{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_60050/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_60050","id":"gutenberg_60050","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60050","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Cooking & Drinking","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Herbs","Herbs -- Folklore","Plants -- Folklore"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n file which includes the original illustrations.\n See 60050-h.htm or 60050-h.zip:\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/60050/pg60050-images.html)\n or\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60050/60050-h.zip)\n\n\n Images of the original pages are available through\n Internet Archive. See\n https://archive.org/details/bookofherbs00nort\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s note:\n\n Text printed between _underscores_ represents italic text.\n\n Superscripted text is represented by ^{text} (i.e., a caret\n character followed by the superscripted character(s) enclosed\n by curly brackets).\n\n Small capitals have been replaced with ALL CAPITALS.\n\n Some characters might not display properly in this UTF-8\n text file (e.g., empty squares). If so, the reader should\n consult the html version or the original page images noted\n above.\n\n A detailed Transcriber\u2019s Note is at the end of this text.\n\n\n\n\n\nHandbooks of Practical Gardening--XII\n\nEdited by Harry Roberts\n\nTHE BOOK OF HERBS\n\n\n[Illustration: JOHN PARKINSON\n\n(_From the statue erected by Mr. H. Thompson at Sefton Park,\nLiverpool_)]\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF HERBS\n\nby\n\nLADY ROSALIND NORTHCOTE\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJohn Lane: The Bodley Head\nLondon and New York. MCMIII\n\nTurnbull & Spears, Printers, Edinburgh\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n HISTORY OF THE CRIES OF LONDON xi\n\n INTRODUCTION 1\n\n OF THE CHIEF HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 7\n\n Anise -- Balm -- Sweet Basil and Bush Basil -- Borage -- Bugloss\n -- Burnet -- Caraway -- Celery -- Chervil -- Ciboules, Chiboules\n or Chibbals -- Cives, or Chives, or Seives -- Coriander -- Cumin\n -- Cresses -- Dandelion -- Dill -- Endive -- Fennel -- Goat\u2019s\n Beard -- Horse-Radish -- Hyssop -- Lamb\u2019s Lettuce or Corn Salad\n -- Marjoram -- Mint -- Mustard -- Parsley -- Sage -- Savory --\n Sorrel -- Tarragon -- Thyme -- Viper\u2019s Grass or Scorzonera --\n Wood-Sorrel.\n\n OF HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 47\n\n Alexanders -- Angelica -- Blites -- Bloodwort -- Buck\u2019s-horne --\n Camomile -- Cardoons -- Clary -- Dittander -- Elecampane --\n Fenugreek -- Good King Henry -- Herb-Patience -- Horehound --\n Lady\u2019s-smock -- Langdebeefe -- Liquorice -- Lovage -- Mallow --\n Marigold -- Pennyroyal -- Purslane -- Ram-ciches -- Rampion --\n Rocambole -- Rocket -- London Rocket -- Stonecrop -- Saffron --\n Samphire -- Skirrets -- Smallage -- Sweet Cicely -- Tansy --\n Thistle.\n\n OF HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, IN HERALDRY, AND FOR ORNAMENT AND\n PERFUMES 102\n\n Bergamot -- Costmary -- Germander -- Gilliflower -- Lavender --\n Lavender Cotton -- Meadow-Sweet -- Rosemary -- Rue --\n Southernwood -- Wood-ruff -- Wormwood -- Bay.\n\n OF THE GROWING OF HERBS 145\n\n OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 158\n\n OF HERBS AND MAGIC 175\n\n OF HERBS AND BEASTS 188\n\n TUSSER\u2019S LIST 201\n\n AUTHORS REFERRED TO 207\n\n INDEX OF PLANTS 209\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n 1. JOHN PARKINSON (from the statue erected at Sefton Park,\n Liverpool, by Mr H. Thompson) _Frontispiece_\n\n 2. INITIAL LETTERS FROM TURNER\u2019S \u201cHERBAL\u201d _To face page_ 16\n\n 3. SWEET CICELY AND OTHER HERBS \u201e \u201e 22\n\n 4. POT MARJORAM (from a drawing by Ethel Roskruge) \u201e \u201e 32\n\n 5. THE LAVENDER WALK AT STRATHFIELDSAYE (Photograph\n by F. Mason Good) \u201e \u201e 40\n\n 6. ANGELICA \u201e \u201e 48\n\n 7. A FIELD OF ENGLISH RHUBARB AT MESSRS STAFFORD ALLEN\n & SONS, AMPTHILL \u201e \u201e 60\n\n 8. TITLE-PAGE OF GERARD\u2019S \u201cHERBAL\u201d \u201e \u201e 86\n\n 9. THE ARMS OF SAFFRON WALDEN \u201e \u201e 100\n\n 10. OLD STILLS AT MR HOOPER\u2019S, COVENT GARDEN \u201e \u201e 102\n\n 11. BERGAMOT \u201e \u201e 120\n\n 12. ROSEMARY \u201e \u201e 130\n\n 13. PLANTATION OF LAVENDER AT MESSRS STAFFORD ALLEN &\n SONS, AMPTHILL \u201e \u201e 150\n\n 14. CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN \u201e \u201e 158\n\n 15. PLANTATION OF POPPIES (_P. Somniferum_) AT MESSRS\n STAFFORD ALLEN & SONS, AMPTHILL \u201e \u201e 166\n\n 16. PLANTATION OF ACONITE AT MESSRS STAFFORD ALLEN &\n SONS, AMPTHILL \u201e \u201e 172\n\n 17. RAMPION \u201e \u201e 180\n\n 18. FENNEL (Photograph by Dr Banfield Vivian) \u201e \u201e 194\n\n\n\n\nHISTORY OF THE CRIES OF LONDON\n\n\n Here\u2019s fine rosemary, sage and thyme.\n Come, buy my ground ivy.\n Here\u2019s featherfew, gilliflowers and rue.\n Come, buy my knotted marjoram, ho!\n Come, buy my mint, my fine green mint.\n Here\u2019s fine lavender for your cloaths,\n Here\u2019s parseley and winter savory,\n And heartsease which all do choose.\n Here\u2019s balm and hyssop and cinquefoil,\n All fine herbs it is well known.\n Let none despise the merry, merry cries\n Of famous London Town.\n\n Here\u2019s penny royal and marygolds.\n Come, buy my nettle-tops.\n Here\u2019s water-cresses and scurvy grass,\n Come buy my sage of virtue, ho!\n Come, buy my wormwood and mugworts.\n Here\u2019s all fine herbs of every sort.\n Here\u2019s southernwood that\u2019s very good.\n Dandelion and houseleek.\n Here\u2019s dragon\u2019s tongue and wood sorrel,\n With bear\u2019s-foot and horehound.\n Let none despise the merry, merry cries\n Of famous London Town.\n\n _Roxburghe Ballads._\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF HERBS\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nWhat is a Herb? I have heard many definitions, but never one that\nsatisfied the questioner, and shall, therefore, take warning by the\nfailures of others and make no attempt to define the word here. It is,\nhowever, fairly safe to say generally that a herb is a plant, green, and\naromatic and fit to eat, but it is impossible to deny that there are\nseveral undoubted herbs that are not aromatic, a few more grey than\ngreen, and one or two unpalatable, if not unwholesome. So no more space\nshall be devoted to discussing their \u201cnature,\u201d but I will endeavour to\npresent individual ones to the reader as clearly as possible, in order\nthat from their collective properties he may form his own idea of a\nherb. The objection may be raised that several plants included in this\nbook are outside the subject. To answer this, I would point out that the\nboundaries of a herb-garden are indefinite, and that the old writers\u2019\nviews of them were liberal. Besides this, every garden must have an\noutside hedge or wall, and if this imaginary herb-garden has a row of\nelder bushes on the East, barberry trees on the West, some bay trees on\nthe South, and a stray willow or so on the North, who can say that they\nare inappropriately placed? The bay and barberry hold an undisputable\nposition, and the other trees have each an interesting history in\nfolk-lore, magic and medicine. Herbs have been used in all countries and\nfrom the earliest times, but I have confined myself, as a rule, to those\nspoken of by British authors, and used in the British Isles, though not\nscrupling to quote foreign beliefs or customs where they give weight or\ncompleteness to our own or our forefathers\u2019 practices, or are themselves\nof much interest. We have forgotten much that would be profitable to us.\n\nMr Dillon, writing in the _Nineteenth Century_, April, 1894, on \u201cA\nNeglected Sense\u201d--the sense of smell--describes a Japanese game, the\nobject of which was that while one of the players burned certain kinds\nof incense or fragrant woods, singly or in combination, the others\nventured opinions from the odours arising, and recorded their\nconjectures by means of specially marked counters on a board. The\ndelicate equipment for it included a silver, open-worked brazier; a\nspatula, on which the incense was taken up, also of silver, sometimes\ndelicately inlaid with enamel; and silver-framed mica plates (about one\ninch square), on which the incense had been heated, were set to cool on\n\u201ca number of medallions, mother-of-pearl, each in the shape of a\nchrysanthemum flower or of a maple leaf.\u201d\n\nBoth Mr Dillon and Miss Lambert (_Nineteenth Century_, May 1880)\nattribute the importance early attached to odours to religious reasons.\nHe says that it was believed that the gods, being spirits, neither\nrequired nor desired solid offerings, but that the ethereal nature of\nthe ascending fragrance was gratifying and sustaining to them. Miss\nLambert quotes an account of the tribes of Florida \u201csetting on the tops\nof the trees, as offerings to the sun, skins of deer filled with the\nbest fruits of the country, crowned with flowers and sweet herbs.\u201d Among\nthe Aztecs of Mexico the festival of the goddess of flowers, Coatlicue,\nwas kept by Xochenanqui, or traders in flowers. Offerings of \u201ccuriously\nwoven garlands\u201d were made, and it was \u201cforbidden to everyone to smell\nthe flowers of which they were composed before their dedication to the\ngoddess.\u201d The Tahitians had the idea that \u201cthe scent was the spirit of\nthe offering and corresponded to the spirit of man,\u201d and therefore they\nlaid sweet-scented offerings before their dead till burial, believing\nthat the spirit still hovered near. These instances show clearly the\nhigh regard in which delicate odours were once held.\n\nHerbs and flowers were early used in rites and ceremonies of the Church.\nMiss Lambert quotes from a poem of Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers. \u201cWhen\nwinter binds the earth with ice, all the glory of the field perishes\nwith its flowers. But in the spring-time when the Lord overcame Hell,\nbright grass shoots up and buds come forth.... Gather these first-fruits\nand you bear them to the churches and wreath the altars with them till\nthey glow with colour. The golden crocus is mingled with the purple\nviolet, dazzling scarlet is relieved by gleaming white, deep blue blends\nwith green.... One triumphs in its radiant beauty, another conquers by\nits sweet perfume; gems and incense bow before them.\u201d In England, the\nflowers for the Church were grown under the special care of the\nSacristan, and as early as the ninth century there was a \u201cgardina\nsacrist\u00e6\u201d at Winchester.[1] Miss Amherst gives a most careful\ndescription of the several gardens into which the whole monastery\nenclosures were often divided, and herbs were specially grown in the\nkitchen-garden and in the Infirmarian\u2019s garden, the latter, of course,\nbeing devoted to herbs for healing. Many herbs were introduced by the\nRomans, among them Coriander, Chervil, Cumin, Featherfew, Fennel,\nLovage, Mallow, Mint, Parsley, Rue and Mustard. Some of these are\nsupposed to have died out after the Romans withdrew from England and\nhave been re-introduced, but it is certain that they have been for a\nvery long time cultivated in England. I cannot refrain from referring to\na miracle, an account of which is quoted by Miss Amherst from Dugdale\u2019s\n\u201cMonasticon\u201d (vol. i. p. 473, new ed.), which was wrought at the tomb of\nSt Etheldreda:--\n\nA \u201cservant to a certain priest was gathering herbs in the garden on the\nLord\u2019s Day, when the wood in her hand, and with which she desired to\npluck the herbs unlawfully, so firmly adhered (to her hand) that no man\ncould pluck it out for the space of five years.\u201d At the end of this time\nshe was miraculously healed at the tomb, which was much revered by the\npeople.\n\nBanks and benches of mould, fronted with stone or brick, and planted on\nthe top with sweet-smelling herbs, were made in all fifteenth-century\ngardens. Later, again, Bacon recommends alleys to be planted with \u201cthose\nwhich perfume the air most delightfully being trodden upon and\ncrushed... to have the pleasure when you walk or tread.\u201d In his \u201cPastime\nof Pleasure\u201d (1554) Stephen Hawes speaks of:--\n\n In divers knottes of marveylous greatnes\n Rampande lyons, stode by wonderfully\n Made all of herbes, with dulset sweetnes\n With many dragons, of marveylous likenes\n Of divers floures, made full craftely.\n\nMore modern still is the delightful notion of a sun-dial made of herbs\nand flowers, that will mark the time of day by the opening and closing\nof their blossoms. Linn\u00e6us had such a dial, with each plant so placed\nthat at each successive hour a flower should open or fold up. Ingram[2]\ngives an appropriate list for this purpose, beginning with Goats\u2019 Beard,\nwhich he says opens at 3 A.M. and shuts at 9 A.M., and ending with\nChickweed whose stars are not disclosed till 9.15 A.M., when they\ndisplay themselves for exactly twelve hours. Andrew Marvell wrote these\npretty lines on this device:--\n\n How well the skilful gardener drew\n Of flow\u2019rs and herbs this dial new;\n Where, from above the milder sun,\n Does through a fragrant zodiack run,\n And, as it works, th\u2019 industrious bee\n Computes its time as well as we!\n How could such sweet and wholesome hours\n Be reckon\u2019d but with herbs and flow\u2019rs!\n\n _The Garden._\n\nThe _Quarterly_ for June 1842 quotes this charming description of a\ngarden in which herbs were not disregarded. \u201cQuaint devices of all kinds\nare found here. Here is a sun-dial of flowers arranged according to the\ntime of day at which they open and close. Here are peacocks and lions in\nlivery of Lincoln green. Here are berceaux and harbours, and covered\nalley and enclosures containing the primest of the carnations and cloves\nin set order, and miniature canals that carry down a stream of pure\nwater to the fish ponds below.... From thence (the shrubbery) winds a\npath, the delici\u00e6 of the garden, planted with such herbs as yield their\nperfume when trodden upon and crushed.... It were tedious to follow up\nthe long shady path not broad enough for more than two--the lovers\u2019\nwalk.\u201d The reviewer himself continues in a less sentimental strain, and\nhis observations make a very proper introduction to a book on Herbs.\n\n\u201cThe olitory or herb-garden is a part of our horticulture now\ncomparatively neglected, and yet once the culture and culling of simples\nwas as much a part of female education as the preserving and tying down\nof \u2018rasps and apricocks.\u2019 There was not a Lady Bountiful in the kingdom\nbut made her dill-tea and diet-drink from herbs of her own planting; and\nthere is a neatness and prettiness about our thyme, and sage, and mint\nand marjoram, that might yet, we think, transfer them from the patronage\nof the blue serge to that of the white muslin apron. Lavender and\nrosemary, and rue, the feathery fennel, and the bright blue borage, are\nall pretty bushes in their way, and might have a due place assigned to\nthem by the hand of beauty and taste. A strip for a little herbary\nhalf-way between the flower and vegetable garden would form a very\nappropriate transition stratum and might be the means, by being more\nunder the eye of the mistress, of recovering to our soups and salads\nsome of the comparatively neglected herbs of tarragon, and French\nsorrel, and purslane, and chervil, and dill, and clary, and others whose\nplace is now nowhere to be found but in the pages of the old herbalists.\nThis little plot should be laid out, of course, in a simple, geometric\npattern; and having tried the experiment, we can boldly pronounce on its\nsuccess. We recommend the idea to the consideration of our\nlady-gardeners.\u201d\n\n [1] \u201cHistory of Gardening in England.\u201d\n\n [2] \u201cFlora Symbolica.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nOF THE CHIEF HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME\n\n J\u2019ai des bouquets pour tous les go\u00fbts;\n Venez choisir dans ma corbeille:\n De plusieurs les parfums sont doux,\n De tous, la vertu sans pareille.\n\n J\u2019ai des _soucis_ pour les galoux;\n La _rose_ pour l\u2019amant fid\u00e8le;\n De _l\u2019\u00e9llebore_ pour les tous\n Et pour l\u2019amiti\u00e9 l\u2019immortelle.\n\n _La petite Corbeille de fleurs._\n\n Herbs, too, she knew, and well of each could speak\n That in her garden sip\u2019d the silv\u2019ry dew;\n Where no vain flow\u2019r disclos\u2019d a gaudy streak;\n But herbs for use, and physic, not a few,\n Of grey renown within those borders grew;\n The tufted basil, pun-provoking thyme,\n Fresh baum, and mary-gold of cheerful hue;\n The lowly gill,[3] that never dares to climb;\n And more I fain would sing, disdaining here to rhyme.\n\n Yet euphrasy[4] may not be left unsung,\n That gives dim eyes to wander leagues around;\n And pungent radish, biting infant\u2019s tongue;\n And plantain ribb\u2019d, that heals the reaper\u2019s wound;\n And marj\u2019ram sweet, in shepherd\u2019s posie found;\n And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom\n Shall be, ere-while, in arid bundles bound\n To lurk amidst the labours of her loom,\n And crown her kerchiefs clean with mickle rare perfume.\n\n _The Schoolmistress._--SHENSTONE.\n\n\nJohn Evelyn once wrote an essay called \u201cAcetaria: a Discourse of\nSallets,\u201d and dedicated it to Lord Somers, the President of the Royal\nSociety. The Dedication is highly laudatory and somewhat grandiloquent,\ncomparing the Royal Society to King Solomon\u2019s Temple, and declaring it\nestablished for the acquirement of \u201csolid and useful knowledge by the\n_Investigation_ of _Causes_, _Principles_, _Energies_, _Powers_ and\n_Effects_ of Bodies and _Things visible_; and to improve them for the\nGood and Benefit of Mankind.... And now, _My Lord_, I expect some will\nwonder what my Meaning is, to usher in a _Trifle_ with so much\nmagnificence, and end at last in a fine _Receipt_ for the _dressing_ of\na _Sallet_ with an handful of Pot-herbs! But yet, my Lord, this Subject\nas low and despicable as it appears challenges a Part of _Natural\nHistory_; and the Greatest Princes have thought it no disgrace, not only\nto make it their _Diversion_, but their _Care_, and to promote and\nencourage it in the midst of their weightiest Affairs.\u201d This\ndisquisition casts an unlooked-for air of dignity over the Salad-bowl!\nThe discourse itself is very practical, and begins with the _Furniture_\nand _Materials_ of which a Salad may be composed. Eighty-two items are\nmentioned, but all cannot be called strictly in order, as Oranges,\nTurnips, Rosemary, and Judas Tree flowers, and Mushrooms are amongst\nthem!\n\nIn the table at the end of this list Evelyn, \u201cby the assistance of Mr\n_London_, His Majesty\u2019s Principal Gardener, reduced them to a competent\nnumber, not exceeding thirty-five,\u201d though he suggests that this may be\n\u201cvary\u2019d and enlarg\u2019d by selections from the foregoing list.\u201d\n\nThe essay finishes with philosophical reasoning on the subject of\nvegetarianism. History is called upon to furnish examples of sages, of\nall times, favourably inclined to it, but Noah is allowed to differ on\naccount of the \u201chumidity of the atmosphere\u201d after the Deluge, which must\nhave necessitated a generous diet. Most people would think thirty-five\ndifferent kinds a liberal allowance for salad herbs alone, but\nAbercrombie, writing in 1822, gives forty-four, and it is worthy of\nnotice, that within the last eighty years, ox-eye daisy, yarrow,\nlady\u2019s-smock, primrose and plantain were counted among them.\n\nIn this chapter, the herbs mentioned are those chiefly used nowadays; in\nthe next chapter, these that were favourites _au temps jadis_. It is a\ndifficult line to draw, for the popularity of many of them is, like\nthemselves, evergreen, but I have tried to put in the second chapter\nthose that have passed the zenith of their fame, though they may still\nride high in public estimation.\n\n [3] Ground-ivy.\n\n [4] Eye-bright.\n\n\nANISE (_Pimpinella Anisum_).\n\n His chimney side\n Could boast no gammon, salted well and dried\n And hook\u2019d behind him; but sufficient store\n Of bundled anise and a cheese it bore.\n\n _The Salad._ Trans. from \u201cVirgil.\u201d--COWPER.\n\nIn Virgil\u2019s time Anise evidently must have been used as a spice. It is a\ngraceful, umbelliferous plant, a native of Egypt, but the seeds will\nripen in August in England if it is planted in a warm and favourable\nsituation. Abercrombie[5] says \u201cits chief use is to flavour soups, but\nLoudon[6] includes it among confectionery herbs.\u201d\n\n [5] \u201cEvery Man his own Gardener.\u201d\n\n [6] \u201cEncyclop\u00e6dia of Gardening,\u201d 1822.\n\n\nBALM (_Melissa officinalis_).\n\n The several chairs of order look you scour\n With juice of Balm and every precious flower.\n\n _Merry Wives of Windsor_, V. v. 65.\n\n Then Balm and Mint helps to make up\n My chaplet.\n\n _The Muses Elysium._--DRAYTON.\n\n My garden grew Self-heal and Balm,\n And Speedwell that\u2019s blue for an hour,\n Then blossoms again, O, grievous my pain,\n I\u2019m plundered of each flower.\n\n _Devonshire Song._\n\nThe lemon-scent of Balm makes it almost the most delicious of all herbs,\nand it is for its fragrance that Shakespeare and Drayton have alluded to\nit in these passages. In the song it is mentioned for another reason,\nfor the flowers here are used as emblems. The first verse describes a\ngarden of fair blossoms stolen, alas! from their owner. This verse of\nthe song shows she has planted flowers whose nature is to\nconsole--Self-heal, Balm and the Speedwell, which, after every shock,\nhasten to bloom again, but she is again bereft of her treasures, and\nfinally despairs and tells us that she grows naught but weeds and the\nsymbols of desolation. There was once a \u201crestorative cordial\u201d called\nCarmelite water, which enjoyed a great reputation, and which was\ncomposed of the spirit of Balm, Angelica root, lemon-peel and nutmeg. In\nthe early part of the last century, Balm wine was made, and was\ndescribed as being \u201clight and agreeable,\u201d but now Balm is seldom used,\nexcept when claret-cup is improved by its flavour. A most curious legend\nis told by Aubrey[7] of the Wandering Jew, the scene being on the\nStaffordshire moors. \u201cOne Whitsun evening, overcome with thirst, he\nknocked at the door of a Staffordshire cottager, and craved of him a cup\nof small beer. The cottager, who was wasted with a lingering\nconsumption, asked him in, and gave him the desired refreshment. After\nfinishing the beer, Ahasuerus asked his host the nature of the disease\nhe was suffering from, and being told that the doctors had given him up,\nsaid, \u2018Friend, I will tell thee what thou shalt do.\u2019 He then told him to\ngo into the garden the next morning on rising, and gather three Balm\nleaves, and to put them into a cup of small beer. He was to drink as\noften as he needed, and refill the cup when it was empty, and put in\nfresh Balm leaves every fourth day, and, \u2018before twelve days shall be\npast, thy disease shall be cured and thy body altered.\u2019 So saying, and\ndeclining to eat, he departed and was never seen again. But the cottager\ngathered his Balm-leaves, followed the prescription of the Wandering\nJew, and before twelve days were passed was a new man.\u201d\n\n [7] \u201cMiscellanies.\u201d\n\n\nSWEET BASIL (_Ocymum basilium_) AND BUSH BASIL (_O. minimum_).\n\n Madonna, wherefore hast thou sent to me\n Sweet basil and mignonette?\n Embleming love and health which never yet\n In the same wreath might be.\n\n _To Emilia Viviani._--SHELLEY.\n\nBasil is beloved of the poets, and the story of Isabella and the\nBasil-pot keeps the plant in memory, where it is itself never, or very\nrarely, seen. The opening lines of Drayton\u2019s pretty poem beginning with\nClaia\u2019s speech:--\n\n Here damask roses, white and red,\n Out of my lap first take I--\n\nare well known, and it is a pity that the whole of it is not oftener\nquoted. Two maidens make rival chaplets, and then examine the store of\nsimples just gathered by a hermit. Claia chooses her flowers for beauty,\nLelipa hers for scent, and Clarinax, the hermit, plucks his for their\n\u201cvirtue\u201d in medicine. Lelipa says:--\n\n A chaplet, me, of herbs I\u2019ll make,\n Than which, though yours be braver,\n Yet this of mine, I\u2019ll undertake,\n Shall not be short in favour.\n With Basil then I will begin,\n Whose scent is wondrous pleasing.\n\nand a goodly number of sweet-herbs follows.\n\nParkinson[8] says of it, \u201cThe ordinary Basill is in a manner wholly\nspent to make sweete, or washing waters, among other sweet herbes, yet\nsometimes it is put into nosegays. The Physicall properties are to\nprocure a cheerfull and merry hearte, whereunto the seede is chiefly\nused in powder.\u201d With such \u201cphysicall properties\u201d Basil is too much\nneglected nowadays. He also refers to the extraordinary but very general\nidea that it bred scorpions. \u201cLet me, before I leave, relate unto you a\npleasant passage between Francisius Marchio, as Advocate of the State of\n_Genoa_ sent in embassage to the Duke of Milan, and the said Duke, who,\nrefusing to heare his message or to agree unto the conditions proposed,\nbrought an handfull of Basill and offered it to him, who, demanding of\nhim what he meant thereby, answered him, that the properties of that\nhearbe was, that being gently handled, it gave a pleasant smell, but\nbeing hardly wrung and bruised, would breed scorpions, with which witty\nanswer the Duke was so pleased that he confirmed the conditions, and\nsent him honourably home. It is also observed that scorpions doe much\nrest and abide under these pots and vessells wherein Basill is planted.\u201d\nCulpepper,[9] too, had suspicions about it. \u201cThis is the herb which all\nauthors are together by the ears about and rail at one another (like\nlawyers). Galen and Dioscorides hold it not fitting to be taken\ninwardly, and Chrysippus rails at it with downright Billingsgate\nrhetoric; Pliny and the Arabians defend it. Something is the matter,\nthis herb and rue will not grow together, no, nor near one another, and\nwe know rue is as great an enemy to poison as any that grows.\u201d\nTusser[10] puts both Basils in his list of \u201cstrewing herbs,\u201d and also\nsays:--\n\n Fine basil desireth it may be her lot,\n To grow as the gilliflower, trim in a pot;\n That ladies and gentles, to whom ye do serve,\n May help her, as needeth, poor life to preserve.\n\n _May\u2019s Husbandry._\n\nTo which (in Mavor\u2019s edition, 1812) is appended this prim note, \u201cGarden\nbasil, if stroked, leaves a grateful smell on the hand, and the author\ninsinuates that it receives fresh life from being touched by a fair\nlady.\u201d Both basils are annuals, though Bush Basil may occasionally live\nthrough the winter. They are small plants with oval leaves and white,\nlabiate flowers. A modern gardener writes that sweet basil has the\nflavour of cloves, that it is always demanded by French cooks, and that\nit is much used to flavour soups, and occasionally salads. M. de la\nQuintinye,[11] director of the gardens to Louis XIV., shows that over\ntwo hundred years ago French cooks were of the same mind about basil as\nthey are to-day; besides mentioning it for the uses just named, he adds,\n\u201cIt is likewise used in ragouts, especially dry ones, for which reason\nwe take care to keep some for winter.\u201d An Italian name for it is\n_Bacia-Nicola_.\n\n [8] \u201cEarthly Paradise,\u201d 1629.\n\n [9] English Physitian, popularly known as Culpepper\u2019s Herbal, 1652.\n\n [10] \u201cFive Hundred Points of Good Husbandry.\u201d\n\n [11] The Complete Gardener. Trans. by T. Evelyn, 1693.\n\n\nBORAGE (_Borago officinalis_).\n\n Here is sweet water, and borage for blending,\n Comfort and courage to drink to your fill.\n\n N. HOPPER.\n\nThis reference to Borage touches a long-lived belief--\n\n I, borage,\n Give courage--\n\nbriefly states one reason of its popularity, which has lasted ever since\nPliny praised the plant; besides this, it was supposed to exhilarate the\nspirits and drive away melancholy. De Gubernatis[12] only found one\ncharge against it, amid universal praise, and this is in a Tuscan\n_ninnerella_, a cradle song, where it is accused of frightening a baby!\nBut this evidence is absolutely unsupported by any tradition, and he\nconsiders it worthless. Borage was sometimes called Bugloss by the old\nwriters.[13] In 1810 Dr Thornton calls it \u201cone of the four grand cardiac\nplants,\u201d but shows a lamentable lack of faith himself. Dr Fernie[14]\nfinds that Borage has a \u201ccucumber-like odour,\u201d and that its reputed\npowers of \u201crefreshing\u201d and \u201cinvigorating\u201d are not all due to the\nimagination; \u201cThe fresh juice,\u201d he says, \u201caffords thirty per cent. of\nnitrate of potash. Thornton had already commented on the nitre it\ncontains, and to prove this he advises that the dried plant be thrown on\nthe fire, when it emits a sort of coruscation, with a slight\ndetonation.\u201d Personal experience teaches that this is easier to observe\nif the plant is set on fire and burned by itself. Borage might be grown\nfor the sake of its lovely blue flowers alone, and Parkinson gives it a\nplace in his \u201cEarthly Paradise,\u201d because, though it is \u201cwholly in a\nmanner spent for Physicall properties or for the Pot, yet the\nflowers have alwaies been interposed among the flowers of women\u2019s\nneedle-work\u201d--a practice which would add to the beauty of modern\nembroidery. He adds that the flowers \u201cof gentlewomen are candid\nfor comfits,\u201d showing that they did not allow sentiment to soar\nuncontrolled! Bees love borage, and it yields excellent honey, yet\nanother reason for growing it. In the early part of the nineteenth\ncentury the young tops were still sometimes boiled for a pot-herb, but\nin the present day, if used at all, it is put into claret-cup. Till\nquite lately it was an ingredient in \u201ccool tankards\u201d of wine or cider.\n\n [12] _La Mythologie des Plantes._\n\n [13] _Family Herbal_, 1810.\n\n [14] _Herbal Simples_, 1895.\n\n\nBUGLOSS (_Anchusa officinalis_).\n\n So did the maidens with their various flowers\n Deck up their windows, and make neat their bowers;\n Using such cunning as they did dispose\n The ruddy piny (peony) with the lighter rose,\n The monkshood with the bugloss, and entwine\n The white, the blue, the flesh-like columbine\n With pinks, sweet williams.\n\n _Britannia\u2019s Pastorals, Book II._--W. BROWNE.\n\n A spiny stem of bugloss flowers,\n Deep blue upon the outer towers.\n\n _Winchester Castle._--N. HOPPER.\n\nGerarde put Bugloss in one chapter, and Alkanet or Wild Bugloss in\nanother, but nowadays Bugloss or Alkanet are names for the same plant,\n_Anchusa officinalis_. The drawings of his Bugloss resemble our Alkanet\nmuch more closely than they do any other plant called Bugloss, such as\n_Lycopsis arvensis_, small Bugloss, or _Echium vulgare_, Viper\u2019s\nBugloss. The old herbalists, however, were most confusing on the\nsubject. They apply the name Bugloss alternately to _Borago officinalis_\nand to different varieties of _Anchusa_, and then speak of _Buglossum_\nas if it were a different species! Evelyn describes it as being \u201cin\nnature much like Borage but something more astringent,\u201d and recommends\nthe flowers of both as a conserve, for they are \u201cgreatly restorative.\u201d\nAs Hogg says that _Anchusa officinalis_ had formerly \u201ca great reputation\nas a cordial,\u201d Evelyn\u2019s description applies to this plant; we may take\nit that this is the Bugloss he was thinking of. It is a good plant for a\n\u201cwild garden,\u201d but has a great tendency to spread. I have found it\ngrowing wild in Cornwall. Gerarde tells us that the roots of _Anchusa\nTinctoria_ were used to colour waters, syrups, and jellies, and then\nfollows a line of scandal--\u201cThe gentlewomen of France doe paint their\nfaces with these roots, as it is said.\u201d Rouge is still made from\nAlkanet.\n\n\nBURNET (_Poterium Sanguisorba_).\n\n The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth\n The freckled Cowslip, Burnet and green Clover.\n\n _Henry V._, V. ii. 48.\n\nBurnet has \u201ctwo little leives like unto the winges of birdes, standing\nout as the bird setteth her winges out when she intendeth to flye....\nY^{e} Duchmen call it Hergottes berdlen, that is God\u2019s little berde,\nbecause of the colour that it hath in the toppe.\u201d This is Turner\u2019s[15]\ninformation. He has a pleasant style, and tells us out-of-the-way facts\nor customs in a charming manner. Burnet is the first of the three plants\nthat Sir Francis Bacon desired to be set in alleys, \u201cto perfume the air\nmost delightfully, being trodden upon and crushed.\u201d The others were wild\nthyme and water-mint. It was a Salad-herb, and has (like Borage) a\nflavour of cucumber, but it has, most undeservedly, gone out of fashion.\nThe taste is \u201csomewhat warm, and the leaves should be cut young, or else\nthey are apt to be tough. Culpepper and Parkinson advise that a few\nleaves should be added to a cup of claret wine because\u201d it is \u201ca helpe\nto make the heart merrie.\u201d Canon Ellacombe[16] says it was \u201cand still is\nvalued as a forage plant that will grow and keep fresh all the winter in\ndry, barren pastures, thus giving food for sheep when other food was\nscarce. It has occasionally been cultivated, but the result has not been\nvery satisfactory, except on very poor land, though, according to the\nWoburn experiments, as reported by Sinclair, it contains a larger amount\nof nutritive matter in the spring than most of the grasses. It has brown\nflowers from which it is supposed to derive its name (Brunetto).\u201d\n\n [15] Turner\u2019s Herbal is beautifully illustrated; five initial letters\n from it are here reproduced.\n\n [16] \u201cPlant-lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: INITIAL LETTERS FROM TURNER\u2019S \u201cHERBAL\u201d]\n\n\nCARAWAY (_Carum carvi_).\n\n _Shallow._ Now, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour we will\n eat a last year\u2019s Pippin of my own grafting, with a dish of Caraways,\n and so forth.\n\n _II. Henry IV._ v. 3.\n\nIn Elizabethan days, Caraway Seeds were appreciated at dessert, and\nCanon Ellacombe says that the custom of serving roast apples with a\nlittle saucerful of Caraway Seed is still kept up at some of the London\nlivery dinners. It was the practice to put them among baked fruits or\ninto bread-cakes, and they were also \u201cmade into comfits.\u201d In cakes and\ncomfits they are used to-day, and in Germany I have seen them served\nwith potatoes fried in slices. The roots were boiled and \u201ceaten as\ncarrots,\u201d and made a \u201cvery welcome and delightful dish to a great many,\u201d\nthough some found them rather strong flavoured. \u201cThe[17] Duchemen call\nit Mat kumell or Wishenkumel and the Freses, Hofcumine. It groweth in\ngreat plentye in Freseland in the meadows there betweene Marienhoffe and\nWerden, hard by the sea banke.\u201d\n\n [17] \u201cTurner\u2019s Herbal,\u201d 1538.\n\n\nCELERY (_Apium graveolens_).\n\nThis is quite without romance. The older herbalists did not know it and\nEvelyn says: \u201cSellery... was formerly a stranger with us (nor very long\nsince in _Italy_ itself).... Nor is it a distinct _species_ of\n_smallage_ or Macedonian Parsley, tho\u2019 somewhat more hot and generous,\nby its frequent transplanting, and thereby render\u2019d sweeter scented.\u201d\nFor its \u201chigh and grateful taste, it is ever plac\u2019d in the middle of the\n_grand sallet_, at our great men\u2019s tables, and Proctor\u2019s Feasts, as the\ngrace of the whole board.\u201d But though Parkinson did not know the plant\nunder this name, he did see some of the first introduced into England,\nand gives an interesting account of this introduction to \u201csweete Parsley\nor sweet Smallage.... This resembles sweete Fennell.... The first that\never I saw was in a Venetian Ambassador\u2019s garden in the spittle yard,\nnear Bishop\u2019s Gate Streete. The first year it is planted with us it is\nsweete and pleasant, especially while it is young, but after it has\ngrown high and large hath a stronger taste of smallage, and so likewise\nmuch more the following yeare. The Venetians used to prepare it for\nmeate many waies, both the herbe and roote eaten rawe, or boyled or\nfryed to be eaten with meate, or the dry\u2019d herb poudered and strewn upon\nmeate; but most usually either whited and so eaten raw with pepper and\noyle as a dainty sallet of itselfe, or a little boyled or stewed... the\ntaste of the herbe being a little warming, but the seede much more.\u201d\n\n\nCHERVIL (_Scandix Cerefolium_).\n\n Chibolles and Chervelles and ripe chiries manye.\n\n _Piers Plowman._\n\nChervil was much used by the French and Dutch \u201cboyled or stewed in a\npipkin. De la Quintinye recommends it to give a \u2018perfuming rellish\u2019 to\nthe salad, and Evelyn says the \u2018_Sweete_ (and as the _French_ call it\n_Musque_) _Spanish_ Chervile,\u2019 is the best and ought \u2018never to be\nwanting in our sallets,\u2019 for it is \u2018exceeding wholesome and charming to\nthe spirits.\u2019... This (as likewise Spinach) is used in tarts and serves\nalone for divers sauces.\u201d\n\n\nCIBOULES, CHIBOULES OR CHIBBALS (_Allium Ascalonium_).\n\n Acorns, plump as Chibbals.\n\n _The Gipsies Metamorphosed._--BEN JONSON.\n\nCiboules are a small kind of onion; De la Quintinye says, \u201cOnions\ndegenerated.\u201d From the reference to them in _Piers Plowman_, they were\nevidently in common use here in the time of Langlande. The French\ngardener adds that they are \u201cpropagated only by seeds of the bignes of a\ncorn of ordinary gun-powder,\u201d and Mr Britten identifies them with\nScallions or Shallot (_A. ascalonium_).\n\n\nCIVES, OR CHIVES, OR SEIVES (_Allium Sch\u00e6noprasum_).\n\n Straightways follow\u2019d in\n A case of small musicians, with a din\n Of little Hautbois, whereon each one strives\n To show his skill; they all were made of seives,\n Excepting one, which puff\u2019d the player\u2019s face,\n And was a Chibole, serving for the bass.\n\n _Britannia\u2019s Pastorals_, Book III.\n\nCives and Ciboules are often mentioned together, as in this account of\nKing Oberon\u2019s feast. The leaves are green and hollow and look like\nrushes _en miniature_, and would serve admirably for elfin Hautbois.\nMiss Amherst[18] says that they are mentioned in a list of herbs (Sloane\nMS., 1201) found \u201cat the beginning of a book of cookery recipes,\nfifteenth century.\u201d She also tells us that when Kalm came to England\n(May 1748) he noticed them among the vegetables most grown in the\nnursery-gardens round London. They were \u201cesteemed milder than onions,\u201d\nand of a \u201cquick rellish,\u201d but their fame has declined in the last\nhundred years. Loudon says that the leaves are occasionally used to\nflavour soup, salads and omelettes--unlike ciboules, the bulb is not\nused--but the chief purpose for which I have heard them required is to\nmix with the food for young guinea-fowls and chickens.\n\n [18] \u201cHistory of Gardening in England.\u201d\n\n\nCORIANDER (_Coriandrum sativum_).\n\n And Coriander last to these succeeds\n That hangs on slightest threads her trembling seeds.\n\n _The Salad._--COWPER.\n\nThe chief interest attached to Coriander is that in the Book of Numbers,\nxi. 7, Manna is compared to the seed. It was originally introduced from\nthe East, but is now naturalised in Essex and other places, where it has\nlong been cultivated for druggists and confectioners. The seeds are\nquite round, like tiny balls, and Hogg remarks that they become fragrant\nby drying, and the longer they are kept the more fragrant they become.\n\u201cIf taken oute of measure it doth trouble a manne\u2019s witt, with great\njeopardye of madnes.\u201d[19] Nowadays one comes across them oftenest in\nlittle round pink and white comfits for children.\n\n [19] Turner.\n\n\nCUMIN (_Cuminum cyminum_).\n\n Cummin good for eyes,\n The roses reigning the pride of May,\n Sharp isope good for greene woundes remedies.[20]\n\nCumin is also mentioned in the Bible by Isaiah; and also in the New\nTestament, as one of the plants that were tithed. It is very seldom met\nwith, but the seeds have the same properties as caraway seeds. Gerarde\nsays it has \u201clittle jagged leaves, very finely cut into small parcels,\u201d\nand \u201cspoky tufts\u201d of red or purplish flowers. \u201cThe root is slender,\nwhich perisheth when it hath ripened his seed,\u201d and it delights in a hot\nsoil. He recommends it to be boyled together with wine and barley meale\n\u201cto the forme of a pultis\u201d for a variety of ailments. In Germany the\nseeds are put into bread and they figure in folklore. De Gubernatis says\nit gave rise to a saying among the Greeks: \u201cLe cumin symbolisait, chez\nles Grecs, ce qui est petit. Des avares, ils disaient, qu\u2019ils auraient\nm\u00eame partag\u00e9 le cumin.\u201d\n\n [20] _Muiopotmos._--Spenser.\n\n\nCRESSES.\n\n Darting fish that on a summer morn\n Adown the crystal dykes of Camelot,\n Come slipping o\u2019er their shadows on the sand....\n Betwixt the cressy islets, white in flower.\n\n _Geraint and Enid._\n\n To purl o\u2019er matted cress and ribbed sand,\n Or dimple in the dark of rushy coves.\n\n _Ode to Memory._--TENNYSON.\n\n Valley lilies, whiter still\n Than Leda\u2019s love and cresses from the rill.\n\n _Endymion._\n\n Cresses that grow where no man may them see.\n\n _Ibid._\n\n I linger round my shingly bars,\n I loiter round my cresses.\n\n _The Brook._--TENNYSON.\n\nCresses have great powers of fascination for the poets, and \u201cthe cress\nof the Herbalist is a noun of multitude,\u201d says Dr Fernie. Of these now\ncultivated, St Barbara\u2019s Cress (_Barbarea vulgaris_) has the most\npicturesque name, and is the least known. It was once grown for a winter\nsalad, but American Cress (_Erysimum pr\u00e6cox_) is more recommended for\nwinter and early spring. Indian Cress (_Trop\u00e6olum majus_), usually known\nas nasturtium, is seldom counted a herb, although it is included in some\nold gardening lists, for the sake of the pickle into which its unripe\nfruits were made. Abercrombie adds that the flowers and young leaves are\nused in salads, but this must be most rare in England; though, when once\nin Brittany, I remember that the _bonne_ used to ornament the salad on\nSundays with an artistic decoration of scarlet and striped nasturtium\nflowers. Garden Cress (_Lepidium sativum_), the tiny kind, associated in\none\u2019s mind since nursery days with \u201cmustard,\u201d used to be known as\n_Passerage_, as it was believed to drive away madness. Dr Fernie\ncontinues, that the Greeks loved cress, and had a proverb, \u201cEat Cresses\nand get wit.\u201d They were much prized by our poor people, when pepper was\na luxury. \u201cThe Dutchmen[21] and others used to eate Cresses familiarly\nwith their butter and breade, as also stewed or boyled, either alone or\nwith other herbs, whereof they make a Hotch-Potch. We doe eate it mixed\nwith Lettuce and Purslane, or sometimes with Tarragon or Rocket with\noyle, vinegar, and a little salt, and in that manner it is very\nsavoury.\u201d\n\nWater-Cress (_Nasturtium officinale_) is rich in mineral salts and is\nvaluable as food. The leaves remain \u201cgreen when grown in the shade, but\nbecome of a purple brown because of their iron, when exposed to the\nsun,\u201d says Dr Fernie. \u201cIt forms the chief ingredient of the _Sirop\nAntiscorbutique_, given so successfully by the French faculty.\u201d\n\u201cWater-Cress pottage\u201d is a good remedy \u201cto help head aches. Those that\nwould live in health may use it if they please, if they will not I\ncannot help it.\u201d This is Culpepper\u2019s advice, but he relents even to\nthose too weak-minded to avail themselves of a cure, salutary but\nunpalatable. \u201cIf they fancy not pottage they may eat the herb as a\nsallet.\u201d\n\n [21] Parkinson.\n\n\nDANDELION (_Leontodon taraxacum_).\n\n Dandelion, with globe and down,\n The schoolboy\u2019s clock in every town,\n Which the truant puffs amain,\n To conjure lost hours back again.\n\n WILLIAM HOWITT.\n\nDandelion leaves used to be boiled with lentils, and one recipe bids one\nhave them \u201cchopped as pot-herbes, with a few Allisanders boyled in their\nbroth.\u201d But generally they were regarded as a medicinal, rather than a\nsalad plant. Evelyn, however, includes them in his list, and says they\nshould be \u201cmacerated in several waters, to extract the Bitterness. It\nwas with this Homely Fare the _Good Wife Hecate_ entertain\u2019d _Theseus_.\u201d\nA better way of \u201cextracting the Bitterness\u201d is to blanch the leaves, and\nit has been advised to dig up plants from the road-sides in winter when\nsalad is scarce, and force them in pots like succory. He continues that\nof late years \u201cthey have been sold in most _Herb Shops_ about _London_\nfor being a wonderful Purifier of the Blood.\u201d Culpepper, whose fiery\nfrankness it is impossible to resist quoting, manages on this subject to\nget his knife into the doctors, as, to do him justice, he seldom loses\nan opportunity of doing. \u201cYou see what virtues this common herb hath,\nand this is the reason the French and Dutch so often eate them in the\nspring, and now, if you look a little further, you may see plainly,\nwithout a pair of spectacles, that foreign physicians are not so selfish\nas ours are, but more communicative of the virtues of plants to people.\u201d\nThe Irish used to call it Heart-Fever-Grass. The root, when roasted and\nground, has been substituted for coffee, and gave satisfaction to some\nof those who drank it. Hogg relates a tale of woe from the island of\nMinorca, how that once locusts devoured the harvest there, and the\ninhabitants were forced to, and did subsist on this root, but does not\nmention for what length of time.\n\n[Illustration: SWEET CICELY AND OTHER HERBS]\n\n\nDILL (_Anethum graveolens_).\n\n The nightshade strews to work him ill,\n Therewith her vervain and her dill.\n\n _Nymphidia._--DRAYTON.\n\n Here holy vervayne and here dill,\n \u2019Gainst witchcraft much availing,\n\n _The Muses Elysium._\n\n The wonder-working dill he gets not far from these.\n\n _Polyolbion._ Song xiii.\n\nDill is supposed to have been derived from a Norse word \u201cto dull,\u201d\nbecause the seeds were given to babies to make them sleep. Beyond this\ninnocent employment it was a factor in working spells of the blackest\nmagic! Dill is a graceful, umbelliferous plant--not at all suggestive of\nDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde--and the seeds resemble caraway seeds in flavour,\nbut are smaller, flatter and lighter. There is _something_ mysterious\nabout it, because, besides being employed in spells by witches and\nwizards, it was used by other people to resist spells cast by\ntraffickers in magic, and was equally powerful to do this! Dill is very\nlike fennel, but the leaves are shorter, smaller, and of a \u201cstronger and\nquicker taste. The leaves are used with Fish, though too strong for\neveryone\u2019s taste, and if added to \u2018pickled Cowcumbers\u2019 it \u2018gives the\ncold fruit a pretty, spicie taste.\u2019\u201d Evelyn also praises \u2018_Gerckens\nmuriated_\u2019 with the seeds of _Dill_, and Addison writes: \u201cI am always\npleased with that particular time of the year which is proper for the\npickling of dill and cucumbers, but, alas! his cry, like the song of the\nnightingale, is not heard above two months.\u201d[22]\n\n [22] _Spectator_, xxv. 1.\n\n\nENDIVE (_Cichorium Endivia_).\n\n The Daisy, Butter-flow\u2019r and Endive blue.\n\n _Pastorals._--GAY.\n\n There at no cost, on onions rank and red,\n Or the curl\u2019d endive\u2019s bitter leaf, he fed.\n\n _The Salad._--COWPER.\n\nEndive is a plant of whose virtues our prosaic days have robbed us. Once\nupon a time it could break all bonds and render the owner invisible, and\nif a lover carried it about him, he could make the lady of his choice\nbelieve that he possessed all the qualities she specially admired!\nFolkard quotes three legends of it from Germany, one each from Austria\nand Roumania, and an unmistakably Slav story--all of them of a romantic\ncharacter--and _we_ regard it as a salad herb! \u201cThere are three sorts:\nGreen-curled leaved; principal sort for main crops, white-curled leaved,\nand broad Batavian\u201d (Loudon). The green-curled leaved is the hardiest\nand fittest for winter use. The Batavian is not good for salads, but is\nspecially in demand for stews and soups. All kinds must, of course, be\ncarefully blanched. Mrs Roundell[23] reminds one that endive is a\ntroublesome vegetable to cook, as it is apt to be crowded with insects.