T II I 



384 



T II L 



the perennial kinds must be ploughed and the roots ; 

 out. The Cardtnu arrrnti has not the imiiif of < 'nr-.-.l 

 Thistle, on acrount of tin- difficulty of eradicating it 

 grown. Although injurious In ninn, 



\haustmg ttu- xiil of that nutriment which plants sup- 



g food require, thi'ir seeds are generally eaten by 

 birds, and the larvte of many insects live entirely on their 

 leaves. 



THISTLE. The thistle, with its strong prickly leaven and 

 stem, establishes itself in the meadows and corn-fields, 

 when it is not very carefully eradicated, and oeeupii > the 

 place of more useful plant*. There are many vancticsof the 

 thistle, some of which are not destitute of elegance when 

 in lull blossom. Considered as a weed in our nel.l- 

 principal olijeet is to eradicate it, which, in consequence of 

 the ready dispersion of the seeds by the wind, is nut easily 

 done, as a slovenly fanner may seed the whole country 

 around ; and where the thistles are not eradicated from the 

 hedge< and sides of roads and paths, it is imposMble to 



'V them entirely: wherever the soil is newly turned 

 up. especially when it is of a nature where wheat will 

 grow well, thistles invariably arise: hence the saying of the 

 blind man in choosing land. ' Tie me to a thistle.' 



Those crops which are usually hoed can readily be 

 cleared of thistles : but where the seed is sown broadcast, 

 the labour of weeding them out is much greater. If they 

 are not extracted with the root, they will soon grow again 

 with redoubled vigour. In a moist season the) max be 

 pulled up by means of a wooden or iron forceps, which 

 grasps them strongly near the crown of the root, and. as it has 

 a projection which serves as a fulcrum, a pressure on the 

 handles draws the root out when they are brought to- 

 gether. When a field has been long infested with thi-tles. 

 the best way of clearing it is to watch when the thistle is 

 in full bloom and the seed is just forming : if it be then cut 

 off at the root it will die. Thus in two years a field may 

 be entirely cleared of thistles. 



It is chiefly in arable land that thistles are most trouble- 

 some. In pastures it is sufficient to eradicate them once, 

 and to permit none to grow along the hedges and ditches. 

 The seed does not readily update, unless it finds a loose 

 soil : and little birds are so fond of it, that they will lea\ e 

 none that is not covered with earth, especially in the be- 

 ginning of winter. In some countries there are penalties 

 inflicted on those who allow thistles to remain in their 

 hedges or along the high road which borders their land ; 

 and a man may complain to a magistrate of a neighbour 

 who will not destroy the thistles on his land, when the 

 delinquent will be admonished or fined, as the case may 

 require. Such a laxv would be very advantageous in many 

 parts of the country, where no attention is ever paid to the 

 weeds which grow in the hedges or in waste .spots. 



TIIISTI.K. OKDKK OK T11K, an antient Scottish. 

 order of knighthood, sometimes called the order of St. 

 Andrew. The early history of this order is involved in 

 some obscurity, and the most absurd attempts have been 

 made to establish its claim to high antiquity, of which it 

 is sufficient to allude to the legendary account recited 111 

 the warrant for the restitution of the order in 10X7. and 

 given most minutely by sev cral Scottish antiquari. 

 tributing its formation to Admins, king of the Sc . 

 commemoration of a victory obtained by himself and llun- 

 gus, king of the I'icts. over Athelstan." Nicolas obs, 

 as a fitting illustration of this legend, that Achains died 

 upwards of a century before the reign of Athelstan 

 he further shows that the thistle was not the acknoxvl. 

 badge or symbol of Scotland until the latter part of the 



nth century. Kven alter it became a national 

 mcnt. and formed a distinguishing feature of a coll. 



iing that now worn by Knights of the Thistle, it is by 

 no means certain that it was considered the badge of an 

 '.f knighthood; and the searching inv otigation of 

 I irris Nicolas, which in detailed at gnat 

 length in the third volume of his recently published His- 

 tory of the Orders of Knighthood of the British Kmpiie.' 

 leads him to the conclusion that it is difficult to beh- 



ustcricc of the Order of the Thistle, as an orgam/.i .1 

 fraternity, until the reign of .lames \ ]]. ,,| Scotland and 

 Kngland. Whether it had any such prior existence 

 or not, ' it in admitted.' he adds. - even by the assertors of 

 the antiquity of the order themselves, that, alter the K. 

 formation orders of knighthood being considered in Scot- 



| land as relics of popery, it fell into desuetude ; 

 queutly it is not pretended that there w, 

 of St. Andrew." or " of the Thi- 

 King .lames VI., in l."><;7.' Tl..- 



Uie re-in-stitution of the ' most ancii nt and honourable 

 order of the Thi>tlc,' which is printed nt full by Nicolas, 

 and which asserts that by authentic proofs, docu; 

 records, the order ' continued in spK ndour 



lor many hundreds of \eais, 1 bears, date Windsor, Ma) I. 

