Chapter XVI: Funeral Trees and Plants (12)

The Juniper was consecrated to the Furies. The smoke of its green roots was the incense which the ancients deemed most acceptable to the infernal gods; and they burned its berries during funerals to ban malign influences.----The Juniper has always been looked upon as a protective tree; its powerful odour is stated to defeat the keen scent of the hound, and the hunted hare at the last extremity will seek and find a safe retreat in the cover of its branches. It sheltered the prophet Elijah from the persecutions of King Ahab, and we read in 1 Kings xix., 4, that the prophet lay and slept “under a Juniper-tree.”----According to a tradition common in Italy, the Virgin Mary fled for safety with the infant Jesus, pursued by the relentless soldiers of King Herod. Whilst on their road, the Brooms and the Chick-Peas began to rustle and crackle, and by this noise betrayed the fugitives. The Flax bristled up. Happily for her, Mary was near a Juniper: the hospitable tree opened it branches as arms, and enclosed the Virgin and Child within their folds, affording them a secure hiding-place. Then the Virgin uttered a malediction against the Brooms and the Chick-Peas, and ever since that day they have always rustled and crackled. The Holy Mother pardoned the Flax its weakness, and gave to the Juniper her blessing: on that account, in Italy, branches of Juniper are hung up on Christmas Day in stables and cattle sheds, just as in England, France, and Switzerland, Holly is employed as a decoration.----In Thibet, they burn Juniper-wood as incense in a gigantic altar, with an aperture at the top, which is called _Song-boom_, and bears some resemblance to a limekiln.----The old notion of the ancients that the burning of Juniper-wood expelled evil spirits from houses evidently led to some superstitious practices in this country in later times. Thus we find Bishop Hall writing:--

“And with glasse stills, and sticks of Juniper,
Raise the black spright that burns not with the fire.”

In some parts of Scotland, during the prevalence of an epidemic, certain mysterious ceremonies are enacted, in which the burning of Juniper-wood plays an important part.-----In Germany and Italy, the Juniper is the object of a superstitious reverence on account of its supposed property of dispersing evil spirits. According to Herr Weber, in some parts of Italy, holes or fissures in houses are brushed over with Juniper-boughs to prevent evil spirits introducing sickness; in other parts, boughs of Juniper are suspended before doorways, under the extraordinary belief that witches who see the Juniper are seized with an irresistible mania to count all its small leaves, which, however, are so numerous that they are sure to make a mistake in counting, and, becoming impatient, go away for fear of being surprised and recognised.----In Waldeck, Germany, when infants fall ill, their parents place in a bunch of Juniper some bread and wool, in order to induce bad spirits to eat, to spin, and so forget the poor little suffering babe. In Germany, a certain _Frau Wachholder_ is held to be the personification and the presiding spirit of the Juniper, who is invoked in order that thieves may be compelled to give up their ill-gotten spoils: this invocation takes place with certain superstitious ceremonies beneath the shadow of a Juniper, a branch of which is bent to the earth. In Germany, also, the Juniper, like the Holly, is believed to drive away from houses and stables, spells and witchcraft of all description, and specially to cast out from cows and horses the monsters which are sometimes believed mysteriously to haunt them. For a similar reason, in Germany, in order to strengthen horses, and to render them tractable and quiet, they administer to them on three successive Sundays before sunrise, three handfuls of salt, and seventy-two Juniper-berries. Prof. De Gubernatis tells us that from a rare Italian book which he possesses, he finds that in Bologna it is customary on Christmas Eve to distribute in most houses branches of Juniper; and moreover, that the best authorities have proved the omnipotence of Juniper against serpents and venomous beasts, who by their bites represent sins; and that the Juniper furnished the wood for the Cross of the Saviour and protected the Prophet Elijah.----In Tuscany, the Juniper receives a benediction in church on Palm Sunday.----In Venetia, Juniper is burnt to purify the air, recalling the ancient Roman custom of burning it instead of incense on the altars.----In Norway and Sweden, the floors are strewed with the tops of Juniper, which diffuse a pleasant fragrance.----Evelyn says that Juniper-berries afford “one of the most universal remedies in the world to our crazy forester,” and he wonders that Virgil should condemn the shadow of such a beneficial tree, but suspects him misreported as having written the following lines:--

“Now let us rise, for hoarseness oft invades
The singer’s voice who sings beneath the shades:
From Juniper unwholesome dews distil.”

The old herbalists recommended the berries of the Juniper for use as counter-poisons and other wholesome medicines, and water wherein these berries had been steeped was held to be health-giving and useful against poisons and pestilent fevers. The smoke of the leaves and wood was said to drive away serpents, “and all infection and corruption of the aire which bring the plague, or such-like contagious diseases.”----The Juniper would appear to be potent in dreams; thus, it is unlucky to dream of the tree itself, especially if the person be sick; but to dream of gathering the berries, if it be in winter, denotes prosperity; whilst to dream of the actual berries signifies that the dreamer will shortly arrive at great honours, and become an important person. To the married it foretells the birth of a male child.----The Juniper is held to be under the dominion of the Sun.

=JUNO’S ROSE.=--The _Lilium candidum_ has derived its name of Juno’s Rose from the legend that relates how Jupiter, to make his infant son Hercules immortal, put him to the breast of the sleeping Juno; and how, when the babe withdrew from her, the milk which fell from his lips formed the Milky Way, and, falling on earth, caused the White Lily to spring up. (See Lily).

=JUNO’S TEARS.=--A name originally given by Dioscorides to the _Coix lacryma_ (now called Job’s Tears), but for some unknown reason transferred to the Vervain (_Verbena officinalis_).

