall ingardens. "--_Haven of Health. _

[5:1] I may mention the following works as more or less illustrating thePlant-lore of Shakespeare:--

 1. --"Shakspere's Garden, " by Sidney Beisly, 1864. I have to thank this author for information on a few points, but on the whole it is not a satisfactory account of the plants of Shakespeare, and I have not found it of much use. 

 2. --"Flowers from Stratford-on-Avon, " and

 3. --"Girard's Flowers of Shakespeare and of Milton, " 2 vols. These two works are pretty drawing-room books, and do not profess to be more. 

 4. --"Natural History of Shakespeare, being Selections of Flowers, Fruits, and Animals, " arranged by Bessie Mayou, 1877. This gives the greater number of the passages in which flowers are named, without any note or comment. 

 5. --"Shakespeare's Bouquet--the Flowers and Plants of Shakespeare, " Paisley, 1872. This is only a small pamphlet. 

 6. --"The Rural Life of Shakespeare, as illustrated by his Works, " by J. C. Roach Smith, 8vo, London, 1870. A pleasant but short pamphlet. 

 7. --"A Brief Guide to the Gardens of Shakespeare, " 1863, 12mo, 12 pages, and

 8. --"Shakespeare's Home and Rural Life, " by James Walter, with Illustrations. 1874, folio. These two works are rather topographical guides than accounts of the flowers of Shakespeare. 

 9. --"The Flowers of Shakespeare, " depicted by Viola, coloured plates, 4to, 1882. A drawing-room book of little merit. 

 10. --"The Shakspere Flora, " by Leo H. Grindon, 12mo, 1883. A collection of very pleasant essays on the poetry of Shakespeare, and his knowledge of flowers. 

PART I. 

_THE PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE. _

 _Perdita. _ Here's flowers for you. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4. 

 _Duke. _ Away before me to sweet beds of flowers. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act i, sc. 1. 

ACONITUM. 

 _K. Henry. _

 The united vessel of their blood, Mingled with venom of suggestion-- As, force perforce, the age will pour it in-- Shall never leak, though it do work as strong As Aconitum or rash gunpowder. 

 _2nd King Henry IV_, act iv, sc. 4 (44). 

There is another place in which it is probable that Shakespeare alludesto the Aconite; he does not name it, but he compares the effects of thepoison to gunpowder, as in the passage above. 

 _Romeo. _

 Let me have A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear As will disperse itself through all the veins, That the life-weary taker may fall dead And that the trunk may be discharged of breath As violently as hasty powder fired Doth hurry from the fatal cannon's womb. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act v, sc. 1 (59). 

The plant here named as being as powerful in its action as gunpowder isthe Aconitum Napellus (the Wolf's bane or Monk's-hood). It is a memberof a large family, all of which are more or less poisonous, and thecommon Monk's-hood as much so as any. Two species are found in America, but, for the most part, the family is confined to the northern portionof the Eastern Hemisphere, ranging from the Himalaya through Europe toGreat Britain. It is now found wild in a few parts of England, but it iscertainly not indigenous; it was, however, very early introduced intoEngland, being found in all the English vocabularies of plants from thetenth century downwards, and frequently mentioned in the early Englishmedical recipes. 

Its names are all interesting. In the Anglo-Saxon Vocabularies it iscalled _thung_, which, however, seems to have been a general name forany very poisonous plant;[10:1] it was then called Aconite, as theEnglish form of its Greek and Latin name, but this name is now seldomused, being, by a curious perversion, solely given to the pretty littleearly-flowering Winter Aconite (_Eranthis hyemalis_), which is not atrue Aconite, though closely allied; it then got the name ofWolf's-bane, as the direct translation of the Greek _lycoctonum_, a namewhich it had from the idea that arrows tipped with the juice, or baitsanointed with it, would kill wolves and other vermin; and, lastly, itgot the expressive names of Monk's-hood[10:2] and the Helmet-flower, from the curious shape of the upper sepal overtopping the rest of theflower. 

As to its poisonous qualities, all authors agree that every species ofthe family is very poisonous, the A. Ferox of the Himalaya beingprobably the most so. Every part of the plant, from the root to thepollen dust, seems to be equally powerful, and it has the special badquality of being, to inexperienced eyes, so like some harmless plant, that the poison has been often taken by mistake with deadly results. This charge against the plant is of long standing, dating certainly fromthe time of Virgil--_miseros fallunt aconita legentes_--and, no doubt, from much before his time. As it was a common belief that poisons wereantidotes against other poisons, the Aconite was supposed to be anantidote against the most deadly one--

 "I have heard that Aconite Being timely taken hath a healing might Against the scorpion's stroke. "

 BEN JONSON, _Sejanus_, act iii, sc. 3. 

Yet, in spite of its poisonous qualities, the plant has always held, anddeservedly, a place among the ornamental plants of our gardens; itsstately habit and its handsome leaves and flowers make it a favourite. Nearly all the species are worth growing, the best, perhaps, being A. Napellus, both white and blue, A. Paniculatum, A. Japonicum, and A. Autumnale. All the species grow well in shade and under trees. InShakespeare's time Gerard grew in his London garden four species--A. Lycoctonum, A. Variegatum, A. Napellus, and A. Pyrenaicum. 

FOOTNOTES:

[10:1] "_Aconita_, thung. " Ælfric's "Vocabulary, " 10th century. 

"_Aconitum_, thung. " Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary, 11th century. 

"_Aconita_, thung. " "Durham Glossary of the names of Worts, " 11thcentury. 

The ancient Vocabularies and Glossaries, to which I shall frequentlyrefer, are printed in

I. Wright's "Volume of Vocabularies, " 1857. 

II. "Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England, " by Rev. O. Cockayne, published under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, 3vols. , 1866. 

III. "Promptorium Parvulorum, " edited by Albert Way, and published bythe Camden Society, 3 vols. , 1843-65. 

IV. "Catholicon Anglicum, " edited by S. J. Hertage, and published by theEarly English Text Society, 1881, and by the Camden Society, 1882. 

[10:2] This was certainly its name in Shakespeare's time--

 "And with the Flower Monk's-hood makes a coole. "

 CUTWODE, _Caltha Poetarum_, 1599 (st. 117). 

ACORN, _see_ OAK. 

ALMOND. 

 _Thersites. _

 The parrot will not do more for an Almond. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act v, sc. 2 (193). 

"An Almond for a parrot" seems to have been a proverb for the greatesttemptation that could be put before a man. The Almond tree is a nativeof Asia and North Africa, but it was very early introduced into England, probably by the Romans. It occurs in the Anglo-Saxon lists of plants, and in the "Durham Glossary" (11th century) it has the name of the"Easterne nutte-beam. " The tree was always a favourite both for thebeauty of its flowers, which come very early in the year, and for itsBiblical associations, so that in Shakespeare's time the trees were "inour London gardens and orchards in great plenty" (Gerard). BeforeShakespeare's time, Spenser had sung its praises thus--

 "Like to an Almond tree ymounted hye On top of greene Selinis all alone With blossoms brave bedecked daintily; Whose tender locks do tremble every one At everie little breath that under Heaven is blowne. "

 _F. Q. _, i. 7, 32. 

The older English name seems to have been Almande--

 "And Almandres gret plente, "

 _Romaunt of the Rose_;

 "Noyz de l'almande, nux Phyllidis, "

 ALEXANDER NECKAM;

and both this old name and its more modern form of Almond came to usthrough the French _amande_ (Provençal, _amondala_), from the Greek andLatin _amygdalus_. What this word meant is not very clear, but thenative Hebrew name of the plant (_shaked_) is most expressive. The wordsignifies "awakening, " and so is a most fitting name for a tree whosebeautiful flowers, appearing in Palestine in January, show the wakeningup of Creation. The fruit also has always been a special favourite, andthough it is strongly imbued with prussic acid, it is considered awholesome fruit. By the old writers many wonderful virtues wereattributed to the fruit, but I am afraid it was chiefly valued for itssupposed virtue, that "five or six being taken fasting do keepe a manfrom being drunke" (Gerard). [12:1] This popular error is not yetextinct. 

As an ornamental tree the Almond should be in every shrubbery, and, asin Gerard's time, it may still be planted in town gardens withadvantage. There are several varieties of the common Almond, differingslightly in the colour and size of the flowers; and there is one littleshrub (Amygdalus nana) of the family that is very pretty in the frontrow of a shrubbery. All the species are deciduous. 

FOOTNOTES:

[12:1] "Plutarch mentions a great drinker of wine who, by the use ofbitter almonds, used to escape being intoxicated. "--_Flora Domestica_, p. 6. 

ALOES. 

 And sweetens, in the suffering pangs it bears, The Aloes of all forces, shocks, and fears. 

 _A Lover's Complaint_, st. 39. 

Aloes have the peculiarity that they are the emblems of the most intensebitterness and of the richest and most costly fragrance. In the BibleAloes are mentioned five times, and always with reference to theirexcellence and costliness. [13:1] Juvenal speaks of it only as a bitter--

 "Animo corrupta superbo Plus Aloes quam mellis habet" (vi. 180). 

Pliny describes it very minutely, and says, "Strong it is to smell unto, and bitter to taste" (xxvii. 4, Holland's translation). Our old Englishwriters spoke of it under both aspects. It occurs in several recipes ofthe Anglo-Saxon Leechdoms, as a strong and bitter purgative. Chaucernotices its bitterness only--

 "The woful teres that they leten falle As bittre weren, out of teres kynde, For peyne, as is ligne Aloes or galle. "

 _Troilus and Cryseide_, st. 159. 

But the author of the "Remedie of Love, " formerly attributed to Chaucer, says--

 "My chambre is strowed with myrrhe and incense With sote savouring Aloes and sinnamone, Breathing an aromaticke redolence. "

Shakespeare only mentions the bitter quality. 

The two qualities are derived from two very different plants. Thefragrant ointment is the product of an Indian shrub, Aquilariaagallochum; and the bitter purgative is from the true Aloes, A. Socotrina, A. Vulgaris, and others. These plants were well known inShakespeare's time, and were grown in England. Turner and Gerarddescribe them as the Sea Houseleek; and Gerard tells us that they weregrown as vegetable curiosities, for "the herbe is alwaies greene, andlikewise sendeth forth branches, though it remaine out of the earth, especially if the root be covered with lome, and now and then watered;for so being hanged on the seelings and upper posts of dining-roomes, itwill not onely continue a long time greene, but it also groweth andbringeth forth new leaves. "[14:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[13:1] Numbers xxiv. 6; Psalms xlv. 8; Proverbs vii. 17; Canticles iv. 14; John xix. 39. 

[14:1] In the emblems of Camerarius (No. 92) is a picture of a room withan Aloe suspended. 

ANEMONE. 

 By this, the boy that by her side lay kill'd Was melted like a vapour from her sight, And in his blood that on the ground lay spill'd, A purple flower sprung up chequer'd with white. Resembling well his pale cheeks, and the blood Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (1165). 

Shakespeare does not actually name the Anemone, and I place this passageunder that name with some doubt, but I do not know any other flower towhich he could be referring. 

The original legend of the Anemone as given by Bion was that it sprungfrom the tears of Venus, while the Rose sprung from Adonis' blood--

 ἆιμα ροδον τίκτει. τά δέ δάκρυα τάν ἀνεμώναν. 

 _Bion Idyll_, i, 66. 

 "Wide as her lover's torrent blood appears So copious flowed the fountain of her tears; The Rose starts blushing from the sanguine dyes, And from her tears Anemones arise. "

 POLWHELE'S _Translation_, 1786. 

But this legend was not followed by the other classical writers, whomade the Anemone to be the flower of Adonis. Theocritus compares theDog-rose (so called also in his day, κυνοσβατος) and the Anemone withthe Rose, and the Scholia comment on the passage thus--"Anemone, ascentless flower, which they report to have sprung from the blood ofAdonis; and again Nicander says that the Anemone sprung from the bloodof Adonis. "

The storehouse of our ancestors' pagan mythology was in Ovid, and hiswell-known lines are--

 "Cum flos e sanguine concolor ortus Qualem, quæ; lento celant sub cortice granum Punica ferre solent; brevis est tamen usus in illis, Namque male hærentem, et nimiâ brevitate caducum Excutiunt idem qui præstant nomina, venti, "--

Thus translated by Golding in 1567, from whom it is very probable thatShakespeare obtained his information--

 "Of all one colour with the bloud, a flower she there did find, Even like the flower of that same tree, whose fruit in tender rind Have pleasant graines enclosede--howbeit the use of them is short, For why, the leaves do hang so loose through lightnesse in such sort, As that the windes that all things pierce[15:1] with everie little blast Do shake them off and shed them so as long they cannot last. "[15:2]

I feel sure that Shakespeare had some particular flower in view. Spenseronly speaks of it as a flower, and gives no description--

 "In which with cunning hand was pourtrahed The love of Venus and her Paramoure, The fayre Adonis, turned to a flowre. "

 _F. Q. _, iii, 1, 34. 

 "When she saw no help might him restore Him to a dainty flowre she did transmew. "

 _F. Q. _, iii, 1, 38. 

Ben Jonson similarly speaks of it as "Adonis' flower" (Pan'sAnniversary), but with Shakespeare it is different; he describes theflower minutely, and as if it were a well-known flower, "purplechequered with white, " and considering that in his day Anemone wassupposed to be Adonis' flower (as it was described in 1647 by AlexanderRoss in his "Mystagogus Poeticus, " who says that Adonis "was by Venusturned into a red flower called Anemone"), and as I wish, if possible, to link the description to some special flower, I conclude that theevidence is in favour of the Anemone. Gerard's Anemone was certainly thesame as ours, and the "purple" colour is no objection, for "purple" inShakespeare's time had a very wide signification, meaning almost anybright colour, just as _purpureus_ had in Latin, [16:1] which had so widea range that it was used on the one hand as the epithet of the blood andthe poppy, and on the other as the epithet of the swan ("purpureis alesoloribus, " Horace) and of a woman's white arms ("brachia purpureacandidiora nive, " Albinovanus). Nor was "chequered" confined to squaredivisions, as it usually is now, but included spots of any size orshape. 

We have transferred the Greek name of Anemone to the English language, and we have further kept the Greek idea in the English form of"wind-flower. " The name is explained by Pliny: "The flower hath thepropertie to open but when the wind doth blow, wherefore it took thename Anemone in Greeke" ("Nat. Hist. " xxi. 11, Holland's translation). This, however, is not the character of the Anemone as grown in Englishgardens; and so it is probable that the name has been transferred to adifferent plant than the classical one, and I think no suggestion moreprobable than Dr. Prior's that the classical Anemone was the Cistus, ashrub that is very abundant in the South of Europe; that certainly opensits flowers at other times than when the wind blows, and so will notwell answer to Pliny's description, but of which the flowers arebright-coloured and most fugacious, and so will answer to Ovid'sdescription. This fugacious character of the Anemone is perpetuated inSir William Jones' lines ("Poet. Works, " i, 254, ed. 1810)--

 "Youth, like a thin Anemone, displays His silken leaf, and in a morn decays;"

but the lines, though classical, are not true of the Anemone, thoughthey would well apply to the Cistus. [17:1]

Our English Anemones belong to a large family inhabiting cold andtemperate regions, and numbering seventy species, of which three areBritish. [17:2] These are A. Nemorosa, the common wood Anemone, thebrightest spring ornament of our woods; A. Apennina, abundant in theSouth of Europe, and a doubtful British plant; and A. Pulsatilla, thePasse, or Pasque flower, _i. E. _, the flower of Easter, one of the mostbeautiful of our British flowers, but only to be found on the chalkformation. 

FOOTNOTES:

[15:1] Golding evidently adopted the reading "qui perflant omnia, "instead of the reading now generally received, "qui præstant nomina. "

[15:2] Gerard thought that Ovid's Anemone was the VeniceMallow--_Hibiscus trionum_--a handsome annual from the South of Europe. 

[16:1] In the "Nineteenth Century" for October, 1877, is an interestingarticle by Mr. Gladstone on the "colour-sense" in Homer, proving thatHomer, and all nations in the earlier stages of their existence, have avery limited perception of colour, and a very limited and looselyapplied nomenclature of colours. The same remark would certainly applyto the early English writers, not excluding Shakespeare. 

[17:1] Mr. Leo Grindon also identifies the classical Anemone with theCistus. See a good account of it in "Gardener's Chronicle, " June 3, 1876. 

[17:2] The small yellow A. Ranunculoides has been sometimes includedamong the British Anemones, but is now excluded. It is a rare plant, andan alien. 

APPLE. 

 (1) _Sebastian. _

 I think he will carry this island home and give it his son for an Apple. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 1 (91). 

 (2) _Malvolio. _

 Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy; as a Squash is before 'tis a Peascod, or a Codling when 'tis almost an Apple. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act i, sc. 5 (165). 

 (3) _Antonio. _

 An Apple, cleft in two, is not more twin Than these two creatures. 

 _Ibid. _, act 5, sc. 1 (230). 

 (4) _Antonio. _

 An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly Apple rotten at the heart. 

 _Merchant of Venice_, act i, sc. 3 (100). 

 (5) _Tranio. _

 He in countenance somewhat doth resemble you. 

 _Biondello. _

 As much as an Apple doth an oyster, and all one. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act iv, sc. 2 (100). 

 (6) _Orleans. _

 Foolish curs, that run winking into the mouth of a Russian bear, and have their heads crushed like rotten Apples. 

 _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 7 (153). 

 (7) _Hortensio. _

 Faith, as you say, there's small choice in rotten Apples. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act i, sc. 1 (138). 

 (8) _Porter. _

 These are the youths that thunder at a playhouse, and fight for bitten Apples. 

 _Henry VIII_, act v, sc. 4 (63). 

 (9) _Song of Winter. _

 When roasted Crabs hiss in the bowl, Then nightly sings the staring owl. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (935). 

 (10) _Puck. _

 And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl In very likeness of a roasted Crab; And when she drinks, against her lips I bob, And on her wither'd dewlap pour the ale. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (47). 

 (11) _Fool. _

 Shal't see thy other daughter will use thee kindly; for though she's as like this as a Crab's like an Apple, yet I can tell what I can tell. 

 _Lear. _

 Why, what can'st thou tell, my boy?

 _Fool. _

 She will taste as like this as a Crab does to a Crab. 

 _King Lear_, act i, sc. 5 (14). 

 (12) _Caliban. _

 I prithee, let me bring thee where Crabs grow. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 2 (171). 

 (13) _Petruchio. _

 Nay, come, Kate, come, you must not look so sour. 

 _Katherine. _

 It is my fashion, when I see a Crab. 

 _Petruchio. _

 Why, here's no Crab, and therefore look not sour. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act ii, sc. 1 (229). 

 (14) _Menonius. _

 We have some old Crab-trees here at home that will not Be grafted to your relish. 

 _Coriolanus_, act ii, sc. 1 (205). 

 (15) _Suffolk. _

 Noble stock Was graft with Crab-tree slip. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (213). 

 (16) _Porter. _

 Fetch me a dozen Crab-tree staves, and strong ones. 

 _Henry VIII_, act v, sc. 4 (7). 

 (17) _Falstaff. _

 My skin hangs about me like an old lady's loose gown; I am withered like an old Apple-john. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 3 (3). 

 (18) _1st Drawer. _

 What the devil hast thou brought there? Apple-johns? Thou knowest Sir John cannot endure an Apple-john. 

 _2nd Drawer. _

 Mass! thou sayest true; the prince once set a dish of Apple-johns before him, and told him there were five more Sir Johns; and putting off his hat, said, I will now take my leave of these six dry, round, old, withered knights. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (1). 

 (19) _Shallow. _

 Nay, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour, we will eat a last year's Pippin of my own graffing, with a dish of Caraways, and so forth. 

 * * * * *

 _Davey. _

 There's a dish of Leather-coats for you. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 3 (1, 44). 

 (20) _Evans. _

 I pray you be gone; I will make an end of my dinner. There's Pippins and cheese to come. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act i, sc. 2 (11). 

 (21) _Holofernes. _

 The deer was, as you know, _sanguis_, in blood; ripe as the Pomewater, who now hangeth like a jewel in the ear of _cœlo_--the sky, the welkin, the heaven; and anon falleth like a Crab on the face of _terra_--the soil, the land, the earth. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv, sc. 2 (3). 

 (22) _Mercutio. _

 Thy wit is a very Bitter Sweeting; it is a most sharp sauce. 

 _Romeo. _

 And is it not well served in to a sweet goose?

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 4 (83). 

 (23) _Petruchio. _

 What's this? A sleeve? 'Tis like a demi-cannon. What! up and down, carved like an Apple-tart?

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act iv, sc. 3 (88). 

 (24)

 How like Eve's Apple doth thy beauty grow, If thy sweet virtue answer not thy show!

 _Sonnet_ xciii. 

Here Shakespeare names the Apple, the Crab, the Pippin, the Pomewater, the Apple-john, the Codling, the Caraway, the Leathercoat, and theBitter-Sweeting. Of the Apple generally I need say nothing, except tonotice that the name was not originally confined to the fruit now socalled, but was a generic name applied to any fruit, as we still speakof the Love-apple, the Pine-apple, [20:1] &c. The Anglo-Saxon name forthe Blackberry was the Bramble-apple; and Sir John Mandeville, indescribing the Cedars of Lebanon, says: "And upon the hills growen Treesof Cedre, that ben fulle hye, and they beren longe Apples, and als greteas a man's heved"[20:2] (cap. Ix. ). In the English Bible it is the same. The Apple is mentioned in a few places, but it is almost certain that itnever means the Pyrus malus, but is either the Orange, Citron, orQuince, or is a general name for a tree fruit. So that when Shakespeare(24) and the other old writers speak of Eve's Apple, they do notnecessarily assert that the fruit of the temptation was our Apple, butsimply that it was some fruit that grew in Eden. The Apple (_pomum_) hasleft its mark in the language in the word "pomatum, " which, originallyan ointment made of Apples, is now an ointment in which Apples have nopart. 

The Crab was held in far more esteem in the sixteenth century than it iswith us. The roasted fruit served with hot ale (9 and 10) was afavourite Christmas dish, and even without ale the roasted Crab was afavourite, and this not for want of better fruit, for Gerard tells usthat in his time "the stocke or kindred of Apples was infinite, " butbecause they were considered pleasant food. [20:3] Another curious use ofCrabs is told in the description of Crab-wake, or "Crabbing the Parson, "at Halesowen, Salop, on St. Kenelm's Day (July 17), in Brand's "PopularAntiquities" (vol. I. P. 342, Bohn's edition). Nor may we now despisethe Crab tree, though we do not eat its fruit. Among our native treesthere is none more beautiful than the Crab tree, both in flower and infruit. An old Crab tree in full flower is a sight that will delight anyartist, nor is it altogether useless; its wood is very hard and verylasting, and from its fruit verjuice is made, not, however, much inEngland, as I believe nearly all the verjuice now used is made inFrance. 

The Pippin, from being originally a general name for any Apple raisedfrom pips and not from grafts, is now, and probably was in Shakespeare'stime, confined to the bright-coloured, long-keeping Apples (JusticeShallow's was "last year's Pippin"), of which the Golden Pippin ("thePippin burnished o'er with gold, " Phillips) is the type. 

The Bitter-Sweeting (22) was an old and apparently a favourite Apple. Itis frequently mentioned in the old writers, as by Gower, "Conf. Aman. "viii. 174--

 "For all such time of love is lore, And like unto the Bitter-swete, [21:1] For though it think a man fyrst swete He shall well felen at laste That it is sower. "

By Chaucer--

 "Yet of that art they conne nought wexe sadde, For unto hem it is a Bitter Swete. "

 _Prologue of the Chanoune's Yeman. _

And by Ben Jonson--

 "That love's a Bitter-sweet I ne'er conceive Till the sour minute comes of taking leave, And then I taste it. "[21:2]

 _Underwoods. _

Parkinson names it in his list of Apples, but soon dismisses it--"Twentysorts of Sweetings, and none good. " The name is now given to an Apple ofno great value as a table fruit, but good as a cider apple, and for usein silk dyeing. 

It is not easy to identify the Pomewater (21). It was highly esteemedboth by Shakespeare ("it hangeth like a jewel in the ear of _cœlo_")and many other writers. In Gerard's figure it looks like a Codling, andits Latin name is _Malus carbonaria_, which probably refers to its goodqualities as a roasting Apple. The name Pomewater (or Water Apple) makesus expect a juicy but not a rich Apple, and with this agrees Parkinson'sdescription: "The Pomewater is an excellent, good, and great whitishApple, full of sap or moisture, somewhat pleasant sharp, but a littlebitter withall; it will not last long, the winter frosts soon causing itto rot and perish. " It must have been very like the modern Lord SuffieldApple, and though Parkinson says it will not last long, yet it ismentioned as lasting till the New Year in a tract entitled "VoxGraculi, " 1623. Speaking of New Year's Day, the author says: "This dayshall be given many more gifts than shall be asked for; and apples, egges, and oranges shall be lifted to a lofty rate; when a Pomewaterbestuck with a few rotten cloves shall be worth more than the honesty ofa hypocrite" (quoted by Brand, vol. I. 17, Bohn's edition). 

We have no such difficulty with the "dish of Apple-johns" (17 and 18). Hakluyt recommends "the Apple John that dureth two years to make show ofour fruit" to be carried by voyagers. [22:1] "The Deusan (_deux ans_) orApple-john, " says Parkinson, "is a delicate fine fruit, well rellishedwhen it beginneth to be fit to be eaten, and endureth good longer thanany other Apple. " With this description there is no difficulty inidentifying the Apple-john with an Apple that goes under many names, andis figured by Maund as the Easter Pippin. When first picked it is of adeep green colour, and very hard. In this state it remains all thewinter, and in April or May it becomes yellow and highly perfumed, andremains good either for cooking or dessert for many months. 

The Codling (2) is not the Apple now so called, but is the general nameof a young unripe Apple. 

The "Leathercoats" (19) are the Brown Russets; and though the "dish ofCaraways" in the same passage may refer to the Caraway or Caraway-russetApple, an excellent little apple, that seems to be a variety of theNonpareil, and has long been cultivated in England, yet it is almostcertain that it means a dish of Caraway Seeds. (_See_ CARRAWAYS. )

FOOTNOTES:

[20:1] See PINE, p. 208. 

[20:2] "A peche appulle. " "The appulys of a peche tre. "--_PorkingtonMSS. In Early English Miscellany. _ (Published by Warton Club. )

[20:3] "As for Wildings and Crabs . . . Their tast is well enough liked, and they carrie with them a quicke and a sharp smell; howbeit this giftthey have for their harsh sournesse, that they have many a foule wordand shrewd curse given them. "--PHILEMON HOLLAND'S _Pliny_, book xv. C. 14. 

[21:1] "Amor et melle et felle est fecundissimus. "--PLAUTUS. 

[21:2] Juliet describes leave-taking in almost the same words--"Partingis such _sweet sorrow_. "

[22:1] "Voyages, " 1580, p. 466. 

APRICOTS. 

 (1) _Titania. _

 Be kind and courteous to this gentleman; Hop in his walks, and gambol in his eyes; Feed him with Apricocks and Dewberries, With purple Grapes, green Figs, and Mulberries. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (167). 

 (2) _Gardener. _

 Go, bind thou up yon dangling Apricocks, Which, like unruly children, make their sire Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 4 (29). 

 (3) _Palamon. _

 Would I were, For all the fortunes of my life hereafter, Yon little tree, yon blooming Apricocke; How I would spread and fling my wanton armes In at her window! I would bring her fruit Fit for the gods to feed on. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act ii, sc. 2 (291). 

Shakespeare's spelling of the word "Apricocks" takes us at once to itsderivation. It is derived undoubtedly from the Latin _præcox orpræcoquus_, under which name it is referred to by Pliny and Martial;but, before it became the English Apricot it was much changed byItalians, Spaniards, French, and Arabians. The history of the name isvery curious and interesting, but too long to give fully here; a verygood account of it may be found in Miller and in "Notes and Queries, "vol. Ii. P. 420 (1850). It will be sufficient to say here that itacquired its name of "the precocious tree, " because it flowered andfruited earlier than the Peach, as explained in Lyte's "Herbal, " 1578:"There be two kinds of Peaches, whereof the one kinde is late ripe, . . . The other kinds are soner ripe, wherefore they be called Abrecoxor Aprecox. " Of its introduction into England we have no very certainaccount. It was certainly grown in England before Turner's time (1548), though he says, "We have very few of these trees as yet;"[23:1] but theonly account of its introduction is by Hakluyt, who states that it wasbrought from Italy by one Wolf, gardener to King Henry the Eighth. Ifthat be its true history, Shakespeare was in error in putting it intothe garden of the queen of Richard the Second, nearly a hundred yearsbefore its introduction. [24:1]

In Shakespeare's time the Apricot seems to have been grown as astandard; I gather this from the description in Nos. 2 (see the entirepassage s. V. "Pruning" in Part II. ) and 3, and from the following inBrowne's "Britannia's Pastorals"--

 "Or if from where he is[24:2] he do espy Some Apricot upon a bough thereby Which overhangs the tree on which he stands, Climbs up, and strives to take them with his hands. "

 Book ii. Song 4. 

FOOTNOTES:

[23:1] "Names of Herbes, " s. V. Malus Armeniaca. 

[24:1] The Apricot has usually been supposed to have come from Armenia, but there is now little doubt that its original country is the Himalaya(M. Lavaillee). 

[24:2] On a Cherry tree in an orchard. 

ASH. 

 _Aufidius. _

 Let me twine Mine arms about that body, where against My grained Ash an hundred times hath broke, And starr'd the moon with splinters. 

 _Coriolanus_, act iv, sc. 5 (112). 

Warwickshire is more celebrated for its Oaks and Elms than for its Ashtrees. Yet considering how common a tree the Ash is, and in what highestimation it was held by our ancestors, it is strange that it is onlymentioned in this one passage. Spenser spoke of it as "the Ash fornothing ill;" it was "the husbandman's tree, " from which he got the woodfor his agricultural implements; and there was connected with it a greatamount of mystic folk-lore, which was carried to its extreme limit inthe Yggdrasil, or legendary Ash of Scandinavia, which was almost lookedupon as the parent of Creation: a full account of this may be found inMallet's "Northern Antiquities" and other works on Scandinavia. It is anEnglish native tree, [24:3] and it adds much to the beauty of anyEnglish landscape in which it is allowed to grow. It gives its name tomany places, especially in the South, as Ashdown, Ashstead, Ashford, &c. ; but to see it in its full beauty it must be seen in our northerncounties, though the finest in England is said to be at Woburn. 

 "The Oak, the Ash, and the Ivy tree, O, they flourished best at hame, in the north countrie. "

 _Old Ballad. _

In the dales of Yorkshire it is especially beautiful, and any one whosees the fine old trees in Wharfdale and Wensleydale will confess that, though it may not have the rich luxuriance of the Oaks and Elms of thesouthern and midland counties, yet it has a grace and beauty that areall its own, so that we scarcely wonder that Gilpin called it "the Venusof the woods. "

FOOTNOTES:

[24:3] It is called in the "Promptorium Parvulorum" "Esche, " and theseed vessels "Esche key. "

ASPEN. 

 (1) _Marcus. _

 O, had the monster seen those lily hands Tremble, like Aspen leaves, upon a lute. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act 2, sc. 4 (44). 

 (2) _Hostess. _

 Feel, masters, how I shake. . . . . Yea, in very truth do I an 'twere an Aspen leaf. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (114). 

The Aspen or Aspe[25:1] (_Populus tremula_) is one of our three nativePoplars, and has ever been the emblem of enforced restlessness, onaccount of which it had in Anglo-Saxon times the expressive name ofquick-beam. How this perpetual motion in the "light quivering Aspen" isproduced has not been quite satisfactorily explained; and the mediævallegend that it supplied the wood of the Cross, and has never sinceceased to tremble, is still told as a sufficient reason both in Scotlandand England. 

 "Oh! a cause more deep, More solemn far the rustic doth assign, To the strange restlessness of those wan leaves; The cross, he deems, the blessed cross, whereon The meek Redeemer bowed His head to death, Was formed of Aspen wood; and since that hour Through all its race the pale tree hath sent down A thrilling consciousness, a secret awe, Making them tremulous, when not a breeze Disturbs the airy thistle-down, or shakes The light lines of the shining gossamer. "

 MRS. HEMANS. 

The Aspen has an interesting botanical history, as being undoubtedly, like the Scotch fir, one of the primæval trees of Europe; while its greybark and leaves and its pleasant rustling sound make the tree acceptablein our hedgerows, but otherwise it is not a tree of much use. InSpenser's time it was considered "good for staves;" and before his timethe tree must have been more valued than it is now, for in the reign ofHenry V. An Act of Parliament was passed (4 Henry V. C. 3) to preventthe consumption of Aspe, otherwise than for the making of arrows, with apenalty of an Hundred Shillings if used for making pattens or clogs. This Act remained in force till the reign of James I. , when it wasrepealed. In our own time the wood is valued for internal panelling ofrooms, and is used in the manufacture of gunpowder. 

By the older writers the Aspen was the favourite simile for femaleloquacity. The rude libel is given at full length in "The Schoole-houseof Women" (511-545), concluding thus--

 "The Aspin lefe hanging where it be, With little winde or none it shaketh; A woman's tung in like wise taketh Little ease and little rest; For if it should the hart would brest. "

 HAZLITT'S _Popular English Poetry_, vol. Iv, p. 126. 

And to the same effect Gerard concludes his account of the tree thus:"In English Aspe and Aspen tree, and may also be called Tremble, afterthe French name, considering it is the matter whereof women's tongueswere made (as the poets and some others report), which seldom ceasewagging. "

FOOTNOTES:

[25:1] "Espe" in "Promptorium Parvulorum. " "Aspen" is the case-ending of"Aspe. "

BACHELOR'S BUTTON. 

 _Hostess. _

 What say you to young Master Fenton? he capers, he dances, he has eyes of youth, he writes verses, he speaks holiday, he smells April and May; he will carry't, he will carry't; 'tis in his Buttons; he will carry't. 

 _Merry Wives_, act iii, sc. 2 (67). 

"Though the Bachelor's Button is not exactly named by Shakespeare, it isbelieved to be alluded to in this passage; and the supposed allusion isto a rustic divination by means of the flowers, carried in the pocket bymen and under the apron by women, as it was supposed to retain or loseits freshness according to the good or bad success of the bearer'samatory prospects. "[27:1]

The true Bachelor's Button of the present day is the double Ranunculusacris, but the name is applied very loosely to almost any small doubleglobular flowers. In Shakespeare's time it was probably applied stillmore loosely to any flowers in bud (according to the derivation from theFrench _bouton_). Button is frequently so applied by the old writers--

 "The more desire had I to goo Unto the roser where that grewe The freshe Bothum so bright of hewe. 

 * * * * *

 But o thing lyked me right welle; I was so nygh, I myght fele Of the Bothom the swote odour And also see the fresshe colour; And that right gretly liked me. "

 _Romaunt of the Rose. _

And by Shakespeare--

 The canker galls the infants of the Spring Too oft before their Buttons be disclosed. 

 _Hamlet_, act i, sc. 3 (54). 

FOOTNOTES:

[27:1] Mr. J. Fitchett Marsh, of Hardwicke House, Chepstow, in "TheGarden. " I have to thank Mr. Marsh for much information kindly givenboth in "The Garden" and by letter. 

BALM, BALSAM, OR BALSAMUM. 

 (1) _K. Richard. _

 Not all the water in the rough rude sea Can wash the Balm from an anointed king. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 2 (54). 

 (2) _K. Richard. _

 With mine own tears I wash away my Balm. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (207). 

 (3) _K. Henry. _

 'Tis not the Balm, the sceptre, and the ball. 

 _Henry V_, act iv, sc. 1 (277). 

 (4) _K. Henry. _

 Thy place is fill'd, thy sceptre wrung from thee, Thy Balm wash'd off, wherewith thou wast anointed. 

 _3rd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 1 (16). 

 (5) _K. Henry. _

 My pity hath been Balm to heal their wounds. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 8 (41). 

 (6) _Lady Anne. _

 I pour the helpless Balm of my poor eyes. 

 _Richard III_, act i, sc. 2 (13). 

 (7) _Troilus. _

 But, saying thus, instead of oil and Balm, Thou lay'st in every gash that love hath given me The knife that made it. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act i, sc. 1 (61). 

 (8) _1st Senator. _

 We sent to thee, to give thy rages Balm. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act v, sc. 4 (16). 

 (9) _France. _

 Balm of your age, Most best, most dearest. 

 _King Lear_, act i, sc. 1 (218). 

 (10) _K. Henry. _

 Let all the tears that should bedew my hearse Be drops of Balm to sanctify thy head. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act iv, sc. 5 (114). 

 (11) _Mowbray. _

 I am disgraced, impeach'd, and baffled here: Pierced to the soul with slander's venom'd spear; The which no Balm can cure, but his heart-blood Which breathed this poison. 

 _Richard II_, act i, sc. 1 (170). 

 (12) _Dromio of Syracuse. _

 Our fraughtage, Sir, I have conveyed aboard, and I have bought The oil, the Balsamum, and aqua vitæ. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act iv, sc. 1 (187). 

 (13) _Alcibiades. _

 Is this the Balsam that the usuring Senate Pours into captains' wounds?

 _Timon of Athens_, act iii, sc. 5 (110). 

 (14) _Macbeth. _

 Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great Nature's second course, Chief nourisher in life's feast. 

 _Macbeth_, act ii, sc. 2 (37). 

 (15) _Quickly. _

 The several chairs of order look you scour With juice of Balm and every precious flower. 

 _Merry Wives_, act v, sc. 5 (65). 

 (16) _Cleopatra. _

 As sweet as Balm, as soft as air, as gentle. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act v, sc. 2 (314). 

 (17)

 And trembling in her passion, calls it Balm, Earth's sovereign salve to do a goddess good. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (27). 

 (18)

 And drop sweet Balm in Priam's painted wound. 

 _Lucrece_ (1466). 

 (19)

 With the drops of this most balmy time My love looks fresh. 

 _Sonnet_ cvii. 

In all these passages, except the two last, the reference is to the Balmor Balsam which was imported from the East, from very early times, andwas highly valued for its curative properties. The origin of Balsam wasfor a long time a secret, but it is now known to have been the produceof several gum-bearing trees, especially the Pistacia lentiscus and theBalsamodendron Gileadense; and now, as then, the name is not strictlyconfined to the produce of any one plant. But in Nos. 15 and 16 thereference is no doubt to the Sweet Balm of the English gardens (_Melissaofficinalis_), a plant highly prized by our ancestors for its medicinalqualities (now known to be of little value), and still valued for itspleasant scent and its high value as a bee plant, which is shown by itsold Greek and Latin names, Melissa, Mellissophyllum, and Apiastrum. TheBastard Balm (_Melittis melissophyllum_) is a handsome native plant, found sparingly in Devonshire, Hampshire, and a few other places, and iswell worth growing wherever it can be induced to grow; but it is a verycapricious plant, and is apparently not fond of garden cultivation. "Très jolie plante, mais d'une culture difficile" (Vilmorin). Itprobably would thrive best in the shade, as it is found in copses. 

BARLEY. 

 (1) _Iris. _

 Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (60). 

 (2) _Constable. _

 Can sodden water, A drench for surrein'd jades, their Barley broth, Decoct their cold blood to such valiant heat?

 _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 5 (18). [30:1]

These two passages require little note. The Barley (_Hordeum vulgare_)of Shakespeare's time and our own is the same. We may note, however, that the Barley broth (2) of which the French Constable spoke socontemptuously as the food of English soldiers was probably beer, whichlong before the time of Henry V. Was so celebrated that it gave its nameto the plant (Barley being simply the Beer-plant), and in Shakespeare'stime, "though strangers never heard of such a word or such a thing, byreason it is not everyewhere made, " yet "our London Beere-Brewers wouldscorne to learne to make beere of either French or Dutch" (Gerard). 

FOOTNOTES:

[30:1] "Vires ordea prestant. "--_Modus Cenandi_, 176. ("Babee's Book. ")

BARNACLES. 

 _Caliban. _

 We shall lose our time And all be turn'd to Barnacles. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (248). 

It may seem absurd to include Barnacles among plants; but in the time ofShakespeare the Barnacle tree was firmly believed in, and Gerard gives aplate of "the Goose tree, Barnacle tree, or the tree bearing Geese, " andsays that he declares "what our eies have seene, and our hands havetouched. "

A full account of the fable will be found in Harting's "Ornithology ofShakespeare, " p. 247, and an excellent account in Lee's "Sea FablesExplained" (Fisheries Exhibition handbooks), p. 98. But neither of thesewriters have quoted the testimony of Sir John Mandeville, which is, however, well worth notice. When he was told in "Caldilhe" of a treethat bore "a lytylle Best in Flessche in Bon and Blode as though it werea lytylle Lomb, withouten Wolle, " he did not refuse to believe them, forhe says, "I tolde hem of als gret a marveylle to hem that is amonges us;and that was of the Bernakes. For I tolde hem, that in our Contree werenTrees, that beren a Fruyt, that becomen Briddes fleeynge; and tho thatfallen in the Water lyven, and thei that fallen on the Erthe dyen anon;and thei ben right gode to mannes mete. And here of had thei als gretmarvaylle that sume of hem trowed, it were an impossible thing to be"("Voiage and Travaille, " c. Xxvi. ). 

BAY TREES. 

 (1) _Captain. _

 'Tis thought the King is dead; we will not stay. The Bay-trees in our country are all wither'd. 

 _Richard II_, act ii, sc. 4 (7). 

 (2) _Bawd. _

 Marry come up, my dish of chastity with Rosemary and Bays!

 _Pericles_, act iv, sc. 6 (159). 

 (3)

 _The Vision_--Enter, solemnly tripping one after another, six personages, clad in white robes, wearing on their heads garlands of Bays, and golden vizards on their faces, branches of Bays or Palms in their hands. 

 _Henry VIII_, act iv, sc. 2

It is not easy to determine what tree is meant in these passages. In thefirst there is little doubt that Shakespeare copied from some Italiansource the superstition that the Bay trees in a country withered anddied when any great calamity was approaching. We have no proof that suchan idea ever prevailed in England. In the second passage reference ismade to the decking of the chief dish at high feasts with garlands offlowers and evergreens. But the Bay tree had been too recentlyintroduced from the South of Europe in Shakespeare's time to be so usedto any great extent, though the tree was known long before, for it ismentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Vocabularies by the name of Beay-beam, that is, the Coronet tree;[32:1] but whether the Beay-beam meant our Baytree is very uncertain. We are not much helped in the inquiry by thenotice of the "flourishing green Bay tree" in the Psalms, for it seemsvery certain that the Bay tree there mentioned is either the Oleander orthe Cedar, certainly not the Laurus nobilis. 

The true Bay is probably mentioned by Spenser in the following lines--

 "The Bay, quoth she, is of the victours born, Yielded them by the vanquisht as theyr meeds, And they therewith doe Poetes heads adorne To sing the glory of their famous deeds. "

 _Amoretti_--Sonnet xxix. 

And in the following passage (written in the lifetime of Shakespeare)the Laurel and the Bay are both named as the same tree--

 "And when from Daphne's tree he plucks more Baies His shepherd's pipe may chant more heavenly lays. "

 _Christopher Brooke_--_Introd. Verses to_ BROWNE'S _Pastorals. _

In the present day no garden of shrubs can be considered completewithout the Bay tree, both the common one and especially the CalifornianBay (_Oreodaphne Californica_), which, with its bright green lanceolatefoliage and powerful aromatic scent (to some too pungent), deserves aplace everywhere, and it is not so liable to be cut by the spring windsas the European Bay. [32:2] Parkinson's high praise of the Bay tree(forty years after Shakespeare's death) is too long for insertion, buttwo short sentences may be quoted: "The Bay leaves are of as necessaryuse as any other in the garden or orchard, for they serve both forpleasure and profit, both for ornament and for use, both for honestcivil uses and for physic, yea, both for the sick and for the sound, both for the living and for the dead; . . . So that from the cradle tothe grave we have still use of it, we have still need of it. "

The Bay tree gives us a curious instance of the capriciousness ofEnglish plant names. Though a true Laurel it does not bear thename, which yet is given to two trees, the common (and Portugal)Laurel, and the Laurestinus, neither of which are Laurels--the onebeing a Cherry or Plum (_Prunus_ or _Cerasus_), the other a Guelder Rose(_Viburnum_). [33:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[32:1] "The Anglo-Saxon Beay was not a ring only, or an armlet: it wasalso a coronet or diadem. . . . The Bays, then, of our Poets and the Baytree were in reality the Coronet and the Coronet tree. "--COCKAYNE, _Spoon and Sparrow_, p. 21. 

[32:2] The Californian Bay has not been established in England longenough to form a timber tree, but in America it is highly prized as oneof the very best trees for cabinet work, especially for the ornamentalparts of pianos. 

[33:1] For an interesting account of the Bay and the Laurels, giving thehistory of the names, &c. , see two papers by Mr. H. Evershed in"Gardener's Chronicle, " September, 1876. 

BEANS. 

 (1) _Puck. _

 When I a fat and Bean-fed horse beguile. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (45). 

 (2) _Carrier. _

 Peas and Beans are as dank here as a dog; and that is the next way to give poor jades the bots. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (9). 

The Bean (_Faba vulgaris_), though an Eastern plant, was very earlyintroduced into England as an article of food both for men and horses. As an article of human food opinions were divided, as now. By some itwas highly esteemed--

 "Corpus alit Faba; stringit cum cortice ventrem, Desiccat fleuma, stomacum lumenque relidit"--

is the description of the Bean in the "Modus Cenandi, " l. 182 ("Babee'sBook, " ii, 48). While H. Vaughan describes it as--

 "The Bean By curious pallats never sought;"

and it was very generally used as a proverb of contempt--

 "None other lif, sayd he, is worth a Bene. "[34:1]

 "But natheles I reche not a Bene. "[34:2]

It is not apparently a romantic plant, and yet there is no plant roundwhich so much curious folk lore has gathered. This may be seen at fulllength in Phillips' "History of Cultivated Vegetables. " It will beenough here to say that the Bean was considered as a sacred plant bothby the Greeks and Romans, while by the Egyptian priests it wasconsidered too unclean to be even looked upon; that it was used both forits convenient shape and for its sacred associations in all elections byballot; that this custom lasted in England and in most Europeanscountries to a very recent date in the election of the kings and queensat Twelfth Night and other feasts; and that it was of great repute inall popular divinations and love charms. I find in Miller another use ofBeans, which we are thankful to note among the obsolete uses: "They arebought up in great quantities at Bristol for Guinea ships, as food forthe negroes on their passage from Africa to the West Indies. "

As an ornamental garden plant the Bean has never received the attentionit seems to deserve. A plant of Broad Beans grown singly is quite astately plant, and the rich scent is an additional attraction to many, though to many others it is too strong, and it has a badcharacter--"Sleep in a Bean-field all night if you want to have awfuldreams or go crazy, " is a Leicestershire proverb:[34:3] and the ScarletRunner (which is also a Bean) is one of the most beautiful climbers wehave. In England we seldom grow it for ornament, but in France I haveseen it used with excellent effect to cover a trellis-screen, mixed withthe large blue Convolvulus major. 

FOOTNOTES:

[34:1] Chaucer, "The Marchandes Tale, " 19. 

[34:2] Ibid. , "The Man of Lawes Tale, " prologue. 

[34:3] Copied from the mediæval proverb: "Cum faba florescit, stultorumcopia crescit. "

BILBERRY. 

 _Pistol. _

 Where fires thou find'st unraked and hearths unswept, There pinch the maids as blue as Bilberry-- Our radiant Queen hates sluts and sluttery. 

 _Merry Wives_, act v, sc. 5 (48). 

The Bilberry is a common British shrub found on all mossy heaths, andvery pretty both in flower and in fruit. Its older English name wasHeathberry, and its botanical name is Vaccinium myrtillus. We have inBritain four species of Vaccinium: the Whortleberry or Bilberry (_V. Myrtillus_), the Large Bilberry (_V. Uliginosum_), the Crowberry (_V. Vitis idæa_), and the Cranberry (_V. Oxycoccos_). These British species, as well as the North American species (of which there are several), areall beautiful little shrubs in cultivation, but they are very difficultto grow; they require a heathy soil, moisture, and partial shade. 

BIRCH. 

 _Duke. _

 Fond fathers, Having bound up the threatening twigs of Birch, Only to stick it in their children's sight For terror, not to use, in time the rod Becomes more mock'd than fear'd. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act i, sc. 3 (23). 

Shakespeare only mentions this one unpleasant use of the Birch tree, themanufacture of Birch rods; and for such it seems to have been chieflyvalued in his day. "I have not red of any vertue it hath in physick, "says Turner; "howbeit, it serveth for many good uses, and for nonebetter than for betynge of stubborn boys, that either lye or will notlearn. " Yet the Birch is not without interest. The word "Birch" is thesame as "bark, " meaning first the rind of a tree and then a barque orboat (from which we also get our word "barge"), and so the very namecarries us to those early times when the Birch was considered one ofthe most useful of trees, as it still is in most northern countries, where it grows at a higher degree of latitude than any other tree. Itsbark was especially useful, being useful for cordage, and matting, androofing, while the tree itself formed the early British canoes, as itstill forms the canoes of the North American Indians, for which it iswell suited, from its lightness and ease in working. 

In Northern Europe it is the most universal and the most useful oftrees. It is "the superlative tree in respect of the ground it covers, and in the variety of purposes to which it is converted in Lapland, where the natives sit in birchen huts on birchen chairs, wearing birchenboots and breeches, with caps and capes of the same material, warmingthemselves by fires of birchwood charcoal, reading books bound in birch, and eating herrings from a birchen platter, pickled in a birchen cask. Their baskets, boats, harness, and utensils are all of Birch; in short, from cradle to coffin, the Birch forms the peculiar environment of theLaplander. "[36:1] In England we still admire its graceful beauty, whether it grows in our woods or our gardens, and we welcome itspleasant odour on our Russia leather bound books; but we have ceased tomake beer from its young shoots, [36:2] and we hold it in almost as lowrepute (from the utilitarian point of view) as Turner and Shakespeareseem to have held it. 

FOOTNOTES:

[36:1] "Gardener's Chronicle. "

[36:2] "Although beer is now seldom made from birchen twigs, yet it isby no means an uncommon practice in some country districts to tap thewhite trunks of Birches, and collect the sweet sap which exudes fromthem for wine-making purposes. In some parts of Leicestershire this sapis collected in large quantities every spring, and birch wine, when wellmade, is a wholesome and by no means an unpleasant beverage. "--B. In_The Garden_, April, 1877. "The Finlanders substitute the leaves ofBirch for those of the tea-plant; the Swedes extract a syrup from thesap, from which they make a spirituous liquor. In London they makechampagne of it. The most virtuous uses to which it is applied arebrooms and wooden shoes. "--_A Tour Round My Garden_, Letter xix. 

BITTER-SWEET, _see_ APPLE (22). 

BLACKBERRIES. 

 (1) _Falstaff. _

 Give you a reason on compulsion!--if reasons were as plentiful as Blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I. [37:1]

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (263). 

 (2) _Falstaff. _

 Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher and eat Blackberries?

 _Ibid. _ (450). 

 (3) _Thersites. _

 That same dog-fox Ulysses is not proved worth a Blackberry. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act v, sc. 4 (12). 

 (4) _Rosalind. _

 There is a man . . . . Hangs odes upon Hawthorns and elegies on Brambles. 

 _As You Like it_, act iii, sc. 2 (379). 

 (5)

 The thorny Brambles and embracing bushes, As fearful of him, part, through whom he rushes. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (629). 

I here join together the tree and the fruit, the Bramble (_Rubusfruticosus_) and the Blackberry. There is not much to be said for aplant that is the proverbial type of a barren country or untidycultivation, yet the Bramble and the Blackberry have their charms, andwe could ill afford to lose them from our hedgerows. The name Brambleoriginally meant anything thorny, and Chaucer applied it to the DogRose--

 "He was chaste and no lechour, And sweet as is the Bramble flower That bereth the red hepe. "

But in Shakespeare's time it was evidently confined to theBlackberry-bearing Bramble. 

There is a quaint legend of the origin of the plant which is worthrepeating. It is thus pleasantly told by Waterton: "The cormorant wasonce a wool merchant. He entered into partnership with the Bramble andthe bat, and they freighted a large ship with wool; she was wrecked, andthe firm became bankrupt. Since that disaster the bat skulks about tillmidnight to avoid his creditors, the cormorant is for ever diving intothe deep to discover its foundered vessel, while the Bramble seizeshold of every passing sheep to make up his loss by stealing the wool. "

As a garden plant, the common Bramble had better be kept out of thegarden, but there are double pink and white-blossomed varieties, andothers with variegated leaves, that are handsome plants on roughrockwork. The little Rubus saxatilis is a small British Bramble that ispretty on rockwork, and among the foreign Brambles there are some thatshould on no account be omitted where ornamental shrubs are grown. Suchare the R. Leucodermis from Nepaul, with its bright silvery bark andamber-coloured fruit; R. Nootkanus, with very handsome foliage, and purewhite rose-like flowers; R. Arcticus, an excellent rockwork plant fromNorthern Europe, with very pleasant fruit, but difficult to establish;R. Australis (from New Zealand), a most quaint plant, with leaves sodepauperated that it is apparently leafless, and hardy in the South ofEngland; and R. Deliciosus, a very handsome plant from the RockyMountains. There are several others well worth growing, but I mentionthese few to show that the Bramble is not altogether such a villainousand useless weed as it is proverbially supposed to be. 

FOOTNOTES:

[37:1] _See_ RAISINS, p. 238. 

BOX. 

 _Maria. _ Get ye all three into the Box tree. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act ii, sc. 5 (18). 

The Box is a native British tree, and in the sixteenth century wasprobably much more abundant as a wild tree than it is now. Chaucer notesit as a dismal tree. He describes Palamon in his misery as--

 "Like was he to byholde, The Boxe tree or the Asschen deed and colde. "

 _The Knightes Tale. _

Spenser noted it as "The Box yet mindful of his olde offence, " and inShakespeare's time there were probably more woods of Box in England thanthe two which still remain at Box Hill, in Surrey, and Boxwell, inGloucestershire. The name remains, though the trees are gone, in Box inWilts, Boxgrove, Boxley, Boxmoor, Boxted, and Boxworth. [39:1] From itswild quarters the Box tree was very early brought into gardens, and wasespecially valued, not only for its rich evergreen colour, but because, with the Yew, it could be cut and tortured into all the ungainly shapeswhich so delighted our ancestors in Shakespeare's time, though one ofthe most illustrious of them, Lord Bacon, entered his protest againstsuch barbarisms: "I, for my part, do not like images cut out in Juniperor other garden stuff; they be for children" ("Essay of Gardens"). 

The chief use of the Box now is for blocks for wood-carving, for whichits close grain makes it the most suitable of all woods. [39:2]

FOOTNOTES:

[39:1] In Boxford, and perhaps in some of the other names, the word hasno connection with the tree, but marks the presence of water or astream. 

[39:2] In some parts of Europe almost a sacred character is given to theBox. For a curious record of blessing the Box, and of a sermon on thelessons taught by the Box, see "Gardener's Chronicle, " April 19, 1873. 

BRAMBLE, _see_ BLACKBERRIES. 

BRIER. 

 (1) _Ariel. _

 So I charm'd their ears, That calf-like they my lowing follow'd through Tooth'd Briers, sharp Furzes, pricking Goss, and Thorns. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (178). 

 (2) _Fairy. _

 Over hill, over dale, Thorough Bush, thorough Brier. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (2). 

 (3) _Thisbe. _

 Of colour like the red Rose on triumphant Brier. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 1 (90). 

 (4) _Puck. _

 I'll lead you about a round, Through bog, through bush, through Brake, through Brier. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (10). 

 (5) _Puck. _

 For Briers and Thorns at their apparel snatch. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 2 (29). 

 (6) _Hermia. _

 Never so weary, never so in woe, Bedabbled with the dew and torn with Briers. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 2 (443). 

 (7) _Oberon. _

 Every elf and fairy sprite Hop as light as bird from Brier. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 1 (400). 

 (8) _Adriana. _

 If aught possess thee from me, it is dross, Usurping Ivy, Brier, or idle Moss. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act ii, sc. 2 (179). 

 (9) _Plantagenet. _

 From off this Brier pluck a white Rose with me. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (30). 

 (10) _Rosalind. _

 O! how full of Briers is this working-day world!

 _As You Like It_, act i, sc. 3 (12). 

 (11) _Helena. _

 The time will bring on summer, When Briers shall have leaves as well as Thorns, And be as sweet as sharp. 

 _All's Well_, act iv, sc. 4 (32). 

 (12) _Polyxenes. _

 I'll have thy beauty scratched with Briers. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (436). 

 (13) _Timon. _

 The Oaks bear mast, the Briers scarlet hips. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (422). 

 (14) _Coriolanus. _

 Scratches with Briers, Scars to move laughter only. 

 _Coriolanus_, act iii, sc. 3 (51). 

 (15) _Quintus. _

 What subtle hole is this, Whose mouth is cover'd with rude-growing Briers?

 _Titus Andronicus_, act iii, sc. 3 (198). 

In Shakespeare's time the "Brier" was not restricted to the Sweet Briar, as it usually is now; but it meant any sort of wild Rose, and even itwould seem from No. 9 that it was applied to the cultivated Rose, forthere the scene is laid in the Temple Gardens. In some of the passagesit probably does not allude to any Rose, but simply to any wild thornyplant. That this was its common use then, we know from many examples. In"Le Morte Arthur, " the Earl of Ascolot's daughter is described--

 "Hyr Rode was rede as blossom or Brere Or floure that springith in the felde" (179). 

And in "A Pleasant New Court Song, " in the Roxburghe Ballads--

 "I stept me close aside Under a Hawthorn Bryer. "

It bears the same meaning in our Bibles, where "Thorns, " "Brambles, " and"Briers, " stand for any thorny and useless plant, the soil of Palestinebeing especially productive of thorny plants of many kinds. Wickliffe'stranslation of Matthew vii. 16, is--"Whether men gaderen grapis ofthornes; or figis of Breris?" and Tyndale's translation is much thesame--"Do men gaddre grapes of thornes, or figges of Bryeres?"[41:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[41:1] "Brere--Carduus, tribulus, vepres, veprecula. "--_CatholiconAnglicum. _

BROOM. 

 (1) _Iris. _

 And thy Broom groves, Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves, Being lass-lorn. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (66). 

 (2) _Puck. _

 I am sent with Broom before To sweep the dust behind the door. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act v, sc. 1 (396). 

 (3) _Man. _

 I made good my place; at length they came to the Broomstaff with me. 

 _Henry VIII_, act v, sc. 4 (56). 

The Broom was one of the most popular plants of the Middle Ages. Itsmodern Latin name is _Cytisus scoparius_, but under its then Latin nameof _Planta genista_ it gave its name to the Plantagenet family, eitherin the time of Henry II. , as generally reported, or probably stillearlier. As the favourite badge of the family it appears on theirmonuments and portraits, and was embroidered on their clothes andimitated in their jewels. Nor was it only in England that the plant washeld in such high favour; it was the special flower of the Scotch, andit was highly esteemed in many countries on the Continent, especially inBrittany. Yet, in spite of all this, there are only these three noticesof the plant in Shakespeare, and of those three, two (2 and 3) refer toits uses when dead; and the third (1), though it speaks of it as living, yet has nothing to say of the remarkable beauties of this favouriteBritish flower. Yet it has great beauties which cannot easily beoverlooked. Its large, yellow flowers, its graceful habit of growth, andits fragrance--

 "Sweet is the Broome-flowre, but yet sowre enough"--

 SPENSER, _Sonnet_ xxvi. 

at once arrest the attention of the most careless observer of Nature. Weare almost driven to the conclusion that Shakespeare could not have hadmuch real acquaintance with the Broom, or he would not have sent his"dismissed bachelor" to "Broom-groves. "[42:1] I should very much doubtthat the Broom could ever attain to the dimensions of a grove, thoughSteevens has a note on the passage that "near Gamlingay, inCambridgeshire, it grows high enough to conceal the tallest cattle asthey pass through it; and in places where it is cultivated stillhigher. " Chaucer speaks of the Broom, but does not make it so much of atree--

 "Amid the Broom he basked in the sun. "

And other poets have spoken of the Broom in the same way--thus Collins--

 "When Dan Sol to slope his wheels began Amid the Broom he basked him on the ground. "

 _Castle of Indolence_, canto i. 

And a Russian poet speaks of the Broom as a tree--

 "See there upon the Broom tree's bough The young grey eagle flapping now. "

 _Flora Domestica_, p. 68. 

As a garden plant it is perhaps seen to best advantage when mixed withother shrubs, as when grown quite by itself it often has an untidy look. There is a pure white variety which is very beautiful, but it is veryliable to flower so abundantly as to flower itself to death. There are afew other sorts, but none more beautiful than the British. 

FOOTNOTES:

[42:1] Yet Bromsgrove must be a corruption of Broom-grove, and there areother places in England named from the Broom. 

BULRUSH. 

 _Wooer. _

 Her careless tresses A wreake of Bulrush rounded. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 1 (104). 

_See_ RUSH, p. 262. 

BURDOCK AND BURS. 

 (1) _Celia. _

 They are but Burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery; if we walk not in the trodden paths our very petticoats will catch them. 

 _Rosalind. _

 I could shake them off my coat; these Burs are in my heart. 

 _As You Like It_, act i, sc. 3 (13). 

 (2) _Lucio. _

 Nay, friar, I am a kind of Bur; I shall stick. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 3 (149). 

 (3) _Lysander. _

 Hang oft, thou cat, thou Burr. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 2 (260). 

 (4) _Pandarus. _

 They are Burs, I can tell you; they'll stick where they are thrown. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act iii, sc. 2 (118). 

 (5) _Burgundy. _

 And nothing teems But hateful Docks, rough Thistles, Kecksies, Burs. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (51). 

 (6) _Cordelia. _

 Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Burdocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4 (3). 

The Burs are the unopened flowers of the Burdock (_Arctium lappa_), andtheir clinging quality very early obtained for them expressive names, such as _amor folia_, love leaves, and philantropium. This clingingquality arises from the bracts of the involucrum being long and stiff, and with hooked tips which attach themselves to every passing object. The Burdock is a very handsome plant when seen in its native habitat bythe side of a brook, its broad leaves being most picturesque, but it isnot a plant to introduce into a garden. [44:1] There is another tribe ofplants, however, which are sufficiently ornamental to merit a place inthe garden, and whose Burs are even more clinging than those of theBurdock. These are the Acænas; they are mostly natives of America andNew Zealand, and some of them (especially A. Sarmentosa and A. Microphylla) form excellent carpet plants, but their points beingfurnished with double hooks, like a double-barbed arrow, they havedouble powers of clinging. 

BURNET. 

 _Burgundy. _

 The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled Cowslip, Burnet, and green Clover. 

 _Henry V. _ act v, sc. 2 (48). 

The Burnet (_Poterium sanguisorba_) is a native plant of no great beautyor horticultural interest, but it was valued as a good salad plant, theleaves tasting of Cucumber, and Lord Bacon (contemporary withShakespeare) seems to have been especially fond of it. He says ("Essayof Gardens"):

"Those flowers which perfume the air most delightfully, not passed byas the rest, but being trodden upon and crushed, are three--that is, Burnet, Wild Thyme, and Water Mints; therefore you are to set wholealleys of them, to have the pleasure when you walk or tread. " Draytonhad the same affection for it--

 "The Burnet shall bear up with this, Whose leaf I greatly fancy. "

 _Nymphal V. _

It also was, and still is, valued as a forage plant that will grow andkeep fresh all the winter in dry barren pastures, thus often giving foodfor sheep when other food was scarce. It has occasionally beencultivated, but the result has not been very satisfactory, except onvery poor land, though, according to the Woburn experiments, as reportedby Sinclair, it contains a larger amount of nutritive matter in thespring than most of the Grasses. It has brown flowers, from which it issupposed to derive its name (Brunetto). [45:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[44:1]

 "A Clote-leef he had under his hood For swoot, and to keep his heed from hete. "

 CHAUCER, _Prologue of the Chanounes Yeman_ (25). 

This Clote leaf is by many considered to be the Burdock leaf, but it wasmore probably the name of the Water-lily. 

[45:1] "Burnet colowre, Burnetum, burnetus. "--_Promptorium Parvulorum. _

CABBAGE. 

 _Evans. _

 _Pauca verba_, Sir John; good worts. 

 _Falstaff. _

 Good worts! good Cabbage. 

 _Merry Wives_, act i, sc. 1 (123). 

The history of the name is rather curious. It comes to us from theFrench _Chou cabus_, which is the French corruption of _Cauliscapitatus_, the name by which Pliny described it. 

The Cabbage of Shakespeare's time was essentially the same as ours, andfrom the contemporary accounts it seems that the sorts cultivated wereas good and as numerous as they are now. The cultivated Cabbage is thesame specifically as the wild Cabbage of our sea-shores (_Brassicaoleracea_) improved by cultivation. Within the last few years theCabbage has been brought from the kitchen garden into the flower gardenon account of the beautiful variegation of its leaves. This, however, isno novelty, for Parkinson said of the many sorts of Cabbage in his day:"There is greater diversity in the form and colour of the leaves ofthis plant than there is in any other that I know groweth on theground. . . . Many of them being of no use with us for the table, butfor delight to behold the wonderful variety of the works of God herein. "

CAMOMILE. 

 _Falstaff. _

 Though the Camomile, the more it is trodden on the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted the sooner it wears. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (443). 

The low-growing Camomile, the emblem of the sweetness of humility, hasthe lofty names of Camomile (_Chamæmelum_, _i. E. _, Apple of the Earth)and Anthemis nobilis. Its fine aromatic scent and bitter flavoursuggested that it must be possessed of much medicinal virtue, while itslow growth made it suitable for planting on the edges of flower-beds andpaths, its scent being brought out as it was walked upon. For thispurpose it was much used in Elizabethan gardens; "large walks, broad andlong, close and open, like the Tempe groves in Thessaly, raised withgravel and sand, having seats and banks of Camomile; all this delightsthe mind, and brings health to the body. "[46:1] As a garden flower it isnow little used, though its bright starry flower and fine scent mightrecommend it; but it is still to be found in herb gardens, and is still, though not so much as formerly, used as a medicine. 

Like many other low plants, the Camomile is improved by being pressedinto the earth by rolling or otherwise, and there are many allusions tothis in the old writers: thus Lily in his "Euphues" says: "The Camomilethe more it is trodden and pressed down, the more it spreadeth;" and inthe play, "The More the Merrier" (1608), we have--

 "The Camomile shall teach thee patience Which riseth best when trodden most upon. "

FOOTNOTES:

[46:1] Lawson, "New Orchard, " p. 54. 

CARDUUS, _see_ HOLY THISTLE. 

CARNATIONS. 

 (1) _Perdita. _

 The fairest flowers o' the season Are our Carnations and streak'd Gillyvors, Which some call Nature's bastards. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (81). 

 (2) _Polyxenes. _

 Then make your garden rich in Gillyvors, And do not call them bastards. 

 _Ibid. _ (98). 

There are two other places in which Carnation is mentioned, but theyrefer to carnation colour--_i. E. _, to pure flesh colour. 

 (3) _Quickly. _

 'A could never abide Carnation; 'twas a colour he never liked. 

 _Henry V_, act ii, sc. 3 (35). 

 (4) _Costard. _

 Pray you, sir, how much Carnation riband may a man buy for a remuneration?

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iii, sc. 1 (146). 

Dr. Johnson and others have supposed that the flower is so named fromthe colour, but that this is a mistake is made very clear by Dr. Prior. He quotes Spenser's "Shepherd's Calendar"--

 "Bring Coronations and Sops-in-Wine Worn of Paramours. "

and so it is spelled in Lyte's "Herbal, " 1578, coronations orcornations. This takes us at once to the origin of the name. The plantwas one of those used in garlands (_coronæ_), and was probably one ofthe most favourite plants used for that purpose, for which it was wellsuited by its shape and beauty. Pliny gives a long list of garlandflowers (_Coronamentorum genera_) used by the Romans and Athenians, andNicander gives similar lists of Greek garland plants (στεφανωματικὰἄνθη), in which the Carnation holds so high a place that it was calledby the name it still has--Dianthus, or Flower of Jove. 

Its second specific name, Caryophyllus--_i. E. _, Nut-leaved--seems atfirst very inappropriate for a grassy leaved plant, but the name wasfirst given to the Indian Clove-tree, and from it transferred to theCarnation, on account of its fine clove-like scent. Its popularity as anEnglish plant is shown by its many names--Pink, Carnation, Gilliflower[48:1] (an easily-traced and well-ascertained corruption fromCaryophyllus), Clove, Picotee, [48:2] and Sops-in-Wine, from the flowersbeing used to flavour wine and beer. [48:3] There is an historicalinterest also in the flowers. All our Carnations, Picotees, and Clovescome originally from the single Dianthus caryophyllus; this is not atrue British plant, but it holds a place in the English flora, beingnaturalized on Rochester and other castles. It is abundant in Normandy, and I found it (in 1874) covering the old castle of Falaise in whichWilliam the Conqueror was born. Since that I have found that it grows onthe old castles of Dover, Deal, and Cardiff, all of them of Normanconstruction, as was Rochester, which was built by Gundulf, the specialfriend of William. Its occurrence on these several Norman castles makeit very possible that it was introduced by the Norman builders, perhapsas a pleasant memory of their Norman homes, though it may have beenaccidentally introduced with the Normandy (Caen) stone, of which partsof the castles are built. How soon it became a florist's flower we donot know, but it must have been early, as in Shakespeare's time thesorts of Cloves, Carnations, and Pinks were so many that Gerard says: "Agreat and large volume would not suffice to write of every one at largein particular, considering how infinite they are, and how every yeare, every clymate and countrey, bringeth forth new sorts, and such as havenot heretofore bin written of;" and so we may certainly say now--thedescription of the many kinds of Carnations and Picotees, withdirections for their culture, would fill a volume. 

FOOTNOTES:

[48:1] This is the more modern way of spelling it. In the first folio itis "Gillyvor. " "Chaucer writes it Gylofre, but by associating it withthe the Nutmeg and other spices, appears to mean the Clove Tree, whichis, in fact, the proper signification. "--_Flora Domestica. _ In the"Digby Mysteries" (Mary Magdalene, l. 1363) the Virgin Mary is addressedas "the Jentyll Jelopher. "

[48:2] Picotee is from the French word _picoté_ marked with littlepricks round the edge, like the "picots, " on lace, _picot_ being thetechnical term in France for the small twirls which in England arecalled "purl" or "pearl. "

[48:3] Wine thus flavoured was evidently a very favourite beverage. "Bartholemeus Peytevyn tenet duas Caracutas terræ in Stony-Aston in Com. Somerset de Domino Rege in capite per servitium unius[48:a] Sextariivini Gariophilati reddendi Domino Regi per annum ad Natale Domini. Etvalet dicta terra per ann. _xl. _"

 [48:a] "A Sextary of July-flower wine, and a Sextary contained about a pint and a half, sometimes more. "--BLOUNT'S _Antient Tenures_. 

CARRAWAYS. 

 _Shallow. _

 Nay, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour we will eat a last year's Pippin of my own graffing, with a dish of Caraways and so forth. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act v, sc. 3 (1). 

Carraways are the fruit of Carum carui, an umbelliferous plant of alarge geographical range, cultivated in the eastern counties, andapparently wild in other parts of England, but not considered a truenative. In Shakespeare's time the seed was very popular, and was muchmore freely used than in our day. "The seed, " says Parkinson, "is muchused to be put among baked fruit, or into bread, cakes, &c. , to givethem a rellish. It is also made into comfits and put into Trageas or (aswe call them in English) Dredges, that are taken for cold or wind in thebody, as also are served to the table with fruit. "

Carraways are frequently mentioned in the old writers as anaccompaniment to Apples. In a very interesting bill of fare of 1626, extracted from the account book of Sir Edward Dering, is the following--

 "Carowaye and comfites, 6d. 

 A Warden py that the cooke Made--we fining y{e} Wardens. 2s. 4d. 

 Second Course. 

 A cold Warden pie. 

 Complement. Apples and Carrawayes. "--_Notes and Queries_, i, 99. 

So in Russell's "Book of Nurture:" "After mete . . . Pepyns Careaway incomfyte, " line 78, and the same in line 714; and in Wynkyn de Worde's"Boke of Kervynge" ("Babee's Book, " p. 266 and 271), and in F. Seager's"Schoole of Vertue" ("Babee's Book, " p. 343)--

 "Then cheese with fruite On the table set, With Bisketes or Carowayes As you may get. "

The custom of serving roast Apples with a little saucerful of Carrawayis still kept up at Trinity College, Cambridge, and, I believe, at someof the London Livery dinners. 

CARROT. 

 _Evans. _

 Remember, William, focative is _caret_, _Quickly. _

 And that's a good root. 

 _Merry Wives_, act iv, sc. 1 (55). 

Dame Quickly's pun gives us our Carrot, a plant which, originallyderived from our wild Carrot (_Daucus Carota_), was introduced as auseful vegetable by the Flemings in the time of Elizabeth, and hasprobably been very little altered or improved since the time of itsintroduction. In Shakespeare's time the name was applied to the "YellowCarrot" or Parsnep, as well as to the Red one. The name of Carrot comesdirectly from its Latin or rather Greek name, Daucus Carota, but itonce had a prettier name. The Anglo-Saxons called it "bird's-nest, " andGerard gives us the reason, and it is a reason that shows they were moreobservant of the habits of plants than we generally give them creditfor: "The whole tuft (of flowers) is drawn together when the seed isripe, resembling a bird's nest; whereupon it hath been named of someBird's-nest. "

CEDAR. 

 (1) _Prospero. _

 And by the spurs pluck'd up The Pine and Cedar. 

 _Tempest_, act v, sc. 1 (47). 

 (2) _Dumain. _

 As upright as the Cedar. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv, sc. 3 (89). 

 (3) _Warwick. _

 As on a mountain top the Cedar shows, That keeps his leaves in spite of any storm. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act v, sc. 1 (205). 

 (4) _Warwick. _

 Thus yields the Cedar to the axe's edge, Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle, Under whose shade the ramping lion slept, Whose top-branch o'erpeered Jove's spreading tree, And kept low shrubs from winter's powerful wind. 

 _3rd Henry VI_, act v, sc. 2 (11). 

 (5) _Cranmer. _

 He shall flourish, And, like a mountain Cedar, reach his branches To all the plains about him. 

 _Henry VIII_, act v, sc. 5 (215). 

 (6) _Posthumus. _

 When from a stately Cedar shall be lopped branches, which, being dead many years, shall after revive. 

 _Cymbeline_, act v, sc. 4 (140); and act v, sc. 5 (457). 

 (7) _Soothsayer. _

 The lofty Cedar, royal Cymbeline, Personates thee. Thy lopp'd branches . . . . . Are now revived, To the majestic Cedar join'd. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 5 (453). 

 (8) _Gloucester. _

 But I was born so high, Our aery buildeth in the Cedar's top, And dallies with the wind and scorns the sun. 

 _Richard III_, act i, sc. 3 (263). 

 (9) _Coriolanus. _

 Let the mutinous winds Strike the proud Cedars 'gainst the fiery sun. 

 _Coriolanus_, act v, sc. 3 (59). 

 (10) _Titus. _

 Marcus, we are but shrubs, no Cedars we. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act iv, sc. 3 (45). 

 (11) _Daughter. _

 I have sent him where a Cedar, Higher than all the rest, spreads like a Plane Fast by a brook. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act ii, sc. 6 (4). 

 (12)

 The sun ariseth in his majesty; Who doth the world so gloriously behold That Cedar-tops and hills seem burnished gold. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (856). 

 (13)

 The Cedar stoops not to the base shrub's foot, But low shrubs wither at the Cedar's root. 

 _Lucrece_ (664). 

The Cedar is the classical type of majesty and grandeur, and superiorityto everything that is petty and mean. So Shakespeare uses it, and onlyin this way; for it is very certain he never saw a living specimen ofthe Cedar of Lebanon. But many travellers in the East had seen it andminutely described it, and from their descriptions he derived hisknowledge of the tree; but not only, and probably not chiefly fromtravellers, for he was well acquainted with his Bible, and there hewould meet with many a passage that dwelt on the glories of the Cedar, and told how it was the king of trees, so that "the Fir trees were notlike his boughs, and the Chestnut trees were not like his branches, norany tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty, fair bythe multitude of his branches, so that all the trees of Eden that werein the garden of God envied him" (Ezekiel xxxi. 8, 9). It was suchdescriptions as these that supplied Shakespeare with his imagery, andwhich made our ancestors try to introduce the tree into England. Butthere seems to have been much difficulty in establishing it. Evelyntried to introduce it, but did not succeed at first, and the tree is notmentioned in his "Sylva" of 1664. It was, however, certainly introducedin 1676, when it appears, from the gardeners' accounts, to have beenplanted at Bretby Park, Derbyshire ("Gardener's Chronicle, " January, 1877). I believe this is the oldest certain record of the planting ofthe Cedar in England, the next oldest being the trees in Chelsea BotanicGardens, which were certainly planted in 1683. Since that time the treehas proved so suitable to the English soil that it is grown everywhere, and everywhere asserts itself as the king of evergreen trees, whethergrown as a single tree on a lawn, or mixed in large numbers with othertrees, as at Highclere Park, in Hampshire (Lord Carnarvon's). AmongEnglish Cedar trees there are probably none that surpass the finespecimens at Warwick Castle, which owe, however, much of their beauty totheir position on the narrow strip of land between the Castle and theriver. I mention these to call attention to the pleasant coincidence(for it is nothing more) that the most striking descriptions of theCedar are given by Shakespeare to the then owner of the princely Castleof Warwick (Nos. 3 and 4). 

The mediæval belief about the Cedar was that its wood was imperishable. "Hæc Cedrus, A{e} sydyretre, et est talis nature quod nunquam putrescetin aqua nec in terra" (English Vocabulary--15th cent. ); but as a timbertree the English-grown Cedar has not answered to its old reputation, sothat Dr. Lindley called it "the worthless though magnificent Cedar ofLebanon. "

CHERRY. 

 (1) _Helena. _

 So we grew together, Like to a double Cherry, seeming parted, But yet a union in partition; Two lovely berries moulded on one stem. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 2 (208). 

 (2) _Demetrius. _

 O, how ripe in show Thy lips, those kissing Cherries, tempting grow!

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 2 (139). 

 (3) _Constance. _

 And it' grandam will Give it a Plum, a Cherry, and a Fig. 

 _King John_, act ii, sc. 1 (161). 

 (4) _Lady. _

 'Tis as like you As Cherry is to Cherry. 

 _Henry VIII_, act v, sc. 1 (170). 

 (5) _Gower. _

 She with her neeld composes Nature's own shape of bud, bird, branch, or berry; That even her art sisters the natural Roses, Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied Cherry. 

 _Pericles_, act v, chorus (5). 

 (6) _Dromio of Syracuse. _

 Some devils ask but the paring of one's nail, A Rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a pin, A Nut, a Cherry-stone. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act iv, sc. 3 (72). 

 (7) _Queen. _

 Oh, when The twyning Cherries shall their sweetness fall Upon thy tasteful lips. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act i, sc. 1 (198). 

 (8)

 When he was by, the birds such pleasure took, That some would sing, some other in their bills Would bring him Mulberries and ripe-red Cherries. He fed them with his sight, they him with berries. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (1101). 

Besides these, there is mention of "cherry lips"[54:1] and"cherry-nose, "[54:2] and the game of "cherry-pit. "[54:3] We have theauthority of Pliny that the Cherry (_Prunus Cerasus_) was introducedinto Italy from Pontus, and by the Romans was introduced into Britain. It is not, then, a true native, but it has now become completelynaturalized in our woods and hedgerows, while the cultivated trees areeverywhere favourites for the beauty of their flowers, and their richand handsome fruit. In Shakespeare's time there were almost as many, andprobably as good varieties, as there are now. 

FOOTNOTES:

[54:1] _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act v, sc. 1; _Richard III_, act i, sc. 1; _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 1. 

[54:2] _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act v, sc. 1. 

[54:3] _Twelfth Night_, act iii, sc. 4. 

CHESTNUTS. 

 (1) _Witch. _

 A sailor's wife had Chestnuts in her lap, And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd. 

 _Macbeth_, act i, sc. 3 (4). 

 (2) _Petruchio. _

 And do you tell me of a woman's tongue That gives not half so great a blow to hear As will a Chestnut in farmer's fire?

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act i, sc. 2 (208). 

 (3) _Rosalind. _

 I' faith, his hair is of a good colour. 

 _Celia. _

 An excellent colour; your Chestnut was ever the only colour. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 4 (11). 

This is the Spanish or Sweet Chestnut, a fruit which seems to have beenheld in high esteem in Shakespeare's time, for Lyte, in 1578, says ofit, "Amongst all kindes of wilde fruites the Chestnut is best andmeetest for to be eaten. " The tree cannot be regarded as a true native, but it has been so long introduced, probably by the Romans, that grandspecimens are to be found in all parts of England; the oldest knownspecimen being at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, which was spoken of asan old tree in the time of King Stephen; while the tree that is said tobe the oldest and the largest in Europe is the Spanish Chestnut tree onMount Etna, the famous Castagni du Centu Cavalli, which measures nearthe root 160 feet in circumference. It is one of our handsomest trees, and very useful for timber, and at one time it was supposed that many ofour oldest buildings were roofed with Chestnut. This was the currentreport of the grand roof at Westminster Hall, but it is now discoveredto be of Oak, and it is very doubtful whether the Chestnut timber is aslasting as it has long been supposed to be. 

The Horse Chestnut was probably unknown to Shakespeare. It is an Easterntree, and in no way related to the true Chestnut, and though the namehas probably no connection with horses or their food, yet it is curiousthat the petiole has (especially when dry) a marked resemblance to ahorse's leg and foot, and that both on the parent stem and the petiolemay be found a very correct representation of a horseshoe with itsnails. [55:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[55:1] For an excellent description of the great differences between theSpanish and Horse Chestnut, see "Gardener's Chronicle, " Oct. 29, 1881. 

CLOVER. 

 (1) _Burgundy. _

 The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled Cowslip, Burnet, and green Clover. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (48). 

 (2) _Tamora. _

 I will enchant the old Andronicus With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous, Than baits to fish, or Honey-stalks to sheep, When, as the one is wounded with the bait, The other rotted with delicious food. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act iv, sc. 4 (89). 

"Honey-stalks" are supposed to be the flower of the Clover. This seemsvery probable, but I believe the name is no longer applied. Of theClover there are two points of interest that are worth notice. TheClover is one of the plants that claim to be the Shamrock of St. Patrick. This is not a settled point, and at the present day theWoodsorrel is supposed to have the better claim to the honour. But it iscertain that the Clover is the "clubs" of the pack of cards. "Clover" isa corruption of "Clava, " a club. In England we paint the Clover on ourcards and call it "clubs, " while in France they have the same figure, but call it "trefle. "

CLOVES. 

 _Biron. _

 A Lemon. 

 _Longaville. _

 Stuck with Cloves. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (633). [56:1]

As a mention of a vegetable product, I could not omit this passage, butthe reference is only to the imported spice and not to the tree fromwhich then, as now, the Clove was gathered. The Clove of commerce is theunexpanded flower of the Caryophyllus aromaticus, and the history of itsdiscovery and cultivation by the Dutch in Amboyna, with the vainattempts they made to keep the monopoly of the profitable spice, isperhaps the saddest chapter in all the history of commerce. See a fullaccount with description and plate of the plant in "Bot. Mag. , " vol. 54, No. 2749. 

FOOTNOTES:

[56:1] "But then 'tis as full of drollery as ever it can hold; 'tis likean orange stuck with Cloves as for conceipt. "--_The Rehearsal_, 1671, act iii, sc. 1. 

COCKLE. 

 (1) _Biron. _

 Allons! allons! sowed Cockle reap'd no Corn. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv, sc. 3 (383). 

 (2) _Coriolanus. _

 We nourish 'gainst our senate The Cockle of rebellion, insolence, sedition, Which we ourselves have plough'd for, sow'd, and scatter'd, By mingling them with us. 

 _Coriolanus_, act iii, sc. 1 (69). 

In Shakespeare's time the word "Cockle" was becoming restricted to theCorn-cockle (_Lychnis githago_), but both in his time, and certainly inthat of the writers before him, it was used generally for any noxiousweed that grew in corn-fields, and was usually connected with the Darneland Tares. [57:1] So Gower--

 "To sowe Cockel with the Corn So that the tilthe is nigh forlorn, Which Crist sew first his owne hond-- Now stant the Cockel in the lond Where stood whilom the gode greine, For the prelats now, as men sain, For slouthen that they shoulden tille. "

 _Confessio Amantis_, lib. Quintus (2-190, Paulli). 

Latimer has exactly the same idea: "Oh, that our prelates would bee asdiligent to sowe the corne of goode doctrine as Sathan is to sow Cockeland Darnel. " . . . "There was never such a preacher in England as he(the devil) is. Who is able to tel his dylygent preaching? which everydaye and every houre laboreth to sowe Cockel and Darnel" (Latimer'sFourth Sermon). And to the same effect Spenser--

 "And thus of all my harvest-hope I have Nought reaped but a weedie crop of care, Which when I thought have thresht in swelling sheave, Cockle for corn, and chaff for barley bare. "

The Cockle or Campion is said to do mischief among the Wheat, not only, as the Poppy and other weeds, by occupying room meant for the betterplant, but because the seed gets mixed with the corn, and then "whathurt it doth among corne, the spoyle unto bread, as well in colour, taste, and unwholsomness is better known than desired. " So says Gerard, but I do not know how far modern experience confirms him. It is a pitythe plant has so bad a character, for it is a very handsome weed, with afine blue flower, and the seeds are very curious objects under themicroscope, being described as exactly like a hedgehog rolled up. [58:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[57:1] "Cokylle--quædam aborigo, zazannia. "--_Catholicon Anglicum. _

[58:1] In Dorsetshire the Cockle is the bur of the Burdock. Barnes'Glossary of Dorset. 

COLOQUINTIDA. 

 _Iago. _

 The food that to him now is as luscious as Locusts, shall be to him shortly as bitter as Coloquintida. 

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (354). 

The Coloquintida, or Colocynth, is the dried fleshy part of the fruit ofthe Cucumis or Citrullus colocynthis. As a drug it was imported inShakespeare's time and long before, but he may also have known theplant. Gerard seems to have grown it, though from his describing it as anative of the sandy shores of the Mediterranean, he perhaps confused itwith the Squirting Cucumber (_Momordica elaterium_). It is a native ofTurkey, but has been found also in Japan. It is also found in the East, and we read of it in the history of Elisha: "One went out into the fieldto gather herbs, and found a wild Vine, and gathered thereof wildGourds, his lap full. "[59:1] It is not quite certain what species ofGourd is here meant, but all the old commentators considered it to bethe Colocynth, [59:2] the word "vine" meaning any climbing plant, ameaning that is still in common use in America. 

All the tribe of Cucumbers are handsome foliaged plants, but theyrequire room. On the Continent they are much more frequently grown ingardens than in England, but the hardy perennial Cucumber (_Cucumisperennis_) makes a very handsome carpet where the space can be spared, and the Squirting Cucumber (also hardy and perennial) is worth growingfor its curious fruit. (_See also_ PUMPION. )

FOOTNOTES:

[59:1] 2 Kings iv. 39. 

[59:2] "Invenitque quasi vitem sylvestrem, et collegit ex eaColocynthidas agri. "--_Vulgate. _

COLUMBINE. 

 (1) _Armado. _

 I am that flower, _Dumain. _

 That Mint. 

 _Longaville. _

 That Columbine. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (661). 

 (2) _Ophelia. _

 There's Fennel for you and Columbines. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (189). 

This brings us to one of the most favourite of our old-fashioned Englishflowers. It is very doubtful whether it is a true native, but from earlytimes it has been "carefully nursed up in our gardens for the delightboth of its forme and colours" (Parkinson); yet it had a bad character, as we see from two passages quoted by Steevens--

 "What's that--a Columbine? No! that thankless flower grows not in my garden. "

 _All Fools_, by CHAPMAN, 1605. 

and again in the 15th Song of Drayton's "Polyolbion"--

 "The Columbine amongst they sparingly do set. "

Spenser gave it a better character. Among his "gardyn of sweet floures, that dainty odours from them threw around, " he places--

 "Her neck lyke to a bounch of Cullambynes. "

And, still earlier, Skelton (1463-1529) spoke of it with high praise--

 "She is the Vyolet, The Daysy delectable, The Columbine commendable, The Ielofer amyable. "--_Phyllip Sparrow. _

Both the English and the Latin names are descriptive of the plant. Columbine, or the Dove-plant, calls our attention to the "resemblance ofits nectaries to the heads of pigeons in a ring round a dish, afavourite device of ancient artists" (Dr. Prior); or to "the figure of ahovering dove with expanded wings, which we obtain by pulling off asingle petal with its attached sepals" (Lady Wilkinson); though it mayalso have had some reference to the colour, as the word is used byChaucer--

 "Come forth now with thin eyghen Columbine. "

 _The Marchaundes Tale_ (190). 

The Latin name, _Aquilegia_, is generally supposed to come from_aquilegus_, a water-collector, alluding to the water-holding powers ofthe flower; it may, however, be derived from _aquila_, an eagle, butthis seems more doubtful. 

As a favourite garden flower, the Columbine found its way into heraldicblazonry. "It occurs in the crest of the old Barons Grey of Vitten, asmay be seen in the garter coat of William Grey of Vitten" (CamdenSociety 1847), and is thus described in the Painter's bill for theceremonial of the funeral of William Lord Grey of Vitten (MS. Coll. OfArms, i, 13, fol. 35a): "Item, his creste with the favron, or, sette ona leftehande glove, argent, out thereof issuyinge, caste over threade, abraunch of Collobyns, blue, the stalk vert. " Old Gwillim also enumeratesthe Columbine among his "Coronary Herbs, " as follows: "He bearethargent, a chevron sable between three Columbines slipped proper, by thename of Hall of Coventry. The Columbine is pleasing to the eye, as wellin respect of the seemly (and not vulgar) shape as in regard of theazury colour thereof, and is holden to be very medicinable for thedissolving of imposthumations or swellings in the throat. "

As a garden plant the Columbine still holds a favourite place. Hardy, handsome, and easy of cultivation, it commends itself to the mostornamental as well as to the cottage garden, and there are so manydifferent sorts (both species and varieties) that all tastes may besuited. Of the common species (A. Vulgaris) there are double and single, blue, white, and red; there is the beautiful dwarf A. Pyrenaica, neverexceeding six inches in height, but of a very rich deep blue; there arethe red and yellow ones (A. Skinneri and A. Formosa) from North America;and, to mention no more, there are the lovely A. Cœrulea and thegrand A. Chrysantha from the Rocky Mountains, certainly two of the mostdesirable acquisitions to our hardy flowers that we have had in lateyears. 

CORK. 

 (1) _Rosalind. _

 I prythee take the Cork out of thy mouth, that I may hear thy tidings. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (213). 

 (2) _Clown. _

 As you'ld thrust a Cork into a hogshead. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iii, sc. 3 (95). 

 (3) _Cornwall. _

 Bind fast his Corky arms. 

 _King Lear_, act iii, sc. 7 (28). 

It is most probable that Shakespeare had no further acquaintance withthe Cork tree than his use of Corks. The living tree was not introducedinto England till the latter part of the seventeenth century, yet isvery fairly described both by Gerard and Parkinson. The Cork, however, was largely imported, and was especially used for shoes. Not only did"shoemakers put it in shoes and pantofles for warmness sake, " but forits lightness it was used for the high-heeled shoes of the fashionableladies. I suppose from the following lines that these shoes were adistinguishing part of a bride's trousseau--

 "Strip off my bride's array, My Cork-shoes from my feet, And, gentle mother, be not coy To bring my winding sheet. "

 _The Bride's Burial_--Roxburghe Ballads. 

The Cork tree is a necessary element in all botanic gardens, but as anornamental tree it is not sufficiently distinct from the Ilex. Though anative of the South of Europe it is hardy in England. 

CORN. 

 (1) _Gonzalo. _

 No use of metal, Corn, or wine, or oil. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 1 (154). 

 (2) _Duke. _

 Our Corn's to reap, for yet our tithe's to sow. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 1 (76). 

 (3) _Titania. _

 Playing on pipes of Corn, (67)

 * * * * *

 The green Corn Hath rotted ere his youth attained a beard. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (94). 

