Trees of the Shith: exploring tree lore in ancient Scotland in book format

Earthly Otherworld: a new project

 

A deconstructive process

In this project I wanted to delve into the lore of trees in Scotland. Unsurprisingly, this is a deep well of richness. I liked the idea of using a book format to present this idea visually as it’s a very physical way to explore layers of meaning – the pages providing that very literal (and literary) discovery.
 
The result of my efforts is this little book - a deconstructed volume titled Muirhead’s Scotland unearthed from a forgotten cupboard. 

 

Papermaking and trees

 

I reconstructed the book with handmade paper made from pulp. The first set of paper I made using a little mould and deckle and bits of reclaimed paper lying around. I made the paper during a heatwave, so it dried very quickly and smooth. To the second batch of paper I decided to add plant material so I collected some nettles from my local park (wearing thick gloves!) and dried them along with some wilting white roses I had received as a birthday gift. For me these each have a symbol or meaning – which is often the case in traditional story telling which Lizanne Henderson explains in Scottish Fairy Belief:

 

'Such knowledge can only be communicated if the audience is aware of the figurative language employed. For example, the usage of green, or particular plants and trees, the combing of hair or the plucking of fruits, is only significant if the connotative meaning is understood as well as the denotative meaning.’
 

In my pulp mix the white rose stands for Scotland the nation while the nettles represent immigration and desolation. 

Ivy is associated with the Ogham character gort

I illustrated each handmade page with a native tree in walnut ink, in a kind of notan style with a small bamboo brush along with its Gaelic name and associated Ogham symbol. This is my homage to the great Caledonian Forest which covered vast swathes of Scotland in ancient times. Sadly the great forest of Caledon is now reduced to a few pockets of native forest in the Highlands. It is said that the druids revered the trees and each one had a particular potency and purpose. One can still see this in some of the lore around trees today. I am reminded of the slender rowan outside my grandparents’ house. My grandmother – a Scottish traveller – would tell you that the rowan protected her house from evil spirits and dark energy.

Ogham is an ancient form of writing the early Irish language, and its presence in Scotland is evident by the 34 confirmed Ogham inscribed stones which can found widely across the entire country. What I love about the Ogham alphabet is that each character is assigned to a native tree, or in some cases a plant, like ivy.

The chieftain of the trees in Scotland is undoubtedly the Scots Pine and much lore surrounds this hardy pine, which is why it’s the first tree in the book and it features on the front cover.

Scots pine - known as giubhas in Gaelic

‘King of the forest, wildman of the woods, tree of heroes, chieftains and warriors: the spirit of the ancient Caledonian pinewoods that once covered much of Scotland remains powerful. All evergreens were symbols of life and immortality, the origin of our customs of decorating the house at midwinter with greenery and the reason Scots pine was planted on warrior graves. Pinecones were a masculine fertility symbol, often representing male genitals in legends and art. In Orkney, it was traditional to ‘sain’ (purify) mothers and new-born babies by whirling a flaming pine candle three times around the bed.’

 - Tess Darwin, The Scots Herbal

 

Native pines and their Gaelic names  

My other Ogham trees include birch, rowan, oak and willow. Incidentally, there are only three species of pine tree native to Scotland (and the rest of Great Britain). These are juniper, Scots pine and yew. I was surprised to find this out, but also delighted – it reminds me of the ‘holy trinity’ which I believe is a Christianised idea of the ancient Celtic belief in the magic of the number three. As such, these three holy trees I placed at the centre of the book.

 

 Poetry and nettles

 Interspersed within the pages are Sorely MacLean’s poem Hallaig in Gaelic, which explores the theme of immigration and the Highland Clearances and frequently personifies trees like rowan and birch. The English translation can be found here, but a wonderful way to experience the poem is by listening to Martyn Bennett's musical track, also called Hallaig which features the poet reading the poem in English and Gaelic. It's deliciously haunting and captures the mood of the poem so well.

