Hawthorn: Magical Tree of the Fairies

“Their (the good people) voices were heard in the mountain echo, and their forms seen in the purple and golden mountain mist; they whispered amidst the perfumed hawthorn branches…” – Lady Wilde, 1919

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Cover art by Edward Wilkins Waite

The Hawthorn tree or Crataegus monogyna is also called the haw, quickthorn, thornapple, whitethorn, ladies’ meat, May-tree, May-flower, May-blossom, May-Bush, hagthorn, bread and cheese tree, motherdie or hawberry. The name Hawthorn originally came from Europe and is one of those rare plants with a name in Gaeilge that has distinct Proto-Celtic roots which lends to its use and the awareness of the plant to be very old.¹ It’s called sceach gheal in Gaeilge and sgìtheach in Scots Gaelic. The Latin word, Crataegus monogyna means “one-seed hawthorn” or “common hawthorn,” derived from “Crataegus” (a flowering thorn, possibly referring to strength and thorns) and “monogyna” (single or one ovary/seed).

The hawthorn is well regarded by herbalists and well known as “food for the heart”. The hawthorn tree is an immense plant in regards to its connection to the Otherworld and fairies as well as having a known ‘protective’ nature. It is one of the principle ‘hedge’ trees whereby it makes a great natural boundary, especially considering how thorny the plant is. Jesus’s crown itself was often said in some folk references to be made of hawthorn branches although there is no biblical or historical evidence to confirm this belief. Many species of birds have a habit of building nests in hawthorns, possibly at least in part due to this physically protective nature as well.

Dioscorides mentions that a hawthorn infusion drunk regularly before intercourse was used to promote conception of a boy. The hawthorn was used traditionally to cure many ailments on a spiritual level but on a more literal level in Ireland, it was used as an antitussive², astringent, emmenagogue, antilithic³, as well as to heal toothaches, burns⁴ and warts.⁵ In Scotland, it was used to treat blood pressure and sore throats. In England and Wales, it was used to treat jaundice, eye issues⁶, heart issues as well as to extract splinters.⁷ Today, hawthorn is most commonly used as an overall heart tonic and hypotensive, which lowers blood pressure. 

The hawthorn was considered a ‘peasant’ or ‘common’ tree in Irish Brehon Law and one of the herbs considered to be of great repute by the fairy doctors according to Lady Wilde.⁸ In old Irish symbolism, the hawthorn had a few written and known representations such as an ‘assembly of packs of hounds,’ ‘blanching of faces,’ and ‘most difficult at night.’⁹ Cú Chulainn was interestingly described as having hair that was spiked like hawthorn.¹⁰ Hawthorn is one of the main plants associated with Bealtaine or May Day. Hawthorn bushes or trees were decorated themselves or branches would have been cut and decorated. This was often known as ‘Bringing in the May’. When done at any other time of the year, it would have been considered bad luck.¹¹ Typically it was a boy or the man of the house that would have cut off a few hawthorn branches and the branch was still left outside by the front door or in the yard.¹² Sometimes, they were decorated with wildflowers and ribbons and often said to honor the blessed virgin Mary. This may have likely been done to honor another female figure in times of old.¹³ 

When women would go out on the morning of Bealtaine to wash their face in the morning dew, they often did this with the dew that was specifically laying on the hawthorn.¹⁴ The wood that Irish druids used to create their druidic wands may have been the hawthorn, yew or rowan.¹⁵ There is an interesting curse called the Glam dichinn that was made by druids if a prince refused a poet the reward of his poem involving hawthorn and it goes as follows…

“The poet was to fast upon the lands of the king for whom the poem was to be made, and the consent of thirty laymen, thirty bishops” a Christian touch to make the passage pass muster”and thirty poets should be had to compose the satire; and it was a crime to them to prevent it when the reward of the poem was withheld” a pagan touch as a make-weight on the other side! “The poet then, in a company of seven, that is, six others and himself, upon whom six poetic degrees had been conferred, namely a focloc, macfuirmedh, doss, cana, clí, anradh, and ollamh, went at the rising of the sun to a hill which should be situated on the boundary of seven lands, and each of them was to turn his face to a different land, and the ollamh’s (ollav’s) face was to be turned to the land of the king, who was to be satirised.

