1862.] SHAMROCK. 213 



Again, a liiiit may be oftered to both of the gentlemen who 

 have been so kind as to give ns their opinions on the subject ; 

 it may be remarked that the Irish name of Oralis is Seamsoff, 

 and of Trifolium, Seamroy, and the latter is also synonymous 

 with Seamuir bhan, or White Clover. Etymology is therefore 

 clearly in fiivour of White Clover's being Shamrock. 



Again, though historical tradition is silent on the subjects 

 legendary lore agrees with the commonly, received notion, that 

 Trifol'mm repens is the national vegetable emblem of Hibernia. 

 Before St. Patrick's arrival, there were no monasteries in Ire- 

 land j these establishments did not precede, but were long sub- 

 sequent to, the introduction of Christianity. There could there- 

 fore have been no monastic gardens, whence the Saint could have 

 plucked a leaf of Oxalis cof'uicidata to illustrate his doctrine. 



Furthermore, the botanists of Ireland have with one consent 

 agreed about the identity of White Clover with Shamrock, as 

 may be shown by the following quotations. 



First, Threlkeld, in his ' Synopsis Stirpium Hibernicarum,' 

 a brief treatise on the native Irish plants, under the name of 

 Trifolium pratense albmn, has the following note : — 



'' White-flowered ^feadow Trefoyl. The Meadow Trefoyls are 

 called in Irish Shamrock, as Gerard writes in his ' Herbal,' which 

 was first published in 1597, the editions after being 1633 and 

 1636. The word Seamar Leaune and Seamar age being in signi- 

 fication the same, the first signifying the Child's Trefoyl, the 

 other the Yowig Trefoyl, to distinguish them from the Seamar 

 Capuil, or Horse Trefoyl, as I suppose. 



" This plant is worn by the people in their hats upon the 17th 

 day of March, yearly (which is called St. Patrick's Day), it 

 being a current tradition that by this three-leaved Grass he em- 

 blematically set forth to them the mystery of the Holy Trinity. 

 However that may be, when they wet their Seamar-oge, they 

 often commit excess in liquor, which is not a right keeping of 

 the day to the Lord, error generally leading to debauchery." — 

 Dublin edition, 1727, 8vo. 



Dr. Mackay, the modern great authority on Irish Botany, in 

 his ' Flora Hibernica,' published 1836, gives the following state- 

 ment under Trifolium repens, White clover : — " This is the 

 Dutch Clover of agriculture, and is deservedly in great repute for 

 pastures. It is the plant which I have observed for the last 



