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BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
FROM THE

SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND

THE GIFT OF
Henry W. Sage

1891

HANDBOOKS OF PRACTICAL GARDENING—XII
EDITED BY HARRY ROBERTS

THE BOOK OF HERBS

JOHN PARKINSON

(From the statue erected by Mr. H. Thompcau at Sefton Park, Liverpool)

THE BOOK OF
HERBS

BY

LADY ROSALIND NORTHCOTE

@

JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD
LONDON AND NEW YORK. MCMIII

Turnbull & Spears, Printers, Edinburgh

CONTENTS

History oF Tuc Crirs or Lonpon

INTRODUCTION

Or tHe Cuter Hers usep IN THE Present Time

Anise — Balm — Sweet Basil and Bush Basil — Borage —
Bugloss—Burnet—Caraway—Celery—Chervil—Ciboules,
Chiboules or Chibbals—Cives, or Chives, or Seives—
Coriander—Cumin—Cresses—Dandelion—Dill — Endive
— Fennel — Goat’s Beard — Horse-Radish — Hyssop —
Lamb’s Lettuce or Corn Salad—Marjoram—Mint—
Mustard—Parsley—Sage—Savory—Sorrel — Tarragon —
Thyme—Viper’s Grass or Scorzonera—W ood-Sorrel.

Or Herss CHIEFLY USED IN THE Past

Alexanders—Angelica—Blites—Bloodwort—Buck’s-horne—
Camomile—Cardoons—Clary —Dittander—Elecam pane—
Fenugreek—Good King Henry—Herb-Patience—Hore-
hound — Lady’s-smock — Langdebeefe — Liquorice —
Lovage—Mallow— Marigold — Pennyroyal — Purslane—
Ram-ciches— Rampion — Rocambole — Rocket — London
Rocket — Stonecrop — Saffron — Samphire — Skirrets —
Smallage—Sweet Cicely—Tansy—Thistle.

Or Herss usep 1N Decorations, IN HERALDRY, AND FOR ORNA-

MENT AND PerruMEs

Bergamot — Costmary—Germander — Gilliflower — Laven-
der— Lavender Cotton— Meadow-Sweet — Rosemary —
Rue—Southernwood— Wood-ruff—W ormwood—Bay.

PAGE

47

102

vill CONTENTS

PAGE
Or tHe Growine or Herss . 145
Or Hers 1n Menicine . 158
Or Heres anp Macic 175
Or Hergs anv Brasts 188
Tusser’s List. 201
AUTHORS REFERRED TO . - 4 " 207

InpEx oF PLANTs F 209g

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Joun Parkinson (from the statue erected at Sefton Park,
Liverpool, by Mr H. Thompson) . ‘ j Frontispiece
IniT1AL LetTers FROM TuRNeER’s ‘‘ HERBAL ” To face page 16

Sweet CicELY AND OTHER Herps ‘

22
” , bed

Pot Marjoram (from a drawing by Ethel Roskruge) ner ee

Tue Lavenper WaLk aT Straturigcpsaye (Photograph

by F. Mason Good) a . ” x» 40
ANGELICA - % » «648
A Fiecp or Encuish Ruupars at Messrs STAFFORD

Autex & Sons, AMPTHILL i ‘ i 13 60
TiTLe-paGe oF Gerarp’s ‘‘ HERBAL ”’ 5 i an 86
Tue ArMs oF SAFFRON WALDEN : $4 j3, 100

Oxp Stitts aT Mr Hooper’s, Covent GarpDreNn
BERGAMOT ‘ c Wh: 3% TZ
RosEMARY i a on ve 190
PLanTaTION oF LaveNpeR at Messrs StarrorpD ALLEN

& Sons, AMPTHILL F j fl 3 +) 150
Cuetsea Puysic GARDEN ‘ Pr gg 158
PrantaTion oF Poppies (P. Somniferum) at Messrs

Starrorp AtLen & Sons, AMPTHILL ‘ ogy, 886
PLanTaTion oF Acon.Te aT Messrs Starrorp ALLEN &

Sons, AMPTHILL : P p ” a9 172
RaMPION 4 a fs 1, 180

Fennet (Photograph by Dr Banfield Vivian) v3 v5: 2D:

HISTORY OF THE CRIES OF LONDON

Here’s fine rosemary, sage and thyme.
Come, buy my ground ivy.

Here’s featherfew, gilliflowers and rue.
Come, buy my knotted marjoram, ho!
Come, buy my mint, my fine green mint.
Here’s fine lavender for your cloaths,
Here’s parseley and winter savory,

And heartsease which all do choose.
Here’s balm and hyssop and cinquefoil,
All fine herbs it is well known.

Let none despise the merry, merry cries
Of famous London Town.

Here’s penny royal and marygolds.
Come, buy my nettle-tops.
Here’s water-cresses and scurvy grass,
Come buy my sage of virtue, ho!
Come, buy my wormwood and mugworts.
Here’s all fine herbs of every sort.
Here’s southernwood that’s very good.
Dandelion and houseleek.
Here’s dragon’s tongue and wood sorrel,
With bear’s-foot and horehound.
Let none despise the merry, merry cries
Of famous London Town.

Roxburghe Baltaas.

xi

THE BOOK OF HERBS

INTRODUCTION

Wuat is a Herb? I have heard many definitions, but
never one that satisfied the questioner, and _ shall,
therefore, take warning by the failures of others
and make no attempt to define the word here. It is,
however, fairly safe to say generally that a herb is a
plant, green, and aromatic and fit to eat, but it is impos-
sible to deny that there are several undoubted herbs that
are not aromatic, a few more grey than green, and one or
two unpalatable, if not unwholesome. So no more space
shall be devoted to discussing their ‘‘ nature,” but I will
endeavour to present individual ones to the reader as
‘clearly as possible, in order that from their collective
properties he may form his own idea of a herb. The
objection may be raised that several plants included in
this book are outside the subject. To answer this, I
would point out that the boundaries of a herb-garden
are indefinite, and that the old writers’ views of them
were liberal. Besides this, every garden must have an
outside hedge or wall, and if this imaginary herb-garden
has a row of elder bushes on the East, barberry trees on
the West, some bay trees onthe South, anda stray willow
or so on the North, who can say that they are inap-
propriately placed? The bay and barberry hold an
undisputable position, and the other trees have each an
A 1

2 THE BOOK OF HERBS

interesting history in folk-lore, magic and medicine.
Herbs have been used in all countries and from the
earliest times, but I have confined myself, as a rule,
to those spoken of by British authors, and used in
the British Isles, though not scrupling to quote foreign
beliefs or customs where they give weight or complete-
ness to our own or our forefathers’ practices, or are
themselves of much interest. We have forgotten much
that would be profitable to us.

Mr Dillon, writing in the Nineteenth Century, April,
1894, on ‘‘A Neglected Sense”—the sense of smell—
describes a Japanese game, the object of which was that
while one of the players burned certain kinds of incense
or fragrant woods, singly or in combination, the others
ventured opinions from the odours arising, and recorded
their conjectures by means of specially marked counters
ona board. The delicate equipment for it included a
silver, open- worked brazier; a spatula, on which
the incense was taken up, also of silver, sometimes
delicately inlaid with enamel; and silver-framed mica
plates (about one inch square), on which the incense
had been heated, were set to cool on ‘‘a number of
medallions, mother-of-pearl, each in the shape of a
chrysanthemum flower or of a maple leaf.”

Both Mr Dillon and Miss Lambert (Nineteenth Century,
May 1880) attribute the importance early attached to
odours to religious reasons. He says that it was be-
lieved that the gods, being spirits, neither required nor
desired solid offerings, but that the ethereal nature of
the ascending fragrance was gratifying and sustaining to
them. Miss Lambert quotes an account of the tribes of
Florida ‘setting on the tops of the trees, as offerings
to the sun, skins of deer filled with the best fruits of
the country, crowned with flowers and sweet herbs.
Among the Aztecs of Mexico the festival of the goddess
of flowers, Coatlicue, was kept by Xochenanqui, or

INTRODUCTION 3

traders in flowers. Offerings of ‘‘curiously woven
garlands” were made, and it was ‘‘ forbidden to every-
one to smell the flowers of which they were composed
before their dedication to the goddess.” The Tahitians
had the idea that ‘“‘the scent was the spirit of the
offering and corresponded to the spirit of man,” and
therefore they laid sweet-scented offerings before their
dead till burial, believing that the spirit still hovered
near. These instances show clearly the high regard
in which delicate odours were once held.

Herbs and flowers were early used in rites and cere-
monies of the Church. Miss Lambert quotes from a poem
of Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers. ‘‘ When winter binds
the earth with ice, all the glory of the field perishes
with its flowers. But in the spring-time when the Lord
overcame Hell, bright grass shoots up and buds come
forth. . . . Gather these first-fruits and you bear them
to the churches and wreath the altars with them till
they glow with colour. The golden crocus is mingled
with the purple violet, dazzling scarlet is relieved by
gleaming white, deep blue blends with green. . . . One
triumphs in its radiant beauty, another conquers by its
sweet perfume; gems and incense bow before them.”
In England, the flowers for the Church were grown
under the special care of the Sacristan, and as early as
the ninth century there was a ‘‘gardina sacriste” at
Winchester.t Miss Amherst gives a most careful
description of the several gardens into which the
whole monastery enclosures were often divided, and
herbs were specially grown in the kitchen-garden and
in the Infirmarian’s garden, the latter, of course, being
devoted to herbs for healing. Many herbs were
introduced by the Romans, among them Coriander,
Chervil, Cumin, Featherfew, Fennel, Lovage, Mallow,
Mint, Parsley, Rue and Mustard. Some of these are sup-

1 History of Gardening in England.”

4 THE BOOK OF HERBS

posed to have died out after the Romans withdrew from
England and have been re-introduced, but it is certain
that they have been for a very long time cultivated in
England. I cannot refrain from referring to a miracle,
an account of which is quoted by Miss Amherst from
Dugdale’s ‘‘Monasticon” (vol. i. p. 473, new ed.), which
was wrought at the tomb of St Etheldreda :—

A ‘servant to a certain priest was gathering herbs in
the garden on the Lord’s Day, when the wood in her
hand, and with which she desired to pluck the herbs
unlawfully, so firmly adhered (to her hand) that no man
could pluck it out for the space of five years.” At the
end of this time she was miraculously healed at the
tomb, which was much revered by the people.

Banks and benches of mould, fronted with stone or
brick, and planted on the top with sweet-smelling herbs,
were made in all fifteenth-century gardens. Later,
again, Bacon recommends alleys to be planted with
“those which perfume the air most delightfully being
trodden upon and crushed ... to have the pleasure
when you walk or tread.” In his ‘‘ Pastime of Pleasure ”
(1554) Stephen Hawes speaks of :—

In divers knottes of marveylous greatnes
Rampande lyons, stode by wonderfully
Made all of herbes, with dulset sweetnes

With many dragons, of marveylous likenes
Of divers floures, made full craftely.

More modern still is the delightful notion of a sun-dial
made of herbs and flowers, that will mark the time of
day by the opening and closing of their blossoms.
Linneus had such a dial, with each plant so placed
that at each successive hour a flower should open or
fold up. Ingram? gives an appropriate list for this
purpose, beginning with Goats’ Beard, which he says
opens at 3 a.M. and shuts at 9 a.M., and ending with
1<¢ Flora Symbolica.”

INTRODUCTION 5

Chickweed whose stars are not disclosed till 9.15 a.M.,
when they display themselves for exactly twelve hours.
Andrew Marvell wrote these pretty lines on this device :—

How well the skilful gardener drew
Of flow'rs and herbs this dial new;
Where, from above the milder sun,
Does through a fragrant zodiack run,
And, as it works, th’ industrious bee
Computes its time as well as we !
How could such sweet and wholesome hours
Be reckon’d but with herbs and flow’rs !
The Garden,

The Quarterly for June 1842 quotes this charming
description of a garden in which herbs were not dis-
regarded. ‘‘Quaint devices of all kinds are found
here. Here is a sun-dial of flowers arranged according
to the time of day at which they open and close. Here
are peacocks and lions in livery of Lincoln green. Here
are berceaux and harbours, and covered alley and
enclosures containing the primest of the carnations and
cloves in set order, and miniature canals that carry
down a stream of pure water to the fish ponds below.
. . . From thence (the shrubbery) winds a path, the
delicie of the garden, planted with such herbs as yield
their perfume when trodden upon and crushed... .
It were tedious to follow up the long shady path not
broad enough for more than two—the ‘lovers’ walk.”
The reviewer himself continues in a less sentimental
strain, and his observations make a very proper intro-
duction to a book on Herbs.

‘‘ The olitory or herb-garden is a part of our horti-
culture now comparatively neglected, and yet once the
culture and culling of simples was as much a part of
female education as the preserving and tying down of
‘rasps and apricocks.’ There was not a Lady Bounti-
ful in the kingdom but made her dill-tea and diet-
drink from herbs of her own planting; and there is a

6 THE BOOK OF HERBS

neatness and prettiness about our thyme, and sage, and
mint and marjoram, that might yet, we think, transfer
them from the patronage of the blue serge to that of
the white muslin apron. Lavender and rosemary, and
rue, the feathery fennel, and the bright blue borage,
are all pretty bushes in their way, and might have a
due place assigned to them by the hand of beauty and
taste. A strip for a little herbary half-way between
the flower and vegetable garden would form a very
appropriate transition stratum and might be the means,
by being more under the eye of the mistress, of re-
covering to our soups and salads some of the compara-
tively neglected herbs of tarragon, and French sorrel,
and purslane, and chervil, and dill, and clary, and others
whose place is now nowhere to be found but in the
pages of the old herbalists. This little plot should be
laid out, of course, in a simple, geometric pattern; and
having tried the experiment, we can boldly pronounce
on its success. We recommend the idea to the con-
sideration of our lady-gardeners.”

CHAPTER I

OF THE CHIEF HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME

J’ai des bouquets pour tous les goits ;
Venez choisir dans ma corbeille:

De plusieurs les parfums sont doux,
De tous, la vertu sans pareille.

Jai des soucis pour les galoux;
La rose pour l’amant fidéle;
De Véllebore pour les tous
Et pour l’amitié ’immortelle.
La petite Corbeille de fleurs.

Herbs, too, she knew, and well of each could speak
That in her garden sip’d the silv’ry dew;

Where no vain flow’r disclos’d a gaudy streak ;

But herbs for use, and physic, not a few,

Of grey renown within those borders grew ;

The tufted basil, pun-provoking thyme,

Fresh baum, and mary-gold of cheerful hue ;

The lowly gill, that never dares to climb ;

And more I fain would sing, disdaining here to rhyme.

Yet euphrasy 2 may not be left unsung,

That gives dim eyes to wander leagues around ;

And pungent radish, biting infant’s tongue ;

And plantain ribb’d, that heals the reaper’s wound ;

And marj’ram sweet, in shepherd’s posie found ;

And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom

Shall be, ere-while, in arid bundles bound

To lurk amidst the labours of her loom,

And crown her kerchiefs clean with mickle rare perfume.
The Schoolmistress,: —SHENS3TONE,

Joun EvE.Lyn once wrote an essay called ‘‘ Acetaria: a

Discourse of Sallets,” and dedicated it to Lord Somers,

the President of the Royal Society. The Dedication is
1 Ground-ivy. 2 Eye-bright.

8 THE BOOK OF HERBS

highly laudatory and somewhat grandiloquent, comparing
the Royal Society to King Solomon’s Temple, and declar-
ing it established for the acquirement of “ solid and use-
ful knowledge by the Investigation of Causes, Principles,
Energies, Powers and Effects of Bodies and Things visible 5
and to improve them for the Good and Benefit of Man-
kind. ... And now, My Lord, I expect some will
wonder what my Meaning is, to usher in a Trifle with
so much magnificence, and end at last in a fine Receipt for
the dressing of a Sallet with an handful of Pot-herbs!
But yet, my Lord, this Subject as low and despicable
as it appears challenges a Part of Natural History; and
the Greatest Princes have thought it no disgrace, not
only to make it their Diversion, but their Care, and to
promote and encourage it in the midst of their weightiest
Affairs.” This disquisition casts an unlooked-for air
of dignity over the Salad-bowl! The discourse itself
is very practical, and begins with the Furniture and
Materials of which a Salad may be composed. Eighty-
two items are mentioned, but all cannot be called strictly
in order, as Oranges, Turnips, Rosemary, and Judas
Tree flowers, and Mushrooms are amongst them !

In the table at the end of this list Evelyn, ‘‘ by the
assistance of Mr London, His Majesty’s Principal Gar-
dener, reduced them to a competent number, not exceed-
ing thirty-five,” though he suggests that this may be
‘vary’d and enlarg’d by selections from the foregoing
list.”

The essay finishes with philosophical reasoning on
the subject of vegetarianism. History is called upon
to furnish examples of sages, of all times, favourably
inclined to it, but Noah is allowed to differ on account
of the ‘‘ humidity of the atmosphere ” after the Deluge,
which must have necessitated a generous diet. Most
people would think thirty-five different kinds a liberal
allowance for salad herbs alone, but Abercrombie, writ-

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 9

ing in 1822, gives forty-four, and it is worthy of notice,
that within the last eighty years, ox-eye daisy, yarrow,
lady’s-smock, primrose and plantain were counted among
them.

In this chapter, the herbs mentioned are those chiefly
used nowadays; in the next chapter, these that were
favourites au temps jadis. It is a difficult line to draw,
for the popularity of many of them is, like themselves,
evergreen, but I have tried to put in the second chapter
those that have passed the zenith of their fame, though
they may still ride high in public estimation.

ANISE (Pimpinella Anisum).

His chimney side
Could boast no gammon, salted well and dried
And hook’d behind him; but sufficient store
Of bundled anise and a cheese it bore.
The Salad. Trans. from ‘‘ Virgil.”— Cuowrer.

In Virgil’s time Anise evidently must have been used
asa spice. It is a graceful, umbelliferous plant, a native
of Egypt, but the seeds will ripen in August in England
if it is planted in a warm and favourable situation.
Abercrombie! says ‘its chief use is to favour soups, but
Loudon ? includes it among confectionery herbs.”

Baio (Melissa officinalis).

The several chairs of order look you scour
With juice of Balm and every precious flower.
Merry Wives of Windsor, V. v. 65.

Then Balm and Mint helps to make up
My chaplet.
The Muses Elysium.—DRarYton.

My garden grew Self-heal and Balm,
And Speedwell that’s blue for an hour,
Then blossoms again, O, grievous my pain,
I’m plundered of each flower.
Devonshire Song.

1 ««Every Man his own Gardener.”

2 « Encyclopedia of Gardening,” 1822.

10 THE BOOK OF HERBS

The lemon-scent of Balm makes it almost the most
delicious of all herbs, and it is for its fragrance that
Shakespeare and Drayton have alluded to it in these
passages. In the song it is mentioned for another
reason, for the flowers here are used as emblems. The
first verse describes a garden of fair blossoms stolen,
alas! from their owner. This verse of the song shows
she has planted flowers whose nature is to console—
Self-heal, Balm and the Speedwell, which, after every
shock, hasten to bloom again, but she is again bereft of
her treasures, and finally despairs and tells us that she
grows naught but weeds and the symbols of desolation.
There was once a ‘restorative cordial” called Carmelite
water, which enjoyed a great reputation, and which was
composed of the spirit of Balm, Angelica root, lemon-
peel and nutmeg. In the early part of the last century,
Balm wine was made, and was described as being “ light
and agreeable,” but now Balm is seldom used, except
when claret-cup is improved by its flavour. A most
curious legend is told by Aubrey! of the Wandering
Jew, the scene being on the Staffordshire moors. ‘One
Whitsun evening, overcome with thirst, he knocked at
the door of a Staffordshire cottager, and craved of him
a cup of small beer. The cottager, who was wasted
with a lingering consumption, asked him in, and gave
him the desired refreshment. After finishing the beer,
Ahasuerus asked his host the nature of the disease he
was suffering from, and being told that the doctors had
given him up, said, ‘ Friend, I will tell thee what thou
shalt do.’ He then told him to go into the garden the
next morning on rising, and gather three Balm leaves,
and to put them into a cup of small beer. He was to
drink as often as he needed, and refill the cup when it
was empty, and put in fresh Balm leaves every fourth
day, and, ‘before twelve days shall be past, thy disease

1 «¢ Miscellanies.”

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 11

shall be cured and thy body altered.’ So saying, and
declining to eat, he departed and was never seen again.
But the cottager gathered his Balm-leaves, followed the
prescription of the Wandering Jew, and before twelve
days were passed was a new man.”

SweEeET Basti (Ocymum basilium) anv Busy Basi
(O. minimum).
Madonna, wherefore hast thou sent to me
Sweet basil and mignonette?
Embleming love and health which never yet
In the same wreath might be.
To Emilia Viviani.—Sue.rey.
Basil is beloved of the poets, and the story of Isabella
and the Basil-pot keeps the plant in memory, where it is
itself never, or very rarely, seen. The opening lines of
Drayton’s pretty poem beginning with Claia’s speech :—
Here damask roses, white and red,
Out of my lap first take I—
are well known, and it is a pity that the whole of it is
not oftener quoted. Two maidens make rival chaplets,
and then examine the store of simples just gathered by
a hermit. Claia chooses her flowers for beauty, Lelipa
hers for scent, and Clarinax, the hermit, plucks his for
their ‘‘ virtue” in medicine. Lelipa says :—
A chaplet, me, of herbs I’ll make,
Than which, though yours be braver,
Yet this of mine, I’ll undertake,
Shall not be short in favour.
With Basil then I will begin,
Whose scent is wondrous pleasing,
and a goodly number of sweet-herbs follows.
Parkinson! says of it, ‘‘ The ordinary Basill is in a
manner wholly spent to make sweete, or washing
waters, among other sweet herbes, yet sometimes it
is put into nosegays. The Physicall properties are

1 «Earthly Paradise,” 1629.

12 THE BOOK OF HERBS

to procure a cheerfull and merry hearte, whereunto
the seede is chiefly used in powder.” With such
‘‘physicall properties” Basil is too much neglected
nowadays. He also refers to the extraordinary but
very general idea that it bred scorpions. ‘‘ Let me, before
I leave, relate unto you a pleasant passage between
Francisius Marchio, as Advocate of the State of Genoa
sent in embassage to the Duke of Milan, and the said
Duke, who, refusing to heare his message or to agree
unto the conditions proposed, brought an handfull of
Basill and offered it to him, who, demanding of him
what he meant thereby, answered him, that the pro-
perties of that hearbe was, that being gently handled, it
gave a pleasant smell, but being hardly wrung and
bruised, would breed scorpions, with which witty
answer the Duke was so pleased that he confirmed the
conditions, and sent him honourably home. It is also
observed that scorpions doe much rest and abide under
these pots and vessells wherein Basill is planted.” Cul-
pepper,? too, had suspicions about it. ‘‘ This is the herb
which all authors are together by the ears about and rail
at one another (like lawyers). Galen and Dioscorides
hold it not fitting to be taken inwardly, and Chrysippus
rails at it with downright Billingsgate rhetoric; Pliny
and the Arabians defend it. Something is the matter,
this herb and rue will not grow together, no, nor near
one another, and we know rue is as great an enemy to
poison as any that grows.” Tusser? puts both Basils in
his list of ‘‘ strewing herbs,” and also says :—

Fine basil desireth it may be her lot,
To grow as the gilliflower, trim in a pot;
That ladies and gentles, to whom ye do serve,
May help her, as needeth, poor life to preserve.
May’: Husbandry,

To which (in Mavor’s edition, 1812) is appended this

1 English Physitian, popularly known as Culpepper’s Herbal, 1652.
2 « Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry ”

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 13

prim note, ‘‘ Garden basil, if stroked, leaves a grateful
smell on the hand, and the author insinuates that it
receives fresh life from being touched by a fair lady.”
Both basils are annuals, though Bush Basil may occa-
sionally live through the winter. They are small plants
with oval leaves and white, labiate fowers. A modern
gardener writes that sweet basil has the flavour of
cloves, that it is always demanded by French cooks,
and that it is much used to flavour soups, and occa-
sionally salads. M. de la Quintinye,! director of the
gardens to Louis XIV., shows that over two hundred
years ago French cooks were of the same mind about
basil as they are to-day; besides mentioning it for the
uses just named, he adds, “It is likewise used in ragouts,
especially dry ones, for which reason we take care to
keep some for winter.” An Italian name for it is Bacia-

Nicola.

BoracE (Borago officinalis).

Here is sweet water, and borage for blending,
Comfort and courage to drink to your fill.
. N. Hopprr.

This reference to Borage touches a long-lived belief —
I, borage,
Give courage—
briefly states one reason of its popularity, which has
lasted ever since Pliny praised the plant; besides this, it
was supposed to exhilarate the spirits and drive away
melancholy. De Gubernatis? only found one charge
against it, amid universal praise, and this is in a Tuscan
ninnerella, a cradle song, where it is accused of frighten-
ing a baby! But this evidence is absolutely unsupported
by any tradition, and he considers it worthless. Borage

1 The Complete Gardener. Trans. by T. Evelyn, 1693.
2 La Mythologie des Plantes.

14 THE BOOK OF HERBS

was sometimes called Bugloss by the old writers! In
1810 Dr Thornton calls it “one of the four grand
cardiac plants,” but shows a lamentable lack of faith
himself. Dr Fernie ? finds that Borage has a ‘‘ cucumber-
like odour,” and that its reputed powers of ‘‘refreshing”
and “ invigorating” are not all due to the imagination;
“¢ The fresh juice,” he says, ‘‘ affords thirty per cent. of
nitrate of potash. Thornton had already commented on the
nitre it contains, and to prove this he advises that the
dried plant be thrown on the fire, when it emits a sort
of coruscation, with a slight detonation.” Personal
experience teaches that this is easier to observe if the
plant is set on fire and burned by itself. Borage might
be grown for the sake of its lovely blue flowers alone,
and Parkinson gives it a place in his ‘‘ Earthly Paradise,”
because, though it is ‘‘ wholly in a manner spent for
Physicall properties or for the Pot, yet the flowers have
alwaies been interposed among the flowers of women’s
needle-work ”—a practice which would add to the beauty
of modern embroidery. He adds that the flowers “of
gentlewomen are candid for comfits,” showing that they
did not allow sentiment to soar uncontrolled! Bees love
borage, and it yields excellent honey, yet another reason
for growing it. In the early part of the nineteenth
century the young tops were still sometimes boiled for
a pot-herb, but in the present day, if used at all, it is
put into claret-cup. ‘Till quite lately it was an ingredient
in ‘‘ cool tankards ” of wine or cider.

Buctoss (Anchusa officinalis).

So did the maidens with their various flowers
Deck up their windows, and make neat their bowers ;
Using such cunning as they did dispose
The ruddy piny (peony) with the lighter rose,

1 Family Herbal, 1810. ? Herbal Simples, 1895.

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 15

The monkshood with the bugloss, and entwine
The white, the blue, the flesh-like columbine
With pinks, sweet williams.
Britannia’s Pastorals, Book 11,—W. Browne.

A spiny stem of bugloss flowers,
Deep blue upon the outer towers.
Winchester Castlh—_N. Hoprer,

Gerarde put Bugloss in one chapter, and Alkanet or
Wild Bugloss in another, but nowadays Bugloss or
Alkanet are names for the same plant, Anchusa officinalis.
The drawings of his Bugloss resemble our Alkanet
much more closely than they do any other plant called
Bugloss, such as Lycopsis arvensis, small Bugloss, or Echium
vulgare, Viper’s Bugloss. The old herbalists, however,
were most confusing on the subject. They apply the
name Bugloss alternately to Borago officinalis and to
different varieties of Anchusa, and then speak of Buglossum
as if it were a different species! Evelyn describes it as
being ‘‘in nature much like Borage but something more
astringent,” and recommends the flowers of both as a
conserve, for they are ‘‘ greatly restorative.” As Hogg
says that Anchusa officinalis had formerly ‘‘a great reputa-
tion as a cordial,” Evelyn’s description applies to this
plant; we may take it that this is the Bugloss he was
thinking of. It is a good plant for a ‘‘ wild garden,”
but has a great tendency to spread. I have found it
growing wild in Cornwall. Gerarde tells us that the
roots of Anchusa Tinctoria were used to colour waters,
syrups, and jellies, and then follows a line of scandal—
‘«* The gentlewomen of France doe paint their faces with
these roots, as it is said.” Rouge is still made from

Alkanet.

Burner (Poterium Sanguisorba).

The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth

The freckled Cowslip, Burnet and green Clover.
Henry V., V. ii. 48.

16 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Burnet has “two little leives like unto the winges
of birdes, standing out as the bird setteth her winges
out when she intendeth to flye. . . . Y¢ Duchmen call
it Hergottes berdlen, that is God’s little berde, because
of the colour that it hath in the toppe.” This is Turner’s!
information. He has a pleasant style, and tells us out-
of-the-way facts or customs in a charming manner.
Burnet is the first of the three plants that Sir Francis
Bacon desired to be set in alleys, ‘‘to perfume the air
most delightfully, being trodden upon and crushed.”
The others were wild thyme and water-mint. It was a
Salad-herb, and has (like Borage) a flavour of cucumber,
but it has, most undeservedly, gone out of fashion.
The taste is ‘‘somewhat warm, and the leaves should
be cut young, or else they are apt to be tough. Cul-
pepper and Parkinson advise that a few leaves should
be added to a cup of claret wine because” it is ‘“‘a
helpe to make the heart merrie.” Canon Ellacombe 2
says it was ‘‘and still is valued as a forage plant that
will grow and keep fresh all the winter in dry, barren
pastures, thus giving food for sheep when other food
was scarce. It has occasionally been cultivated, but
the result has not been very satisfactory, except on very
poor land, though, according to the Woburn experi-
ments, as reported by Sinclair, it contains a larger
amount of nutritive matter in the spring than most of
the grasses. It has brown flowers from which it is
supposed to derive its name (Brunetto).”

Caraway (Carum carvi).

Shallow, Now, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour
we will eat a last year’s Pippin of my own grafting, with a dish of
Caraways, and so forth. MI, Henry IP. v. 3.

In Elizabethan days, Caraway Seeds were appreciated

1 Turner’s Herbal is beautifully illustrated; five initial letters from
it are here reproduced.
2 «¢ Plant-lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare.”

INITIAL LETTERS FROM TURNER'S ‘ HERBAL”

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 17

at dessert, and Canon Ellacombe says that the custom
of serving roast apples with a little saucerful of Caraway
Seed is still kept up at some of the London livery
dinners. It was the practice to put them among baked
fruits or into bread-cakes, and they were also ‘‘ made
into comfits.” In cakes and comfits they are used to-day,
and in Germany I have seen them served with potatoes
fried in slices. The roots were boiled and ‘eaten as
carrots,” and made a “‘ very welcome and delightful
dish to a great many,” though some found them rather
strong flavoured. ‘‘ The? Duchemen call it Mat kumell or
Wishenkumel and the Freses, Hofcumine. It groweth in
great plentye in Freseland in the meadows there betweene
Marienhoffe and Werden, hard by the sea banke.”

CELERY (Apium graveolens).

This is quite without romance. The older herbalists did
not know it and Evelyn says: ‘‘Sellery .. . was formerly
a stranger with us (nor very long since in Italy itself).
. .. Nor is it a distinct species of smallage or Macedonian
Parsley, tho’ somewhat more hot and generous, by its
frequent transplanting, and thereby render’d sweeter
scented.” For its ‘“‘high and grateful taste, it is ever
plac’d in the middle of the grand sallet, at our great
men’s tables, and Proctor’s Feasts, as the grace of the
whole board.” But though Parkinson did not know
the plant under this name, he did see some of the
first introduced into England, and gives an interesting
account of this introduction to ‘‘ sweete Parsley or sweet
Smallage. . . . This resembles sweete Fennell... .
The first that ever I saw was ina Venetian Ambassador’s
garden in the spittle yard, near Bishop’s Gate Streete.
The first year itis planted with us it is sweete and
pleasant, especially while it is young, but after it has
grown high and large hath a stronger taste of smallage,

1 «¢ Turner’s Herbal,” 1538.
B

18 THE BOOK OF HERBS

and so likewise much more the following yeare. The
Venetians used to prepare it for meate many waies, both
the herbe and roote eaten rawe, or boyled or fryed to be
eaten with meate, or the dry’d herb poudered and
strewn upon meate; but most usually either whited
and so eaten raw with pepper and oyle as a dainty
sallet of itselfe, or a little boyled or stewed .. . the
taste of the herbe being a little warming, but the seede
much more.”

CHERVIL (Scandix Cerefolium).

Chibolles and Chervelles and ripe chiries manye.
Piers Plowman.

Chervil was much used by the French and Dutch
‘* boyled or stewed in a pipkin. De la Quintinye recom-
mends it to give a ‘ perfuming rellish’ to the salad, and
Evelyn says the ‘ Sweete (and as the French call it Musque)
Spanish Chervile,’ is the best and ought ‘never to be
wanting in our sallets,’ for it is ‘exceeding wholesome
and charming to the spirits.’ ... This (as likewise
Spinach) is used in tarts and serves alone for divers
sauces.”

CrsouLes, CHIBOULES OR CurBBALs (Allium Ascalonium).

Acorns, plump as Chibbals.
The Gipsies Metamorphosed,_Ben Jonson.

Ciboules are a small kind of onion; De la Quintinye
says, ‘‘Onions degenerated.” From the reference
to them in Piers Plowman, they were evidently in
common use here inthe time of Langlande. The French
gardener adds that they are ‘‘ propagated only by seeds
of the bignes of a corn of ordinary gun-powder,” and
Mr Britten identifies them with Scallions or Shallot
(4. ascalonium).

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 19

Cives, or CuIvEs, oR SEIvES ( Allium Schenoprasuin).

Straightways follow’d in

A case of small musicians, with a din

Of little Hautbois, whereon each one strives

To show his skill; they all were made of seives,

Excepting one, which puff’d the player’s face,

And was a Chibole, serving for the bass,

Britannia’s Pastorals, Book Ul,
Cives and Ciboules are often mentioned together, as

in this account of King Oberon’s feast. The leaves are
green and hollow and look like rushes en miniature, and
would serve admirably for elfin Hautbois. Miss Amherst?
says that they are mentioned in a list of herbs (Sloane
MS., 1201) found ‘‘at the beginning of a book of
cookery recipes, fifteenth century.” She also tells us
that when Kalm came to England (May 1748) he noticed
them among the vegetables most grown in the nursery-
gardens round London. They were ‘esteemed milder
than onions,” and of a “quick rellish,” but their fame
has declined in the last hundred years. Loudon says
that the leaves are occasionally used to flavour soup
salads and omelettes—unlike ciboules, the bulb is not
used—but the chief purpose for which I have heard
them required is to mix with the food for young
guinea-fowls and chickens.

CorIANDER (Coriandrum sativum).

And Coriander last to these succeeds
That hangs on slightest threads her trembling seeds,
The Salad,—Cowper.

The chief interest attached to Coriander is that in the
Book of Numbers, xi. 7, Manna is compared to the seed.
It was originally introduced from the East, but is now
naturalised in Essex and other places, where it has long
been cultivated for druggists and confectioners. The

1 «History of Gardening in England.”

20 THE BOOK OF HERBS

seeds are quite round, like tiny balls, and Hogg remarks
that they become fragrant by drying, and the longer they
are kept the more fragrant they become. ‘If taken
oute of measure it doth trouble a manne’s witt, with
great jeopardye of madnes.” 1 Nowadays one comes across
them oftenest in little round pink and white comfits
for children.

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum).

Cummin good for eyes,

The roses reigning the pride of May,

Sharp isope good for greene woundes remedies?
Cumin is also mentioned in the Bible by Isaiah; and also
in the New Testament, as one of the plants that were
tithed. It is very seldom met with, but the seeds have the
same properties as caraway seeds. Gerarde says it has
“little jagged leaves, very finely cut into small parcels,”
and ‘‘spoky tufts” of red or purplish flowers. ‘The
root is slender, which perisheth when it hath ripened
his seed,” and it delights in a hot soil. He recommends
it to be boyled together with wine and barley meale
“to the forme of a pultis” for a variety of ailments.
In Germany the seeds are put into bread and they figure
in folklore. De Gubernatis says it gave rise to a
saying among the Greeks: ‘‘ Le cumin symbolisait, chez
le Grecs, ce qui est petit. Des avares, ils disaient,
qu’ils auraient méme partagé le cumin.”

CRESSES.

Darting fish that on a summer morn
Adown the crystal dykes of Camelot,
Come slipping o’er their shadows on the sand. , .
Betwixt the cressy islets, white in flower,
Geraint and Enid,

To purl o’er matted cress and ribbed sand,
Or dimple in the dark of rushy coves,
Ode to Memory,—TENNYSON,

1 Turner. 2 Muiopotmos.—Spenser.

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 21

Valley lilies, whiter still
Than Leda’s love and cresses from the rill.
Endymion.

Cresses that grow where no man may them see.
Ibid,

I linger round my shingly bars,
I loiter round my cresses.
The Brook,—TENnyson.

Cresses have great powers of fascination for the poets,
and ‘‘ the cress of the Herbalist is a noun of multitude,”
says Dr Fernie. Of these now cultivated, St Barbara’s
Cress (Barbarea vulgaris) has the most picturesque name,
and is the least known. It was once grown for a winter
salad, but American Cress (Erysimum precox) is more
recommended for winter and early spring. Indian
Cress (Tropeolum majus), usually known as nasturtium,
is seldom counted a herb, although it is included
in some old gardening lists, for the sake of the
pickle into which its unripe fruits were made. Aber-
crombie adds that the flowers and young leaves are
used in salads, but this must be most rare in
England; though, when once in Brittany, I remember
that the donne used to ornament the salad on Sundays
with an artistic decoration of scarlet and striped
nasturtium flowers. Garden Cress (Lepidium sativum),
the tiny kind, associated in one’s mind since nursery
days with ‘‘ mustard,” used to be known as Passerage,
as it was believed to drive away madness. Dr Fernie
continues, that the Greeks loved cress, and had a
proverb, ‘“‘ Eat Cresses and get wit.” They were
much prized by our poor people, when pepper was a
luxury. “The Dutchmen! and others used to eate
Cresses familiarly with their butter and breade, as also
stewed or boyled, either alone or with other herbs, where-
of they make a Hotch-Potch. We doe eate it mixed

1 Parkinson.

22 THE BOOK OF HERBS

with Lettuce and Purslane, or sometimes with Tarragon or
Rocket with oyle, vinegar, and a little salt, and in that
manner it is very savoury.”

Water-Cress (Nasturtium officinale) is rich in mineral
salts and is valuable as food. The leaves remain
‘‘green when grown in the shade, but become of a
purple brown because of their iron, when exposed to
the sun,” says Dr Fernie. ‘It forms the chief
ingredient of the Sirop Antiscorbutique, given so success-
fully by the French faculty.” ‘*‘ Water-Cress pottage”
is a good remedy ‘“‘to help head aches. Those that
would live in health may use it if they please, if they
will not I cannot help it.” This is Culpepper’s advice,
but he relents even to those too weak-minded to avail
themselves of a cure, salutary but unpalatable. «If
they fancy not pottage they may eat the herb as a
sallet.

DanvELion (Leontodon taraxacum).

Dandelion, with globe and down,

The schoolboy’s clock in every town,

Which the truant puffs amain,

To conjure lost hours back again,

Wititiam Howitt,
Dandelion leaves used to be boiled with lentils, and one

recipe bids one have them ‘‘ chopped as pot-herbes, with
a few Allisanders boyled in their broth.” But generally
they were regarded as a medicinal, rather than a salad
plant. Evelyn, however, includes them in his list, and
says they should be ‘‘ macerated in several waters, to ex-
tract the Bitterness. It was with this Homely Fare the
Good Wife Hecate entertain’d Theseus.” A better way of
‘extracting the Bitterness” is to blanch the leaves, and
it has been advised to dig up plants from the road-sides
in winter when salad is scarce, and force them in pots
like succory. He continues that of late years ‘‘ they have
been sold in most Herb Shops about London for being a

hOOCIN MTADIO LaSEMS

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 23

wonderful Purifier of the Blood.” Culpepper, whose fiery
frankness it is impossible to resist quoting, manages on this
subject to get his knife into the doctors, as, to do him
justice, he seldom loses an opportunity of doing. ‘You
see what virtues this common herb hath, and this is the
reason the French and Dutch so often eate them in the
spring, and now, if you look a little further, you may
see plainly, without a pair of spectacles, that foreign
physicians are not so selfish as ours are, but more com-
municative of the virtues of plants to people.” The
Irish used to call it Heart-Fever-Grass. The root,
when roasted and ground, has been substituted for
coffee, and gave satisfaction to some of those who drank
it. Hogg relates a tale of woe from the island of
Minorca, how that once locusts devoured the harvest
there, and the inhabitants were forced to, and did subsist
on this root, but does not mention for what length of
time.

Dit (Anethum graveolens).

The nightshade strews to work him ill,
Therewith her vervain and her dill.
Nymphidia.—DRayTon.

Here holy vervayne and here dill,
’Gainst witchcraft much availing,
The Muses Elysium.

The wonder-working dill he gets not far from these.
Polyolbion. Song xiii.

Dill is supposed to have been derived from a Norse
word to ‘‘ dull,” because the seeds were given to babies
to make them sleep. Beyond this innocent employment
it was a factor in working spells of the blackest magic!
Dill is a graceful, umbelliferous plant—not at all sugges-
tive of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde—and the seeds resemble
caraway seeds in flavour, but are smaller, flatter and
lighter. There is something mysterious about it, because,

24 THE BOOK OF HERBS

besides being employed in spells by witches and wizards,
it was used by other people to resist spells cast by
traffickers in magic, and was equally powerful to do this!
Dill is very like fennel, but the leaves are shorter,
smaller, and of a ‘stronger and quicker taste. The
leaves are used with Fish, though too strong for every-
one’s taste, and if added to ‘pickled Cowcumbers’ it
‘ gives the cold fruit a pretty, spicie taste.’ Evelyn also
praises ‘ Gerckens muriated’ with the seeds of Dill,” and
Addison writes: ‘‘J am always pleased with that par-
ticular time of the year which is proper for the pickling
of dill and cucumbers, but, alas! his cry, like the song
of the nightingale, is not heard above two months.” +

EnpIveE (Cichorium Endivia).

The Daisy, Butter-flow’r and Endive blue.
Pastorals, —Gay.

There at no cost, on onions rank.and red,
Or the curl’d endive’s bitter leaf, he fed.
The Salad._—-Cowrer.
Endive is a plant of whose virtues our prosaic days
have robbed us. Once upon a time it could break all
bonds and render the owner invisible, and if a lover
carried it about him, he could make the lady of his
choice believe that he possessed all the qualities she
specially admired! Folkard quotes three legends of
it from Germany, one each from Austria and Roumania,
and an unmistakably Slav story—all of them of a romantic
character—and we regard it asa salad herb! <‘ There
are three sorts: Green-curled leaved; principal sort for
main crops, white-curled leaved, and broad Batavian ”
(Loudon). The green-curled leaved is.the hardiest and
fittest for winter use. The Batavian is not good for
salads, but is specially in demand for stews and soups.

1 Spectator, XXV. 1.

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 25

All kinds must, of course, be carefully blanched. Mrs
Roundell! reminds one that endive is a troublesome
vegetable to cook, as it is apt to be crowded with insects.
The leaves should be all detached from the stem and
carefully washed in two or three salted waters. She
also gives receipts for endive, dressed as spinach, made
into a purée or cooked alone. Parkinson said: ‘‘ Endive
whited is much used in winter, as a sallet herbe with
great delighte.”

Succory, Chicory, or Wild Endive may be mentioned as
making an excellent salad when forced and blanched,
and it is popular in France, where it is called Barbe de
Capucin. Its great advantage is, as Loudon says, that
‘‘when lettuce or garden-endive are scarce, chicory can
always be commanded by those who possess any of the
most ordinary means of forcing.” He adds that it has
been much used as fodder for cattle, and that the roots,
dried and ground, are well known—only too well known,
“partly along with, and partly as a substitute for
coffee.”

FENNEL (Feniculum vulgare).

Ophelia. There’s fennel for you and columbines.
Hamlet, iv. 5.
Fenel is for flatterers,
An evil thing it is sure,
But I have alwaies meant truely
With constant heart most pure.
A Handfull of Pleasant Delightes.—C. Roprnson.

Christopher. No, my good lord.
Count. Your good lord/ Oh! how this smells of fennel!
The Case Altered, ii. 2. —Ben Jonson.

‘¢ Hast thou ought in thy purse? ” quod he,

‘« Any hote spices ? ”
‘*[ have peper, pionies,” quod she, ‘‘ and a pound garlike
A ferdyng worth of fenel-seed for fastyng dayes.”

Piers Plowman,

1“ Practical Cookery Book,”

26 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Oh! faded flowers of fennel, that will not bloom again
For any south wind’s calling, for any magic rain.
The Faun to his Shadow,—N, Hopper.

‘¢ Sow Fennel, sow Sorrow.”— Proverb.

