266 OUR ROCK-GARDEN 



Then grynde tansay, the juse owte wrynge 

 To blynde with the egges, withowte lesynge. 

 In pan or skelet thou shalt hit frye 

 In butter well skymm et wyturly. 



In an old book called the " Footman's Directory," 

 by one Cosnett, we find that one of the duties was 

 to " put a sprig or two of Tansy at the bed head, or 

 as near the pillow as the smell may be agreable in 

 order that his master's rest might not be disturbed 

 by those nocturnal visitors to whom the odour was 

 an offence." 



The tansy attains to a height of some three feet 

 or so, the stems branching but little except at the 

 top, where they support a large mass of bright 

 yellow flowers. The leaves are very deeply cut. 

 One may find the plant on the borders of fields and 

 by the roadside on that broad fringe of verdure that 

 borders so often our country highways, and more 

 especially where the ground is of chalky or sandy 

 nature, and, as it has very freely growing, creeping 

 roots it quickly spreads and forms large masses. 

 Our first ambition was to grow the tansy, and in 

 this we experienced no difficulty, the subsequent 

 trouble was when we sought to keep it within 

 reasonable bounds. 



The popular name is a corruption of the old 

 monkish name Athanasia, a word meaning im- 

 mortality. Ambrosinus tells us in his " Phytologia " 

 that it was thus called because a dead body, if 



