  | (1) | Iris. | Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas
Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease. | | Tempest, act iv, sc. 1 (60). | | | (2) | Helena. | More tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear,
When Wheat is green, when Hawthorn-buds appear. | | Midsummer Night's Dream, act i, sc. 1 (184). | | | (3) | Bassanio. | His reasons are as two grains of Wheat hid in two bushels of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you have them, they are not worth the search. | | Merchant of Venice, act i, sc. 1 (114). | | | (4) | Hamlet. | As peace should still her Wheaten garland wear. | | Hamlet, act v, sc. 2 (41). | | | (5) | Pompey. | To send measures of Wheat to Rome. | | Antony and Cleopatra, act ii, sc. 6 (36). | | | (6) | Edgar. | This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet.... He mildews the white Wheat, and hurts the poor creatures of earth. | | King Lear, act iii, sc. 4 (120). | | | (7) | Pandarus. | He that will have a cake out of the Wheat, must needs tarry the grinding. | | Troilus and Cressida, act i, sc. 1 (15). | | | (8) | Davy. | And again, sir, shall we sow the headland with Wheat? | | Shallow. | With red Wheat, Davy. | | 2nd Henry IV, act v, sc. 1 (15). | | | (9) | Theseus. | Your Wheaten wreathe
Was then nor threashed nor blasted. | | Two Noble Kinsmen, act i, sc. 1 (68). | I might perhaps content myself with marking these passages only, and dismiss Shakespeare's Wheat without further comment, for the Wheat of his day was identical with our own; but there are a few points in connection with English Wheat which may be interesting. Wheat is not an English plant, nor is it a European plant; its original home is in Northern Asia, whence it has spread into all civilized countries.[318:1] For the cultivation of Wheat is one of the first signs of civilized life; it marks the end of nomadic life, and implies more or less a settled habitation. When it reached England, and to what country we are indebted for it, we do not know; but we know that while we are indebted to the Romans for so many of our useful trees, and fruits, and vegetables, we are not indebted to them for the introduction of Wheat. This we might be almost sure of from the very name, which has no connection with the Latin names, triticum or frumentum, but is a pure old English word, signifying originally white, and so distinguishing it as the white grain in opposition to the darker grains of Oats and Rye. But besides the etymological evidence, we have good historical evidence that CÆsar found Wheat growing in England when he first landed on the shores of Kent. He daily victualled his camp with British Wheat ("frumentum ex agris quotidie in castra conferebat"); and it was while his soldiers were reaping the Wheat in the Kentish fields that they were surrounded and successfully attacked by the British. He tells us, however, that the cultivation of Wheat was chiefly confined to Kent, and was not much known inland: "interiores plerique frumenta non serunt, sed lacte et carne vivunt."—De Bello Gallico, v, 14. Roman Wheat has frequently been found in graves, and strange stories have been told of the plants that have been raised from these old seeds; but a more scientific inquiry has proved that there have been mistakes or deceits, more or less intentional, for "Wheat is said to keep for seven years at the longest. The statements as to mummy Wheat are wholly devoid of authenticity, as are those of the Raspberry seeds taken from a Roman tomb."—Hooker, "Botany" in Science Primers. The oft-repeated stories about the vitality of mummy Wheat were effectually disposed of when it was discovered that much of the so-called Wheat was South American Maize.
FOOTNOTES:
|
  |
