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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
219
In
legendary
lore,
much
uncertainty
exists
as
to
the
tree
on
which
Judas
hanged
himself.
According
to
Sir
John
Maundeville,
there
it
stood
in
the
vicinity
of
Mount
Sion,
"the
tree
of
eldre,
that
Judas
henge
himself
upon,
for
despeyr,"
a
legend
which
has
been
popularly
received.
Shakespeare,
in
his
"Love's
Labour's
Lost,"
says
"Judas
was
hanged
on
an
elder,"
and
the
story
is
further
alluded
to
in
Piers
Plowman's
vision:--
"Judas,
he
japed
With
Jewen
silver,
And
sithen
on
an
eller,
Hanged
himselve."
Gerarde
makes
it
the
wild
carob,
a
tree
which,
as
already
stated,
was
formerly
known
as
"St.
John's
bread,"
from
a
popular
belief
that
the
Baptist
fed
upon
it
while
in
the
wilderness.
A
Sicilian
tradition
identifies
the
tree
as
a
tamarisk,
and
a
Russian
proverb,
in
allusion
to
the
aspen,
tells
us
"there
is
an
accursed
tree
which
trembles
without
even
a
breath
of
wind."
The
fig,
also,
has
been
mentioned
as
the
ill-fated
tree,
and
some
traditions
have
gone
so
far
as
to
say
that
it
was
the
very
same
one
as
was
cursed
by
our
Lord.
As
might
be
expected,
numerous
plants
have
become
interwoven
with
the
lives
of
the
saints,
a
subject
on
which
many
works
have
been
written.
Hence
it
is
unnecessary
to
do
more
than
briefly
note
some
of
the
more
important
items
of
sacred
lore
which
have
been
embodied
in
many
of
the
early
Christian
legends.
The
yellow
rattle
has
been
assigned
to
St.
Peter,
and
the
Primula
veris,
from
its
resemblance
to
a
bunch
of
keys,
is
St.
Peter's
wort.
Many
flowers,
too,
from
the
time
of
their
blossoming,
have
been
dedicated
to
certain
saints,
as
the
square
St.
John's
wort
(Hypericum
quadrangulare),
which
is
also
known
as
St.
Peter's
wort;
while
in
Germany
wall-barley
is
termed
Peter's
corn.
Of
the
many
legends
connected
with
the
cherry
we
are
reminded
that
on
one
occasion
Christ
gave
one
to
St.
Peter,
at
the
same
time
reminding
him
not
to
despise
little
things.
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