pPant "Isorc, TscgeT^/, ari^ ]3^ncf, 257 



place, a basin full of sprigs of Box is placed at the door of the 

 house from which the coffin is taken up, and each mourner is 

 expedled to take a si:)rig, and afterwards cast it on the grave of the 



deceased. In Turkey, it is a pracflice with widows, who go weekly 



to pray at their husbands' tomb, to plant a sprig of Box at the head 

 of the grave. The monastery of St. Christine, in the Pyrenees, 

 assumes the arms of the Knights of St. Christine, viz., a white 

 pigeon with a cross in its beak, to which is attached the following 

 legend : — The workmen who were employed to build the monastery 

 had the greatest difficulty in finding a suitable foundation. After 

 several inefTecftual attempts, they one morning perceived a white 

 pigeon flying with a cross in its beak. They pursued the bird, 

 which perched on a Box-tree, but though it flew away on their near 

 approach, they found in the branches the cross which it had left : 

 this they took as a good omen, and proceeded successfully to lay 

 the foundation on the spot where the Box-tree had stood, and com- 

 pleted the edifice. To dream of Box denotes long life and pros- 

 perity, also a happy marriage. 



BRACKEN FERN.— There was formerly a proverb re- 

 specfling the Pteris aqiiilina, or common Brake Fern, popular in 

 the country : — 



" AYhen the Fern is as high as a spoon, 

 You may sleep an hour at noon ; 

 When the Fern is as high as a ladle, 

 You may sleep as long as your 're able ; 

 When the Fern begins to look red, 

 Then milk is good with brown bread." 



In Ireland, the Bracken Fern is called the Fern of God, from an 

 old belief that if the stem be cut into three pieces, there will be 

 seen on the first slice the letter G, on the second O, and on the 

 third D, — the whole forming the sacred word God. There is still 

 a superstition in England, probably derived from some holy father, 

 that in the cut stem of the Bracken Fern ma}^ be traced the sacred 

 letters I.H.S. In Kent, and some other counties, these letters 

 are deciphered as J.C. In other parts of the country, the marks 

 are supposed to delineate an Oak, and to have first grown there in 

 memory of the tree in which King Charles sought shelter during 



his flight. An old legend is yet told, that James, the unfortunate 



Duke of Monmouth, after the battle of Sedgemoor, was able to lie 

 concealed for some days beneath the dense Bracken Ferns; but 

 one day, emerging from his retreat, he sat down and began cutting 

 some of the Fern-stems which had sheltered him. Whilst doing this, 

 he was seen by some peasants, who noticed the flash of a diamond 

 ring on one of his fingers. When, therefore, a reward was offered 

 soon afterwards for the Duke's capture, they recalled the circum- 

 stance, and sought for him where he lay concealed among the Brakes. 



Connected with this figure of an Oak in the Bracken-stem, 



there is a saying, that if you cut the Bracken slantwise, you'll see a 



s 



