Hawthorn · Biancospino

A
[1] Burgundy (D. C. Watts 2007): Burgundian mothers carried their sick child to a flowering hawthorn, because they believed that their prayers would rise better to heaven in the company of the scent of the flowers.
[2] Bohemia, Bosnia, England, Serbia, Wales, (J. G. Frazer 1906-1915; R. Vickery 1995): A hawthorn branch hanging from the door can ward off witches. In Bosnia and Serbia people also believed that a cradle made of hawthorn wood would be a very powerful protective device. They also believed that a small hawthorn peg could be driven into a grave to prevent the corpse from turning into a vampire: a stake of the same wood was used in Serbia to “kill” the vampire.
[3] Ireland (R. Vickery 1995): «They [hawthorns] were supposed to have the power of keeping away evil».
[4] Ireland (D. C. Watts 2007): Hawthorn thorns are often associated with the dead and often mark graves or mark a spot where a coffin has been placed, or where an open death has taken place. They are also often associated with burial mounds, because the thorn was sometimes planted where a death had occurred. These are often called Monument Trees. In Galway, Ireland, these thorns were said to have sprung from the dust of dead men scattered across the world. Hence the idea that the soul becomes a tree. Some thorns are dedicated to Irish saints and appear in funeral ceremonies. When the funerals pass, they stop, and stones are placed next to the thorn until they become burial mounds. In County Wexford, it was the custom to hang small crosses, made of coffin wood, on thorns at crossroads, as the funeral procession passed.

B
[1] Albania, Scotland (J. G. Frazer 1906-1915): Two of the boys held the bride, and the third carried a torch of buckthorn or hawthorn in front of her, probably for the purpose of averting the powers of evil; for buckthorn or hawthorn was credited with this magical virtue.
[2] France, England, Japan (J. G. Frazer 1906-1915; D. C. Watts 2007): beneficial properties of hawthorn for women who want children. According to a story circulating in Wiltshire, when a hawthorn tree growing in a field was cut down, the fields, women and animals lost their fertility, which was only restored when the culprit planted a new plant in place of the old one.
[3] England, France, Ireland (D. C. Watts 2007): In May the hawthorn was hung at every girl’s window because it was said to bring fertility. In Suffolk, any maid who could bring a branch of hawthorn in full bloom on a May morning was entitled to a dish of cream for breakfast. In South Somerset there was a belief that a girl should dance barefoot around a hawthorn tree on a midsummer day before dawn to convince her lover to marry her that year. Another belief was that if a girl hung a flowering branch at a crossroads on May Eve, she should go there the next morning to see which way the wind had blown it. From that direction her future husband would come.

C
[1] England, France, Wales (D. C. Watts 2007): In many parts of England, hawthorn, gathered on Maundy Thursday (it is not clear whether this means Holy Thursday or Ascension Day, both of which bear the same name), was used as a protection against lightning. In Fittleworth, Sussex, the following rhyme was common: Beware of an oak, it draws the stroke; Avoid an ash, it courts the flash. Creep under the thorn it can save you from harm. In Normandy, it is still said that a sprig of hawthorn will protect the bearer. On the other hand, and as often happens, sometimes the exact opposite is found, as in the case of the people of Cornwall, who thought it dangerous to stand under a hawthorn during a thunderstorm.

D
[1] England (A. De Gubernatis 1878): It is said that Joseph of Arimathea, having planted his staff on the ground on Christmas Eve, suddenly a hawthorn blossomed (cf. Oleander). In England, up to the time of Charles I, a branch of the Glastonbury hawthorn, which was said to descend in a straight line from Joseph of Arimathea’s staff, was still carried in procession as a Christmas present. The hawthorn, it was said, always blossomed on Christmas Eve. In the year 1753, at Quainton, in Buckinghamshire, the flowering having failed, the people preferred to postpone the Christmas celebration until the accomplishment of the supposed miracle, which took place on January 5, rather than to question the infallibility of the hawthorn.