"THE SWEET O' THE YEAR" 131 



f erred to the Virgin with the spread of Christi- 

 anity. The Lady's-smock takes its name from the 

 fancied, but far-fetched, resemblance to a smock. 

 It is said, by way of explanation, that when these 

 flowers are seen in great quantity they suggest the 

 comparison of linen smocks bleaching on the green 

 meadow. Other names for the plant are Cuckoo- 

 flower, Meadow-cress, Spinks, and Mayflower; and 

 in Norfolk the Cardamine pratensis is called Can- 

 terbury-bells. The petals have a peculiarly soft 

 and translucent quality with a faint lilac tinge. 

 Shakespeare describes the flower as "silver white," 

 an epithet that has puzzled many persons. How- 

 ever, one ardent Shakespeare lover has made a dis- 

 covery : 



"Gather a lady-smock as you tread the rising 

 grass in fragrant May, and although in individuals 

 the petals are sometimes cream color, as a rule the 

 flower viewed in the hand is lilac pale, but purely 

 and indisputably lilac. Where then is the silver- 

 whiteness? It is the meadows, remember, that are 

 painted, when, as often happens, the flower is so 

 plentiful as to hide the turf, and most particularly 

 if the ground be a slope and the sun be shining from 

 behind us, all is changed; the flowers are lilac no 

 longer; the meadow is literally 'silver- white.' So 



