Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics

ALBERT

R.

MANN

LIBRARY

AT

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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PREFJICE TO SECODD EDITIOD.

HE L

lore

of

^

this

lore

belief that

me it

will

rural customs

with

to

and

in

the

subjedl of plant

by the publication of the

of

issue a

and

plants

Friend

Thistleton

Second Edition of

be acceptable to traditions,

trees, shrubs, flowers,

and

by

flowers

many who

my

the folk-

the

Revs.

Dyer,

book,

in.

has the

are interested in

and the fascinating

and

Edition

First

volume, and the works on

Hilderic

encouraged

awakened

interest

lore associated

plants.

RICHARD FOLKARD. October, iSgz.

PREFJICE. ^«w_^_^.j|

^or^j

pnaeipaf

S^eferrei- to.

Adams, H. C. ' Flowers ; their Moral, Language, and Poetry.* Albertut Magnus. De Mirabilibus Mundi. Aldrimandus. Ornithalogia. Bacon, Lord. ' Sylva Syl-varum,' and ' Essay on Gardens.' Bauhin, C. De plantis a dmis sanctis've nomeit habentibus (1501). Brand, J. ' Popular Antiquities.' BrigAt, H. A. 'A Year in a Lancashire Garden.' ' Tales of the Western , Campbell, J. F. Highlands.' ^'' Choice Notes from Notes and Queries.'

W. ' Adam in Eden (1657) and • The Art of Simpline ' r a •The Compleat English Gardener' (1683). ' The Countryman's Recreation (1640). Coles,

'

;

(i6>;6). \

0/

'

Croker, T. C. Culpeper, N.

Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland.'

' '

Cutts, Re'v. E.

British Herbal.'

Decoration of Churches.' Botanic Garden ': a Poem. Dasent, Sir G. H^. ' Popular Tales from the Norse.' Daubeny, C. 'Trees and Shrubs of the Ancients.' Day, Re-v. Lai Behari. ' Folk-Tales of Bengal.'

Darwin, E,

De

'

'

The

La Mythologie des Plantes The Land of the Morning

Gubernatis, A.

Dixoa, W. G.

'

:

The Dutch

Gardener' (1703). Dyer, Rev. T. F. ' English Folk-lore.' Ennemosir, J. ' History of Magic' Evelyn, J. ' Sylva : a Discourse of Forest Trees ' (1662) dener ' (l^8) ; and ' Kalendarium Hor tense ' (1664). ' The Expert Gardener (1640). '

/

ou Us Legendes du Regne Vegetal. Japan.'

;

;

'

The French Gar-

'

'

The

'

Flower Lore'

Fairy Family.' Farrer, J. A. ' The Names of Flowers ' (In ' Cornhill Magazine,' Vol. XLV.). ' Boke of Husbandry ' Fitzherbarde, Sir Anthony. (1523). ' Curiosities Fleet'wood, Bishop. of Nature and Art in Husbandry and Gardening' (1707).

(M'Caw &

Co., Belfast).

Gerarde, J. ' The Herbal; or, General Historic of Plantes.' Edited by Johnson (1633)Grimm, J. ' Teutonic Mythology ' (Translated by Stallybrass.) Henderson, W. ' Folk-lore of the Northern Counties.' Hunt, R. ' Popular Romances of the West of England.' Ingram, J. ' Flora SymbolicaJ' Jameson, Mrs. 'Sacred and Legendary Art'; Legends of the Monastic Orders';

and ' Legends of the Madonna.' Tour Round my Garden.' Karr, Alphonse. ' ' Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore.' Kelly, W, K. 'Flora Domestical and 'Sylvan Sketches.' Kent, Miss.

A

pfant

vi.

Tsore, "l^eger^f,

dnS. Tsqricy.

Sketches and Studies.' ei Umbra, Magnetica, &c. ' The Language of Flowers ' (Saunders and Otley). 'The Retired Gardener' (1717). Liger, Louis. Loudon, J. C. ' Encyclopedia of Gardening.' Loudon, Mrj. ' Companion to the Flower Garden.'

King, R. J. Kircherus.

Macer

'

An

De Luce

De

Floridus.

M.

yiribus

Herbarum (1527).

Northern Antiquities.' Mannkardt, Prof. Baumkultus der Germanen; Germanische Mythen; zxAWaldMallet,

'

undFeld-Kulte. Ligendes des Plantes. Marshall, S. ' Plant Symbolism ' (In ' Natural History Notes,' Vol. II.). Martyn, Thos. ' Miller's Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary.'

Marmier, X.

Matthiolus. De Plantis (1585). 'Voiageand Travaile' (Edit. 1725). Maunde-vile, Sir John. Mentzelius, C. Index Nominum Plantarum Multilinguis (1682). ' Lalla Rookh.' Moore, T. ' Selected Essays.' Miiller, Max. Murray, E. C. G. ' Songs and Legends of Roumania.' ' Display of Heraldry.' Neiuton, JV. Nork. Mythologie der Folkssagen. Oldenburg, Dr. H. ' Buddha ; his Life, Doctrine, and Order.' ' Paradisi in Sole : Paradisus Terrestris ' (1656). Parkinson, J. Paxlon, Sir Joseph. ' Botanical Dictionary.' ' The Land of the Veda.' Perci'val, Re'v. P. ' Flora Historica.Phillips, J. ' Flowers, Grasses, and Shrubs.' Pirie, M. ' The Garden of Eden ' Plat, Sir Hugh, Knt. (1600). ' Natural History.' Pliny. Porta, J. B. Phytognomica (1588). ' Flowering Plants and Ferns of Great Britain.' Pratt, A. ' Popular Names of British Plants.' Prior, Dr. Ralston,fV. R. ' Forest and Field Myths ' (In ' Contemporary Review,' Vol. XXXI.). Rapin, R. De Hortorum Cultura (Gardiner's trans., 1665). y Ratulinson, Rev. G. ' The Religions of the Ancient World.' Reade, W. W. ' The Veil of Isis ; or, the Mysteries of the Druids.' Rea, J. ' Flora, Ceres, and Pomona ' (ifidg). Rimmel, E. ' The Book of Perfumes.'

