Note 429 — Chapter XII · WILLIAM THE LION—1165–1214.

“On the Sunday which happens in the middle of Lent, the pope was wont to bear in his hand a rose of gold, enamelled red, and perfumed; this he bestowed as a mark of grace.... By the rose Christ was figured, by the gold, his kingly office; by the red colour, his passion; and by the perfume, his resurrection. This is no impertinent Protestant gloss,” adds Lord Hailes, “it is the interpretation given by Alexander III., when he sent the mystical present to Lewis VII., king of France.” Hailes’ Annals, vol. 1, p. 140, note.