| (1) | Perdita. | Here's flowers for you;
Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram. | | Winter's Tale, act iv, sc. 4 (103). | | | (2) | Lear. | Give the word. | | Edgar. | Sweet Marjoram. | | Lear. | Pass. | | King Lear, act iv, sc. 6 (93). | | | (3) | | The Lily I condemned for thy hand,
And buds of Marjoram had stolen thy hair. | | Sonnet xcix. | | | (4) | Clown. | Indeed, sir, she was the sweet Marjoram of the Salad, or rather the Herb-of-grace. | | All's Well that Ends Well, act iv, sc. 5 (17). | In Shakespeare's time several species of Marjoram were grown, especially the Common Marjoram (Origanum vulgare), a British plant, the Sweet Marjoram (O. Marjorana), a plant of the South of Europe, from which the English name comes,[159:1] and the Winter Marjoram (O. Horacleoticum). They were all favourite pot herbs, so that Lyte calls the common one "a delicate and tender herb," "a noble and odoriferous plant;" but, like so many of the old herbs, they have now fallen into disrepute. The comparison of a man's hair to the buds of Marjoram is not very intelligible, but probably it was a way of saying that the hair was golden.
FOOTNOTES: [159:1] See "Catholicon Anglicum," s.v. Marioron and note.
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