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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
192
St.
Barnabas'
thistle
(Centaurea
solstitialis)
derived
its
name
from
flowering
at
the
time
of
the
saint's
festival,
and
we
are
told
how:--
"When
St.
Barnaby
bright
smiles
night
and
day,
Poor
ragged
robin
blooms
in
the
hay."
To
Trinity
Sunday
belong
the
pansy,
or
herb-trinity
and
trefoil,
hence
the
latter
has
been
used
for
decorations
on
this
anniversary.
In
commemoration
of
the
Restoration
of
Charles
II.,
oak
leaves
and
gilded
oak
apples
have
been
worn;
oak
branches
having
been
in
past
years
placed
over
doors
and
windows.
Stowe,
in
his
"Survey
of
London,"
speaks
of
the
old
custom
of
hanging
up
St.
John's
wort
over
the
doors
of
houses,
along
with
green
birch
or
pine,
white
lilies,
and
other
plants.
The
same
practice
has
existed
very
largely
on
the
Continent,
St.
John's
wort
being
still
regarded
as
an
effective
charm
against
witchcraft.
Indeed,
few
plants
have
been
in
greater
request
on
any
anniversary,
or
been
invested
with
such
mystic
virtues.
Fennel,
another
of
the
many
plants
dedicated
to
St.
John,
was
hung
over
doors
and
windows
on
his
night
in
England,
numerous
allusions
to
which
occur
in
the
literature
of
the
past.
And
in
connection
with
this
saint
we
are
told
how:--
"The
scarlet
lychnis,
the
garden's
pride,
Flames
at
St.
John
the
Baptist's
tyde."
Hemp
was
also
in
demand,
many
forms
of
divination
having
been
practised
by
means
of
its
seed.
According
to
a
belief
in
Iceland,
the
trijadent
(Spiraea
ulmaria)
will,
if
put
under
water
on
this
day,
reveal
a
thief;
floating
if
the
thief
be
a
woman,
and
sinking
if
a
man.
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