Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—E

Elder-tree

Sir John Maundeville, speaking of the Pool of Siloe, says, “Fast by is the elder-tree on which Judas hanged himself. when he sold and betrayed our Lord.” Shakespeare, in Love's Labour's Lost, v. 2, says, “Judas was hanged on an elder” (See Fig-Tree.)

Judas he japed
With Jewish siller,
And sithen on an elder tree
Hanged himself ... when

Piers Plowman: Vision.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Eleanor Crosses
Elden Hole
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