Medicinal and aromatic plants – industrial profiles

Shakespeare (1564–1616)
He mentioned lavender only once, although it was grown in herb gardens, especially knot 
gardens. It was probably not a common garden plant in his time, though mentioned by
Spencer as ‘the lavender still gray’ and by Gerard as growing in his garden and the King’s. Two
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Jo Castle and Maria Lis-Balchin

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centuries later, Leyel recommended ‘a tissane or even a spray of lavender to cure nervous
headaches, especially if worn under the hats of harvesters’! (Grieve, 1937).
John Parkinson
Herbal Apothecary to King James I (1603–25) and author of the ‘Theater of Plants and Herball’
and ‘The Garden of Plants’, he wrote that lavender was useful for the senses and should be used
for scenting linen, clothes, gloves, leather and also that dried flowers used to soak up moisture in
a cold brain. He says of ‘Sage and lavender, both the purple and the rare white (there is a kinde
herof that beareth white flowers and somewhat broader leaves, but it is very rare and seene in but
a few places with us, because it is more tender and will not so well endure in our cold winters)’.
He continues to say that it is put in bathes, ointment and things for cold causes. The seed is
much used for worms (back to Hildegard again, but this time the seed), he also recommends it
for pains of the head and brain (Grieve, 1937: 469).