SWEET LAVENDER

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 13, 6 April 1927, Page 5

SWEET LAVENDER

“Sweet lavender” is one of the oldest of the famous street cries, and the musical chant to which the words are sung dates from antiquity. In spite of its association with oldfashioned English gardens, lavender came originally from abroad. It is found in greatest abundance in North Africa and in Asia, and was known among the Greeks and Romans, who used it to perfume their baths. Its very name is derived from the Latin word meaning to wash.

Shakespeare speaks of lavender, and in his time lavender bushes were cultivated in the physic and herb gardens which formed such important corners of the pleasure grounds of Tudor Mansions. The flowering heads were plucked for distillation, making into perfume, and the scenting of ointments and lotions. Lavender bags were refilled each year and replaced among the household linen. Even the aromatic stalks were made use of, being plaited into dainty baskets.

Lavender-scented sheets carry an additional freshness and an old-world charm, inducing a feeling of peace and well-being which encourages sleep. If a little flat lavender sachet be made and tacked just inside the pillow-case, a delicious fragrance surrounds the sleeper all night, stronger than the faint scent borne by the linen alone; while a few’ stalks of lavender in a vase with some pale pink roses make a pretty colour scheme as well as giving a delicate blending of perfumes.