Foxglove.
These are coming into their own now and flourishing.
it seems the name was in the first place, foxes' glew, or music, in reference to the favourite instrument of an earlier time, a ring of bells.
They do look like bells, but the shape of the flowers also suggest a glove, and may have been easily corrupted from folks glove into foxglove.
Foxglove is a very ancient name, traceable in a list of plants as old as the time of Edward III, and it is arguably likely that the pretty coloured bells of the plant would be designated "folksgloves", afterwards, "foxglove".
In Wales The legend is that it is a favourite lurking-place of the fairies, who make a snapping sound when children, holding one end of the digitalis bell, suddenly strike the other on the hand to hear the clap of "fairy thunder", with which the indignant fairy makes her escape from her injured retreat.
In Scotland it is called "bloody fingers" and "deadman's bells".
In Wales it is "fairy-folks-fingers" or "lambs-tongue-leaves".
- 4
- 0
Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.