SWEET SEDGE. 
211 
Sir William Davenant, in his poem of “Gondibert,” 
alludes to its curative powers : 
“ Black melancholy rusts, that fed despair 
Through wounds’ long rage, with springled vervain cleared ; 
Strewed leaves of willow to refresh the air, 
And with rich fumes his sullen senses cheered.” 
Vervain is used still amongst the Cornish peasantry 
as a charm against ague. 
In gathering the vervain for “good luck,” the herb 
is first crossed with the hand, and then blessed, thus : 
“ Hallowed be thou, vervain, 
As thou growest in the ground ; 
For in the Mount of Calvary 
There thou first wast found.” 
SWEET SEDGE. 
{Resignation.) 
USH bearing is still kept up in the north-west of 
-LV England. Our ancestors strewed their rooms and 
churches with rushes, and of these, sweetest of all was 
the Sedge. 
It is well chosen for resignation, as when trodden on 
its incense to God is sweetest. 
