CHAPTER II 



OF HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 



The wyfe of Bath was so wery, she had no wyl to walk ; 

 She toke the Priores by the honde, "Madam, wol ye stalk 

 Pryvely into the garden to se the herbis growe ? " 



. . . And forth on they ■wend 

 Passing forth softly into the herbery. 



Prologue to Beryn — Urry's Edition 



Alexanders (Smyrnum Olusatrium). 



Alexanders, Allisanders, the black Pot-herb or Wild 

 Horse-Parsley, as it is variously called, grows naturally 

 near the sea, and has often been seen growing wild near 

 old buildings. The Italians call it Herba Alexandrina, 

 according to some writers, because it was supposed 

 originally to have come from Alexandria; according to 

 others, because its ^ old name was Petroselinum Alex- 

 andrinum, or Alexandrina, " so-called of Alexander, the 

 finder thereof." The leaves are " cut into many parcells 

 like those of Smallage," but are larger ; the seeds have 

 an " aromaticall and spicy smell " ; the root is like a little 

 radish and good to be eaten, and if broken or cut 

 " there issueth a juice that quickly waxeth thicke, having 

 in it a sharpe bitterness, like in taste unto Myrrh." 

 The upper parts of the roots (being the tenderest) and 

 leaves were used in broth ; the young tops make an 

 " excellent Vernal Pottage," and may be eaten as salad, by 

 themselves or "in composition in the Spring, or, if they 

 be blanched, in the Winter." They were chiefly recom- 



1 Britten, "Dictionary of English Plant-Names." 



47 



