Trees: Folklore and Fables

38 this morning, cloudy. Some minor flooding, I hear, from last night's heavy rains. 

This is an update of a post from 2009. I checked the links and many of them were no longer working, so they've been updated, and a few new links and photos added. Enjoy.

On the ridge, Springtime

Around the world people tell many stories with trees at their center, and in some places trees are considered holy, inhabited by spirits, or bringers of luck and fortune. 

The website Spirit of the Trees hosts a broad collection of tree stories, Started as a resource for the DC Memorial Tree Groves , the site grew to encompass scientific, folkloric, and educational resources in essays, stories and resource links. Storytellers contributed tales, and an extensive list of stories on the web is hosted on the site.

At Beartown Rocks, West Virginia

The Tree People is a unique experiment in preservation in Los Angeles, CA. And have you ever wondered if trees sleep at night, go here to read all about that.

The oak, of course, is often the topic of tree stories. With reason. The stately, long-lived oak exudes strength, provides deep shade and steady, long-lasting heat when cut, and hardens to a stone-like toughness for use as a building material. Its golden grain graces many pieces of furniture and flooring, and its acorns provided food for the ancient Celts and food and shelter for all kinds of other animal life. Photos of the oldest known oak trees can be found here.

Then there is the "fairy bush" in County Clare, Ireland, that delayed the building of a road for something like 10 years. The road was eventually routed around the bush. 

A friend suggested a haunting story called The Armchair of the Tustenuggee from the book Palmetto Stories by Celina Eliza Means. What a tale this is, with a curiously twisted, but satisfying ending.

At Sacred Woods and the Lore of Trees you can find folklore associated with trees of all kinds. What I like about this site (librarian that I am) is her listed bibliography of sources. While she does not tell you where each tree's information came from, she at least supplied the places she consulted for the information provided on her website.

Wikipedia offers an overview of sacred trees around the world. This tree with its network of roots is on the grounds of the Avebury Standing Stones in England, and surely considered sacred although it's not on the Wikipedia list.

And this one, located at Carn Euny in Cornwall, was at the site of a holy well, and hung with clouties--strips of ribbon or string, tied to the tree by someone with a special wish or prayer. Yes, we tied on a piece of string too.

At egreenway, Michael Garofalo has compiled an incredible bibliography (the librarian strikes again!) along with poetry, quotes, folklore and monthly collections of all the above, all about trees. His site is a little difficult to use, requiring much scrolling, but thee information provided is worth the sore finger.

Here's a poem for March from his site:

"The year's at the spring

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hillside's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in His heaven

-All's right with the world!"

- Robert Browning

Amen, Mr. Browning. We've all heard this poem but in early spring, and we all need to hear it again.

Around the world:

*from Robert Browning comes the tale of the Sugar Palm Tree, from Indonesian Folklore. "A husband and a wife lived happily in a village. They had two children a son and a daughter. The son’s name was Tare Iluh and the daughter’s name was Beru Sibou. Their happy life ended when their father died." To read the rest, you need to visit the site. I promise it is worth your time.

*And from another exotic location comes stories of Papa Bois: "He is the old man of the forest and is known by many names, including "Maître Bois" (master of the woods) and "Daddy Bouchon" (hairy man)." Probably the source of the Cajun stories of Wiley and the Hairy Man? (You can find a reader's theatre adaptation of this suspenseful story of a boy's encounters with the Hairy Man here.)

I will leave you with this thought:

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.

- William Blake, 1799, The Letters

A man ahead of his time.

Go outside and enjoy your trees, even if it is still a bit chilly, My old maples are showing signs of the coming of spring as they try to bud in this cold weather. Hope springs eternal, even in trees.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

From a Seed

It's a surprising thing to live in a place long enough to actually grow trees from seeds, and see them mature.

My first "seed" tree is the yellow apple that has been providing us with bumper crops of apples for 30 years or more. It sprouted under the deck; we moved it to its present location, a little too close to the house still, but it does very well.

