The Magic of Coin-Trees from Religion to Recreation

311 Pages·2018·7.07 MB·English

by  Ceri Houlbrook

Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic
The Magic
of Coin-Trees
from Religion
to Recreation
The Roots of a Ritual
Ceri Houlbrook
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic
Series Editors
Jonathan Barry
Department of History
University of Exeter
Exeter, UK
Willem de Blécourt
Meertens Institute
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Owen Davies
School of Humanities
University of Hertfordshire
UK
The history of European witchcraft and magic continues to fascinate and
challenge students and scholars. There is certainly no shortage of books
on the subject. Several general surveys of the witch trials and numerous
regional and micro studies have been published for an English-speaking
readership. While the quality of publications on witchcraft has been high,
some regions and topics have received less attention over the years. The
aim of this series is to help illuminate these lesser known or little studied
aspects of the history of witchcraft and magic. It will also encourage the
development of a broader corpus of work in other related areas of magic
and the supernatural, such as angels, devils, spirits, ghosts, folk healing
and divination. To help further our understanding and interest in this
wider history of beliefs and practices, the series will include research that
looks beyond the usual focus on Western Europe and that also explores
their relevance and influence from the medieval to the modern period.
‘A valuable series.’—Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14693
Ceri Houlbrook
The Magic of
Coin-Trees from
Religion to Recreation
The Roots of a Ritual
Ceri Houlbrook
University of Hertfordshire
Hatfield, UK
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic
ISBN 978-3-319-75516-8 ISBN 978-3-319-75517-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75517-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018934675
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
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maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: The coin-tree on Ardmaddy Estate, Argyll
Photograph: © Ceri Houlbrook
Printed on acid-free paper
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A
cknowledgements
First and foremost, thanks go to my colleagues at the University of
Hertfordshire, particularly Owen Davies for his endless encouragement
and enthusiasm, for his deep ocean of knowledge, and for drawing me
into the realm of History.
Heartfelt thanks also go to my Ph.D. supervisory team at the
University of Manchester. Tim Insoll, for his staunch support right from
the beginning and for inspiring me to research the archaeology of ritual
in the first place; Petra Tjitske Kalshoven, for warmly and patiently wel-
coming a fledgling into Anthropology; and to Mel Giles, for her kind-
ness, infectious enthusiasm and eagerness to share her wealth of ideas.
Last but by no means least, I want to express my gratitude to all my
hardy loved ones who braved the British and Irish weather to count cop-
per wishes with me. This book is dedicated to you.
v
c
ontents
1 Introduction: Coining the Coin-Tree 1
2 Roots of a Ritual 25
3 The Democratisation of the Landscape 71
4 Contemporary Engagement 107
5 The Mutability of Meaning 153
6 Manipulating Meaning 179
7 Green Monuments and Their Heritage 205
8 Concluding Thoughts 241
Appendix A 255
Appendix B 257
Index 305
vii
l f
ist of igures
Fig. 1.1 The Bolton Abbey coin-tree, Yorkshire, England
(Photograph by author) 2
Fig. 1.2 The distribution of coin-trees across Britain and Ireland 6
Fig. 2.1 The Isle Maree coin-tree, Wester Ross, Scotland
(Photograph by author) 31
Fig. 3.1 The Ingleton coin-tree, Yorkshire, England
(Photograph by author) 74
Fig. 3.2 The distribution of coin-trees across Britain
based on their age 76
Fig. 3.3 Most coin-trees are beside well-traversed footpaths
(Photographs by author) 81
Fig. 4.1 A child hammers a coin into a coin-tree at Bolton
Abbey, Yorkshire, using a rock she found on site
(Photograph by author) 109
Fig. 4.2 Various deposits at St Nectan’s Glen, Cornwall,
England (Photographs by author) 110
Fig. 4.3 The longitudinal distributions of coins in coin-trees,
following the grain of the wood (Photographs by author) 113
Fig. 4.4 A radial pattern of coins at Portmeirion, Gwynedd,
Wales (Photograph by author) 114
Fig. 4.5 A wave-like pattern of coins at Aira Force, Cumbria,
England (Photograph by author) 115
Fig. 4.6 Children climb on the Ingleton coin-tree, Yorkshire,
England (Photograph by author) 122
ix
x LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 4.7 A climber uses the coin-tree post for support on
his descent of Mt Snowdon (Photograph by author) 123
Fig. 4.8 One of the coins in the Fairy Glen coin-tree stands
out from the crowd, the Black Isle, Scotland
(Photograph by author) 130
Fig. 4.9 The homogenous padlock becomes personalised
as it is employed as a love-lock (Photograph by author) 133
Fig. 4.10 Depositing a different kind of object altogether,
from hair accessories to a candle at Isle Maree,
Wester Ross, Scotland (Photographs by author) 134
Fig. 4.11 Deliberate attempts to personalise coin deposits in coin-
trees (Photographs by author) 135
Fig. 4.12 Coins nailed to the coin-tree at Ingleton, Yorkshire,
England (Photographs by author) 138
Fig. 5.1 The rag-trees and Holy Well of St Boniface, Munlochy,
the Black Isle, Scotland (Photographs by author) 167
Fig. 6.1 The presence of coin-tree labelling on maps
and interpretation panels (Photographs by author) 183
Fig. 7.1 Left: The coin-tree at Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Aberystwyth,
January 2017 (Photograph courtesy of Sarah Perry);
Right: The coin-tree in July 2017 (Photograph by author) 208
Fig. 7.2 The Ardmaddy coin-tree, Argyll, Scotland, protected
from cattle within a wooden enclosure, accessible
to people via a stile (Photograph by author) 210
Fig. 7.3 The Glastonbury Thorn, Somerset, protected within
a metal enclosure (Photograph by author) 212
Fig. 7.4 The Major Oak of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire,
propped up for longevity and fenced off for protection
(Photograph by author) 213
Fig. 7.5 Left: a section of the Ardboe coin-tree now stored
in a garage behind Coyle’s Cottage, the home
of the Muintirevlin Historical Society. Right:
another section contained within a cardboard box
and held in store at the Ulster Folk and Transport
Museum (ACNR 346-1998) (Photographs by author) 221
CHAPTER 1
Introduction: Coining the Coin-Tree
A first encounter
The vast log stretched along the curve of the footpath, remarkable for
its size—but more so for the thousands of coins embedded in its bark
(Fig. 1.1). They blanketed its surface in uniform lines, faithfully fol-
lowing the log’s curves and crevices, forming ripples and waves of cop-
per and silver. The dull, grainy texture of the wood was almost entirely
obscured beneath the layer, the armour, the shroud of metal that glim-
mered brightly in the sunlight. Other trees surrounding it were also
embedded with coins, but they were mere satellites; it was the log that
grabbed the attention. The footpath was busy: families, like mine, on day
trips to the countryside. Nearly everyone who passed the log stopped.
Nearly everyone who stopped added their own coin. They pushed them
into fissures in the bark, or hammered them in with handy rocks, before
going on their way again. My sister and I, aged 12 and 9, asked if we
could do the same. Our parents were probably already reaching into
their pockets. They handed us each a copper coin and we made our
offerings.
The year was 1998 and my family were on an outing to Bolton Abbey,
Yorkshire. Surrounding the ruins of the Augustinian Bolton Priory are
12,000 hectares of woodland and riverside paths: a perfect escape from
Manchester. It was along one of these paths that I came across my first
coin-tree. It would be poetic to claim that this experience set me on
© The Author(s) 2018 1
C. Houlbrook, The Magic of Coin-Trees from Religion to Recreation,
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75517-5_1