Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts

by Sherry Chapman

First published in June/July, 2005, Volume 2, Issue 3, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.

When Lizzie Borden’s trial was held in 1893, people wanted to hear every morsel of news no matter how small (something like today’s Bordenites, including myself). Reporters jotted down how Lizzie’s demeanor looked that day, describing her dress, hat, shoes and anything else that Miss Borden wore to complement her ensemble. At times it was as though the real news – the double axe murder trial of her father and stepmother – took a back seat with writers trying to quench the public’s thirst for “anything Lizzie.”

Like most women, Lizzie liked flowers. And when they were part of her look of the day, they were mentioned. The Fall River Daily Herald on June 8, 1893 informed its readers: “She appeared to be in good spirits and fondled a small cluster of pansies, which seem to be her favorite flowers.”

All this hullabaloo going round about her and she finds solace in a little bouquet of pansies. Were they really her favorite flowers? How did this reporter know? Even though the writer leaves him/herself an out with “seem to be” and is not committing himself to this as a fact, he leads the public to believe they are. And maybe they were. 

The pansy comes up again, surprisingly, on the same day in a different paper. She came into the courtroom “just before 3 o’clock attired as she had been on the other days, excepting that the cheap enamel pin, a gaudy hued pansy which she wore at her throat was not worn, but the large pin with the innocent face of a child painted upon it, which she has generally worn, was substituted.”

The day before, Julian Ralph, a highly celebrated writer of the day wrote in the June 7, 1893, New Bedford Mercury that “excepting her rather loud pin, she wore no jewelry.” Perhaps Julian Ralph’s opinion of the pin was seized upon by the Daily Globe. Perhaps someone told Lizzie to get rid of this pin that could make her look garish. Not good for George Robinson’s “little girl” who cared for nothing more than her plain family in their plain house where a frill could not be found.

Lizzie carries a different type of flower into court on June 13. According to the Fall River Evening News, “Miss Borden had a small bunch of roses in her hand this morning, which was sent around to the jail by some friend.”

The New Bedford Evening Standard, on the same day, called the flowers “a bunch of pink and white peonies.” I have read that on occasion she was given posies. Whether it be roses, peonies, posies or pansies the pansy seems to be most associated with Lizzie. 

According to Karen Sutherland, pansies were probably first grown in 1812 England by Lady Mary Bennett. She had an entire bed planted in the shape of a heart. William Thompson, also in England, took wild pansies (“Johnny Jump-ups”) to breed a big, single-colored flower he called “Hearts-ease.”

Some of the other names the “pansy” goes by are: Tickle my Fancy, Kiss Her in the Pantry, Cupid’s Flower, Love-Lies-Bleeding, Cuddle Me, Call-me-to-you, Jackjump-up-and-kiss-me, Three Faces in a Hood, Meet-me-in-the-Entry, Kiss-her-in-the-Buttery, Peeping Tom, Monkey Face, and Love in Idleness. These are but a smidgen of the hundreds of names it has been called over time. 

“Pansy” comes from the French word “pensee,” meaning “thought.” The first flowers were from members of the viola family. According to Sutherland, it took 30 years for William Thompson to develop a pansy with a face, from its purple, yellow and white ancestors, and that was by accident. Thanks to him, we have the black little face in the middle of the flower that makes the flower so recognizable. This pansy is called the “Fancy Pansy,” and by 1861 pansies finally had the look they still do to this day.

Belgium gave America our first pansies in 1848. Varieties increased when the flower was exported. Today we have many colors—black, white, orange, lavender, yellow, orange, purple, blue. Most of them have the black face and some, but not all, carry with them a sweet fragrance.

The heart-shaped leaves of the pansy cause some to think of a broken heart. They have always been associated with love, as you can tell by the other names it is known by. Some said they made people in love think of each other. With their three petals, they have sometimes been a symbol of the trinity and were called the “Herb Trinity.”

The pansy – flower and leaf both – is edible. High in vitamins A and C, they are used for flavoring honey, for syrups, custards and as decorations in fruit salads and creme soups. Celts used dried pansy leaves for tea. They are also used as a dye. They can be used to decorate stationary, fabric, curtains, china and all kinds of containers, hooked into rugs and painted on furniture. Sizes of the flower range from the small wild pansy to 4” Majestic Giants.

There is a popular pansy wine that appeared in New Zealand and Australia last year.

The wild pansies you see during a walk at times are the ancestors of today’s pansies. They are hardy and a good choice for a beginning, or unlucky, gardener. 

There is a “sea pansy” that can be found in the warmer parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They are thought to be “handsome creatures” and belong in the same category as the jellyfish.

One of the most memorable photos of Lizzie Borden is of her in a black dress with a pansy brooch at the throat. Most of us have seen that photo so many times, that today the pansy is somewhat of a symbol of Lizzie Borden. Or seems to be. Perhaps she liked the flower because, like herself, it was striking. That’s for thoughts.

Works Cited:

Associated Press. “Pansy wine to launch in Sydney for gay community.” Highbeam.com 11 November 2004. <http://www.highbeam.com> (21 May 2005).

Rebello, Len. Lizzie Borden Past & Present. Fall River: Al-Zach Press, 1999.

“Sea Pansy.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. NY: Columbia University Press, 2001–04. <http://www.bartleby.com/65/se/seapansy.html> (21 May 2005).

Sutherland, Karen. “Pansies’ colorful blooms have a history rich with lore.” Capper’s. 18 January 2005. Highbeam.com. <http://www.highbeam.com> (21 May 2005).