My second and third trees from seeds are the two silver maples that shade our house. I suppose technically the first one was not a seed tree, but it was a new sprout in a friend's yard, and he had tied it in a knot thinking that might kill it off. The tree continued to grow so we dug it up and moved it here. I was starving for shade at that time and it took only seven years for the tree to begin giving back with dense, cool shade. A seed from this tree took root in a flower bed, so we transplanted it about 24 years ago and it is as big now as the parent tree. While I worry during high winds that one or the other might topple on the house, the value they provide in cooling is worth a little worry.

There have been quite a few other seed trees here, mainly peaches. But the one I am happiest about is this one:

We had a redbud tree near the house and I loved that tree. So it upset me when I realized it was dying. I suppose there is some disease that attacks these trees, and it got mine. But a seed took root right by the walk to the cellar house top, and I begged Larry to let it grow. It wasn't in a good place but redbuds are not easy to transplant. I promised to keep it trained away from the walk, and I kept my promise. I trimmed low branches and for a few years had the tree tied to the cellar to keep it from leaning over the walk. This year I was repaid with beautiful blooms on the young tree--

and surprisingly, also on another seedling that spouted right where the old tree had been.

We've also been here long enough to say goodbye to a few old tree friends.

How time flies! Aaron is about 10 years older and 40 or more pounds lighter today
than when he cut the old tree for us. 

 The big oak by our parking place was probably dying when we moved here. We left it as long as possible but when a huge branch fell right where the car could have been we knew it was time to cut it down. I still miss that tree.

And the granddaughters pictured here--Hannah, first on the left, will be a senior in high school this year; Haley is in the Army National Guard; Allison graduates from high school this month, and Cassidy is living in Nashville, working as a songwriter. 

We've lost other trees too--an old-time apple that had been here since our neighbor was a boy, pines that toppled in the ice storm in 2003, and several peach trees. When we heated with wood we would go back into our big woods and cut some for firewood, trying to take only the dead or diseased specimens and leaving the good ones to grow.

There is something about living in a place surrounded by trees; they become part of our daily routine, an expected view from the windows, bearers of fruit and often makers of a lot of work in the fall of the year or after a big storm. I am happy to put up with the mess, though, just to have their leafy presence in my life.


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

West Virginia's Big Trees

West Virginia has been home to several legendary "big trees." Here are the stories of a few of them.

Most West Virginia school children are familiar with the story of the Pringle Tree. According to the legend, two brothers Named Samuel and John Pringle deserted the British army during the French and Indian War and made their way to an area just outside of what is now Buckhannon, West Virginia. This was about 1764. They set up housekeeping in a huge, hollow sycamore.

After four years the brothers found that they were down to only two charges of gunpowder.John Pringle left to find the nearest settlement where he could get more powder while Samuel stayed on at the tree, keeping house I suppose. Well, when John reached a settlement he learned that the French and Indian War was over and that he and his brother no longer were fugitives from the British. He returned with some friends and built cabins in the area, starting a settlement. One of those who returned with John Pringle was John Jackson, who was to become the grandfather of Stonewall Jackson.

The original Pringle Tree died long ago, but other sycamores have sprung up on the site to replace it, and the current tree is the third generation.

 The current tree is also hollow in the center, and nowadays there is a fence around the tree to protect it from damage. But you can pick up the seed pods that often fall on the ground around the tree, and maybe you can grow your own Pringle tree. In these economic times, the backup shelter might come in handy. (Photos from flickr and

 

Then there is the Mingo Oak which sadly succumbed to either a fungus or pollution from mine waste years before I was born. The Mingo Oak, in Mingo County, WV, was once believed to be the largest white oak known in the US. It's circumference was reported at 30 feet 9 inches and it was judged by scientists to be 584 years old. Apparently it was already over 100 years old when Columbus landed on these shores. The tree was cut with great ceremony on September 8, 1938.

In Tucker County, West Virginia there was a white oak that was known to many for its size. The tree measured supposedly measured 13 feet in circumference at 16 feet above the ground. The tree was cut during the logging boom that swept the state in the early 1900's, a time when the state's virgin forests were almost completely obliterated.