 (4) _K. Edward. _

 What valiant foemen, like to autumn's Corn, Have we mowed down in tops of all their pride!

 _3rd Henry VI_, act v, sc. 7 (3). 

 (5) _Pucelle. _

 Talk like the vulgar sort of market men That come to gather money for their Corn. 

 _1st Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (4). 

 Poor market folks that come to sell their Corn. 

 _Ibid. _ (14). 

 Good morrow, gallants! want ye Corn for bread?

 _Ibid. _ (41). 

 _Burgundy. _

 I trust, ere long, to choke thee with thine own, And make thee curse the harvest of that Corn. 

 _Ibid. _ (46). 

 (6) _Duchess. _

 Why droops my lord like over-ripened Corn Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load?

 _2nd Henry VI_, act i, sc. 2. (1). 

 (7) _Warwick. _

 His well-proportioned beard made rough and ragged Like to the summer's Corn by tempest lodged. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (175). 

 (8) _Mowbray. _

 We shall be winnow'd with so rough a wind That even our Corn shall seem as light as chaff. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act iv, sc. 1 (194). 

 (9) _Macbeth. _

 Though bladed Corn be lodged and trees blown down. 

 _Macbeth_, act iv, sc. 1 (55). 

 (10) _Longaville. _

 He weeds the Corn, and still lets grow the weeding. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act i, sc. 1 (96). 

 (11) _Biron. _

 Allons! allons! sowed Cockle reap'd no Corn. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc 3 (383). 

 (12) _Edgar. _

 Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? Thy sheep be in the Corn. 

 _King Lear_, act iii, sc. 6 (43). 

 (13) _Cordelia. _

 All the idle weeds that grow In our sustaining Corn. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 4 (6). 

 (14) _Demetrius. _

 First thrash the Corn, then after burn the straw. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act ii, sc. 3 (123). 

 (15) _Marcus. _

 O, let me teach you how to knit again This scattered Corn into one mutual sheaf. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 3 (70). 

 (16) _Pericles. _

 Our ships are stored with Corn to make your needy bread. 

 _Pericles_, act i, sc. 4 (95). 

 (17) _Cleon. _

 Your grace that fed my country with your Corn. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 3 (18). 

 (18) _Menenius. _

 For Corn at their own rates. 

 _Coriolanus_, act i, sc. 1 (193). 

 _Marcus. _

 The gods sent not Corn for the rich men only. 

 _Ibid. _ (211). 

 _Marcus. _

 The Volsces have much Corn. 

 _Ibid. _ (253). 

 _Citizen. _

 We stood up about the Corn. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 3 (16). 

 _Brutus. _

 Corn was given them gratis. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 1 (43). 

 _Coriolanus. _

 Tell me of Corn!

 _Ibid. _ (61). 

 The Corn of the storehouse gratis. 

 _Ibid. _ (125). 

 The Corn was not our recompense. 

 _Ibid. _ (120). 

 This kind of service Did not deserve Corn gratis. 

 _Coriolanus_, act iii, sc. 1 (124). 

 (19) _Cranmer. _

 I am right glad to catch this good occasion Most thoroughly to be winnow'd, where my chaff And Corn shall fly asunder. 

 _Henry VIII_, act v, sc. 1 (110). 

 (20) _Cranmer. _

 Her foes shake like a field of beaten Corn And hang their heads with sorrow. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 4 (32). 

 (21) _K. Richard. _

 We'll make foul weather with despised tears; Our sighs and they shall lodge the summer Corn. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 3 (161). 

 (22) _Arcite. _

 And run Swifter then winde upon a field of Corne (Curling the wealthy eares) never flew. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act ii, sc. 3 (91). 

 (23)

 As Corn o'ergrown by weeds, so heedful fear Is almost choked by unresisted lust. 

 _Lucrece_ (281). 

I have made these quotations as short as possible. They could not beomitted, but they require no comment. 

COWSLIP. 

 (1) _Burgundy. _

 The even mead that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled Cowslip, Burnet, and green Clover. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (48). 

 (2) _Queen. _

 The Violets, Cowslips, and the Primroses, Bear to my closet. 

 _Cymbeline_, act i, sc. 5 (83). 

 (3) _Iachimo. _

 On her left breast A mole, cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops I' the bottom of a Cowslip. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 2 (37). 

 (4) _Ariel. _

 Where the bee sucks there suck I, In a Cowslip's bell I lie. 

 _Tempest_, act v, sc. 1 (88). 

 (5) _Thisbe. _

 Those yellow Cowslip cheeks. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act v, sc. 1 (339). 

 (6) _Fairy. _

 The Cowslips tall her pensioners be; In their gold coats spots you see; Those be rubies, fairy favours, In those freckles live their savours; I must go seek some dewdrops here, And hang a pearl in every Cowslip's ear. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (10). [65:1]

"Cowslips! how the children love them, and go out into the fields on thesunny April mornings to collect them in their little baskets, and thencome home and pick the pips to make sweet unintoxicating wine, preserving at the same time untouched a bunch of the goodliest flowersas a harvest-sheaf of beauty! and then the white soft husks are gatheredinto balls and tossed from hand to hand till they drop to pieces, to betrodden upon and forgotten. And so at last, when each sense has had itsfill of the flower, and they are thoroughly tired of their play, thechildren rest from their celebration of the Cowslip. Blessed are suchflowers that appeal to every sense. " So wrote Dr. Forbes Watson in hisvery pretty and Ruskinesque little work "Flowers and Gardens, " and thepassage well expresses one of the chief charms of the Cowslip. It is themost favourite wild flower with children. It must have been also afavourite with Shakespeare, for his descriptions show that he hadstudied it with affection. The minute description in (6) should benoticed. The upright golden Cowslip is compared to one of QueenElizabeth's Pensioners, who were splendidly dressed, and are frequentlynoticed in the literature of the day. With Mrs. Quickly they were the_ne plus ultra_ of grandeur--"And yet there has been earls, nay, whichis more, pensioners" ("Merry Wives, " act ii, sc. 2). Milton, too, singsin its praise--

 "Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her The flowering May, who from her green lap throws The yellow Cowslip and the pale Primrose. "

 _Song on May Morning. _

 "Whilst from off the waters fleet, Then I set my printless feet O'er the Cowslip's velvet head That bends not as I tread. "

 _Sabrina's Song in Comus. _

But in "Lycidas" he associates it with more melancholy ideas--

 "With Cowslips wan that hang the pensive head, And every flower that sad embroidery wears. "

This association of sadness with the Cowslip is copied by Mrs. Hemans, who speaks of "Pale Cowslips, meet for maiden's early bier;" but theseare exceptions. All the other poets who have written of the Cowslip (andthey are very numerous) tell of its joyousness, and brightness, andtender beauty, and its "bland, yet luscious, meadow-breathing scent. "

The names of the plant are a puzzle; botanically it is a Primrose, butit is never so called. It has many names, but its most common are Paigleand Cowslip. Paigle has never been satisfactorily explained, nor hasCowslip. Our great etymologists, Cockayne and Dr. Prior and Wedgwood, are all at variance on the name; and Dr. Prior assures us that it hasnothing to do with either "cows" or "lips, " though the derivation, ifuntrue, is at least as old as Ben Jonson, who speaks of "BrightDayes-eyes and the lips of Cowes. " But we all believe it has, and, without inquiring too closely into the etymology, we connect the flowerwith the rich pastures and meadows of which it forms so pretty a springornament, while its fine scent recalls the sweet breath of thecow--"just such a sweet, healthy odour is what we find in cows; an odourwhich breathes around them as they sit at rest on the pasture, and isbelieved by many, perhaps with truth, to be actually curative ofdisease" (Forbes Watson). 

Botanically, the Cowslip is a very interesting plant. In all essentialpoints the Primrose, Cowslip, and Oxlip are identical; the Primrose, however, choosing woods and copses and the shelter of the hedgerows, theCowslip choosing the open meadows, while the Oxlip is found in either. The garden "Polyanthus of unnumbered dyes" (Thomson's "Seasons:" Spring)is only another form produced by cultivation, and is one of the mostfavourite plants in cottage gardens. It may, however, well be grown ingardens of more pretension; it is neat in growth, handsome in flower, ofendless variety, and easy cultivation. There are also many varieties ofthe Cowslip, of different colours, double and single, which are veryuseful in the spring garden. 

FOOTNOTES:

[65:1] Drayton also allotted the Cowslip as the specialFairies' flower--

 "For the queene a fitting bower, (Quoth he) is that tall Cowslip flower. "--_Nymphidia. _

CRABS, _see_ APPLE. 

CROCUS, _see_ SAFFRON. 

CROW-FLOWERS. 

 _Queen. _

 There with fantastic garlands did she come Of Crow-flowers, Nettles, Daisies, and Long Purples. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 7 (169). 

The Crow-flower is now the Buttercup, [67:1] but in Shakespeare's time itwas applied to the Ragged Robin (_Lychnis flos-cuculi_), and I shouldthink that this was the flower that poor Ophelia wove into her garland. Gerard says, "They are not used either in medicine or in nourishment;but they serve for garlands and crowns, and to deck up gardens. " We donot now use the Ragged Robin for the decking of our gardens, not that wedespise it, for it is a flower that all admire in the hedgerows, butbecause we have other members of the same family as easy to grow andmore handsome, such as the double variety of the wild plant, L. Chalcedonica, L. Lagascæ, L. Fulgens, L. Haagena, &c. In Shakespeare'stime the name was also given to the Wild Hyacinth, which is so named byTurner and Lyte; but this could scarcely have been the flower ofOphelia's garland, which was composed of the flowers of early summer, and not of spring. (See Appendix, p. 388. )

FOOTNOTES:

[67:1] In Scotland the Wild Hyacinth is still called the Crow-flower--

 "Sweet the Crow-flower's early bell Decks Gleniffer's dewy dell, Blooming like thy bonny sel, My young, my artless dearie, O. "

 TANNAHILL, _Gloomy Winter_. 

CROWN IMPERIAL. 

 _Perdita. _

 Bold Oxlips, and The Crown Imperial. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (125). 

The Crown Imperial is a Fritillary (_F. Imperialis_). It is a native ofPersia, Afghanistan, and Cashmere, but it was very early introduced intoEngland from Constantinople, and at once became a favourite. Chapman, in1595, spoke of it as--

 "Fair Crown Imperial, Emperor of Flowers. "

 OVID'S _Banquet of Sense_. 

Gerard had it plentifully in his garden, and Parkinson gave it theforemost place in his "Paradisus Terrestris. " "The Crown Imperial, " hesays, "for its stately beautifulnesse deserveth the first place in thisour garden of delight, to be here entreated of before all otherLillies. " George Herbert evidently admired it much--

 "Then went I to a garden, and did spy A gallant flower, The Crown Imperial. "

 _Peace_ (13). 

And if not in Shakespeare's time, yet certainly very soon after, therewere as many varieties as there are now. The plant, as a florist'sflower, has stood still in a very remarkable way. Though it isapparently a plant that invites the attention of the hybridizinggardener, yet we still have but the two colours, the red and the yellow(a pure white would be a great acquisition), with single and doubleflowers, flowers in tiers, and with variegated leaves. And all thesevarieties have existed for more than two hundred years. 

As a stately garden plant it should be in every garden. It flowersearly, and then dies down. But it should be planted rather in thebackground, as the whole plant has an evil smell, especially insunshine. Yet it should have a close attention, if only to study andadmire the beautiful interior of the flower. I know of no other flowerthat is similarly formed, and it cannot be better described than inGerard's words: "In the bottome of each of the bells there is placed sixdrops of most cleere shining sweet water, in taste like sugar, resembling in shew faire Orient pearles, the which drops if you takeaway, there do immediately appeare the like; notwithstanding, if theymay be suffered to stand still in the floure according to his ownenature, they wil never fall away, no, not if you strike the plant untillit be broken. " How these drops are formed, and what service they performin the economy of the flower, has not been explained, as far as I amaware; but there is a pretty German legend which tells how the flowerwas originally white and erect, and grew in its full beauty in thegarden of Gethsemane, where it was often noticed and admired by ourLord; but in the night of the agony, as our Lord passed through thegarden, all the other flowers bowed their head in sorrowful adoration, the Crown Imperial alone remaining with its head unbowed, but not forlong--sorrow and shame took the place of pride, she bent her proud[69:1]head, and blushes of shame, and tears of sorrow soon followed, and soshe has ever continued, with bent head, blushing colour, andever-flowing tears. It is a pretty legend, and may be found at fulllength in "Good Words for the Young, " August, 1870. 

FOOTNOTES:

[69:1] The bent head of the Crown Imperial could not well escapenotice--

 "The Polyanthus, and with prudent head, The Crown Imperial, ever bent on earth, Favouring her secret rites, and pearly sweets. "--FORSTER. 

CUCKOO-BUDS AND FLOWERS. 

 (1) _Song of Spring. _

 When Daisies pied, and Violets blue, And Lady-smocks all silver-white, And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (904). 

 (2) _Cordelia. _

 He was met even now As mad as the vex'd sea; singing aloud; Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Burdocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers, Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow In our sustaining Corn. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4 (1). 

There is a difficulty in deciding what flower Shakespeare meant byCuckoo-buds. We now always give the name to the Meadow Cress (_Cardaminepratensis_), but it cannot be that in either of these passages, becausethat flower is mentioned under its other name of Lady-smocks in theprevious line (No. 1), nor is it "of yellow hue;" nor does it grow amongCorn, as described in No. 2. Many plants have been suggested, and thechoice seems to me to lie between two. Mr. Swinfen Jervis[70:1] decideswithout hesitation in favour of Cowslips, and the yellow hue paintingthe meadows in spring time gives much force to the decision; Schmidtgives the same interpretation; but I think the Buttercup, as suggestedby Dr. Prior, will still better meet the requirements. 

FOOTNOTES:

[70:1] "Dictionary of the Language of Shakespeare, " 1868. 

CUPID'S FLOWER, _see_ PANSIES. 

CURRANTS. 

 (1) _Clown. _

 What am I to buy for our sheep-shearing feast? Three pound of Sugar, five pound of Currants. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (39). 

 (2) _Theseus. _

 I stamp this kisse upon thy Currant lippe. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act i, sc. 1 (241). 

The Currants of (1) are the Currants of commerce, the fruit of the VitisCorinthiaca, whence the fruit has derived its name of Corans, orCurrants. 

The English Currants are of an entirely different family; and areclosely allied to the Gooseberry. The Currants--black, white, andred--are natives of the northern parts of Europe, and are probably wildin Britain. They do not seem to have been much grown as garden fruittill the early part of the sixteenth century, and are not mentioned bythe earlier writers; but that they were known in Shakespeare's time wehave the authority of Gerard, who, speaking of Gooseberries, says: "Wehave also in our London gardens another sort altogether without prickes, whose fruit is very small, lesser by muche than the common kinde, but ofa perfect red colour. " This "perfect red colour" explains the "currantlip" of No. 2. 

CYME, _see_ SENNA. 

CYPRESS. [71:1]

 (1) _Suffolk. _

 Their sweetest shade, a grove of Cypress trees!

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (322). 

 (2) _Aufidius. _

 I am attended at the Cypress grove. 

 _Coriolanus_, act i, sc. 10 (30). 

 (3) _Gremio. _

 In ivory coffers I have stuff'd my crowns, In Cypress chests my arras counterpoints. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act ii, sc. 1 (351). 

The Cypress (_Cupressus sempervirens_), originally a native of MountTaurus, is found abundantly through all the South of Europe, and is saidto derive its name from the Island of Cyprus. It was introduced intoEngland many years before Shakespeare's time, but is always associatedin the old authors with funerals and churchyards; so that Spenser callsit the "Cypress funereal, " which epithet he may have taken from Pliny'sdescription of the Cypress: "Natu morosa, fructu supervacua, baccistorva, foliis amara, odore violenta, ac ne umbrâ quidem gratiosa--Ditisacra, et ideo funebri signo ad domos posita" ("Nat. Hist. , " xvi. 32). 

Sir John Mandeville mentions the Cypress in a very curious way: "TheCristene men, that dwellen beyond the See, in Grece, seyn that the treeof the Cros, that we callen Cypresse, was of that tree that Adam ete theAppule of; and that fynde thei writen" ("Voiage, " &c. , cap. 2). And theold poem of the "Squyr of lowe degre, " gives the tree a sacredpre-eminence--

 "The tre it was of Cypresse, The fyrst tre that Iesu chese. "

 RITSON'S _Ear. Eng. Met. Romances_, viii. (31). 

"In the Arundel MS. 42 may be found an alphabet of plants. . . . Theauthor mentions his garden 'by Stebenhythe by syde London, ' and relatesthat he brought a bough of Cypress with its Apples from Bristol 'intoEstbritzlond, ' fresh in September, to show that it might be propagatedby slips. "--_Promptorium Parvulorum_, app. 67. 

The Cypress is an ornamental evergreen, but stiff in its growth till itbecomes of a good age; and for garden purposes the European plant isbecoming replaced by the richer forms from Asia and North America, suchas C. Lawsoniana, macrocarpa, Lambertiana, and others. 

FOOTNOTES:

[71:1] Cypress, or Cyprus (for the word is spelt differently in thedifferent editions), is also mentioned by Shakespeare in the following--

 (1) _Clown. _

 In sad Cypress let me be laid. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act ii, sc. 4. 

 (2) _Olivia. _

 To one of your receiving Enough is shown; and Cyprus, not a bosom, Hides my poor heart. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 1. 

 (3) _Autolycus. _

 Lawn as white as driven snow, Cyprus, black as e'er was crow. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3. 

But in all these cases the Cypress is not the name of the plant, but isthe fabric which we now call crape, the "sable stole of Cypre's lawn" ofMilton's "Penseroso. "

DAFFODILS. [73:1]

 (1) _Autolycus. _

 When Daffodils begin to peer, With heigh! the doxy o'er the dale, Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (1). 

 (2) _Perdita. _

 Daffodils That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 4 (118). 

 (3) _Wooer. _

 With chaplets on their heads of Daffodillies. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 1 (94). 

_See also_ NARCISSUS, p. 175. 

Of all English plants there have been none in such constant favour asthe Daffodil, whether known by its classical name of Narcissus, or byits more popular names of Daffodil, or Daffadowndilly, and Jonquil. Thename of Narcissus it gets from being supposed to be the same as theplant so named by the Greeks first and the Romans afterwards. It is aquestion whether the plants are the same, and I believe most authorsthink they are not; but I have never been able to see very good reasonsfor their doubts. The name Jonquil comes corrupted through the French, from _juncifolius_ or "rush-leaf, " and is properly restricted to thosespecies of the family which have rushy leaves. "Daffodil" is commonlysaid to be a corruption of Asphodel ("Daffodil is Ασφοδελον, and hascapped itself with a letter which eight hundred years ago did not belongto it. "--COCKAYNE, _Spoon and Sparrow_, 19), with which plant it wasconfused (as it is in Lyte's "Herbal"), but Lady Wilkinson says verypositively that "it is simply the old English word 'affodyle, '[73:2]which signifies 'that which cometh early. '" "Daffadowndilly, " again issupposed to be but a playful corruption of "Daffodil, " but Dr. Priorargues (and he is a very safe authority) that it is rather a corruptionof "Saffron Lily. " Daffadowndilly is not used by Shakespeare, but it isused by his contemporaries, as by Spenser frequently, and by H. Constable, who died in 1604--

 "Diaphenia, like the Daffadowndilly, White as the sun, fair as the Lilly, Heigh, ho! how I do love thee!"

But however it derived its pretty names, it was the favourite flower ofour ancestors as a garden flower, and especially as the flower formaking garlands, a custom very much more common then than it is now. Itwas the favourite of all English poets. Gower describes the Narcissus--

 "For in the winter fresh and faire The flowres ben, which is contraire To kind, and so was the folie Which fell of his surquedrie"--_i. E. _, of Narcissus. 

 _Confes. Aman. _ lib. Prim. (1. 121 Paulli). 

Shakespeare must have had a special affection for it, for in all hisdescriptions there is none prettier or more suggestive than Perdita'sshort but charming description of the Daffodil (No. 2). A small volumemight be filled with the many poetical descriptions of this "delectableand sweet-smelling flower, " but there are some which are almostclassical, and which can never be omitted, and which will bearrepetition, however well we know them. Milton says, "The Daffodilliesfill their cups with tears. "[74:1] There are Herrick's well-knownlines--

 "Fair Daffodils, we weep to see You haste away so soon, As yet the early-rising sun Has not attained his noon; Stay, stay, Until the hastening day Has run But to the even-song; And having prayed together, we Will go with you along. 

 We have short time to stay as you, We have as short a spring, As quick a growth to meet decay, As you or anything. We die, As your hours do, and dry Away, Like to the summer's rain, Or as the pearls of morning dew, Ne'er to be found again. "

And there are Keats' and Shelley's well-known and beautiful lines whichbring down the praises of the Daffodil to our own day. Keats says--

 "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever, Its loveliness increases, it will never Pass into nothingness. . . . . . . . . . . In spite of all Some shape of beauty moves away the pale From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon, Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon For simple sheep; and such are Daffodils With the green world they live in. "

Shelley is still warmer in his praise--

 "Narcissus, the fairest among them all, Who gaze on their eyes in the stream's recess, Till they die of their own dear loveliness. "

 _The Sensitive Plant_, p. 1. 

Nor must Wordsworth be left out when speaking of the poetry ofDaffodils. His stanzas are well known, while his sister's prosedescription of them is the most poetical of all: "They grew among themossy stones; . . . Some rested their heads on these stones as on apillow, the rest tossed and reeled and danced, and seemed as if theyverily laughed with the wind, they looked so gay and glancing. "[76:1]

But it is time to come to prose. The Daffodil of Shakespeare is the WildDaffodil (_Narcissus pseudo-Narcissus_) that is found in abundance inmany parts of England. This is the true English Daffodil, and there isonly one other species that is truly native--the N. Biflorus, chieflyfound in Devonshire. But long before Shakespeare's time a vast numberhad been introduced from different parts of Europe, so that Gerard wasable to describe twenty-four different species, and had "them all andevery of them in our London gardens in great abundance. " The family, asat present arranged by Mr. J. G. Baker, of the Kew Herbarium, consistsof twenty-one species, with several sub-species and varieties; all ofwhich should be grown. They are all, with the exception of the Algerianspecies, which almost defy cultivation in England, most easy ofcultivation--"Magnâ curâ non indigent Narcissi. " They only require afterthe first planting to be let alone, and then they will give us theirgraceful flowers in varied beauty from February to May. The first willusually be the grand N. Maximus, which may be called the King ofDaffodils, though some authors have given to it a still more illustriousname. The "Rose of Sharon" was the large yellow Narcissus, common inPalestine and the East generally, of which Mahomet said: "He that hastwo cakes of bread, let him sell one of them for some flower of theNarcissus, for bread is the food of the body, but Narcissus is the foodof the soul. " From these grand leaders of the tribe we shall be ledthrough the Hoop-petticoats, the many-flowered Tazettas, and the sweetJonquils, till we end the Narcissus season with the Poets' Narcissus(Ben Jonson's "chequ'd and purple-ringed Daffodilly"), certainly one ofthe most graceful flowers that grows, and of a peculiar fragrance thatno other flower has; so beautiful is it, that even Dr. Forbes Watson'sdescription of it is scarcely too glowing: "In its general expressionthe Poets' Narcissus seems a type of maiden purity and beauty, yetwarmed by a love-breathing fragrance; and yet what innocence in thelarge soft eye, which few can rival amongst the whole tribe of flowers. The narrow, yet vivid fringe of red, so clearly seen amidst thewhiteness, suggests again the idea of purity, gushing passion--puritywith a heart which can kindle into fire. "

FOOTNOTES:

[73:1] This account of the Daffodil, and the accounts of some otherflowers, I have taken from a paper by myself on the common English namesof plants read to the Bath Field Club in 1870, and published in the"Transactions" of the Club, and afterwards privately printed. --H. N. E. 

[73:2]

 "Herbe orijam and Thyme and Violette Eke Affodyle and savery thereby sette. "

 _Palladius on Husbandrie_, book i, 1014. (E. E. Text Soc. )

[74:1] "The cup in the centre of the flower is supposed to contain thetears of Narcissus, to which Milton alludes; . . . And Virgil in thefollowing--

 'Pars intra septa domorum Narcissi lacrymas . . . Ponunt. '"--_Flora Domestica_, 268. 

[76:1] The "Quarterly Review, " quoting this description, says that "fewpoets ever lived who could have written a description so simple andoriginal, so vivid and descriptive. " Yet it is an unconscious imitationof Homer's account of the Narcissus--

 "νάρκισσόν θ' . . . θαυμαστὸν γανόωντα; σέβας δέ τε πᾶσιν ἰδέσθαι ἀθανάτοις τε θεοῖς ἠδὲ θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις; τοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ ῥίζης ἑκατὸν κάρα ἐξεπεφύκει; κηώδει τ' ὀδμῆ πᾶς τ' οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθεν, γαῖά τε πᾶσ' ἐγέλασσε, καὶ ἁλμυρὸν οἶδμα θαλάσσης. "

 _Hymn to Demeter_, 8-14. 

DAISIES. 

 (1) _Song of Spring. _

 When Daisies pied, and Violets, &c. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (904). (_See_ CUCKOO-BUDS. )

 (2) _Lucius. _

 Let us Find out the prettiest Daisied plot we can, And make him with our pikes and partizans A grave. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (397). 

 (3) _Ophelia. _

 There's a Daisy. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (183). 

 (4) _Queen. _

 There with fantastic garlands did she come Of Crow-flowers, Nettles, Daisies, and Long Purples. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 7 (169). 

 (5)

 Without the bed her other faire hand was On the green coverlet; whose perfect white Show'd like an April Daisy on the Grass. 

 _Lucrece_ (393). 

 (6)

 Daisies smel-lesse, yet most quaint. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Introd. Song. 

_See_ APPENDIX. I. , p. 359. 

DAMSONS, _see_ PLUMS. 

DARNEL. 

 (1) _Cordelia. _

 Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow In our sustaining Corn. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4 (5). (_See_ CUCKOO-FLOWERS. )

 (2) _Burgundy. _

 Her fallow leas, The Darnel, Hemlock, and rank Fumitory Doth root upon. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (44). 

 (3) _Pucelle. _

 Good morrow, Gallants! want ye Corn for bread? I think the Duke of Burgundy will fast, Before he'll buy again at such a rate; 'Twas full of Darnel; do you like the taste?

 _1st Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (41). 

Virgil, in his Fifth Eclogue, says--

 "Grandia sæpe quibus mandavimus hordea solcis Infelix lolium et steriles dominantur avenæ. "

Thus translated by Thomas Newton, 1587--

 "Sometimes there sproutes abundant store Of baggage, noisome weeds, Burres, Brembles, Darnel, Cockle, Dawke, Wild Oates, and choaking seedes. "

And the same is repeated in the first Georgic, and in both places_lolium_ is always translated Darnel, and so by common consent Darnel isidentified with the Lolium temulentum or wild Rye Grass. But inShakespeare's time Darnel, like Cockle (which see), was the general namefor any hurtful weed. In the old translation of the Bible, the Zizania, which is now translated Tares, was sometime translated Cockle, [78:1] andNewton, writing in Shakespeare's time, says--"Under the name of Cockleand Darnel is comprehended all vicious, noisom and unprofitable graine, encombring and hindring good corne. "--_Herball to the Bible. _ The Darnelis not only injurious from choking the corn, but its seeds become mixedwith the true Wheat, and so in Dorsetshire--and perhaps in otherparts--it has the name of "Cheat" (Barnes' Glossary), from its falselikeness to Wheat. It was this false likeness that got for it its badcharacter. "Darnell or Juray, " says Lyte ("Herball, " 1578), "is avitious graine that combereth or anoyeth corne, especially Wheat, and inhis knotten straw, blades, or leaves is like unto Wheate. " Yet Lindleysays that "the noxious qualities of Darnel or Lolium temulentum seem torest upon no certain proof" ("Vegetable Kingdom, " p. 116). 

FOOTNOTES:

[78:1] "When men were a sleepe, his enemy came and oversowed Cockleamong the wheate, and went his way. "--_Rheims Trans. _, 1582. For furtherearly references to Cockle or Darnel see note on "Darnelle" in the"Catholicon Anglicum, " p. 90, and Britten's "English Plant Names, " p. 143. 

DATES. 

 (1) _Clown. _

 I must have Saffron to colour the Warden pies--Mace--Dates? none; that's out of my note. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (48). 

 (2) _Nurse. _

 They call for Dates and Quinces in the pastry. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act iv, sc. 4 (2). 

 (3) _Parolles. _

 Your Date is better in your pie and your porridge than in your cheek. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act i, sc. 1 (172). 

 (4) _Pandarus. _

 Do you know what a man is? Is not birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood, learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality, and such like, the spice and salt that season a man?

 _Cressida. _

 Ay, a minced man; and then to be baked with no Date in the pye; for then the man's date's out. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act i, sc. 2 (274). 

The Date is the well-known fruit of the Date Palm (_Phœnixdactylifera_), the most northern of the Palms. The Date Palm grows overthe whole of Southern Europe, North Africa, and South-eastern Asia; butit is not probable that Shakespeare ever saw the tree, though Neckamspeaks of it in the twelfth century, and Lyte describes it, and Gerardmade many efforts to grow it; he tried to grow plants from the seed, "the which I have planted many times in my garden, and have grown to theheight of three foot, but the first frost hath nipped them in such sortthat they perished, notwithstanding mine industrie by covering them, orwhat else I could do for their succour. " The fruit, however, wasimported into England in very early times, and was called by theAnglo-Saxons Finger-Apples, a curious name, but easily explained as thetranslation of the Greek name for the fruit, δακτυλοι which was also theorigin of the word date, of which the olden form was dactylle. [80:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[80:1] "A dactylle frute dactilis. "--_Catholicon Anglicum. _

DEAD MEN'S FINGERS. 

 _Queen. _

 Our cold maids do Dead Men's Fingers call them. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 7 (172). 

_See_ LONG PURPLES, p. 148. 

DEWBERRIES. 

 _Titania. _

 Feed him with Apricocks and Dewberries. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (169). 

The Dewberry (_Rubus cæsius_) is a handsome fruit, very like theBlackberry, but coming earlier. It has a peculiar sub-acid flavour, which is much admired by some, as it must have been by Titania, whojoins it with such fruits as Apricots, Grapes, Figs, and Mulberries. Itmay be readily distinguished from the Blackberry by the fruit beingcomposed of a few larger drupes, and being covered with a glaucousbloom. 

DIAN'S BUD. 

 _Oberon. _

 Be, as thou wast wont to be (touching her eyes with an herb), See, as thou wast wont to see; Dian's Bud o'er Cupid's flower Hath such force and blessed power. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (76). 

The same herb is mentioned in act iii, sc. 2 (366)--

 Then crush this herb into Lysander's eye, Whose liquor hath this virtuous property, To take from thence all error, with his might, And make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight. 

But except in these two passages I believe the herb is not mentioned byany author. It can be nothing but Shakespeare's translation ofArtemisia, the herb of Artemis or Diana, a herb of wonderful virtueaccording to the writers before Shakespeare's day. (_See_ WORMWOOD. )

DOCKS. 

 (1) _Burgundy. _

 And nothing teems But hateful Docks, rough Thistles, Kecksies, Burs. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (51). 

 (2) _Antonio. _

 He'd sow it with Nettle seed, _Sebastian. _

 Or Docks, or Mallows. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 1 (145). 

The Dock may be dismissed with little note or comment, merely remarkingthat the name is an old one, and is variously spelled as dokke, dokar, doken, &c. An old name for the plant was "Patience;" the "bitterpatience" of Spenser, which is supposed by Dr. Prior to be a corruptionof Passions. 

DOGBERRY. 

(_Dramatis personæ_ in _Much Ado About Nothing. _)

The Dogberry is the fruit either of the Cornus sanguinea or of theEuonymus Europæus. Parkinson limits the name to the Cornus, and says:"We for the most part call it the _Dogge berry tree_, because theberries are not fit to be eaten, or to be given to a dogge. " The plantis only named by Shakespeare as a man's name, but it could scarcely beomitted, as I agree with Mr. Milner that it was "probable that ourdramatist had the tree in his mind when he gave a name to that finefellow for a 'sixth and lastly, ' Constable, Dogberry of the Watch"("Country Pleasures, " p. 229). 

EBONY. 

 (1) _King. _

 The Ebon-coloured ink. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act i, sc. 1 (245). 

 (2) _King. _

 By heaven, thy love is black as Ebony. 

 _Biron. _

 Is Ebony like her? O wood divine! A wife of such wood were felicity. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 3 (247). 

 (3) _Clown. _

 The clearstores towards the south north are as lustrous as Ebony. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act iv, sc. 2 (41). 

 (4) _Pistol. _

 Rouse up revenge from Ebon den. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act v, sc. 5 (39). 

 (5) Death's Ebon dart, to strike him dead. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (948). 

The Ebony as a tree was unknown in England in the time of Shakespeare. The wood was introduced, and was the typical emblem of darkness. Thetimber is the produce of more than one species, but comes chiefly fromDiospyros Ebenum, Ebenaster, Melanoxylon, Mabola, &c. (Lindley), allnatives of the East. 

EGLANTINE. 

 (1) _Oberon. _

 I know a bank where the wild Thyme blows, Where Oxlips and the nodding Violet grows; Quite over-canopied with luscious Woodbine, With sweet Musk-Roses and with Eglantine. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (249). 

 (2) _Arviragus. _

 Thou shalt not lack The flower that's like thy face, pale Primrose, nor The azured Harebell, like thy veins, no, nor The leaf of Eglantine, whom not to slander, Out-sweeten'd not thy breath. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (220). 

If Shakespeare had only written these two passages they wouldsufficiently have told of his love for simple flowers. None but a dearlover of such flowers could have written these lines. There can be nodoubt that the Eglantine in his time was the Sweet Brier--his notice ofthe sweet leaf makes this certain. Gerard so calls it, but makes someconfusion--which it is not easy to explain--by saying that the flowersare white, whereas the flowers of the true Sweet Brier are pink. In theearlier poets the name seems to have been given to any wild Rose, andMilton certainly did not consider the Eglantine and the Sweet Brier tobe identical. He says ("L'Allegro")--

 "Through the Sweet Briar or the Vine, Or the twisted Eglantine. "

But Milton's knowledge of flowers was very limited. Herrick has somepretty lines on the flower, in which it seems most probable that he wasreferring to the Sweet Brier--

 "From this bleeding hand of mine Take this sprig of Eglantine, Which, though sweet unto your smell, Yet the fretful Briar will tell, He who plucks the sweets shall prove Many Thorns to be in love. "

It was thus the emblem of pleasure mixed with pain--

 "Sweet is the Eglantine, but pricketh nere. "

 SPENSER, _Sonnet_ xxvi. 

And so its names pronounced it to be; it was either the Sweet Brier, orit was Eglantine, the thorny plant (Fr. , _aiglentier_). There was alsoan older name for the plant, of which I can give no explanation. It wascalled Bedagar. "Bedagar dicitur gallice aiglentier" (John deGerlande). "_Bedagrage_, spina alba, wit-thorn" (Harl. MS. , No. 978 in"Reliquiæ Antiquæ, " i, 36). [84:1] The name still exists, though not incommon use; but only as the name of a drug made from "the excrescenceson the branches of the Rose, and particularly on those of the wildvarieties" (Parsons on the Rose). 

It is a native of Britain, but not very common, being chiefly confinedto the South of England. I have found it on Maidenhead Thicket. As agarden plant it is desirable for the extremely delicate scent of itsleaves, but the flower is not equal to others of the family. There is, however, a double-flowered variety, which is handsome. The fruit of thesingle flowered tree is large, and of a deep red colour, and is said tobe sometimes made into a preserve. In modern times this is seldom done, but it may have been common in Shakespeare's time, for Gerard saysquaintly: "The fruit when it is ripe maketh most pleasant meats andbanqueting dishes, as tarts and such like, the making whereof I committo the cunning cooke, and teeth to eat them in the rich man's mouth. "And Drayton says--

 "They'll fetch you conserve from the hip, And lay it softly on your lip. "

 _Nymphal II. _

Eglantine has a further interest in being one of the many thorny treesfrom which the sacred crown of thorns was supposed to be made--"Andafterwards he was led into a garden of Cayphas, and there he was crownedwith Eglantine" (Sir John Mandeville). 

FOOTNOTES:

[84:1] "Est et cynosrodos, rosa camina, ung eglantier, folia myrtihabens, sed paulo majora; recta assurgens in mediam altitudinem interarborem et fruticem; fert spongiolas, quibus utuntur medici, ad maleficacapitis ulcera, la malle tigne, vocatur antem vulgo in officinispharmacopolarum, bedegar. "--_Stephani de re Hortensi Libellus_, p. 17, 1536. 

ELDER. 

 (1) _Arviragus. _

 And let the stinking Elder, grief, untwine His perishing root with the increasing Vine!

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (59). 

 (2) _Host. _

 What says my Æsculapius? my Galen? my heart of Elder?

 _Merry Wives_, act ii, sc. 3 (29). 

 (3) _Saturninus. _

 Look for thy reward Among the Nettles at the Elder tree, * * * * *

 This is the pit and this the Elder tree. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act ii, sc. 3 (271). 

 (4) _Williams. _

 That's a perilous shot out of an Elder gun, that a poor and private displeasure can do against a monarch. 

 _Henry V_, act iv, sc. 1 (200). 

 (5) _Holofernes. _

 Begin, sir, you are my Elder. 

 _Biron. _

 Well followed; Judas was hanged on an Elder. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (608). 

There is, perhaps, no tree round which so much of contradictoryfolk-lore has gathered as the Elder tree. [85:1] With many it was simply"the stinking Elder, " of which nothing but evil could be spoken. Biron(No. 5) only spoke the common mediæval notion that "Judas was hanged onan Elder;" and so firm was this belief that Sir John Mandeville wasshown the identical tree at Jerusalem, "and faste by is zit, the Tree ofEldre that Judas henge himself upon, for despeyr that he hadde, when hesolde and betrayed oure Lord. " This was enough to give the tree a badfame, which other things helped to confirm--the evil smell of itsleaves, the heavy narcotic smell of its flowers, its hard and heartlesswood, [85:2] and the ugly drooping black fungus that is almostexclusively found on it (though it occurs also on the Elm), which wasvulgarly called the Ear of Judas (_Hirneola auricula Judæ_). This wasthe bad character; but, on the other hand, there were many who couldtell of its many virtues, so that in 1644 appeared a book entirelydevoted to its praises. This was "The Anatomie of the Elder, translatedfrom the Latin of Dr. Martin Blockwich by C. De Iryngio" (_i. E. _, Christ. Irvine), a book that, in its Latin and English form, wentthrough several editions. And this favourable estimate of the tree isstill very common in several parts of the Continent. In the South ofGermany it is believed to drive away evil spirits, and the name"'Holderstock' (Elder Stock) is a term of endearment given by a lover tohis beloved, and is connected with Hulda, the old goddess of love, towhom the Elder tree was considered sacred. " In Denmark and Norway it isheld in like esteem, and in the Tyrol an "Elder bush, trained into theform of a cross, is planted on the new-made grave, and if it blossomsthe soul of the person lying beneath it is happy. " And this use of theElder for funeral purposes was, perhaps, also an old English custom; forSpenser, speaking of Death, says--

 "The Muses that were wont greene Baies to weare, Now bringen bittre Eldre braunches seare. "

 _Shepherd's Calendar--November. _

Nor must we pass by the high value that was placed on the wood both bythe Jews and Greeks. It was the wood chiefly used for musicalinstruments, so that the name Sambuke was applied to several verydifferent instruments, from the fact that they were all made of Elderwood. The "sackbut, " "dulcimer, " and "pipe" of Daniel iii. Are allconnected together in this manner. 

As a garden plant the common Elder is not admissible, though it forms astriking ornament in the wild hedgerows and copses, while its flowersyield the highly perfumed Elder-flower water, and its fruits give theElder wine; but the tree runs into many varieties, several of which arevery ornamental, the leaves being often very finely divided and jagged, and variegated both with golden and silver blotches. There is a handsomespecies from Canada (Sambucus Canadensis), which is worth growing inshrubberies, as it produces its pure white flowers in autumn. 

FOOTNOTES:

[85:1] Called also Eldern in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and still earlier, Eller or Ellyr ("Catholicon Anglicum"). "The Ellernis a tree with long bowes, ful sounde and sad wythout, and ful holowewithin, and ful of certayne nesshe pyth. "--_Clanvil de prop. _

[85:2] From the facility with which the hard wood can be hollowed out, the tree was from very ancient times called the Bore-tree. See"Catholicon Anglicum, " s. V. Bur-tre. 

ELM. 

 (1) _Adriana. _

 Thou art an Elm, my husband, I a Vine, Whose weakness married to thy stronger state Makes me with thy strength to communicate. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act ii, sc. 2 (176). 

 (2) _Titania. _

 The female Ivy so Enrings the barky fingers of the Elm. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (48). 

 (3) _Poins. _

 Answer, thou dead Elm, answer![87:1]

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc, 4 (358). 

Though Vineyards were more common in England in the sixteenth centurythan now, yet I can nowhere find that the Vines were ever trained, inthe Italian fashion, to Elms or Poplars. Yet Shakespeare does not standalone in thus speaking of the Elm in its connection with the Vine. Spenser speaks of "the Vine-prop Elme, " and Milton--

 "They led the Vine To wed her Elm; she spoused, about him twines Her marriageable arms, and with her brings Her dower, the adopted clusters, to adorn His barren leaves. "

And Browne--

 "She, whose inclination Bent all her course to him-wards, let him know He was the Elm, whereby her Vine did grow. "

 _Britannia's Pastorals_, book i, song 1. 

 "An Elm embraced by a Vine, Clipping so strictly that they seemed to be One in their growth, one shade, one fruit, one tree; Her boughs his arms; his leaves so mixed with hers, That with no wind he moved, but straight she stirs. "

 _Ibid. _, ii, 4. 

But I should think that neither Shakespeare, nor Browne, nor Milton eversaw an English Vine trained to an Elm; they were simply copying from theclassical writers. 

The Wych Elm is probably a true native, but the more common Elm of ourhedgerows is a tree of Southern Europe and North Africa, and is of suchmodern introduction into England that in Evelyn's time it was rarelyseen north of Stamford. It was probably introduced into Southern Englandby the Romans. 

FOOTNOTES:

[87:1] Why Falstaff should be called a dead Elm is not very apparent;but the Elm was associated with death as producing the wood for coffins. Thus Chaucer speaks of it as "the piler Elme, the cofre unto careyne, "_i. E. _, carrion ("Parliament of Fowles, " 177). 

ERINGOES. 

 _Falstaff. _

 Let the sky rain Potatoes; let it thunder to the tune of Green Sleeves, hail kissing-comfits, and snow Eringoes. 

 _Merry Wives_, act v, sc. 5 (20). 

Gerard tells us that Eringoes are the candied roots of the Sea Holly(_Eryngium maritimum_), and he gives the recipe for candying them. I amnot aware that the Sea Holly is ever now so used, but it is a veryhandsome plant as it is seen growing on the sea shore, and its finefoliage makes it an ornamental plant for a garden. But as used byFalstaff I am inclined to think that the vegetable he wished for was theGlobe Artichoke, which is a near ally of the Eryngium, was a favouritediet in Shakespeare's time, and was reputed to have certain specialvirtues which are not attributed to the Sea Holly, but which would moreaccord with Falstaff's character. [88:1] I cannot, however, anywhere findthat the Artichoke was called Eringoes. 

FOOTNOTES:

[88:1] For these supposed virtues of the Artichoke see Bullein's "Bookof Simples. "

FENNEL. 

 (1) _Ophelia. _

 There's Fennel for you and Columbines. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc 5 (189). 

 (2) _Falstaff. _

 And a' plays at quoits well, and eats conger and Fennel. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (266). 

The Fennel was always a plant of high reputation. The Plain of Marathonwas so named from the abundance of Fennel (μαραθρον) growing onit. [89:1] And like all strongly scented plants, it was supposed by themedical writers to abound in "virtues. " Gower, describing the starPleiades, says--

 "Eke his herbe in speciall The vertuous Fenel it is. "

 _Conf. Aman. _, lib. Sept. (3, 129. Paulli. )

These virtues cannot be told more pleasantly than by Longfellow--

 "Above the lowly plants it towers, The Fennel with its yellow flowers, And in an earlier age than ours Was gifted with the wondrous powers-- Lost vision to restore. It gave men strength and fearless mood, And gladiators fierce and rude Mingled it with their daily food: And he who battled and subdued A wreath of Fennel wore. "

"Yet the virtues of Fennel, as thus enumerated by Longfellow, do notcomprise either of those attributes of the plant which illustrate thetwo passages from Shakespeare. The first alludes to it as an emblem offlattery, for which ample authority has been found by thecommentators. [89:2] Florio is quoted for the phrase 'Dare finocchio, '_to give fennel_, as meaning _to flatter_. In the second quotation theallusion is to the reputation of Fennel as an inflammatory herb withmuch the same virtues as are attributed to Eringoes. "--Mr. J. F. MARSHin _The Garden_. 

The English name was directly derived from its Latin name_Fœniculum_, which may have been given it from its hay-like smell(_fœnum_), but this is not certain. We have another English wordderived from the Giant Fennel of the South of Europe (_ferula_); this isthe ferule, an instrument of punishment for small boys, also adoptedfrom the Latin, the Roman schoolmaster using the stalks of the Fennelfor the same purpose as the modern schoolmaster uses the cane. 

The early poets looked on the Fennel as an emblem of the early summer--

 "Hyt befell yn the month of June When the Fenell hangeth yn toun. "

 _Libæus Diaconus. _(1225). 

As a useful plant, the chief use is as a garnishing and sauce for fish. Large quantities of the seed are said to be imported to flavour gin, butthis can scarcely be called useful. As ornamental plants, the largeFennels (F. Tingitana, F. Campestris, F. Glauca, &c. ) are very desirablewhere they can have the necessary room. 

FOOTNOTES:

[89:1] "Fennelle or Fenkelle, feniculum maratrum. "--_CatholiconAnglicum. _

[89:2]

 "_Christophers. _

 No, my _good lord_. 

 _Count. _

 Your _good lord_! O, how this smells of Fennel. "

 BEN JONSON, _The Case Altered_, act ii, sc. 2. 

FERN. 

 _Gadshill. _

 We have the receipt of Fern-seed--we walk invisible. 

 _Chamberlain. _

 Now, by my faith, I think you are more beholding to the night than to Fern-seed for your walking invisible. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (95). 

There is a fashion in plants as in most other things, and in none isthis more curiously shown than in the estimation in which Ferns are andhave been held. Now-a-days it is the fashion to admire Ferns, and fewwould be found bold enough to profess an indifference to them. But itwas not always so. Theocritus seems to have admired the Fern--

 "Like Fern my tresses o'er my temples streamed. "

 _Idyll_ xx. (_Calverley. _)

 "Come here and trample dainty Fern and Poppy blossom. "

 _Idyll_ v. (_Calverley. _)

But Virgil gives it a bad character, speaking of it as "filiceminvisam. " Horace is still more severe, "neglectis urenda filixinnascitur agris. " The Anglo-Saxon translation of Boethius spokecontemptuously of the "Thorns, and the Furzes, and the Fern, and all theweeds" (Cockayne). And so it was in Shakespeare's time. Butler spoke ofit as the--

 "Fern, that vile, unuseful weed, That grows equivocably without seed. "

Cowley spoke the opinion of his day as if the plant had neither use norbeauty--

 "Nec caulem natura mihi, nec Floris honorem, Nec mihi vel semen dura Noverca dedit-- Nec me sole fovet, nec cultis crescere in hortis Concessum, et Foliis gratia nulla meis-- Herba invisa Deis poteram cœloque videri, Et spurio Terræ nata puerperio. "

 _Plantarum_, lib. I. 

And later still Gilpin, who wrote so much on the beauties of countryscenery at the close of the last century, has nothing better to say forFerns than that they are noxious weeds, to be classed with "Thorns andBriers, and other ditch trumpery. " The fact, no doubt, is that Fernswere considered something "uncanny and eerie;" our ancestors could notunderstand a plant which seemed to them to have neither flower nor seed, and so they boldly asserted it had neither. "This kinde of Ferne, " saysLyte in 1587, "beareth neither flowers nor sede, except we shall takefor sede the black spots growing on the backsides of the leaves, thewhiche some do gather thinking to worke wonders, but to say the truethit is nothing els but trumperie and superstition. " A plant so strangemust needs have strange qualities, but the peculiar power attributed toit of making persons invisible arose thus:--It was the age in which thedoctrine of signatures was fully believed in; according to whichdoctrine Nature, in giving particular shapes to leaves and flowers, hadthereby plainly taught for what diseases they were speciallyuseful. [91:1] Thus a heart-shaped leaf was for heart disease, aliver-shaped for the liver, a bright-eyed flower was for the eyes, afoot-shaped flower or leaf would certainly cure the gout, and so on; andthen when they found a plant which certainly grew and increased, but ofwhich the organs of fructification were invisible, it was a clearconclusion that properly used the plant would confer the gift ofinvisibility. Whether the people really believed this or not we cannotsay, [92:1] but they were quite ready to believe any wonder connectedwith the plant, and so it was a constant advertisement with the quacks. Even in Addison's time "it was impossible to walk the streets withouthaving an advertisement thrust into your hand of a doctor who hadarrived at the knowledge of the Green and Red Dragon, and had discoveredthe female Fern-seed. Nobody ever knew what this meant" ("Tatler, " No. 240). But to name all the superstitions connected with the Fern wouldtake too much space. 

The name is expressive; it is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon _fepern_, and so shows that some of our ancestors marked its feathery form; andits history as a garden plant is worth a few lines. So little has itbeen esteemed as a garden plant that Mr. J. Smith, the ex-Curator of theKew Gardens, tells us that in the year 1822 the collection of Ferns atKew was so extremely poor that "he could not estimate the entire Kewcollection of exotic Ferns at that period at more than forty species"(Smith's "Ferns, British and Exotic, " introduction). Since that time thesteadily increasing admiration of Ferns has caused collectors to sendthem from all parts of the world, so that in 1866 Mr. Smith was enabledto describe about a thousand species, and now the number must be muchlarger; and the closer search for Ferns has further brought into noticea very large number of most curious varieties and monstrosities, whichit is still more curious to observe are, with very few exceptions, confined to the British species. 

FOOTNOTES:

[91:1] See Brown's "Religio Medici, " p. Ii. 2. 

[92:1] It probably was the real belief, as we find it so often mentionedas a positive fact; thus Browne--

 "Poor silly fool! thou striv'st in vain to know If I enjoy or love where thou lov'st so; Since my affection ever secret tried Blooms like the Fern, and seeds still unespied. "

 _Poems_, p. 26 (Sir E. Brydges' edit. 1815). 

FIGS. 

 (1) _Titania. _

 Feed him with Apricocks and Dewberries, With purple Grapes, green Figs, and Mulberries. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (169). 

 (2) _Constance. _

 And its grandam will Give it a Plum, a Cherry, and a Fig. 

 _King John_, act ii, sc. 1 (161). 

 (3) _Guard. _

 Here is a rural fellow That will not be denied your Highness's presence, He brings you Figs. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act v, sc. 2 (233). 

 (4) _1st Guard. _

 A simple countryman that brought her Figs. 

 _Ibid. _ (342). 

 _Ditto. _

 These Fig-leaves Have slime upon them. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 2 (354). 

 (5) _Pistol. _

 When Pistol lies, do this; and Fig me, like The bragging Spaniard. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act v, sc. 3 (123). 

 (6) _Pistol. _

 Die and be damned, and Figo for thy friendship. 

 _Fluellen. _

 It is well. 

 _Pistol. _

 The Fig of Spain. 

 _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 6 (60). 

 (7) _Pistol. _

 The Figo for thee, then. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (60). 

 (8) _Iago. _

 Virtue! a Fig!

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (322). 

 (9) _Iago. _

 Blessed Fig's end!

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 1 (256). 

 (10) _Horner. _

 I'll pledge you all, and a Fig for Peter. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 3 (66). 

 (11) _Pistol. _

 "Convey, " the wise it call; "steal!" foh! a Fico for the phrase!

 _Merry Wives_, act i, sc. 3 (32). 

 (12) _Charmian. _

 O excellent! I love long life better than Figs. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act i, sc. 2 (32). 

In some of these passages (as 5, 6, 7, and perhaps in more) thereference is to a grossly insulting and indecent gesture called "makingthe fig. " It was a most unpleasant custom, which largely prevailedthroughout Europe in Shakespeare's time, and on which I need not dwell. It is fully described in Douce's "Illustrations of Shakespeare, " i, 492. 

In some of the other quotations the reference is simply to theproverbial likeness of a Fig to a matter of the least importance. [94:1]But in the others the dainty fruit, the green Fig, is noticed. 

The Fig tree, celebrated from the earliest times for the beauty of itsfoliage and for its "sweetness and good fruit" (Judges ix. 11), is saidto have been introduced into England by the Romans; but the morereliable accounts attribute its introduction to Cardinal Pole, who issaid to have planted the Fig tree still living at Lambeth Palace. Botanically, the Fig is of especial interest. The Fig, as we eat it, isneither fruit nor flower, though partaking of both, being really thehollow, fleshy receptacle enclosing a multitude of flowers, which neversee the light, yet come to full perfection and ripen their seed. The Figstands alone in this peculiar arrangement of its flowers, but there areother plants of which we eat the unopened or undeveloped flowers, as theArtichoke, the Cauliflower, the Caper, the Clove, and the Pine Apple. 

FOOTNOTES:

[94:1] This proverbial worthlessness of the Fig is of ancient date. Theocritus speaks of συκινοι ανδρες, useless men; Horace, "Olimtruncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum;" and Juvenal, "Sterilis malarobora ficus. "

FILBERTS. 

 _Caliban. _

 I'll bring thee to clustering Filberds. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 2(174). (_See_ HAZEL. )

FLAGS. 

 _Cæsar. _

 This common body Like to a vagabond Flag upon the stream Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itself with motion. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act i, sc. 4 (44). 

We now commonly call the Iris a Flag, and in Shakespeare's time the Irispseudoacorus was called the Water Flag, and so this passage might, perhaps, have been placed under Flower-de-luce. But I do not think thatthe Flower-de-luce proper was ever called a Flag at that time, whereaswe know that many plants, especially the Reeds and Bulrushes, werecalled in a general way Flags. This is the case in the Bible, thelanguage of which is always a safe guide in the interpretation ofcontemporary literature. The mother of Moses having placed the infant inthe ark of Bulrushes, "laid it in the Flags by the river's brink, " andthe daughter of Pharaoh "saw the ark among the Flags. " Job asks, "Canthe Flag grow without water?" and Isaiah draws the picture of desolationwhen "the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up, and the Reedsand the Flags shall wither. " But in these passages, not only is theoriginal word very loosely translated, but the original word itself wasso loosely used that long ago Jerome had said it might mean any marshplant, _quidquid in palude virens nascitur_. And in the same way Iconclude that when Shakespeare named the Flag he meant any long-leavedwaterside plant that is swayed to and fro by the stream, and thattherefore this passage might very properly have been placed underRushes. 

FLAX. 

 (1) _Ford. _

 What, a hodge-pudding? a bag of Flax?

 _Merry Wives_, act v, sc. 5 (159). 

 (2) _Clifford. _

 Beauty that the tyrant oft reclaims Shall to my flaming wrath be oil and Flax. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act v, sc. 2 (54). 

 (3) _Sir Toby. _

 Excellent; it hangs like Flax in a distaff. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act i, sc. 3 (108). 

 (4) _3rd Servant. _

 Go thou: I'll fetch some Flax and white of eggs To apply to his bleeding face. [95:1]

 _King Lear_, act iii, sc. 7 (106). 

 (5) _Ophelia. _

 His beard was as white as snow, All Flaxen was his poll. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (195). 

 (6) _Leontes. _

 My wife deserves a name As rank as any Flax-wench. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act i, sc. 2 (276). 

 (7) _Emilia. _

 It could No more be hid in him, than fire in Flax. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act v, sc. 3 (113). 

The Flax of commerce (_Linum usitatissimum_) is not a true native, though Turner said: "I have seen flax or lynt growyng wilde in Sommersetshyre" ("Herbal, " part ii. P. 39); but it takes kindly to the soil, andsoon becomes naturalized in the neighbourhood of any Flax field or mill. We have, however, three native Flaxes in England, of which the smallest, the Fairy Flax (_L. Catharticum_), is one of the most graceful ornamentsof our higher downs and hills. [96:1] The Flax of commerce, which is theplant referred to by Shakespeare, is supposed to be a native of Egypt, and we have early notice of it in the Book of Exodus; and the microscopehas shown that the cere-cloths of the most ancient Egyptian mummies aremade of linen. It was very early introduced into England, and thespinning of Flax was the regular occupation of the women of everyhousehold, from the mistress downwards, so that even queens arerepresented in the old illuminations in the act of spinning, and "thespinning-wheel was a necessary implement in every household, from thepalace to the cottage. "--WRIGHT, _Domestic Manners_. The occupation isnow almost gone, driven out by machinery, but it has left its mark onour language, at least on our legal language, which acknowledges as theonly designation of an unmarried woman that she is "a spinster. "

A crop of Flax is one of the most beautiful, from the rich colour of theflowers resting on their dainty stalks. But it is also most useful; fromit we get linen, linseed oil, oilcake, and linseed-meal; nor do itsvirtues end there, for "Sir John Herschel tells us the surprising factthat old linen rags will, when treated with sulphuric acid, yield morethan their own weight of sugar. It is something even to have lived indays when our worn-out napkins may possibly reappear on our tables inthe form of sugar. "--LADY WILKINSON. 

As garden plants the Flaxes are all ornamental. There are about eightyspecies, some herbaceous and some shrubby, and of almost all colours, and in most of the species the colours are remarkably bright and clear. There is no finer blue than in L. Usitatissimum, no finer yellow than inL. Trigynum, or finer scarlet than in L. Grandiflorum. 

FOOTNOTES:

[95:1] "_Juniper. _ Go get white of egg and a little Flax, and close thebreach of the head; it is the most conducible thing that can be. "--BENJONSON, _The Case Altered_, act ii, sc. 4. 

[96:1] "From the abundant harvests of this elegant weed on the uplandpastures, prepared and manufactured by supernatural skill, 'the goodpeople' were wont, in the olden time, to procure the necessary suppliesof linen!"--JOHNSTON. 

FLOWER-DE-LUCE. 

 (1) _Perdita. _

 Lilies of all kinds, The Flower-de-luce being one. 

 _Winters Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (126). 

 (2) _K. Henry. _

 What sayest thou, my fair Flower-de-luce?

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (323). 

 (3) _Messenger. _

 Cropped are the Flower-de-luces in your arms; Of England's coat one half is cut away. 

 _1st Henry VI_, act i, sc. 1 (80). 

 (4) _Pucelle. _

 I am prepared; here is my keen-edged sword Deck'd with five Flower-de-luces on each side. 

 _Ibid. _, act i, sc. 2 (98). 

 (5) _York. _

 A sceptre shall it have, have I a soul, On which I'll toss the Flower-de-luce of France. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act v, sc. 1 (10). 

Out of these five passages four relate to the Fleur-de-luce as thecognizance of France, and much learned ink has been spilled in theendeavour to find out what flower, if any, was intended to berepresented, so that Mr. Planché says that "next to the origin ofheraldry itself, perhaps nothing connected with it has given rise to somuch controversy as the origin of this celebrated charge. " It has beenat various times asserted to be an Iris, a Lily, a sword-hilt, aspearhead, and a toad, or to be simply the Fleur de St. Louis. _Adhucsub judice lis est_--and it is never likely to be satisfactorilysettled. I need not therefore dwell on it, especially as my presentbusiness is to settle not what the Fleur-de-luce meant in the arms ofFrance, but what it meant in Shakespeare's writings. But here the samedifficulty at once meets us, some writers affirming stoutly that it is aLily, others as stoutly that it is an Iris. For the Lily theory thereare the facts that Shakespeare calls it one of the Lilies, and that theother way of spelling it is Fleur-de-lys. I find also a strongconfirmation of this in the writings of St. Francis de Sales(contemporary with Shakespeare). "Charity, " he says, "comprehends theseven gifts of the Holy Ghost, and resembles a beautiful Flower-de-luce, which has six leaves whiter than snow, and in the middle the prettylittle golden hammers" ("Philo, " book xi. , Mulholland's translation). This description will in no way fit the Iris, but it may very well beapplied to the White Lily. Chaucer, too, seems to connect theFleur-de-luce with the Lily--

 "Her nekke was white as the Flour de Lis. "

These are certainly strong authorities for saying that theFlower-de-luce is the Lily. But there are as strong or stronger on theother side. Spenser separates the Lilies from the Flower-de-luces in hispretty lines--

 "Strow mee the grounde with Daffadown-Dillies, And Cowslips, and Kingcups, and lovéd Lillies; The Pretty Pawnce And the Chevisaunce Shall match with the fayre Floure Delice. "

 _Shepherd's Calendar. _

Ben Jonson separates them in the same way--

 "Bring rich Carnations, Flower-de-luces, Lillies. "

Lord Bacon also separates them: "In April follow the double WhiteViolet, the Wall-flower, the Stock-Gilliflower, the Cowslip, theFlower-de-luces, and Lilies of all Natures;" and so does Drayton--

 "The Lily and the Flower de Lis For colours much contenting. "

 _Nymphal V. _

In heraldry also the Fleur-de-lis and the Lily are two distinctbearings. Then, from the time of Turner in 1568, through Gerard andParkinson to Miller, all the botanical writers identify the Iris as theplant named, and with this judgment most of our modern writersagree. [99:1] We may, therefore, assume that Shakespeare meant the Irisas the flower given by Perdita, and we need not be surprised at hisclassing it among the Lilies. Botanical classification was not veryaccurate in his day, and long after his time two such celebrated men asRedouté and De Candolle did not hesitate to include in the "Liliacæ, "not only Irises, but Daffodils, Tulips, Fritillaries, and even Orchids. 

What Iris Shakespeare especially alluded to it is useless to inquire. Wehave two in England that are indigenous--one the rich golden-yellow (_I. Pseudacorus_), which in some favourable positions, with its roots in thewater of a brook, is one of the very handsomest of the tribe; the otherthe Gladwyn (_I. Fœtidissima_), with dull flowers and strong-smellingleaves, but with most handsome scarlet fruit, which remain on the plantand show themselves boldly all through the winter and early spring. Ofother sorts there is a large number, so that the whole family, accordingto the latest account by Mr. Baker, of Kew, contains ninety-six distinctspecies besides varieties. They come from all parts of the world, fromthe Arctic Circle to the South of China; they are of all colours, fromthe pure white Iris Florentina to the almost black I. Susiana; and ofall sizes, from a few inches to four feet or more. They are mostly easyof cultivation and increase readily, so that there are few plants bettersuited for the hardy garden or more ornamental. 

FOOTNOTES:

[99:1] G. Fletcher's Flower-de-luce was certainly the Iris--

 "The Flower-de-Luce and the round specks of dew That hung upon the azure leaves did shew Like twinkling stars that sparkle in the evening blue. "

The "leaves" here must be the petals. 

FUMITER, FUMITORY. 

 (1) _Cordelia. _

 Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4 (3). (_See_ CUCKOO-FLOWERS. )

 (2) _Burgundy. _

 Her fallow leas The Darnel, Hemlock, and rank Fumitory Doth root upon. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (44). 

Of Fumitories we have five species in England, all of them weeds incultivated grounds and in hedgerows. None of them can be consideredgarden plants, but they are closely allied to the Corydalis, of whichthere are several pretty species, and to the very handsome Dielytras, ofwhich one species--D. Spectabilis--ranks among the very handsomest ofour hardy herbaceous plants. How the plant acquired its name ofFumitory--_fume-terre_, earth-smoke--is not very satisfactorilyexplained, though many explanations have been given; but that the namewas an ancient one we know from the interesting Stockholm manuscript ofthe eleventh century published by Mr. J. Pettigrew, and of which a fewlines are worth quoting. (The poem is published in the "Archæologia, "vol. Xxx. )--

 "Fumiter is erbe, I say, Yt spryngyth ī April et in May, In feld, in town, in yard, et gate, Yer lond is fat and good in state, Dun red is his flour Ye erbe smek lik in colowur. "

FURZE. 

 (1) _Ariel. _

 So I charm'd their ears, That calf-like they my lowing follow'd through Tooth'd Briers, sharp Furzes, pricking Goss, and Thorns. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (178). 

 (2) _Gonzalo. _

 Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground, long Heath, brown Furze, anything. 

 _Ibid. _, act i, sc. 1 (70). 

We now call the Ulex Europæus either Gorse, or Furze, or Whin; but inthe sixteenth century I think that the Furze and Gorse weredistinguished (_see_ GORSE), and that the brown Furze was the Ulex. Itis a most beautiful plant, and with its golden blossoms and richlyscented flowers is the glory of our wilder hill-sides. It is especiallya British plant, for though it is found in other parts of Europe, andeven in the Azores and Canaries, yet I believe it is nowhere found insuch abundance or in such beauty as in England. Gerard says, "Thegreatest and highest that I did ever see do grow about Excester, in theWest Parts of England;" and those that have seen it in Devonshire willagree with him. It seems to luxuriate in the damp, mild climate ofDevonshire, and to see it in full flower as it covers the low hills thatabut upon the Channel between Ilfracombe and Clovelly is a sight to belong remembered. It is, indeed, a plant that we may well be proud of. Linnæus could only grow it in a greenhouse, and there is a well-knownstory of Dillenius that when he first saw the Furze in blossom inEngland he fell on his knees and thanked God for sparing his life to seeso beautiful a part of His creation. The story may be apocryphal, but wehave a later testimony from another celebrated traveller who had seenthe glories of tropical scenery, and yet was faithful to the beauties ofthe wild scenery of England. Mr. Wallace bears this testimony: "I havenever seen in the tropics such brilliant masses of colour as evenEngland can show in her Furze-clad commons, her glades of WildHyacinths, her fields of Poppies, her meadows of Buttercups andOrchises, carpets of yellow, purple, azure blue, and fiery crimson, which the tropics can rarely exhibit. We have smaller masses of colourin our Hawthorns and Crab trees, our Holly and Mountain Ash, our Broom, Foxgloves, Primroses, and purple Vetches, which clothe with gay coloursthe length and breadth of our land" ("Malayan Archipelago, " ii. 296). 

As a garden shrub the Furze may be grown either as a single lawn shrubor in the hedge or shrubbery. Everywhere it will be handsome both in itssingle and double varieties, and as it bears the knife well, it can bekept within limits. The upright Irish form also makes an elegant shrub, but does not flower so freely as the typical plant. 

GARLICK. 

 (1) _Bottom. _

 And, most clear actors, eat no Onions nor Garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 2 (42). 

 (2) _Lucio. _

 He would mouth with a beggar, though she smelt brown bread and Garlic. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act iii, sc. 2 (193). 

 (3) _Hotspur. _

 I had rather live With cheese and Garlic in a windmill. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 1 (161). 

 (4) _Menenius. _

 You that stood so much Upon the voice of occupation, and The breath of Garlic-eaters. 

 _Coriolanus_, act iv, sc. 6 (96). 

 (5) _Dorcas. _

 Mopsa must be your mistress; marry, Garlic to mend her kissing with. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (162). 

There is something almost mysterious in the Garlick that it should be sothoroughly acceptable, almost indispensable, to many thousands, while toothers it is so horribly offensive as to be unbearable. The Garlick ofEgypt was one of the delicacies that the Israelites looked back to withfond regret, and we know from Herodotus that it was the daily food ofthe Egyptian labourer; yet, in later times, the Mohammedan legendrecorded that "when Satan stepped out from the Garden of Eden after thefall of man, Garlick sprung up from the spot where he placed his leftfoot, and Onions from that which his right foot touched, on whichaccount, perhaps, Mohammed habitually fainted at the sight of either. "It was the common food also of the Roman labourer, but Horace could onlywonder at the "dura messorum illia" that could digest the plant "cicutisallium nocentius. " It was, and is the same with its medical virtues. According to some it was possessed of every virtue, [102:1] so that ithad the name of Poor Man's Treacle (the word treacle not having itspresent meaning, but being the Anglicised form of theriake, orheal-all[103:1]); while, on the other hand, Gerard affirmed "it yieldethto the body no nourishment at all; it ingendreth naughty and sharpebloud. "

Bullein describes it quaintly: "It is a grosse kinde of medicine, veryeunpleasant for fayre Ladies and tender Lilly Rose colloured damselswhich often time profereth sweet breathes before gentle wordes, but bothwould do very well" ("Book of Simples"). Yet if we could only divest itof its evil smell, the wild Wood Garlick would rank among the mostbeautiful of our British plants. Its wide leaves are very similar tothose of the Lily of the Valley, and its starry flowers are of the verypurest white. But it defies picking, and where it grows it generallytakes full possession, so that I have known several woods--especially onthe Cotswold Hills--that are to be avoided when the plant is in flower. The woods are closely carpeted with them, and every step you take bringsout their fœtid odour. There are many species grown in the gardens, some of which are even very sweet smelling (as A. Odorum and A. Fragrans); but these are the exceptions, and even these have the Garlickscent in their leaves and roots. Of the rest many are very pretty andworth growing, but they are all more or less tainted with the evilhabits of the family. 

FOOTNOTES:

[102:1] "You (_i. E. _, citizens) are still sending to the apothecaries, and still crying out to 'fetch Master Doctor to me;' but our (_i. E. _, countrymen's) apothecary's shop is our garden full of pot herbs, and ourdoctor is a good clove of Garlic. "--_The Great Frost of January, 1608. _

[103:1]

 "Crist, which that is to every harm triacle. "

 CHAUCER, _Man of Lawes Tale_. 

 "Treacle was there anone forthe brought. "

 _Le Morte Arthur_, 864. 

GILLIFLOWERS, _see_ CARNATIONS. 

GINGER. 

 (1) _Clown. _

 I must have Saffron to colour the Warden pies--Mace--Dates? none, that's out of my note; Nutmegs, seven--a race or two of Ginger, but that I may beg. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (48). 

 (2) _Sir Toby. _

 Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale. 

 _Clown. _

 Yes, by St. Anne, and Ginger shall be hot i' the mouth too. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act ii, sc. 3 (123). 

 (3) _Pompey. _

 First, here's Young Master Rash, he's in for a commodity of brown paper and old Ginger, nine score and seventeen pounds, of which he made five marks ready money; marry, then, Ginger was not much in request, for the old women were all dead. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 3 (4). 

 (4) _Salanio. _

 I would she were as lying a gossip in that as ever knapped Ginger. 

 _Merchant of Venice_, act iii, sc. 1 (9). 

 (5) _2nd Carrier. _

 I have a gammon of bacon and two razes of Ginger to be delivered as far as Charing Cross. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (26). 

 (6) _Orleans. _

 He's of the colour of the Nutmeg. 

 _Dauphin. _

 And of the heat of the Ginger. 

 _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 7 (20). 

 (7) _Julia. _

 What is't you took up so Gingerly?

 _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, act i, sc. 2 (70). 

 (8) _Costard. _

 An I had but one penny in the world, thou should'st have it to buy Ginger-bread. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 1 (74). 

 (9) _Hotspur. _

 Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art, A good mouth-filling oath, and leave "in sooth, " And such protest of pepper Ginger-bread To velvet-guards and Sunday-citizens. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 1 (258). 

Ginger was well known both to the Greeks and Romans. It was importedfrom Arabia, together with its name, Zingiberri, which it has retained, with little variation, in all languages. 

When it was first imported into England is not known, but probably bythe Romans, for it occurs as a common ingredient in many of theAnglo-Saxon medical recipes. Russell, in the "Boke of Nurture, " mentionsseveral kinds of Ginger; as green and white, "colombyne, valadyne, andMaydelyn. " In Shakespeare's time it was evidently very common and cheap. 

It is produced from the roots of Zingiber officinale, a member of thelarge and handsome family of the Ginger-worts. The family contains someof the most beautiful of our greenhouse plants, as the Hedychiums, Alpinias, and Mantisias; and, though entirely tropical, most of thespecies are of easy cultivation in England. Ginger is very easily rearedin hotbeds, and I should think it very probable that it may have been sogrown in Shakespeare's time. Gerard attempted to grow it, but henaturally failed, by trying to grow it in the open ground as a hardyplant; yet "it sprouted and budded forth greene leaves in my garden inthe heate of somer;" and he tells us that plants were sent him by "anhonest and expert apothecarie, William Dries, of Antwerp, " and "that thesame had budded and grown in the said Dries' garden. "

GOOSEBERRIES. 

 _Falstaff. _

 All the other gifts appertinent to man, as the malice of this age shapes them, are not worth a Gooseberry. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act i, sc. 2 (194). 

The Gooseberry is probably a native of the North of England, but Turnersaid (s. V. _uva crispa_) "it groweth onely that I have sene in England, in gardines, but I have sene it in Germany abrode in the fieldes amongeother busshes. "

The name has nothing to do with the goose. Dr. Prior has satisfactorilyshown that the word is a corruption of "Crossberry. " By the writers ofShakespeare's time, and even later, it was called Feaberry (Gerard, Lawson, and others), and in one of the many books on the Plaguepublished in the sixteenth century, the patient is recommended to eat"thepes, or goseberries" ("A Counsell against the Sweate, " fol. 23). 

GORSE OR GOSS. 

 _Ariel. _

 Tooth'd Briers, sharp Furzes, pricking Goss, and Thorns. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (180). 

In speaking of the Furze (which see), I said that in Shakespeare's timethe Furze and Gorse were probably distinguished, though now the twonames are applied to the same plant. "In the 15th Henry VI. (1436), license was given to Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester, to inclose 200 acresof land--pasture, wode, hethe, vrises, [106:1] and gorste (_bruere, etjampnorum_), and to form thereof a Park at Greenwich. "--_Rot. Parl. _ iv. 498. [106:2] This proves that the "Gorst" was different from the "Vrise, "and it may very likely have been the Petty Whin. "Pricking Goss, "however, may be only a generic term, like Bramble and Brier, for anywild prickly plant. 

FOOTNOTES:

[106:1] There is a hill near Lansdown (Bath) now called Frizen orFreezing Hill. Within memory of man it was covered with Gorse. This wasprobably the origin of the name, "Vrisen Hill. "

[106:2] "Promptorium Parvulorum, " p. 162, note. 

GOURD. 

 _Pistol. _

 For Gourd and fullam holds. 

 _Merry Wives_, act i, sc. 3 (94). 

I merely mention this to point out that "Gourd, " though probablyoriginally derived from the fruit, is not the fruit here, but is aninstrument of gambling. The fruit, however, was well known inShakespeare's time, and was used as the type of intense greenness--

 "Whose cœrule stream, rombling in pebble-stone, Crept under Moss, as green as any Gourd. "

 SPENSER, _Virgil's Gnat_. 

GRACE, _see_ RUE. 

GRAPES, _see_ VINES. 

GRASSES. 

 (1) _Gonzalo. _

 How lush and lusty the Grass looks! how green!

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 1 (52). 

 (2) _Iris. _

 Here, on this Grass-plot, in this very place To come and sport. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (73). 

 (3) _Ceres. _

 Why hath thy Queen Summon'd me hither to this short-grass'd green?

 _Ibid. _ (82). 

 (4) _Lysander. _

 When Phœbe doth behold Her silver visage in the watery glass, Decking with liquid pearl the bladed Grass. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act i, sc. 1 (209). 

 (5) _King. _

 Say to her, we have measured many miles To tread a measure with her on this Grass. 

 _Boyet. _

 They say, that they have measured many miles To tread a measure with her on the Grass. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (184). 

 (6) _Clown. _

 I am no great Nebuchadnezzar, sir, I have not much skill in Grass. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act iv, sc. 5 (21). 

 (7) _Luciana. _

 If thou art changed to aught, 'tis to an ass. 

 _Dromio of Syracuse. _

 'Tis true; she rides me, and I long for Grass. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act ii, sc. 2 (201). 

 (8) _Bolingbroke. _

 Here we march Upon the Grassy carpet of the plain. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 3 (49). 

 (9) _King Richard. _

 And bedew Her pasture's Grass with faithful English blood. 

 _Ibid. _ (100). 

 (10) _Ely. _

 Grew like the summer Grass, fastest by night, Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty. 

 _Henry V_, act i, sc. 1 (65). 

 (11) _King Henry. _

 Mowing like Grass Your fresh-fair virgins and your flowering infants. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 3 (13). 

 (12) _Grandpre. _

 And in their pale dull mouths the gimmal bit Lies foul with chew'd Grass, still and motionless. 

 _Henry V_, act iv, sc. 2 (49). 

 (13) _Suffolk. _

 Though standing naked on a mountain top Where biting cold would never let Grass grow. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (336). 

 (14) _Cade. _

 All the realm shall be in common; and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to Grass. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 2 (74). 

 (15) _Cade. _

 Wherefore on a brick wall have I climbed into this garden, to see if I can eat Grass or pick a Sallet another while, which is not amiss to cool a man's stomach this hot weather. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 10 (7). 

 (16) _Cade. _

 If I do not leave you all as dead as a door-nail, I pray God I may never eat Grass more. 

 _Ibid. _ (42). 

 (17) _1st Bandit. _

 We cannot live on Grass, on berries, water, As beasts and birds and fishes. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (425). 

 (18) _Saturninus. _

 These tidings nip me, and I hang the head As Flowers with frost or Grass beat down with storms. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act iv, sc. 4 (70). 

 (19) _Hamlet. _

 Ay but, sir, "while the Grass grows"--the proverb is something musty. 

 _Hamlet_, act iii, sc. 2 (358). 

 (20) _Ophelia. _

 He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone; At his head a Grass-green turf, At his heels a stone. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 5 (29). 

 (21) _Salarino. _

 I should be still Plucking the Grass to know where sits the wind. 

 _Merchant of Venice_, act i, sc. 1 (17). 

In and before Shakespeare's time Grass was used as a general term forall plants. Thus Chaucer--

 "And every grass that groweth upon roote Sche schal eek know, to whom it will do boote Al be his woundes never so deep and wyde. "

 _The Squyeres Tale. _

It is used in the same general way in the Bible, "the Grass of thefield. "

In the whole range of botanical studies the accurate study of theGrasses is, perhaps, the most difficult as the genus is the mostextensive, for Grasses are said to "constitute, perhaps, a twelfth partof the described species of flowering plants, and at least nine-tenthsof the number of individuals comprising the vegetation of the world"(Lindley), so that a full study of the Grasses may almost be said to bethe work of a lifetime. But Shakespeare was certainly no such student ofGrasses: in all these passages Grass is only mentioned in a genericmanner, without any reference to any particular Grass. The passages inwhich hay is mentioned, I have not thought necessary to quote. 

HAREBELL. 

 _Arviragus. _

 Thou shalt not lack The flower that's like thy face, pale Primrose, nor The azured Harebell, like thy veins. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (220). (_See_ EGLANTINE. )

The Harebell of Shakespeare is undoubtedly the Wild Hyacinth (_Scillanutans_), the "sanguine flower inscribed with woe" of Milton's"Lycidas, " though we must bear in mind that the name is applieddifferently in various parts of the island; thus "the Harebell of Scotchwriters is the Campanula, and the Bluebell, so celebrated in Scottishsong, is the Wild Hyacinth or Scilla; while in England the same namesare used conversely, the Campanula being the Bluebell and the WildHyacinth the Harebell" ("Poets' Pleasaunce")--but this will only applyin poetry; in ordinary language, at least in the South of England, theWild Hyacinth is the Bluebell, and is the plant referred to byShakespeare as the Harebell. 

It is one of the chief ornaments of our woods, [109:1] growing inprofusion wherever it establishes itself, and being found of variouscolours--pink, white, and blue. As a garden flower it may well beintroduced into shrubberies, but as a border plant it cannot competewith its rival relation, the Hyacinthus orientalis, which is the parentof all the fine double and many coloured Hyacinths in which the floristshave delighted for the last two centuries. 

FOOTNOTES:

[109:1] "'Dust of sapphire, ' writes my friend Dr. John Brown to me ofthe wood Hyacinths of Scotland in the spring; yes, that is so--each budmore beautiful itself than perfectest jewel. "--RUSKIN, _Proserpina_, p. 73. 

HARLOCKS. 

 _Cordelia. _

 Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Harlocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4 (3). (_See_ CUCKOO-FLOWERS. )

I cannot do better than follow Dr. Prior on this word: "Harlock, asusually printed in 'King Lear' and in Drayton, ecl. 4--

 'The Honeysuckle, the Harlocke, The Lily and the Lady-smocke, '

is a word that does not occur in the Herbals, and which the commentatorshave supposed to be a misprint for Charlock. There can be little doubtthat Hardock is the correct reading, and that the plant meant is the onenow called Burdock. " Schmidt also adopts Burdock as the rightinterpretation. 

HAWTHORNS. 

 (1) _Rosalind. _

 There's a man hangs odes upon Hawthorns and elegies on Brambles. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (379). 

 (2) _Quince. _

 This green plot shall be our stage, this Hawthorn-brake our tiring house. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (3). 

 (3) _Helena. _

 Your tongue's sweet air, More tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear, When Wheat is green, when Hawthorn-buds appear. 

 _Ibid. _, act i, sc. 1 (183). 

 (4) _Falstaff. _

 I cannot cog and say thou art this and that, like a many of these lisping Hawthorn-buds. 

 _Merry Wives_, act iii, sc. 3 (76). 

 (5) _K. Henry. _

 Gives not the Hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade To shepherds looking on their silly sheep, Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy To kings that fear their subjects' treachery? O yes, it doth; a thousand-fold it doth. 

 _3rd Henry VI_, act ii, sc. 5 (42). 

 (6) _Edgar. _

 Through the sharp Hawthorn blows the cold wind (_bis_). 

 _King Lear_, act iii, sc. 4 (47 and 102). 

 (7) _Arcite. _

 Againe betake you to yon Hawthorne house. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iii, sc. 1 (90). 

Under its many names of Albespeine, Whitethorn, Haythorn or Hawthorn, May, and Quickset, this tree has ever been a favourite with all loversof the country. 

 "Among the many buds proclaiming May, Decking the field in holiday array, Striving who shall surpass in braverie, Mark the faire blooming of the Hawthorn tree, Who, finely cloathed in a robe of white, Fills full the wanton eye with May's delight. Yet for the braverie that she is in Doth neither handle card nor wheel to spin, Nor changeth robes but twice; is never seen In other colours but in white or green. "

such is Browne's advice in his "Britannia's Pastorals" (ii. 2). He, likethe other early poets, clearly loved the tree for its beauty; and inpicturesque beauty the Hawthorn yields to none, when it can be seen insome sheltered valley growing with others of its kind, and allowed togrow unpruned, for then in the early summer it is literally a sheet ofwhite, yet beautifully relieved by the tender green of the young leaves, and by the bright crimson of the anthers, and loaded with a scent thatis most delicate and refreshing. But not only for its beauty is theHawthorn a favourite tree, but also for its many pleasantassociations--it is essentially the May tree, the tree that tells thatwinter is really past, and that summer has fairly begun. Hear Spenser--

 "Thilke same season, when all is yclade With pleasaunce; the ground with Grasse, the woods With greene leaves, the bushes with blooming buds, Youngthes folke now flocken in everywhere To gather May-baskets and smelling Brere; And home they hasten the postes to dight, And all the kirk-pillours eare day-light, With Hawthorne-buds, and sweet Eglantine, And girlondes of Roses, and soppes-in-wine. "

 _Shepherd's Calendar--May. _

Yet in spite of its pretty name, and in spite of the poets, the Hawthornnow seldom flowers till June, and I should suppose it is never in floweron May Day, except perhaps in Devonshire and Cornwall; and it is verydoubtful if it ever were so found, except in these southern counties, though some fancy that the times of flowering of several of our flowersare changed, and in some instances largely changed. But "it was an oldcustom in Suffolk, in most of the farmhouses, that any servant who couldbring in a branch of Hawthorn in full blossom on the 1st of May wasentitled to a dish of cream for breakfast. This custom is now disused, not so much from the reluctance of the masters to give the reward, asfrom the inability of the servants to find the Whitethorn inflower. "--BRAND'S _Antiquities_. [112:1] Even those who might not see thebeauty of an old Thorn tree, have found its uses as one of the very fewtrees that will grow thick in the most exposed places, and so givepleasant shade and shelter in places where otherwise but little shadeand shelter could be found. 

 "Every shepherd tells his tale Under the Hawthorn in the dale. "--MILTON. 

And "at Hesket, in Cumberland, yearly on St. Barnabas' Day, by thehighway side under a Thorn tree is kept the court for the whole forestof Englewood. "--_History of Westmoreland. _

The Thorn may well be admitted as a garden shrub either in its ordinarystate, or in its beautiful double white, red, and pink varieties, andthose who like to grow curious trees should not omit the GlastonburyThorn, which flowers at the ordinary time, and bears fruit, but alsobuds and flowers again in winter, showing at the same time the newflowers and the older fruit. 

Nor must we omit to mention that the Whitethorn is one of the trees thatclaims to have been used for the sacred Crown of Thorns. It is mostimprobable that it was so, in fact almost certain that it was not; butit was a mediæval belief, as Sir John Mandeville witnesses: "Then wasour Lord yled into a gardyn, and there the Jewes scorned hym, and madenhym a crowne of the branches of the Albiespyne, that is Whitethorn, thatgrew in the same gardyn, and setten yt upon hys heved. And thereforehath the Whitethorn many virtues. For he that beareth a branch on hymthereof, no thundre, ne no maner of tempest may dere hym, ne in thehowse that it is ynne may non evil ghost enter. "

And we may finish the Hawthorn with a short account of its name, whichis interesting:--"Haw, " or "hay, " is the same word as "hedge" ("sepes, id est, _haies_, " John de Garlande), and so shows the great antiquity ofthis plant as used for English hedges. In the north, "haws" are stillcalled "haigs;" but whether Hawthorn was first applied to the fruit orthe hedge, whether the hedge was so called because it was made of theThorn tree that bears the haws, or whether the fruit was so namedbecause it was borne on the hedge tree, is a point on which etymologistsdiffer. 

FOOTNOTES:

[112:1] "Gilbert White in his 'Naturalists' Calendar' as the result ofobservations taken from 1768 to 1793 puts down the flowering of theHawthorn as occurring in different years upon dates so widely apart asthe twentieth of April and the eleventh of June. "--MILNER'S _CountryPleasures_, p. 83. 

HAZEL. 

 (1) _Mercutio. _

 Her [Queen Mab's] chariot is an empty Hazel-nut Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub, Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act i, sc. 4 (67). 

 (2) _Petruchio. _

 Kate like the Hazel twig Is straight and slender and as brown in hue As Hazel-nuts and sweeter than the kernels. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act ii, sc. 1 (255). 

 (3) _Caliban. _

 I'll bring thee to clustering Filberts. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 2 (174). 

 (4) _Touchstone. _

 Sweetest Nut hath sourest rind, Such a Nut is Rosalind. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (115). 

 (5) _Celia. _

 For his verity in love I do think him as concave as a covered goblet or a worm-eaten Nut. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 4 (25). 

 (6) _Lafeu. _

 Believe this of me, there can be no kernel in this light Nut. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act ii, sc. 5 (46). 

 (7) _Mercutio. _

 Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking Nuts, having no other reason but because thou hast Hazel eyes. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act iii, sc. 1 (20). 

 (8) _Thersites. _

 Hector shall have a great catch, if he knock out either of your brains; a' were as good crack a fusty Nut with no kernel. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act ii, sc. 1 (109). 

 (9) _Gonzalo. _

 I'll warrant him for drowning; though the ship were no stronger than a Nut-shell. 

 _Tempest_, act i, sc. 1 (49). 

 (10) _Titania. _

 I have a venturous fairy that shall seek The squirrel's hoard, and fetch thee new Nuts. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (40). 

 (11) _Hamlet. _

 O God, I could be bounded in a Nut-shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams. 

 _Hamlet_, act ii, sc. 2 (260). 

 (12) _Dromio of Syracuse. _

 Some devils ask but the parings of one's nail, A Rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a pin, A Nut, a Cherry-stone. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act iv, sc. 3 (72). 

Dr. Prior has decided that "'Filbert' is a barbarous compound of_phillon_ or _feuille_, a leaf, and _beard_, to denote itsdistinguishing peculiarity, the leafy involucre projecting beyond thenut. " But in the times before Shakespeare the name was more poeticallysaid to be derived from the nymph Phyllis. Nux Phyllidos is its name inthe old vocabularies, and Gower ("Confessio Amantis") tells us why--

 "Phyllis in the same throwe Was shape into a Nutte-tree, That alle men it might see; And after Phyllis philliberde, This tre was cleped in the yerde"

 (Lib. Quart. ), and so Spenser spoke of it as "'Phillis' philbert" (Elegy 17). [115:1]

The Nut, the Filbert, and the Cobnut, are all botanically the same, andthe two last were cultivated in England long before Shakespeare's time, not only for the fruit, but also, and more especially, for the oil. 

There is a peculiarity in the growth of the Nut that is worth the noticeof the botanical student. The male blossoms, or catkins (ancientlycalled "agglettes or blowinges"), are mostly produced at the ends of theyear's shoots, while the pretty little crimson female blossoms areproduced close to the branch; they are completely sessile or unstalked. Now in most fruit trees, when a flower is fertilized, the fruit isproduced exactly in the same place, with respect to the main tree, thatthe flower occupied; a Peach or Apricot, for instance, rests upon thebranch which bore the flower. But in the Nut a different arrangementprevails. As soon as the flower is fertilized it starts away from theparent branch; a fresh branch is produced, bearing leaves and the Nut orNuts at the end, so that the Nut is produced several inches away fromthe spot on which the flower originally was. I know of no other treethat produces its fruit in this way, nor do I know what special benefitto the plant arises from this arrangement. 

Much folk-lore has gathered round the Hazel tree and the Nuts. Thecracking of Nuts, with much fortune-telling connected therewith, wasthe favourite amusement on All Hallow's Eve (Oct. 31), so that theEve was called Nutcrack Night. I believe the custom still exists; itcertainly has not been very long abolished, for the Vicar of Wakefieldand his neighbours "religiously cracked Nuts on All Hallow's Eve. "And in many places "an ancient custom prevailed of going a Nuttingon Holy Rood Day (Sept. 14), which it was esteemed quite unlucky toomit. "--FORSTER. [116:1]

A greater mystery connected with the Hazel is the divining rod, for thediscovery of water and metals. This has always by preference been aforked Hazel-rod, though sometimes other rods are substituted. Thebelief in its power dates from a very early period, and is by no meansextinct. The divining-rod is said to be still used in Cornwall, andfirmly believed in; nor has this belief been confined to the uneducated. Even Linnæus confessed himself to be half a convert to it, and learnedtreatises have been written accepting the facts, and accounting for themby electricity or some other subtle natural agency. Most of us, however, will rather agree with Evelyn's cautious verdict, that the virtuesattributed to the forked stick "made out so solemnly by the attestationof magistrates, and divers other learned and credible persons, who havecritically examined matters of fact, is certainly next to a miracle, andrequires a strong faith. "

FOOTNOTES:

[115:1] "Hic fullus--a fylberd-tre. "--_Nominale_, 15th cent. 

"Fylberde, notte--Fillum. "

"Filberde, tre--Phillis. "--_Promptorium Parvulorum. _

"The Filbyrdes hangyng to the ground. "--_Squyr of Lowe Degre_ (37). 

[116:1] See a long account of the connection of nuts with All Hallow'sEve in Hanson, "Med. ævi Calend. " i. 363. 

HEATH. 

 _Gonzalo. _

 Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground, long Heath, brown Furze, anything. 

 _Tempest_, act i, sc. 1 (70). 