=JUPITER’S PLANTS.=--The Pink (_Dianthus_) is Jove’s flower; the Oak is sacred to him because he first taught mankind to live upon Acorns; his sceptre is of Cypress. The Dodonæan Jupiter is usually depicted with a wreath of Oak-leaves; the Olympian Jove wears a wreath of Olive, and his mantle is decorated with various flowers, particularly the Lily; to Jupiter Ammon the Beech is dedicated. The House-leek (_Sempervivum tectorum_) has obtained its name of Jupiter’s Beard (_Jovis Barba_) from its massive inflorescence resembling the sculptured beard of Jupiter. The same plant is also called Jupiter’s Eye from its stellate form: in its centre is a bud, and on the surrounding petals can be distinguished a little eye, from which circumstance has arisen the superstition, mentioned by Dioscorides, that this plant cures inflammation of the eyes. Jupiter’s Staff is the Mullein (_Verbascum Thapsus_). Jupiter’s Distaff is the Yellow Clary (_Salvia glutinosa_). Gerarde thus describes it: “_Jovis Colus_ representeth in the highest top of the stalk a distaffe, wrapped about with yellow Flax, whereof it took its name.”----The Couch of Jupiter and Juno was formed of the blossoms of Lotus, Lily, Hyacinth, Crocus, and Asphodel.

=KAIL.=--Writing of the Cabbage or Colewort, Gerarde tells us “the apothecaries and the common herbalists do call it _Caulis_, of the goodnesse of the stalke.” The old English name Cole and the Scotch Kail are both derived from this Latin word _Caulis_, a stalk.----In Scotland, it is a custom on Hallowe’en for the young people, after being duly blindfolded, to go forth into the Kail-yard, or garden, and pull the first stalk they meet with. Returning to the fireside, they determine, according as the stalk is big or little, straight or crooked, what the future wife or husband will be. The quantity of earth adhering to the root is emblematic of the dowry to be expected, and the temper is indicated by the sweet or bitter taste of the _motoc_ or pith. Lastly, the stalks are placed in order over the door, and the Christian names of persons afterwards entering the house signify in the same order those of the wives and husbands _in futuris_.

=KATAKA.=--The Kataka (_Strychnos potatorum_) is an East Indian plant, the seeds of which are sold in the bazaars for the purpose of cleansing muddy water, &c. The vessel containing the water, milk, &c., is first rubbed round the inside for a minute or two with one of the seeds, after which, by allowing the liquid to settle for a short time, however impure it may have been before, it becomes clear. The confidence of the superstitious Hindus in this property of the Kataka became so great, that in course of time they ignorantly thought the mere name of Kataka would be sufficient to cleanse water. It became, therefore, necessary to state in one of their Codes that although the seeds of the Kataka purify water, its name alone was insufficient for that purpose.

=KATHARINE’S FLOWER.=--The _Nigella Damascena_ has been called Katharine’s or St. Katherine’s-flower, from the persistent styles spreading like the spokes of a wheel, the symbol of St. Katharine, who was martyred upon a wheel. As regards the seed of this plant, Gerarde tells us that if dried, powdered, and wrapped in a piece of fine lawn or sarcenet, it “cureth all murs, catarrhes, rheumes, and the pose, drieth the braine, and restoreth the sence of smelling unto those which have lost it, being often smelled unto from day to day, and made warme at the fire when it is used.”----This plant bears also the names of Fennel-flower, Bishop’s-wort, Old Man’s Beard, and Kiss-me-twice-before-I-rise.

=KESARA.=--The Kesara (_Mimusops Elengi_) is an Indian tree sacred to Krishna. According to Jones, the flowers of the _Kesara_ ornament conspicuously the Garden of Paradise. An odoriferous water is distilled from the flowers, and the bark is used medicinally.

=KERNEL-WORT.=--The _Scrophularia nodosa_ has obtained the name of Kernel-wort, from its having kernels or tubers attached to its roots, and, therefore, as Gerarde remarks, “it is reported to be a remedy against those diseases whereof it tooke his name.” It appears to have been more particularly employed as a cure for the King’s-evil; but the old herbalist tells us that “divers do rashly teach that if it be hanged about the necke, or else carried about one, it keepeth a man in health.”

=KERZEREH.=--The Kerzrah, or Kerzereh, is the name of an Eastern flower, the odour of which would seem to have deadly properties. It is well known in Persia, and there, it is commonly said, that if a man inhale the hot south-wind, which in June or July passes over the Kerzereh-flowers, it will undoubtedly kill him.

=KETAKI.=--The Indian name of the Screw Pine, _Pandanus odoratissimus_, is Ketaki, the male and female flowers of which are borne on separate trees. The male flowers are dried, and are then much in vogue as a scent by Indian ladies. These flowers are said by the native poets to be dear to the god Siva; and so exquisite is their perfume, that the bee, intoxicated by it, mistakes the golden blossom for a beauteous nymph, and, blinded with passion, loses its wings.

=KING’S CUP.=--The Buttercup (_Ranunculus bulbosus_) is also called King’s Cup, from the resemblance of its buds to a gold stud such as Kings wore. This flower was dedicated in mediæval times to the Virgin Mary, and is the Mary-bud alluded to by Shakspeare in ‘Cymbeline’--

“And twinkling Mary-buds begin
To ope their golden eyes.”

KISS-ME-ERE-I-RISE.--See Pansy.

KISS-ME-TWICE-BEFORE-I-RISE.--See Katharine’s Flower.

KNIGHT’S SPURS.--See Larkspur.

=KNOT GRASS.=--The Centinode, or Knot Grass (_Polygonum aviculare_) derives its name from the knottiness of its stem and its Grass-like leaves. In ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ Shakspeare refers to this plant as “the hindering Knotgrass,” because its decoction was, in olden times, believed to be efficacious in stopping or retarding the growth of children, as well as of the young of domestic animals. Thus, in Beaumont and Fletcher’s ‘Coxcomb,’ we read:--

“We want a boy,
Kept under for a year with milk and Knotgrass.”

Gerarde says that “it is given unto swine with good success when they are sick, and will not eat their meat, whereupon country people do call it Swine’s-grass or Swine’s-skir.”

=KOVIDARA.=--The Kovidara (_Bauhinia variegata_) is one of trees which are represented as growing in the Indian Paradise. The flowers of this Mountain Ebony are of a purplish-red colour, marked with white, and with yellow bottoms.

