announced, and she was adjusting her dress, Mr. Lewis happened to
make some remark on a beautiful rose which Miss Kay wore in her
bosom. Just as the words were uttered the flower fell to the ground. She
immediately stooped to regain it, but as she picked it up, the red leaves
scattered themselves on the carpet, and the stalk alone remained in her
hand. The poor girl, who had been depressed in spirits before, was
evidently affected by this incident, and said, in a slightly faltering voice,
'I trust I am not to consider this as an evil omen!' But soon rallying, she
expressed to Mr. Lewis, in a cheerful tone, her hope that they would
meet again after the theatre--a hope, alas! Which it was decreed should
not be realised." According to a German belief, one who throws a rose
into a grave will waste away.
There is a notion prevalent in Dorsetshire that a house wherein the
plant "bergamot" is kept will never be free from sickness; and in Norfolk
it is said to be unlucky to take into a house a bunch of the grass called
"maiden-hair," or, as it is also termed, "dudder-grass." Among further
plants of ill omen may be mentioned the bluebell (Campanula
rotundifolia), which in certain parts of Scotland was called "The aul'
man's bell," and was regarded with a sort of dread, and commonly left
unpulled. In Cumberland, about Cockermouth, the red campion
(Lychnis diurna) is called "mother-die," and young people believe that if
plucked some misfortune will happen to their parents. A similar belief
attaches to the herb-robert (Geranium robertianum) in West
Cumberland, where it is nicknamed "Death come quickly;" and in certain
parts of Yorkshire there is a notion that if a child gather the germander
speedwell (Veronica chamoedrys), its mother will die during the year.
Herrick has a pretty allusion to the daffodil:--
"When a daffodil I see
Hanging down her head t'wards me,
Guess I may what I must be:
First, I shall decline my head;
Secondly, I shall be dead;
Lastly, safely buried."
In Germany, the marigold is with the greatest care excluded from the
flowers with which young women test their love-affairs; and in Austria it
is held unlucky to pluck the crocus, as it draws away the strength.
An ash leaf is still frequently employed for invoking good luck, and
in Cornwall we find the old popular formula still in use:--
"Even ash, I do thee pluck,
Hoping thus to meet good luck;
If no good luck I get from thee,
I shall wish thee on the tree."