Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-05-10

HOVER forget-I1e-not; about which an man
sentimental associations hate clustered owe
it's name to the legends told of its talisniani
virtues. A man, travelling on a lionel
S mouhtaid, pioks ~ d little Blue flower an,
: sticks it in his hat. Forthwith an ifon scc
opens showing up lighted passageway
through which the man advances into
magnificent hail, 2htre tubi9s and diamond
and all other kinds Of gems are living piied 4
great heaps on the floor As he eagerly fiji
his pockets his hat drops from his head, an
when he turns to 90 out the little fove
calls after him, &" Forget me not =" II
turns back and looks around, but is too be
W'iaered with bis good fortune to think O
his bare head or of the luck flower which h
has let fall. He selects several more of tn
finest jewels he con find, and again starts t
20 out but as be passes through the doc
the mountain closes amid the crashing O
thunder, and cuts off one of his heels Alone
10 the gloom of the forest, he searches il
vain for the mysterious door it has disap
\ Peared forever, ana the traTeller goes on hi
way thankful, let us hope, that he has farce
no worse.
Sometimes it is white lady, like the
PrIn cess llse, who invites the finder of the
luck-tower &c. help himself to her treasures
and Tho utters the ehlgmatical wernine
The mountain where the event occurred NAV
be found almost anywhere in Germany, and
one just like it stood in Persia. in the golden
prime of Haroun Alraschid. In the story Of
the Forty hievcs, the mere name of the
plant sesame serves as a talisman to open
and shut the secret door which leads into the
robbers cavern and when the avaricious
Casslm Baba, absorbed in the contemplation
of the bags OF gold and bales Of rich rnsr-
chandlsc, forgetS the magic formula, he
mi pafE m hot &. &
the llsenstein. In the story of Prince All
med, it 10 an enchanted afroS which guides
the young adventurer through the hillside
to the grotto of the Peri Banou. In the
tale OF Baba Abdallah, it is an ointment
rubbed on the eyelid which reveals al a sin
gle glance all the treasures hidden in the
bowels of the earth
The ancient Romans also had their rock
breaking plant, called sarifraqa, or sassa-
fras y And the further we penetrate into
this charmed circle of tradition5 the more
evident does it appear that the power Of
cleavlng rocks or shattering hard substances
enters, as an indispensable element, into the
primitive conception of these treasure show
ing talismans. Mr.. Barring Gould bas given
an excellent account of the rabbinical legends
concerning the Wonderful schamir, by the
aid OF which Solomon was said to hare built
his temple From Asmodeus. Prince OF the
jam, Benalah, the son of Jehoiada, wrested
the secret OF a worm no bigger than barley
corn, which could split the hardest sub
stance This worm was called scbamir
- If Solomon desired to possess himself OF
the worm he must find the nest Of the moor
hen, and cover it with a plate of glass. so
that the mother bird could not get at her
young without breaking the glass She
would seek schamir for the purpose, and the
10 ~ o. 4 e.
Jewish king did need the worm in order to
hew the stones for that temple which was to
be built without sound Of hammer, or axe, |
Or any tool Of irOn,+ he sent Benaiah to OBJ !
tain it. According to another account, scha- |
mir was mystic stone which enabled Solo |
mon to penetrate the earth in search of min |
sral wealth. Directed by Jinni, the wise |
King covered a ravens eggs with plate Of
crystal, and thus obtained schamir which /
The bird brought in order 20 break the plate |
In these traditions, which may possibly be |
IF Aryan descent, due to the prolonged in
ercOurse between the Jews and the Persians,
new feature is added to those before emu
neTated the rock splitting talisn1an Is al
Ways found in the possession of a bird The
ame feature in the myth reappears on Ary-
N soil. The springwort, whose marvellous
)owers we have noticed in tFe case of the
lsenstein shepherd, is obtained, according
o Pliny, by stopping up the hole IN a tree
where a WOOdpecker keeps its young. The
,ird flies away, and presently returns with
he springwort, which it applies to the plug,
ausing 1t to shoot out with a loud explO-
ion. The same account is given in German
Olk-lore. Elsewhere, as in Iceland Nor
nandy and ancient Greece the bird Is an
agile, swallow, an ostrich, or a hOOpOe.
In the Icclandic and POmeranian myths
oh or - alaa ]
ers it's possess0r inyisible.-a property
which it shares with one of the treasure
nding plants, the fern In this respect 1t
esembles the ring Of Gyges, as 10 its divln-
ng and rOck-splItting qualities 1t resembles
hat other ring which the African magician
ave to Aladdin, to enable him TO descend
nto the cavern where stood the wonderful
amp.
In the North of Europe schamir appears
trangely and grotesquely metamorphOsed.
he hand of man that has been hanged,
hen dried and prepared with certain weird
nguents and set on fire, is known as the
and Of glory and as it not only bursts
pen all safe-locks, but also lulls to sleep all
ersone within the circle Of It's influence, it
$ of course invaluable to thieves and bur
lars. quote the following story from
'horpe's - Northern Mythology -: " Two
elbows once came to lIuy, who pretended to
e exceedingly fatigued, and when they had
upped " ould not retire to a sleeping room,
ut begged their host would allow them to
a ke q nap on the hearth. But the maid
ervant, who did not like the looks of the
wo guests, remained by the kitchen door
nd peepcd through a chink, when che saw
bat one Of them drew thiefs hand from !
is pocket, the fngers OF which, after having r
ubbed them with an ointment, he lighted,
nd they all burned except one. Again they !
ED this finger to the fire, but still it would
OF burn, at which they appeared much sur
riscd and one said, - There must surely :
e some one in the house who is not yet r
sleep . They then hung the hand with :
: four burning fi0gers by the chimney, and
ent out to call their associates. But the +
laid followed them instantly and made the +
oor fast, then ran up stairs, where the g
.ndlord slept, that she might wake him. a
ut was unable, Notwithstanding all her p
laking and calling. In the mean time the a.,
lieves had returned and were endeavoring q
, enter the house by window, but the !
aid cast them down from the ladder. /
hey then took different course, and would 7
ave forced an entrance, had it not occurred +
, the maid that the burning fingers might =
robablv be the cause of her masters
rofound sleep. Impressed with this idea
le ran to the kitchen and blew them out, ,
hen the master and his men servants in
antIy awoke, and soon drove away the rob {
srs. : The same event is said to have oc- q
1rrcd at Stainmore in England; and Tor
uemada relates of Mexican thieves that
lev carry with them the left hand of a wo- :
an who has died ID her first chlldbed, be-
re which talisman all bolts yield and all o
,nosition is benumbed In 1881 - some
.Isb thieves attempted to commit robbery "
/ the estate of Mr.. Naper, of Loughcrew, u
,unty Meath. They entered the house
-med with a dead mans hand with light r
candle in 1t, believing in the superstitlous
,,ior tina. a candle placed in a dead mans ;