Holly, Yew and Box 



the people went in pilgrimage, plucking and 

 bearing away branches of it as a holy relique, 

 whilst there remained any of the trunk ; per- 

 suading themselves that those small veins and 

 filaments resembling hairs were the hairs of the 

 virgin. But what is stranger, the resort to this 

 place, then called Houton, a despicable village, 

 occasioned the building of the now famous town 

 of Halifax in Yorkshire, the name of which 

 imports "holy hair." 



A legend respecting the sanctity of a certain 

 tree in France is worth relating. It reads that, 

 " In the cloister of Vreton, in Brittany, there 

 grew a Yew tree which was said to have sprung 

 from the staff of St Martin. Beneath it the 

 Breton princes were accustomed to offer up a 

 prayer before entering the church. This tree 

 was regarded with the highest reverence ; no 

 one ever plucked a leaf from its sombre boughs, 

 and even the birds refrained from pecking the 

 scarlet berries. A band of pirates, however, 

 happening to visit the locality, two of them spied 

 the tree, and forthwith climbed into its vene- 

 rable branches and proceeded to cut bow staves 

 for themselves ; their audacity speedily brought 

 its own punishment, for they both fell and were 

 killed on the spot." See Plant Lore. 



Superstitious persons who place reliance on 

 dreams may be interested to know that to dream 



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