_Macbeth_, act iv, sc. 1 (25). (3) _Cordelia._ Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Burdocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers. _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4 (3). One of the most poisonous of a suspicious family (the Umbelliferæ), "the great Hemlocke doubtlesse is not possessed of any one good facultie, as appeareth by his lothsome smell and other apparent signes," and with this evil character the Hemlock was considered to be only fit for an ingredient of witches' broth-- "I ha' been plucking (plants among) Hemlock, Henbane, Adder's Tongue, Nightshade, Moonwort, Leppard's-bane." BEN JONSON, _Witches' Song in the Masque of the Queens_. Yet the Hemlock adds largely to the beauty of our hedgerows; its spotted tall stems and its finely cut leaves make it a handsome weed, and the dead stems and dried umbels are marked features in the winter appearance of the hedges. As a poison it has an evil notoriety, being supposed to be the poison by which Socrates was put to death, though this is not quite certain. It is not, however, altogether a useless plant--"It is a valuable medicinal plant, and in autumn the ripened stem is cut into pieces to make reeds for worsted thread."--JOHNSTON. HEMP. (1) _Pistol._ Let gallows gape for dog; let man go free, And let not Hemp his windpipe suffocate. _Henry V_, act iii, sc. 6 (45). (2) _Chorus._ And in them behold Upon the Hempen tackle ship-boys climbing. _Henry V_, act iii, chorus (7). (3) _Puck._ What Hempen homespuns have we swaggering here? _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 1 (79). (4) _Cade._ Ye shall have a Hempen caudle then, and the pap of a hatchet. _2nd Henry VI_, act iv, sc. 7 (95). (5) _Hostess._ Thou Hemp-seed. _2nd Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (64). In all these passages, except the last, the reference is to rope made from Hemp, and not to the Hemp plant, and it is very probable that Shakespeare never saw the plant. It was introduced into England long before his time, and largely cultivated, but only in few parts of England, and chiefly in the eastern counties. I do not find that it was cultivated in gardens in his time, but it is a plant well deserving a place in any garden, and is especially suitable from its height and regular growth, for the central plant of a flower-bed. It is supposed to be a native of India, and seems capable of cultivation in almost any climate.[122:1]