DAISY. 
(. Innocence .) 
“Whose white investments figure innocence.” —Shakspeare. 
HE flower which, next to the rose, appears to have 
received the most attention from the poets is the 
Daisy. 
Formerly it was termed the “ e’e of daie,” and under 
that name Chaucer speaks of it. 
According to the classic account, this little flower owed 
its origin to Belides, one of the dryads, the nymphs who 
presided over woodlands. It is fabled that whilst this 
damsel was dancing with her favoured suitor, Ephigeus, 
she attracted the attention of Vertumnus, the guardian 
deity of orchards : and it was in order to shelter her from 
his pursuit that she was transformed into Bcellis, or the 
daisy—the “ day’s eye,” as our old poels call it—the 
flower of faithful love, which opens and closes with the 
sun. 
It is called in French la Marguerite , or pearl. 
The unhappy Margaret of Anjou chose it as her 
device; and when she reigned a beauty and crowned 
queen, the nobles of England wore wreaths of it, or had 
it embroidered on their robes. 
