Elm Trees
Elm Trees are often described as a beautiful and majestic tree and it has its fair share of mythology and folklore linked to it as well.
Greek mythology tells the tale of Orpheus, who rescued his wife, Eurydice from the clutches of the underworld by enchanting all that lived there with the sound of his harp. He paused to play her a love song and it was on this spot that the first Elm grove sprang up. Celtic mythology also mentions elm trees and their link with the 'underworld'. Elves are said to have a special affinity with the elm tree as apparently it is this tree that guards the burial mounds of their dead as well as the passage into the underworld.
It is possible for elm trees to grow to be among the largest of britains native trees and each type of elm has its own specific folklore and customs attached to it. This is seen with the Tenor, Bass and Alto elms in Humberside or so the so called 'dancing elms' in Devon which feature heavily in May Day dances. Unfortunately, these trees have now succumbed to Dutch elm disease.
Elm trees were widely used in hedgerows and for marking boundaries and traveling preachers and judges would often use them as their 'stage' under which important speeches and announcements were made.
The wood of the elm tree is very pliable and it can be easily contorted. The fact that it distorted so easily made it unsuitable as a building material and it does not make very good fuel either. It does however, withstand the effects of water very well and so was popular to built boats from, bridge foundations and cartwheels. In the same way as Scots Pine, Elm branches were used to make water pipes by hollowing them out, long before metal ones were invented. Long ago, medieval welsh archers used to make their bows out of the elm tree (English archers preferred Yew).
