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VII.—Notes on the “Hwiting Treow” of the Anglo-Saxons
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2012
Extract
Tacitus, in his description of the ancient Germans, speaks of their reliance upon auguries and decisions by lot. The latter was performed with twigs cut from the branches of a fruit-bearing tree, and thrown upon a white garment:—“Sortium consuetudo simplex. Virgam frugiferæ arbori decisam in surculos amputant eosque notis quibusdam discretos super candidam vestem temere ac fortuito spargunt.”—Germ. 10.
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- Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1869
References
page 125 note a See the interesting dissertation on Anglo-Saxon Eunes, by J. M. Kemble, in the Archæologia, xxviii. 307.
page 126 note a The term skewer-wood is given popularly to a tree known to the rustics as the catrash or catrush, perhaps from its having a green bark like a rush. It is preferred to the dogwood on account of its extreme hardness. It is also called spoke-wood, a term which seems to reflect the superstitious practice mentioned by Aubrey.