JOHN GERARD.
John Gerard was born in 1545 at Nantwich in Cheshire, his parentage is unknown, though by his coat of arms he appears to have descended from the Gerards of Ince in Lancashire. In 1562 he was apprenticed to Alexander Mason, a Surgeon in extensive practice, who was Warden in 1556 and 1561 and Master in 1567 and 1573 (Mr. Mason died 3rd April, 1574). Gerard was admitted to the freedom of the Barber-Surgeons 9th December, 1569. There is no record of his admission to the Livery, though in consequence of his professional attainments and his presumable friendship with his master who made him free, he doubtless had the clothing at the same time. The only note we have of Gerard, before he comes on the Court, is one in which he appears before the Masters as defendant in a case of alleged slander on the wife of a brother freeman.
21st February, 1578. Here was a complainte against Jo: Jerrard for saying that Richard James his wief had the ffrenche pocks, and he made answere and saide he wolde justifie the same, and he was dismist to the Comon Lawe.
Gerard was elected a Member of the Court of Assistants on the 19th June, 1595. For some long time previous he must have been engaged in the preparation of his great work “The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes,” a folio of some 1,400 pages, embellished with about 1,800 illustrations of plants,[339] and published in 1597, which, whilst it was by far the best and most exhaustive work of its kind at that period, has ever since been considered a standard book of reference; a good copy being now worth 8 to 10 guineas. At this period he was living “at my house in Holburne, within the suburbs of London,” probably near Fetter Lane, where he had a large garden of herbs.
The style of Gerard’s writing was very quaint, and abounds with quiet humour; he scouted monkish tales and old wives’ fables concerning the miraculous properties of plants, etc., honestly endeavouring to present facts to his readers; yet even he has not hesitated to record as true, and gravely set forth, some fabulous stories, as, for example, in speaking of Barnacles on p. 1391, he says—
There is a small Ilande in Lancashire called the Pile of Foulders, wherein are found the broken peeces of old and brused ships . . . wheron is found a certaine spume or froth, that in time breedeth unto certaine shels, in shape like those of the muskle, . . . wherein is conteined a thing in forme like a lace of silke finely woven, as it were togither, of a whitish colour; one end whereof is fastned unto the inside of the shell; . . . the other end is made fast unto the belly of a rude masse or lumpe, which in time commeth to the shape & forme of a Bird: when it is perfectly formed, the shel gapeth open, & the first thing that appeereth is the foresaid lace or string; next come the legs of the Birde hanging out; and as it groweth greater, it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it is all come foorth, and hangeth onely by the bill; in short space after it commeth to full maturitie, and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth feathers, and groweth to a foule, bigger then a Mallard, and lesser than a Goose; having blacke legs and bill or beake, and feathers blacke and white, spotted in such maner as is our Magge-Pie, called in some places a Pie-Annet, which the people of Lancashire call by no other name than a tree goose; which place aforesaide, and all those parts adjoining, do so much abound therewith, that one of the best is bought for three pence: for the truth heerof, if any doubt, may it please them to repaire unto me, and I shall satisfie them by the testimonie of good witnesses.
The woodcut illustrations with which the book abounds are designed in a good artistic style, being frequently consulted and adapted nowadays by artists engaged in floral design. In 1596, Gerard seems to have propounded a scheme for the Company to keep a garden for the cultivation and study of medicinal plants, and some land belonging to the Company in East Smithfield was suggested for this purpose, but not being thought a suitable spot, certain members of the Court offered to contribute towards the purchase of a garden elsewhere; in June, 1597, the subject was under consideration, and again in November, 1602; but whether anything further was done in the matter does not appear. The minutes in our books relating to this business, are as follows—