Flowers and Seeds.
Clare mentions these signs in his Shepherds Calender.
And scarlet-starry points of flowers,
Pimpernel, dreading nights and showers
Oft call'd "the Shepherd's weather-glass,"
That sleeps till suns have dried the grass,
Then wakes, and spreads its creeping bloom,
Till clouds with threatening shadows come,
Then close it shuts to sleep again;
Which weeders see and talk of rain,
And boys, that mark them shut so soon,
Call "John that goes to bed at noon."
Seeds should be sown and plants and roots planted when the moon is on the rise to ensure successful results.
If seeds are sown when the moon is on the wane there will be bad crops.
If a man or woman plants a sage tree and it thrives, the one who planted the tree will rule the house.
If a single man pulls up a sage tree at midnight on Christmas Eve a storm will arise and the man's future wife will appear.
It is unlucky to bring holly into the house before Christmas Eve.
All evergreens used for Christmas decoration should be burnt on Candlemas day and care must be taken to burn all the holly berries, otherwise a death in the family may be expected for each berry left in the house unburnt.
Mistletoe should hang in the house from one Christmas to another.
It is unlucky to bring the May flower or the Chestnut blossom into the house.
If flowers like the Dandelion or Pimpernel are closed or shut up it fortells rain and bad weather, but if quite open fine weather.
When the mulberry tree begins to shoot, the last frost has gone. In Hunts it is called the wise tree.
The shooting of the Ash and Oak in the Spring is carefully watched, and the first appearance of the new shoots accords with this rhyme:—
If the Ash before the Oak,
Then there'll be a regular soak;
But if the Oak before the Ash,
Then there'll only be a splash,
I have seen children eating apples and taking the pips one by one and repeating this doggrel:—
Cobbley, Cobbley, fly away
Bring me an apple tomorrow day.
At the words "fly away" they used to throw the pip away, in the firm belief that they would have another apple the next day for every pip thrown; but only one pip from each apple could be used by each child.