392 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



our day, was known to the Druid and the ancient Briton, we 

 know not. 



The word hazel, as wo pronounce it now, is derived from the 

 Anglo-Saxon hcesil, a head-dress or cap ; and the hcesl-nutu, or 

 "cap-nut," was so called by the Anglo-Saxons because the husk 

 or involucrum. covered the base of the nut as a cap covers tho 

 head. 



Both the Greeks and Romans in very early ages appear to 

 have been perfectly familiar with the peculiarities of the hazel- 

 nut tree ; but they appear to have entertained some very 

 curious ideas regarding it. Virgil states that it was considered 

 injurious to the growth and prosperity of the vine, on account 

 of tho far-spreading nature of its rootlets drawing away the 

 nutriment which the vinos required, and that, as the goat was 

 equally destructive to the young vines from the eagerness with 

 which it browsed on them, the vine-dressers adopted a sort of 

 double method by which the combined evil might be eradicated. 

 The goats were therefore offered up as sacrifices to Bacchus, 

 the god of wine, whilst the hazel bushes were cut down, and 

 the straight poles selected for the manufacture of spits on 

 which to roast the entrails of the sacrifice. Ancient writers 

 inform us that the common hazel nut was by the Eomans 

 called nux Avcllana, after the town of Avellino in Naples ; 

 whilst the filbert was distinguished by the title of nux Poniica, 

 in consequence of its having been originally brought from 

 Pontus. Tho term filbert appears to have been derived from 

 full beard, long husk, full fringe, to distinguish it from the 

 short-bearded nuts, of which kind the common hazel nut forms 

 .one. 



Evelyn, shrewd observer as he was, thus writes of the hazel 

 .in his " Silva : " "The coals" (produced by burning the 

 wood) " are used by painters to draw with, lastly for riding 

 . switches and ' divinatory ' rods, for the detecting and finding 

 of minerals (at least if that tradition be no imposture). It is 

 very wonderful by whatever occult nature the forked stick, so 

 cut and skilfully held, becomes impregnated with these in- 

 visible streams and exhalations, as by its spontaneous bending 

 from a horizontal posture, to discover not only mines, subter- 

 raneous treasures, and springs of water, but criminals guilty 

 of murder, etc., made out so solemnly, and the effects thereof, by 

 the attestation of magistrates and divers other learned and 

 other credible person? , who have critically examined matters of 

 . fact, is certainly next to a miracle, and requires a strong faith." 

 In this latter remark we entirely agree with Evelyn. Rhabdo- 

 mancy is the term applied to tho supposed occult art of divin- 

 .ing by tho use of the hazel rod, and, strange as it may appear 

 in those enlightened days, there are many persons connected 

 with the mining operations conducted in the western counties 

 of England who still implicitly believe in the potency of the 

 wand in finding metal-vein or water. Dowsing is the term 

 applied to the operation, and although we have seen it most 

 gravely conducted by a supposed expert, we have not been 

 fortunate enough to witness the slightest manifestation of 

 attractive affinity. The superstition, however, appears to bo 

 of very ancient origin, and we find very ancient writers speak- 

 ing of the virgula, divinatoria with due respect. Most of our 

 :readers who have perused Sir Walter Scott's admirably written 

 novel, " The Antiquary," will remember, with pleasure, the 

 ^quaint description given of the German rhabdomancist and 

 expert, Herr Dousterswivel, who was doubtlessly as great 

 an impostor as those who have for ages followed the same 

 calling. As some of our readers may, perhaps, be desirous of 

 testing the marvellous powers said to reside in the nut stick, 

 we will, therefore, quote for their benefit the directions for 

 divining, given by an old author and implicit believer in its sup- 

 posed virtues. Thus he writes : " The finding of gold which 

 is under the earth, as of all other mines of metal, is almost 

 miraculous. They cut up a ground hazel of a twelvemonth's 

 growth, which divides above into a fork. Holding the one 

 branch in the right hand, and the other in the left not held 

 too slightly nor too strictly when passing over a mine, or 

 any other place where gold or silver is hidden, it will discover 

 the same by bending down violently. A common experiment in 

 Germany, not proceeding from any incantation, but a natural 

 sympathy, as iron is attracted by a loadstone." 



