214 REVIEWS. \.'July> 



thirty years to be worn as the Shamrock on Patrick's day." — 

 Mackay, Fl. Hib. p. 77, 1836. 



The next authority is that of the greatest of lyric poets, both 

 of the ancient and modern masters of song. Thomas Moore 

 (see ' Irish Melodies/ illustrated by Maclise, note 42, p. 88) has 

 the following observation on the triple-leaved grass, Trifolium 

 repens. '' St. Patrick is said to have made use of that species of 

 the Trefoil to which in Ireland we give the name of Shamrock, 

 in explaining the doctrine of the Trinity to the Pagan Irish. I 

 do not know if there be any other reason for our adoption of 

 this plant as a national emblem. Hope, among the Ancients, 

 was sometimes represented as a beautiful child, standing upon 

 tiptoes, and a Trefoil, or three-coloured Grass, in her hand.'' 



Finally, it is notorious that this is the leaf universally worn by 

 Irishmen on the 17th of March ; also it is well known that the 

 origin of this national emblem is still to be discovered. Like 

 the Scots' Thistle, — What is the identical plant ? is a question 

 that can be more easily asked than answered. 



The exhibition of the Shamrock, whatever be the genuine 

 plant, on St. Patrick's Day, is probably only a modern usage. 

 I have looked into the early histories of Spenser and Moryson, 

 and discovered no record of this observance. I wish some learned 

 reader of the ' Phytologist ' would tell us if he has been more 

 successful than the writer of these remarks has hitherto been. 

 Is there anything about this plant recorded in the numerous 

 early biographies of Ireland's celebrated apostle ? I have not 

 met with a trace of the tradition. Any definite information on 

 this question would much oblige the few literary antiquarians 

 who find amusement if not instruction in such obscure memo- 

 rials of bygone times. 



HiBERNICUS. 



British Museum^ Ajprillst, 1862. 



The Manuscript Magazine of the Glasgow Naturalists' Society, 

 Vol. II. January, 1862. 



The readers of the ' Phytologist,' some of them at least, may 

 remember that the formation of associations for the study of 



