Note 2a — NOTES ON PARISHES ROUND HORNCASTLE.
Reading edition
Among the names in the “Myntlyng” MS., of Spalding Priory, is “John atte Ash,” i.e., John living by “the Ash,” which in time became John Ash. The ash tree was supposed to have peculiar virtues: weakly children were passed through it three times, before sunrise, to give them strength; and to the Rowan, or mountain-ash many superstitions are attached. (“Folklore,” vol. ii., No. 1, p. 88, et alibi.)