PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 281 
three roods of land of the Lord the King in Alesbury in Com. 
Buck by the service of finding straw for the bed of the Lord 
the King, and to strew his chamber, and also of finding for 
the King when he comes to Alesbury straw for his bed, and 
besides this Grass or Rushes to make his chamber pleasant.” 
Blunt’s Tenures . The custom went on even to our own day 
in Norwich Cathedral, and the “picturesque custom still 
lingers in the West of strewing the floors of the churches on 
Whit Sunday with Rushes freshly pulled from the meadows. 
This custom attains its highest perfection in the church of St. 
Mary Redclifle at Bristol. On ‘ Rush Sunday ’ the floor is 
strewn with Rushes. All the merchants throw open their con¬ 
servatories for the vicar to take his choice of their flowers, and 
the pulpit, the lectern, the choir, and the communion rails and 
table present a scene of great beauty.”— The Garden , May 1877. 
For this purpose the Sweet-scented Rush was always used 
where it could be procured, and when first laid down it must 
have made a pleasant carpet; but it was a sadly dirty arrange¬ 
ment, and gives us a very poor idea of the cleanliness of even 
the best houses, though it probably was not the custom all 
through the year, as Newton says, speaking of sedges, but 
evidently confusing the Sedge with the Sweet-scented Rush, 
“with the which many in this countrie do use in sommer time 
to straw their parlours and churches, aswwell for cooleness as 
for pleasant smell.” 1 This Rush {Acorns calamus ) is a British 
plant, with broad leaves, which have a strong cinnamon-like 
smell, which obtained for the plant the old Saxon name of 
Beewort. Another (so-called) Rush, the Flowering Rush 
(Butomus umhellatus ), is one of the very handsomest of the 
1 “ In the South of Europe Juniper branches were used for this purpose, 
as they still are in Sweden.”— Flora Domestica , p. 213. 
“ As I have seen upon a bridal day, 
Full many maids clad in their best array, 
In honour of the bride, come with their flaskets 
Filled full of flowers, other in wicker-baskets 
Bring from the Marish Rushes, to overspread 
The ground whereon to Church the lovers tread.” 
Browne’s Bril. Past. , i. 2. 
