Ubistle (see also ibols TTbistle). 
(1) And nothing teems 
But hateful Docks, rough Thistles, Kecksies, Burs. 
Henry V, v. 2, 51. 
(2) Mounsieur Cobweb, good mounsieur, get you your weapons ready in 
your hand, and kill me a red-hipped humble-bee on the top of a 
Thistle ; and, good mounsieur, bring me the honey-bag.— Mid¬ 
summer Night's Dream, iv. 1, 10. 
HISTLE is the old English name for a large 
family of plants occurring chiefly in Europe 
and Asia, of which we have fourteen species in 
Great Britain, arranged under the botanical 
families of Carlina , Carduus , and Onopordon . 
j It is the recognized symbol of untidiness and 
carelessness, being found not so much in barren ground as in 
good ground not properly cared for. So good a proof of a rich 
soil does the Thistle give, that a saying is attributed to a blind 
man who was choosing a piece of land—“ Take me to a Thistle; ” 
and Tusser says— 
“ Much wetnes, hog-rooting, and land out of hart 
Makes Thistles a number foorthwith to upstart. 
If Thistles so growing proove lustie and long, 
It signifieth land to be hartie and strong.” 
October's Husbandry , 13. 
If the Thistles were not so common, and if we could get rid 
of the associations they suggest, there are probably few of our 
wild plants that we should more admire: they are stately in 
their foliage and habit, and some of their flowers are rich in 
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