Chapter XVI: Funeral Trees and Plants (18)

It was customary with the Romans, to offer Poppies to the dead, especially to those whose names they were desirous of appeasing. Virgil, in his ‘Georgics,’ calls the flower the Lethean Poppy, and directs it to be offered as a funeral rite to Orpheus. The Grecian youths and maidens were wont to prove the sincerity of their lovers by placing in the hollow of the palm of the left hand a petal or flower-leaf of the Poppy, which, on being struck with the other hand, was broken with a sharp sound: this denoted true attachment; but if the leaf failed to snap, unfaithfulness. From Greece, this usage passed to Rome, and finally to modern Italy, where, as well as in Switzerland, it is still extant.

“By a prophetic Poppy leaf I found
Your changed affection, for it gave no sound,
Though in my hand struck hollow as it lay,
But quickly withered like your love away.”--_Theocritus._

A superstitious belief exists that the red Poppies which followed the ploughing of the field of Waterloo after Wellington’s victory sprang from the blood of the troops who fell during the battle.----According to a Bengali legend, the origin of Opium was as follows:--There once lived on the banks of the holy river Ganga a Rishi, or sage, in whose hut, made of Palm-leaves, there was a mouse, which became a favourite with the seer, and was endowed by him with the gift of speech. After awhile, the mouse, having been frightened by a cat, at his earnest solicitation, was changed by the Rishi into a cat; then, alarmed by dogs, into a dog; then into an ape; then into a boar; then into an elephant; and finally, being still discontented with its lot, into a beautiful maiden, to whom the holy sage gave the name of Postomani, or the Poppy-seed lady. One day, whilst tending her plants, the king approached the Rishi’s cottage, and was invited to rest and refresh himself by Postomani, who offered him some delicious fruit. The King, however, struck by the girl’s beauty, refused to eat until she had told him her parentage. Postomani, to deceive the king, told him she was a princess whom the Rishi had found in the woods and had brought up. The upshot was that the king made love to the girl, and they were married by the holy sage. She was treated as the favourite queen, and was very happy; but one day, whilst standing by a well, she turned giddy, fell into the water, and died. The Rishi then appeared before the king, and begged him not to give way to consuming grief, assuring him that the late queen was not of royal blood. Said he: “She was born a mouse, and, according to her own wish, I changed her successively into a cat, a dog, a boar, an elephant, and a lovely girl. Let her body remain in the well; fill up the well with earth. Out of her flesh and bones will grow a tree, which shall be called after her Posto, that is, the Poppy-tree. From this tree will be obtained a drug called Opium, which will be celebrated through all ages, and which will be either swallowed or smoked as a wondrous narcotic till the end of time. The Opium swallower or smoker will have one quality of each of the animals to which Postomani was transformed. He will be mischievous like a mouse, fond of milk like a cat, quarrelsome like a dog, filthy like an ape, savage like a boar, and high-tempered like a queen.”----According to astrologers, the Poppy is a flower of the Moon.

=POTATO.=--Although introduced into Europe as late as 1584, the Potato (_Solanum tuberosum_) has been made the subject of several popular superstitions. In Birmingham and many other districts, it is believed that a Potato carried in the trousers pocket is a sure charm against rheumatism so long as the tuber is kept there; and the Dutch believed that a Potato begged or stolen is a preservation against the same malady.----In Germany, they take precautions against the Potato demon or wolf (_Kartoffelwolf_): after the last Potatoes have been dug up, the peasants dress up a puppet which they call _Erdapfelmann_, and carry the figure in procession to the house of their master, where they recite a doggrel verse. A luminosity, powerful enough to enable a bystander to read by, issues from the common Potato when in a state of putrefaction; this was particularly remarked by an officer on guard at Strasburg, who thought the barracks were on fire in consequence of the light that was emitted from a cellar full of Potatoes.

PRICK MADAM.--See Stonecrop.

PRIEST’S PINTLE.--See Arum.

=PRIMROSE.=--Anciently the Primrose was called _Paralisos_, after the name of a handsome stripling, the son of Priapus and Flora, who died of grief for the loss of his betrothed Melicerta, but was snatched from the jaws of death by his parents, and metamorphosed into “the rathe Primrose that forsaken dies.”----The name Primrose anciently appertained to the Daisy, and is written by Chaucer Primerole, from the old French _Primeverole_, the first Spring flower; Primerole became changed to Primrolles, and then to Primrose, the first Rose of Spring; and it was not until the sixteenth century that it attached itself to the flower which now bears its name.----In Worcestershire, it is regarded as exceedingly unlucky in Spring-time to take less than a handful of Primroses or Violets into a farmer’s house, as a disregard of this rule is popularly believed to invite destruction of the good wife’s brood of ducklings and chickens.----In East Norfolk, it is thought that if a less number of Primroses than thirteen be brought into a house on the first occasion of introducing any, so many eggs only will each goose hatch that season.----Henderson, in his ‘Folk-lore of the Northern Counties,’ gives the following superstitious custom: “Let a youth or maiden pull from its stalk the flower, and after cutting off the tops of the stamens with a pair of scissors, lay it in a secret place where no human eye can see it. Let him think through the day and dream through the night of his sweetheart; and then, upon looking at it the next day, if he find the stamens shot out to their former height, success will attend him in love; if not, he can only expect disappointment.”----Browne tells us--

“The Primrose, when with six leaves gotten grace,
Maids as a true-love in their bosoms place.”

Shakspeare makes it a funeral flower for youth:--

“With fairest flowers
Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
I’ll sweeten thy sad grave: thou shalt not lack
The flower that’s like thy face, pale Primrose.”