The Royal and

Imperial Dream Book.' Sussex Folk-lore and Customs.' Sbtuay Toe. ' The Burman his Life and Notions.' Thorpe, B. ' Yule-tide Stories.' ' The Plants ' Tigbe, W. a Poem. ; Timbs, J. ' Popular Errors ' ' Curiosities of History ;' and '

Satuyer, F. E.

'

:

:

•

Things Not Generally

Known.' Turner, Robert. Botanologia The Brittish Physician j or, the Vertues of English Plants ' (1687). Turner, W. ' The Herball.' ' Five Hundred Points of Husbandry ' Tusser, Thomas. (1562). ' Natural History fThite, Re'v. Gilbert. of Selborne.' ' The Ancient Egyptians.' W^ilkinson, Sir G. Zahn, J. Specula Physico-Matbematico-Historica (1696). '

:

Nature

and

—

OF

TJIBtE

CORTEDTS.

PART THE

FIRST.

INTRODUCTION

xiii.

CHAPTER I. THE WORLD-TREES OF THE ANCIENTS.—The Scandinavian Ash—The Hindu World-Tree— The World-Tree of the Buddhists—The Iranian World-Tree— The Assyrian Sacred Tree The Mother Tree of the Greeks, Romans, and Teutons

—

CHAPTER

THE TREES OF PARADISE AND THE TREE OF ADAM.—The

—

Terrestrial

—

The Paradise of the Persians, Arabians, Hindus, Scandinavians, and Celts The Mosaic Paradise— Eden and the Walls of its Garden—The Tree of Life—The Tree of Knowledge The Forbidden Fruit Adam's Departure from Paradise Seth's Journey to the Garden of Eden—The Death of Adam—The Seeds of the Tree of Life— Moses and his Rods King David and the Rods Solomon and the Cedars of Lebanon The Tree of Adam and the Tree of the Cross Paradise

—

— —

—

i

II.

—

—

CHAPTER IIL SACRED PLANTS OF THE ANCIENTS.—The Parsis

9

and the Cypress—The Gale—

Sacred Plants and Trees of the Brahmans and Buddhists— Plants Revered by the Burmans —The Cedar, Elm, Ash, Rowan, Baobab, Nipa, Dragon Tree, Zamang, and Moriche Palm —The Neiumbo or Sacred Bean— Plants Worshipped by Egyjptians—The Lotus, Henna, and Pomegranate— Sacred Plants of the Graeco- Roman Divinities— Plants of the Norse

Gods

21

CHAPTER IV. FLORAL CEREMONIES, GARLANDS, AND WREATHS.—The

—

— —

Altars of the

Gods— Flowers, Fragrant Woods, and Aromatics Incense Perfumes — Ceremonies of the Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans The Roman Triumphs Festivals of the Terminalia and Floralia — May-day Customs We!l-flowering Harvest Festivals — Flowers and Weddings— Floral Games of Toulouse and Salency The Rosiere Rose Pelting Battle

— —

—

— — —Wreaths, Chaplets, and Garlands

— ...

26

Virgin Mary and her FlowersJoseph's Plants—The Plants of Bethlehem— Flora of the Flight into Egypt-The Herb of the Madonna Plants of the Virgin The Annunciation, Visitation, and Assumption The Rosary ^The Plants of Christmas The Garden of Gethsemane Plants of the Passion The Crown of Thorns The Wood of the Cross Veronica The Plants of Calvary The Trees and the Crucifixion—The Tree of Judas— Plants of St. John the Baptist Plant Divination on St. John's Eve Flowers of the Saints ^The Floral Calendar Flowers of the Church's Festivals— Decoration of Churches Gospel Oaks— Memorial Trees—The Glastonbury Thorn St. Joseph's Walnut Tree St. Martin's Yew

40

of Flowers-—Japanese

New

Year's Festival

CHAPTER

V.

PLANTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.—The

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— — —

—

—

—

CHAPTER VI. PLANTS OF THE FAIRIES AND NAIADES.—The

Elves and the

Oak— Elves

of

the Forest—The Elf of the Fir-tree—The Rose Elf— Moss or Wood Folk—The Black Dwarfs—The Still Folk—The Procca— English Fairies— The Fairy Steed— Fairy RevelsElf Grass Fairy Plants The Cowslip, or Fairy Cup The Foxglove, or Lusmore The Four-leaved Clover The Fairy Unguent The Russalkis Naiades and Water Nymphs The Foniinalia— Fays of the Well

—

—

—

—

—

CHAPTER

—

—

64

VII.

WOOD NYMPHS, AND TREE SPIRITS.— Fauns, Satyrs, Dryads, and Hamadryads —The Laurel Maiden—The Willow Nymph—The Sister of the Flowers The Spirits of the Forest —The Indian Tree Ghosts —Sacred Groves and their Denizens— The Burmese Nats—The African Wood Spirits—The Waldgeistcr of the Germans—The

SVLVANS,

Elder- mother— German Tree

and Field

Spirits

CHAPTER

PLANTS OF THE DEVIL.— Puck's

74

VIII.

