cowslip. 87 



boldly into the open fields, and decorates the slop- 

 ing hills with its pendant umbels of fragrant blos- 

 soms. The corollas of the Cowslip are often 

 gathered to make a kind of liqueur wine, which is 

 thought to promote sleep. Pope observes — 



For want of rest, 



Lettuce and Cowslip wine : probatum est. 



The author of the celebrated Poem on Cider also 

 recommends this Mine, and says, 



-Thy little sons 



Permit to range the pastures ; gladly they 

 Will mow the Cowslip posies, faintly sweet, 

 From whence thou artificial wines shalt drain 

 Of icy taste, that in mid fervors, hest 

 Slack craving thirst, and mitigate the day. 



Phillips. 



The flowers of the Cowslip are also frequently 

 mixed with tea, to give it a flavour, and sometimes 

 used alone in infusion, as they are thought to pos- 

 sess antispasmodic and anodyne qualities, and. to 

 be also mildly corroborant. 



Cowslips were formerly esteemed good for pains 

 in the joints and sinews, palsy, &c. and were there- 

 fore called ArthritictB and Herbce Paralysis by 

 medical writers ; for the same reason they were 

 called Palsy-worts in English, and d'Herbe a 

 Parahjsie by the French. The French peasants 

 call this flower Fleur de coucou, from its blooming 

 at the same time when the cuckow begins to sing ; 



