Notes for lines 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand
| 3161 Of Crowflowers, Nettles, Daises, and long Purples | 4.7.69 |
|---|
1754 Grey
Grey
3161-3 Of . . .
fingers]
Grey (1754, pp. 302-3) : <p. 302> “Some conjecture these to be the flowers of the </p. 302> /<p. 303>
arum , whose pointal, or style, (as the
Botanists call it), is purple, and of a shape somewhat resembling a
finger . But as this is inclosed, and entirely covered with a green membraneous sheath these flowers would make but an odd figure even in a mad
garland , and would add nothing to the shew. Besides, the common names of
wake-robin , &c. can neither of them be call’d grosser than ordinary.
“The flowers of this orchis , or satyrium , seem to answer this description much better. They grow in a long spike, and are commonly of a purple colour ; the different species of this plant from their bulbous roots, being often found double, have had the grosser names of goat’s stones , or fool stones , bestowed upon them. And as the purple colour (especially in barren soils) is apt to degenerate, and grow fainter, the maidenly name of dead mens fingers very aptly and properly expressed the pale blue flesh-coloured appearance of these flowrs. Vide Raii Synops. per Dillen , p. 376. Dr. T.” </p. 303>
1773 v1773
v1773 contra Grey (abbreviated)
3161 long Purples] Steevens (ed. 1773): “Long purples mean the plant called Arum.”
1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773 +
3161 long Purples] Steevens (ed. 1778) : “By long purple is meant a plant, the modern botanical name of which is orchis morio mas, anciently testiculus morionis . The grosser name by which it passes, is sufficiently known in many parts of England, and particularly in the county where Shakespeare lived. Thus far Mr. Warner. Mr. Collins adds, that in Sussex it is still called dead men’s hands ; and that in Lyte’s Herbal, 1578, its various names, too gross for repetition, are preserved. STEEVENS”
1780 mals
mals : See n. 3162
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778 +
3161 long Purples] Steevens (ed. 1785) : “ Dead men’s thumbs are mentioned in an ancient bl[ack]. l[etter]. ballad, entitled The Deceased Maiden Louer : ‘Then round the meddowes did she walke Catching each flower by the stalke, Such as within the meddowes grew As dead mans thumbe and hare-bell blew.’”
1787 ann
ann = v1785 (-v1773)
3161 long Purples]
1790 mal
Mal = v1778 , malsi (this note is found at 3162)
3161 long Purples] Malone (ed. 1790) : “One of the grosser names of this plant Gertrude had a particular reason to avoid:— the rampant widow . Liberal is free-spoken, licentious in language. So, in (Oth a.s.l [0000]): “Is he not a most profane and liberal counsellor? Again, in A Woman’s a Weathercock , by N. Field, 1612: ‘— —Next that, the fame Of your neglect, and liberal- talking tongue, Which breeds my honour an eternal wrong.’”
-1790 mWesley
mWesley
3161 long Purples] Wesley (typescript of ms. notes in ed. 1785): “Of which the English is ‘a fool’s testicle’. Ochis Morio Mas is the Male Herb Fool. These commentators are strange folk; the knowledge they have they keep close to themselves, and treat us with little else than their nonsense.”
1791- Rann
rann
3161 long Purples] Rann (ed. 1791-) : “the flowers of the orchis, or satyrium.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = v1785
3161 long Purples]
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
3161 long Purples]
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
3161 long Purples]
1819 cald1
cald1 = v1778 (without attribution) , MAL (from ‘One . . . avoid’)
CALDECOTT gives MALONE credit for the entire note, excising STEEVENS
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813 + see n. 3162
3161 long Purples] Reed (apud Boswell, ed. 1821): “ Licentious . See (Ado a.s.l. [0000]). vo. vii. p. 110; and (Oth 2.1. [0000]. Reed.”
v1821
3161 long Purples] Boswell (ed. 1821, 21:Glossary): “a flower.”
1822 Nares
Nares : v1821 (v1778 note)
3161 long Purples] Nares (1822; 1906): “s. One of the names for a species of orchis, probably the orchis mascula, or early purples, a common English flower; which, from the form of its root, had several fanciful, and not very decent names. [cites Ham]
“Mr. Steevens quotes an old ballad, where they are dead mens thumbs. See Lyte, and Gerard, in Orchis. Purples was also the name of a disease.”
