pPant "bore, iQege"?!^/, aael TSLjric/. 529 



Narcissus, and Tulip ; so that it is impossible to say with any 

 certainty what flower we are to understand by the Rose of Sharon. 

 According; to travellers, the Narcissus, or Jonquil (Narcissus 

 7onqi(ila),^TO\vs abundantly on the plain of Sharon, yet so low that 

 It may be unobserved among more showy plants ; and again we 

 find it stated that, in the season, the plam is literally covered with 

 Tulijis. Though Palestine abounds in flowers, it is doubtful 

 whether the Rose of our gardens is alluded to in the Bible. In the 

 Apocrypha (Wisdom xi., 8), it may, perhaps, be intended, but 

 more probably the Oleander is there referred to. 



ROWAN-TREE, or MOUNTAIN-ASH.— The Moun- 

 tain Ash [Pyyus Aucupavia), called also by tlie old names of Rodden, 

 Rowan-tree, Quicken-tree, and Witchen-tree, is a tree of good 

 omen. In Scandinavian mythology, it is Thor's Helper, because 

 it bent to his grasp when he was crossing the river Vimur, on his 

 way to the land of the Frost Giants. The wood of the Rowan was 

 also used to preserve the Norse ships from Ran, who delighted in 

 drowning mariners. The Rowan is generally considered to have 

 been one of the sacred trees of the Druids. Stumps of the Mountain 

 Ash have frequently been found within or near the circle of a Druid 

 temple, thus proving that the tree must have been an objecl of 

 great veneration with the Druids, who doubtless pracftised their 

 sacred rites beneath its shade. This connection of the tree with 

 Druidic customs affords some explanation of the many superstitious 

 ideas appertaining to the Mountain Ash which are still extant. 

 Lightfoot tells us that the Rowan-tree is discovered in the Druidic 

 circles of North Britain more frequently than any other, and that even 

 now pieces of it are carried about by superstitious people as charms 

 to protect them from witchcraft. Like the Indian Mimosa (a tree 

 of the same genus and of a similar character), or the Palasa, which 

 it resembles in its graceful foliage and berries, the Mountain Ash 

 has for ages been held in high repute as a preservative against 

 magic and sorceries. Thus we find in Jamieson's ' Scottish Dic- 

 tionary,' that "the most approved charm against cantrips and 

 spells was a branch of the Row'an-tree planted and placed over 

 the byre. This sacred tree cannot be removed by unholy fingers." 

 The Scotch peasantry considered the Rowan a complete antidote 

 against the effeifts of witchcraft and the Evil Eye, and, in conse- 

 quence, a twig of it was very commonly carried in the pocket ; but 

 that it might have complete efficacy, it was necessary that it 

 should be accompanied by the following couplet, written on paper, 

 wrapped round the wood and secured b}' a red silk thread : — 



" Rowan Ash and red thread 

 Keep the devils frae their speed." 



Another version of this charm renders it thus : — 



" Roan-tree and red thread, 

 Haud the witches a' in dread.' 



2 M 



