, anyone not conforming to this was open to a good thrashing by children carrying bunches of stinging nettles. Another variation of the custom was to wear oak leaves in the morning and ash leaves in the afternoon. In Tavistock there used to be a mock battle between two sides who represented the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. Water would be their main source of weaponry and normally the fight would take place in the oak leaf decked streets. It was also custom that anyone could cut oak boughs where ever he fancied provided it was before 6.00am. In some areas Oak Apple Day was known as ‘Garland Day’ and this too happened on the 29th of May. The preparation for this day involved young boys going around the countryside plundering as many birds eggs as they could. The only bird safe from this was the robin as it was on pain of death that such a nest be robbed. Once enough eggs had been collected a frame from two crossed hoops would be made and decorated with flowers, the eggs would then be hung from the frame. On Oak Apple morning the garland would be paraded around to the accompaniment of drums and whistles and a collection would be made. In the afternoon the garland would be placed on a post or rock and the boys would compete to see who could smash the most eggs by throwing stones at them. On the northern edges of Dartmoor it was always believed to bring good luck to cut down an oak tree when the moon was waning and the wind coming from the north.
Some carpenters believed that any oak wood should be joined by a wooden peg as opposed to a nail as this ensured that the joint lasted. When beating the parish bounds it is tradition that if an oak tree was incorporated into the ancient bounds then a gospel had to be read at the tree – hence the name ‘Gospel Oak’. Herrick the poet from Dean Prior once wrote:
“Dearest, bury me,
Under that holy oke, or Gospel Tree,
Where, though thou see’st not, thou mayst,
Me, when you yearly go’st Procession.
If you ever wanted to be assured of a healthy year then the simple answer was to rub your hands with a piece of oak bark on Midsummer’s Night, this had to be carried out in complete silence.
The oak tree has also been linked to the Norse God Thor who amongst other things was the god of thunder. Accordingly, this gave rise to the tradition of acorn shaped knobs being tied to the bottom of window cords. It was thought any house that sported and in many cases still sport such ornaments would be protected from being struck by a thunder bolt. This belief also applied to the tree which is why occasionally you hear that it’s safe to shelter under an oak tree in a storm – personally I wouldn’t recommend it! There is a suggestion that the association with the oak tree and thunder came about because of the loud creaking and cracking sound the tree emits when being felled. In the 1600’s John Aubrey noted; “When an oak tree is felling, before it falls it gives a kind of shreikes or groanes that may be heard a mile off“.
A well known cure for toothache was to hammer a nail into an oak trunk, at the same time as the last blow hit the nail the toothache would disappear.
For obvious reasons acorns were known as ‘cups and saucers’ and these too had many mystic properties. Young girls would permanently carry one on their persons as it was said to preserve their youthful looks. The acorns also had the ability to predict the length of any relationship. Two acorns would be taken and each one named after the boy and girl, these were then placed together in a bowl of water and if they floated towards each other then the romance would end in a wedding. Conversely, if the acorns drifted apart then the signs were not too good and it was unadvisable to go buying a ring.
The subsequent result of a gall fly is a hard, round gall which is known as an ‘Oak Apple’. If ever a spider was found in a gall it was said to portend a coming illness for the finder, a worm would mean a life of poverty. On the brighter side, warts could be cured by the application of a mixture of crushed oak apple and vinegar.
There are two oak tr