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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
193
In
the
Harz,
on
Midsummer
night,
branches
of
the
fir-tree
are
decorated
with
flowers
and
coloured
eggs,
around
which
the
young
people
dance,
singing
rhymes.
The
Bolognese,
who
regard
garlic
as
the
symbol
of
abundance,
buy
it
at
the
festival
as
a
charm
against
poverty
during
the
coming
year.
The
Bohemian,
says
Mr.
Conway,
"thinks
he
can
make
himself
shot-proof
for
twenty-four
hours
by
finding
on
St.
John's
Day
pine-cones
on
the
top
of
a
tree,
taking
them
home,
and
eating
a
single
kernel
on
each
day
that
he
wishes
to
be
invulnerable."
In
Sicily
it
is
customary,
on
Midsummer
Eve,
to
fell
the
highest
poplar,
and
with
shouts
to
drag
it
through
the
village,
while
some
beat
a
drum.
Around
this
poplar,
says
Mr.
Folkard,[4]
"symbolising
the
greatest
solar
ascension
and
the
decline
which
follows
it,
the
crowd
dance,
and
sing
an
appropriate
refrain;"
and
he
further
mentions
that,
at
the
commencement
of
the
Franco-German
War,
he
saw
sprigs
of
pine
stuck
on
the
railway
carriages
bearing
the
German
soldiers
into
France.
In
East
Prussia,
the
sap
of
dog-wood,
absorbed
in
a
handkerchief,
will
fulfil
every
wish;
and
a
Brandenburg
remedy
for
fever
is
to
lie
naked
under
a
cherry-tree
on
St.
John's
Day,
and
to
shake
the
dew
on
one's
back.
Elsewhere
we
have
alluded
to
the
flowering
of
the
fern
on
this
anniversary,
and
there
is
the
Bohemian
idea
that
its
seed
shines
like
glittering
gold.
Corpus
Christi
Day
was,
in
olden
times,
observed
with
much
ceremony,
the
churches
being
decorated
with
roses
and
other
choice
garlands,
while
the
streets
through
which
the
procession
passed
were
strewn
with
flowers.
In
North
Wales,
flowers
were
scattered
before
the
door;
and
a
particular
fern,
termed
Rhedyn
Mair,
or
Mary's
fern--probably
the
maiden-hair--was
specially
used
for
the
purpose.
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