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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
163
Another
curious
fiction
prevalent
in
olden
times
was
that
of
the
barnacle-tree,
to
which
Sir
John
Maundeville
also
alludes:--"In
our
country
were
trees
that
bear
a
fruit
that
becomes
flying
birds;
those
that
fell
in
the
water
lived,
and
those
that
fell
on
the
earth
died,
and
these
be
right
good
for
man's
meat."
As
early
as
the
twelfth
century
this
idea
was
promulgated
by
Giraldus
Cambrensis
in
his
"Topographia
Hiberniae;"
and
Gerarde
in
his
"Herball,
or
General
History
of
Plants,"
published
in
the
year
1597,
narrates
the
following:--"There
are
found
in
the
north
parts
of
Scotland,
and
the
isles
adjacent,
called
Orcades,
certain
trees,
whereon
do
grow
small
fishes,
of
a
white
colour,
tending
to
russet,
wherein
are
contained
little
living
creatures;
which
shells,
in
time
of
maturity,
do
open,
and
out
of
them
grow
those
little
living
things
which,
falling
into
the
water,
do
become
fowls,
whom
we
call
barnacles,
in
the
north
of
England
brant-geese,
and
in
Lancashire
tree-geese;
but
the
others
that
do
fall
upon
the
land
perish,
and
do
come
to
nothing."
But,
like
many
other
popular
fictions,
this
notion
was
founded
on
truth,
and
probably
originated
in
mistaking
the
fleshy
peduncle
of
the
barnacle
(Lepas
analifera)
for
the
neck
of
a
goose,
the
shell
for
its
head,
and
the
tentacula
for
a
tuft
of
feather.
There
were
many
versions
of
this
eccentric
myth,
and
according
to
one
modification
given
by
Boëce,
the
oldest
Scottish
historian,
these
barnacle-geese
are
first
produced
in
the
form
of
worms
in
old
trees,
and
further
adds
that
such
a
tree
was
cast
on
shore
in
the
year
1480,
when
there
appeared,
on
its
being
sawn
asunder,
a
multitude
of
worms,
"throwing
themselves
out
of
sundry
holes
and
pores
of
the
tree;
some
of
them
were
nude,
as
they
were
new
shapen;
some
had
both
head,
feet,
and
wings,
but
they
had
no
feathers;
some
of
them
were
perfect
shapen
fowls.
At
last,
the
people
having
this
tree
each
day
in
more
admiration,
brought
it
to
the
kirk
of
St.
Andrew's,
beside
the
town
of
Tyre,
where
it
yet
remains
to
our
day."
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