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Estimating and Tendering for
Construction Work
This page intentionally left blank
 ESTIMATING AND
TENDERING FOR
CONSTRUCTION WORK
Fourth edition

Martin Brook
BEng(Tech) FCIOB

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK

OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO
SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Butterworth Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK
30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA

First published 1993

Second Edition 1998
Reprinted 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003
Third edition 2004
Reprinted 2005(twice), 2006
Fourth edition 2008

Copyright © 2008, Martin Brook. All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher

Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights
Department in Oxford, UK: phone (44) (0) 1865 843830; fax (44) (0) 1865 853333;
email: [email protected]. Alternatively you can submit your request online
by visiting the Elsevier web site at http://elsevier.com/locate/permissions, and selecting
Obtaining permission to use Elsevier material

Notice
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons
or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use
or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the
material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular,
independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN: 978-0-7506-8616-7

For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications

visit our web site at books.elsevier.com

Typeset by Charon Tec Ltd (A Macmillan Company)

www.charontec.com

Printed and bound in the UK by MPG Books Ltd.

08 09 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Contents

Preface x
Acknowledgements xiii
List of figures xiv
Abbreviations used in the text xix

1 Organization of the estimating function 1

Team roles and organization 1
Quality management 9
Health, safety and welfare 10

2 Procurement paths 13
Introduction 13
Clients’ needs 14
Contractor involvement 15
Partnering 16
Apportionment of risk 17
Traditional method 19
Design and build 20
Management contracting 22
Construction management 24
Private Finance Initiative 26

3 Forms of contract 36
Introduction 36
Essentials of a valid construction contract 36
Standard forms of contract 38
Sub-contract forms 41
Understanding contractual obligations 43

4 Tender documentation 46
Introduction 46
Coordinated project information 47
Documents used as the basis of a tender 58
Formal tender documents 61

v
Contents

5 Estimating methods 66
Introduction 66
Single-rate approximate estimating 70
Multiple-rate approximate estimating 71
Approximate quantities 74
Analytical estimating 77
Operational estimating 82

6 Contractor selection and decision to tender 85

Introduction 85
Bundling projects 87
Competition and negotiation 88
Abuse of tendering procedures 91
Decision to tender 94
Inspection of tender documents 97
Competition legislation 98

7 Project appreciation and enquiries to suppliers and sub-contractors 102

Introduction 102
Estimate timetable 102
Pricing strategy 104
Schedules 104
The estimating team 106
Visits to consultants and site 109
Enquiries to suppliers and sub-contractors 111
Enquiries for materials 113
Enquiries to sub-contractors 115

8 Tenders with cost planning 118

Introduction 118
Terminology 119
Cost plan aims 121
Funding and affordability 123
Benchmarking 124
Cost benchmarking 125
Re-basing cost data 125
Target cost plans 126
Design to cost 128
Design to cost tools 131
Controlling areas 134
New build and refurbishment 136
Pricing the refurbishment of buildings 136

vi
 Contents

Condition surveys 138

Furniture, equipment and ICT 139
Fixtures, fittings and medical equipment in hospitals 141
Aspects of good practice 143
Adjustments for location 144
Cost plan format 145
‘Linear’ bill of quantities 145
Tender timetable and reviews 146
Final review 147
Value drawdown charts 150

9 Tender planning and method statements 152

Introduction 152
The role of the planning engineer 152
Method statements 153
Logistical planning 154
Tender programmes 156

10 Resource costs – labour, materials and plant 160

Introduction 160
Labour rates 160
Material rates 163
Plant rates 165

11 Unit rate pricing 168

Introduction 168
Components of a rate 168
Method of measurement 169
Pricing notes 169
Model rate and pricing examples 171

12 Sub-contractors and market testing 214

Introduction 214
Domestic sub-contractors 214
Nominated sub-contractors 219
Market testing rates for cost planned tenders 221

13 Risk, opportunities and fluctuations 223

Introduction 223
Risks and opportunities 224
Risk management 225
Collaborative projects 226
Risk workshops 226

vii
Contents

Pricing risks 227

Range of possible outcomes 228
Comparison of common distributions 230
Monte Carlo simulation 230
Standard fluctuations clauses 230
Calculation of non-recoverable increases 232
Inflation calculations for tenders with cost planning 237

14 Provisional sums and dayworks 239

Introduction 239
Provisional sums for undefined work 239
Provisional sums for defined work 239
Dayworks 240
Overheads and profit 241

15 Preliminaries 246
Introduction 246
Pricing preliminaries 246
Pricing the preliminaries bill 249
Preliminaries for tenders based on cost planning 263
Benchmark data for preliminaries 263
Preliminaries workbook 264
Design fees and charges 265

16 Cashflow forecasts 267

Introduction 267
Cashflow calculations 267
Example of a contractor’s cashflow forecast 268

17 Completing the estimate and final tender review 277

Completing the estimate 277
Estimator’s report 279
Comments on tender summary form 282
Tender summary for a cost-planned tender 284
Overheads and profit 284

18. Tender submission and results 287

Introduction 287
Completion of priced bills 288
Tender submission for cost-planned tenders 290
Outputs from estimate 290
Detailed submissions 291

viii
 Contents

Tender presentation 291

Vetting of tenders 294
Post-tender negotiations and award 295
Tendering performance and analysis of results 295
Bidding strategy 301

19 Action with the successful tender 302

Introduction 302
Information transfer 302
Feedback 306

20 Computer-aided estimating 309

Introduction 309
Aims of computer-aided estimating 310
Communications and collaborative systems 311
E-tendering 315
Electronic exchange of information 317
On-line auctions 318
Reverse auctions 318
Software 321
Computer-aided estimating packages 321
General-purpose software 325
Applications programs 326
Systems programs 326
Evaluation of general purpose and bespoke software for estimating 334
Comparison of estimating package and spreadsheet for a
cost-planned tender 336
Hardware 336
Networking 337
Implementation 338
The future 340

Further reading 345

Index 349

ix
Preface

My aims in this book are to introduce a practical approach to estimating and tender-
ing from a contractor’s point of view, and explain the estimator’s role within the con-
struction team. The book therefore differs from other textbooks in three main ways:

1. In general it is assumed that it is the contractor who prepares estimates because in

the majority of cases an estimate is produced to form the basis of a tender.
2. I have introduced many typical forms used by estimators to collate data and report
to management. Most of the forms relate to two fictitious projects: a new lifeboat
station and the construction of offices for Fast Transport Limited.
3. The pricing examples given in Chapter 11 have been produced using a typical
build-up sheet. The items of work to which the prices relate are given at the top
of each page. Estimating data are given for each trade so that students will have a
source of information for building up rates. I suggest that before pricing exercises
are undertaken, the first part of Chapter 11 should be read and an understanding
of estimating methods should be gained from Chapter 5. The first pricing example
is for a ‘model rate’ that gives a checklist of items to be included in a unit rate.

The estimating function has changed more in the last 15 years than at any time
before. Many estimating duties can now be carried out by assistants using word proc-
essors, spreadsheets and computer-aided estimating systems. The estimator manages
the process and produces clear reports for review by management.
Estimators need to understand the consequences of entering into a contract, which
is often defined by a complex combination of conditions and supporting documents.
They also need to appreciate the technical requirements of a project from tolerances
in floor levels to the design of concrete mixes, and from temporary electrical installa-
tions to piling techniques.
The Chartered Institute of Building publishes a series of guides to good practice –
the Code of Estimating Practice and its supplements. I have not duplicated their fine work
in this book but hope that my explanation and examples show how the guidelines can
be used in practice.
Contractors now assume an active role in providing financial advice to their clients.
The estimator produces financial budgets for this purpose and assembles cost allow-
ances for use during construction. Computers have been introduced by most organi-
zations, with a combination of general-purpose and specialist software. Computers

x
 Preface

have brought many benefits during the tender period, and are seen as essential for the
handover of successful tenders; adjustments can be made quickly, information can be
presented clearly, and data can be transferred in a more compact form.
The changes brought about by the introduction of SMM7 and the other principles
of Coordinated Project Information have reduced the number of items to be measured
in a typical building contract. The item descriptions no longer provide information for
pricing; the estimator must always refer to the specification and drawings. In practice
this is time-consuming both for contractors and sub-contractors, and the amount of
paperwork has increased immensely. Nevertheless, contractors always need a bill of
quantities, whether produced by the client’s quantity surveyor, by an in-house com-
mission or by sharing the services of an independent quantity surveyor. Traditionally
bills of quantities were used as a fair basis for preparing and comparing tenders,
but increasingly the responsibility for quantities is being passed to contractors.
It is of some concern that estimators continue to have difficulty entering bills of
quantities in their estimating systems and I look forward to the time when a common
approach to electronic data transfer is widely adopted.
This fourth edition has been written to reflect changes in estimating since 2004.
These include:

• The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) has changed with the use of a procedure
called ‘competitive dialogue’. This is explained in Chapter 2.
• A substantial new section (Chapter 8) has been added for tendering on the basis
of cost plans. There is an increasing trend for contractors to prepare early cost
models for their clients, and develop proposals according to ‘design-to-cost’ prin-
ciples. Other chapters have been extended to include cost-planned tenders.
• A major review of JCT contracts took place in 2005 with most of the main con-
tract forms consolidated into new editions. Further revisions were made in 2007.
• Increases in labour and plant rates which affect rate build ups (Chapter 10), day-
work calculations (Chapter 14), and pricing notes given in Chapter 11. In the
South-East region of the UK, there is a shortage of skilled operatives and staff
which continues to add to building costs. Across the UK, inflation continues to
run ahead of the UK government measures of inflation.
• Many tables and figures have been enhanced so that they are easier to read.
• The book no longer includes procedures for incorporating nominated sub-
contractors in a tender. Not only has their use declined, the practice of nominat-
ing sub-contractors is no longer recommended.
• Chapter 20, ‘Computer-aided estimating’ now includes electronic information sys-
tems and collaborative tools.
• Some new terminology introduced by the 6th Edition of The CIOB Code of
Estimating Practice 1997, particularly the recommendation that structured discus-
sions with management, are referred to as ‘review’ meetings, and what was the

xi
Preface

‘adjudication’ meeting is now called the ‘final review’ meeting. This avoids conflict
with the action by quantity surveyors in checking tenders which is also referred to
as the ‘adjudication of a tender’.

