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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
268
"Pear
tree,
I
complain
to
thee
Three
worms
sting
me."
The
henbane,
too,
according
to
a
German
belief,
is
said
to
attract
rain,
and
in
olden
times
was
thought
to
produce
sterility.
Some
critics
have
suggested
that
it
is
the
plant
referred
to
in
"Macbeth"
by
Banquo
(Act
i.
sc.
3):--
"Have
we
eaten
of
the
insane
root
That
takes
the
reason
prisoner?"
Although
others
think
it
is
the
hemlock.
Anyhow,
the
henbane
has
long
been
in
repute
as
a
plant
possessed
of
mysterious
attributes,
and
Douce
quotes
the
subjoined
passage:--"Henbane,
called
insana,
mad,
for
the
use
thereof
is
perillous,
for
if
it
be
eate
or
dronke,
it
breedeth
madness,
or
slowe
lykeness
of
sleepe."
In
days
gone
by,
when
the
mandrake
was
an
object
of
superstitious
veneration
by
reason
of
its
supernatural
character,
the
Germans
made
little
idols
of
its
root,
which
were
consulted
as
oracles.
Indeed,
so
much
credence
was
attached
to
these
images,
that
they
were
manufactured
in
very
large
quantities
for
exportation
to
various
other
countries,
and
realised
good
prices.
Oftentimes
substituted
for
the
mandrake
was
the
briony,
which
designing
people
sold
at
a
good
profit.
Gerarde
informs
us,
"How
the
idle
drones,
that
have
little
or
nothing
to
do
but
eat
and
drink,
have
bestowed
some
of
their
time
in
carving
the
roots
of
briony,
forming
them
to
the
shape
of
men
and
women,
which
falsifying
practice
hath
confirmed
the
error
amongst
the
simple
and
unlearned
people,
who
have
taken
them
upon
their
report
to
be
the
true
mandrakes."
Oftentimes,
too,
the
root
of
the
briony
was
trained
to
grow
into
certain
eccentric
shapes,
which
were
used
as
charms.
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