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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
61
Occasionally
when
the
dairymaid
churned
for
a
long
time
without
making
butter,
she
would
stir
the
cream
with
a
twig
of
mountain
ash,
and
beat
the
cow
with
another,
thus
breaking
the
witch's
spell.
But,
to
prevent
accidents
of
this
kind,
it
has
long
been
customary
in
the
northern
countries
to
make
the
churn-staff
of
ash.
For
the
same
reason
herd-boys
employ
an
ash-twig
for
driving
cattle,
and
one
may
often
see
a
mountain-ash
growing
near
a
house.
On
the
Continent
the
tree
is
in
equal
repute,
and
in
Norway
and
Denmark
rowan
branches
are
usually
put
over
stable
doors
to
keep
out
witches,
a
similar
notion
prevailing
in
Germany.
No
tree,
perhaps,
holds
such
a
prominent
place
in
witchcraft-lore
as
the
mountain-ash,
its
mystic
power
having
rarely
failed
to
render
fruitless
the
evil
influence
of
these
enemies
of
mankind.
In
our
northern
counties
witches
are
said
to
dislike
the
bracken
fern,
"because
it
bears
on
its
root
the
initial
C,
which
may
be
seen
on
cutting
the
root
horizontally."[26]
and
in
most
places
equally
distasteful
to
them
is
the
yew,
perhaps
for
no
better
reason
than
its
having
formerly
been
much
planted
in
churchyards.
The
herb-bennett
(Geum
urbanum),
like
the
clover,
from
its
trefoiled
leaf,
renders
witches
powerless,
and
the
hazel
has
similar
virtues.
Among
some
of
the
plants
considered
antagonistic
to
sorcery
on
the
Continent
may
be
mentioned
the
water-lily,
which
is
gathered
in
the
Rhine
district
with
a
certain
formula.
In
Tuscany,
the
lavender
counteracts
the
evil
eye,
and
a
German
antidote
against
the
hurtful
effects
of
any
malicious
influence
was
an
ointment
made
of
the
leaves
of
the
marsh-mallow.
In
Italy,
an
olive
branch
which
has
been
blessed
keeps
the
witch
from
the
dwelling,
and
in
some
parts
of
the
Continent
the
plum-tree
is
used.
Kolb,
writes
Mr.
Black,[27]
who
became
one
of
the
first
"wonder-doctors"
of
the
Tyrol,
"when
he
was
called
to
assist
any
bewitched
person,
made
exactly
at
midnight
the
smoke
of
five
different
sorts
of
herbs,
and
while
they
were
burning
the
bewitched
was
gently
beaten
with
a
martyr-thorn
birch,
which
had
to
be
got
the
same
night.
This
beating
the
patient
with
thorn
was
thought
to
be
really
beating
the
hag
who
had
caused
the
evil."
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