Primrose Day in England Back to Facts of the Day Calendar UK Calendar dates british festivals .... folklore ... anniversaries .... on this day Primrose Day In the late 19 century, the 19 April was celebrated as Primrose Day in England. What is a primrose? The Primrose (Primula vulgaris) is a low to the ground herb that flowers. It is found mainly in western and southern Europe including Britain. It is also known as the Common Primrose and the English Primrose. What is Primrose Day? Primrose Day was a special day in memory of British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield), who died on 19 April 1881. When was Benjamin Disraeli Prime Minister? Disraeli served as Prime Minister in 1868 and again from 1874 to 1880. He was Britain's first, and thus far only, Jewish Prime Minister. What made him special to have a celebration day? England's Primrose day sprang from a friendship between Benjamin Disraeli and Queen Victoria. They were brought together through their love for their country (patriotism).

Why are primroses associated with Benjamin Disraeli? Queen Victoria sent a wreath of primroses to Disraeli's funeral with a note stating that they were "his favourite flowers". From reading the note people assumed that the 'his' referred to Disraeli, however, it is now thought that Victoria may have been referring to her late husband, Prince Albert. How was the day celebrated? People paid tribute to the statesman by wearing primroses. The bronze statue of Lord Beaconsfield in Parliament Square was decorated with primroses every year on the anniversary of his death. Also on this day...... At 6 p.m. on 19 April 1770 Lieutenant Hicks became the first European to sight Australia. He was one of James Cook's crew on the Endeavour. James and his crew were charting much of the lands of the Pacific, including New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii. Cook established the first European colony in Australia. Primrose Day – Web-Holidays.com the common primrose April 19th is Primrose Day.

Primrose Day honors the memory of British statesman and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, who died on this day in 1881. Queen Victoria and Benjamin Disraeli had a strong friendship. When he died, she sent a wreath of primroses to his funeral with a note stating that they were “his favourite flowers”. People assumed that Queen Victoria was referring to Disraeli. However, it’s now believed she meant her late husband, Prince Albert. In the late 19th century, people wore primroses to honor all statesman, and the statue of Lord Beaconsfield in Parliament Square was decorated with primroses. There is a different Primrose Day on February 5th . sources: April 19: Primrose Day | ComingAnarchy.com April 19: Primrose Day Reposting from April 19, 2005 . Today is Primrose Day in the United Kingdom, an uncelebrated memorial day marking the death of former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli , Britain’s only Jewish head of government and a staunch imperialist.

[When we first conceived this blog, Disraeli was my close second choice as an alias -- albeit because of his politics, not his religion, which is the subject of this post.] Born to a Jewish family, Disraeli was baptized a Christian as a teenager but never stopped thinking of himself as a Jew. Perhaps it was political motive: non-members of the Church of England were not allowed to join Parliament until the 1860s. His background was an open secret, however. He was once attacked for being Jewish by the Irish nationalist politician Daniel O’Connell, to which he replied: Yes, I am a Jew and when the ancestors of the right honourable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Solomon. In the same line of questioning, Queen Victoria — with whom he was very close — once asked him, “Mr. Disraeli, what is your real religion? You were born a Jew and you forsook your great people. Now you are a member of the Church of England, but no one believes that you are a Christian at heart.

Please tell me, who are you and what are you?” To which Disraeli is famously said to have replied, “Your Majesty, I am the blank page between the Old Testament and the New.” Other Quotable Quotes: * “I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many of the prejudices of the few.” * “A conservative government is an organized hypocrisy.” * “Individuals may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.” * “What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens.” * And my all time favorite: “The more extensive a man’s knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be his power of knowing what to do.” Rest in peace, Ben. About Curzon Lord George Nathaniel Curzon (1859 - 1925) entered the British House of Commons as a Conservative MP in 1886, where he served as undersecretary of India and Foreign Affairs.

