" CHEVISAUNCE."
[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—The following extract from "On Popular Names of British Plants, being an Explanation of the Origin and Meaning of the Names of our Indigenous and Most Commonly Cultivated Species," by R. C. A. Prior, M.D., F.L.S., &c., may help the author of " 'Twixt Town and Country," reviewed in the Spectator of December 15th, 1900, to identify the " chevisaunce " mentioned by- Spenser :— "Chevisaunce in Spenser's Sheph.—' The pretty pavrnce, And the chevisaunce; evidently a misprint for cherigaunce, comfort, heart's-ease, the cheiri or wallflower, the plant to which the name of heart's-ease was originally given. The word is omitted in the glossaries of Spenser, but occurs in Chaucer's Romaunt of the Rose, I., 3,837 :—
'Then dismayed I left all soole, Forwearie, forwandred as a foole, For I ne knew ne cherisaunee:
Cheiri is the Moorish name Keiri, with which the plant now so familiar to us was brought hither from Spain.—Cheiranthus Cheiri, L."
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