 Hallaig by Sorely MacLean

As mentioned above, nettles are a symbol of eviction, desolation and the immigration that follows, particularly in Ireland as the poor and starving were often reduced to eating nettles during the Great Irish Famine which saw a rapid depopulation in Ireland. It's said the poor souls saw their skin turn green from the chlorophyll in the leaves. Depopulation is also major theme in the history of the Scottish Highlands, as there was tragically a Highland famine too and of course the much-lamented Highland Clearances.

I downloaded some Celtic fonts to use in Microsoft Word. I think the one I ended up using is called ‘Meath’ and I printed the poem on to four pages of tracing paper so the layers of ordinance survey maps could be visible underneath. I used two layers of maps (of the Highlands of course) and each map had a cut out of an image of a nettle plant – creating another see-through element. Ordnance survey maps use a lovely set of contour lines to describe the height and steepness of mountains and hills in a reddish umber – this is why I chose to bind the pages together using red thread.

Nettles on the spine

It appears that nettles favour nitrogenous soil which is apparently why they grow especially abundant around the door of abandoned croft houses as before sanitation and drainage this was where the slops were thrown out.  

Nothing sums up the sadness of the depopulation of the Highlands more to me than this lovely Gaelic song, collected from Fanny MacIsaac, a native of Skye. She sings nostalgically of her youth on the island and of a house now abandoned and desolate and covered in nettles.
 
Having said all that, nettles are a remarkably useful and nutritious plant; its medicinal uses include healing nose bleeds and bleeding stomachs as well as pain relief for headaches and rheumatism. It can be brewed into tea and beer or cooked as a delicious soup. Its fibres can be used to make linen and it makes for a lovely green dye. 

 

One of the most common folk tales associated with nettles in Northern Europe is the Twelve Swans. The hero of the tale - a young princess - must make 12 shirts out of nettles to break an enchantment. Here is the Scottish rendition told by master storyteller and traveller Duncan Williamson.
 

 

Land of the fairy

 

Fairy guardian of the forest

The title Trees of the Shìth is my nod to Scottish folk and fairy belief. For a long time, people believed in fairies in Scotland - often referred to as the guid people or the good neighbours as a way of placating these supernatural beings for they could cause great mischief if you cross them or do them wrong. There are many ballads, tales and legends which mention the fairy folk and there are physical references to them throughout Scotland in the form of wells, mounds, glens, rivers, mountains, stones, and dells as well as  portable objects. There are many conflicting accounts about what they are, where they come from or why they are here. some say they are descended from the Tuatha Dé Danann - a supernatural race who represent the Celtic gods of old. Some say they are the original Pictish inhabitants of Scotland. 

Whatever they are it is generally agreed that they are ephemeral beings, not always visible or tangible to humans.

'Kirk opined that fairies were a distinct order of created beings, possessing intelligence, and having 'light changeable bodies' that could be 'best seen in twilight', though usually only by 'seers of men of the second sight'. 

- Henderson & Cowan Scottish Fairy Belief 

Personally, I  like the theory that fairies were guardians of nature and the trees. The second page has an illustration of a fairy guarding the book and its sacred native trees.

I enjoy the deconstruction and reconstruction process - which might also be called reusing and recycling - it's incredibly satisfying. The format of the book allows me to explore subject matter in a variety of ways and add depth with the physical layers of the pages. It is also a very physical experience for people to encounter my work, they can literally pick up the book and turn the pages and feel the textures, adding more meaning to the stories and ideas I want to convey. There is so much more potential to explore with this medium - watch this space...

Title page with my added illustrations 

Here are some of the fantastic books and websites which helped me in my quest for (almost) lost knowledge:

The Scots Herbal: The Plant Lore of Scotland by Tess Darwin

Healing Threads: Traditional Medicines of the Highlands and Islands by Mary Beith

Flora Celtica: Plants and People in Scotland by William Milliken & Sam Bridgewater

Scottish Fairy Belief by Lizanne Henderson and Edward J. Cowan

Thirty-two Words for Field: Lost words of the Irish Landscape by Manchan Magan

The Ogham tree alphabet curtesy of Wicklow Mountains National Park

The wonderful Tobar and Dualchais website

Nettle and rose paper