And James Montgomery notices this cheerful plant, speaking of it as the,

"Fair tree of winter, fresh and flowering,
When all around is dead and dry,
Whose ruby buds, though storms are lowering,
Spread their white blossoms to the sky."

Then there is the dead nettle, which in Italy is assigned to St.
Vincent; and the Christmas rose (_Helleboris niger_), dedicated to St.
Agnes (21st January), is known in Germany as the flower of St. Agnes,
and yet this flower has generally been regarded a plant of evil omen,
being coupled by Campbell with the hemlock, as growing "by the witches'
tower," where it seems to weave,

"Round its dark vaults a melancholy bower,
For spirits of the dead at night's enchanted hour."

At Candlemas it was customary, writes Herrick, to replace the Christmas
evergreens with sprigs of box, which were kept up till Easter Eve:--

"Down with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the mistletoe,
Instead of holly now upraise
The greener box for show."

The snowdrop has been nicknamed the "Fair Maid of February," from its
blossoming about this period, when it was customary for young women
dressed in white to walk in procession at the Feast of the Purification,
and, according to the old adage:--

"The snowdrop in purest white array,
First rears her head on Candlemas Day."

The dainty crocus is said to blow "before the shrine at vernal dawn of
St. Valentine." And we may note here how county traditions affirm that
in some mysterious way the vegetable world is affected by leap-year
influences. A piece of agricultural folk-lore current throughout the
country tells us how all the peas and beans grow the wrong way in their
pods, the seeds being set in quite the contrary to what they are in
other years. The reason assigned for this strange freak of nature is
that, "it is the ladies' year, and they (the peas and beans) always lay
the wrong way in leap year."

The leek is associated with St. David's Day, the adoption of this plant
as the national device of Wales having been explained in various ways.
According to Shakespeare it dates from the battle of Cressy, while some
have maintained it originated in a victory obtained by Cadwallo over the
Saxons, 640, when the Welsh, to distinguish themselves, wore leeks in
their hats. It has also beeen suggested that Welshmen "beautify their
hats with verdant leek," from the custom of every farmer, in years gone
by, contributing his leek to the co