Their backs should be turned to a hawthorn which should be growing upon the top of a hill, and the wind should be blowing from the north, and each man was to hold a perforated stone and a thorn of the hawthorn in his hand, and each man was to sing a verse of this composition for the king the ollamh or chief poet to take the lead with his own verse, and the others in concert after him with theirs; and each then should place his stone and his thorn under the stem of the hawthorn, and if it was they that were in the wrong in the case, the ground of the hill would swallow them, and if it was the king that was in the wrong, the ground would swallow him and his wife, and his son and his steed, and his robes and his hound. The satire of the macfuirmedh fell on the hound, the satire of the focloc on the robes, the satire of the doss on the arms, the satire of the cana on the wife, the satire of the clí on the son, the satire of the anrad on the steed, the satire of the ollamh on the king.”¹⁶

It is well known as already mentioned that the hawthorn was and is still immensely associated with fairies and it’s considered horrendously bad luck to cut down an old hawthorn.¹⁷ Those that did cut a hawthorn down were consequently susceptible to any sort of bad luck with the worst case scenario being death, especially ‘fairy stroke’. In fact, there are some Irish tales where people drop dead immediately upon cutting the tree down.¹⁸ There are other instances where a hawthorn was returned shortly after being removed and the ill luck brought upon the person was rescinded.¹⁹ These trees were often said to be at the center of a fairy ring and where they danced around or under and held their gatherings during full moons. It was also said to be places where otherworldly treasures, especially gold, may have been hidden which was a theme that appeared frequently in fireside folktales.^20,21

Hawthorn fairy trees were and are usually firstly, an old tree, but also off by themselves in a field or near a holy well or sacred site.^22,23,24 The hawthorn tree if near to a sacred well was and are commonly used to hang clootie rags on whereby the rag, usually a piece of one’s clothing, was dipped into the well water and then hung on the tree. When the rag finally rotted off, the healing effect was complete.²⁵ It was additionally said that… “…the putting up these rags is a putting away of the evils impending or incurred by sin, an act accompanied by the following ritual words. Air inipide an Tiarna mo chuid teinis do fhagaint air an ait so ; i, e. By the intercession of the Lord I leave my portion of illness on this place. These words, he adds, should be uttered by whoever performs the round, and they are, no doubt, of extreme antiquity.” In some parts of Ireland, the remaining boards leftover from making a coffin were affixed into crosses and laid under a nearby hawthorn tree after the person’s funeral.²⁶ 

In the tale of Buile Suibhne, Suibhne slept in a hawthorn tree covered with ivy and was wounded quite extensively by the tree to where he was forced to move to another location. Abhartach, the famous Irish vampire, is buried in Derry at a site called Slaghtaverty Dolmen and has an old hawthorn growing next to it. In reality, countless sacred sites, whether a dolmen, stone circle or cairn often have hawthorns nearby. During Charlemagne’s ‘bloody victory’ against Muslims at Roncesvalles in 778 (which was in actuality a terrible defeat) it was said that his soldiers couldn’t distinguish between slain Christians and Pagans. Yet the next morning, a white flower had blossomed beside each Christian corpse, and a hawthorn had sprung from each pagan’s body.

“Here and there, though never very common, we see the mirth-making mistletoe generally growing on old apple and hawthorn trees, and very rarely on the oak; and it is on records which have been written from ancient traditions, that wherever the Druids selected a grove of oaks for their heathen worship, they always planted apple-trees about the place, so that mistletoe might be trained around the trunks of the oaks.” – R. Chambers, Book of Days, 1864

In Robert de Boron’s Merlin (around 1180), the famed wizard becomes entranced by Viviane, a young witch whose name, as Robert reveals, translates to “I’ll do none of these.” in Chaldean. Interestingly, Viviane’s father, Dyonas, was a close companion of the goddess Diana. Viviane entranced Merlin with her love over a long period until finally she trapped him under a hawthorn tree in bloom, lulling him to sleep with a kiss. She circled him with her veil, whispering cryptic words and upon waking, Merlin found himself imprisoned in a high tower, where he remained hidden away. Only Viviane knew how to reach him, which she did on a daily basis. In all varied versions of the tale, this entrapment ultimately leads to Merlin’s slow demise. The monstrous giant Yspaddaden, from the Romance of Culhwch in the Mabinogi, is said to bear a name meaning “Hawthorn.” His daughter is Olwen, who was possibly a Welsh goddess not coincidentally related to spring. The hawthorn is briefly mentioned in the The Battle of the Trees, The Book of Taliesin VIII. It was said in the Isle of Man that if the hawthorn tree had many berries in Autumn, it signified a more severe winter.²⁷