He was appointed Viceroy of India at the turn of the 20th century where he delineated the North West Frontier Province, ordered a military expedition to Tibet , and unsuccessfully tried to partition the province of Bengal during his six-year tenure. Curzon served as Leader of the House of Lords in Prime Minister Lloyd George's War Cabinet and became Foreign Secretary in January 1919, where his most famous act was the drawing of the Curzon Line between a new Polish state and Russia. His publications include Russia in Central Asia (1889) and Persia and the Persian Question (1892). In real life, "Curzon" is a US citizen from the East Coast who has been a financial analyst, freelance translator, and university professor; he is currently on assignment in Tokyo. A unique figure. There are many more quotes and anecdotes … .

As Bismarck said: “Der alte jude, das ist der mensch.” 'Primrose Day', Frank Bramley, 1885 | Tate Frank Bramley Support: 502 x 351 mm frame: 765 x 615 x 110 mm Collection Presented by Arthur Grogan 1985 Reference Catalogue entry Display caption The title of this picture refers to the annual commemoration on 19 April of the death of the great Conservative statesman Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81) who was Prime Minister in 1868 and from 1874-80. Primroses were said to be his favourite flower. The girl has been collecting primroses in her hat; others are arranged in a vase on the table, above which is a print of Disraeli. Bramley's picture is also an exercise in the colour harmonies of yellow, white and brown. A leading Newlyn painter, he has used the square brush and horizontal strokes for which the Newlyn artists were famous.

Bramley was a founder member of the NEAC but resigned in 1890 after a vicious review of his work by Sickert. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1911. Gallery label, August 2004 Oil on canvas 502 x 351 (19 3/4 x 13 13/16) Inscribed 'FRANK BRAMLEY - | 1885 -' t.r. and "'PRIMROSE DAY -" FRANK BRAMLEY - | 1885 -' on back of canvas Presented by Arthur Grogan 1985 Prov: ... ; anon. sale, Christie's 28 Jan. 1972 (47) £450 bt Arthur Grogan Exh: Artists of the Newlyn School 1880-1900, Newlyn Art Gallery, May-June 1979, Plymouth City Art Gallery, June-July 1979, Bristol City Art Gallery, July-Sept.

1979 (54, repr.); on loan to Tate Gallery 1982-5; Painting in Newlyn 1880-1930, Barbican Art Gallery, July-Sept. 1985 (38, repr.) Repr: Tate Gallery Report 1984-6, 1986, p.63 (col.). After studying in Antwerp and Venice Bramley joined the colony of plein-air artists which had been growing up in the Cornish fishing village of Newlyn since the early 188os. Bramley, who had been preceded by Walter Langley, Stanhope Forbes and others, appears to have settled there in 1884 or early 1885. When he exhibited at the RA for the first time in 1884, submitting two Venetian subjects, he still gave his home address near Lincoln; his one exhibit in 1885, 'Everyone his Own Yarn', was sent in from Newlyn.

Since it is dated 1885 and Primrose Day, the annual commemoration of the death of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, falls on 19 April, T03962 was presumably painted during Bramley's first spring in Newlyn. Primrose Day took its name from what was supposedly Disraeli's favourite flower. Bramley includes a print of the statesman and three groups of primroses in his picture. The girl has evidently used her hat to collect the flowers. It is not known whether Bramley had any particular attachment to the memory of Disraeli. The fact that Ralph Todd, another Newlyn artist, also painted a 'Primrose Day' in 1885 (coll. Newlyn Orion Galleries; Barbican Art Gallery 1985, no.29, repr.) suggests that the two artists discussed the subject together and perhaps that they chose it mainly for its pictorial possibilities. These are more fully realized in Bramley's painting , which depends for its effect largely on colour harmonies of yellow, white and brown, than in Todd's, which is similar in composition but fussier in execution.

Published in: The Tate Gallery 1984-86: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions Including Supplement to Catalogue of Acquisitions 1982-84, Tate Gallery, London 1988, p.11 Holidays Calendar for April 19, 2016 Holidays Calendar for April 19, 2016 Education and Sharing Day is an annual United States observance that honors the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. It is celebrated on Schneerson's birthday which falls on the 11th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan. ! Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Action Day is an annual awareness campaign held on April 19. It aims to raise awareness of a birth defect of the diaphragm, which is a life-threatening pathology and a major cause of infant mortality. This Day in History 2013 Died: François Jacob, French biologist who was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing it with André Lwoff and Jacques Monod. 2011 Fidel Castro resigned from the Communist Party of Cuba central committee.