Few realise from how high an estate fennel has fallen.
In Shakespeare’s time we have the plainest evidence
that it was the recognised emblem of flattery. Ben
Jonson’s allusion is almost as pointed as Robinson’s.
It is said that Ophelia’s flowers were all chosen for their
significance, so, perhaps, it was not by accident that she
offers fennel to her brother, in whose ears the cry must
have been still ringing,

“‘ Choose we; Laertes shall be king!”
with the echo :—

‘¢ Caps, hand, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds,
‘ Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!’”

\

Nor was it only in our own land that Fennel had this
significance, for Canon Ellacombe quotes an Italian say-
ing: ‘‘ Dare Finocchio” (to give fennel), meaning “ to
flatter.” As to the reason that fennel should be connected
with sorrow, the clue is lost, but the proverb is said still
to live in New England. The conversation which takes
place in ‘‘Piers Plowman,” between a priest and a
poor woman, illustrates a use to which fennel was put
in earlier days. The poor got it, Miss Amherst says,
“to relieve the pangs of hunger on fasting days.”
But it was by no means despised by the rich, for ‘‘ As
much as eight and a half pounds of Fennel seed was
bought for the King’s Household (Edward I., 1281) for
one month’s supply.” She quotes from the Wardrobe
Accounts. Our use either of Common Fennel, or Sweet
Fennel, or Finocchio is so limited that the practice of
Parkinson’s contemporaries shall be quoted. << Fenell
is of great use to trim up and strowe upon fish, as also
to boyle or put among fish of divers sorts, Cowcumbers

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 27

pickled and other fruits, etc. The rootes are used with
Parsley rootes to be boyled in broths. The seed is
much used to put in Pippin pies and divers others such
baked fruits, as also into bread, to give it the better
relish, The Sweet Cardus Fenell being sent by Sir
Henry Wotton to John Tradescante had likewise a large
direction with it how to dress it, for they used to white
it after it hath been transplanted for their uses, which
by reason of sweetnesse by nature, and the tendernesse
by art, causeth it to be more delightfull to the taste.”
‘* Cardus Fenell” must have been Finocchio.

Goat’s BEarp (Tragopogon pratensis).

And goodly now the noon-tide hour,

When from his high meridian tower,

The sun looks down in majesty,

What time about the grassy lea

The Goat’s Beard, prompt his rise to hail

With broad expanded disk, in veil

Close mantling wraps his yellow head,

And goes, as peasants say, to bed.

Be. Mant.
The habits of Goat’s Beard, or as it is often called,

John-go-to-bed-at-noon, are indicated by the latter
name. It is less known as Joseph’s Flower, which Mr
Friend! says ‘‘seems to owe its origin to pictures in
which the husband of Mary is represented as a long-
bearded old man,” but Gerarde gives the Low-Dutch
name of his time, ‘‘ Josephe’s Bloemen,” and says ‘‘ when
these flowers be come to their full maturity and ripeness,
they grow into a downy blow-ball, like those of the
Dandelion, which is carried away by the winde.” Evelyn
praises it, and is indignant with the cunning of the seed-
sellers. ‘‘Of late they have Italianiz’d the name, and
now generally call it Sa/sifex ... to disguise it, being a very
common field herb, growing in most parts of England,

1 « Flowers and Flower-lore.”

28 THE BOOK OF HERBS

would have it thought (with many others) an Exotick.”
He does not give the full Latin name, so one cannot tell
whether it is our Salsify (Zragopogon porrifolius) that he
means, or J. pratensis, the variety once more generally
cultivated. The latter seems the likeliest, as its yellow
flowers are far more common than the purple ones of
salsify. TZ. porrifolius is extremely rare in a wild state,
but T. pratensis grows in ‘“‘medows and fertil pastures
in most partsof England.” T. pratensis is never cultivated
now, and “ Salsify ” applies exclusively to Purple Goat’s
Beard (I. porrifolium). The old herbalists praised it very
highly.

Horse-RapisH (Cochlearia Armoracia).

Dr Fernie translates its botanical name, Cochlearia, from
the shape of the leaves, which resemble, he says, an old-
fashioned spoon; ar, near; mor, the sea, from its
favourite locality. ‘‘For the most part it is planted
in gardens ... yet have I found it wilde in Sundrie
places . . . in the field next unto a farme house leading
to King’s land, where my very good friend Master
Bredwell, practitioner in Phisick, a learned and diligent
searcher of Samples, and Master Wiliam Martin, one
of the fellowship of Barbers and Chirugians, my deere
and loving friend, in company with him found it and
gave me knowledge of the plant, where it flourisheth
to this day. . . . Divers think that this Horse-Radish
is an enemie to Vines, and that the hatred between
them is so greate, that if the roots hereof be planted
neare to the Vine, it bendeth backward from it, as not
willing to have fellowship with it. ... Old writers
ascribe this enmitie to the vine and Brassica, our Cole-
wortes.” Both he and Parkinson think, that in trans-
ferring the ‘“‘enmitie” from the cabbage to the horse-
radish, the ‘‘ Ancients” have been mistranslated. The
Dutch called it Merretich; the French, Grand Raifort;

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 29

the English, locally, Red Cole. Evelyn calls it an
‘excellent, universal Condiment,” and says that first
steeped in water, then grated and tempered with vinegar,
in which a little sugar has been dissolved, it supplies
‘Mustard to the Sallet, and serving likewise for any
Dish besides.”

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis).

Hyssop, as an herb most prime,
Here is my wreath bestowing.
Muses Elysium.—DRrayTon,

Jago. ‘* Our bodies are our gardeners ; so that if we will plant nettles,
or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme . . . why the power
and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills.” Othello, i. 3.

Parkinson opens his ‘‘ Theatre of Plants” with the
words: ‘From a Paradise of pleasant Flowers, I am
fallen (ddam like) to a world of Profitable Herbs and
Plants . . . and first of the Hisopes. . . . Among other
uses, the golden hyssop was of so pleasant a colour,
that it provoked every gentlewoman to wear them in
their heads and on their arms with as much delight as
many fine flowers can give.” It is a hardy, evergreen
shrub, with a strong aromatic odour. The flowers are
blue, and appear more or less from June till October.
The Ussopos of Dioscorides was named from azob, a
holy herb, because it was used for cleansing sacred
places, and this is interesting when one thinks of Scrip-
tural allusions to the plant, although the hyssop of the
Bible is most probably not our hyssop. The identity of
that plant has occasioned much divergence of opinion, and
a decision, beyond reach of criticism, has not yet been
reached. Mazes were sometimes planted with ‘“‘ Marjoram
and such like, or Isope and Time. It may eyther be sette
with Isope and Time or with Winter Savory and Time,
for these endure all the Winter thorowe greene.” !

1 «« Art of Gardening,” Hill, 1563.

30 THE BOOK OF HERBS

It was more often used for ‘‘ Broths and Decoctions”
than for salads, but the tops and flowers were sometimes
powdered and strewn on the top of one. It is not much
used nowadays, but I once saw an excitable Welsh cook
seize on a huge bunch of ‘‘ dear Hyssop ” with exclama-
tions of joy. In the East, ‘‘some plants diverted fascina-
tion by their smell,”! and hyssop was one of these, and
as a protection against the Evil Eye, was hung up in
houses.

Lams’s LerrucE or Corn Satap (Valeriana Locusta),

Lamb’s Lettuce is variously known as médche, doucette,
salade de chanoine, poule-grasse, and was formerly called
«*Salade de Préter, for their being generally eaten in
Lent.” It is a small plant, with ‘ whitish-greene, long
or narrow round-pointed leaves . . . and tufts of small
bleake blue flowers.” In corn-fields it grows wild, but
Gerarde says, ‘‘ since it hath growne in use among the
French and Dutch strangers in England, it hath been
sowen in gardens as a salad herbe,” and adds that among
winter and early spring salads <<‘ it is none of the worst.”
The fact of its being ‘‘ recognised ” at a comparatively late
date, by the English, and even then through the practices
of the French, perhaps accounts for the lack of English
*pet” names, conspicuous beside the number bestowed
on it on the other side of the Channel. De la Quintinye is
not in accord with his countrymen on the subject, for he
calls it a ‘‘ wild and rusticall Salad, because, indeed, it is
seldom brought before any Noble Company.” Despite
this disparaging remark, it is still a favourite in France,
and it is surprising that a salad plant that stands cold so
well should not be more cultivated in this country. Lettuce
is so much more recognised as a vegetable than a herb
that it will not be mentioned here.

1 Friend.

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 31

Maryjoram (Origanum).

Lafeu. "Twas a good lady,’twas a good lady. We may pick a thousand
salads ere we light on such another herb.
Clown. Indeed, Sir, she was the Sweet Marjoram of the Salad, or rather
the herb of grace,
AlPs Well that Ends Well, iv. 5.

Not all the ointments brought from Delos’ Isle,

Nor that of quinces, nor of marjoram,

That ever from the Isle of Coés came,

Nor these, nor any else, though ne’er so rare,

Could with this place for sweetest smells compare.
Britannia’s Pastorals.

O, bind them posies of pleasant flowers,
Of marjoram, mint and rue.
Devonshire Sung.

The scent of marjoram used to be very highly prized,
and in some countries the plant is the symbol of honour.
Dr Fernie says Origanum means in Greek the ‘‘ joy of
the mountains,” so charming a name one wishes it could
be more often used. Among? the Greeks, if it grew
on the grave it augured the happiness of the departed ;
‘«« May many flowers grow on this newly-built tomb” (is
the prayer once offered); ‘‘ not the dried-up Bramble,
or the red flower loved by goats; but Violets and
Marjoram, and the Narcissus growing in water, and
around thee may all Roses grow.”

Parkinson writes it was ‘‘ put in nosegays, and in the
windows of houses, as also in sweete pouders, sweete bags,
and sweete washing waters. . . . Our daintiest women
doe put it to still among their sweet herbes.” Pusser
mentions it among his ‘‘ herbs for strewing,” and in some
recipes for pot pourri itis still included. Origanum vulgare
grows wild, and the dry leaves are made into a tea
“‘ which is extremely grateful.” The different kinds of
marjoram are now chiefly used for soups and stuffings.
Isaac Walton gives instructions for dressing a pike, and

1 Friend.

32 THE BOOK OF HERBS

directs that among the accessories should be sweet mar-
joram, thyme, a little winter savoury and some pickled
oysters !

Mint (Mentha).

The neighb’ring nymphs each in her turn
Some running through the meadows with them bring
Cowslips and mint.
Britannia’s Pastorals, book i,

In strewing of these herbs . . . with bounteous hands and free,
The healthful balm and mint from their full laps do fly.
Polyolbion, Song xv.

Sunflowers and marigolds and mint beset us,
Moths white as stitchwort that had left its stem,
. . . Loyal as sunflowers we will not swerve us,
We'll make the mints remembered spices serve us
For autumn as in spring.
N. Hopper.

“‘Mint,” says De la Quintinye, ‘‘is called in French
Balm,” which sounds rather confusing ; but Evelyn says
it is the ‘“*Curled Mint, AZ. Sativa Crispa,” that goes
by this name. Mint was also called ‘‘ Menthe de Notre
Dame,” and in Italy, ‘‘ Erba Santa Maria,” and in Ger-
many, ‘‘Frauen Miinze,” though this name is also
applied to costmary. This herb used to be strewn
in churches. All the various kinds of it were thought
to be good against the biting of serpents, sea-scorpions,
and mad dogs, but violently antagonistic to the healing
processes of wounds. ‘‘ They are extreme bad for
wounded people, and they say a wounded man that
eats Mints, his wound will never be cured, and that is
along day! But they are good to be put into Baths.” !
The “‘ gentler tops of Orange Mint” (Mentha citrata ?) are
recommended ‘‘ mixed with a Salad or eaten alone, with
the juyce of Orange and a little Sugar.”

The mint we commonly use is Mentha Viridis or Spear

1 Culpepper.

POT MARJORAM

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 33

Mint. <« Divers have held for true, that Cheeses will not
corrupt, if they be either rubbed over withe the juyce
or a decoction of Mints, or they laid among them.” It
has been said, too, that an infusion of mint will prevent
the rapid curdling of milk. Being dried, mint was
much used to put with pennyroyal into puddings, and
also among ‘‘ pease that are boyled for pottage.” The
last is one of the few uses that survives. Parkinson
complains of all sorts of mints, that once planted in
a garden they are difficult to get rid of !

Cat Mint, or Nep (Nepeta Cataria) is eaten in Tansies.
“« According to Hoffman the root of the Cat Mint, if
chewed, will make the most gentle person fierce and
quarrelsome.” !

Pepper Mint is still retained, as is Spear Mint, in the
British Pharmacopceia. ‘*‘ The leaves have an intensely
pungent aromatic taste resembling that of pepper, and
accompanied with a peculiar sensation of coldness”

(Thornton).

Musrarp (Sinapis).

Bottom. Your name, | beseech you, sir?

Mustardseed. Mustardseed.

Bottom. Good Master Mustardseed, I know your patience well: that
same cowardly, giant-like ox-beef hath devoured many a gentleman
of your house: I promise you your kindred hath made my eyes water
ere now. I desire your more acquaintance, good Master Mustardseed.

Midsummer-Night’s Dream, iii. 1.

In 1664 Evelyn wrote that mustard is of ‘‘ incomparable
effect to quicken and revive the Spirits, strengthening the
Memory and expelling Heaviness. . . . In /ta/y, in making
Mustard, they mingle Lemon and Orange Peels with the
seeds.” In England the best mustard came from Tewkes-
bury. It is a curious instance of the instability of
fashion that only twenty-four years before Evelyn made

1 Folkard,
c

34 THE BOOK OF HERBS

these remarks, Parkinson wrote: ‘‘ Our ancient fore-
fathers, even the better sort, in the most simple, and
as I may say the more healthful age of the world, were
not sparing in the use thereof . . . but nowadayes it
is seldom used by the successors, being accounted the
clownes sauce, and therefore not fit for their tables ;
but is transferred either to the meyny or meaner sort,
who therefore reap the benefit thereof.” He adds it
is ‘‘ of good use, being fresh for Epilepticke persons .. .
if it be applyed both inwardly and outwardly.” There
were some drawbacks to being sick or sorry in the
“© good old days.” It was customary in Italy to keep
the mustard in balls till it was wanted, and these
balls were made up with honey or vinegar and a
little cinnamon added. When the mustard was re-
quired, the ball was ‘‘ relented” with a little more vine-
gar. Canon Ellacombe says: ‘Balls were the form
in which Mustard was usually sold, till Mrs Clements
of Durham, in the last century, invented the method
of dressing mustard flour like wheat flour and made her
fortune with Durham Mustard!” We cultivate Sinapis
nigra for its seed and Sinapis alba as a small salad herb.

ParsLey (Petroselinum sativum).

The tender tops of Parsley next he culls,
Then the old rue bush shudders as he pulls.
The Salad.
Quinces and Peris ciryppe (syrup) with parcely rotes,
Right so begyn your mele.
Rosset:.’s Boke of Nature.
Fat colworts and comforting perseline,
Cold lettuce and refreshing rosmarine.
Muiopotmos,—SPensEr.

Parsley has the ‘‘curious botanic history that no one

can tell what is its native country. Probably the plant has
been so altered by cultivation as to have lost all likeness

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 35

to its original self.”1 Superstitions connected with it
are myriad, and Folkard gives two Greek sayings that
are interesting. It was the custom among them to
border the garden with parsley and rue, and from this
arose an idiom, when any undertaking was talked of,
but not begun, ‘‘Oh! we are only at the Parsley and
Rue.” Parsley was used, too, to strew on graves, and
hence came a saying ‘to be in need of parsley,” signify-
ing to be at death’s door. Mr Friend quotes an English
adage that ‘‘ Fried parsley will bring a man to his saddle
and a woman to her grave,” but says that he has heard
no reason given for this strange and apparently pointless
dictum. Plutarch tells of a panic created in a Greek
force, marching against the enemy, by their suddenly
meeting some mules laden with parsley, which the
soldiers looked upon as an evil omen; and W. Jones,
in his ‘Crowns and Coronations,” says, ‘‘ Timoleon
nearly caused a mutiny in his army because he chose his
crown to be of parsley, when his soldiers wished it to
be of the pine or pitch tree.” In many parts of England
it is considered unlucky, and I quote from a paper read
before the Devon and Exeter Gardeners’ Association in
1897. ‘‘It is one of the longest seeds to lie in the
ground before germinating; it has been said to go to
the Devil and back again nine times before it comes up.
And many people have a great objection to planting par-
sley, saying if you do there will sure to be a death in the
Family within twelve months.” It is only fair to add
that this delightful lapse into folk-lore comes in the
midst of most excellent and practical advice for its culti-
vation. ‘Quite recently (in 1883) a gentleman, living
near Southampton, told his gardener to sow some Parsley
seed. The man, however, refused, saying that it would
be a bad day’s work to him if ever he brought Parsley
seed into the house. He said that he would not mind

1 Plant Lore and Garden Craft of Shakespeare.

36 THE BOOK OF HERBS

bringing a plant or two and throwing them down, that
his master might pick them up if he chose, but he would
not bring them to him for anything.”?

The ‘earliest known, really original work on garden-
ing, written in English,” is, Miss Amherst says, “a
treatise in verse,” by Mayster Ion Gardener. It
consists of a prologue and eight divisions, and one of
these is devoted to ‘‘Perselye” alone. The manuscript
in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, that she
quotes from, was written about 1440, but it is thought
that the poem is older. Parsley was ‘‘ much used in all
sortes of meates, both boyled, roasted and fryed, stewed,
etc., and being green it serveth to lay upon sundry
meates. It is also shred and stopped into powdered
beefe. . . . The roots are put into broth, or boyled or
stewed with a legge of Mutton . . . and are of a very
good rellish, but the roots must be young and of the
first year’s growth.” ?

The seeds of parsley were sometimes put into cheese to
flavour it, and Timbs (‘‘ Things not generally Known”)
tells this anecdote: ‘‘Charlemagne once ate cheese
mixed with parsley seeds at a bishop’s palace, and liked
it so much that ever after he had two cases of such
cheese sent yearly to Aix-la-Chapelle.”

In the edition of Tusser’s ‘‘ Five Hundred Points of
Good Husbandry,” edited by Mavor, it is noted,
“¢Skim-milk cheese, however, might be advantageously
mixed with seeds, as is the practice in Holland.” Though
not strictly relevant, these lines taken by Mrs Milne-
Home (‘Stray Leaves from a Border-Garden”) from
the family records of the Earls of Marchmont, must find
place. They were written by a boy of eight or nine,
on the occasion of his elder brother’s birthday.

This day from parsley-bed, I’m sure,
Was dug my elder brother, Moore,

1 Friend. 2 Parkinson.

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 37

Had Papa dug me up before him,
So many now would not adore him,
But hang it! he’s but onely one
And if he trips off, I’m Sr John.
Horse-radish was treated here as a seasoning, but

radish is counted among vegetables proper.

SaGE (Salvia officinalis).

Sage is for sustenance
That should man’s life sustaine,
For I do stil lie languishing
Continually in paine,
And shall doe still until I die,
Except thou favour show,
My paine and all my grievous smart,
Ful wel you do it know.
Handful of Pleasant Delights.

And then againe he turneth to his playe,

To spoyle the pleasures of the Paradise,

The wholesome saulge and lavender still gray.

Muiopotmos.—SPEnsER.
Sage is one of those sympathetic plants that feel the
fortunes of their owners; and Mr Friend says that a
Buckinghamshire farmer told him his recent personal
experience. ‘‘ At one time he was doing badly, and the
Sage began to wither, but, as soon as the tide turned,
the plant began to thrive again.” Most of the Con-
tinental names of the plant are like the botanical one of
Salvia, from ‘‘Sa/vo,” to save or heal, and its high reputa-
tion in medicine lasted for ages. The Arabians valued
it, and the medical school of Salerno summed up its
surpassing merits in the line, Cur morietur homo cui Salvia
crescit in horto? (How can a man die who grows sage
in his garden?) Perhaps this originated the English
saying :—
He that would live for aye
Must eat Sage in May.
Parkinson mentions that it is ‘‘ Much used of many in

the month of May fasting,” with butter and parsley, and

38 THE BOOK OF HERBS

is ‘held of most” to conduce to health. ‘It healeth
the pricking of the fishe called in Latine pastinaca marina,
whych is like unto a flath, with venomous prickes, about
his tayle. It maketh hayre blacke; it is good for
woundis.”! The “ Grete Herball ” contains a remedy for
Lethargy or Forgetfulness, which consists of making a
decoction ‘‘of tutsan, of smalage and of sauge,” and
bathing the back of the head with it.

Pepys notes that in a little churchyard between
Gosport and Southampton the custom prevailed of
sowing the graves with sage. This is rather curious,
as it has never been one of the plants specially connected
with death.

Evelyn sums up its ‘‘ Noble Properties” thus: ‘‘In
short ’tis a Plant endu’d with so many and wonderful
Properties, as that the assiduous use of it is said to
render Men Immortal. We cannot therefore but allow
the tender Summities of the young Leaves, but princi-
pally the Flowers in our Sallet; yet so as not to
domineer. .. . ’Tis credibly affirmed, that the Dutch
for some time drove a very lucrative Trade with the
dry’d Leves of what is called Sage of Vertue and Guernsey
Sage. . . . Both the Chineses and Japaneses are great
admirers of that sort of Sage, and so far prefer it to
their own Tea . . . that for what Sage they purchase of
the Dutch, they give triple the quantity of the choicest
Tea in exchange.”

‘*Frytures” (fritters) of Sage are described as having
place at banquets in the Middle Ages (Russell’s ‘« Boke
of Nurture”). Besides these other uses the seeds of sage
like parsley seeds were used to flavour cheese. Gay

refers to this :—
Marbled with Sage,
The hardening cheese she pressed,

and to ‘‘Sage cheese,” too, and Timbs says, ‘‘ The
1 Turner.

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 39

practice of mixing sage and other herbs with cheese
was common among the Romans.”

SAVORY (Satureia).

Some Camomile doth not amiss,
With Savoury and some tansy.
Muses Elysium.

Here’s flowers for you,
Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram.
Winter's Tale, iv. 4.

Sound savorie, and bazil, hartie-hale,
Fat Colwortes and comforting Perseline,
Cold Lettuce and refreshing Rosmarine.

Muiopotmos.

Savory, satureia, was once supposed to belong to the
satyrs. ‘* Mercury claims the dominion over this herb.
Keep it dry by you all the year, if you love yourself
and your ease, and it is a hundred pounds to a penny
if you do not.” Culpepper follows this advice with a
long list of ailments, for all of which this herb is an
excellent remedy. Summer savory (S. Aortensis) and
winter savory (S. Montana) are the only kinds con-
sidered in England as a rule, though Gerarde further
mentions ‘‘a stranger,” which, ‘“‘ because it groweth
plentifully upon the rough cliffs of the Tyrrhenian Sea
in Italie, called Saint Julian rocke,” is named after the
saint, Satureia Sancti Juliani. In other countries summer
savory used to be strewn upon the dishes as we strew
parsley, and served with peas or beans; rice, wheat
and sometimes the dried herb was ‘‘boyled among
pease to make pottage.” Winter savory used to be
dried and powdered and mixed with grated bread,
“‘to breade their meate, be it fish or flesh, to give it a
quicker rellish.” Here Parkinson breaks off to deliver
a severe reproof to “this delicate age of ours, which is
not pleased with anything almost that is not pleasant

40 THE BOOK OF HERBS

to the palate,” and therefore neglects many viands
which would be of great benefit. Both savories are
occasionally used more or less in the way he suggests,
winter savory being the favourite. In Cotton’s sequel
to the «Complete Angler,” a ‘handful of sliced horse-
radish-root, with a handsome little faggot of rosemary,
thyme and winter savoury” is recommended in the
directions for ‘‘ dressing a trout.” One of the virtues
attributed to both savories by the old herbalists is still
agreed to by some gardeners: ‘ A shoot of it rubbed on
wasp or bee stings instantly gives relief.”

SorrEL (Rumex).

Simplest growth of Meadow-sweet or Sorrel
Such as the summer-sleepy Dryads weave.
Swinburne.

Cresses that grow where no man may them see,
And sorrel, untorn by the dew-claw’d stag ;
Pipes will I fashion of the syrinx flag.
Endymion,

There flourish’d starwort and the branching beet
The sorrel acid and the mallow sweet
The Salad.

Here curling sorrel that again

We use in hot diseases

The medicinable mallow here . .

Muses Elysium.
Sorrel and mallow seem to have been associates

anciently, perhaps because it was thought that the
virtues of the one would counterbalance those of the
other. ‘From May to August the meadows are
often ruddy with the sorrel, the red leaves of which
point out the graves of the Irish rebels who fell at
Tara Hill in the ‘ Ninety-eight,’ the local tradition
asserting that the plants sprang from the patriots’
blood.”1 The Spaniards used to call sorrel, Agrelles

1 Polkard.

K WALK AT STRATHFIELDSAYE

THE LAVEND

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 41

and Azeda, and the French Aigrette and Surelle. In
England it used to be ‘‘eaten in manner of a Spinach
tart or eaten as meate,” and the French and Dutch still do,
I believe, and at anyrate did quite lately, use it as spinach.
Sorrel was often added by them to herb-patience when
that was used as a pot-herb, and was said to give it an
excellent flavour. The same recipe has been tried and
approved in England as well as (a little) sorrel cooked
with turnip-tops or spinach; the former of these dishes
is said to be good and the second certainly is. Evelyn
thought that sorrel imparted ‘‘ so grateful a quickeness
to the salad that it should never be left out,” and De la
Quintinye says that in France besides being mixed in
salads it is generally used in Bouillons or thin Broths.
Of the two kinds, Garden Sorrel, Rumex Acetosa, and
French Sorrel, R. Scutatus, either may be used indiffer-
ently in cooking, though some people decidedly prefer
the French kind. Mrs Roundell says that sorrel care-
fully prepared can be cooked in any of the ways re-
commended for spinach, but that it should be cooked
as soon as it is picked, and if this is impossible must
be revived in water before being cooked.

Tarracon (Artemisia Dracunculus).

“Tarragon is cherished in gardens. . . . Ruellius and
such others have reported many strange tales hereof
scarce worth the noting, saying that the seede of flaxe
put into a radish roote or sea onion, and so set, doth
bring forth this herbe Tarragon.” This idea was
apparently still current though discredited by the less
superstitious in Gerarde’s time. Parkinson mentions a
great dispute between ancient herbalists as to the
identity of the flower called Chysocoma by Dioscorides.
After quoting various opinions and depreciating some of
them he approves the decision of Molinaus that Tarragon

42 THE BOOK OF HERBS

was the plant. He describes it ‘“‘in leaves . . . like
unto the ordinary long-leafed Hisope . . . of the colour
of Cyperus, of a taste not unpleasant which is somewhat
austere with the sweetnesse.” It is a native of Siberia,
but has long been cultivated in France, and the name is
a corruption of the French Esdragon and means “Little
Dragon.” Though no reason for this war-like title is
obvious, the name is practically the same in several
other countries. The leaves were good pickled, and it
is altogether a fine aromatic herb for soups and salads.
Vinegars for salads and sauce used often in earlier
days to be “‘ aromatized ” by steeping in them rosemary,
gilliflowers, barberries and so forth, but the only herb
used for this purpose at the present time is tarragon.
Tarragon vinegar can still be easily obtained. ‘* The
volatile essential oil of tarragon is chemically identical
with that of anise ” (Fernie).

Tuyme (Thymus vulgaris).
The bees on the bells of thyme

Were as silent as ever old Timolus was
Listening tomy sweet pipings.
Pan’s Music—Sue.rey.
In my garden grew plenty of thyme,
It would flourish by night and by day,
O’er the wall came a lad, he took all that I had,
And stole my thyme away.

O! And I was a damsel so fair,
But fairer I wished to appear, ;
So I washed me in milk, and I dressed me in silk,
And put the sweet thyme in my hair.
Devonshire Songs.

Beneath your feet,
Thyme that for all your bruising smells more sweet.
N. Hopper.

Some from the fen bring reeds, wild thyme from downs,
Some froma grove, the bay that poets crowns.
Br. Pastorals, book ii.

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 43

Here, dancing feet fall still,
Here, where wild thyme and sea-pinks brave wild weather.
N. Hopper.
O! Cupid was that saucy boy,
Who furrows deeply drew.
He broke soil, destroyed the soil
Of wild thyme wet with dew.
Before his feet, the field was sweet
With flowers and grasses green,
Behind, turn’d down, and bare and brown
By Cupid’s coulter keen.
Devonshire Songs.
«‘Among the Greeks, thyme denoted graceful elegance
of the Attic style,” and was besides an emblem of
activity. <“*To smell of Thyme’ was therefore an
expression of praise, applied to those whose style was
admirable” (Folkard). In the days of chivalry, when
activity was a virtue very highly rated, ladies used “to
embroider their knightly lovers’ scarves with the figure
of a bee hovering about a sprig of thyme.”! In the
south of France wild thyme or Ferigoule is a symbol of
advanced Republicanism, and tufts of it were sent with
the summons to a meeting to members of a society
holding those views. Gerarde, in his writings, plainly
shows that he and his contemporaries did mot indis-
criminately call all plants ‘‘ herbs,” but distinguished
them with thought and care. ‘‘ 4ianus seemeth to
number wild time among the floures. Dionysius Junior
(saith he) comming into the city Locris in Italy, pos-
sessed most of the houses of the city, and did strew them
with roses, wild time and other such kinds of floures.
Yet Virgil, in the Second Eclogue of his Bucolicks doth
most manifestly testifie that wilde Time is an herbe.”
Here he translates :—

Thestilis, for mower’s tyr’d with parching heate,
Garlike, wild Time, strong smelling herbs doth beate.

Modern opinion confirms the view that Thymus capitatus

1 «« Flora Symbolica.” Ingram.

44 THE BOOK OF HERBS

was the thyme of the ancients. The affection of bees
for thyme has often been noticed, and the “ fine flavour
to the honey of Mount Hymettus”? is said to be due to
this plant. Evelyn speaks of it as having ‘‘a most agree-
able odor,” and a ‘considerable quantity being frequently,
by the Hollanders, brought from AMa/tha, and other
places in the Streights, who sell it at home, and in
Flanders for strewing amongst the Sa//ets and Ragouts ;
and call it A//-Sauce.” Gerarde divides the garden thyme
(T. vulgaris) and Wild Thyme or Mother of Thyme
(T. serpyllum) into two chapters, but Parkinson takes
them together and describes eleven kinds, including
Lemmon Thyme, which has the ‘sent of a Pomecitron
or Lemmon”; and ‘‘ Guilded or embrodered Tyme,”
whose leaves have ‘‘a variable mixture of green and
yellow.” Abercrombie’s information is always given in
a concentrated form. ‘An ever-green, sweet-scented,
fine-flavoured, aromatic, under-shrub, young tops used
for various kitchen purposes.”

Virer’s Grass or ScoRzoNnERA (Scorzonera Hispanica).

The virtues of this herb were known, but not much
regarded, before ‘‘ Monardus,? a famous physician in
Stivell,” published a book in which was “ set downe that
a Moore, a bond-slave, did help those that were bitten
of that venomous beast or Viper . . . which they of
Catalonia, where they breed in abundance, call in their
language Escuersos (from whence Scorsonera is derived),
with the juice of the herb, and the root given them to
eate,” and states that this would effect a cure when other
well-authorised remedies failed. ‘‘ The rootes hereof,
being preserved with sugar, as I have done often, doe eate
almost as delicate as the Eringus roote.” Evelyn is loud
in its praise. It is ‘‘a very sweete and pleasant Sallet,

1 Hogg, ‘¢ The Vegetable Kingdom and its Products.” 2 Parkinson.

HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 45

being laid to soak out the Bitterness, then peel’d may
be eaten raw or condited; but, best of all, stew’d with
Marrow, Spice, Wine. . . . They likewise may bake, fry
or boil them; a more excellent Root there is hardly
growing.” As “Spanish Salsify” it is much recom
mended by other writers.

Woop-SorreL (Oxalis Acetosella).

Who from the tumps with bright green masses clad,
Plucks the Wood-Sorrel with its light green leaves,
Heart-shaped and triply folded; and its root
Creeping like beaded coral.

CuaRLoTTE Situ.

The Wood-Sorrel has many pretty names: Alleluia,
Hearts, Pain de Coucou, Oseille de Bicheron; in Italy,
Juliola. Wood-Sorrel is a plant of considerable interest.
It has put forward strong claims to be identified with
St Patrick’s shamrock, and it has been painted, Mr
Friend says, ‘“‘in the foreground of pictures by the
old Italian painters, notably Fra Angelico.” For the
explanation of the names: ‘It is called by the
Apothecaries in their shoppes A//e/uia and Lugula, the
one because about that time it is in lower, when A/leluja
in antient times was wont to be sung in the Churches ;
the other came corruptly from Julio/a, as they of Calabria
in Naples doe call it.” By the ‘* Alleluja sung in the
churches,” Parkinson means the Psalms, from Psalm
cxiii. to Psalm cxvii. (and including these two), for they
end with “Hallelujah,” and were specially appointed to
be sung between Easter and Whitsuntide.

“It is called Cuckowbreade, either because the
Cuckowes delight to feed thereon, or that it beginneth
to flower when the Cuckow beginneth to utter her
voyce.” Another name was Stubwort, from its habit of
growing over old ‘‘stubs” or stumps of trees, and in
Wales it was called Fairy Bells, because people

46 THE BOOK OF HERBS

thought that the music which called the elves to
“moonlight dance and revelry” came from the swinging
of the tiny bells. The Latin name is a reminder that
oxalic acid is obtained from this plant.

As Evelyn includes it amongst his salad herbs, I
mention it here, though feeling bound to add that
anyone must be a monster who could regard the graceful
leaves and trembling, delicately-veined bells of this
plant, full of poetry, with any other sentiment than that
of passive admiration !

CHAPTER II

OF HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST

The wyfe of Bath was so wery, she had no wyl to walk ;
She toke the Priores by the honde, ‘* Madam, wol ye stalk
Pryvely into the garden to se the herbis growe?”
. . And forth on they wend
Passing forth softly into the herbery.
Prologue to Beryn—Urry’s Edition

ALEXANDERS (Smyrnum Olusatrium).

Alexanders, Allisanders, the black Pot-herb or Wild
Horse-Parsley, as it is variously called, grows naturally
near the sea, and has often been seen growing wild near
old buildings. The Italians call it Herba Alexandrina,
according to some writers, because it was supposed
originally to have come from Alexandria; according to
others, because its+ old name was Petroselinum Alex-
andrinum, or Alexandrina, “so-called of Alexander, the
finder thereof.” The leaves are ‘‘ cut into many parcells
like those of Smallage,” but are larger; the seeds have
an ‘‘aromaticall and spicy smell”; the root is like a little
radish and good to be eaten, and if broken or cut
“ there issueth a juice that quickly waxeth thicke, having
in it a sharpe bitterness, like in taste unto Myrrh.”
The upper parts of the roots (being the tenderest) and
leaves were used in broth; the young tops make an
“‘ excellent Vernal Pottage,” and may be eaten as salad, by
themselves or ‘‘in composition in the Spring, or, if they
be blanched, in the Winter.” They were chiefly recom-

1 Britten, ‘Dictionary of English Plant-Names.”
47

48 THE BOOK OF HERBS

mended for the time of Lent, in a day when Lent was
more strictly kept than it is now, because they are
supposed to go well with fish. Alexanders resemble
celery, by which it has been almost entirely sup-
planted, and if desired as food should be sown every
year, for though it continues to grow, it produces
nothing fit for the table after the second year. Pliny
says it should be ‘‘ digged or delved over once or twice,
yea, and at any time from the blowing of the western
wind Favonius in Februarie, until the later Equinox in
September be past.” The reference to Favonius re-
minds one of those lines of exquisite freshness translated
from Leonidas.

’Tis time to sail—the swallow’s note is heard!
Who chattering down the soft west wind is come.
The fields are all a-flower, the waves are dumb,
Which ersts the winnowing blast of winter stirred,

Loose cable, friend, and bid your anchor rise,

Crowd all your canvas at Priapus’ hest,

Who tells you from your harbours, ‘* Now, ’twere best,
Sailor, to sail upon your merchandise.”

ANGELICA (Archangelica officinalis).

Contagious aire, ingendring pestilence,
Infects not those that in their mouths have ta’en,
Angelica that happy Counterbane,
Sent down from heav’n by some celestial scout,
As well the name and nature both avow’t.
Du Bartas—SytvesTER’s TRANSLATION, 1641.

And Master-wort, whose name Dominion wears,
With her, who an Angelick Title bears.
Of Plants, book ii.—Cowtey.

As these lines declare, Angelica was believed to have
sprung from a heavenly origin, and greatly were its
powers revered. Parkinson says, ‘‘ All Christian nations
likewise in their appellations hereof follow the Latine
name as near as their Dialect will permit, onely in Sussex

ANGELICA

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 49

they call the wilde Kinde Kex, and the weavers wind their
yarne on the dead stalkes.” The Laplanders crowned
their poets with it, believing that the odour inspired them,
and they also thought that the use of it “strengthens
life.’ The roots hung round the neck “are available
against witchcraft and inchantments,” so Gerarde says,
and thereby makes a concession to popular superstition,
which he very rarely does. A piece of the root held in
the mouth drives away infection of pestilence, and is good
against all poisons, mad dogs or venomous beasts !
Parkinson puts it first and foremost in a list of specially
excellent medicinal herbs that he makes ‘‘for the profit
and use of Country Gentlewomen and others,” and
writes: ‘‘ The whole plante, both leafe, roote, and seede
is of an excellent comfortable sent, savour and taste.”
No wonder with such powers that it gained its name.
Angelica comes into a remedy for a wound from an arque-
busade or arquebuse, called Eau a’ Arquebusade, which was
first mentioned by Phillippe de Comines in his account of
the battle of Morat, 1476. ‘‘ The French still prepare it
very carefully from a great number of aromatic herbs.
In England, where it is the Agua Vulneria of the Phar-
macopeeias, the formula is: Dried mint, angelica tops
and wormwood, angelica seeds, oil of juniper and spirit
of rosemary distilled with rectified spirit and water
(Timbs).” It must be borne in mind that Timbs wrote
some time ago, and that the knowledge of modern French
scientists, like that of our own, has increased since then.

Although it is of no value in medicine (it is next to
none when cultivated) our garden angelica also grows
wild, and can be safely eaten. Gerarde is amusing on
this point. He says it grows in an “Island in the North
called Island (Iceland?). It is eaten of the inhabitants,
the barke being pilled off, as we understand by some
that have travelled into Island, who were sometimes
compelled to eate hereof for want of other food; and

D

50 THE BOOK OF HERBS

they report that it hath a good and pleasant taste Zo
them that are hungry.” The last words are significant !
Formerly, the leaf-stalks were blanched, and eaten as
celery is, but now they are chiefly used, candied, for
dessert. The art of candying seems to have been
brought closer to perfection abroad than at home in
Turner’s time, for he says: ‘‘ The rootes are now con-
dited in Danske, for a friend of mine in London, called
Maister Aleyne, a merchant man, who hath ventured
over to Danske, sent me a little vessel of these, well
condited with honey, very excellent good. Wherefore
they that would have anye Angelica maye speake to
the Marchauntes of Danske, who can provide them
enough.” The fruit is used to flavour Chartreuse and
other ‘ cordials.”

Buires (Biitum).

Dr Prior confirms Evelyn, in calling Bonus Henricus
Blites, but the older herbalists seem to have given this
name to another plant of the same tribe, the Chenopodiaceae,
because they treat of Béites and Bonus Henricus in separate
chapters. Parkinson is. very uncomplimentary to them.
“¢ Blitum are of the species Amaranthum, Flower Gentle.
They are used as arrach, eyther boyled of itself or stewed,
which they call Loblolly. . . . It is altogether insipid
and without taste. The unsavouriness whereof hath in
many countries grown into a proverb, or by-word, to
call dull, slow or lazy persons by that name.” The
context points to the nickname coming from “ Blites,”
but no such term of reproach now exists, though the con-
temptuous sobriquet ‘* Loblolly-boy ” is sometimes seen in
old-fashioned nautical novels. Blites were said to be
hurtful to the eyes, a belief that draws a scathing remark
from Gerarde, ‘‘I have heard many old wives say to their
servants, ‘Gather no Blites to put in my pottage, for

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 51

they are not good for the eyesight’; whence they had
those words I know not, it may be of some doctor that
never went to school.” Culpepper mentions that wild
blites ‘‘ the fishes are delighted with, and it is a good and
usual bait, for fishes will bite fast enough at them if
you have but wit enough to catch when they bite.”
Altogether this insipid vegetable gives scope for a good
many sharp things to be said.

Blitum capitatum, usually known as strawberry-spinach,
is sometimes grown in flower gardens.

BLoopworr (Lapathum Sanguineum).

The modern Latin name for this dock is Rumex San-
guineus, but Gesner had a more imposing title, Sanguis
draconis herba (Dragon’s blood plant). These names are,
of course, derived from the crimson colour of its veins,
and are the finest thing about it. The little notice it
does get is not unmixed praise. ‘Among the sorts of
pot-herbes, Blood-worte hath always been accounted a
principall one, although I doe not see any great reason
therein.” This is Parkinson’s opinion, but the italics are
mine.

Buck’s-HORNE (Senebiera Coronopus).

As true as steel,
As Plantage to the moon.
Troilus and Cressida, iii. z.

And plantain ribb’d that heals the reaper’s wound,
And marg’ram sweet, in shepherds’ posies found.
The School- Mistress. SHENSTONE,

Buck’s-horne is distinct from Buckshorn Plantain
(Plantago Coronopus), but it is the latter which is chiefly
interesting, and which is meant here. In Evelyn’s day
the Latin name was Cornu Cervinum, and other names are

Herba Stella, Herb Ivy and Corne de Cerf. Some kinds

52 THE BOOK OF HERBS

of plantain were considered good for wounds, but the
saying that ‘‘plantage” is true to the moon is hard to
solve. Buck’s-horne is a plant that has gone altogether
out of fashion. In 1577 Hill wrote, ‘‘ What care and
skil is required in the sowing and ordering of the
Buck’s-horne, Strawberries and Mustardseede,”—and
how odd it looks now to see it coupled with the two other
names, as a cherished object to spend pains upon! Le
Quintinye says that the leaves, when tender, were used
in ‘‘Sallad Furnitures . . . and the little Birds are very
greedy of them.” It used to be held profitable for agues
if <‘the rootes, with the rest of the herb,” were hung
about the necke, ‘‘as nine to men and seven to women
and children, but this as many other are idle amulets of
no worth or value . . . yet, since, it hath been reported
to me for a certaintie that the leaves of Buck’shorne Plan-
tane laid to their sides that have an ague, will suddenly
ease the fit, as if it had been done by witcherie; the
leaves and rootes also beaten with some bay salt and
applied to the wrestes, worketh the same effects, which
I hold to be more reasonable and proper.” Parkinson is
very ready to lay down the law as to the limits of empiri-
cism. He is very severe about a superstition connected
with Mugwort,butthough the same tradition exists of plan-
tain, and (under Mugwort) he quotes Mizaldus as men-
tioning it, he says nothing about this folly here. Aubrey,
however, gives an account of it in his ‘* Miscellanies.”
‘‘The last summer, on the day of St John Baptist, I
accidently was walking in the pasture behind Montague
House; it was twelve o’clock. I saw there about two
or three and twenty young women, most of them well
habited, on their knees, very busie, as if they had been
weeding. I could not presently learn what the matter
was; at last a young man told me that they were look-
ing for a coal under the root of a plantain, to put under
their heads that night, and they should dream who

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 53

would be their husbands. It was to be found that day
and hour.” This miraculous “coal” also preserved the
wearer from all sorts of diseases.

CaMoMILe (duthemis nobilis).

Diana |
Have I (to make thee crowns) been gathering still,
Fair-cheek’d Eteria’s yellow camomile?
Br. Pastorals.

Flowers of the field and windflowers springing glad
—In airs Sicilian, and the golden bough
Of sacred Plato, shining in its worth.
. With phlox of Pheedimas and chamomile,
The crinkled ox-eye of Antagoras.
Trans, from Meleager.

The healthful balm and mint from their full laps do fly,
The scentful camomile.
Polyolbion, Song xv.

Falstaf. Though the Camomile the more it is trodden on the faster it
grows, yet youth the more it is wasted the sooner it wears.—1 Henry
IP ii. 4.

The camomile is dedicated to St Anne, mother of the
Virgin Mary, and Mr Friend thinks that the Latin name
of wild camomile, Matricaria, comes from a “ fanciful
derivation” of this word, from mater and cara, or “ Be-
loved Mother.” The name camomile itself is derived from
a Greek word meaning ‘‘ earth-apples,” and its pleasant,
refreshing smell is rather like that of ripe apples. The
Spaniards call it Jfanzanilla, ‘“‘a little apple.” It was
grown ‘‘both for pleasure and profit, both inward
and outward diseases, both for the sicke and the sound,”
and was ‘ planted of the rootes in alleys, in walks, and
on banks to sit on, for that the more it is trodden upon
and pressed down in dry weather, the closer it groweth
and the better it will thrive.” This was a common
belief in earlier days, as Falstaff’s remark shows.

