SHAKESPEARE’S GARDEN 69 
And yet again in a long passage from As You Like 
It, I. ii. 65. 
The best mustard of the day, that of Tewksbury, 
is mentioned in 2 Henry IV., II. iv. 261 : 
He a good wit? hang him, baboon! his wit’s as thick as 
Tewksbury mustard. 
As an illustration, Ellacombe aptly gives an extract 
from Coles, who, writing in 1657., says: “In Gloucester¬ 
shire about Teuxbury they grind mustard and make 
it into balls, which are brought to London and other 
remote places as being the best the world affords.” 
Dressing mustard flour was invented in the eighteenth 
century by Mrs. Clements, of Durham, but appears 
to have been known to the Anglo-Saxons, and 
Parkinson says: “ The seeds hereof, ground between 
two stones, fitted for the purpose and called a quern, 
with some good vinegar added to it to make it liquid 
and running, is that kind of mustard that is usually 
made to serve as sauce both for fish and flesh of all 
sorts.” 
In the fields the sweet scent of the vetches, w hich 
early this month will be cut for fodder, comes to us 
on the breeze. They are all species of the genus 
Vida, principally the Vida sativa, L. 
These plants are only mentioned once, and that in 
The Tempest, IV. i. 60 , as part of the gifts of 
Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas 
Of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats and peas. 
Our cultivated V . sativa, L., is not a native plant; 
indeed, it is unknown out of cultivation. It was 
probably brought to our island by the Romans. The 
origin of the popular English name “tares,” Prior 
suggests, is from Low German toire, to tether, and as 
in early works we find it called “ tare-fytche' — i.e., 
