THE DEVIL'S PLANTS 115 



scent of the flowers, its hard and heartless wood, 

 and the ugly, drooping black fungus that is almost 

 exclusively found on the elder, vulgarly called the 

 " Ear of Judas " — Hirneola auricula judce. 



But not only is this ill-omened tree credited with 

 being connected with the death of Judas, but there 

 is a widespread belief that it was the " accursed 

 tree" on which Our Lord was crucified; and there- 

 fore, in many districts, although fuel may be scarce 

 and these sticks plentiful, the countryfolk will on 

 no account burn them. 



In Scotland, it is called the " Bour Tree," and the 

 following rhyme instances the belief entertained in 

 that country: 



" Bour-tree, bour-tree, crooked rung, 

 Never straight and never strong, 

 Ever bush and never tree, 

 Since Our Lord was nailed on thee." 



In Chambers's '* Book of Days," we are told that 

 a person is perfectly safe under the shelter of an 

 elder tree during a thunderstorm, as lightning will 

 never strike the tree of which the Cross was 

 made. 



In Napier's *' Folk-Lore of the Northern Coun- 

 ties," there is recorded a very quaint custom. An 

 elder tree is planted in the form of a cross upon a 

 newly-made grave, and if it shoots forth and flowers 

 it is a sign that the soul of the dead person is in 

 Paradise. 



In England, the elder has been regarded with 

 superstition from the very earliest times, and looked 

 upon as a tree of bad omen. Branches of elder 

 were formerly considered typical of disgrace and woe. 



