Ever since Joseph of Arimathea, according to the legend, is said to have planted ""The Holy Thorn"" on Weary all Hill at Glastonbury, the hawthorn, which flowers at the end of ""The Twelve Days of Christmas"" has been intertwined with the story of this first religious foundation in England, which in turn, has been associated with King Arthur, St. Patrick, and St. Dunstan. Others tried and failed to destroy both the abbey and the Glastonbury thorn; the monastery was pillaged and its Abbot martyred in the 16th century; a local and the Puritans later tried to kill the tree; but from the ruins of ""the hottest earth in England"", the tree still blooms and keeps alive these hallowed associations... Hugh Rosa Williamson's pilgrimage through recorded history and legend has been accomplished with taste and reverence, and the illustrations by Clare Leighton should enhance its attraction- particularly as a small, seasonal gift book.