Culpepper is as trenchant as usual on the subject.

5A THE BOOK OF HERBS

“* Nichersor, saith the Egyptians, dedicated it to the sun,
because it cured agues, and they were like enough to
do it, for they were the arrantest apes in their religion
I have ever read of.” Why his indignation is so much ex-
cited is not clear, but probably it is because Agues (being
watery diseases) were under the moon, and therefore they
should have dedicated a herb that cured agues to the
Moon. However, he holds to the view that camomile
is good for all agues, although it is an herb of the sun
—who has nothing to do with such diseases, as a rule.
Turner criticises Amatus Lusitanus with some shrewd-
ness. ‘This writer, who had apparently taken upon him
to teach “« Spanyardes, Italians, Frenchmen and Germans
the name of Herbes in their tongues, writeth that
Camomile is commonlye knowne,” and with this bald
statement contented himself. ‘* Wherefore it is lykely
he knoweth nether of both [kinds of Camomile].
Wherefore he had done better to have sayde, ‘I do
knowe nether of both, then thus shortly to passe by
them.’ Camomile is still officinal, and is used for fomen-
tations. ‘If taken internally it should be infused with
cold water, as heat dissipates the oil.’ ”

Feverfew is so nearly related to camomile that it may
be mentioned here. Indeed some writers call it “a
Wild Camomile,” and give it Matricaria Parthenum for
a Latin name. Most botanists, however, place it ‘in
the genus Pyrethrum.” Mr Britten calls it Pyrethrum
Parthenium. ‘‘Feverfew” comes from “ febrifuge,”
for it was supposed to have wonderful power to drive
away fevers and agues ; and it is still a favourite remedy
with village people. Nora Hopper brings it in among
the fairies :—

There’s many feet on the moor to-night,
And they fall so light as they turn and pass,
So light and true, that they shake no dew,
From the featherfew and the Hungry-Grass.
The Fairy Muste.

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 55

CarDoons (Cynara Cardunculus).

This plant is also called Spanish Cardoon or Cardoon
of Tours. It is a kind of artichoke ‘which becomes a
truly gigantic herbaceous vegetable. The tender stalks
of the inner leaves are sometimes blanched and stewed,
or used in soups and salads”; but it is much less used in
England than on the Continent. Cardoons are said to
yield a good yellow dye.

Ciary (Salvia Sclarea).

Percely, clarey and eke sage,
And all other herbage.
Joun GaRpENrER.

‘‘Clary, or more properly Clear-eyes,” which in-
dicates one of its supposed chief virtues plainly enough.
Wild Clary was called Oculus Christi, and was even
more valued than the garden kind. Clary was once
“used for making wine, which resembles Frontignac,
and is remarkable for its narcotic qualities.”1 It was
also added to “‘ Ale and Beere in these Northern regions
(I think the Netherlands are meant here) to make it the
more heady.” The young plant itself was eaten, and
an approved way of dressing it was to put it in an
omelette ‘‘made up with cream, fried in sweet butter”
and eaten with sugar and the juice of oranges or lemons.
It is now sometimes used to season soups, and Hogg
tells us that it was used ‘‘in Austria as a perfume;
in confectionery, and to the jellies of fruits, it com-
municates the flavour of pine-apple.” The herbalists
speak of a plant called Yellow Clary or ‘ Jupiter’s
Distaff,” and Mr Britten suggests that this was Phlomus
fruticosa.

1 Timbs.

56 THE BOOK OF HERBS

.

DirranpDeR (Lepidium Latifolium).

Dittander or Pepperwort grows wild in a few places
in England, but was once cultivated. It was sometimes
used as ‘‘a sauce or sallet to meate, but is too hot,
bitter and strong for everyone’s taste.” These qualities
have gained it the names of Poor Man’s Pepper, and
from Tusser, Garden Ginger. Culpepper’s opinion is
briefly expressed: ‘‘ Here is another martial herb for you,
make much of it.” It is so “hot and fiery sharpe”
that it is said to raise a blister on the hand of anyone
who holds it for a while, and therefore (on homeopathic
principles) it was recommended “to take away marks,
scarres ... and the marks of burning with fire or Iron.”

ELEcAMPANE (Inula Helenium).

Elecampane, the beauteous Helen’s flower,
Mingles among the rest her silver store.

Rapin.

“<¢ Some think it took the name from the teares of Helen,
from whence it sprang, which is a fable; others that she
had her hands full of this herbe when Paris carried her
away; others say it was so called because Helen first
found it available against the bitings and stingings of
venomous beasts; and others thinke that it tooke the name
from the Island Helena, where the best was found to
grow.” Parkinson gives a wide choice for opinions on
the origin of Elecampane, the two first ‘‘fables” are
very picturesque. The radiant gold of the flowers
would be gorgeous but beautiful, in a loose bunch, in a
meadow, though in-doors they would be apt to look big
and glaring. Gerarde speaks of them being ‘in their
braverie in June and July,” and adds that the root ‘is
marvellous good for many things.” Since the days of
Helen the fairies have laid hold of the plant, and another

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 57

name for it (in Denmark) is Elf-Dock. Elecampane
has had a great reputation since the days of Pliny, and
was considered specially good for coughs, asthma and
shortness of breath. Elecampane lozenges were much
recommended, and the root was candied and eaten as a
sweetmeat till comparatively lately. It is said to have
antiseptic qualities, and according to Dr Fernie has been
used in Spain as a surgical dressing.

FENUGREEK (Trigonella feenum gracum).

Fenugreek ‘hath many leaves, but three alwayes set
together on a foot-stalke, almost round at the ends, a
little dented about the sides, greene above and grayish
underneath ; from the joynts with the leaves come forth
white flowers, and after them, crooked, flattish long
hornes, small pointed, with yellowish cornered seedes
within them.” This description is very exact, and,
indeed, the conspicuous horn-like pods, singularly large
for the size of the plant, are its most marked charac-
teristic. Turner says: ‘‘ This herbe is called in Greek
Keratitis, yt is horned, aigo keros yt is gotes horne, and
6 onkeros, that is cows horne.” Fenugreek was a
Favourite of the ‘antients,” and Folkard gives an
account of a festival held by Antiochus Epiphanus, the
Syrian king, of which one feature was a procession,
where boys carried golden dishes containing frank-
incense, myrrh and saffron, and two hundred women,
out of golden watering-pots, sprinkled perfume on the
assembled guests. All who went to watch the games
in the gymnasium were anointed with some perfume
from fifteen gold dishes, which held saffron, amaracus,
lilies, cinnamon, spikenard, fenugreek, etc. In Eng-
land it was used for more prosaic purposes, ‘‘ Galen and
others say that they were eaten as Lupines, and the
Egyptians and others eate the seedes yet to this day as

58 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Pulse or meate.” The herb, he continues, he has never
heard of as being used in England, because it was very
little grown, but the seed was usedin medicine. Gerarde
gives us one of its pleasantest preparations as a drug.
In old diseases of the chest, without a fever, fat dates
are to be boiled with it, with a great quantitie of honey.
In 1868 Rhind? writes that the seeds are no longer
given in medicine, and but rarely used in ‘‘ fomentations
and cataplasms.” Since that date, I should imagine, it is
even more rarely used. Fenugreek was at one time
prescribed by veterinary surgeons for horses.

Goop Kine Henry (Chenopodium Bonus Henricus).

This plant is otherwise known as Fat Hen, Shoe-
maker’s Heels, English Mercury, or as Evelyn says,
Blite. He begins with praise: “The Tops may be
eaten as Sparagus or sodden in Pottage, and as a very
salubrious Esculent. There is both a white and red,
much us’d in Spain and Italy”; but he finishes lamely
for all his praise: ‘‘’tis insipid enough.” Gerarde says:
“It is called of the Germans Guter Heinrick, of a certaine
good qualitie it hath,” and its name is much the most
interesting thing about it. Various writers have tried
to attach it to our successive kings of that name, with a
want of ingenuousness and ingenuity equally deplorable.
Grimm? traces it back till he finds that this was one of
the many plants appropriated to Heinz or Heinrich—the
“household goblin,” who plays tricks on the maids or
helps them with their work, and asks no more than a
bowl of cream set over-night for his reward—who, in
fact, holds much the same place as our Robin Good-
fellow holds here.

1 « History of the Vegetable Kingdom.”
2 Teutonic Mythology.

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 59

HeErs-PaTience (Rumex Patienta).

Sequestered leafy glades,
That through the dimness of their twilight show
Large dock-leaves, spiral fox-gloves, or the glow
Of the wild cat’s-eyes, or the silvery stems
Of delicate birch trees, in long grass which hems
A little brook.
Calidore—KEATS.

La #ulipe est pour la fierté,
Pour le malheur la patience.
La Petite Corbeille.

The Herb-Patience does not grow in every man’s garden.
Proverb.

Herb-Patience was also called Patience-Dock or
Monk’s Rhubarb. The French call Water-Dock,
Patience d’eau and Parelle des Marais, so the name of
the quality that is, in nursery rhyme, a ‘‘ virtue,” and
a ‘‘grace,” clings to this dock! Parkinson compares it
unfavourably with Bastard Rhubarb, though he says
the root is often used in ‘‘diet beere”; but Gerarde
calls it an ‘* excellent, wholesome pot-herbe,” and relates
a tale, in which responsibilities are treated with such
delightful airiness that it must be repeated here. He
begins by saying that he himself is ‘‘ no graduate, but a
country scholler,” but hopes his ‘“‘ good meaning will be
well taken, considering I doe my best, not doubting but
some of greater learning will perfect that which I have
begun, according to my small skill, especially the ice
being broken unto him and the wood rough-hewed to
his hands.” Nevertheless, he (who dictates on these
matters, to a great extent, through his Herbal) thinks
that the learned may gain occasionally from his know-
ledge. ‘One John Bennet, a chirurgion, of Maidstone in
Kent, a man as slenderly learned as myselfe,” undertook
to cure a butcher’s boy of an ague. ‘‘ He promised him
a medicine, and for want of one for the present (he him-

60 THE BOOK OF HERBS

selfe confessed unto me) he tooke out of his garden three
or four leaves of this plant” and administered them in
ale, with entire success. ‘‘ Whose blunt attempt may
set an edge upon some sharper wit and greater judgment
in the faculties of plants.” Any anticipation that his
experiment might lead to disaster does not seem to have
troubled him! The root of Patience-Dock ‘boiled in
the water of Carduus Benedictus” was also given at a
venture for an ague, and this experiment was tried by
“¢a worshipfull gentlewoman, mistresse Anne Wylbraham,
upon divers of her poore Neighbours, with good success.”
Mistress Anne Wylbraham must have been a woman of
temerity !

Garden-patience used to be a good deal cultivated as
spinach, but is now very much ignored, partly because few
people know how to cook it. The leaves should be
used early in the spring while they are still tender, and
the flavour will be very much improved if about a
fourth part of common sorrel is added to them. This
way of dressing patience-dock was very popular in
Sweden, and is described as ‘‘ forming an excellent
spinach dish.” Patience is sometimes spoken of as
“passions,” but this name properly belongs to Polygonum
Bistorta, the leaves of which were the principal
ingredient in a herb-pudding, formerly eaten on Good
Friday in the North of England. Parkinson also speaks
in this chapter of the ‘true rhubarb of Rhapontick,”
which has ‘leaves of sad or dark-greene colour . . . of
a fine tart or sourish taste, much more pleasant than the
garden or wood sorrell.” Dr Thornton, however, says
that Parkinson was mistaken, and that the first seeds of
true rhubarb were sent ‘“ by the great Boerhaave to our
famous gardener, Miller, in 1759 ”—more than a hundred
years later. Very soon after Miller had it, rhubarb was
cultivated in many parts of England and in certain
localities in Scotland.

AVL USCTONA 30 ata ©

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 61

Horenounn (Marrubium vulgare).
Here hore-hound ’gainst the mad dog’s ill
By biting, never failing.
Muses Elysium.
Pale hore-hound, which he holds of most especiall use.
Polyolbion, Song xiii.

Folkard says that horehound is one of the five plants
stated by the Mishna to be the “bitter herbs,” which
the Jews were ordered to take for the Feast of the
Passover, the other four being coriander, horse-radish,
lettuce and nettle. The name Marrubium is supposed
to come from the Hebrew Marrob, a bitter juice. De
Gubernatis writes that horehound was once regarded
as a ‘‘contre-poison magique,” but very little is said
about it on the whole, and it is an uninteresting
plant to look at, and much like many others of the
labiate tribe. Long ago the Apothecaries sold ‘sirop
of horehound” for ‘‘ old coughs” and kindred disorders,
and horehound tea and candied horehound are still made
to relieve the same troubles. Candied horehound is
made by boiling down the fresh leaves and adding
sugar to the juice thus extracted, and then again boiling
the juice till it has become thick enough to pour into
little cases made of paper.

Lapy’s-sMock (Cardamine pratensis).

Then comes Daffodil beside
Our ladye’s smock at our Ladye-tide.
An Early Calendar of English Flowers.

When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver white
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight.
Love's Labour Lost, v. 2.

And some to grace the show,
Of lady-smocks do rob the neighbouring mead.

Wherewith their looser locks most curiously they braid.
Polyolbion, Song xx,

62 THE BOOK OF HERBS

And now and then among, of eglantine a spray,
By which again a course of lady-smocks they lay.
Song xv.

The honeysuckle round the porch has wov’n its wavy bowers,
And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint, sweet cuckoo flowers,
And the wild march-marigold shines like fire on swamps and hollows

gray.
The May Queen.—TENNYSON.

“¢Cuckoo-flower ” is a name laid claim to by many
flowers, and authorities differ as to which one Shake-
speare meant by it. Certainly not the plant under
discussion, which is the one we most generally call
Cuckoo-flower to-day, for there can be no doubt that
this is the ‘‘ lady’s-smocks” of the line above,—letting
alone the fact that the ‘‘cuckoo-buds” in the song being of
“* yellow hue” put the idea out of court. Lord Tennyson’s
lines point equally clearly to the Cardamine pratensis.
Lady’s-smock is said to be a corruption of ‘‘ Our Lady’s
Smock,” and to be one of the plants dedicated to the
Virgin, because it comes into blossom about Ladytide ;
though as a matter of fact the flower is seldom seen so
early. It is remarkable how many attentions this grace-
ful, but humble and scentless flower has received; and
besides all the poets Isaac Walton mentions it twice:
“Look ! down at the bottom of the hill there, in that
meadow, chequered with water-lilies and lady-smocks.” 4
And later: ‘‘ Looking on the hills, I could behold them
spotted with wood and groves—looking down in the
meadow, could see there a boy gathering lilies and
lady’s-smocks, and there, a girl cropping culverkeys and
cowslips, all to make garlands suitable to this present
month of May.” It is difficult to be positive about
culverkeys. Columbines, bluebells, primroses and an
orchis have all been called by this name at different
times. The primrose is cut out of the question here
by its colour, for in the poem which has been quoted a

1Complete Angler.

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 63

little while before Davors sings of ‘azure culverkeys.”
The columbine is rarely found in a wild state and flowers
later in the year, the orchis is hardly ‘‘ azure,” so on the
whole it looks as if the likeliest flower would be the
wild hyacinth. To return to the lady’s-smocks, Gerarde
says they are of ‘“‘a blushing, white colour,” and like
the “‘ white sweet-john.” In the seventeenth century
their titles were various and he gives some of them, and in
doing so he shows an ingenuous, very pleasing clinging
to the names familiar to his youth. ‘In English,
cuckowe flowers, in Northfolke, Canterbury bells, at
Namptwich in Cheshire, where I had my beginning,
ladiesmocks which hath given me cause to christen it
after my country fashion.” Parkinson finds that ‘these
herbes are seldom used eyther as sauce or sallet or in
physick, but more for pleasure to decke up the garlands
of the country-people, yet divers have reported them
to be as affectuall in the scorbute or scurvy as the
water-cresses.” The plant was regarded as an excellent
remedy for these evils by the inhabitants of those
northern countries where salted fish and flesh are largely
eaten. The leaves are slightly pungent and somewhat
bitter ; and in the early part of the nineteenth century it
was regarded as an ordinary salad herb, so that its reputa-
tion in that respect must have risen since Parkinson’s
days.

LancpEBEEFE (Helminthia echoides).

Langdebeefe is mentioned with scanty praise. ‘‘ The
leaves are onely used in all places that I knew or ever
could learne, for an herbe for the pot among others.”
It is difficult to be absolutely certain as to the identity
of the plant, for Gerarde places it with Bugloss, and
Parkinson, among the Hawkweeds. Mr Britten says,
however, that both writers referred to He/minthia echoides,
but that Echium vulgare, Viper’s Bugloss, is the plant

64 THE BOOK OF HERBS

that Turner called Langdebeefe, and Viper’s Bugloss is
still called Langdebeefe in Central France. Near Paris,
however, Langue de beuf means Anchusa Italica. “<The
leaves,” says Gerarde, ‘are like the rough tongue of an
oxe or cow, whereof it took its name,” and he gives
another instance of the imnsouciance of contemporary
physicians. They “put them both into all kindes of
medicines indifferently, which are of force and vertue to
drive away sorrow and pensiveness of the minde, and to
comfort and strengthen the heart.” ‘‘ Both” refers to
Bugloss and “little wilde Buglosse,” which he has just
informed us grows upon ‘the drie ditch bankes about
Pickadilla.” Times change!

LiguoricE (Glycyrrhiza glabra).

Gerarde describes two kinds of Liquorice: the first
has ‘‘ woody branches . . . beset with leaves of an over-
worne greene colour, and small blew floures of the
colour of an English Hyacinth.” From the peculiar
shape and roughness of the seed-pods it was distinguished
by the name of ‘‘ Hedge-hogge Licorice.” This kind
was very little used. Common Liquorice resembles it
very closely, but has less peculiar seed-vessels.

The cultivation of Acorish in England began about the
year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, and it has been much
grown at Pontefract (whence Pontefract lozenges are
named), Worksop, Godalming and Mitcham. It must
have been once an extremely profitable crop. ‘* There
hath been made from fifty Pound to an hundred Pound
of an Acre, as some affirm.” The caution expressed in
the last three words is rather nice. ‘I. W.,” the
author of this bit of information (he gives no other
signature), published his book in 1681, and was
evidently of a very patriotic disposition, He is indignant
that ‘‘although our English Liquorice exceeds any

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 65

Foreign whatsoever,” yet we ‘yearly buy of other
Nations,” and Parkinson is of much the same opinion:
‘The root grown in England is of a fame more weake,
sweete taste, yet far more pleasing to us than Licorice
that is brought us from beyond Sea,” which is stronger
and more bitter. A later writer prefers English roots
on the ground that those imported are often ‘* mouldy
and spoiled.” ‘* With the juice of Licorice, Ginger and
other spices there is made a certaine bread or cakes
called Gingerbread, which is very good against the
cough.” It is not the light in which Gingerbread is
usually looked upon. Liquorice administered in many
ways was a great remedy against coughs. Boiled in
faire water, with Maiden-haire and Figges, it made a
“* good ptisane drinke for them that have any dry cough,”
and the “juice of Licoris, artificially made with Hys-
soppe water,” was recommended against shortness of
breath. Extract of Liquorice is to be found in the
Pharmacopeeia, and it is imported as ‘‘Spanish juice.”
The extract must be made from the dried root, or else it
will not be so bright when it is strained. Dr Fernie
says that Liquorice is added to porter and stout to give
thickness and blackness.

LovacE (Ligusticum Scoticum).

Mr Britten says: In Lyte and other early works,
this [name] is applied to Levisticum officinale, but in
modern British books it is assigned to Ligusticum Scoticum.
It grows wild near the sea-shore in Scotland and
Northumberland. Lovage ‘‘has many long and great
stalkes of large, winged leaves, divided into many parts,

. and with the leaves come forth towards the toppes,
long branches, bearing at their toppes large umbells of
yellow flowers. The whole plant and every part of it
smelleth somewhat strongly and aromatically, and of an

E

66 THE BOOK OF HERBS

hot, sharpe, biting taste. The Germans and_ other
Nations in times past used both the roote and seede
instead of Pepper to season their meates and brothes,
and found them as comfortable and warming.” Turner
mentions Lovage amongst his medical herbs and
Culpepper says: ‘‘It is an herb of the Sun, under the
sign Taurus. If Saturn offend the throat . . . this is
your cure.”

Ma vow (Malwa).

With many a curve my banks I fret,
By many a field and fallow
And many a fair by foreland set,
With willow, weed and mallow.
The Brook.— Tennyson.

The spring is at the door,
She bears a golden store,
Her maund with yellow daffodils runneth o’er.

After her footsteps follow
The mullein and the mallow,
She scatters golden powder on the sallow.
Spring Song.—N. Horrrr.

Parkinson praises mallows both for beauty and virtue.
««The double ones, which for their Bravery are enter-
tained everywhere into every Countrywoman’s garden.
The Venice Mallow is called Good-night-at-noone,
though the flowers close so quickly that you shall
hardly see a flower blowne up in the day-time after 9
A.M.” Some medical advice follows, in which “ All sorts
of Mallowes” are praised. ‘‘ Those that are of most
use are most common. The rest are but aken upon credit.”
The last remark comes quite casually, and apparently
those that were ‘‘but taken upon credit,” would be
comprehended in the ‘all sorts” and administered
without hesitation. French Mallows (Malva crispa) is

1 Parkinson,

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 67

most highly recommended as an excellent pot-herb!
indeed all wild mallows may be used in that capacity, and
the Romans are said to have considered them a delicacy.

Marsh Mallow (dithea officinalis) has very soothing
qualities, and was, and is, much used by country people
for inflammation outwardly and inwardly. It contains a
great deal of mucilage, in the root particularly. Timbs
says: ‘‘Dr Sir John Floyer mentions a posset (hot
milk curdled by some infusion) in which althcea roots
are boiled” ; and it must have been a ‘‘ comforting ” one.
In France, the young tops and leaves are used in spring
salads. ‘‘ Many of the poorer inhabitants of Syria,
especially the Fellahs, the Greeks, and the Armenians,
subsist for weeks on herbs, of which the Marsh Mallow
is one of the most common. When boiled first, and
then fried with onions and butter, they are said to form
a palatable dish, and in times of scarcity, consequent
upon the failure of the crops, all classes may be seen
striving with eagerness to obtain the much desired plant,
which fortunately grows in great abundance.”! In Job
Xxx. 3, 4 we read: ‘‘For want and famine they were
solitary, fleeing into the wilderness in former time
desolate and waste. Who cut up mallows by the
bushes.” Smith’s ‘‘ Dictionary of the Bible,” however,
casts doubt on this mallow being a mallow at all, and
though admitting that it would be quite possible,
decides that the evidence points most clearly to triplex
Halimus.

Gerarde says the Tree Mallow “approacheth nearer
the substance and nature of wood than any of the others ;
wherewith the people of Olbia and Narbone in France
doe make hedges, to sever or divide their gardens and
vineyards which continueth long ;” and these hedges
must have been a beautiful sight when in flower.

The Hollyhock, of course, belongs to this tribe, and

1 Hogg.

68 THE BOOK OF HERBS

was once apparently eaten as a pot-herb, and found
to be an inferior one. It has been put to other uses,
for Hogg says that the stalks contain a fibre, ‘‘ from
which a good strong cloth has been manufactured, and
in the year 1821 about 280 acres of land near Flint in
Wales were planted with the Common Holyhock, with
the view of converting the fibre to the same uses as
hemp or flax.” It was also discovered in the process
of manufacture, that the plant “yields a blue dye, equal
in beauty and permanence to that of the best indigo.”
This experiment however successful in results, cannot
have been justified from a commercial point of view,
and was not often repeated, and there is now no trace of
its having been ever tried.

In other languages, the Hollyhock has very pretty
names; ‘inlow Dutch, it was called Winter Rosen, and in
French, Rose d’outremer.”

MaricoLp (Calendula Officinalis).

Hark! hark! thelark at heaven’s gate sings
And Phebus ’gins to rise,
His steeds to water at those springs
On chalic’d flowers that lies ;
And winking Mary-buds begin
To ope their golden eyes.
Cymbeline, ii, 3.

The marigold that goes to bed wi’ the sun,
and with him rises weeping.
Winter's Tale, iv. 3.

The purple Violets and Marigolds
Shall, as a carpet, hang upon thy grave
While summer days do last.

Pericles, iv.

Marigolds on death-beds blowing,
Two Noble Kinsmen. Introd, Song.

The Marigold observes the sun,
More than my subjects me have done,

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 69

So shuts the marigold her leaves
At the departure of the sun ;
So from the honeysuckle sheaves
The bee goes when the day is done.
Br. Pastorals, book iii.

But, maiden, see the day is waxen old,
And ’gins to shut in with the marigold.
Br. Pastorals, book i.

Open afresh your round of starry folds
Ye ardent marigolds!
Dry up the moisture from your golden lids
For great Apollo bids
That in these days your praises should be sung.
I stood tiptoe, etc.—Kearts,

The marigold above, t’ adorn the arched bar,

The double daisy, thrift, the button batchelor,

Sweet William, sops-in-wine, the campion.

Polyolbion, Song xv.
‘Lhe crimson darnel flower, the blue bottle and gold
Which though esteemed but weeds, yet for their dainty hues
and for their scent not ill, they for this purpose choose.
Ibid,

The yellow kingcup Flora then assigned.
To be the badges of a jealous mind,
The orange-tawny marigold.
Br, Pastorals.

The Marigold has enjoyed great and lasting popu-
larity, and though the flower does not charm by its
loveliness, the indomitable courage, with which, after
even a sharp frost, it lifts up its hanging head, and
shows a cheerful countenance, leads one to feel for it
affection and respect. In the end of January (1903) here
in Devon there were some flowers and opening buds,
though ten days before the ice bore for skating. The
Latin name refers to its reputed habit of blossoming on
the first days of every month in the year, and in a fairly
mild winter this is no exaggeration. Marigolds are dedi-
cated to the Virgin, but this fact is not supposed to have
had anything to do with the giving of their name, which

70 THE BOOK OF HERBS

had probably been bestowed on them before the Festivals
in her honour were kept in England, ‘‘ Though doubt-
less,” says Mr Friend, ‘the name of Mary had much
to do with the alterations in the name of Marigold,
which may be noticed in its history.” There is an idea
that they were appropriated to her because they were
in flower at all of her Festivals; but on this notion
other authorities throw doubt. In ancient days Mari-
golds were often called Golds, or Goules, or Ruddes ;
in Provence, a name for them was ‘‘ Gauche-fer} (left-
hand iron) probably from its brilliant disc, suggestive
of a shield worn on the left arm.” Chaucer describes
Jealousy as wearing this flower: ‘‘ Jealousy that werede
of yelwe guldes a garland”; and Browne calls the
‘‘orange-tawny marigold” its badge.

There was a very strong belief that the flowers
followed the sun, and many allusions are made to this;
amongst them, two melancholy lines which are said to
have been drawn from some ‘ Meditations” by Charles
I., written at Carisbrooke Castle.

“ The marigold observes the sun,
More than my subjects me have done.”

Shakespeare refers often to this idea, and the flower
was obviously ‘‘to earlier writers the emblem of con-
stancy in affection and sympathy in joy and sorrow,
though it was also the emblem of the fawning courtier
who could only shine when everything is bright.”
(Canon Ellacombe). Marigolds have figured in heraldry,
for Marguerite of Valois, grandmother of Henri IV.,
chose for her armorial device a marigold turning towards
the sun, with the motto, Je me veux suivre que lui seul.
About the fifteenth century the Marigold was called
Souvenir, and ladies wore posies of marigolds and hearts-
ease mingled, that is, a bunch of ‘happiness stored in

1 Ingram, ‘‘ Flora Symbolica.”

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 71

recollections,” a very pretty allegorical meaning. But it
has been the symbol of memories anything but happy, for
curiously enough, this sun’s flower means Grief in the
language of flowers, and in many countries is connected
with the idea of death. This thought occurs in Pericles
and in the song in ‘*Two noble Kinsmen.” In
America, one name for them is death-flowers, because
there is a tradition that they ‘“‘sprang upon ground
stained by the life-blood of these unfortunate Mexicans
who fell victims to the love of gold and arrogant
cruelty of the early Spanish settlers in America.”!
However, to restore the balance of happiness, one learns
that to dream of Marigolds augurs wealth, prosperity,
success, and a rich and happy marriage! In Fuller’s
“ Antheologia, or the Speech of Flowers”—a most
amusing tale—the Marigold occupies a prominent
place. The scene opens with a dispute in the Flowers’
Parliament between the Tulip and the Rose. ‘‘ Whilst
this was passing in the Upper House of Flowers, no less
were the transactions in the Lower House of the Herbs;
where there was a general acclamation against Wormwood.
Wormwood’s friends were casually absent that day, mak-
ing merry at an entertainment, her enemies (let not that
sex be angry for making Wormwood feminine) appeared
in full body and made so great a noise, as if some mouths
had two tongues in them.” Wormwood and the Tulip
were eventually both cast out of the garden, and lying
by the roadside addressed themselves to a passing Wild
Boar, telling him of a hole in the hedge, by which he
may creep into the garden and revenge them, and amuse
himself by destroying the flowers. At the moment he
enters, ‘‘ Thrift, a Flower-Herb, was just courting
Marigold as follows: ‘Mistress of all Flowers that
grow on Earth, give me leave to profess my sincerest
affections to you. . . . I have taken signal notice of your

1 Folkard.

72 THE BOOK OF HERBS

accomplishments, and among other rare qualities, particu-
larly of this, your loyalty and faithfulness to the Sun,
. . . but we all know the many and sovereign virtues in
your leaves, the Herb General in all pottage.” He then
proceeds to praise himself, ‘I am no gamester to shake
away with a quaking hand what a more fixed hand did
gain and acquire. Iam none of those who in vanity of
clothes bury my quick estate as in a winding sheet.”
The Marigold demurely hung her head and replied, ‘I
am tempted to have a good opinion of myself, to which
all people are prone, and we women most of all, if we
may believe your opinions of us, which herein I am afraid
are too true.” But she is not deceived by his flattery.
‘The plain truth is you love me not for myself, but for
your advantage. It is Golden the arrear of my name, which
maketh Thrift to be my suitor. How often and how
unworthily have you tendered your affections even to a
Penny royal itself, had she not scorned to be courted by
you. But I commend the girl that she knew her own
worth, though it was but a penny, yet it is a Roya/ one, and
therefore not a match for every base Suitor, but knew
how to value herself; and give me leave to tell you that
Matches founded on Covetousness never succeed.” At
this point in her spirited reply the Boar approached.
«« There is no such teacher as extremity ; necessity hath
found out more Arts than ever ingenuity invented. The
Wall Gillyfower ran up to the top of the Wall of the
Garden, where it hath grown ever since, and will never
descend till it hath good security for its own safety.”
Other thrilling scenes follow, and finally the Boar is put
an end to by the gardener and ‘‘a Guard of Dogs.”
Marigolds stood as a standard of comparison, and
Isaac Walton uses the common saying, ‘‘ As yellow as
a Marigold.” Among the various titles of different kinds
of Marigold Gerarde gives the oddest, for he calls one
variety Jackanapes-on-horseback; Fuller calls it the

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 73

“‘Herb-Generall of all pottage,” and it was much
esteemed in this capacity. Gay says:
Fair is the gillyflour, for gardens sweet,
Fair is the marigold, for pottage meet.
The Squabble.

‘©The yellow leaves of the flowers are dried and kept
throughout Dutchland against winter, to put into broths,
in physical potions, and for divers other purposes in such
quantity that in some Grocers or Spice Sellers houses
are to be found barrels filled with them and retailed by
the penny more or less, insomuch that no broths are well
made without Marigolds.” One is reminded of the
childish heroine in Miss Edgeworth’s charming story
«Simple Susan” and how she added the petals of Mari-
golds, as the last touch, to the broth she had made for
her invalid mother! Parkinson observes that the flowers
“green or dryed are often used in possets, broths and
drinks as a comforter to the heart and spirits,” and that
Syrup and Conserve are made of the fresh flowers; also
“the fowers of Marigold pickt clean from the heads and
pickled up against winter make an excellent Sallet when
no flowers are to be had in a garden, which Sallet is
nowadays in the highest esteem with Gentles and Ladies
of the greatest note.” There is a tone of patronage in this
last remark which is rather irritating. ‘‘Some used to
make their heyre yellow with the floure of this herbe,”
says Turner, and severely censures the impiousness of
such an act. A hundred years ago, according to Aber-
cromby, the flowers were chiefly used to flavour broth
and to adulterate Saffron, but they must be even less
employed now than then.

Dr Fernie says that the flowers of Marigold were
much used by American surgeons during the Civil War,
in treating wounds, and with admirable results. ‘‘ Ca/en-
dula owes its introduction and first use altogether to
homeopathic practice, as signally valuable for healing

74 THE BOOK OF HERBS

wounds, ulcers, burns, and other breaches of the skin
surface.” Personal experience leads me to suggest that
it is an excellent household remedy.

Tue Corn Maricoip (Chrysanthemum segetum) used
to be called Guildes, and it was once so rampant that
a law was passed by the Scottish Parliament to fine
negligent farmers who allowed it to overrun their lands.
Hence the old Scots saying—

The Gordon, the Guild, and the Watercraw
Are the three worst ills the Moray ever saw.

PENNYROYAL (Mentha pulegium).

Peniriall is to print your love,
So deep within my heart,
That when you look this nosegay on
My pain you may impart,
And when that you have read the same,
Consider wel my woe.
Think ye then how to recompense
Even him that loves you so.
A Handful of Pleasant Delites.
C. Rosinson.

Then balm and mint helps to make up
My chapter, and for trial,
Costmary, that so likes the cup,
And next it, pennyroyal.
Muses’ Elysium.
Lavender, Corn-rose, Pennyroyal sate,
And that which cats } esteem so delicate
After a while slow-pac’d with much ado,
Ground pine, with her short legs, crept hither too.
Of Plants, book ii.—Cow ey.

In France, Italy, and Spain, the children make a créche
de noél at Christmas time; that is, they make a shed
with stones and moss, and surround it with evergreens
powdered with flour and cotton-wool, to make a little
landscape. In and about this shed are placed the gens

1 Cat-mint,

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 75

de la créche ; little earthen figures representing the Holy
Family, and the Three Kings with their camels, and the
Shepherds with their flocks, the sheep being disposed
among the miniature rocks and bushes. On Christmas
eve, or else sometimes on Twelfth Night, I think, these
are saluted with the music of pipes and carol singing.
De Gubernatis says that the children of Sicily always
put pennyroyal amongst the green things in their créches,
and believe that exactly at midnight it bursts into ower
for Christmas Day.

Other names for it are Pulioll Royal and Pudding-
grasse, ‘“‘and in the west parts, as about Exeter,
Organs.” It is still called organs in the ‘‘ West parts,”
and organ-tea used to be a favourite drink to take out to
the harvesters. \In Italy pennyroyal is a protection
against the Evil Eye, and in Sicily, they tie it to the
branches of the fig-tree, thinking that this will prevent
the figs falling before they are ripe. It is there also
offered to husbands and wives who are in the habit of
“falling out” with each other. \ “The Ancients said that
it causeth Sheepe and Goates-to bleate when they are
eating of it.” To produce all those wonderful effects,
it must have a great deal of magic about it. Gerarde
says it grows ‘‘in the Common neare London, called
Miles End, about the holes and ponds thereof in sundry
places, from whence poore women bring plentie to sell
in London markets.” Would that it could be found at
“Miles End” now! He gives in passing a sidelight on
the comfort in travelling, in the good old days: “If
you have when you are at the sea Penny Royal in great
quantitie, drie and cast it into corrupt water, it helpeth
it much, neither will it hurt them that drinke thereof.”
This inevitable state of things, in making a voyage, is
faced with philosophic calm. ‘A Garland of Pennie
Royal made and worne on the head is good against
headache and giddiness.”

76 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Pursiane (Portulaca).

The worts, the purslane and the mess

Of water-cress,
Thanksgiving. —Henrrick.

De la Quintinye thought Purslane ‘‘one of the
prettiest plants in a kitchen-garden, the red or golden being
the most agreeable to the eye and the more delicate and
difficult to raise than the green. The thick stalks of
Purslain that is to run to seed, are good to pickle in
Salt and Vinegar for Winter Sallads.” I do not agree
with him; the leaves are pretty enough, but thick,
fleshy, and of no special charm. The graceful Coriander
or the lace-like leaves of Sweet Cicely are far more to
be admired. But even Purslane, which looks quite
prosaic, was mixed up with magic long ago, for strewn
about a bed, it used! ‘‘in olden times to be considered
a protection against evil spirits.” Among a vast number
of diseases, for all of which it is highly recommended,
“blastings by lightening, or planets, and for burning
of gunpowder” are named and Turner says, ‘‘It helpeth
the teeth when they are an edged,” so it had many
uses !

Evelyn finds that “familiarly eaten alone with Oyl
and Vinegar,” moderation should be used, but remarks
that it is eminently moist and cooling ‘“ especially the
golden,” and is ‘‘ generally entertained in all our sallets.
Some eate of it cold, after it has been boiled, which Dr
Muffit would have in wine for nourishment.” Not a
tempting dish, by the sound of it! The Purslanes are
found from the Cape of Good Hope and South America
to the ‘* frozen regions of the North.” The root of
one variety Lewisia redeviva, called Tobacco root (be-
cause it has the smell of tobacco when cooked), has great
nutritive qualities. It is a native of North America,
and is boiled and eaten by the Indians, and on long

' Folkard.

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 77

journeys it is of special use, ‘‘ two or three ounces a day
being quite sufficient for a man, even while undergoing
great fatigue.” (Hogg.)

Ram-cicHes (Cicer Arietinum).

Ram-ciches, Ramshead, or Chick Pea, gains the two
first names from the curious shape of the seed pods
which are ‘‘ puffed up as it were with winde in which
do lie two, or at the most three seeds, small towards
the end, with one sharp corner, not much unlike to a
Ram’s head.” ‘Turner says that the plant is very ill for
newe fallowed ground and that ‘it killeth all herbes
and most and sounest of all other ground thistel,” which
seems a loss one could survive. According to Parkin-
son the seeds are ‘‘boyled and stewed as the most
dainty kind of Pease there are, by the Spaniards,” and
he adds that in his own opinion, ‘they are of a very
good relish and doe nourish much.” They are still
eaten and appreciated by the country people in the south
of France and Spain. Like Borage, Ram-ciches is parti-
cularly interesting to students of chemistry; for it is
said that ‘‘in very hot weather the leaves sparkle with
very small tears of a viscous and very limpid liquid,
extremely acid, and which has been discovered to be
oxalic acid in its pure state.” }

Rampton (Campanula Rapunculus).
The Citrons, which our soil not easily doth afford,

The Rampions rare as that.
Polyolbion Song, xv.

De Gubernatis tells a most curious story from Calabria
almost exactly that of Cupid and Psyche, but it begins

1 Hogg.

78 THE BOOK OF HERBS

by saying that the maiden, wandering alone in the fields,
uprooted a rampion, and so discovered a stair-case lead-
ing to a palace in the depths of the earth.

One of Grimm’s fairy tales is called after the heroine,
Rapunzel (Rampion), for she was given this plant’s name,
and the whole plot hangs on Rampions being stolen from
a magician’s garden. ‘There is an Italian tradition that
the possession of a rampion (as that of strawberries,
cherries, or red shoes), would excite quarrels among
children, which would sometimes go as far as ‘‘ murder.”
Even in a land of quick passions and southern blood, it
can hardly be thought that this tradition had much
ground to spring from, and I have not heard of it as
existing further north. Parkinson says that the roots
may be eaten as salad or ‘‘ boyled and stewed with
butter and oyle, and some blacke or long pepper cast on
them.” The distilled water of the whole plant is excel-
lent for the complexion, and ‘‘ maketh the face very
splendent.” Evelyn thought Rampions ‘‘much more
nourishing ” than Radishes, and they are said to have
a ‘‘pleasant, nutty flavour”; in the winter the leaves
as well as the roots make a nice salad. Even if it is not
grown for use, it might well, with its graceful spires
of purple bells, be put for ornament in shrubberies.
Parkinson has said of Honesty, that ‘‘some eate the young
rootes before they runne up to flower, as Rampions are
eaten with vinegar and oyle”; but Evelyn warns us apropos
of this very plant (with others) how cautiously the
advice of the Ancient Authors should be taken by the
sallet gatherer (Parkinson was probably quoting from
the ‘* Ancients” when he said this); ‘for however it
may have been in their countries, in England Radix
Lunaria is accounted among the deadly poisons!” One
cannot help wondering if Parkinson or Gerarde ever
knew those hardy individuals they allude to as ‘‘ some,”
and who tried the experiment !

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 79

RocaMBo_e (A/dlium Scorodoprasum).

Rocambole is a kind of garlic, but milder in flavour,
and it is a native of Denmark. De la Quintinye seems
to confuse it with Shallots (d/ium ascalonium), as he
writes of ‘“‘Shallots or Rocamboles, otherwise Spanish
Garlick.” Evelyn, speaking of Garlic as impossible—
one cannot help feeling with a smothered wistfulness—
says: ‘To be sure, ‘tis not fit for Ladies’ Palates, nor
those who court them, farther than to permit a light
touch in the Dish, with a Clove thereof, much better
supplied by the gentler Rocambole.”

Rocket (Fruca sativa).

Various plants claim the name of Rocket, but it was
Eruca sativa that was used as a salad herb. Parkinson
explains the Italian name Ruchetta and Rucola Gentile
thus: ‘‘ This Rocket Gentle, so-called from the Italians,
who by that title of Gentle understand anything that
maketh one quicke and ready to jest, to play.” It is
certainly not specially gentle in the ordinary sense of the
words, for it has leaves ‘like those of Turneps, but
not neere so great nor rough”; and if eaten alone, ‘it
causeth head-ache and heateth too much.” It is,
however, good in Salads of Lettuce, Purslane, ‘and
such cold herbes,” and Turner observes that ‘‘ some use
the sede for sauce, the whiche that it may last the
longer, they knede it with milke or vinegre, and make
it into little cakes.” It has a strong peculiar smell, and
is no longer used in England; though Loudon says that
in some places on the Continent it makes ‘‘an agreeable
addition to cresses and mustard in early spring.” Cul-
pepper found that the common wild Rocket was hurtful
used alone, as it has too much heat, but to “hot and
choleric persons it is less harmful” (one would have
imagined that it would have been the other way) and

80 THE BOOK OF HERBS

‘for such we may say, a little doth but a little harm,
for angry Mars rules them, and he sometimes will be
rusty when he meets with fools.” This is altogether a
dark saying, but it gives little encouragement to those
who would make trial of Rocket.

Lonpon Rocket (Srsymbrium Irio).

This plant gained its name in a singular way. It is
said to have first appeared in London in the spring
following the Great Fire, ‘when young Rockets were
seen everywhere springing up among the ruins, where
they increased so marvellously that in the summer the
enormous crop crowding over the surface of London
created the greatest astonishment and wonder.”?!

SaFFRON (Crocus sativus).

Nor Cyprus wild vine-flowers, nor that of Rhodes,
Nor Roses oil from Naples, Capua,

Saffron confected in Cilicia.
Nor that of Quinces, nor of Marjoram,

That ever from the Isle of Cods came,

Nor these, nor any else, though ne’er so rare
Could with this place for sweetest smells compare,

Br. Pastorals, Book I.

Clown, I must have Saffron to colour the Warden pies.
Winter's Tale, iv. 2,

You set Saffron and there came up Wolf’s bane, (Saying to express
an action which has an unexpected result.)

Saffron has been of great importance since the earliest
days, and it is mentioned in a beautiful passage of the
Song of Solomon. ‘*Thy plants are an orchard of
Pomegranates, with pleasant fruits, Camphire with
Spikenard, Spikenard and Saffron, Calamus and Cin-
namon, with all trees of Frankincense, Myrrh and Aloes,
with all the chief spices,” iv. 13, 14.

1 Folkard.

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 81

Canon Ellacombe says that the Arabic name, /
Zabafaran was the general name for all Croci, and ex-
tended to the Cclchicums, which were called Meadow
Saffrons. It is pointed out by Mr Friend that, further,
the flower has given its name to a colour, and had given
it in the days of Homer, and he remarks how much
more exactly the expression ‘“‘ Saffron-robed” morning
describes the particular tints seen sometimes before sun-
rise (or at sunset) than any other words can do. Saffron
Walden in Essex, whose arms are given on page Iol,
and Saffron Hill in London (which once formed part of
the Bishop of Ely’s garden), are also obviously named
after it, and as is seen in the former case it has given
arms to a borough. As to its introduction into England
Hakluyt writes (1582): ‘It is reported at Saffron
Walden that a pilgrim proposing to do good to his
country, stole a head of Saffron, and hid the same in
his Palmer’s Staffe, which he had made hollow before of
purpose, and so he brought the root into this realme
with venture of his life, for if he had been taken, by the
law of the countrey from whence it came, he had died
for the fact” (‘‘English Voyages,” vol. ii.). Canon
Ellacombe thinks that it was probably originally brought
here in the days of the Romans, and found ‘‘in a
Pictorial Vocabulary of the fourteenth century, ‘ Hic
Crocus, An? Safryn,’ so that I think the plant must have
been in cultivation in England at that time.” In the
work of ‘‘ Mayster Ion Gardener,” written about 1440,
one of the eight parts into which it is divided is wholly
devoted to a discourse, ‘‘ Of the Kynde of Saferowne,”
which shows that Saffron must have been a good deal
considered in his day. The Charity Commission of
1481 mentions two Saffron-gardens ; and in the church-
warden’s accounts at Saffron Walden, in the second
year of Richard III.’s reign, there is an entry, ‘‘ Payd to
John Rede for pyking of Vunc Saffroni, xii.” The

F

82 THE BOOK OF HERBS

town accounts of Cambridge show that in 1531 Saffron
was grown there; and at Barnwell in the next parish
the prior of Barnwell had ten acres.

