328 PYRUS AUCUPARIA. 
Know too well what she can do. She has long owed me a grudge ; and my cow, 
which was in very good health, fell sick immediately after Sally had been seen 
to look in at the door of the cow-house, just as night was coming on. The cow 
grew worse, and so I went and cut a bit of wiggin, (mountain ash,) and I nailed 
the branches all up and down the cow-house; and, sir, you may see them there, 
if you will take the trouble to step in. I am a match for old Sally, now, and she 
can't do me any more harm, so long as the wiggin branches hang in the place 
where I have nailed them. My poor cow will get better in spite of her.' Alas ! 
thought I to myself, as the deluded man was finishing his story, how much there 
is yet to be done in our country by the school-master of the nineteenth century." 
The author of " Woodland Gleanings," says, ' : The mountain ash, so esteemed 
among our northern neighbours as a protection against the evil designs of wizards 
and witches, is propagated by the Parisians for a very different purpose. They 
are used as one of the principal charms for enticing the French belles into the 
public gardens, where they are permitted to use all the spells and witcheries of 
which they are mistresses ; and certainly this tree, ornamented by its brilliant 
scarlet fruit, has a most enchanting appearance when lighted up with lamps, in 
the months of August and September." Miss Kent, in her "Sylvan Sketches," 
in alluding to this tree, says, "In former times, this tree was supposed to be pos- 
sessed of the property of driving away witches and evil spirits ; and this property 
is recorded in one of the stanzas of a very ancient song, called The Laidley 
Worm of Spindleston Heughs, 
'Their spells were vain ; the hags return'd 
To the queen in sorrowful mood, 
Crying that witches have no power 
Where there is -roan-tree wood.' 
The last line of this stanza leads to the true reading of a line in Shakspeare's 
tragedy of Macbeth. The sailor's wife, on the witch's requesting some chesnuts, 
hastily answers, ' A rown-tree, witch ! ' but all the editions have it ' Aroint 
thee, witch!' which is nonsense, and evidently a corruption." If the phrase 
" Aroint thee^ had occurred but once in Shakspeare, we might be disposed to 
adopt the above explanation ; but as it is to be found twice, we have reason to 
suppose that it is of Saxon origin, and signifies away! run ! The Saxon glos- 
saries supply ryne for running ; and the old Icelandic runka, signifies to agitate, 
or to move. Hone, in his "Religious Mysteries," gives a fac-simile of an old 
drawing called the Descent into Hell, in which our Saviour is represented with a 
roan-tree cross in his left hand, while with the right he appears to draw a contrite 
spirit from the jaws of hell.* It is remarkable, that nearly the same superstitions 
should exist also in India, as maybe seen by perusing Bishop Heber's "Journal," 
&c. And it is no less remarkable than true, that the American mountain ash is 
regarded by our native Indians as an object of veneration and awe. From time 
immemorial, they have made offerings to the spirits of their departed heroes, by 
casting round it the boughs of other trees. Ask them why they do this, and 
they will tell you that its branches " are eloquent with the ghosts of their war- 
rior-sires, who will come at evening, in the chariot of cloud, to fire the young to 
deeds of war." Their offerings, or their remains, are frequently to be found at 
the foot of this tree, and in some cases, mounds have been formed from the 
immensity of their numbers, which have passed into decay. 
Soil and Situation. The mountain ash will grow in any soil, and in the most 
exposed situations, as it is found near the sea-shore, and on the tops of mountains 
in various parts of the globe. Hence it is an excellent tree for plantations intended 
to resist the sea-breeze, or to be placed in situations exposed to the fury of the 
* See Sylvan Sketches, pp. 251 et 252. 
