Part 1 — MARJORAM.
Reading edition
(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.