The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare
attempts they made to keep the monopoly of the profitable spice, is
perhaps the saddest chapter in all the history of commerce. See a full
account with description and plate of the plant in "Bot. Mag.," vol. 54,
No. 2749.
FOOTNOTES:
[56:1] "But then 'tis as full of drollery as ever it can hold; 'tis like
an orange stuck with Cloves as for conceipt."--_The Rehearsal_, 1671,
act iii, sc. 1.
COCKLE.
(1) _Biron._
Allons! allons! sowed Cockle reap'd no Corn.
_Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv, sc. 3 (383).
(2) _Coriolanus._
We nourish 'gainst our senate
The Cockle of rebellion, insolence, sedition,
Which we ourselves have plough'd for, sow'd, and scatter'd,
By mingling them with us.
_Coriolanus_, act iii, sc. 1 (69).
In Shakespeare's time the word "Cockle" was becoming restricted to the
Corn-cockle (_Lychnis githago_), but both in his time, and certainly in
that of the writers before him, it was used generally for any noxious
weed that grew in corn-fields, and was usually connected with the Darnel
and Tares.[57:1] So Gower--
"To sowe Cockel with the Corn
So that the tilthe is nigh forlorn,
Which Crist sew first his owne hond--
Now stant the Cockel in the lond
Where stood whilom the gode greine,
For the prelats now, as men sain,
For slouthen that they shoulden tille."
_Confessio Amantis_, lib. quintus (2-190, Paulli).
Latimer has exactly the same idea: "Oh, that our prelates would bee as
diligent to sowe the corne of goode doctrine as Sathan is to sow Cockel
and Darnel." . . . "There was never such a preacher in England as he
(the devil) is. Who is able to tel his dylygent preaching? which every
daye and every houre laboreth to sowe Cockel and Darnel" (Latimer's
Fourth Sermon). And to the same effect Spenser--
"And thus of all my harvest-hope I have
Nought reaped but a weedie crop of care,
Which when I thought have thresht in swelling sheave,
Cockle for corn, and chaff for barley bare."
The Cockle or Campion is said to do mischief among the Wheat, not only,
as the Poppy and other weeds, by occupying room meant for the better
plant, but because the seed gets mixed with the corn, and then "what
hurt it doth among corne, the spoyle unto bread, as well in colour,
taste, and unwholsomness is better known than desired." So says Gerard,
but I do not know how far modern experience confirms him. It is a pity
the plant has so bad a character, for it is a very handsome weed, with a
fine blue flower, and the seeds are very curious objects under the
microscope, being described as exactly like a hedgehog rolled up.[58:1]
FOOTNOTES:
[57:1] "Cokylle--quædam aborigo, zazannia."--_Catholicon Anglicum._
[58:1] In Dorsetshire the Cockle is the bur of the Burdock. Barnes'
Glossary of Dorset.
COLOQUINTIDA.
_Iago._
The food that to him now is as luscious as Locusts, shall be
to him shortly as bitter as Coloquintida.
_Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (354).
The Coloquintida, or Colocynth, is the dried fleshy part of the fruit of
the Cucumis or Citrullus colocynthis. As a drug it was imported in
Shakespeare's time and long before, but he may also have known the
plant. Gerard seems to have grown it, though from his describing it as a
native of the sandy shores of the Mediterranean, he perhaps confused it
with the Squirting Cucumber (_Momordica elaterium_). It is a native of
Turkey, but has been found also in Japan. It is also found in the East,
and we read of it in the history of Elisha: "One went out into the field
to gather herbs, and found a wild Vine, and gathered thereof wild
Gourds, his lap full."[59:1] It is not quite certain what species of
Gourd is here meant, but all the old commentators considered it to be
the Colocynth,[59:2] the word "vine" meaning any climbing plant, a
meaning that is still in common use in America.
All the tribe of Cucumbers are handsome foliaged plants, but they
require room. On the Continent they are much more frequently grown in
gardens than in England, but the hardy perennial Cucumber (_Cucumis
perennis_) makes a very handsome carpet where the space can be spared,
and the Squirting Cucumber (also hardy and perennial) is worth growing
for its curious fruit. (_See also_ PUMPION.)
FOOTNOTES:
[59:1] 2 Kings iv. 39.
[59:2] "Invenitque quasi vitem sylvestrem, et collegit ex ea
Colocynthidas agri."--_Vulgate._
COLUMBINE.
(1) _Armado._
I am that flower,
_Dumain._
That Mint.
_Longaville._
That Columbine.
_Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (661).
(2) _Ophelia._
There's Fennel for you and Columbines.
_Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (189).
This brings us to one of the most favourite of our old-fashioned English
flowers. It is very doubtful whether it is a true native, but from early
times it has been "carefully nursed up in our gardens for the delight
both of its forme and colours" (Parkinson); yet it had a bad character,
as we see from two passages quoted by Steevens--
"What's that--a Columbine?
No! that thankless flower grows not in my garden."
_All Fools_, by CHAPMAN, 1605.
and again in the 15th Song of Drayton's "Polyolbion"--
"The Columbine amongst they sparingly do set."
