Note 101 — LETTERS TO MERRETT.

Acorus calamus, the Sweet Flag, is still found in plenty in various localities in the county, but it does not appear to develop its curious "julus" every year. It was very abundant at Heigham, a suburb of Norwich, on the site now occupied by the goods yard of the Midland and Great Northern Railway, and it was probably from this spot that the supply was obtained for the purpose of littering the floor of the old parish church. Mr. Vaux, in his "Church Folk-Lore," p. 264, says that up to the passing of the Municipal Reform Bill the Town Clerk of Norwich was accustomed to pay the sub-sacrist of the cathedral an amount of one guinea for strewing the floor with rushes on the Mayor's Day. The custom is said to have been adopted "as well for coolness as for pleasant smell." The pleasant cinnamon-like scent of the rush, on being trodden on, is said to have perfumed the whole building. The root was also used as a remedy in cases of ague, and formed the base of tooth and hair powders.