by Kathy
Woolsey
Shamrock Shenanigans
The days of my youth were spent happily in the
backyard playing croquet and looking for four leaf clovers. My cousin Joanne and I spent hours close to the ground among the white clover flowers seeking
out the prized four leaf clover surrounded the many three leaf clovers.
We would make daisy chains out of the flowers
for necklaces and headbands. The coveted four leaf clovers were often
pressed into Bibles and other books to show off for later. Our ability to find
four leaf clovers impressed many other children and adults. Back then
‘White Dutch’ clover was planted with grass seed to help improve the soil. Like
all legumes, clover had nitrogen fixing bacteria in its roots therefore it could
help feed the grass. ‘Dutch Clover’, Trifolium
repens only grows about 6 inches tall and makes a great cool season
ground cover. Many types of native bees and honey bees sip nectar from the
flowers of clover. I was shocked to learn that ‘White Dutch’ Clover is often
considered a weed in lawns and people buy herbicides to kill it. I don't
like certain weeds in my lawn either, but I always avoid killing the Clover
because even to this day I will stop and look for a few four-leaf clovers.
Myth Buster
But how did the Clover become a symbol for St.
Patrick and Christian Ireland?
There are 2 thing most folks know about St.
Patrick: He went to Ireland as a missionary and used the 3 leaf clover the
teach about the Trinity and he drove the snakes out of Ireland.
Well let’s clear up this snake myth right away.
There were no snakes in Ireland. Some islands like Iceland, New Zealand and
Ireland have not had these reptiles since before the last ice age. Myth Busted!
As for the clover myth, there is a good possibility
it may be true. Part of the problem is that St. Patrick lived a very, very long
time ago, March 17 in 493 is generally believed
to be the date of his death. There are only two documents believed to have been
written by him These are the “Declaration” and the “Letter to
the soldiers of Coroticus”. In the “Declaration” he gives the story
of his life. There is no mention of clovers, shamrocks or snakes in either
document.
Shamrock comes from Irish seamróg,
which means small clover. There are many members of the Clover or Trifolium
family in Europe. Trifolium dubium, with yellow flowers and Trifolium repens, with white
flowers are common plants in Ireland and would have been a handy visual aid for
St.Patrick or any Christian missionary. The first time St.Patrick was depicted
holding a shamrock was in 1675 on a coin call the St. Patrick's Copper.
On the coin St. Patrick is dressed as a bishop and holding a clover and
preaching to a crowd. Was the clover put on the coin to symbolize the Trinity
or Ireland?
But is the clover of my childhood the real
shamrock? Two recent surveys were conducted in Ireland asking people to
identify the shamrock. More than half of the people call the yellow flowering Trifolium
dubium the shamrock, about 1/3 said the ‘White Dutch’ was the
shamrock. Less than 10% identified Trifolium pratense red clover or Medicago lupulina Black Medick as Shamrocks.
Oxalis acetosella the Wood Sorrel was
identified by less than 3% as the shamrock. Oddly enough in America Oxalis
is often sold at garden centers as “Shamrocks” even though most Irish would
disagree. Black Medick is a common lawn and roadside weed and more
abundant in the south than ‘White Dutch’ or the common red clover. Both
‘White Dutch’ and Black Medick bloom during the month of March.
I think there was a good possibility that St. Patrick or other Christian Missionaries could have used a 3 leaf clover to explain the Trinity. So why are the 4 leaf clovers lucky? Perhaps it is because they are rare, but to me they represent the Cross.
