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The folklore of heaths

Heathland by Mark Robinson

From cleansing to protection, Ion takes a closer look at the folklore of our common heathland plants...

Every time I visit The Devil’s Spittleful five plants are instantly recognisable - heather, gorse, broom, silver birch and Scots pine. All five are characteristic of heathland and it is exciting to know that in years to come these same plants will once again be the dominant feature of Dropping Well Farm. All except Scots pine, that is; those around the Spittleful mound were planted by a previous owner as some sort of landscape feature (though there may be more to it than that but we’ll get to that in a bit).

We often tend to take such familiar plants for granted and not give them a second thought or glance, unless we get poked by spikey gorse, of course. But to our forebears they all played crucial roles within the folklore of their own time. 

Lilac/pink flowers of heather against a blue sky background

I think we all know heather is associated with good luck but with its scientific name Calluna meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘beautify’, it’s not surprising that it was also used to make household brooms.

Yellow flowers of gorse with spiky green leaves by Lydia Rackham

Gorse by Lydia Rackham

I’m now going to make a very presumptuous statement! No-one reading this will have ever seen a witch or a faery on the heath. I feel confident in making this assertion because of gorse and broom. Both were considered to ward off witches and faeries so you can see why I'm so certain in my presumption. 

Yellow flowers of broom covering a large shrub

Despite this, though other lore says that gorse guarded the entrance to the Otherworld, whence lived mysterious creatures, and also that witches dwelt within it, rode on ‘broom’ brooms and used it in their spells! So perhaps you may have seen witches and faeries on the heath after all.  

The woodland pioneer species of silver birch is, quite naturally, a symbol of renewal and rebirth. It also brings good luck and, would you believe it, also wards off evil. 

Silver birch trunks clustered together with golden birch leaves dropping around them and brown bracken at the base
A Scots pine tree - tall trunk with many branches with dark green bunches of needles

Scots pine by Harry Green

The Scots pine doesn’t seem to have much folklore attached to it except that the smell of the cones and needles is supposed to ward off evil. Given the legends attached to the origin of the sandstone mound, could it be that’s why they were planted on the Spittleful rock in the first place? 

You may wonder why these five plants all seem to be linked to protection against evil. The common denominator is the heath itself, an untamed and rugged landscape, considered a dwelling place for the uncivilised and lawless who were engaged in heathen practices and all the dark arts that go with them.

Today, with so much of Worcestershire’s heathlands already lost, we now appreciate what we have left for its uniqueness and the joy we get from the special wildlife it still shelters. And, if we're lucky, our efforts to preserve and increase it will see the return of species that are currently lost.  

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