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the babe was sure to be cured; but if not, the operation would
probably be ineffedlual. The same writer relates another extraordinary
custom among rustics: they bore a deep hole in an Ash-
tree, and imprison a live shrew mouse therein: the tree then becomes
a Shrew-Ash, whose twigs or branches, gently applied to the limbs
of cattle, will immediately relieve the cramp, lameness, and pain
supposed to attack the animal wherever a shrew mouse has crept
over it.
Lightfoot says that, in the Highlands, at the birth of an infant,
the nurse takes a green Ash stick, one end of which she puts into
the fire; and, while it is burning, receives in a spoon the sap that
oozes from the other, which she administers to the child as its first
food: this custom is thought to be derived from the old Aryan
pradtice of feeding young children with the honey-like juice of the
Fraxinus Ornus. The sap of the Ash, tapped on certain days, is
drunk in Germany as a remedy for the bites of serpents.
In Northumberland, there is a belief that if the first parings
of an infant’s nails are buried under an Ash, the child will turn
out a “ top singer.” In Staffordshire, the common people believe
that it is very dangerous to break a bough from the Ash. In
Leicestershire, the Ash is employed as a charm for warts. In the
month of April or Ma/^ the sufferer is taken to an Ash-tree: the
operator (who is provided with a paper of new pins) takes a pin,
and having first struck it through the bark, presses it through the
wart until it produces pain; the pin is then taken out and stuck
into the tree, where it is left. Each wart is similarly treated, a
separate pin being used for each. The warts will disappear in a
few weeks. It is a wide-spread custom to stroke with a twig from
an Ash-tree, under the roots of which a horse-shoe has been buried,
any animal which is supposed to have been bewitched.
An Ashen herding stick is preferred by Scotch boys to any other,
because in throwing it at their cattle it is sure not to strike in
a vital part, and so kill or injure the animal, a contingency which
may occur, it seems, with other sticks. It is worthy of note that
the Utum of the Roman Augur—a staff with a crook at one end—
was formed of an Ash-tree bough,' the-crook being sometimes produced
naturally, but more often by artificial means.
In many parts of England, the finding of an even Ash-leaf is
considered to be an augury of good luck ; hence the old saying, so
dear to tender maids—
“ I f you find an even Ash or a four-leaved Clover,
Rest assured you’ll see your true-love ere the day is over. ”
In Cornwall, this charm is frequently made use of for invoking
good lu ck :—
“ Even Ash I thee do pluck.
Hoping thus to meet good luck.
I f no good luck I get from thee,
I shall wish thee on the tree.”
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In Henderson’s ‘ Northern Folk-lore,’ occur the following lines
regarding the virtues of even Ash-leaves :—
“ The even Ash-leaf in my left hand,
The first man I meet shall be my husband.
The even Ash-leaf in my glove,
The first I meet shall be my love.
The even Ash-leaf for my breast,
The first man I meet’s whom I love best.
The even Ash-leaf in my hand,
The first I meet shall be my man,” |
“ Even Ash, even Ash, I pluck thee,
This night my true love for to see ;
Neither in his rick nor in his rear,
But in the clothes he does every day wear.”
It is a tradition among the gipsies that the cross our Saviour
was crucified upon was made of Ash.
In Devonshire, it is customary to burn an Ashen faggot at
Christmastide, in commemoration of the fact that the Divine
Infant at Bethlehem was first washed and dressed by a fire of
Ash-wood.
The Yule-clog or -log which ancient custom prescribes to be
burnt on Christmas Eve, used to be of Ash: thus we read in an
old poem:—
“ Thy welcome Eve, loved Christmas, now arrived,
The parish bells their, tuneful peals resound,
And mirth and gladness every breast pervade.
The ponderous Ashen-faggot, from the yard,
The jolly farmer to his crowded hall
Conveys with speed ; where, on the rising flames
(Already fed with store of massy brands),
It blazes soon; nine bandages it bears,
And, as they each disjoin (so custom wills),
A mighty jug of sparkling cider’s brought
With brandy mixt, to elevate the guests.”
Spenser speaks of the Ash as being “ for nothing ill,” but the tree
has always been regarded as a special attraifior of lightning, and
there is a very old couplet, which sa y s:—
“ Avoid an Ash,
It courts the flash.”
Its charadter as an embodiment of fire is manifested in a remarkable
Swedish legend given in Grimm’s ‘ German Mythology.’ Some
seafaring people, it is said, received an Ash-tree from a giant,
with diredtions to set it upon the altar of a church he wished to
destroy. Instead, however, of carrying out his instrudlions, they
placed the Ash on the mound over a grave, which to their astonishment
instantly burst into fiames.
There is an old belief that to prevent pearls from being
discoloured, it is sufficient to keep them shut up with a piece of
Ash-root.
Astrologers appear to be divided in their opinions as to
whether the Ash is under the dominion of the Sun or of Jupiter.