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4 3 2 p F a n t b o re , b e g e í^ / , a n i. btjríey.
Daisy, to St. Margaret of Hungary, who was martyred in the
thirteenth century; but in an old legend it is stated
“ There is a double flowret, white and red,
That our lasses call Herb Margaret,
In honour of Cortona’s penitent,
Whose contrite soul with red remorse was rent ;
While on her penitence kind Heaven did throw
The white of purity surpassing snow ;
So white and red in this fair flower entwine,
Which maids are wont to scatter at her shrine.”
This St. Margaret of Cortona, who in mediæval days was very popular,
had for some years, says Mrs. Jameson, led an abandoned life,
but having repented and been canonised, she was regarded by the
people of her native town as a modern Magdalene ; and, like her
prototype, was supposed, on account of her early habits, to preside
over uterine diseases, and others peculiar to young women. The
Daisy, and other flowers which were supposed from their shape
to resemble the Moon, were by the ancients dedicated to the virgin
goddess of the night, Artemis, or Diana: but in Christian times
were transferred to the two saints who replace her, namely, St.
Mary Magdalene and St. Margaret of Cortona. Dr. Prior, in his
work on plant names, points out that this latter saint has often
been confounded with a St. Margaret of Antioch, who was “ invoked
as another Lucina, because in her martyrdom she prayed for lying-
in-women.” This maiden of Antioch is described in old metrical
legends as
“ Maid Marguerite that was so meeke and milde.”
The Daisy has been connedfed with several eminent women of the
name of Margaret. Margaret of Anjou wore the flower as her device,
and had it embroidered on the robes of her courtiers. Lady
Margaret, the mother of Henry V IL , wore three white Daisies ;
Margaret, the sister of Francis I., also wore the Daisy, and was
called by her brother his Marguerite of Marguerites—his pearl of
pearls. (See Daisy).
M A R IG O L D .— The African Marigold [Tagetes ereda) is
regarded as a sacred flower in Northern India, where the natives
adorn the trident emblem of Mahâdeva with garlands of it ; and
both men and women wear chaplets made of its flowers on his
festival. The Romans named the European Marigold Calendula
—the flower of the Calends—from a notion that it blossoms the
whole year. In the oldest of English herbáis, the ‘ Grete Herball,’
the Marigold is called Mary Gowles, but by the old poets it is
frequently alluded to as 'Gold simply, and it is still called Goiiles
or Goulans in some counties of England. Another old English
name for these flowers was Ruddes. From its tawny yellow
blossom the Marigold is presumed to have been the Chrusanthemon,
or Gold Flower, of the Greeks. In mediæval times, this flower,
along with numerous others, was dedicated by the monks and nuns
p P a n t b o ro , b c g e ^ / , ciTii. bLjric/, 4 3 3
to the Virgin, and had the prefix Mary appended to its name.
According to an old tradition, however, the Marigold was so called
because the Virgin Mary wore this flower in her bosom. Shakspeare,
in ( Cymbeline,’ speaks of the flower as the Mary-bud, and
m ‘ A Winter’s Tale,’ alludes to its habit of closing at’ sunset and
opening at sunrise :—
“ The Marigold that goes to bed witli the sun,
And with him rises weeping,”
Linnaeus states that the flower is usually open from 9 a.m. till
3 p.m., and this foreshows a continuance of dry weather. Should the
blossom remain closed, rain may be expecfied. This circumstance,
and the plant’s habit of turning its golden face towards the sun, has
gained for it the name of the “ Sun-flower ” and the “ Spouse ol
the Sun. Marguerite of Orleans, the maternal grandmother of
Henri IV., chose for her armorial device a Marigold turning
towards the sun, and for a motto, " J e ne veux siiivre que lui seulT
In America, Marigolds are called Death-flowers, in reference
to an existing tradition that the crimson and gold-coloured blossoms
sprang upon ground stained by the life-blood of those unfortunate
Mexicans who fell vicfiims to the love of gold and arrogant
cruelty of the early Spanish settlers in America. In the reign of
Plenry VH L , the Marigold was called Souvenir, and ladies wore
wreaths of them intermixed Avith Heart’s-ease. To dream of
Marigolds appears to be of happy augury, denoting prosperity,
nches, success, and a happy and wealthy marriage. The
Marigold is deemed by astrologers a Solar herb, under the sign
Leo. '
M A R JO R A M .—The origin of Marjoram (Origanum vulgare:
Greek, Amarakos) is related by the Greeks as follows :—A young
man named Amaracus was employed in the household of Cinyras,
King of Cyprus: one day, when carrying a vase containing perfumes’,
he unfortunately let it fall, and was so frightened at the mishap that
he lost all consciousness, and became metamorphosed into an odoriferous
herb called at first Sampsuchon, and afterwards Amarakos.
According to Rapin, the goddess Venus first raised Sweet Marjoram!
He s a y s :—
“ And the’ Sweet Marjoram will your garden paint
With no gay colours, yet preserve the plant,
Whose fragrance will invite your kind regard,
When her known virtues have her worlh declared:
On Simois’ shore fair Venus raised the plant,
Which from the goddess’ touch derived her scent.”
The Greeks and Roman crowned young married couples with Marjoram,
which in some countries is the symbol of honour. Astrologers
place the herb under the rule of Mercury.
M A R SH M A L L O W .—The name Althea (from a Greek root
meaning to cure) was given to this plant on account of its manifold
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