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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
134
In
England,
flowers
have
always
been
largely
employed
in
the
wedding
ceremony,
although
they
have
varied
at
different
periods,
influenced
by
the
caprice
of
fashion.
Thus,
it
appears
that
flowers
were
once
worn
by
the
betrothed
as
tokens
of
their
engagement,
and
Quarles
in
his
"Sheapheard's
Oracles,"
1646,
tells
us
how,
"Love-sick
swains
Compose
rush-rings
and
myrtle-berry
chains,
And
stuck
with
glorious
kingcups,
and
their
bonnets
Adorn'd
with
laurell
slips,
chaunt
their
love
sonnets."
Spenser,
too,
in
his
"Shepherd's
Calendar"
for
April,
speaks
of
"Coronations
and
sops
in
wine
worn
of
paramours"--sops
in
wine
having
been
a
nickname
for
pinks
(Dianthus
plumarius),
although
Dr.
Prior
assigns
the
name
to
Dianthus
caryophyllus.
Similarly
willow
was
worn
by
a
discarded
lover.
In
the
bridal
crown,
the
rosemary
often
had
a
distinguished
place,
besides
figuring
at
the
ceremony
itself,
when
it
was,
it
would
seem,
dipped
in
scented
water,
an
allusion
to
which
we
find
in
Beaumont
and
Fletcher's
"Scornful
Lady,"
where
it
is
asked,
"Were
the
rosemary
branches
dipped?"
Another
flower
which
was
entwined
in
the
bridal
garland
was
the
lily,
to
which
Ben
Jonson
refers
in
speaking
of
the
marriage
of
his
friend
Mr.
Weston
with
the
Lady
Frances
Stuart:--
"See
how
with
roses
and
with
lilies
shine,
Lilies
and
roses
(flowers
of
either
sex),
The
bright
bride's
paths."
It
was
also
customary
to
plant
a
rose-bush
at
the
head
of
the
grave
of
a
deceased
lover,
should
either
of
them
die
before
the
wedding.
Sprigs
of
bay
were
also
introduced
into
the
bridal
wreath,
besides
ears
of
corn,
emblematical
of
the
plenty
which
might
always
crown
the
bridal
couple.
Nowadays
the
bridal
wreath
is
almost
entirely
composed
of
orange-blossom,
on
a
background
of
maiden-hair
fern,
with
a
sprig
of
stephanotis
interspersed
here
and
there.
Much
uncertainty
exists
as
to
why
this
plant
was
selected,
the
popular
reason
being
that
it
was
adopted
as
an
emblem
of
fruitfulness.
According
to
a
correspondent
of
Notes
and
Queries,
the
practice
may
be
traced
to
the
Saracens,
by
whom
the
orange-blossom
was
regarded
as
a
symbol
of
a
prosperous
marriage--a
circumstance
which
is
partly
to
be
accounted
for
by
the
fact
that
in
the
East
the
orange-tree
bears
ripe
fruit
and
blossom
at
the
same
time.
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