54 pfant l9ore, '\s)ZQe'ribf, and Tslji'Ic/', 



in veterinary practice. The Cowslip is dedicated to St. Peter, 

 as Herb Peter of the old herbals, from some resemblance which it 

 has to his emblem — a bunch of keys. As the patron of fishermen, 

 Crithmiini mantimum, which grows on sea-cliffs, was dedicated to 

 this saint, and called in Italian San Pietro, in French Saint 

 Pierre, and m English Samphire. Most of these saintly names 

 were, however, given to the plants because their day of flowering 

 is connected with the festival of the saint. Hence Hypericum 

 quadrangulare is the St. Peter's Wort of the modern floras, from its 

 flowering on the 29th of June. The Daisy, as Herb Margaret, is 

 popularly supposed to be dedicated to " Margaret that was so 

 meek and mild ; " probably from its blossoming about her day, the 

 22nd of February : in reality, however, the flower derived its 

 name from St. Margaret of Cortona. Barbana vulgaris, growing in 

 the winter, is St. Barbara's Cress, her day being the fourth of 

 December, old style ; and Centaurea solstitialis derives its Latin 

 specific, and its popular name, St. Barnaby's Thistle, from its 

 flourishing on the longest day, the nth of June, old style, which 

 is now the 22nd. Nigella damascena, whose persistent styles spread 

 out like the spokes of a wheel, is named Katharine's flower, after 

 St. Katharine, who suffered martyrdom on a wheel. The Cranesbill 

 is called Herb Robert, in honour of St. Robert, Abbot of Molesme 

 and founder of the Cistercian Order. The Speedwell is St. Paul's 

 Betony. Archangel is a name given to one umbelliferous and 

 three labiate plants. An angel is said to have revealed the virtues 

 of the plants in a dream. The umbelliferous plant, it has been 

 supposed, has been named Angelica Anhangelica, from its being 

 in blossom on the 8th of May, old style, the Archangel St. Michael's 

 Day. Flowering on the fete day of such a powerful angel, the plant 

 was supposed to be particularly useful as a preservative of men 

 and women from evil spirits and witches, and of cattle from 

 elf shot. 



Roses are the special flowers of martyrs, and, according 

 to a tradition, they sprang from the ashes of a saintly maiden of 

 Bethlehem who perished at the stake. Avens [Geitm urbanum) the 

 Herba benedicta, or Blessed Herb, is a plant so blessed that no 

 venomous beast will approach within scent of it ; and, according 

 to the author of the Ortiis sanitatis, " where the root is in a house, 

 the devil can do nothing, and flies from it, wherefore it is blessed 

 above all other herbs." The common Snowdrops are called Fair 

 Maids of February. This name also, like the Saints' names, arises 

 from an ecclesiastical coincidence : their white flowers blossom 

 about the second of February, when maidens, dressed in white, 

 walked in procession at the Feast of the Purification. 



The name of Canterbury Bells was given to the Campanula, in 

 honour of St. Thomas of England, and in allusion probably to the 

 horse-bells of the pilgrims to his shrine. Saxifraga umbrosa is both 

 St. Patrick's cabbage and St. Anne's needlework ; Polygonum 