=KOUNALNITZA.=--In Russia, a plant dedicated to the Slave-God Kounala, protector of the harvest, is named after him _Kounalnitza_. It would seem, however, to be now considered a herb of St. John. De Gubernatis tells us that on the eve of St. John’s Day it is customary in Russia to deck the floors of bath-rooms with this plant. _Kounalnitza_ is thus described by a Russian lady:--“It is a herb as delicate as an arrow, having on each side nine leaves and four colours--black, green, red, and blue. This herb is very salutary. He who has gathered it on St. John’s Day, and carries it about him with a piece of gold or silver money attached, need neither fear the Devil nor wicked men at night. In course of time he will prevail against all adversaries, and will become the friend of Tzars and princes. The root of this plant is equally miraculous: if a woman be childless, she has only to drink a potion in which this plant has been powdered, and she will have children and be able to protect them from all infantile diseases. _Kounalnitza_ is also gathered as a protection against sorcerers, who by their cries scare reapers and workers in the fields.”

=KUDDUM.=--The Kuddum, or Cadamba (_Anthocephalus Cadamba_), is one of the most sacred trees of India. According to the Chinese Buddhist scriptures, there grows to the east of the mountain Sume a great ring of trees called _Kadamba_, of vast proportions. The tree of Buddha sprang spontaneously from a kernel of this _Kadamba_, dropped in the soil. “In one moment the earth split, a shoot appeared, and the giant tree raised itself, embracing within its shadow a circumference of three hundred cubits. The fruits of this miraculous tree are a source of bitter vexation to the enemies of Buddha, and against these the Devas launch all the fury of the tempest.” The yellowish-brown flowers of the Kuddum are small and collected in dense balls: they open at the commencement of the rainy season, and they are represented by the Indian poets as having the power of recalling to lovers, with irresistible vividness, the beloved absent one.

=KUSA GRASS.=--The sacred Vedic herb _Kusa_ (_Poa cynosuroides_) is known in the Sanscrit writings as the Ornament of the Sacrifice, the Pure Herb, the Purifier, &c. With its long pointed leaves, the sacred beverages are purified, the altar is covered, and the sacrificing priest is furnished with a natural carpet. According to the Vedas, the sacrifices offered in the Hindu temples of the Indian Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, consisted of a fire of fragrant woods lighted at each of the cardinal points. The flames were fed now and again with consecrated ointment, and around the fire was scattered the sacred herb _Kusa_. Thus, in the drama of ‘_Sakuntalâ_,’ written by Kâlidâsa two thousand years ago, we find that Kanva, the father of the heroine (who is the chief of the hermits), offers one of these sacrifices, and exclaims:--

“Holy flames, whose frequent food
Is the consecrated wood,
And for whose encircling bed,
Sacred Kusa-grass is spread;
Hear, oh, hear me when I pray,
Purify my child this day!”

In those times it was apparently considered no sin to apply the sacred grass to private purposes, for one of Sakuntalâ’s handmaids compounds perfumes and unguents with consecrated paste and the Kusa-grass, to anoint the limbs of her mistress, previous to her nuptials. In the Vedas, the Kusa-grass, or _Darbha_, is often invoked as a god. According to the _Atharvaveda_, it is immortal, it never ages, it destroys enemies, and Indra, the god of thunder, employs it as his weapon.----The Vedic rituals contain directions for the employment of Kusa-grass for various mystic purposes. To cleanse butter, the priest held a small stalk of the sacred Grass, without nodes, in each hand, and, turning towards the east, he invoked Savitar, Vasu, and the rays of the sun. At the new moon, and at the full moon, they bound and fastened together the sacrificial wood and the Kusa-grass. In the third year of its age, it was customary for a Hindu child to be brought by its parents to the priest, that its hair might be cut. Then the father, placed to the south of the mother, held in his hand twenty-one stalks of Kusa-grass, which symbolised the twenty-one winds, and an invocation was made to Vâyu, the god of the winds. The father, or, in his absence, a Brahman, took three stalks at a time, and inserted them in the child’s hair seven times, the points turned towards the infant’s body; at the same time devoutly murmuring, “May the herb protect thee!” According to the Vedas, a house ought to be erected in a locality where the Kusa-grass abounds; the foundations are sprinkled with it, and care is taken to extirpate all thorny plants. When reading the sacred books, the devout Hindu should be seated either on the ground or on a flooring strewn with Kusa-grass, upon which once rested Brahma himself. It was customary, upon leaving a seminary, for the Vedic student to take, among other things, by way of memento, and as a presage of good fortune, a few blades of Kusa-grass. Anchorites employed the sacred Grass as a covering to their nudity, and it was also used as a purification in funeral rites. In the Buddhist ritual, the Vedic Kusa appears under the name of _Barhis_, and serves as a kind of carpet, on which come Agni and all the gods to seat themselves. Of such importance is the sacred Grass considered, that the name _Barhis_ is sometimes even employed to signify in a general manner the sacrifice itself.

=KUSHTHA.=--Wilson identifies the Indian mythological tree _Kushtha_ with the _Costus speciosus_, a swamp plant bearing snow-white flowers and celebrated for the sweetness of its fruits. The Kushtha forms one of the trees of heaven. In the _Atharvaveda_, it is stated to flourish in the third heaven, where the ambrosia is to be found: it possesses magical properties, will cure fevers, and is considered as the first of medicinal plants. It is represented also as a great friend and companion of Soma, the god of the ambrosia, and it descends from the mountain Himavant as a deity of salvation.

LAD’S LOVE.--See Southernwood.

