Legend has it that when Michael cast the Devil out of Heaven, he landed backside first into a blackberry bush. This incident is the root of the superstition that Blackberries should be plucked and eaten before the 29th September (known as Michaelmas) as any left hanging from the thorny stems following this date are defiled by the Devil in the form of him spitting upon the, placing his foot on them or in this case by passing water over them, in memorial rage at his sore landing.