Part 6 (2/2)

Closely allied with this part of our subject are those plants connected with serpents, here forming a very numerous cla.s.s. Indeed, it was only natural that our ancestors, from their dread of the serpent on account of its poisonous sting, as well as from their antipathy to it as the symbol of evil, should ascertain those plants which seemed either attractive, or antagonistic, to this much-dreaded reptile. Accordingly certain plants, from being supposed to be distasteful to serpents, were much used as amulets to drive them away. Foremost among these may be mentioned the ash, to escape contact with which a serpent, it has been said, would even creep into the fire, in allusion to which Cowley thus writes:

”But that which gave more wonder than the rest, Within an ash a serpent built her nest And laid her eggs, when once to come beneath The very shadow of an ash was death.”

Gerarde notices this curious belief, and tells us that, ”the leaves of this tree are so great virtue against serpents that they dare not so much as touch the morning and evening shadows of the tree, but shun them afar off.”

Hence ash-sap was a German remedy for serpent bites. Lucan, in his ”Pharsalia” (915-921), has enumerated some of the plants burned for the purpose of expelling serpents:

”Beyond the farthest tents rich fires they build, That healthy medicinal odours yield, There foreign galbanum dissolving fries, And crackling flames from humble wallwort rise.

There tamarisk, which no green leaf adorns, And there the spicy Syrian costos burns; There centaury supplies the wholesome flame, That from Therssalian Chiron takes its name; The gummy larch tree, and the thapsos there, Woundwort and maidenweed perfume the air, There the long branches of the long-lived hart With southernwood their odours strong impart, The monsters of the land, the serpents fell, Fly far away and shun the hostile smell.”

The smoke of the juniper was equally repellent to serpents, and the juice of dittany ”drives away venomous beasts, and doth astonish them.”

In olden times, for serpent bites, agrimony, chamomile, and the fruit of the bramble, were held efficacious, and Gerarde recommends the root of the bugloss, ”as it keepeth such from being stung as have drunk it before; the leaves and seeds do the same.” On the other hand, some plants had the reputation of attracting serpents, one of these being the moneywort or creeping loosestrife, with which they were said to heal themselves when wounded. As far back as the time of Pliny serpents were supposed to be very fond of fennel, restoring to them their youth by enabling them to cast their old skins. There is a belief in Thuringia that the possession of fern seed causes the bearer to be pursued by serpents till thrown away; and, according to a curious Eussian proverb, ”from all old trees proceeds either an owl or a devil,” in reference, no doubt, to their often bare and sterile appearance.

Footnotes:

1. See Tylor's ”Primitive Culture,” ii. 316.

2. Thorpe's ”Northern Mythology,” iii. 193.

3. ”Plant-lore Legends and Lyrics,” p. 486.

4. Mr. Conway, _Fraser's Magazine_, 1870, p. 593.

5. Mr. Conway, _Fraser's Magazine_, 1870, p. 107.

6. ”Plant-lore Legends and Lyrics,” p. 411.

7. Folkard's ”Plant-lore Legends and Lyrics,” p. 448.

8. See Friend's ”Flower-lore,” i. 68.

9. Thorpe's ”Northern Mythology,” ii. 104.

10. ”Mystic Trees and Flowers,” Fraser's Magazine.

CHAPTER VII.

PLANTS IN FAIRY-LORE.

Many plants have gained a notoriety from their connection with fairyland, and although the belief in this romantic source of superst.i.tion has almost died out, yet it has left its traces in the numerous legends which have survived amongst us. Thus the delicate white flowers of the wood-sorrel are known in Wales as ”fairy bells,” from a belief once current that these tiny beings were summoned to their moonlight revels and gambols by these bells. In Ireland they were supposed to ride to their scenes of merrymaking on the ragwort, hence known as the ”fairies' horse.” Cabbage-stalks, too, served them for steeds, and a story is told of a certain farmer who resided at Dundaniel, near Cork, and was considered to be under fairy control. For a long time he suffered from ”the falling sickness,” owing to the long journeys which he was forced to make, night by night, with the fairy folk on one of his own cabbage stumps. Sometimes the good people made use of a straw, a blade of gra.s.s, or a fern, a further ill.u.s.tration of which is furnished by ”The Witch of Fife:”

”The first leet night, quhan the new moon set, Quhan all was douffe and mirk, We saddled our naigis wi' the moon-fern leif, And rode fra Kilmerrin kirk.

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