_Superstitions with regard to Glastonbury Thorn._--It is handed down,
that when Joseph of Arimathea, during his mission to England, arrived at
Weary-all-hill, near Glastonbury, he struck his travelling staff into
the earth, which immediately took root, and ever after put forth its
leaves and blossoms on Christmas Day, being converted into a miraculous
thorn.
This tree, which had two trunks, was preserved until the time of Queen
Elizabeth; when one of the trunks was destroyed by a Puritan, and the
other met with the same fate during the Great Rebellion.
Throughout the reign of Henry VIII., its blossoms were esteemed such
great curiosities, and sovereign specifics, as to become an object of
gain to the merchants of Bristol; who not only disposed of them to the
inhabitants of their own city, but _exported_ these blossoms to
different parts of Europe. There were, in addition to these, relics for
rain, for avoiding the evil eye, for rooting out charlock, and all weeds
in corn, with similar specifics, which were considered, at this time,
_the best of all property_!