THE PRIMROSE 
65 
Uprears a veteran front; yet there ye stand, 
Leaning your cheeks against the thick-ribbed ice, 
And looking up with brilliant eyes to Him, 
Who bids you bloom, unblanched, amid the waste 
Of desolation.” 
All the wild primroses of our island are not pale 
coloured. There is the bird’s-eye primrose (Primula 
farinosa), with its musk-scented foliage and lilac blossom, 
often found in Yorkshire, and in other places in the north 
of England ; and there is the Scottish species (Primula 
Scotica), which is almost as deeply coloured a purple as 
the garden auricula. 
Besides the flowers which are universally called prim- 
rose, botanists include under this name the polyanthus 
and auricula, the oxlip and the cowslip. The polyanfhus 
is merely a variety of the field primrose, produced by 
the skill of the gardener; and the oxlip, which is gener- 
ally like a large cowslip, is thought also to be but a 
variety of the sulphur-coloured primrose. 
The auricula (Primula auricula) is very frequent in 
cottage-gardens, and assumes various colours under cul- 
ture. The artisans who are so happy as to have a small 
piece of ground in the neighbourhoods of some of our 
manufacturing towns, have taken this flower under their 
especial care. They have bestowed considerable pains 
and expense on its improvement, and seem to have almost 
as great a passion for it as the Dutch entertain for the 
tulip. It grows wild on the mountainous parts of Swit- 
zerland, Italy, and Germany; and is, in its native state, 
either yellow or white, the skill of the florist having 
brought it to its present colour of brown or purple, some- 
times varied with a green or white edge: it was formerly 
known by the name of mountain cowslip, or bear’s ears. 
‘‘ Pale cowslip, fit for maiden’s early bier.” 
Cowslip and Drelip are the old names of this flower, yet 
it is often called Paigle in the midland counties of Eng- 
land, and in Scotland, where it is rare. Ben Jonson, 
associating it in verse with our other spring favourite, 
speaks of “Bright day’s eyes, and the lips of cows;” 
