The Thistle has given its title to a Scotch order of knighthood, which is said to have been instituted by Achaius, king of the Scots, when he obtained a victory over Athelstan. The insignia borne by the knights of the Order of the Thistle is a gold collar, with Thistles and a sprig of Rue interlaced. A gold medal is also worn, bearing a figure of St. Andrew.——Mannhardt states that in Mecklenburg there is a legend current which relates that in a certain wild and barren spot, where once a murder had been committed, there grows every day at noon a strangely-formed Thistle: on the weird plant are to be seen human arms, hands, and heads, and when twelve heads have appeared, the ghastly plant mysteriously vanishes. A shepherd, one day, passed the spot where the mystic Thistle was growing. His staff became tinder, and his arms were struck with paralysis.——According to Apuleius, the wild Thistle, carried about the person, possessed the magical property of averting all ills from the bearer.——In Esthonia, they place Thistles on the Corn that has first ripened, to drive away any evil spirit that may come to it.——In divining, by an old English rite, a girl, to find out which of three or four persons loves her best, takes three or four heads of Thistles, cuts off their points, gives each Thistle the name of one of these persons, and lays them under her pillow. That Thistle which bears the name of the person loving her most will put forth a fresh sprout.——To dream of being surrounded by Thistles is a lucky omen, portending that the dreamer will be rejoiced by some pleasing intelligence in a short time.——Astrologers state that Thistles are under the rule of Mars.

THORN.—According to a German tradition, the Black Thorn springs from the blood of the corpse of a heathen slain in battle. In Germany, the Easter fire was anciently called Buckthorn because it was always kindled with that wood, as it is to this day at Dassel, in Westphalia. Kuhn thinks the tree itself (Bocksdorn) was so called from the sacrificial buck-goat which was burned upon its wood in heathen times.——The Celts have always reverenced the Thorn-bush, and its wood was used by the Greeks for the drilling-stick of their pyreia, an instrument employed for kindling the sacred fire. The Thorn was also held by the Greeks to be a preservative against witchcraft and sorcery. Nevertheless, in some parts of England, witches were formerly reputed to be fond of a Thorn-bush, and both in Brittany and in some parts of Ireland it is considered unsafe to gather even a leaf from certain old and solitary Thorns, which grow in sheltered hollows of the moorland, and are the fairies’ trysting places. To this day, it is thought in many rural districts to be a death-token, and therefore to take a branch or blossom into a house is deemed to be unlucky.——Josephus tells us that the “bush” out of which the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire was a Thorn. He writes: “A wonderful prodigy happened to Moses: for a fire fed upon a Thorn-bush; yet did the green leaves and the flowers continue untouched, and the fire did not at all consume the fruit branches.”——According to Aryan tradition, the Hawthorn sprang from the lightning, and as with other trees of like mythical descent, it was considered a protective against fire, thunderbolts, and lightning. Sir John Maundevile bears witness to this old belief, when, speaking of the Albespyne, or Whitethorn, he says:—“For he that beareth a braunche on hym thereof, no thondre, ne no maner of tempest may dere [harm] hym; ne in the hows that yt is ynne may non evil ghost entre.”——The Whitethorn or Hawthorn has long had the reputation of being a sacred tree, and the plant which had the mournful distinction of supplying the crown of Thorns worn by our Saviour at His crucifixion. Many other plants, however, have been credited with this distinction, including the Buckthorns (Rhamnus Paliurus and Rhamnus Spina Christi), and the Paliurus aculeatus, or Christ Thorn.——In the thirteenth century, there existed among Christians a strong passion for relics, and when the Emperor Baldwin II. came to beg aid from Louis IX. (St. Louis of France), he secured his goodwill at once by offering him the holy Crown of Thorns, which for several centuries had been preserved at Constantinople, and had been pledged to the Venetians for a large sum of money. Louis redeemed this precious and venerable relic, aided Baldwin with men and money, and then triumphantly brought the crown of Thorns to Paris, carrying it himself from Sens, barefoot and bareheaded. Having also been so fortunate as to obtain a small piece of the true Cross, he built in honour of these treasures the exquisite chapel since called La Sainte Chapelle. In pictures of St. Louis, he is usually depicted with his special attribute, the Crown of Thorns, which he reverently holds in one hand.——In Brittany, there is a superstition current which will explain the cause why the robin has always been a favourite and protégé of man. It is said that while our Saviour was bearing His Cross, one of these little birds took from His Crown one of the Thorns steeped in His blood, which dyed the robin’s breast; and ever since the redbreasts have been the friends of man.——St. Catherine of Siena is frequently represented with the Crown of Thorns, in reference to the legend that, having been persecuted and vilified by certain nuns, she laid her wrongs, weeping, at the feet of Christ. He appeared to her, bearing in one hand a crown of gold and jewels, in the other His Crown of Thorns, and bade her choose between them. She took from His hand the Crown of Thorns, and pressed it hastily on her own head, but with such force that the Thorns penetrated to her brain, and she cried out with the agony.——In a painting of Murillo, Santa Rosa de Lima is depicted crowned with Thorns, in allusion to the legend that when compelled by her mother to wear a crown of Roses, she so adjusted it on her brow that it became a veritable crown of Thorns.——In representations of St. Francis of Assisi, the Crown of Thorns is sometimes introduced, the saint having been considered by his followers as a type of the Redeemer.——In many parts of England charms or incantations are employed to prevent a Thorn from festering in the flesh. The following are some of the magic verses recited:—

