pPant Taore, l3egcr^/, aaS. Isijrlc/. 545 



Patrick, when on an evangelising mission in Ireland, made the 

 docflrine of the Trinity, one day, the subjeift of his discourse. 

 Finding his hearers unable to understand it, he plucked a leaf of 

 Shamrock, and used it as an illustration. So easy and simple was 

 the application, that their difficulties were removed, and they 

 accepted Christianity. Ever since, the Shamrock has been the 

 national emblem of Irishmen, and has been worn by them for many 

 centuries on the 17th of March, which is the anniversary of St. 

 Patrick. As to what was the herb which furnished the saint with 

 so excellent an illustration of the Three in One, there is amongst 

 botanists much dispute, but the plants that for a long time past 

 have been sold in Dublin and London on St. Patrick's Day as the 

 national badge arc the Black Nonsuch [Medicago lupulina), and the 

 Dutch Clover {Tyifolium repcns). Several writers have advocated 

 the claims of the Wood Sorrel {Oxalis acetosella), which is called by 

 the old herbalists Shamrog, and is proved in olden times to have 

 been eaten by the Irish, — one old wri.er, who visited their country 

 in the sixteenth century, stating that it was eaten, and that it was 

 a sour plant. Wood Sorrel is a sour-tasting plant, is indigenous to 

 Ireland, and is trifoliated. It grows in woods, where the people 

 used to assemble, and where the priests taught and performed their 

 mystic rites ; and therefore it may have been the plant plucked by 

 St. Patrick, It has also been contended that the Watercress 

 (called "Shamrock" by Holinshed in 1586] was the plant gathered 

 by the saint, but as its leaf is not trifoliate, this claim has not 

 found much favour. The plant which is figured upon our coins, 

 both English and Irish, is an ordinary Trefoil. Queen Vi(5loria 

 placed the Trefoil in her royal diadem in lieu of the French Fleur- 

 de-lis. 



SHEPHERD'S PURSE.— The Capsella Bursa is commonly 

 known as Pickpocket or Pickpurse, from its robbing the farmer by 

 stealing the goodness of his land. It was known to our forefathers 

 by the names of St. James's-wort, Poor Man's Parmacetty, Toywort, 

 and Caseweed, and was considered to be " marvellous good for 

 inflammation." (See Clappedepouch.) 



SHOLOA. — The Sholoa is a medicinal plant, employed by 

 the Bushmen of South Africa. Before going into battle, they rub 

 their hands with Sholoa, in order to be able to chafe the badly 

 wounded to preserve their life. When they dig up this plant, they 

 deem it necessary, to avert danger from themselves, to replant 

 immediately a portion of the root, so that it may spring up again. 

 Tradition says that a man who neglecfted this precaution was found 

 speechless and motionless enveloped in the toils of serpents. These 

 serpents were killed by the Bushmen in order to regain possession 

 of the root, which was replanted. Their women are afraid of these 

 roots, when freshly dug up ; they are, therefore, always put into a 

 bag before being taken into a hut. 



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