\nThe leaves should be all detached from the stem and carefully washed in\ntwo or three salted waters. She also gives receipts for endive, dressed\nas spinach, made into a pur\u00e9e or cooked alone. Parkinson said: \u201cEndive\nwhited is much used in winter, as a sallet herbe with great delighte.\u201d\n\n_Succory, Chicory, or Wild Endive_ may be mentioned as making an\nexcellent salad when forced and blanched, and it is popular in France,\nwhere it is called _Barbe de Capucin_. Its great advantage is, as Loudon\nsays, that \u201cwhen lettuce or garden-endive are scarce, chicory can always\nbe commanded by those who possess any of the most ordinary means of\nforcing.\u201d He adds that it has been much used as fodder for cattle, and\nthat the roots, dried and ground, are well known--only too well known,\n\u201cpartly along with, and partly as a substitute for coffee.\u201d\n\n [23] \u201cPractical Cookery Book.\u201d\n\n\nFENNEL (_F\u00e6niculum vulgare_).\n\n _Ophelia._ There\u2019s fennel for you and columbines.\n\n _Hamlet_, iv. 5.\n\n Fenel is for flatterers,\n An evil thing it is sure,\n But I have alwaies meant truely\n With constant heart most pure.\n\n _A Handfull of Pleasant Delightes._--C. ROBINSON.\n\n _Christopher._ No, my good lord.\n _Count._ Your _good lord_! Oh! how this smells of fennel!\n\n _The Case Altered_, ii. 2.--BEN JONSON.\n\n \u201cHast thou ought in thy purse?\u201d quod he.\n \u201cAny hote spices?\u201d\n \u201cI have peper, pionies,\u201d quod she, \u201cand a pound garlike\n A ferdyng worth of fenel-seed for fastyng dayes.\u201d\n\n _Piers Plowman._\n\n Oh! faded flowers of fennel, that will not bloom again\n For any south wind\u2019s calling, for any magic rain.\n\n _The Faun to his Shadow._--N. HOPPER.\n\n \u201cSow Fennel, sow Sorrow.\u201d--_Proverb._\n\nFew realise from how high an estate fennel has fallen. In Shakespeare\u2019s\ntime we have the plainest evidence that it was the recognised emblem of\nflattery. Ben Jonson\u2019s allusion is almost as pointed as Robinson\u2019s. It\nis said that Ophelia\u2019s flowers were all chosen for their significance,\nso, perhaps, it was not by accident that she offers fennel to her\nbrother, in whose ears the cry must have been still ringing,\n\n \u201cChoose we; Laertes shall be king!\u201d\n\nwith the echo:--\n\n \u201cCaps, hand, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds,\n \u2018Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!\u2019\u201d\n\nNor was it only in our own land that Fennel had this significance, for\nCanon Ellacombe quotes an Italian saying: \u201cDare Finocchio\u201d (to give\nfennel), meaning \u201cto flatter.\u201d As to the reason that fennel should be\nconnected with sorrow, the clue is lost, but the proverb is said still\nto live in New England. The conversation which takes place in \u201cPiers\nPlowman,\u201d between a priest and a poor woman, illustrates a use to which\nfennel was put in earlier days. The poor got it, Miss Amherst says, \u201cto\nrelieve the pangs of hunger on fasting days.\u201d But it was by no means\ndespised by the rich, for \u201cAs much as eight and a half pounds of Fennel\nseed was bought for the King\u2019s Household (Edward I., 1281) for one\nmonth\u2019s supply.\u201d She quotes from the Wardrobe Accounts. Our use either\nof Common Fennel, or Sweet Fennel, or Finocchio is so limited that the\npractice of Parkinson\u2019s contemporaries shall be quoted. \u201cFenell is of\ngreat use to trim up and strowe upon fish, as also to boyle or put among\nfish of divers sorts, Cowcumbers pickled and other fruits, etc. The\nrootes are used with Parsley rootes to be boyled in broths. The seed is\nmuch used to put in Pippin pies and divers others such baked fruits, as\nalso into bread, to give it the better relish. The Sweet Cardus Fenell\nbeing sent by Sir Henry Wotton to John Tradescante had likewise a large\ndirection with it how to dress it, for they used to white it after it\nhath been transplanted for their uses, which by reason of sweetnesse by\nnature, and the tendernesse by art, causeth it to be more delightfull to\nthe taste.\u201d \u201cCardus Fenell\u201d must have been Finocchio.\n\n\nGOAT\u2019S BEARD (_Tragopogon pratensis_).\n\n And goodly now the noon-tide hour,\n When from his high meridian tower,\n The sun looks down in majesty,\n What time about the grassy lea\n The Goat\u2019s Beard, prompt his rise to hail\n With broad expanded disk, in veil\n Close mantling wraps his yellow head,\n And goes, as peasants say, to bed.\n\n BP. MANT.\n\nThe habits of Goat\u2019s Beard, or as it is often called,\nJohn-go-to-bed-at-noon, are indicated by the latter name. It is less\nknown as Joseph\u2019s Flower, which Mr Friend[24] says \u201cseems to owe its\norigin to pictures in which the husband of Mary is represented as a\nlong-bearded old man,\u201d but Gerarde gives the Low-Dutch name of his time,\n\u201cJosephe\u2019s Bloemen,\u201d and says \u201cwhen these flowers be come to their full\nmaturity and ripeness, they grow into a downy blow-ball, like those of\nthe Dandelion, which is carried away by the winde.\u201d Evelyn praises it,\nand is indignant with the cunning of the seed-sellers. \u201cOf late they\nhave Italianiz\u2019d the name, and now generally call it _Salsifex_... to\ndisguise it, being a very common field herb, growing in most parts of\n_England_, would have it thought (with many others) an Exotick.\u201d He\ndoes not give the full Latin name, so one cannot tell whether it is our\nSalsify (_Tragopogon porrifolius_) that he means, or _T. pratensis_, the\nvariety once more generally cultivated. The latter seems the likeliest,\nas its yellow flowers are far more common than the purple ones of\nsalsify. _T. porrifolius_ is extremely rare in a wild state, but _T.\npratensis_ grows in \u201cmedows and fertil pastures in most parts of\nEngland.\u201d _T. pratensis_ is never cultivated now, and \u201cSalsify\u201d applies\nexclusively to Purple Goat\u2019s Beard (_T. porrifolium_). The old\nherbalists praised it very highly.\n\n [24] \u201cFlowers and Flower-lore.\u201d\n\n\nHORSE-RADISH (_Cochlearia Armoracia_).\n\nDr Fernie translates its botanical name, _Cochlearia_, from the shape of\nthe leaves, which resemble, he says, an old-fashioned spoon; _ar_, near;\n_mor_, the sea, from its favourite locality. \u201cFor the most part it is\nplanted in gardens... yet have I found it wilde in Sundrie places... in\nthe field next unto a farme house leading to King\u2019s land, where my very\ngood friend Master _Bredwell_, practitioner in Phisick, a learned and\ndiligent searcher of Samples, and Master _William Martin_, one of the\nfellowship of Barbers and Chirugians, my deere and loving friend, in\ncompany with him found it and gave me knowledge of the plant, where it\nflourisheth to this day.... Divers think that this Horse-Radish is an\nenemie to Vines, and that the hatred between them is so greate, that if\nthe roots hereof be planted neare to the Vine, it bendeth backward from\nit, as not willing to have fellowship with it.... Old writers ascribe\nthis enmitie to the vine and Brassica, our Colewortes.\u201d Both he and\nParkinson think, that in transferring the \u201cenmitie\u201d from the cabbage to\nthe horse-radish, the \u201cAncients\u201d have been mistranslated. The Dutch\ncalled it Merretich; the French, Grand Raifort; the English, locally,\nRed Cole. Evelyn calls it an \u201cexcellent, universal Condiment,\u201d and says\nthat first steeped in water, then grated and tempered with vinegar, in\nwhich a little sugar has been dissolved, it supplies \u201cMustard to the\nSallet, and serving likewise for any Dish besides.\u201d\n\n\nHYSSOP (_Hyssopus officinalis_).\n\n Hyssop, as an herb most prime,\n Here is my wreath bestowing.\n\n _Muses Elysium._--DRAYTON.\n\n _Iago._ \u201cOur bodies are our gardeners; so that if we will plant\n nettles, or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme... why the power\n and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills.\u201d\n\n _Othello_, i. 3.\n\nParkinson opens his \u201cTheatre of Plants\u201d with the words: \u201cFrom a Paradise\nof pleasant Flowers, I am fallen (_Adam_ like) to a world of Profitable\nHerbs and Plants... and first of the Hisopes.... Among other uses, the\ngolden hyssop was of so pleasant a colour, that it provoked every\ngentlewoman to wear them in their heads and on their arms with as much\ndelight as many fine flowers can give.\u201d It is a hardy, evergreen shrub,\nwith a strong aromatic odour. The flowers are blue, and appear more or\nless from June till October. The _Ussopos_ of Dioscorides was named from\n_azob_, a holy herb, because it was used for cleansing sacred places,\nand this is interesting when one thinks of Scriptural allusions to the\nplant, although the hyssop of the Bible is most probably not our hyssop.\nThe identity of that plant has occasioned much divergence of opinion,\nand a decision, beyond reach of criticism, has not yet been reached.\nMazes were sometimes planted with \u201cMarjoram and such like, or Isope and\nTime. It may eyther be sette with Isope and Time or with Winter Savory\nand Time, for these endure all the Winter thorowe greene.\u201d[25]\n\nIt was more often used for \u201cBroths and Decoctions\u201d than for salads, but\nthe tops and flowers were sometimes powdered and strewn on the top of\none. It is not much used nowadays, but I once saw an excitable Welsh\ncook seize on a huge bunch of \u201cdear Hyssop\u201d with exclamations of joy. In\nthe East, \u201csome plants diverted fascination by their smell,\u201d[26] and\nhyssop was one of these, and as a protection against the Evil Eye, was\nhung up in houses.\n\n [25] \u201cArt of Gardening,\u201d Hill, 1563.\n\n [26] Friend.\n\n\nLAMB\u2019S LETTUCE or CORN SALAD (_Valeriana Locusta_).\n\nLamb\u2019s Lettuce is variously known as _m\u00e2che_, _doucette_, _salade de\nchanoine_, _poule-grasse_, and was formerly called \u201cSalade de Pr\u00eater,\nfor their being generally eaten in Lent.\u201d It is a small plant, with\n\u201cwhitish-greene, long or narrow round-pointed leaves... and tufts of\nsmall bleake blue flowers.\u201d In corn-fields it grows wild, but Gerarde\nsays, \u201csince it hath growne in use among the French and Dutch strangers\nin England, it hath been sowen in gardens as a salad herbe,\u201d and adds\nthat among winter and early spring salads \u201cit is none of the worst.\u201d The\nfact of its being \u201crecognised\u201d at a comparatively late date, by the\nEnglish, and even then through the practices of the French, perhaps\naccounts for the lack of English \u201cpet\u201d names, conspicuous beside the\nnumber bestowed on it on the other side of the Channel. De la Quintinye\nis not in accord with his countrymen on the subject, for he calls it a\n\u201cwild and rusticall Salad, because, indeed, it is seldom brought before\nany Noble Company.\u201d Despite this disparaging remark, it is still a\nfavourite in France, and it is surprising that a salad plant that stands\ncold so well should not be more cultivated in this country. Lettuce is\nso much more recognised as a vegetable than a herb that it will not be\nmentioned here.\n\n\nMARJORAM (_Origanum_).\n\n _Lafeu._ \u2019Twas a good lady, \u2019twas a good lady. We may pick a thousand\n salads ere we light on such another herb.\n\n _Clown._ Indeed, Sir, she was the Sweet Marjoram of the Salad, or\n rather the herb of grace.\n\n _All\u2019s Well that Ends Well_, iv. 5.\n\n Not all the ointments brought from Delos\u2019 Isle,\n Nor that of quinces, nor of marjoram,\n That ever from the Isle of Co\u00f6s came,\n Nor these, nor any else, though ne\u2019er so rare,\n Could with this place for sweetest smells compare.\n\n _Britannia\u2019s Pastorals._\n\n O, bind them posies of pleasant flowers,\n Of marjoram, mint and rue.\n\n _Devonshire Song._\n\nThe scent of marjoram used to be very highly prized, and in some\ncountries the plant is the symbol of honour. Dr Fernie says _Origanum_\nmeans in Greek the \u201cjoy of the mountains,\u201d so charming a name one wishes\nit could be more often used. Among[27] the Greeks, if it grew on the\ngrave it augured the happiness of the departed; \u201cMay many flowers grow\non this newly-built tomb\u201d (is the prayer once offered); \u201cnot the\ndried-up Bramble, or the red flower loved by goats; but Violets and\nMarjoram, and the Narcissus growing in water, and around thee may all\nRoses grow.\u201d\n\nParkinson writes it was \u201cput in nosegays, and in the windows of houses,\nas also in sweete pouders, sweete bags, and sweete washing waters....\nOur daintiest women doe put it to still among their sweet herbes.\u201d\nPusser mentions it among his \u201cherbs for strewing,\u201d and in some recipes\nfor _pot pourri_ it is still included. _Origanum vulgare_ grows wild,\nand the dry leaves are made into a tea \u201cwhich is extremely grateful.\u201d\nThe different kinds of marjoram are now chiefly used for soups and\nstuffings. Isaac Walton gives instructions for dressing a pike, and\ndirects that among the accessories should be sweet marjoram, thyme, a\nlittle winter savoury and some pickled oysters!\n\n [27] Friend.\n\n[Illustration: POT MARJORAM]\n\n\nMINT (_Mentha_).\n\n The neighb\u2019ring nymphs each in her turn...\n Some running through the meadows with them bring\n Cowslips and mint.\n\n _Britannia\u2019s Pastorals_, book i.\n\n In strewing of these herbs... with bounteous hands and free,\n The healthful balm and mint from their full laps do fly.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xv.\n\n Sunflowers and marigolds and mint beset us,\n Moths white as stitchwort that had left its stem,\n ... Loyal as sunflowers we will not swerve us,\n We\u2019ll make the mints remembered spices serve us\n For autumn as in spring.\n\n N. HOPPER.\n\n\u201cMint,\u201d says De la Quintinye, \u201cis called in French Balm,\u201d which sounds\nrather confusing; but Evelyn says it is the \u201cCurled Mint, _M. Sativa\nCrispa_,\u201d that goes by this name. Mint was also called \u201cMenthe de Notre\nDame,\u201d and in Italy, \u201cErba Santa Maria,\u201d and in Germany, \u201cFrauen M\u00fcnze,\u201d\nthough this name is also applied to costmary. This herb used to be\nstrewn in churches. All the various kinds of it were thought to be good\nagainst the biting of serpents, sea-scorpions, and mad dogs, but\nviolently antagonistic to the healing processes of wounds. \u201cThey are\nextreme bad for wounded people, and they say a wounded man that eats\nMints, his wound will never be cured, and that is a long day! But they\nare good to be put into Baths.\u201d[28] The \u201cgentler tops of Orange Mint\u201d\n(_Mentha citrata_?) are recommended \u201cmixed with a Salad or eaten alone,\nwith the juyce of Orange and a little Sugar.\u201d\n\nThe mint we commonly use is _Mentha Viridis_ or Spear Mint. \u201cDivers\nhave held for true, that Cheeses will not corrupt, if they be either\nrubbed over withe the juyce or a decoction of Mints, or they laid among\nthem.\u201d It has been said, too, that an infusion of mint will prevent the\nrapid curdling of milk. Being dried, mint was much used to put with\npennyroyal into puddings, and also among \u201cpease that are boyled for\npottage.\u201d The last is one of the few uses that survives. Parkinson\ncomplains of all sorts of mints, that once planted in a garden they are\ndifficult to get rid of!\n\n_Cat Mint, or Nep_ (_Nepeta Cataria_) is eaten in Tansies. \u201cAccording to\nHoffman the root of the Cat Mint, if chewed, will make the most gentle\nperson fierce and quarrelsome.\u201d[29]\n\n_Pepper Mint_ is still retained, as is Spear Mint, in the British\nPharmacop\u0153ia. \u201cThe leaves have an intensely pungent aromatic taste\nresembling that of pepper, and accompanied with a peculiar sensation of\ncoldness\u201d (Thornton).\n\n [28] Culpepper.\n\n [29] Folkard.\n\n\nMUSTARD (_Sinapis_).\n\n _Bottom._ Your name, I beseech you, sir?\n\n _Mustardseed._ Mustardseed.\n\n _Bottom._ Good Master Mustardseed, I know your patience well: that\n same cowardly, giant-like ox-beef hath devoured many a gentleman of\n your house: I promise you your kindred hath made my eyes water ere\n now. I desire your more acquaintance, good Master Mustardseed.\n\n _Midsummer-Night\u2019s Dream_, iii. 1.\n\nIn 1664 Evelyn wrote that mustard is of \u201cincomparable effect to quicken\nand revive the Spirits, strengthening the Memory and expelling\nHeaviness.... In _Italy_, in making _Mustard_, they mingle _Lemon_ and\n_Orange_ Peels with the seeds.\u201d In England the best mustard came from\nTewkesbury. It is a curious instance of the instability of fashion that\nonly twenty-four years before Evelyn made these remarks, Parkinson\nwrote: \u201cOur ancient forefathers, even the better sort, in the most\nsimple, and as I may say the more healthful age of the world, were not\nsparing in the use thereof... but nowadayes it is seldom used by the\nsuccessors, being accounted the clownes sauce, and therefore not fit for\ntheir tables; but is transferred either to the meyny or meaner sort, who\ntherefore reap the benefit thereof.\u201d He adds it is \u201cof good use, being\nfresh for Epilepticke persons... if it be applyed both inwardly and\noutwardly.\u201d There were some drawbacks to being sick or sorry in the\n\u201cgood old days.\u201d It was customary in Italy to keep the mustard in balls\ntill it was wanted, and these balls were made up with honey or vinegar\nand a little cinnamon added. When the mustard was required, the ball was\n\u201crelented\u201d with a little more vinegar. Canon Ellacombe says: \u201cBalls were\nthe form in which Mustard was usually sold, till Mrs Clements of Durham,\nin the last century, invented the method of dressing mustard flour like\nwheat flour and made her fortune with Durham Mustard!\u201d We cultivate\n_Sinapis nigra_ for its seed and _Sinapis alba_ as a small salad herb.\n\n\nPARSLEY (_Petroselinum sativum_).\n\n The tender tops of Parsley next he culls,\n Then the old rue bush shudders as he pulls.\n\n _The Salad._\n\n Quinces and Peris ciryppe (syrup) with parcely rotes,\n Right so begyn your mele.\n\n RUSSELL\u2019S _Boke of Nature_.\n\n Fat colworts and comforting perseline,\n Cold lettuce and refreshing rosmarine.\n\n _Muiopotmos._--SPENSER.\n\nParsley has the \u201ccurious botanic history that no one can tell what is\nits native country. Probably the plant has been so altered by\ncultivation as to have lost all likeness to its original self.\u201d[30]\nSuperstitions connected with it are myriad, and Folkard gives two Greek\nsayings that are interesting. It was the custom among them to border the\ngarden with parsley and rue, and from this arose an idiom, when any\nundertaking was talked of, but not begun, \u201cOh! we are only at the\nParsley and Rue.\u201d Parsley was used, too, to strew on graves, and hence\ncame a saying \u201cto be in need of parsley,\u201d signifying to be at death\u2019s\ndoor. Mr Friend quotes an English adage that \u201cFried parsley will bring a\nman to his saddle and a woman to her grave,\u201d but says that he has heard\nno reason given for this strange and apparently pointless dictum.\nPlutarch tells of a panic created in a Greek force, marching against the\nenemy, by their suddenly meeting some mules laden with parsley, which\nthe soldiers looked upon as an evil omen; and W. Jones, in his \u201cCrowns\nand Coronations,\u201d says, \u201cTimoleon nearly caused a mutiny in his army\nbecause he chose his crown to be of parsley, when his soldiers wished it\nto be of the pine or pitch tree.\u201d In many parts of England it is\nconsidered unlucky, and I quote from a paper read before the Devon and\nExeter Gardeners\u2019 Association in 1897. \u201cIt is one of the longest seeds\nto lie in the ground before germinating; it has been said to go to the\nDevil and back again nine times before it comes up. And many people have\na great objection to planting parsley, saying if you do there will sure\nto be a death in the Family within twelve months.\u201d It is only fair to\nadd that this delightful lapse into folk-lore comes in the midst of most\nexcellent and practical advice for its cultivation. \u201cQuite recently (in\n1883) a gentleman, living near Southampton, told his gardener to sow\nsome Parsley seed. The man, however, refused, saying that it would be a\nbad day\u2019s work to him if ever he brought Parsley seed into the house. He\nsaid that he would not mind bringing a plant or two and throwing them\ndown, that his master might pick them up if he chose, but he would not\nbring them to him for anything.\u201d[31]\n\nThe \u201cearliest known, really original work on gardening, written in\nEnglish,\u201d is, Miss Amherst says, \u201ca treatise in verse,\u201d by Mayster Ion\nGardener. It consists of a prologue and eight divisions, and one of\nthese is devoted to \u201cPerselye\u201d alone. The manuscript in the Library of\nTrinity College, Cambridge, that she quotes from, was written about\n1440, but it is thought that the poem is older. Parsley was \u201cmuch used\nin all sortes of meates, both boyled, roasted and fryed, stewed, etc.,\nand being green it serveth to lay upon sundry meates. It is also shred\nand stopped into powdered beefe.... The roots are put into broth, or\nboyled or stewed with a legge of Mutton... and are of a very good\nrellish, but the roots must be young and of the first year\u2019s\ngrowth.\u201d[32]\n\nThe seeds of parsley were sometimes put into cheese to flavour it, and\nTimbs (\u201cThings not generally Known\u201d) tells this anecdote: \u201cCharlemagne\nonce ate cheese mixed with parsley seeds at a bishop\u2019s palace, and liked\nit so much that ever after he had two cases of such cheese sent yearly\nto Aix-la-Chapelle.\u201d\n\nIn the edition of Tusser\u2019s \u201cFive Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,\u201d\nedited by Mavor, it is noted, \u201cSkim-milk cheese, however, might be\nadvantageously mixed with seeds, as is the practice in Holland.\u201d Though\nnot strictly relevant, these lines taken by Mrs Milne-Home (\u201cStray\nLeaves from a Border-Garden\u201d) from the family records of the Earls of\nMarchmont, must find place. They were written by a boy of eight or nine,\non the occasion of his elder brother\u2019s birthday.\n\n This day from parsley-bed, I\u2019m sure,\n Was dug my elder brother, Moore,\n Had Papa dug me up before him,\n So many now would not adore him,\n But hang it! he\u2019s but onely one\n And if he trips off, I\u2019m Sr John.\n\n_Horse-radish_ was treated here as a seasoning, but _radish_ is counted\namong vegetables proper.\n\n [30] Plant Lore and Garden Craft of Shakespeare.\n\n [31] Friend.\n\n [32] Parkinson.\n\n\nSAGE (_Salvia officinalis_).\n\n Sage is for sustenance\n That should man\u2019s life sustaine,\n For I do stil lie languishing\n Continually in paine,\n And shall doe still until I die,\n Except thou favour show,\n My paine and all my grievous smart,\n Ful wel you do it know.\n\n _Handful of Pleasant Delights._\n\n And then againe he turneth to his playe,\n To spoyle the pleasures of the Paradise,\n The wholesome saulge and lavender still gray.\n\n _Muiopotmos._--SPENSER.\n\nSage is one of those sympathetic plants that feel the fortunes of their\nowners; and Mr Friend says that a Buckinghamshire farmer told him his\nrecent personal experience. \u201cAt one time he was doing badly, and the\nSage began to wither, but, as soon as the tide turned, the plant began\nto thrive again.\u201d Most of the Continental names of the plant are like\nthe botanical one of _Salvia_, from \u201c_Salvo_,\u201d to save or heal, and its\nhigh reputation in medicine lasted for ages. The Arabians valued it, and\nthe medical school of Salerno summed up its surpassing merits in the\nline, _Cur morietur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?_ (How can a man\ndie who grows sage in his garden?) Perhaps this originated the English\nsaying:--\n\n He that would live for aye\n Must eat Sage in May.\n\nParkinson mentions that it is \u201cMuch used of many in the month of May\nfasting,\u201d with butter and parsley, and is \u201cheld of most\u201d to conduce to\nhealth. \u201cIt healeth the pricking of the fishe called in Latine\n_pastinaca marina_, whych is like unto a flath, with venomous prickes,\nabout his tayle. It maketh hayre blacke; it is good for woundis.\u201d[33]\nThe \u201cGrete Herball\u201d contains a remedy for Lethargy or Forgetfulness,\nwhich consists of making a decoction \u201cof tutsan, of smalage and of\nsauge,\u201d and bathing the back of the head with it.\n\nPepys notes that in a little churchyard between Gosport and Southampton\nthe custom prevailed of sowing the graves with sage. This is rather\ncurious, as it has never been one of the plants specially connected with\ndeath.\n\nEvelyn sums up its \u201cNoble Properties\u201d thus: \u201cIn short \u2019tis a Plant\nendu\u2019d with so many and wonderful Properties, as that the assiduous use\nof it is said to render Men _Immortal_. We cannot therefore but allow\nthe tender _Summities_ of the young Leaves, but principally the Flowers\nin our Sallet; yet so as not to domineer.... \u2019Tis credibly affirmed,\nthat the _Dutch_ for some time drove a very lucrative Trade with the\ndry\u2019d Leves of what is called _Sage of Vertue_ and _Guernsey Sage_....\nBoth the Chineses and Japaneses are great admirers of that sort of Sage,\nand so far prefer it to their own Tea... that for what _Sage_ they\npurchase of the _Dutch_, they give triple the quantity of the choicest\n_Tea_ in exchange.\u201d\n\n\u201cFrytures\u201d (fritters) of Sage are described as having place at banquets\nin the Middle Ages (Russell\u2019s \u201cBoke of Nurture\u201d). Besides these other\nuses the seeds of sage like parsley seeds were used to flavour cheese.\nGay refers to this:--\n\n Marbled with Sage,\n The hardening cheese she pressed,\n\nand to \u201cSage cheese,\u201d too, and Timbs says, \u201cThe practice of mixing sage\nand other herbs with cheese was common among the Romans.\u201d\n\n [33] Turner.\n\n\nSAVORY (_Satureia_).\n\n Some Camomile doth not amiss,\n With Savoury and some tansy.\n\n _Muses Elysium._\n\n Here\u2019s flowers for you,\n Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram.\n\n _Winter\u2019s Tale_, iv. 4.\n\n Sound savorie, and bazil, hartie-hale,\n Fat Colwortes and comforting Perseline,\n Cold Lettuce and refreshing Rosmarine.\n\n _Muiopotmos._\n\nSavory, satureia, was once supposed to belong to the satyrs. \u201cMercury\nclaims the dominion over this herb. Keep it dry by you all the year, if\nyou love yourself and your ease, and it is a hundred pounds to a penny\nif you do not.\u201d Culpepper follows this advice with a long list of\nailments, for all of which this herb is an excellent remedy. Summer\nsavory (_S. hortensis_) and winter savory (_S. Montana_) are the only\nkinds considered in England as a rule, though Gerarde further mentions\n\u201ca stranger,\u201d which, \u201cbecause it groweth plentifully upon the rough\ncliffs of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italie, called Saint Julian rocke,\u201d is\nnamed after the saint, _Satureia Sancti Juliani_. In other countries\nsummer savory used to be strewn upon the dishes as we strew parsley, and\nserved with peas or beans; rice, wheat and sometimes the dried herb was\n\u201cboyled among pease to make pottage.\u201d Winter savory used to be dried and\npowdered and mixed with grated bread, \u201cto breade their meate, be it fish\nor flesh, to give it a quicker rellish.\u201d Here Parkinson breaks off to\ndeliver a severe reproof to \u201cthis delicate age of ours, which is not\npleased with anything almost that is not pleasant to the palate,\u201d and\ntherefore neglects many viands which would be of great benefit. Both\nsavories are occasionally used more or less in the way he suggests,\nwinter savory being the favourite. In Cotton\u2019s sequel to the \u201cComplete\nAngler,\u201d a \u201chandful of sliced horse-radish-root, with a handsome little\nfaggot of rosemary, thyme and winter savoury\u201d is recommended in the\ndirections for \u201cdressing a trout.\u201d One of the virtues attributed to both\nsavories by the old herbalists is still agreed to by some gardeners: \u201cA\nshoot of it rubbed on wasp or bee stings instantly gives relief.\u201d\n\n\nSORREL (_Rumex_).\n\n Simplest growth of Meadow-sweet or Sorrel\n Such as the summer-sleepy Dryads weave.\n\n _Swinburne._\n\n Cresses that grow where no man may them see,\n And sorrel, untorn by the dew-claw\u2019d stag;\n Pipes will I fashion of the syrinx flag.\n\n _Endymion._\n\n There flourish\u2019d starwort and the branching beet\n The sorrel acid and the mallow sweet.\n\n _The Salad._\n\n Here curling sorrel that again\n We use in hot diseases\n The medicinable mallow here...\n\n _Muses Elysium._\n\nSorrel and mallow seem to have been associates anciently, perhaps\nbecause it was thought that the virtues of the one would counterbalance\nthose of the other. \u201cFrom May to August the meadows are often ruddy with\nthe sorrel, the red leaves of which point out the graves of the Irish\nrebels who fell at Tara Hill in the \u2018Ninety-eight,\u2019 the local tradition\nasserting that the plants sprang from the patriots\u2019 blood.\u201d[34] The\nSpaniards used to call sorrel, Agrelles and Azeda, and the French\nAigrette and Surelle. In England it used to be \u201ceaten in manner of a\nSpinach tart or eaten as meate,\u201d and the French and Dutch still do, I\nbelieve, and at anyrate did quite lately, use it as spinach. Sorrel was\noften added by them to herb-patience when that was used as a pot-herb,\nand was said to give it an excellent flavour. The same recipe has been\ntried and approved in England as well as (a little) sorrel cooked with\nturnip-tops or spinach; the former of these dishes is said to be good\nand the second certainly is. Evelyn thought that sorrel imparted \u201cso\ngrateful a quickeness to the salad that it should never be left out,\u201d\nand De la Quintinye says that in France besides being mixed in salads it\nis generally used in Bouillons or thin Broths. Of the two kinds, Garden\nSorrel, _Rumex Acetosa_, and French Sorrel, _R. Scutatus_, either may be\nused indifferently in cooking, though some people decidedly prefer the\nFrench kind. Mrs Roundell says that sorrel carefully prepared can be\ncooked in any of the ways recommended for spinach, but that it should be\ncooked as soon as it is picked, and if this is impossible must be\nrevived in water before being cooked.\n\n [34] Folkard.\n\n[Illustration: THE LAVENDER WALK AT STRATHFIELDSAYE]\n\n\nTARRAGON (_Artemisia Dracunculus_).\n\n\u201cTarragon is cherished in gardens.... Ruellius and such others have\nreported many strange tales hereof scarce worth the noting, saying that\nthe seede of flaxe put into a radish roote or sea onion, and so set,\ndoth bring forth this herbe Tarragon.\u201d This idea was apparently still\ncurrent though discredited by the less superstitious in Gerarde\u2019s time.\nParkinson mentions a great dispute between ancient herbalists as to the\nidentity of the flower called Chysocoma by Dioscorides. After quoting\nvarious opinions and depreciating some of them he approves the decision\nof Molinaus that Tarragon was the plant. He describes it \u201cin leaves...\nlike unto the ordinary long-leafed Hisope... of the colour of _Cyperus_,\nof a taste not unpleasant which is somewhat austere with the\nsweetnesse.\u201d It is a native of Siberia, but has long been cultivated in\nFrance, and the name is a corruption of the French _Esdragon_ and means\n\u201cLittle Dragon.\u201d Though no reason for this war-like title is obvious,\nthe name is practically the same in several other countries. The leaves\nwere good pickled, and it is altogether a fine aromatic herb for soups\nand salads. Vinegars for salads and sauce used often in earlier days to\nbe \u201caromatized\u201d by steeping in them rosemary, gilliflowers, barberries\nand so forth, but the only herb used for this purpose at the present\ntime is tarragon. Tarragon vinegar can still be easily obtained. \u201cThe\nvolatile essential oil of tarragon is chemically identical with that of\nanise\u201d (Fernie).\n\n\nThyme (_Thymus vulgaris_).\n\n The bees on the bells of thyme\n\n * * * * *\n\n Were as silent as ever old Timolus was\n Listening to my sweet pipings.\n\n _Pan\u2019s Music_--SHELLEY.\n\n In my garden grew plenty of thyme,\n It would flourish by night and by day,\n O\u2019er the wall came a lad, he took all that I had,\n And stole my thyme away.\n\n O! And I was a damsel so fair,\n But fairer I wished to appear,\n So I washed me in milk, and I dressed me in silk,\n And put the sweet thyme in my hair.\n\n _Devonshire Songs._\n\n Beneath your feet,\n Thyme that for all your bruising smells more sweet.\n\n N. HOPPER.\n\n Some from the fen bring reeds, wild thyme from downs,\n Some from a grove, the bay that poets crowns.\n\n _Br. Pastorals_, book ii.\n\n Here, dancing feet fall still,\n Here, where wild thyme and sea-pinks brave wild weather.\n\n N. HOPPER.\n\n O! Cupid was that saucy boy,\n Who furrows deeply drew.\n He broke soil, destroyed the soil\n Of wild thyme wet with dew.\n Before his feet, the field was sweet\n With flowers and grasses green,\n Behind, turn\u2019d down, and bare and brown\n By Cupid\u2019s coulter keen.\n\n _Devonshire Songs._\n\n\u201cAmong the Greeks, thyme denoted graceful elegance of the Attic style,\u201d\nand was besides an emblem of activity. \u201c\u2018To smell of Thyme\u2019 was\ntherefore an expression of praise, applied to those whose style was\nadmirable\u201d (Folkard). In the days of chivalry, when activity was a\nvirtue very highly rated, ladies used \u201cto embroider their knightly\nlovers\u2019 scarves with the figure of a bee hovering about a sprig of\nthyme.\u201d[35] In the south of France wild thyme or _Ferigoule_ is a symbol\nof advanced Republicanism, and tufts of it were sent with the summons to\na meeting to members of a society holding those views. Gerarde, in his\nwritings, plainly shows that he and his contemporaries did _not_\nindiscriminately call all plants \u201cherbs,\u201d but distinguished them with\nthought and care. \u201c_\u00c6lianus_ seemeth to number wild time among the\nfloures. _Dionysius Junior_ (saith he) comming into the city Locris in\nItaly, possessed most of the houses of the city, and did strew them with\nroses, wild time and other such kinds of floures. Yet Virgil, in the\nSecond Eclogue of his Bucolicks doth most manifestly testifie that wilde\nTime is an herbe.\u201d Here he translates:--\n\n Thestilis, for mower\u2019s tyr\u2019d with parching heate,\n Garlike, wild Time, strong smelling herbs doth beate.\n\nModern opinion confirms the view that _Thymus capitatus_ was the thyme\nof the ancients. The affection of bees for thyme has often been noticed,\nand the \u201cfine flavour to the honey of Mount Hymettus\u201d[36] is said to be\ndue to this plant. Evelyn speaks of it as having \u201ca most agreeable\n_odor_,\u201d and a \u201cconsiderable quantity being frequently, by the\nHollanders, brought from _Maltha_, and other places in the _Streights_,\nwho sell it at home, and in _Flanders_ for strewing amongst the\n_Sallets_ and Ragouts; and call it _All-Sauce_.\u201d Gerarde divides the\ngarden thyme (_T. vulgaris_) and Wild Thyme or Mother of Thyme (_T.\nserpyllum_) into two chapters, but Parkinson takes them together and\ndescribes eleven kinds, including Lemmon Thyme, which has the \u201csent of a\nPomecitron or Lemmon\u201d; and \u201cGuilded or embrodered Tyme,\u201d whose leaves\nhave \u201ca variable mixture of green and yellow.\u201d Abercrombie\u2019s information\nis always given in a concentrated form. \u201cAn ever-green, sweet-scented,\nfine-flavoured, aromatic, under-shrub, young tops used for various\nkitchen purposes.\u201d\n\n [35] \u201cFlora Symbolica.\u201d _Ingram._\n\n [36] Hogg, \u201cThe Vegetable Kingdom and its Products.\u201d\n\n\nVIPER\u2019S GRASS or SCORZONERA (_Scorzonera Hispanica_).\n\nThe virtues of this herb were known, but not much regarded, before\n\u201cMonardus,[37] a famous physician in _Sivell_,\u201d published a book in\nwhich was \u201cset downe that a Moore, a bond-slave, did help those that\nwere bitten of that venomous beast or Viper... which they of Catalonia,\nwhere they breed in abundance, call in their language _Escuersos_ (from\nwhence _Scorsonera_ is derived), with the juice of the herb, and the\nroot given them to eate,\u201d and states that this would effect a cure when\nother well-authorised remedies failed. \u201cThe rootes hereof, being\npreserved with sugar, as I have done often, doe eate almost as delicate\nas the Eringus roote.\u201d Evelyn is loud in its praise. It is \u201ca very\nsweete and pleasant _Sallet_, being laid to soak out the Bitterness,\nthen peel\u2019d may be eaten raw or _condited_; but, best of all, stew\u2019d\nwith _Marrow_, _Spice_, _Wine_.... They likewise may bake, fry or boil\nthem; a more excellent Root there is hardly growing.\u201d As \u201cSpanish\nSalsify\u201d it is much recommended by other writers.\n\n [37] _Parkinson._\n\n\nWOOD-SORREL (_Oxalis Acetosella_).\n\n Who from the tumps with bright green masses clad,\n Plucks the Wood-Sorrel with its light green leaves,\n Heart shaped and triply folded; and its root\n Creeping like beaded coral.\n\n CHARLOTTE SMITH.\n\nThe Wood-Sorrel has many pretty names: Alleluia, Hearts, _Pain de\nCoucou_, _Oseille de B\u00fbcheron_; in Italy, _Juliola_. Wood-Sorrel is a\nplant of considerable interest. It has put forward strong claims to be\nidentified with St Patrick\u2019s shamrock, and it has been painted, Mr\nFriend says, \u201cin the foreground of pictures by the old Italian painters,\nnotably Fra Angelico.\u201d For the explanation of the names: \u201cIt is called\nby the Apothecaries in their shoppes _Alleluia_ and _Lugula_, the one\nbecause about that time it is in flower, when _Alleluja_ in antient\ntimes was wont to be sung in the Churches; the other came corruptly from\n_Juliola_, as they of Calabria in Naples doe call it.\u201d By the \u201cAlleluja\nsung in the churches,\u201d Parkinson means the Psalms, from Psalm cxiii. to\nPsalm cxvii. (and including these two), for they end with \u201cHallelujah,\u201d\nand were specially appointed to be sung between Easter and Whitsuntide.\n\n\u201cIt is called Cuckowbreade, either because the Cuckowes delight to feed\nthereon, or that it beginneth to flower when the Cuckow beginneth to\nutter her voyce.\u201d Another name was Stubwort, from its habit of growing\nover old \u201cstubs\u201d or stumps of trees, and in Wales it was called Fairy\nBells, because people thought that the music which called the elves to\n\u201cmoonlight dance and revelry\u201d came from the swinging of the tiny bells.\nThe Latin name is a reminder that oxalic acid is obtained from this\nplant.\n\nAs Evelyn includes it amongst his salad herbs, I mention it here, though\nfeeling bound to add that anyone must be a monster who could regard the\ngraceful leaves and trembling, delicately-veined bells of this plant,\nfull of poetry, with any other sentiment than that of passive\nadmiration!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nOF HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST\n\n The wyfe of Bath was so wery, she had no wyl to walk;\n She toke the Priores by the honde, \u201cMadam, wol ye stalk\n Pryvely into the garden to se the herbis growe?\u201d\n .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0And forth on they wend\n Passing forth softly into the herbery.\n\n _Prologue to Beryn_--URRY\u2019S Edition.\n\n\nALEXANDERS (_Smyrnum Olusatrium_).\n\nAlexanders, Allisanders, the black Pot-herb or Wild Horse-Parsley, as it\nis variously called, grows naturally near the sea, and has often been\nseen growing wild near old buildings. The Italians call it _Herba\nAlexandrina_, according to some writers, because it was supposed\noriginally to have come from Alexandria; according to others, because\nits[38] old name was _Petroselinum Alexandrinum_, or _Alexandrina_,\n\u201cso-called of _Alexander_, the finder thereof.\u201d The leaves are \u201ccut into\nmany parcells like those of Smallage,\u201d but are larger; the seeds have an\n\u201caromaticall and spicy smell\u201d; the root is like a little radish and good\nto be eaten, and if broken or cut \u201cthere issueth a juice that quickly\nwaxeth thicke, having in it a sharpe bitterness, like in taste unto\nMyrrh.\u201d The upper parts of the roots (being the tenderest) and leaves\nwere used in broth; the young tops make an \u201cexcellent Vernal Pottage,\u201d\nand may be eaten as salad, by themselves or \u201cin composition in the\nSpring, or, if they be blanched, in the Winter.\u201d They were chiefly\nrecommended for the time of Lent, in a day when Lent was more strictly\nkept than it is now, because they are supposed to go well with fish.\nAlexanders resemble celery, by which it has been almost entirely\nsupplanted, and if desired as food should be sown every year, for though\nit continues to grow, it produces nothing fit for the table after the\nsecond year. Pliny says it should be \u201cdigged or delved over once or\ntwice, yea, and at any time from the blowing of the western wind\nFavonius in Februarie, until the later Equinox in September be past.\u201d\nThe reference to Favonius reminds one of those lines of exquisite\nfreshness translated from Leonidas.\n\n \u2019Tis time to sail--the swallow\u2019s note is heard!\n Who chattering down the soft west wind is come.\n The fields are all a-flower, the waves are dumb,\n Which ersts the winnowing blast of winter stirred.\n\n Loose cable, friend, and bid your anchor rise,\n Crowd all your canvas at Priapus\u2019 hest,\n Who tells you from your harbours, \u201cNow, \u2019twere best,\n Sailor, to sail upon your merchandise.\u201d\n\n [38] Britten, \u201cDictionary of English Plant-Names.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: ANGELICA]\n\n\nANGELICA (_Archangelica officinalis_).\n\n Contagious aire, ingendring pestilence,\n Infects not those that in their mouths have ta\u2019en,\n Angelica that happy Counterbane,\n Sent down from heav\u2019n by some celestial scout,\n As well the name and nature both avow\u2019t.\n\n _Du Bartas_--SYLVESTER\u2019S TRANSLATION, 1641.\n\n And Master-wort, whose name Dominion wears,\n With her, who an Angelick Title bears.\n\n _Of Plants_, book ii.--COWLEY.\n\nAs these lines declare, Angelica was believed to have sprung from a\nheavenly origin, and greatly were its powers revered. Parkinson says,\n\u201cAll Christian nations likewise in their appellations hereof follow the\nLatine name as near as their Dialect will permit, onely in Sussex\nthey call the wilde Kinde Kex, and the weavers wind their yarne on the\ndead stalkes.\u201d The Laplanders crowned their poets with it, believing\nthat the odour inspired them, and they also thought that the use of it\n\u201cstrengthens life.\u201d The roots hung round the neck \u201care available against\nwitchcraft and inchantments,\u201d so Gerarde says, and thereby makes a\nconcession to popular superstition, which he very rarely does. A piece\nof the root held in the mouth drives away infection of pestilence, and\nis good against all poisons, mad dogs or venomous beasts! Parkinson puts\nit first and foremost in a list of specially excellent medicinal herbs\nthat he makes \u201cfor the profit and use of Country Gentlewomen and\nothers,\u201d and writes: \u201cThe whole plante, both leafe, roote, and seede is\nof an excellent comfortable sent, savour and taste.\u201d No wonder with such\npowers that it gained its name. Angelica comes into a remedy for a wound\nfrom an _arquebusade_ or arquebuse, called _Eau d\u2019Arquebusade_, which\nwas first mentioned by Phillippe de Comines in his account of the battle\nof Morat, 1476. \u201cThe French still prepare it very carefully from a great\nnumber of aromatic herbs. In England, where it is the _Aqua Vulneria_ of\nthe Pharmacop\u0153ias, the formula is: Dried mint, angelica tops and\nwormwood, angelica seeds, oil of juniper and spirit of rosemary\ndistilled with rectified spirit and water (Timbs).\u201d It must be borne in\nmind that Timbs wrote some time ago, and that the knowledge of modern\nFrench scientists, like that of our own, has increased since then.\n\nAlthough it is of no value in medicine (it is next to none when\ncultivated) our garden angelica also grows wild, and can be safely\neaten. Gerarde is amusing on this point. He says it grows in an \u201cIsland\nin the North called Island (Iceland?). It is eaten of the inhabitants,\nthe barke being pilled off, as we understand by some that have travelled\ninto Island, who were sometimes compelled to eate hereof for want of\nother food; and they report that it hath a good and pleasant taste _to\nthem that are hungry_.\u201d The last words are significant! Formerly, the\nleaf-stalks were blanched, and eaten as celery is, but now they are\nchiefly used, candied, for dessert. The art of candying seems to have\nbeen brought closer to perfection abroad than at home in Turner\u2019s time,\nfor he says: \u201cThe rootes are now condited in Danske, for a friend of\nmine in London, called Maister Aleyne, a merchant man, who hath ventured\nover to Danske, sent me a little vessel of these, well condited with\nhoney, very excellent good. Wherefore they that would have anye Angelica\nmaye speake to the Marchauntes of Danske, who can provide them enough.\u201d\nThe fruit is used to flavour _Chartreuse_ and other \u201ccordials.\u201d\n\n\nBLITES (_Blitum_).\n\nDr Prior confirms Evelyn, in calling _Bonus Henricus_ Blites, but the\nolder herbalists seem to have given this name to another plant of the\nsame tribe, the _Chenopodiace\u00e6_, because they treat of _Blites_ and\n_Bonus Henricus_ in separate chapters. Parkinson is very uncomplimentary\nto them. \u201cBlitum are of the species Amaranthum, Flower Gentle. They are\nused as arrach, eyther boyled of itself or stewed, which they call\nLoblolly.... It is altogether insipid and without taste. The\nunsavouriness whereof hath in many countries grown into a proverb, or\nby-word, to call dull, slow or lazy persons by that name.\u201d The context\npoints to the nickname coming from \u201cBlites,\u201d but no such term of\nreproach now exists, though the contemptuous _sobriquet_ \u201cLoblolly-boy\u201d\nis sometimes seen in old-fashioned nautical novels. Blites were said to\nbe hurtful to the eyes, a belief that draws a scathing remark from\nGerarde, \u201cI have heard many old wives say to their servants, \u2018Gather no\nBlites to put in my pottage, for they are not good for the eyesight\u2019;\nwhence they had those words I know not, it may be of some doctor that\nnever went to school.\u201d Culpepper mentions that wild blites \u201cthe fishes\nare delighted with, and it is a good and usual bait, for fishes will\nbite fast enough at them if you have but wit enough to catch when they\nbite.\u201d Altogether this insipid vegetable gives scope for a good many\nsharp things to be said.\n\n_Blitum capitatum_, usually known as strawberry-spinach, is sometimes\ngrown in flower gardens.\n\n\nBLOODWORT (_Lapathum Sanguineum_).\n\nThe modern Latin name for this dock is _Rumex Sanguineus_, but Gesner\nhad a more imposing title, _Sanguis draconis herba_ (Dragon\u2019s blood\nplant). These names are, of course, derived from the crimson colour of\nits veins, and are the finest thing about it. The little notice it does\nget is not unmixed praise. \u201cAmong the sorts of pot-herbes, Blood-worte\nhath always been accounted a principall one, although I _doe not see any\ngreat reason therein_.\u201d This is Parkinson\u2019s opinion, but the italics are\nmine.\n\n\nBUCK\u2019S-HORNE (_Senebiera Coronopus_).\n\n As true as steel,\n As Plantage to the moon.\n\n _Troilus and Cressida_, iii. 2.\n\n And plantain ribb\u2019d that heals the reaper\u2019s wound,\n And marg\u2019ram sweet, in shepherds\u2019 posies found.\n\n _The School-Mistress._--SHENSTONE.\n\nBuck\u2019s-horne is distinct from Buckshorn Plantain (_Plantago Coronopus_),\nbut it is the latter which is chiefly interesting, and which is meant\nhere. In Evelyn\u2019s day the Latin name was _Cornu Cervinum_, and other\nnames are _Herba Stella_, Herb Ivy and _Corne de Cerf_. Some kinds of\nplantain were considered good for wounds, but the saying that \u201cplantage\u201d\nis true to the moon is hard to solve. Buck\u2019s-horne is a plant that has\ngone altogether out of fashion. In 1577 Hill wrote, \u201cWhat care and skil\nis required in the sowing and ordering of the Buck\u2019s-horne, Strawberries\nand Mustardseede,\u201d--and how odd it looks now to see it coupled with the\ntwo other names, as a cherished object to spend pains upon! Le Quintinye\nsays that the leaves, when tender, were used in \u201cSallad Furnitures...