Ray Collier Country Diary- Hazel
Hazel - 15th September 2009
Although hazel is often classed as a shrub rather than a tree it can grow to 30 feet. Very few reach this height because they have been traditionally cut and the many stems rising from the "stool" form coppiced hazel. These very pliant hazel rods have been used in a wide variety of ways from building primitive boats to hurdles to pen sheep. At this time of the year the tree is in full leaf each leaf growing to four inches long and broad with a variable outline. The leaves are alternate, with saw-toothed edges, a drawn out tip and hairy surfaces. The nuts grow in clusters of up to four with each partly enclosed in leafy, overlapping bracts. The characteristics of the leaves and nuts can be seen in the photograph that was taken on a roadside in September at Strathnairn just south of Inverness. The trees widespread throughout the Highlands and occurs on the Western and Northern Isles. It grows under larger trees in woodland but is equally at home on roadsides, hedgerows and cliffs.
Hazel was one of the first colonisers, after birch, once the ice age had retreated and at one time it would have been the most abundant shrub. The new shoots have always been used by man and there is evidence that deliberate coppicing may have started some 4,000 years ago. The hazel rods can be split lengthways and twisted and bent at sharp angles without them breaking. This enabled them to be woven, bent back on themselves and even tied into knots. It is still used to peg down thatch in which pieces of hazel have to be bent through 180 degrees. The cutting of hazel, usually over a cycle of about seven years, was of considerable benefit to insects such as various species of butterflies. This coppicing cycle meant light came into the woodland in the form of glades that not only gave calm and sunny conditions but also a wealth of wild flowers that the butterflies used as a nectar source.
The myth and folk lore surrounding the hazel manifests itself in a variety of ways. It was considered to be a protective tree much in the same way as the rowan. Carrying a twig or a cluster of nuts, particularly a cluster of three, was supposed to guard against all evils. Twigs could protect horses from enchantment from fairies by tying hazel twigs into their manes. The nuts ripen from mid-August to October and it is said to take nine years for a tree to produce its first full crop of nuts. Nine is a sacred number and this is one of the reasons the hazel is anciently revered. The ancient Celts regarded the hazel as the Tree of Knowledge and all knowledge was contained in the hazelnut’s kernel, hence the saying "in a nutshell". The nuts have always been a food source for a variety of animals such as red squirrels and wood mice plus wood pigeons and pheasants.
One of the less known uses of hazel was for divining water. Forked hazel wands, traditionally best cut on Midsummer’s Eve, were gripped in each hand and pulled apart until a pressure pulled them together. The fork is supposed to turn back and turn as you pass underground water. This practise has also been used to search for mineral veins and even buried treasure. Hazel is the plant badge of Clan Colquhoun and was formally registered at the Lyon Court. Bearberry was also used but not registered. The Gaelic name for hazel is "calltainn" although the spellings vary and a local name is "nuttall".
Although hazel is often classed as a shrub rather than a tree it can grow to 30 feet. Very few reach this height because they have been traditionally cut and the many stems rising from the "stool" form coppiced hazel. These very pliant hazel rods have been used in a wide variety of ways from building primitive boats to hurdles to pen sheep. At this time of the year the tree is in full leaf each leaf growing to four inches long and broad with a variable outline. The leaves are alternate, with saw-toothed edges, a drawn out tip and hairy surfaces. The nuts grow in clusters of up to four with each partly enclosed in leafy, overlapping bracts. The characteristics of the leaves and nuts can be seen in the photograph that was taken on a roadside in September at Strathnairn just south of Inverness. The trees widespread throughout the Highlands and occurs on the Western and Northern Isles. It grows under larger trees in woodland but is equally at home on roadsides, hedgerows and cliffs.
Hazel was one of the first colonisers, after birch, once the ice age had retreated and at one time it would have been the most abundant shrub. The new shoots have always been used by man and there is evidence that deliberate coppicing may have started some 4,000 years ago. The hazel rods can be split lengthways and twisted and bent at sharp angles without them breaking. This enabled them to be woven, bent back on themselves and even tied into knots. It is still used to peg down thatch in which pieces of hazel have to be bent through 180 degrees. The cutting of hazel, usually over a cycle of about seven years, was of considerable benefit to insects such as various species of butterflies. This coppicing cycle meant light came into the woodland in the form of glades that not only gave calm and sunny conditions but also a wealth of wild flowers that the butterflies used as a nectar source.
The myth and folk lore surrounding the hazel manifests itself in a variety of ways. It was considered to be a protective tree much in the same way as the rowan. Carrying a twig or a cluster of nuts, particularly a cluster of three, was supposed to guard against all evils. Twigs could protect horses from enchantment from fairies by tying hazel twigs into their manes. The nuts ripen from mid-August to October and it is said to take nine years for a tree to produce its first full crop of nuts. Nine is a sacred number and this is one of the reasons the hazel is anciently revered. The ancient Celts regarded the hazel as the Tree of Knowledge and all knowledge was contained in the hazelnut’s kernel, hence the saying "in a nutshell". The nuts have always been a food source for a variety of animals such as red squirrels and wood mice plus wood pigeons and pheasants.
One of the less known uses of hazel was for divining water. Forked hazel wands, traditionally best cut on Midsummer’s Eve, were gripped in each hand and pulled apart until a pressure pulled them together. The fork is supposed to turn back and turn as you pass underground water. This practise has also been used to search for mineral veins and even buried treasure. Hazel is the plant badge of Clan Colquhoun and was formally registered at the Lyon Court. Bearberry was also used but not registered. The Gaelic name for hazel is "calltainn" although the spellings vary and a local name is "nuttall".
posted by Corinne @ 6:39 AM
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