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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
74
We
may
mention
here
that
the
beautiful
white
or
yellow
flowers
that
grow
on
the
banks
of
lakes
and
rivers
in
Sweden
are
called
"neck-roses,"
memorials
of
the
Neck,
a
water-elf,
and
the
poisonous
root
of
the
water-hemlock
was
known
as
neck-root.[4]
In
Brittany
and
in
some
parts
of
Ireland
the
hawthorn,
or,
as
it
is
popularly
designated,
the
fairy-thorn,
is
a
tree
most
specially
in
favour.
On
this
account
it
is
held
highly
dangerous
to
gather
even
a
leaf
"from
certain
old
and
solitary
thorns
which
grow
in
sheltered
hollows
of
the
moorlands,"
for
these
are
the
trysting-places
of
the
fairy
race.
A
trace
of
the
same
superstition
existed
in
Scotland,
as
may
be
gathered
from
the
subjoined
extract
from
the
"Scottish
Statistical
Report"
of
the
year
1796,
in
connection
with
New
parish:--"There
is
a
quick
thorn
of
a
very
antique
appearance,
for
which
the
people
have
a
superstitious
veneration.
They
have
a
mortal
dread
to
lop
off
or
cut
any
part
of
it,
and
affirm
with
a
religious
horror
that
some
persons
who
had
the
temerity
to
hurt
it,
were
afterwards
severely
punished
for
their
sacrilege."
One
flower
which,
for
some
reason
or
other,
is
still
held
in
special
honour
by
them,
is
the
common
stichwort
of
our
country
hedges,
and
which
the
Devonshire
peasant
hesitates
to
pluck
lest
he
should
be
pixy-led.
A
similar
idea
formerly
prevailed
in
the
Isle
of
Man
in
connection
with
the
St.
John's
wort.
If
any
unwary
traveller
happened,
after
sunset,
to
tread
on
this
plant,
it
was
said
that
a
fairy-horse
would
suddenly
appear,
and
carry
him
about
all
night.
Wild
thyme
is
another
of
their
favourite
plants,
and
Mr.
Folkard
notes
that
in
Sicily
rosemary
is
equally
beloved;
and
that
"the
young
fairies,
under
the
guise
of
snakes,
lie
concealed
under
its
branches."
According
to
a
Netherlandish
belief,
the
elf-leaf,
or
sorceresses'
plant,
is
particularly
grateful
to
them,
and
therefore
ought
not
to
be
plucked.[5]
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