346 WILD FLOWERS. 



What discorcle be'twen hem [them] be 



It schall hem brynge to vnyte 



And don hem lowy [loving] togedir weell 



As euer dedion yei [did they] in ony scell [cell]." 



This quality we may imagine the plant to have 

 derived from its own happy habit, to which we have 

 before alluded, of decking with its bright little 

 blossoms the very darkest, roughest, and least sun- 

 less of spots, just as tender and gentle words, or 

 kindly looks fall, sunlike, on the heart, be it never 

 so stern and sad. A friend of mine, however, who 

 has seen a most serious case of long continued 

 ulceration of the mouth produced by the gardener's 

 habit of holding the pruning-knife between the lips 

 during the intervals of its use, while trimming a 

 periwinkle bank, suggests that in the case alluded 

 to, the desired and desirable " unity" would rather 

 have proceeded from the death of the couple who ate 

 the leaves together. 



The medicinal properties of the plant, together 

 with its description, are thus further given in the 

 above-named MS. ; 



" Pariwynke is an erbe grene of colour, 

 In tyme of May he beryth bio [blue] flowr 

 Hys stalky s arn so feynt [feeble] et feye [weak] 

 Yt neuer more growyth he heye ; 

 On ye grownde he renyth, et growe 

 As doth ye erbe yt nyth [night] tuhowe,* 

 Ye lefe is thicke, schinede [shining] et styf 

 As is ye grene jivy leef, 

 Kenche brod et nerhand rownde 

 [Eunning abroad and wandering round ?] 

 Men call it the jivy of the grownde. 



* Tunhoof, ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea.) 



