. The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade. Floriculture; Florists. tgii. The American Florist. 1131 another of the most prevalent of an- cient superstitions, and it is one which, having, along with many other Pagan customs, been adopted, or at least tol- erated, by Christianity as first preached by the Roman missionaries, and being, besides, in some sort recommended to the reason by the high utility of the object of regard, has not yet altogeth- er passed away. The holy wells, to which some of our early monks gave the names of their saints, had in many instances been objects of v
. The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade. Floriculture; Florists. tgii. The American Florist. 1131 another of the most prevalent of an- cient superstitions, and it is one which, having, along with many other Pagan customs, been adopted, or at least tol- erated, by Christianity as first preached by the Roman missionaries, and being, besides, in some sort recommended to the reason by the high utility of the object of regard, has not yet altogeth- er passed away. The holy wells, to which some of our early monks gave the names of their saints, had in many instances been objects of veneration many centuries before; and the culti- vation of the country, or the decay from lapse of time, which has almost everywhere swept away the antique religious grove, has for the most part spared the holy well. The mistletoe, as we have shown, had no connection with or relation to our present time winter solstice in Druidical times; but the parasitical plant celebrated on account of the re- ligious purposes to which it was con- secrated by the ancient Celtic nations of Europe, particularly when it was found growing on the oak, still retains a strong hold on the populace of the British Islands, few persons not ob- serving the custom to hang up branches of this plant in their homes at Christmas, and especially for the New Year festivities, thus transferring the Druidical custom from March to January, or even Christmas, and even continuing the religious as well as the festivous sides of the ceremonies of the Druids on Christianity lines. The mistletoe is rarely found upon the oak, I not having seen an example, though there are records of its being found on the oak in this country, as at Godalming, at Gorke, and St. Dials in Monmouthshire, Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, and in the neighbor- hood of Usk, therefore the proclivities of mistletoe for the oak are most pro- nounced in the direction of the Druids' holy isle (Anglesey). Specimens have been seen on horse chestnut, wych
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectfloriculture, bookyea
