Pterts. 
35 
coveted treasure, quite empty on his return home. The gift of invisibility was sometimes con- 
ferred upon those who came into possession of fern-seed without any desire of their own. Thus 
Grimm tells as current in Westphalia a tale of a man who went out on Midsummer night to 
search for a foal which he had lost, and who, on his way, passed through a meadow just as 
the fern-seed was ripening, some of which fell into his shoes. When he went home and sat 
down, neither his wife nor any of his family noticed him, which he thought strange, and pro- 
ceeded to say “ I have not found the foal.” On this, all those in the room started, for they 
heard the voice, but saw no one. His wife, thinking he had hidden himself, called to him, 
whereupon he placed himself in the middle of the room, saying “ Here I am, right before 
you ; what do you want ? ” This frightened them still more, for they had heard him stand 
up and walk, and yet saw nothing. At last, becoming aware that he was invisible, the 
thought struck him that he might have fern-seed in his shoes, and on taking them off he at 
once became visible to those around him. 
Various traditions connected with ferns and fern-seed are to be found in different parts 
of Europe. Thus in Poland it is said that a thunder-storm will follow if ferns be gathered ; 
in Thuringia it is said that whoever treads on it unawares will lose his senses, and be unable 
to tell where he is, and also that anyone carrying fern about with him will be pursued by 
serpents until he throws it away. In the north of Hungary it is supposed that whoever comes 
too near the flowers of fern will be overcome with sleep, and that spirits repulse all who 
dare to lay hands upon the plant. So much for the unfavourable aspect of ferns, to which 
we may add the opinion of the natives of our own “ Black Country,” who think it unlucky 
to gather or even to touch ferns, and call them the devil’s brushes. A quaint letter to 
the High Sheriff of Staffordshire, from a British Museum MS. which was published in an 
early volume of “Notes and Queries,” is worth reprinting here, as illustrating a curious 
seventeenth century belief, from which Charles I. was not free. It runs as follows : — 
Sir, — His Majesty taking notice of an opinion entertained in Staffordshire, that the burning of Feme 
doth draw downe rain, and being desirous that the country and himself may enjoy fair weather as long as he 
remains in those parts, His Majesty hath commanded me to write unto you, to cause all burning of Feme to bee 
forborne, until his Majesty be passed the country. Wherein not doubting but the consideration of their own 
interest, as well as that of his Ma ties , will invite the country to a ready observance of this his Ma ties com- 
mand, I rest, 
“Your very loving friend, 
“Pembroke and Montgomery. 
“Belvoir, ist. August, 1636.” 
It seems that in some parts of Scotland there is a generally received opinion that 
burning the heather will bring rain. 
On the other hand there are some local beliefs in which the fern figures as a lucky 
plant. Mr. M. D. Conway says that in Bohemia the traveller will take fern-seed 
along with him for good luck ; and here, as in the Tyrol, the seed is said to shine like 
fiery gold upon Midsummer night. In early times fern-seed was called “ wish-seed,” and he 
who held it would find hidden treasures which, where the seeds were scattered, would reveal 
themselves in veins of bluish flame in the earth. In Bohemia a cloth used in administering 
the Holy Communion should be laid under the fern, on which the seed will fall before sun- 
rise. Other superstitions connected with the Male Fern and the Flowering Fern will be found 
in their place. 
One or two proverbial sayings are associated with the Bracken in different parts of 
England, of which the following is perhaps the best known : — • 
