pPant Tsore, tecger^t)/, aa^ Tsi^ric/*, 587 



Jason, in his voyage in search of the golden fleece, passed the 

 weird grove of Circe, planted with funereal Willows, on the tops 

 of which the voyagers could perceive corpses hanging. Pausanias 

 speaks of a grove consecrated to Proserpine, planted with Black 

 Poplars and Willows; and the same author represents Orpheus, 

 whilst in the infernal regions, as carrying a W^illow-branch in his 

 hand. Shakspeare, in allusion to Dido's being forsaken by ^neas, 

 says : — 



" In such a night, 

 Stood Dido, with a Willow in her hand. 

 Upon the wild sea-banks, and waved her love 

 To come again to Carthage." 



The Willow was considered to be the tree of Saturn. The Weep- 

 ing Willow [Salix Bahylonica), as being a remedy for fluxes, was, 

 however, consecrated to Juno Fluonia, who was invoked by Roman 



matrons to stop excessive hemorrhage. The Flemish peasantry 



have a curious custom to charm away the ague. The sufferer goes 

 early in the morning to an old Willow, makes three knots in one 

 of its branches, and says " Good morning Old One ; I give thee the 

 cold, Old One." The W^illow wand has long been a favourite in- 

 strument of divination. The direcflions are as follows : — Let a 

 maiden take a Willow-branch in her left hand, and, without being 

 observed, slip out of the house and run three times round it, 

 whispering all the time, " He that's to be my gude man come and 

 grip the end of it." During the third run, the likeness of her future 



husband will appear and grasp the other end of the wand. De 



Gubernatis says that at Brie (Ile-de-France), on St. John's Eve, the 

 people burn a figure made of Willow-boughs. At Luchon, on 

 the same anniversary, they throw snakes on a huge effigy of a 

 W^illow-tree made with branches of Willow; this is set on fire, and 



while it is burning the people dance around the tree. In China, 



the W^illow is employed in their funeral rites, the tree having been 

 there considered, from the remotest ages, to be a symbol of immor- 

 tality and eternity. On this account they cover the coffin with 

 branches of Willow, and plant Willows near the tombs of the de- 

 parted. They also have a custom of decorating the doors of their 

 houses with Willow-branches on Midsummer Day. With them the 

 Willow is supposed to be possessed of marvellous properties, 

 amongst which is the power of averting the ill effe(fts of miasma 



and pestilential disorders. To dream of mourning beneath a 



Willow over some calamity is considered a happy omen, impl}Tng 

 the speedy receipt of intelligence that will cause much satisfaction. 



By astrologers the Willow is placed under the dominion of the 



moon. 



Wind Flower. — See Anemone. 



Witch-Hazel. — See Hornbeam. Witch- or Wych-Elm, 

 U hints montatia. 



Wolf's Bane. — See Monk's Hood. 



Woodbine. — See Honeysuckle. 



