24 THE BOOK OF HERBS 



besides being employed in spells by witches and wizards, 

 it was used by other people to resist spells cast by 

 traffickers in magic, and was equally powerful to do this ! 

 Dill is very like fennel, but the leaves are shorter, 

 smaller, and of a " stronger and quicker taste. The 

 leaves are used with Fish, though too strong for every- 

 one's taste, and if added to ' pickled Cowcumbers ' it 

 ' gives the cold fruit a pretty, spicie taste.' Evelyn also 

 praises ' Gerclens muriated'' with the seeds of Dill," and 

 Addison writes : "I am always pleased with that par- 

 ticular time of the year which is proper for the pickling 

 of dill and cucumbers, but, alas ! his cry, like the song 

 of the nightingale, is not heard above two months." -^ 



Endive (Cichorium Endivia). 



The Daisy, Butter-flow'r and Endive blue. 



Pastorals. — Gay . 



There at no cost, on onions rank, and red. 

 Or the curl'd endive's bitter leaf, he fed. 



The Salad. — Cowper. 



Endive is a plant of whose virtues our prosaic days 

 have robbed us. Once upon a time it could break all 

 bonds and render the owner invisible, and if a lover 

 carried it about him, he could make the lady of his 

 choice believe that he possessed all the qualities she 

 specially admired ! Folkard quotes three legends of 

 it from Germany, one each from Austria and Roumania, 

 and an unmistakably Slav story — all of them of a romantic 

 character — and ive regard it as a salad herb ! " There 

 are three sorts : Green-curled leaved ; principal sort for 

 main crops, white-curled leaved, and broad Batavian " 

 (Loudon). The green-curled leaved is, the hardiest and 

 fittest for winter use. The Batavian is not good for 

 salads, but is specially in demand for stews and soups. 



^ Sp£clat»rj XXV. 1. 



