06/27/2026
The Witches Tree
The Rowan or Mountain Ash is tied to a lot of folklore. According to old Scottish and Irish folklore, Rowan trees were often planted near a home to help protect it. They called them protective trees. Not because of protection from storms, but because they guarded against things that could not be seen. Fairies. Witches. Spirits.
These are the things that lingered in the night. The fairies of Highland folklore were not fairies you see in television and movies. These were the Sìth. Powerful beings who lived alongside the human world. They could lead travellers astray, steal livestock, replace children with changelings, or lure people away from home forever.
Placing a rowan branch above a doorway was said to keep them out. A rowan cross tied with red wool, hung in a barn, protected the cattle. Families would plant rowan trees beside entry gates, believing that nothing evil could pass.
When Scottish settlers arrived they brought those beliefs with them. Even after people stopped talking openly about fairies and witches, the trees remained. Think about where you see mountain ash today. If you spend any time exploring abandoned farms, you'll start to notice a pattern. Apple trees, Lilacs, Rhubarb and rowan all still stand near where the now long-gone home was. The family is gone, the house is gone, but the guardian remains.
People eventually forgot why rowans were planted in the first place. Grandparents might simply say, "Don't cut that tree." No explanation. Just a warning. Nobody remembers why. Only that it has always been there, and that it should remain.
One story from Nova Scotia tells of a family that refused to cut down a rowan growing beside their farmhouse, even though their neighbours kept saying they should. The tree was growing too close to the foundation and cast too much shade over the kitchen garden. The family, though, insisted it stay. When asked why, the father reportedly replied, "That tree has watched this door longer than any of us have been here.”
Witches hated Rowan. It was sometimes called “The Witches Tree”. Not because the witches liked them, but because they hated them. The color red was one of the reasons, but if you cut open a berry, there is a small five pointed star inside. This was a symbol of protection in the ancient World. Some also believed that it represented divine protection and worked against harmful magic. There is an old story from Central Nova Scotia of a supposed witch that was made to move by laying a circle of mountain ash berries all around her home.
Another story tells of the protection provided by the rowan tree. It was believed that witches could transform into animals, but in Nova Scotia in particular, into hares (Nova Scotia rabbits are Snowshoe Hares). A hare was seen hopping around the garden, but when it got close to the rowan tree, it transformed back into the witch. The witches magic couldn't work near a Rowan tree,
It was also reportedly protection against restless ghosts. To protect against spirits late at night while out walking, one was to use a walking stick made from the wood of a Rowan tree. Spirits were said to avoid a person using a rowan walking stick.
The old Scottish belief is that the first rowan tree grew from lightning sent by Heaven to drive away dark, evil supernatural forces. How that belief came about, no one knows anymore, but the belief persisted. The common theme is that rowan was seen as a gift specifically meant to oppose evil influences. Not as a sword, but rather as a shield. A protection.
For more about the Rowan Tree, check out Old-Fashioned Kitchen for a post from June 25 on uses and recipes, then slide on over to The Practical Maritime Gardener to better understand how to grow it. That post was on June 26.
