Note 407 — Chapter VIII · SCOURING THE WHITE HORSE

“The oak, tallest and fairest of the wood, was the symbol of Jupiter. The manner in which the principal tree in the grove was consecrated and ordained to be the symbol of Jupiter was as follows: The Druids, with the general consent of the whole order, and all the neighbourhood pitched upon the most beautiful tree, cut off all its side branches and then joined two of them to the highest part of the trunk, so that they extended themselves on either side like the arms of a man, making in the whole the shape of a cross. Above the insertions of these branches and below, they inscribed in the bark of the tree the word Thau, by which they meant God. On the right arm was inscribed Hesus, on the left Belenus, and on the middle of the trunk Tharamus.”—Quoted by Borlase in Cornwall from “the learned Schedius”.