it was supposed to possess magical properties, and was prized by 

 witches and sorcerers, who used it in their incantations. Ben 

 Jonson, in the ' Witches' Song,' says : — 



*' Yes, I have brought to help our vows, 

 Horned Poppy, Cypress-boughs, 

 The Fig-tree wild that grows on tombs. 

 And juice that from the Larch-tree comes." 



Borlase tells us that, in the Scilly Isles, " this root (the Sea Poppy), 

 so much valued for removing all pains in the breast, stomach, and 

 intestines, is good also for disordered lungs, and is so much better 

 here than in other places, that the apothecaries of Cornwall send 

 hither for it ; and some people plant them in their gardens in 

 Cornwall, and will not part with them under sixpence a root. A 

 very simple notion they have with regard to this root, which falls 

 not much short of the Druids' superstition in gathering and pre- 

 paring their Selago and Samolus. This root, you must know, is 

 accounted very good both as an emetic and cathartic. If, therefore, 

 they design that it shall operate as the former, their constant 

 opinion is that it should be scraped and sliced upwards — that is, 

 beginning from the root, the knife is to ascend towards the leaf; 

 but if it is intended to operate as a cathartic, they must scrape the 

 root downwards." 



SELAGO. — Selago was the name of a herb held in great 

 repute by the Druids, and intimately connedled with some of their 

 mysterious rites. It was known as the Golden Herb or Cloth of 

 Gold, and was reputed to confer the power of understanding the 

 language of birds and beasts. It is variously supposed to have been 

 the Club-Moss {Lycopoduini Selago), the Camphorosma Monspeliaca, or 

 a kind of Hedge Hyssop, which used in olden times to be called 

 Gratiola and Dei Gmtia, and was regarded as a charm as well as a 

 medicine. Pliny, in his ' Natural History ' (xxiv., 62), tells us with 

 respe(5t to the Druidic Selago, that it resembles Savin ; and that it 

 is gathered as if by stealth, without the use of iron. The person 

 who gathers it must go barefoot, with feet washed, clad in white, 

 having previously offered a sacrifice of bread and wine, and must 

 pluck the plant with his right hand through the left sleeve of his 

 tunic. It is carried in a new cloth. The Druids of the Gauls 

 asserted that it was to be regarded as useful against all diseases, 



and that its smoke was a remedy for all affedlions of the eyes. 



In Johnson's edition of Gerarde's ' Herbal,' it is said that the Club 

 Moss, or Heath Cypress, is thought to be the Selago mentioned by 

 Pliny. " The catkins of this plant are described as being of a 

 yellowish colour; and it is stated to be found growing in divers 

 woody, mountainous places of Germany, where they call it Wald 



Seimihamn, or Wilde Savine." In his work on the Druids, 



called the ' Veil of Isis,' Mr. Reade gives a similar account of the 

 gathering of the Selago, excepting that he states it was cut with 

 a brazen hook. He further tells of a mysterious sisterhood of 