Raúl Castro, his younger brother, was selected as his successor. 2005 Died: Ruth Hussey, American actress who is primarily remembered for her role as Elizabeth Imbrie in the 1940 film the Philadelphia Story. 1995 Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma city, killing 168 people. 1989 Died: Daphne du Maurier, English author and playwright who is best known for her novels Rebecca, The Scapegoat, and Jamaica Inn. 1987 The Simpsons premiered as a short cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show. The show made its debut as an animated series in December 1989. 1987 Born: Maria Sharapova, Russian professional tennis player who has been ranked world No. 1 by the WTA on five different occasions (as of January 2015). 1984 The patriotic song Advance Australia Fair was adopted as the official national anthem of Australia, replacing God Save the Queen.

1979 Born: Kate Hudson, American actress who is known for her roles in the films Almost Famous, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Fool's Gold and others. 1978 Born: James Franco, American actor, producer, writer, director, and teacher. He came to prominence due to his role in the series Freaks and Geeks. 1968 Born: Ashley Judd, American actress and political activist who starred in such films as Ruby in Paradise, Norma Jean & Marilyn, Where the Heart Is and others. 1967 Died: Konrad Adenauer, German statesman who served as the first post-war Chancellor of Germany (West Germany) from 1949 to 1963. 1960 South Korean students held a nationwide pro-democracy protest that eventually led to the overthrow of President Syngman Rhee and his autocratic government. 1956 Hollywood actress Grace Kelly married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. They met during the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The couple had three children.

1946 Born: Tim Curry, English stage, film, television and voice actor, singer, and composer who roles to prominence due to his role as Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 1944 Born: James Heckman, American economist who was awarded the 2000 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, sharing it with Daniel McFadden. 1943 The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. The resistance was crushed on May 16, and the ghetto was liquidated. 1942 Born: Alan Price, English musician, singer-songwriter, and musical arranger best known as the original keyboardist for the British band The Animals. 1933 Born: Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer), American stage, film, and television actress who was a major Hollywood sex symbol of the 1950s. 1922 Born: Erich Hartmann, German fighter pilot during the Second World War. He is considered to be the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare.

1912 Born: Glenn Theodore Seaborg, American chemist who was awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Edwin Mattison McMillan. 1906 Died: Pierre Curie, French physicist who was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and Henri Becquerel. 1903 The first Kishinev pogrom began in Kishinev (Chișinău), then the capital of the province of Bessarabia in the Russian Empire. In two days, almost 50 Jews were killed. 1882 Died: Charles Darwin, English naturalist and geologist who is mainly remembered for his contributions to evolutionary theory published in 1859. 1881 Died: Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, British politician, statesman, writer, and aristocrat who twice served as Prime Minister of the UK. 1824 Died: George Gordon Byron, commonly known as Lord Byron, widely read and influential English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement.

1775 The American Revolutionary War, also referred to as the American War of Independence, began. The first military engagements of the war were the Battles of Lexington and Concord. 1768 Died: Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal), Italian landscape painter and printmaker. Many of Canaletto's works were sold to Englishmen. 1689 Died: Christina, Queen of Sweden, Queen regnant of Sweden from 1633 to 1654. She caused a scandal by abdicating the throne and converting to Catholicism. 1539 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Protestants signed the Treaty of Frankfurt. It stated that the emperor would not take any violent actions against the Protestants. Holidays Calendar for April 19, 2019 Holidays Calendar for April 19, 2019 King's Birthday in Swaziland King's Birthday is one of the public holidays in the Kingdom of Swaziland. The current King of Swaziland Mswati III was born on April 19, 1968. Good Friday is observed by Western Christians two days before Easter.

