sical, but perhaps not professionally musical, ear to be in perfect tune. Mr. Haweis also finds fault with the hanging of the bells. He complains that the big bells have no "heads," or, rather, he asks why the "heads" have been cut off. It is wonderful to us that he should ask such a question. The veriest tyro in ringing matters should surely know that it is, and has been, a common practice to cast bells without "heads" (as he calls the canons, or handles, by which bells are sometimes hung), and to hang them by bolts through the crown; and that, as Sir Edmund Beckett says in a letter to the "Times" in answer to such criticisms, this makes no difference in the sound that can be appreciated. The reason of thus casting large bells is obvious to any one conversant with the subject. It will be understood by most of our readers that a bell, when hung in a tower, is hung to swing as a pendulum; it may, therefore, be so hung that all the weight of it is below the pivot on which it swings, and the lower it is hung the harder must be the work of swinging it, especially when it is considered that it has to swing through the greater part of the circle. Heavy bells, therefore, are cast without canons in order that their weight may be as near as possible to the pivot, and sometimes a little above it. This object is often gained on the Continent by placing above the stock to which the bell is fastened a weight nearly equal to that of the bell, by which means it becomes, so to speak, simply like a wheel, and can of course be moved round the whole circle with comparatively little labour.

Mr. Haweis also complains that the timbers, or rafters, as he calls them, of the bell-cage are wedged in against the walls to stiffen them. We can only say as to this, which may be, and no doubt is, an objectionable practice, that we could see no trace of it when we visited the tower after the opening ceremony, and that all the work there seems to have been done with the care, judgment, and sagacity which befits the noble structure to which it belongs.

We have referred above to the criticisms passed on the dedication of these bells. Amongst them is an article in the "Times," which has met with such a dignified and complete answer from the Bishop of London that it would be unnecessary for us to reopen the question, were it not that the foolish expression, theblessing of the bells," has been somewhat largely used, and that many of our readers may not have had opportunities of reading the bishop's letter or the strictures of the "Times." The Times" characterises the service held in St. Paul's as that "extraordinary service," as a "brand new service," as a "blessing of the bells," and hints at it as "superstitious."* With regard to the service being "extraordinary " and "brand new," the writer of this article has only to say that during the last ten years he has taken part in many such services, and that, happily, when new bells are placed in church towers they are often dedicated to the service of God in this manner. We give, however, an account of the service, and think we need hardly go further for the purpose of proving to our readers that the names applied to it by the "Times" writer are uncalled for. As we have already stated, the bells were opened

* All our readers will be glad to have the opinions of Mr. Troyte, than whom no higher authority exists on bell-ringing, on which he contributed a valuable article to the "Leisure Hour" for December, 1877. Those who object to the dedication services, or to the use of church bells at all, may still take interest in the discussion of a historical event so notable as the inauguration of St. Paul's bells."-ED. L. H.

| on the evening of the 1st of November, 1878, being All Saints' Day. After the ordinary evening service and sermon, the dedication was arranged in this wise. The choir, the cathedral clergy, the dean, Bishop Piers Claughton, and the Bishop of London left their places in the choir, and forcing their way slowly through the dense crowd that filled the cathedral, moved down the centre of the nave to the door of the south-western tower, and, ascending the spiral staircase as far as the western gallery, they crossed that gallery and entered the ringing-chamber, where the following form of dedication service was read. The service commenced with the versicles and responses which stand in the Prayer-book immediately after the Lord's Prayer, after which followed four psalms, chanted by the choir, viz., xxix., lxvii., cxxx., and clx. The last, it may be observed, contains what is probably the nearest approach in Scripture to a reference to bells in the verse, "Praise Him upon the well-tuned cymbals; praise Him upon the loud cymbals." The Lord's Prayer was then said, preceded by the versicles which stand immediately before it in the order for morning and evening prayer, after which, the following versicles and prayers were used:

"O Lord, shew Thy mercy upon us,
And grant us Thy salvation.

Sing we merrily unto God our strength,
Make a cheerful noise unto the God of Jacob.

O praise God in His holiness,

Praise Him in the firmament of His power.
Praise Him upon the well-tuned cymbals,
Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.

I was glad when they said unto me,

We will go into the house of the Lord."