=LADY’S PLANTS.=--When the word “lady” occurs in plant names, it alludes in most cases to Our Lady, the Virgin Mary, on whom the monks and nuns of old lavished flowers in profusion. All white flowers were regarded as typifying her purity and sanctity, and were consecrated to her festivals. The finer flowers were wrested from the Northern deities, Freyja and Bertha, and from the classic Juno, Diana, and Venus, and laid upon the shrine of Our Lady. In Puritan times, the name of Our Lady was in many instances replaced by Venus, thus recurring to the ancient nomenclature: for example: Our Lady’s Comb became Venus’s Comb (_Scandix Pecten Veneris_); _Galium verum_ is called Our Lady’s Bedstraw, from its soft, puffy, flocculent stems, and its golden flowers. The name may allude more particularly to the Virgin Mary having given birth to her Son in a stable, with nothing but wild flowers for her bedding. _Clematis vitalba_, commonly called Traveller’s Joy, from the shade and shelter it affords to weary wayfarers, is also called Lady’s Bower, from “its aptness in making arbours, bowers, and shadie covertures in gardens.” _Statice Armeria_, the clustered Pink, which is called Thrift, from the past participle of the verb to thrive, is, on account of its close cushion-like growth, termed Lady’s Cushion. _Alchemilla vulgaris_ is named Lady’s Mantle from the shape and vandyked edge of the leaf; and _Campanula hybrida_ (from the resemblance of its expanded flower, set on its elongated ovary, to an ancient metallic mirror on its straight handle) is the Lady’s Looking-glass. Two plants with soft inflated calyces (_Anthyllis vulneraria_ and _Digitalis purpurea_) are Lady’s Fingers. _Neottia spiralis_, with its flower-spikes rising above each other like braided hair, is Lady’s Tresses; and the Maidenhair Fern is Our Lady’s Hair. Dodder (_Cuscuta_), from its string-like stems, is called Lady’s Laces; and _Digraphis arundinacea_, from the ribbon-like striped leaves, Lady’s Garters. In Wiltshire, _Convolvulus sepium_ is called Lady’s Nightcap. _Cypripedium Calceolus_, from the shape of its flower, is called Lady’s Slippers; and _Cardamine pratensis_, from the shape of its flowers, like little smocks hung out to dry, is the Lady’s Smock, all silver white, of Shakspeare. Lady’s Thimble is a name of the Blue or Hare Bell (_Campanula rotundifolia_); and Lady’s Seal is now the Black Briony. _Carduus Marianus_ is the Lady’s Thistle, the blessed Milk Thistle, whose green leaves have been spotted white ever since the milk of the Virgin fell upon it when she was nursing Jesus, and endowed it with miraculous virtues.

=LARCH.=--There has long been a superstitious belief that the wood of the Larch-tree (_Pinus Larix_) is impenetrable by fire, and a story is told by Vitruvius of a castle besieged by Cæsar, which, from being built largely of Larch timber, was found most difficult to consume.----Evelyn calls the Larch a “goodly tree, which is of so strange a composition, that ’twill hardly burn; whence the Mantuan, _Et robusta Larix igni impenetrabile lignum_, for so Cæsar found it.”----Tiberius constructed several bridges of this timber, and the Forum of Augustus, at Rome, was built with it.----Evelyn tells of a certain ship found many years ago in the Numidian Sea, twelve fathoms under water, which was chiefly built of Larch and Cypress, so hardened as long to resist the fire or the sharpest tool. Nor, he adds, “was anything perished of it, though it had lain above a thousand and four hundred years submerged.”----A Manna is obtained from the Larch, called in the South of France _Manna de Briançon_; it is very rare, and met with only in little drops that adhere to the leaves.----In the case of a forest fire, if Larches are scorched to the pith, the inner part exudes a gum, called Orenburg gum, which the mountaineers masticate in order to fasten their teeth. Ben Jonson, in the ‘Masque of Queens,’ speaks of the gum or turpentine of the Larch as being used in witchcraft. A witch answers her companion:--

“Yes, I have brought (to help your vows)
Horned Poppy, Cypress-boughs,
The Fig-tree wild, that grows on tombs,
And juice that from the Larch-tree comes,
The basilisk’s blood and the viper’s skin:
And now our orgies let’s begin.”

According to a Tyrolean tradition, the Seliges Fräulein, dressed in white, repairs to an aged Larch beneath whose shelter she sings.----Lucan includes the “gummy Larch” among the articles burned to drive away serpents.----M. de Rialle, quoted in _Mythothologie des Plantes_, relates that a group of seven Larches constituted for the Ostiaks a sacred grove. Everyone passing was expected to leave an arrow, and formerly it was customary to suspend skins there, so that in course of time an immense quantity was accumulated. As these offerings were frequently stolen by strangers, the Ostiaks decided to fell one of the Larches and remove the stump to some secret locality where they might pay their devotions without fear of sacrilege. M. de Rialle found the same Larch worship at Bérézof: there a tree fifty feet high, and so old that only its top bore foliage, received the homage of the Ostiaks, who showed their piety by turning to good account its singular conformation: about six feet from the ground the trunk of the tree became divided into two limbs, which joining again a little higher up, left a cleft in the centre: this aperture the devotees dedicated to the reception of their offerings.

=LARKSPUR.=--The Larkspur, the _Delphinium_ or Dolphin-flower of the ancients, was considered by Linnæus and many other botanists to be none other than the Hyacinth of the classic poets. It is not, however, generally recognised as the flower that sprang from the blood of the unfortunate Hyacinthus, and which to this day bears his name; but is rather regarded as the flower alluded to in the enigma propounded by a shepherd in one of the Eclogues of Virgil.

“_Dic quibus in terris inscripti nomina regum
Nascuntur flores._”

“Say in what country do flowers grow with the names of kings
written upon them.”

Tradition states that from the life-blood of the disappointed and infuriated Ajax sprang the _Delphinium_--the flower which we now know as the Larkspur, upon whose petals it is said may be read the letters A I A, and which the botanists consequently term _Delphininium Ajacis_--truly a flower upon which the name of a king is written.----The legend concerning the origin of the flower is as follows:--Ajax, the son of Telamon and Hesione, was next to Achilles worthily reputed the most valiant of all the Greeks at the Trojan war, and engaged in single combat with Hector, the intrepid captain of the Trojan hosts, who was subsequently slain by Achilles. After the death of Achilles, Ajax and Ulysses both claimed the arms of the deceased hero: the latter was awarded them by the Greeks, who preferred the wisdom and policy of Ulysses to the courage of Ajax. This threw Ajax into such a fury, that he slaughtered a flock of sheep, mistaking them for the sons of Atreus; and then, upon perceiving his error, stabbed himself with the sword presented to him by Hector; the blood spurting from his self-inflicted death-wound, giving birth, as it fell to the earth, to the purple _Delphinium_, which bears upon its petals the letters at once the initials of his name and an exclamation of grief at the loss of such a hero.----The generic name of the plant is derived from the Greek _delphinion_, a dolphin; the flower-buds, before expansion, being thought to resemble that fish. In England, the flower is known by the names of Larkspur, Lark’s-heel, Lark’s-toe, Lark’s-claw, and Knight’s-spur.

