66 
SHAKESPEARE’S GARDEN 
Nay, you shall see mine orchard ; where, in an arbour, we 
will eat a last year’s pippin of my own grafting, with a dish 
of caraways, and so forth.—2 Henry IV., V. iii. 1. 
The sweet-scented marjoram, one of the best of 
all pot-herbs, the Origanum marjoram of L., was 
introduced to our gardens from its native haunts 
in Portugal, and has since been deservedly popular 
for flavouring soups, etc. Perdita mingles this plant 
with mint and savory amongst her marigolds ( Winter s 
Tale , IV. iv. 104); it also occurs in All's Well , IV. v. 17, 
where the clown says : 
She was the sweet marjoram of the salad, or, rather, herb 
of grace, 
which brings the retort from Lafeu : 
They are not herbs, you knave; they are nose-herbs. 
And lastly in the Sonnets , xcix. : 
Buds of marjoram had stol’n thy hair. 
We have allied species among our own native 
plants. Origanum vulgare, L., a bitter, aromatic and 
balsamic plant, is common in our dry copses and 
hedge banks from Moray southwards. 
It was used as a specific in Gerard's days for colds 
and diseases of the brain and head, and he especially 
adds that " it easeth the toothache, being chawed in 
the mouth" (“ Herbal," p. 540). It was also used 
in ointments. 
In the vegetable-garden peas, carrots and mustard 
will be in flower, and in the fields vetches ; to all these 
Shakespeare makes reference. 
The garden pea, Pisu?n sativum, L., is a very 
ancient vegetable, and its seeds are found among the 
debris of the Stone Age, from which we may gather 
that those ancient peoples cultivated it, and, like the 
