Wood Lore not "woodlore"

[maddave]

So which woods are good for burning, and which aren't?

Alder: Poor heat output and short lasting. A low quality firewood. Produces nice charcoal that burn steady and is useful for homemade gunpowder.



Apple: Great fuel that bums slow and steady when dry, with little flame, sparking or spitting. It has a pleasing scent. It is easier to cut green. Great for cooking.



Ash: Considered one of the best burning woods with steady flame and good heat output. It will burn when green, but not as well as when dry. Easily to saw and split.



Beech: Similar to ash, but only burns fair when green. If it has a fault, it may shoot embers out a long ways. It is easy to chop.



Birch: This has good heat output but burns quickly. The smell is also pleasant. It will burn unseasoned. Can cause gum deposits in chimney if used a lot. Rolled up pitch from bark makes a good firestarter and can be peeled from trees without damaging them.



Blackthorn: Burns slowly, with lots of heat and little smoke.



Cedar: This is a great wood that puts out a lot of lasting of heat. It produces a small flame, a nice scent, and lots of crackle and pop. Great splitting wood. Best when dry but small pieces can be burned unseasoned. Good for cooking.



Cherry: A slow burning wood with good heat output. Has a nice scent. Should be seasoned well. Slow to start.



Chestnut: A mediocre fuel that produces a small flame and weak heat output. It also shoots out embers.



Douglas Fir: A poor fuel that produces little flame or heat.



Elder: A mediocre fuel that burns quickly without much heat output and tends to have thick acrid smoke. The Hag Goddess is know to reside in the Elder tree and burning it invites death. Probably best avoided.



Elm: A variable fuel (Dutch elm disease) with a high water content (140%) that may smoke violently and should be dried for two years for best results. You may need faster burning wood to get elm going. A large log set on the fire before bed will burn till morn. Splitting can be difficult and should be done early on.



Eucalyptus: A fast burning wood with a pleasant smell and no spitting. It is full of sap and oils when fresh and can start a chimney fire if burned unseasoned. The stringy wood fiber may be hard to split and one option is to slice it into rings and allow to season and self split. The gum from the tree produces a fresh medicinal smell on burned which may not be the best for cooking with.



Hawthorn: Good firewood. Burns hot and slow.



Hazel: An excellent fast burning fuel but tends to burn up a bit faster than most other hard woods. Allow to season.



Holly: A good firewood that will burn when green, but best if dried a year. It is fast burning with a bright flame but little heat.



Hornbeam: Burns almost as good as beech with a hot slow burning fire.



Horse Chestnut: A low quality firewood with a good flame and heating power but spits a lot.



Laburnum: Completely poisonous tree with acrid smoke that taints food and is best never used.



Larch: Crackly, scented, and fairly good for heat. It needs to be seasoned well and forms an oily soot in chimneys.



Laurel: Produces a brilliant flame.



Lime: A poor quality fuel with dull flame. Good for carving



Maple: A good firewood.



Oak: Oak has a sparse flame and the smoke is acrid if not seasoned for two years. Dry old oak is excellent for heat, burning slowly and steadily until whole log collapses into cigar-like ash. Good cooking wood.



Pear: Burns with good heat, good scent and no spitting. Needs to be seasoned well.



Pine: Bums with a splendid flame, but apt to spit. Needs to be seasoned well and is another oily soot in chimney wood. Smells great and its resinous wood makes great kindling.



Plane: Burns pleasantly, but is apt to throw sparks if very dry.



Plum: Wood provides good heat with a nice aromatic sent.



Poplar: A terrible fuel that doesn't burn well and produces a black choking smoke even when seasoned.



Rowan: A good firewood that burns hot and slow.



Rhododendron: Old thick and tough stems burn well.



Robinia (Acacia): Burns slowly, with good heat, but with acrid smoke.



Spruce: A poor firewood that burns too quickly and with too many sparks.



Sycamore: Burns with a good flame, with moderate heat. Useless green.



Sweet Chestnut: Burns when seasoned but tends to spits continuously and excessively.



