[wintemberg] lord LOVEL AND LADY NANCY 35 



In a Breton ballad, a fleur-de-lis springs from a common tomb 

 even after it is plucked.^ 



According to the Italian song "II Castello d'Oviglio," a single 

 pomegranate springs from the grave, at the maid's feet.^ 



In German ballads, the plants often are lilies. A maid is buried 

 in the churchyard; her knightly lover under a gallows, and from his 

 grave grows a lily bearing the inscription: "Both are together in 

 heaven."^ 



Finally, the English ballad of "Giles Collins" says: 



"A lily grew out from Giles Collin's grave 

 Which touched Lady Annie's breast." * 



Conclusion 



I have shown that the geographical distribution of the main 

 theme is very wide, that it is found among many different nationalities, 

 and that it occurs not only in the folk-ballads but also in the tales of 

 the people. 



It is difficult and even impossible to determine whether the 

 concept of the sympathetic plants originated in one or several definite 

 centres from which it spread by diffusion through Europe and parts 

 of Asia. But even if it did originate in several centres it would still 

 probably require centuries for its general distribution in any one area. 

 Those examples in which the lovers are buried in a church or church- 

 yard, being confined to Europe where Christianity more generally 

 prevailed, might be grouped together as having a common origin. 

 And the others without church or churchyard, possibly all originating 

 among non-christian people, such as the Afghans, Kurds, Kirghiz, etc., 

 would form another group. 



The theme appears very old and was perhaps old when it was 

 incorporated into the different romances of Tristan and Isolde.^ It 

 occurs in Kurdestan in the sixteenth century and it may have been 

 an old and well-known theme, even then, in that part of the world. 



Possibly the theme in most of the ballads of the Celtic, Teutonic, 

 Scandinavian and Latin races, is derived from these early Tristan 

 romances. ' Sir Walter Scott suggests that the verses in English and 



1 Child (L 97) citing Luzel. 



2 Ihid., (VL 498) citing Ferraro (Turin and Florence, 1875). 



3 Ihid., (L 97) citing Wunderhorn (Berlin, 1857), and Mittler (1855 and 1865). 

 * Ibid., VL p. 515, Stanza 5, lines 3 and 4. 



^ The metrical one composed by Gottfried of Strasbourg has been definitely 

 assigned to the end of the twelfth century. 



