CHAPTER III 



OF HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, IN HERALDRY, AND 

 FOR ORNAMENT AND PERFUMES 



Now will I weave white violets, daffodils, 



With myrtle spray. 

 And lily bells that trembling laughter fills, 



And the sweet crocus gay, 

 With these blue hyacinth and the lover's rose. 



That she may wear — 

 My sun-maiden — each scented flower that blows 



Upon her scented hair. 

 Trans, from Melcagcr. — W. M. Hardinge. 



It is, perhaps, surprising in studying the history of 

 common English herbs to find how many were the uses 

 to which they were put by our forefathers. One reason 

 of their eminence was that no doubt in pre-hygienic 

 days they were more to be desired, but, besides this, 

 something " delightful to smell to" seems to have been 

 a luxury generally appreciated for its own sake. In his 

 poem of the " Baron's "Wars," Michael Drayton, by a 

 casual reference, shows how much agreeable scents 

 were valued, and the pains taken to procure them. He 

 is speaking of Queen Isabella's room. 



The fire of precious wood ; the light perfume, 

 Which left a sweetness on each thing it shone, 

 As ev'rything did to itself assume 

 The scent from them, and made the same their own. 

 So that the painted flowers within the room 

 Were sweet, as if they naturally had grown. 

 The light gave colours which upon them fell, 

 And to the colours the perfume gave smell. 



And in describing the bewilderment of a "young. 