In recent times, the Primrose has become associated with the memory of Lord Beaconsfield, and a society called the “Primrose League” has been formed, having for its object the dissemination of those constitutional principles which were so dear to the late Earl.----In Germany, the Primrose is called the _Schlüsselblume_, or Key-flower, in reference to the numerous legends of a flower opening the locks of doors to treasure-caves, &c.; resembling in its magical functions the Russian _Rasrivtrava_, the _Eisenkraut_ (Vervain), the Fern, Mistletoe, Hazel, Springwort, and Moonwort.----The goddess Bertha is supposed to entice children to enter her enchanted halls by offering them beautiful Primroses.----Astrologers claim the Primrose as a herb of Venus.

PROCESSION FLOWER.--See Milkwort.

=PTERIS ESCULENTA.=--The New Zealand _tohunga_, or priest, professes the following rite to be a cure for headache. The officiant pulls out two stalks of the _Pteris esculenta_, from which the fibres of the root must be removed; and beating them together over the patient’s head, he offers a prayer to Atua.

PUCK-FIST.--See Toadstool.

=PULSATILLA.=--In the Ukraine, the _Pulsatilla patens_ is called Sontrava, the Dream-plant. It is believed by the people of the country that the flowers of this plant, which blossoms in the month of April, if placed between the pillow and the bed, will cause the sleeper to dream of what will undoubtedly be accomplished.

=PUMPKIN.=--Among the East Indians, there is a legend that there once existed a mighty man named Iaïa, whose only son died. The father wished to bury him, but did not know where. So he placed him in an enormous Pumpkin, which he conveyed to the foot of a mountain, not far from his habitation. Impelled by his love for the departed one, he one day had the curiosity to revisit the spot, and, desirous of once again seeing his son, he opened the Pumpkin. Immediately whales and other immense fish jumped out. Iaïa, affrighted, returned home, and told what he had seen to his neighbours, adding that the Pumpkin appeared to be filled with water and quantities of fish. Four brothers who had been born at one time rushed off in haste to the spot indicated, in order to secure the fish for food. Iaïa followed, to prevent them from injuring the Pumpkin. The brothers, who had succeeded in lifting the gigantic vegetable, were frightened at seeing Iaïa approach, and let fall the Pumpkin, which was, in consequence, cracked in several places. From the fissures thus made poured forth such a volume of water, that the whole earth was inundated: and from this circumstance the oceans were formed.----The Chinese honour the Pumpkin or Gourd as the emperor of vegetables. The vegetable was considered by the ancients to be an emblem of abundance, fecundity, prosperity, and good health. To dream of Pumpkins, however, is considered a very bad omen.

PURIFICATION FLOWER.--See Snowdrop.

=PURSLANE.=--Purslane (_Portulaca_), strewn about a bed, used in olden times to be considered a sure protection against evil spirits.----Astrologers classify it among the herbs of the Moon.

=QUINCE.=--The fruit of the Quince-tree (_Cydonia_) was consecrated to Venus, and was looked upon by Grecian lovers as a love token. According to Athenæus, the chariot of the goddess of Love was not only filled with Myrtles and Roses, but also with Quinces, and in many ancient effigies of the goddess, she is represented with a Quince in her hand. By a decree of Solon, which gave to an ancient popular custom the countenance of the law, a Grecian bride, before seeking the nuptial couch, had to eat a Quince.----The Greeks called the Quince _Chrysomelon_, or Golden Apple; hence it is not surprising to find it asserted that the golden fruit of the Hesperides were Quinces, and that these tempted Hercules to attack the guardian dragon. In confirmation of this opinion, a statue of the demi-god holding a Quince in his hand as a trophy is referred to. It is also alleged that it was by means of Quinces given to him by Venus, that Hippomenes beguiled Atalanta during his race with her, and so won it.----It was by means of a Quince that Acontius won his bride: this youth, when at Delos, to attend the sacrifices of Diana, fell in love with the beautiful Cydippe: fearing to demand her hand, on account of his obscure origin, the crafty lover threw into the Temple of Diana, whilst Cydippe was performing her devotions, a Quince, with this inscription:--“I swear, by the divinity of Diana, to become the wife of Acontius.” The young girl, having picked up the Quince, read aloud the inscription, and, being compelled by the oath she had thus inadvertently taken in the sacred presence of the goddess, she obtained her parents’ consent to marry the quick-witted Acontius.----Turner, in his ‘Brittish Physician,’ says that the juice of raw Quince is accounted an antidote against deadly poison.----To dream of Quinces is stated to be favourable to the dreamer, denoting speedy release from troubles, sickness, &c.

=QUICKEN-TREE.=--The Mountain Ash, Wild Service, or Rowan-tree (_Pyrus aucuparia_), is also known by the names of the Quicken or Quick-beam, Witchen or Wicken, appellations which, from the Rowan-tree having been long regarded as a preservative against witchcraft, some writers have erroneously connected with the Anglo-Saxon word _wicce_, a witch. Evelyn calls this tree the Quick-beam, and says that in Wales it is planted in every churchyard, and that “on a certain day in the year everybody religiously wears a cross made of the wood, and it is reputed to be a preservative against fascination and evil spirits, whence perhaps we call it _Witchen_; the boughs being stuck about the house, or the wood used for walking-staves.” (See ROWAN).

