72 A GARDEN OF HERBS 



GROUND IVY 



There are few herbs with a greater variety of names than 

 this humble, attractive little plant, which has such a sur- 

 prisingly strong aromatic scent : Gill-go-by-the-ground, 

 Lizzy-run-up-the-hedge, Cat's foot, Devil's Candlesticks, 

 Alehoof, are only a few of its local names. The ordinary 

 name, Ground Ivy, is very misleading, as it is not an ivy at 

 all. Our Saxon ancestors used Ground Ivy in their beer, 

 and hence the places where this beer was sold were called 

 Gill houses. Ground Ivy tea is a tonic much recommended 

 by many herbalists, and the herb used to be sold in the 

 London streets. 



GROUND IVY TEA. One quart of boiling water poured on 

 to two handfuls of the plant when it is in flower (May and 

 June). 



HERB ROBERT 



The wild cranesbill herb Robert was the " geranium " 

 of the Middle Ages, and it is one of the plants described in 

 Mayster Jon Gardener's book, The Feate of Gardening the 

 earliest original English treatise on gardening the MS. of 

 which is in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. Herb 

 Robert was one of the plants used for edging before the 

 ugly box edgings superseded the charming old borders of 

 hyssop, thyme and other herbs. 



HOREHOUND 



" Syrup made from the greene fresh leaves of horehound 

 and sugar is a most singular remedy against the cough and 

 wheezing of the lungs." T. Tryon, A Treatise of Cleanness 

 in Meats, 1692. 



The botanical name of white horehound marrubium 

 is of Hebrew derivation, from marrob, a bitter juice. Many 

 cottagers still grow horehound in order to make horehound 

 tea and syrup themselves. Black horehound has a very 

 disagreeable smell, and it was formerly supposed to be an 



