|
Note
on
Charm
It’s hard for me not to see life filtered through books.
I don’t even think this a drawback or to be defended.
It’s impossible not to see life filtered through something,
like our senses and preconceptions, so why not books?
I’ve pushed a heap of plant-names into a frame which, although
almost nonsense, does carry a story.
Unrelated words are servants to an implied narrative.
The usual roles of language and story are reversed. This poem brings out the way words in a story are subjugated
to the way words are used in general.
All this may seem obvious; many studies have made us aware of our
servitude to axiom-sets, or ‘where we are coming from’.
I came from Geoffrey Grigson’s marvellously antiquarian The
Englishman’s Flora (Phoenix House 1955), illustrated with woodcuts
from 16th century herbals, a compendium of flower lore and
curious local names for wild plants.
‘Kitty-come-down-the-garden-lane-jump-up-and-kiss-me’ really
is one of them. The advice
in the poem is not obscure, as you can see.
I give a recipe for celebrating love; or, if your lover has
deceived you, for avenging yourself, in stages, on those who have hurt
you; failing that there’s a potion for suicide.
I’ve perhaps not
been rigorously consistent, in the light of the glossary below, because
I have at times alluded to the same flower under different local names,
as with Red Valerian, for instance.
To worry about this is to miss the point of this particular
poetry game. It’s not
flowers which are being thrown into the cauldron but words.
The variety of
flower names from county to county is part of the marvel of dialect
differences. Some were no
doubt curious inventions, but in many cases a local name must have been
the only name. Always there
were reasons for names, though perhaps not terribly evident even when in
use. Juniper was called
Bastard Killer because swallowing the berries was thought to procure
abortions. Mostly the names
are or were local to only a few counties; Buckbean was Bog Hop in the
North of England (named for its use in making beer) and White Fluff in
Norfolk. Devil’s Guts was
the name given in Dorset and Somerset to Old Man’s Beard, but in
Northumberland the same plant was Creeping Buttercup.
Even in one county flowers have been recorded with different
names (see Bladders of Lard and Snaggs below).
All this, and the glossary below, are from Grigson, who got his
lore from old herbals and modern studies of them.
Adder’s
Spit Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea).
Alleluiah Wood
Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella).
Baby’s
Rattle Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor).
Bad
Man’s Bread Earthnut, Pignut (Conopodium majus)
Bastard
Killer Juniper (Juniperus communis).
Bellywind Old
Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba).
Bitchwood Spindle-tree
(Euonymus europaeus).
Bladders
of Lard Bladder Campion (Silene cucubalus) in
Somerset.
Blood
Cup Woodruff (Asperula odorata).
Bog
Hop Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata).
Boots
and Stockings Hoary Plantain (Plantago media).
Bottle Corn
Marigold (Chrysanthemum segetum).
Broomrape Its
standard name (Orobanche rapumgenistae).
Bull’s
Bags Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio).
Bunny
Rabbits Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) in
Somerset.
Cat Bed Red
Valerian (Kentranthus ruber) in Lincolnshire.
Chit-chat Rowan
(Sorbus aucuparia).
Confetti Fat
Hen (Chenopodium album) in Somerset.
Cuckold Burdock
(Arctium lappa).
Cuckoo’s
Sorrow Sorrel (Rumex acetosa).
Dead
Man’s Grief Sea Campion (Melandrium rubrum).
Death
Come Quickly Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) in
Cumberland, now part of Cumbria.
Devil
May Care Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea).
Devil’s
Guts Old Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba).
Dirty
Dick Fat Hen (Chenopodium album) in Wiltshire and
Cheshire.
Dog-berry
Tree Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum Lantana).
Drunken
Willy Red Valerian (Kentranthus ruber) in Devon
and Somerset.
Earthgall Centaury
(Centaurium minus).
Felonwort Herb
Robert (Geranium robertianum) in Yorkshire.
Flirtweed Feverfew
(Chrysanthemum parthenium).
Hacks Bird-cherry
(Prunus padus).
Hypocrites Dog
Violet (Viola riviniana).
Jack-jump-about Birdsfoot
Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) in Northants.
Jack-o’-both-sides Corn
Buttercup (Ranunculus arvensis).
Keys
of Heaven Cowslip, Paigle (Primula veris).
Kisses Goosegrass,
Cleavers, Hayriff (Galium aparine).
Kitty-come-down-the-garden-lane-jump-up-and-kiss-me Lords and Ladies, Cuckoo-pint (Arum maculatum).
Lady-never-fade Pearly
Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea).
Lily-royal Pennyroyal
(Mentha pulegium).
Little
Peeper Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis).
Love-links Stone
Yellowcrop (Sedum reflexum).
Mad
Woman’s Milk Sun Spurge (Euphorbia helio-scopia).
Maiden’s
Heads Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis).
Mare-fart Ragwort,
Ragweed (Senecio jacobaea).
Meg
Many Feet Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens).
Moonog Cowberry
(Vaccinium vitis-idaea).
Morning
Glory Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis).
My
Lady’s Lace Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris).
Naked
Virgins Autumn Crocus, Naked Ladies (Colchicum autumnale).
Naughty
Man’s Plaything Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella bursapastoris).
Open
and Shut Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum).
Pisspot Larger
Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) in Sussex.
Poison
More Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula).
Publicans Marsh
Marigold (Caltha palustris).
Rantipole Wild
Carrot (Daucus carota).
Rawheads Water
Crowfoot (Ranunculus fluitans).
Remember-me Forget-me-not
(Myosotis palustris).
Sheep
Rot Pennywort, White Rot (Hydrocotyle vulgaris).
Slags Blackthorn
(Prunus spinosa).
Sleepyhead Field
Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) in Somerset.
Snaggs Bladder
Campion (Silene cucubalis) in Somerset.
Snow
Toss Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus).
Sod-apple Codlins-and-Cream,
Great Hairy Willow-herb (Epilobium hirsutum).
Sow’s
Tits Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum multiflorum).
Spindlewood Spindle-tree
(Euonymus europaeus).
Stinking Jenny Herb
Robert (Geranium robertianum) in Somerset.
Strangleweed Larger
Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) in Somerset.
Sucky
Sue White Dead-nettle (Lamium album).
Summerlocks Common
Oxlip (Primula veris).
Sungreen Houseleek,
Sengreen (Sempervivum tectorum).
Sweethearts Greater
Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea).
Thundercup Field
poppy (Papaver rhoeas) in Berwickshire.
Tiger’s
Mouth Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).
Tittle-my-fancy Heartsease,
Wild Pansy (Viola tricolor).
Toad’s
Head Snake’s Head, Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris).
Tormentil Its
standard name (Potentilla erecta).
Traveller’s
Ease Silverweed (Potentilla anserina).
True-love Herb
Paris (Paris quadrifolia).
Water
Squirt Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris).
Welcome-home-husband-though-never-so-drunk
Wall-pepper, Golden Moss (Sedum acre).
White
Robin White Campion (Melandrium album).
Wild Angelica Its
standard name (Angelica sylvestris).
Alan
Marshfield
top
of page
Charm |