Point Pleasant, West Virginia has several claims to historic fame. Besides being the site of a battle of the French and Indian War, and the home of Mothman, Point Pleasant was also the resting place of many items from one of the 49 boxcars of the "Merci Train"  that were donated in gratitude to the US after World War II.  According to this website:

"A collection of perhaps two dozen items from the West Virginia Merci car is located in "Mansion House", a hewn log structure built as a tavern in 1796, but now maintained as a museum by the Colonel Charles Lewis Chapter, N.S. Daughters of the American Revolution. The museum itself is in a small state park called Tu-Endie-Wei within the city of Point Pleasant, WV. The name is Wyandotte Indian for "Point Between Two Waters". Also in the park are four French Oak trees, which came in the Merci boxcar as saplings from France. Russell Burge (see above) started some saplings with acorns gathered from the trees in the park and has planted two saplings near the present site of the boxcar in Welch." 

(You can find out more about the Merci train boxcar that was given to your state by clicking here.)

Seedlings from the French Oaks, as they came to be called, are still being grown in West Virginia at the Clements Tree Nursery in West Columbia, WV. Apparently these seedlings can be requested from the nursery, because the information about the trees and their history concludes with:

"Become part of living history: Plant a seedling from Clements State Tree Nursery today." If you want to find out more, contact Leslie Fitzwater, Public Information Specialist, 304.957.9342 or 304.541.8102, Leslie.C.Fitzwater@wv.gov

Although the huge trees of the past are almost all gone, West Virginia still has many large trees very much alive. You can see an online list of other big trees in West Virginia here; all state maintain a "Big Tree" list so you can check out your state's list by clicking here.

Photo 1 from www.flickr.com
Photo 2 from www.bucknell.edu
Photo 3 from www.wvculture.org

Redbud Spring, Part One

The hills around my home are decorated right now with soft pinks,whites, lavenders, and reddish purple.

The pinks are wild peach trees, and often their shade deepens to crimson in the center of the blossoms.

Whites are wild cherry, sarvisberry, wild plum, wild apples and dogwood. The whites range from the green-tinted parchment of dogwood to the pinkish white of the apple blossoms, the warm white of the cherry flowers, the bluish-white of the sarvisberry and the mistiness of wild plum.

Lavender, magenta and all shades between are donated by the redbuds, whose colors pale as the flowers age--and there is even variation in the depth of color from one tree to another.

Add in the huge palette of greens in the springtime woods and blue skies, and the landscape is a Monet dream.

But the redbuds had my attention this weekend. When I was a girl, growing up in oldtown Manassas, I had a redbud tree and a small flower garden beneath it. The tree was my favorite place to hang out, next to the attic. I could climb up in it and stretch out on a horizontal branch and read, undisturbed by my mother who was probably looking for me to set the table or hang out wash. After the blossoms dropped the tree was covered with heart-shaped leaves that shaded the bluebells growing below.

I never once thought about eating those red buds. I mean, would you have tried them? Flowers were for being pretty and smelling good, but that was all I knew back then. Except honeysuckle--I know how to "suckle" the honey out of those!

When I moved to West Virginia I learned that other flowers can be eaten--like daylilies, violets, elderberry blossoms and calendula. It was only recently that I learned that the redbud also offered culinary uses.

So on Sunday morning my granddaughter Hannah and I walked up on the ridge to harvest some redbuds. The picking was easy because the branches were low to the ground and plentiful. We just grabbed a small twig and ran our hands up it, pulling off the flowers as we went. Our basket was filled in no time. Of course we forgot the camera, so I don't have any pictures of this part of the process. But when we returned to the house, we did remember to take photos to post.

Hannah with the leftover blossoms, destined for a salad.

I had read that the flowers are a tasty treat with a nutty flavor and could be used to make jelly, to garnish a salad or stir into muffin mix or into wild game dishes. Hannah and I both tried them, and I will disagree about the nutty flavor. Hannah agrees with me that the flowers were sweet, with a flavor similar to honeysuckle. They were a bit crunchy too, and very nice to munch on. Surprisingly good.

