The Glastonbury Thorn
The legend
goes that soon after the death of Christ, Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain
to spread the
message of Christianity. When he traveled there from the Holy Land
he brought with him
his staff. Being tired from his journey, he lay down to rest.
In doing so, he pushed his staff into
the ground beside him. When he awoke, he found that the staff
had taken root and begun to
grow and
blossom. It is said he left it there and it has flowered every Christmas
and every spring.
It is also said that a puritan trying to cut down the tree was blinded
by a splinter of the wood before
he could do so. The original thorn did eventually die but not before
many cuttings had been
taken. It is one of these very cuttings which is in the grounds of
Glastonbury Abbey today.
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