21st January: Rowan

Today is the first day of the old Celtic month of Rowan. Here's the low down on this tree:

1. The Latin name for the Rowan tree is Sorbus aucuparia. Sorbus means "reddish Brown" and aucuparia derives from the words avis for "bird" and capere for "catching", as the fruit was often used as bait to catch birds. The English word Rowan is believed to come from the Norse settlers in Britain who used the wood for carving runes - "rune wood".
2. The tree may also be referred to as witch wiggin tree, keirn, cuirn or mountain ash. The latter name is because it grows at high altitudes and has similar leaves to the ash tree, although the two species are not related. The rowan belongs to the Rose family.
3. The tree can grow to 15m tall and live for up to 200 years. The bark is smooth and silvery Grey. The wood is pale yellow-brown with a deeper brown heartwood. It is used in turnery, furniture, craftwork and engraving.
4. Wild rowan trees are most commonly found in the Scottish Highlands, but they are often planted as garden or street trees. They are also planted in mountain ranges to fortify landslide and avalanche zones.
5. The flowers are creamy White in colour and form in clusters. Once pollinated by insects, they develop into clusters of bright Red berries. Each berry contains a hard seed, which needs to be eaten by birds in order to germinate. The berries are a rich source of autumn food for birds, especially the Blackbird, mistle thrush, redstart, redwing, song thrush, fieldfare and waxwing. The berries can be eaten by humans - they are rich in Vitamin C - but don't taste very nice directly from the tree. They are generally made into jelly to accompany meats, or jam, chutney, Tea or Wine. They can also be dried and ground up to make flour. In folk medicine they are used as a laxative, against rheumatism and kidney disease, and as a gargled juice against hoarseness.
6. The crop of rowan berries has long been a means of predicting what kind of winter will follow. According to folklore, a heavy crop means a good harvest followed by a hard winter, although opinions differ as to whether or not there will be snow. In Scandinavia, it was believed lots of berries meant there would be lots of Snow, but in the UK they believed the opposite, that the rowan "will not bear a heavy load of fruit and a heavy load of snow in the same year", so lots of berries means not so much snow. Today, scientists say how much fruit there is on the rowan trees has more to do with the weather the previous summer than it does about the winter to come. A warm, dry summer will produce more berries.
7. The rowan tree appears in the coats of arms of German municipalities Ebernhahn, Eschenrode, and Hermsdorf, the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic, and the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. It is used as the logo of both Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors.
8. Rowan bark was once used to produce red dye. The wood was used for stirring Milk to stop it from curdling, and it was carried as a pocket charm against rheumatism. It was also used to make divining rods. The leaves were used to make Beer.
9. The trees were often associated with Witches and planted near houses and churchyards to keep witches and evil spirits away, possibly because red was thought to be the best colour for repelling evil. Cutting down a rowan was considered taboo in Scotland. In Irish legend, the giant who looks after the underworld burns rowan wood to prevent the dead from rising at Halloween - another good reason for the ancients to plant them in graveyards. Irish myth also associates rowan with rejuvenation - the Salmon of knowledge eats rowan berries which fall into the stream to keep itself young. In Norse legend, rowan is known as "Thor's protection" as he is said to have grabbed a rowan tree to save himself from a rapid river.
10. Druids regard the rowan as a Portal Tree. It marks the threshold between this world and the other, between where you are and wherever you might be going. Hence rowans were often planted at the entrance to a property - as well as scaring witches away it would mark the threshold between the public street and someone's property.

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Secrets and Skies

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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