=LAUREL.=--Daphne, daughter of Peneus and the goddess Terra, inspired Apollo with a consuming passion. Daphne, however, received with distrust and horror the addresses of the god, and fled from his advances. Pursued by Apollo, she adjured the water-gods to change her form, and, according to Ovid--

“Scarce had she finished when her feet she found
Benumb’d with cold and fastened to the ground:
A filmy rind about her body grows;
Her hair to leaves, her arms extend to boughs.
The nymph is all into a Laurel gone
The smoothness of her skin remains alone.

* * * * *

To whom the god: because thou canst not be
My mistress, I espouse thee for my tree:
Be thou the prize of honour and renown;
The deathless poet and the poem crown.
Thou shalt the Roman festivals adorn,
And after poets, be by victors won.
Thou shalt returning Cæsar’s triumph grace
When pomps shall in a long procession pass;
Wreath’d on the posts before his palace wait;
And be the sacred guardian of the gate,
Secure from thunder, and unharmed by Jove,
Unfading as th’ immortal powers above;
And as the locks of Phœbus are unshorn,
So shall perpetual green thy boughs adorn.”--_Dryden._

The classical Laurel, known as the “Royal,” or “Augustan,” was the Sweet Bay, or Daphne (_Laurus nobilis_). Formerly the Bay-tree was called Laurel, and the fruit only named Bayes, a word derived from the French _baie_, a berry. By the Greeks and Romans the tree was considered sacred. The Romans decorated with Laurel the gods Apollo and Bacchus, the goddesses Libertas and Salus, Æsculapius, Hercules, &c. The victors of the Pythian games, held to commemorate Apollo’s triumph over the Pythons, wore crowns of Laurel, Palm, or Beech. Paris (called in Homer, Alexander) was crowned with Alexandrian Laurel (_Ruscus racemosus_), as victor in the public games, whence its names in Apuleius, _Daphne Alexandrina_ and _Stephane Alexandrina_. Of all the honours decreed to Cæsar by the Senate, he is said to have valued most the privilege of wearing a crown of Alexandrian Laurel, because it covered his baldness, which was reckoned a deformity among the Romans as well as among the Jews. This is the Laurel generally depicted on busts, coins, &c. The palace gates of the Cæsars, and the high pontiffs were decorated with Laurel. Victorious Roman generals sent their letters and dispatches to the Senate enclosed in Laurel-leaves. The letter announcing the victory was called _literæ laureatæ_, and its bearer carried a branch of Laurel, which was placed in the breast of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The soldiers’ spears, tents, ships, &c., were all dressed up with Laurel, and in the triumph each soldier carried a branch in his hand. According to Plutarch, Scipio entered Carthage, holding in one hand a sceptre and in the other a branch of Laurel. Sophocles relates how Œdipus, seeing Creon arrive crowned with Laurel, believed that he brought good news. The goddess Victoria is represented as crowned with Laurel, and bearing the branch of a Palm-tree. According to Hesiod, the Muses hold Laurel in their hands.

The prophetess Manto, a daughter of the prophet Tiresias, was sometimes called Daphne (Laurel).

The bough of a Laurel was considered to give to prophets the faculty of seeing that which was hidden. Dionysius calls the Laurel the prophetical plant; and Claudian, _venturi præscia Laurus_. Fulgentius states, that a Laurel-leaf placed beneath the pillow will cause coming events to be foreseen in a dream; thereby greatly assisting the prediction of future events. Diviners, like the priests of Apollo, wore Laurel wreaths, and Laurel was used in the composition of incense. Evelyn relates that the Laurel and _Agnus Castus_ were reputed to be “trees which greatly composed the ‘phansy,’ and did facilitate true visions; and that the first was especially efficacious to inspire a poetical fury. Such a tradition there goes of Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, in imitation of her father-in-law. The instance is recited out of an ancient ecclesiastical history, by Abulensis.” From hence, Evelyn thinks the Delphic Tripos, the Dodonean Oracle in Epirus, and others of a similar nature, took their origin. The Pythia, or priestess of Apollo, at Delphi, before delivering the oracles from the sacred tripod, shook a Laurel-tree and sometimes chewed the leaves with which she crowned herself, casting them afterwards into the sacred fire. The temple of Apollo at Delphi, where the celebrated oracles were delivered, was at first only a structure of Laurel-branches, which enclosed a fissure in the earth, from which a stupefying exhalation arose. Over the fissure was placed a tripod, on which the Pythia or prophetess sat, and, becoming excited by the ascending vapour, she fell into an ecstacy, and prophesied. After a temple of stone had been constructed, the Pythia prophesied in an inner and secluded cell, the only opening to which, accessible to questioners, was covered with Laurel-leaves. The Laurel being sacred to Apollo as well as to Æsculapius, was used in the temples of both these divinities, partly to induce sleep and dreams, partly to produce beneficial effects in various diseases. Whosoever wished to ask counsel was bound to appear before the altar crowned with Laurel-twigs and chewing Laurel-leaves. Every ninth year, a bower, composed of Laurel-branches, was erected in the forecourt of the temple at Delphi.

The Bœotian fêtes, held every ninth year at Thebes in honour of Apollo, were designated Daphnephoria. On these occasions, an Olive-bough, adorned with Laurel, was carried by a beautiful and illustrious youth, dedicated to the service of Apollo, and who was called _Daphnephoros_ (Laurel-bearer). The origin of the Daphnephoria was as follows:--The Ætolians had invaded Bœotia, but both invaders and defenders suspended hostilities to celebrate the festival of Apollo, and having cut down Laurel-boughs from Mount Helicon, they walked in procession in honour of the divinity: that same day the Bœotian general, Polemates, dreamed that a youth presented him with a suit of armour, and commanded the Bœotians to offer prayers to Apollo, and to walk in procession, with Laurel-boughs in their hands, every ninth year. Three days later, Polemates defeated the invaders, and immediately instituted the Festival of Daphnephoria.

