CHAPTER VIOF HERBS AND MAGIC

PLANTATION OF POPPIES(P. Somniferum)

No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell,The virtues of the pimpernel.

This most popular plant, amongst other uses, is put into poultices. Bacon mentions it as a weather prophet. “There is a small red flower in the stubble-fields, which country people call the wincopipe, which if it open in the morning, you may be sure of a fine day to follow.”[96]The virtues of Betony are set forth by the “Poor Phytologist,” and he is quite right in saying that it was once esteemed a most sovereign remedy for all troubles connected with the brain. It was, in fact, so far extolled that an adage was oncecurrent:--

“Sell your coat and buy betony.”

In Italy there are two modern sayings, one a pious aspiration, “May you have more virtues than Betony”; and the other an allusion, “Known as well as Betony.” Though the reputation of this plant has quite withered, that of horehound is in a more flourishing state, and it is still, I believe, considered of real use for coughs. Violet leaves are now becoming a fashionable remedyin the hands of amateur doctors, who prescribe them for cancer. In the Highlands, it is said, they were used for the complexion, and a recipe is translated from the Gælic, “Anoint thy face with goat’s milk in which violets have been infused, and there is not a young prince on earth who will not be charmed with thy beauty.” The Greater Celandine was once dedicated to the sun, and it is still recommended as being good for the eyes, though not by members of the faculty. The following advice was given me by an old Cornish woman, but I am almost sure the flower she spoke of was the Lesser Celandine. This probably arose from a confusion of the two flowers, as I have never heard or seen the Lesser Celandine elsewhere commended for this purpose. “Take celandines and pound them with salt. Put them on some rag, and lay it on the inside of the wrist on the side of whichever eye is bad. Change the flowers twice a day, and go on applying them till the eye is well. Put enough alum to curdle it, into some scalded milk. Bathe the eyes with the liquid and apply the curds to the place.”

[96]“Natural History.” Cent. IX.

Green Oil made after the following recipe has often proved beneficial for slight burns and scalds, and smells much nicer than the boracic ointment usually ordered for such injuries. It is also recommended for fresh wounds and bruises. “Take equal quantities of sage, camomile, wormwood and marsh-mallows, pick them clean and put them into sweet oil and as much of it as will cover the herbs; if a quart add a quarter of a pound of sugar, and so on in proportion. Let them stand a week without stirring, then put them into the sun for a fortnight, stir them every day. Strain them with a strong cloth very hard, and set it on a slow fire with some red rose-buds and the young tops of lavender, let them simmer on a slow fire for two hours, strain off the oil, and put to it a gill of brandy. (If some hog’s lardbe poured upon the herbs, they will keep and make an excellent poultice for any kind of sore.)

The oil should be appliedimmediatelyto any kind of bruise or burn. It will prevent all inflammation and heal the wound. The time to begin making it is when the herbs are in full vigour, which depends much on the season being early; in general the middle of May is about the time, as the rose-buds and lavender would not be ready sooner than the middle of June.

Mrs Milne Home gives the ingredients of theTisane de Sept Fleurs, which, she says, is often prescribed by French doctors for colds andsleeplessness—

I think Mauve means mallow, Guimauve, marsh-mallow. Beyond these simples that I have mentioned as being in popular use, various English plants and herbs are used not much (if at all) by country people, but by medical men, and a few of those included in the British Pharmacopœia may be remarked on here.

Hops are used in the form ofInfusum Lupuli. They have long had the reputation of inducing sleep, and George III. slept on a hop-pillow. To prevent the hops crackling (and producing exactly the opposite effect) it is advised that a little alcohol should be sprinkled on them. To eat poppy-seed was thought a safe means of bringing drowsiness. “But,” says Dr Primrose (about 1640), “Opium is now brought into use, the rest [of soporifics] being layd aside. Yet the people doe abhorre from the use thereof and avoyd it as present poyson,when notwithstanding being rightly prepared, and administered in a convenient dose, it is a very harmlesse and wholesome medicament. The Ancients indeed thought it to bee poyson, but that is onely when it is taken in too great a quantity.” One wonders what experiences “the people” went through to learn this terror of the drug! Gerarde and Parkinson both commend it as a medicine that “mitigateth all kinde of paines,” but say that it must be used with great caution. Browne refers to the poppy’s power of soothing.