\nand the little Birds are very greedy of them.\u201d It used to be held\nprofitable for agues if \u201cthe rootes, with the rest of the herb,\u201d were\nhung about the necke, \u201cas nine to men and seven to women and children,\nbut this as many other are idle amulets of no worth or value... yet,\nsince, it hath been reported to me for a certaintie that the leaves of\nBuck\u2019shorne Plantane laid to their sides that have an ague, will\nsuddenly ease the fit, as if it had been done by witcherie; the leaves\nand rootes also beaten with some bay salt and applied to the wrestes,\nworketh the same effects, which I hold to be more reasonable and\nproper.\u201d Parkinson is very ready to lay down the law as to the limits of\nempiricism. He is very severe about a superstition connected with\nMugwort, but though the same tradition exists of plantain, and (under\nMugwort) he quotes Mizaldus as mentioning it, he says nothing about this\nfolly here. Aubrey, however, gives an account of it in his\n\u201cMiscellanies.\u201d \u201cThe last summer, on the day of St John Baptist, I\naccidently was walking in the pasture behind Montague House; it was\ntwelve o\u2019clock. I saw there about two or three and twenty young women,\nmost of them well habited, on their knees, very busie, as if they had\nbeen weeding. I could not presently learn what the matter was; at last a\nyoung man told me that they were looking for a coal under the root of a\nplantain, to put under their heads that night, and they should dream\nwho would be their husbands. It was to be found that day and hour.\u201d\nThis miraculous \u201ccoal\u201d also preserved the wearer from all sorts of\ndiseases.\n\n\nCAMOMILE (_Anthemis nobilis_).\n\n Diana!\n Have I (to make thee crowns) been gathering still,\n Fair-cheek\u2019d Eteria\u2019s yellow camomile?\n\n _Br. Pastorals._\n\n Flowers of the field and windflowers springing glad\n --In airs Sicilian, and the golden bough\n Of sacred Plato, shining in its worth.\n .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0With phlox of Ph\u0153dimas and chamomile,\n The crinkled ox-eye of Antagoras.\n\n _Trans. from Meleager._\n\n The healthful balm and mint from their full laps do fly,\n The scentful camomile.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xv.\n\n _Falstaff._ Though the Camomile the more it is trodden on the faster\n it grows, yet youth the more it is wasted the sooner it wears.--_I.\n Henry IV._ ii. 4.\n\nThe camomile is dedicated to St Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, and Mr\nFriend thinks that the Latin name of wild camomile, _Matricaria_, comes\nfrom a \u201cfanciful derivation\u201d of this word, from _mater_ and _cara_, or\n\u201cBeloved Mother.\u201d The name camomile itself is derived from a Greek word\nmeaning \u201cearth-apples,\u201d and its pleasant, refreshing smell is rather\nlike that of ripe apples. The Spaniards call it _Manzanilla_, \u201ca little\napple.\u201d It was grown \u201cboth for pleasure and profit, both inward and\noutward diseases, both for the sicke and the sound,\u201d and was \u201cplanted of\nthe rootes in alleys, in walks, and on banks to sit on, for that the\nmore it is trodden upon and pressed down in dry weather, the closer it\ngroweth and the better it will thrive.\u201d This was a common belief in\nearlier days, as Falstaff\u2019s remark shows.\n\nCulpepper is as trenchant as usual on the subject. \u201cNichersor, saith\nthe Egyptians, dedicated it to the sun, because it cured agues, and they\nwere like enough to do it, for they were the arrantest apes in their\nreligion I have ever read of.\u201d Why his indignation is so much excited is\nnot clear, but probably it is because Agues (being watery diseases) were\nunder the moon, and therefore they should have dedicated a herb that\ncured agues to the Moon. However, he holds to the view that camomile is\ngood for all agues, although it is an herb of the sun--who has nothing\nto do with such diseases, as a rule. Turner criticises Amatus Lusitanus\nwith some shrewdness. This writer, who had apparently taken upon him to\nteach \u201cSpanyardes, Italians, Frenchmen and Germans the name of Herbes in\ntheir tongues, writeth that Camomile is commonlye knowne,\u201d and with this\nbald statement contented himself. \u201cWherefore it is lykely he knoweth\nnether of both [kinds of Camomile]. Wherefore he had done better to have\nsayde, \u2018I do knowe nether of both, then thus shortly to passe by them.\u2019\nCamomile is still officinal, and is used for fomentations. \u2018If taken\ninternally it should be infused with cold water, as heat dissipates the\noil.\u2019\u201d\n\n_Feverfew_ is so nearly related to camomile that it may be mentioned\nhere. Indeed some writers call it \u201ca Wild Camomile,\u201d and give it\n_Matricaria Parthenum_ for a Latin name. Most botanists, however, place\nit \u201cin the genus _Pyrethrum_.\u201d Mr Britten calls it _Pyrethrum\nParthenium_. \u201cFeverfew\u201d comes from \u201cfebrifuge,\u201d for it was supposed to\nhave wonderful power to drive away fevers and agues; and it is still a\nfavourite remedy with village people. Nora Hopper brings it in among the\nfairies:--\n\n There\u2019s many feet on the moor to-night,\n And they fall so light as they turn and pass,\n So light and true, that they shake no dew,\n From the featherfew and the Hungry-Grass.\n\n _The Fairy Music._\n\n\nCARDOONS (_Cynara Cardunculus_).\n\nThis plant is also called Spanish Cardoon or Cardoon of Tours. It is a\nkind of artichoke \u201cwhich becomes a truly gigantic herbaceous vegetable.\nThe tender stalks of the inner leaves are sometimes blanched and stewed,\nor used in soups and salads\u201d; but it is much less used in England than\non the Continent. Cardoons are said to yield a good yellow dye.\n\n\nCLARY (_Salvia Sclarea_).\n\n Percely, clarey and eke sage,\n And all other herbage.\n\n JOHN GARDENER.\n\n\u201cClary, or more properly Clear-eyes,\u201d which indicates one of its\nsupposed chief virtues plainly enough. Wild Clary was called _Oculus\nChristi_, and was even more valued than the garden kind. Clary was once\n\u201cused for making wine, which resembles Frontignac, and is remarkable for\nits narcotic qualities.\u201d[39] It was also added to \u201cAle and Beere in\nthese Northern regions (I think the Netherlands are meant here) to make\nit the more heady.\u201d The young plant itself was eaten, and an approved\nway of dressing it was to put it in an omelette \u201cmade up with cream,\nfried in sweet butter\u201d and eaten with sugar and the juice of oranges or\nlemons. It is now sometimes used to season soups, and Hogg tells us that\nit was used \u201cin Austria as a perfume; in confectionery, and to the\njellies of fruits, it communicates the flavour of pine-apple.\u201d The\nherbalists speak of a plant called Yellow Clary or \u201cJupiter\u2019s Distaff,\u201d\nand Mr Britten suggests that this was _Phlomus fruticosa_.\n\n [39] Timbs.\n\n\nDITTANDER (_Lepidium Latifolium_).\n\nDittander or Pepperwort grows wild in a few places in England, but was\nonce cultivated. It was sometimes used as \u201ca sauce or sallet to meate,\nbut is too hot, bitter and strong for everyone\u2019s taste.\u201d These qualities\nhave gained it the names of Poor Man\u2019s Pepper, and from Tusser, Garden\nGinger. Culpepper\u2019s opinion is briefly expressed: \u201cHere is another\nmartial herb for you, make much of it.\u201d It is so \u201chot and fiery sharpe\u201d\nthat it is said to raise a blister on the hand of anyone who holds it\nfor a while, and _therefore_ (on hom\u0153opathic principles) it was\nrecommended \u201cto take away marks, scarres... and the marks of burning\nwith fire or Iron.\u201d\n\n\nELECAMPANE (_Inula Helenium_).\n\n Elecampane, the beauteous Helen\u2019s flower,\n Mingles among the rest her silver store.\n\n RAPIN.\n\n\u201cSome think it took the name from the teares of _Helen_, from whence it\nsprang, which is a fable; others that she had her hands full of this\nherbe when _Paris_ carried her away; others say it was so called because\nHelen first found it available against the bitings and stingings of\nvenomous beasts; and others thinke that it tooke the name from the\nIsland Helena, where the best was found to grow.\u201d Parkinson gives a wide\nchoice for opinions on the origin of Elecampane, the two first \u201cfables\u201d\nare very picturesque. The radiant gold of the flowers would be gorgeous\nbut beautiful, in a loose bunch, in a meadow, though in-doors they would\nbe apt to look big and glaring. Gerarde speaks of them being \u201cin their\nbraverie in June and July,\u201d and adds that the root \u201cis marvellous good\nfor many things.\u201d Since the days of Helen the fairies have laid hold of\nthe plant, and another name for it (in Denmark) is Elf-Dock. Elecampane\nhas had a great reputation since the days of Pliny, and was considered\nspecially good for coughs, asthma and shortness of breath. Elecampane\nlozenges were much recommended, and the root was candied and eaten as a\nsweetmeat till comparatively lately. It is said to have antiseptic\nqualities, and according to Dr Fernie has been used in Spain as a\nsurgical dressing.\n\n\nFENUGREEK (_Trigonella f\u0153num gr\u00e6cum_).\n\nFenugreek \u201chath many leaves, but three alwayes set together on a\nfoot-stalke, almost round at the ends, a little dented about the sides,\ngreene above and grayish underneath; from the joynts with the leaves\ncome forth white flowers, and after them, crooked, flattish long hornes,\nsmall pointed, with yellowish cornered seedes within them.\u201d This\ndescription is very exact, and, indeed, the conspicuous horn-like pods,\nsingularly large for the size of the plant, are its most marked\ncharacteristic. Turner says: \u201cThis herbe is called in Greek Keratitis,\ny^{t} is horned, aig\u014d keros y^{t} is gotes horne, and \u014f onkeros, that is\ncows horne.\u201d Fenugreek was a Favourite of the \u201cantients,\u201d and Folkard\ngives an account of a festival held by Antiochus Epiphanus, the Syrian\nking, of which one feature was a procession, where boys carried golden\ndishes containing frankincense, myrrh and saffron, and two hundred\nwomen, out of golden watering-pots, sprinkled perfume on the assembled\nguests. All who went to watch the games in the gymnasium were anointed\nwith some perfume from fifteen gold dishes, which held saffron,\namaracus, lilies, cinnamon, spikenard, fenugreek, etc. In England it was\nused for more prosaic purposes, \u201cGalen and others say that they were\neaten as Lupines, and the Egyptians and others eate the seedes yet to\nthis day as Pulse or meate.\u201d The herb, he continues, he has never heard\nof as being used in England, because it was very little grown, but the\nseed was used in medicine. Gerarde gives us one of its pleasantest\npreparations as a drug. In old diseases of the chest, without a fever,\nfat dates are to be boiled with it, with a great quantitie of honey. In\n1868 Rhind[40] writes that the seeds are no longer given in medicine,\nand but rarely used in \u201cfomentations and cataplasms.\u201d Since that date, I\nshould imagine, it is even more rarely used. Fenugreek was at one time\nprescribed by veterinary surgeons for horses.\n\n [40] \u201cHistory of the Vegetable Kingdom.\u201d\n\n\nGOOD KING HENRY (_Chenopodium Bonus Henricus_).\n\nThis plant is otherwise known as Fat Hen, Shoemaker\u2019s Heels, English\nMercury, or as Evelyn says, Blite. He begins with praise: \u201cThe Tops may\nbe eaten as Sparagus or sodden in Pottage, and as a very salubrious\nEsculent. There is both a white and red, much us\u2019d in Spain and Italy\u201d;\nbut he finishes lamely for all his praise: \u201c\u2019tis insipid enough.\u201d\nGerarde says: \u201cIt is called of the Germans _Guter Heinrick_, of a\ncertaine good qualitie it hath,\u201d and its name is much the most\ninteresting thing about it. Various writers have tried to attach it to\nour successive kings of that name, with a want of ingenuousness and\ningenuity equally deplorable. Grimm[41] traces it back till he finds\nthat this was one of the many plants appropriated to Heinz or\nHeinrich--the \u201chousehold goblin,\u201d who plays tricks on the maids or helps\nthem with their work, and asks no more than a bowl of cream set\nover-night for his reward--who, in fact, holds much the same place as\nour Robin Goodfellow holds here.\n\n [41] Teutonic Mythology.\n\n\nHERB-PATIENCE (_Rumex Patienta_).\n\n Sequestered leafy glades,\n That through the dimness of their twilight show\n Large dock-leaves, spiral fox-gloves, or the glow\n Of the wild cat\u2019s-eyes, or the silvery stems\n Of delicate birch trees, in long grass which hems\n A little brook.\n\n _Calidore_--KEATS.\n\n La _tulipe_ est pour la fiert\u00e9,\n Pour le malheur la _patience_.\n\n _La Petite Corbeille._\n\n The Herb-Patience does not grow in every man\u2019s garden.\n\n _Proverb._\n\nHerb-Patience was also called Patience-Dock or Monk\u2019s Rhubarb. The\nFrench call Water-Dock, _Patience d\u2019eau_ and _Parelle des Marais_, so\nthe name of the quality that is, in nursery rhyme, a \u201cvirtue,\u201d and a\n\u201cgrace,\u201d clings to this dock! Parkinson compares it unfavourably with\nBastard Rhubarb, though he says the root is often used in \u201cdiet beere\u201d;\nbut Gerarde calls it an \u201cexcellent, wholesome pot-herbe,\u201d and relates a\ntale, in which responsibilities are treated with such delightful\nairiness that it must be repeated here. He begins by saying that he\nhimself is \u201cno graduate, but a country scholler,\u201d but hopes his \u201cgood\nmeaning will be well taken, considering I doe my best, not doubting but\nsome of greater learning will perfect that which I have begun, according\nto my small skill, especially the ice being broken unto him and the wood\nrough-hewed to his hands.\u201d Nevertheless, he (who dictates on these\nmatters, to a great extent, through his Herbal) thinks that the learned\nmay gain occasionally from his knowledge. \u201cOne _John Bennet_, a\nchirurgion, of Maidstone in Kent, a man as slenderly learned as\nmyselfe,\u201d undertook to cure a butcher\u2019s boy of an ague. \u201cHe promised him\na medicine, and for want of one for the present (he himselfe confessed\nunto me) he tooke out of his garden three or four leaves of this plant\u201d\nand administered them in ale, with entire success. \u201cWhose blunt attempt\nmay set an edge upon some sharper wit and greater judgment in the\nfaculties of plants.\u201d Any anticipation that his experiment might lead to\ndisaster does not seem to have troubled him! The root of Patience-Dock\n\u201cboiled in the water of _Carduus Benedictus_\u201d was also given at a\nventure for an ague, and this experiment was tried by \u201ca worshipfull\ngentlewoman, mistresse Anne Wylbraham, upon divers of her poore\nNeighbours, with good success.\u201d Mistress Anne Wylbraham must have been a\nwoman of temerity!\n\nGarden-patience used to be a good deal cultivated as spinach, but is now\nvery much ignored, partly because few people know how to cook it. The\nleaves should be used early in the spring while they are still tender,\nand the flavour will be very much improved if about a fourth part of\ncommon sorrel is added to them. This way of dressing patience-dock was\nvery popular in Sweden, and is described as \u201cforming an excellent\nspinach dish.\u201d Patience is sometimes spoken of as \u201cpassions,\u201d but this\nname properly belongs to _Polygonum Bistorta_, the leaves of which were\nthe principal ingredient in a herb-pudding, formerly eaten on Good\nFriday in the North of England. Parkinson also speaks in this chapter of\nthe \u201ctrue rhubarb of Rhapontick,\u201d which has \u201cleaves of sad or\ndark-greene colour... of a fine tart or sourish taste, much more\npleasant than the garden or wood sorrell.\u201d Dr Thornton, however, says\nthat Parkinson was mistaken, and that the first seeds of true rhubarb\nwere sent \u201cby the great Boerhaave to our famous gardener, Miller, in\n1759\u201d--more than a hundred years later. Very soon after Miller had it,\nrhubarb was cultivated in many parts of England and in certain\nlocalities in Scotland.\n\n[Illustration: A FIELD OF ENGLISH RHUBARB]\n\n\nHOREHOUND (_Marrubium vulgare_).\n\n Here hore-hound \u2019gainst the mad dog\u2019s ill\n By biting, never failing.\n\n _Muses Elysium._\n\n Pale hore-hound, which he holds of most especiall use.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xiii.\n\nFolkard says that horehound is one of the five plants stated by the\nMishna to be the \u201cbitter herbs,\u201d which the Jews were ordered to take for\nthe Feast of the Passover, the other four being coriander, horse-radish,\nlettuce and nettle. The name _Marrubium_ is supposed to come from the\nHebrew _Marrob_, a bitter juice. De Gubernatis writes that horehound was\nonce regarded as a \u201ccontre-poison magique,\u201d but very little is said\nabout it on the whole, and it is an uninteresting plant to look at, and\nmuch like many others of the labiate tribe. Long ago the Apothecaries\nsold \u201csirop of horehound\u201d for \u201cold coughs\u201d and kindred disorders, and\nhorehound tea and candied horehound are still made to relieve the same\ntroubles. Candied horehound is made by boiling down the fresh leaves and\nadding sugar to the juice thus extracted, and then again boiling the\njuice till it has become thick enough to pour into little cases made of\npaper.\n\n\nLADY\u2019S-SMOCK (_Cardamine pratensis_).\n\n Then comes Daffodil beside\n Our ladye\u2019s smock at our Ladye-tide.\n\n _An Early Calendar of English Flowers._\n\n When daisies pied and violets blue\n And lady-smocks all silver white\n And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue\n Do paint the meadows with delight.\n\n _Love\u2019s Labour Lost_, v. 2.\n\n And some to grace the show,\n Of lady-smocks do rob the neighbouring mead.\n Wherewith their looser locks most curiously they braid.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xx.\n\n And now and then among, of eglantine a spray,\n By which again a course of lady-smocks they lay.\n\n Song xv.\n\n The honeysuckle round the porch has wov\u2019n its wavy bowers,\n And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint, sweet cuckoo flowers,\n And the wild march-marigold shines like fire on swamps and hollows\n gray.\n\n _The May Queen._--TENNYSON.\n\n\u201cCuckoo-flower\u201d is a name laid claim to by many flowers, and authorities\ndiffer as to which one Shakespeare meant by it. Certainly not the plant\nunder discussion, which is the one we most generally call Cuckoo-flower\nto-day, for there can be no doubt that this is the \u201clady\u2019s-smocks\u201d of\nthe line above,--letting alone the fact that the \u201ccuckoo-buds\u201d in the\nsong being of \u201cyellow hue\u201d put the idea out of court. Lord Tennyson\u2019s\nlines point equally clearly to the _Cardamine pratensis_. Lady\u2019s-smock\nis said to be a corruption of \u201cOur Lady\u2019s Smock,\u201d and to be one of the\nplants dedicated to the Virgin, because it comes into blossom about\nLadytide; though as a matter of fact the flower is seldom seen so early.\nIt is remarkable how many attentions this graceful, but humble and\nscentless flower has received; and besides all the poets Isaac Walton\nmentions it twice: \u201cLook! down at the bottom of the hill there, in that\nmeadow, chequered with water-lilies and lady-smocks.\u201d[42] And later:\n\u201cLooking on the hills, I could behold them spotted with wood and\ngroves--looking down in the meadow, could see there a boy gathering\nlilies and lady\u2019s-smocks, and there, a girl cropping culverkeys and\ncowslips, all to make garlands suitable to this present month of May.\u201d\nIt is difficult to be positive about culverkeys. Columbines, bluebells,\nprimroses and an orchis have all been called by this name at different\ntimes. The primrose is cut out of the question here by its colour, for\nin the poem which has been quoted a little while before Davors sings of\n\u201cazure culverkeys.\u201d The columbine is rarely found in a wild state and\nflowers later in the year, the orchis is hardly \u201cazure,\u201d so on the whole\nit looks as if the likeliest flower would be the wild hyacinth. To\nreturn to the lady\u2019s-smocks, Gerarde says they are of \u201ca blushing, white\ncolour,\u201d and like the \u201cwhite sweet-john.\u201d In the seventeenth century\ntheir titles were various and he gives some of them, and in doing so he\nshows an ingenuous, very pleasing clinging to the names familiar to his\nyouth. \u201cIn English, cuckowe flowers, in Northfolke, Canterbury bells, at\nNamptwich in Cheshire, where I had my beginning, ladiesmocks which hath\ngiven me cause to christen it after my country fashion.\u201d Parkinson finds\nthat \u201cthese herbes are seldom used eyther as sauce or sallet or in\nphysick, but more for pleasure to decke up the garlands of the\ncountry-people, yet divers have reported them to be as affectuall in the\nscorbute or scurvy as the water-cresses.\u201d The plant was regarded as an\nexcellent remedy for these evils by the inhabitants of those northern\ncountries where salted fish and flesh are largely eaten. The leaves are\nslightly pungent and somewhat bitter; and in the early part of the\nnineteenth century it was regarded as an ordinary salad herb, so that\nits reputation in that respect must have risen since Parkinson\u2019s days.\n\n [42] Complete Angler.\n\n\nLANGDEBEEFE (_Helminthia echoides_).\n\nLangdebeefe is mentioned with scanty praise. \u201cThe leaves are onely used\nin all places that I knew or ever could learne, for an herbe for the pot\namong others.\u201d It is difficult to be absolutely certain as to the\nidentity of the plant, for Gerarde places it with Bugloss, and\nParkinson, among the Hawkweeds. Mr Britten says, however, that both\nwriters referred to _Helminthia echoides_, but that _Echium vulgare_,\nViper\u2019s Bugloss, is the plant that Turner called Langdebeefe, and\nViper\u2019s Bugloss is still called Langdebeefe in Central France. Near\nParis, however, _Langue de b\u0153uf_ means _Anchusa Italica_. \u201cThe leaves,\u201d\nsays Gerarde, \u201care like the rough tongue of an oxe or cow, whereof it\ntook its name,\u201d and he gives another instance of the _insouciance_ of\ncontemporary physicians. They \u201cput them both into all kindes of\nmedicines indifferently, which are of force and vertue to drive away\nsorrow and pensiveness of the minde, and to comfort and strengthen the\nheart.\u201d \u201cBoth\u201d refers to Bugloss and \u201clittle wilde Buglosse,\u201d which he\nhas just informed us grows upon \u201cthe drie ditch bankes about\nPickadilla.\u201d Times change!\n\n\nLIQUORICE (_Glycyrrhiza glabra_).\n\nGerarde describes two kinds of Liquorice: the first has \u201cwoody\nbranches... beset with leaves of an overworne greene colour, and small\nblew floures of the colour of an English Hyacinth.\u201d From the peculiar\nshape and roughness of the seed-pods it was distinguished by the name of\n\u201cHedge-hogge Licorice.\u201d This kind was very little used. Common Liquorice\nresembles it very closely, but has less peculiar seed-vessels.\n\nThe cultivation of _licorish_ in England began about the year of Queen\nElizabeth\u2019s reign, and it has been much grown at Pontefract (whence\nPontefract lozenges are named), Worksop, Godalming and Mitcham. It must\nhave been once an extremely profitable crop. \u201cThere hath been made from\nfifty Pound to an hundred Pound of an Acre, as some affirm.\u201d The caution\nexpressed in the last three words is rather nice. \u201cI. W.,\u201d the author of\nthis bit of information (he gives no other signature), published his\nbook in 1681, and was evidently of a very patriotic disposition. He is\nindignant that \u201calthough our English Liquorice exceeds any Foreign\nwhatsoever,\u201d yet we \u201cyearly buy of other Nations,\u201d and Parkinson is of\nmuch the same opinion: \u201cThe root grown in England is of a fame more\nweake, sweete taste, yet far more pleasing to us than Licorice that is\nbrought us from beyond Sea,\u201d which is stronger and more bitter. A later\nwriter prefers English roots on the ground that those imported are often\n\u201cmouldy and spoiled.\u201d \u201cWith the juice of Licorice, Ginger and other\nspices there is made a certaine bread or cakes called Gingerbread, which\nis very good against the cough.\u201d It is not the light in which\nGingerbread is usually looked upon. Liquorice administered in many ways\nwas a great remedy against coughs. Boiled in faire water, with\nMaiden-haire and Figges, it made a \u201cgood ptisane drinke for them that\nhave any dry cough,\u201d and the \u201cjuice of Licoris, artificially made with\nHyssoppe water,\u201d was recommended against shortness of breath. Extract of\nLiquorice is to be found in the Pharmacop\u0153ia, and it is imported as\n\u201cSpanish juice.\u201d The extract must be made from the _dried_ root, or else\nit will not be so bright when it is strained. Dr Fernie says that\nLiquorice is added to porter and stout to give thickness and blackness.\n\n\nLOVAGE (_Ligusticum Scoticum_).\n\nMr Britten says: In Lyte and other early works, this [name] is applied\nto _Levisticum officinale_, but in modern British books it is assigned\nto _Ligusticum Scoticum_. It grows wild near the sea-shore in Scotland\nand Northumberland. Lovage \u201chas many long and great stalkes of large,\nwinged leaves, divided into many parts, ... and with the leaves come\nforth towards the toppes, long branches, bearing at their toppes large\numbells of yellow flowers. The whole plant and every part of it smelleth\nsomewhat strongly and aromatically, and of an hot, sharpe, biting\ntaste. The _Germans_ and other Nations in times past used both the roote\nand seede instead of Pepper to season their meates and brothes, and\nfound them as comfortable and warming.\u201d[43] Turner mentions Lovage\namongst his medical herbs and Culpepper says: \u201cIt is an herb of the Sun,\nunder the sign Taurus. If Saturn offend the throat... this is your\ncure.\u201d\n\n [43] Parkinson.\n\n\nMALLOW (_Malva_).\n\n With many a curve my banks I fret,\n By many a field and fallow\n And many a fair by foreland set,\n With willow, weed and mallow.\n\n _The Brook._--TENNYSON.\n\n The spring is at the door,\n She bears a golden store,\n Her maund with yellow daffodils runneth o\u2019er.\n\n * * * * *\n\n After her footsteps follow\n The mullein and the mallow,\n She scatters golden powder on the sallow.\n\n _Spring Song._--N. HOPPER.\n\nParkinson praises mallows both for beauty and virtue. \u201cThe double ones,\nwhich for their Bravery are entertained everywhere into every\nCountrywoman\u2019s garden. The Venice Mallow is called Good-night-at-noone,\nthough the flowers close so quickly that you shall hardly see a flower\nblowne up in the day-time after 9 A.M.\u201d Some medical advice follows, in\nwhich \u201cAll sorts of Mallowes\u201d are praised. \u201cThose that are of most use\nare most common. The rest are but _taken upon credit_.\u201d The last remark\ncomes quite casually, and apparently those that were \u201cbut taken upon\ncredit,\u201d would be comprehended in the \u201call sorts\u201d and administered\nwithout hesitation. French Mallows (_Malva crispa_) is most highly\nrecommended as an excellent pot-herb! indeed all wild mallows may be\nused in that capacity, and the Romans are said to have considered them a\ndelicacy.\n\nMarsh Mallow (_Alth\u00e6a officinalis_) has very soothing qualities, and\nwas, and is, much used by country people for inflammation outwardly and\ninwardly. It contains a great deal of mucilage, in the root\nparticularly. Timbs says: \u201cDr Sir John Floyer mentions a posset (hot\nmilk curdled by some infusion) in which alth\u0153a roots are boiled\u201d; and it\nmust have been a \u201ccomforting\u201d one. In France, the young tops and leaves\nare used in spring salads. \u201cMany of the poorer inhabitants of Syria,\nespecially the Fellahs, the Greeks, and the Armenians, subsist for weeks\non herbs, of which the Marsh Mallow is one of the most common. When\nboiled first, and then fried with onions and butter, they are said to\nform a palatable dish, and in times of scarcity, consequent upon the\nfailure of the crops, all classes may be seen striving with eagerness to\nobtain the much desired plant, which fortunately grows in great\nabundance.\u201d[44] In Job xxx. 3, 4 we read: \u201cFor want and famine they were\nsolitary, fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.\nWho cut up mallows by the bushes.\u201d Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the Bible,\u201d\nhowever, casts doubt on this mallow being a mallow at all, and though\nadmitting that it would be quite possible, decides that the evidence\npoints most clearly to _Atriplex Halimus_.\n\nGerarde says the Tree Mallow \u201capproacheth nearer the substance and\nnature of wood than any of the others; wherewith the people of Olbia and\nNarbone in France doe make hedges, to sever or divide their gardens and\nvineyards which continueth long;\u201d and these hedges must have been a\nbeautiful sight when in flower.\n\nThe Hollyhock, of course, belongs to this tribe, and was once\napparently eaten as a pot-herb, and found to be an inferior one. It has\nbeen put to other uses, for Hogg says that the stalks contain a fibre,\n\u201cfrom which a good strong cloth has been manufactured, and in the year\n1821 about 280 acres of land near Flint in Wales were planted with the\nCommon Holyhock, with the view of converting the fibre to the same uses\nas hemp or flax.\u201d It was also discovered in the process of manufacture,\nthat the plant \u201cyields a blue dye, equal in beauty and permanence to\nthat of the best indigo.\u201d This experiment however successful in results,\ncannot have been justified from a commercial point of view, and was not\noften repeated, and there is now no trace of its having been ever tried.\n\nIn other languages, the Hollyhock has very pretty names; \u201cin low Dutch,\nit was called _Winter Rosen_, and in French, _Rose d\u2019outremer_.\u201d\n\n [44] Hogg.\n\n\nMARIGOLD (_Calendula Officinalis_).\n\n Hark! hark! the lark at heaven\u2019s gate sings\n And Ph\u0153bus \u2019gins to rise,\n His steeds to water at those springs\n On chalic\u2019d flowers that lies;\n And winking Mary-buds begin\n To ope their golden eyes.\n\n _Cymbeline_, ii. 3.\n\n The marigold that goes to bed wi\u2019 the sun,\n And with him rises weeping.\n\n _Winter\u2019s Tale_, iv. 3.\n\n The purple Violets and Marigolds\n Shall, as a carpet, hang upon thy grave\n While summer days do last.\n\n _Pericles_, iv. 1.\n\n Marigolds on death-beds blowing.\n\n _Two Noble Kinsmen._ Introd. Song.\n\n The Marigold observes the sun,\n More than my subjects me have done.\n So shuts the marigold her leaves\n At the departure of the sun;\n So from the honeysuckle sheaves\n The bee goes when the day is done.\n\n _Br. Pastorals_, book iii.\n\n But, maiden, see the day is waxen old,\n And \u2019gins to shut in with the marigold.\n\n _Br. Pastorals_, book i.\n\n Open afresh your round of starry folds\n Ye ardent marigolds!\n Dry up the moisture from your golden lids\n For great Apollo bids\n That in these days your praises should be sung.\n I stood tiptoe, etc.--KEATS.\n\n The marigold above, t\u2019 adorn the arched bar,\n The double daisy, thrift, the button batchelor,\n Sweet William, sops-in-wine, the campion.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xv.\n\n The crimson darnel flower, the blue bottle and _gold_.\n Which though esteemed but weeds, yet for their dainty hues\n And for their scent not ill, they for this purpose choose.\n\n _Ibid._\n\n The yellow kingcup Flora then assigned.\n To be the badges of a jealous mind,\n The orange-tawny marigold.\n\n _Br. Pastorals._\n\nThe Marigold has enjoyed great and lasting popularity, and though the\nflower does not charm by its loveliness, the indomitable courage, with\nwhich, after even a sharp frost, it lifts up its hanging head, and shows\na cheerful countenance, leads one to feel for it affection and respect.\nIn the end of January (1903) here in Devon there were some flowers and\nopening buds, though ten days before the ice bore for skating. The Latin\nname refers to its reputed habit of blossoming on the first days of\nevery month in the year, and in a fairly mild winter this is no\nexaggeration. Marigolds are dedicated to the Virgin, but this fact is\nnot supposed to have had anything to do with the giving of their name,\nwhich had probably been bestowed on them before the Festivals in her\nhonour were kept in England, \u201cThough doubtless,\u201d says Mr Friend, \u201cthe\nname of Mary had much to do with the alterations in the name of\nMarigold, which may be noticed in its history.\u201d There is an idea that\nthey were appropriated to her because they were in flower at all of her\nFestivals; but on this notion other authorities throw doubt. In ancient\ndays Marigolds were often called Golds, or Goules, or Ruddes; in\nProvence, a name for them was \u201c_Gauche-fer_[45] (left-hand iron)\nprobably from its brilliant disc, suggestive of a shield worn on the\nleft arm.\u201d Chaucer describes Jealousy as wearing this flower: \u201cJealousy\nthat werede of yelwe guides a garland\u201d; and Browne calls the\n\u201corange-tawny marigold\u201d its badge.\n\nThere was a very strong belief that the flowers followed the sun, and\nmany allusions are made to this; amongst them, two melancholy lines\nwhich are said to have been drawn from some \u201cMeditations\u201d by Charles I.,\nwritten at Carisbrooke Castle.\n\n \u201cThe marigold observes the sun,\n More than my subjects me have done.\u201d\n\nShakespeare refers often to this idea, and the flower was obviously \u201cto\nearlier writers the emblem of constancy in affection and sympathy in joy\nand sorrow, though it was also the emblem of the fawning courtier who\ncould only shine when everything is bright.\u201d (Canon Ellacombe).\nMarigolds have figured in heraldry, for Marguerite of Valois,\ngrandmother of Henri IV., chose for her armorial device a marigold\nturning towards the sun, with the motto, _Je ne veux suivre que lui\nseul_. About the fifteenth century the Marigold was called _Souvenir_,\nand ladies wore posies of marigolds and heartsease mingled, that is, a\nbunch of \u201chappiness stored in recollections,\u201d a very pretty allegorical\nmeaning. But it has been the symbol of memories anything but happy, for\ncuriously enough, this sun\u2019s flower means Grief in the language of\nflowers, and in many countries is connected with the idea of death. This\nthought occurs in Pericles and in the song in \u201cTwo noble Kinsmen.\u201d In\nAmerica, one name for them is death-flowers, because there is a\ntradition that they \u201csprang upon ground stained by the life-blood of\nthese unfortunate Mexicans who fell victims to the love of gold and\narrogant cruelty of the early Spanish settlers in America.\u201d[46] However,\nto restore the balance of happiness, one learns that to dream of\nMarigolds augurs wealth, prosperity, success, and a rich and happy\nmarriage! In Fuller\u2019s \u201cAntheologia, or the Speech of Flowers\u201d--a most\namusing tale--the Marigold occupies a prominent place. The scene opens\nwith a dispute in the Flowers\u2019 Parliament between the Tulip and the\nRose. \u201cWhilst this was passing in the _Upper House of Flowers_, no less\nwere the transactions in the _Lower House_ of the _Herbs_; where there\nwas a general acclamation against _Wormwood_. Wormwood\u2019s friends were\ncasually absent that day, making merry at an entertainment, her enemies\n(let not that sex be angry for making Wormwood feminine) appeared in\nfull body and made so great a noise, as if some mouths had two tongues\nin them.\u201d Wormwood and the Tulip were eventually both cast out of the\ngarden, and lying by the roadside addressed themselves to a passing Wild\nBoar, telling him of a hole in the hedge, by which he may creep into the\ngarden and revenge them, and amuse himself by destroying the flowers. At\nthe moment he enters, \u201cThrift, a Flower-Herb, was just courting Marigold\nas follows: \u2018Mistress of all Flowers that grow on Earth, give me leave\nto profess my sincerest affections to you.... I have taken signal notice\nof your accomplishments, and among other rare qualities, particularly\nof this, your loyalty and faithfulness to the Sun, ... but we all know\nthe many and sovereign virtues in your leaves, the _Herb Generall_ in\nall pottage.\u201d He then proceeds to praise himself, \u201cI am no gamester to\nshake away with a quaking hand what a more fixed hand did gain and\nacquire. I am none of those who in vanity of clothes bury my quick\nestate as in a winding sheet.\u201d The Marigold demurely hung her head and\nreplied, \u201cI am tempted to have a good opinion of myself, to which all\npeople are prone, and we women most of all, if we may believe your\nopinions of us, which herein I am afraid are too true.\u201d But she is not\ndeceived by his flattery. \u201cThe plain truth is you love me not for\nmyself, but for your advantage. It is _Golden_ the arrear of my _name_,\nwhich maketh _Thrift_ to be my suitor. How often and how unworthily have\nyou tendered your affections even to a _Penny royal_ itself, had she not\nscorned to be courted by you. But I commend the girl that she knew her\nown worth, though it was but a _penny_, yet it is a _Royal_ one, and\ntherefore not a match for every base _Suitor_, but knew how to value\nherself; and give me leave to tell you that _Matches_ founded on\n_Covetousness_ never succeed.\u201d At this point in her spirited reply the\nBoar approached. \u201cThere is no such teacher as extremity; necessity hath\nfound out more Arts than ever ingenuity invented. The Wall Gillyflower\nran up to the top of the Wall of the Garden, where it hath grown ever\nsince, and will never descend till it hath good security for its own\nsafety.\u201d Other thrilling scenes follow, and finally the Boar is put an\nend to by the gardener and \u201ca _Guard_ of Dogs.\u201d\n\nMarigolds stood as a standard of comparison, and Isaac Walton uses the\ncommon saying, \u201cAs yellow as a Marigold.\u201d Among the various titles of\ndifferent kinds of Marigold Gerarde gives the oddest, for he calls one\nvariety Jackanapes-on-horseback; Fuller calls it the \u201cHerb-Generall of\nall pottage,\u201d and it was much esteemed in this capacity. Gay says:\n\n Fair is the gillyflour, for gardens sweet,\n Fair is the marigold, for pottage meet.\n\n _The Squabble._\n\n\u201cThe yellow leaves of the flowers are dried and kept throughout\nDutchland against winter, to put into broths, in physical potions, and\nfor divers other purposes in such quantity that in some Grocers or Spice\nSellers houses are to be found barrels filled with them and retailed by\nthe penny more or less, insomuch that no broths are well made without\nMarigolds.\u201d One is reminded of the childish heroine in Miss Edgeworth\u2019s\ncharming story \u201cSimple Susan\u201d and how she added the petals of Marigolds,\nas the last touch, to the broth she had made for her invalid mother!\nParkinson observes that the flowers \u201cgreen or dryed are often used in\npossets, broths and drinks as a comforter to the heart and spirits,\u201d and\nthat Syrup and Conserve are made of the fresh flowers; also \u201cthe flowers\nof Marigold pickt clean from the heads and pickled up against winter\nmake an excellent Sallet when no flowers are to be had in a garden,\nwhich Sallet is nowadays in the highest esteem with Gentles and Ladies\nof the greatest note.\u201d There is a tone of patronage in this last remark\nwhich is rather irritating. \u201cSome used to make their heyre yellow with\nthe floure of this herbe,\u201d says Turner, and severely censures the\nimpiousness of such an act. A hundred years ago, according to\nAbercromby, the flowers were chiefly used to flavour broth and to\nadulterate Saffron, but they must be even less employed now than then.\n\nDr Fernie says that the flowers of Marigold were much used by American\nsurgeons during the Civil War, in treating wounds, and with admirable\nresults. \u201c_Calendula_ owes its introduction and first use altogether to\nhom\u0153opathic practice, as signally valuable for healing wounds, ulcers,\nburns, and other breaches of the skin surface.\u201d Personal experience\nleads me to suggest that it is an excellent household remedy.\n\nTHE CORN MARIGOLD (_Chrysanthemum segetum_) used to be called Guildes,\nand it was once so rampant that a law was passed by the Scottish\nParliament to fine negligent farmers who allowed it to overrun their\nlands. Hence the old Scots saying--\n\n The Gordon, the Guild, and the Watercraw\n Are the three worst ills the Moray ever saw.\n\n [45] Ingram, \u201cFlora Symbolica.\u201d\n\n [46] Folkard.\n\n\nPENNYROYAL (_Mentha pulegium_).\n\n Peniriall is to print your love,\n So deep within my heart,\n That when you look this nosegay on\n My pain you may impart,\n And when that you have read the same,\n Consider wel my woe.\n Think ye then how to recompense\n Even him that loves you so.\n A Handful of Pleasant Delites.\n\n C. ROBINSON.\n\n Then balm and mint helps to make up\n My chapter, and for trial,\n Costmary, that so likes the cup,\n And next it, pennyroyal.\n\n _Muses\u2019 Elysium._\n\n Lavender, Corn-rose, Pennyroyal sate,\n And that which cats[47] esteem so delicate\n After a while slow-pac\u2019d with much ado,\n Ground pine, with her short legs, crept hither too.\n\n _Of Plants_, book ii.--COWLEY.\n\nIn France, Italy, and Spain, the children make a _cr\u00eache de no\u00ebl_ at\nChristmas time; that is, they make a shed with stones and moss, and\nsurround it with evergreens powdered with flour and cotton-wool, to make\na little landscape. In and about this shed are placed the _gens de la\ncr\u00eache_; little earthen figures representing the Holy Family, and the\nThree Kings with their camels, and the Shepherds with their flocks, the\nsheep being disposed among the miniature rocks and bushes. On Christmas\neve, or else sometimes on Twelfth Night, I think, these are saluted with\nthe music of pipes and carol singing. De Gubernatis says that the\nchildren of Sicily always put pennyroyal amongst the green things in\ntheir _cr\u00eaches_, and believe that exactly at midnight it bursts into\nflower for Christmas Day.\n\nOther names for it are Pulioll Royal and Pudding-grasse, \u201cand in the\nwest parts, as about _Exeter_, Organs.\u201d It is still called organs in the\n\u201cWest parts,\u201d and organ-tea used to be a favourite drink to take out to\nthe harvesters. In Italy pennyroyal is a protection against the Evil\nEye, and in Sicily, they tie it to the branches of the fig-tree,\nthinking that this will prevent the figs falling before they are ripe.\nIt is there also offered to husbands and wives who are in the habit of\n\u201cfalling out\u201d with each other. \u201cThe Ancients said that it causeth Sheepe\nand Goates to bleate when they are eating of it.\u201d To produce all those\nwonderful effects, it must have a great deal of magic about it. Gerarde\nsays it grows \u201cin the Common neare London, called Miles End, about the\nholes and ponds thereof in sundry places, from whence poore women bring\nplentie to sell in London markets.\u201d Would that it could be found at\n\u201cMiles End\u201d now! He gives in passing a sidelight on the comfort in\ntravelling, in the good old days: \u201cIf you have when you are at the sea\nPenny Royal in great quantitie, drie and cast it into corrupt water, it\nhelpeth it much, neither will it hurt them that drinke thereof.\u201d This\ninevitable state of things, in making a voyage, is faced with\nphilosophic calm. \u201cA Garland of Pennie Royal made and worne on the head\nis good against headache and giddiness.\u201d\n\n [47] Cat-mint.\n\n\nPURSLANE (_Portulaca_).\n\n The worts, the purslane and the mess\n Of water-cress.\n\n _Thanksgiving._--HERRICK.\n\nDe la Quintinye thought Purslane \u201cone of the prettiest _plants_ in a\n_kitchen-garden_, the _red_ or _golden_ being the most agreeable to the\neye and the more delicate and difficult to raise than the green. The\nthick stalks of Purslain that is to run to seed, are good to pickle in\nSalt and Vinegar for Winter Sallads.\u201d I do not agree with him; the\nleaves are pretty enough, but thick, fleshy, and of no special charm.\nThe graceful Coriander or the lace-like leaves of Sweet Cicely are far\nmore to be admired. But even Purslane, which looks quite prosaic, was\nmixed up with magic long ago, for strewn about a bed, it used[48] \u201cin\nolden times to be considered a protection against evil spirits.\u201d Among a\nvast number of diseases, for all of which it is highly recommended,\n\u201cblastings by lightening, or planets, and for burning of gunpowder\u201d are\nnamed and Turner says, \u201cIt helpeth the teeth when they are an edged,\u201d so\nit had many uses!\n\nEvelyn finds that \u201cfamiliarly eaten alone with Oyl and Vinegar,\u201d\nmoderation should be used, but remarks that it is eminently moist and\ncooling \u201cespecially the golden,\u201d and is \u201cgenerally entertained in all\nour sallets. Some eate of it cold, after it has been boiled, which Dr\nMuffit would have in wine for nourishment.\u201d Not a tempting dish, by the\nsound of it! The Purslanes are found from the Cape of Good Hope and\nSouth America to the \u201cfrozen regions of the North.\u201d The root of one\nvariety _Leuisia redeviva_, called Tobacco root (because it has the\nsmell of tobacco when cooked), has great nutritive qualities. It is a\nnative of North America, and is boiled and eaten by the Indians, and on\nlong journeys it is of special use, \u201ctwo or three ounces a day being\nquite sufficient for a man, even while undergoing great fatigue.\u201d\n(Hogg.)\n\n [48] Folkard.\n\n\nRAM-CICHES (_Cicer Arietinum_).\n\nRam-ciches, Ramshead, or Chick Pea, gains the two first names from the\ncurious shape of the seed pods which are \u201cpuffed up as it were with\nwinde in which do lie two, or at the most three seeds, small towards the\nend, with one sharp corner, not much unlike to a Ram\u2019s head.\u201d Turner\nsays that the plant is very ill for newe fallowed ground and that \u201cit\nkilleth all herbes and most and sounest of all other ground thistel,\u201d\nwhich seems a loss one could survive. According to Parkinson the seeds\nare \u201cboyled and stewed as the most dainty kind of Pease there are, by\nthe Spaniards,\u201d and he adds that in his own opinion, \u201cthey are of a very\ngood relish and doe nourish much.\u201d They are still eaten and appreciated\nby the country people in the south of France and Spain. Like Borage,\nRam-ciches is particularly interesting to students of chemistry; for it\nis said that \u201cin very hot weather the leaves sparkle with very small\ntears of a viscous and very limpid liquid, extremely acid, and which has\nbeen discovered to be oxalic acid in its pure state.\u201d[49]\n\n [49] Hogg.\n\n\nRAMPION (_Campanula Rapunculus_).\n\n The Citrons, which our soil not easily doth afford,\n The Rampions rare as that.\n\n _Polyolbion Song_, xv.\n\nDe Gubernatis tells a most curious story from Calabria almost exactly\nthat of Cupid and Psyche, but it begins by saying that the maiden,\nwandering alone in the fields, uprooted a rampion, and so discovered a\nstair-case leading to a palace in the depths of the earth.\n\nOne of Grimm\u2019s fairy tales is called after the heroine, _Rapunzel_\n(Rampion), for she was given this plant\u2019s name, and the whole plot hangs\non Rampions being stolen from a magician\u2019s garden. There is an Italian\ntradition that the possession of a rampion (as that of strawberries,\ncherries, or red shoes), would excite quarrels among children, which\nwould sometimes go as far as \u201cmurder.\u201d Even in a land of quick passions\nand southern blood, it can hardly be thought that this tradition had\nmuch ground to spring from, and I have not heard of it as existing\nfurther north. Parkinson says that the roots may be eaten as salad or\n\u201cboyled and stewed with butter and oyle, and some blacke or long pepper\ncast on them.\u201d The distilled water of the whole plant is excellent for\nthe complexion, and \u201cmaketh the face very splendent.