Prunus spinosa - Blackthorn, Sloe 14th consonant of the Ogham Alphabet
The blackthorn, with its bitter black fruits, sharp thorns and tough wood is a symbol of fierceness and malevolence, but also of strength and protection. In contrast to this, however, its white blossoms are a symbol of female beauty.
FOLK BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS In Ireland a blackthorn stick was regarded as providing protection against harm.1 It was a good thing to carry at night to keep the fairies away, on account of their high regard for it. One story concerns a woman bothered by a shadow that appeared to her every night. On the advice of a wise woman she sprinkled holy water about and placed a blackthorn stick beside her bed and the shadow never appeared again. In another instance, a friar known for his ability to drive out evil spirits was supposedly able to wallop the devil out of a madman with a blackthorn. A twist on this power features in a story of a farmer who has a fairy cow which gives him great milk and a calf every year. One day the cow gets into a field of oats and the farmer, in a fit of fury, strikes it with a blackthorn stick. The cow bellows, gathers her calves around her and promptly leaves, never to be seen again. Another Irish story conveys the ambiguous nature of blackthorn as both helpful and harmful. A man who has had all his corn stolen falls asleep under a blackthorn bush and in his dream a voice tells him that the fairies have his corn and how to get it back. The farmer manages to retrieve his corn, but the fairies have their revenge, as the corn kills any livestock who eat it. Given this ambiguous nature, blackthorn is often considered an unlucky tree.2 In Scotland blackthorn is considered to be a 'crossed' or unlucky wood, in contrast to the bramble which was seen as blessed. The blackthorn was not regarded as completely bad however, as an old saying makes clear: 'Better the bramble than the blackthorn/better the blackthorn than the devil'. In England blackthorn was also considered evil and it was believed that Christ's crown of thorns was made of blackthorn. In south Devon, villagers feared 'the black rod' when carried by local witches, as it was believed to cause miscarriages. In England the flowering of the blackthorn is believed to coincide with a spell of bad weather called 'the blackthorn winter' and in many places it was considered unlucky to take blackthorn blossom, among others, indoors. However, in Herefordshire, scorched blackthorn was mixed with mistletoe as a Christmas decoration to bring good luck.3 According to Frazer, in Germany witches can be repelled on May Eve with a bundle of twigs of various plants, including blackthorn.4 In Ireland the blackthorn is said to be protected by fierce beings called 'lunantishees' who will punish anyone who tries to cut a stick on 11 May or 11 November (1 May and 1 November under the old calender).5 Perhaps the 'lunantishee' mentioned here is the same as the Leanndn Sidhe or 'Fairy Lover', a female spirit who seeks the love of men. Any man she has under her power wastes away with love for her unless he can find someone else to take his place but in return she provides great poetic inspiration. Indeed, the blackthorn was used by the Gaelic poets as a symbol of female beauty: Tád mo ghrád-sa mar bhláth na n-airne ar an draighneán donn - 'My love is like the flower on the dark blackthorn', i.e., fair of skin with jet black hair.6 In Wales love divination was practised with blackthorn. Pins made of blackthorn points were thrown into wells and if they sank the lover was believed to be insincere.7
LEGENDS AND MYTHOLOGY The blackthorn features frequently in literature, though not always in a positive light. According to Cormac's Glossary the name Draighean comes from Trog-Aon or 'Wretched One', on account of its abundance of thorns. Suibhne Geilt (Mad Sweeney) in his exile in the woods is tormented by the thorns of hawthorn, briar and blackthorn. He complains that: 'the brown blackthorn bush/has nigh caused my death'. In Iubhdán's poem about different woods blackthorn is described as 'Hardy outlaw the blackthorn, wood no craftsman will burn/Although scanty, bird flocks cry out from its frame'. St Mochae was said to have been held in a spell for 150 years by the power of the song of a bird in a blackthorn bush.8 The Welsh poem the 'Cad Godeu' makes the enigmatic comment: 'The blackthorn full of spines - how the child delights in its fruit'. Perhaps this means that the sloe is not a fit fruit for adults but is only taken as a childish thrill due to its bitterness. In contrast, in the Life of Brigid, the saint blesses an alder tree, causing it to bear two-thirds apples and one-third 'sweet sloes' (airni cumrai). Either the sloes have been made sweet by a miracle, or this is a reference to some kind of early domesticated plum. Given its rough, thorny nature it is not surprising that blackthorn appears in the context