1824 FarrenN
FarrenN
3161 Of . . .
Purples]
Farren (1824, pp. 192-3): <p. 192>“Shakespeare has displayed a knowledge and love of flowers in several of his plays; but in no instance has he shown his taste and judgment in the selection of them with greater effect, than in forming the coronet-wreath of this lovely maniac. The Queen describes the garland as composed of
crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and
long-purples; and there ought to be no question that Shakspeare intended them all to have an emblematic meaning. ‘The crow-flower,’ is a species of lychnis, alluded to by Drayton, in his Polyolbion. It is the lychnis flos cuculi of Linnœus and Miller, and the l. plumaria sylvestris of Parkinson;—the l. cucli flos of C. Bauhin. It is of considerable antiquity, and is described by Pliny under the name of odontitis. The more common English name is meadow-lychnis, or meadow-campion. it is sometimes found double in our own hedge rows—but more commonly in
France, and in this form we are told by Parkinson, it was called ‘
The fayre Mayde of France.’ It is to this name and to this variety that Shakspeare alludes in the present instance.
“The ‘long-purples’ are commonly called ‘dead-men’s-hands’ or ‘fingers.’ ‘Our cold maids do dead-men’s-fingers call them.’
“The ‘daisey’ (or day’s-eye), imports ‘the pure virginity,’ or ‘spring of life,’ as being itself ‘the virgin bloom of the year.’
“The intermixture of nettles requires no comment.
“Admitting the correctness of this interpretation, the whole is an exquisite specimen of emblematic, or picture-writing. they are all wild flowers, denoting the bewildered state of the beautiful Ophelia’s own faculties; and the order runs thus, with the meaning of each term beneath:
“— CROW-FLOWERS. NETTLES. DAISIES. LONG-PURPLES.
Fayre mayde { stung to | Her virgin | under the cold}
{ the quick.
| bloom. | hand of death.} </p. 192> <p. 193
“‘A fair maid stung tot he quick, her virgin bloom under the cold hand of death.’
“It would be difficult to fancy a more emblematic wreath for this interesting victim of disappointed love and filial sorrow. [cites 3435-38]”</p. 193>
1826 sing1
sing1 ≈ v1778 + magenta underlined
3161 long Purples] Singer (ed. 1826) : “The ancient botanical name of the long purples was testiculis morionis, or orchis priapiscus. The grosser name to which the queen alludes is sufficently known in many parts of England. It had kindred appellations in other languages. In Sussex it is said to be called dead men’s hands. Its various names may be seen in Lyte’s Herbal, 1578, or in Cotgrave’s Dictionary.”
1829 Farren
Farren = FarrenN
3161 Of . . . Purples]
1845 gents
Mitford
3161 long Purples]
Mitford (1845, p. 129): <p. 129>“See Stanley’s Poems, vol. i. p. 139. Bion.
§nqea d/_x _dunaj _ruqainetai. ‘Flowers are with grief turned purple.’”</p. 129>
This is volume 23 of Gents’s, February 1845.
1854 del2
del2: mal
3161 long Purples] Delius (ed. 1854) : “Die long purples sind rothe Orchideen; von den volkshümlichen, grˆberen Namen, welche die unanständig dreisten Schäfer (liberal shephards [3162) der Blume beilegen, führt Malone nur einen an the rampant widow.” [“The long purples are red orchids from the vulgar, coarse names which the obscene, saucy shephards (liberal shephards) supply for the flowers. Malone cites only the rampant widow.”]
1856 hud1 (1851-6)
hud1 = sing1 without attribution + see n. 3162
3161 long Purples]
1856 sing2
sing2 = sing1
3161 long Purples]
1857 elze1
elze1
3161 long Purples] Elze (ed. 1857): "Es ist Orchis mascula, knabenwurz, gemeint, die wegen der bekannten Gestalt ihrer Wurzelknollen von den allzufreien ((liberal=licentious)) Landleuten mit verschiedenen unzüchtigen Beinamen belegt wurde. Einen erselben hatte nach Malone’s Bemerkung die Königin ganz b esondern Grund zu scheuen, nämlich: the rampant widow.—Nares s. Purples." ["It is the orchis mascula, meaning a young spice [boy root?],common, because the well-known form of its bulb was reserved from the liberal people with this abbreviated, lewd nickname. According to Malone’s remarks, the queen had to avoid the same [flower] for an entirely special reason, namely, ’the rampant widow.’"]