Some old wills, too, throw some light on the subject.
In the will of Alyce Sheyne of Sawstone, in 1527, ‘‘a
rood of Saffron” is left to her son. In 1530 (1533?)
John Rede, also of Sawstone, leaves his godson a ‘‘ rood
of Saffron in Church Field,” and William Hockison of
Sawstone, bequeathed in 1531, ‘‘to Joan, my wife, a
rood of Saffron, and to my maid, Marger, and my son,
John, half an acre.” As may be easily inferred from
these legacies, Saffron was very largely grown at
Sawstone, and the two adjoining parishes, as well as at
Saffron Walden. The first man to introduce it into
Saffron Walden to be cultivated on a really large scale
was Thomas Smith, Secretary of State to Edward VI.,
and in 1565, it was grown in abundance. In 1557
Turner speaks of Saffron-growing, as if this was very
general, but it must be remembered that he started life
in Essex, farmed successively in Suffolk and Norfolk,
and returned to his native county to a farm at Fairstead,
and having never moved very far from the special home
of the industry, he naturally took as an ordinary pro-
ceeding, what would have been very unusual in other
parts of the country. It can never have been very
widely cultivated; for Turner, whose ‘ Herbal” gives
an immense deal of information, and who wrote when
the industry was in full swing, omits all mention of
Saffron, though he speaks of, and evidently knew
Meadow Saffron.

This is a strong sign that cultivation must have been
confined to certain localities, chiefly in the eastern
counties, though in the west it was grown at Hereford
and surrounding districts to a very considerable extent.
I do not mean to imply that none was grown in neigh-
bouring counties, but the evidence is not easy to get,

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 83

and I have not gone deeply enough into the subject to
find it, but the Saffron of Hereford was famed.

At Black Marston in Herefordshire, in 1506 and again
in 1528, leave was granted by the Prioress of Acorn-
bury, to persons to cultivate Saffron extensively.

In 1582, in spite of a continued demand for it, the
cultivation of Saffron seems to have decreased, for
Hakluyt writes in his ‘‘ Remembrances for Master S.”
[what to observe in a journey he is about to undertake].
‘« Saffron groweth in Syria. . . . But if a vent might be
found, men would in Essex (about Saffron Walden) and
in Cambridgeshire, revive the trade for the benefit of
setting the poore on worke. So would they do in
Herefordshire by Wales, where the best of all Englande
is, in which place the soil yields the wilde ‘‘ Saffron”
commonly.” The soil there still yields the wilde Saffron
so commonly that at the present moment it is regarded
with disfavour, as being quite a drawback to some
pasture lands, but it is no longer grown there for
commercial purposes. Neither Gerarde (1596) nor
Parkinson (1640) mention Saffron-growing as an in-
dustry, but in 1681 ‘I. W.” gives directions for
cultivating and drying it. ‘‘ English Saffron,” he says,
“is esteemed the best in the world; it’s a plant very
suitable to our climate and soil.” At Saffron Walden it
continued to be grown for commerce for over two
hundred years, but has now been uncultivated in that
locality for more than a century. In Cambridgeshire,
however, it flourished to a later date, and the last
Saffron grower in England was a man named Knot,
who lived at Duxford in Cambridgeshire, and who grew
Saffron till the year 1816.

This is Turner’s advice for cultivating it.

When harvest is gone,
Then Saffron comes on.
A little of ground,
Brings Saffron a pound,

84 THE BOOK OF HERBS

The pleasure is fine,

The profit is thine.

Keep colour in drying,
Well used, worth buying.

And also :—
Pare Suffron between the two St Mary’s days?
Or set or go shift it, that knoweth the ways. . .
In having but forty foot, workmanly dight
Take Saffron enough fora lord or a knight.
August's Husbandry.

From old records it seems to have been grown in
small patches of less than an acre, and to have been
a most profitable crop. ‘I. W.,” in his directions says,
for drying it, ‘‘a small kiln made of clay, and with a
very little Fire, and that with careful attendance,” is
required. ‘Three Pounds thereof moist usually making
one of dry. One acre may bear from seven to fifteen
Pound, and hath been sold from 20s. a Pound to £5 a
Pound.” The last price sounds as if it existed only in his
imagination, and one cannot really think that it was given
often! But on one occasion, Timbs says, an even higher
sum was reached, for when Queen Elizabeth paid a visit
to Saffron Walden, the Corporation paid five guineas
for one pound of Saffron to present to her. Though
this was exceptional, the usual prices for it were very
high ; and to show this, and also the enormous amount
that was used in cooking, Miss Amherst quotes from
some old accounts of the Monastery of Durham: ‘In
1531, half a pound of ‘Crocus’ or Saffron was bought
in July, the same quantity in August and in November,
a quarter of a pound in September, and a pound and a half
in October.” So much for the quantity ; as to the price,
a merchant of Cambridgeshire charged them in 1539-
1540 for 64 lbs. Crocus, £7, 8s.

Saffron used to be much employed to colour and to
flavour pies and cakes, and it was this reason that Perdita
sent the ‘‘Clown” to fetch some, when she was making

1 July 22nd and August 15th.

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 85

‘« Warden ” (Pear) pies for the sheep-shearing. Saffron
cakes still prevail in Cornwall, and come over the border
into the next county, and a chemist, in Somerset, said
quite lately, that thirty years since, he used to sell
quantities of Saffron at Easter-time, but that much less
is asked for now. It seems to have been specially used
in the materials for feasting at this season. Evelyn tells
us that the Germans made it into ‘little balls with
honey, which afterwards they dry and reduce to powder,
and then sprinkle over salads” for a ‘noble cordial.”
For medicinal purposes Saffron is imported, for in spite
of “I. W.’s” praise, that grown in England is far from
equalling that of Greece and Asia Minor, though in any
case it is only now used as a colouring matter. The
saying which survives, ‘‘So dear as Saffron,” to express
anything of worth, is a proof of how great its value
once was ; and it is true that the plant was credited with
powers nothing short of miraculous. Perhaps Fuller
tells us the most startling news: ‘In a word, the
Sovereign Power of genuine Saffron is plainly proved
by the Antipathy of the Crocodiles thereunto. For the
Crocodile’s tears are never true save when he is forced
where Saffron groweth (when he hath his name of y£ox0-
s7A@ or the Saffron-fearer) knowing himselfe to be all
Poison, and it all Antidote.”

After this, Gerarde’s assertion that for those whom
consumption has brought “at death’s doore, and almost
past breathing, that it bringeth breath againe,” sounds
moderate. On the doctrine of Signatures, Saffron
was prescribed for jaundice and measles, and it is
also recommended to be put into the drinking water
of canaries when they are moulting. Irish women are
said to dye their sheets with Saffron, that it may give
strength to their limbs. Saffron has long been much
esteemed as a dye, and Ben Jonson tells us of this use for
it in his days in lines that literally rollick :—

86 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Give us bacon, rinds of walnuts,
Shells of cockles and of small nuts,
Ribands, bells, and saffron’d linen,
All the world is ours to win in.
The Gipsies Metamorphosed,

Gerarde says: ‘‘The chives (stamens) steeped in
water serve to illumine or (as we say) limme pictures
and imagerie,” and Canon Ellacombe quotes from an
eleventh century work, showing that it was employed
for the same purpose then. ‘If ye wish to decorate
your work in some manner, take tin, pure and finely
scraped, melt it and wash it like gold, and apply it with
the same glue upon letters or other places which you
wish to ornament with gold or silver; and when you
have polished it with a tooth, take Saffron with which
Silk is coloured, moistening it with clear of egg without
water; and when it has stood a night, on the following
day, cover with a pencil the places which you wish
to gild, the rest holding the place of silver.” —Theophilus,
HeEnpr1e’s Translation.

Meadow-Saffron, or Colchicum, yields a drug still much
prescribed, of which Turner uttered a caution in 1568.
He says it is a drug to ‘‘isschew.” He warns those
“* syke in the goute ” (for whom it was, and is, a standard
remedy) that much of it is ‘‘sterke poyson, and will
strongell a man and kill him in thé space of one day.”
Drugs must, indeed, have been administered in heroic
measures at that time—if he really ever heard of such
a case at first hand. It is from the corm, or bulb, of
the plant that Colchicum is extracted.

SaMPHIRE (Crithium maritimum).

Edgar. Half way down
Hangs one that gathers Samphire, dreadful trade !
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head,
King Lear, iv. 6.

Samphire is St Peter’s Herb, and gains the distinction

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TITLE-PAGE OF GEKARD'S “HERBAL”

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 8%

either because it grows on sea-cliffs, and so is appropriate
to the patron of fishermen, or more probably, because
it flourishes on rocks, and its roots strike deep into
the crevices. The French call it Herbe de St Pierre and
Pierce-Pierre, from its peculiar way of growing ; and the
Italians have the same name, but call it Pinocchio marino
as well; and this title, translated to Meer-finckell, was
also the German and Dutch name, according to Parkin-
son. It is strongly aromatic, ‘‘ being of smell delightfule
and pleasant, and hath many fat and thicke leaves, some-
what like those of the lesser Purslane . . . of a spicie
taste, with a certaine saltness.” Gerarde praises it pickled
in salads. Edgar’s words show that it must have been
popular in Elizabethan days, and so it was for more than
a hundred years after as ‘‘the pleasantest Sauce”; and
Evelyn considered it preferable to ‘“‘most of our hotter
herbs,” and “long wonder’d it has not long since been
cultivated in the Potagéreasit isin France. It groweth on
the rocks that are often moistened, at the least, if not over-
flowed with the sea water,” a verdict which tallies with
the saying that Samphire grows out of reach of the
waves, but within reach of the spray of every tide. I
have found it growing in much that position on rocks
on the seashore in Cornwall. Two other kinds of
Samphire, Golden Samphire (Inula Crithmifolia) and
Marsh Samphire (Salicornia Herbacea), are sometimes sold
as the true Samphire, but neither of them have so good
a flavour.

SKIRRETS (Sium Sisarum).

The Skirret and the leek’s aspiring kind,
The noxious poppy-quencher of the mind.
The Salad.—Cowrerr.

“This is that siser or skirret which Tiberius the
Emperour commanded to be conveied unto him from
Gelduba, a castle about the river of Rhine,” and which

88 THE BOOK OF HERBS

delighted him so much ‘that he desired the same to be
brought unto him everye yeare out of Germanie.” Evelyn
found them “hot and moist . . . exceedingly whole-
some, nourishing and delicate . . . and so valued by the
Emperor Tiberius that he accepted them for tribute ””—
a point that Gerarde’s statement hardly brought out.
“This excellent root is seldom eaten raw, but being
boil’d, stew’d, roasted under the Embers, bak’d in Pies
whole, slic’d or in Pulp, is very acceptable to all Palates.
’Tis reported they were heretofore something bitter,
see what culture and education effects.” On the top of
these congratulations, perhaps it is unkind to say the
reported bitterness has a very mythical sound, for long
before Evelyn’s time, the Dutch name for skirret was
Suycker wortelen (sugar root), and that Marcgrave
has extracted “ fine white sugar, little inferior to that of
the cane” from it. But from Turner’s account there
seems to have been formerly some confusion as to the
identity of the plant, and one claimant to the title
was somewhat bitter, so perhaps this was the cause of
the remarks in Acetaria. In Scotland, Skirrets were
called Crummock. Though few people seem to have
appreciated them so much as did our ancestors, they
were till lately sometimes boiled and sent to the table,
but are now hardly ever seen.

SMALLAGE (Apium graveolens).

Smallage is merely wild celery, and all that is
interesting about it is Parkinson’s description of his first
making acquaintance with sweet smallage—our celery,
which has been already quoted. He merely says of
ordinary smallage that it is “‘ somewhat like Parsley, but
greater, greener and more bitter.” It grows wild in
moist grounds, but is also planted in gardens, and
although ‘his evil taste and savour, doth cause it

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 89

not to be accepted unto meats as Parsley,” yet it has

‘‘many good properties both for inward and outward
diseases.”

SToNEcRoP (Sedum). -

Stone-crop, Stone-hot, Prick-Madam or Trick-Madam
is a Sedum, but which Sedum the old Herbalists called by
these names is not absolutely clear, it was probably
Sedum Telephium or Sedum Album. Evelyn speaks of
“Tripe-Madam, Vermicularis Insipida,” which seems to
point to the latter, as that used to be called
Worm-grass. He says Tripe-madam is ‘cooling and
moist,” but there is another Stone-crop of as pernicious
qualities as the former are laudable, Wall-pepper, Sedum
Minus Causticum (most likely our Sedum Acre). This is
called by the French, Tricque-Madame, and he cautions
the “‘ Sallet-Composer, if he be not botanist sufficiently
skilful” to distinguish them by the eye, to ‘consult
his palate,” and taste them before adding them to the
other ingredients.

SwEeT Cicery (Myrrhis odorata).

Sweet Cicely or Sweet Chervil was apparently less
of a favourite than its romantic name would seem to
warrant, for I can find no traditions concerning it.
“«Chervil ” (of which this is a variety) says Gerarde, ‘is
thought to be so called because it delighteth to grow
with many leaves, or rather that it causeth joy and
gladness.” There does not seem much connection
between these two interpretations. He continues that
“the name Myrrhus is also called Myrrha, taken from his
pleasant flavour of Myrrh.” Sweet Cicely has a very
pleasant flavour, with this peculiarity, that the leaves
taste exactly as if sugar had just been powdered over
them, but personally I have never been able to recognise

90 THE BOOK OF HERBS

myrrh in it. It is a pretty plant, with “divers great and
fair spread wing leaves, very like and resembling the
leaves of Hemlocke ... but of sweet pleasant and
spice-hot taste. Put among herbes in a sallet it addeth
a marvellous good rellish to all the rest. Some
commend the green seeds sliced and put in a sallet of
herbes. The rootes are eyther boyled and eaten with oyle
and vinegare or preserved or candid.” Sweet Cicely is
very attractive to bees, and was often ‘‘ rubbed over the
insides of the hives before placing them before newly-
cast swarms to induce them to enter,” and in the North
of England Hogg says the seeds are used to polish
and scent oak floors and furniture.

Tansy (Lanacetum vulgare).

Lelipa—Then burnet shall bear up with this
Whose leaf I greatly fancy,
Some camomile doth not amiss
With savory and some tansy.
Muses’ Elysium,
The hot muscado oil, with milder maudlin cast
Strong tansey, fennel cool, they prodigally waste.
Polyolbion, Song xv.

The name Tansy comes from Athanasia, Immortality,
because its flower lasts so long, and it is dedicated to
St Athanasius. It is connected with various interesting
old customs, and especially with. some observed at
Easter time. Brand quotes several old rhymes in
reference to this.

Soone at Easter cometh Alleluya.
With butter, cheese and a tansay.
From Douce’s Collection of Carols
On Easter Sunday be the pudding seen
To which the Tansey lends her sober green.
The Oxford Sausage.
Wherever any grassy turf is view’d,
It seems a tansie all with sugar strew’d.
From Shipman’s Poems.

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 91

The last lines occur in a description of the frost in 1654.
None of these quotations refer to the plant.alone; but to
that kind of cake or frittter called taansie, and of which
Tansy leaves formed an ingredient. Tansy must be
‘‘eaten young, shred small with other herbes, or else,
the juiyce of it and other herbes, fit for the purpose
beaten with egges and fried into cakes (in Lent and in the
Spring of the year) which are usually called Tansies.”
Though Parkinson speaks of their being eaten in Lent
(as they no doubt were), the special day that they were
in demand was Easter Day, and of this practice Cul-
pepper has a good deal to say. Tansies were then eaten
as a remembrance of the bitter herbs eaten by the Jews at
the Passover. ‘‘ Our Tansies at Easter have reference to
the bitter herbs, though at the same time ’twas always the
fashion for a man to have a gammon of bacon, to show
himself to be no Jew.” This little glimpse of an old
practice comes from Selden’s Tad/e Ta/k and the idea of
taking this means to declare one’s self a Christian is really
delightful. I must quote again from Brand to show an-
other very extraordinary Easter Day custom. “ Belithus,
a ritualist of ancient times, tells us that it was customary
in some churches for the Bishops and Archbishops them-
selves to play with the inferior clergy at hand-ball, and
this, as Durand asserts, even on Easter Day itself. Why
they should play at hand-ball at this time rather than
any other game, Bourne tells us he has not been able
to discover; certain it is, however, that the present
custom of playing at that game on Easter Holidays for a
tansy-cake has been derived from thence.” Stool-ball was
apparently a most popular amusement and Lewis in his
English Presbyterian Eloquence criticises the tenets of
the Puritans, and observes with disapproval that all
games where there is ‘‘any hazard of loss are strictly

_forbidden; not so much as a game of stool-ball
for a tansy is allowed.” From a collection of poems

92 THE BOOK OF HERBS

called «‘A Pleasant Grove of New Fancies,” 1657,
Brand extracts the following verses :—

At stool-ball, Lucia, let us play
For sugar, cakes and wine
Or for a tansey let us pay,
The loss be thine or mine.

If thou, my dear, a winner be,
At trundling of the ball,

The wager thou shalt have and me,
And my misfortunes all,

Let us hope that the stake was handsomer than it
sounds! Brand quotes another very curious practice in
which Tansies have a share, once existing in the North.
On Easter Sanday, the young men of the village would
steal the buckles off the maidens’ shoes. On Easter
Monday, the young men’s shoes and buckles were taken
off by the young women. On Wednesday, they are
redeemed by little pecuniary forfeits, out of which an
entertainment, called a Tansey Cake, is made, with danc-
ing. One cannot help wondering how this cheerful, if
somewhat peculiar custom originated! In course of
time Tansies came to be eaten only about Easter-time
and the practice seems to have acquired at one period
the lustre almost of a religious rite in which super-
stition had a considerable share. Coles (1656) and
Culpepper (1652) rebel against this and show with
force and clearness the advantages of eating Tansies
throughout the spring. Coles ignores the ceremonial
reasons and says that the origin of eating it in the
spring is because Tansy is very wholesome after the
salt fish consumed during Lent, and counteracts the ill-
effects which ‘‘the moist and cold constitution of winter”
has made on people .. . ‘‘ though many understand it not
and some simple people take it for a matter of supersti-
tion to do so.” This shows plainly that the idea of eating
Tansies only at Easter, was pretty widely spread. Cul-

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 93

pepper as usual is more incisive. He first gives the same
reason that Coles does for eating Tansies in the spring ;
then: “‘ At last the world being over-run with Popery,
a monster called superstition pecks up his head, and. . .
obscures the bright beams of knowledge by his dismal
looks; (physicians seeing the Pope and his imps, selfish,
began to do so too), and now, forsooth, Tansies must be
eaten only on Palm and Easter Sundays and their neigh-
bour days. At last superstition being too hot to hold, and
the selfishness of physicians walking in the clouds; after
the friars and monks had made the people ignorant, the
superstition of the time, was found out by the virtue of
the herb hidden and now is almost, if not altogether left
off. Scarcely any physicians are beholden to none so
much as they are to monks and friars; for wanting of
eating this herb in spring, maketh people sickly in
summer, and that makes work for the physician. If
it be against any man or woman’s conscience to eat
Tansey in the spring, I am as unwilling to burthen their
conscience, as I am that they should burthen mine; they
may boil it in wine and drink the decoction, it will work
the same effect.” <‘‘ The Pope and his imps” is a grand
phrase! A more militant Protestant than Culpepper it
would be difficult to find, even in these days.

From other writers, it seems that the phase of associ-
ating Tansies exclusively with Easter, must have worn
itself out, for we find many descriptions of them on
distinctly secular occasions. At the Coronation Feast of
James II. and his Queen, a Tansie was served among the
1445 ‘Dishes of delicious Viands” provided for it, and
I must quote some of the others :—‘‘Stag’s tongues,
cold; Andolioes; Cyprus Birds, cold and Asparagus; a
pudding, hot; Salamagundy; 4 Fawns; Io Oyster
pyes, hot; Artichokes; an Oglio, hot; Bacon, Gam-
mon and Spinnage; 12 Stump Pyes; 8 Godwits;
Morels; 24 Puffins; 4 dozen Almond Puddings, hot ;

92 THE BOOK OF HERBS

called “*A Pleasant Grove of New Fancies,” 1657,
Brand extracts the following verses :—

At stool-ball, Lucia, let us play
For sugar, cakes and wine
Or for a tansey let us pay,
The loss be thine or mine.

If thou, my dear, a winner be,
At trundling of the ball,

The wager thou shalt have and me,
And my misfortunes all,

Let us hope that the stake was handsomer than it
sounds! Brand quotes another very curious practice in
which Tansies have a share, once existing in the North.
On Easter Sunday, the young men of the village would
steal the buckles off the maidens’ shoes. On Easter
Monday, the young men’s shoes and buckles were taken
off by the young women. On Wednesday, they are
redeemed by little pecuniary forfeits, out of which an
entertainment, called a Tansey Cake, is made, with danc-
ing. One cannot help wondering how this cheerful, if
somewhat peculiar custom originated! In course of
time Tansies came to be eaten only about Easter-time
and the practice seems to have acquired at one period
the lustre almost of a religious rite in which super-
stition had a considerable share. Coles (1656) and
Culpepper (1652) rebel against this and show with
force and clearness the advantages of eating Tansies
throughout the spring. Coles ignores the ceremonial
reasons and says that the origin of eating it in the
spring is because Tansy is very wholesome after the
salt fish consumed during Lent, and counteracts the ill-
effects which ‘‘the moist and cold constitution of winter”
has made on people .. . ‘‘ though many understand it not
and some simple people take it for a matter of supersti-
tion to do so.” This shows plainly that the idea of eating
Tansies only at Easter, was pretty widely spread. Cul-

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 93

pepper as usual is more incisive. He first gives the same
reason that Coles does for eating Tansies in the spring ;
then: ‘At last the world being over-run with Popery,
a monster called superstition pecks up his head, and . . .
obscures the bright beams of knowledge by his dismal
looks ; (physicians seeing the Pope and his imps, selfish,
began to do so too), and now, forsooth, Tansies must be
eaten only on Palm and Easter Sundays and their neigh-
bour days. At last superstition being too hot to hold, and
the selfishness of physicians walking in the clouds; after
the friars and monks had made the people ignorant, the
superstition of the time, was found out by the virtue of
the herb hidden and now is almost, if not altogether left
off. Scarcely any physicians are beholden to none so
much as they are to monks and friars; for wanting of
eating this herb in spring, maketh people sickly in
summer, and that makes work for the physician. If
it be against any man or woman’s conscience to eat
Tansey in the spring, I am as unwilling to burthen their
conscience, as I am that they should burthen mine; they
may boil it in wine and drink the decoction, it will work
the same effect.” <‘‘ The Pope and his imps” is a grand
phrase! A more militant Protestant than Culpepper it
would be difficult to find, even in these days.

From other writers, it seems that the phase of associ-
ating Tansies exclusively with Easter, must have worn
itself out, for we find many descriptions of them on
distinctly secular occasions. At the Coronation Feast of
James II. and his Queen, a Tansie was served among the
1445 ‘* Dishes of delicious Viands” provided for it, and
I must quote some of the others :—<“‘Stag’s tongues,
cold; Andolioes; Cyprus Birds, cold and Asparagus; a
pudding, hot; Salamagundy; 4 Fawns; Io Oyster
pyes, hot; Artichokes; an Oglio, hot; Bacon, Gam-
mon and Spinnage; 12 Stump Pyes; 8 Godwits ;
Morels; 24 Puffins; 4 dozen Almond Puddings, hot ;

94 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Botargo; Skirrets; Cabbage Pudding; Lemon Sallet ;
Taffeta Tarts; Razar Fish; and Broom Buds, cold.”?
These are only a very few out of an immense variety
that are also named.

Many recipes for a ‘‘ Tansy” exist, and very often
have only the slightest resemblance to one another,
but this is rather a nice one and is declared by its tran-
scriber to be ‘‘the most agreeable of all the boiled
Herbaceous Dishes.” It consists of: Tansey, being
qualify’d with the juices of other fresh Herbs; Spinach,
green Corn, Violet, Primrose Leaves, etc., at entrance of the
spring, and then fry’d brownish, is eaten hot, with the
Juice of Orange and Sugar.” Isaac Walton speaks of a
“‘ Minnow Tansy,” which is made of Minnows < fried
with yolks of eggs; the flowers of cowslips and of
primroses and a little tansy; thus used they make a
dainty dish of meat.” Our ancestors seem to have had
a great love of ‘‘ batter,” for it is a prominent part in
very many of their dishes. Mrs Milne Home says, ‘‘In
Virginia the Negroes make Tansy-tea for colds and at a
pinch, Mas’r’s cook will condescend to use it in a sauce,”
but in English cookery, it has absolutely disappeared.

Tansy had many medicinal virtues. Sussex people
used to say that to wear Tansy-leaves in the shoe, was a
charm against ague.

Wild Tansy looks handsome when it grows in abund-
ance on marshy ground; and, indeed, its feathery leaves
are beautiful anywhere, and it has a more refreshing scent
than the Garden-Tansy. “In some parts of Italy people
present stalks of Wild Tansy to those whom they mean to
insult,”? a proceeding for which there seems neither rhyme
nor reason. Turner tells tales of the vanity of his con-
temporaries, masculine as well as feminine, for he says:

1 Complete Account of the Coronations of the Kings and Queens of
England, J .Roberts.
2 Folkard.

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 95

‘‘Our weomen in Englande and some men that be
sunneburnt and would be fayre, eyther stepe this herbe
in white wyne and wash their faces with the wyne or
ellis with the distilled water of the same.”

THIsTLE (Carduus Marianus and Carduus Benedictus).

Margaret, Get you some of this distilled Carduus Benedictus, and lay it
to your heart, it is the only thing for a qualm.

Hero, There thou prick’st her with a thistle.

Beatrice. Benedictus! why Benedictus ? you have some moral in this
Benedictus.

Margaret. Moral! no, by my troth, I have no moral meaning ; I meant
plain holy thistle.
Much Ado about Nothing, iii, 4.

That thence, as from a garden without dressing
She these should ever have, and never want.
Store from an orchard without tree or plant. . .
And for the chiefest cherisher she lent
The royal thistle’s milky nourishment.
Br. Pastorals, Book i.

The history, legends, and traditions surrounding
Thistles in general, make far too large a subject to be
entered on here, and only these two varieties can be
considered. Carduus Marianus, the Milk or Dappled
Thistle, has sometimes been called the Scotch Thistle,
and announced to be the Thistle of Scotland. As a
matter of fact, I believe, that after long and stormy
controversy, that honour has been awarded to Carduus
Acanthicides, but the Milk Thistle’s claims have received
very strong support, and so it seems most probable,
considering the context, that when Browne referred to
the ‘Royal Thistle,” it was this one that he meant.
This supposition is borne out by Hogg, who writes:
“© As Ray says, it is more a garden vegetable than a
medicinal plant. The young and tender stalks of the
root leaves when stripped of their spiny part, are eaten
like cardoon, or when boiled, are used as greens. The
young stalks, peeled and soaked in water to extract

96 THE BOOK OF HERBS

their bitterness, are excellent as a salad. The scales
of the involucre are as good as those of the artichoke, and
the roots in early spring are good to eat.” The seeds
supply food to many small birds, and it is from the
gold-finch feeding so extensively on them that it has
been called Carduelis. This partiality of the gold-finch
must have been observed in several lands, for the same
name occurs in different tongues. In England, it has
been called Thistlefinch ; in French, Chardonneret, and
in Italian, Cardeletto, Cardeto being a waste covered with
thistles. One cannot help remembering the charming
line :—
“ As the thistle shakes,
When three gray linnets wrangle for the seed,”

with the reflection that other birds besides gold-finches
have a deep appreciation of it.

But to go back to the Thistle itself, after all these
uses made of every part, no wonder that Browne called
it a ‘‘chiefest cherisher of vital power!” Although,
latterly, its reputation in medicine has fallen, in old
days, on account of its numerous prickles (Doctrine
of Signatures), it was thought good for stitches in
the side. Culpepper has further advice: ‘‘In spring,
if you please to boil the tender plant (but cut off the
prickles, unless you have a mind to choke yourself), it
will change your blood as the season changeth, and that
is the way to be safe.”

Carduus Benedictus, called the Holy, or the Blessed
Thistle, was considered a great preservative against the
plague, and that it was also given for a sudden spasm is
shown in the delightful scene between Beatrice and her
friends in ‘‘ Much Ado About Nothing.” It follows the
ruse that they have just played upon her, to persuade her
that Benedict is already in love with her, in the hope
that she may become enamoured of him, and the play upon
the name is very charming. Culpepper says that Carduus

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 97

Benedictus was good against ‘‘ diseases of melancholy,”
which is additional evidence that Shakespeare did not
go out of his way to find an imaginary remedy that
would suit that occasion, but with exquisite skill took
a remedy that would have been natural in his time,
and surrounded it with wit. Less than a hundred years
ago a decoction used to be made from its leaves, which
are remarkable for their ‘‘ intense bitterness,” and it was
said to be an excellent tonic; but, like the Milk Thistle,
the Holy Thistle’s virtues in medicine are now dis-
credited. The thistle was once dedicated to Thor,
and the bright colour of the flower was supposed to
come from the lightning, and therefore lightning could
not hurt any person or building protected by the flower.
It was used a good deal in magic, and there is an old
rite to help a maiden to discover which, of several
suitors, really loves her best. She must take as many
thistles as there are lovers, cut off their points, give
each thistle the name of a man, and lay them under her
pillow, and the thistle which has the name of the most
faithful lover will put forth a fresh sprout! In East
Prussia, says Mr Friend, there is a strange but simple
cure for any domestic animal which may have an open
wound. It is to gather four red thistle blossoms before
the break of day, and to put one in each of the four
points of the compass with a stone in the middle of
them.

Here ends the list of Herbs, but before finishing the
chapter I must add a few names of buds and berries
which, though not herbs, were often employed as such,
especially to garnish, or to flavour dishes. Evelyn
includes many of these in his dcetaria. ‘‘ The Capreols,
Tendrils and Claspers of Vines,” very young, may be
‘eaten alone or mingled with other sallet. So may
the ‘buds and young Turiones of the Tendrils’ of
Hops, either raw, ‘ but more conveniently being boil’d’

G

98 THE BOOK OF HERBS

and cold, like asparagus.” Elder Flowers, infused in
vinegar, are recommended, and ‘‘ though the leaves are
somewhat rank of smell, and so not commendable in
sallet . . . they are of the most sovereign virtue, and
spring buds and tender Jeaves excellent and wholesome
in pottage at that season of the year.” Evelyn experi-
mented with “the large Helotrope or Sunflower (e’er it
comes to expand and show its golden face), which, being
dress’d as the artichoak, is eaten for a dainty. This I
add as anew discovery: I once made macaroons with
ripe blanch’d seed, but the Turpentine did so domineer
over all that it did not answer expectation.” This must
have been a disappointment to his adventurous spirit !
Broom buds appeared on three separate tables at King
James II.’s Coronation feast, and seem to have been
popular, when pickled.

Violets were also used, and Miss Amherst quotes
from an old cookery book the recipe of a pudding
called ‘‘ Mon amy,” which directs the cook to “plant it
with flowers of violets and serve it forth.” Another
recipe is for a dish called “ Vyolette!” ‘Take flowrys
of vyolet, boyle hem, presse hem, bray (pound) hem
smal.” After this they are to be mixed with milk,
‘floure of rys,’ and sugar or honey, and finally to be
coloured with violets. Pine-kernels were sometimes
eaten. Shelley says of Marenghi :

‘¢ His food was the wild fig or strawberry ;
The milky pine-nuts which the autumn blast
Shakes into the tall grass,””

And in England Parkinson writes, ‘‘ The cones or
apples are used of divers Vintners in this city, being
painted to express a bunch of grapes, whereunto they
are very like and are hung up on their bushes, as also
to fasten keyes unto them, as is seene in many places.
The kernels with the hard shels, while they are fresh,
or newly taken out, are used by Apothecaries, Comfit-

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 99

makers, and Cookes. Of them are made Comfits,
Marchpanes and such like, and with them a cunning
cook can make divers kech-choses for his master’s table.”
Barberries were used as a garnish to salads and other
dishes and sometimes as aningredient. Evelyn mentions
them as an item in ‘Sallet All-sorts,” and Gervase
Markham describes the making of ‘‘ Paste of Genoa,”
a confection of Quince, and adds, ‘‘In this sort you now
make paste of Peares, Apples, Wardens, Plummes of
all kindes, Cherries, Barberries or whatever fruit you
please.” He adds this fruit to the ingredients required
in making aromatic vinegar, and also directs that a
good quantity of whole Barberries, both branches and
others,” be served with Pike ‘‘or any fresh fish what-
soever.” Parkinson says, ‘‘ The leaves are sometimes
used in the stead of Sorrell to make sauce for meate,
and by reason of their sournesse are of the same quality.”
The “delicious confitures d’épine vinette, for which
Rouen is famous,” are prepared from them, says Dr
Fernie, and there is no doubt that they make an ex-
cellent jelly. Formerly they were so much prized that,
as Miss Amherst quotes from Le Strange’s ‘‘ Household
Accounts,” in 1618, 3s. was paid for one pound of them.

Strawberry leaves were used as a garnish and
for their flavour. Parkinson tells us that they were
“‘alwayes used among other herbes in cooling
drinks,” and Markham mentions both them and
Violet leaves in his directions to ‘‘Smoar a Mallard,”
and ‘‘to make an excellent Olepotrige, which is the
only principall dish of boyled meate, which is esteemed
in all Spaine. ‘‘For dessert”: The berries are often
brought to the table as a rare service, whereunto
Cleret wine, creame or milke is added with sugar.
The water distilled of the berries is good for the
passions of the heart, caused by the perturbation of
the spirits being eyther drunk alone or in wine, and

100 THE BOOK OF HERBS

maketh the heart mery.” Such a pleasant and easy
remedy against the evils arising from ‘‘ perturbation of
spirits” is worth remembering! Gerarde and Parkinson
both speak of the prickly strawberry; a plant which is
‘‘of no use for meate” but which has ‘‘a small head
of greene leaves, many set thick together like unto a
double ruffe, and is fit for a gentlewoman to wear on
her arme, etc. as araritie instead of a ower.” Gerarde
has a curious little note on its discovery. ‘‘ Mr John
Tradescant hath told me that he was the first that took
notice of this Strawberry and that in a woman’s garden
at Plimouth, whose daughter had gathered and set the
roots in her garden, instead of the common Strawberry,
but she finding the fruit not answer her expectation,
intended to throw it away, which labour he spared her,
in taking it and bestowing it among the lovers of such
vanities.” The custom of transplanting wild straw-
berries was very general.

Wife, unto thy garden and set me a plot,
With strawberry rootes of the best to be got.
Such growing abroade, among thorns in the wood,
Wel chosen and picked proove excellent food.
September's Husbandry, —Tussrr.

Miss Amherst says that in the Hampton Court
Accounts there are ‘“ several entries of money paid for
strawberry roots, brought from the wood to the King’s
garden.” The fact that this is no longer the custom,
may explain the disappointment that some have ex-
perienced, who, in the hope of enjoying ‘the most
excellent cordial smell” described by Sir Francis Bacon,
have haunted their kitchen gardens when the straw-
berry leaves are dying, and without reward. The
strawberries grown there at present are not, as in his
day, natives, subjected to civilisation, but are chiefly
of American or Asiatic origin (the first foreign straw-
berry cultivated in England was Fragaria virginiana, and

HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 101

was introduced from North America in 1629; four years
after the Essay on Gardens was first published), and if
their leaves have any fragrance, it must be of the faintest
possible description. Anyone, however, who passes
through a wood, towards evening, especially if it is a
mild and slightly damp day in October, may speedily
realise how true and admirable was this counsel given
by the Great Lord Chancellor.

THE ARMS OF SAFFRON WALDEN.

CHAPTER III

OF HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, IN HERALDRY, AND
FOR ORNAMENT AND PERFUMES

Now will I weave white violets, daffodils,
With myrtle spray,
And lily bells that trembling laughter fills,
And the sweet crocus gay,
With these blue hyacinth and the lover’s rose,
That she may wear—
My sun-maiden—each scented flower that blows
Upon her scented hair.
Trans. from Meleager.—W. M. Haroince,

Ir is, perhaps, surprising in studying the history of
common English herbs to find how many were the uses
to which they were put by our forefathers. One reason
of their eminence was that no doubt in pre-hygienic
days they were more to be desired, but, besides this,
something ‘ delightful to smell to” seems to have been
a luxury generally appreciated for its own sake. In his
poem of the ‘ Baron’s Wars,” Michael Drayton, by a
casual reference, shows how much agreeable scents
were valued, and the pains taken to procure them. He
is speaking of Queen Isabella’s room.

The fire of precious wood; the light perfume,
Which left a sweetness on each thing it shone,

As ev’rything did to itself assume

The scent from them, and made the same their own,
So that the painted flowers within the room

Were sweet, as if they naturally had grown.

The light gave colours which upon them fell,

And to the colours the perfume gave smell.

And in describing the bewilderment of a “young,

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HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 103

tender maid,” led through the magnificent court of some
prince, he says she was :—
Amazed to see
The furnitures and states, which all embroideries be,

The rich and sumptuous beds, with tester-covering plumes,
And various as the sutes, so various the perfumes.

In a discourse, intended to prove that the magic
number five is perpetually appearing in all forms of
nature, and that network is an equally ubiquitous
design, Sir Thomas Browne mentions en passant, the
“‘nosegay nets” of the ancients—that is, nets holding
flowers, that were suspended from the head, to provide
continuously a pleasant odour for the wearer. It is
very nice to find a survival of the belief that scents
affect the spirits and may be beneficial to the health, and
in ‘Days and Hours in a Garden,” E. V. B. declares
herself to be of that opinion. ‘‘Sweet Smells...
have a certain virtue for different conditions of health,”
she says. ‘‘ Wild Thyme will renew spirits and vital
energy in long walks under an August sun. ‘The pure,
almost pungent scent of Tea Rose, Maréchal Neil is
sometimes invigorating in any lowness of .. . Sweet
Briar promotes cheerfulness . . . Hawthorn is very
doubtful and Lime-blossom is dreamy. . . . Apple-
blossom must be added to my pharmacopeeia of sweet
smells. To inhale a cluster of Blenheim orange gives
back youth for just half a minute after . . . it is a real,
absolute elixir.”

The sacristan’s garden, devoted to growing flowers
and herbs for the service of the church, has been already
mentioned, and Henry VI. actually left in his will a
garden to be kept for this purpose to the church
of Eton College (Nichol’s ‘‘ Wills of the Kings and
Queens of England”). After the Reformation the
practice of laying fresh green things about the churches
was apparently not abandoned, for in 1618, James I. set

104 THE BOOK OF HERBS

forth a declaration permitting “‘ Lawfull recreations after
divine service, and allowed that women should have
leave to carry rushes to the church for the decoring of
it according to old custome.”? Rushes are still strewed
on Whitsunday at the church of St Mary Radcliffe,
in Bristol, and the day is often called ‘‘ Rush-Sunday ”
there in consequence.

In the accounts of St Margaret’s, Westminster, there
is a payment made for ‘‘herbs strewn in the church on
a day of thanksgiving” in 1650. Coles (1656) says:
“Tt is not very long since the custome of setting up
Garlands in Churches, hath been left off with us, and in
some places setting up of Holly, Ivy, Rosemary, Dayes,
Yew, etc., in Churches at Christmas, is still in use.’’2
Later, the custom seems almost entirely to have dropped,
and in an article in the Quarterly (1842), the writer is
torn between pious aspirations and loyalty to the church
views of the day: ‘‘ We cannot but admire the practice
of the Church of Rome, which calls in the aid of floral
decorations on her festivals. If we did not feel con-
vinced that it was the most bounden duty of the Church
of England at the present moment to give no un-
necessary offence by restorations in indifferent matters,
we should be inclined to advocate, notwithstanding the
denunciation of some of the early Fathers, some slight
exceptions in the case of our own favourites.”

The decorations of English houses were much admired
by Dr Levinus Lemmius in 1560, when he visited us.
‘* And beside this, the neate cleanliness, the exquisite
finenesse, the pleasaunt and delightfull furniture in every
poynt for household, wonderfully rejoiced me; their
chambers and parlours strawed over with sweet herbes
refreshed me.”*® Further on, he praises ‘‘the sundry
sortes of fragraunte floures” about the rooms. Parkinson

} Fuller’s «* Church History,” Book X. 1655. 2 ** Art of Simpling.”
3 Harrison’s “ Description of England.” Ed. by Furnivall, 1877.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 105

mentions wall-flowers and ‘the greater-flag” being used
‘‘in nosegayes and to deck up a house,” and Newton says
they took branches of willow to trim up their parlours and
dining roomes in summer, and did “ sticke fresh greene
leaves thereof about their beds for coolnesse.”1 Sir Hugh
Platt (1653) advised that for summer-time your chimney

may be trimmed with a fine bank of mosse . . . or with
orpin, or the white flower called everlasting . . . And at
either end one of your flower or Rosemary pots. . .. You

may also hang in the roof and about the sides of the
room small pompions or cowcumbers pricked full
of barley, and these will be overgrowne with greene
spires, so as the pompion or cowcumber will not appear.
. . . You may also plant vines without the walls, which
being let in at quarrels, may run about the sides of your
windows, and all over the sealing of your rooms.” ?
Herbs in image were sometimes hung round the room.
Harrison mentions ‘‘arras worke, or painted cloths,
wherein either diverse histories, or hearbes, beasts,
knots, and such like are stained.” Of flowers
thought specially suitable indoors Tusser (1577) gives a
list: ‘‘ Herbes, branches, and flowers for windows and
pots,” and Bachelor’s Buttons, Sweet Briar, and “‘ bottles,
blue, red, and tawney” are among the forty he mentions.
A separate list is set forth of twenty-one “ Strewing
Herbs,” and this includes Basil, Balm, Marjoram, Tansy,
Germander, and Hyssop. The practice of strewing
the floors with herbs and rushes, however, started long
before his time. ‘At the Court of King Stephen,
which exceeded in magnificence that of his predecessors
. . . and in houses of inferior rank upon occasions of
feasting, the floor was strewed with flowers... .
Becket, in the next reign, according to a contemporary
author (Fitz-Stephen) ordered his hall to be strewed
every day, in the winter with fresh straw or hay, and in
1 Herbal of the Bible,” 1587. 2¢cThe Garden of Eden.”

106 THE BOOK OF HERBS

summer with rushes or green leaves, fresh gathered ;
and this reason is given for it, that such knights as the
benches could not contain, might sit on the floor without
dirtying their cloaths.”! The contrast between the pomp
of so large a following, and the simplicity of their
accommodation affords an odd picture of the mingled
stateliness and bareness in the great man’s household.

