_Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (60). (2) _Iris._ You sunburnt sicklemen, of August weary, Come hither from the furrow and be merry; Make holiday; your Rye-straw hats put on. _Ibid._, act iv, sc. 1 (135). (3) _Song._ Between the acres of the Rye These pretty country folks would lye. _As You Like It_, act v, sc. 3 (23). The Rye of Shakespeare's time was identical with our own (_Secale cereale_). It is not a British plant, and its native country is not exactly known; but it seems probable that both the plant and the name came from the region of the Caucasus. As a food-plant Rye was not in good repute in Shakespeare's time. Gerard said of it, "It is harder to digest than Wheat, yet to rusticke bodies that can well digest it, it yields good nourishment." But "recent investigations by Professor Wanklyn and Mr. Cooper appear to give the first place to Rye as the most nutritious of all our cereals. Rye contains more gluten, and is pronounced by them one-third richer than Wheat. Rye, moreover, is capable of thriving in almost any soil."--_Gardener's Chronicle_, 1877. SAFFRON. (1) _Ceres._ Who (_i.e._, Iris), with thy Saffron wings upon my flowers, Diffusest honeydrops, refreshing showers. _Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (78). (2) _Antipholus of Ephesus._ Did this companion with the Saffron face Revel and feast it at my house to day? _Comedy of Errors_, act iv, sc. 4 (64). (3) _Clown._ I must have Saffron to colour the Warden pies. _Winter's Tale_, act iv, sc. 3 (48). (4) _Lafeu._ No, no, no, your son was misled with a snipt-taffeta fellow there, whose villanous Saffron would have made all the unbaked and doughy youth of a nation in his colour. _All's Well that Ends Well_, act iv, sc. 5 (1).