266 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 22, lDOO. 
In all countries, civilised and savage, in the 
religious festivals of all creeds,and upon all occasions 
of grief or rejoicing, the odoriferous properties of 
flowers, leaves, or wood, have had an important 
significance ; whilst the earliest records we have of 
perfumes tell of their extraction from fragrant juices 
or resinous gums, which exude naturally or by in¬ 
cision from trees and shrubs. 
The fondness of the early Eastern nations for 
sweet odours and perfumes seems to have been 
carried to almost extravagant excess, and the 
antiquity of the custom defies research into its 
origin. 
In hot climates the use of fragrant oils and other 
perfumes has always been a necessity, and there is 
no doubt that the adoption of sweet odours in 
religious rites generally had its origin in sanitary 
precautions. 
The ancients, moreover, had no soap, or at least 
were not familiar with its use, except as a sort of 
pomade, and were driven therefore to adopt the use 
of substitutes, in the form of ointment and other 
preparations of all kinds of odoriferous gums and 
resins, and the custom is to this day carried out in 
the ablutions of the wealthier classes in the East and 
in the washing of the dead. 
Their gardens appear to have been chiefly used 
as resorts of repose and indolent recreation. In 
these retreats the greatest rulers aud warriors found 
rest and peace amidst the fragrant bowers and 
aromatic herbs, when worn out with the fatigues of 
their high position. 
The Jews seem to be the oldest nation to have taken 
the fullest advantage of the great opportunities they 
had for obtaining a knowledge of plants, and many 
are the references recorded of the fragrant trees 
from which they produced cooling fruits to allay 
thirst, odorous herbs to give tone to the system, and 
aromatic substances for embalming the dead. 
Both Persia and Egypt appeared to have con¬ 
tinued the customs in an intensified degree, for not 
only do they still wash the bodies of their dead with 
fragrant oils, but the funeral pyre oft times consists 
of aromatic herbs and branches of trees that give off 
terebenthinate odours. 
Arabia Felix was celebrated for its abundance of 
aromatic plants. “ Among the inhabitants,” says 
Piny (lib. 12 cap. 18), " no other kinds of wood but 
those which sent forth sweet odour were used as 
fuel, and they cooked their food with the branches 
of trees yielding Frankincense and Myrrh.” 
Although ancient writers all agree that Arabia Felix 
obtained its name from these odour-breathing plants, 
it is probable that such accounts are mostly fabulous, 
and that being but imperfectly acquainted with the 
regions beyond, they concluded that the country 
whence they procured these spicy luxuries must of 
necessity be the country of their origin. 
The Greeks as a nation were deeply interested 
in the study of Nature, and collected much material, 
which eventually formed the basis of the science 
of botany. In their cultivations they ascribe a 
divine origin to the perfume of plants, insomuch 
that in their sacrificial offerings the victims were 
always decked with fragrant flowers. 
It would seem difficult at the present time to 
realise the estimation in which leaves and flowers 
were held in ancient Rome. The victors of the 
fight, or at the athletic games, were always crowned 
with wreaths at the feasts, differing according to the 
importance of the victory To such a degree of 
nicety had the Romans reached in this particular, 
that the composition or mixture of leaves and flowers 
for wreaths, chaplfets, and garlands, became a point 
of close study, and those trees were planted adjoin¬ 
ing each o.her whose odours assimilated best 
together. 
The whole of Southern Asia, from Arabia to 
China, is ladea, as it were, with the smoke and 
sweet odours of perfumes, and it is in the bazaars 
of the countries of the Eastern Archipelago that 
their use and, in many instances, their very names, 
have been kept from the first in an unbroken 
tradition. 
In Indian cities the various products sold are in 
hourly use in private life to anoint the body, par¬ 
ticularly the finger nails, to perfume clothes and 
furniture, to oSer guests, and perhaps still more 
profusely in the public services of the innumerable 
idol temples and in the burning of the dead. 
The lives of all the old princes and nobles of 
India are teeming with references to sweet odours, 
and many are the fabulous stories handed 
down. 