 U.sT: but, although statutes were issued, and eight ki 



nominated bx .lames 11.. the patent or diploma lor 

 the restitution of the order never passed the great 

 Owing to the abdication of James, the order a gam fell into 

 abeyance, until it was finally revived by Anne in 17113. 

 In the warrant of 1(>K7 it is staled that the order consisted 

 originally of the king and twelve brethren in allusion to 

 the Saviour and the twelve apostles . and the same number 

 XMLS ordained as the full complement by Anne, although it 

 was not filled up for several years. This continued with- 

 out alteration until July 10. is21. when, in consequence of 



'lonation of George IV.. an ordiuane 

 the appointment of four extia members, who shoul, 

 come regular knights as vacancies should occur ; and in 

 May, 1827. the number of knights brethren was pcima- 

 nently extended to sixteen. Originally none but Scottish 

 noblemen were admitted to the Older: b-.it since the time 

 of Cleorge I. it has also been conferred upon several 

 English peers. No foreigners have been admitted to the 

 order : nor have any comni. pting a few win 



heirs-apparent (o dukedoms. It is usual for knights of the. 

 Thistle to resign the ensigns of the order when elected into 

 that of the Garter, although the statutes contain no c 

 provision to that effect : but in a few instances this custom 

 has been dispensed with, as a special mark of royal favour. 

 The decorations worn by the knights consist of a collar of 

 enamelled gold, composed of sixteen thistles, intei 

 with sprigs of rue. fastened to the mantle by a white 

 riband ; a small image of St. Andrew, also of enamelled 

 gold, suspended from the collar; a medal or badge of 

 gold, having an image of St. Andrew within a circle 

 taming the motto of the order, NKMO MK IMW.N i 

 i I..SMI ' ! .No one provokes me with impunity':, and a 

 thistle; a green riband, to which the medal is attached, 

 and which is thrown diagonally over the left shoulder: 

 and a star, consisting of a thistle enamelled in its na- 

 colours upon a ground of gold, and surrounded by the 

 motto and raxs of silver. The star is worn on the left 

 shoulder, on a mantle of green velvet, which, with other 

 parts of the dress, arc minutely desciibed by Nicolas. 

 Although the original statutes of the order, which were 

 printed by Sir N. II. Nicolas in IS'JS. do not strict!) deiinc 

 the method of admission, it was oidained by (Jeorge I., in 

 1717, that vacancies should be tilled up by election in a 

 chapter of the order; but the usual practice has been for 

 the sovereign to appoint to vacancies xvithout summoning 

 a chapter. His late Majcstx . William I V., re-established 

 the practice of election in a chapter of the knights bre- 

 thren, but it has been again dispensed with by her pi< 



.. The officers of the order are the dean, the chan- 

 cellor, the secretary, the king-al-anns. and the usher, each 

 of whom receives an annual salary, and a fee on the . 

 tion of a knight, excepting only the chancellor, 

 officer never having been appointed, although he is men- 

 tioned in the statutes of Kis7. I71K1. 1717. and IKCi : 

 duties arc performed by the secretary. A complete list of 

 knights of the Thistle, from the revival or creation i 

 order in His7 to 1SIO, is given in the work abov c cited, 

 from which thisbiief account is condensed. 



TIILASl'I'DIvK, a tribe of plants of the natural 01 

 Oucifera-, having for its t\ pe the genus Thlaspi. It is 

 also called I'leurorhizir. from having the radicle of the 

 embryo nt the side of the cotyledons. The silii 

 xx ilh a very narrow dissepiment, and has keeled navieular 

 valves. Tile seeds are oval, with flat aceiiinbent cotxledons. 

 The principal gcncia of this tiibe are. T/I/HI-JI', the IJaMaid 

 Cress; Il>ris. the Candy-tuft : lliili-lui.-xni .-and Hm-tilr/lti, 

 the Itucklcr-Mustard. 1 he) are most of them insignificant 

 plants, po.ssi-ing the acrid biting properties of the whole 

 order. The genus Thlaspi is known by its siliclcs being 

 cmarginatc at the apex with the valves winged at the 

 bi'i-k : the petals are equal, the pedicels bract less,, and the 

 flowers arc white. Sunic of them, as the TMunpm urventit, 



