A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of salt, but with more than a
grain of truth!

The shops are full of cards, chocolates and flowers, but when the post drops on to the mat on St Valentine's Day there will be nothing for me. The men in my life don't have a romantic bone in
their bodies, and you can't make a New Man out of an old one, so I gave up trying long ago! However, I do have a secret life long love affair, which offers me romance with a capital R. The
other 'party' takes my breath away, gives me life in return, warmth, shelter, food and cheer. Increasingly this other 'party' is under threat. If I told anyone I would probably be called a tree hugger, so Shhh!! not a word. This life long love affair with trees started when I was very young. Talking to trees is often regarded as silly, but if we listen to them we might learn something, more of which later.

From very early childhood I was introduced to trees as something to be respected, revered even. My father was a cabinet maker, among other things, and I could always find a garage full of wood
shavings, and pieces of wood in all shapes and sizes, and in various stages of 'undress'. From then on I loved wood for its beauty and usefulness, but I have never forgotten the trees that
provide this bounty. The colours, grains, textures and perfumes are unique. There is something sensuous, comforting and warm in the feel of turned or carved wood. Try sitting on an FSC¹ pine toilet seat in winter and you will see what I mean! But we must take care or all that will be gone.

As a seven year old I watched a telegraph pole being winched into position, and was amazed that this huge tall thing was once a tree trunk. At the same age I wept when a woodland was destroyed to make way for a car park, destroying with it snowdrops, bluebells, violets and untold wildlife - forever. William Blake wrote in 1799:

The tree which moves some to tears of joy, is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.

In recent years I have come to hate the sound of a chainsaw. I know that sometimes they are warranted, but each time I encounter them I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. A lifetime
of growing curtailed in seconds. I am not sure why the sound of an axe does not have quite the same effect. Somehow the fact that someone has to sweat and toil to fell a tree, gives it a little
dignity. It also means they not felled in swathes, but a few at a time, and perhaps selected for the best wood, instead of massacred. You might note that I do not refer to 'timber' as I feel this reduces wood to a commodity and makes us forget that it was once a tree.

Two of my homes (occupied for most of my life) have had a towering Oak Tree standing guard over them. The present one is at least a hundred years old, and is welcomed as the most beneficial tree for birds and wildlife. Insects abound, holes provide homes for Woodpeckers and the like. McWebbie's Wildlife Diner would be the poorer without it that's for sure. Oak is a beautiful hard wood used for ships, windows and doors in Tudor houses, and for all manner of furniture. It was always regarded as a symbol of strength and courage, hence the sea shanty 'Hearts of oak are our ships. Hearts of oak are our men'.

Trees are living things. They show distress; sending numerous shoots out from the trunk, yet flourish, often for hundreds of years if left in peace. They are a good indication of when something is wrong in the environment. In addition to all the fascinating practical uses to which wood and bark can be put, there is much folklore, and many myths and legends associated with trees, which show how past generations have respected, worshipped and understood trees.

We have to feel the heartbeats of the trees,

because trees are living beings like us.

- Sunderlal Bahuguna

Going back to St Valentine's Day, the connection with trees is everywhere if you look. How many old trees have hearts, arrows and initials carved in them? There is one somewhere by a very famous couple I believe. In Wales wooden love spoons are carved as gifts to be given on Valentine's Day. Hearts, keys and keyholes are carved on the spoons, the decorations believed to mean, 'You unlock my heart!' Oak leaves were said to represent strength and a growing love within a relationship.

The Acorn is said to help couples decide if they will marry! Useful if you are not sure whether this is the 'right one!' Drop two Acorns into a bowl of water. If the Acorns float together then the couple will marry, but if the Acorns drift apart they will not. Perhaps not best tried after marriage! The tale I like best is an ancient Pagan belief that is said to be connected with the Druids, which tells that carrying an Acorn at all times will ensure that you are prevented from growing old. This was said to be most successful for women. I'm off down the garden right now!!

