It is not considered prudent to sleep under an Elder. Evelyn describes

the narcotic smell of the tree as very noxious to the air, and narrates

that a certain house in Spain, seated among Elder-trees, diseased and

killed almost all the inhabitants, “which, when at last they were

grubbed up, became a very wholesome and healthy place.” As regards

the medical virtues of the tree, Evelyn exclaims:--“If the medicinal

properties of the leaves, bark, berries, &c., were thoroughly known, I

cannot tell what our countryman could ail for which he might not fetch

a remedy from every hedge, either for sickness or wound.” And he goes

on to describe a variety of medicinal uses for the bark, buds, berries,

leaves, and flowers; summing up the virtues of the Elder with the

remark that “every part of the tree is useful, as may be seen at large

in Blockwitzius’s anatomie thereof.” In this work is the following

description of an amulet for the use of an epileptic subject, which

is to be made of the Elder growing on a Sallow:--“If in the month of

October, a little before the full moon, you pluck a twig of the Elder,

and cut the cane that is betwixt two of its knees, or knots, in nine

pieces, and these pieces, being bound in a piece of linen, be in a

thread so hung about the neck that they touch the spoon of the heart,

or the sword-formed cartilage; and, that they may stay more firmly in

that place, they are to be bound thereon with a linen or leather roller

wrapt about the body, till the thread break of itself. The thread being

broken, and the roller removed, the amulet is not at all to be touched

with bare hands, but it ought to be taken hold on by some instrument,

and buried in a place that nobody may touch it.”

One mode of charming warts away is to take an Elder-shoot, and rub it

on the part, then cut as many notches on the twig as you have warts,

bury it in a place where it will soon decay, and as it rots away the

warts will disappear. Another plan is to obtain a green Elder-stick,

and rub the warts well with it, after which bury the stick to rot away

in muck.

The black berries of the Elder are full of a deep violet-coloured

juice, which, according to Virgil, the god Pan had his face smeared

with, in compliance with the old Roman custom of painting their gods on

solemn occasions.

To dream of Elder-berries denotes sickness. The tree is under the

dominion of Venus.

=ELECAMPANE.=--Of the Elecampane (_Inula Helenium_), Rapin writes:--

“Elecampane, the beauteous Helen’s flower,

Mingles among the rest her silver store;

Helen, whose charms could royal breasts inspire

With such fierce flames as set the world on fire.”

When Paris carried off the celebrated Helen, the lovely wife of

Menelaus was said to have had in her hand a nosegay of the bright

yellow flowers of the Elecampane, which was thenceforth named Helenium,

in her honour. The Romans employed the roots of Elecampane as an edible

vegetable; the monks, who knew it as _Inula campana_, considered it

capable of restoring health to the heart; and the herbalists deemed

it marvellously good for many disorders, and admirable as a pectoral

medicine. Elecampane lozenges have long been popular. Turner, in his

‘Brittish Physician,’ calls the _Inula campana_, the Sun-flower, and

says that the root chewed fastens loose teeth, and preserves them from

rotting, and that the distilled water of the green leaves makes the

face fair. From its broad leaves, the Elecampane is sometimes called

the Elf-dock.----It is held to be under Mercury.

=ELICHRYSUM.=--This species of everlasting flower derived its name,

according to Themistagoras, from the nymph Elichrysa, who having

adorned the goddess Diana with its blossoms, the plant was called after

her, Elichryson. Its old English name was Golden Flower, or Golden

Moth-wort, and Gerarde tells us that the blossoms, if cut before they

are quite ripe, will remain beautiful a long time after. “For which

cause of long lasting the images and carved gods were wont to weare

garlands thereof: whereupon some have called it ‘God’s floure.’ For

which purpose Ptolemy, King of Ægypt, did most diligently observe them,

as Pliny writeth.”

=ELM.=--The ancients had a tradition that, at the first sound of the

plaintive strains which proceeded from the lyre of Orpheus, when he was

lamenting the death of Eurydice, there sprang up a forest of Elms; and

it was beneath an Elm that the Thracian bard sought repose after his

unavailing expedition to the infernal regions to recover his lost love.

Rapin thus tells the tale:--

“When wretched Orpheus left the Stygian coast,

Now hopeless since again his spouse was lost,

Beneath the preferable shade he sate

Of a tall Elm, and mourned his cruel fate:

Where Rhodope rears high her steepy brow,

While Heber’s gentle current strays below.

On his sweet lyre the skilful artist played,

Whose all-commanding strings the woods obeyed;

And crowding round him formed a hasty shade.

There Cypress, Ilex, Willows, Planes unite,

And th’ Elm, ambitious of a greater height,

Presents before his view a married Vine,

Which round her husband, Elm, did circling twine,

And warned him to indulge a second flame;

But he neglects th’ advice, and slights the dame:

By fatal coldness still condemned to prove

A victim to the rage of female love.”

The “wedding of the Elm to the Vine,” alluded to in the above lines,

was a very favourite topic among the old Roman poets; Virgil, indeed,

selects the junction of the Elm and the Vine as the subject of one

whole book of his ‘Georgics.’ The ancients twined their Vines round

the trunks of the Elm; and the owner of a Vineyard tended his Elms

as carefully as his Vines.----When Achilles killed the father of

Andromache, he erected in his honour a tomb, around which nymphs came

and planted Elms.----Perhaps on account of its longevity, or because

it produces no fruit, the Greeks and Romans considered the Elm a

funereal tree: in our own times, it is connected with burials, inasmuch

as coffins are generally made of its wood.----The ancients called

the Elm, the tree of Oneiros, or of Morpheus, the god of sleep. As a

widespreading shady tree, it is selected by Virgil (Æn. vi.) as the

roosting-place of dreams in gloomy Orcus:--

“Full in the midst a spreading Elm displayed

His aged arms, and cast a mighty shade;

Each trembling leaf with some light visions teems,

And heaves impregnated with airy dreams.”

It was in connection with the title of Tree of Dreams (_Ulmus

Somnorum_), that the Elm became, like the Oak, a prophetic tree.----On

the Continent, an Elm is often found on the village-green, beneath

whose boughs justice used formerly to be administered, and meetings

held: there was one at Gisors, on the frontier of Normandy, where the

kings of France and Dukes of Normandy used to hold conference together,

and which was large enough to shelter both their trains; this tree

was upwards of two hundred years old when cut down by order of King

Philippe Auguste, out of hatred to our Plantagenet kings. One of the

oldest Elms in England is a stump at Richmond, now fenced in, and

covered with Ivy, which was planted by Queen Elizabeth herself, and has

on that account always been known as the Queen’s Elm.----Formerly the

leafing of the Elm was made to regulate both field and garden work, as

seen in the following rustic rhyme:--

“When the Elmen leaf is as big as a mouse’s ear,

Then to sow Barley never fear.

When the Elmen leaf is as big as an ox’s eye,

Then say I, ‘Hie, boys, hie!’”

In olden times, the falling of the leaves of an Elm was thought to

prognosticate a murrain. In Sicily, they have a custom of binding the

trunk of a Fig-tree with branches of Elm, from a belief that they would

prevent the young Figs from falling before they became thoroughly

ripe.----The Elm is held to be under the influence of Saturn.----“The

Seven Sisters” was the name bestowed on seven Elm-trees at Tottenham,

which gave the name to the road from thence to Upper Holloway. In

Bedwell’s History of Tottenham, written in the year 1631, he describes

Page Green by the side of the high road at that village, and a group

of Elms in a circle, with a Walnut in the centre. He says: “This tree

hath this many yeares stod there, and it is observed yearely to live

and beare leavs, and yet to stand at a stay, that is, to growe neither

greater or higher. This people do commonly tell the reason to bee, for

that there was one burnt upon that place for the profession of the

Gospell.” There was also a connecting link between the Walnut-tree and

the Seven Sisters, by which it was surrounded. There were seven Elms

planted by seven sisters respectively. The tree planted by the smallest

of the sisters was always irregular and stunted in growth. There was an

eighth sister who planted an Elm in the midst of the other seven, and

the legend relates that it withered and died when she died, and that

then a Walnut-tree grew in its place. The Walnut-tree has long since

gone, and probably the Elms have now disappeared.

=ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE.=--Formerly the _Atropa Mandragora_ used to

bear this name, but by some mistake it has been transferred to the

_Circæa Lutetiana_, an insignificant plant named after Circe, the

famed enchantress, probably because its fruit, being covered with

hooked prickles, lays hold of the unwary passers-by, as Circe is said

to have done by means of her enchantments. The Mandrake was called

“Nightshade,” from having been classed with the _Solanum_ tribe, and

“Enchanter’s” from its Latin name Circæa, a name which it obtained,

according to Dioscorides, because Circe, who was expert in herbal lore,

used it as a tempting powder in amorous concerns.

=ENDIVE.=--The Endive or Succory (_Cichorium_) is, according to the

oldest Greek Alexandrian translations of the Bible, one of the “bitter

herbs” which the Almighty commanded the Israelites to eat with the lamb

at the institution of the Feast of the Passover. The garden Endive

(_C. Endivia_) is probably the plant celebrated by Horace as forming a

part of his simple diet: its leaves are used in salads, and its root,

under the name of Chicory, is extensively used to mingle with Coffee.

Immense quantities of Endive were used by the ancient Egyptians, who

called it _Chicouryeh_, and from this word is derived the generic name

_Cichorium_.----The wild Succory (_C. Intybus_) opens its petals at 8

a.m., and closes them at 4 p.m.

“On upland slopes the shepherds mark

The hour when, to the dial true,

_Cichorium_ to the towering lark

Lifts her soft eye, serenely blue.”

The Germans say that once upon a time the Endives were men under a

ban. The blue flowers, which are plentiful, were good men; the white

flowers, much rarer, were evil-doers.----The blue star-like blossom

is a most popular flower in Germany: it is the _Wegewarte_--the

watcher of the roads; the _Wegeleuchte_, or lighter of the road;

the _Sonnenwende_, or Solstice; the _Sonnenkraut_, or herb of the

sun; and the _Verfluchte Jungfer_, or accursed maiden. An ancient

ballad of Austrian Silesia recounts the history of a young girl who

for seven years mourned for her lover, fallen in the wars. When her

friends wished to console her, and to procure for her another lover,

she replied: “I shall cease to weep only when I become a wild flower

by the wayside.”----Another version of the German legend is that a

loving maiden anxiously expected the return of her betrothed from

a voyage upon which he had long since set out. Every morning she

paced the road where she had last bade adieu to him; every evening

she returned. Thus she wearily passed her time during many a long

month. At last, utterly worn out with watching and waiting, she sank

exhausted by the wayside, and, broken-hearted, expired. On the spot

where she breathed her last sigh sprang up a little pale flower which

was the _Wegewarte_, the watcher of the road.----In Bavaria, the same

legend is met with, differing only in details. A young and beautiful

princess was abandoned by her husband, a young prince of extraordinary

beauty. Grief exhausted her strength, and finding herself on the

point of death, she exclaimed: “Ah, how willingly would I die if I

could only be sure of seeing my loved one, wherever I may be. Her

ladies-in-waiting, hearing her desire, solemnly added: “And we also

would willingly die if only we were assured that he would always see us

on every roadside.” The merciful God heard from heaven their heart-felt

desires, and granted them. “Happily,” said He, “your wishes can be

fulfilled; I will change you into flowers. You, Princess, you shall

remain with your white mantle on every road traversed by your husband;

you, young women, shall remain by the roadside, habited in blue, so

that the prince must see you everywhere.” Hence the Germans call the

wild Succory, _Wegewarten_.----Gerarde tells us that Placentinus and

Crescentius termed the Endive, _Sponsa solis_, Spouse of the Sun (a

name applied by Porta to the Heliotrope), and we find in De Gubernatis’

_Mythologie des Plantes_, the following passage:--“Professor Mannhardt

quotes the charming Roumanian ballad, in which is recounted how the

Sun asked in marriage a beautiful woman known as _Domna Florilor_,

or the Lady of the Flowers; she refused him, whereupon the Sun, in

revenge, transformed her into the Endive, condemned for ever to gaze

on the Sun as soon as he appears on the horizon, and to close her

petals in sadness as the luminary disappears. The name of _Domna

Florilor_, a kind of Flora, given by the Roumanians to the woman loved

by the Sun, reminds us somewhat of the name of Fioraliso, given in

Italy to the Cornflower, and which I supposed to have represented the

Sun. The Roumanian legend has, without doubt, been derived from an

Italian source, in its turn a development of a Grecian myth--to wit,

the amour of the Sun, Phœbus, with the lovely nymph Clytie.” (See

HELIOTROPE).----There is a Silesian fairy tale which has reference

to the Endive:--The magician Batu had a daughter named Czekanka, who

loved the youthful Wrawanec; but a cruel rival slew the beloved one. In

despair, Czekanka sought her lover’s tomb, and killed herself beside

it. Whilst in her death throes, she was changed into the blue Succory,

and gave the flower its Silesian name _Czekanka_. Wrawanec’s murderer,

jealous of poor Czekanka, even after her death, threw on the plant a

swarm of ants, in the hope that the little insects might destroy the

Succory, but the ants, on the contrary, in their rage, set off in

pursuit of the murderer, and so vigorously attacked him, that he was

precipitated into a crevasse on the mountain Kotancz.----In Germany and

in Rome, where a variety of estimable qualities are ascribed to the

plant, they sell Endive-seed as a panacea, but especially as a love

philtre. They would not uproot it with the hand, but with a bit of

gold or a stag’s horn (which symbolise the disk and the rays of the

Sun), on one of the days of the Apostles (June 29th and July 25th).

A girl thus uprooting an Endive will be assured of the constancy of

her lover.----Endive, carried on the person, is supposed to enable a

lover to inspire the object of his affections with a belief that he

possesses all the good qualities she could wish for. Endive-root breaks

all bonds, removes thorns from the flesh, and even renders the owner

invisible.----The herb is held to be under the rule of Venus.

=ERAGROSTIS.=--Among the Hindus, the _Eragrostis cynosuroides_ is

considered a sacred Grass, and is employed by them for strewing the

floors of their temples. In England, it is known as Love Grass.

=ERYSIMUM.=--The Hedge Mustard, Bank Cress, or Jack-by-the-Hedge

(_Erysimum Barbarea_) is called by the French St. Barbara’s Hedge

Mustard and the Singer’s Plant (_herbe au chantre_), and up to the time

of Louis XIV. was considered an infallible remedy in cases of loss of

voice. Racine, writing to Boileau, recommended the syrup of Erysimum

to him when visiting the waters of Bourbonne, in order to be cured of

loss of voice. Boileau replied that he had heard the best accounts of

the Erysimum, and that he meant to use it the following summer.----The

plant is held to be under Mercury.

=ERYNGO.=--The Sea Eryngo (_Eryngium maritimum_) is, perhaps, better

known by the name of Sea Holly, which has been given it on account of

the striking resemblance of its foliage to the Holly. According to

Rapin, Eryngo possessed magical properties, inasmuch as, if worn by

young married women, it ensured the fidelity of their husbands. On this

account, Sappho employed it to secure the love of Phaon, the handsome

boatman of Mitylene, for whom the poetess had conceived so violent a

passion, that at length, mortified at his coldness, she threw herself

into the sea. Rapin says:--

“Grecian Eryngoes now commence their fame,

Which, worn by brides, will fix their husband’s flame,

And check the conquests of a rival dame.