In Herefordshire, the burning of a Thorn-bush is supposed to act as a charm against smut or mildew in Wheat. When the crop is just springing out of the ground, the farmer’s servants rise before daybreak, and cut a branch of some particular Thorn; they then make a large fire in the field, in which they burn a portion of it, and hang up the remaining portion in the homestead.——Tradition affirms that, at Hemer, in Westphalia, a man was engaged in fencing his field on Good Friday, and had just poised a bunch of Thorns on his fork, when he was at once transported to the Moon. Some of the Hemer peasants declare that the Moon is not only inhabited by this man with his Thorn-bush, but also by a woman who was churning her butter one Sabbath during Divine Service. Another legend relates how the Man in the Moon is none other than Cain with a bundle of Briars.——To dream you are surrounded by Thorns, signifies that you will be rejoiced by some pleasing intelligence in a very short time.

THORN APPLE.—Gerarde, in his ‘Herbal,’ calls the Datura Stramonium Thorny Apple of Peru: he speaks of it as a plant of a drowsy and numbing quality, resembling in its effects the Mandrake, and he tells us that it is thought to be the Hippomanes, which Theocritus mentions as causing horses to go mad. The words of the poet are thus translated by the old herbalist:—

The juice of Thorn-Apples Gerarde guarantees, when boiled with hog’s grease and made into a salve, will cure inflammations, burnings and scaldings, “as well of fire, water, boiling lead, gunpowder, as that which comes by lightning.” In India, the Datura is sometimes employed by robbers as a magical means of depriving their victims of all power of resistance: their mode of operation being to induce them to chew and swallow a portion of the plant, because those who eat it lose their proper senses, become silly and given to inordinate laughter, feel a strong desire to be generous and open-handed, and finally will allow anyone to pillage them. The Indians apply to the Datura the epithets of the Drunkard, the Madman, the Deceiver, and the Fool-maker. It is also called the tuft of Siva (god of destruction). The Rajpoot mothers are said to besmear their breasts with the juice of the leaves, in order to destroy their new-born infant children. Acosta states that the Indian dancing girls drug wine with the seeds of the Datura Stramonium. He adds that whoever is so unfortunate as to partake of it is for some time perfectly unconscious. He often, however, speaks with others, and gives answers as if he were in full possession of his senses, although he has no control over his actions, is perfectly ignorant of whom he is with, and loses all remembrance of what has taken places when he awakes.——The Stramonium, or Thorn-Apple, is one of the plants commonly connected with witchcraft, death, and horror. Harte, describing the plants growing about the Palace of Death, says:—

THYME.—Among the Greeks, Thyme denoted the graceful elegance of the Attic style, because it covered Mount Hymettus, and gave to the honey made there the aromatic flavour of which the ancients were so fond. “To smell of Thyme” was, therefore, a commendation bestowed on those writers who had mastered the Attic style.——With the Greeks, also, Thyme was an emblem of activity; and as this virtue is eminently associated with true courage, the ladies of chivalrous times embroidered on the scarfs which they presented to their knights, the figure of a bee hovering about a spray of Thyme, in order to inculcate the union of the amiable with the active.——In olden times, it was believed that Thyme renewed the spirits of both man and beast; and the old herbalists recommended it is a powerful aid in melancholic and splenetic diseases.——Fairies and elves were reputed to be specially fond of Wild Thyme. Oberon exclaims with delight:—

The fairy king’s musical hounds would willingly forsake the richest blossoms of the garden in order to hunt for the golden dew in the flowery tufts of Thyme. Of witches it is said, that when they

In the South of France, when a summons to attend a meeting of the votaries of Marianne is sent, it is accompanied by tufts of Wild Thyme, or Ferigoule, that being the symbol of advanced Republicanism.

