This tree is linked to many customs of fertility. Used in Mayday celebrations, it topped the maypole entwined in a hawthorn garland.
However in some parts it was thought that taking a branch inside the house foretold death.
According to tradition, it was from the black thorn that Christ’s crown of thorns was made, and it bloomed at midnight on Old Christmas Eve.
The blackthorn flowers (called may) appear on bare twigs before the leaves. When a cold snap follows the period of warm weather responsible for bringing out the blossom it is still known as ‘blackthorn hatch’ or ‘blackthorn winter’ in some places.
Some evidence suggests that in Neolithic times the purgative qualities of blackthorn were used medicinally and also to cross the barriers into the spirit world. |
The sloe is the ancestor of our cultivated plums. People have been eating it for thousands of years. The purple/back sloes have an intensely bitter taste.
Researchers in Ireland have shown that medieval monks were partial to an alcoholic drink akin to gin which was made from sloes. Today the sloes are still gathered to make sloe gin. The fruit is also used to produce a strong red dye.
In the practical sense, blackthorn makes excellent hedges, as the sharp spines discourage animals from breaking through.
The scratch from a blackthorn can often go septic.
Once cut, blackthorn wood has few uses. However it makes strong walking sticks and was also used in the past for cudgels. |
