ere is no mention of mistletoe as a sacred herb.[30]
We find some mention of selago, generally identified with
_lycopodium selago_, of which Pliny tells us vaguely that it was "like
savin." The gathering of it had to be accompanied in Druid days with
mystic ceremonies. The Druid had his feet bare and was clad in white,
and the plant could not be cut with iron, nor touched with the naked
hand. So great were its powers that it was called "the gift of God."
Nor is there any mention in Saxon plant lore of the use of _sorbus
aucuparia_, which the Druids planted near their monolithic circles as
protection against unseen powers of darkness. There is, however, one
prescription which may date back to the Roman occupation of Britain.
It runs thus: "Take nettles, and seethe them in oil, smear and rub all
thy body therewith; the cold will depart away."[31] It has always been
believed that one of the varieties of nettle (_Urtica pilulifera_) was
introduced into England by the Roman soldiers, who brought the seed of
it with them. According to the tradition, they were told that the cold
in England was unendurable; so they brought these seeds in order to
have a plentiful supply of nettles wherewith to rub their bodies and
thereby keep themselves warm. Possibly this prescription dates back to
that time.

From what hoary antiquity the charms and incantations which we find in
these manuscripts have come down to us we cannot say. Their atmosphere
is that of palaeolithic cave-drawings, for they are redolent of the
craft of sorcerers and they suggest those strange cave markings which
no one can decipher. Who can say what lost languages are embedded in
these unintelligible words and single letters, or what is their
meaning? To what ancient ceremonies do they pertain, and who were the
initiated who alone understood them? At present it is all mysterious,
though perhaps one day we shall discover both their sources and their
meaning. They show no definite traces of the Scandinavian rune-lays
concerning herbs, though one of the charms is in runic characters. It
is noteworthy that in the third book, which is evidently much older
than the first two parts of the _Leech Book_, the proportion of
heathen charms is exceptionally large. In one prescription we find the
names of two heathen idols, Tiecon and Leleloth, combined with a later
Christian interpolation of the names of the four gospellers. The charm
is in runic characters and is to be followed by