averilburystedmunds: Florally Speaking

Florae

Primavera by Botticelli c1478
Featuring Flora the Goddess of Spring

A lovely young woman joined our family several years ago eventually marrying one of my grandsons. All three grandsons now have wives; it seems that marriage is back in fashion! The three grand-daughters-by-marriage, as it were, are super and have turned the trio of fond brothers into a sextet of strong friends and happy companions. They add a great deal to the sum of the family as all six gradually mature into becoming the fulcrum of the larger familial group.

Flora, as portrayed in a Roman mural in
the Villa di Arianna, Napoli

I am so delighted by one attractive name thus arrived, which can boast associations with history and poetry as well as beauty. That is not to undervalue the other girls’ names at all but the name, Flora, is simple, flowery, and somehow, the sheer prettiness of the name captivates the listener and the reader. It also has a rich history certainly dating from Roman times though it might well pre-date that long and noble era to the Greek. In Roman mythology, Flora was the goddess of flowers, of flowering plants, Springtime and fertility. In ancient Rome, people celebrated the arrival of Spring by holding festivals in honour of the divine Flora when they would wear flowers and participate in celebratory processions. In fact, Flora has been celebrated in art and literature throughout history. During the Renaissance she was often depicted in paintings and sculptures as a symbol of nature and beauty. The flowering of Botany as a science in the eighteenth century produced a bouquet of flowery English words, often taken from the Latin root.

The only Fab Flora I know

The first recorded use of the name Flora for a girl was in 1777 with florescence appearing in 1793 fashioned from the Latin florescentia meaning blossoming. Florescence is also used to mean ‘thriving’ or ‘flourishing’, metaphorically as in ‘the highest florescence of a civilisation ‘or it can be applied to a person at the peak of his powers. The name Flora conjures up notions of beauty, nature and blossoming and tends to be associated in the popular mind as a name for a gentle and feminine personality. It also contributes to words such as floral, florid, flourish, flowery; to expressions such as ’flora and fauna’ and to names such as Florence and Florida.

Thinking about the Roman roots of Flora has prompted me to wonder about other female names with similar associations, often from Greek mythology. I have located some; there are Aurora, Stella, Sofia, Clara, Beatrice, Candida, Claudia, Larissa. When I Googled the task, an unexpectedly large number of unknown, esoteric names came up; indeed, too many for comfort, 'per ardua, ad astra' thought I, as I relinquished the task!

Flora MacDonald 1722-1790
Allan Ramsey

But leaving aside the Roman roots of the name, as the fair Flora who has inspired this blog, comes from a Scottish family, we must also look at the famous Flora MacDonald who courageously helped to save Bonnie Prince Charlie of the Stuart family as he was hunted by the English in Scotland, when she obtained passage for a party of eight from the Isle of Skye to the mainland in 1743. Prince Charles was hidden in the group, disguised as Betty Burke, an Irish maid. Flora was eventually identified by the British and imprisoned in the Tower of London, although Charles escaped to the Island of Raasay. Flora was released after the June 1747 Act of Indemnity when aristocratic sympathisers [including, it is said, Frederick, Prince of Wales] collected over £1500 for her freedom, an enormous sum for the time.

The name, Flora, is not unknown in Cornwall, in the town of Helston, the Cornish market town where the townsfolk have celebrated and enjoyed the wonderful tradition that is Flora Day for hundreds of years. They hold a Spring festival to celebrate the end of winter and mark the arrival of renewed vitality and fertility with the trees and flowers bursting into life. Many houses and shops are decorated with greenery and floral arrangements to expressn celebration of the spirit of renewal.