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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
34
In
North
America,
according
to
Franklin,[25]
the
Crees
used
to
hang
strips
of
buffalo
flesh
and
pieces
of
cloth
on
their
sacred
tree;
and
in
Nicaragua
maize
and
beans
were
worshipped.
By
the
natives
of
Carolina
the
tea-plant
was
formerly
held
in
veneration
above
all
other
plants,
and
indeed
similar
phases
of
superstition
are
very
numerous.
Traces
of
tree-worship
occur
in
Africa,
and
Sir
John
Lubbock[26]
mentions
the
sacred
groves
of
the
Marghi--a
dense
part
of
the
forest
surrounded
with
a
ditch--where
in
the
most
luxuriant
and
widest
spreading
tree
their
god,
Zumbri,
is
worshipped.
In
his
valuable
work
on
Ceylon,
Sir
J.
Emerson
Tennent
gives
some
interesting
details
about
the
consecration
of
trees
to
different
demons
to
insure
their
safety,
and
of
the
ceremonies
performed
by
the
kattadias
or
devil-priests.
It
appears
that
whenever
the
assistance
of
a
devil-dancer
is
required
in
extreme
cases
of
sickness,
various
formalities
are
observed
after
the
following
fashion.
An
altar
is
erected,
profusely
adorned
with
garlands
and
flowers,
within
sight
of
the
dying
man,
who
is
ordered
to
touch
and
dedicate
to
the
evil
spirit
the
wild
flowers,
rice,
and
flesh
laid
upon
it.
Traces
of
plant-worship
are
still
found
in
Europe.
Before
sunrise
on
Good
Friday
the
Bohemians
are
in
the
habit
of
going
into
their
gardens,
and
after
falling
on
their
knees
before
a
tree,
to
say,
"I
pray,
O
green
tree,
that
God
may
make
thee
good,"
a
formula
which
Mr.
Ralston[27]
considers
has
probably
been
altered
under
the
influence
of
Christianity
"from
a
direct
prayer
to
the
tree
to
a
prayer
for
it."
At
night
they
run
about
the
garden
exclaiming,
"Bud,
O
trees,
bud!
or
I
will
flog
you."
On
the
following
day
they
shake
the
trees,
and
clank
their
keys,
while
the
church
bells
are
ringing,
under
the
impression
that
the
more
noise
they
make
the
more
fruit
will
they
get.
Traces,
too,
of
tree-worship,
adds
Mr.
Ralston,[28]
may
be
found
in
the
song
which
the
Russian
girls
sing
as
they
go
out
into
the
woods
to
fetch
the
birch
tree
at
Whitsuntide,
and
to
gather
flowers
for
wreaths
and
garlands:
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