Ireland's Trees & Mythology

Beltane, one of the great fire festivals of the ancient Irish calendar, is a time when the veil between worlds grows thin 🔥🧚🏻‍♀️ To guard against wandering the mischievous fairy folk, homes were adorned with bright yellow flowers that symbolised the returning strength of the sun ☀️ Yet not every bloom was welcome....and Foxglove, for example, carried a darker reputation. Rarely in flower by May 1st, it was nonetheless considered dangerous to bring indoors at Beltane as its enchanting and toxic bloom was believed to belong to the fairies themselves🌷 To cross a threshold with Foxglove was to invite something unseen along with it. Much like offering a vampire entry into your home will render you powerless ..bringing Foxglove inside was said to grant fairies passage beyond the doorway 🚪✨ And once within, their magic would unravel any protections laid down by the otherwise cautious inhabitants...rendering the carefully gathered Beltane flowers powerless and allowing the magical folk to run amok 🧚🏻‍♀️🌷

@Aunty_Bigot I think that's a perfectly excellent pic of mammy sparrow and her kids! (All my bird photos are taken by my Dad...if it moves.....it's out of my skill range!)

@Tree_Folklore Not a good pic but a mammy sparrow (3rd from the left) has been parking her youth in my garden all week! 😊

In Britain and Ireland House Sparrows are year long residents who bring messages both good and bad🪶 It was widely believed that a Sparrow flying into the home was a warning of an impending death within the household and also if a House Sparrow was the first bird seen by a young woman as she left home in the morning then she would be fated to marry a poor man....yet they love in happiness 🌞 They are highly adaptable little birds yet in the past fifty or so years their numbers have declined by about 30 million with a loss of habitat and predation by domestic pets being major factors 🐈

Just a few of the plants that native wildlife rely upon thriving in a local Primary School that hasn't mown it's small strip of grass this year 🏫 — Docks support about 80 species of insects🌿 — Ragwort, a biodiversity hub, supports well over 100 species, including 30 that rely on it entirely for their survival 🌼 — Cow Parsley is an early source of nectar for insects and is the food plant for several species of moth and butterfly larvae 🐛 — and Cuckoo Flower are just beautiful. Just a quick glance should shock us into seeing the damage that our constant mowing is doing and the lifelines that we are denying to the wildlife that share this country with us.

@Lillsy_777 Hahaha I get so many tick lectures off my wife!

@Tree_Folklore Just a heads up. Ticks are drawn to and hide easily in ferns.

Ferns are deeply magical and woven tightly with both the good...and the bad 🌿🪄 In Ireland, it was believed that ferns growing quietly within the woodland were symbolic of the Christians who once had to hide their faith and that should the stem of a "resurrection fern" be cut that the letters G O D would be revealed... ...and yet in parts of Europe it was thought that if a person was to wait by a fern beneath the light of the full moon then the Devil himself would appear and offer to them his services 🌕 🔥

@polyglotpen Yes that's right they definitely have two sides to their coin!

@Tree_Folklore Interesting stories about Blackbirds. I've come across fables/myths on them across Europe & they are always portending gloom or joy.

In Germany, the Blackbird was once known as Gottling or the 'Little God' and it was believed that keeping one as a pet would protect the home from lightning strikes 🪶⚡ Whilst in many European cultures the it was once believed to have been coloured white as the driven snow and in one tale it was said to have gained it's black plumage when it attempted to steal gold from the underground lair of a demon and was scorched for its trouble 🔥

@rosamund2606 They're brilliant in all ways! (I'm very jealous of a woodland garden!)

@Tree_Folklore Lovely myths about blackbirds. Their song is one of the most beautiful and uplifting sounds, so glad I have them visiting my little woodland garden

@Dani4trump2024 Hahaha yeah! The full story involves a Magpie telling the Blackbird not to touch the treasure....but it knew fine well it would be too tempting to resist

@Tree_Folklore I love the lesson in stealing, although stealing from a demon doesn't make the crime as bad. 🤭

@SouthofMags My Dad gets the photos.....I see them so rarely but then I suppose that's how they survive!

