284 Notes and Illustrations. 
for weeding, a paier of tonges made of wood and in the farther end 
it is nicked to hold ye wede faster . . . . yf it be drye wether then 
must ye have a wedying hoke with a socket set upon a lytle staffe a 
yard longe. And this hoke wolde be wel steled and grounde sharpe 
bothe behynde and before. And in his other hande he hath a 
Jorked stycke a yarde long.” The whole account of weeding in the 
“Boke” is very quaint. In former days thistles were gathered 
from the corn for the feeding of cattle, and the left hand of the 
reaper was guarded with a leathern glove: there is an entry among 
the expenses of the Priory of Holy Island for 1344-5 of ‘‘ gloves 
for 14 servants when they gathered the tythe corn, 2s. 8d.” See 
. Johnston’s ‘‘ Botany of the Eastern Borders.”—Note by Mr. J. 
Britten. 
51. 11. ‘The May weed doth burn” (Anthemis cofula, L.). The 
juice of this plant is possessed of an acrid blistering property which 
renders it extremely noxious to reapers. The irritating effects are 
produced in a still greater degree by the seed when ripe, and are 
mostly manifested in the lower extremities, from the close adhesion 
of the seeds by their rough surface, aided by the friction of the 
shoe, causing first abrasion, then active inflammation, and even 
ulceration. Dr. Bromfield (Flora Vectensis) says: ‘‘I have been 
repeatedly assured by the peasantry that they have known men in- 
capacitated for work, and laid up, from the injurious operation of 
this noxious weed, for days together in*harvest time.’ 
“The thistle doth fret.” Fitzherbert (Boke of Husbandry) says : 
“The thystell is an yll wede rough and sharpe to handle, and 
Jreateth away the cornes nyghe it. 
‘The fitches pul downward.” The hairy tare, Vicza hirsuta, L. 
Fitch=vetch. 
“The cockle,” Lychnis Githago, L. ‘‘ Cockole hath a large smal 
[sec] leafe and wyll beare v or vi floures purple colloure as brode 
as a grote, and the sede is rounde and blacke.’”—Fitzherbert, Boke 
of Husbandry. 
‘* Boddle.” The corn marigold, Chrysanthemum segetum, L., more 
usually called boodle or buddle in the East of England; in Kent, 
yellow bottle; in Scotland, gools, gules, or goolds, in allusion to 
the colour of the flower. This is a very noxious weed, the non- 
extirpation of which in Scotland was formerly a punishable offence : 
certain persons (hence called ‘ gool-riders”) were appointed to 
ride through the fields on a certain day, and impose a fine of three 
shillings and fourpence, or a wether sheep, for every stalk of the 
plant found growing in the corn. The custom is of great antiquity, 
and exists in a modified form at the present day, the fine being re- 
duced to a penny. Linnzus states that a similar law exists in 
Denmark.—Note by Mr. J. Britten. 
51. 13. Buckwheat, Dutch Jdoekwert, Ger. buckwaitzen, from the 
resemblance of its triangular seeds to beech-nuts, a name adopted 
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