Thus Sappho charmed her Phaon, and did prove

(If there be truth in verse) his faith in love.”

Plutarch records that, if one goat took the herb Sea Holly into

her mouth, “it caused her first to stand still, and afterwards

the whole flock, until such time as the shepherd took it from her

mouth.” Eryngo-root was formerly much prized as a tonic, and in Queen

Elizabeth’s time, when prepared with sugar, was called Kissing Comfits.

Lord Bacon, recommending the yolks of eggs as very nourishing, when

taken with Malmsey or sweet wine, says: “You shall doe well to put in

some few slices of Eringium-roots, and a little Amber-grice, for by

this meanes, besides the immediate facultie of nourishment, such drinke

will strengthen the back.”

=EUGENIA.=--In Burmah, the _Eugenia_ is regarded as a sacred plant.

When a spray is cut, prayers and supplications for absent friends and

relatives are offered up before it, and twigs and leaves of it are

kept in consecrated water in almost every house, and occasionally the

different apartments are sprinkled with it as a protective against

ghosts, ogres, and evil spirits. The twigs of _Eugenia_ are sometimes

hung about the eaves, and in many cases a small plant is kept growing

in a pot in the house, so that its benign influence may keep harm

away.----In cases of cholera epidemic, the natives of the affected

district betake themselves to a Buddhist monastery, carrying presents

and a small pot partly filled with water, and containing leaves of a

species of _Eugenia_ (Tha-byay-bin), and some coarse yellow string

wound round a small stick. These pots are blessed by the Buddhist

abbot, and are then taken away by the people, who either hang up the

yellow string in little bags round the eaves of their houses, or else

wear it coiled round the left wrist. The pots of water and sprigs of

_Eugenia_ are kept in the house to guard it from infection.

=EUPATORIUM.=--Agrimony has derived its name of _Eupatorium_ from

Mithridates Eupator, King of Pontus, who was skilled in botany and

physic, and used this plant as an antidote against the poison with

which his enemies at court attempted to destroy him. _E. Ayapana_, a

native of Brazil, has long been famed for curing the bites of serpents,

and its leaves, when fresh bruised, are useful when applied to the face

of ulcers.----In Italy and Russia, magical properties are attributed to

this plant.

=EUPHORBIA.=--The Euphorbia or Medusa Head possesses the peculiar

property of blooming in warm water after apparent death. The milky

juice of _Euphorbia Canariensis_, and some other species of Spurge,

produces the drug Euphorbium. The juice of _E. heptagona_ furnishes the

Ethiopians with a deadly poison for their arrows. At Bodo, in India,

before the doorway of every house is cultivated a plant of the sacred

Sidj, a species of Euphorbia, which is looked upon both as the domestic

and national divinity, and to this plant the natives address their

prayers and offer up hogs as sacrifices.

=EVERLASTING FLOWERS.=--Writing of the _Gnaphalium Alpinum_, Gerarde

tells us that in his day English women called it “Live-long,” or

“Live-for-ever.” From hence has originated the name Everlasting,

applied to the genus _Gnaphalium_. The ancients crowned the images

of their gods with garlands made of these flowers, and from this

circumstance they were frequently called God’s flowers. In Spain and

Portugal, they are still used to decorate the altars and the images of

the saints. The French have named the Gnaphalium, _Immortelle_, and

employ it in the manufacture of the garlands and devices which they

place on their coffins and graves. Old writers call the plant Cudweed,

Cottonweed, Gold-flower, Goldilocks, Golden Stœchas, and Golden-flower

Gentle. One species has obtained the name of _Herba Impia_, because the

later flowers grow higher, and, as Gerarde says, “overtop those that

come first, as many wicked children do unto their parents.”

=EYEBRIGHT.=--The Eyebright or Euphrasy (_Euphrasia officinalis_)

was formerly called Euphrosyne, after one of the Graces. This name

became subsequently corrupted to Euphrasy. The plant was also known

as Ocularis and Ophthalmica, on account of its use in the treatment

of disorders of the eye. According to Coles, it obtained the name of

Eyebright from its being employed by the linnet to clear its sight;

other old authors also say that birds made use of it to repair their

vision. Arnoldus affirms that the plant restored sight to people who

had been blind a long while; and Gerarde says that, taken either alone

or in any other way, it preserves the sight, and, “being feeble and

lost, it restores the same: it is given most fitly being beaten into

pouder; oftentimes a like quantitie of Fennell-seed is added thereto,

and a little Mace, to the which is put so much sugar as the weight of

them all commeth to.” It was also believed to comfort the memory, and

assist a weak brain. Milton, Drayton, Shenstone, and other poets have

celebrated the powers of Euphrasy, and we find Spenser writing:--

“Yet Euphrasie may not be left unsung,

That gives dim eyes to wander leagues around.”

Astrologers state that the Eyebright is under the sign of the Lion, and

the Sun claims dominion over it.

=FAIR MAIDS.=--Fair Maids of February are Snowdrops, so called from

their delicate white blossoms opening about the second of that month,

when it was customary for maidens, dressed in white, to walk in

procession at the Feast of the Purification. Fair Maids of France are

double Crowfoots, or a particular variety, originally introduced from

France, viz., _Ranunculus aconitifolius_.

=FELDWODE.=--Medea, the enchantress, is said by Gower to have employed

a certain herb, Feldwode:--

“Tho toke she Feldwode and Verveine,

Of herbes ben nought better tweine.”

This herb is generally supposed to have been the yellow Gentian, or

Baldmoney, _Gentiana lutea_. (See GENTIAN.)

=FENNEL.=--Fenckle, or Fennel (_Fœniculum_), was employed by the

ancients in the composition of wreaths, to be worn by victors after the

games in the arena. The gladiators mixed this plant with their food

to increase their strength. The god Sylvanus was sometimes crowned

with Fennel.----In later times, Fennel was strewn across the pathway

of newly-married couples, and was generally liked for its odour; thus

Ophelia says: “There’s Fennel for you, and Columbine.”----Pliny records

that serpents are wonderfully fond of this plant, inasmuch as it

restores them to youth by causing them to cast their old skin, and by

its use they recover their sight if it becomes dim. Gerarde says, that

the seed “drunke for certaine daies together, fasting, preserveth the

eyesight, whereof was written this distichon following:--

_“Fœniculum, Rosa, Verbena, Chelidonia, Ruta,

Ex his fit aqua quæ lumina reddit acuta._

“Of Fennell, Roses, Vervain, Rue, and Celandine,

Is made a water, good to cheere the sight of eine.”

The ancients believed that the use of Fennel gave strength to the

constitution, and made fat people grow lean. The roots of Fennel,

pounded with honey, were considered a remedy for the bites of

mad dogs.----Fennel is one of the numerous plants dedicated to

St. John, and was formerly hung over doors and windows on his

vigil.----Astrologers state it is a herb of Mercury under Virgo.

=FERN.=--Among Celtic and Germanic nations the Fern was formerly

considered a sacred and auspicious plant. Its luck-bringing power was

not confined to one species, but belonged to the tribe in general,

dwelling, however, in the fullest perfection in the seed, the possessor

of which could wish what he would, and the Devil would be obliged to

bring it to him. In Swabia, they say that Fern-seed brought by the

Devil between eleven and twelve on Christmas night enables a man to do

as much work as twenty or thirty ordinary men.

In mediæval days, when sorcery flourished, it was thought the Fern-seed

imparted to its owner the power of resisting magical charms and

incantations. The ancients believed that the Fern had no seeds, but

our ancestors thought it had seed which was invisible. Hence, after

the fantastic doctrine of signatures, they concluded that those who

possessed the secret of wearing this seed about them would become

invisible. Thus, we find that, in Shakspeare’s ‘Henry IV.,’ Gadshill

says: “We steal as in a castle, cock-sure: we have the receipt of

Fern-seed, we walk invisible.”

The people of Westphalia are wont to relate how one of their countrymen

chanced one Midsummer night to be looking for a foal he had lost, and

passing through a meadow just as the Fern-seed was ripening, some of

it fell into his shoes. In the morning he went home, walked into the

sitting-room, and sat down, but thought it strange that neither his

wife, nor indeed any of his family, took the slightest notice of him.

“I have not found the foal,” said he. Everybody in the room started and

gazed around with scared looks, for they had heard the man’s voice,

but saw no one. Thinking that he was joking, and had hid himself, his

wife called him by his name. Thereupon he stood up, planted himself

in the middle of the floor, and said, “Why do you call me? Here I am

right before you.” Then they were more frightened than ever, for they

had heard him stand up and walk, and still they could not see him. The

man now became aware that he was invisible, and a thought struck him

that possibly he might have got Fern-seed in his shoes, for he felt

as if there was sand in them. So he took them off, and shook out the

Fern-seed, and as he did so he became visible again to everybody.

A belief in the mystic power of Fern-seed to make the gatherer walk

invisible is still extant. The English tradition is, that the Fern

blooms and seeds only at twelve o’clock on Midsummer night--St. John’s

Eve--just at the precise moment at which the Saint was born--

“But on St. John’s mysterious night,

Sacred to many a wizard spell,

The hour when first to human sight

Confest, the mystic Fern-seed fell.”

In Dr. Jackson’s Works (1673) we read that he once questioned one of

his parishioners as to what he saw or heard when he watched the falling

of the Fern-seed, whereupon the man informed him that this good seed

is in the keeping of Oberon (or Elberich), King of the Fairies, who

would never harm anyone watching it. He then said to the worthy doctor,

“Sir, you are a scholar, and I am none. Tell me, what said the angel to

our Lady; or what conference had our Lady with her cousin Elizabeth,

concerning the birth of St. John the Baptist?” Finding Doctor Jackson

unable to answer him, he told him that “the angel did foretell John

Baptist should be born at that very instant in which the Fern-seed--at

other times invisible--did fall: intimating further that this saint of

God had some extraordinary vertue from the time or circumstance of his

birth.”

To catch the wonder-working seed, twelve pewter plates must be taken

to the spot where the Fern grows: the seed, it is affirmed, will pass

through eleven of the plates, and rest upon the twelfth. This is one

account: another says that Midsummer night is the most propitious

time to procure the mystic Fern-seed, but that the seeker must go

bare-footed, and in his shirt, and be in a religious state of mind.

In ancient days it was thought the demons watched to convey away the

Fern-seed as it fell ere anyone could possess themselves of it. A

writer on Brittany states that he remembers to have heard recounted

by one who had gathered Fern-seed, that whilst he was prosecuting his

search the spirits grazed his ears, whistling past them like bullets,

knocking off his hat, and hitting him with it all over his body. At

last, when he thought that he had gathered enough of the mystic seed,

he opened the case he had been putting it into, and lo! it was empty.

The Devil had evidently had the best of it.

M. Marmier, in his _Légendes des Plantes_, writes:--“It is on Midsummer

night that you should go and seek the Fern-seed: he who is fortunate

enough to find it will indeed be happy. He will have the strength

of twenty men, he will discover precious metals in the bowels of the

earth, he will comprehend the present and the future. Up to the present

time, however, no one has been able to secure this precious seed.

It ripens but for a minute, and the Devil guards it with ferocious

vigilance.”

De Gubernatis, in his _Mythologie des Plantes_, publishes a

communication sent him by the Princess Marie Galitzin Prazorovskaïa,

on the subject of the flowering of the Fern, the details of which she

obtained from a Russian peasant. “On Midsummer night, before twelve

o’clock, with a white napkin, a cross, a Testament, a glass of water,

and a watch, one seeks in the forest the spot where the Fern grows; one

traces with the cross a large circle; one spreads the napkin, placing

on the cross the Testament and the glass of water. Then one attentively

looks at one’s watch: at the precise midnight hour the Fern will bloom:

one watches attentively; for he who shall see the Fern-seed drop shall

at the same time see many other marvels; for example, three suns, and a

full moon, which reveals every object, even the most hidden. One hears

laughter; one is conscious of being called; if one remains quiet one

will hear all that is happening in the world, and all that is going to

happen.”

In a work by Markevic, the author says:--“The Fern flowers on Midsummer

night at twelve o’clock, and drives away all unclean spirits. First

of all it put forth buds, which afterwards expand, then open, and

finally change into flowers of a dark red hue. At midnight, the flower

opens to its fullest extent, and illuminates everything around. But at

that precise moment a demon plucks it from its stalk. Whoever wishes

to procure this flower must be in the forest before midnight, locate

himself near the Fern, and trace a circle around it. When the Devil

approaches and calls, feigning the voice of a parent, sweetheart,

&c., no attention must be paid, nor must the head be turned, for if

it is, it will remain so. Whoever becomes the happy possessor of the

flower has nothing to fear: by its means he can recover lost treasure,

become invisible, rule on earth and under water, and defy the Devil.

To discover hidden treasure, it is only necessary to throw the flower

in the air: if it turns like a star above the Sun, so that it falls

perpendicularly in the same spot, it is a sure indication that treasure

is concealed there.”

A very ancient method prescribed for obtaining the mystic Fern-seed is

given by Dr. Kuhn. At the Summer solstice, if you shoot at the Sun when

it has attained its mid-day height, three drops of blood will fall:

they must be gathered up and preserved, for that is the Fern-seed.

The Franche-Comté peasantry talk of a mysterious plant that misleads

travellers. According to a German authority, this plant is no other

than the Fern on Midsummer night. As we have seen, on that night the

Fern is reputed to flower, and to let fall its seed: he who secures

this seed, becomes invisible; but if the unsuspecting traveller passes

by the Fern without noticing it, he will be assuredly misled, even

although well acquainted with the road. This is the reason why, in

Thuringia, they call the Fern _Irrkraut_, the misleading plant.

In Poland, there is a popular notion that the plucking of Fern produces

a violent thunderstorm.

In Germany, they call the Fern _Walpurgiskraut_, the superstition being

that, on the _Walpurgisnacht_, the witches procure this plant in order

to render themselves invisible. In Lombardy, there exists a popular

superstition akin to this. The witches, they say, are particularly fond

of the Fern; they gathered it to rub in their hands during a hailstorm,

turning it from the side where the hail falls the thickest.

The root of the common Male Fern (_Filix mas_), was an important

ingredient in the love-philtres of former days. An old Gaelic bard

sings:--

“’Twas the maiden’s matchless beauty

That drew my heart anigh;

Not the Fern-root potion,

But the glance of her blue eye.”

In olden times the young scroll-like fronds of this Fern were called

Lucky Hands, or St. John’s Hands, and were believed to protect the

possessor from sorcery, witches’ spells, and the Evil Eye. In Germany,

the Male Fern was formerly called _Johanniswurtzel_; and both on the

Continent, and in England, it was the custom, on Midsummer Eve, to

gather this Fern, which was sold to the credulous, who wore it about

their persons, and mingled it with the water drunk by their cows, as

a protection against all evil spirits, and to ensure good luck. It is

believed, in Thuringia, that if anyone carries Fern about him, he will

be pursued by serpents until he throws it away. In Sweden, the plant is

called Snake-bane.

An ancient notion prevailed, that the Male Fern had an antipathy to

the Reed; and that where one grew, the other was sure to be absent.

