Chapter BANYAN to BANYAN-TREE of B by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

we pitched our Tent under a Tree that besides its Leafs, the Branches bear its own Roots, therefore called by the Portugals, Arbor de Raiz; For the Adoration the Banyans pay it, the Banyan-Tree.”—Fryer, 105.

1691.—“About a (Dutch) mile from Gamron…stands a tree, heretofore described by Mandelslo and others…. Beside this tree is an idol temple where the Banyans do their worship.”—Valentijn, v. 267–8.

1717.—

“The fair descendants of thy sacred bed
Wide-branching o’er the Western World shall spread,
Like the fam’d Banian Tree, whose pliant shoot
To earthward bending of itself takes root,
Till like their mother plant ten thousand stand
In verdant arches on the fertile land;
Beneath her shade the tawny Indians rove,
Or hunt at large through the wide-echoing grove.”

Tickell, Epistle from a Lady in England to a Lady in Avignon.

1726.—“On the north side of the city (Surat) is there an uncommonly great Pichar or Waringin¹ tree…The Portuguese call this tree Albero de laiz, i.e.. Root-tree…. Under it is a small chapel built by a Benyan…. Day and night lamps are alight there, and Benyans constantly come in pilgrimage, to offer their prayers to this saint.”—Valentijn, iv. 145.

1771.—“…being employed to construct a military work at the fort of Triplasore (afterwards called Marsden’s Bastion) it was necessary to cut down a banyan-tree which so incensed the brahmans of that place, that they found means to poison him.” (i.e.. Thomas Marsden of the Madras Engineers).—Mem. of W. Marsden, 7–8.

1809.—“Their greatest enemy (i.e.. of the buildings) is the Banyan- Tree.”—Ld. Valentia, i. 396.

1810.—

“In the midst an aged Banian grew.
It was a goodly sight to see That venerable tree,
For o’er the lawn, irregularly spread,
Fifty straight columns propt its lofty head;
And many a long depending shoot, Seeking to strike its root,
Straight like a plummet grew towards the ground,
Some on the lower boughs which crost their way,
Fixing their bearded fibres, round and round,
With many a ring and wild contortion wound;
Some to the passing wind at times, with sway
Of gentle motion swang;
Others of younger growth, unmoved, were hung
Like stone-drops from the cavern's fretted height.”

Southey, Curse of Kehama, xiii. 51. [Southey takes his account from Williamson, Orient. Field Sports, ii. 113.]

1821.—

“Des banians touffus, par les brames adorés,
Depuis longtemps la langueur nous implore,
Courbés par le midi, dont l’ardeur les dévore,
Ils étendent vers nous leurs rameaux altérés.”

Casimir Delavigne, Le Paria, iii. 6.

A note of the publishers on the preceding passage, in the edition of 1855, is diverting:

“Un journaliste allemand a accusé M. Casimir Delavigne d’avoir pris pour un arbre une secte religieuse de l’Inde….” The German journalist was wrong here, but he might have found plenty of matter for ridicule in the play. Thus the Brahmins (men) are Akebar (!), Idamore (!!), and Empsael (!!!); their women Néala (?), Zaide (!), and Mirza (!!).

1825.—“Near this village was the finest banyan-tree which I had ever seen, literally a grove rising from a single primary stem, whose massive secondary trunks, with their straightness, orderly arrangement, and evident connexion with the parent stock, gave the general effect of a vast vegetable organ. The first impression which I felt on coming under its shade was, ‘What a noble place of worship!’ ”—Heber, ii. 93 (ed. 1844).

1834.—“Cast forth thy word into the everliving, everworking universe; it is a seed-grain that cannot die; unnoticed today, it will be found flourishing as a banyan- grove—(perhaps alas! as a hemlock forest) after a thousand years.”—Sartor Resartus.

1856.—

“…its pendant branches, rooting in the air,
Yearn to the parent earth and grappling fast,
Grow up huge stems again, which shooting forth
In massy branches, these again despatch
Their drooping heralds, till a labyrinth
Of root and stem and branch commingling, forms
A great cathedral, aisled and choired in wood.”