Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
259
A
similar
idea
exists
in
connection
with
hops;
and,
according
to
a
tradition
current
in
Yorkshire,
the
nightingale
made
its
first
appearance
in
the
neighbourhood
of
Doncaster
when
hops
were
planted.
But
this,
of
course,
is
purely
imaginary,
and
in
Hargrove's
"History
of
Knaresborough"
(1832)
we
read:
"In
the
opposite
wood,
called
Birkans
Wood
(opposite
to
the
Abbey
House),
during
the
summer
evenings,
the
nightingale:--
'Sings
darkling,
and,
in
shadiest
covert
hid,
Tunes
her
nocturnal
lay.'"
Of
the
numerous
stories
connected
with
the
origin
of
the
mistletoe,
one
is
noticed
by
Lord
Bacon,
to
the
effect
that
a
certain
bird,
known
as
the
"missel-bird,"
fed
upon
a
particular
kind
of
seed,
which,
through
its
incapacity
to
digest,
it
evacuated
whole,
whereupon
the
seed,
falling
on
the
boughs
of
trees,
vegetated
and
produced
the
mistletoe.
The
magic
springwort,
which
reveals
hidden
treasures,
has
a
mysterious
connection
with
the
woodpecker,
to
which
we
have
already
referred.
Among
further
birds
which
are
in
some
way
or
other
connected
with
plants
is
the
eagle,
which
plucks
the
wild
lettuce,
with
the
juice
of
which
it
smears
its
eyes
to
improve
its
vision;
while
the
hawk
was
supposed,
for
the
same
purpose,
to
pluck
the
hawk-bit.
Similarly,
writes
Mr.
Folkard,
[1]
pigeons
and
doves
made
use
of
vervain,
which
was
termed
"pigeon's-grass."
Once
more,
the
cuckoo,
according
to
an
old
proverbial
rhyme,
must
eat
three
meals
of
cherries
before
it
ceases
its
song;
and
it
was
formerly
said
that
orchids
sprang
from
the
seed
of
the
thrush
and
the
blackbird.
Further
illustrations
might
be
added,
whereas
some
of
the
many
plants
named
after
well-known
birds
are
noticed
elsewhere.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
