it might be the spirit of a man) and making a bow to me he took up the glass, which was full of beer, on the table, and drunk to me, filling the glass again and setting it on the table as before; then making another bow went out of the room. Immediately after which, another came in the same manner, and did the same to the other maid (whom she named, but I have forgot) and then all was quiet, and after we had eaten some bread and cheese we went to bed."* From the same authority we learn that those who fasted on St. John's Eve, and then sate in the church-porch at midnight, would "see who should die in that parish the subsequent year, and that the spirits of such would (in the same order they were to die in) come one after another and knock at the church-door."+ Upon one occasion it appears a watcher fell asleep so soundly that nobody could wake him, and during this unnatural torpor his spirit appeared and gave the usual warning, though, he himself was totally unconscious of any thing of the kind. Of the divination by ORPINE, the Stone-crop, Lib-long, or Livelong, I have already spoken in another place. § * PANDEMONIUM, or the DEVIL'S CLOYSTER. By Richard Bovet, p. 211. Tenth Relat. 12mo. London. 1684. + Idem. p. 216. It is not very easy to decide whether by ORPINE here is intended the Lesser Houselesk or the Stone-crop; and what renders the matter yet more confused and doubtful is that neither of these plants flowers till late in July, whereas to really meet the terms of the superstitious custom the Orpine, whatever it is, should flower in June. Gerard, however, in his Herbal (p. 519,) gives us several sorts-the Spanish O. ; the Common O., and three smaller kinds; the Purple O.; the NeverDying O.; the Creeping O. § In the article in question (vol i. p. 210), I gave a quotation from some old writer, I could not recollect whom, respecting the popular superstition of Midsummer Men. Oddly enough, I have since found a The ARTEMISIA, Mugwort, or Motherwort, was also a Aubrey in his usual summer on St. John's ceremonial plant of the season. gossiping vein tells us, "the last Day (1694) I accidentally was walking in the pasture behind Montague House, it was twelve o'clock. I saw there about two or three and twenty young women, most of them well habited, on their knees very busie, as if they had been weeding. I could not presently learn what the matter was; at last a young man told me that they were looking for a coal under the root of a plantain to put under their heads that night, and they should dream who would be their husbands. It was to be found that day and hour."* In Hill's NATURALL AND ARTIFICIAL CONCLUSIONS, we have a tale of the same kind in a chapter (c. 146) headed— "The Vertue of a rare Cole, that is to be found but one hour in the day, and one day in the yeer. Divers authors affirm concerning the verity and vertue of this Cole, viz., that it is only to be found upon Midsummer Eve (being the Eve of St. John the Baptist) just at noon, under every root of plantine and of mugwort: the effects whereof are wonderful; for whosoever weareth or beareth the same about with them, shall be freed from the plague, fever, ague, and sundry other diseases. And one author especially writeth, and constantly averreth, that he portion of it, word for word, in Tawny Rachel (p. 208, vol. ii.) a tale by that stupid fanatic, Hannah More, who however has not given any acknowledgment of the source from which she borrowed it. It is quoted by Ellis in his edition of Brand, of course without the slightest suspicion of an earlier original. * AUBREY'S MISCELLANIES, chap. xiii. p. 103. London. 1696. The reader, 'however, who wishes to refer to the original, should be made aware that two works under this same title, but with very different matter, were published by Aubrey, the latter one bearing date never knew any who used to carry off this marvellous Cole about them, who ever were (to his knowledge) sick of the plague, or indeed complained of any other maladie." The writer here alluded to is, I suppose, Mizaldus,* an especial trafficker in ware of this kind, and he is farther corroborated by Lupton, who affirms with as much solemnity as if he had been upon his oath, "I know it to be of truth, for I have found them the same day under the root of plantane." But in spite of these authorities, Dr. Decker in his notes upon Barbette does not scruple to assert that the Cole is no coal, but simply the rotten roots of old mugwort, which are generally found under the fresh plant; this he pronounces to be an antepileptic in doses of a dram given in water, the real sanative virtues of the plant having no doubt been, as