Of course, this upper-class endeavour soon became an obsession for many who were in the game of ‘capturing’ scents.

The old English term ‘nose-gay’ was used in the 15 th-century to mean an ornament that appeals to the nose. ‘Tussie-mussies’ was the name for small bouquets worn by a broach, or with a ‘posy holder’ often made of silver. Going back even further the symbolism of flowers is apparent in their role in ornamental attire. Photo Credit: Simon Owen/Wanderhatch Mallow Flower She is making a scathing comment on moral decline in the Danish court and doing so with only her choice of flowers. Finally, she says she would have brought Violets but they had all withered after her father died Violets being the symbol of faithfulness and fidelity. She then picks up and sets down Daisy, not handing it to anyone the Daisy denoting innocence. She then gives Rue, the symbol for bitterness and regret, to Queen Gertrude and keeps some for herself. She gives Fennel and Columbine to King Claudius Fennel translating as flattery and Columbine as the flower for male adultery. Firstly, she gives her brother Laertes both Rosemary and Pansies explaining their role in remembrance. The flowers convey individual messages and in order to know what Ophelia is saying you must consult the dictionary of flowers. In Hamlet, the character of Ophelia gives an entire monologue when she hands out flowers to the other characters though they think she has gone crazy.

However, this was also the era that brought about ‘floriography’ the language of flowers. It was an uncommon, vaguely disagreeable sight. The Victorian age brings up ideas of conservatism and stoic grandparent-types not smiling in photographs a time when talking about your feelings was tantamount to walking around with a cat on a leash. The studied and meticulous use of flowers in human interaction began in the 19 th century. Photo Credit: Simon Owen/Wanderhatch Bird's Foot Trefoil Flower All the photos below are from their servings over the last few months, and include a beautiful array of foraged flowers to go with a brief (human-centric) history of flowers. Why, you may wonder, has one part of a plant been so integral to non-verbal human communication over thousands of years? Since its inception in the summer of this year, we have been supplying the wonderful community kitchen project Refettorio Felix at St Cuthbert's with wild produce.

Forager game flowers