Thorn: One of the best firewood. Burns slowly, with great heat and little smoke.



Walnut: Low to good value to burning. It a nice aromatic scent.



Wellingtonia: Poor for use as a firewood.



Willow: A poor fire wood that must be dry to use. Even when seasoned, it burns slowly, with little flame. Apt to spark.



Yew: This burns slowly, with fierce heat. The scent is pleasant. Another carving favorite.

Beechwood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new holly laid beside
Chestnuts only good they say
If for years tis stayed away
Birch and firwood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last
Flames from larch will shoot up high
Dangerously the sparks will fly
But Ashwood green and Ashwood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown

Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winters cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Even the very flames burn cold
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
So it is in Ireland said
Applewood will scent the room
Pears wood smells like a flower in bloom
But Ashwood wet and Ashwood dry
A King may warm his slippers by.

Logs to Burn, Logs to burn, Logs to burn,
Logs to save the coal a turn,
Here's a word to make you wise,
When you hear the woodman's cries.


Never heed his usual tale,
That he has good logs for sale,
But read these lines and really learn,
The proper kind of logs to burn.


Oak logs will warm you well,
If they're old and dry.
Larch logs of pine will smell,
But the sparks will fly.


Beech logs for Christmas time,
Yew logs heat well.
"Scotch" logs it is a crime,
For anyone to sell.


Birch logs will burn too fast,
Chestnut scarce at all.
Hawthorn logs are good to last,
If you cut them in the fall.


Holly logs will burn like wax,
You should burn them green,
Elm logs like smouldering flax,
No flame to be seen.


Pear logs and apple logs,
They will scent your room,
Cherry logs across the dogs,
Smell like flowers in bloom


But ash logs, all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way,
They're worth their weight in gold.

I'll get me coat !!

 

[Stuart]

just made this a sticky :You_Rock_

 

[Grimnir]

Fantastic info there, thanks!

 

[Marts]

Well put together Dave

 

[IamSam]

This is super usefull. Thanks Dave shall read through this most days.

 

[Ed]

Fantastic post.... have a rep point mate


Ed

 

[rapidboy]

Nice one Dave

 

[Liath]

I love that song - I thought of it the minute I read the first line of the post, and was glad you'd included it! It's a great one for singing round the campfire - imparts some useful knowledge as well as being nice entertainment

 

[Rod]

Cheers Dave rep point +1

 

[Dougster]

One from me, thanks for that, great help.

 

[dommyracer]

Awesome stuff - +1 from me

 

[Ketchup]

I read this before (the poem),
in a book by Juliette de Bairacli Levy,
but she wrote she'd learned it somewhere else, I remember

 

[mgr_scout]

Good work :notworthy

 

[Floyd Soul]

Fantastic information and a great song! Thanks for that! I don't know whether to just learn the song off, or copy the information into my notebook for now!

 

[Greg]

Brilliant info my friend - will copy this for sure!!

 

[Dexter]

Nicely done :You_Rock_

 

[Thijzzz]

Found something usefull too, but it's a table (Excel) so I can't paste it here.
http://zenstoves.net/Fuels.htm#Wood

With, in addition to the rhyme above:
All woodspecies, sorted by Heat - Weight - Ease Of Splitting - Ease Of Starting - Coaling Qualities - Sparks - Fragrance

 

[Cody]

Great info, just used it to help me make my own personal guide

 

[nickg]

Blimey dave - did you really get all that off the back of a beer can

Cheers
Nick

 

[w00dsmoke]

Enjoy folks- I've got it in pdf if anyone wants it

TREELORE

ELDER

Known as the stinking tree or the bour tree as its leaves have an unpleasant smell.

Grows in the presence of animal remains. Saxons avoided it, as they believed that it grew only where human blood had been spilt.

Opening of the elder leaves is taken as a symbol for seed sowing in the fields.

Beneficial in repelling evil creatures. Elder grown by the house keeps malignant spirits away. Wearing Elder in your hair meant that you would be presided over by benign spirits and wouldn't come to harm.