Plant— Pixie-stools— Loki's Plants—The Trolls and Accursed and Unlucky Plants Plants connected with the Black Art Plant-haunting Demons The Devil and Fruit Trees— Tree Demons on St. John's Eve Demons of the Woods and Fields— The Herb of the Devil Poisonous «md Noxious Plants Ill-omened Plants—The Devil's Key Plants Inimical to the Devil The Devil-Chaser The Deadly Upas— The Manchincel—The Oleander ^The Jatropha Urens The Lotos TTie Elder—The Phallus Impudicus—The Carrion Flower The Antchar The Loco or Rattle Weed "The Aquapura Deadly Trees of Hispaniola aud New Andalusia^Poisonous Plants the Globe-flower

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

82

——

pfaat

viii.

heger^f,

Isore,

CHAPTER PLANTS OF THE WITCHES.—The Herbs

oriel T^ijric/,

IX. of Hecate,

Circe,

and

Medea—Witch

—Witches and Elders— Sylvan Haunts of Witches— Witches' Plant-steeds—Witches' Soporifics —^The Nightmare Flower— Plants used in Spells — Potions, Philtres, and Hellbroths—The Hag Taper—Witch Ointment— The Witches' Bath— Foreign Witches and their Plants — Plants used for Charms and Spells —Witches' Prescriptions— Herbs of WitchcraftPowder

Plants Antagonistic to Witches

91

CHAPTER

X.

producing Ecstasies and Visions — Soma — Laurel — The — Prophetic Oak^ — Dream Plants —Plants producing Love and Violet Sympathy— The Sorcerer's —Plants used for Love Divination—Concordia— Discordia— I'he Calumny Destroyer —The Grief Charmer— The Sallow, Sacred Basil, Eugenia, Onion, Bay, Juniper, Peony, Hypericum, Kowan, Elder, Thorn, Hazel, Holly —The Mystic Fern-seed — Four-leaved Clover— The Mandrake, or Sorcerer's Root — The Metal Melter The Misleading Plant — Herb of Oblivion — Lotos "Tree — King Solomon's Magical Herb Baharas —The Nyctiiopa and Spring wort— Plants influencing I'hunder and Lightning—The Selago, or Druid's Golden Herb — Gold-producing Plants — Plants which disclose Treasures The Luck Flower— The Key-Flower— Sesame— The Herb that Opens — The Moonwort, or Lunary—The Sferracavallo— Magic Wands and Divining Rods — Moses' Rod

MAGICAL PLANTS.— Plants Druids and Mistletoe

.

.

.

105

CHAPTER XL

FABULOUS. WONDROUS, AND MIRACULOUS PLANTS.-Human

Trees—

Man-bearing Trees— The Wak-Wak, or Tree bearing Human Heads— Chinese and Indian Bird-bearing Tree— Duck-bearing Tree— The Barnacle, or Goose Tree The Serpentbearing Tree— The Oyster-bearing Tree The Animal-bearing Tree The Butterfly-bearing Tree The Vegetable Lamb The Lamb-bearing Tree Marvellous Trees and Plants Vegetable Monstrosities Plants bearing Inscriptions and Figures Miraculous Plants The Tree of St. Thomas—The Withered Tree of the Sun— The Tree of Tiberias— Father . Gamet'b Straw

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

.

zi6

CHAPTER XII. PLANTS CONNECTED WITH BIRDS AND ANIMALS.— Seed-sowing Birds-

— —

Birds as Almanacks — The Cuckoo and the Cherry Tree Augury by Cock and Barley — The Nightingale and the Rose — The Robin and the Thorn The Missel-Thrush and Mistletoe The Swaflow and Celandine The Hawk and Hawkweed — Life-giving Herb —The WoodS:cker and the Peony —The Spring-wort and the Birds — Choughs and Olives — Herb of the lessed Virgin Mary — The Eyebright and Birds Plants named after Birds and Animals

—

—

.

136

CHAPTER XIIL

THE DOCTRINE OF PLANT

SIGNATURES.-IUustrations and Examples of the Signatures and Characterisms of Plants The Diseasef> Cured by Herbs General Rules of the System of Plant Signatures supposed to Reveal the Occult Powers and Virtues of Vegetables Plants Identified with the Various Portions of the Human Body—The Old Herbals and Herbalists Extraordinary Properties attributed to Herbs

—

—

—

—

154

CHAPTER XIV. PLANTS AND THE PLANETS.—When to Pluck Herbs-The Plants of Saturn, Jupiter.

—

—

Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Sun, and the Moon Sun Flowers The Influence of the Moon Times and Seasons to Sow and Plant— The Moon and Gardening Operations of the Moon- God desses^^The Man in the Moon

—

....

164.

Emblems of the Ancients—The Science of Plant Symbolism Floral Symbols of the Scriptures The Passion Flower, or Flower of the Five Wounds— Mediaeval Plant Symbolism— Floral Emblems of Shakspeare— The Language of Flowers Floral Vocabulary of the Greeks and Romans— A Dictionary of Flowers— Floral Divination

176

on Plants

The Moon-Tree— Plants

CHAPTER

XV.

PLANT SYMBOLISM AND LANGUAGE.-Plant

—

—

—

CHAPTER XVI.

FUNERAL PLANTS.—The

Ancient Death-Gods—The Elysian Fields— Death TreesFunereal Trees- Aloe, Yew, Cypress, Bay, Arbor- Vitas, Walnut, Mountain Ash, "Tamarisk The Decorations of Tombs— Flowers at Funerals— Old English Burial Customs— Funeral Pyres— Embalming— Mummies— Plants as Death Portents

1B9

PART THE SECOND, AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FOREIGN, givingtheir

SIX

HUNDRED PLANTS, ENGLISH AND

Myths, Legends, Traditions, Folk-Lore, Symbolism, and History

205

h\f^t of ^fPLLAi"ralTori/.

