Tree Ghosts
Tree Ghosts
A plethora of hills, halls, manors, woods, bridges, towns, villages and surnames are all named in honour of the ash tree. In fact, no tree features more often in English place names than the ash. The Latin name is Fraxinus Excelsior and in some mythologies, this beautiful tree has a sacred status.
The Askr Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree which is central to Norse mythology. It is the tree of life and the Norse gods pray to it daily. Nine worlds exist around it and its branches extend from the heavens down to the worlds existing beneath it. The gods are pictured at the top in Asgard and a rainbow bridge connects the tree with the other worlds whilst the fabled fountain of wisdom is found at the tree’s roots. It is a tree of good luck and healing, of protection both for the gods and for men. In Norse cosmology, there is no more important entity than Yggdrasil. The tree is sacred, but it is mortal, and needs compassion, appreciation and protection.
In some places, the ash tree is also called a Warden Tree. Ash trees used to be common around here and the great hill at the centre of Highclere was originally called 'weard setl'- meaning guard, or protector. They are also considered to be lucky trees. It was lucky to have one by your door and an ash leaf with an even number of 'leaflets' was luckier than a four-leafed clover. Pocket one in the morning and you'll meet your future spouse. If you feel depressed, carry a bunch of ash keys – it had healing properties.
They were also useful -furniture, tennis racquets, even nearly 8,000 De Havilland Mosquito planes, were made or crafted primarily out of English ash.
Some of our ash trees in England achieved 600 to 1000 years of age. Unhindered, an ash tree can become most majestic but they have a lightness of leaf and crown that seems idealised as if they were in a perfect classical landscape painting. They were incredibly resilient and even pollarded or struck by lightning, they were able to recover.
Now, ash trees are dying in their thousands due to ash dieback, a fatal disease caused by a fungus now called Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. It affects trees of all ages, with young trees dying within a year to older trees succumbing over several years. The first signs are mottled lesions followed by ever increasing dieback of shoots, twigs and branches.
Research shows it originated in Asia and then spread across Europe and into the UK. By 2012, it had already wiped out 90% of the entire ash tree population in Denmark. Fungal spores are carried on winds but it is, as usual, man who has swiftly destroyed this species through the global trade of infected ash saplings and wood.
Ash dieback also threatens over 1,000 native wildlife species of lichens, mosses, fungi, birds and plants which rely on this particular tree in some way. In fact, some are entirely dependent on the ash for their survival and thus will become rare or even extinct as a result of the dieback.
Here at Highclere, what began slowly is now a catastrophe and we have had to clear thousands of trees. It is the saddest sight and, at the moment, there is no cure. Ash dieback though is simply part of a bigger problem in that nearly one third of the world's trees are currently sliding towards extinction.
The myths relate that when the Ash tree dies, the whole world dies. Hopefully that won’t come true.
17 Comments
I not like three ghosts of the pictures and did you and lord Carnarvon have a wonderful weekend lam fan of Downton Abbey and hghcelere castle
My Dear, Lady Carnarvon,
You write such Informative, Enlightening, Educational articles about the land to which we all dream about.
Have a great day in your beautiful country, "ENGLAND", and lets not forget, "God Save the KING"!
All the Best,
John Roberts
Tonawanda, N.Y.
USA
you are kind
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Your words moved me deeply. I live in Sardinia, and I truly understand the sorrow you describe. Here too, we are watching our beloved cork oaks suffer — drought, wildfires, and fungal diseases are slowly taking entire forests in regions such as Montiferru and Goceano. It is heartbreaking to walk among those trees and feel the silence where life once thrived.
As you so beautifully expressed, trees are not merely part of the landscape — they are part of who we are, guardians of memory and belonging. When one dies, it feels as though a fragment of our own history disappears with it. Thank you for reminding us to look at trees not as scenery, but as living companions deserving of care and respect, before they too become only ghosts in our memories.
With warm regards,
Matteo
Ash trees were also very popular here in Canada and due to mass planting really shows the effect how this disease cleared complete forests.
Oh dear, Lady Carnarvon, that is dreadful and depressing. Nevertheless, thank you for informing us. I am very saddened about this fungus killing so many trees at Highclere as well.
Here in America we have had similar die offs of Hemlock trees, which are so beautiful, and also the American Chestnut. I do hope that some scientists will come up with something to help eradicate or control this fungus.
Dear Lady Carnavon, hearing this is deeply painful. In my hometown of Innsbruck, we had a wonderful copper beech tree
that became terminally ill as a result of an underground parking garage and had to be felled.
Many people came to express their grief over the tree's death. I can hardly imagine how painful it must be to see the scars left behind by so many trees every day.
So terribly sad. I absolutely love trees, and especially the trees in England every time I visit.
So sad to hear about the demise of your Ash trees
This is so sad and, unfortunately, not an isolated case. In the United States, the American Chestnut was all but wiped out in the early 1900s. The Fraser Fir is in
grave danger of becoming extinct. And, perhaps most distressing, the
California Redwoods (Sequoia) are under a watchlist of becoming extinct.
Lady Carnarvon,
It’s so distressing to see trees dieback like that, especially in large numbers. The hemlocks along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina have been decimated by an invasive insect, the Woolly Adelgid, which apparently came here from Asia. Thank you so much for your time in writing your blog.
My best regards..
Oh my! That is incredibly sad. There must be something we can do to save The Ash Trees? I've also noticed that our Horse Chestnuts are succoming to diesease and are battling for survival.
They need an antidote now! An antidote that targets the tree's individual structure, that can zap the disease/pest, leaving the tree to recover naturally, if it has any strength lest
to do so.
We have something that seems to be killing oak trees here in Georgia, USA. I remember the beautiful elm trees that used to form a canopy over so many of our streets in Illinois too. That was caused by a beetle if I remember correctly
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Until your writing I had not heard of this terrible blight and it heart-wrenching to say the least. It seems there are more and more of these types of events taking place around the globe. I have heard that the beautiful tall cypresses in Italy are dying and here in America there are multiple species being threatened. Thank you for educating us on the specifics on this subject. I am certain it was difficult to write about. Blessings from Atlanta Georgia where many of our gorgeous flowering Dogwood trees are dying as well. Gay Hightower
I so much enjoy your reading your different stories every week. I found the demise of the ash trees profoundly sad and yet another warning about how much our dear planet and all our lives are in peril.
In the US the ash trees are being infested by an Asian beetle, the emerald ash borer. It's killing ashes across the country, including the enormous and beautiful one I had in my backyard. Indeed, let's hope it's not prophecy!
Wow, I didn’t realize how many different species of trees are diseased due to fungi, insects, etc. that man has helped to circulate around the globe.
Dutch elm disease here in the states, hemlock insects recently in Maine, and so many more. Thank you for your informative writings each week on so many
different, fascinating topics, not only relating to Highclere but to all of us.
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What a beautiful story but sad to say mankind has little or no respect sometimes for nature. So sad to hear about the ash trees at Highclere