"O everlasting God, whom no man hath seen at any time, although Thou dost speak to the souls of men through the things that Thou hast made; receive, we beseech Thee, these bells, which are offered by Thy people for the service of Thy Holy Church, and bless them to the spiritual well-being of Thy servants, that they may remind us of Thy presence in life and in death. Do Thou mercifully visit our souls with solemn and holy thoughts; sanctify our trials and sorrows; brighten and chasten our joys; so that amid the changes of this mortal life we may, in heart and mind, ever dwell with Thee, and may at the last enter into Thy eternal rest, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

"O Lord, who by Thy servant Moses didst order that silver trumpets should be sounded at the time of sacrifice, to the end that Thy people Israel might be drawn to worship Thee; grant, we beseech Thee, that we, who have been redeemed by the blood of Thy only-begotten Son, may joyfully obey the call to meet together in Thy Holy Church, to render thanks for the great benefits which we have received at Thy hands, to set forth Thy most worthy praise, to hear Thy most Holy Word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

"Grant, O Lord, that all they who with their outward ears shall hear the sound of these bells may be moved inwardly in their spirits, and draw nigh unto Thee, the God of their salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"Grant, O Lord, that whosoever, by reason of sickness or any other necessity, shall be hindered from coming into the house of the Lord, may, when he hears these bells, in heart and mind ascend to Thee, and find with Thee peace and comfort, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“Grant, O Lord, that all they who minister to Thy service in sounding these bells may be filled with all reverence and godly fear, and may be mindful ever of the sacredness of Thy house, putting away all idle thoughts and light behaviour, and continuing in holiness of life, so that they may stand with those who praise Thee evermore in the heavenly Jerusalem, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Hymn No. 303, from Hymns Ancient and Modern, which contains an allusion to "the sweet Church-bell," was then sung; and, after the Collect for St. Paul's Day had been read, the bishop pronounced the usual Blessing to the congregation.

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This then was the so-called "extraordinary," "brand new," and "superstitious" service, the defence of which we will leave in the hands of the Bishop of London, who thus writes to the "Times":Sir, The service at which I was present in the belfry of St. Paul's on Friday, and to which you have alluded in a tone half of banter, half of blame, has been called, and I suppose will be called, the blessing of the bells.' The bells, however, themselves were not blessed. The prayers used, which appeared to me, and I think were felt by all who heard them, appropriate and touching, asked that these bells might in their use be blessed to the spiritual wellbeing of God's servants, reminding them of His presence in life and death, suggesting solemn and holy thoughts, calling effectually to the services of the Church, and bearing to those detained at home by sickness or necessity reminiscences of the peace and comfort of the sanctuary. Who shall say that such hints as these, as from above, may not be helpful from time to time to many of the busy and anxious crowd which is perpetually hurrying round the cathedral of our great city? The service itself was of the same character with those in common use at the laying the first stone of churches, schools, and missionrooms, and, indeed, at the consecration of churches and churchyards, and with that familiar grace before meals' which most of us have heard repeatedly from our youth, and which I trust to hear at times as long as I live-'Bless, O Lord, these Thy gifts to our use, and us to Thy service.' In all these cases the blessing asked is not on the material objects, but on the persons for whose use or advantage they are provided. If such prayers are superstitious I gladly plead guilty to superstition."

We agree with every word of this manly and Christian letter, and we only wish that, common as they now are, dedications of bells in such spirit were more common; for if the really sacred uses for which bells are meant, and for which alone they should be used, were brought more home to the ringers and to the outside world, there is little room for doubt that ringers would not be, as is too often the case, a thorn in the side both of the clergyman and his parish.

Of the dedication service we have, however, one complaint to make; we think it might have been made much more general and impressive. A vast congregation had assembled in St. Paul's, one-half of whom at least could not have heard one word of the ordinary evening service or sermon. The whole of the space under the dome, and nearly the whole of

the nave, was crowded, and with persons who seemed anxious to take part, to a certain degree, in what was going on. When the procession had gone up into the steeple all these people were kept waiting for what seemed to them an interminable time; the consequence being that the interior of the building assumed the appearance, as far as the audience was concerned, of a vast theatre between the acts. Now, if the dedication service had been held at the west end, or in the western gallery, it would have given them an opportunity of joining in it, and determining for themselves whether or no they were taking part in a superstitious ceremonial. The bells also might have been rung for a short time during the dedication, a thing often done and with excellent effect, as, for instance, at the end of the special collects.

