Ash of the Witch
The trees, which were held sacred and worshipped since the old ages, lured visitors. Sacrifices were brought and it was asked for grace. It was believed that gods live in the trees. Though there are many stories saying that the trees of unusual appearance were admired by witches and devils.
The ash tree growing in the manor park of Plateliai is the thickest in Lithuania. The extent of the reaches more than 7 meters. That’s a few trees grown together. Long ago a woman tied the three enchanted ash trees, on which even the birds wouldn’t sit, with a ribbon. As the time went by the trunks of the trees grew together and a lump remained in the place of the knot. The thick and mighty tree had seven trunks. Two of them couldn’t stand against the storms and broke. The strong winds were merciless to the central and thickest trunk.
Now the ash tree is of 200 years old. In the old days, here the witches and the devils would mislead people wanting to steal their valuables. Once, a witch took away a loaf of bread from a girl, but just at that moment a rooster crowed. The witch hurried to the ash tree with the loaf of bread and remained there to this day. Others say that the lump grew when a woman mislead by the witches kept going in circles until she grew tired. She sat at the ash tree for a rest and dozed off. Then the witch snagged her loaf of bread and was ready to take a bite when the roosters started crowing. The angry witch tossed the loaf of bread at the tree and the loaf turned into a lump. Since then the ash tree was called by the name of the witch. According to the older residents they still gather here.
The Ash of the Witch can be found in the town of Plateliai, district of Plungė. The centenarian tree is growing in the park of Plateliai manor.
