The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1896-08-05
THE .LOWLY CLOVER.
ITS PLACE ~ SUPERSTITION AND Leg
ENDS ABOUT II.
Calvary Clover Seems Entitled 60 It's Name.
Glover With Four Leaves IL Believed
Everywhere to Bring Good Luck-The
Little Plant Revered by Poets.

clover is that which derives il from the
Latin clava-clubs-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 it's
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 PEG.
pie of high and low degree wore the
leaf, considering it powerful charm
against their spells. 1t is supposed 10
have been introduced into England from
the Netherlands during the reign of
Queen Elizabeth.
The thorny clover (Medicago eclumis)
is called Calvary clover en- 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
but at sunset the arms are brought to-
gether, and the upper leafiet is bowed
over them as if in prayer After time
a small yellow flower appears, ard later
a spiral pod, covered with sharp thorns.
These thorns interlace with one another
as they ripen and form a globular head,
which when fully matured may be re-
moved from its spiral coils, and the
striking resemblance to a 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 as all 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-
pulina), held in the hand of Hope
among the Greeks, when he thus illus
trated the Trinity in its three or found
the cross in its four leaves.
In the east also the trefoil is sacred,
as the holy books of Persia and Arabia
tell, and the legend of st. Patrick driv-
ing the snakes out Of Ireland has more
ancient root, for the Latins believed
that snakes were never seen near the
trefoil. So if 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 the three grades of
druids, bards and neophytes. The
druids held the clover in great honor
as charm. Hope was depicted by the
ancients rs a child standing on tiptoe
and holding clover bloom III its hand.
But 1t is in 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 the finder This
superstition is referred 10 in this old
stanza;
When sitting in the grass we see
A little four leaved clover
It's luck for thee and luck for me
And luck for any lover.
If a lover can find two four leaved
clovers and induce the object of his love
to eat one while he swallows the other,
mutual love is sure to result.
The four leaved clover brings mys-
terious powers with it if it is found Oh
ST. Johns eve, they say in the Tyrol.
Like fern seed, it can render the wearer
invisible at will and gives especial good
fortune i'll gambling. If clover is con-
cealed in a gift, it will enhance its
value. A German proverb says of "a
lucky man, Err hat Elm vierblaettriges
Kleeblatt gefunden" che has found
four leaved clover").
The fact that its four leaves are ar
ranged III the form of cross gives il its
significance. One who wears bit of il
can detect the presence Of evil spirits
While the four leaved clover is said
by tradition TO possess weird magic
influence, the three leaved is looked
upon more in the light of a religious
symbol. Shakespeare Rosalind asks,
Can one desire too much of a good
thing?" and may be answered, Eyes, in
respect to clover leaves, +" for notwith
standing the wonderful virtues every.
where ascribed 20 the four leaved clover.
the finder Of the five leaved will have
bad luck.
Even the two leaved clover is not un-
regarded, but has its legend, and the
lucky maid who secures one is by its
influence enabled TO see her future lover.
The lowliest blossoms have always
called forth the poets praises, and even
Shakespeare alludes to the clover as
Honey stalks "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 rose