To please the spirits of the tree, cakes and milk used to be left in its shade by local folk.

Associated with the crucifixion. Said that the Cross was made of elder and in central Scotland the phrase 'ever bush and never tree, since our Lord was nailed t'ye' was used to describe the tree.

Association with other worldly beings who were not necessarily benign i.e. the old lady of the elders.
It was said she could be glimpsed in the spring hobbling along on an elder walking stick and with skin of a greenish hue. She protected the elder groves and cursed anyone who used their timber. A child laid down in a cot of elder would never flourish, fumiture made of elder would warp and distort and a house built of elder would be prone to fire. However if elder was the only wood available the old lady could be placated by speaking the following rhyme' (lId lady of the elder trees, let be borrow some of your wood and when I turn into a tree you can have some of mine'

The fruits and flowers of elder are rich in Vitamin C and coughs were treated with tea made from flowers. The extract of the bark was also used as a purgativel

GEAN Gean has a magical and mystical quality to it When a single tree is discovered in remote highland glens it is a portent offate either good or bad Many Gaels wouldn't use the wood or eat the fruit of the gean, though the taking of fruit or suckers to plant a tree near the house was acceptable. Also thought to protect against evil.

Thought of as a native tree, however there is a lack of Anglo-Saxon place names referring to the gean and indeed the first mention of it occurs in 1634.1t is therefore possible that it was introduced by the Romans.

Cuckoo must eat 3 good meals of cherries before it was allowed to stop singing.

Cuckoo, cuckoo cherry tree Good bird prithee tell to me How many years am I to see

The bird then answers the prophetic number of times.

BIRDCHERRY The bark was used in the Middle Ages as an infusion/tonic for upset stomachs. Pieces of bark were hung outside doors and put into drinking water to guard against the plague.

HAZEL

Hazel has always been regarded as a holy tree, closely associated with fertility; because of this it is frequently used as a divining stick for finding water and precious metals.

HOLLY

Grow holly alongside your house as it is considered to be a protection against thunder and lightning.

IVY

Ivy grown on a house will protect the inmates from witchcraft.

LILAC

It is considered unlucky to bring lilac into the house, particularly white lilac, as death to one of the occupants could follow. However, a single lilac flower with five petals, of any colour, is considered to be very lucky.

OAK

When the oak wears his leaves in October you can expect a hard winter.
Little strokes will fell great oaks.
Oaks can fall when reeds will stand in the storm.
Storms make oaks take deeper roots.
You must look for grass on the top of the oak tree.
Great oaks from little acorns grow.

POPLAR

If anyone was suffering from ague or a fever, they would fasten some of their hair to a poplar and chant, 'Aspen-tree, aspen tree, I prithee shake and shiver for me'. This was thought to cure them.

ROWAN

Wood from the rowan tree was considered to have the power to ward off evil spirits. It was often built into houses, usually as a supporting beam over a fireplace. It was also used for making plough handles to bring luck to the user and cast off evil spirits from the fields where the plough had been used.



SLOE
Sloe gin= 3rd sugar 3rd sloe berries and 3rd gin place all in a jar and turn over every day, ready for xmas
When the sloe tree is as white as a sheet, Sow your barley, fine or wet.

WILLOW

Willows are weak, yet they serve to bind stronger wood.
source of salycic acid=aspirin
component of knick knick Native American pipe smoking mixture

Forbidden Fruit

Fruit has often been associated with temptation. Although the fruit that caused Adam and Eve's fall is often said to be an apple, the Bible just refers to it as a fruit.

TREELORE FROM A COUNTRY COMPENDIUM

ASH
First to lose its leaves and last to grew them- a northern European tree
Ash before oak denotes a wet season.

When the ash is before the oak, Then we shall expect a soak, But when the oak is before the ash, Then we'll only get a splash.

Buy ash logs, all smooth and grey, Bum them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way, They are worth their weight in gold

BEECH

Fell beech in summer, oak in winter.
If a beech is felled on Midsummer Day it will last three times longer than if it is felled in the winter.
If the beech tree shows a large bud at Christmas there wiil probably be a moist summer to follow.