The Laurel formerly had the power ascribed to it of being a safeguard against lightning, of which Tiberius was very fearful, and in order to avoid which he is stated to have crept under his bed and protected his head with Laurel-leaves. In Sicily, it has long been popularly believed that the shrub is a protection from thunder and lightning. The same superstition survived till recently in our own country. W. Browne tells us that “Baies being the material of poets’ ghirlands, are supposed not subject to any hurt of Jupiter’s thunder-bolts, as other trees are.” Culpeper alludes to the old belief that neither witch nor devil, thunder nor lightning, will hurt a man where a Bay-tree is; and remarks further, that Laurels resist “witchcraft very potently, as also all the evils old Saturn can do the body of man, and they are not a few. The berries are very effectual against all poisons of venomous creatures, as also against the pestilence and other infectious diseases.”

The decay of the Bay-tree, which is generally rapid, was formerly considered as an omen of disaster. It is said that before the death of Nero, though in a very mild winter, all these trees withered to the root, and a great pestilence in Padua is reputed to have been preceded by the same phenomenon. So great a reputation had the Laurel for clearing the air and resisting contagion, that the Emperor Claudius was advised by his physicians during a raging pestilence to remove his court to Laurentum. That city, in the reign of Latinus, was the capital of Latium, whose inhabitants were called Laurentini from the great number of Laurels which flourished in their country. King Latinus discovered one of unusual size and beauty when about to build a temple to Apollo, and the tree was consecrated to the god, and preserved with religious care.

The Laurel had the reputation of being generally propitious to man. At Rome, on the 15th of May, merchants used to celebrate a festival in honour of Mercury, and proceeding to a public fountain, they drew water wherein they dipped a Laurel-branch, which they then employed to bless all their merchandise. The Laurus (Bay) was held in high esteem by the old Greek physicians; and among the people there existed a belief that spirits could be banished by its means. The Greeks had a saying, “I carry a branch of Laurel,” to indicate that the speaker had no fear of poison or sorcery. They had a custom of affixing a Laurel-bough over the doorway, in the case of a severe illness, in order to avert death and drive away evil spirits. Presumably from these associations, it became the fashion to crown young doctors of physic with Laurel-berries (_Bacca Lauri_), and the students were called Baccalaureats, Bay-laureats, or Bachelors. Theophrastus tells us that in his time the superstitious kept Bay-leaves in their mouths all day, to guard them from misfortune. Theocritus says that young girls were wont to burn Laurel as a charm to recall errant lovers. The Bolognese use Laurel to obtain an augury of the harvest: they put Laurel-leaves in the fire, and if in burning they crackle, it is a sign that the harvest will be good; if not, it will be bad. Tibullus chronicles a similar superstition in his time.

In the days of Pliny, there still existed on Mount Aventine a plantation of Laurels, of which the branches were employed for expiations. On the other hand, there grew on the shores of the Euxine a Laurel bearing a sinister reputation, close to where Amycus, the son of Neptune, was killed and buried. The Argonauts, when passing there, broke off a branch of this Laurel, and they immediately began to quarrel among themselves: the quarrel ceased, however, directly the branch was thrown away.

Petrarch made the Laurel the constant theme of his verse, associating it with the name of his beloved mistress, Laura; and when publicly crowned in the Roman Capitol with a wreath of Laurel, the poet acknowledged himself to have experienced the greatest delight.

Sir Thomas Browne refers to a custom common in Christian countries of throwing a sprig of Bay upon the coffin when interred. In England, it has long been used, together with Holly, Rosemary, &c., to decorate houses and churches at Christmas. In Greece, on Holy Saturday, they spread Laurel-leaves on the church floor. In Corsica, they deck with Laurel-leaves the doorway of the house where a wedding is being celebrated.

To dream of a Laurel-bush is a token of victory and pleasure. If the dreamer is married it denotes an inheritance through the wife. If a married woman dreams of seeing or smelling Laurel, it is a sign that she shall bear children; if a maid, it denotes that she will be suddenly married. Astrologers consider the Laurel a tree of the Sun, under the celestial sign Leo.

The Roumanians have a legend that there was once a nymph, known as the Daughter of the Laurel, who dwelt in the midst of a Laurel-bush. One evening the Laurel had opened its branches that she might, as was her wont, issue forth and dance in the flowery valley. Whilst tripping along she was accosted by a handsome youth, who extolled her beauty, expressed his passion for her, and finally endeavoured to embrace her; but the Laurel nymph fled, and pursued by the stranger, disappeared in the flowery groves.... “The Star Queen sleeps in her palace of clouds; sleep also, gentle and lovely girl; try to calm thy sighs.” So sings the handsome stranger, and the Daughter of the Laurel falls to sleep in his arms, murmuring a prayer that her lover may never abandon her. At her waking, alas! the youth is nowhere to be seen. She shrieks for him wildly, and calls to the night; to the stars; to the rivulet running through the wood; but in vain. “Open thy branches, beautiful Laurel-tree!” then cries the deserted girl; “the night is already flying, and if I remain longer here I shall dissolve away into dew.” “Away, young and beautiful girl,” replies the Laurel-tree mournfully; “the star wreath of honour has fallen from thy brow; there is no longer any place for thee here.” Then the sun rose over the mountain, and the Daughter of the Laurel dissolved away into dew.

=LAVENDER.=--The ancients employed Lavender (_Lavandula Spica_) largely in their baths, whence its name, derived from the Latin verb, _lavare_, to wash. The expression “Laid up in Lavender” has arisen from the old custom of using the plant to scent newly-washed linen.