When we came back to the house we stuffed our harvest into quart jars, packed them down and covered them with boiling water. The recipe I have said to let the infusion set for at least 12 hours. Since we didn't have ours in the jars until noon, that meant midnight. That meant too late to make jelly. So I put them in the fridge and there they remain until I get home tomorrow evening. The color of the infusion is lovely, a deep violet-red.

Tomorrow evening I will strain off the liquid, add pectin and maybe lemon juice, and cook to a boil. Then add sugar, cook to a boil again, boil for a minute, and jar up. I can't wait to see how the jelly comes out, and I will be sure to have pictures of the process to post.

Redbuds are also known as "Judas tree" because supposedly Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus, hanged himself from its branches. According to the legend, the tree used to grow to a good size, but after Judas' suicide the tree became stunted and did not live very long. Originally its flowers were white, according to one story, but turned red in shame.

In this story from the Jataka tales, four young men see the same tree, but each sees it differently. And in Arkansas, when the redbud was made the state tree in 1937, many people protested because the tree was viewed as unlucky or even bewitched. According to author Vance Randolph, some even considered it unlucky to be near a redbud after dark.

Such a pretty little tree, with such a sorrowful folk history. I am glad I never knew its bad reputation when I was young and dreamed in the branches of my tree. Perhaps that tree influenced me and planted the seed of folklore interest in me way back then? I doubt it, really. I am just glad to be surrounded by this beauty each spring--and now I can add redbud to our spring menu too.

More about Trees

On the ridge, Springtime two years ago

Yesterday's post about trees got me thinking about the many stories we tell with trees at their center.

The website Spirit of the Trees hosts a broad collection of tree stories, Started as a resource for the DC Memorial Tree Groves , the site grew to encompass scientific, folkloric, and educational resources in essays, stories and resource links. Storytellers contributed tales, and an extensive list of stories on the web is hosted on the site.

At Beartown Rocks, West Virginia

At the Woodnotes site, you can read Advice from a Tree. Sound advice, I think you'll find. Woodnotes is the site of the Tree People, a unique experiment in preservation in Los Angeles, CA. Go here to read the story of the Sleep Tree from South America.

The oak, of course, is often the topic of tree stories. With reason. The stately, long-lived oak exudes strength, provides deep shade and steady, long-lasting heat when cut, and hardens to a stone-like toughness for use as a building material. Its golden grain graces many pieces of furniture and flooring, and its acorns provided food for the ancient Celts and food and shelter for all kinds of other animal life. Photos of many great oaks can be found at Arcytech.

Marilyn suggested a haunting story called The Armchair of the Tustenuggee from the book Palmetto Stories by Celina Eliza Means. What a tale this is, with a curiously twisted, but satisfying ending.

At Sacred Woods and the Lore of Trees you can find folklore associated with trees of all kinds. What I like about this site (librarian that I am) is her listed bibliography of sources. While she does not tell you where each tree's information came from, she at least supplied the places she consulted for the information provided on her website.

Taken near Sandstone Falls, WV in a driving rain storm in 2007

At egreenway, Michael Garofalo has compiled an incredible bibliography (the librarian strikes again!) along with poetry, quotes, folklore and monthly collections of all the above, all about trees. His site is a little difficult to use, requiring much scrolling, but thee information provided is worth the sore finger.

Here's a poem for March from his site:

"The year's at the spring

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hillside's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in His heaven

-All's right with the world!"

- Robert Browning

Amen, Mr. Browning. We've all heard this poem but in early spring, we all need to hear it again.

Around the world from Robert Browning comes the tale of the Sugar Palm Tree, from Indonesian Folklore. "A husband and a wife lived happily in a village. They had two children a son and a daughter. The son’s name was Tare Iluh and the daughter’s name was Beru Sibou. Their happy life ended when their father died." To read the rest, you need to visit the site. I promise it is worth your time.

And from another exotic location comes stories of Papa Bois: "He is the old man of the forest and is known by many names, including "Maître Bois" (master of the woods) and "Daddy Bouchon" (hairy man)." Probably the source of the Cajun stories of Wiley and the Hairy Man? (You can find a reader's theatre adaptation of this suspenseful story of a boy's encounters with the Hairy Man here.)

