The central Oak of Mona’s dismal shade.”
The Druids it is believed revered the form of the cross. It is stated to have been their custom to seek studiously for a large and handsome Oak-tree, growing up with two principal arms in the form of a cross beside the main stem. If the two horizontal arms were not sufficiently adapted to the figure, they fastened a crossbeam to it. Then they consecrated it by cutting upon the right branch the word Hesus, upon the middle stem Taranis, and upon the left branch Belenus, and over them the word Thau. The tree thus inscribed was deemed peculiarly sacred, and to it they directed their faces when offering prayer.
It was beneath the shade of the Oak that Druidic criminal trials were held—the judge and jury being seated under the branches, and the prisoner placed in a circle traced by the wand of the chief Druid. With the Saxons, the Oak retained its sacred character, and their national meetings were held beneath its shelter. It was below the Oaks of Dartmoor that they held their conference with the Britons, whose land they were invading.
In Great Britain, the Oak remained an object of veneration long after the establishment of Christianity. It was under an aged Oak that St. Brigid of Ireland established her retreat for holy women, whence called Kildara, or cell of the Oak. Here had been burning for many centuries the sacred fire of the Druids, but by the piety of St. Brigid the light of Christianity was henceforth to emit its flame from beneath
“The Oak of St. Bride, which demon nor Dane,
Nor Saxon, nor Dutchman could rend from her fane.”
Many of the Druidical sacred Oaks were utilised by the early preachers of the Christian faith, who from beneath their boughs preached the gospel of Christ to the pagan inhabitants. Hence these trees became noted throughout the country as Gospel Oaks, a name which still appertains to many ancient trees existing at the present time in England. It is right to say, however, that other authorities consider the origin of the name to have been the custom of reading the Gospel of the day at a certain tree, when the priest went round the fields to bless the crops.
The Sclavonians worshipped Oaks, which they enclosed in a consecrated court. This spot was the sanctuary of all the country, and had its priest, its festivals, and its sacrifices. The inner sanctuary, where grew the sacred Oak, was reserved especially for the priests, sacrificers, and people in danger of their life, who had sought of the priests an asylum. It is said that the ancient Russians, upon arriving at the Isle of St. George, offered up sacrifices beneath a great Oak, before which the people and priests chanted a Te Deum. After the ceremony, the priest distributed the branches of the Oak among the people.
It is curious to note how the old Grecian belief in the sacred and supernatural character of the Oak has lingered in Italy. Prof. de Gubernatis tells us that in the Campagna of Rome, about seventeen years ago, a young shepherdess, during a storm, sought shelter under an Oak, and prayed to the Madonna. Whilst she prayed, a gracious lady appeared before her, and, thanks to her intercession, no rain fell on the Oak, and the girl was enabled to reach home without being wetted by a single drop. Everyone saw it was a miracle; the curé examined her, and from his representations the young girl was received into a convent at Rome, where she probably is preparing herself for canonisation. Under similar circumstances, two centuries ago, a Tuscan shepherdess, Giovanna of Signa, was canonised. In the district of Signa, near Ginestra, the villagers still show a sacred Oak, which people kneel to and adore. The story runs that one day the shepherdess Giovanna, surprised by a storm, called around her the shepherds and their flocks, and stuck her shepherdess’s crook into the ground; when, wondrous to relate, at the same instant shot forth an Oak, which sheltered beneath its branches shepherds and sheep. No one was wetted by the rain. On account of this miracle, Giovanna was made a saint, and near the sacred Oak a little chapel was erected to the Virgin. Strange to say, the tree throws down anyone climbing into its branches to cut boughs; but people are permitted to pluck sprays, which are believed to guard themselves and their houses from the effects of storms, provided that the names of Jesus and Mary are invoked with certain ceremonies.
Among the Bolognese, who inhabit a district once occupied by the Celts, and consequently Druidic, the sacred character of Oak-trees was long acknowledged. In the fourteenth century, there stood in Bologna an ancient Oak, which was regarded with the greatest reverence, and beneath its boughs all important gatherings of the people took place. In their religious processions the children still carry garlands of the Oak and Olive. In the country districts, images of the Virgin are often suspended from Oak-trees, and these effigies are called after the trees, the little Madonnas of the Oak. A legend of Bologna relates that in a chapel an image of the Virgin had long been neglected, and overlooked, till, one day, a pious shepherd took it away, and placed it in the trunk of a Cork-tree (a species of Oak, the Quercus Suber). Henceforth he visited it daily, and to honour the Virgin played on the flute. The thief having been denounced, the shepherd was seized and condemned to death; but during the night, through the intervention of the Madonna, the statue and the shepherd both returned to their favourite tree, and notwithstanding subsequent efforts to remove them, they again took up their place beneath its boughs. Then the people recognised a miracle performed by the Virgin, and falling on their knees before the statue in the Oak, they asked pardon of the shepherd.