In the reign of Edward I., ‘ Willielmus filius
Willielmi de Aylesbury tenet tres virgatus terre...
per serjeantiam inveniendi stramen ad lectum Domini
Regis et ad straminandum cameram suam et etiam
inveniendi Domino Rege cum venerit apud Alesbury in
estate stramen ad lectum suam et procter hoc herbam
ad juncandam cameram suam.”? (William, son of
William of Aylesbury, holds three roods of land . . . by
serjeantry, of finding straw for the bed of our Lord
the King and to straw his chamber . . . and also of
finding for the King when he should come to Aylesbury
in summer straw for his bed, and, moreover, grass or
rushes to strew his chamber.) Though grass is the
literal translation of Aerbam, it is quite possible, judging
from old customs generally, that hay or sweet herbs,
may be intended here. ‘It may be observed further
that there is a relique of this custom still subsisting, for
at Coronations the ground is strewed with flowers by a
person who is upon the establishment called the Herb-
Strewer, with an annual salary.” From this it appears
that there were persons regularly appointed to strew
herbs for the royal pleasure, but for what length of
time the Herb-Strewer was an official actually living
at Court, it is very difficult to discover. At
the time of the Coronation of James II. and his
Queen, Mary Dowle was ‘‘Strewer of Herbes in
Ordinary to His Majesty,” and among the instructions
issued before the ceremony were the following: ‘‘ Two

1« Pegge’s Curalia.” 2 Blount’s ‘‘ Jocular Tenures,” 1679.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 107

breadths of Blue Broad-cloth are spread all along the
middle of the Passage from the stone steps in the Hall,
to the Foot of the Steps in the Choir, ascending the
Theatre, by order of the Lord Almoner of the Day,
amounting in all 1220 yards; which cloth is strewed
with nine Baskets full of sweet herbs and flowers by
the Strewer of Herbs in Ordinary to His Majesty,
assisted by six women, two to a Basket, each Basket
containing two Bushels.” All the details of his Corona-
tion were most carefully considered and finally settled
‘in solemn conclave in the presence of James II.,” says
Roberts in his sketch of the Approaching Coronation of
George II., and ‘‘ little variation has taken place in the
Ceremony since.” From a manuscript belonging to Mr
Eyston, of East Hundred, Wantage, dated 1702, W. Jones
(‘Crowns and Coronations”) quotes an: ‘‘ Order for
a gown of scarlet cloth, with a badge of Her Majesty’s
Cypher on it, for the Strewer of Herbs to Her Majesty,
as was provided at the last Coronation.” This looks
as if she played her part in the ceremony of crowning
King William and Queen Mary, and was also present
at the crowning of Queen Anne, though Roberts, in
his ‘Complete Account of the Coronations of the Kings
and Queens of England” does not mention her. In the
State Archives is a ‘‘ Warrant to the Master of the
Great Wardrobe for delivering of scarlet cloth to Alice
Blizard, herb strewer to Her Majesty,” dated 3oth
November 1713, showing that whether at that date she
was continually at Court, or whether her services were
confined to the day of Coronation, she was at anyrate
officially recognised in the ordinary course of things,
and not only when any very great ceremony was im-
minent. I cannot be sure if the Herb Strewer appeared
at the Coronation of George I., but she certainly did
at that of George II., and in the full accounts of the
Coronation of George IV., which was celebrated with

108 THE BOOK OF HERBS

great magnificence, there are most elaborate descriptions
of her dress, badge, mantle, etc., and also portraits
of her in full attire. From among many applicants, the
King chose Miss Fellowes, sister of the Secretary to
the Lord Great Chamberlain, for the coveted distinction.
“‘ Miss Fellowes wore a gold badge suspended from her
neck by a gold chain, with an inscription indicative of
her office on one side, and the King’s arms beautifully
chased on the other. Six young ladies assisted her.
Their costume was white, but Miss Fellowes wore, in
addition, a scarlet mantle trimmed with gold lace. They
were very elegantly dressed in ‘‘ white muslin, with
flowered ornaments. Three large ornamented baskets
of flowers were brought in and placed near the ladies,” !
who walked in the front of the Royal Procession. At
ten minutes before eleven Miss Fellowes, with her six
tributary herb-women heading the grand procession,
appeared at the Western Gate of the Abbey. . . . She
and her maids and the serjeant porter came no further,
but remained at the entrance within the west door.
In a beautiful series of coloured plates depicting all the
costumes worn at that Coronation, there is one of Miss
Fellowes and her ‘‘ maids.” She has a small basket in
her left hand; from her right hand, raised high, she
is letting a shower of blossoms fall. Her hair is dressed
in short ringlets. All the ladies wore wreaths of
flowers, and the ‘“‘ maids” have, as well, long garlands
falling over one shoulder and across their white dresses
almost to the hem. In a charming letter written by
Hon. Maria Twistleton to her cousin, Mrs Eardley
Childers, there is one more detail of these ladies. “Gold
Baskets of Grecian shape, filled with choicest sweets
were ranged at their feet, and as they passed they pre-
sented a magnolia to us.”2 A claim to this office was

1 «¢ History of the Coronation of George IV.” R. Hursu.
? Published Nineteenth Century, June 1902.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 109

put forward, before the last Coronation, but alas! His
Majesty decided to dispense with this picturesque ad-
junct to the ceremony! Though the strewing of rushes
and herbs was a part of the preparations for any
household festival, they were a special feature of bridal
ceremonies.
As I have seen upon a bridal day,
Full many maids clad in their best array,
In honour of the bride come with their flaskets
Fill’d full with flowers: others, in wicker-baskets
Bring from the marish, rushes to o’erspread

The ground whereon to church the lovers tread.
Br, Pastorals, book i.

Drayton, too, alludes to this practice in the “ Poly-
olbion.”

Some others were again as seriously employ’d

In strewing of those herbs, at bridals us’d that be

Which everywhere they throw with bounteous hands and free.

The healthful balm and mint from their full laps do fly.

Song xv.
And gives a long list of wedding flowers, of which
Meadow-sweet (sometimes called bridewort) is one.
Gilded Rosemary, or sprigs of Rosemary dipped in
sweet waters were used, and Brand gives an account
of a wedding where the bride was “led to church
between two sweet boys with bride-laces and rosemary
tied to their silken sleeves.”! Nosegays, too, were
gathered for weddings, and Brand quotes a remarkable
and cynical passage from ‘‘ The Plaine Country Bride-
groom,” by Stephens : ‘‘ He shews neere affinitie betwixt
marriage and hanging, and to that purpose he provides a
great nosegay and shakes hands with everyone he meets,
as if he were preparing for a condemned man’s voyage.”
Herrick’s lines beginning, ‘‘Strip her of spring-time,
tender, whimpering maids,” are too well known to
repeat, but they tell very prettily which flowers were
1 Popular Antiquities.

110 THE BOOK OF HERBS

appropriated to the married and which to the unmarried.
Dyer tells us that this custom of strewing them is still
kept up in Cheshire, with occasional sad results. Often,
the flowers that were strewn were emblematical, and if
the bride chanced to be unpopular, she stepped her way
to church over flowers whose meanings were the reverse
of complimentary !
Drayton’s contemporaries were more amiable.
Who now a posie pins not in his cap?
And not a garland baldrick-wise doth wear,

Some, of such flowers as to his hand doth hap
Others, such as secret meanings bear.

He, from his lass, him lavender hath sent
Shewing her love, and doth requital crave,
Him rosemary, his sweetheart whose intent,
Is that he her should in remembrance have.

Roses, his youth and strong desire express,

Her sage, doth show his sovereignty in all ;

The July-flower declares his gentleness ;

Thyme, truth; the pansie, heartsease, maidens’ call.
Eclogue ix.

Herbs have pointed proverbs; for instance: ‘‘ He who
sows hatred, shall gather rue,”—a saying which some
have found to be ‘‘ ower-true”; and, ‘‘ The Herb-
Patience does not grow in every man’s garden,”—a piece
of wisdom which may be proved only too often. Both
these proverbs turn ona pun, but some herbs are alluded
to in a literal sense. The old Herbalists used to count
Pinks among herbs, and this flower’s name is very
commonly heard in the expression: ‘‘ The pink of
perfection.” Mercutio says in Romeo and Juliet, ‘IT am
the very pink of courtesy ”; a phrase which is wonder-
fully expressive. Miss Amherst quotes an old ballad to
show that the periwinkle was used as a term of praise,
for in this, a noble lady, a type of excellence, is called,
“The parwink of prowesse.” The inelasticity of
modern opinions (on herbs) forbids that I should here

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 111

go into the history of this most interesting flower,
beloved by Rousseau and endowed by the French with
magic power. One of their names for it is, Viclette de
Sorcier. I will only say that the Italians call it the
“Flower of the Dead,” and place it on graves ; and to
the Germans it is the ‘Flower of Immortality.” In
England it was much used in garlands, and it was with
Periwinkle that Simon Fraser was crowned in mockery,
when in 1306 (after he had been taken prisoner, fighting
for Bruce), he rode, heavily ironed, through London to
the place of execution.

Clove gillyflowers were admitted, till lately, into
the herb-garden, so I may mention that among
several cases of nominal rent, land being held on
the payment of certain flowers or other trifles, ‘‘ three
clove gillyflowers to be rendered on the occasion of
the King’s Coronation,” was once the condition of
holding the ‘“‘lands and tenements of Ham in Surrey.”
Roses were the flowers most often chosen for such a
purpose, and roses and gillyflowers together were paid
as rent by St Andrew’s Monastery in Northampton
at the time of its dissolution under Oliver Cromwell.
Blount! mentions that Bartholomaus Peyttevyn, of
Stony-Aston in Somerset, held his lands on the payment
of a ‘‘sextary” of Gillyfower wine annually, at
Christmastide. A ‘‘sextary” contained about a pint and
a half, sometimes more. ‘A still more whimsical tenure
was that of a farm at Brookhouse, Penistone, York, for
which, yearly, a payment was to be made of a red rose at
Christmas and a snowball at mid-summer. Unless the
flower of the Viburnum or Guelder-rose, sometimes
called Snowball, was meant, the payment bill had been
almost impossible in those days when ice-cellars were
unknown.” 2

Clove gillyflowers found their way into Heraldry,

1 «* Jocular Tenures.” 2 « History of Signboards.”

112 THE BOOK OF HERBS

and appeared as heraldic emblems, and besides them,
Guillim mentions ‘* Rosemary, Sweet Marjoram, Betony,
Purslane and Saffron,” being borne in Coat Armour.
But, ‘‘ because such daintiness and affected adornings
better befit ladies and gentlemen than knights and men of
valour, whose worth must be tried in the field, not under
a rose-bed, or in a garden-plot, therefore the ancient
Generous made choice rather of such herbs as grew
in the fields, as the Cinque-foil, Trefoil,” etc! It
is an interesting explanation of the reason that dictated
the choice of these two last herbs, often seen in heraldic
bearings. One of Guillim’s corrections must specially
delight all west country people. The Coat of the
Baskerviles of Hereford was: Argent, a cheveron,
Gules, between three Hurts. ‘These (saith Leigh)
appear light blue and come of some violent stroke. But,
if I mistake not, he is farr wide from the matter...
whereas they are indeed a kind of fruit or small round
Berry, of colour betwixt black and blue... and in some
places called Windberries, and in others Hurts or
Hurtleberries.” Guillim knew the popular name of
Whortleberries better than did his fellow-author. The
idea of choosing three bruises as a “‘ charge” does not
seem to have struck Mr Leigh as being at all odd.

In Saxony Rue has given its name to an Order. A
chaplet of Rue borne bendwise on ‘‘barrs of the Coat
Armour of the Dukedom of Saxony” (till then “Barry
of ten, sable and or,”) was granted by the Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa to Duke Bernard of Anhalt (the
first of his house to be Duke of Saxony), at his request,
“to difference his arms from his Brothers’,” Otho, Mar-
quis of Brandenberg, and Siegfrid, Archbishop of Breme.
This took place in the year 1181, but the Order was
not founded till more than six centuries had passed,
and was then due to Frederick Augustus, first King of

1Guillim. ‘* Heraldry.”

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 11 4

Saxony, who created the Order of the Rautenkrone on
the 20th July 1807. In the newspapers of October 24th,
1902, it was announced that the King of Saxony had
conferred the Order of the Crown of Rue on the Prince
of Wales. Sprigs of Rue are now interlaced in the
Collar of the Order of the Thistle, but earlier it was
composed of thistles and knots. There is extreme
uncertainty as to the origin or this Order, and cold
suspicion is thrown on assertions that it was, of old,
an established “ Fraternity, following the lines of other
Orders of Knighthood.” The first appearance of a collar
is on the gold bonnet pieces struck in 1539, where King
James V. is represented with a collar composed alternately
of thistle heads and what seem to be knots or links
in the form of the figure 8 or of the letter S, and a
similar collar is placed round the Royal Arms in
another gold piece of the same year. Collars with
knots of a slightly different shape appear on Queen
Mary’s Great Seal and on that of James VI. Ashmole
says:? ‘It was thought fit that the collars of both the
Garter and Thistle of King Charles I. should be used in
Scotland, 1633”; but after that the Order seems to have
lapsed, for Guillim (Ed. 1679) puts the ‘‘Order of
Knights of The Thistle or of St Andrewe’s” between
the Orders of The Knights of the Round Table and
the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and
speaks of all their rites and ceremonies in the past
tense. This seems as if at that period there was an
absolute pause in its chequered career. In 1685 it
was “revived” by James II. of Great Britain, who
created eight knights, but during the Revolution it
lapsed again and ‘‘lay neglected till Queen Anne in
1703 restored it to the primitive design of twelve

1Sir H. Nicholas. ‘* History of the Orders of Knighthood of the
British Empire.”
2«« History of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.”

H

114 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Knights of St Andrew” (Every). ‘‘By a statute
passed in 1827 the Order is to consist of the Sovereign
and sixteen Knights” (Burke). Sprigs of Rue do
not make their earliest appearance in the collar till
about 1629 and then on doubtful authority. ‘‘ Mirceus,
however, states that the Collar was made of Thistles
and Sprigs of Rue; and the Royal Achievements of
Scotland in Sir George Mackenzie’s ‘Science of
Heraldry’ published in 1680, are surrounded by a
Collar of Thistles linked with Sprigs of Rue.”
Very shortly before this Guillim had described the
collar as being ‘‘ composed of thistles, intermixed with
annulets of gold.” So the publication of Sir George
Mackenzie’s book must be the approximate date of the
introduction of the Rue; the present collar, badge
and robe of the Order are the same as those approved
by Queen Anne. André Favyn1 gives’ the reasons
for this choice of plants, though as the Rue made its
first appearance in the collar so much later than the
date he assigns (which is that of Charlemagne) one
cannot help fearing that he drew a little on his imagina-
tion. King Achaius took for ‘his devise the Thistle
and the Rewe. And for the Soule therof, Pour ma
deffence Because the Thistle is not tractable or easily
handled . . . giving acknowledgment thereby, that
hee feared not forraigne Princes his neighbours . . .
as for the Rewe although it be an Herbe and Plant
very meane, yet it is (nevertheless full of admirable
vertues) . . . and serveth to expell and drive serpents
to flight... and there is not a more soveraigne
remedy for such as are poisoned.” Guillim called
Hungus, King of the Picts, the founder, and says that
he, ‘‘the Night before the Battle that was fought betwixt
him and Athelstane, King of England, sawe in the skie
a bright Cross in fashion of that whereon St Andrew
1«¢ Theater of Honour,” 1623.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 115

suffered Martyrdom, and the day proving successful
unto Hungus in memorial of the said Apparition, which
did presage so happy an omen, the Picts and Scots
have ever since bore in the Ensigns and Banners the
Figure of the said Cross, which is in fashion of a Saltier.
And from thence ’tis believed that this Order took its
rise, which was about the year of our Lord 810.” Both
authors are quite positive as to their facts regarding the
origin of the Order, but they have hardly one fact in
common, not even the founder’s name !

It is perhaps not very well known that there was
once a French Order of the Thistle, or, as it was some-
times called, ‘‘ Order of Bourbon.” It was instituted by
Louis II., third Duke of Bourbon, surnamed the Good
Duke, and it consisted six and twenty knights,! each of
whom “ wore a Belt, in which was embroydered the word
Esperance in capital letters; it had a Buckle of Gold at
which hung a tuft like a Thistle; on the Collar also was
embroydered the same word Esperance, with Flowers de
Luce of Gold from which hung an Oval, wherein was
the Image of the Virgin Mary, entowered with a golden
sun, crowned with twelve stars of silver and a silver
crescent under her feet; at the end of the Oval was the
head of a Thistle.”

There are other Orders called after flowers, or of
which flowers form the badge. Several of the
“Christian Orders of Knighthood ”—orders instituted
for some religious or pious purpose—bore lilies among
their tokens, and flowers-de-luce appeared in many.
The Order of the Lily or of Navarre was instituted
by Prince Garcia in 1048. The Order of the Looking-
Glass of the Virgin Mary was created by ‘‘ Ferdinand,
the Infant of Casti/e, upon a memorable victory he had
over the Moors. The Collar of this Order was composed
of Bough-pots, full of Lillies, interlaced with Griffons.”

1Ross. “ View of all Religions,” 1653.

116 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Ross and Favyn give most curious accounts of the Order
“De la Sainte Magdalaine.” This was instituted by a
Noble Gentleman of France, who is alternately called
John Chesnil or Sieur de la Chapronaye, ‘Out of a
godly Zeal to reclaim the French from their Quarrels,
Duels and other sins. . . . The Cross of the Order had
at three ends, three Flowers-de-Luce; the Cross is beset
with Palms to shew this Order was instituted to en-
courage Voyages to the Holy Land, within the Palms
are Sunbeams and four Flowers-de-Luce to shew the glory
of the French Nation.” They had a house allotted them
near Paris, ‘“‘ wherein were ordinarily five hundred
Knights, bound to stay there during two years’ proba-
tion... . The Knights that live abroad shall meet
every year at their house called the lodging Royal on
Mary Magdalene’s Festival Day.” The Lay Brothers
were to be of good family; the Vallets des Chevaliers,
of ‘‘honestes Pamilles d Artisans et Mecaniques.” Their
garb was carefully ordered, and they were to take the
same vows as their master. Other elaborate arrange-
ments were made—‘‘ But this Order, as it began, so it
ended in the person of Chesnil.” One’s breath is taken
away, as when, in a dream, one falls and falls to immense
depths and awakes with a sudden shock! Francis,
Duke of Bretaigne, created the Order of Bretaigne:
«This Order consisteth of five and twenty Knights of
the Ears of Corn, so called to signifie that Princes should
be careful to preserve Husbandry.” Favyn, however,
finds a much more romantic origin for the name, and tells
a long story of a dispute among the gods as to the thing
most essential to “‘les Humains.” After lengthy argu-
ment, ‘‘de sorte que Jupiter toujours favorisant les
Dames,” he declared victory to rest with Ceres, to whose
verdict that of Minerva was joined (Minerva had pleaded
the Ox), and so they both triumphed over the others.
In Amsterdam, a literary guild was once named after

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 117

a herb, and was called the White Lavender Bloom. Herbs
have not appeared on many signboards, but in 1638 the
marigold was the sign of ‘‘ Francis Eglisfield, a book-
seller in St Paul’s churchyard,”! as it still is of Child’s
Bank—and several signs of the ‘“‘ Rosemary Branch”
have been known.

The Blessed Thistle was a much prized herb, and its
cousin, the Spear Thistle, makes a game for Scotch
children ; it is sometimes called ‘‘ Marian,” and when the
flower-heads have turned to “ blow-balls” the children
puff away the down and call :—

‘¢ Marian, Marian, what’s the time of day?
One o’clock, two o’clock, its time we were away.”

Dandelions are still commoner toys.

Grimmer associations are tied up with the bouquet
presented to Judges at the Assizes, for originally this
bouquet was a bunch of herbs, given to him to ward off
the gaol-fever, that was cheerfully accepted as a matter
of course for prisoners. Thornton, writing in 1810,
says of Rue, that it is ‘‘ supposed to be antipestilential ”
and Hence our benches of judges are “‘ regaled” with its
unpleasing odour. Lupines are not properly to be in-
cluded here, but Parkinson must be quoted as to a curious
use of their seeds. In Plautus’ days, “they were used
in Comedies instead of money, when in any scene thereof
there was any show of payment.” One is glad he con-
descends to tell us this detail of ancient stage-plays.
Among herbs used for nosegays he mentions Basil, Sweet
Marjoram, Maudeline and Costmary, and evidently con-
templates their being worn for ornament, and speaking of
the prickly strawberry remarks it is ‘ fit for a Gentle-
woman to weare on her arme, etc., as a raritie instead of
a flower.” Scents were more perpetually to be obtained
by carrying a pomander, which was originally an orange

4 «¢ The History of Signboards.”

118 THE BOOK OF HERBS

stuffed with spices, and thought also to be good against
infection. Cardinal Wolsey 1s described as carrying a
“‘ very fair orange, whereof the meat or substance was
taken out and filled up again with part of a sponge
whereon was vinegar, and other confection against the
pestilential airs” ; evidently some alexiphar-mick, which
he ‘smelt unto” when going into a crowded chamber.
Drayton says, in speaking of a well dedicated to St
Winifred :-—

The sacred Virgin’s well, her moss most sweet and rare
Against infectious damps, for pomander to wear.
Polyolbion.

The pomander developed into being a little scent-case,
elaborately made. Mr Dillon describes a silver one of
the sixteenth century which he saw ina collection. It was
made to be hung by a chain from the girdle, and though
“‘no larger than a plum, contains eight compartments
inscribed as follows: ambra, moscheti (musk), viola,
naransi (orange), garofalo (gillyflowers), rosa, cedro,
jasmins.” | Sweet-scented plants were reduced to
“*sweete pouthers,” and many were distilled into
“‘sweete waters” and ‘‘sweete washing waters,” or
helped to make ‘washing balls.” Orange-flower
water is spoken of as ‘“‘a great perfume for gloves,
to wash them, or instead of Rose-water,” and less ex-
pensive distillations must have contented more economi-
cal housewives. Parkinson tells us of sweet marjoram
being put into ‘‘ sweete bags,” and costmary flowers and
lavender tied up in small bundles for their “‘sweet sent
and savour.” Regarding ‘‘sweet water” there is a
delightful description in Ben Jonson’s Masque Ch/oridia,
‘¢Enter Rain, presented by five persons . . . their hair
flagging as if they were wet, and in the hands, balls full
of sweet water, which as they dance, sprinkle all the
room.”

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 119

The following entry is made among “Queen Eliza-
beth’s Annual Expences ” :-—

Makers of hearb bowres and planters of
trees. 5 : Fee, £25
Stillers of Waters . ; »» 40
John Kraunckwell and his wife, 1584.
Peck’s Desiderata.

These offices must have been of considerable import-
ance, for when money went much further than it does
nowadays, an annual fee of £40 for ‘stilling waters”
was a high one.

For never resting time leads summer on

To hideous winter, and confounds him there ;

Sap check’d with frost, and lusty leaves quite gone,

Beauty o’ershow’d, and bareness everywhere.

Then, were not summer’s distillation left,

A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,

Beauty’s effect with beauty were bereft,

Nor it, nor no remembrance what it was.

But flower’s distill’d, though they with winter meet

Lese but their show; their substance still lives sweet.
Sonnet V.—Suaxesprarr.

Among some charming recipes Mrs Roundell gives
a charming one for ‘‘ Dorothea Roundell’s Sweet-Jar.”
But, perhaps, even sweeter is the next recipe, called
simply Sweet-Jar.

Sweet-Jar.

<« Ib. bay salt, } 1b. salt-petre and common salt, all to
be bruised and put on six baskets of rose-leaves, 24 bay
leaves torn to bits, a handful of sweet myrtle leaves,
6 handfuls of lavender blossom, a handful of orange or
syringa blossoms, the same of sweet violets, and the
same of the red of clove carnations. After having well
stirred every day for a week, add 4 oz. cloves, 4 oz.
orris root, } oz. cinnamon, and two nutmegs all pounded ;
put on the roses, kept well covered up in a china jar

120 THE BOOK OF HERBS

and stirred sometimes.” The recipe of a delicious Pot
Pourri made in a country house in Devonshire has also
been very kindly sent me :—

Pot Pourri.

“Gather flowers in the morning when dry and lay
them in the sun till the evening.

Roses.

Orange flowers.
Jasmine.
Lavender.
Thyme.
Marjoram.
Sage.

Bay

In smaller quantities.

<< Put them into an earthen wide jar, or hand basin, in
layers. Add the following ingredients :—
6 lbs. vi. Bay Salt.
3 iv. Yellow Sandal Wood.
3 iv. Acorus Calamus Root.
3 iv. Cassia Buds.
3 iv. Orris Root.

3 il. Cinnamon.

3 ii. Cloves.

3 iv. Gum Benzoin.

Zi. Storax Calamite.

Zi. 3 Otto of Rose.

3 i. Musk.

3 ss. Powdered Cardamine Seeds.

“‘Place the rose-leaves, etc., in layers in the jar.
Sprinkle the Bay salt and other ingredients on each
layer, press it tightly down and keep for two or three
months before taking it out.”

The following herbs are those which are chiefly valued
for their perfume or for their historical associations.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC, 121

Bercamot (Monarda Jistulosa).

It is extraordinary how little comment has been made
on the handsome red flowers and fragrant leaves of Red
Bergamot, or Bee-Balm—a name which Robinson gives
it. Growing in masses, it makes a lovely bit of colour,
and a very sweet border. Bergamot was a favourite
flower in the posies that country people used to take to
church, as Mrs Ewing observes in her story ‘* Daddy
Darwin’s Dove Cot.” The youthful heroine loses her
posy of “‘Old Man and Marygolds” on the way to
Sunday school, and is discovered looking for it by an
equally youthful admirer. He at once offers to get her
some more Old Man. ‘‘ But Phoebe drew nearer. She
stroked down her frock, and spoke mincingly but con-
fidentially. ‘My mother says Daddy Darwin has red
bergamot i? his garden. We’ve none i’ ours. My
mother always says there’s nothing like red bergamot to
take to church. She says it’s a deal more refreshing
than Old Men, and not so common.” A note gives the
information that the particular kind of Bergamot meant
here was the Twinflower Monarda Didyma. ‘There are
several varieties of Monarda.

The only superstition that I have ever heard in any
way connected with the plant is, that in Dorsetshire it
is thought unlucky, and that if it be kept in a house an
illness will be the consequence.

Costmary (Tanacetum Balsamita).

Coole violets and orpine growing still,
Enbathed balme and cheerfull galingale,
Fresh costmarie and healthfull camomile.
Muiopotmos.

Then balm and mint help to make up
My chaplet and for trial
Costmary that so likes the cup,

And next it penny-royal.
Muses’ Elysium,

122 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Then hot muscado oil, with milder maudlin cast,
Stroing tansey, fennel cool, they prodigally waste.

Polyolbion, Song XV.

Costmary or Alecost, and Maudeline (Balsamita
Vulgaris), have so close a semblance that they may be
taken together. The German name for Costmary,
Frauen miinze, supports the natural idea that it was
dedicated to the Virgin, but Dr Prior says that the
Latin name used to be Costus amarus, not Costus Marie,
and that it was really appropriated to St Mary Magda-
leine, as its English name Maudeline declares. Both
plants were much used to make ‘‘sweete washing water ;
the flowers are tyed up with small bundles of lavender
toppes; these they put in the middle of them, to lye
upon the toppes of beds, presses, etc., for the sweet
sent and savour it casteth.”1 They were also used for
strewing. In France Costmary is sometimes used in
salads, and it was formerly put into beer and negus;
“‘hence the name /ecost.”

GERMANDER (Teucrium Chamedrys).

Clear hysop and therewith the comfortable thyme,
Germander with the rest, each thing then in her prime.
Polyolbion, Song xv.

Germander, marjoram and thyme,
Which used are for strewing,
With hisop as an herb most prime,
Herein my wreath bestowing.
Muses’ Elysium.
Germander was grown as a border to garden ‘‘ knots,”
“though being more used as a strewing herbe for the
house than for any other use.”! Culpepper says it is ‘a
most prevalent herb of Mercury, and strengthens the
brain and apprehension exceedingly ;”” and Tusser in-
cludes it amongst his ‘‘strewing herbs”; from which
statements it may be gathered that the scent was pungent

1 Parkinson.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 123

but agreeable. It is more often mentioned by old
herbalists as ‘‘ bordering knots” than in any other
capacity, in spite of Parkinson’s remark, and now is very
seldom seen at all. It may, very rarely, be found grow-
ing wild. Harrison, when he is declaiming against the
over-praising of foreigners, says: ‘‘Our common Ger-
mander, or thistle benet, is found and knowne to bee so
wholesome and of so great power in medicine as any
other hearbe,” but it is not clear whether he really

means Germander, or is not rather thinking of Carduus
Benedictus..

GILLIFLOWER (Dianthus Caryophyllus).

Jeliflowers is for gentlenesse,
Which in me shall remaine,
Hoping that no sedition shal
Depart our hearts in twaine.
As soon the sun shall loose his course,
The moone against her kinde,
Shall have no light if that I do
Once put you from my minde.
CLEMENT ROBINSON.

Come, and I will sing you—
‘¢ What will you sing me?”
I will sing you Four, O,
What is your Four, O?
Four it is the Dilly Hour, when blooms the gilly-flower.
Dilly Song.—Songs of the West.

ll weave my love a garland,
It shall be dressed so fine,
I'll set it round with roses,
With lilies, pinks and thyme.
The Loyal Lover.

There stood a gardener at the gate
And in each hand a flower,

O pretty maid, come in, he said,
And view my beauteous bower.

The lily it shall be thy smock,
The jonquil shoe thy feet,
Thy gown shall be the ten-week-stock,
To make thee fair and sweet.

124 THE BOOK OF HERBS

The gilly-flower shall deck thy head
Thy way with herbs, I'll strew,
Thy stockings shall be marigold
Thy gloves the vi’let blue.
Dead Maid’s Land.
Gillyflowers are, of course, now excluded from the
herb-border, but once housewives infused them in vinegar
to make it aromatic, and candied them for conserves, and
numbered them among their herbs, though that is not
the reason that they mentioned here. They have their
place, because the general ideas about them are too
pretty to leave out. First, they were the token of
gentleness, as Robinson’s lover asserts most touchingly,
and Drayton confirms in his line,

The July-flower declares his gentleness.

Then Gillyflowers (says Folkard) were represented in
some old songs to be one of the flowers that grow in
Paradise. He quotes from a ballad called ‘‘ Dead Men’s
Songs.” This verse:

The fields about the city faire
Were all with Roses set,
Gillyflowers and Carnations faire
Which canker could not fret.
Ancient Songs. —RITson.

There have been great discussions as to what flower
was the original ‘Gillyflower” spoken of by early
writers. Folkard says it was “apparently a kind of pet-
name toall manner of plants.” Parkinson seems to have
called Carnations, Clove-Gillyflowers, and Stocks, the
Stock-Gillyflowers, and Wall-flowers, Wall-Gilly flowers.
It is generally thought that the earlier writers called the
Dianthus by this name, and later ones, the Cheiranthus
cheiri, or Matthiola. Some of the names for them show
how sadly imagination has waned since the seventeenth
century. Think of a new flower being called « Ruffling
Robin” or ‘‘ The lustie Gallant,” or “ Master Tuggie’s

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 12 5

Princess,” or ‘Mister Bradshaw, his dainty Lady.”
Even ‘‘the Sad Pageant” has romance about it, but
we can match that by a name for Hesperides which, I
believe, still survives, ‘‘The Melancholy Gentleman.”
Culpepper calls Gillyflowers, ‘gallant, fine and tem-
perate,” but says, ‘‘It is vain to describe a herb so well
known.” So there we will leave them.

LavENDER (Lavandula vera).

Here’s flowers for you,
Hat lavender, mints, savory, marjoram,
The marigold that goes to bed wi’ the sun,
And with him rises weeping.
Winter’s Tale, iv. 3.
The wholesome saulge and lavender still gray,
Ranke smelling Rue, and cummin good for eyes.
Muiopotmos,
Opening upon level plots
Of crowned lilies standing near
Purple spiked lavender.
Ode to Memory.—TeEnnyson.
Lavender is for lovers true,
Which evermere be faine,
Desiring always for to have
Some pleasure for their paine,
C. Rosinson,
Piscator. **V’l1 now lead you to an honest ale-house; where we shall
find a cleanly room, lavender in the windows and twenty ballads stuck
about the wall.” The Complete Angler.

Lavender is one of the few herbs that has always been
in great repute and allusions to it are legion. From the
custom of laying it among linen, or other carefully stored
goods, a proverb has arisen—Timbs quotes from Earle’s
Microcosm: ‘‘He takes on against the Pope without
mercy and has a jest still zz Lavender for Bellarmine.”
Walton’s Coridon mentions that ‘‘the sheets” smell of
lavender in a literal sense, and Parkinson says that it is
much put among ‘‘apparell.” Oil of Lavender is still to
be found in the British Pharmacopceia, and some of the

126 THE BOOK OF HERBS

old writers utter serious warnings against ‘‘ divers rash
and overbold Apothecaries and other foolish women,”
who gave indiscriminately the distilled water, or com-
position that is made of distilled wine in which flower
seeds have been steeped. Turner suggests using it
in a curious manner. ‘I judge that the flowers of
Lavander quilted in a cappe and dayly worne are good
for all diseases of the head that come of a cold cause and
that they comfort the braine very well.” Dr Fernie says
it is of real use in a case of nervous headache. Lavender
used to be called Lavender Spike or Spike alone, and
French Lavender (L. Stachas) Stickadove or Cassidony,
sometimes turned by country people into Cast-me-down.
La petite Corbeille tells us that the juice of Lavender is a
specific in cases of loss of speech and adds drily, ‘‘ une
telle propriété suffirait pour rendre cette plante 4 jamais
precieuse.” In Spain and Portugal it is used to strew
churches and it is burned in bonfires on St John’s Day,
the day when all evil spirits are abroad. In some
countries it must still possess wonderful qualities!
Tuscan peasants believe that it will prevent the Evil
Eye from hurting children.

The pretty delicately-scented spikes of White Lavender
are less well known than they should be, but like many
other herbs they received more admiration in former days
as has been already said, at the close of the sixteenth
century, a literary guild was called after it. In the
Parliamentary Survey (November 1649) of the Manor
of Wimbledon, ‘Late parcel of the possessions of
Henrietta Maria, the relict and late Queen of Charles
Stuart, late King of England”—an exact inventory is
made of the house and grounds (in which forty-four
perches of land, called the Hartichoke Garden is named),
and among other things, ‘‘ very great and large borders
of Rosemary, Rue and White Lavender and great
varietie of excellent herbs” are noticed.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 127

LaveNDER CoTTon (Santolina).

Lavender Cotton is a little grey plant with “ very finely
cut leaves, clustered buttons of a golden colour and of a
sweet smell and is often used in garlands and in decking
up of gardens and houses.” The French called it Petit
Cyprez and Guarde Robe, from which it may be inferred
that it was one of the herbs laid in chests among furs and
robes. ‘Tusser counts it among his ‘‘strewing herbes,”
and it is now chiefly used as an edging to beds or borders.

Meapow-Sweer (Spirea Ulmaria).

Bring, too, some branches forth of Daphne’s hair,
And gladdest myrtle for the posts to wear,
With spikenard weav’d and marjorams between
And starr’d with yellow-golds and meadows-queen.
Pan’s Anniversary,—Ben Jonson.

Amongst these strewing herbs, some others wild that grow,
As burnet, all abroad, and meadow-wort they throw.
Polyolbion, Song xv.
She. The glow-room lights, as day is failing
Dew is falling over the field.
He. The meadow-sweet its scent is exhaling,
Honeysuckles their fragrance yield.
Together. ‘Then why should we be all the day toiling ?
Lads and lasses, along with me!
She. There’s Jack o’ Lantern lustily dancing,
In the marsh with flickering flame.
He. And Daddy-long-legs, spinning and prancing,
Moth and midge are doing the same.
Chorus. ‘Then why should we, etc.
S. Barinc-Goutp.
Where peep the gaping speckled cuckoo-flowers
The meadow-sweet flaunts high its showy wreath
And sweet the quaking grasses hide beneath.
Summer.—CLare.
Shall I strew on thee rose or rue or laurel?
Or quiet sea flower moulded by the sea,
Or simples and growth of meadow-sweet or sorrel.
Ave Atque Vale,—SwinBuRne.
Pale Iris growing where the streams wind slowly
Round the smooth shoulders of untrodden hills,
White meadow-sweet and yellow daffodils.
Phacia.—N. Hopper.

128 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Queen of the Meadow and Bridewort are two of this
flower’s most appropriate names and a very pretty one is
that which Gerarde tells us the Dutch give it, Reinette.
The Herbalists do not say much about the ‘ Little
Queen,” but what they do say, is in the highest degree
complimentary. Gerarde decides: ‘* The leaves and
flowers excel all other strong herbes for to deck up
houses, to strew in chambers, hall and banquetting
houses in the summer time; for the smell thereof makes
the heart merrie, delighteth the senses, neither doth it
cause headache” as some other sweet smelling herbes do.
Parkinson, who says it ‘‘has a pretty, sharp sent and taste,”
praises it for the same purpose and adds the interesting
bit of gossip that ‘‘ Queen Ehizabeth of famous memory,
did more desire it than any other sweet herbe to strew
her chambers withal. A leafe or two hereof layd in a
cup of wine, will give as quick and fine a rellish therto
as Burnet will,” he finishes practically. Turner says
that women, in the spring-time, ‘‘ put it into the potages
and mooses.” I have known it used medicinally by
a Herbalist, and can strongly recommend it as an
ingredient for pdt pourri. The scent is so sweet and
clinging that it is surprising that meadow-sweet is not
oftener in request when dried and scented flowers are
wanted. The Icelander says that if taken on St John’s
Day and thrown into water, it will help to reveal a thief,
for if the culprit be a man, it will sink, if a woman, it
will float.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis).

Here’s Rosemary for you, that’s for remembrance. —
Hamlet, iv. 5.
Rosemary’s for remembrance,
Between us day and night,
Wishing that I may always have
You present in my sight.
C. Rozinson.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 129

The double daisy, thrift, the button batchelor,
Sweet William, sops-in-wine, the campion; and to these
Some lavender they put, with rosemary and bays,
Sweet marjoram, with her like sweet basil rare for smell,
With many a flower, whose name were now too long to tell.
Polyolbion, Song xv.
Oh, thou great slepheard, Lobbin, how great is thy griefe ?
Where bene the nosegays that she dight for thee?
The coloured chaplets wrought with a chiefe,
The knotted rush-rings and gilt rosmarie?
November, Shepheard’s Calender. —Srensen.

Rosemary has always been of more importance than
any other herb, and more than most of them put
together. It has been employed at weddings and
funerals, for decking the church and for garnishing
the banquet hall, in stage-plays, and in ‘swelling dis-
content,” of a too great reality; as incense in religious
ceremonies, and in spells against magic; ‘‘in sickness
and in health” ; eminently as a symbol, and yet for very
practical uses. It is quite an afterthought to regard
it as a plant. In ‘‘ Popular Antiquities,” Brand gives
such an admirable account of it that one would like
to quote in full, but must bear in mind the warning,
quoted from ‘‘ Eachard’s Odservations,” in those pages :
“T cannot forget him, who having at some time or
other been suddenly cur’d of a little head-ache with
a Rosemary posset, would scarce drink out of anything
but Rosemary cans, cut his meat with a Rosemary
knife... . Nay, sir, he was so strangely taken up
with the excellencies of Rosemary, that he would needs
have the Bible cleared of all other herbs and only
Rosemary to be inserted.” At weddings it was often
gilded or dipped in scented waters, or tied ‘‘ about
with silken ribbands of all colours.” Sometimes for
want of it Broom was used. Mr Friend quotes an
account of a sixteenth century ‘‘rustic bridal” at
which “every wight with hiz blu buckeram bridelace
upon a branch of green broom—because Rosemary iz

I

130 THE BOOK OF HERBS

skant thear—tyed on hiz leaft arm.” A wedding
sermon by Robert. Hacket (1607) is also quoted:
‘‘ Rosemary . . . which by name, nature, and continued
use, man challengeth as properly belonging to himselfe.
It overtoppeth all the flowers in the garden, boasting
man’s rule. Another property of the Rosemary is, it
affecteth the hart. Let this Rosmarinus, this flower
of men, ensigne of your wisdom, love and loyaltie,
be carried not only in your hands, but in your heads
and harts.” Ben Jonson says it was the custom for
bridesmaids to present the bridegroom with ‘‘a bunch
of Rosemary, bound with ribands,” on his first appear-
ance on his wedding morn. Together with an orange
stuck with cloves, it often served as a little New
Year’s gift; and the same author mentions this in his
Christmas Masque. The masque opens by showing
half the players unready, and clamouring for missing
properties; and Gambol, one of them, says, of New
Year's Gift: ‘‘He has an orange and Rosemary, but
not a clove to stick in it.” A little later, New Year’s
Gift enters, ‘“‘in a blue coat, serving-man-like, with
an orange and a sprig of Rosemary, gilt, on his head.”
Wassel comes too, ‘like a neat sempster and songster,
her page bearing a brown bowl drest with ribands and
Rosemary before her.”

For less festive occasions it had other meanings: ‘‘ As
for Rosmarine, I lett it runne all over my garden walls,
not onlie because my bees love it, but because it is the
herb sacred to remembrance, and therefore to friendship;
whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language that maketh
it the chosen emblem of our funeral wakes and in our
buriall grounds.” Sir Thomas More thought this, but
others beside him “lett Rosmarine run all over garden
walls,” though perhaps they had less sentiment about it ;
Hentzner (Zravels) (1598) says that it was a custom “ex-
ceedingly common in England.” At Hampton Court,

ROSEMARY

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 1 31

Rosemary was “ so planted and nailed to the walls as to
cover them entirely.”! The bushes were sometimes set
“‘ by women for their pleasure,? to grow in sundry pro-
portions, as in the fashion of a cart, a peacock or such
things as they fancy,” or the branches were twined
amongst others to make an arbour. Brown refers to
this :—

Within an arbour, shadow’d by a vine

Mix’d with Rosemary and Eglantine.

Br. Pastorals, book i.

Rosemary was one of the chief funeral herbs. Her-
rick says :—

Grow it for two ends, it matters not at all,

Be’t for my bridall or my buriall.
Sprigs of it were distributed to the mourners before
they left the house, which they carried to the church-
yard and threw on the coffin when it had been lowered
into the grave. In Romeo and Juliet Friar Laurence
says :—

Dry up your tears and stick your Rosemary

On this fair corse

Brand quotes passages from Gay, Dekker, Cartwright,
Shirley, Misson, Coles, ‘* The British Apollo” and
“The Wit’s Interpreter,” which connect Rosemary
with burials; and it was also planted on graves.

Coles says it was used with other evergreens to
decorate churches at Christmas-time, and Folkard that,
“In place of more costly incense, the ancients often
employed Rosemary in their religious ceremonies. An
old French name for it was Incensier. It was conspicuous
on a very remarkable occasion in history. In ‘“‘ A Per-
fect Journall, etc., of that memorable Parliament begun
at Westminster, Nov. 3, 1640,” is the following passage,
““Nov. 28. That afternoon Master Prin and Master
Burton came in to London, being met and accompanied

1 Hentzner’s ‘‘ Travels.”

2 Barnaby Googe’s ‘‘ Husbandry ” (1578).

132 THE BOOK OF HERBS

with many thousands of horse and foot, and rode with
rosemary and bayes in their hands and hats; which is
generally esteemed the greatest affront that ever was
given to the courts of justice in England.” The
“affront” lay in the general rejoicing that attended
this overthrowing of the sentence passed by the Star
Chamber, and the causes which led to this enthusiasm
were these: ‘‘Some years before,” Prynne, Burton,
and Bastwick had written against the Government and
the Bishops, and for this offence had been sentenced to
pay a fine of £5000 each, to have their ears cut off, to
stand in the pillory and to be imprisoned for life. ‘< All
of which,” says Clarendon, ‘‘ was executed with rigour
and severity enough.” ‘‘ After being first imprisoned
in England,” Mr Pyrnne was sent to a castle in the
island of Jersey, Dr Bastwick to Scilly, and Mr Burton
to Guernsey.” Bastwick’s wife seized the first moment
that the Commons were assembled (in Nov. 1640) to
present a petition, with the result that on the fourth
day after Parliament met, orders for their release were
sent to the Governors of the respective castles. Claren-
don, who, of course, had no sympathy, but much dis-
like for them, admits: ‘‘ When they came near London,
multitudes of people of several conditions, some on
horseback, others on foot, met them some miles from
the town; very many having been a day’s journey; and
they were brought about two of the clocke in the after-
noon in at Charing Cross, and carried into the city by
above ten thousand persons with boughs and flowers in
their hands, the common people strewing flowers and
herbs in the ways as they passed, making great noise
and expressions of joy for their deliverance and return;
and in those acclamations, mingling loud and virulent
exclamations against the bishops, ‘‘ who had so cruelly
persecuted such godly men.” An appendix,! devoted
1 « History of the Rebellion,”

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 133

to this incident, further describes their entry, ‘« The
two branded persons riding first, side by side, with
branches of rosemary in their hands, and two or three
hundred horse closely following them, and multitudes
of foot on either side of them, walking by them, every
man on horseback or on foot having bays or rosemary
in their hats or hands, and the people on either side of
the street strewing the way as they passed with herbs,
and such other greens as the season afforded, and ex-
pressing great joy for their return.” This splendid
reception must have revealed very plainly to the Govern-
ment the mind and temper of the people. Nowadays
the exuberance of the mob in greeting popular heroes
is much what it seems to have been then, only they
do not generally express it in such a pretty way as
strewing rosemary and bays.

Culpepper writes that Rosemary was used “ not only
for physical but civil purposes,” and among other uses,
was placed in the dock of courts of justice. The reason
for this was that among its many reputed medicinal
virtues, ‘‘it was accounted singular good to expel the
contagion of the pestilence from which poor prisoners
too often suffered. It was also especially good to
comfort the hearte and to helpe a weake memory,”
and was generally highly thought of. Rosemary is
still retained in the pharmacopceia and is popularly much
valued as a stimulant to making hair grow. L’eau de la
reine ad’ Hongrie, rosemary tops in proof spirit, was once
famous as a restorative and is mentioned in Perrault’s
fairy story of ‘The Sleeping Beauty.” After the
princess pricks her hand with the spindle and falls into
the fatal sleep, among the means taken to bring back
consciousness, ‘‘en lui frotte les tempes avec de leau
de la reine d’Hongrie; mais rien ne lui faisait revenir.”
Rosemary is also an ingredient in Eau de Cologne. Its
efficacy in magic is mentioned in another chapter. In

134 THE BOOK OF HERBS

the countries where it grows to a “very great height ee
and the stem is “cloven out into thin boards, it hath
served to make lutes, or such like instruments, and here
with us carpenter’s rules, and to divers other purposes.