This day commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death on Calvary. ! Espresso is a worldwide appreciated Italian invention. This drink is known for its rich taste, fine texture and hazelnut or dark brown foam. Annually Italians don't forget to celebrate Espresso Italiano Day, that falls on Friday in April. ! Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Action Day is an annual awareness campaign held on April 19. It aims to raise awareness of a birth defect of the diaphragm, which is a life-threatening pathology and a major cause of infant mortality. This Day in History 2013 Died: François Jacob, French biologist who was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing it with André Lwoff and Jacques Monod. 2011 Fidel Castro resigned from the Communist Party of Cuba central committee. Raúl Castro, his younger brother, was selected as his successor. 2005 Died: Ruth Hussey, American actress who is primarily remembered for her role as Elizabeth Imbrie in the 1940 film the Philadelphia Story. 1995 Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb at the Alfred P.

Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma city, killing 168 people. 1989 Died: Daphne du Maurier, English author and playwright who is best known for her novels Rebecca, The Scapegoat, and Jamaica Inn. 1987 The Simpsons premiered as a short cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show. The show made its debut as an animated series in December 1989. 1987 Born: Maria Sharapova, Russian professional tennis player who has been ranked world No. 1 by the WTA on five different occasions (as of January 2015). 1984 The patriotic song Advance Australia Fair was adopted as the official national anthem of Australia, replacing God Save the Queen. 1979 Born: Kate Hudson, American actress who is known for her roles in the films Almost Famous, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Fool's Gold and others. 1978 Born: James Franco, American actor, producer, writer, director, and teacher. He came to prominence due to his role in the series Freaks and Geeks.

1968 Born: Ashley Judd, American actress and political activist who starred in such films as Ruby in Paradise, Norma Jean & Marilyn, Where the Heart Is and others. 1967 Died: Konrad Adenauer, German statesman who served as the first post-war Chancellor of Germany (West Germany) from 1949 to 1963. 1960 South Korean students held a nationwide pro-democracy protest that eventually led to the overthrow of President Syngman Rhee and his autocratic government. 1956 Hollywood actress Grace Kelly married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. They met during the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The couple had three children. 1946 Born: Tim Curry, English stage, film, television and voice actor, singer, and composer who roles to prominence due to his role as Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 1944 Born: James Heckman, American economist who was awarded the 2000 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, sharing it with Daniel McFadden. 1943 The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War.

The resistance was crushed on May 16, and the ghetto was liquidated. 1942 Born: Alan Price, English musician, singer-songwriter, and musical arranger best known as the original keyboardist for the British band The Animals. 1933 Born: Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer), American stage, film, and television actress who was a major Hollywood sex symbol of the 1950s. 1922 Born: Erich Hartmann, German fighter pilot during the Second World War. He is considered to be the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. 1912 Born: Glenn Theodore Seaborg, American chemist who was awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Edwin Mattison McMillan. 1906 Died: Pierre Curie, French physicist who was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and Henri Becquerel. 1903 The first Kishinev pogrom began in Kishinev (Chișinău), then the capital of the province of Bessarabia in the Russian Empire.

In two days, almost 50 Jews were killed. 1882 Died: Charles Darwin, English naturalist and geologist who is mainly remembered for his contributions to evolutionary theory published in 1859. 1881 Died: Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, British politician, statesman, writer, and aristocrat who twice served as Prime Minister of the UK. 1824 Died: George Gordon Byron, commonly known as Lord Byron, widely read and influential English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. 1775 The American Revolutionary War, also referred to as the American War of Independence, began. The first military engagements of the war were the Battles of Lexington and Concord. 1768 Died: Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal), Italian landscape painter and printmaker. Many of Canaletto's works were sold to Englishmen. 1689 Died: Christina, Queen of Sweden, Queen regnant of Sweden from 1633 to 1654. She caused a scandal by abdicating the throne and converting to Catholicism. 1539 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Protestants signed the Treaty of Frankfurt.

It stated that the emperor would not take any violent actions against the Protestants. RAF High Wycombe - Local Area Information RAF High Wycombe Local Area Information The Local Area Royal Air Force High Wycombe is situated in pleasant wooded country which is predominately a National Trust Area in the heart of the Chilterns. The station nestles amongst the residential villages of Walter’s Ash and Naphill and is ideally situated for visiting some of the more attractive English countryside. Scenic beauty and history are combined at several points close to the station and within brief travelling distance. It is impossible to mention all of the many places of significance; however, some of them are mentioned below. Hughenden Manor Hughenden was originally mentioned in the Domesday Book and was part of the lands given to Bishop Odo, brother of William the Conqueror. Hughenden Manor’s most recent claim to fame is that it was once the family home of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield KG. The manor, its contents and 180 acres of parkland have been given to the public as a permanent memorial to this 19th Century statesman, and the house is now a public museum administered by the National Trust.

