1 6 THE BOOK OF HERBS 



Burnet has " two little leives like unto the winges 

 of birdes, standing put as the bird setteth her winges 

 out when she intendeth to flye. . . . Y^ Duchmen call 

 it Hergottes berdlen, that is God's little berde, because 

 of the colour that it hath in the toppe." This is Turner's^ 

 information. He has a pleasant style, and tells us out- 

 of-the-way facts or customs in a charming manner. 

 Burnet is the first of the three plants that Sir Francis 

 Bacon desired to be set in alleys, " to perfume the air 

 most delightfully, being trodden upon and crushed." 

 The others were wild thyme and water-mint. It was a 

 Salad-herb, and has (like Borage) a flavour of cucumber, 

 but it has, most undeservedly, gone out of fashion. 

 The taste is " somewhat warm, and the leaves should 

 be cut young, or else they are apt to be tough. Cul- 

 pepper and Parkinson advise that a few leaves should 

 be added to a cup of claret wine because" it is "a 

 helpe to make the heart merrie." Canon Ellacombe^ 

 says it was " and still is valued as a forage plant that 

 will grow and keep fresh all the winter in dry, barren 

 pastures, thus giving food for sheep when other food 

 was scarce. It has occasionally been cultivated, but 

 the result has not been very satisfactory, except on very 

 poor land, though, according to the Woburn experi- 

 ments, as reported by Sinclair, it contains a larger 

 amount of nutritive matter in the spring than most of 

 the grasses. It has brown flowers from which it is 

 supposed to derive its name (Brunetto)." 



Caraway (Carum carvi). 

 Shallo-w. Now, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour 

 we will eat a last year's Pippin of my own grafting, with a dish of 

 Caraways, and so forth. //. Hinrij IV. v. 3. 



In Elizabethan days. Caraway Seeds were appreciated 



' Turner's Herbal is beautifully illustrated ; fire initial letters from 

 it are here reproduced. 



2 " Plant-lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare." 