1864c c&mc
c&mc ≈ standard
3161 Purples]
1865 hal
hal = mal
3161 Purples]
1869 Romdahl
Romdahl : standard
3161 Purples]
Romdahl (1869, p. 40): <p. 40>“a species of Orchis, probably Orchis mascula.” </p. 40>
1869 tsch
tsch
3161 Crowflowers, long Purples] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Unter crow-flowers versteht man die Lychnis-Arten, und scheint hier vorzugsweise Lycnhis Flos. Cucli, oder Gauchnelke gemeint zu sein. Long purples sind die Orchideen, hier vorzugsweise orchis mascula, bei uns von der Form der Wurzelknollen Knabenkraut, vom gemeinen Volke in England (liberal shepherds) dog’s stone, testiculos caninus genannt; daher auch der alte Name: testiculus morionis für orchis morio.” [“Among crow-flowers one understands the Lychnis-Arten, and it seems here to mean chiefly Lychnis Flos. Cucli or “Fool’s carnation[?]. Long purples are the orchids, here chiefly orchis mascula, by us the form of the orchis tuber, named by common folk in England (liberal shepherds) dog’s stone, testiculous caninus; from which also the old name, testiculus morionis for orchis morio.”]
1872 cln1
cln1: standard
3161 Crowflowers] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “In Gerard’s Herbal, ed. 1597, pp. 480, 481, crow-flowers are identified with ‘Wilde Williams,’ ‘Marsh gilloflowers,’ and ‘Cuckowe gilloflowers.’ ‘These,’ he adds, ‘are not vsed either in medicine or in nourishment: but they serue for garlands by Gerard as having various names, Latin and English, in common, are more precisely distinguished by Prior, Popular Names of British Plants, p. 92.”
cln1 : standard
3161 long Purples] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “long purples, says Prior, p. 138, ‘are supposed to be the purple flowered Orchis Mascula.’”
1873 rug2
rug2 ≈ standard
3161 long Purples] Moberly (ed. 1873): “Supposed to be the purple-flowered ‘Orchis mascula.’”
1877 v1877
v1877 : Farren ; Beisley ; v1778 (only “In Lyte’s Herbal . . . are preserved”) ; MAL (only “One of the grosser names . . . rampant widow.”) ; Beisley
3161 Of . . .
Purples]
Beisley (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Crow-flowers’ are the
bulbous crowfoot, Ranunculus bulbosus, and the
meadow crowfoot, R. acris. The most common ‘nettles’ which blossom early are the
white dead-nettle, Lamium album, and the
purple dead-nettle, L. purpureum. ‘Daisy,’ Bellis perennis; the only British species, blossoms all the year, and is one of the earliest flowers of spring.”
3161 Of . . .
Purples]
Farren (
apud Furness, ed. 1877): “
This line is an exquisite specimen of emblematic, or picture-writing.
The ‘crow-flower,’ according to Parkinson, was called The fayre Mayde of France; the ‘long purples’ are dead men’s fingers; the ‘daisy’ imports pure virginity or spring of life, as being itself ‘the virgin bloom of the year. The order runs thus, with the meaning of each term beneath:
“— CROW-FLOWERS. NETTLES. DAISIES. LONG-PURPLES.
Fayre mayde { stung to | Her virgin | under the cold}
{ the quick. | bloom. | hand of death.}
“‘A fair maid stung to the quick, her virgin bloom under the cold hand of death.’
3161 Of . . .
Purples]
Beisley (
apud Furness, ed. 1877): This is the
early purple orchiis, Orchis mascula, which blossoms in April and May. The ‘cold maids’ mistook one of the other orchids, having
palmated roots, for ‘long purples.’ The
spotted palmae orchiis, Orchis masculata, and the
marsh orchis, O. latifolia, have palmated roots, and are called ‘dead men’s fingers,’ which they somewhat resemble. [See also
The Garden, 19 Sept. 1874}.”
