Charles Platt, page 7
I suppose the Violet would be a close competitor for popular favour in this group of lucky plants—
who does not love the violet! In many parts of Germany, as with the Greeks, this modest but beautiful flower was used to decorate the Bride’s bed!
Most people know that this flower was associated with the great Napoleon, but that callous soldier had no love for flowers. When he left for Elba, in the days of his failure and disgrace, he told his intimates that he would return with the violets, which he did, at the end of the following March! It was his followers, not Napoleon himself, who associated the flower with his name, for it was not prudent to refer to the fallen god except in some such round-about fashion.
I should like to take the Rose next—often called the Queen of flowers, but unfortunately, although always popular (largely because of its scent, of course), it was never considered a lucky flower. This may seem strange when we remember its immense popularity and its exquisite range of colour, but it was not known to Primitive Man as it is to-day. It is essentially a flower of cultivation.
The Water Lily is the only other well-known flower that appears on the list, and that is easily explained by the apparent mystery of its growth on water, without roots or branches!
There are a few wild flowers included, however, and these include the handsome St. John’s Wort, often seen in our gardens, and also many herbs, such as Wormwood, Fennel, Honesty, Aloes, Black Hellebore, Rue, Rosemary, Alyssum, as well as the Yellow Dead Nettle, Herb Bennet, Avens, and Crane’s Bill. There is, of course, a Red Dead Nettle as well as a White one, but the sacred colour apparently does not apply in this case, and the more uncommon Yellow was chosen. It is indeed popularly known as Archangel.
I must point out that the poor Devil is not supplied with any trees, but there were several that were looked upon as lucky, or as possessing powers of a supernatural character.
The Oak was, of course, worshipped by the Druids, but there are several kinds of Oak, even in England, and it was probably the Evergreen Oak that bore the sacred character—no doubt because it was considered Evergreen. Of course the year’s leaves do fall, but they persist through the winter, so the new leaves give the tree the appearance of being evergreen.
There is also the Holly, so popular at Christmas-time from its supposed association with Jesus. But of course it was a sacred tree long before the crucifixion. In addition, there were the Birch and the Rowan, and one is forced to conclude that these were chosen for purely artistic reasons, as they are both beautiful examples of Nature’s handiwork.
The Rowan was so-called from the exquisite colour of its bark—that is Roan; while the delicate trac-ery of the slim and graceful—almost feminine—Silver Birch is always a delight to the eye.
It is often said that the Rowan, the Elder, the Thorn (May) and the Holly were all held sacred because of their bountiful harvest of berries, believed to be the provision made by the gods for the feeding of the birds during the winter. There is an old superstition, very much alive to-day, to the effect that a heavy crop of red berries means a white (and severe) winter.
This, of course, will not stand critical examination, for in the very nature of things, berries, as seeds, must be the result of the weather that is now past, and cannot in any way depend upon the future. It is, however, an interesting fact that Nature has a trick of evening-up the weather. However unevenly the rainfall may be distributed, the total fall for twelve-month after twelve-month varies very little.
In the same way it is most usual for a fine warm summer to be followed by a sharp winter, a mild summer by a mild open winter. The heavy crop of berries is actually due to the warmth of the summer, but the type of summer that produces them is usually followed by the sharp winter noted by the ancients.
Besides being sacred to the Druids and to the Celts, the Oak was a favourite tree for open-air preaching. This was not directly due to the sacred character of the tree, but to the natural spread of the branches—in the Beech, for instance, the lower branches almost always bend towards the ground, and in consequence they are not suitable as shelter for a number of people.
To fell an Oak tree was considered most unlucky—strictly speaking, you ought to wait till some well-disposed storm uproots the tree for you.
I have not included the Yew and the Horse-Chestnut among the lucky trees, but my own feeling is inclined that way—merely because no single tree is included definitely in the Devil’s list. Without doubt the association of the Yew with our churches and graveyards would create a natural prejudice; it would be looked upon as the associate of death.
In older days it was undoubtedly held sacred—that is, in the days long before there were any churches at all. The truth is that the early churches were built near the Yew—it was not the tree that was planted in the churchyard.
These trees have been known to live for over nine hundred years, so the probability is that the church was built near them because they were a symbol of immortality.
Nothing can be said about the Horse-Chestnut, however—it has never been associated with religion; it is no use for food, except for pigs; it is certainly a most graceful tree, but it has no special coloura-tion of the bark, as in the Rowan and Birch. I prefer to treat it as a sacred tree, simply because there is no other tree in the list of the unlucky ones of the Vegetable Kingdom.
In the early days of Botany, our scientists appear to have been greatly impressed by the importance of the Virgin Mary—we have a most curious and fascinating list of plants associated with her. There are the Lady’s Smock, Mantle, Garters, Laces, Nightcap, Thimble, Tresses, Hair, Bedstraw, Comb, Looking-glass, Seal, Cushion, Fingers, Glove, Ear-drop, Candlestick, Slipper, and a few vague ones.
Truly a wonderful assortment!
