But when the root of the aik decays, And the mistletoe dwines on its withered breast, The grass shall grow on Errol's hearthstane, And the corbie roup in the falcon's nest. It is not a new opinion that the Golden Bough was the mistletoe. True, Virgil does not identify but only compares it with mistletoe. But this may be only a poetical device to cast a mystic glamour over the humble plant.