TOADSTOOL.—The name of Toadstool was originally applied to all descriptions of unwholesome Fungi, from the popular belief that toads sit on them. Thus Spenser, in his ‘Shepherd’s Calendar,’ says:—

Fungi are in some parts of the country called Paddock-stools from the same notion that toads are fond of sitting on them; and in the Western counties they bear the name of Pixie-stools. In Sussex, the Puff-ball (Lycoperdon) is called Puck’s-stool; and in other places these fungi are known among country folks as Puckfists. These names tend to identify Puck, the mischievous king of the fairies, with the toad (pogge), which is popularly believed to be the impersonation of the Devil himself: hence Toad-stools, Paddock-stools, Puck’s-stools, Puckfists, and Pixie-stools have been superstitiously thought to be the droppings of elves or of Satan, and in some districts are known as Devil’s droppings.

TOBACCO.—With the Aborigines of Southern America, the Tobacco (Nicotiana) was regarded as a sacred plant, and Darwin has described how, in the pampas of Patagonia, he saw the sacred tree of Wallitchon. This tree grew on a hill in the midst of a vast plain, and when the Indians perceived it afar off, they saluted it with loud cries. The branches were covered with cords, from which were suspended votive offerings, consisting of cigars, bread, meat, pieces of cloth, &c. In a fissure of the tree they found spirits and vegetable extracts. When smoking, they blew the Tobacco smoke towards the branches. All around lay the bleached bones of horses that they had sacrificed to the sacred tree.——The Indians believe that this worship ensures good luck to themselves and their horses. In other parts of America, the Indians throw Tobacco as an offering to the spirit supposed to inhabit the waterfalls and whirlpools.——M. Cochet, a French traveller, recounts that the Indians of Upper Peru, entertain a religious reverence for Tobacco. They consider it an infallible remedy for the sting of serpents, and each year a festival-day is consecrated to the plant. On that day they construct, in the most secluded portion of the forest, a round hut, adorned with flowers and feathers. At the foot of the central pillar which supports the hut is placed a basket richly decorated, containing a roll of Tobacco. Into this hut troop in one by one the Indians of the district, and before the shrine of the sacred Tobacco perform their customary acts of worship.——In reference to the use of Tobacco by pagan priests in the delivery of their oracles, Gerarde tells us that the “priests and enchanters of hot countries do take the fume thereof until they be drunke, that after they have lien for dead three or foure houres, they may tell the people what wonders, visions, or illusions they have seen, and so give them a prophetical direction or foretelling (if we may trust to the Divell) of the successe of their businesse.”——In the Ukraine, Tobacco is looked upon as an ill-omened plant, and the Raskolniks call it the Herb of the Devil, and make offerings of it to appease “genis, spirits, and demons of the forest.”——Until the time of Peter the Great, the use of Tobacco was forbidden in Russia, and those who transgressed the law had their noses split.

TREACLE-MUSTARD.—The names of French Mustard, Treacle-Mustard, and Treacle Worm-seed were given to the Erysimum cheiranthoides, the two last because, in mediæval times, the seed of this plant formed one of the seventy-three ingredients of the far-famed “Venice treacle,” a noted antidote to all poisons, believed to cure “all those that were bitten or stung of venomous beastes, or had drunk poisons, or were infected with the pestilence.” The origin of this counter-poison was the famous Mithridaticum, a preparation invented by Mithridates, king of Pontus. Andromachus added to this comparatively simple compound other ingredients, and especially vipers; changing, on that account, the name to Theriaca (from the Greek therion, a small animal). Dr. Prior tells us that this remedy, which was known in England originally as Triacle, was the source of many popular tales of sorcerers eating poison, and was retained in the London Pharmacopœia till about a century ago.

TREFOIL.—Among the Romans, the Grass crown made of Trefoil-leaves was esteemed a mark of very high honour. (See Clover and Shamrock).

