BY THE WAYSIDE AND HEDGEROWS. 115 



given it from the supposed fondness of geese for the 

 plant. Schoolboys draw the whorls over the tongue 

 until it bleeds. The pillow lace-workers collect the 

 seeds to form heads for the pins used in their work. 

 HairrougTi tea is considered a purifier of the blood. 

 The cleavers belong to the Bedstraw family, and the 

 Ladies' Bedstraw (Galium veruni) is often found in 

 hedgerows, but more frequently on the moorland, 

 where it trails through the furze bushes. Its tender 

 stem, dark green fairy-like whorls, its minute yellow 

 tfowers, redolent of honey, which cluster round the 

 head of the plant, render it a favourite. The old 

 name bedstraw is supposed to be a misnomer, as I 

 have elsewhere shown,* for beadstraw. The fact that 

 Irish peasant girls often repeat their "aves" from 

 them in the absence of a rosary, and the regular 

 whorls suggest the name " Our Lady's Beadstraw." 

 It blooms, too, throughout the early autumn months, 

 during which the Toast of the Assumption takes' 

 place (August 26). It is said to be one of the uowcivj 

 which burst into bloom on the birth of our Saviour. 

 Bead-like excrescences frequently appear on the stem. 



* " Athenrcum," February 21, 1868. 



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