box tree

box tree
   This evergreen plant was formerly used at *funerals as a cheap substitute for the customary *rosemary or thyme (Vickery, 1995: 43). The mourners would each carry a sprig in the procession, and drop it into the grave; sprigs were also sometimes tucked into the winding sheet. The eccentric Major Labelliere, who died at Dorking (Surrey) in 1800, arranged for two carts to pass through the town on the morning of his funeral, one laden with sprigs of box and the other with *yew, so that everybody could take one; the crowds were so great that the ten-foot shaft serving as his grave was half-filled by the greenery thrown on his coffin (Charles Rose, Recollections of Old Dorking (1877), 92-8). This presumably explains why it is unlucky to bring box indoors.

A Dictionary of English folklore. . 2014.

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  • Box tree — Box Box (b[o^]ks), n. [As. box, L. buxus, fr. Gr. ?. See {Box} a case.] (Bot.) A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box ({Buxus sempervirens}) has two varieties, one of which, the dwarf box ({Buxus… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • box tree — paprastasis buksmedis statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Buksmedinių šeimos dekoratyvinis, medieninis, vaistinis nuodingas augalas (Buxus sempervirens), paplitęs Europoje, vakarų Azijoje ir šiaurės Afrikoje. atitikmenys: lot. Buxus… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • Box-tree —    (Heb. teashshur), mentioned in Isa. 60:13; 41:19, was, according to some, a species of cedar growing in Lebanon. The words of Ezek. 27:6 literally translated are, Thy benches they have made of ivory, the daughter of the ashur tree, i.e.,… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

  • box tree — noun Any of several trees, of the genus Buxus, often used as a hedge and as a source of boxwood …   Wiktionary

  • box-tree — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Sand-box tree — Sand Sand, n. [AS. sand; akin to D. zand, G. sand, OHG. sant, Icel. sandr, Dan. & Sw. sand, Gr. ?.] 1. Fine particles of stone, esp. of siliceous stone, but not reduced to dust; comminuted stone in the form of loose grains, which are not coherent …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • giant box tree — balearinis buksmedis statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Buksmedinių šeimos medieninis augalas (Buxus balearica), paplitęs Viduržemio pajūrio sityje. atitikmenys: lot. Buxus balearica angl. Balearic boxwood; giant box tree; Minorca box; Spanish …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • Box — (b[o^]ks), n. [As. box, L. buxus, fr. Gr. ?. See {Box} a case.] (Bot.) A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box ({Buxus sempervirens}) has two varieties, one of which, the dwarf box ({Buxus suffruticosa}), is… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Box elder — Box Box (b[o^]ks), n. [As. box, L. buxus, fr. Gr. ?. See {Box} a case.] (Bot.) A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box ({Buxus sempervirens}) has two varieties, one of which, the dwarf box ({Buxus… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Box holly — Box Box (b[o^]ks), n. [As. box, L. buxus, fr. Gr. ?. See {Box} a case.] (Bot.) A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box ({Buxus sempervirens}) has two varieties, one of which, the dwarf box ({Buxus… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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