Scottish Gaelic Tree Alphabet Series - Single #7 of 13.

Please note: This is track #10 on the new album THE WOODS - the full 21 track album will be released on 20th March (the Spring Equinox) and is available now for pre-order.

A pair of tunes for a brace of thorns. In the Scottish Gaelic alphabet 'H' represents Hawthorn and 'P' can represent Blackthorn.

UATH [Oo-uh], Hawthorn, craobh-sgìtheach, droigheann-geal, whitethorn, May tree, haw, scrog, Crataegus monogyna.

PREAS-ÀIRNEAG [Press arnack], Blackthorn, droigheann-dubh, sgìtheach-dubh, sloe bush, wild plum tree, Prunus spinosa.

Hawthorn and blackthorn both have creamy-coloured flowers in spring. Blackthorn arrives first in March, blossoming before its leaves appear. Hawthorn blossoms after coming into leaf. Blackthorn leaves are oval with a toothed edge, while hawthorn‘s leaves are lobed. Both trees support hundreds of insect species and attract many kinds of birds. The River Spey’s name is thought by some to derive from the ancient Brythonic word for Hawthorn, Yspyddad. The first tune is a slow air which I captured whilst improvising as I sat underneath the big arch of the Old Spey Bridge one day in May a few years back. Apt since hawthorn is also the May Tree.

The three subsequent tunes (for blackthorn, alder and aspen) were all born out of the slow air. Strangely, all of these trees were, in various times and cultures, thought to stand on the threshold to the underworld. Hawthorn was often planted near burial grounds, stone circles and wells. The flowers are associated with death. The chemical trimethylamine in the blossoms smell rather like decaying animal tissue. It is the Tree of the Faeries. 13th century Scots poet Thomas the Rhymer was drawn to a hawthorn by a cuckoo’s call, whereby the Faery Queen appeared and led him into the underworld for a short time. When he re-emerged into the mortal world he had been gone for seven years.

Blackthorn branches have many long, cruel spikes. A Gaelic proverb says “às an dris, anns an droighean” [out of the bramble into the blackthorn], like ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’. Blackthorn is the spookiest and witches were said to make their wands and staffs from it. While hawthorn represented the maiden and the light side of the year, the blackthorn was the hag and dark side. Wintery March weather is called a Blackthorn Winter. The deep blue berries are used to make a fragrant wine and sloe gin - every thorn has its rose!