in so many other instances, the origin of the superstition. In addition to these antepileptic virtues, mugwort was also potent against storms and the devil himself, if branches of it were hung up against the house-doors on St John's Eve. This however was far from being a * “Quidam multa perhibent de carbonibus pridie D. Joannis Baptistæ sub radicibus artemisia evulsis; sed hallucinantur autores; non enim sunt carbones, sed radices artemisiæ antiquæ annosæ emortuæ, multo sale volatili constantes; et semper ferè sub artemisiâ reperiuntur, adeo ut tantum superstitio quædam sit quòd radices illæ annosæ emortuæ pridie D. Joannis Baptistæ circa duodecimam nocturnam evelli debeant. Dosis illarum est ad drachm 1 cum aquâ appropriatâ exhibita." Praxis Barbettisna, p. 7. cap. 1. De Epilepsiâ. 12mo. Lug. Bat. 1669. Lupton's THOUSAND NOTABLE THINGS, Sect. 59. book 1. 4to. London, 1675. "Inolevit longa annorum serie persuasio, artemisiam in festis Divo Joanni Baptista sacris, ante domus suspēsam, item alios frutices et plantas, atque etiam candelas facesque designatis quibusdam diebus celebrioribus aqua lustrali rigatas, vel nescio quomodo expiatas, et quando usus postulat incensas, contra tempestates, fulmina, tonitrua, quality peculiar to the mugwort; many other herbs, plants, and minerals, appear to have been equally efficacious. The fern was a yet more important object of popular superstition at this season. It was supposed at one time to have neither flower nor seed,* the seed which lay on the back of the leaf being so small as to escape the sight of the hasty observer. Hence, probably, proceeding on the fantastic doctrine of signatures,† our ancestors derived the notion that those who could obtain and wear this invisible seed would be themselves invisible, a belief of which innumerable instances may be found in our old dramatists. It was also, as we are informed by Lemnius, gathered at the summer solstice on tempestuous et adversus diaboli potestatem, opera, et quæcunque maleficia, velut prærogativa quadam valere." PAPATUS, per T. Moresinum, p. 28. 12mo. Edinburghi. 1594. * This belief was as old as the time of the Romans. Pliny roundly asserts, "filicis duo genera, nec florem habent, nec semen"--there are two kinds of fern, and they have neither flower nor seed. Nat. Hist. lib. xxvii. cap. 55. + Signature is the supposed resemblance borne by a mineral or vegetable to some part of the human body. These resemblances were superstitiously held to afford an indication of the use and virtues of the plant or mineral. To give a few instances only "Why did you think that you had Gyge's ring Or the herb that gives invisibility ?"— Beaumont and Fletcher's FAIR MAID OF THE INN, Act I. Scene I, "I had No medicine, sir, to go invisible, No fern-seed in my pocket, nor an opal Wrapt in a bay-leaf i' my left fist, To charm their eyes with." Ben Jonson's New Inn, Act I. Scene VI. "We have the receipt of fern-seed, we walk invisible.”— Shakspeare's K. Henry IV. Act II. Scene I. nights* for the purpose of being used in magic impostures, though of what kind he does not state; by his coupling it with vervain one would suppose he alluded to its power of "hindering witches of their will;" but upon this important subject even Bovet is not more explicit ; he contents himself with saying, "much discourse hath been about gathering of fern-seed (which is looked upon as a magical herb) on the night of Midsummer Eve; and I remember I was told of one that went to gather it, and the spirits whisked by his ears like bullets, and sometimes struck his hat and other parts of his body; in fine, though he apprehended that he had gotten a quantity of it and secured it in papers, and a box besides, he found all empty. But most probable this appointing of times and hours, is of the devil's own institution, as well as the fast, that having once ensnared people to an obedience to his rules, he may with more facility oblige them to a stricter vassalage."+ This eve was particularly favourable to the charms by which women were to discover their future lovers, the modes of divination being rather various. In addition to those already mentioned, there was the Dumb Cake Two make it, Two bake it, Two break it; and the third must put it under each of their pillows, but not a word must be spoken all the time. This being done the diviners are sure to dream of the man they "Sic filicem solstitio æstivo intempesta nocte erutam, rutam, trifolium verbenā magicis imposturis accommodant." Exhortatio Ad Vit. Opt. Inst. DE MIRACULIS OCCULT. NAT.-Levini Lemnii. 12mo. 658, p. 575. + PANDEMONIUM, by R. Bovet, 9th Relat. p. 207. + Connoisseur, No. 56. |
