lis_).
It has nothing to do with _service_, being simply a corruption of
_cerevisia_, a fermented liquor. The fruit was used for brewing what
Evelyn in his _Sylva_, chap. xv., declares it to be, an incomparable
drink. Prior says that the French name of the tree, _cormier_, is
derived from an ancient Gaulish word _courmi_, which seems to suggest the
modern Welsh _cwrw_, beer.

Tansy (_Tanacetum_) is believed to be simply a corruption of _athansia_,
immortality. I gather that we got the name through the French
_athanasie_, in which, of course, the _th_ is sounded as a _t_. In all
probability it was originally applied to some plant more deserving of
being credited with immortality.

A few miscellaneous names may here be given. _Thorough wax_ is a name
for _Chlora perfoliata_, also known as _yellow wort_. Its leaves are
perfoliate, _i.e._ opposite and united by their bases so that the stem
seems to have grown through a single leaf.

_Kemps_, _i.e._ warriors, was a name of the common plantain, with which
children used to fight one against the other. I remember this as being
an unsatisfactory game because one so constantly killed one's own kemp
instead of the enemy.

_Herb Paris_ is simply the plant with a pair of leaves; it should,
however, have been described as having four leaves. Thus the name has
nothing to do with Paris, the capital of France. But some plants have
names of geographical origin; the currants or minute grapes used for
making cakes are so called because they come from Corinth. So that we
are quite wrong in applying this same name to the familiar companion of
the gooseberry in our gardens. In the same way damsons are so called
because they are said to have come originally from Damascus.

The name Canterbury bell has a very interesting origin, namely, that
bells were the recognised badge of pilgrims to the shrine of St Thomas at
Canterbury. One of these bells was found in the bed of the Thames when
old London Bridge was pulled down. It is said to be "about the size of
an ordinary handbell, with a flat top, on which is an open handle,
through which a strap could easily be passed to attach it to a horse's
collar." This bell is known to have been associated with Canterbury by
the inscription _Campana Thome_ on the outer edge. The pilgrims seem to
have journeyed cheerfully. It is written that some "pilgrims will have
with them bag-pipes; so that in everie towne they come through, what with
t