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

M. Töppen, Aberglauben aus Masuren 2(Danzig, 1867), pp. 71 sq. ; A. Kuhn, Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen (Leipsic, 1859), ii. 176, § 487; E. Hoffmann-Krayer, Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes (Zurich, 1913), p. 163. In Switzerland the species employed for this purpose on Midsummer day is Sedum reflexum . The custom is reported from the Emmenthal. In Germany a root of orpine, dug up on St. John's morning and hung between the shoulders, is sometimes thought to be a cure for hemorrhoids (Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste , p. 145). Perhaps the “oblong, tapering, fleshy, white lumps” of the roots (J. Sowerby, English Botany , vol. xix. London, 1804, p. 1319) are thought to bear some likeness to the hemorrhoids, and to heal them on the principle that the remedy should resemble the disease.

See above, vol. i. pp. 162, 163, 165. In England vervain ( Verbena officinalis ) grows not uncommonly by road sides, in dry sunny pastures, and in waste places about villages. It flowers in July. The flowers are small and sessile, the corolla of a very pale lilac hue, its tube enclosing the four short curved stamens. The root of the plant, worn by a string round the neck, is an old superstitious medicine for scrofulous disorders. See James Sowerby, English Botany , vol. xi. (London, 1800) p. 767.

Dr. Otero Acevado, in Le Temps , September 1898. See above, vol. i. p. 208, note 1.

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

A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France , p. 262; Amélie Bosquet, La Normandie romanesque et merveilleuse , p. 294; J. Lecœur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand , i. 287, ii. 8. In Saintonge and Aunis the plant was gathered on Midsummer Eve for the purpose of evoking or exorcising spirits (J. L. M. Noguès, Les mœurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis , p. 72).

J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren , p. 207, § 1437.

A. Kuhn, Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen (Leipsic, 1859), ii. 177, citing Chambers, Edinburgh Journal , 2nd July 1842.

I. V. Zingerle, Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes 2(Innsbruck, 1871), p. 107, § 919.

Laisnel de la Salle, Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France (Paris, 1875), i. 288.

J. L. M. Noguès, Les mœurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis , pp. 71 sq.

Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Calendrier Belge , i. 423.

W. Kolbe, Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche 2(Marburg, 1888), p. 72; Sophus Bugge, Studien über die Entstehung der nordischen Götter- und Heldensagen (Munich, 1889), pp. 35, 295 sq. ; Fr. Kauffmann, Balder (Strasburg, 1902), pp. 45, 61. The flowers of common camomile ( Anthemis nobilis ) are white with a yellow disk, which in time becomes conical. The whole plant is intensely bitter, with a peculiar but agreeable smell. As a medicine it is useful for stomachic troubles. In England it does not generally grow wild. See James Sowerby, English Botany , vol. xiv. (London, 1802) p. 980.

A. Kuhn, Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen (Leipsic, 1859), ii. 177, § 488.

M. Töppen, Aberglauben aus Masuren 2(Danzig, 1867), p. 71.

A. Witzschel, Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen (Vienna, 1878), p. 289, § 139.

W. J. A. von Tettau und J. D. H. Temme, Volkssagen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und Westpreussens (Berlin, 1837), p. 283.

James Sowerby, English Botany , vol. vii. (London, 1798), p. 487. As to great mullein or high taper, see id. , vol. viii. (London, 1799), p. 549.

Tettau und Temme, loc. cit. As to mullein at Midsummer, see also above, vol. i. pp. 190, 191.

J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren , p. 205, § 1426.

J. V. Grohmann, op. cit. p. 93, § 648.

J. A. E. Köhler, Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande (Leipsic, 1867), p. 377.

Alois John, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen (Prague, 1905), p. 84.

J. N. Ritter von Alpenburg, Mythen und Sagen Tirols (Zurich, 1857), p. 397.

C. Russwurm, “Aberglaube aus Russland,” Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde , iv. (1859) pp. 153 sq. The purple loosestrife is one of our most showy English wild plants. In July and August it may be seen flowering on the banks of rivers, ponds, and ditches. The separate flowers are in axillary whorls, which together form a loose spike of a reddish variable purple. See James Sowerby, English Botany , vol. xv. (London, 1802) p. 1061.

J. Brand, Popular Antiquities , i. 314 sqq. ; Hilderic Friend, Flowers and Flower Lore , Third Edition (London, 1886), pp. 60, 78, 150, 279-283; Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, Shropshire Folk-lore (London, 1883), p. 242; Marie Trevelyan, Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales (London, 1909), pp. 89 sq. ; J. B. Thiers, Traité des Superstitions (Paris, 1679), p. 314; J. Lecœur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand , i. 290; P. Sébillot, Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne (Paris, 1886), p. 217; id. , Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne (Paris, 1882), ii. 336; A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube 2(Berlin, 1869), pp. 94 sq. , § 123; F. J. Vonbun, Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie (Chur, 1862), pp. 133 sqq. ; Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfesten , p. 144; K. Bartsch, Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg , ii. 288, § 1437; M. Töppen, Aberglauben aus Masuren , 2p. 72; A. Schlossar, “Volksmeinung und Volksaberglaube aus der deutschen Steiermark,” Germania , N.R., xxiv. (1891) p. 387; Theodor Vernaleken, Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich (Vienna, 1859), p. 309; J. N. Ritter von Alpenburg, Mythen und Sagen Tirols (Zurich, 1857), pp. 407 sq. ; I. V. Zingerle, Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes 2(Innsbruck, 1871), p. 103, § 882, p. 158, § 1350; Christian Schneller, Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol (Innsbruck, 1867), p. 237; J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren , p. 97, §§ 673-677; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Fest-Kalendar aus Böhmen (Prague, n. d.), pp. 311 sq. ; W. Müller, Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren (Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), p. 265; R. F. Kaindl, Die Huzulen (Vienna, 1894), p. 106; id. , “Zauberglaube bei den Huzulen,” Globus , lxxvi. (1899) p. 275; P. Drechsler, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 142, § 159; G. Finamore, Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi (Palermo, 1890), p. 161; C. Russwurm, “Aberglaube in Russland,” Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde , iv. (1859) pp. 152 sq. ; A. de Gubernatis, Mythologie des Plantes (Paris, 1878-1882), ii. 144 sqq. The practice of gathering ferns or fern seed on the Eve of St. John was forbidden by the synod of Ferrara in 1612. See J. B. Thiers, Traité des Superstitions 5(Paris, 1741), i. 299 sq. In a South Slavonian story we read how a cowherd understood the language of animals, because fern-seed accidentally fell into his shoe on Midsummer Day (F. S. Krauss, Sagen und Märchen der Südslaven , Leipsic, 1883-1884, ii. 424 sqq. , No. 159). On this subject I may refer to my article, “The Language of Animals,” The Archaeological Review , i. (1888) pp. 164 sqq.