BAY. 115 



take them from their literary pursuits; and in 

 time all single men were called bachelors. 



But it is not the bachelors alone who have 

 sighed for the laurus crown ; as the wish of 

 her who excited so much interest in the 

 Perditta of Shakspeare will prove : 



" Heaven knows I never would repine, 

 Though Fortune's fiercest frowns were mine, 

 If fate would grant that o'er my tomb 

 One little laurel-branch might bloom ; 

 And mem'ry sometimes wander near 

 To bid it live — and drop a tear!" 



It is beyond a doubt, says Dr. Hunter, that 

 the bay-tree, and not the laurel, is the laurus 

 of the ancients. The laurel was not known in 

 Europe till the latter end of the sixteenth 

 century, which will be shown in the history 

 of that shrub. Besides, our laurel has not the 

 properties ascribed by the ancients to their 

 laurus. Virgil says it has a fine smell, which 

 the laurel has not. 



Et vos, O Laun\ carpam, ei te proxime, Myrte, 

 Sic positce, quoniam suaves miscetis odores. 



Eel. ii. 



And in the sixth iEneid, — 



Odoratum Lauri nemus. 



We cannot ascertain at what exact period the 

 bay-tree was first cultivated in this country ; 



i 2 