=RADISH.=--The Germans have given to a species of wild Radish bearing blue flowers the name of _Hederich_, and they have an old superstition that whoever wears a crown composed of Hederich is enabled to detect witches. A wreath of Hederich is sometimes placed on cows before leaving their stalls to be milked, in order to protect them from the effect of the Evil Eye.----In England, to dream of Radishes signifies the discovery of secrets, domestic quarrels, and misfortune.----In Germany, they call a certain evil spirit, or Geni of the mountain, _Rübezahl_, the Counter of Radishes; and the legend relates that on one occasion this Geni took advantage of the absence of her lover to pay his odious addresses to a young princess, whom he kept confined in her castle. As the princess expressed a desire for companions, the Geni gathered some Radishes, which she touched with a magic wand, and changed into young girls, who, however, only remained young so long as the Radishes retained their juice. Then the Geni gave her some fresh Radishes, one of which, on being touched with the magic wand, became a bee. The princess, who was jealously guarded by the Geni, sent off the bee as a messenger to her lover, to inform him that she was in the Geni’s power. The bee did not return. She touched a second, which became a cricket, and despatched it in search of her lover. The cricket never returned. Then the princess desired the Geni to count the Radishes, and he, to please her, did so. Whilst so occupied, the princess touched one of the Radishes with her wand, and it became a horse. In an instant, she sprang on its back, and rode away at full speed; and fortunately meeting her lover, they both escaped together.

=RAGGED ROBIN.=--The Ragged Robin, Cuckoo Flower, Meadow Campion, or Meadow Pink (_Lychnis Flos cuculi_) owes the first of these names to the finely-cut but ragged appearance of its petals. It is dedicated to St. Barnabas.

=RAG-WEED.=--The large Rag-weed (_Senecio Jacobæa_) has a traditional reputation of having been employed by witches as horses when they took their midnight rides.----To the south of the famed Logan Rock on the Cornish coast is a high peak of granite known as the Castle Peak, which is locally reputed to have been for ages the midnight rendezvous for witches; and thither, according to tradition, witches were constantly seen flying on moonlight nights, mounted on the stems of the Rag-weed, and carrying with them the things necessary to make their charms potent and strong. The Rag-weeds or worts were also called Stagger-worts because they were found effectual to cure the staggers in horses. Hence these plants were dedicated to St. James, the patron of horses, and are still known as St. James’s Worts; they also blossom about this great warrior and pilgrim saint’s day, July 25th. This connection of the plant with horses probably explains the tradition of its having been employed as the witches’ steed.

RAMP.--See Arum.

=RAMPION.=--The Rampion (_Campanula Rapunculus_) was considered by the ancients as a funereal vegetable or root. In the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the esculent roots of the Rampion were highly esteemed as appropriate food, and were carried on golden plates. Among the Italians, there exists an old superstition that the possession of a Rampion engenders among children a quarrelsome disposition, and excites their anger to such a degree, that unless checked, murder would result. Hence, in ancient dream-books, a dream in which the Rampion is seen is interpreted as a sure sign of an impending quarrel.

=RANUNCULUS.=--The name Ranunculus (which is the diminutive of _rana_, a frog) was applied by the Latins to this species of plants because they were observed to grow in places frequented by frogs.----Rapin tells us that the flower was originally a young Libyan noted for his sweet voice:--

“Ranunculus, who with melodious strains
Once charmed the ravished nymphs on Libyan plains,
Now boasts through verdant fields his rich attire,
Whose love-sick look betrays a secret fire;
Himself his song beguiled and seized his mind
With pleasing flames for other hearts designed.”

The Latin herbalists also called the plant _Strumea_, because it was used as a remedy for a complaint similar to the King’s-evil, termed _Strumæ_. With one of the species of Ranunculus the ancients were wont to poison the points of their arrows.----The Buttercup, also known as King’s Cup, Gold Cup, Gold Knobs, Leopard’s Foot, and Cuckoo-bud, belongs to the Ranunculus family.----The Crowfoot or Crowflower (the _Coronopus_ of Dioscorides) is also a Ranunculus: this plant possesses the power of raising blisters on the skin, and is employed by mendicants to raise wounds on their limbs, in order to excite sympathy. Cattle generally refuse the acrid Crowfoot (_R. acris_), but if they perchance eat it, it will blister their mouths. The Illyrian Crowfoot (_R. Illyricus_), Gerarde tells us, is thought to be the _Gelotophyllis_ mentioned by Pliny (Book xxiv.), “which being drunk, saith he, with wine and Myrrhe, causeth a man to see divers strange sights, and not to cease laughing till he hath drunk Pine-apple kernels with Pepper in wine of the Date-tree (I think he would have said until he be dead), because the nature of laughing Crowfoot is thought to kill laughing, but without doubt the thing is clean contrary, for it causeth such convulsions, crampe, and wringings of the mouth and jaws, that it hath seemed to some that the parties have died laughing, whereas, in truth, they have died in great torment.”----The Double Crowfoot, or Bachelor’s Buttons, used formerly to be called St. Anthony’s Turnip, because of its round bulbous root: this root was reputed to be very efficacious in curing the plague, if applied to the part affected. According to Apuleius, it was a sure cure for lunacy, if hung round the neck of the patient, in a linen cloth, “in the wane of the Moon, when the sign shall be in the first degree of Taurus or Scorpio.”----The Persian Ranunculus is the Ranunculus of the garden. The Turks cultivated it under the name of _Tarobolos Catamarlale_, for several ages before it was known in other parts of Europe. Their account of its introduction is, that a Vizier, named Cara Mustapha, first noticed among the herbage of the fields this hitherto neglected flower, and decorated the garden of the Seraglio with it. The flower attracted the notice of the Sultan, upon which he caused it to be brought from all parts of the East where varieties could be found. This collection of Ranunculus flowers was carefully preserved in the Seraglio gardens alone, and only through bribery did at last some few roots find their way into other parts of Europe.----Astrologers hold the Ranunculus to be under the rule of Mars.

_RASRIVTRAVA._--The Rasrivtrava is the Russian name of a plant which has magical powers, enabling it to fracture chains and break open locks,--properties which appertain also to the _Primula veris_ or Key of the Spring, to the _Eisenkraut_ or Vervain, the Mistletoe, the Lunary or Moonwort, the Springwort, the Fern, and the Hazel. The word _Rasrivtrava_ means literally the “Plant that Opens.”

