COWSLIP (Paralysis vulgaris pratensis). The cowslip is an ingratiating little flower, not so aloof as its cousin the primrose, and not at all melancholy. In the popular lore of Shakespeare's time the cowslip was associated with fairies. In many places it was known as "fairy cups." For this reason Shakespeare makes Ariel lie in a cowslip's bell when the fay is frightened by the hooting of owls, or tired of swinging merrily in "the blossom that hangs on the bough." One of the duties of Titania's little maid of honor was "to hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear"; and this gay little fairy informs Puck of the important place cowslips hold in the court of the tiny Queen Titania:
The cowslips tall her pensioners be,
In their gold coats spots you see:
These be rubies, fairy favors,
In these freckles live their savors.[25]
[25] "A Midsummer Night's Dream"; Act II, Scene I.
To appreciate the meaning of this comparison, it must be remembered that the "pensioners" of Queen Elizabeth's court were a guard of the tallest and handsomest men to be found in the whole kingdom, men, moreover, who were in the pride of youth, and scions of the most distinguished families. Their dress was of extraordinary elegance and enriched heavily with gold embroidery. Hence, "gold coats" for the cowslips. Here and there jewels sparkled and glistened on the pensioners' coats. Hence rubies—fairy favors—favors from the Queen! The pensioners also wore pearls in their ears, like Raleigh and Leicester and other noblemen. Hence the fairy had to "hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear." An idea, too, of the size of Titania and her elves is given when the cowslips are considered "tall," and tall enough to be the body-guard of Queen Titania. This was a pretty little allusion to Queen Elizabeth and her court, which the audience that gathered to see the first representation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" did not fail to catch.
We get a sidelight on the importance of the pensioners in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"[26] when Dame Quickly tells Falstaff a great cock-and-bull story about the visitors who have called on Mistress Ford. "There have been knights and lords and gentlemen with their coaches, letter after letter, gift after gift; smelling so sweetly (all musk) and so rushling, I warrant you in silk and gold; and yet there has been earls, and, what is more, pensioners!" Shakespeare also speaks of "the freckled cowslip" in "Henry V,"[27] when the Duke of Burgundy refers to
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
The freckled cowslip.
All poets love the flower.
In the language wherewith spring
Letters cowslips on the hill,
writes Tennyson—a charming fancy!