- The scientific name for heather is Calluna vulgaris. It is sometimes also known as ling.
- Calluna is thought to derive from Greek words meaning to beautify or sweep clean, because heather was traditionally used to make brooms.
- It was also used to make a yellow dye and medicine to treat coughs, arthritis and rheumatism; also strong ropes were made from the plant, and it was used to stuff mattresses which were allegedly more comfortable than those stuffed with down.
- The plant is native to Europe, Iceland, the Azores and the Faroe Islands. It has been introduced worldwide into countries with suitable climates. In New Zealand, it is seen as an invasive weed.
- Heather provides food for sheep, deer and Grouse, also Butterflies and the larva of the heather beetle. Bees like it too, and heather Honey is a popular product in areas where it grows.
- Purple heather is one of Norway's two national flowers, but people associate it most often with Scotland.
- The idea that heather is lucky grew in popularity in Victorian times. Queen Victoria wrote in her diary of how her servant Mr. Brown would get off his horse to pick a sprig of white heather, because no Highlander would pass it by, because it was so lucky. In Scotland, heather, and especially white heather, had been seen as lucky for some time. In 1544, Clan Ranald attributed their victory in a battle to having worn white heather in their hats. The superstition may have dated back even further as people believed white heather grew in places where no blood had been shed, or on the graves of Fairies.
- Heather ale was popular among the Picts, who could make it using heather plants alone, without adding hops or sugar. The nectar of the flowers was enough for sweetening and fermentation. According to one legend, in the fourth century, the king of the Picts and his son were cornered on a cliff top by Vikings who had defeated them in a battle. The only reason the Vikings hadn't killed them yet was because they wanted the recipe for heather ale. They proceded to torture the pair to get them to reveal the recipe. The king, knowing the Vikings would kill them once they had the recipe, promised to give it if his son was granted a quick death. The Vikings threw the prince off the cliff. The king then said he was sure his son was going to crack under torture and give the recipe away, and after a scuffle, threw the Vikings over the cliff.
- In the language of flowers, white heather means luck and protection while the purple varieties stand for beauty and admiration. Also, because heather grows on remote, windswept moors, it sometimes represents solitude.
- Heather releases a chemical which prevents other plants from growing near it.
Golden Thread
Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.
Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.
Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.
Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.
Available on Amazon:
No comments:
Post a Comment