But none of these were in any way sacred or lucky-they were merely named after the Virgin and her very human articles of attire.
But certain plants and other things were definitely associated with the old heathen deities, the best known of these being the Lady Bird and the Strawberry, now dedicated to the Virgin Mary. As I have already explained, the heathen temples were converted into Christian Churches, and all the old associations were taken over as well. For instance, the old calendar contained a large number of unlucky days, upon which the people did not care to work—these were all converted into Saints’
days. It was ridiculous—our ancestors were told—to refuse to work because these days were unlucky, but it was a sign of faith to idle on them because they were associated with these holy names.
The Elder was supposed to be safe from lightning because the Cross was made from its wood.
There is a beautiful metaphor in use among the Brahmins to the effect that “The Sandal tree per-fumes the axe that lays it low.” On the other hand, the popular phrase “not worth a curse,” really means “not worth a cress”—it refers to the Nasturtiums of our gardens, which scatter their seeds all over the place and manage to make a very obvious nuisance of themselves.
There are not many superstitions about fruit—the Pear is generally considered lucky, and the Apple unlucky. This has no reference to the legend of the Garden of Eden, for we must remember that the wild apple is closely akin to the crab type and is eminently unfit for human consumption.
There is an old saying that, in order to keep a husband, you must “feed the brute.” There is a lot of sound truth and philosophy in this, for indigestion is the curse of most of our physical and mental efforts. Now the wild pear is edible, so it is easy to understand why the apple was considered unlucky, or in other words, a bringer of misfortune. Primitive Man must have eaten the one for the other, long before he realised that they were distinct fruits.
It is a curious fact that the pear tree itself is not safe for climbing, as the wood snaps so easily.
Whereas the apple tree is quite safe. Always warn children against climbing a pear tree!
In Austria, it was the custom to cut an Apple on St. Thomas’s night. If the seeds were even, it fore-told marriage. If one of the seeds was cut through, it meant trouble; if two, then death or widowhood.
Superstition does not tell us what would happen if three or four seeds were cut—it always falls short at these interesting points!
In many countries, it is customary to place an apple in the hands of a dead child—I presume this is intended to symbolise Innocence.
There is one version of the Garden of Eden story which states that there was no serpent there at all—it was Eve’s bare legs, as she climbed up the Apple tree, that led to Adam’s fall.
Naturally there are many curious superstitions of a medical character connected with plants, and it would be impossible, as well as useless, to go into these—all are based upon error and ignorance.
Early medicine was based upon what was known as Signature, or resemblance—thus a heart-shaped leaf was considered a specific for anything wrong with the heart, yellow for jaundice, and so on.
To cure lumbago, you had to use a paste made of pounded shamrocks, mixed with butter and salt!
This was rubbed all over the afflicted back, but the paste must not be rubbed off till the cure was perfected. Probably the butter and salt were useful! A porridge, advised by Dianecht, chief physician of the Tuatha-de-Danans, has been handed down through the centuries. It is a certain cure for such ailments as cold, phlegm, sore throats and the like. It consists of hazel-buds, dandelion, chickweed, and wood-sorrel, all boiled together with oatmeal.
In old Aryan days, the fern was supposed to possess wonderful powers of healing—but as I have already pointed out, there was very little vegetation apart from ferns, so it merely amounts to plenty of green food.
Another old superstition that is strongly held to-day is that when a Bay tree withers in your garden, it means a death. Strangely enough, this happened in the case of my own father—the Bay tree in my garden withered suddenly, and without visible or obvious cause. My father was perfectly well at the time and was not living with me; yet he died under my roof a few weeks later.
It has always been held that the blooming of flowers or the ripening of fruit out of season foretells death or disaster of some sort.
There are many flowers associated with weddings, but I will deal with these in the chapter devoted to marriage and its superstitions. There is also some superstitious lore affecting the weather, for much of which there is, no doubt, a sound foundation, for Primitive Man was far more subject to the changes of weather than we are to-day—at first naked, then in dark and cheerless caves, it is only within quite recent years that the bulk of Mankind has been rendered weatherproof.
The best known bit of weather-lore is, no doubt, connected with the Oak and the Ash. The actual wording differs in various countries, of course, but the underlying idea is always the same.
“If the Ash is before the Oak,
Then there’ll be a very great soak.
But if the Oak before the Ash,
Then expect a very small splash.”
Superstition also tells us that the Mulberry tree is a certain foreteller of the weather. “When the Mulberry trees shoot, there will be no more frost.” I have found this very reliable myself, but unfortunately this handsome tree is found in very few gardens, whereas it is fairly common in the East. I test my tree each spring in Kew Gardens, which is easily accessible for all Londoners.
I should also like to correct the common blunder connected with the old doggerel rhyme—
“Ne’er cast a clout
Till May is out.”
This has nothing to do with the calendar month of May, which is purely the invention of Man himself.
It refers to the Hawthorn—the wild May of our Hedgerows, which, like the Mulberry tree, is a splendid judge of weather!
