130 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



IV 



"Lady-smocks all Silver White" and "Cuckoo Buds 

 of Yellow Hue" 



LADY-SMOCK (Cardamine pratensis). The 

 lovely little spring song in "Love's Labour's Lost" * 

 with the line. 



Lady-smocks all silver white, 



has immortalized this little flower of the English 

 meadows, but little known in our country. The 

 lady-smock is very common in England in early 

 spring. Properly speaking it should be Our Lady's- 

 smock, as it is one of the many plants dedicated to 

 the Virgin Mary and bearing her name. The list is 

 a long one, including Lady's-slippers, Lady's-bower, 

 Lady's-cushion, Lady's-mantle, Lady's-laces, Lady's- 

 looking-glass, Lady's-garters, Lady's- thimble, 

 Lady's-hair (maidenhair fern), Lady's-seal, Lady's- 

 thistle, Lady's-bedstraw, Lady's-fingers, Lady's- 

 gloves, and so on. These flowers, originally 

 dedicated to Venus, Juno, and Diana in Greek 

 and Roman mythology and to Freya and Bertha 

 in Northern lore and legend, were gradually trans- 



'Act V, Scene II. 



