Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
1
271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
52
Respecting
the
rendezvous
of
witches,
it
may
be
noted
that
they
very
frequently
resorted
to
hills
and
mountains,
their
meetings
taking
place
"on
the
mead,
on
the
oak
sward,
under
the
lime,
under
the
oak,
at
the
pear
tree."
Thus
the
fairy
rings
which
are
often
to
be
met
with
on
the
Sussex
downs
are
known
as
hag-tracks,[4]
from
the
belief
that
"they
are
caused
by
hags
and
witches,
who
dance
there
at
midnight."[5]
Their
love
for
sequestered
and
romantic
localities
is
widely
illustrated
on
the
Continent,
instances
of
which
have
been
collected
together
by
Grimm,
who
remarks
how
"the
fame
of
particular
witch
mountains
extends
over
wide
kingdoms."
According
to
a
tradition
current
in
Friesland,[6]
no
woman
is
to
be
found
at
home
on
a
Friday,
because
on
that
day
they
hold
their
meetings
and
have
dances
on
a
barren
heath.
Occasionally,
too,
they
show
a
strong
predilection
for
certain
trees,
to
approach
which
as
night-time
draws
near
is
considered
highly
dangerous.
The
Judas
tree
(Cercis
siliquastrum)
was
one
of
their
favourite
retreats,
perhaps
on
account
of
its
traditionary
association
with
the
apostle.
The
Neapolitan
witches
held
their
tryst
under
a
walnut
tree
near
Benevento,[7]
and
at
Bologna
the
peasantry
tell
how
these
evil
workers
hold
a
midnight
meeting
beneath
the
walnut
trees
on
St.
John's
Eve.
The
elder
tree
is
another
haunt
under
whose
branches
witches
are
fond
of
lurking,
and
on
this
account
caution
must
be
taken
not
to
tamper
with
it
after
dark.[8]
Again,
in
the
Netherlands,
experienced
shepherds
are
careful
not
to
let
their
flocks
feed
after
sunset,
for
there
are
wicked
elves
that
prepare
poison
in
certain
plants--nightwort
being
one
of
these.
Nor
does
any
man
dare
to
sleep
in
a
meadow
or
pasture
after
sunset,
for,
as
the
shepherds
say,
he
would
have
everything
to
fear.
A
Tyrolese
legend[9]
relates
how
a
boy
who
had
climbed
a
tree,
"overlooked
the
ghastly
doings
of
certain
witches
beneath
its
boughs.
They
tore
in
pieces
the
corpse
of
a
woman,
and
threw
the
portions
in
the
air.
The
boy
caught
one,
and
kept
it
by
him;
but
the
witches,
on
counting
the
pieces,
found
that
one
was
missing,
and
so
replaced
it
by
a
scrap
of
alderwood,
when
instantly
the
dead
came
to
life
again."
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
