92 FIELD AND FOREST. 



dried berries were reputed to possess very opposite qualities when 

 swallowed. In my young days, when I suffered from chilblains, I was 

 told that if I would only submit to have them whipped with freshly- 

 gathered holly-leaves till the blood flowed, they would soon heal and 

 never again appear. I had not the courage to try this remedy, but I 

 believe it is still used in some country places. Bird-lime is now made 

 from the bark. 



Holly is evidently a corruption of holy, — -a name given from its use 

 in some of the early church festivals, when it was strewed instead of 

 olive-branches. Its use at Christmas time can be traced to the 

 Romans, who dedicated it to Saturn, and used it largely in the decora- 

 tions for his festival, held at that time. The early Christians, there- 

 fore, whilst quietly celebrating the birth of our Lord, and keeping 

 aloof from the riotous scenes around them, were wont to deck their 

 walls with holly that they might avoid detection and punishment. 

 Holly symbolizes resurrection. Great interest attaches to some holly- 

 trees. In Argyleshire there is a prophecy that when a particular holly- 

 tree near Inverary ceases to exist, and when certain other things shall 

 happen (some of which have already come to pass), "then shall all 

 the Argyle Campbells be destroyed, excepting so many as shall escape 

 on a crooked and lame white horse;" and we learn from Notes 

 and Queries that, in 1861, " the roots were exposed and loosened by 

 the tide, and that the grandfather of the present Duke of Argyle 

 insisted on an awkward bend being made in the line of public road to 

 avoid the necessity of cutting it down." Near Dilston, in North- 

 umberland, there is a thick holly-bush, consisting of several trees close 

 together — the stems scored with initials and marks, and which is said 

 to have served as a " post-ofifice ' ' for the passage of letters between the 

 rebels and their friends in the troubled times of 1715 and 1745. A 

 curious custom, called "holly bussing," was kept at Netherwitten on 

 Easter Tuesday a few years ago, and may be now for all I know. The 

 young people, headed by the parish clerk, playing the fiddle, betook 

 themselves to a wood, Avhere they gathered holly, with Avhich they 

 afterwards decorated a stone cross in the village, finishing the evening 

 with dancing. Mistletoe ( Visciim albion) is a parasite growing on 

 many trees ; most frequently on the apple, and least often on the oak. 

 So seldom, indeed, is it found on the latter tree that it has been 

 doubted whether it ever attacks it ; there are too many authentic in- 