TROLL-FLOWER.—The Globe-flower (Trollius Europæus) acquired the sobriquet of Troll-flower in allusion to the Trolls, who were malignant elves, and because of the plant’s acrid poisonous qualities. (See Globe Flower).

True-Love.—See Herb Paris.

TUBEROSE.—The name Tuberose is simply a corruption of the plant’s botanical title Polianthes tuberosa. The Malayans call this sweet-scented flower “The Mistress of Night:” when worn in the hair by a Malayan lady, the blossom is an indication to her lover that his suit is pleasing to her. The Tuberose is a native of India, whence it was first brought to Europe towards the close of the sixteenth century. Its blossoms were at first single, but La Cour, a Dutch florist, obtained the double-flowering variety from seed. So tenacious was he of the roots, that even after he had propagated them so freely as to have more than he could plant, he caused them to be cut to pieces in order that he might have the pleasure of boasting that he was the only person in Europe who possessed this flower.

TULASI.—The Indian name of the Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum) is Tulasi, under which appellation this sacred plant is worshipped as a goddess. (See Basil).

TULIP.—The origin of the brilliant and dazzling Tulip has been given us by the poet Rapin, who relates that the flower was a modest Dalmatian nymph, metamorphosed into a Tulip to save her from the importunities of Vertumnus. The story is thus told by the Jesuit poet:—

The Tulip is a favourite flower of the East, and is believed originally to have come from Persia. The French formerly called the flower Tulipan, which, as well as the English name, is derived from Thoulyban, the word used in Persia for turban.——The Tulip is considered to be one of the flowers loved by fairies and elves, who protect those that cultivate them.——In Turkey, the flower is held in the highest estimation, and a Feast of Tulips used to be celebrated annually in the Sultan’s seraglio, when the gardens were brilliantly illuminated and decorated with Oriental magnificence, and the fête was attended by the Sultan and his harem.——The garden Tulip is a native of the Levant: Linnæus says of Cappadocia. It is very common in Syria, and is supposed by some persons to be the “Lily of the field” alluded to by Jesus Christ.——In Persia, the Tulip is considered as the emblem of consuming love. When a young man presents one to his mistress, he gives her to understand, by the general colour of the flower, that he is impressed with her beauty, and by the black base of it that his heart is burnt to a coal.——In India, the Tulip seems to typify unhappy love. In the ‘Rose of Bakawali,’ a Hindustani story, the author, while describing the beautiful fairy of the heaven, Bakawali, says “the Tulip immersed itself in blood because of the jealousy it entertained of her charming lips!” When bidding adieu to the fairy, Taj-ul-muluk says: ‘I quit this garden carrying in my heart, like the Tulip, the wound of unhappy love—I go, my head covered with dust, my heart bleeding, my breast fevered.’——The Tulip is supposed to have been brought from Persia to the Levant, and it was introduced into Western Europe about the middle of the sixteenth century by Busbeck, ambassador from the Emperor of Germany to the Sublime Porte, who to his astonishment found Tulips on the road between Adrianople and Constantinople blooming in the middle of winter. In Europe, they soon became universal favourites, and were imported into England in 1577.——In Holland, about the middle of the seventeenth century, a perfect mania for possessing rare sorts seized all classes of persons. From 1634 to 1637 inclusive all classes in all the great cities of Holland became infected with the Tulipomania. A single root of a particular species, called the Viceroy, was exchanged, in the true Dutch taste, for the following articles:—2 lasts of Wheat, 4 of Rye, 4 fat oxen, 3 fat swine, 12 fat sheep, 2 hogsheads of wine, 4 tuns of beer, 2 tons of butter, 1000 pounds of cheese, a complete bed, a suit of clothes, and a silver beaker—value of the whole, 2500 florins. These Tulips afterwards were sold according to the weight of the roots. Four hundred perits (something less than a grain) of Admiral Liefken, cost 4400 florins; 446 ditto of Admiral Van der Eyk, 1620 florins; 106 perits Schilder cost 1615 florins; 200 ditto Semper Augustus, 5500 florins; 410 ditto Viceroy, 3000 florins, &c. The species Semper Augustus has been often sold for 2000 florins; and it once happened that there were only two roots of it to be had, the one at Amsterdam, and the other at Haarlem. For a root of this species one agreed to give 4600 florins, together with a new carriage, two grey horses, and a complete harness. Another agreed to give for a root twelve acres of land; for those who had not ready money promised their moveable and immoveable goods, houses and lands, cattle and clothes. The trade was followed not only by mercantile people, but also by all classes of society. At first, everyone won and no one lost. Some of the poorest people gained, in a few months, houses, coaches and horses, and figured away like the first characters in the land. In every town some tavern was selected which served as an exchange, where high and low traded in flowers, and confirmed their bargains with the most sumptuous entertainments. They formed laws for themselves, and had their notaries and clerks. During the time of the Tulipomania, a speculator often offered and paid large sums for a root which he never received, nor ever wished to receive. Another sold roots which he never possessed or delivered. Often did a nobleman purchase of a chimney-sweep Tulips to the amount of 2000 florins, and sell them at the same time to a farmer, and neither the nobleman, chimney-sweep, nor farmer had roots in their possession, or wished to possess them. Before the Tulip season was over, more roots were sold and purchased, bespoke, and promised to be delivered, than in all probability were to be found in the gardens of Holland; and when Semper Augustus was not to be had, which happened twice, no species perhaps was oftener purchased and sold. In the space of three years, as Munting tells us, more than ten millions were expended in this trade, in only one town of Holland. The evil rose to such a pitch, that the States of Holland were under the necessity of interfering; the buyers took the alarm; the bubble, like the South Sea scheme, suddenly burst; and as, in the outset, all were winners, in the winding up, very few escaped without loss.