According to Dioscorides, “the root hereof is reported to be good for

those that have ill spleens; and being stamped with swine’s grease and

applied, it is a remedy against the pricking of the Reed.” Other old

herbalists state, that the roots of the Male Fern, and the Lady Fern

(_Filix fœmina_), boiled in oil, produced “very profitable ointments to

heal wounds.” The _Ophioglossum_ had, in olden times, the reputation of

being a cure for the bite of serpents. (See also BRACKEN).

According to Cornish fairy mythology, the Fern was connected with

the Small Folk, who are believed to be the spirits of the people who

inhabited Cornwall thousands of years ago--long before the birth of

Christ. In the legend of the Fairy Widower, a pretty girl, Jenny

Permuen, a village coquette, one day set off to “look for a place.”

At the junction of four cross roads, she sat down on a boulder of

granite, and thoughtlessly began to break off the beautiful fronds of

Ferns which grew all around. Suddenly a young man appeared before her,

and addressing her by name, enquired what brought her there. Jenny

replied that she wished to obtain a situation, and was on her road to

the market town. The young man said he was a widower, and in want of

a young woman to take care of his little son; and that as he liked

Jenny’s good looks, he would engage her there and then for a year

and a day, and pay her well; but that he should require her to swear

his oath, which consisted in kissing a Fern-leaf, and repeating the

formula:--

“For a year and a day,

I promise to stay.”

Jenny was charmed and flattered; all sorts of visions rose before her

eyes, and, without hesitation, she took the oath and followed the

stranger eastward. In silence the pair walked on, until the girl was

quite weary; then they sat down on a bank, and the young man taking a

bunch of leaves passed them rapidly over Jenny’s eyes: her weariness

departed as if by magic, and she found herself in fairy-land, with her

mysterious master. He led her to a splendid mansion, and introduced her

to his little boy, who was so beautiful that he instantly won her love.

The girl continued at her duties in fairy-land for the allotted time;

then, one morning, upon awaking, she found herself sleeping in her own

bed in her mother’s cottage; and the old gossips of the village, upon

hearing her story, knew that she had been carried by the Small People

to some of their countries under the hills.

=FIG.=--There are several mythological accounts of the origin of the

Fig. According to one, Lyceus, one of the Titans, pursued by Jupiter,

was metamorphosed into a Fig-tree by the goddess Rhea. Another story

attributes to her husband, Saturn, the origin of the Fig-tree, and

on this account the inhabitants of Cyrene deck the statue of the god

with crowns of Figs. A third myth relates that the Fig-tree is the

offspring of the loves of Oxylus, King of Elis, with a Hamadryad.

Bacchus, however, was generally considered to have introduced the

Fig to mortals: hence the tree was sacred to him, and he is often

represented as crowned with Fig-leaves. On this account, also, it was

customary to make an offering of the first Figs to the jovial god. At

the Canephoria festivals at Athens, in honour of Bacchus, the female

votaries wore round their necks collars composed of dried Figs; and at

the Dionysian festivals, a basket of Figs formed a prominent feature

in the procession.----At Rome, the Fig was carried next to the Vine in

the processions in honour of Bacchus, as the patron of plenty and joy;

and Bacchus was supposed to have derived his corpulence and vigour,

not from the Vine, but from the Fig. Under the name of the _Ficus

ruminalis_, the Romans jealously guarded the sacred wild Fig-tree,

upon the roots of which stranded the cradle containing the infants

Romulus and Remus, when the Tiber bore it to the foot of the Palatine.

Fig-trees are seldom affected by lightning, but this celebrated Ruminal

Fig-tree of Rome was once struck during a thunderstorm, and was ever

afterwards held doubly sacred; the ancients considering that lightning

purified every object it touched. The Romans bestowed upon Jupiter

the surname of Ruminus, because he presided over the nourishment of

mankind, and they had a goddess Rumina, who presided over the female

breasts, and whose oblations were of milk only. These words are both

derived from _ruma_, a teat; and hence the tree under which Romulus

and Remus had been suckled by the she-wolf was the _Rumina Ficus_, a

name most appropriate, because the Fig was the symbol of generation and

fecundity. The Fig was consecrated to Juno, as the goddess presiding

over marriages and at nuptial festivities. Figs were always carried

in a mystic vase. The statues of Priapus, god of orchards, were often

made of the wood of the Fig, and the tree was also dedicated to

Mercury. Notwithstanding this reverence for the _Ficus ruminalis_,

the Romans considered the Fig a tree at once impure and ill-omened.

This is shown by the actions of the Arvales (twelve priests of Rome,

descended from the nurse of Romulus), who made special expiations

when the Fig-tree--the impure tree--sprang up by chance on the roof

of the temple of the goddess Dia, where Vestals officiated. After

they had uprooted the desecrating tree, they destroyed the temple as

being defiled.----Pausanias relates that, according to an oracle, the

Messenians were to be abandoned by heaven in their struggles with

the Spartans, so soon as a goat (_tragos_) should drink the water of

the Neda: the Messenians, therefore, drove out of their country all

the goats. But in Messenia grew the wild Fig, which was also called

_tragos_. One of these wild Figs having sprung up on the banks of the

Neda, its branches soon dipped into the flowing waters of the river

beneath it. The oracle was fulfilled--a _tragos_ had drunk the water

of the Neda: soon afterwards the Messenians were defeated.----The

soothsayer Calchas, according to tradition, owed his death in a

measure to the Fig-tree. Challenged by the seer Mopsus, of whom he

was jealous, to a trial of their skill in divination, Calchas first

asked his antagonist how many Figs a neighbouring tree bore. “Ten

thousand except one,” was the reply of his rival, “and one single

vessel can contain them all.” The Figs were carefully gathered, and his

predictions were literally true. It was then the turn of Mopsus to try

his adversary. Calchas failed to answer the question put to him, and

Mopsus was adjudged victor. So mortified was Calchas at the result of

this trial, that he pined away and died.----The ancient Egyptians held

the Fig-leaf sacred to the goddess Isis.----The Fig is supposed to have

been the first cultivated fruit tasted by man: beneath the boughs of

the Fig-tree Adam hid himself after having eaten the forbidden fruit;

with its leaves he endeavoured to hide his nakedness. Cakes of Figs

were included in the presents of provisions by which the wife of Nabal

appeased the wrath of David (1 Sam. XXV., 18). The want of blossom on

the Fig-tree was considered as one of the most grievous calamities by

the Jews; for, growing as it did in Palestine on the Vine, the tree

became with the Israelites an emblem of peace and plenty, and that

security which, in ancient times, was thought to be enjoyed by “every

man under his own Fig-tree.” Near the city of On, there was shown

for many centuries the sacred Fig-tree under which the Holy Family

rested during the flight into Egypt.----St. Augustine tells us, in his

Confessions, that while still unconverted and in deep communion with

his friend Alypius on the subject of the Scriptures, the contest within

his mind was so sharp, that he hastened from the presence of his friend

and threw himself down beneath a Fig-tree, weeping and lamenting.

Then he heard what seemed the voice of a child proceeding apparently

from the tree, repeating again and again “_Tolle, lege_,” (Take and

read); and returning to his friend, he took up the sacred volume, and

opened it at St. Paul’s words: “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” He

was struck with the coincidence; and considering it a Divine call, he

then and there resolved to take up the religious profession.----In

India, the Fig-tree is greatly esteemed; one species, _Ficus

glomerata_, is held sacred by the Hindus; and the _Ficus Indica_, or

Banyan-tree, is one of the most highly venerated trees on the earth

(see BANYAN).----The Andalusians have a saying, “On this life depends,”

in connection with the Fig-tree, the fruit of which they eat, fasting,

in the morning. The Germans have a proverb, “Figs will not grow either

on Brambles or Thistles.” Another proverb tells us that “He who has

Figs has riches.”----In Sicily, the Fig-tree is looked upon as a tree

of ill-omen. It is there thought to be the tree on which Judas hung

himself, and never to have thrived well since that occurrance. There

is an old superstition that in each leaf of a Fig-tree lurks an evil

spirit; and certain blood-thirsty spectres, called _Fauni Ficarii_,

are mentioned in legends.----At Avola, it is popularly believed to be

unwise to sleep beneath the shade of a Fig-tree during the warmth of

Summer; should, however, anyone be foolhardy enough to do so, there

will appear before him the figure of a nun, holding a knife in her

hand, who will compel him to say whether he will take it by the blade

or by the handle; if he answer, by the blade, he will be forthwith

slain; but should he select the handle, he will have all manner of

good fortune in store for him.----In Palermo, they deck the Fig-tree

with branches of the wild Fig woven into garlands, in order to ensure

the fruit ripening.----A Fig-tree has something to do in the way of

preventing hydrophobia, if we may believe the following ancient English

superstition:--“For tear of mad hound, take the worms which be under a

mad hound’s tongue, snip them away, lead them round about a Fig-tree,

give them to him who hath been rent; he will soon be healed.”----To

dream of Figs implies an accession of wealth, prosperity, and

happiness, the realisation of wishes, and a happy old age.

=FILBERT.=--John Gower, in his _Confessio Amantis_, suggests that the

origin of the word Filbert is to be sought in the metamorphosis of

the Thracian princess Phyllis into a Nut-tree, or, more precisely,

into the Almond; this view is strengthened by the fact that the

old English names for both tree and nut was Fylberde, or Filberd;

although another explanation of this word is that the tree was so

called after a King Philibert. In olden times the distinction drawn

between nuts of a good and those of the best quality, was by terming

the former the short-bearded, and the latter the long-bearded, or

full-bearded--whence, according to a popular belief, by corruption,

Filbert.----Authorities in dream lore tell us that to dream of Filberts

is a happy augury, a sign of good health and happy old age. It also

denotes success in love, and happiness in the married state, with

a numerous family, who will marry well, and occupy a high place in

society.----Filbert-trees are held to be under the dominion of Mercury.

=FIR.=--The ancient Egyptians adopted the Fir-cone as the symbol of

their goddess Isis.----The Fir is the Fire-tree, the most inflammable

of woods. Gerarde writes of Firs in Cheshire, Staffordshire, and

Lancashire, “where they grew in great plenty, as is reputed, before

Noah’s floud; but then being overturned and overwhelmed, have lien

since in the woods and waterie moorish grounds, very fresh and sound,

untill this day; and so full of a resinous substance, that they burne

like a torch or linke, and the inhabitants of those countries do call

it Fir-wood and Fire-wood unto this day.”----In the traditions of

northern countries, the Fir occupies a similar position to the Pine.

He is king of the forest; and so, in Switzerland and the Tyrol, the

Geni of the Forest is always represented with an uprooted Fir-tree in

his hand. This Geni dwells by preference in the Fir, and especially

loves old trees. When one of these trees is cut down, the Geni grieves,

and pleads for its life. Old Firs, like old Oaks and Birches, are

especially respected when standing solitary.----De Gubernatis relates

an anecdote of a colossal Fir-tree which grew by itself, at Tarssok,

in Russia. This tree had withstood several lightning-blasts, and was

supposed to be several hundred years old, as shown by its barkless

trunk and its bare branches. At last, in a gale of wind, it fell;

but so great a respect had the country-people for the old tree, that

they would not make any profit from the sale of the huge trunk, but

presented the proceeds to the Church.----In Denmark, Sweden, Russia,

and Germany, they use the Fir as the Christmas-tree, and this custom

has now taken firm root in England.----Just as in many parts of

Germany, on Christmas-night, they beat trees, so that they may bear

fruit, so at Hildesheim in Hanover, at Shrove-tide, the peasantry

solicit gifts from the women, whipping them meanwhile with branches

of Fir or Rosemary. This curious custom is supposed to signify their

desire to have children. In Northern Germany, newly-married couples

often carry in their hands branches of Fir, with lighted candles

affixed, perhaps in imitation of the Roman _fasces_. At Weimar, and

other places, they plant Fir-trees before the house where a wedding has

taken place. In Austrian Silesia, the May-pole is always of Fir. In

the Harz, on Midsummer night, they decorate Fir-trees with flowers and

coloured eggs, or, more generally, branches of Fir, which they stick in

the ground, and dance around, singing the while some verses appropriate

to the occasion. In Northern Germany, when they drive the cattle to

pasture for the first time, they often decorate the last cow with small

boughs of Firs, as showing their wish for a pasturage favourable to

the fecundity of the cattle.----From wounds made in the Balm of Gilead

Fir (_Abies Balsamea_), a very fine turpentine is obtained, which is

sometimes sold as the true Balm of Gilead.----To dream you are in a

forest of Fir-trees is a sign of suffering.----A Moldavian legend

relates that, out of envy, the elder sister of a queen changed the

two beautiful twin princes she had just given birth to, for two ugly

black children, which she placed in their cradle instead. She then

buried the young princes alive in the garden, and as soon as possible

went to the king, and told him his queen had given birth to two odious

black babies. The king in revenge shut up his wife in a dungeon, and

made the elder sister his queen. Suddenly, among the flowers of the

garden, there spring up two Fir-trees, who, in the evening, talk and

confide to each other that they cannot rest whilst their mother is

weeping in her lonely dungeon. Then they make themselves known to the

poor ex-queen as her children, and tell her how much they love and pity

her. Meanwhile the wicked queen awakes one night and listens. She is

filled with dread, and makes the king promise that the two Fir-trees

shall be cut down. Accordingly, the young trees are felled and thrown

into the fire; when, immediately, two bright sparks fly out, and fall

far away among the flowers: they are the two young princes, who have

again escaped, and who are now determined to bring to light the crime

of their detestable aunt. Some time after there is a grand festival at

the king’s palace; and a great “claca” (assembly) is gathered there

to string pearls for the queen. Among the guests appear two beautiful

children, with golden hair, who seem to be twin brothers. Whilst the

pearl-stringing goes on, stories are told by the guests, and at last it

comes to the turn of the twin brothers, who relate the sad story of the

imprisoned queen, and reveal the crime of her sister. As they speak,

their pearls continue to string themselves in a miraculous manner,

so that the king, observing this, knows that they are telling the

truth. When their story is finished, he acknowledges them as his sons,

restores their mother to her position as queen, and orders her wicked

sister to be torn asunder by wild horses.

FLAG.--See Acorus and Iris.

=FLAME TREE.=--The _Nuytsia floribunda_, called the Flame or Fire-tree,

is a native of West Australia. This tree is most remarkable in many

respects: it belongs to the same Natural Order as the Mistletoe--an

order numerous in species, most of those inhabiting warm countries

having brilliantly-coloured flowers, and, with two exceptions, strictly

parasitical on the branches of other trees. One of these exceptions

is the Flame-tree; but although _Nuytsia floribunda_ is terrestrial,

and has all the aspect of an independent tree, it is thought to be

parasitical on the roots of some neighbouring tree or shrub, because

all attempts to rear seedlings have proved unsuccessful. Its trunk is

soft, like pith, yet it has a massive appearance. Its gorgeous fiery

flowers are more brilliant than flames, for they are undimmed by smoke.

