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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
67
In
Scotland
the
devil
is
said
to
but
throw
his
cloak
over
the
blackberries
and
render
them
unwholesome,
while
in
Ireland
he
is
said
to
stamp
on
them.
Among
further
stories
of
this
kind
may
be
quoted
one
current
in
Devonshire
respecting
St.
Dunstan,
who,
it
is
said,
bought
up
a
quantity
of
barley
for
brewing
beer.
The
devil,
knowing
how
anxious
the
saint
would
be
to
get
a
good
sale
for
his
beer,
offered
to
blight
the
apple
trees,
so
that
there
should
be
no
cider,
and
hence
a
greater
demand
for
beer,
on
condition
that
he
sold
himself
to
him.
St.
Dunstan
accepted
the
offer,
and
stipulated
that
the
trees
should
be
blighted
on
the
17th,
18th,
and
19th
May.
Should
the
apple-blossom
be
nipped
by
cold
winds
or
frost
about
this
time,
many
allusions
are
still
made
to
St.
Dunstan.
Of
the
plants
associated
personally
with
the
evil
one
may
be
mentioned
the
henbane,
which
is
known
in
Germany
as
the
"devil's
eye,"
a
name
applied
to
the
stich-wort
in
Wales.
A
species
of
ground
moss
is
also
styled
in
Germany
the
"devil's
claws;"
one
of
the
orchid
tribe
is
"Satan's
hand;"
the
lady's
fingers
is
"devil's
claws,"
and
the
plantain
is
"devil's
head."
Similarly
the
house-leek
has
been
designated
the
"devil's
beard,"
and
a
Norfolk
name
for
the
stinkhorn
is
"devil's
horn."
Of
further
plants
related
to
his
Satanic
majesty
is
the
clematis,
termed
"devil's
thread,"
the
toad-flax
is
his
ribbon,
the
indigo
his
dye,
while
the
scandix
forms
his
darning-needles.
The
tritoma,
with
its
brilliant
red
blossom,
is
familiar
in
most
localities
as
the
"devil's
poker,"
and
the
ground
ivy
has
been
nicknamed
the
"devil's
candlestick,"
the
mandrake
supplying
his
candle.
The
puff-balls
of
the
lycoperdon
form
the
devil's
snuff-box,
and
in
Ireland
the
nettle
is
his
apron,
and
the
convolvulus
his
garter;
while
at
Iserlohn,
in
Germany,[7]
"the
mothers,
to
deter
their
children
eating
the
mulberries,
sing
to
them
that
the
devil
requires
them
for
the
purpose
of
blacking
his
boots."
The
Arum
maculatum
is
"devil's
ladies
and
gentlemen,"
and
the
Ranunculus
arvensis
is
the
"devil
on
both
sides."
The
vegetable
kingdom
also
has
been
equally
mindful
of
his
majesty's
food,
the
spurge
having
long
been
named
"devil's
milk"
and
the
briony
the
"devil's
cherry."
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