“I’ll go away to Sleamish Hill, I’ll pluck the fairy hawthorn-tree, And let the spirits work their will; I care not if for good or ill, So they but lay the memory, Which all my heart is haunting still, The Fairies are a silent race, And pale as lily flowers to see; I care not for a blanched face, For wandering in a dreaming place, So I put banish memory: I wish I were with Anna Grace!” – Samuel Ferguson, Fairy and Folk Tales by W.B. Yeats, 1888

The hawthorn tree is in the Rosaceae family and native to Europe, North America and parts of Asia. The leaves are alternate and toothed with fine serrated edges. It produces white creamy to pink flowers typically blooming from April through May. The flowers are hermaphrodite which means they are self pollinating. The small red fruits are called ‘haws’ and usually ripe by the autumn season. They provide critical food for birds as well as other wildlife and can live up to 400 years old. It may have been associated with Bealtaine as well as Samhain. The hawthorn is a deciduous tree hardy to zones 3 through 9. It prefers rich, moist but well drained soil in part to full sun. It can grow up to 15 m or 50 ft. The hawthorn’s energy is cold and dry. The fruit is edible and has a tangy and tart flavor. It’s most commonly used in infusions, jellies, syrups, wine or other alcoholic beverages and as a whole food. 

Benefits

antioxidant, antitussive, heart tonic, hemostatic, hypotensive

Recipe

Hawthorn Jelly

Ingredients: 1.5 to 2 lbs hawthorn berries, 16 – 24 oz or 2 – 3 cups water, 16 oz or 2 cups sugar, 2 oz or 1/4 cup lemon juice

Instructions: Simmer the hawthorn berries on low heat for 30 minutes until they disintegrate. Occasionally mash them with a potato masher to speed the process. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth and then measure your available juice. For every 2 cups of juice, add 2 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. It takes roughly 1.5 to 2 pounds of haws to yield 2 cups of juice. Return the hawthorn juice, sugar and lemon juice to the stove and boil for 10 – 15 minutes until it turns jelly. Pour the jelly into prepared canning jars leaving 1/4 inch space at the top. Process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes to store long term, or place in the refrigerator for immediate use over the next month. 

References

1. Koch, John. 2006. Celtic Culture, A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC- CLIO. Pg. 763.
2. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0894, Page 043
3. K’Eogh, John. 1735. An Irish Herbal. The Aquarian Press. Pg. 79. 
4. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0828, Page 284
5. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1082, Page 8
6. Meddygon Myddvai. 1861. Llandovery, D. J. Roderic; London, Longman & co. Pg. 325, 380.
7. Vickery, Roy (1995). A Dictionary of Plant-lore. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
8. Wilde, Lady. 1919. Ancient Legends of Ireland. London. Chatto & Windus. Pg 182.
9. McManus, Damian. 1991. A Guide to Ogam. Maynooth: An Sagart. Pg. 42. 
10. Ross, Anne. 1970. Everyday Life of the Pagan Celts. B.T. Batsford LTD. Pg. 41. 
11. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0700, Page 048
12. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0603, Page 531
13. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0582, Page 231
14. Lockyer, Norman. 1906.  Stone Henge and Other British Monuments. Macmillan and Co. Pg. 212.
15. Mackenzie, Alexander. 1884. The Celtic Magazine. Vol. IX. Inverness, A & W Mackenzie. Pg. 37.
16. Hyde, Douglas. 1899. Literary History of Ireland. Pg. 360. 
17. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0083, Page 045
18. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0079, Page 035
19. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0882, Page 510
20. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0233, Page 024
21. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0268, Page 197
22. Wilde, Lady. 1919. Ancient Legends of Ireland. London. Chatto & Windus. Pg 39.
23. Wilde, Lady. 1919. Ancient Legends of Ireland. London. Chatto & Windus. Pg 46. 
24. Wilde, Lady. 1919. Ancient Legends of Ireland. London. Chatto & Windus. Pg 246. 
25. Rhys, John. Celtic Folklore. Vol 1. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Pg. 332, 335. 
26. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0877, Page 134
27. Moore, A.W. 1891. The Folklore of the Isle of Man. Brown & Son. Pg. 149. 

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