pfant "bore, "bcger^/, an^ Isijric/, aq7 



asserts that the Peony is the floral descendant of Paeon, who was 

 a pupil of the great ^sculapius. Paon first received the flower 

 on Mount Olympus, from the hands of the mother of Apollo, and 

 by its means he cured Pluto of a wound he had received from 

 Hercules ; but this cure created so much jealousy in the breast of 

 i^isculapius, that he secretly caused the death of Paeon. Pluto, 

 however, retained a grateful sense of his service, and so trans- 

 formed his body into the flower which to-day bears his name. 



Rapin has a totally different tale to tell as to the origin of the 

 blooming Peony, although from what source he derived his infor- 

 mation we are unable to discover. According to the French poet, 

 Paeonia is a nymph whose crimson hue is not the blush of modesty, 

 but the tell-tale witness of the sin of a shepherdess of Alcinous, 

 King of Phaeacia, who seems to have been unable to withstand the 



amorous advances of the Sun-god. In the emblematic language 



of flowers, the Peony is the representative of bashful shame. 



Speaking of the Peony, Rapin says : — 



" Erect in all her crimson pomp you'll see 

 With bushy leaves the graceful Piony, 

 Whose blushes might the praise of virtue claim, 

 But her vile scent betrays they rise from shame. 

 Happy her form, and innocent her red, 

 If, while Alcinous' bleating flock she fed. 

 An heavenly lover had not sought her bed ; 

 'Twas Phoebus' crime, who to his arms allured 

 A maid from all mankind by pride secured." 



The ancient Greeks held the Peony in great repute, believing its 

 origin to have been divine. It was thought to have been an 

 emanation from the moon, and that the flower shone during the 

 night, chased away evil spirits, and protecfted the dwellings of those 

 who cultivated it. Hence, in later days, it came to be ranked as 

 a miraculous plant ; and it was thought that evil spirits would shun 

 the spot where it was planted, and that even a small piece of the 

 root, worn round the neck as an amulet, would protecft the wearer 

 from all kinds of enchantment. To this day, in Sussex, necklaces 

 of beads turned from the Peony-root are worn by young children, to 

 prevent convulsions and assist them in teething. Apuleius states 

 that the Peony is a powerful remedy for insanity. Lord Bacon 

 tells us, in his ' Natural History,' that " it hath beene long received, 

 and confirmed by divers trialls, that the root of the male Piony 

 dried, tied to the necke, doth help the falling sicknesse, and like- 

 wise the incubus, which we call the Mare. The cause of both 

 these diseases, and especially of the epilepsie from the stomach, is 

 the grossenesse of the vapours, which rise and enter into the cells 

 of the braine ; and therefore the working is by extreme and subtill 



alternation, which that simple hath." In Germany, the Peony 



is the Pentecostal Rose. Astrologers say that both male and 



female Peonies are herbs of the Sun, and under the Lion. 



