\ 



THE IVY. 



" She feign'd the rites of Bacchus ; cry'd aloud, 

 And to the buxom god the virgin vow'd. 

 ' Euoi ! Bacchus ! ' thus began the song ; 

 And ' Euoi ' answered all the female throng. 

 ' O virgin worthy thee alone ! ' she cried ; 

 ' worthy thee alone ! ' the crew replied. 

 * For thee she feeds her hair, she leads thy dance, 

 ' And with thy winding ivy wreaths her lance.' " * 



It is in connection with the worship of Bacchus that the only mention of the 

 ivy occurs in the sacred books of the Hebrews. " Mention of this plant is made 

 only in 2 Maccabees vi. 7, where it is said that the Jews were compelled, when the 

 feast of Bacchus was kept, to go in procession, carrying ivy to this deity, to whom 

 it is well known this plant was sacred. Ivy, however, though not mentioned by 

 name, has a peculiar interest to the Christian, as forming the 'corruptible crown' 

 (1 Cor. ix. 25), for which the competitors at the great Isthmian games contended, 

 and which St. Paul so beautifully contrasts with the ' incorruptible crown ' which 

 shall hereafter encircle the brows of those who run worthily the race of this mortal 

 life." 2 This is the passage : "And in the day of the king's birth, every month 

 they were brought by bitter constraint to eat of the sacrifices ; and when the feast 

 of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, 

 carrying ivy." 



Whether Pliny is right or wrong as to the first use of garlands, it is certain 

 that they were largely employed by the Greeks and Romans ; but by the Greeks 

 more especially in religious ceremonies and political and social celebrations. It 

 concerns us only to inquire into those garlands in which our plant had a place, and 

 undoubtedly the connection is close enough between garlands and ivies and cups 

 and their customs. " The cups used by the ancient Greeks were very plain, and 

 agreeable to the rest of their furniture, being usually composed of wood or earth. 

 Afterwards, when they began to imitate the pride and vanity of the Asiatics, their 

 cups were made of silver, gold, and other costly materials." " The cups 



were compassed about with garlands, and filled up to the brim." 3 The ivy, we may 

 be sure, had a conspicuous place in the garlands. They must have been drinking 

 cups of the old Greek model that Virgil had in mind when writing his third 



^ 



1 Dryden's " JEneis," VII. 542549. 



2 Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible," III. 



3 Potter's " Grecian Antiquities." 



Appendix A. to vol. i. p. Ixi. 



