Cherry |

Cherry

CHERRY
European folklore has it that if you repeat this short rhyme when counting the number of Cherry stones you have after a meal you will know if and when you are to marry.

1. 'This year,
2. Next year,
3. Sometime,
4. Never.'...and so on

The owner of a Cherry tree could be sure of having a rich crop of fruit if the first cherry to ripen was eaten by a woman who recently gave birth to her first child.
Forest demons were believed to live in Cherry trees according to Danish folklore. In Lithuania the guardian of the Cherry was called 'Kirnis'.
According to Serbian folklore the 'Vila' are beautiful female creatures similar to Fairies and Elves. These mystical creatures live in the hills and forests, often by Cherry trees loving to pass their time singing and dancing. Always clad in white, with long hair the only danger they cause is the breaking of men's hearts as they fly over. When travelling through the forests the Vila make a sound similar to that of the woodpecker, and ride seven year old stags which are bridled with snakes. Folklore has it that should a parent discipline a child and indicate that they have the Devil in them, or should be sent to him, then the Vila are thought to have a right to take the child, perhaps to protect it.

'Cherry! Dearest Cherry!
Higher lift thy branches,
Under which the Vilas
Dance their magic roundrels.'