134 THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN 



bleach it, and ever after the flowers were as blue 

 as Mary's robe. 



" What flower is that which royal honour craves, 

 Adjoins the Virgin, and 'tis strewn on graves ?" 



The Legend of the Iris, or Fleur-de-Lys. 



There was once a knight, more devout than 

 learned, who could never remember more than the 

 two first Latin words of the " Ave Maria." 



And in these words he continually addressed his 

 prayer to Heaven. Night and day his supplica- 

 tion continued, until at last the good old man died, 

 and was buried in the chapel-yard of the convent, 

 where, as a proof of the acceptance of his brief but 

 earnest prap'er, a plant of fleur-de-lys sprang up 

 on his grave, which displayed on every flower, in 

 golden letters, the words " Ave Maria." 



This strange sight induced the monks, who had 

 despised him during his lifetime for his ignorance, 

 to open his grave. On doing so, they found that 

 the root of the plant rested on the lips of the holy 

 knight. 



An antiquarian writes: " How soon flowers were 

 used for ecclesiastical purposes in England it is 

 difficult, nay, impossible, to say. We know that 

 gardens were devoted to the special cultivation of 

 flowers for the churches. There was one, for 

 instance, adjoining the Lady Chapel at Winchester, 

 and the spot, for a long time after the destruction 

 of the sacristy, went by the name of ' Paradise.' " 



Henry VL, in his will, left particular directions 

 concerning a garden for the church of Eton College, 

 " which is left for to sett in certain trees and flowers. 



