82 THE BOOK OF THE APPLE 



Prince, and prosper the work of his hands ; and by Thy 

 blessing may this land be filled with Apples, with the 

 fruit and dew of heaven, from the top of the ancient 

 mountains, from the Apples of the eternal hills, from the 

 fruits of the earth and its fulness." 



The amount of English folk-lore and legend con- 

 nected with the apple is of tremendous extent ; and, 

 although most of the ceremonies connected with orchards 

 have been concerned with propitiating the gods, rather 

 than with the worship of beauty, they have yet been 

 little less picturesque and enthusiastic than the more 

 aesthetic outbursts of the Japanese. It is to be feared, 

 however, that, in these days of materialism and doubt, 

 few are the places when, on the eve of the Epiphany, 

 the farmer and his workmen, "with a large pitcher of 

 cider, go to the orchard, and there encircling one of 

 the best bearing trees drink the following toast three 

 several times : 



" Here's to thee, old apple-tree, 



Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow ! 

 And whence thou mayst bear apples enow ! 

 Hats full ! caps full ! 

 Bushel bushel sacks full, 

 And my pockets full too ! Huzza ! " 



Brand quotes another quaint custom as sometimes 

 followed in Devonshire. " On the eve of Twelfth Day, 

 it is the custom to go after supper into the orchard, 

 with a large milk-pan full of cider, having roasted 

 apples pressed into it. Out of this each person in com- 

 pany takes a clayen cup, full of liquor, and standing 

 under each of the more fruitful apple-trees, passing by 

 those that are not good bearers, he addresses it in the 

 following words : 



" ' Health to thee, good apple-tree, 

 Well to bear pocket-fulls, hat-fulls, 

 Peck-fulls, bushel bag-fulls.' 



