296 OUB WOODLAND TREES. 
their religious rites. The curious parasite of the 
Oak, the Mistletoe, was also, in British eyes, a 
sacred plant. As now, so in the time of the 
ancient Britons, the Mistletoe was not found 
growing plentifully on the Oak, and hence the. 
search for it was a solemn and ceremonious pro- 
ceeding, the Druids going forth—after the per- 
formance of certain rites, dressed in robes of 
white—to find it in their sacred groves, and 
provided with golden knives for severing it from 
the Oak. The judges, too, in ancient Britain 
administered justice under the spreading arms of 
the sacred Tree, the prisoners being compelled to 
stand within a circle drawn around the circum- 
ference of the stem by the wand of the presiding 
Druid. Following the customs which amongst 
the ancient Britons made the Oak a national 
Tree, the Anglo-Saxons had their popular gather- 
ings under shelter of the monarchs of their 
woodlands : and from the time of Saxon England 
until now the noble Tree has, in ways innume- 
rable, prominently figured in our history. 
The strength and durability which give the 
Oak its pre-eminence amongst our woodland 