Disraeli is buried in the family vault at Hughenden Churchyard and his tomb is the goal of an annual pilgrimage on ‘Primrose Day’ (April 19th). The Church itself possesses many fine works of art; among them is a white marble monument erected by Queen Victoria in memory of Disraeli. Above the seat formerly occupied by Disraeli hangs the Garter Banner and Insignia which were transferred from St George’s Chapel, Windsor, by command of Queen Victoria. Bradenham Manor Bradenham, like Hughenden, is also mentioned in the Domesday Book. The manor was once owned by the Disraeli’s, parents of Benjamin, who later became Prime Minister, and Earl of Beaconsfield. Bradenham Manor is not open to the public but there is a fine view of it from the village green. West Wycombe A couple of miles from RAF High Wycombe, on the High Wycombe to Princes Risborough Road, lies the attractive village of West Wycombe. On a hillock immediately behind the village is the Church with the Golden Ball, a fine example of English architecture.

The interior of the church was renovated by Sir Francis Dashwood, a local landowner, in an Italian design typical of the 18th Century. On the ceiling of the sanctuary is a painting of the Last Supper by Borginis in which Judas Iscariot is depicted at such an angle that wherever the viewer stands he feels Judas to be looking at him. There is also some fine Spanish leatherwork on the altar which dates from the 14th Century, as well as other valuable objects. On the way down from the church you will pass the formidable mausoleum which is in the Palladian style, again constructed by order of Sir Francis Dashwood. Within its great stone walls, the mausoleum is reputed to have witnessed human sacrifices, offered as part of the rituals for Black Mass. It is floodlit at night and presents an awesome sight from the A40 road far below. The same Sir Francis Dashwood was responsible for the formation of the Hell Fire Club. Meetings were held in the caves which are reputed to have witnessed many orgies when club members, including John Wiles the bawdy politician, the Earl of Sandwich and other prominent statesmen, celebrated the Black Mass.

The caves stretch for a quarter of a mile underground and are now open to the public. A running commentary on the history of the caves is transmitted and there are several exhibits on display. A Wren-like Note: The Primrose Way A Wren-like Note 04 June, 2014 The Primrose Way I just transcribed Maxwell Gray's 1898 essay The Primrose Way. It's an interesting mix once you dig into the references: an evocative and wistful recollection of a lane (recognisably on the north of the Isle of Wight's chain of downs); a treatise on flowers in 19th century poetry; an appreciation of the primrose; and an indictment of the despoliation of the flowers on the now-defunct 'Primrose Day'. THE PRIMROSE WAY. By Maxwell Gray, in the Weekly Sun. I know a lane running along the edge of an oaken copse that slopes down from the crest of a bleak, windy hill.

Narrow is that lane, and dim and unfrequented; hazels, springing from either bank, meet and overarch it, fanning a still, sweet cloister, green-roofed in summer, brown in winter and spring, gold in autumn. Therein many birds and small beasts dwell and wander safely; there matins and vespers are duly sung in various voice. The Queen's highway passes it at right angles, keeping on the outer edge of the copse, so that travellers' eyes are drawn to look over the rustic stile that bars its entrance, and down the. long dim vista that closes gradually in a bend with a downward turn. Green is the floor of that shadowy walk, with a thin brown centre worn by footsteps either of' lovers or fairies, by nothing more prosaic; green all the year round are the banks whence the hazels spring, their greenery lighted in season with pale glory of primroses.

Nothing can be more inviting than this lane; it might lead anywhere, everywhere, to fairyland, to the land of long ago, to the land of "some fine day," or to "that new world which is the old." From early childhood I have known and loved this lane, attracted by its mysterious possibilities even more than by the intrinsic charm, of its green quiet and beauty, its lavish spring treasure of. primroses and' autumn wealth of nuts and blackberries. Never but once have I seen human form beneath its braided shadows, never but once set foot on its silent pathway. Though actually and literally in a southern county, with a thatched cottage visible, from its entrance; though, actually and literally—not that imagination accepts the fact—the dull clown must "tread it daily with his clouted shoon"; it is ideally, that is, truly, the mystic “primrose path" discussed by Ophelia and Laertes. The humanity I once, and only once, saw treading that primrose way was a pair of lovers newly betrothed, in the April of their life and of Nature's.

