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for nearly one hundred years, and it has so 
far become naturalised in “ our climate, that it 
springs from seeds of its own scattering,’’ and 
its delightful odour has thus been conveyed 
from the parterre of the prince to the humble 
garden of the cottager. 
“ The odour exhaled by this little flower is 
thought by some to be too powerful for the 
house; but even those persons, we presume, 
must be delighted with the fragrance which it 
throws from the balconies into the streets of 
London, giving something like a breath of garden 
air to the ‘close pent man,’ whose avocations 
will not permit a ramble beyond the squares of 
the fashionable part of the town.” 
What, are the casements lined with creeping herbs, 
The prouder sashes fronted with a range 
Of orange, myrtle, or the fragrant weed, 
The Frenchman’s darling ? 
Linneus compares its perfumes to those of 
ambrosia: and it is sweeter and more pene- 
trating at the rising and setting of the sun than 
at noon. 
The mignonette has found its way into the 
armorial bearings of an ancient Saxon family ; 
and the following romantic story is said to have 
introduced this fragrant little flower to the 
Pursuivant at Arms :— 
“ The Count of Walstheim was the favoured 
aspirant for the hand of Amelia de Nordbourg, 