“Its spike of azure bloom
Shall be erewhile in arid bundles bound,
To lurk amid the labours of the loom,
And crown our kerchiefs clean with mickle rare perfume.”

The ancients used the French Lavender (_L. Stœchas_), which formerly grew in great abundance on the islands near Hyères, in France, that were named after the plant, the Stœchades. Gerarde calls this French Lavender, Sticadove, and says the herb was also known as Cassidonie, corrupted by simple country folk into “Cast-me-down.” Shakspeare makes Perdita class Lavender among the flowers denoting middle-age:--

“Here’s flowers for you;
Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram.
The Marygold, that goes to bed with the sun,
And with him rises weeping; these are the flowers
Of middle Summer, and, I think, they are given
To men of middle age.”

English Lavender was formerly called Lavender Spike, and Gerarde says it was thought by some to be the sweet herb Cassia, mentioned by Virgil in his ‘Bucolics’:--

“And then she’ll Spike and such sweet herbs unfold,
And paint the Jacinth with the Marigold.”

It was formerly believed that the asp, a dangerous species of viper, made Lavender its habitual place of abode, for which reason the plant was approached with extreme caution.----In Spain and Portugal, Lavender is used to strew the floors of churches and houses on festive occasions, or to make bonfires on St. John’s Day.----In Tuscany, it is employed to counteract the effect of the Evil Eye on little children.----The Kabyle women attribute to Lavender the property of protecting them from marital cruelty, and invoke it for that purpose.

=LEEK.=--Biblical commentators say that the Leek (_Allium Porrum_), as well as the Onion and Garlic, was included among those Egyptian luxuries after which the Children of Israel pined. White and green were the old Cymric colours, and these colours are found combined in the Leek, which is the national emblem of the Welsh. The following lines are from a MS. in the Harl. Col., British Museum:--

“I like the Leeke above all herbes and floures;
When first we wore the same the field was ours.
The Leeke is white and green, whereby is ment
That Britaines are both stout and eminente.
Next to the lion and the unicorne,
The Leeke’s the fairest emblym that is worne.”

Shakspeare, in Henry V., tells us that the Leek, worn by Welshmen on St. David’s Day (March 1st), is “an ancient tradition, begun upon an honourable respect, and worn as a memorable trophy of pre-deceased valour.” This vegetable “trophy” is said to be in memory of a great victory obtained by the Welsh over the Saxons; on which occasion, they, by order of St. David, placed Leeks in their caps in order to distinguish themselves. It has also been supposed that the wearing of the Leek may have originated in the custom of _Cymortha_, still observed among the farmers of the country, where, in assisting one another in ploughing their land, they bring each their Leeks to the common repast of the whole party.----Drayton relates another legend, which runs as follows:--

“There is an aged cell, with Moss and Ivy grown,
In which not to this day the sun has ever shone.
That reverend British saint, in zealous ages past,
To contemplation lived, and did so truly fast,
As he did only drink what crystal Hodney yields,
And fed upon the Leeks he gathered in the fields;
In memory of whom, in each revolving year,
The Welshmen on his day that sacred herb do wear.”

Pliny states that Nero brought Leeks into great repute among the Romans by eating them with oil to clear his voice for singing. His folly in this respect obtained for him the satirical name of _Porrophagus_, the Leek Eater. Martial, referring to the disagreeable effects of the Leek upon the breath of the eater, says:--

“The juice of Leeks who fondly sips,
To kiss the fair, must close his lips.”

----In Poland, the flower-stalk of the Leek is placed in the hands of the statues of our Saviour on certain special days, to represent the Reed given to Him at the Crucifixion.----Among the Sicilians, the mother of the Apostle Peter is the subject of many legends. She is always represented as bad and niggardly. The only thing she ever gave away was the leaf of a Leek, which she flung to a beggar, who importuned her one day as she was washing her potherbs. When she died, hell received her. Years afterwards, Peter, the doorkeeper of Paradise, heard a piteous voice saying: “Son Peter, see what torments I am in. Go, ask the Lord to let me out.” So Peter went and asked. But the Lord said: “She never did a nail-paring of good. Except this Leek-leaf, she never once gave a scrap away. However, here is a Leek-leaf: this angel shall take it, and shall tell her to lay hold of the other end, while he pulls her up.” So Peter’s mother grasped the Leek-leaf; but all the souls in torment ran after her, and clung to her skirts, so that the angel was dragging quite a string of them after her. Her evil disposition, however, would not permit her to keep quiet. It grieved her avaricious temperament that anyone besides herself should be saved; so she struggled and kicked, in order to shake the poor souls off, and in so doing tore the saving Leek-leaf, and fell back again, and sank deeper than before.

=LENT LILIES.=--The Daffodil is the Lent Lily. Mingled with Yew, which is the emblem of the Resurrection, it forms an appropriate decoration for Easter. Lent Lilies are called by the French _Pauvres Filles de Ste. Clare_. (See NARCISSUS).

=LENTIL.=--Like almost all vegetables, Lentils are traditionally regarded as funereal plants: formerly they were forbidden at all sacrifices and feasts.----St. Hilarion, when he arrived at man’s estate, subsisted for three years upon Lentils steeped in cold water.----To dream of Lentils is supposed to indicate sorrow and anxiety.

=LETTUCE.=--Pythagoras, we are told, was extremely fond of Lettuces, which formed a large portion of his diet; but Eubulus is said to have bitterly reproached his wife for having served up at a meal Lettuces, which were only recommended for funeral repasts.----The ancients considered the Lettuce (_Lactuca_) as an aliment appropriate in times of mourning, and they employed it largely in their funeral repasts in commemoration of the death of Adonis, son of Myrrha, whom Venus had concealed in a bed of Lettuces, and whose death had occurred from a wound inflicted by a wild boar that had come to feed on the Lettuces, and so surprised the beautiful youth.----Another legend states that the young man hidden by Venus in the Lettuce bed was Phaon, the handsome boatman of Lesbos, and not Adonis.----In mediæval days, it was superstitiously thought that an evil spirit lurked in a bed of Lettuces, and a species known by women as _Astylida_ was believed to affect mothers adversely, and to cause grievous ills to newly-born infants. Perhaps this may account for a saying often heard at Richmond, Surrey:--“O’er-much Lettuce in the garden will stop a young wife’s bearing.”----The old poets prescribed a bed of Lettuce for those who were unable to obtain repose; and Pliny states that Lettuces of all descriptions were thought to cause sleep. Pope, referring to its soporific qualities, has said of the Lettuce:--

“If your wish be rest,
“Lettuce and Cowslip wine, _probatum est_.”

