July 28. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



71 



" One is called see of the day. 

 The daisee, a floure white and rede, 

 And in French called La Beth Margarete." 



Chaucer's Ballads. 



o. Held place in Heraldry. 



Trefoil. Beech (crest of Beechcroft). Wheat. 

 6. Have been adopted as National Emblems. 



We may surely add to those given, the cogni- 

 zance of the gallant Marquis of Montrose, — a 

 stalk of oats. 



Is it quite correct to say that the '' white lily " 

 was the badge of Florence ? Should it not rather 

 be — 



The white lily, the Ghibelline badge. 



The red lily, the Guelphic, whether at Florence or 

 elsewhere ? 



11. Have many interesting Associations. 



The elder has been supposed by some to be the 

 tree on which Judas hanged himself, thus : 



" Judas he japed 

 With Jewen silver, 

 And sithen on an eller 

 Hanged hymselve." 



Piers Plowman's Vision, 693 — 696. 



According to others it was a fig-tree : 



" Qumret aliquis qua ex arbore Judas se suspenderit ? 

 Arbor ficus fuisse dicitur, idque cecinit Juvencus poeta 

 hoc carmine 



Informen rapuit ficus de vertice montem." 



— Barradius in loco. 



Amongst the plants which derive their names 

 from birds should be Inserted the larkspur. 



If the yew is note-worthy for its Importance to 

 a nation of archers, the aspen is hardly less so : 



" The shooter ewe, the aspe for shaftes plaine." 



Chaucer, The Assembly of Fowles. 



Whilst the elm is hardly less sepulchral than the 

 yew: 



" The piller elme, the coffer unto caraine." — lb. 

 Of the ivy Kennett {Glossary) tells us — 



" The booths in fairs were commonly drest with ivy 

 leaves, as a token of wine there sold, the ivy being sacred 

 to Bacchus ; so was the tavern bush or frame of wood, 

 drest round with ivy, forty years since, though now left 

 off for tuns or baiTels hung in the middle of it. This 

 custom gave birth to the present practice of putting out a 

 green bush at the door of those private houses which sell 

 drink during the fair ; and perhaps this is all the mean- 

 ing of hanging out the broom when the wife is absent, 

 and the husband left at liberty to entertain his friends." 

 — See « N. & Q.," Vol. ix., p. 518. 



Chaucer says : 



" As the gaye leuesell at the taverne is signe of the 

 wine that is in the seller." — Parson's Tale. 



An Italian writer of the fifteenth century, 

 wishing to throw ridicule on a literary opponent, 

 tells him that his grandfather was a tavern- 

 keeper at Pistola : 



" Avi autem tui caupona Pistorii primum floruit non 



No. 300.] 



dignitate aliqua sed fronde ilia f estiva qu& ad vinum et 

 popinas meretrices et ganeos invitabat." — Shepherd's 

 Life ofPoggio, note, p. 35. (2nd edition). 



The cross was generally supposed to have been 

 made of four kinds of wood, signifying the four 

 quarters of the globe, or all mankind ; it is not, 

 however, agreed what those four kinds were, or 

 their respective places in the cross. Some say 

 the four incorruptible woods were the palm, the 

 cedar, the olive, and the cypress ; hence the line, — 

 " Ligna crucis palma cedrus cupressus oliva." 



Instead of the palm and the olive, some claim the 

 honour for the pine and the box ; whilst others 

 say it was made entirely of oak. (See Barradius 

 in loco ; Southey's Common-place Book, second 

 series, p. 382. ; and his Omniana, " The Tree of 

 Life," p. 276.) In Curzon's Monasteries of the 

 Levant, we are told that the cedar was cut down 

 by Solomon and burled on the spot afterwards 

 called the pool of Bethesda; that about the time 

 of the passion of our Blessed Lord the wood 

 floated, and was used by the Jews for the upright 

 parts of the cross. 



Amongst the titles of honour given to the 

 Blessed Virgin in the " Ballad in Commendation 

 of our Lady, " in the old editions of Chaucer, we 

 find, 



" Benigne braunchlet of the pine tree." 



W. Denton. 



The following additions may be made to the 

 classified lists given by Mr. Walcott : 



Flowers and Trees dedicated to Deities. 

 Narcissus to Ceres. 

 Cornel Cherry-tree to Apollo. 



Floioers and Trees bearing the navies of their original Homes, 

 China Aster. American Aloe. 



Virginia Cactus. Carolina Jasmine. 



Indian Jasmine. 



Christian Names derived from Flowers and Trees. 

 Angelica. Basil. Hortensia. 



May. Rosa. 



Larkspur and Cock's-foot Grass may be added 

 to those named from birds ; Buckwheat, Ele- 

 phant's Foot, Foxglove, and Dog's-tail Grass, to 

 those called after animals ; and Snakeweed and 

 Spanish Viper's Grass to those taking their names 

 from reptiles. 



To the " more curious " names mentioned by 

 Mr. Walcott, 



Garland Flower, Indian Shot, 



Hottentot's Bread, Solomon's Seal, 



Adam's Needle, 



may be added. A. C. M. 



