134 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



bitter-cress or cuckoo-flower. Its commoner name is 

 sometimes written ladies'-smock, at first sight a not very 

 marked difference, but a difference sufficient to build up a 

 second theory of the origin of the name upon. The plant, 

 we are told by some of the older writers, is called kdy's- 

 smock because, like many other graceful and delicate 

 plants, it was dedicated in medieval times to the Virgin 

 Mary, to whom the title of Lady was largely given, as, for 

 example, " Our Lady of good counsel," " Our Lad} r of 

 succour/'' " Our Lady of mercy/'' and to these many other 

 such titles might be added. This prefix is by no means 

 uncommon ; thus the parasitic dodder is also known as 

 ladyVlace, the harebell as lady's-thimble, in obvious 

 allusion to the form of the flower; lady's-finger, lady's- 

 mantle, and lady's-slipper are other instances. The 

 beautiful little ivy-leaved toadflax is also, by the Italians, 

 dedicated to the Virgin under the name "Erba della 

 Madonna." Ladies'-smock, on the contrary, we are told 

 by other authorities, has no religious significance involved 

 in it, but is only given to the plant because the meadows 

 whitened over with its blossoms recall their appearance 

 when at another time they are covered with the bleaching 

 linen of the household, made by the busy fingers of the 

 fair members of the family, not spinsters in name only but 

 in very deed and most actual fact. Cuckoo-flower would 

 not be at all a bad name for the plant, if confined to it, but 

 unfortunately in popular parlance two or three other plants 

 that also flower about the time the cuckoo arrives have 

 had the same name bestowed on them, and a considerable 

 amount of difficulty in identifying the actual species 

 intended has therefore from time to time arisen. The name 

 given in many botanical works, bitter-cress, points at once 



