My Celtic hawthorn art plus a look at hawthorn meaning, symbolism, stories, folklore and traditions...

Hawthorn, commonly known as whitethorn or may, is one of our most beautiful spring trees in the countryside, where you will often see it in hedgerows festooned with tiny, white, pungently-scented blossoms, during the month of May.

Hawthorn is a native tree to the British Isles and in Irish Brehon law, dating from early Celtic times, the hawthorn was known as a ‘peasant tree’.

Historic pollen records show hawthorn was in Britain at least as early as 6000BC.

The Gaelic name for hawthorn is ‘huath’ – which may also relate to the Anglo-Saxon word ‘haw’ which is believed to mean ‘hedge’.

Hawthorn is now widely used as a hedging plant after the 19th century General Enclosures Act, but in earlier times, the wood was used to make small personal items such as knife handles, combs and trinket boxes.

It’s a tree that grows alongside people and has become a part of our lives and traditions…

In this previous post, I spoke about a renewed interest in our Celtic history and culture, my personal links with this, and how I’ll be introducing Celtic knotwork elements into my nature-inspired artworks.

I also mentioned calligraphy as part of this. Calligraphy is another hobby I followed keenly as a child – right into my 20s I’d create calligraphy and decorated lettering for friends and family, often to celebrate births and marriages.

I’m afraid that in the last 20 years, I’ve rather left that by the wayside as illnesses and adult responsibilities caught up with myself and my household. But now, as with Celtic knotwork, my calligraphy is something that I’m recommitting myself to and learning/re-learning calligraphic skills.
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