“Where upon the limber grassPoppy and mandragoras,With like simples not a fewHang for ever drops of dew.Where flows Lèthe without coil,Softly like a stream of oil.Hie thee, thither, gentle Sleep.”InThe Inner Temple Masque.

InThe Inner Temple Masque.

It is from the seed of the White Poppy (Papaver somniferum) that opium is prepared, and that procured from poppies grown in England is quite as good, and often purer, than opium imported from the East. The first poppies that were cultivated in this country for the purpose were grown by Mr John Ball of Williton about 1794. Timbs quotes: “‘Cowley Plantarium. In old time the seed of the white poppy parched was served up as a dessert.’ By this we are reminded that white poppy seeds are eaten to this day upon bread made exclusively for Jews. The ‘twist’ bread is generally prepared by brushing over the outside upper crust with egg and sprinkling upon it the seeds.” In Germany,Mond-kuchen, a kind of pastry in which poppy seeds are mixed, is still a favourite dish.Mond-blumen(moon-flowers) is a name not unnaturally given to poppies, as they have been emblems of sleep ever since the Greeks used to represent their deities of Sleep, Death and Night as crowned with them.

“The water-lily from the marish groundWith the wan poppy,”

were both dedicated to the moon.

Gentian is greatly valued and largely prescribed by our doctors, but Parkinson raises a curious echo from a time when, it is generally supposed, people were less “nice” than they are to-day. “The wonderful wholesomeness of Gentian cannot be easily knowne to us, by reason our daintie tastes refuse to take thereof, for the bitternesse sake, but otherwise it would undoubtedly worke admirable cures.” Valerian was, and is officinal, but seldom finds its way into “pottage” nowadays. Gerarde, however, writes: “It hath been had (and is to this day among the poore people of our Northerne parts) in such veneration amongst them, that no broths, pottage or physicall meats are worth anything if Setwall were not at an end: whereupon some woman Poet or other hath made these verses:

“They that will have their heale,Must put Setwall in their keale (kail).”

The herbalist speaks of “Garden Valerian or Setwall” as if they were one and the same, but Mr Britten says that Setwall was notValeriana officinalisbutV. pyrenaica. All varieties seem to have been used as remedies, and in Drayton’s charming “Eclogue,” of which Dowsabel is the heroine, he shows that it was used as an adornment.

“A daughter, ycleapt Dowsabel,A maiden fair and free,And for she was her father’s heir,Full well she was ycond the leir,Of mickle courtesy.The silk well couth she twist and twineAnd make the fine march-pine,And with the needle-work;And she couth help the priest to sayHis mattins on a holy dayAnd sing a psalm in kirk....The maiden in a morn betime,Went forth when May was in the prime.To get sweet setywall,The honeysuckle, the harlock,The lily and the ladysmock,To deck her summerhall.”

A FIELD OF ENGLISH ACONITE

The summary of Dowsabel’s education is so delightful, that though it was irrelevant, I could not refrain from quoting it. Aconite, Wolfsbane, or Monkshood (Aconitum Napellus) was held in wholesome terror by the old herbalists, who described it as being most venomous and deadly. Gerarde says, “There hath beene little heretofore set downe concerning the virtues of the Aconite, but much might be said of the hurts that have come thereby.” Parkinson chiefly recommends it to “hunters of wild beastes, in which to dippe the heads of their arrows they shoote, or darts they throw at the wild beastes which killeth them that are wounded speedily”; but, he says, it may be used in outward applications. Aconite was first administered internally by Stoerck, who prescribed it for rheumatism, with good results, and it is now known to be sedative to the heart and respiratory organs, and to reduce temperature.

Other English-grown plants in the Pharmacopœia are: Anise, Artemisia maritima (Wormwood), Uvæ Ursi (Bearberries), Coriander, Caraway, Dill, Fennel, Flax (Linseed), Henbane, Wych-Hazel, Horse-Radish, Liquorice, Lavender, Mint, Mezereon, Musk, Mustard, Arnica, Pyrethrum, Rosemary, Squills, Saffron and Winter-green. In the making of Thymol, a preparation in common hospital use,Monarda punctata(Bergamot), Oil of Thyme andCarum copticusare used.

