There are many sayings of this kind still current among our country-
folk, some of which no doubt contain good advice; and of the plaintain,
which from time immemorial has been used as a vulnerary, it is said:--
"Plantain ribbed, that heals the reaper's wounds."
In Herefordshire there is a popular rhyme associated with the aul
(Alnus glutinosus):--
"When the bud of the aul is as big as the trout's eye,
Then that fish is in season in the river Wye."
A Yorkshire name for the quaking grass (Briza media) is "trembling
jockies," and according to a local proverb:--
"A trimmling jock i' t' house,
An' you weeant hev a mouse,"
This plant being, it is said, obnoxious to mice. According to a
Warwickshire proverb:--
"Plant your sage and rue together,
The sage will grow in any weather."
This list of plant proverbs might easily be extended, but the
illustrations quoted in the preceding pages are a fair sample of this
portion of our subject. Whereas many are based on truth, others are more
or less meaningless. At any rate, they still thrive to a large extent among
our rural community, by whom they are regarded as so many household
sayings.
Footnotes:
- See Akerman's "Wiltshire Glossary," p. 18. 2. "English Proverbs and Proverbial
Phrases," pp. 327-8. - "Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases," p. 207.