There are other passages in which the word Heath occurs in Shakespeare, but in none else is the flower referred to; the other references are toan open heath or common. And in this place no special Heath can beselected, unless by "long Heath" we suppose him to have meant the Ling(_Calluna vulgaris_). And this is most probable, for so Lyte calls it. "There is in this countrie two kindes of Heath, one which beareth theflowres alongst the stemmes, and is called Long Heath. " But it issupposed by some that the correct reading is "Ling, Heath, " &c. , and inthat case Heath will be a generic word, meaning any of the Britishspecies (_see_ LING). Of British species there are five, and whereverthey exist they are dearly prized as forming a rich element of beauty inour landscapes. They are found all over the British Islands, and theyseem to be quite indifferent as to the place of their growth. They areequally beautiful in the extreme Highlands of Scotland, or on theQuantock and Exmoor Hills of the South--everywhere they clothe thehill-sides with a rich garment of purple that is wonderfully beautiful, whether seen under the full influence of the brightest sunshine, orunder the dark shadows of the blackest thundercloud. And the botanicalgeography of the Heath tribe is very remarkable; it is found over thewhole of Europe, in Northern Asia, and in Northern Africa. Then thetribe takes a curious leap, being found in immense abundance, both ofspecies and individuals, in Southern Africa, while it is entirely absentfrom North and South America. Not a single species has been found in theNew World. A few plants of Calluna vulgaris have been found inNewfoundland and Massachusetts, but that is not a true Heath. 

As a garden plant the Heath has been strangely neglected. Many of thespecies are completely hardy, and will make pretty evergreen bushes offrom 2ft. To 4ft. High, but they are better if kept close-grown byconstant clipping. The species best suited for this treatment are E. Mediterranea, E. Arborea, and E. Codonoides. Of the more humble-growingspecies, E. Vagans (the Cornish Heath) will grow easily in most gardens, though in its native habitat it is confined to the serpentine formation;nor must we omit E. Herbacea, which also will grow anywhere, and, ifclipped yearly after flowering, will make a most beautiful border to anyflower-bed; or it may be used more extensively, as it is at DoddingtonPark, in Gloucestershire (Sir Gerald Codrington's), where there is alarge space in front of the house, several yards square, entirely filledwith E. Herbacea. When this is in flower (and it is so for nearly twomonths, or sometimes more) the effect, as seen from above, is of therichest Turkey carpet, but of such a colour and harmony as no Turkeycarpet ever attained. 

Several of the South-European Heaths were cultivated in England inShakespeare's time. 

HEBENON OR HEBONA. [118:1]

 _Ghost. _

 Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed Hebenon in a vial, And in the porches of my ear did pour The leperous distilment; whose effect Holds such an enmity with blood of man That swift as quicksilver it courses through The natural gates and alleys of the body, And with a sudden vigour it doth posset And curd, like eager droppings into milk, The thin and wholesome blood; so did it mine; And a most instant tetter bark'd about, Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, All my smooth body. 

 _Hamlet_, act i, sc. 5 (61). 

Before and in the time of Shakespeare other writers had spoken of thenarcotic and poisonous effects of Heben, Hebenon, or Hebona. Gowersays--

 "Ful of delite, Slepe hath his hous, and of his couche, Within his chambre if I shall touche, Of Hebenus that slepy tre The bordes all aboute be. "

 _Conf. Aman. _, lib. Quart. (ii. 103, Paulli). 

Spenser says--

 "Faire Venus sonne, . . . Lay now thy deadly Heben bow apart. "

 _F. Q. _, introd. , st. 3. 

 "There (in Mammon's garden) Cypresse grew in greatest store, And trees of bitter gall and Heben sad. "

 _F. Q. _, book ii, c. Viij, st. 17. 

And he speaks of a "speare of Heben wood, " and "a Heben launce. "Marlowe, a contemporary and friend of Shakespeare, makes Barabas cursehis daughter with--

 "In few the blood of Hydra, Lerna's bane, The juice of Hebon, and Cocytus breath, And all the poison of the Stygian pool. "

 _Jew of Malta_, act iii, st. 4. 

It may be taken for granted that all these authors allude to the sametree, but what tree is meant has sorely puzzled the commentators. Somenaturally suggested the Ebony, and this view is supported by therespectable names of Archdeacon Nares, Douce, Schmidt, and Dyce. Alarger number pronounced with little hesitation in favour of Henbane(_Hyoscyamus niger_), the poisonous qualities of which were familiar tothe contemporaries of Shakespeare, and were supposed by most of thebotanical writers of his day (and on the authority of Pliny) to becommunicated by being poured into the ears. But the Henbane is not atree, as Gower's "Hebenus" and Spenser's "Heben" certainly were; andthough it will satisfy some of the requirements of the plant named byShakespeare, it will not satisfy all. [119:1]

It might have been supposed that the difficulty would at once have beencleared up by reference to the accounts of the death of Hamlet's father, as given by Saxo Grammaticus, and the old "Hystorie of Hamblet, " butneither of these writers attribute his death to poison. [119:2]

The question has lately been very much narrowed and satisfactorilysettled (for the present, certainly, and probably altogether) by Dr. Nicholson and the Rev. W. A. Harrison. These gentlemen have decided thatthe true reading is Hebona, and that Hebona is the Yew. Their views arestated at full length in two exhaustive papers contributed to the NewShakespeare Society, and published in their "Transactions. "[119:3] Thefull argument is too long for insertion here, and my readers will thankme for referring them to the papers in the "Transactions. " The mainarguments are based on three facts: 1. That in nearly all the northernnations (including, of course, Denmark) the name of the Yew is more orless like Heben. 2. That all the effects attributed by Shakespeare tothe action of Hebona are described as arising from Yew-poisoning bydifferent medical writers, some of them contemporary with him, and somewriting with later experiences. 3. That the _post mortem_ appearancesafter Yew-poisoning and after snake-poisoning are very similar, and itwas "given out, that sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me. "

But it may well be asked, How could Shakespeare have known of all theseeffects, which (as far as our present search has discovered) are notnamed by any one writer of his time, and some of which have only beenmade public from the results of Yew-poisoning since his day? I think thequestion can be answered in a very simple way. The effects are describedwith such marked minuteness that it seems to me not only very probable, but almost certain, that Shakespeare must have been an eye-witness of acase of Yew-poisoning, and that what he saw had been so photographed onhis mind that he took the first opportunity that presented itself toreproduce the picture. With his usual grand contempt for perfectaccuracy he did not hesitate to sweep aside at once the stricthistorical records of the old king's death, and in its place to paintfor us a cold-blooded murder carried out by means which he knew from hispersonal experience to be possible, and which he felt himself able todescribe with a minuteness which his knowledge of his audiences assuredhim would not be out of place even in that great tragedy. 

The objection to the Yew theory of Hebona, that the Yew is named byShakespeare under its more usual name, is no real objection. On the sameground Ebony and Henbane must be excluded; together with Gilliflowers, which he elsewhere speaks of as Carnations; and Woodbine, because healso speaks of Honeysuckle. 

FOOTNOTES:

[118:1] Hebona is the reading of the First Quarto (1603) and of theSecond Quarto (1604), and is decided by the critics to be the truereading. 

[119:1] Mr. Beisley suggests Enoron, _i. E. _, Nightshade, which Mr. Dycedescribes as "a villainous conjecture. " In my first edition I expressedmy belief that Hebenon was either Henbane or a general term for a deadlypoisonous plant; but I had not then seen Dr. Nicholson's and Mr. Harrison's papers. 

[119:2] Saxo Grammaticus: "Ubi datus parricidio locus, cruenta manumentis libidinem satiavit; trucidati quoque fratris uxore potitus, incestum parricidio adjecit. "--_Historiæ Danorum_, lib. Iii, fol. Xxvii, Ed. 1514. 

"The Historye of Hamblet, Prince of Denmark:" Fergon "having secretlyassembled certain men and perceiving himself strong enough to executehis enterprise, Horvendile, his brother, being at a banquet with hisfriends, sodainely set upon him, where he slewe him as treacherously, ascunningly he purged himselfe of so detestable a murder to hissubjects. "--COLLIER'S _Shakespeare's Library_. 

[119:3] "Hamlet's Cursed Hebenon, " by Dr. R. B. Nicholson, M. D. (readNov. 14, 1879). "Hamlet's Juice of Cursed Hebona, " by Rev. W. A. Harrison, M. A. (read May 12, 1882). Both the papers are published in the"Transactions" of the Society. 

HEMLOCK. 

 (1) _Burgundy. _

 Her fallow leas The Darnel, Hemlock, and rank Fumitory Doth root upon. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (44). 

 (2) _3rd Witch. _

 Root of Hemlock digg'd i' the dark. 

 _Macbeth_, act iv, sc. 1 (25). 

 (3) _Cordelia. _

 Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Burdocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4 (3). 

One of the most poisonous of a suspicious family (the Umbelliferæ), "thegreat Hemlocke doubtlesse is not possessed of any one good facultie, asappeareth by his lothsome smell and other apparent signes, " and withthis evil character the Hemlock was considered to be only fit for aningredient of witches' broth--

 "I ha' been plucking (plants among) Hemlock, Henbane, Adder's Tongue, Nightshade, Moonwort, Leppard's-bane. "

 BEN JONSON, _Witches' Song in the Masque of the Queens_. 

Yet the Hemlock adds largely to the beauty of our hedgerows; its spottedtall stems and its finely cut leaves make it a handsome weed, and thedead stems and dried umbels are marked features in the winter appearanceof the hedges. As a poison it has an evil notoriety, being supposed tobe the poison by which Socrates was put to death, though this is notquite certain. It is not, however, altogether a useless plant--"It is avaluable medicinal plant, and in autumn the ripened stem is cut intopieces to make reeds for worsted thread. "--JOHNSTON. 

HEMP. 

 (1) _Pistol. _

 Let gallows gape for dog; let man go free, And let not Hemp his windpipe suffocate. 

 _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 6 (45). 

 (2) _Chorus. _

 And in them behold Upon the Hempen tackle ship-boys climbing. 

 _Henry V_, act iii, chorus (7). 

 (3) _Puck. _

 What Hempen homespuns have we swaggering here?

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (79). 

 (4) _Cade. _

 Ye shall have a Hempen caudle then, and the pap of a hatchet. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iv, sc. 7 (95). 

 (5) _Hostess. _

 Thou Hemp-seed. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (64). 

In all these passages, except the last, the reference is to rope madefrom Hemp, and not to the Hemp plant, and it is very probable thatShakespeare never saw the plant. It was introduced into England longbefore his time, and largely cultivated, but only in few parts ofEngland, and chiefly in the eastern counties. I do not find that it wascultivated in gardens in his time, but it is a plant well deserving aplace in any garden, and is especially suitable from its height andregular growth, for the central plant of a flower-bed. It is supposed tobe a native of India, and seems capable of cultivation in almost anyclimate. [122:1]

The name has a curious history. "The Greek κάνναβις, and Latin_cannabis_, are both identical with the Sanscrit _kanam_, as well aswith the German _hanf_, and the English _hemp_. More directly from_cannabis_ comes canvas, made up of hemp or flax, and canvass, todiscuss: _i. E. _, sift a question; metaphorically from the use of hempensieves or sifters. "--BIRDWOOD'S _Handbook to the Indian Court_, p. 23. 

FOOTNOTES:

[122:1] In Shakespeare's time the vulgar name for Hemp was Neckweed, andthere is a curious account of it under that name by William Bullein, in"The Booke of Compounds, " f. 68. 

HERB OF GRACE, _see_ RUE. 

HOLLY. 

 _Song. _

 Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green Holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: Then, heigh-ho, the Holly! This life is most jolly. 

 _As You Like It_, act ii, sc. 7 (180). 

From this single notice of the Holly in Shakespeare, and from theslight account of it in Gerard, we might conclude that the plant was notthe favourite in the sixteenth century that it is in the nineteenth; butthis would be a mistake. The Holly entered largely into the oldChristmas carols. 

 "Christmastide Comes in like a bride, With Holly and Ivy clad"--

and it was from the earliest times used for the decoration of houses andchurches at Christmas. It does not, however, derive its name from thiscircumstance, though it was anciently spelt "holy, " or called the "holytree, " for the name comes from a very different source, and is identicalwith "holm, " which, indeed, was its name in the time of Gerard andParkinson, and is still its name in some parts of England, though it hasalmost lost its other old name of Hulver, [123:1] except in the easterncounties, where the word is still in use. But as an ornamental tree itdoes not seem to have been much valued, though in the next centuryEvelyn is loud in the praises of this "incomparable tree, " and admiredit both for its beauty and its use. It is certainly the handsomest ofour native evergreens, and is said to be finer in England than in anyother country; and as seen growing in its wild habitats in our forests, as it may be seen in the New Forest and the Forest of Dean, it standswithout a rival, equally beautiful in summer and in winter; in summerits bright glossy leaves shining out distinctly in the midst of anysurrounding greenery, while as "the Holly that outdares cold winter'sire" (Browne), it is the very emblem of bright cheerfulness, with itsfoliage uninjured in the most severe weather, and its rich coralberries, sometimes borne in the greatest profusion, delighting us withtheir brilliancy and beauty. And as a garden shrub, the Holly stillholds its own, after all the fine exotic shrubs that have beenintroduced into our gardens during the present century. It can be grownas a single shrub, or it may be clipped, and will then form the best andthe most impregnable hedge that can be grown. No other plant willcompare with it as a hedge plant, if it be only properly attended to, and we can understand Evelyn's pride in his "glorious and refreshingobject, " a Holly hedge 160ft. In length, 7ft. In height, and 5ft. Indiameter, which he could show in his "poor gardens at any time of theyear, glittering with its armed and vernished leaves, " and "blushingwith their natural corale. " Nor need we be confined to plain green insuch a hedge. The Holly runs into a great many varieties, with theleaves of all shapes and sizes, and blotched and variegated in differentfashions and colours. All of these seem to be comparatively modern. Inthe time of Gerard and Parkinson there seems to have been only the onetypical species, and perhaps the Hedgehog Holly. 

I may finish the notice of the Holly by quoting two most remarkable usesof the tree mentioned by Parkinson: "With the flowers of Holly, saithPliny from Pythagoras, water is made ice; and againe, a staffe of thetree throwne at any beast, although it fall short by his defect thatthrew it, will flye to him, as he lyeth still, by the speciall propertyof the tree. " He may well add--"This I here relate that you mayunderstand the fond and vain conceit of those times, which I would toGod we were not in these dayes tainted withal. "

FOOTNOTES:

[123:1] "_Hulwur_-tre (huluyr), hulmus, hulcus aut huscus. "--_PromptoriumParvulorum. _

HOLY THISTLE. 

 _Margaret. _

 Get you some of this distilled Carduus Benedictus, and lay it to your heart; it is the only thing for a qualm. 

 _Hero. _

 There thou prickest her with a Thistle. 

 _Beatrice. _

 Benedictus! Why Benedictus? You have some moral in this Benedictus. 

 _Margaret. _

 Moral! No, by my troth, I have no moral meaning: I meant plain Holy Thistle. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act iii, sc. 4 (73). 

The _Carduus benedictus_, or Blessed Thistle, is a handsome annual fromthe South of Europe, and obtained its name from its high reputation as aheal-all, being supposed even to cure the plague, which was the highestpraise that could be given to a medicine in those days. It is mentionedin all the treatises on the Plague, and especially by Thomas Brasbridge, who, in 1578, published his "Poore Mans Jewell, that is to say, aTreatise of the Pestilence: vnto which is annexed a declaration of thevertues of the Hearbes Carduus Benedictus and Angelica. " This littlebook Shakespeare may have seen; it speaks of the virtues of the"distilled" leaves: it says, "it helpeth the hart, " "expelleth allpoyson taken in at the mouth and other corruption that doth hurt andannoye the hart, " and that "the juyce of it is outwardly applied to thebodie" ("lay it to your heart"), and concludes, "therefore I counsellall them that have Gardens to nourish it, that they may have it alwaysto their own use, and the use of their neighbours that lacke it. " Theplant has long lost this high character. 

HONEYSTALKS, _see_ CLOVER. 

HONEYSUCKLE. 

 (1) _Hero. _

 And bid her steal into the pleached bower Where Honeysuckles, ripen'd by the sun, Forbid the sun to enter. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act iii, sc. 1 (7). 

 (2) _Ursula. _

 So angle we for Beatrice; who even now Is couched in the Woodbine coverture. 

 _Ibid. _ (29). 

 (3) _Titania. _

 Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms. So doth the Woodbine the sweet Honeysuckle Gently entwist; the Female Ivy so Enrings the barky fingers of the Elm. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (47). 

 (4) _Hostess. _

 O thou Honeysuckle villain. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (52). 

 (5) _Oberon. _

 I know a bank where the wild Thyme blows, Where Oxlips and the nodding Violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious Woodbine. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (249). 

I have joined together here the Woodbine and the Honeysuckle, becausethere can be little doubt that in Shakespeare's time the two namesbelonged to the same plant, [126:1] and that the Woodbine was (where thetwo names were at all discriminated, as in No. 3), applied to the plantgenerally, and Honeysuckle to the flower. This seems very clear bycomparing together Nos. 1 and 2. In earlier writings the name wasapplied very loosely to almost any creeping or climbing plant. In anAnglo-Saxon Vocabulary of the eleventh century it is applied to the WildClematis ("Viticella--Weoden-binde"); while in Archbishop Ælfric's"Vocabulary" of the tenth century it is applied to the Hedera nigra, which may be either the Common or the Ground Ivy ("Hederanigra--Wude-binde"); and in the Herbarium and Leechdom books of thetwelfth century it is applied to the Capparis or Caper-plant, by which, however (as Mr. Cockayne considers), the Convolvulus Sepium is meant. After Shakespeare's time again the words began to be used confusedly. Milton does not seem to have been very clear in the matter. In "ParadiseLost" he makes our first parents "wind the Woodbine round this arbour"(perhaps he had Shakespeare's arbour in his mind); and in "Comus" hetells us of--

 "A bank With ivy-canopied, and interwove With flaunting Honeysuckle. "[126:2]

While in "Lycidas" he tells of--

 "The Musk Rose and the well-attired Woodbine. "

And we can scarcely suppose that he would apply two such contraryepithets as "flaunting" and "well-attired" to the same plant. And nowthe name, as of old, is used with great uncertainty, and I have heard itapplied to many plants, and especially to the small sweet-scentedClematis (_C. Flammula_). 

But with the Honeysuckle there is no such difficulty. The name is an oldone, and in its earliest use was no doubt indifferently applied to manysweet-scented flowers (the Primrose amongst them); but it was soonattached exclusively to our own sweet Honeysuckle of the woods andhedges. We have two native species (Lonicera periclymenum and L. Xylosteum), and there are about eighty exotic species, but none of themsweeter or prettier than our own, which, besides its fragrant flowers, has pretty, fleshy, red fruit. 

The Honeysuckle has ever been the emblem of firm and fast affection--asit climbs round any tree or bush, that is near it, not only clinging toit faster than Ivy, but keeping its hold so tight as to leave its markin deep furrows on the tree that has supported it. The old writers arefond of alluding to this. Bullein in "The Book of Simples, " 1562, saysvery prettily, "Oh, how swete and pleasant is Wood-binde, in woodes orarbours, after a tender, soft rain: and how friendly doe this herbe, ifI maie so name it, imbrace the bodies, armes, and branches of trees, with his long winding stalkes, and tender leaves, openyng or spreadingforthe his swete Lillis, like ladie's fingers, emōg the thornes orbushes, " and there is no doubt from the context that he is herereferring to the Honeysuckle. Chaucer gives the crown of Woodbine tothose who were constant in love--

 "And tho that weare chaplets on their hede Of fresh Woodbine, be such as never were To love untrue in word, thought, ne dede, But aye stedfast; ne for pleasaunce ne fere, Though that they should their hertes al to-tere, Would never flit, but ever were stedfast Till that there lives there asunder brast. "

 _The Flower and the Leaf. _

The two last lines well describe the fast union between the Honeysuckleand its mated tree. 

FOOTNOTES:

[126:1]

 "Woodbines of sweet honey full. "

 BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER, _Tragedy of Valentinian_. 

[126:2] Milton probably took the idea from Theocritus--

 "Ivy reaches up and climbs, Gilded with blossom-dust about its lip; Round which a Woodbine wreathes itself, and flaunts Her saffron fruitage. "--_Idyll_ i. (_Calverley_). 

HYSSOP. 

 _Iago. _

 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant Nettles or sow Lettuce, set Hyssop, and weed up Thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness, or maimed with industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills. 

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (322). 

We should scarcely expect such a lesson of wisdom drawn from the simpleherb-garden in the mouth of the greatest knave and villain in the wholerange of Shakespeare's writings. It was the preaching of a deephypocrite, and while we hate the preacher we thank him for hislesson. [128:1]

The Hyssop (_Hyssopus officinalis_) is not a British plant, but it washeld in high esteem in Shakespeare's time. Spenser spoke of it as--

 "Sharp Isope good for green wounds remedies"--

and Gerard grew in his garden five or six different species orvarieties. He does not tell us where his plants came from, and perhapshe did not know. It comes chiefly from Austria and Siberia; yet Greenein his "Philomela, " 1615, speaks of "the Hyssop growing in America, thatis liked of strangers for the smell, and hated of the inhabitants forthe operation, being as prejudicial to the one as delightsome to theother. " It is now very little cultivated, for it is not a plant of muchbeauty, and its medicinal properties are not much esteemed; yet it is aplant that must always have an interest to readers of the Bible; forthere it comes before us as the plant of purification, as the plant ofwhich the study was not beneath the wisdom of Solomon, and especiallyas the plant that added to the cruelties of the Crucifixion. Whetherthe Hyssop of Scripture is the Hyssopus officinalis is still a question, but at the present time the most modern research has decided that it is. 

FOOTNOTES:

[128:1] It seems likely from the following passage from Lily's "Euphues, the anatomy of wit, " 1617, that the plants were not named at random byIago, but that there was some connection between them. "Good gardeners, in their curious knots, mixe Isope with Time, as aiders the one with theothers; the one being dry, the other moist. " The gardeners of thesixteenth century had a firm belief in the sympathies and antipathies ofplants. 

INSANE ROOT. 

 _Banquo. _

 Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the Insane Root That takes the reason prisoner?

 _Macbeth_, act i, sc. 3 (83). 

It is very possible that Shakespeare had no particular plant in view, but simply referred to any of the many narcotic plants which, when givenin excess, would "take the reason prisoner. " The critics have suggestedmany plants--the Hemlock, the Henbane, the Belladonna, the Mandrake, &c. , each one strengthening his opinion from coeval writers. In thisuncertainty I should incline to the Henbane from the followingdescription by Gerard and Lyte. "This herbe is called . . . OfApuleia-Mania" (Lyte). "Henbane is called . . . Of Pythagoras, Zoroaster, and Apuleius, Insana" (Gerard). 

IVY. 

 (1) _Titania. _

 The female Ivy so Enrings the barky fingers of the Elm. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (48). 

 (2) _Prospero. _

 That now he was The Ivy which had hid my princely trunk And suck'd my verdure out on't. 

 _Tempest_, act i, sc. 2 (85). 

 (3) _Adriana. _

 If ought possess thee from me, it is dross, Usurping Ivy, Brier, or idle Moss. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act ii, sc. 2 (179). 

 (4) _Shepherd. _

 They have scared away two of my best sheep, which I fear the wolf will sooner find than the master; if anywhere I have them 'tis by the seaside browsing of Ivy. [130:1]

 _Winter's Tale_, act iii, sc. 3 (66). 

 (5) _Perithores. _

 His head's yellow, Hard hayr'd, and curl'd, thicke twin'd like Ivy tops, Not to undoe with thunder. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 2 (115). 

The rich evergreen of "the Ivy never sear" (Milton) recommended it tothe Romans to be joined with the Bay in the chaplets of poets--

 "Hanc sine tempora circum Inter victrices Hederam tibi serpere lauros. "--VIRGIL. 

 "Seu condis amabile carmen Prima feres Hederæ victricis præmia. "--HORACE. 

And in mediæval times it was used with Holly for Christmas decorations, so that Bullein called it "the womens Christmas Herbe. " But the oldwriters always assumed a curious rivalry between the two--

 "Holly and Ivy made a great party Who should have the mastery In lands where they go. "

And there is a well-known carol of the time of Henry VI. , which tells ofthe contest between the two, and of the mastery of the Holly; it is ineight stanzas, of which I extract the last four--

 "Holly he hath berries as red as any Rose, The foresters, the hunters, keep them from the does; Ivy she hath berries as black as any Sloe, There come the owls and eat them as they go; Holly he hath birds, a full fair flock, The nightingale, the popinjay, the gentle laverock; Good Ivy, say to us, what birds hast thou? None but the owlet that cries 'How, how!'"

Thus the Ivy was not allowed the same honour inside the houses of ourancestors as the Holly, but it held its place outside the houses as asign of good cheer to be had within. The custom is now extinct, butformerly an Ivy bush (called a tod of Ivy) was universally hung out infront of taverns in England, as it still is in Brittany and Normandy. Hence arose two proverbs--"Good wine needs no bush, " _i. E. _, thereputation is sufficiently good without further advertisement; and "Anowl in an Ivy bush, " as "perhaps denoting originally the union of wisdomor prudence with conviviality, as 'Be merry and wise. '"--NARES. 

The Ivy was a plant as much admired by our grandfathers of the fifteenthand sixteenth centuries as it is now by us. Spenser was evidently fondof it--

 "And nigh thereto a little chappel stoode Which being all with Yvy overspread Deckt all the roofe, and shadowing the rode Seem'd like a grove faire branched over hed. "

 _F. Q. _, vi, v, 25. 

In another place he speaks of it as--

 "Wanton Yvie, flouring fayre. "--_F. Q. _, ii, v, 29. 

And in another place--

 "Amongst the rest the clambering Ivie grew Knitting his wanton armes with grasping hold, Least that the Poplar happely should rew Her brother's strokes, whose boughs she doth enfold With her lythe twigs till they the top survew, And paint with pallid greene her buds of gold. "

 VIRGIL'S _Gnat_. 

Chaucer describes it as--

 "The erbe Ivie that groweth in our yard that mery is. "

And in the same poem he prettily describes it as--

 "The pallid Ivie building his own bowre. "

As a wild plant, the Ivy is found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, but notin America, and wherever it is found it loves to cover old walls andbuildings, and trees of every sort, with its close and rich drapery andclusters of black fruit, [132:1] and where it once establishes itself itis always beautiful, but not always harmless. Both on trees andbuildings it requires very close watching. It will very soon destroysoft-wooded trees, such as the Poplar and the Ash, by its tight embrace, not by sucking out the sap, but by preventing the outward growth of theshoots, and checking--and at length preventing--the flow of sap; and inbuildings it is no doubt beneficial as long as it is closely watched andkept in place, but if allowed to drive its roots into joints, or to growunder roofs, the swelling roots and branches will soon displace anymasonry, and cause immense mischief. 

We have only one species of Ivy in England, and there are only two realspecies recognized by present botanists, but there are infinitevarieties, and many of them very beautiful. These variegated Ivies wereknown to the Greeks and Romans, and were highly prized by them, oneespecially with white fruit (at present not known) was the type ofbeauty. No higher praise could be given to a beauty than that she was"Hedera formosior alba. " These varieties are scarcely mentioned byGerard and Parkinson, and probably were not much valued; they are now ingreater repute, and nothing will surpass them for rapidly andeffectually covering any bare spaces. 

I need scarcely add that the Ivy is so completely hardy that it willgrow in any aspect and in any soil; that its flowers are the staple foodof bees in the late autumn; and that all the varieties grow easily fromcuttings at almost any time of the year. 

FOOTNOTES:

[130:1] Sheep feeding on Ivy--

 "My sheep have Honeysuckle bloom for pasture; Ivy grows In multitudes around them, and blossoms like the Rose. "

 THEOCRITUS, _Idyll_ v. (_Calverley_). 

[132:1]

 "The Ivy-mesh Shading the Ethiop berries. "--KEATS, _Endymion_. 

KECKSIES. 

 _Burgundy. _

 And nothing teems But hateful Docks, rough Thistles, Kecksies, Burs, Losing both beauty and utility. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (51). 

Kecksies or Kecks are the dried and withered stems of the Hemlock, andthe name is occasionally applied to the living plant. It seems also tohave been used for any dry weeds--

 "All the wyves of Tottenham came to se that syght, With Wyspes, and Kexis, and ryschys ther lyght, To fech hom ther husbandes, that wer tham trouth plyght. "

 "The Tournament of Tottenham, " in RITSON'S _Ancient Songs and Ballads_. 

KNOT-GRASS. 

 _Lysander. _

 Get you gone, you dwarf; You minimus, of hindering Knot-grass made; You bead, you Acorn. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 2 (328). 

The Knot-grass is the Polygonum aviculare, a British weed, low, straggling, and many-jointed, hence its name of Knot-grass. There is nodoubt that this is the plant meant, and its connection with a dwarf isexplained by the belief, probably derived from some unrecorded characterdetected by the "doctrine of signatures, " that the growth of childrencould be stopped by a diet of Knot-grass. Steevens quotes Beaumont andFletcher to this effect, and this will probably explain the epithet"hindering. " But there may be another explanation. Johnston tells usthat in the north, "being difficult to cut in the harvest time, or topull in the process of weeding, it has obtained the sobriquet of theDeil's-lingels. " From this it may well be called "hindering, " just asthe Ononis, from the same habit of catching the plough and harrow, hasobtained the prettier name of "Rest-harrow. "

But though Shakespeare's Knot-grass is undoubtedly the Polygonum, yetthe name was also given to another plant, for this cannot be the plantmentioned by Milton--

 "The chewing flocks Had ta'en their supper on the savoury herb Of Knot-grass dew-besprent. "--_Comus. _

In this case it must be one of the pasture Grasses, and may be Agrostisstolonifera, as it is said to be in Aubrey's "Natural History of Wilts"(Dr. Prior). 

LADY-SMOCKS. 

 _Song of Spring. _

 And Lady-smocks all silver-white, And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (905). 

Lady-smocks are the flowers of Cardamine pratensis, the pretty earlymeadow flower of which children are so fond, and of which the popularityis shown by its many names: Lady-smocks, Cuckoo-flower, [134:1] MeadowCress, Pinks, Spinks, Bog-spinks, and May-flower, and "in Northfolke, Canterbury Bells. " The origin of the name is not very clear. It isgenerally explained from the resemblance of the flowers to smocks hungout to dry, but the resemblance seems to me rather far-fetched. According to another explanation, "the Lady-smock, a corruption of OurLady's-smock, is so called from its first flowering about Lady-tide. Itis a pretty purplish white, tetradynamous plant, which blows fromLady-tide till the end of May, and which during the latter end of Aprilcovers the moist meadows with its silvery-white, which looks at adistance like a white sheet spread over the fields. "--_Circle of theSeasons. _ Those who adopt this view called the plant Our Lady's-smock, but I cannot find that name in any old writers. Drayton, coeval withShakespeare, says--

 "Some to grace the show, Of Lady-smocks most white do rob each neighbouring mead, Wherewith their loose locks most curiously they braid. "

And Isaac Walton, in the next century, drew that pleasant picture ofhimself sitting quietly by the waterside--"looking down the meadows Icould see here a boy gathering Lilies and Lady-smocks, and there a girlcropping Culverkeys and Cowslips. "[134:2]

There is a double variety of the Lady-smock which makes a handsomegarden plant, and there is a remarkable botanical curiosity connectedwith the plant which should be noticed. The plant often produces in theautumn small plants upon the leaves, and by the means of these littleparasites the plant is increased, and even if the leaves are detachedfrom the plant, and laid upon moist congenial soil, young plants will beproduced. This is a process that is well known to gardeners in thepropagation of Begonias, and it is familiar to us in the proliferousFerns, where young plants are produced on the surface or tips of thefronds; and Dr. Masters records "the same condition as a teratologicaloccurrence in the leaves of Hyacinthus Pouzolsii, Drosera intermedia, Arabis pumila, Chelidonum majus, Chirita Sinensis, Epicia bicolor, Zamia, &c. "--_Vegetable Teratology_, p. 170. 

FOOTNOTES:

[134:1] "Ladies-smock. --A kind of water cresses, of whose virtue itpartakes; and it is otherwise called Cuckoo-flower. "--PHILLIPS, _Worldof Words_, 1696. 

[134:2] Culverkeys is mentioned in Dennis' "Secrets of Angling" as ameadow flower: "pale Ganderglas, and azor Culverkayes. " It is alsomentioned by Aubrey, in his "Natural History of Wilts;" but the name isfound in no other writer, and is now extinct. It is difficult to saywhat plant is meant; many have been suggested: the Columbine, the MeadowOrchis, the Bluebell, &c. I think it must be the Meadow Geranium, whichis certainly "azor" almost beyond any other British plant. "Culver" is adove or pigeon, and "keyes" or "kayes" are the seeds of a plant, and theseeds of the Geranium were all likened to the claws of birds, so thatour British species is called G. Columbinum. 

LARK'S HEELS. 

 Larks heels trim. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Introd. Song. 

Lark's heels is one of the many names of the Garden Delphinium, otherwise called Larkspur, Larksclaw, Larkstoes. 

LAUREL. 

 (1) _Clarence. _

 To whom the heavens in thy nativity Adjudged an Olive branch and Laurel crown As likely to be blest in peace and war. 

 _3rd Henry VI_, act iv, sc. 6 (33). 

 (2) _Titus. _

 Cometh Andronicus bound with Laurel boughs. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act i, sc. 1 (74). 

 (3) _Cleopatra. _

 Upon your sword Sit Laurel victory. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act i, sc. 3 (99). 

 (4) _Ulysses. _

 Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, Laurels. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act i, sc. 3 (107). 

This is one of the plants which Shakespeare borrowed from the classicalwriters; it is not the Laurel of our day, which was not introduced tillafter his death, [136:1] but the Laurea Apollinis, the Laurea Delphica--

 "The Laurel meed of mightie conquerors And poet's sage, "--SPENSER;

that is, the Bay. This is the tree mentioned by Gower--

 "This Daphne into a Lorer tre Was turned, whiche is ever grene, In token, as yet it may be sene, That she shalle dwelle a maiden stille. "

 _Conf. Aman. _ lib. Terc. 

There can be little doubt that the Laurel of Chaucer also was the Bay, the--

 "Fresh grene Laurer tree That gave so passing a delicious smelle According to the Eglantere ful welle. "

He also spoke of it as the emblem of enduring freshness--

 "Myn herte and al my lymes be as grene As Laurer, through the yeer is for to seene. "

 _The Marchaundes Tale. _

The Laurel in Lyte's "Herbal" (the Lauriel or Lourye) seems to be theDaphne Laureola. But unconsciously Chaucer and Shakespeare spoke withmore botanical accuracy than we do, the Bay being a true Laurel, whilethe Laurel is a Cherry (_see_ BAY). 

FOOTNOTES:

[136:1] The first Laurel grown in Europe was grown by Clusius in 1576. 

LAVENDER. 

 _Perdita. _

 Here's flowers for you; Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (103). 

The mention of Lavender always recalls Walton's pleasant picture of "anhonest ale-house, where we shall find a cleanly room, Lavender in thewindows, and twenty ballads stuck against the wall, and my hostess, Imay tell you, is both cleanly and handsome and civil. " Whether it isfrom this familiar, old-fashioned picture, or from some inherent charmin the plant, it is hard to say, but it is certain that the smell ofLavender is always associated with cleanliness and freshness. [137:1]

It is not a British plant, but is a native of the South of Europe in dryand barren places, and it was introduced into England in the sixteenthcentury, but it probably was not a common plant in Shakespeare's time, for though it is mentioned by Spenser as "the Lavender still gray"("Muiopotmos"), and by Gerard as growing in his garden, it is notmentioned by Bacon in his list of sweet-smelling plants. The finearomatic smell is found in all parts of the shrub, but the essential oilis only produced from the flowers. As a garden plant it is found inevery garden, but its growth as an extensive field crop is chieflyconfined to the neighbourhood of Mitcham and Carshalton in Surrey; andthere at the time of the picking of the flowers, and still more in thelater autumn when the old woody plants are burned, the air for a longdistance is strongly and most pleasantly impregnated with the delicateperfume. 

FOOTNOTES:

[137:1] The very name suggests this association. Lavender is the Englishform of the Latin name, Lavendula; "lavendula autem dicta quoniam magnumvectigal Genevensibus mercatoribus præbet quotannis in Africam eamferentibus, ubi lavandis fovendisque corporibus Lybes ea utuntur, necnisi decocto ejus abluti, mane domo egrediuntur. "--_Stephani Libellus dere Hortensi_, 1536, p. 54. The old form of our "laundress" was "aLavendre. "

LEATHERCOAT, _see_ APPLE. 

LEEK. 

 (1) _Thisbe. _

 His eyes were green as Leeks. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act v, sc. 1 (342). 

 (2) _Pistol. _

 Tell him I'll knock his Leek about his pate upon Saint Davy's Day. 

 _Henry V_, act iv, sc. 1 (54). 

 (3) _Fluellen. _

 If your majesties is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where Leeks did grow, wearing Leeks in their Monmouth caps; which your majesty knows to this hour is an honourable badge of the service; and I do believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the Leek upon Saint Tavy's Day. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 7 (101). 

 (4)

 In act v, sc. 1, is the encounter between Fluellen and Pistol, when he makes the bully eat the Leek; this causes such frequent mention of the Leek that it would be necessary to extract the whole scene, which, therefore, I will simply refer to in this way. 

We can scarcely understand the very high value that was placed on Leeksin olden times. By the Egyptians the plant was almost considered sacred, "Porrum et cæpe nefas violare et frangere morsu" (Juvenal); we know howLeeks were relished in Egypt by the Israelites; and among the Greeksthey "appear to have constituted so important a part in ancient gardens, that the term πρασιά, or a bed, derived its name from πρασον, the Greekword for Onion, " or Leek[138:1] (Daubeny); while among the Anglo-Saxonsit was very much the same. The name is pure Anglo-Saxon, and originallymeant any vegetable; then it was restricted to any bulbous vegetable, before it was finally further restricted to our Leek; and "itsimportance was considered so much above that of any other vegetable, that _leac-tun_, the Leek-garden, became the common name of the kitchengarden, and _leac-ward_, the Leek-keeper, was used to designate thegardener" (Wright). The plant in those days gave its name to the BroadLeek which is our present Leek, the Yne Leek or Onion, the Garleek(Garlick), and others of the same tribe, while it was applied to otherplants of very different families, as the Hollow Leek (_Corydaliscava_), and the House Leek (_Sempervivum tectorum_). 

It seems to have been considered the hardiest of all flowers. In theaccount of the Great Frost of 1608, "this one infallible token" is givenin proof of its severity. "The Leek whose courage hath ever been soundaunted that he hath borne up his lusty head in all storms, and couldnever be compelled to shrink for hail, snow, frost, or showers, is nowby the violence and cruelty of this weather beaten unto the earth, beingrotted, dead, disgraced, and trod upon. "

Its popularity still continues among the Welsh, by whom it is still, Ibelieve, very largely cultivated; but it does not seem to have been muchvalued in England in Shakespeare's time, for Gerard has but little tosay of its virtues, but much of its "hurts. " "It hateth the body, ingendreth naughty blood, causeth troublesome and terrible dreames, offendeth the eyes, dulleth the sight, &c. " Nor does Parkinson give amuch more favourable account. "Our dainty eye now refuseth them wholly, in all sorts except the poorest; they are used with us sometimes in Lentto make pottage, and is a great and generall feeding in Wales with thevulgar gentlemen. " It was even used as the proverbial expression ofworthlessness, as in the "Roumaunt of the Rose, " where the author says, speaking of "Phiciciens and Advocates"--

 "For by her wille, without leese, Everi man shulde be seke, And though they die, they settle not a Leke. "

And by Chaucer--

 "And other suche, deare ynough a Leeke. "

 _Prologue of the Chanoune's Tale. _

 "The beste song that ever was made Ys not worth a Leky's blade, But men will tend ther tille. "

 _The Child of Bristowe. _

FOOTNOTES:

[138:1] For a testimony of the high value placed on the Leek by theGreeks see a poem on Μῶλυ, in "Anonymi Carmen de Herbis" in the "PoetæBucolici et didactici. "

LEMON. 

 _Biron. _

 A Lemon. 

 _Longaville. _

 Stuck with Cloves. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (654). 

_See_ ORANGE AND CLOVES. 

LETTUCE. 

 _Iago. _

 If we will plant Nettles or sow Lettuce. (_See_ HYSSOP. )

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (324). 

This excellent vegetable with its Latin name probably came to us fromthe Romans. 

 "Letuce of lac derivyed is perchaunce; For milk it hath or yeveth abundaunce. "

 _Palladius on Husbandrie_, ii, 216 (15th cent. ) E. E. Text Soc. 

It was cultivated by the Anglo-Saxons, who showed their knowledge of itsnarcotic qualities by giving it the name of Sleepwort; it is mentionedby Spenser as "cold Lettuce" ("Muiopotmos"). And in Shakespeare's timethe sorts cultivated were very similar to, and probably as good as, ours. 

LILY. 

 (1) _Iris. _

 Thy banks with Pioned and Lilied[140:1] brims. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (64). 

 (2) _Launce. _

 Look you, she is as white as a Lily and as small as a wand. 

 _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, act ii, sc. 3 (22). 

 (3) _Julia. _

 The air hath starved the Roses in her cheeks, And pinch'd the Lily-tincture of her face. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 4 (160). 

 (4) _Flute. _

 Most radiant Pyramus, most Lily-white of hue. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (94). 

 (5) _Thisbe. _

 These Lily lips. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 1 (337). 

 (6) _Perdita. _

 Lilies of all kinds, The Flower-de-luce being one!

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (126). 

 (7) _Princess. _

 Now by my maiden honour, yet as pure As the unsullied Lily. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (351). 

 (8) _Queen Katharine. _

 Like the Lily That once was mistress of the field and flourish'd, I'll hang my head, and perish. 

 _Henry VIII_, act iii, sc. 1 (151). 

 (9) _Cranmer. _

 Yet a virgin, A most unspotted Lily shall she pass To the ground. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 5 (61). 

 (10) _Troilus. _

 Give me swift transportance to those fields, Where I may wallow in the Lily beds Proposed for the deserver. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act iii, sc. 2 (12). 

 (11) _Marcus. _

 O, had the monster seen those Lily hands Tremble, like Aspen leaves, upon a lute. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act ii, sc. 4 (44). 

 (12) _Titus. _

 Fresh tears Stood on her cheeks as doth the honey-dew Upon a gather'd Lily almost wither'd. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 1 (111). 

 (13) _Iachimo. _

 How bravely thou becomest thy bed, fresh Lily!

 _Cymbeline_, act ii, sc. 2 (15). 

 (14) _Guiderius. _

 O sweetest, fairest Lily! My brother wears thee not the one half so well, As when thou grew'st thyself. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 2 (201). 

 (15) _Constance. _

 Of Nature's gifts thou may'st with Lilies boast, And with the half-blown Rose. 

 _King John_, act iii, sc. 1 (53). 

 (16) _Salisbury. _

 To gild refined gold, to paint the Lily, To throw a perfume on the Violet, * * * * *

 Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 2 (11). 

 (17) _Kent. _

 A Lily-livered, action-taking knave. 

 _King Lear_, act ii, sc. 2 (18). 

 (18) _Macbeth_

 Thou Lily-liver'd boy. 

 _Macbeth_, act v, sc. 3 (15). 

 (19)

 For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. 

 _Sonnet_ xciv. 

 (20)

 Nor did I wonder at the Lily's white, Nor praise the deep vermilion of the Rose. 

 _Ibid. _ xcviii. 

 (21)

 The Lily I condemned for thy hand. 

 _Ibid. _ xcix. 

 (22)

 Their silent war of Lilies and of Roses Which Tarquin view'd in her fair face's field. 

 _Lucrece_ (71). 

 (23)

 Her Lily hand her rosy cheek lies under, Cozening the pillow of a lawful kiss. 

 _Ibid. _ (386). 

 (24)

 The colour in thy face That even for anger makes the Lily pale, And the red Rose blush at her own disgrace. 

 _Ibid. _ (477). 

 (25)

 A Lily pale with damask die to grace her. 

 _Passionate Pilgrim_ (89). 

 (26)

 Full gently now she takes him by the hand, A Lily prison'd in a jail of snow. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (361). 

 (27)

 She locks her Lily fingers one in one. 

 _Ibid. _ (228). 

 (28)

 Whose wonted Lily white With purple tears, that his wound wept, was drench'd. 

 _Ibid. _ (1053). 

Which is the queen of flowers? There are two rival candidates for thehonour--the Lily and the Rose; and as we look on the one or the other, our allegiance is divided, and we vote the crown first to one and thento the other. We should have no difficulty "were t'other fair charmeraway, " but with two such candidates, both equally worthy of the honour, we vote for a diarchy instead of a monarchy, and crown them both. [142:1]Yet there are many that would at once choose the Lily for the queen, and that without hesitation, and they would have good authority fortheir choice. "O Lord, that bearest rule, " says Esdras, "of the wholeworld, Thou hast chosen Thee of all the flowers thereof one Lily. "Spenser addresses the Lily as--

 "The Lily, lady of the flow'ring field"--_F. Q. _, ii, 6, 16, which is the same as Shakespeare's "mistress of the field, " (8), andmany a poet since his time has given the same vote in many a prettyverse, which, however, it would take too much space to quote at length;so that I will content myself with these few lines by AlexanderMontgomery (coeval with Shakespeare)--

 "I love the Lily as the first of flowers Whose stately stalk so straight up is and stay; To whom th' lave ay lowly louts and cowers As bound so brave a beauty to obey. "

Montgomery here has clearly in his mind's eye the Lily now so called;but the name was not so restricted in the earlier writers. "Lilium, cojus vox generali et licentiosa usurpatione adscribitur omni floricommendabili" (Laurembergius, 1632). This was certainly the case withthe Greek and Roman writers, and it is so in our English Bible in mostof the cases where the word is used, but perhaps not universally so. Itis so used by Gower, describing Tarquin cutting off the tall flowers, bysome said to be Poppies and by others Lilies--

 "And in the garden as they gone, The Lilie croppes one and one, Where that they were sprongen out, He smote off, as they stood about. "

 _Conf. Ama. _ lib. Sept. 

It is used in the same way by Bullein when, speaking of the flower ofthe Honeysuckle (_see_ HONEYSUCKLE), and it must have been used in thesame sense by Isaak Walton, when he saw a boy gathering "Lilies andLady-smocks" in the meadows. 

We have still many records of this loose way of speaking of the Lily, inthe Water Lily, the Lily of the Valley, the Lent Lily, St. Bruno'sLily, the Scarborough Lily, the Belladonna Lily, and several others, none of which are true Lilies. 

But it is time to come to Shakespeare's Lilies. In all the twenty-eightpassages the greater portion simply recall the Lily as the type ofelegance and beauty, without any special reference to the flower, and inmany the word is only used to express a colour, Lily-white. But in theothers he doubtless had some special plant in view, and there are twospecies which, from contemporary writers, seem to have been mostcelebrated in his day. The one is the pure White Lily (_Liliumcandidum_), a plant of which the native country is not yet quiteaccurately ascertained. It is reported to grow wild in abundance inLebanon, and it probably came to England from the East in very earlytimes. It was certainly largely grown in Europe in the Middle Ages, andwas universally acknowledged by artists, sculptors, and architects, asthe emblem of female elegance and purity, and none of us would disputeits claim to such a position. There is no other Lily which can surpassit, when well grown, in stateliness and elegance, with sweet-scentedflowers of the purest white and the most graceful shape, and crowningthe top of the long leafy stem with such a coronal as no other plant canshow. On the rare beauties and excellences of the White Lily it would beeasy to fill a volume merely with extracts from old writers, and such avolume would be far from uninteresting. Those who wish for some suchaccount may refer to the "Monographie Historique et Littéraire des Lis, "par Fr. De Cannart d'Hamale, 1870. There they will find more than fiftypages of the botany, literary history, poetry, and medical uses of theplant, together with its application to religious emblems, numismatics, heraldry, painting, &c. Two short extracts will suffice here:--"Le lisblanc, surnommé la fleur des fleurs, les délices de Venus, la Rose deJunon, qu'Anguillara désigna sous le nom d'Ambrosia, probablement àcause de son parfum suivant, et pent être aussi de sa soidisante divineorigine, se place tout naturellement à le tête de ce groupe splendide. ""C'est le Lis classique, par excellence, et en même temps le plus beaudu genre. "

The other is the large Scarlet or Chalcedonian Lily; and this also isone of the very handsomest, though its beauty is of a very differentkind to the White Lily. The habit of the plant is equally stately, andis indeed very grand, but the colours are of the brightest and clearestred. These two plants were abundantly grown in Shakespeare's time, butbesides these there do not seem to have been more than abouthalf-a-dozen species in cultivation. There are now forty-six recognizedspecies, besides varieties in great number. 

The Lily has a very wide geographical range, spreading from CentralEurope to the Philippines, and species are found in all quarters of theglobe, though the chief homes of the family seem to be in California andJapan. Yet we have no wild Lily in England. Both the Martagon and thePyrenean Lily have been found, but there is no doubt they are gardenescapes. 

As a garden plant it may safely be said that no garden can make anypretence to the name that cannot show a good display of Lilies, many orfew. Yet the Lily is a most capricious plant; while in one garden almostany sort will grow luxuriantly, in a neighbouring garden it is founddifficult to grow any in a satisfactory manner. Within the last fewyears their culture has been much studied, and by the practicalknowledge of such great growers of the family as G. F. Wilson, H. J. Elwes, and other kindred liliophilists, we shall probably in a few yearshave many difficulties cleared up both in the botanical history and thecultivation of this lovely tribe. 

But we cannot dismiss the Lily without a few words of notice of itssacred character. It is the flower specially dedicated to the VirginMary, and which is so familiar to us in the old paintings of theAnnunciation. But it has, of course, a still higher character as asacred plant from the high honour placed on it by our Lord in the Sermonon the Mount. After all that has been written on "the Lilies of thefield, " critics have not yet decided whether any, and, if so, whatparticular plant was meant. Each Eastern traveller seems to haveselected the flower that he most admired in Palestine, and then topronounce that that must be the Lily referred to. Thus, at various timesit has been decided to be the Rose, the Crown Imperial, the White Lily, the Chalcedonian Lily, the Oleander, the Wild Artichoke, theSternbergia, the Tulip, and many others, but the most generally receivedopinion now is, that if a true Lily at all, the evidence runs moststrongly in favour of the L. Chalcedonicum; but that Dean Stanley's viewis more probably the correct one, that the term "Lily" is generic, alluding to the many beautiful flowers, both of the Lily family andothers, which abound in Palestine. The question, though deeplyinteresting, is not one for which we need to be over-curious as to thetrue answer. All of us, and gardeners especially, may be thankful forthe words which have thrown a never dying charm over our favourites, andhave effectually stopped any foolish objections that may be broughtagainst the deepest study of flowers, as a petty study, with no greatresults. To any such silly objections (and we often hear them) theanswer is a very short and simple one--that we have been bidden by thevery highest authority to "consider the Lilies. "

FOOTNOTES:

[140:1] This is a modern reading, the older and more correct reading is"twilled. "

[142:1]

 "Within the garden's peaceful scene Appeared two lovely foes, Aspiring to the rank of Queen, The Lily and the Rose. 

 * * * * *

 Yours is, she said, the noblest hue, And yours the statelier mien, And till a third surpasses you Let each be deemed a Queen. "--COWPER. 

LIME. 

 (1) _Ariel. _

 All prisoners, sir, In the Line-grove which weather-fends your cell. 

 _Tempest_, act v, sc. 1 (9). 

 (2) _Prospero. _

 Come, hang them on this Line. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (193). 

 (3) _Stephano. _

 Mistress Line, is not this my jerkin?

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (235). 

It is only in comparatively modern times that the old name of Line orLinden, or Lind, [146:1] has given place to Lime. The tree is a doubtfulnative, but has been long introduced, perhaps by the Romans. It is avery handsome tree when allowed room, but it bears clipping well, and sois very often tortured into the most unnatural shapes. It was a veryfavourite tree with our forefathers to plant in avenues, not only forits rapid growth, but also for the delicious scent of its flowers; butthe large secretions of honey-dew which load the leaves, and the factthat it comes late into leaf and sheds its leaves very early, haverather thrown it out of favour of late years. As a useful tree it doesnot rank very high, except for wood-carvers, who highly prize its light, easily-cut wood, that keeps its shape, and is very little liable tocrack or split either in the working or afterwards. Nearly all GrinlingGibbons' delicate carving is in Lime wood. To gardeners the Lime isfurther useful as furnishing the material for bast or bazen mats, [147:1]which are made from its bark, and interesting as being the origin of thename of Linnæus. 

FOOTNOTES:

[146:1] "Be ay of chier as light as lyf on Lynde. "--CHAUCER, _TheClerkes Tale_, _l'envoi_. 

[147:1] "Between the barke and the woode of this tree, there bee thinpellicles or skins lying in many folds together, whereof are made bandsand cords called Bazen ropes. "--PHILEMON HOLLAND'S _Pliny's Nat. Hist. _xvi. 14. The chapter is headed "Of the Line or Linden Tree. "

LING. 

 _Gonzalo. _

 Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground, Ling, Heath, brown Furze, anything. 

 _Tempest_, act i, sc. 1 (70). 

If this be the correct reading (and not Long Heath) the reference is tothe Heather or Common Ling (_Calluna vulgaris_). This is the plant thatis generally called Ling in the South of England, but in the North ofEngland the name is given to the Cotton Grass (_Eriophorum_). It is veryprobable, however, that no particular plant is intended, but that itmeans any rough, wild vegetation, especially of open moors and heaths. 

LOCUSTS. 

 _Iago. _

 The food that to him now is as luscious as Locusts, shall be to him shortly as bitter as Coloquintida. 

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (354). 

The Locust is the fruit of the Carob tree (_Ceratonia siliqua_), a treethat grows naturally in many parts of the South of Europe, the Levant, and Syria, and is largely cultivated for its fruit. [148:1] These arelike Beans, full of sweet pulp, and are given in Spain and othersouthern countries to horses, pigs, and cattle, and they areoccasionally imported into England for the same purpose. The Carob wascultivated in England before Shakespeare's time. "They grow not in thiscountrie, " says Lyte, "yet, for all that, they be sometimes in thegardens of some diligent Herboristes, but they be so small shrubbes thatthey can neither bring forth flowers nor fruite. " It was also grown byGerard, and Shakespeare may have seen it; but it is now very seldom seenin any collection, though the name is preserved among us, as thejeweller's carat weight is said to have derived its name from the CarobBeans, which were used for weighing small objects. 

The origin of the tree being called Locust is a little curious. Readersof the New Testament, ignorant of Eastern customs, could not understandthat St. John could feed on the insect locust, which, however, is nowknown to be a common and acceptable article of food, so they lookedabout for some solution of their difficulty, and decided that theLocusts were the tender shoots of the Carob tree, and that the wildhoney was the luscious juice of the Carob fruit. Having got so far itwas easy to go farther, and so the Carob soon got the names of St. John's Bread and St. John's Beans, and the monks of the desert showedthe very trees by which St. John's life was supported. But though theCarob tree did not produce the locusts on which St. John fed, there islittle or no doubt that "the husks which the swine did eat, " and whichthe Prodigal Son longed for, were the produce of the Carob tree. 

FOOTNOTES:

[148:1] Pods of the Carob tree were found in a house at Pompeii. For anaccount of the use of the Locust as an article of food, both in ancientand modern times, see Hogg's "Classical Plants of Sicily, " p. 114. 

LONG PURPLES. 

 _Queen. _

 There with fantastic garlands did she come Of Crow-flowers, Nettles, Daisies, and Long Purples, That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids do Dead Men's Fingers call them. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 7 (169). 

In "Flowers from Stratford-on-Avon" (a pretty book published a fewyears ago with plates of twelve of Shakespeare's flowers) it is saidthat "there can be no doubt that the Wild Arum is the plant alluded toby Shakespeare as forming part of the nosegay of the crazed Ophelia;"but the authoress gives no authority for this statement, and I believethat there can be no reasonable doubt that the Long Purples and DeadMen's Fingers are the common purple Orchises of the woods and meadows(Orchis morio, O. Mascula, and O. Maculata). The name of Dead Men'sFingers was given to them from the pale palmate roots of some of thespecies (O. Latifolia, O. Maculata, and Gymnadenia conopsea), and thisseems to have been its more common name. 

 "Then round the meddowes did she walke, Catching each flower by the stalke, Such as within the meddowes grew, As Dead Man's Thumb and Harebell blew; And as she pluckt them, still cried she, Alas! there's none 'ere loved like me. "

 _Roxburghe Ballads. _

As to the other names to which the Queen alludes, we need not inquiretoo curiously; they are given in all their "liberality" and "grossness"in the old Herbals, but as common names they are, fortunately, extinct. The name of Dead Men's Fingers still lingers in a few places, but LongPurples has been transferred to a very different plant. It is named byClare and Tennyson--

 "Gay Long-purples with its tufty spike; She'd wade o'er shoes to reach it in the dyke. "

 CLARE'S _Village Minstrel_, ii, 90. 

 "Round thee blow, self-pleached deep, Bramble Roses, faint and pale, And Long Purples of the dale. "

 _A Dirge_, TENNYSON. 

But in both these passages the plant intended is the Lythrum salicaria, or Purple Loosestrife. 

The meadow Orchis, though so common, is thus without any common Englishname; for though I have often asked country people for its name, I havenever obtained one; and so it is another of those curious instanceswhich are so hard to explain, where an old and common English word hasbeen replaced by a Greek or Latin word, which must be entirely withoutmeaning to nine-tenths of those who use it. [150:1] There are similarinstances in Crocus, Cyclamen, Hyacinth, Narcissus, Anemone, Beet, Lichen, Polyanthus, Polypody, Asparagus, and others. 

The Orchid family is certainly the most curious in the vegetablekingdom, as it is almost the most extensive, except the Grasses. Growingall over the world, in any climate, and in all kinds of situations, itnumbers 3000 species, of which we have thirty-seven native species inEngland; and with their curious irregular flowers, often of verybeautiful colours, and of wonderful quaintness and variety of shape, they are everywhere so distinct that the merest tyro in botany canseparate them from any other flower, and the deepest student can findendless puzzles in them, and increasing interest. 

Though the most beautiful are exotics, and are the chief ornaments ofour stoves and hothouses, yet our native species are full of interestand beauty. Of their botanical interest we have a most convincing proofin Darwin's "Fertilization of Orchids, " a book that is almost entirelyconfined to the British Orchids, and which, in its wonderfully clearstatements, and its laborious collection of many little facts allleading up to his scientific conclusions, is certainly not the least tobe admired among his other learned and careful books. And as to theirhorticultural interest, it is most surprising that so few gardeners makethe use of them that they might. They were not so despised inShakespeare's time, for Gerard grew a large number in his garden. It istrue that some of them are very impatient of garden cultivation, especially those of the Ophrys section (such as the Bee, Fly, and SpiderOrchises), and the rare O. Hircina, which will seldom remain in thegarden above two or three years, except under very careful and peculiarcultivation. But, on the other hand, there are many that rejoice inbeing transferred to a garden, especially O. Maculata, O. Mascula, O. Pyramidalis, and the Butterfly Orchis of both kinds (Habenaria bifoliaand chlorantha). These, if left undisturbed, increase in size and beautyevery year, their flowers become larger, and their leaves (in O. Maculata and O. Mascula) become most beautifully spotted. They may beplaced anywhere, but their best place seems to be among low shrubs, oron the rockwork. Nor must the hardy Orchid grower omit the beautifulAmerican species, especially the Cypripedia (C. Spectabile, C. Pubescens, C. Acaule, and others). They are among the most beautiful oflow hardy plants, and they succeed perfectly in any peat border that isnot too much exposed to the sun. The only caution required is to leavethem undisturbed; they resent removal and broken roots; and though Ihold it to be one of the first rules of good gardening to give away toothers as much as possible, yet I would caution any one against dividinghis good clumps of Cypripedia. The probability is that both giver andreceiver will lose the plants. If, however, a plant must be divided, thewhole plant should be carefully lifted, and most gently pulled to pieceswith the help of water. 

FOOTNOTES:

[150:1] Though country people generally have no common name for theOrchis morio, yet it is called in works on English Botany the FoolOrchis; and it has the local names of "Crake-feet" in Yorkshire; of"giddy-gander" in Dorset; and "Keatlegs and Neatlegs" in Kent. Dr. Prioralso gives the names "Goose and goslings" and "Gander-gooses" for Orchismorio, and "Standerwort" for Orchis mascula. This last is theAnglo-Saxon name for the flower, but it is now, I believe, quiteextinct. 

LOVE-IN-IDLENESS, _see_ PANSY. 

MACE. 

 _Clown. _

 I must have Saffron to colour the warden-pies--Mace--Dates? none. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (48). 

The Mace is the pretty inner rind that surrounds the Nutmeg, when ripe. It was no doubt imported with the Nutmeg in Shakespeare's time. (_See_NUTMEG. )

MALLOWS. 

 _Antonio. _

 He'ld sow't with Nettle seed. 

 _Sebastian. _

 Or Docks, or Mallows. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 1 (145). 

The Mallow is the common roadside weed (_Malva sylvestris_), which isnot altogether useless in medicine, though the Marsh Mallow farsurpasses it in this respect. Ben Jonson speaks of it as an article offood--

 "The thresher . . . Feeds on Mallows and such bitter herbs. "

 _The Fox_, act i, sc. 1. 

It is not easy to believe that our common Wild Mallow was so used, andJonson probably took the idea from Horace--

 "Me pascant olivæ, Me chichorea, levesque malvæ. "

But the common Mallow is a dear favourite with children, who have everloved to collect, and string, and even eat its "cheeses:" and thesecheeses are a delight to others besides children. Dr. Lindley, certainlyone of the most scientific of botanists, can scarcely find words toexpress his admiration of them. "Only compare a vegetable cheese, " hesays, "with all that is exquisite in marking and beautiful inarrangement in the works of man, and how poor and contemptible do thelatter appear. . . . Nor is it alone externally that this inimitablebeauty is to be discovered; cut the cheese across, and every slicebrings to view cells and partitions, and seeds and embryos, arrangedwith an unvarying regularity, which would be past belief if we did notknow from experience, how far beyond all that the mind can conceive, isthe symmetry with which the works of Nature are constructed. "

As a garden plant of course the Wild Mallow has no place, though thefine-cut leaves and faint scent of the Musk Mallow (_M. Moschata_) mightdemand a place for it in those parts where it is not wild, andespecially the white variety, which is of the purest white, and veryornamental. But our common Mallow is closely allied to some of thehandsomest plants known. The Hollyhock is one very near relation, thebeautiful Hibiscus is another, and the very handsome FremontiaCalifornica is a third that has only been added to our gardens duringthe last few years. Nor is it only allied to beauty, for it also claimsas a very near relation a plant which to many would be considered themost commercially useful plant in the world, the Cotton-plant. 

MANDRAGORA, OR MANDRAKES. 

 (1) _Cleopatra. _

 Give me to drink Mandragora. 

 _Charmian. _

 Why, madam?

 _Cleopatra. _

 That I might sleep out this great gap of time, My Antony is away. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act i, sc. 5 (4). 

 (2) _Iago. _

 Not Poppy, nor Mandragora, Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep Which thou owedst yesterday. 

 _Othello_, act iii, sc. 3 (330). 

 (3) _Falstaff. _

 Thou Mandrake. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act i, sc. 2 (16). 

 (4) _Ditto. _

 They called him Mandrake. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 2 (338). 

 (5) _Suffolk. _

 Would curses kill, as doth the Mandrake's groan. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (310). 

 (6) _Juliet. _

 And shrieks like Mandrakes' torn out of the earth That living mortals, hearing them, run mad. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act iv, sc. 3 (47). 

There is, perhaps, no plant on which so many books and treatises(containing for the most part much sad nonsense) have been written asthe Mandrake, and there is certainly no plant round which so muchsuperstition has gathered, all of which is more or less silly andfoolish, and a great deal that is worse than silly. This, no doubt, arose from its first mention in connection with Leah and Rachel, andthen in the Canticles, which, perhaps, shows that even in those dayssome strange qualities were attributed to the plant; but how from thatbeginning such, and such wide-spread, superstitions could have arisen, it is hard to say. I can scarcely tell these superstitious fables inbetter words than Gerard described them: "There hath been manyridiculous tales brought up of this plant, whether of old wives or somerunagate surgeons or physicke-mongers I know not. . . . They adde thatit is never or very seldome to be found growing naturally but under agallowes, where the matter that has fallen from a dead body hath givenit the shape of a man, and the matter of a woman the substance of afemale plant, with many other such doltish dreams. They fable furtherand affirme that he who would take up a plant thereof must tie a dogthereunto to pull it up, which will give a great shreeke at the diggingup, otherwise, if a man should do it, he should surely die in a shortspace after. " This, with the addition that the plant is decidedlynarcotic, will sufficiently explain all Shakespeare's references. Gerard, however, omits to notice one thing which, in justice to ourforefathers, should not be omitted. These fables on the Mandrake are byno means English mediæval fables, but they were of foreign extraction, and of very ancient date. Josephus tells the same story as held by theJews in his time and before his time. Columella even spoke of the plantas "semi-homo;" and Pythagoras called it "Anthropomorphus;" and Dr. Daubeny has published in his "Roman Husbandry" a most curious drawingfrom the Vienna MS. Of Dioscorides in the fifth century, "representingthe Goddess of Discovery presenting to Dioscorides the root of thisMandrake" (of thoroughly human shape) "which she had just pulled up, while the unfortunate dog which had been employed for that purpose isdepicted in the agonies of death. "[154:1] All these beliefs have long, Ishould hope, been extinct among us; yet even now artists who draw theplant are tempted to fancy a resemblance to the human figure, and in the"Flora Græca, " where, for the most part, the figures of the plants aremost beautifully accurate, the figure of the Mandrake is painfullyhuman. [154:2]

As a garden plant, the Mandrake is often grown, but more for itscuriosity than its beauty; the leaves appear early in the spring, followed very soon by its dull and almost inconspicuous flowers, andthen by its Apple-like fruit. This is the Spring Mandrake (_Mandragoravernalis_), but the Autumn Mandrake (_M. Autumnalis_ or _microcarpa_)may be grown as an ornamental plant. The leaves appear in the autumn, and are succeeded by a multitude of pale-blue flowers about the size ofand very much resembling the Anemone pulsatilla (see Sweet's "FlowerGarden, " vol. Vii. No. 325). These remain in flower a long time. In myown garden they have been in flower from the beginning of November tillMay. I need only add that the Mandrake is a native of the South ofEurope and other countries bordering on the Mediterranean, but it wasvery early introduced into England. It is named in Archbishop Ælfric's"Vocabulary" in the tenth century with the very expressive name of"Earth-apple;" it is again named in an Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary of theeleventh century (in the British Museum), but without any Englishequivalent; and Gerard cultivated both sorts in his garden. 

FOOTNOTES:

[154:1] In the "Bestiary of Philip de Thaun" (12 cent. ), published inWright's Popular Treatises on Science written during the Middle Ages, the male and female Mandrake are actually reckoned among living beasts(p. 101). 

[154:2] For some curious early English notices of the Mandrake, see"Promptorium Parvulorum, " p. 324, note. See also Brown's "VulgarErrors, " book ii. C. 6, and Dr. M. C. Cooke's "Freaks of Plant Life. "

MARIGOLD. 

 (1) _Perdita. _

 The Marigold that goes to bed wi' the sun, And with him rises weeping; these are flowers Of middle summer. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (105). 

 (2) _Marina. _

 The purple Violets and Marigolds Shall, as a carpet, hang upon thy grave While summer-days do last. 

 _Pericles_, act iv, sc. 1 (16). 

 (3) _Song. _

 And winking Mary-buds begin To ope their golden eyes. 

 _Cymbeline_, act ii, sc. 3 (25). 

 (4)

 Marigolds on death-beds blowing. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Introd. Song. 

 (5)

 Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread But as the Marigolds at the sun's eye. 

 _Sonnet_ xxv. 

 (6)

 Her eyes, like Marigolds, had sheathed their light, And canopied in darkness sweetly lay, Till they might open to adorn the day. 

 _Lucrece_ (397). 

There are at least three plants which claim to be the old Marigold. 1. The Marsh Marigold (_Caltha palustris_). This is a well-known goldenflower--

 "The wild Marsh Marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows gray. "

 TENNYSON. 

And there is this in favour of its being the flower meant, that the namesignifies the golden blossom of the marish or marsh; but, on the otherhand, the Caltha does not fulfil the conditions of Shakespeare'sMarigold--it does not open and close its flowers with the sun. 2. TheCorn Marigold (_Chrysanthemum segetum_), a very handsome but mischievousweed in Corn-fields, not very common in England and said not to be atrue native, but more common in Scotland, where it is called Goulands. Ido not think this is the flower, because there is no proof, as far as Iknow, that it was called Marigold in Shakespeare's time. 3. The GardenMarigold or Ruddes (_Calendula officinalis_). I have little doubt thisis the flower meant; it was always a great favourite in our forefathers'gardens, and it is hard to give any reason why it should not be so inours. Yet it has been almost completely banished, and is now seldomfound but in the gardens of cottages and old farmhouses, where it isstill prized for its bright and almost everlasting flowers (looking verylike a Gazania) and evergreen tuft of leaves, while the carefulhousewife still picks and carefully stores the petals of the flowers, and uses them in broths and soups, believing them to be of greatefficacy, as Gerard said they were, "to strengthen and comfort theheart;" though scarcely perhaps rating them as high as Fuller: "we allknow the many and sovereign vertues . . . In your leaves, the HerbGenerall in all pottage" ("Antheologie, " 1655, p. 52). 

The two properties of the Marigold--that it was always in flower, andthat it turned its flowers to the sun and followed his guidance in theiropening and shutting--made it a very favourite flower with the poets andemblem writers. T. Forster, in the "Circle of the Seasons, " 1828, saysthat "this plant received the name of Calendula, because it was inflower on the calends of nearly every month. It has been called Marigoldfor a similar reason, being more or less in blow at the times of all thefestivals of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the word gold having reference toits golden rays, likened to the rays of light around the head of theBlessed Virgin. " This is ingenious, and, as he adds, "thus say the oldwriters, " it is worth quoting, though he does not say what old writergave this derivation, which I am very sure is not the true one. The oldname is simply _goldes_. Gower, describing the burning of Leucothoe, says--

 "She sprong up out of the molde Into a flour, was named Golde, Which stant governed of the Sonne. "

 _Conf. Aman. _, lib. Quint. 

Chaucer spoke of the "yellow Goldes;"[157:1] in the "PromptoriumParvulorum" we have "Goolde, herbe, solsequium, quia sequitur solem, elitropium, calendula;" and Spenser says--

 "And if I her like ought on earth might read I would her liken to a crowne of Lillies, Upon a virgin brydes adorned head, With Roses dight and Goolds and Daffodillies. "

 _Colin Clout. _

But it was its other quality of opening or shutting its flowers at thesun's bidding that made the Marigold such a favourite with the oldwriters, especially those who wrote on religious emblems. It was to themthe emblem of constancy in affection, [157:2] and sympathy in joy andsorrow, though it was also the emblem of the fawning courtier, who canonly shine when everything is bright. As the emblem of constancy, it wasto the old writers what the Sunflower was to Moore--

 "The Sunflower turns on her god when he sets The same look which she did when he rose. "

It was the Heliotrope or Solsequium or Turnesol of our forefathers, andis the flower often alluded to under that name. [158:1] "All yellowflowers, " says St. Francis de Sales, "and, above all, those that theGreeks call Heliotrope, and we call Sunflower, not only rejoice at thesight of the sun, but follow with loving fidelity the attraction of itsrays, gazing at the sun, and turning towards it from its rising to itssetting" ("Divine Love, " Mulholland's translation). 

Of this higher and more religious use of the emblematic flower there arefrequent examples. I will only give one from G. Withers, a contemporaryof Shakespeare's later life--

 "When with a serious musing I behold The grateful and obsequious Marigold, How duly every morning she displays Her open breast when Phœbus spreads his rays; How she observes him in his daily walk, Still bending towards him her small slender stalk; How when he down declines she droops and mourns, Bedewed, as 'twere, with tears till he returns; And how she veils her flowers when he is gone. When this I meditate, methinks the flowers Have spirits far more generous than ours, And give us fair examples to despise The servile fawnings and idolatries Wherewith we court these earthly things below, Which merit not the service we bestow. "

From the time of Withers the poets treated the Marigold very much as thegardeners did--they passed it by altogether as beneath their notice. 

FOOTNOTES:

[157:1]

 "That werud of yolo Guldes a garland. "

 _The Knightes Tale. _

[157:2]

 "You the Sun to her must play, She to you the Marigold, To none but you her leaves unfold. "

 MIDDLETON AND ROWLEY, _The Spanish Gipsy_. 

See also Thynne's "Emblems, " No. 18; and Cutwode's "Caltha Poetarum, "1599, st. 18, 19. 

[158:1] "Solsequium vel heliotropium; Solsece vel sigel-hwerfe" (_i. E. _, sun-seeker or sun-turner). --ÆLFRIC'S _Vocabulary_. 

"Marigolde; solsequium, sponsa solis. "--_Catholicon Anglicum. _

In a note Mr. Herttage says, "the oldest name for the plant was_ymbglidegold_, that which moves round with the sun. "

MARJORAM. 

 (1) _Perdita. _

 Here's flowers for you; Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (103). 

 (2) _Lear. _

 Give the word. 

 _Edgar. _

 Sweet Marjoram. 

 _Lear. _ Pass. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 6 (93). 

 (3)

 The Lily I condemned for thy hand, And buds of Marjoram had stolen thy hair. 

 _Sonnet_ xcix. 

 (4) _Clown. _

 Indeed, sir, she was the sweet Marjoram of the Salad, or rather the Herb-of-grace. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act iv, sc. 5 (17). 

In Shakespeare's time several species of Marjoram were grown, especiallythe Common Marjoram (_Origanum vulgare_), a British plant, the SweetMarjoram (_O. Marjorana_), a plant of the South of Europe, from whichthe English name comes, [159:1] and the Winter Marjoram (_O. Horacleoticum_). They were all favourite pot herbs, so that Lyte callsthe common one "a delicate and tender herb, " "a noble and odoriferousplant;" but, like so many of the old herbs, they have now fallen intodisrepute. The comparison of a man's hair to the buds of Marjoram is notvery intelligible, but probably it was a way of saying that the hair wasgolden. 

FOOTNOTES:

[159:1] See "Catholicon Anglicum, " s. V. Marioron and note. 

MARYBUDS, _see_ MARIGOLD. 

MAST. 

 _Timon. _

 The Oaks bear Mast, the Briers scarlet hips. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (174). 

We still call the fruit of beech, beech-masts, but do not apply the nameto the acorn. It originally meant food used for fatting, especially forfatting swine. See note in "Promptorium Parvulorum, " p. 329, givingseveral instances of this use, and Strattmann, s. V. Mæst. 

MEDLAR. 

 (1) _Apemantus. _

 There's a Medlar for thee, eat it. 

 _Timon. _

 On what I hate I feed not. 

 _Apemantus. _

 Dost hate a Medlar?

 _Timon. _

 Ay, though it looks like thee. 

 _Apemantus. _

 An thou hadst hated Meddlers sooner, thou shouldst have loved thyself better now. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (305). 

 (2) _Lucio. _

 They would have married me to the rotten Medlar. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 3 (183). 

 (3) _Touchstone. _

 Truly the tree yields bad fruit. 

 _Rosalind. _

 I'll graff it with you, and then I shall graff it with a Medlar; then it will be the earliest fruit in the country, for you'll be rotten ere you be half ripe, and that's the right virtue of the Medlar. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (122). 

 (4) _Mercutio. _

 Now will he sit under a Medlar tree. And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit As maids call Medlars when they laugh alone. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 1 (80). [160:1]

The Medlar is an European tree, but not a native of England; it has, however, been so long introduced as to be now completely naturalized, and is admitted into the English flora. It is mentioned in the earlyvocabularies, and Chaucer gives it a very prominent place in hisdescription of a beautiful garden--

 "I was aware of the fairest Medler tree That ever yet in alle my life I sie, As ful of blossomes as it might be; Therein a goldfinch leaping pretile Fro' bough to bough, and as him list, he eet Here and there of buddes and floweres sweet. "

 _The Flower and the Leaf_ (240). 

And certainly a fine Medlar tree "ful of blossomes" is a handsomeornament on any lawn. There are few deciduous trees that make betterlawn trees. There is nothing stiff about the growth even from its earlyyouth; it forms a low, irregular, picturesque tree, excellent forshade, with very handsome white flowers, followed by the curious fruit;it will not, however, do well in the North of England or Scotland. 

It does not seem to have been a favourite fruit with our forefathers. Bullein says "the fruite called the Medler is used for a medicine andnot for meate;" and Shakespeare only used the common language of histime when he described the Medlar as only fit to be eaten when rotten. Chaucer said just the same--

 "That ilke fruyt is ever lenger the wers Till it be rote in mullok or in stree-- We olde men, I drede, so fare we, Till we be roten, can we not be rype. "

 _The Reeves Tale. _

And many others writers to the same effect. But, in fact, the Medlarwhen fit to be eaten is no more rotten than a ripe Peach, Pear, orStrawberry, or any other fruit which we do not eat till it has reached acertain stage of softness. There is a vast difference between a ripe anda rotten Medlar, though it would puzzle many of us to say when a fruit(not a Medlar only) is ripe, that is, fit to be eaten. These things arematters of taste and fashion, and it is rather surprising to find thatwe are accused, and by good judges, of eating Peaches when rotten ratherthan ripe. "The Japanese always eat their Peaches in an unripe state. Inthe 'Gartenflora' Dr. Regel says, in some remarks on Japanese fruittrees, that the Japanese regard a ripe Peach as rotten. "

There are a few varieties of the Medlar, differing in the size andflavour of the fruits, which were also cultivated in Shakespeare's time. 

FOOTNOTES:

[160:1] So Chester speaks of it as "the Young Man's Medlar" ("Love'sMartyr, " p. 96, New Sh. Soc. ). 

MINTS. 

 (1) _Perdita. _

 Here's flowers for you; Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (103). 

 (2) _Armado. _

 I am that flower, _Dumain. _

 That Mint. 

 _Longaville. _

 That Columbine. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (661). 

The Mints are a large family of highly-perfumed, strong-flavouredplants, of which there are many British species, but too well known tocall for any further description. 

MISTLETOE. 

 _Tamora. _

 The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean, O'ercome with Moss and baleful Mistletoe. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act ii, sc. 3 (94). 

The Mistletoe was a sore puzzle to our ancestors, almost as great amystery as the Fern. While they admired its fresh, evergreen branches, and pretty transparent fruit, and used it largely in the decoration oftheir houses at Christmas, they looked on the plant with a certain awe. Something of this, no doubt, arose from its traditional connection withthe Druids, which invested the plant with a semi-sacred character, as aplant that could drive away evil spirits; yet it was also looked uponwith some suspicion, perhaps also arising from its use by our heathenancestors, so that, though admitted into houses, it was not (or veryseldom) admitted into churches. And this character so far still attachesto the Mistletoe, that it is never allowed with the Holly and Ivy andBox to decorate the churches, and Gay's lines were certainly written inerror--

 "Now with bright Holly all the temples strow, With Laurel green and sacred Mistletoe. "

The mystery attaching to the Mistletoe arose from the ignorance as toits production. It was supposed not to grow from its seeds, and how itwas produced was a fit subject for speculation and fable. Virgil tellsthe story thus--

 "Quale solet sylvis brumali frigore viscum Fronde virere novâ, quod non sua seminat arbos, Et croceo fœtu teretes circumdare truncos. "

 _Æneid_, vi, 205. 

In this way Virgil elegantly veils his ignorance, but his commentator inthe eighteenth century (Delphic Classics) tells the tale without anydoubts as to its truth. "Non nascitur e semine proprio arboris, at nequeex insidentum volucrum fimo, ut putavere veteres, sed ex ipso arborumvitali excremento. " This was the opinion of the great Lord Bacon; heridiculed the idea that the Mistletoe was propagated by the operation ofa bird as an idle tradition, saying that the sap which produces theplant is such as "the tree doth excerne and cannot assimilate, " andBrowne ("Vulgar Errors") was of the same opinion. But the oppositeopinion was perpetuated in the very name ("Mistel: fimus, muck, "Cockayne), [163:1] and was held without any doubt by most of the writersin Shakespeare's time--

 "Upon the oak, the plumb-tree and the holme, The stock-dove and the blackbird should not come, Whose mooting on the trees does make to grow Rots-curing hyphear, and the Mistletoe. "

 BROWNE, _Brit. Past. _ i, 1. 

So that we need not blame Gerard when he boldly said that "thisexcrescence hath not any roote, neither doth encrease himselfe of hisseed, as some have supposed, but it rather commethe of a certainemoisture gathered together upon the boughes and joints of the trees, through the barke whereof this vaporous moisture proceeding bringethforth the Misseltoe. " We now know that it is produced exclusively fromthe seeds probably lodged by the birds, and that it is easily grown andcultivated. It will grow and has been found on almost any deciduoustree, preferring those with soft bark, and growing very seldom on theOak. [163:2] Those who wish for full information upon the proportionatedistribution of the Mistletoe on different British trees will find agood summary in "Notes and Queries, " vol. Iii. P. 226. 

FOOTNOTES:

[163:1] "_Mistel_ est a _mist_ stercus, quod ex stercore aviumpronascitur, nec aliter pronasci potest. "--WACHTER, _Glossary_ (quotedin "Notes and Queries, " 3rd series, vii. 157. In the same volume areseveral papers on the origin of the word). Dr. Prior derives it from_mistl_ (different), and _tan_ (twig), being so unlike the tree it growsupon. 

[163:2] Mistletoe growing on an oak had a special legendary value. Itsrarity probably gave it value in the eyes of the Druids, and much laterit had its mystic lore. "By sitting upon a hill late in a evening, neara Wood, in a few nights a fire drake will appeare, mark where itlighteth, and then you shall find an oake with Mistletoe thereon, at theRoot whereof there is a Misle-childe, whereof many strange things areconceived. _Beati qui non crediderunt. _"--PLAT. , _Garden of Eden_, 1659, No. 68. 

MOSS. 

 (1) _Adriana. _

 If ought possess thee from me, it is dross, Usurping Ivy, Brier, or idle Moss. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act ii, sc. 2 (179). 

 (2) _Tamora. _

 The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean, O'ercome with Moss and baleful Mistletoe. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act ii, sc. 3 (94). 

 (3) _Apemantus. _

 These Moss'd trees That have outlived the eagle. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (223). 

 (4) _Hotspur. _

 Steeples and Moss-grown towers. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 1 (33). 

 (5) _Oliver. _

 Under an Oak whose boughs were Moss'd with age, And high top bald with dry antiquity. 

 _As You Like It_, act iv, sc. 3 (105). 

 (6) _Arviragus. _

 The ruddock would, With charitable bill, * * * * *

 bring thee all this; Yea, and furr'd Moss besides, when flowers are none, To winter-ground thy corse. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (224). [164:1]

If it were not for the pretty notice of Moss in the last passage (6), weshould be inclined to say that Shakespeare had as little regard for"idle Moss" as for the "baleful Mistletoe. " In his day Moss included allthe low-growing and apparently flowerless carpet plants which are nowdivided into the many families of Mosses, Lichens, Club Mosses, Hepaticæ, Jungermanniæ, &c. , &c. And these plants, though holding norank in the eyes of a florist, are yet deeply interesting, perhaps nofamily of plants more so, to those who have time and patience to studythem. The Club Mosses, indeed, may claim a place in the garden if theycan only be induced to grow, but that is a difficult task, and thetenderer Lycopodiums are always favourites when well grown amonggreenhouse Ferns; but for the most part, the Mosses must be studied intheir native haunts, and when so studied, they are found to be full ofbeauty and of wonderful construction. Nor are they without use, and itis rather strange that Shakespeare should have so markedly called them"idle, " or useless, considering that in his day many medical virtueswere attributed to them. This reputation for medical virtues they havenow all lost, except the Iceland Moss, which is still in use forinvalids; but the Mosses have other uses. The Reindeer Moss (_Cladoniarangiferina_) and Roch-hair (_Alectoria jubata_) are indispensable tothe Laplander as food for his reindeer, and Usnea florida is used inNorth America as food for cattle; the Iceland Moss (_CetrariaIslandica_) is equally indispensable as an article of food to all theinhabitants of the extreme North; and the Tripe de la Roche (_Gyrophoracylindrica_) has furnished food to the Arctic explorers when no otherfood could be obtained; while many dyes are produced from the Lichens, especially the Cudbear (a most discordant corruption of the name of thediscoverer, Mr. Cuthbert), which is the produce of the Rock Moss(_Lecanora tartarea_). So that even to us the Mosses have their uses, even if they do not reach the uses that they have in North Sweden, where, according to Miss Bremer, "the forest, which is the countryman'sworkshop, is his storehouse, too. With the various Lichens that growupon the trees and rocks, he cures the virulent diseases with which heis sometimes afflicted, dyes the articles of clothes which he wears, andpoisons the noxious and dangerous animals which annoy him. "

As to the beauty of Mosses and Lichens we have only to ask anyartist or go into any exhibition of pictures. Their great beautyhas been so lovingly described by Ruskin ("Modern Painters"), thatno one can venture to do more than quote his description. It is wellknown to many, but none will regret having it called to theirremembrance--"placuit semel--decies repetita placebit"--space, however, will oblige me somewhat to curtail it. "Meek creatures! the first mercyof the earth, veiling with hushed softness its dentless rocks: creaturesfull of pity, covering with strange and tender honour the sacreddisgrace of ruin, laying quiet fingers on the trembling stones to teachthem rest. No words that I know of will say what these Mosses are; noneare delicate enough, none perfect enough, none rich enough. . . . . Theywill not be gathered like the flowers for chaplet or love token; but ofthese the wild bird will make its nest and the wearied child its pillow, and as the earth's first mercy so they are its last gift to us. When allother service is vain from plant and tree, the soft Mosses and greyLichens take up their watch by the headstone. The woods, the blossoms, the gift-bearing Grasses have done their parts for a time, but these doservice for ever. Trees for the builder's yard, flowers for the bride'schamber, Corn for the granary, Moss for the grave. "

FOOTNOTES:

[164:1] There may be special appropriateness in the selection of the"furr'd Moss" to "winter-ground thy corse. " "The final duty of Mosses isto die; the main work of other leaves is in their life, but these haveto form the earth, out of which other leaves are to grow. "--RUSKIN, _Proserpina_, p. 20. 

MULBERRIES. 

 (1) _Titania. _

 Feed him with Apricocks and Dewberries, With purple Grapes, green Figs, and Mulberries. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (169). 

 (2) _Volumnia. _

 Thy stout heart, Now humble as the ripest Mulberry That will not bear the handling. 

 _Coriolanus_, act iii, sc. 2 (78). 

 (3) _Prologue. _

 Thisby tarrying in Mulberry shade. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act v, sc. 1 (149). 

 (4) _Wooer. _

 Palamon is gone Is gone to the wood to gather Mulberries. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 1 (87). 

 (5)

 The birds would bring him Mulberries and ripe-red Cherries. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (1103). (_See_ CHERRIES. )

We do not know when the Mulberry, which is an Eastern tree, wasintroduced into England, but probably very early. We find in ArchbishopÆlfric's "Vocabulary, " "morus vel rubus, mor-beam, " but it is doubtfulwhether that applies to the Mulberry or Blackberry, as in the samecatalogue Blackberries are mentioned as "flavi vel mori, blace-berian. "There is no doubt that Morum was a Blackberry as well as a Mulberry inclassical times. Our Mulberry is probably the fruit mentioned byHorace--

 "Ille salubres Æstates peraget, qui nigris prandia Moris Finiet ante gravem quæ legerit arbore solem. "

 _Sat. _ ii, 4, 24. 

And it certainly is the fruit mentioned by Ovid--

 "In duris hærentia mora rubetis. "

 _Metam. _, i, 105. 

In the Dictionarius of John de Garlande (thirteenth century)[167:1] wefind, "Hec sunt nomina silvestrium arborum, qui sunt in luco magistriJohannis; quercus cum fago, pinus cum lauro, celsus gerens celsa;" andMr. Wright translates "celsa" by "Mulberries, " without, however, givinghis authority for this translation. [167:2] But whenever introduced, ithad been long established in England in Shakespeare's time. 

It must have been a common tree even in Anglo-Saxon times, for thefavourite drink, Morat, was a compound of honey flavoured withMulberries (Turner's "Anglo-Saxons"). [167:3] Spenser spoke of it--

 "With love juice stained the Mulberie, The fruit that dewes the poet's braine. "

 _Elegy_, 18. 

Gerard describes it as "high and full of boughes, " and growing in sundrygardens in England, and he grew in his own London garden both the Blackand the White Mulberry. Lyte also, before Gerard, describes it and says:"It is called in the fayning of Poetes the wisest of all other trees, for this tree only among all others bringeth forth his leaves after thecold frostes be past;" and the Mulberry Garden, often mentioned by theold dramatists, "occupied the site of the present Buckingham Palace andGardens, and derived its name from a garden of Mulberry trees planted byKing James I. In 1609, in which year 935_l. _ was expended by the king inthe planting of Mulberry trees near the Palace of Westminster. "[168:1]

As an ornamental tree for any garden, the Mulberry needs norecommendation, being equally handsome in shape, in foliage, and infruit. It is a much prized ornament in all old gardens, so that it hasbeen well said that an old Mulberry tree on the lawn is a patent ofnobility to any garden; and it is most easy of cultivation; it will bearremoval when of a considerable size, and so easily can it be propagatedfrom cuttings that a story is told of Mr. Payne Knight that he cut largebranches from a Mulberry tree to make standards for his clothes-lines, and that each standard took root, and became a flourishing Mulberrytree. 

Though most of us only know of the common White or Black Mulberry, yet, where it is grown for silk culture (as it is now proposed to grow it inEngland, with a promised profit of from £70 to £100 per acre for thesilk, and an additional profit of from £100 to £500 per acre from thegrain (eggs)!!), great attention is paid to the different varieties; sothat M. De Quatrefuges briefly describes six kinds cultivated in onevalley in France, and Royle remarks, "so many varieties have beenproduced by cultivation that it is difficult to ascertain whether theyall belong to one species; they are, " as he adds, "nearly as numerous asthose of the silkworm" (Darwin). 

We have good proof of Shakespeare's admiration of the Mulberry in thecelebrated Shakespeare Mulberry growing in his garden at New Place atStratford-on-Avon. "That Shakespeare planted this tree is as wellauthenticated as anything of that nature can be, . . . And till this wasplanted there was no Mulberry tree in the neighbourhood. The tree wascelebrated in many a poem, one especially by Dibdin, but about 1752, the then owner of New Place, the Rev. Mr. Gastrell, bought and pulleddown the house, and wishing, as it should seem, to be 'damned toeverlasting fame, ' he had some time before cut down Shakespeare'scelebrated Mulberry tree, to save himself the trouble of showing it tothose whose admiration of our great poet led them to visit the poetickground on which it stood. "--MALONE. The pieces were made into manysnuff-boxes[169:1] and other mementoes of the tree. 

 "The Mulberry tree was hung with blooming wreaths; The Mulberry tree stood centre of the dance; The Mulberry tree was hymn'd with dulcet strains; And from his touchwood trunk the Mulberry tree Supplied such relics as devotion holds Still sacred, and preserves with pious care. "

 COWPER, _Task_, book vi. 

FOOTNOTES:

[167:1] The Dictionarius of John de Garlande is published in Wright's"Vocabularies. " His garden was probably in the neighbourhood of Paris, but he was a thorough Englishman, and there is little doubt that hisdescription of a garden was drawn as much from his English as from hisFrench experience. 

[167:2] The authority may be in the "Promptorium Parvulorum:" "Mulberry, Morum (selsus). "

[167:3] "Moratum potionis genus, f. Ex vino et moris dilutisconfectæ. "--_Glossarium Adelung. _

[168:1] Cunningham's "Handbook of London, " p. 346, with many quotationsfrom the old dramatists. 

[169:1] Some of these snuff-boxes were inscribed with the punning motto"Memento Mori. "

MUSHROOMS. 

 (1) _Prospero. _

 You demi-puppets, that By moonshine do the greensour ringlets make, Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime Is to make midnight Mushrooms. 

 _Tempest_, act v, sc. 1 (36). 

 (2) _Fairy. _

 I do wander everywhere. Swifter than the moon's sphere; And I serve the fairy queen, To dew her orbs upon the green. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (6). 

 (3) _Quickly. _

 And nightly, meadow-fairies, look you sing, Like to the Garter's compass, in a ring: The expressure that it bears, green let it be, More fertile-fresh than all the field to see. 

 _Merry Wives_, act v, sc. 5 (69). 

 (4) _Ajax. _

 Toadstool, learn me the proclamation. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act ii, sc. 1 (22). 