What helps to make a beautiful, romantic evening? The card (trees again), flowers, food, wine, soft lights and of course, sweet music. If you like certain kinds of music the 'Music Tree' might
serenade you. You didn't know that? Neither did I till a few years ago. Listen to a clarinet or flute, oboe, piccolo, or even bagpipes (not everyone's choice, I know!) and the sounds are
brought to you in part by courtesy of the Mpingo Tree. This is the African Blackwood, known as the Music Tree, or Ebony to us. The black ebony heart of the Mpingo tree is prized for its ability
to cope with changes in humidity and temperature essential when using wind instruments. The musicians' breath causes moisture, which damages other woods, and professionals consider no
other material comparable to Ebony. Ebony machines and carves beautifully, for all the intricate holes etc. needed to get the notes.

It polishes up glossy black, smooth and sensuous, and the notes are dulcet toned and mellow. Many beautiful carvings and trinkets are made too. I have a dressing table set, which I inherited,
and the glossy black wood is as beautiful now as it was a hundred years ago when it was made.

Our sons gave us a Silver Birch tree for our 30th wedding anniversary, partly because it is the second most beneficial tree for birds, and partly for personal reasons I won't go into now. A bit late for us, but the Silver Birch also has strong fertility connections celebrated on May Day! It is the first tree to come in to leaf and was used as a Maypole, representing the arrival of spring. The many deities connected with the Birch are mostly love and fertility goddesses. Culpepper, the medieval herbalist, suggested that the Birch is ruled over by Venus, both Goddess and
Planet.

If you are rushing home for this Valentine's Day to be with your loved one, spare a thought for your car tyres that owe much to the Rubber Tree. The 'clickety-clack, clickety-clack' of the train
will remind you that it runs on tracks still supported by huge sleepers - great beams of Jarrah wood from Australia. If you are 'sailing' home, ponder that many ships are still made in part with
Teak. For example, in my hand I have a small barrel, about two inches tall, and two inches in diameter. It is made of Teak from the ship HMS Terrible, whose guns relieved the Siege of Ladysmith in South Africa. I knew nothing about it as the previous owner of the little barrel, a very old lady, had died. Some digging around on the World Wide Web revealed its' history.

HMS Terrible was a cruiser in the Boer War (1899-1902). Her crew included 300 men of the second battalion of Royal Welsh Fusiliers and 40 Royal Engineers. Many young men away from their loved ones, as some of ours are now. Apart from involvement in the relief of the Siege of Ladysmith, she was involved in the Boxer Rebellion in China, was used as a troop ship in 1915 and as an accommodation ship until 1920. The ship, like many others, was taken out of service and broken up for sale in 1932. The wood and metal salvage from such ships was often made in to boxes and other souvenirs, as was my barrel. No doubt many of those sailors and soldiers had
sweethearts back home. I wonder how many brought Valentine's Day gifts of teak trinkets from HMS Terrible at some time? Did a sailor sweetheart bring my barrel home to this old lady in her
youth, or did it belong to her father?

I also have a wooden peg from an oak beam, which was being replaced, in a previously untouched Tudor barn. The initials of the carpenter and the date were on the beam, and I hold in
my hand a piece of oak carved in 1554, untouched by human hand since it was made by that man so long ago. With both Teak barrel and Oak peg, history has come alive.

So, trees do tell us of the past. Here is a story about which I knew nothing, told to me through a barrel made of Teak, and a peg made of Oak both of which have survived for all those years.

There are so many fascinating uses for wood; surely we should conserve the source. So many romantic stories are attached to trees, many of them based on truth, belief, tradition and respect,
and mostly unknown to modern generations. Can we really afford to continue destroying our natural heritage at the present rate? Or should we take care of it for generations to come? What stories will trees tell people in the future? Stories of flood, famine and destruction, or of generations who protected trees and used wood wisely?

Traditionally, babies' cradles were made from Birch wood, unlike the bottom drawer of the Oak chest that I occupied! So if I can overcome my environmental principles (I should really have a
cardboard coffin!) perhaps a nice Pine one would complete the picture. After all, In the Highlands of Scotland it was believed that pine trees were used to mark burial places of warriors, heroes and chieftains. I could live with that!! So, from the cradle to the grave the trees have nurtured me, and I hope I shall have returned the favour, helping to protect the trees that are my own special Valentines.

Though 'touch wood'² I shall not be needing that pine coffin just yet.

Websailors Wacky Wildlife World Archive

Websailor

09.02.06 Front Page

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