Rue (Ruta graveolens).

Reverend sirs,
For you there’s Rosemary and Rue; these keep
Seeming and savour all the winter long,
Grace and remembrance to you both.
Winter’s Tale, iv. 3.

Here did she fall a tear; here, in this place,
Y’ll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace;
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping queen.
Richard II, iii. 4.

There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me; we may call it herb of
grace o’ Sundays OO! you may wear your rue with a difference.
Hamlet, iv. 5.
Michael from Adam’s eyes the film ’emoved
. then purged with euphrasy and rue,
The visual nerve; for he had much to see.
Paradise Lost, book xi,

He who sows hatred, shall gather rue.
Danish Proverb.

«Ruth was the English name for sorrow and remorse,
and zo rue was to be sorry for anything or to have pity,
. .. and so it was a natural thing to say that a plant
which was so bitter and had always borne the name Rue
or Ruth must be connected with repentance. It was
therefore the Herb of Repentance, and this was soon
transformed into the Herb of Grace.”? Canon Ella-
combe’s explanation makes clear why rue was often
alluded to symbolically, especially by Shakespeare, to
whom the thought of repentance leading to grace seems to
have been an accustomed one. It has been often stated
the actual origin of the name was the fact that rue was

1 Parkinson.
2 ¢¢ Plant-lore and Garden-craft of Shakespeare,” Canon Ellacombe.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 135

used to make “the aspergi//um, or holy-water brush, in
the ceremony known as the asperges, which usually pre-
cedes the Sunday celebration of High Mass; but for
this supposition there is no ground.”! Rue was supposed
to be a powerful defence against witches, and was used
in many spells, and Mr Friend describes a “* magic
wreath” in which it is used by girls for divination.
The wreath is made up of Rue, Willow and Crane’s-
bill. ‘‘ Walking backwards to a tree they throw the
wreath over their heads, until it catches on the branches
and is held fast. Each time they fail to fix the wreath
means another year of single blessedness.” In the Tyrol,
a bunch of Rue, Broom, Maidenhair, Agrimony and
Ground Ivy will enable the wearer to see witches.
Lupton adds a tribute to its powers of magic: ‘* That 2
Pigeons be not hunted nor killed of Cats at the
windowes, or at every passage and at every Pigeon’s
hole, hang or put little Branches of Rew, for Rew hath
a marvellous strength against wilde Beasts. As Didymus
doth say.” Milton refers to a belief, very widely spread,
that Rue was specially good for the eyes, when he says:
Michael
. . . purged with Euphrasie and Rue,
The visual nerve.
that Adam’s eyes should be made clear. (Euphrasie is
Eyebright.) Rue was also an antidote to poison, and
preserved people from contagion, particularly that of
the plague, and was thought to be of great virtue
for many disorders. ‘Some doe rippe up a beade-rowle
of the vertues of Rue, as Macer the poet and others”
who apparently declared it to be good for almost
every ill. Mr Britten remarks: ‘It was long, and
probably still is the custom to strew the dock of the
Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey with Rue.
It arose in 1750, when the contagious disease known

1 Britten. 2 ¢ Book of Notable Things ” (1575).

136 THE BOOK OF HERBS

as jail fever, raged in Newgate toa great extent. It may
be remembered that during the trial of the Mannings
(1849), the unhappy woman, after one of the speeches of
the opposing counsel, gathered up some of the sprigs of
Rue which lay before her, and threw them at his head.”

Turner recommends Rue “‘ made hott in the pyll of
a pomegranate” for the ‘‘ ake of the eares.”

SouTHERNWOOD (Artemisa Abrotanum).

Lavender and Sweet Marjoram march away,
Sothernwood and Angelica don’t stay,
Plantain, the Thistle, which they blessed call,
And useful Wormwood, in their order fall.

Of Plants, book i.—Cow ey.
Vl give to him,
Who gathers me, more sweetness than he’d dream
Without me—more than any lily could.
I, that am flowerless, being Southernwood.

Shall I give you honesty,

Or lad’s love to wear?

Or a wreath less fair to see,

Juniper and Rosemary ?
Flaxenhair?

Rosemary, lest you forget,

What was lief and fair,

Lad’s love, sweet thro’ fear and fret,

Lad’s love, green and living yet,

Flaxenhair.
Finnish Bride Song. —N. Hopper,
Southernwood has many sobriquets, among which are

Lads or Boy’s Love, Old Man, and Maiden’s Ruin; the
last a corruption of Armoise du Réne, Mr Friend says.
The French have contracted the same title to Auronne
and also call the plant Bos de St Jean and Citronelle.
Dutch people used to call it Averonne (another form of
the French contraction) and the Germans, Stad-qwurtz.
The name Bois de St Jean is given it, because in some
parts of France it is one of the plants dedicated to St
John the Baptist, and the German title came from their

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 1 37

faith in it as a ‘‘ singular wound-hearb.” ‘Turner con-
sidered that the fumes of it being burned, would drive
away serpents, and credits it with many valuable pro-
perties, chiefly medicinal; and Culpepper calls it “a
gallant, mercurial plant, worthy of more esteem than it
hath.” It has also been supposed to have great virtue to
prevent the hair falling out. In later days Hogg has
declared it to have an agreeable, exhilarating smell,”
and to be ‘‘ eminently diaphoretic.” But Thornton, who
loves to shatter all favourite herbal notions, remarks
that these good results are chiefly because it ‘ operates
on the mind of the patient,” and that as a fomentation it
is hardly more useful ‘‘than cloths wrung out of hot
water.” So transitory is good report !

Woop-rurF (Asperula Odorata).

The threstlecoc him threteth oo
A way is huere wynter wo
When woodrove springeth. Springtide, 1300.

All that we say, and all we leave unsaid
Be buried with her...
Pansies for thoughts, and wood-ruff white as she,
And, for remembrance, quiet rosemary.
Elegy.—Hopper.

The wood-ruff or wood-rowell has its leaves “set
about like a star, or the rowell of a spurre,” whereby it
gains its name. English people also called it Wood-rose
and Sweet-Grass; the French, Hépatique étoilée, and the
Germans, Waldmeister and Herzfreude, and they steep it
in “ Boble,” a kind of “cup” made of light wine.

In England it used to be ‘‘ made up into garlands
or bundles and hanged up in houses in the heate of
summer, doth very wel attemper the aire, coole and
make fresh the place, to the delight and comfort of such
as are therein.” ! Wood-ruff was employed to decorate
churches, and churchwardens’ accounts still exist (at St

1 Gerarde.

138 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Mary-atte-Hill, London) including wood-ruff garlands
and lavender in the expenses incurred in keeping St
Barnabas’ Day. Johnston says!: ‘* The dried leaves are
put among linen for their sweet smell, and children put
a whorl between the leaves of their books with a like
purpose, and many people like to have one neatly dried
laid in the case of their watch.” Sensible, as well as
pretty customs! It was one of the herbs recommended
to ‘‘ make the hart merrye,” and Tusser puts it among
his ‘stilling herbs,” thus: ‘* Wood-roffe, for sweet
waters and cakes.” Country people used to lay it a
little bruised to a cut, and its odour of new made hay
must have made it a pleasanter remedy than many that
they used.

Wormwoop (Artemisia Absinthium).

And none a greater Stoick is, than I;
The Stoa’s Pillars on my stalk rely ;
Let others please, to profit is my pleasure.
The love I slowly gain’s a lasting treasure.
Of Plants, book i.—Cowtey.

What savour is better, if physic be true,
In places infected than wormwood and rue
It is as a comfort for heart and the brain,
And therefore to have it, it is not in vain.
July's Hushandry.—Tusser.

Here is my moly of much fame
In magic often used ;

Mugwort and nightshade for the same,
But not by me abused

Muses’ Elysium.—Drayton,
Traditions cluster round Artemisia Absinthium and A.
Vulgaris, Mugwort. Canon Ellacombe says that the
species are called after Diana, as she was supposed to
‘* find them and delivered their powers and leechdom to
Chiron the Centaur . . . who named these worts from
the name of Diana, Artemis; ” and he thinks therefore
that ‘‘ Dian’s bud,” spoken of in the Midsummer Night's
1 « Botany of the Eastern Borders ” (1853).

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 1 39

Dream was one of them. The plant was of some
importance among the Mexicans, and when they kept
the festival of Huixtocihuatl, the Goddess of Salt, they
began with a great dance of women, who were joined
to one another by strings of different fowers, and who
wore on their heads garlands of wormwood. This dance
continued all night, and on the following morning the
dance of the priests began. (Nineteenth Century, Sept.
1879.)

According to the ancients, Wormwood counteracts
the effects of poisoning by toadstools, hemlock, and
the biting of the shrew mouse or sea-dragon; while
Mugwort preserves the wayfarer from fatigue, sun-
stroke, wild beasts, the Evil Eye in man, and also from
evil spirits! Lupton says that it is ‘‘ commonly affirmed
that, on Midsummer Eve, there is found at the root of
Mugwort a coal which keeps safe from the plague,
carbuncle, lightning, and the quartan ague, them that
bear the same about them; and Mizaldus, the writer
hereof, saith that it is to be found the same day under
the Plantain, which is especially and chiefly to be found
at noon.” 1 Later writers have unkindly insisted that
these wonderful “‘ coals” were no more nor less than old
dead roots! Gerarde and Parkinson are both dignified
and contemptuous over these stories. Gerarde says,
‘Many other fantasticall devices invented by poets are
to be seen in the works of ancient writers. I do of
purpose omit them, as things unworthy of my recording
or your reviewing.” Parkinson is still more severe on
‘idle superstitions and irreligious relations,” and abuses
this special ‘‘idle conceit,” which Gerarde has not
deigned to repeat. It is told even by ‘‘ Bauhinus, who
glorieth to be an eye-witnesse of this foppery. But oh!
the weake and fraile nature of man! Which I cannot
but lament.” Turner devotes a great deal of space to

1<«¢ Notable Things.”

140 THE BOOK OF HERBS

the disputes of writers as to the identity of the ‘‘ true
Ponticke Wormwood,” and says that ‘he himselfe is
certainly accurate on the point, having been taught it by
Gerhardas de Wyck, at that tyme the Emperour’s sec-
retary” at Cologne. ‘‘ This noble Clerk was afterwards
sent by Charles the fyft, Embassator to the great Turke.”

It is from wormwood that Absinthe is made; and it
has been used instead of hops in making beer. It used
to be laid among stuffs and furs to keep away moths
and insects—by its bitterness, ordinary folk supposed,
but Culpepper knew better, and gives an astrological
reason: ‘‘ I was once in the tower and viewed the ward-
robe and there was a great many fine cloaths (I can give
them no other title, for I was never either linen or
woolen draper), yet as brave as they looked, my opinion
was that the moths might consume them. Moths are
under the dominion of Mars; this herb Wormwood
(also an herb of Mars) being laid among cloaths will
make a moth scorn to meddle with the cloaths as much
as a lion scorns to meddle with a mouse, or an eagle
with a fly.” One would not expect to find a moth a
“¢ martial creature,” but evidently he zs, and this explana-
tion of the working of the law of ‘‘ sympathies,”
not only tells us so, but kindly shows us a sure means
of safeguarding our goods from an ubiquitous enemy.

Mugwort has many reputed medical virtues, and Dr
Thornton who usually crushes any pretension to such
claims, says it ‘‘merits the attention of English physi-
cians, in regard to gout.” It is with this plant that the
Japanese prepare the Moxa that they use as a cautery
to a great extent.

Mugwort is said to be a good food for poultry
and turkeys. De Gubernatis tells a Russian legend
about this plant which they call Bech. Once the Evil
One offended his brother, the Cossack Sabba, who
seized and bound him, and said he should not be

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 141

released till he had done him some great service.
Presently, some Poles came close by and made a feast,
and were happy, leaving their horses to graze. The
Cossack Sabba coveted the horses and promised the Evil
One his liberty if he could manage to get them. ‘The
Evil One then sent other demons to the field and caused
Mugwort to spring up, whereupon the horses trotted
away, and as they did so, the Mugwort moaned ‘‘ ech,
bech.” And now when a horse treads on it, the plant
remembers the Pole’s horses and still moans ‘‘ bech, bech |”
for which reason, in the Ukraine it is still called by that
name. It is left untold whether the flight of the horses
was due to the magical nature of the plants, or to their
usual bitterness. The latter is likely enough, as accord-
ing to Dr Thornton, horses and goats are not fond of it,
and cows and swine refuse it.

Other well-known varieties of Wormwood are H.
pontica, Roman wormwood whose leaves are less bitter ;
and 4. Maritima, sea-wormwood, and 4. Santonica,
Tartarian wormwood.

Bay (Laurus Nobilis).

Then in my lavender Ill lay,
Muscado put among it,
And here and there a leaf of bay,
Which still shall run along it,
Muses’ Elysium,

This done, we'll draw lots who shall buy
And gild the bays and rosemary.
Hesperides, —HERRick.

Down with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the mistletoe,
Instead of holly, now upraise, ,
The greener box, for show.
Ceremonies for Gandlemas Eve.—HERRIcK.

A Bay-tree invites criticism, as it is certainly not a
‘‘herb,” but it is so often classed with some of them,

142 THE BOOK OF HERBS

especially with rosemary (to whom it seems to have been
a sort of twin) that a brief extract from its interesting
history must be made. Herrick’s verses show that both
for weddings and decorations, rosemary and bays were
paired together—bays being also gilded at weddings—
and Brand quotes some lines from the ‘‘ Wit’s Inter-
preter” to show that alike at funerals, they were

fellows :—
Shrouded she is from top to toe,
With Lillies which all o’er her grow,
Instead of bays and rosemary.

And Coles says, ‘‘Cypresse garlands are of great
account at funeralls amongst the gentiler sort, but rose-
mary and bayes are used by the commons both at funeralls
and weddings.” Parkinson’s testimony is eloquent:
“‘Tt serveth to adorne the house of God, as well as of
man; to procure warmth, comfort, and strength to the
limmes of men and women by bathings and anoyntings
out, and by drinks, etc., inward: to season the vessels
wherein are preserved our meates, as well as our drinkes ;
to crown or encircle as with a garland the heads of the
living, and to sticke and decke forth the bodies of the
dead; so that from the cradle to the grave we have still use
of, we have still need of it.” Noone could give higher
praise toits natural virtues, but in other countries, it was
endowed with supernatural ones. ‘‘ Neyther falling sick-
ness, neyther devyll, wyll infest or hurt one in that place
where a bay-tree is. The Romans call it the Plant of
the Good Angell.” + On the contrary, the withering of
bay-trees was a very ill omen, and a portent of death.
Canon Ellacombe says this superstition was imported
from Italy, but it seems to have taken root in England.
Shakespeare mentions it in Richard IJ., as if it were
no new idea; and Evelyn tells us, as if he were adding
a fresh fact to a store of common knowledge, that in

1 «* Book of Notable Things,” C, Lupton.

HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 143

1629, at Padua, before a great pestilence broke out,
almost all the Bay-trees about that famous University
grew sick and perished.

Sir Thomas Browne deals with another belief: ‘‘ That
bays will protect from the mischief of lightning and
thunder is a quality ascribed thereto, common with the
fig-tree, eagle and skin of a seal. Against so famous a
quality Vicomeratus produceth experiment of a bay-tree
blasted in Italy. And, therefore, although Tiberius
for this intent did wear laurel upon his temples, yet did
Augustus take a more probable course, who fled under
arches and hollow vaults for protection.” Sir Thomas
is very logical.

It is not always clear when Laurel and when Bay is
intended, because our Bay-tree was often called Laurel
in Elizabethan days. For instance :—

And when from Daphne’s tree he plucks more Baies,

His shepherd’s pipe may chant more heavenly lays.
Intro, to Br. Pastorals by CurisToruER Brooke.

If one is airily told one may pluck days from a /aurel
bush, it is impossible to know which is really meant, and
a certain confusion between the two is inevitable. William
Browne, who took, or pretended to take, seriously the
view that bays could not be hurt by thunder, brings
forward an ingenious theory to account for it. It is
that ‘‘being the materials of poets ghirlands, it is
supposed not subject to any of Jupiter’s thunderbolts,
as other trees are.

«« Where Bayes still grow (by thunder not struck down),
The victor’s garland and the poet’s crown.”

Besides being a prophet of evil, the Bay-tree was also
a token of joy and triumph. ‘In Rome, they use it to
trim up their Churches and Monasteries on Solemn Festivals
. . . as also on occasion of Signal Victories and other joy-
ful Tidings; and these Garlands made up with Hobby-

144 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Horse Tinsel, make a glittering show and rattling Noise
when the dir moves them”; also, ‘‘ With the Leaves of
Laurel they made up their Despatches and Letters Laurus
involutoe, wrapt in Bay-leaves, which they sent the Senate
from the victorious General.” Imagine a ‘‘ victorious
General” now sitting down to label despatches with
leaves, signifying triumph! ‘‘Ere Reuter yet had
found his range,” how much better the art of becoming
ceremonial was understood.

Finally, the Bay was regarded as a panacea for all
ailments, and, therefore, the statue of /®sculapius was
crowned with its leaves.

T append to this book a copy of the List of Herbs that
Tusser gives in ‘‘ March’s Abstract.” It will be seen
that he has carefully classified them according ‘to their
suitability for stilling, strewing, bough-pots or kitchen.

CHAPTER IV

OF THE GROWING OF HERBS

In March and in April, from morning to night,
In sowing and setting, good housewives delight ;
To have in a garden or other like plot,

To trim up their house, and to furnish their pot.

The nature of flowers, dame Physic doth shew ;
She teacheth them all, to be known to a few,
To set or to sow, or else sown to remove,
How that should be practised, pain if ye love.

Time and ages, to sow or to gather be bold,
But set to remove, when the weather is cold.
Cut all thing or gather, the moon in the wane,
But sow in encreasing or give it his bane.

Now sets do ask watering, with pot or with dish,

New sown do not so, if ye do as I wish:

Through cunning with dibble, rake, mattock and spade,
By line, and by level, the garden is made.

Who soweth too lateward, hath seldom good seed,
Who soweth too soon little better shall speed,
Apt time and the season, so diverse to hit,
Let aiér and layer, help practice and wit.
Five hundred Points of Good Hushandry.—Tusser.

THE majority of herbs are not exacting in their require-
ments, but a few foreigners thrive the better for a little
protection as a start. “This is the opinion of a successful
gardener on the Herb-Border in an ordinary kitchen-
garden: ‘‘ As to soil and situation, I used to devote a
border entirely to Herbs, under a privet hedge, facing

north-west, with a rough marly bottom. I had a plant
K 145

146 THE BOOK OF HERBS

of most varieties I could get hold of, both Culinary and
Medicinal.”

Circumstances dictated that my own herbs should grow
in a plot, rather overshadowed, and I found that they
flourished, though annuals, as a rough rule, do best where
they can get plenty of sunshine. In speaking of their culti-
vation, I have divided them into three groups : Perennials,
Biennials and Annuals, and take the Perennials first.

Tansy will grow in almost any soil and may be in-
creased, either in spring or autumn, by slips or by
dividing the roots. Lavender is not always easy to
please and likes a rather poor, sandy soil. When it
is rich and heavy, matters are sometimes improved by
trenching the ground and putting in chalk about a
bushel to a land-yard (16 feet 6 inches by 16 feet 6
inches); lime from a kiln is also used in the same
quantity.t. Broad-leaved and narrow-leaved are the
varieties of the purple Lavender usually sold, and,
besides these, White Lavender. The narrow-leaved is
the hardiest kind and its scent is the strongest; but
the white-flowered has a very delicate fragrance. It
requires care, but is better able to stand cold in a poor,
than in a rich soil. The best way of propagating
Lavender is by layering it, and this should be done in
the summer; the plants can then be taken off the
spring following. The narrow-leaved does not grow
well from seed, and all kinds are shy of striking. The
best known varieties of Artemisia, are Tarragon, Worm-
wood, and Southernwood, and they all prefer a dry and
rather poor soil. If Tarragon, especially, be set in a
wet soil, it is likely to be killed in the winter. Two
kinds of Tarragon are usually found in gardens; one
has bluish-green, very smooth leaves and the true
Tarragon flavour, and is commonly known as French

1 Neither lime nor chalk must be repeatedly added or the soil will
be impoverished

OF THE GROWING OF HERBS 147

Tarragon. Russian Tarragon, the other kind, lacks
the special flavour, and bears less smooth leaves of a
fresher green shade. Runners should be taken from
these plants in the spring. Wormwood is satisfied with
a shady corner and may be propagated by seeds or
cuttings. Southernwood is increased by division of the
roots in the spring.

Horehound and Rue may be coupled together as liking
a shady border and a dry, calcareous soil, and I have
always heard that the latter thrives best when the plant
has been stolen! It is a good thing to cut the bush
down from time to time, when it will spring again with
renewed vigour. Rue may be grown from seeds or
cuttings taken in the spring. Horehound may be grown
from seeds or cuttings, but is most usually increased by
dividing the roots.

Hyssop, Rosemary, and Sage are natives of the south
of Europe, and the two first appreciate a light, sandy
soil, and not too much sun. Hyssop should be sowed
in March or April; rooted off-sets may be taken in
these months or in August and September, or cuttings
from the stems in April or May, and these should be
watered two or three times a week till they have struck.
Both Hyssop and Sage are the better for being cut back
when they have finished flowering. Loudon" says of
Rosemary: ‘‘ The finest plants are raised from seed.
Slips or cuttings of the young shoots may be taken in
the spring and summer and set in rows, two-thirds into
the ground and occasionally watered till they have
struck. In the autumn they may be transplanted.”
There are four kinds of Sage: red, green, small-leaved,
or Sage of Virtue, broad-leaved or Balsamic. Gardening
books speak of the red variety as being the commonest,
though it seems to me that the common green sage is
the one oftenest seen in kitchen-gardens. Red Sage

1 « Encyclopedia of Gardening.”

148 THE BOOK OF HERBS

seldom comes ‘‘ true” from seed but is easily raised by
cuttings, and it sometimes succumbs to a hard winter.
The other varieties are propagated by seed or by
cuttings taken in May or June; the outer shoots
should be the ones chosen and they should be put well
into the ground and watered. After about three years
the plants begin to degenerate and new ones should be
set. Three kinds of Marjoram are cultivated, Winter
(Origanum Heracleoticum), Pot (O. Onites) and Sweet
Marjoram (O. Marjorana), ‘The last-named is not a
perennial. Winter and Pot Marjoram like a dry, light soil
and are best propagated by off-sets, slipping or parting
the roots in spring or autumn, but they may be also raised
from seed. Bergamot, sometimes called Bee Balm, is,
Robinson says, of the simplest culture, thriving or
flowering in any position or soil. ‘‘ For its scent alone,
or for its handsome crimson flowers it would be well
worth cultivating.”! He adds that the different varieties
of Monarda are admirably suited to being planted <« for
naturalization in woods and shrubberies.” Bergamot
may be increased by division of the roots in the spring
or grown from seed.

Balm grows almost too readily and has a terrible
habit of spreading in all directions unless severely
checked. To propagate it, the roots should be divided,
or slips taken either in spring or autumn.

Thyme.—Of the varieties of Serpy//um there seems no
end, and the number of the species of Thymus is still
dubious. Twelve kinds of them are offered for sale
in an ordinary seed list sent to me the other day, but of
these, few are grown in the kitchen-garden. Common
Thyme or Lemon Thyme are the kinds most usually culti-
vated. Common Thyme has long, narrow-pointed
leaves and Lemon Thyme is easily recognised by its
scent from the wild Thyme, of which it has generally

1 «« English Flower Garden.”

OF THE GROWING OF HERBS 149

been considered a variety. Golden or Variegated Thyme
(also lemon-scented) makes a pretty and fragrant edging
to a flower-bed, but should be cut back when it has
done flowering, unless the seed is to be saved, as it
becomes straggling and untidy, and there is more
danger of its being killed by the frost than if the winter
finds it compact and bushy. Thyme is propagated by
seed, by taking up rooted side-shoots, or by cuttings
taken in the spring. It thrives best in a light, rich
earth, and should be occasionally watered till well
rooted.

There are two varieties of Camomile, the single and
the double-flowered; the first is the most valuable in
medicine, but the second is the most commonly met
with. Camomile grows freely in most soils, but seems
naturally to choose gravel and sand. The roots may be
divided or, as the gardener before quoted, remarks:
“Only let a plant of it go to seed; it will take care of
itself.” Costmary is seldom grown. Loudon says the
whole plant has ‘‘a peculiarly agreeable odour”; per-
sonally, the odour strikes me as exactly resembling
that of mint sauce. The plant is rather handsome,
with large greyish leaves and small deep-yellow flowers ;
it likes a dry soil and is increased by division of
the roots after the fowering time is over.

Mint, Peppermint and Penny-rcyal, demand the same
treatment, and all like moisture. They are easily
increased by dividing the roots in the spring or autumn,
by taking off runners in the autumn, or by cuttings taken
inthe spring. The cuttings should be planted about half
way into the earth. To have really good mint, it should
be transplanted about every third year. Green Mint is
sometimes required in the winter and early spring, and
this may be provided by putting a few outside runners
in a pot and placing it in bottom heat. ‘Plant for suc-
cession every three weeks, as forced roots soon decay.”

150 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Winter Savoury is “‘ propagated by slips or cuttings in
April or June, planted in a shady border, and trans-
planted a foot apart and kept bushy by cuttings.” ?

Fennel has become naturalised and is sometimes found
growing wild by the sea; it is usually raised from seed
or increased by side off-sets of the roots which may be
taken in spring, summer or autumn. Bugloss or Alkanet
grows freely anywhere, but seems to prefer moisture,
and it may be increased by division of the roots or
grown from seeds.

Of Mallws and Marsh Mallows, De la Quintinye
says, “They ought to be allowed a place in our
Kitchen-Gardens . . . they grow of their own accord,”
but he admits that it is best to ‘“‘sow them in some
bye-place,” because of their propensity to spread. They
are raised from seed, but cuttings may do well, and
off-sets of the root, carefully divided, are satisfactory.
Sweet Cicely may be increased by dividing the roots. It
is well suited to an open shrubbery or wild garden, as
well as to a herb-border. Elecampane is propagated by
off-sets, taken when the plant has done flowering; it
likes a moist soil or shade, and sends up tall spikes of
bright yellow flowers. This year some of mine were
over six feet high.

Angelica, Abercrombie tells us, is an annual-perennial,
which means that it must be taken up and newly planted
every year to be at all good, though off-sets from the
plant would continue to come up of their own accord.
It delights in moisture, and flourishes on the banks of
running streams, but will do well almost anywhere.
Angelica is best raised from seed, which, if sown in
August, will grow better than if sown earlier in the
year and it will sometimes grow from cuttings. Liquorice
is ‘‘ propagated by cuttings of the roots. On account of
the depth to which the root strikes when the plant has

1 Abercrombie, ‘‘ Every Man his own Gardener.”

PLANTATION OF LAVENDER

OF THE GROWING OF HERBS 151
room to flourish, the soil should have a good staple of
mould thirty inches or three feet in depth. Taking the
small horizontal roots of established plants, cut them
into sections six inches long. Having traced out rows
a yard asunder, plant the sets along each row at
intervals of eighteen inches, covering them entirely with
mould.” +

Saffron will grow in any soil, but prefers a sandy one,
and plenty of sun. It is increased by seed, and by
off-sets, which must be taken from the bulb when the
plant is in a state of rest. As Saffron is an autumn-
flowering plant, the time of rest is in the beginning of
summer, and the bulb should be taken up when the
leaves (which appear in the spring) begin to decay.
The parent bulbs should be kept dry for a month and
then replanted, that they may have time to “establish
themselves” and flower before winter. This should be
done once in three years. Stkirrets are seldom eaten,
but occasionally seen; they may be raised from seed,
or by off-sets from the roots taken in spring or autumn.
Chives are propagated by dividing the roots either in
spring or autumn, and when the leaves are wanted they
should be cut close, and then new ones will grow up in
their place.

Sorrel of two kinds is cultivated, Rumex Acetosa and
Rumex Scutatus or French Sorrel; Garden Sorrel rejoices
in a damp, French Sorrel in a dry, soil. Both are most
commonly increased by parting the roots, which may be
done either in spring or autumn, and the roots planted
about a foot apart and watered. Loudon says: ‘The
finer plants are propagated from seed,” which should be
sown in March, though it may be sown in any of the
spring months, and the plants must be thinned out when
they are one or two inches high. When the stalks run
up in the summer they should be cut back occasionally.

1 Abercrombie.

152 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Herb Patience or Patience Dock is raised from seed
sown in lines and thinned out and the leaves to be eaten
must be cut young. Burnet is easily raised from seed,
or increased by dividing the roots in the spring. All
the flower-stalks ought to be cut down, if they are not
required for seed. Dandelion, it is hardly necessary to
say, is only too easily raised from seed or by roots.
Loudon says that when wanted for the table, the leaves
should be tied together and earthed up, which will
blanch them satisfactorily; otherwise, it may be grown
blanched by keeping it always in a dark place.

For obvious reasons there are obstacles to the cultiva-
tion of Water-cress; a very little running water,
however, will suffice, and it may be grown from seeds
or by setting roots in the shallow stream. It should
never be grown in stagnant water. Loudon quotes
several authorities on the subject of growing Samphire ;
it is difficult to please, but this treatment was successful
at Thames Ditton. The Samphire was “ placed in a
sheltered, dry situation, screened from the morning
sun, protected by litter in the winter, and in the spring
the soil was sprinkled with a little powdered barilla,
to console it for the lack of its beloved sea-spray.”
It is raised from seed which should be sown as soon as
it is ripe, or the roots may be divided.

In the early part of August, the young shoots should
be cut back, and the decayed flower-stems removed,
on such plants as hyssop, sage, lavender, and the like,
and they will then send out new short shoots, which
will make a close, bushy head for the winter. If
possible, this should be done in damp weather. In
October, the beds should be weeded; if the plants
stand at some distance from each other, the earth
between should be loosened, and if the beds are old, a
little manure would be a great advantage. Amongst
close- growing herbs, digging is impossible, but

OF THE GROWING OF HERBS 153

the ground must be hoed, raked and cleaned of
weeds.

BrEnntaLs.—Parsley.— There are many kinds of par-
sley, and one specially recommended is the triple-curled
variety. All parsleys are raised from seed, and it is a
good thing to sow one bed in March and a second in
June, thus securing a continual supply all through the
winter. The plants want well thinning out, and if the
weather be very dry, the last sown should have two or
three waterings with weak manure water. To protect
them from the frost, a reed-hurdle, or even a few
branches of fir, may be used, but, of course, a box-frame
and light is the best. Parsley likes a deep soil, not
too rich; and a good quantity of soot worked into it
much improves the plants.

Caraway is raised from seed, which should be sown
in the autumn, and it may also be sown in March or April,
but the result will not be so good. This plant likes a
rich, light soil. Di// should be sown in the spring,
either broadcast or in drills, six to twelve inches apart.
It may be sown in autumn, but this is not very advisable.
Clary is sown in the end of March or in April, and
should be transplanted to six to twelve inches apart,
when the plants are two or three inches high; it may
also be grown from cuttings.

Rampions should be thinly sowed in April or May in
shady borders. If the plant is grown for use, it must
not be allowed to flower, and in this case, it should not
be sown till the end of May. The plants should be
moderately watered at first (and later if the weather be
very dry), and when sufficiently grown, they should be
thinned out to three or four inches apart. The roots
are fit for use in November. Alexanders or Alisanders,
will send up shoots indefinitely, but must be sown afresh
every year if wanted for the table. The seed should
be sown in drills eighteen inches or more apart, and the

154 THE BOOK OF HERBS

plants thinned out to five or six inches distance from
each other. When they are well grown they should be
earthed up several inches on each side to blanch them.

ANNUALS.—Anise and Coriander like a warm, dry,
light soil. If this is not procurable, anise should be
‘“sown in pots in heat, and removed to a warm site in
May.”! Coriander may be sown in February, if it be
mild and dry, and the seeds must be buried half an inch,
Cumin is rarely seen; but it is advised that it should be
sown in a warm, sunny border in March or April.

Sweet Marjoram and Summer Savory must both be
sowed in light earth, either in drills nine inches apart,
or broadcast, when they must be thinned out later on.
The plants thinned out may be planted in another bed
at six inches distance from each other, and must be
watered. Sqweet Basil and Bush Basil are both raised from
seed sown in a hot-bed in the end of March, and the
young plants should be set a foot apart in a warm
border in May. They may be sown in an open border,
but there is a risk of their coming up at all, and a cer-
tainty, that if they do, the plants will be late and small.
Sweet Basil (Ocymum Basilicum) is much the largest
plant, Bush Basil (O. Afininum) being scarcely half the
size; both like a rich soil.

Borage is raised from seed, and, if let alone, will seed
itself and come up, year after year, in the same place.
It likes a dry soil. Gardening books recommend that
it should be planted in drills and thinned, but for the
sake of the picturesque, it should be dotted about among
low-growing herbs in single plants or little clumps.
Marigolds should be planted in light, dry soil; they
may be ‘“sowed in the spring, summer, or autumn, to
remain or be transplanted a foot asunder.”2 The outer
edge (near the palings) of Regent’s Park, close to Han-
over Gate, testifies to their power of seeding themselves.

1 Loudon. 2 Abercrombie,

OF THE GROWING OF HERBS 1s;

Authorities differ as to whether Finecchio is an annual, but
at anyrate, in England, it must be treated as one.
Finocchio should be sowed in dry, light earth, and must
afterwards be thinned, or the plants transplanted to a
distance of fifteen inches between each. The swelling
stems ‘‘of some tolerable substance” must be earthed
up five or six inches, and will be blanched and tender
in a fortnight’s time, and if sowed in successive sowings,
it may be eaten from June till December.

Endive must be sown in successive crops in July and
the early part of August, and this will produce ‘a
sufficiency to last through the winter and early spring.
If sown earlier it runs to seed the same year; but if
early endive is required, a little white-curled variety
is the best to sow. The ground should be light and
rich on a dry subsoil”; when sufficiently grown, the
plants should be thinned, and those taken out, trans-
planted at a distance of ten or twelve inches apart, and
watered occasionally till they are well rooted. Endive
is more easy to blanch if sowed in trenches than in level
ground. In wet weather, blanching is best accomplished
by putting a garden-pot over the plant; but, in summer,
it is better to tie the leaves together and earth them
half way up. The process will take from a week in dry
weather to nearly three weeks in wet, and the plant
must be taken up soon after it is finished, as after a few
days it begins to decay. In severe frost the bed should
be covered with straw litter.

Chervil is sown in August and September, and can be
used in the same autumn and through the winter; if
successive crops are wanted, it may be sown any time
between the end of February and August. It should
be sown in shallow drills, and the plants left to grow
as they come up. When the leaves are two or three
inches high they are ready to be used, and if cut close,
fresh leaves will shoot up in their place. Lambs’ Lettuce

156 THE BOOK OF HERBS

is appreciated chiefly in the winter; it should be sown
in August, and again in September to last through the
winter and early spring. Dry fairly mellow soil will
suit it, and it may be left to grow as it was sowed.

Rocket.—‘‘ This is an agreeable addition to cresses
and mustard, early in spring. It should be sown in a
warm border in February, and during the next months
if a succession is wanted. After the first rough leaf
has appeared, thin out the plants.”! The Purslanes are
both tender annuals, Green Purslane (Portulaca olerecea)
being rather hardier than Golden Purslane (P. sativa).
They should be sowed on hot-beds in February or
March; or in a warm border, they may be sowed in
drills during fine weather in May. They should be left
as they grow, and when the leaves are gathered they
must be cut low, and then a fresh crop will appear.
Purslane must be watered occasionally in very dry, hot
weather.

The above remarks pretend to being no more than
bare outlines of the art of growing certain herbs. Many
of these have outlived their reputation, and are now
cultivated for no practical purpose, but for sentiment’s
sake, or for their aromatic grace, by those who “take
a delight” in such things. To these I hope these sugges-
tions may be useful. Any person desiring to bring
a special herb to perfection is hardly likely to need
reference to one of the many admirable gardening
dictionaries, for it is not probable that he would look to
an amateur for solid instruction on such points. To con-
clude, Leonard Meager? gives some pithy directions
which it is well to bear in mind :—

“‘In setting herbs ever observe to leave the tops no
more than a handful above the ground, and the roots a
foot under the earth.

‘© Twine the roots of the herbs you set, unless too

1 Loudon. 2 «« New Art of Gardening.”

OF THE GROWING OF HERBS 157

brittle. Gather herbs when the sap is full in the top of
them. Such herbs as you intend to gather for drying, to
keep for use all the winter, do it about Lames tide»
dry them in the shade that the sun draw not out their
vertue, but in a clear air and breezy wind, that no musti-
ness may taint them.”

Cut all herbs just before they flower, except where
the fower heads are wanted—lavender or camomile, for
instance. These should be cut just before the ewer
are fully open.

CHAPTER V

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE

When bright Aurora gilds the eastern skies,
I wake and from my squalid couch arise. . .
Be this my topic, this my aim and end,
Heav’n’s will to obey and seek t’ oblige a friend . .
Some herbs adorn the hills—some vales below,
Where limpid streamlets in meanders flow,
Here’s Golden Saxifrage, in vernal hours,
Springs up when water’d well by fertile showers:
It flourishes in bogs where waters beat,
The yellow fowers in clusters stand complete.
Adorn’d with snowy white, in meadows‘low,
White Saxifrage displays a lucid show: .. .
Why should my friends in pining grief remain,
Or suffer with excruciating pain?
The wholesome medicines, if by heaven blest,
Sure anodynes will prove and give them rest. . . .
Here’s Tormentilla, with its searching parts,
Expels the pois’nous venom from our hearts. . .
Wood-betony is in its prime in May,
In June and July does its bloom display,
A fine, bright red does this grand plant adorn,
To gather it for drink I think no scorn;
I’ll make a conserve of its fragrant flowers,
Cephalick virtues in this herb remain,
To chase each dire disorder from the brain.
Delirious persons here a cure may find
To stem the phrensy and to calm the mind.
All authors own wood-betony is good,
’Tis king o’er all the herbs that deck the wood ;
A king’s physician erst such notice took
Of this, he on its virtues wrote a book.

The Poor Phytologist. —James CHAMBERS.

Tue old herbalists used so many herbs and found

each one good for so many disorders that one is filled
158

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 159

with wonder that patients ever died, till one examines
into the prescriptions and methods generally, and then
one is more astonished that any of them recovered. I
shall not mention any prescriptions here, excepting the
celebrated antidote to all poison, Venice Treacle. This
included seventy-three ingredients, and was evolved from
an earlier and also famous nostrum, the Mithridaticum,
originated by Mithridates, King of Pontus. Of course,
this ‘‘ treacle ” was in no way connected with the sugary
syrup we call by this name, but is a corruption of the
Latin—Theriaca, a counter poison. Venice Treacle is an
extreme example of the multitude of conflicting elements
that were massed together and boldly administered in
ancient remedies. The memory of it still clings about a
wayside plant, Erysimum cheiranthodes, better known
as Treacle-Mustard, which has gained its English
name from the fact that its seeds were used in this
awe-inspiring compound.

Anyone who is interested in ancient remedies can
easily gain much information from Culpepper or Salmon.
Either herbal can be procured at a low price (in a cheap
edition) from any second-hand bookseller, and Salmon’s
wild statements, especially about animals, and Cul-
pepper’s biting wit, make them amusing reading. It
is more instructive to examine the principles that
animated the practice, and from one, the Doctrine of
Signatures took form—a doctrine widely believed in,
and of great influence. Coles! expounds it with great
clearness: ‘Though Sin and Sattan have plunged
mankinde into an Ocean of Infirmities ... yet the
mercy of God, which is over all His workes, maketh
. . . herbes for the use of man, and hath not onely
stamped upon them a distinct forme, but also given
them particular Signatures, whereby a man may read,
even in legible characters, the use of them. . . . Viper’s

1 sé Art of Simpling.”

160 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Bugloss hath its stalks all to be speckled like a snake or
viper, and is a most singular remedy against poyson and
the sting of scorpions. . . . Heart Trefoyle is so called,
not onely because the leafe is triangular, like the heart
of a man, but also because each leafe contains the per-
fection of the heart, and that in its proper colour, viz.,
in flesh colour. It defendeth the heart. . . . The leaves
of Saint John’s Wort seem to be pricked or pinked very
thick with little holes like the pores of a man’s skin. It is
a soveraigne remedy for any cut in the skin.” This was
a view very generally shared. William Browne says:
In physic by some signature
Nature herself doth point us out a cure,
And again:

Heaven hath made me for thy cure,
Both the physician and the signature.
Br. Pastorals, book iii.

Drayton’s Hermit pursued a development of this theory.
He merely accepted the conclusions of earlier authorities
who had made discoveries about the properties of plants
and had named them accordingly.

Some (herbs) by experience, as we see,
Whose names express their natures.
Muses’ Elysium.

It was, naturally, more simple to administer all-heal,
for a wound; hore-hound, for ‘‘mad dogge’s biting,”
and so on, than to decipher the signature from the plant,
himself, and so he and many others, prescribed the herbs,
with more reference to their names, than unprejudiced
attention to results. :

The planets were another determining factor in the
choice of remedies. Each plant was dedicated to a
planet and each planet presided over a special part of the
body, therefore, when any part was affected, a herb be-
longing to the planet that governed that special part must,

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 161

asa rule, be used. Thus, Mercury presided over the
brain, so for a headache or “ Folly and Simplicity (the
Epidemicall diseases of the Time)” one of Mercury’s
herbs must be chosen. Mercurial herbs were, as a rule,
refreshing, aromatic and of “very subtle parts.” The
planets seem usually to have caused, as well as cured the
diseases in their special province, and therefore their own
herbs, brought about the cure ‘‘by sympathy.” But some-
times, a planet would cause a disorder in the province
ruled by another planet, to whom the first was in opposi-
tion, and in this case the cure must be made ‘by anti-
pathy.” Thus the lungs are under Jupiter, to whom
Mercury is opposed, therefore in any case of the lungs
being affected, the physician must first discover whether
Jupiter or Mercury were the agent and if the latter, the
remedy must be “ antipathetical”; it must be from one
of Mercury’s herbs. Sometimes where a planet had
caused a disease in the part it governed, an ‘antipa-
thetical” cure, by means of an adversary’s herbs, was
advised ; for instance Jupiter is opposed to Saturn, so
Jupiter’s herbs might be given for toothache or pains in
the bones caused by Saturn, for the bones are under
Saturn’s dominion. An antipathetical remedy, however,
Culpepper does not recommend for common use, for
“‘sympathetical cures strengthen nature; antipathetical
cures, in one degree or another, weaken it.” Besides
this, the position of the planet had to be considered,
the ‘‘ House” that it was in, and the aspect in which
it was to the moon and other planets.

«¢ A benevolent Planet in the sixth, cures the disease
without the help of a Physitian.

«A malevolent Planet there causeth a change in the
disease, and usually from better to worse.

«cA malevolent in the Ascendant threatens death, and
makes the sick as cross-grained as Bajazet the Turkish
Emperor when he was in the Iron Cage.”

L

162 THE BOOK OF HERBS

This is from Culpepper’s <‘ Astrological Judgment of
Diseases”; in his ‘* Herbal” he gives definite directions :

‘‘Fortify the body with herbs of the nature of the
Lord of the Ascendant, ’tis no matter whether he be a
Fortune or Infortune in this case.

«« Let your medicine be something antipathetical to the
Lord of the Sixth.

“Tf the Lord of the Tenth be strong, make use of his
medicines.

“<If this cannot well be, make use of the medicines of
the Light of Time.”

Turning to the herbs appropriated to the special
planets, we find that those of Mars were usually strong,
bright and vigorous, and cured ills caused by violence,
including the sting of ‘‘a martial creature, imagine a
wasp, a hornet, a scorpion.” Yellow flowers were
largely dedicated to the Sun or Moon, radiant, bright-
yellow ones to the Sun; these of paler, fainter hues to
the Moon. Flowers dedicated to either were good for
the eyes, for the eyes are ruled by ‘‘ the Luminaries.”
Jupiter’s herbs had generally, ‘‘ Leaves smooth, even,
slightly cut and pointed, the veins not prominent.
Flowers graceful, pleasing bright, succulent.” The herbs
of Venus were those with many flowers, of bright or
delicate colours and pleasant odours. Saturn, who is
almost always looked upon as being unfavourable, had
only plants, whose leaves were ‘hairy, dry, hard,
parched, coarse,”+ and whose flowers were ‘gloomy,
dull, greenish, faded or dirty white, pale red, invariably
hirsute, prickly and disagreeable.”

One does not know how much modern physicians care
about propitiating Jupiter, but certainly they make an
effort in that direction every time that they do, as did
the Ancients, and write Rx—thus making his sign—at
the top of a prescription. The small attention paid by

1 Folkard.

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 163
doctors to herbs is often supposed to be a modern
development, but hear Culpepper in 1652! «Drones lie
at home and eat up what the bees have taken pains for.
Just so do the college of physicians lie at home and
domineer and suck out the sweetness of other men’s
Jabours and studies, themselves being as ignorant in the
matter of herbs as a child of four years old, as I can make
appear to any rational man by their last dispensatory.”

