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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
72
"The
first
leet
night,
quhan
the
new
moon
set,
Quhan
all
was
douffe
and
mirk,
We
saddled
our
naigis
wi'
the
moon-fern
leif,
And
rode
fra
Kilmerrin
kirk.
Some
horses
were
of
the
brume-cow
framit,
And
some
of
the
greine
bay
tree;
But
mine
was
made
of
ane
humloke
schaw,
And
a
stour
stallion
was
he."[1]
In
some
folk-tales
fairies
are
represented
as
employing
nuts
for
their
mode
of
conveyance,
in
allusion
to
which
Shakespeare,
in
"Romeo
and
Juliet,"
makes
Mercutio
speak
of
Queen
Mab's
arrival
in
a
nut-shell.
Similarly
the
fairies
selected
certain
plants
for
their
attire.
Although
green
seems
to
have
been
their
popular
colour,
yet
the
fairies
of
the
moon
were
often
clad
in
heath-brown
or
lichen-dyed
garments,
whence
the
epithet
of
"Elfin-grey."
Their
petticoats,
for
instance,
were
composed
of
the
fox-glove,
a
flower
in
demand
among
Irish
fairies
for
their
gloves,
and
in
some
parts
of
that
country
for
their
caps,
where
it
is
nicknamed
"Lusmore,"
while
the
Cuscuta
epithymum
is
known
in
Jersey
as
"fairies'
hair."
Their
raiment
was
made
of
the
fairy
flax,
and
the
wood-anemone,
with
its
fragile
blossoms,
was
supposed
to
afford
them
shelter
in
wet
weather.
Shakespeare
has
represented
Ariel
reclining
in
"a
cowslip's
bell,"
and
further
speaks
of
the
small
crimson
drops
in
its
blossom
as
"gold
coats
spots"--"these
be
rubies,
fairy
favours."
And
at
the
present
day
the
cowslip
is
still
known
in
Lincolnshire
as
the
"fairy
cup."
Its
popular
German
name
is
"key-flower;"
and
no
flower
has
had
in
that
country
so
extensive
an
association
with
preternatural
wealth.
A
well-known
legend
relates
how
"Bertha"
entices
some
favoured
child
by
exquisite
primroses
to
a
doorway
overgrown
with
flowers.
This
is
the
door
to
an
enchanted
castle.
When
the
key-flower
touches
it,
the
door
gently
opens,
and
the
favoured
mortal
passes
to
a
room
with
vessels
covered
over
with
primroses,
in
which
are
treasures
of
gold
and
jewels.
When
the
treasure
is
secured
the
primroses
must
be
replaced,
otherwise
the
finder
will
be
for
ever
followed
by
a
"black
dog."
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
