196 WILD FLOWERS. 



would be an unseemlie and a filthy thing (as a cer- 

 taine wise man saith) for him that doth look vpon, 

 and handle, faire and beautiful things to haue his 

 mind not faire, but filthy and deformed/" 1 



The old medical MS. so often quoted, says ; 



" Vigolet, an erbe cowth [familiar ; more properly cuthe, 



hence uncouth, strange] 

 Is knowyn in ilke manys mowthe, 

 As bokes seyn in here [their] langage 

 It is good to don in potage, 

 In playstrys to wondys it is comfortyf 

 Wt o} 7 er erby sanatif. 

 Oyle of hys flowre is profytable, 

 And wt. oyle of rose medicinable. 

 Ye oyle of hys fayre flowres 



In man distroithe wycke [wicked] huores [humours] 

 And alle on kende hete [unkind heat] in fay 

 Clene distroith it dothe away. 

 Wherefor it is meche [much] of pris 

 And niiche in boke comendid is."* 



Vitruvius tells us that the flowers were not only 

 used to adulterate, or counterfeit, the celebrated 

 blue of Athens, but were also employed to "mode- 

 rate anger/' to cure ague and inflammation of the 

 lungs, to allay thirst, procure sleep, and " comfort 

 and strengthen the heart, as well as for cooling 

 plasters ; " besides being worn in garlands as a 

 charm against the " falling sickness/' and headaches ; 

 and Pliny gives a long catalogue of their virtues ; 

 affirming that they are cooling, good for inflamma- 

 tions, weak eyes, quinsey, swellings, &c., &c., and 

 recommending garlands of the blossoms to be worn 

 for the preservation of the head. The seeds were 



* Stockholm Medical MS. 



