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“ Hast thou not a book in thy cheste,
The great goodnesse of the Queene Alceste
That turned was into a Daisie ?
She that for her husband chose to die,
And eke to gone to hell rather than lie.
And Hercules rescued her, parde,
And brought her out of hell again to bliss ?
And I answered againe, and said ‘ Y e s,’
Now I knowe her, and this is good Alceste,
The Daisie, and mine own hertes rest? ”
Ossian gives another origin. Malvina, weeping beside the tomb
of Fingal, for Oscar and his infant son, is comforted by the maids
of Morven, who narrate how they have seen the innocent infant
borne on a light mist, pouring upon the fields a fresh harvest of
flowers, amongst which rises one with golden disc, encircled with
rays of silver, tipped with a delicate tint of crimson. “ Dry thy
tears, O Malvina,” cried the maidens; “ the flower of thy bosom
has given a new flower to the hills of Cromla.” r-The ancient
English name of the flower was Day’s Eye, in which way it was
written by Ben Jonson ; and Chaucer calls it the “ ee of the daie.”
Probably it received this designation from its habit of closing its
petals at night and during rainy weather. There is a popular
superstition, that if you omit to put your foot on the first Daisy
you see in Spring, Daisies will grow over you or someone dear to
you ere the year be out; and in some English counties an old
saying is current that Spring has not arrived until you can plant
your foot upon twelve Daisies. Alphonse Karr, speaking of the
Pâquerette, or Easter Daisy, says, “ There is a plant that no
insect, no animal attacks—that ornament of the field, with golden
disc and rays of silver, spread in such profusion at our feet :
nothing is so humble, nothing is so much respected.” (See M a r g
u e r i t e ). Daisy-roots worn about the person were formerly
deemed to prove efficacious in the cure of certain maladies ;
and Bacon, in his Sylva Sylvarum, tells us “ There is also a received
tale, that boiling of Daisy-roots in milk (which it is certain are
great driers) will make dogs little.” An old writer (1696) says
that they who wish to have pleasant dreams of the loved and
absent should put Daisy-roots under their pillow. It is considered
lucky to dream of Daisies in Spring or Summer, but bad in
the Autumn or Winter. Daisies are herbs of Venus, under Cancer.
D A M E S ’ V IO L E T .—The species of Rocket called Hesperis
matronalis, the Night-smelling Rocket, is much cultivated for the
evening fragrance of its flowers : hence the ladies of Germany keep
it in pots in their apartments, from which circumstance the flower is
said to have obtained the name of Dames’ Violet. It is also called
Damask Violet, a name derived from the Latin Viola Damascena, the
Damascus Violet. In French this is Violette de Damas, which has
probably been misunderstood as Violette des Dames, and has hence
become, in English, Dames’ Violet. (See R o c k e t .)
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D A N D E L IO N .—The Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) derives
its name from the French Dent de lion, lion’s tooth. (Latin,
Dens leonis). In nearly every European language the flower bears
a similar name, given to it presumably either from the whiteness
of its root, the- auriferous hue of its flower, which recalls the golden
teeth of the heraldic lion, or its jagged leaf, which was supposed to
resemble a lion’s tooth. De Gubernatis connecils the name with the
Sun (Helios), and states that a lion was the animal-symbol of the
Sun, and that all plants named after him are essentially plants of
the Sun. Certainly the appearance of the Dandelion-flower is
very suggestive of the ancient representations of the Sun. In
German Switzerland, the children form chains of the stalks of
Dandelions, and holding the garland in their hands, they dance
round and round in a circle. The Dandelion is called the rustic
oracle : its flowers always open about five a.m. and shut at eight
p.m., serving the shepherd for a clock—
“ Leontodons unfold
On the swart turf their ray-encircled gold,
With Sol’s expanding beam the flowers unclose.
And rising Hesper lights them to repose.—Darwin.
As the flower is the shepherd’s clock, so are the feathery seed-tufts
his barometer, prediffiing calm or storm. These downy seed-balls,
which children blow off to find out the hour of the day, serve for
other oracular purposes. Are you separated from the objecil of
your love ?—carefully pluck one of the feathery heads, charge each
of the little feathers composing it with a tender thought; turn to-
wards the spot where the loved one dwells ; blow, and the seed-
ball will convey your message faithfully. Do you wish- to know
if that dear one is thinking of you, blow again ; and if tKere be left
upon the stalk a single aigrette, it is a proof you are not forgotten.
Similarly the Dandelion is consulted as to whether the lover lives,
east, west, north, or south, and whether he is coming or not.,
“ Will he come ? I pluck the flower leaves off,.
And at each, cry, yes—no—yes
I blow the down from the dry Hawkweed,
Once, twice—hah I it flies amiss ! ”—Scolt
Old herbalists had great faith in the Dandelion as a wonderful help
to consumptive people. More recently, in the county of Donegal,
an old woman skilled in simples has treated her patients for
“ heart fever,” or dyspepsia, as follows :—She measures the sufferer
three times round the waist with a ribbon, to the outer
edge of which is fastened a green thread. I f the patient be mistaken
in supposing himself affedfed with heart fever, this green
thread will remain in its place, but should he really have the disorder,
it is found that the green thread has left the edge of the
ribbon and lies curled up in the centre. At the third measuring,
the simpler prays for a blessing. She next hands the patient nine
leaves of “ heart fever grass,” or Dandelion, gathered by herself,