The three first passages, besides the notice of the Mushroom, containalso the notice of the fairy-rings, which are formed by fungi, thoughprobably Shakespeare knew little of this. No. 4 names the Toadstool, andthe four passages together contain the whole of Shakespeare's fungology, and it is little to be wondered at that he has not more to say on thesecurious plants. In his time "Mushrumes or Toadstooles" (they were allclassed together) were looked on with very suspicious eyes, though theywere so much eaten that we frequently find in the old herbals certainremedies against "a surfeit of Mushrooms. " Why they should have beenconnected with toads has never been explained, but it was always so--

 "The grieslie Todestoole growne there mought I see, And loathed paddocks lording on the same. "--SPENSER. 

They were associated with other loathsome objects besides toads, for"Poisonous Mushrooms groweth where old rusty iron lieth, or rottenclouts, or neere to serpent's dens or rootes of trees that bring forthvenomous fruit. [170:1]. . . Few of them are good to be eaten, and mostof them do suffocate and strangle the eater. Therefore, I give my adviceunto those that love such strange and new-fangled meates to beware oflicking honey among thornes, lest the sweetnesse of one do notcounteracte the sharpnesse and pricking of the other. " This was Gerard'sprudent advice on the eating of "Mushrumes and Toadstooles, " butnowadays we know better. The fungologists tell us that those who refuseto eat any fungus but the Mushroom (_Agaricus campestris_) are not onlyfoolish in rejecting most delicate luxuries, but also very wrong inwasting most excellent and nutritious food. Fungologists are greatenthusiasts, and it may be well to take their prescription _cum granosalis_; but we may qualify Gerard's advice by the well-knownenthusiastic description of Dr. Badham, who certainly knew much more offungology than Gerard, and did not recommend to others what he had notpersonally tried himself. After praising the beauty of an Englishautumn, even in comparison with Italy, he thus concludes his pleasantand useful book, "The Esculent Funguses of England": "I have myselfwitnessed whole hundredweights of rich, wholesome diet rotting undertrees, woods teeming with food, and not one hand to gather it. . . . Ihave, indeed, grieved when I reflected on the straitened conditions ofthe lower orders to see pounds innumerable of extempore beefsteaksgrowing on our Oaks in the shape of _Fistula hepatica_; _Ag. Fusipes_, to pickle in clusters under them; _Puffballs_, which some of our friendshave not inaptly compared to sweet-bread for the rich delicacy of theirunassisted flavour; _Hydna_, as good as oysters, which they very muchresemble in taste; _Agaricus deliciosus_, reminding us of tender lamb'skidneys: the beautiful yellow _Chantarelle_, that _kalon kagathon_ ofdiet, growing by the bushel, and no basket but our own to pick up a fewspecimens in our way; the sweet nutty-flavoured _Boletus_, in vaincalling himself _edulis_ when there was none to believe him; the dainty_Orcella_; the _Ag. Hetherophyllus_, which tastes like the crawfish whengrilled; the _Ag. Ruber_ and _Ag. Virescens_, to cook in any way, andequally good in all. "

As to the fairy rings (Nos. 1, 2, and 3) a great amount of legendarylore was connected with them. Browne notices them--

 "A pleasant mead Where fairies often did their measures tread, Which in the meadows makes such circles green As if with garlands it had crowned been. "

 _Britannia's Pastorals. _

Cowley said--

 "Where once such fairies dance, No grass does ever grow;"

and in Shakespeare's time the sheep refused to eat the grass on thefairy rings (1); I believe they now feed on it, but I have not been ableto ascertain this with certainty. Others, besides the sheep, avoidedthem. "When the damsels of old gathered may-dew on the grass, which theymade use of to improve their complexions, they left undisturbed such ofit as they perceived on the fairy rings, apprehensive that the fairiesshould in revenge destroy their beauty, nor was it reckoned safe to putthe foot within the rings, lest they should be liable to fairies'power. "--DOUCE'S _Illustrations_, p. 180. 

FOOTNOTES:

[170:1] Herrick calls them "brownest Toadstones. "

MUSK ROSES, _see_ ROSE. 

MUSTARD. 

 (1) _Doll. _

 They say Poins has a good wit. 

 _Falstaff. _

 He a good wit? hang him, baboon! his wit's as thick as Tewksbury Mustard; there is no more conceit in him than in a mallet. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (260). 

 (2) _Titania. _

 Pease-blossom! Cobweb! Moth! and Mustardseed!

 * * * * *

 _Bottom. _

 Your name, I beseech you, sir?

 _Mustardseed. _

 Mustardseed. 

 _Bottom. _

 Good Master Mustardseed, I know your patience well; that same cowardly giant-like ox-beef hath devoured many a gentleman of your house: I promise you your kindred hath made my eyes water ere now. I desire your more acquaintance, good Master Mustardseed. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (165, 194). 

 (3) _Bottom. _

 Where's the Mounsieur Mustardseed?

 _Mustardseed. _

 Ready. 

 _Bottom. _

 Give me your neaf, Mounsieur Mustardseed. Pray you, leave your courtesy, good mounsieur. 

 _Mustardseed. _

 What's your will?

 _Bottom. _

 Nothing, good mounsieur, but to help Cavalery Cobweb to scratch. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (18). 

 (4) _Grumio. _

 What say you to a piece of beef and Mustard?

 _Katharine. _

 A dish that I do love to feed upon. 

 _Grumio. _

 Ay, but the Mustard is too hot a little. 

 _Katharine. _

 Why then, the beef, and let the Mustard rest. 

 _Grumio. _

 Nay, then, I will not; you shall have the Mustard, Or else you get no beef of Grumio. 

 _Katharine. _

 Then both, or one, or anything thou wilt. 

 _Grumio. _

 Why then, the Mustard without the beef. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act iv, sc. 3 (23). 

 (5) _Rosalind. _

 Where learned you that oath, fool?

 _Touchstone. _

 Of a certain knight that swore by his honour they were good pancakes, and swore by his honour the mustard was naught; now I'll stand to it, the pancakes were naught, and the Mustard was good, yet was the knight not forsworn. . . . . You are not forsworn; no more was this knight swearing by his honour, for he never had any; or if he had, he had sworn it away before he ever saw those cakes or that Mustard. 

 _As You Like It_, act i, sc. 2 (65). 

The following passage from Coles, in 1657, will illustrate No. 1: "InGloucestershire about Teuxbury they grind Mustard and make it into ballswhich are brought to London and other remote places as being the bestthat the world affords. " These Mustard balls were the form in whichMustard was usually sold, until Mrs. Clements, of Durham, in the lastcentury, invented the method of dressing mustard-flour, likewheat-flour, and made her fortune with Durham Mustard; and it has beensupposed that this was the only form in which Mustard was sold inShakespeare's time, and that it was eaten dry as we eat pepper. But thefollowing from an Anglo-Saxon Leech-book seems to speak of it as usedexactly in the modern fashion. After mentioning several ingredients in arecipe for want of appetite for meat, it says: "Triturate alltogether--eke out with vinegar as may seem fit to thee, so that it maybe wrought into the form in which Mustard is tempered for flavouring, put it then into a glass vessel, and then with bread, or with whatevermeat thou choose, lap it with a spoon, that will help" ("Leech Book, "ii. 5, Cockayne's translation). And Parkinson's account is to the sameeffect: "The seeds hereof, ground between two stones, fitted for thepurpose, and called a quern, with some good vinegar added to it to makeit liquid and running, is that kind of Mustard that is usually made ofall sorts to serve as sauce both for fish and flesh. " And to the sameeffect the "Boke of Nurture"--

 "Yet make moche of Mustard, and put it not away, For with every dische he is dewest who so lust to assay. "

 (L. 853). 

MYRTLE. 

 (1) _Euphronius. _

 I was of late as petty to his ends As is the morn-dew on the Myrtle-leaf To his grand sea. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act iii, sc. 12 (8). 

 (2) _Isabella. _

 Merciful Heaven, Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt Split'st the unwedgeable and gnarled Oak Than the soft Myrtle. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act ii, sc. 2 (114). 

 (3)

 Venus, with young Adonis sitting by her, Under a Myrtle shade began to woo him. 

 _Passionate Pilgrim_ (143). 

 (4)

 Then sad she hasteth to a Myrtle grove. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (865). 

Myrtle is of course the English form of _myrtus_; but the older Englishname was Gale, a name which is still applied to the bog-myrtle. [174:1]Though a most abundant shrub in the South of Europe, and probablyintroduced into England before the time of Shakespeare, the myrtle wasonly grown in a very few places, and was kept alive with difficulty, sothat it was looked upon not only as a delicate and an elegant rarity, but as the established emblem of refined beauty. In the Bible it isalways associated with visions and representations of peacefulness andplenty, and Milton most fitly uses it in the description of our firstparents' "blissful bower"--

 "The roofe Of thickest covert was inwoven shade, Laurel and Mirtle, and what higher grew Of firm and fragrant leaf. "

 _Paradise Lost_, iv. 

In heathen times the Myrtle was dedicated to Venus, and from this arosethe custom in mediæval times of using the flowers for bridal garlands, which thus took the place of Orange blossoms in our time. 

 "The lover with the Myrtle sprays Adorns his crisped cresses. "

 DRAYTON, _Muse's Elysium_. 

 "And I will make thee beds of Roses, And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroidered o'er with leaves of Myrtle. "

 _Roxburghe Ballads. _

As a garden shrub every one will grow the Myrtle that can induce it togrow. There is no difficulty in its cultivation, provided only that theclimate suits it, and the climate that suits it best is theneighbourhood of the sea. Virgil describes the Myrtles as "amanteslittora myrtos, " and those who have seen the Myrtle as it grows on theDevonshire and Cornish coasts will recognise the truth of hisdescription. 

FOOTNOTES:

[174:1] "Gayle; mirtus. "--_Catholicon Anglicum_, p. 147, with note. 

NARCISSUS. 

 _Emilia. _

 This garden has a world of pleasures in't, What flowre is this?

 _Servant. _

 'Tis called Narcissus, madam. 

 _Emilia. _

 That was a faire boy certaine, but a foole, To love himselfe; were there not maides enough?

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act ii, sc. 2 (130). 

_See_ DAFFODILS, p. 73. 

NETTLES. 

 (1) _Cordelia. _

 Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Burdocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4. (3). 

 (2) _Queen. _

 Crow-flowers, Nettles, Daisies, and Long Purples. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 7 (170). (_See_ CROW-FLOWERS. )

 (3) _Antonio. _

 He'd sow't with Nettle-seed. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 1 (145). 

 (4) _Saturninus. _

 Look for thy reward Among the Nettles at the Elder Tree. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act ii, sc. 3 (271). 

 (5) _Sir Toby. _

 How now, my Nettle of India?

 _Twelfth Night_, act ii, sc. 5 (17). [176:1]

 (6) _King Richard. _

 Yield stinging Nettles to my enemies. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 2 (18). 

 (7) _Hotspur. _

 I tell you, my lord fool, out of this Nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 3 (8). 

 (8) _Ely. _

 The Strawberry grows underneath the Nettle. 

 _Henry V_, act i, sc. 1 (60). 

 (9) _Cressida. _

 I'll spring up in his tears, an 'twere a Nettle against May. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act i, sc. 2 (190). 

 (10) _Menenius. _

 We call a Nettle but a Nettle, and The fault of fools but folly. 

 _Coriolanus_, act ii, sc. 1 (207). 

 (11) _Laertes. _

 Goads, Thorns, Nettles, tails of wasps. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act i, sc. 2 (329). 

 (12) _Iago. _

 If we will plant Nettles or sow Lettuce. 

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (324). (_See_ HYSSOP. )

 (13) _Palamon. _

 Who do bear thy yoke As 'twer a wreath of roses, yet is heavier Than lead itselfe, stings more than Nettles. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act v, sc. 1 (101). 

The Nettle needs no introduction; we are all too well acquainted withit, yet it is not altogether a weed to be despised. We have two nativespecies (Urtica urens and U. Dioica) with sufficiently strong qualities, but we have a third (U. Pilulifera) very curious in its manner ofbearing its female flowers in clusters of compact little balls, which isfar more virulent than either of our native species, and is said byCamden to have been introduced by the Romans to chafe their bodies whenfrozen by the cold of Britain. The story is probably quite apocryphal, but the plant is an alien, and only grows in a few places. 

Both the Latin and English names of the plant record its qualities. Urtica is from _uro_, to burn; and Nettle is (etymologically) the sameword as needle, and the plant is so named, not for its stingingqualities, but because at one time the Nettle supplied the chiefinstrument of sewing; not the instrument which holds the thread, and towhich we now confine the word needle, but the thread itself, and verygood thread it made. The poet Campbell says in one of his letters--"Ihave slept in Nettle sheets, and dined off a Nettle table-cloth, and Ihave heard my mother say that she thought Nettle cloth more durable thanany other linen. " It has also been used for making paper, and for boththese purposes, as well as for rope-making, the Rhea fibre of theHimalaya, which is simply a gigantic Nettle (_Urtica_ or _Böhmerianivea_), is very largely cultivated. Nor is the Nettle to be despised asan article of food. [177:1] In many parts of England the young shoots areboiled and much relished. In 1596 Coghan wrote of it: "I will speaksomewhat of the Nettle that Gardeners may understand what wrong they doin plucking it for the weede, seeing it is so profitable to manypurposes. . . . Cunning cookes at the spring of the yeare, when Nettlesfirst bud forth, can make good pottage with them, especially with redNettles" ("Haven of Health, " p. 86). In February, 1661, Pepys made theentry in his diary--"We did eat some Nettle porridge, which was made onpurpose to-day for some of their coming, and was very good. " AndrewFairservice said of himself--"Nae doubt I should understand my trade ofhorticulture, seeing I was bred in the Parish of Dreepdaily, where theyraise lang Kale under glass, and force the early Nettles for theirspring Kale" ("Rob Roy, " c. 7). Gipsies are said to cook it as anexcellent vegetable, and M. Soyer tried hard, but almost in vain, torecommend it as a most dainty dish. Having so many uses, we are notsurprised to find that it has at times been regularly cultivated as agarden crop, so that I have somewhere seen an account of tithe ofNettles being taken; and in the old churchwardens' account of St. Michael's, Bath, is the entry in the year 1400, "Pro Urticis venditis adLawrencium Bebbe, 2d. "

Nettles are much used in the neighbourhood of London to pack plums andother fruit with bloom on them, so that in some market gardens they arenot only not destroyed, but encouraged, and even cultivated. And thisis an old practice; Lawson's advice in 1683 was--"For the gathering ofall other stone-fruit, as Nectarines, Apricots, Peaches, Pear-plums, Damsons, Bullas, and such like, . . . In the bottom of your large siveswhere you put them, you shall lay Nettles, and likewise in the top, forthat will ripen those that are most unready" ("New Orchard, " p. 96). 

The "Nettle of India" (No. 5) has puzzled the commentators. It isprobably not the true reading; if the true reading, it may only mean aNettle of extra-stinging quality; but it may also mean an Eastern plantthat was used to produce cowage, or cow-itch. "The hairs of the pods ofMucuna pruriens, &c. , constitute the substance called cow-itch, amechanical Anthelmintic. "--LINDLEY. This plant is said to have beencalled the Nettle of India, but I do not find it so named inShakespeare's time. 

In other points the Nettle is a most interesting plant. Microscopistsfind in it most beautiful objects for the microscope; entomologistsvalue it, for it is such a favourite of butterflies and other insects, that in Britain alone upwards of thirty insects feed solely on theNettle plant, and it is one of those curious plants which mark theprogress of civilization by following man wherever he goes. [178:1]

But as a garden plant the only advice to be given is to keep it out ofthe garden by every means. In good cultivated ground it becomes a sadweed if once allowed a settlement. The Himalayan Böhmerias, however, arehandsome, but only for their foliage; and though we cannot, perhaps, admit our roadside Dead Nettles, which however are much handsomer thanmany foreign flowers which we carefully tend and prize, yet the AustrianDead Nettle (_Lamium orvala_, "Bot. Mag. , " v. 172) may be well admittedas a handsome garden plant. 

FOOTNOTES:

[176:1] This a modern reading; the correct reading is "metal. "

[177:1]

 "Si forte in medio positorum abstemius herbis Vivis et Urtica. "--HORACE, _Ep. _ i, 10, 8. 

 "Mihi festa luce coquatar Urtica. "--PERSIUS vi, 68. 

[178:1] "L'ortie s'établit partout dans les contrées temperées à lasuite de l'homme pour disparaitre bientôt si le lieu on elle s'est ainsiimplanteè cesse d'etre habité. "--M. LAVAILLEE, _Sur les Arbres_, &c. , 1878. 

NUT, _see_ HAZEL. 

NUTMEG. 

 (1) _Dauphin. _

 He's [the horse] of the colour of the Nutmeg. 

 _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 7 (20). 

 (2) _Clown. _

 I must have . . . Nutmegs Seven. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (50). 

 (3) _Armado. _

 The omnipotent Mars, of lances the almighty, Gave Hector a gift--

 _Dumain. _

 A gilt Nutmeg. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (650). 

Gerard gives a very fair description of the Nutmeg tree under the namesof Nux moschata or Myristica; but it is certain that he had not anypersonal knowledge of the tree, which was not introduced into England orEurope for nearly 200 years after. Shakespeare could only have known theimported Nut and the Mace which covers the Nut inside the shell, andthey were imported long before his time. Chaucer speaks of it as--

 "Notemygge to put in ale Whether it be moist or stale, Or for to lay in cofre. "--_Sir Thopas. _

And in another poem we have--

 "And trees ther were gret foisoun, That beren notes in her sesoun. Such as men Notemygges calle That swote of savour ben withalle. "

 _Romaunt of the Rose. _

The Nutmeg tree (_Myrista officinalis_) "is a native of the Molucca orSpice Islands, principally confined to that group denominated theIslands of Banda, lying in lat. 4° 30´ south; and there it bears bothblossom and fruit at all seasons of the year" ("Bot. Mag. , " 2756, with afull history of the spice, and plates of the tree and fruit). 

OAK. 

 (1) _Prospero. _

 If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an Oak, And peg thee in his knotty entrails, _Tempest_, act i, sc. 2 (294). 

 (2) _Prospero. _

 To the dread rattling thunder Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout Oak With his own bolt. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 1 (44). 

 (3) _Quince. _

 At the Duke's Oak we meet. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act i, sc. 2 (113). 

 (4) _Benedick. _

 An Oak with but one green leaf on it would have answered her. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act ii, sc. 1 (247). 

 (5) _Isabella. _

 Thou split'st the unwedgeable and gnarled Oak. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act ii, sc. 2 (114). (_See_ MYRTLE. )

 (6) _1st Lord. _

 He lay along Under an Oak, whose antique root peeps out Upon the brook that brawls along this wood. 

 _As You Like It_, act ii, sc. 1 (30). 

 (7) _Oliver. _

 Under an Oak, whose boughs were Mossed with age, And high top bald with dry antiquity. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 3 (156). 

 (8) _Paulina. _

 As ever Oak or stone was sound. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act ii, sc. 3 (89). 

 (9) _Messenger. _

 And many strokes, though with a little axe, Hew down and fell the hardest-timber'd Oak. 

 _3rd Henry VI_, act ii, sc. 1 (54). 

 (10) _Mrs. Page. _

 There is an old tale goes that Herne the Hunter, Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest, Doth all the winter time at still midnight Walk round about an Oak, with great ragg'd horns. 

 * * * * *

 _Page. _

 Why yet there want not many that do fear In deep of night to walk by this Herne's Oak. 

 * * * * *

 _Mrs. Ford. _

 That Falstaff at that Oak shall meet with us. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iv, sc. 4 (28). 

 _Fenton. _

 To night at Herne's Oak. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iv, sc. 6 (19). 

 _Falstaff. _

 Be you in the park about midnight at Herne's Oak, and you shall see wonders. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 1 (11). 

 _Mrs. Page. _

 They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's Oak. 

 * * * * *

 _Mrs. Ford. _

 The hour draws on. To the Oak, to the Oak!

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 3 (14). 

 _Quickly. _

 Till 'tis one o'clock Our dance of custom round about the Oak Of Herne the Hunter, let us not forget. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 5 (78). 

 (11) _Timon. _

 That numberless upon me stuck as leaves Do on the Oak, have with one winter's brush Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare For every storm that blows. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (263). 

 (12) _Timon. _

 The Oaks bear mast, the Briers scarlet hips. 

 _Ibid. _ (422). 

 (13) _Montano. _

 What ribs of Oak, when mountains melt on them, Can hold the mortise?

 _Othello_, act ii, sc. 1 (7). 

 (14) _Iago. _

 She that so young could give out such a seeming To seel her father's eyes up close as Oak. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 3 (209). 

 (15) _Marcius. _

 He that depends Upon your favours swims with fins of lead And hews down Oaks with rushes. 

 _Coriolanus_, act i, sc. 1 (183). 

 (16) _Arviragus. _

 To thee the Reed is as the Oak. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (267). 

 (17) _Lear. _

 Oak-cleaving thunderbolts. 

 _King Lear_, act iii, sc. 2 (5). 

 (18) _Nathaniel. _

 Though to myself forsworn, to thee I'll faithful prove; Those thoughts to me were Oaks, to thee like Osiers bow'd. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv, sc. 2 (111). 

 [The same lines in the "Passionate Pilgrim. "]

 (19) _Nestor. _

 When the splitting wind Makes flexible the knees of knotted Oaks. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act i, sc. 3 (49). 

 (20) _Volumnia. _

 To a cruel war I sent him, from whence he returned, his brows bound with Oak. 

 _Coriolanus_, act i, sc. 3 (14). 

 _Volumnia. _

 He comes the third time home with the Oaken garland. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 1 (137). 

 _Cominius. _

 He proved best man i' the field, and for his meed Was brow-bound with the Oak. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 2 (101). 

 _2nd Senator. _

 The worthy fellow is our general; he's the rock, the Oak, not to be wind-shaken. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 2 (116). 

 _Volumnia. _

 To charge thy sulphur with a bolt That should but rive an Oak. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 3 (152). 

 (21) _Casca. _

 I have seen tempests when the scolding winds Have rived the knotty Oaks. 

 _Julius Cæsar_, act i, sc. 3 (5). 

 (22) _Celia. _

 I found him under a tree like a dropped Acorn. 

 _Rosalind. _

 It may well be called Jove's tree, when it drops forth such fruit. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (248). 

 (23) _Prospero. _

 Thy food shall be The fresh-brook muscles, wither'd roots, and husks Wherein the Acorn cradled. 

 _Tempest_, act i, sc. 2 (462). 

 (24) _Puck. _

 All their elves for fear Creep into Acorn-cups, and hide them there. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (30). 

 (25) _Lysander. _

 Get you gone, you dwarf--you beed--you Acorn!

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 2 (328). 

 (26) _Posthumus. _

 Like a full-Acorned boar--a German one. 

 _Cymbeline_, act ii, sc. 5 (16). 

 (27) _Messenger. _

 About his head he weares the winner's Oke. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 2 (154). 

 (28)

 Time's glory is . . . . To dry the old Oak's sap. 

 _Lucrece_ (950). 

Here are several very pleasant pictures, and there is so much ofhistorical and legendary lore gathered round the Oaks of England that itis very tempting to dwell upon them. There are the historical Oaksconnected with the names of William Rufus, Queen Elizabeth, and CharlesII. ; there are the wonderful Oaks of Wistman's Wood (certainly the mostweird and most curious wood in England, if not in Europe); there are themany passages in which our old English writers have loved to descant onthe Oaks of England as the very emblems of unbroken strength andunflinching constancy; there is all the national interest which haslinked the glories of the British navy with the steady and enduringgrowth of her Oaks; there is the wonderful picturesqueness of the greatOak plantations of the New Forest, the Forest of Dean, and other royalforests; and the equally, if not greater, picturesqueness of the EnglishOak as the chief ornament of our great English parks; there is thescientific interest which suggested the growth of the Oak for the planof our lighthouses, and many other interesting points. It is verytempting to stop on each and all of these, but the space is too limited, and they can all be found ably treated of and at full length in any ofthe books that have been written on the English forest trees. 

OATS. 

 (1) _Iris. _

 Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (60). 

 (2) _Spring Song. _

 When shepherds pipe on Oaten straws. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (913). 

 (3) _Bottom. _

 Truly a peck of provender; I could munch your good dry Oats. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (35). 

 (4) _Grumio. _

 Ay, sir, they be ready; the Oats have eaten the horses. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act iii, sc. 2 (207). 

 (5) _First Carrier. _

 Poor fellow, never joyed since the price of Oats rose--it was the death of him. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (13). 

 (6) _Captain. _

 I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried Oats, If it be man's work, I'll do it. 

 _King Lear_, act v, sc. 3 (38). 

Shakespeare's Oats need no comment, except to note that the olderEnglish name for Oats was Haver (_see_ "Promptorium Parvulorum, " p. 372;and "Catholicon Anglicum, " p. 178, with the notes). The word was in usein Shakespeare's time, and still survives in the northern parts ofEngland. 

OLIVE. 

 (1) _Clarence. _

 To whom the heavens in thy nativity Adjudged an Olive branch. 

 _3rd Henry VI_, act iv, sc. 6 (33). (_See_ LAUREL. )

 (2) _Alcibiades. _

 Bring me into your city, And I will use the Olive with my sword. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act v, sc. 4 (81). 

 (3) _Cæsar. _

 Prove this a prosperous day, the three-nook'd world Shall bear the Olive freely. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act iv, sc. 6 (5). 

 (4) _Rosalind. _

 If you will know my house 'Tis at the tuft of Olives here hard by. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 5 (74). 

 (5) _Oliver. _

 Where, in the purlieus of this forest stands A sheepcote fenced about with Olive trees?

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 3 (77). 

 (6) _Viola. _

 I bring no overture of war, no taxation of homage; I hold the Olive in my hand; my words are as full of peace as matter. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act i, sc. 5 (224). 

 (7) _Westmoreland. _

 There is not now a rebel's sword unsheath'd, But peace puts forth her Olive everywhere. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act iv, sc. 4 (86). 

 (8)

 And peace proclaims Olives of endless age. 

 _Sonnet_ cvii. 

There is no certain record by which we can determine when the Olivetree was first introduced into England. Miller gives 1648 as theearliest date he could discover, at which time it was grown in theOxford Botanic Garden. But I have no doubt it was cultivated long beforethat. Parkinson knew it as an English tree in 1640, for he says: "Itflowereth in the beginning of summer in the warmer countries, but verylate _with us_; the fruite ripeneth in autumne in Spain, &c. , butseldome _with us_" ("Herball, " 1640). Gerard had an Oleaster in hisgarden in 1596, which Mr. Jackson considers to have been the OleaEuropea, and with good reason, as in his account of the Olive in the"Herbal" he gives Oleaster as one of the synonyms of Olea sylvestris, the wild Olive tree. But I think its introduction is of a still earlierdate. In the Anglo-Saxon "Leech Book, " of the tenth century, publishedunder the direction of the Master of the Rolls, I find thisprescription: "Pound Lovage and Elder rind and Oleaster, that is, wildOlive tree, mix them with some clear ale and give to drink" (book i. C. 37, Cockayne's translation). As I have never heard that the bark of theOlive tree was imported, it is only reasonable to suppose that theleeches of the day had access to the living tree. If this be so, thetree was probably imported by the Romans, which they are very likely tohave done. But it seems very certain that it was in cultivation inEngland in Shakespeare's time and he may have seen it growing. 

But in most of the eight passages in which he names the Olive, thereference to it is mainly as the recognized emblem of peace; and it isin that aspect, and with thoughts of its touching Biblical associationsthat we must always think of the Olive. It is _the_ special plant ofhonour in the Bible, by "whose fatness they honour God and man, " linkedwith the rescue of the one family in the ark, and with the rescue of thewhole family of man in the Mount of Olives. Every passage in which it isnamed in the Bible tells the uniform tale of its usefulness, and theemblematical lessons it was employed to teach; but I must not dwell onthem. Nor need I say how it was equally honoured by Greeks and Romans. As a plant which produced an abundant and necessary crop of fruit withlittle or no labour (φύτευμ' ἀχείρωτον ἀυτόποιον, Sophocles; "non ullaest oleis cultura, " Virgil), it was looked upon with special pride, asone of the most blessed gifts of the gods, and under the constantprotection of Minerva, to whom it was thankfully dedicated. [186:1]

We seldom see the Olive in English gardens, yet it is a good evergreentree to cover a south wall, and having grown it for many years, I cansay that there is no plant--except, perhaps, the Christ's Thorn--whichgives such universal interest to all who see it. It is quite hardy, though the winter will often destroy the young shoots; but not even thewinter of 1860 did any serious mischief, and fine old trees mayoccasionally be seen which attest its hardiness. There is one at HanhamHall, near Bristol, which must be of great age. It is at least 30ft. High, against a south wall, and has a trunk of large girth; but I neversaw it fruit or flower in England until this year (1877), when the Olivein my own garden flowered, but did not bear fruit. Miller records treesat Campden House, Kensington, which, in 1719, produced a good number offruit large enough for pickling, and other instances have been recordedlately. Perhaps if more attention were paid to the grafting, fruit wouldfollow. The Olive has the curious property that it seems to be a matterof indifference whether, as with other fruit, the cultivated sort isgrafted on the wild one, or the wild on the cultivated one; the latterplan was certainly sometimes the custom among the Greeks and Romans, aswe know from St. Paul (Romans xi. 16-25) and other writers, and it issometimes the custom now. There are a great number of varieties of thecultivated Olive, as of other cultivated fruit. 

One reason why the Olive is not more grown as a garden tree is that itis a tree very little admired by most travellers. Yet this is entirely amatter of taste, and some of the greatest authorities are loud in itspraises as a picturesque tree. One short extract from Ruskin's accountof the tree will suffice, though the whole description is well worthreading. "The Olive, " he says, "is one of the most characteristic andbeautiful features of all southern scenery. . . . What the Elm and theOak are to England, the Olive is to Italy. . . . It had been well forpainters to have felt and seen the Olive tree, to have loved it forChrist's sake; . . . To have loved it even to the hoary dimness of itsdelicate foliage, subdued and faint of hue, as if the ashes of theGethsemane agony had been cast upon it for ever; and to have traced lineby line the gnarled writhing of its intricate branches, and the pointedfretwork of its light and narrow leaves, inlaid on the blue field of thesky, and the small, rosy-white stars of its spring blossoming, and theheads of sable fruit scattered by autumn along its topmost boughs--theright, in Israel, of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow--and, more than all, the softness of the mantle, silver-grey, and tender, likethe down on a bird's breast, with which far away it veils the undulationof the mountains. "--_Stones of Venice_, vol. Iii. P. 176. 

FOOTNOTES:

[186:1] _See_ Spenser's account of the first introduction of the Olivein "Muiopotmos. "

ONIONS. 

 (1) _Bottom. _

 And, most dear actors, eat no Onions nor Garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 2 (42). 

 (2) _Lafeu. _

 Mine eyes smell Onions, I shall weep anon: Good Tom Drum, lend me a handkercher. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act v, sc. 3 (321). 

 (3) _Enobarbus. _

 Indeed the tears live in Onion that should water this Sorrow. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act i, sc. 2 (176). 

 (4) _Enobarbus. _

 Look, they weep, And I, an ass, am Onion-eyed. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 2 (34). 

 (5) _Lord. _

 And if the boy have not a woman's gift To rain a shower of commanded tears, An Onion will do well for such a shift, Which in a napkin being close conveyed Shall in despite enforce a watery eye. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, Induction, sc. 1 (124). 

There is no need to say much of the Onion in addition to what I havealready said on the Garlick and Leek, except to note that Onions seemalways to have been considered more refined food than Leek and Garlick. Homer makes Onions an important part of the elegant little repast whichHecamede set before Nestor and Machaon--

 "Before them first a table fair she spread, Well polished and with feet of solid bronze; On this a brazen canister she placed, And Onions as a relish to the wine, And pale clear honey and pure Barley meal. "

 _Iliad_, book xi. (Lord Derby's translation). 

But in the time of Shakespeare they were not held in such esteem. Coghan, writing in 1596, says of them: "Being eaten raw, they engenderall humourous and corruptible putrifactions in the stomacke, and causefearful dreames, and if they be much used they snarre the memory andtrouble the understanding" ("Haven of Health, " p. 58). 

The name comes directly from the French _oignon_, a bulb, being the bulb_par excellence_, the French name coming from the Latin _unio_, whichwas the name given to some species of Onion, probably from the bulbgrowing singly. It may be noted, however, that the older English namefor the Onion was Ine, of which we may perhaps still have theremembrance in the common "Inions. " The use of the Onion to promoteartificial crying is of very old date, Columella speaking of "lacrymosacæpe, " and Pliny of "cæpis odor lacrymosus. " There are frequentreferences to the same use in the old English writers. 

The Onion has been for so many centuries in cultivation that its nativehome has been much disputed, but it has now "according to Dr. Regel('Gartenflora, ' 1877, p. 264) been definitely determined to be themountains of Central Asia. It has also been found in a wild state in theHimalaya Mountains. "--_Gardener's Chronicle. _

ORANGE. 

 (1) _Beatrice. _

 The count is neither sad nor sick, nor merry nor well; but civil count, civil as an Orange, and something of that jealous complexion. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act ii, sc. 1 (303). 

 (2) _Claudio. _

 Give not this rotten Orange to your friend. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act iv, sc. 1 (33). 

 (3) _Bottom. _

 I will discharge it either in your straw-coloured beard, your Orange-tawny beard. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act i, sc. 2 (95). 

 (4) _Bottom. _

 The ousel cock so black of hue With Orange-tawny bill. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 1 (128). 

 (5) _Menenius. _

 You wear out a good wholesome forenoon in hearing a cause between an Orange-wife and a fosset-seller. 

 _Coriolanus_, act ii, sc. 1 (77). 

I should think it very probable that Shakespeare may have seen bothOrange and Lemon trees growing in England. The Orange is a native of theEast Indies, and no certain date can be given for its introduction intoEurope. Under the name of the Median Apple a tree is described first byTheophrastus, and then by Virgil and Palladius, which is supposed bysome to be the Orange; but as they all describe it as unfit for food, itis with good reason supposed that the tree referred to is either theLemon or Citron. Virgil describes it very exactly--

 "Ipsa ingens arbor, faciemque simillima lauro Et si non alium late jactaret odorem Laurus erat; folia hand ullis labentia ventis Flos ad prima tenax. "--_Georgic_ ii, 131. 

Dr. Daubeny, who very carefully studied the plants of classical writers, decides that the fruit here named is the Lemon, and says that it "isnoticed only as a foreign fruit, nor does it appear that it wascultivated at that time in Italy, for Pliny says it will only grow inMedia and Assyria, though Palladius in the fourth century seems to havebeen familiar with it, and it was known in Greece at the time ofTheophrastus. " But if Oranges were grown in Italy or Greece in the timeof Pliny and Palladius, they did not continue in cultivation. Europeowes the introduction or reintroduction to the Portuguese, who broughtthem from the East, and they were grown in Spain in the eleventhcentury. The first notice of them in Italy was in the year 1200, when atree was planted by St. Dominic at Rome. The first grown in France issaid to have been the old tree which lived at the Orangery atVersailles till November, 1876, and was called the Grand Bourbon. "In1421 the Queen of Navarre gave the gardener the seed from Pampeluna;hence sprang the plant, which was subsequently transported to Chantilly. In 1532 the Orange tree was sent to Fontainebleau, whence, in 1684, Louis XIV. Transferred it to Versailles, where it remained the largest, finest, and most fertile member of the Orangery, its head being 17yds. Round. " It is not likely that a tree of such beauty should be growing sonear England without the English gardeners doing their utmost toestablish it here. But the first certain record is generally said to bein 1595, when (on the authority of Bishop Gibson) Orange trees wereplanted at Beddington, in Surrey, the plants being raised from seedsbrought into England by Sir Walter Raleigh. The date, however, may beplaced earlier, for in Lyte's "Herbal" (1578) it is stated that "In thiscountrie the Herboristes do set and plant the Orange trees in theregardens, but they beare no fruite without they be wel kept and defendedfrom cold, and yet for all that they beare very seldome. " There are noOranges in Gerard's catalogue of 1596, and though he describes the treesin his "Herbal, " he does not say that he then grew them or had seen themgrowing. But by 1599 he had obtained them, for they occur in hiscatalogue of that date under the name of "Malus orantia, the Arange orOrange tree, " so that it is certainly very probable that Shakespeare mayhave seen the Orange as a living tree. 

As to the beauty of the Orange tree, there is but one opinion. AndrewMarvel described it as--

 "The Orange bright, Like golden lamps in a green night. "

 _Bermudas. _

George Herbert drew a lesson from its power of constant fruiting--

 "Oh that I were an Orenge tree, That busie plant; Then should I ever laden be, And never want Some fruit for him that dressed me. "

 _Employment. _

And its handsome evergreen foliage, its deliciously scented flowers, and its golden fruit--

 "A fruit of pure Hesperian gold That smelled ambrosially"--

 TENNYSON. 

at once demand the admiration of all. It only fails in one point to makeit a plant for every garden: it is not fully hardy in England. It isvery surprising to read of those first trees at Beddington, that "theywere planted in the open ground, under a movable covert during thewinter months; that they always bore fruit in great plenty andperfection; that they grew on the south side of a wall, not nailedagainst it, but at full liberty to spread; that they were 14ft. High, the girth of the stem 29in. , and the spreading of the branches one way9ft. , and 12ft. Another; and that they so lived till they were entirelykilled by the great frost in 1739-40. "--MILLER. [191:1] These trees musthave been of a hardy variety, for certainly Orange trees, even with suchprotection, do not now so grow in England, except in a few favouredplaces on the south coast. There is one species which is fairly hardy, the Citrus trifoliata, from Japan, [191:2] forming a pretty bush withsweet flowers, and small but useless fruit (seldom, I believe, producedout-of-doors); it is often used as a stock on which to graft the betterkinds, but perhaps it might be useful for crossing, so as to give itshardiness to a variety with better flower and fruit. 

Commercially the Orange holds a high place, more than 20, 000 good fruithaving been picked from one tree, and England alone importing about2, 000, 000 bushels annually. These are almost entirely used as a dessertfruit and for marmalade, but it is curious that they do not seem to havebeen so used when first imported. Parkinson makes no mention of theirbeing eaten raw, but says they "are used as sauce for many sorts ofmeats, in respect of the sweet sourness giving a relish and delightwhereinsoever they are used;" and he mentions another curious use, nolonger in fashion, I believe, but which might be worth a trial: "Theseeds being cast into the grounde in the spring time will quickly growup, and when they are a finger's length high, being pluckt up and putamong Sallats, will give them a marvellous fine aromatick or spicy tast, very acceptable. "[192:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[191:1] In an "Account of Gardens Round London in 1691, " published inthe "Archæologia, " vol. Xii. , these Orange trees are described as ifalways under glass. 

[191:2] "Bot. Mag. , " 6513. 

[192:1] For an account of the early importation of the fruit see"Promptorium Parvulorum, " p. 371, note. 

OSIER, _see_ WILLOW. 

OXLIPS. 

 (1) _Perdita. _

 Bold Oxlips, and The Crown Imperial. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (125). 

 (2) _Oberon. _

 I know a bank where the wild Thyme blows, Where Oxlips and the nodding Violet grows. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (249). 

 (3)

 Oxlips in their cradles growing. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Intro. Song. 

The true Oxlip (_Primula eliator_) is so like both the Primrose andCowslip that it has been by many supposed to be a hybrid between thetwo. Sir Joseph Hooker, however, considers it a true species. It is ahandsome plant, but it is probably not the "bold Oxlip" of Shakespeare, or the plant which is such a favourite in cottage gardens. The trueOxlip (P. Elatior of Jacquin) is an eastern counties' plant; while thecommon forms of the Oxlip are hybrids between the Cowslip and Primrose. (_See_ COWSLIP and PRIMROSE. )

PALM TREE. 

 (1) _Rosalind. _

 Look here what I found on a Palm tree. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (185). 

 (2) _Hamlet. _

 As love between them like the Palm might flourish. 

 _Hamlet_, act v, sc. 2 (40). 

 (3) _Volumnia. _

 And bear the Palm for having bravely shed Thy wife and children's blood. 

 _Coriolanus_, act v, sc. 3 (117). 

 (4) _Cassius. _

 And bear the Palm alone. 

 _Julius Cæsar_, act i, sc. 2 (131). 

 (5) _Painter. _

 You shall see him a Palm in Athens again, and flourish with the highest. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act v, sc. 1 (12). 

 (6)

 _The Vision. _--Enter, solemnly tripping one after another, six personages, clad in white robes, wearing on their heads garlands of Bays, and golden vizards on their faces, branches of Bays or Palm in their hands. 

 _Henry VIII_, act iv, sc. 2. 

To these passages may be added the following, in which the Palm tree iscertainly alluded to though it is not mentioned by name--

 _Sebastian. _

 That in Arabia There is one tree, the Phœnix' throne; one Phœnix At this hour reigning there. 

 _Tempest_, act iii, sc. 3 (22). [193:1]

And from the poem by Shakespeare, published in Chester's "Love'sMartyr, " 1601. 

 "Let the bird of loudest lay On the sole Arabian tree Herald sad and Trumpet be, To whose sound chaste wings obey. "

Two very distinct trees are named in these passages. In the last fivethe reference is to the true Palm of Biblical and classical fame, as theemblem of victory, and the typical representation of life and beauty inthe midst of barren waste and deserts. And we are not surprised at theveneration in which the tree was held, when we consider either thewonderful grace of the tree, or its many uses in its native countries, so many, that Pliny says that the Orientals reckoned 360 uses to whichthe Palm tree could be applied. Turner, in 1548, said: "I never saw anyperfit Date tree yet, but onely a little one that never came toperfection;"[194:1] and whether Shakespeare ever saw a living Palm treeis doubtful, but he may have done so. (_See_ DATE. ) Now there are agreat number grown in the large houses of botanic and other gardens, thePalm-house at Kew showing more and better specimens than can be seen inany other collection in Europe: even the open garden can now boast of afew species that will endure our winters without protection. Chamæropshumilis and Fortunei seem to be perfectly hardy, and good specimens maybe seen in several gardens; Corypha australis is also said to be quitehardy, and there is little doubt but that the Date Palm (_Phœnixdactylifera_), which has long been naturalized in the South of Europe, would live in Devonshire and Cornwall, and that of the thousand speciesof Palms growing in so many different parts of the world, some will yetbe found that may grow well in the open air in England. 

But the Palm tree in No. 1 is a totally different tree, and much asShakespeare has been laughed at for placing a Palm tree in the Forest ofArden, the laugh is easily turned against those who raise such anobjection. The Palm tree of the Forest of Arden is the

 "Satin-shining Palm On Sallows in the windy gleams of March"--

 _Idylls of the King_--Vivien. 

that is, the Early Willow (_Salix caprea_) and I believe it is so calledall over England, as it is in Northern Germany, and probably in othernorthern countries. There is little doubt that the name arose from thecustom of using the Willow branches with the pretty golden catkins onPalm Sunday as a substitute for Palm branches. 

 "In Rome upon Palm Sunday they bear true Palms, The Cardinals bow reverently and sing old Psalms; Elsewhere those Psalms are sung 'mid Olive branches, The Holly branch supplies the place among the avalanches; More northern climes must be content with the sad Willow. "

 GOETHE (quoted by Seeman). 

But besides Willow branches, Yew branches are sometimes used for thesame purpose, and so we find Yews called Palms. Evelyn says they were socalled in Kent; they are still so called in Ireland, and in thechurchwarden's accounts of Woodbury, Devonshire, is the following entry:"Memorandum, 1775. That a Yew or Palm tree was planted in thechurchyard, ye south side of the church, in the same place where one wasblown down by the wind a few days ago, this 25th of November. "[195:1]

How Willow or Yew branches could ever have been substituted for such avery different branch as a Palm it is hard to say, but in lack of abetter explanation, I think it not unlikely that it might have arisenfrom the direction for the Feast of Tabernacles in Leviticus xxiii. 40:"Ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, thebranches of Palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and Willows ofthe brook. " But from whatever cause the name and the custom was derived, the Willow was so named in very early times, and in Shakespeare's timethe name was very common. Here is one instance among many--

 "Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day, The Palms and May make country houses gay, And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay-- Cuckoo, jug-jug, pee-we, to-witta-woo. "

 T. NASH. 1567-1601. 

FOOTNOTES:

[193:1] I do not include among "Palms" the passage in _Hamlet_, act i, sc. 1: "In the most high and palmy state of Rome, " because I bow toArchdeacon Nares' judgment that "palmy" here means "grown to fullheight, in allusion to the palms of the stag's horns, when they haveattained to their utmost growth. " He does not, however, decide this withcertainty, and the question may be still an open one. 

[194:1] "Names of Herbes, " s. V. Palma. 

[195:1] In connection with this, Turner's account of the Palm in 1538 isworth quoting: "Palmā arborem in anglia nunq' me vidisse memini. Indietamen ramis palmarū (ut illi loqūntur) sœpius sacerdotē dicentē andivi. Bendic etiā et hos palmarū ramos, quū prœter salignas frondes nihilomnino viderē ego, quid alii viderint nescio. Si nobis palmarum frondesnon suppeterent; prœstaret me judice mutare lectionem et dicere. Benedichos salicū ramos q' falso et mendaciter salicum frondes palmarum frondesvocare. "--LIBELLUS, _De re Herbaria_, s. V. Palma. 

PANSIES. 

 (1) _Ophelia. _

 And there is Pansies--that's for thoughts. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (176). 

 (2) _Lucentio. _

 But see, while idly I stood looking on, I found the effect of Love-in-idleness. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act i, sc. 1 (155). 

 (3) _Oberon. _

 Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell: It fell upon a little western flower, Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound, And maidens call it Love-in-idleness. Fetch me that flower; the herb I show'd thee once; The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid Will make or man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (165). 

 (4) _Oberon. _

 Dian's Bud o'er Cupid's flower Hath such free and blessed power. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (78). 

The Pansy is one of the oldest favourites in English gardens, and theaffection for it is shown in the many names that were given to it. TheAnglo-Saxon name was Banwort or Bonewort, though why such a name wasgiven to it we cannot now say. Nor can we satisfactorily explain itscommon names of Pansy or Pawnce (from the French, _pensées_--"that is, for thoughts, " says Ophelia), or Heart's-ease, [196:1] which name wasoriginally given to the Wallflower. The name Cupid's flower seems to bepeculiar to Shakespeare, but the other name, Love-in-idle, or idleness, is said to be still in use in Warwickshire, and signifies love in vain, or to no purpose, as in Chaucer: "The prophet David saith; If God nekepe not the citee, in ydel waketh he that keptit it. "[196:2] And inTyndale's translation of the New Testament, "I have prechid to you, ifye holden, if ye hav not bileved ideli" (1 Cor. Xv. 2). "Beyngeplenteuous in werk of the Lord evermore, witynge that youre traveil isnot idel in the Lord" (1 Cor. Xv. 58). 

But beside these more common names, Dr. Prior mentions the following:"Herb Trinity, Three faces under a hood, Fancy, Flamy, [197:1] Kiss me, Cull me or Cuddle me to you, Tickle my fancy, Kiss me ere I rise, Jumpup and kiss me, Kiss me at the garden gate, Pink of my John, and severalmore of the same amatory character. "

Spenser gives the flower a place in his "Royal aray" for Elisa--

 "Strowe me the grounde with Daffadowndillies, And Cowslips, and Kingcups, and loved Lillies, The pretie Pawnce, And the Chevisaunce Shall match with the fayre Flower Delice. "

And in another place he speaks of the "Paunces trim"--_F. Q. _, iii. 1. Milton places it in Eve's couch--

 "Flowers were the couch, Pansies, and Violets, and Asphodel, And Hyacinth, earth's freshest, softest lap. "

He names it also as part of the wreath of Sabrina--

 "Pansies, Pinks, and gaudy Daffadils;"

and as one of the flowers to strew the hearse of Lycidas--

 "The White Pink and the Pansie streaked with jet, The glowing Violet. "

FOOTNOTES:

[196:1] "The Pansie Heart's ease Maiden's call. "--DRAYTON _Ed. _, ix. 

[196:2] And again--

 "The other heste of hym is this, Take not in ydel my name or amys. "

 _Pardeners Tale. _

 "Eterne God, that through thy purveance Ledest this world by certein governance, In idel, as men sein, ye nothinge make. "

 _The Frankelynes Tale. _

[197:1] "Flamy, because its colours are seen in the flame ofwood. "--_Flora Domestica_, 166. 

PARSLEY. 

 _Biondello. _

 I knew a wench married in an afternoon as she went to the garden for Parsley to stuff a rabbit. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act iv, sc 4 (99). 

Parsley is the abbreviated form of Apium petroselinum, and is a commonname to many umbelliferous plants, but the garden Parsley is the onemeant here. This well-known little plant has the curious botanic historythat no one can tell what is its native country. In 1548 Turner said, "Perseley groweth nowhere that I knowe, but only in gardens. "[198:1] Itis found in many countries, but is always considered an escape fromcultivation. Probably the plant has been so altered by cultivation as tohave lost all likeness to its original self. 

Our forefathers seem to have eaten the parsley _root_ as well as theleaves--

 "Quinces and Peris ciryppe with Parcely rotes Right so bygyn your mele. "

 RUSSELL'S _Boke of Nurture_, 826. 

 "Peres and Quynces in syrupe with Percely rotes. "

 WYNKYN DE WORDE'S _Boke of Kervynge_. 

FOOTNOTES:

[198:1] "Names of Herbes, " s. V. Apium. 

PEACH

 (1) _Prince Henry. _

 To take note how many pair of silk stockings thou hast, viz. , these, and those that were thy Peach-coloured ones!

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 2 (17). 

 (2) _Pompey. _

 Then there is here one Master Caper, at the suit of Master Threepile the mercer, for some four suits of Peach-coloured satin, which now peaches him a beggar. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 3 (10). 

The references here are only to the colour of the Peach blossom, yet thePeach tree was a well-known tree in Shakespeare's time, and the fruitwas esteemed a great delicacy, and many different varieties werecultivated. Botanically the Peach is closely allied to the Almond, andstill more closely to the Apricot and Nectarine; indeed, many writersconsider both the Apricot and Nectarine to be only varieties of thePeach. 

The native country of the Peach is now ascertained to be China, andnot Persia, as the name would imply. It probably came to the Romansthrough Persia, and was by them introduced into England. It occurs inArchbishop's Ælfric's "Vocabulary" in the tenth century, "Persicarius, Perseoctreow;" and John de Garlande grew it in the thirteenth century, "In virgulto Magistri Johannis, pessicus fert pessica. " It is named inthe "Promptorium Parvulorum" as "Peche, or Peske, frute--Pesca PomumPersicum;" and in a note the Editor says: "In a role of purchases forthe Palace of Westminster preserved amongst the miscellaneous record ofthe Queen's remembrance, a payment occurs, Will le Gardener, pro iijkoygnere, ij pichere iij_s. _--pro groseillere iij_d_, pro j pescherevj_d. _" A. D. 1275, 4 Edw: 1--

We all know and appreciate the fruit of the Peach, but few seem to knowhow ornamental a tree is the Peach, quite independent of the fruit. Inthose parts where the soil and climate are suitable, the Peach may begrown as an ornamental spring flowering bush. When so grown preferenceis generally given to the double varieties, of which there are several, and which are not by any means the new plants that they are generallysupposed to be, as they were cultivated both by Gerard and Parkinson. 

PEAR. 

 (1) _Falstaff. _

 I warrant they would whip me with their fine wits till I were as crest-fallen as a dried Pear. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iv, sc. 5 (101). 

 (2) _Parolles. _

 Your virginity, your old virginity, is like one of our French withered Pears, it looks ill, it eats drily; marry, 'tis a withered Pear; it was formerly better; marry, yet 'tis a withered Pear. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act i, sc. 1 (174). 

 (3) _Clown. _

 I must have Saffron to colour the Warden pies. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (48). 

 (4) _Mercutio. _

 O, Romeo . . . Thou a Poperin Pear. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 1 (37). 

If we may judge by these few notices, Shakespeare does not seem to havehad much respect for the Pear, all the references to the fruit beingmore or less absurd or unpleasant. Yet there were good Pears in his day, and so many different kinds that Gerard declined to tell them at length, for "the stocke or kindred of Pears are not to be numbered; everycountry hath his peculiar fruit, so that to describe them apart were tosend an owle to Athens, or to number those things that are withoutnumber. "

Of these many sorts Shakespeare mentions by name but two, the Warden andthe Poperin, and it is not possible to identify these with modernvarieties with any certainty. The Warden was probably a general name forlarge keeping and stewing Pears, and the name was said to come from theAnglo-Saxon _wearden_, to keep or preserve, in allusion to its lastingqualities. But this is certainly a mistake. In an interesting paper byMr. Hudson Turner, "On the State of Horticulture in England in earlytimes, chiefly previous to the fifteenth century, " printed in the"Archæological Journal, " vol. V. P. 301, it is stated that "the WardenPear had its origin and its name from the horticultural skill of theCistercian Monks of Wardon Abbey in Bedfordshire, founded in the twelfthcentury. Three Warden Pears appeared in the armorial bearings of theAbbey. "

It was certainly an early name. In the "Catholicon Anglicum" we find: "AParmayn, volemum, Anglice, a Warden;" and in Parkinson's time the namewas still in use, and he mentions two varieties, "The Warden orLukewards Pear are of two sorts, both white and red, both great andsmall. " (The name of Lukewards seems to point to St. Luke's Day, October18, as perhaps the time either for picking the fruit or for itsripening. ) "The Spanish Warden is greater than either of both theformer, and better also. " And he further says: "The Red Warden and theSpanish Warden are reckoned amongst the most excellent of Pears, eitherto bake or to roast, for the sick or for the sound--and indeed theQuince and the Warden are the only two fruits that are permitted to thesick to eat at any time. " The Warden pies of Shakespeare's day, colouredwith Saffron, have in our day been replaced by stewed Pears colouredwith Cochineal. [200:1]

I can find no guide to the identification of the Poperin Pear, beyondParkinson's description: "The summer Popperin and the winter Popperin, both of them very good, firm, dry Pears, somewhat spotted and brownishon the outside. The green Popperin is a winter fruit of equal goodnessewith the former. " It was probably a Flemish Pear, and may have beenintroduced by the antiquary Leland, who was made Rector of Popering byHenry VIII. The place is further known to us as mentioned by Chaucer--

 "A knyght was fair and gent In batail and in tornament, His name was Sir Thopas. Alone he was in fer contre, In Flaundres, all beyonde the se, At Popering in the place. "

As a garden tree the Pear is not only to be grown for its fruit, but asa most ornamental tree. Though the individual flowers are not, perhaps, so handsome as the Apple blossoms, yet the growth of the tree is farmore elegant; and an old Pear tree, with its curiously roughened bark, its upright, tall, pyramidal shape, and its sheet of snow-whiteblossoms, is a lovely ornament in the old gardens and lawns of many ofour country houses. It is by some considered a British tree, but it isprobably only a naturalized foreigner, originally introduced by theRomans. 

FOOTNOTES:

[200:1] The Warden was sometimes spoken of as different from Pears. SirHugh Platt speaks of "Wardens _or_ Pears. "

PEAS. 

 (1) _Iris. _

 Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (60). 

 (2) _Carrier. _

 Peas and Beans are as dank here as a dog. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (9). (_See_ BEANS. )

 (3) _Biron. _

 This fellow picks up wit, as pigeons Pease. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (315). 

 (4) _Bottom. _

 I had rather have a handful or two of dried Peas. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (41). 

 (5) _Fool. _

 That a shealed Peascod?

 _King Lear_, act i, sc. 4 (219). 

 (6) _Touchstone. _

 I remember the wooing of a Peascod instead of her. 

 _As You Like It_, act ii, sc. 4 (51). 

 (7) _Malvolio. _

 Not yet old enough to be a man, nor young enough for a boy; as a Squash is before 'tis a Peascod, or a Codling when 'tis almost an Apple. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act i, sc. 5 (165). 

 (8) _Hostess. _

 Well, fare thee well! I have known thee these twenty-nine years come Peascod time. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (412). 

 (9) _Leontes. _

 How like, methought, I then was to this kernel, This Squash, this gentleman. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act i, sc. 2 (159). 

 (10)

 _Peascod, Pease-Blossom, and Squash_--Dramatis personæ in _Midsummer Night's Dream_. 

There is no need to say much of Peas, but it may be worth a note inpassing that in old English we seldom meet with the word Pea. Peas orPease (the Anglicised form of Pisum) is the singular, of which theplural is Peason. "Pisum is called in Englishe a Pease;" says Turner--

 "Alle that for me thei doo pray, Helpeth me not to the uttermost day The value of a Pese. "

 _The Child of Bristowe_, p. 570. 

And the word was so used in and after Shakespeare's time, as by BenJonson--

 "A pill as small as a pease. "--_Magnetic Lady. _

The Squash is the young Pea, before the Peas are formed in it, and thePeascod is the ripe shell of the Pea before it is shelled. [202:1] Thegarden Pea (_Pisum sativum_) is the cultivated form of a plant found inthe South of Europe, but very much altered by cultivation. It wasprobably not introduced into England as a garden vegetable long beforeShakespeare's time. It is not mentioned in the old lists of plantsbefore the sixteenth century, and Fuller tells us that in QueenElizabeth's time they were brought from Holland, and were "fit daintiesfor ladies, they came so far and cost so dear. "

The beautiful ornamental Peas (Sweet Peas, Everlasting Peas, &c. ) are ofdifferent family (Lathyrus, not Pisum), but very closely allied. Thereis a curious amount of folklore connected with Peas, and in every casethe Peas and Peascods are connected with wooing the lasses. Thisexplains Touchstone's speech (No. 6). Brand gives several instances ofthis, from which one stanza from Browne's "Pastorals" may be quoted--

 "The Peascod greene, oft with no little toyle, He'd seek for in the fattest, fertil'st soile, And rend it from the stalke to bring it to her, And in her bosom for acceptance wooe her. "

 Book ii, song 3. 

FOOTNOTES:

[202:1] The original meaning of Peascod is a bag of peas. Cod is bag asMatt. X. 10--"ne codd, ne hlaf, ne feo on heora gyrdlum--'not a bag, nota loaf, not (fee) money in their girdles. '"--COCKAYNE, _Spoon andSparrow_, p. 518. 

PEONY, _see_ PIONY. 

PEPPER. 

 (1) _Hotspur. _

 Such protest of Pepper-gingerbread. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 1 (260). (_See_ GINGER, 9. )

 (2) _Falstaff. _

 An I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of, I am a Pepper-corn, a brewer's horse. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 3 (8). 

 (3) _Poins. _

 Pray God, you have not murdered some of them. 

 _Falstaff. _

 Nay, that's past praying for, for I have Peppered two of them. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 4 (210). 

 (4) _Falstaff. _

 I have led my ragamuffins, where they are Peppered. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 3 (36). 

 (5) _Mercutio. _

 I am Peppered, I warrant, for this world. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act iii, sc. 1 (102). 

 (6) _Ford. _

 He cannot 'scape me, 'tis impossible he should; he cannot creep into a halfpenny purse or into a Pepper-box. 

 _Merry Wives_, act iii, sc. 5 (147). 

 (7) _Sir Andrew. _

 Here's the challenge, read it; I warrant there's vinegar and Pepper in't. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act iii, sc. 4 (157). 

Pepper is the seed of Piper nigrum, "whose drupes form the black Pepperof the shops when dried with the skin upon them, and white Pepper whenthat flesh is removed by washing. "--LINDLEY. It is, like all thepepperworts, a native of the Tropics, but was well known both to theGreeks and Romans. By the Greeks it was probably not much used, but inRome it seems to have been very common, if we may judge by Horace'slines--

 "Deferar in vicum, vendentem thus et odores, Et piper, et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis. "

 _Epistolæ_ ii, 1-270. 

And in another place he mentions "Pipere albo" as an ingredient incooking. Juvenal mentions it as an article of commerce, "piperis coemti"(Sat. Xiv. 293). Persius speaks of it in more than one passage, andPliny describes it so minutely that he evidently not only knew theimported spice, but also had seen the living plant. By the Romans it wasprobably introduced into England, being frequently met with in theAnglo-Saxon Leech-books. It is mentioned by Chaucer--

 "And in an erthen pot how put is al, And salt y-put in and also Paupere. "

 _Prologue of the Chanoune's Yeman. _

It was apparently, like Ginger, a very common condiment in Shakespeare'stime, and its early introduction into England as an article of commerceis shown by passages in our old law writers, who speak of thereservation of rent, not only in money, but in "pepper, cummim, andwheat;" whence arose the familiar reservation of a single peppercorn asa rent so nominal as to have no appreciable pecuniary value. [204:1]

The red or Cayenne Pepper is made from the ground seeds of theCapsicum, but I do not find that it was used to known in the sixteenthcentury. 

FOOTNOTES:

[204:1] Littleton does not mention Pepper when speaking of rentsreserved otherwise than in money, but specifies as instances, "unchival, ou un esperon dor, ou un clovegylofer"--a horse, a golden spur, or a clove gilliflower. 

PIG-NUTS. 

 _Caliban. _

 I prythee let me bring thee where Crabs grow; And I with my long nails will dig thee Pig-nuts. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 2 (171). 

Pig-nuts or Earth-nuts are the tuberous roots of Conopodium denudatum(_Bunium flexuosum_), a common weed in old upland pastures; it is foundalso in woods. This root is really of a pleasant flavour when firsteaten, but leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth. It is said to bemuch improved by roasting, and to be then quite equal to Chestnuts. Yetit is not much prized in England except by pigs and children, who do notmind the trouble of digging for it. But the root lies deep, and thestalk above it is very brittle, and "when the little 'howker' breaks thewhite shank he at once desists from his attempt to reach the root, forhe believes that it will elude his search by sinking deeper and deeperinto the ground" (Johnston). I have never heard of its being cultivatedin England, but it is cultivated in some European countries, and muchprized as a wholesome and palatable root. 

PINE. 

 (1) _Prospero. _

 She did confine thee, * * * * *

 Into a cloven Pine;

 * * * * *

 It was mine art, When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape The Pine and let thee out. 

 _Tempest_, act i, sc. 2 (273). 

 (2) _Suffolk. _

 Thus droops this lofty Pine and hangs his sprays. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act ii, sc. 3 (45). 

 (3) _Prospero. _

 And by the spurs plucked up The Pine and Cedar. 

 _Tempest_, act v, sc. 1 (47). 

 (4) _Agamemnon. _

 As knots, by the conflux of meeting sap, Infect the sound Pine and divert his grain Tortive and errant from his course of growth. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act i, sc. 3 (7). 

 (5) _Antony. _

 Where yonder Pine does stand I shall discover all. 

 * * * * *

 This Pine is bark'd That overtopped them all. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act iv, sc. 12 (23). 

 (6) _Belarius. _

 As the rudest wind That by the top doth take the mountain Pine, And make him stoop to the vale. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (174). 

 (7) _1st Lord. _

 Behind the tuft of Pines I met them. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act ii, sc. 1 (33). 

 (8) _Richard. _

 But when from under this terrestrial ball He fires the proud top of the eastern Pines. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 2 (41). 

 (9) _Antonio. _

 You may as well forbid the mountain Pines To wag their high tops and to make no noise, When they are fretten with the gusts of heaven. 

 _Merchant of Venice_, act iv, sc. 1 (75). 

 (10)

 Ay me! the bark peel'd from the lofty Pine, His leaves will wither, and his sap decay; So must my soul, her bark being peel'd away. 

 _Lucrece_ (1167). 

In No. 8 is one of those delicate touches which show Shakespeare's keenobservation of nature, in the effect of the rising sun upon a group ofPine trees. Mr. Ruskin says that with the one exception of Wordsworth noother English poet has noticed this. Wordsworth's lines occur in one ofhis minor poems on leaving Italy--

 "My thoughts become bright like yon edging of Pines On the steep's lofty verge--how it blackened the air! But touched from behind by the sun, it now shines With threads that seem part of its own silver hair. "

While Mr. Ruskin's account of it is this: "When the sun rises behind aridge of Pines, and those Pines are seen from a distance of a mile ortwo against his light, the whole form of the tree, trunk, branches andall, becomes one frost-work of intensely brilliant silver, which isrelieved against the clear sky like a burning fringe, for some distanceon either side of the sun. "--_Stones of Venice_, i. 240. 

The Pine is the established emblem of everything that is "high andlifted up, " but always with a suggestion of dreariness and solitude. Soit is used by Shakespeare and by Milton, who always associated the Pinewith mountains; and so it has always been used by the poets, even downto our own day. Thus Tennyson--

 "They came, they cut away my tallest Pines-- My dark tall Pines, that plumed the craggy ledge-- High o'er the blue gorge, and all between The snowy peak and snow-white cataract Fostered the callow eaglet; from beneath Whose thick mysterious boughs in the dark morn The panther's roar came muffled while I sat Down in the valley. "

 _Complaint of Ænone. _

Sir Walter Scott similarly describes the tree in the pretty andwell-known lines--

 "Aloft the Ash and warrior Oak Cast anchor in the rifted rock; And higher yet the Pine tree hung His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, His boughs athwart the narrow sky. "

Yet the Pine which was best known to Shakespeare, and perhaps the onlyPine he knew, was the Pinus sylvestris, or Scotch fir, and this, thoughflourishing on the highest hills where nothing else will flourish, certainly attains its fullest beauty in sheltered lowland districts. There are probably much finer Scotch firs in Devonshire than can befound in Scotland. This is the only indigenous Fir, though the Pinuspinaster claims to be a native of Ireland, some cones having beensupposed to be found in the bogs, but the claim is not generally allowed(there is no proof of the discovery of the cones); and yet it has becomeso completely naturalized on the coast of Dorsetshire, especially aboutBournemouth, that it has been admitted into the last edition ofSowerby's "English Botany. "

But though the Scotch Fir is a true native, and was probably much moreabundant in England formerly than it is now, the tree has no genuineEnglish name, and apparently never had. Pine comes directly and withoutchange from the Latin, _Pinus_, as one of the chief products, pitch, comes directly from the Latin, _pix_. In the early vocabularies it iscalled "Pin-treow, " and the cones are "Pin-nuttes. " They were alsocalled "Pine apples, " and the tree was called the Pine-AppleTree. [208:1] This name was transferred to the rich West Indianfruit[208:2] from its similarity to a fir-cone, and so was lost to thefruit of the fir-tree, which had to borrow a new name from the Greek;but it was still in use in Shakespeare's day--

 "Sweete smelling Firre that frankensence provokes, And Pine Apples from whence sweet juyce doth come. "

 CHESTER'S _Love's Martyr_. 

And Gerard describing the fruit of the Pine Tree, says: "This Apple iscalled in . . . Low Dutch, Pyn Appel, and in English, Pine-apple, clog, and cones. " We also find "Fyre-tree, " which is a true English wordmeaning the "fire-tree;" but I believe that "Fir" was originallyconfined to the timber, from its large use for torches, and was not tilllater years applied to the living tree. 

The sweetness of the Pine seeds, joined to the difficulty of extractingthem, and the length of time necessary for their ripening, did notescape the notice of the emblem-writers of the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies. With them it was the favourite emblem of the happy results ofpersevering labour. Camerarius, a contemporary of Shakespeare and agreat botanist, gives a pretty plate of a man holding a Fir-cone, withthis moral: "Sic ad virtutem et honestatem et laudabiles actiones nonnisi per labores ac varias difficultates perveniri potest, at posteasequuntur suavissimi fructus. " He acknowledges his obligation for thismoral to the proverb of Plautus: "Qui e nuce nucleum esse vult, frangatnucem" ("Symbolorum, " &c. , 1590). 

In Shakespeare's time a few of the European Conifers were grown inEngland, including the Larch, but only as curiosities. The very largenumber of species which now ornament our gardens and Pineta from Americaand Japan were quite unknown. The many uses of the Pine--for its timber, production of pitch, tar, resin, and turpentine--were well known andvalued. Shakespeare mentions both pitch and tar. 

FOOTNOTES:

[208:1] For many examples see "Catholicon Anglicum, " s. V. Pyne-Tree, with note. 

[208:2] The West Indian Pine Apple is described by Gerard as "Ananas, the Pinea, or Pine Thistle. "

PINKS. 

 (1) _Romeo. _

 A most courteous exposition. 

 _Mercutio. _

 Nay, I am the very Pink of courtesy. 

 _Romeo. _

 Pink for flower. 

 _Mercutio. _

 Right. 

 _Romeo. _

 Why, then is my pump well flowered. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 4 (60). 

 (2) _Maiden. _

 Pinks of odour faint. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Introd. Song. 

To these may perhaps be added the following, from the second verse sungby Mariana in "Measure for Measure, " act iv, sc. 1 (337)--

 Hide, oh hide, those hills of snow Which thy frozen bosom bears! On whose tops the Pinks that grow Are of those that April wears. 

The authority is doubtful, but it is attributed to Shakespeare in someeditions of his poems. 

The Pink or Pincke was, as now, the name of the smaller sorts ofCarnations, and was generally applied to the single sorts. It must havebeen a very favourite flower, as we may gather from the phrase "Pink ofcourtesy, " which means courtesy carried to its highest point; and fromSpenser's pretty comparison--

 "Her lovely eyes like Pincks but newly spred. "

 _Amoretti_, Sonnet 64. 

The name has a curious history. It is not, as most of us would suppose, derived from the colour, but the colour gets its name from the plant. The name (according to Dr. Prior) comes through _Pinksten_ (German), from Pentecost, and so was originally applied to one species--theWhitsuntide Gilliflower. From this it was applied to other species ofthe same family. It is certainly "a curious accident, " as Dr. Priorobserves, "that a word that originally meant 'fiftieth' should come tobe successively the name of a festival of the Church, of a flower, of anornament in muslin called _pinking_, of a colour, and of a sword stab. "Shakespeare uses the word in three of its senses. First, as applied to acolour--

 Come, thou monarch of the Vine, Plumpy Bacchus with Pink eyne. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act ii, sc. 7. [210:1]

Second, as applied to an ornament of dress in Romeo's person--

 Then is my pump well flowered;

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 4. 

_i. E. _, well pinked. And in Grumio's excuses to Petruchio for thenon-attendance of the servants--

 Nathaniel's coat, Sir, was not fully made, And Gabriel's pumps were all unpinked I' the heel. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act iv, sc. 1. 

And thirdly, as the pinked ornament in muslin--

 There's a haberdasher's wife of small wit near him, that railed upon me till her Pink'd porringer fell off her head. 

 _Henry VIII_, act v, sc. 3. 

And as applied to the flower in the passage quoted above. He also usesit in another sense--

 This Pink is one of Cupid's carriers; Clap on more sail--pursue!

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act ii, sc. 7. 

where pink means a small country vessel often mentioned under that nameby writers of the sixteenth century. 

FOOTNOTES:

[210:1] It is very probable that this does not refer to thecolour--"Pink = winking, half-shut. "--SCHMIDT. And see Nares, s. V. Pinkeeyne. 

PIONY. 

 _Iris. _

 Thy banks with Pioned and twilled brims, Which spongy April at thy best betrims, To make cold nymphs chaste crowns. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (65). 

There is much dispute about this passage, the dispute turning on thequestion whether "Pioned" has reference to the Peony flower or not. Theword by some is supposed to mean only "digged, " and it doubtless oftenhad this meaning, [211:1] though the word is now obsolete, and onlysurvives with us in "pioneer, " which, in Shakespeare's time, meant"digger" only, and not as now, "one who goes before to prepare theway"--thus Hamlet--

 Well said, old mole! cans't work i' the earth so fast? A worthy pioner?

 _Hamlet_, act i, sc. 5 (161). 

and again--

 There might you see the labouring pioner Begrim'd with sweat, and smeared all with dust. 

 _Lucrece_ (1380). 

But this reading seems very tame, tame in itself, and doubly tame whentaken in connection with the context, and "Certainly savours more of thecommentators' prose than of Shakespeare's poetry" ("Edinburgh Review, "1872, p. 363). I shall assume, therefore, that the flower is meant, spelt in the form of "Piony, " instead of Peony or Pæony. [211:2]

The Pæony (_P. Corallina_) is sometimes allowed a place in the Britishflora, having been found apparently wild at the Steep Holmes in theBristol Channel and a few other places, but it is now consideredcertain that in all these places it is a garden escape. Gerard gave onesuch habitat: "The male Peionie groweth wilde upon a Coneyberry inBetsome, being in the parish of Southfleet, in Kent, two miles fromGravesend, and in the ground sometimes belonging to a farmer there, called John Bradley;" but on this his editor adds the damaging note: "Ihave been told that our author himselfe planted that Peionee there, andafterwards seemed to find it there by accident; and I do believe it wasso, because none before or since have ever seen or heard of it growingwild since in any part of this kingdome. "

But though not a native plant, it had been cultivated in England longbefore Shakespeare's and Gerard's time. It occurs in most of the oldvocabularies from the tenth century downwards, and in Shakespeare's timethe English gardens had most of the European species that are now grown, including also the handsome double-red and white varieties. Since histime the number of species and varieties has been largely increased bythe addition of the Chinese and Japanese species, and by the labours ofthe French nurserymen, who have paid more attention to the flower thanthe English. 

In the hardy flower garden there is no more showy family than the Pæony. They have flowers of many colours, from almost pure white and paleyellow to the richest crimson; and they vary very much in their foliage, most of them having large fleshy leaves, "not much unlike the leaves ofthe Walnut tree, " but some of them having their leaves finely cut anddivided almost like the leaves of Fennel (_P. Tenuifolia_). They furthervary in that some are herbaceous, disappearing entirely in winter, whileothers, Moutan or Tree Pæonies, are shrubs; and in favourable seasons, when the shrub is not injured by spring frosts, there is no grandershrub than an old Tree Pæony in full flower. 

Of the many different species the best are the Moutans, which, accordingto Chinese tradition, have been grown in China for 1500 years, and whichare now produced in great variety of colour; P. Corallina, for thebeauty of its coral-like seeds; P. Cretica, for its earliness inflowering; P. Tenuifolia, single and double, for its elegant foliage; P. Whitmaniana, for its pale yellow but very fleeting flowers, which, before they are fully expanded, have all the appearance of immenseGlobe-flowers (_trollius_); P. Lobata, for the wonderful richness of itsbright crimson flowers; and P. Whitleji, a very old and very double formof P. Edulis, of great size, and most delicate pink and white colour. 

FOOTNOTES:

[211:1]

 "Which to outbarre, with painful pyonings, From sea to sea, he heapt a mighty mound!"

 SPENSER, _F. Q. _, ii, 10, 46. 

[211:2] The name was variously spelt, _e. G. _--

 "And other trees there was mane one The Pyany, the Poplar, and the Plane. "

 _The Squyr of Lowe Degre_, 39. 

 "The pretie Pinke and purple Pianet. "

 CUTWODE, _Caltha Poetarum_, 1599, st. 24. 

 "A Pyon (Pyion A. ) dionia, herba est. "--_Catholicon Anglicum. _

PIPPIN, _see_ APPLE. 

PLANE. 

 _Daughter. _

 I have sent him where a Cedar, Higher than all the rest, spreads like a Plane Fast by a brook. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act ii, sc. 6 (4). 

There is no certain record how long the Plane has been introduced intoEngland; it is certainly not a native tree, nor even an European tree, but came from the East, and was largely planted and much admired both bythe Greeks and Romans. We know from Pliny that it was growing in Francein his day on the part opposite Britain, and the name occurs in the oldvocabularies. But from Turner's evidence in 1548 it must have been avery scarce tree in the sixteenth century. He says: "I never saw anyPlaine tree in Englande, saving once in Northumberlande besyde Morpeth, and an other at Barnwell Abbey besyde Cambryge. " And more than a hundredyears later Evelyn records a special visit to Lee to inspect one as agreat curiosity. The Plane is not only a very handsome tree, and a fastgrower, but from the fact that it yearly sheds its bark it has becomeone of the most useful trees for growing in towns. The wood is of verylittle value. To the emblem writers the Plane was an example ofsomething good to the eye, but of no real use. Camerarius so moralizesit (Pl. Xix. ), and, quoting Virgil's "steriles platanos, " he says of it, "umbram non fructum platanus dat. "

PLANTAIN. 

 (1) _Costard. _

 O sir, Plantain, a plain Plantain! no l'envoy, no l'envoy; no salve, sir, but a Plantain. 

 * * * * *

 _Moth. _

 By saying that a costard was broken in a shin. Then call'd you for the l'envoy. 

 _Costard. _

 True! and I for a Plantain. 

 _Loves Labour's Lost_, act iii, sc. 1 (76). 

 (2) _Romeo. _

 Your Plantain leaf is excellent for that. 

 _Benvolio. _

 For what, I pray thee?

 _Romeo. _

 For your broken shin. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act i, sc. 2 (52). 

 (3) _Troilus. _

 As true as steel, as Plantage to the moon. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act iii, sc. 2 (184). 

 (4) _Palamon. _

 These poore slight sores Neede not a Plantin. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act i, sc. 2 (65). 

The most common old names for the Plantain were Waybroad (corrupted toWeybread, Wayborn, and Wayforn) and Ribwort. It was also calledLamb's-tongue and Kemps, while the flower spike with the stalk wascalled Cocks and Cockfighters (still so called by children). [214:1] Theold name of Ribwort was derived from the ribbed leaves, while Waybroadmarked its universal appearance, scattered by all roadsides andpathways, and literally bred by the wayside. It has a similar name inGerman, Wegetritt, that is Waytread; and on this account the Swedes namethe plant Wagbredblad, and the Indians of North America Whiteman's Foot, for it springs up near every new settlement, having sprung up after theEnglish settlers, not only in America, but also in Australia and NewZealand--

 "Whereso'er they move, before them Swarms the stinging fly, the Ahmo, Swarms the bee, the honey-maker: Wheresoe'er they tread, beneath them Springs a flower unknown among us, Springs the 'White man's foot' in blossom. "

 LONGFELLOW'S _Hiawatha_. 

And "so it is a mistake to say that Plantain is derived from thelikeness of the plant to the sole of the foot, as in Richardson'sDictionary. Rather say, because the herb grows under the sole of thefoot. "--JOHNSTON. How, or when, or why the plant lost its old Englishnames to take the Latin name of Plantain, it is hard to say. It occursin a vocabulary of the names of plants of the middle of the thirteenthcentury--"Plantago, Planteine, Weibrode, " and apparently came to us fromthe French, "Cy est assets de Planteyne, Weybrede. "--WALTER DEBIBLESWORTH (13th cent. ) But with the exception of Chaucer[215:1] Ibelieve Shakespeare is almost the only early writer that uses the name, though it is very certain that he did not invent it; but "Plantage" (No3), which is doubtless the same plant, is peculiar to him. [215:2]

It was as a medical herb that our forefathers chiefly valued thePlantain, and for medical purposes its reputation was of the veryhighest. In a book of recipes (Lacnunga) of the eleventh century, byÆlfric, is an address to the Waybroad, which is worth extracting atlength--

 "And thou, Waybroad! Mother of worts, Open from eastward, Mighty within; Over thee carts creaked, Over thee Queens rode, Over thee brides bridalled, Over thee bulls breathed, All these thou withstood'st Venom and vile things And all the loathly ones That through the land rove. "

 COCKAYNE'S _Translation_. 

In another earlier recipe book the Waybroad is prescribed fortwenty-two diseases, one after another; and in another of the same datewe are taught how to apply it: "If a man ache in half his head . . . Delve up Waybroad without iron ere the rising of the sun, bind the rootsabout the head with Crosswort by a red fillet, soon he will be well. "But the Plantain did not long sustain its high reputation, which even inShakespeare's time had become much diminished. "I find, " says Gerard, "in ancient writers many good-morrowes, which I think not meet to bringinto your memorie againe; as that three roots will cure one griefe, fouranother disease, six hanged about the neck are good for another maladie, &c. , all which are but ridiculous toys. " Yet the bruised leaves stillhave some reputation as a styptic and healing plaster among countryherbalists, and perhaps the alleged virtues are not altogether fanciful. 

As a garden plant the Plantain can only be regarded as a weed andnuisance, especially on lawns, where it is very difficult to destroythem. Yet there are some curious varieties which may claim a cornerwhere botanical curiosities are grown. The Plantain seems to have apeculiar tendency to run into abnormal forms, many of which will befound described and figured in Dr. Masters' "Vegetable Teratology, " andamong these forms are two which are exactly like a double green Rose, and have been cultivated as the Rose Plantain for many years. They weregrown by Gerard, who speaks of "the beauty which is in the plant, " andcompared it to "a fine double Rose of a hoary or rusty greene colour. "Parkinson also grew it and valued it highly. 

FOOTNOTES:

[214:1] Of these names Plantain properly belongs to Plantago major;Lamb's-tongue to P. Media; and Kemps, Cocks, and Ribwort to P. Lanceolata. 

[215:1]

 "His forehead dropped as a stillatorie Were ful of Plantayn and peritorie. "

 _Prologue of the Chanoune's Yeman. _

[215:2] Nares, and Schmidt from him, consider Plantage = anythingplanted. 

PLUMS, WITH DAMSONS AND PRUNES. 

 (1) _Constance. _

 Give grandam kingdom, and it grandam will Give it a Plum, a Cherry, and a Fig. 

 _King John_, act ii, sc. 1 (161). 

 (2) _Hamlet. _

 The satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and Plum-tree gum. 

 _Hamlet_, act ii, sc. 2 (198). 

 (3) _Simpcox. _

 A fall off a tree. 

 _Wife. _

 A Plum-tree, master. 

 * * * * *

 _Gloucester. _

 Mass, thou lovedst Plums well that wouldst venture so. 

 _Simpcox. _

 Alas! good master, my wife desired some Damsons, And made me climb with danger of my life. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act ii, sc. 1 (196). 

 (4) _Evans. _

 I will dance and eat Plums at your wedding. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act v, sc. 5. [217:1]

 (5)

 The mellow Plum doth fall, the green sticks fast, Or, being early pluck'd, is sour to taste. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (527). 

 (6)

 Like a green Plum that hangs upon a tree, And falls, through wind, before the fall should be. 

 _Passionate Pilgrim_ (135). 

 (7) _Slender. _

 Three veneys for a dish of stewed Prunes. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act i, sc. 1 (295). 

 (8) _Falstaff. _

 There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed Prune. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 3 (127). 

 (9) _Pompey. _

 Longing (saving your honour's presence) for stewed Prunes. 

 * * * * *

 And longing, as I said, for Prunes. 

 * * * * *

 You being then, if you he remembered, cracking the stones of the foresaid Prunes. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act ii, sc. 1 (92). 

 (10) _Clown. _

 Four pounds of Prunes, and as many of Raisins of the sun. 

 _Winters Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (51). 

 (11) _Falstaff. _

 Hang him, rogue; he lives upon mouldy stewed Prunes and dried cakes. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (158). 

Plums, Damsons, and Prunes may conveniently be joined together, Plumsand Damsons being often used synonymously (as in No. 3), and Prunesbeing the dried Plums. The Damsons were originally, no doubt, a goodvariety from the East, and nominally from Damascus. [217:2] They seem tohave been considered great delicacies, as in a curious allegoricaldrama of the fifteenth century, called "La Nef de Sante, " of which anaccount is given by Mr. Wright: "Bonne-Compagnie, to begin the day, orders a collation, at which, among other things, are served Damsons(_Prunes de Damas_), which appear at this time to have been consideredas delicacies. There is here a marginal direction to the purport that ifthe morality should be performed in the season when real Damsons couldnot be had, the performers must have some made of wax to look like realones" ("History of Domestic Manners, " &c. ). 

The garden Plums are a good cultivated variety of our own wild Sloe, buta variety that did not originate in England, and may very probably havebeen introduced by the Romans. The Sloe and Bullace are, speakingbotanically, two sub-species of Prunus communis, while the Plum is athird sub-species (P. Communis domestica). The garden Plum isoccasionally found wild in England, but is certainly not indigenous. Itis somewhat strange that our wild plant is not mentioned by Shakespeareunder any of its well-known names of Sloe, Bullace, and Blackthorn. Notonly is it a shrub of very marked appearance in our hedgerows in earlyspring, when it is covered with its pure white blossoms, but Blackthornstaves were indispensable in the rough game of quarterstaff, and theSloe gave point to more than one English proverb: "as black as a Sloe, "was a very common comparison, and "as useless as a Sloe, " or "not wortha Sloe, " was as common. 

 "Sir Amys answered, 'Tho' I give thee thereof not one Sloe! Do right all that thou may!"

 _Amys and Amylion_--ELLIS'S _Romances_. 

 "The offecial seyde, Thys ys nowth Be God, that me der bowthe, Het ys not worthe a Sclo. "

 _The Frere and His Boy_--RITSON'S _Ancient Popular Poetry_. 

Though even as a fruit the Sloe had its value, and was not altogetherdespised by our ancestors, for thus Tusser advises--

 "By thend of October go gather up Sloes, Have thou in readines plentie of thoes, And keepe them in bed-straw, or still on the bow, To staie both the flix of thyselfe and thy cow. "

As soon as the garden Plum was introduced, great attention seems to havebeen paid to it, and the gardeners of Shakespeare's time could probablyshow as good Plums as we can now. "To write of Plums particularly, " saidGerard, "would require a peculiar volume. . . . Every clymate hath hisowne fruite, far different from that of other countries; my selfe havethreescore sorts in my garden, and all strange and rare; there be inother places many more common, and yet yearly commeth to our handsothers not before knowne. "

FOOTNOTES:

[217:1] Omitted in the Globe edition. 

[217:2] Bullein, in his "Government of Health, " 1588, calls them"Damaske Prunes. "

POMEGRANATE. 

 (1) _Lafeu. _

 Go to, sir, you were beaten in Italy for picking a kernel out of a Pomegranate. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act ii, sc. 3 (275). 

 (2) _Juliet. _

 It was the nightingale and not the lark, That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; Nightly she sings on yon Pomegranate tree. [219:1]

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act iii, sc. 5 (2). 

 (3) _Francis. _

 Anon, anon, sir, Look down into the Pomegarnet, Ralph. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (41). 

There are few trees that surpass the Pomegranate in interest and beautycombined. "Whoever has seen the Pomegranate in a favourable soil andclimate, whether as a single shrub or grouped many together, has seenone of the most beautiful of green trees; its spiry shape andthick-tufted foliage of vigorous green, each growing shoot shaded intotenderer verdure and bordered with crimson and adorned with theloveliest flowers; filmy petals of scarlet lustre are put forth from thesolid crimson cup, and the ripe fruit of richest hue and most admirableshape. "--LADY CALCOTT'S _Scripture Herbal_. A simpler but more valuedtestimony to the beauty of the Pomegranate is borne in its selection forthe choicest ornaments on the ark of the Tabernacle, on the priest'svestments, and on the rich capitals of the pillars in the Temple ofSolomon. 

The native home of the Pomegranate is not very certainly known, but theevidence chiefly points to the North of Africa. It was very earlycultivated in Egypt, and was one of the Egyptian delicacies so fondlyremembered by the Israelites in their desert wanderings, and isfrequently met with in Egyptian sculpture. It was abundant in Palestine, and is often mentioned in the Bible, and always as an object of beautyand desire. It was highly appreciated by the Greeks and Romans, but itwas probably not introduced into Italy in very early times, as Pliny isthe first author that certainly mentions it, though some critics havesupposed that the _aurea mala_ and _aurea poma_ of Virgil and Ovid werePomegranates. From Italy the tree soon spread into other parts ofEurope, taking with it its Roman name of _Punica malus_ or _Pomumgranatum_. _Punica_ showed the country from which the Romans derived it, while _granatum_ (full of grains) marked the special characteristic ofthe fruit that distinguished it from all other so-called Apples. Gerardsays: "Pomegranates grow in hot countries, towards the south in Italy, Spaine, and chiefly in the kingdom of Granada, which is thought to be sonamed of the great multitude of Pomegranates, which be commonly called_Granata_. "[220:1] This derivation is very doubtful, but was commonlyaccepted in Gerard's day. [220:2] The Pomegranate lives and flowers wellin England, but when it was first introduced is not recorded. I do notfind it in the old vocabularies, but a prominent place is given to it in"that Gardeyn, wele wrought, " "the garden that so lyked me;"--

 "There were, and that I wote fulle well, Of Pomgarnettys a fulle gret delle, That is a fruit fulle welle to lyke, Namely to folk whaune they ben sike. "

 _Romaunt of the Rose. _

Turner describes it in 1548: "Pomegranat trees growe plentuously inItaly and in Spayne, and there are certayne in my Lorde's gardene atSyon, but their fruite cometh never with perfection. "[221:1]

Gerard had it in 1596, but from his description it seems that it was arecent acquisition. "I have recovered, " he says, "divers young treeshereof, by sowing of the seed or grains of the height of three or fourcubits, attending God's leisure for floures and fruit. " Three yearslater, in 1599, it is noticed for its flowers in Buttes's "Dyet's DryDinner" (as quoted by Brand), where it is asserted that "if one eatethree small Pomegranate flowers (they say) for a whole yeare he shall besafe from all manner of eyesore;" and Gerard speaks of the "wine whichis pressed forth of the Pomegranate berries named Rhoitas or wine ofPomegranates, " but this may have been imported. But, when introduced, itat once took kindly to its new home, so that Parkinson was able todescribe its flowers and fruits from personal observation. In all thesouthern parts of England it grows very well, and is one of the verybest trees we have to cover a south wall; it also grows well in towns, as may be seen at Bath, where a great many very fine specimens have beenplanted in the areas in front of the houses, and have grown to aconsiderable height. When thus planted and properly pruned, the treewill bear its beautiful flowers from May all through the summer; butgenerally the tree is so pruned that it cannot flower. It should bepruned like a Banksian Rose, and other plants that bear their flowers onlast year's shoots, _i. E. _, simply thinned, but not cut back or spurred. With this treatment the branches may be allowed to grow in their naturalway without being nailed in, and if the single-blossomed species begrown, the flowers in good summers will bear fruit. In 1876 I counted ona tree in Bath more than sixty fruit; the fruits will perhaps seldom beworth eating, but they are curious and handsome. The sorts usually grownare the pure scarlet (double and single), and a very double variety withthe flowers somewhat variegated. These are the most desirable, but thereare a few other species and varieties, including a very beautiful dwarfone from the East Indies that is too tender for our climateout-of-doors, but is largely grown on the Continent as a window plant. 

FOOTNOTES:

[219:1] In illustration of Juliet's speech Mr. Knight very aptly quotesa similar remark from Russell's "History of Aleppo, " adding that a"friend whose observations as a traveller are as accurate as hisdescriptions are graphic and forcible, informs us that throughout hisjourneys in the East he never heard such a choir of nightingales as in arow of Pomegranate trees that skirt the road from Smyrna to Bondjia. "

[220:1] In a Bill of Medicines furnished for the use of Edward I. 1306-7, is--

 "Item pro malis granatis vi. Lx s. Item pro vino malorum granatorun xx lb. , lx s. "

 _Archæological Journal_, xiv, 27. 

[220:2] See Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella, " vol. Iii. P. 346, note(Ed. 1849)--the arms of the city are a split Pomegranate. 

[221:1] "Names of Herbes, " s. V. Malus Punica. 

POMEWATER, _see_ APPLE. 

POPERING, _see_ PEAR. 

POPPY. 

 _Iago. _

 Not Poppy or Mandragora, Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world, Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep Which thou ownedst yesterday. 

 _Othello_, act iii, sc. 3 (330). 

The Poppy had of old a few other names, such as Corn-rose andCheese-bowls (a very old name for the flower), and being "of greatbeautie, although of evil smell, our gentlewomen doe call it JoneSilverpin. " This name is difficult of explanation, even with Parkinson'shelp, who says it meanes "faire without and foule within, " but itprobably alludes to its gaudy colour and worthlessness. But these namesare scarcely the common names of the plant, but rather nicknames; theusual name is, and always has been, Poppy, which is an easily tracedcorruption from the Latin _papaver_, the Saxon and Early English namesbeing variously spelt, _popig_ and _papig_, _popi_ and _papy_; so thatthe Poppy is another instance of a very common and conspicuous Englishplant known only or chiefly by its Latin name Anglicised. 

