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called Holy H a y ; the smell of this plant is supposed to excite the
braying of asses; hence the specific name is taken from two
Greek words, signifying an ass, and to bray. An Indian species
{H. gyrans), which grows on the banks of the Ganges, exhibits a
singular instance of spontaneous motion: its leaves constantly
move up and down, now with sudden jerks, anon with a gentle
waving motion. B y day or night, and in whatever weather, this
plant is never at rest.
S A IN T S ’ P L A N T S .—In monastic days, certain plants received
the names of saints either from some peculiarity in their
strudture, or from their association with the objedts of which the
saint whose name the particular plant bore was patron. Thus St.
Anthony, the patron saint of pigs, gave his name to the Bunium
fiexuosum (St. Anthony’s Nut), and the Ranunculus bulhosus (St.
Anthony’s Rape). St. James’s-wort was so called because it was
used for the diseases of horses, of which the saint was patron. St.
Thomas, St. Christopher, and St. Benedidt have each given their
names to plants. The Nigella Damascena is St. Katherine’s Flower,
from its resemblance to her wheel. The Saxifraga umbrosa obtained
the name of St. Patrick’s Cabbage because it grew in the West of
Ireland, where St. Patrick lived. The Primula veris is St. Peter’s-
wort from its resemblance to a bunch of keys. Most of these
saintly names were, however, given to the plants because their day
of flowering is connedted with the feast day of the saint. Hence
Hypericum quadrangulare is the St. Peter’s-wort of the modern floras,
from its flowering on the twenty-ninth of Ju n e ; Hypericum perforatum
is St. John’s-wort, being gathered to scare away demons on
St. John’s E v e ; Barbarea vulgaris, growing in the winter, is St.
Barbara’s-cress, her day being the fourth of December, old style;
and Centaurea solstitialis derives its specific Latin name, as well as
its popular name, St. Barnaby’s Thistle, from its flourishing on the
longest day, the eleventh of June, old style, which is now the
twenty-second.
S A IN T JO H N ’ S W O R T .—The common St. John’s Wort
[Hypericum perforatum) has leaves marked with red blood-like spots,
which tradition avers always appear on the 29th August, the day
on which St. John was beheaded; but the plant derived its name
from its being, according to ancient custom, gathered with great
ceremony on the eve of St. John’s Day, the 24th of June, to be
hung up in windows as a preservative against evil spirits, phantoms,
spedtres, storms, and thunder ; whence it derived its ancient name
of Fuga Demonum (Devil’s Flight).
“ St. John’s Wort, scaring from the midnight heath
The witch and goblin with its spicy breath,”
For the same reason, the plant was also called Sol Terrestris, the
Terrestrial Sun, because it was superstitiously believed that all the
spirits of darkness vanish at the approach of the sun; and St.
(
John’s Day falls on the summer solstice, the 24th day of June, the
last of the three days which mark the culminating point of the
solar ascension—the day when, in some latitudes, the sun never
sets, and the heavens are illuminated and radiant with its glory
through the night. The bright yellow blossom of the Hypericum
perforatum, with its glittering golden stamens, was not inappropriately
called Sol Terrestris, as symbolising the sun (which, by its
effulgence, disperses all evil spirits), and St. John the Baptist, of
whom the Scriptures say he was “ a light to them which sit in darkness.”
At the present time this plant is almost everywhere known
by the name connedling it with the saint. The peasantry of France
and Germany still gather it on St. John’s Day to hang over their
cottage doors or in the windows, in the belief that its san6tity will
drive away evil spirits of all kinds, and will also propitiate their
patron saint. In Switzerland, young girls on the Eve of St. John
make nosegays composed of nine different flowers, of which the
principal one is the Hypericum, or St. John’s Wort. These nine
flowers are plucked from nine different places. The posy is placed
beneath the maiden’s pillow before she retires to bed, and she then
endeavours to sleep and dream: should she, in her dream, see a
young man, he will not fail soon to arrive and to make her his wife.
Somewhat similar customs to this, in connecftion with the Rose,
the Moss-Rose, and the Sage, exist in England, one of which is,
perhaps, referred to by Harte, who, when alluding to certain
flowers, adds :—
“ And that which on the Baptist’ s vigil sends
To nymphs and swains ihe vision of their friends.”
In Lower Saxony, the peasant girls on the E v e of St. John hang
sprigs of Hypericum against the head of their bed or the wails of
their chambers ; if it remains fresh on the following morning, they
are persuaded they will be married within a y e a r ; but if, on the
contrary, it droops and fades, they have no hope of marriage within
that time.
“ The young maid stole through the cottage-door,
And blush’d as she sought the plant of power;
‘ Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light !
I must gather the mystic St. John’s Wort to-night.
The wonderful herb whose leaf will decide
I f the coming year will make me a bride.”
In Italy, the Hypericum is called both St. John’s Wort and the
Devil-chaser. On the Night of St. John it is worn about the
person, as a preservative from witchcraft and sorcery, and it is
suspended over doorways and windows with the same objecft.------
In Scotland, it is carried about as a charm against witchcraft and
enchantment, and the peasantry fancy it cures ropy milk, which
they suppose to be under some malignant influence. According
to Pennant, it is customary in Wales to stick sprigs of St. John’s
Wort over every door on the Eve of St. John’s ; and Stowe, in his
‘ Survey of London,’ tells us that, “ on the Vigil of St. John the