=RASPBERRY.=--Formerly the Raspberry was very generally known as the Hindberry; and this name is still retained in some counties.----It is thought that to dream of Raspberries betokens success, happiness in marriage, fidelity in a sweetheart, and good news from abroad.

=REED.=--King Midas is said to have expressed the opinion that the Reed-pipes of the god Pan produced better music than the lyre of Apollo. The offended god in consequence changed the king’s ears to those of an ass. Midas concealed his deformity as long as he was able; but at length a barber discovered his secret, and being unable to keep it, and at the same time dreading the king’s resentment, he dug a hole in the earth, and after whispering therein, “King Midas has the ears of an ass,” he covered up the hole, and in it, as he hoped, the words divulging the secret. But on that spot grew a number of Reeds, and when they were agitated by the wind, instead of merely rustling, they repeated the buried words--“King Midas has the ears of an ass.”--Cato tells us the Roman country folks, when they had broken an arm or a leg, split a Reed, and applied it, with certain precautions, to the wounded part, accompanying the operation with a rustic incantation, such as the following:--

“_Huat, hanat huat,
Ista pista sista,
Damiabo damnaustra._”

A Devonshire charm for the thrush is:--Take three Reeds from any running stream, and pass them separately through the mouth of the infant; then plunge the Reeds again into the stream, and as the current bears them away, so will the thrush depart from the child.----From the Reed (_Calamus_) the first pen was invented, and of Reeds arrows were made. The root of _Calamus aromaticus_ was highly esteemed in eastern countries: thus we read in Gerarde’s ‘Herbal,’ that “the Turks at Constantinople take it fasting, in the morning, against the contagion of the corrupt aire; and the Tartars have it in such esteeme, that they will not drinke water unlesse they have first steeped some of the root therein.”----In the Ukraine, is current a version of the tradition alluded to under the head of OATS. In this version, the Reed belongs to the Devil, and has, in fact, been his habitation since the days of Jesus Christ. One day, having met the Saviour, he prayed Him to give to him as his portion the Oats and Buckwheat, because, after having assisted the Almighty to create the world, he had never received for himself any consideration. The Saviour consented, and the Devil was so delighted, that he skipped off without even thanking his benefactor. The wolf met him, and seeing him so elated, asked him why he was jumping and skipping about? This question confused the Devil, who, instead of replying “because God has given me the Oats and Buckwheat,” said: “I am skipping because God has given me the Reed and the Sow-thistle.” From that time, it is said, the Devil never could recollect the present that God had made him, but always imagined that it was the Reed and the Sow-thistle.----According to English dream oracles, for the slumberer to see Reeds betokens mischief between him and his friends.

=REED-MACE.=--The Bulrush, or Cat’s-Tail (_Typha latifolia_), has acquired the name of Reed-Mace from the fact that Rubens and the early Italian painters, in their _Ecce Homo_ pictures, depict the Saviour as holding in His hands this Reed as a mace or sceptre. The Reed-Mace is, on certain days, put by Catholics into the hands of statues of Christ.

RESURRECTION-FLOWER.--See Rose of Jericho.

=RHAMNUS.=--The _Rhamnus Spina Christi_, or Syrian Christ’s Thorn, has acquired that name because it is supposed by many to have supplied the crown of Thorns at our Saviour’s crucifixion. An English species, _Rhamnus Paliurus_, is also called by Miller _Spina Christi_. (See THORN and BUCKTHORN.)

=RICE.=--Among Orientals, Rice is esteemed the symbol of life, generation, and abundance. The Dyaks of Borneo and the Karens of Burmah look upon it as a divinity, and address prayers to it to ensure a good harvest. In Siam, Rice and honey are offered to trees before they are felled.----Rice plays an important part in the marriage ceremonies of India. At the altar, the bride is three times approached by her friends, who on each occasion place Rice in her hands. They also scatter Rice on the head of the bridegroom. On the last day of the nuptial ceremonies, the bride and bridegroom together offer the sacrifice of Soma, during which they throw in the fire Rice moistened with butter. The Brahmans, when performing the marriage rites, after having recited a variety of prayers, consecrate the union of the couple by throwing a handful of Saffron mixed with the flour of Rice on their shoulders. Offerings of Rice and Saffron are made by married women in India to obtain healthy children, and to procure from the divinity exemption from the maladies of their sex. On the birth of a son, the Brahman father, after having banished the females from the apartment, takes the infant and places on its head Rice coloured red: this is done in order to avert the Evil Eye. Another method is to envelope small portions of Rice in cloths marked with the names of women suspected of being witches, and to place the whole in a nest of white ants. Should the ants devour the Rice in any of these mystic bundles, the charge of sorcery is thereby established against the woman whose name it bears. Young girls desirous of husbands offer dressed Rice to the gods. At the consecration of a Brahmanic disciple, the father of the candidate carries in his hands a cup filled with Rice, and the assistants, after the bath, cover the candidate with Rice. Rice is employed in many of the Hindu sacrifices and religious ceremonies, and is regarded as sacred: no one would touch it without having first made his ablutions. At the time of sowing it, certain ceremonies are solemnly observed.----In China, during the Spring Festival of the Fire, the priests of Tao march round the brasier, carrying a basket filled with Rice and salt, of which from time to time they cast a handful into the fire, to conjure the flame and to obtain an abundant harvest.----A Japanese legend relates that in ancient times the Bonzes (priests) of Nikko, like the other natives, lived solely on herbs and roots, not knowing any other kind of nourishment. One day, however, a Bonze observed a mouse hiding some Rice and other grains in a corner. He could not understand where the mouse could have obtained it, so he set a trap, and having caught the little creature, he tied to one of its hind legs a silken thread; and then, holding the other end of the thread in his hand, he set the mouse free, and determined to follow wherever it should run. The mouse led the priest into a remote and unknown land, where Rice grew in abundance. The Bonze learnt how to cultivate it, and speedily introduced it into his own country, where it proved such a blessing, that the inhabitants worshipped the mouse as a god, under the name of Daikoku-sama. From that day the mouse has been held sacred by the Japanese poor, and its effigy is found suspended in many of their houses as a fetish.----Among the Arabs, Rice is considered as a sacred food, and tradition runs that it first sprang from a drop of perspiration which fell from Mahomet in Paradise. Another tradition current among the Arabs is, that the national dish, composed of a mixture of Rice with other ingredients, and called Kuskussu, was revealed to Mahomet by the angel Gabriel himself.----The Bushmen of Central Africa have the following legend concerning Rice:--A pretty woman having eaten a certain Bushman-rice, called “ant’s-egg,” became transformed into a lioness; but after the spell was broken by reason of her little sister and her brothers also eating this particular Rice, she regained her original form, and from that day detested the Bushman-rice. This beautiful woman is supposed to have been the wife of the star called Heart of the Dawn.----In England, the Oriental practice of employing Rice at wedding festivities has of late become very general; and it is customary for showers of Rice to be thrown after the bride and bridegroom, as the happy pair quit the bride’s home; this is thought to promote their success and future happiness.----According to a work on the subject, to dream of eating Rice denotes abundance of instruction.

