Superstitions and Facts connected \A/ith Trees. 



It was customary among the ancient Eomans to send bouglis of holly 

 during the Saturnalia, as emblematical of good wishes ; and the holly 

 became thus to be considered as an emblem of peace and good-will. 

 Holly appears to have been first used for the purpose of decorating 

 sacred edifices at Eome, and the Saturnalia occurring about that 

 period, it was the policy of the early Christians to assimilate the 

 festivals of the pagans and the Christians as closely as possible in 

 their outward forms, so as to avoid shocking unnecessarily the prejudices 

 of the newly made converts. The Druids decorated dwelling-places 

 with evergreen during the winter, that the sylvan spirits might repair 

 to them, and remain unnipped with frost and cold winds, until a milder 

 season had renewed the foliage of their abodes. The disciples of 

 Zoroaster believed that the sun never shadowed the holly, and are 

 said still to throw water impregnated with holly bark in the face of a 

 child newly born. 



Evelyn, in the first edition of his " Sylva," published in 1664, 

 speaks of tlie laurel thus :— " This rare tree was first brought from 

 Civita Vecchia, in 1614, by the Countess of Arundel, wife to that 

 illustrious patron of arts and antiquities, Thomas, Earl of Arundel and 

 Surrey." Evelyn adds that he cannot easily assent to the tradition, 

 though he had it from " a noble lord," thinking it " more likely 

 came from a colder clime." By ' the " History of the Arundel 

 Family " it appears that the Countess of Arundel set out to 

 Italy in 1614 for the purpose of accompanying her two sons to 

 England, and as there are an immense number of very old laurels 

 at Wardour Castle, Loudon, it is probable that the tradition may be 

 correct. The case of Sir Theodosius Boughton, who was poisoned 

 by laurel-leaf water, in 1780, by his brother-in-law, Captain Donald- 

 son, who was executed for the murder, caused a great sensation at the 

 time, and has rendered the poisonous properties of laurel water familiar 

 to every one to this day. 



Hawthorn flowers have been identified with the floral games of May 

 and the beauties of spring from time immemorial. Their scent is 

 said to be not only reviving to the spirits, but to have the power of 

 counteracting poison. They are regarded as the emblem of hope, 

 and were carried by the girls in the wedding processions of the ancient 

 Greeks, and laid on the altar of Hymen, which was lighted with 

 torches made of the wood. The Troglodytes tied branches of haw- 

 thorn to their dead. In France a launch -is sometimes placed in the 



