CHAPTER V.

PLANTS IN WITCHCRAFT.


The vast proportions which the great witchcraft movement assumed in
bygone years explains the magic properties which we find ascribed to so
many plants in most countries. In the nefarious trade carried on by the
representatives of this cruel system of sorcery certain plants were
largely employed for working marvels, hence the mystic character which
they have ever since retained. It was necessary, however, that these
should be plucked at certain phases of the moon or seasons of the year,
or from some spot where the sun was supposed not to have shone on it.[1]
Hence Shakespeare makes one of his witches speak of "root of hemlock
digg'd i' the dark," and of "slips of yew sliver'd in the moon's
eclipse," a practice which was long kept up. The plants, too, which
formed the witches' pharmacopoeia, were generally selected either from
their legendary associations or by reason of their poisonous and
soporific qualities. Thus, two of those most frequently used as
ingredients in the mystic cauldron were the vervain and the rue, these
plants having been specially credited with supernatural virtues. The
former probably derived its notoriety from the fact of its being sacred
to Thor, an honour which marked it out, like other lightning plants, as
peculiarly adapted for occult uses. It was, moreover, among the sacred
plants of the Druids, and was only gathered by them, "when the dog-star
arose, from unsunned spots." At the same time, it is noteworthy that
many of the plants which were in repute with witches for working their
marvels were reckoned as counter-charms, a fact which is not surprising,