The Irish standard., 1903-03-21
THE TRUE SHAMROCK.

Twas Saint Patrick himself, sure,
who set it.;
And the sun on his labor with pleasure
did smile,
And the tear from his eye oftimes
vet 1t.
1t grows through the bog, through the
brake, through the mireland;
And they call it the dear little Sham
rock of Ireland-Old Song.
Had the writer of the Irish ditty of
which the above stanza forms a part
been as positive as to the identity of
the plant itself as he is of its intro
ducer into the Little Green Isle, and
had his assertions been supported by
the necessary proof, he would have
set the minds of men at rest on a sub
feet which vet remains an open and
disputed question. Authorities still
differ as to what the true shamrock is;
and there is no ground for the belief
that it was introduced into Ireland by
st. Patrick, says writer in the New
York Sun.
In the ancient literature of Erin the
word occurs variously as seamsog,
seamrog, seamroge, shamrote, sham
rocke, shamroke, shamrogh or sham
roote, shamrug, shamroge, seamar-oge
and chambroch. The word shamrock
u Erse, being derived from seamrog,
compound Of seaman, meaning tre-
foil, and og, little-little clover. Sea-
mar is supposed to be the same as
sumar, obtained from the Celtic name
af the clover-visumarus
As to the plant itself, it is generally
considered that true shamrock is either
the Black Noncsuch or the Dutch clo-
yer, with a decided preference for the
hrst named, on no less an authority
than the curator of the Dublin Botanic
Gardens, and other competent persons
There are, however, some who hold
that Trifolium repens or Trifolium
41AAOo 10 IuC IL uc
Other writer's have adopted the fancy
of Bicheno, who advocated the right
c: the wood sorrel to this honor This
last belief may have arisen from the
appearance of the word scamsoge,
meaning wood sorrel in old Irish writ
inss, referring to the shamrock, but by
fn ind 1,t, s.,
thought to be misprint the word
seamroge, signifying meadow trefo;l,
having been meant.
The earliest references to the sham
rock in Irish literature deal with it as
n food plant.
CampioE in his "Historie cf Ireland"
dated 1871, says in speaking of the
food Of the common people, "Sham-
'retes, watercresses, and other herbes
they feed upon; oatmele and butter
they cram together"
Matthias LObel, the Flemish botanist,
who published his "Stirpium Advcr-
,saria Nova" in 1870, appears to be the
first botanical writer to mention the
plant. Tie cnumerates the purple and
lI'e white trefoil, and says of the lat
der, "Jt is stated to be good for fattcn-
ang CATTLE" adding that the Irish grind
tho flowers and leaves into Il meal,
which they kncad with butter, and
Thrust into their groaning bellies,
when it sometimes happens they are
vexed and nigh maddcncd with ~
three days hunger"
Edmund Spcnsrr, in 1898, also tells
Of the Irish people feeding on "sham-
rokes," or watercress, when reduced
to starvation during the Munster wars.
In the itinerary" of Fyncs Moryson,
written in 1899, this passage occurs in
a description Of the Irish "Thcy will
alngly eat the hcrbe scllamrock, being
of Z sharpe taste, which as they run
and are chased to anu fro, they snatch
Alike beasts out Of the ditchcs." This
statement has given rise to the belief
that the watercrcss was the shamrock.
although some have identified Mory-
sons shamrock" with the wood sor-
rel, Oxalis acetosclla, a trifoliatc plant,
with acid juice, which grows abund-
:antly In Irish woodlands.
The shamrock food Of the Irish was
supposed to make them strong and
swift Of foot. II. Mundy refers to this
TACT in n work writtnn Inv him in 1900
The nourishing qualities of the food
are also CLEANED from the statement
of the Earl of Antrim during the siege
of Munster by the Earl Of Argyle, to
the effect that as long as shamrocks
were available no apprehension regard
ang the food supply need exist.
About 1772 the shamrock as an ar
aicle Of food in Ireland was supplantcd
by the potato.
st. Patrick is believed to have lived
about 377 A. D.; yet the legend con-
meeting his name with the national
badge Of Ireland does not make its
appearance in the literature Of the
country until 1851. An English trav-
nller, Thomas Dinely, wrote during the
reign Of Charles II.
The 18th day of March yeerly is
st Patrick's, an immoveable feast,
when ye Irish of all stations and con-
ditfons wear crosses in their hats, some
of pins, some Of green ribbon, and the