th the name of Christ, and
with the events of the crucifixion itself--facts which occasionally
explain their mysterious virtues. Thus the vervain, known as the "holy
herb," and which was one of the sacred plants of the Druids, has long
been held in repute, the subjoined rhyme assigning as the reason:--

"All hail, thou holy herb, vervin,
Growing on the ground;
On the Mount of Calvary
There wast thou found;
Thou helpest many a grief,
And staunchest many a wound.
In the name of sweet Jesu,
I lift thee from the ground."

To quote one or two further instances, a popular recipe for preventing
the prick of a thorn from festering is to repeat this formula:--

"Christ was of a virgin born,
And he was pricked with a thorn,
And it did neither bell nor swell,
And I trust in Jesus this never will."

In Cornwall, some years ago, the following charm was much used, forms of
which may occasionally be heard at the present day:--

"Happy man that Christ was born,
He was crowned with a thorn;
He was pierced through the skin,
For to let the poison in.
But His five wounds, so they say,
Closed before He passed away.
In with healing, out with thorn,
Happy man that Christ was born."

Another version used in the North of England is this:--

"Unto the Virgin Mary our Saviour was horn,
And on his head he wore a crown of thorn;
If you believe this true, and mind it well,
This hurt will never fester nor swell."

The _Angelica sylvestris_ was popularly known as "Holy Ghost," from the
angel-like properties therein having been considered good "against
poisons, pestilent agues, or the pestilence."

Cockayne, in his "Saxon Leechdoms," mentions an old poem descriptive of
the virtues of the mugwort:--

"Thou hast might for three,
And against thirty,
For venom availest
For plying vile things."

So, too, certain plants of the saints acquired a notoriety for specific
virtues; and hence St. John's wort, with its leaves marked with
blood-like spots, which appear, according to tradition, on the
anniversary of his decollation, is still "the wonderful herb" that cures
all sorts of wounds. Herb-bennet, popularly designated "Star of the
earth," a name applied to the avens, hemlock, and valerian, should
properly be, says Dr. Prior, "St. Benedict's herb, a name assigned to
such plants as were supposed to be antidotes, in allusion to a legend of
this saint, which represents that u