@Tree_Folklore It’s amazing that such a tiny thing can sing out so loud. It’s lovely to hear. 😃

The Wren, known in Irish as Dreoilín, busies itself hopping from branch to branch, snatching an insect here and another there 🪶 Despite its tiny size, the Wren has one of the loudest and most complex songs of any bird in Ireland or Britain and its voice can seem far larger than the bird itself 🎶 To the Druids it was the Magus Avium — the “magical bird.” They believed its bright, bubbling song carried whispers from the Otherworld, and was a voice that could reveal hidden knowledge. By constantly hunting insects and spiders among bark, leaves, and roots, it helps keep woodland and hedgerow ecosystems in balance and some believe the reverence the wren once held among the Druids later twisted into something darker. During later New Year traditions associated with Saint Stephen's Day, the Wren was symbolically “punished” for its supposed betrayal of Saint Stephen...maybe an echo of older beliefs lingering beneath newer stories 📖 🪶

@SouthofMags Too late....

@Tree_Folklore Oh heck. Tread carefully. 😳😂

The lawnmowers will surely come...but right now...this is beautiful ⭐ There was an old Irish belief that Spring had not truly begun until each step taken fell upon at least twelve daisies...and another that warned if you stood upon the first patch of daisies you saw, you yourself would be pushing up daisies before the year was out 🪦💮

@Sagnamadr Couldn't it be? What an amazing piece of history to find!

A bronze Celtic strap distributor, possibly for a sword belt, featuring a face with a bird perched on it…is it a warrior wearing a bird-crested helmet, or Cú Chulainn and the Morrígan? Found in North Yorkshire, 1-2nd Century.

@Aunty_Bigot I love moss too! But I also love Blackbirds....it's a tough one!

@Tree_Folklore Little buggers keep pulling the moss up from in between my patio slabs looking for food... and i want the moss between the slabs 😭

@abnerpuddis I was actually quite struck by it...which in fairness is not normally an affect dock would have on me!

@Tree_Folklore Thank you - what a beauty

Without a recently implemented no mow area by Queens University in Belfast this beautiful Dock wouldn't exist and nor would the immense benefits to wildlife that it brings 🦋 The deep tap roots that irritate gardeners bring nutrients from deep within the soil allowing surrounding plants to flourish whilst the seeds provide vitally nutritious seeds for birds and small mammals during the colder months 🌺✨ Add to this the fact that the Dock supports around 80 different species of insects and the importance of allowing some of our urban grass areas to live and breathe becomes clear 🐞

@OneFallenAngelM Poor lonely Devil 😢

@Tree_Folklore 💯 When I'll walk my garden again at night I'm not going to wait by a fern beneath the light of the full moon! #StayAway 😬💚🎈

@Anstria_G You said beer!

@Tree_Folklore The blossoms make wonderful syrup, wine, beer and jelly. The buds in stirfrys, the young leaves in salad, mature leaves cooked like spinach. The stem latex for insect bites. My favourite flower.

In Scotland, Dandelions were once associated with Saint Brigid and it was believed that the milky sap of the stem nourished new born lambs just as Brigid cared for and watched over them 🌼🐏 The Dandelion is of course very nutritious for livestock, wildlife and ourselves and gets it's name from the Latin Dens Leonis which means "Lions tooth" 🦁

@silver_mfc That's those deep roots!

@Tree_Folklore Some dock yes, invasion of dock not so good.

@SteelyBluesl27 I'm glad 🌞

@Tree_Folklore Informative thanks. 😊🌿

@cathyannetalks Are you tempted? I think the Devil is a bit much for me!

@Tree_Folklore 😲 wow that's all new to me!

@ElwellGraham Wonderful! It never ceases to confuse me that things that are so good for us are considered "weeds" in their native countries.

@Tree_Folklore Yep Latest news ? Is that Dandelion Roots, maybe a cure 4 some types of Cancer !!