Gathering the Selago

The Garden of Eden Yggdrasill, the

....

(dt-aum by Louis Absolon)

(Parkinson's Paradisus)

Mundane Ash

.

(Finn Alagnusen)

Relics of the Crucifixion (Maundevile's Travels)

The Tree Thz

.

Cover.

Frontispiece.

,

2

....

45

of Judas Iscariot (Maundevile's Travels)

BA.ti.SACi.E

Tree (Aldrovandi

The Goose Tree

49 118

OmiiAologia)

(Gerarde's J/erial)

119

The Barometz, or Vegetable Lamb (Zakn)

121

The Lamb Tree (MaundeviUs

122

Travels)

Dead Sea Fruit

(Maundevile's Travels)

125

The Stone Tree

(Gerardis Herbal)

126

Arbor Secco, or the Withered Tree

The Miraculous Tree

(Maundevile's Travels)

of Tiberias (Maundevile's Travels)

Father Garnet's Straw

(Apology of Eudamon Joannes)

.

.

.

131

.

.

.

.

.

Pious Birds and Olives (MaunderviU's Travels)

The

The Tree

The

Flower of the

Passion

of

.

.

Travels)

tail

pieces on pp.

175, 200, S92,

xiii.,

487

xxiv., 1, 8, 20, 21, 86, 40, 64, 74,

and 6io, are reproductions from

182

190

Granadilla, or Passion Flower (Zahn)

The head and

135

143

Jesuits (Parkinson's Paradisus)

Death (MaimdeviUs

132

n6,

136, 164,

originals in old herbals, &c.

dfe.

Part

tFie

W

iJlrxi>t.

INTR.ODUCTIOD. HE

analogy existing between the vegetable and animal worlds, and the resemblances between human and tree life, have been observed by man from the most remote periods of which we have any records. Primitive man, watching the marvellous changes in trees and plants, which accurately marked not only the seasons of the

year, but even the periods of time in a day, could not

struck with a feeling of

which

silently

Hence

tions.

awe

at

fail

to

be

the mysterious invisible power

guided such wondrous and incomprehensible operait

is

not astonishing that the early inhabitants of

the earth should have invested with supernatural attributes the tree,

which

and

sterile,

in the

gloom and

chill of

Winter stood gaunti bare,

but in the early Spring hastened to greet the welcome

warmth-giving Sun by investing

itself

with a brilliant canopy of

Summer boughs. So we

verdure, and in the scorching heat of freshing shade beneath

of old,

who had

its

leafy

afforded a refind these

men

learnt to reverence the mysteries of vegetation,

forming conceptions of vast cosmogonic world- or cloud-trees over-

shadowing the universe mystically typifying creation and regeneration, and yielding the divine ambrosia or food of immortality, the refreshing and life-inspiring rain, and the mystic fruit which imparted knowledge and wisdom to those who partook of it. So, ;

pfant

xiv.

again,

we

Isore, TsegeTj^/j

^°^"i^ without ^'t*i cultv or dangerjhejnogt jo.ten,t-E airy or Spirit he may anywhere en counte r. TEefoflowing is the form ol the preparation " R. A pint of Sallet-oyle, and put it into a vial-glasse but the flowers first wash it with Rose-water and Marygolde water Wash it till the oyle come to be gathered towards the east. white then put it into the glasse, ut supra and then put thereto the budds of Holyhocke, the flowers of Marygolde, the flowers or and the toppers of Wild Thyme, the budds of young Hazle Thyme must be gathered neare the side of a hill where Fayries Then all used to be and take the grasse of a Fayrie throne. these put into the oyle into the glasse and sette it to dissolve three dayes in the sunne, and then keep it for thy use ut supra." [Ashmolean MSS.'\

foUr-leay pH ClnvPf spp tVi^ Fairipq it

—

i'°

iq

.

:

;

;

:

;

:

:

—

:

;

Certain of the Fairy community frequented the vicinity of and the banks of streams and rivers. Ben Jonson tells of " Span-long Elves that dance about a pool " and Stagnelius asks

pools,

;

"

Say, know'st the Elfin people gay? They dwell on the river s strand They spin from the moonbeams their festive garb. With their small and lily hand."

Of this family are the Russalkis, river nymphs of Southern Russia, who inhabit the alluvial islands studding the winding river, or dwell in detached coppices fringing the banks, or construct for themselves homes woven of flowering Reeds and green Willow-boughs.

The Swedes

delight to tell of the Stromkarl, or

stream, a mystic being

who haunts brooks and

nd in Part IT- under thp

hmH

boy of the and sits

rivulets,

nf " ri,nvr.R."

—

—

pfant

72

teore, Taeger^j,

—

:

anei

;;

Tsi^t'iof.

on the silvery waves at moonlight, playing his harp to the Elves and Fays who dance on the flowery margin, in obedience to his

summons " Come queen

—

of the revels come, form into bands the Fairies that follow your train

The Elves and

Tossing your tresses, and wreathing your hands. Let your dainty feet dance to my wave- wafted strain."

