There was a species of thistle on
Dartmoor which used to be called Thormantle, and was used in that
district as a febrifuge. Some writers have said that in Poland some
infantile disorders are supposed to be the work of mischievous spirits
using thistle-seed.

The Lady's Thistle, which some believe to be the true Scotch thistle, is
one of the many plants associated with the Virgin. The tradition,
according to Brand, is that the white spots on the leaves are due to the
falling of some drops of the Holy Mother's milk, a legend we have seen
to be attached also to the lily. Then the great Emperor Charlemagne's
name is blended with that of the Carline Thistle, the story being that
during the prevalence of an epidemic among his troops he prayed to God
for help. An angel appeared, and indicated, by firing an arrow, a plant
which would allay the disease. This was the _Carlina acaulis_, which, of
course, cured all the sick soldiers, and possibly may have some of the
febrifuge virtues which the Dartmoor people fancied existed in another
kind of thistle. Nettle-soup is still a familiar housewife's remedy for
some childish ailments.

In some parts of Germany there is a superstition that sores upon horses'
backs may be cured by gathering four red thistle-blossoms before
daybreak, and placing them in the form of a square upon the ground with
a stone in the middle. It is not easy to trace the probable origin of
this belief, but many of the old herbalists mention the thistle as
efficacious in cases of vertigo, headache, jaundice, and 'infirmities of
the gall.' Says one, 'It is an herb of Mars, and under the sign Aries.'
Therefore, 'it strengthens the attractive faculty in man and clarifies
the blood, because the one is ruled by Mars. The continual drinking the
decoction of it helps red faces, tetters, and ringworms, because Mars
causeth them. It helps the plague, sores, boils, itches, the bitings of
mad dogs and venomous beasts, all which infirmities are under Mars.'
This same writer agrees with Dioscorides that the root of a thistle
carried about 'doth expel melancholy and removes all diseases connected
therewith.' In other words, the thistle was held to possess all the
virtues now claimed for podophyllum, blue-pill, and dandelion--a
universal antibilious agent!

But how did the thistle become the emblem of Scotland? Well, there are
as many traditions on the subject as there are opinions as to which
variety of the plant is the true