I recognize and support the role of women in construction and ask readers to
accept that the use of the masculine pronoun is intended to refer equally to both
sexes.
Martin Brook
2008

xii
Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the help given by Michael Hawkridge for checking the text to
the first edition, and Dr Jane Brook for the cartoons.

xiii
List of figures

Fig. 1.1 Estimating staff structure for a medium-sized organization 2

Fig. 1.2 Estimating and tendering flowchart (traditional contract) 4
Fig. 1.3 Estimating and tendering flowchart (design and build contract) 5
Fig. 1.4 Estimating programme 7
Fig. 1.5 Tender register 8
Fig. 1.6 Example of the additional costs for Health and Safety for a £50 m
project 11
Fig. 2.1 A guide to the apportionment of financial risk 18
Fig. 2.2 The traditional procurement method 19
Fig. 2.3 The design and build system 20
Fig. 2.4 Management contracting 23
Fig. 2.5 Construction management 25
Fig. 2.6 PFI – UK competitive dialogue process 28
Fig. 2.7 Private Finance Initiative 29
Fig. 2.8 Stages used to procure a UK PFI project 35
Fig. 3.1 Standard forms commonly used between contractors and their
sub-contractors 42
Fig. 3.2 Contract obligations checklist 44
Fig. 3.3 Simplified checklist for the selection of a contract 45
Fig. 4.1 Typical formal invitation letter 62
Fig. 4.2 Typical form of tender 63
Fig. 4.3 Example of an alternative tender 64
Fig. 5.1 Estimating methods in 1930’s and today 67
Fig. 5.2 Example of a development budget 69
Fig. 5.3 Degree of uncertainty for a typical construction project 70
Fig. 5.4 Elemental cost plan for a portal-framed building 72
Fig. 5.5 Elemental cost plan for building under construction 74
Fig. 5.6 Elemental cost plan for similar factory building 75
Fig. 5.7a Example of ‘builder’s quantities’ 76
Fig. 5.7b Example of preamble for ‘builder’s quantities’ 77
Fig. 5.8 Contractor’s bill of quantities priced analytically 79
Fig. 5.9 Contractor’s spreadsheet for weighbridge foundation 80
Fig. 6.1 Preliminary Invitation to Tender 90
Fig. 6.2 Preliminary enquiry information form 95

xiv
 List of figures

Fig. 7.1 A typical estimate timetable 103

Fig. 7.2 Typical pricing strategy for a ‘design and build’ project 105
Fig. 7.3 List of PC and Provisional Sums at project appreciation stage 106
Fig. 7.4 Trade abstract for sections to be priced by the contractor 107
Fig. 7.5 Coordination of the estimating team 108
Fig. 7.6 Abstract form for materials or sub-contract enquiries 112
Fig. 7.7 Typical enquiry for materials 114
Fig. 7.8 Sample enquiry letter to domestic sub-contractors 116
Fig. 8.1 Pricing methodology for tenders with cost planning 119
Fig. 8.2 Flowchart for estimating with cost planning 120
Fig. 8.3 Funding allowances for a secondary school 124
Fig. 8.4 Table showing internal and external cost benchmarking 126
Fig. 8.5 Example of re-basing a sample scheme cost plan to a proposed
project with adjustments for inflation and location 127
Fig. 8.6 Example of estimator’s design guide for a school building 128
Fig. 8.7 Examples of cost yardsticks for buildings and equipment 128
Fig. 8.8 Example of a high-level cost plan for a secondary school 129
Fig. 8.9 Example of a target cost plan using standard elemental rates 130
Fig. 8.10 ‘Traffic light’ system for designing external walls to cost 131
Fig. 8.11 Design to cost schedule – external walls 132
Fig. 8.12 Example of an elemental cost plan with design statements 133
Fig. 8.13 Area requirements for various public market sectors 134
Fig. 8.14 Typical schedule of accommodation for a school 136
Fig. 8.15 Cost plan categories for refurbishment of existing buildings 138
Fig. 8.16 FF&E schedule for a secondary school 139
Fig. 8.17 ICT interface schedule 140
Fig. 8.18 Inputs to an equipment responsibility matrix 141
Fig. 8.19 Definition of equipment required for different parts of a hospital 143
Fig. 8.20 Typical factors for adjusting costs for location 144
Fig. 8.21 Example of a linear bill of quantities 146
Fig. 8.22 Timetable for the production of a cost-planned tender showing
tender reviews 147
Fig. 8.23 Typical tender finalization meeting agenda 149
Fig. 8.24 Typical value drawdown chart for a PFI project 150
Fig. 8.25 Typical layout for a milestone payments schedule 151
Fig. 9.1 Example of tender method statement for submission to a client 155
Fig. 9.2 Example of a tender programme 157
Fig. 9.3 Example of a programme submitted with a tender 158
Fig. 10.1 Calculation of all-in rates for labour using spreadsheet software 162
Fig. 10.2 Calculation of all-in rates for site working 50 hours/week with an
extended summer period of 35 weeks and supervision and
insurances priced in preliminaries 164

xv
List of figures

Fig. 11.1 Estimator’s build-up sheet for fixing ironmongery 170

Fig. 11.2 Model rate calculation 172
Fig. 11.2.1 Model rate pricing sheet 173
Fig. 11.2.2 Groundworks excavation data sheet 174
Fig. 11.2.3 Groundworks disposal and filling data sheet 175
Fig. 11.2.4 Groundworks sample bill of quantities 176
Fig. 11.2.5 Excavation to reduce levels pricing sheet 177
Fig. 11.2.6 Excavation trenches pricing sheet 178
Fig. 11.2.7 Excavation disposal off site pricing sheet 179
Fig. 11.2.8 Excavation filling pricing sheet 180
Fig. 11.2.9 In situ concrete data sheet 181
Fig. 11.2.10 In situ concrete unit rate pricing sheet 182
Fig. 11.2.11 In situ concrete operational pricing sheet 183
Fig. 11.2.12 Formwork data sheet 184
Fig. 11.2.13 Formwork materials and equipment data sheet 185
Fig. 11.2.14 Formwork to sides of foundations pricing sheet 186
Fig. 11.2.15 Formwork to soffits pricing sheet 187
Fig. 11.2.16 Formwork to columns (operational pricing) pricing sheet 188
Fig. 11.2.17 Bar reinforcement data sheet 189
Fig. 11.2.18 Bar reinforcement pricing sheet 190
Fig. 11.2.19 Fabric reinforcement data sheet 191
Fig. 11.2.20 Fabric reinforcement pricing sheet 192
Fig. 11.2.21 Brickwork data sheet 193
Fig. 11.2.22 Brickwork quantities data sheet 194
Fig. 11.2.23 Brickwork sundries data sheet 195
Fig. 11.2.24 Brickwork pricing sheet 196
Fig. 11.2.25 Blockwork data sheet 197
Fig. 11.2.26 Blockwork pricing sheet 198
Fig. 11.2.27 Structural timber data sheet 199
Fig. 11.2.28 Joinery data sheet 200
Fig. 11.2.29 Structural timber pricing sheet 201
Fig. 11.2.30 Windows and doors data sheet 202
Fig. 11.2.31 Ironmongery data sheet 203
Fig. 11.2.32 Doors and ironmongery pricing sheet 204
Fig. 11.2.33 Painting data sheet 205
Fig. 11.2.34 Painting pricing sheet 206
Fig. 11.2.35 Drainage pipework data sheet 207
Fig. 11.2.36 Drainage excavation pricing sheet 208
Fig. 11.2.37 Drainage pipework pricing sheet 209
Fig. 11.2.38 Drainage manholes pricing schedules 210
Fig. 11.2.39 Drainage trenches data sheet 211
Fig. 11.2.40 Drainage excavation (operational pricing) pricing sheet 212

xvi
 List of figures

Fig. 12.1 Example of a sub-contract comparison sheet 216

Fig. 12.2 Computer comparison system showing problem of average rate
inserted automatically 217
Fig. 12.3 Sub-contract types and attendances 219
Fig. 12.4 A typical summary form for domestic sub-contractors in a tender 220
Fig. 12.5 Table of package values targeting 80% of net cost for a school
project 222
Fig. 13.1 Typical risks register 231
Fig. 13.2 Calculations of fluctuations for a project starting in September 234
Fig. 13.3 Calculation of fluctuations for a project starting in March 235
Fig. 14.1 Estimator’s spreadsheet for calculating the prime cost of
building labour for daywork 2007/2008 242
Fig. 14.2 Items to be added to the ‘all-in’ rates for labour 244
Fig. 15.1 Preliminaries checklist 248
Fig. 15.2a Pricing preliminaries – employer’s requirements 249
Fig. 15.2b Pricing preliminaries – management and staff 250
Fig. 15.2c Pricing preliminaries – facilities and services 251
Fig. 15.2d Pricing preliminaries – mechanical plant 252
Fig. 15.2e Pricing preliminaries – temporary works 253
Fig. 15.2f Pricing preliminaries – site accommodation 254
Fig. 15.2g Pricing preliminaries – attendant labour 255
Fig. 15.2h Pricing preliminaries – contract conditions 256
Fig. 15.2i Pricing preliminaries – non-mechanical plant 257
Fig. 15.2j Pricing preliminaries – miscellaneous 258
Fig. 15.3 Typical preliminaries spreadsheet 261
Fig. 15.4 Typical ranges for preliminaries 263
Fig. 15.5 Typical breakdown of preliminaries 264
Fig. 15.6 Design fees and surveys checklist (school project) 265
Fig. 15.7 Typical payment stages for professional fees 266
Fig. 16.1 Simple linear plot of cumulative value 269
Fig. 16.2 Simple S-curve for cumulative value and costs, calculated at
‘third’ points 270
Fig. 16.3 S-curve based on GC/Works/1 Edition 3 data 271
Fig. 16.4 Client’s cashflow forecast produced by the estimator 273
Fig. 16.5 Multiple sheets for cashflow analysis 274
Fig. 16.6 Contractor’s cashflow forecast using priced programme 275
Fig. 16.7 Cashflow forecast graph 276
Fig. 17.1 Summary of sub-contractors (reproduced from Chapter 12) 280
Fig. 17.2 Tender summary form 281
Fig. 17.3 Tender summary form for a cost-planned tender 282
Fig. 18.1 Cumulative tender ratio 296
Fig. 18.2 Cumulative value of tenders and awards 297

