Abstract
DR. VAUGHAJST CORNISH in his interesting study of historic thorn trees shows that their distribution in England coincides strikingly with the areas invaded in the south by the Belgic tribes from Gaul, and in northern England, by the Parisii, an adjoining tribe. From these tribes probably originated the cult of the thorn as a sacred tree—a cult still persisting in some remote districts in England, and common in Ireland, where the fairy trees are protected with superstitious reverence. The legend of the Glastonbury thorn gathered Christian associations around the thorn.
Historic Thorn Trees in the British Isles
By Dr. Vaughan Cornish. Pp. 94 + 9 plates. (London: Country Life, Ltd., n.d.) 8s. 6d.
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Historic Thorn Trees in the British Isles. Nature 148, 677 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148677b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148677b0