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BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
called Fur/a Dcemonum. On the evening of the 23rd of June, a fire was lighted, called St. John’s fire, and the 
young men and maidens, with wreaths of St. John’s-Wort and Vervain round their brows, and large nosegays 
of the same plants in their hands, danced round the fire, and threw the flowers into it, praying that the ensuing 
year might be fortunate to them. The fire was kept alight all night, and the next morning the doors were hung 
with garlands of St. Jobn’s-Wort, lilies, birch, and fennel, to keep out the evil spirits. It is said that the 
custom of having a bonfire at this season arose from the words of Holy Writ, in which St. John is called a 
burning and shining light; and it was kindled at this period because Midsummer Day is the festival of St. John. 
Hence, also, this plant is called St. John’s-Wort, as it was used at St. John’s festival. In Loraine hay-making 
always begins on St. John’s Day, and the hay-makers wear a little sprig of this plant in blossom, to ensure a 
favourable season for drying their hay. The plant flowers profusely; and indeed Cowper describes it as— 
“ Hypericum all bloom, so thick a swarm 
Of flowers, like flies, clothing its slender rods, 
That scarce a leaf appears.” 
The following lines by an old English poet enumerate some of the superstitions believed, in the middle ages, 
respecting the Eve of St. John : — 
“ Then doth the joyful feast of John the Baptist take its turn, 
When bonfires great, with lofty flowers, in every town do burn, 
When young men round about, with maids, do dance in every street. 
With garlands wrought of St. John’s-Wort, or else with Vervain sweet, 
And many other flowers fair, with violets in their hands, 
Whereas they all do fondly think, that whosoever stands 
And through the flowers beholds the flame, his eyes shall feel no pain. 
When thus till night they danced have, they through the fire amain 
With striving minds do run, and all their herbs they cast therein, 
And then with words devout and prayers they solemnly begin, 
Desiring God that all their ills may there consumed be, 
Whereby they think, for all that year, from agues to he free.” 
In Lower Saxony almost every young girl plucks a sprig of St. John’s-Wort on Midsummer Eve, and sticks 
it into the wall of her chamber ; when, if the wall be damp, the sprig will retain its freshness and verdure for 
some time, and when this is the case, the belief is that the maiden will be a bride before the end of the year. 
If, on the contrary, the sprig immediately fades and withers away, the maiden is doomed to pine and wither 
away also. The following lines, which appeared in Blackwood’s Magazine in 1821, and are said to be a trans¬ 
lation from the German, allude to this superstition : — 
‘ Bloom here, bloom here, thou plant of power, 
To deck the young bride in her bridal hour ! ’ 
But it drooped its head, that plant of power, 
And died the mute death of the voiceless flower ; 
And a withered wreath on the ground it lay, 
More meet for a burial than bridal day. 
And when a year was passed away, 
All pale on her bier the young maid lay! 
And the Glow-worm came 
AVith its silvery flame, 
And sparkled and shone 
Through the night of St. John. 
And they closed the cold grave o’er the maid's cold clay, 
On the day that was meant for her bridal-day.” 
Ifc must be observed that the glow-worm is called in Germany St. John’s-worm. 
This species of Hypericum was also called the “ Balm of the Warrior’s wound,” and the “ Herb of 
War,” partly because the juice of the plant was supposed to be of great efficacy not only in curing wounds, but 
“ The young maid stole through the cottage door, 
And blushed as she sought the plant of power: 
‘ Thou silver Glow-worm, O lend me thy light ! 
I must gather the mystic St. John’s-AVort to-night, 
The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide 
If the coming year shall make me a bride.’ 
And the Glow-worm came 
AVith its silvery flame, 
And sparkled and shone 
Through the night of St. John, 
AVhile it shone on the plant as it bloomed in its pride, 
And soon has the young maid her love-knot tied. 
AVith noiseless tread 
To her chamber she sped, 
AVhere the spectral moon her white beams shed :— 