The following plants are not yet to be found in the Pharmacopœia, which includes those only that have been tried by very long experience, but leading physicians have prescribed these drugs with success.Convalleria, from Lily of the Valley;Salix nigra, from the Willow;Savin,Juniper;Rhus, Sumach;Aletris, Star-Grass;Lycopodium, Club-Moss;Grindelia; from Larkspur, Oil ofStavesacre; and from Broom,Spartein.

There are two plants that I do not like to omit, for their history’s sake, though their power to do good is no longer believed in, Plantain and Lungwort. The first was considered good for wounds in the days of Chaucer, and Shakespeare mentions it.

Romeo.Yourplantain leaf is excellent for that.Benvolio.For what, I pray thee?Romeo.Foryour broken shin.Romeo and Juliet, I. 2, 51.

Romeo.Yourplantain leaf is excellent for that.

Benvolio.For what, I pray thee?

Romeo.Foryour broken shin.

Romeo and Juliet, I. 2, 51.

Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) owes its name and its reputation to the white spots on the leaves, which were thought to be the “signature,” showing that it would cure infirmities and ulcers of the lungs. It is remarkable how many popular names this flower has. Gerarde tells us that the leaves are used among pot-herbes, and calls it Cowslips of Jerusalem, Wild Comfrey and Sage of Bethlem; and other country names are, Beggar’s Basket, Soldiers and Sailors, Adam and Eve, and in Dorset, Mary’s Tears. The name Adam and Eve arose from the fact that some of the flowers are red and others blue: red, in earlier days, being usually associated with men and blue with women. One of Drayton’s prettiest verses alludes to it.

“Maids, get the choicest flowers, a garland and entwine;Nor pink, nor pansies, let there want, be sure of eglantine.See that there be store of lilies,(Call’d of shepherds daffadillies)With roses, damask, white, and red, the dearest fleur-de-lis,The cowslip of Jerusalem, and clove of Paradise.”Eclogue III.

Eclogue III.

“And first, her fern-seed doth bestowThe kernel of the mistletow,And here and there as Puck should go,With terror to affright him.The nightshade straws to work him ill,There with her vervain and her dill,That hindreth witches of their will,Of purpose to dispight him.Then sprinkled she the juice of rue,That groweth underneath the yew,With nine drops of the midnight dewFrom lunary distilling.”Nymphidia.—Drayton.

“And first, her fern-seed doth bestowThe kernel of the mistletow,And here and there as Puck should go,With terror to affright him.

The nightshade straws to work him ill,There with her vervain and her dill,That hindreth witches of their will,Of purpose to dispight him.

Then sprinkled she the juice of rue,That groweth underneath the yew,With nine drops of the midnight dewFrom lunary distilling.”

Nymphidia.—Drayton.

“Trefoil, vervain, John’s wort, dill,Hinders witches of their will.”Guy Mannering.

“Trefoil, vervain, John’s wort, dill,Hinders witches of their will.”

Guy Mannering.

Amongst the account-books of the Physic Garden in Chelsea, there is one on whose fly-leaf is scrawled a list of “Botanical Writers before Christ.” It begins:

Names that one hardly expects to find grouped together, and especially not under this heading. The vegetableworld, however, has attracted writers since the earliest times, and in the days when supernatural agencies were almost always brought forward to account for uncomprehended phenomena, it was not marvellous that misty lore should lead to the association of plants and magic. The book of nature is not always easy to read, and the older students drew from it very personal interpretations. Some herbs were magical because they were used in spells and sorceries; others, because they had power in themselves. For instance, Basil, the perfume of which was thought to cause sympathy between two people, and in Moldavia they say it can even stop a wandering youth upon his way and make him love the maiden from whose hand he accepts a sprig. The Crocus flower, too, belongs to the second class, and brings laughter and great joy, and so it is with others. Plants were also credited with strong friendships and “enmities” amongst themselves. “The ancients” held strong views about their “sympathies and antipathies,” and this sympathy or antipathy was attributed to individual likes and dislikes. “Rue dislikes Basil,” says Pliny, “but Rue and the Fig-tree are in a great league and amitie” together. Alexanders loveth to grow in the same place as Rosemary, but the Radish is “at enmetie” with Hyssop. Savory and Onions are the better for each other’s neighbourhood, and Coriander, Dill, Mallows, Herb-Patience and Chervil “love for companie to be set or sowne together.” Bacon refers to some of these, but he took a prosaic view and thought these predilections due to questions of soil!

