56 WILD FLOWERS. 



finder of the mis-shapen leaf is sure of good for- 

 tune for life ; for then the leaf becomes the segyrffug 

 of the old Welsh bards, that is, the dispeUer of 

 illusion which formed so essential an ingredient 

 in the cauldron of herbs used at the celebration of 

 feast of Ceridwen.* 



This power of the four-leaved trefoil in dispelling 

 illusions, will, of course, account for the story of 

 the girl, who, on returning from milking, saw little 

 fairies dancing gaily on every rising ground, though 

 her companions could discern nothing, and would 

 scarcely believe her, until, on arriving at home, it 

 was discovered that one of its leaves had acci- 

 dentally, and unknown to her, got into her shoe, 

 overcoming, of course, that supposed " illusion, or 

 defect of sight " which prevents our always seeing 

 the fairies who surround us ! 



Davis, in his " British Druids/' says, that wher- 

 ever the goddess Olwen the great mother of the 

 earth trod, four white-flowered trefoils sprang up 

 in her footsteps ; that the emblem very frequently 

 appears on British coins (in connection with the 

 worship of Ceres') ; and that it is not unusually as- 

 sociated with the horse's head. 



In course of time the finding of the four-leaved 

 trefoil was looked upon as an earnest of speedy 

 marriage to the fortunate youth or maiden who was 

 so happy as to secure it. It then became customary 



* Ceridwen, in British mythology is the mother of intel- 

 lect and all genius ; hence the old term " Ceridwen's 

 chickens," as applied to men of genius. There is much mean- 

 ing in this dispeller of illusion as an ingredient of the feast. 