\u201d Evelyn thought\nRampions \u201cmuch more nourishing\u201d than Radishes, and they are said to have\na \u201cpleasant, nutty flavour\u201d; in the winter the leaves as well as the\nroots make a nice salad. Even if it is not grown for use, it might well,\nwith its graceful spires of purple bells, be put for ornament in\nshrubberies. Parkinson has said of Honesty, that \u201csome eate the young\nrootes before they runne up to flower, as Rampions are eaten with\nvinegar and oyle\u201d; but Evelyn warns us _apropos_ of this very plant\n(with others) how cautiously the advice of the Ancient Authors should be\ntaken by the sallet gatherer (Parkinson was probably quoting from the\n\u201cAncients\u201d when he said this); \u201cfor however it may have been in their\ncountries, in England _Radix Lunaria_ is accounted among the deadly\npoisons!\u201d One cannot help wondering if Parkinson or Gerarde ever knew\nthose hardy individuals they allude to as \u201csome,\u201d and who tried the\nexperiment!\n\n\nROCAMBOLE (_Allium Scorodoprasum_).\n\nRocambole is a kind of garlic, but milder in flavour, and it is a native\nof Denmark. De la Quintinye seems to confuse it with Shallots (_Allium\nascalonium_), as he writes of \u201cShallots or Rocamboles, otherwise Spanish\nGarlick.\u201d Evelyn, speaking of Garlic as impossible--one cannot help\nfeeling with a smothered wistfulness--says: \u201cTo be sure, \u2019tis not fit\nfor Ladies\u2019 Palates, nor those who court them, farther than to permit a\nlight touch in the Dish, with a _Clove_ thereof, much better supplied by\nthe gentler _Rocambole_.\u201d\n\n\nROCKET (_Eruca sativa_).\n\nVarious plants claim the name of Rocket, but it was _Eruca sativa_ that\nwas used as a salad herb. Parkinson explains the Italian name _Ruchetta_\nand _Rucola Gentile_ thus: \u201cThis Rocket Gentle, so-called from the\n_Italians_, who by that title of Gentle understand anything that maketh\none quicke and ready to jest, to play.\u201d It is certainly not specially\ngentle in the ordinary sense of the words, for it has leaves \u201clike those\nof Turneps, but not neere so great nor rough\u201d; and if eaten alone, \u201cit\ncauseth head-ache and heateth too much.\u201d It is, however, good in Salads\nof Lettuce, Purslane, \u201cand such cold herbes,\u201d and Turner observes that\n\u201csome use the sede for sauce, the whiche that it may last the longer,\nthey knede it with milke or vinegre, and make it into little cakes.\u201d It\nhas a strong peculiar smell, and is no longer used in England; though\nLoudon says that in some places on the Continent it makes \u201can agreeable\naddition to cresses and mustard in early spring.\u201d Culpepper found that\nthe common wild Rocket was hurtful used alone, as it has too much heat,\nbut to \u201chot and choleric persons it is less harmful\u201d (one would have\nimagined that it would have been the other way) and \u201cfor such we may\nsay, a little doth but a little harm, for angry Mars rules them, and he\nsometimes will be rusty when he meets with fools.\u201d This is altogether a\ndark saying, but it gives little encouragement to those who would make\ntrial of Rocket.\n\n\nLONDON ROCKET (_Sisymbrium Irio_).\n\nThis plant gained its name in a singular way. It is said to have first\nappeared in London in the spring following the Great Fire, \u201cwhen young\nRockets were seen everywhere springing up among the ruins, where they\nincreased so marvellously that in the summer the enormous crop crowding\nover the surface of London created the greatest astonishment and\nwonder.\u201d[50]\n\n [50] Folkard.\n\n\nSAFFRON (_Crocus sativus_).\n\n Nor Cyprus wild vine-flowers, nor that of Rhodes,\n Nor Roses oil from Naples, Capua,\n Saffron confected in Cilicia.\n Nor that of Quinces, nor of Marjoram,\n That ever from the Isle of Co\u00f6s came,\n Nor these, nor any else, though ne\u2019er so rare\n Could with this place for sweetest smells compare.\n\n _Br. Pastorals_, Book I.\n\n _Clown._ I must have Saffron to colour the Warden pies.\n\n _Winter\u2019s Tale_, iv. 2.\n\n You set Saffron and there came up Wolf\u2019s bane. (Saying to express an\n action which has an unexpected result.)\n\nSaffron has been of great importance since the earliest days, and it is\nmentioned in a beautiful passage of the Song of Solomon. \u201cThy plants are\nan orchard of Pomegranates, with pleasant fruits, Camphire with\nSpikenard, Spikenard and Saffron, Calamus and Cinnamon, with all trees\nof Frankincense, Myrrh and Aloes, with all the chief spices,\u201d iv. 13,\n14.\n\nCanon Ellacombe says that the Arabic name, _Al Zahafaran_ was the\ngeneral name for all _Croci_, and extended to the _Colchicums_, which\nwere called Meadow Saffrons. It is pointed out by Mr Friend that,\nfurther, the flower has given its name to a colour, and had given it in\nthe days of Homer, and he remarks how much more exactly the expression\n\u201cSaffron-robed\u201d morning describes the particular tints seen sometimes\nbefore sunrise (or at sunset) than any other words can do. Saffron\nWalden in Essex, whose arms are given on page 101, and Saffron Hill in\nLondon (which once formed part of the Bishop of Ely\u2019s garden), are also\nobviously named after it, and as is seen in the former case it has given\narms to a borough. As to its introduction into England Hakluyt writes\n(1582): \u201cIt is reported at Saffron Walden that a pilgrim proposing to do\ngood to his country, stole a head of Saffron, and hid the same in his\nPalmer\u2019s Staffe, which he had made hollow before of purpose, and so he\nbrought the root into this realme with venture of his life, for if he\nhad been taken, by the law of the countrey from whence it came, he had\ndied for the fact\u201d (\u201cEnglish Voyages,\u201d vol. ii.). Canon Ellacombe thinks\nthat it was probably originally brought here in the days of the Romans,\nand found \u201cin a Pictorial Vocabulary of the fourteenth century, \u2018Hic\nCrocus, An^{ee} Safryn,\u2019 so that I think the plant must have been in\ncultivation in England at that time.\u201d In the work of \u201cMayster Ion\nGardener,\u201d written about 1440, one of the eight parts into which it is\ndivided is wholly devoted to a discourse, \u201cOf the Kynde of Saferowne,\u201d\nwhich shows that Saffron must have been a good deal considered in his\nday. The Charity Commission of 1481 mentions two Saffron-gardens; and in\nthe churchwarden\u2019s accounts at Saffron Walden, in the second year of\nRichard III.\u2019s reign, there is an entry, \u201cPayd to John Rede for pyking\nof V unc Saffroni, xii.\u201d The town accounts of Cambridge show that in\n1531 Saffron was grown there; and at Barnwell in the next parish the\nprior of Barnwell had ten acres.\n\nSome old wills, too, throw some light on the subject. In the will of\nAlyce Sheyne of Sawstone, in 1527, \u201ca rood of Saffron\u201d is left to her\nson. In 1530 (1533?) John Rede, also of Sawstone, leaves his godson a\n\u201crood of Saffron in Church Field,\u201d and William Hockison of Sawstone,\nbequeathed in 1531, \u201cto Joan, my wife, a rood of Saffron, and to my\nmaid, Marger, and my son, John, half an acre.\u201d As may be easily inferred\nfrom these legacies, Saffron was very largely grown at Sawstone, and the\ntwo adjoining parishes, as well as at Saffron Walden. The first man to\nintroduce it into Saffron Walden to be cultivated on a really large\nscale was Thomas Smith, Secretary of State to Edward VI., and in 1565,\nit was grown in abundance. In 1557 Turner speaks of Saffron-growing, as\nif this was very general, but it must be remembered that he started life\nin Essex, farmed successively in Suffolk and Norfolk, and returned to\nhis native county to a farm at Fairstead, and having never moved very\nfar from the special home of the industry, he naturally took as an\nordinary proceeding, what would have been very unusual in other parts of\nthe country. It can never have been very widely cultivated; for Turner,\nwhose \u201cHerbal\u201d gives an immense deal of information, and who wrote when\nthe industry was in full swing, omits all mention of Saffron, though he\nspeaks of, and evidently knew Meadow Saffron.\n\nThis is a strong sign that cultivation must have been confined to\ncertain localities, chiefly in the eastern counties, though in the west\nit was grown at Hereford and surrounding districts to a very\nconsiderable extent. I do not mean to imply that none was grown in\nneighbouring counties, but the evidence is not easy to get, and I have\nnot gone deeply enough into the subject to find it, but the Saffron of\nHereford was famed.\n\nAt Black Marston in Herefordshire, in 1506 and again in 1528, leave was\ngranted by the Prioress of Acornbury, to persons to cultivate Saffron\nextensively.\n\nIn 1582, in spite of a continued demand for it, the cultivation of\nSaffron seems to have decreased, for Hakluyt writes in his \u201cRemembrances\nfor Master S.\u201d [what to observe in a journey he is about to undertake].\n\u201cSaffron groweth in Syria.... But if a vent might be found, men would in\nEssex (about Saffron Walden) and in Cambridgeshire, revive the trade for\nthe benefit of setting the poore on worke. So would they do in\nHerefordshire by Wales, where the best of all Englande is, in which\nplace the soil yields the wilde \u201cSaffron\u201d commonly.\u201d The soil there\nstill yields the wilde Saffron so commonly that at the present moment it\nis regarded with disfavour, as being quite a drawback to some pasture\nlands, but it is no longer grown there for commercial purposes. Neither\nGerarde (1596) nor Parkinson (1640) mention Saffron-growing as an\nindustry, but in 1681 \u201cI. W.\u201d gives directions for cultivating and\ndrying it. \u201cEnglish Saffron,\u201d he says, \u201cis esteemed the best in the\nworld; it\u2019s a plant very suitable to our climate and soil.\u201d At Saffron\nWalden it continued to be grown for commerce for over two hundred years,\nbut has now been uncultivated in that locality for more than a century.\nIn Cambridgeshire, however, it flourished to a later date, and the last\nSaffron grower in England was a man named Knot, who lived at Duxford in\nCambridgeshire, and who grew Saffron till the year 1816.\n\nThis is Turner\u2019s advice for cultivating it.\n\n When harvest is gone,\n Then Saffron comes on.\n A little of ground,\n Brings Saffron a pound.\n\n The pleasure is fine,\n The profit is thine.\n Keep colour in drying,\n Well used, worth buying.\n\nAnd also:--\n\n Pare Suffron between the two St Mary\u2019s days[51]\n Or set or go shift it, that knoweth the ways...\n In having but forty foot, workmanly dight\n Take Saffron enough for a lord or a knight.\n\n _August\u2019s Husbandry._\n\nFrom old records it seems to have been grown in small patches of less\nthan an acre, and to have been a most profitable crop. \u201cI. W.,\u201d in his\ndirections says, for drying it, \u201ca small kiln made of clay, and with a\nvery little Fire, and that with careful attendance,\u201d is required. \u201cThree\nPounds thereof moist usually making one of dry. One acre may bear from\nseven to fifteen Pound, and hath been sold from 20s. a Pound to \u00a35 a\nPound.\u201d The last price sounds as if it existed only in his imagination,\nand one cannot really think that it was given often! But on one\noccasion, Timbs says, an even higher sum was reached, for when Queen\nElizabeth paid a visit to Saffron Walden, the Corporation paid five\nguineas for one pound of Saffron to present to her. Though this was\nexceptional, the usual prices for it were very high; and to show this,\nand also the enormous amount that was used in cooking, Miss Amherst\nquotes from some old accounts of the Monastery of Durham: \u201cIn 1531, half\na pound of \u2018Crocus\u2019 or Saffron was bought in July, the same quantity in\nAugust and in November, a quarter of a pound in September, and a pound\nand a half in October.\u201d So much for the quantity; as to the price, a\nmerchant of Cambridgeshire charged them in 1539-1540 for 6\u00bd lbs. Crocus,\n\u00a37, 8s.\n\nSaffron used to be much employed to colour and to flavour pies and\ncakes, and it was this reason that Perdita sent the \u201cClown\u201d to fetch\nsome, when she was making \u201cWarden\u201d (Pear) pies for the sheep-shearing.\nSaffron cakes still prevail in Cornwall, and come over the border into\nthe next county, and a chemist, in Somerset, said quite lately, that\nthirty years since, he used to sell quantities of Saffron at\nEaster-time, but that much less is asked for now. It seems to have been\nspecially used in the materials for feasting at this season. Evelyn\ntells us that the Germans made it into \u201clittle balls with honey, which\nafterwards they dry and reduce to powder, and then sprinkle over salads\u201d\nfor a \u201cnoble cordial.\u201d For medicinal purposes Saffron is imported, for\nin spite of \u201cI. W.\u2019s\u201d praise, that grown in England is far from\nequalling that of Greece and Asia Minor, though in any case it is only\nnow used as a colouring matter. The saying which survives, \u201cSo dear as\nSaffron,\u201d to express anything of worth, is a proof of how great its\nvalue once was; and it is true that the plant was credited with powers\nnothing short of miraculous. Perhaps Fuller tells us the most startling\nnews: \u201cIn a word, the Sovereign Power of genuine _Saffron_ is plainly\nproved by the Antipathy of the _Crocodiles_ thereunto. For the\n_Crocodile\u2019s tears_ are never _true_ save when he is forced where\n_Saffron_ groweth (whence he hath his name of \u03b3\u03be\u03bf\u03ba\u03cc-\u03c2\u03c4\u03c0\u03bb\u03b8 or the\nSaffron-fearer) knowing himselfe to be all Poison, and it all\n_Antidote_.\u201d\n\nAfter this, Gerarde\u2019s assertion that for those whom consumption has\nbrought \u201cat death\u2019s doore, and almost past breathing, that it bringeth\nbreath againe,\u201d sounds moderate. On the doctrine of Signatures, Saffron\nwas prescribed for jaundice and measles, and it is also recommended to\nbe put into the drinking water of canaries when they are moulting. Irish\nwomen are said to dye their sheets with Saffron, that it may give\nstrength to their limbs. Saffron has long been much esteemed as a dye,\nand Ben Jonson tells us of this use for it in his days in lines that\nliterally rollick:--\n\n Give us bacon, rinds of walnuts,\n Shells of cockles and of small nuts,\n Ribands, bells, and saffron\u2019d linen,\n All the world is ours to win in.\n\n _The Gipsies Metamorphosed._\n\nGerarde says: \u201cThe chives (stamens) steeped in water serve to illumine\nor (as we say) limme pictures and imagerie,\u201d and Canon Ellacombe quotes\nfrom an eleventh century work, showing that it was employed for the same\npurpose then. \u201cIf ye wish to decorate your work in some manner, take\ntin, pure and finely scraped, melt it and wash it like gold, and apply\nit with the same glue upon letters or other places which you wish to\nornament with gold or silver; and when you have polished it with a\ntooth, take Saffron with which Silk is coloured, moistening it with\nclear of egg without water; and when it has stood a night, on the\nfollowing day, cover with a pencil the places which you wish to gild,\nthe rest holding the place of silver.\u201d--_Theophilus_, HENDRIE\u2019S\nTranslation.\n\nMeadow-Saffron, or _Colchicum_, yields a drug still much prescribed, of\nwhich Turner uttered a caution in 1568. He says it is a drug to\n\u201cisschew.\u201d He warns those \u201csyke in the goute\u201d (for whom it was, and is,\na standard remedy) that much of it is \u201csterke poyson, and will strongell\na man and kill him in the space of one day.\u201d Drugs must, indeed, have\nbeen administered in heroic measures at that time--if he really ever\nheard of such a case at first hand. It is from the corm, or bulb, of the\nplant that _Colchicum_ is extracted.\n\n [51] July 22nd and August 15th.\n\n[Illustration: TITLE-PAGE OF GERARD\u2019S \u201cHERBAL\u201d]\n\n\nSAMPHIRE (_Crithium maritimum_).\n\n _Edgar._ Half way down\n Hangs one that gathers Samphire, dreadful trade!\n Methinks he seems no bigger than his head.\n\n _King Lear_, iv. 6.\n\nSamphire is St Peter\u2019s Herb, and gains the distinction either because\nit grows on sea-cliffs, and so is appropriate to the patron of\nfishermen, or more probably, because it flourishes on rocks, and its\nroots strike deep into the crevices. The French call it _Herbe de St\nPierre_ and _Pierce-Pierre_, from its peculiar way of growing; and the\nItalians have the same name, but call it _Finocchio marino_ as well; and\nthis title, translated to Meer-finckell, was also the German and Dutch\nname, according to Parkinson. It is strongly aromatic, \u201cbeing of smell\ndelightfule and pleasant, and hath many fat and thicke leaves, somewhat\nlike those of the lesser Purslane... of a spicie taste, with a certaine\nsaltness.\u201d Gerarde praises it pickled in salads. Edgar\u2019s words show that\nit must have been popular in Elizabethan days, and so it was for more\nthan a hundred years after as \u201cthe pleasantest Sauce\u201d; and Evelyn\nconsidered it preferable to \u201cmost of our hotter herbs,\u201d and \u201clong\nwonder\u2019d it has not long since been cultivated in the _Potag\u00e8re_ as it\nis in France. It groweth on the rocks that are often moistened, at the\nleast, if not overflowed with the sea water,\u201d a verdict which tallies\nwith the saying that Samphire grows out of reach of the waves, but\nwithin reach of the spray of every tide. I have found it growing in much\nthat position on rocks on the seashore in Cornwall. Two other kinds of\nSamphire, Golden Samphire (_Inula Crithmifolia_) and Marsh Samphire\n(_Salicornia Herbacea_), are sometimes sold as the true Samphire, but\nneither of them have so good a flavour.\n\n\nSKIRRETS (_Sium Sisarum_).\n\n The Skirret and the leek\u2019s aspiring kind,\n The noxious poppy-quencher of the mind.\n\n _The Salad._--COWPER.\n\n\u201cThis is that siser or skirret which _Tiberius_ the Emperour commanded\nto be conveied unto him from Gelduba, a castle about the river of\nRhine,\u201d and which delighted him so much \u201cthat he desired the same to be\nbrought unto him everye yeare out of Germanie.\u201d Evelyn found them \u201chot\nand moist... exceedingly wholesome, nourishing and delicate... and so\nvalued by the Emperor Tiberius that he accepted them for tribute\u201d--a\npoint that Gerarde\u2019s statement hardly brought out. \u201cThis excellent root\nis seldom eaten raw, but being boil\u2019d, stew\u2019d, roasted under the Embers,\nbak\u2019d in Pies whole, slic\u2019d or in Pulp, is very acceptable to all\nPalates. \u2019Tis reported they were heretofore something bitter, see what\nculture and education effects.\u201d On the top of these congratulations,\nperhaps it is unkind to say the reported bitterness has a very mythical\nsound, for long before Evelyn\u2019s time, the Dutch name for skirret was\nSuycker wortelen (sugar root), and that Marcgrave has extracted \u201cfine\nwhite sugar, little inferior to that of the cane\u201d from it. But from\nTurner\u2019s account there seems to have been formerly some confusion as to\nthe identity of the plant, and one claimant to the title was somewhat\nbitter, so perhaps this was the cause of the remarks in _Acetaria_. In\nScotland, Skirrets were called Crummock. Though few people seem to have\nappreciated them so much as did our ancestors, they were till lately\nsometimes boiled and sent to the table, but are now hardly ever seen.\n\n\nSMALLAGE (_Apium graveolens_).\n\nSmallage is merely wild celery, and all that is interesting about it is\nParkinson\u2019s description of his first making acquaintance with sweet\nsmallage--our celery, which has been already quoted. He merely says of\nordinary smallage that it is \u201csomewhat like Parsley, but greater,\ngreener and more bitter.\u201d It grows wild in moist grounds, but is also\nplanted in gardens, and although \u201chis evil taste and savour, doth cause\nit not to be accepted unto meats as Parsley,\u201d yet it has \u201cmany good\nproperties both for inward and outward diseases.\u201d\n\n\nSTONECROP (_Sedum_).\n\nStone-crop, Stone-hot, Prick-Madam or Trick-Madam is a _Sedum_, but\nwhich _Sedum_ the old Herbalists called by these names is not absolutely\nclear, it was probably _Sedum Telephium_ or _Sedum Album_. Evelyn speaks\nof \u201cTripe-Madam, _Vermicularis Insipida_,\u201d which seems to point to the\nlatter, as that used to be called Worm-grass. He says Tripe-madam is\n\u201ccooling and moist,\u201d but there is another Stone-crop of as pernicious\nqualities as the former are laudable, Wall-pepper, _Sedum Minus\nCausticum_ (most likely our _Sedum Acre_). This is called by the French,\nTricque-Madame, and he cautions the \u201cSallet-Composer, if he be not\nbotanist sufficiently skilful\u201d to distinguish them by the eye, to\n\u201cconsult his palate,\u201d and taste them before adding them to the other\ningredients.\n\n\nSWEET CICELY (_Myrrhis odorata_).\n\nSweet Cicely or Sweet Chervil was apparently less of a favourite than\nits romantic name would seem to warrant, for I can find no traditions\nconcerning it. \u201cChervil\u201d (of which this is a variety) says Gerarde, \u201cis\nthought to be so called because it delighteth to grow with many leaves,\nor rather that it causeth joy and gladness.\u201d There does not seem much\nconnection between these two interpretations. He continues that \u201cthe\nname _Myrrhus_ is also called Myrrha, taken from his pleasant flavour of\nMyrrh.\u201d Sweet Cicely has a very pleasant flavour, with this peculiarity,\nthat the leaves taste exactly as if sugar had just been powdered over\nthem, but personally I have never been able to recognise myrrh in it.\nIt is a pretty plant, with \u201cdivers great and fair spread wing leaves,\nvery like and resembling the leaves of Hemlocke... but of sweet pleasant\nand spice-hot taste. Put among herbes in a sallet it addeth a marvellous\ngood rellish to all the rest. Some commend the green seeds sliced and\nput in a sallet of herbes. The rootes are eyther boyled and eaten with\noyle and vinegare or preserved or candid.\u201d Sweet Cicely is very\nattractive to bees, and was often \u201crubbed over the insides of the hives\nbefore placing them before newly-cast swarms to induce them to enter,\u201d\nand in the North of England Hogg says the seeds are used to polish and\nscent oak floors and furniture.\n\n\nTANSY (_Tanacetum vulgare_).\n\n _Lelipa_--Then burnet shall bear up with this\n Whose leaf I greatly fancy,\n Some camomile doth not amiss\n With savory and some tansy.\n\n _Muses\u2019 Elysium._\n\n The hot muscado oil, with milder maudlin cast\n Strong tansey, fennel cool, they prodigally waste.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xv.\n\nThe name Tansy comes from _Athanasia_, Immortality, because its flower\nlasts so long, and it is dedicated to St Athanasius. It is connected\nwith various interesting old customs, and especially with some observed\nat Easter time. Brand quotes several old rhymes in reference to this.\n\n Soone at Easter cometh Alleluya.\n With butter, cheese and a tansay.\n\n From _Douce\u2019s Collection of Carols_.\n\n On Easter Sunday be the pudding seen\n To which the Tansey lends her sober green.\n\n _The Oxford Sausage._\n\n Wherever any grassy turf is view\u2019d,\n It seems a tansie all with sugar strew\u2019d.\n\n From _Shipman\u2019s Poems_.\n\nThe last lines occur in a description of the frost in 1654. None of\nthese quotations refer to the plant alone; but to that kind of cake or\nfritter called taansie, and of which Tansy leaves formed an ingredient.\nTansy must be \u201ceaten young, shred small with other herbes, or else, the\njuiyce of it and other herbes, fit for the purpose beaten with egges and\nfried into cakes (in Lent and in the Spring of the year) which are\nusually called Tansies.\u201d Though Parkinson speaks of their being eaten in\nLent (as they no doubt were), the special day that they were in demand\nwas Easter Day, and of this practice Culpepper has a good deal to say.\nTansies were then eaten as a remembrance of the bitter herbs eaten by\nthe Jews at the Passover. \u201cOur Tansies at Easter have reference to the\nbitter herbs, though at the same time \u2019twas always the fashion for a man\nto have a gammon of bacon, to show himself to be no Jew.\u201d This little\nglimpse of an old practice comes from Selden\u2019s _Table Talk_ and the idea\nof taking this means to declare one\u2019s self a Christian is really\ndelightful. I must quote again from Brand to show another very\nextraordinary Easter Day custom. \u201cBelithus, a ritualist of ancient\ntimes, tells us that it was customary in some churches for the Bishops\nand Archbishops themselves to play with the inferior clergy at\nhand-ball, and this, as Durand asserts, even on Easter Day itself. Why\nthey should play at hand-ball at this time rather than any other game,\nBourne tells us he has not been able to discover; certain it is,\nhowever, that the present custom of playing at that game on Easter\nHolidays for a tansy-cake has been derived from thence.\u201d Stool-ball was\napparently a most popular amusement and Lewis in his _English\nPresbyterian Eloquence_ criticises the tenets of the Puritans, and\nobserves with disapproval that all games where there is \u201cany hazard of\nloss are strictly forbidden; not so much as a game of stool-ball for a\ntansy is allowed.\u201d From a collection of poems called \u201cA Pleasant Grove\nof New Fancies,\u201d 1657, Brand extracts the following verses:--\n\n At stool-ball, Lucia, let us play\n For sugar, cakes and wine\n Or for a tansey let us pay,\n The loss be thine or mine.\n\n If thou, my dear, a winner be,\n At trundling of the ball,\n The wager thou shalt have and me,\n And my misfortunes all.\n\nLet us hope that the stake was handsomer than it sounds! Brand quotes\nanother very curious practice in which Tansies have a share, once\nexisting in the North. On Easter Sunday, the young men of the village\nwould steal the buckles off the maidens\u2019 shoes. On Easter Monday, the\nyoung men\u2019s shoes and buckles were taken off by the young women. On\nWednesday, they are redeemed by little pecuniary forfeits, out of which\nan entertainment, called a Tansey Cake, is made, with dancing. One\ncannot help wondering how this cheerful, if somewhat peculiar custom\noriginated! In course of time Tansies came to be eaten only about\nEaster-time and the practice seems to have acquired at one period the\nlustre almost of a religious rite in which superstition had a\nconsiderable share. Coles (1656) and Culpepper (1652) rebel against this\nand show with force and clearness the advantages of eating Tansies\nthroughout the spring. Coles ignores the ceremonial reasons and says\nthat the origin of eating it in the spring is because Tansy is very\nwholesome after the salt fish consumed during Lent, and counteracts the\nill-effects which \u201cthe moist and cold constitution of winter\u201d has made\non people... \u201cthough many understand it not and some simple people take\nit for a matter of superstition to do so.\u201d This shows plainly that the\nidea of eating Tansies only at Easter, was pretty widely spread.\nCulpepper as usual is more incisive. He first gives the same reason\nthat Coles does for eating Tansies in the spring; then: \u201cAt last the\nworld being over-run with Popery, a monster called superstition pecks up\nhis head, and... obscures the bright beams of knowledge by his dismal\nlooks; (physicians seeing the Pope and his imps, selfish, began to do so\ntoo), and now, forsooth, Tansies must be eaten only on Palm and Easter\nSundays and their neighbour days. At last superstition being too hot to\nhold, and the selfishness of physicians walking in the clouds; after the\nfriars and monks had made the people ignorant, the superstition of the\ntime, was found out by the virtue of the herb hidden and now is almost,\nif not altogether left off. Scarcely any physicians are beholden to none\nso much as they are to monks and friars; for wanting of eating this herb\nin spring, maketh people sickly in summer, and that makes work for the\nphysician. If it be against any man or woman\u2019s conscience to eat Tansey\nin the spring, I am as unwilling to burthen their conscience, as I am\nthat they should burthen mine; they may boil it in wine and drink the\ndecoction, it will work the same effect.\u201d \u201cThe Pope and his imps\u201d is a\ngrand phrase! A more militant Protestant than Culpepper it would be\ndifficult to find, even in these days.\n\nFrom other writers, it seems that the phase of associating Tansies\nexclusively with Easter, must have worn itself out, for we find many\ndescriptions of them on distinctly secular occasions. At the Coronation\nFeast of James II. and his Queen, a Tansie was served among the 1445\n\u201cDishes of delicious Viands\u201d provided for it, and I must quote some of\nthe others:--\u201cStag\u2019s tongues, cold; Andolioes; Cyprus Birds, cold and\nAsparagus; a pudding, hot; Salamagundy; 4 Fawns; 10 Oyster pyes, hot;\nArtichokes; an Oglio, hot; Bacon, Gammon and Spinnage; 12 Stump Pyes; 8\nGodwits; Morels; 24 Puffins; 4 dozen Almond Puddings, hot; Botargo;\nSkirrets; Cabbage Pudding; Lemon Sallet; Taffeta Tarts; Razar Fish; and\nBroom Buds, cold.\u201d[52] These are only a very few out of an immense\nvariety that are also named.\n\nMany recipes for a \u201cTansy\u201d exist, and very often have only the slightest\nresemblance to one another, but this is rather a nice one and is\ndeclared by its transcriber to be \u201cthe most agreeable of all the boiled\nHerbaceous Dishes.\u201d It consists of: \u201cTansey, being qualify\u2019d with the\njuices of other fresh Herbs; _Spinach_, _green Corn_, _Violet_,\n_Primrose Leaves_, etc., at entrance of the spring, and then fry\u2019d\nbrownish, is eaten hot, with the Juice of Orange and Sugar.\u201d Isaac\nWalton speaks of a \u201cMinnow Tansy,\u201d which is made of Minnows \u201cfried with\nyolks of eggs; the flowers of cowslips and of primroses and a little\ntansy; thus used they make a dainty dish of meat.\u201d Our ancestors seem to\nhave had a great love of \u201cbatter,\u201d for it is a prominent part in very\nmany of their dishes. Mrs Milne Home says, \u201cIn Virginia the Negroes make\nTansy-tea for colds and at a pinch, Mas\u2019r\u2019s cook will condescend to use\nit in a sauce,\u201d but in English cookery, it has absolutely disappeared.\n\nTansy had many medicinal virtues. Sussex people used to say that to wear\nTansy-leaves in the shoe, was a charm against ague.\n\nWild Tansy looks handsome when it grows in abundance on marshy ground;\nand, indeed, its feathery leaves are beautiful anywhere, and it has a\nmore refreshing scent than the Garden-Tansy. \u201cIn some parts of Italy\npeople present stalks of Wild Tansy to those whom they mean to\ninsult,\u201d[53] a proceeding for which there seems neither rhyme nor\nreason. Turner tells tales of the vanity of his contemporaries,\nmasculine as well as feminine, for he says:\n\n\u201cOur weomen in Englande and some men that be sunneburnt and would be\nfayre, eyther stepe this herbe in white wyne and wash their faces with\nthe wyne or ellis with the distilled water of the same.\u201d\n\n [52] Complete Account of the Coronations of the Kings and Queens of\n England, J. Roberts.\n\n [53] Folkard.\n\n\nTHISTLE (_Carduus Marianus and Carduus Benedictus_).\n\n _Margaret._ Get you some of this distilled Carduus Benedictus, and lay\n it to your heart, it is the only thing for a qualm.\n\n _Hero._ There thou prick\u2019st her with a thistle.\n\n _Beatrice._ Benedictus! why Benedictus? you have some moral in this\n Benedictus.\n\n _Margaret._ Moral! no, by my troth, I have no moral meaning; I meant\n plain holy thistle.\n\n _Much Ado about Nothing_, iii, 4.\n\n That thence, as from a garden without dressing\n She these should ever have, and never want.\n Store from an orchard without tree or plant...\n And for the chiefest cherisher she lent\n The royal thistle\u2019s milky nourishment.\n\n _Br. Pastorals_, Book i.\n\nThe history, legends, and traditions surrounding Thistles in general,\nmake far too large a subject to be entered on here, and only these two\nvarieties can be considered. _Carduus Marianus_, the Milk or Dappled\nThistle, has sometimes been called the Scotch Thistle, and announced to\nbe the Thistle of Scotland. As a matter of fact, I believe, that after\nlong and stormy controversy, that honour has been awarded to _Carduus\nAcanthioides_, but the Milk Thistle\u2019s claims have received very strong\nsupport, and so it seems most probable, considering the context, that\nwhen Browne referred to the \u201cRoyal Thistle,\u201d it was this one that he\nmeant. This supposition is borne out by Hogg, who writes: \u201cAs Ray says,\nit is more a garden vegetable than a medicinal plant. The young and\ntender stalks of the root leaves when stripped of their spiny part, are\neaten like cardoon, or when boiled, are used as greens. The young\nstalks, peeled and soaked in water to extract their bitterness, are\nexcellent as a salad. The scales of the involucre are as good as those\nof the artichoke, and the roots in early spring are good to eat.\u201d The\nseeds supply food to many small birds, and it is from the gold-finch\nfeeding so extensively on them that it has been called _Carduelis_. This\npartiality of the gold-finch must have been observed in several lands,\nfor the same name occurs in different tongues. In England, it has been\ncalled Thistlefinch; in French, _Chardonneret_, and in Italian,\n_Cardeletto_, _Cardeto_ being a waste covered with thistles. One cannot\nhelp remembering the charming line:--\n\n \u201cAs the thistle shakes,\n When three gray linnets wrangle for the seed,\u201d\n\nwith the reflection that other birds besides gold-finches have a deep\nappreciation of it.\n\nBut to go back to the Thistle itself, after all these uses made of every\npart, no wonder that Browne called it a \u201cchiefest cherisher of vital\npower!\u201d Although, latterly, its reputation in medicine has fallen, in\nold days, on account of its numerous prickles (Doctrine of Signatures),\nit was thought good for stitches in the side. Culpepper has further\nadvice: \u201cIn spring, if you please to boil the tender plant (but cut off\nthe prickles, unless you have a mind to choke yourself), it will change\nyour blood as the season changeth, and that is the way to be safe.\u201d\n\n_Carduus Benedictus_, called the Holy, or the Blessed Thistle, was\nconsidered a great preservative against the plague, and that it was also\ngiven for a sudden spasm is shown in the delightful scene between\nBeatrice and her friends in \u201cMuch Ado About Nothing.\u201d It follows the\n_ruse_ that they have just played upon her, to persuade her that\nBenedict is already in love with her, in the hope that she may become\nenamoured of him, and the play upon the name is very charming. Culpepper\nsays that _Carduus Benedictus_ was good against \u201cdiseases of\nmelancholy,\u201d which is additional evidence that Shakespeare did not go\nout of his way to find an imaginary remedy that would suit that\noccasion, but with exquisite skill took a remedy that would have been\nnatural in his time, and surrounded it with wit. Less than a hundred\nyears ago a decoction used to be made from its leaves, which are\nremarkable for their \u201cintense bitterness,\u201d and it was said to be an\nexcellent tonic; but, like the Milk Thistle, the Holy Thistle\u2019s virtues\nin medicine are now discredited. The thistle was once dedicated to Thor,\nand the bright colour of the flower was supposed to come from the\nlightning, and therefore lightning could not hurt any person or building\nprotected by the flower. It was used a good deal in magic, and there is\nan old rite to help a maiden to discover which, of several suitors,\nreally loves her best. She must take as many thistles as there are\nlovers, cut off their points, give each thistle the name of a man, and\nlay them under her pillow, and the thistle which has the name of the\nmost faithful lover will put forth a fresh sprout! In East Prussia, says\nMr Friend, there is a strange but simple cure for any domestic animal\nwhich may have an open wound. It is to gather four red thistle blossoms\nbefore the break of day, and to put one in each of the four points of\nthe compass with a stone in the middle of them.\n\nHere ends the list of Herbs, but before finishing the chapter I must add\na few names of buds and berries which, though not herbs, were often\nemployed as such, especially to garnish, or to flavour dishes. Evelyn\nincludes many of these in his _Acetaria_. \u201cThe Capreols, Tendrils and\nClaspers of Vines,\u201d very young, may be \u201ceaten alone or mingled with\nother sallet. So may the \u2018buds and young Turiones of the Tendrils\u2019 of\nHops, either raw, \u2018but more conveniently being boil\u2019d\u2019 and cold, like\nasparagus.\u201d Elder Flowers, infused in vinegar, are recommended, and\n\u201cthough the leaves are somewhat rank of smell, and so not commendable in\nsallet... they are of the most sovereign virtue, and spring buds and\ntender leaves excellent and wholesome in pottage at that season of the\nyear.\u201d Evelyn experimented with \u201cthe large _Heliotrope_ or Sunflower\n(e\u2019er it comes to expand and show its golden face), which, being dress\u2019d\nas the artichoak, is eaten for a dainty. This I add as a new discovery:\nI once made macaroons with ripe blanch\u2019d seed, but the _Turpentine_ did\nso domineer over all that it did not answer expectation.\u201d This must have\nbeen a disappointment to his adventurous spirit! Broom buds appeared on\nthree separate tables at King James II.\u2019s Coronation feast, and seem to\nhave been popular, when pickled.\n\nViolets were also used, and Miss Amherst quotes from an old cookery book\nthe recipe of a pudding called \u201cMon amy,\u201d which directs the cook to\n\u201cplant it with flowers of violets and serve it forth.\u201d Another recipe is\nfor a dish called \u201cVyolette!\u201d \u201cTake flowrys of vyolet, boyle hem, presse\nhem, bray (pound) hem smal.\u201d After this they are to be mixed with milk,\n\u2018floure of rys,\u2019 and sugar or honey, and finally to be coloured with\nviolets. Pine-kernels were sometimes eaten. Shelley says of _Marenghi_:\n\n \u201cHis food was the wild fig or strawberry;\n The milky pine-nuts which the autumn blast\n Shakes into the tall grass.\u201d\n\nAnd in England Parkinson writes, \u201cThe cones or apples are used of divers\nVintners in this city, being painted to express a bunch of grapes,\nwhereunto they are very like and are hung up on their bushes, as also to\nfasten keyes unto them, as is seene in many places. The kernels with the\nhard shels, while they are fresh, or newly taken out, are used by\nApothecaries, Comfitmakers, and Cookes. Of them are made Comfits,\nMarchpanes and such like, and with them a cunning cook can make divers\nkech-choses for his master\u2019s table.\u201d Barberries were used as a garnish\nto salads and other dishes and sometimes as an ingredient. Evelyn\nmentions them as an item in \u201cSallet All-sorts,\u201d and Gervase Markham\ndescribes the making of \u201cPaste of Genoa,\u201d a confection of Quince, and\nadds, \u201cIn this sort you now make paste of Peares, Apples, Wardens,\nPlummes of all kindes, Cherries, Barberries or whatever fruit you\nplease.\u201d He adds this fruit to the ingredients required in making\naromatic vinegar, and also directs that a good quantity of whole\nBarberries, both branches and others, be served with Pike \u201cor any fresh\nfish whatsoever.\u201d Parkinson says, \u201cThe leaves are sometimes used in the\nstead of Sorrell to make sauce for meate, and by reason of their\nsournesse are of the same quality.\u201d The \u201cdelicious _confitures d\u2019\u00e9pine\nvinette_, for which Rouen is famous,\u201d are prepared from them, says Dr\nFernie, and there is no doubt that they make an excellent jelly.\nFormerly they were so much prized that, as Miss Amherst quotes from Le\nStrange\u2019s \u201cHousehold Accounts,\u201d in 1618, 3s. was paid for one pound of\nthem.\n\nStrawberry leaves were used as a garnish and for their flavour.\nParkinson tells us that they were \u201calwayes used among other herbes in\ncooling drinks,\u201d and Markham mentions both them and Violet leaves in his\ndirections to \u201cSmoar a Mallard,\u201d and \u201cto make an excellent _Olepotrige_,\nwhich is the only principall dish of boyled meate, which is esteemed in\nall _Spaine_. \u201cFor dessert\u201d: The berries are often brought to the table\nas a rare service, whereunto Cleret wine, creame or milke is added with\nsugar. The water distilled of the berries is good for the passions of\nthe heart, caused by the perturbation of the spirits being eyther drunk\nalone or in wine, and maketh the heart mery.\u201d Such a pleasant and easy\nremedy against the evils arising from \u201cperturbation of spirits\u201d is worth\nremembering! Gerarde and Parkinson both speak of the prickly strawberry;\na plant which is \u201cof no use for meate\u201d but which has \u201ca small head of\ngreene leaves, many set thick together like unto a double ruffe, and is\nfit for a gentlewoman to wear on her arme, etc. as a raritie instead of\na flower.\u201d Gerarde has a curious little note on its discovery. \u201cMr John\nTradescant hath told me that he was the first that took notice of this\nStrawberry and that in a woman\u2019s garden at Plimouth, whose daughter had\ngathered and set the roots in her garden, instead of the common\nStrawberry, but she finding the fruit not answer her expectation,\nintended to throw it away, which labour he spared her, in taking it and\nbestowing it among the lovers of such vanities.\u201d The custom of\ntransplanting wild strawberries was very general.\n\n Wife, unto thy garden and set me a plot,\n With strawberry rootes of the best to be got.\n Such growing abroade, among thorns in the wood,\n Wel chosen and picked proove excellent food.\n\n _September\u2019s Husbandry._--TUSSER.\n\nMiss Amherst says that in the Hampton Court Accounts there are \u201cseveral\nentries of money paid for strawberry roots, brought from the wood to the\nKing\u2019s garden.\u201d The fact that this is no longer the custom, may explain\nthe disappointment that some have experienced, who, in the hope of\nenjoying \u201cthe most excellent cordial smell\u201d described by Sir Francis\nBacon, have haunted their kitchen gardens when the strawberry leaves are\ndying, and without reward. The strawberries grown there at present are\nnot, as in his day, natives, subjected to civilisation, but are chiefly\nof American or Asiatic origin (the first foreign strawberry cultivated\nin England was _Fragaria virginiana_, and was introduced from North\nAmerica in 1629; four years after the Essay on Gardens was first\npublished), and if their leaves have any fragrance, it must be of the\nfaintest possible description. Anyone, however, who passes through a\nwood, towards evening, especially if it is a mild and slightly damp day\nin October, may speedily realise how true and admirable was this counsel\ngiven by the Great Lord Chancellor.\n\n[Illustration: THE ARMS OF SAFFRON WALDEN.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nOF HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, IN HERALDRY, AND FOR ORNAMENT AND PERFUMES\n\n Now will I weave white violets, daffodils,\n With myrtle spray,\n And lily bells that trembling laughter fills,\n And the sweet crocus gay,\n With these blue hyacinth and the lover\u2019s rose,\n That she may wear--\n My sun-maiden--each scented flower that blows\n Upon her scented hair.\n\n Trans. from _Meleager_.--W. M. HARDINGE.\n\n\nIt is, perhaps, surprising in studying the history of common English\nherbs to find how many were the uses to which they were put by our\nforefathers. One reason of their eminence was that no doubt in\npre-hygienic days they were more to be desired, but, besides this,\nsomething \u201cdelightful to smell to\u201d seems to have been a luxury generally\nappreciated for its own sake. In his poem of the \u201cBaron\u2019s Wars,\u201d Michael\nDrayton, by a casual reference, shows how much agreeable scents were\nvalued, and the pains taken to procure them. He is speaking of Queen\nIsabella\u2019s room.\n\n The fire of precious wood; the light perfume,\n Which left a sweetness on each thing it shone,\n As ev\u2019rything did to itself assume\n The scent from them, and made the same their own,\n So that the painted flowers within the room\n Were sweet, as if they naturally had grown.\n The light gave colours which upon them fell,\n And to the colours the perfume gave smell.\n\nAnd in describing the bewilderment of a \u201cyoung, tender maid,\u201d led\nthrough the magnificent court of some prince, he says she was:--\n\n Amazed to see\n The furnitures and states, which all embroideries be,\n The rich and sumptuous beds, with tester-covering plumes,\n And various as the sutes, _so various the perfumes_.\n\n[Illustration: OLD LABORATORY AT MR. HOOPER\u2019S, 24 RUSSELL STREET, COVENT\nGARDEN\n\nTHE LARGE STILL IN THE CORNER IS FOR DISTILLING ROSE AND AROMATIC WATERS\n\nTHE SMALLER STILL IS FOR DISTILLING SPIRIT ESSENCES]\n\nIn a discourse, intended to prove that the magic number five is\nperpetually appearing in all forms of nature, and that network is an\nequally ubiquitous design, Sir Thomas Browne mentions _en passant_, the\n\u201cnosegay nets\u201d of the ancients--that is, nets holding flowers, that were\nsuspended from the head, to provide continuously a pleasant odour for\nthe wearer. It is very nice to find a survival of the belief that scents\naffect the spirits and may be beneficial to the health, and in \u201cDays and\nHours in a Garden,\u201d E. V. B. declares herself to be of that opinion.\n\u201cSweet Smells... have a certain virtue for different conditions of\nhealth,\u201d she says. \u201cWild Thyme will renew spirits and vital energy in\nlong walks under an August sun. The pure, almost pungent scent of Tea\nRose, Mar\u00e9chal Neil is sometimes invigorating in any lowness of... Sweet\nBriar promotes cheerfulness... Hawthorn is very doubtful and\nLime-blossom is dreamy.... Apple-blossom must be added to my\npharmacop\u0153ia of sweet smells. To inhale a cluster of Blenheim orange\ngives back youth for just half a minute after... it is a real, absolute\nelixir.\u201d\n\nThe sacristan\u2019s garden, devoted to growing flowers and herbs for the\nservice of the church, has been already mentioned, and Henry VI.\nactually left in his will a garden to be kept for this purpose to the\nchurch of Eton College (Nichol\u2019s \u201cWills of the Kings and Queens of\nEngland\u201d). After the Reformation the practice of laying fresh green\nthings about the churches was apparently not abandoned, for in 1618,\nJames I. set forth a declaration permitting \u201cLawfull recreations after\ndivine service, and allowed that women should have leave to carry rushes\nto the church for the decoring of it according to old custome.\u201d[54]\nRushes are still strewed on Whitsunday at the church of St Mary\nRadcliffe, in Bristol, and the day is often called \u201cRush-Sunday\u201d there\nin consequence.\n\n [54] Fuller\u2019s \u201cChurch History,\u201d Book X. 1655.\n\nIn the accounts of St Margaret\u2019s, Westminster, there is a payment made\nfor \u201cherbs strewn in the church on a day of thanksgiving\u201d in 1650. Coles\n(1656) says: \u201cIt is not very long since the custome of setting up\nGarlands in Churches, hath been left off with us, and in some places\nsetting up of _Holly_, _Ivy_, _Rosemary_, _Dayes_, _Yew_, etc., in\nChurches at Christmas, is still in use.\u201d[55] Later, the custom seems\nalmost entirely to have dropped, and in an article in the _Quarterly_\n(1842), the writer is torn between pious aspirations and loyalty to the\nchurch views of the day: \u201cWe cannot but admire the practice of the\nChurch of Rome, which calls in the aid of floral decorations on her\nfestivals. If we did not feel convinced that it was the most bounden\nduty of the Church of England at the present moment to give no\nunnecessary offence by restorations in indifferent matters, we should be\ninclined to advocate, notwithstanding the denunciation of some of the\nearly Fathers, some slight exceptions in the case of our own\nfavourites.\u201d\n\n [55] \u201cArt of Simpling.\u201d\n\nThe decorations of English houses were much admired by Dr Levinus\nLemmius in 1560, when he visited us. \u201cAnd beside this, the neate\ncleanliness, the exquisite finenesse, the pleasaunt and delightfull\nfurniture in every poynt for household, wonderfully rejoiced me; their\nchambers and parlours strawed over with sweet herbes refreshed me.\u201d[56]\nFurther on, he praises \u201cthe sundry sortes of fragraunte floures\u201d about\nthe rooms. Parkinson mentions wall-flowers and \u201cthe greater-flag\u201d being\nused \u201cin nosegayes and to deck up a house,\u201d and Newton says they took\nbranches of willow to trim up their parlours and dining roomes in\nsummer, and did \u201csticke fresh greene leaves thereof about their beds for\ncoolnesse.