xvii
List of figures

Fig. 18.3 Alternative methods for tender ratio analysis (relates to data given
in Tender Summary Form) 298
Fig. 18.4 Tender results 299
Fig. 18.5 Summary of tender results 300
Fig. 19.1 Extract from contractor’s bill of allowances 305
Fig. 19.2 Comparison of sub-contracts placed with sub-contract allowances 307
Fig. 20.1 Communication systems 312
Fig. 20.2 Collaborative tools 313
Fig. 20.3 Example of an invitation to an electronic tender auction 319
Fig. 20.4 Software used for common estimating tasks 322
Fig. 20.5 Features checklist for estimating packages 324
Fig. 20.6 Example of a spreadsheet template for formwork 328
Fig. 20.7 Example of spreadsheet template for drainage excavation 329
Fig. 20.8 Terms used in a simple database program 332
Fig. 20.9 The roles of the estimator and estimating assistant using
computer systems 342

xviii
Abbreviations used in the text

BEC Building Employers Confederation (changed to Construction

Confederation in 1997)
BPF British Property Federation
BRE Building Research Establishment
BREEAM BRE Environmental Assessment Method
BS British Standard
BWIC Builder’s Work In Connection
CABE Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
CAD Computer-Aided Design
CAWS Common Arrangement of Work Sections
CC Construction Confederation
CD Compact Disc
CECA Civil Engineering Contractors Association
CESMM3 Civil Engineering Standard Method of Measurement Third Edition
CIB Construction Industry Board (Disbanded 2001)
CI/SfB Construction Index – Samarbetskommitten for Byggnadsfragor
CIOB Chartered Institute of Building
COEP Code of Estimating Practice (Published by the CIOB)
Conc Concrete
CPSSST Code of Procedure for Single Stage Selective Tendering
CPI Coordinated Project Information
DOT Department of Transport
Exc Excavation
FCEC Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (Disbanded 1996
see CECA)
FIDIC International Federation of Consulting Engineers
HSE Health & Safety Executive
ICE Institution of Civil Engineers
Inc Included
IOS International Organization for Standardization
JCT Joint Contracts Tribunal Limited
LAN Local Area Network
LCD Liquid Crystal Display
LOSC Labour-Only Subcontractor

xix
Abbreviations used in the text

MB Megabyte
ne Not exceeding
NJCC National Joint Consultative Committee for Building (disbanded in
1996 but documents still in use)
PC Prime Cost
PC Personal Computer
PQS Private Quantity Surveyor (Consultant) also Project Quantity
Surveyor
Prov Provisional
Quant Quantity
RAM Random-Access Memory
RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects
RICS Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
ROM Read-Only Memory
SMM Standard Method of Measurement
SMM6 Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works: Sixth
Edition 1978
SMM7 Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works: Seventh
Edition 1988
WAN Wide Area Network

xx
 Organization of the
1 estimating function

Team roles and organization

The role of the contractor’s estimator is vital to the success of the organization. The
estimator is responsible for predicting the most economic costs for construction in a
way that is both clear and consistent. Although an estimator will have a feel for the

1
Estimating and Tendering for Construction Work

prices in the marketplace, it is the responsibility of management to add an amount for

general overheads, assess the risks and turn the estimate into a tender. The manage-
ment structure for the estimating function tends to follow a common form with vari-
ations for the size of the company. In a small firm, the estimator might be expected
to carry out some quantity surveying duties and will be involved in procuring materi-
als and services. For large projects, the estimator may be part of a multi-disciplinary
team led by a project manager. The estimating section in a medium-sized construc-
tion organization (Fig. 1.1) will often comprise a chief estimator, senior estimators
and estimators at various stages of training.
Larger estimating departments may have administrative and estimating assistants
who can check calculations, photocopy extracts from the tender documents, prepare
letters and enter data in a computer-assisted estimating system.
The estimating team for a proposed project has the estimator as its coordinator and
is usually made up of a contracts manager, buyer, planning engineer and quantity sur-
veyor. The involvement of other people will vary from company to company. A project
quantity surveyor is often consulted to examine amendments to conditions of con-
tract, prepare a bill of quantities, assess commercial risks, set up design agreements
and identify possible difficulties which have been experienced on previous contracts.
Clients sometimes like to negotiate agreements with quantity surveyors where a good
working relationship has been established and follow-on work is to be based on pric-
ing levels agreed for previous work. A planning engineer might be asked to prepare a
preliminary programme so that the proposed contract duration can be checked for
possible savings. He can also prepare method statements, temporary works designs,

Managing
Director

Administration Commercial Pre-contract Operations Finance

Business Estimating Purchasing

development Chief estimator

Senior
estimators

Computer Junior Enquiry

assistants estimators assistants

Fig. 1.1 Estimating staff structure for a medium-sized organization

2
 Organization of the estimating function

organizational charts and site layout drawings. Some or all of this material can be
used to demonstrate to a client that satisfactory systems have been developed for the
project. The purchasing office will provide valuable information leading to the most
economic sources for the supply of materials and plant. In many organizations today,
the buyer is responsible for getting quotations from suppliers and sub-contractors. At
the very least, the buyer (sometimes called ‘procurement manager’ or ‘supply chain
manager’) helps prepare lists of suitable suppliers, keeps a library of product litera-
ture and advises on likely price trends and changes. A buyer can provide an invaluable
service in managing enquiries and chasing quotations. His knowledge of local suppli-
ers and current discounts is essential at the final review meeting when decisions need
to be taken about the availability and future costs of materials and services.
The role of the site manager is to report on the technical and financial progress
of their projects so that the estimator can learn from the company’s experience on
site. On completion of contracts, site staff will usually contribute to tenders for larger
and more complex schemes – particularly for civil engineering and large-scale build-
ing work – where alternative construction methods have a significant affect on tender
price. A site project manager is often used to lead the bid team and manage all aspects
of the tender. The department dealing with business development and presentations
can contribute in two ways: by maintaining close contacts with clients to ensure their
needs are met, and by producing submission documents often using desktop publish-
ing software.
The aim of the team is to gain an understanding of the technical, financial and
contractual requirements of the scheme in order to produce a professional techni-
cal document with a realistic prediction of the cost of construction. The construction
manager or director will then use the net cost estimate to produce the lowest com-
mercial bid at which the company is prepared to tender. Figures 1.2 and 1.3 show the
various stages in preparing a tender and the action needed with successful tenders.
Figure 1.3 has additional tasks for a design and build contract.
The work flow in an estimating department is never constant; the ideal situation
is to have people available who are multi-disciplinary and can deal with administra-
tive tasks. The cost of tendering for work in the construction industry is high and
is included in the general overhead which is added to each successful tender. For
one-off large projects, such as PFI contracts, bidding costs can be several millions of
pounds. These costs are recovered when schemes are successful but written off against
annual profits when contractors fail to win. The chief estimator needs to be sure there
is a reasonable chance of winning the contract if the organization is in competition
with others. The decision to proceed with a tender is based on many factors includ-
ing: the estimating resources available; extent of competition; tender period; quality
of tender documents; type of work; location; current construction workload and con-
ditions of contract. With all these points to consider, a chief estimator could be for-
given for declining a high number of invitations to tender to maintain a high success
rate and avoid uncompetitive bids which can lead to exclusion from approved lists.

3
4

Receive documents

Send out material Select material

and s/c enquiries & s/c quotations

Prepare tender enquiry form Build up

rates
Method statements Establish outputs Establish rates
Examine and schedules for labour & plant for labour & plant
documents Prepare estimator’s
Decision to tender report

Programmes & Price

Temporary works design preliminaries

Estimate timetable
Site visit

INITIAL ACTIONS & APPRAISAL PROJECT APPRECIATION & ENQUIRIES RESOURCES & PREPARATION OF THE ESTIMATE

Examine resource costs Complete bills of quantity O Check conditions of award

Examine methods and programme Prepare tender documents O Prepare handover information

Examine preliminaries Submit tender O Pre-contract meeting

Complete net site cost estimate O Check contract documents

Add overheads and profit O Monitor methods and costs on site

TENDER ADJUDICATION TENDER SUBMISSION ACTION WITH SUCCESSFUL TENDER

Fig. 1.2 Estimating and tendering flowchart (traditional contract)

 Receive + read documents
Check and refine the Agree schedule Measure net + gross
Prepare tender enquiry form schedule with Client floor areas

Decision to tender Gain understanding of Prepare target cost plan Agree and issue Monitor design Prepare
the affordability target using historical data target cost plan against target CP estimate Prepare estimator’s
Estimate timetable cost report
plan
Write the 'design-to-cost' Programmes & Prepare prelims
Appoint design team statements Temporary works design workbook

Start-up meeting Attend design meetings Understand abnormals

Appoint preferred subs Issue documents to subs Engage with supply chain Obtain advice and Analyse responses
for advice on market rates Price ICT and FF+E from subcontractors

INITIAL ACTIONS & APPRAISAL PROJECT APPRECIATION & ENQUIRIES PREPARATION OF THE ESTIMATE

Present technical content Complete pricing pro-formas O Check conditions of award

usually elemental cost schedules
Examine methods and programme O Prepare handover information