Being credited with such strong feelings amongst themselves, it is easier to understand how they were supposed to sympathise with their “environment.” Honesty, of course, grew best in a very honest man’s garden. Where Rosemary flourishes, the mistress rules. Sage will fade with the fortunes of the house and revive againas they recover; and Bay-trees are famous, but melancholy prophets.

Captain.—’Tis thought the king is dead; we will not stay,The Bay-trees in our country are all wither’d.Richard II.ii. 4.

Captain.—’Tis thought the king is dead; we will not stay,The Bay-trees in our country are all wither’d.

Richard II.ii. 4.

From this, it is not a great step to acknowledge that particular plants have power to produce certain dispositions in the mind of man. So, the possession of a Rampion was likely to make a child quarrelsome: while, on the contrary, eating the leaves of Periwinkle “will cause love between a man and his wife.” Laurel greatly “composed the phansy,” and did “facilitate true visions,” and was also “efficacious to inspire a poetical fury” (Evelyn). Having admitted the power of herbs over mental and moral qualities, we easily arrive at the recognition of their power in regard to the supernatural. If, as Culpepper tells us, “a raging bull, be he ever so mad, tied to a Fig-tree, will become tame and gentle;” or if, as Pliny says, any one, “by anointing himself with Chicory and oile will become right amiable and win grace and favour of all men, so that he shal the more easily obtain whatsoever his heart stands unto,” it is not much wonder that St John’s Wort would drive away tempests and evil spirits, four-leaved Clover enable the wearer to see witches, and Garlic avert the Evil Eye. Thus many herbs are magical “in their own right,” so to speak, apart from those that are connected with magic, from being favourites of the fairies, the witches, and, in a few cases, the Evil One!

De Gubernatis quotes from a work on astrology attributed to King Solomon, and translated from the Hebrew (?) by Iroé Grego (published in Rome, 1750), with indignant comments on the “pagan” methods of the Church in dealing with sorceries. Directions how to make anaspersoir pour exorcismeare given in it, which, teaching, he says, simply add to the peasant’s existing loadof superstition. Vervain, Periwinkle, Sage, Mint, Valerian, Ash and Basil are some of the plants chosen. “Tu n’y ajouteras point l’Hysope, mais le Romarin” (Rosemary). It is odd that Hyssop should be excluded, because it has always been a special defence against powers of darkness. In Palermo (again according to De Gubernatis), on the day of St Mark, the priests mount a hill in procession and bless the surrounding country, and the women gather quantities of the Hyssop growing about, and take it home to keep away from their houses the Evil Eye, and “toute autre influence magique.” Rosemary is celebrated, from this point of view, as from others. It was, say the Spaniards, one of the bushes that gave shelter to the Virgin Mary in the flight into Egypt, and it is still revered. Borrow, in “The Bible in Spain,” notices that, whereas in that country it isRomero, the Pilgrim’s Flower, in Portugal it is calledAlecrim, a word of Scandinavian origin (fromEllegren, the Elfin plant), which was probably carried south by the Vandals. Other authorities think that “Alecrim” comes from the Arabians. The reference to Rosemary occurs in a delightful passage. Borrow was staying at an inn, when one evening “in rushed a wild-looking man mounted on a donkey.... Around hissombrero, or shadowy hat, was tied a large quantity of the herb, which in English is called Rosemary.... The man seemed frantic with terror, and said that the witches had been pursuing him and hovering over his head for the last two leagues.” On making inquiries, Borrow was told that the herb was “good against witches and mischances on the road.” He treats this view with great scorn, but says: “I had no time to argue against this superstition,” and with charmingnaïvetéadmits that, notwithstanding his austerity, when, next morning at departure, some sprigs of it were pressed upon him by the man’s wife for his protection, “Iwas foolish enough to permit her to put some of it in my hat.” The Sicilians thought that it was a favourite plant of the fairies, and that the young fairies, taking the form of snakes, lie amongst the branches. Dill, able to “hinder witches of their will,” was used in spellsagainstwitches, besides being employed by them. There was a strong belief that plants beloved by magicians, and powerful for evil in their hands, were equally powerful to avert evil when used in charms against witchcraft. Lunary, or Honesty, is another plant with a double edge. In France it is nicknamedMonnaie du PapeandHerbe aux Lunettes, and its shining seed-vessels have many pet names in English. “It has a natural power of dispelling evil spirits,” quotes Mr Friend, and explains this verdict by pointing that Lunary with its great silver disks, called after the moon, is disliked and avoided by evil spirits, who fear the light and seek darkness. Rue is used by witches and against them; in some parts of Italy a talisman against their power is made by sewing up the leaves in a little bag and wearing it near the heart. If the floor of a house be rubbed with Rue it is certain that all witches must fly from it. In Argentina grows the Nightmare flower,Flor de Pesadilla. The witches of that region extract from it a drug which causes nightmare lasting all night long, and they contrive to give it to whoever they wish to torment. Besides these, Pennyroyal and Henbane, Chervil and Vervain, Poppies, Mandrakes, Hemlock and Dittany were specially used by witches in making spells. Valerian, Wormwood, Elder, Pimpernel, Angelica, and all yellow flowers growing in hedgerows are antagonistic to them. Their dislike to yellow flowers may have arisen from these being often dedicated to the sun, and being therefore repellent to lovers of gloom and mystery. Angelica preserved the wearer from the power of witches or spells, and is,I think, the only herb quoted by Gerarde as a power against witchcraft. He does not condescend generally to consider superstitions other than medical. Of the herbs dedicated to the Evil One are Yarrow, sometimes known as the Devil’s Nettle; Ground-Ivy, called his Candlestick, and Houseleek, which he has rather unjustly appropriated. Mr Friend explains that in Denmark, “Old Thor” is a polite euphemism, and that the Houseleek really belonged to Thor, but has been passed on through confusion between the two. Yarrow or Milfoil has been used for divination in spells from England to China.

