VLVL2 (15): blackberries

[dedalus204 at comcast.net]

371.21:  "A Traverse grandmother somewhere was warning children against the October blackberries of this coast, 'They belong to the Devil, any that you eat are his property, and he don't like blackberry thieves -- he'll come _after ya_.' "


"When the Devil was kicked out of Heaven on October 11, he landed, cursing and screaming, on a thorny blackberry bush.  He avenges himself on the same day every year by peeing on the berries, which makes them unfit for human consumption."

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Blackberries.html


"Blackberries are not picked in England after September 29, because some English believe that Satan fell on a blackberry bush and cursed it when he was cast out of heaven.  Thus, the blackberry bush is said to be cursed by the devil after September 29."

http://www.carlinvilleschools.net/linke/flora/03/bbry.htm


Of course, this use of the blackberry bush is consistent with the vine and foliage motif throughout the entire novel.

Any Miltonists on the list know if blackberries (or this particular folktale) are mentioned in _Paradise Lost_?