pfaat "bore, T9ege?^/, cmS. "Is^ncj; 363 



English Christian church at Glastonbury. In Bohemia, a cer- 

 tain " chapel in the Hazel-tree," dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is 

 regarded with much reverence : it was erecfted in memory of a 

 butcher to whom a statue of the Virgin, near a Hazel-tree, had 

 spoken. The butcher carried off the image to his house, but during 

 the night the statue returned to its former place near the Hazel- 

 tree. For the ancient Germans, the Hazel-tree, which re- 

 blossoms towards the end of winter, was a type of immortality. It 

 is now considered a symbol of happy marriages, because the Nuts 



are seen on its branches united in pairs. In the Black Forest, the 



leader of a marriage procession carries a Hazel wand in his hand. 

 In some places, during certain processions on Sunday, the Oats 

 stored in stables for horses are touched, in the name of God, with 



Hazel-branches. It is believed that this humble shrub frightens 



serpents. An Irish tradition relates that St. Patrick held a 

 rod of Hazel-wood in his hand when he gathered on the pro- 

 montory of Cruachan Phadraig all the venomous reptiles of the 



island and cast them into the sea. The Hazel rod or staflF 



appears in olden times to have had peculiar sandlity : it was used 

 by pilgrims, and often deposited in churches, or kept as a precious 

 relic, and buried with its owner. Several such Hazel staffs have 



been found in Hereford Cathedral. The Tyroleans consider 



that a Hazel-bough is an excellent lightning condudior. Ac- 

 cording to an ancient Hebrew tradition, the wands of magicians 

 were made of Hazel, and of a virgin branch, that is, of a bough 



quite bare and destitute of sprigs or secondary branches. Nork 



says that by means of Hazel rods witches can be compelled to 

 restore to animals and plants the fecundity which they had pre- 

 viously taken from them. Pliny states that Hazel wands assist 



the discovery of subterranean springs; and in Italy, to the present 

 day, they are believed to acfl: as divining-rods for the discovery of 

 hidden treasure — a belief formerly held in England, if we may 

 judge from the following lines by S. Shepherd (1600) : — 



" Some sorcerers do boast they have a rod, 

 Gather'd with words and sacrifice, 

 And, borne aloft, will stranj;ely nod 

 To hidden treasure where it lies." 



Extraordinary and special conditions are necessary to ensure 

 success in the cutting of a divining-rod. It must always be 

 performed after sunset and before sunrise, and only on certain 

 nights, among which are specified those of Good Friday, Epi- 

 phany, Shrove Friday, and St. John's Day, the first night of a 

 new moon, or that preceding it. In cutting it, one must face the 

 east, so that the rod shall be one which catches the first rays of 

 the morning sun ; or, as some say, the eastern and western sun 

 must shine through the fork of the rod, otherwise it will be valueless, 

 Both in France and England, the divining-rod is much more com- 

 monly employed at the present time than is generally supposed. 



