Dipt in cold September dew;
And dash the moisture, chaste and clear,
O’er the ground and through the air.”—Mason.
In mediæval days, the sacred character of Vervain was still maintained, and the plant was greatly prized, and used in compounding charms and love-philtres. Known in our country as Holy Herb and Simpler’s Joy, it was credited with great medicinal virtues.
“Black melancholy rusts, that fed despair
Through wounds’ long rage, with sprinkled Vervain cleared.”—Davenant.
Its juice was given as a cure for the plague, and the plant was prescribed as a remedy in some thirty different maladies, and was suspended round the neck as an amulet. Gerarde, however, tells us that “the devil did reveal it as a secret and divine medicine;” and R. Turner writes (1687):—“It is said to be used by witches to do mischief, and so may all other herbs if by wicked astrologers used to accomplish their wretched ends.” But notwithstanding that it was used by witches and wizards in their incantations and spells, and was in fact called the Enchanter’s Plant, Vervain was considered to possess the power of combating witches: thus Aubrey says:—
“Vervain and Dill
Hinder witches from their will.”
and Michael Drayton writes:—