450 pPant "bore, "bcg©^/, aad. TsLjnc/". 



efficacy in the relief of female disorders. It was also used for the 

 purpose of incantations. Pliny says that the wayfarer having this 

 herb tied about him feels no fatigue, and that he who hath it about 

 him can be hurt by no poisonous medicines, nor by any wild beast, 

 nor even by the sun itself. Apuleius adds that it drives away 

 lurking devils and neutralises the effecft of the evil eye of men. 



The plant was also considered a charm against the ague. 



There is an old Scotch legend which tells how a mermaid of the 

 Firth of Clyde, upon seeing the funeral of a young girl who had 

 died of consumption, exclaimed — 



"If they wad drink Nettles in March, 



And eat Muggins [Mugwort] in May, 

 Sae mony braw maidens 

 Wad not go to clay." 



In Italy, there is still a superstitious custom extant of consulting 

 Mugwort as to the probable ending of an illness. Some leaves of 

 Mugwort are placed beneath the pillow of the patient without his 

 knowledge. If he falls asleep quickly, his recovery is certain: if he 



is unable to sleep, it is a sign that he will die. Mugwort is one of 



the plants associated with St. John the Baptist, and is, indeed, called 

 the Herb of St. John in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Hol- 

 land. There is a curious superstition regarding it which is related 

 by Lupton in his 'Notable Things.' He says: — "It is certainly 

 commonly affirmed that, on Midsummer Eve, there is found under 

 the root of MugAvort a coal which keeps safe from the plague, 

 carbuncle, lightning, and the quartan ague, them that bear the 

 same about them: and Mizaldus, the writer hereof, saith that it is 

 to be found the same day under the root of Plantain, which I 

 know for a truth, for I have found them the same day under the 

 root of Plantain, which is especially and chiefly to be found at 

 noon." Paul Barbette, writing in 1675, says, these coals were old 

 dead roots, and that it was a superstition that " old dead roots 

 ought to be pulled up on the Eve of St. John the Baptist, about 



twelve at night." In some parts of England, girls pull a certain 



root which grows under Mugwort, and which, they believe, if 

 pulled exadtly at midnight, on the eve of St. John, and placed 



under the pillow, will cause dreams of the future husband. 



De Gubernatis tells us that, in Sicily, on the eve of the Ascension, 

 the women of Avola form crosses of Mugwort, and place them on 

 the roofs of their houses, believing that, during the night, Jesus 

 Christ, as He re-ascends to heaven, will bless them. They pre- 

 serve these crosses of Mugwort for a year. Placed in stables, they 

 are believed to possess the power of taming unmanageable animals. 



The same author gives the following legends: — In the distri(ft 



of Starodubsk, Russia, on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, 

 a young girl was searching for Mushrooms in a forest, when she 

 saw a number of serpents curled up. She endeavoured to retrace 

 her steps, but fell into a deep pit, which was the abode of the 



