E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Woodbine.
The honeysuckle or beewort; or perhaps the convolvulus.
1
“Where the bee
Strays-diligent, and with extracted balm
Of fragrant woodbine loads his little thigh.”
Phillips.
Shakespeare says—
2
“So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle
Gently entwist.”
Midsummer Night’s Dream, iv. 1.
Gone where the woodbine twineth. To the pawnbroker’s, up the spout, where, in Quebec, “on cottage walls the woodbine may be seen twining.” (A correspondent of Quebec supplied this.)
