James Frazer - The Golden Bough - A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 11 of 12)

James Sowerby, English Botany , vol. xvi. (London, 1803) p. 1093.

K. Seifart, Sagen, Märchen, Schwänke und Gebräuche aus Stadt und Stift Hildesheim 2(Hildesheim, 1889), p. 177, § 12.

C. L. Rochholz, Deutscher Glaube und Brauch (Berlin, 1867), i. 9.

J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 98, § 681.

A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube 2(Berlin, 1869), p. 100, § 134.

J. A. E. Köhler, Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande (Leipsic, 1867), p. 376. The belief and practice are similar at Grün, near Asch, in Western Bohemia. See Alois John, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen (Prague, 1905), p. 84.

F. Panzer, Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 299; Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern , iii. (Munich, 1865), p. 342; I. V. Zingerle, Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes 2(Innsbruck, 1871), p. 160, § 1363.

J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie , 4ii. 1013; A. de Gubernatis, Mythologie des Plantes (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 189 sq. ; Rev. Hilderic Friend, Flowers and Flower Lore , Third Edition (London, 1886), p. 75. In England mugwort is very common in waste ground, hedges, and the borders of fields. It flowers throughout August and later. The root is woody and perennial. The smooth stems, three or four feet high, are erect, branched, and leafy, and marked by many longitudinal purplish ribs. The pinnatified leaves alternate on the stalk; they are smooth and dark green above, cottony and very white below. The flowers are in simple leafy spikes or clusters; the florets are purplish, furnished with five stamens and five awl-shaped female flowers, which constitute the radius. The whole plant has a weak aromatic scent and a slightly bitter flavour. Its medical virtues are of no importance. See James Sowerby, English Botany , xiv. (London, 1802) p. 978. Altogether it is not easy to see why such an inconspicuous and insignificant flower should play so large a part in popular superstition. Mugwort ( Artemisia vulgaris ) is not to be confounded with wormwood ( Artemisia absinthium ), which is quite a different flower in appearance, though it belongs to the same genus. Wormwood is common in England, flowering about August. The flowers are in clusters, each of them broad, hemispherical, and drooping, with a buff-coloured disc. The whole plant is of a pale whitish green and clothed with a short silky down. It is remarkable for its intense bitterness united to a peculiar strong aromatic odour. It is often used to keep insects from clothes and furniture, and as a medicine is one of the most active bitters. See James Sowerby, English Botany , vol. xviii. (London, 1804) p. 1230.

Breuil, “Du culte de St. – Jean-Baptiste,” Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie , viii. (1845) p. 224, note 1, quoting the curé of Manancourt, near Péronne.

L. Pineau, Le folk-lore du Poitou (Paris, 1892), p. 499.

J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), pp. 90 sq. , §§ 635-637.

F. Panzer, Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie , i. p. 249, § 283; J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie , 4ii. 1013; I. V. Zingerle, in Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde , i. (1853) p. 331. and ib. iv. (1859) p. 42 (quoting a work of the seventeenth century); F. J. Vonbun, Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie (Chur, 1862), p. 133, note 1. See also above, vol. i. pp. 162, 163, 165, 174, 177.

A. de Gubernatis, Mythologie der Plantes (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 190, quoting Du Cange.

A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 262.

Jules Lecœur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1886), ii. 8.

Joseph Train, Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 120.

Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Calendrier Belge (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 422.

J. J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China , vi. (Leyden, 1910) p. 1079, compare p. 947.

J. J. M. de Groot, op. cit. vi. 947.

J. J. M. de Groot, op. cit. vi. 946 sq.

Rev. John Batchelor, The Ainu and their Folk-lore (London, 1901), p. 318, compare pp. 315 sq. , 329, 370, 372.

Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde , iv. (1859) p. 42; Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste , p. 141. The German name of mugwort ( Beifuss ) is said to be derived from this superstition.

K. Bartsch, Sagen, Märchen, und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg (Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 290, § 1445.

Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste , p. 141.

J. Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1882-1883), i. 334 sq. , quoting Lupton, Thomas Hill, and Paul Barbette. A precisely similar belief is recorded with regard to wormwood ( armoise ) by the French writer J. B. Thiers, who adds that only small children and virgins could find the wonderful coal. See J. B. Thiers, Traité des Superstitions 5(Paris, 1741), i. 300. In Annam people think that wormwood puts demons to flight; hence they hang up bunches of its leaves in their houses at the New Year. See Paul Giran, Magie et Religion Annamites (Paris, 1912), p. 118, compare pp. 185, 256.

C. Lemke, Volksthümliches in Ostpreussen (Mohrungen, 1884-1887), i. 21. As to mugwort (German Beifuss , French armoise ), see further A. de Gubernatis, Mythologie des Plantes , ii. 16 sqq. ; J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie , 4iii. 356 sq.

James Sowerby, English Botany , vol. xix. (London, 1804) p. 1319.

John Aubrey, Remains of Gentilisme and Judaisme (London, 1881), pp. 25 sq. ; J. Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1882-1883), i. 329 sqq. ; Rev. Hilderic Friend, Flowers and Flower Lore , Third Edition (London, 1886), p. 136; D. H. Moutray Read, “Hampshire Folk-lore,” Folk-lore , xxii. (1911) p. 325. Compare J. Sowerby, English Botany , vol. xix. (London, 1804), p. 1319: “Like all succulent plants this is very tenacious of life, and will keep growing long after it has been torn from its native spot. The country people in Norfolk sometimes hang it up in their cottages, judging by its vigour of the health of some absent friend.” It seems that in England the course of love has sometimes been divined by means of sprigs of red sage placed in a basin of rose-water on Midsummer Eve (J. Brand, op. cit. i. 333).