339 



" and for cows too after calving." * I have several times been told that it must 

 not on any accomit be given to them before, and know that accidents in the 

 families of our domestic Animals are sometimes attributed to its having been 

 eaten prematurely. I may say indeed, with truth, that it is a common practice 

 in this countj' now to give it to sheep at this particular time. It is true that the 

 Mistletoe is a gentle tonic, that the animals like it, and will often eat something 

 fresh and green when they will not take anything else, but it is very remarkable 

 that it should only be given to them on this occasion, and never for weakness pro- 

 duced from any other cause. Tradition has somewhat altered its original Druidi- 

 cal repute if it be so, but the common practice still bears so close a relation to the 

 " increase of the species," that I cannot but regard the general belief in its 

 efficacy in this special way, as a very singular and interesting example of Druidical 

 influence carried down, century after century, for nearly 2000 years. The fact of 

 its taking, in our day, a somewhat modified form, only strengthens the probability 

 that this supposition is correct. 



The Mistletoe stiU holds well its place in the esteem of the people, if not in 

 their veneration. There is scarcely a house or cottage in this county that has not 

 its bunch of Mistletoe for New-year's day. The ancient custom is still observed 

 aright in most of the farm houses through the County, by all the old true Here- 

 fordshire inhabitants ; and especially by the lower classes. The Mistletoe bough 

 is cut on New-year's Eve, and hung up in state as the clock strikes twelve ; the 

 old one, which has hung throughout the year, is at the same time taken down and 

 burnt, t 



The Mistletoe does not appear to have been considered a Christmas evergreen 

 until the close of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century. " We 

 have Christmas Carols in praise of Holly and Ivy," says Timbs (" Things not 



* For giving 10 Cows, the popular belief is that it should be gathered from the Hawthorn or 

 Maple. It was from a woodman near Ledburj' that I first heard of the continued existence of 

 this use for .Mistletoe. " Mistletoe aint of much use now Sir, as I knows on," said he, " except 

 for one thing and then it do beat everything. .\ piece of Mistletoe from the Haw, — from the 

 Haw Sir," he repeated, ' * chopped in pieces and given to a Cow after calving, will do her more 

 good nor any drench you can give her," and this has been confirmed from other pans ot the 

 County. Sir Thomas Browne ( l^ulgar Errors," Book ii. c. 6) also states that it is a common 

 country practice to give Alistletoe to Cows at this particular time. 



" A Worcestershire Farmer," says Cuthbert Bede, " was accustomed to takedown his bough 

 of Mistletoe, and give it to the Cow that calved first after New-year's day, which was supposed 

 to ensure luck throughout the year to the whole dairy. (N. & Q. Vol. iii. p. 313.) 



t "The Mistletoe bough," says Mr. Haywood, of Worcester, "should always be gathered 

 by the last male domestic that has entered the family. It is then dressed with nuts, apples, 

 ribbons, iSrc, and suspended in the centre of the room, sometimes with a cord attached to a 

 pulley, to allow of its being lowered for the lady to pick a berry. The berry should then be 

 thrown over the left shoulder. I once saw, at an old mansion near Worcester, a large bunch of 

 Mistletoe beautifully bedecked, and so cleverly suspended, that by means of strings it could be 

 pulled to any p.irt ol the ceiling, and thus be brought over the heads of any ladies who could not 

 be induced to go under it." The proper time for hanging up the Mistletoe however, Mr. 

 Haywood states, very decidedly, to be Cfiristtnas Day, by Worcestershire custom — thus giving 

 very clear proof of a border district for Mistletoe, where the true traditions with regard to it 

 have been lost at a much earlier period than in the centre. '* This is the common custom of 

 North Worcestershire to this day." Mr. Haywood goes on to say, " and it is also usual to keep 

 part of the .Mistletoe bough used at Christmas in the house until the following Christmas, when 

 the new one is brought in and the old one burnt. It is said to be most wonderfully efficacious in 

 expelling witches and keeping hobgoblins away. I know a poor woman, upwards of 70 years of 

 age, who walked two miles for a bit to put in some " broathens" for her pig that had been 

 bewitched by a bad neighbour. I saw her with it, and laughed at her credulity : but she was 

 not to be shaken in her faith. I afterwards found that the pig recovered and made a good one.' 



