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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
75
The
four-leaved
clover
is
a
magic
talisman
which
enables
its
wearer
to
detect
the
whereabouts
of
fairies,
and
was
said
only
to
grow
in
their
haunts;
in
reference
to
which
belief
Lover
thus
writes:
"I'll
seek
a
four-leaved
clover
In
all
the
fairy
dells,
And
if
I
find
the
charmed
leaf,
Oh,
how
I'll
weave
my
spells!"
And
according
to
a
Danish
belief,
any
one
wandering
under
an
elder-bush
at
twelve
o'clock
on
Midsummer
Eve
will
see
the
king
of
fairyland
pass
by
with
all
his
retinue.
Fairies'
haunts
are
mostly
in
picturesque
spots
(such
as
among
the
tufts
of
wild
thyme);
and
the
oak
tree,
both
here
and
in
Germany,
has
generally
been
their
favourite
abode,
and
hence
the
superstitious
reverence
with
which
certain
trees
are
held,
care
being
taken
not
to
offend
their
mysterious
inhabitants.
An
immense
deal
of
legendary
lore
has
clustered
round
the
so-called
fairy-rings--little
circles
of
a
brighter
green
in
old
pastures--within
which
the
fairies
were
supposed
to
dance
by
night.
This
curious
phenomenon,
however,
is
owing
to
the
outspread
propagation
of
a
particular
mushroom,
the
fairy-ringed
fungus,
by
which
the
ground
is
manured
for
a
richer
following
vegetation.[6]
Amongst
the
many
other
conjectures
as
to
the
cause
of
these
verdant
circles,
some
have
ascribed
them
to
lightning,
and
others
have
maintained
that
they
are
produced
by
ants.[7]
In
the
"Tempest"
(v.
i)
Prospero
invokes
the
fairies
as
the
"demi-puppets"
that:
"By
moonshine
do
the
green
sour
ringlets
make,
Whereof
the
ewe
not
bites;
and
you,
whose
pastime
Is
to
make
midnight
mushrooms."
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