Legend of the green shamrocks “St. Patrick’s Day” EDITORIAL By MURIEL J. SMITH Posted:03/03/10
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Sure and begorra, even the Emerald Isle is being taunted by commercialism. The luck of the Irish and shamrocks are being confused with the lucky four-leaf clover. It's not so much a bad thing, as it is a confusing thing. And if a leprechaun found out about it, it could be downright unlucky! See for yourself.
Pick up a couple of St. Patrick's Day cards or look closely at some posters promoting the Saint's day and count whether there are three or four leafs on the clover. Look at some of the curios in gift shops and count the clovers on the stem. Check out signs for St. Patrick's Day and see if the clover is three or four leafed. You'll find that there is considerable confusion between the shamrock, a three-leaf clover, and the unusual but not rare four-leaf clover, reputed to bring good luck.
The shamrock...not the four-leaf clover is connected with Ireland, with St. Patrick and with religious beliefs of several different denominations. Actually, the shamrock isn't even a clover, when it gets right down to it.
At one time called the "seamrog," which means little clover, the shamrock was the plant tradition says St. Patrick used to explain the Trinity...three persons in one God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While preaching throughout the country, legend has it that Patrick would stoop down to pick up a seamrog, display the stem and the three leafs, and explain that while they are all individual and separate, they are indeed one, just as the Trinity is.
But even before Patrick roamed the hills and dales of Erin, the Druids regarded the shamrock as a sacred plant. They believed the leaves formed a triad, or three, and three is a sacred and mystical number to the Druids. In Arabia, it's the shamrakh, in Iran, it is an emblem of Persian triads, and to all it is a sacred plant. Which might also be why Patrick chose to use it to convert the Celts to Christianity.
While shamrock translates to clover in English, there are numerous varieties of clover, the shamrock not being one. There are various opinions on what was the original shamrock plant that Patrick used, but most believe it was the Trifolium repens, forma minus, of the family Leguminosae. A white clover, a creeping white flowered perennial. The white clover was highly regarded by the Celts in Wales, who saw it as a charm against evil spirits. More proof that Patrick chose a pagan symbol to emphasize Christian beliefs.
Still, others hold to the belief that the original shamrock was Trifloium dubium, or hop clover, the Medicago lupulina, or black medick, or the Trifolium Pretense, or red clover. Others think the shamrock is actually Oxalis acetoselia, from the wood sorrel family, perhaps because of its ability to be easily cultivated and kept as a houseplant. Others think the wood sorrels are unlikely, since they come from South or Central America, in climates and geography considerably different from the shades of green connected to the Emerald Isle. Regardless of the specific plant, legend, tradition and history all point to St. Patrick's shamrock as the three leaf variety. No exceptions.
The four-leaf clover, on the other hand, has a different history, one distinct and different from the trinity of a shamrock, but possibly still tracing its roots to the Celts. The same Druids who looked at three as a mystical number appeared to have looked at the unusual four leaf clover as a lucky charm, something powerful enough to dispel evil spirits from all who carried it. It has been said that the leaves stand for faith, hope, love and luck, or, as the once popular song goes, for "sunshine, rain, roses, and somebody I adore." They're considered lucky because of their rarity. There's probably only one four leaf clover in every field of 10,000 trefoils.
While both a three leave clover, or shamrock, and the four-leaf clover can be considered lucky charms or talisman, at least for those Irish or want to be, and certainly around the 17th of March, it's only the shamrock that deserves prominence. Ask any leprechaun.
