HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, ETC. 103 



tender maid," led through the magnificent court of some 

 prince, he says she was : — 



Amazed to see 

 The furnitures and states, which all embroideries be, 

 The rich and sumptuous beds, with tester-covering plumes, 

 And various as the sutes, so ■various the perfumes. 



In a discourse, intended to prove that the magic 

 number five is perpetually appearing in all forms of 

 nature, and that network is an equally ubiquitous 

 design. Sir Thomas Browne mentions en passant, the 

 "nosegay nets" of the ancients — that is, nets holding 

 flowers, that were suspended from the head, to provide 

 continuously a pleasant odour for the wearer. It is 

 very nice to find a survival of the belief that scents 

 affect the spirits and may be beneficial to the health, and 

 in " Days and Hours in a Garden," E. V. B. declares 

 herself to be of that opinion. " Sweet Smells . . . 

 have a certain virtue for different conditions of health," 

 she says. "Wild Thyme will renew spirits and vital 

 energy in long walks under an August sun. The pure, 

 almost pungent scent of Tea Rose, Marechal Neil is 

 sometimes invigorating in any lowness of . . . Sweet 

 Briar promotes cheerfulness . . . Hawthorn is very 

 doubtful and Lime-blossom is dreamy. . . . Apple- 

 blossom must be added to my pharmacopoeia of sweet 

 smells. To inhale a cluster of Blenheim orange gives 

 back youth for just half a minute after . . . it is a real, 

 absolute elixir." 



The sacristan's garden, devoted to growing flowers 

 and herbs for the service of the church, has been already 

 mentioned, and Henry VI. actually left in his will a 

 garden to be kept for this purpose to the church 

 of Eton College (Nichol's "Wills of the Kings and 

 Queens of England"). After the Reformation the 

 practice of laying fresh green things about the churches 

 was apparently not abandoned, for in 1618, James I. set 



