wildly about with a bunch of Nettles, striking at the face and hands
of their companions or of such other persons as they fancy they may
venture to assault with impunity. The Roman Nettle {Uvticapilulifera)
is the most venomous of British Nettles, and is found abundantly
about Romney, in Kent, where, according to Camden, the
Roman soldiers brought the seed with them, and sowed it for their own
use, to rub and chafe their limbs when, through extreme cold, they
should be stiff and benumbed ; having been told before they came
from home that the climate of England was so cold that it was not
to be endured without having recourse to some friaion to warm thmr
blood and to stir up natural heat. Among the various remedies
once prescribed for the “ trembling fever,” or ague, by Catherine
Oswald, a noted herbalist, was one which related to plucking up a
Nettle by the root three successive mornings before sunrise. In
bygone times. Nettle and Milfoil carried about the person used to
be believed to drive away fear, and to be a certain charm against
malignant spirits. The Scotch say that to cure the sting of a
Nettle, the person stung must rub the leaves of a Dock over the
part affected, repeating at the same time: “ Nettle in. Dock out;
Dock rub Nettle out.” This charm was known to Chaucer, who
uses it as a common saying, implying lovers inconstancy, in
‘ Troilus and Cresside ’ :—
“ But canst thou playen racket to and fro,
Nettle in, Dock out, now this, now that, Pandure ? ”
In German mythology, the Nettle was consecrated to the god Thor.
In the Tyrol, during thunderstorms, the mountaineers throw
Nettles on the fire to avert danger, and more especially to guard
themselves from lightning ; this custom also prevails in some parts
of Italy. In Germany, there exists a superstition that Nettles
gathered before sunrise will drive away evil spirits from cattle.
The god Thor was, among the ancient Germans, regarded as
the guardian deity of marriage; hence it is, perhaps, that in Germany
Nettle-seed is believed to excite the passions and to facilitate
births. In dream lore, to fancy you are stung by Nettles indicates
vexation and disappointment; to dream of gathering Nettles
denotes that someone has formed a favourable opinion of you;
and if the dreamer be married, then that the domestic circle will be
blessed with coi^cord and harmony. Astrologers place Nettles
under the dominion of Mars.
N I G H T S H A D E . —The Deadly Nightshade {Atropa Belladonna),
or Death’s Herb, is a plant of ill omen, and one of which
witches are reported to be fond: it is so poisonous in its nature,
that Gerarde says: “ I f you will follow my counsell, deale not with
the same in any case, and banish it from your gardens, and the
use of it also, being a plant so furious and deadly; for it bringeth
such as have eaten thereof into a dead sleepe, wherein many have
died.” Buchanan relates that the Scots, under Macbeth, being r- I
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p f a a t b o r o , h e g e l p f , ami. bijrio/, 461
desirous of poisoning the Danes, treacherously took the oppor-
tunitv, during a period of truce, to mix the poisonous Nightshade
with the beer with which they had agreed to supply them. Thus
stupefied, Sweno’s army slept soundly, and the Scots, falling upon
their enemies, destroyed them in their helplessness.-- According
to Gassendi, a shepherd in Provence produced visions and prophesied,
through the use of Deadly Nightshade. The Nightshade
{Solanum Dulcamara) has poisonous red berries; but the root and
leaves have been applied to several medicinal uses.— - I h e Vale
of Furness, Lancashire, is still known by the name of Valley ot
Nightshade, on account of the plant being exceedingly plentiiul
there. Sprigs of Nightshade appeared on the ancient seals of the
Abbey.
N I M B U . — The Nimbu {Melia Azedarach) is a native of the
warm parts of Asia, and bears a variety of names in different
countriL, such as the Holy Tree, Pride of India, Bead Tree (m
allusion to the seeds being strung for phaplets) Persian Lilac, and
Hill Margosa. Bishop Heber saw it in India, and states that the
natives have a profound reverence for the tree, which they believe
has the pQwer to ward off witchcraft and the E v il Eye.
N I P A P A L M . — The Nipa, or Susa {Nipa fruticans), is the
sacred tree of Borneo, and is the most valuable of all growing things
to the Dyaks of that country. The seeds, it is recorded, he dormant
in the fruit several years before germination when the fruit
becomes detached from the plant and is fioated off by the tide to
establish itself on some other mudbank. This plant only grows
where fever and Mangroves flourish.
N o n e - s o - P r e t t y , or N a n c y - P r e t t y .—See London Pride.
N o s e b l e e d .—See Yarrow.
n u t m e g s .—I n the Middle Ages, a curious belief existed
that Nutmegs, Cloves, Cinnamon, and Ginger all grew on the same
. g g The strength of the Nutmeg in the season is said so to overcom’e
the birds of Paradise, that they fall helplessly intoxicated.——
To dream of Nutmegs is stated to be a sign of many impending
changes. ^ ^ . -r i - r j • .l
n u t s When the Scandinavian god Loki, transformed into
a falcon, rescued Idhunn, the goddps-of youthful life, from the
power of the Frost-giants, it was in the shape of a Hazel-nutohat
he carried her off in his beak.-— The Hazel was sacred to Thor,
and was in olden times regarded as an a au a l embodiment of hght-
nin© • hence it possessed great virtue as a promoter of fruitfulness,
and Hazel-nuts became a favourite medium m divinations relating
to love and marriage. In old Rome, Nuts were sca tter^ at
marria©es, as they are now m Italy and m Altmark.-- -In West-
phalia and other parts of Germany, a few Nufo are m ix /w i th the
seed-corn to act as a charm in making it prolific.- In Hertford-
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