1877 neil
neil : Beisley (via v1877) : Farren ?
3161 Neil (ed. 1877, Notes): “Beisly supplies in his Shakespeare’s Garden, p. 159, the following explanation of this line from ‘the language of flowers:’ [repeats above chart from Farren]
3161 Crowflowers] Neil (ed. 1877, Notes): “Perhaps the Allium vineale or crow-garlick, which grows as tall as the midsummer corn, and holds up its pale pink flowers boldly among it; and perhaps some one of the many sorts of the buttercup; both kinds of wild flowers grow prolifically along the reaches of the Avon”
3161 Nettles] Neil (ed. 1877, Notes): “The (Urtica áieica) common bright, ovate-leaved, greyish-green flowered plant, whose sharp sting is so well known.”
3161 long Purples] Neil (ed. 1877, Notes): “We have seen the fine-ly tined spikes of the purpose loose-strife (Lythum salicaria) in abundance on the banks of the Avon, near Stratford, with stems fully a yard in length; but mnay commentators consider the meadow purple-flowered orchis (mascula) rather than this, to be the long purple to which Shakespeare refers.”
1882 Elze2
Elze2
3161 long Purples] Elze (ed. 1882): “Generally understood to refer to the orchis mascula. According to Sternberg, The Dialect and Folkore of Northamptonshire (London, 1851) and Miss Baker’s Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases (London, 1854), however, long purple means ‘the purple loosestrife, Lithrum [Lythrum] salicaria’, and Mr. Sam. Neil ad loc. assures us, that he has seen ‘the finely-tinted spikes of the purple loose-strife (Lythum [sic] salicaria) in abundance on the banks of the Avon, near Stratford, with stems fully a yard in length’.”
1885 macd
macd
3161 Crowflowers] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Ranunculus: Sh. Lex.”
1885 mull
mull ≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
1890 irv2
irv 2: standard (v1877?)
3161 Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “R.C.A. Prior, Popular Names of British Plants, 1863, has: ‘Crow-flower, the buttercup from the resemblance of its leaf to a crow’s foot, Ranunculus acris and bulbosus, L., but in old authors often applied to the Ragged Robin, Lychnis flos cuculi, L; ‘ and ‘Long Purples of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, 4.7, supposed to be the purple flowered Orchis mascula, L.”
1891 oxf1
oxf1 : standard
3161 Purples] Craig (ed. 1891: Glossary): “the purple orchis [orchis mascula].”
1899 ard1
Ard1 ≈ Cln1 (Gerarde’s Herbal) ; Irv (butter-cup and ragged robbin definition)
3161 Crowflowers] Dowden (ed. 1899): “butter-cup, but used formerly of ragged-robbin. In Gerarde’s Herbal identified with ‘Wilde Williams, Marsh Gillowflours, and Cockow Gellofloures.’”
Ard1
3161 long Purples] Dowden (ed. 1899): “According to Ellacombe ‘the common purple orchises of the woods and meadows. The name of Dead Men’s Fingers was given to them from the pale palmate roots of some of the species.’”
1905 rltr
rltr : standard
3161 long Purples]
1906 nlsn
nlsn: standard
3161 long Purples] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary)
1931 crg1
crg1 ≈ standard
3161 Crowflowers]
crg1 ≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
1934 cam3
cam3 : standard
3161 Crowflowers] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary): “buttercup (but also applied occasionally to the ragged robin and the wild hyacinth).”
