314 THE NANKIN LILY 



on the apricot flushed with rose — the true colour of the 

 corolla. When first I made acquaintance with this 

 lily, davis le temps, it was known as lAlium isabellinwrn, 

 a latinised rendering of the French isabelle, that is 

 ' dove-coloured ' — the colour of a turtle dove's breast, 

 which pretty closely matches the flower. 



What adds to my regret at parting with this name is 

 the romantic origin of the word isabelle. In 1601, when 

 Archduke Albert laid siege to Ostend, his wife Isabel, 

 daughter of Philip ii. of Spain, vowed that she would 

 not change her chemise till the city was taken. The 

 siege lasted three years and ten weeks, and when the 

 Archduchess at last doffed her chemise, it was of a hue 

 which the French dyers set about to match, and 

 Parisian milliners poetically ticketed it isabelle I 



Printed by T. and A. Constable:, Printers to His Majesty 

 fit tlie Edinburgh University Press 



