Primroses

If you look down as you walk along the wooded path leading away from the Castle towards Jeanie’s Garden, you will soon see pale creamy clusters of flowers tucked into grassy tussocks and banks. Their spreading rosette of green leaves are a little wrinkly, even hairy, but the creamy, pale yellow or fresh raspberry-coloured petals are entrancing. Each one has a delicate darker yellow-orange centres and all are slightly scented.

As the first flowers to bloom in spring, primroses are consequently a natural symbol of renewal and hope. They are said to represent eternal love and in Irish folklore, primroses in the doorway protected the home from fairies. They are pollinated by a variety of insects, such as butterflies or beetles, offering in return a source of nectar early in the year.

Their Latin name is Primula vulgaris, the common primrose. “Prime” alludes to the fact that this is one of the earliest spring flowers and they can be found in numerous countries from Norway and Denmark, Holland, France, Turkey and southern Portugal as well as here in Britain.

Primroses are often overlooked today but during late Victorian times were part of an annual remembrance and had their own ‘day’. Primrose Day took place on April 19^th and marked the anniversary of the death in 1881 of the British statesman and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, who was created 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. Arrangements of primroses were left at his tomb at St Michael and All Angles Church, Hughenden as well as by his stature in Parliament Square and Disraeli supporters wore primroses as buttonholes, garlands, and hat decorations.

Mr and Mrs Disraeli stayed at Highclere in 1866, arriving by carriage through the gates at London Lodge. The road winds round past the Temple of Diana and Dunsmere Lake and offers glimpses the Castle spires in the distance and moved by the beauty of the park and the views as he lent out of carriage, Disraeli exclaimed “How scenical, how scenical”.

The then Lord Carnarvon served as a Conservative Minister with Disraeli and knew him over several decades and they were often to be found dining together in London. Disraeli was also close to Quenn Victoria. Following a close and loving marriage, Disraeli’s wife died in 1872 and in some ways, this brought him into a trusted relationship with Queen Victoria whose own beloved husband and consort Prince Albert had died of typhoid in 1861.

The primrose was reportedly Disraeli’s favourite flower, and the queen would send him bunches of them from Windsor Castle and Osbourne House. Disraeli often thanked the queen for her gifts of flowers, picking out the primroses for special praise.

When Disraeli died, “intelligence of his decease was immediately telegraphed ..to her Majesty the Queen..” Whilst she could not attend his funeral, she sent a wreath “His favourite flowers: from Osborne: a tribute of affectionate regard from Queen Victoria”.

Charming, witty, unconventional, Benjamin Disraeli was one of the greatest characters of Victorian politics and was both a statesman and a novelist. The Primrose League was formed in 1883 to continue his legacy by spreading and popularising traditional Conservative ideals and was promoted by Lord Randoph Churchill (father of Winston Churchill).

The League grew rapidly, with over half a million members by 1887, a million by 1901 and over 2 million members by 1910 with equal support and membership from both women and men. It continued in the calendar until the 1920’s.

If the Primrose League and Disraeli have both faded into history, the delicate and tough flowers, harbingers of spring, continue to bring smiles and pleasure to everyone who finds them.

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