Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
185
"Round
its
dark
vaults
a
melancholy
bower,
For
spirits
of
the
dead
at
night's
enchanted
hour."
At
Candlemas
it
was
customary,
writes
Herrick,
to
replace
the
Christmas
evergreens
with
sprigs
of
box,
which
were
kept
up
till
Easter
Eve:--
"Down
with
the
rosemary
and
bays,
Down
with
the
mistletoe,
Instead
of
holly
now
upraise
The
greener
box
for
show."
The
snowdrop
has
been
nicknamed
the
"Fair
Maid
of
February,"
from
its
blossoming
about
this
period,
when
it
was
customary
for
young
women
dressed
in
white
to
walk
in
procession
at
the
Feast
of
the
Purification,
and,
according
to
the
old
adage:--
"The
snowdrop
in
purest
white
array,
First
rears
her
head
on
Candlemas
Day."
The
dainty
crocus
is
said
to
blow
"before
the
shrine
at
vernal
dawn
of
St.
Valentine."
And
we
may
note
here
how
county
traditions
affirm
that
in
some
mysterious
way
the
vegetable
world
is
affected
by
leap-year
influences.
A
piece
of
agricultural
folk-lore
current
throughout
the
country
tells
us
how
all
the
peas
and
beans
grow
the
wrong
way
in
their
pods,
the
seeds
being
set
in
quite
the
contrary
to
what
they
are
in
other
years.
The
reason
assigned
for
this
strange
freak
of
nature
is
that,
"it
is
the
ladies'
year,
and
they
(the
peas
and
beans)
always
lay
the
wrong
way
in
leap
year."
The
leek
is
associated
with
St.
David's
Day,
the
adoption
of
this
plant
as
the
national
device
of
Wales
having
been
explained
in
various
ways.
According
to
Shakespeare
it
dates
from
the
battle
of
Cressy,
while
some
have
maintained
it
originated
in
a
victory
obtained
by
Cadwallo
over
the
Saxons,
640,
when
the
Welsh,
to
distinguish
themselves,
wore
leeks
in
their
hats.
It
has
also
beeen
suggested
that
Welshmen
"beautify
their
hats
with
verdant
leek,"
from
the
custom
of
every
farmer,
in
years
gone
by,
contributing
his
leek
to
the
common
repast
when
they
met
at
the
Cymortha
or
Association,
and
mutually
helped
one
another
in
ploughing
their
land.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
