The divine weed,
vervain, said by the ancient
Romans to cure the bites of all
rabid animals to arrest the progress of
venom, to cure the
plague, to avert
sorcery and
witchcraft, to reconcile
enemies, etc. So highly esteemed was it that feasts called
Verbenalia were annually held in its honour.
Heralds wore a wreath of vervain when they declared war; and the
Druids held vervain in similar veneration.
"Lift your boughs of vervain blue,
Dipt in cold September dew;
And dash the moisture, chaste and clear,
O'er the ground, and through the air.
Now the place is purged and pure."
--Mason.