HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 85 



" Warden" (Pear) pies for the sheep-shearing. SafFron 

 calces still prevail in Cornwall, and come over the border 

 into the next county, and a chemist, in Somerset, said 

 quite lately, that thirty years since, he used to sell 

 quantities of SafFron at Easter-time, but that much less 

 is asked for now. It seems to have been specially used 

 in the materials for feasting at this season. Evelyn tells 

 us that the Germans made it into "little balls with 

 honey, which afterwards they dry and reduce to powder, 

 and then sprinkle over salads" for a "noble cordial." 

 For medicinal purposes SafFron is imported, for in spite 

 of " I. W.'s " praise, that grown in England is far from 

 equalling that of Greece and Asia Minor, though in any 

 case it is only now used as a colouring matter. The 

 saying which survives, "So dear as SafFron," to express 

 anything of worth, is a proof of how great its value 

 once was ; and it is true that the plant was credited with 

 powers nothing short of miraculous. Perhaps Fuller 

 tells us the most startling news: "In a word, the 

 Sovereign Power of genuine Saffron is plainly proved 

 by the Antipathy of the Crocodiles thereunto. For the 

 Crocodiles tears are never true save when he is forced 

 where Saffron groweth (when he hath his name of y^oKO- 

 sttXO or the SafFron-fearer) knowing himseife to be all 

 Poison, and it all Antidote." 



After this, Gerarde's assertion that for those whom 

 consumption has brought " at death's doore, and almost 

 past breathing, that it bringeth breath againe," sounds 

 moderate. On the doctrine of Signatures, SafFron 

 was prescribed for jaundice and measles, and it is 

 also recommended to be put into the drinking water 

 of canaries when they are moulting. Irish women are 

 said to dye their sheets with SafFron, that it may give 

 strength to their limbs. SafFron has long been much 

 esteemed as a dye, and Ben Jonson tells us of this use for 

 it in his days in lines that literally rollick : — 