=FLAX.=--There are certain plants which, having been cultivated from

time immemorial, are not now to be found in a wild state, and have

no particular history. The common Flax (_Linum usitatissimum_) has

been thought to be one of these. Flax is mentioned both in Genesis

and Exodus: at least Joseph was clothed in _linen_, and the Flax was

blighted in the fields. But modern research has shown that the Flax

of the ancients was _Linum angustifolium_, the narrow-leaved Flax;

and the same fact has been developed in regard to the Flax of the

Lake-dwellers in Switzerland.----The fine linen of Egypt is frequently

referred to in Scripture, and specimens of this fabric are to be seen

in the linen in which the Egyptian mummies are enfolded. That Flax

was also grown in ancient times in Palestine, may be inferred from

the fact that Rahab hid the Hebrew spies among the Flax spread on her

roof.----In the mythology of the North, Flax is supposed to be under

the protection of the goddess Hulda, but the plant’s blue blossom is

more especially the flower of Bertha, whose blue eyes shine in its

calyx, and whose distaff is filled by its fibres.----Indian mysticism

likens the grey dawn and the brightening daybreak to luminous linen

and its weavers. The celestial bride, Aurora, weaves the nuptial

garment--the robe of the celestial bridegroom, the Sun.----The gods

attire themselves in luminous robes--white or red, silver or gold.

Earthly priests have adopted the white robe in India, Egypt, Asia

Minor, Rome, and in all Christian countries. The offspring of the

Flax, according to a tradition, represent the rays of the Sun, and

clothe the great luminary.----In Sicily, to cure headache produced by

exposure to the Sun, they burn, with certain incantations, flaxen tow

in a glass, from which they have poured out the water it contained:

they then place the glass on a white plate, and the plate on the head

of the patient: they contend that by this means they extract from his

head, and impart to the Flax, all the virtue of the Sun.----Flax is

the symbol of life and of prolific vegetation: on this account, in

Germany, when an infant thrives but badly, or does not learn to walk,

they place it naked, either in the Spring or on Midsummer-day, upon

the turf, and scatter some Flax-seed on this turf and on the infant

itself: then, as soon as the Flax commences to grow, the infant should

also begin to thrive and to walk.----To dream of Flax is reputed to

augur a good and happy marriage; to dream of spinning Flax, however,

betokens coming troubles.----There is an old superstition that Flax

will only flower at the time of day at which it was originally sown.

He who sows it must first seat himself thrice on the sack, turning

to the east. Stolen seeds mingled with the rest cause the crop to

thrive.----Flax when in bloom acts as a talisman against witchcraft,

and sorcery can be practised even with the dry stalks. When the shreds

are spun or woven into shirts, under certain incantations, the wearer

is secure from accidents or wounds.----It was the goddess Hulda who

first taught mortals the art of growing Flax, of spinning, and of

weaving it. According to the legendary belief in South Tyrol, she is

the especial patroness of the Flax culture in that district. Hulda is

also the sovereign of the Selige Fräulein, the happy fairy maidens

who keep watch and guard over the Flax-plants. Between Kroppbühl and

Unterlassen, is a cave which is believed by the country people to have

been the entrance to Queen Hulda’s mountain palace. Twice a year she

passed through the valley, scattering blessings around her path--once

in Summer, when the blue flowers of the Flax were brightening the

fields, and again during the mysterious “twelve nights” immediately

preceding our feast of the Epiphany, when, in ancient days, the gods

and goddesses were believed to visit the earth. Hulda visited the

cottagers’ homes in the Winter nights to examine the distaff. If the

Flax was duly spun off, prosperity attended the family; but laziness

was punished by trouble and blighted crops. Hulda’s fairy people, the

Selige Fräulein, would sometimes visit deserving folks and aid the

Flax-spinning: there is a legend that a peasant woman at Vulpera,

near Tarash, thinking that she ought to reward her fairy assistants,

set before them a sumptuous meal, but they shook their heads sadly,

and, giving the poor woman a never-failing ball of cotton, they said,

“This is the recompense for thy goodwill--payment for payment,”--and

immediately vanished.

=FLEA-BANE.=--The star-shaped yellow Flea-bane, or wild Marigold

(_Inula dysenterica_), received its name from the belief that its odour

was repulsive to fleas, gnats, and other insects. On the flowers of

this plant, as well as on those of _Agnus Castus_, the Grecian women

were made to sleep during the feast of Thesmophoria. The Arabs extol

this plant highly as a remedy for wounds. One of their traditions

records that flowers of the _Inula_, bruised, were used by the

patriarch Job as an application to those grievous sores which he so

pathetically laments. Hence the Flea-bane is called by the men of the

desert “Job’s Tears.”

=FLOS ADONIS.=--In most European countries the Flos Adonis (the

dark-crimsoned _Adonis autumnalis_) still retains in its nomenclature

a legendary connection with the blood of the unfortunate Adonis, and

is called by the Germans _Blutströpfchen_ to the present day.----Just

as from the tears of the sorrowing Venus, which fell as she gazed on

the bleeding corpse of the beautiful Adonis, there sprang the Anemone,

or Wind-flower, so from the blood of the lamented boy which poured

forth from the death-wound inflicted by the boar, there proceeded the

Adonis-flower, or Flos Adonis. Referring to this, Rapin writes--

“Th’ unhappy fair Adonis likewise flowers,

Whom (once a youth) the Cyprian Queen deplores;

He, though transformed, has beauty still to move

Her admiration, and secure her love;

Since the same crimson blush the flower adorns

Which graced the youth, whose loss the goddess mourns.”

And Shakspeare, in his poem on Venus and Adonis, says--

“By this the boy that by her side lay killed

Was melted like a vapour from her sight;

And in his blood that on the ground lay spilled

A purple flower sprang up, chequered with white,

Resembling well his pale cheeks and the blood

Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood.”

=FLOWER DE LUCE.=--The Iris has obtained this name, which is derived

from the French _Fleur de Louis_, from its having been assumed as his

device by Louis VII., of France. This title of _Fleur de Louis_ has

been changed to Fleur de Luce, _Fleur de Lys_, and _Fleur de Lis_. (See

IRIS).----A curious superstition exists in the district around Orleans,

where a seventh son without a daughter intervening is called a Marcon.

It is believed that the Marcon’s body is marked somewhere with a _Fleur

de Lis_, and that if a patient suffering under King’s Evil touch this

_Fleur de Lis_, or if the Marcon breathe upon him, the malady will be

sure to disappear.

FLOWER GENTLE, or FLORAMOR.--See Amaranth.

=FLOWERS OF HEAVEN.=--Under the names of Rain Tremella and Star Jelly

is known a strange gelatinous substance, of no precise form, but of a

greenish hue, which creeps over gravelly soils, and is found mixed up

with wet Mosses on rocks besides waterfalls: when moist, it is soft

and pulpy, but in dry weather it becomes thin, brittle, and black in

colour. Linnæus called it _Tremella Nostoc_, but it is now classed with

the _Algæ Gloiocladeæ_ under the name of _Nostoc commune_, a name first

used by the alchymist Paracelsus, but the meaning of which is unknown.

During the middle ages, some extraordinary superstitions were afloat

concerning this plant, which was called Cœlifolium, or Flowers of

Heaven. By the alchemists it was considered a universal menstruum. The

country people in Germany use it to make their hair grow. In England,

the country folk of many parts, firmly believed it to be the remains of

a falling star, for after a wet, stormy night, these Flowers of Heaven

will often be found growing where they were not to be seen the previous

evening.

=FLOWERING ROD.=--There is a legend in the Apocryphal Gospel of Mary,

according to which Joseph was chosen for Mary’s husband because his

rod budded into flower, and a dove settled upon the top of it. In

pictures of the marriage of Joseph and Mary, the former generally holds

the flowering rod. The rod by which the Lord demonstrated that He had

chosen Aaron to be His priest, blossomed with Almond-flowers, and was

laid up in the Ark (see ALMOND).

=FORGET-ME-NOT.=--The Forget-me-not is a name which, like the

Gilliflower, has been applied to a variety of plants. For more than two

hundred years it was given, in England, France, and the Netherlands, to

the ground Pine, _Ajuga Chamæpitys_. From the middle of the fifteenth

century until 1821, this plant was in all the botanical books called

Forget-me-not, on account of the nauseous taste which it leaves in the

mouth. Some of the old German botanists gave the name _Vergiss mein

nicht_ to the _Chamædrys vera fœmina_, or _Teucrium Botrys_. _Forglemm

mig icke_, the corresponding Danish name, was given to the _Veronica

chamædrys_. This plant was in English called the Speedwell, from its

blossoms falling off and flying away, and “Speedwell” being an old form

of leave-taking, equivalent to “Farewell” or “Good-bye.” In the days

of chivalry, a plant, whose identity has not been ascertained, was

called “_Souveigne vous de moy_,” and was woven into collars. In 1465,

one of these collars was the prize at a famous joust, fought between

Lord Scales, brother to Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV., and a

French knight of Burgundy. Certain German botanists, as far back as the

sixteenth century, seem, however, to have given the name Forget-me-not

to the _Myosotis palustris_; and this name has become inseparably

connected with the flower, borne on the wings of the following poetic

legend:--A knight and his lady-love, who were on the eve of being

united, whilst strolling on the bank of the blue Danube, saw a spray

of these pretty flowers floating on the waters, which seemed ready

to carry it away. The affianced bride admired the delicate beauty of

the blossoms, and regretted their fatal destiny. At this hint, the

lover did not hesitate to plunge into the stream. He soon secured the

flowers, but the current was too strong for him, and as it bore him

past his despairing mistress, he flung the fatal flowers on the bank,

exclaiming, as he was swept to his doom, “_Vergiss mich nicht!_”

“And the lady fair of the knight so true,

Aye remembered his hapless lot;

And she cherished the flower of brilliant hue,

And braided her hair with the blossoms blue,

And she called it Forget-me-not.”

According to Grimm, the original Forget-me-not was a certain

Luck-flower, concerning which there is a favourite legend in Germany

(see KEY-FLOWER). And there is another traditional origin of the

flower, which for antiquity should have the precedence of all others.

According to this version, Adam, when he named the plants in Paradise,

cautioned them not to forget what he called them. One little flower,

however, was heedless, and forgot its name. Ashamed of its inattention

and forgetfulness, the flower asked the father of men, “By what name

dost thou call me?” “Forget-me-not,” was the reply; and ever since

that humble flower has drooped its head in shame and ignominy.----A

fourth origin of the name “Forget-me-not” is given by Miss Strickland

in her work on the Queens of England. Writing of Henry of Lancaster

(afterwards Henry IV.), she says:--“This royal adventurer, the banished

and aspiring Lancaster, appears to have been the person who gave to the

_Myosotis_ its emblematical and poetical meaning, by writing it, at the

period of his exile, on his collar of S.S., with the initial letter of

his _mot_ or watchword, _Souveigne vous de moy_, thus rendering it the

symbol of remembrance.” It was with his hostess, at the time wife of

the Duke of Bretagne, that Henry exchanged this token of goodwill and

remembrance.----The Italians call the _Myosotis, Nontiscordar di me_,

and in one of their ballads represent the flower as the embodiment of

the spirit of a young girl who was drowned, and transformed into the

_Myosotis_ growing by the river’s banks.----The ancient English name

of the _Myosotis palustris_ was Mouse-Ear-Scorpion-Grass; “Mouse-Ear”

describing the oval leaves, and “Scorpion” the curve of the one-sided

raceme, like a scorpion’s tail.----According to some investigators,

the Forget-me-not is the Sun-flower of the classics--the flower into

which poor Clytie was metamorphosed--the pale blossom which, says

Ovid, held firmly by the root, still turns to the sun she loves.

Cæsalpinus called it _Heliotropium_, and Gerarde figured it as such.

(See HELIOTROPE).----The Germans are fond of planting the Forget-me-not

upon their graves, probably on account of its name; for the beauty of

the flower is lost if taken far from the water.----It is said that

after the battle of Waterloo, an immense quantity of Forget-me-nots

sprung up upon different parts of that sanguinary field, the soil of

which had been enriched by the blood of heroes.----A writer in ‘All

the Year Round’ remarks, that possibly the story of the origin of the

Forget-me-not’s sentimental designation may have been in the mind of

the Princess Marie of Baden, that Winter day, when, strolling along

the banks of the Rhine with her cousin, Louis Napoleon, she inveighed

against the degeneracy of modern gallants, vowing they were incapable

of emulating the devotion to beauty that characterised the cavaliers

of olden times. As they lingered on the causeway-dykes, where the

Neckar joins the Rhine, a sudden gust of wind carried away a flower

from the hair of the princess, and sent it into the rushing waters.

“There!” she exclaimed, “that would be an opportunity for a cavalier

of the olden days to show his devotion.” “That’s a challenge, cousin,”

retorted Louis Napoleon, and in a second he was battling with the rough

waters. He disappeared and reappeared to disappear and reappear again

and again, but at length reached the shore safe and sound with his

cousin’s flower in his hand. “Take it, Marie,” said he, as he shook

himself; “but never again talk to me of your cavalier of the olden

time.”

=FOXGLOVE.=--The name of _Digitalis_ (from _digitale_, a thimble or

finger-stall) was given to the Foxglove in 1542, by Fuchs, who remarks

that hitherto the flower had remained unnamed by the Greeks and Romans.

Our forefathers sometimes called it the Finger-flower, the Germans

named it _Fingerhut_, and the French _Gantelée_--names all bestowed on

account of the form of the flower, regarding which Cowley fancifully

wrote--

“The Foxglove on fair Flora’s hand is worn,

Lest while she gather flowers, she meet a thorn.”

The French also term the Foxglove _Gants de Notre Dame_ and _Doigts de

la Vierge_. Various explanations have been given as to the apparently

inappropriate English name of Foxglove, which is, however, derived from

the Anglo-Saxon _Foxes-glof_; and was presumably applied to the flower

from some bygone connection it had with the fox, and its resemblance to

a glove-finger. Dr. Prior’s explanation is worth quoting, however, if

only for its ingenuity. He says: “Its Norwegian names, _Rev-bielde_,

Fox-bell, and _Reveleika_, Fox-Music, are the only foreign ones that

allude to that animal; and they explain our own, as having been, in the

first place, _foxes-glew_, or music (Anglo-Saxon _gliew_), in reference

to a favourite instrument of earlier times, a ring of bells hung on an

arched support--a tintinnabulum--which this plant, with its hanging

bell-shaped flowers, so exactly represents.”----The Foxglove is the

special fairy flower: in its spotted bells the “good folk” delight to

nestle. It is called in Ireland, Lusmore, or the Great Herb, and also

Fairy-cap--a retreat in which the merry little elves are said to hide

themselves when a human foot approaches to disturb their dances. The

bending of the plant’s tall stalks is believed to denote the presence

of supernatural beings, to whom the flower is making its obeisance. In

the Irish legend of Knockgrafton, the hero, a poor hunchback, reputed

to have a great knowledge of herbs and charms, always wears a sprig

of the Fairy-cap, or Lusmore, in his little straw hat, and hence is

nicknamed Lusmore. The Shefro, or gregarious fairy, is represented as

wearing the corolla of the Foxglove on his head. Browne describes Pan

as seeking these flowers as gloves for his mistress:--

“To keep her slender fingers from the sunne,

Pan through the pastures oftentimes hath runne,

To pluck the speckled Foxgloves from their stem,

And on those fingers neatly placed them.”

