Little antlered one, little belling one, melodious
littler bleater, sweet I think the lowing that you make in the glen.
Home-sickness for my little dwelling has come upon my mind, the calves in the plain, the deer on the moor.
Oak, bushy, leafy, you are high above the trees; hazel-bush, little branchy one, coffer or hazel-nuts.
Alder, you are not spiteful, lovely is your colour, you are not prickly where you are in the gap.
Blackthorn, little thorny one, black little sloe-bush; watercress, little green-topped one, on the brink of the blackbird’s well.
Saxifrage of the pathway, you are the sweetest of herbs; bress, very green one; plant where the strawberry grows.
Apple-tree, little apple-tree, violently everyone shakes you; rowan, little berried one, lovely is your bloom.
Bramble, little humped one, you do not grant fair terms; you do not cease tearing me till you are stated with blood.
Yew, little yew, you are conspicuous in graveyards; ivy, little ivy, you are familiar in the dark wood.
Holly, little shelterer, door against the wind; ash-tree, baneful, weapon in the hand of a warrior.
Birch, smooth, blessed, proud, melodious, lovely is each entangled branch at the top of your crest.
Aspen as it trembles, from time to time I hear its leaves rustling, and think it is the foray…
If on my lonely journey I were to search the mountains of the dark earth, I would rather have the room for a single hut in great Glenn mBolcáin.
Good is its clear blue water, good its clean stern wind, good its cress-green watercress, better its deep brooklime.
Good its pure ivy, good its bright merry willow, good its yewy yew, better its melodious birch…
Anonymous, 12th Century
The Celts had a “tree alphabet” that they used in religious matters. According to legends, Oghma, the God of Eloquence, inspired an alphabet based on the seasons of the trees. These 20 trees were ones sacred to the Druids. The Celtic year and alphabet started with Birch and ended with Yew. The poem, “Suibhe”, refers to the trees of the Ogham as they appeared in the alphabet.
B E T H L U I S N I O N
Reference: “Celtic Tree Oracle” by Colin and Liz Murray.
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Pictures of "Birch Canyon" and "Oak Tree" copyrighted by Mary Ann Sterling
Va. Carper