i3o PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
to him, as he lyeth still, by the speciall property of the tree.” 
He may well add—“ This I here relate that you may under¬ 
stand the fond and vain conceit of those times, which I would 
to God we were not in these dayes tainted withal.” 
Ibols tTbistle. 
Margaret. Get you some of this distilled Carduus Benedictus, and lay it 
to your heart; it is the only thing for a qualm. 
Hero. There thou prickest her with a Thistle. 
Beatrice. Benedictus! Why Benedictus? You have some moral in this 
Benedictus. 
Margaret. Moral ! No, by my troth, I have no moral meaning : I meant 
plain Holy Thistle .—Much Ado About Nothing , iii. 4, 73. 
The Carduus benedictus , or Blessed Thistle, is a handsome 
annual from the South of Europe, and obtained its name from 
its high reputation as a heal-all, being supposed even to cure 
the plague, which was the highest praise that could be given to 
a medicine in those days. It is mentioned in all the treatises 
on the Plague, and especially by Thomas Brasbridge, who, 
in 1578, published his “Poore Mans Jewell, that is to say, a 
Treatise of the Pestilence: vnto which is annexed a declara¬ 
tion of the vertues of the Hearbes Carduus Benedictus and 
Angelica.” This little book Shakespeare may have seenit 
speaks of the virtues of the “ distilled ” leaves: it says, “ it 
helpeth the hart,” “ expelleth all poyson taken in at the mouth 
and other corruption that doth hurt and annoye the hart,” and 
that “the juyce of it is outwardly applied to the bodie” (“lay 
it to your heart”), and concludes, “therefore I counsell all 
them that have Gardens to nourish it, that they may have it 
always to their own use, and the use of their neighbours that 
lacke it.” The plant has long lost this high character. 
