THE BETONY. 275 



these supernatural qualities under certain condi- 

 tions, on which account it was to be gathered at a 

 stated period : 



" Who so betonye on him bere, 

 Fro wykked sperytis it will hy were [guard] 

 In ye monyth of August, on all wyse [always] 

 It mwste be gaderyd or [e'er] sone ryse."* 



Almost more remarkable are the feats which may 

 be achieved with serpents through the medium of 

 the plant ; in which, however, it is to be observed 

 that a manoeuvre very like the schoolboy feat, of 

 " catching a bird by putting salt on its tail/' is to 

 be performed : 



" Who so wyll don a serpent tene, 

 Make a garlonde of betonye grene, 

 And mak a cirkle hy, rounde abowte, 

 And he schalle neuer on lywe [alive] gon owte, 

 But wt. his tayle he schalle hy schende, 

 An wt. hys mowth hy self to rende."t 



It may be regarded as a curious proof of that ex- 

 traordinary immutability of manners and customs 

 which prevails in Spain, that this herb is, at the pre- 

 sent day, more used by the peasants of that country 

 the region of the labidtce than anywhere else ; 

 having been, in ancient times, regarded as an espe- 

 cially Spanish, or rather Iberian, remedy. Pliny 

 asserts that it received its name from the Vetones, 

 a tribe dwelling at the southern foot of the Pyre- 

 nees, a district in which it is still highly valued ; 

 Vetones being analogous to Betony, for we know how 



* "Stockholm Med. M.S." t Ibid. 