\u201d[57] Sir Hugh Platt (1653) advised that \u201cfor summer-time your\nchimney may be trimmed with a fine bank of mosse... or with orpin, or\nthe white flower called everlasting.... And at either end one of your\nflower or Rosemary pots.... You may also hang in the roof and about the\nsides of the room small pompions or cowcumbers pricked full of barley,\nand these will be overgrowne with greene spires, so as the pompion or\ncowcumber will not appear.... You may also plant vines without the\nwalls, which being let in at quarrels, may run about the sides of your\nwindows, and all over the sealing of your rooms.\u201d[58] Herbs in image\nwere sometimes hung round the room. Harrison mentions \u201carras worke, or\npainted cloths, wherein either diverse histories, or hearbes, beasts,\nknots, and such like are stained.\u201d Of flowers thought specially suitable\nindoors Tusser (1577) gives a list: \u201cHerbes, branches, and flowers for\nwindows and pots,\u201d and Bachelor\u2019s Buttons, Sweet Briar, and \u201cbottles,\nblue, red, and tawney\u201d are among the forty he mentions. A separate list\nis set forth of twenty-one \u201cStrewing Herbs,\u201d and this includes Basil,\nBalm, Marjoram, Tansy, Germander, and Hyssop. The practice of strewing\nthe floors with herbs and rushes, however, started long before his time.\n\u201cAt the Court of King Stephen, which exceeded in magnificence that of\nhis predecessors ... and in houses of inferior rank upon occasions of\nfeasting, the floor was strewed with flowers.... Becket, in the next\nreign, according to a contemporary author (Fitz-Stephen) ordered his\nhall to be strewed every day, in the winter with fresh straw or hay, and\nin summer with rushes or green leaves, fresh gathered; and this reason\nis given for it, that such knights as the benches could not contain,\nmight sit on the floor without dirtying their cloaths.\u201d[59] The contrast\nbetween the pomp of so large a following, and the simplicity of their\naccommodation affords an odd picture of the mingled stateliness and\nbareness in the great man\u2019s household.\n\n [56] Harrison\u2019s \u201cDescription of England.\u201d Ed. by Furnivall, 1877.\n\n [57] \u201cHerbal of the Bible,\u201d 1587.\n\n [58] \u201cThe Garden of Eden.\u201d\n\n [59] \u201cPegge\u2019s _Curalia_.\u201d\n\nIn the reign of Edward I., \u201cWillielmus filius Willielmi de Aylesbury\ntenet tres virgatus terr\u00e6... per serjeantiam inveniendi stramen ad\nlectum Domini Regis et ad straminandum cameram suam et etiam inveniendi\nDomino Rege cum venerit apud Alesbury in estate stramen ad lectum suam\net procter hoc herbam ad juncandam cameram suam.\u201d[60] (William, son of\nWilliam of Aylesbury, holds three roods of land... by serjeantry, of\nfinding straw for the bed of our Lord the King and to straw his\nchamber... and also of finding for the King when he should come to\nAylesbury in summer straw for his bed, and, moreover, grass or rushes to\nstrew his chamber.) Though grass is the literal translation of _herbam_,\nit is quite possible, judging from old customs generally, that hay or\nsweet herbs, may be intended here. \u201cIt may be observed further that\nthere is a relique of this custom still subsisting, for at Coronations\nthe ground is strewed with flowers by a person who is upon the\nestablishment called the Herb-Strewer, with an annual salary.\u201d From this\nit appears that there were persons regularly appointed to strew herbs\nfor the royal pleasure, but for what length of time the Herb-Strewer was\nan official actually living at Court, it is very difficult to discover.\nAt the time of the Coronation of James II. and his Queen, Mary Dowle was\n\u201cStrewer of Herbes in Ordinary to His Majesty,\u201d and among the\ninstructions issued before the ceremony were the following: \u201cTwo\nbreadths of Blue Broad-cloth are spread all along the middle of the\nPassage from the stone steps in the Hall, to the Foot of the Steps in\nthe Choir, ascending the Theatre, by order of the Lord Almoner of the\nDay, amounting in all 1220 yards; which cloth is strewed with nine\nBaskets full of sweet herbs and flowers by the Strewer of Herbs in\nOrdinary to His Majesty, assisted by six women, two to a Basket, each\nBasket containing two Bushels.\u201d All the details of his Coronation were\nmost carefully considered and finally settled \u201cin solemn conclave in the\npresence of James II.,\u201d says Roberts in his sketch of the _Approaching_\nCoronation of George II., and \u201clittle variation has taken place in the\nCeremony since.\u201d From a manuscript belonging to Mr Eyston, of East\nHundred, Wantage, dated 1702, W. Jones (\u201cCrowns and Coronations\u201d) quotes\nan: \u201cOrder for a gown of scarlet cloth, with a badge of Her Majesty\u2019s\nCypher on it, for the Strewer of Herbs to Her Majesty, as was provided\nat the last Coronation.\u201d This looks as if she played her part in the\nceremony of crowning King William and Queen Mary, and was also present\nat the crowning of Queen Anne, though Roberts, in his \u201cComplete Account\nof the Coronations of the Kings and Queens of England\u201d does not mention\nher. In the State Archives is a \u201cWarrant to the Master of the Great\nWardrobe for delivering of scarlet cloth to Alice Blizard, herb strewer\nto Her Majesty,\u201d dated 30th November 1713, showing that whether at that\ndate she was continually at Court, or whether her services were confined\nto the day of Coronation, she was at anyrate officially recognised in\nthe ordinary course of things, and not only when any very great ceremony\nwas imminent. I cannot be sure if the Herb Strewer appeared at the\nCoronation of George I., but she certainly did at that of George II.,\nand in the full accounts of the Coronation of George IV., which was\ncelebrated with great magnificence, there are most elaborate\ndescriptions of her dress, badge, mantle, etc., and also portraits of\nher in full attire. From among many applicants, the King chose Miss\nFellowes, sister of the Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain, for the\ncoveted distinction. \u201cMiss Fellowes wore a gold badge suspended from her\nneck by a gold chain, with an inscription indicative of her office on\none side, and the King\u2019s arms beautifully chased on the other. Six young\nladies assisted her. Their costume was white, but Miss Fellowes wore, in\naddition, a scarlet mantle trimmed with gold lace. They were very\nelegantly dressed in \u201cwhite muslin, with flowered ornaments. Three large\nornamented baskets of flowers were brought in and placed near the\nladies,\u201d[61] who walked in the front of the Royal Procession. At ten\nminutes before eleven Miss Fellowes, with her six tributary herb-women\nheading the grand procession, appeared at the Western Gate of the\nAbbey.... She and her maids and the serjeant porter came no further, but\nremained at the entrance within the west door. In a beautiful series of\ncoloured plates depicting all the costumes worn at that Coronation,\nthere is one of Miss Fellowes and her \u201cmaids.\u201d She has a small basket in\nher left hand; from her right hand, raised high, she is letting a shower\nof blossoms fall. Her hair is dressed in short ringlets. All the ladies\nwore wreaths of flowers, and the \u201cmaids\u201d have, as well, long garlands\nfalling over one shoulder and across their white dresses almost to the\nhem. In a charming letter written by Hon. Maria Twistleton to her\ncousin, Mrs Eardley Childers, there is one more detail of these ladies.\n\u201cGold Baskets of Grecian shape, filled with choicest sweets were ranged\nat their feet, and as they passed they presented a magnolia to us.\u201d[62]\nA claim to this office was put forward, before the last Coronation, but\nalas! His Majesty decided to dispense with this picturesque adjunct to\nthe ceremony! Though the strewing of rushes and herbs was a part of the\npreparations for any household festival, they were a special feature of\nbridal ceremonies.\n\n [60] Blount\u2019s \u201cJocular Tenures,\u201d 1679.\n\n [61] \u201cHistory of the Coronation of George IV.\u201d R. HUISH.\n\n [62] Published _Nineteenth Century_, June 1902.\n\n As I have seen upon a bridal day,\n Full many maids clad in their best array,\n In honour of the bride come with their flaskets\n Fill\u2019d full with flowers: others, in wicker-baskets\n Bring from the marish, rushes to o\u2019erspread\n The ground whereon to church the lovers tread.\n\n _Br. Pastorals_, book i.\n\nDrayton, too, alludes to this practice in the \u201cPolyolbion.\u201d\n\n Some others were again as seriously employ\u2019d\n In strewing of those herbs, at bridals us\u2019d that be\n Which everywhere they throw with bounteous hands and free.\n The healthful balm and mint from their full laps do fly.\n\n Song xv.\n\nAnd gives a long list of wedding flowers, of which Meadow-sweet\n(sometimes called bridewort) is one. Gilded Rosemary, or sprigs of\nRosemary dipped in sweet waters were used, and Brand gives an account of\na wedding where the bride was \u201cled to church between two sweet boys with\nbride-laces and rosemary tied to their silken sleeves.\u201d[63] Nosegays,\ntoo, were gathered for weddings, and Brand quotes a remarkable and\ncynical passage from \u201cThe Plaine Country Bridegroom,\u201d by Stephens: \u201cHe\nshews neere affinitie betwixt marriage and hanging, and to that purpose\nhe provides a great nosegay and shakes hands with everyone he meets, as\nif he were preparing for a condemned man\u2019s voyage.\u201d Herrick\u2019s lines\nbeginning, \u201cStrip her of spring-time, tender, whimpering maids,\u201d are too\nwell known to repeat, but they tell very prettily which flowers were\nappropriated to the married and which to the unmarried. Dyer tells us\nthat this custom of strewing them is still kept up in Cheshire, with\noccasional sad results. Often, the flowers that were strewn were\nemblematical, and if the bride chanced to be unpopular, she stepped her\nway to church over flowers whose meanings were the reverse of\ncomplimentary!\n\n [63] Popular Antiquities.\n\nDrayton\u2019s contemporaries were more amiable.\n\n Who now a posie pins not in his cap?\n And not a garland baldrick-wise doth wear,\n Some, of such flowers as to his hand doth hap\n Others, such as secret meanings bear.\n\n He, from his lass, him lavender hath sent\n Shewing her love, and doth requital crave,\n Him rosemary, his sweetheart whose intent,\n Is that he her should in remembrance have.\n\n Roses, his youth and strong desire express,\n Her sage, doth show his sovereignty in all;\n The July-flower declares his gentleness;\n Thyme, truth; the pansie, heartsease, maidens\u2019 call.\n\n Eclogue ix.\n\nHerbs have pointed proverbs; for instance: \u201cHe who sows hatred, shall\ngather rue,\u201d--a saying which some have found to be \u201cower-true\u201d; and,\n\u201cThe Herb-Patience does not grow in every man\u2019s garden,\u201d--a piece of\nwisdom which may be proved only too often. Both these proverbs turn on a\npun, but some herbs are alluded to in a literal sense. The old\nHerbalists used to count Pinks among herbs, and this flower\u2019s name is\nvery commonly heard in the expression: \u201cThe pink of perfection.\u201d\nMercutio says in _Romeo and Juliet_, \u201cI am the very pink of courtesy\u201d; a\nphrase which is wonderfully expressive. Miss Amherst quotes an old\nballad to show that the periwinkle was used as a term of praise, for in\nthis, a noble lady, a type of excellence, is called, \u201cThe parwink of\nprowesse.\u201d The inelasticity of modern opinions (on herbs) forbids that I\nshould here go into the history of this most interesting flower,\nbeloved by Rousseau and endowed by the French with magic power. One of\ntheir names for it is, _Violette de Sorcier_. I will only say that the\nItalians call it the \u201cFlower of the Dead,\u201d and place it on graves; and\nto the Germans it is the \u201cFlower of Immortality.\u201d In England it was much\nused in garlands, and it was with Periwinkle that Simon Fraser was\ncrowned in mockery, when in 1306 (after he had been taken prisoner,\nfighting for Bruce), he rode, heavily ironed, through London to the\nplace of execution.\n\nClove gillyflowers were admitted, till lately, into the herb-garden, so\nI may mention that among several cases of nominal rent, land being held\non the payment of certain flowers or other trifles, \u201cthree clove\ngillyflowers to be rendered on the occasion of the King\u2019s Coronation,\u201d\nwas once the condition of holding the \u201clands and tenements of Ham in\nSurrey.\u201d Roses were the flowers most often chosen for such a purpose,\nand roses and gillyflowers together were paid as rent by St Andrew\u2019s\nMonastery in Northampton at the time of its dissolution under Oliver\nCromwell. Blount[64] mentions that Bartholomaus Peyttevyn, of\nStony-Aston in Somerset, held his lands on the payment of a \u201csextary\u201d of\nGillyflower wine annually, at Christmastide. A \u201csextary\u201d contained about\na pint and a half, sometimes more. \u201cA still more whimsical tenure was\nthat of a farm at Brookhouse, Penistone, York, for which, yearly, a\npayment was to be made of a red rose at Christmas and a snowball at\nmid-summer. Unless the flower of the Viburnum or Guelder-rose, sometimes\ncalled Snowball, was meant, the payment bill had been almost impossible\nin those days when ice-cellars were unknown.\u201d[65]\n\n [64] \u201cJocular Tenures.\u201d\n\n [65] \u201cHistory of Signboards.\u201d\n\nClove gillyflowers found their way into Heraldry, and appeared as\nheraldic emblems, and besides them, Guillim mentions \u201cRosemary, Sweet\nMarjoram, Betony, Purslane and Saffron,\u201d being borne in Coat Armour.\nBut, \u201cbecause such daintiness and affected adornings better befit ladies\nand gentlemen than knights and men of valour, whose worth must be tried\nin the field, not under a rose-bed, or in a garden-plot, therefore the\nancient Generous made choice rather of such herbs as grew in the fields,\nas the Cinque-foil, Trefoil,\u201d etc.[66] It is an interesting explanation\nof the reason that dictated the choice of these two last herbs, often\nseen in heraldic bearings. One of Guillim\u2019s corrections must specially\ndelight all west country people. The Coat of the Baskerviles of Hereford\nwas: Argent, a cheveron, Gules, between three Hurts. \u201cThese (saith\n_Leigh_) appear light blue and come of some violent stroke. But, if I\nmistake not, he is farr wide from the matter... whereas they are indeed\na kind of fruit or small round Berry, of colour betwixt black and\nblue... and in some places called Windberries, and in others Hurts or\nHurtleberries.\u201d Guillim knew the popular name of Whortleberries better\nthan did his fellow-author. The idea of choosing three bruises as a\n\u201ccharge\u201d does not seem to have struck _Mr Leigh_ as being at all odd.\n\n [66] Guillim. \u201cHeraldry.\u201d\n\nIn Saxony Rue has given its name to an Order. A chaplet of Rue borne\nbendwise on \u201cbarrs of the Coat Armour of the Dukedom of Saxony\u201d (till\nthen \u201cBarry of ten, sable and or,\u201d) was granted by the Emperor Frederick\nBarbarossa to Duke Bernard of Anhalt (the first of his house to be Duke\nof Saxony), at his request, \u201cto difference his arms from his Brothers\u2019,\u201d\nOtho, Marquis of Brandenberg, and Siegfrid, Archbishop of Breme. This\ntook place in the year 1181, but the Order was not founded till more\nthan six centuries had passed, and was then due to Frederick Augustus,\nfirst King of Saxony, who created the Order of the _Rautenkrone_ on the\n20th July 1807. In the newspapers of October 24th, 1902, it was\nannounced that the King of Saxony had conferred the Order of the Crown\nof Rue on the Prince of Wales. Sprigs of Rue are now interlaced in the\nCollar of the Order of the Thistle, but earlier it was composed of\nthistles and knots. There is extreme uncertainty as to the origin or\nthis Order, and cold suspicion is thrown on assertions that it was, of\nold, an established \u201cFraternity,[67] following the lines of other Orders\nof Knighthood.\u201d The first appearance of a collar is on the gold bonnet\npieces struck in 1539, where King James V. is represented with a collar\ncomposed alternately of thistle heads and what seem to be knots or links\nin the form of the figure 8 or of the letter S, and a similar collar is\nplaced round the Royal Arms in another gold piece of the same year.\nCollars with knots of a slightly different shape appear on Queen Mary\u2019s\nGreat Seal and on that of James VI. Ashmole says:[68] \u201cIt was thought\nfit that the collars of both the Garter and Thistle of King Charles I.\nshould be used in Scotland, 1633\u201d; but after that the Order seems to\nhave lapsed, for Guillim (Ed. 1679) puts the \u201cOrder of Knights of The\nThistle or of St Andrewe\u2019s\u201d between the Orders of The Knights of the\nRound Table and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and\nspeaks of all their rites and ceremonies in the past tense. This seems\nas if at that period there was an absolute pause in its chequered\ncareer. In 1685 it was \u201crevived\u201d by James II. of Great Britain, who\ncreated eight knights, but during the Revolution it lapsed again and\n\u201clay neglected till Queen Anne in 1703 restored it to the primitive\ndesign of twelve Knights of St Andrew\u201d (Every). \u201cBy a statute passed in\n1827 the Order is to consist of the Sovereign and sixteen Knights\u201d\n(Burke). Sprigs of Rue do not make their earliest appearance in the\ncollar till about 1629 and then on doubtful authority. \u201cMir\u0153us, however,\nstates that the Collar was made of Thistles and Sprigs of Rue; and the\nRoyal Achievements of Scotland in Sir George Mackenzie\u2019s \u2018Science of\nHeraldry\u2019 published in 1680, are surrounded by a Collar of Thistles\nlinked with Sprigs of Rue.\u201d Very shortly before this Guillim had\ndescribed the collar as being \u201ccomposed of thistles, intermixed with\nannulets of gold.\u201d So the publication of Sir George Mackenzie\u2019s book\nmust be the approximate date of the introduction of the Rue; the present\ncollar, badge and robe of the Order are the same as those approved by\nQueen Anne. Andr\u00e9 Favyn[69] gives the reasons for this choice of plants,\nthough as the Rue made its first appearance in the collar so much later\nthan the date he assigns (which is that of Charlemagne) one cannot help\nfearing that he drew a little on his imagination. King Achaius took for\n\u201chis devise the Thistle and the Rewe. And for the Soule therof, Pour ma\ndeffence Because the Thistle is not tractable or easily handled...\ngiving acknowledgment thereby, that hee feared not forraigne Princes his\nneighbours... as for the Rewe although it be an Herbe and Plant very\nmeane, yet it is (nevertheless full of admirable vertues)... and serveth\nto expell and drive serpents to flight... and there is not a more\nsoveraigne remedy for such as are poisoned.\u201d Guillim called _Hungus_,\nKing of the Picts, the founder, and says that he, \u201cthe Night before the\nBattle that was fought betwixt him and _Athelstane_, King of England,\nsawe in the skie a bright Cross in fashion of that whereon St Andrew\nsuffered Martyrdom, and the day proving successful unto _Hungus_ in\nmemorial of the said Apparition, which did presage so happy an omen, the\nPicts and Scots have ever since bore in the Ensigns and Banners the\nFigure of the said Cross, which is in fashion of a Saltier. And from\nthence \u2019tis believed that this Order took its rise, which was about the\nyear of our Lord 810.\u201d Both authors are quite positive as to their facts\nregarding the origin of the Order, but they have hardly one fact in\ncommon, not even the founder\u2019s name!\n\n [67] Sir H. Nicholas. \u201cHistory of the Orders of Knighthood of the\n British Empire.\u201d\n\n [68] \u201cHistory of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.\u201d\n\n [69] \u201cTheater of Honour.\u201d 1623.\n\nIt is perhaps not very well known that there was once a French Order of\nthe Thistle, or, as it was sometimes called, \u201cOrder of Bourbon.\u201d It was\ninstituted by Louis II., third Duke of Bourbon, surnamed the Good Duke,\nand it consisted six and twenty knights,[70] each of whom \u201cwore a Belt,\nin which was embroydered the word _Esperance_ in capital letters; it had\na Buckle of Gold at which hung a tuft like a Thistle; on the Collar also\nwas embroydered the same word _Esperance_, with _Flowers_ de Luce of\nGold from which hung an Oval, wherein was the Image of the Virgin\n_Mary_, entowered with a golden sun, crowned with twelve stars of silver\nand a silver crescent under her feet; at the end of the Oval was the\nhead of a Thistle.\u201d\n\n [70] Ross. \u201cView of all Religions,\u201d 1653.\n\nThere are other Orders called after flowers, or of which flowers form\nthe badge. Several of the \u201cChristian Orders of Knighthood\u201d--orders\ninstituted for some religious or pious purpose--bore lilies among their\ntokens, and flowers-de-luce appeared in many. The Order of the Lily or\nof Navarre was instituted by Prince Garcia in 1048. The Order of the\n_Looking-Glass_ of the Virgin _Mary_ was created by \u201c_Ferdinand_, the\nInfant of _Castile_, upon a memorable victory he had over the _Moors_.\nThe Collar of this Order was composed of Bough-pots, full of Lillies,\ninterlaced with Griffons.\u201d Ross and Favyn give most curious accounts of\nthe Order \u201cDe la Sainte Magdalaine.\u201d This was instituted by a Noble\nGentleman of France, who is alternately called John Chesnil or Sieur de\nla Chapronaye, \u201cOut of a godly Zeal to reclaim the French from their\nQuarrels, Duels and other sins.... The Cross of the Order had at three\nends, three Flowers-de-Luce; the Cross is beset with Palms to shew this\nOrder was instituted to encourage Voyages to the Holy Land, within the\nPalms are Sunbeams and four _Flowers-de-Luce_ to shew the glory of the\nFrench Nation.\u201d They had a house allotted them near Paris, \u201cwherein were\nordinarily five hundred Knights, bound to stay there during two years\u2019\nprobation.... The Knights that live abroad shall meet every year at\ntheir house called the lodging Royal on Mary Magdalene\u2019s Festival Day.\u201d\nThe Lay Brothers were to be of good family; the _Vallets des\nChevaliers_, of \u201chonestes _Familles d\u2019Artisans et Mecaniques_.\u201d Their\ngarb was carefully ordered, and they were to take the same vows as their\nmaster. Other elaborate arrangements were made--\u201cBut this Order, as it\nbegan, so it ended in the person of Chesnil.\u201d One\u2019s breath is taken\naway, as when, in a dream, one falls and falls to immense depths and\nawakes with a sudden shock! Francis, Duke of Bretaigne, created the\nOrder of Bretaigne: \u201cThis Order consisteth of five and twenty Knights of\nthe _Ears of Corn_, so called to signifie that Princes should be careful\nto preserve Husbandry.\u201d Favyn, however, finds a much more romantic\norigin for the name, and tells a long story of a dispute among the gods\nas to the thing most essential to \u201cles Humains.\u201d After lengthy argument,\n\u201cde sorte que Jupiter toujours favorisant les Dames,\u201d he declared\nvictory to rest with Ceres, to whose verdict that of Minerva was joined\n(Minerva had pleaded the Ox), and so they both triumphed over the\nothers.\n\nIn Amsterdam, a literary guild was once named after a herb, and was\ncalled the White Lavender Bloom. Herbs have not appeared on many\nsignboards, but in 1638 the marigold was the sign of \u201cFrancis\nEglisfield, a bookseller in St Paul\u2019s churchyard,\u201d[71] as it still is of\nChild\u2019s Bank--and several signs of the \u201cRosemary Branch\u201d have been\nknown.\n\n [71] \u201cThe History of Signboards.\u201d\n\nThe Blessed Thistle was a much prized herb, and its cousin, the Spear\nThistle, makes a game for Scotch children; it is sometimes called\n\u201cMarian,\u201d and when the flower-heads have turned to \u201cblow-balls\u201d the\nchildren puff away the down and call:--\n\n \u201cMarian, Marian, what\u2019s the time of day?\n One o\u2019clock, two o\u2019clock, it\u2019s time we were away.\u201d\n\nDandelions are still commoner toys.\n\nGrimmer associations are tied up with the bouquet presented to Judges at\nthe Assizes, for originally this bouquet was a bunch of herbs, given to\nhim to ward off the gaol-fever, that was cheerfully accepted as a matter\nof course for prisoners. Thornton, writing in 1810, says of Rue, that it\nis \u201csupposed to be antipestilential\u201d and hence our benches of judges are\n\u201cregaled\u201d with its unpleasing odour. Lupines are not properly to be\nincluded here, but Parkinson must be quoted as to a curious use of their\nseeds. In Plautus\u2019 days, \u201cthey were used in Comedies instead of money,\nwhen in any scene thereof there was any show of payment.\u201d One is glad he\ncondescends to tell us this detail of ancient stage-plays. Among herbs\nused for nosegays he mentions Basil, Sweet Marjoram, Maudeline and\nCostmary, and evidently contemplates their being worn for ornament, and\nspeaking of the prickly strawberry remarks it is \u201cfit for a Gentlewoman\nto weare on her arme, etc., as a raritie instead of a flower.\u201d Scents\nwere more perpetually to be obtained by carrying a pomander, which was\noriginally an orange stuffed with spices, and thought also to be good\nagainst infection. Cardinal Wolsey is described as carrying a \u201cvery fair\norange, whereof the meat or substance was taken out and filled up again\nwith part of a sponge whereon was vinegar, and other confection against\nthe pestilential airs\u201d; evidently some alexiphar-mick, which he \u201csmelt\nunto\u201d when going into a crowded chamber. Drayton says, in speaking of a\nwell dedicated to St Winifred:--\n\n The sacred Virgin\u2019s well, her moss most sweet and rare\n Against infectious damps, for pomander to wear.\n\n _Polyolbion._\n\nThe pomander developed into being a little scent-case, elaborately made.\nMr Dillon describes a silver one of the sixteenth century which he saw\nin a collection. It was made to be hung by a chain from the girdle, and\nthough \u201cno larger than a plum, contains eight compartments inscribed as\nfollows: ambra, moscheti (musk), viola, naransi (orange), garofalo\n(gillyflowers), rosa, cedro, jasmins.\u201d Sweet-scented plants were reduced\nto \u201csweete pouthers,\u201d and many were distilled into \u201csweete waters\u201d and\n\u201csweete washing waters,\u201d or helped to make \u201cwashing balls.\u201d\nOrange-flower water is spoken of as \u201ca great perfume for gloves, to wash\nthem, or instead of Rose-water,\u201d and less expensive distillations must\nhave contented more economical housewives. Parkinson tells us of sweet\nmarjoram being put into \u201csweete bags,\u201d and costmary flowers and lavender\ntied up in small bundles for their \u201csweet sent and savour.\u201d Regarding\n\u201csweet water\u201d there is a delightful description in Ben Jonson\u2019s Masque\n_Chloridia_, \u201cEnter Rain, presented by five persons... their hair\nflagging as if they were wet, and in the hands, balls full of sweet\nwater, which as they dance, sprinkle all the room.\u201d\n\nThe following entry is made among \u201cQueen Elizabeth\u2019s Annual Expences\u201d:--\n\n Makers of hearb bowres and planters of trees Fee, \u00a325\n Stillers of Waters \u201e 40\n John Kraunckwell and his wife, 1584.\n\n _Peck\u2019s Desiderata._\n\nThese offices must have been of considerable importance, for when money\nwent much further than it does nowadays, an annual fee of \u00a340 for\n\u201cstilling waters\u201d was a high one.\n\n For never resting time leads summer on\n To hideous winter, and confounds him there;\n Sap check\u2019d with frost, and lusty leaves quite gone,\n Beauty o\u2019ershow\u2019d, and bareness everywhere.\n Then, were not summer\u2019s distillation left,\n A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,\n Beauty\u2019s effect with beauty were bereft,\n Nor it, nor no remembrance what it was.\n But flowers distill\u2019d, though they with winter meet\n Lese but their show; their substance still lives sweet.\n\n Sonnet V.--SHAKESPEARE.\n\nAmong some charming recipes Mrs Roundell gives a charming one for\n\u201cDorothea Roundell\u2019s Sweet-Jar.\u201d But, perhaps, even sweeter is the next\nrecipe, called simply Sweet-Jar.\n\n\n_Sweet-Jar._\n\n\u201c\u00bd lb. bay salt, \u00bc lb. salt-petre and common salt, all to be bruised and\nput on six baskets of rose-leaves, 24 bay leaves torn to bits, a handful\nof sweet myrtle leaves, 6 handfuls of lavender blossom, a handful of\norange or syringa blossoms, the same of sweet violets, and the same of\nthe red of clove carnations. After having well stirred every day for a\nweek, add \u00bd oz. cloves, 4 oz. orris root, \u00bd oz. cinnamon, and two\nnutmegs all pounded; put on the roses, kept well covered up in a china\njar and stirred sometimes.\u201d The recipe of a delicious _Pot Pourri_ made\nin a country house in Devonshire has also been very kindly sent me:--\n\n\n_Pot Pourri._\n\n\u201cGather flowers in the morning when dry and lay them in the sun till the\nevening.\n\n Roses.\n Orange flowers.\n Jasmine.\n Lavender.\n Thyme. }\n Marjoram.}\n Sage. } In smaller quantities.\n Bay. }\n\n\u201cPut them into an earthen wide jar, or hand basin, in layers. Add the\nfollowing ingredients:--\n\n 6 lbs. vi. Bay Salt.\n \u2125 iv. Yellow Sandal Wood.\n \u2125 iv. Acorus Calamus Root.\n \u2125 iv. Cassia Buds.\n \u2125 iv. Orris Root.\n \u2125 ii. Cinnamon.\n \u2125 ii. Cloves.\n \u2125 iv. Gum Benzoin.\n \u2108 i. Storax Calamite.\n \u2125 i. \u2108 Otto of Rose.\n \u0292 i. Musk.\n \u2125 ss. Powdered Cardamine Seeds.\n\n\u201cPlace the rose-leaves, etc., in layers in the jar. Sprinkle the Bay\nsalt and other ingredients on each layer, press it tightly down and keep\nfor two or three months before taking it out.\u201d\n\nThe following herbs are those which are chiefly valued for their perfume\nor for their historical associations.\n\n[Illustration: BERGAMOT]\n\n\nBERGAMOT (_Monarda fistulosa_).\n\nIt is extraordinary how little comment has been made on the handsome red\nflowers and fragrant leaves of Red Bergamot, or Bee-Balm--a name which\nRobinson gives it. Growing in masses, it makes a lovely bit of colour,\nand a very sweet border. Bergamot was a favourite flower in the posies\nthat country people used to take to church, as Mrs Ewing observes in her\nstory \u201cDaddy Darwin\u2019s Dove Cot.\u201d The youthful heroine loses her posy of\n\u201cOld Man and Marygolds\u201d on the way to Sunday school, and is discovered\nlooking for it by an equally youthful admirer. He at once offers to get\nher some more Old Man. \u201cBut Ph\u0153be drew nearer. She stroked down her\nfrock, and spoke mincingly but confidentially. \u2018My mother says Daddy\nDarwin has red bergamot i\u2019 his garden. We\u2019ve none i\u2019 ours. My mother\nalways says there\u2019s nothing like red bergamot to take to church. She\nsays it\u2019s a deal more refreshing than Old Men, and not so common.\u201d A\nnote gives the information that the particular kind of Bergamot meant\nhere was the Twinflower _Monarda Didyma_. There are several varieties of\nMonarda.\n\nThe only superstition that I have ever heard in any way connected with\nthe plant is, that in Dorsetshire it is thought unlucky, and that if it\nbe kept in a house an illness will be the consequence.\n\n\nCOSTMARY (_Tanacetum Balsamita_).\n\n Coole violets and orpine growing still,\n Enbathed balme and cheerfull galingale,\n Fresh costmarie and healthfull camomile.\n\n _Muiopotmos._\n\n Then balm and mint help to make up\n My chaplet and for trial\n Costmary that so likes the cup,\n And next it penny-royal.\n\n _Muses\u2019 Elysium._\n\n Then hot muscado oil, with milder maudlin cast,\n Strong tansey, fennel cool, they prodigally waste.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xv.\n\nCostmary or Alecost, and Maudeline (_Balsamita Vulgaris_), have so close\na semblance that they may be taken together. The German name for\nCostmary, _Frauen m\u00fcnze_, supports the natural idea that it was\ndedicated to the Virgin, but Dr Prior says that the Latin name used to\nbe _Costus amarus_, not _Costus Marie_, and that it was really\nappropriated to St Mary Magdaleine, as its English name Maudeline\ndeclares. Both plants were much used to make \u201csweete washing water; the\nflowers are tyed up with small bundles of lavender toppes; these they\nput in the middle of them, to lye upon the toppes of beds, presses,\netc., for the sweet sent and savour it casteth.\u201d[72] They were also used\nfor strewing. In France Costmary is sometimes used in salads, and it was\nformerly put into beer and negus; \u201chence the name _Alecost_.\u201d\n\n [72] Parkinson.\n\n\nGERMANDER (_Teucrium Cham\u0153drys_).\n\n Clear hysop and therewith the comfortable thyme,\n Germander with the rest, each thing then in her prime.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xv.\n\n Germander, marjoram and thyme,\n Which used are for strewing,\n With hisop as an herb most prime,\n Herein my wreath bestowing.\n\n _Muses\u2019 Elysium._\n\nGermander was grown as a border to garden \u201cknots,\u201d \u201cthough being more\nused as a strewing herbe for the house than for any other use.\u201d[73]\nCulpepper says it is \u201ca most prevalent herb of Mercury, and strengthens\nthe brain and apprehension exceedingly;\u201d and Tusser includes it amongst\nhis \u201cstrewing herbs\u201d; from which statements it may be gathered that the\nscent was pungent but agreeable. It is more often mentioned by old\nherbalists as \u201cbordering knots\u201d than in any other capacity, in spite of\nParkinson\u2019s remark, and now is very seldom seen at all. It may, very\nrarely, be found growing wild. Harrison, when he is declaiming against\nthe over-praising of foreigners, says: \u201cOur common Germander, or thistle\nbenet, is found and knowne to bee so wholesome and of so great power in\nmedicine as any other hearbe,\u201d but it is not clear whether he really\nmeans Germander, or is not rather thinking of _Carduus Benedictus_.\n\n [73] Parkinson.\n\n\nGILLIFLOWER (_Dianthus Caryophyllus_).\n\n Jeliflowers is for gentlenesse,\n Which in me shall remaine,\n Hoping that no sedition shal\n Depart our hearts in twaine.\n As soon the sun shall loose his course,\n The moone against her kinde,\n Shall have no light if that I do\n Once put you from my minde.\n\n CLEMENT ROBINSON.\n\n Come, and I will sing you--\n \u201cWhat will you sing me?\u201d\n I will sing you Four, O,\n What is your Four, O?\n Four it is the Dilly Hour, when blooms the gilly-flower.\n\n _Dilly Song._--Songs of the West.\n\n I\u2019ll weave my love a garland,\n It shall be dressed so fine,\n I\u2019ll set it round with roses,\n With lilies, pinks and thyme.\n\n _The Loyal Lover._\n\n There stood a gardener at the gate\n And in each hand a flower,\n O pretty maid, come in, he said,\n And view my beauteous bower.\n\n The lily it shall be thy smock,\n The jonquil shoe thy feet,\n Thy gown shall be the ten-week-stock,\n To make thee fair and sweet.\n\n The gilly-flower shall deck thy head\n Thy way with herbs, I\u2019ll strew,\n Thy stockings shall be marigold\n Thy gloves the vi\u2019let blue.\n\n _Dead Maid\u2019s Land._\n\nGillyflowers are, of course, now excluded from the herb-border, but once\nhousewives infused them in vinegar to make it aromatic, and candied them\nfor conserves, and numbered them among their herbs, though that is not\nthe reason that they are mentioned here. They have their place, because\nthe general ideas about them are too pretty to leave out. First, they\nwere the token of gentleness, as Robinson\u2019s lover asserts most\ntouchingly, and Drayton confirms in his line,\n\n The July-flower declares his gentleness.\n\nThen Gillyflowers (says Folkard) were represented in some old songs to\nbe one of the flowers that grow in Paradise. He quotes from a ballad\ncalled \u201cDead Men\u2019s Songs.\u201d This verse:\n\n The fields about the city faire\n Were all with Roses set,\n Gillyflowers and Carnations faire\n Which canker could not fret.\n\n _Ancient Songs._--RITSON.\n\nThere have been great discussions as to what flower was the original\n\u201cGillyflower\u201d spoken of by early writers. Folkard says it was\n\u201capparently a kind of pet-name to all manner of plants.\u201d Parkinson seems\nto have called Carnations, Clove-Gillyflowers, and Stocks, the\nStock-Gillyflowers, and Wall-flowers, Wall-Gillyflowers. It is generally\nthought that the earlier writers called the Dianthus by this name, and\nlater ones, the _Cheiranthus cheiri_, or _Matthiola_. Some of the names\nfor them show how sadly imagination has waned since the seventeenth\ncentury. Think of a new flower being called \u201cRuffling Robin\u201d or \u201cThe\nlustie Gallant,\u201d or \u201cMaster Tuggie\u2019s Princess,\u201d or \u201cMister Bradshaw,\nhis dainty Lady.\u201d Even \u201cthe Sad Pageant\u201d has romance about it, but we\ncan match that by a name for _Hesperides_ which, I believe, still\nsurvives, \u201cThe Melancholy Gentleman.\u201d Culpepper calls Gillyflowers,\n\u201cgallant, fine and temperate,\u201d but says, \u201cIt is vain to describe a herb\nso well known.\u201d So there we will leave them.\n\n\nLAVENDER (_Lavandula vera_).\n\n Here\u2019s flowers for you,\n Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram,\n The marigold that goes to bed wi\u2019 the sun,\n And with him rises weeping.\n\n _Winter\u2019s Tale_, iv. 3.\n\n The wholesome saulge and lavender still gray,\n Ranke smelling Rue, and cummin good for eyes.\n\n _Muiopotmos._\n\n Opening upon level plots\n Of crowned lilies standing near\n Purple spiked lavender.\n\n _Ode to Memory._--TENNYSON.\n\n Lavender is for lovers true,\n Which evermore be faine,\n Desiring always for to have\n Some pleasure for their paine.\n\n C. ROBINSON.\n\n _Piscator._ \u201cI\u2019ll now lead you to an honest ale-house; where we shall\n find a cleanly room, lavender in the windows and twenty ballads stuck\n about the wall.\u201d\n\n _The Complete Angler._\n\nLavender is one of the few herbs that has always been in great repute\nand allusions to it are legion. From the custom of laying it among\nlinen, or other carefully stored goods, a proverb has arisen--Timbs\nquotes from Earle\u2019s _Microcosm_: \u201cHe takes on against the Pope without\nmercy and has a jest still _in Lavender_ for Bellarmine.\u201d Walton\u2019s\n_Coridon_ mentions that \u201cthe sheets\u201d smell of lavender in a literal\nsense, and Parkinson says that it is much put among \u201capparell.\u201d Oil of\nLavender is still to be found in the British Pharmacop\u0153ia, and some of\nthe old writers utter serious warnings against \u201cdivers rash and\noverbold Apothecaries and other foolish women,\u201d who gave\nindiscriminately the distilled water, or composition that is made of\ndistilled wine in which flower seeds have been steeped. Turner suggests\nusing it in a curious manner. \u201cI judge that the flowers of Lavander\nquilted in a cappe and dayly worne are good for all diseases of the head\nthat come of a cold cause and that they comfort the braine very well.\u201d\nDr Fernie says it is of real use in a case of nervous headache. Lavender\nused to be called Lavender Spike or Spike alone, and French Lavender\n(_L. St\u00e6chas_) Stickadove or Cassidony, sometimes turned by country\npeople into Cast-me-down. _La petite Corbeille_ tells us that the juice\nof Lavender is a specific in cases of loss of speech and adds drily,\n\u201cune telle propri\u00e9t\u00e9 suffirait pour rendre cette plante \u00e0 jamais\nprecieuse.\u201d In Spain and Portugal it is used to strew churches and it is\nburned in bonfires on St John\u2019s Day, the day when all evil spirits are\nabroad. In some countries it must still possess wonderful qualities!\nTuscan peasants believe that it will prevent the Evil Eye from hurting\nchildren.\n\nThe pretty delicately-scented spikes of White Lavender are less well\nknown than they should be, but like many other herbs they received more\nadmiration in former days as has been already said, at the close of the\nsixteenth century, a literary guild was called after it. In the\nParliamentary Survey (November 1649) of the Manor of Wimbledon, \u201cLate\nparcel of the possessions of Henrietta Maria, the relict and late Queen\nof Charles Stuart, late King of England\u201d--an exact inventory is made of\nthe house and grounds (in which forty-four perches of land, called the\nHartichoke Garden is named), and among other things, \u201cvery great and\nlarge borders of Rosemary, Rue and White Lavender and great varietie of\nexcellent herbs\u201d are noticed.\n\n\nLAVENDER COTTON (_Santolina_).\n\nLavender Cotton is a little grey plant with \u201cvery finely cut leaves,\nclustered buttons of a golden colour and of a sweet smell and is often\nused in garlands and in decking up of gardens and houses.\u201d The French\ncalled it _Petit Cyprez_ and _Guarde Robe_, from which it may be\ninferred that it was one of the herbs laid in chests among furs and\nrobes. Tusser counts it among his \u201cstrewing herbes,\u201d and it is now\nchiefly used as an edging to beds or borders.\n\n\nMEADOW-SWEET (_Spir\u00e6a Ulmaria_).\n\n Bring, too, some branches forth of Daphne\u2019s hair,\n And gladdest myrtle for the posts to wear,\n With spikenard weav\u2019d and marjorams between\n And starr\u2019d with yellow-golds and meadows-queen.\n\n _Pan\u2019s Anniversary._--BEN JONSON.\n\n Amongst these strewing herbs, some others wild that grow,\n As burnet, all abroad, and meadow-wort they throw.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xv.\n\n _She._ The glow-room lights, as day is failing\n Dew is falling over the field.\n _He._ The meadow-sweet its scent is exhaling,\n Honeysuckles their fragrance yield.\n _Together._ Then why should we be all the day toiling?\n Lads and lasses, along with me!\n _She._ There\u2019s Jack o\u2019 Lantern lustily dancing,\n In the marsh with flickering flame.\n _He._ And Daddy-long-legs, spinning and prancing,\n Moth and midge are doing the same.\n _Chorus._ Then why should we, etc.\n\n S. BARING-GOULD.\n\n Where peep the gaping speckled cuckoo-flowers\n The meadow-sweet flaunts high its showy wreath\n And sweet the quaking grasses hide beneath.\n\n _Summer._--CLARE.\n\n Shall I strew on thee rose or rue or laurel?\n Or quiet sea flower moulded by the sea,\n Or simples and growth of meadow-sweet or sorrel.\n\n _Ave Atque Vale._--SWINBURNE.\n\n Pale Iris growing where the streams wind slowly\n Round the smooth shoulders of untrodden hills,\n White meadow-sweet and yellow daffodils.\n\n _Ph\u0153cia._--N. HOPPER.\n\nQueen of the Meadow and Bridewort are two of this flower\u2019s most\nappropriate names and a very pretty one is that which Gerarde tells us\nthe Dutch give it, _Reinette_. The Herbalists do not say much about the\n\u201cLittle Queen,\u201d but what they do say, is in the highest degree\ncomplimentary. Gerarde decides: \u201cThe leaves and flowers excel all other\nstrong herbes for to deck up houses, to strew in chambers, hall and\nbanquetting houses in the summer time; for the smell thereof makes the\nheart merrie, delighteth the senses, neither doth it cause headache\u201d as\nsome other sweet smelling herbes do. Parkinson, who says it \u201chas a\npretty, sharp sent and taste,\u201d praises it for the same purpose and adds\nthe interesting bit of gossip that \u201cQueen _Elizabeth_ of famous memory,\ndid more desire it than any other sweet herbe to strew her chambers\nwithal. A leafe or two hereof layd in a cup of wine, will give as quick\nand fine a rellish therto as Burnet will,\u201d he finishes practically.\nTurner says that women, in the spring-time, \u201cput it into the potages and\nmooses.\u201d I have known it used medicinally by a Herbalist, and can\nstrongly recommend it as an ingredient for _p\u00f4t pourri_. The scent is so\nsweet and clinging that it is surprising that meadow-sweet is not\noftener in request when dried and scented flowers are wanted. The\nIcelander says that if taken on St John\u2019s Day and thrown into water, it\nwill help to reveal a thief, for if the culprit be a man, it will sink,\nif a woman, it will float.\n\n\nROSEMARY (_Rosmarinus officinalis_).\n\n Here\u2019s Rosemary for you, that\u2019s for remembrance.--\n\n _Hamlet_, iv. 5.\n\n Rosemary\u2019s for remembrance,\n Between us day and night,\n Wishing that I may always have\n You present in my sight.\n\n C. ROBINSON.\n\n The double daisy, thrift, the button batchelor,\n Sweet William, sops-in-wine, the campion; and to these\n Some lavender they put, with rosemary and bays,\n Sweet marjoram, with her like sweet basil rare for smell,\n With many a flower, whose name were now too long to tell.\n\n _Polyolbion_, Song xv.\n\n Oh, thou great shepheard, Lobbin, how great is thy griefe?\n Where bene the nosegays that she dight for thee?\n The coloured chaplets wrought with a chiefe,\n The knotted rush-rings and gilt rosmarie?\n\n _November, Shepheard\u2019s Calender._--SPENSER.\n\nRosemary has always been of more importance than any other herb, and\nmore than most of them put together. It has been employed at weddings\nand funerals, for decking the church and for garnishing the banquet\nhall, in stage-plays, and in \u201cswelling discontent,\u201d of a too great\nreality; as incense in religious ceremonies, and in spells against\nmagic; \u201cin sickness and in health\u201d; eminently as a symbol, and yet for\nvery practical uses. It is quite an afterthought to regard it as a\nplant. In \u201cPopular Antiquities,\u201d Brand gives such an admirable account\nof it that one would like to quote in full, but must bear in mind the\nwarning, quoted from \u201cEachard\u2019s _Observations_,\u201d in those pages: \u201cI\ncannot forget him, who having at some time or other been suddenly cur\u2019d\nof a little head-ache with a Rosemary posset, would scarce drink out of\nanything but Rosemary cans, cut his meat with a Rosemary knife.... Nay,\nsir, he was so strangely taken up with the excellencies of Rosemary,\nthat he would needs have the Bible cleared of all other herbs and only\nRosemary to be inserted.\u201d At weddings it was often gilded or dipped in\nscented waters, or tied \u201cabout with silken ribbands of all colours.\u201d\nSometimes for want of it Broom was used. Mr Friend quotes an account of\na sixteenth century \u201crustic bridal\u201d at which \u201cevery wight with hiz blu\nbuckeram bridelace upon a branch of green broom--because Rosemary iz\nskant thear--tyed on hiz leaft arm.\u201d A wedding sermon by Robert Hacket\n(1607) is also quoted: \u201cRosemary... which by name, nature, and continued\nuse, man challengeth as properly belonging to himselfe. It overtoppeth\nall the flowers in the garden, boasting man\u2019s rule. Another property of\nthe Rosemary is, it affecteth the hart. Let this Rosmarinus, this flower\nof men, ensigne of your wisdom, love and loyaltie, be carried not only\nin your hands, but in your heads and harts.\u201d Ben Jonson says it was the\ncustom for bridesmaids to present the bridegroom with \u201ca bunch of\nRosemary, bound with ribands,\u201d on his first appearance on his wedding\nmorn. Together with an orange stuck with cloves, it often served as a\nlittle New Year\u2019s gift; and the same author mentions this in his\n_Christmas Masque_. The masque opens by showing half the players\nunready, and clamouring for missing properties; and _Gambol_, one of\nthem, says, of _New Year\u2019s Gift_: \u201cHe has an orange and Rosemary, but\nnot a clove to stick in it.\u201d A little later, _New Year\u2019s Gift_ enters,\n\u201cin a blue coat, serving-man-like, with an orange and a sprig of\nRosemary, gilt, on his head.\u201d _Wassel_ comes too, \u201clike a neat sempster\nand songster, her page bearing a brown bowl drest with ribands and\nRosemary before her.\u201d\n\nFor less festive occasions it had other meanings: \u201cAs for Rosmarine, I\nlett it runne all over my garden walls, not onlie because my bees love\nit, but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance, and therefore to\nfriendship; whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language that maketh it the\nchosen emblem of our funeral wakes and in our buriall grounds.\u201d Sir\nThomas More thought this, but others beside him \u201clett Rosmarine run all\nover garden walls,\u201d though perhaps they had less sentiment about it;\nHentzner (_Travels_) (1598) says that it was a custom \u201cexceedingly\ncommon in England.\u201d At Hampton Court, Rosemary was \u201cso planted and\nnailed to the walls as to cover them entirely.