TOUCHING WOOD,

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16423, 17 January 1919, Page 8

TOUCHING WOOD,

Ifc seems to bo generally agreed that the reference of ''touching wood" is to the medieval practice of carrying about an alleged piece of the True Cross and touching it upon appropriate occasions (perhaps with a reference to St. Paul's phrase, "God forbid that 1 should glory save in the Cross of the Lord Jesus .Christ.") But one correspondent of tho. London "Daily News'' suggests that the idea is very much older than Christianity, and was originally associated with the sacred trees and groves round the pagan temples. • He adds: "The superstition had- a practical side to it, as fugitives from hostile armies or the forces of the law took refuge in woods, where they were comparatively safe from pursuit. ] So well was this recognised in this country that we find in the 'Forest Laws' that all travellers leaving the wood for the road or the open country should blow three notes upon a horu before emerging, so that all should know that they were 'good men and true.' " An old Scottish dominie had another but analogous derivation. "Churches in early times," ho maintained, "were in many cases sanctuaries from both the law and the oppressor. Those who sought refuge in them used, when attempts were made to dislodge them, to cling to the altar rails, commonly of wood, and so long as they maintained their hold they were safe."