HERBS CHIEFLY USED IN THE PAST 95 



" Our weomen in Englande and some men that be 

 sunneburnt and would be fayre, eyther stepe this herbe 

 in white wyne and wash their faces with the wyne or 

 ellis with the distilled water of the same." 



Thistle (Carduus Marianas and Carduus Benedictus). 



Margaret. Get you some of this distilled Carduus Benedictus, and lay it 



to your heart, it is the only thing for a qualm. 

 Hero. There thou prick'st her with a thistle. 

 Beatrice. Benedictus ! why Benedictus ? you have some moral in this 



Benedictus. 

 Margaret. Moral 1 no, by my troth, I have no moral meaning ; I meant 



plain holy thistle. 



Much Ado about Nothings iii. 4. 



That thence, as from a garden without dressing 

 She these should ever have, and never want. 

 Store from an orchard without tree or plant . . . 

 And for the chiefest cherisher she lent 

 The royal thistle's milky nourishment. 



JBr. Pastorals, Book i. 



The history, legends, and traditions surrounding 

 Thistles in general, make far too large a subject to be 

 entered on here, and only these two varieties can be 

 considered. Carduus Marianus, the MUk or Dappled 

 Thistle, has sometimes been called the Scotch Thistle, 

 and announced to be the Thistle of Scotland. As a 

 matter of fact, I believe, that after long and stormy 

 controversy, that honour has been awarded to Carduus 

 Acanthioides, but the Milk Thistle's claims have received 

 very strong support, and so it seems most probable, 

 considering the context, that when Browne referred to 

 the " Royal Thistle," it was this one that he meant. 

 This supposition is borne out by Hogg, who writes : 

 " As Ray says, it is more a garden vegetable than a 

 medicinal plant. The young and tender stalks of the 

 root leaves when stripped of their spiny part, are eaten 

 like cardoon, or when boiled, are used as greens. The 

 young stalks, peeled and soaked in water to extract 