\u201d[74] The bushes were\nsometimes set \u201cby women for their pleasure,[75] to grow in sundry\nproportions, as in the fashion of a cart, a peacock or such things as\nthey fancy,\u201d or the branches were twined amongst others to make an\narbour. Brown refers to this:--\n\n Within an arbour, shadow\u2019d by a vine\n Mix\u2019d with Rosemary and Eglantine.\n\n _Br. Pastorals_, book i.\n\n[Illustration: ROSEMARY]\n\nRosemary was one of the chief funeral herbs. Herrick says:--\n\n Grow it for two ends, it matters not at all,\n Be\u2019t for my bridall or my buriall.\n\nSprigs of it were distributed to the mourners before they left the\nhouse, which they carried to the churchyard and threw on the coffin when\nit had been lowered into the grave. In _Romeo and Juliet_ Friar Laurence\nsays:--\n\n Dry up your tears and stick your Rosemary\n On this fair corse\n\nBrand quotes passages from Gay, Dekker, Cartwright, Shirley, Misson,\nColes, \u201cThe British Apollo\u201d and \u201cThe Wit\u2019s Interpreter,\u201d which connect\nRosemary with burials; and it was also planted on graves.\n\nColes says it was used with other evergreens to decorate churches at\nChristmas-time, and Folkard that, \u201cIn place of more costly incense, the\nancients often employed Rosemary in their religious ceremonies. An old\nFrench name for it was _Incensier_. It was conspicuous on a very\nremarkable occasion in history. In \u201cA Perfect Journall, etc., of that\nmemorable Parliament begun at Westminster, Nov. 3, 1640,\u201d is the\nfollowing passage, \u201cNov. 28. That afternoon Master Prin and Master\nBurton came in to London, being met and accompanied with many thousands\nof horse and foot, and rode with rosemary and bayes in their hands and\nhats; which is generally esteemed the greatest affront that ever was\ngiven to the courts of justice in England.\u201d The \u201caffront\u201d lay in the\ngeneral rejoicing that attended this overthrowing of the sentence passed\nby the Star Chamber, and the causes which led to this enthusiasm were\nthese: \u201cSome years before,\u201d Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick had written\nagainst the Government and the Bishops, and for this offence had been\nsentenced to pay a fine of \u00a35000 each, to have their ears cut off, to\nstand in the pillory and to be imprisoned for life. \u201cAll of which,\u201d says\nClarendon, \u201cwas executed with rigour and severity enough.\u201d \u201cAfter being\nfirst imprisoned in England, Mr Pyrnne was sent to a castle in the\nisland of Jersey, Dr Bastwick to Scilly, and Mr Burton to Guernsey.\u201d\nBastwick\u2019s wife seized the first moment that the Commons were assembled\n(in Nov. 1640) to present a petition, with the result that on the fourth\nday after Parliament met, orders for their release were sent to the\nGovernors of the respective castles. Clarendon, who, of course, had no\nsympathy, but much dislike for them, admits: \u201cWhen they came near\nLondon, multitudes of people of several conditions, some on horseback,\nothers on foot, met them some miles from the town; very many having been\na day\u2019s journey; and they were brought about two of the clocke in the\nafternoon in at Charing Cross, and carried into the city by above ten\nthousand persons with boughs and flowers in their hands, the common\npeople strewing flowers and herbs in the ways as they passed, making\ngreat noise and expressions of joy for their deliverance and return; and\nin those acclamations, mingling loud and virulent exclamations against\nthe bishops, \u201cwho had so cruelly persecuted such godly men.\u201d An\nappendix,[76] devoted to this incident, further describes their entry,\n\u201cThe two branded persons riding first, side by side, with branches of\nrosemary in their hands, and two or three hundred horse closely\nfollowing them, and multitudes of foot on either side of them, walking\nby them, every man on horseback or on foot having bays or rosemary in\ntheir hats or hands, and the people on either side of the street\nstrewing the way as they passed with herbs, and such other greens as the\nseason afforded, and expressing great joy for their return.\u201d This\nsplendid reception must have revealed very plainly to the Government the\nmind and temper of the people. Nowadays the exuberance of the mob in\ngreeting popular heroes is much what it seems to have been then, only\nthey do not generally express it in such a pretty way as strewing\nrosemary and bays.\n\nCulpepper writes that Rosemary was used \u201cnot only for physical but civil\npurposes,\u201d and among other uses, was placed in the dock of courts of\njustice. The reason for this was that among its many reputed medicinal\nvirtues, \u201cit was accounted singular good to expel the contagion of the\npestilence from which poor prisoners too often suffered. It was also\nespecially good to comfort the hearte and to helpe a weake memory,\u201d and\nwas generally highly thought of. Rosemary is still retained in the\npharmacop\u0153ia and is popularly much valued as a stimulant to making hair\ngrow. _L\u2019eau de la reine d\u2019Hongrie_, rosemary tops in proof spirit, was\nonce famous as a restorative and is mentioned in Perrault\u2019s fairy story\nof \u201cThe Sleeping Beauty.\u201d After the princess pricks her hand with the\nspindle and falls into the fatal sleep, among the means taken to bring\nback consciousness, \u201cen lui frotte les tempes avec de l\u2019eau de la reine\nd\u2019Hongrie; mais rien ne lui faisait revenir.\u201d Rosemary is also an\ningredient in _Eau de Cologne_. Its efficacy in magic is mentioned in\nanother chapter. In the countries where it grows to a \u201cvery great\nheight\u201d[77] and the stem is \u201ccloven out into thin boards, it hath served\nto make lutes, or such like instruments, and here with us carpenter\u2019s\nrules, and to divers other purposes.\u201d\n\n [74] Hentzner\u2019s \u201cTravels.\u201d\n\n [75] Barnaby Googe\u2019s \u201cHusbandry\u201d (1578).\n\n [76] \u201cHistory of the Rebellion.\u201d\n\n [77] Parkinson.\n\n\nRUE (_Ruta graveolens_).\n\n Reverend sirs,\n For you there\u2019s Rosemary and Rue; these keep\n Seeming and savour all the winter long,\n Grace and remembrance to you both.\n\n _Winter\u2019s Tale_, iv. 3.\n\n Here did she fall a tear; here, in this place,\n I\u2019ll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace;\n Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen,\n In the remembrance of a weeping queen.\n\n _Richard II._, iii. 4.\n\n There\u2019s rue for you, and here\u2019s some for me; we may call it herb of\n grace o\u2019Sundays O! you may wear your rue with a difference.\n\n _Hamlet_, iv. 5.\n\n Michael from Adam\u2019s eyes the film \u2019emoved\n ... then purged with euphrasy and rue,\n The visual nerve; for he had much to see.\n\n _Paradise Lost_, book xi.\n\n He who sows hatred, shall gather rue.\n\n _Danish Proverb._\n\n\u201cRuth was the English name for sorrow and remorse, and _to rue_ was to\nbe sorry for anything or to have pity, ... and so it was a natural thing\nto say that a plant which was so bitter and had always borne the name\n_Rue_ or _Ruth_ must be connected with repentance. It was therefore the\nHerb of Repentance, and this was soon transformed into the Herb of\nGrace.\u201d[78] Canon Ellacombe\u2019s explanation makes clear why rue was often\nalluded to symbolically, especially by Shakespeare, to whom the thought\nof repentance leading to grace seems to have been an accustomed one. It\nhas been often stated the actual origin of the name was the fact that\nrue was used to make \u201cthe _aspergillum_, or holy-water brush, in the\nceremony known as the _asperges_, which usually precedes the Sunday\ncelebration of High Mass; but for this supposition there is no\nground.\u201d[79] Rue was supposed to be a powerful defence against witches,\nand was used in many spells, and Mr Friend describes a \u201cmagic wreath\u201d in\nwhich it is used by girls for divination. The wreath is made up of Rue,\nWillow and Crane\u2019s-bill. \u201cWalking backwards to a tree they throw the\nwreath over their heads, until it catches on the branches and is held\nfast. Each time they fail to fix the wreath means another year of single\nblessedness.\u201d In the Tyrol, a bunch of Rue, Broom, Maidenhair, Agrimony\nand Ground Ivy will enable the wearer to see witches. Lupton adds a\ntribute to its powers of magic: \u201cThat[80] Pigeons be not hunted nor\nkilled of Cats at the windowes, or at every passage and at every\nPigeon\u2019s hole, hang or put little Branches of Rew, for Rew hath a\nmarvellous strength against wilde Beasts. As Didymus doth say.\u201d Milton\nrefers to a belief, very widely spread, that Rue was specially good for\nthe eyes, when he says:\n\n Michael\n ... purged with Euphrasie and Rue,\n The visual nerve.\n\nthat Adam\u2019s eyes should be made clear. (Euphrasie is Eyebright.) Rue was\nalso an antidote to poison, and preserved people from contagion,\nparticularly that of the plague, and was thought to be of great virtue\nfor many disorders. \u201cSome doe rippe up a beade-rowle of the vertues of\nRue, as Macer the poet and others\u201d who apparently declared it to be good\nfor almost every ill. Mr Britten remarks: \u201cIt was long, and probably\nstill is the custom to strew the dock of the Central Criminal Court at\nthe Old Bailey with Rue. It arose in 1750, when the contagious disease\nknown as jail fever, raged in Newgate to a great extent. It may be\nremembered that during the trial of the Mannings (1849), the unhappy\nwoman, after one of the speeches of the opposing counsel, gathered up\nsome of the sprigs of Rue which lay before her, and threw them at his\nhead.\u201d\n\nTurner recommends Rue \u201cmade hott in the pyll of a pomegranate\u201d for the\n\u201cake of the eares.\u201d\n\n [78] \u201cPlant-lore and Garden-craft of Shakespeare,\u201d Canon Ellacombe.\n\n [79] Britten.\n\n [80] \u201cBook of Notable Things\u201d (1575).\n\n\nSOUTHERNWOOD (_Artemisa Abrotanum_).\n\n Lavender and Sweet Marjoram march away,\n Sothernwood and Angelica don\u2019t stay,\n Plantain, the Thistle, which they blessed call,\n And useful Wormwood, in their order fall.\n\n _Of Plants_, book i.--COWLEY.\n\n I\u2019ll give to him,\n Who gathers me, more sweetness than he\u2019d dream\n Without me--more than any lily could.\n I, that am flowerless, being Southernwood.\n\n Shall I give you honesty,\n Or lad\u2019s love to wear?\n Or a wreath less fair to see,\n Juniper and Rosemary?\n Flaxenhair?\n\n Rosemary, lest you forget,\n What was lief and fair,\n Lad\u2019s love, sweet thro\u2019 fear and fret,\n Lad\u2019s love, green and living yet,\n Flaxenhair.\n\n _Finnish Bride Song._--N. HOPPER.\n\nSouthernwood has many _sobriquets_, among which are Lads or Boy\u2019s Love,\nOld Man, and Maiden\u2019s Ruin; the last a corruption of _Armoise du R\u00f4ne_,\nMr Friend says. The French have contracted the same title to _Auronne_\nand also call the plant _Bois de St Jean_ and _Citronelle_. Dutch people\nused to call it _Averonne_ (another form of the French contraction) and\nthe Germans, _Stab-wurtz_. The name _Bois de St Jean_ is given it,\nbecause in some parts of France it is one of the plants dedicated to St\nJohn the Baptist, and the German title came from their faith in it as a\n\u201csingular wound-hearb.\u201d Turner considered that the fumes of it being\nburned, would drive away serpents, and credits it with many valuable\nproperties, chiefly medicinal; and Culpepper calls it \u201ca gallant,\nmercurial plant, worthy of more esteem than it hath.\u201d It has also been\nsupposed to have great virtue to prevent the hair falling out. In later\ndays Hogg has declared it to have an agreeable, exhilarating smell,\u201d and\nto be \u201ceminently diaphoretic.\u201d But Thornton, who loves to shatter all\nfavourite herbal notions, remarks that these good results are chiefly\nbecause it \u201coperates on the mind of the patient,\u201d and that as a\nfomentation it is hardly more useful \u201cthan cloths wrung out of hot\nwater.\u201d So transitory is good report!\n\n\nWOOD-RUFF (_Asperula Odorata_).\n\n The threstlecoc him threteth oo\n A way is huere wynter wo\n When woodrove springeth.\n\n _Springtide_, 1300.\n\n All that we say, and all we leave unsaid\n Be buried with her....\n Pansies for thoughts, and wood-ruff white as she,\n And, for remembrance, quiet rosemary.\n\n _Elegy._--HOPPER.\n\nThe wood-ruff or wood-rowell has its leaves \u201cset about like a star, or\nthe rowell of a spurre,\u201d whereby it gains its name. English people also\ncalled it Wood-rose and Sweet-Grass; the French, _H\u00e9patique \u00e9toil\u00e9e_,\nand the Germans, _Waldmeister_ and _Herzfreude_, and they steep it in\n\u201c_Bohle_,\u201d a kind of \u201ccup\u201d made of light wine.\n\nIn England it used to be \u201cmade up into garlands or bundles and hanged up\nin houses in the heate of summer, doth very wel attemper the aire, coole\nand make fresh the place, to the delight and comfort of such as are\ntherein.\u201d[81] Wood-ruff was employed to decorate churches, and\nchurchwardens\u2019 accounts still exist (at St Mary-atte-Hill, London)\nincluding wood-ruff garlands and lavender in the expenses incurred in\nkeeping St Barnabas\u2019 Day. Johnston says[82]: \u201cThe dried leaves are put\namong linen for their sweet smell, and children put a whorl between the\nleaves of their books with a like purpose, and many people like to have\none neatly dried laid in the case of their watch.\u201d Sensible, as well as\npretty customs! It was one of the herbs recommended to \u201cmake the hart\nmerrye,\u201d and Tusser puts it among his \u201cstilling herbs,\u201d thus:\n\u201cWood-roffe, for sweet waters and cakes.\u201d Country people used to lay it\na little bruised to a cut, and its odour of new made hay must have made\nit a pleasanter remedy than many that they used.\n\n [81] Gerarde.\n\n [82] \u201cBotany of the Eastern Borders\u201d (1853).\n\n\nWORMWOOD (_Artemisia Absinthium_).\n\n And none a greater Stoick is, than I;\n The _Stoa\u2019s_ Pillars on my stalk rely;\n Let others please, to profit is my pleasure.\n The love I slowly gain\u2019s a lasting treasure.\n\n _Of Plants_, book i.--COWLEY.\n\n What savour is better, if physic be true,\n In places infected than wormwood and rue\n It is as a comfort for heart and the brain,\n And therefore to have it, it is not in vain.\n\n _July\u2019s Husbandry._--TUSSER.\n\n Here is my moly of much fame\n In magic often used;\n Mugwort and nightshade for the same,\n But not by me abused\n\n _Muses\u2019 Elysium._--DRAYTON.\n\nTraditions cluster round _Artemisia Absinthium_ and A. Vulgaris,\nMugwort. Canon Ellacombe says that the species are called after Diana,\nas she was supposed to \u201cfind them and delivered their powers and\nleechdom to Chiron the Centaur... who named these worts from the name of\nDiana, Artemis;\u201d and he thinks therefore that \u201cDian\u2019s bud,\u201d spoken of in\nthe _Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream_ was one of them. The plant was of some\nimportance among the Mexicans, and when they kept the festival of\nHuixtocihuatl, the Goddess of Salt, they began with a great dance of\nwomen, who were joined to one another by strings of different flowers,\nand who wore on their heads garlands of wormwood. This dance continued\nall night, and on the following morning the dance of the priests began.\n(_Nineteenth Century_, Sept. 1879.)\n\nAccording to the ancients, Wormwood counteracts the effects of poisoning\nby toadstools, hemlock, and the biting of the shrew mouse or sea-dragon;\nwhile Mugwort preserves the wayfarer from fatigue, sun-stroke, wild\nbeasts, the Evil Eye in man, and also from evil spirits! Lupton says\nthat it is \u201ccommonly affirmed that, on Midsummer Eve, there is found at\nthe root of Mugwort a coal which keeps safe from the plague, carbuncle,\nlightning, and the quartan ague, them that bear the same about them; and\nMizaldus, the writer hereof, saith that it is to be found the same day\nunder the Plantain, which is especially and chiefly to be found at\nnoon.\u201d[83] Later writers have unkindly insisted that these wonderful\n\u201ccoals\u201d were no more nor less than old dead roots! Gerarde and Parkinson\nare both dignified and contemptuous over these stories. Gerarde says,\n\u201cMany other fantasticall devices invented by poets are to be seen in the\nworks of ancient writers. I do of purpose omit them, as things unworthy\nof my recording or your reviewing.\u201d Parkinson is still more severe on\n\u201cidle superstitions and irreligious relations,\u201d and abuses this special\n\u201cidle conceit,\u201d which Gerarde has not deigned to repeat. It is told even\nby \u201cBauhinus, who glorieth to be an eye-witnesse of this foppery. But\noh! the weake and fraile nature of man! Which I cannot but lament.\u201d\nTurner devotes a great deal of space to the disputes of writers as to\nthe identity of the \u201ctrue Ponticke Wormwood,\u201d and says that \u201che himselfe\nis certainly accurate on the point, having been taught it by Gerhardas\nde Wyck, at that tyme the Emperour\u2019s secretary\u201d at Cologne. \u201cThis noble\nClerk was afterwards sent by Charles the fyft, Embassator to the great\nTurke.\u201d\n\nIt is from wormwood that _Absinthe_ is made; and it has been used\ninstead of hops in making beer. It used to be laid among stuffs and furs\nto keep away moths and insects--by its bitterness, ordinary folk\nsupposed, but Culpepper knew better, and gives an astrological reason:\n\u201cI was once in the tower and viewed the wardrobe and there was a great\nmany fine cloaths (I can give them no other title, for I was never\neither linen or woolen draper), yet as brave as they looked, my opinion\nwas that the moths might consume them. Moths are under the dominion of\nMars; this herb Wormwood (also an herb of Mars) being laid among cloaths\nwill make a moth scorn to meddle with the cloaths as much as a lion\nscorns to meddle with a mouse, or an eagle with a fly.\u201d One would not\nexpect to find a moth a \u201cmartial creature,\u201d but evidently he _is_, and\nthis explanation of the working of the law of \u201csympathies,\u201d not only\ntells us so, but kindly shows us a sure means of safeguarding our goods\nfrom an ubiquitous enemy.\n\nMugwort has many reputed medical virtues, and Dr Thornton who usually\ncrushes any pretension to such claims, says it \u201cmerits the attention of\nEnglish physicians, in regard to gout.\u201d It is with this plant that the\nJapanese prepare the _Moxa_ that they use as a cautery to a great\nextent.\n\nMugwort is said to be a good food for poultry and turkeys. De Gubernatis\ntells a Russian legend about this plant which they call _Bech_. Once the\nEvil One offended his brother, the Cossack Sabba, who seized and bound\nhim, and said he should not be released till he had done him some great\nservice. Presently, some Poles came close by and made a feast, and were\nhappy, leaving their horses to graze. The Cossack Sabba coveted the\nhorses and promised the Evil One his liberty if he could manage to get\nthem. The Evil One then sent other demons to the field and caused\nMugwort to spring up, whereupon the horses trotted away, and as they did\nso, the Mugwort moaned \u201c_bech, bech_.\u201d And now when a horse treads on\nit, the plant remembers the Pole\u2019s horses and still moans \u201c_bech,\nbech!_\u201d for which reason, in the Ukraine it is still called by that\nname. It is left untold whether the flight of the horses was due to the\nmagical nature of the plants, or to their usual bitterness. The latter\nis likely enough, as according to Dr Thornton, horses and goats are not\nfond of it, and cows and swine refuse it.\n\nOther well-known varieties of Wormwood are _H. pontica_, Roman wormwood\nwhose leaves are less bitter; and _A. Maritima_, sea-wormwood, and _A.\nSantonica_, Tartarian wormwood.\n\n [83] \u201cNotable Things.\u201d\n\n\nBAY (_Laurus Nobilis_).\n\n Then in my lavender I\u2019ll lay,\n Muscado put among it,\n And here and there a leaf of bay,\n Which still shall run along it.\n\n _Muses\u2019 Elysium._\n\n This done, we\u2019ll draw lots who shall buy\n And gild the bays and rosemary.\n\n _Hesperides._--HERRICK.\n\n Down with the rosemary and bays,\n Down with the mistletoe,\n Instead of holly, now upraise,\n The greener box, for show.\n\n _Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve._--HERRICK.\n\nA Bay-tree invites criticism, as it is certainly not a \u201cherb,\u201d but it is\nso often classed with some of them, especially with rosemary (to whom\nit seems to have been a sort of twin) that a brief extract from its\ninteresting history must be made. Herrick\u2019s verses show that both for\nweddings and decorations, rosemary and bays were paired together--bays\nbeing also gilded at weddings--and Brand quotes some lines from the\n\u201cWit\u2019s Interpreter\u201d to show that alike at funerals, they were fellows:--\n\n Shrouded she is from top to toe,\n With Lillies which all o\u2019er her grow,\n Instead of bays and rosemary.\n\nAnd Coles says, \u201cCypresse garlands are of great account at funeralls\namongst the gentiler sort, but rosemary and bayes are used by the\ncommons both at funeralls and weddings.\u201d Parkinson\u2019s testimony is\neloquent: \u201cIt serveth to adorne the house of God, as well as of man; to\nprocure warmth, comfort, and strength to the limmes of men and women by\nbathings and anoyntings out, and by drinks, etc., inward: to season the\nvessels wherein are preserved our meates, as well as our drinkes; to\ncrown or encircle as with a garland the heads of the living, and to\nsticke and decke forth the bodies of the dead; so that from the cradle\nto the grave we have still use of, we have still need of it.\u201d No one\ncould give higher praise to its natural virtues, but in other countries,\nit was endowed with supernatural ones. \u201cNeyther falling sickness,\nneyther devyll, wyll infest or hurt one in that place where a bay-tree\nis. The Romans call it the Plant of the Good Angell.\u201d[84] On the\ncontrary, the withering of bay-trees was a very ill omen, and a portent\nof death. Canon Ellacombe says this superstition was imported from\nItaly, but it seems to have taken root in England. Shakespeare mentions\nit in _Richard II._, as if it were no new idea; and Evelyn tells us, as\nif he were adding a fresh fact to a store of common knowledge, that in\n1629, at Padua, before a great pestilence broke out, almost all the\nBay-trees about that famous University grew sick and perished.\n\nSir Thomas Browne deals with another belief: \u201cThat bays will protect\nfrom the mischief of lightning and thunder is a quality ascribed\nthereto, common with the fig-tree, eagle and skin of a seal. Against so\nfamous a quality Vicomeratus produceth experiment of a bay-tree blasted\nin Italy. And, therefore, although Tiberius for this intent did wear\nlaurel upon his temples, yet did Augustus take a more probable course,\nwho fled under arches and hollow vaults for protection.\u201d Sir Thomas is\nvery logical.\n\nIt is not always clear when Laurel and when Bay is intended, because our\nBay-tree was often called Laurel in Elizabethan days. For instance:--\n\n And when from Daphne\u2019s tree he plucks more Baies,\n His shepherd\u2019s pipe may chant more heavenly lays.\n\n Intro. to _Br. Pastorals_ by CHRISTOPHER BROOKE.\n\nIf one is airily told one may pluck _bays_ from a _laurel_ bush, it is\nimpossible to know which is really meant, and a certain confusion\nbetween the two is inevitable. William Browne, who took, or pretended to\ntake, seriously the view that bays could not be hurt by thunder, brings\nforward an ingenious theory to account for it. It is that \u201cbeing the\nmaterials of poets ghirlands, it is supposed not subject to any of\nJupiter\u2019s thunderbolts, as other trees are.\n\n \u201cWhere Bayes still grow (by thunder not struck down),\n The victor\u2019s garland and the poet\u2019s crown.\u201d\n\nBesides being a prophet of evil, the Bay-tree was also a token of joy\nand triumph. \u201cIn Rome, they use it to trim up their _Churches_ and\n_Monasteries_ on Solemn _Festivals_ ... as also on occasion of Signal\n_Victories_ and other joyful Tidings; and these _Garlands_ made up with\n_Hobby-Horse Tinsel_, make a glittering show and rattling Noise when\nthe _Air_ moves them\u201d; also, \u201cWith the _Leaves_ of _Laurel_ they made up\ntheir _Despatches_ and Letters _Laurus involutoe_, wrapt in Bay-leaves,\nwhich they sent the Senate from the victorious General.\u201d Imagine a\n\u201cvictorious General\u201d now sitting down to label despatches with leaves,\nsignifying triumph! \u201cEre Reuter yet had found his range,\u201d how much\nbetter the art of becoming ceremonial was understood.\n\nFinally, the Bay was regarded as a panacea for all ailments, and,\ntherefore, the statue of \u00c6sculapius was crowned with its leaves.\n\nI append to this book a copy of the List of Herbs that Tusser gives in\n\u201cMarch\u2019s Abstract.\u201d It will be seen that he has carefully classified\nthem according to their suitability for stilling, strewing, bough-pots\nor kitchen.\n\n [84] \u201cBook of Notable Things,\u201d C. Lupton.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nOF THE GROWING OF HERBS\n\n In March and in April, from morning to night,\n In sowing and setting, good housewives delight;\n To have in a garden or other like plot,\n To trim up their house, and to furnish their pot.\n\n The nature of flowers, dame Physic doth shew;\n She teacheth them all, to be known to a few,\n To set or to sow, or else sown to remove,\n How that should be practised, pain if ye love.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Time and ages, to sow or to gather be bold,\n But set to remove, when the weather is cold.\n Cut all thing or gather, the moon in the wane,\n But sow in encreasing or give it his bane.\n\n Now sets do ask watering, with pot or with dish,\n New sown do not so, if ye do as I wish:\n Through cunning with dibble, rake, mattock and spade,\n By line, and by level, the garden is made.\n\n Who soweth too lateward, hath seldom good seed,\n Who soweth too soon little better shall speed,\n Apt time and the season, so diverse to hit,\n Let ai\u00e9r and layer, help practice and wit.\n\n _Five hundred Points of Good Husbandry._--TUSSER.\n\n\nThe majority of herbs are not exacting in their requirements, but a few\nforeigners thrive the better for a little protection as a start. This is\nthe opinion of a successful gardener on the Herb-Border in an ordinary\nkitchen-garden: \u201cAs to soil and situation, I used to devote a border\nentirely to Herbs, under a privet hedge, facing north-west, with a rough\nmarly bottom. I had a plant of most varieties I could get hold of, both\nCulinary and Medicinal.\u201d\n\nCircumstances dictated that my own herbs should grow in a plot, rather\novershadowed, and I found that they flourished, though annuals, as a\nrough rule, do best where they can get plenty of sunshine. In speaking\nof their cultivation, I have divided them into three groups: Perennials,\nBiennials and Annuals, and take the Perennials first.\n\n_Tansy_ will grow in almost any soil and may be increased, either in\nspring or autumn, by slips or by dividing the roots. _Lavender_ is not\nalways easy to please and likes a rather poor, sandy soil. When it is\nrich and heavy, matters are sometimes improved by trenching the ground\nand putting in chalk about a bushel to a land-yard (16 feet 6 inches by\n16 feet 6 inches); lime from a kiln is also used in the same\nquantity.[85] Broad-leaved and narrow-leaved are the varieties of the\npurple Lavender usually sold, and, besides these, White Lavender. The\nnarrow-leaved is the hardiest kind and its scent is the strongest; but\nthe white-flowered has a very delicate fragrance. It requires care, but\nis better able to stand cold in a poor, than in a rich soil. The best\nway of propagating Lavender is by layering it, and this should be done\nin the summer; the plants can then be taken off the spring following.\nThe narrow-leaved does not grow well from seed, and all kinds are shy of\nstriking. The best known varieties of _Artemisia_, are _Tarragon_,\n_Wormwood_, and _Southernwood_, and they all prefer a dry and rather\npoor soil. If Tarragon, especially, be set in a wet soil, it is likely\nto be killed in the winter. Two kinds of Tarragon are usually found in\ngardens; one has bluish-green, very smooth leaves and the true Tarragon\nflavour, and is commonly known as French Tarragon. Russian Tarragon,\nthe other kind, lacks the special flavour, and bears less smooth leaves\nof a fresher green shade. Runners should be taken from these plants in\nthe spring. Wormwood is satisfied with a shady corner and may be\npropagated by seeds or cuttings. Southernwood is increased by division\nof the roots in the spring.\n\n [85] Neither lime nor chalk must be repeatedly added or the soil will\n be impoverished.\n\n_Horehound_ and _Rue_ may be coupled together as liking a shady border\nand a dry, calcareous soil, and I have always heard that the latter\nthrives best when the plant has been _stolen_! It is a good thing to cut\nthe bush down from time to time, when it will spring again with renewed\nvigour. Rue may be grown from seeds or cuttings taken in the spring.\nHorehound may be grown from seeds or cuttings, but is most usually\nincreased by dividing the roots.\n\n_Hyssop_, _Rosemary_, and _Sage_ are natives of the south of Europe, and\nthe two first appreciate a light, sandy soil, and not too much sun.\nHyssop should be sowed in March or April; rooted off-sets may be taken\nin these months or in August and September, or cuttings from the stems\nin April or May, and these should be watered two or three times a week\ntill they have struck. Both Hyssop and Sage are the better for being cut\nback when they have finished flowering. Loudon[86] says of Rosemary:\n\u201cThe finest plants are raised from seed. Slips or cuttings of the young\nshoots may be taken in the spring and summer and set in rows, two-thirds\ninto the ground and occasionally watered till they have struck. In the\nautumn they may be transplanted.\u201d There are four kinds of Sage: red,\ngreen, small-leaved, or Sage of Virtue, broad-leaved or Balsamic.\nGardening books speak of the red variety as being the commonest, though\nit seems to me that the common green sage is the one oftenest seen in\nkitchen-gardens. Red Sage seldom comes \u201ctrue\u201d from seed but is easily\nraised by cuttings, and it sometimes succumbs to a hard winter. The\nother varieties are propagated by seed or by cuttings taken in May or\nJune; the outer shoots should be the ones chosen and they should be put\nwell into the ground and watered. After about three years the plants\nbegin to degenerate and new ones should be set. Three kinds of\n_Marjoram_ are cultivated, _Winter_ (_Origanum Heracleoticum_), _Pot_\n(_O. Onites_) and _Sweet Marjoram_ (_O. Marjorana_). The last-named is\nnot a perennial. Winter and Pot Marjoram like a dry, light soil and are\nbest propagated by off-sets, slipping or parting the roots in spring or\nautumn, but they may be also raised from seed. _Bergamot_, sometimes\ncalled Bee Balm, is, Robinson says, of the simplest culture, thriving or\nflowering in any position or soil. \u201cFor its scent alone, or for its\nhandsome crimson flowers it would be well worth cultivating.\u201d[87] He\nadds that the different varieties of _Monarda_ are admirably suited to\nbeing planted \u201cfor naturalization in woods and shrubberies.\u201d Bergamot\nmay be increased by division of the roots in the spring or grown from\nseed.\n\n [86] \u201cEncyclop\u00e6dia of Gardening.\u201d\n\n [87] \u201cEnglish Flower Garden.\u201d\n\n_Balm_ grows almost too readily and has a terrible habit of spreading in\nall directions unless severely checked. To propagate it, the roots\nshould be divided, or slips taken either in spring or autumn.\n\n_Thyme._--Of the varieties of _Serpyllum_ there seems no end, and the\nnumber of the species of _Thymus_ is still dubious. Twelve kinds of them\nare offered for sale in an ordinary seed list sent to me the other day,\nbut of these, few are grown in the kitchen-garden. _Common Thyme_ or\n_Lemon Thyme_ are the kinds most usually cultivated. Common Thyme has\nlong, narrow-pointed leaves and Lemon Thyme is easily recognised by its\nscent from the wild Thyme, of which it has generally been considered a\nvariety. _Golden_ or _Variegated Thyme_ (also lemon-scented) makes a\npretty and fragrant edging to a flower-bed, but should be cut back when\nit has done flowering, unless the seed is to be saved, as it becomes\nstraggling and untidy, and there is more danger of its being killed by\nthe frost than if the winter finds it compact and bushy. Thyme is\npropagated by seed, by taking up rooted side-shoots, or by cuttings\ntaken in the spring. It thrives best in a light, rich earth, and should\nbe occasionally watered till well rooted.\n\nThere are two varieties of _Camomile_, the single and the\ndouble-flowered; the first is the most valuable in medicine, but the\nsecond is the most commonly met with. Camomile grows freely in most\nsoils, but seems naturally to choose gravel and sand. The roots may be\ndivided or, as the gardener before quoted, remarks: \u201cOnly let a plant of\nit go to seed; it will take care of itself.\u201d _Costmary_ is seldom grown.\nLoudon says the whole plant has \u201ca peculiarly agreeable odour\u201d;\npersonally, the odour strikes me as exactly resembling that of mint\nsauce. The plant is rather handsome, with large greyish leaves and small\ndeep-yellow flowers; it likes a dry soil and is increased by division of\nthe roots after the flowering time is over.\n\n_Mint_, _Peppermint_ and _Penny-royal_, demand the same treatment, and\nall like moisture. They are easily increased by dividing the roots in\nthe spring or autumn, by taking off runners in the autumn, or by\ncuttings taken in the spring. The cuttings should be planted about half\nway into the earth. To have really good mint, it should be transplanted\nabout every third year. _Green Mint_ is sometimes required in the winter\nand early spring, and this may be provided by putting a few outside\nrunners in a pot and placing it in bottom heat. \u201cPlant for succession\nevery three weeks, as forced roots soon decay.\u201d\n\n_Winter Savoury_ is \u201cpropagated by slips or cuttings in April or June,\nplanted in a shady border, and transplanted a foot apart and kept bushy\nby cuttings.\u201d[88]\n\n [88] Abercrombie, \u201cEvery Man his own Gardener.\u201d\n\n_Fennel_ has become naturalised and is sometimes found growing wild by\nthe sea; it is usually raised from seed or increased by side off-sets of\nthe roots which may be taken in spring, summer or autumn. _Bugloss_ or\n_Alkanet_ grows freely anywhere, but seems to prefer moisture, and it\nmay be increased by division of the roots or grown from seeds.\n\nOf _Mallows_ and _Marsh Mallows_, De la Quintinye says, \u201cThey ought to\nbe allowed a place in our Kitchen-Gardens... they grow of their own\naccord,\u201d but he admits that it is best to \u201csow them in some bye-place,\u201d\nbecause of their propensity to spread. They are raised from seed, but\ncuttings may do well, and off-sets of the root, carefully divided, are\nsatisfactory. _Sweet Cicely_ may be increased by dividing the roots. It\nis well suited to an open shrubbery or wild garden, as well as to a\nherb-border. _Elecampane_ is propagated by off-sets, taken when the\nplant has done flowering; it likes a moist soil or shade, and sends up\ntall spikes of bright yellow flowers. This year some of mine were over\nsix feet high.\n\n_Angelica_, Abercrombie tells us, is an annual-perennial, which means\nthat it must be taken up and newly planted every year to be at all good,\nthough off-sets from the plant would continue to come up of their own\naccord. It delights in moisture, and flourishes on the banks of running\nstreams, but will do well almost anywhere. Angelica is best raised from\nseed, which, if sown in August, will grow better than if sown earlier in\nthe year and it will sometimes grow from cuttings. _Liquorice_ is\n\u201cpropagated by cuttings of the roots. On account of the depth to which\nthe root strikes when the plant has room to flourish, the soil should\nhave a good staple of mould thirty inches or three feet in depth. Taking\nthe small horizontal roots of established plants, cut them into sections\nsix inches long. Having traced out rows a yard asunder, plant the sets\nalong each row at intervals of eighteen inches, covering them entirely\nwith mould.\u201d[89]\n\n [89] Abercrombie.\n\n[Illustration: PLANTATION OF LAVENDER]\n\n_Saffron_ will grow in any soil, but prefers a sandy one, and plenty of\nsun. It is increased by seed, and by off-sets, which must be taken from\nthe bulb when the plant is in a state of rest. As Saffron is an\nautumn-flowering plant, the time of rest is in the beginning of summer,\nand the bulb should be taken up when the leaves (which appear in the\nspring) begin to decay. The parent bulbs should be kept dry for a month\nand then replanted, that they may have time to \u201cestablish themselves\u201d\nand flower before winter. This should be done once in three years.\n_Skirrets_ are seldom eaten, but occasionally seen; they may be raised\nfrom seed, or by off-sets from the roots taken in spring or autumn.\n_Chives_ are propagated by dividing the roots either in spring or\nautumn, and when the leaves are wanted they should be cut close, and\nthen new ones will grow up in their place.\n\n_Sorrel_ of two kinds is cultivated, _Rumex Acetosa_ and _Rumex\nScutatus_ or _French Sorrel_; Garden Sorrel rejoices in a damp, French\nSorrel in a dry, soil. Both are most commonly increased by parting the\nroots, which may be done either in spring or autumn, and the roots\nplanted about a foot apart and watered. Loudon says: \u201cThe finer plants\nare propagated from seed,\u201d which should be sown in March, though it may\nbe sown in any of the spring months, and the plants must be thinned out\nwhen they are one or two inches high. When the stalks run up in the\nsummer they should be cut back occasionally.\n\n_Herb Patience_ or _Patience Dock_ is raised from seed sown in lines and\nthinned out and the leaves to be eaten must be cut young. _Burnet_ is\neasily raised from seed, or increased by dividing the roots in the\nspring. All the flower-stalks ought to be cut down, if they are not\nrequired for seed. _Dandelion_, it is hardly necessary to say, is only\ntoo easily raised from seed or by roots. Loudon says that when wanted\nfor the table, the leaves should be tied together and earthed up, which\nwill blanch them satisfactorily; otherwise, it may be grown blanched by\nkeeping it always in a dark place.\n\nFor obvious reasons there are obstacles to the cultivation of\n_Water-cress_; a very little running water, however, will suffice, and\nit may be grown from seeds or by setting roots in the shallow stream. It\nshould never be grown in stagnant water. Loudon quotes several\nauthorities on the subject of growing _Samphire_; it is difficult to\nplease, but this treatment was successful at Thames Ditton. The Samphire\nwas \u201cplaced in a sheltered, dry situation, screened from the morning\nsun, protected by litter in the winter, and in the spring the soil was\nsprinkled with a little powdered barilla, to console it for the lack of\nits beloved sea-spray.\u201d It is raised from seed which should be sown as\nsoon as it is ripe, or the roots may be divided.\n\nIn the early part of August, the young shoots should be cut back, and\nthe decayed flower-stems removed, on such plants as hyssop, sage,\nlavender, and the like, and they will then send out new short shoots,\nwhich will make a close, bushy head for the winter. If possible, this\nshould be done in damp weather. In October, the beds should be weeded;\nif the plants stand at some distance from each other, the earth between\nshould be loosened, and if the beds are old, a little manure would be a\ngreat advantage. Amongst close-growing herbs, digging is impossible,\nbut the ground must be hoed, raked and cleaned of weeds.\n\nBIENNIALS.--_Parsley._--There are many kinds of parsley, and one\nspecially recommended is the triple-curled variety. All parsleys are\nraised from seed, and it is a good thing to sow one bed in March and a\nsecond in June, thus securing a continual supply all through the winter.\nThe plants want well thinning out, and if the weather be very dry, the\nlast sown should have two or three waterings with weak manure water. To\nprotect them from the frost, a reed-hurdle, or even a few branches of\nfir, may be used, but, of course, a box-frame and light is the best.\nParsley likes a deep soil, not too rich; and a good quantity of soot\nworked into it much improves the plants.\n\n_Caraway_ is raised from seed, which should be sown in the autumn, and\nit may also be sown in March or April, but the result will not be so\ngood. This plant likes a rich, light soil. _Dill_ should be sown in the\nspring, either broadcast or in drills, six to twelve inches apart. It\nmay be sown in autumn, but this is not very advisable. _Clary_ is sown\nin the end of March or in April, and should be transplanted to six to\ntwelve inches apart, when the plants are two or three inches high; it\nmay also be grown from cuttings.\n\n_Rampions_ should be thinly sowed in April or May in shady borders. If\nthe plant is grown for use, it must not be allowed to flower, and in\nthis case, it should not be sown till the end of May. The plants should\nbe moderately watered at first (and later if the weather be very dry),\nand when sufficiently grown, they should be thinned out to three or four\ninches apart. The roots are fit for use in November. _Alexanders_ or\n_Alisanders_, will send up shoots indefinitely, but must be sown afresh\nevery year if wanted for the table. The seed should be sown in drills\neighteen inches or more apart, and the plants thinned out to five or\nsix inches distance from each other. When they are well grown they\nshould be earthed up several inches on each side to blanch them.\n\nANNUALS.--_Anise_ and _Coriander_ like a warm, dry, light soil. If this\nis not procurable, anise should be \u201csown in pots in heat, and removed to\na warm site in May.\u201d[90] Coriander may be sown in February, if it be\nmild and dry, and the seeds must be buried half an inch. _Cumin_ is\nrarely seen; but it is advised that it should be sown in a warm, sunny\nborder in March or April.\n\n [90] Loudon.\n\n_Sweet Marjoram_ and _Summer Savory_ must both be sowed in light earth,\neither in drills nine inches apart, or broadcast, when they must be\nthinned out later on. The plants thinned out may be planted in another\nbed at six inches distance from each other, and must be watered. _Sweet\nBasil_ and _Bush Basil_ are both raised from seed sown in a hot-bed in\nthe end of March, and the young plants should be set a foot apart in a\nwarm border in May. They may be sown in an open border, but there is a\nrisk of their coming up at all, and a certainty, that if they do, the\nplants will be late and small. Sweet Basil (_Ocymum Basilicum_) is much\nthe largest plant, Bush Basil (_O. Mininum_) being scarcely half the\nsize; both like a rich soil.\n\n_Borage_ is raised from seed, and, if let alone, will seed itself and\ncome up, year after year, in the same place. It likes a dry soil.\nGardening books recommend that it should be planted in drills and\nthinned, but for the sake of the picturesque, it should be dotted about\namong low-growing herbs in single plants or little clumps.\n\n_Marigolds_ should be planted in light, dry soil; they may be \u201csowed in\nthe spring, summer, or autumn, to remain or be transplanted a foot\nasunder.\u201d[91] The outer edge (near the palings) of Regent\u2019s Park, close\nto Hanover Gate, testifies to their power of seeding themselves.\nAuthorities differ as to whether _Finocchio_ is an annual, but at\nanyrate, in England, it must be treated as one. Finocchio should be\nsowed in dry, light earth, and must afterwards be thinned, or the plants\ntransplanted to a distance of fifteen inches between each. The swelling\nstems \u201cof some tolerable substance\u201d must be earthed up five or six\ninches, and will be blanched and tender in a fortnight\u2019s time, and if\nsowed in successive sowings, it may be eaten from June till December.\n\n [91] Abercrombie.\n\n_Endive_ must be sown in successive crops in July and the early part of\nAugust, and this will produce \u201ca sufficiency to last through the winter\nand early spring. If sown earlier it runs to seed the same year; but if\nearly endive is required, a little white-curled variety is the best to\nsow. The ground should be light and rich on a dry subsoil\u201d; when\nsufficiently grown, the plants should be thinned, and those taken out,\ntransplanted at a distance of ten or twelve inches apart, and watered\noccasionally till they are well rooted. Endive is more easy to blanch if\nsowed in trenches than in level ground. In wet weather, blanching is\nbest accomplished by putting a garden-pot over the plant; but, in\nsummer, it is better to tie the leaves together and earth them half way\nup. The process will take from a week in dry weather to nearly three\nweeks in wet, and the plant must be taken up soon after it is finished,\nas after a few days it begins to decay. In severe frost the bed should\nbe covered with straw litter.\n\n_Chervil_ is sown in August and September, and can be used in the same\nautumn and through the winter; if successive crops are wanted, it may be\nsown any time between the end of February and August. It should be sown\nin shallow drills, and the plants left to grow as they come up. When the\nleaves are two or three inches high they are ready to be used, and if\ncut close, fresh leaves will shoot up in their place. _Lambs\u2019 Lettuce_\nis appreciated chiefly in the winter; it should be sown in August, and\nagain in September to last through the winter and early spring. Dry\nfairly mellow soil will suit it, and it may be left to grow as it was\nsowed.\n\n_Rocket._--\u201cThis is an agreeable addition to cresses and mustard, early\nin spring. It should be sown in a warm border in February, and during\nthe next months if a succession is wanted. After the first rough leaf\nhas appeared, thin out the plants.\u201d[92] The _Purslanes_ are both tender\nannuals, Green Purslane (_Portulaca olerecea_) being rather hardier than\nGolden Purslane (_P. sativa_). They should be sowed on hot-beds in\nFebruary or March; or in a warm border, they may be sowed in drills\nduring fine weather in May. They should be left as they grow, and when\nthe leaves are gathered they must be cut low, and then a fresh crop will\nappear. Purslane must be watered occasionally in very dry, hot weather.\n\n [92] Loudon.\n\nThe above remarks pretend to being no more than bare outlines of the art\nof growing certain herbs. Many of these have outlived their reputation,\nand are now cultivated for no practical purpose, but for sentiment\u2019s\nsake, or for their aromatic grace, by those who \u201ctake a delight\u201d in such\nthings. To these I hope these suggestions may be useful. Any person\ndesiring to bring a special herb to perfection is hardly likely to need\nreference to one of the many admirable gardening dictionaries, for it is\nnot probable that he would look to an amateur for solid instruction on\nsuch points. To conclude, Leonard Meager[93] gives some pithy directions\nwhich it is well to bear in mind:--\n\n\u201cIn setting herbs ever observe to leave the tops no more than a handful\nabove the ground, and the roots a foot under the earth.\n\n [93] \u201cNew Art of Gardening.\u201d\n\n\u201cTwine the roots of the herbs you set, unless too brittle. Gather herbs\nwhen the sap is full in the top of them. Such herbs as you intend to\ngather for drying, to keep for use all the winter, do it about\nLammas-tide; dry them in the shade that the sun draw not out their\nvertue, but in a clear air and breezy wind, that no mustiness may taint\nthem.\u201d\n\nCut all herbs just before they flower, except where the flower heads are\nwanted--lavender or camomile, for instance. These should be cut just\nbefore the flowers are fully open.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nOF HERBS IN MEDICINE\n\n When bright Aurora gilds the eastern skies,\n I wake and from my squalid couch arise...\n Be this my topic, this my aim and end,\n Heav\u2019n\u2019s will to obey and seek t\u2019oblige a friend...\n Some herbs adorn the hills--some vales below,\n Where limpid streamlets in meanders flow,\n Here\u2019s Golden Saxifrage, in vernal hours,\n Springs up when water\u2019d well by fertile showers:\n It flourishes in bogs where waters beat,\n The yellow flowers in clusters stand complete.\n Adorn\u2019d with snowy white, in meadows low,\n White Saxifrage displays a lucid show:...