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THE BOOK OF HERBS 



I think, the only herb quoted by Gerarde as a power 

 against witchcraft. He does not condescend generally to 

 consider superstitions other than medical. Of the herbs 

 dedicated to the Evil One are Yarrow, sometimes known 

 as the Devil's Nettle ; Ground-Ivy, called his Candle- 

 stick, and Houseleek, which he has rather unjustly 

 appropriated. Mr Friend explains that in Denmark, 

 " Old Thor " is a polite euphemism, and that the 

 Houseleek really belonged to Thor, but has been 

 passed on through confusion between the two. Yarrow 

 or Milfoil has been used for divination in spells from 

 England to China. 



" There's a crying at my window, and a hand upon my door, 

 And a stir among the Yarrow that's fading on the floor, 

 The voice cries at my window, the hand on my door beats on, 

 But if I heed and answer them, sure hand and voice are gone." 



Mat Eve. 



Johnston^ says: " Tansy and Milfoil were reckoned 

 amongst plants averse to fascination ; but we must re- 

 trograde two centuries to be present at the trial of 

 Elspeth Reoch, who was supernaturally instructed to 

 cure distempers by resting on her right knee while 

 pulling ' the herb callit malefour ' betwixt her mid-finger 

 and thumbe, and saying of, ' In nomen Patris, Filii, et 

 Spiritus Sancti.' " 



Johnston gathers his information from Dalzell on the 

 " Darker Superstitions of Scotland." 



Wormwood is in some parts of Europe called the 

 " Girdle of St John," it has se much power against evil 

 spirits. Cumin is much disliked by a race of Elves in 

 Germany, called the Moss-People. Dyer ^ tells us that 

 the life of each one is bound up with the life of a tree, 

 and if the inner bark of this is loosened, the elf dies. 

 Therefore their precept is : — 



1 "Botany of the Eastern Borders" (1853). 

 •■i "Folk-Lore of Plants." 



