pTcnt T^orft. hcc^eribf, onB. TsljcIc/". 441 



by Lord Bacon in his ' Natural History.' His lordship says : — 

 " They have an idle tradition that there is a bird called a Missel- 

 bird that fecdcth upon a seed which many times she cannot digest, 

 and so cxpelleth it whole with her excrement, which, falling upon 

 a bough of a tree that hath some rift, putteth forth the Misseltoe." 



In Druidic times, the Mistletoe was regarded as a divine gift 



of peculiar sandlity, only to be gathered with befitting ceremonies, 

 on the sixth day, or at latest on the sixth night, of the sixth moon 



after the winter solstice, when their year commenced. Pliny 



tells us that " the Druids hold nothing more sacred than the Mis- 

 tletoe and the tree upon which it is produced, provided it be an 

 Oak. They make choice of groves of Oak on their own account, 

 nor do they perform any of their sacred rites without the leaves of 

 these trees, so one may suppose that for this reason they are called 

 by the Greek etymology Druids, and whatever Mistletoe grows 

 upon the Oak they think is sent from heaven, and is a sign of God 

 Himself as having chosen that tree. This, however, is rarely found, 

 but, when discovered, is treated with great ceremony; they call it 

 by a name which in their language signifies the curer of all ills, and, 

 having duly prepared their feast and sacrifices under the tree, they 

 l)ring to it two white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time 

 tied ; the priest, dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and, with 

 a golden pruning-hook, cuts off the Mistletoe, which is received into 

 a white sagiDii, or sheet; then they sacrifice the vidtims, praying that 

 God would bless His own gift to those on whom He has bestowed it." 

 As the Druids attributed to the Mistletoe marvellous curative pro- 

 perties, they placed it in water, and distributed this water to those 

 who deserved it, to a(5l as a charm against the spells of witches 

 and sorcerers. If any portion of this plant came in contacl: with 

 the earth, it w^as cofisidered as ominous of some impending national 



disaster. The pracftice of decorating dwellings with Mistletoe and 



Holly is undoubtedly of Druidic origin. Dr. Chandler states that, 

 in the times of the Druids, the houses were decked with boughs in 

 order that the spirits of the forest might seek shelter among them 

 during the bleak winds and frosts of winter. Among the Worces- 

 tershire farmers, there is a very ancient custom of taking a bough 

 of Mistletoe, and presenting it to the cow that first cahed after 

 New Year's Day, as this offering is presumed to avert ill-luck from 

 the dairy. — In some provinces of France, they preserved for a long 

 l>eriod the custom of gathering the Mistletoe of the Oak, which 

 ihey regarded as a talisman. Many public documents attest that, 

 in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, large gatherings of the 

 country-people took place at the fetes held in commemoration of 

 the ceremony of the sacred Mistletoe, and which was called 



Anguilanmuf [Gui dcVan ncnf). In Holstein,the peasantry call the 



Mistletoe the " Specftre's wand," from the supposition that a branch 

 borne in the hand will enable the holder not only to see ghosts, but 

 to compel them to speak. The magical properties of the Mistletoe 