Spenser gave it a better character. Among his "gardyn of sweet floures,
that dainty odours from them threw around," he places--
"Her neck lyke to a bounch of Cullambynes."
And, still earlier, Skelton (1463-1529) spoke of it with high praise--
"She is the Vyolet,
The Daysy delectable,
The Columbine commendable,
The Ielofer amyable."--_Phyllip Sparrow._
Both the English and the Latin names are descriptive of the plant.
Columbine, or the Dove-plant, calls our attention to the "resemblance of
its nectaries to the heads of pigeons in a ring round a dish, a
favourite device of ancient artists" (Dr. Prior); or to "the figure of a
hovering dove with expanded wings, which we obtain by pulling off a
single petal with its attached sepals" (Lady Wilkinson); though it may
also have had some reference to the colour, as the word is used by
Chaucer--
"Come forth now with thin eyghen Columbine."
_The Marchaundes Tale_ (190).
The Latin name, _Aquilegia_, is generally supposed to come from
_aquilegus_, a water-collector, alluding to the water-holding powers of
the flower; it may, however, be derived from _aquila_, an eagle, but
this seems more doubtful.
As a favourite garden flower, the Columbine found its way into heraldic
blazonry. "It occurs in the crest of the old Barons Grey of Vitten, as
may be seen in the garter coat of William Grey of Vitten" (Camden
Society 1847), and is thus described in the Painter's bill for the
ceremonial of the funeral of William Lord Grey of Vitten (MS. Coll. of
Arms, i, 13, fol. 35a): "Item, his creste with the favron, or, sette on
a leftehande glove, argent, out thereof issuyinge, caste over threade, a
braunch of Collobyns, blue, the stalk vert." Old Gwillim also enumerates
the Columbine among his "Coronary Herbs," as follows: "He beareth
argent, a chevron sable between three Columbines slipped proper, by the
name of Hall of Coventry. The Columbine is pleasing to the eye, as well
in respect of the seemly (and not vulgar) shape as in regard of the
azury colour thereof, and is holden to be very medicinable for the
dissolving of imposthumations or swellings in the throat."
As a garden plant the Columbine still holds a favourite place. Hardy,
handsome, and easy of cultivation, it commends itself to the most
ornamental as well as to the cottage garden, and there are so many
different sorts (both species and varieties) that all tastes may be
suited. Of the common species (A. vulgaris) there are double and single,
blue, white, and red; there is the beautiful dwarf A. Pyrenaica, never
exceeding six inches in height, but of a very rich deep blue; there are
the red and yellow ones (A. Skinneri and A. formosa) from North America;
and, to mention no more, there are the lovely A. coerulea and the
grand A. chrysantha from the Rocky Mountains, certainly two of the most
desirable acquisitions to our hardy flowers that we have had in late
years.
CORK.
(1) _Rosalind._
I prythee take the Cork out of thy mouth, that I may hear thy
tidings.
_As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (213).
(2) _Clown._
As you'ld thrust a Cork into a hogshead.
_Winter's Tale_, act iii, sc. 3 (95).
(3) _Cornwall._
Bind fast his Corky arms.
_King Lear_, act iii, sc. 7 (28).
It is most probable that Shakespeare had no further acquaintance with
the Cork tree than his use of Corks. The living tree was not introduced
into England till the latter part of the seventeenth century, yet is
very fairly described both by Gerard and Parkinson. The Cork, however,
was largely imported, and was especially used for shoes. Not only did
"shoemakers put it in shoes and pantofles for warmness sake," but for
its lightness it was used for the high-heeled shoes of the fashionable
ladies. I suppose from the following lines that these shoes were a
distinguishing part of a bride's trousseau--
"Strip off my bride's array,
My Cork-shoes from my feet,
And, gentle mother, be not coy
To bring my winding sheet."
_The Bride's Burial_--Roxburghe Ballads.
The Cork tree is a necessary element in all botanic gardens, but as an
ornamental tree it is not sufficiently distinct from the Ilex. Though a
native of the South of Europe it is hardy in England.
CORN.
(1) _Gonzalo._
No use of metal, Corn, or wine, or oil.
_Tempest_, act ii, sc. 1 (154).
(2) _Duke._
Our Corn's to reap, for yet our tithe's to sow.
_Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 1 (76).
(3) _Titania._
Playing on pipes of Corn, (67)
* * * * *
The green Corn
Hath rotted ere his youth attained a beard.
_Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (94).
(4) _K. Edward._
What valiant foemen, like to autumn's Corn,
Have we mowed down in tops of all their pride!
_3rd Henry VI_, act v, sc. 7 (3).
(5) _Pucelle._
Talk like the vulgar sort of market men
That come to gather money for their Corn.
_1st Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (4).
Poor market folks that come to sell their Corn.
_Ibid._ (14).
Good morrow, gallants! want ye Corn for bread?
_Ibid._ (41).
_Burgundy._
I trust, ere long, to choke thee with thine own,
And make thee curse the harvest of that Corn.
_Ibid._ (46).
(6) _Duchess._
Why droops my lord like over-ripened Corn
Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load?
_2nd Henry VI_, act i, sc. 2. (1).
(7) _Warwick._
His well-proportioned beard made rough and ragged
Like to the summer's Corn by tempest lodged.