Examine preliminaries O Pre-commencement meeting

Prepare written submissions

Agree the cost estimate O Check contract documents

Add overheads and profit Submit technical, financial and O Monitor methods and costs on site
commercial bid documents
Consider commercial issues

TENDER ADJUDICATION TENDER SUBMISSION ACTION WITH SUCCESSFUL TENDER

Fig. 1.3 Estimating and tendering flowchart (design and build contract)
5
Estimating and Tendering for Construction Work

On the other hand, he must recognize the goodwill which often flows from submit-
ting competitive prices and the need to carry out work which might lead to suitable
and profitable contracts.
There are several forms that can be used to plan, control and monitor estimating
workload. The first is a chart to show the opportunities to tender when they have
been confirmed. The information for this programme usually comes from market-
ing personnel, who are responsible for bringing in invitations to tender for projects
that are in line with company strategy. The chief estimator will prepare a bar chart
(Fig. 1.4) to show how the estimators will be assigned to present and future ten-
ders, showing the expected dates for receipt of documents and submission of ten-
ders. Copies are sent to heads of other departments so they can plan their input; they
may also wish to attend the final review meetings. A tender register is also needed
(Fig. 1.5) to record the main details of each tender such as reference number, client,
price, tender date and an analysis of performance in relation to the competition.
The success ratio for a construction firm is often quoted at about 1 in 4 although
it can be as bad at 1 in 6 and as good as 1 in 2 where competition is limited. Since
the directors of a company are more concerned with turnover and profit, then success
is better measured in terms of value, and the estimating department may be given
annual targets to meet. Clearly, negotiated work and two-stage tendering can save a
great deal of abortive work.
Estimators are drawn from two sources: direct from school with some good grades
in GCSE subjects which suggest a potential to study to a higher technician or profes-
sional level, or from experienced staff where management has identified an aptitude
and willingness for the job. In both cases a reasonable time must be spent on site to
gain experience in construction methods, materials identification, use and practice.
The skills that are needed are the ability to read and interpret technical documenta-
tion, the ability to communicate with clients, specialists and other members of the
team, and the faculty to make accurate calculations.
Technically an estimator must have a working knowledge of all the major trades, to
identify packages of work to be carried out by sub-contractors, and the direct work-
force, to foresee the time and resources that will be needed. It is also necessary to
have the skills needed to take off quantities from drawings, where there are no bills of
quantities. When bills of quantities are provided, the estimator will need to check the
principal quantities to understand how corrections to the quantities during the con-
tract will affect the profitability of the scheme.
An estimator needs to refer to many information sources either in book form or
through more modern means such as microfiche, CD-ROM and on-line databases.
The following list shows some of the basic material required:

• Code of Estimating Practice (COEP) … pro-formas for estimators.

• Code of Procedure for the Selection of Main Contractors … tendering procedures.
• Standard Method of Measurement (SMM) … explanation of item coverage.

6
 Date 30.5.08
CB CONSTRUCTION LIMITED ESTIMATING PROGRAMME

estimator
###

planner

buyer
no. current tenders tender review value period June July August September

PM

QS
date date £m wks 2 9 16 23 30 7 14 21 28 4 11 18 25 1 8 15 22

335 St James School extension 19.6.08 16.6.08 JE FD GB 2500 000 3 ## ## ##

336 Lifeboat station 3.7.08 1.7.08 GT FD GB 2100 000 5 ## ## ## ## ##

338 Access road 20.6.08 17.6.07 JS BT 900 000 3 ## ## ##

341 Treatment works 10.7.08 7.7.08 JE BT GB 1250 000 5 ## ## ## ## ##

342 Superstore 30.7.08 30.7.08 JS CB FD SS GB 5500 000 7 ## ## ## ## ## ## ##

346 Fast transport office 22.8.08 19.8.08 GT FD GB 1350 000 6 ## ## ## ## ## ##

future tenders date

due

Stansford College 4.8.08 8100 000 7 ## ## ## ## ## ## ##

Totals 21,700,000 ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### - -

Fig. 1.4 Estimating programme

7
8
CB CONSTRUCTION LIMITED TENDER REGISTER page

Tender Tender Date Location Client QS Tender details Tender evaluation

no. title received Architect No. of % over % over
Engineer Date Price tenderers Rank lowest mean

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010
011
012
013
014
015
016
017
018
019
020
021

Fig. 1.5 Tender register

 Organization of the estimating function

• Standard forms of contract … contractual obligations.

• Standard specifications for highways and water industries … specifications for
pricing.
• National Working Rule Agreement … labour rates.
• Definition of prime cost of daywork … pricing daywork percentages.
• Daywork plant schedules … pricing daywork percentages.
• Trade literature:
(a) standard price lists
(b) technical product information.
• Trade directory of suppliers and sub-contractors … lists of suppliers to receive enquiries
• Reference data for weights of materials … unit rate pricing.

Quality management
A company’s quality management system must include procedures for estimating and
tendering. The decisions made at tender stage will often determine the way in which
the project is carried out. It is therefore important when preparing a tender to ensure
that the client’s requirements are understood, information is robust, and directors
have approved the contractor’s proposals.
Many organizations have adopted a standard approach to the process of estimat-
ing. Documented procedures are used that detail the preparation, review and submis-
sion of a tender. This is particularly useful for newly appointed staff as it provides a
standard framework for the preparation of an estimate and ensures consistent records
and reports for others. The preparation of documented procedures has come with
the introduction of a British Standard, which provides a model for quality assurance.
Now known as the BS EN ISO 9000 series, this standard was first introduced to the
construction industry as BS 5750 in 1979.
The objective of a quality assurance system is to provide confidence that a product,
in this instance the tender submission, is correct, is provided on time and produces
the right price. This price might be defined as that which the client can afford and
deems reasonable, and is sufficient for the contractor to meet his business objectives.
However, it is acknowledged that tenders are always submitted on time, but owing to
time and information constraints, the price may not always be the ‘right price’.
The benefits of implementing quality assurance in the estimating function are:

1. Profitability – an improvement to the profitability of the organization.

2. Accuracy – a reduction of errors.
3. Competence – better trained staff.
4. Efficiency – work properly planned and systematically carried out.
5. Job satisfaction – for the whole estimating team.
6. Client satisfaction – leading to likelihood of repeat business.

9
Estimating and Tendering for Construction Work

Health, safety and welfare

Safety is high on the agenda of construction organizations. Estimators must under-
stand the implications of current legislation for the design and procurement stages
and include sufficient costs to carry out the work safely.
A client’s professional team contributes to the writing of a health and safety file, by
assessing hazards which might be inherent in the design. These hazards include pos-
sible dangers to construction operatives, staff and the public – during construction,
for occupants and in carrying out repairs over the life of the building. The health and
safety file tells the estimator about the project, setting out hazards associated with the
design, and dangers known about the existing site.
The Construction (Design and Management) regulations demand greater respon-
sibilities on design-and-build contractors. Their tasks will often be extended by clients
to include:

1. The role of CDM Co-ordinator.

2. Vetting of designers for competence in designing safely.
3. Producing the pre-tender stage health and safety file.

Good health and safety systems ensure significant long-term business benefit, as
follows:

• less staff absence

• less staff turnover
• improved productivity and efficiency
• less down time
• improved quality of work
• lower insurance premiums
• best in class.

There are some clients who remain sceptical about why they are paying for health
and safety and see little benefit to their business. They are forgetting that they have
a moral and legal obligation to manage the safety of the overall project, and a safety
culture will affect the attractiveness of the finished product. In addition, legal action
following a failure in health and safety can damage a company’s reputation.
Many incidents are not covered by insurance. Also the policy excess may be greater
than the individual amounts concerned. All other costs will have to be met by the
contractor.
Many costs are not covered by insurance. They can include:

• investigations
• lost time and production delays

10
 Organization of the estimating function

Heading Description £
Staff CDM co-ordinator 35 000
Safety manager – visiting site 15 000
Safety manager – on site 85 000
Temporary works design checks 30 000
Logistics planning 25 000

Equipment Signage external 4 000

Signage internal 9 500
Safety clothing – client team 8 000
Safety clothing – visitors 2 500
Safety clothing – staff 11 000
Personal protective equipment Above
Fire equipment extinguishers etc 15 000
First aid equipment 1 800
First aid accommodation 10 000

Safety lighting 5 000

Barriers for segregated walkways 6 000
Safety netting (priced with
scaffolding)

Training Safety induction 3 500

CSCS cards 25 500

Processes Considerate Contractors Scheme 750

Fig. 1.6 Example of the additional costs for Health and Safety for a £50 m project

• sick pay
• damage or loss of product and raw materials
• repairs to plant and equipment
• extra wages, overtime working and temporary labour
• fines
• loss of contracts
• legal costs
• loss of business reputation.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations impose certain require-

ments at tender stage. The following should be checked by the tender team:

1. A CDM co-ordinator has been appointed and attends team meetings. The CDM
co-ordinator’s role is ‘to advise the client on health and safety issues during the
design and planning phases of construction work’ (HSE). In most design and
build projects, the CDM co-ordinator will attend design meetings to encourage
others to fulfil their responsibilities.

11
Estimating and Tendering for Construction Work

2. Sub-contractors have been vetted for their H&S procedures and performance.
3. Designers have been checked for the H&S procedures and performance.
4. Site accommodation, in the estimate, is of an appropriate standard to provide a
safe environment for site staff and ensure a high standard of welfare.
5. Site phasing and logistics are designed to reduce the risk of accidents.
6. Designs produced are, from the start, safe to build and maintain.
7. Construction work is notified to the HSE by the CDM co-ordinator.
8. Data for the information file will be provided.
9. Planning and management of risks is improved from the start.

Health and safety is priced in various parts of the estimate but is most obvious in
the preliminaries. Figure 1.6 shows part of a preliminaries spreadsheet which deals
with identifiable items. Other issues are included in temporary works and plant sheets
together with trade packages.