=ROCKET.=--This is a name given to several different plants the most noted of which are the London Rocket (_Sisymbrium Irio_) and the Dame’s, or Garden Rocket (_Hesperis matronalis_). The former plant is said to have first appeared in the metropolis in the Spring succeeding the Great Fire of London, when young Rockets were seen everywhere springing up among the ruins, where they increased so marvellously, that in the Summer the enormous crop crowding over the surface of London created the greatest astonishment and wonder.----The Garden Rocket (_Hesperis_) boasts of many other old-fashioned names:--Dame’s Violet, Damask Violet, Queen’s Gilliflower, Rogue’s Gilliflower, Winter Gilliflower, and Close Sciences (originally Close Sciney). It is the _Cassolette_ (smelling-bottle), _Julienne_, and _la Juliana_ of the French; and the _Bella Giulia_ and _Giuliana_ of the Italians.----According to Pliny, as quoted by Gerarde, “whosoever taketh the seed of Rocket before he be whipt, shall be so hardened that he shall easily endure the paines.” Turner remarks that all sorts of Rockets, but especially the seed, quicken nature and excite the passions; the seed he recommends as efficacious “against the bitings of the shrew-mouse and other venomous beasts.” Moreover, if mixed with vinegar, it is stated to remove freckles and pimples from the face.----Rocket is held to be under the dominion of Mars.

ROGATION-FLOWER.--See Gang-Flower and Milkwort.

ROOT OF THE HOLY GHOST.--See Angelica.

=ROSE.=--It is worthy of notice how little the name of the Rose varies amongst different nations. The Greeks call it _Rodon_, the Latins _Rosa_ (a form adhered to by Italians, Russians, Spaniards, and Portuguese), the English, French, Germans, and Danes, _Rose_, the Poles _Roza_, the Dutch _Roos_, and the Swedes _Ros_. Roses embellish the whole earth, and are natives of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; Nature having apparently, in this generous distribution, designed to offer these flowers to all people, as the type of grace and beauty. The origin of the queen of flowers is told us by the Jesuit poet Rapin, according to whose verse--

“She was a Grecian born, gave Corinth laws,
And fame proclaimed her worth with such applause,
That youthful rivals for her favour strove,
And high-born kings were suppliants for her love.”

Of her numerous suitors, Brias, Orcas, and Halesus, a warrior, were the principal. Provoked at their importunities, she haughtily bade them “from arms and not entreaties seek a bride;” and then, to rid herself of them, she entered the temple of Apollo and Diana with her father and people. The lovers, not to be denied, combined in an attack upon the temple gates, and the excitement of the combat so enhanced the maiden’s beauty, that the people shouted, “Let Rhodanthe be a goddess, and let the image of Diana give place to her!” Rhodanthe being therefore placed upon the shrine, Phœbus, Diana’s brother, became so incensed at the insult to his sister, that he turned his scorching rays against the would-be goddess, who bitterly repented that she had ever appeared a deity; for--

“Fast in the shrine her foot takes hold and cleaves,
Her arms stretch’d out are cover’d o’er with leaves;
Tho’ chang’d into a flower, her pomp remains,
And lovely still, and still a queen she reigns.
The crowd for their offence this doom abide.
Shrunk into thorns to guard her beauty’s pride.”

Her too ardent lovers were transformed respectively into a worm, a drone, and a butterfly.

This account bears a general resemblance to the legend recounted by Sir John Maundevile, who visited Bethlehem in the fourteenth century, and found there the field Floridus, wherein, he tells us, a fair maiden who had been unjustly accused of wrong was doomed to be burned; and, after praying devoutly to God that, inasmuch as she was not guilty, He would help her, and make her innocence known to all men, “she entered the fire, and immediately the fire was extinguished, and the faggots that were burning became red Rose-bushes full of Roses, and those that remained unkindled became white Rose-bushes; and these were the first Rose-trees and Roses, both white and red, that ever any man saw.” “Thus,” concludes Sir John, “was this mayden saved be the grace of God. And therfore is that feld clept the Feld of God florysscht: for it was fulle of Roses.” Southey, in his poem on the Rose, has commemorated this old story in the following lines:--

“The stake
Branches and buds, and spreading its green leaves,
Embowers and canopies the fair maid,
Who there stands glorified; and Roses, then
First seen on earth since Paradise was lost,
Profusely blossom round her, white and red.
In all their rich variety of hues.”

