LEGENDS OF TREES. 



with this tree, some of wliich are practised in the orchard districts even at tlie 

 jircsciit (hiy. ' On Christinas Eve,' says Mrs. Bray, ' tlie fanners and their men, 

 in Devonshire, take a hirt^-e howl of cider, with a toast in it, and carryinjr it in 

 state to the orchard, tliey salute the apple-trees with much ceremony, in order to 

 make them bear well next season.' This salutation consists in throwing? some of 

 the cider about the roots of the tree, i)lacing bits of the toast on the branches, 

 and then forming themselves into a ring, they, like the bards of old, set up their 

 voices and sing a song, which may be found in Brand's Popular Antitpiities. In 

 Hone's Every- Day Book, this custom is mentioned, but with some slight variation. 



"The wassail bowl — drunk on All-Hallow E'en, Twelfth Day Eve, Christmas 

 Eve, and on other festivals of the Church — was com}iounded of ale, sugar, nutmeg, 

 and roasted apples, which every person partook of, each taking out an ap|)le with 

 the spoon, and then drinking out of the bowl. Sometimes the roasted apples 

 were bruised, and mixed with milk or white wine, instead of ale ; and, in some 

 parts of the country, apples were roasted on a string, till they dropped olf into a 

 l)0wl of spiced ale beneath, which was called "Lamb's Wool." The reason of 

 this name (which is common to all compounds of apples and ale) is attributed by 

 Yallancey to its being drunk on the 31st of October (All-Hallow E'en), the first 

 day of November being dedicated to the angel presiding over fruit, seeds, &c., 

 and therefore named La Mas Uhhal — that is, the day of the apple fruit — and this 

 being pronounced lamo-sool, soon became corrupted, by the English, into lamb's 

 wool. Apples were blessed by the priests on the 25th of July, and an especial 

 form for this purpose is ])reserved in the manual of the Church of Sarum. 



"The custom of bobbing for apples on All-Hallow E'en, and on All-Saints' 

 Day, which was formerly common over all England, and is still practised in some 

 parts of Ireland, has lately been rendered familiar by M'Clise's masterly painting 

 of the 'Sports of All-Hallow E'en,' A kind of hanging-beam — which was con- 

 tinually turning — was suspended from the roof of the room, and an apple placed 

 at one end, and a lighted candle at the other. The parties having their hands 

 tied behind them, and trying to catch the apple with their mouths, frequently 

 caught the candle instead. In Warwickshire, apples are tied to a string, and 

 caught at in the same manner, but the lighted candle is omitted ; and, in the same 

 county, children roast apples on a string on Christmas Eve, the first who can 

 catch an apple when it drops from the string, getting it. In Scotland, apples are 

 put into a tub of water, and then bobbed for with the mouth. 



" The Ash, according to heathen mythology, furnished the wood of which Cupid 

 made his arrows before he had learned to adopt the more fatal cypress. In the 

 Scandinavian Edda, it is stated that the court of the gods is held under a mighty 

 Ash, the summit of which reaches the heavens, the branches overshadow the whole 

 earth, and the roots penetrate to the infernal regions. An eagle rests on its sum- 

 mit, to observe everything that passes, to whom a squirrel constantly ascends, to 

 report those things which the exalted bird may have neglected to notice. Ser- 

 pents are twined round the trunk, and from the roots there spring two limpid 

 fountains, in one of which wisdom lies concealed, and in the other, a knowledge 

 of the things to come. Three virgins constantly attend on this tree, to sprinkle 

 its leaves with water from the magic fountains, and this water, falling on the earth 

 in the shape of dew, produces honey. Man, according to the Edda, was formed 

 from the wood of this tree. Ancient writers of all nations state that the serpent 

 entertains an extraordinary respect for the Ash. Pliny says that if a serpent be 

 placed near a fire, and both surrounded by ashen twigs, the serpent will sooner 

 into the fire than pass over the pieces of Ash ; and Dioscorides asserts, that 

 uice of Ash leaves, mixed with wine, is a cure for the bite of that reptil 