“There’s a crying at my window, and a hand upon my door,And a stir among the Yarrow that’s fading on the floor,The voice cries at my window, the hand on my door beats on,But if I heed and answer them, sure hand and voice are gone.”May Eve.

May Eve.

Johnston[97]says: “Tansy and Milfoil were reckoned amongst plants averse to fascination; but we must retrograde two centuries to be present at the trial of Elspeth Reoch, who was supernaturally instructed to cure distempers by resting on her right knee while pulling ‘the herb callit malefour’ betwixt her mid-finger and thumbe, and saying of, ‘In nomen Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.’”

[97]“Botany of the Eastern Borders” (1853).

Johnston gathers his information from Dalzell on the “Darker Superstitions of Scotland.”

RAMPION

Wormwood is in some parts of Europe called the “Girdle of St John,” it has so much power against evil spirits. Cumin is much disliked by a race of Elves in Germany, called the Moss-People. Dyer[98]tells us that the life of each one is bound up with the life of a tree, and if the inner bark of this is loosened, the elf dies. Therefore their preceptis:—

“Peel no tree,Relate no dream,Bake no cumin in bread,So will Heav’n help thee in thy need.”

[98]“Folk-Lore of Plants.”

On one occasion when a loaf baked with Cumin was given as an offering to a forest-wife, she was heardscreaming—

“They’ve baken for me Cumin breadThat on this house brings great distress.”

The unhappy giver at once began to go downhill, and was soon reduced to abject misery! Elecampane is in Denmark called Elf-Dock. Flax-flowers are a protection against sorcery. “Flax[99]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.... It was the goddess Hulda who first taught mortals the art of growing flax, of spinning, and of weaving it.... 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 Epiphany, when, in ancient days, gods and goddesses were believed to visit the earth.” The Bohemians have a belief that if seven-year-old children dance among flax, they will become beautiful. From the little Fairy-Flax “prepared and manufactured by the supernatural skill, the ‘Good People’ were wont in the olden time to procure their requisite supplies of linen,” writes Johnston.

[99]Folkard.

Wild Thyme is specially beloved by fairies and elves, and Fox-gloves and Wood-sorrel are also favourites,—Fox-gloves,being called in Ireland, Fairy-cap, and Wood-sorrel, known in Wales as Fairy-bells.

Among plants that have magic powers in themselves are two varieties of Pimpinella; the Anise and the Burnet Saxifrage. The first averts the Evil Eye, and the second is called in Hungary, “Chaba’s Salve,” because it is said that its virtues were discovered by King Chaba, who after a furious battle cured 15,000 of his soldiers with it. In Iroé Grego’s book, it is advised that the sword of a magician should be bathed in the blood of a mole, and the juice of Pimpinella. De Gubernatis says that in Germany and in Rome, Endive-seed is sold as a love-philtre, and when wanted for this reason, the plant must be uprooted not with the hand but with a bit of gold, or stag’s horn (which symbolise the disk and rays of the sun) on one of thejours des Apôtres, June 27th, St Peter’s Day, or July 25th, St James’ Day.

