Part 55 (1/2)

(3)

The Lily I condemned for thy hand, And buds of Marjoram had stolen thy hair.

_Sonnet_ xcix.

(4) _Clown._

Indeed, sir, she was the sweet Marjoram of the Salad, or rather the Herb-of-grace.

_All's Well that Ends Well_, act iv, sc. 5 (17).

In Shakespeare's time several species of Marjoram were grown, especially the Common Marjoram (_Origanum vulgare_), a British plant, the Sweet Marjoram (_O. Marjorana_), a plant of the South of Europe, from which the English name comes,[159:1] and the Winter Marjoram (_O.

Horacleotic.u.m_). They were all favourite pot herbs, so that Lyte calls the common one ”a delicate and tender herb,” ”a n.o.ble and odoriferous plant;” but, like so many of the old herbs, they have now fallen into disrepute. The comparison of a man's hair to the buds of Marjoram is not very intelligible, but probably it was a way of saying that the hair was golden.

FOOTNOTES:

[159:1] See ”Catholicon Anglic.u.m,” s.v. Marioron and note.

MARYBUDS, _see_ MARIGOLD.

MAST.

_Timon._

The Oaks bear Mast, the Briers scarlet hips.

_Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (174).

We still call the fruit of beech, beech-masts, but do not apply the name to the acorn. It originally meant food used for fatting, especially for fatting swine. See note in ”Promptorium Parvulorum,” p. 329, giving several instances of this use, and Strattmann, s.v. Maest.

MEDLAR.

(1) _Apemantus._

There's a Medlar for thee, eat it.

_Timon._

On what I hate I feed not.

_Apemantus._