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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
28
'In
such
green
palaces
the
first
kings
reigned;
Slept
in
their
shade,
and
angels
entertained.
With
such
old
counsellors
they
did
advise,
And
by
frequenting
sacred
shades
grew
wise.'
Even
Paradise
itself,
says
Evelyn,
was
but
a
kind
of
'nemorous
temple
or
sacred
grove,'
planted
by
God
himself,
and
given
to
man
tanquam
primo
sacerdoti;
and
he
goes
on
to
suggest
that
the
groves
which
the
patriarchs
are
recorded
to
have
planted
in
different
parts
of
Palestine
may
have
been
memorials
of
that
first
tree-shaded
paradise
from
which
Adam
was
expelled."
Briefly
noticing
the
antecedent
history
of
plant-worship,
it
would
seem
to
have
lain
at
the
foundation
of
the
old
Celtic
creed,
although
few
records
on
this
point
have
come
down
to
us.[9]
At
any
rate
we
have
abundant
evidence
that
this
form
of
belief
held
a
prominent
place
in
the
religion
of
these
people,
allusions
to
which
are
given
by
many
of
the
early
classical
writers.
Thus
the
very
name
of
Druidism
is
a
proof
of
the
Celtic
addiction
to
tree-worship,
and
De
Brosses,[10]
as
a
further
evidence
that
this
was
so,
would
derive
the
word
kirk,
now
softened
into
church,
from
quercus,
an
oak;
that
species
having
been
peculiarly
sacred.
Similarly,
in
reviewing
the
old
Teutonic
beliefs,
we
come
across
the
same
references
to
tree-worship,
in
many
respects
displaying
little
or
no
distinction
from
that
of
the
Celts.
In
explanation
of
this
circumstance,
Mr.
Keary[11]
suggests
that,
"The
nature
of
the
Teutonic
beliefs
would
apply,
with
only
some
slight
changes,
to
the
creed
of
the
predecessors
of
the
Germans
in
Northern
and
Western
Europe.
Undoubtedly,
in
prehistoric
days,
the
Germans
and
Celts
merged
so
much
one
into
the
other
that
their
histories
cannot
well
be
distinguished."
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