pfanC "bore, "begef^t)/, anGl "iQijnc/*. 379 



Drayton also refers to the virtues of tlie plant : — 



** Enchanliiifj Lunary here lies, 

 In sorceries excelling." 



The poet likewise tells us that this Lunary was considered effica- 

 cious in the cure of madness. 



" Then sprinkles she the juice of Rue 

 With nine drops of the midnight dew, 

 From Lunarie distilling." 



There is a popular superstition that wherever the purple Honesty 

 is found iiourishing, the cultivators of the gardens are exceptionally 

 honest. 



HONEYSUCKLE.— The Honeysuckle, or Woodbine {Lo- 

 nicera), is so called on account of the honey-dew found so plenti- 

 fully on its foliage. Originally, the word Honeysuckle was applied 

 to the Meadow Clover (Tyifoliuni pvatense), which is still so called 

 in the Western Counties. French Honeysuckle [Hedysarum coro- 

 narium) is a foreign forage-plant. Chaucer makes the Woodbine 

 an emblem of fidelity: 



" And tho' that were chapelets on his hede 

 Of fresh Wodebind be such as never were 

 To love untrue in word, ne thought, ne dede, 

 But ay, stedfast, ne for pleasaunce ne fere, 

 Tho' that they sluidde their hertis all to teie, 

 Would never Hit, but ever were stedfast, 

 Till that ther livis there assunder brast." 



Capyifolium, a specific name of the Honeysuckle, was poetically 

 used by old botanists because the leaf, or rather the stem, climbs 

 over high places where goats fear not to tread : hence the plant is 

 sometimes called by country folks, Goat's-leaf. One of its French 

 names, also, is Chcvrcfenille, which country patois abbreviates to 

 Cherfeu, or Dear Flame : hence the plant is presented by ardent 

 lovers to their sweethearts as an intimation of the state of their 



affeiftions. The French are fond of planting Honeysuckle in their 



cemeteries, and Alphonse Karr describes it as a plant which seems 

 to devote itself to the tomb, the most magnificent bushes being 

 found in cemeteries. He further says: " There is a perfume more 

 exciting, more religious, even than that of incense; it is that of 

 the Honeysuckles which grow over tombs upon which Grass has 

 sprung up thick and tufted with them, as quickly as forgetfulness has 



taken possession of the hearts of the survivors." In olden times, 



consimiptive invalids, or children suffering from hectic fever, were 

 thrice passed through a circular wreath of Woodbine, cut during 

 the increase of the March moon, and let down over the body from 

 head to foot. We read of a sorceress, who healed simdry women, 

 by taking a garland of green Woodbine, and causing the patient 

 to pass thrice through it : afterwards the garland was cut in nine 



pieces, and cast into the fire. Woodbine appears to have been 



a favourite remedy with Scotch witches, who, in effecting magical 



