Its special powers against epilepsy have been dwelt upon
the at some length in our Herbal Simples. Herrick,
Devon Poet, of quaint, graceful, and pious old verse,
has prayerfully hymned thereto the following pertinent
lines :—
" Lord, I am like the Mistletoe,
Which has no root, and cannot grow,
Or prosper save by that same tree
It clings about; so I by Thee !
What need I then to fear at all,
So long as I about Thee crawl ?
But if that tree should fall, and die,
Tumble shall heaven ; and down will I."
The
" Robur "—Oak—was the sacred tree of the Druids; whatever was found
growing on it they regarded as sent from heaven ; particularly on the
sixth day of the moon.
To the Mistletoe (Viscum album) when thus produced they assigned the name " Heal-All " (Omnia sanantem). The
parasite was gathered with much pious ceremony. After certain
sacrifices, and banquets had been duly prepared beneath the oak tree,
two white bulls were brought, the horns of which were then for the
first time bound. Presently the high priest, clothed with a white robe,
ascended the tree ; then as he cut the mistletoe off with a golden sickle,
it was caught below in a white mantle. Straightway the victims were
then slain; and prayers offered that God would bless the plant.
Concocted as a draught, it was given against sterility: —Conceptum jceminarum adjuvare, si omnino secum habeant;—also as an antidote to poisons. Pliny tells, that the said parasite was known as hyphcar in Arcadia. Here with us in England it grows most abundantly on apple trees. But the considerable quantity