Our common English Poppy, "being of a beautiful and gallant red colour, "is certainly one of the handsomest of our wild flowers, and a Wheatfield with a rich undergrowth of scarlet Poppies is a sight very dear tothe artist, [223:1] while the weed is not supposed to do much harm to thefarmer. But this is not the Poppy mentioned by Iago, for its narcoticqualities are very small; the Poppy that he alludes to is the OpiumPoppy (_P. Somniferum_). This Poppy was well known and cultivated inEngland long before Shakespeare's day, but only as a garden ornament;the Opium was then, as now, imported from the East. Its deadly qualitieswere well known. Gower describes it--

 "There is growend upon the ground Popy that bereth the sede of slepe. "

 _Conf. Aman. _, lib. Quint. (2, 102 Paulli). 

Spenser speaks of the plant as the "dull Poppy, " and describing theGarden of Proserpina, he says--

 "There mournful Cypress grew in greatest store, And trees of bitter gall, and Heben sad, Dead-sleeping Poppy, and black Hellebore, Cold Coloquintida. "

 _F. Q. _, ii, 7, 52. 

And Drayton similarly describes it--

 "Here Henbane, Poppy, Hemlock here, Procuring deadly sleeping. "

 _Nymphal_ v. 

The name of opium does not seem to have been in general use, exceptamong the apothecaries. Chaucer, however, uses it--

 "A claire made of a certayn wyn, With necotykes, and opye of Thebes fyn. "

 _The Knightes Tale. _

And so does Milton--

 "Which no cooling herb Or medicinal liquor can asswage, Nor breath of vernal air from Snowy Alp; Sleep hath forsook and given me o'er To death's benumming opium as my only cure. "

 _Samson Agonistes. _

Many of the Poppies are very ornamental garden plants. The pretty yellowWelsh Poppy (_Meconopsis Cambrica_), abundant at Cheddar Cliffs, is anexcellent plant for the rockwork where, when once established, it willgrow freely and sow itself; and for the same place the little PapaverAlpinum, with its varieties, is equally well suited. For the open borderthe larger Poppies are very suitable, especially the great OrientalPoppy (_P. Orientale_) and the grand scarlet Siberian Poppy (_P. Bracteatum_), perhaps the most gorgeous of hardy plants: while among therarer species of the tribe we must reckon the Meconopses of theHimalayas (_M. Wallichi_ and _M. Nepalensis_), plants of singular beautyand elegance, but very difficult to grow, and still more difficult tokeep, even if once established; for though perfectly hardy, they arelittle more than biennials. Besides these Poppies, the large doublegarden Poppies are very showy and of great variety in colour, but theyare only annuals. 

FOOTNOTES:

[223:1] "We usually think of the Poppy as a coarse flower; but it is themost transparent and delicate of all the blossoms of the field. Therest, nearly all of them, depend on the texture of their surface forcolour. But the Poppy is painted _glass_; it never glows so brightly aswhen the sun shines through it. Wherever it is seen, against the lightor with the light, always it is a flame, and warms the wind like a blownruby. "--RUSKIN, _Proserpina_, p. 86. 

POTATO. 

 (1) _Thersites. _

 How the devil Luxury, with his fat rump and Potato-finger, tickles these together. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act v, sc. 2 (55). 

 (2) _Falstaff. _

 Let the sky rain Potatoes; let it thunder to the tune of Green Sleeves, hail kissing-comfits, and snow Eringoes. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act v, sc. 5 (20). 

The chief interest in these two passages is that they contain almost theearliest notice of Potatoes after their introduction into England. Thegenerally received account is that they were introduced into Ireland in1584 by Sir Walter Raleigh, and from thence brought into England; butthe year of their first planting in England is not recorded. They arenot mentioned by Lyte in 1586. Gerard grew them in 1597, but only ascuriosities, under the name of Virginian Potatoes (_BattataVirginianorum_ and _Pappas_), to distinguish them from the SpanishPotato, or Convolvulus Battatas, which had been long grown in Europe, and in the first edition of his "Herbal" is his portrait, showing himholding a Potato in his hand. They seem to have grown into favour veryslowly, for half a century after their introduction, Waller still spokeof them as one of the tropical luxuries of the Bermudas--

 "With candy'd Plantains and the juicy Pine, On choicest Melons and sweet Grapes they dine, And with Potatoes fat their wanton swine. "

 _The Battel of the Summer Islands. _

Potato is a corruption of Batatas or Patatas. 

As soon as the Potato arrived in England, it was at once invested withwonderful restorative powers, and in a long exhaustive note in Steevens'Shakespeare, Mr. Collins has given all the passages in the early writersin which the Potato is mentioned, and in every case they have referenceto these supposed virtues. These passages, which are chiefly from theold dramatists, are curious and interesting in the early history of thePotato, and as throwing light on the manners of our ancestors; but as inevery instance they are all more or less indelicate, I refrain fromquoting them here. 

As a garden plant, we now restrict the Potato to the kitchen garden andthe field, but it belongs to a very large family, the Solanaceæ orNightshades, of which many members are very ornamental, though as theychiefly come from the tropical regions, there are very few that can betreated as entirely hardy plants. One, however, is a very beautifulclimber--the Solanum jasminoides from South America--and quite hardy inthe South of England. Trained against a wall it will soon cover it, andwhen once established will bear its handsome trusses of white flowerswith yellow anthers in great profusion during the whole summer. A betterknown member of the family is the Petunia, very handsome, but littlebetter than an annual. The pretty Winter Cherry (_Physalis alkekengi_)is another member of the family, and so is the Mandrake (_see_MANDRAKE). The whole tribe is poisonous, or at least to be suspected, yet it contains a large number of most useful plants, as the Potato, Tomato, Tobacco, Datura, and Cayenne Pepper. 

PRIMROSE. 

 (1) _Queen. _

 The Violets, Cowslips, and the Primroses, Bear to my closet. 

 _Cymbeline_, act i, sc. 5 (83). 

 (2) _Queen. _

 I would be blind with weeping, sick with groans, Look pale as Primrose with blood-drinking sighs, And all to have the noble duke alive. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (62). 

 (3) _Arviragus. _

 Thou shalt not lack The flower that's like thy face, pale Primrose. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (220). 

 (4) _Hermia. _

 In the wood where often you and I Upon faint Primrose-beds were wont to lie. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act i, sc. 1 (214). 

 (5) _Perdita. _

 Pale Primroses, That die unmarried, ere they can behold Bright Phœbus in his strength. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (122). 

 (6) _Ophelia. _

 Like a puff'd and reckless libertine, Himself the Primrose path of dalliance treads And recks not his own rede. 

 _Hamlet_, act i, sc. 3 (49). 

 (7) _Porter. _

 I had thought to have let in some of all professions that go the Primrose way to the everlasting bonfire. 

 _Macbeth_, act ii, sc. 3 (20). 

 (8)

 Primrose, first-born child of Ver Merry spring-time's harbinger, With her bells dim. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Introd. Song. 

 (9)

 Witness this Primrose bank whereon I lie. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (151). 

Whenever we speak of spring flowers, the first that comes into ourminds is the Primrose. Both for its simple beauty and for its earlyarrival among us we give it the first place over

 "Whatsoever other flowre of worth And whatso other hearb of lovely hew, The joyous Spring out of the ground brings forth To cloath herself in colours fresh and new. "

It is a plant equally dear to children and their elders, so that Icannot believe that there is any one (except Peter Bell) to whom

 "A Primrose by the river's brim A yellow Primrose is to him-- And it is nothing more;"

rather I should believe that W. Browne's "Wayfaring Man" is a type ofmost English countrymen in their simple admiration of the commonflower--

 "As some wayfaring man passing a wood, Whose waving top hath long a sea-mark stood, Goes jogging on and in his mind nought hath, But how the Primrose finely strews the path, Or sweetest Violets lay down their heads At some tree's roots or mossy feather beds. "

 _Britannia's Pastorals_, i, 5. 

It is the first flower, except perhaps the Daisy, of which a childlearns the familiar name; and yet it is a plant of unfailing interest tothe botanical student, while its name is one of the greatest puzzles tothe etymologist. The common and easy explanation of the name is that itmeans the first Rose of the year, but (like so many explanations thatare derived only from the sound and modern appearance of a a name) thisis not the true account. The full history of the name is too long togive here, but the short account is this--"The old name was PrimeRolles--or primerole. Primerole is an abbreviation of Fr. , _primeverole_: It. , _primaverola_, diminutive of _prima vera_ from _flordi prima vera_, the first spring flower. _Primerole_, as an outlandishunintelligible word, was soon familiarized into _primerolles_, and thisinto _primrose_. "--DR. PRIOR. The name Primrose was not at first alwaysapplied to the flower, but was an old English word, used to showexcellence--

 "A fairer nymph yet never saw mine eie, She is the pride and Primrose of the rest. "

 SPENSER, _Colin Clout_. 

 "Was not I [the Briar] planted of thine own hande To bee the Primrose of all thy lande; With flow'ring blossomes to furnish the prime And scarlet berries in sommer time?"

 SPENSER, _Shepherd's Calendar--Februarie_. 

It was also a flower name, but not of our present Primrose, but of avery different plant. Thus in a Nominale of the fifteenth century wehave "hoc ligustrum, a Primerose;" and in a Pictorial Vocabulary of thesame date we have "hoc ligustrum, A{ce} a Prymrose;" and in the"Promptorium Parvulorum, " "Prymerose, primula, calendula, ligustrum"--and this name for the Privet lasted with a slight alterationinto Shakespeare's time. Turner in 1538 says, "ligustrum arbor est nonherba ut literatorū vulgus credit; nihil que minus est quam aPrymerose. " In Tusser's "Husbandry" we have "set Privie or Prim"(September Abstract), and--

 "Now set ye may The Box and Bay Hawthorn and Prim For clothe's trim"--(_January Abstract_). 

And so it is described by Gerard as the Privet or Prim Print (_i. E. _, _primé printemps_), and even in the seventeenth century, Cole says ofligustrum, "This herbe is called Primrose. " When the name was fixed toour present plant I cannot say, but certainly before Shakespeare's time, though probably not long before. It is rather remarkable that theflower, which we now so much admire, seems to have been very muchoverlooked by the writers before Shakespeare. In the very oldvocabularies it does not at all appear by its present Latin name, Primula vulgaris, but that is perhaps not to be wondered at, as nearlyall the old botanists applied that name to the Daisy. But neither is itmuch noticed by any English name. I can only find it in two of thevocabularies. In an English Vocabulary of the fourteenth century is "Hæcpimpinella, A{e} primerolle, " but it is very doubtful if this can be ourPrimrose, as the Pimpernel of old writers was the Burnet. Gowermentions it as the flower of the star Canis Minor--

 "His stone and herbe as saith the scole Ben Achates and Primerole. "

 _Conf. Aman. _ lib. Sept. (3, 130. Paulli). 

And in the treatise of Walter de Biblesworth (13th century) is--

 "Primerole et primeveyre (cousloppe) Sur tere aperunt en tems de veyre. "

I should think there is no doubt this is our Primrose. Then we haveChaucer's description of a fine lady--

 "Hir schos were laced on hir legges hyghe Sche was a Primerole, a piggesneyghe For any lord have liggyng in his bedde, Or yet for any gode yeman to wedde. "

 _The Milleres Tale. _

I have dwelt longer than usual on the name of this flower, because itgives us an excellent example of how much literary interest may be foundeven in the names of our common English plants. 

But it is time to come from the name to the flower. The English Primroseis one of a large family of more than fifty species, represented inEngland by the Primrose, the Oxlip, the Cowslip, and the Bird's-eyePrimrose of the North of England and Scotland. All the members of thefamily, whether British or exotic, are noted for the simple beauty oftheir flowers, but in this special character there is none thatsurpasses our own. "It is the very flower of delicacy and refinement;not that it shrinks from our notice, for few plants are more easilyseen, coming as it does when there is a dearth of flowers, when thefirst birds are singing, and the first bees humming, and the earliestgreen putting forth in the March and April woods; and it is one of thoseplants which dislikes to be looking cheerless, but keeps up asmouldering fire of blossom from the very opening of the year, if theweather will permit. "--FORBES WATSON. It is this character ofcheerfulness that so much endears the flower to us; as it brightens upour hedgerows after the dulness of winter, the harbinger of manybrighter perhaps, but not more acceptable, beauties to come, it is thevery emblem of cheerfulness. Yet it is very curious to note whatentirely different ideas it suggested to our forefathers. To them thePrimrose seems always to have brought associations of sadness, or evenworse than sadness, for the "Primrose paths" and "Primrose ways" of Nos. 6 and 7 are meant to be suggestive of pleasures, but sinful pleasures. 

Spenser associates it with death in some beautiful lines, in which ahusband laments the loss of a young and beautiful wife--

 "Mine was the Primerose in the lowly shade!

 * * * * *

 Oh! that so fair a flower so soon should fade, And through untimely tempest fade away. "

 _Daphnidia_, 232. 

In another place he speaks of it as "the Primrose trew"--_Prothalamion_;but in another place his only epithet for it is "green, " which quiteignores its brightness--

 "And Primroses greene Embellish the sweete Violet. "

 _Shepherd's Calendar--April. _

Shakespeare has no more pleasant epithets for our favourite flower than"pale, " "faint, " "that die unmarried;" and Milton follows in the samestrain yet sadder. Once, indeed, he speaks of youth as "Brisk as theApril buds in Primrose season" ("Comus"); but only in three passagesdoes he speak of the Primrose itself, and in two of these he connects itwith death--

 "Bring the rathe Primrose that forsaken dies, * * * * *

 And every flower that sad embroidery wears. "--_Lycidas. _

 "O fairest flower, no sooner blown but blasted, Soft silken Primrose fading timelesslie; Summer's chief honour, if thou hadst outlasted Bleak winter's force that made thy blossoms drie. "

 _On the Death of a Fair Infant. _

His third account is a little more joyous--

 "Now the bright morning star, daye's harbinger, Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her The flowery May, who from her green lap throws The yellow Cowslip and the pale Primrose. "

 _On May Morning. _

And nearly all the poets of that time spoke in the same strain, with theexception of Ben Jonson and the two Fletchers. Jonson spoke of it as"the glory of the spring" and as "the spring's own spouse. " GilesFletcher says--

 "Every bush lays deeply perfumed With Violets; the wood's late wintry head, Wide flaming Primroses set all on fire. "

And Phineas Fletcher--

 "The Primrose lighted new her flame displays, And frights the neighbour hedge with fiery rays. And here and there sweet Primrose scattered. 

 * * * * *

 Nature seem'd work'd by Art, so lively true, A little heaven or earth in narrow space she drew. "

I can only refer very shortly to the botanical interest of the Primula, and that only to direct attention to Mr. Darwin's paper in the "Journalof the Linnæan Society, " 1862, in which he records his very curious andpainstaking inquiries into the dimorphism of the Primula, a peculiarityin the Primula that gardeners had long recognized in their arrangementof Primroses as "pin-eyed" and "thrum-eyed. " It is perhaps owing to thisdimorphism that the family is able to show a very large number ofnatural hybrids. These have been carefully studied by Professor Kerner, of Innspruck, and it seems not unlikely that a further study will showthat all the European so-called species are natural hybrids from a veryfew parents. 

Yet a few words on the Primrose as a garden plant. If the Primrose betaken from the hedges in November, and planted in beds thickly in thegarden, they make a beautiful display of flowers and foliage fromFebruary till the beds are required for the summer flowers; and thereare few of our wild flowers that run into so many varieties in theirwild state. In Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire I have seen the wildPrimrose of nearly all shades of colour, from the purest white to analmost bright red, and these can all be brought into the garden with acertainty of success and a certainty of rapid increase. There are alsomany double varieties, all of which are more often seen in cottagegardens than elsewhere; yet no gardener need despise them. 

One other British Primrose, the Bird's-eye Primrose, almost defiesgarden cultivation, though in its native habitats in the north it growsin most ungenial places. I have seen places in the neighbourhood of thebleak hill of Ingleborough, where it almost forms the turf; yet awayfrom its native habitat it is difficult to keep, except in a greenhouse. For the cultivation of the other non-English species, I cannot do betterthan refer to an excellent paper by Mr. Niven in the "The Garden" forJanuary 29, 1876, in which he gives an exhaustive account of them. 

I am not aware that Primroses are of any use in medicine or cookery, yetTusser names the Primrose among "seeds and herbs for the kitchen, " andLyte says "the Cowslips, Primroses, and Oxlips are now used daylyamongst other pot herbes, but in physicke there is no great account madeof them. " They occur in heraldy. The arms of the Earls of Rosebery(Primrose) are three Primroses within a double tressure fleurycounter-fleury, or. 

PRUNES, _see_ PLUMS. 

PUMPION. 

 _Mrs. Ford. _

 Go to, then. We'll use this unwholesome humidity, this gross watery Pumpion. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iii, sc. 3 (42). 

The old name for the Cucumber (in Ælfric's "Vocabulary") is hwer-hwette, _i. E. _, wet ewer, but Pumpion, Pompion, and Pumpkin were general termsincluding all the Cucurbitaceæ such as Melons, Gourds, Cucumbers, andVegetable Marrows. All were largely grown in Shakespeare's days, but Ishould think the reference here must be to one of the large uselessGourds, for Mrs. Ford's comparison is to Falstaff, and Gourds were grownlarge enough to bear out even that comparison. "The Gourd groweth intoany forme or fashion you would have it, . . . Being suffered to climeupon an arbour where the fruit may hang; it hath beene seene to be ninefoot long. " And the little value placed upon the whole tribe helped tobear out the comparison. They were chiefly good to "cure copper faces, red and shining fierce noses (as red as red Roses), with pimples, pumples, rubies, and such-like precious faces. " This was Gerard'saccount of the Cucumber, while of the Cucumber Pompion, which wasevidently our Vegetable Marrow, and of which he has described andfigured the variety which we now call the Custard Marrow, he says, "itmaketh a man apt and ready to fall into the disease called the colerickepassion, and of some the felonie. "

Mrs. Ford's comparison of a big loutish man to an overgrown Gourd hasnot been lost in the English language, for "bumpkin" is only anotherform of "Pumpkin, " and Mr. Fox Talbot, in his "English Etymologies, " hasa very curious account of the antiquity of the nickname. "The Greeks, "he says, "called a very weak and soft-headed person a Pumpion, whencethe proverb πεπονος μαλακωτερος, softer than a Pumpion; and even one ofHomer's heroes, incensed at the timidity of his soldiers, exclaims ὠπεπονες, you Pumpions! So also _cornichon_ (Cucumber) is a term ofderision in French. "

Yet the Pumpion or Gourd had its uses, moral uses. Modern critics havedecided that Jonah's Gourd, "which came up in a night and perished in anight, " was not a Gourd, but the Palma Christi, or Castor-oil tree. Butour forefathers called it a Gourd, and believing that it was so, theyused the Gourd to point many a moral and illustrate many a religiousemblem. Thus viewed it was the standing emblem of the rapid growth andquick decay of evil-doers and their evil deeds. "Cito nata, citopereunt, " was the history of the evil deeds, while the doers of themcould only say--

 "Quasi solstitialis herba fui, Repente exortus sum, repente occidi. "

 PLAUTUS. 

QUINCE. 

 _Nurse. _

 They call for Dates and Quinces in the pastry. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act iv, sc. 4 (2). 

Quince is also the name of one of the "homespun actors" in "MidsummerNight's Dream, " and is no doubt there used as a ludicrous name. The namewas anciently spelt "coynes"--

 "And many homely trees ther were That Peches, Coynes, and Apples bere, Medlers, Plommes, Perys, Chesteyns, Cherys, of which many oon fayne is. "

 _Romaunt of the Rose. _

The same name occurs in the old English vocabularies, as in a Nominaleof the fifteenth century, "hæc cocianus, a coventre;" in an Englishvocabulary of the fourteenth century, "Hoc coccinum, a quoyne, " and inthe treatise of Walter de Biblesworth, in the thirteenth century--

 "Issi troverez en ce verger Estang un sek Coigner (a Coyn-tre, Quince-tre). "

And there is little doubt that "Quince" is a corruption of "coynes"which again is a corruption, not difficult to trace, of Cydonia, one ofthe most ancient cities of Crete, where the Quince tree is indigenous, and whence it derived its name of Pyrus Cydonia, or simply Cydonia. Ifnot indigenous elsewhere in the East, it was very soon cultivated, andespecially in Palestine. It is not yet a settled point, and probablynever will be, but there is a strong consensus of most of the bestcommentators, that the _Tappuach_ of Scripture, always translated Apple, was the Quince. It is supposed to be the fruit alluded to in theCanticles, "As the Apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is mybeloved among the sons; I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste;" and in Proverbs, "A word fitlyspoken is like Apples of gold in pictures of silver;" and the tree issupposed to have given its name to various places in Palestine, asTappuach, Beth-Tappuach, and Aen-Tappuach. 

By the Greeks and Romans the Quince was held in honour as the fruitespecially sacred to Venus, who is often represented as holding a Quincein her right hand, the gift which she received from Paris. In othersculptures "the amorous deities pull Quinces in gardens and play withthem. For persons to send Quinces in presents, to throw them at eachother, to eat them together, were all tokens of love; to dream ofQuinces was a sign of successful love" (Rosenmuller). The custom washanded down to mediæval times. It was at a wedding feast that "theycalled for Dates and Quinces in the pastry;" and Brand quotes a curiouspassage from the "Praise of Musicke, " 1586 ("Romeo and Juliet" waspublished in 1596)--"I come to marriages, wherein as our ancestors didfondly, and with a kind of doting, maintaine many rites and ceremonies, some whereof were either shadowes or abodements of a pleasant life tocome, as the eating of a Quince Peare to be a preparative of sweet anddelightful dayes between the married persons. "

To understand this high repute in which the Quince was held, we mustremember that the Quince of hot countries differs somewhat from theEnglish Quince. With us the fruit is of a fine, handsome shape, and of arich golden colour when fully ripe, and of a strong scent, which is veryagreeable to many, though too heavy and overpowering to others. But therind is rough and woolly, and the flesh is harsh and unpalatable, andonly fit to be eaten when cooked. In hotter countries the woolly rind issaid to disappear, and the fruit can be eaten raw; and this is the casenot only in Eastern countries, but also in the parts of Tropical Americato which the tree has been introduced from Europe. 

In England the Quince is probably less grown now than it was inShakespeare's time--yet it may well be grown as an ornamental shrub evenby those who do not appreciate its fruit. It forms a thick bush, withlarge white flowers, followed in the autumn by its handsome fruit, andrequires no care. "They love shadowy, moist places;" "It delighteth togrow on plaine and even ground and somewhat moist withall. " This wasLyte's and Gerard's experience, and I have never seen handsomer bushesor finer fruit than I once saw on some neglected bushes that skirted ahorsepond on a farm in Kent; the trees were evidently revelling in theirstate of moisture and neglect. The tree has a horticultural value asgiving an excellent stock for Pear-trees, on which it has a veryremarkable effect, for "Cabanis asserts that when certain Pears aregrafted on the Quince, their seeds yield more varieties than do theseeds of the same variety of Pear when grafted on the wildPear. "--DARWIN. Its economic value is considered to be but small, beingchiefly used for Marmalade, [236:1] but in Shakespeare's time, Brownespoke of it as "the stomach's comforter, the pleasing Quince, " andParkinson speaks highly of it, for "there is no fruit growing in theland, " he says, "that is of so many excellent uses as this, serving aswell to make many dishes of meat for the table, as for banquets, andmuch more for their physical virtues, whereof to write at large isneither convenient for me nor for this work. "

FOOTNOTES:

[236:1] This was a very old use for the Quince. Wynkyn de Worde, in the"Boke of Kervynge" (p. 266), speaks of "char de Quynce;" and JohnRussell, in the "Boke of Nurture" (l. 75), speaks of "chare de Quynces. "This was Quince marmalade. 

RADISH. 

 (1) _Falstaff. _

 When a' was naked, he was, for all the world, like a fork'd Radish. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 2 (333). 

 (2) _Falstaff. _

 If I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of Radish. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (205). 

There can be no doubt that the Radish was so named because it wasconsidered by the Romans, for some reason unknown to us, _the_ root _parexcellence_. It was used by them, as by us, "as a stimulus before meat, giving an appetite thereunto"--

 "Acria circum Rapula, lactucæ, Radices, qualia lassum Pervellunt stomachum. "--HORACE. 

But it was cultivated, or allowed to grow, to a much larger size than wenow think desirable. Pliny speaks of Radishes weighing 40lb. Each, andothers speak even of 60lb. And 100lb. But in Shakespeare's time theRadish was very much what it is now, a pleasant salad vegetable, but ofno great value. We read, however, of Radishes being put to strangeuses. Lupton, a writer of Shakespeare's day, says: "If you would killsnakes and adders strike them with a large Radish, and to handle addersand snakes without harm, wash your hands in the juice of Radishes andyou may do without harm" ("Notable Things, " 1586). 

We read also of great attempts being made to procure oil from the seed, but to no great effect. Hakluyt, in describing the sufficiency of theEnglish soil to produce everything necessary in the manufacture ofcloth, says: "So as there wanteth, if colours might be brought in andmade naturall, but onely oile; the want whereof if any man could deviseto supply at the full with anything that might become naturall in thisrealme, he, whatsoever he were that might bring it about, might deserveimmortal fame in this our Commonwealth, and such a devise was offered toParliament and refused, because they denied to allow him a certainliberty, some others having obtained the same before that practised towork that effect by Radish seed, which onely made a trial of smallquantity, and that went no further to make that oile in plenty, and nowhe that offered this devise was a merchant, and is dead, and withal thedevise is dead with him" ("Voiages, " vol. Ii. ). 

The Radish is not a native of Britain, but was probably introduced bythe Romans, and was well-known to the Anglo-Saxon gardener under itspresent name, but with a closer approach to the Latin, being calledRædic, or Radiolle. [237:1]

A curious testimony to the former high reputation of the Radish survivesin the "Annual Radish Feast at Levens Hall, a custom dating from timeimmemorial, and supposed by some to be a relic of feudal times, held onMay 12th at Levens Hall, the seat of the Hon. Mrs. Howard, and adjoiningthe high road about midway between Kendal and Milnthorpe. Tradition hathit that the Radish feast arose out of a rivalry between the families ofLevens Hall and Dallam Tower, as to which should entertain theCorporation with their friends and followers, and in which Levens Halleventually carried the palm. The feast is provided on the bowling greenin front of the Hall, where several long tables are plentifully spreadwith Radishes and brown bread and butter, the tables being repeatedlyfurnished with guests" ("Gardener's Chronicle"). 

FOOTNOTES:

[237:1] "Catholicon Anglicum. "

RAISINS. 

 _Clown. _

 Four pounds of Prunes and as many of Raisins o' the sun. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (51). 

Raisins are alluded to, if not actually named, in "1st Henry IV. , " actii, sc. 4, when Falstaff says: "If reasons were as plentiful asBlackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I----" "Itseems that a pun underlies this, the association of reasons withBlackberries springing out of the fact that _reasons_ sounded like_raisins_. "--EARLE, _Philology_, &c. 

Bearing in mind that Raisin is a corruption of _racemus_, a bunch ofGrapes, we can understand that the word was not always applied, as it isnow, to the dried fruit, but was sometimes applied to the bunch ofGrapes as it hung ripe on the tree--

 "For no man at the firste stroke He may not felle down an Oke; Nor of the Reisins have the wyne Till Grapes be ripe and welle afyne. "

 _Romaunt of the Rose. _

The best dried fruit were Raisins of the sun, _i. E. _, dried in the sun, to distinguish them from those which were dried in ovens. They were, ofcourse, foreign fruit, and were largely imported. The process of dryingin the sun is still the method in use, at least, with "the finer kinds, such as Muscatels, which are distinguished as much by the mode of dryingas by the variety and soil in which they are grown, the finest beingdried on the Vines before gathering, the stalk being partly cut throughwhen the fruits are ripe, and the leaves being removed from near theclusters, so as to allow the full effect of the sun in ripening. "

The Grape thus becomes a Raisin, but it is still further transformedwhen it reaches the cook; it then becomes a Plum, for Plum pudding has, as we all know, Raisins for its chief ingredient and certainly no Plums;and the Christmas pie into which Jack Horner put in his thumb and pulledout a Plum must have been a mince-pie, also made of Raisins; but how acooked Raisin came to be called a Plum is not recorded. In Devonshireand Dorsetshire it undergoes a further transformation, for there Raisinsare called Figs, and a Plum pudding is called a Fig pudding. 

REEDS. 

 (1) _2nd Servant. _

 I had as lief have a Reed that will do me no service, as a partizan I could not heave. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act ii, sc. 7 (13). 

 (2) _Arviragus. _

 Fear no more the frown o' the great, Thou art past the tyrant's stroke; Care no more to clothe and eat; To thee the Reed is as the Oak; The sceptre, learning, physick, must All follow this, and come to dust. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (264). 

 (3) _Ariel. _

 His tears run down his beard, like winter's drops From eaves of Reeds. 

 _Tempest_, act v, sc. 1 (16). 

 (4) _Ariel. _

 With hair up-staring--then like Reeds, not hair--

 _Ibid. _, act i, sc. 2 (213). 

 (5) _Hotspur. _

 Swift Severn's flood; Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks, Ran fearfully among the trembling Reeds. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act 1, sc. 3 (103). 

 (6) _Portia. _

 And speak between the change of man and boy With a Reed voice. 

 _Merchant of Venice_, act iii, sc. 4 (66). 

 (7) _Wooer. _

 In the great Lake that lies behind the Pallace From the far shore thick set with Reeds and Sedges. 

 * * * * *

 The Rushes and the Reeds Had so encompast it. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 1 (71, 80). 

 (8)

 To Simois' Reedy banks the red blood ran. 

 _Lucrece_ (1437). 

Reed is a general term for almost any water-loving, grassy plant, and soit is used by Shakespeare. In the Bible it is perhaps possible toidentify some of the Reeds mentioned, with the Sugar Cane in someplaces, with the Papyrus in others, and in others with the Arundo donax. As a Biblical plant it has a special interest, not only as giving theemblem of the tenderest mercy that will be careful even of "the bruisedReed, " but also as entering largely into the mockery of the Crucifixion:"They put a Reed in His right hand, " and "they filled a sponge full ofvinegar, and put it upon a Reed and gave Him to drink. " The Reed inthese passages was probably the Arundo donax, a very elegant Reed, whichwas used for many purposes in Palestine, and is a most graceful plantfor English gardens, being perfectly hardy, and growing every year from12ft. To 14ft. In height, but very seldom flowering. [240:1]

But in Shakespeare, as in most writers, the Reed is simply the emblem ofweakness, tossed about by and bending to a superior force, and of littleor no use--"a Reed that will do me no service" (No. 1). It is also theemblem of the blessedness of submission, and of the power that lies inhumility to outlast its oppressor--

 "Like as in tempest great, Where wind doth bear the stroke, Much safer stands the bowing Reed Then doth the stubborn Oak. "

Shakespeare mentions but two uses to which the Reed was applied, thethatching of houses (No. 3), and the making of Pan or Shepherd's pipes(No. 6). Nor has he anything to say of its beauty, yet the Reeds of ourriver sides (_Arundo phragmites_) are most graceful plants, especiallywhen they have their dark plumes of flowers, and this Milton seems tohave felt--

 "Forth flourish't thick the flustering Vine, forth crept The swelling Gourd, up stood the Cornie Reed Embattled in her field. "

 _Paradise Lost_, book vii. 

FOOTNOTES:

[240:1] I have only been able to find one record of the flowering ofArundo donax in England--"Mem: Arundo donax in flower, 15th September, 1762, the first time I ever saw it, but this very hot dry summer hasmade many exotics flower. . . . It bears a handsome tassel offlowers. "--P. COLLINSON'S _Hortus Collinsonianus_. 

RHUBARB. 

 _Macbeth. _

 What Rhubarb, Cyme, or what purgative drug Would scour these English hence?

 _Macbeth_, act v, sc. 3 (55). 

Andrew Boorde writing from Spayne in 1535, to Thomas Cromwell, says, "Ihave sent to your Mastershipp the seeds of Reuberbe the whiche comeforth of Barbary in this parte ytt ys had for a grett tresure. "[241:1]But the plant does not seem to have become established and Shakespearecould only have known the imported drug, for the Rheum was first grownby Parkinson, though it had been described in an uncertain way both byLyte and Gerard. Lyte said: "Rha, as it is thought, hath great broadleaves;" and then he says: "We have found here in the gardens ofcertaine diligent herboristes that strange plant which is thought bysome to be Rha or Rhabarbum;" but from the figure it is very certainthat the plant was not a Rheum. After the time of Parkinson, it waslargely grown for the sake of producing the drug, and it is still grownin England to some extent for the same purpose, chiefly in theneighbourhood of Banbury; though it is doubtful whether any of thespecies now grown in England are the true species that has long producedTurkey Rhubarb. The plant is now grown most extensively as a springvegetable, though I cannot find when it first began to be so used. Parkinson evidently tried it and thought well of it. "The leaves have afine acid taste; a syrup, therefore, made with the juice and sugarcannot but be very effectual in dejected appetites. " Yet even in 1807Professor Martyn, the editor of "Millar's Dictionary, " in a long articleon the Rhubarb, makes no mention of its culinary qualities, but in 1822Phillips speaks of it as largely cultivated for spring tarts, and forcedfor the London markets, "medical men recommending it as one of the mostcooling and wholesome tarts sent to table. "

As a garden plant the Rhubarb is highly ornamental, though it is seldomseen out of the kitchen garden, but where room can be given to them, Rheum palmatum or Rheum officinale, will always be admired as some ofthe handsomest of foliage plants. The finest species of the family isthe Himalayan Rheum nobile, but it is exceedingly difficult to grow. Botanically the Rhubarb is allied to the Dock and Sorrel, and all thespecies are herbaceous. 

FOOTNOTES:

[241:1] Quoted in Furnival's forewords to Boorde's "Introduction toKnowledge, " p. 56. 

RICE. 

 _Clown. _

 Let me see; what am I to buy for our sheep-shearing feast? Three pound of sugar, five pound of Currants, Rice----What will this sister of mine do with Rice?[242:1]

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (38). 

Shakespeare may have had no more acquaintance with Rice than hisknowledge of the imported grain, which seems to have been long agointroduced into England, for in a Nominale of the fifteenth century wehave "Hoc risi, indeclinabile, Ryse. " And in the "PromptoriumParvulorum, " "Ryce, frute. Risia, vel risi, n. Indecl. Secundum quosdam, vel risium, vel risorum granum (rizi vel granum Indicum). " Turner wasacquainted with it: "Ryse groweth plentuously in watery myddowes betweenMyllane and Pavia. "[242:2] And Shakespeare may have seen the plant, forGerard grew it in his London garden, though "the floure did not showitselfe by reason of the injurie of our unseasonable yeare 1596. " It isa native of Africa, and was soon transferred to Europe as a nourishingand wholesome grain, especially for invalids--"sume hoc ptisanariumoryzæ, " says the doctor to his patient in Horace, and it is mentionedboth by Dioscorides and Theophrastus. It has been occasionally grown inEngland as a curiosity, but seldom comes to any perfection out-of-doors, as it requires a mixture of moisture and heat that we cannot easily giveit. There are said to be species in the North of China growing in dryplaces, which would perhaps be hardy in England and easier ofcultivation, but I am not aware that they have ever been introduced. 

FOOTNOTES:

[242:1] In 1468 the price of rice was 3d. A pound = 3s. Of our money("Babee's Book, " xxx. ). 

[242:2] "Names of Herbes, " s. V. Oryza. 

ROSES. 

 (1) _Titania. _

 Some to kill cankers in the Musk-rose buds. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 3 (3). 

 (2) _Titania. _

 And stick Musk-Roses in thy sleek, smooth head. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (3). 

 (3) _Julia. _

 The air hath starved the Roses in her cheeks. 

 _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, act iv, sc. 4 (159). 

 (4) _Song. _

 There will we make our beds of Roses And a thousand fragrant posies. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iii, sc. 1 (19). 

 (5) _Autolycus. _

 Gloves as sweet as Damask Roses. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (222). 

 (6) _Olivia. _

 Cæsario, by the Roses of the spring, By maidhood, honour, truth, and everything, I love thee so. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act iii, sc. 1 (161). 

 (7) _Diana. _

 When you have our Roses, You barely leave us thorns to prick ourselves And mock us with our bareness. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act iv, sc. 2 (18). 

 (8) _Lord. _

 Let one attend him with a silver basin Full of Rose-water and bestrew'd with flowers. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, Induction, sc. 1 (55). 

 (9) _Petruchio. _

 I'll say she looks as clear As morning Roses newly wash'd with dew. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 1 (173). 

 (10) _Tyrrell. _

 Their lips were four red Roses on a stalk, Which in their summer beauty kiss'd each other. 

 _Richard III_, act iv, sc. 3 (12). 

 (11) _Friar. _

 The Roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade To paly ashes. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act iv, sc. 1 (99). 

 (12) _Romeo. _

 Remnants of packthread and old cakes of Roses Were thinly scatter'd, to make up a show. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 1 (47). 

 (13) _Hamlet. _

 With two Provincial Roses on my razed shoes. 

 _Hamlet_, act iii, sc. 2 (287). 

 (14) _Laertes. _

 O Rose of May, Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 5 (157). 

 (15) _Duke. _

 For women are as Roses, whose fair flower Being once display'd doth fall that very hour. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act ii, sc. 4 (39). 

 (16) _Constance. _

 Of Nature's gifts, thou may'st with Lilies boast, And with the half-blown Rose. 

 _King John_, act iii, sc. 1 (153). 

 (17) _Queen. _

 But soft, but see, or rather do not see, My fair Rose wither. 

 _Richard II_, act v, sc. 1 (7). 

 (18) _Hotspur. _

 To put down Richard, that sweet lovely Rose, And plant this Thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act i, sc. 3 (175). 

 (19) _Hostess. _

 Your colour, I warrant you, is as red as any Rose. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (27). 

 (20) _York. _

 Then will I raise aloft the milk-white Rose, With whose sweet smell the air shall be perfumed. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act i, sc. 1 (254). 

 (21) _Don John. _

 I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a Rose in his grace. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act i, sc. 3 (27). 

 (22) _Theseus. _

 But earthlier happy is the Rose distill'd Than that which withering on the virgin Thorn Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness. [244:1]

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act i, sc. 1 (76). 

 (23) _Lysander. _

 How now, my love! Why is your cheek so pale? How chance the Roses there do fade so fast?

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act i, sc. 1 (128). 

 (24) _Titania. _

 The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson Rose. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 1 (107). 

 (25) _Thisbe. _

 Of colour like the red Rose on triumphant Brier. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 1 (95). 

 (26) _Biron. _

 Why should I joy in any abortive mirth? At Christmas I no more desire a Rose Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth, But like of each thing that in season grows. [245:1]

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act i, sc. 1 (105). 

 (27) _King_ (reads). 

 So sweet a kiss the golden sun gives not To those fresh morning drops upon the Rose. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 3 (26). 

 (28) _Boyet. _

 Blow like sweet Roses in this summer air. 

 _Princess. _

 How blow? how blow? Speak to be understood. 

 _Boyet. _

 Fair ladies mask'd are Roses in their bud; Dismask'd, their damask sweet commixture shown, Are angels veiling clouds, or Roses blown. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 2 (293). 

 (29) _Touchstone. _

 He that sweetest Rose will find, Must find Love's prick and Rosalind. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (117). 

 (30) _Countess. _

 This Thorn Doth to our Rose of youth rightly belong. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act i, sc. 3 (135). 

 (31) _Bastard. _

 My face so thin, That in mine ear I durst not stick a Rose. 

 _King John_, act i, sc. 1 (141). 

 (32) _Antony. _

 Tell him he wears the Rose Of youth upon him. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act iii, sc. 13 (20). 

 (33) _Cleopatra. _

 Against the blown Rose may they stop their nose That kneel'd unto the buds. 

 _Ibid. _ (39). 

 (34) _Boult. _

 For flesh and blood, sir, white and red, you shall see a Rose; and she were a Rose indeed!

 _Pericles_, act iv, sc. 6 (37). 

 (35) _Gower. _

 Even her art sisters the natural Roses. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, chorus (7). (_See_ CHERRY, No. 5. )

 (36) _Juliet. _

 What's in a name? That which we call a Rose By any other name would smell as sweet. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 2 (43). 

 (37) _Ophelia. _

 The expectancy and Rose of the fair state. 

 _Hamlet_, act iii, sc. 1 (160). 

 (38) _Hamlet. _

 Such an act . . . Takes off the Rose From the fair forehead of an innocent love, And sets a blister there. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 4 (40). 

 (39) _Othello. _

 When I have pluck'd the Rose, I cannot give it vital growth again, It needs must wither. I'll smell it on the tree. 

 _Othello_, act v, sc. 2 (13). 

 (40) _Timon. _

 Rose-cheeked youth. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (86). 

 (41) _Othello. _

 Thou young and Rose-lipp'd cherubim. 

 _Othello_, act iv, sc. 2 (63). 

 (42)

 Roses, their sharp spines being gone, Not royall in their smells alone But in their hue. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Introd. Song. 

 (43) _Emilia. _

 Of all flowres Methinks a Rose is best. 

 _Woman. _

 Why, gentle madam?

 _Emilia. _

 It is the very Embleme of a maide. For when the west wind courts her gently, How modestly she blows, and paints the Sun With her chaste blushes? When the north winds neere her, Rude and impatient, then, like Chastity, Shee locks her beauties in her bud againe, And leaves him to base Briers. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 2 (160). 

 (44) _Wooer. _

 With cherry lips and cheekes of Damaske Roses. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 2 (95). 

 (45) _See_ NETTLES, No. 13. 

 (46)

 Roses have thorns and silver fountains mud, And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud. 

 _Sonnet_ xxxv. 

 (47)

 The Rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem For that sweet odour that doth in it live. The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye As the perfumed tincture of the Roses, Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly When summer's breath their masked buds discloses; But, for their virtue only is their show, They live unwoo'd and unrespected fade; Die to themselves--sweet Roses do not so; Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made. 

 _Sonnet_ liv. 

 (48)

 Why should poor beauty indirectly seek Roses of shadow, since his Rose is true?

 _Ibid. _ lxvii. 

 (49)

 Shame, like a canker in the fragrant Rose, Doth spot the beauty of thy budding name. 

 _Ibid. _ xcv. 

 (50)

 Nor did I wonder at the Lily's white, Nor praise the deep vermilion of the Rose. 

 _Ibid. _ xcviii. 

 (51)

 The Roses fearfully in thorns did stand, One blushing shame, another white despair; A third, nor red nor white, had stol'n of both And to his robbery had annex'd thy breath. 

 _Ibid. _ xcix. 

 (52)

 I have seen Roses damask'd, red and white, But no such Roses see I in her cheeks. 

 _Ibid. _ cxxx. 

 (53)

 More white and red than dove and Roses are. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (10). 

 (54)

 What though the Rose has prickles? yet 'tis plucked. 

 _Ibid. _ (574). 

 (55)

 Who, when he lived, his breath and beauty set Gloss on the Rose, smell to the Violet. 

 _Ibid. _ (935). 

 (56)

 Their silent war of Lilies and of Roses. 

 _Lucrece_ (71). 

 (57)

 O how her fear did make her colour rise, First red as Roses that on lawn we lay, Then white as lawn, the Roses took away. 

 _Ibid. _ (257). 

 (58)

 That even for anger makes the Lily pale, And the red Rose blush at her own disgrace. 

 _Ibid. _ (477). 

 (59)

 I know what Thorns the growing Rose defends. 

 _Ibid. _ (492). 

 (60)

 Rose-cheeked Adonis hied him to the chase. 

 _Venus and Adonis. _ (3). 

 (61)

 A sudden pale, Like lawn being spread upon the blushing Rose, Usurps her cheek. 

 _Ibid. _ (589). 

 (62)

 That beauty's Rose might never die. 

 _Sonnet_ i. 

 (63)

 Nothing this wide universe I call Save thou, my Rose; in it thou art my all. 

 _Ibid. _ cix. 

 (64)

 Rosy lips and cheeks Within time's bending sickle's compass come. 

 _Ibid. _ cxvi. 

 (65)

 Sweet Rose, fair flower, untimely pluck'd, soon vaded, Pluck'd in the bud, and vaded in the spring!

 _The Passionate Pilgrim_ (131). 

In addition to these many passages, there are perhaps thirty more inwhich the Rose is mentioned with reference to the Red and White Roses ofthe houses of York and Lancaster. To quote these it would be necessaryto extract an entire act, which is very graphic, but too long. I must, therefore, content myself with the beginning and the end of the chiefscene, and refer the reader who desires to see it _in extenso_ to "1stHenry VI. , " act ii, sc. 4. The scene is in the Temple Gardens, andPlantagenet and Somerset thus begin the fatal quarrel--

 _Plantagenet. _

 Let him that is a true-born gentleman And stands upon the honour of his birth, If he suppose that I have pleaded truth, From off this Brier pluck a White Rose with me. 

 _Somerset. _

 Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer, But dare maintain the party of the truth, Pluck a Red Rose from off this Thorn with me. 

And Warwick's wise conclusion on the whole matter is--

 This brawl to-day, Grown to this faction in the Temple Garden, Shall send, between the Red Rose and the White, A thousand souls to death and deadly night. 

There are further allusions to the same Red and White Roses in "3rdHenry VI. , " act i, sc. 1 and 2, act ii, sc. 5, and act v, sc. 1; "1stHenry VI. , " act iv, sc. 1; and "Richard III. , " act v, sc. 4. 

There is no flower so often mentioned by Shakespeare as the Rose, and hewould probably consider it the queen of flowers, for it was so deemed inhis time. "The Rose doth deserve the cheefest and most principall placeamong all flowers whatsoever, being not onely esteemed for his beautie, vertues, and his fragrant and odoriferous smell, but also because it isthe honore and ornament of our English Scepter. "--GERARD. Yet thekingdom of the Rose even then was not undisputed; the Lily was alwaysits rival (_see_ LILY), for thus sang Walter de Biblesworth in thethirteenth century--

 "En ço verger troveroums les flurs Des queus issunt les doux odours (swote smel) Les herbes ausi pur medicine La flur de Rose, la flur de Liz (lilie) Liz vaut per royne, Rose pur piz. "

But a little later the great Scotch poet Dunbar, who lived from 1460 to1520, that is, a century before Shakespeare, asserted the dignity of theRose as even superior to the Thistle of Scotland. 

 "Nor hold none other flower in sic dainty As the fresh Rose of colour red and white; For if thou dost, hurt is thine honesty, Considering that no flower is so perfite, So full of virtue, pleasaunce, and delight, So full of blissful angelic beauty, Imperial birth, honour, and dignity. "

Volumes have been written, and many more may still be written, on thedelights of the Rose, but my present business is only with the Roses ofShakespeare. In many of the above passages the Rose is simply the emblemof all that is loveliest and brightest and most beautiful upon earth, yet always with the underlying sentiment that even the brightest has itsdark side, as the Rose has its thorns; that the worthiest objects of ourearthly love are at the very best but short-lived; that the mostbeautiful has on it the doom of decay and death. These were the lessonswhich even the heathen writers learned from their favourite Roses, andwhich Christian writers of all ages loved to learn also, not from theheathen writers, but from the beautiful flowers themselves. "The Rose isa beautiful flower, " said St. Basil, "but it always fills me with sorrowby reminding me of my sins, for which the earth was doomed to bearthorns. " And it would be easy to fill a volume, and it would not be acheerless volume, with beautiful and expressive passages from poets, preachers, and other authors, who have taken the Rose to point the moralof the fleeting nature of all earthly things. Herrick in four linestells the whole--

 "Gather ye Roses while ye may Old time is still a-flying, And the same flower that smiles to-day, To-morrow will be dying. "

But Shakespeare's notices of the Rose are not all emblematical andallegorical. He mentions these distinct sorts of Roses--the Red Rose, the White Rose, the Musk Rose, the Provençal Rose, the Damask Rose, theVariegated Rose, the Canker Rose, and the Sweet Briar. 

The Canker Rose is the wild Dog Rose, and the name is sometimes appliedto the common Red Poppy. 

The Red Rose and the Provençal Rose (No. 13) are no doubt the same, andare what we now call R. Centifolia, or the Cabbage Rose; a Rose that hasbeen supposed to be a native of the South of Europe, but Dr. Lindleypreferred "to place its native country in Asia, because it has beenfound wild by Bieberstein with double flowers, on the eastern side ofMount Caucasus, whither it is not likely to have escaped from agarden. "[250:1] We do not know when it was introduced into England, butit was familiar to Chaucer--

 "The savour of the Roses swote Me smote right to the herté rote, As I hadde alle embawmed be. 

 * * * * *

 Of Roses there were grete wone, So faire were never in Rone. "

_i. E. _, in Provence, at the mouth of the Rhone. For beauty in shape andexquisite fragrance, I consider this Rose to be still unrivalled; but itis not a fashionable Rose, and is usually found in cottage gardens, orperhaps in some neglected part of gardens of more pretensions. I believeit is considered too loose in shape to satisfy the floral critics ofexhibition flowers, and it is only a summer Rose, and so contrastsunfavourably with the Hybrid Perpetuals. Still, it is a delightful Rose, delightful to the eye, delightful for its fragrance, and most delightfulfrom its associations. 

The White Rose of York (No. 20) has never been satisfactorilyidentified. It was clearly a cultivated Rose, and by some is supposed tohave been only the wild White Rose (_R. Arvensis_) grown in a garden. But it is very likely to have been the Rosa alba, which was a favouritein English gardens in Shakespeare's time, and was very probablyintroduced long before his time, for it is the double variety of thewild White Rose, and Gerard says of it: "The double White Rose doth growwilde in many hedges of Lancashire in great abundance, even as Briers dowith us in these southerly parts, especially in a place of the countreycalled Leyland, and in a place called Roughford, not far from Latham. "It was, therefore, not a new gardener's plant in his time, as has beenoften stated. I have little doubt that this is the White Rose of York;it is not the R. Alba of Dr. Lindley's monograph, but the double varietyof the British R. Arvensis. 

The White Rose has a very ancient interest for Englishmen, for "longbefore the brawl in the Temple Gardens, the flower had been connectedwith one of the most ancient names of our island. The elder Pliny, indiscussing the etymology of the word Albion, suggests that the land mayhave been so named from the White Roses which abounded in it--'Albioninsula sic dicta ab albis rupibus, quas mare alluit, vel ob rosasalbas quibus abundat. ' Whatever we may think of the etymologicalskill displayed in the suggestion . . . We look with almost a newpleasure on the Roses of our own hedgerows, when regarding them asdescended in a straight line from the 'rosas albas' of those far-offsummers. "--_Quarterly Review_, vol. Cxiv. 

The Damask Rose (No. 5) remains to us under the same name, telling itsown history. There can be little doubt that the Rose came from Damascus, probably introduced into Europe by the Crusaders or some of the earlytravellers in the East, who speak in glowing terms of the beauties ofthe gardens of Damascus. So Sir John Mandeville describes the city--"Inthat Cytee of Damasce, there is gret plentee of Welles, and with in theCytee and with oute, ben many fayre Gardynes and of dyverse frutes. Nonother Cytee is not lyche in comparison to it, of fayre Gardynes, and offayre desportes. "--_Voiage and Travaile_, cap. Xi. And in our own daythe author of "Eöthen" described the same gardens as he saw them: "High, high above your head, and on every side all down to the ground, thethicket is hemmed in and choked up by the interlacing boughs that droopwith the weight of Roses, and load the slow air with their damaskbreath. There are no other flowers. The Rose trees which I saw were allof the kind we call 'damask;' they grow to an immense height andsize. "--_Eöthen_, ch. Xxvii. It was not till long after the Crusadesthat the Damask Rose was introduced into England, for Hakluyt in 1582says: "In time of memory many things have been brought in that were nothere before, as the Damaske Rose by Doctour Linaker, King Henry theSeventh and King Henrie the Eight's Physician. "--_Voiages_, vol. Ii. [252:1]

As an ornamental Rose the Damask Rose is still a favourite, thoughprobably the real typical Rosa Damascena is very seldom seen--but it hasbeen the parent of a large number of hybrid Roses, which the mostcritical Rosarian does not reject. The whole family are verysweet-scented, so that "sweet as Damask Roses" was a proverb, and Gerarddescribes the common Damaske as "in other respects like the White Rose;the especiale difference consisteth in the colour and smell of thefloures, for these are of a pale red colour and of a more pleasantsmell, and fitter for meate or medicine. "

The Musk Roses (No. 1) were great favourites with our forefathers. ThisRose (_R. Moschata_) is a native of the North of Africa and of Spain, and has been also found in Nepaul. Hakluyt gives the exact date of itsintroduction. "The turkey cockes and hennes, " he says, "were broughtabout fifty yeres past, the Artichowe in time of King Henry the Eight, and of later times was procured out of Italy the Muske Rose plant, thePlumme called the Perdigwena, and two kindes more by the Lord Cromwellafter his travel. "--_Voiages_, vol. Ii. It is a long straggling Rose, bearing bunches of single flowers, and is very seldom seen exceptagainst the walls of some old houses. "You remember the great bush atthe corner of the south wall just by the blue drawing-room windows; thatis the old Musk Rose, Shakespeare's Musk Rose, which is dying outthrough the kingdom now. "--_My Lady Ludlow_, by Mrs. Gaskell. Butwherever it is grown it is highly prized, not so much for the beauty asfor the delicate scent of its flowers. The scent is unlike the scent ofany other Rose, or of any other flower, but it is very pleasant, and notoverpowering; and the plant has the peculiarity that, like the SweetBriar, but unlike other Roses, it gives out its scent of its own accordand unsought, and chiefly in the evening, so that if the window of abedroom near which this rose is trained is left open, the scent willsoon be perceived in the room. This peculiarity did not escape thenotice of Lord Bacon. "Because the breath of flowers, " he says, "is farsweeter in the air (when it comes and goes like the warbling of music)than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that delight than toknow what be the flowers and plants that do best perfume the air. Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells, so that you may walkby a whole row of them, and find nothing of their sweetness, yea, thoughit be in a morning's dew. Bays, likewise, yield no smell as they grow, Rosemary little, nor Sweet Marjoram; that which above all others yieldsthe sweetest smell in the air is the Violet, especially the white doubleViolet which comes twice a year, about the middle of April, and aboutBartholomew-tide; next to that is the Musk-rose. "--_Essay of Gardens. _

The Roses mentioned in Nos. 34, 51, and 52 as a mixture of red and whitemust have been the mottled or variegated Roses, commonly called the Yorkand Lancaster Roses;[253:1] these are old Roses, and very probablyquite as old as the sixteenth century. There are two varieties: in oneeach petal is blotched with white and pink; this is the R. Versicolor ofParkinson, and is a variety of R. Damascena; in the other most of thepetals are white, but with a mixture of pink petals; this is the Rosamundi or Gloria mundi, and is a variety of R. Gallica. 

These, with the addition of the Eglantine or Sweet Brier (_see_EGLANTINE), are the only Roses that Shakespeare directly names, and theywere the chief sorts grown in his time, but not the only sorts; and towhat extent Roses were cultivated in Shakespeare's time we have acurious proof in the account of the grant of Ely Place, in Holborn, theproperty of the Bishops of Ely. "The tenant was Sir Christopher Hatton(Queen Elizabeth's handsome Lord Chancellor) to whom the greater portionof the house was let in 1576 for the term of twenty-one years. The rentwas a Red Rose, ten loads of hay, and ten pounds per annum; Bishop Cox, on whom this hard bargain was forced by the Queen, reserving to himselfand his successors the right of walking in the gardens, and gatheringtwenty bushels of Roses yearly. "--CUNNINGHAM. We have records also ofthe garden cultivation of the Rose in London long before Shakespeare'stime. "In the Earl of Lincoln's garden in Holborn in 24 Edw. I. , theonly flowers named are Roses, of which a quantity was sold, producingthree shillings and twopence. "--HUDSON TURNER. 

My space forbids me to enter more largely into any account of these oldspecies, or to say much of the many very interesting points in thehistory of the Rose, but two or three points connected withShakespeare's Roses must not be passed over. First, its name. He saysthrough Juliet (No. 36) that the Rose by any other name would smell assweet. But the whole world is against him. Rose was its old Latin namecorrupted from its older Greek name, and the same name, with slight andeasily-traced differences, has clung to it in almost all Europeancountries. 

Shakespeare also mentions its uses in Rose-water and Rose-cakes, and itwas only natural to suppose that a flower so beautiful and so sweet wasmeant by Nature to be of great use to man. Accordingly we find thatwonderful virtues were attributed to it, [255:1] and an especial virtuewas attributed to the dewdrops that settled on the full-blown Rose. Shakespeare alludes to these in Nos. 22 and 27; and from these were madecosmetics only suited to the most extravagant. 

 "The water that did spryng from ground She would not touch at all, But washt her hands with dew of Heaven That on sweet Roses fall. "

 _The Lamentable Fall of Queen Ellinor. _--Roxburghe Ballads. 

And as with their uses, so it was also with their history. Such a flowermust have a high origin, and what better origin than the pretty mediævallegend told to us by Sir John Mandeville?--"At Betheleim is the Felde_Floridus_, that is to seyne, the _Feld florisched_; for als moche as afayre mayden was blamed with wrong and sclaundered, for whiche causesche was demed to the Dethe, and to be brent in that place, to thewhiche she was ladd; and as the Fyre began to brent about hire, schemade hire preyeres to oure Lord, that als wissely as sche was not gyltyof that Synne, that He wolde helpe hire and make it to be knowen to allemen, of his mercyfulle grace. And when sche hadde thus seyd, scheentered into the Fuyr; and anon was the Fuyr quenched and oute; and theBrondes that weren brennynge becomen red Roseres, and the Brondes thatweren not kyndled becomen white Roseres, full of Roses. And these werenthe first Roseres and Roses, both white and rede, that evere ony mansaughe. "--_Voiage and Travaile_, cap. Vi. 

With this pretty legend I may well conclude the account of Shakespeare'sRoses, commending, however, M. Biron's sensible remarks on unseasonableflowers (No. 26) to those who estimate the beauty of a flower oranything else in proportion to its being produced out of its naturalseason. 

FOOTNOTES:

[244:1] This was a familiar idea with the old writers: "Therefore, sister Bud, grow wise by my folly, and know it is far greater happinesseto lose thy virginity in a good hand than to wither on the stalk whereonthou growest. "--THOMAS FULLER, _Antheologia_, p. 32. (See also Chester's"Cantoes, " No. 13, p. 137, New Shak. Soc. )

[245:1] "Non vivunt contra naturam, qui hieme concupiscuntrosas?"--SENECA, _Ep. _ 122. 

[250:1] We have an old record of the existence of large double Roses inAsia by Herodotus, who tells us, that in a part of Macedonia were theso-called gardens of Midas, in which grew native Roses, each one havingsixty petals, and of a scent surpassing all others ("Hist. , " viii. 138). 

[252:1] The Damask Rose was imported into England at an earlier date butprobably only as a drug. It is mentioned in a "Bill of Medicynesfurnished for the use of Edward I. , 1306-7: 'Item pro aqua rosata deDamasc, ' lb. Xl, iiii_li. _"--_Archæological Journal_, vol. Xiv. 271. 

[253:1] The York and Lancaster Roses were a frequent subject for theepigram writers; and gave occasion for one of the happiest of Englishepigrams. On presenting a White Rose to a Lancastrian lady--

 "If this fair Rose offend thy sight, It in thy bosom wear; 'Twill blush to find itself less white, And turn Lancastrian there. "

[255:1] "A Rose beside his beauty is a cure. "--G. HERBERT, _Providence_. 

ROSEMARY. 

 (1) _Perdita. _

 Reverend Sirs, For you there's Rosemary and Rue; these keep Seeming and savour all the winter long; Grace and remembrance be to you both. [256:1]

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (73). 

 (2) _Bawd. _

 Marry, come up, my dish of chastity with Rosemary and bays. 

 _Pericles_, act iv, sc. 6 (159). 

 (3) _Edgar. _

 Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms Pins, wooden pricks, and sprigs of Rosemary. 

 _Lear_, act ii, sc. 3 (14). 

 (4) _Ophelia. _

 There's Rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (175). 

 (5) _Nurse. _

 Doth not Rosemary and Romeo begin both with a letter?

 _Romeo. _

 Ay, nurse; what of that? both with an R. 

 _Nurse. _

 Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name; R is for the ----. No; I know it begins with some other letter:--and she hath the prettiest sententious of it, of you and Rosemary, that it would do you good to hear it. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 4 (219). 

 (6) _Friar. _

 Dry up your tears, and stick your Rosemary On this fair corse. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 5 (79). 

The Rosemary is not a native of Britain, but of the sea-coast of theSouth of Europe, where it is very abundant. It was very early introducedinto England, and is mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon Herbarium under itsLatin name of Ros marinus, and is there translated by Bothen, _i. E. _Thyme; also in an Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary of the eleventh century, whereit is translated Feld-madder and Sun-dew. In these places our presentplant may or may not be meant, but there is no doubt that it is the onereferred to in an ancient English poem of the fourteenth century, on thevirtues of herbs, published in Wright and Halliwell's "ReliquiæAntiquæ. " The account of "The Gloriouse Rosemaryne" is long, but thebeginning and ending are worth quoting--

 "This herbe is callit Rosemaryn Of vertu that is gode and fyne; But alle the vertues tell I ne cane, No I trawe no erthely man. 

 * * * * *

 Of thys herbe telles Galiene That in hys contree was a quene, Gowtus and Crokyt as he hath tolde, And eke sexty yere olde; Sor and febyl, where men hyr sey Scho semyth wel for to dey; Of Rosmaryn scho toke sex pow̄de, And grownde hyt wel in a stownde, And bathed hir threyes everi day, Nine mowthes, as I herde say, And afterwarde anoynitte wel hyr hede With good bame as I rede; Away fel alle that olde flessche, And yow̄ge i-sprong tender and nessche; So fresshe to be scho then began Scho coveytede couplede be to man. " (Vol. I, 196). 

We can now scarcely understand the high favour in which Rosemary wasformerly held; we are accustomed to see it neglected, or only toleratedin some corner of the kitchen garden, and not often tolerated there. Butit was very different in Shakespeare's time, when it was in high favourfor its evergreen leaves and fine aromatic scent, remaining a long timeafter picking, so long, indeed, that both leaves and scent were almostconsidered everlasting. This was its great charm, and so Spenser spokeof it as "the cheerful Rosemarie" and "refreshing Rosemarine, " and goodSir Thomas More had a great affection for it. "As for Rosemarine, " hesaid, "I lett it run alle over my garden walls, not onlie because mybees love it, but because tis the herb sacred to remembrance, andtherefore to friendship; whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language thatmaketh it the chosen emblem at our funeral wakes and in our buriallgrounds. " And Parkinson gives a similar account of its popularity as agarden plant: "Being in every woman's garden, it were sufficient but toname it as an ornament among other sweet herbs and flowers in ourgardens. In this our land, where it hath been planted in noblemen's andgreat men's gardens against brick walls, and there continued long, itriseth up in time unto a very great height, with a great and woody stemof that compasse that, being cloven out into boards, it hath served tomake lutes or such like instruments, and here with us carpenters' rulesand to divers others purposes. " It was the favourite evergreen whereverthe occasion required an emblem of constancy and perpetual remembrance, such especially as weddings and funerals, at both of which it waslargely used; and so says Herrick of "The Rosemarie Branch"--

 "Grow for two ends, it matters not at all, Be't for my bridall or my buriall. "

Its use at funerals was very widespread, for Laurembergius records apretty custom in use in his day, 1631, at Frankfort: "Is mos apud nosretinetur, dum cupresso humile, vel rore marino, non solum coronamusfunera jamjam ducenda, sed et iis appendimus ex iisdem herbis litterascollectas, significatrices nominis ejus quæ defuncta est. Nam inpuellarum funeribus hæc fere fieri solent" ("Horticulturæ, " cap. Vj. ). 

Its use at weddings is pleasantly told in the old ballad of "The Bride'sGood-morrow"--

 "The house is drest and garnisht for your sake With flowers gallant and green; A solemn feast your comely cooks do ready make, Where all your friends will be seen: Young men and maids do ready stand With sweet Rosemary in their hand-- A perfect token of your virgin's life. To wait upon you they intend Unto the church to make an end: And God make thee a joyfull wedded wife. "

 _Roxburghe Ballads_, vol. I. 

It probably is one of the most lasting of evergreens after beinggathered, though we can scarcely credit the statement recorded byPhillips that "it is the custom in France to put a branch of Rosemary inthe hands of the dead when in the coffin, and we are told by ValmontBomare, in his 'Histoire Naturelle, ' that when the coffins have beenopened after several years, the plant has been found to have vegetatedso much that the leaves have covered the corpse. " These were thegeneral and popular uses of the Rosemary, but it was of high repute as amedicine, and still holds a place, though not so high as formerly, inthe "Pharmacopœia. " "Rosemary, " says Parkinson, "is almost of asgreat use as Bayes, both for inward and outward remedies, and as wellfor civill as physicall purposes--inwardly for the head and heart, outwardly for the sinews and joynts; for civile uses, as all do know, atweddings, funerals, &c. , to bestow among friends; and the physicall areso many that you might as well be tyred in the reading as I in thewriting, if I should set down all that might be said of it. "

With this high character we may well leave this good, old-fashionedplant, merely noting that the name is popularly but erroneously supposedto mean the Rose of Mary. It has no connection with either Rose or Mary, but is the Ros marinus, or Ros Maris (as in Ovid--

 "Ros maris, et laurus, nigraque myrtus olent;"

 _De Arte Aman. _, iii, 390), the plant that delights in the sea-spray; and so the old spelling wasRosmarin. Gower says of the Star Alpheta--

 "His herbe proper is Rosmarine;"

 _Conf. Aman. _, lib. Sept. 

a spelling which Shenstone adopted--

 "And here trim Rosmarin that whilom crowned The daintiest garden of the proudest peer. "

It was also sometimes called Guardrobe, being "put into chests andpresses among clothes, to preserve them from mothes and other vermine. "

FOOTNOTES:

[256:1] Grace was symbolized by the Rue, or Herb of Grace, andremembrance by the Rosemary. 

RUE. 

 (1) _Perdita. _

 For you there's Rosemary and Rue. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (74). (_See_ ROSEMARY, No. 1. )

 (2) _Gardener. _

 Here did she fall a tear; here in this place I'll set a bank of Rue, sour Herb of Grace: Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall beseen, In the remembrance of a weeping queen. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 4 (104). 

 (3) _Antony. _

 Grace grow where these drops fall. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act iv, sc. 2 (38). 

 (4) _Ophelia. _

 There's Rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it Herb-grace o' Sundays: O, you must wear your Rue with a difference. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (181). 

 (5) _Clown. _

 Indeed, sir, she was the Sweet Marjoram of the salad, or rather the Herb of Grace. 

 _Lafeu. _

 They are not salad-herbs, you knave, they are nose-herbs. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act iv, sc. 5 (17). 

Comparing (2) and (3) together, there is little doubt that the same herbis alluded to in both; and it is, perhaps, alluded to, though notexactly named, in the following:

 _Friar Laurence. _

 In man, as well as herbs, grace and rude will. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 3 (28). 

Shakespeare thus gives us the two names for the same plant, Rue and Herbof Grace, and though at first sight there seems to be little or noconnection between the two names, yet really they are so closelyconnected, that the one name was derived from, or rather suggested by, the other. Rue is the English form of the Greek and Latin _ruta_, a wordwhich has never been explained, and in its earlier English form of_rude_ came still nearer to the Latin original. But _ruth_ was theEnglish word for sorrow and remorse, and _to rue_ was to be sorry foranything, or to have pity;[260:1] we still say a man will rue aparticular action, _i. E. _, be sorry for it; and so it was a naturalthing to say that a plant which was so bitter, and had always borne thename _Rue_ or _Ruth_, must be connected with repentance. It was, therefore, the Herb of Repentance, and this was soon transformed intothe Herb of Grace (in 1838 Loudon said, "It is to this day called AveGrace in Sussex"), repentance being the chief sign of grace; and it isnot unlikely that this idea was strengthened by the connection of Ruewith the bitter herbs of the Bible, though it is only once mentioned, and then with no special remark, except as a tithable garden herb, together with Anise and Cummin. 

The Rue, like Lavender and Rosemary, is a native of the more barrenparts of the coasts of the Mediterranean, and has been found on MountTabor, but it was one of the earliest occupants of the English Herbgarden. It is very frequently mentioned in the Saxon Leech Books, andentered so largely into their prescriptions that it must have been veryextensively grown. Its strong aromatic smell, [261:1] and bitter taste, with the blistering quality of the leaves, soon established itscharacter as almost a heal-all. 

 "Rew bitter a worthy gres (herb) Mekyl of myth and vertu is. "

 _Stockholm MS. _, 1305. 

Even beasts were supposed to have discovered its virtues, so thatweasels were gravely said, and this by such men as Pliny, to eat Ruewhen they were preparing themselves for a fight with rats and serpents. Its especial virtue was an eye-salve, a use which Milton did notoverlook--

 "To nobler sights Michael from Adam's eyes the filme removed Which that false fruit which promised clearer sight Had bred; then purged with Euphrasie and Rue The visual nerve, for he had much to see:"

 _Paradise Lost_, book xi. ;

and which was more fully stated in the old lines of the Schola Salerni--

 "Nobilis est Ruta quia lumina reddit acuta; Auxilio rutæ, vir lippe, videbis acute; Cruda comesta recens oculos Caligine purgat; Ruta facit castum, dat lumen, et ingerit astum; Cocta facit Ruta et de pollicibus loca tuta. "

After reading this high moral and physical character of the herb, it israther startling to find that "It is believed that if stolen from aneighbour's garden it would prosper better. " It was, however, an oldbelief--

 "They sayen eke stolen sede is butt the bette. "

 _Palladius on Husbandrie_ (c. 1420) iv, 269. 

"It is a common received opinion that Rue will grow the better if itbee filtched out of another man's garden. "--HOLLAND'S _Pliny_, xix. 7. 

As other medicines were introduced the Rue declined in favour, so thatParkinson spoke of it with qualified praise--"Without doubt it is a mostwholesom herb, although bitter and strong. Some do rip up a bead-rowl ofthe virtues of Rue, . . . But beware of the too-frequent or overmuch usetherof. " And Dr. Daubeny says of it, "It is a powerful stimulant andnarcotic, but not much used in modern practise. "

As a garden plant, the Rue forms a pretty shrub for a rock-work, ifsomewhat attended to, so as to prevent its becoming straggling anduntidy. The delicate green and peculiar shape of the leaves give it adistinctive character, which forms a good contrast to other plants. 

FOOTNOTES:

[260:1]

 "Rewe on my child, that of thyn gentilnesse Rewest on every sinful in destresse. "

 CHAUCER, _The Man of Lawes Tale_. 

[261:1] "Ranke-smelling Rue. "--SPENSER, _Muiopotmos_. 

RUSH. 

 (1) _Rosalind. _

 He taught me how to know a man in love; in which cage of Rushes I am sure you are not prisoner. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (388). 

 (2) _Phœbe. _

 Lean but on a Rush, The cicatrice and capable impressure Thy palm some moment keeps. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 5 (22). 

 (3) _Clown. _

 As fit as Tib's Rush for Tom's forefinger. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act ii, sc. 2 (24). 

 (4) _Romeo. _

 Let wantons light of heart Tickle the senseless Rushes with their heels. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act i, sc. 4 (35). 

 (5) _Dromio of Syracuse. _

 Some devils ask but the parings of one's nail, A Rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a pin, A Nut, a Cherry-stone. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act iv, sc. 3 (72). 

 (6) _Bastard. _

 A Rush will be a beam To hang thee on. 

 _King John_, act iv, sc. 3 (129). 

 (7) _1st Groom. _

 More Rushes, more Rushes. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act v, sc. 5 (1). 

 (8) _Eros. _

 He's walking in the garden--thus; and spurns The Rush that lies before him. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act iii, sc. 5 (17). 

 (9) _Othello. _

 Man but a Rush against Othello's breast, And he retires. 

 _Othello_, act v, sc. 2 (270). 

 (10) _Grumio. _

 Is supper ready, the house trimmed, Rushes strewed, cobwebs swept?

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act iv, sc. 1 (47). 

 (11) _Katherine. _

 Be it moon or sun, or what you please, And if you please to call it a Rush-candle, Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 5 (13). 

 (12) _Glendower. _

 She bids you on the wanton Rushes lay you down, And rest your gentle head upon her lap. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 1 (214). 

 (13) _Marcius. _

 He that depends Upon your favours swims with fins of lead And hews down Oaks with Rushes. 

 _Coriolanus_, act i, sc. 1 (183). 

 (14) _Iachimo. _

 Our Tarquin thus Did softly press the Rushes. 

 _Cymbeline_, act ii, sc. 2 (12). 

 (15) _Senator. _ Our gates Which yet seem shut, we have but pinn'd with Rushes! They'll open of themselves. 

 _Coriolanus_, act i, sc. 4 (16). 

 (16)

 And being lighted, by the light he spies Lucretia's glove, wherein her needle sticks; He takes it from the Rushes where it lies. 

 _Lucrece_ (316). 

 (17) _See_ REEDS, No. 7. 

 (18) _Wooer. _

 Rings she made Of Rushes that grew by, and to 'em spoke The prettiest posies. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 1 (109). 

_See also_ FLAG, REED, _and_ BULRUSH. 

Like the Reed, the Rush often stands for any water-loving, grassyplant, and, like the Reed, it was the emblem of yielding weakness and ofuselessness. [264:1] The three principal Rushes referred to byShakespeare are the Common Rush (_Juncus communis_), the Bulrush(_Scirpus lacustris_), and the Sweet Rush (_Acorus calamus_). 

The Common Rush, though the mark of badly cultivated ground, and theemblem of uselessness, was not without its uses, some of which arereferred to in Nos. 1, 3, and 11. In Nos. 3 and 18 reference is made tothe Rush-ring, a ring, no doubt, originally meant and used for thepurposes of honest betrothal, but afterwards so vilely used for thepurposes of mock marriages, that even as early as 1217 Richard Bishop ofSalisbury had to issue his edict against the use of "annulum de junco. "

The Rush betrothal ring is mentioned by Spenser--

 "O thou great shepheard, Lobbin, how great is thy griefe! Where bene the nosegayes that she dight for thee? The coloured chaplets wrought with a chiefe, The knotted Rush-ringes and gilt Rosemarie. "

 _Shepherd's Calendar--November. _

And by Quarles--

 "Love-sick swains Compose Rush-rings, and Myrtle-berry chains, And stuck with glorious King-cups in their bonnets, Adorned with Laurel slip, chant true love sonnets. "

But the uses of the Rush were not all bad. Newton, in 1587, said of theRush--"It is a round smooth shoote without joints or knots, havingwithin it a white substance or pith, which being drawn forth showethlike long white, soft, gentle, and round thread, and serveth for manypurposes. Heerewith be made manie pretie imagined devises for Bride-alesand other solemnities, as little baskets, hampers, frames, pitchers, dishes, combs, brushes, stooles, chaires, purses with strings, girdles, and manie such other pretie and curious and artificiall conceits, whichat such times many do take the paines to make and hang up in theirhouses, as tokens of good will to the new married Bride; and after thesolemnities ended, to bestow abroad for Bride-gifts or presents. " It wasthis "white substance or pith" from which the Rush candle (No. 11) wasand still is made: a candle which in early days was probably theuniversal candle, which, till within a few years, was the night candleof every sick chamber, in which most of us can recollect it as a mostghastly object as it used to stand, "stationed in a basin on the floor, where it glimmered away like a gigantic lighthouse in a particularlysmall piece of water" (Pickwick), till expelled by the night-lights, andwhich is still made by Welsh labourers, and, I suppose, in Shakespeare'stime was the only candle used by the poor. 

 "If your influence be quite damm'd up With black usurping mists, some gentle taper, Though a Rush-candle from the wicker hole Of some clay habitation, visit us With thy long levell'd rule of streaming light. "--_Comus. _

But the chief use of Rushes in those days was to strew the floors ofhouses and churches (Nos. 4, 7, 10, 12, and 14). This custom seems tohave been universal in all houses of any pretence. "William the son ofWilliam of Alesbury holds three roods of land of the Lord the King inAlesbury in Com. Buck by the service of finding straw for the bed of theLord the King, and to strew his chamber, and also of finding for theKing when he comes to Alesbury straw for his bed, and besides this Grassor Rushes to make his chamber pleasant. "--BLUNT'S _Tenures_. The customwent on even to our own day in Norwich Cathedral, and the "picturesquecustom still lingers in the West of strewing the floors of the churcheson Whit Sunday with Rushes freshly pulled from the meadows. This customattains its highest perfection in the church of St. Mary Redcliffe atBristol. On 'Rush Sunday' the floor is strewn with Rushes. All themerchants throw open their conservatories for the vicar to take hischoice of their flowers, and the pulpit, the lectern, the choir, and thecommunion rails and table present a scene of great beauty. "--_TheGarden_, May, 1877. 

For this purpose the Sweet-scented Rush was always used where it couldbe procured, and when first laid down it must have made a pleasantcarpet; but it was a sadly dirty arrangement, and gives us a very pooridea of the cleanliness of even the best houses, though it probably wasnot the custom all through the year, as Newton says, speaking of Sedges, but evidently confusing the Sedge with the Sweet-scented Rush, "with thewhich many in this countrie do use in sommer time to straw theirparlours and churches, as well for cooleness as for pleasantsmell. "[266:1] This Rush (_Acorus calamus_) is a British plant, withbroad leaves, which have a strong cinnamon-like smell, which obtainedfor the plant the old Saxon name of Beewort. Another (so-called) Rush, the Flowering Rush (_Butomus umbellatus_), is one of the very handsomestof the British plants, bearing on a long straight stem a large umbel ofvery handsome pink flowers. Wherever there is a pond in a garden, thesefine Rushes should have a place, though they may be grown in the openborder where the ground is not too dry. 

There is a story told by Sir John Mandeville in connection with Rusheswhich is not easy to understand. According to his account, our Saviour'scrown of thorns was made of Rushes! "And zif alle it be so that men seynthat this Croune is of Thornes, zee shall undirstande that it was ofJonkes of the See, that is to sey, Russhes of the See, that prykken alsscharpely as Thornes. For I have seen and beholden many times that ofParys and that of Constantynoble, for thei were bothe on, made ofRussches of the See. But men have departed hem in two parties, of thewhich on part is at Parys, and the other part is at Constantynoble--andI have on of the precyouse Thornes, that semethe licke a white Thorn, and that was zoven to me for great specyaltee. . . . The Jewes settenhim in a chayere and clad him in a mantelle, and then made thei theCroune of Jonkes of the See. "--_Voiage and Travaile, _ c. 2. 

I have no certainty to what Rush the pleasant old traveller can hererefer. I can only guess that as Rushes and Sedges were almostinterchangeable names, he may have meant the Sea Holly, formerly calledthe Holly-sedge, of which there is a very appropriate account given inan old Saxon runelay thus translated by Cockayne: "Hollysedge hath itsdwelling oftenest in a marsh, it waxeth in water, woundeth fearfully, burneth with blood (_i. E. _, draws blood and pains) every one of men whoto it offers any handling. "[267:1]

FOOTNOTES:

[264:1]

 "Around the islet at its lowest edge, Lo, there beneath, where breaks th' encircling wave, The yielding mud is thick with Rushes crowned. No other flower with frond or leafy growth Or hardened fibre there can life sustain, For none bend safely to the watery shock. "

 DANTE, _Purgatorio_, canto i. (Johnston). 

[266:1] "In the South of Europe Juniper branches were used for thispurpose, as they still are in Sweden. "--_Flora Domestica_, p. 213. 

 "As I have seen upon a bridal day, Full many maids clad in their best array, In honour of the bride, come with their flaskets Filled full of flowers, other in wicker baskets Bring from the Marish Rushes, to overspread The ground whereon to Church the lovers tread. "

 BROWNE'S _Brit. Past. _, i, 2. 

[267:1] I leave this as I first wrote it, but I have to thank Mr. Britten for the very probable suggestion that Sir John Mandeville wasright. Not only does the _Juncus acutus_ "prykken als scharpely asThornes, " but "what is shown in Paris at the present day as the crown ofThorns is certainly, as Sir John says, made of rushes; the curious mayconsult M. Rohault de Fleury's sumptuous 'Mémoire sur les Instruments dela Passion, ' for a full description of it. "

RYE. 

 (1) _Iris. _

 Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (60). 

 (2) _Iris. _

 You sunburnt sicklemen, of August weary, Come hither from the furrow and be merry; Make holiday; your Rye-straw hats put on. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (135). 

 (3) _Song. _

 Between the acres of the Rye These pretty country folks would lye. 

 _As You Like It_, act v, sc. 3 (23). 

The Rye of Shakespeare's time was identical with our own (_Secalecereale_). It is not a British plant, and its native country is notexactly known; but it seems probable that both the plant and the namecame from the region of the Caucasus. 

As a food-plant Rye was not in good repute in Shakespeare's time. Gerardsaid of it, "It is harder to digest than Wheat, yet to rusticke bodiesthat can well digest it, it yields good nourishment. " But "recentinvestigations by Professor Wanklyn and Mr. Cooper appear to give thefirst place to Rye as the most nutritious of all our cereals. Ryecontains more gluten, and is pronounced by them one-third richer thanWheat. Rye, moreover, is capable of thriving in almost anysoil. "--_Gardener's Chronicle_, 1877. 

SAFFRON. 

 (1) _Ceres. _

 Who (_i. E. _, Iris), with thy Saffron wings upon my flowers, Diffusest honeydrops, refreshing showers. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (78). 

 (2) _Antipholus of Ephesus. _

 Did this companion with the Saffron face Revel and feast it at my house to day?

 _Comedy of Errors_, act iv, sc. 4 (64). 

 (3) _Clown. _

 I must have Saffron to colour the Warden pies. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (48). 

 (4) _Lafeu. _

 No, no, no, your son was misled with a snipt-taffeta fellow there, whose villanous Saffron would have made all the unbaked and doughy youth of a nation in his colour. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act iv, sc. 5 (1). 

Saffron (from its Arabic name, _al zahafaran_) was not, in Shakespeare'stime, limited to the drug or to the Saffron-bearing Crocus (_C. Sativus_), but it was the general name for all the Croci, and was evenextended to the Colchicums, which were called Meadow Saffrons. [268:1] Wehave no Crocus really a native of Britain, but a few species (C. Vernus, C. Nudiflorus, C. Aureus, and C. Biflorus) have been so naturalized incertain parts as to be admitted, though very doubtfully, into theBritish flora; but the Saffron Crocus can in no way be considered anative, and the history of its introduction into England is veryobscure. It is mentioned several times in the Anglo-Saxon Leech Books:"When he bathes, let him smear himself with oil; mingle it withSaffron. "--_Tenth Century Leech Book_, ii. 37. "For dimness of eyes, thus one must heal it: take Celandine one spoonful, and Aloes, andCrocus (Saffron in French). "--_Schools of Medicine_, tenth century, c. 22. In these instances it may be only the imported drug; but the nameoccurs in an English Vocabulary among the Nomina herbarum: "Hic Crocus, A{e} Safurroun;" and in a Pictorial Vocabulary of the fourteenthcentury, "Hic Crocus, An{ce} Safryn;" so that I think the plant musthave been in cultivation in England at that time. The usual statement, made by one writer after another, is that it was introduced by SirThomas Smith into the neighbourhood of Walden in the time of EdwardIII. , but the original authority for this statement is unknown. The mostauthentic account is that by Hakluyt in 1582, and though it is ratherlong, it is worth extracting in full. It occurs in some instructions in"Remembrances for Master S. , " who was going into Turkey, giving himhints what to observe in his travels: "Saffron, the best of theuniversall world, groweth in this realme. . . . It is a spice that iscordiall, and may be used in meats, and that is excellent in dying ofyellow silks. This commodity of Saffron groweth fifty miles fromTripoli, in Syria, on an high hyll, called in those parts Gasian, so asthere you may learn at that part of Tripoli the value of the pound, thegoodnesse of it, and the places of the vent. But it is said that fromthat hyll there passeth yerely of that commodity fifteen moiles laden, and that those regions notwithstanding lacke sufficiency of thatcommodity. But if a vent might be found, men would in Essex (aboutSaffron Walden), and in Cambridgeshire, revive the trade for the benefitof the setting of the poore on worke. So would they do in Herefordshireby Wales, where the best of all England is, in which place the soilyields the wilde Saffron commonly, which showeth the natural inclinationof the same soile to the bearing of the right Saffron, if the soile bemanured and that way employed. . . It is reported at Saffron Walden thata pilgrim, proposing to do good to his countrey, stole a head ofSaffron, and hid the same in his Palmer's staffe, which he had madehollow before of purpose, and so he brought the root into this realmewith venture of his life, for if he had bene taken, by the law of thecountrey from whence it came, he had died for the fact. "--_EnglishVoiages, &c. _, vol. Ii. From this account it seems clear that even inHakluyt's time Saffron had been so long introduced that the history ofits introduction was lost; and I think it very probable that, as wassuggested by Coles in his "Adam in Eden" (1657), we are indebted to theRomans for this, as for so many of our useful plants. But it is not aRoman or Italian plant. Spenser wrote of it as--

 "Saffron sought for in Cilician soyle--"[270:1]

and Browne--

 "Saffron confected in Cilicia"--_Brit. Past. _, i, 2;

which information they derived from Pliny. It is supposed to be a nativeof Asia Minor, but so altered by long cultivation that it never producesseed either in England or in other parts of Europe. [270:2] This fact ledM. Chappellier, of Paris, who has for many years studied the history ofthe plant, to the belief that it was a hybrid; but finding that whenfertilized with the pollen of a Crocus found wild in Greece, and knownas C. Sativus var. Græcus (_Orphanidis_), it produces seed abundantly, he concludes that it is a variety of that species, which it very muchresembles, but altered and rendered sterile by cultivation. It is notnow much cultivated in England, but we have abundant authority fromTusser, Gerard, Parkinson, Camden, and many other writers, that it waslargely cultivated before and after Shakespeare's time, and that thequality of the English Saffron was very superior. [271:1] The importanceof the crop is shown by its giving its name to Saffron Walden inEssex, [271:2] and to Saffron Hill in London, which "was formerly a partof Ely Gardens" (of which we shall hear again when we come to speak ofStrawberries), "and derives its name from the crops of Saffron which itbore. "--CUNNINGHAM. The plant has in the same way given its name toZaffarano, a village in Sicily, near Mount Etna, and to Zafaranboly, "ville située près Inobole en Anatolie, au sud-est de l'ancienneHéraclée. "--CHAPPELLIER. The plant is largely cultivated in many partsof Europe, but the chief centres of cultivation are in thearrondissement of Pithiviers in France, and the province of Arragon inSpain; and the chief consumers are the Germans. It has also been largelycultivated in China for a great many years, and the bulbs now importedfrom China are found to be, in many points, superior to theEuropean--"l'invasion Tartare aurait porté le Safran en Chine, et deleur côté les croisés l'auraient importé en Europe. "--CHAPPELLIER. 

I need scarcely say that the parts of the plant that produce the Saffronare the sweet-scented stigmata, the "Crocei odores" of Virgil; but theuse of Saffron has now so gone out of fashion, that it may be well tosay something of its uses in the time of Shakespeare, as a medicine, adye, and a confection. On all three points its virtues were so many thatthere is a complete literature on Crocus. I need not name all the bookson the subject, but the title page of one (a duodecimo of nearly threehundred pages) may be quoted as an example: "Crocologia seu curiosaCroci Regis Vegetabilium enucleatio continens Illius etymologiam, differencias, tempus quo viret et floret, culturam, collectionem, usummechanicum, Pharmaceuticum, Chemico medicum, omnibus pene humanicorporis partibus destinatum additis diversis observationibus etquestionibus Crocum concernentibus ad normam et formam S. R. I. AcademiæNaturæ curiosorum congesta a Dan: Ferdinando Hertodt, Phys. Et Med. Doc. , &c. , &c. Jenæ. 1671. " After this we may content ourselves withGerard's summary of its virtues: "The moderate use of it is good for thehead, and maketh sences more quicke and lively, shaketh off heavy anddrowsie sleep and maketh a man mery. " For its use in confections thiswill suffice from the "Apparatus Plantarum" of Laurembergius, 1632: "Inre familiari vix ullus est telluris habitatus angulus ubi non sit Crociquotodiana usurpatio, aspersi vel incocti cibis. " And as to its uses asa dye, its penetrating powers were proverbial, of which Luther's Sermonswill supply an instance: "As the Saffron bag that hath bene ful ofSaffron, or hath had Saffron in it, doth ever after savour and smel ofthe swete Saffron that it contayneth; so our blessed Ladye whichconceived and bare Christe in her wombe, dyd ever after resemble themaners and vertues of that precious babe which she bare" ("FourthSermon, " 1548). One of the uses to which Saffron was applied in theMiddle Ages was for the manufacture of the beautiful gold colour used inthe illumination of missals, &c. , where the actual gold was not used. This is the recipe from the work of Theophilus in the eleventh century:"If ye wish to decorate your work in some manner take tin pure andfinely scraped; melt it and wash it like gold, and apply it with thesame glue upon letters or other places which you wish to ornament withgold or silver; and when you have polished it with a tooth, take Saffronwith which silk is colored, moistening it with clear of egg withoutwater, and when it has stood a night, on the following day cover with apencil the places which you wish to gild, the rest holding the place ofsilver" (Book i, c. 23, Hendrie's translation). 

Though the chief fame of the Saffron Crocus is as a field plant, yet itis also a very handsome flower; but it is a most capricious one, whichmay account for the area of cultivation being so limited. In some placesit entirely refuses to flower, as it does in my own garden, where I havecultivated it for many years but never saw a flower, while in aneighbour's garden, under apparently the very same conditions of soiland climate, it flowers every autumn. But if we cannot succeed with theSaffron Crocus, there are many other Croci which were known in the timeof Shakespeare, and grown not "for any other use than in regard oftheir beautiful flowers of several varieties, as they have beencarefully sought out and preserved by divers to furnish a garden ofdainty curiosity. " Gerard had in his garden only six species; Parkinsonhad or described thirty-one different sorts, and after his time newkinds were not so much sought after till Dean Herbert collected andstudied them. His monograph of the Crocus, in 1847, contained theaccount of forty-one species, besides many varieties. The latestarrangement of the family by Mr. George Maw, of Broseley, containssixty-eight species, besides varieties; of these all are not yet incultivation, but every year sees some fresh addition to the number, chiefly by the unwearied exertions in finding them in their nativehabitats, and the liberal distribution of them when found, of Mr. Maw, to whom all the lovers of the Crocus are deeply indebted. And the Crociare so beautiful that we cannot have too many of them; they are, for themost part, perfectly hardy, though some few require a little protectionin winter; they are of an infinite variety of colour, and some flower inthe spring and some in the autumn. Most of us call the Crocus a springflower, yet there are more autumnal than vernal species, but it is as aspring flower that we most value it. The common yellow Crocus is almostas much "the first-born of the year's delight" as the Snowdrop. No onecan tell its native country, but it has been the brightest ornament ofour gardens, not only in spring, but even in winter, for many years. Itwas probably first introduced during Shakespeare's life. "It hathfloures, " says Gerard, "of a most perfect shining yellow colour, seemingafar off to be a hot glowing coal of fire. That pleasant plant was sentunto me from Robinus, of Paris, that painful and most curious searcherof simples. " From that beginning perhaps it has found its way into everygarden, for it increases rapidly, is very hardy, and its brightnesscommends it to all. It is the "most gladsome of the early flowers. Nonegives more glowing welcome to the season, or strikes on our firstglance with a ray of keener pleasure, when, with some bright morning'swarmth, the solitary golden fringes have kindled into knots ofthick-clustered yellow bloom on the borders of the cottage garden. At adistance the eye is caught by that glowing patch, its warm heart open tothe sun, and dear to the honey-gathering bees which hum around thechalices. "--FORBES WATSON. 

With this pretty picture I may well close the account of the Crocus, butnot because the subject is exhausted, for it is very tempting to go muchfurther, and to speak of the beauties of the many species, and of theendless forms and colours of the grand Dutch varieties; and whateveradmiration may be expressed for the common yellow Dutch Crocus, the sameI would also give to almost every member of this lovely and cheerfulfamily. 

FOOTNOTES:

[268:1] Fuller says of the crocodile--"He hath his name of χροχό-δειλος, or the Saffron-fearer, knowing himself to be all poison, and it allantidote. "--_Worthies of England_, i, 336, ed. 1811. 

[270:1] "Cilician, " or "Corycean, " were the established classicalepithets to use when speaking of the Saffron. Cowley quotes--

 "Corycii pressura Croci"--LUCAN;

 "Ultima Corycio quæ cadit aura Croco"--MARTIAL;

and adds the note--"Omnes Poetæ hoc quasi solenni quodam Epithetoutuntur. Corycus nomen urbis et montis in Cilicia, ubi laudatissimusCrocus nascebatur. "--_Plantarum_, lib. I, 49. 

