376 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



not see the flowers of chickweed, sow-thistle, and 

 shepherd's-purse, the little pink-purple blossoms of 

 the dead-nettle, and the dandelion's disks of gold. 

 But the superstitious soul had better leave them to 

 the mercies of Jack Frost, for it is highly unlucky, 

 according to an old saying, to pluck flowers out of 

 season. 



Even the sight of these untimely blossoms is 

 distressing to some superstitious souls. In the 

 eastern townships of Canada, where Old World 

 sentiments and sayings linger, many persons own 

 to a decidedly uncomfortable feeling if an apple- 

 tree blossoms in the fall. A like superstition pre- 

 vails in New England, and probably the idea in 

 both cases is traceable to Old England, where it 

 has been embodied in the Northamptonshire jingle: 



"A bloom upon the apple-tree when apples are ripe, 

 Is a sure termination to somebody's life." 



But people have not always thus looked askance 

 at belated blossoms. The "holy-thorns" of 

 England won a great reputation for beneficent 

 potency by putting on their adornment when all 

 the woods were bare. Once upon a time the com- 

 mon folk firmly believed in the magical and medical 

 virtues of these trees, and legends were told to 

 account for their winter blossoming. The wealthy 