In common with othsr Eastern nations, they have 
their floral feasts and periodical decorations. Sir 
George Birdwood tells me that at the present time 
Western India, both in Hindoo and Parsee, is a 
wilderness of Roses and other sweet things. 
The highly cultured tastes of the Japanese are 
proverbial, and their appreciation for all that is 
lovely in flowers is quite a trait in their character. 
This flower worship is of quite national import¬ 
ance, and floral feasts extend through most months 
of the year. They have also many refined forms of 
social amusement, in which the fragrance of plants 
takes a leading part. That veteran Eastern traveller, 
Sir Edwin Arnold, has a good deal to say on this 
subject in some of his charming writings. 
The Chinese, too, are great lovers of flowers, but 
their entertainments are conducted under much more 
primitive methods. The three chief feasts are dedi¬ 
cated to the Dragon, the Moon, and the Year. On 
each occasion every garden is a flower show of the 
first order. Winding walks and curious arbours, 
associated with many sweet trees, are so arranged 
that the fragrant odours may be readily dispensed 
around. 
In both America, Australia, and other Colonial 
possessions, that are peopled by what may be 
termed our own kith and kin, we find dainty products 
thriving in all directions. Every fertile country 
indeed has its fragant flowers and trees ; the sweet 
Cyclamen of Alpine meadows ; the Pine forests of 
Norway; Honeysuckle bowered and Hawthorn 
scented hedge-rows of Britain; the Mayflower of 
woodland shades in Canada; the Cedars of Asia 
Minor; the Orange blossoms of the breezy slopes of 
the Californian coast ; [the sweet Bay, Myrtle and 
Cypress at health-giving San Lorenzo, distilling a 
grateful odour in the sunny clime of the Mediter¬ 
ranean ; the spicy uplands of Ceylon; the great 
tropical islands of the Eastern Archipelago, teeming 
with odorous things; the Freesias of the South 
African veldt; the sweet Verbena of Chili; the 
Roses on the sunny hills of Provence and the 
Balkans ; the catkins of the White Willow of 
Northern Europe to the humble wild Thyme of our 
airy downs—wherever they may be, and their 
influence felt, they are living associations of all that 
is delightful. 
It seems remarkable that on the Continent of 
Europe—particularly in France and Germany—the 
beauties of a flower are first considered from its 
size and gaudy colouring. Fragrance is quite a 
minor point, and beyond the fact that large areas of 
sweet smelling plants are cultivated for the extraction 
of scents, this favour, so much appreciated by us, is 
only recognised abroad for its value as a commercial 
commodity. 
As the last stage of this cursory glance into the 
history of other countries, so far as it applies to our 
subject, I will now have something to say about our¬ 
selves. 
Although the early dwellers of Great Britain 
appear to have placed great value upon the aromatic 
herbs indigenous to the soil, we have little record of 
flowers of any description. The monks seem to 
have been the chief cultivators during these dark 
middle ages, and they did not only regard these 
herbs as mere objects of utility to man, but also 
used them as emblems of the saints, and symbols of 
the various festivals attached to their religious 
rites. 
It was not until the times of the Crusaders that 
we glean any particulars about flowering plants and 
garden trees. 
During the sixteenth century, when intercourse 
with other nations became general, many dainty 
products found their way into gardens, but it was not 
until Cardinal Wolsey conceived the idea of building 
the great palace at Hampton Court that we gather 
any specific facts as to fragrant plants. 
In the Chapter House account, for the additions 
made to the palace grounds by Henry VIII..appears 
the following curious entry:—"4 Bayes at 2d. the 
pece, 200 Roses at 4d., 100 Violettes, Primroses, 
Mynts, and other sweet flowers. ... a bourder 
of Rosemary, 3 years old, to set about the mount.” 
There was also a thicket of Sweet Brier and Honey¬ 
suckle, with low-growing flowers, which were sweet 
and sightly. 
