6.  St. John, “Far East,” i. 187.

7.  See Tylor’s “Primitive Culture,” i. 475.

8.  Dorman’s “Primitive Superstitions,” p. 294; also Schoolcraft’s
   “Indian Tribes.”

9.  See Thorpe’s “Northern Mythology,” iii. 61.

10.  “Origin of Civilisation,” 1870, p. 192.  See Leslie Forbes’ “Early
   Races of Scotland,” i. 171.

11.  Folkard’s “Plant-lore, Legends, and Lyrics,” p. 463.

12.  Conway’s “Mystic Trees and Flowers,” Blackwood’s Magazine, 1870,
   p. 594.

13.  Thorpe’s “Northern Mythology,” i. 212.

14.  See Black’s “Folk-Medicine.”

15.  “Mystic Trees and Flowers,” p. 594.

16.  “Primitive Culture,” ii. 215.

17.  Metam., viii. 742-839; also Grimm’s Teut.  Myth., 1883, ii. 953-4

18.  Grimm’s Teut.  Myth., ii. 653.

19.  Quoted in Tylor’s “Primitive Culture,” ii. 221.

20.  Thorpe’s “Northern Mythology,” ii. 72, 73.

21.  Ibid., p. 219.

22.  “Superstitions of Modern Greece,” by M. Le Baron d’Estournelles, in
   Nineteenth, Century, April 1882, pp. 394, 395.

23.  See Dorman’s “Primitive Superstitions,” p. 288.

24.  “The Tempest,” act i. sc. 2.

25.  Dorman’s “Primitive Superstitions,” p. 288.

26. Ibid., p. 295.

27.  See chapter on Demonology.

28.  See Keary’s “Outlines of Primitive Belief,” 1882, pp. 66-7.

29.  Metam., viii. 714:—­

“Frondere Philemona Baucis, Baucida conspexit senior frondere Philemon. ...  ’Valeque, O conjux!’ dixere simul, simul abdita texit Ora frutex.”

30.  Thorpe’s “Northern Mythology,” i. 290, iii. 271.

31.  Grimm’s “Teut.  Mythology,” ii. 827.

32.  Cox and Jones’ “Popular Romances of the Middle Ages,” 1880, p. 139

33.  Smith’s “Brazil,” p. 586; “Primitive Superstitions,” p. 293.

34.  See Folkard’s “Plant-lore, Legends, and Lyrics,” p. 524.

35.  See the Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1875, p. 315.

36.  According to another legend, forget-me-nots sprang up.

CHAPTER II.

PRIMITIVE AND SAVAGE NOTIONS RESPECTING PLANTS

The descent of the human race from a tree—­however whimsical such a notion may seem—­was a belief once received as sober fact, and even now-a-days can be traced amongst the traditions of many races.[1] This primitive idea of man’s creation probably originated in the myth of Yggdrasil, the Tree of the Universe,[2] around which so much legendary lore has clustered, and for a full explanation of which an immense amount of learning has been expended, although the student of mythology has never yet been able to arrive at any definite solution on this deeply intricate subject.  Without entering into the many theories proposed in connection with this mythical tree, it no doubt represented the life-giving forces of nature.  It is generally supposed to have been an ash tree, but, as Mr. Conway[3] points out, “there is reason to think that through the confluence of traditions other sacred trees blended with it.  Thus, while the ash bears no fruit, the Eddas describe the stars as the fruit of Yggdrasil.”