\n Why should my friends in pining grief remain,\n Or suffer with excruciating pain?\n The wholesome medicines, if by heaven blest,\n Sure anodynes will prove and give them rest....\n Here\u2019s Tormentilla, with its searching parts,\n Expels the pois\u2019nous venom from our hearts...\n Wood-betony is in its prime in May,\n In June and July does its bloom display,\n A fine, bright red does this grand plant adorn,\n To gather it for drink I think no scorn;\n I\u2019ll make a conserve of its fragrant flowers,\n Cephalick virtues in this herb remain,\n To chase each dire disorder from the brain.\n Delirious persons here a cure may find\n To stem the phrensy and to calm the mind.\n All authors own wood-betony is good,\n \u2019Tis king o\u2019er all the herbs that deck the wood;\n A king\u2019s physician erst such notice took\n Of this, he on its virtues wrote a book.\n\n _The Poor Phytologist._--JAMES CHAMBERS.\n\n\nThe old herbalists used so many herbs and found each one good for so\nmany disorders that one is filled with wonder that patients ever\ndied, till one examines into the prescriptions and methods generally,\nand then one is more astonished that any of them recovered. I shall not\nmention any prescriptions here, excepting the celebrated antidote to all\npoison, Venice Treacle. This included seventy-three ingredients, and was\nevolved from an earlier and also famous nostrum, the _Mithridaticum_,\noriginated by Mithridates, King of Pontus. Of course, this \u201ctreacle\u201d was\nin no way connected with the sugary syrup we call by this name, but is a\ncorruption of the Latin--_Theriaca_, a counter poison. Venice Treacle is\nan extreme example of the multitude of conflicting elements that were\nmassed together and boldly administered in ancient remedies. The memory\nof it still clings about a wayside plant, _Erysimum cheiranthoides_,\nbetter known as Treacle-Mustard, which has gained its English name from\nthe fact that its seeds were used in this awe-inspiring compound.\n\n[Illustration: CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN]\n\nAnyone who is interested in ancient remedies can easily gain much\ninformation from Culpepper or Salmon. Either herbal can be procured at a\nlow price (in a cheap edition) from any second-hand bookseller, and\nSalmon\u2019s wild statements, especially about animals, and Culpepper\u2019s\nbiting wit, make them amusing reading. It is more instructive to examine\nthe principles that animated the practice, and from one, the Doctrine of\nSignatures took form--a doctrine widely believed in, and of great\ninfluence. Coles[94] expounds it with great clearness: \u201cThough Sin and\nSattan have plunged mankinde into an Ocean of Infirmities... yet the\nmercy of God, which is over all His workes, maketh ... herbes for the\nuse of man, and hath not onely stamped upon them a distinct forme, but\nalso given them particular Signatures, whereby a man may read, even in\nlegible characters, the use of them.... Viper\u2019s Bugloss hath its stalks\nall to be speckled like a snake or viper, and is a most singular remedy\nagainst poyson and the sting of scorpions.... Heart Trefoyle is so\ncalled, not onely because the leafe is triangular, like the heart of a\nman, but also because each leafe contains the perfection of the heart,\nand that in its proper colour, viz., in flesh colour. It defendeth the\nheart.... The leaves of Saint John\u2019s Wort seem to be pricked or pinked\nvery thick with little holes like the pores of a man\u2019s skin. It is a\nsoveraigne remedy for any cut in the skin.\u201d This was a view very\ngenerally shared. William Browne says:\n\n In physic by some signature\n Nature herself doth point us out a cure.\n\n [94] \u201cArt of Simpling.\u201d\n\nAnd again:\n\n Heaven hath made me for thy cure,\n Both the physician and the signature.\n\n _Br. Pastorals_, book iii.\n\nDrayton\u2019s _Hermit_ pursued a development of this theory. He merely\naccepted the conclusions of earlier authorities who had made discoveries\nabout the properties of plants and had named them accordingly.\n\n Some (herbs) by experience, as we see,\n Whose _names express their natures_.\n\n _Muses\u2019 Elysium._\n\nIt was, naturally, more simple to administer all-heal, for a wound;\nhore-hound, for \u201cmad dogge\u2019s biting,\u201d and so on, than to decipher the\nsignature from the plant, himself, and so he and many others, prescribed\nthe herbs, with more reference to their names, than unprejudiced\nattention to results.\n\nThe planets were another determining factor in the choice of remedies.\nEach plant was dedicated to a planet and each planet presided over a\nspecial part of the body, therefore, when any part was affected, a herb\nbelonging to the planet that governed that special part must, as a\nrule, be used. Thus, Mercury presided over the brain, so for a headache\nor \u201cFolly and Simplicity (the Epidemicall diseases of the Time)\u201d one of\nMercury\u2019s herbs must be chosen. Mercurial herbs were, as a rule,\nrefreshing, aromatic and of \u201cvery subtle parts.\u201d The planets seem\nusually to have caused, as well as cured the diseases in their special\nprovince, and therefore their own herbs, brought about the cure \u201cby\nsympathy.\u201d But sometimes, a planet would cause a disorder in the\nprovince ruled by another planet, to whom the first was in opposition,\nand in this case the cure must be made \u201cby antipathy.\u201d Thus the lungs\nare under Jupiter, to whom Mercury is opposed, therefore in any case of\nthe lungs being affected, the physician must first discover whether\nJupiter or Mercury were the agent and if the latter, the remedy must be\n\u201cantipathetical\u201d; it must be from one of Mercury\u2019s herbs. Sometimes\nwhere a planet had caused a disease in the part it governed, an\n\u201cantipathetical\u201d cure, by means of an adversary\u2019s herbs, was advised;\nfor instance Jupiter is opposed to Saturn, so Jupiter\u2019s herbs might be\ngiven for toothache or pains in the bones caused by Saturn, for the\nbones are under Saturn\u2019s dominion. An antipathetical remedy, however,\nCulpepper does not recommend for common use, for \u201csympathetical cures\nstrengthen nature; antipathetical cures, in one degree or another,\nweaken it.\u201d Besides this, the position of the planet had to be\nconsidered, the \u201cHouse\u201d that it was in, and the aspect in which it was\nto the moon and other planets.\n\n\u201cA benevolent Planet in the sixth, cures the disease without the help of\na Physitian.\n\n\u201cA malevolent Planet there causeth a change in the disease, and usually\nfrom better to worse.\n\n\u201cA malevolent in the Ascendant threatens death, and makes the sick as\ncross-grained as _Bajazet_ the Turkish Emperor when he was in the Iron\nCage.\u201d\n\nThis is from Culpepper\u2019s \u201cAstrological Judgment of Diseases\u201d; in his\n\u201cHerbal\u201d he gives definite directions:\n\n\u201cFortify the body with herbs of the nature of the Lord of the Ascendant,\n\u2019tis no matter whether he be a Fortune or Infortune in this case.\n\n\u201cLet your medicine be something antipathetical to the Lord of the Sixth.\n\n\u201cIf the Lord of the Tenth be strong, make use of his medicines.\n\n\u201cIf this cannot well be, make use of the medicines of the Light of\nTime.\u201d\n\nTurning to the herbs appropriated to the special planets, we find that\nthose of Mars were usually strong, bright and vigorous, and cured ills\ncaused by violence, including the sting of \u201ca martial creature, imagine\na wasp, a hornet, a scorpion.\u201d Yellow flowers were largely dedicated to\nthe Sun or Moon, radiant, bright-yellow ones to the Sun; these of paler,\nfainter hues to the Moon. Flowers dedicated to either were good for the\neyes, for the eyes are ruled by \u201cthe Luminaries.\u201d Jupiter\u2019s herbs had\ngenerally, \u201c_Leaves_ smooth, even, slightly cut and pointed, the veins\nnot prominent. _Flowers_ graceful, pleasing bright, succulent.\u201d The\nherbs of Venus were those with many flowers, of bright or delicate\ncolours and pleasant odours. Saturn, who is almost always looked upon as\nbeing unfavourable, had only plants, whose leaves were \u201chairy, dry,\nhard, parched, coarse,\u201d[95] and whose flowers were \u201cgloomy, dull,\ngreenish, faded or dirty white, pale red, invariably hirsute, prickly\nand disagreeable.\u201d\n\n [95] Folkard.\n\nOne does not know how much modern physicians care about propitiating\nJupiter, but certainly they make an effort in that direction every time\nthat they do, as did the Ancients, and write Rx--thus making his\nsign--at the top of a prescription. The small attention paid by doctors\nto herbs is often supposed to be a modern development, but hear\nCulpepper in 1652! \u201cDrones lie at home and eat up what the bees have\ntaken pains for. Just so do the college of physicians lie at home and\ndomineer and suck out the sweetness of other men\u2019s labours and studies,\nthemselves being as ignorant in the matter of herbs as a child of four\nyears old, as I can make appear to any rational man by their last\ndispensatory.\u201d\n\nIt was not unnatural that the Herbalists should maintain the superiority\nof vegetable over mineral drugs, and Gerarde expresses his opinions in\nthe introduction to his \u201cHerbal.\u201d \u201cI confesse blind Pluto is nowadays\nmore sought after than quick-sighted Ph\u0153bus, and yet this dusty\nmetall,... is rather snatched of man to his own destruction....\nContrariwise, in the expert knowledge of herbes what pleasure still\nrenewed with varietie? What small expence? What security? And yet what\nan apt and ordinary meanes to conduct men to that most desired benefit\nof health?\u201d\n\nMany herbs have been expunged from modern Pharmacop\u0153ias. Perhaps we have\nno use for them now that we, in England, no longer live in perpetual\nterror of the bitings of sea-hares, scorpions or tarantulas, as our\nforefathers seem to have done! In Harrison\u2019s \u201cDescription of England,\u201d\nthe habit of preferring foreign, to native herbs, is rebuked. \u201cBut\nherein (the cherishing of foreign herbs) I find some cause of just\ncomplaint, for that we extoll their uses so farre that we fall into\ncontempt of our owne, which are, in truth, more beneficiall and apt for\nus than such as grow elsewhere, sith (as I said before) everie region\nhath abundantly within his own limits whatsoever is needfull and most\nconvenient for them that dwell therein.\u201d Probably there are to-day some\nthinkers of this stamp, as well as others who will hold anything\nvaluable as long as it has been fetched from \u201coverseas.\u201d\n\nRussell gives instructions, in his \u201cBoke of Nurture,\u201d how to \u201cmake a\nBath medicinable,\u201d by adding herbs,--mallow, hollyhocks and fennel being\namong the number. And he directs that herbs \u201csweet and greene\u201d should be\nhanged round the room \u201cwhen the Master will have a bath\u201d; a proceeding\nwhich was evidently something of a ceremony.\n\nTo-day, there is an unfortunate tendency among the poor, to desert\nherbs, _not_ for \u201cdoctor\u2019s medicine,\u201d but for any quackery they may\nchance to see \u201con the paper\u201d and some of these remedies are advertised\nto cure nearly as many and diverse diseases, as any of the compounds\nprescribed by the Ancients. Consequently, one usually hears of the uses\nof herbs in the past tense. There is a curious poem (published at\nIpswich, 1796) called the \u201cPoor Phytologist, or the Author Gathering\nHerbs,\u201d by James Chambers, Itinerant Poet, which gives the names and\nvirtues of the simples most prized at that date. He was a pedlar, who\nwandered about the country, always accompanied by several dogs, and he\nadded to his \u201cprecarious mode of existence, the art of making nets and\ncomposing acrostics.\u201d I have quoted some of his lines at the beginning\nof this chapter, but few of the herbs he mentions are in popular use\nnow, at least in the west of England. Betony occurs in some old village\nrecipes still employed, though its vaunted powers have been declared\nvain by science. Amongst those that I have known, or have heard of,\nthrough personal friends, as being still, or quite recently in use, are\nthe following:--Dandelion, Centaury, Meadow-Sweet and Wild-Sage are used\nas \u201cbitters.\u201d By _Wild_-Sage, _Wood_-Sage is usually, if not always,\nmeant. Dandelion is, of course, in the British Pharmacop\u0153ia; and\nWood-Sage, though not officinal, is asked for by some chemists. Bear\u2019s\nfoot (Hellebore) has five finger-like leaves, but one finger is bad and\nmust be torn off. Angelica is a wonderful herb; Parkinson put it in the\nfore-front of all medicinal plants and it holds almost as high a place\namong village herbalists to-day. Among many other virtues, the dried\nleaves are said to have great power to reduce inflammation if steeped in\nhot water and applied to the affected part. Mallows, especially\nMarsh-Mallows, retain their old reputation for relieving the same ill\nand the well-known _P\u00e2t\u00e9s de Guimauve_ are made from their roots. Elder,\nbeloved by all herbalists, still keeps its place in the British\nPharmacop\u0153ia, and the cooling effects of Elder-Flower Water, none can\ndeny. In the country, Elder leaves and buds are most highly valued and\nare used in drinks, poultices and ointments. Hyssop, or as some call it\nI-sop, is sometimes used. Primrose, Poor Man\u2019s Friend, and Comfrey are\ntogether made into an ointment, but White Comfrey should be used when\nthe ointment is for a woman, Red-flowered Comfrey when it is for a man.\n\u201cPoor Man\u2019s Friend\u201d in this case is Hedge-Garlic, but the name is\nsometimes given to Swine\u2019s Cress (_Lapsana Communis_). The juice of\nHouse-Leek, mixed with cream, relieves inflammation and particularly the\nirritation which follows vaccination in an arm \u201ctaking beautifully.\u201d\n_Probatum est._ Penny-pies or Penny-wort (_Cotyledon Umbilicus_) is said\nto be equally efficacious, especially used with cream, and when simmered\nwith the \u201csides of the pan,\u201d have been known to heal, where linseed\npoultices failed to do good. When the leaf of Penny-wort is applied to a\nwound, one side draws, the other side heals. Wormwood is often in\nrequest by brewers. Marigold-tea is a widely administered remedy for the\nmeasles, and is one of the few remedies which everybody seems to know.\nVery often families appear to have their own special formula, and even\nwhere the chief herbs in different prescriptions to relieve the same\nailment are identical, the lesser herbs vary. Saffron was also\nrecommended for measles; both probably on the \u201cDoctrine of Colour\nAnalogy\u201d referred to the rash. An old Herbalist told me that he\nconsidered Marigolds nearly as good as Saffron and \u201cmore home-grown, so\nto speak.\u201d Dr Primrose, a physician in the reign of Charles II., who\nwrote a book on \u201cPopular Errors in Physick,\u201d inveighs against the custom\nthen in vogue of covering \u201cthe sick [with measles or small-pox] with red\ncloaths, for they are thought by the affinitie of the colour to draw the\nblood out to them, or at least some suppose that it is done by force of\nimagination. And not onely the people, but also very many physicians use\nthem.\u201d Marigold-tea is at anyrate a better survival as \u201ctreatment\u201d than\nthis system! Meadow-Saffron is still officinal, and is well known in the\nform it is usually dispensed, Tincture of Colchicum. Broom has a place\nin the pharmacop\u0153ia, and is also a popular remedy. Furze is not\nofficinal, but a preparation made from it, Ulexine, is mentioned in a\nwell-known medical dictionary. An infusion of Furze-blossom used to be\ngiven to children to drink in scarlet fever. Camomile is officinal, and\nthe great authority, Dr Schimmelbusch recently recommended it as a\nmouth-wash, for disinfecting the muscous membrane after cases of\noperation in the mouth. In a fomentation Camomile heads are a recognised\nanodyne; and Wild Camomile and Red Pimpernel are given locally for\nasthma, it is said, with great success. Boy\u2019s love, (Southernwood),\nPlantain leaves, Black Currant leaves, Elder buds, Angelica and Parsley,\nchopped, pounded, and simmered with clarified butter, make an ointment\nfor burns or raw surfaces. A maker of this particular ointment near\nExeter, died a year or two ago, but up to her death it was much in\nrequest. Butter is always better for making ointments than lard, because\ncows feed on herbs, and all herbs are good for something. Sage poultices\nand sage gargle are very good for sore throats, better than some of\nthe gargles that \u201cthe gentlemen\u201d prescribe (so a Herbalist told me), and\nred sage is better than green. Rosemary has long been celebrated for\nmaking the hair grow. Water-cress is very good for the blood, and the\nexpressed juice has been known to prove a wonderful cure for rheumatism.\nA lady told me of a case she knew in Berkshire, where a man was\nabsolutely crippled till he tried this remedy, and afterwards quite\nrecovered his power to move and a very good degree of strength.\nWater-cress was one of the plants from which Count Mattei extracted his\nvegetable electricity. Parsley, freshly gathered and laid on the\nforehead is good for a headache, and if put in a fold of muslin and laid\nacross inflamed eyes, it is said to be beneficial. Endive tea is cooling\nand is given to \u201cfever\u201d patients, and the dry leaves of lovage infused\nin white wine were good for ague. An infusion of Raspberry leaves,\nAgrimony, and Barberry-bark was good for consumptive patients, and\nCowslip and Cucumber were made into a wash to make the complexion\n\u201csplendent,\u201d to use an old expression. Coltsfoot is still given for\ncoughs; Sweet Marjoram was administered for dropsy, Alderberries for\nboils; Arb-Rabbit (Herb-Robert) made into poultices for \u201cinflammation;\u201d\nBrook-lime, given for St Anthony\u2019s Fire, and Brown Nut, made into a\ndecoction, was taken hot just before going to bed, for a cold.\nGroundsel, Docks, Hay-Maids (Ground-Ivy), Feather-Few, Chicken-Weed,\nHedge-Garlic or Hedge-Mustard, I have also heard recommended at\ndifferent times. The Blessed Thistle is a useless ingredient in a good\nherb-ointment for burns. Amongst the last named plants are several not\nstrictly to be called \u201cherbs,\u201d but they and others I shall mention are\n\u201csimples,\u201d and as such they fitly find a place among medicinal herbs.\nFoxglove and Belladonna, of course, are among the most important drugs\nin the Pharmacop\u0153ia, and both the fruits and leaves of Hemlock have\nalso a place there. Foxglove, called in Devonshire, Cowflop, is\nrecommended as an application to heal sores, and one woman told me that\nit should always be gathered on the north side of the hedge. It is\ninteresting to note that the Italians have a proverb, \u201cAralda, tutte\npiaghe salda\u201d (Foxglove heals all sores). Cliders (Goose-grass, _Galium\naparine_) was much given for tumours and cancers, and is praised by\nother than merely village sages. Dr Fernie quotes the testimony of\nseveral doctors who used it with success, and adds, \u201csome of our trading\ndruggists now furnish curative preparations made from the fresh herb.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: PLANTATION OF POPPIES (_P. Somniferum_)]\n\n No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell,\n The virtues of the pimpernel.\n\nThis most popular plant, amongst other uses, is put into poultices.\nBacon mentions it as a weather prophet. \u201cThere is a small red flower in\nthe stubble-fields, which country people call the wincopipe, which if it\nopen in the morning, you may be sure of a fine day to follow.\u201d[96] The\nvirtues of Betony are set forth by the \u201cPoor Phytologist,\u201d and he is\nquite right in saying that it was once esteemed a most sovereign remedy\nfor all troubles connected with the brain. It was, in fact, so far\nextolled that an adage was once current:--\n\n \u201cSell your coat and buy betony.\u201d\n\nIn Italy there are two modern sayings, one a pious aspiration, \u201cMay you\nhave more virtues than Betony\u201d; and the other an allusion, \u201cKnown as\nwell as Betony.\u201d Though the reputation of this plant has quite withered,\nthat of horehound is in a more flourishing state, and it is still, I\nbelieve, considered of real use for coughs. Violet leaves are now\nbecoming a fashionable remedy in the hands of amateur doctors, who\nprescribe them for cancer. In the Highlands, it is said, they were used\nfor the complexion, and a recipe is translated from the G\u00e6lic, \u201cAnoint\nthy face with goat\u2019s milk in which violets have been infused, and there\nis not a young prince on earth who will not be charmed with thy beauty.\u201d\nThe Greater Celandine was once dedicated to the sun, and it is still\nrecommended as being good for the eyes, though not by members of the\nfaculty. The following advice was given me by an old Cornish woman, but\nI am almost sure the flower she spoke of was the Lesser Celandine. This\nprobably arose from a confusion of the two flowers, as I have never\nheard or seen the Lesser Celandine elsewhere commended for this purpose.\n\u201cTake celandines and pound them with salt. Put them on some rag, and lay\nit on the inside of the wrist on the side of whichever eye is bad.\nChange the flowers twice a day, and go on applying them till the eye is\nwell. Put enough alum to curdle it, into some scalded milk. Bathe the\neyes with the liquid and apply the curds to the place.\u201d\n\n [96] \u201cNatural History.\u201d Cent. IX.\n\nGreen Oil made after the following recipe has often proved beneficial\nfor slight burns and scalds, and smells much nicer than the boracic\nointment usually ordered for such injuries. It is also recommended for\nfresh wounds and bruises. \u201cTake equal quantities of sage, camomile,\nwormwood and marsh-mallows, pick them clean and put them into sweet oil\nand as much of it as will cover the herbs; if a quart add a quarter of a\npound of sugar, and so on in proportion. Let them stand a week without\nstirring, then put them into the sun for a fortnight, stir them every\nday. Strain them with a strong cloth very hard, and set it on a slow\nfire with some red rose-buds and the young tops of lavender, let them\nsimmer on a slow fire for two hours, strain off the oil, and put to it a\ngill of brandy. (If some hog\u2019s lard be poured upon the herbs, they will\nkeep and make an excellent poultice for any kind of sore.)\n\nThe oil should be applied _immediately_ to any kind of bruise or burn.\nIt will prevent all inflammation and heal the wound. The time to begin\nmaking it is when the herbs are in full vigour, which depends much on\nthe season being early; in general the middle of May is about the time,\nas the rose-buds and lavender would not be ready sooner than the middle\nof June.\n\nMrs Milne Home gives the ingredients of the _Tisane de Sept Fleurs_,\nwhich, she says, is often prescribed by French doctors for colds and\nsleeplessness--\n\n \u201cBouillon blanc. Mullein.\n Tilleul. Lime.\n Violette. Violet.\n Coquelicot. Poppy.\n Pied de chat. Tussilago.\n Guimauve. Mallow.\n Mauve. Another sort of mallow.\u201d\n\nI think Mauve means mallow, Guimauve, marsh-mallow. Beyond these simples\nthat I have mentioned as being in popular use, various English plants\nand herbs are used not much (if at all) by country people, but by\nmedical men, and a few of those included in the British Pharmacop\u0153ia may\nbe remarked on here.\n\nHops are used in the form of _Infusum Lupuli_. They have long had the\nreputation of inducing sleep, and George III. slept on a hop-pillow. To\nprevent the hops crackling (and producing exactly the opposite effect)\nit is advised that a little alcohol should be sprinkled on them. To eat\npoppy-seed was thought a safe means of bringing drowsiness. \u201cBut,\u201d says\nDr Primrose (about 1640), \u201cOpium is now brought into use, the rest [of\nsoporifics] being layd aside. Yet the people doe abhorre from the use\nthereof and avoyd it as present poyson, when notwithstanding being\nrightly prepared, and administered in a convenient dose, it is a very\nharmlesse and wholesome medicament. The Ancients indeed thought it to\nbee poyson, but that is onely when it is taken in too great a quantity.\u201d\nOne wonders what experiences \u201cthe people\u201d went through to learn this\nterror of the drug! Gerarde and Parkinson both commend it as a medicine\nthat \u201cmitigateth all kinde of paines,\u201d but say that it must be used with\ngreat caution. Browne refers to the poppy\u2019s power of soothing.\n\n \u201cWhere upon the limber grass\n Poppy and mandragoras,\n With like simples not a few\n Hang for ever drops of dew.\n Where flows L\u00e8the without coil,\n Softly like a stream of oil.\n Hie thee, thither, gentle Sleep.\u201d\n\n In _The Inner Temple Masque_.\n\nIt is from the seed of the White Poppy (_Papaver somniferum_) that opium\nis prepared, and that procured from poppies grown in England is quite as\ngood, and often purer, than opium imported from the East. The first\npoppies that were cultivated in this country for the purpose were grown\nby Mr John Ball of Williton about 1794. Timbs quotes: \u201c\u2018Cowley\nPlantarium. In old time the seed of the white poppy parched was served\nup as a dessert.\u2019 By this we are reminded that white poppy seeds are\neaten to this day upon bread made exclusively for Jews. The \u2018twist\u2019\nbread is generally prepared by brushing over the outside upper crust\nwith egg and sprinkling upon it the seeds.\u201d In Germany, _Mond-kuchen_, a\nkind of pastry in which poppy seeds are mixed, is still a favourite\ndish. _Mond-blumen_ (moon-flowers) is a name not unnaturally given to\npoppies, as they have been emblems of sleep ever since the Greeks used\nto represent their deities of Sleep, Death and Night as crowned with\nthem.\n\n \u201cThe water-lily from the marish ground\n With the wan poppy,\u201d\n\nwere both dedicated to the moon.\n\nGentian is greatly valued and largely prescribed by our doctors, but\nParkinson raises a curious echo from a time when, it is generally\nsupposed, people were less \u201cnice\u201d than they are to-day. \u201cThe wonderful\nwholesomeness of Gentian cannot be easily knowne to us, by reason our\ndaintie tastes refuse to take thereof, for the bitternesse sake, but\notherwise it would undoubtedly worke admirable cures.\u201d Valerian was, and\nis officinal, but seldom finds its way into \u201cpottage\u201d nowadays. Gerarde,\nhowever, writes: \u201cIt hath been had (and is to this day among the poore\npeople of our Northerne parts) in such veneration amongst them, that no\nbroths, pottage or physicall meats are worth anything if Setwall were\nnot at an end: whereupon some woman Poet or other hath made these\nverses:\n\n \u201cThey that will have their heale,\n Must put Setwall in their keale (kail).\u201d\n\nThe herbalist speaks of \u201cGarden Valerian or Setwall\u201d as if they were one\nand the same, but Mr Britten says that Setwall was not _Valeriana\nofficinalis_ but _V. pyrenaica_. All varieties seem to have been used as\nremedies, and in Drayton\u2019s charming \u201cEclogue,\u201d of which Dowsabel is the\nheroine, he shows that it was used as an adornment.\n\n \u201cA daughter, ycleapt Dowsabel,\n A maiden fair and free,\n And for she was her father\u2019s heir,\n Full well she was ycond the leir,\n Of mickle courtesy.\n The silk well couth she twist and twine\n And make the fine march-pine,\n And with the needle-work;\n And she couth help the priest to say\n His mattins on a holy day\n And sing a psalm in kirk....\n The maiden in a morn betime,\n Went forth when May was in the prime.\n To get sweet setywall,\n The honeysuckle, the harlock,\n The lily and the ladysmock,\n To deck her summerhall.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: A FIELD OF ENGLISH ACONITE]\n\nThe summary of Dowsabel\u2019s education is so delightful, that though it was\nirrelevant, I could not refrain from quoting it. Aconite, Wolfsbane, or\nMonkshood (_Aconitum Napellus_) was held in wholesome terror by the old\nherbalists, who described it as being most venomous and deadly. Gerarde\nsays, \u201cThere hath beene little heretofore set downe concerning the\nvirtues of the Aconite, but much might be said of the hurts that have\ncome thereby.\u201d Parkinson chiefly recommends it to \u201chunters of wild\nbeastes, in which to dippe the heads of their arrows they shoote, or\ndarts they throw at the wild beastes which killeth them that are wounded\nspeedily\u201d; but, he says, it may be used in outward applications. Aconite\nwas first administered internally by Stoerck, who prescribed it for\nrheumatism, with good results, and it is now known to be sedative to the\nheart and respiratory organs, and to reduce temperature.\n\nOther English-grown plants in the Pharmacop\u0153ia are: Anise, Artemisia\nmaritima (Wormwood), Uv\u00e6 Ursi (Bearberries), Coriander, Caraway, Dill,\nFennel, Flax (Linseed), Henbane, Wych-Hazel, Horse-Radish, Liquorice,\nLavender, Mint, Mezereon, Musk, Mustard, Arnica, Pyrethrum, Rosemary,\nSquills, Saffron and Winter-green. In the making of Thymol, a\npreparation in common hospital use, _Monarda punctata_ (Bergamot), Oil\nof Thyme and _Carum copticus_ are used.\n\nThe following plants are not yet to be found in the Pharmacop\u0153ia, which\nincludes those only that have been tried by very long experience, but\nleading physicians have prescribed these drugs with success.\n_Convalleria_, from Lily of the Valley; _Salix nigra_, from the Willow;\n_Savin_, Juniper; _Rhus_, Sumach; _Aletris_, Star-Grass; _Lycopodium_,\nClub-Moss; _Grindelia_; from Larkspur, Oil of _Stavesacre_; and from\nBroom, _Spartein_.\n\nThere are two plants that I do not like to omit, for their history\u2019s\nsake, though their power to do good is no longer believed in, Plantain\nand Lungwort. The first was considered good for wounds in the days of\nChaucer, and Shakespeare mentions it.\n\n _Romeo._ Your plantain leaf is excellent for that.\n\n _Benvolio._ For what, I pray thee?\n\n _Romeo._ For your broken shin.\n\n _Romeo and Juliet_, I. 2, 51.\n\nLungwort (_Pulmonaria officinalis_) owes its name and its reputation to\nthe white spots on the leaves, which were thought to be the \u201csignature,\u201d\nshowing that it would cure infirmities and ulcers of the lungs. It is\nremarkable how many popular names this flower has. Gerarde tells us that\nthe leaves are used among pot-herbes, and calls it Cowslips of\nJerusalem, Wild Comfrey and Sage of Bethlem; and other country names\nare, Beggar\u2019s Basket, Soldiers and Sailors, Adam and Eve, and in Dorset,\nMary\u2019s Tears. The name Adam and Eve arose from the fact that some of the\nflowers are red and others blue: red, in earlier days, being usually\nassociated with men and blue with women. One of Drayton\u2019s prettiest\nverses alludes to it.\n\n \u201cMaids, get the choicest flowers, a garland and entwine;\n Nor pink, nor pansies, let there want, be sure of eglantine.\n See that there be store of lilies,\n (Call\u2019d of shepherds daffadillies)\n With roses, damask, white, and red, the dearest fleur-de-lis,\n The cowslip of Jerusalem, and clove of Paradise.\u201d\n\n _Eclogue III._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nOF HERBS AND MAGIC\n\n \u201cAnd first, her fern-seed doth bestow\n The kernel of the mistletow,\n And here and there as Puck should go,\n With terror to affright him.\n\n The nightshade straws to work him ill,\n There with her vervain and her dill,\n That hindreth witches of their will,\n Of purpose to dispight him.\n\n Then sprinkled she the juice of rue,\n That groweth underneath the yew,\n With nine drops of the midnight dew\n From lunary distilling.\u201d\n\n _Nymphidia._--DRAYTON.\n\n \u201cTrefoil, vervain, John\u2019s wort, dill,\n Hinders witches of their will.\u201d\n\n _Guy Mannering._\n\n\nAmongst the account-books of the Physic Garden in Chelsea, there is one\non whose fly-leaf is scrawled a list of \u201cBotanical Writers before\nChrist.\u201d It begins:\n\n Zoroaster.\n Orpheus.\n Moses.\n Solomon.\n Homer.\n Solon.\n\nNames that one hardly expects to find grouped together, and especially\nnot under this heading. The vegetable world, however, has attracted\nwriters since the earliest times, and in the days when supernatural\nagencies were almost always brought forward to account for\nuncomprehended phenomena, it was not marvellous that misty lore should\nlead to the association of plants and magic. The book of nature is not\nalways easy to read, and the older students drew from it very personal\ninterpretations. Some herbs were magical because they were used in\nspells and sorceries; others, because they had power in themselves. For\ninstance, Basil, the perfume of which was thought to cause sympathy\nbetween two people, and in Moldavia they say it can even stop a\nwandering youth upon his way and make him love the maiden from whose\nhand he accepts a sprig. The Crocus flower, too, belongs to the second\nclass, and brings laughter and great joy, and so it is with others.\nPlants were also credited with strong friendships and \u201cenmities\u201d amongst\nthemselves. \u201cThe ancients\u201d held strong views about their \u201csympathies and\nantipathies,\u201d and this sympathy or antipathy was attributed to\nindividual likes and dislikes. \u201cRue dislikes Basil,\u201d says Pliny, \u201cbut\nRue and the Fig-tree are in a great league and amitie\u201d together.\nAlexanders loveth to grow in the same place as Rosemary, but the Radish\nis \u201cat enmetie\u201d with Hyssop. Savory and Onions are the better for each\nother\u2019s neighbourhood, and Coriander, Dill, Mallows, Herb-Patience and\nChervil \u201clove for companie to be set or sowne together.\u201d Bacon refers to\nsome of these, but he took a prosaic view and thought these\npredilections due to questions of soil!\n\nBeing credited with such strong feelings amongst themselves, it is\neasier to understand how they were supposed to sympathise with their\n\u201cenvironment.\u201d Honesty, of course, grew best in a very honest man\u2019s\ngarden. Where Rosemary flourishes, the mistress rules. Sage will fade\nwith the fortunes of the house and revive again as they recover; and\nBay-trees are famous, but melancholy prophets.\n\n _Captain._--\u2019Tis thought the king is dead; we will not stay,\n The Bay-trees in our country are all wither\u2019d.\n\n _Richard II._ ii. 4.\n\nFrom this, it is not a great step to acknowledge that particular plants\nhave power to produce certain dispositions in the mind of man. So, the\npossession of a Rampion was likely to make a child quarrelsome: while,\non the contrary, eating the leaves of Periwinkle \u201cwill cause love\nbetween a man and his wife.\u201d Laurel greatly \u201ccomposed the phansy,\u201d and\ndid \u201cfacilitate true visions,\u201d and was also \u201cefficacious to inspire a\npoetical fury\u201d (Evelyn). Having admitted the power of herbs over mental\nand moral qualities, we easily arrive at the recognition of their power\nin regard to the supernatural. If, as Culpepper tells us, \u201ca raging\nbull, be he ever so mad, tied to a Fig-tree, will become tame and\ngentle;\u201d or if, as Pliny says, any one, \u201cby anointing himself with\nChicory and oile will become right amiable and win grace and favour of\nall men, so that he shal the more easily obtain whatsoever his heart\nstands unto,\u201d it is not much wonder that St John\u2019s Wort would drive away\ntempests and evil spirits, four-leaved Clover enable the wearer to see\nwitches, and Garlic avert the Evil Eye. Thus many herbs are magical \u201cin\ntheir own right,\u201d so to speak, apart from those that are connected with\nmagic, from being favourites of the fairies, the witches, and, in a few\ncases, the Evil One!\n\nDe Gubernatis quotes from a work on astrology attributed to King\nSolomon, and translated from the Hebrew (?) by Iro\u00e9 Grego (published in\nRome, 1750), with indignant comments on the \u201cpagan\u201d methods of the\nChurch in dealing with sorceries. Directions how to make an _aspersoir\npour exorcisme_ are given in it, which, teaching, he says, simply add to\nthe peasant\u2019s existing load of superstition. Vervain, Periwinkle, Sage,\nMint, Valerian, Ash and Basil are some of the plants chosen. \u201cTu n\u2019y\najouteras point l\u2019Hysope, mais le Romarin\u201d (Rosemary). It is odd that\nHyssop should be excluded, because it has always been a special defence\nagainst powers of darkness. In Palermo (again according to De\nGubernatis), on the day of St Mark, the priests mount a hill in\nprocession and bless the surrounding country, and the women gather\nquantities of the Hyssop growing about, and take it home to keep away\nfrom their houses the Evil Eye, and \u201ctoute autre influence magique.\u201d\nRosemary is celebrated, from this point of view, as from others. It was,\nsay the Spaniards, one of the bushes that gave shelter to the Virgin\nMary in the flight into Egypt, and it is still revered. Borrow, in \u201cThe\nBible in Spain,\u201d notices that, whereas in that country it is _Romero_,\nthe Pilgrim\u2019s Flower, in Portugal it is called _Alecrim_, a word of\nScandinavian origin (from _Ellegren_, the Elfin plant), which was\nprobably carried south by the Vandals. Other authorities think that\n\u201cAlecrim\u201d comes from the Arabians. The reference to Rosemary occurs in a\ndelightful passage. Borrow was staying at an inn, when one evening \u201cin\nrushed a wild-looking man mounted on a donkey.... Around his _sombrero_,\nor shadowy hat, was tied a large quantity of the herb, which in English\nis called Rosemary.... The man seemed frantic with terror, and said that\nthe witches had been pursuing him and hovering over his head for the\nlast two leagues.\u201d On making inquiries, Borrow was told that the herb\nwas \u201cgood against witches and mischances on the road.\u201d He treats this\nview with great scorn, but says: \u201cI had no time to argue against this\nsuperstition,\u201d and with charming _na\u00efvet\u00e9_ admits that, notwithstanding\nhis austerity, when, next morning at departure, some sprigs of it were\npressed upon him by the man\u2019s wife for his protection, \u201cI was foolish\nenough to permit her to put some of it in my hat.\u201d The Sicilians thought\nthat it was a favourite plant of the fairies, and that the young\nfairies, taking the form of snakes, lie amongst the branches. Dill, able\nto \u201chinder witches of their will,\u201d was used in spells _against_ witches,\nbesides being employed by them. There was a strong belief that plants\nbeloved by magicians, and powerful for evil in their hands, were equally\npowerful to avert evil when used in charms against witchcraft. Lunary,\nor Honesty, is another plant with a double edge. In France it is\nnicknamed _Monnaie du Pape_ and _Herbe aux Lunettes_, and its shining\nseed-vessels have many pet names in English. \u201cIt has a natural power of\ndispelling evil spirits,\u201d quotes Mr Friend, and explains this verdict by\npointing that Lunary with its great silver disks, called after the moon,\nis disliked and avoided by evil spirits, who fear the light and seek\ndarkness. Rue is used by witches and against them; in some parts of\nItaly a talisman against their power is made by sewing up the leaves in\na little bag and wearing it near the heart. If the floor of a house be\nrubbed with Rue it is certain that all witches must fly from it. In\nArgentina grows the Nightmare flower, _Flor de Pesadilla_. The witches\nof that region extract from it a drug which causes nightmare lasting all\nnight long, and they contrive to give it to whoever they wish to\ntorment. Besides these, Pennyroyal and Henbane, Chervil and Vervain,\nPoppies, Mandrakes, Hemlock and Dittany were specially used by witches\nin making spells. Valerian, Wormwood, Elder, Pimpernel, Angelica, and\nall yellow flowers growing in hedgerows are antagonistic to them. Their\ndislike to yellow flowers may have arisen from these being often\ndedicated to the sun, and being therefore repellent to lovers of gloom\nand mystery. Angelica preserved the wearer from the power of witches or\nspells, and is, I think, the only herb quoted by Gerarde as a power\nagainst witchcraft. He does not condescend generally to consider\nsuperstitions other than medical. Of the herbs dedicated to the Evil One\nare Yarrow, sometimes known as the Devil\u2019s Nettle; Ground-Ivy, called\nhis Candlestick, and Houseleek, which he has rather unjustly\nappropriated. Mr Friend explains that in Denmark, \u201cOld Thor\u201d is a polite\neuphemism, and that the Houseleek really belonged to Thor, but has been\npassed on through confusion between the two. Yarrow or Milfoil has been\nused for divination in spells from England to China.\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s a crying at my window, and a hand upon my door,\n And a stir among the Yarrow that\u2019s fading on the floor,\n The voice cries at my window, the hand on my door beats on,\n But if I heed and answer them, sure hand and voice are gone.\u201d\n\n MAY EVE.\n\nJohnston[97] says: \u201cTansy and Milfoil were reckoned amongst plants\naverse to fascination; but we must retrograde two centuries to be\npresent at the trial of Elspeth Reoch, who was supernaturally instructed\nto cure distempers by resting on her right knee while pulling \u2018the herb\ncallit malefour\u2019 betwixt her mid-finger and thumbe, and saying of, \u2018In\nnomen Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.\u2019\u201d\n\n [97] \u201cBotany of the Eastern Borders\u201d (1853).\n\nJohnston gathers his information from Dalzell on the \u201cDarker\nSuperstitions of Scotland.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: RAMPION]\n\nWormwood is in some parts of Europe called the \u201cGirdle of St John,\u201d it\nhas so much power against evil spirits. Cumin is much disliked by a race\nof Elves in Germany, called the Moss-People. Dyer[98] tells us that the\nlife of each one is bound up with the life of a tree, and if the inner\nbark of this is loosened, the elf dies. Therefore their precept is:--\n\n \u201cPeel no tree,\n Relate no dream,\n Bake no cumin in bread,\n So will Heav\u2019n help thee in thy need.\u201d\n\n [98] \u201cFolk-Lore of Plants.\u201d\n\nOn one occasion when a loaf baked with Cumin was given as an offering to\na forest-wife, she was heard screaming--\n\n \u201cThey\u2019ve baken for me Cumin bread\n That on this house brings great distress.\u201d\n\nThe unhappy giver at once began to go downhill, and was soon reduced to\nabject misery! Elecampane is in Denmark called Elf-Dock. Flax-flowers\nare a protection against sorcery. \u201cFlax[99] is supposed to be under the\nprotection of the goddess Hulda, but the plant\u2019s blue blossom is more\nespecially the flower of Bertha, whose blue eyes shine in its calyx, and\nwhose distaff is filled by its fibres.... It was the goddess Hulda who\nfirst taught mortals the art of growing flax, of spinning, and of\nweaving it.... Between Kroppb\u00fchl and Unterlassen, is a cave which is\nbelieved by the country people to have been the entrance to Queen\nHulda\u2019s mountain palace. Twice a year she passed through the valley,\nscattering blessings around her path--once in summer, when the blue\nflowers of the Flax were brightening the fields, and again during the\nmysterious \u201ctwelve nights\u201d immediately preceding our Feast of Epiphany,\nwhen, in ancient days, gods and goddesses were believed to visit the\nearth.\u201d The Bohemians have a belief that if seven-year-old children\ndance among flax, they will become beautiful. From the little Fairy-Flax\n\u201cprepared and manufactured by the supernatural skill, the \u2018Good People\u2019\nwere wont in the olden time to procure their requisite supplies of\nlinen,\u201d writes Johnston.\n\n [99] Folkard.\n\nWild Thyme is specially beloved by fairies and elves, and Fox-gloves and\nWood-sorrel are also favourites,--Fox-gloves, being called in Ireland,\nFairy-cap, and Wood-sorrel, known in Wales as Fairy-bells.\n\nAmong plants that have magic powers in themselves are two varieties of\nPimpinella; the Anise and the Burnet Saxifrage. The first averts the\nEvil Eye, and the second is called in Hungary, \u201cChaba\u2019s Salve,\u201d because\nit is said that its virtues were discovered by King Chaba, who after a\nfurious battle cured 15,000 of his soldiers with it. In Iro\u00e9 Grego\u2019s\nbook, it is advised that the sword of a magician should be bathed in the\nblood of a mole, and the juice of Pimpinella. De Gubernatis says that in\nGermany and in Rome, Endive-seed is sold as a love-philtre, and when\nwanted for this reason, the plant must be uprooted not with the hand but\nwith a bit of gold, or stag\u2019s horn (which symbolise the disk and rays of\nthe sun) on one of the _jours des Ap\u00f4tres_, June 27th, St Peter\u2019s Day,\nor July 25th, St James\u2019 Day.\n\nThe Mustard-tree is called in Sanscrit, the Witch, for when Hindus want\nto discover a witch, they light lamps during the night, and fill vessels\nwith water,[100] into which they gently drop Mustard-seed oil,\npronouncing the name of every woman in the village. If, during the\nceremony, as they pronounce the name of a woman, they notice the shadow\nof a female in the water, it is a sure sign that such a woman is a\nwitch. Mugwort laid in the soles of the boots, will keep a man from\nweariness, though he walk forty miles. Wreaths of Camomile flowers hung\nup in a house on St John\u2019s Day will, it is said in Prussia, defend it\nagainst thunder, and Wild Thyme and Marjoram laid by milk in a dairy\nwill prevent it being \u201cturned\u201d by thunder. The root of Tarragon held\nbetween the teeth will cure toothache, and the name R\u00e9s\u00e9da, the family\nname of Mignonette, is supposed to be derived from the verb \u201cto\nassuage,\u201d for it was a charm against so many evils. If a sprig of Basil\nwere left under a pot, it would, in time, turn to scorpions! It is a\nstrange plant altogether. The ancient Greeks thought that it would not\ngrow unless when the seed was sown railing and abuse should be poured\nforth at the same time. Much blossom on the broom foretells a plentiful\nharvest of corn. \u201cLes anciens\u201d according to _La petite Corbeille_\nbelieved that a pot of Gilly-flowers, growing in a window, would fade if\nthe master of the house died; and similar curious sympathies in Sage and\nHonesty and Rosemary have already been noticed.\n\n [100] Folkard.\n\nThere is a belief in the West Country that no girl who is destined to be\nan old maid, can make a myrtle grow. Mr Friend does not mention this,\nbut he does tell us that a flowering myrtle is one of the luckiest\nplants to have, and it is often difficult to grow; and he generously\npresents us with the receipt that he had heard given to make sure of its\nflowering. The secret is, while setting the slip, to spread the tail of\none\u2019s dress, and _look proud_!\n\nTo transplant Parsley is very unlucky, and to let Rhubarb run to seed\nwill bring death into the family before a year is out. These beliefs are\nstill active. One hears also that no one will have any luck with young\nchickens if they bring any blossom (of fruit-trees) into the house,\nwhich is, indeed, an unlucky thing to do at any time.\n\nThere was a fairly recent case in Gloucestershire, which showed that the\nidea still survives that if flower-seeds are sowed on Palm Sunday, the\nflowers will come out double.\n\nThough Elder is not a herb, it cannot be omitted here, for every inch of\nan Elder-tree is connected with magic. This is especially the case in\nDenmark. First of all there is the Elder-tree Mother, who lives in the\ntree and watches for any injury to it. Hans Andersen tells a charming\nstory about her and the pictures that she sometimes brings. It may\nhappen, that if furniture is made of the wood, Hylde-Moer may follow her\nproperty and haunt and worry the owners, and there is a tradition that,\nonce when a child was put in a cradle of Elder-wood, Hylde-Moer came and\npulled it by the legs and would give it no peace till it was lifted out.\nPermission to cut Elder wood must always be asked first, and not till\nHylde-Moer has given consent by keeping silence, may the chopping begin.\nHe who stands under an Elder-tree at midnight on Midsummer-Eve will\nchance to see Toly, the King of the Elves, and all his retinue go by.\n\u201cThe pith of the branches when cut in round, flat shapes, is dipped in\noil, lighted, and then put to float in a glass of water; its light on\nChristmas Eve is thought to reveal to the owner all the witches and\nsorcerers in the neighbourhood.