THE WOOD OF THE CROSS.
(Vol. vii., p. 177.)
I never heard of our Lord's cross having been made of elder wood. The common idea, legend, or tradition, that prevailed formerly was, that the upright beam of the cross was made of cedar, the cross-beam of cypress, the piece on which the inscription was written of olive, and the piece for the feet of palm.
The legend concerning the wood of the cross is very curious, and may be analysed as follows:—When Adam fell sick, he sent his son Seth to the gate of the garden of Eden to beg of the angel some drops of the oil of mercy that distilled from the tree of life. The angel replied that none could receive this favour till five thousand years had passed away. He gave him, however, a cutting from the tree, and it was planted upon Adam's grave. It grew into a tree with three branches. The rod of Moses was afterwards cut from this tree. Solomon had it cut down to make of it a pillar for his palace. The Queen of Sheba, when she went to visit Solomon, would not pass by it, as she said it would one day cause the destruction of the Jews. Solomon then ordered it to be removed and buried. The spot where it was buried was afterwards dug for the pool of Bethsaida, and the mysterious tree communicated the power of healing to the waters. As the time of the Passion of Christ approached, the wood floated on the surface of the water, and was taken for the upright beam of the cross. See this curious legend at greater length in the Gospel of Nicodemus; the Legenda Aurea at the feasts of the Discovery and Exaltation of the Cross; Curzon's Monasteries of the Levant, p. 163.; and Didron's Iconography, p. 367., Bohn's edition.
I think, however, that I can explain the origin of the question put to Rubi by his poor parishioner as to the cross having been made of elder wood. His question may have sprung from a corruption of an old tradition or legend regarding not our Saviour, but Judas his betrayer. Judas is said to have hanged himself on an elder tree. Sir John Maundeville, in his description of Jerusalem, after speaking of the Pool of Siloe, adds,
"And fast by is still the elder tree on which Judas hanged himself for despair, when he sold and betrayed our Lord."—P. 175., Bohn's edit.
To return to the wood of the cross. In Sir John Maundeville's time a spot was pointed out at Jerusalem as the spot where the tree grew:
"To the west of Jerusalem is a fair church, where the tree of the cross grew."—P. 175.
and he speaks of the wood of this tree as having once been used as a bridge over the brook Cedron (p. 176.). Henry Maundrell describes a Greek convent that he visited, about half an hour's distance from Jerusalem:
"That which most deserves to be noted in it, is the reason of its name and foundation. It is because there is the earth that nourished the root, that bore the tree, that yielded the timber, that made the cross. Under the high altar you are shown a hole in the ground where the stump of the tree stood."—P. 462.
These are some of the legendary traditions regarding the history and site of the wood of the cross, up to the time of the Passion of Christ.
Ceyrep.