The Bitter Withy: A Spanking For Boy Jesus
This is from a bizarre English folk song explaining why the willow rots from the inside out:
Mary mild, Mary mild called home her Child,
And laid our Saviour across her knee,
And with a whole handful of bitter withy
She gave Him slashes three.Then He says to His Mother: “Oh, the withy! Oh, the withy!
The bitter withy that causes me to smart, to smart,
Oh, the withy, it shall be the very first tree
That perishes at the heart!”
See Also:
Well, there’s a classic painting: http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.de/2010/05/virgin-mary-spanking-baby-jesus.html