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mentions a curious evil among cattle. He says if a shrew-mouse run over a beast “it feebleth his hinder parts and maketh him unable to go. The cure is to draw him under, or beat him with a Bramble, which groweth at both ends in the furrowes of corne lands.” Markham was a noted authority on Husbandry and Farriery in the early part of the seventeenth century, and he gives advice for the various ills afflicting horses. For nightmare he prescribed balls composed of Aniseed, Liquorice and Garlic, and other ingredients. For toothache, Ale or Vinegar, in which Betony has been seethed; and loose teeth are to be rubbed with the leaves of Elecampane, which will “fasten” them. Stubwort (wood-sorrel), “lapped in red Dock leafe and roasted in hot cinders, will eat away the dead flesh in a sore,” and any “splint, iron, thorne or stub” may be drawn out by an application of Yarrow, Southernwood, Cummin-seed, Fenugreek and Ditany, bruised with black soap. Horse Mint, Wormwood and Dill are other herbs recommended by this author.

[109] Timbs.

Gerarde says that the leaves of Arsmart (Persicaria) rubbed on the back of a tired horse, and a “good handfull or two laid under the saddle, will wonderfully refresh him;” and Le petit Albert gives a recipe for making a horse go further in one hour than another would go in eight. You must begin by mingling a handful of “Satyrion” in his oats, and anointing him with the fat of a deer; then when you are mounted and ready to start “vous lui tournerez la têté du coté de soleil levant et vous penchant sur son oreille gauche vous prononçerez trois fois à voix basse les paroles suivantes et vous partirez aussi tôt: Gaspar, Melchior, Merchisard. T’ajonte à cecy que si vous suspenderez au col du cheval les grosses dents d’un loup qui aura étè tué en courant, le cheval ne sera pas fatigue de sa course.” No doubt these proceedings were carried out by the traveller with an air of mystery, and must have impressed the bystanders, but one wonders what the rider thought of them after an hour’s journeying? Satyrion is a kind of orchis. There was a herb called Sferro Cavallo which was supposed to be able to break locks or draw off the shoes of the horses that passed over it. Sir Thomas Browne speaks of it in his “Popular Errors,” and laughs the idea to scorn, and “cannot but wonder at Matthiolus, who, upon a parallel in Pliny, was staggered into suspension” [of judgment]. This plant was probably the Horse-shoe Vetch, whose seed-vessels, being in the shape of horse-shoes, may have given rise to the superstition; but Grimm thought it was the Euphorbia Lathyris. The same belief is found in different countries, referred to other plants; the French thought that Rest Harrow had this marvellous property, and Culpepper tells the same tale about the Moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria), which had the country name of Unshoe-the-Horse. “Besides, I have heard commenders say that in White Down in Devonshire, near Tiverton, there were found thirty horse-shoes, pulled off from the feet of the Earl of Essex’s horses, being then drawn up in a body, many of them being but newly shod, and no reason known, which caused much admiration, and the herb described usually grows upon heaths.” One would hardly have thought that “admiration” was the feeling evoked, but perhaps nobody concerned was pressed for time!

Hound’s Tongue (Cynoglossum officinale) was believed to have the remarkable property that it will “tye the tongues of Houndes, so that they shall not bark at you, if it be laid under the bottom of your feet.”

In Markham’s advice about domestic animals, he alludes to a “certaine stage of madnesse” which attacks rabbits, and says that the cure is Hare-Thistle (Sonchus oleraceus). The “Grete Herbal” called this plant the “Hare’s Palace.” “For yf the hare come under it, he is sure that no best can touche hym.”

These statements lead one to feel that once upon a time, the world was much more like the world of Richard Jefferies than it is, and that “wood magic” was nearer to our forefathers than to ourselves. Nowadays, when everything travels more quickly along the road of life, the eyes of ordinary mortals get confused with the movement and the jostling and they do not see the pretty by-play that goes on in the bushes by the way, nor peer into the depths of the woodland beyond. In this they lose a good deal, but no one can “put back the clock,” and one must feel grateful that the idylls of the forest are still being acted, and that there are still men whose vision is quick enough to catch sight of them, and whose pens have the cunning to put before others the glimpses that they themselves have caught.

A legend exists about the Cormorant, the Bat, and the Bramble—quite inconsequent, but not wholly out of place here, so it shall serve as a conclusion.