Tt was not unnatural that the Herbalists should maintain
the superiority of vegetable over mineral drugs, and Ger-
arde expresses his opinions in the introduction to his
“Herbal.” ‘<I contesse blind Pluto is nowadays more
sought after than quick-sighted Phcebus, and yet this
dusty metall, ... is rather snatched of man to his own
destruction. . . . Contrariwise, in the expert knowledge
of herbes what pleasure still renewed with varietie ?
What small expence? What security? And yet what
an apt and ordinary meanes to conduct men to that most
desired benefit of health?”

Many herbs have been expunged from modern Phar-
macopeeias. Perhaps we have no use for them now that
we, in England, no longer live in perpetual terror of the
bitings of sea-hares, scorpions or tarantulas, as our
forefathers seem to have done! In Harrison’s ‘‘ Descrip-
tion of England,” the habit of preferring foreign, to
native herbs, is rebuked. ‘‘ But herein (the cherishing
of foreign herbs) I find some cause of just complaint, for
that we extoll their uses so farre that we fall into
contempt of our owne, which are, in truth, more bene-
ficiall and apt for us than such as grow elsewhere, sith
(as I said before) everie region hath abundantly within
his own limits whatsoever is needfull and most con-
venient for them that dwell therein.” Probably there
are to-day some thinkers of this stamp, as well as others
who will hold anything valuable as long as it has been
fetched from ‘‘ overseas.”

164 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Russell gives instructions, in his <« Boke of Nurture,”
how to ‘‘ make a Bath medicinable,” by adding herbs,—
mallow, hollyhocks and fennel being among the number.
And he directs that herbs ‘‘ sweet and greene” should be
hanged round the room ‘“‘ when the Master will have a
bath” ; a proceeding which was evidently something of a
ceremony.

To-day, there is an unfortunate tendency among the
poor, to desert herbs, ot for ‘‘ doctor’s medicine,” but
for any quackery they may chance to see ‘‘on the paper”
and some of these remedies are advertised to cure nearly
as many and diverse diseases, as any of the compounds
prescribed by the Ancients. Consequently, one usually
hears of the uses of herbs in the past tense. There is a
curious poem (published at Ipswich, 1796) called the
“‘Poor Phytologist, or the Author Gathering Herbs,” by
James Chambers, Itinerant Poet, which gives the names
and virtues of the simples most prized at that date. He
was a pedlar, who wandered about the country, always
accompanied by several dogs, and he added to his “ pre-
carious mode of existence, the art of making nets and
composing acrostics.” J have quoted some of his lines
at the beginning of this chapter, but few of the herbs he
mentions are in popular use now, at least in the west of
England. Betony occurs in some old village recipes
still employed, though its vaunted powers have been
declared vain by science. Amongst those that I have
known, or have heard of, through personal friends, as
being still, or quite recently in use, are the following :—
Dandelion, Centaury, Meadow-Sweet and Wild-Sage are
used as ‘‘ bitters.” By Wild-Sage, Wood-Sage is usually,
if not always, meant. Dandelion is, of course, in the
British Pharmacopceia; and Wood-Sage, though not
officinal, is asked for by some chemists. Bear’s foot
(Hellebore) has five finger-like leaves, but one finger is
bad and must be torn off. Angelica is a wonderful herb ;

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 165

Parkinson put it in the fore-front of all medicinal plants
and it holds almost as high a place among village herbalists
to-day. Among many other virtues, the dried leaves are
said to have great power to reduce inflammation if steeped
in hot water and applied to the affected part. Mallows,
especially Marsh-Mallows, retain their old reputation for
relieving the same ill and the well-known Pétés de
Guimauve are made from their roots. Elder, beloved by
all herbalists, still keeps its place in the British
Pharmacopeeia, and the cooling effects of Elder-Flower
Water, none can deny. In the country, Elder leaves
and buds are most highly valued and are used in drinks,
poultices and ointments. Hyssop, or as some call it
I-sop, is sometimes used. Primrose, Poor Man’s Friend,
and Comfrey are together made into an ointment, but
White Comfrey should be used when the ointment is for
a woman, Red-flowered Comfrey when it is for a man.
“¢Poor Man’s Friend ” in this case is Hedge-Garlic, but
the name is sometimes given to Swine’s Cress (Lapsana
Communis). The juice of House-Leek, mixed with cream
relieves inflammation and particularly the irritation
which follows vaccination in an arm ‘taking beauti-
fully.” Probatum est. Penny-pies or Penny-wort (Cotyledon
Umbilicus) is said to be equally efficacious, especially
used with cream, and when simmered with the <“‘ sides
of the pan,” have been known to heal, where lin-
seed poultices failed to do good. When the leaf of
Penny-wort is applied to a wound, one side draws, the
other side heals. Wormwood is often in request
by brewers. Marigold-tea is a widely administered
remedy for the measles, and is one of the few
remedies which everybody seems to know. Very often
families appear to have their own special formula, and
even where the chief herbs in different prescrip-
tions to relieve the same ailment are identical, the
lesser herbs vary. Saffron was also recommended for

166 THE BOOK OF HERBS

measles; both probably on the ‘ Doctrine of Colour
Analogy” referred to the rash. An old Herbalist told
me that he considered Marigolds nearly as good as
Saffron and ‘‘more home-grown, so to speak.” Dr
Primrose, a physician in the reign of Charles II., who
wrote a book on ‘‘ Popular Errors in Physick,” inveighs
against the custom then in vogue of covering “the sick
[with measles or small-pox] with red cloaths, for they
are thought by the affinitie of the colour to draw the
blood out to them, or at least some suppose that it is
done by force of imagination. And not onely the people,
but also very many physicians use them.” Marigold-tea
is at anyrate a better survival as ‘‘ treatment” than this
system! Meadow-Saffron is still officinal, and is well
known in the form it is usually dispensed, Tincture of
Colchicum. Broom has a place in the pharmacopeia,
and is also a popular remedy. Furze is not officinal,
but a preparation made from it, Ulexine, is mentioned in
a well-known medical dictionary. An infusion of Furze-
blossom used to be given to children to drink in
scarlet fever. Camomile is officinal, and the great
authority, Dr Schimmelbusch recently recommended it
as a mouth-wash, for disinfecting the muscous membrane
after cases of operation in the mouth, In a fomentation
Camomile heads are a recognised anodyne; and Wild
Camomile and Red Pimpernel are given locally for
asthma, it is said, with great success. Boy’s love,
(Southernwood), Plantain leaves, Black Currant leaves,
Elder buds, Angelica and Parsley, chopped, pounded,
and simmered with clarified butter, make an ointment for
burns or raw surfaces. A maker of this particular oint-
ment near Exeter, died a year or two ago, but up to her
death it was much in request. Butter is always better
for making ointments than lard, because cows feed on
herbs, and all herbs are good for something. Sage
poultices and sage gargle are very good for sore

CML THMes “fF SATIMOW TO NOLLVINWIE

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 167

throats, better than some of the gargles that ‘the
gentlemen” prescribe (so a Herbalist told me), and
red sage is better than green. Rosemary has long
been celebrated for making the hair grow. Water-
cress is very good for the blood, and the expressed
juice has been known to prove a wonderful cure for
rheumatism. A lady told me of a case she knew in
Berkshire, where a man was absolutely crippled till he
tried this remedy, and afterwards quite recovered his
power to move and a very good degree of strength.
Water-cress was one of the plants from which Count
Mattei extracted his vegetable electricity. Parsley,
freshly gathered and laid on the forehead is good for a
headache, and if put in a fold of muslin and laid across
inflamed eyes, it is said to be beneficial. Endive tea is
cooling and is given to “fever” patients, and the dry
leaves of lovage infused in white wine were good for
ague. An infusion of Raspberry leaves, Agrimony, and
Barberry-bark was good for consumptive patients, and
Cowslip and Cucumber were made into a wash to make
the complexion ‘‘splendent,” to use an old expression.
Coltsfoot is still given for coughs ; Sweet Marjoram was
administered for dropsy, Alderberries for boils; Arb-
Rabbit (Herb-Robert) made into poultices for ‘ inflam-
mation;” Brook-lime, given for St Anthony’s Fire, and
Brown Nut, made into a decoction, was taken hot just
before going to bed, for a cold. Groundsel, Docks,
Hay-Maids (Ground-Ivy), Feather-Few, Chicken-Weed,
Hedge-Garlic or Hedge-Mustard, I have also heard
recommended at different times. The Blessed Thistle is
a useless ingredient in a good herb-ointment for burns.
Amongst the last named plants are several not strictly to
be called “herbs,” but they and others I shall mention
are “‘ simples,” and as such they fitly find a place among
medicinal herbs. Foxglove and Belladonna, of course,
are among the most important drugs in the Pharma-

168 THE BOOK OF HERBS

copeeia, and both the fruits and leaves of Hemlock
have also a place there. Foxglove, called in Devon-
shire, Cowflop, is recommended as an application to
heal sores, and one woman told me that it should
always be gathered on the north side of the hedge.
It is interesting to note that the Italians have a pro-
verb, ‘‘ Aralda, tutte piaghe salda” (Foxglove heals
all sores). Cliders (Goose-grass, Galium aparine) was
much given for tumours and cancers, and is praised
by other than merely village sages. Dr Fernie quotes
the testimony of several doctors who used it with
success, and adds, ‘‘ some of our trading druggists now
furnish curative preparations made from the fresh herb.”

No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell,
The virtues of the pimpernel.

This most popular plant, amongst other uses, is put into
poultices. Bacon mentions it as a weather prophet.
‘¢ There is a small red flower in the stubble-fields, which
country people call the wincopipe, which if it open in
the morning, you may be sure of a fine day to follow.”
The virtues of Betony are set forth by the ‘‘ Poor Phyto-
logist,” and he is quite right in saying that it was once
esteemed a most sovereign remedy for all troubles
connected with the brain. It was, in fact, so far
extolled that an adage was once current :—

‘Sell your coat and buy betony.”

In Italy there are two modern sayings, one a pious aspira-
tion, ‘‘ May you have more virtues than Betony”; and
the other an allusion, ‘‘ Known as well as Betony.”
Though the reputation of this plant has quite withered,
that of horehound is in a more flourishing state, and
itis still, I believe, considered of real use for coughs.
Violet leaves are now becoming a fashionable remedy

1+’ Natural History.” Cent. IX.

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 169

in the hands of amateur doctors, who prescribe them for
cancer. In the Highlands, it is said, they were used for
the complexion, and a recipe is translated from the
Gelic, ‘‘ Anoint thy face with goat’s milk in which
violets have been infused, and there is not a young
prince on earth who will not be charmed with thy
beauty.” The Greater Celandine was once dedicated to
the sun, and it is still recommended as being good for
the eyes, though not by members of the faculty. The
following advice was given me by an old Cornish
woman, but Iam almost sure the flower she spoke of
was the Lesser Celandine. This probably arose from a
confusion of the two flowers, as I have never heard
or seen the Lesser Celandine elsewhere commended for
this purpose. Take celandines and pound them with
salt. Put them on some rag, and lay it on the inside of
the wrist on the side of whichever eye is bad. Change
the flowers twice a day, and go on applying them till
the eye is well. Put enough alum to curdle it, into
some scalded milk. Bathe the eyes with the liquid
and apply the curds to the place.”

Green Oil made after the following recipe has
often proved beneficial for slight burns and scalds,
and smells much nicer than the boracic ointment usually
ordered for such injuries. It is also recommended
for fresh wounds and bruises. ‘‘ Take equal quantities
of sage, camomile, wormwood and marsh-mallows, pick
them clean and put them into sweet oil and as much of
it as will cover the herbs; if a quart add a quarter of a
pound of sugar, and so on in proportion. Let them stand
a week without stirring, then put them into the sun for
a fortnight, stir them every day. Strain them with a
strong cloth very hard, and set it on a slow fire with
some red rose-buds and the young tops of lavender, let
them simmer on a slow fire for two hours, strain off the
oil, and put to it a gill of brandy. (If some hog’s lard

170 THE BOOK OF HERBS

be poured upon the herbs, they will keep and make an
excellent poultice for any kind of sore.)

The oil should be applied immediately to any kind of
bruise or burn. It will prevent all inflammation and heal
the wound. The time to begin making it is when the
herbs are in full vigour, which depends much on the
season being early; in general the middle of May is
about the time, as the rose-buds and lavender would not
be ready sooner than the middle of June.

Mrs Milne Home gives the ingredients of the Tisane
de Sept Fleurs, which, she says, is often prescribed by
French doctors for colds and sleeplessness—

** Bouillon blanc. Mullein.
Tilleul. Lime.
Violette. Violet.
Coquelicot. Poppy.
Pied de chat. Tussilago.
Guimauve. Mallow.
Mauve. Another sort of mallow.”

I think Mauve means mallow, Guimauve, marsh-mallow.
Beyond these simples that I have mentioned as being in
popular use, various English plants and herbs are used
not much (if at all) by country people, but by medical
men, and a few of those included in the British Phar-
macopceia may be remarked on here.

Hops are used in the form of Infusum Lupuli. ‘They
have long had the reputation of inducing sleep, and
George III. slept on a hop-pillow. To prevent the hops
crackling (and producing exactly the opposite effect) it
is advised that a little alcohol should be sprinkled on
them. To eat poppy-seed was thought a safe means of
bringing drowsiness. ‘‘ But,” says Dr Primrose (about
1640), ‘‘ Opium is now brought into use, the rest [of
soporifics] being layd aside. Yet the people doe abhorre
from the use thereof and avoyd it as present poyson,

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 171
when notwithstanding being rightly prepared, and
administered in a convenient dose, it is a very harm-
lesse and wholesome medicament. The Ancients indeed
thought it to bee poyson, but that is onely when it is
taken in too great a quantity.” One wonders what ex-
periences ‘‘the people” went through to learn this terror
of the drug! Gerarde and Parkinson both commend it
as a medicine that ‘‘ mitigateth all kinde of paines,” but
say that it must be used with great caution.

Browne
refers to the poppy’s power of soothing.

‘* Where upon the limber grass
Poppy and mandragoras,
With like simples not a few
Hang for ever drops of dew.
Where flows Léthe without coil,
Softly like a stream of oil.
Hie thee, thither, gentle Sleep.”
In The Inner Temple Masque.
It is from the seed of the White Poppy (Papaver somni-
jerum) that opium is prepared, and that procured from
poppies grown in England is quite as good, and often
purer, than opium imported from the East. The first
poppies that were cultivated in this country for the pur-
pose were grown by Mr John Ball of Williton about
1794. Timbs quotes: ‘¢* Cowley Plantarium. In old
time the seed of the write poppy carched was served up
as a dessert.’ By tnis we are reminded that white poppy
seeds are eaten to this dzy upon bread made exclusively
for Jews. Tre ‘twist’ =re2d is generally prepared by
brushing over the curside upper crust with egg and
sprinkling upon i: ri seeds.” In Germany, Mond-kuchen,
a kind of pai:ry in which poppy seeds are mixed, is stil]
afavourite disz. Jfcr2-h aren ‘moon-flowers) is a name
Mot wonaturaiz giver to poppies, as they have been
emblems of sleep ever since tn¢ Greeks used to repre-
sent their deizizs oz Siz¢:, Death and Night as crowned
with trem.

i72 THE BOOK OF HERBS

‘« The water-lily from the marish ground
With the wan poppy,”

were both dedicated to the moon.

Gentian is greatly valued and largely prescribed by
our doctors, but Parkinson raises a curious echo from a
time when, it is generally supposed, people were less
“nice” than they are to-day.‘ The wonderful whole-
someness of Gentian cannot be easily knowne to us, by
reason our daintie tastes refuse to take thereof, for the
bitternesse sake, but otherwise it would undoubtedly
worke admirable cures.” Valerian was, and is officinal,
but seldom finds its way into ‘‘ pottage” nowadays.
Gerarde, however, writes: ‘It hath been had (and is to
this day among the poore people of our Northerne parts)
in such veneration amongst them, that no broths, pottage
or physicall meats are worth anything if Setwall were
not at an end: whereupon some woman Poet or other
hath made these verses:

‘¢ They that will have their heale,
Must put Setwall in their keale (kail).”

The herbalist speaks of ‘‘Garden Valerian or Setwall ”
as if they were one and the same, but Mr Britten says
that Setwall was not Valeriana officinalis but V. pyrenaica.
All varieties seem to have been used as remedies, and in
Drayton’s charming ‘‘ Eclogue,” of which Dowsabel is
the heroine, he shows that it was used as an adornment.

‘A daughter, ycleapt Dowsabel,
A maiden fair and free,
And for she was her father’s heir,
Full well she was ycond the leir,
Of mickle courtesy.
The silk well couth she twist and twine
And make the fine march-pine,
And with the needle-work ;
And she couth help the priest to say
His mattins on a holy day
And sing a psalm in kirk

SLINOOV TSUIONSD oO Stet

OF HERBS IN MEDICINE 173

The maiden in a morn betime,

Went forth when May was in the prime.
To get sweet setywall,

The honeysuckle, the harlock,

The lily and the ladysmock,

To deck her summerhall.”

The summary of Dowsabel’s education is so delight-
ful, that though it was irrelevant, I could not refrain
from quoting it. Aconite, Wolfsbane, or Monkshood
(Aconitum Napellus) was held in wholesome terror by
the old herbalists, who described it as being most
venomous and deadly. Gerarde says, ‘‘ There hath
beene little heretofore set downe concerning the virtues
of the Aconite, but much might be said of the hurts
that have come thereby.” Parkinson chiefly recommends
it to ‘‘hunters of wild beastes, in which to dippe the
heads of their arrows they shoote, or darts they throw
at the wild beastes which killeth them that are wounded
speedily”; but, he says, it may be used in outward
applications. Aconite was first administered internally
by Stoerck, who prescribed it for rheumatism, with good
results, and it is now known to be sedative to the heart
and respiratory organs, and to reduce temperature.

Other English-grown plants in the Pharmacopceia are :
Anise, Artemisia maritima (Wormwood), Uve Ursi
(Bearberries), Coriander, Caraway, Dill, Fennel, Flax
(Linseed), Henbane, Wych-Hazel, Horse-Radish, Li-
quorice, Lavender, Mint, Mezereon, Musk, Mustard,
Arnica, Pyrethrum, Rosemary, Squills, Saffron and
Winter-green. In the making of Thymol, a preparation
in common hospital use, Monarda punctata (Bergamot),
Oil of Thyme and Carum copticus are used.

The following plants are not yet to be found in the
Pharmacopeeia, which includes those only that have been
tried by very long experience, but leading physicians have
prescribed these drugs with success. Convalleria, from

Lily of the Valley ; Salix nigra, from the Willow; Savin,

174 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Juniper; Rhus, Sumach; Aletris, Star-Grass; Lycopo-
dium, Club-Moss; Grindelia; from Larkspur, Oil of
Stavesacre; and from Broom, Spartein.

There are two plants that I do not like to omit, for
their history’s sake, though their power to do good is
no longer believed in, Plantain and Lungwort. The
first was considered good for wounds in the days of
Chaucer, and Shakespeare mentions it.

Romeo. Your plantain leaf is excellent for that.
Benvolio. For what, I pray thee?

Romeo. For your broken shin.
Romeo and Juliet, 1. 2, 51.

Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) owes its name and
its reputation to the white spots on the leaves, which
were thought to be the “signature,” showing that it
would cure infirmities and ulcers of the lungs. It is
remarkable how many popular names this flower has.
Gerarde tells us that the leaves are used among pot-
herbes, and calls it Cowslips of Jerusalem, Wild Com-
frey and Sage of Bethlem ; and other country names are,
Beggar’s Basket, Soldiers and Sailors, Adam and Eve,
and in Dorset, Mary’s Tears. The name Adam and
Eve arose from the fact that some of the flowers are
red and others blue: red, in earlier days, being usually
associated with men and blue with women. One of
Drayton’s prettiest verses alludes to it.

“Maids, get the choicest flowers, a garland and entwine;
Nor pink, nor pansies, let there want, be sure of eglantine.
See that there be store of lilies,
(Call’d of shepherds daffadillies)
With roses, damask, white, and red, the dearest fleur-de-lis,
The cowslip of Jerusalem, and clove of Paradise.”
Eclogue III.

CHAPTER VI

OF HERBS AND MAGIC

‘‘ And first, her fern-seed doth bestow
The kernel of the mistletow,
And here and there as Puck should go,
With terror to affright him.

The nightshade straws to work him ill,
There with her vervain and her dill,
That hindreth witches of their will,

Of purpose to dispight him.

Then sprinkled she the juice of rue,
That groweth underneath the yew,
With nine drops of the midnight dew
From lunary distilling.”
Nymphidia.—DRayTon.

‘© Trefoil, vervain, John’s wort, dill,
Hinders witches of their will.”
Guy Mannering.

Amongst the account-books of the Physic Garden in
Chelsea, there is one on whose fly-leaf is scrawled a
list of ‘* Botanical Writers before Christ.” It begins:

Zoroaster.
Orpheus.
Moses.
Solomon.
Homer.
Solon.

Names that one hardly expects to find grouped together,
and especially not under this heading. The vegetable

175

176 THE BOOK OF HERBS

world, however, has attracted writers since the earliest
times, and in the days when supernatural agencies were
almost always brought forward to account for uncom-
prehended phenomena, it was not marvellous that
misty lore should lead to the association of plants and
magic. The book of nature is not always easy to read,
and the older students drew from it very personal interpre-
tations. Some herbs were magical because they were
used in spells and sorceries; others, because they had
power in themselves. For instance, Basil, the perfume of
which. was thought to cause sympathy between two
people, and in Moldavia they say it can even stop a
wandering youth upon his way and make him love the
maiden from whose hand he accepts a sprig. The
Crocus flower, too, belongs to the second class, and
brings laughter and great joy, and so it is with others.
Plants were also credited with strong friendships and
“‘enmities”” amongst themselves. <‘‘ The ancients”
held strong views about their ‘‘ sympathies and anti-
pathies,” and this sympathy or antipathy was attributed
to individual likes and dislikes. ‘* Rue dislikes Basil,”
says Pliny, ‘“‘but Rue and the Fig-tree are in a great
league and amitie” together. Alexanders loveth to
grow in the same place as Rosemary, but the Radish is
“at enmetie” with Hyssop. Savory and Onions are the
better for each other’s neighbourhood, and Coriander,
Dill, Mallows, Herb-Patience and Chervil ‘love for
companie to be set or sowne together.” Bacon refers
to some of these, but he took a prosaic view and
thought these predilections due to questions of soil !
Being credited with such strong feelings amongst them-
selves, it is easier to understand how they were supposed
to sympathise with their ‘‘environment.” Honesty, of
course, grew best in a very honest man’s garden.
Where Rosemary flourishes, the mistress rules. Sage
will fade with the fortunes of the house and revive again

OF HERBS AND MAGIC 177

as they recover; and Bay-trees are famous, but melan-
choly prophets.
Captain—’Tis thought the king is dead; we will not stay,
The Bay-trees in our country are all wither d.
Richard IT, ii. 4.

From this, it is not a great step to acknowledge that
particular plants have power to produce certain dis-
positions in the mind of man. So, the possession of a
Rampion was likely to make a child quarrelsome: while,
on the contrary, eating the leaves of Periwinkle “ will
cause love between a man and his wife.” Laurel greatly
“composed the phansy,” and did ‘‘ facilitate true
visions,” and was also “ efficacious to inspire a poetical
fury” (Evelyn). Having admitted the power of herbs
over mental and moral qualities, we easily arrive at the
recognition of their power in regard to the supernatural.
If, as Culpepper tells us, ‘‘a raging bull, be he ever so
mad, tied to a Fig-tree, will become tame and gentle;”
or if, as Pliny says, any one, ‘‘ by anointing himself with
Chicory and oile will become right amiable and win
grace and favour of all men, so that he shal the more
easily obtain whatsoever his heart stands unto,” it is not
much wonder that St John’s Wort would drive away
tempests and evil spirits, four-leaved Clover enable the
wearer to see witches, and Garlic avert the Evil Eye.
Thus many herbs are magical ‘in their own right,” so
to speak, apart from those that are connected with
magic, from being favourites of the fairies, the witches,
and, in a few cases, the Evil One!

De Gubernatis quotes from a work on astrology
attributed to King Solomon, and translated from the
Hebrew (?) by Iroé Grego (published in Rome, 1750),
with indignant comments on the ‘‘ pagan” methods of
the Church in dealing with sorceries. Directions how
to make an aspersoir pour exorcisme are given in it, which,
teaching, he says, simply add to the peasant’s existing load

M

178 THE BOOK OF HERBS

of superstition. Vervain, Periwinkle, Sage, Mint, Valerian,
Ash and Basil are some of the plants chosen. ‘“‘ Tu n’y
ajouteras point l’Hysope, mais le Romarin” (Rosemary).
It is odd that Hyssop should be excluded, because it has
always been a special defence against powers of dark-
ness. In Palermo (again according to De Gubernatis),
on the day of St Mark, the priests mount a hill in pro-
cession and bless the surrounding country, and the
women gather quantities of the Hyssop growing about,
and take it home to keep away from their houses the
Evil Eye, and ‘toute autre influence magique.” Rose-
mary is celebrated, from this point of view, as from
others. It was, say the Spaniards, one of the bushes
that gave shelter to the Virgin Mary in the flight into
Egypt, and it is still revered. Borrow, in ‘“‘ The Bible
in Spain,” notices that, whereas in that country it is
Romero, the Pilgrim’s Flower, in Portugal it is called
Alecrim, a word of Scandinavian origin (from Ellegren,
the Elfin plant), which was probably carried south by
the Vandals. Other authorities think that ‘¢ Alecrim”
comes from the Arabians. The reference to Rose-
mary occurs in a delightful passage. Borrow was
staying at an inn, when one evening ‘in rushed
a wild-looking man mounted on a donkey. .
Around his sombrero, or shadowy hat, was tied a large
quantity of the herb, which in English is called Rose-
mary. . . . The man seemed frantic with terror, and
said that the witches had been pursuing him and hovering
over his head for the last two leagues.” On making
inquiries, Borrow was told that the herb was ‘ good
against witches and mischances on the road.” He treats
this view with great scorn, but says: ‘‘I had no time to
argue against this superstition,” and with charming naiveté
admits that, notwithstanding his austerity, when, next
morning at departure, some sprigs of it were pressed
upon him by the man’s wife for his protection, “TI

OF HERBS AND MAGIC 179

was foolish enough to permit her to put some of it
in my hat.” The Sicilians thought that it was a
favourite plant of the fairies, and that the young
fairies, taking the form of snakes, lie amongst the
branches. Dill, able to “hinder witches of their
will,” was used in spells against witches, besides being
employed by them. There was a strong belief that
plants beloved by magicians, and powerful for evil in
their hands, were equally powerful to avert evil when
used in charms against witchcraft. Lunary, or Honesty,
is another plant with a double edge. In France it is
nicknamed Monnaie du Pape and Herbe aux Lunettes, and
its shining seed-vessels have many pet names in English.
“Tt has a natural power of dispelling evil spirits,”
quotes Mr Friend, and explains this verdict by pointing
that Lunary with its great silver disks, called after the
the moon, is disliked and avoided by evil spirits, who
fear the light and seek darkness. Rue is used by
witches and against them; in some parts of Italy a
talisman against their power is made by sewing up the
leaves in a little bag and wearing it near the heart. If
the floor of a house be rubbed with Rue it is certain that
all witches must fly from it. In Argentina grows the
Nightmare flower, Flor de Pesudilla. The witches of
that region extract from it a drug which causes night-
mare lasting all night long, and they contrive to give
it to whoever they wish to torment. Besides these,
Pennyroyal and Henbane, Chervil and Vervain, Poppies,
Mandrakes, Hemlock and Dittany were specially used by
witches in making spells. Valerian, Wormwood, Elder,
Pimpernel, Angelica, and all yellow flowers growing in
hedgerows are antagonistic to them. ‘Their dislike to
yellow flowers may have arisen from these being often
dedicated to the sun, and being therefore repellent
to lovers of gloom and mystery. Angelica preserved
the wearer from the power of witches or spells, and is,

180 THE BOOK OF HERBS

I think, the only herb quoted by Gerarde as a power
against witchcraft. He does not condescend generally to
consider superstitions other than medical. Of the herbs
dedicated to the Evil One are Yarrow, sometimes known
as the Devil’s Nettle; Ground-Ivy, called his Candle-
stick, and Houseleek, which he has rather unjustly
appropriated. Mr Friend explains that in Denmark,
“Old Thor” is a polite euphemism, and that the
Houseleek really belonged to Thor, but has been
passed on through confusion between the two. Yarrow
or Milfoil has been used for divination in spells from
England to China.
“ There’s a crying at my window, and a hand upon my door,
And a stir among the Yarrow that’s fading on the floor,
The voice cries at my window, the hand on my door beatson,

But if I heed and answer them, sure hand and voice are gone.”
May Eve.

Johnston! says: ‘‘ Tansy and Milfoil were reckoned
amongst plants averse to fascination ; but we must re-
trograde two centuries to be present at the trial of
Elspeth Reoch, who was supernaturally instructed to
cure distempers by resting on her right knee while
pulling ‘ the herb callit malefour’ betwixt her mid-finger
and thumbe, and saying of, ‘In nomen Patris, Filii, et
Spiritus Sancti.’”

Johnston gathers his information from Dalzell on the
“Darker Superstitions of Scotland.”

Wormwood is in some parts of Europe called the
«Girdle of St John,” it has so much power against evil
spirits. Cumin is much disliked by a race of Elves in
Germany, called the Moss-People. Dyer ? tells us that
the life of each one is bound up with the life of a tree,
and if the inner bark of this is loosened, the elf dies.
Therefore their precept is :—

1 «« Botany of the Eastern Borders” (1853).
2 «<Folk-Lore of Plants,”

SS, 5 a a2 =

RAMPION

OF HERBS AND MAGIC 181

“ Peel no tree,
Relate no dream,
Bake no cumin in bread,
So will Heav’n help thee in thy need,”

On one occasion when a loaf baked with Cumin was
given as an offering to a forest-wife, she was heard
screaming—

“They’ve baken for me Cumin bread
That on this house brings great distress.”

The unhappy giver at once began to go downhill, and
was soon reduced to abject misery! Elecampane is in
Denmark called Elf-Dock. Flax-flowers are a protection
against sorcery. ‘‘Flax!is supposed to be under the
protection of the goddess Hulda, but the plant’s blue
blossom is more especially the flower of Bertha, whose
blue eyes shine in its calyx, and whose distaff is filled
by its fibres. . . . It was the goddess Hulda who first
taught mortals the art of growing flax, of spinning, and
of weaving it. . .. Between Kroppbiihl and Unterlassen,
is a cave which is believed by the country people to
have been the entrance to Queen Hulda’s mountain
palace. Twice a year she passed through the valley,
scattering blessings around her path—once in summer,
when the blue flowers of the Flax were brightening the
fields, and again during the mysterious ‘‘ twelve nights ”
immediately preceding our Feast of Epiphany, when, in
ancient days, gods and goddesses were believed to visit
the earth.” The Bohemians have a belief that if seven-
vear-old children dance among flax, they will become
beautiful. From the little Fairy-Flax ‘‘ prepared and
manufactured by the supernatural skill, the ‘Good
People’ were wont in the olden time to procure their
requisite supplies of linen,” writes Johnston.

Wild Thyme is specially beloved by fairies and elves,
and Fox-gloves and Wood-sorrel are also favourites,—

1 Folkard.

182 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Fox-gloves, being called in Ireland, Fairy-cap, and Wood-
sorrel, known in Wales as Fairy-bells.

Among plants that have magic powers in themselves
are two varieties of Pimpinella; the Anise and the
Burnet Saxifrage. The first averts the Evil Eye, and
the second is called in Hungary, ‘‘Chaba’s Salve,”
because it is said that its virtues were discovered by
King Chaba, who after a furious battle cured 15,000
of his soldiers with it. In Iroé Grego’s book, it is
advised that the sword of a magician should be bathed
in the blood of a mole, and the juice of Pimpinella. De
Gubernatis says that in Germany and in Rome, Endive-
seed is sold as a love-philtre, and when wanted for this
reason, the plant must be uprooted not with the hand
but with a bit of gold, or stag’s horn (which symbolise
the disk and rays of the sun) on one of the jours des
Apstres, June 27th, St Peter’s Day, or July 25th, St
James’ Day.

The Mustard-tree is called in Sanscrit, the Witch, for
when Hindus want to discover a witch, they light lamps
during the night, and fill vessels with water,! into which
they gently drop Mustard-seed oil, pronouncing the
name of every woman in the village. If, during the
ceremony, as they pronounce the name of a woman, they
notice the shadow of a female in the water, it is a sure
sign that such a woman isa witch. Mugwort laid in
the soles of the boots, will keep a man from weariness,
though he walk forty miles. Wreaths of Camomile
flowers hung up in a house on St John’s Day will, it
is said in Prussia, defend it against thunder, and Wild
Thyme and Marjoram laid by milk in a dairy will
prevent it being ‘‘turned” by thunder. The root
of Tarragon held between the teeth will cure toothache,
and the name Réséda, the family name of Mignonette,
is supposed to be derived from the verb “to assuage,”

1 Folkard.

OF HERBS AND MAGIC 183

for it was a charm against so many evils. If a sprig of
Basil were left under a pot, it would, in time, turn to
scorpions! It is a strange plant altogether. The ancient
Greeks thought that it would not grow unless when the
seed was sown railing and abuse should be poured forth
at the same time. Much blossom on the broom foretells
a plentiful harvest of corn. ‘‘ Les anciens” according to
La petite Corbeille believed that a pot of Gilly-flowers,
growing in a window, would fade if the master of the
house died; and similar curious sympathies in Sage and
Honesty and Rosemary have already been noticed.

There is a belief in the West Country that no girl
who is destined to be an old maid, can make a myrtle
grow. Mr Friend does not mention this, but he does
tell us that a flowering myrtle is one of the luckiest
plants to have, and it is often difficult to grow; and he
generously presents us with the receipt that he had
heard given to make sure of its flowering. The secret
is, while setting the slip, to spread the tail of one’s
dress, and /ook proud !

To transplant Parsley is very unlucky, and to let
Rhubarb run to seed will bring death into the family
before a year is out. These beliefs are still active.
One hears also that no one will have any luck with
young chickens if they bring any blossom (of fruit-
trees) into the house, which is, indeed, an unlucky thing
to do at any time.

There was a fairly recent case in Gloucestershire,
which showed that the idea still survives that if flower-
seeds are sowed on Palm Sunday, the flowers will come
out double.

Though Elder is not a herb, it cannot be omitted
here, for every inch of an Elder-tree is connected
with magic. This is especially the case in Denmark.
First of all there is the Elder-tree Mother, who
lives in the tree and watches for any injury to it. Hans

184 THE BOOK OF HERBS

Andersen tells a charming story about her and the
pictures that she sometimes brings. It may happen, that
if furniture is made of the wood, Hylde-Moer may follow
her property and haunt and worry the owners, and
there is a tradition that, once when a child was put in a
cradle of Elder-wood, Hylde-Moer came and pulled it by
the legs and would give it no peace till it was lifted out.
Permission to cut Elder wood must always be asked
first, and not till Hylde-Moer has given consent by keep-
ing silence, may the chopping begin. He who stands
under an Elder-tree at midnight on Midsummer-Eve will
chance to see Toly, the King of the Elves, and all his
retinue go by. ‘The pith of the branches when cut in
round, flat shapes, is dipped in oil, lighted, and then put
to float in a glass of water; its light on Christmas Eve is
thought to reveal to the owner all the witches and
sorcerers in the neighbourhood.” 1 The Russians believe
that Elder-trees drive away evil spirits, and the
Bohemians go to it, with a spell, to take away fever.
The Sicilians think that sticks of its wood will kill
serpents and drive away robbers better than any other,
and the Serbs introduce a stick of Elder into their wed-
ding ceremonies to bring good luck. In England it was
thought that the Elder was never struck by lightning ;
and a twig of it tied into three or four knots, and carried
in the pocket, was a charm against rheumatism. A
cross made of Elder, and fastened to cow-houses and
stables, was supposed to keep all evil from the animals.
Canon Ellacombe, in the Tyrol, says: ‘¢ An Elder bush,
trimmed into the form of a cross, is planted in a new-
made grave, and if it blossoms, the soul of the person
lying beneath it is happy.” Sir Thomas Browne takes
the ‘white umbrella or medical bush of Elder as an
epitome of the order arising from five main stems, quin-
cuncially disposed and tolerably maintained in their
1Folkard,

OF HERBS AND MAGIC 185

sub-divisions.” The number 5, and its appearance in
works of Nature, must have occupied his mind at one
time to a very great extent, judging from his writings.
There is a saying that :—
An eldern stake and a black thorn ether (hedge)
Will make a hedge to last for ever.

And it is a common tradition that an Elder stake will last
in the ground longer than an iron bar the same size.
Several very different musical instruments have been
alike named ‘‘Sambuke,” because they were all made
out of Elder-wood. Elder-berries have also wonderful
properties. In Styria, on ‘‘ Bertha Night (6th January),
the devil goes about with special virulence. As a safe-
guard persons are recommended to make a magic circle,
in the centre of which they should stand, with Elder-
berries gathered on St John’s night. By doing this, the
mystic Fern-seed may be obtained, which possesses the
strength of thirty or forty men. There are no instruc-
tions as to why or how the desired Fern-seed should
arrive, and all the proceedings are somewhat mysterious.”

The most extraordinary collection of charms and
receipts is to be found in an old book, called Le petit
Albert ; probably the contents are largely gleaned from
out the wondrous lore set forth by Albertus Magnus.
A charm—it must be a charm, for a mere recipe could
hardly achieve such results, ‘pour s’enrichir par la
péche des poissons ” is made by mixing Nettles,Cinquefoil,
and the juice of Houseleek, with cora boiled in water of
Thyme and Marjoram, and if this composition is put into
a net, the net will soon be filled with fish. Cinquefoil
appears in many spells, particularly as a magic herb in
love-divinations, and also against agues! Some parts of
the book shed a lurid light on the customs of the day, as
for instance, recipes ‘‘to render a man or woman insen-
sible to torture.” Here is a less ghastly extract. ‘‘ Je
quitte des matiéres violentes pour dire un Mot de Paix.

186 THE BOOK OF HERBS

J’ai 1G dans le trés curieux livre des Secrets du Roi
Jean d’Arragon, que si aucun dans le mois de sep-
tembre, ayant observé le temps que le soleil est entré
au signe de Ja Vierges a soin de cueillir de la fleur
Soucy (Marigold) qu’a été appellé par les Anciens,
Epouse du Soleil, and si on lenveloppe dedans des
feuilles de Laurier avec un dent de Loup, personne ne
pourra parler mal de celui qui les portera sur luy et vivra
dans un profonde paix et tranquillité avec tout le
monde.” There is an odd, little passage about the
supernatural beings who inhabit the four elements,
Salamanders, Nymphs, Sylphs, and Gnomes, and the
practices of Lapland miners to obtain ‘‘la_ bienveill-
ance des Gnomes.” ‘This is managed through observ-
ing their love of perfumes. Each day of the week a
certain perfume was burnt for them and these odours had
an elaborate formula, compiled with reference to the
planets. Thus Sunday’s perfume is ‘sous les auspices
du soleil,” and contains Saffron and Musk; Monday’s
is made of the Moon’s special plants and includes the
seed of the White Poppy; and the ingredients for each
are equally appropriate to the ruling planet. Mars has
Hellebore and Euphorbia in his perfume ; Venus, dried
roses, red coral, and ambergris; and Saturn, black
poppy seeds, Mandrake roots and Henbane. In an
English translation (there are many editions of Le petit
Albert) fifteen magical herbs of the Ancients are given,
but I will only quote two.

“The eleventh hearbe is named of the Chaldees
Isiphilon . . . or Englishmen, Centory . . . this
hearbe hath a marvellous virtue, for if it be joined with
the blood of a female lapwing or black plover and put
with oile in a lamp, all they that compasse it about shall
believe themselves to be witches, so that one shall
believe of another that his head is in heaven and his
feete on earth.”

OF HERBS AND MAGIC 187

“Tf .. the fourteenth hearbe, smallage, be bounden to
an oxe’s necke, he will follow thee whithersoever thou
wilt go.” The last instructions lead one to agree with
the poet :

‘T would that I had flourished then,
When ruffs and raids were in the fashion,”

and when views of mine and thine were less rigid than
they are to-day.

CHAPTER VII

OF HERBS AND BEASTS

Here may’st thou range the goodly, pleasant field,
And search out simples to procure thy heal,
What sundry virtues, sundry herbs do yield,
’Gainst grief which may thy sheep or thee assail.
Eclogue vii.—Drayron.

And tryed time yet taught me greater thinges ;
The sodain rising of the raging seas,
The soothe of byrdes by beating of their winges,
The powre of herbes, both which can hurt and ease ;
And which be wont t’ enrage the restless sheepe,
And which be wont to worke eternal sleepe.
Shepheard’s Calendar.—SPEnsER,

And did you hear wild music blow
All down the boreen, long and low,
The tramp of ragweed horses’ feet,
And Una’s laughter wild and sweet.
The Passing of the Shee. —N. Hopper.

Herss and animals may appear linked together in many
aspects, but there are two in which I specially wish to
look at them—first, glancing at the old traditions that
tell of beasts and birds themselves having preferences
among herbs; secondly, the human reasoning, which
decreed that certain plants must benefit or affect special
creatures. The glamour of magic at times hovers over
both. Ragwort is St James’s Wort (the French call it
Jacobée), and St James is the patron saint of horses,
therefore Ragwort is good for horses, and has even
gained the name of the Staggerwort, from being often

prescribed for ‘‘ the staggers.” This is a good speci-
188

OF HERBS AND BEASTS 189

men of the reasoning, but there is romance about the
plant which is far more attractive. Besides being good
for horses, it is actually the witches’ own horse! There
is a high granite rock called the Castle Peak, south of
the Logan Rock in Cornwall, where, as tales run, witches
were specially fond of gathering, and thither they rode
on moonlight nights on a stem of Ragwort. In Ireland,
it is the fairies ride it, and there it is sometimes called
the Fairy’s Horse.

Reach up to the star that hangs the lowest,

Tread down the drift of the apple blow,

Ride your ragweed horse to the Isle of Wobles.

Ragwort is specially beloved by the Leprehauns, or
Clauricanes, the little fairy cobblers, who are sometimes
seen singing or whistling over their work on a tiny shoe.
They wear ‘“ deeshy-daushy ” leather aprons, and usually
red nightcaps.

Do you not catch the tiny clamour,
Busy click of an elfin hammer,
Voice of the Lepracaun singing shrill,
As he merrily plies his trade.
W. B. Yeats.

There is a very nice legend of the Field of
Boliauns, which turns on the belief that every Lepre-
haun has a hidden treasure buried under a ragwort.
And if anyone can catch the little man, and not for one
second take his eyes off him until the plant is reached,
the Leprehaun must show him exactly where to dig for
it. In the Isle of Man, they used to tell of another
steed, not the fairies’ horse, but a fairy or enchanted horse,
ridden by mortals. If anyone on St John’s Eve, they
said, trod on a plant of St John’s Wort after sunset, the
horse would spring out of the earth, and carry him about
till sunrise, and there leave him wherever they chanced
at that moment to be.

William Coles? speaks with great decision as to the

1“ Art of Simpling.”

190 THE BOOK OF HERBS

various remedies which animals find for themselves.
“If the Asse be oppressed with melancholy, he eats of
the herbe Asplenium . . . so the wilde Goats being shot
with Darts or Arrows, cure themselves with Dittany,
which Herb hath the power to worke them out of the
Body and to heale up the wound.” Gerarde adds that
the ‘“‘ Deere in Candie” seek the same remedy, and
Parkinson remarks of Hemp Agrimony, ‘‘It is sayd that
hunters have observed that Deere being wounded by
the eating of this herbe have been healed of their hurts.”
Drayton’s Hermit refers to dictam or dittany.

And this is dictam which we prize
Shot shafts and darts expelling.

Shelley is less definite. He only laments:

The wounded deer must seek the herb no more
In which its heart cure lies.

Goats do not seek Sea-Holly as a remedy, but it has
a startling effect upon them if, by accident, they touch
it. ‘They report that the herb Sea-Holly (Eryngium
maritimum), if one goat take it into her mouth, it
causeth her first to stand still, and afterwards the
whole flocke, untill such time as the Shepherd take
it forth of her mouth, as Plutarch writeth.”1 How-
ever much these wild theories may exceed facts as to
animals curing themselves, they are not altogether with-
out reason, for the instinct of beasts leading them to
healing herbs has often been noticed. Evelyn says: ‘I
have heard of one Signior Jaguinto, Physician to Queen
Anne (Mother of the Blessed Martyr, Charles the First),
and was so to one of the Popes. That observing the
Scurvy and Dropsy to be the Epidemical and Domi-
nent Diseases of this Nation, he went himself into the
Hundreds of Essex (reputed the most unhealthy County
of this Is/and), and us’d to follow the Sheep and Cattell

1 Gerarde.

OF HERBS AND BEASTS 1gI

on purpose to observe what Plants they chiefly fed
upon ; and of those Simp/es compos’d an excellent Electu-
ary of extraordinary Effects against those Infirmities.

