332 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



guages which means " to sew." Closely allied 

 words are "needle," " net," and " knit." Nettle 

 would seem to mean " that with which we sew," and 

 indicates that this plant supplied the thread used 

 in former times by the German and Scandinavian 

 nations. "We know this to have been a fact," 

 says Moncure D. Conway, " in the Scotland of the 

 last century. Scotch cloth is only the housewifery 

 of the nettle; and a fabric made frond the fibres 

 of the plant was also used till a recent period in 

 Friesland." Flax and hemp bear southern names, 

 and when they were brought into the north of 

 Europe the nettle's career of usefulness was ended. 

 Like handicraftsmen on the introduction of ma- 

 chinery, it was thrown out of honorable employ- 

 ment. Then it became a vagabond and took to 

 roadsides and wastes. Nettles are said to have 

 been introduced into England by Roman soldiers 

 who sowed the seed in Kent for their own use 

 11 to rubbe and chafe their limbs when through ex- 

 treme cold they should be stifle and benumbed," 

 having been told that the climate of Britain was 

 so cold that it was not to be endured without 

 some friction to warm their blood. 



We are all familiar with the oft-quoted lines: 

 "Tender-handed stroke a nettle and it stings you 



