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12 Mar 09 - 07:37 PM (#2587601) Subject: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: maire-aine I'm trying to find out more about the "Irish Thorn" bush/tree. I've heard it mentioned, along with the elder & rowan, as having magical properties. I found it mentioned in this Celtic tree thread , but I'm still not clear on exactly what the "thorn" is. Is it a Hawthorn? or something else? Can anybody provide the official botanical name? Thank you, Maryanne |
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12 Mar 09 - 07:43 PM (#2587607) Subject: RE: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: John MacKenzie Hawthorn is reputed to have magical qualities. While the blackthorn which is mentione in Rocky Road to Dublin, is the Sloe. There is thorn at Glastonbury which is reputed to have been planted by Joseph of Arimithea Some hawthron myths and legends here |
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12 Mar 09 - 07:45 PM (#2587609) Subject: RE: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: Peace It's the inone'sside thorn. |
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12 Mar 09 - 07:54 PM (#2587617) Subject: RE: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: John MacKenzie Picture and botanical name |
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12 Mar 09 - 09:25 PM (#2587670) Subject: RE: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: Rowan It's nice to know that I have magical properties. Now, if only I could get some of them to work! Cheers, Rowan |
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13 Mar 09 - 07:08 AM (#2587861) Subject: RE: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: John MacKenzie Do you ghave red berries? |
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13 Mar 09 - 09:32 AM (#2587926) Subject: RE: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: Jim Carroll All you wanted to know about Hawthorn but were afraid to ask: Jim Carroll Crataegus monogyna Hawthorn, Whitethorn or May tree 18 April-15th May 7th month of Ogam Tree calander 6th consonant of the Ogham Alphabet The hawthorn, whitethorn or Maybush, with its white blossoms and thorns is a symbol of May time, and of magical powers and the 'little people' or fairies. As such the hawthorn, especially the 'lone bush', has always been regarded with a mixture of fear and respect. FOLK BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS There are many stories of harm and even death coming to those who interfere with the fairy thorn, especially the 'lone bush', growing by itself in the open.1 For example, one story tells of a man who had uprooted a few hawthorn bushes from a fairy circle was found paralysed in his bed the next morning. In another tale a man who took thorn bushes to build his house from the churchyard in Cill Rialaig in Kerry was visited night after night by the fairies, until he returned them. An Ulster story tells of a farmhand who gathered fallen branches from under a fairy thorn to use on the fire. As soon she threw the twigs on the fire the farmer's best red cow feil down in a fit. The girl gathered up the twigs at once and returned them to the bush, and the cow then recovered. Another possible danger told of was that the passer by might get enticed by enchanted music coming from the fairy thorn or rath and be taken away. But one story tells of how the fairies could be generous. A farmer who heeded their warning not to build on a fairy circle was told to build between a certain pair of whitethorns. As he dug the foundations he found a pot of gold. A widespread belief in Ireland, and elsewhere, was that hawthorn blossom was unlucky. A recent survey carried out by the Folklore Society in Britain found that hawthorn flowers were considered to be the most unlucky of plants, with death resulting if brought into a house. Recently it has been shown that a chemical present in the early stages of tissue decay is found in hawthorn blossoms, so perhaps an association with the smell of death is the cause.2 In common with other 'unlucky' trees it was widely held that whitethorn was the tree upon which Christ was crucified, and Christ's crown of thorns was also supposed to be made of whitethorn. In west Cork it was wrong to hit anyone with a stick of hawthorn as it was believed that there was a temper in the tree. If a stick of hawthorn was brought into the house there would be trouble as long as it was there. Similarly in Kerry hawthorn was supposed to have a poison or venom in it. One story from Connaught tells of blood spurting from a lone bush when felled and the person who witnessed this dying. Whitethorn was also known for its general magical and protective powers.5 In Scotland the work of a cattle thief was thought to be made easier by waving a wand of hawthorn and chanting a rhyme which called on 'every beast that bears milk' to come to him. Similarly, if a neighbour in Ireland used a whitethorn stick to drive his cattle, he was suspected of the worst. An old custom was that the first milk of a ncwly calved cow was taken and poured under a fairy tree as a tribute. Hawthorn was planted around houses to keep away witches. In Wales hawthorns of a huge size are often found near old houses. Hawthorn was also known for its powers of fertility. At a stone circle near Naas, County Kildare called Longstone Rath, girls hoping to get married hammered pins into a hawthorn tree growing inside the ring. An English tale tells of how, when a certain thorn bush was cut down no chicken would lay eggs, cow would calf, or woman have babies. The situation was only rectified when a new bush was planted. The hawthorn featured heavily in Maytime customs both in Ireland and abroad.6 Throughout Ireland a suitable bush, usually hawthorn, was cut down and brought before the house or other conspicuous spot and decorated with flowers, ribbons, eggshells, and other bright scraps of material. Sometimes candles or rushlights were attached to the bush and lit at dusk on May Eve. In Dublin in particular the festivities were marked by rival groups trying to steal each other's hawthorn bushes. In many places bonfires were lit beside the bush, and at the end of the festivities the bush would be thrown into it. In some places the tradition of leaving small gifts of food and drink at the foot of a lone bush