«Thus we are told, that the Vertue of the Cophee was
discover’d by marking what the Goats so greedily brutted
upon. So sculapius is said to have restor’d dismem-
ber’d Hippolitus by applying some simples, he observ’d
a Serpent to have us’d another dead Serpent.” The last
instance sounds mythical! But goats have really more
than once led mankind to some useful bit of knowledge.
There is a Chilian plant, Bo/do, a tincture of the leaves
of which are frequently administered in France for
hepatic complaints, and this is the history of the discovery
of its virtues. ‘‘ The goats in Chili had been for many
years subject to enlargement of the liver, and the owners
of the flocks had begun to despair of them as a source
of revenue, until it was observed that certain flocks
were exempt from the complaint, whilst others in ad-
jacent districts continued subject to it. It was ultimately
discovered that the goats browsing in fields where Bo/do
grew were never a prey to hepatic diseases, and the
herb became gradually known and used, first by South
American and then by French druggists.” Bo/do is little
used in England.

Sheep seek Dandelions; and Miss Anne Pratt quotes
an agricultural report, describing how some weakly
lambs were moved into a field full of Dandelions
in flower, and how rapidly the conspicuous blossoms
were devoured, Finally, as the flowers grew fewer
and fewer, the lambs were seen pushing one another
away from the coveted plants, and in this field they
speedily gained in health and strength. Valerianella
Olitaria is said to be a favourite food of lambs, and so
gains its name of Lambs’ Lettuce. Shepherds and flocks
have always been favourite subjects for poetry, and
Drayton touches them very prettily :—

192 THE BOOK OF HERBS

When the new wash’d flock from the river side,
Coming as white as January’s snow,

The ram with nose-gays bears his horns in pride,
And no less brave the bell-wether doth go.

Nep or Cat-mint is said to have a great attraction for
cats. Of which there is this old rime :—

lf you set it, the catts will eate it,
If you sow it, the catts won’t know it.?

The weasel, with a grand knowledge of counter-
poisons, ‘‘ arms herself with eating of Rue,” defore fight-
ing aserpent. Folkard says that in the north of England
there is a tradition that when hops were first planted there,
nightingales also made their first appearance, and he
adds that both have long since disappeared, north of the
Humber. In other parts of England there is an idea
(quite a false one) that nightingales will only sing where
cowslips flourish. The cuckoo is connected with both
plants and minerals. In some parts of Germany, Mr
Friend writes, the call of the cuckoo is thought to
reveal mines, and the cuckoo’s bread, the purple orchis,
grows most abundantly where rich veins of metal lie
beneath. There is a story about the plantain, a plant
with a most interesting legendary history, in which the
cuckoo appears. Once the Plantain or Waybread was
a maiden, always watching for her absent lover, and
at last she was changed into the plant that almost
always grows by the road-side. And now every seventh
year the plantain becomes a bird, either the Cuckoo or
the Cuckoo’s servant, the Dinnick.

The Yellow Rattle is sometimes called Gowk’s Siller,
and Gowk may mean either the Cuckoo or a fool, so
they may quarrel for it. Johnston seems to think that the
siller belongs rather to the fool, for he remarks: ‘the
capsules rattle when in seed . . . being like the fool un-
able to conceal its wealth.” The Swallow restored sight

1 Coles.

OF HERBS AND BEASTS 193

to the eyes of her young, when any evil had befallen
them, by the help of Celandine, And it was for this
reason, says Gerarde, that the flower gained its name,
Chelidonium, swallow-herbe, and not because it ‘“ first
springeth at the coming of the swallows or dieth when
they goe away.” . . . Celsus doth witnesse that it
will restore ‘“‘the sight of the eies of divers young
birds . . . and soonest of all of the sight of the
swallow.” The eagle, when he wishes his sight to be
particularly keen, rubs his eyes with the wild Lettuce,
and the hawk follows his example, but chooses Hawk-
weed with equal success. Doves and pigeons find that
Vervain cures dimness of vision and goldfinches and
linnets and some other birds turn to eyebright. ‘‘ The
purple and yellow spots which are upon the flowers of
eyebright very much resemble the diseases of the eyes
or bloodshot.” There is a very wide belief in a magic
plant called Spring-wort or Spring-wurzel of which
Folkard gives an interesting description. <‘‘ Pliny,” he
says, ‘‘ records the superstition concerning it, almost in
the same form in which it is now found in Germany.
If anyone touches a lock with it, the lock, however
strong, must yield. In Switzerland it is carried in the
right pocket to render the bearer invulnerable to dagger
or bullet; and in the Hartz mountains it is said to
reveal treasures. One cannot easily find it oneself,
but generally the wood-pecker (according to Pliny
also the raven, in Switzerland, the Hoopoe, in the
Tyrol, the swallow) will bring it under the following
circumstances. When the bird has temporarily left
its nest this must be stopped up with wood. ‘The
bird then flies away to find the Spring-wurzel and
will open the nest by touching it with the root. Mean-
time a fire or a red cloth must be placed near by,
which will so frighten the bird that it will let the

1<¢ Adam in Eden,” Coles,
N

194 THE BOOK OF HERBS

magical root fall.” Le petit Albert, to procure Spring-
wort suggests tying up a magpie’s nest with new cords,
but merely says that she brings we herbe to release her
nestlings, without giving its name.

Several legends are attached to the Wood-pecker.
Amongst others there is an idea that the root of the Peony
is good for epilepsy, but should a Wood-pecker be in
sight when the patient tastes it he would be forthwith
struck blind! In Piedmont there is a little plant called
the Herb of the Blessed Mary, which is fatal to birds,
and there it is said that when young wild birds are
caught and caged their parents bring them a sprig of
it, that death rather than imprisonment may be their
lot. De Gubernatis speaks of an oriental bird of greater
resource, the Paperone, for when Ais little ones are
imprisoned he seeks and brings a root which breaks the
iron bars and releases them. Parkinson tells of an
Indian herb which ‘cast to the birds causeth as many as
take it to fall downe to the ground as being stoned for
atime, but if any take it too greedily it will kill them,
if they bee not helped by cold water put on their
heads, but Dawes above all other birds are soonest
kild thereby.” There is a suggestion of comedy in
this picture of a seventeenth century herbalist in a
foreign land pouring cold water on the heads of wild
birds.

“The raven, when he hath killed the chameleon,
and yet perceiving he is hurt and poisoned by him, flyeth
for remedy to the Laurell,” which ‘‘represseth and
extinguisheth the venom,” says Pliny... The elephant,
under the same circumstances, recovers himself by
eating ‘“‘ wild Olive, the only remedy he hath of this
poison... The storke, feeling himself amisse, goeth
to the herbe Organ for remedy,” and Parkinson quotes
Antigonas as saying that ring-doves cured their wounds

1 Philemon Holland’s Translation.

FENNEL

OF HERBS AND BEASTS 195

with the same plant. Stock-doves, jays, merles, black-
birds and ousels recover ‘‘their appetite to meate,”
by eating bay leaves; and ducks, geese and other
waterfowl seek endive or chicory. Of course, chick-
weed and goosegrass have gained their names as
the result of similar observations, more modern, and
possibly more accurate. Elder-berries are eaten by
birds, but they are said to have serious effects on
chickens.

Lizards cure themselves of the biting of serpents with
calaminth, and the tortoise cautiously eats a ‘‘ kind of
sauorie or marjerome” before the battle. Sir Francis
Bacon mentions that, ‘‘ the snake loveth fennel ; that the
toad will be much under sage; that frogs will be in
cinquefoil”; though he unromantically doubts that the
virtue of these herbs is the cause of these preferences.
Turner also remarks on the toad’s liking for sage, and
says: ‘‘Rue is good to be planted among Sage, to
prevent the poison which may be in it by toads fre-
quenting amongst it, but Rue being amongst it they
will not come near it.” A toad recovers itself by means
of the plantain from the poison of the spider, and
Bullein! tells us of the frog’s fondness for the Scabiosa,
under whose leaves they will ‘‘ shadow themselves from
the heate of the daie, poppyng and plaiying under these
leaves, which to them is a pleasant Tent or Pavillion.”
The reputed venom of toads was sometimes said to be
sucked from camomile, of all plants!

Pliny wrote of the serpent, that waking in the
spring, she finds that during the winter her sight
has become “‘dim and dark, so that with the herbe
Fennell she comforteth and anointeth her eies,” and
having cast her coat, “‘appeareth fresh, slick and yong
again.”

If camomile furnishes venom for toads, it seems to

1 Bullein’s « Bulwarke; or, Booke of Simples,” 1562.

196 THE BOOK OF HERBS

provide nourishment for fishes. William Browne says
of some nymphs :—

Another from her banks, in sheer good will,
Brings nutriment for fish, the camomile.

Isaac Walton observes that, ‘Parsley and Garden
earth recovers and refreshes sick fish.” The Alder or
Aul is indirectly connected with trout in a Herefordshire
rhyme :—

When the bud of the Aul is as big as the trout’s eye,
Then that fish is in season in the River Wye.

Among other counsels Piscator speaks of the perch’s
tastes. ‘‘And he hath been observed by some not
usually to bite till the mulberry-tree buds—that is to
say, till extreme frosts be past in the spring. . . . Some
think [of grayling] that he feeds on water-thyme, and
smells of it at his first taking out of the water.” A pike
has a liking for lavender, and the directions for trying
for this fish with a dead bait begin: “ Dissolve gum of
ivy in oil of spike [lavender], and then anoint the bait
with it. Wheat boiled in milk and flavoured with
Saffron is a choice bait for Roach and Grayling, and
Mulberries and those Blackberries which grow upon
briars, be good baits for Chubs and Carps.” Gerarde says
that Balm rubbed over hives will keep the bees there,
and cause others to come to them, and Parkinson thought
that the ‘‘leaves or rootes of Acorus (sweet-smelling °
Flagge) tyed to a hive” would have the same effect.

To turn to the herbs prescribed by men for beasts,
we find that Spenser alludes to two of them :—

Here grows melampode every where
And terebinth good for gotes.
July—Shepheard’s Calendar.

A marginal note suggests that the latter meant the
‘turpentine tree.” <‘‘ The tree that weepeth turpentine”
is mentioned by Drayton, and we may suppose that both
poets referred to the same tree, the Silver Fir (Pinus

OF HERBS AND BEASTS 197

picra). Melampode was hellebore or bear’s foot, a
very important plant, and it was much used in magic.
A cynical French verse says :—

L’ellébore est la fleur des fous,

On I'a dédie a maints poétes.

Once people blessed their cattle with it to keep them
from evil spells, and ‘‘for this purpose it was dug up
with certain attendant mystic rites: the devotees first
drawing a circle round the plant witha sword, and then
turning to the east and offering a prayer to Apollo and
ésculapius for leave to dig up the root.”1 In the old
French romance, Les Quatre Fils Aymon, the sorcerer,
Malagis or Maugis, when he wishes to make his way, un-
challenged, through the enemy’s camp, scatters powdered
hellebore in the air as he goes. Both the Black and the
White Hellebore, Parkinson says, are known to be very
poisonous, and the white hellebore was used by hunters
to poison arrows, with which they meant to kill
‘wolves, foxes, dogs,” etc. Black Hellebore was used
to heal and not to hurt, and ‘a piece of the roote being
drawne through a hole made in the eare of a beast
troubled with cough, or having taken any poisonous
thing, cureth it, if it be taken out the next day at the
same houre.” This writer believes that White Helle-
bore would be equally efficacious in such a case, but
Gerarde recommends the Black Hellebore only as being
good for beasts. He says the old Farriers used to “cut
a slit in the dewlap and put in a bit of Beare-foot, and
leave it there for daiestogether.” Verbascum thapsis was
called Bullock’s Lungwort, from the resemblance of its
leaf to a dewlap, and on the Doctrine of Signatures was
therefore given to cattle suffering from pneumonia.

Samoclas, or Marchwort, was a strange herb which
used to be put in the drinking-troughs of cattle and
swine to preserve their health. But to obtain this

1 Timbs.

198 THE BOOK OF HERBS

desirable result it had to be ‘gathered fasting, and
with the left hand, without looking back, when it was
being plucked.”! Gervase Markham mentions a curious
evil among cattle. He says if a shrew-mouse run over
a beast “it feebleth his hinder parts and maketh him
unable to go. The cure is to draw him under, or beat
him with a Bramble, which groweth at both ends in the
furrowes of corne lands.” Markham was a noted
authority on Husbandry and Farriery in the early part of
the seventeenth century, and he gives advice for the
various ills afflicting horses. For nightmare he pre-
scribed balls composed of Aniseed, Liquorice and Garlic,
and other ingredients. For toothache, Ale or Vinegar,
in which Betony has been seethed; and loose teeth are
to be rubbed with the leaves of Elecampane, which will
“fasten” them. Stubwort (wood-sorrel), ‘lapped in red
Dock leafe and roasted in hot cinders, will eat away the
dead flesh in a sore,” and any ‘splint, iron, thorne or
stub” may be drawn out by an application of Yarrow,
Southernwood, Cummin-seed, Fenugreek and Ditany,
bruised with black soap. Horse Mint, Wormwood and
Dill are other herbs recommended by this author.
Gerarde says that the leaves of Arsmart (Persicaria)
rubbed on the back of a tired horse, anda “ good handfull
or two laid under the saddle, will wonderfully refresh
him;” and Le petit Albert gives a recipe for making a
horse go further in one hour than another would go in
eight. You must begin by mingling a handful of
«¢Satyrion” in his oats, and anointing him with the fat
of a deer; then when you are mounted and ready to
start ‘‘ vous lui tournerez la tété du coté de soleil levant
et vous penchant sur son oreille gauche vous prononcerez
trois fois 4 voix basse les paroles suivantes et vous
partirez aussi tot: Gaspar, Melchior, Merchisard. T’ajonte
a cecy que si vous suspenderez au col du cheval les
1 Timbs.

OF HERBS AND BEASTS 199

grosses dents d’un loup qui aura été tué en courant, le
cheval ne sera pas fatigue de sa course.” No doubt
these proceedings were carried out by the traveller with
an air of mystery, and must have impressed the by-
standers, but one wonders what the rider thought of
them after an hour’s journeying ? Satyrion is a kind of
orchis. There was a herb called Sferro Cavallo which
was supposed to be able to break locks or draw off
the shoes of the horses that passed over it. Sir
Thomas Browne speaks of it in his ‘‘ Popular Errors,”
and laughs the idea to scorn, and ‘‘ cannot but wonder
at Matthiolus, who, upon a parallel in Pliny, was
staggered into suspension” [of judgment]. This plant
was probably the Horse-shoe Vetch, whose seed-
vessels, being in the shape of horse-shoes, may have
given rise to the superstition; but Grimm thought it
was the Euphorbia Lathyris. The same belief is found
in different countries, referred to other plants; the
French thought that Rest Harrow had this marvellous
property, and Culpepper tells the same tale about the
Moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria), which had the country
name of Unshoe-the-Horse. <‘‘ Besides, I have heard com-
menders say that in White Down in Devonshire, near
Tiverton, there were found thirty horse-shoes, pulled
off from the feet of the Earl of Essex’s horses, being
then drawn up in a body, many of them being but newly
shod, and no reason known, which caused much admira-
tion, and the herb described usually grows upon heaths.”
One would hardly have thought that ‘‘ admiration” was
the feeling evoked, but perhaps nobody concerned was
pressed for time!

Hound’s Tongue (Cynoglossum officinale) was believed to
have the remarkable property that it will ‘‘tye the
tongues of Houndes, so that they shall not bark at you,
if it be laid under the bottom of your feet.”

In Markham’s advice about domestic animals, he

200 THE BOOK OF HERBS

alludes to a “‘ certaine stage of madnesse” which attacks
rabbits, and says that the cure is Hare-Thistle (Sonchus
oleraceus). The ‘Grete Herbal” called this plant the
“*Hare’s Palace.” ‘*For yf the hare come under it, he
is sure that no best can touche hym.”

These statements lead one to feel that once upon
a time, the world was much more like the world
of Richard Jefferies than it is, and that ‘‘ wood
magic” was nearer to our forefathers than to our-
selves. | Nowadays, when everything travels more
quickly along the road of life, the eyes of ordinary
mortals get confused with the movement and the
jostling and they do* not see the pretty by-play that
goes on in the bushes by the way, nor peer into the
depths of the woodland beyond. In this they lose
a good deal, but no one can ‘‘ put back the clock,”
and one must feel grateful that the idylls of the forest
are still being acted, and that there are still men whose
vision is quick enough to catch sight of them, and whose
pens have the cunning to put before others the glimpses
that they themselves have caught.

A legend exists about the Cormorant, the Bat, and the
Bramble—quite inconsequent, but not wholly out of
place here, so it shall serve as a conclusion.

Once the Cormorant was a wool merchant and he
took for partners the Bat and the Bramble. They
freighted a large ship with wool, but she was wrecked
and then they were bankrupt. Ever since that, the
Cormorant is diving into the deep, looking for the lost
ship; the Bat skulks round till midnight, so that he
may not meet his creditors, and the Bramble catches
hold of every passing sheep to try and make up for
his loss by stealing wool. No doubt, you have often
noticed their ways, but did you ever before know their
reasons?

TUSSER’S LIST

Seeps anp Hers For THE KITCHEN.

. Avens.
. Betony.
. Bleets or beets, white or

yellow.

. Bloodwort.
- Bugloss.
. Burnet.

Borrage.

. Cabbages, remove in June.
. Clary.

. Coleworts.

. Cresses.

. Endive.

. Fennel.

. French Mallows.
. French Saffron,

set in
August.
Lang de beef.

. Leeks, remove in June.

. Lettuce, remove in May.

. Longwort (Lungwort).

. Liverwort (probably Ag-

rimonia Eupatoria).

. Marigolds, often cut.
. Mercury

( Chenopodium

Bonus {Tenricus).

. Mints, at all times.

24.
25.

26.

Nep (Nepeta Cataria).

Onions, from December
to March.

Orache or arache, red and
white. (Atriplex hor-
tensis).

. Patience.

. Parsley.

. Penny-royal.
. Primrose.

. Poret

(a leek or small
onion according to some
writers, Garlick).

. Rosemary, in the spring

time, to grow south or
west.

. Sage, red or white.
. English Saffron, set in

August.

. Summer Savory.

. Sorrell.

. Spinage.

. Succory.

. Siethes (Chives).
. Tansey.

. Thyme.

. Violets of all sorts.

201

202

6. Endive.
. Mustard-seed, sow in the

1. Beans, set in winter.

is

ney

. Alexanders at all times.

. Artichokes.

. Blessed Thistle, or Car-
. Cucumbers, in April and

. Cresses, sow with lettuce

« Musk, Mellion, in April
. Mints.

. Purslane.

. Radish, and after remove
. Rampions.

- Rocket, in April.
. Sage.

. Carrots.
. Citrons, sow in May.

. Basil, fine and busht, sow

. Camomile.

THE BOOK OF HERBS

Herss anp Roots ror Saraps aND SAUCE.

duus Benedictus.
May.
in the spring.

spring, and at Michael-

mas.

and May.

them.

Heres and Roots, To

Cabbages, sow in March
and after remove.

Gourds, in May.
Navews, sow in

(Brassica Napus).

June

Strewinc Herss

in May.
Balm, set in March.

15.
16.

17.
18.

Ig.

20.
21.

22.

Sorrell.

Spinage, for the summer.

Sea-holy.

Sparage, let grow two
years and then remove.

Skirrets, set these plants
in March.

Succory.

Tarragon, set in slips in
March.

Violets of all colours.

These buy with the penny
Or look not for any.

Aw fF wrnr —

Bo

an p

. Capers.
. Lemons.
. Olives.
. Oranges.
. Rice.

. Samphire.

IL on TO Butter.

- Pompions, in May.
. Parsnips, in winter.
. Runcival

Pease, set in

winter.

. Rapes, sow in June.
. Turnips, in March and

April.

ALL Sorts.

. Costmary.
. Cowslips and Paggles.

Daisies of all sorts.

. Sweet Fennell.

. Germander.

- Hyssop, set in February.

. Lavender (Lavendula
vera).

- Lavender Spike (Z.
spica).

. Lavender Cotton.
. Marjoram, knotted, sow

. Bays, sow or plant in
January.

. Bachelor’s Buttons.

- Bottles, blue, red, and
tawny.

. Columbines.

. Campions.

- Cowslips (Zusser here
meant Oxlips).

- Daffodils or Daffodon-
dillies.

. Eglantine or Sweet-Brier.

. Fetherfew.

Flower Amour, sow in

. Flower de Luce.
. Flower-Gentle, white and

. Flower Nice.
. Gillyflowers, red, white,

. Holyoaks, red, white, and

TUSSER’S LIST

or set in the spring.

Heras, Brancues, anD

May (Amaranthus).
red (Amaranthus).

and Carnations, set in
spring and at harvest in
pots, pails, or tubs, or
for summer, in beds.

Carnations (Hollyhocks). |

14.
15.
16.

ry
18.
19.
20.
21

17.
1a.

19.

20.
21.

203
Maudeline.
Pennyroyal.
Roses of all sorts, in

January and September.
Red Mints.
Sage.
Tansy.
Violets.
Winter Savory.

Fiowrrs For Winpows.

16.

Indian Eye, sow in May,
or set in slips in March
(Dianthus Plumarius).

Lavender of all sorts.

Larksfoot (Larkspur).

Laus tibi (Narcissus
Poeticus).

Lillium Convallium.

Lilies, red and white, sow
or set in March and
September.

. Marigolds, double.

. Nigella Romana.

. Pansies, or Heartsease.

. Paggles, green and yellow

(Cowslips).

. Pinks of all sorts.
. Queen’s Gilliflowers ( Aes-

peris Matronalis).

- Rosemary.

. Roses of all sorts.

. Snapdragon.

. Sops in wine (Pinks).
. Sweet Williams.

. Sweet

Johns
Barbatus).

(Dianthus

204

34:

in!

HOO DI ANPwWHH

THE BOOK

Star of Bethlehem (Orni-
thogalum Umbellatum).

Star of Jerusalem (Trago-
pogon pratensis).

. Stock Gilliflowers of all

sorts.

. Tuft Gilliflowers.

OF HERBS

38. Velvet flowers, or French
Marigolds ( Tagetes
patula).

39. Violets, yellow and white.

40. Wall Gilliflowers of all

sorts.

HeErss To sTILL IN SUMMER.

Blessed Thistle.

. Betony.

Dill.

. Endive.

. Eyebright.

. Fennel.

. Fumitory.

. Hyssop.

. Mints.

. Plantane.

. Roses, red and damask.

12. Respies (Rubus Jdeus).

13. Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxi-
Jfraga or Saxifraga gran-
ulata, or perhaps, Carum
Carvi).

14. Strawberries.

15. Sorrel.

16. Succory.

17. Woodroffe, for sweet
waters and cakes.

Necessary Heres To GRow IN THE GarDEN FoR Physic,
NOT REHEARSED BEFORE.

PO Sie es

- Gromwell

Anise.
Archangel (Angelica).

. Betony.
. Chervil.

Cinquefoil
reptans).

( Potentisla

. Cummin.

. Dragons

(Arum Macu-
Tatum).

. Dittary or garden ginger

(Lepidium Latifolium).
seed (Litho-
Spernum officinale).

. Hart’s tongue.
11.

Horehound.

Lovage.
Liquorice.
Mandrake.
Mugwort.
16. Peony.
17. Poppy.
18. Rue.

1g. Rhubarb.
20. Smallage.
21. Saxifrage.
22. Savin.

23. Stitchwort.
24. Valerian.
25. Woodbine.

12.
13.
14.
I5-

TUSSER’S LIST 205

Thus ends in brief,
Of herbs the chief,
To get more skill,
Read whom ye will;
Such mo to have,
Of field go crave.

AUTHORS REFERRED TO

AsercromBig, ‘ Every Man his own Gardener.”
Amuerst (Hon. Alicia), “A History of Gardening in
England.”
Asumo te, “ History of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.”
Bacon, “ Sylva Sylvarum ; or, a Naturall Historie.”
Buount, “ Fragmenta Antiquitatis ; or Jocular Tenures.”’
BranD, ‘‘ Popular Antiquities.”
Britten, ‘ A Dictionary of English Plant Names.”
Browne (Sir Thomas), ‘¢ Vulgar Errors.”
Crarenpon, ‘ History of the Rebellion.”
Cotes, “ Art of Simpling.”’
Cutrepper, “ The English Physitian.”’
35 « Astrological Judgment of Diseases.”
De Gusernatis, La Mythologie des Plantes.
De ta QuintinyE, “ The Compleat Gard’ner.”’
Ditton, Nineteenth Century, April 1894.
Dyer (Thistleton), «¢ The Folk-Lore of Plants.”
Etracompe (Canon), “ The Plant-Lore and Garden-Craft of
Shakespeare.”
Evetyn (J.), “ Acetaria, a Discourse of Sallets,”” 1699.
Favyn (André), Le Theatre d’honneur et de Chevatries, 1620.
a 5 «Theatre of Honour.”
Fernie, ‘¢ Herbal Simples.”’
Forxarp, “ Plant-Lore, Legends and Lyrics.”’
Fruienp, “ Flowers and Flower-Lore.”’
Futter, “ Church History.”
» © Antheologia; or, the Speech of Flowers.”
Gerarope, “ The Herball,” 1596.
Tue “ Grete Herball,”’ 1516.
Guim, “ Heraldry.”
Haxtuyt’s Voyages, “* Remembrances for Master S.,”” 1582.
Harrison’s “ Description of England.”

?

“07

208 THE BOOKS OF HERBS

“ History of Signboards.”’

Hoage, “ The Vegetable Kingdom and its Products.’

Hursu, “ History of the Coronation of George IV.”

Incram, Flora Symbolica.

I. W., ie. John Worlidge, Systema Agriculture, printed
(London) for Thos. Dring, 1681.

Jones, “ Crowns and Coronations.”’

Lampert (Miss), Nineteenth Century, September 1879, and
May 1880.

Le Petit Albert, from the “Secrets of Albertus Magnus, of
the Virtues of Herbs, Stones and Certaine Beasts,” 1617.

Loupon, “ Encyclopedia of Gardening.”

Lupton, “ Book of Notable Things,” 1575.

Markuam (Gervase), “ The Complete Housewife.”

Meacer, “The New Art of Gardening,”’ 1697.

Newron, “ An Herbal of the Bible,” 1587.

Nicuoras (Sir N. H.), “ History of the Orders of Knighthood
of the British Empire.

Parkinson, Paradisi in Sole, Paradisus terrestris, 1629.
si « Theatre of Plants,’”? 1640.

Peck, Desiderata Curiosa.

Pecce’s Curalia.

Pratt (Sir Hugh), “ The Garden of Eden,” 1653.

Puny’s “ Natural History,’’ Trans. by Philemon Holland.

Quarterly Review, June 1842.

Ruinp, “ History of the Vegetable Kingdom.”

Roserts (H.), « Complete Account of the Coronations of the
Kings and Queens of England.”’

Rosison, “ English Flower-Garden.”’

Ross, « View of all Religions,” 1653.

Sexpen, *“* Table Talk.’’

Smitx, ‘ Dictionary of the Bible.”’

Tuornton, “ Family Herbal.”

Timas, “ Things Not Generally Known.”

Tusser, “ Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,”’ 1577.

Watton (Isaac), *¢ The Complete Angler.”

>

INDEX OF PLANTS

ACONITE, 173

Acorus, 196

Agrimony, 135, 167

Hemp, 190

Alder, 167, 196

eee 121, 122

Alexanders, 47, 48, 153, 176

Alkanet, 15, ae sai

Angelica, 48, 49, 50, 150, 164,
166, 179

Anise, 9, 154, 173, 182, 198

Arnica, 173

Arsmart, 198

Asplenium, 190

Baum, 9, 10, 11, 105, 148, 196

Barberries, 99, 107

Basil, Sweet, 11, 12, 13, 105, 117,
154, 176, 178, 183

Bush, 11, 12, 13, 154

Bay, 132, 133) 141, 142, 143, 144,
177, 195

Bearberries, 173

Bearsfoot, 164, 196, 197

Bella-Donna, 167

Bergamot, 120, 121, 148, 173

Betony, 111, 164, 168, 198

Blites, 50, 51

Bloodwort, 51

Boldo, 190

Borage, 13, 14, 154

Boy’s Love, 136, 166

Bridewort, 109, 128

Brooklime, 167

Broom, 98, 129, 134, 166, 174;
183

Buckshorne, 51, 52

Bugloss, 14, 64, 150

—— Viper’s, 15, 160

Bullock’s Lungwort, 197
Burnet, 15, 16, 152
Burnet-Saxifrage, 132

CALAMINTH, 195
Camomile, 53, 54, 149, 166, 182,
I

95

Wild, 166
Caraway, 16, 17, 153, 173
Cardoons, 55
Cassidony, 126
Celandine, 168, 193
Celery, 17, 18
Centaury, 164, 187
Chervil, 3, 18, 89, 155, 176, 179
Chibbals, 13
Chickenweed, 167, 195
Chickweed, 4
Chicory, 25, 177
Chives, 19, 151
Ciboules, 18, 19
Cinquefoil, 112, 185, 195
Cives, 19
Clary, 55
Cliders, 168
Clove-Gillyflowers, 111, 124
Club-Moss, 1, 174
Colchicum, 86, 165
Coltsfoot, 167
Comfrey, 165
Coriander, 3, 19, 144, 173, 176
Corn-Salad, 36
Costmary, 117, 118, 121, 122, 149
Cowflop, 168
Cowslip, 167, 192
of Jerusalem, 174
Cresses, 20, 21, 22
Water, 22, 152, 167
Cuckoo’s Bread, 192

209

210

Cuckoo-flowers, 62, 63
Cumin, 3, 19, 154, 181, 198

DanbELIon, 22, 23, 152, 164, 191
Decoration of Churches, 103, 104
of Houses, 104

Dial of flowers, 4, 5

Dill, 23, 24, 153, 173, 176, 179
Distillers to Queen Elizabeth, 118,

119
Dittander, 56
Dittany, 179, 190, 198
Dock, 167, 198
Patience, 59, 60
Doctrine of Signatures, 85, 96,

159

Eau d’ Arquebusade, 49

Elder, 98, 165, 166, 179, 183, 184,
185, 195

Elecampane, 56, 57, 150, 181, 198

Endive, 24, 25, 155, 182, 195

Eyebright, 35, 193

Falry-BELLS, 182

Fairy-cap, 182

Featherfew, 3, 54, 167
Fennel, 25, 26, 27, 150, 173, 195
Fenngreek, 57, 58, 198
Finocchio, 27, 155

Flax, 173, 181

Fairy, 181

Flower Gentle, 50
Foxglove, 167, 168, 181, 182
Furze, 165

GarLic, 177, 198

Gentian, 172

Germander, 105, 122, 123
Gillifowers, 123, 124, 125, 183
Goat’s Beard, 4, 27, 28

Good King Henry, 58
Goosegrass, 168, 195
Ground-ivy, 135, 167, 180
Groundsel, 167

Green Oil (recipe), 169

Hare-THIsTLe, 199

THE BOOK OF HERBS

Hawkweed, 193

Haymaids, 167

Heart-fever-grass, 23

Hedge-Garlic, 165, 167

Hedge-Mustard, 167

Hellebore, 164, 186, 196

Black, 197

White, 197

Hemlock, 168, 179

Henbane, 173, 179, 186

Herbary, 6

Herb-strewer, The King’s, 106,
107, 108

Herb-strewing, 104, 105, 106

at Weddings, 109

Herb of the Blessed Mary, 194

Patience, 41, 59, 60, 152, 176

Robert, 167

Hollyhock, 67, 68

Honesty, 78, 176, 179

Hops, 97, 170, 192

Horehound, 61, 147, 160, 168

Horse-radish, 28, 173

Horse-shoe Vetch, 199

Hound’s Tongue, 199

House-leek, 165, 180, 185

Hyssop, 29, 30, 105, 147, 165, 176

Jupas Tree Frowers, 8
Juniper, 174
Jupiter’s Distaff, 55

Lap’s Love, 136

Ladysmocks, 9, 61, 62, 63

Lamb’s Lettuce, 30, 155, 191

Langdebeefe, 63, 64

Larkspur, 174

Laurel, 195

Lavender, 118, 125, 126, 138, 146,
173. 174

French, 126

—— White, 116, 126, 146

Cotton, 126

Lettuce, Wild, 193

Lily of the Valley, 173

Liquorice, 64, 65, 150, 173, 198

Lovage, 3, 65, 66

Lunary, 179

INDEX

Lungwort, 174
Lupines, 57, 117

Mawmen’s Ruin, 136

Mallow, 3, 66, 67, 150, 165, 176

French, 66

Marsh, 67, 150, 165

Marchwort, 197

Marigold, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72) 735
154, 165

Corn, 74

Marjoram, 29, 31, 32, 105, 182,
185, 195

Pot, 148

—— Sweet, 111, 117, 118, 148,
154

Winter, 148

Maudeline, 117, 121, 122

Meadow-Sweet, 109, 126,
164

Melampode, 196

Mezereon, 173

Mignonette, 182

Milfoil, 180

Mint, 3, 32, 33,149) 173) 178

Cat, 33, £92

Horse, 198

—— Pepper, 33, 149

—— Spear, 33

Water, 16

Monk’s-hood, 173

Moonwort, 198

Mugwort, 52, 138, 139, 140, I41,
182

Musk, 173, 186

Mustard, 3, 33, 34, 173

Tree, 182

Myrtle, 133

127,

Nep, 192

Ov Man, 136

Olive, 195

Orange, 6, 117, 130

Orders of Knighthood, 112, 113,
114, 115, 116

Organs, 17, 195

Ox-eye Daisy, 9

211

PARSLEY, 3, 34, 35, 36, 153, 166,
183, 195

‘« Passions,” 60

Penny Royal, 74, 75, 149, 179

Penny Pies, 165

Peony, 194

Periwinkle, 110, 111, 177, 178

Pimpernel, 166, 168, 179

Pine Cones, 98

Planets, Influence of the, 160, 161,
162

Plantain, 9, 52, 166, 174

Pomanders, 117, 118

Poor Man’s Friend, 165

Poppy, 170, 171, 179, 192

Black, 18

White, 171, 186

Pot-Pourri, 119

Primrose, 9, 165

Proverbs, 110

Purslane, 76, 111, 156

Golden, 156

Pyrethrum, 54, 173

QueEEN oF THE Meapows, 128

RacworT, 188, 1389

Ram-ciches, 77

Rampion, 77, 78, 153, 177

Rest-Harrow, 198

Rhubarb, 6, 183

Monk’s, 59

Rocambole, 79

Rocket, 79, 80, 156

London, 80

Rosemary, 8, 109, I11, 116, 126,
128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133,
142, 147, 167, 173, 176, 178

Rue, 3, 112, 113, 114, 117, 126,
134, 135, 136, 147, 176, 178,
192, 195

Rush-Strewing, 104

SarFRON, 57, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85,
86, 111, 151, 165, 173, 186, 196

Meadow, 86, 166

Sage, 37, 38, 395 147; 166, 167,
176, 178, 195

212

Sage, Wood, 164

St John’s Wort, 160, 177, 189

Salsify, 28

Samoclas, 197

Samphire, 86, 87, 152

Satyrion, 198

Savory, Summer, 39, 154

Winter, 29, 39, 40, 150, 176,
195

Scabiosa, 193

Scorzonera, 44

Sea-holly, 190

Set-wall, 172

Sferro Cavallo, 199

Skirrets, 87, 88, 151

Smallage, 88, 187

Sorrel, 40, 41, 151

French, 41, 151

Southernwood, 136, 137, 146, 147
198

Spunewatt 193, 194

Squills, 173

Staggerwort, 188

Star-grass, 174

Stickadove, 126

Stonecrop, 89

Strawberries, 99, 100

leaves, 99, 100

Stubwort, 198

Succory, 25

Sumach, 174

Sunflower, 96

Sweet Cicely, 89, 90, 150

Sweet Grass, 137

Sweet Jar, 119

Swine’s Cress, 165

i 9°, 91, 92, 93, 94, 105, 146,
180
—— Wild, 94

THE BOOK OF HERBS

Tarragon, 41, 42, 146, 147, 182

Terebinth, 196

Thistle, 97, 113, 114, 115

Blessed, or Holy, 95, 96, 167

—— Milk, 95, 96, 97

—— Spear, 117

Thyme, 29, 42, 43, 44, 148, 149,
173, 185

Water, 196

Wild, 16, 181, 182

Tisane de Sept Fleurs, 170

Treacle-Mustard, 159

Tripe-Madam, 89

Turnip, 3

UNSHOE-THE-HORSE, 198
Uve Ursi, 173

VALERIAN, 172, 178, 179
Venice Treacle, 159
Vervain, 178, 179, 193
Vine, 97, 105

Violets, 98, 99, 168
Viper’s-Grass, 44

WaysrEAD, 192

Whortleberries, 112

Willow, 105, 134, 173

Wincopipe, 168

Winter-green, 173

Wolf’s-bane, 173

Wood-rose, 137

rowell, 137

ruff, 137, 138

sorrel, 45, 181, 182, 198

Wormwood, 138, 139, 140, 141,
146, 1475 165, 173, 179, 180, 198

Yarrow, g, 180, 198
Yellow Rattle, 192

Handbooks of Practical

Gardening

Under the General Editorship of

HARRY ROBERTS

Crown 8vo. With Illustrations
Cloth. Price 2s. 6d. net. Price $1.00 net.

The World says :—‘ This very useful series should by no means be
missed from the library of the sincere gardener.”

Vol.
L oe OF ASPARAGUS. By CHARLES ILoTT,

Il, THE BOOK OF THE GREENHOUSE. By J. C.
TALLACK, F.R.E,S,

Ill. THE ae OF THE GRAPE, By H. W. Warp,
F.R.

IV. THE BOOK OF OLD FASHIONED FLOWERS. By
HARRY ROBERTS.
V. THE BOOK OF BULBS. By S. Arnott, F.R.H.S.
VI. THE BOOK OF THE APPLE, By H. H. Tuomas.
VI. THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES. By GeEorRGE
WYTHES, V.M.H.
VIII. THE BOOK OF ORCHIDS. By W. H. WuiTeE,
F.R.

1X. THE BOOK OF THE STRAWBERRY. By EDWIN
BECKETT, F.R.H.S.
xX. THE BOOK OF CLIMBING PLANTS. By S.
ARNOTT, F.R.H.S.
XI. THE BOOK OF PEARS AND PLUMS. By the Rev.
E. BARTRUM, D.D
XIl THE BOOK OF HERBS. By Lady RosALIND

NORTHCOTE.

XIII. THE BOOK OF THE WILD GARDEN. By S. W.
FITZHERBERT.

XIV. THE BOOK OF THE HONEY BEES. By CHARLES
HARRISON.

XV. THE BOOK OF SHRUBS. By GEORGE GORDON.
XVI. THE BOOK OF THE DAFFODIL. By the Rev. S.
EUGENE BOURNE.
XVII THE BOOK OF THE LILY. By W. GoLpRING.
XVIII. THE BOOK OF TOPIARY. By CHARLES H. CurRTIS
and W. GIBSON.
XIX. THE BOOK OF TOWN AND WINDOW GARDEN-
ING. By Mrs F, A. BARDSWELL.
XX. THE BOOK OF RARER VEGETABLES. By GEORGE
WytTHES, V.M.H. and HARRY ROBERTS.
XXI. THE BOOK OF THE IRIS.
XXII. THE BOOK OF GARDEN FURNITURE.

LONDON: VIGO STREET, W.
JOHN LANE: yew vorx: 6 FIFTH AVENUE.

The Country Handuooks

An Illustrated Series of Practical
Handbooks dealing with Country Life,
suitable for the pocket or the knapsack

Edited by
HARRY ROBERTS

The Volumes are well printed on Antique Paper, and
are bound in cloth and in leather, of a size
(6$x4 inches) suited to the pocket

Price 3s. net. Limp CLOTH. ; Price $1.00 net.
Price 4s. net. Limp LEATHER. . Price $1.20 net.

Vol. I—THE TRAMP’S HANDBOOK. For the use of
Travellers, Soldiers, Cyclists, and lovers of the Country.
By Harry ROBERTS.

A volume written in defence of vagabondage, containing much
valuable advice to the amateur gipsy, traveller, or eyelist, as to
camping-out, cooking, etc.

Vol. II.—THE MOTOR BOOK. By R. J. MECREDY.

An invaluable handbook that should find a place in the library
of every motorist, or even in the car itself.

Vol. IIIL—THE TREE BOOK. By Mary ROWLES JARVIS.

Containing varied and useful information relating to trees and
forests, together with a special chapter on Practical Forestry.

Vol. IV.—THE BIRD BOOK. By A. J. R. ROBERTs.

A guide to the study of bird life, with hints as to recognising
various species by their flight or their note.

Vol. V.—THE STILL ROOM. By Mrs CHARLES ROUNDELL.

A book full of information upon all subjects pertaining to pre-
serving, pickling, bottling, distilling, etc. ; with many useful hints
upon the dairy.

Vol. VI—THE WOMAN OUT OF DOORS. By MENIE
MuRIEL DOWIE.

Other Volumes will be issued at monthly intervals.

LONDON: VIGO STREET, W.
JOHN LANE + NEW YORK: 67 FIFTH AVENUE.

BOOKS FOR COUNTRY HOUSES

The Natural History of Selborne. By
GILBERT WHITE. Edited, with Introduction, by
GRANT ALLEN. With upwards of 200 Illustra-
tions by EDMUND H. NEw. Price §s. net. Crown
8vo. Price $1.50.

‘* The attraction lies chiefly in finding the masterpiece so admirably illus-
trated by Mr Edmund H. New. In black and white line work of this class

he has no equal.” (Country Life.)
““Mr Edmund New’s drawings are not merely artistic, but full of the
poetry of association.” (Speaker)

The Compleat Angler. By Izaak Watron
and CHARLES COTTON. Edited, with an Introduc-
tion, by RICHARD LE GALLIENNE. With Photo-
gravure Portraits of Walton and Cotton, and over
250 Illustrations and Cover-design by EDMUND
H. NEw. Price 15s. net. Fcap. 4to. Price $6.00 net.

‘A delightful edition, charmingly illustrated.”’ (Punch.)

“Of Mr Edmund H. New’s illustrations we cannot speak too highly.
We have never seen better.” (Sfectator.)

*“One of the best editions; one, we cannot help thinking, that Walton
himself would have preferred.” (Daily Chronicle.)

All About Dogs. A Book for Doggy People.
By CHARLES HENRY LANE. With 85 Full-page
Illustrations (including nearly 70 champions) by
R. H. Moore. Demy 8vo. Price 7s. 6d. net.
Gilt top. Price $2.50 net.

“‘One of the most interesting contributions to the literature of the day.”
(Daily Chronicle.)

“Mr Lane’s book is worthy of a place on the shelves of any sporting
library.” (Oxtlook.)

“A most interesting, indeed, an entirely fascinating book.” (St¢ James's
Gazette.)

ORDER FROM YOUR BOOKSELLER

BOOKS ABOUT GARDENS

BY HARRY ROBERTS

THE CHRONICLE OF A CORNISH
GARDEN. With Seven Illustrations of an Ideal
Garden by F. L. B. Grices. Price 5s, net. Crown
8vo. $1.50 net.

The Literary World.—‘‘ The Chronicle is written in a frank, un-
affected style, and will suggest useful ideas to other garden lovers.”

The Bookman.—'‘‘ It is written with grace and knowledge, and
pleases as well as teaches.”

BY MRS LESLIE WILLIAMS
A GARDEN IN THE SUBURBS. With

Eight Illustrations. Price 5s. net. Crown 8vo.
$1.25 net.

The Westminster Gazette.—‘‘ The writer knows her subjects and
conveys her facts in an interesting manner, .. . the number of
hints which she gives about the buying of plants are especially
valuable... .”

BY THE REV. CANON ELLACOMBE

IN MY VICARAGE GARDEN AND
ELSEWHERE. With a Photogravure Frontispiece
of the Author. Price 5s. net. Crown 8vo.
$1.50 net,

The Daily Chronicle.—‘‘ One is not often fortunate enough to
come upon a scholar in a flower garden, but Canon Ellacombe has a
quality of his own.”

The Academy.—‘‘ Canon Ellacombe writes of gardens as one who
knows, and his latest book has a practical value. He deals with his
subject in a manner which indicates close observation and genuine
love.”

BY MRS MILNE-HOME

STRAY LEAVES FROM A BORDER
GARDEN. With Eight Illustrations by F. L. B.
Grices. Price 5s, net. Crown 8vo. $1.50 net.

The Daily Chronicle,—‘‘ It is just the sort of book to read as one
swings in a hammock ‘underneath the bough’ in the delightful
summer afternoons.”

The Daily News.—‘‘The garden thread runs through it all, and
it is a charming book with plenty of hints to be picked up.”