pfant bore, "beger^/, anil bijrie/*. 



picfture of an Oak-tree; the more perfecft, the luckier your chance 

 will be. In Germany, the figure portrayed in the stem is popularly 

 recognised as the Russian Double Eagle. Of still more ancient 

 origin, however, is the opinion that the figure in the Brake Fern- 

 stem is that of an eagle, from whence it derived its name of Eagle 

 Fern. In Henderson's ' Folk Lore of the Northern Counties,' we 

 read that witches detest the Bracken Fern because it bears on 

 its root the letter C, the initial of the holy name of Christ, which 

 may be plainly seen on cutting the root horizontally. It has, 

 however, been suggested that the letter intended is not the English 

 C, but the Greek %, the initial letter of the word Chvistos, which 

 resembles closely the marks on the root of the Bracken. These 

 marks, however, have been also stated to represent Adam and 

 Eve standing on either side of the Tree of Knowledge, and King 

 Charles in the Oak. In some parts, lads and lasses try to discover 

 in the Bracken-stem the initials of their future wife or husband. 



Astrologers state that the Bracken Fern is under the dominion 



of Mercury. 



BRAMBLE, or BLACKBERRY. — The Bramble or 

 Blackberry-bush [Ruhus fruticosm) is said to be the burning bush, in 

 the midst of which Jehovah appeared to Moses. It is the subject 

 of the oldest apologue extant. We read in Judges ix., 8 — 15, how 

 Jotham, when bitterly reproaching the men of Shechem for their 

 mgratitude to his father's house, narrated to them, after the 

 Oriental fashion, the parable of the trees choosing a king, in which 

 their choice eventually fell upon the Bramble. According to some 

 accounts, it was the Bramble that supplied the Thorns which were 

 plaited into a crown, and worn by our Saviour just prior to the 



Crucifixion. On St. Simon and St. Jude's Day (October 28th) 



tradition avers that Satan sets his foot on the Bramble, after which 

 day not a single edible Blackberry can be found. In Sussex, they 

 say that, after Old Michaelmas Day (lOth Ocflober), the Devil goes 

 round the county and spits on the Blackberries. In Scotland, 

 it is thought that, late in the Autumn, the Devil thows his cloak 

 over the Blackberries, and renders them unwholesome. In Ireland, 

 there is an old saying, that " at Michaelmas the Devil put his foot 

 on the Blackberries;" and in some parts of that country the 

 peasants will tell their children, after Michaelmas Day, not to eat 

 the Grian-mhuine (Blackberries) ; and they attribute the decay in 

 them, which about that time commences, to the operation of the 

 Phooka, a mischievous goblin, sometimes assuming the form of a 



bat or bird, at other times appearing as a horse or goat. The 



ancients deemed both the fruit and flowers of the Bramble effica- 

 cious against the bites of serpents; and it was at one time 

 believed that so astringent were the qualities of this bush, that 

 even its young shoots, when eaten as a salad, would fasten teeth 

 that were loose. Gerarde, however, for that purpose recom- 

 mends a decocflion of the leaves, mixed with honey, alum, and a 



