98 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



that the good man, if he really felt that a flower 

 should possess useful qualities, might have tried 

 this one, as was recommended in the early seven- 

 teenth century, for "cricke in the neck." The 

 eastern lover more poetically symbolised the con- 

 dition of his love-inflamed face and burning heart 

 by the gift to his adored of the flower : 



Whose leaves with their crimson glow 



Hide the heart that lies burning and black below. 



From the description it is clear that the Persian 

 tulip was self-coloured and red, possibly something 1 * 

 like the Gesiieriana spathulata. 



The date of its coming to Western Europe is 

 not much more certain than the actual place from 

 whence it came. The introduction has been 

 ascribed to Busbecq, ambassador from the Emperor 

 Maximilian to the Porte — it is astonishing how 

 many flowers that enterprising man is accredited 

 with introducing to his own and other western 

 countries. He is reported to have seen tulips 

 in bloom on the road between Adrianople and 

 Constantinople in mid-winter, and, struck with 

 their beauty, brought some home with him. Then 

 there is the story of a bulb being brought to 

 England by a sailor and given by him to an 



