Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
135
Then
there
is
the
bridal
bouquet,
which
is
a
very
different
thing
from
what
it
was
in
years
gone
by.
Instead
of
being
composed
of
the
scarcest
and
most
costly
flowers
arranged
in
the
most
elaborate
manner,
it
was
a
homely
nosegay
of
mere
country
flowers--some
of
the
favourite
ones,
says
Herrick,
being
pansy,
rose,
lady-smock,
prick-madam,
gentle-heart,
and
maiden-blush.
A
spray
of
gorse
was
generally
inserted,
in
allusion,
no
doubt,
to
the
time-honoured
proverb,
"When
the
furze
is
out
of
bloom,
kissing
is
out
of
fashion."
In
spring-time
again,
violets
and
primroses
were
much
in
demand,
probably
from
being
in
abundance
at
the
season;
although
they
have
generally
been
associated
with
early
death.
Among
the
many
floral
customs
associated
with
the
wedding
ceremony
may
be
mentioned
the
bridal-strewings,
which
were
very
prevalent
in
past
years,
a
survival
of
which
is
still
kept
up
at
Knutsford,
in
Cheshire.
On
such
an
occasion,
the
flowers
used
were
emblematical,
and
if
the
bride
happened
to
be
unpopular,
she
often
encountered
on
her
way
to
the
church
flowers
of
a
not
very
complimentary
meaning.
The
practice
was
not
confined
to
this
country,
and
we
are
told
how
in
Holland
the
threshold
of
the
newly-married
couple
was
strewn
with
flowers,
the
laurel
being
as
a
rule
most
conspicuous
among
the
festoons.
Lastly,
the
use
of
flowers
in
paying
honours
to
the
dead
has
been
from
time
immemorial
most
widespread.
Instances
are
so
numerous
that
it
is
impossible
to
do
more
than
quote
some
of
the
most
important,
as
recorded
in
our
own
and
other
countries.
For
detailed
accounts
of
these
funereal
floral
rites
it
would
be
necessary
to
consult
the
literature
of
the
past
from
a
very
early
period,
and
the
result
of
such
inquiries
would
form
material
enough
for
a
goodly-sized
volume.
Therespect
for
the
dead
among
the
early
Greeks
was
very
great,
and
Miss
Lambert[6]
quotes
the
complaint
of
Petala
to
Simmalion,
in
the
Epistles
of
Alciphron,
to
show
how
special
was
the
dedication
of
flowers
to
the
dead:--"I
have
a
lover
who
is
a
mourner,
not
a
lover;
he
sends
me
garlands
and
roses
as
if
to
deck
a
premature
grave,
and
he
says
he
weeps
through
the
live-long
night."
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