In Wales, the bells of the Foxglove are termed _Menyg Ellyllon_,

or goblins’ gloves. No doubt on account of its connection with the

fairies, its name has been fancifully thought to have originally been

the Fairy Folks’ Glove. The witches are popularly supposed to have

held the Foxglove in high favour, and to have decorated their fingers

with its largest bells, thence called “Witches’ Bells.”----Beautiful

as it is, the _Digitalis_ is a dangerous plant; no animal will touch

it, and it exercises a singular influence over mankind: it impedes

the circulation of the blood. We read in ‘Time’s Telescope’ for 1822,

that the women of the poorer class in Derbyshire indulged in copious

draughts of Foxglove-tea, as a cheap means of obtaining the pleasures

of intoxication. It produces a great exhilaration of spirits, and has

some singular effects on the system.----Robert Turner tells us that

the Foxglove is under Venus, and that, in Hampshire, it is “very well

known by the name of Poppers, because if you hold the broad end of

the flower close between your finger and thumb, and blow at the small

head, as into a bladder, till it be full of wind, and then suddenly

strike it with your other hand, it will give a great crack or pop.” The

Italians call the plant _Aralda_, and have this proverb concerning it:

“_Aralda tutte piaghe salda_”--“Aralda salveth all sores.” Although

containing a poison, the Foxglove yields a medicine valuable in cases

of heart-disease, inflammatory fevers, dropsy, &c.

“The Foxglove leaves, with caution given,

Another proof of favouring Heaven

Will happily display.”

=FRANGIPANNI.=--The _Plumieria acuminata_, or Frangipanni plant,

bears immense clusters of waxy flowers which exhale a most delicious

odour: these flowers are white, with a yellow centre, and are flushed

with purple behind. The plant is common throughout Malaya, where Mr.

Burbidge says it is esteemed by the natives as a suitable decoration

for the graves of their friends. Its Malay name, _Bunga orang sudah

mati_, is eminently suggestive of the funereal use to which it is

put, and means literally “Dead Man’s Flower.”----Frangipanni powder

(spices, Orris-roots, and Musk or Civet) was compounded by one of the

Roman nobles, named Frangipanni, an alchymist of some repute, who

invented a stomachic, which he named Rosolis, _ros-solis_, sun-dew. The

Frangipanni tart was the invention of the same noble.

=FRANKINCENSE.=--Leucothea, the daughter of the Persian king Orchamus,

attracted the notice of Apollo, who, to woo her, assumed the form

and features of her mother. Unable to withstand the god’s “impetuous

storm,” Leucothea indulged his love; but Clytia, maddened with

jealousy, discovered the intrigue to Orchamus, who, to avenge his

stained honour, immured his daughter alive. Apollo, unable to save

her from death, sprinkled nectar and ambrosia over her grave, which,

penetrating to the lifeless body, changed it into the beautiful

tree that bears the Frankincense. Ovid thus describes the nymph’s

transformation:--

“What Phœbus could do was by Phœbus done.

Full on her grave with pointed beams he shone.

To pointed beams the gaping earth gave way;

Had the nymph eyes, her eyes had seen the day;

But lifeless now, yet lovely, still she lay.

Not more the god wept when the world was fired,

And in the wreck his blooming boy expired;

The vital flame he strives to light again,

And warm the frozen blood in every vein.

But since resistless fates denied that power,

On the cold nymph he rained a nectar shower.

Ah! undeserving thus, he said, to die,

Yet still in odours thou shalt reach the sky.

The body soon dissolved, and all around

Perfumed with heavenly fragrances the ground.

A sacrifice for gods uprose from thence--

A sweet, delightful tree of Frankincense.”--_Eusden._

The tree which thus sprang from poor Leucothea’s remains was a

description of Terebinth, now called _Boswellia thurifera_, which

is principally found in Yemen, a part of Arabia. Frankincense is

an exudation from this tree, and Pliny tells some marvellous tales

respecting its mode of collection, and the difficulties in obtaining

it. Frankincense was one of the ingredients with which Moses was

instructed to compound the holy incense (Exodus xxx.). The Egyptians

made great use of it as a principal ingredient in the perfumes which

they so lavishly consumed for religious rites and funeral honours.

As an oblation, it was burned on the altars by the priests of Isis,

Osiris, and Pasht. At the festivals of Isis an ox was sacrificed filled

with Frankincense, Myrrh, and other aromatics. On all the altars

erected to the Assyrian gods Baal, Astarte, and Dagon, incense and

aromatic gums were burnt in profusion; and we learn from Herodotus that

the Arabians alone had to furnish a yearly tribute of one thousand

talents of Frankincense.---Ovid recommends Frankincense as an excellent

cosmetic, and says that if it is agreeable to gods, it is no less

useful to mortals.----Rapin writes that “Phrygian Frankincense is held

divine.”

“In sacred services alone consumed,

And every Temple’s with the smoke perfumed.”

Dr. Birdwood states that there are many varieties of the

Frankincense-tree, yielding different qualities of the “lubân” or milky

gum which, from time immemorial, has sent up the smoke of sacrifice

from high places.----Distinct records have been found of the traffic

carried on between Egypt and Arabia in the seventeenth century B.C. In

the paintings at Dayr al Báhri, in Upper Egypt, are representations

both of bags of Olibanum and of Olibanum-trees in tubs, being conveyed

by ships from Arabia to Egypt; and among the inscriptions deciphered

by Professor Dümichen are many describing shipments of precious

woods, incense, and “verdant incense trees brought among the precious

things from the land of Arabia for the majesty of their god Ammon, the

lord of the terrestrial thrones.”----The Philistines reverently burnt

Frankincense before the fish-god Dagon. In ancient days it was accepted

as tribute. Darius, for instance, received from the Arabians an annual

tribute of one thousand talents of Frankincense.----When the Magi, or

wise men of the East, following the guidance of the miraculous star,

reached Bethlehem and paid their homage to the infant Saviour, they

made an offering of gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, by which symbolical

oblation they acknowledged Him as King (gold), God (incense), and Man

(Myrrh).----The Roman Catholic and Greek churches, especially the

churches of South America, consume an immense quantity of Olibanum, as

do the Chinese in their joss-houses.

=FRAXINELLA.=--The Fraxinella (_Dictamnus_) is deemed a most sacred

plant by the fire-worshippers of India, and is highly reverenced

by them on account of its singular powers of luminosity. The plant

is covered with minute glands which excrete volatile oil: this

is continually evaporating from its surface, and forms a highly

inflammable atmosphere round the plant. If a light be brought near it,

the plant is enveloped by a transient flame, but without sustaining any

injury. When gently rubbed, the plant emits a delicious scent, like

lemon-peel.

FRIAR’S CAP.--See Monkshood.

=FRITILLARY.=--The origin of the _Fritillaria_, or Crown Imperial, is

given by Rapin in the following lines:--

“Then her gay gilded front th’ Imperial Crown

Erects aloft, and with a scornful frown

O’erlooks the subject plants, while humbly they

Wait round, and homage to her highness pay;

High on the summit of her stem arise

Leaves in a verdant tuft of largest size;

Below this tuft the gilded blossoms bent,

Like golden cups reversed, are downwards sent;

But in one view collected they compose

A crown-like form, from whence her name arose.

No flower aspires in pomp and state more high,

Nor, could her odour with her beauty vie,

Would lay a juster claim to majesty.

A _Queen_ she was whom ill report belied,

And a rash husband’s jealousy destroyed;

Driv’n from his bed and court the fields she ranged,

Till spent with grief was to a blossom changed,

Yet only changed as to her human frame:

She kept th’ Imperial beauty and the name;

But the report destroyed her former sweets:

Scandal, though false, the fair thus rudely treats,

And always the most fair with most injustice meets.”

This flower is a native of Persia, and was for some time known as

_Lilium Persicum_. According to Madame de Genlis, it derived its

majestic name of Crown Imperial from the celebrated _Guirlande de

Julie_. The Duke de Montausier, on New Year’s Day, 1634, presented his

bride, Julie de Rambouillet, with a magnificent album, on the vellum

leaves of which were painted a series of flowers, with appropriate

verses. The principal poem was by Chapelain, who chose this Persian

Lily as his theme, and, knowing the bride to be a great admirer of

Gustavus Adolphus, represented in his verses that the flower sprang

from the life-blood of the Swedish King when he fell mortally wounded

on the field of Lützen; adding that had this hero gained the imperial

crown, he would have offered it with his hand to Julie, but as the

Fates had metamorphosed him into this flower, it was presented to her

under the name of _La Couronne Impériale_. In later days the flower

received the name of _Fritillaria_ (from _Fritillus_, a dice box,

the usual companion of the chequer-board), because its blossoms are

chequered with purple and white or yellow.

=FUMITORY.=--This plant, which Shakspeare alludes to as Fumiter,

derived its name from the French _Fume-terre_, and Latin _Fumus terræ_,

earth-smoke. It was so named from a belief, very generally held in

olden times, that it was produced without seed from smoke or vapour

rising from the earth. Pliny (who calls it _Fumaria_) states that

the plant took its name from causing the eyes to water when applied

to them, as smoke does; but another opinion is that it was so called

because a bed of the common kind, when in flower, appears at a distance

like a dense smoke. Rapin has these lines on the plant:--

“With the first Spring the soft Fumaria shows

On stern Bavaria’s rocks her sev’ral hues;

But by report is struck by certain fate,

When dreadful thunders echo from their height;

And with the lightning’s sulph’rous fumes opprest,

Her drooping beauties languish on her breast.”

Dioscorides says that the juice dropped into the eyes clears the sight,

and also that the juice, having a little gum Arabic dissolved therein,

and applied to the eyelids when the hairs have been pulled out, will

keep them from growing again.----According to astrologers, Fumitory is

a herb of Saturn.

=GANG FLOWER.=--The Milk-wort, _Flos Ambarvalis_, Cross-, Procession-,

Gang-, or Rogation-Flower (_Polygala vulgaris_), was so called from its

blossoming in Gang-week or Rogation-week, when processions were made in

imitation of the ancient Roman Ambarvalia (see CORN), to perambulate

the parishes with the Holy Cross and Litanies, to mark boundaries,

and to invoke God’s blessing upon the crops; upon which occasions

Gerarde tells us “the maidens which use in the countries to walke the

procession do make themselves garlands and nosegaies” of the Milk-wort,

which the old herbalist likewise informs us is so called on account of

its “vertues in procuring milke in the breasts of nurses.”

=GARLIC.=--The tapering-leaved Garlic (_Allium sativum_) derives its

name from two Anglo-Saxon words, meaning the Spear-plant. The Egyptians

so appreciated Garlic, that they were accustomed to swear by it, and

even to worship it. Referring to this, Juvenal satirically remarks:

“Each clove of Garlic hath a sacred flower.” Nevertheless, no Egyptian

priest was permitted to eat Garlic. The Israelites, who had learnt in

Egypt to prize this vegetable, murmured at being deprived of its use,

and expressed their preference of it to Manna itself.----In Asia Minor,

Greece, Scandinavia, and Northern Germany, Garlic is popularly believed

to possess magical properties of a beneficent nature. According to the

‘Lay of Sigurdrîfa,’ protection from witchcraft may be ensured by the

addition of Garlic to a beverage. The Sanscrit name for Garlic means

the Slayer of Monsters. Galen relates that it was considered inimical

to all cold poisons, and to the bites of venomous beasts. Macer

Floridus affirms that the eating of Garlic fasting ensured immunity

from all ills attending change of climate or the drinking of unknown

water. The roots, hung round the necks of blind cattle, were supposed

to induce restoration of sight. Clusius relates that the German miners

found the roots very powerful in defending them from the assaults of

impure spirits which frequented mines.----In England, Garlic obtained

the name of Poor Man’s Treacle, or Triacle, from its being considered

an antidote to animal poison. Bacon tells us that, applied to the

wrists, and renewed, Garlic was considered a cure for long agues: in

Kent, and probably in other counties, it is placed in the stockings of

a child with the whooping-cough, in order to allay the complaint.----De

Gubernatis states that the Bolognese regard Garlic as the symbol of

abundance; at the festival of St. John, everyone buys it, to preserve

themselves from poverty during the year. In Sicily, they put Garlic

on the beds of women during confinement, and they make three signs of

the cross with it to charm away polypus. In Cuba, thirteen cloves of

Garlic at the end of a cord worn round the neck for thirteen days,

is considered to safeguard the wearer against the jaundice, provided

that, in the middle of the night of the thirteenth day, he proceeds to

the corner of two streets, takes off his Garlic necklet, and, flinging

it over his head, runs instantly home without turning round to see

what has become of it.----The broad-leaved Garlic was formerly called

Buckrams, Bear’s Garlic, Ramsies, and Ramsins, the last name being

referred to in the proverb--

“Eat Leekes in Lide, and Ramsins in May,

And all the year after physitians may play.”

We read that if a man dream of eating Garlic, it signifies that he will

discover hidden secrets, and meet with some domestic jar; yet to dream

he has it in the house is lucky.----Garlic is under the dominion of

Mars.

GEAN.--See Cherry.

=GENTIAN.=--The Gentian (_Gentiana_) was so called after Gentius, King

of Illyria, who first discovered the medicinal virtues of this bitter

plant. Gentius having imprisoned the ambassadors sent to his court by

the Romans, they invaded his kingdom, conquered it, and led the royal

botanist and his family in triumph through the streets of Rome. The old

name of this flower was _Gentiana cruciata_, and it was also called _S.

Ladislai Regis herba_, in regard to which latter appellation, there

is a curious legend:--During the reign of King Ladislas, the whole of

Hungary was afflicted with the plague. Compassionating his unfortunate

subjects who were dying by thousands, the pious king prayed that if

he shot an arrow into the air, the Almighty would vouchsafe to guide

it to the root of some herb that might be employed efficaciously in

arresting the terrible plague. The king discharged an arrow, and, in

falling, it cleft the root of the _Cruciata_ (Gentian), which was at

once tried, and found to possess the most astonishing curative powers

when administered to sufferers from the plague.----According to old

Robert Turner, the herbalist, Gentian, or Felwort, “resists poisons,

putrefaction, and the pestilence, and helps digestion; the powder of

the dry roots helps bitings of mad dogs and venomous beasts, opens

the liver, and procures an appetite. Wine, wherein the herb hath been

steept, being drunk, refreshes such as are over-wearied by travel,

or are lame in their joynts by cold or bad lodgings.” Gerarde states

that it is put into counterpoisons, “as into the composition named

_Theriaca diatessaron_, which Ætius calleth _Mysterium_, a mystery, or

hid secret.” Formerly the names of Baldmoney and Baldmoyne were applied

to the Felwort or Gentian. (See BALDMONEY and FELDWODE.)----Gentian is

under the dominion of Mars.

GERANIUM.--See Crane’s Bill.

GILL.--See Ivy.

