Last year I did the Following a Tree posts when I took photos of how the oak trees up the lane changed each month.
From January 2024
Through the height of summer
and to November 2024.
On the February 2024 post I wrote a bit about the natural history of oaks and this year the huge quantity of acorns made me want to write about them too but then I kept finding more about oaks so thought I'd do an extended oak post...............which sounds like something used for a garden fence!
Oak trees are one of 500 trees of the Quercus family. The largest and longest-lived of Britain's native trees.
The monarch oak, the patriarch of trees,
Shoots rising up, and spreads by slow degree;
Three centuries he grows, and three he stays
Supreme in state, and in three more decays.
John Dryden
In the past oaks were often used to mark the boundaries of English parishes and local dignitaries and villagers would "Beat the Bounds" and walk the boundaries once a year reciting passages from the gospels.
In plant lore the oak is a symbol of courage, independence, faith, longevity, fire, stability, honour and reward. The tree was sacred to the sky and thunder gods, particularly Jupiter, the supreme deity of Roman mythology and was known as Jove's tree and could not be struck by lightening in a storm.
Oaks are one of the last trees to lose their leaves. (Walnuts and Horse Chestnuts are usually the first)
If on the trees the leaves still hold
The coming winter will be cold.
The oak is a symbol of England and was on the badge of the Stuarts. A sprig of oak leaves was worn in button holes and caps on 29th May to commemorate the birthday of Charles II who hid in an oak after the battle of Worcester in 1651.
The oak had all sorts of uses in medicine. Culpepper said the bark, leaves and powdered acorn cups 'bind and dry very much'. The inner bark and the thin skin covering covering the acorn was advised for those spitting blood, while the bark and powdered acorn was said to be an antidote to poisonous herbs and medicine.
Oak galls, formed by the larvae of the gall wasp were used to make ink and dye. Up to the C18 large households would have made their own ink. A recipe from the 11th century, quoted by Dorothy Hartley in her book "Made in England" says "12lbs of oak galls pounded, 5lb of gum(gum arabic) pounded, 5lb or less of green sulphate of iron, 12 gallons of rainwater boiled each day till sufficiently done, letting it settle over night".
More than you ever wanted to know about Oak trees!
Acorns Tomorrow
Goodness, making the ink was a task! I used to like using my proper fountain pen but haven't got any ink now. Won't be making my own though it's interesting to read the process.
ReplyDeletePenny
Thank goodness we don't have to make our ink now, there would never be enough oak apples
DeleteIt's interesting to follow a tree through the course of a year, they look so different in leaf to what they do without, and they undergo many changes with flowers and seeds developing. I'm seeing so many more acorns this year than other years, conkers too.
ReplyDeleteMore about acorns tomorrow!
DeleteWhen I lived in Wiltshire, they always celebrated Oak Apple Day at Great Wishford, on 29th May, commemorating the restitution of the Stuart monarchy in 1660. We could make vast quantities of ink this year, that's for sure! How do you know when it is "sufficiently done"? Reduced enough I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou got your feathered quill and tried it I suppose...
DeleteSeems an awful lot of water to boil away to get down to ink constituency
DeleteWe have a lot of oaks around us and they're always late into leaf and last to drop, as you say.
ReplyDeleteand so many acorns this year
DeleteWhen I lived more southern than I do now, I had three tiny potted oaks on my balcony; one winter, one summer and one white. They look vastly different but all clearly oak.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of oaks for winter or summer or a white oak - very intriguing
DeleteQuercus petraea, Quercus robur, and Quercus alba.
DeleteRound our local Devon lanes there are hundreds of Oaks, very lovely
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
and here, more oaks than Horse chestnuts, lots of poplars too
DeleteSeems like a big year for acorns this year. My sister and her husband have a huge oak tree near their driveway and have to sweep off piles and piles of acorns 2 times a day this year. Hope the squirrels are happy!
ReplyDeleteThey'll probably bury the acorns and there will be oaks popping up everywhere
DeleteI will always remember walking beside the oaks at Bradgate. The same oaks that Lady Jane walked beside. Very aged, but still putting out leaves.
ReplyDeleteThey can live for so many years
DeleteI've got a few oaks on my property, and they are dropping lots of acorns which signals a hard cold winter. The squirrels are very busy removing oak branches and building large nests high up in the trees.
ReplyDeleteBuilders like oak for building home frames. Oak flooring is also popular.
I had no idea ink was once made using oak.
So much oak was used for ships in the past too
DeleteThere are three oak trees in my yard and they feel like special friends... to me and to each other. In "conversation" with them, they've surprised me! It sounds flaky I know, but ... they did "say" something I never expected or thought of, myself, so ... it does seem as if we can communicate. I appreciate them, and love all trees.
ReplyDeleteWeren't oak forests planted by the British Navy for ship building? Very much done in the name of forward planning considering how long each takes to reach a suitable size!
ReplyDeleteAlso the symbol of the National Trust
I love those trees! So photogenic! Our walnut is starting to lose its leaves and I've seen lots of brown horse chestnut trees, so I'm not surprised to read they're among the first to turn.
ReplyDeleteHello! This was so interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing and posting the photos!
ReplyDeleteHow very interesting. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Lovely post.
ReplyDeleteI love Oak Trees.
I actually now live in a neighbourhood called Oakwood. The area used to be part of an Oak Savannah. Unfortunately, as the area became more developed a lot of the oaks were lost. There are still several in the place I walk and one of things we want to do is to preserve the oak trees and perhaps return some of the land to what it once was
My Name is Haiden Hays, Writing from Chicago USA.
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