“Three landmarks of Erin, thou seest, are shorn of their strength, the Tree of Ross, the mighty Tree of Mugna, and the red sided Tree of Tortu.”
Ogham Divination
In Part IV of _The Metrical Dindshenchas_ translated by Edward Gwynn
There were five trees in all: The Tree of Ross, the Tree of Mugna and the Tree of Tortu, the three listed above, a Yew, an Oak, and an Ash, respectively. The other two were the Ash of Dathí and the Ash of Usnech. In the dindshenchas about Bile Tortan, it is likened to the entire tribe and is mourned in a way that suggests that The Morrigan has harvested their sons like firewood:
“The woman who loosed their fair locks, many a trim sandal hath she loosed: gleefully she laughed at the felling of Tort’s Tree.”
It was felled by a wind that would not stop (perhaps the change of religions, though I suspect this could also refer to the loss of a great leader in battle or of a way of life due to invasions). It is said that “…from the roots of the illustrious Tree many a tree might spring.” In another work, “Iomarbhagh na bhFilidh,” the finding of the sacred tree is said to have occurred on the night of the birth of Conn cét-chatach, though in other tales these trees are said to be from a branch of the ‘Tree of Lebanon’ or the seed of Trefuilngid Tre-eochair (as found in the tale, “The Settling of the Mansion of Tara”). This is clearly a case where the fate of the king, the tribe and the Land is tied to the fate of the sacred bile.
Mourned by the Saints
In “Bile Tortan” from the Metrical Dindshenchas we are told that the ancient tree stood in the lands of the Ui Tortan near Ardbraccan which is close to Navan in Meath. It is said to have fallen during the reign of Aedh Sláne during the 4th century CE. In the dindshenchas its merits are lauded by a list of saints. The poem itself might have been composed to mourn the death of Aedh though I think it could also signal the loss of poetry or a way of life:
“Ultan. Fallen is the Tree of Tortu, whose skirts conquered many a storm:… even so they would disperse.
Mochuma. The Tree of Tortu looks down on strife: name ye among the wise him who writes of it! here it stands from the time that it was green till the season of its decay.
Mochua. Sad are all the men of Tortu, mourning for that single tree; dearer to them is the thing they see than all things that are gone from us.
Croin Galma. When the men of Tortu used to meet together round the huge conspicuous tree, the pelting of the storms did not reach them, until the day when it was decayed.
Colum Cille. Though it is withered now, it had not an early end: long has it been on earth: the King who created its form has brought it low again.
Ultan of Tech Tu/a. Fifty cubits is the thickness of the tree that overpeered the array of the forest: three hundred cubits, famous count, was the full height of its timber.
Mochuma. Three landmarks of Erin, thou seest, are shorn of their strength, the Tree of Ross, the mighty Tree of Mugna, and the red-sided Tree of Tortu.
Mochúa. Deep was the sound of the Tree of Tortu in the storm’s fierce torment: the moaning of the wind on winter nights has torn from it here many a swarm of leaves.
Ultan. It found an abode over strong Tortu from the time of the sons of mighty Míl, until its colour faded and it fell, in the time of the sons of Aedh Sláne.
Croin Galma. A wind laid the Tree low – none that is not hard of heart can bear the loss – and it crushed thrice fifty victims of the Conaille, at their fair.
Sinche. Beldame, though thou breakest faggots from its bole on thy hearth, there was many a fair youth that has slept under its bright branches.
Ultan of Tech Tua. The Woman who loosed their fair locks, many a trim sandal hath she loosed: gleefully she laughed at the felling of Tortu’s Tree.
Croin Galma. All that meet the eye must fall: they joined in stubborn conflict: the wind withdrew not its hand until it brought down Tortu’s pride.
Mochua. To all things come decay: all men in the world go toward death: they are but red earth and lifeless clay, all folk that gathered round Tortu’s tree.
Ultan. The plain of Tortu is a plain without a ruler since it lost its noble tree: two parts of its prosperity are gone since the Tree fell.
Torannán. Adam’s transgression of old hath undone the children of the free people: such is the lot in store for us since their mighty Tree withered.
Colum Cille. Deserted is Ochann, and noble Tlachtga, since Aillil, son of Nathí, is gone, the chief of the strong troops, that rode through Meath: a death not like that of any other Tree.
Mochua. I am Mochua: I bid Croin not to grieve excessively: from the roots of the illustrious Tree many a tree might spring.
Colum Cille. On a certain summer’s day I was in the wood of tufted leafage, having an errand to perform: the crown of Tortu’s Tree gave me shelter.
Mochuma. No comfort have I, though the winds stir the treetops of the wood to laughter: today a solitary housewife breaks faggots from the Tree of Tortu.
Ulta, Though the wind made rough sport with it, it could not break the Tree while it was young; but it brings to the ground all that is old: this I know by the Tree of Tortu.”
The loss of a sacred tree in Ireland was mourned like the death of a family member or a way of life. This sense of loss is echoed in modern times in such works as Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (regarding the loss of the Southern way of living following the American War Between the States). Among the Celts and the Irish, many qualities and characteristics were ascribed to the tree. Some of these are mentioned in the following section on wood lore.
Wood Lore
Traditionally, the three sacred woods of the faerie were said to be oak, ash, and thorn.
The Modern Wiccan Rede also advises us to use nine woods for sacred fire, but admonishes us not to use the elder tree, as this is sacred to the Goddess.
Ian Corrigan, a modern Druid, singled out these trees as sacred woods for the fire in his practice of Drúidheachd: oak, hazel, rowan, holly, yew, ash, pine, apple and willow.
Suibhne Geilt seemed to especially hallow these trees: oak, hazel, alder, blackthorn, apple, rowan, yew, holly, birch, poplar.
According to the Book of Ballymote, the eight chieftain trees of the Ogham are alder, oak, hazel, vine, ivy, sloe, furze, and heath. The eight peasant trees are birch, rowan, willow, ash, hawthorn, whin and apple.
I personally think that it can be seen that to make a sacred fire, one needs three or nine woods. If it is to be three woods, I’d choose oak, ash and thorn. For nine woods, I would either use all oak (nine separate trees) or I’d generally use: oak, hazel, rowan, holly, yew, ash, pine, apple and willow. If I had a more specific working in mind, I’d consult the Ogham for the appropriate tree/quality/dúile correspondences before building my own teine éigin.