198 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE, 



\ ash was made thus* : Into the body of the tree a deep hole was 

 bored with an auger, and a poor devoted shrew-mouse was thrust in 

 alive, and plugged in, no doubt, with several quaint incantations 

 long since forgotten. As the ceremonies necessary for such a con- 

 secration are no longer understood, all succession is at an end, and 

 no such tree is known to subsist in the manor, or hundred. 



t As to that on the Plestor 



" The late vicar stubb'd and burnt it," 



when he was way -warden, regardless of the remonstrances of the 

 bystanders, who interceded in vain for its preservation, urging its 

 power and efficacy, and alleging that it had been 



" Religione patrum. multos servata per annos. " 



I am, &c. 



* For a similar practice, see Plot's Staffordshire. 



