194 IN A GLOUCESTERSHIRE GARDEN 



certain genericke name to all woody winding plants, 



having certaine affinitie because of the spreading 



branching and semblance of the vine ' ; and Parkinson 



has a chapter headed, 'Clematis, Clamberers or 



Creepers,' and the chapter begins with the periwinkle 



and ends with the passion-flower. Of the true clematis 



we have one beautiful representative in the travellers' 



joy (C. vitalba), 'decking and adorning waies and 



hedges, where people travel, and thereupon I have 



named it traveller's joy,' says Gerard; and his name 



has clung to it, though it has not supplanted the older 



name of 'ladies' bower,' or 'virgin's bower,' the last 



name having been given to it in honour of Queen 



Elizabeth, though it has been claimed as one of the 



flowers dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and so the flower 



of August 15, the festival of the Assumption : — 



' When Mary left us here below 

 The Virgin's bower begins to blow.' 



In the late autumn it changes its name to * old man's 

 beard,' from the beautiful silky heads of seed which 

 often cover the banks and hedges for many yards in 

 length with wonderful grace and beauty, and which, if 

 picked in good time, will keep in beauty all the winter. 

 This lovely climber is found in almost all parts of 

 Europe, from Holland to the south, and its popularity 

 is shown by its having no less than two hundred differ- 



