62 
PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
to make sweet unintoxicating wine, preserving at the same time 
untouched a bunch of the goodliest flowers as a harvest-sheaf of 
beauty ! and then the white soft husks are gathered into balls 
and tossed from hand to hand till they drop to pieces, to be 
trodden upon and forgotten. And so at last, when each sense 
has had its fill of the flower, and they are thoroughly tired of 
their play, the children rest from their celebration of the 
Cowslip. Blessed are such flowers 
that appeal to every sense.” So 
wrote Dr. Forbes Watson in his 
very pretty and Ruskinesque little 
work “ Flowers and Gardens,” 
and the passage well expresses 
one of the chief charms of the 
Cowslip. It is the most favourite 
wild-flower with children. It 
must have been also a favourite 
with Shakespeare, for his descrip¬ 
tions show that he had studied 
it with affection. The minute 
description in (6) should be 
noticed. The upright golden 
Cowslip is compared to one of 
Queen Elizabeth’s Pensioners, who were splendidly dressed, 
and are frequently noticed in the literature of the day. With 
Mrs. Quickly they were the ne plus ultra of grandeur—“And 
yet there has been earls, nay, which is more, pensioners ” 
(“ Merry Wives,” ii. 2). Milton, too, sings in its praise— 
“ Now the bright morning star, day’s harbinger, 
Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her 
The flowering May, who from her green lap throws 
The yellow Cowslip and the pale Primrose.” 
Song on May Morning . 
“ Whilst from off the waters fleet, 
Then I set my printless feet 
O’er the Cowslip’s velvet head 
That bends not as I tread.”— Sabrina's Song in “ Comus .” 
