Recently I was in a concert featuring folk carols and winter songs – it was amazing how many featured holly, mistletoe and ivy! Like the one in the title - Mistletoe new, Mistletoe Old. These winter fruiting plants remind us that winter is not totally bleak and lifeless and bring hope for a new season. No wonder they have taken on immense religious and mythical significance over the eons.
The stories and traditions surrounding this Christmas greenery have their origins in pagan times, but have found their way into loads of carols and festive stories, as David Scott from the Lagan Valley Regional Park explains.
Where would our hedgerow birds be without the holly, mistletoe and ivy berries to see them through winter?
December 21st marks the winter solstice in 2010. This occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly decline which means in the northern hemisphere we experience our shortest day, while those in the south have their longest. Probably spending it by the beach in shorts, the lucky things!
The Pagan celebration of the winter solstice is one of the oldest in the world. As ancient people were hunter-gatherers, they spent most of their time outdoors, their lives dictated by the seasons and the natural world around them. Before the arrival of Christianity to this part of the world, the Celts had long been worshipping both the sun and the moon. The sun was revered the most in recognition of its power over the seasons.
It was from the Celtic Druids that we got the Yule log - the word Yule coming from ancient Norse houl meaning wheel, referring to their belief that the sun was a wheel that turned the seasons.
The Celts believed that the sun disappeared for twelve days around the solstice. So throughout this period the Yule log was burned to bring good luck, ward off evil spirits, and most importantly, the light would win over darkness and let the sun return to the world for another year.
Winter fruiting mistletoe, holly and the ivy all became associated with Christmas because of the solstice. The oak was the most sacred of all trees and believed to be the first tree created. If the Druids found mistletoe growing on the oak, they would harvest and bless it. The winter fruit of the mistletoe became a symbol of life during the summer months.
The holly and the ivy are synonymous with Christmas today. But in Celtic folklore, the Holly King would battle the Oak King for the right to the goddesses. Of all the goddesses, Holly’s true love was Ivy. The Ivy was seen as the goddess of fertility and the Holly King was often depicted as an old man. Their union was seen as the new light of the sun god encouraging fresh growth for the New Year. We “deck the halls with boughs with holly” as a distant memory of when the branches were hung over doors and windows to keep away evil spirits.
Learn more on our Winter Folklore Walk
To find out more about our past relationships with our woodlands and the folklore of our ancestors, join the LVRP team for a walk in Belvoir Park Forest on the 18th of December. Call 02890 491 922 for more details.
This was only last week....and it's coming back!
Over the Christmas break, spend an hour or three along the Lagan! It’s become tradition in our family to work up an appetite for the feast by going for a long walk along the towpath while the bird cooks. (and really gets the head showered too) When you consider it’s dusk by 3.30pm, you may as well enjoy the outdoors while it’s light, and then get stuck into the food, the fireside and the movies!
And be sure to include some natural greenery in your decorations. Now that I know a bit more about the legends surrounding holly, ivy and mistletoe, it feels even more ‘right’ to keep up traditions stretching back thousands of years. And if you have a big garden or live out in the country, the holly and ivy are free!
Snow scene photos by Stephanie Sim RSPB, and Holly and Ivy from Lagan Valley Regional Park
‘Salmon of Wisdom’ returns to the Lagan...and attracts seals too!
Exotic aquatic photographed on the Lagan
Here we go again with cold, ice and snow!! But there are compensations to the arrival of winter. Not just the return of migrating birds - salmon are also back on the Lagan and following in their wake, seals.
So if you hear strange caterwauling coming from the water like I did recently, no it’s not moorhens squabbling or a duck in peril, but a seal announcing his presence. As you walk along the towpath, watch out for sleek black heads in the water heading upstream after the salmon.
David Scott, Lagan Valley Information Officer explains:
At this time of year the salmon run has begun. The Atlantic salmon is a migratory fish found in the temperate and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. While spending most of their adult life at sea, these fish return to the freshwater rivers where they were born to spawn. In the UK and Ireland this happens during November and December.
The Lagan has a small but growing population of salmon which return to replenish the stocks. The population had been wiped out due to the build-up of pollution in the river, which can be largely attributed to industrial practices. However, in the late 1990s the salmon were reintroduced and have been successful ever since. In 2009 two Laganscape volunteers spotted several pairs spawning at the Ballyskeagh Bridge near Lambeg and there have been sightings of salmon jumping at Eel Weir (upstream from Shaw’s Bridge) and Becky Hogg’s Weir (downstream from Moore’s Bridge in Lisburn).
It is also at this time of year the LVRP office receives an influx of phone calls from walkers wondering if they have seen a seal in the Lagan or are their eyes deceiving them? We have seals that regularly come into the Lagan to feed but their numbers definitely go up when the salmon return. As these impressive fish can grow to 1.5m, they prove too tempting for the seals which are trying to fatten up for the months ahead. This also makes the seals unpopular with the local fishermen (and fisherwomen) as well as some conservationists.
Desperately seeking Salmon of Wisdom...or any salmon!
Both salmon and seal are featured in Celtic folklore. There are many stories about creatures who can transform themselves from seals to humans. The seals would come up onto rocks or beaches and take off their skins, revealing the humans underneath. Once ashore, they were said to dance and sing in the moonlight. Although most mythological sea creatures were considered hostile or even evil, the ‘seal people’ were considered to be gentle beings, perhaps because of seals’ kind-looking eyes.
According to legend, The Salmon of Wisdom or Salmon of Knowledge was originally an ordinary salmon that ate the nine hazel nuts that fell into the Well of Wisdom from nine hazel trees surrounding the well. In doing so, the salmon gained all the knowledge in the world. Moreover, the first person to eat of its flesh would, in turn, gain this knowledge.
The poet Finegas spent seven years fishing for the salmon. When he finally caught it, he instructed his apprentice, Fionn, to prepare it for him. Fionn burned his thumb when spattered with a drop of the hot fat from the cooking salmon and immediately sucked on it to ease the pain. Unbeknownst to Fionn, all the wisdom had been concentrated into that one drop, and he had just absorbed it all.
When he brought the cooked meal to Finegas, his master saw a fire in the boy's eyes that had not been there before. When asked by Finegas, Fionn first denied that he had eaten the fish. But when pressed, Fionn admitted his accidental taste. Throughout the rest of his life, Fionn could access this font of knowledge merely by biting his thumb.
While we cannot guarantee wisdom from eating a salmon (a fishing permit is required and most of the locals throw back their catches), or that you may get to dance with strange beings by moonlight, there is a good chance to see some of our river residents up close and personal.
If you spot any of our watery visitors, download a copy of our wildlife recording cards from www.laganvalley.co.uk and send them in.