pPant "bore, "ISegcT^/, an^ "bijric/-. 435 



sweetness of breath. The Mastic is stated to have been under 

 the special protection of Bacchus, as being the tree under which 

 the Bacchanals found and slew Pentheus, King of Thebes, who had 

 forbidden his subjects to acknowledge the new god. 



Mather. — See Mayweed. 



Maudlein, Maudelyne, or Maudlin. — See Costmary. 



Maudmn Wort. — See Moon Daisy. 



M AU RITI A. — The Moriche Palm {MauritiaflexHosa) is regarded 

 as a sacred tree by the Mexican Indians. Certain tribes live almost 

 entirely on its products, and, strange to say, build their houses 

 high up amongst its leaves, where they live during the floods. 

 These Indians have a traditional Deluge, which they call the 

 Water Age, when there was only one man and one woman left 

 alive. To re-people the earth, the Deucalion and Pyrrha of the 

 new world, instead of stones, threw over their shoulders the fruit 

 of the Moriche Palm, and from its seeds sprang the whole human 

 race. The Moriche is regarded as a deity among the Tamancas, a 

 tribe of Oronoco Indians. 



MAY. — The Hawthorn has obtained the name of Ma}', or 

 May-bush, from the time of its flowering. In Suffolk, it is believed 

 to be unlucky to sleep in a room in which there is May in bloom. 

 In Sussex, to bring a branch of blossoming May into the house is 

 thought to portend a death. It was a custom in Huntingdonshire, 

 forty years ago, for the rustic swains to place a branch of May in 

 blossom before sunrise at the doorway of anyone they wished to 

 honour, singing the while — 



*' A branch of May we have brought you, 

 And at your door it stands ; 



It is but a sprout, 



But it's well budded out, 

 By the work of our good Lord's hands." 



An Italian proverb describes the universal lover as " one who 

 hangs every door with May." (See Hawthorn), 



MAYFLOWER.— The Mayflower of New England, Epig^ra 

 rcpciis, is the emblem of Nova Scotia. The trailing Arbutus, or 

 Mayflower, is a native of North America; it grows abundantly in 

 the vicinity of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and was the first flower 

 that greeted the Pilgrims after their terrible winter. 



MAY"WEED. — The Mayweed, or more properly Maydweed 

 (Anthemis Cotnla), owes its name to its having been formerly used 

 for the complaints of young women. In olden times, the plant 

 was also known as Maghet, and Mather or Mauther, words signi- 

 fying a maid. The flower is distinguished as having, for its 



fairness, been likened to the brow of the Nortb.ern divinity Baldr. 



The Matricaria Chamomilla is called Stinking Maj-dweed. (See 



Maithes, Costmaky, and Moon Daisy.) 



2 F — 2 



