According to the book 'Cattern Cakes and Lace'.......this is the day on which children would traditionally go to the local wood to gather hazelnuts. All villages would have had local hazel coppices as the wood was so important for hurdles - no wire netting or electric fencing back then.
So what can I find out about hazelnuts (Corylus avellana).
From a little book called 'Nature in Your Basket' by Richard Mabey..............
Pollen deposits suggest that between the retreat of the glaciers and the arrival of mature forest some 9,000 years ago, hazel was the commonest tree across much of Britain, and it must have been one of the most important sources of vegetable food for Stone Age hunter gatherers.
From the book 'Discovering the Folklore of Plants 'by Margaret Baker..............
The Celtic world treated hazel as a holy tree. Its nuts were connected with poetry, knowledge, love, fertility and childbirth. In the Scottish Highlands hazel was one of the nine sacred woods used in kindling needfire at Beltane. (Need-fire, or Wild-fire, a fire caused by friction is a term used in folklore to denote a superstition which survived in the Scottish Highlands until a recent date.)
Hazel is the wood often used for divining rods and if you stir jam with a hazel stick the fairies will not steal it!
The nuts were given the names of potential husbands and thrown into the fire by young girls. The loudest bang as the nut exploded or brightest flame showed which man she would marry.
Apart from the well known use of coppiced hazel for hurdle making, it was also used for baskets and the bast or stringy inner bark could be used as a tying material. The wood was used for carved walking sticks and broom handles and the oil from the nuts could be used as a polish. The nuts can be ground and added to flour for a flavoured pastry and like almonds can be used to make milk.
I'd try these ideas for cooking with hazelnuts.......if only the squirrels didn't take them before I get a look in.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I can't imagine the fairies would want to steal my jam, especially this year, but I will use a hazel stick next time!
ReplyDeleteI thought it would be too early to collect them now. I'll go see if the squirrels have left any for us when I go for a walk later! I had no idea that's what today is though!
ReplyDeletehavent seen a single hazelenut on our very large bush this year, not seen a single squirrel all a tad baffling as last year we had loads
ReplyDeleteAs a child we could always find some to harvest. Now the squirrels always beat us to it!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting but here in Kent we have loads of grey squirrels who strip every nut before we get a chance
ReplyDeleteHazels are a very useful food source for wildlife too. In Switzerland hazelnuts are used much more than almonds in baking and confectionery.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting and informative post! Happy Nutting Day!
ReplyDeleteI like how the whole tree was useful - every last bit - so many different uses and these would help our ancestors to survive and even better none of it damaged the planet.
ReplyDeleteI can't eat nuts but a very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if because of this ancient tradition/folklore with the hazelnut and Nutting Day it was then used as a girls name. Interesting thought.
ReplyDeleteThere was a woman picking Hazelnuts in a layby just outside Brecon on Saturday. Good for her I thought.
ReplyDeleteA friend I was at Uni with did her Doctoral thesis on the use of the Hazelnut in the Mesolithic . . .
You have the sort of books I have too . . .
Fascinating post. I must make ,myself a wooden spoon out of hazel for stirring my jams, those pesky fairies aren't getting any of mine 😃
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Nutting Day, I learn something new everytime I visit here.
ReplyDeleteNutting Day is a new one on me. Thank you for the info, very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting ---I like hazel nuts and grew up in the country and as I read this I remembered the lush soft green leaves encasing the nut. I don;t remember gathering many wild nuts. I do however remember living on a farm in Farningham, Kent where near the farmer's house there was a wonderful truly magnificent huge walnut tree, and one day there was a a storm with high winds and walnuts were raining down ---and I stuffed all my pockets with them and ran home. Jean.Winnipeg
ReplyDeleteOur market greengrocer always has hazelnuts for sale around this time of the year but I have never bought any to try.
ReplyDeleteI need to get the DP to look. I have never seen a hazel nut!
ReplyDeleteFascinating thank you. I've got the Cattern book coming for my birthday later this month.
ReplyDeleteArilx
Loved the stories you found out about the hazel nut. We are famous for them here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.. but they are called "Filberts" here for some reason. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
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