some, or, as I rather suppose, the roots of briony, which simple folk take
for the true mandrake, and make thereof an ugly image, by which they
represent the person on whom they intend to exercise their witchcraft."
And Lord Bacon, speaking of the mandrake, says--"Some plants there
are, but rare, that have a mossie or downy root, and likewise that have a
number of threads, like beards, as mandrakes, whereof witches and
impostours make an ugly image, giving it the form of a face at the top of
the root, and leave those strings to make a broad beard down to the
foot." The witchcraft literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
contains numerous allusions to the diabolical practice--a superstition
immortalised by Shakespeare. The mandrake, from its supposed
mysterious character, was intimately associated with witches, and Ben
Jonson, in his "Masque of Queens," makes one of the hags who has been
gathering this plant say,
"I last night lay all alone
On the ground, to hear the mandrake groan;
And plucked him up, though he grew full low,
And, as I had done, the cock did crow."
We have already incidentally spoken of the vervain, St. John's wort,
elder, and rue as antagonistic to witchcraft, but to these may be added
many other well-known plants, such as the juniper, mistletoe, and
blackthorn. Indeed, the list might be greatly extended--the vegetable
kingdom having supplied in most parts of the world almost countless
charms to counteract the evil designs of these malevolent beings. In our
own country the little pimpernel, herb-paris, and cyclamen were
formerly gathered for this purpose, and the angelica was thought to be
specially noisome to witches. The snapdragon and the herb-betony had
the reputation of averting the most subtle forms of witchcraft, and dill
and flax were worn as talismans against sorcery. Holly is said to be
antagonistic to witches, for, as Mr. Folkard[24] says, "in its name they see
but another form of the word 'holy,' and its thorny foliage and blood-red
berries are suggestive of the most Christian associations." Then there is
the rowan-tree or mountain-ash, which has long been considered one of
the most powerful antidotes against works of darkness of every kind,
probably from its sacred associations with the worship of the Druids.
Hence it is much valued in Scotland, and the following couplet, of which
there are several versions, still embodies the popular faith:
"Rowan-tree and red thread,
Put the witches to their speed."