According to a Roumanian tradition, the Rose was originally a young and beauteous princess, who, while bathing in the sea, so dazzled the Sun with the radiance of her loveliness, that he stood still to gaze upon her, and covered her with kisses. Then for three days he forgot his duty, and obstructed the progress of night. Since that day the Lord of the Universe has changed the princess into a Rose, and this is why the Rose always hangs her head and blushes when the Sun gazes on her.

Anacreon gives the following poetic account of the origin of the Rose, connecting it with the goddess of love and beauty:--

“Oh! whence could such a plant have sprung?
Attend, for thus the tale is sung:
When, humid from the silvery stream,
Effusing beauty’s warmest beam,
Venus appeared, in flushing hues,
Mellowed by ocean’s briny dews;
When, in the starry courts above,
The pregnant brain of mighty Jove
Disclosed the nymph of azure glance,
The nymph who shakes the martial lance;
Then, then, in strange eventful hour,
The earth produced an infant flower,
Which sprung with blushing tinctures drest,
And wantoned o’er its parent’s breast.
The gods beheld this brilliant birth,
And hailed the Rose, the boon of earth.”--_Moore._

Bion describes the Rose as springing from the blood of the slain Adonis; and the Mahometans have a legend that it was produced from a drop of perspiration which fell from the brow of Mahomet.

Relative to the colour of the Rose, we find a number of stories left us by the ancients. Catullus tells us, that the Rose is red from blushing for the wound it inflicted on the foot of Venus as she hastened to the assistance of Adonis; Claudian, when Venus plucks a Rose, says it is in remembrance of Adonis; an ancient epigram mentions her wishing to defend Adonis from Mars, when

“Her step she fixes on the cruel thorns;
And with her blood the pallid Rose adorns.”

Anacreon tells us that the flower was dyed with nectar by the gods:--

“With nectar drops, a ruby tide,
The sweetly orient buds they dyed
And bade them bloom--the flowers divine
Of Him who sheds the teeming Vine.”--_Moore._

Still another legend is to the effect that Cupid, whilst leading a dance in heaven, stumbled and overset a bowl of nectar, which, falling upon the earth, stained the Rose.

The Rose--the flower of love, poetry, and beauty--was specially dedicated to Venus, who is sometimes represented crowned with Roses, and sometimes with a sceptre terminated with that flower. One of the Three Graces--the attendants of Venus--usually carried a Rose in her hand. Cupid is often depicted crowned with Roses, and the chaplet of Hymen consisted generally of Marjoram or Roses, which latter flowers were used in his feasts. The Thracians crowned Bacchus (Sabazius) with Roses, and, in the vicinity of Pangæus, held a feast called _Rosalia_. In the procession of the Corybantes, the goddess Cybele was pelted with white Roses.

The Rose was a domestic flower sedulously cultivated by the ancients, but especially by the Romans. It is said to have early flourished at Rhodes, and possibly gave its name to that island. The Roses of Campania, Miletus, Præneste, Malta, Cyrene, and Sybaris were all noted; but especially celebrated were those of Pæstum: to this day the insignia of Pæstum--a Syren holding a Rose--remains sculptured on the ruined arch of one of its gates.

Among the ancients, it was customary to crown brides and bridegrooms with a chaplet of red and white Roses. The Roman bride was decorated with a wreath of Roses and Myrtle. The shrines of the gods and of illustrious men in Rome were surmounted with wreaths of Roses. The triumphal arches were adorned with these flowers, and garlands of Roses were thrown into the chariots. At the public games, wreaths of Roses were presented to the senators, and sometimes to the performers and spectators. At the private entertainments of the ancients, the guests wore wreaths of blooming Roses. The Romans thought to impart additional relish to their feasts by the aid of the fragrance of the Rose. Pacutus relates that “even in the time of the Republic, people were not satisfied unless the cup of Falernian wine were swimming with Roses.” The Spartan soldiers, after the battle of Cirrha, were so fastidious as to refuse wine that was not perfumed with Roses. At the famed regatta of Baiæ, the whole surface of the Lucrine Lake used to be strewn with these flowers. At some of his banquets, Nero caused showers of Roses to be rained down upon his guests from apertures in the ceiling. Heliogabalus carried this practice to such an absurd extent, as to cause the suffocation of some of his guests, who could not extricate themselves from the heap of flowers. Cleopatra, in the entertainment she gave in honour of Antony, spent an immense sum in Roses, with which she had the floor of the banqueting chamber covered to the depth of an ell, and over the flowers a thin net was drawn. The Romans were at great expense to procure Roses in the Winter. Suetonius affirms that Nero spent upwards of four million sesterces (about £30,000) for Roses, at one supper. Horace, alluding to this custom, says: “Seek not for late-blowing Roses; I ask no other crown than simple Myrtle.” In those days, Rose-wine was celebrated, and we learn that Heliogabalus was wont to indulge largely in this drink, and bathed himself in it. He even caused a large swimming-bath to be filled with the costly liquid.

Milto, a fair young maiden, of obscure birth, was wont to deposit every morning garlands of fresh flowers in the temple of Venus, as she was too poor to make costlier offerings. Her rare beauty was once in danger of being destroyed by a tumour which grew on her chin, but in a dream she one night beheld the goddess, who told her to apply to it some of the Roses from her altar. Milto obeyed; the tumour soon disappeared, and she grew more lovely than ever; eventually attracting the notice of the younger Cyrus, whose favourite wife she became. From that time the medicinal properties of the Rose met with general recognition, and the flower formed the basis of many lotions.