12
 2 Procurement paths

Introduction
The Banwell Report, published in 1964, expressed the view that existing contractual
and professional conventions do not allow the flexibility that is essential to an indus-
try in the process of modernization. The report of the committee asked the industry
to experiment to secure efficiency and economy in construction.
The traditional method of organizing construction work starts with appointing a
consultant designer, usually an architect or engineer, or both. Other specialists may
be needed, in particular a quantity surveyor is appointed to provide cost information,
prepare bills of quantity, compare bids and maintain financial management during
construction.
Since the early 1960s, the construction industry has experienced significant
changes in the way in which contracts are managed. In some cases, contractors have
been brought in at an early stage as full members of the design team; in others, such
as Public–Private Partnerships (PPP), contractors have occupied the lead role. During
the 1980s clients became increasingly concerned about problems such as poor design,
inadequate supervision, delays and increased costs. They were also critical of the sep-
aration of design from construction, particularly between the building professions.
In an attempt to overcome some of these long-standing criticisms, the British
Property Federation (BPF) published its manual for building design and construc-
tion in 1983. It wanted to introduce a new system to change attitudes and alter the
way in which the members of the construction team dealt with one another. The BPF
also tried to remove some of the overlap of effort between quantity surveyors and
contractors without the need for the traditional bill of quantities. This system for
building procurement was little used and to some extent superseded by new forms of
contract such as the Engineering and Construction contract. This had the support of
Sir Michael Latham in his report, Constructing the Team (HMSO 1994), although its
implementation has been slower than Sir Michael Latham had recommended.
The design and build method has gradually grown in popularity during the last
three decades by offering single-point responsibilities, certainty of price and shorter
overall durations. Management contracting was used in the 1970s and 1980s for

13
Estimating and Tendering for Construction Work

large complex projects but construction management is now seen as a more attrac-
tive choice. An alternative, which is sometimes forgotten, is the client’s own in-house
design team, usually led by a project manager who supervises designers, cost spe-
cialists and contractors. This method accounts for a large part of construction work
because it is the one commonly used in the public sector; but even this is being
replaced with new systems, in particular the Private Finance Initiative, framework
agreements and Prime Contracting in the defence sector.

Clients’ needs
Client organizations are divided between those in private and public sectors although
this distinction is becoming more difficult to define since the privatization of many
national bodies. The private sector includes industrial, commercial, social, charitable
and professional organizations, and individuals. The public sector is taken to mean
government departments, nationalized industries, statutory authorities, local authori-
ties and development agencies. The experience which a client has of building procure-
ment ranges from extensive, in the case of a client with a project management team,
to none, where a private individual may want a development only once in a lifetime.
Clients will usually identify their needs in terms of commercial or social pressure to
change; by an examination of primary objectives such as:

1. Space requirements: the need to improve production levels, add to production capac-
ity, accommodate new processes or provide domestic or social accommodation;
2. Investment: to exploit opportunities to invest in buildings;
3. Identity: to enhance the individual’s or organization’s standing in its market or society;
4. Location: could lead to a better use of resources, capture a new market or improve
amenity;
5. Politics: mainly in the public sector.

The client’s experience of building will influence his expectation of the industry.
Property developers on the one hand can influence their professional advisers and the
contractual arrangements, and select a contractor with the right commitment to meeting
project targets. The main aim is to achieve a degree of certainty in the building process.
On the other hand, individuals and inexperienced clients are guided by their advisers
and contractors, and will be offered what the construction team think they need.
In general a client aims to appoint a team which he or she can trust and rely on to
reduce uncertainties during a building’s design, construction and use. This is achieved
by control of the following:

1. The design: by designing to a budget, taking advantage of the contractor’s experi-

ence, avoiding excessive use of new systems, designing for buildability, safety, security,

14
Other documents randomly have
different content
Here again Parkinson's enthusiasm causes him to pause, for he
exclaims:
"But what shall I say to the Queen of Delight and of Flowers,
Carnations and Gilliflowers, whose bravery, variety and sweet smell
joined together tieth every one's affection with great earnestness
both to like and to have them?"
Of the overwhelming number he singles out the red and gray Hulo,
the old carnation, the Grand Père; the Cambersive, the Savadge, the
Chrystal, the Prince, the white carnation or delicate, the ground
carnation, the French carnation, the Dover, the Oxford, the Bristow,
the Westminster, the Daintie, the Granado, and the orange tawny
gilliflower and its derivatives, the Infanta, the striped tawny, the
speckled tawny, the flaked tawny, the Grifeld tawny, and many
others.
Many sweet pinks are included, "all very sweet coming near the
Gilliflowers, Sweet Williams and Sweet Johns," both single and
double, red and spotted, "and a kind of wild pinks, which for their
beauty and grace help to furnish a garden." Then, too, we have
peonies, double and single; hollyhocks, single and double; and
roses.
The Elizabethan gardens, therefore, presented a magnificent array of
flowers; and it was not only in the grand gardens of castles and
manor-houses, but in the estates of London merchants along the
Strand and of the florists in Holborn, Westminster, and elsewhere
that fine flower shows were to be enjoyed during every month of the
year. In the country before the simple dwellings and the half-
timbered and thatched cottages bright flowers blossomed in the
same beauty and profusion as to-day.
The charming cottage garden has changed little.
Finally, in summing up, if we imagine as a background a group of
Tudor buildings in the Perpendicular style of architecture of red brick
broken with bay-windows and groups of quaint chimneys variously
ornamented with zigzag and other curious lines, gables here and
there—the whole façade rising above a terrace with broad flights of
steps—one at the middle and one at each end—and from the terrace
"forthrights" and paths intersecting and in the squares formed by
them bright beds of flowers so arranged that the colors intermingle
and blend so as to produce the effect of a rich mosaic and redolent
with the sweetest perfumes all mingled with particular and peculiar
care and art, we shall have a mental picture of the kind of garden
that lay before Olivia's house in "Twelfth Night," where Malvolio
parades up and down the "forthrights," as Shakespeare distinctly
tells us, in his yellow cross-garters, to pick up the letter dropped on
the path by Maria while the rollicking Sir Toby Belch, witless Sir
Andrew Aguecheek, and merry Maria watch his antics from their
hiding-place in the box-tree, or hedge.
Such also was the garden at Belmont, Portia's stately home, in which
Lorenzo and Jessica, while waiting for their mistress on that
moonlight night "when the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees and
they did make no noise," voiced their ravishing duet, "On Such a
Night."
Such also was the garden into which Romeo leaped over the high
wall to sing before Juliet's window a song that in her opinion was far
sweeter than that of the nightingale that nightly sang in the
pomegranate-tree by her balcony.
If, on the other hand, we wish to visualize Perdita's garden—that of
a simple shepherdess—we must imagine a tiny cottage enclosure
gay and bright with blooms of many hues, arranged in simple beds
neatly bordered with box or thrift, but where there are no terraces,
forthrights, or ornamental vases, urns or fountains. This little cottage
garden is the kind that brightened the approach to Anne Hathaway's
house at Shottery and Shakespeare's own dwelling at Stratford.
This is a descendant, as we have seen, of the little Garden of
Delight, the Pleasance of the Medieval castle. The simple cottage
garden is the easier of the two to reproduce to-day. Although it only
occupies a small corner in the garden proper, yet all the flowers
mentioned by Shakespeare can be grown in it.
In rural England it is not rare to come across old gardens that owed
their existence to disciples of Didymus Mountain, Markham, Lawson,
and Parkinson—gardens that have been tended for three hundred
years and more with loving care, where the blossoms are
descendants of "outlandish" importations of Nicholas Leate and Lord
Burleigh, and of simple English flowers. These gladden the eyes of
their owners to-day as the original flowers gladdened the eyes of
those who planted them. Generations of people in the house and
generations of flowers in the garden thus flourished and faded side
by side while the old stock put forth new blossoms in both house
and garden to continue the family traditions of both the human and
the floral world.

HERBACEOUS BORDER, NEW PLACE, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

A typical garden dating from Shakespearean times was thus

described a few years ago in "The Gentleman's Magazine":
"In all England one could, perhaps, find no lovelier garden than that
of T——, an old manor-house, sheltered by hill and bounded by the
moat, which is the only relic of the former feudal castle. The tiled
roof, the gables inlaid with oaken beams, are almost hidden by
fragrant roses and jasmine flowers that shine like stars against their
darker foliage. A sun-dial stands in the square of lawn before the
porch, and the windows to your right open upon a yew-hedged
bowling-green. Beyond, the smooth lawn slopes down to a little
stream, thick with water-loving reeds and yellow flags; and lime-
trees, whose fragrance the breeze wafts to us, sweep the
greensward in magnificent curves. If you turn to the left, along
yonder grassy path you will find yourself between borders gorgeous
with poppies and sweet william and hollyhocks and lilies that frame
distances of blue hills and clear sky.
"The kitchen-garden lies through that gate in the wall of mellowed
brick—an old-fashioned kitchen-garden, with mingled fruit and
vegetables and flowers. There are pear and plum-trees against the
wall and strawberry beds next the feathery asparagus and
gooseberry bushes hidden by hedges of sweet peas. Another turn
will bring you into a labyrinth of yew hedges and so back to the
bowling-green, across which the long shadows lie, and the sun-dial
which marks the approach of evening. The light is golden on the
house and on the tangled borders; the air is fragrant with many
scents."
 PART TWO

THE FLOWERS OF SHAKESPEARE

Spring
"THE SWEET O' THE YEAR"
 I
Primroses, Cowslips, and Oxlips

P RIMROSE (Primula vulgaris). English poets have always regarded

the primrose as the first flower of spring—the true Flor di prima
vera. This name calls to mind Botticelli's enchanting Primevera that
hangs in the Uffizi, in which the sward is dotted with spring flowers
that seem to have burst into blossom beneath the footsteps of
Venus and her three Graces—those lovely ladies of the Italian
Renaissance, clad in light, fluttering draperies. This decorative
picture expresses not only the joy and beauty of newly-awakened
spring, but something much deeper, something that the painter did
not realize himself; and this was what the Italian Renaissance was
destined to mean to all the world: a New Birth of beauty in the arts
and a new era of human sympathy for mankind.
Sandro Botticelli, whom we may appropriately call Flor di prima vera
among painters, was as unaware of his mission in art as the
primroses that come into being at the call of a new day of spring
sunshine from a long dark winter's sleep in a soil of frozen stiffness.
Something of the tender and wistful beauty of early spring—her faint
dreams and soft twilights, her languid afternoons and her veiled
nights, when pale stars tremble through gray mists and when warm
rains softly kiss the drowsy earth—Botticelli has put into his
enchanting spring idyl; and this same wistful, half-drowsy, and
evanescent beauty is characteristic of the primrose.