Then we find, in the works of an ancient herb doctor, the 

 following statement regarding hazel nuts : " Some doe hold 

 that these nuts, and not wallnuts, with figs and rue, was Mithri- 



dates' medicine, effectual against poysons. If a snake be sti-oke 

 with a hazel wand, it doth sooner stunne it than with any other 

 sticke, because it is so plianc that it will winde closer about it, 

 so that being deprived of their motion, they must need die with 

 pain and want ; and it is no hard matter in like manner to kill a 

 mad dog that shall be strook with a hazel sticko, luch as men 

 use to walk or ride wit! ai." 



If we are to believe the writers of old poems and ballads, the 

 virtues of hazel wands, as set forth by the learned doctor 

 already quoted from, fall into utter insignificance ; but we 

 doubt much the efficacy of the poet's prescription. Thus he 

 writes : 



" If a man has got a wife, 



"Who's a torment to his life, 



Let her taste a stick of hazel that is tough and strong. 

 Iii the wand there is a charm 

 That will work more good than harm, 

 For 'twill make a scolding woman hold her tongue." 



The Chinese attribute the same powers of government to tha 

 bamboo ; but we shall do well to confine ourselves to the utilisa- 

 tion of hazel sticks in the manufacture of hoops for coopers, 

 fishing-rod joints, brewers' spigots, clothes' pegs such as laun- 

 dresses use, and mole traps. The chips obtained by cutting up 

 hazel sticks were at one time held in high esteem by the old 

 vintners, who made bundles of them, which when placed in tho 

 wine casks were supposed to cleanse and improve the wine 

 therein contained. Marvel-loving Evelyn, who appears to havo 

 entertained an extraordinary partiality for tho hazel, thus writes 

 of it : 



" Even after all, the most signal service it was ever employed 

 in, and which might assuredly exalt this humble and common 

 plant above all trees of the wood, is that of hurdles ; not that it 

 is generally used for folding our innocent sheep an emblem of 

 the Church but for making the walls of one of the first Chris- 

 tian oratories in the world, and particularly in this island that 

 venerable and sacred fabric at Glastonbury, founded by St. 

 Joseph of Arimathea, which is stated to have been first 

 composed but of a few small hazel rods, interwoven about 

 certain stakes driven into tho ground. And walls of this kind, 

 instead of laths and puncheons superinduced with coarse 

 mortar made of loam and straw, doe to this day enclose divers 

 humble cottages, sheds, and outhouses in tho country, and it ia 

 strong and lasting for such purposes, whole or cleft, and I havo 

 seen ample enclosures of courts and gardens so secured." 



From periods of remote antiquity to our own day we find 

 that nuts have been made instrumental in the performance of 

 various social rites and religious ceremonies ; different nuts 

 being made use of according to the country in which the forma 

 were carried out. In England wo find a remaining trace of the 

 custom of divination, by tho aid of nuts, in tho well-known fire- 

 side custom of trying for a sweetheart by nut-burning, which, 

 f 01 tho advantage of our uninitiated young lady readers, wo will 

 des3ribe. On a group of young damsels being assembled round 

 tho winter fire, one proceeds to test her fortune in tho lottery of 

 love by casting a chosen nut into the flames, repeating to herself 

 at the same time the name of tho swain under ,test and trial/ 

 then singing as follows : 



" If you love me, rap and fly ; 

 If you hate ine, burn and die." 



Some degree of uncertainty prevails as to the exact period at 

 which the walnut was first introduced into this country. The 

 Romans are said to have cultivated it before the death of the 

 Emperor Tiberius, and it has been stated that they were 

 brought from Greece by Vitellius. Strabo states that, at one 

 period of time, tables composed of the wood of tho walnut treo 

 were of greater value than those made from citron timber. 

 Research shows us that amongst tho ancients tho walnut, like 

 the hazel nut of our own island, played an important part in 

 domestic life. From a poem written by Ovid, it appears that at 

 the celebration of the marriage ceremony, walnuts were scat- 

 tered broadcast amongst the assembled children by both bride 

 and bridegroom, and it appears probable that this custom waa 

 instituted to show that the bridegroom now and for ever cast 

 aside childish desires and pursuits, and that the bride remained 

 no longer a votary of Diana. Tho following lines point to this 

 custom : 



" Now bar the door : the bridegroom puts 

 The eager boy s to gather nuts." 



