44 
THE FERN WORLD 
the Ferns on Midsummer Eve, and that if they were then 
gathered under certain conditions, they would produce on 
the gatherer some very potent effects, the chief of which would 
be the ability to walk invisible. To get the gift of invisi- 
bility, however, it was necessary to proceed to ‘ catch ’ the 
Fern seed in the following way. Twelve pewter plates were 
to be taken at midnight of St. John’s Eve, and placed under 
the ‘black spotted ’ frond. The seed then in falling would 
pass through eleven of the plates, and rest on the twelfth. 
Fairies, however, were sometimes in attendance to snatch the 
seed away as it fell. But if the gatherer succeeded in his 
attempt, he would thereafter possess the much-coveted quality 
of invisibilitv. 
J 
Some curious adventures, however, happened to some of 
the would-be Fern seed gatherers. One person declared that 
whilst occupied in gathering it he felt unseen spirits whisking 
by him, and occasionally striking his hat and parts of his 
body. After a while, however, having borne this ordeal with 
patience, he went away, carrying with him as he thought an 
abundant supply of seed. But lo ! when he reached home 
he found the papers and box in which he had carefully 
secured it perfectly empty. It is recorded, too, that ‘ a 
respectable countryman ’ at Heston in Middlesex, stated that 
in June, 1793, when he was a young man, he was often 
present at the ceremony of catching the Fern seed at midnight 
on the Eve of St. John the Baptist. He records, however, 
that the attempt was often unsuccessful, for the seed was to 
fall into the place of its own accord, and that, too, ‘ without 
shaking the plant.’ Even in the present day this superstition 
is not exploded, for dt is alleged that in some parts of the 
country — notably in Worcestershire — the country people still 
keep up their belief in the mystic power of Fern seed to 
convey the gift of invisibility. 