Primrose, first born child of Ver,

Merry Springtime's harbinger,
With her bells dim
is a perfect and sympathetic description of the flower in "The Two
Noble Kinsmen."[20]
[20] Act I, Scene I.

Observe that the bells of the primrose are "dim"—pale in hue—

because the earth is not sufficiently awake for bright colors or for
joyful chimes—so the color is faint and the sound is delicate. Trees
are now timidly putting forth tender leaves, buds peer cautiously
from the soil, and few birds sing; for leaves, buds, and birds know
full well that winter is lurking in the distance and that rough winds
occasionally issue from the bag of Boreas. The time has not yet
come for "lisp of leaves and ripple of rain" and for choirs of
feathered songsters. Yet all the more, because of its bold daring and
its modest demeanor, the primrose deserves the enthusiastic
welcome it has always received from poets and flower lovers.
"The primrose," writes Dr. Forbes Watson, "seems the very flower of
delicacy and refinement; not that it shrinks from our notice, for few
plants are more easily seen, coming as it does when there is a
dearth of flowers, when the first birds are singing and the first bees
humming and the earliest green putting forth in the March and April
woods. And it is one of those plants which dislikes to be looking
cheerless, but keeps up a smouldering fire of blossom from the very
opening of the year, if the weather will permit.
"The flower is of a most unusual color, a pale, delicate yellow,
slightly tinged with green. And the better flowers impress us by a
peculiar paleness, not dependent upon any feebleness of hue, which
we always find unpleasing, but rather upon the exquisite softness of
their tone. And we must not overlook the little round stigma, that
green and translucent gem, which forms the pupil of the eye, and is
surrounded by a deeper circle of orange which helps it to shine forth
more clearly. Many flowers have a somewhat pensive look; but in the
pensiveness of the primrose there is a shade of melancholy—a
melancholy which awakens no thought of sadness and does but give
interest to the pale, sweet, inquiring faces which the plant upturns
towards us.
"In the primrose, as a whole, we cannot help being struck by an
exceeding softness and delicacy; there is nothing sharp, strong, or
incisive; the smell is 'the faintest and most ethereal perfume,' as
Mrs. Stowe has called it in her 'Sunny Memories,' though she was
mistaken in saying that it disappears when we pluck the flower. It is
meant to impress us as altogether soft and yielding. One of the most
beautiful points in the primrose is the manner in which the paleness
of the flowers is taken up by the herbage. This paleness seems to
hang about the plant like a mystery, for though the leaves of the
primrose may at times show a trace of the steady paleness of the
cowslip, it is more usually confined to their undersurfaces and the
white flower-stalks with their clothing of down. And when we are
looking at the primrose one or other of these downy, changeful
portions is continually coming into view, so that we get a feeling as if
there hung about the whole plant a clothing of soft, evanescent
mist, thickening about the center of the plant and the undersurfaces
of the leaves which are less exposed to the sun. And then we reach
one of the main expressions of the primrose. When we look at the
pale, sweet flowers, and the soft-toned green of the herbage,
softened further here and there by that uncertain mist of down, the
dryness of the leaf and fur enters forcibly into our impression of the
plant, giving a sense of extreme delicacy and need of shelter, as if it
were some gentle creature which shrinks from exposure to the
weather."
 CARNATIONS AND GILLIFLOWERS; PRIMROSES AND COWSLIPS; AND DAFFODILS: FROM
PARKINSON

The Greeks associated the idea of melancholy with this flower. They
had a story of a handsome youth, son of Flora and Priapus, whose
betrothed bride died. His grief was so excessive that he died, too,
and the gods than changed his body into a primrose.
In Shakespeare's time, the primrose was also associated with early
death; and it is one of the flowers thrown upon the corse of Fidele,
whose lovely, wistful face is compared to the "pale primrose." Thus
Arviragus exclaims as he gazes on the beautiful youth, Fidele, the
assumed name of Imogen in disguise:

I'll sweeten thy sad grave: thou shalt not lack

The flower that's like thy face, pale primrose.[21]

Perdita, in "The Winter's Tale,"[22] mentions

Pale primroses that die unmarried

Ere they can behold bright Phœbus in his strength.

Shakespeare appreciated the delicate hue and perfume of this

flower. He seems to be alluding to both qualities when he makes
Hermia touch Helena's memory by the following words:

And in the wood, where often you and I

Upon faint primrose beds were wont to lie.[23]

Other English poets speak of the flower as "the pale," or "the dim."
Milton writes:

Now the bright star, day's harbinger

Comes dancing from the East and leads with her
The flow'ry May, who, from her green lap, throws
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.

And again, Thomas Carew:

Ask me why I send you here

The firstling of the infant year?
Ask me why I send to you
This Primrose, all bepearled with dew?
I straight whisper in your ears:
The sweets of Love are wash'd with tears

Ask me why this flower doth show

So yellow, green and sickly, too?
Ask me why the stalk is weak
And, bending, yet it doth not break?
I will answer: these discover
What doubts and fears are in a lover.

[21] "Cymbeline"; Act IV, Scene II.

[22] Act IV, Scene III.
[23] "A Midsummer Night's Dream"; Act I, Scene I.

The English primrose is one of a large family of more than fifty

species, represented by the primrose, the cowslip, and the oxlip. All
members of this family are noted for their simple beauty and their
peculiar charm.
Parkinson writes:
"We have so great variety of Primroses and Cowslips in our country
breeding that strangers, being much delighted with them, have often
furnished into divers countries to their good content.
"All Primroses bear their long and large, broad yellowish-green
leaves without stalks most usually, and all the Cowslips have small
stalks under the leaves, which are smaller and of a darker green.
The name of Primula veris, or Primrose, is indifferently conferred on
those that I distinguish for Paralyses, or Cowslips. All these plants
are called most usually in Latin Primulæ veris, Primulæ pretenses
and Primulæ silvarum, because they shew by their flowering the new
Spring to be coming on, they being, as it were, the first
Embassadors thereof. They have also divers other names, as Herba
Paralysis, Arthritica, Herba Sancti Petri, Claues Sancti Petri,
Verbasculum odoratum, Lunaria arthritica, Phlomis, Alisma silvarum
and Alismatis alterum genus. Some have distinguished them by
calling the Cowslips Primula Veris Elatior, that is the Taller Primrose,
and the other Humilis, Low, or Dwarf, Primrose.
"Primroses and Cowslips are in a manner wholly used in Cephalicall
diseases to ease pains in the head. They are profitable both for the
Palsy and pains of the joints, even as the Bears' Ears[24] are, which
hath caused the names of Arthritica Paralysis and Paralytica to be
given them."
[24] Auriculas.
Tusser in his "Husbandry" includes the primrose among the seeds
and herbs of the kitchen; and Lyte says that "the cowslips, primroses
and oxlips are now used daily amongst other pot-herbs, but in physic
there is no great account made of them." "The old name was
Primerolles," Dr. Prior notes in his quaint book on flowers. "Primerole
as an outlandish, unintelligible word was soon familiarized into
Primerolles and this into Primrose." The name was also written
primrolles and finally settled down into primrose. Chaucer wrote
primerole, a name derived from the French Primeverole, meaning,
like the Italian Flor di prima vera, the first spring flower.
COWSLIP (Paralysis vulgaris pratensis). The cowslip is an
ingratiating little flower, not so aloof as its cousin the primrose, and
not at all melancholy. In the popular lore of Shakespeare's time the
cowslip was associated with fairies. In many places it was known as
"fairy cups." For this reason Shakespeare makes Ariel lie in a
cowslip's bell when the fay is frightened by the hooting of owls, or
tired of swinging merrily in "the blossom that hangs on the bough."
One of the duties of Titania's little maid of honor was "to hang a
pearl in every cowslip's ear"; and this gay little fairy informs Puck of
the important place cowslips hold in the court of the tiny Queen
Titania:

The cowslips tall her pensioners be,

In their gold coats spots you see:
These be rubies, fairy favors,
In these freckles live their savors.[25]

[25] "A Midsummer Night's Dream"; Act II, Scene I.

To appreciate the meaning of this comparison, it must be
remembered that the "pensioners" of Queen Elizabeth's court were a
guard of the tallest and handsomest men to be found in the whole
kingdom, men, moreover, who were in the pride of youth, and scions
of the most distinguished families. Their dress was of extraordinary
elegance and enriched heavily with gold embroidery. Hence, "gold
coats" for the cowslips. Here and there jewels sparkled and glistened
on the pensioners' coats. Hence rubies—fairy favors—favors from
the Queen! The pensioners also wore pearls in their ears, like
Raleigh and Leicester and other noblemen. Hence the fairy had to
"hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear." An idea, too, of the size of
Titania and her elves is given when the cowslips are considered
"tall," and tall enough to be the body-guard of Queen Titania. This
was a pretty little allusion to Queen Elizabeth and her court, which
the audience that gathered to see the first representation of "A
Midsummer Night's Dream" did not fail to catch.
We get a sidelight on the importance of the pensioners in "The
Merry Wives of Windsor"[26] when Dame Quickly tells Falstaff a great
cock-and-bull story about the visitors who have called on Mistress
Ford. "There have been knights and lords and gentlemen with their
coaches, letter after letter, gift after gift; smelling so sweetly (all
musk) and so rushling, I warrant you in silk and gold; and yet there
has been earls, and, what is more, pensioners!" Shakespeare also
speaks of "the freckled cowslip" in "Henry V,"[27] when the Duke of
Burgundy refers to

The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth

The freckled cowslip.

