Traditional Uses and Lore
"As with the elm hub of a cart wheel, or the elm keel of a wooden ship, it is the elm seat that holds together the chair. Elm always seems to be the axis of things. When bells ring out from the church tower, they swing on massive timber stocks of elm.”
Roger Deakin, 2007
Lore and traditions
The wych elm is a common tree in many parts of Scotland. John Lightfoot wrote in 1777: 'I observ'd it growing wild in woods as far North as Ross-shire and Sutherland.' Given the abundance and utility of elm it is surprising that it does not appear to feature much in Gaelic lore.
In the Gaelic alphabet the first letter is represented by elm. The Gaelic name for elm leamhan may also refer to the lime tree, and the earlier Gaelic name ailm to the pine. Another, far less common, Gaelic word for elm is tuilm, but this is also given to some oak trees, in particular the holm oak.
It is mentioned in the Carmina Gadelica: Tagh seilach nan allt, tagh calltain nan creag, tagh fearna nan lňn, tagh beithe nan eas, tagh uinnseann na dubhair, tagh iubhar na leuma, tagh leamhan a bruthaich, tagh duire na grčine. – Choose willow of the burn, choose hazel of the rock, choose alder of the bog, choose birch of the waterfall, choose ash of the shade, choose yew of the resilience, chose elm of the braes, choose oak of the sun. Given that alder, willow and elm do not make good firewood, this cannot be a memory-rhyme for gathering logs for the hearth. It has been suggested that it relates to a Highland tradition of nine sacred woods that kindled the druidical fires at Beltane and Hallowe’en.
In wider Celtic lore, the elm is featured in the Cad Goddeu (Battle of the Trees), a 6th century Welsh poem attributed to the bard Taliesin, where it is depicted as steadfast and unyielding in battle. A number of Welsh poems of this period are believed to have had a strong Pictish influence, if not origin, resulting from a migration into Wales of Pictish tribes displaced by both Anglian (in the south east) and Gaelic (in the west) settlers.
The magical properties of wych elm are suggested by the preference of magicians for wands made of its wood.
The qualities and uses of elm
Elm wood is renowned for its great strength and resistance to splitting. This is due to the interweaving of the wood fibres to create what is called a cross-grained timber. Elm is also known for its resistance to rotting when in constant contact with water and for good elasticity. These qualities mean that elm has been preferentially selected for certain uses since prehistoric times.
The earliest known elm artefacts are archers’ bows of Mesolithic age. In early Scandinavian literature the name of the elm, almr, was used to represent a bow, whilst in Britain the medieval Welsh archers used elm bows. A more general link with early weaponry is suggested by name of a prehistoric French Celtic tribe known as the Lemovices which translates as elm warriors.
Another early use is the hub of wooden spoked wheels. The ability to resist splitting under great stress made elm more suitable than other woods. The strength of the hub is so critical that wheelwrights would have sourced elm from particular regions renowned for good wood.
Good resilience made elm boards popular for carts, wheelbarrows, floorboards, stair treads and the seats of chairs. Elm blocks were used for pulleys, bell headstocks and gunstocks.
Resistance to rotting when in contact with water led to elm being used in water wheels, flumes, groynes, piles, boat planking and water mains. Elm water mains were used extensively in Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and elm pipes have been excavated in Edinburgh.
An obscure use of elm is the production of fire by drilling. This method of fire lighting is widespread in traditional cultures. The toughness of elm makes it a good drill. The Ainu people of Japan call elm chikisani, a name derived from the word chickisa, which means fire drilling. Whether elm was preferentially selected for this use in Scotland is uncertain.
Etymology
The origin of the name wych elm is thought to lie in the combining of two separate names for elm. Wych has an eastern European origin, whilst elm has a western European origin. It has been suggested that wych is derived from the Anglo-Saxon wice, meaning flexible.
Wych has nothing to do with witches. The rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) is called wicken in the north of England and the same name is used for elm in parts of the East Midlands. As rowan is thought to keep evil spirits away it is possible that links between elm and witches result from confusion of names.