In classical times, the Rose was regarded as the emblem of joy, and Comus, the god of feasting, is represented as wearing a garland of bedewed Roses. As, during the intoxication of mirth, the mouth is apt to run over when the heart is full, the ancients feigned that Cupid presented a Rose to Harpocrates, the grave god of silence, as a bribe not to betray the amours of Venus. The flower thus became a symbol of secrecy and silence, and as such, a Rose was formerly suspended over the guest table, that the sight of it might remind the guests that the conversation should not be repeated elsewhere. More recently, a Rose was painted on the ceiling of dining-rooms, and in our own time the plaster ornament in the centre of the ceiling is still called a Rose. This custom gave rise to the saying “Under the Rose”--an injunction of secrecy. Hence it fell out that the Jacobins adopted the white Rose as a political symbol of the Pretender, since his adherents were compelled to help him “under the Rose.”

The Rose held an important place in early ecclesiastical history. As an emblem of love and beauty, the queen of flowers was especially dedicated by the Romish Church to the Virgin Mary: she is the Rose of Sharon, the Mystic Rose (_Rosa mystica_), as well as the Lily of the Valley. In old Italian paintings of the Madonna, a plantation, garden, or hedge of Roses is often introduced, enclosing the principal figure. In mediæval days, the Rose had a Sunday of its own at Rome, and the reigning Pope officiated at the ceremony of the blessing of the Golden Rose upon Mid-Lent Sunday. A Golden Rose is, even in our own enlightened times, annually blessed by the Pope and sent as a mark of signal pontifical favour to some royal personage. Ecclesiastical tradition affirms that Roses and Lilies were found in the tomb of the Virgin Mary after her assumption into heaven, and Roses were conveyed by St. Dorothy, at the instance of Theophilus, from the heavenly garden. Roses replaced the alms of Elizabeth of Hungary, when her apron was rudely torn from her grasp by those who shared not her charitable zeal for the poor. A legend of the twelfth century, quoted in a German work by Wolf, relates how Iosbert, a pious monk, having fallen dead, whilst worshipping at a shrine of the Virgin Mary (in honour of whom he had been accustomed to recite five psalms every day), there sprang from his mouth, from his eyes, and from his ears, five Roses. The bishop, on his arrival, plucked one of the miraculous flowers, and solemnly placed it upon the altar. No sooner had he done so, however, than the other four Roses instantly faded away. In old paintings of the saints, Roses are sometimes introduced in allusion to the saint’s name. St. Rosalia, of Palermo, St. Rosa di Viterbo, St. Rosa di Lima, all wear the crown of Roses, or it is presented by an angel. The last-named saint, who is the patroness of America, was canonised by Clement X. According to the Peruvian legend, the pope, when entreated to canonise her, absolutely refused, exclaiming: “Indian and saint! as likely as that it should rain Roses!” whereupon a miraculous shower of Roses began to fall in the Vatican, and ceased not until the incredulous pontiff acknowledged himself convinced of her sanctity. A legend of St. Francis of Assisi relates that as the saint was one day shivering in his cell, in the depth of Winter, a demon whispered in his ear suggestions of ease and luxury. He repelled the temptations by going out and rolling himself in the snow on a heap of Thorns. From the Thorns sprinkled with his blood sprang Roses of Paradise, which he piously offered up to Christ and the Madonna.

The Rosary was introduced by St. Dominick, in commemoration of his having been shown a chaplet of Roses by the blessed Virgin. It consisted formerly of a string of beads made of Rose-leaves tightly pressed into round moulds, when real Roses were not strung together. The use of a chaplet of beads as a minute of the number of prayers recited is of Eastern origin, and dates from the time of the Egyptian anchorites. Beads were also used by the Benedictines, and are to this day in use among Mahometan devotees. St. Dominick invented a novel arrangement of the chaplet, and dedicated it to the honour and glory of the Virgin Mary. A complete Rosary consists of fifteen large and 150 small beads, the former representing the number of _Paternosters_, the latter the number of _Ave-Marias_. The Indian Buddhists use a Rosary of 99 beads: the Chinese and Japanese Buddhists one of 108 beads, corresponding to the daily prayers offered against the 108 possible sins.

In the sixth century, St. Médard, Bishop of Noyon, France, instituted a festival at Salency, his birth-place, for adjudging a prize to the girl who should be acknowledged the most amiable, modest, and beautiful. The prize consisted of a simple crown of Roses, and the founder of the festival had the gratification of crowning his own sister as the first Rose Queen of Salency, in which obscure village this pleasant institution still exists. At the present time, however, the _Rosière_ has a douceur of three hundred francs presented to her. Of late years the institution of the _Rosière_ has been introduced into this country by a Roman Catholic priest who labours in the east of London. The Academy of Floral Games at Toulouse, founded in 1322, and still in existence, was wont to give a Rose as a prize for the best poem. From 1288 to 1589 the French dukes and peers of all degrees were obliged in the Spring which followed their nomination to present a tribute of Roses to Parliament.

The association of the flower with our own country dates from a very early period; and we find Pliny doubting whether the name Albion referred to the white cliffs of our island or the white Roses which grew there in abundance. In Edward the Third’s reign a gold coin was struck called the “Rose noble,” which bore the figure of a Rose on one of its faces. As the badge of the rival houses of York and Lancaster, the flower became celebrated in English history--the White Rose being the hereditary cognisance of the house of York, and the Red Rose that of Lancaster. Shakspeare (in Henry VI.) represents the feud between the two houses as having originated in the Temple Gardens, where after a fierce altercation, Warwick addresses Plantagenet thus:--

“In signal of my love to thee,
Will I upon thy party wear this Rose:
And here I prophesy, this brawl to-day,
Grown to this faction in the Temple Garden,
Shall send, between the Red Rose and the White
A thousands souls to death and deadly night.”

Like the Gilliflower, the Rose was occasionally taken as a quit-rent; thus we find in 1576 that the then Bishop of Ely granted to Sir Christopher Hatton the greater portion of Ely House, Holborn, for a term of twenty-one years, on consideration of the tenant paying annually a red Rose for the garden and gate-house, and giving the Bishop free access to the gardens, with the right of gathering twenty bushels of Roses every year.

