e. And there is a
Tree of Oke that the Saracens clepen _Dirpe_, that is of Abraham's Tyme,
the which men clepen THE DRYE TREE." [Schiltberger adds that the heathen
call it _Kurru Thereck_, i.e. (Turkish) _Kuru Dirakht_ = Dry Tree.] "And
theye seye that it hathe ben there sithe the beginnynge of the World; and
was sumtyme grene and bare Leves, unto the Tyme that Oure Lord dyede on
the Cros; and thanne it dryede; and so dyden alle the Trees that weren
thanne in the World. And summe seyn be hire Prophecyes that a Lord, a
Prynce of the West syde of the World, shalle wynnen the Lond of
Promyssioun, i.e. the Holy Lond, withe Helpe of Cristene Men, and he
schalle do synge a Masse under that Drye Tree, and than the Tree shall
wexen grene and bere both Fruyt and Leves. And thorghe that Myracle manye
Sarazines and Jewes schulle ben turned to Cristene Feithe. And, therefore,
they dou gret Worschipe thereto, and kepen it fulle besyly. And alle be it
so that it be drye, natheless yit he berethe great vertue," etc.

The tradition seems to have altered with circumstances, for a traveller of
nearly two centuries later (Friar Anselmo, 1509) describes the oak of
Abraham at Hebron as a tree of dense and verdant foliage: "The Saracens
make their devotions at it, and hold it in great veneration, for it has
remained thus green from the days of Abraham until now; and they tie
scraps of cloth on its branches inscribed with some of their writing, and
believe that if any one were to cut a piece off that tree he would die
within the year." Indeed even before Maundevile's time Friar Burchard
(1283) had noticed that though the famous old tree was dry, another had
sprung from its roots. And it still has a representative.

As long ago as the time of Constantine a fair was held under the Terebinth
of Mamre, which was the object of many superstitious rites and excesses.
The Emperor ordered these to be put a stop to, and a church to be erected
at the spot. In the time of Arculph (end of 7th century) the dry trunk
still existed under the roof of this church; just as the immortal
Banyan-tree of Prag exists to this day in a subterranean temple in the Fort
of Allahabad.

It is evident that the story of the Dry Tree had got a great vogue in the
13th century. In the _Jus du Pelerin_, a French drama of Polo's age, the
Pilgrim says:--

"S'ai puis en maint bon lieu et a maint saint este,
S'ai este au _Sec-Arbre_ et dusc'a Dureste."

And in another play