If the bishop really gave the first word "Go," as we have seen stated, that was also a mistake, and would account for the somewhat poor start in rounds which was made by the ringers, for it takes some seconds of preparation before a large ring of bells can be got ready to make a good start; and it requires some knowledge of ringing on the part of the ringer of the leading bell, or treble, so to time his first pull as that the larger bells may be able to come properly into their places after him, and this is not generally done without giving time for preparation, and then invariably by the ringer of the treble. Consequently, those of us outside, who knew that about the best thirteen ringers in England were at the ropes, and who knew how these thirteen can ring, feared greatly for the first few seconds that something had gone wrong with the bell gear. All is well, however, that ends well, and we were afterwards treated to some very fine ringing, the method by which the changes were produced being one of the most intricate in use, and called by the initiated "Stedman's Cinques." The bells, cast, as has been said, by the Messrs. Taylor, of Loughborough, are tuned to the key of B flat, and hung in the north-west tower. They were presented by the various City Companies, the Turners' Company being joined, with her usual liberality, by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. The weights are as follows:

and a coronet above, and the shield of the Turners' Company, with the motto, "By faith I obteigne," and the inscription, "Presented by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts and the Turners' Company. Edward Caffin, Esq., Master."

The seventh, given by the Salters' Company, bears the arms of the company, with the motto, "Sal sapit omnia," and the inscription, "The gift of the Salters' Company. James Carr Fisher, Esq.,

Master."

The eighth, given by the Merchant Taylors' Company, bears their arms, the motto, "Concordia Parvæ Res Crescunt," and the words, "Presented by the Merchant Taylors' Company. Samuel Mason, Esq., Master."

The ninth, the gift of the Fishmongers' Company, bears the shield and the words, "All worship be to God only," with the inscription, "The gift of the Fishmongers' Company. Edward Edwards, Prime Warden."

The tenth, presented by the Cloth Workers' Company, bears their arms and the motto, "My trust is in God alone," and the inscription, "Presented by the Cloth Workers' Company. James Wyld, Esq., Master."

The eleventh, presented by the Grocers' Company, bears the arms of the company, the motto, "God grant grace," and the inscription, "The gift of the Grocers' Company. W. J. Thomson, Esq., jun., Master."

The twelfth, or tenor, is the gift of the Corporation of the City of London. It bears the shield of the

They all also bear the arms of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's.

The expense of hoisting and hanging the bells has been undertaken by the cathedral authorities. They are fitted with Ellacombe's chiming apparatus, which, by means of an extra hammer striking inside each bell, enables one man with ease to chime the whole twelve. This will, no doubt, be used for the daily services, and we hope to hear that the Ancient Society of College Youths, who had the honour of opening the bells, are to be employed on the higher festivals of the Church, if not on other special days, to ring them in the good old English fashion. The names of the first set of ringers who performed on them are as follows:-Messrs. Haley, senr. and junr., Cooter, Pettit, Mash, Haworth, Ferris, Dwight, Horrex, Muskett, Wood, Hayes, Dorrington, Reeves, and Jones.

We may add that the complaints and criticisms of Mr. Haweis and other dissentients have been thoroughly met by Sir Edmund Beckett, Bart., the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe, and other most competent judges. We are, therefore, left in the full belief that St. Paul's Cathedral has now in every particular one of the best, if not the very best, ring of twelve bells in the world.

Huntsham Court, Devonshire.

MONG the varied works | of creation, flowers have always held a prominent place, on account of their beauty and many charms, and from their displaying in their structure unmistakable signs of the mighty handiwork of God. Hence they have not only from the earliest times been represented in the social and religious ceremonies of most countries, but formed the source of many of the traditions, legends, and superstitions which have been handed down to us. Apart from their connection with botanical science, flowers have necessarily a very extensive history, and may be said to have exerted a powerful influence in the formation and development of the aesthetic tastes of mankind at large. This can be traced in the

*

of their rice, lest it should flit away and their crop perish. When the Tulein offers a prayer to the tree which he is about to cut down, it is because, says Mr. Fisk, he "regards it as endowed with a soul which in the next life may need to be propitiated." Indeed, the idea of a soul in plants is based on the theory of object-soul, which among uncivilised tribes invests with life whatever has to do with the affairs of this world. Thus the Fijians believe that if an axe or a chisel is worn out or broken up, away flies its soul for the service of the gods.

Again, a belief common to the Greeks and the Germans was that the progenitors of mankind were born of trees. In North and South Germany a hollow tree overhanging a pool is, says Mr. Kelly, known as the first abode of unborn infants. In Saterland they say "infants are fetched out of the cabbage," and in Belgium they are said to be found in the parson's garden. The English nursery fable of the parsley-bed, in which little strangers are found, is, Mr. Kelly considers, "a remnant of a fuller tradition, like that of the woodpecker among the Romans, and that of the stork among our Continental kinsmen." The worship of trees, once prevalent, no doubt rested on a belief in the existence of certain spirits, who, according to popular faith, had their dwelling in them. Thus, in Germany, trees being regarded as animated beings, in which spirits resided, were addressed by the title of Frau. Other supernatural characteristics of plants, as seen in their supposed curative powers and prophetical properties, will be noticed from time to time as they are connected with individual flowers treated of.