All poets love the flower.

In the language wherewith spring

Letters cowslips on the hill,

writes Tennyson—a charming fancy!

Sydney Dobell has a quaint flower song containing this verse:

Then came the cowslip

Like a dancer in the fair,
She spread her little mat of green
And on it dancèd she,
With a fillet bound about her brow,
A fillet round her happy brow,
A golden fillet round her brow,
And rubies in her hair.

[26] Act II, Scene II.

[27] Act V, Scene II.
Never mind if country dancers rarely wear rubies; the idea is pretty
and on Shakespeare's authority we know that rubies do gleam in the
cup of the cowslip, as he has told us through the lips of the fairy.
With great appreciation of the beauty of the flower he has Jachimo's
description:

Cinque-spotted like the crimson drops

In the bottom of a cowslip.[28]

[28] "Cymbeline"; Act II, Scene II.

Most sympathetically did Dr. Forbes Watson, when lying on a bed of
fatal illness, put into words what many persons have felt regarding
this flower:
"Few of our wild flowers give intenser pleasure than the cowslip, yet
perhaps there is scarcely any whose peculiar beauty depends so
much upon locality and surroundings. There is a homely simplicity
about the cowslip, much like that of the daisy, though more pensive,
—the quiet, sober look of an unpretending country girl, not strikingly
beautiful in feature or attire, but clean and fresh as if new bathed in
milk and carrying us away to thoughts of daisies, flocks and
pasturage and the manners of a simple, primitive time, some golden
age of shepherd-life long since gone by. And more; in looking at the
cowslip we are always most forcibly struck by its apparent
wholesomeness and health. This wholesomeness is quite
unmistakable. It belongs even to the smell so widely different from
the often oppressive perfume of other plants, as lilies, narcissuses,
or violets. Now just such a healthy milk-fed look, just such a sweet,
healthy odor is what we find in cows—an odor which breathes
around them as they sit at rest in the pasture. The 'lips,' of course, is
but a general resemblance to the shape of the petals and suggests
the source of the fragrance. The cowslip, as we have said, is a
singularly healthy-looking plant, indeed, nothing about it is more
remarkable. It has none of the delicacy and timidity of the primrose.
All its characters are well and healthily pronounced. The paleness is
uniform, steady, and rather impresses us as whiteness; and the
yellow of the cup is as rich as gold. The odor is not faint, but
saccharine and luscious. It does not shrink into the sheltered covert,
but courts the free air and sunshine of the open fields; and instead
of its flowers peeping timidly from behind surrounding leaves, it
raises them boldly on a stout, sufficient stalk, the most conspicuous
object in the meadow. Its poetry is the poetry of common life, but of
the most delicious common life that can exist. The plant is in some
respects careless to the verge of disorder; and you should note that
carelessness well, till you feel the force of it, as especially in the
lame imperfection of the flower buds, only, perhaps half of them well
developed and the rest dangling all of unequal lengths. Essentially
the cowslip and the primrose are only the same plant in two
different forms, the one being convertible into the other. The
primrose is the cowslip of the woods and sheltered lanes; the
cowslip is the primrose of the fields."
The name cowslip is not derived from the lips of the cow, but,
according to Skeat, the great Anglo-Saxon authority, it comes from
an Anglo-Saxon word meaning dung and was given to the plant
because it springs up in meadows where cows are pastured.
"The common field Cowslip," says Parkinson, "I might well forbear to
set down, being so plentiful in the fields; but because many take
delight in it and plant it in their gardens, I will give you the
description of it here. It hath divers green leaves, very like unto the
wild Primrose, but shorter, rounder, stiffer, rougher, more crumpled
about the edges and of a sadder green color, every one standing
upon his stalk which is an inch or two long. Among the leaves rise
up divers long stalks, a foot or more high, bearing at the top many
fair, yellow, single flowers with spots of a deep yellow at the bottom
of each leaf, smelling very sweet.
"In England they have divers names according to several countries,
as Primroses, Cowslips, Oxlips, Palsieworts and Petty Mullins. The
Frantic Fantastic, or Foolish, Cowslip in some places is called by
country people Jack-an-Apes-on-Horseback, which is a usual name
given by them to many other plants, as Daisies, Marigolds, etc., if
they be strange or fantastical, differing in form from the ordinary
kind of the single ones. The smallest are usually called through all
the North Country Birds' Eyen, because of the small yellow circle in
the bottoms of the flowers resembling the eye of a bird."

OXLIP (Primula eliator). The oxlip combines the qualities of

primrose and cowslip. "These two plants," writes a botanist, "appear
as divergent expressions of a simple type, the cowslip being a
contracted form of primrose, the sulphur yellow and the fine tawny,
watery rays of the latter brightened into well defined orange spots.
In the oxlip these characters anastomose."
Thus, partaking of the character of primrose and cowslip, the oxlip is
considered by some authorities a hybrid. "The oxlip and the
polyanthus," says Dr. Forbes Watson, "with its tortoiseshell blossoms,
are two of the immediate forms; the polyanthus being a great
triumph of the gardener's art, a delightful flower, quite a new
creation and originally produced by cultivation of the primrose." In
England the oxlip is found in woods, fields, meadows, and under
hedges. Though a spring flower it lingers into summer and is found
in company with the nodding violet, wild thyme, and luscious
eglantine on the bank where Titania loved to sleep lulled to rest by
song.[29] Perdita speaks of "bold oxlips" ("The Winter's Tale," Act iv,
Scene iii); and compared With the primrose and cowslip the flower
deserves the adjective.
"Oxlips in their cradles growing," in the song in "The Two Noble
Kinsmen,"[30] which Shakespeare wrote with John Fletcher, shows
great knowledge of the plant, for the root-leaves of the oxlip are
shaped like a cradle.
Parkinson writes: "Those are usually called oxlips whose flowers are
naked, or bare, without husks to contain them, being not so sweet
as the cowslip, yet have they some little scent, although the Latin
name doth make them to have none."
[29] "A Midsummer Night's Dream"; Act II, Scene II.
[30] Act I, Scene I.
 II
"Daffodils that Come Before the
Swallow Dares"
DAFFODIL (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus).
When daffodils begin to peer,
With heigh! the doxy over the dale,
Why then comes in the sweet o' the year;
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.

Is the opening verse that Autolycus sings so gaily in "The Winter's

Tale."[31] The daffodil was "carefully nourished up" in Elizabethan
gardens, as the saying went. Before Shakespeare's time a great
number of daffodils had been introduced into England from various
parts of the Continent. Gerard describes twenty-four different
species, "all and every one of them in great abundance in our
London gardens."
[31] Act IV, Scene II.

There were many varieties both rare and ordinary. Parkinson

particularly distinguishes the true daffodils, or narcissus, from the
"Bastard Daffodils," or pseudo narcissus; and he gives their
differences as follows:
"It consisteth only in the flower and chiefly in the middle cup, or
chalice; for that we do, in a manner only, account those to be
Pseudo Narcissus, Bastard Daffodils, whose middle cup is altogether
as long, and sometimes a little longer than, the outer leaves that do
encompass it, so that it seemeth rather like a trunk, or a long nose,
than a cup or chalice, such as almost all the Narcissi, or true
Daffodils, have. Of the Bastard tribe Parkinson gives the great yellow
Spanish Daffodil; the Mountain Bastard of divers kinds; the early
straw-colored; the great white Spanish; the greatest Spanish white;
the two lesser White Spanish; our common English wild Bastard
Daffodil; the six-cornered; the great double yellow, or John
Tradescant's great Rose Daffodil; Mr. Wilmer's great double Daffodil;
the great double yellow Spanish, or Parkinson's Daffodil; the great
double French Bastard; the double English Bastard, or Gerard's
double Daffodil; the great white Bastard Rush Daffodil, or Junquilia;
the greater yellow Junquilia; and many others."
Then he adds:
"The Pseudo narcissus Angliens vulgaris is so common in all
England, both in copses, woods and orchards, that I might well
forbear the description thereof. It hath three, or four, grayish leaves,
long and somewhat narrow, among which riseth up the stalk about a
span high, or little higher, bearing at the top, out of a skinny husk
(as all other Daffodils have), one flower, somewhat large, having the
six leaves that stand like wings, of a pale yellow color, and the long
trunk in the middle of a faire yellow with the edges, or brims, a little
crumpled, or uneven. After the flower is past, it beareth a round
head, seeming three square, containing round black seed."
Shakespeare knew all of these varieties very well and had many of
them in mind when he wrote the beautiful lines for Perdita, who
exclaims:

O Proserpina!
For the flowers now that, frighted, thou lettst fall
From Dis's wagon. Daffodils
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.[32]

[32] "The Winter's Tale"; Act IV, Scene III.

Much has been written about this description of the daffodils; and it
is generally thought that "to take the winds of March with beauty"
means to charm, or captivate, the wild winds with their loveliness. I
do not agree with this idea, and venture to suggest that as the
daffodils sway and swing in the boisterous March winds with such
infinite grace and beauty, bending this way and that, they "take the
winds with beauty," just as a graceful dancer is said to take the
rhythmic steps of the dance with charming manner.
We get a hint for this also in Wordsworth's poem:

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of yellow daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky-Way
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of the bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet would not be but gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought

For oft when on my couch I lie

In vacant, or in pensive, mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
GARDENERS AT WORK, SIXTEENTH CENTURY
 GARDEN PLEASURES, SIXTEENTH CENTURY

No one can read this poem without feeling that the dancing daffodils
"take the winds of March with beauty." The very name of the daffodil
touches our imagination. It carries us to the Elysian Fields, for the
ancient Greeks pictured the meads of the blessed as beautifully
golden and deliciously fragrant with asphodels. The changes ring
through asphodel, affodile, affodyl, finally reaching daffodil. Then
there is one more quaint and familiar name and personification,

Daffy-down-dilly that came up to town

In a white petticoat and a green gown.

