206 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



conciliate the Welsh, the cradle had to be made of oak since 

 the natives looked upon the oak as divine. 



In the mythology connected with trees the oak is probably 

 the tree looked upon as the most divine and sacred, and all 

 sorts of evil was supposed to fall on those who cut down any 

 celebrated oak, as witness the story so gravely related by 

 Evelyn concerning the so-called Vicar's oak in Surrey ; that of 

 the two men engaged in felling it, one lost his eye and the other 

 broke his leg soon after the task had been accomplished. 



ii. "The wedding of the elm to the vine" is a source of 

 continual allusion among the Roman poets. The Ancients were 

 in the habit of twining their vines round the elm trunks, and he 

 who reared a vineyard was as careful of his elms as of his 

 vines — a form of protection. 



Both the English elm and the Wych elm were supposed to 

 possess divine qualities and medicinal properties. For instance, 

 the bark of the English elm was supposed to be very effectual 

 in cleaning the skin and making it fair, while the water in which 

 the roots were boiled was used to prevent hair from falling out 

 or as a hair restorer. Our ancestors also were accustomed to 

 bruise the leaves of the elm and lay them in wounds, and 

 ground bark was supposed to be a beneficial application to a 

 gouty limb. The powdered inner bark of the elm is still used in 

 North Europe as an ingredient in bread, in all probability with 

 the idea of it acting as a medicine, for its nutritive value can 

 be very little ; while much of the tea in olden times was 

 adulterated with elm leaves. 



There are many popular superstitions too connected with the 

 Wych elm. The origin of the name " Wych " is doubtful. It 

 is probable that the similarity of the word to the name witch led 

 to some popular superstitions connected with the tree, and its 

 name may have arisen thus, as the dairymaids in some of the 

 midland counties of England still gather a bough of this elm 

 and place it in the churn that the milk may the more readily 

 turn into butter. It is more likely, however, that the word was 

 derived from the word " Wych," meaning " Salt." It appears 

 that several elms besides the one in question were in olden times 

 called "Wych elms"; and it is surmised that they were so 

 called by our Saxon ancestors owing to the fact that they may 

 have been found growing in the vicinity of salt springs. 



The beech is mainly interesting in respect that from its 



