"THE CURIOUS KNOTTED GARDEN" 53 



termingled with sundry sorts of fragrant flowers in 

 their bed-chambers and private rooms with comfort- 

 able smell cheered me up and entirely delighted all 

 my senses." 



We have only to look at contemporary portraits 

 to see how essential flowers were in daily life. For 

 instance, Holbein's "George Gisze," a London mer- 

 chant, painted in 1523, has a vase of choice carna- 

 tions beside him on the table filled with scales, 

 weights, and business paraphernalia. 



The Elizabethan lady was just as learned in the 

 medicinal properties of flowers and herbs as her 

 Medieval ancestor. She regarded her garden as a 

 place of delight and at the same time as of the 

 greatest importance in the economic management 

 of the household. 



"The housewife was the great ally of the doctor: 

 in her still-room the lady with the ruff and farthin- 

 gale was ever busy with the preparation of cordials, 

 cooling waters, conserves of roses, spirits of herbs 

 and juleps for calentures and fevers. All the herbs 

 and flowers of the field and garden passed through 

 her fair white hands. Poppy-water was good for 

 weak stomachs; mint and rue-water was efficacious 

 for the head and brain; and even walnuts yielded 

 a cordial. Then there was cinnamon water and the 



