142 JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
Ash when green," he adds, " makes good fire-wood, and, contrary 
perhaps to all other sorts of wood, is bad for that purpose when 
sear, or dry, withered." Op. cit. p. 265. 
" The Ash/' says Mr. Selby, " burns as freely in the green state 
or when newly cut, as it does when dry, giving out much heat 
with a clear flame, and very little smoke." Op. cit. p. 96. 
8. Ashen-faggot. "W. G.," a correspondent of Notes and 
Queries, 4th s., i. 226, remarks that " A curious custon is prevalent 
in Devonshire of burning an ashen-faggot on Christmas Eve. The 
faggot is made of rather small sticks of the tree, bound together 
by a cord or withy, and so burned. The people tell you in ex- 
planation of the custom, that our Lord, when born, was dressed by 
a fire of ash sticks. . ." (See also Trans. Devon. Assoc., vi. 268-9.) 
9. Ash-trees and Lightning : — " The same superstition," Mrs. 
Latham tells us, "which looks upon the ash as possessing such 
supernatural powers of healing, regards it as an especial attraction 
of lightning to be avoided in a thunder-storm ; and mothers teach 
their children to say — 
4 Beware of an oak, 
It draws the stroke ; 
Avoid an ash, 
It courts the flash ; 
Creep under the thorn, 
It can save you from harm.' " Op. cit., p. 43. 
10. An Even-ash : — Several writers have recorded rhymes and 
charms in connection with what is known as an Even-ash. 
"M. A. W.," writing in the Athenceum of November 7th, 1846, 
No. 993, p. 1142, says, "In the North Eiding of Yorkshire, the 
even ash is employed as a charm in the following manner : — A 
young woman desirous of ascertaining who her husband will be, 
pulls an even ash privately from the tree, repeating at the moment 
these lines — 
' Even-ash, even-ash, I pluck thee, 
This night my own true love to see ; 
Neither in his rick nor in his rare, 
But in the clothes he does every day wear.' 
The twig is placed under her pillow at night, and the future 
husband, of course, makes his appearance in her dreams." 
