Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 17, 1906.djvu/185

 The European Sky -God. 173

tradition to the effect that the disappearance of this tree will be a sign that dire misfortunes will shortly overwhelm the family. " Freshness to the hawthorn tree of Cawdor " is consequently the happiest form of felicitation to the Campbells of Cawdor. The tree must be about five hundred years old, according to the most moderate com- putation,. . . but it still has its roots in the soil and its stem rises through the floor of one of the dungeons. . . . The famous elm in the courtyard of Howth Castle, near Dublin, is the other instance. The saying is that when it falls the ancient line of Howth shall come to an end. It is very old now, and so decayed that iron supports hold it together against the wear and tear of the weather. Strangely enough, the present Lord Howth is the last of his race.' The other 'Lucks' adduced by Mr. Johnston are mostly cups, viz. the Luck of Muncaster, a glass bowl given to Sir John Pennington by Henry VL in 146 1 ; the Luck of Workington, an agate cup given to Sir Henry Curwen by Mary Queen of Scots in 1568 ; the Luck of Edenhall, a glass cup preserved as an heirloom in the Musgrave family ; the Luck of Burrel Green, a brass dish originally owned by the Lambs of Cumberland. Tradition has it that the last two Lucks were taken from, or given by, fairies. In all cases the welfare of the family is thought to depend on the safety of the cup.

massy oaks, which originally supported the roof as they grew : upon these the foresters and yeomen of the guard used to hang their nets, cross-bows, hunting-poles, great saddles, calivers, bills, &c.' (J. G. Strutt Sylva Britannica London 1822 p. 26). Cp. the Old Manor House at Knaresborough on the Nidd in Yorkshire : ' It is believed that this is the only house in England in which stands an original roof-tree. In this case an old oak of the forest, with its roots still intact, rises through the kitchen up to a bed-room, where it is cut short, and used as a. small table' {The Standard Nov, 13, 1905).

Arthur Bernard Cook.

{To be continued).