B is for Blackthorn

It's been almost a year since I mentioned the Ogham Tree Alphabet on the blog .

This is what I wrote way back in 2020, when I found Karen Cater's book about it and started taking photos and writing about all the trees mentioned in the book.

The Ogham Alphabet is the only native British writing system devised over 2,000 years ago and carved using notches onto wood or stone.

I had heard of this way of writing from the Sister Fidelma Books by Peter Tremayne -the first few of these I read years ago before they became very repetitive.

It turns out that in the Ogham Alphabet each letter is also a tree and a number and part of the calendar or actually the other way round..........each tree is a letter and number and a month or day of the year.

Over the last 5 years I've written about most of the trees mentioned in the book but not the Blackthorn. I took the photo above way back in the late summer or early autumn, when I noticed how many sloes there were on a tree in a car park. It's been sitting in drafts waiting for after the Autumn equinox because the Blackthorn is the tree that rules the dark half of the year, giving the strength to survive the winter month.

 The tree represents the letter S and the number 14.

Blackthorn wood is dense and strong and the thorns can cause infection. The wood is used for the Irish Shillelagh a walking stick or cudgel. And it was said that if a witch pointed a stick of Blackthorn at a pregnant woman she would miscarry.

 Vast numbers of sloe stones have been found in ancient archaeological sites although now we find them far too sour to eat.

It is thought that the Crown of Thorns that Jesus was crucified with was made from blackthorn and a blackthorn winter is a spell of cold weather just as the blackthorn blossoms during the days of the Ice Saints.

This lovely illustration by Karen Cater shows the whole year of trees for the alphabet.

All the other posts about the Ogham Tree Alphabet are here if you want to look at them.

Back Tomorrow

A is for Apples

My little Apple trees planted in November 2021 had a few good apples this year, the tastiest are   Falstaff, they are crisp and juicy but not an apple grown commercially as far as I know.

The information about them says they are a modern desert apple, a cross between Golden Delicious and James Grieve. There is also  a Red Falstaff which has a red- flushed fruit. Both are self fertile, easy to grow with good disease resistance, ready in October. The dry weather meant a few fell early which was annoying as they really weren't ready for eating.

The other two Minarette trees I planted  in 2021 were Charles Ross which are dual purpose and ready in September. They were created in the late 19th century by crossing  Cox's Orange Pippin and Peasgood Nonsuch. There were only a handful of apples  and I cooked them up for apple crumble early on.

The other of my young trees that had a few apples this year was the one I wrote about in early October that had been labelled as Bramley but certainly wasn't. It just had 4 red apples that were edible but not wonderful.

What all my trees suffered from this year was the dry spring and summer. I did pour cans full of water on them now and again but it's not the same as a good rain.

There are usually 5 or 6  different varieties available in the supermarkets at this time of the year.  Royal Gala, Braeburn, Cox, Pink Lady, Jazz and Golden Delicious. Aldi are good at selling British Apples and labelling them as such and they also sell a pack of 6 that are just called 'Best of British'. 

They can vary the variety depending upon what's available. Through October they were selling a variety that I'd never heard of called Zari, they looked really good and I tried them and found they were very tasty. On googling I discovered they were bred in Belgium and aimed at commercial growers looking for a variety to ripen early to mid season. 

Their Best of British are  now a variety called Red Windsor, which are not so good, a bit too soft and 'clingy' for me so it will be back to the usually reliable Braeburn for me next time I shop.

I'm never without fresh apples in the house - An Apple A Day and all that!

Back Monday

31st October

The cats come out

The bats come out

The pumpkins come out, too

The treats come out

The ghosts come out

It's Halloween.........BOO!

Apologies. but I can't remember where this illustration comes from. - One of my books for sure.

All Hallows Eve, the evening before All Saints Day or Halloween as it's more usually called is now associated with pumpkins, and dressing up but it is a day that was for centuries full of  mysteries and superstition.

The Night of the Dead - the most unpredictable night of the year - when festivals from many cultures collide.

On Hallowe'en the old ghosts come

About us- and they speak to some

(Anon)

The traditional beliefs of  Halloween are connected with rituals for Samhain, the Celtic festival that was celebrated in Ireland and Scotland and by modern pagans. Samhain was one of the four Celtic festivals known as quarter days. The meaning of the word in old Irish is 'summers end'. Celts considered sundown as the start of a day, which is why although Samhain is November 1st, it would have been celebrated at sundown on the 31st. It was their new year and fires would have been lit on the hilltops to drive out the evil of  the last year and welcome in the new. 

Later festivities would have been influenced by the Christian feasts of All Saints on the 1st and All Souls on November 2nd, when the dead are remembered in prayers.

For on Hallowmas Eve the Nighthag shall ride,

And all her nine-fold sweeping by her side 

(Waverley by Sir Walter Scott published in 1814) 

 In the past it was a night for staying by the fire, out of harms way, and telling fortunes.

Fortune telling was done by throwing a hazelnut into the fire and seeing how it burned, or by peeling an apple and looking for the shape of the peel. These were ways of foretelling a birth or death in the family, the success of a marriage or the initials of a future husband.

In some parts of the country the 31st of October was known  as Mischief Night when mummers  would blacken their faces and knock on doors asking for cash. So although we think the trick or treat idea for Halloween came here from the USA, along with pumpkins, during the last 25 years, it's not completely  new............... before pumpkins,  faces would have been carved from swedes, turnips or mangle wurzels.

Apologies for not replying to comments some days - so many good books to read is my poor excuse!

Back Tomorrow . A-Z posts start - not sure how long I can keep it up as I've only got plans for about half a dozen out of 26 so far - oh dear.