CARDAMINE. 309 



This pi tint, which is «*i species of Cress, has been 

 named Cardamine, from its having the taste of 

 Cardamom. It has also been called in Latin Fins 

 Cuculi, because, says Gerard, " it flowers when 

 the cuckowe doth begin to sing her pleasant notes 

 without stammering," and from hence it is called 

 Cuckoo Flower. Shakspeare's Cuckoo Bud is 

 thought to be the Wild Yellow Ranunculus ; he 

 mentions the Cuckoo Flower as one of those that 

 formed the crown of the wretched Lear. 



lie was met even now 



As mad as the vex'd sea : singing aloud ; 

 Crown'd with rank Fumiter, and Furrow "Weeds, 

 "With Harlocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo Flowers, 

 Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow 

 In our sustaining corn. 



King Lear. 



Gerard tells us that he writes it " Ladie Smocks,'? 

 because it was so called in Cheshire, his native 

 county ; and the unfortunate Chatterton, in his 

 admirable imitation of the older poets, gives it the 

 same name. 



So have I seen a Ladie-Smock soe white, 



Blown in the mornynge, and mowd down at night. 



Battle of Hastings. 



We do not find that this flower has been placed 

 in floral language; and we shall, therefore, taking 

 it from the brow of King Lear, present it as an 

 emblem of paternal error, since this historic drama 



