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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
266
Folkard
points
out,[2]
in
the
popular
tales
of
all
countries
the
apple
is
represented
as
the
principal
magical
fruit,
in
support
of
which
he
gives
several
interesting
illustrations.
Thus,
"In
the
German
folk-tale
of
'The
Man
of
Iron,'
a
princess
throws
a
golden
apple
as
a
prize,
which
the
hero
catches
three
times,
and
carries
off
and
wins."
And
in
a
French
tale,
"A
singing
apple
is
one
of
the
marvels
which
Princess
Belle-Etoile
and
her
brothers
and
her
cousin
bring
from
the
end
of
the
world."
The
apple
figures
in
many
an
Italian
tale,
and
holds
a
prominent
place
in
the
Hungarian
story
of
the
Iron
Ladislas.[3]
But
many
of
these
so-called
mystic
trees
and
plants
have
been
mentioned
in
the
preceding
pages
in
their
association
with
lightning,
witchcraft,
demonology,
and
other
branches
of
folk-lore,
although
numerous
other
curious
instances
are
worthy
of
notice,
some
of
which
are
collected
together
in
the
present
chapter.
Thus
the
nettle
and
milfoil,
when
carried
about
the
person,
were
believed
to
drive
away
fear,
and
were,
on
this
account,
frequently
worn
in
time
of
danger.
The
laurel
preserved
from
misfortune,
and
in
olden
times
we
are
told
how
the
superstitious
man,
to
be
free
from
every
chance
of
ill-luck,
was
wont
to
carry
a
bay
leaf
in
his
mouth
from
morning
till
night.
One
of
the
remarkable
virtues
of
the
fruit
of
the
balm
was
its
prolonging
the
lives
of
those
who
partook
of
it
to
four
or
five
hundred
years,
and
Albertus
Magnus,
summing
up
the
mystic
qualities
of
the
heliotrope,
gives
this
piece
of
advice:--"Gather
it
in
August,
wrap
it
in
a
bay
leaf
with
a
wolf's
tooth,
and
it
will,
if
placed
under
the
pillow,
show
a
man
who
has
been
robbed
where
are
his
goods,
and
who
has
taken
them.
Also,
if
placed
in
a
church,
it
will
keep
fixed
in
their
places
all
the
women
present
who
have
broken
their
marriage
vow."
It
was
formerly
supposed
that
the
cucumber
had
the
power
of
killing
by
its
great
coldness,
and
the
larch
was
considered
impenetrable
by
fire;
Evelyn
describing
it
as
"a
goodly
tree,
which
is
of
so
strange
a
composition
that
'twill
hardly
burn."
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