"SWEET SUMMER BUDS" 149 



the south wall just by the Blue Drawing-room win- 

 dow?" writes Mrs. Gaskell in "My Lady Ludlow." 

 "That is the old musk- rose, Shakespeare's musk- rose, 

 which is dying out through the kingdom now. The 

 scent is unlike the scent of any other rose, or of any 

 other flower." 



The musk-rose is a native of North Africa, Spain, 

 and India (Nepal). Hakluyt in 1582 gave the date 

 of its introduction into England. "The turkey-cocks 

 and hens," he says, "were brought in about fifty 

 years past; the Artichoke in the time of Henry the 

 Eighth; and of later times was procured out of Italy 

 the Musk Rose plant and the Plum called Perdig- 



wena." 



Turning now to Parkinson and opening his big 

 volume at the page "Rosa Moschata, simple and 

 multiplex," we read: 



"The Musk Rose, both single and double, rises 

 up oftentimes to a very great height that it over- 

 groweth any arbor in a Garden, or being set by a 

 house side to be ten or twelve foot high, or more, 

 but especially the single kind with many green far 

 spread branches armed with a few sharp great 

 thorns, as the wilder sorts of Roses are, whereof 

 these are accounted to be kinds, having small dark 

 green leaves on them, not much bigger than the 



