74 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



noisom, and unprofitable graine, encombring and 

 hindring good corne." And in that sense "cockle" 

 had been already used by Chaucer. It is further of 

 interest to notice that in the Anglo-Saxon version of 

 the Parable of the Tares, recorded in the thirteenth 

 chapter of St. Matthew's gospel, the strange Greek 

 word ^i^dvta, not found in classical literature, and 

 simply Latinised in the Vulgate zizania, is translated 

 coccel, and this rendering is followed by Wycliff, and 

 in other early versions of the New Testament. The 

 following is from the Rheims translation, published in 

 1582, and so strange does the rendering sound to ears 

 accustomed to the Authorised Version that it is worth 

 quoting in full. The parable is headed "The sower of 

 the cockle," and runs thus: "The kingdom of heaven 

 is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. 

 But while men were asleep his enemy came and over- 

 sowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. 

 And when the blade was sprung up and brought forth 

 fruit then appeared also the cockle. Then the servants 

 of the master of the house came and said to him : 

 Master, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field ? 

 from whence then hath it cockle ? And he saith to 

 them : An enemy hath done this. And the servants 

 said to him : Wilt thou then that we go and gather it 

 up ? And he said : No ; lest while ye gather up the 

 cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. 

 Let both grow until the harvest : and in the time of 

 the harvest I will say to the reapers : Gather up first 

 the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn ; but 

 gather the wheat into my barn." We get another 

 illustration of the same use in the quaint and vigorous 

 sermons of good Bishop Latimer, who exclaims : " Oh, 

 that our prelates would bee as diligent to sowe the 



