New-York tribune., 1901-08-18
GILLYFLOWE ERS.
WHAT DID THE POETS MEAN BY THIS
NAME?-THE STOCK?
From The London Globe

and differing characteristics marked by poets
and botanists of old. it is at once evident that
the name has been applied to a variety OF
flowers 1t is rather surprising. indeed. to find
how many blossoms have been known at
time or another as gillyhowers Several wild
howerS are still called by the name in different
parts of the country. There are. for instance
the midsummer giyhOwer, the WhitSun gilly-
flower, the water and the marsh gillyflOwer
1'he last named is much better known as
ragged robin But these are purely local uses
of the name gillyfower.
The chief flowers called have been the wall
flower. the stock and the Carnation or pink.
They are all fragrant and all Characteristic in
hahltantS of gardens of the good old fashioned
sort When QuarleS wrote:
AS when a Lady OYaiking FIora's B1ure)
Picks here Pink and there C;illy FIoure."
1t is clear that the poet by the last name meant
the stock. which flowers at the same season
the PINK the warm and sunny days of July.
Evelyn too. speaks of "sillyilOwerS and caTna-
tions as distinct blooms \ more marked
ample occurs in a place where would hardly
think of looking for flower lore. in Sheridan's
Critic where i'm the second act Tiiburna in
ridiculous Grafton speaks of
The striped carnation. and the guarded rose
The vulgar walltlowcT and smart EilIOwer."
Nalhpwer tabsurdly called 'vulgar) being
carefully excluded. it is plain that the giIly-
hovc" was the stock And when Perdita. in
The Winters Tale said that she did not care
for carnations and streakd gilIynowers." il
IS highly probable that she meant the varie-
gated stocks 1t has been argued that she
meant pinks and that she meant w1liowers
but the latter out of season when Carna-
tions in bloom In one OF the old gardening
books ParbiUson's "iarIdisuS" figured
Strraked stocks. which are called single stript
stock titlioiioWers." and theS" probably
what Perdita had an mind The particular
flower intended Was often Indicated by prefix:
So the stock gillyhowrr meant what
know the stock and The wall Eillyhower
stood for IN" Valino"~r 1t - worth noting
that m those. udrts OF The country where the
oli fashioned name is sttll in use it is often
applied u the WalltipWer
h.a
WAS IA" Glove scented pink. one Of the most
sweetIy scented "f garden blossoms. That this
- clearly shown 10y the etymoloEy OF
TN, word Not a few dthhi~rs in dvrivttions
in the ur"-scentihc days OF rtymooEy wer"
misled by that fav0rit~ viii "f the WiSp Of
derivation EurSs~rS slight resemblance in
sound ami spelling and asserted Stoutly that
th- flower got its name from th- month iu which
10 blooui~d and that g.iynowrr was simply "A
yulcariZ"d version OF July flower July flower
NaS In V"gu" three "rnturles ago DTayton
NFptr pt
The brave Carna;i'n. chen. with sweet AMI
Soyrrai;u- power.
80 80 his colour c-lri although Iuly nouer.'
AMI iu less Handl, fioluc. who knew more Of
h-rsldrN than n" did OF uoWers. said ia su-
p"rt"r manner. Tn july flower. ass they are
MOST properly called Though VulEdiIN tIIy-
luW"r and ,ioter't Hut all this was mere
vain iWIE. ming. The word reached us through
the French triroi,l and Late Latin tcurophiIum)
was undoubtedly rho GLOVE pink which first
hnr" tho name of sillyi"Wer IN this courtry.
hren found is of the fifteenth century. although
The Vnrd as the name OF tn GLOVE. tine spice,
occurs still earlier. When confusion arose in
the application uf thu name 90 varying hlopmS
discrimination WAS usually ulHd~ hy the prefix
word Thus. We have seen. thrT" We're wall
and stock sillyfuWrTS and StU more com
monty Glove SillyNoWvrS. The last were. OF
course IN" Glove scented piukS. from which We
derive all tho carnations and other cultivated
forms ol th, duuthuS. single and double. I!a-
con. his essay or Gardens. giving the
flowers for the various months. SAYS In July
com" ElytOwers of all varieties" The great
chancellor evidently meant thu many kinds of
carnations AMI pinks which We're then cult
waited. There lS hardly single variety of tho
pink now known. indeed S,,yr the pic0tct-
which was not known ana grown three hundred
years ago.
In days when the cloves Of commerce were
lik. must other spices. dear ami scarce. the
towers Of the Glove Carnatiou. or Glove cilly-
flower. wrT" sometimes used "A substitute.
eur forrfathrrs were fond oi huVorinS their
drinks. Fasta0 Ike most # his contrrn-
purrics. believed in sugarin-; his sack Spccd
still has the approval of some Connoisseurs
Gloves Were put in wine and nutmr"s in ale
ChauCrT writes of such Of the Glow
gofre" tclnVe gillytlowerl in association With
'untemuge nutmeg to put iii ale. And the
flowers were used also. more modern house
wives lavender. to- lay with garments
and household linen in presses and Golfers
The 'sopS in wine of which old writer's speak
were flowers called from their as spices
and havorinss Sponsors lines familiar.
Hiring neither the Pinckr aud purple CuIam-
bine
With IseIIiiioures.