176 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



we have the receipt of fern-seed, we walk invis- 

 ible." 



An old account tells us : 



The fern flowers on Midsummer night at twelve o'clock, 

 and drives away all unclean spirits. First of all it puts 

 forth buds, which afterwards expand, then open, and 

 finally change into flowers of a dark red hue. At midnight 

 the flower opens to its fullest extent and illuminates every- 

 thing around. But at that precise moment a demon plucks 

 it from its stalk. Whoever wishes to procure this flower 

 must be in the forest before midnight, locate himself near 

 the fern and trace a circle around it. When the Devii 

 approaches and calls, feigning the voice of a parent, sweet- 

 heart, etc., no attention must be paid, nor must the head be 

 turned ; for if it is, it will remain so. Whoever becomes the 

 happy possessor of the flower has nothing to fear; by its 

 means he can recover lost treasure, become invisible, rule on 

 earth and under water and defy the Devil. 



Because the fern was so powerful against evil 

 and because it was sacred to St. John the Baptist, 

 witches detested it. 



Pliny stated that the fern had neither flower nor 

 seed; and some of the old English writers believed 

 this. William Turner, however, went to work to 

 investigate matters. In his famous "Herbal," pub- 

 lished in 1562,* he says: 



"Not only the common people say that the fern 



'See p. 34. 



