INTRODUCTORY 3 



most of them simple and obvious enough. The phrase, 

 " under the rose," either thus or in its original form of 

 " sub rosa," though frequently used is of more ancient 

 origin. The Rose was given by Eros to Harpocrates, 

 the god of Silence, that he might keep secret the doings 

 of his mother, Aphrodite ; hence the Rose, the symbol 

 of secrecy and silence, was carved on the roofs of the 

 Roman banquet-halls, and wreathed in their garlands, 

 as a hint that all things spoken in that place were 

 privileged, and not to be repeated in more sober 

 moments. 



Horace and Pliny speak of the Rose and its cultivation 

 in gardens, and the wealthier Romans were accustomed 

 to make extensive use of Rose petals for strewing on 

 the floor and couches at their banquets. In England, 

 at any rate from the fifteenth century onwards, the 

 supremacy of the Rose has been practically unchallenged, 

 and Chaucer wrote 



" The savour of the roses swote, 

 Me smote right to the herte rote, 

 As I hadde alle embaumed be. 



Of roses there were grete wone, 

 So faire were never in Rone." 



And a little later Dunbar laid it down that 



" no flower is so perfite, 

 So full of virtue, pleasaunce, and delight." 



Gerarde, a little later still, gave the gardener's view. 

 "The Rose doth deserve the cheefest and most prin- 

 cipall place among all flowers whatsoever, being not 

 onely esteemed for his beautie, vertues, and his fragrant 

 and odouriferous smell, but also because it is the honore 

 and ornament of our English Scepter." Shakespere's 

 references to the Rose are far too numerous to quote. 

 " Gloves as sweet as damask roses," "I'll say she looks 



