I
> i
i I
)
l i
I î J
i
by the French Fleur de Veuve, or Widow’s Flower. Phillips says of
these flowers that they present us with “ corollas of so dark a purple,
that they nearly match the sable hue of the widow’s weeds ; these
being contrasted with anthers of pure white gives the idea of its
being an appropriate bouquet for those who mourn for their
deceased husbands, and this we presume gave rise to the Italian
and French name of Widow’s Flower.”
W IL LOW .—The Willow seems from the remotest times to
have been considered a funereal tree and an emblem of gnef. So
universal is the association of sadness and grief with the Willow,
that “ to wear the Willow ” has become a familiar proverb. Under
Willows the captive Children of Israel wept and. mourned in
Babylon. Fuller, referring to this melancholy episode in their
history, says of the Willow:—“ A sad tree, whereof such as have
lost their love make their mourning garlands; and we know that
exiles hung their harps on such doleful supports. The very leaves
of the Willow are of a mournful hue.” Virgil remarks on
“ The Willow with hoary bluish leaves ; ”
and Shakspeare, when describing the scene of poor Ophelia’s
death, says:—“
There is a Willow grows ascant the brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the grassy stream.”
Chatterton has a song of which the burden runs :—
“ Mie love ys dedde,
Gone to his death-bedde
A l under the Wyllowe-tree.”
Spenser designates the gruesome tree as “ the Willow worn of
forlorn paramours;” and there are several songs in which despairing
lovers invoke the Willow-tree.
“ Ah, Willow, Willow !
The Willow shall be
A garland for me.
Ah, Willow ! Willow.”
Herrick tells us how garlands of Willow were worn by neglecfted or
bereaved lovers, and how love-sick youths and maids came to weep
out the night beneath the Willow’s cold shade. The following wail
of a heart-broken lover is also from the pen of the old poet:
“ A Willow garland thou did’st send
Perfumed, last day, to me,
Which did but only this portend—
I was forsook by thee.
Since it is so. I ’ll tell thee w h a t:
To-morrow thou shalt see
Me wear the Willow ; after that,
To die upon the tree.
A s hearts unto the altars go,
With garlands dressed, so I,
With my Willow-wreath, also
Come forth and sweetly die.”
Tason in his voyage in search of the golden fleece, passed the
ie i r d ’grove of Circe, planted with funereal Willows, on the tops
of which the voyagers could perceive corpses hanging. Pausanias
speaks of a grove consecrated to Proserpine, planted with Black
Poplars and Willows; and the same author represents OrP^eus,
whilst in the infernal regions, as carrying a Willow-branch in his
hand. Shakspeare, in allusion to Dido’s being forsaken by Æneas,
■ “ In such a night.
Stood Dido, with a Willow in her hand,
Upon the wild sea-banks, and waved her love
To come again to Carthage.”
The Willow was considered to be the tree of Saturn. The Weep-
in© Willow (Salix Babylonica), as being a remedy for fluxes, was,
howetoer, consecrated to ]uno Fluonia, who was mvoked by Roman
matrons to stop excessive hemorrhage. The Flemish peasantry
have a curious custom to charm away the ague. The sufferer goes
early in the morning to an old Willow, makes three knots in one
of its branches, and says “ Good morning Old One ; I give thee the
cold Old One.” The Willow wand has long been a favourite instrument
of divination. The dire^ions are as follows Let a
maiden take a Willow-branch in her left hand, and, without being
observed, slip out of the house and run three times round it,
whispering all the time, “ He that’s to be my gude
grip the end of it.” During the third run, the likeness of her future
husband will appear and grasp the other end of the wand.— De
Gubernatis says that at Brie (Ile-de-France), on St. John s Eve, the
people burn a figure made of Willow-boughs. At LuÆon, o
the same anniversary, they throw snakes on a huge ei%y o a
Willow-tree made with branches of Willow ; this is set
while it is burning the people dance around the tree.——in Lnma,
the Willow is employed in their funeral ntes, the
there considered, from the remotest ages, to be a
tality and eternity. On this account they u
branches of Willow, and plant Willows
Darted They also have a custom of decorating the doors oi their
houses with Willow-branches on Midsummer
Willow is supposed to be ^^sed. ° f marveflo^
amonnst which is the power of averting the ill effecffs oi miasma
and pestifential disorders. To dream of mourning beneath a
Willow over some calamity is considered a happy JY^^^on
the speedy receipt of intelligence that will cause much satisfaaion.
B y aL o lo g e rs the Willow is placed under the dominion of the
moon.W
ind F lower.—See Anemone. tTtak
W itch-H a z e l .— See Hornbeam. W itch- or W ych- E lm,
Ulmus montana.
W olf’s B an e .—See Monk s Hood.
W oodbine.— See Honeysuckle.