Friday 24 April 2020

Low Down And Dainty

When we visited Shepreth L-Moor Nature Reserve at the beginning of the year I was rejoicing that the rains had returned the water level to something near its normal levels. However the last month has been unusually dry - not too many April showers - so I thought I'd go and see how nature was faring in this little corner of England.



I've mentioned before that this "Moor" is not really a moor at all, but an area of undrained, or at least poorly drained, rough grazing land. In the past every village would have had these summer grazing lands which were too wet to farm in any other way. Most have been drained over the intervening centuries, which is a pity because they gave rise to interesting flora and fauna.



As you probably noticed in the first picture, it's quite a place for Cowslips and there's a good show of them again this year.



They have a whole host of folk names including Peggles, Paigles, and Culverkeys, which suggests that they were once a very common flower. "Cowslip", according to some authorities, once meant the fragrant and messy deposits which cows leave on the ground, though I prefer to think that the association is because they appeared at the same time as the cows on these summer pastures.




Another common flower of meadowlands is the Lady's Smock or Cuckoo Flower. Again it has many common names, but I once heard them called Milkmaids and that somehow has lodged itself in my mind, perhaps because they appear at the same time as the cowslips, as milkmaids and their cows would have done. 



The old folk songs of Southern England are full of milkmaids and ploughboys meeting in meadows:
"Where are you going to, my pretty fair maid,
With your red rosy cheeks and your long black hair",
"Going a-milking, kind sir," she said to me,
"Rolling in the dew makes a milkmaid fair".
Over the ensuing verses the young man makes it clear that he's quite keen on the "rolling in the dew" idea. The milkmaid doesn't seem averse to the suggestion either, but has thought things through more fully than her suitor, for she makes it clear that, should a baby be the result, he'll jolly well have to marry her and provide for the family. Whether he's still so keen, once confronted with his responsibilities, we never learn because the song ends there.


Buttercups continue the dairying theme perhaps, and even they seem to be stealing a kiss on this sunny morning.



Around the drier edges there are good shows of Dandelions. Goodness knows where lions fit into our story, so perhaps we'll leave it there.



Lesser Celandine has mostly disappeared by now, though here there's a small cluster of them still sparkling forth, like golden stars, in the shadows. It must be at least six weeks later than the rest of its clan. It was William Wordsworth's favourite flower and he wrote three poems about it. It was decided appropriate to have one carved on his gravestone, but unfortunately the stonemason carved the unrelated flower, the Greater Celandine.



These meadows have dried out to such an extent that I could only find a single area of standing water and here were just a few flowers of Water Crowfoot. There may well be more in the brook which runs alongside; I didn't check.



There's just a small stand of old reeds beside Guilden Brook in one corner of the area, and of course I couldn't resist photographing them.



Although it's still April, some May (or Hawthorn flower) is already blooming and it's heady scent was attracting a number of insects.



Later in the year there should be more flowers blooming here, including a few small wild orchids. It looks as though I'll have plenty of time on my hands to investigate, photograph and get thoroughly confused by them in the coming months.


******
For today's music I should really have a song about "the meadows so green", but instead we're heading north, up to Northumberland, to hear from one of my favourite musicians, Kathryn Tickell playing her Northumbrian Small Pipes. They make a much sweeter, more refined sound than other bagpipes and the tune she's playing here, Rothbury Hills, is a beautiful melody which recalls to me the days when I used to lead groups of walkers in the hills that surround the Coquet Valley. 



It may sound like an ancient air but it was actually written by Jack Armstrong (1904-1978), official piper to the Duke of Northumberland.


Take care.


25 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful photos of the cowslips and lady's smock. In French the dandelion is called 'pissenlet because it was used as a diuretic.

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  2. Things are more advanced in your area than here. The hawthorn barely has leaves yet, no sign of flowers.

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  3. For many years John I played in a semi professional early music group in the midlands and am really inehterested in all instruments although I haver sold most of them - when my first husband died I left that part of my life behind. The small pipes were often part of our group and I always fancied playing them but never got round to learning. This music is beautiful - as are your photographs - cculd not think of the other name for rhe cuckoo flower - a friend e mailed me and asked me the other day - of course it is Ladies' Smock. My farmer always called them Milk Maids - the name used round here. Silaging has killed off so many of them round here.

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  4. I was quite pleased that I recognized all the flowers that you presented this morning, and knew their names. Wildflowers are surely - and universally - one of the simplest, but the greatest, pleasures one can experience.

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  5. John, while I thought I recognized several of the blooms in this post, I was surprised to learn their names were not what I thought. So, I'm not sure if they are just named differently or most likely were not what I suspected, Neverthless, the yellow colors were so cheerful and just perfect for these times of doom and gloom if one listens to the news constantly (thankfully I do not).

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  6. Love seeing all the spring flowers there. So beautiful. The photo of the old reeds has a feel of a light spring breeze in it. I love it! The music is grand. Thank you for that.

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  7. Wonderful photos and lovely music. I love the pipes. We have Lady's Smock self seeded in one or two areas of the garden and I'd only recently looked up what it was. The cowslips and buttercups are lovely and remind me of walking over the fields to the woods when I was a child:)

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  8. Beautiful shots, thanks for sharing!

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  9. A lovely post for what is a dreary day here in Toronto. Thanks!

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  10. I love all the photos, and that video was so enjoyable. Thank you for sharing. You enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

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  11. Wonderful to see your wildflowers. I remember buttercups, but haven't seen any lately. When a lass (many years ago) I would pick them and put them under someone's chin, to see something or another!

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  12. That's a beautiful tune. The flowers are intriguing, different from any we have, I think.

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  13. Enjoyed the music as it is such a long time since I have heard any Northumbrian pipes played. I used to live in the market town of Morpeth many moons ago which has the only museum, I believe, of Northumbrian small pipes. The hills at Rothbury were a favourite haunt of ours which we would visit with our then young sons.

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  14. ohh dear!I think Your blog becomes better end better!Some beautiful Pictures and poem and Music!I love it!

    Specialy this poem

    Where are you going to, my pretty fair maid,
    With your red rosy cheeks and your long black hair",
    "Going a-milking, kind sir," she said to me,
    "Rolling in the dew makes a milkmaid fair".
    It brings good Vibes !

    Ok have a Nice evening /night and take care stay. healthy to you and family

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  15. I enjoy seeing all the different wildflowers where you live. All are lovely!

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  16. "Dandelion" is a corruption of the French "dent de lyon" or lion's tooth, for its spiky petals. That's where the lion comes in.

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  17. Such a wonderful wildflower reminder. We are a few weeks away from these blooms!

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  18. Lovely photos and I really enjoyed the Northumbrian Small Pipes. I like the bagpipes but these were even better.

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  19. Hi John - lovely photos of the area ... it's a special neck of the woods you live in. While those Northrumbian smallpipes give us magnificent tunes - loved hearing them, and then looking them up. I agree with Susan ... I prefer these. Take care and enjoy being out and about - Hilary

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  20. There is so much to explore around us, thank you John for showing these beautiful flowers. Their names are intriguing!

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  21. Oh, that music is beautiful! And your flowers are lovely, too.

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  22. The emerald isle. Love your photos of the delicate little flowers...so yellow.

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  23. Fantastic photos. Many years ago went to a concert of Kathryne Tickell and her band in Oxford. Good to be reminded of Northumbria too.

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  24. beautiful photographs, and I love that you know so much about what you are showing us, and provide interesting background information. And thank you for the lovely tune as well. Be well!

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