THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Sycamore

Lisa Karen Miller

          During World War II, American soldiers arrived in France, carrying thousands of ammunition boxes with them.  Unbeknownst to anyone, the sycamore wood from which the boxes were made was infested with the fungus that causes the tree disease canker stain.  As there is no cure for it, infected trees must be felled and burned to contain the contagion.

          The Canal du Midi – the engineering marvel of the 17^th century, designed by Pierre-Paul Riquet, and one of the oldest canals in Europe still in operation – was lined with double rows of Acer pseudoplatanus, which are known as plane trees in Europe. The fungus was transferred from the boxes to the living trees.

          Thousands of trees are still affected to this day.  As soon as symptoms of the fungus are exhibited, the tree is chopped down and burned.  Thanks to advances in cross-breeding for disease resistance, they are being replaced with a new strain of sycamore that can survive the fungus.           

          The Welsh believed that sycamores kept fairies from spoiling the milk. They often used the leaves as stencils to decorate wooden kitchen floors, and as a decorative motif on bun tins.

          Thieving lot, those fairies.

          Easter “revel buns” were baked on top of sycamore leaves.  Florence White, in her 1932 book Good Things in England, relates “…they must be baked on sycamore leaves…as a child I shouldn’t have thought them right if they had not had the imprint of the leaves under them.”  

The Corstorphine Sycamore on the Forrester estate in Edinburgh, Scotland has a sad tale attached to it. Lord Forrester’s daughter used to meet her unsuitable suitor under this tree. When her father found out, he shot her lover near it. Its leaves instantly turned white, and have remained so. Local lore says the girl haunts the tree. 

          Certain Scottish sycamores have the sinister sobriquet of “Dool (local dialect for grief) Trees.”  Harsh landowners would hang enemies or disobedient tenants from these unfortunate trees.

          In 1834, the Tolpuddle Martyrs – six agricultural laborers from that village in Dorset – were sentenced to transportation for swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Laborers.  Such groups were outlawed by landlords eager to quash any attempt by workers to improve their pay or conditions.

          Before boarding the hulk bound for Australia, George Loveless, their spokesman, took a leaf from the sycamore on the village green as a Bible leaf.

          The sycamore was used in the practice of botanomancy – the practice of conjuring privileged information by means of burning the plant, listening to the crackling, staring into the smoke, and inspecting the ashes for answers.

          Life was much harder before Google, wasn’t it?

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller