318 THE MISTLETOE IN HEREFORDSHIRE. 
p. 367), powdered and mixed with rye flour, to make bread, which is 
by no means unwholesome. In this county, before turnips were so 
abundantly grown, the plant used regularly to be given to sheep in 
frosty or snowy weather. 
* Tf snowe do continue, sheepe hardly that fare 
Crave mistle and ivie for them for to spare." 
Tusser's * Husbandry, 
There can be no question, however, that the chief virtue ascribed to 
Mistletoe from the Oak by the Druids was the “ fructifying quality," 
as Taliesin has it, or of “ giving fertility to all animals ” as described 
by Pliny ; and it was for this virtue, when worn as an amulet, or when 
drunk in infusion, that the sprig of Mistletoe was so anxiously sought 
from the hands of the Arch-Druid on the New Year's Day festival. It 
is always necessary to remember this in endeavouring to trace down the 
domestic history of the Mistletoe in succeeding ages. It explains 
fully the personal hold it had gained in the esteem of the people, and 
its continued private use in spite of all opposition. Though books - 
ceased to mention it, tradition would perpetuate its use, even to our 
own day. This peculiar virtue may perhaps serve to explain some 
points with regard to it, which have not been otherwise satisfactorily 
accounted for. ** In one of Colepeper's MSS. at the British Museum, 
in a curious notice of Sir Peter Freschville's house at Stavely, Derby- 
shire, is this passage:—‘Heare my Lord Freschville did live, and 
heare grows the famous Mistletoe-tree, the only Oake in England that 
bears Mistletoe.” ”# And to this tree the following letter, written 
between 1663 and 1682, from the Countess of Danby to Mrs. Cole- 
peper, probably refers :— 
* Dear Cozen,— Pray if you have any of the Mistleto of yo" fathers 
oke, oblidge me so far as to send sum of it to yo* most affectionat ser- 
vant, Bridget Danby” (N. & Q. vi. 119, 1st ser.). Let us hope that 
the Countess’s desires were fulfilled in all respects. 
It has occurred to me whether the “ fructifying virtue” given to 
the Mistletoe by the Druids might not explain, in part, why the Mis- 
tletoe should never have been generally used in decorating our churches. 
Asa symbol of the paganism of the Druids, its significance has passed 
away centuries since; and if this were the objection to its use, the 
“ey also should be rejected. “ The Holly,” says Shirley Hibberd, 
e remains of the Oak still exist, and the Mistletoe was there in 1803, but it 
has ime since disappeared. 