TUTSAN.—The Hypericum Androsæmum was in former days called Tutsan, or Tutsayne, a word derived from the French name, Toute-saine, which was applied to the plant, according to Lobel, “because, like the Panacea, it cures all sickness and diseases.” The St. John’s Wort (H. perforatum) was also called Tutsan.

TURNIP.—The Turnip (Brassica Rapa) was considered by Columella and Pliny as next to corn in value and utility. Pliny mentions some of the Turnips of his times as weighing forty pounds each.——In Westphalia, when a young peasant goes wooing, if Turnips be set before him, they signify that he is totally unacceptable to the girl he would court.——To dream of Turnips denotes fruitless toil.

UNSHOE-THE-HORSE.—The Hippocrepis comosa, from its horseshoe-shaped legumes, is supposed, upon the doctrine of signatures, to have the magical power of causing horses to cast their shoes. This Vetch is the Sferracavallo of the Italians, who ascribe to it the same magical property. Grimm, however, considers that the Springwort (Euphorbia Lathyris) is, from its powerful action on metals, the Italian Sferracavallo. The French give a similar extraordinary property to the Rest-Harrow (Ononis arvensis); and it is also allotted to the Moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria):—

UPAS.—The deadly Upas of Java has the terrible reputation of being a tree which poisons by means of its noxious exhalations. Two totally distinct trees have been called the Upas,—one, the Antjar (Autiaris toxicaria), is a tree attaining a height of one hundred feet; the other, the Chetik, is a large creeping shrub peculiar to Java. Neither of them, however, answers to the description of the poisonous Upas, which rises in the “Valley of Death,” and which was seen and reported on by Foersch, a Dutch physician, who travelled in Java at the end of the last century. Foersch wrote that this deadly Upas grew in the midst of a frightful desert. No bird could rest in its branches, no plant could subsist, no animal live in its neighbourhood: it blighted everything near with its malaria, and caused the birds of the air that flew over it to drop lifelessly down. Leagues away, its noxious emanations, borne by the winds, proved fatal. When a Javanese was condemned to death, as a last chance, his pardon was offered to him if he would consent to go into the Valley of Death, and gather, by means of a long Bamboo-rod, some drops of the poison of the Upas. Hundreds of unhappy creatures are said to have submitted to this trial, and to have miserably perished.