The

Graeco-Latin Naiades, or Water-nymphs, were also of this they generally inhabited the country, and resorted to the woods or meadows near the stream over which they presided. It was in some such locality on the Asiatic coast that the ill-fated Hylas was carried ofi" by Isis and the River-nymphs, whilst obtaining water from a fountain. family

:

" The

chiefs composed their wearied limbs to rest, But Hylas sought the springs, by thirst opprest At last a fount he found with flow'rets graced On the green bank above his urn he placed. "Twas at a time when old Ascanius made

An

entertainment in his watery bed, all the Nymphs and all the Naiades Inhabitants of neighb'iing plains and seas.*'

For

These inferior deities were held in great veneration, and received from their votaries offerings of fruit and flowers animal sacrifices were also made to them, with libations of wine, honey, oil, and milk and they were crowned with Sedges and flowers. A remnant of these customs was to be seen in the practice which formerly prevailed in this country of sprinkling rivers with flowers on Holy Thursday. Milton, in his Comus,' tells us that, in honour of Sabrina, the Nymph of the Severn "The shepherds at their festivals ;

;

'

Carol her good deeds loud in rustic

lays,

And throw sweet garland wreaths into her Of Fansies, Pinks, and gaudy Daffodils."

stream,

A belief in the existence of good spirits who watched and guarded wells, springs and streams, was common to the whole Aryan race. On the 3th of October the Romans celebrated at the Porta Fontinalis a festival in honour of the Nymphs who presided over fountains and wells: this was termed the Fontinalia, and during the ceremonies wells and fountains were ornamented with garlands. To this day the old heathen custom of dressing and adorning wells is extant, although saints and martyrs have long since taken the place of the Naiades and Water-nymphs as patrons. In England, well-dressing at Ascension-tide is still practised, and some particulars of the ancient custom will be found in the chapter on Floral Ceremonies. 1

"

The fountain marge is fairly spiead With every incense flower that blows. With flowry Sedge, and Moss that grows. For fervid limbs a dewy bed." /•ane.

—

;

pfanfiS of

tfte

made

Pilgrimages are

to

—

@\f/afaY Rijmpfiii.

many

73

holy wells and springs in the

United Kingdom, for the purpose of curing certain diseases by the virtues contained in their waters, or to dress these health-restoring fountains with garlands and posies of flowers. It is not surprising to find Ben Jonson sajdng that round such " virtuous " wells the Fairies are fond of assembling, and dancing their rounds, lighted by the pale moonshine "

By

wells

and rills, in meadows greene.

We nightly dance our hey-day And

to our Fairye king

We

guise

and queene

chant our moonlight minstrelsies."

Percy Rcliques.

In Cornwall pilgrimages are made in May to certain wells situated close to old blasted Oaks, where the frequenters suspend rags to the branches as a preservative against sorcery and a propitiation to the Fairies, who are thought to be fond of repairing at night to the vicinity of the wells. From St. Mungo's Well at Huntly, in Scotland, the people carry away bottles of water, as a talisman against the enmity of the Fairies, who are supposed to hold their revels at the Elfin Croft close by, and are prone to resent the intrusion of mortals.

CHAPTER

VII.

©^ooiL Rympfty,

)LjP^an/,

al^b ©Tree

LOSELY

allied to the Fairy family, the Well Fays, and the Naiades, are the Sylvans of the Graeco- Roman mythology, which everywhere depicts groves and forests as the dwelling-places and resorts of merry bands of Dryads, Nymphs, Fauns, Sat5as, and other light-hearted frequenters Mindful of this, Horace, when of the woods. extolling the joys and peacefulness of sylvan

retirement, sings " Me the cool woods above the rest advance. Where the rough Satyrs with the light Nymphs dance." ;

The Dryads were young and

beautiful

nymphs who were

regarded as semi-goddesses. Deriving their name from the Greek word drus, a tree, they were conceived to dwell in trees, groves,

and forests, and, according- to tradition, were wont to inflict injuries upon people who dared to injure the trees they inhabited Notwithstanding this, however, they and specially protected. frequently quitted their leafy habitations, to wander at will and mingle with the wood nymphs in their rural sports and dances. are represented veiled and crowned with flowers. sylvan deity Rinaldo saw in the Enchanted Forest, when

They

" An aged Oak

And from (Clad

Such a

beside him cleft and rent.

hollow womb forth went weeds and strange habiliment)

his fertile

in rare

A full-grown Nymph." The Hamadryads were only females

to the waist, their lower parts merging into the trunks and roots of trees. Their life and power terminated with the existence of the tree over which they presided. These sylvan deities had long flowing hair, and bore in their hands axes wherewith to protect the tree with which they were associated and on the existence of which their own life

—

—

©y/ooi—

Rijmpft/.

75

depended. The trees of the Hamadryads usually grew in some secluded spot, remote from human habitations and unknown to

men, where " Much sweet grass grew higher than grew the Reed, And good for slumber, and every holier herb, Narcissus and the low-lying Melilote, And all of goodliest blade and bloom that springs Where, hid by heavier Hyacinth, Violet buds Blossom and bum, and fire of yellower flowers. And light of crescent Lilies and such leaves As fear the Faun's, and know the Dryad's foot." Theocritus.