In the East, the Rose is an object of peculiar esteem. The Oriental poets have united the beauteous Rose with the melodious nightingale; and the flower is fabled to have burst forth from its bud at the song of the warbler of the night. The poet Jami says--“You may place a handful of fragrant herbs and flowers before the nightingale; yet he wishes not in his constant heart for more than the sweet breath of his beloved Rose.”

“Though rich the spot
With every flower this earth has got,
What is it to the nightingale,
If there his darling Rose is not?”--_Moore._

Persia is the veritable land of Roses: nowhere does the queen of flowers reign in such glorious majesty. Zoroaster himself, the apostle of the Persians, and the introducer of the worship of the sacred fire, is connected in a legend with the Rose. An astrologer having predicted the birth of a child who would dethrone the King of Babylon, the monarch at once gave orders for the assassination of all women who were about to become mothers. Thousands were slain; but one gave birth secretly to the future prophet. This having come to the King’s ear, he sent for the child, and tried to kill him with his own hand, but his arm was withered on the spot. Alarmed, and furious with rage, he had the babe placed on a lighted stake, but the burning pile changed into a bed of Roses, on which the little one lay quietly sleeping. Some persons present saved a portion of the fire, which has been kept up to the present day in memory of this great miracle. The king made two other attempts to destroy Zoroaster, but his temerity was punished miraculously by a gnat, which entered his ear and caused his death. A festival is held in Persia, called the Feast of the Roses, which lasts the whole time they are in bloom.

“And all is ecstacy, for now
The valley holds its feast of Roses;
That joyous time, when pleasures pour,
Profusely round, and in their shower
Hearts open, like the season’s Rose,--
The flowret of a hundred leaves,
Expanding while the dew-fall flows,
And every leaf its balm receives!”--_Moore’s ‘Lalla Rookh.’_

Pelting with Roses is still common in Persia during the time of the blooming of the flowers. A band of young musicians repair to the places of public entertainment to amuse the guests, and on their way through the streets they pelt the passengers whom they meet with Roses. The Persians regard the _Rosa centifolia_ as the flower of an archangel. Zoroaster affirmed that the Rose was free from thorns until the entrance into the world of Ahrimanes (the evil spirit).

The “bed of Roses” is not altogether a poetic fiction. In ancient days, the Sybarites used to sleep upon mattresses that were stuffed with Rose-leaves. A similar luxury was afterwards indulged in, both in Greece and Rome. Men would sit at their meals upon cushions, and sleep by night on beds of Roses. The tyrant Dionysius had couches stuffed with Roses, on which he lounged at his revels. Verres used to travel on a litter reclining on a mattress stuffed with Roses. He wore, moreover, garlands of Roses round his head and neck, and had Rose-leaves intertwined in a thin net, which was drawn over the litter. It was a favourite luxury of Antiochus to sleep in a tent of gold and silver on a mattress stuffed with Roses.

The Indians have a tradition respecting the discovery of the mode of preparing the far-famed Attar of Roses, a perfume perhaps unrivalled in its refreshing qualities. To gratify the voluptuous Jehanghir, his favourite sultana is said to have had the royal bath in the palace garden filled with Rose-water. The action of the sun speedily concentrated the oleaginous particles floating on the surface, and the careful attendant, fearing lest the Rose-water should have become corrupt, hastened to skim it in order to remove the oily flakes. The globules burst whilst this operation was being performed, and emitted such an exquisite odour, that the idea of preparing the delicious attar was at once suggested. Avicenna, an Arabian doctor of the tenth century, was the first to extract from Roses their fragrant perfume by distillation. He selected the _Rosa centifolia_ for his experiments, and succeeded in producing the delicious liquid known as Rose-water, which is held in such repute in the East, that when a stranger enters a house, it is considered a mark of distinction and welcome to sprinkle him over with Rose-water. When Saladin entered Jerusalem in 1187, he had the floor and walls of Omar’s mosque entirely washed with this delicate perfume.

At all times, in all countries, Roses have been employed for planting and strewing upon graves. The dying Antony begged Cleopatra to scatter perfumes on his tomb and cover it with Roses; and both Greeks and Romans were desirous of having their graves bedecked every year with the fragrant flowers. So religiously did they observe the practice of planting Roses round graves, that they annexed codicils to their wills, as appears by an old inscription at Ravenna, and another at Milan, by which Roses are ordered to be yearly strewed upon the graves. In the German portions of Switzerland, churchyards are called “Rose gardens.” A Rose is sculptured on the tombs of maidens in Turkey. In Poland, the coffins of little children are covered with Roses, and Roses are thrown from the windows as the funeral procession passes along the streets. In the South of England, a chaplet of white Roses is borne before the corpse of a maiden, by a young girl of the same age as the deceased, and afterwards hung up over her accustomed seat in church. In South Wales, and in many parts of England, it was formerly customary to strew Roses and plant Rose-trees on graves, and, indeed, the custom is still extant. Camden says that at Ockley, in Surrey, the custom of planting Rose-trees on graves had been observed “time out of mind.”

The Rose is one of the plants used for love divinations on Midsummer Eve. In Cornwall, Devon, and other counties, if a young lady will, on Midsummer Eve, walk backwards into the garden, and pluck a Rose, she is reputed to have the means of knowing who is to be her husband. The Rose must be cautiously sewn up in a paper bag, and put aside in a dark drawer, there to remain until Christmas morning, when the bag must be carefully opened in silence, and the Rose placed by the lady in her bosom. Thus she must wear it to church. Some young man will either ask her for the Rose or take it from her without asking; and that young man is destined eventually to become the lady’s husband. Herrick probably refers to this charm in the ‘Hesperides,’ when, in allusion to a bride, he says:--

“She must no more a-maying,
Or by Rosebuds divine
Who’ll be her Valentine.”