VALERIAN.—The ancient name of this plant, according to Dioscorides, was Phu, and in botanical phraseology Garden Valerian is still Valeriana Phu. The Latins called the plant Valeriana, some say from its medicinal value, others from one Valerius, who is reputed first to have used the herb in medicine; but the derivation is really uncertain. The old English name of the plant was Setewale, Setwal, or Set-wall. Chaucer writes:—

And, speaking of the Clerk of Oxenforde, he says:—

Gerarde tells us that the plant was known in his day by the name of Valerian, Capon’s Tail, and Setwall, but that the last name really belonged to the Zedoaria, which is not Valerian. The old herbalist also records that the medicinal virtues of Valerian were, among the poorer classes in the North, held in such veneration, “that no broths, pottage, or physical meats are worth anything if Setwall were not at an end: whereupon some woman poet or other hath made these verses:—

Cats are so fond of the perfume of Valerian, that they are said to dig up the roots, rolling on them with ecstatic delight, and gnawing them to pieces. The action of the Valerian-root (which the herbalists found out was very like a cat’s eye) on the nervous system of some cats undoubtedly produces in time a kind of pleasant intoxication. Rats are also attracted by the odour of this plant.——Astrologers say that Valerian is under the rule of Mercury.

Venus’ Plants.—See Lady’s Plants.

Veronica.—See Speedwell.

VERVAIN.—The Vervain, or Verbena, has from time immemorial been the symbol of enchantment, and the most ancient nations employed this plant in their divinations, sacrificial and other rites, and in incantations. It bore the names of the Tears of Isis, Tears of Juno, Mercury’s Blood, Persephonion, Demetria, and Cerealis. The Magi of the ancient Elamites or Persians made great use of the Vervain in the worship of the Sun, always carrying branches of it in their hands when they approached the altar. The magicians also employed the mystic herb in their pretended divinations, and affirmed that, by smearing the body over with the juice of this plant, the person would obtain whatever he set his heart upon, and be able to reconcile the most inveterate enemies, make friends with whom he pleased, and gain the affections, and cure the disease of whom he listed. When they cut Vervain, it was always at a time when both sun and moon were invisible, and they poured honey and honeycomb on the earth, as an atonement for robbing it of so precious a herb.——The Greeks called it the Sacred Herb, and it was with this plant only that they cleansed the festival-table of Jupiter before any great solemnity took place; and hence, according to Pliny, the name of Verbena is derived. It was, also, one of the plants which was dedicated to Venus. Venus Victrix wore a crown of Myrtle interwoven with Vervain.——With the Romans, the Vervain was a plant of good omen, and considered strictly sacred:—

They employed it in their religious rites, swept their temples and cleansed their altars with it, and sprinkled holy water with its branches. They also purified their houses with it, to keep off evil spirits; and in order to make themselves invulnerable, they carried about their persons a blade of Grass and some Vervain. Their ambassadors, or heralds-at-arms, wore crowns of Vervain when they went to offer terms of reconciliation, or to give defiance to their enemies, a custom thus noticed by Drayton:—

Virgil mentions Vervain as one of the charms used by an enchantress:—

The Druids, both in Gaul and in Britain, regarded the Vervain with the same veneration as the Hindus do the Kusa or Tulasi, and, like the Magi of the East, they offered sacrifices to the earth before they cut this plant. This ceremony took place in Spring, at about the rising of the Great Dog Star, but so that neither sun nor moon would be at that time above the earth to see the sacred herb cut. It was to be dug up with an iron instrument, and to be waved aloft in the air, the left hand only being used. It was also ordained by the Druidical priests, for those who collected it, “that before they take up the herb, they bestow upon the ground where it groweth honey with the combs, in token of satisfaction and amends for the wrong and violence done in depriving her of so holy a herb. The leaves, stalks, and flowers were dried separately in the shade, and were used for the bites of serpents infused in wine.” Another account states that the Druidesses held Vervain in as great veneration as the Druids did the Mistletoe. They were never permitted to touch it. It was to be gathered at midnight, at the full of the moon, in this manner:—A long string with a loop in it was thrown over the Vervain-plant, and the other end fastened to the left great toe of a young virgin, who was then to drag at it till she had uprooted it. The eldest Druidess then received it in a cloth, and carried it home, to use it for medicinal purposes and offerings to their gods. In the Druidic procession, to the gathering of the Mistletoe, the white-clad herald carried a branch of Vervain in his hand, encircled by two serpents. The priests, when performing their daily functions of feeding the never-dying fires in the Druidic temples, prayed for the space of an hour, holding branches of Vervain in their hands. Pliny tells us that the Druids made use of it in casting lots, as well as in drawing omens and in other pretended magical arts; he also says that if the hall or dining chamber be sprinkled with the water wherein Vervain lay steeped, all that sat at the table should be “very pleasant and make merry more jocundly.”