The Mustard-tree is called in Sanscrit, the Witch, for when Hindus want to discover a witch, they light lamps during the night, and fill vessels with water,[100]into which they gently drop Mustard-seed oil, pronouncing the name of every woman in the village. If, during the ceremony, as they pronounce the name of a woman, they notice the shadow of a female in the water, it is a sure sign that such a woman is a witch. Mugwort laid in the soles of the boots, will keep a man from weariness, though he walk forty miles. Wreaths of Camomile flowers hung up in a house on St John’s Day will, it is said in Prussia, defend it against thunder, and Wild Thyme and Marjoram laid by milk in a dairy will prevent it being “turned” by thunder. The root of Tarragon held between the teeth will cure toothache, and the name Réséda, the family name of Mignonette, is supposed to be derived from the verb “to assuage,”for it was a charm against so many evils. If a sprig of Basil were left under a pot, it would, in time, turn to scorpions! It is a strange plant altogether. The ancient Greeks thought that it would not grow unless when the seed was sown railing and abuse should be poured forth at the same time. Much blossom on the broom foretells a plentiful harvest of corn. “Les anciens” according toLa petite Corbeillebelieved that a pot of Gilly-flowers, growing in a window, would fade if the master of the house died; and similar curious sympathies in Sage and Honesty and Rosemary have already been noticed.

[100]Folkard.

There is a belief in the West Country that no girl who is destined to be an old maid, can make a myrtle grow. Mr Friend does not mention this, but he does tell us that a flowering myrtle is one of the luckiest plants to have, and it is often difficult to grow; and he generously presents us with the receipt that he had heard given to make sure of its flowering. The secret is, while setting the slip, to spread the tail of one’s dress, andlook proud!

To transplant Parsley is very unlucky, and to let Rhubarb run to seed will bring death into the family before a year is out. These beliefs are still active. One hears also that no one will have any luck with young chickens if they bring any blossom (of fruit-trees) into the house, which is, indeed, an unlucky thing to do at any time.

There was a fairly recent case in Gloucestershire, which showed that the idea still survives that if flower-seeds are sowed on Palm Sunday, the flowers will come out double.

Though Elder is not a herb, it cannot be omitted here, for every inch of an Elder-tree is connected with magic. This is especially the case in Denmark. First of all there is the Elder-tree Mother, who lives in the tree and watches for any injury to it. HansAndersen tells a charming story about her and the pictures that she sometimes brings. It may happen, that if furniture is made of the wood, Hylde-Moer may follow her property and haunt and worry the owners, and there is a tradition that, once when a child was put in a cradle of Elder-wood, Hylde-Moer came and pulled it by the legs and would give it no peace till it was lifted out. Permission to cut Elder wood must always be asked first, and not till Hylde-Moer has given consent by keeping silence, may the chopping begin. He who stands under an Elder-tree at midnight on Midsummer-Eve will chance to see Toly, the King of the Elves, and all his retinue go by. “The pith of the branches when cut in round, flat shapes, is dipped in oil, lighted, and then put to float in a glass of water; its light on Christmas Eve is thought to reveal to the owner all the witches and sorcerers in the neighbourhood.”[101]The Russians believe that Elder-trees drive away evil spirits, and the Bohemians go to it, with a spell, to take away fever. The Sicilians think that sticks of its wood will kill serpents and drive away robbers better than any other, and the Serbs introduce a stick of Elder into their wedding ceremonies to bring good luck. In England it was thought that the Elder was never struck by lightning; and a twig of it tied into three or four knots, and carried in the pocket, was a charm against rheumatism. A cross made of Elder, and fastened to cow-houses and stables, was supposed to keep all evil from the animals. Canon Ellacombe, in the Tyrol, says: “An Elder bush, trimmed into the form of a cross, is planted in a new-made grave, and if it blossoms, the soul of the person lying beneath it is happy.” Sir Thomas Browne takes the “white umbrella or medical bush of Elder as an epitome of the order arising from five main stems, quincuncially disposed and tolerably maintained in theirsub-divisions.” The number 5, and its appearance in works of Nature, must have occupied his mind at one time to a very great extent, judging from his writings. There is a sayingthat:—

An eldern stake and a black thorn ether (hedge)Will make a hedge to last for ever.

