Meg
First the Religious Question
For the purposes of my inquiry I was interested
in any evidence of priests of any religious persuasion
bringing yew trees into England.
As to which persuasion Danish priests (if
there were such a separate social class at that
time in Scandinavia - and some writers have
doubted it) could have been, there is no doubt
that they would have been non-Christian initially.
Whilst in the main Christianity was exported to
Denmark from the Danelaw, it is hard to believe
that there was no Rome-sponsored local missionary
activity in Denmark at all, in the 9th century. After all
Popes had been flooding the Western World
with missionaries for hundreds of years before the
9th century. As early as circa 420 there were no
less than seven hundred Christian bishops in Africa
alone. (See St Augustine by Gary Wills).
Secondly the Geography Question
Burton upon Stather is a village in North Lincolnshire, UK.
It is situated on a hill on the East bank of the river Trent,
around 10 miles North of Gainsborough. It overlooks the
confluence of the rivers Trent, Yorkshire Ouse,
old Don and Humber - hence the *upon*. (Just to
confuse you, BUS is not Burton on Stather which
at the bottom of the hill; nor is it Burton Stather which
is the local (tiny) inland port on the River Trent!). The
nearest big town is Scunthorpe.
I should perhaps mention that Gainsborough has a
stather (landing stage) of its own. If you ever read
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot you will already
know something about this part of the world.
Ron Hornsby
Burton upon Stather
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 1999 03:08
Subject: Re: Yew trees in Denmark
> By Danish priests, do you mean Christian ones? It has
> always been my understanding that settlement in the
> danelaw led to the christianization of other scandinavian
> countries rather than vice versa. In the danelaw,
> danes met christians and were eventually
> converted. visitors from other scandinavian
> countries passing through to raid or trade
> would meet christians who spoke their language.
>
> and - forgive an ignorant american - but
> where IS Burton on Stather?
> meg
>
> > People
>
> > Regarding the religious roots of yew trees in English
> > churchyards we have been left hanging just when it was
> > getting really interesting. We have reached an impasse
> > on the question of whether Danish priests could have
> > brought over the yew. However, we have learned that yews
> > grow in southern but not northern Norway. By implication
> > then they grow in Denmark being further south.
>
> > We haven't discovered whether they are to be found in
> > Danish churchyards. Yet this is a more relevant matter
> > for Lincolnshire which was settled by Danes, not Norwegians.
>
> > Aren't there any Danes looking in on our musings? Isn't
> > anyone in Denmark curious to see how their one time
> > colony is getting on? Couldn't they help us in our struggle
> > as we reach out to the Old Country in an effort to identify
> > our cultural roots across the water?
>
> > And what about the Teutonic tribes? Might Angle, Saxon
> > or Jute shamans have brought the yew to England? Do yews
> > grow in northern Germany? Are they found in churchyards
> > there? Anyone in Germany looking in?
>
> > So much still to find out.
>
>
> > Ron Hornsby
> > Burton upon Stather
>
>
>
>
>
> Content-type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252"
>
> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
> <HTML><HEAD>
> <META content="text/html; charset=windows-1252" http-equiv=Content-Type>
> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=GENERATOR>
> <STYLE></STYLE>
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> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>People</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </DIV>
> <DIV>Regarding the religious roots of yew trees in English</DIV>
> <DIV>churchyards we have been left hanging just when it was</DIV>
> <DIV>getting really interesting. We have reached an impasse</DIV>
> <DIV>on the question of whether Danish priests could have</DIV>
> <DIV>brought over the yew. However, we have learned that yews</DIV>
> <DIV>grow in southern but not northern Norway. By
> implication</DIV>
> <DIV>then they grow in Denmark being further south.</DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV>We haven't discovered whether they are to be found in</DIV>
> <DIV>Danish churchyards. Yet this is a more relevant matter</DIV>
> <DIV>for Lincolnshire which was settled by Danes, not Norwegians.</DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV>Aren't there any Danes looking in on our musings? Isn't</DIV>
> <DIV>anyone in Denmark curious to see how their one time</DIV>
> <DIV>colony is getting on? Couldn't they help us in our
> struggle</DIV>
> <DIV>as we reach out to the Old Country in an effort to identify</DIV>
> <DIV>our cultural roots across the water?</DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV>And what about the Teutonic tribes? Might Angle,
Saxon</DIV>
> <DIV>or Jute shamans have brought the yew to England? Do yews</DIV>
> <DIV>grow in northern Germany? Are they found in churchyards</DIV>
> <DIV>there? Anyone in Germany looking in?</DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV>So much still to find out.</DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV>Ron Hornsby</DIV>
> <DIV>Burton upon Stather</DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV>
> <P> </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
>
> Margaret Cormack [log in to unmask]
> Dept. of Philosophy and Religion fax: 843-953-6388
> College of Charleston tel: 843-953-8033
> Charleston, SC 29424-0001
>
>
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