that "palmy" here means "grown to full
height, in allusion to the palms of the stag's horns, when they have
attained to their utmost growth." He does not, however, decide this with
certainty, and the question may be still an open one.

[194:1] "Names of Herbes," s.v. Palma.

[195:1] In connection with this, Turner's account of the Palm in 1538 is
worth quoting: "Palm[=a] arborem in anglia nunq' me vidisse memini.
Indie tamen ramis palmar[=u] (ut illi loq[=u]ntur) soepius sacerdot[=e]
dicent[=e] andivi. Bendic eti[=a] et hos palmar[=u] ramos, qu[=u]
proeter salignas frondes nihil omnino vider[=e] ego, quid alii viderint
nescio. Si nobis palmarum frondes non suppeterent; proestaret me judice
mutare lectionem et dicere. Benedic hos salic[=u] ramos q' falso et
mendaciter salicum frondes palmarum frondes vocare."--LIBELLUS, _De re
Herbaria_, s.v. Palma.

PANSIES.

(1) _Ophelia._

And there is Pansies--that's for thoughts.

_Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (176).

(2) _Lucentio._

But see, while idly I stood looking on,
I found the effect of Love-in-idleness.

_Taming of the Shrew_, act i, sc. 1 (155).

(3) _Oberon._

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it Love-in-idleness.
Fetch me that flower; the herb I show'd thee once;
The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.

_Midsummer Night's Dream_, act ii, sc. 1 (165).

(4) _Oberon._

Dian's Bud o'er Cupid's flower
Hath such free and blessed power.

_Ibid._, act iv, sc. 1 (78).

The Pansy is one of the oldest favourites in English gardens, and the
affection for it is shown in the many names that were given to it. The
Anglo-Saxon name was Banwort or Bonewort, though why such a name was
given to it we cannot now say. Nor can we satisfactorily explain its
common names of Pansy or Pawnce (from the French, _pensees_--"that is,
for thoughts," says Ophelia), or Heart's-ease,[196:1] which name was
originally given to the Wallflower. The name Cupid's flower seems to be
peculiar to Shakespeare, but the other name, Love-in-idle, or idleness,
is said to be still in use in Warwickshire,