92 p f a n t ’bore, Tsege'f^/, onel Tsqriq/*,
was involuntarily seized with such horror, that he in all probability
fell into an ecstatic or hysterical state. Although not one of the
trees dedicated to Hecate and her Witch progeny, the Elder
appears to have invariably possessed a certain weird attraction
for mischievous Elves and Witches, who are fond of seeking the
shelter of its pendent boughs, and are wont to bury their satanic
offspring, with certain cabalistic ceremonies, beneath its roots.
These satanic children of Witches are elfish creatures, sometimes
butterflies, sometimes bumble bees, sometimes caterpillars
or worms. They are called good or bad things—Holds or Holdi-
kens. The Witches injure cattle with them ; conjure them into
the stem of a tree ; and, as we have seen, bury them under the
Elder-bushes ; then, as the caterpillars eat the foliage of the tree,
the hearts of those people are troubled of whom the Witches think.
The ill-omened Cercis Siliquastrum, or Judas Tree, is reputed
to be specially haunted by Witches, who experience a grim
pleasure in assembling around the tree on which the traitorous
disciple is said to have hung himself. Perhaps it is they who
have spread the tradition that death overtakes anyone who is
unfortunate enough to fall into one of these trees.
The Witches of the Tyrol are reputed to have a great partiality
for Alder-trees.
Witches are fond of riding about through the air in the dead
of night, and perform long journeys to attend their meetings.
Matthison tells us that
“ From the deep mine rush wildly out
The troop of Gnomes in hellish rout:
Forth to the Witches’ club they fly;
The Griffins watch as they go by.
The horn of Satan grimly sounds ;
On Blocksberg’s flanks strange din resounds.
And Spectres crowd its summit high.”
Their favourite steeds for these midnight excursions are
besoms, which are generally to be found ready to hand; but the
Marge Ragwort (which in Ireland is called the Fairies’ Horse) is
highly prized for aerial flights. Bulrushes are also employed for
locomotive purposes, and other plants are used for equipments, as
we read in ‘ The Witch of Fife ’ :—
“ The first leet night, quhan the new moon set,
Quhan all was dousse and mirk,
We saddled our naigis wl’ the Moon-fern leif,
And rode fra Kilmerrin Kirk,
Some horses were of the Brume-cane framit,
And some of the greine Bay-tree,
But mine was made of ane Humloke schaw,
And a stout stallion was he.”
William of Auverne, who wrote in the thirteenth century, states
that when the Witches of his time wished to go to the place of
p F a r il/ tRe ©Y’ifeRe/. 93
rendezvous, they took a Reed or Cane, and, on making some
magical signs, and uttering certain barbarous words, it became
transformed into a horse, which carried them thither with extraordinary
rapidity.
I f the Witches are married, it becomes necessary to administer
to their husbands a potion that shall cause them to slumber and
keep them asleep during the Witches’ absence in the night. For
this purpose the Sleep-Apple, a mossy sort of excrescence on the
Wild Rose, and Hawthorn (called in the Edda Sleep-Thorn), are
employed, because they will not allow anyone to awake till they
are taken away. A very favourite plant made use of by American
Witches to produce a similar result, is the Flor de Pesadilla, or Nightmare
Flower of Buenos Ayres, a small, dark-green foliaged plant,
with lanceolate leaves and clusters of greenish-white flowers,
which emit a powerful narcotic smell. From the acrid milky juice
pressed from the stem of this plant. Witches obtain a drug which,
administered to their victims, keeps them a prey all night to terrible
dreams, from which they awake with a dull throbbing sensation
in the brain, while a peculiar odour pervades the chamber, causing
the air to appear heavy and stifling.
Ben Jonson, in his ‘ Masque of Queens,’ introduces therein a
conventicle of Witches, who, as part of the business which has
brought them together, relate their deeds. One of the hags, who
has been gathering that mysterious plant of superstition, the
Mandragora, croaks:—
“ I last night lay all alone
On the ground, to hear the Mandrake groan;
And plucked him up, though he grew full low ;
And, as I had done, the cock did crow.”
. Another, whose sinister proceedings have excited the neighbouring
watch-dogs, remarks :—
“ And I ha’ been plucking plants among
Hemlock, Henbane, Adder’s-tongue;
Nightshade, Moonwort, Libbard’s-bane,
And twice by the dogs was like to be ta’en.”
And a third, who has procured a supply of the plants needful
for the working of the Witches’ spells, says :—
“ Yes, I have brought to help our vows
Horned Poppy, Cypress boughs,
The Fig-tree wild that grows on tombs,
And juice that from the Larch-tree comes.’’
One of the principal results of the knowledge possessed by
Witches of the properties of herbs was the concoction by them of
noxious or deadly potions with which they were enabled to work
their impious spells. Ovid tells us how Medea, in compounding a
poisonous draught, employed Monk’s-hood or Wolf’s-bane, the