Which types of rose did Shakespeare know?

The early modern period was a time of significant change in Europe for roses, as for much else. Roses appear often in Shakespeare’s plays and poems, where they represent youth, or old age when ‘blown’. They could also represent a blush and be a metaphor for virginity. But what inspired Shakespeare? What types of roses might he have encountered, growing up in sixteenth-century Stratford?

Some of our best information about early modern roses comes from John Gerard’s book The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes, first published in 1597. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust owns several copies, one of which has been beautifully hand coloured. In 1577, Gerard became superintendent of all the gardens of William Cecil, Lord Burghley – one of Queen Elizabeth 1’s most powerful ministers. He also oversaw the College of Physicians’ newly-established Physic Garden from 1586. Much of Gerard’s knowledge came from the plants in his own London garden, and his Herball includes descriptions and illustrations of English native roses that Shakespeare would have known.

Rosa canina (dog rose), rosa rubiginosa (eglantine/sweet briar), rosa pimpinellifolia (burnet rose) and rosa arvensis (field rose) were the wild roses commonly found in Britain’s hedges, fields and woodlands. However, none of these varieties had a very strong smell, so it was difficult to use them to make perfume. They did produce wonderful rosehips, though, and Gerard tells us that ‘even children with great delight eat the berries thereof…and cooks and gentlewomen make tarts and suchlike dishes for pleasure’.

‘Wild roses’ in John Gerard’s Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes (London, 1597). © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Left: The pimpernel or burnet rose (rosa Pimpinella folio) Right: The eglantine or sweet briar (rosa sylvestris odora)