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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
186
In
Ireland
the
shamrock
is
worn
on
St.
Patrick's
Day.
Old
women,
with
plenteous
supplies
of
trefoil,
may
be
heard
in
every
direction
crying,
"Buy
my
shamrock,
green
shamrocks,"
while
little
children
have
"Patrick's
crosses"
pinned
to
their
sleeves,
a
custom
which
is
said
to
have
originated
in
the
circumstance
that
when
St.
Patrick
was
preaching
the
doctrine
of
the
Trinity
he
made
use
of
the
trefoil
as
a
symbol
of
the
great
mystery.
Several
plants
have
been
identified
as
the
shamrock;
and
in
"Contributions
towards
a
Cybele
Hibernica,"
[1]
is
the
following
extensive
note:--"Trifolium
repens,
Dutch
clover,
shamrock.--This
is
the
plant
still
worn
as
shamrock
on
St.
Patrick's
Day,
though
Medicago
lupulina
is
also
sold
in
Dublin
as
the
shamrock.
Edward
Lhwyd,
the
celebrated
antiquary,
writing
in
1699
to
Tancred
Robinson,
says,
after
a
recent
visit
to
Ireland:
'Their
shamrug
is
our
common
clover'
(Phil.
Trans.,
No.
335).
Threkeld,
the
earliest
writer
on
the
wild
plants
of
Ireland,
gives
Seamar-oge
(young
trefoil)
as
the
Gaelic
name
for
Trifolium
pratense
album,
and
expressly
says
this
is
the
plant
worn
by
the
people
in
their
hats
on
St.
Patrick's
Day."
Some,
again,
have
advocated
the
claims
of
the
wood-sorrel,
and
others
those
of
the
speedwell,
whereas
a
correspondent
of
Notes
and
Queries
(4th
Ser.
iii.
235)
says
the
Trifolium
filiforme
is
generally
worn
in
Cork,
the
Trifolium
minus
also
being
in
demand.
It
has
been
urged
that
the
watercress
was
the
plant
gathered
by
the
saint,
but
this
plant
has
been
objected
to
on
the
ground
that
its
leaf
is
not
trifoliate,
and
could
not
have
been
used
by
St.
Patrick
to
illustrate
the
doctrine
of
the
Trinity.
On
the
other
hand,
it
has
been
argued
that
the
story
is
of
modern
date,
and
not
to
be
found
in
any
of
the
lives
of
that
saint.
St.
Patrick's
cabbage
also
is
a
name
for
"London
Pride,"
from
its
growing
in
the
West
of
Ireland,
where
the
Saint
lived.
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