I
iif I
I* *
to almost ensure happiness, and in the case of young girls a husband
very speedily. There is old couplet which records that—
“ I f you find an even Ash-leaf or a four-leaved Clover,
You’ll be bound to see your true love ere the day be over.”
In Scotland, the possessor of a piece of four-bladed Clover is
reputed to have a prescience when witchcraft is attempted to be
p ra jis ed upon him; and in the North of England this lucky leaf
IS placed m dairies and stables, to preserve them from the spells of
Witches.— There is a Cornish fairy tale which is intimately associated
with the four-leaved C lo v e rO n e evening a maiden set
out to milk the cows later than usual: indeed, the stars had begun
to shine before she completed her task. “ D a is y ” (an enchanted
cow), was the last to be milked, and the pail was so full that the
njk-maid could hardly lift it to her head. So to relieve herself,
toe gathered some handfuls of Grass and Clover, and spread it on
her head m order to carry the milk-pail more easily. But no
sooner had the Clover touched her head, than suddenly hundreds
m little people appeared surrounding Daisy, dipping their tiny
hands into the milk, and gathering it with Clover-flowers, which
they sucked with gusto. Daisy was standing in the long Grass
and Clover, so some of these little' creatures climbed up the stalks
and held out Buttercups, Convolvuluses, and Foxgloves, to catch
■ dropped from the cow’s udder. When the astonished
milk-maid, upon reaching home, recounted her wonderful
experiences to her mistress, the goodwife at once cried o u t : “ Ah ?
you put a four-leaved Clover on your head.” - To dream of seeing
a ikld of Clover is of happy augury, indicating health, prosperity,
and_ much happiness. To the lover it foretells success, and that
his intended wife will have great wealth. Clover is under the
dominion of Venus.
/r 9 ^H H -M 0 S S .—The Stag’s-horn, F o x ’s-tail, or Club-Moss
{Lycoffidium clavatum), is used in the North of England, Sweden,
and Germany, in wreaths worn on festive occasions. The powder
or J s t which issues from its spore cases, is highly inflammable,
and IS collected for fireworks and for producing stage lightning;
Blitz-mehl, or lightning-meal of the Germans. The F ir
Club-Moss {L, Selago) is made by the Highlanders into an eye
Cornwall, the Club-Moss is considered good against
all diseases of the eyes, provided only it is gathered in the following
rnanner : On the third day of the moon, when it is seen for the first
time, show it the knife with which the Moss is to be cut, repeating-
the while—
“ A s Christ healed the issue of blood,
Do thou cut what thou cuttest for good.”
Then, at sundown, the Club-Moss may be cut by the operator
kneeling, and with carefully washed hands. The Moss is to be
tenderly wrapped m a fair white cloth, and afterwards boiled in
water procured from the Spring nearest the spot where it grew.
The liquor is to be applied as a fomentation. The Club-Moss may
also be made into an ointment, with butter made from the milk of
a new cow. These superstitious customs have probably a Druidic
origin, and tend to identify the Selago or Golden Herb of the
Druids with the Club-Moss, as the Selago was held sacred by them,
and gathered with many mystic observances. (See S e l a g o .
In many parts of Germany, certain Fairy-folk, called Moss-women,
are popularly believed to frequent the forests. In Thuringia, these
little women of the wood are called Holzfrala, and in one of the
legends of the Fichtelgebirge (a mountain-chain near the juncition
of Saxony, Bavaria, and Bohemia), we find it stated that there was
a poor child whose mother lay sick of a fever. Going into the
forest to gather Strawberries, the child saw a little woman entirely
clothed with golden Moss—presumably Selago. The Moss-woman
asked the child for some of the fruit, and her request having been
readily acceded to, the Moss-woman ate her Strawberries and
tripped away. When the child reached home, she found the fruit
which she had carried in a jug was transformed to gold. The
Moss dress of the little woman is described as being of a golden
colour, which shone, when seen at a distance, like pure gold, but
on close inspedtion lost all its lustre. It is thought that many of
the stories about hidden treasure which are rife on the Fichtelgebirge
are to be attributed to the presence there of this curious
species of vegetation.
CO CO A -N U T P A LM .—The Cocos Nucifera [Sauscxit Nari-
kera), or Cocoa-Nut Palm is the most extensively-cultivated tree in
the world, and its importance to myriads of the human race is
almost beyond conception. George Herbert wrote truly of this
P a lm ;—•
“ The Indian Nut alone
Is clothing, meat and trencher, drink and can,
Boat, cable, sail, mast, needle, all in one.”
A vigorous tree will grow one hundred feet high, and produce
annually one hundred Nuts. The Chinese call the Cocoa-Nut
Yiie-wang-f ou (head of Prince of Yüe) from a tradition that a certain
Prince Lin-yi, who was at enmity with the Prince of Yüe, sent an
assassin to cut off the head of his enemy. The deed was executed,
and the severed head being caught in the branches of a Palm,
it remained suspended there, and was transformed into a Cocoa-
Nut, with two eyes in its shell. The Portuguese are said to have
given the name of Coco to the Nut because at one end of the Nut
are three holes, resembling the head of a cat when mewing {Coca).
The Indians, when unable to recover the corpse of one of their
people who has been slain, but whom they wish to honour, form
an effigy of Reeds, and surmount it with a Cocoa-Nut, which is
supposed to represent the head of the deceased. This sham corpse
they cover with Dhak wood, after which they offer up prayers, and
u