From the Telegraph:
Vandals have destroyed a historic tree whose roots can be linked back to the origins of Christianity nearly 2,000 years ago.
The Holy Thorn tree on Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury, Somerset, is regarded as one of Britain’s most important symbols of Christendom, and is said to be derived from the original planted by Joseph of Arimathea.
The tree is one of several Holy Thorns located around Glastonbury but is arguably the most significant because of its placing on the spot where Joseph visited.
....
Katherine Gorbing, director of Glastonbury Abbey, said: “The vandals have struck at the heart of Christianity. Like the whole town, we are shocked and appalled.
"The tree holds a very special significance all over the world and thousands follow in the footsteps of Joseph of Arimathea, coming especially to see it.
This is the most important tree in Glastonbury and is of exceptional spiritual significance.
Below is a picture of the tree before it was destroyed.
From the website of Glastonbury Abbey:
Arriving at Glastonbury, which was then a series of island hills rising from the flooded Somerset Levels, it is believed that Joseph of Arimathea climbed Wearyall Hill to plant the staff which once belonged to Jesus (which came into his possession at the time of his nephew's death - Joseph being Jesus' last surviving male relative). As the staff was pushed into the fertile soil of Wearyall Hill, it is recorded that it magically took root and sprouted branches and leaves - ecoming Glastonbury's famous Holy Thorn tree.
I love the story, as did many others. How sad that the tree is destroyed.
H/T to Nicholas Knisely at The Lead.
UPDATE: From a suggestion in the comments, I found the Celtic Tree Lore website from which I copied the following quote:
At dawn on Beltane a young woman who wants to remain beautiful for the rest of the year, can go bathe in the dew of the Hawthorn tree while chanting this rhyme:
"The fair maid, who on the first of May,
Goes to the fields at the break of day,
And bathes in the dew from the hawthorn tree,
Will ever strong and handsome be".
What if the lady is not beautiful at the beginning of the year? Does the dew from the hawthorn tree make her beautiful?
Very sad. This wanton destruction--very concerning about the sort of person who does it.
ReplyDeleteIT the motivation for this sort of vandalism is hard to understand.
ReplyDeleteEvery few years in our neighborhood, at high school graduation time, our mailboxes get damaged by kids on a nighttime rampage.
... Is it absolutely certain the tree has been killed? Sometimes if you hack off the branches of a tree it sprouts new shoots. I don't know about thorns but maybe the headlines are a bit premature? ... :-( I hope so, anyway.
ReplyDeleteCathy, because of damage from hurricane Gustav, one of our crepe myrtles had to be pruned back rather severely, and it did come back. I don't know about the thorn tree with all the branches removed down to the trunk.
ReplyDeleteIf you cut a tree down all the way to the stump, sometimes it still puts out shoots. It's never the same though. Alas.
ReplyDeleteDespicable b@stards!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I just don't get this world---I really don't. WTF did this TREE do to anybody???
Cathy, alas indeed! The tree will never look right, even if it doesn't die.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I just don't get this world---I really don't.
Me neither, JCF.
Beasts!
ReplyDeleteA crucifixion analogy keeps coming to me.
ReplyDeleteThe tree will never look right, even if it doesn't die.
But maybe that's the point? The Resurrected Christ still has the wounds in hands, feet and side...
Prayers for the tree's "rebirth."
Elizabeth, in a word.
ReplyDeleteJCF, that's one way to look at it.
Cathy is right. This tree was grown from a shoot from the original tree, which was chopped down by Cromwell's men in the 17th Century.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia the tree was pronounced dead in June 1991 and cut down but cuttings were taken from it beforehand so it could be re-grown.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest with you guys, and I will probably upset JCF saying this, but it is just an ordinary hawthorn tree, you know. It's iconic, but its significance has been invested in it by humans. It ain't no holy tree. That's my take on it, anyway. Having said that it was a landmark and a living thing and should not have been gratuitously attacked.
BTW this particular tree was planted in 1952, apparently (according to the Guardian). Also, hawthorn trees are fast-growing and there are plenty of cuttings of it around, so even if it doesn't recover it can be replaced quite easily.
ReplyDeletePaul and Cathy, you are correct in your facts, but the story surrounding the tree is lovely, and it's a damned shame that a spoiler destroyed the tree that so many others enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteIt's iconic, but its significance has been invested in it by humans.
ReplyDeleteI think that's always the case, and so?
As I just said at MP's, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine some (misguided but) homeless and/or otherwise cold person cutting the tree down for firewood---but the branches strewn about suggest otherwise here.
I've been hearing a new theory re Xmas trees: that it IS better (for the Earth) to cut some down (replanting them), than go w/ an artificial tree (the exact opposite of what I've heard the past 20 years! :-0)
No, the issue isn't, ultimately, the tree (though the pre-chopped pics show it to have been very lovely).
It's that some human being (likely, a group) chose to deliberately slap-the-face of other human beings (using this living thing, a tree, as nothing more than graffiti for doing so).
It's so very, very ugly, and sad.
JCF, what I meant by that was that I fear that people are over-investing the tree with symbolic importance. It is not the only "holy thorn" in Glastonbury and it will grow back. I also don't believe that it has the Christian significance some have ascribed to it (or indeed that Glastonbury itself does).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you though that it seems a deliberate attack on people's beliefs, which is always an ugly thing to do, and in any case is a living thing, which also makes the attack ugly.
There's a lot to get upset about in this world and I would rate this not nearly as ugly or damaging as many other things. That's all I'm saying. I can see you feel otherwise.
"In ancient Britain, destruction of a Hawthorn tree might bring on tragedies such as the death of one's cattle or children and a total loss of well-being."
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I found a link to Celtic Tree Lore. Is that where you found your quote?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your contribution to the discussion, but next time you visit, please make up a name and sign your comment. Thanks.
Mimi, anonymous is quite clearly Mad Priest. It's his way of admitting he knows I'm right :-)
ReplyDelete"By Jove! I think she's got it!"
ReplyDelete:-) Exactly! We know a mad priest when we see one.
ReplyDeleteCathy, we do. Here's a picture.
ReplyDeleteFortunately there are specialist nurseries who propagate this tree for growing on elswhere in the country. So it could be replanted.
ReplyDeleteMartin Askey BSc(Hons)
Martin, thanks. That's good to know.
ReplyDelete