And it is a common tradition that an Elder stake will last in the ground longer than an iron bar the same size. Several very different musical instruments have been alike named “Sambuke,” because they were all made out of Elder-wood. Elder-berries have also wonderful properties. In Styria, on “Bertha Night (6th January), the devil goes about with special virulence. As a safeguard persons are recommended to make a magic circle, in the centre of which they should stand, with Elder-berries gathered on St John’s night. By doing this, the mystic Fern-seed may be obtained, which possesses the strength of thirty or forty men. There are no instructions as to why or how the desired Fern-seed should arrive, and all the proceedings are somewhat mysterious.”

[101]Folkard.

The most extraordinary collection of charms and receipts is to be found in an old book, calledLe petit Albert; probably the contents are largely gleaned from out the wondrous lore set forth by Albertus Magnus. A charm—it must be a charm, for a mere recipe could hardly achieve such results, “pour s’enrichir par la pêche des poissons” is made by mixing Nettles, Cinquefoil, and the juice of Houseleek, with corn boiled in water of Thyme and Marjoram, and if this composition is put into a net, the net will soon be filled with fish. Cinquefoil appears in many spells, particularly as a magic herb in love-divinations, and also against agues! Some parts of the book shed a lurid light on the customs of the day, as for instance, recipes “to render a man or woman insensible to torture.” Here is a less ghastly extract. “Je quitte des matières violentes pour dire un Mot de Paix.J’ai lû dans le très curieux livre des Secrets du Roi Jean d’Arragon, que si aucun dans le mois de septembre, ayant observé le temps que le soleil est entré au signe de la Vierges a soin de cueillir de la fleur Soucy (Marigold) qu’a été appellé par les Anciens, Epouse du Soleil, and si on l’enveloppe dedans des feuilles de Laurier avec un dent de Loup, personne ne pourra parler mal de celui qui les portera sur luy et vivra dans un profonde paix et tranquillité avec tout le monde.” There is an odd, little passage about the supernatural beings who inhabit the four elements, Salamanders, Nymphs, Sylphs, and Gnomes, and the practices of Lapland miners to obtain “la bienveillance des Gnomes.” This is managed through observing their love of perfumes. Each day of the week a certain perfume was burnt for them and these odours had an elaborate formula, compiled with reference to the planets. Thus Sunday’s perfume is “sous les auspices du soleil,” and contains Saffron and Musk; Monday’s is made of the Moon’s special plants and includes the seed of the White Poppy; and the ingredients for each are equally appropriate to the ruling planet. Mars has Hellebore and Euphorbia in his perfume; Venus, dried roses, red coral, and ambergris; and Saturn, black poppy seeds, Mandrake roots and Henbane. In an English translation (there are many editions ofLe petit Albert) fifteen magical herbs of the Ancients are given, but I will only quote two.

“The eleventh hearbe is named of the Chaldees Isiphilon... or Englishmen, Centory... this hearbe hath a marvellous virtue, for if it be joined with the blood of a female lapwing or black plover and put with oile in a lamp, all they that compasse it about shall believe themselves to be witches, so that one shall believe of another that his head is in heaven and his feete on earth.”

“If ⁂ the fourteenth hearbe, smallage, be bounden to an oxe’s necke, he will follow thee whithersoever thou wilt go.” The last instructions lead one to agree with the poet:

“I would that I had flourished then,When ruffs and raids were in the fashion,”

and when views of mine and thine were less rigid than they are to-day.

Here may’st thou range the goodly, pleasant field,And search out simples to procure thy heal,What sundry virtues, sundry herbs do yield,’Gainst grief which may thy sheep or thee assail.Ecloguevii.—Drayton.

Here may’st thou range the goodly, pleasant field,And search out simples to procure thy heal,What sundry virtues, sundry herbs do yield,’Gainst grief which may thy sheep or thee assail.

Ecloguevii.—Drayton.

And tryed time yet taught me greater thinges;The sodain rising of the raging seas,The soothe of byrdes by beating of their winges,The powre of herbes, both which can hurt and ease;And which be wont t’enrage the restless sheepe,And which be wont to worke eternal sleepe.Shepheard’s Calendar.—Spenser.

Shepheard’s Calendar.—Spenser.

