The latch mov'd up, when who should first come in,
But, in his proper person, Lublerkin."
On the other hand, it was customary in the North of England to rub a
young woman with pease-straw should her lover prove unfaithful:
"If you meet a bonnie lassie,
Gie her a kiss and let her gae;
If you meet a dirty hussey,
Fie, gae rub her o'er wi' strae!"
From an old Spanish proverb it would seem that the rosemary has long
been considered as in some way connected with love:
"Who passeth by the rosemarie
And careth not to take a spraye,
For woman's love no care has he,
Nor shall he though he live for aye."
Of flowers and plants employed as love-charms on certain festivals may
be noticed the bay, rosebud, and the hempseed on St. Valentine's Day,
nuts on St. Mark's Eve, and the St. John's wort on Midsummer Eve.
In Denmark[1] many an anxious lover places the St. John's wort between
the beams under the roof for the purpose of divination, the usual custom
being to put one plant for herself and another for her sweetheart.
Should these grow together, it is an omen of an approaching wedding. In
Brittany young people prove the good faith of their lovers by a pretty
ceremony. On St. John's Eve, the men, wearing bunches of green wheat
ears, and the women decorated with flax blossoms, assemble round an old
historic stone and place upon it their wreaths.
Pages:
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118