SELAGO AND SAMOLUS

In common with the mistletoe and vervain the Druids held the Selago and Samolus as sacred plants, and never approached them but in the most devout and reverential manner. When they were gathered for religious purposes the greatest care was taken lest they should fall to the earth, for it was an established principle of Druidism, that every thing that was sacred would be profaned if allowed to touch the ground; hence their solicitude to catch the anguinum: “————————— When they bear Their wond’rous egg aloof in air: Thence before to earth it fall, The Druid in his hallow’d pall Receives the priz…