The idea of daffodil as a rustic maiden was popular in folk-lore and

poetry. The feeling is so well expressed in Michael Drayton's
sprightly eclogue called "Daffodil" that it forms a natural complement
to the happy song of care-free Autolycus just quoted. This Pastoral
captured popular fancy; and it is just as fresh and buoyant as it was
when it was written three hundred years ago. Two shepherds, Batte
and Gorbo, meet:
Batte

Gorbo, as thou camst this way,

By yonder little hill,
Or, as thou through the fields didst stray,
Sawst thou my Daffodil?

She's in a frock of Lincoln green,

Which color likes the sight;
And never hath her beauty seen
But through a veil of white.

Gorbo

Thou well describst the daffodil;

It is not full an hour
Since by the spring, near yonder hill,
I saw that lovely flower.

Batte

Yet my fair flower thou didst not meet,

No news of her didst bring;
And yet my Daffodil's more sweet
Than that by yonder spring.

Gorbo

I saw a shepherd that doth keep

In yonder field of lilies
Was making (as he fed his sheep)
A wreath of daffodillies.

Batte
 Yet, Gorbo, thou deludst me still,
My flower thou didst not see;
For know my pretty Daffodil
Is worn of none but me.

To show itself but near her feet

No lily is so bold,
Except to shade her from the heat,
Or keep her from the cold.

Gorbo

Through yonder vale as I did pass

Descending from the hill,
I met a smirking bonny lass;
They call her Daffodil,

Whose presence as along she went

The pretty flowers did greet,
As though their heads they downward bent
With homage to her feet,

And all the shepherds that were nigh

From top of every hill
Unto the valleys loud did cry:
There goes sweet Daffodil!

Batte

Ay, gentle shepherd, now with joy

Thou see my flocks doth fill;
That's she alone, kind shepherd boy,
Let's us to Daffodil!

The flower was also called jonquil, saffron lily, Lent lily and
narcissus. It was the large yellow narcissus, known as the Rose of
Sharon, so common in Palestine, of which Mohammed said: "He that
hath two cakes of bread, let him sell one of them for a flower of the
narcissus; for bread is the food of the body, but narcissus is the food
of the soul."
Narcissus, the most beautiful youth of Bœotia, was told that he
would live happily until he saw his own face. Loved by the nymphs,
and particularly Echo, he rejected their advances for he was immune
to love and admiration. One day, however, he beheld himself in a
stream and became so fascinated with his reflection that he pined to
death gazing at his own image.

For him the Naiads and the Dryads mourn,

Whom the sad Echo answers in her turn,
And now the sister nymphs prepare his urn;
When looking for his corpse, they only found
A rising stalk with yellow blossoms crowned.

In the center of the cup are to be found the tears of Narcissus!

Because the flower was consecrated to Ceres and to the Underworld
and to the Elysian Fields, the daffodil was one of the flowers that
Proserpine was gathering when "dusky Dis" carried her off—and the
myth also hints that the Earth purposely brought the asphodel forth
from the Underworld to entice the unsuspecting daughter of Ceres.
Sophocles associates the daffodil with the garlands of great
goddesses: "And ever, day by day, the narcissus with its beauteous
clusters, the ancient coronet of the mighty goddesses, bursts into
bloom by heaven's dew."[33]
[33] Œdipus Coloneus.
 GARDEN IN MACBETH'S CASTLE OF CAWDOR

The delightful Dr. Forbes Watson writes of the daffodil like a painter,
with accurate observation and bright palette:
"In the daffodil the leaves and stems are of a full glaucous green, a
color not only cool and refreshing in itself, but strongly suggestive of
water, the most apparent source of freshness and constituting a
most delicious groundwork for the bright, lively yellow of the
blossoms. Now what sort of spathe would be likely to contribute best
to this remarkable effect of the flower? Should the colors be
unusually striking or the size increased, or what? Strange to say, in
both Daffodil and Pheasant's Eye (Poet's Narcissus) we find the
spathe dry and withered, shrivelled up like a bit of thin brown paper
and clinging round the base of the flowers. We cannot overlook it,
and most assuredly we were never meant to do so. Nothing could
have been more beautifully ordered than this contrast, there being
just sufficient to make us appreciate more fully that abounding
freshness of life.
"It is a plant which affords a most beautiful contrast, a cool, watery
sheet of leaves with bright, warm flowers, yellow and orange,
dancing over the leaves like meteors over a marsh. The leaves look
full of watery sap, which is the life blood of plants and prime source
of all their freshness, just as the tissues of a healthy child look
plump and rosy from the warm blood circulating within.
"In its general expression the Poet's Narcissus seems a type of
maiden purity and beauty, yet warmed by a love-breathing
fragrance; and yet what innocence in the large soft eye which few
can rival among the whole tribe of flowers. The narrow, yet vivid
fringe of red so clearly seen amidst the whiteness suggests again the
idea of purity and gushing passion—purity with a heart which can
kindle into fire."
 III
"Daisies Pied and Violets Blue"
DAISY (Bellis perennis). Shakespeare often mentions the daisy.
With "violets blue" "lady-smocks all silver-white," and "cuckoo-buds
of every hue," it "paints the meadows with delight" in that delightful
spring-song in "Love's Labour's Lost."[34] Shakespeare also uses this
flower as a beautiful comparison for the delicate hand of Lucrece in
"The Rape of Lucrece":[35]

Without the bed her other fair hand was

On the green coverlet; whose perfect white
Showed like an April daisy on the grass.

The daisy is among the flowers in the fantastic garlands that poor
Ophelia wove before her death.[36]
[34] Act V, Scene II.
[35] Stanza 57.
[36] "Hamlet"; Act IV, Scene VII.
The botanical name Bellis shows the origin of the flower. Belides, a
beautiful Dryad, trying to escape the pursuit of Vertumnus, god of
gardens and orchards, prayed to the gods for help; and they
changed her into the tiny flower. In allusion to this Rapin wrote:

When the bright Ram, bedecked with stars of gold,

Displays his fleece the Daisy will unfold,
To nymphs a chaplet and to beds a grace,
Who once herself had borne a virgin's face.
The daisy was under the care of Venus. It has been beloved by
English poets ever since Chaucer sang the praises of the day's eye—
daisy. Chaucer tells us, in what is perhaps the most worshipful poem
ever addressed to a flower, that he always rose early and went out
to the fields, or meadows, to pay his devotions to this "flower of
flowers," whose praises he intended to sing while ever his life lasted,
and he bemoaned the fact, moreover, that he had not words at his
command to do it proper reverence.
Next to Chaucer in paying homage to the daisy comes Wordsworth
with his

A nun demure, of lowly port;

Or sprightly maiden, of Love's court;
In thy simplicity the sport
Of all temptations;
Queen in crown of rubies drest,
A starveling in a scanty vest,
Are all, as seems to suit the best
My appellations.

A little cyclops with one eye

Staring to threaten and defy
That thought comes next—and instantly
The freak is over,
The shape will vanish—and behold,
A silver shield with boss of gold
That spreads itself some fairy bold
In fight to cover.

Bright flower! for by that name at last

When all my reveries are past
I call thee, and to that cleave fast,
Sweet, silent creature
That breathst with me the sun and air,
Do thou as thou art wont repair
My heart with gladness and a share
Of thy meek nature.
"Daisies smell-less yet most quaint" is a line from the flower-song in
"The Two Noble Kinsmen," written by John Fletcher and
Shakespeare.[37]
[37] Act I, Scene I.

Milton speaks of

Meadows trim with daisies pied

and Dryden pays a tribute to which even Chaucer would approve:

And then a band of flutes began to play,

To which a lady sang a tirelay;
And still at every close she would repeat
The burden of the song—"The Daisy is so sweet!
The Daisy is so sweet!"—when she began
The troops of Knights and dames continued on.

The English daisy is "The wee, modest crimson-tipped flower," as

Burns has described it, and must not be confused with the daisy that
powders the fields and meadows in our Southern States with a snow
of white blossoms supported on tall stems. This daisy, called
sometimes the moon-daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum), is
known in England as the midsummer daisy and ox-eye. In France it
is called marguerite and paquerette. Being a midsummer flower, it is
dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It is also associated with St.
Margaret and Mary Magdalen, and from the latter it derives the
names of maudlin and maudelyne. As Ophelia drowned herself in
midsummer the daisies that are described in her wreath are most
probably marguerites and not the "day's eye" of Chaucer.
Parkinson does not separate daisies very particularly. "They are
usually called in Latin," he tells us, "Bellides and in English Daisies.
Some of them Herba Margarita and Primula veris, as is likely after
the Italian names of Marguerita and Flor di prima vera gentile. The
French call them Paquerettes and Marguerites; and the fruitful sort,
or those that have small flowers about the middle one,
Margueritons. Our English women call them Jack-an-Apes-on-
Horseback."
The daisy that an Elizabethan poet quaintly describes as a Tudor
princess resembles the midsummer daisy rather than the "wee,
modest, crimson-tipped flower" of Burns:

About her neck she wears a rich wrought ruff

With double sets most brave and broad bespread
Resembling lovely lawn, or cambric stuff
Pinned up and prickt upon her yellow head.

Also Browne in his "Pastorals" seems to be thinking of this flower:

The Daisy scattered on each mead and down,

A golden tuft within a silver crown.

VIOLET (Viola odorata). The violet was considered "a choice

flower of delight" in English gardens. Shakespeare speaks of the
violet on many occasions and always with tenderness and deep
appreciation of its qualities. Violets are among the flowers that the
frightened Proserpine dropped from Pluto's ebon car—

Violets dim
And sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes,
Or Cytherea's breath.[38]

Thus in Shakespeare's opinion the violet out-sweetened both Juno,

majestic queen of heaven, and Venus, goddess of love and beauty.
How could he praise the violet more?

To throw a perfume on the violet

Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

Shakespeare informs us in "King John."[39] With the utmost delicacy

of perfection he describes Titania's favorite haunt as