#17th century history
The Three Crowns Hotel dates back to the 13th century. For several hundred years, it was the family home of the Whiddons, one of whom, Mary, achieved local notoriety in 1641 when she was shot dead on the church steps on her wedding day. No sooner had the village recovered from this tragedy than, two years later, the young Royalist poet Sidney Godolphin was caught up in a local Civil War skirmish, and riddled by musket fire, was carried to what is not the hotel’s porch, where he died in agony.
Time moved on, and the ancient property evolved into a charming old world inn, its solid granite walls, splendid mullioned windows, massive oak beams, and huge fireplace being complemented by, of course, a resident ghost, said to be the somber shade of the tragic Sidney Godolphin. He wanders the hotel’s cozy interior, resplendent in full cavalier dress and sporting a handsome plumed hat. He makes fleeting appearances, occasionally startling witnesses by suddenly manifesting in front of them and fixing them with a sad stare. Some who see the ghost of Sidney Godolphin describe him as more melancholic than malevolent. Others who encounter him are moved to admiration by his piece de resistance of walking through granite walls that are so thick that, even though he is a ghost, the feat of passing through them is little short of miraculous.
Do you know why the oak tree is associated with supernatural powers? The fact that the oak tends to be struck by lightning as much as, if not more often than, other trees has promoted its association with supernatural powers and made it sacred to the thunder-wielding Norse god Thor. A southern English rhyme sensibly warns, “Beware the oak, it draws smoke.”
Elsewhere, somewhat perversely, the tree is actually recommended as a suitable shelter in the event of a thunderstorm. Keeping boughs of oak (particularly if taken from a tree that has been struck by a lightning bolt) or a few acorns in the house is reputed to protect the house from lightning. Standing beneath an oak or wearing oak leaves is further said to furnish protection from evil spirits and from witchcraft.
In Cornwall, superstition advises that hammering a nail into an oak tree will relieve the pain of a toothache, while in Wales, rubbing sores with a piece of oak bark on Midsummer Day will help them to heal. Embracing an oak tree, meanwhile, is enough to cure hernias and to promote fertility of couples unable to have children. Oak trees planted at crossroads are considered to have the most effective healing powers.
The oak acquired a reputation as a royal tree in the 17th century after the future Charles II hid in one to escape his Parliamentarian pursuers after the battle of Worcester. In honor of this event, loyal subjects took to wearing oak leaves to proclaim their Royalist sympathies on what became Royal Oak Day after restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Anyone failing to comply was beaten with stinging nettles.
Back in the more brutal times, in pagan Germany, any man who harmed an oak was punished by having his navel hacked out and nailed to the tree. He was then forced to walk around the trunk, with the result that his intestines were slowly pulled from his body.
Even today, in our modern world, the oak tree is still honored. The choice of clusters of oak leaves as a military decoration hails back to ancient Rome, when soldiers who had performed some act of bravery or selflessness were honored with the presentation of an oak leaf crown. An oak leaf cluster or oak leaves is a common device which is placed on U.S. military awards and decorations for “exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service, heroic deeds, or valorous actions”.
Source: http://historicalhussies.blogspot.com/2009/01/around-ye-ole-oak-tree.html
