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36 4 p f a n t Tsore, Tseger^ /, anel l9Lji‘I<^,
In the eighteenth century its use was ably advocated by De Thou-
venel in France, and soon afterwards in our country by enthusiasts.
Pryce, in his Mineralogia Cornuhiensis, states that many mines
have been discovered by means of the rod, and quotes several. Sir
Thomas Browne describes the divining-rod as “ a forked Hazel,
commonly called Moses’ Rod, which, held freely forth, will stir and
play if any mine be under it.” He thinks, however, that the rod is
of pagan origin, and writes :—“ the ground whereof were the
magical rods in poets—that of Pallas, in Homer ; that of Mercury,
that charmed Argus ; and that of Circe, which transformed the
followers of Ulysses: too boldly usurping the name of Moses’s rod;
from which, notwithstanding, and that of Aaron, were probably
occasioned the fables of all the rest. For that of Moses must
needs be famous to the Egyptians, and that of Aaron unto many
other nations, as being preserved in the Ark until the destruflion of
the Temple built by Solomon.” In the ‘ Quarterly Review,’ No. 4 4 ,
IS a long account (vouched for by the editor), proving that a Lady
Noel possessed the faculty of using the divining-rod :—“ She took
a thin forked Hazel-twig, about sixteen inches long, and held it by
the end, the joint pointing downwards. When she came to the
place where the water was under the ground, the Hazel-twig
immediately bent, and the motion was more or less rapid as she
approached or withdrew from the spring. When just over it, the
twig turned so quick as to snap, breaking near the fingers, which by
pressing it were indented and heated, and almost blistered ; a degree
of agitation was also visible in her face. The exercise of the
faculty is independent of any volition.” The use of the forked
Hazel-twig as a divining-rod to discover metals is said to have been
known in this kingdom as early as the days of Agricola : its derivation
is probably to be sought in an ancient custom of the
Israelites, to which the Prophet Hosea alludes when he says : “ My
people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto
them.” In Sweden, Hazel-nuts are believed to have the mystical
power of making invisible. An old-fashioned charm to cure the
bite of an adder was to cut a piece of Hazel-wood, fasten a long bit
and a short one together in the form of a cross, then to lay it softly
on the wound, and say thrice in a loud tone—
“ Underneath this Hazelin mote,
There’s a Braggotty worm with a
speckled throat,
Nine double is he.
Now from 9 double to 8 double,
And from 8 double to 7 double,
And from 7 double to 6 double,
And from 6 double to 5 double,
And from 5 double to 4 double.
And from 4 double to 3 double,
And from 3 double to 2 double,
And from 2 double to i double.
And from i double to no double.
No double hath he ! ”
To dream of Hazels, and of cracking and eating their Nuts, portends
riches and content as the reward of toil. To dream of finding
hidden Hazel-nuts predicfls the finding of treasure. Astrologers
assign the Hazel to the dominion of Mercury.
p f a n t b o r e , b e g e r ^ / , a ñ i. btjric/, 36 5
H e a r t s e a s e .—See Pansy.
H E A T H E R .—Included under the term Heather are the six
English species of Heath {Erica) and the Ling {Calluna). Although,
in the Scriptures, the Prophet Jeremiah exclaims, “ And he shall
be like the Heath in the desert,” it is probable that the Juniper is,
really referred to.----- In Germany, the Heath is believed to owe its
colour to the blood of the slain heathen, for in that country the
inhabitants of the uncultivated fields, where the Heath {heide) grew,
came in time to be known as heathen, or heiden. Heather was the
badge of “ Conn of a hundred fights.” The Highlanders consider
it exceedingly lucky to find white Heather, the badge of the
captain of Clanronald. The Piéis made beer from Heather.
“ For once thy mantling juice was seen to laugh
In pearly cups, which monarchs loved to quaff;
And frequent waked the wild inspired lay
On Teviot’s hills beneath the Pictish sway.”—Leyden.
The secret of the manufacture of Heather beer was lost when the
Piéis were exterminated, as they never divulged it to strangers.
Tradition says that after the slaughter by Kenneth, a father and
son, the sole survivors, were brought before the conqueror, who
offered the father his life, provided that he would divulge the secret
of making this liquor, and the son was put to death before the old
man’s eyes, in order to add emphasis to the request. Disgusted
with such barbarity, the old warrior said: “ Your threats might,
perhaps, have influenced my son, but they have no effeét on me.”
Kenneth then suffered the Piét to live, and he carried his secret
with him to the grave. At the present time, the inhabitants of Isla,
Jura, and other outlying distriéts, brew a very potable liquor by
mixing two-thirds of the tops of Heath with one of malt.
H E L E N IU M .—The flower of the Helenium resemble small
suns of a beautiful yellow. According to tradition, they sprang up
from the tears shed by Helen of Troy. On this point Gerarde
writes in his ‘ Herbal ’ :—“ Some report that this plant tooke the
name of Helenium from Helena, wife to Menelaus, who had her
hands full of it when Paris stole her away into Phrygia,”
H E L IO T R O P E .—The nymph Clytie, enamoured of Phoebus
(the Sun), was forsaken by him for Leucothea. Maddened with
jealousy, the discarded and love-sick Clytie accused Leucothea of
unchastity before her father, who entombed his daughter, and thus
killed her. Phoebus, enraged with Clytie for causing the death of
his beloved Leucothea, heeded not her sighs and spurned her
embraces. Abandoned thus by her inconstant lover, the wretched
and despairing Clytie wandered half distraught, until at length—
“ She with distracted passion pines away,
Detesteth company; all night, all day,
Disrobed, with her ruffled hair unbound
And wet with humour, sits upon the ground;
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