or fairy fort was carried out. In Kerry the custom of some older people was to leave hawthorn blossoms on the dresser during the month of May to keep away evil. In Laois sprigs of whitethorn which had been sprinkled with holy water were stuck down in the field on May Day to prevent the fairies from taking the crops. In Pembrokeshire, in Wales, on May Eve people would turn out in troops bearing hawthorn branches in full blossom. The branches would be stuck outside the windows of the houses. However, it was unlucky to bring the branches indoors. In Carmarthenshire it was customary on May Eve to plant a whitethorn tree by the door of the house, and in Gwent a cross of birch or whitethorn over the door on May Eve was the commonest way of counteracting a witch's spell. In Cornwall the maid servant who brought a hawthorn branch inside of the house on May was entitled to a dish of cream. LEGENDS AND MYTHOLOGY The whitethorn is closely associated with holy wells. A survey carried by A.T. Lucas of 210 randomly chosen wells found that 103 had hawthorns present at them. Usually the wells were known for their healing properties and pilgrims often left offerings of rags hanging on the tree. One famous example is St Kieran's well at Clonmacnoise. On the saint's day people would hang offerings of rags on the whitethorn next to the well while they circled the well and prayed. Another such was All Saint's well near Banaher, County Offaly where offerings were also left on the trees. St Patrick's well in Downpatrick has a thorn bush growing beside it and was believed to overflow and effect cures on Midsummer Eve. A well associated with St Colmcille was called Tobar an Deilg (well of the thorn). The legend says that the saint had a thorn in his foot which he bathed at the well. The thorn came out and grew into a tree. In Listerling parish in County Kilkenny a thorn bush beside a holy well is believed to have grown from St Moling's walking stick. There are also many well-known Tone bushes' which do not grow beside wells.8 The Maguire chiefs were inaugurated at a thorn tree in Lisnaskeagh fort, County Fermanagh. In County Kilkenny there was a St Leonard's Bush, a sprig or chip of which was believed to guard against shipwreck. In County Offaly there is a whitethorn associated with St Kieran which stands in the middle of the public road because the local authority dared not cut it down when the road was being widened. In England a famous hawthorn which was said to have grown at Glastonbury was believed to have sprung from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea. Eugene O'Curry describes an old Irish method of satire known as Glam Dichenn or 'Satire from the Hill Tops' involving the hawthorn.9 A poet fasted on the lands of a king on whom the satire was to be uttered and then joined six other poets at sunrise to visit the top of a hill where a hawthorn was growing. Their backs were to be turned to the tree, with a north wind blowing. Having a perforated stone and a thorn in both hands, each man sang a satirical verse. All seven then laid their stone and thorn under the hawthorn. If they were in the wrong the ground would swallow them up, but if the king was in the wrong then this fate would bef all him and his wife, son, steed and hound. In Cath Maigue Tuiread (battle of Moytirra) the poet Cairpre, son of Étain, declares he will carry out this procedure in order to satirise his opponents the Fomhoire. The magician Merlin is also linked with the hawthorn. An early Welsh poem describes the abode of Merlin as being in a bush of whitethorn laden with bloom, while according to Breton legend Merlin lies in an enchanted sleep in the forest of Broceliande under the shade of a hawthorn tree.11 The Welsh poem the 'Cad Godeu' says: 'the whitethorn checked all its virus ached in the palm'. Ysbaddaden Pencawr or 'Hawthorn Chief Giant' features in the Welsh tale of Culhwch and Olwen. Ysbaddaden is the jealous father who sets seemingly impossible tasks for the suitor Culhwch. He has one huge eye which requires attendants to raise his eyelids by means of forks, and is the Welsh equivalent of Balor of the Evil Eye. This image of the huge single eye is believed to symbolise the scorching sun. Similarly Ysbidinongyl is a giant's castle in the Welsh tale of Peredur, which means something like 'thorny castle'. In Norse mythology Odin's father, who is a giant, is called or 'evil thorn'. In Indian legend the thorn tree was believed to have grown from a claw and feather of the god of lightning Agni who assumed the form of a falcon. It is commonly believed in many regions of England today that thorn trees provide certain protection from lightning. The evidence suggests a link between the hawthorn and the god Belinus who is the Celtic Apollo. Belinus, like Apollo, was a solar god associated with healing, and many healing wells and springs on the continent were known to be dedicated to him. The name Belinus meaning 'bright' or 'brilliant', is related to Balor in origin and the Irish name for May, 'Bealtaine', is believed to derive from 'Bel-Tine' or 'The Fire of Bel'. Also, the smith god Goibhniu, who is a variant of the sun god, features strongly in Irish folklore. Smiths were traditionally feared for their ability with spells and charms, and Goibhniu is invoked in an old Irish charm to remove a thorn: Very sharp is the awl of Goibhniu, let Goibhniu walk away from it'. SEASONAL PLACING All of the evidence clearly places hawthorn in the season of Maytime and the start of the bright half of the year in Irish tradition. Hawthorn is associated with the Ogham letter hUath which means 'Fear'. THE USES OF HAWTHORN Hawthorn was classified in early Irish law as an Aithig fedo or Commoner of the Wood. Although hawthorn's wood is tough, it does not appear to have been used much in Ireland. The haws have been eaten but usually only when there is no other food available. |
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13 Mar 09 - 10:15 AM (#2587955) Subject: RE: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: Jim Carroll All you wanted to know about Blackthorn.... etc. 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'. |
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13 Mar 09 - 11:21 AM (#2588008) Subject: RE: BS: Botany Q: Irish thorn botanical name? From: maire-aine This is great info. Thank you to everybody. Maryanne |