=GILLIFLOWER.=--The appellation of Gilliflower has been applied,

apparently as a kind of pet name, to all manner of plants. Formerly the

word was spelt _gyllofer_ and _gilofre_, from the French _giroflée_

and Italian _garofalo_, words derived from the Latin _Caryophyllum_

and Greek _Karuophullon_, a Clove, in allusion to the flower’s spicy

odour. The name was originally given by the Italians to the Carnation

and plants of the Pink tribe, and was so used by Chaucer, Spenser,

and Shakspeare. Afterwards both writers and gardeners bestowed the

name on the _Matthiola_ and _Cheiranthus_. At the present time the

word has almost fallen out of use, but in books will be found to be

applied to the Clove Gilliflower, _Dianthus Caryophyllus_ (the true

Gilliflower); the Marsh Gilliflower, or Ragged Robin (_Lychnis flos

cuculi_); Queen’s, Rogue’s, or Winter Gilliflower, the Dame’s Violet

(_Hesperis matronalis_); Stock Gilliflower (_Matthiola incana_); Wall

Gilliflower (_Cheiranthus Cheiri_); and Water Gilliflower (_Hottonia

palustris_).----The Gilliflower is in old songs represented as one of

the flowers thought to grow in Paradise. Thus, in a ballad called ‘Dead

Men’s Songs,’ occurs the following verse:--

“The fields about the city faire

Were all with Roses set,

Gillyflowers and Carnations faire

Which canker could not fret.”

(See also CARNATION).

=GINSENG.=--The Chinese consider the far-famed Ginseng (_Panax

quinquefolia_) the most valuable production of nature. It is their

specific for all disorders of the lungs or of the stomach, curing

asthma, strengthening the eyesight, renewing a worn-out constitution,

delaying the approach of old age, and acting as a counterpoison. The

Dutch naturalists thus described the Ginseng:--“Its name is taken from

its shape, because its represents a man (in Chinese _Gin_) striding

with his legs. It is a larger and stronger species of our Mandrake. The

dried root is of a yellow colour, streaked round with blackish veins,

as if drawn with ink. It yields when chewed an unpleasant sweetness,

mixed with bitterness. The Chinese will give three pounds of gold

for one pound of it.” To the Chinese this shrub is in some measure a

foreign production, as it is found only in Manchoo Tartary; but it

does not owe all its reputation to its distant origin; the Tartars

also prize it, and give it a name (_Orhota_) expressive of its quality

as the chief of plants. They endeavour to procure it at the risk of

losing their lives or liberty, equally endangered by the nature of the

country where it is found, and by the policy of the Chinese Government,

which endeavours to monopolise this much-esteemed production. A large

extent of country to the north-east of Pekin, covered with inaccessible

mountains, and almost impassable forests infested with wild beasts, and

affording no means of subsistence, is separated from the province of

Leao Tong by a strong barrier of stakes, always carefully protected by

guards of Chinese soldiers who seize and punish unlicensed intruders:

this is the native country of Ginseng, and these precautions are

considered necessary to preserve the valued plant from depredation.

The Père Jartoux, who was employed in the survey of Tartary by order

of the Emperor Kam-he, describes the mode of gathering the Ginseng, as

it was practised at that time. He had frequently met with the party

of Tartars employed on the service, but on this occasion ten thousand

Tartars were commanded to gather all the Ginseng that could be found;

and after deducting two ounces from the quantity gathered by each man,

they were allowed for the remainder its weight in pure silver. This

army of botanists divided themselves into companies of a hundred men,

with a chief to each company. The whole territory was then apportioned

to the several divisions; each division formed a line, and, slowly

advancing, traversed that portion of country allotted to it; nearly six

months were spent in the occupation, and the whole territory was thus

searched through. Of the Ginseng thus collected the root is the only

part preserved.

=GLADIOLUS.=--The Corn-flag, or Sword-flag (_Gladiolus_), has been

thought by some to be the flower alluded to by Ovid as the blossom

which sprang from the blood of Hyacinthus when he was accidentally

slain by Apollo with a quoit--the flower which bears displayed upon

its petals the sad impression of the Sun-god’s sighs-_Ai, Ai!_ (See

HYACINTH). The upper root of the Sword-flag was supposed by the old

herbalists to provoke amatory passions, whilst the lower root was

thought to cause barrenness.----The Gladiolus is a plant of the Moon.

=GLASTONBURY THORN.=--In Loudon’s _Arboretum Britannicum_, the

Glastonbury Thorn is mentioned as the _Cratægus Oxyacantha præcox_.

This variety of the Hawthorn blossoms during the Winter, and was for

many years believed religiously to blow on Christmas-day. The Abbey

of Glastonbury, in Somersetshire, which is now a ruin, and of whose

origin only vague memorials exist, was said by the monks to have been

the residence of Joseph of Arimathea. The high ground on which the old

abbey was erected used in early days to be called the Isle of Avalon.

The Thorn-tree stood on an eminence to the south-west of the town of

Glastonbury, where a nunnery, dedicated to St. Peter, was in after

times erected. The eminence is called Weary-all Hill; and the same

monkish legend which accounts for the name of the hill, states also the

origin of the Thorn. It seems that when Joseph of Arimathea, to whom

the original conversion of this country is attributed, arrived at this

spot with his companions, they were weary with their journey, and sat

down. St. Joseph then stuck his stick in the ground, when, although

it was a dry Hawthorn staff, it took root and grew, and thenceforth

commemorated the birth of Christ in the manner above mentioned. This

rendered its blossoms of so much value in all Christian nations, that

the Bristol merchants exported them as things of price to foreign

lands. It had two trunks or bodies until the time of Queen Elizabeth,

when a Puritan cut down one of them, but left the other, which was

about the size of an ordinary man. This desecration of the tree brought

condign punishment upon the over-zealous Puritan, for, according to

James Howell, a writer of the period, “some of the prickles flew into

his eye, and made him monocular.” The reputation which the Glastonbury

Thorn still retained, notwithstanding the change of religion, may be

estimated by the fact that King James and his Queen, and other persons

of distinction, gave large sums for small cuttings from the original

tree. Until the time of Charles I., it was customary to carry a branch

of the Thorn in procession at Christmas time; but during the civil war,

in that reign, what remained of the tree was cut down; plants from its

branches are, however, still in existence, for a vintner of the place

secured a slip, and planted it in his garden, where it duly flowered

on the 25th December. When the new style was introduced in 1752, the

alteration (which consisted of omitting eleven days) seems to have been

very generally disliked by the mass of the people. The use which was

made of the Glastonbury Thorn to prove the impropriety of the change is

not a little curious. The alteration in the Christmas Day, which was

held that year and since on a day which would have been January 5th,

was particularly obnoxious, not only as disturbing old associations,

but as making an arbitrary change from what was considered the true

anniversary of the birth of Christ. In several places, where real or

supposed slips from the Glastonbury Thorn existed, the testimony of the

plant against the change was anxiously sought on the first Christmas

Day under the new style. As the special distinction of the Thorn arose

from its supposed connection with the great event commemorated on that

day, it was argued that it must indicate the true anniversary, and that

its evidence would be conclusive on the subject. The event of one of

these references (at Quainton, in Buckinghamshire) is thus recorded in

the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ for 1753:--“Above 2000 people came here this

night (December 24th, 1752, N.S., being the first Christmas Eve under

the new calendar), with lanthorns and candles, to view a Thorn-tree

which grows in this neighbourhood, and which was remembered (this year

only) to be a slip from the Glastonbury Thorn; that it always budded

on the 24th, was full-blown the next day, and went off at night. But

the people, finding no appearance of a bud, it was agreed that December

25th n.s. could not be the right Christmas Day, and accordingly they

refused going to Church, or treating their friends as usual. At length

the affair became so serious, that the ministers of the neighbouring

villages, in order to appease the people, thought it prudent to give

notice that the old Christmas Day should be kept holy as usual.” The

slips of the Thorn seem to have been everywhere unanimous in this

opposition to the new style. There still exist at Glastonbury, within

the precincts of the ruins of the Abbey, two distinct trees, which,

doubtless, sprang from the Thorn of Joseph of Arimathea, and which

continue to blossom during the winter months.

=GLOBE FLOWER.=--The botanical name of the Globe Flower, _Trollius

Europæus_, is supposed to be of Scandinavian origin, and to signify

a magic flower. The plant is also called Globe Ranunculus and Globe

Crow-foot, from the globular form of its calyx. The flower was formerly

known as the Troll-flower, and in Scotland as the Luckan Gowan (Cabbage

Daisy). Its name of Troll was probably derived from the Swedish word

_troll_, a malignant supernatural being,--a name corresponding to the

Scotch Witches’ Gowan, and given to the _Trollius_ on account of its

acrid poisonous qualities. It is a common flower on the Alps, and has

been employed from time immemorial by the Swiss peasantry to make

garlands of on rural festive celebrations. In the northern counties

of England, at the beginning of June, the Globe-flower is sought with

great festivity by the young people, who adorn their doors and cottages

with wreaths and garlands composed of its blossoms.

=GOAT’S BEARD.=--The yellow Goat’s Beard (_Tragopogon pratensis_) is

one of the best floral indices of the hour of the day, for it opens at

sunrise and closes at noon.

“And goodly now the noon-tide hour,

When from his high meridian tower

The sun looks down in majesty,

What time about the grassy lea

The Goat’s Beard, prompt his rise to hail

With broad expanded disk, in veil

Close mantling wraps its yellow head,

And goes, as peasants say, to bed.”--_Bp. Mant._

Other names of this plant are Noon-day Flower, Go-to-bed-at-noon, Star

of Jerusalem, and Joseph’s Flower. No satisfactory explanation has ever

been given with respect to the last two names, nor is it known whether

the Joseph referred to is the son of Jacob, the Virgin Mary’s husband,

or Joseph of Arimathea.

=GOLDEN ROD.=--The tall straight-stemmed Golden Rod (_Solidago virga

aurea_) was formerly called Wound-weed, and on account of its healing

powers received its scientific name _solidago_, from “_in solidum ago

vulnera_,” “I consolidate wounds.” It was brought from abroad in a

dried state, and sold in the London markets by the herb-women of Queen

Elizabeth’s days, and Gerarde tells us that it fetched half-a-crown

an ounce. About that time, however, it was found in Hampstead ponds,

and when it was seen to be a native plant, it became valueless and was

discarded from use; which, says Gerarde, “plainely setteth forth our

inconstancie and sudden mutabilitie, esteeming no longer of anything,

how pretious soever it be, than whilest it is strange and rare. This

verifieth our English proverbe, ‘Far fetcht and deare bought is best

for ladies.’”----According to tradition, the Golden Rod is also a

divining-rod, and points to hidden springs of water as well as to

treasures of gold and silver.----Astrologers say that Golden Rod is a

plant of Venus.

GOLD CUP and GOLD KNOBS.--See Ranunculus.

GOLD, GOLDING, and GOWAN.--See Marigold.

=GOLDILOCKS.=--This name is applied to _Ranunculus auricomus_,

_Chrysocoma Linosyris_, _Amaranthus luteus_ (Golden Flower Gentle),

and, by Gerarde, to _Muscus capillaris_ (Golden Maidenhair Moss).

_Camelina sativa_ is the Gold of Pleasure.

=GOLUBETZ.=--There is a popular belief in Russia, that anyone drinking

a draught of water in which this plant of the marshes has been steeped,

will be exempt from attacks by bears.

=GOOD HENRY.=--The Allgood, English Mercury, Good Henry, or Good King

Harry (_Chenopodium Bonus Henricus_) seems to have been given its name

of Good Henry to distinguish it from a poisonous plant called _Malus

Henricus_. Grimm explains that the name Henry has reference in this

case to elves and kobolds, which were called Heinz and Heinrich.

=GOOL-ACHIN.=--The _Plumeria acutifolia_, a tree of American origin,

is called by the Hindus Gool-achin, and is esteemed sacred by them. It

is commonly planted in Indian gardens, and particularly in cemeteries,

because it keeps the graves of the departed white with its daily fall

of fragrant flowers. The branches are stout, and, when wounded, exude a

milky juice, which is prized.

=GOOSEBERRY.=--The homely Gooseberry, which derives its name from the

Anglo-Saxon _crós_, a curl (German _kraus_, and old Dutch _kroes_), is

an old inhabitant of England, for Tusser, who lived in the reign of

Henry VIII., wrote of it--

“The Barberry, Respis, and Gooseberry, too,

Look now to be planted as other things do.”

It was formerly called Feaberry, Dewberry and Wineberry.----An

old-fashioned remedy for a wart consisted in pricking it with a sharp

Gooseberry-thorn passed through a wedding-ring.----To dream of ripe

Gooseberries is considered as a favourable omen. It predicts a fortune,

a lucrative post under Government, great fidelity in your sweetheart,

sweetness of temper and disposition, many children (chiefly sons),

and the accomplishment of your aims. To the sailor, to dream of

Gooseberries, indicates dangers in his next voyage; to the maiden, a

roving husband.----The Gooseberry is placed by astrologers under the

rule of Venus.

=GRAPES.=--The product of the Vine was the especial fruit of the god

Bacchus, who is sometimes represented like an infant, holding a thyrsus

and clusters of grapes with a horn. In the Catholic Church, Grapes and

Corn are symbolic of the Blessed Eucharist. According to Brocard, the

finest Grapes are those grown in the vales of Eshcol and Sorek. The

word _sorek_ signifies “fine Grapes.” Clusters of Grapes have been

found in Syria, weighing as much as forty pounds, worthy successors of

the cluster taken by the Israelitish spies from Eshcol, which “they

bare between two upon a staff.”----In some countries, the Grape is

believed to have been the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in

the Garden of Eden.----To dream of Grapes foretells to the maiden that

her husband will be cheerful, and a great songster. If the dreamer

be in love, they augur a speedy union, and denote much happiness in

marriage and success in trade. According to another authority, to

dream that you see clusters of Grapes hanging round about you predicts

future advancement and honour. To the maid it implies marriage with an

ambitious man, who will arrive at great preferment, but die early.

=GORSE.=--The Whin Gorse, or Furze (_Ulex_)--“the never-bloomless

Furze”--caused Dillenius the greatest delight, and is said to have

so affected Linnæus, when he first came to England and saw a common

covered with its golden blossoms, that he fell down on his knees in a

rapture at the sight, and thanked God for its loveliness. He attempted

in vain to introduce it into Sweden; but although hardy enough in

England, yet it would not grow even in the garden in which Linnæus

planted it.----The old English names for this shrub were Fursbush,

Furrs, Whins, and Goss.----Gorse is held to be under the dominion of

Mars.

=GORY-DEW.=--A minute Alga bears the name of Gory-dew from its

resemblance to blood-drops. During the Middle Ages, it caused much

dismay by appearing like a sudden shower of blood, and it was thought

to portend battle, murder, and sudden death.

