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linge red till la te ly m the p ra c tic e o f s trew in g h e rb s an d flow e rs a t
the doors of houses on the Corpus Christi Eve. In Roman Catholic
countrira flowers are strewed along the streets in this festival, and
me route of the procession at Rome is covered with B a y and other
Iragrant leaves.
On the Vigil o f S t . J o h n t h e B a p t i s t , Stowe tells us that in
was shadowed with green Birch, long
Fennel, St. John s Wort, Orpine, white Lilies, and such like,
g jn ish ed upon with garlands of beautiful flowers, and also lamps
o i glass, wrih oil burning m them all night. Birch is the special
Lee, as the yellow St. John’s Wort (Hypericum) is the special
thTrniirf f M 1 o Bishop Horne we read that in
J e Court of Magdalen, Oxford, a sermon used to be preached on
H quadrangle
was furnished round with a large fence of green boughs, that the
w f l d e ? n e s T r e s e m b l e that of John Baptist in the
-.x rv H a l l o w s ’ D a y , Roman Catholics are
wont to visit the graves of departed relatives or friends, and place
on them w r e a js of Ivy, Moss, and red Berries. On the E v e of this
. vf superstitious customs are
J i l l practised. In the North young people dive for Apples, and for
t Z T r r ^ r iF T I the fire ; hence the vulgar name of
NiJ-crack Ni^ght In Scotland young women determine the figure
and j z e of their future husbands by paying a visit to the Kail or
Cabbage garden, and “ pu’mg the Kailstock ” blindfold. They
also on this night throw Hazel Nuts in the fire, named for two lovers,
according as they burn quickly together, or start apart, the
course ol their love. ^
Bnv / r b o f i / “ *" tide Holly (the “ holy tree Rosemary. Laurel,
m J / Iv y are hung up m churches, and are suitable
MKU f £ fjecoration of houses, with the important addition of
Mistletoe (which, on account of its Druidic connection, is interdicted
should only be placed in outer passages or
of ^ n T V 1 St. Gregory termed the “ festival
ot all festivals, the evergreens with which the churches are
ornamented are a fitting emblem of that time when, as God says
L w i l d e r n e s s the Cedar,
T? f ’ I will set in the
desert the F ir tree and the Pine, and the Box tree together (xli., 19).
The J o r y of Lebanon shall come unto thee, thi F ir tree, the
Pine tree, and the Box together, to beautify the place of my
sanctuary ; and I will make the place of my feet glorious ” (Ix., 13).
aljb M em on a f UTie^.
In.different parts of England several ancient trees,
notably Caks, which are traditionally said to have been called
Gospel trees in consequence of its having been the practice in
times long past to read under a tree which grew upon a boundary-
line a portion of the Gospel on the annual perambulation of the
bounds of the parish on Ascension Day. In Herrick’s poem of
the ‘ Hesperides ’ occur these lines in allusion to this practice :—
“ Dearest, bury me
Under that holy Oak or Gospel tree,
Where, though thou see’st not, thou mayest think upon
Me when thou yearly go’st in procession.”
Many of these old trees were doubtless Druidical, and under their
“ leafy tabernacles ” the pioneers of Christianity had probably
preached and expounded the Scriptures to a pagan race. The
heathen practice of worshipping the gods in woods and trees
continued for many centuries, till the introduction of Christianity ;
and the first missionaries sought to adopt every means to elevate
the Christian worship to higher authority than that of paganism
by acting on the senses of the heathen. St. Augustine, Evelyn
tells us, held a kind of council under an Cak in the West of
England, concerning the right celebration of Easter and the state
of the Anglican church ; “ where also it is reported he did a great
miracle.” Cn Lord Bolton’s estate in the New Forest stands a
noble group of twelve Caks known as the Twelve Apostles : there
is another group of Caks extant known as the Four Evangelists.
Beneath the venerable Yews at Fountain Abbey, Yorkshire, the
founders of the Abbey held their council in 1 132.
“ Cross Caks ” were so called from their having been planted
at the junction of cross roads, and these trees were formerly
resorted to by aguish patients, for the purpose of transferring to
them their malady.
Venerable and noble trees have in all ages and in all countries
been ever regarded with special reverence. From the very earliest
times such trees have been consecrated to holy uses. Thus,
the Gomerites, or descendants of Noah, were, if tradition be true,
accustomed to offer prayers and oblations beneath trees; and,
following the example .of his ancestors, the Patriarch Abraham
pitched his tents beneath the Terebinth Oaks of Mamre, erected an
altar to the Lord, and performed there sacred and priestly rites.
Beneath an Oak, too, the Patriarch entertained the Deity Himself.
This tree of Abraham remained till the reign of Constantine the
Great, who founded a venerable chapel under it, and there
Christians, Jews, and Arabs held solemn anniversary meetings,
believing that from the days of Noah the spot shaded by the tree
had been a consecrated place.
Dean Stanley tells us that “ on the heights of Ephraim, on the
central thoroughfare of Palestine, near the Sanctuary of Bethel,
stood two famous trees, both in after times called by the same
name. One was the Oak-tree or Terebinth of Deborah, under
which was. buried, with many tears, the nurse of Jacob
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