The rustic deities, called by the Greeks Satyrs, and by the Romans, Fauns, had the legs, feet, and ears of goats, and the rest of the body human. These Fauns, according to the traditions of the Romans, presided over vegetation, and to them the country folk gave anything they had a mind to ask bunches of Grapes, ears of Wheat, and all sorts of fruit. The food of the Satyrs was believed, by the early Romans, to be the root of the Orchis or Satjnrion its aphrodisiacal qualities exciting them to those excesses to which they are stated to have been so strongly addicted. A Roumanian legend * tells of a beauteous sylvan njrmph called the Daughter of the Laurel, who is evidently akin to the Dryads and wood nymphs and Mr. Ralston, in an article on Forest and Field Myths,' + gives the following variation of the story: " There was once a childless wife who used to lament, saying, And heaven If- only I had a child, were it but a Laurel berry sent her a golden Laurel berry but its value was not recognised, and it was thrown away. From it sprang a Laurel-tree, which gleamed with golden twigs. At it a prince, while following the and determining to return to it, he chase, wondered greatly ordered his cook to prepare a dinner for him beneath its shade. He was obeyed. But during the temporary absence of the cook, the tree opened, and forth came a fair maiden who strewed a handful of salt over the viands, and returned into the tree, which immediately closed upon her. The prince returned and scolded

—

;

'

;

1

'

'

;

;

The cook declared his the cook for over-salting the dinner. innocence but in vain. The next day just the same occurred. So on the third day the prince kept watch. The tree opened, and the maiden came forth. But before she could return into the tree, the prince caught hold of her and carried her off. After a time she escaped from him, ran back to the tree, and called upon it to open. But it remained shut. So she had to return to the prince, and after a while he deserted her. It was not till after long wandering that she found him again, and became his loyal consort." Mr. Ralston says that in Hahn's opinion the above story is founded on the Hellenic belief in Dryads but he himself thinks it belongs to an ;

;

•

The legend

is

given in Part

t Contemporary Review, Vol.

II.,

under the heading " Laurel."

xiai., p. 520.

—

76

pfant

Isore,

teege^/, an3.

l3ijri9e when cut, exhibits a representation of the Holy Cross and the Bracken Fern, whose stem, when sliced, exhibits traces of letters which are sometimes used for the purposes of love divination. In Ireland, however, the Pteris aquilina is called the Fern of God, because the people imagine that if the stem be cut into three sedlions, on the first of these sections will be seen the letter G, on the second O, forming the sacred word God. and on the third In the science of plant symbols, not only the names, but the forms, perfumes, and properties of plants have to be considered, as well as the numerical arrangements of their parts. Thus of all sacred s}rmbolical plants, those consisting of petals or calyx-sepals, or leaves, divided into the number Five, were formerly held in peculiar reverence, because among the races of antiquity five was for ages a sacred number. The reason of this is thus explained by Bunsen " It is well known," he says, " that the numeral o««, the undivided, the eternal, is placed in antithesis to all other numerals. The figure four included the perfee by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and La Mortraie, the companion in exile of Charles XIL, and obtained in France and England much popularity as the " J'urkish Language of Flowers." This language is said to be much employed in the Turkish harems, where the women pradlise it, either for the sake of mere diversion in their seclusion, or for carrying on secret communication. In France and Germany, the language of flowers has taken deep root, and in our own country the poetic symbolisms of Shakspeare, Chaucer, Herrick, Drayton, and others of the earlier bards, laid the groundwork for the very complete system of floral emblemism, or language of flowers, which we now possess. A great many works have been published, containing floral codes, or ditftionaries most of these, however, possess but little merit as expositions of old symbols or traditions, and have been compiled principally from modern sources. An ancient floral vocabulary, taken from Dierbach's Flora Mythologica der Griechen und Romer, and an approved modern English Didlionary of Flowers,' are appended, in order to make this portion of our subjedt complete. :

'

.

Hfie

language

of

iJPoascr/-.

a^neient SPoraP ^oeafeuPar^. The Bitterness and Tor-

Absinth

ments of Love. Love, pure and platonic. Love of Fine Arts.

Acacia Acanthus Althea

Exquisite Sweetness. Fidelity and Constancy.

Amaranth Anemone

Abandonment.

Angelica Argentine Aster

Gentle Melancholy.

Balsam

Impatience. Poverty.

Ingenuity. Elegance.

Basil

Betony

Emotion and

Bindweed

Coquetry. Clearness and Light. Firmness and Stoicism.

Bluet

Box Bramble Burdock

Injustice

Surprise.

and Envy.

Importunity. Sarcasm. Anxiety.

Buttercup Calendula Camellia

Constancy and Steadfastness.

Good

Character.

Carrot Cinquefoil

Maternal Love.

Colchicum

Bad

Cypress Dahlia Daisy (Easter)... Dandelion

Mourning and Grief. Sterile Abundance. Candour and Innocence

Character.

Darnel...

Oracle. Vice.

Digitalis

Work.

Dittany Elder

Discretion.

Humility. Transient Happiness. Everlasting Flwr. Constancy.

Ephemeris Fermel

Merit.

Fem Forget-me-not

Confidence. ..

Faithfiil

Fuchsia Fumitory

Geranium Hawthorn

Folly.

Sweet Hope. Eternal Love.

Heliotrope Hellebore

Wit.

Hemlock

Perfidy.

Holly

Defence.

...

Friendship. Elegance.

...

The

Acacia

Rose Acanthus

Remembrance.

Adulation. Amiability. Hatred.

Foxglove

Arts.

Achillea millefolia War. Adonis, Flos ... Painful Recollections. ... Thankfulness. Agrimony

Honeysuckle

..

i8s

1

86

Angelica

pPant

Isore,

Isege^/, anSL

Isijric/'.

.

.

\&

Maidenhair Manchineel-tree .••

Marigold

——

Prophetic

Falsehood. Reserve. Rarity. Griefi Prediction.

andCypress Despair. Marvel of Peru. Timidity. Meadow Saffron. My best days are past. Desire to Mezereon ... Coquetry. please. Your qualities surpass

Mignonette

e^Pocoer/.

187

You

Ranunculus

Secrecy. Beneficence.

