HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 52 



would be their husbands. It was to be found that day 

 and hour." This miraculous "coal" also preserved the 

 wearer from all sorts of diseases. 



Camomile {^Atithemis nobilis). 



Diana I 

 Have I (to make thee crowns) been gathering still, 

 Fair-cheek'd Eteria's yellow camomile? 



J3r. Pastorals. 



Flowers of the field and windflowers springing glad 



— In airs Sicilian, and the golden bough 



Of sacred Plato, shining in its worth. 



. , . With phlox of Phoedimas and chamomile, 



The crinkled ox-eye of Antagoras. 



Trans, from Aleleager. 



The healthful balm and mint from their full laps do fly, 

 The scentful camomile. 



Polyolbion, Song XV. 



Falstaff. Though the Camomile the more it is trodden on the faster it 

 grows, yet youth the more it is wasted the sooner it wears. — i Henry 

 IF. ii. 4. 



The camomile is dedicated to St Anne, mother of the 

 Virgin Mary, and Mr Friend thinks that the Latin name 

 of ■wild camomile, Matricaria, comes from a " fanciful 

 derivation " of this word, from mater and car a, or " Be- 

 loved ISIother." The name camomile itself is derived from 

 a Greek word meaning "earth-apples," and its pleasant, 

 refreshing smell is rather like that of ripe apples. The 

 Spaniards call it Manzanilla, " a litde apple." It was 

 grow^n " both for pleasure and profit, both inward 

 and outward diseases, both for the sicke and the sound," 

 and was " planted of the rootes in alleys, in walks, and 

 on banks to sit on, for that the more it is trodden upon 

 and pressed down in dry weather, the closer it groweth 

 and the better it will thrive." This was a common 

 belief in earlier days, as FalstafPs remark shows. 



Culpepper is as trenchant as usual on the subject. 