BIRCH

Garlands of birch hung on the wall of a hollSt. will keep away r.temons.

BLACKTIIORN

To take blackthorn in blossom into a house presages death to the occupant.
If you make a crown of blackthorn and bake it in the oven until it has turned to ash, and then scatter i on the fields before dawn on New Year's moming, you can be sure of a good crop.

It is always cold while the blackthorn is in flower.




ELM

Elm wood burns like churchyard mould When the elm leafis like a mouse's ear, Then sow your barley without fear.
When the elm leaves are as big as a farden (farthing), It is time to plant kidney beans in your garden, When elm leaves are as big as a penny, Plant kidney beans if you mean to have any.
When elm leaves are as big as a shilling, Plant kidney beans if to plant 'em you're willing.
When the elm leaf is as big as an ox's eye, Then say 'Hie! Boys! Hie!'

ASH

Scandinavian people worshipped ash before Christianity. It was the sacred symbol of the life force in Norse Mythology. Odin, the greatest of gods, carved the first man out of ash.

Y ggdrasil ,the great ash tree. Its roots are anchored in the depths of the underworld, and watered by the streams of wisdom and fate. It's trunk supported by the earth and its crown touched the arc of heaven, Asgard and the mansions of the Gods.

Ash wood was considered to be effective as a cure for fresh flesh wounds. Sap used as an antidote to snakebites and a distillation of young shoots produced an excellent cure for earache and unsteady hands.

Slavic people believed that snakes are afraid of the constantly shifting shadow of the ash tree. A traveller should therefor be able to rest at ease under its generous shade.

WHTIEBEAM The Anglo-Saxons, who gave the tree its name ('beam') meant tree, and used it as a boundary marker because of its distinctive appearance.

YEW

Highly prized in the Middle Ages for making longbows such as those with which the English won the Battle of Agincourt.
Legends abound to explain the presence of yews in churchyards. In most European mythologies the yew was scared, so the trees may already have been planted at places of pagan worship before the early Christians built their churches on the same sites. Yews were also said to have afforded shelter to early Christian missionaries before their churches were bnilt.

The tree in mythology

All over the world, from the dark forests of Scandinavia to the Banyan groves of India, trees have figured in ancient myths, folklore and rituals. Perhaps because of their longevity, many religions have regarded them as scared symbols, and certain individual trees have been worshipped by Gods. Hindus, for example, revere the Banyan tree, while Druids worshipped the Oak.

Christian Belief

In the Bible, the cross on which Christ died was symbolically linked with the tree of life, which grew in the Garden of Eden along with the tree of knowledge, and offered everlasting life.

Norse Legend

In Scandinavian myths, Y ggdrasil, peopled by fabulous animals and giants, which links the Earth with heaven and hell. As in many trees of legend it is also a source of knowledge; the god Odin gained his wisdom by drinking from the spring at its roots.

Daphne transformed

Greek legend has it that to escape Apollo. The goddess Daphne changed into a laurel tree. Today, the laurel has a symbolic use as a token of victory, just as it did in ancient Greece.

Christmas Conifen

Although trees have been used as ornaments for hundreds of years at Christmas, the custom of decorating Norway spruces and other conifers became really widespread in the 19th Century.
Evergreen decorations however, were used long before the arrival of Christianity; in pagan midwinter Festivals the green foliage of holly or conifers heralded the return of spring.


ELM In Ancient Greece the elm was dedicated to Hermes, the messenger god who watched over merchants and thieves. The winged fruits of elms also accompanied souls who were brought before the Lord of Judgement by Hermes. Shady elms were planted by nymphs in remembrance of fallen heroes.

In the south of France right was once meted out under the shadow of the elm and God's word was preached.

Elm has also been used as cattle feed If there is an early fall of leaves this was said to signify cattle disease the following year.