I will leave you with this thought:

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.

- William Blake, 1799, The Letters

A man ahead of his time.

Go outside and enjoy your trees.

The Faces in Trees

Susan recently wrote about Oogabooga trees on her blog, and she had some excellent photos that perfectly depicted the meaning of "oogabooga." There's no other word that can describe these trees as well.

Her post reminded me of some photos I've taken of trees with faces. Some scary...

(taken at Lost River State Park in West Virginia)

Some ancient and wise...

(taken in Bellingham, Washington)

and some to make you think the druids knew a thing or two.

This one even has hair.

(taken in Idaho)

This seems to show the face even more clearly.

There are probably other photos like these lurking in my files, but these are the best, I believe.

Can you see the faces in these pictures?

Or am I just a demented old lady who is seeing things? There's always that possibility...

But I am not alone. The Museum of Hoaxes lists many other "tree faces" with link to the news stories about each. Dr. Deb has a collection on her website, too.

Then there is the WaqWaq tree in Middle Eastern folklore, which was said to bear fruit with human faces (imagine biting into one...not!). There is an interesting discussion of this mythical tree and a story or two on SurLaLune.

I suppose any discussion of faces and trees is incomplete without a mention of the Green Man, that male face surrounded by leaves and branches found in ancient carvings and artwork. What does he symbolize? Scholars still argue over that, but there is no mistaking the importance the face must have had to peoples of many cultures in days gone by (and still today, for those who espouse Wicca and pagan beliefs). While browsing the web looking for "faces in trees" I came upon a fascinating book that will have to become part of my library: People and Woods of Scotland, by T. Christopher Smout.

There is far more written about the Green Man than I can cover here. If you're interested, here's a few books you might want to read:

The Green Man: Spirit of Nature by John Matthews.

The Green Man by Kathleen Basford.

Green Man by William Anderson.

One last thing about trees: The Celtic Tree Calendar follows the cycle of the year through the thirteen moons, each of which has been assigned a particular tree, for its folkloric properties and strengths. This month (February 18-March 17) is assigned the Ash tree. The website notes that:

"In Norse cosmology, the giant ash tree — Yggdrasil — was the axis point upon which the universe spun. Yggr was one of the many names of Odin, and the usual interpretation is 'Horse of Yggr', since Odin in a sense rode the tree when he hung upon it. The tree is repeatedly called 'the ash Yggdrasil', and a possible reason for the choice of an ash might be the bunches of 'keys' which hang from the branches like bodies of tiny men, recalling the practice of hanging sacrificial victims from trees."

(from http://www.irelandsown.net/)

And on that cheery note, I'll depart! (But I may take a bit of a longer path around our ash trees in future, not wanting to be a sacrificial victim just yet. I think I've circled back to oogabooga).

Autumn in its Glory

It's that time--every gentle breeze brings with it a flutter of jewel-like leaves.

The driveway gets a new coat of color.

This sassafras tree along the driveway is stunning in its array of gold, orange, red and even some purple.
A closer look at one leaf reveals the ranges of color.

...and a bit further away to see the full effect of the tree. Isn't it lovely?

The Cosmos are the only flowers surviving the drought. You can see how brown the grass is.
Looking from the house, over the chicken house and to the beehive--see it under the ash tree? The bees are still doing well, with regular feedings.

The dogwoods are laden with berries for winter. With the heavy fruit and seed we've seen this summer, I wonder if it's in preparation for a hard winter? Or just a blessing after the slim pickings last year?

I'm not sure what kind of tree this is, but it is gloriously colored. It's not a red maple, but some sort of understory tree, I think. Does anyone know?

The gold of sugar maples just can't be described, especially when the sun is shining through from above.

Have you been out walking this week? What trees are changing colors where you live?

Can you Identify This Tree?

Or perhaps it's a shrub?

We saw it on a mountain during our trip across Rte 50 on Sunday.

I do not know if I have ever seen it before. The red seedpods or blooms are like little chains of upside down hearts. I wish I had been able to get better pictures of it.