THE GARDEN OF HERBS 189 



either for physic or for cookery, though the very 

 names of many of them have now passed out of 

 memory, and are only looked up now and then 

 by a lover of antiquated garden lore. Who cares 

 now to find out what costmary may be, which used 

 to be common in every farmhouse garden ? or 

 maudeline ? or asarabacca ? 



Rosemary and lavender ranked high in olden 

 days in the herb garden. Of the last there were 

 several varieties our ordinary lavender and the 

 white-flowered sort ; the dwarf lavender, which 

 grew in his majesty's private garden of White- 

 hall and was prized above the common ; sticadoue, 

 or French lavender, which " we keep with great 

 care in our gardens"; and Santolina, different 

 altogether, and belonging to another order, but 

 known by the old English name of lavender cotton. 

 Lavender was never a culinary herb ; but rose- 

 mary to this day is used by French cooks as the 

 appropriate seasoning for poulet a la casserole. 

 Of true pot herbs, so to speak, there were basill 

 and savourie and mangold, common and lemon 

 thyme, and "that guilded or embroidered sort 

 which will not abide our winters." Fennel and 

 sweet cicely (chervill), smallage and alisanders 

 a comestible that was something bitter, and especi- 

 ally set apart for Lent clary and tarragon, balm 

 and hyssop, the double variety of which has " the 

 aptnesse to be ordered as the keeper pleaseth," and 

 so can be clipped and set to border a knot of 

 herbs or flowers; burnet and tansy and lang de 

 beefe, which was none other than our wild rough- 

 leaved ox-tongue, borage and bugloss, purslane, 