cam3 : standard
3161 long Purples] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary)
1939 kit2
Kit2 ≈ standard
3161 Crowflowers]
Kit2 ≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
Kit2 ≈ standard
3161 Purples] Kittredge (ed. 1936, Glossary):
1942 N&H
N&H ≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
1947 cln2
cln2 ≈ standard
3161 Crowflowers]
cln2 ≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
1951 alex
alex ≈ standard
3161 Crowflowers] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)
alex ≈ standard
3161 long Purples] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)
1951 crg2
crg2=crg1
3161 Crowflowers]
crg2=crg1
3161 long Purples]
1974 evns1
evns1 ≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
1980 pen2
pen2 ≈ standard
3161 Crowflowers]
pen2 ≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
1982 ard2
ard2 ≈ standard +
3161 Crowflowers] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “ragged robins. See [3158] LN[Longer Notes].”
3161 Crowflowers, Nettles, Daises, and long Purples]
Jenkins (ed. 1982, Longer Notes, 545-6): <p. 545> “Of these,
nettles need little comment:
all Shakespeare’s other references to them ((eleven)) are notably if unsurprisingly unfavourable ((see e.g. [Tmp. 2.1.138 (0000)], and esp. [Lr. 4.4.4-5 (0000)]. They are useless or noxious weeds, associated with pain, poison, or (([Tit. 2.3.272 (0000)])) betrayal. For daisies and forsaken love see [4.5.181 (0000)] and [4.5.173-83]LN [Longer Notes]. As for the other two, with flower names from the time before Linnaeus, even when these are still familar, it is often impossible to be certain what plant is being referred to.
The mistaken assumption that crow-flowers are buttercups under an earlier name arises though confusion betwen the crow-flower and the crowfoot, which for Elizabethan botanists are entirely different plants. The crow-flower, which they classify as
lychnis not
ranunculus, which they often specifically identify with
lychnis flos-cuculi, and which Lyte and Gerard alternatively call wild William, marsh gilloflower, or cuckoo gillowflower, is evidently therefore the flower we know as the ragged robin. ((The doubts expressed by Gerard concern not the English flower referred to but its proper classification.)) It is perhaps a symbolc of dejection.
Long purples, though the name does not occur in contemporary herbals, have been recognized from Shakespeare’s account of them and their names (([3161-2] and nn.)) as a kind of wild orchis. Among the various species the favoured candidate is
orchis mascula, though Beisly points to a confusion in the popular nomenclature when the name
dead man’s fingers, appropriate for a plant which has palmate roots, is extended to a species which has not ((
Shakespeare’s Garden, p. 160)). See also
N&Q, x, 225-7; Grindon,
The Shakespeare Flora, p. 129; Britten and Holland,
Dictionary of English Plant Names. The modern conjectures—recently revived and refuted ((
SQ, xxix ((1978)), 413-17; xxx ((1979)), 397-402))—which would replace the orchis by the cuckoo pint ((
aurum maculatum)) depend largely on the curious assumption that </p. 545> <p. 546>only a phallic shape can inspire
a grosser name ((for which, however, see [n. 3162].”
3161 long Purples] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Usually identified, more or less confidently, with a kind of wild orchis which suits the name by the purple spike of its inflorescence and is said to have been known as dead men’s fingers [3162]. See [3161] LN [Longer Notes; above].”
1984 chal
chal : standard (Gerard’s Herbal)
3161 Crowflowers]
chal : standard
3161 long Purples]
1985 cam4
cam4 ≈ ard2 (Gerard’s Herbal )
3161 Crowflowers]
cam4 ≈ standard +
3161 long Purples] Edwards (ed. 1985): “((See NV [v1877] and OED sv Dead men’s fingers.))”
1987 oxf4
oxf4 : Q1
3161 Hibbard (ed. 1987): “While the precise designation of some of these wild flowers has been the subject of dispute, there seems to be general agreement that all are flowers of the early spring and thus suitable for Ophelia to pick and wear. It is, perhaps, significant that the reporter of Q1 was unable to remember the name of a single one of them and, consequently, lumped them all together as ‘sundry sorts of flowers’.”
oxf4 ≈ standard
3161 Crowflowers]
oxf4 ≈ standard
3161 Nettles] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “The plant referred to is probably the dead-nettle, which has leaves like those of the ordinary nettle but does not sting. Some bear white flowers, other purple flowers, thus fitting into the general pattern of colours—red, white, and purple—in the garlands.”
oxf4 : OED
3161 long Purples] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “The flower intended is probably the Orchis mascula ((OED long a. 1 17c)).”
1988 bev2
bev2: standard
3161 long Purples]
1992 fol2
fol2≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
1993 dent
dent ≈ standard
3161 long Purples]
3161
