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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
138
In
our
own
country
the
practice
of
crowning
the
dead
and
of
strewing
their
graves
with
flowers
has
prevailed
from
a
very
early
period,
a
custom
which
has
been
most
pathetically
and
with
much
grace
described
by
Shakespeare
in
"Cymbeline"
(Act
iv.
sc.
2):--
"With
fairest
flowers,
Whilst
summer
lasts,
and
I
live
here,
Fidele,
I'll
sweeten
thy
sad
grave:
thou
shalt
not
lack
The
flower
that's
like
thy
face,
pale
primrose;
nor
The
azured
harebell,
like
thy
veins;
no,
nor
The
leaf
of
eglantine,
whom
not
to
slander,
Out-sweeten'd
not
thy
breath:
the
ruddock
would,
With
charitable
bill,
O
bill,
sore-shaming
Those
rich-left
heirs
that
let
their
fathers
lie
Without
a
monument!
bring
thee
all
this;
Yea,
and
furr'd
moss
besides,
when
flowers
are
none,
To
winter-ground
thy
corse."
Allusions
to
the
custom
are
frequently
to
be
met
with
in
our
old
writers,
many
of
which
have
been
collected
together
by
Brand.[7]
In
former
years
it
was
customary
to
carry
sprigs
of
rosemary
at
a
funeral,
probably
because
this
plant
was
considered
emblematical
of
remembrance:--
"To
show
their
love,
the
neighbours
far
and
near,
Follow'd
with
wistful
look
the
damsel's
bier;
Spring'd
rosemary
the
lads
and
lasses
bore,
While
dismally
the
parson
walked
before."
Gay
speaks
of
the
flowers
scattered
on
graves
as
"rosemary,
daisy,
butter'd
flower,
and
endive
blue,"
and
Pepys
mentions
a
churchyard
near
Southampton
where
the
graves
were
sown
with
sage.
Another
plant
which
has
from
a
remote
period
been
associated
with
death
is
the
cypress,
having
been
planted
by
the
ancients
round
their
graves.
In
our
own
country
it
was
employed
as
a
funeral
flower,
and
Coles
thus
refers
to
it,
together
with
the
rosemary
and
bay:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
