THE " HOLY THORN AT WOODHAM FERRERS, ESSEX. 49 



Natural History Society " for 1880 (vol. xxvi., pp. 1 17-125). Mr. Charles Cable 

 wrote from Stock, Essex, that 



" in our late rector's time there was a ' Holy Thorn ' in the rectory garden at Stock. 

 It used to bloom on Old Christmas Eve, and the blossom was of pure while, 

 similar to the white bush. No leaves appeared — only the blossom, and it kept on 

 for about three weeks. There was also another ' Holy Thorn ' at Billericay." 



Another correspondent says that there is a " Holy Thorn " at Coggeshall, 

 Essex. 



Some differences of opinion prevail among botanists as to wliether the 

 " Holy Thorns " found in so many places is only an accidental variety of the 

 Common Hawthorn, or a distinct race. Our own naturalist, Ray, was of the 

 former opinion, but Witherington gave it a distinct name, and described it as 

 Cratwgiis oxyacantha prcecox. He says ("Arrangement of British Plants," 1818, 

 vol. iii., p. 604) "it blossoms twice a year ; the winter blossoms, which are about 

 the size of a sixpence, appear about Christmas, and sooner if the winter be severe. 

 These produce no fruit. The berries contain only one seed ... I was informed 

 that the berries, when sown, produce plants in no wise differing from the Common 

 Hawthorn." Mr. T. J. Saltmarsh, of Chelmsford, to whom Mr. Plumtree sent a 

 shoot of the Woodham bush, certifies that it is the plant known to him as the 

 "■ priTcox " variety of the Common Thorn, which is recognised in the trade. Mr. 

 E. Chisholm Batten, in the paper alluded to above, in the Somersetshire Society's 

 " Proceedings," sa3's that the Glastonbury Thorn has during the last fifty years 

 been propagated freely, and sold by the Glastonbury nurserymen. Mr. Lawrence 

 BuUeid, of Glastonbury, in the course of a recent letter, says : 



" I am not aware of an}' old tree now existing here ; but there are several com- 

 paratively young ones, all of which, I believe, retain the peculiarities of the 

 original stock. As a rule, the thorns are in full bud and ready to burst into 

 bloom for some time before and after Christmas. I have seen several full blooms 

 this winter, and for years as long as I can remember. 



" Mr. James Austin, the owner of Glastonbur}- Abbey, tells me that he once 

 saw a ' Holy Thorn ' in the abbey grounds white with blossom on Christmas Day, 

 when snow was on the ground. There is the same local tradition here as to the 

 bursting into bloom on Old Christmas Eve as of other ' Holy Thorns,' but I have 

 never heard of a Glastonbury person testing the truth of the saying. The flowers 

 are often sent away at Christmas time, and the local gardeners have for years for- 

 warded small trees to man}' parts of the country. Some of these may be the sub- 

 jects of the letters of your correspondents. The trees blossom freely again in 

 May or June." 



From the above evidence it may safely be concluded thai the bush at Wood- 

 ham Ferrers is a specimen of this curious race of the Common Hawthorn, but 

 whether the " Holy Thorns " have all been propagated from one stock, or whether 

 the aberration arises spontaneously in the species, is at present a moot point, and 

 one worthy of investigation. Our old correspondent, Mr. J. French, of Felstead, 

 has sent some remarks upon the Woodham example from which we exi act the 

 following. After referring to the manifest influence, within certain lim i^, of the 

 weather upon plant life, Mr. French says that : — 



" Those cases in which the inherent forces of growth of the plant over- 

 come the uncongenial influences of the weather are more common than is 

 generally supposed. For some years I made notes of the abnormal flower- 

 ing of open-air plants ; and, had I continued, I believe that I should by 

 this ti e have recorded half our common species as aberrant upon 

 certain occasions. The causes I do not know. With some it appears to be 

 hereditary, The Chickweed {Stellaria media') and the Daisy are perhaps 



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