pPant bore, beger^t)/, cmel btjrlcy. 371 



" Lo ! shudilVing at the solemn deed, 

 Slie scatters round the magic seed, 

 And thrice repeats, ' The seed I sow, 

 My true-love's scythe the crop shall mow.' 

 Straight, as her frame fresh horrors freeze. 

 Her true love with iiis scythe she sees. 



" And next, she seeks the Yew-tree shade, 

 Where he who died for love is laid ; 

 There hinds, upon the ver.lant sod 

 Hy many a moonlight fairy trod, 

 The Cowslip and the Lily-wreath 

 She wove her Hawthorn hedge beneath; 

 And whisp'ring, ' All ! may Colin prove 

 As constant as thou wast to love ! ' 

 Kisses, with pale lip full of dread, 

 The turf that hides his clay-cold head ! " 



Perhaps the origin of this custom of Hemp-sowing is the fadl: that 

 from Hemp is made cord, which is used to bind, attach, or secure 

 an objeifl. The Sicihans, indeed, employ Hemp as a charm to 

 secure the affeiftion of those they love. De Gubernatis tells us 

 that, on Friday (the day consecrated to the remembrance of our 

 Lord's Passion), they take a Hempen thread, and twenty-five 

 needlefuls of coloured silk; and at midnight they plait this, saying: 



" Chistu i cdnna7)a di Christu, 

 Seji'i pi attaccan a chistu." 



Forthwith they go to the church with the plait in their hands, and 

 enter at the moment of the Consecration : then they tie three knots 

 in the plait, previously adding a little of the hair of the loved one ; 

 after which they invoke all evil spirits to entice the person beloved 



towards the person who craves his or her love. In Piedmont, 



there is a belief that Hemp spun on the last day of Carnival will 

 bring bad luck. On that day, in some districts, the following cere- 

 mony is gone through to divine what sort of Hemp crop may be 

 expecled : — A bonfire is lighted, and the direclion of the flames is 

 attentively watched : if the flames mount straight uj)wards, the 

 crop will be good ; but if they incline either way, it will be bad. 



In the C6tes-du-Nord, France, there is a belief that Hemp 



enrages those who have been bitten by dogs. When fowls eat 

 Hemp-seed, they cease to lay, and commence to sit. It is cus- 

 tomary to leave the finest sprig of Hemp, that the bird St. Martin 

 may be able to rest on it. The Eg3^ptians prepare an intoxi- 

 cating substance from Hemp, called Hashish. This they roll into 

 balls the size of a Chesnut, and after having swallowed a few of 



these, they experience ecstatic visions. The Arabians concocfl 



a preparation of Hemp, which produces the most varied halluci- 

 nations, so that those who are intoxicated by it imagine that 

 they are flying, or that they are changed into a statue, that their 

 head is cut off", that their limbs stretch out to immense lengths, or 

 that they can see, even through stone walls, "the colour of tlie 

 thoughts of others" and the words of their neighbours. In the 



