456 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



the eye wherever it may be growing. In olden 

 days the roots, when pounded and steeped in ale, 

 were supposed to possess the power of uniting 

 broken bones, and, like the leaves of the garden 

 lily, were used, when bottled in spirits, as a cure 

 for bruises and cuts. The roots are also stated 

 to supply a nutritious flour when dried and 

 ground. 



The tansy is a plant which may be seen growing 

 by nearly every riverside throughout the kingdom. 

 Wherever the willow-herb and meadowsweet 

 abound, there the orange-yellow flowers of the 

 tansy are almost sure to be visible, asserting 

 themselves amidst the lowlier plants like large 

 golden-coloured balls. I find mention of its 

 having been used as a stomachic bitter, and given 

 as a remedy for the gout. The same authority 

 states that this plant also was supposed to have 

 been one of the bitter herbs of which the Jews 

 partook at the feast of the Passover. 



When the autumnal leaves are falling, and the 

 hedgerows are becoming thin and bare, the long 

 stalks of the teasel, surmounted by their broom- 

 like heads, are conspicuous in the banks and waste 

 places. During the leafy days of summer the 

 purple flowers are discovered amid the tangled 

 growth of long grass, nettles, and thistles which 

 surrounds them. Other names, more or less apt, 

 have been given to the teasel. In some localities 

 it is known as Venus' cup, by reason of the large 

 quantity of water which the leaves are capable of 



