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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
65
The
seed
of
the
parsley,
"is
apt
to
come
up
only
partially,
according
as
the
devil
takes
his
tithe
of
it."[3]
In
Germany
"devil's
oaks"
are
of
frequent
occurrence,
and
"one
of
these
at
Gotha
is
held
in
great
regard."[4]
and
Gerarde,
describing
the
vervain,
with
its
manifold
mystic
virtues,
says
that
"the
devil
did
reveal
it
as
a
secret
and
divine
medicine."
Belladonna,
writes
Mr.
Conway,
is
esteemed
in
Bohemia
a
favourite
plant
of
the
devil,
who
watches
it,
but
may
be
drawn
from
it
on
Walpurgis
Night
by
letting
loose
a
black
hen,
after
which
he
will
run.
Then
there
is
the
sow-thistle,
which
in
Russia
is
said
to
belong
to
the
devil;
and
Loki,
the
evil
spirit
in
northern
mythology,
is
occasionally
spoken
of
as
sowing
weeds
among
the
good
seed;
from
whence,
it
has
been
suggested,
originated
the
popular
phrase
of
"sowing
one's
wild
oats."[5]
The
German
peasantry
have
their
"rye-wolf,"
a
malignant
spirit
infesting
the
rye-fields;
and
in
some
parts
of
the
Continent
orchards
are
said
to
be
infested
by
evil
demons,
who,
until
driven
away
by
various
incantations,
are
liable
to
do
much
harm
to
the
fruit.
The
Italians,
again,
affirm
that
in
each
leaf
of
the
fig-tree
an
evil
spirit
dwells;
and
throughout
the
Continent
there
are
various
other
demons
who
are
believed
to
haunt
the
crops.
Evil
spirits
were
once
said
to
lurk
in
lettuce-beds,
and
a
certain
species
was
regarded
with
ill
favour
by
mothers,
a
circumstance
which,
Mr.
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