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were used for the bites of serpents infused in wine.” Another
account states that the Druidesses held Vervain in as great veneration
as the Druids did the Mistletoe. They were never permitted
to touch it. It was to be gathered at midnight, at the full of the
moon, in this manner :—A long string with a loop in it was thrown
over the Vervain-plant, and the other end fastened to the left great
toe of a young virgin, who was then to drag at it till she had uprooted
it. The eldest Druidess then received it in a cloth, and
carried it home, to use it for medicinal purposes and offerings to
their gods. In the Druidic procession, to the gathering of the
Mistletoe, the white-clad herald, carried a branch of Vervain in
ms hand, encircled by two serpents. The priests, when performing
their daily fumflions of feeding the never-dying fires in the Druidic
temples, prajmd for the space of an hour, holding branches of
Vervain m their hands. Pliny tells us that the Druids made use
of it m casting lots, as well as in drawing omens and in other
pretended magical arts ; he also says that if the hall or dining
chamber be sprinkled with the water wherein Vervain lay steeped,
all tha.t sat at the table should be “ very pleasant and make merry
more jocundly.”
“ Lift up your boughs of Vervain blue,
Dipt in cold September dew ;
And dash the moisture, chaste and clear.
O’er the ground and through the air.’’—Mason.
In mediæval days, the sacred charaifter of Vervain was still maintained,
and the plant was greatly prized, and used in compounding
charms and love-philtres. Known in our country as Holy Herb
and bimpler s Joy, it was credited with great medicinal virtues.
“ Black melancholy rusts, that fed despair
Through wounds’ long rage, with sprinkled Vervain cleared.” _Z?«z?^«a„/.
Its juice was given as a cure for the plague, and the plant was
prescribed as a remedy in some thirty different maladies, and was
suspended round the neck as an amulet. Gerarde, however, tells
i R m reveal it as a secret and divine medicine;”
and R. Turner writes (16S7) It is said to be used by witches lo
do mischief, and so may all other herbs if by wicked astrologers
used to accomplish their wretched ends.” But notwithstanding
that It was used by witches and wizards in their incantations and
spells and was m facfl called the Enchanter’s Plant, Vervain was
ATbrey?ays^°Y°^^^^^ power of combating witches : thus
“ Vervain and Dill
Hinder witches from their will.”
and Michael Drayton writes :
and again
“ Hm-e holy Vervayne, and here Dill,
’Gainst witchcraft much avayling.
“ The Nightshade strews to work him ill,
Therewith the Vervain and the Dill
That hindreth witches of their will.
p l a n t k o r e , k e g e l^ / , a n i. kLjrie/, 575
On the Eve of St. John (June 23rd), Vervain was for a long time
associated with the observances of Midsummer Eve. Thus we
read in ‘ Ye Popish Kingdome : ’—
“ Then doth ye joyfull feast of John ye Baptist take his turne
When bonfires great with loftie flame in every towne doe burne,
And young men round about with maides doe dance in every streete.
With garlands wrought of Mother-wort, or else with Vervain sweete.”
J . White, Minister of God’s Word, writes in 1624 :—“ Many also
use to weare Vervein against blasts ; and when they gather it for
this purpose firste they crosse the herb with their hand, and then
they blesse it thus :—
‘ Hallowed be thou, Vervein,
As thou growest on the ground,
For on the Mount of Calvary
There thou wast first found
Thou healedst our Saviour Jesus Christ,
And staunchedst his bleeding wound,
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
I take thee from the ground.’ ”
In many rural districils. Vervain is still regarded as a plant possessing
magical virtues as a love philtre. It has the reputation
of securing affecflion from those who take it to those who administer
it, The gun-flint boiled in Vervain and Rue ensures the
shot taking effecit. The root of Vervain tied with a white satin
ribbon round the neck acits as a charm against ague. Vervain anc.
baked toads, worn in silken bags around the neck, are a cure for the
evil. In the northern provinces of France, the peasants still continue
to gather Vervain under the different phases of the moon,
using certain mysterious ejaculations known only to themselves
whilst in the acil of colleciling the mystic herb, by whose assistance
they hope to effecif cures, and charm both the flocks and the rustic
beauties of the village, The Germans present a hat of Vervain
to the newly-married bride, as though placing her under the protecilion
of Venus Vicflrix, the patroness of the plant. Gerarde
tells us that in his time it was called “ Holie Herbe, Juno’s Teares,
Mercurie’s Moist Blonde, and Pigeon’s Grasse, or Columbine,
because Pigeons are delighted to be amongst it, as also to eate
thereof.” Astrologers place Vervain under the dominion of
Venus.
V IN E .—The Vine was held by the ancients sacred to
Bacchus, and the old historians all connecSI the jovial god with
the “ life-giving tre e ” : he is crowned with Vine-leaves, and he
holds in his hand a bunch of Grapes, whilst his merry followers
are decked with garlands of the trailing Vine,_ and _ love to
quaff with their master the divine juice of its luscious violet and
golden fruit, styled by Anacreon “ the liquor of Bacchus.” The
old heathen writers all paid honour to the Vine, anci attributed to
the earliest deified sovereigns of each country the gift of this ambrosial
tree. Thus Saturn is said to have bestowed it upon Crete;
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