Once the Cormorant was a wool merchant and he took for partners the Bat and the Bramble. They freighted a large ship with wool, but she was wrecked and then they were bankrupt. Ever since that, the Cormorant is diving into the deep, looking for the lost ship; the Bat skulks round till midnight, so that he may not meet his creditors, and the Bramble catches hold of every passing sheep to try and make up for his loss by stealing wool. No doubt, you have often noticed their ways, but did you ever before know their reasons?

TUSSER’S LIST Seeds and Herbs for the Kitchen.  1. Avens.  2. Betony.  3. Bleets or beets, white or yellow.  4. Bloodwort.  5. Bugloss.  6. Burnet.  7. Borrage.  8. Cabbages, remove in June.  9. Clary. 10. Coleworts. 11. Cresses. 12. Endive. 13. Fennel. 14. French Mallows. 15. French Saffron, set in August. 16. Lang de beef. 17. Leeks, remove in June. 18. Lettuce, remove in May. 19. Longwort (Lungwort). 20. Liverwort (probably Agrimonia Eupatoria). 21. Marigolds, often cut. 22. Mercury (Chenopodium Bonus Henricus). 23. Mints, at all times. 24. Nep (Nepeta Cataria). 25. Onions, from December to March. 26. Orache or arache, red and white (Atriplex hortensis). 27. Patience. 28. Parsley. 29. Penny-royal. 30. Primrose. 31. Poret (a leek or small onion according to some writers, Garlick). 32. Rosemary, in the spring time, to grow south or west. 33. Sage, red or white. 34. English Saffron, set in August. 35. Summer Savory. 36. Sorrell. 37. Spinage. 38. Succory. 39. Siethes (Chives). 40. Tansey. 41. Thyme. 42. Violets of all sorts. Herbs and Roots for Salads and Sauce.  1. Alexanders at all times.  2. Artichokes.  3. Blessed Thistle, or Carduus Benedictus.  4. Cucumbers, in April and May.  5. Cresses, sow with lettuce in the spring.  6. Endive.  7. Mustard-seed, sow in the spring, and at Michaelmas.  8. Musk, Mellion, in April and May.  9. Mints. 10. Purslane. 11. Radish, and after remove them. 12. Rampions. 13. Rocket, in April. 14. Sage. 15. Sorrell. 16. Spinage, for the summer. 17. Sea-holy. 18. Sparage, let grow two years and then remove. 19. Skirrets, set these plants in March. 20. Succory. 21. Tarragon, set in slips in March. 22. Violets of all colours.
These buy with the penny Or look not for any.  1. Capers.  2. Lemons.  3. Olives.  4. Oranges.  5. Rice.  6. Samphire. Herbs and Roots, to Boil or to Butter.  1. Beans, set in winter.  2. Cabbages, sow in March and after remove.  3. Carrots.  4. Citrons, sow in May.  5. Gourds, in May.  6. Navews, sow in June (Brassica Napus).  7. Pompions, in May.  8. Parsnips, in winter.  9. Runcival Pease, set in winter. 10. Rapes, sow in June. 11. Turnips, in March and April. Strewing Herbs of all Sorts.  1. Basil, fine and busht, sow in May.  2. Balm, set in March.  3. Camomile.  4. Costmary.  5. Cowslips and Paggles.  6. Daisies of all sorts.  7. Sweet Fennell.  8. Germander.  9. Hyssop, set in February. 10. Lavender (Lavendula vera). 11. Lavender Spike (L. spica). 12. Lavender Cotton. 13. Marjoram, knotted, sow or set in the spring. 14. Maudeline. 15. Pennyroyal. 16. Roses of all sorts, in January and September. 17. Red Mints. 18. Sage. 19. Tansy. 20. Violets. 21. Winter Savory. Herbs, Branches, and Flowers for Windows.  1. Bays, sow or plant in January.  2. Bachelor’s Buttons.  3. Bottles, blue, red, and tawny.  4. Columbines.  5. Campions.  6. Cowslips (Tusser here meant Oxlips).  7. Daffodils or Daffodondillies.  8. Eglantine or Sweet-Brier.  9. Fetherfew. 10. Flower Amour, sow in May (Amaranthus). 11. Flower de Luce. 12. Flower-Gentle, white and red (Amaranthus). 13. Flower Nice. 14. Gillyflowers, red, white, and Carnations, set in spring and at harvest in pots, pails, or tubs, or for summer, in beds. 15. Holyoaks, red, white, and Carnations (Hollyhocks). 16. Indian Eye, sow in May, or set in slips in March (Dianthus Plumarius). 17. Lavender of all sorts. 18. Larksfoot (Larkspur). 19. Laus tibi (Narcissus Poeticus). 20. Lillium Convallium. 21. Lilies, red and white, sow or set in March and September. 22. Marigolds, double. 23. Nigella Romana. 24. Pansies, or Heartsease. 25. Paggles, green and yellow (Cowslips). 26. Pinks of all sorts. 27. Queen’s Gilliflowers (Hesperis Matronalis). 28. Rosemary. 29. Roses of all sorts. 30. Snapdragon. 31. Sops in wine (Pinks). 32. Sweet Williams. 33. Sweet Johns (Dianthus Barbatus). 34. Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum Umbellatum). 35. Star of Jerusalem (Tragopogon pratensis). 36. Stock Gilliflowers of all sorts. 37. Tuft Gilliflowers. 38. Velvet flowers, or French Marigolds (Tagetes patula). 39. Violets, yellow and white. 40. Wall Gilliflowers of all sorts. Herbs to still in Summer.  1. Blessed Thistle.  2. Betony.  3. Dill.  4. Endive.  5. Eyebright.  6. Fennel.  7. Fumitory.  8. Hyssop.  9. Mints. 10. Plantane. 11. Roses, red and damask. 12. Respies (Rubus Idæus). 13. Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga or Saxifraga granulata, or perhaps, Carum Carvi). 14. Strawberries. 15. Sorrel. 16. Succory. 17. Woodroffe, for sweet waters and cakes. Necessary Herbs to grow in the Garden for Physic, not rehearsed before.  1. Anise.  2. Archangel (Angelica).  3. Betony.  4. Chervil.  5. Cinquefoil (Potentida reptans).  6. Cummin.  7. Dragons (Arum Maculatum).  8. Dittary or garden ginger (Lepidium Latifolium).  9. Gromwell seed (Lithospernum officinale). 10. Hart’s tongue. 11. Horehound. 12. Lovage. 13. Liquorice. 14. Mandrake. 15. Mugwort. 16. Peony. 17. Poppy. 18. Rue. 19. Rhubarb. 20. Smallage. 21. Saxifrage. 22. Savin. 23. Stitchwort. 24. Valerian. 25. Woodbine.

