HYACINTH. 121 



As lady, blithesome, yonng, and vain, 

 Prank'd ap with folly and disdain, 

 Vaunting her power, 



Sweet flower ! 



Mrs. Robinson - . 



Browne says — 



The Harebell, for her stainless azured hue, 

 Claims to he worn by none but those are true. 



This flower is called Harebell, from the campanula, 

 or bell-shape of its flowers, and from its being 

 found so frequently in those thickets most fre- 

 quented by hares. 



The name of Bluebell is a sufficient distinction 

 for those cottage children who know but few besides 

 their native plants, but we have occasionally found 

 them in coppices with a pure white corolla. Gerard 

 tells us, that they have been found with " a faire 

 Carnation colour;" but we should suspect that 

 these were the remains of the bulbs brought into 

 this country by the Romans, as the places noticed, 

 where they have been found, are known to have 

 been the stations of that people when in this part 

 of the world. 



In the time of Queen Elizabeth, when the high- 

 plaited ruff was worn both by gentlemen and ladies, 

 the juice of the bulbs of this plant was used to 

 make starch, and also to paste books, and to fix 

 feathers upon arrows instead of glue. 



Dioscorides tells us, that this root will procure 



vol. i. g 