[270:2] "Saffron is . . . A native of Cashmere, . . . And the . . . Saffron Crocus and the Hemp plant have followed their (the Aryans)migrations together throughout the temperate zone of theglobe. "--BIRDWOOD, _Handbook to the Indian Court_, p. 23. 

[271:1] "Our English hony and Safron is better than any that commethfrom any strange or foregn land. "--BULLEIN, _Government of Health_, 1588. 

[271:2] The arms of the borough of Saffron Walden are "three Saffronflowers walled in. "

SAMPHIRE. 

 _Edgar. _

 Half-way down Hangs one that gathers Samphire, dreadful trade! Methinks he seems no bigger than his head. 

 _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 6 (14). 

Being found only on rocks, the Samphire was naturally associated withSt. Peter, and so it was called in Italian Herba di San Pietro, inEnglish Sampire and Rock Sampier[274:1]--in other words, Samphire issimply a corruption of Saint Peter. The plant grows round all the coastsof Great Britain and Ireland, wherever there are suitable rocks on whichit can grow, and on all the coasts of Europe, except the northerncoasts; and it is a plant very easily recognized, if not by itspale-green, fleshy leaves, yet certainly by its taste, or its "smelldelightful and pleasant. " The leaves form the pickle, "the pleasantestsauce, most familiar, and best agreeing with man's body, " but now muchout of fashion. In Shakespeare's time the gathering of Samphire was aregular trade, and Steevens quotes from Smith's "History of Waterford"to show the danger attending the trade: "It is terrible to see howpeople gather it, hanging by a rope several fathoms from the top of theimpending rocks, as it were in the air. " In our own time the quantityrequired could be easily got without much danger, for it grows in placesperfectly accessible in sufficient quantity for the presentrequirements, for in some parts it grows away from the cliffs, so that"the fields about Porth Gwylan, in Carnarvonshire, are covered withit. " It may even be grown in the garden, especially in gardens near thesea, and makes a pretty plant for rockwork. 

There is a story connected with the Samphire which shows how botanicalknowledge, like all other knowledge, may be of great service, even whereleast expected. Many years ago a ship was wrecked on the Sussex coast, and a small party were left on a rock not far from land. To their horrorthey found the sea rising higher and higher, and threatening before longto cover their place of refuge. Some of them proposed to try and swimfor land, and would have done so, but just as they were preparing for itan officer saw a plant of Samphire growing on the rock, and told themthey might stay and trust to that little plant that the sea would riseno further, for that the Samphire, though always growing within thespray of the sea, never grows where the sea could actually touch it. They believed him and were saved. 

FOOTNOTES:

[274:1] Dr. Prior. 

SAVORY. 

 _Perdita. _

 Here's flowers for you; Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4. (103). 

Savory might be supposed to get its name as being a plant of specialsavour, but the name comes from its Latin name _Saturcia_, through theItalian _Savoreggia_. It is a native of the South of Europe, probablyintroduced into England by the Romans, for it is mentioned in theAnglo-Saxon recipes under the imported name of Savorie. It was a veryfavourite plant in the old herb gardens, and both kinds, the Winter andSummer Savory, were reckoned "among the farsing or farseting herbes, asthey call them" (Parkinson), _i. E. _, herbs used for stuffing. [275:1]Both kinds are still grown in herb gardens, but are very little used. 

FOOTNOTES:

[275:1]

 "His typet was ay farsud ful of knyfes And pynnes, for to give fair wyves. "

 _Canterbury Tale_, Prologue. 

 "The farced title running before the King. "

 _Henry V_, act iv, sc. 1 (431). 

The word still exists as "forced;" _e. G. _, "a forced leg of mutton, ""forced meat balls. "

SEDGE. 

 (1) _2nd Servant. _

 And Cytherea all in Sedges hid, Which seem to move and wanton with her breath, Even as the waving Sedges play with wind. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, Induction, sc. 2. (53). 

 (2) _Iris. _

 You nymphs, called Naiads, of the winding brooks, With your Sedged crowns and ever-harmless looks. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (128). 

 (3) _Julia. _

 The current that with gentle murmur glides, Thou knowest, being stopped, impatiently doth rage; But when his fair course is not hindered, He makes sweet music with the enamell'd stones, Giving a gentle kiss to every Sedge He overtaketh in his pilgrimage; And so by many winding nooks he strays With willing sport to the wild ocean. 

 _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, act ii, sc. 7 (25). 

 (4) _Benedick. _

 Alas, poor hurt fowl! now will he creep into Sedges. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act ii, sc. 1 (209). 

 (5) _Hotspur. _

 The gentle Severn's Sedgy bank. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act i, sc. 3 (98). 

 (6) _See_ REEDS, No. 7. 

Sedge is from the Anglo-Saxon Secg, and meant almost any watersideplant. Thus we read of the Moor Secg, and the Red Secg, and the SeaHolly (_Eryngium maritimum_) is called the Holly Sedge. And so it wasdoubtless used by Shakespeare. In our day Sedge is confined to the genusCarex, a family growing in almost all parts of the world, and containingabout 1000 species, of which we have fifty-eight in Great Britain; theyare most graceful ornaments both of our brooks and ditches; and some ofthem will make handsome garden plants. One very handsomespecies--perhaps the handsomest--is C. Pendula, with long tassel-likeflower-spikes hanging down in a very beautiful form, which is notuncommon as a wild plant, and can easily be grown in the garden, andthe flower-spikes will be found very handsome additions to tallnosegays. There is another North American species, C. Fraseri, which isa good plant for the north side of a rock-work: it is a small plant, butthe flower is a spike of the purest white, and is very curious, andunlike any other flower. 

SENNA. 

 _Macbeth. _

 What Rhubarb, Senna, or what purgative drug Would scour these English hence?[277:1]

 _Macbeth_, act v, sc. 3 (55). 

Even in the time of Shakespeare several attempts were made to grow theSenna in England, but without success; so that he probably only knew itas an important "purgative drug. " The Senna of commerce is made from theleaves of Cassia lanceolata and Cassia Senna, both natives of Africa, and so unfitted for open-air cultivation in England. The Cassias are alarge family, mostly with handsome yellow flowers, some of which arevery ornamental greenhouse plants; and one from North America, CassiaMarylandica, may be considered hardy in the South of England. 

FOOTNOTES:

[277:1] In this passage the old reading for "Senna" is "Cyme, " and thisis the reading of the Globe Shakespeare; but I quote the passage with"Senna" because it is so printed in many editions. 

SPEARGRASS. 

 _Peto. _

 He persuaded us to do the like. 

 _Bardolph. _

 Yea, and to tickle our noses with Speargrass to make them bleed, and then to beslubber our garments with it and swear it was the blood of true men. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (339). 

Except in this passage I can only find Speargrass mentioned in Lupton's"Notable Things, " and there without any description, only as part of amedical recipe: "Whosoever is tormented with sciatica or the hip gout, let them take an herb called Speargrass, and stamp it and lay a littlethereof upon the grief. " The plant is not mentioned by Lyte, Gerard, Parkinson, or the other old herbalists, and so it is somewhat of apuzzle. Steevens quotes from an old play, "Victories of Henry theFifth": "Every day I went into the field, I would take a straw andthrust it into my nose, and make my nose bleed;" but a straw was nevercalled Speargrass. Asparagus was called Speerage, and the young shootsmight have been used for the purpose, but I have never heard of such ause; Ranunculus flammula was called Spearwort, from its lanceolateleaves, and so (according to Cockayne) was Carex acuta, still calledSpiesgrass in German. Mr. Beisly suggests the Yarrow or Millfoil; and weknow from several authorities (Lyte, Hollybush, Gerard, Phillip, Cole, Skinner, and Lindley) that the Yarrow was called Nosebleed; but thereseems no reason to suppose that it was ever called Speargrass, or couldhave been called a Grass at all, though the term Grass was often used inthe most general way. Dr. Prior suggests the Common Reed, which isprobable. I have been rather inclined to suppose it to be one of theHorse-tails (Equiseta). [278:1] They are very sharp and spearlike, andtheir rough surfaces would soon draw blood; and as a decoction ofHorse-tail was a remedy for stopping bleeding of the nose, I havethought it very probable that such a supposed virtue could only havearisen when remedies were sought for on the principle of "similiasimilibus curantur;" so that a plant, which in one form producednose-bleeding, would, when otherwise administered, be the naturalremedy. But I now think that all these suggested plants must give way infavour of the common Couch-grass (_Triticum repens_). In the easterncounties, this is still called Speargrass; and the sharp undergroundstolons might easily draw blood, when the nose is tickled with them. Theold emigrants from the eastern counties took the name with them toAmerica, but applied it to a Poa (Webster's "Dictionary, " s. V. Speargrass). 

FOOTNOTES:

[278:1] "Hippurus Anglice dicitur sharynge gyrs. "--TURNER'S _Libellus_, 1538. 

SQUASH, _see_ PEAS. 

STOVER. 

 _Iris. _

 Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep, And flat meads thatch'd with Stover, them to keep. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (62). 

In this passage, Stover is probably the bent or dried Grass stillremaining on the land, but it is the common word for hay or straw, orfor "fodder and provision for all sorts of cattle; from _Estovers_, lawterm, which is so explained in the law dictionaries. Both are derivedfrom _Estouvier_ in the old French, defined by Roquefort--'Convenance, nécessité, provision de tout ce qui est nécessaire. '"--NARES. The wordis of frequent occurrence in the writers of the time of Shakespeare. Onequotation from Tusser will be sufficient--

 "Keepe dry thy straw--

 "If house-roome will serve thee, lay Stover up drie, And everie sort by it selfe for to lie. Or stack it for litter if roome be too poore, And thatch out the residue, noieng thy door. "

 _November's Husbandry. _

STRAWBERRY. 

 (1) _Iago. _

 Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief Spotted with Strawberries in your wife's hand?[279:1]

 _Othello_, act iii, sc. 3 (434). 

 (2) _Ely. _

 The Strawberry grows underneath the Nettle, And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality; And so the prince obscured his contemplation Under the veil of wildness. 

 _Henry V_, act i, sc. 1 (60). 

 (3) _Gloster. _

 My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, I saw good Strawberries in your garden there; I do beseech you send for some of them. 

 _Ely. _

 Marry, and will, my Lord, with all my heart. 

 * * * * *

 Where is my lord Protector? I have sent For these Strawberries. 

 _King Richard III_, act iii, sc. 4 (32). 

The Bishop of Ely's garden in Holborn must have been one of the chiefgardens of England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, for thisis the third time it has been brought under our notice. It wascelebrated for its Roses (_see_ ROSE); it was so celebrated for itsSaffron Crocuses that part of it acquired the name which it still keeps, Saffron Hill; and now we hear of its "good Strawberries;" while theremembrance of "the ample garden, " and of the handsome Lord Chancellorto whom it was given when taken from the bishopric, is still kept alivein its name of Hatton Garden. How very good our forefathers'Strawberries were, we have a strong proof in old Isaak Walton's happywords: "Indeed, my good scholar, we may say of angling as Dr. Botelersaid of Strawberries: 'Doubtless God could have made a better berry, butdoubtless God never did;' and so, if I might be judge, God never didmake a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling. " I doubtwhether, with our present experience of good Strawberries, we shouldjoin in this high praise of the Strawberries of Shakespeare's or IsaakWalton's day, for their varieties of Strawberry must have been verylimited in comparison to ours. Their chief Strawberry was the WildStrawberry brought straight from the woods, and no doubt much improvedin time by cultivation. Yet we learn from Spenser and from Tusser thatit was the custom to grow it just as it came from the woods. 

Spenser says--

 "One day as they all three together went Into the wood to gather Strawberries. "--_F. Q. _, vi. 34;

and Tusser--

 "Wife, into thy garden, and set me a plot With Strawbery rootes of the best to be got: Such growing abroade, among Thornes in the wood, Wel chosen and picked, prove excellent good. 

 * * * * *

 The Gooseberry, Respis, and Roses al three With Strawberies under them trimly agree. "

 _September's Husbandry. _

And even in the next century, Sir Hugh Plat said--

 "Strawberries which grow in woods prosper best in gardens. "

 _Garden of Eden_, i, 20. [281:1]

Besides the wild one (_Fragaria vesca_), they had the Virginian (_F. Virginiana_), a native of North America, and the parent of our scarlets;but they do not seem to have had the Hautbois (_F. Elatior_), or theChilian, or the Carolinas, from which most of our good varieties havedescended. 

The Strawberry is among fruits what the Primrose and Snowdrop are amongflowers, the harbinger of other good fruits to follow. It is theearliest of the summer fruits, and there is no need to dwell on itsdelicate, sweet-scented freshness, so acceptable to all; but it has alsoa charm in autumn, known, however, but to few, and sometimes said to beonly discernible by few. Among "the flowers that yield sweetest smell inthe air, " Lord Bacon reckoned Violets, and "next to that is the MuskRose, then the Strawberry leaves dying, with a most excellent cordialsmell. " In Mrs. Gaskell's pretty tale, "My Lady Ludlow, " the dyingStrawberry leaves act an important part. "The great hereditary facultyon which my lady piqued herself, and with reason, for I never met withany other person who possessed it, was the power she had of perceivingthe delicious odour arising from a bed of Strawberry leaves in the lateautumn, when the leaves were all fading and dying. " The old lady quotesLord Bacon, and then says: "'Now the Hanburys can always smell theexcellent cordial odour, and very delicious and refreshing it is. In thetime of Queen Elizabeth the great old families of England were adistinct race, just as a cart-horse is one creature and very useful inits place, and Childers or Eclipse is another creature, though both areof the same species. So the old families have gifts and powers of adifferent and higher class to what the other orders have. My dear, remember that you try and smell the scent of dying Strawberry leaves inthis next autumn, you have some of Ursula Hanbury's blood in you, andthat gives you a chance. ' 'But when October came I sniffed, and sniffed, and all to no purpose; and my lady, who had watched the littleexperiment rather anxiously, had to give me up as a hybrid'" ("HouseholdWords, " vol. Xviii. ). On this I can only say in the words of an oldwriter, "A rare and notable thing, if it be true, for I never proved it, and never tried it; therefore, as it proves so, praise it. "[282:1]Spenser also mentions the scent, but not of the leaves or fruit, but ofthe flowers--

 "Comming to kisse her lyps (such grace I found), Me seem'd I smelt a garden of sweet flowres That dainty odours from them threw around:

 * * * * *

 Her goodly bosome, lyke a Strawberry bed, * * * * *

 Such fragrant flowres doe give most odorous smell. "[282:2]

 _Sonnet_ lxiv. 

There is a considerable interest connected with the name of the plant, and much popular error. It is supposed to be called Strawberry becausethe berries have straw laid under them, or from an old custom of sellingthe wild ones strung on straws. [282:3] In Shakespeare's time straw wasused for the protection of Strawberries, but not in the presentfashion--

 "If frost doe continue, take this for a lawe, The Strawberies look to be covered with strawe. Laid ouerly trim upon crotchis and bows, And after uncovered as weather allows. "

 TUSSER, _December's Husbandry_. 

But the name is much more ancient than either of these customs. Strawberry in different forms, as Strea-berige, Streaberie-wisan, Streaw-berige, Streaw-berian wisan, Streberilef, Strabery, Strebere-wise, is its name in the old English Vocabularies, while itappears first in its present form in a Pictorial Vocabulary of thefifteenth century, "Hoc ffragrum, A{ce} a Strawbery. " What the wordreally means is pleasantly told by a writer in Seeman's "Journal ofBotany, " 1869: "How well this name indicates the now prevailing practiceof English gardeners laying straw under the berry in order to bring itto perfection, and prevent it from touching the earth, which withoutthat precaution it naturally does, and to which it owes its German_Erdbeere_, making us almost forget that in this instance 'straw' hasnothing to do with the practice alluded to, but is an obsoletepast-participle of 'to strew, ' in allusion to the habit of the plant. "This obsolete word is preserved in our English Bibles, "gathering wherethou hast not strawed, " "he strawed it upon the water, " "straw me withapples;" and in Shakespeare--

 The bottom poison, and the top o'erstrawed With sweets. --_Venus and Adonis. _

From another point of view there is almost as great a mistake in thesecond half of the name, for in strict botanical language the fruit ofthe Strawberry is not a berry; it is not even "exactly a fruit, but ismerely a fleshy receptacle bearing fruit, the true fruit being the ripecarpels, which are scattered over its surface in the form of minutegrains looking like seeds, for which they are usually mistaken, theseed lying inside of the shell of the carpel. " It is exactly thecontrary to the Raspberry, a fruit not named by Shakespeare, thoughcommon in his time under the name of Rasps. "When you gather theRaspberry you throw away the receptacle under the name of core, neversuspecting that it is the very part you had just before been feastingupon in the Strawberry. In the one case, the receptacle robs the carpelsof all their juice in order to become gorged and bloated at theirexpense; in the other case, the carpels act in the same selfish mannerupon the receptacles. "--LINDLEY, _Ladies' Botany_. 

Shakespeare's mention of the Strawberry and the Nettle (No. 2) deservesa passing note. It was the common opinion in his day that plants wereaffected by the neighbourhood of other plants to such an extent thatthey imbibed each other's virtues and faults. Thus sweet flowers wereplanted near fruit trees, with the idea of improving the flavour of thefruit, and evil-smelling trees, like the Elder, were carefully clearedaway from fruit trees, lest they should be tainted. But the Strawberrywas supposed to be an exception to the rule, and was supposed to thrivein the midst of "evil communications" without being corrupted. Preachersand emblem-writers naturally seized upon this: "In tilling our gardenswe cannot but admire the fresh innocence and purity of the Strawberry, because although it creeps along the ground, and is continually crushedby serpents, lizards, and other venomous reptiles, yet it does notimbibe the slightest impression of poison, or the smallest malignantquality, a true sign that it has no affinity with poison. And so it iswith human virtues, " &c. "In conversation take everything peacefully, nomatter what is said or done. In this manner you may remain innocentamidst the hissing of serpents, and, as a little Strawberry, you willnot suffer contamination from slimy things creeping near you. "--ST. FRANCIS DE SALES. 

I need only add that the Strawberry need not be confined to the kitchengarden, as there are some varieties which make very good carpet plants, such as the variegated Strawberry, which, however, is very capricious inits variegation; the double Strawberry, which bears pretty whitebutton-like flowers; and the Fragaria lucida from California, which hasvery bright shining leaves, and was, when first introduced, supposed tobe useful in crossing with other species; but I have not heard that thishas been successfully effected. 

FOOTNOTES:

[279:1] "Mrs. Somerville made for me a delicate outline sketch of whatis called Othello's house in Venice, and a beautifully coloured copy ofhis shield surmounted by the Doge's cap, and bearing three Mulberriesfor device--proving the truth of the assertion that the _Otelli delMoro_ were a noble Venetian folk, who came originally from the Morea, whose device was the Mulberry, the growth of that country, and showinghow curious a jumble Shakespeare has made both of name and device incalling him a _Moor_, and embroidering his arms on his handkerchief as_Strawberries_. "--F. KEMBLE'S _Records_, vol. I. 145. 

[281:1] It seems probable that the Romans only knew of the WildStrawberry, of which both Virgil and Ovid speak--

 "Qui legitis flores et humi nascentia fraga. "--_Ecl. _, ii. 

 "Contentique cibis nullo cogente creatis Arbuteos fœtus montanaque fraga legebant. "--_Metam. _, i, 105. 

[282:1] "Quæ neque confirmare argumentis neque refellere in animo est;ex ingenio suo quisque demat vel addat fidem. "--TACITUS. 

[282:2] The flowers of Fragaria lucida are slightly violet-scented, butI know of no Strawberry flower that can be said to "give most odoroussmell. "

[282:3]

 "The wood nymphs oftentimes would busied be, And pluck for him the blushing Strawberry, Making from them a bracelet on a bent, Which for a favour to this swain they sent. "

 BROWNE'S _Brit. Past. _, i, 2. 

SUGAR. 

 (1) _Prince Henry. _

 But, sweet Ned--to sweeten which name of Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of Sugar, clapped even now into my hand by an under-skinker. 

 * * * * *

 To drive away the time till Falstaff comes, I prithee, do thou stand in some by-room, while I question my puny drawer to what end he gave me the Sugar. 

 * * * * *

 Nay, but hark you, Francis; for the Sugar thou gavest me, 'twas a pennyworth, was't not?

 _1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (23, 31, 64). 

 (2) _Biron. _

 White-handed mistress, one sweet word with thee. 

 _Princess. _

 Honey, and Milk, and Sugar, there is three. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (230). 

 (3) _Quickly. _

 And in such wine and Sugar of the best and the fairest, that would have won any woman's heart. 

 _Merry Wives_, act ii, sc. 2 (70). 

 (4) _Bassanio. _

 Here are sever'd lips Parted with Sugar breath; so sweet a bar Should sunder such sweet friends. 

 _Merchant of Venice_, act iii, sc. 2 (118). 

 (5) _Touchstone. _

 Honesty coupled to beauty is to have honey a sauce to Sugar. 

 _As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (30). 

 (6) _Northumberland. _

 Your fair discourse hath been as Sugar, Making the hard way sweet and delectable. 

 _Richard II_, act ii, sc. 3 (6). 

 (7) _Clown. _

 Let me see, --what am I to buy for our sheep-shearing feast? Three pound of Sugar, five pound of Currants. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (39). 

 (8) _K. Henry. _

 You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate: there is more eloquence in a Sugar touch of them than in the tongues of the French council. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (401). 

 (9) _Queen Margaret. _

 Poor painted Queen, vain flourish of my fortune! Why strew'st thou Sugar on that bottled spider, Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about?

 _Richard III_, act i, sc. 3 (241). 

 (10) _Gloucester. _

 Your grace attended to their Sugar'd words, But look'd not on the poison of their hearts. 

 _Richard III_, act iii, sc. 1 (13). 

 (11) _Polonius. _

 We are oft to blame in this-- Tis too much proved--that with devotion's visage And pious actions we do Sugar o'er The devil himself. 

 _Hamlet_, act iii, sc. 1 (46). 

 (12) _Brabantio. _

 These sentences, to Sugar, or to gall, Being strong on both sides, are equivocal. 

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (216). 

 (13) _Timon. _

 And never learn'd The icy precepts of respect, but follow'd The Sugar'd game before thee. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (257). 

 (14) _Pucelle. _

 By fair persuasion mix'd with Sugar'd words We will entice the Duke of Burgundy. 

 _1st Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 3 (18). 

 (15) _K. Henry. _

 Hide not thy poison with such Sugar'd words. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (45). 

 (16) _Prince Henry. _

 One poor pennyworth of Sugar-candy, to make thee long-winded. 

 _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 3 (180). 

 (17)

 Thy Sugar'd tongue to bitter Wormwood taste. 

 _Lucrece_ (893). 

As a pure vegetable product, though manufactured, Sugar cannot be passedover in an account of the plants of Shakespeare; but it will not benecessary to say much about it. Yet the history of the migrations of theSugar-plant is sufficiently interesting to call for a short notice. 

Its original home seems to have been in the East Indies, whence it wasimported in very early times. It is probably the "sweet cane" of theBible; and among classical writers it is named by Strabo, Lucan, Varro, Seneca, Dioscorides, and Pliny. The plant is said to have beenintroduced into Europe during the Crusades, and to have been cultivatedin the Morea, Rhodes, Malta, Sicily, and Spain. [286:1] By the Spaniardsit was taken first to Madeira and the Cape de Verd Islands, and, verysoon after the discovery of America, to the West Indies. There it soongrew rapidly, and increased enormously, and became a chief article ofcommerce, so that though we now almost look upon it as entirely a NewWorld plant, it is in fact but a stranger there, that has found a mostcongenial home. 

In 1468 the price of Sugar was sixpence a pound, equal to six shillingsof our money, [287:1] but in Shakespeare's time it must have been verycommon, [287:2] or it could not so largely have worked its way into thecommon English language and proverbial expressions; and it must alsohave been very cheap, or it could not so entirely have superseded theuse of honey, which in earlier times was the only sweetening material. 

Shakespeare may have seen the living plant, for it was grown as acuriosity in his day, though Gerard could not succeed with it: "Myselfdid plant some shootes thereof in my garden, and some in Flanders didthe like, but the coldness of our clymate made an end of myne, and Ithink the Flemmings will have the like profit of their labour. " But hebears testimony to the large use of Sugar in his day; "of the juice ofthe reede is made the most pleasant and profitable sweet called Sugar, whereof is made infinite confections, sirupes, and such like, as alsopreserving and conserving of sundrie fruits, herbes and flowers, asroses, violets, rosemary flowers and such like. "

FOOTNOTES:

[286:1] "It is the juice of certain canes or reedes whiche growe mostplentifully in the Ilandes of Madera, Sicilia, Cyprus, Rhodus and Candy. It is made by art in boyling of the Canes, much like as they make theirwhite salt in the Witches in Cheshire. "--COGHAN, _Haven of Health_, 1596, p. 110. 

[287:1] "Babee's Book, " xxx. 

[287:2] It is mentioned by Chaucer--

 "Gyngerbred that was so fyn. And licorys and eek comyn With Sugre that is trye. "--_Tale of Sir Thopas. _

SWEET MARJORAM, _see_ MARJORAM. 

SYCAMORE. 

 (1) _Desdemona_ (singing). 

 The poor soul sat sighing by a Sycamore tree. 

 _Othello_, act iv, sc. 3 (41). 

 (2) _Benvolio. _

 Underneath the grove of Sycamore That westward rooteth from the city's side, So early walking did I see your son. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act i, sc. 1 (130). 

 (3) _Boyet. _

 Under the cool shade of a Sycamore I thought to close mine eyes some half an hour. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (89). 

In its botanical relationship, the Sycamore is closely allied to theMaple, and was often called the Great Maple, and is still so called inScotland. It is not indigenous in Great Britain, but it has long beennaturalized among us, and has taken so kindly to our soil and climatethat it is one of our commonest trees. It is one of the best of foresttrees for resisting wind; it "scorns to be biassed in its mode of growtheven by the prevailing wind, but shooting its branches with equalboldness in every direction, shows no weatherside to the storm, and maybe broken, but never can be bended. "-_Old Mortality_, c. I. 

The history of the name is curious. The Sycomore, or Zicamine tree ofthe Bible and of Theophrastus and Dioscorides, is the Fig-mulberry, alarge handsome tree indigenous in Africa and Syria, and largely planted, partly for the sake of its fruit, and especially for the delicious shadeit gives. With this tree the early English writers were not acquainted, but they found the name in the Bible, and applied it to any shade-givingtree. Thus in Ælfric's Vocabulary in the tenth century it is given tothe Aspen--"Sicomorus vel celsa æps. " Chaucer gives the name to somehedge shrub, but he probably used it for any thick shrub, without anyvery special distinction--

 "The hedge also that yedde in compas And closed in all the greene herbere With Sicamour was set and Eglateere, Wrethen in fere so well and cunningly That every branch and leafe grew by measure Plaine as a bord, of an height by and by. "

 _The Flower and the Leaf. _

Our Sycamore would be very ill suited to make the sides and roof of anarbour, but before the time of Shakespeare it seems certain that thename was attached to our present tree, and it is so called by Gerard andParkinson. 

The Sycamore is chiefly planted for its rapid growth rather than forits beauty. It becomes a handsome tree when fully grown, but as a youngtree it is stiff and heavy, and at all times it is so infested withhoneydew as to make it unfit for planting on lawns or near paths. Itgrows well in the north, where other trees will not well flourish, and"we frequently meet with the tree apart in the fields, or unawares inremote localities amidst the Lammermuirs and the Cheviots, where it isthe surviving witness of the former existence of a hamlet there. Henceto the botanical rambler it has a more melancholy character than theYew. It throws him back on past days, when he who planted the tree wasthe owner of the land and of the Hall, and whose name and race areforgotten even by tradition. . . . And there is reasonable pride in theancestry when a grove of old gentlemanly Sycamores still shadows theHall. "--JOHNSTON. But these old Sycamores were not planted only forbeauty: they were sometimes planted for a very unpleasant use. "Theywere used by the most powerful barons in the West of Scotland forhanging their enemies and refractory vassals on, and for this reasonwere called _dool_ or grief trees. Of these there are three yetstanding, the most memorable being one near the fine old castle ofCassilis, one of the seats of the Marquis of Ailsa, on the banks of theRiver Doon. It was used by the family of Kennedy, who were the mostpowerful barons of the West of Scotland, for the purpose abovementioned. "--JOHNS. 

The wood of the Sycamore is useful for turning and a few other purposes, but is not very durable. The sap, as in all the Maples, is full ofsugar, and the pollen is very curious; "it appears globular in themicroscope, but if it be touched with anything moist, the globules burstopen with four valves, and then they appear in the form of across. "--MILLER. 

THISTLE (_see also_ HOLY THISTLE). 

 (1) _Burgundy. _

 And nothing teems But hateful Docks, rough Thistles, Kecksies, Burs. 

 _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (51). 

 (2) _Bottom. _

 Mounsieur Cobweb, good mounsieur, get you your weapons ready in your hand, and kill me a red-hipped humble bee on the top of a Thistle; and, good mounsieur, bring me the honey-bag. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (10). 

Thistle is the old English name for a large family of plants occurringchiefly in Europe and Asia, of which we have fourteen species in GreatBritain, arranged under the botanical families of Carlina, Carduus, andOnopordon. It is the recognized symbol of untidiness and carelessness, being found not so much in barren ground as in good ground not properlycared for. So good a proof of a rich soil does the Thistle give, that asaying is attributed to a blind man who was choosing a piece ofland--"Take me to a Thistle;" and Tusser says--

 "Much wetnes, hog-rooting, and land out of hart makes Thistles a number foorthwith to upstart. If Thistles so growing proove lustie and long, It signifieth land to be hartie and strong. "

 _October's Husbandry_ (13). 

If the Thistles were not so common, and if we could get rid of theassociations they suggest, there are probably few of our wild plantsthat we should more admire: they are stately in their foliage and habit, and some of their flowers are rich in colour, and the Thistledown, whichcarries the seed far and wide, is very beautiful, and was onceconsidered useful as a sign of rain, for "if the down flyeth offColtsfoot, Dandelyon, or Thistles when there is no winde, it is a signeof rain. "--COLES. 

It had still another use in rustic divination--

 "Upon the various earth's embroidered gown, There is a weed upon whose head grows down, Sow Thistle 'tis y'clept, whose downy wreath If anyone can blow off at a breath We deem her for a maid. "--BROWNE'S _Brit. Past. _, i, 4. 

But it is owing to these pretty Thistledowns that the plant becomes amost undesirable neighbour, for they carry the seed everywhere, andwherever it is carried, it soon vegetates, and a fine crop of Thistlesvery quickly follows. In this way, if left to themselves, the Thistleswill soon monopolize a large extent of country, to the extinction ofother plants, as they have done in parts of the American prairies, andas they did in Australia, till a most stringent Act of Parliament waspassed about twenty years ago, imposing heavy penalties upon all whoneglected to destroy the Thistles on their land. For these reasons wecannot admit the Thistle into the garden, at least not our nativeThistles; but there are some foreigners which may well be admitted. There are the handsome yellow Thistles of the South of Europe(_Scolymus_), which besides their beauty have a classical interest. "Hesiod elegantly describing the time of year, says, ἠμος δε σκολυμος τ'ανθει, when the Scolymus flowers, _i. E. _, in hot weather or summer ("Op. Etdies, " 582). This plant crowned with its golden flowers is abundantthroughout Sicily. "--HOGG'S _Classical Plants of Sicily_. There is theFish-bone Thistle (_Chamæpeuce diacantha_) from Syria, a very handsomeplant, and, like most of the Thistles, a biennial; but if allowed toflower and go to seed, it will produce plenty of seedlings for asuccession of years. And there is a grand scarlet Thistle from Mexico, the Erythrolena conspicua ("Sweet, " vol. Ii. P. 134), which must bealmost the handsomest of the family, and which was grown in Englandfifty years ago, but has been long lost. There are many others that maydeserve a place as ornamental plants, but they find little favour, for"they are only Thistles. "

Any notice of the Thistle would be imperfect without some mention of theScotch Thistle. It is the one point in the history of the plant thatprotects it from contempt. We dare not despise a plant which is thehonoured badge of our neighbours and relations, the Scotch; which isennobled as the symbol of the Order of the Thistle, that claims to bethe most ancient of all our Orders of high honour; and which defies youto insult it or despise it by its proud mottoes, "Nemo me impunelacessit, " "Ce que Dieu garde, est bien gardé. " What is the true ScotchThistle even the Scotch antiquarians cannot decide, and in theuncertainty it is perhaps safest to say that no Thistle in particularcan claim the sole honour, but that it extends to every member of thefamily that can be found in Scotland. [292:1]

Shakespeare has noticed the love of the bee for the Thistle, and itseems that it is for other purposes than honey gathering that he findsthe Thistle useful. For "a beauty has the Thistle, when every delicatehair arrests a dew-drop on a showery April morning, and when the purpleblossom of a roadside Thistle turns its face to Heaven and welcomes thewild bee, who lies close upon its flowerets on the approach of somestorm cloud until its shadow be past away. For with unerring instinctthe bee well knows that the darkness is but for a moment, and that thesun will shine out again ere long. "--LADY WILKINSON. 

FOOTNOTES:

[292:1] See an interesting and fanciful account of the fitness of theThistle as the emblem of Scotland in Ruskin's "Proserpina, " pp. 135-139. 

THORNS. 

 (1) _Ariel. _

 Tooth'd Briers, sharp Furzes, pricking Goss, and Thorns, Which entered their frail skins. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (180). 

 (2) _Quince. _

 One must come in with a bush of Thorns and a lanthorn, and say he comes in to disfigure, or to present, the person of Moonshine. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (60). 

 (3) _Puck. _

 For Briers and Thorns at their apparel snatch. 

 _Ibid. _, act iii, sc. 2 (29). 

 (4) _Prologue. _

 This man with lanthorn, dog, and bush of Thorn, Presenteth Moonshine. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 1 (136). 

 (5) _Moonshine. _

 All that I have to say, is to tell you that the lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this Thorn-bush, my Thorn-bush; and this dog, my dog. 

 _Ibid. _ (261). 

 (6) _Dumain. _

 But, alack, my hand is sworn Ne'er to pluck thee from thy Thorn. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv, sc. 3 (111). 

 (7) _Carlisle. _

 The woe's to come; the children yet unborn Shall feel this day as sharp to them as Thorn. 

 _Richard II_, act iv, sc. 1 (322). 

 (8) _King Henry. _

 The care you have of us, To mow down Thorns that would annoy our foot, Is worthy praise. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 1 (66). 

 (9) _Gloucester. _

 And I--like one lost in a Thorny wood, That rends the Thorns and is rent with the Thorns, Seeking a way, and straying from the way. 

 _3rd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (174). 

 (10) _K. Edward. _

 Brave followers, yonder stands the Thorny wood. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 4 (67). 

 (11) _K. Edward. _

 What! can so young a Thorn begin to prick. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 4 (13). 

 (12) _Romeo. _

 Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like Thorn. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act i, sc. 4 (25). 

 (13) _Boult. _

 A Thornier piece of ground. 

 _Pericles_, act iv, sc. 6 (153). 

 (14) _Leontes. _

 Which being spotted Is goads, Thorns, Nettles, tails of wasps. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act i, sc. 2 (328). 

 (15) _Florizel. _

 But O, the Thorns we stand upon!

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 4 (596). 

 (16) _Ophelia. _

 Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, Shew me the steep and Thorny path to Heaven. 

 _Hamlet_, act i, sc. 3 (47). 

 (17) _Ghost. _

 Leave her to Heaven, And to those Thorns that in her bosom lodge, To prick and sting her. 

 _Ibid. _, act i, sc. 5 (86). 

 (18) _Bastard. _

 I am amazed, methinks, and lose my way Among the Thorns and dangers of this world. 

 _King John_, act iv, sc. 3 (40). 

_See also_ ROSE, Nos. 7, 18, 22, 30, the scene in the Temple gardens;and BRIER, No. 11. 

Thorns and Thistles are the typical emblems of desolation and trouble, and so Shakespeare uses them; and had he spoken of Thorns in this senseonly, I should have been doubtful as to admitting them among his otherplants, but as in some of the passages they stand for the Hawthorn treeand the Rose bush, I could not pass them by altogether. They might needno further comment beyond referring for further information about themto Hawthorn, Briar, Rose, and Bramble; but in speaking of the Bramble Imentioned the curious legend which tells why the Bramble employs itselfin collecting wool from every stray sheep, and there is another verycurious instance in Blount's "Antient Tenures" of a connection betweenThorns and wool. The original document is given in Latin, and is dated39th Henry III. It may be thus translated: "Peter de Baldwyn holds inCombes, in the county of Surrey, by the service to go a wool gatheringfor our Lady the Queen among the White Thorns, and if he refuses togather it he shall pay into the Treasury of our Lord the King xxs. Perannum. " I should almost suspect a false reading, as the editor isinclined to do, but that many other services, equally curious andimprobable, may easily be found. 

THYME. 

 (1) _Oberon. _

 I know a bank where the wild Thyme blows. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (249). 

 (2) _Iago. _

 We will plant Nettles or sow Lettuce, set Hyssop and weed up Thyme. 

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (324). (_See_ HYSSOP. )

 (3) And sweet Time true. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Introd. Song. 

It is one of the most curious of the curiosities of English plant namesthat the Wild Thyme--a plant so common and so widely distributed, andthat makes itself so easily known by its fine aromatic, pungent scent, that it is almost impossible to pass it by without notice--has yet noEnglish name, and seems never to have had one. Thyme is the Anglicisedform of the Greek and Latin _Thymum_, which name it probably got fromits use for incense in sacrifices, while its other name of _serpyllum_pointed out its creeping habit. I do not know when the word Thyme wasfirst introduced into the English language, for it is another curiouspoint connected with the name, that _thymum_ does not occur in the oldEnglish vocabularies. We have in Ælfric's "Vocabulary, " "Pollegia, hyl-wyrt, " which may perhaps be the Thyme, though it is generallysupposed to be the Pennyroyal; we have in a Vocabulary of thirteenthcentury, "Epitime, epithimum, fordboh, " which also may be the WildThyme; we have in a Vocabulary of the fifteenth century, "Hoc sirpillum, A{ce} petergrys;" and in a Pictorial Vocabulary of the same date, "Hoccirpillum, A{ce} a pellek" (which word is probably a misprint, for inthe "Promptorium Parvulorum, " c. 1440, it is "Peletyr, herbe, _serpillumpiretrum_"), both of which are almost certainly the Wild Thyme; while inan Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary of the tenth or eleventh century we have"serpulum, crop-leac, " _i. E. _, the Onion, which must certainly be amistake of the compiler. So that not even in its Latin form does thename occur, except in the "Promptorium Parvulorum, " where it is "Tyme, herbe, _Tima_, _Timum_--Tyme, floure, _Timus_;" and in the "CatholiconAnglicum, " when it is "Tyme; _timum epitimum; flos ejus est_. " It isthus a puzzle how it can have got naturalized among us, for inShakespeare's time it was completely naturalized. 

I have already quoted Lord Bacon's account of it under BURNET, but Imust quote it again here: "Those flowers which perfume the air mostdelightfully, not passed by as the rest, but being trodden upon andcrushed, are three--that is Burnet, Wild Thyme, and Water mints;therefore you are to set whole alleys of them, to have the pleasure whenyou walk or tread;" and again in his pleasant description of the heathor wild garden, which he would have in every "prince-like garden, " and"framed as much as may be to a natural wildness, " he says, "I like alsolittle heaps, in the nature of mole-hills (such as are in wild heaths)to be set some with Wild Thyme, some with Pinks, some with Germander. "Yet the name may have been used sometimes as a general name for anywild, strong-scented plant. It can only be in this sense that Miltonused it--

 "Thee, shepherd! thee the woods and desert caves, With Wild Thyme and the gadding Vine o'ergrown, And all their echoes mourn. "

 _Lycidas. _

for certainly a desert cave is almost the last place in which we shouldlook for the true Wild Thyme. 

It is as a bee-plant especially that the Thyme has always beencelebrated. Spenser speaks of it as "the bees alluring Tyme, " and Ovidsays of it, speaking of Chloris or Flora--

 "Mella meum munus; volucres ego mella daturos Ad violam et cytisos, et Thyma cana voco. "

 _Fasti_, v. 

so that the Thyme became proverbial as the symbol of sweetness. It wasthe highest compliment that the shepherd could pay to his mistress--

 "Nerine Galatea, Thymo mihi dulcior Hyblæ. "

 VIRGIL, _Ecl. _ vii. 

And it was because of its wild Thyme that Mount Hymettus became socelebrated for its honey--"Mella Thymi redolentia flore" (Ovid). "Thyme, for the time it lasteth, yeeldeth most and best honni, and therefore inold time was accounted chief (Thymus aptissimus ad mellificum--Pastusgratissimus apibus Thymum est--Plinii, 'His. Nat. ')

 'Dum thymo pascentur apes, dum rore cicadæ. '

 VIRGIL, _Georg. _

Hymettus in Greece and Hybla in Sicily were so famous for Bees andHonni, because there grew such store of Tyme; propter hoc Siculum melfert palmam, quod ibi Thymum bonum et frequens est. "--VARRO, _TheFeminine Monarchie_, 1634. 

The Wild Thyme can scarcely be considered a garden plant, except in itsvariegated and golden varieties, which are very handsome, but if itshould ever come naturally in the turf, it should be welcomed andcherished for its sweet scent. The garden Thyme (_T. Vulgaris_) must ofcourse be in every herb garden; and there are a few species which makegood plants for the rockwork, such as T. Lanceolatus from Greece, a verylow-growing shrub, with narrow, pointed leaves; T. Carnosus, which makesa pretty little shrub, and others; while the Corsican Thyme (_MenthaRequieni_) is perhaps the lowest and closest-growing of all herbs, making a dark-green covering to the soil, and having a very strongscent, though more resembling Peppermint than Thyme. 

TOADSTOOLS, _see_ MUSHROOMS. 

TURNIPS. 

 _Anne. _

 Alas! I had rather be set quick i' the earth And boul'd to death with Turnips. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iii, sc. 4 (89). 

The Turnips of Shakespeare's time were like ours, and probably as good, though their cultivation seems to have been chiefly confined to gardens. It is not very certain whether the cultivated Turnip is the wild Turnipimproved in England by cultivation, or whether we are indebted for it tothe Romans, and that the wild one is only the degenerate form of thecultivated plant; for though the wild Turnip is admitted into theEnglish flora, yet its right to the admission is very doubtful. But ifwe did not get the vegetable from the Romans we got its name. The oldname for it was _nœp_, _nep_, or _neps_, which was only the Englishform of the Latin _napus_, while Turnip is the corruption of _terrænapus_, but when the first syllable was added I do not know. There is acurious perversion in the name, for our Turnip is botanically Brassicarapa, while the Rape is Brassica napus, so that the English and Latinhave changed places, the Napus becoming a Rape and the Rapa a Nep. 

The present large field cultivation of Turnips is of comparatively amodern date, though the field Turnip and garden Turnip are onlyvarieties of the same species, while there are also many varieties bothof the field and garden Turnip. "One field proclaims the Scotch variety, while the bluer cast tells its hardy Swedish origin; the tankardproclaims a deep soil, and the lover of boiled mutton, rejoicing, seesthe yellower tint of the Dutch or Stone Turnip, which he desires to meetwith again in the market. "--PHILLIPS. 

It is not very easy to speak of the moral qualities of Turnips, or tomake them the symbols of much virtue, yet Gwillim did so: "He bearethsable, a Turnip proper, a chief or gutte de Larmes. This is a wholesomeroot, and yieldeth great relief to the poor, and prospereth best in ahot sandy ground, and may signifie a person of good disposition, whosevertuous demeanour flourisheth most prosperously, even in that soil, where the searching heat of envy most aboundeth. This differeth much innature from that whereof it is said, 'And that there should not be amongyou any root that bringeth forth gall and wormwood. '"--GWILLIM'S_Heraldry_, sec. Iii. C. 11. 

VETCHES. 

 _Iris. _

 Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas, Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (60). 

The cultivated Vetch (_Vicia sativa_) is probably not a British plant, and it is not very certain to what country it rightly belongs; but itwas very probably introduced into England by the Romans as an excellentand easily-grown fodder-plant. There are several Vetches that are trueBritish plants, and they are among the most beautiful ornaments of ourlanes and hedges. Two especially deserve to take a place in the gardenfor their beauty; but they require watching, or they will scramble intoparts where their presence is not desirable; these are V. Cracca and V. Sylvatica. V. Cracca has a very bright pure blue flower, and may beallowed to scramble over low bushes; V. Sylvatica is a tall climber, andmay be seen in copses and high hedges climbing to the tops of the Hazelsand other tall bushes. It is one of the most graceful of our Britishplants, and perhaps quite the most graceful of our climbers; it bears anabundance of flowers, which are pure white streaked and spotted withpale blue; it is not a very common plant, but I have often seen it inGloucestershire and Somersetshire, and wherever it is found it isgenerally in abundance. 

The other name for the Vetch is Tares, which is, no doubt, an oldEnglish word that has never been satisfactorily explained. The word hasan interest from its biblical associations, though modern scholarsdecide that the Zizania is wrongly translated Tares, and that it israther a bastard Wheat or Darnel. 

VINES. 

 (1) _Titania. _

 Feed him with Apricocks and Dewberries, With purple Grapes, green Figs, and Mulberries. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (169). 

 (2) _Menenius. _

 The tartness of his face sours ripe Grapes. 

 _Coriolanus_, act v, sc. 4 (18). 

 (3) _Song. _

 Come, thou monarch of the Vine, Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne! In thy fats our cares be drown'd, With thy Grapes our hairs be crown'd. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act ii, sc. 7 (120). 

 (4) _Cleopatra. _

 Now no more The juice of Egypt's Grape shall moist this lip. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 2 (284). 

 (5) _Timon. _

 Dry up thy Marrows, Vines, and plough-torn leas. 

 _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (193). 

 (6) _Timon. _

 Go, suck the subtle blood o' the Grape, Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth. 

 _Ibid. _ (432). 

 (7) _Touchstone. _

 The heathen philosopher, when he had a desire to eat a Grape, would open his lips when he put it into his mouth; meaning thereby that Grapes were made to eat and lips to open. 

 _As You Like It_, act v, sc. 1 (36). 

 (8) _Iago. _

 Blessed Fig's end! the wine she drinks is made of Grapes. 

 _Othello_, act ii, sc 1 (250). 

 (9) _Lafeu. _

 O, will you eat no Grapes, my royal fox? Yes, but you will my noble Grapes, an if My royal fox could reach them. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act ii, sc. 1 (73). 

 (10) _Lafeu. _

 There's one Grape yet. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 1 (105). 

 (11) _Pompey. _

 'Twas in "The Bunch of Grapes, " where, indeed, you have a delight to sit. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act ii, sc. 1 (133). 

 (12) _Constable. _

 Let us quit all And give our Vineyards to a barbarous people. 

 _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 5 (3). 

 (13) _Burgundy. _

 Her Vine, the merry cheerer of the heart, Unpruned, dies. . . . . . . . . . Our Vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges, Defective in their natures, grow to wildness. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 2 (41, 54). 

 (14) _Mortimer. _

 And pithless arms, like to a wither'd Vine That droops his sapless branches to the ground. 

 _1st Henry VI_, act ii, sc. 5 (11). 

 (15) _Cranmer. _

 In her days every man shall eat in safety, Under his own Vine, what he plants; and sing The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours. 

 _Henry VIII_, act v, sc. 5 (34). 

 (16) _Cranmer. _

 Peace, plenty, love, truth, terror, That were the servants to this chosen infant, Shall then be his, and like a Vine grow to him. 

 _Ibid. _ (48). 

 (17) _Lear. _

 Now, our joy, Although the last, not least; to whose young love The Vines of France and milk of Burgundy Strive to be interess'd. 

 _King Lear_, act i, sc. 1 (84). 

 (18) _Arviragus. _

 And let the stinking Elder, grief, untwine His perishing root with the increasing Vine!

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (59). 

 (19) _Adriana. _

 Thou art an Elm, my husband, I a Vine, Whose weakness married to thy stronger state Makes me with thy strength to communicate. 

 _Comedy of Errors_, act ii, sc. 2 (176). 

 (20) _Gonzalo. _

 Bound of land, tilth, Vineyard, none. 

 _Tempest_, act ii, sc. 1 (152). 

 (21) _Iris. _

 Thy pole-clipt Vineyard. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (68). 

 (22) _Ceres. _

 Vines with clustering bunches growing, Plants with goodly burthen bowing. 

 _Ibid. _ (112). 

 (23) _Richmond. _

 The usurping boar, That spoil'd your summer fields and fruitful Vines. 

 _Richard III_, act v, sc. 2 (7). 

 (24) _Isabella. _

 He hath a garden circummured with brick, Whose western side is with a Vineyard back'd; And to that Vineyard is a planched gate, That makes his opening with this bigger key: This other doth command a little door, Which from the Vineyard to the garden leads. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 1 (28). 

 (25)

 The Vine shall grow, but we shall never see it. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act ii, sc. 2 (47). 

 (26)

 Even as poor birds, deceived with painted Grapes, Do forfeit by the eye and pine the maw. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (601). 

 (27)

 For one sweet Grape, who will the Vine destroy?

 _Lucrece_ (215). 

Besides these different references to the Grape Vine, some of itsvarious products are mentioned, as Raisins, wine, aquavitæ or brandy, claret (the "thin potations" forsworn by Falstaff), sherris-sack orsherry, and malmsey. But none of these passages gives us much insightinto the culture of the Vine in England, the whole history of which iscurious and interesting. 

The Vine is not even a native of Europe, but of the East, whence it wasvery early introduced into Europe; so early, indeed, that it hasrecently been found "fossil in a tufaceous deposit in the South ofFrance. "--DARWIN. It was no doubt brought into England by the Romans. Tacitus, describing England in the first century after Christ, saysexpressly that the Vine did not, and, as he evidently thought, could notgrow there. "Solum, præter oleam vitemque et cætera calidioribus terrisoriri sueta, patiens frugum, fæcundum. " Yet Bede, writing in the eighthcentury, describes England as "opima frugibus atque arboribus insula, etalendis apta pecoribus et jumentis Vineas etiam quibusdam in locisgerminans. "[301:1]

From that time till the time of Shakespeare there is abundant proof notonly of the growth of the Vine as we now grow it in gardens, but inlarge Vineyards. In Anglo-Saxon times "a Vineyard" is not unfrequentlymentioned in various documents. "Edgar gives the Vineyard situated atWecet, with the Vine-dressers. "--TURNER'S _Anglo-Saxons_. "'DomesdayBook' contained thirty-eight entries of valuable Vineyards; one in Essexconsisted of six acres, and yielded twenty hogsheads of wine in a goodyear. There was another of the same extent at Ware. "--H. EVERSHED, in_Gardener's Chronicle_. So in the Norman times, "Giraldus Cambrensis, speaking of the Castle of Manorbeer (his birthplace), near Pembroke, said that it had under its walls, besides a fishpond, a beautifulgarden, enclosed on one side by a Vineyard and on the other by a wood, remarkable for the projection of its rocks and the height of its Hazeltrees. In the twelfth century Vineyards were not uncommon inEngland. "--WRIGHT. Neckam, writing in that century, refers to theusefulness of the Vine when trained against the wall-front: "Pampinuslatitudine suâ excipit æris insultus, cum res ita desiderat, et fenestraclementiam caloris solaris admittat. "--HUDSON TURNER. 

In the time of Shakespeare I suppose that most of the Vines in Englandwere grown in Vineyards of more or less extent, trained to poles. Theseformed the "pole-clipt Vineyards" of No. 21, and are thus described byGerard: "The Vine is held up with poles and frames of wood, and by thatmeans it spreadeth all about and climbeth aloft; it joyneth itselfe untotrees, or whatsoever standeth next unto it"--in other words, the Vinewas then chiefly grown as a standard in the open ground. 

There are numberless notices in the records and chronicles of extensivevineyards in England, which it is needless to quote; but it is worthnoticing that the memory of these Vineyards remains not only in thechronicles and in the treatises which teach of Vine-culture, but also inthe names of streets, &c. , which are occasionally met with. There is"Vineyard Holm, " in the Hampshire Downs, and many other places inHampshire; the "Vineyard Hills, " at Godalming; the "Vines, " at Rochesterand Sevenoaks; the "Vineyards, " at Bath and Ludlow; the "Vine Fields, "near the Abbey at Bury St. Edmunds;[302:1] the "Vineyard Walk" inClerkenwell; and "near Basingstoke the 'Vine' or 'Vine House, ' in arichly wooded spot, where, as is said, the Romans grew the first Vine inBritain, the memory of which now only survives in the VineHounds;"[303:1] and probably a closer search among the names of fieldsin other parts would bring to light many similar instances. [303:2]

Among the English Vineyards those of Gloucestershire stood pre-eminent. William of Malmesbury, writing of Gloucestershire in the twelfthcentury, says: "This county is planted thicker with Vineyards than anyother in England, more plentiful in crops, and more pleasant in flavour. For the wines do not offend the mouth with sharpness, since they do notyield to the French in sweetness" ("De Gestis Pontif. , " book iv. ) Ofthese Vineyards the tradition still remains in the county. The CotswoldHills are in many places curiously marked with a succession of steps ornarrow terraces, called "litchets" or "lynches;" these are traditionallythe sites of the old Vineyards, but the tradition cannot be fullydepended on, and the formation of the terraces has been variouslyaccounted for. By some they are supposed to be natural formations, butwherever I have seen them they appear to me too regular and artificial;nor, as far as I am aware, does the oolite, on which formation theseterraces mostly occur, take the form of a succession of narrow terraces. It seems certain that the ground was artificially formed into theseterraces with very little labour, and that they were utilized for somespecial cultivation, and as likely for Vines as for any other. [303:3] Itis also certain that as the Gloucestershire Vineyards were among themost ancient and the best in England, so they held their ground tillwithin a very recent period. I cannot find the exact date, but some timeduring the last century there is "satisfactory testimony of the fullsuccess of a plantation in Cromhall Park, from which ten hogsheads ofwine were made in the year. The Vine plantation was discontinued ordestroyed in consequence of a dispute with the Rector on a claim of thetythes. "--RUDGE'S _History of Gloucestershire_. This, however, is notquite the latest notice I have met with, for Phillips, writing in 1820, says: "There are several flourishing Vineyards at this time inSomersetshire; the late Sir William Basset, in that county, annuallymade some hogsheads of wine, which was palatable and well-bodied. Theidea that we cannot make good wine from our own Grapes is erroneous; Ihave tasted it quite equal to the Grave wines, and in some instances, when kept for eight or ten years, it has been drunk as hock by thenicest judges. "--_Pomarium Britannicum. _ It would have been moresatisfactory if Mr. Phillips had told us the exact locality of any ofthese "flourishing Vineyards, " for I can nowhere else find any accountof them, except that in a map of five miles round Bath in 1801 aVineyard is marked at Claverton, formerly in the possession of theBassets, and the Vines are distinctly shown. [304:1] At present theexperiment is again being tried by the Marquis of Bute, at Castle Coch, near Cardiff, to establish a Vineyard, not to produce fruit for themarket, but to produce wine; and as both soil and climate seem verysuitable, there can be little doubt that wine will be produced of a veryfair character. Whether it will be a commercial success is moredoubtful, but probably that is not of much consequence. 

I have dwelt at some length on the subject of the English Vineyards, because the cultivation of the Vine in Vineyards, like the cultivationof the Saffron, is a curious instance of an industry foreign to the soilintroduced, and apparently for many years successful, [304:2] and thenentirely, or almost, given up. The reasons for the cessation of theEnglish Vineyards are not far to seek. Some have attributed it to achange in the seasons, and have supposed that our summers were formerlyhotter than they are now, bringing as a proof the Vineyards andEnglish-made wine of other days. This was Parkinson's idea. "Our yearesin these times do not fall out to be so kindly and hot to ripen theGrape to make any good wine as formerly they have done. " But this is amere assertion, and I believe it not to be true. I have little doubtthat quite as good wine could now be made in England as ever was made, and wine is still made every year in many old-fashioned farmhouses. Butforeign wines can now be produced much better and much cheaper, and thathas caused the cessation of the English Vineyards. It is true thatFrench and Spanish wines were introduced into England very early, but itmust have been in limited quantities, and at a high price. When thequantities increased and the price was lowered, it was well to give upthe cultivation of the Vine for some more certain crop better suited tothe soil and the climate, for it must always have been a capricious anduncertain crop. Hakluyt was one who was very anxious that England shouldsupply herself with all the necessaries of life without dependence onforeign countries, yet, writing in Shakespeare's time, he says: "It issayd that since we traded to Zante, that the plant that beareth theCoren is also broughte into this realme from thence, and although itbring not fruit to perfection, yet it may serve for pleasure, and forsome use, like as our Vines doe which we cannot well spare, although theclimat so colde will not permit us to have good wines of them"("Voiages, &c. , " vol. Ii. P. 166). Parkinson says to the same effect:"Many have adventured to make Vineyards in England, not only in theselater days but in ancient times, as may well witness the sundry placesin this land, entituled by the name of Vineyards, and I have read thatmany monasteries in this kingdom having Vineyards had as much wine madetherefrom as sufficed their convents year by year, but long since theyhave been destroyed, and the knowledge how to order a Vineyard is alsoutterly perished with them. For although divers both nobles andgentlemen have in these later times endeavoured to plant and makeVineyards, and to that purpose have caused Frenchmen, being skilfull inkeeping and dressing Vines, to be brought over to perform it, yet eithertheir skill faileth them or their Vines were not good, or (the mostlikely) the soil was not fitting, for they could never make any winethat was worth the drinking, being so small and heartlesse, that theysoon gave over their practise. "

There is no need to say anything of the modern culture of the Vine, orits many excellent varieties. Even in Virgil's time the varietiescultivated were so many that he said--

 "Sed neque quam multæ species, nec nomina quæ sint Est numerus; neque enim numero comprendere refert; Quem qui scire velit, Lybici velit æquoris idem Discere quam multæ Zephyro turbentur arenæ; Aut ubi navigiis violentior incidit Eurus Nosse quot Ionii veniant ad littora fluctus. "

 _Georgica_, ii, 103. 

And now the number must far exceed those of Virgil's time. "Thecultivated varieties are extremely numerous; Count Odart says that hewill not deny that there may exist throughout the world 700 or 800, perhaps even 1, 000 varieties; but not a third of these have anyvalue. "--DARWIN. These are the Grapes that are grown in our hothouses;some also of a fine quality are produced in favourable yearsout-of-doors. There are also a few which are grown as ornamental shrubs. The Parsley-leaved Vine (_Vitis laciniosa_) is one that has been grownin England, certainly since the time of Shakespeare, for its prettyfoliage, its fruit being small and few; but it makes a pretty coveringto a wall or trellis. The small Variegated Vine (_Vitis_ or _Cissusheterophyllus variegatus_) is another very pretty Vine, forming a smallbush that may be either trained to a wall or grown as a low rockworkbush; it bears a few Grapes of no value, and is perfectly hardy. Besidesthese there are several North American species, which have handsomefoliage, and are very hardy, of which the Vitis riparia or Vigne desBattures is a desirable tree, as "the flowers have an exquisitely finesmell, somewhat resembling that of Mignonnette. "--DON. I mention thisparticularly, because in all the old authors great stress is laid on thesweetness of the Vine in all its parts, a point of excellence in itwhich is now generally overlooked. Lord Bacon reckons "Vine flowers"among the "things of beauty in season" in May and June, and reckonsamong the most sweet-scented flowers, next to Musk Roses and Strawberryleaves dying, "the flower of the Vines; it is a little dust, like thedust of a bent, which grows among the duster in the first comingforth. " And Chaucer says: "Scorners faren like the foul toode, that maynoughte endure the soote smel of the Vine roote when itflourisheth. "--_The Persones Tale. _

Nor must we dismiss the Vine without a few words respecting its sacredassociations, for it is very much owing to these associations that ithas been so endeared to our forefathers and ourselves. Having its nativehome in the East, it enters largely into the history and imagery of theBible. There is no plant so often mentioned in the Bible, and alwayswith honour, till the honour culminates in the great similitude, inwhich our Lord chose the Vine as the one only plant to which Hecondescended to compare Himself--"I am the true Vine!" No wonder that aplant so honoured should ever have been the symbol of joy and plenty, ofnational peace and domestic happiness. 

FOOTNOTES:

[301:1] According to Vopiscus, England is indebted to the Emperor Probus(A. D. 276-282) for the Vine: "Gallis omnibus et Britannis et Hispanishinc permisit ut vites haberent, et Vinum conficerent. "

[302:1] At Stonehouse "there are two arpens of Vineyard. "--_DomesdayBook_, quoted by Rudder. Also "the Vineyard" was the residence of theAbbots of Gloucester. It was at St. Mary de Lode near Gloucester, and"the Vineyard and Park were given to the Bishopric of Gloucester at itsfoundation and again confirmed 6th Edward VI. "--RUDDER. 

[303:1] "Edinburgh Review, " April, 1860. 

[303:2] See Preface to "Palladius on Husbandrie, " p. Viii. (EarlyEnglish Text Society), for a further account of old English Vineyards. 

[303:3] For a very interesting account of the formation of lynches, andtheir connection with the ancient communal cultivation of the soil seeSeebohm's "English Village Community, " p. 5. 

[304:1] On this Vineyard Mr. Skrine, the present owner of Claverton, haskindly informed me that it was sold in 1701 by Mr. Richard Holder for£21, 367, of which £28 was for "four hogsheads of wine of the Vineyardsof Claverton. "

[304:2] Andrew Boorde was evidently a lover of good wine, and hisaccount is: "This I do say that all the kingdoms of the world have notso many sundry kindes of wine as we in England, and yet _there isnothing to make of_. "--_Breviary of Health_, 1598. 

VIOLETS. 

 (1) _Queen. _

 The Violets, Cowslips, and the Primroses, Bear to my closet. 

 _Cymbeline_, act i, sc. 5 (83). 

 (2) _Angelo. _

 It is I, That, lying by the Violet in the sun, Do as the carrion does, not as the flower, Corrupt with virtuous season. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act ii, sc. 2 (165). 

 (3) _Oberon. _

 Where Oxlips and the nodding Violet grows. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (250). 

 (4) _Salisbury. _

 To gild refined gold, to paint the Lily, To throw a perfume on the Violet, To smooth the ice, or add another hue Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light To seek the beauteous eye of Heaven to garnish, Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. 

 _King John_, act iv, sc. 2 (11). 

 (5) _K. Henry. _

 I think the king is but a man, as I am; the Violet smells to him as it doth to me. 

 _Henry V_, act iv, sc. 1 (105). 

 (6) _Laertes. _

 A Violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent; sweet, not lasting. The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more. 

 _Hamlet_, act i, sc. 3 (7). 

 (7) _Ophelia. _

 I would give you some Violets, but they withered all when my father died. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 5 (184). 

 (8) _Laertes. _

 Lay her i' the earth, And from her fair and unpolluted flesh May Violets spring!

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 1 (261). 

 (9) _Belarius. _

 They are as gentle As zephyrs blowing below the Violet, Not wagging his sweet head. 

 _Cymbeline_, act iv, sc. 2 (171). 

 (10) _Duke. _

 That strain again! It had a dying fall: O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of Violets, Stealing and giving odour!

 _Twelfth Night_, act i, sc. 1 (4). 

 (11) _Song of Spring. _

 When Daisies pied, and Violets blue, &c. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (904). (_See_ CUCKOO-BUDS. )

 (12) _Perdita. _

 Violets dim, But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes Or Cytherea's breath. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (120). 

 (13) _Duchess. _

 Welcome, my son; Who are the Violets now, That strew the green lap of the new-come spring?

 _Richard II_, act v, sc. 2 (46). 

 (14) _Marina. _

 The yellows, blues, The purple Violets and Marigolds, Shall as a carpet hang upon thy grave While summer-days do last. 

 _Pericles_, act iv, sc. 1 (16). 

 (15)

 These blue-veined Violets whereon we lean Never can blab, nor know not what we mean. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (125). 

 (16)

 Who when he lived, his breath and beauty set Gloss on the Rose, smell to the Violet. 

 _Ibid. _ (936). 

 (17)

 When I behold the Violet past prime, And sable curls all silver'd o'er with white, * * * * *

 Then of thy beauty do I question make, That thou among the wastes of time must go, Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake And die as fast as they see others grow. 

 _Sonnet_ xii. 

 (18)

 The forward Violet thus did I chide: "Sweet thief, whence didst thou steal thy sweet that smells, If not from my love's breath? The purple pride Which on thy soft cheek for complexion dwells In my love's veins thou hast too grossly died. "

 _Ibid. _ xcix. 

There are about a hundred different species of Violets, of which thereare five species in England, and a few sub-species. One of these is theViola tricolor, from which is descended the Pansy, or Love-in-Idleness(_see_ PANSY). But in all the passages in which Shakespeare names theViolet, he alludes to the purple sweet-scented Violet, of which he wasevidently very fond, and which is said to be very abundant in theneighbourhood of Stratford-on-Avon. For all the eighteen passages tellof some point of beauty or sweetness that attracted him. And so it iswith all the poets from Chaucer downwards--the Violet is noticed by all, and by all with affectation. I need only mention two of the greatest. Milton gave the Violet a chief place in the beauties of the "BlissfulBower" of our first parents in Paradise--

 "Each beauteous flower, Iris all hues, Roses, and Jessamin Rear'd high their flourish't heads between, and wrought Mosaic; underfoot the Violet, Crocus and Hyacinth with rich inlay Broidered the ground, more coloured than with stone Of costliest emblem;"

 _Paradise Lost_, book iv. 

and Sir Walter Scott crowns it as the queen of wild flowers--

 "The Violet in her greenwood bower, Where Birchen boughs with Hazels mingle, May boast itself the fairest flower In glen, in copse, or forest dingle. "

Yet favourite though it ever has been, it has no English name. Violet isthe diminutive form of the Latin Viola, which again is the Latin formof the Greek ἴον. In the old Vocabularies Viola frequently occurs, andwith the following various translations:--"Ban-wyrt, " _i. E. _, Bone-wort(eleventh century Vocabulary); "Clœfre, " _i. E. _, Clover (eleventhcentury Vocabulary); "Violé, Appel-leaf" (thirteenth centuryVocabulary);[310:1] "Wyolet" (fourteenth century Vocabulary); "Vyolytte"(fifteenth century Nominale); "Violetta, A{ce}, a Violet" (fifteenthcentury Pictorial Vocabulary); and "Viola Cleafre, Ban-vyrt" (DurhamGlossary). It is also mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon translation of theHerbarium of Apuleius in the tenth century as "the Herb Viola purpurea;(1) for new wounds and eke for old; (2) for hardness of the maw"(Cockayne's translation). In this last example it is most probable thatour sweet-scented Violet is the plant meant, but in some of the othercases it is quite certain that some other plant is meant, and perhaps inall. For Violet was a name given very loosely to many plants, so thatLaurembergius says: "Vox Violæ distinctissimis floribus communisest. Videntur mihi antiqui suaveolentes quosque flores generatimViolas appellasse, cujuscunque etiam forent generis quasi violeant. "--_Apparat. Plant. _, 1632. This confusion seems to have arisenin a very simple way. Theophrastus described the Leucojum, which waseither the Snowdrop or the spring Snowflake, as the earliest-floweringplant; Pliny literally translated Leucojum into Alba Viola. All theearlier writers on natural history were in the habit of taking Pliny fortheir guide, and so they translated his Viola by any early-floweringplant that most took their fancy. Even as late as 1693, Samuel Gilbert, in "The Florists' Vade Mecum, " under the head of Violets, only describes"the lesser early bulbous Violet, a common flower yet not to be wasted, because when none other appears that does, though in the snow, whencecalled Snowflower or Snowdrop;" and I think that even later instancesmay be found. 

When I say that there is no genuine English name for the Violet, Iought, perhaps, to mention that one name has been attributed to it, butI do not think that it is more than a clever guess. "The commentators onShakespeare have been much puzzled by the epithet 'happy lowlie down, 'applied to the man of humble station in "Henry IV. , " and have proposedto read 'lowly clown, ' or to divide the phrase into 'low lie down, ' butthe following lines from Browne clearly prove 'lowly down' to be thecorrect term, for he uses it in precisely the same sense--

 'The humble Violet that lowly down Salutes the gay nymphs as they trimly pass. '

 _Poet's Pleasaunce. _"

This may prove that Browne called the Violet a Lowly-down, but itcertainly does not prove that name to have been a common name for theViolet. It was, however, the character of lowliness combined withsweetness that gave the charm to the Violet in the eyes of the emblemwriters: it was for them the readiest symbol of the meekness ofhumility. "Humilitas dat gratiam" is the motto that Camerarius placesover a clump of Violets. "A true widow is, in the church, as a littleMarch Violet shedding around an exquisite perfume by the fragrance ofher devotion, and always hidden under the ample leaves of her lowliness, and by her subdued colouring showing the spirit of her mortification, she seeks untrodden and solitary places, " &c. --ST. FRANCIS DE SALES. Andthe poets could nowhere find a fitter similitude for a modest maidenthan

 "A Violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye. "

Violets, like Primroses, must always have had their joyful associationsas coming to tell that the winter is passing away and brighter days arenear, for they are among

 "The first to rise And smile beneath spring's wakening skies, The courier of a band Of coming flowers. "

Yet it is curious to note how, like Primroses, they have been everassociated with death, especially with the death of the young. I supposethese ideas must have arisen from a sort of pity for flowers that wereonly allowed to see the opening year, and were cut off before the fullbeauty of summer had come. This was prettily expressed by H. Vaughan, the Silurist:

 "So violets, so doth the primrose fall At once the spring's pride and its funeral, Such early sweets get off in their still prime, And stay not here to wear the foil of time; While coarser flowers, which none would miss, if past, To scorching summers and cold winters last. "

 _Daphnis_, 1678. 

It was from this association that they were looked on as apt emblems ofthose who enjoyed the bright springtide of life and no more. Thisfeeling was constantly expressed, and from very ancient times. We findit in some pretty lines by Prudentius--

 "Nos tecta fovebimus ossa Violis et fronde frequente, Titulumque et frigida saxa Liquido spargemus odore. "

Shakespeare expresses the same feeling in the collection of "purpleViolets and Marigolds" which Marina carries to hang "as a carpet on thegrave" (No. 14), and again in Laertes' wish that Violets may spring fromthe grave of Ophelia (No. 8), on which Steevens very aptly quotes fromPersius Satires--

 "e tumulo fortunataque favillâ. Nascentur Violæ. "

In the same spirit Milton, gathering for the grave of Lycidas--

 "Every flower that sad embroidery wears, "

gathers among others "the glowing Violet;" and the same thought isrepeated by many other writers. 

There is a remarkable botanical curiosity in the structure of the Violetwhich is worth notice: it produces flowers both in spring and autumn, but the flowers are very different. In spring they are fully formed andsweet-scented, but they are mostly barren and produce no seed, while inautumn they are very small, they have no petals and, I believe, noscent, but they produce abundance of seed. [313:1]

I need say nothing to recommend the Violet in all its varieties as agarden plant. As a useful medicinal plant it was formerly in highrepute--

 "Vyolet an erbe cowth Is knowyn in ilke manys mowthe, As bokys seyn in here language, It is good to don in potage, In playstrys to wondrys it is comfortyf, W{h} oyer erbys sanatyf:"

 _Stockholm MS. _

and it still holds a place in the Pharmacopœia, while the chemistfinds the pretty flowers one of the most delicate tests for detectingthe presence of acids and alkalies; but as to the many other virtues ofthe Violet I cannot do better than quote Gerard's pleasant and quaintwords: "The Blacke or Purple Violets, or March Violets of the garden, have a great prerogative above others, not only because the mindeconceiveth a certain pleasure and recreation by smelling and handling ofthose most odoriferous flowres, but also for that very many by theseViolets receive ornament and comely grace; for there be made of themgarlands for the head, nosegaies, and poesies, which are delightfull tolooke on and pleasant to smell to, speaking nothing of their appropriatevertues; yea, gardens themselves receive by these the greatest ornamentof all chiefest beautie and most gallant grace, and the recreation ofthe minde which is taken thereby cannot but be very good and honest; forthey admonish and stir up a man to that which is comely and honest, forflowres through their beautie, variety of colour, and exquisite forme, do bring to a liberall and greatte many minde the remembrance ofhonestie, comelinesse, and all kindes of vertues. For it would be anunseemely and filthie thing (as a certain wise man saith) for him thatdoth looke upon and handle faire and beautifull things, and whofrequenteth and is conversant in faire and beautifull places, to havehis minde not faire but filthie and deformed. " With these brave words ofthe old gardener I might well close my account of this favouriteflower, but I must add George Herbert's lines penned in the samespirit--

 "Farewell, dear flowers, sweetly your time ye spent, Fit, while ye lived, for smell or ornament, And after death for cures; I follow straight without complaint or grief, Since if my scent be good, I care not if It be as short as yours. "

 _Poems on Life. _

FOOTNOTES:

[310:1] Appel-leaf is given as the English name for Viola in two otherMS. Glossaries quoted by Cockayne, vol. Iii. P. 312. 

[313:1] This peculiarity is not confined to the Violet. It is found insome species of Oxalis, Impatiens, Campanula, Eranthemum, Amphicarpea, Leeisia, &c. Such plants are technically called Cleistogamous, and areall self-fertilizing. 

WALNUT. 

 (1) _Petruchio. _

 Why, 'tis a cockle or a Walnut-shell, A knack, a toy, a trick, a baby's cap. 

 _Taming of the Shrew_, act iv, sc. 3 (66). 

 (2) _Ford. _

 Let them say of me, "As jealous as Ford that searched a hollow Walnut for his wife's leman. "

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iv, sc. 2 (170). 

The Walnut is a native of Persia and China, and its foreign origin istold in all its names. The Greeks called it Persicon, _i. E. _, thePersian tree, and Basilikon, _i. E. _, the Royal tree; the Latins gave ita still higher rank, naming it Juglans, _i. E. _, Jove's Nut. "Hæc glans, optima et maxima, ab Jove et glande juglans appellata est. "--VARRO. TheEnglish names tell the same story. It was first simply called Nut, asthe Nut _par excellence_. "_Juglantis vel nux_, knutu. "--ÆLFRIC'S_Vocabulary_. But in the fourteenth century it had obtained the name of"Ban-nut, " from its hardness. So it is named in a metrical Vocabulary ofthe fourteenth century--

 Pomus Pirus Corulus nux Avelanaque Ficus Appul-tre Peere-tre Hasyl Note Bannenote-tre Fygge;

and this name it still holds in the West of England. But at the sametime it had also acquired the name of Walnut. "_Hec avelana_, A{ce}Walnot-tree" (Vocabulary fourteenth century). "_Hec avelana_, a Walnutteand the Nutte" (Nominate fifteenth century). This name is commonlysupposed to have reference to the hard shell, but it only means thatthe nut is of foreign origin. "Wal" is another form of Walshe or Welch, and so Lyte says that the tree is called "in English the Walnut andWalshe Nut tree. " "The word Welsh (_wilisc_, _woelisc_) meant simply aforeigner, one who was not of Teutonic race, and was (by the Saxons)applied especially to nations using the Latin language. In the MiddleAges the French language, and in fact all those derived from Latin, andcalled on that account _linguæ Romanæ_, were called in German _Welsch_. France was called by the mediæval German writers _daz Welsche lant_, andwhen they wished to express 'in the whole world, ' they said, _in allenWelschen und in Tiutschen richen_, 'in all Welsh and Teutonic kingdoms. 'In modern German the name _Wälsch_ is used more especially forItalian. "--WRIGHT'S _Celt, Roman, and Saxon_. [315:1] This will at onceexplain that Walnut simply means the foreign or non-English Nut. 

It must have been a well-established and common tree in Shakespeare'stime, for all the writers of his day speak of it as a high and largetree, and I should think it very likely that Walnut trees were even moreextensively planted in his day than in our own. There are many noblespecimens to be seen in different parts of England, especially in thechalk districts, for "it delights, " says Evelyn, "in a dry, sound, richland, especially if it incline to a feeding chalk or marl; and where itmay be protected from the cold (though it affects cold rather thanextreme heat), as in great pits, valleys, and highway sides; also instony ground, if loamy, and on hills, especially chalky; likewise incornfields. " The grand specimens that may be seen in the shelteredvillages lying under the chalk downs of Wiltshire and Berkshire bearwitness to the truth of Evelyn's remarks. But the finest Englishspecimens can bear no comparison with the size of the Walnut trees inwarmer countries, and especially where they are indigenous. There they"sometimes attain prodigious size and great age. An Italian architectmentions having seen at St. Nicholas, in Lorraine, a single plank of thewood of the Walnut, 25ft. Wide, upon which the Emperor Frederick III. Had given a sumptuous banquet. In the Baidar Valley, near Balaclava, inthe Crimea, stands a Walnut tree at least 1000 years old. It yieldsannually from 80, 000 to 100, 000 Nuts, and belongs to five Tartarfamilies, who share its produce equally. "--_Gardener's Chronicle. _

The economic uses of the Walnut are now chiefly confined to the timber, which is highly prized both for furniture and gun-stocks, and to theproduction of oil, which is not much used in Europe, but is highlyvalued in the East. "It dries much more slowly than any other distilledoil, and hence its great value, as it allows the artist as much time ashe requires in order to blend his colours and finish his work. Inconjunction with amber varnish it forms a vehicle which leaves nothingto be desired, and which doubtless was the vehicle of Van Eyck, and inmany instances of the Venetian masters, and of Correggio. "--_Arts of theMiddle Ages_, preface. In mediæval times a high medicinal value wasattached to the fruit, for the celebrated antidote against poison whichwas so firmly believed in, and which was attributed to Mithridates, Kingof Pontus, was chiefly composed of Walnuts. "Two Nuttes (he is speakingof Walnuts) and two Figges, and twenty Rewe leaves, stamped togetherwith a little salt, and eaten fasting, doth defende a man from poisonand pestilence that day. "--BULLEIN, _Governmente of Health_, 1558. 

The Walnut holds an honoured place in heraldry. Two large Walnut treesovershadow the tomb of the poet Waller in Beaconsfield churchyard, and"these are connected with a curious piece of family history. The treewas chosen as the Waller crest after Agincourt, where the head of thefamily took the Duke of Orleans prisoner, and took afterwards as hiscrest the arms of Orleans hanging by a label in a Walnut tree with thismotto for the device: _Hæc fructus virtutis. _"--_Gardener's Chronicle_, Aug. , 1878. 

Walnuts are still very popular, but not as poison antidotes; theirpopularity now rests on their use as pickles, their excellence as autumnand winter dessert fruits, and with pseudo-gipsies for the rich olivehue that the juice will give to the skin. These uses, together with thebeauty in the landscape that is given by an old Walnut tree, will alwayssecure for it a place among English trees; yet there can be little doubtthat the Walnut is a bad neighbour to other crops, and for that reasonits numbers in England have been much diminished. Phillips said therewas a decided antipathy between Apples and Walnuts, and spoke of theApple tree as--

 "Uneasy, seated by funereal Yew Or Walnut (whose malignant touch impairs All generous fruits), or near the bitter dews Of Cherries. "

And in this he was probably right, though the mischief caused to theApple tree more probably arises from the dense shade thrown by theWalnut tree than by any malarious exhalation emitted from it. 

FOOTNOTES:

[315:1] See Earle's "Philology of the English Tongue, " p. 23. 

WARDEN, _see_ PEARS. 

WHEAT. 

 (1) _Iris. _

 Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease. 

 _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (60). 

 (2) _Helena. _

 More tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear, When Wheat is green, when Hawthorn-buds appear. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act i, sc. 1 (184). 

 (3) _Bassanio. _

 His reasons are as two grains of Wheat hid in two bushels of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you have them, they are not worth the search. 

 _Merchant of Venice_, act i, sc. 1 (114). 

 (4) _Hamlet. _

 As peace should still her Wheaten garland wear. 

 _Hamlet_, act v, sc. 2 (41). 

 (5) _Pompey. _

 To send measures of Wheat to Rome. 

 _Antony and Cleopatra_, act ii, sc. 6 (36). 

 (6) _Edgar. _

 This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet. . . . He mildews the white Wheat, and hurts the poor creatures of earth. 

 _King Lear_, act iii, sc. 4 (120). 

 (7) _Pandarus. _

 He that will have a cake out of the Wheat, must needs tarry the grinding. 

 _Troilus and Cressida_, act i, sc. 1 (15). 

 (8) _Davy. _

 And again, sir, shall we sow the headland with Wheat?

 _Shallow. _

 With red Wheat, Davy. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act v, sc. 1 (15). 

 (9) _Theseus. _

 Your Wheaten wreathe Was then nor threashed nor blasted. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act i, sc. 1 (68). 

I might perhaps content myself with marking these passages only, anddismiss Shakespeare's Wheat without further comment, for the Wheat ofhis day was identical with our own; but there are a few points inconnection with English Wheat which may be interesting. Wheat is not anEnglish plant, nor is it a European plant; its original home is inNorthern Asia, whence it has spread into all civilized countries. [318:1]For the cultivation of Wheat is one of the first signs of civilizedlife; it marks the end of nomadic life, and implies more or less asettled habitation. When it reached England, and to what country we areindebted for it, we do not know; but we know that while we are indebtedto the Romans for so many of our useful trees, and fruits, andvegetables, we are not indebted to them for the introduction of Wheat. This we might be almost sure of from the very name, which has noconnection with the Latin names, _triticum_ or _frumentum_, but is apure old English word, signifying originally _white_, and sodistinguishing it as the white grain in opposition to the darker grainsof Oats and Rye. But besides the etymological evidence, we have goodhistorical evidence that Cæsar found Wheat growing in England when hefirst landed on the shores of Kent. He daily victualled his camp withBritish Wheat ("frumentum ex agris quotidie in castra conferebat"); andit was while his soldiers were reaping the Wheat in the Kentish fieldsthat they were surrounded and successfully attacked by the British. Hetells us, however, that the cultivation of Wheat was chiefly confined toKent, and was not much known inland: "interiores plerique frumenta nonserunt, sed lacte et carne vivunt. "--_De Bello Gallico_, v, 14. RomanWheat has frequently been found in graves, and strange stories havebeen told of the plants that have been raised from these old seeds; buta more scientific inquiry has proved that there have been mistakes ordeceits, more or less intentional, for "Wheat is said to keep for sevenyears at the longest. The statements as to mummy Wheat are wholly devoidof authenticity, as are those of the Raspberry seeds taken from a Romantomb. "--HOOKER, "Botany" in _Science Primers_. The oft-repeated storiesabout the vitality of mummy Wheat were effectually disposed of when itwas discovered that much of the so-called Wheat was South AmericanMaize. 

FOOTNOTES:

[318:1] Yet Homer considered it to be indigenous in Sicily--Odyss: ix, 109--and Cicero, perhaps on the authority of Homer, says the same:"Insula Cereris . . . Ubi primum fruges inventæ esse dicuntur. "--_InVerrem_, v, 38. 

WILLOW. 

 (1) _Viola. _

 Make me a Willow cabin at your gate. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act i, sc. 5 (287). 

 (2) _Benedick. _

 Come, will you go with me?

 _Claudio. _

 Whither?

 _Benedick. _

 Even to the next Willow, about your own business. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act ii, sc. 1 (192). 

 _Benedick. _

 I offered him my company to a Willow tree, either to make him a garland, as being forsaken, or to bind him up a rod, as being worthy to be whipped. 

 _Ibid. _ (223). 

 (3) _Nathaniel. _

 These thoughts to me were Oaks, to thee like Osiers bow'd. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv, sc. 2 (112). 

 (4) _Lorenzo. _

 In such a night Stood Dido, with a Willow in her hand, Upon the wild sea-banks. 

 _Merchant of Venice_, act v, sc. 1 (9). 

 (5) _Bona. _

 Tell him, in hope he'll prove a widower shortly, I'll wear the Willow garland for his sake. 

 _3d Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 3 (227). 

 _Post. _

 [The same words repeated. ]

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 1 (99). 

 (6) _Queen. _

 There is a Willow grows aslant a brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream. There on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 7 (167). 

 (7) _Desdemona_ (singing)--

 The poor soul sat sighing by a Sycamore tree. Sing all a green Willow; Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee, Sing Willow, Willow, Willow. The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur'd her moans; Sing Willow, Willow, Willow. Her salt tears fell from her and soften'd the stones, Sing Willow, Willow, Willow. Sing all a green Willow must be my garland. 

 _Othello_, act iv, sc. 3 (41). 

 (8) _Emilia. _

 I will play the swan, And die in music. [_Singing_] Willow, Willow, Willow. 

 _Ibid. _, act v, sc. 2 (247). 

 (9) _Wooer. _

 Then she sang Nothing but Willow, Willow, Willow. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 1 (100). 

 (10) _Friar. _

 I must up-fill this Willow cage of ours With baleful Weeds and precious juiced Flowers. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 3 (7). 

 (11) _Celia. _

 West of this place, down in the neighbour bottom; The rank of Osiers by the murmuring stream Left on your right hand, brings you to the place. 

 _As You Like It_, act iv, sc. 3 (79). 

 (12)

 When Cytherea all in love forlorn A longing tarriance for Adonis made Under an Osier growing by a brook. 

 _Passionate Pilgrim_ vi. 

 (13)

 Though to myself forsworn, to thee I'll constant prove; Those thoughts, to me like Oaks, to thee like Osiers bow'd. 

 _Ibid. _ v. 

_See also_ PALM TREE, No. 1, p. 192. 

Willow is an old English word, but the more common and perhaps the oldername for the Willow is Withy, a name which is still in constant use, butmore generally applied to the twigs when cut for basket-making than tothe living tree. "Withe" is found in the oldest vocabularies, but we donot find "Willow" till we come to the vocabularies of the fifteenthcentury, when it occurs as "Hæc Salex, A{e} Wyllo-tre;" "Hæc Salix-icis, a Welogh;" "Salix, Welig. " Both the names probably referred to thepliability of the tree, and there was another name for it, the Sallow, which was either a corruption of the Latin Salix, or was derived from acommon root. It was also called Osier. 

The Willow is a native of Britain. It belongs to a large family(_Salix_), numbering 160 species, of which we have seventeen distinctspecies in Great Britain, besides many sub-species and varieties. Socommon a plant, with the peculiar pliability of the shoots thatdistinguishes all the family, was sure to be made much use of. Its morecommon uses were for basket-making, for coracles, and huts, or"Willow-cabins" (No. 1), but it had other uses in the elegancies andeven in the romance of life. The flowers of the early Willow (_S. Caprea_) did duty for and were called Palms on Palm Sunday (_see_ PALM), and not only the flowers but the branches also seem to have been used indecoration, a use which is now extinct. "The Willow is called _Salix_, and hath his name _à saliendo_, for that it quicklie groweth up, andsoon becommeth a tree. Heerewith do they in some countries trim up theirparlours and dining roomes in sommer, and sticke fresh greene leavesthereof about their beds for coolness. "--NEWTON'S _Herball for theBible_. [321:1]

But if we only look at the poetry of the time of Shakespeare, and muchof the poetry before and after him, we should almost conclude that thesole use of the Willow was to weave garlands for jilted lovers, male andfemale. It was probably with reference to this that Shakespearerepresented poor mad Ophelia hanging her flowers on the "Willow treeaslant the brook" (No. 6), and it is more pointedly referred to in Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. The feeling was expressed in a melancholy ditty, which must have been very popular in the sixteenth century, of whichDesdemona says a few of the first verses (No. 7), and which concludesthus--

 "Come all you forsaken and sit down by me, He that plaineth of his false love, mine's falser than she; The Willow wreath weare I, since my love did fleet, A garland for lovers forsaken most meet. "

The ballad is entitled "The Complaint of a Lover Forsaken of HisLove--To a Pleasant New Tune, " and is printed in the "RoxburgheBallads. " This curious connection of the Willow with forsaken ordisappointed lovers stood its ground for a long time. Spenser spoke ofthe "Willow worne of forlorne paramoures. " Drayton says that--

 "In love the sad forsaken wight The Willow garland weareth"--

 _Muse's Elysium. _

and though we have long given up the custom of wearing garlands of anysort, yet many of us can recollect one of the most popular street songs, that was heard everywhere, and at last passed into a proverb, and whichbegan--

 "All round my hat I vears a green Willow In token, " &c. 

It has been suggested by many that this melancholy association with theWillow arose from its Biblical associations; and this may be so, thoughall the references to the Willow that occur in the Bible are, with onenotable exception, connected with joyfulness and fertility. The oneexception is the plaintive wail in the 137th Psalm--

 "By the streams of Babel, there we sat down, And we wept when we remembered Zion. On the Willows among the rivers we hung our harps. "

And this one record has been sufficient to alter the emblematiccharacter of the Willow--"this one incident has made the Willow anemblem of the deepest of sorrows, namely, sorrow for sin found out, andvisited with its due punishment. From that time the Willow appears neveragain to have been associated with feelings of gladness. Even amongheathen nations, for what reason we know not, it was a tree of evilomen, and was employed to make the torches carried at funerals. Our ownpoets made the Willow the symbol of despairing woe. "--JOHNS. This is themore remarkable because the tree referred to in the Psalms, the WeepingWillow (_Salix Babylonica_), which by its habit of growth is to us sosuggestive of crushing sorrow, was quite unknown in Europe till a veryrecent period. "It grows abundantly on the banks of the Euphrates, andother parts of Asia, as in Palestine, and also in North Africa;" but itis said to have been introduced into England during the last century, and then in a curious way. "Many years ago, the well-known poet, Alexander Pope, who resided at Twickenham, received a basket of Figs asa present from Turkey. The basket was made of the supple branches of theWeeping Willow, the very same species under which the captive Jews satwhen they wept by the waters of Babylon. The poet valued highly thesmall and tender twigs associated with so much that was interesting, andhe untwisted the basket, and planted one of the branches in the ground. It had some tiny buds upon it, and he hoped he might be able to rear it, as none of this species of Willow was known in England. Happily theWillow is very quick to take root and grow. The little branch soonbecame a tree, and drooped gracefully over the river, in the same mannerthat its race had done over the waters of Babylon. From that one branchall the Weeping Willows in England are descended. "--KIRBY'S_Trees_. [323:1]

There is probably no tree that contributes so largely to theconveniences of English life as the Willow. Putting aside its uses inthe manufacture of gunpowder and cricket bats, we may safely say thatthe most scantily-furnished house can boast of some article of Willowmanufacture in the shape of baskets. British basket-making is, as far aswe know, the oldest national manufacture; it is the manufacture inconnection with which we have the earliest record of the value placed onBritish work. British baskets were exported to Rome, and it would almostseem as if baskets were unknown in Rome until they were introduced fromBritain, for with the article of import came the name also, and theBritish "basket" became the Latin "bascauda. " We have curious evidenceof the high value attached to these baskets. Juvenal describes Catullusin fear of shipwreck throwing overboard his most precious treasures:"precipitare volens etiam pulcherrima, " and among these "pulcherrima" hementions "bascaudas. " Martial bears a still higher testimony to thevalue set on "British baskets, " reckoning them among the many richgifts distributed at the Saturnalia--

 "Barbara de pictis veni bascauda Britannis Sed me jam vult dicere Roma suam. "--Book xiv, 99. 

Many of the Willows make handsome shrubs for the garden, for besidesthose that grow into large trees, there are many that are low shrubs, and some so low as to be fairly called carpet plants. Salix Reginæ isone of the most silvery shrubs we have, with very narrow leaves; S. Lanata is almost as silvery, but with larger and woolly leaves, andmakes a very pretty object when grown on rockwork near water; S. Rosmarinifolia is another desirable shrub; and among the lower-growingspecies, the following will grow well on rockwork, and completely clothethe surface: S. Alpina, S. Grahami, S. Retusa, S. Serpyllifolia, and S. Reticulata. They are all easily cultivated and are quite hardy. 

FOOTNOTES:

[321:1] In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Willow does notappear to have had any value for its medical uses. In the present daysalicine and salicylic acid are produced from the bark, and have a highreputation as antiseptics and in rheumatic cases. 

[323:1] This is the traditional history of the introduction of theWeeping Willow into England, but it is very doubtful. 

WOODBINE, _see_ HONEYSUCKLE. 

WORMWOOD. 

