llARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



153 



mustard, and have been used as food for birds ; but, 

 being pungent, are not desirable lor them." 

 ■ 1 remember what a pest it used to be (and I haA'e 

 no doubt is still) on the poor, thin, chalky soils of 

 the Sussex downs ; it flourishes on the sandy clays 

 of the Bracklesham Beds here on the scacoast of 

 South Hants, where its bright yellow corymbs give 

 a^ golden glow to many a broad acre of the late- 

 sown barley ; and it has got such a hold upon the 

 stiff rich lias, the oolites, and marls of fair, fat, 

 and fertile Gloucester, that the muse of Severn-dale 

 seized upon it as a theme for a rural lay, and the 

 sturdy joskins make the welkin ring, and startle the 

 echoes of the Cotteswolds with the rustic strains 

 of 



"A GLOSTERZHUR ZONG ON THE KERLOCK."* 



" The Kerlock plant 's a zite to zee, 



As a zhiiies in the yields like gowld ; 

 But all yent gowld as glitters vree, 

 I wur' once by my veather towld. 



" Zo I'll teVe a heow f an' cut un al! up. 

 All out o' tha' Barley ground ; 

 An' arter that I'd like to kneow 

 Whur' a bit o'nast t can be vound? 



" But a zays, zays he, as 't 'yunt no use 

 Vor to gwoo to a girt expense; 

 Vor t'wuU come ageun, whatever thee doos, 

 lu a yur or two vrom yence. 



" But Pa'sson zays as every weed, 



lake the Turtnuts and Whaet we seows, 

 Mus' all come up vrom a zort o' zeed, 

 Zo I wun't let 'un zecd if I kneows : 



" But I'll tcke a hcow an' heow 'un all clane, 

 Right out o' the Barley ground ; 

 Vor if I doant let 'un zeed, 'tis plane 

 Nat a bit o' nast can be vound." 



While the above-mentioned plant is of the Mustard 

 tribe, the other two, known by the same common 

 English appellation, arc of the Radish race. The first 

 oi i\ies,e, Eaphanus RapJianistrum — the wild Char- 

 lock, wild Radish, white or jointed Charlock— the 

 Radis sauvage of the Ereneh, and Der Acker Uettkj 

 of the Germans — is said to be the vagrant and de- 

 generate offspring of the cultured originals brought 

 to our shores by the conquering legions of Caisar: 

 others declare that the radish was first introduced 

 into this country from China only about 250 years 

 ago. Radishes certainly attain to great size and 

 perfection in " the laud of Sinim." I have grown 

 an egg-shaped variety, with a bright pink skin and 

 very white flesh, in a garden I once had on the banks 



* From the Proceedings of the Cotteswold Club. 



t Anglic^, Hoe. The root is the Saxon Heawan, to cut. 



+ Ndst, a generic term for dirt, applied more particularly 

 to weeds. Picking nast, or burning nast, will mean picking 

 couch, burning weeds, &c. The root of this word, though 

 difiacult to trace, is not entirely lost. Its primary meaning is 

 that of fllth or dirt ; a sense preserved in the adjective nasty. 

 It has no substantive form in English. The Swedish has 

 nesa, dishonour, shame; and the Old Norse, neiss, shameful ; 

 secondary derivatives from the same root. 



of the Wong-poo, which reached to an enormous 

 size, without becoming rank, coarse, or stringy, or 

 losing their delicacy of flavour ; but I do not see 

 why we should imagine that our cultivated radishes 

 came from the far East ; and that even our wild 

 Raphanus Raphanistrum is but a Roman escaped 

 from civilization and fallen in savagery; while 

 Raphanus raaritimus — the Sea-charlock, or Sea- 

 radish — a comparatively rare species, scantily 

 inhabiting here and there a cliff or sandy bank on 

 the coast, is the only true native radish, indigenous 

 to our British soil. Bcntham is of opinion that 

 our garden radish, Raphanus sativus, is only a variety 

 of the wild R. Raphatiistrum. 



Mr. Sowerby, in his splendid and unrivalled work, 

 gives us the history of (as well as the tales and 

 legends connected with) all our native plants ; and 

 what pleasure and enjoyment are added to our 

 rambles over the wild commons, and to our strolls 

 through the quiet green lanes, by a knowledge of 

 this quaint plant-lore, which he has so laboriously 

 and patiently brought together and placed before 

 us in such attractive shape. He tells us how the 

 homely radish was a classic root, highly esteemed 

 in the brave days of old, when simplicity, frugality, 

 and temperance lent vigour to the life of the stern 

 conquering race, before wealth and sloth, and luxury 

 and sensuality had eaten out the iron heart of the 

 warrior nation : 



" A Roman meal. 

 Such as the mistress of the world once foun* 

 Delicious, when her patriots of high note. 

 Perhaps by moonlight, at their humble doors. 

 And under an old oak's domestic shade, 

 Enjoy'd, spare feast— a radish and an egg." 



Ye gods ! what digestions men must have had in the 

 days "iiitoiisl Catoiiis" what consciences must the 

 Fatres conscripti have possessed when, after dining 

 on raw cow-cabbage and vinegar, they could sup 

 on turnip-radishes and cold hard-boiled eggs, and 

 lie down to rest upon their hard beds without fear 

 of nightmare. Even in much later times, when the 

 gluttony and self-indulgence, the ostentation and 

 lavish M-aste of tiie noble and great, had begun to 

 alarm the higher-minded and more thoughtful citi- 

 zens, a stomach that could dispose of "three fat 

 snails {Helix pomutia), two eggs, a barley cake, a 

 lettuce, sweet wine, and snow " for supper, accord- 

 ing to the custom of Pliny the younger, must have 

 been tolerably sound. 



I remember reading, many years ago, of a poor 

 crazy old woman who wandered about the fields in 

 all weathers, tearing up the Charlock when it began 

 to bloom. Her son, an idle vagabond, who shunned 

 all steady regular work, had managed to live by 

 smuggling and poaching; at last he was tempted 

 to M'aylay and rob a poor travelling pedlar : he 

 attacked him one wild stormy night as he was 

 crossing some fields by a lonely, unfrequented foot- 