\u201d[101] The Russians believe that\nElder-trees drive away evil spirits, and the Bohemians go to it, with a\nspell, to take away fever. The Sicilians think that sticks of its wood\nwill kill serpents and drive away robbers better than any other, and the\nSerbs introduce a stick of Elder into their wedding ceremonies to bring\ngood luck. In England it was thought that the Elder was never struck by\nlightning; and a twig of it tied into three or four knots, and carried\nin the pocket, was a charm against rheumatism. A cross made of Elder,\nand fastened to cow-houses and stables, was supposed to keep all evil\nfrom the animals. Canon Ellacombe, in the Tyrol, says: \u201cAn Elder bush,\ntrimmed into the form of a cross, is planted in a new-made grave, and if\nit blossoms, the soul of the person lying beneath it is happy.\u201d Sir\nThomas Browne takes the \u201cwhite umbrella or medical bush of Elder as an\nepitome of the order arising from five main stems, quincuncially\ndisposed and tolerably maintained in their sub-divisions.\u201d The number\n5, and its appearance in works of Nature, must have occupied his mind at\none time to a very great extent, judging from his writings. There is a\nsaying that:--\n\n An eldern stake and a black thorn ether (hedge)\n Will make a hedge to last for ever.\n\nAnd it is a common tradition that an Elder stake will last in the ground\nlonger than an iron bar the same size. Several very different musical\ninstruments have been alike named \u201cSambuke,\u201d because they were all made\nout of Elder-wood. Elder-berries have also wonderful properties. In\nStyria, on \u201cBertha Night (6th January), the devil goes about with\nspecial virulence. As a safeguard persons are recommended to make a\nmagic circle, in the centre of which they should stand, with\nElder-berries gathered on St John\u2019s night. By doing this, the mystic\nFern-seed may be obtained, which possesses the strength of thirty or\nforty men. There are no instructions as to why or how the desired\nFern-seed should arrive, and all the proceedings are somewhat\nmysterious.\u201d\n\n [101] Folkard.\n\nThe most extraordinary collection of charms and receipts is to be found\nin an old book, called _Le petit Albert_; probably the contents are\nlargely gleaned from out the wondrous lore set forth by Albertus Magnus.\nA charm--it must be a charm, for a mere recipe could hardly achieve such\nresults, \u201cpour s\u2019enrichir par la p\u00eache des poissons\u201d is made by mixing\nNettles, Cinquefoil, and the juice of Houseleek, with corn boiled in\nwater of Thyme and Marjoram, and if this composition is put into a net,\nthe net will soon be filled with fish. Cinquefoil appears in many\nspells, particularly as a magic herb in love-divinations, and also\nagainst agues! Some parts of the book shed a lurid light on the customs\nof the day, as for instance, recipes \u201cto render a man or woman\ninsensible to torture.\u201d Here is a less ghastly extract. \u201cJe quitte des\nmati\u00e8res violentes pour dire un Mot de Paix. J\u2019ai l\u00fb dans le tr\u00e8s\ncurieux livre des Secrets du Roi Jean d\u2019Arragon, que si aucun dans le\nmois de septembre, ayant observ\u00e9 le temps que le soleil est entr\u00e9 au\nsigne de la Vierges a soin de cueillir de la fleur Soucy (Marigold) qu\u2019a\n\u00e9t\u00e9 appell\u00e9 par les Anciens, Epouse du Soleil, and si on l\u2019enveloppe\ndedans des feuilles de Laurier avec un dent de Loup, personne ne pourra\nparler mal de celui qui les portera sur luy et vivra dans un profonde\npaix et tranquillit\u00e9 avec tout le monde.\u201d There is an odd, little\npassage about the supernatural beings who inhabit the four elements,\nSalamanders, Nymphs, Sylphs, and Gnomes, and the practices of Lapland\nminers to obtain \u201cla bienveillance des Gnomes.\u201d This is managed through\nobserving their love of perfumes. Each day of the week a certain perfume\nwas burnt for them and these odours had an elaborate formula, compiled\nwith reference to the planets. Thus Sunday\u2019s perfume is \u201csous les\nauspices du soleil,\u201d and contains Saffron and Musk; Monday\u2019s is made of\nthe Moon\u2019s special plants and includes the seed of the White Poppy; and\nthe ingredients for each are equally appropriate to the ruling planet.\nMars has Hellebore and Euphorbia in his perfume; Venus, dried roses, red\ncoral, and ambergris; and Saturn, black poppy seeds, Mandrake roots and\nHenbane. In an English translation (there are many editions of _Le petit\nAlbert_) fifteen magical herbs of the Ancients are given, but I will\nonly quote two.\n\n\u201cThe eleventh hearbe is named of the Chaldees Isiphilon... or\nEnglishmen, Centory... this hearbe hath a marvellous virtue, for if it\nbe joined with the blood of a female lapwing or black plover and put\nwith oile in a lamp, all they that compasse it about shall believe\nthemselves to be witches, so that one shall believe of another that his\nhead is in heaven and his feete on earth.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf \u2042 the fourteenth hearbe, smallage, be bounden to an oxe\u2019s necke, he\nwill follow thee whithersoever thou wilt go.\u201d The last instructions lead\none to agree with the poet:\n\n \u201cI would that I had flourished then,\n When ruffs and raids were in the fashion,\u201d\n\nand when views of mine and thine were less rigid than they are to-day.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nOF HERBS AND BEASTS\n\n Here may\u2019st thou range the goodly, pleasant field,\n And search out simples to procure thy heal,\n What sundry virtues, sundry herbs do yield,\n \u2019Gainst grief which may thy sheep or thee assail.\n\n _Eclogue_ vii.--DRAYTON.\n\n And tryed time yet taught me greater thinges;\n The sodain rising of the raging seas,\n The soothe of byrdes by beating of their winges,\n The powre of herbes, both which can hurt and ease;\n And which be wont t\u2019enrage the restless sheepe,\n And which be wont to worke eternal sleepe.\n\n _Shepheard\u2019s Calendar._--SPENSER.\n\n And did you hear wild music blow\n All down the boreen, long and low,\n The tramp of ragweed horses\u2019 feet,\n And Una\u2019s laughter wild and sweet.\n\n _The Passing of the Shee._--N. HOPPER.\n\n\nHerbs and animals may appear linked together in many aspects, but there\nare two in which I specially wish to look at them--first, glancing at\nthe old traditions that tell of beasts and birds themselves having\npreferences among herbs; secondly, the human reasoning, which decreed\nthat certain plants must benefit or affect special creatures. The\nglamour of magic at times hovers over both. Ragwort is St James\u2019s Wort\n(the French call it _Jacob\u00e9e_), and St James is the patron saint of\nhorses, therefore Ragwort is good for horses, and has even gained the\nname of the Staggerwort, from being often prescribed for \u201cthe staggers.\u201d\nThis is a good specimen of the reasoning, but there is romance about\nthe plant which is far more attractive. Besides being good for horses,\nit is actually the witches\u2019 own horse! There is a high granite rock\ncalled the Castle Peak, south of the Logan Rock in Cornwall, where, as\ntales run, witches were specially fond of gathering, and thither they\nrode on moonlight nights on a stem of Ragwort. In Ireland, it is the\nfairies ride it, and there it is sometimes called the Fairy\u2019s Horse.\n\n Reach up to the star that hangs the lowest,\n Tread down the drift of the apple blow,\n Ride your ragweed horse to the Isle of Wobles.\n\nRagwort is specially beloved by the Leprehauns, or Clauricanes, the\nlittle fairy cobblers, who are sometimes seen singing or whistling over\ntheir work on a tiny shoe. They wear \u201cdeeshy-daushy\u201d leather aprons, and\nusually red nightcaps.\n\n Do you not catch the tiny clamour,\n Busy click of an elfin hammer,\n Voice of the Lepracaun singing shrill,\n As he merrily plies his trade.\n\n W. B. YEATS.\n\nThere is a very nice legend of the Field of Boliauns, which turns on the\nbelief that every Leprehaun has a hidden treasure buried under a\nragwort. And if anyone can catch the little man, and not for one second\ntake his eyes off him until the plant is reached, the Leprehaun must\nshow him exactly where to dig for it. In the Isle of Man, they used to\ntell of another steed, not the fairies\u2019 horse, but a fairy or enchanted\nhorse, ridden by mortals. If anyone on St John\u2019s Eve, they said, trod on\na plant of St John\u2019s Wort after sunset, the horse would spring out of\nthe earth, and carry him about till sunrise, and there leave him\nwherever they chanced at that moment to be.\n\nWilliam Coles[102] speaks with great decision as to the various\nremedies which animals find for themselves. \u201cIf the Asse be oppressed\nwith melancholy, he eats of the herbe _Asplenium_... so the wilde Goats\nbeing shot with Darts or Arrows, cure themselves with Dittany, which\nHerb hath the power to worke them out of the Body and to heale up the\nwound.\u201d Gerarde adds that the \u201cDeere in Candie\u201d seek the same remedy,\nand Parkinson remarks of Hemp Agrimony, \u201cIt is sayd that hunters have\nobserved that Deere being wounded by the eating of this herbe have been\nhealed of their hurts.\u201d Drayton\u2019s _Hermit_ refers to dictam or dittany.\n\n And this is dictam which we prize\n Shot shafts and darts expelling.\n\nShelley is less definite. He only laments:\n\n The wounded deer must seek the herb no more\n In which its heart cure lies.\n\n [102] \u201cArt of Simpling.\u201d\n\nGoats do not seek Sea-Holly as a remedy, but it has a startling effect\nupon them if, by accident, they touch it. \u201cThey report that the herb\nSea-Holly (_Eryngium maritimum_), if one goat take it into her mouth, it\ncauseth her first to stand still, and afterwards the whole flocke,\nuntill such time as the Shepherd take it forth of her mouth, as Plutarch\nwriteth.\u201d[103] However much these wild theories may exceed facts as to\nanimals curing themselves, they are not altogether without reason, for\nthe instinct of beasts leading them to healing herbs has often been\nnoticed. Evelyn says: \u201cI have heard of one Signior _Jaquinto_, Physician\nto Queen _Anne_ (Mother of the Blessed _Martyr_, Charles the First), and\nwas so to one of the _Popes_. That observing the _Scurvy_ and _Dropsy_\nto be the Epidemical and Dominent Diseases of this Nation, he went\nhimself into the _Hundreds_ of _Essex_ (reputed the most unhealthy\nCounty of this _Island_), and us\u2019d to follow the Sheep and Cattell on\npurpose to observe what Plants they chiefly fed upon; and of those\n_Simples_ compos\u2019d an excellent _Electuary_ of extraordinary Effects\nagainst those Infirmities.\n\n [103] Gerarde.\n\n\u201cThus we are told, that the Vertue of the Cophee was discover\u2019d by\nmarking what the _Goats_ so greedily brutted upon. So _\u00c6sculapius_ is\nsaid to have restor\u2019d dismember\u2019d _Hippolitus_ by applying some simples,\nhe observ\u2019d a _Serpent_ to have us\u2019d another dead _Serpent_.\u201d The last\ninstance sounds mythical! But goats have really more than once led\nmankind to some useful bit of knowledge. There is a Chilian plant,\n_Boldo_, a tincture of the leaves of which are frequently administered\nin France for hepatic complaints, and this is the history of the\ndiscovery of its virtues. \u201cThe goats in Chili had been for many years\nsubject to enlargement of the liver, and the owners of the flocks had\nbegun to despair of them as a source of revenue, until it was observed\nthat certain flocks were exempt from the complaint, whilst others in\nadjacent districts continued subject to it. It was ultimately discovered\nthat the goats browsing in fields where _Boldo_ grew were never a prey\nto hepatic diseases, and the herb became gradually known and used, first\nby South American and then by French druggists.\u201d _Boldo_ is little used\nin England.\n\nSheep seek Dandelions; and Miss Anne Pratt quotes an agricultural\nreport, describing how some weakly lambs were moved into a field full of\nDandelions in flower, and how rapidly the conspicuous blossoms were\ndevoured. Finally, as the flowers grew fewer and fewer, the lambs were\nseen pushing one another away from the coveted plants, and in this field\nthey speedily gained in health and strength. _Valerianella Olitaria_ is\nsaid to be a favourite food of lambs, and so gains its name of Lambs\u2019\nLettuce. Shepherds and flocks have always been favourite subjects for\npoetry, and Drayton touches them very prettily:--\n\n When the new wash\u2019d flock from the river side,\n Coming as white as January\u2019s snow,\n The ram with nose-gays bears his horns in pride,\n And no less brave the bell-wether doth go.\n\nNep or Cat-mint is said to have a great attraction for cats. Of which\nthere is this old rime:--\n\n If you set it, the catts will eate it,\n If you sow it, the catts won\u2019t know it.[104]\n\n [104] Coles.\n\nThe weasel, with a grand knowledge of counter-poisons, \u201carms herself\nwith eating of Rue,\u201d _before_ fighting a serpent. Folkard says that in\nthe north of England there is a tradition that when hops were first\nplanted there, nightingales also made their first appearance, and he\nadds that both have long since disappeared, north of the Humber. In\nother parts of England there is an idea (quite a false one) that\nnightingales will only sing where cowslips flourish. The cuckoo is\nconnected with both plants and minerals. In some parts of Germany, Mr\nFriend writes, the call of the cuckoo is thought to reveal mines, and\nthe cuckoo\u2019s bread, the purple orchis, grows most abundantly where rich\nveins of metal lie beneath. There is a story about the plantain, a plant\nwith a most interesting legendary history, in which the cuckoo appears.\nOnce the Plantain or Waybread was a maiden, always watching for her\nabsent lover, and at last she was changed into the plant that almost\nalways grows by the road-side. And now every seventh year the plantain\nbecomes a bird, either the Cuckoo or the Cuckoo\u2019s servant, the Dinnick.\n\nThe Yellow Rattle is sometimes called Gowk\u2019s Siller, and Gowk may mean\neither the Cuckoo or a fool, so they may quarrel for it. Johnston seems\nto think that the siller belongs rather to the fool, for he remarks:\n\u201cthe capsules rattle when in seed... being like the fool unable to\nconceal its wealth.\u201d The Swallow restored sight to the eyes of her\nyoung, when any evil had befallen them, by the help of Celandine. And it\nwas for this reason, says Gerarde, that the flower gained its name,\n_Chelidonium_, swallow-herbe, and not because it \u201cfirst springeth at the\ncoming of the swallows or dieth when they goe away.\u201d... Celsus doth\nwitnesse that it will restore \u201cthe sight of the eies of divers young\nbirds... and soonest of all of the sight of the swallow.\u201d The eagle,\nwhen he wishes his sight to be particularly keen, rubs his eyes with the\nwild Lettuce, and the hawk follows his example, but chooses Hawkweed\nwith equal success. Doves and pigeons find that Vervain cures dimness of\nvision and goldfinches and linnets and some other birds turn to\neyebright. \u201cThe purple and yellow spots which are upon the flowers of\neyebright very much resemble the diseases of the eyes or\nbloodshot.\u201d[105] There is a very wide belief in a magic plant called\nSpring-wort or Spring-wurzel of which Folkard gives an interesting\ndescription. \u201cPliny,\u201d he says, \u201crecords the superstition concerning it,\nalmost in the same form in which it is now found in Germany. If anyone\ntouches a lock with it, the lock, however strong, must yield. In\nSwitzerland it is carried in the right pocket to render the bearer\ninvulnerable to dagger or bullet; and in the Hartz mountains it is said\nto reveal treasures. One cannot easily find it oneself, but generally\nthe wood-pecker (according to Pliny also the raven, in Switzerland, the\nHoopoe, in the Tyrol, the swallow) will bring it under the following\ncircumstances. When the bird has temporarily left its nest this must be\nstopped up with wood. The bird then flies away to find the Spring-wurzel\nand will open the nest by touching it with the root. Meantime a fire or\na red cloth must be placed near by, which will so frighten the bird that\nit will let the magical root fall.\u201d _Le petit Albert_, to procure\nSpring-wort suggests tying up a magpie\u2019s nest with new cords, but merely\nsays that she brings _une herbe_ to release her nestlings, without\ngiving its name.\n\n [105] \u201cAdam in Eden,\u201d Coles.\n\nSeveral legends are attached to the Wood-pecker. Amongst others there is\nan idea that the root of the Peony is good for epilepsy, but should a\nWood-pecker be in sight when the patient tastes it he would be forthwith\nstruck blind! In Piedmont there is a little plant called the Herb of the\nBlessed Mary, which is fatal to birds, and there it is said that when\nyoung wild birds are caught and caged their parents bring them a sprig\nof it, that death rather than imprisonment may be their lot. De\nGubernatis speaks of an oriental bird of greater resource, the\n_Paperone_, for when _his_ little ones are imprisoned he seeks and\nbrings a root which breaks the iron bars and releases them. Parkinson\ntells of an Indian herb which \u201ccast to the birds causeth as many as take\nit to fall downe to the ground as being stoned for a time, but if any\ntake it too greedily it will kill them, if they bee not helped by cold\nwater put on their heads, but Dawes above all other birds are soonest\nkild thereby.\u201d There is a suggestion of comedy in this picture of a\nseventeenth century herbalist in a foreign land pouring cold water on\nthe heads of wild birds.\n\n[Illustration: FENNEL]\n\n\u201cThe raven, when he hath killed the chameleon, and yet perceiving he is\nhurt and poisoned by him, flyeth for remedy to the Laurell,\u201d which\n\u201crepresseth and extinguisheth the venom,\u201d says Pliny.[106] The elephant,\nunder the same circumstances, recovers himself by eating \u201cwild Olive,\nthe only remedy he hath of this poison.... The storke, feeling himself\namisse, goeth to the herbe Organ for remedy,\u201d and Parkinson quotes\nAntigonas as saying that ring-doves cured their wounds with the same\nplant. Stock-doves, jays, merles, blackbirds and ousels recover \u201ctheir\nappetite to meate,\u201d by eating bay leaves; and ducks, geese and other\nwaterfowl seek endive or chicory. Of course, chickweed and goosegrass\nhave gained their names as the result of similar observations, more\nmodern, and possibly more accurate. Elder-berries are eaten by birds,\nbut they are said to have serious effects on chickens.\n\n [106] Philemon Holland\u2019s Translation.\n\nLizards cure themselves of the biting of serpents with calaminth, and\nthe tortoise cautiously eats a \u201ckind of sauorie or marjerome\u201d before the\nbattle. Sir Francis Bacon mentions that, \u201cthe snake loveth fennel; that\nthe toad will be much under sage; that frogs will be in cinquefoil\u201d;\nthough he unromantically doubts that the virtue of these herbs is the\ncause of these preferences. Turner also remarks on the toad\u2019s liking for\nsage, and says: \u201cRue is good to be planted among Sage, to prevent the\npoison which may be in it by toads frequenting amongst it, but Rue being\namongst it they will not come near it.\u201d A toad recovers itself by means\nof the plantain from the poison of the spider, and Bullein[107] tells us\nof the frog\u2019s fondness for the _Scabiosa_, under whose leaves they will\n\u201cshadow themselves from the heate of the daie, poppyng and plaiying\nunder these leaves, which to them is a pleasant Tent or Pavillion.\u201d The\nreputed venom of toads was sometimes said to be sucked from camomile, of\nall plants!\n\n [107] Bullein\u2019s \u201cBulwarke; or, Booke of Simples,\u201d 1562.\n\nPliny wrote of the serpent, that waking in the spring, she finds that\nduring the winter her sight has become \u201cdim and dark, so that with the\nherbe Fennell she comforteth and anointeth her eies,\u201d and having cast\nher coat, \u201cappeareth fresh, slick and yong again.\u201d\n\nIf camomile furnishes venom for toads, it seems to provide nourishment\nfor fishes. William Browne says of some nymphs:--\n\n Another from her banks, in sheer good will,\n Brings nutriment for fish, the camomile.\n\nIsaac Walton observes that, \u201cParsley and Garden earth recovers and\nrefreshes sick fish.\u201d The Alder or Aul is indirectly connected with\ntrout in a Herefordshire rhyme:--\n\n When the bud of the Aul is as big as the trout\u2019s eye,\n Then that fish is in season in the River Wye.\n\nAmong other counsels _Piscator_ speaks of the perch\u2019s tastes. \u201cAnd he\nhath been observed by some not usually to bite till the mulberry-tree\nbuds--that is to say, till extreme frosts be past in the spring.... Some\nthink [of grayling] that he feeds on water-thyme, and smells of it at\nhis first taking out of the water.\u201d A pike has a liking for lavender,\nand the directions for trying for this fish with a dead bait begin:\n\u201cDissolve gum of ivy in oil of spike [lavender], and then anoint the\nbait with it. Wheat boiled in milk and flavoured with Saffron is a\nchoice bait for Roach and Grayling, and Mulberries and those\nBlackberries which grow upon briars, be good baits for Chubs and Carps.\u201d\nGerarde says that Balm rubbed over hives will keep the bees there, and\ncause others to come to them, and Parkinson thought that the \u201cleaves or\nrootes of _Acorus_ (sweet-smelling Flagge) tyed to a hive\u201d would have\nthe same effect.\n\nTo turn to the herbs prescribed by men for beasts, we find that Spenser\nalludes to two of them:--\n\n Here grows _melampode_ everywhere\n And _terebinth_ good for gotes.\n\n July--_Shepheard\u2019s Calendar_.\n\nA marginal note suggests that the latter meant the \u201cturpentine tree.\u201d\n\u201cThe tree that weepeth turpentine\u201d is mentioned by Drayton, and we may\nsuppose that both poets referred to the same tree, the Silver Fir\n(_Pinus picra_). Melampode was hellebore or bear\u2019s foot, a very\nimportant plant, and it was much used in magic. A cynical French verse\nsays:--\n\n L\u2019ell\u00e9bore est la fleur des fous,\n On l\u2019a d\u00e9die a maints po\u00e8tes.\n\nOnce people blessed their cattle with it to keep them from evil spells,\nand \u201cfor this purpose it was dug up with certain attendant mystic rites:\nthe devotees first drawing a circle round the plant with a sword, and\nthen turning to the east and offering a prayer to Apollo and \u00c6sculapius\nfor leave to dig up the root.\u201d[108] In the old French romance, _Les\nQuatre Fils Aymon_, the sorcerer, Malagis or Maugis, when he wishes to\nmake his way, unchallenged, through the enemy\u2019s camp, scatters powdered\nhellebore in the air as he goes. Both the Black and the White Hellebore,\nParkinson says, are known to be very poisonous, and the white hellebore\nwas used by hunters to poison arrows, with which they meant to kill\n\u201cwolves, foxes, dogs,\u201d etc. Black Hellebore was used to heal and not to\nhurt, and \u201ca piece of the roote being drawne through a hole made in the\neare of a beast troubled with cough, or having taken any poisonous\nthing, cureth it, if it be taken out the next day at the same houre.\u201d\nThis writer believes that White Hellebore would be equally efficacious\nin such a case, but Gerarde recommends the Black Hellebore only as being\ngood for beasts. He says the old Farriers used to \u201ccut a slit in the\ndewlap and put in a bit of Beare-foot, and leave it there for daies\ntogether.\u201d _Verbascum thapsis_ was called Bullock\u2019s Lungwort, from the\nresemblance of its leaf to a dewlap, and on the Doctrine of Signatures\nwas therefore given to cattle suffering from pneumonia.\n\n [108] Timbs.\n\n_Samoclas_, or Marchwort, was a strange herb which used to be put in the\ndrinking-troughs of cattle and swine to preserve their health. But to\nobtain this desirable result it had to be \u201cgathered fasting, and with\nthe left hand, without looking back, when it was being plucked.\u201d[109]\nGervase Markham mentions a curious evil among cattle. He says if a\nshrew-mouse run over a beast \u201cit feebleth his hinder parts and maketh\nhim unable to go. The cure is to draw him under, or beat him with a\nBramble, which groweth at both ends in the furrowes of corne lands.\u201d\nMarkham was a noted authority on Husbandry and Farriery in the early\npart of the seventeenth century, and he gives advice for the various\nills afflicting horses. For nightmare he prescribed balls composed of\nAniseed, Liquorice and Garlic, and other ingredients. For toothache, Ale\nor Vinegar, in which Betony has been seethed; and loose teeth are to be\nrubbed with the leaves of Elecampane, which will \u201cfasten\u201d them. Stubwort\n(wood-sorrel), \u201clapped in red Dock leafe and roasted in hot cinders,\nwill eat away the dead flesh in a sore,\u201d and any \u201csplint, iron, thorne\nor stub\u201d may be drawn out by an application of Yarrow, Southernwood,\nCummin-seed, Fenugreek and Ditany, bruised with black soap. Horse Mint,\nWormwood and Dill are other herbs recommended by this author.\n\n [109] Timbs.\n\nGerarde says that the leaves of Arsmart (_Persicaria_) rubbed on the\nback of a tired horse, and a \u201cgood handfull or two laid under the\nsaddle, will wonderfully refresh him;\u201d and _Le petit Albert_ gives a\nrecipe for making a horse go further in one hour than another would go\nin eight. You must begin by mingling a handful of \u201cSatyrion\u201d in his\noats, and anointing him with the fat of a deer; then when you are\nmounted and ready to start \u201cvous lui tournerez la t\u00eat\u00e9 du cot\u00e9 de soleil\nlevant et vous penchant sur son oreille gauche vous pronon\u00e7erez trois\nfois \u00e0 voix basse les paroles suivantes et vous partirez aussi t\u00f4t:\n_Gaspar_, _Melchior_, _Merchisard_. T\u2019ajonte \u00e0 cecy que si vous\nsuspenderez au col du cheval les grosses dents d\u2019un loup qui aura \u00e9t\u00e8\ntu\u00e9 en courant, le cheval ne sera pas fatigue de sa course.\u201d No doubt\nthese proceedings were carried out by the traveller with an air of\nmystery, and must have impressed the bystanders, but one wonders what\nthe rider thought of them after an hour\u2019s journeying? Satyrion is a kind\nof orchis. There was a herb called _Sferro Cavallo_ which was supposed\nto be able to break locks or draw off the shoes of the horses that\npassed over it. Sir Thomas Browne speaks of it in his \u201cPopular Errors,\u201d\nand laughs the idea to scorn, and \u201ccannot but wonder at Matthiolus, who,\nupon a parallel in Pliny, was staggered into suspension\u201d [of judgment].\nThis plant was probably the Horse-shoe Vetch, whose seed-vessels, being\nin the shape of horse-shoes, may have given rise to the superstition;\nbut Grimm thought it was the _Euphorbia Lathyris_. The same belief is\nfound in different countries, referred to other plants; the French\nthought that Rest Harrow had this marvellous property, and Culpepper\ntells the same tale about the Moonwort (_Botrychium Lunaria_), which had\nthe country name of Unshoe-the-Horse. \u201cBesides, I have heard commenders\nsay that in White Down in Devonshire, near Tiverton, there were found\nthirty horse-shoes, pulled off from the feet of the Earl of Essex\u2019s\nhorses, being then drawn up in a body, many of them being but newly\nshod, and no reason known, which caused much admiration, and the herb\ndescribed usually grows upon heaths.\u201d One would hardly have thought that\n\u201cadmiration\u201d was the feeling evoked, but perhaps nobody concerned was\npressed for time!\n\nHound\u2019s Tongue (_Cynoglossum officinale_) was believed to have the\nremarkable property that it will \u201ctye the tongues of Houndes, so that\nthey shall not bark at you, if it be laid under the bottom of your\nfeet.\u201d\n\nIn Markham\u2019s advice about domestic animals, he alludes to a \u201ccertaine\nstage of madnesse\u201d which attacks rabbits, and says that the cure is\nHare-Thistle (_Sonchus oleraceus_). The \u201cGrete Herbal\u201d called this plant\nthe \u201cHare\u2019s Palace.\u201d \u201cFor yf the hare come under it, he is sure that no\nbest can touche hym.\u201d\n\nThese statements lead one to feel that once upon a time, the world was\nmuch more like the world of Richard Jefferies than it is, and that \u201cwood\nmagic\u201d was nearer to our forefathers than to ourselves. Nowadays, when\neverything travels more quickly along the road of life, the eyes of\nordinary mortals get confused with the movement and the jostling and\nthey do not see the pretty by-play that goes on in the bushes by the\nway, nor peer into the depths of the woodland beyond. In this they lose\na good deal, but no one can \u201cput back the clock,\u201d and one must feel\ngrateful that the idylls of the forest are still being acted, and that\nthere are still men whose vision is quick enough to catch sight of them,\nand whose pens have the cunning to put before others the glimpses that\nthey themselves have caught.\n\nA legend exists about the Cormorant, the Bat, and the Bramble--quite\ninconsequent, but not wholly out of place here, so it shall serve as a\nconclusion.\n\nOnce the Cormorant was a wool merchant and he took for partners the Bat\nand the Bramble. They freighted a large ship with wool, but she was\nwrecked and then they were bankrupt. Ever since that, the Cormorant is\ndiving into the deep, looking for the lost ship; the Bat skulks round\ntill midnight, so that he may not meet his creditors, and the Bramble\ncatches hold of every passing sheep to try and make up for his loss by\nstealing wool. No doubt, you have often noticed their ways, but did you\never before know their reasons?\n\n\n\n\nTUSSER\u2019S LIST\n\nSEEDS AND HERBS FOR THE KITCHEN.\n\n 1. Avens.\n 2. Betony.\n 3. Bleets or beets, white or yellow.\n 4. Bloodwort.\n 5. Bugloss.\n 6. Burnet.\n 7. Borrage.\n 8. Cabbages, remove in June.\n 9. Clary.\n 10. Coleworts.\n 11. Cresses.\n 12. Endive.\n 13. Fennel.\n 14. French Mallows.\n 15. French Saffron, set in August.\n 16. Lang de beef.\n 17. Leeks, remove in June.\n 18. Lettuce, remove in May.\n 19. Longwort (_Lungwort_).\n 20. Liverwort (probably _Agrimonia Eupatoria_).\n 21. Marigolds, often cut.\n 22. Mercury (_Chenopodium Bonus Henricus_).\n 23. Mints, at all times.\n 24. Nep (_Nepeta Cataria_).\n 25. Onions, from December to March.\n 26. Orache or arache, red and white (_Atriplex hortensis_).\n 27. Patience.\n 28. Parsley.\n 29. Penny-royal.\n 30. Primrose.\n 31. Poret (_a leek or small onion according to some writers,\n Garlick_).\n 32. Rosemary, in the spring time, to grow south or west.\n 33. Sage, red or white.\n 34. English Saffron, set in August.\n 35. Summer Savory.\n 36. Sorrell.\n 37. Spinage.\n 38. Succory.\n 39. Siethes (_Chives_).\n 40. Tansey.\n 41. Thyme.\n 42. Violets of all sorts.\n\nHERBS AND ROOTS FOR SALADS AND SAUCE.\n\n 1. Alexanders at all times.\n 2. Artichokes.\n 3. Blessed Thistle, or Carduus Benedictus.\n 4. Cucumbers, in April and May.\n 5. Cresses, sow with lettuce in the spring.\n 6. Endive.\n 7. Mustard-seed, sow in the spring, and at Michaelmas.\n 8. Musk, Mellion, in April and May.\n 9. Mints.\n 10. Purslane.\n 11. Radish, and after remove them.\n 12. Rampions.\n 13. Rocket, in April.\n 14. Sage.\n 15. Sorrell.\n 16. Spinage, for the summer.\n 17. Sea-holy.\n 18. Sparage, let grow two years and then remove.\n 19. Skirrets, set these plants in March.\n 20. Succory.\n 21. Tarragon, set in slips in March.\n 22. Violets of all colours.\n\n These buy with the penny\n Or look not for any.\n\n 1. Capers.\n 2. Lemons.\n 3. Olives.\n 4. Oranges.\n 5. Rice.\n 6. Samphire.\n\nHERBS AND ROOTS, TO BOIL OR TO BUTTER.\n\n 1. Beans, set in winter.\n 2. Cabbages, sow in March and after remove.\n 3. Carrots.\n 4. Citrons, sow in May.\n 5. Gourds, in May.\n 6. Navews, sow in June (_Brassica Napus_).\n 7. Pompions, in May.\n 8. Parsnips, in winter.\n 9. Runcival Pease, set in winter.\n 10. Rapes, sow in June.\n 11. Turnips, in March and April.\n\nSTREWING HERBS OF ALL SORTS.\n\n 1. Basil, fine and busht, sow in May.\n 2. Balm, set in March.\n 3. Camomile.\n 4. Costmary.\n 5. Cowslips and Paggles.\n 6. Daisies of all sorts.\n 7. Sweet Fennell.\n 8. Germander.\n 9. Hyssop, set in February.\n 10. Lavender (_Lavendula vera_).\n 11. Lavender Spike (_L. spica_).\n 12. Lavender Cotton.\n 13. Marjoram, knotted, sow or set in the spring.\n 14. Maudeline.\n 15. Pennyroyal.\n 16. Roses of all sorts, in January and September.\n 17. Red Mints.\n 18. Sage.\n 19. Tansy.\n 20. Violets.\n 21. Winter Savory.\n\nHERBS, BRANCHES, AND FLOWERS FOR WINDOWS.\n\n 1. Bays, sow or plant in January.\n 2. Bachelor\u2019s Buttons.\n 3. Bottles, blue, red, and tawny.\n 4. Columbines.\n 5. Campions.\n 6. Cowslips (_Tusser here meant Oxlips_).\n 7. Daffodils or Daffodondillies.\n 8. Eglantine or Sweet-Brier.\n 9. Fetherfew.\n 10. Flower Amour, sow in May (_Amaranthus_).\n 11. Flower de Luce.\n 12. Flower-Gentle, white and red (_Amaranthus_).\n 13. Flower Nice.\n 14. Gillyflowers, red, white, and Carnations, set in spring and at\n harvest in pots, pails, or tubs, or for summer, in beds.\n 15. Holyoaks, red, white, and Carnations (_Hollyhocks_).\n 16. Indian Eye, sow in May, or set in slips in March (_Dianthus\n Plumarius_).\n 17. Lavender of all sorts.\n 18. Larksfoot (_Larkspur_).\n 19. Laus tibi (_Narcissus Poeticus_).\n 20. Lillium Convallium.\n 21. Lilies, red and white, sow or set in March and September.\n 22. Marigolds, double.\n 23. Nigella Romana.\n 24. Pansies, or Heartsease.\n 25. Paggles, green and yellow (_Cowslips_).\n 26. Pinks of all sorts.\n 27. Queen\u2019s Gilliflowers (_Hesperis Matronalis_).\n 28. Rosemary.\n 29. Roses of all sorts.\n 30. Snapdragon.\n 31. Sops in wine (Pinks).\n 32. Sweet Williams.\n 33. Sweet Johns (_Dianthus Barbatus_).\n 34. Star of Bethlehem (_Ornithogalum Umbellatum_).\n 35. Star of Jerusalem (_Tragopogon pratensis_).\n 36. Stock Gilliflowers of all sorts.\n 37. Tuft Gilliflowers.\n 38. Velvet flowers, or French Marigolds (_Tagetes patula_).\n 39. Violets, yellow and white.\n 40. Wall Gilliflowers of all sorts.\n\nHERBS TO STILL IN SUMMER.\n\n 1. Blessed Thistle.\n 2. Betony.\n 3. Dill.\n 4. Endive.\n 5. Eyebright.\n 6. Fennel.\n 7. Fumitory.\n 8. Hyssop.\n 9. Mints.\n 10. Plantane.\n 11. Roses, red and damask.\n 12. Respies (_Rubus Id\u00e6us_).\n 13. Saxifrage (_Pimpinella saxifraga_ or _Saxifraga granulata_, or\n perhaps, _Carum Carvi_).\n 14. Strawberries.\n 15. Sorrel.\n 16. Succory.\n 17. Woodroffe, for sweet waters and cakes.\n\nNECESSARY HERBS TO GROW IN THE GARDEN FOR PHYSIC, NOT REHEARSED BEFORE.\n\n 1. Anise.\n 2. Archangel (_Angelica_).\n 3. Betony.\n 4. Chervil.\n 5. Cinquefoil (_Potentida reptans_).\n 6. Cummin.\n 7. Dragons (_Arum Maculatum_).\n 8. Dittary or garden ginger (_Lepidium Latifolium_).\n 9. Gromwell seed (_Lithospernum officinale_).\n 10. Hart\u2019s tongue.\n 11. Horehound.\n 12. Lovage.\n 13. Liquorice.\n 14. Mandrake.\n 15. Mugwort.\n 16. Peony.\n 17. Poppy.\n 18. Rue.\n 19. Rhubarb.\n 20. Smallage.\n 21. Saxifrage.\n 22. Savin.\n 23. Stitchwort.\n 24. Valerian.\n 25. Woodbine.\n\n Thus ends in brief,\n Of herbs the chief,\n To get more skill,\n Read whom ye will;\n Such mo to have,\n Of field go crave.\n\n\n\n\nAUTHORS REFERRED TO\n\n\n ABERCROMBIE, \u201cEvery Man his own Gardener.\u201d\n AMHERST (Hon. Alicia), \u201cA History of Gardening in England.\u201d\n ASHMOLE, \u201cHistory of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.\u201d\n BACON, \u201cSylva Sylvarum; or, a Naturall Historie.\u201d\n BLOUNT, \u201cFragmenta Antiquitatis; or Jocular Tenures.\u201d\n BRAND, \u201cPopular Antiquities.\u201d\n BRITTEN, \u201cA Dictionary of English Plant Names.\u201d\n BROWNE (Sir Thomas), \u201cVulgar Errors.\u201d\n CLARENDON, \u201cHistory of the Rebellion.\u201d\n COLES, \u201cArt of Simpling.\u201d\n CULPEPPER, \u201cThe English Physitian.\u201d\n CULPEPPER, \u201cAstrological Judgment of Diseases.\u201d\n DE GUBERNATIS, _La Mythologie des Plantes_.\n DE LA QUINTINYE, \u201cThe Compleat Gard\u2019ner.\u201d\n DILLON, _Nineteenth Century_, April 1894.\n DYER (Thistleton), \u201cThe Folk-Lore of Plants.\u201d\n ELLACOMBE (Canon), \u201cThe Plant-Lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare.\u201d\n EVELYN (J.), \u201cAcetaria, a Discourse of Sallets,\u201d 1699.\n FAVYN (Andr\u00e9), _Le Th\u00e9\u00e2tre d\u2019honneur et de Chevatries_, 1620.\n FAVYN (Andr\u00e9), \u201cTheatre of Honour.\u201d\n FERNIE, \u201cHerbal Simples.\u201d\n FOLKARD, \u201cPlant-Lore, Legends and Lyrics.\u201d\n FRIEND, \u201cFlowers and Flower-Lore.\u201d\n FULLER, \u201cChurch History.\u201d\n FULLER, \u201cAntheologia; or, the Speech of Flowers.\u201d\n GERARDE, \u201cThe Herball,\u201d 1596.\n THE \u201cGrete Herball,\u201d 1516.\n GUILLIM, \u201cHeraldry.\u201d\n HAKLUYT\u2019S Voyages, \u201cRemembrances for Master S.,\u201d 1582.\n HARRISON\u2019S \u201cDescription of England.\u201d\n \u201cHistory of Signboards.\u201d\n HOGG, \u201cThe Vegetable Kingdom and its Products.\u201d\n HUISH, \u201cHistory of the Coronation of George IV.\u201d\n INGRAM, _Flora Symbolica_.\n I. W., _i.e._ John Worlidge, _Systema Agricultur\u00e6_, printed (London)\n for Thos. Dring, 1681.\n JONES, \u201cCrowns and Coronations.\u201d\n LAMBERT (Miss), _Nineteenth Century_, September 1879, and May 1880.\n _Le Petit Albert_, from the \u201cSecrets of Albertus Magnus, of the\n Virtues of Herbs, Stones and Certaine Beasts,\u201d 1617.\n LOUDON, \u201cEncyclop\u00e6dia of Gardening.\u201d\n LUPTON, \u201cBook of Notable Things,\u201d 1575.\n MARKHAM (Gervase), \u201cThe Complete Housewife.\u201d\n MEAGER, \u201cThe New Art of Gardening,\u201d 1697.\n NEWTON, \u201cAn Herbal of the Bible,\u201d 1587.\n NICHOLAS (Sir N. H.), \u201cHistory of the Orders of Knighthood of the\n British Empire.\u201d\n PARKINSON, _Paradisi in Sole, Paradisus terrestris_, 1629.\n PARKINSON, \u201cTheatre of Plants,\u201d 1640.\n PECK, _Desiderata Curiosa_.\n PEGGE\u2019S _Curalia_.\n PLATT (Sir Hugh), \u201cThe Garden of Eden,\u201d 1653.\n PLINY\u2019S \u201cNatural History,\u201d Trans. by Philemon Holland.\n _Quarterly Review_, June 1842.\n RHIND, \u201cHistory of the Vegetable Kingdom.\u201d\n ROBERTS (H.), \u201cComplete Account of the Coronations of the Kings and\n Queens of England.\u201d\n ROBINSON, \u201cEnglish Flower-Garden.\u201d\n ROSS, \u201cView of all Religions,\u201d 1653.\n SELDEN, \u201cTable Talk.\u201d\n SMITH, \u201cDictionary of the Bible.\u201d\n THORNTON, \u201cFamily Herbal.\u201d\n TIMBS, \u201cThings Not Generally Known.\u201d\n TUSSER, \u201cFive Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,\u201d 1577.\n WALTON (Isaac), \u201cThe Complete Angler.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nINDEX OF PLANTS\n\n\n ACONITE, 173\n _Acorus_, 196\n Agrimony, 135, 167\n ---- Hemp, 190\n Alder, 167, 196\n Alecost, 121, 122\n Alexanders, 47, 48, 153, 176\n Alkanet, 15, 150\n Angelica, 48, 49, 50, 150, 164, 166, 179\n Anise, 9, 154, 173, 182, 198\n Arnica, 173\n Arsmart, 198\n _Asplenium_, 190\n\n BALM, 9, 10, 11, 105, 148, 196\n Barberries, 99, 107\n Basil, Sweet, 11, 12, 13, 105, 117, 154, 176, 178, 183\n ---- Bush, 11, 12, 13, 154\n Bay, 132, 133, 141, 142, 143, 144, 177, 195\n Bearberries, 173\n Bearsfoot, 164, 196, 197\n Bella-Donna, 167\n Bergamot, 120, 121, 148, 173\n Betony, 111, 164, 168, 198\n Blites, 50, 51\n Bloodwort, 51\n Boldo, 190\n Borage, 13, 14, 154\n Boy\u2019s Love, 136, 166\n Bridewort, 109, 128\n Brooklime, 167\n Broom, 98, 129, 134, 166, 174, 183\n Buckshorne, 51, 52\n Bugloss, 14, 64, 150\n ---- Viper\u2019s, 15, 160\n Bullock\u2019s Lungwort, 197\n Burnet, 15, 16, 152\n Burnet-Saxifrage, 182\n\n CALAMINTH, 195\n Camomile, 53, 54, 149, 166, 182, 195\n ---- Wild, 166\n Caraway, 16, 17, 153, 173\n Cardoons, 55\n Cassidony, 126\n Celandine, 168, 193\n Celery, 17, 18\n Centaury, 164, 187\n Chervil, 3, 18, 89, 155, 176, 179\n Chibbals, 18\n Chickenweed, 167, 195\n Chickweed, 4\n Chicory, 25, 177\n Chives, 19, 151\n Ciboules, 18, 19\n Cinquefoil, 112, 185, 195\n Cives, 19\n Clary, 55\n Cliders, 168\n Clove-Gillyflowers, 111, 124\n Club-Moss, 1, 174\n Colchicum, 86, 165\n Coltsfoot, 167\n Comfrey, 165\n Coriander, 3, 19, 144, 173, 176\n Corn-Salad, 36\n Costmary, 117, 118, 121, 122, 149\n Cowflop, 168\n Cowslip, 167, 192\n ---- of Jerusalem, 174\n Cresses, 20, 21, 22\n ---- Water, 22, 152, 167\n Cuckoo\u2019s Bread, 192\n Cuckoo-flowers, 62, 63\n Cumin, 3, 19, 154, 181, 198\n\n DANDELION, 22, 23, 152, 164, 191\n Decoration of Churches, 103, 104\n ---- of Houses, 104\n Dial of flowers, 4, 5\n Dill, 23, 24, 153, 173, 176, 179\n Distillers to Queen Elizabeth, 118, 119\n Dittander, 56\n Dittany, 179, 190, 198\n Dock, 167, 198\n ---- Patience, 59, 60\n Doctrine of Signatures, 85, 96, 159\n\n _EAU D\u2019ARQUEBUSADE_, 49\n Elder, 98, 165, 166, 179, 183, 184, 185, 195\n Elecampane, 56, 57, 150, 181, 198\n Endive, 24, 25, 155, 182, 195\n Eyebright, 35, 193\n\n FAIRY-BELLS, 182\n Fairy-cap, 182\n Featherfew, 3, 54, 167\n Fennel, 25, 26, 27, 150, 173, 195\n Fenngreek, 57, 58, 198\n _Finocchio_, 27, 155\n Flax, 173, 181\n ---- Fairy, 181\n Flower Gentle, 50\n Foxglove, 167, 168, 181, 182\n Furze, 165\n\n GARLIC, 177, 198\n Gentian, 172\n Germander, 105, 122, 123\n Gilliflowers, 123, 124, 125, 183\n Goat\u2019s Beard, 4, 27, 28\n Good King Henry, 58\n Goosegrass, 168, 195\n Ground-ivy, 135, 167, 180\n Groundsel, 167\n Green Oil (recipe), 169\n\n HARE-THISTLE, 199\n Hawkweed, 193\n Haymaids, 167\n Heart-fever-grass, 23\n Hedge-Garlic, 165, 167\n Hedge-Mustard, 167\n Hellebore, 164, 186, 196\n ---- Black, 197\n ---- White, 197\n Hemlock, 168, 179\n Henbane, 173, 179, 186\n Herbary, 6\n Herb-strewer, The King\u2019s, 106, 107, 108\n Herb-strewing, 104, 105, 106\n ---- at Weddings, 109\n Herb of the Blessed Mary, 194\n ---- Patience, 41, 59, 60, 152, 176\n ---- Robert, 167\n Hollyhock, 67, 68\n Honesty, 78, 176, 179\n Hops, 97, 170, 192\n Horehound, 61, 147, 160, 168\n Horse-radish, 28, 173\n Horse-shoe Vetch, 199\n Hound\u2019s Tongue, 199\n House-leek, 165, 180, 185\n Hyssop, 29, 30, 105, 147, 165, 176\n\n JUDAS TREE FLOWERS, 8\n Juniper, 174\n Jupiter\u2019s Distaff, 55\n\n LAD\u2019S LOVE, 136\n Ladysmocks, 9, 61, 62, 63\n Lamb\u2019s Lettuce, 30, 155, 191\n Langdebeefe, 63, 64\n Larkspur, 174\n Laurel, 195\n Lavender, 118, 125, 126, 138, 146, 173, 174\n ---- French, 126\n ---- White, 116, 126, 146\n ---- Cotton, 126\n Lettuce, Wild, 193\n Lily of the Valley, 173\n Liquorice, 64, 65, 150, 173, 198\n Lovage, 3, 65, 66\n Lunary, 179\n Lungwort, 174\n Lupines, 57, 117\n\n MAIDEN\u2019S RUIN, 136\n Mallow, 3, 66, 67, 150, 165, 176\n ---- French, 66\n ---- Marsh, 67, 150, 165\n Marchwort, 197\n Marigold, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 154, 165\n ---- Corn, 74\n Marjoram, 29, 31, 32, 105, 182, 185, 195\n ---- Pot, 148\n ---- Sweet, 111, 117, 118, 148, 154\n ---- Winter, 148\n Maudeline, 117, 121, 122\n Meadow-Sweet, 109, 126, 127, 164\n Melampode, 196\n Mezereon, 173\n Mignonette, 182\n Milfoil, 180\n Mint, 3, 32, 33, 149, 173, 178\n ---- Cat, 33, 192\n ---- Horse, 198\n ---- Pepper, 33, 149\n ---- Spear, 33\n ---- Water, 16\n Monk\u2019s-hood, 173\n Moonwort, 198\n Mugwort, 52, 138, 139, 140, 141, 182\n Musk, 173, 186\n Mustard, 3, 33, 34, 173\n ---- Tree, 182\n Myrtle, 183\n\n NEP, 192\n\n OLD MAN, 136\n Olive, 195\n Orange, 6, 117, 130\n Orders of Knighthood, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116\n Organs, 17, 195\n Ox-eye Daisy, 9\n\n PARSLEY, 3, 34, 35, 36, 153, 166, 183, 195\n \u201cPassions,\u201d 60\n Penny Royal, 74, 75, 149, 179\n Penny Pies, 165\n Peony, 194\n Periwinkle, 110, 111, 177, 178\n Pimpernel, 166, 168, 179\n Pine Cones, 98\n Planets, Influence of the, 160, 161, 162\n Plantain, 9, 52, 166, 174\n Pomanders, 117, 118\n Poor Man\u2019s Friend, 165\n Poppy, 170, 171, 179, 192\n ---- Black, 186\n ---- White, 171, 186\n Pot-Pourri, 119\n Primrose, 9, 165\n Proverbs, 110\n Purslane, 76, 111, 156\n ---- Golden, 156\n Pyrethrum, 54, 173\n\n QUEEN OF THE MEADOWS, 128\n\n RAGWORT, 188, 189\n Ram-ciches, 77\n Rampion, 77, 78, 153, 177\n Rest-Harrow, 198\n Rhubarb, 6, 183\n ---- Monk\u2019s, 59\n Rocambole, 79\n Rocket, 79, 80, 156\n ---- London, 80\n Rosemary, 8, 109, 111, 116, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 142,\n 147, 167, 173, 176, 178\n Rue, 3, 112, 113, 114, 117, 126, 134, 135, 136, 147, 176, 178, 192,\n 195\n Rush-Strewing, 104\n\n SAFFRON, 57, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 111, 151, 165, 173, 186, 196\n ---- Meadow, 86, 166\n Sage, 37, 38, 39, 147, 166, 167, 176, 178, 195\n Sage, Wood, 164\n St John\u2019s Wort, 160, 177, 189\n Salsify, 28\n Samoclas, 197\n Samphire, 86, 87, 152\n Satyrion, 198\n Savory, Summer, 39, 154\n ---- Winter, 29, 39, 40, 150, 176, 195\n _Scabiosa_, 193\n Scorzonera, 44\n Sea-holly, 190\n Set-wall, 172\n _Sferro Cavallo_, 199\n Skirrets, 87, 88, 151\n Smallage, 88, 187\n Sorrel, 40, 41, 151\n ---- French, 41, 151\n Southernwood, 136, 137, 146, 147, 198\n Springwort, 193, 194\n Squills, 173\n Staggerwort, 188\n Star-grass, 174\n Stickadove, 126\n Stonecrop, 89\n Strawberries, 99, 100\n ---- leaves, 99, 100\n Stubwort, 198\n Succory, 25\n Sumach, 174\n Sunflower, 96\n Sweet Cicely, 89, 90, 150\n Sweet Grass, 137\n Sweet Jar, 119\n Swine\u2019s Cress, 165\n\n TANSY, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 105, 146, 180\n ---- Wild, 94\n Tarragon, 41, 42, 146, 147, 182\n Terebinth, 196\n Thistle, 97, 113, 114, 115\n ---- Blessed, or Holy, 95, 96, 167\n ---- Milk, 95, 96, 97\n ---- Spear, 117\n Thyme, 29, 42, 43, 44, 148, 149, 173, 185\n ---- Water, 196\n ---- Wild, 16, 181, 182\n _Tisane de Sept Fleurs_, 170\n Treacle-Mustard, 159\n Tripe-Madam, 89\n Turnip, 8\n\n UNSHOE-THE-HORSE, 198\n Uv\u00e6 Ursi, 173\n\n VALERIAN, 172, 178, 179\n Venice Treacle, 159\n Vervain, 178, 179, 193\n Vine, 97, 105\n Violets, 98, 99, 168\n Viper\u2019s-Grass, 44\n\n WAYBREAD, 192\n Whortleberries, 112\n Willow, 105, 134, 173\n Wincopipe, 168\n Winter-green, 173\n Wolfs-bane, 173\n Wood-rose, 137\n ---- rowell, 137\n ---- ruff, 137, 138\n ---- sorrel, 45, 181, 182, 198\n Wormwood, 138, 139, 140, 141, 146, 147, 165, 173, 179, 180, 198\n\n YARROW, 9, 180, 198\n Yellow Rattle, 192\n\n\n\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s uote:\n\n Inconsistent spelling (including of proper and botanical names, and\n including differences between the text and the index) and factual\n errors have been retained, except as listed below. Non-English phrases\n have not been corrected or individually commented upon either, except\n as listed below. The terms German and Dutch appear to be used\n interchangeably.\n\n In several places an opening or closing quote mark is missing. Where\n it was clear where the mark should go, it has been inserted (see under\n Changes made). In other instances the correction has not been made.\n\n Page 85, \u03b3\u03be\u03bf\u03ba\u03cc-\u03c2\u03c4\u03c0\u03bb\u03b8: as printed in the source document; Fuller wrote\n \u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03ba\u03cc-\u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 (possibly as an error for \u03ba\u03c1\u03bf\u03ba\u03cc-\u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2).\n\n Page 122-123, Footnotes 72 and 73: the source document has two\n identical footnote markers and but a single footnote. Both appear to\n be quotes from Parkinson.\n\n Page 198-199, T\u2019ajonte should be J\u2019ajoute.\n\n Page 207: Le Th\u00e9\u00e2tre d\u2019honneur et de Chevatries should be Le Th\u00e9\u00e2tre\n d\u2019honneur et de Chevalerie.\n\n\n Changes made\n\n Footnotes have been moved to the end of the section or paragraph,\n illustrations have been moved outside text paragraphs.\n\n Minor obvious typographical an punctuation errors have been corrected\n silently.\n\n Some ditto marks (\u201e) have been replaced with the dittoed text.\n\n Page ix: Illustration numbers added\n\n Page 2: \u201d inserted after ... flowers and sweet herbs.\n\n Page 5: the \u2018lovers\u2019 walk changed to the lovers\u2019 walk\n\n Page 20: chez le Grecs changed to chez les Grecs\n\n Page 23: to \u201cdull,\u201d changed to \u201cto dull,\u201d\n\n Page 24: ... spicie taste.\u2019 changed to ... spicie taste.\u2019\u201d; quote mark\n deleted after ... the seeds of Dill,\n\n Page 81: Vunc Saffroni changed to V unc Saffroni\n\n Page 85: when he hath changed to whence he hath\n\n Page 94, quote mark inserted before Tansey, being qualify\u2019d ...\n\n Page 99, quote mark deleted after ... both branches and others\n\n Page 105: quote mark inserted before for summer-time your chimney ...\n\n Page 122: Stroing tansey changed to Strong tansey\n\n Page 124: they mentioned here changed to they are mentioned here\n\n Page 125: Hat lavender changed to Hot lavender","title":"The Book of Herbs","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":62599}