Gerarde remarks that, if eaten after supper, this vegetable prevents the drunkenness resulting from too free indulgence in wine.----Lettuce is stated by the Mishna to be one of the five “bitter herbs” ordered to eaten by Jews at the Feast of the Passover.----To dream of eating salads made of Lettuce, &c., is supposed to portend trouble and difficulty in the management of affairs.

=LILY.=--The white Lily (_Lilium candidum_) was held in the highest regard by the heathen nations; it was one of the flowers employed to form the couch of Jupiter and Juno, and under the name of _Rosa Junonis_ was consecrated to the imperious queen of the heavens, from whose milk, indeed, the flower is stated to have originally sprung. The legend is as follows:--Jupiter being desirous of rendering the infant Hercules immortal, that he might rank among the divinities, caused Somnus to prepare a nectareous sleeping-draught, which he persuaded Juno to take. The Queen of the Gods fell immediately into a profound slumber, and Jupiter then placed the little Hercules to the celestial breast, in order that the babe might imbibe the ambrosial milk that would ensure its immortality. The infant, over-eager to enjoy the delightful nutriment, drew the milk faster than he could swallow, and some drops falling to the earth, there immediately sprang from it the white Lily, the emblem of purity: some of the milk is also said to have dropped over that portion of the heavens which, from its whiteness, still retains the name of the Milky Way (_lactea via_). Another version of the myth states that originally all the Lilies were Orange-coloured, but that those on which Juno’s milk fell were rendered white, and produced the _Lilium candidum_.----The Lily was doubtless cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, and probably held in great esteem, for we find it appearing in their hieroglyphical representations, and may therefore conclude that the flower possessed some special significance. With the Greeks and Romans, the Lily was a favourite flower, and Columella tells us that the latter were wont to preserve Lilies by planting them in baskets. The frequent allusions made to the plant in the Scriptures are sufficient proof that the Hebrew race thought highly of the beauty and grace of the Lily. In their language, the name Susannah signifies a Lily. There are great diversities of opinion as to what was the particular Lily alluded to by our Saviour when He said, “Consider the Lilies of the field.” Some think the Tulip, others the _Amaryllis lutea_, others again the white Lily to be the flowers to which Solomon in all his glory was not to be compared.----In nearly every Catholic country, the White Lily is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and is held to be emblematic of her purity: hence the flower is frequently used to decorate her shrine, and especially so on the feast of the Visitation of Our Lady and the Annunciation. The Continental order of the Blessed Lady of the Lily was instituted by Garcia, fourth King of Navarre, on account of an image of the Holy Virgin being miraculously found, as it was reported, in a Lily, which is believed to have cured this prince of a dangerous disorder.----Rapin, the French Jesuit poet, has the following lines on the Lily, which he evidently confounds with the Iris, or _Fleur de Luce_ (see IRIS), as being the representative flower of the French nation. He says:--

“With Lilies our French monarchs grace their crown,
Brought hither by the valiant Hector’s son,
From Trojan coasts, when Francus forc’d by fate
Old Priam’s kingdom did to France translate:
Or, if we may believe what legends tell,
Like Rome’s Ancilia, once from heav’n they fell.
Clovis, first Christian of our regal line,
Of heav’n approved, received the gift divine
With his unblemished hands, and by decree
Ordained this shield giv’n by the gods should be
Preserved, the nation’s guard to late posterity.”

The Roman Catholics assigned to the Madonna, as Queen of Heaven, the White Lily (_Lilium candidum_), the symbol of purity, and it is the flower appropriated to the Annunciation and to the Visitation of Our Lady. According to the Romish legend, St. Thomas, who was absent at the death of the Virgin, would not believe in her resurrection, and desired that her tomb should be opened before him; and when this was done, it was found to be full of Lilies and Roses. Then the astonished Thomas, looking up to heaven, beheld the Virgin ascending, and she, for the assurance of his faith, flung down to him her girdle.----In a picture by Gozzoli, in the National Gallery, representing St. Jerome and St. Francis kneeling at the foot of the Virgin, a red Rose-bud has sprung up at the knees of St. Jerome, and a tall White Lily at those of St. Francis--these flowers typifying the love and purity of the Virgin Mother. In the works of Italian masters, a vase of Lilies stands by the Virgin’s side, with three flowers crowning three stems. St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary, is depicted with the Lily in his hand; his staff, according to the legend, having put forth Lilies. Later painters of this school depict the angel Gabriel with a branch of White Lilies.----As the emblem of purity and chastity, the Lily is associated with numbers of saints, male and female; but, being consecrated to the Virgin, it is always placed, in the paintings of the early Italian masters, near those saints who were distinguished by their devotion to the Mother of Jesus, as in the pictures of St. Bernard.----As protector of youth, St. Louis de Gonzague bears a Lily in his hand, and the flower is also dedicated to St. Anthony, as a guardian of marriages. The flower is likewise the characteristic of St. Clara, St. Dominick, and St. Katherine of Siena. The crucifix twined with the Lily signifies devotion and purity of heart: it is given particularly to St. Nicholas of Solentine.----Lilies being emblematic of the Virgin, an order of knighthood was instituted by Ferdinand of Aragon, in 1403, called the “Order of the Lily,” the collar of which was composed of Lilies and gryphons.----From the Virgin being the patron Saint of Dundee, that town bears Lilies on its arms.----To dream of Lilies during their blooming season is reputed to foretell marriage, happiness, and prosperity; but a vision of Lilies out of their season, or withered, signifies frustration of hopes, and the death or severe illness of someone beloved.----Astrologers state that Lilies are under the dominion of the Moon.