CHAPTER III
OF HERBS USED IN DECORATIONS, IN HERALDRY, AND FOR ORNAMENT AND PERFUMES
Now will I weave white violets, daffodils,
With myrtle spray,
And lily bells that trembling laughter fills,
And the sweet crocus gay,
With these blue hyacinth and the lover’s rose,
That she may wear—
My sun-maiden—each scented flower that blows
Upon her scented hair.
Trans. from Meleager.—W. M. Hardinge.
It is, perhaps, surprising in studying the history of common English herbs to find how many were the uses to which they were put by our forefathers. One reason of their eminence was that no doubt in pre-hygienic days they were more to be desired, but, besides this, something “delightful to smell to” seems to have been a luxury generally appreciated for its own sake. In his poem of the “Baron’s Wars,” Michael Drayton, by a casual reference, shows how much agreeable scents were valued, and the pains taken to procure them. He is speaking of Queen Isabella’s room.
The fire of precious wood; the light perfume,
Which left a sweetness on each thing it shone,
As ev’rything did to itself assume
The scent from them, and made the same their own,
So that the painted flowers within the room
Were sweet, as if they naturally had grown.
The light gave colours which upon them fell,
And to the colours the perfume gave smell.
And in describing the bewilderment of a “young, tender maid,” led through the magnificent court of some prince, he says she was:—
Amazed to see
The furnitures and states, which all embroideries be,
The rich and sumptuous beds, with tester-covering plumes,
And various as the sutes, so various the perfumes.
OLD LABORATORY AT MR. HOOPER’S, 24 RUSSELL STREET, COVENT GARDEN
THE LARGE STILL IN THE CORNER IS FOR DISTILLING ROSE AND AROMATIC WATERS
THE SMALLER STILL IS FOR DISTILLING SPIRIT ESSENCES
In a discourse, intended to prove that the magic number five is perpetually appearing in all forms of nature, and that network is an equally ubiquitous design, Sir Thomas Browne mentions en passant, the “nosegay nets” of the ancients—that is, nets holding flowers, that were suspended from the head, to provide continuously a pleasant odour for the wearer. It is very nice to find a survival of the belief that scents affect the spirits and may be beneficial to the health, and in “Days and Hours in a Garden,” E. V. B. declares herself to be of that opinion. “Sweet Smells... have a certain virtue for different conditions of health,” she says. “Wild Thyme will renew spirits and vital energy in long walks under an August sun. The pure, almost pungent scent of Tea Rose, Maréchal Neil is sometimes invigorating in any lowness of... Sweet Briar promotes cheerfulness... Hawthorn is very doubtful and Lime-blossom is dreamy.... Apple-blossom must be added to my pharmacopœia of sweet smells. To inhale a cluster of Blenheim orange gives back youth for just half a minute after... it is a real, absolute elixir.”