Oak and Ash and Thorn

Wiccan Sources: Oak and Ash and Thorn

Oh, do not tell the priest of our Rite
For he would call it sin.
'Cause we’ve been out the woods all night
A-conjuring summer in!
And we bring you good news by word of mouth,
For woman, cattle, and corn!
Now is the sun come up from the south,
With Oak and Ash and Thorn!

The above is a version of the widely published Beltane May Pole Song below.

Beltane May Pole Song

Oh, do not tell the priests of our Art
For they would call it sin.
But we shall be in the woods all night
A-conjuring Summer in.
And we bring you good news by word of mouth,
For woman, cattle and corn;
Now is the sun come up from the south,
With oak and ash and thorn.

Printed in an article by Tom Rue, May Day - Pagan festival of life , Thursday, April 27, in The River Reporter, 1989, p. 5. See TomRue.net. This version can be found in serval different published books.

A Tree Song from Puck of Pook's Hill (1905) by Rudyard Kipling

Puck of Pook's Hill is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of stories and poems.

A Tree Song

Of all the trees that grow so fair,
Old England to adorn,
Greater are none beneath the Sun,
Than Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.
Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good Sirs
(All of a Midsummer morn)!
Surely we sing no little thing,
In Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Oak of the Clay lived many a day,
Or ever Aeneas began;
Ash of the Loam was a lady at home,
When Brut was an outlaw man;
Thorn of the Down saw New Troy Town
(From which was London born);
Witness hereby the ancientry
Of Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Yew that is old in churchyard mould,
He breedeth a mighty bow;
Alder for shoes do wise men choose,
And beech for cups also.
But when ye have killed, and your bowl is spilled,
And your shoes are clean outworn,
Back ye must speed for all that ye need,
To Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Ellum she hateth mankind, and waiteth
Till every gust be laid,
To drop a limb on the head of him,
That anyway trusts her shade
But whether a lad be sober or sad,
Or mellow with ale from the horn,
He will take no wrong when he lieth along
’Neath Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,
Or he would call it a sin;
But — we have been out in the woods all night
A-conjuring Summer in!
And we bring you news by word of mouth —
Good news for cattle and corn —
Now is the Sun come up from the South,
With Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good Sirs
(All of a Midsummer morn)!
England shall bide till Judgment Tide,
By Oak, and Ash and Thorn! Oak, and Ash and Thorn

This particular song was sung by John Roberts and Tony Barrand on the folk music album Dark Ships in the Forrest, Ballads of the Supernatural , 1977.

It has unofficially mutated into a song “traditionally” sung by English folksingers, apparently often to the music written by Peter Bellamy. According to A Tree Song / Oak, Ash and Thorn , “Peter Bellamy renamed it to the chorus's words Oak, Ash and Thorn and made it the title song of his first album of songs set to Kipling's poems, Oak, Ash & Thorn.” See Oak, Ash & Thorn, A collection of songs from the “Puck” stories by Rudyard Kipling Peter Bellamy, 1970.

In the SONG NOTES on the back of the album,Dark Ships in the Forrest, Ballads of the Supernatural , the text states:

Oak, Ash and Thorn. Rudyard Kipling's "A Tree Song" sets the scene for the stories and poems of Puck of Pook's Hill. This setting is by the late Peter Bellamy, to his own tune. We also use the song as a scene setter, a "calling-on song." The magic of trees lies deep in the roots of Druidic religion and mythology, and the oak, ash and thorn are central characters of the bardic tree-alphabets. Much of this tree lore has survived in folk tales, in English as well as in Celtic tradition.

A copy of free sheet music can be found at Oak and Ash and Thorn, Traditional English Song free Sheet Music from MuseScore. It is interesting that the this sheet music calls this song a “Traditional English Song.” Indeed, the first time I heard the lyrics Beltane May Pole Song badly sung, “Oh, do not tell the priests of our Art…” by a Neo-Pagan was circa 1985 at a Beltane. This fellow claimed that it was the song that was “traditionally” supposed to be sung while dancing the May Pole. The HPS of the ritual replied, “Oh, people often get winded when they sing that.” Thus we instead used the tape player with another prerecorded tune.

Sometime, a friend gave me an old copy of the vinyl album of Dark Ships in the Forrest, Ballads of the Supernatural I recognized one of the verses in Oak and Ash and Thorn as being the probable source of the Beltane May Pole Song or Wiccan May Pole Chant.

Wiccan May Pole Chant
Beltane May Pole Song
A Tree Song from Puck of Pook's Hill (1905) by Rudyard Kipling
Oak, and Ash and Thorn
Wiccan Sources
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