It was said in parts that the milk of a Kerry cow produced butter more yellow and creamy than any other and a lady named Mrs O'Hanlon possessed such a cow 🐮💛 When a young lady named Grace appeared and offered to milk the cow she politely declined. And when she called, again...and again, Mrs O'Hanlon said no. But one day she finally relented and very soon after her cow gave her next to no milk. She brought her troubles to a local wise woman who told her that if her cow would give her as much as a pint of milk that she should simmer this in a pot with nine iron pins. Mrs O'Hanlon duly did this and when she did she heard the most unearthly cries and hurried footsteps from someone she could not see "Take off that cruel pot! Take out them cruel pins, for they're pricking holes in my heart, an' I'll never offer to touch milk of yours again." 🧚🏻🥛

Mistletoe is not a plant that we normally associate with Halloween yet the folklore is out there 🎃🌿 In Scotland small sprigs would be cut and tied around the necks of children to protect them against witchcraft and fairies at this time of year and it was especially important to Clan Hay of Errol. It was said by the poet Thomas the Rhymer that a great Oak grew upon their land and on the Eve of each Samhain sprigs would be cut. These would then be carried in a sunward circle three times around the tree and then brought into both homes and battles to act as protective talismans of great power 🌳✨ It was said that when the Oak fell Clan Hay lost the land upon which it grew and, indeed, it was believed in other parts of Britain that felling a mistletoe bearing tree would lead to terrible misfortune.

I love the sky in October. Whether it's real or in my imagination there is a foreboding feeling of slightly dark and dangerous excitement ☁️🌙 The Willow tree on the other hand is calm and serene...and possibly contemplating it's next move when darkness falls. Did you know that they shift around at night and delight in quietly following live walkers? They are often associated with mourning and great sadness but this, historically at least, is not the case in Ireland Here the Willow is a source of protective magic, which, especially at this time of year, can be essential to those with a need to travel at night when the demons, the ghosts of the departed and even fairies are on the move. Carrying a rod of Willow, known as a Sally Stick, will help to ensure that any ghouls or dark creatures that you encounter will be compelled to share their torment elsewhere 🎃🍂

Hazel nuts were an important part of the diet of the ancient Irish and were quite possibly amongst the first things eaten by our ancestors when they arrived on these shores. And like other Autumn foods, such as the apple, they became a special part of Autumn and Samhain celebrations 🌰🎃 Gathered around a fire unmarried folk would give each of the nuts that they had collected the name of a potential lover and cast them into the flames. The first nut to crack, or that which cracked the loudest, would reveal the name of their future love 🔥🍂

I read a post yesterday which suggested that Ireland's once great forests were intact when the English arrived and began to strip them for shipbuilding. I don't know if it was through ignorance or a desire for dramatic effect but it was so off that the account has no business talking about Irish history or her once great forests. Indeed, this once beautiful country was cloaked in woodland to the tune of at least 80% but that fantastic figure had already been reduced to around 15% when the English arrived and finished the job. So yes past generations of English did terrible things here and finished off our forests for the Royal Navy, but the fact is that the job was already well underway and we cannot blame past generations for our failure to invest in the future of our children and our woodlands.

I was delighted to find my first ever Arbutus "the strawberry tree" even if it was in a Sainsbury's car park 🍓 🌳 It is an evergreen tree that blooms just now, between October and December when the bees need it most whilst interestingly also producing it's ripe, sticky sweet (if a little grainy) fruit at this time of year 🐝 The tree is a bit of an enigma as it has native wild populations in Ireland but none in Great Britain. There are a number of theories regarding how this fascinating tree managed to leap frog Britain and come to Ireland but the most likely seems to be that over 4,000 years ago Copper Age miners from the Iberian Peninsula brought it with them as a source of charcoal. And in fact the oldest remains of the tree were to be found as charcoal in a mine in County Kerry. Whilst whether or not the Strawberry Tree can still be considered a true Irish native is open to debate it remains a beautiful, beneficial and, importantly, ancient addition to our woodland flora 🍓

The Gorse (also known widely as Whin or Furze) is not lighting up the meadows in this part of Ireland just now as it does at other times of the year but it continues to work in other ways providing a dense prickly home for small birds and mammals, protein rich greenery for grazers and a little touch of magic as we approach Halloween 🎃 🕯️ It has deep associations with fairies in both Britain and Ireland and in one tale a farmer had an encounter with the gorse fairies as he searched for his favourite white cow. Each day his cow would wander to the end of the field where the gorse grew and each day she would disappear. Frustrated, one day the farmer went to strike her with a stick but a whisper on the wind warned him to keep his hands and stick to himself. He heeded the warning and from that moment on not only did his cow give the best milk in Ireland but the following Samhain he found that the exact sum of money that he had been owed by a neighbour who had fled to New York without paying him appeared on his kitchen table 💰 🪄

Have you ever considered diversifying your income as a cattle rustler? If so the Hawthorn tree may be of assistance 🍂 In old Ireland it was thought that a branch of Hawthorn would assist a cattle thief in his work as the tree's deep ties to the fairy realm imbue it with magic so strong that even when a branch is picked up from the ground or cut from the tree that it retains enough power to make the animals docile and unable resist following the thief . This belief was so strong that suspicion would fall upon anyone seen carrying a stick of Hawthorn and they would automatically be deemed to be up to no good 🐄 🪄