=GRASS.=--In India, several kinds of Grass, such as the _Kusa_, a

species of _Andropogon_, and _Eragrostis_, are held sacred by the

Hindus, and employed in their temples.----In Prussia, the northern Holy

Grass (_Holcus odoratus_) is used for strewing the floors of churches

at Whitsuntide. In some parts of Germany, Holy Grass (_Hierochloe

borealis_) is strewn before church doors on holidays.----Wheat would

appear to be only the cultivated form of the _Ægilops_, a Grass

infesting Barley-fields on the shores of the Mediterranean. Grip-grass

(_Galium Aparine_) is so called from its gripping or seizing with its

hooked prickles whatever comes in its way. The _Potentilla reptans_

is called Five-Finger Grass, on account of its five leaflets. The

only poisonous Grass (Darnel) is supposed to be the Tares of the

Scriptures: Linnæus says of this Grass (_Lolium temulentum_) that if

the seeds are baked in bread it is very hurtful, and if malted with

Barley it produces giddinness.----In Norfolk, coarse marshy Grass is

called Hassock, hence the application of this name to church hassocks,

which are often made of a large Sedge, the _Carex paniculata_.----In

connection with Tussack-grass (_Aira cæspitosa_), Mr. Sikes relates

the following tradition current in Wales:--The son of a farmer at Drws

Coed was permitted to marry a fairy-wife on condition that she should

never be touched by iron. They had several children, and lived happily

enough until one unfortunate day her horse sank in the deep mire, and

as her husband was helping her to remount, his stirrup struck her

knee. At once sweet singing was heard on the hill top, and she was

parted from him; but, though no longer allowed to walk the earth with

man, she used to haunt the turf lake (Llyn y dywarchen). This lake

has moving islands of Tussack-grass, like Derwentwater, so on one of

these islands she used to stand for hours and hold converse with her

bereaved husband.----“Fairy Rings” is the popular name for the circles

of dark-green Grass occasionally seen on grassy downs and old pastures,

round which, according to popular belief, the

“Elfe-queen, with her jolly compagnie,

Danced full oft in many a grene mede.”

On this dark Grass rustic superstition avers that no sheep or lamb will

browse. Disregarding the poetical charm which lingers around the fairy

superstition, and oblivious of the poet’s asseveration that--

“Of old the merry elves were seen

Pacing with printless feet the dewy green,”

some naturalists have ascribed the phenomenon of these rings to

lightning; others to the work of ants; and others, again, to the growth

of a small esculent Fungus called _Agaricus Orcades_. However, Edmund

Jones, a celebrated preacher, of Monmouth, who in 1813 wrote a book on

apparitions, declares that in St. Matthew xii., 43, is to be found an

authority for the popular belief. He says, “The fairy rings are found

in dry places, and the Scripture saith that the walk of evil spirits is

in dry places.”----In Sussex, elves and fairies are sometimes called

“Pharisees” by the country folk, and in Tarberry Hill, on Harting, are

Pharisees’ rings, where the simple people say the Pharisees dance on

Midsummer Eve.----To dream of Grass is a good omen; if the Grass be

fresh and green, the dream portends long life, good luck, and great

wealth; but if withered and decayed, misfortunes and sickness may be

expected, if not the death of loved ones. To dream of cutting Grass

betokens great troubles.

=GROUNDHEELE.=--This plant, known in Germany as _Grundheil_, and in

France as _Herbe aux Ladres_, is identified by Doctor Prior with

_Veronica officinalis_, which he says was so called from its having

cured a king of France of a leprosy, from which he had suffered some

eight years--a disease, called in Germany, _grind_. Quoting from

Brunschwygk, our author tells us that a shepherd had seen a stag, whose

hind quarter was covered with a scabby eruption from the bite of a

wolf, cure itself by eating of this plant, and rolling itself upon it;

and that thereupon he recommended the king to try it.

GROUND-IVY.--See Ivy.

=GROUNDSEL.=--The _Senecio vulgaris_ is called, in Scotland, Grundy

Swallow, a term derived from the Anglo-Saxon word _grundswelge_, ground

glutton, and of which Groundsel is evidently a corruption. _Senecio

Saracenicus_ is said to have been used by the Saracens in the cure

of wounds. Common Groundsel has the power of softening water if it

be poured while boiling on the plant. The Highland women often wear

a piece of its root as an amulet to guard them from the Evil Eye. A

bunch of Groundsel worn on the bare bosom was formerly reputed to be an

efficacious charm against the ague. Pliny prescribes Groundsel for the

toothache. A root must be pulled up, and a portion of it cut off with

a sharp razor; then the Groundsel must be immediately replanted, and

the excised portion applied three or four times to the ailing tooth.

A cure is probable, says Pliny, provided the mutilated and replanted

Groundsel should thrive: if otherwise, the tooth will ache more than

ever. In Cornwall, if Groundsel is to be used as an emetic, they strip

it upwards; if for a cathartic, downwards.----Groundsel is a herb of

Venus.

=GUABANA.=--The Guabana or Guarabana, which is presumed to be the wild

Pine Apple, _Ananas sativus_, first became known to Europeans in Peru

some three centuries ago. In the _Mythologie des Plantes_, we read that

the dead were, according to a ghastly popular tradition, believed to

rise and eat the Guabana fruit every night. This fruit of the dead is

described as tender and sweet as a Melon, of the shape of a Pine-apple,

and of a splendid appearance.

=GUELDER ROSE.=--The _Viburnum Opulus_ has been called the

Snowball-tree, but is more generally known as the Guelder Rose, from

its Rose-like balls of white blossom. The shrub is a variety of the

Water Elder, introduced from Gueldres. In England, its flowers are

dedicated to Whitsuntide.

=HÆMANTHUS.=--The _Hæmanthus_, or Blood-flower, is a native of Brazil,

where _H. multiflorus_ is the Imperial Flower--the especial flower and

blazon of the Emperor.

=HAG-TAPER.=--The _Verbascum Thapsus_ was called Hedge-taper,

High-taper, or Hig-taper, because it was used as a torch on funeral and

other occasions. These names became corrupted into Hag-taper during

the period when the belief in witchcraft existed, from a notion that

witches employed the plant in working their spells. Probably this

superstition was derived from the ancients, for we read in Gerarde’s

‘Herbal’--“Apuleius reporteth a tale of Ulysses, Mercurie, and the

inchauntresse Circe using these herbes in their incantations and

witchcrafts.” (See MULLEIN).

=HALLELUJAH.=--The Wood-Sorrel (_Oxalis Acetosella_) bears the name of

Hallelujah, not only in England, but in Germany, France, Spain, and

Italy, because it blossoms between Easter and Whitsuntide--the season

at which those Psalms are sung which end with that pious ejaculation,

viz., the 113th to the 117th inclusive.

=HAREBELL.=--Gerarde, in his ‘Herbal,’ Parkinson, in his ‘_Paradisus_,’

and other old herbalists, term the _Hyacinthus non scriptus_, or

English Jacinth, the Hare-bell or Hare’s-bell. This is probably the

“azure Harebell” alluded to by Shakspeare, and is the flower referred

to by Browne, in his ‘Pastorals,’ as only to be worn by faithful

lovers:--

“The Harebell, for her stainless azured hue,

Claims to be worn of none but who are true.”

The nodding Blue-bell of the heath-land (_Campanula rotundifolia_),

however, is the Hare-bell of modern poets; but both plants are called

by that name in different parts of England. The original word is said

to have been either Air-bell or Hair-bell, appellations which might

most appropriately be applied to the graceful and airy Campanulas,

whose slender stems have sufficient elasticity to rise again when

lightly trodden under foot. In some English counties the flower is

familiarly called Witches’ Thimble. In France, a little white Hare-bell

is common in the meadows, and from its modest and chaste appearance is

called the Nun of the Fields. (See BLUE-BELL and CAMPANULA).

HASSOCKS.--See Grass.

=HAWKWEED.=--The Hawk-weed or Hawk-bit (_Hieracium_) was a name

originally applied to several plants of the Dandelion and Mouse-ear

families, and in days when falconry was practised, these plants

derived some importance from the notion entertained by the ancients

that with them hawks were in the habit of clearing their eyesight--a

notion endorsed by the later herbalists, for we find Gerarde writing

that hawks are reported to clear their sight by conveying the juice

hereof into their eyes. The old tradition that the hawk feed upon

Hawkweed and led her young ones early to eat the plant, that by

its juices they might gain acuteness of vision, was believed some

centuries ago not only in England but throughout Europe. The Greeks

considered the Hawkweed a holy plant, inasmuch as it was dedicated to

the use of a bird they held sacred. One of these plants was, like the

Scabious, called the Devil’s-bit, on account of its root presenting

the appearance of having been bitten off short; another (_Hieracium

aurantiacum_) bore the familiar name of Grim the Collier, given it

from the black hairs which cover its stem and involucre. Hawkweeds

were considered good for strengthening the eyesight, and were deemed

efficacious against the bites of serpents and scorpions.----The plant

was adjudged to be under the rule of Saturn.

=HAWTHORN.=--The Hawthorn, according to ancient myths, originally

sprang from the lightning: it has been revered as a sacred tree from

the earliest times, and was accounted by the Greeks a tree of good

augury and a symbol of conjugal union. After the rape of the Sabines,

upon which occasion the shepherds carried Hawthorn-boughs, it was

considered propitious; its blossoming branches were borne by those

assisting at wedding festivities, and the newly-married couple were

lighted to the bridal chamber with torches of the wood. At the present

day, the Greeks garland their brides with wreaths of Hawthorn, and deck

the nuptial altar with its blossoms, whilst on May-day they suspend

boughs of the flowering shrub over their portals. The ancient Germans

composed their funeral-piles of Hawthorn wood, and consecrated it

with the mallet, the symbol of the god Thor. They believed that in

the sacred flame which shot upwards from the Thorn, the souls of the

deceased were carried to heaven.----In France, the Hawthorn is called

_l’Epine noble_, from the belief that it furnished the Crown of Thorns

worn by our Lord before the Crucifixion. Sir John Maundevile has given

the original tradition, which is as follows:--“Then was our Lord led

into a garden ... and the Jews scourged Him, and made Him a crown of

the branches of the _Albespyne_, that is, White Thorn, which grew in

the same garden, and set it on His head.... And therefore hath the

White Thorn many virtues. For he that beareth a branch thereof, no

thunder or manner of tempest may hurt him: and in the house that it

is in may no evil spirit enter.”----A Roman Catholic legend relates

that when the Holy Crown blossomed afresh, whilst the victorious

Charlemagne knelt before it, the scent of Hawthorn filled the air. The

Crown of Thorns was given up to St. Louis of France by the Venetians,

and placed by him in the Sainte Chapelle, which he built in Paris. The

Feast of the Susception of the Holy Crown is observed at the church

of Notre Dame, in Paris, in honour of this cherished relic. The Crown

of Thorns is enclosed within a glass circle, which a priest holds in

his hands; he passes before the kneeling devotees, who are ranged

outside the altar rail, and offers the crown to them to be kissed. The

Norman peasant constantly wears a sprig of Hawthorn in his cap, from

the belief that Christ’s crown was woven of it.----The French have a

curious tradition that when Christ was one day resting in a wood, after

having escaped from a pursuit by the Jews, the magpies came and covered

Him all over with Thorns, which the kindly swallows (_poules de Dieu_)

perceived, and hastened to remove. A swallow is also said to have taken

away the Crown of Thorns at the Crucifixion.----The Hawthorn is the

distinguishing badge of the royal house of Tudor. When Richard III. was

slain at Bosworth, his body was plundered of its armour and ornaments.

The crown was hidden by a soldier in a Hawthorn-bush, but was soon

found and carried back to Lord Stanley, who, placing it on the head

of his son-in-law, saluted him as King Henry VII. To commemorate this

picturesque incident, the house of Tudor assumed the device of a crown

in a bush of fruited Hawthorn. The proverb of “Cleave to the crown,

though it hang on a bush,” alludes to the same circumstance.----The

Hawthorn has for centuries borne in England the favourite name of

“May,” from its flowering in that month:

“Between the leaves the silver Whitethorn shows

Its dewy blossoms pure as mountain snows.”

In olden times, very early on May-day morning, lads and lasses repaired

to the woods and hedgerows, and returned, soon after sunrise, laden

with posies of flowers, and boughs of blooming Hawthorn, with which to

decorate the churches and houses: even in London boughs of May were

freely suspended over the citizens’ doorways. Chaucer tells us how:--

“Furth goth all the Courte, both most and lest,

To fetche the flouris freshe, and braunche, and blome,

And namely Hawthorne brought both page and grome,

With freshe garlandis partly blew and white,

And than rejoisin in their grete delighte.”

In Lancashire, at the present day, the Mayers still, in some districts,

go from door to door, and sing:--

“We have been rambling all this night,

And almost all this day;

And now returned back again,

We’ve brought you a branch of May.

“A branch of May we have brought you,

And at your door it stands;

It is but a sprout, but it’s well budded out

By the work of our Lord’s hands.”

Aubrey, writing in 1686, records that at Woodstock, in Oxfordshire,

the people were accustomed on May-eve to go into the park and procure

a number of Hawthorn-trees, which they set before their doors. In

Huntingdonshire, on May-day morn, the young men used formerly to place,

at sunrise, a branch of Hawthorn in blossom, before the door of anyone

they wished to honour.----A curious superstition survives in Suffolk,

where to sleep in a room, with the Hawthorn in bloom in it during the

month of May, is considered, by country folk, to be unlucky, and sure

to be followed by some great misfortune.----In some parts of Ireland,

it is thought unlucky to bring blossoming Hawthorn indoors, and unsafe

to gather even a leaf from certain old and solitary Thorns which grow

in sheltered hollows of the moorlands, and on the fairies’ trysting

places.----It is considered unlucky to cut down a Hawthorn-tree, and

in many parts the peasants refuse to do it: thus we read, in a legend

of county Donegal, that a fairy had tried to steal one Joe McDonough’s

baby, and, telling the story to her neighbours: “I never affronted

the gentry [fairies] to my knowledge,” sighed the poor mother; “but

Joe helped Mr. Todd’s gardener to cut down the old Hawthorn-tree on

the lawn Friday was eight days: an’ there’s them that says that’s a

very bad thing to do. I fleeched him not to touch it, but the master

he offered him six shillings if he’d help wi’ the job, for the other

men refused.” “That’s the way of it,” whispered the crones over their

pipes and poteen--“that’s just it. The gude man has had the ill luck

to displease the ‘gentry,’ an’ there will be trouble in this house

yet.”----Among the Pyrenean peasantry Hawthorn and Laurel are thought

to secure the wearer against thunder. The inhabitants of Biarritz

make Hawthorn wreaths on St. John’s Day: they then rush to the sea,

plunge in after a prayer, and consider themselves safe during the

ensuing twelve months from the temptation of evil spirits.----The old

herbalists prescribe the distilled water of the Haws of the Hawthorn

as an application suited to “any place where thorns or splinters doe

abide in the flesh,” the result being that the decoction “will notably

draw them out.” Lord Bacon tells us, that a “store of Haws portends

cold winters.”----Among the Turks, a branch of Hawthorn expresses

the wish of a lover to receive a kiss.----The Hawthorn attains to a

great age, and its wood is remarkably durable: there is a celebrated

tree enclosed in Cawdor Castle, near Inverness, which has stood from

time immemorial. Tradition relates that the Castle was built over the

tree in consequence of a dream, by which the original proprietor was

instructed to erect a castle on this particular spot. From the most

remote times it has been customary for guests to assemble themselves

around this venerable tree, and drink success to the House of

Cawdor.----The most remarkable of English Thorns is that known as the

Glastonbury Thorn, which is reputed to have sprung from the staff of

Joseph of Arimathea. (See GLASTONBURY THORN).----By astrologers the

Hawthorn is placed under the dominion of Mars. Turner remarks that,

should he “want weapons, he may make use of the prickles and let Saturn

take the fruit.”

HAYMAIDS, or HEDGEMAIDS, the Ground-Ivy.--See Ivy.