 (1) _Rosaline. _

 To weed this Wormwood from your fruitful brain. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (857). 

 (2) _Nurse. _

 For I had then laid Wormwood to my dug. 

 * * * * *

 When it did taste the Wormwood on the nipple Of my dug, and felt it bitter, pretty fool. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act i, sc. 3 (26). 

 (3) _Hamlet_ (aside). 

 Wormwood, Wormwood. 

 _Hamlet_, act iii, sc. 2 (191). 

 (4)

 Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame, Thy private feasting to a public fast, Thy smoothing titles to a ragged name, Thy sugar'd tongue to bitter Wormwood taste. 

 _Lucrece_ (890). 

_See also_ DIAN'S BUD. 

Wormwood is the product of many species of Artemisia, a familyconsisting of 180 species, of which we have four in England. The wholefamily is remarkable for the extreme bitterness of all parts of theplant, so that "as bitter as Wormwood" is one of the oldest proverbs. The plant was named Artemisia from Artemis, the Greek name of Diana, andfor this reason: "Verily of these three Worts which we named Artemisia, it is said that Diana should find them, and delivered their powers andleechdom to Chiron the Centaur, who first from these Worts set forth aleechdom, and he named these Worts from the name of Diana, Artemis, thatis, Artemisias. "--_Herbarium Apulæi_, Cockayne's translation. TheWormwood was of very high reputation in medicine, and is thusrecommended in the Stockholm MS. :

 "Lif man or woman, more or lesse In his head have gret sicknesse Or gruiance or any werking Awoyne he take wt. Owte lettyng It is called Sowthernwode also And hony eteys et spurge stamp yer to And late hy yis drunk, fastined drinky And his hed werk away schall synkyn. "[325:1]

But even in Shakespeare's time this high character had somewhat abated, though it was still used for all medicines in which a strong bitter wasrecommended. But its chief use seems to have been as a protectionagainst insects of all kinds, who might very reasonably be supposed toavoid such a bitter food. This is Tusser's advice about the plant--

 "While Wormwood hath seed get a handful or twaine To save against March, to make flea to refraine: Where chamber is sweeped and Wormwood is strowne, No flea, for his life, dare abide to be knowne. What saver is better (if physick be true), For places infected than Wormwood and Rue? It is as a comfort for hart and the braine, And therefore to have it, it is not in vaine. "

 _July's Husbandry. _

This quality was the origin of the names of Mugwort[326:1] and Wormwood. Its other name (in the Stockholm MS. Referred to), Avoyne or Averoyne isa corruption of the specific name of one of the species, A. Abrotanum. Southernwood is the southern Wormwood, _i. E. _, the foreign, asdistinguished from the native plant. The modern name for the samespecies is Boy's Love, or Old Man. The last name may have come from itshoary leaves, though different explanations are given: the other name isgiven to it, according to Dr. Prior, "from an ointment made with itsashes being used by young men to promote the growth of a beard. " Thereis good authority for this derivation, but I think the name may havebeen given for other reasons. "Boy's Love" is one of the most favouritecottage-garden plants, and it enters largely into the rustic language offlowers. No posy presented by a young man to his lass is completewithout Boy's Love; and it is an emblem of fidelity, at least it was soonce. It is, in fact, a Forget-me-Not, from its strong abiding smell; soSt. Francis de Sales applied it: "To love in the midst of sweets, littlechildren could do that; but to love in the bitterness of Wormwood is asure sign of our affectionate fidelity. " Not that the Wormwood was evernamed Forget-me-Not, for that name was given to the Ground Pine (_Ajugachamæpitys_) on account of its unpleasant and long-enduring smell, untilit was transferred to the Myosotis (which then lost its old name ofMouse-ear), and the pretty legend was manufactured to account for thename. 

In England Wormwood has almost fallen into complete disuse; but inFrance it is largely used in the shape of Absinthe. As a garden plant, Tarragon, which is a species of Wormwood, will claim a place in everyherb garden, and there are a few, such as A. Sericea, A. Cana, and A. Alpina, which make pretty shrubs for the rockwork. 

FOOTNOTES:

[325:1] Wormwood had a still higher reputation among the ancients, asthe following extract shows:

 Ἀρτεμισία μονόκλωνος. 

 Αὐει γὰρ κόπον ἀυδρὸς ὁδοιπόρου, ὅς κ᾽ ένι χέρσιν την μονόκλωνον ἔχη· περὶ δ᾿ ἀυ ποσὶν ἕρπετα πάντα φεύγει, ἤν τις ἔχη ἐν ὁδῶ, κὰι φάσματα δεινά. 

 _Anonymi Carmen de Herbis, in "Poetæ Bucolici. "_

[326:1] In connection with Mugwort there is a most curious account ofthe formation of a plant name given in a note in the "PromptoriumParvulorum, " s. V. Mugworte: "Mugwort, al on as seyn some, Modirwort;lewed folk that in manye wordes conne no rygt sownyge, but ofte shortynwordys, and changyn lettrys and silablys, they coruptyn the _o_ in to_a_ and _d_ in to _g_, and syncopyn _i_ smytyn a-wey _i_ and _r_ andseyn mugwort. "--_Arundel MS. _, 42, f. 35 v. 

YEW. 

 (1) _Song. _

 My shroud of white, stuck all with Yew, Oh! prepare it. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act ii, sc. 4 (56). 

 _(2) 3rd Witch. _

 Gall of goat, and slips of Yew Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse. 

 _Macbeth_, act iv, sc. 1 (27). 

 (3) _Scroop. _

 Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows Of double-fatal Yew against thy state. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 2 (116). 

 (4) _Tamora. _

 But straight they told me they would bind me here Unto the body of a dismal Yew. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act ii, sc. 3 (106). 

 (5) _Paris. _

 Under yond Yew-trees lay thee all along, Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground; So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread (Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves) But thou shalt hear it. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act v, sc. 3 (3). 

 (6) _Balthasar. _

 As I did sleep under this Yew tree here, [327:1] I dreamt my master and another fought, And that my master slew him. 

 _Ibid. _ (137). 

_See also_ HEBENON, p. 118. 

The Yew, though undoubtedly an indigenous British plant, has not aBritish name. The name is derived from the Latin _Iva_, and "under thisname we find the _Yew_ so inextricably mixed up with the _Ivy_ that, asdissimilar as are the two trees, there can be no doubt that these namesare in their origin identical. " So says Dr. Prior, and he proceeds togive a long and very interesting account of the origin of the name. Theconnection of Yew with _iva_ and _Ivy_ is still shown in the French_if_, the German _eibe_, and the Portuguese _iva_. _Yew_ seems to bequite a modern form; in the old vocabularies the word is variously speltiw, ewe, [328:1] eugh-tre, [328:2] haw-tre, new-tre, ew, uhe, and iw. 

The connection of the Yew with churchyards and funerals is noticed byShakespeare in Nos. 1, 5, and 6, and its celebrated connection withEnglish bow-making in No. 3, where "double-fatal" may probably refer toits noxious qualities when living and its use for deadly weaponsafterwards. These noxious qualities, joined to its dismal colour, and toits constant use in churchyards, caused it to enter into the supposedcharms and incantations of the quacks of the Middle Ages. Yet Gerardentirely denies its noxious qualities: "They say that the fruit thereofbeing eaten is not onely dangerous and deadly unto man, but if birds doeat thereof it causeth them to cast their feathers and many times todie--all which I dare boldly affirme is altogether untrue; for when Iwas yong and went to schoole, divers of my schoolfellowes, and likewisemy selfe, did eat our fils of the berries of this tree, and have notonly slept under the shadow thereof, but among the branches also, without any hurt at all, and that not at one time but many times. "Browne says the same in his "Vulgar Errors:" "That Yew and the berriesthereof are harmlesse, we know" (book ii. C. 7). There is no doubt thatthe Yew berries are almost if not quite harmless, [328:3] and I find themforming an element in an Anglo-Saxon recipe, which may be worth quotingas an example of the medicines to which our forefathers submitted. It isgiven in a Leech Book of the tenth century or earlier, and is thustranslated by Cockayne: "If a man is in the water elf disease, then arethe nails of his hand livid, and the eyes tearful, and he will lookdownwards. Give him this for a leechdom: Everthroat, cassuck, thenetherward part of fane, a yew berry, lupin, helenium, a head of marshmallow, fen, mint, dill, lily, attorlothe, pulegium, marrubium, dock, elder, fel terræ, wormwood, strawberry leaves, consolida; pour them overwith ale, add holy water, sing this charm over them thrice [here followsome long charms which I need not extract]; these charms a man may singover a wound" ("Leech Book, " iii. 63). 

I need say little of the uses of the Yew wood in furniture, nor of themany grand specimens of the tree which are scattered throughout thechurchyards of England, except to say that "the origin of planting Yewtrees in churchyards is still a subject of considerable perplexity. Asthe Yew was of such great importance in war and field sports before theuse of gunpowder was known, perhaps the parsons of parishes wererequired to see that the churchyard was capable of supplying bows to themales of each parish of proper age; but in this case we should scarcelyhave been left without some evidence on the matter. Others again statethat the trees in question were intended solely to furnish branches foruse on Palm Sunday"[329:1] (_see_ PALM, p. 195), "while many supposethat the Yew was naturally selected for planting around churches onaccount of its emblematic character, as expressive of the solemnity ofdeath, while, from its perennial verdure and long duration, it might beregarded as a pattern of immortality. "--_Penny Magazine_, 1843. 

A good list of the largest and oldest Yews in England will be found inLoudon's "Arboretum. "

 * * * * *

The "dismal Yew" concludes the list of Shakespeare's plants and thefirst part of my proposed subject; and while I hope that those readerswho may have gone with me so far have met with some things to interestthem, I hope also they will agree with me that gardening and the love offlowers is not altogether the modern accomplishment that many of ourgardeners now fancy it to be. Here are two hundred names of plants inone writer, and that writer not at all writing on horticulture, but onlymentioning plants and flowers in the most incidental manner as theyhappened naturally to fall in his way. I should doubt if there is anysimilar instance in any modern English writer, and feel very sure thatthere is no such instance in any modern English dramatist. It shows howfamiliar gardens and flowers were to Shakespeare, and that he must havehad frequent opportunities for observing his favourites (for most surelyhe was fond of flowers), not only in their wild and native homes, but inthe gardens of farmhouses and parsonages, country houses, and noblemen'sstately pleasaunces. The quotations that I have been able to make fromthe early writers in the ninth and tenth centuries, down to gossipingold Gerard, the learned Lord Chancellor Bacon, and that excellent oldgardiner Parkinson, all show the same thing, that the love of flowers isno new thing in England, still less a foreign fashion, but that it isinnate in us, a real instinct, that showed itself as strongly in ourforefathers as in ourselves; and when we find that such men asShakespeare and Lord Bacon (to mention no others) were almost proud toshow their knowledge of plants and love of flowers, we can say that suchlove and knowledge is thoroughly manly and English. 

In the inquiry into Shakespeare's plants I have entered somewhat largelyinto the etymological history of the names. I have been tempted intothis by the personal interest I feel in the history of plant names, andI hope it may not have been uninteresting to my readers; but I do notthink this part of the subject could have been passed by, for I agreewith Johnston: "That there is more interest and as much utility insettling the nomenclature of our pastoral bards as that of allherbalists and dry-as-dust botanists" ("Botany of the Eastern Border"). I have also at times entered into the botany and physiology of theplants; this may have seemed needless to some, but I have thought thatsuch notices were often necessary to the right understanding of theplants named, and again I shelter myself under the authority of afavourite old author: "Consider (gentle readers) what shiftes he shallbe put unto, and how rawe he must needs be in explanation of metaphors, resemblances, and comparisons, that is ignorant of the nature of herbsand plants from whence their similitudes be taken, for the inlighteningand garnishing of sentences. "--NEWTON'S _Herball for the Bible_. 

I have said that my subject naturally divides itself into two parts, first, The Plants and Flowers named by Shakespeare; second, HisKnowledge of Gardens and Gardening. The first part is now concluded, andI go to the second part, which will be very much shorter, and which maybe entitled "The Garden-craft of Shakespeare. "

FOOTNOTES:

[327:1] The reading of the folio is "young tree, " for "Yew tree. "

[328:1]

 "An Eu tre (Ewetre); taxus, taximus. "--_Catholicon Anglicum. _

[328:2]

 "The eugh obedient to the bender's will. "--SPENSER, _F. Q. _, i. 9. 

 "So far as eughen bow a shaft may send. "--_F. Q. _, ii. 11-19. 

[328:3] There are, however, well-recorded instances of death from Yewberries. The poisonous quality, such as it is, resides in the hard seed, and not in the red mucilaginous skin, which is the part eaten bychildren. (_See_ HEBENON. )

[329:1] "For eucheson we have non Olyfe that bereth grene leves we takonin stede of hit Hew and Palmes wyth, and beroth abowte in procession andso this day we callyn palme sonnenday. "--_Sermon for "Dominica in ramispalmarum, " Cotton MSS. _

PART II. 

_THE GARDEN-CRAFT OF SHAKESPEARE. _

 "The flowers are sweet, the colours fresh and trim. "

 _Venus and Adonis. _

 "Retired Leisure That in trim Gardens takes his pleasure. "

 MILTON, _Il Penseroso_. 

GARDEN-CRAFT. 

Any account of the "Plant-lore of Shakespeare" would be very incompleteif it did not include his "Garden-craft. " There are a great manypassages scattered throughout his works, some of them among the mostbeautiful that he ever wrote, in which no particular tree, herb, orflower is mentioned by name, but which show his intimate knowledge ofplants and gardening, and his great affection for them. It is from thesepassages, even more than from the passages I have already quoted, inwhich particular flowers are named, that we learn how thoroughly hisearly country life had influenced and marked his character, and how hiswhole spirit was most naturally coloured by it. Numberless allusions toflowers and their culture prove that his boyhood and early manhood werespent in the country, and that as he passed through the parks, fields, and lanes of his native county, or spent pleasant days in the gardensand orchards of the manor-houses and farm-houses of the neighbourhood, his eyes and ears were open to all the sights and sounds of a healthycountry life, and he was, perhaps unconsciously, laying up in his memorya goodly store of pleasant pictures and homely country talk, to beintroduced in his own wonderful way in tragedies and comedies, which, while often professedly treating of very different times and countries, have really given us some of the most faithful pictures of the countrylife of the Englishman of Queen Elizabeth's time, drawn with all thefreshness and simplicity that can only come from a real love of thesubject. 

"Flowers I noted, " is his own account of himself (Sonnet xcix. ), andwith what love he noted them, and with what carefulness and faithfulnesshe wrote of them, is shown in every play he published, and almost inevery act and every scene. And what I said of his notices of particularflowers is still more true of his general descriptions--that they arenever laboured, or introduced as for a purpose, but that each passage isthe simple utterance of his ingrained love of the country, the naturaloutcome of a keen, observant eye, joined to a great power of faithfuldescription, and an unlimited command of the fittest language. It isthis vividness and freshness that gives such a reality to allShakespeare's notices of country life, and which make them such pleasantreading to all lovers of plants and gardening. 

These notices of the "Garden-craft of Shakespeare" I now proceed toquote; but my quotations in this part will be made on a different planto that which I adopted in the account of his "Plant-lore. " I shall nothere think it necessary to quote all the passages in which he mentionsdifferent objects of country life, but I shall content myself with suchpassages as throw light on his knowledge of horticulture, and which tosome extent illustrate the horticulture of his day, and these passages Imust arrange under a few general heads. In this way the second part ofmy subject will be very much shorter than my first, but I have goodreasons for hoping that those who have been interested in the longaccount of the "Plant-lore of Shakespeare" will be equally interested inthe shorter account of his "Garden-craft, " and will acknowledge that theone would be incomplete without the other. I commence with thosepassages which treat generally of--

I. --FLOWERS, BLOSSOMS, AND BUDS. 

 (1) _Quickly. _

 Fairies use flowers for their charactery. 

 _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act v, sc. 5 (77). 

 (2) _Oberon. _

 She his hairy temples then had rounded With coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers; And that same dew, which sometime in the buds Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls, Stood now within the pretty flowerets' eyes, Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (56). 

 (3) _Gaunt. _

 Suppose the singing birds musicians, The grass whereon thou tread'st the presence strew'd, The flowers fair ladies. 

 _Richard II_, act i, sc. 3 (288). 

 (4) _Katharine. _

 When I am dead, good wench, Let me be used with honour; strew me over With maiden flowers, that all the world may know I was a chaste wife to my grave. 

 _Henry VIII_, act iv, sc. 2 (167). 

 (5) _Ophelia_ (sings). 

 White his shroud as the mountain snow Larded with sweet flowers, Which bewept to the grave did go With true-love showers. 

 _Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (35). 

 (6) _Queen. _

 Whiles yet the dew's on ground, gather those flowers. 

 _Cymbeline_, act i, sc. 5 (1). 

 (7) _Song. _

 Hark! hark! the lark at Heaven's gate sings, And Phœbus 'gins to rise, His steeds to water at those springs On chaliced flowers that lies. 

 _Ibid. _, act ii, sc. 3 (21). 

 (8) _Arviragus. _

 With fairest flowers, While summer lasts and I live here, Fidele, I'll sweeten thy sad grave. 

 _Ibid. _, act iv, sc. 2 (218). 

 (9) _Belarius. _

 Here's a few flowers; but 'bout midnight, more; The herbs that have on them cold dew o' the night Are strewings fitt'st for graves. Upon their faces. You were as flowers, now withered; even so These herblets shall, which we upon you strew. 

 _Ibid. _ (283). 

 (10) _Juliet. _

 This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 2 (121). 

 (11) _Titania. _

 An odorous chaplet of sweet summer-buds. 

 _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (110). 

 (12) _Friar Laurence. _

 I must up-fill this osier cage of ours With baleful weeds, and precious-juiced flowers. The earth that's Nature's mother is her tomb; What is her burying grave that is her womb, And from her womb children of divers kind We sucking on her natural bosom find, Many for many virtues excellent, None but for some and yet all different. O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities: For nought so vile that on the earth doth live But to the earth some special good doth give, Nor aught so good but strain'd from that fair use Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse: Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied; And vice sometimes by action dignified. Within the infant rind of this small flower Poison hath residence and medicine power: For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part; Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart. Two such opposed kings encamp them still In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will; And where the worser is predominant, Full soon the canker death eats up that plant. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 3 (7). 

 (13) _Iago. _

 Though other things grow fair against the sun, Yet fruits that blossom first will first be ripe. 

 _Othello_, act ii, sc. 3 (382). 

 (14) _Dumain. _

 Love, whose month is ever May, Spied a blossom, passing fair Playing in the wanton air; Through the velvet leaves the wind, All unseen, can passage find. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv, sc. 3 (102). 

 (15)

 Fair flowers that are not gathered in their prime Rot and consume themselves in little time. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (131). 

 (16)

 The flowers are sweet, the colours fresh and trim, But true-sweet beauty lived and died with him. 

 _Venus and Adonis_ (1079). 

 (17)

 Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May. 

 _Sonnet_ xviii. 

 (18)

 With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare, That Heaven's air in this huge rondure hems. 

 _Ibid. _ xxi. 

 (19)

 The summer's flower is to the summer sweet, Though to itself it only live and die; But if that flower with base infection meet, The basest weed outbraves his dignity: For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. 

 _Ibid. _ xciv. 

 (20)

 Yet nor the lays of birds nor the sweet smell Of different flowers in odour and in hue Could make me any summer's story tell, Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew. 

 _Ibid. _ xcviii. 

"Of all the vain assumptions of these coxcombical times, that whicharrogates the pre-eminence in the true science of gardening is thevainest. True, our conservatories are full of the choicest plants fromevery clime: we ripen the Grape and the Pine-apple with an art unknownbefore, and even the Mango, the Mangosteen, and the Guava are made toyield their matured fruits; but the real beauty and poetry of a gardenare lost in our efforts after rarity, and strangeness, and variety. " So, nearly forty years ago, wrote the author of "The Poetry of Gardening, " apleasant, though somewhat fantastic essay, first published in the"Carthusian, " and afterwards re-published in Murray's "Reading for theRail, " in company with an excellent article from the "Quarterly" by thesame author under the title of "The Flower Garden;" and I quote itbecause this "vain assumption" is probably stronger and more widespreadnow than when that article was written. We often hear and read accountsof modern gardening in which it is coolly assumed, and almost taken forgranted, that the science of horticulture, and almost the love offlowers, is a product of the nineteenth century. But the love of flowersis no new taste in Englishmen, and the science of horticulture is in noway a modern science. We have made large progress in botanical scienceduring the present century, and our easy communications with the wholehabitable globe have brought to us thousands of new and beautiful plantsin endless varieties; and we have many helps in gardening that werequite unknown to our forefathers. Yet there were brave old gardeners inour forefathers' times, and a very little acquaintance with theliterature of the sixteenth century will show that in Shakespeare's timethere was a most healthy and manly love of flowers for their own sake, and great industry and much practical skill in gardening. We might, indeed, go much further back than the fifteenth century, and still findthe same love and the same skill. We have long lists of plants grown intimes before the Conquest, with treatises on gardening, in which thereis much that is absurd, but which show a practical experience in theart, and which show also that the gardens of those days were by no meansill-furnished either with fruit or flowers. Coming a little later, Chaucer takes every opportunity to speak with a most loving affectionfor flowers, both wild and cultivated, and for well-kept gardens; andSpenser's poems show a familiar acquaintance with them, and a warmadmiration for them. Then in Shakespeare's time we have full records ofthe gardens and gardening which must have often met his eye; and we findthat they were not confined to a few fine places here and there, butthat good gardens were the necessary adjunct to every country house, andthat they were cultivated with a zeal and a skill that would be a creditto any gardener of our own day. In Harrison's description of "England inShakespeare's Youth, " recently published by the new Shakespeare Society, we find that Harrison himself, though only a poor country parson, "tookpains with his garden, in which, though its area covered but 300ft. Ofground, there was 'a simple' for each foot of ground, no one of thembeing common or usually to be had. " About the same time Gerard'sCatalogues show that he grew in his London garden more than a thousandspecies of hardy plants; and Lord Bacon's famous "Essay on Gardens" notonly shows what a grand idea of gardening he had himself, but also thatthis idea was not Utopian, but one that sprang from personalacquaintance with stately gardens, and from an innate love of gardensand flowers. Almost at the same time, but a little later, we come to thecelebrated "John Parkinson, Apothecary of London, the King's Herbarist, "whose "Paradisus Terrestris, " first published in 1629, is indeed "achoise garden of all sorts of rarest flowers. " His collection of plantswould even now be considered an excellent collection, if it could bebrought together, while his descriptions and cultural advice show him tohave been a thorough practical gardener, who spoke of plants and gardensfrom the experience of long-continued hard work amongst them. Andcontemporary with him was Milton, whose numerous descriptions of flowersare nearly all of cultivated plants, as he must have often seen them inEnglish gardens. 

And so we are brought to the conclusion that in the passages quotedabove in which Shakespeare speaks so lovingly and tenderly of hisfavourite flowers, these expressions are not to be put down to the fancyof the poet, but that he was faithfully describing what he daily saw ormight have seen, and what no doubt he watched with that carefulness andexactness which could only exist in conjunction with a real affectionfor the objects on which he gazed, "the fresh and fragrant flowers, ""the pretty flow'rets, " "the sweet flowers, " "the beauteous flowers, ""the sweet summer buds, " "the blossoms passing fair, " "the darling budsof May. "

II. --GARDENS. 

 (1) _King_ (reads). 

 It standeth north-north-east and by east from the west corner of thy curious-knotted Garden. 

 _Loves Labour's Lost_, act i, sc. 1 (248). 

 (2) _Isabella. _

 He hath a Garden circummured with brick, Whose western side is with a Vineyard back'd; And to that Vineyard is a planched gate That makes his opening with this bigger key: The other doth command a little door Which from the Vineyard to the garden leads. 

 _Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 1 (28). 

 (3) _Antonio. _

 The Prince and Count Claudio, walking in a thick-pleached alley in my orchard, were thus much overheard by a man of mine. 

 _Much Ado About Nothing_, act i, sc. 2 (9). 

 (4) _Iago. _

 Our bodies are our Gardens, &c. 

 (_See_ HYSSOP. ) _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (323). 

 (5) _1st Servant. _

 Why should we, in the compass of a pale, Keep law and form and due proportion, Showing as in a model our firm estate, When our sea-walled Garden, the whole land, Is full of weeds, her fairest flowers choked up, Her fruit-trees all unpruned, her hedges ruin'd, Her knots disorder'd and her wholesome herbs Swarming with caterpillars?

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 4 (40). 

The flower-gardens of Shakespeare's time were very different to theflower-gardens of our day; but we have so many good descriptions of themin books and pictures that we have no difficulty in realizing them bothin their general form and arrangement. I am now speaking only of theflower-gardens; the kitchen-gardens and orchards were very much like ourown, except in the one important difference, that they had necessarilymuch less glass than our modern gardens can command. In theflower-garden the grand leading principle was uniformity and formalitycarried out into very minute details. "The garden is best to be square, "was Lord Bacon's rule; "the form that men like in general is a square, though roundness be _forma perfectissima_, " was Lawson's rule; and thisform was chosen because the garden was considered to be a purtenance andcontinuation of the house, designed so as strictly to harmonize with thearchitecture of the building. And Parkinson's advice was to the sameeffect: "The orbicular or round form is held in its own proper existenceto be the most absolute form, containing within it all other formswhatsoever; but few, I think, will chuse such a proportion to be joynedto their habitation. The triangular or three-square form is such a formalso as is seldom chosen by any that may make another choise. Thefour-square form is the most usually accepted with all, and doth bestagree with any man's dwelling. "

This was the shape of the ideal garden--

 "And whan I had a while goon, I saugh a gardyn right anoon, Full long and broad; and every delle Enclosed was, and walled welle With high walles embatailled. 

 * * * * *

 I felle fast in a waymenting By which art, or by what engyne I might come into that gardyne; But way I couthe fynd noon Into that gardyne for to goon. 

 * * * * *

 Tho' gan I go a fulle grete pas, Environyng evene in compas, The closing of the square walle, Tyl that I fonde a wiket smalle So shett that I ne'er myght in gon, And other entre was ther noon. "

 _Romaunt of the Rose. _

This square enclosure was bounded either by a high wall--"circummuredwith brick, " "with high walles embatailled, "--or with a thick highhedge--"encompassed on all the four sides with a stately arched hedge. "These hedges were made chiefly of Holly or Hornbeam, and we can judge oftheir size by Evelyn's description of his "impregnable hedge of about400ft. In length, 9ft. High, and 5ft. In diameter. " Many of these hedgesstill remain in our old gardens. Within this enclosure the garden wasaccurately laid out in formal shapes, [343:1] with paths either quitestraight or in some strictly mathematical figures--

 "And all without were walkes and alleyes dight With divers trees enrang'd in even rankes; And here and there were pleasant arbors pight, And shadie seats, and sundry flowring bankes, To sit and rest the walkers' wearie shankes. "

 _F. Q. _, iv, x, 25. 

The main walks were not, as with us, bounded with the turf, but theywere bounded with trees, which were wrought into hedges, more or lessopen at the sides, and arched over at the top. These formed the "closealleys, " "coven alleys, " or "thick-pleached alleys, " of which we read inShakespeare and others writers of that time. Many kinds of trees andshrubs were used for this purpose; "every one taketh what liketh himbest, as either Privit alone, or Sweet Bryer and White Thorn interlacedtogether, and Roses of one, two, or more sorts placed here and thereamongst them. Some also take Lavender, Rosemary, Sage, Southernwood, Lavender Cotton, or some such other thing. Some again plant Corneltrees, and plash them or keep them low to form them into a hedge; andsome again take a low prickly shrub that abideth always green, called inLatin Pyracantha" (Parkinson). It was on these hedges and their adjunctsthat the chief labour of the garden was spent. They were cut andtortured into every imaginable shape, for nothing came amiss to thefancy of the topiarist. When this topiary art first came into fashion inEngland I do not know, but it was probably more or less the fashion inall gardens of any pretence from very early times, and it reached itshighest point in the sixteenth century, and held its ground as theperfection of gardening till it was driven out of the field in the lastcentury by the "picturesque style, " though many specimens still remainin England, as at Levens[344:1] and Hardwicke on a large scale, and inthe gardens of many ancient English mansions and old farmhouses on asmaller scale. It was doomed as soon as landscape gardeners aimed at thenatural, for even when it was still at its height Addison described itthus: "Our British gardeners, instead of humouring Nature, love todeviate from it as much as possible. Our trees rise in cones, globes, and pyramids; we see the mark of the scissors upon every plant andbush. "

But this is a digression: I must return to the Elizabethan garden, whichI have hitherto only described as a great square, surrounded by wide, covered, shady walks, and with other similar walks dividing the centralsquare into four or more compartments. But all this was introductory tothe great feature of the Elizabethan garden, the formation of the"curious-knotted garden. " Each of the large compartments was dividedinto a complication of "knots, " by which was meant beds arranged inquaint patterns, formed by rule and compass with mathematical precision, and so numerous that it was a necessary part of the system that thewhole square should be fully occupied by them. Lawn there was none; thewhole area was nothing but the beds and the paths that divided them. There was Grass in other parts of the pleasure grounds, and apparentlywell kept, for Lord Bacon has given his opinion that "nothing is morepleasant to the eye than green Grass kept finely shorn, " but it wasapparently to be found only in the orchard, the bowling-green, or the"wilderness;" in the flower-garden proper it had no place. The "knots"were generally raised above the surface of the paths, the earth beingkept in its place by borders of lead, or tiles, or wood, or even bones;but sometimes the beds and paths were on the same level, and then therewere the same edgings that we now use, as Thrift, Box, Ivy, flints, &c. The paths were made of gravel, sand, spar, &c. , and sometimes withcoloured earths: but against this Lord Bacon made a vigorous protest:"As to the making of knots or figures with divers coloured earths, thatthey may lie under the windows of the house on that side on which thegarden stands they be but toys; you may see as good sights many times intarts. "

The old gardening books are full of designs for these knots; indeed, nogardening book of the date seems to have been considered complete if itdid not give the "latest designs, " and they seem to have much tried thewit and ingenuity of the gardeners, as they must have also sorely triedtheir patience to keep them in order; and I doubt not that theefficiency of an Elizabethan gardener was as much tested by his skilland experience in "knot-work, " as the efficiency of a modern gardener istested by his skill in "bedding-out, " which is the lineal descendant of"knot-work. " In one most essential point, however, the two systems verymuch differed. In "bedding-out" the whole force of the system is spentin producing masses of colours, the individual flowers being of noimportance, except so far as each flower contributes its little share ofcolour to the general mass; and it is for this reason that so many of usdislike the system, not only because of its monotony, but moreespecially because it has a tendency "to teach us to think too littleabout the plants individually, and to look at them chiefly as anassemblage of beautiful colours. It is difficult in those bloomingmasses to separate one from another; all produce so much the same sortof impression. The consequence is people see the flowers on the bedswithout caring to know anything about them or even to ask their names. It was different in the older gardens, because there was just varietythere; the plants strongly contrasted with each other, and we were everpassing from the beautiful to the curious. Now we get little ofquaintness or mystery, or of the strange delicious thought of being lostor embosomed in a tall rich wood of flowers. All is clear, definite, andclassical, the work of a too narrow and exclusive taste. "--FORBESWATSON. The old "knot-work" was not open to this censure, though nodoubt it led the way which ended in "bedding-out. " The beginning of thesystem crept in very shortly after Shakespeare's time. Parkinson spokeof an arrangement of spring flowers which, when "all planted in someproportion as near one unto another as is fit for them will give such agrace to the garden that the place will seem like a piece of tapestry ofmany glorious colours, to encrease every one's delight. " And again--"TheTulipas may be so matched, one colour answering and setting off another, that the place where they stand may resemble a piece of curiousneedlework or piece of painting. " But these plants were all perennial, and remained where they were once planted, and with this one exceptionnamed by Parkinson, the planting of knot-work was as different aspossible from the modern planting of carpet-beds. The beds were plantedinside their thick margins with a great variety of plants, andapparently set as thick as possible, like Harrison's garden quotedabove, with its 300 separate plants in as many square feet. These werenearly all hardy perennials, [347:1] with the addition of a few hardyannuals, and the great object seems to have been to have had somethingof interest or beauty in these gardens at all times of the year. Theprinciple of the old gardeners was that "Nature abhors a vacuum, " and, as far as their gardens went, they did their best to prevent a vacuumoccurring at any time. In this way I think they surpassed us in theirpractical gardening, for, even if they did not always succeed, it wassurely something for them to aim (in Lord Bacon's happy words), "to have_ver perpetuum_ as the place affords. "

Where the space would allow of it, the garden was further decorated withstatues, fountains, "fair mounts, " labyrinths, mazes, [347:2] arbours andalcoves, rocks, "great Turkey jars, " and "in some corner (or more) atrue Dial or Clock, and some Antick works" (Lawson). These things werefitting ornaments in such formal gardens, but the best judges saw thatthey were not necessaries, and that the garden was complete withoutthem. "They be pretty things to look on, but nothing for health orsweetness. " "Such things are for state and magnificence, but nothing tothe true pleasure of a garden. "

Such was the Elizabethan garden in its general outlines; the sort ofgarden which Shakespeare must have often seen both in Warwickshire andin London. According to our present ideas such a garden would be far tooformal and artificial, and we may consider that the present fashion ofour gardens is more according to Milton's idea of Eden, in which theregrew--

 "Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon Poured forth profuse on hill and dale and plaine. "

 _Paradise Lost_, book iv. 

None of us probably would now wish to exchange the straight walks andlevel terraces of the sixteenth century for our winding walks andundulating lawns, in the laying out of which the motto has been "ars estcelare artem"--

 "That which all faire workes doth most aggrace, The art, which all that wrought, appeareth in no place. "

 _F. Q. _, ii, xii, 58. 

Yet it is pleasant to look back upon these old gardens, and to see howthey were cherished and beloved by some of the greatest and noblest ofEnglishmen. Spenser has left on record his judgment on the gardens ofhis day--

 "To the gay gardens his unstaid desire Him wholly carried, to refresh his sprights; There lavish Nature, in her best attire, Poures forth sweete odors and alluring sights: And Arte, with her contending, doth aspire To excell the naturall with made delights; And all, that faire or pleasant may be found, In riotous excesse doth there abound. 

 * * * * *

 There he arriving around about doth flie, From bed to bed, from one to other border; And takes survey, with curious busie eye, Of every flowre and herbe there set in order. "

 _Muiopotmos. _

Clearly in Spenser's eyes the formalities of an Elizabethan garden (forwe must suppose he had such in his thoughts) did not exclude nature orbeauty. 

It was also with such formal gardens in his mind and before his eyesthat Lord Bacon wrote his "Essay on Gardens, " and commenced it with thewell-known sentence (for I must quote him once again for the last time), "God Almighty first planted a garden, and indeed it is the purest of allhuman pleasures; it is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man, without which buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks; and a manshall ever see, that when ages grow to civility and elegance, men cometo build stately sooner than to garden finely, as if gardening were thegreater perfection. " And, indeed, in spite of their stiffness andunnaturalness, there must have been a great charm in those gardens, andthough it would be antiquarian affectation to attempt or wish torestore them, yet there must have been a stateliness about them whichour gardens have not, and they must have had many points of real comfortwhich it seems a pity to have lost. Those long shady "covert alleys, "with their "thick-pleached" sides and roof, must have been very pleasantplaces to walk in, giving shelter in winter, and in summer deep shade, with the pleasant smell of Sweet Brier and Roses. They must have beenthe very places for a thoughtful student, who desired quiet andretirement for his thoughts--

 "And adde to these retired leisure That in trim gardens takes his pleasure"--

 _Il Penseroso. _

and they must have been also "pretty retiring places for conference" forfriends in council. The whole fashion of the Elizabethan garden haspassed away, and will probably never be revived; but before we condemnit as a ridiculous fashion, unworthy of the science of gardening, we mayremember that it held its ground in England for nearly two hundredyears, and that during that time the gardens of England and the flowersthey bore won not the cold admiration, but the warm affection of thegreatest names in English history, the affection of such a queen asElizabeth, [349:1] of such a grave and wise philosopher as Bacon, of sucha grand hero as Raleigh, of such poets as Spenser and Shakespeare. 

FOOTNOTES:

[343:1] These beds (as we should now call them) were called "tables" or"plots"--

 "Mark out the tables, ichon by hem selve Sixe foote in brede, and xii in length is beste To clense and make on evey side honest. "

 _Palladius on Husbandrie_, i. 116. 

"Note this generally that all plots are square. "--LAWSON'S _NewOrchard_, p. 60. 

[344:1] For an account of Levens, with a plate of the Topiarian garden, see "Archæological Journal, " vol. Xxvi. 

[347:1] Including shrubs--

 "'Tis another's lot To light upon some gard'ner's curious knot, Where she upon her breast (love's sweet repose), Doth bring the Queen of flowers, the English Rose. "

 BROWNE'S _Brit. Past. _, i, 2. 

[347:2] For a good account of mazes and labyrinths see "ArchæologicalJournal, " xiv. 216. 

[349:1] Queen Elizabeth's love of gardening and her botanical knowledgewere celebrated in a Latin poem by an Italian who visited England in1586, and wrote a long poem under the name of "Melissus. "--See_Archæologia_, vol. Vii. 120. 

III. --GARDENERS. 

 (1) _Queen. _

 But stay, here come the gardeners; Let's step into the shadow of these trees. 

 * * * * *

 Thou, old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden, How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing news? What Eve, what serpent, hath suggested thee To make a second fall of cursed man? Why dost thou say King Richard is deposed? Darest thou, thou little better thing than earth, Divine his downfal?

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 4 (24, 72). 

 (2) _Clown. _

 Come, my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers; they hold up Adam's profession. 

 _Hamlet_, act v, sc. 1 (34). 

Very little is recorded of the gardeners of the sixteenth century, bywhich we can judge either of their skill or their social position. Gerard frequently mentions the names of different persons from whom heobtained plants, but without telling us whether they were professionalor amateur gardeners or nurserymen; and Hakluyt has recorded the name ofMaster Wolfe as gardener to Henry VIII. Certainly Richard II. 's Queendid not speak with much respect to her gardener, reproving him for his"harsh rude tongue, " and addressing him as a "little better thing thanearth"--but her angry grief may account for that. Parkinson also has notmuch to say in favour of the gardeners of his day, but considers it hisduty to warn his readers against them: "Our English gardeners are all, or the most of them, utterly ignorant in the ordering of theiroutlandish (_i. E. _, exotic) flowers as not being trained to knowthem. . . . And I do wish all gentlemen and gentlewomen, whom it mayconcern for their own good, to be as careful whom they trust with theplanting and replanting of their fine flowers, as they would be with somany jewels, for the roots of many of them being small and of greatvalue may soon be conveyed away, and a clean tale fair told, that such aroot is rotten or perished in the ground if none be seen where it shouldbe, or else that the flower hath changed his colour when it hath beentaken away, or a counterfeit one hath been put in the place thereof; andthus many have been deceived of their daintiest flowers, without remedyor true knowledge of the defect. " And again, "idle and ignorantgardeners who get names by stealth as they do many other things. " Thisis not a pleasant picture either of the skill or honesty of thesixteenth-century gardeners, but there must have been skilled gardenersto keep those curious-knotted gardens in order, so as to have a "_verperpetuum_ all the year. " And there must have been men also who had alove for their craft; and if some stole the rare plants committed totheir charge, we must hope that there were some honest men amongst them, and that they were not all like old Andrew Fairservice, in "Rob Roy, "who wished to find a place where he "wad hear pure doctrine, and hae afree cow's grass, and a cot and a yard, and mair than ten punds ofannual fee, " but added also, "and where there's nae leddy about the townto count the Apples. "

IV. --GARDENING OPERATIONS. 

A. PRUNING, ETC. 

 (1) _Orlando. _

 But, poor old man, thou prunest a rotten tree, That cannot so much as a blossom yield In lieu of all thy pains and industry. 

 _As you Like It_, act ii, sc. 3 (63). 

 (2) _Gardener. _

 Go, bind thou up yon dangling Apricocks, Which, like unruly children, make their sire Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight: Give some supportance to the bending twigs. Go thou, and like an executioner, Cut off the heads of too-fast growing sprays, That look too lofty in our commonwealth: All must be even in our government. You thus employ'd, I would go root away The noisome weeds, which without profit suck The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers. 

 * * * * *

 O, what pity is it, That he had not so trimm'd and dress'd his land As we this garden! We at time of year Do wound the bark, the skin of our fruit-trees, Lest, being over-proud in sap and blood, With too much riches it confound itself: Had he done so to great and growing men, They might have lived to bear and he to taste Their fruits of duty; superfluous branches We lop away, that bearing boughs may live: Had he done so, himself had borne the crown Which waste of idle hours hath quite thrown down. 

 _Richard II_, act iii, sc. 4 (29). 

This most interesting passage would almost tempt us to say thatShakespeare was a gardener by profession; certainly no other passagesthat have been brought to prove his real profession are more minute thanthis. It proves him to have had practical experience in the work, and Ithink we may safely say that he was no mere 'prentice hand in the use ofthe pruning knife. 

The art of pruning in his day was probably exactly like our own, as faras regarded fruit trees and ordinary garden work, but in one importantparticular the pruner's art of that day was a for more laborious artthan it is now. The topiary art must have been the triumph of pruning, and when gardens were full of castles, monsters, beasts, birds, fishes, and men, all cut out of Box and Yew, and kept so exact that they boastedof being the "living representations" and "counterfeit presentments" ofthese various objects, the hands and head of the pruner could seldomhave been idle; the pruning knife and scissors must have been inconstant demand from the first day of the year to the last. The prunerof that day was, in fact, a sculptor, who carved his images out of Boxand Yew instead of marble, so that in an amusing article in the"Guardian" for 1713 (No. 173), said to have been written by Pope, is alist of such sculptured objects for sale, and we are told that the"eminent town gardener had arrived to such perfection that he cutsfamily pieces of men, women, and children. Any ladies that please mayhave their own effigies in Myrtle, or their husbands in Hornbeam. He isa Puritan wag, and never fails when he shows his garden to repeat thatpassage in the Psalms, 'Thy wife shall be as the fruitful Vine, and thychildren as Olive branches about thy table. '"

B. MANURING, ETC. 

 _Constable. _

 And you shall find his vanities forespent Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus, Covering discretion with a coat of folly; As gardeners do with ordure hide those roots That shall first spring and be most delicate. 

 _Henry V_, act ii, sc. 4 (36). 

The only point that needs notice under this head is that the word"manure" in Shakespeare's time was not limited to its present modernmeaning. In his day "manured land" generally meant cultured land inopposition to wild and barren land. [353:1] So Falstaff uses the word--

 Hereof comes it that Prince Harry is valiant; for the cold blood he did naturally inherit of his father, he hath, like lean, sterile and bare land, manured, husbanded, and tilled with excellent endeavour of drinking good and good store of fertile sherris, that he is become very hot and valiant. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act iv, sc. 3 (126). 

And in the same way Iago says--

 Either to have it (a garden) sterile with idleness or manured with industry. 

 _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (296). 

Milton and many other writers used the word in this its original sense;and Johnson explains it "to cultivate by manual labour, " according toits literal derivation. In one passage Shakespeare uses the wordsomewhat in the modern sense--

 _Carlisle. _ The blood of English shall manure the ground. 

 _Richard II_, act iv, sc. 1 (137). 

But generally he and the writers of that and the next century expressedthe operation more simply and plainly, as "covering with ordure, " or asin the English Bible, "I shall dig about it and dung it. "

C. GRAFTING. 

 (1) _Buckingham. _

 Her royal stock graft with ignoble plants. 

 _Richard III_, act iii, sc. 7 (127). 

 (2) _Dauphin. _

 O Dieu vivant! shall a few sprays of us, The emptying of our fathers' luxury, Our scions, put in wild and savage stock, Spirt up so suddenly into the clouds, And overlook their grafters?

 _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 5 (5). 

 (3) _King. _

 His plausive words He scatter'd not in ears, but grafted them, To grow there and to bear. 

 _All's Well that Ends Well_, act i, sc. 2 (53). 

 (4) _Perdita. _

 The fairest flowers o' the season Are our Carnations and streak'd Gillyvors, Which some call nature's bastards: of that kind Our rustic garden's barren; I care not To get slips of them. 

 _Polixenes. _

 Wherefore, gentle maiden, Do you neglect them?

 _Perdita. _ For I have heard it said There is an art which in their piedness shares With great creating Nature. 

 _Polixenes. _

 Say there be; Yet Nature is made better by no mean, But Nature makes that mean: so, over that art Which you say adds to Nature, is an art That Nature makes. You see, sweet maid, we marry A gentle scion to the wildest stock, And make conceive a bark of baser kind By bud of nobler race: this is an art Which does mend nature, change it rather, but The art itself is nature. 

 _Perdita. _

 So it is. 

 _Polixenes. _

 Then make your garden rich in Gillyvors, And do not call them bastards. 

 _Perdita. _

 I'll not put The dibble in the earth to set one slip of them. 

 _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 4 (81). 

The various ways of propagating plants by grafts, cuttings, slips, andartificial impregnation (all mentioned in the above passages), as usedin Shakespeare's day, seem to have been exactly like those of our owntime, and so they need no further comment. 

FOOTNOTES:

[353:1] The Act 31 Eliz. C. 7, enacts that "noe person shall within thisRealme of England make buylde or erect any Buyldinge or Howsinge . . . . As a Cottage for habitation . . . . Unlesse the same person do assigneand laye to the same Cottage or Buyldinge fower acres of Grounde at theleast . . . To be contynuallie occupied and manured therewith. " Gerard'sChapter on Vines is headed, "Of the manured Vine. "

V. --GARDEN ENEMIES. 

A. WEEDS. 

 (1) _Hamlet. _

 How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fye on it, ah fye! 'tis an unweeded garden That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. 

 _Hamlet_, act i, sc. 2 (133). 

 (2) _Titus. _

 Such withered herbs as these Are meet for plucking up. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act iii, sc. 1 (178). 

 (3) _York. _

 Grandam, one night, as we did sit at supper, My Uncle Rivers talk'd how I did grow More than my brother. "Ay, " quoth my Uncle Glo'ster, "Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace;" And since, methinks, I would not grow so fast, Because sweet flowers are slow and weeds make haste. 

 _Richard III_, act ii, sc. 4 (10). 

 (4) _Queen. _

 Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted; Suffer them now, and they'll o'ergrow the garden, And choke the herbs for want of husbandry. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 1 (31). 

 (5)

 Unruly blasts wait on the tender spring, Unwholesome weeds take root with precious flowers. 

 _Lucrece_ (869). 

 (6) _K. Henry. _

 Most subject is the fattest soil to weeds. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act iv, sc. 4 (54). 

The weeds of Shakespeare need no remark; they were the same as ours;and, in spite of our improved cultivation, our fields and gardens areprobably as full of weeds as they were three centuries ago. 

B. BLIGHTS, FROSTS, ETC. 

 (1) _York. _

 Thus are my blossoms blasted in the bud, And caterpillars eat my leaves away. 

 _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 1 (89). 

 (2) _Montague. _

 But he, his own affection's counsellor, Is to himself--I will not say, how true-- But to himself so sweet and close, So far from sounding and discovery, As is the bud bit with an envious worm, Ere he can spread his sweet leaves to the air, Or dedicate his beauty to the sun. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act i, sc. 1 (153). 

 (3) _Imogene. _

 Comes in my father, And like the tyrannous breathing of the north Shakes all our buds from growing. 

 _Cymbeline_, act i, sc. 3 (35). 

 (4) _Bardolph. _

 A cause on foot Lives so in hope as in an early spring We see the appearing buds--which to prove fruit, Hope gives not so much warrant as despair That frost will bite them. 

 _2nd Henry IV_, act i, sc. 3 (37). 

 (5) _Violet. _

 She never told her love, But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud, Feed on her damask cheek. 

 _Twelfth Night_, act ii, sc. 4 (113). 

 (6) _Proteus. _

 Yet writers say, as in the sweetest bud The eating canker dwells, so eating love Inhabits in the finest wits of all. 

 _Valentine. _

 And writers say as the most forward bud Is eaten by the canker ere it blow, Even so by love the young and tender wit Is turn'd to folly, blasting in the bud, Losing his verdure even in the prime And all the fair effects of future hopes. 

 _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, act i, sc. 1 (42). 

 (7) _Capulet. _

 Death lies on her like an untimely frost Upon the sweetest flower of the field. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act iv, sc. 5 (28). 

 (8) _Lysimachus. _

 O sir, a courtesy Which if we should deny, the most just gods For every graff would send a caterpillar, And so afflict our province. 

 _Pericles_, act v, sc. 1 (58). 

 (9) _Wolsey. _

 This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honours thick upon him: The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, And then he falls, as I do. 

 _Henry VIII_, act iii, sc. 2 (352). 

 (10) _Saturninus. _

 These tidings nip me, and I hang the head As Flowers with frost, or Grass beat down with storms. 

 _Titus Andronicus_, act iv, sc. 4 (70). 

 (11)

 No man inveigh against the withered flower, But chide rough winter that the flower hath kill'd; Not that devour'd, but that which doth devour, Is worthy blame. 

 _Lucrece_ (1254). 

 (12)

 For never-resting time leads summer on To hideous winter, and confounds him there; Sap check'd with frost and lusty leaves quite gone, Beauty o'ersnow'd, and bareness everywhere; Then, were not summer's distillation left, A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass, Beauty's effect with beauty were bereft, Nor it, nor no remembrance what it was; But flowers distill'd, though they with winter meet, Leese but their show; their substance still lives sweet. [357:1]

 _Sonnet_ v. 

With this beautiful description of the winter-life of hardy perennialplants, I may well close the "Plant-lore and Garden-craft ofShakespeare. " The subject has stretched to a much greater extent than Iat all anticipated when I commenced it, but this only shows how largeand interesting a task I undertook, for I can truly say that mydifficulty has been in the necessity for condensing my matter, which Isoon found might be made to cover a much larger space than I have givento it; for my object was in no case to give an exhaustive account of theflowers, but only to give such an account of each plant as mightillustrate its special use by Shakespeare. 

Having often quoted my favourite authority in gardening matters, old"John Parkinson, Apothecary, of London, " I will again make use of him tohelp me to say my last words: "Herein I have spent my time, pains, andcharge, which, if well accepted, I shall think well employed. And thus Ihave finished this work, and have furnished it with whatsoever couldbring delight to those that take pleasure in those things, which howwell or ill done I must abide every one's censure; the judicious andcourteous I only respect; and so Farewell. "

FOOTNOTES:

[357:1]

 "Flowers depart To see their mother-root, when they have blown; Where they together, All the hard weather Dead to the world, keep house unknown. "

 G. HERBERT, _The Flower_. 

APPENDIX I. 

_THE DAISY:_

_ITS HISTORY, POETRY, AND BOTANY. _

 There's a Daisy. --_Ophelia. _

 Daisies smel-lesse, yet most quaint. 

 _Two Noble Kinsmen_, Introd. Song. 

The following Paper on the Daisy was written for the Bath NaturalHistory and Antiquarian Field Club, and read at their meeting, January14th, 1874. It was then published in "The Garden, " and a few copies werereprinted for private circulation. I now publish it as an Appendix tothe "Plant-lore of Shakespeare, " with very few alterations from itsoriginal form, preferring thus to reprint it _in extenso_ than to makean abstract of it for the illustration of Shakespeare's Daisies. 

THE DAISY. 

I almost feel that I ought to apologize to the Field Club for askingthem to listen to a paper on so small a subject as the Daisy. But, indeed, I have selected that subject because I think it is oneespecially suited to a Naturalists' Field Club. The members of such aclub, as I think, should take notice of everything. Nothing should bebeneath their notice. It should be their province to note a multitude oflittle facts unnoticed by others; they should be "minute philosophers, "and they might almost take as their motto the wise words which Miltonput into the mouth of Adam, after he had been instructed to "be lowliewise" (especially in the study of the endless wonders of sea, and earth, and sky that surrounded him)--

 "To know That which before us lies in daily life, Is the prime wisdom. "--_Paradise Lost_, viii. (192). 

I do not apologize for the lowness and humbleness of my subject, but, with "no delay of preface" (Milton), I take you at once to it. Inspeaking of the Daisy, I mean to confine myself to the Daisy, commonlyso-called, merely reminding you that there are also the Great or Ox-eye, or Moon Daisy (_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_), the Michaelmas Daisy(_Aster_), and the Blue Daisy of the South of Europe (_Globularia_). The name has been also given to a few other plants, but none of them aretrue Daisies. 

I begin with its name. Of this there can be little doubt; it is the"Day's-eye, " the bright little eye that only opens by day, and goes tosleep at night. This, whether the true derivation or not, is no modernfancy. It is, at least, as old as Chaucer, and probably much older. Hereare Chaucer's well-known words--

 "Men by reason well it calle may The Daïsie, or else the Eye of Day, The Empresse and the flowre of flowres all. "

And Ben Jonson boldly spoke of them as "bright Daye's-eyes. "

There is, however, another derivation. Dr. Prior says: "Skinner derivesit from dais or canopy, and Gavin Douglas seems to have understood it inthe sense of a small canopy in the line:

 "The Daisie did unbraid her crounall small. 

"Had we not the A. -S. Dæges-eage, we could hardly refuse to admit thatthis last is a far more obvious and probable explanation of the wordthan the pretty poetical thought conveyed in Day's-eye. " This was Dr. Prior's opinion in his first edition of his valuable "Popular Names ofBritish Plants;" but it is withdrawn in his second edition, and he nowis content with the Day's-eye derivation. Dr. Prior has kindly informedme that he rejected it because he can find no old authority forSkinner's derivation, and because it is doubtful whether the Daisy inGavin Douglas's line does not mean a Marigold, and not what we call aDaisy. The derivation, however, seemed worth a passing notice. Its otherEnglish names are Dog Daisy, to distinguish it from the large Ox-eyedDaisy; Banwort, "because it helpeth bones[362:1] to knit agayne"(Turner); Bruisewort, for the same reason; Herb Margaret, from itsFrench name; and in the North, Bairnwort, from its associations withchildhood. As to its other names, the plant seems to have been unknownto the Greeks, and has no Greek name, but is fortunate in having aspretty a name in Latin as it has in English. Its modern botanical nameis Bellis, and it has had the name from the time of Pliny. Bellis mustcertainly come from _bellus_ (pretty), and so it is at once stamped asthe pretty one even by botanists--though another derivation has beengiven to the name, of which I will speak soon. The French call itMarguerite, no doubt for its pearly look, or Pasquerette, to mark it asthe spring flower; the German name for it is very different, and noteasy to explain--Gänseblume, _i. E. _, Goose-flower; the Danish name isTusinfryd (thousand joys); and the Welsh, Sensigl (trembling star). 

As Pliny is the first that mentions the plant, his account is worthquoting. "As touching a Daisy, " he says (I quote from Holland'stranslation, 1601), "a yellow cup it hath also, and the same is crowned, as it were, with a garland, consisting of five and fifty little leaves, set round about it in manner of fine pales. These be flowers of themeadow, and most of such are of no use at all, no marvile, therefore, ifthey be namelesse; howbeit, some give them one tearme and some another"(book xxi. Cap. 8). And again, "There is a hearbe growing commonly inmedows, called the Daisie, with a white floure, and partly inclining tored, which, if it is joined with Mugwort in an ointment, is thought tomake the medicine farre more effectual for the King's evil" (book xxvi. Cap. 5). 

We have no less than three legends of the origin of the flower. In onelegend, not older, I believe, than the fourteenth century (the legend isgiven at full length by Chaucer in his "Legende of Goode Women"), Alcestis was turned into a Daisy. Another legend records that "thisplant is called Bellis, because it owes its origin to Belides, agranddaughter to Danaus, and one of the nymphs called Dryads, thatpresided over the meadows and pastures in ancient times. Belides is saidto have encouraged the suit of Ephigeus, but whilst dancing on the grasswith this rural deity she attracted the admiration of Vertumnus, who, just as he was about to seize her in his embrace, saw her transformedinto the humble plant that now bears her name. " This legend I have onlyseen in Phillips's "Flora Historica. " I need scarcely tell you thatneither Belides or Ephigeus are classical names--they are mediævalinventions. The next legend is a Celtic one; I find it recorded both byLady Wilkinson and Mrs. Lankester. I should like to know its origin; butwith that grand contempt for giving authorities which lady-authors toooften show, neither of these ladies tells us whence she got the legend. The legend says that "the virgins of Morven, to soothe the grief ofMalvina, who had lost her infant son, sang to her, 'We have seen, O!Malvina, we have seen the infant you regret, reclining on a light mist;it approached us, and shed on our fields a harvest of new flowers. Look, O! Malvina. Among these flowers we distinguish one with a golden disksurrounded by silver leaves; a sweet tinge of crimson adorns itsdelicate rays; waved by a gentle wind, we might call it a little infantplaying in a green meadow; and the flower of thy bosom has given a newflower to the hills of Cromla. '" Since that day the daughters of Morvenhave consecrated the Daisy to infancy. "It is, " said they, "the flowerof innocence, the flower of the newborn. " Besides these legends, theDaisy is also connected with the legendary history of St. Margaret. Thelegend is given by Chaucer, but I will tell it to you in the words of amore modern poet--

 "There is a double flouret, white and rede, That our lasses call Herb Margaret In honour of Cortona's penitent; Whose contrite soul with red remorse was rent. While on her penitence kind Heaven did throwe The white of puritie surpassing snowe; So white and rede in this faire floure entwine, Which maids are wont to scatter on her shrine. "

 _Catholic Florist_, Feb. 22, St. Margaret's Day. 

Yet, in spite of the general association of Daisies with St. Margaret, Mrs. Jameson says that she has seen one, and only one, picture of St. Margaret with Daisies. 

The poetry or poetical history of the Daisy is very curious. It beginswith Chaucer, whose love of the flower might almost be called anidolatry. But, as it begins with Chaucer, so, for a time, it almost endswith him. Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton scarcely mention it. It holdsalmost no place in the poetry of the seventeenth and eighteenthcenturies; but, at the close of the eighteenth century, it has the goodluck to be uprooted by Burns's plough, and he at once sings its dirgeand its beauties; and then the flower at once becomes a celebrity. Wordsworth sings of it in many a beautiful verse; and I think it isscarcely too much to say that since his time not an English poet hasfailed to pay his homage to the humble beauty of the Daisy. I do notpurpose to take you through all these poets--time and knowledge wouldfail me to introduce you to them all. I shall but select some of thosewhich I consider best worth selection. I begin, of course, with Chaucer, and even with him I must content myself with a selection--

 "Of all the floures in the mede, Then love I most those floures white and redde; Such that men callen Daisies in our town. To them I have so great affection, As I said erst when comen is the Maye, That in my bedde there dawneth me no daie, That I n'am up and walking in the mede To see this floure against the sunné sprede. When it upriseth early by the morrow, That blessed sight softeneth all my sorrow. So glad am I, when that I have presence Of it, to done it all reverence-- As she that is of all floures the floure, Fulfilled of all virtue and honoure; And ever ylike fair and fresh of hue, And ever I love it, and ever ylike new, And ever shall, till that mine heart die, All swear I not, of this I will not lye. There loved no wight hotter in his life, And when that it is eve, I run blithe, As soon as ever the sun gaineth west, To see this floure, how it will go to rest. For fear of night, so hateth she darkness, Her cheer is plainly spread in the brightness Of the sunne, for there it will unclose; Alas, that I ne had English rhyme or prose Suffisaunt this floure to praise aright. "

I could give you several other quotations from Chaucer, but I willcontent myself with this, for I think unbounded admiration of a flowercan scarcely go further than the lines I have read to you. 

In an early poem published by Ritson is the following--

 "Lenten ys come with love to toune With blosmen ant with briddes roune That al thys blisse bryngeth; Dayeseyes in this dales, Notes suete of nyghtegales Vch foul song singeth. "

 _Ancient Songs and Ballads_, vol. I, p. 63. 

Stephen Hawes, who lived in the time of Henry VII. , wrote a poem calledthe "Temple of Glass. " In that temple he tells us--

 "I saw depycted upon a wall, From est to west, fol many a fayre image Of sundry lovers. . . . . "

And among these lovers--

 "And Alder next was the freshe quene, I mean Alceste, the noble true wife, And for Admete howe she lost her life, And for her trouthe, if I shall not lye, How she was turned into a Daysye. "

We next come to Spenser. In the "Muiopotmos, " he gives a list of flowersthat the butterfly frequents, with most descriptive epithets to eachflower most happily chosen. Among the flowers are--

 "The Roses raigning in the pride of May, Sharp Isope good for greene woundes' remedies, Faire Marigoldes, and bees-alluring Thyme, Sweet Marjoram, and Daysies decking prime. "

By "decking prime" he means they are the ornament of the morning. [366:1]Again he introduces the Daisy in a stanza of much beauty, that commencesthe June Eclogue of the "Shepherd's Calendar. "

 "Lo! Colin, here the place whose pleasaunt syte From other shades hath weand my wandring minde. Tell me, what wants me here to work delyte? The simple ayre, the gentle warbling winde, So calm, so cool, as no where else I finde; The Grassie ground, with daintie Daysies dight; The Bramble bush, where byrdes of every kinde To the waters' fall their tunes attemper right. "

From Spenser we come to Shakespeare, and when we remember the vastacquaintance with flowers of every kind that he shows, and especiallywhen we remember how often he almost seems to go out of his way to tellof the simple wild flowers of England, it is surprising that the Daisyis almost passed over entirely by him. Here are the passages in which henames the flowers. First, in the poem of the "Rape of Lucrece, " he has avery pretty picture of Lucrece as she lay asleep--

 "Without the bed her other faire hand was On the green coverlet, whose perfect white Showed like an April Daisy on the Grass. "

In "Love's Labour's Lost" is the song of Spring, beginning--

 "When Daisies pied, and Violets blue; And Lady-smocks all silver-white, And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue Do paint the meadows with delight. "

In "Hamlet" Daisies are twice mentioned in connection with Ophelia inher madness. "There's a Daisy!" she said, as she distributed herflowers; but she made no comment on the Daisy as she did on her otherflowers. And, in the description of her death, the Queen tells us that--

 "There with fantastick garlands did she come Of Crow-flowers, Nettles, Daisies, and Long Purples. "

And in "Cymbeline" the General Lucius gives directions for the burial ofCloten--

 "Let us Find out the prettiest Daisied plot we can, And make him with our pikes and partisans A grave. "

And in the introductory song to the "Two Noble Kinsmen, " which isclaimed by some as Shakespeare's, we find among the other flowers ofspring--

 "Daisies smel-lesse, yet most quaint. "

These are the only places in which the Daisy is mentioned inShakespeare's plays, and it is a little startling to find that of thesesix one is in a song for clowns, and two others are connected with thepoor mad princess. I hope that you will not use Shakespeare's authorityagainst me, that to talk of Daisies is only fit for clowns and madmen. 

Contemporary with Shakespeare was Cutwode, who in the "Caltha Poetarum, "published in 1599, thus describes the Daisy--

 "On her attends the Daisie dearly dight that pretty Primula of Lady Ver As handmaid to her Mistresse day and night so doth she watch, so waiteth she on her, With double diligence, and dares not stir, A fairer flower perfumes not forth in May Then is this Daisie or this Primula. 

 About her neck she wears a rich wrought ruffe, with double sets most brave and broad bespread, Resembling lovely Lawn or Cambrick stuffe pind up and prickt upon her yealow head, Wearing her haire on both sides of her shead; And with her countenance she hath acast Wagging the wāton with each wynd and blast. "

 Stanza 21, 22. 

Drayton, in the "Polyolbion, " 15th Song, represents the Naiads engagedin twining garlands for the marriage of Tame and Isis, and consideringthat he--

 "Should not be dressed with flowers to garden that belong (His bride that better fitteth), but only such as spring From the replenisht meads and fruitful pasture neere, "

they collect among other wild flowers--

 "The Daysie over all those sundry sweets so thick As nature doth herself, to imitate her right; Who seems in that her pearle so greatly to delight That every plaine therewith she powdereth to beholde. "

And to the same effect, in his "Description of Elysium"--

 "There Daisies damask every place, Nor once their beauties lose, That when proud Phœbus turns his face, Themselves they scorn to close. "

Browne, contemporary with Shakespeare, has these pretty lines on theDaisy--

 "The Daisy scattered on each mead and down, A golden tuft within a silver crown; (Fair fall that dainty flower! and may there be No shepherd graced that doth not honour thee!). "

 _Brit. Past. _, ii. 3. 

And the following must be about the same date--

 "The pretty Daisy which doth show Her love to Phœbus, bred her woe; (Who joys to see his cheareful face, And mournes when he is not in place)-- 'Alacke! alacke! alacke!' quoth she, 'There's none that ever loves like me. '"

 _The Deceased Maiden's Lover_--Roxburghe Ballads, i, 341. 

I am not surprised to find that Milton barely mentions the Daisy. Hisknowledge of plants was very small compared to Shakespeare's, and seemsto have been, for the most part, derived from books. His descriptions ofplants all savour more of study than the open air. I only know of twoplaces in which he mentions the Daisy. In the "l'Allegro" he speaks of"Meadows trim with Daisies pied, " and in another place he speaks of"Daisies trim. " But I am surprised to find the Daisy overlooked by twosuch poets as Robert Herrick and George Herbert. Herrick sang of flowersmost sweetly, few if any English poets have sung of them more sweetly, but he has little to say of the Daisy. He has one poem, indeed, addressed specially to a Daisy, but he simply uses the little flower, and not very successfully, as a peg on which to hang the praises of hismistress. He uses it more happily in describing the pleasures of acountry life--

 "Come live with me and thou shalt see The pleasures I'll prepare for thee, What sweets the country can afford, Shall bless thy bed and bless thy board. . . . Thou shalt eat The paste of Filberts for thy bread, With cream of Cowslips buttered; Thy feasting tables shall be hills, With Daisies spread and Daffodils. "

And again--

 "Young men and maids meet, To exercise their dancing feet, Tripping the comely country round, With Daffodils and Daisies crowned. "

George Herbert had a deep love for flowers, and a still deeper love forfinding good Christian lessons in the commonest things about him. Hedelights in being able to say--

 "Yet can I mark how herbs below Grow green and gay;"

but I believe he never mentions the Daisy. 

Of the poets of the seventeenth century I need only make one shortquotation from Dryden--

 "And then the band of flutes began to play, To which a lady sang a tirelay: And still at every close she would repeat The burden of the song--'The Daisy is so sweet, The Daisy is so sweet'--when she began The troops of knights and dames continued on The consort; and the voice so charmed my ear And soothed my soul that it was heaven to hear. "

I need not dwell on the other poets of the seventeenth century. In mostof them a casual allusion to the Daisy may be found, but little more. Nor need I dwell at all on the poets of the eighteenth century. In theso-called Augustan age of poetry, the Daisy could not hope to attractany attention. It was the correct thing if they had to speak of thecountry to speak of the "Daisied" or "Daisy-spangled" meads, but theycould not condescend to any nearer approach to the little flower. Ifthey had they would have found that they had chosen their epithet verybadly. I never yet saw a "Daisy-spangled" meadow. [370:1] The flowers maybe there, but the long Grasses effectually hide them. And so I come _persaltum_ to the end of the eighteenth century, and at once to Burns, whobrought the Daisy again into notice. He thus regrets the uprooting ofthe Daisy by his plough--

 "Wee, modest, crimson-tippèd flower, Thou'st met me in an evil hour; For I must crush amongst the stour Thy slender stem. To spare thee now is past my power, Thou bonny gem. 

 Cold blew the bitter, biting north, Upon thy humble birth, Yet cheerfully thou venturest forth Amid the storm, Scarce reared above the Parent-earth Thy tender form. 

 The flaunting flowers our gardens yield High sheltering woods and walks must shield; But thou, between the random bield Of clod or stone, Adorn'st the rugged stubble field, Unseen, alone. 

 There, in thy scanty mantle clad, Thy snowy bosom sunward spread, Thou lift'st thy unassuming head In humble guise; But now the share uptears thy bed, And low thou lies!"

With Burns we may well join Clare, another peasant poet fromNorthamptonshire, whose poems are not so much known as they deserve tobe. His allusions to wild flowers always mark his real observation ofthem, and his allusions to the Daisy are frequent; thus--

 "Smiling on the sunny plain The lovely Daisies blow, Unconscious of the careless feet That lay their beauties low. "

Again, alluding to his own obscurity--

 "Green turfs allowed forgotten heap, Is all that I shall have, Save that the little Daisies creep To deck my humble grave. "

Again, in his description of evening, he does not omit to notice theclosing of the Daisy at sunset--

 "Now the blue fog creeps along, And the birds forget their song; Flowers now sleep within their hoods, Daisies button into buds. "

And so we come to Wordsworth, whose love of the Daisy almost equalledChaucer's. His allusions and addresses to the Daisy are numerous, but Ihave only space for a small selection. First, are two stanzas from along poem specially to the Daisy--

 "When soothed awhile by milder airs, Thee Winter in the garland wears, That thinly shades his few gray hairs, Spring cannot shun thee. While Summer fields are thine by right, And Autumn, melancholy wight, Doth in thy crimson head delight When rains are on thee. 

 Child of the year that round dost run Thy course, bold lover of the sun, And cheerful when thy day's begun As morning leveret. Thy long-lost praise thou shalt regain, Dear shalt thou be to future men, As in old time, thou not in vain Art nature's favourite. "

The other poem from Wordsworth that I shall read to you is one that hasreceived the highest praise from all readers, and by Ruskin (no meancritic, and certainly not always given to praises) is described as "twodelicious stanzas, followed by one of heavenly imagination. "[372:1] Thepoem is "An Address to the Daisy"--

 "A nun demure--of holy port; A sprightly maiden--of love's court, In thy simplicity the sport Of all temptations. A queen in crown of rubies drest, A starveling in a scanty vest, Are all, as seems to suit thee best, Thy appellations. 

 I see thee glittering from afar, And then thou art a pretty star, Not quite so fair as many are In heaven above thee. Yet like a star with glittering crest, Self-poised in air thou seem'st to rest; Let peace come never to his rest Who shall reprove thee. 

 Sweet flower, for by that name at last, When all my reveries are past, I call thee, and to that cleave fast. Sweet silent creature, That breath'st with me in sun and air; Do thou, as thou art wont, repair My heart with gladness, and a share Of thy meek nature. "

With these beautiful lines I might well conclude my notices of thepoetical history of the Daisy, but, to bring it down more closely to ourown times, I will remind you of a poem by Tennyson, entitled "TheDaisy. " It is a pleasant description of a southern tour brought to hismemory by finding a dried Daisy in a book. He says--

 "We took our last adieu, And up the snowy Splugen drew, But ere we reached the highest summit, I plucked a Daisy, I gave it you, It told of England then to me, And now it tells of Italy. "

Thus I have picked several pretty flowers of poetry for you from thetime of Chaucer to our own. I could have made the posy fifty-foldlarger, but I could, probably, have found no flowers for the posy morebeautiful, or more curious, than these few. 

I now come to the botany of the Daisy. The Daisy belongs to the immensefamily of the Compositæ, a family which contains one-tenth of theflowering plants of the world, and of which nearly 10, 000 species arerecorded. In England the order is very familiar, as it contains three ofour commonest kinds, the Daisy, the Dandelion, and the Groundsel. It maygive some idea of the large range of the family when we find that thereare some 600 recorded species of the Groundsel alone, of which elevenare in England. I shall not weary you with a strictly scientificdescription of the Daisy, but I will give you instead Rousseau'swell-known description. It is fairly accurate, though not strictlyscientific: "Take, " he says, "one of those little flowers, which coverall the pastures, and which every one knows by the name of Daisy. Lookat it well, for I am sure you would never have guessed from itsappearance that this flower, which is so small and delicate, is reallycomposed of between two and three hundred other flowers, all of themperfect, that is, each of them having its corolla, stamens, pistil, andfruit; in a word, as perfect in its species as a flower of the Hyacinthor Lily. Every one of these leaves, which are white above and redunderneath, and form a kind of crown round the flower, appearing to benothing more than little petals, are in reality so many true flowers;and every one of those tiny yellow things also which you see in thecentre, and which at first you have perhaps taken for nothing butstamens, are real flowers. . . . Pull out one of the white leaves of theflower; you will think at first that it is flat from one end to theother, but look carefully at the end by which it was fastened to theflower, and you will see that this end is not flat, but round and hollowin the form of a tube, and that a little thread ending in two hornsissues from the tube. This thread is the forked style of the flower, which, as you now see, is flat only at top. Next look at the littleyellow things in the middle of the flower, and which, as I have toldyou, are all so many flowers; if the flower is sufficiently advanced, you will see some of them open in the middle and even cut into severalparts. These are the monopetalous corollas. . . . . This is enough toshow you by the eye the possibility that all these small affairs, bothwhite and yellow, may be so many distinct flowers, and this is aconstant fact" (Quoted in Lindley's "Ladies' Botany, " vol. I. )[374:1]

But Rousseau does not mention one feature which I wish to describe toyou, as I know few points in botany more beautiful than the arrangementby which the Daisy is fertilized. In the centre of each little flower isthe style surrounded closely by the anthers. The end of the style isdivided, but, as long as it remains below among the anthers, the twolips are closed. The anthers are covered, more or less, with pollen; thestyle has its outside surface bristling with stiff hairs. In thiscondition it would be impossible for the pollen to reach the interior(stigmatic) surfaces of the divided style, but the style rises, and asit rises it brushes off the pollen from the anthers around it. Its lipsare closed till it has risen well above the whole flower, and left theanthers below; then it opens, showing its broad stigmatic surface toreceive pollen from other flowers, and distribute the pollen it hasbrushed off, not to itself (which it could not do), but to other flowersaround it. By this provision no flower fertilizes itself, and those ofyou who are acquainted with Darwin's writings will know how necessarythis provision may be in perpetuating flowers. The Daisy not onlyproduces double flowers, but also the curious proliferous flower calledHen and Chickens, or Childing Daisies, or Jackanapes on Horseback. Theseare botanically very interesting flowers, and though I, on anotheroccasion, drew your attention to the peculiarity, I cannot pass it overin a paper specially devoted to the Daisy. The botanical interest isthis: It is a well-known fact in botany, that all the parts of aplant--root, stem, flowers and their parts, thorns, fruits, and even theseeds, are only different forms of leaves, and are all interchangeable, and the Hen and Chickens Daisy is a good proof of it. Underneath theflowerhead of the Daisy is a green cushion, composed of bracts; in theHen and Chickens Daisy some of these bracts assume the form of flowers, and are the chickens. If the plant is neglected, or does not like itssoil, the chickens again become bracts. 

The only other point in the botany of the Daisy that occurs to me is itsgeographical range. The old books are not far wrong when they say "itgroweth everywhere. " It does not, however, grow in the Tropics. InEurope it is everywhere, from Iceland to the extreme south, though notabundant in the south-easterly parts. It is found in North America verysparingly, and not at all in the United States. It is also by no meansfastidious in its choice of position--by the river-side or on themountain-top it seems equally at home, though it somewhat variesaccording to its situation, but its most chosen habitat seems to be awell-kept lawn. There it luxuriates, and defies the scythe and themowing machine. It has been asserted that it disappears when the groundis fed by sheep, and again appears when the sheep are removed, but thisrequires confirmation. Yet it does not lend itself readily to gardeningpurposes. It is one of those--

 "Flowers, worthy of Paradise, which not nice art In beds and curious knots, but Nature's boon Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain, Both where the morning sun first warmly smote The open field, and where the unpierc'd shade Imbrown'd the noontide bowers. "

 _Paradise Lost_, iv, 240. 

Under cultivation it becomes capricious; the sorts degenerate andrequire much care to keep them true. As to its time of flowering it iscommonly considered a spring and summer flower; but I think one of itschief charms is that there is scarcely a day in the whole year in whichyou might not find a Daisy in flower. 

I have now gone through something of the history, poetry, and botany ofthe Daisy, but there are still some few points which I could not wellrange under either of these three heads, yet which must not be passedover. In painting, the Daisy was a favourite with the early Italian andFlemish painters, its bright star coming in very effectively in theirforegrounds. Some of you will recollect that it is largely used in theforeground of Van Eyck's grand picture of the "Adoration of the Lamb, "now at St. Bavon's, in Ghent. In sculpture it was not so much used, itssmall size making it unfit for that purpose. Yet you will sometimes seeit, both in the stone and wood carvings of our old churches. In heraldryit is not unknown. When Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was about tomarry Margaret of Flanders, he instituted an order of Daisies; and inChifflet's Lilium Francicum (1658) is a plate of his arms, France andFlanders quarterly surrounded by a collar of Daisies. A family namedDaisy bear three Daisies on their coat of arms. In an old picture ofChaucer, a Daisy takes the place in the corner usually allotted to thecoat of arms in mediæval paintings. It was assumed as an heraldiccognizance by St. Louis of France in honour of his wife Margaret; by thegood Margaret of Valois, Queen of Navarre; by Margaret of Anjou, theunfortunate wife of our Henry VI. ; while our Margaret, Countess ofRichmond, mother of our Henry VII. , and dear to Oxford and Cambridge asthe foundress of the Margaret Professorships, and of Christ College inCambridge, bore three Daisies on a green turf. 

To entomologists the Daisy is interesting as an attractive flower toinsects; for "it is visited by nine hymenoptera, thirteen diptera, threecoleoptera, and two lepidoptera--namely, the least meadow-brown and thecommon blue butterflies. "[377:1]

In medicine, I am afraid, the Daisy has so lost its virtues that it hasno place in the modern pharmacopœia: but in old days it was not so. Coghan says "of Deysies, they are used to be given in potions infractures of the head and deep wounds of the breast. And this experienceI have of them, that the juyce of the leaves and rootes of Deysies beingput into the nosethrils purgeth the brain; they are good to be used inpottage. "[377:2] Gerard says, "the Daisies do mitigate all kinds ofpaines, especially in the joints, and gout proceeding from a hot or dryhumoure, if they be stamped with new butter, unsalted, and applied uponthe pained place. " Nor was this all. In those days, doctors prescribedaccording to the so-called "doctrines of signatures, " _i. E. _, it wassupposed that Nature had shown, by special marks, for what specialdisease each plant was useful; and so in the humble growth of the littlelow-growing Daisy the doctors read its uses, and here they are. "It issaid that the roots thereof being boyled in milk, and given to littlepuppies, will not suffer them to grow great. "--COLE'S _Adam in Eden_. One more virtue. Miss Pratt says that "an author, writing in 1696, tellsus that they who wish to have pleasant dreams of the loved and absent, should put 'Dazy roots under their pillow. '"

On the English language, the Daisy has had little influence, though somehave derived "lackadaisy" and "lackadaisical" from the Daisy, but thereis, certainly, no connection between the words. Daisy, however, was(and, perhaps, still is) a provincial adjective in the eastern counties. A writer in "Notes and Queries" (2nd Series, ix. 261) says that SamuelParkis, in a letter to George Chalmers, dated February 16, 1799, noticesthe following provincialisms: "Daisy: remarkable, extraordinaryexcellent, as 'She's a Daisy lass to work, ' _i. E. _, 'She is a goodworking girl. ' 'I'm a Daisy body for pudding, ' _i. E. _, 'I eat a greatdeal of pudding. '"

And I must not leave the Daisy without noticing one special charm, thatit is peculiarly the flower of childhood. The Daisy is one of the fewflowers of which the child may pick any quantity without fear ofscolding from the surliest gardener. It is to the child the herald ofspring, when it can set its little foot on six at once, and it readilylends itself to the delightful manufacture of Daisy chains. 

 "In the spring and play-time of the year, . . . . The little ones, a sportive team, Gather king-cups in the yellow mead, And prank their hair with Daisies. "--COWPER. 

It is then the special flower of childhood, but we cannot entirely giveit up to our children. And I have tried to show you that the humbleDaisy has been the delight of many noble minds, and may be a fit subjectof study even for those children of a larger growth who form the "BathField Club. "

FOOTNOTES:

[362:1] "In the curious Treatise of the Virtues of Herbs, Royal MS. 18, a. Vi, fol. 72 b, is mentioned: 'Brysewort, or Bonwort, or Daysye, _consolida minor_, good to breke bocches. '"--_Promptorium Parvulorum_, p. 52, note. See also a good note on the same word in "Babee's Book, " p. 185. 

[366:1] This is the general interpretation, but "decking prime" may meanthe ornament of spring. 

[370:1] This statement has been objected to, but I retain it, because inspeaking of a meadow, I mean what is called a meadow in the south ofEngland, a lowland, and often irrigated, pasture. In such a meadowDaisies have no place. In the North the word is more loosely used forany pasture, but in the South the distinction is so closely drawn thathay dealers make a great difference in their prices for "upland" or"meadow hay. "

[372:1] "Modern Painters, " vol. Ii. P. 186. 

[374:1] In the "Cornhill Magazine" for January, 1878, is a pleasantpaper on "Dissecting a Daisy, " treating a little of the Daisy, but stillmore of the pleasures that a Daisy gives to different people, and thedifferent reasons for the different sorts of pleasure. See also on thesame subject the "Cornhill" for June, 1882. 

[377:1] Boulger in "Nature, " Aug. , 1878. The insects are given in HermanMuller's "Befructting der Blumen. "

[377:2] "Haven of Health, " 1596, p. 83. 

APPENDIX II. 

_THE SEASONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS. _

 _Biron. _ I like of each thing that in season grows. 

 _Love's Labour's Lost_, act i, sc. 1. 

This paper was read to the New Shakespeare Society in June, 1880, andto the Bath Literary Club in the following November. The subject is soclosely connected with the "Plant-lore of Shakespeare, " that I add it asan Appendix. 

THE SEASONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS. 

In this paper I do not propose to make any exhaustive inquiry into theseasons of Shakespeare's plays, but (at Mr. Furnivall's suggestion) Ihave tried to find out whether in any case the season that was in thepoet's mind can be discovered by the flowers or fruits, or whether, where the season is otherwise indicated, the flowers and fruits are inaccordance. In other words, my inquiry is simply confined to theargument, if any, that may be derived from the flowers and fruits, leaving out of the question all other indications of the seasons. 

The first part of the inquiry is, what plants or flowers are mentionedin each play? They are as follows:--

COMEDIES. 

_Tempest. _ Apple, crab, wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats, peas, briar, furze, gorse, thorns, broom, cedar, corn, cowslip, nettle, docks, mallow, filbert, heath, ling, grass, nut, ivy, lily, piony, lime, mushrooms, oak, acorn, pignuts, pine, reed, saffron, sedges, stover, vine. 

_Two Gentlemen of Verona. _ Lily, roses, sedges. 

_Merry Wives. _ Pippins, buttons (?), balm, bilberry, cabbage, carrot, elder, eringoes, figs, flax, hawthorn, oak, pear, plums, prunes, potatoes, pumpion, roses, turnips, walnut. 

_Twelfth Night. _ Apple, box, ebony, flax, nettle, olive, squash, peascod, codling, roses, violet, willow, yew. 

_Measure for Measure. _ Birch, burs, corn, garlick, medlar, oak, myrtle, peach, prunes, grapes, vine, violet. 

_Much Ado. _ Carduus benedictus, honeysuckle, woodbine, oak, orange, rose, sedges, willow. 

_Midsummer Night's Dream. _ Crab, apricots, beans, briar, red rose, broom, bur, cherry, corn, cowslip, dewberries, oxlip, violet, woodbine, eglantine, elm, ivy, figs, mulberries, garlick, onions, grass, hawthorn, nuts, hemp, honeysuckle, knot-grass, leek, lily, peas, peas-blossom, oak, acorn, oats, orange, love-in-idleness, primrose, musk-rose buds, musk-roses, rose, thistle, thorns, thyme, grapes, violet, wheat. 

_Love's Labour's Lost. _ Apple, pomewater, crab, cedar, lemon, cockle, mint, columbine, corn, daisies, lady-smocks, cuckoo-buds, ebony, elder, grass, lily, nutmeg, oak, osier, oats, peas, plantain, rose, sycamore, thorns, violets, wormwood. 

_Merchant of Venice. _ Apple, grass, pines, reed, wheat, willow. 

_As You Like It. _ Acorns, hawthorn, brambles, briar, bur, chestnut, cork, nuts, holly, medlar, moss, mustard, oak, olive, palm, peascod, rose, rush, rye, sugar, grape, osier. 

_All's Well. _ Briar, date, grass, nut, marjoram, herb of grace, onions, pear, pomegranate, roses, rush, saffron, grapes. 

_Taming of Shrew. _ Apple, crab, chestnut, cypress, hazel, oats, onion, love-in-idleness, mustard, parsley, roses, rush, sedges, walnut. 

_Winter's Tale. _ Briars, carnations, gillyflower, cork, oxlips, crownimperial, currants, daffodils, dates, saffron, flax, lilies, flower-de-luce, garlick, ivy, lavender, mints, savory, marjoram, marigold, nettle, oak, warden, squash, pines, prunes, primrose, damask-roses, rice, raisins, rosemary, rue, thorns, violets. 

_Comedy of Errors. _ Balsam, ivy, briar, moss, rush, nut, cherrystone, elm, vine, grass, saffron. 

HISTORIES. 

_King John. _ Plum, cherry, fig, lily, rose, violet, rush, thorns. 

_Richard II. _ Apricots, balm, bay, corn, grass, nettles, pines, rose, rue, thorns, violets, yew. 

_1st Henry IV. _ Apple-john, pease, beans, blackberries, camomile, fernseed, garlick, ginger, moss, nettle, oats, prunes, pomegranate, radish, raisins, reeds, rose, rush, sedges, speargrass, thorns. 

_2nd Henry IV. _ Aconite, apple-john, leathercoats, aspen, balm, carraways, corn, ebony, elm, fennel, fig, gooseberries, hemp, honeysuckle, mandrake, olive, peach, peascod, pippins, prunes, radish, rose, rush, wheat. 

_Henry V. _ Apple, balm, docks, elder, fig, flower-de-luce, grass, hemp, leek, nettle, fumitory, kecksies, burs, cowslips, burnet, clover, darnel, strawberry, thistles, vine, violet, hemlock. 

_1st Henry VI. _ Briar, white and red rose, corn, flower-de-luce, vine. 

_2nd Henry VI. _ Crab, cedar, corn, cypress, fig, flax, flower-de-luce, grass, hemp, laurel, mandrake, pine, plums, damsons, primrose, thorns. 

_3d Henry VI. _ Balm, cedar, corn, hawthorn, oaks, olive, laurel, thorns. 

_Richard III. _ Balm, cedar, roses, strawberry, vines. 

_Henry VIII. _ Apple, crab, bays, palms, broom, cherry, cedar, corn, lily, vine. 

TRAGEDIES. 

_Troilus and Cressida. _ Almond, balm, blackberry, burs, date, nut, laurels, lily, toadstool, nettle, oak, pine, plantain, potato, wheat. 

_Timon of Athens. _ Balm, balsam, oaks, briars, grass, medlar, moss, olive, palm, rose, grape. 

_Coriolanus. _ Crab, ash, briars, cedar, cockle, corn, cypress, garlick, mulberry, nettle, oak, orange, palm, rush, grape. 

_Macbeth. _ Balm, chestnut, corn, hemlock, insane root, lily, primrose, rhubarb, senna (cyme), yew. 

_Julius Cæsar. _ Oak, palm. 

_Antony and Cleopatra. _ Balm, figs, flag, laurel, mandragora, myrtle, olive, onions, pine, reeds, rose, rue, rush, grapes, wheat, vine. 

_Cymbeline. _ Cedar, violet, cowslip, primrose, daisies, harebell, eglantine, elder, lily, marybuds, moss, oak, acorn, pine, reed, rushes, vine. 

_Titus Andronicus. _ Aspen, briars, cedar, honeystalks, corn, elder, grass, laurel, lily, moss, mistletoe, nettles, yew. 

_Pericles. _ Rosemary, bay, roses, cherry, corn, violets, marigolds, rose, thorns. 

_Romeo and Juliet. _ Bitter-sweeting, dates, hazel, mandrake, medlar, nuts, popering pear, pink, plantain, pomegranate, quince, roses, rosemary, rush, sycamore, thorn, willow, wormwood, yew. 

_King Lear. _ Apple, balm, burdock, cork, corn, crab, fumiter, hemlock, harlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, darnel, flax, hawthorn, lily, marjoram, oak, oats, peascod, rosemary, vines, wheat, samphire. 

_Hamlet. _ Fennel, columbine, crow-flower, nettles, daisies, long purplesor dead-men's-fingers, flax, grass, hebenon, nut, palm, pansies, plum-tree, primrose, rose, rosemary, rue, herb of grace, thorns, violets, wheat, willow, wormwood. 

_Othello. _ Locusts, coloquintida, figs, nettles, lettuce, hyssop, thyme, poppy, mandragora, oak, rose, rue, rush, strawberries, sycamore, grapes, willow. 

_Two Noble Kinsmen. _ Apricot, bulrush, cedar, plane, cherry, corn, currant, daffodils, daisies, flax, lark's heels, marigolds, narcissus, nettles, oak, oxlips, plantain, reed, primrose, rose, thyme, rush. 

This I believe to be a complete list of the flowers of Shakespearearranged according to the plays, and they are mentioned in one of threeways--first, adjectively, as "flaxen was his pole, " "hawthorn-brake, ""barley-broth, " "thou honeysuckle villain, " "onion-eyed, ""cowslip-cheeks, " but the instances of this use by Shakespeare are notmany; second, proverbially or comparatively, as "tremble like aspen, ""we grew together like to a double cherry seeming parted, " "the stinkingelder, grief, " "thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine, " "not worth agooseberry. " There are numberless instances of this use of the names offlowers, fruits, and trees, but neither of these uses give anyindication of the seasons; and in one or other of these ways they areused (and only in these ways) in the following plays:--_Tempest_, _TwoGentlemen of Verona_, _Measure for Measure_, _Merchant of Venice_, _AsYou Like It_, _Taming of the Shrew_, _Comedy of Errors_, _Macbeth_, _King John_, _1st Henry IV. _, _2nd Henry VI. _, _3rd Henry VI. _, _HenryVIII. _, _Troilus and Cressida_, _Coriolanus_, _Julius Cæsar_, _Pericles_, _Othello_. These therefore may be dismissed at once. Thereremain the following plays in which indications of the seasons intendedeither in the whole play or in the particular act may be traced. In somecases the traces are exceedingly slight (almost none at all); in othersthey are so strongly marked that there is little doubt that Shakespeareused them of set purpose and carefully:--_Merry Wives_, _Twelfth Night_, _Much Ado_, _Midsummer Night's Dream_, _Love's Labour's Lost_, _As YouLike It_, _All's Well_, _Winter's Tale_, _Richard II. _, _1st Henry IV. _, _Henry V. _, _2nd Henry VI. _, _Richard III. _, _Timon of Athens_, _Antonyand Cleopatra_, _Cymbeline_, _Titus Andronicus_, _Romeo and Juliet_, _King Lear_, _Hamlet_, and _Two Noble Kinsmen_. 

_Merry Wives. _ Herne's oak gives the season intended--

 "Herne the hunter, Sometime a keeper here in Windsor forest, Doth _all the winter time_ at still midnight Walk round about an oak with ragged horns. "

If Shakespeare really meant to place the scene in mid-winter, there maybe a fitness in Mrs. Quickly's looking forward to "a posset at night, atthe latter end of a sea-coal fire, " for it was a "raw rheumatick day"(act iii, sc. 1), in Pistol's--

 "Take heed, ere summer comes, or cuckoo birds do sing, "

in Ford's "birding" and "hawking, " and in the concluding words--

 "Let us every one go home, And laugh this sport o'er by a country fire" (act v, sc. 5);

but it is not in accordance with the literature of the day to havefairies dancing at midnight in the depth of winter. 

_Twelfth Night. _ We know that the whole of this play occupies but a fewdays, and is chiefly "matter for a May morning. " This gives emphasis toOlivia's oath, "By the roses of the Spring . . . I love thee so" (actii, sc. 4). 

_Much Ado. _ The season must be summer. There is the sitting out of doorsin the "still evening, hushed on purpose to grace harmony;" and it isthe time of year for the full leafage when Beatrice might

 "Steal into the pleached bower, Where honeysuckles, ripen'd by the sun, Forbid the sun to enter" (act iii, sc. 1). 

