146 HYPERICINE^ 



Barnaby Googe of the Latin poem of Naogeorgus, called " The Popish King- 

 dom," we have a full description of the rites used on St. John's Eve : — 



"Then doth the joyful feast of John And then with woides devout, and prayers, 



The Baptist take his turne, They solemnly bec?in 



When bontiers great, with loftie flame. Desiring God that all their illes 



In everie towne doth burne ; May there consumed be, 



And young men round about, with maides, Whereby they thinke through all thatyeere 



Do daunce in everie streete From agues to be free : 



With garlandes wrought of Motherwort, Some others get a rotten wheel, 



Or else with Vervaine swete. All worne and cast aside. 



And many other floAvres faire, Which, covered round with straw 



With Violets in their handes, And tow, they closely hide ; 



Whereas they all doe fondly thinke, And caryed to some mountaine's top, 



That whosoever standes Being all with fire light. 



And thorow the floures beholds the flame. They hurle it downe with violence, 



His eyes shall feel no paine ; When daike appears the night. 



When thus till night they daunced have, Resembling much the sunne that from 



They through the fire amaine. The heavens dowue should fal. 



With striving mindes doe run, and all A strange and monstrous sight it secmes. 



Their hearbes they cast therein ; And fearefull to them all." 



The plants chiefly used on these occasions are more particularly named 

 by Stowe, in his " Survey of London "; and he says that, on the Vigil of 

 St. John, every man's door was shadowed by green birch, fennel, St. John's 

 Wort, orpine, white lilies, and such-like, garnished up with garlands of beauti 

 ful flowers, and had also lamps of glass, with oil burning in them all night. 

 Pennant, in later days, speaks of the custom in Wales of hanging St. John's 

 Wort over the doors on Midsummer-Eve ; and the following curious extract, 

 quoted by Sir Henry Ellis in one of his notes to Brande's "Antiquities," is 

 interesting; it is from Bishop Pococke. " Whanne men of the countree up- 

 lond bringen into Londoun at Mydsomer-Eve braunchis of trees from Bischopis 

 wode, and flouris fro the field, and bitaken tho to citessins of Londoune, for 

 to therwith arraie ther houses, that thei mak therwith tlier houses gay into 

 remembraunce of Seint Johan Baptist, and of this that it was prophecied of 

 him that manie schulden joie in his burthe." 



5. Imperforate St. John's Wort {H. cluUiim). — Stem herbaceous, 

 erect, 4-sided, with rounded angles ; leaves nearly destitute of dots ; sepals 

 reflexed, elliptical, blunt. Plant perennial. This is not a common plant, 

 and rarely occurs in any quantity. It has much the general aspect of the 

 perforated species, and the same properties, and the two would be gathered 

 indiscriminately, either for medicinal uses, or to serve for the — 



" St John's Wort, scaring from the midnight heath 

 The witch and goblin with its spicy breath." 



The corolla is often marked with small black dots, and its stem is about one 

 or two feet high. This herb is common in Russia, where it is employed as 

 an antidote to canine madness, for which purpose, like many other popular 

 remedies, it is perfectly ineffectual. It flowers in August, and is most often 

 found in bushy places. A variety, with toothed sepals, and petals 

 dotted and marked with purple streaks, grows in wet places, and has by 

 some been called H. maculatum ; others consider both as forms of H. quad- 

 rangulum. 