WYCHELM The name 'wych' comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning pliable, and refers to the tree's twigs. It used to be thought good luck for a horseman to carry a riding-switch cut from an elm tree.

LIME According to Greek myth, when Zeus and Hermes took on the form of earthly men and visited a village they found the villagers hostile, but eventually found hospitality in the bouse of Philemon and his wife Baukis. During the meal the couple realised the identity of their guests when the wine in the jug failed to run dry. As a punishment to the other villagers. Zeus sent a flood, which destroyed the village. Only Philemon and Baukis' s hut was left standing, which was transformed, into a magnificent temple. The two hosts were allowed one wish. They asked that when the time came they would be allowed to end their lives together. After their huntan deaths Philemon was turned into an oak and Baukis was turned into a lime. This is where the lime acquired its feminine character.

Another feminine association was the use of lime leaves to weave garlands for Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love.

scar'SPINE Scot's pine is the warrior of the tree world It is associated with immortality and was used to mark warrior's graves.

Boat builders who used the pine to make boats believed that the sap was tidal and would refuse to fell a tree when the moon was waning as this was supposed to affect the boats seaworthiness.

HORSE CHESTNUT Artificial limbs were made from horse chestnut, as the wood is light and easily shaped.

Conkers were eaten by deer and cattle and the Turks were said to have fed them to horses to cure respiratory disorders.

ASH Christmas custom is to bum an ash faggot bound with green twigs on the hearth, making a wish as each bond snaps.

Burning ash logs were also said to drive out evil spirits from a room.

Magical properties that would cure a child with rickets or hernia. Before sunrise, the naked child was passed through a cleft tree trunk that was then bound and sealed with clay. As the trunk healed so did the child To cure a lame animal, a hole was bored in the ash and a live shrew was sealed inside. As the shrew died and the tree recovered, the animal was healed

As the tree bursts suddenly into life in May, it was believed to have a benign influence on the newborn. To produce a healthy child give tree sap and put green ash twigs on the birth chamber fire.


ALDER

Secrecy, privacy and refuge are all aspects of the alder's role in folklore. Runaways, outlaws, rebels and outcasts have all found refuge in the dimness of alder forests.

The closeness and dimness of alder woods has also led to them inheriting a slightly sinister character.
The darkness of these woods and the bark of the tree itself have all contributed to this sinister reputation. When cut the sap of the tree turns red and this has been linked with blood.

In Greek mythology alders are said to have grown in Calypso's caves well as that of the nymph who loved Odysseus and who detained him for 7 years. Only on the order of the Gods did she release him.

According to Virgil, the Heliades, the sisters of Phaeton were changed into alders by Zeus.

In Homer's Odyssey the island of death, Aia, is skirted with alders belonging to Circe, the sorceress.

Alders playa role in the manufacture of fertility potions, because of their early flowering blooms.

Various afflictions can be cast out and absorbed by the alder e.g. fever, toothache and warts.

During the sowing season, on Good Friday, people place tiny pieces of alder in their mouths, or receives the sacrament through a ring woven out of alder. This is supposed to keep sparrows away from the fields. Mice and moles can be shooed away by placing chips of alder wood in all four comers of a field or barn on Good Friday.

OAK Regarded as the king of the trees.

In Greece and ltaiy it was known as the 'first tree' to which the origin ofm:mkind could be traced back.

Also associated with evil spirits, the Devil, and witches. It was said that witches used alder wood treece it was dedicated to Zeus, in Roman Italy to Jupiter and in Teutonic Germany to the god of thunder of lightning, Donar. The reason for this is no doubt that of all the native trees the oak is most frequently struck by lightning.

Any oak within an oak wood with mistletoe growing from it was considered holy by the druids. They believed that when a god singled out any particular tree for attention he would leave mistletoe hanging from the boughs. Also believed that lightning seeded mistletoe.

Druids used oak for many purposes i.e. leaves for a crown, branch for a staff, wood for sacred fire.
Logs of oak were burnt at special festivals i.e. Beltaine, &lmllin, Midsummer and Midwinter Solstices.