Mallow Maple Mandrake

Isanguage o^

are radiant with

charms. Reeds ... .:. Music. Rose Love. loo-Ieaved Grace. Monthly... Beauty ever new. Musk Capricious Beauty. Single ... Simplicity.

White

...

Silence,

Withered.. Fleeting Beauty.

Yellow Rosebud White

..,

Infidelity.

...

A Young Girl. A Heart unacquainted with Love.

Mistletoe

your charms. Hermitage. I surmount all

Moon wort

Forgetfulness.

Rush

Docility.

Moss

Maternal Love.

Saffron

Beware of exces s.

Sage

Esteem.

Milkwort

Rosemary

Mulberry-tree, I shall not survive you.

White

...

Privation.

Narcissus Nettle Nightshade, Bitter-sweet

Wisdom. Weakness.

Musk-plant Myrobalan Myrtle

Rue, Wild

..,

Love. Self Love.

Snapdragon

Cruelty.

Sorrel,

Truth.

...

Presumption.

...

Joy-

...

Your charms

Snowdrop

Wood

Hope.

Spindle-tree

Fidelity.

graven on

Enchanter's Spell.

Nosegay

Oak

Gallantry. Hospitality.

Olive

Peace.

Ophrys, Spider.

Skill.

Orange Flower.

Chastity. Generosity. Error. Victory.

Tree Orchis Bee

Palm

Festivity. Parsley Passion Flower. Faith. Shame, Bashfulness. Peany ... Warmth of Feeling. Peppermint Tender Recollections. Periwinkle You are perfect. Pineapple

Pure Love.

Pink

Yellow

...

Plane-tree

Keep your

...

promises. Independence. Courage.

...

Time.

Plum-tree

Wild Poplar, black

White

...

Poppy White

...

Potato Primrose

Evening

Disdain. Genius.

...

Consolation. Sleep. My bane, my antidote. Beneficence.

Childhood. Inconstancy.

Privet

Prohibition.

Quince

Temptation.

Morals.

Sainfoin, Shaking Agitatiotu St. John's Wort Superstition. Sardonia Irony. Sensitive-plant.. Chastity.

Speedwell ...

revives

me.

diffi-

culties.

Black

Your presence

Star

of Bethle-

hem

are en-

my

heart.

—

1

pfant

88

Valerian, Greek

"

bege^/,

Isore,

White

Wallflower

——

;

!

Isijriq/'.

...

Innocence, Candour.

...

Fidelity in Misfortune.

Walnut

...

Flattery, Fidelity.

...

Enchantment.

glass

Veronica Vervain

anil

Violet,

Rupture.

Venus' Looking-

;

Vine

Intoxication.

Violet

Modesty.

... Stratagem. Whortleberry ... Treachery. Willow, Weeping Mourning. Wormwood ... Absence. Yew Sorrow.

In the chapter on Magic Plants will be found a list of plants used by maidens and their lovers for the purposes of divination and in Part II., under the respedtive headings of the plants thus alluded to, will be found described the several modes of divination. This pradlice of love divination, it will be seen, is not altogether unconnected with the symbolical meaning or language of flowers, and therefore it is here again adverted to. In many countries it is customary to pluck off the petals of the Marigold, or some other flower of a similar nature, while certain words are repeated, for the purpose of divining the charadler of an individual. Gothe, in his tragedy of Faust,' has touched upon this rustic superstition, and makes Margaret pluck off the leaves of a flower, at the same time alternately repeating the words " He loves me," " He loves me not." On coming to the last leaf, she joyously exclaims "He love me!" and Faust says: "Let this flower pronounce the decree of heaven '

—

—

—

—

!

" And with scarlet Poppies around, like a bower. The maiden found her mystic flower. Now, gentle flower, I pray thee tell '

my lover loves me, and loves me well So may the fall of the morning dew Keep the sun from fading thy tender blue. Now must I number the leaves for my lot

If

He He

loves loves

—loves me—

me not me — ah

loves

me

not yes I'll pluck thee not for that last sweet guess He loves me ! ' ' Yes,' a dear voice sighed. And her lover stands by^Iargaret's side." Miss Landen, !

yes,

thou

^he

last leaf,

—

In some places, the following mode of floral divination ' is resorted to. The lover, male or female, who wishes to ascertain the character of the beloved one, draws by lot one of the following flowers, the s}anbolical meaning attached to which will give the information desired :

—Ranunculus

I.

...

.

—

CHAPTER

XVI.

^uneraf ©Free/ af^ pfaat/. association U.'Hi'XTrrvc HEdeath and

its

of certain trees and plants with gloomy surroundings dates from

a period remote and shadowy in its antiquity. Allusions to it are found in the most ancient writings and records, and through one of these (the Sanscrit Mahdbhdrata) we learn that PitsL Maha, the great Creator, after having created the ''•"''''•'''

From Maunamu's Travtu.