And did you hear wild music blowAll down the boreen, long and low,The tramp of ragweed horses’ feet,And Una’s laughter wild and sweet.The Passing of the Shee.—N. Hopper.

And did you hear wild music blowAll down the boreen, long and low,The tramp of ragweed horses’ feet,And Una’s laughter wild and sweet.

The Passing of the Shee.—N. Hopper.

Herbs and animals may appear linked together in many aspects, but there are two in which I specially wish to look at them—first, glancing at the old traditions that tell of beasts and birds themselves having preferences among herbs; secondly, the human reasoning, which decreed that certain plants must benefit or affect special creatures. The glamour of magic at times hovers over both. Ragwort is St James’s Wort (the French call itJacobée), and St James is the patron saint of horses, therefore Ragwort is good for horses, and has even gained the name of the Staggerwort, from being often prescribed for “the staggers.” This is a good specimenof the reasoning, but there is romance about the plant which is far more attractive. Besides being good for horses, it is actually the witches’ own horse! There is a high granite rock called the Castle Peak, south of the Logan Rock in Cornwall, where, as tales run, witches were specially fond of gathering, and thither they rode on moonlight nights on a stem of Ragwort. In Ireland, it is the fairies ride it, and there it is sometimes called the Fairy’s Horse.

Reach up to the star that hangs the lowest,Tread down the drift of the apple blow,Ride your ragweed horse to the Isle of Wobles.

Ragwort is specially beloved by the Leprehauns, or Clauricanes, the little fairy cobblers, who are sometimes seen singing or whistling over their work on a tiny shoe. They wear “deeshy-daushy” leather aprons, and usually red nightcaps.

Do you not catch the tiny clamour,Busy click of an elfin hammer,Voice of the Lepracaun singing shrill,As he merrily plies his trade.W. B. Yeats.

Do you not catch the tiny clamour,Busy click of an elfin hammer,Voice of the Lepracaun singing shrill,As he merrily plies his trade.

W. B. Yeats.

There is a very nice legend of the Field of Boliauns, which turns on the belief that every Leprehaun has a hidden treasure buried under a ragwort. And if anyone can catch the little man, and not for one second take his eyes off him until the plant is reached, the Leprehaun must show him exactly where to dig for it. In the Isle of Man, they used to tell of another steed, not the fairies’ horse, but a fairy or enchanted horse, ridden by mortals. If anyone on St John’s Eve, they said, trod on a plant of St John’s Wort after sunset, the horse would spring out of the earth, and carry him about till sunrise, and there leave him wherever they chanced at that moment to be.

William Coles[102]speaks with great decision as to thevarious remedies which animals find for themselves. “If the Asse be oppressed with melancholy, he eats of the herbeAsplenium... so the wilde Goats being shot with Darts or Arrows, cure themselves with Dittany, which Herb hath the power to worke them out of the Body and to heale up the wound.” Gerarde adds that the “Deere in Candie” seek the same remedy, and Parkinson remarks of Hemp Agrimony, “It is sayd that hunters have observed that Deere being wounded by the eating of this herbe have been healed of their hurts.” Drayton’sHermitrefers to dictam or dittany.

And this is dictam which we prizeShot shafts and darts expelling.

Shelley is less definite. He only laments:

The wounded deer must seek the herb no moreIn which its heart cure lies.

[102]“Art of Simpling.”

Goats do not seek Sea-Holly as a remedy, but it has a startling effect upon them if, by accident, they touch it. “They report that the herb Sea-Holly (Eryngium maritimum), if one goat take it into her mouth, it causeth her first to stand still, and afterwards the whole flocke, untill such time as the Shepherd take it forth of her mouth, as Plutarch writeth.”[103]However much these wild theories may exceed facts as to animals curing themselves, they are not altogether without reason, for the instinct of beasts leading them to healing herbs has often been noticed. Evelyn says: “I have heard of one SigniorJaquinto, Physician to QueenAnne(Mother of the BlessedMartyr, Charles the First), and was so to one of thePopes. That observing theScurvyandDropsyto be the Epidemical and Dominent Diseases of this Nation, he went himself into theHundredsofEssex(reputed the most unhealthy County of thisIsland), and us’d to follow the Sheep and Cattellon purpose to observe what Plants they chiefly fed upon; and of thoseSimplescompos’d an excellentElectuaryof extraordinary Effects against those Infirmities.

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