CHAPTER VI
COLOURS
MANKIND has always been attracted by colour, and without question it makes a strong appeal to many animals and insects also. Experiments have been made with bees which prove that they possess a sense of colour.
On the other hand we must not overlook the fact that many people are born, even in the present century, without any colour sense at all—to them, the world appears a uniform grey tint. At any rate, that is how they themselves describe it, but having no sense of colour, their so-called “grey” may be anything. In all probability it is a dull lifeless slatey shade of green.
But the fact that our sense of colour need not be inherited proves that for a very long period Man must have lacked this wonderful addition to Life’s pleasures. At that early period, animal life was, no doubt, similar to the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and alligator in colour, while vegetation consisted of huge ferns and grasses. Probably there was no blue sky even, for the temperature was higher and the atmosphere would be misty above the salty brackish marshes.
We may assume that the sky cleared first of all—for Man has always held that Blue was the most fortunate of all colours, though White has invariably been the sacred one—if I may call it a colour for the sake of simplicity.
During the period of night, if that be one of rest, Nature does a lot of repairing. Hence no doubt the curative value of black in all old superstitions. If the tail of a black cat be rubbed over the eye, it will cure a sty. Again, if some wool from a black sheep be placed in the ear it will cure earache; and so on in many other ways with black horses, black dogs, crows and other birds.
A black horse was supposed to be able to see fairies and other mystical folk invisible to mortal eyes—the crow, however, has always been associated with black magic and sorcery, perhaps for a similar reason, that it could see its master’s “Familiars.” The gipsies still believe that a black horse has second sight.
It is interesting to note that the Hindu Bazaar shopkeepers will not sell anything white or black after dark—apparently the idea is that evil spirits would have some hold on the purchasers, and the shopkeeper did not wish to be mixed up in anything uncanny. There is in everyone of us a strongly noted dislike to be associated with anything tragic or unpleasant—hence the dislike for haunted houses, or for sleeping in a room where a recent death has taken place. Many people will not travel on a train that carries a corpse, and the railway companies insist that the coffin must be delivered to them well in advance of starting time.
There is also a strong dislike felt in connection with removing a body from water—a reward is generally paid for the body of anyone found drowned, but most people instinctively hurry off to seek further assistance, on the principle that there is safety in numbers.
White, however, was held sacred, and it may have been felt almost a desecration to trade in anything of the sacred colour, at that period of the day when evil was dominant—for evil has always been given the dangerous hours of Darkness, owing to the deeply rooted fear of the night, that has been handed on for hundreds of thousands of years, to our youngsters of today!
It is a curious fact, and may interest our women, that White has always been used for night-dresses, because our sleeping bodies are thein at the mercy of the spirits—mostly evil ones, of course!
Fancy coloured pyjamas are popular, nowadays, but the age-old superstition has an immense hold upon us still.
Without doubt, the popularity of White for the Bride is due to the same cause—she should wear no other colour for the first twenty-four momentous hours; after that, apparently, it does not particularly matter what colour she wears, for superstition has nothing to tell us.
It was strongly held for thousands of years that every coloured article worn or carried by the Bride meant one year of trouble—not necessarily at the start of her married life, of course, but somewhere vaguely in the future.
White flowers are still the most popular, but some of the more dainty of our modern cultivated tints are now used.
It was also held that only white or grey horses should be used for the journey to and from the church.
Apparently Grey has always been coupled with White—it is essentially a man-made colour, produced by blending various quantities of white and black. Nowadays a dark blue is often used in place of black—thus giving us many new and delicate mixtures of “blue-gray.” An attempt has been made to differentiate between “grey” and “gray” —many artists claiming that the old spelling should only be used for mixtures of white and black; the other form being reserved for those tones where some other colour has been introduced. No doubt this is correct, but it is beyond most of us.
White animals have always been held sacred—such as horses, of course, but also such unlikely creatures as Owls and Butterflies.
In China, White is used for mourning, but it is not possible to say whether this is due to the fact that it is the sacred colour, or because it was supposed to make us invisible to evil spirits. It is probably the latter, as the Chinese are great believers in spirits, and heaps of them!
In this connection, it is interesting to recall the old belief that a broad white ribbon, worn round the body, would prove a cure for rheumatism! The evil spirits who were busy tormenting your poor bones, would no longer see you, and so you would escape. Possibly it might assist in an attack of lumbago, as it would be, more or less, on the spot, and so would protect from cold.
White has always denoted purity, and it is an interesting fact that no game cock has white feathers—
if seen, they indicate a cross breed in birds. This explains the giving of a White Feather as an indication of cowardice —it is a modern taunt and suggests that your parents (or grandparents) were not all they should be—that you are a cross breed, and not of clean birth. Naturally it has nothing to do with White, as the sacred colour.
Black, on the other hand, was generally used for the inferior servants, and was used as mourning among the Romans—from whom we take the custom. It was a sign of pseudo-modesty, and an acknowledgment that, in the presence of Death, we were inferior creatures. It is not, strictly speaking, worn as a mark of respect for the dead, though many people believe so.
