Vil. ] THE FOLK-LORE OF PLANTS. 121 
The Mountain Ash or Rowan-tree was a protec- 
tion against, and a remedy for, the effects of the 
“ Evil-eye,” witches, and warlocks. Farmers, to pro- 
tect their cattle, hung branches of rowan and honey- 
suckle in their cow-houses on the 2d of May. This 
property of the tree is recorded in a very ancient 
ballad, entitled “The Laidley Worm of Spindleston 
Heughs:” 
** Their spells were vain, the hags returned 
To the Queen in sorrowful mood, 
Crying that witches have no power 
Where there is Rowan-tree wood.” 
Stumps of this tree have frequently been found in 
druidical circles and burying-places, 
The Houseleek is planted on the roofs of houses 
to protect them from storms and lightning, and the 
Welsh peasants consider that it brings good luck. 
The Stonecrop, if wrapped up in a black cloth and 
placed under any-one’s pillow, was an unfailing 
remedy for sleeplessness, but it must be so placed 
without the patient’s knowledge. 
The Ash was credited with many powers, and 
suffered accordingly. The tops and leaves were 
“good against the bitings of serpents and vipers,” of 
which Culpepper says: “I suppose this had its rise 
from Gerard or Pliny, both which hold, That there is 
such an antipathy between an adder and an Ash-tree, 
that if an adder be encompassed round with Ash- 
tree leaves, she will sooner run through the fire than 
through the leaves: the contrary to which is the 
truth, as both my eyes are witness.” If a ruptured 
child were passed through the stem of a split Ash- 