And though my once walking down the dim lane at primrose-tide dissipated its romance and destroyed its wide verge of possibility by landing one nowhere in particular on the other side, one is content to find that the pristine glamour returns with years; crude fact is forgotten; poetry resumes her ancient sway. The woodland aisle is still seen in firm belief that one might wander away, far and far beneath those hazel shadows, to some illimitable pleasaunce of beauty and joy. The copse it borders is itself a pleasaunce full of natural magic and poetic suggestion; fauns, wood nymphs, lost princesses might appear at any moment from behind those grey oak boles. A row of tall Scotch firs shelters it from the wild south-wester, that roars salt and savage in riotous joy over valley and level, shearing hedge and tree in its path, twisting and bending the gaunt, red-stemmed guards into weird, suggestive shapes in its fury.

These spread wild arms over a grey mystery of leafless oaks that presently in their golden burgeoning will tremble with the nightingale's moon music; they lean over undergrowth of hazel and blackberry, ash and bracken; they hold in their writhen boughs a deep song that echoes the wild sea surge. In March and April the bare oak tops shelted by the firs look down upon beds of primroses interspaced with flowers of less lustre— violets, red and white in March, pale blue in late April; delicate shell-pink anemones, dark sweet hyacinths, red champion, wood spurge, sweet woodruff; but always this sweet underlight, this tender earthshine of primroses. Among the flowers let fall from Dis's chariot by frightened Persephone we find pale primroses, That die unmarried ere they can behold The great sun in his strength Only pale and unmarried, while violets are "sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes or Cytherea's breath." Shakespeare shows, like his poet-brothers, a special fondness for violets.

A strain of music is "like the sweet south, that breathes upon a bank of violets, stealing yet giving odour." "Odours when sweet violets sicken," Shelley says, giving them the palm for sweetness; it is "the violet of his native land" to which Arthur Hallam's dust is to be turned; his friend's regret in spring Becomes an April violet, And buds and blossoms with the rest. Keats divines in the darkness that "fast-fading violets, covered up in leaves," grow in his nightingale's plot of beechen green; Wordsworth's sweet secluded maiden is A violet by a mossy stone, Half-hidden from the eye. From Milton's "glowing violet"— strange epithet for a minute dark flower—to L. E.

L.'s " Violets, March violets," parodied by Thackeray in "Cabbages, green cabbages," this sweet, small wildling has received constant poetic incense; while "the rathe primrose that forsaken dies," as Milton calls it, classing it as a flower "that sad embroidery wears," has ever lacked due meed of song, probably because—though by accent a trochee—it is a quantitative spondee, and overweighted with consonants. Yet Wordsworth implies that much might be said of “A primrose by a river's brim." He assigns it a curious part in "The Wren's Nest,", while the "Primrose of the Rock" did nothing characteristic. The lesser celandine, his avowed favourite, scarcely occupies so warm a corner in his heart as the daisy, the daffodil, and the violet. These three wildings lord it over all the rest, even over the typical, antithetic pair, the rose and. lily, in English poetry. In daffodils That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty," is a.

whole poem, true in fact, and more beautiful in form than any, even than Keats’s floral beauty type of "Daffodile, with the green world they live in." Herrick's best lyric is of "fair daffodils" that" ''haste away so soon." The subtle, spiritual charm of the dear primrose eludes him; "the sweet infanta, of the year" he calls "sickly." Again we hear of primroses as "whimpering younglings, orphans," whose only speech is tears. Jean Ingleow's prize poem is on the daffodil; but the "million, million drops of gold" of buttercups prove them her favourites. When Browning grows homesick in April he yearns for "the buttercup, the little children's dower," the kingcup of Wordsworth and Tennyson, the cuckoo-bud of Shakespeare. Cowslips, crowfoot, privet, marsh-marigold, "the little speedwell's darling blue," the "clear germander eye" of a baby— there is scarcely a flower, wild or not, unnamed by Tennyson.

