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Teutonic mythology, the Ash is the most venerated of trees, and
the Scandinavian Edda, the sacred book of the Northmen, furnishes
a detailed account of the mystic Ash Yggdrasill, or mundane tree,
beneath whose shade was the chief or holiest seat of the gods,
where they assembled every day in council. (See Y g g d r a s i l l .)
According to the old Norse tradition, it was out of the wood of the
Ash that man was first formed ; and the Greeks entertained a similar
belief, for we find Hesiod deriving his brazen race of men from it.
The goddess Nemesis was sometimes represented with an Ashen
wand. Cupid, before he learnt to use the more potent Cypress,
employed Ash for the wood of his arrows. At the Nuptials of
Peleus and Thetis, Chiron appeared with a branch of Ash, from
which was made the lance of Peleus, wHc^ afterwards became
the spear of Achilles. Rapin writes of this tree—
“ But on fair levels and a gentle soil
The noble Ash rewards the planter’s toil.
Noble e’er since Achilles from her side
Took the dire spear by which brave Hector died ;
Whose word resembling much the hero’s mind,
Will sooner break than bend—a stubborn kind.”
There exists an old superstition, that a serpent will rather
creep into the fire than, over a twig of the Ash-tree, founded upon
the statements of Pliny with respedt to the magical powers of the
Ash against serpents. It was said that serpents always avoidec,
the shade of the Ash ; so that if a fire and a serpent were placed
within a circle of Ash-leaves, the serpent, to avoid the Ash, would
even run into the midst of the fire. Cowley, enumerating various
prodigies, says :—
“ On the wild Ash’s tops, the bats and owls,
With, all night, ominous and baleful fowls,
Sate brooding, while the screeches of these droves
Profaned and violated all the groves. * * * * * *
But that which gave more wonder than the rest,
Within an Ash a serpent built her nest.
And laid her eggs ; when once to come beneath
The very shadow of an Ash was death.”
There exists a popular belief in Cornwall, that no kind of
snake is ever found near the “ Ashen-tree, and that a branch of
the Ash will prevent a snake from coming _ near a person. There,
is a legend that a child, who was in the habit of receiving its portion
of bread and milk at the cottage door, was found to be in the habit
of sharing its food with one of the poisonous adders. The peptile
came regularly every morning, and the child, pleased with the
beauty of his companion, encouraged the visits. So the babe and
the adder thus became close friends. Eventually this became
known to the mother (who, being a labourer in the fields, was compelled
to leave her child all day), and she found it to be a matter
of great difficulty to keep the snake from the child whenever it
was left alone. She therefore adopted the precaution of binding
an Ashen-twig about its body. The adder no longer came near
the child; but, from that day forward, the poor little one pined
away, and eventually died, as all around said, through grief at
having lost the companion by whom it had been fascinated.
On the subjedt of the serpent’s antipathy to the Ash, we find
Gerarde writing as follows :—“ The leaves of this tree are of so
great vertue against serpents, that they dare not so much as touch
the morning and evening shadowes of the tree, but shun them afar
off, as Pliny reports {lib. 16, c. 13). He also affirmeth that the
serpent being penned in with boughes laid round about, will
sooner run into the fire, if any be there, than come neare the
boughes of the Ash ; and that the Ash floureth before the serpents
appeare, and doth not cast its leaves before they be gon againe.
We write (saith he) upon experience, that if the serpent be set
within a circle of fire and the branches, the serpent will sooner
run into the fire than into the boughes. It is a wonderfull
courtesie in nature, that the Ash should floure before the serpents
appeare, and not cast his leaves before they be gon againe.”
Other old writers affirm that the leaves, either taken inwardly, or
applied outwardly, are singularly good against the biting of snakes
or venomous beasts; and that the water distilled from them, and
taken every morning fasting, is thought to abate corpulence. The
ashes of the Ash and Juniper are stated to cure leprosy.
The pendent winged seeds, called spinners or keys, were
believed to have the same effeit as the leaves : in country places
there is to this day an opinion current, that when these keys are
abundant, a severe Winter will follow. A bunch of Ash-keys is
still thought efficacious as a protedtion against witchcraft.
In marshy situations, the roots of the Ash will run a long way
at a considerable depth, thus adting as sub-drains : hence the
proverb, in some parts of the country, “ May your foot-fall be by
the root of the Ash.” In the Spring, when the Ash and Oak are
coming into leaf, Kentish folk exclaim :— “ Oak, smoke ; Ash,
squash,” I f the Oak comes out first, they believe the Summer
will prove h o t; if the Ash, it will be wet.
“ I f the Oak’s before the Ash,
You will only get a splash;
I f the Ash precedes the Oak,
You will surely have a soak.”
Gilbert White tells us of a superstitious custom^ still extant,
which he thinks was derived from the Saxons, who pradtised it
before their conversion to Christianity. Ash-trees, when young
and flexible, were severed, and held open by wedges, while ruptured
children, stripped naked, were pushed through the apertures,
under a persuasion that they would be cured of their infirmity.
The operation over, the tree was plastered up with loam, and
carefully swathed. I f the severed parts coalesced in due course,