THE DAISY. 65 



" The long daie I hope me for to abide 

 For nothing ellis, and I shalle not lie, 

 But for to lokin upon the daisie." 



While he makes his fair ladies sing, 



" Eighte womanlie 

 A bagaret in praisinge of the daisie, 

 For (as methought) amonge her notis swete 

 She said, si douce est la Margerete ! " 



But to quote at length all that poets have written 

 in praise of 



" The daisy, scattered on each mead and down, 



A golden tuft within a silver crown, 

 Full fain that dainty flower ;" * 



or, as old Fletcher calls them, 



" Dasies smelless, but most quaint," 



would, indeed, be an endless task, and I must refer 

 my readers to the works of the authors themselves 

 for such exquisite lines as those of Burns " To a daisy 

 disturbed by the plough;" of Montgomery "To a daisy 

 in India/' and many others ; confining my extracts 

 to some of the scattered and detached thoughts of 

 Clare, a Welsh bard, % Sutton, and Elliot. Clare says : 



" Daisies, ye flowers of lowly birth, 

 Embroiderers of the carpet earth, 

 That gem the velvet sod ; 



corner, where it is usual, in portraits of the period, to insert 

 the coat of arms of the person represented, with a beautifully 

 executed daisy-plant in full bloom. A most happily chosen 

 device. 



* Browne's "Pastorals." 



