There was a fairly recent case in Gloucestershire, which showed that the idea still survives that if flower-seeds are sowed on Palm Sunday, the flowers will come out double.
Though Elder is not a herb, it cannot be omitted here, for every inch of an Elder-tree is connected with magic. This is especially the case in Denmark. First of all there is the Elder-tree Mother, who lives in the tree and watches for any injury to it. Hans Andersen tells a charming story about her and the pictures that she sometimes brings. It may happen, that if furniture is made of the wood, Hylde-Moer may follow her property and haunt and worry the owners, and there is a tradition that, once when a child was put in a cradle of Elder-wood, Hylde-Moer came and pulled it by the legs and would give it no peace till it was lifted out. Permission to cut Elder wood must always be asked first, and not till Hylde-Moer has given consent by keeping silence, may the chopping begin. He who stands under an Elder-tree at midnight on Midsummer-Eve will chance to see Toly, the King of the Elves, and all his retinue go by. “The pith of the branches when cut in round, flat shapes, is dipped in oil, lighted, and then put to float in a glass of water; its light on Christmas Eve is thought to reveal to the owner all the witches and sorcerers in the neighbourhood.”[101] The Russians believe that Elder-trees drive away evil spirits, and the Bohemians go to it, with a spell, to take away fever. The Sicilians think that sticks of its wood will kill serpents and drive away robbers better than any other, and the Serbs introduce a stick of Elder into their wedding ceremonies to bring good luck. In England it was thought that the Elder was never struck by lightning; and a twig of it tied into three or four knots, and carried in the pocket, was a charm against rheumatism. A cross made of Elder, and fastened to cow-houses and stables, was supposed to keep all evil from the animals. Canon Ellacombe, in the Tyrol, says: “An Elder bush, trimmed into the form of a cross, is planted in a new-made grave, and if it blossoms, the soul of the person lying beneath it is happy.” Sir Thomas Browne takes the “white umbrella or medical bush of Elder as an epitome of the order arising from five main stems, quincuncially disposed and tolerably maintained in their sub-divisions.” The number 5, and its appearance in works of Nature, must have occupied his mind at one time to a very great extent, judging from his writings. There is a saying that:—
An eldern stake and a black thorn ether (hedge)
Will make a hedge to last for ever.
And it is a common tradition that an Elder stake will last in the ground longer than an iron bar the same size. Several very different musical instruments have been alike named “Sambuke,” because they were all made out of Elder-wood. Elder-berries have also wonderful properties. In Styria, on “Bertha Night (6th January), the devil goes about with special virulence. As a safeguard persons are recommended to make a magic circle, in the centre of which they should stand, with Elder-berries gathered on St John’s night. By doing this, the mystic Fern-seed may be obtained, which possesses the strength of thirty or forty men. There are no instructions as to why or how the desired Fern-seed should arrive, and all the proceedings are somewhat mysterious.”
[101] Folkard.
The most extraordinary collection of charms and receipts is to be found in an old book, called Le petit Albert; probably the contents are largely gleaned from out the wondrous lore set forth by Albertus Magnus. A charm—it must be a charm, for a mere recipe could hardly achieve such results, “pour s’enrichir par la pêche des poissons” is made by mixing Nettles, Cinquefoil, and the juice of Houseleek, with corn boiled in water of Thyme and Marjoram, and if this composition is put into a net, the net will soon be filled with fish. Cinquefoil appears in many spells, particularly as a magic herb in love-divinations, and also against agues! Some parts of the book shed a lurid light on the customs of the day, as for instance, recipes “to render a man or woman insensible to torture.” Here is a less ghastly extract. “Je quitte des matières violentes pour dire un Mot de Paix. J’ai lû dans le très curieux livre des Secrets du Roi Jean d’Arragon, que si aucun dans le mois de septembre, ayant observé le temps que le soleil est entré au signe de la Vierges a soin de cueillir de la fleur Soucy (Marigold) qu’a été appellé par les Anciens, Epouse du Soleil, and si on l’enveloppe dedans des feuilles de Laurier avec un dent de Loup, personne ne pourra parler mal de celui qui les portera sur luy et vivra dans un profonde paix et tranquillité avec tout le monde.” There is an odd, little passage about the supernatural beings who inhabit the four elements, Salamanders, Nymphs, Sylphs, and Gnomes, and the practices of Lapland miners to obtain “la bienveillance des Gnomes.” This is managed through observing their love of perfumes. Each day of the week a certain perfume was burnt for them and these odours had an elaborate formula, compiled with reference to the planets. Thus Sunday’s perfume is “sous les auspices du soleil,” and contains Saffron and Musk; Monday’s is made of the Moon’s special plants and includes the seed of the White Poppy; and the ingredients for each are equally appropriate to the ruling planet. Mars has Hellebore and Euphorbia in his perfume; Venus, dried roses, red coral, and ambergris; and Saturn, black poppy seeds, Mandrake roots and Henbane. In an English translation (there are many editions of Le petit Albert) fifteen magical herbs of the Ancients are given, but I will only quote two.
“The eleventh hearbe is named of the Chaldees Isiphilon... or Englishmen, Centory... this hearbe hath a marvellous virtue, for if it be joined with the blood of a female lapwing or black plover and put with oile in a lamp, all they that compasse it about shall believe themselves to be witches, so that one shall believe of another that his head is in heaven and his feete on earth.”
“If ⁂ the fourteenth hearbe, smallage, be bounden to an oxe’s necke, he will follow thee whithersoever thou wilt go.” The last instructions lead one to agree with the poet:
“I would that I had flourished then,
When ruffs and raids were in the fashion,”
and when views of mine and thine were less rigid than they are to-day.