HEATHER LORE 



FRIEND says: "Even the Heather itself, al- 

 though from its covering their moors and 

 mosses it has a certain obscure connection with 

 elves and pixies, is without any definite story in 

 tradition." 



Nevertheless, the Muses have been kinder and 

 wiser than their promise ; and the cherished little flower 

 of the Scottish Highlands has not lost its own dowry 

 of this poetic renown, which national sentiment almost 

 universally accords the popular flowers and plants of a 

 country, for we find scattered throughout romantic 

 literature quaint superstitious fancies, and even a num- 

 ber of brief, crudely wrought traditions and legends, 

 inscribed to the Heather. 



In Germany the Heath is believed to owe its origin 

 to the blood of the slain heathen ; for in that country 

 the inhabitants of the uncultivated fields where the 

 Heath (heide) grew came in time to be known as 

 heathen (heiden). 



In Scotland on Halloween the witches are sup- 

 posed to ride over the Heather mounted on black tabby 

 cats. 



And also in the folk-lore of this country, "the 

 Cailleach was a beanshith, or fairy, that often appeared 

 to the hunters in the gloaming of summer evenings, 

 gathering and milking the hinds on a hillside, while 



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