MOONWOETS. 



39 



purpose of a saddle for the steed. The Ettrick Shepherd 

 embodies this superstition thus : 



"The first leet night, quhan the new moon set, 

 Quhan all was (iouffe and mirk, 

 We saddled our, naigis wi' the moon-fern leif. 

 And rode fra Kiimenin Kirk. 



" Some horses were of the brume-cow framit. 

 And some of the greine hay tree; 

 But mine was made of ane humlocke schaw. 

 And a stout stallion was he." 



It must have been but a small saddle that the leaf of 

 this fern could furnish ; but, as there is no accounting 

 for taste, so there is no accounting for witches, or their 

 freaks and fancies. 



It has always surprised us to read " Of all ferns this 

 is one of the most easy to cultivate," since by almost 

 common consent, except the author above quoted, it is 

 regarded as anything but easy of cultivation. We have 

 carefully collected twenty or thirty plants in the moun- 

 tain pastures of Wales, with plenty of soil about them, 

 and planted them in fern-cases, in the garden, and under 

 various conditions, and hailed their appearance a second 

 year, but never a third. Yet we believe that it may be 

 possible for others to succeed better than ourselves, not- 

 withstanding that we have found the experience of friends 

 to be an exact counterpart of our own. It has been re- 

 commended by some to dig the plants with plenty of turf 

 about them, not disturbing the roots, and planting in an 

 exposed situation, where water cannot become stagnant 

 around them ; others recommend planting " in a sandy 

 and fibry loam, or sandy, but not spongy, peat;" and 

 others, transplanting when just starting growth (not a 

 very easy time, by-the-bye, to find them amongst the grass 

 of pastures), into peaty or loamy soil in pots, and keeping 

 them in a cold frame. 



An incidental testimony is afforded that this is not one 

 of the most easy ferns to cultivate, in the fact that we 

 hear of no cultivated varieties. Two or three varieties 

 have been mentioned as having been found wild, differing 

 chiefly in the form of the lobes of the barren frond. One 

 of these, found by Bolton near Halifax, had the lobes fan- 