of war and combat.9 In the story 'The Intoxication of the Ulaid', the druid Crom Deroil compares the advancing warriors to sloe bushes, saying that bushes would remain in silence unlike the warriors. In the Lays ofFionn, the story of Oscar's sword begins with it being won by Jove from his father at liabh Dosaigh of the 'brown sloe trees' (droighean ruaidh). The swords later passes through Queen Meadhbh's hands before ending up with Oscar. A story relates how the Mainí, the seven sons of Queen Meadhbh, hold a hostile force at bay at a ford by erecting a fence of briars and blackthorns, until such time as Queen Meadhbh comes to relieve them. Blackthorn is also associated with fierce and warlike animals. In the story 'The Wooing of Étaín', Midir challenges Echu to a game oifidchell (or chess), and among other things offers him 'fifty fiery boars .... and a blackthorn vat that can hold them all' if Echu wins the game. The story of 'The Pursuit of Diarmaid and Gráinne' includes a tale about Conn Ceadchathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles) and his wife Sadhbh. Sadhbh eats her fill of sloes from a branch of blackthorn she finds hanging above her chariot. As a result of this she later bears a son called Cian who has a strange bulge across his forehead. Eventually the bulge is cut open and a worm leaps out, wrapping itself around one of Cian's spears. The worm grows enormous and fierce, with 100 heads, each one capable of swallowing a warrior. An attempt is made to burn it to death and it is driven away to a remote cave. Perhaps because of its association with witches, the blackthorn often appears linked to women who are hostile and threatening.11 In an incident in the Metrical Dindshenchus the seer Dalian is challenged by a woman to tell her what she has beneath her cloak. Dalian replies correctly that it is a branch of blackthorn covered with dark sloes. So that he will not satirise her for her insolence, the woman is then forced to give away her land to him. In ancient Ireland a woman who had no one to vouch for her had to clear her name by undergoing an ordeal involving rubbing her tongue on a red hot adze of bronze or melted lead, heated in a fire of blackthorn or rowan. A folk tale from Donegal explains how a dangerous stretch of sea just off the coast, called Béal an Bharra, came to be. Béal an Bharra used to be land protected from the sea by three rods of blackthorn. If the three rods were ever cut, the houses and land would all be drowned. One day as a result of a disagreement, two of the local women resolved to stay up late in order to cut the rods. On their way to carry out the deed they met a third woman who agreed to help them, but the two women were hurrying so much she could not keep up with them. Before she caught up with them, the two woman had cut the rods, drowning the land and themselves. The third woman survived to tell what had happened. The story ends by stating that this is why the women of the locality can never be trusted again! Also from Donegal comes a strange story about a place called Mm an Droighin (The Blackthorn Pasture).12 A man in a cart is assing there when he stops to give a woman a lift. The woman is tall and wearing white clothes with a weary expression on her face. As soon as the woman gets into the cart the horses refuse to move, and the woman explains that it is her burden that is the cause. She goes on to say that she used to own a public house and would water down the spirits she served, and that she is burdened by that fact for ever more. She then leaps from the cart and the horses rear up and run non-stop until they have reached their destination. The origin of this story may be a play on the name of the warrior queen Maedhbh which in Irish means 'intoxication' and who may have been seen as a suitable character to associate with a place where blackthorns grow. In any case the overall evidence points to blackthorn being seen as a 'female' tree linked to warlike or fierce female spirits, perhaps derived ultimately from the war goddesses of pagan Ireland.
THE USES OF BLACKTHORN Blackthorn was classified in early Irish law as one of the Fodla fedo or Lower Divisions of the Wood. The blackthorn was prized for its hard wood and shillelaghs were often made out of blackthorn. Faction fighters at fairs and other public gatherings would often carry a blackthorn stick or ashplant with them as a weapon. In the early Irish tale 'The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel', Da Derga is accompanied by three fifties of warriors, each carrying a great blackthorn club with a band of iron around it. Sloes were not completely useless either, as sloe gin was widely made. For example, in Maigh Cuilinn, County Galway the custom at Halloween was to drink sloe wine.
SEASONAL PLACING Seasonally blackthorn can be placed in mid to late autumn when the sloes ripen. Blackthorn is associated with the Ogham letter Straif which means 'Sulpher'.