Thus ends in brief,
Of herbs the chief,
To get more skill,
Read whom ye will;
Such mo to have,
Of field go crave.

AUTHORS REFERRED TO Abercrombie, “Every Man his own Gardener.” Amherst (Hon. Alicia), “A History of Gardening in England.” Ashmole, “History of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.” Bacon, “Sylva Sylvarum; or, a Naturall Historie.” Blount, “Fragmenta Antiquitatis; or Jocular Tenures.” Brand, “Popular Antiquities.” Britten, “A Dictionary of English Plant Names.” Browne (Sir Thomas), “Vulgar Errors.” Clarendon, “History of the Rebellion.” Coles, “Art of Simpling.” Culpepper, “The English Physitian.” Culpepper, “Astrological Judgment of Diseases.” De Gubernatis, La Mythologie des Plantes. De la Quintinye, “The Compleat Gard’ner.” Dillon, Nineteenth Century, April 1894. Dyer (Thistleton), “The Folk-Lore of Plants.” Ellacombe (Canon), “The Plant-Lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare.” Evelyn (J.), “Acetaria, a Discourse of Sallets,” 1699. Favyn (André), Le Théâtre d’honneur et de Chevatries, 1620. Favyn (André), “Theatre of Honour.” Fernie, “Herbal Simples.” Folkard, “Plant-Lore, Legends and Lyrics.” Friend, “Flowers and Flower-Lore.” Fuller, “Church History.” Fuller, “Antheologia; or, the Speech of Flowers.” Gerarde, “The Herball,” 1596. The “Grete Herball,” 1516. Guillim, “Heraldry.” Hakluyt’s Voyages, “Remembrances for Master S.,” 1582. Harrison’s “Description of England.” “History of Signboards.” Hogg, “The Vegetable Kingdom and its Products.”
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