With these introductory remarks we will commence our flower folk-lore by referring to the daisy, which has been aptly termed the "modest crimsontipped flower." It was in days gone by a flower of great renown, being the device of Margaret of Anjou. Margaret of Valois had the daisy flower worn in her honour, and was called by her brother, Francis I, his "Marguerite of Marguerites." It is consequently called in France Marguerite, from the Latin Margarita, a pearl. In days gone by it was held in superstitious regard, chiefly on account of its star form. It is still the favourite flower of the German maiden in prognosticating her love affairs, and is even regarded by her with feelings of veneration. It appears to have other magical properties, for a correspondent of "Notes and Queries" informs us that early one spring a farmer in the neighbourhood of Birmingham, when walking round his fields, saw the first daisy of the year. He immediately went down on his face and bit it off, carefully preserving his mouthful. This curious ceremony is supposed to ensure good luck to agricultural pursuits. In many parts a proverb very prevalent is, "It isn't spring until you can plant your foot upon twelve daisies." In Scotland¶ there is a common saying connected with the early daisy,

"Like March gowans,

Rare but rich."

a tooth out must eat three daisies in order to insure
exemption from toothache for the future. Many of
our poets have made the daisy the subject of their
songs, and Chaucer was so enamoured with it that
he termed it the "eye of day." He says:—
"Above all flowres in the mede,

Than love I most those flowres white and rede,
Such that they callen daisies in our town."

Burns and Montgomery have both sung its praises, and the following little sonnet, entitled "Daisies for the Dead," by Elliott, is pretty :

"Peeps not a snowdrop in the bower, Where never froze the spring?

A daisy Oh! bring childhood's flower, The half-blown daisy bring!

Yes, lay the daisy's little head

Beside the little cheek;

Oh haste the last of five is dead! The childless cannot speak."

little volume on The Belgians, says Miss Pirie, in her charming Flowers, Grasses, and Shrubs" (p. 268), have "carried the cultivation of this modest flower' to a surprising extent. They have upwards of a hundred varieties, of all shades of colour.'

In the comedy entitled the "Mock Marriage," 1696, among the charms enumerated to cause a person to dream of his lover occurs the following:-" Hide some daisy roots under your pillow, and hang your shoes out of the window."

but abounds in almost every country lane, is the A plant which is by no means attractive-looking, plantain, or waybread. It has been popularly termed the "Englishman's Foot," for it is one of those plants which follow Europeans, they know not how. Indeed it has followed our colonists to every part of the world. The North American savages call it "the footsteps of the white man." footsteps of the white man." It is said to have the power of disordering the wits, and, according to Paracelsus, its root is changed every seven years into a bird. A writer in the "Quarterly Review" (July, 1863) says that the plantain, or waybread, is reported to have been once a maiden, who, watching by the wayside for her lover, was changed into the plant which still loves to fix itself by the beaten path. cuckoo or the cuckoo's servant, Once in seven years it becomes a bird, either the "the dinnick," as it is called in Devonshire (the German wiedhopf), which is said to follow its master everywhere. The plantain has also been credited with another remarkable property. In an old book, entitled "Natural and Ártificial Conclusions," by Thomas Hill, 1650, we read: "The virtue of a rare coal, that is to be found_but one hour in the day, and one day in the year. only to be found on Midsummer eve, just at noon, under every root of plantain and of mugwort; the effects whereof are wonderful; for whosoever weareth or beareth the same about with them, shall be freed from the plague, fever, ague, and sundry other dis

It is

* "Myths and Myth-makers," 1873, 231. "Indo-European Folk-lore," 1863, 90-92. Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," 1851, i. 257–282.

§ Miss Pirie's "Flowers, Grasses, and Shrubs," p. 266. "Fraser's Magazine," 1873, p. 720. Chambers's "Pop Rhymes," 1870, 205.

in the highlands of Scotland an ointment is made from its leaves, which is said to have excellent medicinal powers. Bruised plantain-leaves are said to cure the bites of stinging insects, and also to serve.

*Rousseau has given a minute account of the structure of the daisy.

as a remedy for cuts and bruises.* A curious divination is practised in Berwickshire by means of "kemp," i.e., spikes of the ribwort plantain. Two spikes one representing the lad, the other the lass-must be taken, Mr. Henderson tells us,t in full bloom, and, after being bereft of every appearance of bloom, should be wrapped in a dockleaf, and laid beneath a stone. If, on the following morning, the spikes appear in bloom, then, according to the popular belief, there will be "aye love between them twae." Clare, in his "Shepherd's Calendar," alludes to this

It is vulgarly called in Scotland and on the Eastern border, Grundy Swallow." It is one of the few plants found among the ashes of Mount Etna; and by the Canadians it is called fireweed, because it springs up from the ashes of the clearing fires.§ One of the species called Saracenicus is probably in memory of the Saracens, who are said to have made use of it for healing wounds.

