Part 23 (1/2)

”Poppies a sanguine mantle spread For the blood of the dragon that Margaret shed.”

Archdeacon Hare says the Sweet-William, designated the ”painted lady,”

was dedicated to Saint William (June 25), the term ”sweet” being a subst.i.tution for ”saint.” This seems doubtful, and some would corrupt the word ”sweet” from the French _oeillet_, corrupted to w.i.l.l.y, and thence to William. Mr. King, however, considers that the small red pink (_Dianthus prolifer_), found wild in the neighbourhood of Rochester, ”is perhaps the original Saint Sweet-William,” for, he adds, the word ”saint” has only been dropped since days which saw the demolition of St.

William's shrine in the cathedral. This is but a conjecture, it being uncertain whether the ma.s.ses of bright flowers which form one of the chief attractions of old-fas.h.i.+oned gardens commemorate St. William of Rochester, St. William of York, or, likeliest perhaps of the three, St.

William of Aquitaine, the half soldier, half monk, whose fame was so widely spread throughout the south of Europe.

Roses were said to fade on St. Mary Magdalene's Day (July 20), to whom we find numerous flowers dedicated, such as the maudlin, a nickname of the costmary, either in allusion to her love of scented ointment, or to its use in uterine affections, over which she presided as the patroness of unchaste women, and maudlin-wort, another name for the moon-daisy.

But, as Dr. Prior remarks, it should, ”be observed that the monks in the Middle Ages mixed up with the story of the Magdalene that of another St.

Mary, whose early life was pa.s.sed in a course of debauchery.”

A German piece of folk-lore tells us that it is dangerous to climb a cherry-tree on St. James's Night, as the chance of breaking one's neck will be great, this day being held unlucky. On this day is kept St.

Christopher's anniversary, after whom the herb-christopher is named, a species of aconite, according to Gerarde. But, as Dr. Prior adds, the name is applied to many plants which have no qualities in common, some of these being the meadow-sweet, fleabane, osmund-fern, herb-impious, everlasting-flower, and baneberry.

Throughout August, during the ingathering of the harvest, a host of customs have been kept up from time immemorial, which have been duly noticed by Brand, while towards the close of the month we are reminded of St. Bartholomew's Day by the gaudy sunflower, which has been nicknamed St. Bartholomew's star, the term ”star” having been often used ”as an emblematical representation of brilliant virtues or any sign of admiration.” It is, too, suggested by Archdeacon Hare that the filbert may owe its name to St. Philbert, whose festival was on the 22nd August.

The pa.s.sion-flower has been termed Holy Rood flower, and it is the ecclesiastical emblem of Holy Cross Day, for, according to the familiar couplet:--

”The pa.s.sion-flower long has blow'd To betoken us signs of the Holy Rood.”

Then there is the Michaelmas Day, which:--

”Among dead weeds, Bloom for St. Michael's valorous deeds,”

and the golden star lily, termed St. Jerome's lily. On St. Luke's Day, certain flowers, as we have already noticed, have been in request for love divinations; and on the Continent the chestnut is eaten on the festival of St. Simon, in Piedmont on All Souls' Day, and in France on St. Martin's, when old women a.s.semble beneath the windows and sing a long ballad. Hallowe'en has its use among divinations, at which time various plants are in request, and among the observance of All Souls'

Day was blessing the beans. It would appear, too, that in days gone by, on the eve of All Saints' Day, heath was specially burnt by way of a bonfire:--

”On All Saints' Day bare is the place where the heath is burnt; The plough is in the furrow, the ox at work.”

From the shape of its flower, the trumpet-flowered wood-sorrel has been called St. Cecilia's flower, whose festival is kept on November 22. The _Nigella damascena_, popularly known as love-in-a-mist, was designated St. Catherine's flower, ”from its persistent styles,” writes Dr.

Prior,[5] ”resembling the spokes of her wheel.” There was also the Catherine-pear, to which Gay alludes in his ”Pastorals,” where Sparabella, on comparing herself with her rival, says:--

”Her wan complexion's like the withered leek, While Catherine-pears adorn my ruddy cheek.”

Herb-Barbara, or St. Barbara's cress (_Barbarea vulgaris_), was so called from growing and being eaten about the time of her festival (December 4).

Coming to Christmas, some of the princ.i.p.al evergreens used in this country for decorative purposes are the ivy, laurel, bay, arbor vitae, rosemary, and holly; mistletoe, on account of its connection with Druidic rites, having been excluded from churches. Speaking of the holly, Mr. Conway remarks that, ”it was to the ancient races of the north a sign of the life which preserved nature through the desolation of winter, and was gathered into pagan temples to comfort the sylvan spirits during the general death.” He further adds that ”it is a singular fact that it is used by the wildest Indians of the Pacific coast in their ceremonies of purification. The ashen-f.a.ggot was in request for the Christmas fire, the ceremonies relating to which are well known.”

Footnotes:

1. By D. Moore and A.G. Moore, 1866.

2. See ”Journal of the Arch. a.s.soc.,” 1832, vii. 206.

3. See ”British Popular Customs.”