But, except that his brook "prattles the primrose fancies of the boy," that blossom is passed over, though bindweed bells, bryony, apple blossom, chestnut, hazel, forget-me-not, and many others occur in "The Brook." It is absent from the numberless flowers and, flower similes in "Alymer's Field," even from the typical spring posy in which cowslips occur twice; absent from " Maud." Keats scarcely mentions the primrose in his profuse variety of flowers. Yet the whole of spring looks out from the pale and- pensive glance of the "prime," or "first," or "spring" rose. It is found in sheltered nooks throughout mild winters, preceding even snowdrop, aconite, and celandine, and lasting till "the sweet musk-rose, the mid-May's eldest child," blossoms upon sandy wastes, and heads the long and splendid procession of summer roses.

Other flowers are prized for colour, form, or fragrance; the primrose has all three— its soft, refreshing scent contains no vertigo, its stems and leaves, soft to .touch, sweet, in odour, never stain or soil, like dandelion, hyacinth, and moon-daisy, which last even blisters mowers' hands. The primrose fades sweetly, unlike the prized violet and vaunted daffodil, the latter being nauseous, even when fresh,. if crushed. The primrose's yellow is unique ; it grows' almost everywhere, and always in generous profusion. Even its sturdy cousin, the cowslip, so like it and quite as sweet and wholesome, is in bloom briefer, in locality more restricted, in hue less rare. To bury the face in a handful of primroses and inhale their delicate honey-scent is to breathe youth, innocence, and spring. They make exquisite posies set off by the dark small-leaved ivy that creeps in woods, by the bugloss, or the purple or dog violet, or darker hyacinth, that all grow near.

What refreshment, what charm, in a green bank shadowed by trees and starred by primrose clumps! Such a one as a child I knew, some 80ft high. Trees and brushwood, and many a wild flower remain on that bank, but no primroses. They have been recklessly gathered for sale, ruthlessly uprooted to pine and die in gardens, and, last and worst fate, to furnish a, party emblem. It is a kind of simony to buy and sell wild flowers, which are the direct gift of heaven; besides, mercenary hands gather savagely, wastefully. Hecatombs of these slain innocents will soon be piled before his statue in Westminster, in memory of the statesman who is said to have loved primroses; a sight to make-poets and painters, perhaps angels, weep. For there will be no more primroses soon.

My dear, dim cloister will, still invite the fancy to wander far in mystic pleasaunces, but bereft of its delicate light; the stormwrithen firs will still bend protectingly, but with deep-voiced, inconsolable lament, over the grey mystery of woven oak boughs that will brood no more above pale primrose-shine; dells and dingles, river-banks and hedgerows will be forlorn; vernal primrose nests will cluster no more about ash-stools and hazel-roots ; children will lose the most wholesome of country joys; Wordsworth's prediction— Long as there's a sun that sets, Primroses will have their glory, will be falsified.

- The Primrose Way , Otago Witness [New Zealand], Issue 2311, 16 June 1898, Page 59 The reference to the primrose as "a party emblem" and "piled before his statue in Westminster, in memory of the statesman who is said to have loved primroses" is a reference to the British Conservative organisation the Primrose League , and to Benjamin Disraeli: The primrose was known as the "favourite flower" of Benjamin Disraeli, and so became associated with him. Queen Victoria sent a wreath of primroses to his funeral with the handwritten message: "His favourite flowers: from Osborne: a tribute of affectionate regard from Queen Victoria." On the day of the unveiling of Disraeli's statue all Conservative members of the House of Commons were decorated with the primrose.

- Wikipedia / Primose League / retrieved 5th June 2014 MG's closing comments about the despoliation of primroses may seem over-the-top when you don't know the context; but historically, such 'Primrose fever' and mass picking was regularly a feature of the now-defunct Primrose Day on 19th April, held to commemorate the death of Disraeli. See Custom demised: Primrose Day . - RG

Question: Primrose Day on 19Ih April celebrates which 19th Century statesman?
Answer: Benjamin Disraeli