332 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 
guages which means ‘‘to sew.’’ Closely allied 
words are ‘‘ needle,’’ ‘‘ net,’’ and ‘‘ knit.’’ Nettle 
would seem to mean ‘‘ that with which we sew,’”’ and 
indicates that this plant supplied the thread used 
in former times by the German and Scandinavian 
nations. ‘‘We know this to have been a fact,’’ 
says Moncure D. Conway, ‘‘ in the Scotland of the 
last century. Scotch cloth is only the housewifery 
of the nettle; ‘and a fabric made from the fibres 
of the plant was also used till a recent period in 
Friesland.’’ Flax and hemp bear southern names, 
and when they were brought into the north of 
Europe the nettle’s career of usefulness was ended. 
Like handicraftsmen on the introduction of ma- 
chinery, it was thrown out of honorable employ- 
ment. Then it became a vagabond and took to 
roadsides and wastes. Nettles are said to have 
been introduced into England by Roman soldiers 
who sowed the seed in Kent for their own use 
““to rubbe and chafe their limbs when through ex- 
treme cold they should be stiffe and benumbed,”’ 
having been told that the climate of Britain was 
so cold that it was not to be endured without 
some friction to warm their blood. 
We are all familiar with the oft-quoted lines: 
‘‘Tender-handed stroke a nettle and it stings you 
