"Beyond the farthest tents rich fires they build,
That healthy medicinal odours yield,
There foreign galbanum dissolving fries,
And crackling flames from humble wallwort rise.
There tamarisk, which no green leaf adorns,
And there the spicy Syrian costos burns;
There centaury supplies the wholesome flame,
That from Therssalian Chiron takes its name;
The gummy larch tree, and the thapsos there,
Woundwort and maidenweed perfume the air,
There the long branches of the long-lived hart
With southernwood their odours strong impart,
The monsters of the land, the serpents fell,
Fly far away and shun the hostile smell."
The smoke of the juniper was equally repellent to serpents, and the
juice of dittany "drives away venomous beasts, and doth astonish them."
In olden times, for serpent bites, agrimony, chamomile, and the fruit of
the bramble, were held efficacious, and Gerarde recommends the root of
the bugloss, "as it keepeth such from being stung as have drunk it before;
the leaves and seeds do the same." On the other hand, some plants had
the reputation of attracting serpents, one of these being the moneywort
or creeping loosestrife, with which they were said to heal themselves
when wounded. As far back as the time of Pliny serpents were supposed
to be very fond of fennel, restoring to them their youth by enabling them
to cast their old skins. There is a belief in Thuringia that the possession of
fern seed causes the bearer to be pursued by serpents till thrown away;
and, according to a curious Eussian proverb, "from all old trees proceeds
either an owl or a devil," in reference, no doubt, to their often bare and
sterile appearance.
Footnotes:
- See Tylor's "Primitive Culture," ii. 316. 2. Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," iii.
- "Plant-lore Legends and Lyrics," p. 486. 4. Mr. Conway, Fraser's Magazine,
1870, p. 593. 5. Mr. Conway, Fraser's Magazine, 1870, p. 107. 6. "Plant-lore
Legends and Lyrics," p. 411. 7. Folkard's "Plant-lore Legends and Lyrics," p. 448.
- "Plant-lore Legends and Lyrics," p. 486. 4. Mr. Conway, Fraser's Magazine,
- See Friend's "Flower-lore," i. 68. 9. Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," ii. 104. 10.
"Mystic Trees and Flowers," Fraser's Magazine.