Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1894-12-19
FLOWERS AS EMBLEMS.
A Form OF Heraldry Whose Mys.
teriea Arc Past Finding Out


teriea Are Past Finding Out
Love, Historical and Romantic, Rogardina
the Various Floral Badges Told Of In
Ancient and Modern Myths,
Traditions and Theories.
"a good symbol" It was the opinion Of
Emerson, sis the best argument, and IL .
missionary to persuade thousands. There
II no more welcome gift to men than Q new
symbol" This, says the London Standard,
may possibly account for the rise, popular.
ity and persistence Of floral symbols.
Yet it seems dimcult 70 explain why
Wales should have chosen the Ieek for its
cognixance. though the Cymric poets have
good deal to say about the broom. The
Scottish thistle 10 more 70 the point. Yet
the northern botAnistS are by NO means ct
one in assigning that Aeraldic plant to any
known species, or even in agreeing that Il
u Carduus at all. The plant with which
Holyrood 10 decksd on festive days IL usual
y the cotton thistle, which II certainly not
Q wild plant In North Britain. The rose has,
OF course. romantic tale TO explain its
choice a. the emblem Of old England,
though, like the majority Of such tales, this
legend may belong 70 the myths Of the
post hoe, prOptSv hoe order. The heur-de
OF France II still less easy Of explanation.
For, though IL Is conventicnally regarded %
LILY, the heraldic painters have 90 eRectu.
ally disguised IL that 10 Il now Q mere
matter Of choice 70 say what It is. As early
a. the year 1911 0ivillin (who was in those
days considered Q cunning finder out Of
hidden thinRS) regarded the device on the
Bourbon nag e. ~thres toads," and IL -
affirmed that IL was IN siiusion 70 those sup
posed sym6ols - their country that the
popular nickname 81 "JeaA Crapauds" was
bestowed On the Breach people. 6tiil more
recently. owing % coYtain ornaments 70.
sembling bees AAyinR been fouad In the
tomb Of ChfideSie.. father Of Clovis, Il has
been theugAt tAat Psrhaps these insects,
and mot lulss o. seads. are represented On
the white AaR. -
N would Oortaiall - dimeuit for any one
70 explain why Ference adopted the "RiGiie
blancos" Prussia the lime, 6axony the mig.
nonette. Or IrelAad the shamrock, unless,
indeed, We arc - aecept without question
the legend fSt. Patrick and his demonStra,
ton through IL Of the mystery II the Trim.
ity. Nor II Il much easier for any one whe
u critical anent popular myths 70 account
for the white lily being the badge Of the
Ghibellines, and the red Of the Guelphs, any
moro than IL 10 expiieabl0 why the Yorkists
took the white rose and the Lancastrisns
the red, or why the AeartseAse was tho en-
blem Of the ''violet-crowned" city Of Athens.
Again, why was Apollo supposed 70 love
the laurel and tho cornell cherry, Pluto the
cypress and tho maiden hair-a moisture.
loving fern. which We may take for grant
ed could not be very plentiful In his chosen
realm-LunA the dittany, Ceres the dafHo-
dill, Jupiter the oak, Minerva the olive,
Bacchus the vine, and Venus tho myrtle
shaded
Why. again, Is the Canterbury.bell the
flower OF st. AuguStinei Why 10 the GRO
Gus the emblem Of St. Valentine-unlesa Il
happens to appear about his festival time
the cardamine Of the Virgin Mary, or the
st. John's-wort Of tho beloved apostlei Mr..
CONNIE may, perhaps, hint ct these flowers
having been "totems," and possibly tho
howere were actually favorites with those
whose cogniEanco they became after their
death or were borne on their shields az
heraidic emblems during life, But still,
the endless floral badges Of the highland
clans are left In the regions Of airy myth,
like tho betony which was apportioned to
st. Rfraed IS symbol Of the double share
OF grace with which he was endowed or
the lily OF st. Thomas ABeckett, or the
convallaria, which, according to hagjolog-
toal myth, sprang up from the blood of the
dragon which st. Leonard slew In a wood
standing on the site now occupied by the
suburb Of Hastings bearing his name.
1t Is scarce ly less pulling to give req
sonable explanation Of why certain flowers
are assigned to, or have been appropriated
by, certain individuals.
The Napoleonic violet IL q case In point.
FAe modest plant which once made all
Paris fragrant on the Ronapartist fete day
was never IN object OF concern to the "Iit.
tie Corporal, and only very crsdulous peo-
pie now swallow the romantic legend Of his
telling his adherents, when banished TO
Elba, that he would "como back with the
violets." The story was an invention of
after times.
Nor has any one to our knowledge gone
into the origin Of the scarlet carnation as
the chosen flower OF tho Stuarts. Jacob
itism-the Jacobitism of tho PretendSr and
of the gallant gentlemen who mounted the
tgAite cockado and lost their heads for their
pains--is noW 2 vanished faith, Yet to
this day mysterious hands yearly deposit
wreRthS OF carnations on tbs tombs 6f
Cardinal York and other members OF the
haplesS line Of James II.
Later floral en- blems are less difacult 70
explain. In truth, except for the problem
which individual tastes must always re-
main, there Is no great puzzle in the mat
Ter. The cid Kaiser Wilhelm, of Germany,
who in spite Of bis military reputation and
general drill seFgeantry, was wonder
fully sptfuSed with the Teutonic seAti.
mentality which ReFVadeA Germany IN hia
boyhood, was fond Of the coru.HOwor, and
wherever he went N his lat0r days 1T least,
the whole country side blossomed forth In
blue In his honor. The old Emperor's de-
votion to the memory OF his mother
amounted TO ''culk" and enc Of his earliest
recollectionS Of her was that when she and
heE boys were fugitiveS from Berlin on the
occasion IL oAe Of NApoleOn's invasions, she
rested for Q momoAt By Q coT1-0eld, and
amused them BY plucking the blue corn.
flowers and making them wreathS and nose
gays.
The present Kaiser II said to affect tho
violet, fancy which may clash with that Of
the Bonapartists, should the adherents Of
the democratic empire" again como to the
front In France. A flower was, Of course,
necessary to the BoulAngiSta, aud, With
Characteristic instinct for effect, the par.
tisans Of tho national and honest re-
public" have chosen tho carnAtion. Never
theless, the origin Of tho symbol does not
matter, sxcept frnm Q historical point Of
view. The mysteries Of this form Of
heraldry are generally beyond finding out,
and not infreQuontly arc better left unex-
plored, II the result Of antiquarian search
10 - depressing Is that which afirms that
the word shamFoek 70 derived from the
Arabic shamrookh, q club 81 shllelah, aud
that this weapon II, in truth, tho true badge
| Of the Hibernian race.