In mediæval days, the sacred character of Vervain was still maintained, and the plant was greatly prized, and used in compounding charms and love-philtres. Known in our country as Holy Herb and Simpler’s Joy, it was credited with great medicinal virtues.

Its juice was given as a cure for the plague, and the plant was prescribed as a remedy in some thirty different maladies, and was suspended round the neck as an amulet. Gerarde, however, tells us that “the devil did reveal it as a secret and divine medicine;” and R. Turner writes (1687):—“It is said to be used by witches to do mischief, and so may all other herbs if by wicked astrologers used to accomplish their wretched ends.” But notwithstanding that it was used by witches and wizards in their incantations and spells, and was in fact called the Enchanter’s Plant, Vervain was considered to possess the power of combating witches: thus Aubrey says:—

and Michael Drayton writes:—

and again—

On the Eve of St. John (June 23rd), Vervain was for a long time associated with the observances of Midsummer Eve. Thus we read in ‘Ye Popish Kingdome:’—

J. White, Minister of God’s Word, writes in 1624:—“Many also use to weare Vervein against blasts; and when they gather it for this purpose firste they crosse the herb with their hand, and then they blesse it thus:—

In many rural districts, Vervain is still regarded as a plant possessing magical virtues as a love philtre. It has the reputation of securing affection from those who take it to those who administer it. The gun-flint boiled in Vervain and Rue ensures the shot taking effect. The root of Vervain tied with a white satin ribbon round the neck acts as a charm against ague. Vervain and baked toads, worn in silken bags around the neck, are a cure for the evil.——In the northern provinces of France, the peasants still continue to gather Vervain under the different phases of the moon, using certain mysterious ejaculations known only to themselves whilst in the act of collecting the mystic herb, by whose assistance they hope to effect cures, and charm both the flocks and the rustic beauties of the village.——The Germans present a hat of Vervain to the newly-married bride, as though placing her under the protection of Venus Victrix, the patroness of the plant.——Gerarde tells us that in his time it was called “Holie Herbe, Juno’s Teares, Mercurie’s Moist Bloude, and Pigeon’s Grasse, or Columbine, because Pigeons are delighted to be amongst it, as also to eate thereof.”——Astrologers place Vervain under the dominion of Venus.

VINE.—The Vine was held by the ancients sacred to Bacchus, and the old historians all connect the jovial god with the “life-giving tree”: he is crowned with Vine-leaves, and he holds in his hand a bunch of Grapes, whilst his merry followers are decked with garlands of the trailing Vine, and love to quaff with their master the divine juice of its luscious violet and golden fruit, styled by Anacreon “the liquor of Bacchus.” The old heathen writers all paid honour to the Vine, and attributed to the earliest deified sovereigns of each country the gift of this ambrosial tree. Thus Saturn is said to have bestowed it upon Crete; Janus bore it with him to Latium; Osiris similarly benefitted Egypt; and Spain obtained it through Geryon, her most ancient monarch. Old traditions all point to Greece as the native place of the Vine, and there it is still to be found growing wild.——There are many allusions to the Vine in the Scriptures. Noah, we find, planted a Vineyard (Gen. ix., 20); enormous bunches of Grapes were brought by the Israelitish spies out of Palestine; Solomon had a Vineyard at Baalhamon. “He let out the Vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring one thousand pieces of silver” (Cant, viii., 11). The Bible contains many illustrations borrowed from the husbandry of the Vineyard, showing that Vine culture was sedulously pursued, and formed a fruitful source of wealth. In Leviticus xxv., 4, 5, we find a command that every seventh year the Vines were to be left untouched by the pruning knife, and the Grapes were not to be gathered.——Of the ancient pagan writers who have alluded to the Vine in their works, Cato has left abundant information as to the Roman Vine-craft, and Columella, Varro, Palladius, Pliny, and Tacitus have all given details of the Vine culture of the ancients. More than sixty varieties of the Vine appear to have been known to the Greeks and Romans, one of which, called by Columella and Pliny the Amethystine, has certainly been lost, for they record that the wine from its Grapes never occasioned drunkenness.——The Elm was preferred to any other tree by the ancients as a prop for Vines, and this connexion has led to numerous fanciful notices by the poets of all ages. Statius calls it the “Nuptial Elm;” Ovid speaks of “the lofty Elm, with creeping Vines o’erspread;” Tasso says:—

Beaumont tells us that—