| 03/06/2006
Found in marshes, damp meadows and wet woodland clearings the Ragged Robin (Meadow Lychnis) flowers in June and July. This one was found amongst the grass on a bridleway at Fermyn Woods in East Northamptonshire.
 It's also called the Cuckoo Flower and over the centuries has had its fair share of stories and superstitions attached to it.
Apparently, in medieval times, it obtained the title of the 'Flower of the Blessed Sacrament,' the flower recalling the rayed monstrance with crystal centre so familiar to the eyes of Catholic peoples.
It's said that men carried the plant in their pockets and they were guaranteed success in love if the plant thrived. By the 1600s girls carried the plant as well under their aprons, giving each plant the name of a local boy. The flower that opened first would bear the name of the boy she would marry or who wanted to marry her. Some Yorkshire folk call the plant the Thunder Flower. The plant also has sinister associations with goblins and evil spirits.
In Victorian flower language, the Ragged Robin indicated wit.
FIND MORE INFORMATION BY SEARCHING SITES ON GOOGLE
|
MOST PICTURES HERE WERE TAKEN USING A PANASONIC FZ30 OR FZ20 DIGITAL CAMERA
ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS CAN BE POSTED TO THE COUNTRYSIDE SECTION
OF OUR
NORTHANTS FORUMS
NOTEBOOK INDEX - NOTEBOOK ARCHIVES - MAIN INDEX - WHAT'S ON GUIDE - ON LINE SHOPPING
| June 2006 | | S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| | | | | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |
| |
