70 THE BOOK OF HERBS 



had probably been bestowed on them before the Festivals 

 in her honour were kept in England, " Though doubt- 

 less," says Mr Friend, " the name of Mary had much 

 to do with the alterations in the name of Marigold, 

 which may be noticed in its history." There is an idea 

 that they were appropriated to her because they were 

 in flower at all of her Festivals ; but on this notion 

 other authorities throw doubt. In ancient days Mari- 

 golds were often called Golds, or Goules, or Ruddes ; 

 in Provence, a name for them was " Gauche-fer'^ (left- 

 hand iron) probably from its brilliant disc, suggestive 

 of a shield worn on the left arm." Chaucer describes 

 Jealousy as wearing this flower : " Jealousy that werede 

 of yelwe guides a garland " ; and Browne calls the 

 "orange-tawny marigold" its badge. 



There was a very strong belief that the flowers 

 followed the sun, and many allusions are made to this ; 

 amongst them, two melancholy lines which are said to 

 have been drawn from some " Meditations " by Charles 

 I., written at Carisbrooke Castle. 



" The marigold observes the sun, 

 More than my subjects me have done." 



Shakespeare refers often to this idea, and the flower 

 was obviously " to earlier writers the emblem of con- 

 stancy in affection and sympathy in joy and sorrow, 

 though it was also the emblem of the fawning courtier 

 who could only shine when everything is bright." 

 (Canon Ellacombe). Marigolds have figured in heraldry, 

 for Marguerite of Valois, grandmother of Henri IV., 

 chose for her armorial device a marigold turning towards 

 the sun, with the motto, Je ne veux suivre que lui seul. 

 About the fifteenth century the Marigold was called 

 Souvenir, and ladies wore posies of marigolds and hearts- 

 ease mingled, that is, a bunch of " happiness stored in 



^ Ingram, " Flora Symbolica.'' 



