Then quickly they gather him into their laps,
And string him on a green silk thread,
And wear him pendant from the neck;
So he hears what each one says of her own
And what his loved one says of him.[[345]]
In the days when romance and chivalry held sway in Europe, pearls and other favors were presented by ladies for the brave knights to wear at tournaments. And we are told in the Arthurian legends how Elaine, “the lily maid of Astolat,” gave to Sir Lancelot “a red sleeve of scarlet, embroidered with great pearls,” for him to wear on his helmet: and “then to her tower she climbed and took the shield, there kept it and so lived in fantasy”; while he fought and won at the tilt, “wearing her scarlet sleeve, tho’ carved and cut, and half the pearls away.”[[346]]
The sweet sentiment of purity associated with the pearl ennobles it above all other gems. Rabanus Maurus, archbishop of Mainz, wrote, about 850, that “mystically, the pearl signifies the hope of the Kingdom of Heaven, or charity and the sweetness of celestial life.”[[347]] True, it was not among the twelve gems which adorned the breastplate of the high priest of the Temple, symbolical of the twelve apostles. A Father of the Church—St. Augustine, we believe—explains this by saying that it was reserved for a more sacred office, that of representing Christ himself.
Pearl signifies purity, innocence, humility, and a retiring spirit. All stones of the gray color of the pearl have the significances which are given to this beautiful gem.[[348]]
Unlike other gems, the pearl comes to us perfect and beautiful, direct from the hand of nature. Other precious stones receive careful treatment from the lapidary, and owe much to his art. The pearl, however, owes nothing to man. Perhaps this has much to do with the sentiments we cherish for it. It touches us with the same sense of simplicity and sweetness as the mountain daisy or the wild rose. It is absolutely a gift of nature, on which man cannot improve. We turn from the brilliant, dazzling ornament of diamonds or emeralds to a necklace of pearls with a sense of relief, and the eye rests upon it with quiet, satisfied repose and is delighted with its modest splendor, its soft gleam, borrowed from its home in the depths of the sea. It seems truly to typify steady and abiding affection, which needs no accessory or adornment to make it more attractive. And there is a purity and sweetness about it which makes it especially suitable for the maiden.
The idea of pearly purity is inseparably linked with the name Margaret, derived from the Persian Murwari (pearl, or child of light) through the Greek μαργαρίτης. This name—beautiful in sound as well as in origin—is popular in all European countries, and likewise are its abbreviations and diminutives: in Italian, Margherita and Rita; in French, Marguerite, Margot, and Groten; in German, Margarethe, Gretchen, and Grethel; and in English, Margaret, Marjorie, Madge, Maggie, Peggy, etc.