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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
263
In
speaking
of
the
various
beliefs
relative
to
plant
life
in
a
previous
chapter,
we
have
enumerated
some
of
the
legends
which
would
trace
the
origin
of
many
plants
to
the
shedding
of
human
blood,
a
belief
which
is
a
distinct
survival
of
a
very
primitive
form
of
belief,
and
enters
very
largely
into
the
stories
told
in
classical
mythology.
The
dwarf
elder
is
said
to
grow
where
blood
has
been
shed,
and
it
is
nicknamed
in
Wales
"Plant
of
the
blood
of
man,"
with
which
may
be
compared
its
English
name
of
"death-wort."
It
is
much
associated
in
this
country
with
the
Danes,
and
tradition
says
that
wherever
their
blood
was
shed
in
battle,
this
plant
afterwards
sprang
up;
hence
its
names
of
Dane-wort,
Dane-weed,
or
Dane's-blood.
One
of
the
bell-flower
tribe,
the
clustered
bell-flower,
has
a
similar
legend
attached
to
it;
and
according
to
Miss
Pratt,
"in
the
village
of
Bartlow
there
are
four
remarkable
hills,
supposed
to
have
been
thrown
up
by
the
Danes
as
monumental
memorials
of
the
battle
fought
in
1006
between
Canute
and
Edmund
Ironside.
Some
years
ago
the
clustered
bell-flower
was
largely
scattered
about
these
mounds,
the
presence
of
which
the
cottagers
attributed
to
its
having
sprung
from
the
Dane's
blood,"
under
which
name
the
flower
was
known
in
the
neighbourhood.
The
rose-coloured
lotus
or
melilot
is,
from
the
legend,
said
to
have
been
sprung
from
the
blood
of
a
lion
slain
by
the
Emperor
Adrian;
and,
in
short,
folk-lore
is
rich
in
stories
of
this
kind.
Some
legends
are
of
a
more
romantic
kind,
as
that
which
explains
the
origin
of
the
wallflower,
known
in
Palestine
as
the
"blood-drops
of
Christ."
In
bygone
days
a
castle
stood
near
the
river
Tweed,
in
which
a
fair
maiden
was
kept
prisoner,
having
plighted
her
troth
and
given
her
affection
to
a
young
heir
of
a
hostile
clan.
But
blood
having
been
shed
between
the
chiefs
on
either
side,
the
deadly
hatred
thus
engendered
forbade
all
thoughts
of
a
union.
The
lover
tried
various
stratagems
to
obtain
his
fair
one,
and
at
last
succeeded
in
gaining
admission
attired
as
a
wandering
troubadour,
and
eventually
arranged
that
she
should
effect
her
escape,
while
he
awaited
her
arrival
with
an
armed
force.
But
this
plan,
as
told
by
Herrick,
was
unsuccessful:--
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