What do we know about the mortality of fairies? William Blake described how he had once seen a fairy funeral...the tiny body carried upon a rose leaf 🌹 But here in Ireland, as William Butler Yeats wrote "we say they are immortal" And surely the Fairy Folk must value our native Dog Rose above all others? For, aside from their simple beauty, the rich red Rosehips provide food for birds, both year long residents and winter visitors, as well as a nutrient rich meal for small mammals such as mice scurrying around the Autumn leaf litter 🍂

They can turn over the incidents of a long life as they sit by the fire...with us nothing has time to gather meaning and too many things are occuring for even a big heart to hold" 🔥 W.B. Yeats

Many of our native trees are at their most radiant at this time of year leading to some playing integral roles in our Autumn festivities. Apples have always been a central part of Celtic myth and Autumn fun but when it comes to "bobbing for apples" it seems likely that this particular aspect of Halloween tradition may well have been a gift from the Romans 🎃🍂 As centuries wore on Roman celebrations blended with Samhain and a popular Roman game involved young people vying to be the first to bite into an apple floating in a bowl or pot of water. Some even believe that the tradition was in honour of Pomona the Goddess of Fruit and Trees and that the first participant to bite into an apple would soon meet "the apple of their eye" 🍏 ♥️

During this time of darkening nights evergreen holly was believed to offer protection, not only against witches and wandering spirits, but against lightning itself 🧙🏻🌙 In Ireland it was believed that planting Holly close to the home would protect it and surrounding buildings from lightning strikes. And in Scandinavia it was also long observed that Holly seemed to go untouched by lightning, leading to the belief that it stood under the protection of Thor himself ⚡ And while I personally do not dismiss the idea of divine guardianship, it is thought by some that Holly’s spiky leaves act as tiny conductors, helping to channel electrical energy safely from the air down into the earth. However, it is maybe more likely that the simple answer is that other taller trees with a higher water content such as the Oak are just simply more attractive to earthbound lightning. One way or the other the Holly was accredited to keeping lightning strikes far away along with the devastating fires that came with them. 🌲🔥 However, with no wish to discredit centuries of folklore, this huge and beautiful Holly on my Uncle's Co.Down farm was once reduced to a stump when it was struck by lightning and the tree's present condition is a credit to the resilient nature of its species. Who knows...maybe Thor gave it his blessing 🙏🏻 ⛈️

The Spindle tree seems too beautiful at the minute to be real 🩷 Just now their leaves are turning a beautiful red and they are bedecked in marvelous pink seed cases from which are popping forth bright orange arils that contain the seeds. And it was this beautiful Autumn dress that led to the tree being known as Burning Bush and Robin's Bread 🍞 🔥 However, the toxic berries (the whole tree is poisonous) were also known in Ireland and Britain "louse berries" and these were once powdered to treat parasites on both humans and livestock.

The beautiful cone-like female flowers of Ireland's only native Alder (Albums glutinosa). As these seeds develop they will provide a welcome snack for hungry birds, such as the goldfinch and siskin, whilst others will embark on an adventure along one of our rivers before finding their forever home on a muddy river banks 💚🪶 On the darker side (and rest assured there's always a darker side), for the ancient Celts, the Alder was, amongst other things, associated with death and war. Ancient Celts kept the severed heads of their enemies believing that the head was home to the soul and it was written by the Roman poet Marcus Lucanus that each and every tree in sacred groves of Alder, Oak and Cypress in southern France would be drenched in blood and "hideous offerings" 🩸💀🩸

The sight of one of Ireland's native Oak saplings was once a welcome relief for a lone traveller 🌱 These little trees will grow to be great and ancient cornerstones of biodiversity supporting countless species of insects, some entirely reliant on the Oak tree, that live amongst their branches and even sometimes sheltered within their bark and wood. The larvae of the Goat Moth will burrow quite deep into and old Oak and safely stay there and feed for a number of years 🦋 But before they reach this magnificent stage a person beset by evil fairies, demons or other supernatural entities could find safety by marking a circle around the little tree and encasing themself within the protective energy of the Oak 🌳🪄 Then, doing their best to ignore the frustrated howls of the spirits, they would wait until morning and the safety of the rising sun 👻🍂

Every Samhain three fairy women would emerge from caves that led to the Otherworld in the form of great wolves to wreak havoc upon the Irish countryside 🐺 🪄 These were the werewolf sisters of Cruachan and they delighted in their night of freedom and destruction during which they would test livestock and even people to pieces. But one year when they excitedly entered the mortal world they were met by the harpist Cas Corach who played music so sweet that they returned to their true form as maidens of the Otherworld 🪉 As the together in stunned silence they were all as one speared in one thrust by the warrior Caílte who, for his troubles, was rewarded with a chalice that would fill itself with whatever drink the bearer desired 🍷

Ireland's native Rowan trees are at the peak of their beauty bedecked in countless red berries awaiting the arrival of flock upon flock of migrating birds who will strip the trees on days as they seek to refuel 🪶🍒 But this is just one of many of the Rowan trees gifts to wildlife and, indeed, ourselves. For the arrival of the great flocks of birds coincides with the darkening of days and the thinning of the veil between world and The Other 🌙 Not only does the red of the Rowans berries deter all forms of evil magic but they also stop a vampire in its tracks. For as Sesame Street taught us as children a Vampire stalking our homes at night is compelled to count 🦇 Confronted by a Rowan planted outside a home the creature of the night finds itself rooted to the spot counting the thousands and thousands of berries until, finally, the rising sun forces them to retreat keeping us safe and the blood untouched within our veins ⚰️

Mine too 🍂

Mythical Beasts of Ireland by Neil Parkinson 👹 Who, or what, is missing?