172 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



labor under a delusion ; yet we think the fol- 

 lowing remarks, the general substance of which 

 has already appeared in the Journal of the 

 Royal Institution, are worth being noticed. 

 It is almost certain that the original plant, to 

 which the " Shamrock" was first applied, was 

 the Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella). This 

 would, indeed, seem probable, if from historic 

 evidence we could show, first that the Sham- 

 rock, so called, was a plant having a sour 

 taste, and eaten as food — neither of which 

 qualities are possessed by the modern Sham- 

 rock (Trifolium repens) ; and, secondly, that 

 the Wood Sorrel existed abundantly in Ire- 

 land, in ancient times, while the Trifolium 

 family were comparatively unknown there, till 

 a very late period. Let us now examine some 

 few quotations bearing on this subject. The fol- 

 lowing is from Spenser's " View of the State 

 of Ireland in Elizabeth's reign :" — " Out of 

 every corner of the woods they came creeping 

 forth upon their hands, for their legs could 

 not bear them. They spoke like ghosts crying 

 out of their graves ; they did eat carrions, 

 happy if they could find them ; and if they 

 found a plot of water cresses,or shamrocks, there 

 they flocked as to a feast for the time." 

 That the Shamrock was eaten, also appears 

 from other authors, as in the following couplet 

 from Wythe's " Abuses Stript and Whipt ;"— 



" And for my clothing in a mantle goe, 

 And feed on shamroots as the Irish doe." 



So also, in the " Irish Hudibras," 1689, the 

 following lines : — 



" S/iam?'ogs and watergrass he shows, 

 "Which was both meat, and drink, and close." 



The next quotation, from Fynes Morrison, 

 will show that the Shamrock was not only 

 eaten, but had also a sour taste : — " They 

 willingly eate the herbe shamrocke, being of 

 a sharp taste ; which as they run, chased to 

 and fro, they snatch like beastes out of the 

 ditches. This goes to prove that the Sham- 

 rock grew in a wild state, in the ditches, 

 whilst we know that the Trifolium repens, or 

 white Clover, is by no means of common oc- 

 currence in wild and uncultivated spots ; but, 

 on the contrary, it is known to have a great 

 propensity to diffuse itself in improved coun- 

 tries, being one of those plants which the 

 Americans describe as u coming in with cul- 

 tivation." Again, if the Shamrock be proved 

 by further evidence to have been a wood 

 plant (where the Clover is never found), it 

 would materially strengthen the position we 

 have assumed. The following, from the " Irish 

 Hudibras", where the plant is twice men- 

 tioned as being found in a wood, is directly 

 in point : — 



" Within a wood near to this place, 



There grows a bunch of three-leaved Grass, 



Called by the boglanders ' shamrogues,' 



A present for the Queen of Shoges [spirits]. " 



None of the Trefoils are naturally abun- 

 dant in Ireland, but have become so by 

 cultivation ; especially locating themselves in 

 dry pastures. None of them are of very 

 ancient standing in the country, having been 

 introduced into Ireland so late as the middle 

 of the seventeenth century, of which a par- 

 ticular accoimt is given in " Master Hartlib's 

 Legacy of Husbandry." The W r ood Sorrel 

 possesses all the qualities which would render 

 it appropriate for the national feast, and is 

 even more beautifully three-leaved than the 

 Clover. It was naturally abundant, came 

 out at the proper season (being much earlier 

 than the Clover), shooting forth its delicate 

 leaves and blossoms with the earliest spring. 

 On the whole, it may be justly concluded 

 that the weight of evidence goes to show 

 that the plant first selected as the emblem of 

 Ireland, was the W'ood Sorrel. 



It may be further observed, that the word 

 " Shamrock" seems a general* appellation for 

 the Trefoils, or three-leaved plants ; and this 

 being so, the question now arises, what par 

 ticular member of the great Trifolium family 

 (since we know it is not the Wood Sorrel) is 

 that now selected as the emblem of Ireland 

 and hence termed, par excellence, " The Sham- 

 rock ?" The Irish names for the Trifolium 

 repens, or White Clover, are Seamar-oge, 

 Shamrog, and Shamrock. u This plant," says 

 Threlkeld, who printed the earliest Flora we 

 have of the country, " is worn by the people 

 in their hats, upon the 17th day of March, 

 yearly, called St. Patrick's Day ; it being a 

 current tradition, that by this three-leaved 

 Grass, he emblematically set forth to them 

 the mystery of the Holy Trinity. However 

 that be, when they wet their Seamar-oge, they 

 often commit excess in liquor, which is not a 

 right keeping of a day to the Lord, error 

 generally leading to debauchery." It may, 

 in fine, be asked, how came the national em- 

 blem to pass from the Oxalis acetosella to the 

 Trifolium repens t To account for this sub- 

 stitution is not difficult ; cultivation, which 

 brought in the Trefoil, drove out the Wood 

 Sorrel, which was formerly abundant whilst 

 our extensive woods existed, but afterwards 

 disappeared with them, until the commonest 

 plant became the scarcest, and it was more 

 easy to obtain the Trefoil introduced into the 

 country by artificial cultivation. 



* Gerard says the meadow Trefoils in Ireland 

 are called Shamrocks, and other authors so apply 

 the name. 



ttetrp GOOD COMPANY. 



To be in company with men of genius without 

 deriving instruction from them, is almost as im- 

 possible as to pass through an orange grove with- 

 out imbibing its perfume. 



