PLANTS IN WITCHCRAFT, 827 



tices ; and nowadays, when worn on the person in conjunction with 

 agrimony, maiden-hair, broom-straw, and gronnd-ivy, it is said in 

 the Tyrol to confer line vision, and to point out the presence of 

 witches. 



It is still an undecided question as to why rue should out of all 

 other plants have gained its wide-spread reputation with witches, 

 but M. Maury supi)oses that it was on account of its being a nar- 

 cotic and causing hallucinations. At any rate, it seems to have 

 acquired at an early period in England a superstitious reverence, 

 for, as Mr. Conway says,* " we find the missionaries sprinkling 

 holy water from brushes made of it, whence it was called ' herb 

 of grace." " 



Respecting the rendezvous of witches, it may be noted that they 

 very frequently resorted to hills and mountains, their meetings 

 taking place "on the mead, on the oak sward, under the lime, 

 under the oak, at the pear-tree." Thus the fairy rings which are 

 often to be met with on the Sussex downs are known as hag-tracks,t 

 from the belief that " they are caused by hags and witches, who 

 dance there at midnight." J Their love for sequestered and ro- 

 mantic localities is widely illustrated on the Continent, instances 

 of which have been collected together by Grimm, who remarks 

 how " the fame of particular witch-mountains extends over wide 

 kingdoms." According to a tradition current in Friesland,* " no 

 woman is to be found at home on a Friday, because on that day 

 they hold their meetings and have dances on a barren heath." 

 Occasionally, too, they show a strong predilection for certain 

 trees, to apj)roach which as night-time draws near is considered 

 highly dangerous. The Judas-tree {Cercis siliquastrum) was one 

 of their favorite retreats, perhaps on account of its traditionary 

 association with the apostle. The* Neapolitan witches held their 

 tryst under a walnut-tree near Benevento,|| and at Bologna the peas- 

 antry tell how these evil workers hold a midnight meeting beneath 

 the walnut-trees on St. John's Eve. The elder-tree is another haunt 

 under whose branches witches are fond of lurking, and on this 

 account caution must be taken not to tamper with it after dark."^ 

 Again, in the Netherlands, experienced shepherds are careful not 

 to let their flocks feed after sunset, for there are wicked elves that 

 prepare poison in certain plants — nightwort being one of these. 

 Nor does any man dare to sleep in a meadow or pasture after sun- 

 set, for, as the shepherds say, he would have everything to fear. 



* "Demonology and Devil-Lore," ii, 324. 



\ Grimm, "Teutonic Mythology," 1883, iii, 1051. 



X Folkard's " Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics," 1884, p. 91. 



* Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," iii, 19. 



\ Grimm's " Teutonic Mythology," iii, 1052. 

 ^ See Thorpe's " Northern Mythology," iii, 267. 