=HAZEL.=--The Hazel (_Corylus Avellana_) is the theme of many

traditions, reaching from the remotest ages, and in England the tree

would seem to have acquired almost a sacred character. In Scandinavian

mythology the Hazel was consecrated to the god Thor, and in the poetic

Edda a staff of Hazel is mentioned as a symbol of authority, and

hence employed for the sceptres of kings.----In classic mythology,

the Hazel rod becomes the _caduceus_ of the god Mercury. Taking pity

on the miserable, barbarous state of mankind, Apollo and Mercury

interchanged presents and descended to the earth. The god of Harmony

received from the son of Maia the shell of a tortoise, out of which

he had constructed a lyre, and gave him in exchange a Hazel stick,

which had the power of imparting a love of virtue and of calming the

passion and hatred of men. Armed with this Hazel wand, Mercury moved

among the people of earth, and touching them with it, he taught them

to express their thoughts in words, and awakened within them feelings

of patriotism, filial love, and reverence of the gods. Adorned with

two light wings, and entwined with serpents, the Hazel rod of Mercury

is still the emblem of peace and commerce.----An old tradition tells

us that God, when He banished Adam from the terrestrial Paradise, gave

him in His mercy the power of producing instantly the animals of which

he was in want, upon striking the sea with a Hazel rod. One day Adam

tried this, and produced the sheep. Eve was desirous of imitating him,

but her stroke of the Hazel rod brought forth the wolf, which at once

attacked the sheep. Adam hastened to regain his salutary instrument,

and produced the dog, which conquered the wolf.----A Hebrew legend

states that Eve, after eating the forbidden fruit, hid herself in

the foliage of a Hazel-bush.----It was a Hazel-tree which afforded

shelter to the Virgin Mary, surprised by a storm, whilst on her way to

visit St. Elizabeth. Under a Hazel-tree the Holy Family rested during

their flight into Egypt.----It was of wattled Hazel-hurdles that St.

Joseph, of Arimathea, raised the first English Christian church at

Glastonbury.----In Bohemia, a certain “chapel in the Hazel-tree,”

dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is regarded with much reverence: it was

erected in memory of a butcher to whom a statue of the Virgin, near

a Hazel-tree, had spoken. The butcher carried off the image to his

house, but during the night the statue returned to its former place

near the Hazel-tree.----For the ancient Germans, the Hazel-tree, which

re-blossoms towards the end of winter, was a type of immortality. It is

now considered a symbol of happy marriages, because the Nuts are seen

on its branches united in pairs.----In the Black Forest, the leader of

a marriage procession carries a Hazel wand in his hand. In some places,

during certain processions on Sunday, the Oats stored in stables for

horses are touched, in the name of God, with Hazel-branches.----It is

believed that this humble shrub frightens serpents. An Irish tradition

relates that St. Patrick held a rod of Hazel-wood in his hand when

he gathered on the promontory of Cruachan Phadraig all the venomous

reptiles of the island and cast them into the sea.----The Hazel rod

or staff appears in olden times to have had peculiar sanctity: it

was used by pilgrims, and often deposited in churches, or kept as a

precious relic, and buried with its owner. Several such Hazel staffs

have been found in Hereford Cathedral.----The Tyroleans consider that

a Hazel-bough is an excellent lightning conductor.----According to an

ancient Hebrew tradition, the wands of magicians were made of Hazel,

and of a virgin branch, that is, of a bough quite bare and destitute of

sprigs or secondary branches.----Nork says that by means of Hazel rods

witches can be compelled to restore to animals and plants the fecundity

which they had previously taken from them.----Pliny states that Hazel

wands assist the discovery of subterranean springs; and in Italy, to

the present day, they are believed to act as divining-rods for the

discovery of hidden treasure--a belief formerly held in England, if we

may judge from the following lines by S. Shepherd (1600):--

“Some sorcerers do boast they have a rod,

Gather’d with words and sacrifice,

And, borne aloft, will strangely nod

To hidden treasure where it lies.”

Extraordinary and special conditions are necessary to ensure success

in the cutting of a divining-rod. It must always be performed after

sunset and before sunrise, and only on certain nights, among which

are specified those of Good Friday, Epiphany, Shrove Friday, and St.

John’s Day, the first night of a new moon, or that preceding it. In

cutting it, one must face the east, so that the rod shall be one which

catches the first rays of the morning sun; or, as some say, the eastern

and western sun must shine through the fork of the rod, otherwise it

will be valueless. Both in France and England, the divining-rod is

much more commonly employed at the present time than is generally

supposed. In the eighteenth century its use was ably advocated by De

Thouvenel in France, and soon afterwards in our country by enthusiasts.

Pryce, in his _Mineralogia Cornubiensis_, states that many mines have

been discovered by means of the rod, and quotes several. Sir Thomas

Browne describes the divining-rod as “a forked Hazel, commonly called

Moses’ Rod, which, held freely forth, will stir and play if any mine

be under it.” He thinks, however, that the rod is of pagan origin,

and writes:--“the ground whereof were the magical rods in poets--that

of Pallas, in Homer; that of Mercury, that charmed Argus; and that

of Circe, which transformed the followers of Ulysses: too boldly

usurping the name of Moses’s rod; from which, notwithstanding, and

that of Aaron, were probably occasioned the fables of all the rest.

For that of Moses must needs be famous to the Egyptians, and that of

Aaron unto many other nations, as being preserved in the Ark until the

destruction of the Temple built by Solomon.” In the ‘Quarterly Review,’

No. 44, is a long account (vouched for by the editor), proving that

a Lady Noel possessed the faculty of using the divining-rod:--“She

took a thin forked Hazel-twig, about sixteen inches long, and held it

by the end, the joint pointing downwards. When she came to the place

where the water was under the ground, the Hazel-twig immediately bent,

and the motion was more or less rapid as she approached or withdrew

from the spring. When just over it, _the twig turned so quick as to

snap, breaking near the fingers_, which by pressing it were indented

and heated, and _almost blistered_; a degree of agitation was also

visible in her face. The exercise of the faculty is independent of any

volition.”----The use of the forked Hazel-twig as a divining-rod to

discover metals is said to have been known in this kingdom as early as

the days of Agricola: its derivation is probably to be sought in an

ancient custom of the Israelites, to which the Prophet Hosea alludes

when he says: “My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff

declareth unto them.”----In Sweden, Hazel-nuts are believed to have the

mystical power of making invisible.----An old-fashioned charm to cure

the bite of an adder was to cut a piece of Hazel-wood, fasten a long

bit and a short one together in the form of a cross, then to lay it

softly on the wound, and say thrice in a loud tone--

“Underneath this Hazelin mote,

There’s a Braggotty worm with a speckled throat,

Nine double is he.

Now from 9 double to 8 double,

And from 8 double to 7 double,

And from 7 double to 6 double,

And from 6 double to 5 double,

And from 5 double to 4 double,

And from 4 double to 3 double,

And from 3 double to 2 double,

And from 2 double to 1 double,

And from 1 double to no double,

No double hath he!”

To dream of Hazels, and of cracking and eating their Nuts, portends

riches and content as the reward of toil. To dream of finding hidden

Hazel-nuts predicts the finding of treasure.----Astrologers assign the

Hazel to the dominion of Mercury.

HEARTSEASE.--See Pansy.

=HEATHER.=--Included under the term Heather are the six English

species of Heath (_Erica_) and the Ling (_Calluna_). Although, in

the Scriptures, the Prophet Jeremiah exclaims, “And he shall be like

the Heath in the desert,” it is probable that the Juniper is really

referred to.----In Germany, the Heath is believed to owe its colour to

the blood of the slain heathen, for in that country the inhabitants of

the uncultivated fields, where the Heath (_heide_) grew, came in time

to be known as heathen, or _heiden_.----Heather was the badge of “Conn

of a hundred fights.” The Highlanders consider it exceedingly lucky

to find white Heather, the badge of the captain of Clanronald.----The

Picts made beer from Heather.

“For once thy mantling juice was seen to laugh

In pearly cups, which monarchs loved to quaff;

And frequent waked the wild inspired lay

On Teviot’s hills beneath the Pictish sway.”--_Leyden._

The secret of the manufacture of Heather beer was lost when the Picts

were exterminated, as they never divulged it to strangers. Tradition

says that after the slaughter by Kenneth, a father and son, the sole

survivors, were brought before the conqueror, who offered the father

his life, provided that he would divulge the secret of making this

liquor, and the son was put to death before the old man’s eyes, in

order to add emphasis to the request. Disgusted with such barbarity,

the old warrior said: “Your threats might, perhaps, have influenced my

son, but they have no effect on me.” Kenneth then suffered the Pict to

live, and he carried his secret with him to the grave. At the present

time, the inhabitants of Isla, Jura, and other outlying districts, brew

a very potable liquor by mixing two-thirds of the tops of Heath with

one of malt.

=HELENIUM.=--The flower of the Helenium resemble small suns of a

beautiful yellow. According to tradition, they sprang up from the

tears shed by Helen of Troy. On this point Gerarde writes in his

‘Herbal’:--“Some report that this plant tooke the name of _Helenium_

from Helena, wife to Menelaus, who had her hands full of it when Paris

stole her away into Phrygia.”

=HELIOTROPE.=--The nymph Clytie, enamoured of Phœbus (the Sun), was

forsaken by him for Leucothea. Maddened with jealousy, the discarded

and love-sick Clytie accused Leucothea of unchastity before her father,

who entombed his daughter, and thus killed her. Phœbus, enraged with

Clytie for causing the death of his beloved Leucothea, heeded not her

sighs and spurned her embraces. Abandoned thus by her inconstant lover,

the wretched and despairing Clytie wandered half distraught, until at

length--

“She with distracted passion pines away,

Detesteth company; all night, all day,

Disrobed, with her ruffled hair unbound

And wet with humour, sits upon the ground;

For nine long days all sustenance forbears;

Her hunger cloy’d with dew, her thirst with tears:

Nor rose; but rivets on the god her eyes,

And ever turns her face to him that flies.

At length to earth her stupid body cleaves;

Her wan complexion turns to bloodless leaves,

Yet streaked with red: her perished limbs beget

A flower resembling the pale Violet;

Which, with the Sun, though rooted fast, doth move;

And, being changed, yet changeth not her love.”--_Sandys’ Ovid._

Rapin, in error, alludes to the Sunflower (_Helianthus_) as owing its

origin to Clytie. He says:--

“But see where Clytie, pale with vain desires,

Bows her weak neck, and Phœbus still admires;

On rushy stems she lifts herself on high,

And courts a glance from his enliv’ning eye.”

The flower into which the hapless Clytie was metamorphosed was not

the scented Heliotrope, common to modern gardens, which does not turn

with the Sun, and, being of Peruvian origin, was of course unknown to

the ancients; neither was it the _Helianthus_, or Sunflower, for that

plant also came to us from the new world, and was therefore equally

unknown in the days when Ovid wrote the tragic story of Clytie’s love

and death. The _Herba Clytiæ_ is identified in an old German herbal

(_Hortus Medicus Camerarii_) with _Heliotropium Tricoccon_. Gerarde

figures four Heliotropiums, or “Tornesoles,” one of which he names

_Heliotropium Tricoccum_; and in his remarks on the Heliotrope or

Turnsole, he says: “Some think it to be _Herba Clytiæ_ into which

the poets feign Clytia to be metamorphosed; whence one writeth these

verses:--

‘_Herba velut Clitiæ semper petit obvia solem,

Sic pia mens Christum, quo prece spectet, habet._’”

Parkinson calls the same plant the Turnesole Scorpion Tayle.

Theophrastus alludes to the same Heliotropium under the name of _Herba

Solaris_. But we do not find that the flowers of this common European

species of Heliotrope answer the description given by Ovid--“A flower

most like a Violet”--or by Pliny, who says of it: “The Heliotrope

turns with the Sun, in cloudy weather even, so great is its sympathy

with that luminary: at night, as though in regret, it closes its

_blue_ flowers.” The insignificant Heliotropium or Turnsole, with its

diminutive whitish blossom, cannot be the flower depicted by Ovid, or

the plant with “blue flowers” referred to by Pliny. Moreover, Gerarde

tells us that the European Turnsole he figures “is named Heliotropium,

not because it is turned about at the daily motion of the sunne, _but

by reason it flowereth in the Summer solstice_, at which time the sunne

being farthest gone from the equinoctial circle, returneth to the

same.” In Mentzel’s ‘_Index Nominum Plantarum Multilinguis_’ (1682)

we find that the old Italian name of the Turnsole was _Verrucaria_

(Wart-wort), and Gerarde, in the index to his ‘Herbal,’ states that

_Verrucaria_ is _Tithymalus_ (Spurge), or _Heliotropium minus_.

Referring to his description of the Spurges, we note that he figures

twenty-three varieties, the first of which is called Wart-wort; and

the second, Sun Spurge, which is thus described:--“The second kinde

(called _Helioscopius_ or _Solisequius_, and in English, according

to his Greeke name, Sunne Spurge, or Time Tithymale, _of turning or

keeping time with the sunne_) hath sundry reddish stalkes of a foot

high; the leaves are like unto Purslane, not so great nor thicke,

but snipt about the edges: the flowers are yellowish, and growing in

little platters.” Here, then, we have perhaps a sufficiently near

approach to the pale flower of Ovid; but nothing like the blue flower

of Pliny. Among the Spurges described by Gerarde, however, is one

which he calls the Venetian Sea Spurge, and this plant is stated to

have bell-shaped flowers of a dark or blackish purple colour, so that

possibly this was the flower indicated by Pliny.----De Gubernatis,

in his _Mythologie des Plantes_, states that the flower into which

Clytia was transformed is the _Helianthemum roseum_ of Decandolle. The

author of ‘Flower Lore’ says, “The classic Sunflower is an annual of an

insignificant appearance, having many fabulous properties assigned to

it. The Heliotrope belongs to the natural order _Boraginæ_, and is a

native of the south-west of Europe.” The late Mr. H. A. Bright, in ‘A

Year in a Lancashire Garden,’ tells us that one of our very best living

authorities on such a subject sent him “the suggestion that the common

Salsafy, or possibly the Anagallis, may be the flower.” Turner, in his

‘Brittish Physician’ (1687), calls the yellow-flowered Elecampane, the

Sunflower. Other botanists suggest an Aster or Calendula (Marigold):

if this last suggestion be correct, the flower called by Parkinson, in

his ‘_Paradisus_,’ the Purple Marigold, and by Gerarde Italian Starwort

(_Aster Italorum_), comes nearest to Pliny’s description. This flower

is stated by Gerarde to have been called by some the Blue Marigold,

whose yellow European brother Shakspeare describes as

“The Marygold, that goes to bed with the sun,

And with it rises weeping.”

We may include the blue or purple Marigold among those flowers of which

Bacon writes: “For the bowing and inclining the head, it is found in

the great Flower of the Sunne, in Marigolds, Wart Wort, Mallow Flowers,

and others.”----Albertus Magnus accords to the Heliotrope the following

wonderful properties: “Gather in August the Heliotropon, wrap it in a

Bay-leaf with a wolf’s tooth, and it will, if placed under the pillow,

show a man who has been robbed where are his goods, and who has taken

them. Also, if placed in a church, it will keep fixed in their places

all the women present who have broken their marriage vow. This last is

most tried and most true.” According to another version, in order to

work this last charm, the Heliotrope-flower must be gathered in August

when the sun is in Leo, and be wrapped in a Laurel-leaf before being

deposited in the church.