_Midsummer Night's Dream. _ The name marks the season, and there is aprofusion of flowers to mark it too. It may seem strange to us to have"Apricocks" at the end of June, but in speaking of the seasons ofShakespeare and others it should be remembered that their days weretwelve days later than ours of the same names; and if to this is addedthe variation of a fortnight or three weeks, which may occur in anyseason in the ripening of a fruit, "apricocks" might well be sometimesgathered on their Midsummer day. But I do not think even this elasticitywill allow for the ripening of mulberries and purple grapes at thattime, and scarcely of figs. The scene, however, being laid in Athens andin fairyland, must not be too minutely criticized in this respect. Butwith the English plants the time is more accurately observed. There isthe "_green_ corn;" the "dewberries, " which in a forward season may begathered early in July; the "lush woodbine" in the fulness of itslushness at that time; the pansies, or "love-in-idleness, " which (saysGerard) "flower not onely in the spring, but for the most part allsommer thorowe, even untill autumne;" the "sweet musk-roses and theeglantine, " also in flower then, though the musk-roses, being ratherlate bloomers, would show more of the "musk-rose buds" in which Titaniabid the elves "kill cankers" than of the full-blown flower; while thethistle would be exactly in the state for "Mounsieur Cobweb" to "kill agood red-hipped humble bee on the top of it" to "bring the honey-bag" toBottom. Besides these there are the flowers on the "bank where the wildthyme blows; where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, " and I think thedistinction worth noting between the "_blowing_" of the wild thyme, which would then be at its fullest, and the "_growing_" of the oxlipsand the violet, which had passed their time of blowing, but the livingplants continued "growing. "[386:1]

_Love's Labour's Lost. _ The general tone of the play points to the fullsummer, the very time when we should expect to find Boyet thinking "toclose his eyes some half an hour under the cool shade of a sycamore"(act v, sc. 2). 

_All's Well that Ends Well. _ There is a pleasant note of the season in--

 "The time will bring on summer, When briars will have leaves as well as thorns, And be as sweet as sharp" (act iv, sc. 4);

but probably that is only a proverbial expression of hopefulness, andcannot be pushed further. 

_Winter's Tale. _ There seems some little confusion in the season of thefourth act--the feast for the sheep-shearing, which is in the verybeginning of summer--yet Perdita dates the season as "the year growingancient"--

 "Nor yet on summer's death, nor on the birth Of trembling winter"--

and gives Camillo the "flowers of middle summer. " The flowers named areall summer flowers; carnations or gilliflowers, lavender, mints, savory, marjoram, and marigold. 

_Richard II. _ There are several marked and well-known dates in thisplay, but they are not much marked by the flowers. The intended combatwas on St. Lambert's day (17th Sept. ), but there is no allusion toautumn flowers. In act iii, sc. 3, which we know must be placed inAugust, there is, besides the mention of the summer dust, King Richard'ssad strain--

 "Our sighs, and they (tears) shall lodge the summer corn, "

and in the same act we have the gardener's orders to trim the ranksummer growth of the "dangling apricocks, " while in the last act, whichmust be some months later, we have the Duke of York speaking of "thisnew spring of time, " and the Duchess asking--

 "Who are the violets now That strew the green lap of the new-come spring?"

and though in both cases the words may be used proverbially, yet itseems also probable that they may have been suggested by the time ofyear. 

_2nd Henry IV. _ There is one flower-note in act ii, sc. 4, where theHostess says to Falstaff, "Fare thee well! I have known thee thesetwenty-five years come peascod time, " of which it can only be said thatit must have been spoken at some other time than the summer. 

_Henry V. _ The exact season of act v, sc. 1, is fixed by St. David's day(March 1) and the leek. 

_1st Henry VI. _ The scene in the Temple gardens (act ii, sc. 4), whereall turned on the colour of the roses, must have been at the season whenthe roses were in full bloom, say June. 

_Richard III. _ Here too the season of act ii, sc. 4, is fixed by theripe strawberries brought by the Bishop of Ely to Richard. The exactdate is known to be June 13, 1483. 

_Timon of Athens. _ An approximate season for act iv, sc. 3, might beguessed from the medlar offered by Apemantus to Timon. Our medlars areripe in November. 

_Antony and Cleopatra. _ The figs and fig-leaves brought to Cleopatragive a slight indication of the season of act v. [388:1]

_Cymbeline. _ Here there is a more distinct plant-note of the season ofact i, sc. 3. The queen and her ladies, "whiles yet the dew's on ground, gather flowers, " which at the end of the scene we are told are violets, cowslips, and primroses, the flowers of the spring. In the fourth actLucius gives orders to "find out the prettiest daisied plot we can, " tomake a grave for Cloten; but daisies are too long in flower to let usattempt to fix a date by them. 

_Hamlet. _ In this play the season intended is very distinctly marked bythe flowers. The first act must certainly be some time in the winter, though it may be the end of winter or early spring--"The air bitesshrewdly, it is very cold. " Then comes an interval of two months ormore, and Ophelia's madness must be placed in the early summer, _i. E. _, in the end of May or the beginning of June; no other time will all theflowers mentioned fit, but for that time they are exact. The violetswere "all withered;" but she could pick fennel and columbines, daisiesand pansies in abundance, while the evergreen rosemary and rue ("whichwe may call Herb of Grace on Sundays") would be always ready. It was thetime of year when trees were in their full leafage, and so the "willowgrowing aslant the brook would show its hoar leaves in the glassystream, " while its "slivers, " would help her in making "fantasticgarlands" "of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples, " or"dead men's fingers, " all of which she would then be able to pick inabundance in the meadows, but which in a few weeks would be all gone. Perhaps the time of year may have suggested to Laertes that pretty butsad address to his sister, "O Rose of May! Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!"

_Titus Andronicus. _ There is a plant-note in act ii, sc. 2--

 "The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean, O'ercome with moss and baleful mistletoe. "

_Romeo and Juliet. _ A slight plant-note of the season may be detected inthe nightly singing of the nightingale in the pomegranate tree in thethird act. 

_King Lear. _ The plants named point to one season only, the spring. Atno other time could the poor mad king have gone singing aloud, "Crowned with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds, With harlock, hemlocks, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, And darnel. "

I think this would also be the time for gathering the fresh shoots ofthe samphire; but I do not know this for certain. [389:1]

_Two Noble Kinsmen. _ Here the season is distinctly stated for us by thepoet. The scene is laid in May, and the flowers named are all inaccordance--daffodils, daisies, marigolds, oxlips, primrose, roses, andthyme. 

I cannot claim any great literary results from this inquiry into theseasons of Shakespeare as indicated by the flowers named; on thecontrary, I must confess that the results are exceedingly small--I mightalmost say, none at all--still I do not regret the time and trouble thatthe inquiry has demanded of me. In every literary inquiry the value ofthe research is not to be measured by the visible results. It issomething even to find out that there are no results, and so savetrouble to future inquirers. But in this case the research has not beenaltogether in vain. Every addition, however small, to the critical studyof our great Poet has its value; and to myself, as a student of theNatural History of Shakespeare, the inquiry has been a very pleasantone, because it has confirmed my previous opinion, that even in suchcommon matters as the names of the most familiar every-day plants hedoes not write in a careless hap-hazard way, naming just the plant thatcomes uppermost in his thoughts, but that they are all named in the mostcareful and correct manner, exactly fitting into the scenes in whichthey are placed, and so giving to each passage a brightness and areality which would be entirely wanting if the plants were set down inthe ignorance of guess-work. Shakespeare knew the plants well; andthough his knowledge is never paraded, by its very thoroughness itcannot be hid. 

FOOTNOTES:

[386:1] If "the rite of May" (act iv, sc. 1) is to be strictly limitedto May-Day, the title of a "_Midsummer_ Night's Dream" does not apply. The difficulty can only be met by supposing the scene to be laid at anynight in May, even in the last night, which would coincide with our 12thof June. 

[388:1] "The Alexandrine figs are of the black kind having a white riftor Chanifre, and are surnamed Delicate. . . . Certain figs there be, which are both early and also lateward; . . . . They are ripe first inharvest, and afterwards in time of vintage; . . . . Also some there bewhich beare thrice a year" (Pliny, _Nat. Hist. _ b. Xv. , c. 18, P. Holland's translation, 1601). 

[389:1] The objection to fixing the date of the play in spring is thatCordelia bids search to be made for Lear "in every acre of thehigh-grown field. " If this can only refer to a field of corn at its fullgrowth, there is a confusion of seasons. But if the larger meaning isgiven to "field, " which it bears in "flowers of the field, " "beasts ofthe field, " the confusion is avoided. The words would then refer to thewild overgrowth of an open country. 

APPENDIX III. 

_NAMES OF PLANTS. _

 _Juliet. _

 What's in a name? That which we call a Rose By any other name would smell as sweet. 

 _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 2. 

NAMES OF PLANTS. 

Finding that many are interested in the old names of the plants named byShakespeare, I give in this appendix the names of the plants, showing atone view how they were written and explained by different writers in thefifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The list might have been very largelyincreased, especially by giving the forms used at an earlier date, butmy object is to show the forms of the names in which they were (or mighthave been) familiar to Shakespeare. The authors quoted are these:

 1440. "Promptorium Parvulorum. " 1483. "Catholicon Anglicum. " 1548. Turner's "Names of Herbes, " and "Herbal, " 1568. 1597. Gerard's "Herbal. " 1611. Cotgrave's "Dictionarie. "[393:1]

ACONITUM. 

_Turner. _ Aconitum. 

_Gerard. _ Of Wolfes-banes and Monkeshoods. 

_Cotgrave. _ Aconit; Aconitum, _A most venemous hearbe, of two principallkindes_; viz. , _Libbard's-bane, and Wolfe-bane_. 

ACORN. 

_Promptorium. _ Accorne, or archarde, frute of the oke; _Glans_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Acorne; _hæc glans dis, hec glandicula_. 

_Cotgrave. _ Gland; _An Acorne_; _Mast of Oakes or other trees_. 

ALMOND. 

_Promptorium. _ Almaund, frute; _Amigdalum_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Almond tre; _amigdalus_. 

_Turner. _ The Almon tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Almond tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Amygdales; _Almonds_. 

ALOES. 

_Turner. _ Aloe. 

_Gerard. _ Of Herbe Aloe, or Sea Houseleeke. 

_Cotgrave. _ Aloës; _The hearbe Aloes_, _Sea Houseleeke_, _Sea aigreen_. 

APPLE. 

_Promptorium. _ Appule, frute; _Pomum_, _malum_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Appylle; _pomum_, _malum_, _pomulum_. 

_Turner. _ Apple tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Apple tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pomme; _An Apple_. 

APRICOTS. 

_Turner. _ Abricok. 

_Gerard. _ The Aprecocke or Abrecocke tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Abricot; _The Abricot, or Apricocke Plum_. 

ASH. 

_Promptorium. _ Asche tre; _Fraxinus_. 

_Turner. _ Ashe tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Ash tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Fraisne; _An Ash tree_. 

ASPEN. 

_Promptorium. _ Aspe tre; _Tremulus_. 

_Turner. _ Asp tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Aspen tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Tremble; _An Aspe or Aspen tree_. 

BALM AND BALSAM. 

_Promptorium. _ Bawme, herbe or tre; _Balsamus_, _melissa_, _melago_. 

_Catholicon. _ Balme; _balsamum_, _colo balsamum_, _filo balsamum_, _opobalsamum_. 

_Turner. _ Baume. 

_Gerard. _ Balme or Balsam tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Basme; _Balme_, _balsamum, or more properly the balsamumtree, from which distils our Balme_. 

BARLEY. 

_Promptorium. _ Barlycorne; _Ordeum_, _triticum_. 

_Catholicon. _ Barly; _Ordeum_, _ordeolum_. 

_Turner. _ Barley. 

_Gerard. _ Of Barley. 

_Cotgrave. _ Orge; _Barlie_. 

BARNACLE. 

_Catholicon. _ A Barnakylle; avis est. 

_Gerard. _ Of the Goose tree, Barnacle tree, or the tree bearing geese. 

_Cotgrave. _ Bernaque; _The foule called a Barnacle_. 

BAY. 

_Promptorium. _ Bay, frute; _Bacca_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Bay; _bacca, est fructus lauri et olive_. 

_Turner. _ Bay tree. 

_Gerard. _ Of the Bay or Laurel tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Laurier; _A Laurell or Bay tree_. 

BEANS. 

_Promptorium. _ Bene corne; _Faba_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Bene; _faba_, _fabella_. 

_Turner. _ Beane. 

_Gerard. _ Beane and his kinds. 

_Cotgrave. _ Febue; _A Beane_. 

BILBERRY. 

_Catholicon. _ A Blabery. 

_Cotgrave. _ Hurelles; _Whoortle berries_, _wyn-berries_, _Bill-berries_, _Bull-berries_. 

BIRCH. 

_Promptorium. _ Byrche tre; _Lentiscus_, _cinus_. 

_Catholicon. _ Byrke; _Lentiscus_. 

_Turner. _ Birch tree; Birke tree. 

_Gerard. _ Of the Birch tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Bouleau; _Birche_. 

BLACKBERRIES. 

_Turner. _ Blake bery bush. 

_Gerard. _ Blacke-berry. 

_Cotgrave. _ Meuron; _A blacke, or bramble berrie_. 

BOX. 

_Promptorium. _ Box tre; _Buxus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Box tre; _buxus buxum_. 

_Turner. _ Box. 

_Gerard. _ Of the Box tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Blanc bois; _Box_, _&c. _

BRAMBLE. 

_Promptorium. _ Brymbyll. 

_Turner. _ Bramble bushe. 

_Gerard. _ Of the Bramble or blacke-berry bush. 

_Cotgrave. _ Ronce; _A Bramble or Brier_. 

BRIER. 

_Promptorium. _ Brere or Brymmeylle; _Tribulus_, _vepris_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Brere; _carduus_, _tribulus_, _vepres_, _veprecula_. 

_Turner. _ Brier tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Brier or Hep tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ See BRAMBLE. 

BROOM. 

_Promptorium. _ Brome, brusche; _Genesta_, _mirica_. 

_Catholicon. _ Brune; _genesta_, _merica_, _tramarica_. 

_Turner. _ Broume. 

_Gerard. _ Broome. 

_Cotgrave. _ Genest; _Broome_. 

BULRUSH. 

_Promptorium. _ Holrysche or Bulrysche; _Papirus_. 

_Cotgrave. _ Jonc; _A Rush, or Bulrush_. 

BURS AND BURDOCK. 

_Catholicon. _ A Burre; _bardona_, _glis_, _lappa_, _paliurus_. 

_Turner. _ Clote Bur. 

_Gerard. _ Clote Burre, or Burre Docke. 

_Cotgrave. _ Bardane la grande; _The burre-dock_, _clote_, _bur_, _greatburre_. 

BURNET. 

_Turner. _ Burnet. 

_Gerard. _ Burnet. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pimpinelle; _Burnet_. 

CABBAGE. 

_Turner. _ Colewurtes. 

_Gerard. _ Cabbage or Colewort. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chou Cabu; _Cabbage_, _White Colewort_, _headed Colewort_, _leafed Cabbage_, _round Cabbage Cole_. 

CAMOMILE. 

_Promptorium. _ _Camamilla. _

_Catholicon. _ Camomelle; _Camomillum_. 

_Turner. _ Camomyle. 

_Gerard. _ Of Cammomill. 

_Cotgrave. _ Camomille; _The hearbe Camamell or Camomill_. 

CARNATIONS. 

_Gerard. _ Some are called Carnations. 

CARRAWAYS. 

_Promptorium. _ Caraway herbe; _Carwy, sic scribitur in campo florum_. 

_Turner. _ Caruways. 

_Gerard. _ Of Caruwaies. 

_Cotgrave. _ Carvi; _Caroways, or Caroway seed_. 

CARROT. 

_Turner. _ Carot. 

_Gerard. _ Of Carrots. 

_Cotgrave. _ Carote; _The Carrot (root or hearbe)_. 

CEDAR. 

_Promptorium. _ Cedyr tree; _Cedrus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Cedir tre; _Cedrus_, _Cedra_; _Cedrinus_. 

_Gerard. _ Of the Cedar tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Cedre; _The Cedar tree_. 

CHERRY. 

_Promptorium. _ Chery, or Chery frute; _Cerasum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Chery; _Cerasum_. 

_Gerard. _ The Cherry tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Cerise; _A Cherrie_. 

CHESTNUTS. 

_Promptorium. _ Castany, frute or tre; _idem_, _Castanea_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Chestan; _balanus_, _Castanea_. 

_Turner. _ Chesnut tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Chestnut tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chastaignier; _A Chessen, or Chestnut, tree_. 

CLOVER. 

_Turner. _ Claver. 

_Gerard. _ Three-leaved grass; Claver. 

_Cotgrave. _ Treffle; _Trefoil_, _Clover_, _Three-leaved Grasse_. 

CLOVES. 

_Promptorium. _ Clowe, spyce; _Gariofolus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Clowe; _garifolus, species est_. 

_Gerard. _ The Clove tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Girofle, cloux de Girofle; _Cloves_. 

COCKLE. 

_Promptorium. _ Cokylle, wede; _Nigella_, _lollium_, _zizania_. 

_Catholicon. _ Cokylle; _quædam aborigo_, _zazannia_. 

_Turner. _ Cockel. 

_Gerard. _ Cockle. 

COLOQUINTIDA. 

_Turner. _ Coloquintida. 

_Gerard. _ The wilde Citrull, or Coloquintida. 

_Cotgrave. _ Coloquinthe; _The wilde and fleme-purging CitrullColoquintida_. 

COLUMBINE. 

_Promptorium. _ Columbyne, herbe; _Columbina_. 

_Catholicon. _ Columbyne; _Columbina_. 

_Gerard. _ Columbine. 

_Cotgrave. _ Colombin; _The hearbe Colombine_. 

CORK. 

_Promptorium. _ Corkbarke; _Cortex_. 

_Catholicon. _ Corke. 

_Gerard. _ The Corke Oke. 

_Cotgrave. _ Liege; _Corke_. 

CORN. 

_Promptorium. _ Corne; _Granum_, _gramen_. 

_Catholicon. _ Corn; _Granum_, _bladum_, _annona_, _seges_. 

_Gerard. _ Corne. 

_Cotgrave. _ Grain; _Graine_, _Corne_. 

COWSLIP. 

_Promptorium. _ Cowslope, herbe; _Herba petri_, _herba paralysis_, _ligustra_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Cowslope; _ligustrum_, _vaccinium_. 

_Turner. _ Cowslop, Cowslip. 

_Gerard. _ Cowslips. 

_Cotgrave. _ Prime-vere; . . . _a Cowslip_. 

CRABS. 

_Promptorium. _ Crabbe, appule or frute; _Macianum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Crab of ye wod; _acroma ab acritudine dictum_. 

_Gerard. _ The wilding or Crabtree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pommier Sauvage; _A Crab Tree_. 

CROW-FLOWERS. 

_Promptorium. _ Crowefote, herbe; _amarusca vel amarusca emeroydarum, pescorvi_. 

_Turner. _ Crowfote. 

_Gerard. _ Crowfloures or Wilde Williams. 

_Cotgrave. _ Hyacinthe; _The blew, or purple Jacint, or Hyacinth flower;we call it also, Crow-toes_. 

CROWN IMPERIAL. 

_Gerard. _ The Crowne Imperiall. 

_Cotgrave. _ Couronne Imperiale; _The Imperial Crowne; (a goodlieflower)_. 

CUCKOO-FLOWERS. 

_Gerard. _ Wild Water Cresses or Cuckow-floures. 

_Cotgrave. _ See LADY-SMOCKS. 

CURRANTS. 

_Catholicon. _ Rasyns of Coran; _uvapassa_. 

_Turner. _ Rasin tree. 

_Gerard. _ Corans or Currans, or rather Raisins of Corinth. 

_Cotgrave. _ Raisins de Corinthe; _Currans, or small Raisins_. 

CYPRESS. 

_Promptorium. _ Cypresse, tre; _Cipressus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Cipirtre; _cipressus_, _cipressimus_. 

_Turner. _ Cypresse tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Cypresse tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Cyprés; _The Cyprus Tree_; _or Cyprus wood_. 

DAFFODILS. 

_Promptorium. _ Affodylle herbe; _Affodillus_, _albucea_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Affodylle; _Affodillus, harba est_. 

_Turner. _ Affodill, Daffadyll. 

_Gerard. _ Daffodils. 

_Cotgrave. _ Asphodile; _The Daffadill, Affodill, or Asphodell Flower_. 

DAISIES. 

_Promptorium. _ Daysy, floure; _Consolida minor et major diciturConfery_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Daysy; _Consolidum_. 

_Turner. _ Dasie. 

_Gerard. _ Little Daisies. 

_Cotgrave. _ Marguerite; _A Daisie_. 

DAMSONS. 

_Promptorium. _ Damasyn', frute; _Prunum Damascenum_, _Coquinella_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Damysyn tre; _damiscenus, nixa pro arbore and fructu, conquinella_. 

_Gerard. _ The Plum or Damson tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Prune de Damas; _A Damson or Damask Plumme_. 

DARNEL. 

_Promptorium. _ Dernel, a wede; _Zizania_. 

_Catholicon. _ Darnelle; _Zizannia_. 

_Turner. _ Darnel. 

_Gerard. _ Darnell. 

_Cotgrave. _ Yvraye; _The vicious graine called Ray, or Darnell_. 

DATES. 

_Promptorium. _ Date, frute; _Dactilus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Date; _dactulus_, _dactilicus_. 

_Turner. _ Date tre. 

_Gerard. _ The Date tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Dacte; _A Date_. 

DOCKS. 

_Promptorium. _ Dockeweede; _Padella_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Dokan; _paradilla_, _emula_, _farella_. 

_Turner. _ Docke. 

_Gerard. _ Docks. 

_Cotgrave. _ Parelle; _The hearbe Dockes_. 

DOGBERRY. 

_Turner. _ Dog tree. 

_Gerard. _ The female Cornell or Dog-berry tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Cornillier femelle; _Hounds-tree_, _Dog-berrie tree_, _Prick-tymber tree_; _Gaten, or Gater, tree_. 

EBONY. 

_Promptorium. _ Eban' tre; _Ebanus_. 

_Cotgrave_. Ebene; _The blacke wood called Heben, or Eboine_. 

EGLANTINE. 

_Turner. _ Eglētyne or swete brere. 

_Gerard. _ The Eglantine or Sweet Brier. 

_Cotgrave. _ Rose sauvage; _The Eglantine or Sweet brier Rose_. 

ELDER. 

_Promptorium. _ Eldyr or hyldr or hillerne tre; _Sambucus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Bur tre; _Sambucus_. 

_Turner. _ Elder tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Elder tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Sureau; _An Elder Tree_. 

ELM. 

_Promptorium. _ Elm, tre; _Ulmus_. 

_Turner. _ Elme tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Elme tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Orme; _an Elme tree_. 

ERINGOES. 

_Turner. _ Sea holly, or Sea Hulver. 

_Gerard. _ Sea Holly. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chardon marin; _The Sea Thistle_, _Sea Holly_, _Eringus_. 

FENNEL. 

_Promptorium. _ Fenkylle or fenelle; _Feniculum vel feniculus_. 

_Catholicon. _ Fennelle or fenkelle; _feniculum_, _maratrum_. 

_Turner. _ Fenel. 

_Gerard_. Fennell. 

_Cotgrave. _ Fenouil; _The hearbe Fennell_. 

FERN. 

_Promptorium. _ Brake, herbe or ferne; _Filix_. 

_Catholicon. _ Ferne; _polipodium_, &c. ; _ubi_ brakān (a Brakān;filix). 

_Turner. _ Ferne or brake. 

_Gerard. _ Ferne. 

_Cotgrave. _ Feuchiere; _Fearne_, _brakes_. 

FIGS. 

_Promptorium. _ Fygge or fyge tre; _Ficus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A dry Fige; _ficus_ -_i_, _ficus_ -_us_, _ficulus_. 

_Turner. _ Fig tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Fig tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Figue; _A Fig_. 

FILBERTS. 

_Promptorium. _ Fylberde, notte; _Fillum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Filbert; _Fillium vel fillum_. 

_Gerard. _ The Fillberd Nutt. 

_Cotgrave. _ Avelaine; _A Filbeard_. 

FLAGS. 

_Gerard. _ Water Flags. 

FLAX. 

_Promptorium. _ Flax; _Linum_. 

_Catholicon. _ Lyne; _linum_. 

_Turner. _ Flax. 

_Gerard. _ Garden Flaxe. 

_Cotgrave. _ Lin; _Line_, _flax_. 

FLOWER-DE-LUCE. 

_Turner. _ Flour de luce. 

_Gerard. _ The Floure de-luce. 

_Cotgrave. _ Iris; _The rainbow_; _also a Flower de luce_. 

FUMITER. 

_Promptorium. _ Fumeter, herbe; _Fumus terræ_. 

_Turner. _ Fumitarie. 

_Gerard. _ Fumitorie. 

_Cotgrave. _ Fume-terre; _The hearbe Fumitorie_. 

FURZE. 

_Promptorium. _ Fyrrys, or qwyce tre, or gorstys tre; _Ruscus_. 

_Gerard. _ Furze, Gorsse, Whin, or prickley Broome. 

_Cotgrave. _ Genest espineux; _Furres_, _whinnes_, _gorse_, _Thornbroome_. 

GARLICK. 

_Promptorium. _ Garlekke; _Allium_. 

_Catholicon. _ Garleke; _Alleum_. 

_Turner. _ Garlike. 

_Gerard. _ Garlicke. 

_Cotgrave. _ Ail; _Garlicke_, _poore-man's Treacle_. 

GILLIFLOWERS. 

_Promptorium. _ Gyllofre, herbe; _Gariophyllus_. 

_Turner. _ Gelover, Gelefloure. 

_Gerard. _ Clove Gillofloures. 

_Cotgrave. _ Giroflée; _A gilloflower, and most properly, the CloveGilloflower_. 

GINGER. 

_Promptorium. _ Gyngere; _Zinziber_. 

_Catholicon. _ Ginger; _zinziber_, _zinzebrum_. 

_Gerard. _ Ginger. 

_Cotgrave. _ Gingembre; _Ginger_. 

GOOSEBERRIES. 

_Turner. _ Goosebery bush. 

_Gerard. _ Goose-berrie or Fea-berry Bush. 

_Cotgrave. _ Groselles; _Gooseberries_. 

GORSE. 

_Promptorium. _ See FURZE. 

_Gerard. _ See FURZE. 

_Cotgrave. _ See FURZE. 

GOURD. 

_Promptorium. _ Goord; _Cucumer_, _cucurbita_, _colloquintida_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Gourde; _Cucumer vel cucumis_. 

_Turner. _ Gourde. 

_Gerard. _ Gourds. 

_Cotgrave. _ Courge; _The fruit called a Gourd_. 

GRAPES. 

_Promptorium. _ Grape; _Uva_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Grape; _Apiana_, _botrus_, _passus_, _uva_. 

_Turner. _ Grapes. 

_Gerard. _ Grapes. 

_Cotgrave. _ Raisin; _A Grape, also a Raisin_. 

GRASS. 

_Promptorium. _ Gresse, herbe; _Herba_, _gramen_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Gresse; _gramen_, _herba_, _herbala_. 

_Turner. _ Grasse. 

_Gerard. _ Grasse. 

_Cotgrave. _ Herbe; . . . _also Grasse_. 

HAREBELL. 

_Gerard. _ Hare-bells. 

HAWTHORN. 

_Promptorium. _ Hawe thorne; _ramnus_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Hawe tre; _sinus_, _rampnus_. 

_Turner. _ Hawthorne tree. 

_Gerard. _ The White Thorne or Hawthorne tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Aubespin; _The White-thorne or Hawthorne_. 

HAZEL. 

_Promptorium. _ Hesyl tre; _Colurus_, _Colurnus_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Heselle; _corulus_. 

_Turner. _ Hasyle tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Hasell tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Noisiller; _A Hasel, or small nut tree_. 

HEATH. 

_Promptorium. _ Hethe; _Bruera_, _bruare_. 

_Turner. _ Heth. 

_Gerard. _ Heath, Hather, or Linge. 

_Cotgrave. _ Bruyere; _Heath_, _ling_, _hather_. 

HEBONA. 

HEMLOCK. 

_Promptorium. _ Humlok, herbe; _Sicuta_, _lingua canis_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Hemlok; _cicuta_, _harba benedicta_, _intubus_. 

_Turner. _ Hemlocke. 

_Gerard. _ Homlocks or herb Bennet. 

_Cotgrave. _ Cigne; _Hemlocke_, _Homlocke_, _hearbe Bennet_, _Kex_. 

HEMP. 

_Promptorium. _ Hempe; _Canabum_. 

_Catholicon. _ Hempe; _Canabus_, _canabum_. 

_Turner. _ Hemp. 

_Gerard. _ Hempe. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chanure; _Hempe_. 

HOLLY. 

_Promptorium. _ Holme or holy; _Ulmus_, _hussus_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Holynge; _hussus_. 

_Gerard. _ The Holme, Holly, or Hulver tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Houx; _The Hollie, Holme, or Hulver tree_. 

HOLY THISTLE. 

_Turner. _ Cardo benedictus. 

_Gerard. _ The Blessed Thistle. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chardon benoict; _Holy Thistle_, _blessed Thistle_. Carduusbenedictus. 

HONEYSUCKLE. 

_Promptorium. _ Hony Socle; _Abiago_. 

_Turner. _ Honysuccles. 

_Gerard. _ Woodbinde or Honisuckles. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chevre-fueille; _The Woodbind or Honie-suckle_. 

HYSSOP. 

_Promptorium. _ Isope, herbe; _Isopus_. 

_Catholicon. _ Isope; _ysopus_. 

_Turner. _ Hysope. 

_Gerard. _ Hyssope. 

_Cotgrave. _ Hyssope; _Hisop_. 

INSANE ROOT. 

_Promptorium. _ Henbane, herbe; _Jusquiamus_, _simphonica_, _insana_. 

_Gerard. _ Insana (s. V. HENBANE). 

IVY. 

_Promptorium. _ Ivy; _Edera_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Ivēn; _edera_. 

_Gerard. _ Ivy. 

_Cotgrave. _ Lierre; _Ivie_. 

KECKSIES. 

_Promptorium. _ Kyx, or bunne, or drye weed; _Calamus_. 

_Gerard. _ Kexe. 

_Cotgrave. _ _See_ HEMLOCK. 

KNOT-GRASS. 

_Turner. _ Knot grasse. 

_Gerard. _ Knot-grasses. 

_Cotgrave. _ Centidoine; _Centinodie_, _Knotgrassa_, _Waygrasse_, &c. 

LADY-SMOCKS. 

_Gerard. _ Lady-smockes. 

_Cotgrave. _ Passerage Sauvage; _Cuckoe flowers_, _Ladies-smockes_, _thelesse Water Cresse_. 

LARK'S HEELS. 

_Gerard. _ Larks heele or Larks claw. 

_Cotgrave. _ Herbe moniale; _Wilde Larkes-heele_, _purple Monkes-flower_. 

LAUREL. 

_Promptorium. _ Lauryol, herbe; _Laureola_. 

_Catholicon. _ Larielle; _laurus_. 

_Turner. _ Laurel tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Bay or Laurel tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Laureole; _Lowrie_, _Lauriell_, _Spurge Laurell_, _littleLaurell_. 

LAVENDER. 

_Promptorium. _ Lavendere, herbe; _Lavendula_. 

_Turner. _ Lauender. 

_Gerard. _ Lavander Spike. 

_Cotgrave. _ Lavande; _Lavender_, _Spike_. 

LEEK. 

_Promptorium. _ Leek or garleke; _Alleum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Leke; _porrum_. 

_Turner. _ Leke. 

_Gerard. _ Leekes. 

_Cotgrave. _ Porreau; _A Leeke_. 

LEMON. 

_Turner. _ Limones. 

_Gerard. _ The Limon tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Limon; _A Lemmon_. 

LETTUCE. 

_Promptorium. _ Letuce, herbe; _Lactuca_. 

_Catholicon. _ Letuse; _lactuca_. 

_Turner. _ Lettis. 

_Gerard. _ Lettuce. 

_Cotgrave. _ Laictuë; _Lettuce_. 

LILY. 

_Promptorium. _ Lyly, herbe; _Lilium_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Lylly; _lilium_, _librellum_. 

_Turner. _ Lily. 

_Gerard. _ White Lillies. 

_Cotgrave. _ Lis; _A Lillie_. 

LIME. 

_Promptorium. _ Lynde tre; _Filia_. 

_Catholicon. A_ Linde tre; _tilia_. 

_Turner. _ Linden tre. 

_Gerard. _ The Line or Linden tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Til; _The Line, Linden, or Teylet tree_. 

LING. 

_Promptorium. _ Lynge of the hethe; _Bruera vel brueria_. 

_Turner. _ Ling. 

_Gerard. _ Heath, Hather, or Linge. 

_Cotgrave. _ Bruyere; _Heath_, _ling_, _hather_. 

LOCUST. 

_Turner. _ Carobbeanes. 

_Gerard. _ The Carob tree or St. John's Bread. 

LONG PURPLES. 

_Turner. _ Hand Satyrion. 

LOVE-IN-IDLENESS. 

_Gerard. _ Live in idlenesse. 

_Cotgrave. _ Herbe clavelée; _Paunsie. . . . Love or live in idleness_. 

MACE. 

_Promptorium. _ Macys, spyce; _Macie in plur_. 

_Catholicon. _ Mace; _Macia_. 

_Gerard. _ Mace. 

_Cotgrave. _ Macis; _The spice called Mace_. 

MALLOWS. 

_Promptorium. _ Malwe, herbe, _Malva_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Malve; _Altea_, _malva_. 

_Turner. _ Mallowe. 

_Gerard. _ The wilde Mallowes. 

_Cotgrave. _ Maulve; _The hearbe Mallow_. 

MANDRAKES. 

_Promptorium. _ Mandragge, herbe; _Mandragora_. 

_Turner. _ Mandrage. 

_Gerard. _ Mandrake. 

_Cotgrave. _ Mandragore; _Mandrake_, _Mandrage_, _Mandragon_. 

MARIGOLD. 

_Promptorium. _ Golde, heabe; _Solsequium, quia sequitur solem_, &c. 

_Catholicon. _ Marigolde; _Solsequium, sponsa solis, herba est_. 

_Turner. _ Marygoulde. 

_Gerard. _ Marigolds. 

_Cotgrave. _ Soulsi; _the Marigold_, _Ruds_. 

MARJORAM. 

_Promptorium. _ Mageræm, herbe; _Majorona_. 

_Catholicon. _ Marioron; _herba Maiorana_. 

_Turner. _ Margerum. 

_Gerard. _ Marjerome. 

_Cotgrave. _ Marjolaine; _Marierome_, _sweet Marierome_, _fineMarierome_, _Marierome gentle_. 

MEDLAR. 

_Turner. _ Medler tre. 

_Gerard. _ The Medlar tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Neffle; _a Medler_. 

MINT. 

_Promptorium. _ Mynte, herbe; _Minta_. 

_Catholicon. _ Minte; _Menta, herba est_. 

_Turner. _ Mint. 

_Gerard. _ Mints. 

_Cotgrave. _ Mente; _the hearbe Mint, or Mints_. 

MISTLETOE. 

_Turner. _ Misceldin, or Miscelto. 

_Gerard. _ Misseltoe or Misteltoe. 

_Cotgrave. _ Guy; _Misseltoe, or Misseldine_. 

MOSS. 

_Promptorium. _ Mosse, growynge a-mongys stonys; _Muscus_. 

_Catholicon. _ Mosse; _muscus_, _ivena_. 

_Gerard. _ Ground Mosse. 

_Cotgrave. _ Mousse; _Mosse_. 

MULBERRY. 

_Promptorium. _ Mulbery; _Morum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Mulbery; _Morum_. 

_Turner. _ Mulbery tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Mulberrie tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Meure; _A Mulberrie_. 

MUSHROOM. 

_Promptorium. _ Muscherōn toodys hatte; _Boletus_, _fungus_. 

_Gerard. _ Mushrumes or Toadstooles. 

_Cotgrave. _ Champignon; _A Mushrum_, _Toadstoole_, _Paddock-stoole_. 

MUSTARD. 

_Promptorium. _ Mustard or Warlok or senvyne, herbe; _Sinapis_. 

_Catholicon. _ Musterde; _Sinapium_. 

_Turner. _ Mustarde. 

_Gerard. _ Mustard. 

_Cotgrave. _ Moustarde; _Mustard_. 

MYRTLE. 

_Turner. _ Myrtle or Myrt tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Myrtle tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Myrte: _The Mirtle tree or Shrub_. 

NETTLES. 

_Promptorium. _ Netyl, herbe; _Urtica_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Nettylle; _Urtica_. 

_Turner. _ Nettle. 

_Gerard. _ Stinging Nettle. 

_Cotgrave. _ Ortie; _A Nettle, the Common Nettle_. 

NUT. 

_Promptorium. _ Note, frute; _Nux_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Nutte; _nux_, _nucula_, _nucicula_. 

_Gerard. _ Wilde hedge-Nut. 

_Cotgrave. _ Noisette; _A small Nut, or Hasel Nut_. 

NUTMEG. 

_Promptorium. _ Notemygge; _Nux muscata_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Nut muge; _nux muscata_. 

_Gerard. _ The Nutmeg tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Noix Muscade; _A Nutmeg_. 

OAK. 

_Promptorium. _ Oke, tee; _Quercus_, _ylex_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Oke; _quarcus_, &c. ; _ubi_ An Ake. 

_Turner. _ Oke. 

_Gerard. _ The Oke. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chesne; _An Oake_. 

OATS. 

_Promptorium. _ Ote or havur Corne; _Avena_. 

_Catholicon. _ Otys; _ubi_ haver (_Havyr_; _avena_, _avenula_). 

_Turner. _ Otes. 

_Gerard. _ Otes. 

_Cotgrave. _ Avoyne; _Oats_. 

OLIVE. 

_Promptorium. _ Olyve, tre; _Oliva_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Olyve tre; _olea_, _oleaster_, _oliva_; _olivaris_. 

_Turner. _ Olyve tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Olive tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Olivier; _An Olive tree_. 

ONIONS. 

_Promptorium. _ Onyone; _Sepe_. 

_Catholicon. _ Onyōn; _bilbus_, _cepa_, _cepe_. 

_Turner. _ Onyon. 

_Gerard. _ Onions. 

_Cotgrave. _ Oignon; _An Onyon_. 

ORANGE. 

_Promptorium. _ Oronge, fruete; _Pomum citrinum_, _citrum_. 

_Turner. _ Orenge tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Orange tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Orange; _An Orange_. 

OSIER. 

_Promptorium. _ Osyere; _Vimen_. 

_Turner. _ Osyer tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Oziar or Water Willow. 

_Cotgrave. _ Osier; _The Ozier_, _red Withie_, _water Willow tree_. 

OXLIP. 

_Gerard. _ Field Oxlips. 

_Cotgrave. _ Arthetiques; _Cowslips or Oxlips_. 

PALM. 

_Promptorium. _ Palme; _Palma_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Palme tre; _palma_, _palmula_. 

_Gerard. _ The Date tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Palmier; _The Palme, or Date tree_. 

PANSIES. 

_Turner. _ Panses. 

_Gerard. _ Hearts-ease or Pansies. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pensée; _The flower Paunsie_. 

PARSLEY. 

_Promptorium. _ Persley, herbe; _Petrocillum_. 

_Catholicon. _ Parcelle; _Petrocillum, herba est_. 

_Turner. _ Persely. 

_Gerard. _ Parsley. 

_Cotgrave. _ Persil; _Parsely_. 

PEACH. 

_Promptorium. _ Peche, or peske, frute: _Pesca_, _pomum Persicum_. 

_Turner. _ Peche tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Peach tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pesche; _A Peach_. 

PEAR. 

_Promptorium. _ Pere, tre; _Pirus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Pere tre; _Pirus_. 

_Turner. _ Peare tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Peare tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Poire; _A Peare_. 

PEAS. 

_Promptorium. _ Pese, frute of corne; _Pisa_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Peise; _Pisa_. 

_Turner. _ A Pease. 

_Gerard. _ Peason. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pois; _A Peas or Peason_. 

PEPPER. 

_Promptorium. _ Pepyr; _Piper_. 

_Catholicon. _ Pepyr; _Piper_. 

_Turner. _ Indishe Peper. 

_Gerard. _ The Pepper plant. 

_Cotgrave. _ Poyvre; _Pepper_. 

PIGNUTS. 

_Turner. _ Ernutte. 

_Gerard. _ Earth-Nut, Earth Chestnut, or Kippernut. 

_Cotgrave. _ Faverottes; _Earth-nuts_, _Kipper-nuts_, _Earth-Chestnuts_. 

PINE. 

_Promptorium. _ Pynot, tre; _Pinus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Pyne tree; _pinus_. 

_Turner. _ Pyne tre. 

_Gerard. _ The Pine tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pin; _A Pine tree_. 

PINKS. 

_Gerard. _ Pinks or wilde Gillofloures. 

_Cotgrave. _ Oeillet; _A Gilliflower; also, a Pinke_. 

PIONY. 

_Promptorium. _ Pyany, herbe; _Pionia_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Pyon; _pionia, herba est_. 

_Turner. _ Pyony. 

_Gerard. _ Peionie. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pion; _A certaine great, round, and Bulbus-rooted flower, ofone whole colour_. 

PLANE. 

_Promptorium. _ Plane, tre; _Platanus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Playne tre; _platanus_. 

_Turner. _ Playne tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Plane tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Platane; _The right Plane tree (a stranger in England)_. 

PLANTAIN. 

_Promptorium. _ Planteyne, or plawnteyn, herbe; _Plantago_. 

_Turner. _ Plantaine. 

_Gerard. _ Land Plantaine. 

_Cotgrave. _ Plantain; _Plantaine_, _Way-bred_. 

PLUMS. 

_Promptorium. _ Plowme; _Prunum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Plowmbe; _prunum_. 

_Turner. _ Plum tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Plum tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Prune; _A Plumme_. 

POMEGRANATE. 

_Promptorium. _ Pomegarnet, frute; _Pomum granatum_, _vel malumgranatum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Pomgarnett; _Malogranatum_, _Malumpunicum_. 

_Turner. _ Pomgranat tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Pomegranat tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Grenarde; _a Pomegranet_. 

POPPY. 

_Promptorium. _ Popy, weed; _Papaver_, _Codia_. 

_Turner. _ Poppy. 

_Gerard. _ Poppy. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pavot; _Poppie_, _Cheesbowls_. 

POTATO. 

_Gerard. _ Potatus, or Potato's. 

PRIMROSE. 

_Promptorium. _ Prymerose; _Primula_, _calendula_, _liqustrum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Prymerose; _primarosa_, _primula veris_. 

_Turner. _ Primrose. 

_Gerard. _ Primrose. 

_Cotgrave. _ Primevere; _The Primrose_. 

PUMPION. 

_Gerard. _ Melons, or Pumpions. 

_Cotgrave. _ Pompon; _A Pompion or Melon_. 

QUINCE. 

_Promptorium. _ Quence, frute; _Coctonum_, _Scitonum_. 

_Turner. _ Quince tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Quince tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Coignier; _A Quince tree_. 

RADISH. 

_Catholicon. _ Radcolle; _Raphanus, herba est_. 

_Turner. _ Radice or Radishe. 

_Gerard. _ Radish. 

_Cotgrave. _ Radis; _A Raddish root_. 

RAISIN. 

_Promptorium. _ Reysone, or reysynge, frute; _Uva passa_, _carica_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Rasyn; _passa_, _racemus_. 

_Turner. _ Rasin. 

_Gerard. _ Raisins. 

_Cotgrave. _ Raisin; _A Grape, also a Raisin_. 

REEDS. 

_Promptorium. _ Reed, of the fenne; _Arundo_, _canna_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Rede; _Arundo_, _canna_, _canula_. 

_Turner. _ Reed. 

_Gerard. _ Reeds. 

_Cotgrave. _ Roseau; _A Reed_, _a Cane_. 

RHUBARB. 

_Gerard. _ Rubarb. 

_Cotgrave. _ Reubarbe; _The root called Rewbarb, or Rewbarb of theLevant_. 

RICE. 

_Promptorium. _ Ryce, frute; _Risia, vel risi_. 

_Catholicon. _ Ryse; _risi judeclinabile_. 

_Turner. _ Ryse. 

_Gerard. _ Rice. 

_Cotgrave. _ Ris; _The graine called Rice_. 

ROSE. 

_Promptorium. _ Rose, floure; _Rosa_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Rose; _rosa-sula_, _rosella_. 

_Turner. _ Rose. 

_Gerard. _ Roses. 

_Cotgrave. _ Rose; _A Rose_. 

ROSEMARY. 

_Promptorium. _ Rose Mary, herbe; _Ros marinus_, _rosa marina_. 

_Catholicon. _ Rosemary; _Dendrolibanum, herba est_. 

_Turner. _ Rosemary. 

_Gerard. _ Rosemary. 

_Cotgrave. _ Rosmarin; _Rosemarie_. 

RUE. 

_Promptorium. _ Ruwe, herbe; _Ruta_. 

_Catholicon. _ Rewe; _ruta, herba est_. 

_Turner. _ Rue. 

_Gerard. _ Rue or Herb Grace. 

_Cotgrave. _ Rue; _Rue_, _Hearbe Grace_. 

RUSH. 

_Promptorium. _ Rysche, or rusche; _Cirpus_, _juncus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Rysche; _ubi_ a Sefe (a Seyfe, _juncus_, _biblus_, _cirpus_). 

_Gerard. _ Rushes. 

_Cotgrave. _ Jonc; _A rush, or bulrush_. 

RYE. 

_Promptorium. _ Rye, corn; _Siligo_. 

_Catholicon. _ Ry; _Sagalum_. 

_Turner. _ Rye. 

_Gerard. _ Rie. 

_Cotgrave. _ Seigle; _Rye_. 

SAFFRON. 

_Promptorium. _ Safrun; _Crocum_. 

_Catholicon. _ Saferon; _Crocus_, _crocum_. 

_Turner. _ Safforne, Saffron. 

_Gerard. _ Saffron. 

_Cotgrave. _ Saffron; _Saffron_. 

SAMPHIRE. 

_Turner. _ Sampere. 

_Gerard. _ Sampier. 

_Cotgrave. _ Creste marine; _Sampier_, _Sea Fennell_, _Crestmarine_. 

SAVORY. 

_Promptorium. _ Saverey, herbe; _Satureia_. 

_Catholicon. _ Saferay; _Satureia, herba est_. 

_Turner. _ Saueray or Sauery. 

_Gerard. _ Savorie. 

SEDGE. 

_Promptorium. _ Segge, of fenne, or wyld gladon; _Acorus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Segg; _Carex_. 

_Turner. _ Sege or Sheregres. 

_Cotgrave. _ Glayeul bastard; _Sedge_, _wild flags_, _&c. _

SENNA. 

_Turner. _ Sene. 

_Gerard. _ Sene. 

_Cotgrave. _ Senné; _The purging plant Sene_. 

SPEARGRASS. 

STOVER. 

STRAWBERRY. 

_Promptorium. _ Strawbery; _Fragum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Strabery; _Fragum_. 

_Turner. _ Strawbery. 

_Gerard. _ Straw-berries. 

_Cotgrave. _ Fraise; _A strawberrie_. 

SYCAMORE. 

_Promptorium. _ Sycomoure, tree; _Sicomorus_, _celsa_. 

_Gerard. _ The Sycomore tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Sycomore; _The Sycomore_. 

THISTLES. 

_Promptorium. _ Thystylle; _Cardo_, _Carduus_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Thystelle; _Cardo_. 

_Turner. _ Thistle. 

_Gerard. _ Thistles. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chardon; _A Thistle_. 

THORN. 

_Promptorium. _ Thorne; _Spina_, _sentis_, _sentix_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Thorne; _Spina_, _spinula_, _sentis_. 

_Turner. _ Whyte Thorne. 

_Gerard. _ White Thorne. 

_Cotgrave. _ Espine; _A thorne_. 

THYME. 

_Promptorium. _ Tyme, herbe; _Tima_, _timum_. 

_Catholicon. _ Tyme; _timum_, _epitimum_. 

_Turner. _ Wild Thyme. 

_Gerard. _ Wilde Time. 

_Cotgrave. _ Thym; _The hearbe Time_. 

TOADSTOOLS. 

_Catholicon. _ A Paddockstole; _boletus_, _fungus_, _tuber_, _&c. _

_Gerard. _ Toadstooles. 

_Cotgrave. _ Champignon; _A Mushrum_, _Toadstoole_, _Paddockstoole_. 

TURNIPS. 

_Turner. _ Rape or Turnepe. 

_Gerard. _ Turneps. 

_Cotgrave. _ Naveau blanc de Jardin; _Th' ordinarie Rape, or Turneps_. 

VETCHES. 

_Promptorium. _ Fetche, corne, or tare; _Vicia_. 

_Turner. _ Fyche. 

_Gerard. _ The Vetch or Fetch. 

_Cotgrave. _ Vesce; _The pulse called Fitch, or Vetch_. 

VINES. 

_Promptorium. _ Vyny or Vyne; _Vitis_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Vyne tree; _argitis_, _propago_, _vitis_. 

_Turner. _ Wild Vine. 

_Gerard. _ The manured Vine. 

_Cotgrave. _ Vigne; _A Vine_, _the plant that beareth Grapes_. 

VIOLET. 

_Promptorium. _ Vyalett, or vyolet, herbe; _Viola_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Violett; _Viola_. 

_Turner. _ Violet. 

_Gerard. _ Violets. 

_Cotgrave. _ Violette; _A Violet_. 

WALNUT. 

_Promptorium. _ Walnote; _Avelana_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Walnotte; _Avellanus_, _Avellanum_. 

_Turner. _ Walnut tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Wall-nut tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Noix; _A Wallnut_. 

WARDEN. 

_Promptorium. _ Wardone, peere; _Volemum_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Wardon; _Volemum_, _crustunum_. 

_Cotgrave. _ Poure de garde; _A Warden, or Winter Peare_. 

WHEAT. 

_Promptorium. _ Whete, Corne; _Triticum_, _frumentum_. 

_Catholicon. _ Whete; _Ceres_, _frumentum_, _triticum_. 

_Turner. _ Wheate. 

_Gerard. _ Wheate. 

_Cotgrave. _ Froment; _Wheat_. 

WILLOW. 

_Promptorium. _ Wylowe, tree; _Salix_. 

_Catholicon. _ A Wylght; _Salix_. 

_Turner. _ Wylow tree. 

_Gerard. _ The Willow tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ Saule; _A Sallow, Willow, or Withie tree_. 

WOODBINE. 

_Promptorium. _ Woode Bynde; _Caprifolium_, _vicicella_. 

_Catholicon. _ Wodde bynde; _terebinthus_. 

_Turner. _ Wodbynde. 

_Gerard. _ Wood-bind or Honeysuckle. 

_Cotgrave. _ Chevre-fueille; _The wood-bind or honie-suckle_. 

WORMWOOD. 

_Promptorium. _ Wyrmwode, herbe; _Absinthum_. 

_Catholicon. _ Wormede; _absinthum_. 

_Turner. _ Mugwort, Wormwod. 

_Gerard. _ Wormewood. 

_Cotgrave. _ Absynthe; _Wormewood_. 

YEW. 

_Promptorium. _ V tree; _Taxus_. 

_Catholicon. _ An Eu tre; _taxus_. 

_Turner. _ Yewtree. 

_Gerard. _ The Yew tree. 

_Cotgrave. _ If; _An Yew or Yew tree_. 

FOOTNOTES:

[393:1] Where any of these five are omitted, that author does not namethe plant. In many cases the same plant is given under different names;but I have not thought it necessary to quote more than one. In thequotations from Turner the preference is given to the "Names of Herbes, "where the plant is mentioned in both works. 

_INDEXES. _

INDEX OF PLAYS, _SHOWING HOW THE PLANTS ARE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE DIFFERENT PLAYS_

COMEDIES. 

_Tempest_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Furze, Heath, Ling, Nut. Sc. 2. Acorn, Ivy, Oak, Pine, Reed. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Apple, Corn, Docks, Grass, Wallows, Nettle. Sc. 2. Crab, Filbert, Pignuts. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Barley, Barnacles, Brier, Broom, Furze, Gorse, Grass, Lime, Oats, Peas, Piony, Rye, Saffron, Sedge, Stover, Thorns, Vetches, Wheat. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Cedar, Cowslips, Lime, Mushrooms, Oak, Pine, Reed. 

_Two Gentlemen of Verona_--

 Act I. , sc. 2. Ginger. 

 Act II. , sc. 3. Lily. Sc. 7. Sedge. 

 Act IV. , sc. 4. Lily, rose. 

_Merry Wives_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Cabbage, Prunes. Sc. 2. Pippins. Sc. 3. Figs. 

 Act II. , sc. 3. Elder. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Roses. Sc. 3. Hawthorn, Pumpion. Sc. 4. Turnips. Sc. 5. Pepper. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Carrot. Sc. 2. Walnut. Sc. 4. Oak. Sc. 5. Pear. Sc. 6. Oak. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Oak. Sc. 3. Oak. Sc. 5. Balm, Bilberry, Eringoes, Flax, Oak, Plums, Potatoes. 

_Twelfth Night_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Violets. Sc. 3. Flax. Sc. 5. Apple, Codling, Olive, Peascod, Squash, Willow. 

 Act II. , sc. 3. Ginger. Sc. 4. Roses. Sc. 5. Box, Nettle, Yew. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Roses. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Ebony, Pepper. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Apple. 

_Measure for Measure_--

 Act I. , sc. 3. Birch. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Prunes, Grapes. Sc. 2. Myrtle, Oak, Violet. Sc. 3. Ginger. 

 Act III. , sc. 2. Garlick. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Corn. Sc. 3. Burs, Medlar, Peach. 

_Much Ado About Nothing_--

 Dramatis Personæ. Dogberry. 

 Act I. , sc. 3. Rose. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Oak, Orange, Sedge, Willow. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Honeysuckle, Woodbine. Sc. 4. Carduus Benedictus, Holy Thistle. 

_Midsummer Night's Dream_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Grass, Hawthorn, Musk Roses, Primrose, Rose, Wheat. Sc. 2. Orange. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Acorn, Beans, Brier, Corn, Cowslip, Crab, Eglantine, Love-in-idleness, Musk Rose, Oxlip, Thyme, Violet, Woodbine. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Acorn, Apricot, Brier, Dewberries, Figs, Grapes, Hawthorn, Hemp, Knot-grass, Lily, Mulberries, Orange, Rose, Thorns. Sc. 2. Acorn, Brier, Burs, Cherry, Thorns. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Elm, Honeysuckle, Ivy, Nuts, Oats, Peas, Thistle, Woodbine. Sc. 2. Garlick, Onions. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Brier, Broom, Cowslip, Leek, Lily, Thorns. 

_Love's Labour's Lost_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Corn, Ebony, Rose. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Plantain. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Crab, Oak, Osier, Pomewater. Sc. 3. Cedar, Cockle, Corn, Rose, Thorns. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Ginger. Sc. 2. Columbine, Cloves, Crabs, Cuckoo-buds, Daisies, Grass, Lady-smocks, Lemon, Lily, Mint, Nutmeg, Oats, Peas, Rose, Sugar, Sycamore, Violets, Wormwood. 

_Merchant of Venice_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Grass, Wheat. Sc. 3. Apple. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Ginger, Sugar. Sc. 4. Reed. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Pine. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Willow. 

_As You Like It_--

 Act I. , sc. 2. Mustard. Sc. 3. Briers, Burs. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Oak. Sc. 4. Peascod. Sc. 7. Holly. 

 Act III. , sc. 2. Brambles, Cork, Hawthorn, Medlar, Nut, Rose, Rush. Sc. 3. Sugar. Sc. 4. Chestnut, Nut. Sc. 5. Rush. 

 Act IV. , sc. 3. Moss, Oak, Osier. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Grape. Sc. 3. Rye. 

_All's Well that Ends Well_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Date, Pear. Sc. 3. Rose. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Grapes. Sc. 2. Rush. Sc. 3. Pomegranate. Sc. 5. Nut. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Roses. Sc. 4. Briers. Sc. 5. Grass, Marjoram, Herb of Grace, Saffron. 

 Act V. , sc. 3. Onion. 

_Taming of the Shrew_--

 Induction. Onions, Rose, Sedge. 

 Act I. , sc. 1. Apple, Love-in-idleness. Sc. 2. Chestnut. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Crab, Cypress, Hazel. 

 Act III. , sc. 2. Oats. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Rushes. Sc. 3. Apple, Mustard, Walnut. Sc. 4. Parsley. 

_Winter's Tale_--

 Act I. , sc. 2. Flax, Nettles, Squash, Thorns. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Pines. Sc. 3. Oak. 

 Act III. , sc. 3. Cork. 

 Act IV. , sc. 4. Brier, Carnations, Crown Imperial, Daffodils, Flower-de-luce, Garlick, Gillyflowers, Lavender, Lilies, Marigold, Marjoram, Mint, Oxlips, Primroses, Rosemary, Rue, Savory, Thorns, Violets. 

_Comedy of Errors_--

 Act II. , sc. 2. Ivy, Brier, Moss, Elm, Vine, Grass. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Balsamum, Cherry, Rush, Nut. Sc. 4. Saffron. 

HISTORIES. 

_King John_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Rose. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Cherry, Fig, Plum. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Lily Rose. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Lily, Violet. Sc. 3. Rush, Thorns. 

_Richard II. _--

 Act II. , sc. 3. Sugar. Sc. 4. Bay. 

 Act III. , sc. 2. Balm, Nettles, Pine, Yew. Sc. 3. Corn, Grass. Sc. 4. Apricots. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Balm, Thorns. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Rose. Sc. 2. Violets. 

_1st Henry IV. _--

 Act I. , sc. 3. Reeds, Rose, Sedge, Thorn. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Beans, Fern, Ginger, Oats, Peas. Sc. 3. Nettle. Sc. 4. Blackberries, Camomile, Pomegranate, Radish, Raisins, Speargrass, Sugar. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Garlick, Ginger, Moss, Rushes. Sc. 3. Apple-john, Prunes, Sugar. 

_2nd Henry IV. _--

 Act I. , sc. 2. Gooseberries, Mandrake. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Hemp, Honeysuckle. Sc. 2. Peach. Sc. 4. Apple-john, Aspen, Elm, Fennel, Mustard, Peascod, Prunes, Rose. 

 Act III. , sc. 2. Radish. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Corn. Sc. 4. Aconitum, Olive. Sc. 5. Balm, Ebony. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Wheat. Sc. 2. Sugar. Sc. 3. Carraways, Fig, Leathercoats, Pippins. Sc. 5. Rushes. 

_Henry V. _--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Grass, Nettle, Strawberry. 

 Act III. , Chorus. Hemp. Sc. 3. Barley. Sc. 6. Fig, Hemp. Sc. 7. Nutmeg, Ginger. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Balm, Elder, Fig, Leek, Violet. Sc. 2. Grass. Sc. 7. Leek. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Leek. Sc. 2. Burnet, Burs, Clover, Cowslip, Darnel, Docks, Flower-de-luce, Fumitory, Hemlock, Kecksies, Thistles, Vines. 

_1st Henry VI. _--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Flower-de-luce. 

 Act II. , sc. 4. Brier, Red and White Rose. Sc. 5. Vine. 

 Act III. , sc. 2. Corn. Sc. 3. Sugar. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Rose. 

_2nd Henry VI. _--

 Act I. , sc. 2. Corn. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Damsons, Plums. Sc. 3. Fig, Pine. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Thorns. Sc. 2. Corn, Crab, Cypress, Darnel, Grass, Mandrake, Primrose, Sugar. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Grass. Sc. 7. Hemp. Sc. 10. Grass. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Cedar, Flower-de-luce. Sc. 2. Flax. 

_3rd Henry VI. _--

 Act II. , sc. 1. Oak. Sc. 5. Hawthorn. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Balm. Sc. 2. Thorns. 

 Act IV. , sc. 6. Laurel, Olive. Sc. 8. Balm. 

 Act V. , sc. 2. Cedar. Sc. 4. Thorns. Sc. 5. Thorns. Sc. 7. Corn. 

_Richard III. _--

 Act I. , sc. 2. Balm. Sc. 3. Cedar, Sugar. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Sugar. Sc. 4. Strawberries. 

 Act IV. , sc. 3. Rose. 

 Act V. , sc. 2. Vine. 

_Henry VIII. _--

 Act III. , sc. 1. Lily. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Bays, Palms. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Cherry, Corn. Sc. 4. Apple, Crab, Broom. Sc. 5. Corn, Lily, Vine. 

TRAGEDIES. 

_Troilus and Cressida_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Balm, Wheat. Sc. 2. Date, Nettle. Sc. 3. Laurel, Oak, Pine. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Nut, Toadstool. 

 Act III. , sc. 2. Burs, Lily, Plantain (?). 

 Act V. , sc. 2. Almond, Potato. Sc. 4. Blackberry. 

_Timon of Athens_--

 Act III. , sc. 5. Balsam. 

 Act IV. , sc. 3. Briers, Grape, Grass, Masts, Medlar, Moss, Oak, Rose, Sugar, Vines. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Palm. Sc. 4. Balm, Olive. 

_Coriolanus_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Corn, Oak, Rush. Sc. 3. Oak. Sc. 10. Cypress. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Crabs, Nettle, Oak, Orange. Sc. 2. Oak. Sc. 3. Corn. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Cockle, Corn. Sc. 2. Mulberry. Sc. 3. Briers. 

 Act IV. , sc. 5. Ash. Sc. 6. Garlick. 

 Act V. , sc. 2. Oak. Sc. 3. Cedar, Oak, Palm. 

_Macbeth_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Chestnuts, Insane Root. 

 Act II. , sc. 2. Balm. Sc. 3. Primrose. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Corn, Hemlock, Yew. 

 Act V. , sc. 3. Lily, Rhubarb, Senna, or Cyme. 

_Julius Cæsar_--

 Act I. , sc. 2. Palm. Sc. 3. Oak. 

_Antony and Cleopatra_--

 Act I. , sc. 2. Fig, Onion. Sc. 3. Laurel. Sc. 4. Flag. Sc. 5. Mandragora. 

 Act II. , sc. 6. Wheat. Sc. 7. Grapes, Reeds, Vine. 

 Act III. , sc. 3. Rose. Sc. 5. Rush. Sc. 12. Myrtle. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Grace (Rue). Sc. 6. Olive. Sc. 12. Pine. 

 Act V. , sc. 2. Balm, Figs. 

_Cymbeline_--

 Act I. , sc. 5. Cowslip, Primrose, Violet. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Cowslip. Sc. 2. Lily, Rushes. Sc. 3. Marybuds. Sc. 5. Acorn. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Daisy, Eglantine, Elder, Harebell, Moss, Oak, Pine, Primrose, Reed, Vine. 

 Act V. , sc. 4. Cedar. Sc. 5. Cedar. 

_Titus Andronicus_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Laurel. 

 Act II. , sc. 3. Corn, Elder, Mistletoe, Moss, Nettles, Yew. Sc. 4. Aspen, Briers, Lily. 

 Act IV. , sc. 3. Cedar, Corn. Sc. 4. Grass, Honeystalks. 

_Pericles_--

 Act I. , sc. 4. Corn. 

 Act III. , sc. 3. Corn. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Marigold, Rose, Violet. Sc. 6. Bays, Rose, Rosemary, Thorn. 

 Act V. , Chorus. Cherry, Rose. 

_Romeo and Juliet_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Sycamore. Sc. 2. Plantain. Sc. 3. Wormwood. Sc. 4. Hazel, Rush, Thorn. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Medlar, Poperin Pear. Sc. 2. Rose. Sc. 3. Willow. Sc. 4. Bitter Sweet, Pink, Rosemary. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Nuts, Pepper. Sc. 5. Pomegranate. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Rose. Sc. 3. Mandrake. Sc. 4. Date, Quince. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Rose. Sc. 3. Yew. 

_King Lear_--

 Act I. , sc. 1. Balm, Vine. Sc. 4. Peascod. Sc. 5. Crab. 

 Act II. , sc. 2. Lily. Sc. 3. Rosemary. 

 Act III. , sc. 2. Oak. Sc. 4. Hawthorn. Sc. 6. Corn. Sc. 7. Cork, Flax. 

 Act IV. , sc. 4. Burdock, Corn, Cuckoo-flowers, Darnel, Fumiter, Harlocks, Hemlock, Nettles. Sc. 6. Marjoram, Samphire. 

 Act V. , sc. 3. Oats. 

_Hamlet_--

 Act I. , sc. 3. Primrose, Thorn, Violet. Sc. 5. Hebenon or Hebona. 

 Act II. , sc. 2. Nut, Plum. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Rose, Sugar. Sc. 2. Grass, Rose, Wormwood. 

 Act IV. , sc. 5. Columbine, Daisy, Fennel, Flax, Grass, Herb of Grace, Rose, Rosemary, Rue, Violet. Sc. 7. Corn-flower, Daisy, Dead-men's-fingers, Long Purples, Nettles, Violet, Willow. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Violet. Sc. 2. Palm, Wheat. 

_Othello_--

 Act I. , sc. 3. Coloquintida, Hyssop, Lettuce, Locusts, Nettle, Thyme, Sugar. 

 Act II. , sc. 1. Fig, Oak, Grapes. 

 Act III. , sc. 3. Mandragora, Oak, Poppy, Strawberries. 

 Act IV. , sc. 2. Rose. Sc. 3. Sycamore, Willow. 

 Act V. , sc. 2. Rush, Willow. 

_Two Noble Kinsmen_--

 Introductory Song. Daisies, Lark's-heels, Marigolds, Oxlips, Pinks, Primrose, Rose, Thyme. 

 Act I. , sc. 1. Cherries, Currant, Wheat. Sc. 2. Plantain. 

 Act II. , sc. 2. Apricot, Narcissus, Rose, Vine. Sc. 3. Corn. Sc. 6. Cedar, Plane. 

 Act III. , sc. 1. Hawthorn. 

 Act IV. , sc. 1. Bulrush, Daffodils, Mulberries, Reeds, Rushes, Willow. Sc. 2. Cherry, Damask Rose, Ivy, Oak. 

 Act V. , sc. 1. Nettles, Roses. Sc. 3. Flax. 

_Venus and Adonis_--

 Balm, 27. Brambles, 629. Cedar, 856. Cherries, 1103. Ebony, 948. Lily, 228, 361, 1053. Mulberries, 1103. Myrtle, 865. Plum, 527. Primrose, 151. Rose, 3, 10, 574, 584, 935. Vine, 601. Violet, 125, 936. 

_Lucrece_--

 Balm, 1466. Cedar, 664. Corn, 281. Daisy, 393. Grape, 215. Lily, 71, 386, 477. Marigold, 397. Oak, 950. Pine, 1167. Reed, 1437. Rose, 71, 257, 386, 477, 492. Rush, 316. Sugar, 893. Vine, 215. Wormwood, 893. 

_Sonnets_--

 Apple, 93. Balm, 107. Lily, 94, 98, 99. Marigold, 25. Marjoram, 99. Olive, 107. Rose, 1, 35, 54, 67, 95, 98, 99, 109, 116, 130. Violet, 12, 99. 

_A Lover's Complaint_--

 Aloes, 39. 

_The Passionate Pilgrim_--

 Lily, 89. Myrtle, 143. Oak, 5. Osier, 5, 6. Plum, 135. Rose, 131. 

GENERAL INDEX. 

 Acæna, 44. 

 Aconitum, 9. 

 Acorn, 11, 180. 

 Acorus calamus, 266. 

 Addison, 92. 

 Ælfric's "Vocabulary, " 126, 155, 158, 167, 199. 

 Almond, 11. 

 Aloes, 13. 

 Anemone, 14. 

 Apple, 17. 

 ---- for fruit generally, 19, 208. 

 Apple-john, 22. 

 Apricot, 23. 

 Aquilegia, 60. 

 Artichoke, 88. 

 Arundo donax, 240. 

 Ash, 24. 

 Aspen, 25. 

 Avoyne, 326. 

 "Babee's Book, " 33, 50, 104, 175, 198. 

 Bachelor's Buttons, 27. 

 Bacon on Gardens, &c. , 39, 44, 98, 163, 295, 348. 

 Badham's Fungi, 170. 

 Baker on Narcissus, 76. 

 ---- Iris, 99. 

 Balm, 28. 

 Balsam, 28. 

 Bannotte, 314. 

 Barley, 30. 

 Barnacles, 30. 

 Barnes' Glossary, 79. 

 Baskets, 323. 

 Bay, 31, 136. 

 Bean, 33. 

 Bedding-out, 346. 

 Bedegar, 84. 

 Beer, 30, 36. 

 Beisley's "Shakespeare's Garden, " 5, 119. 

 Bilberry, 35. 

 Bion, 14. 

 Birch, 35. 

 Bird's-eye Primrose, 232. 

 Bird's-nest (Carrot), 51. 

 Birdwood, Sir G. , 122. 

 Bitter-sweet, 21. 

 Blackberry, 37, 167. 

 Blackthorn, 218. 

 Blights, 355. 

 Bluebell, 109. 

 Böhmeria, 178. 

 Boorde, Andrew, 241, 304. 

 Box, 38. 

 Boy's Love, 326. 

 Bramble, 37. 

 Brasbridge, T. , 125. 

 Bretby Park, 53. 

 Briers, 39. 

 Britten, J. C, 267. 

 Bromsgrove, 42. 

 Broom, 41. 

 Brown's "Religio Medici, " 91. 

 Browne's "Britannia's Pastorals, " 3, 24, 32, 87, 92, 111, 163, 171, 203, 227, 266, 270, 282, 290, 347, 369. 

 Buckingham Palace, 168. 

 Bullas, 218. 

 Bullein, 88, 103, 122, 127, 143, 161, 316. 

 Bulrush, 43. 

 Burdock, 43, 110. 

 Burnet, 44. 

 Burns, 371. 

 Burs, 43. 

 Butter, 90, 217. 

 Butomus umbellatus, 266. 

 Buttercups, 67, 70. 

 Buttons (buds), 27. 

 Cabbage, 45. 

 Cabbage Rose, 250. 

 Calcott, Lady, 220. 

 Calluna, 117. 

 Camerarius, 14, 208, 213, 311. 

 Camomile, 46. 

 Campbell on Nettles, 177. 

 Canker, 250. 

 Carat, 148. 

 Cardamine pratensis, 134. 

 Carduus benedictus, 124. 

 Carex, 276. 

 Carnations, 47. 

 Carob, 147. 

 Carraways, 22, 49. 

 Carrot, 50. 

 Cassia, 277. 

 Castle Coch, 304. 

 "Catholicon Anglicum, " 10, 393 to 418, and quoted throughout. 

 Cedar, 51. 

 Chaucer's Flowers, 3, 13, 21, 37, 42, 60, 87, 98, 103, 108, 127, 131, 136, 139, 146, 160, 161, 179, 196, 204, 215, 223, 229, 260, 288, 365. 

 Cherry, 53. 

 Chester's "Love's Martyr, " 160, 193, 244. 

 Chestnuts, 55. 

 Cistus, 16. 

 Clare, 149, 371. 

 Cleistogamous plants, 313. 

 Clove, 48, 56. 

 Clover, 56. 

 Clubs (of cards), 56. 

 Cockayne, "Leechdoms, " &c. , 10, 32, 66, 73, 90, 126, 185, 202, 215, 267, 325, 328. 

 Cockle, 57, 78. 

 Codlings, 22. 

 Coghan, 4, 177, 188, 286, 377. 

 Colchicum, 268. 

 Coles, 290, 377. 

 Collins, 42. 

 Collinson, 240. 

 Coloquintida, 58. 

 Columbyne, 59. 

 Columella, 154. 

 Constable, H. , 74. 

 Cooke, M. C. , 154. 

 Cork, 61. 

 Corn, 62. 

 Cornish Heath, 117. 

 Corydalis, 100. 

 Cotgrave's Dictionary, 393 to 418. 

 Cotton, 153. 

 Cottongrass, 147. 

 Cowley, 91, 171, 272. 

 Cowper, 142, 378. 

 Cowslip, 64. 

 Crab, 20. 

 Crabwake, 20. 

 Crape, 71. 

 Crocus, 269. 

 Crossberry, 105. 

 Crow-flowers, 67. 

 Crown of Thorns, 84, 113, 266. 

 Crown Imperial, 68. 

 Cuckoo-buds, 70. 

 Cucumbers, 233. 

 Culverkeys, 134. 

 Currants, 70. 

 Cutwode's "Caltha, " 211, 368. 

 Cypress, 71. 

 Cypripedia, 151. 

 Daffodils, 73. 

 Daisy, 77, 361. 

 Damask Rose, 251. 

 Damson, 216. 

 Dante, 264. 

 Darnel, 78. 

 Darwin, 150, 231, 236, 301. 

 Dates, 79. 

 Daubeny, Dr. , 154, 189, 262. 

 Dead Men's Fingers, 80, 149. 

 Dering, 49. 

 Deux ans Apple, 22. 

 Devil's lingels, 133. 

 Dewberries, 80. 

 Dian's bud, 80. 

 Dianthus, 48. 

 Dielytra, 100. 

 Dillenius, 101. 

 Divining rod, 116. 

 Docks, 81. 

 Doddington Park, 117. 

 Dogberry, 81. 

 Dog-rose, 14. 

 Douce, 93, 171. 

 Dove-plant, 60. 

 Dowden, 2. 

 Drayton, 45, 59, 65, 84, 98, 110, 134, 174, 223, 368. 

 Dryden, 370. 

 Dunbar, 249. 

 Durham Mustard, 173. 

 Ebony, 82, 119. 

 Eglantine, 82, 254. 

 Elder, 84. 

 Elm, 87. 

 Elizabethan Gardens, 342. 

 Elizabeth, Queen, 349. 

 Elwes, H. J. , 145. 

 Eringoes, 88. 

 Etna, Chestnut on, 55. 

 Evelyn, 52, 116, 124, 315. 

 Evershed on bay, 33. 

 Fairy rings, 170. 

 Falaise, 48. 

 Farsing Herbs, 275. 

 Feaberry, 105. 

 Fennel, 88. 

 Fern, 90. 

 Ferule, 89. 

 Fig, 93. 

 Fig Mulberry, 288. 

 Fig Pudding, 239. 

 Filbert, 94. 

 Fir, 207. 

 Flags, 94. 

 Flax, 95, 97. 

 Fletcher, 99, 231. 

 "Flora Domestica, " 12, 197, 266. 

 Flower-de-luce, 97. 

 Forget-me-not, 4. 

 Foxglove, 4. 

 Fremontia Californica, 153. 

 Frizen Hill, 106. 

 Fuller, Thos. , 156. 

 Fumitory, 100. 

 Furze, 100. 

 Gale, 174. 

 Gardens, 340, 342. 

 Gardeners, 349. 

 Garlande, John de, 167. 

 Garlick, 102. 

 Gay, 162. 

 Gerard, 5, 393 to 418, and quoted throughout. 

 Gilliflower, 48. 

 Gilpin, 91. 

 Ginger, 103. 

 Gladstone, W. E. , 16. 

 Glossaries, 10, 393. 

 Goethe, 195. 

 Goldes, 157. 

 Golding's Ovid, 15. 

 Gooseberries, 105. 

 Gorse, 106. 

 Gourd, 106, 232. 

 Gower, 21, 57, 74, 89, 114, 118, 143, 157, 223, 229, 259. 

 Grafting, 353. 

 Granada, Arms of, 220. 

 Grapes, 299. 

 Grass, 107. 

 Greene, 128. 

 Grindon, Leo H. , 5, 17. 

 Gundulph, 49. 

 Gwillim, 297. 

 Hakluyt, 22, 23, 237, 269, 305. 

 Hanham Hall, 186. 

 Harebell, 109. 

 Harlocks, 110, 121. 

 Harrison, W. A. , 119. 

 Harrison's "England, " 340. 

 Harting, 30. 

 Haver, 184. 

 Hawes, 366. 

 Hawthorn, 110. 

 Hazel, 113. 

 Heath, 116. 

 Hebenon, 118. 

 Hedges, 113, 334. 

 Helmet-flower, 10. 

 Hemans, Mrs. , 26, 66. 

 Hemlock, 121. 

 Hemp, 121. 

 Henbane, 119, 129. 

 Herbert, G. , 68, 190, 255, 314, 357, 370. 

 Herb of Grace, 122, 259. 

 Herodotus, 102, 250. 

 Herrick's Flowers, 74, 83, 250, 258, 369. 

 Herschel, Sir J. , 97. 

 Hibiscus, 153. 

 Highclere Park, 53. 

 Holderstock, 86. 

 Holly, 122, 130. 

 Hollyhock, 152. 

 Holy Thistle, 124. 

 Homer, 76, 188, 318. 

 Honeystalks, 56. 

 Honeysuckle, 125. 

 Hooker, Sir J. , 192, 319. 

 Horace, 90, 94, 102, 130, 152, 204, 236, 243. 

 Horse Chestnut, 55. 

 Hyssop, 128. 

 Insane root, 129. 

 Ivy, 129, 327. 

 Jervis, S. , Dictionary, 70. 

 Joan Silverpin, 222. 

 Johns on Trees, 289. 

 John's, St. , Bread, 148. 

 Johnston, 121, 133, 205, 289, 330. 

 Jonquil, 73. 

 Jonson, Ben, 3, 4, 11, 15, 21, 66, 77, 95, 98, 121, 152. 

 Josephus, 154. 

 Judas, 85. 

 Juvenal, 13, 94, 138, 204. 

 Keats, 75, 132. 

 Kecksies, 132. 

 Kemble, F. , 279. 

 Kew, 92, 194. 

 Kirby on Trees, 323. 

 Knot-grass, 133. 

 Knots, 345. 

 Lady-smocks, 134. 

 Lark's heels, 135. 

 Latimer, 57, 272. 

 Laurel, 135. 

 Laurembergius, 143, 258, 310. 

 Lavaillee, 24, 178. 

 Lavender, 137. 

 Lawson, 46, 105, 140, 178, 342, 343, 347. 

 Leathercoat, 22. 

 Lebanon, Cedar of, 52. 

 Leek, 138. 

 Lee's "Sea Fables, " 30. 

 Lemon, 140. 

 Lettuce, 140. 

 Levens Hall, 237, 344. 

 "Libæus Diaconus, " 90. 

 Lily, 140. 

 ---- of the Field, 145. 

 ---- of the Valley, 4. 

 Lily's "Euphues, " 46, 128. 

 Lime, 146. 

 Lind, 146. 

 Lindley, Dr. , 53, 79, 109, 152, 204, 284. 

 Ling, 116, 147. 

 Linnæus, 116, 147. 

 Locusts, 147. 

 Longfellow, 89, 214. 

 Long Purples, 148. 

 Loosestrife, 149. 

 Love-in-idleness, 309. 

 Lupton, 237. 

 Lyte, 23, 47, 79, 91, 129, 136, 148, 159, 167, 190, 241. 

 Mace, 151. 

 Mallows, 152. 

 Mandeville, Sir John, 20, 31, 72, 84, 85, 113, 255, 266. 

 Mandrake, 153, 226. 

 Manuring, 352. 

 Maple, 288. 

 Marathon, 89. 

 Margaret, St. , 364. 

 Marigold, 155. 

 Marjoram, 159. 

 Marlowe, 118. 

 Marsh, J. F. , 27, 89. 

 Marvel, A. , 190. 

 Marybuds, 155. 

 Masters, Dr. , 216. 

 Masts, 159. 

 Maw, G. , 273. 

 Medlar, 160. 

 Melittis melissophyllum, 29. 

 Miller, 34, 191. 

 Milner's "Country Pleasures, " 82. 

 Milton's Flowers, 65, 74, 83, 87, 109, 126, 133, 174, 197, 224, 230, 241, 261, 295, 347, 309, 369. 

 Mint, 161. 

 Mistletoe, 162. 

 Mohammed on Garlick, 102. 

 Monk's-hood, 10. 

 Montgomery, A. , 143. 

 More, Sir T. , 257. 

 Morat, 167. 

 Moss, 164. 

 Mulberries, 166. 

 Mushrooms, 169. 

 Musk Roses, 252. 

 Mustard, 172. 

 Myrtle, 174. 

 Names of Plants, 393. 

 Narcissus, 73, 175. 

 Nash, T. , 195. 

 Neckam, A. , 12, 79. 

 Neckweed, 122. 

 Nettles, 175. 

 ---- of India, 178. 

 Newton, Thos. , 78, 264, 321, 330. 

 Nicholson, Dr. , 119. 

 Nightshades, 225. 

 Nut, 114. 

 Nutmeg, 179. 

 Oak, 180. 

 Oats, 183. 

 Oil from Walnuts, 316. 

 Olive, 184. 

 Onions, 187. 

 Opium, 223. 

 Orange, 188. 

 Orchids, 149. 

 Oreodaphne Californica, 32. 

 Osier, 192, 320. 

 Ovid, 15. 

 Oxlip, 66, 192. 

 Paigle, 66. 

 Palladius, 73, 140, 261, 303, 343. 

 Palm, 79, 192, 321, 329. 

 Pansies, 196, 309. 

 Parkinson--quoted throughout. 

 Parsley, 197. 

 Parsnip, 50. 

 Pasque flower, 17. 

 Patience (Docks), 81. 

 Pawnce, 196. 

 Peach, 161, 198. 

 Pear, 199. 

 Peas, 201. 

 Pensioners, 65. 

 Pepper, 203. 

 Pepys, 177. 

 Phillips, 34, 316. 

 Picotee, 48. 

 Pignuts, 205. 

 Pine, 205. 

 Pine Apples, 208. 

 Pink, 48, 209. 

 Piony, 211. 

 Pippins, 21. 

 Planché on fleur-de-lis, 97. 

 Plane, 213. 

 Plantagenet, 41. 

 Plantain, 214. 

 Platt, Sir H. , 163, 281. 

 Pliny, 13, 16, 48, 72. 

 Plum, 216. 

 Plutarch, 12. 

 Poetry of Gardening, 339. 

 Poet's Narcissus, 77. 

 "Poets' Pleasaunce, " 109, 311. 

 Polyanthus, 66. 

 Pomatum, 20. 

 Pomegranate, 219. 

 Pomewater, 21. 

 Popering Pear, 201. 

 Poppy, 222. 

 Potato, 224. 

 Primrose, 66, 226. 

 Prior, Dr. , 16, 47, 60, 66, 70, 74, 81, 105, 110, 114, 133, 163, 197, 227. 

 "Promptorium Parvulorum, " 10, 393 to 418, and quoted throughout. 

 Provençal Rose, 250. 

 Prudentius, 312. 

 Prunes, 216. 

 Pruning, 351. 

 Pumpion, 232. 

 Purple colour, 16. 

 Pythagoras, 154. 

 Quarles, 264. 

 Quince, 234. 

 Radish, 236. 

 Ragged Robin, 67. 

 Raisins, 238. 

 Raspberry, 283. 

 Redouté's "Liliacæ, " 99. 

 Reeds, 239. 

 "Remedie of Love, " 13. 

 Rest-harrow, 133. 

 Rhubarb, 241. 

 Rice, 242. 

 Rochester Castle, 49. 

 "Romaunt of the Rose, " 12, 27, 139, 179, 221, 238, 343. 

 Rose, 243. 

 ---- of Sharon, 76. 

 Rosebery, Arms, 232. 

 Rosemary, 256. 

 Ross, Alex. , 16. 

 Rousseau, 374. 

 Roxburghe Ballads, 41, 62. 

 Ruddes, 156. 

 Rue, 259. 

 Rush, 262. 

 Ruskin, 109, 165, 166, 186, 206, 223, 292. 

 Rye, 267. 

 Saffron, 268. 

 Sales, St. Francis de, 98, 158, 284, 311, 326. 

 Samphire, 274. 

 Savory, 275. 

 Saxo Grammaticus, 119. 

 Schmidt, 70, 210. 

 "Schola Salernæ, " 261. 

 "Schoole-House of Women, " 26. 

 Scotch Fir, 207. 

 ---- Thistle, 291. 

 Scott, Sir W. , 207, 309. 

 Sea Holly, 88, 267. 

 Sedge, 276. 

 Senna, 277. 

 Shakespeare, Books on the flowers of, 5. 

 ---- Books on his occupations, 1. 

 ---- Seasons of, 381. 

 Shamrock, 56. 

 Shelley, 75. 

 Shenstone, 259. 

 Sibthorp, "Flora Græca, " 154. 

 Skelton, 60. 

 Sleepwort, 140. 

 Sloes, 218. 

 Smith, on Ferns, 92. 

 Snowdrops, 4. 

 Sops-in-wine, 48. 

 Speargrass, 277. 

 Spenser's Flowers, 3, 12, 15, 32, 38, 47, 58, 60, 81, 83, 86, 87, 98, 106, 112, 118, 128, 131, 136, 140, 143, 157, 167, 197, 223, 228, 230, 264, 270, 280, 282, 348, 366. 

 Spinsters, 96. 

 Squash, 202. 

 Stockholm MS. , 100, 261, 325. 

 Stover, 279. 

 Strawberries, 279. 

 Sugar, 284. 

 Sweet Brier, 83, 254. 

 Sweet Marjoram, 159. 

 Sycamore, 287. 

 Tannahill, 67. 

 "Tatler, " 92. 

 Tares, 299. 

 Tarragon, 326. 

 Tennyson, 149, 191, 194, 207, 373. 

 Thaun's "Bestiary, " 154. 

 Theocritus, 14, 90, 94, 126, 130. 

 Thistle, 124, 289. 

 Thorns, 292. 

 Thyme, 294. 

 Thynne's "Emblems, " 157. 

 Toadstools, 170. 

 Tobacco, 4. 

 Topiary art, 39, 344, 352. 

 Tortworth Park, 55. 

 Treacle, 103. 

 Turner's "Herbal, " 4, 13, 23, 35, 105, 194, 195, 198, 202, 213. 

 Turnips, 297. 

 Tusser, 228, 232, 279, 281, 290, 325. 

 Tyndale, 41. 

 Vaughan, H. , 33, 312. 

 Vegetable Marrow, 233. 

 Vetches, 298. 

 Vines, 87, 299. 

 Vineyards, English, 301. 

 Violets, 307. 

 Virgil, 10, 189. 

 Vocabularies, 10. 

 Wallace, 101. 

 Waller, 225. 

 Walnut, 314. 

 Walton, Izaak, 134, 137, 143, 280. 

 Warden Pears, 200. 

 Warwick Castle, 53. 

 Waterton, 37. 

 Watson, Forbes, 66, 77, 229, 273, 346. 

 Waybred, 214. 

 Weeds, 354. 

 Westminster Hall, 55. 

 Wheat, 317. 

 White Thorn, 112. 

 Wickliffe, 41. 

 Wilkinson, Lady, 60, 73, 97, 292. 

 Willow, 319. 

 Wilson, G. F. , 145. 

 Windflower, 16. 

 Wines, English, 303. 

 Winter Aconite, 10. 

 Wistman's Wood, 183. 

 Withers, G. , 158. 

 Withy, 320. 

 Wolf's-bane, 10. 

 Woodbine, 126. 

 Woodbury, 195. 

 Wordsworth, 75, 206, 372. 

 Wormwood, 81, 324. 

 Wright's "Vocabularies, " 10. 

 ---- "Domestic Manners, " 96, 218. 

 Wyatt's Poems, 3. 

 Wych Elm, 88. 

 Yew, 119, 327. 

 Yggdrasil, 24. 

 York and Lancaster Rose, 253. 

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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

Ellipses in the text match the original. Ellipses in the poetryquotations are represented by a row of asterisks. 

The following words use an oe ligature in the original:

 Cloefre foetid Phoebe coelo foetidissima Phoebus coeloque foetu Phoenix coerule foetus proestaret coerulea noep proeter Foeniculum Pharmacopoeia soepius foenum pharmacopoeia

The index entry "Butter" may have been intended to read "Butler". 

The following corrections have been made to the text:

 Page 37: _1st Henry[original has Henrv] IV_, act ii, sc. 4 (263). 

 Page 40: _Winter's Tale_, act[original has extraneous period] iv, sc. 4 (436). 

 Page 43: _Troilus[original has Triolus] and Cressida_

 Page 60: garter coat of William Grey of Vitten"[quotation mark missing in original]

 Page 76: "Rose of Sharon"[quotation mark missing in original] was the large

 Page 86: to whom the Elder tree was considered sacred. "[quotation mark missing in original]

 Page 104: but[original has bnt] probably by the Romans

 Page 105: _2nd Henry IV_, act i, [original has period] sc. 2 (194). 

 Page 114: _Troilus[original has Trolius] and Cressida_, act ii, sc. 1 (109). 

 Page 163: Rots-curing hyphear, and the Mistletoe. "[quotation mark missing in original]

 Page 199: A. D. 1275, 4 Edw: 1--[original has extraneous quotation mark]

 Page 205: quite equal to Chestnuts. [period missing in original]

 Page 230: but in [original has extraneous word an] another place

 Page 244: (22) _Theseus. _[original has Thesus]

 Page 245: _All's Well that Ends Well_, act i[original has 1], sc. 3 (135). 

 Page 266: in connection with Rushes which is[original has it] not easy to understand

 Page 282: ("Household Words, " vol. Xviii. ). [closing parenthesis and period missing in original]

 Page 282: as it proves so, praise it. [original has extraneous single quote]"

 Page 286: (11) _Polonius. _[original has Polonis]

 Page 292: its shadow be past away. [original has hyphen]

 Page 292: the bee well knows that the darkness[original has period at the end of the line after "dark" and "ness" beginning the next line]

 Page 294: (3)[number 3 and parentheses missing in original] And sweet Time true. 

 Page 295: "Peletyr, herbe, _serpillum piretrum_"[quotation mark missing in original]

 Page 311: into 'low lie down, '[original has double quote]

 Page 339: _Sonnet_[original has _Ibid. _] xviii. 

 Page 383: flower-[hyphen missing in original]de-luce

 Page 414: (a Seyfe, _juncus_, _biblus_, _cirpus_)[closing parenthesis missing in original]

 Page 424: Flower-de-luce[original has duce]

 Page 431: Aconitum, 9. [original has 10]

 Page 431: Bacon on Gardens, &c. , 39[original has 38]

 Page 431: Böhmeria[original has Boëhmeria]

 Page 431: Bretby Park, 53[original has 52]

 Page 432: Cassia, 277[original has 177]

 Page 432: Cedar, 51[original has 50]

 Page 432: under "Chaucer's Flowers", 179[original has 171]

 Page 432: Cockayne, "Leechdoms, " &c. , 10[original has 9]--reference to page 175 removed

 Page 432: Cowley, 91, 171, 272[original has 271]. 

 Page 432: Crow-flowers, 67. [original has 61]

 Page 433: Dowden, 3[original has 2]

 Page 433: Durham Mustard, 173[original has 175]

 Page 433: Ebony, 82[original has 61]

 Page 433: Farsing Herbs, 275[original has 216]

 Page 433: Fig Mulberry, 288[original has 228]

 Page 433: Flower-de-luce, 97[original has 94]

 Page 433: Gerard, 5, 393[original has 394] to 418

 Page 433: Glossaries, 10, 393[original has 394]

 Page 434: Grindon, Leo H. , 5[original has 6], 17

 Page 434: Hemans, Mrs. , 26[original has 24], 66. 

 Page 434: Hemlock, 121[original has 131]

 Page 434: Herbert, G. , 68, 190, 255[original has 225], 314, 357, 370. 

 Page 434: Horace, 90, 94, 102, 130, 152, 204, 236, 243[original has 242]. 

 Page 435: More[original has Moore], Sir T. , 257

 Page 435: Neckam[original has Neekham], A. , 12, 79. 

 Page 435: Onions, 187[original has 77, 186]

 Page 435: Oxlip, 66, 192[original has 191]

 Page 436: Planché[original has Planche] on fleur-de-lis, 97. 

 Page 436: Rice, 242[original has 243]. 

 Page 436: "Romaunt of the Rose, " 12, 27, 139, 179, 221, 238, 343[original has 243]. 

 Page 436: Rose, 243[original has 242]. 

 Page 436: Rousseau, 374[original has 373]. 

 Page 436: Ruskin, 109, 165[original has 164], 166, 186, 206, 223, 292. 

 Page 437: Watson, Forbes, 66[original has 65], 77, 229, 273, 346. 

 Page 437: Wright's "Vocabularies, " 10[original has 9]. 

 Footnote [13:1] Numbers xxiv. 6;[original has colon]

 Footnote [169:1] the punning motto "[original has single quote]Memento Mori. "