One of the first books on English gardening, which 
appeared in 1574, was written by Thomas Hyll, a 
citzen of London. He recommends " mazes, laby¬ 
rinths, and knots, all to be made with herbs.”* 
William Lawson, writing in the same century, 
says:—"It is comodyus to have a faire garden 
repleatyd with herbs of aromatyke and redolent 
savours.”f 
Gervase Markham, another writer of this period, 
goes into greater detail regarding these garden knots. 
He also says:—"The nosegay garden should be 
planted with Violets, Gilliflowers, Lilies, and Hya¬ 
cinths, and the herb garden with Southern Wood, 
Rosemary, Lavender, Basil, Tansy, Pennyroyal, and 
Mint. What is more delightsome than an infinite 
varietee of sweet-smelling flowers, the Violet nothing 
behind the rest for smelling sweetly, and July 
flowers—they have the name of Cloves—for their 
scent, and the Damask Rose, most pleasant to sight 
and smell.”J 
Nothing indeed is more charming about these old 
gardens than the high position always occupied by- 
sweet-smelling vegetation. 
This simple and genuine delight bet ween art and 
nature became feeble as the seventeenth century 
dawned, when fashions in stone and statuary, intro¬ 
duced from abroad, quite crushed out the innocent 
amusement that the arrangement of a herb garden 
had hitherto afforded. Its place was taken by the 
formal garden, traces of which are still seen in many 
of our old country domains. Still, however great 
the changes that have since taken place in gardening 
fashions, sweet-smelling plants hold their own in 
general estimation. 
Shakespeare has a good deal to say in his plays 
about nosegays, posies, and aromatics. 
Up to and during Queen Elizabeth's time it was 
customary to strew certain dried leaves and rushes 
through the rooms of houses, not only as occupying 
the place of carpets, but to impart a pleasing fra¬ 
grance through the atmosphere. “ The Sweetening 
of the House ” and ” Strewing of the Hustings ” is 
an old-time custom, which no doubt had its origin as, 
a preventative against disease germs. 
Years ago the admission of air into churches and 
public buildings was but little studied, consequently 
these places, through being kept closed, would smell 
stuffy; and to obviate this, sweet-smelling herbs 
were distributed about the floors and seats to impreg¬ 
nate the atmosphere with a pleasing odour. It may 
surprise many of you to know that the custom still 
prevails in the City of London in connection with 
the electoral functions that take place at the Guild¬ 
hall between Midsummer and Michaelmas day. 
Through the courtesy of Messrs. Potter & Clarke, 
of Artillery Lane, I am able to exhibit a sample of 
the strewings used on the last occasion. I believe 
the custom still prevails in a few of our churches in 
the country and also in the Judges’ Courts at the Old 
Bailey, as a preventative against jail fever. 
Another interesting custom that is still preserved 
at the Guildhall on Michaelmas Day is that of laying 
the City Sword on a bed of Rose leaves. This is 
supposed to have had its origin in the Wars of the 
Roses. 
(To be continued.) 
---- 
THE EDELWEISS. 
Evervbody seems to know and love this little alpine 
Cudweed, Gnaphalium Leontopodium, otherwise 
named Leontopodium alpinum. The name Leonto¬ 
podium comes from leon, leontos, a lion ; and pons, a 
foot, in reference to the supposed likeness of the 
gray, everlasting flower-heads to a lion’s foot. 
Lion’s Foot, indeed, is one of its popular names. 
Varieties of the Edelweiss occur in various moun¬ 
tain chains, and even in the Andes of South America, 
but its headquarters is in the Swiss Alps, where 
travellers many times admire this curious and 
charming plant without knowing anything about its 
history or distinction. It was first introduced to 
English gardens about the year 1776. 
The plant is dwarf, the foliage being limp and 
thickly-covered with gray, woolly hairs, hence the 
additional appellation of Moleskin-plant, and also 
because of its gray or silvery covering the French 
have named it the Cottoniere, or “Cotton-plant.” 
The flower stalks are about the thickness of a pencil 
and about a foot high, terminating with the strange 
* The Profitable Arle of Gardeninge, 1574. 
+ A New Orchard end Garden, 1597. 
: The Country Housewife’s Garden, 1623. 
