The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1896-06-17

Little Plant Revered by Poets.
The most probable origin of the name
clover is that which derives it from the
Latin clava--cluhs-as the clover leaf
slightly resembles the three pronged
club of Hercules. 1t is said, too, that
the clubs of our playing cards are in
imitation of the same leaf There are
many varieties of this common but IA
vorite plant, and, Notwithstanding its
practical uses in agriculture, about 1t
superstition has woven many quaint and
interesting legends
| The common red clover was once re-
puted to be baneful to witches, and peo-
pie of high and low degree wore the
leaf, considering it n powerful charm
against their spells. 1t is supposed to
have been introduced into England from
| the Netherlands during the reign of
! Queen Elizabeth.
The thorny clover (Medieago eelumis)
is called Calvary clover ON account of
some of its peculiarities. In the first
| place, it must be sowed in the spring,
and some say ON Good Friday As the
leaves appear above ground they have
a deep red spot, resembling fresh split
blood, ON each of their three divisions,
which will remain for some time before
| dying away The three leaflets stand
erect during the day with arms extended,
but at sunset the arms are brought to-
gether, and the upper leaftet is bowed
over them as if in prayer. After time
q small yellow flower appears, and later
a spiral pod, covered with sharp thorns.
| These thorns interlace with one another
as they ripen and form globular head,
| which when fully matured may be re-
moved from its spiral coils, and the
striking resemblance to crown of
thorns is plainly seen. Thus its blood
stained leaves, its extended arms and
bowed head and the day when the seed
was first planted to await its resurrec-
ton have caused it to be christened Cal
vary clover. 1t is fitting, too, that Pales-
| tine should be claimed as its native
| land.
| Legend says that the three leaved
clover, generally regarded rs an emblem
of the Trinity, was first used by St
Patrick to illustrate how three separate
objects, such as leaves, could yet form
one. Those deeply versed in legendary
lore however, claim that st. Patrick
borrowed rather than originated the
sanctity of the shamrock (Medicago lu-
pullman, held in the hand of Hope
among the Greeks, when he thus illus
| trated the Trinity in its three or found |
| the cross i'll its four leaves.
In the east also the trefoil is sacred, |
rs the holy books of Persia and Arabia |
| tell, and the legend of st. Patrick driy- |
| ing the snakes out of Ireland has n more
ancient root, for the Latins believed
| that snakes were never seen near tho
| trefoil SO il st. Patrick wore it he
was invested with additional power to
Danish these invaders. DR.. Prior says
that this plant is regarded in Ireland as
the true shamrock. 1t has been asserted
that it was still more ancient religious
symbol and expressed among the an
cient Teutonic race tho three grades of
druids, bards and neophytes. The |
druids held tho clover i'll great honor |
as a charm. Hope was depicted by the |
ancients rs child standing on tiptoe |
and holding q clover bloom i'll its hand. |
But it is i'll connection with the four |
leaved clover that manifold myths have |
been developed Owing to its scarcity it |
has generally been believed that it |
would bring luck to tho finder. This |
superstition is referred TO III this old |
stanza:
When sitting in the grass we see
A little four leaved clover,
'Tis luck for thee and luck for me
And luck for any lover.
If lover can find two four leaved |
clovers and induce the object of his love |
to eat one while no swallows the other, |
mutual love is sure TO result.
The four leaved clover brings mys-
terious powers with it if it is found on |
St Johns eve, they say in the Tyrol. |
Like fern seed, it can render the wearer |
invisible Mt will and gives especial good |
fortune in gambling. If n clover is coli
cealed in a gift, it will enhance its
value. A German proverb says of u |
lucky man, "Er hat Elm vierblaettriges |
Kleeblatt gefunden" ('He has found "a |
four leaved clover"D.
The fact that its four leaves are ar
ranged III the form of a cross gives it its |
Significance One who wears bit of it
can detect the presence of evil spirits.
While the four Ieaved clover il said
by tradition to possess weird magic
influence, the three leaved is looked
upon more in the light of religious
symbol. Shakespeare Rosalind asks.
"Can one desire too much of good
thing?" and may be answered, eyes, i'll
respect to clover leaves" for, notwith
standing the wonderful virtues every
where ascribed to the four leaved clover,
the finder OF tho five leaved will havo |
bad luck.
Even the two leayed clover is not UNI |
regarded, but has its legend, and the
lucky maid who secures one is by its |
influence enabled to SEQ her future lover. |
The lowliest blossoms have always |
called forth the poets praises, and even |
Shakespeare alludes to the clover as
"honey stallxs''--a fitting name, as the |
bees revel in its sweetness. James |
Whitcomb Riley holds it in greater es-
TEEN than many more brilliant flowers, |
and to quote one stanza from his poem: |
Some sing Of the lily and daisy and
And tho pansies and pinks that the summer |
time throws
In tho green, grassy lap Of the medder that
Blinkn up at the skies through the sunshiny
days.
But what is tho lily and all Of tho rest
OF tho flowers to n man with heart In his
breast
That has dipped brimmin full of tho honey |
and dow
OF the sweet clover blossoms his boyhood
knew?
M r. Silsby in New York Post