When her known virtues have her worth declared:
On Simois’ shore fair Venus raised the plant,
Which from the goddess’ touch derived her scent.”
The Greeks and Roman crowned young married couples with Marjoram, which in some countries is the symbol of honour.——Astrologers place the herb under the rule of Mercury.
MARSH MALLOW.—The name Althæa (from a Greek root meaning to cure) was given to this plant on account of its manifold healing properties, which were duly appreciated by the old herbalists. It was sometimes called Bismalva, being held to be twice as good in medicinal properties as the ordinary Mallow. As an ointment, it was celebrated for mollifying heat, and hence it became invaluable as a protection to those who had to undergo the ordeal of holding red-hot iron in their hands. This ordeal was practised by the ancient Greeks; for we read in the ‘Antigone’ of Sophocles, that the guards placed over the body of Polynices—which had been carried away surreptitiously—offered, in order to prove their innocence, to take up red-hot iron in their hands: a similar ordeal was extant in the Middle Ages, when invalids and delicate persons, particularly monks and ecclesiastics, were exempted from the usual mode of single combat, and were required to test their innocence by holding red-hot iron in their hands. These trials were made in the church during the celebration of mass, inspection being made by the clergy alone. The suspected person, therefore, if he had any friends at hand, was easily shielded by covering his hand with a thick coating of some substance which would enable him to resist the action of heat. Albertus Magnus describes a paste compounded in the thirteenth century for this express purpose. The sap of the Marsh Mallow, the slimy seeds of a kind of Fleabane, and the white of a hen’s egg, were combined to make the paste adhere, and the hands covered with it were perfectly safe.——According to a German tradition, an ointment made of the leaves of the Marsh Mallow was employed to anoint the body of anyone affected by witchcraft.——The Marsh Mallow is held by astrologers to be a herb of Venus.
MARSH MARIGOLD.—According to Rapin, the Sicilian shepherd Acis originally discovered the Marsh Marigold (Caltha) growing in his native pastures:—
“Nor without mention shall the Caltha die,
Which Acis once found out in Sicily;
She Phœbus loves, and from him draws her hue,
And ever keeps his golden beams in view.”