Oak late coming into leaf (not usually until mid May). A second budding occurs in late Julyl August.
Known as lammas budding. LammliS Celtic festival on 1st August.

St. Brendan received a divine message when he returned from a sea expedition to the west telling him he should replace his skin-covered boat for one of solid oak.

S1. Columba retained a great love for the oak forest of Derry, and since it has been the custom amongst some folk in the highlands people would bake cakes using only oak as fuel on Thursdays, which is Columba's day (Also Thor's day Norse god of lightning)


By driving a nail into the trtmk it was believed that toothache could be cured

Pagan Germany anyone found cutting oak wood would have a small incision made in his or her abdomen. A piece of intestine was then nailed into the tree and they were forced to run summon up storms.


HOLLY The thorny leaves of the holly are said to symbolise Christ's crown of thorns and the blood of Christ is represented by its crimson berries.

Protective powers against evil spirits.

Evergreen nature led to the belief that the spirits of other trees resided within it during the winter.
This was also attributed to ivy.

Taboos existed against felling or even lopping holly trees.

BLACKTHORN Sour tasting fruit, black bark and thorns have given the blackthorn the character of a malignant goblin, an evil doer and to some degree the medium of absolute evil.

Occasionally mischievous fairy folk would steal a child from its parents, and these abducted children were frequently found under the shade of the blackthorn.

It was thought that evil spells were transmitted to the victim when they pricked their fingers on the thorns of the blackthorn. This is the source of the 'Sleeping Beauty' fairy tale.

The Irish Sheleilaigh was frequently made out of blackthorn wood, and its berries were used to make sloe gin, jelly etc. This use, despite it's evil character was accounted for in the rhyme 'Better the bramble than the blackthorn, but better the blackthorn than the Devil'.

HAWIlIORN Hawthorn brings forth its bright leaves in early April, and these were eaten in past times by hungry Highlanders after the famine of winter.

There is a special affinity between the hawthorn and the cuckoo. Both are symbols of the birth of summer, and the final freedom from winter.

Thomas the Rhymer met an elfin queen by a hawthorn bush from which a cuckoo was singing. He was then led into the fairy world where he spent 7 years of earthly time, though to him hardly any time had passed.

--

This story is one example of the hawthorn's link with another supernatural world Some people will not have hawthorn blossom brought into the house as its whiteness is seen as a symbol of things outside human experiences, a sacred and untouchable thing of the wild

Legend also links it with licentious pagan and medieval rites to greet the advent of summer. In country areas the destruction of the hawthorn is believed to invite peril. To bring the blossom indoors is to court disaster.
Hawthorns sometimes called 'may' or 'quickthorn' were associated by early Christians with Joseph of Arimathea, owner of the tomb in which Jesus was placed after the Crucifixion. Joseph was said to have planted his hawthorn staff in the ground during a visit to Glastonbury in Somerset and it sprouted to produce a 'Holy Thorn' that blooms at Christmas.


The sight of a rowan or apple tree in constant leaf, flower or fruit is believed to greet departed souls when they arrive at their final destination.

Many legends speak of 'blood trees' grown from the blood of innocents who had been wrongly hanged. Along with the blood the victims' soul entered the tree. An Old Icelandic tale tells that a rowan tree sprang from the blood of a brother and a sister falsely accused of incest. Every Christmas Eve, lights would appear on every branch, which could not be blown out by the strongest gale.
The rowan is also connected with witchcraft and the Norse word runa means charm. The tree was often planted outside houses and in churchyards to ward off' witches.

00 May Day, branches were placed around farm buildings to protect against evil forces and it is possible that the custom survives today as it was witness as recently as 1950.

SILVER BIRCH A symbol of fertility represents renewal and love, both human and non-human.

The tree comes into flower in May and gives off' a strange scent, which is associated with the supernatural. Traditionally May is the month of love as recorded by ancient tales and surviving until the present day.

An old tale from Dumbartonshire tells how a princess runs away from home into a deep birch forest.
There she meets an elfin prince and goes with him to the kingdom of the fairies.

