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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
211
Then
there
is
"Our
Lady's
bed-straw,"
which
filled
the
manger
on
which
the
infant
Jesus
was
laid;
while
of
the
plant
said
to
have
formed
the
Virgin's
bed
may
be
mentioned
the
thyme,
woodroof,
and
groundsel.
The
white-spotted
green
leaves
of
"Our
Lady's
thistle"
were
caused
by
some
drops
of
her
milk
falling
upon
them,
and
in
Cheshire
we
find
the
same
idea
connected
with
the
pulmonaria
or
"lady's
milk
sile,"
the
word
"sile"
being
a
provincialism
for
"soil,"
or
"stain."
A
German
tradition
makes
the
common
fern
(Polypodium
vulgare)
to
have
sprung
from
the
Virgin's
milk.
Numerous
flowers
have
been
identified
with
her
dress,
such
as
the
marigold,
termed
by
Shakespeare
"Mary-bud,"
which
she
wore
in
her
bosom.
The
cuckoo-flower
of
our
meadows
is
"Our
Lady's
smock,"
which
Shakespeare
refers
to
in
those
charming
lines
in
"Love's
Labour's
Lost,"
where:--
"When
daisies
pied
and
violets
blue,
And
lady's
smocks
all
silver
white,
And
cuckoo-buds
of
yellow
hue
Do
paint
the
meadows
with
delight,
The
cuckoo
then
on
every
tree
Mocks
married
men,
for
thus
sings
he,
Cuckoo."
And
one
of
the
finest
of
our
orchids
is
"Our
Lady's
slipper."
The
ribbon
grass
is
"Our
Lady's
garters,"
and
the
dodder
supplies
her
"laces."
In
the
same
way
many
flowers
have
been
associated
with
the
Virgin
herself.
Thus,
there
is
"Our
Lady's
tresses,"
and
a
popular
name
for
the
maiden-hair
fern
and
quaking-grass
is
"Virgin's
hair."
The
lilies
of
the
valley
are
her
tears,
and
a
German
nickname
for
the
lungwort
is
"Our
Lady's
milk-wort."
The
Anthlyllis
vulneraria
is
"Our
Lady's
fingers,"
and
the
kidney-wort
has
been
designated
"lady's
navel."
Certain
orchids,
from
the
peculiar
form
of
their
hand-shaped
roots,
have
been
popularly
termed
"Our
Lady's
hands,"
a
name
given
in
France
to
the
dead-nettle.
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