52 
A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND 
not very numerous, but those few kinds grew in great pro¬ 
fusion : 
“ Ther sprang the violete al newe, 
And fresshe pervinke riche of hewe, 
And floures yelowe, whyte and rede : 
Swich plentee grew ther never in mede. 
... Ful gay was al the ground, and queynt 
And poudred, as men had it peynt. 
With many a fresh and sondry flour. 
That casten up a ful good savour.” 1 
The periwinkle, or parwinke, was a general favourite. It was 
a plant well suited to cover and brighten the ground in the 
shady corners of the garden, and thus gained the appropriate 
name of “* Joy of the ground ” : 
“ Parwynke is an erbe grene of colour 
In tyme of May he beryth bio flour. 
* * * * * 
Ye lef is thicke schinede and styf. 
As is ye grene jwy leef. 
Vnche brod and nerhand 2 rownde 
Men calle it ye joy of grownde.” 3 
In an old ballad, a noble lady is called “ The parwenke of 
prowesse,” the periwinkle being then used to typify excellence, 
in the same way as the pink in Elizabethan times, " The very 
pink of courtesy/' 
Among yellow flowers in the same garden, the marigold, 
or gold, as it is called by old writers, would be conspicuous : 
“ Golde is bitter in savour. 
Fayr and gelu is his flower. 
Ye golde flour is good to seene.” 4 
Jealousy is described by Chaucer as decked with these flowers. 
“ Jealousy that werede of yelwe guides a garland/’ 
Violets were also “ herbs well cowth,” or well known. 
They were grown not only for their sweet fragrance, but also 
as salad herbs, and “ Flowers of violets ” were eaten raw, 
with onions and lettuce. Among the ingredients for a kind 
of broth they are mentioned with fennel and savory. 5 They 
1 Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rose, 1 . 1431. 2 —nearly. 
3 Medical MS., Stockholm, Archceologia, vol. xxx. 
4 Ibid. 6 Form of Cury. 
