Clover bracelet

The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover that has four leaflets instead of three. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck, although it is not clear when or how this idea began. One early mention of "Fower-leafed or purple grasse" is from 1640 and simply says that it was kept in gardens because it was "good for the purples in children or others".

A description from 1869 says that 4-leaf clovers were "gathered at night-time during the full moon by sorceresses, who mixed it with vervain and other ingredients, while young girls in search of a token of perfect happiness made quest of the plant by day." In an 1877 letter to St. Nicholas Magazine, an 11-year-old girl wrote, "Did the fairies ever whisper in your ear, that a 4-leaf clover brought good luck to the finder?"