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There is plenty of wildlife about during the winter, and the Christmas holidays are a great time to get out, walk off some of the excess calories and see what is about.
THE ROBIN Officially the UK’s National Bird, everybody is familiar with this small, confiding, distinctive, red-breasted thrush.
The Robin is universally loved and especially at Christmas, despite the fact that they are actually quite aggressive little things, taking on all-comers to protect their territory and will even fight to the death! So, why is the Robin so strongly linked to Christmas? It is thought that they appear on so many Christmas cards because Victorian postmen were nicknamed “Robin Red- breasts” on account of their red uniforms and it was the Victorians who first started the custom of sending Christmas cards. Further research suggests reasons that pre-date this and have a more directly Christian link. One such story suggests that when baby Jesus was lying in his manger, an all-brown Robin noticed the fire was too close and therefore hot for the baby, so the Robin stood between Jesus and the fire to protect him. By doing so, the Robin’s breast became scorched ‘red’ by the flames and from then on, all Robins had red breasts. I personally think it’s because they are just about the only bird singing at Christmas time, they are familiar to everyone and it helps that they look particularly pretty in a snowy scene too!
HOLLY Another common and easily-recognised species is Holly, but did you know it has separate male and female plants? All those plants bearing the distinctive red berries are female.
Holly is one of two plants that are synonymous with the festive period, the other being Mistletoe, which I’ll tell you more about later. Even before Christmas existed, over 2,000 years ago, the Holly was held in high esteem by the Celts. They told a tale of the Holly King and the Oak King. The Oak King ruled the woodlands in spring and summer, however, after his leaves had fallen the Holly King with his evergreen leaves assumed power and ruled the winter woods. It is easy to see how this one tree that retains its leaves when all around it have lost theirs, together with its blood red berries indicates it must be a special tree indeed. This belief in
the magical power of Holly continued with the belief that hanging a garland of Holly outside your house protects the occupants from evil forces - such as witchcraft and goblins, as well as less supernatural forces such as lightning! Actually, bringing the Holly inside your house was also thought to prevent bad luck. However, don’t get ahead of yourselves, as it’s unlucky to bring it inside before Christmas Eve and it must be destroyed by fire on the Twelfth Night to dispose of all the bad luck it has absorbed. It is also said that the prickly leaves represent the prickly leaves from Jesus’ Crown of Thorns and the red berries are the drops of blood shed when the thorns pierced him, although this would link it more with Easter than Christmas.
Mistletoe ©Andy Karran
MISTLETOE Mistletoe is semi-parasitic, deriving water and nutrients from its host plant but still having green leaves for photosynthesising. It is particularly associated with apple trees in old, traditional orchards. Like the Holly, Mistletoe also bears leaves and berries in the winter, again giving a sense of life when so much else is dead or dormant. It has a habit of growing seemingly out of nowhere on the branches of trees that have shed their own leaves and this gives it a magical air. People in the Middle Ages apparently used the magic of Mistletoe to try and lead them to treasure. It was however far more recently that Mistletoe became popular at Christmas with the Victorian game that a boy could claim a kiss from a girl for every berry he plucked from the sprig. This has developed into the tradition of kissing under the Mistletoe at Christmas. These more modern traditions can also be traced back to ancient times and Norse Legend, in which Frigga, the Goddess of Love declared it to be a symbol of love and all those who pass beneath it should kiss. We’re lucky in Gwent and neighbouring areas to have relatively good populations of Mistletoe, however it should be recognized that it is quite a scarce plant nationally, with falling populations. So, now you can entertain your Christmas guests with your knowledge of festive wildlife trivia!
To find out more about Gwent Wildlife Trust visit
www.gwentwildlife.org or email
info@gwentwildlife.org
Holly ©Andy Karran 95
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GWENT WI LDL I F E TRUST THRE E YUL E T IDE WI LDL I F E WONDERS
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