Youths and maidens following ancient customs would pair off' and go into the birch woods on May Day to show their love for each other. This was also the time when deep in the birch woods adults were freed of their marriage vows for the day.

The Beltane festiwu of the ancient Celts falls on M~ Day an~ would be traditionally marked with a fire kindled at dawn. The fire was either ofbirch or oak, bot it was always kindled with birch twigs.
This was believed to signal the birth of summer.

If a barren cow were herded with a twig of birch then she would become fertile. Similarly if a pregnant cow were herded with a birch twig then the calf would be strong and healthy.

It was once the custom to strew a funeral path with birch, a tradition that was observed in Appin, Argyll within the last 100 years.

As it was the holy tree of pagan Celts holding powers of renewal and purification the twigs were used to drive out the spirits of the old year. 'this has persisted to historical times with the birching of delinquents and the insane to expel evil spirits.

HAZEL

Ancient coracles, over 3000 years ago, were made of hazel poles.

Herding stick made of hazel wood was thought to protect livestock from illness.

Hazel milk was believed to increase milk: yield in cattle.

Druid staffs of divination and power were made of hazel, as are the divining sticks used by dowsers to look for water, metal etc.

In Celtic mythology it was the nut of wisdom. Legend that the River Boyne rises from a spring surrounded by a grove of 9 hazel trees. The salmon in the pool swam around and ate the nuts that fell into the water thereby it possessed all the truth in the world. Any man who ate such a fish would gain the fish's wisdom.


SYCAMORE Sycamore is a strong and much prized wood, but is home to powerful spirits. If a large tree was to be felled. it was done bare-headed and on bended knee with votive offerings and invocations. In certain parts of Europe the sycamore was considered to be protective against evil spirits. Plugs of wood were driven into waIls and doorsteps to ward off witches. Branches were piled up against doors and windows to protect the house from lightning.

In Scotland the sycamore was used as the '0001 Tree', the tree from which unfortunates who fell foul of the local laird were hanged. One such tree still stands in Blairquhan, Ayrshire.

The celebrated Martyr's Tree at Tolpuddle is a sycamore. To this day the cost of maintaining it is still met by the Trades Union Congress.

WILLOW

Flowering twigs in the home promote health and vitality.

Willow was used in churches on Palm Sunday, as palm leaves were unavailable. Still used in some remote areas of Ireland and the Highlands.

The roots of crack willow were boiled to produce a purple Dye used at Easter to decorate eggs.

'Wool' of matured catkins was once used to make lint for protecting and hea~ing damaged skin.

Wizards used magical willow wands and the Druid,; used willow for divination and justice matters.
The Lords of the Isles also hold a willow rod as a symbol of their authority.

Taboos restrict the cutting of willow as the moon wanes. Thi!' custom is still observed in Somerset where traditional willow weaving stJIl takes pbce.

Willow was found in the Ancient Greek Underworld where it grew in Persephone's grove.

Also associated with sinister spirits and witches. It is said that a love-smitten witch will disappear into the hollows of willow trees, reappearing later in the form of hissing cats to frighten village folk.

Traditional medicine recommends the administering of a decoction of leaves and pieces of young bark as a cure for fever. This has a basis in modem science as willows contain saIacin. which was developed into aspirin.

ROWAN It was not permitted to use the tree's timber, bark, leaves or flowers except for sacred purposes under special conditions.

No taboo exists however on plucking and using the berries, either for planting a tree near a new house, or for makingjams and jellies.

Twigs have been cut and placed above a doorway as a protection against misfortune. In the past the cutting, carrying and placing of rowan twigs would have been accompanied by a special ritual.

Used as a stick for leading cattle, rowan was believed to protect the beasts from hunger.

Rowan was also believed to be a protection against death not only for humans and their livestock, but for wild creatures as well, particularly the fox.

Rowan was believed to be presided over by friendly spirits. They are believed to be able to counteract the spells of evil spirits and witches, as well as keeping unfriendly fairies away.