The little pimpernel, well known as the poor man's

In

weather-glass, or shepherd's barometer, has been so
called from its closing its petals before rain.
fine weather it remains open the greater part of
the day. Gerarde, alluding to it as a weather prog-
nosticator, writes: "This plant in summer, and
especially in the month of August, at what time the
husbandmen, having occasion to go to their harvest-
work, will just behold the flower of the pimpernel,
whereby they know the weather that will follow the
next day after; as, for example, if the flowers be
close shut up, it betokeneth rain and foul weather."
It is a common weed || in the valley of the Nile,
and "its botanical name, which is derived from the
Greek, signifies a reviver of the spirits, in allusion to
the magical properties for which it was at one time
highly valued." An old proverb informs us that—

"No heart can think, no tongue can tell,
The virtues of the pimpernel."

According to a manuscript on magic, preserved in the Chesham Library, at Manchester, "The herb pimpernell is good to prevent witchcraft, as Mother Bumby doth affirme." The following lines, prompted probably by the red colour, were formerly used when it was gathered:

"Wake, pimpernell, I have thee found,
Growing upon Christ Jesus's ground,

The same guift the Lord Jesus gave unto thee,
When He shed His blood on the tree.
Arise up, pimpernell, and goe with me
And God blesse me,

And all that shall wear thee. Amen."

This incantation had to be repeated twice a day for fifteen days, early in the morning, fasting, and at evening. In Thuringia it is still considered as an

| infallible charm against any epidemic. The water pimpernel, called also brookweed, is supposed to be the plant which the Druids were in the habit of gathering, fasting, with the left hand, and without looking at it, ascribing to it magical virtues in the cure and prevention of diseases in cattle. The periwinkle of our hedges and banks has in France, says Miss Pirie, "been made emblematical of the pleasures of memory from the circumstance of Rousseau's saying, in one of his works, that as he and Madame Warens were on their way to Charmettes, she saw some of these flowers in the hedge, and exclaimed, 'Here is the periwinkle still in flower."" Thirty years afterwards, as Rousseau was climbing a hill in company with M. Peyron, he caught sight of the periwinkle in flower, which reminded him of the days gone by, when he was walking with Madame Warens, and he inadvertently cried out, "Ah, there is the periwinkle." It was in olden times used for chaplets, as in the ballad against the Scots: "A garlande of perevenke set on his heved."

The ivy-leaved speedwell is in some places called the "mother of wheat," from an idea that it will only grow freely on soils adapted for the cultivation of hailed with joy by farmers. that grain. Its presence, therefore, is generally

Sage has been supposed to possess remarkable properties, and in many parts of England we find the following piece of advice still carefully adopted :

"He that would live for aye,

Must eat sage in May."

Pepy's, in his "Diary" (vol. i. 260), tells us that between Gosport and Southampton he saw a little churchyard where the graves were all covered with sage. Our forefathers, it appears, had a great idea of this plant, and the old monkish rhyme says,

"Cur morietur homo cui crescit salvia in horto?" The moonwort was once believed to cure the madness so widely attributed to the influence of the moon. Hence its name. There is a popular superstition that wherever it grows the people in the neighbourhood are exceedingly honest. It has also been termed the "purple honesty." In former days it was said to possess the power of drawing the shoes from the feet of horses. Thus we read :

"And horse that, feeding on the grassy hills,
Tread upon moonwort with their hollow heels,
Though lately shod, at night goe barefoot home,
Their maister musing where their shoaes become.
O moonwort! tell us where thou hidst the smith,
Hammer and pincers, thou unshod'st them with?
Alas! what lock or iron engine is't

That can thy subtle secret strength resist,
Sith the best farrier cannot set a shoe

So sure, but thou (so shortly) canst undo?"

In

It was also thought, says Mrs. Lee, to be a powerful auxiliary in the proceedings of the alchemists. and witches, and to cure wounds and dysentery. addition, too, to pulling off shoes from horses' feet, it was supposed to open the locks of dwelling-houses if put into the keyhole. Turner, in his "British Physician" (1687), quaintly remarks that though

* Chambers's "Encyclopædia," 1878, vol. vii.

† Johnston's "Flora of Berwick," i. 8.

"Trees, Plants, and Flowers," 1854-70. See Brand's "Popular Antiquities," 1849, iii. 314.