The Humble Bramble British Superstitions Part Four #HazardousToYourSanity

Posted by Lyssa Medana on September 30, 2023 in

 

I took this picture in a car park and I'm impressed that I actually managed to get something reasonable

It’s that time of year again. It’s the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ which, when I was a kid, meant blackberrying. My grandparents had a huge stand of cultivated blackberries or brambles which were picked relentlessly, by the local bird and squirrel population as well as us, and supplied several dozen jars of jam to see my grandfather’s serious jam habit through the winter. Being a superstitious family, all blackberrying stopped on 29^th September, Michaelmas, or St Michael’s Day.

Apparently when Lucifer fell from heaven, he was thrown out by St Michael and landed in a bramble bush. Out of spite, the devil goes around and spits on all blackberries on Michaelmas, which seems a little petty to me, but who am I to judge. A more polite version which my mother used was that the devil puts his foot in the blackberries on that date which seems even more effort to make a point.

I heard it explained as there were frosts at that time of year so any blackberries after that date wouldn’t be fit for food. That seemed a little strange to me as around my home in Yorkshire the first frosts rarely come before November. There are often a lot of blackberries left, but it may be that they were pretty picked over by that time. It could be that they’re leaving the remaining blackberries for the local wildlife. Perhaps it’s even that the weather is drawing in and there’s too much else to do with the last of the harvest to get in and correctly stored. Without freezers or sugar, blackberries don’t store well but the apples that are coming in at the same time do store, along with the pears, quinces and any nuts that can be found.

Image from Unsplash, taken by Sam Clarke and the blackberries look like it's after Michaelmas

When I was looking at the superstitions around blackberries, I saw one site that swore that blackberries should only be picked after 29^th September. I was sceptical. It sounded to me like someone was protecting their best patches. I also saw a note that brambles were planted on graves to stop the dead from getting out. I’ve been entangled by brambles enough to believe that they’d be a great barrier, but perhaps it was more to keep any grazing animals away. Besides, my experience of brambles is that you may mean to plant a small sprig on a grave but give it a year and the entire cemetery would be waist deep in the stuff so perhaps that’s not a common superstition. Superstitions are all very well, but brambles are relentless.

Image from Unsplash, taken by Kim Daniels and looking remarkably tempting 

I also found a tempting recipe for ablackberry liqueur on the Woodland Trust’s page. They picked some blackberries, added sugar and covered with whisky. They left it for a while, strained it and consumed. This is my sort of recipe. Personally I would use vodka or brandy instead of whisky and perhaps throw in a cinnamon stick while the fruit was steeping. I haven’t tried it, but I may have a go next year - or cheat if I can find some frozen blackberries.

As a writer, it’s always good to wonder about why a superstition is in place. Michaelmas was a good date to choose for this particular turn of the country year. It was the start of a quarter when rents would be paid and it would be celebrated in Church so would be well known to the community. Picking soft fruit, like blackberries, would be more of a summer pastime. Or perhaps, in a fantasy story, the fruit really is cursed. I can’t help but wonder how that would work.