3uncraP

Hree/-.

igi

We have, in a previous chapter, seen that among the Bengalese hanging sickly infants in baskets and leaving them there to die. Certain of the wild the Puharris, for example when burying their tribes of India infants, place them in earthen pots, and strew leaves over them: these pots they deposit at the foot of trees, sometimes covering them over with brushwood. Similar burial is given to those who exists the pradlice of

there

still

upon

trees,

—

—

die of measles or small-pox the corpse is placed at the foot of a tree, and left in the underwood or heather, covered with leaves and branches. In about a year the parents repair to the gravetree, and there, beneath its boughs, take part in a funeral feast. Grotius states that the Greeks and Romans believed that spirits and ghosts of men delighted to wander and appear in the sombre depths of groves devoted to the sepulture of the departed, and on this account Plato gave permission for trees to be planted over graves as Evelyn states, " to obumbrate and refresh them." Since then the custom of planting trees in places devoted to the burial of the dead has become universal, and the trees thus selected have in consequence come to be regarded as funereal. As a general rule, the trees to which this funereal signification has been attached are those of a pendent or weeping character, and those which are distinguished by their dark and sombre foliage, black berries and fruits, and melancholy-looking blossoms. Others again have been planted in God's acre on account of the symbolical meaning attached to their form or nature. Thus, whilst the Aloe, the Yew, and the Cypress are suggestive of life, from their perpetual verdure, they typify in floral symbology respectively grief, sorrow, and mourning. The Bay is an emblem of the resurredtion, inasmuch as, according to Sir Thomas Browne, when to all outward appearance it is dead and withered, it will unexpectedly revive from the root, and its dry leaves resume their pristine vitality. Evergreen trees and shrubs, whose growth is like a pyramid or spire, the apex of which points heavenward, are deemed emblematic of eternity, and as such are fitly classed among funereal The weeping trees the Arbor Vitae and the Cypress are examples. Birch and Willow and the Australian Casuarina, with their foliage mournfully bending to the earth, fitly find their place in churchyards as personifications of woe. The Yew-tree has been considered an emblem of mourning The Greeks adopted the idea from the from a very early period. Egyptians, the Romans from the Greeks, and the Britons from the Romans. From long habits of association, the Yew acquired a sacred charadler, and therefore was considered as the best and Hence in most appropriate ornament of consecrated ground. England it became the custom to plant Yews in churchyards, despite the ghastly superstition attached to these trees, that they prey upon the dead who lie beneath their sombre shade. Moreover our forefathers were particularly careful in preserving this :

—

:

—

pfant bore, Tsege^/,

ig2

— —

;

;

;

cmi.

bijric/'.

funereal tree, whose branches it was at one time usual to carry solemn procession to the grave, and afterwards to deposit The custom of therein under the bodies of departed friends. planting Yew trees singly in churchyards is also one of considerable antiquity. Statius, in his sixth Thebaid, calls it the solitary Yew. Leyden thus apostrophises this funeral tree in

:

"

Now more Whose

I love thee,

melancholy Yew,

green leaves in silence wave Above the peasant's rude unhonoured grave, Which oft thou moistenest with the morning dew. To thee the sad, to thee the weary fly They rest in peace beneath thy sacred gloom. still

sole companion of the lonely tomb ; leaves but thine in pity o'er them sich : now Lo to fancy's gaze thou seem'st to spread Thy shadowy boughs to shroud me with the dead."

Thou

No

I

The Mountain Ash

is to be found in most Welsh churchyards, has been planted, not as a funeral tree, but as a defence against evil spirits. In Montgomeryshire, it is customary to rest the corpse on its way to the churchyard under one of these trees

where

it

of good omen.

William Cullen Bryant, the American poet, has graceful description of an English churchyard :

left

us a

"Erewhile on England's pleasant shores, our sires Left not their churchyards unadorned with shades

Or blossoms

; and, indulgent to the strong natural dread of man's last home the grave Its frost and silence, they disposed around. Too sadly on life's close, the forms and hues Of vegetable beauty. Then the Yew, Green even amid the snows of Winter, told Of immortality ; and gracefully The Willow, a perpetual mourner, drooped And there the gadding Woodbine crept about And there the ancient Iv^."

—

And

!

The Walnut-tree,

of which it is said that the shadow brings some countries considered a funeral tree. In India they call the Tamarisk, Yamadutika (Messenger of Yama, the Indian god of death), and the Bomhax Heptaphyllum, Yamadruma, the tree of Yama. The Elm and the Oak, although not stri(5tly funeral trees, are connedled with the grave by reason of their wood being used in

death,

is in

the construction of coffins, at the present day, just as Cypress to be employed by the ancients.

and Cedar wood used

" And well the abounding Elm may grow In field and hedce so rife ; In forest, copse, and wooded park.

And

'mid the

city's strife

;

For every hour that passes by Shall end a human life." ffood.

—

—

;

iJuncraf pfanj/.

193

Brambles are used to bind down graves. Ivy, as an evergreen and a symbol of friendship, is planted to run over the last resting-place of those we love. In Persia, it is the Basil-tuft that waves its fragrant blossoms over tombs and graves. In Tripoli, Roses, Myrtle, Orange, and Jasmine are planted round tombs and a large bouquet of flowers IS usually fastened at the head of the coffins of females. Upon the death of a Moorish lady of quality every place is filled with fresh flowers and burning perfumes, and at the head of the body The mausoleum of the royal family is is placed a large bouquet. filled with immense wreaths of fresh flowers, and generally tombs are dressed with festoons of choice blossoms. The Chinese plant Roses, a species of Lycoris, and the Anemone on their graves. The Indians attribute a funereal charadter to the fragrant flowers of the sacred Champak {Michdia Champaca). The ancients planted the Asphodel around the tombs of the deceased, in the belief that the seeds of this plant, and those of the Mallow, afforded nourishment to the dead. The Greeks employed the Rose to decorate the tombs of the dead, and the floral decorations were frequently renewed, under the belief that this bush was potent to protedt the remains of the departed one. Anacreon alludes to this pradtice in one of his ;

odes: " When pain

afflicts

and sickness

grieves.

drooping heart relieves And after death its odours shed pleasing fragrance o'er the dead." Its juice the

A

The Romans, by old wills of

also,

were so

partial to the Rose, that

we

find,

Ravenna and Milan, that codicils in the the deceased dire