Hazel - the poet’s tree

Branch from one of the hazelnut trees in Newington Green

There was a couple of hazel trees in Newington Green, near where I used to live. Small things they were, cropped into bushes underneath a London plain tree. I used to talk to them sometimes, when I needed someone to share problems with. They didn't respond in words, obviously, which was probably a good thing. 

One morning I'd had a particularly big sewage problem in my flat and couldn’t take it any more without having a shoulder (or branch) to cry on. Two months it had been, on and off. I was fed up with never being able to shower or bathe without wading in other people's shit. I’d complained to the landlord, but nothing was done. I explained all this to the hazel trees and asked if, please, if possible, could something be done about it.

That evening came the flood. Ankle-deep in sewage across the whole flat. Horrible!

But it did mean that my landlord’s repairs team actually got it together to sort out the problem. I was sewage-free after that.

Never underestimate a hazel tree.

Hazel was the name of my best friend at primary school. She was very clever and made it to the posh grammar school for intelligent girls. I got sent to the unit for special needs children in the roughest school in the area. I was a very slow developer and daydreamer, I could barely read at the time. I didn't want to be Hazel’s friend after that. I ignored her calls and avoided her in town. Pride, eh? Very foolish of me!

The hazel was the tree of wisdom, according to Irish mythology. In the otherworldly realm, there is a well from which the rivers of Ireland flow. In this well there swims a salmon, and around it are nine sacred hazel trees. The hazelnuts of these trees fall into the water and are eaten by the fish every day, so that the salmon become very wise. The wise salmon are able to swim from the pool to the sea and back. It was believed that if you manage to catch and eat the salmon, then you, too, will become not only wise, but able to tell the future. 

Finnegas, a druid and poet, went in search of this wondrous salmon. He hunted for many years before eventually catching one, and instructed his apprentice, Fionn mac Cumhail (the hero of many an Irish legend), to prepare it for dinner. Whilst cooking the fish, Fionn accidentally burnt his finger, instinctively sucking upon it to relive the pain. In doing so, however, he unwittingly swallowed traces of salmon juice. His poor mentor duly gave in, realising at once that his apprentice, and not he, had now received the fish's wisdom. In time, Fionn became a great warrior and poet.

In Greek mythology, hazels are associated with Hermes, the messenger of the gods and the patron of merchants, thieves and travellers. Hermes wielded the caduceus, a winged staff with two snakes twirling round it, and this was said to be made of hazel wood. 

The ancient Greek physician Dioscorides recommended crushed hazelnuts and honey for stubborn coughs. I have a cough hanging on after a bad cold, so I'm give it a go, hand-grinding the hazelnuts in my pestle and mortar. I'm not sure if I've ground them finely enough, but it does make a nice, sweet snack. We'll see what it does for the cough.

The hazel tree has been regarded as enchanting and wise. It was frequently used for divination and to find water or buried treasure. When my parents first moved to Pembrokeshire and needed to find a well on their land, the locals didn't hesitate to recommend the local diviner; he used a forked hazel branch, and it worked. Hazel is also excellent for making magic wands and walking sticks. In Irish legend, it is sacred to the god of love and eloquence, Oengus.

To enlist the help of faerie folk, simply thread several hazelnuts together on a string and hang in your home. Hazelnut twigs on a windowsill are said to protect against storms. Hazelnut necklaces are thought to bring good luck into the home. Three hazelnuts clumped together are lucky. If you are looking for poetic inspiration and magical insight, chew on a hazelnut to induce a congruent state.

Hazel is a deciduous tree, often growing underneath oak and birch. In managed woodland it is frequently coppiced, which extends its life from eighty years to several hundred. Both male and female flowers grow on the same tree, but hazel flowers must be pollinated by other hazel trees. It is mainly wind-pollinated. Bees find it difficult to carry hazel pollen, as it is sticky and the grains repel each other. The male flower is a yellow catkin that comes out in February before the leaves. The female flower is small and buds with red styles. Once pollinated, the female flowers develop into round fruits that hang in groups. They mature into nuts with a woody shell surrounded by a leafy husk. 

Hazel leaves are hairy, soft to the touch and oval in shape. They are toothed and pointed at the tip. Hazel leaves turn yellow before falling in winter. Many caterpillars live off the hazel tree, and this is particularly good for the hazel dormouse, which eats the caterpillars in the summer months and saves hazelnuts for hibernation in the winter.

In the spring, hazel branches are particularly bendy. Semi-permanent structures can be made by bent hazel poles tied into dome shapes, stuck into the earth and covered with hides or waterproof tarpaulin.

Cobnuts are hazelnuts cultivated for commercial consumption, traditionally grown in Kent. The cobnut is usually bigger than the wild hazelnut. They are sold fresh, not dried like most nuts, and appear in the shops in August and September. They are also known as 'filberts' because the feast day for St. Philbert was held around the time that hazelnuts are ready to be harvested. Various nut festivals once took place around this time, usually characterised by rowdy songs and wild celebrations. So much so, in fact, that “doing the filbert” in some parts of rural England means losing your footing whilst drunk.

My sister brought me some hazelnut liquor for my birthday this year. At the time I found it a bit too sweet for my tastes, but my partner liked it. I went to try it again whilst writing this essay, but discovered the bottle to be empty. The contents had all magically vanished!

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My cough seems a little better now than it was this morning. I also read that hazelnuts taste particularly good with salmon, so I decide to give this a go.

Delicious! And maybe it will make me a little wiser.