Hawthorn is one of the ‘Faerie Tree Triad’ of Britain, along with Oak and Ash. Solitary hawthorns are considered in Britain to be faery meeting places, while in Ireland when they grow near burial mounds it is thought to be where the fae gather, as is a ring of three or more trees. One of the folk names is ‘Fairy Thorn’ – the tree is sacred to the Fae and you should never take anything from it without first asking permission. It is also particularly unwise to sit under a thorn on May Day, Midsummer or Halloween as the power of the Little Folk is at its strongest and you risk falling under their enchantment.
Hawthorns have traditionally been used as a boundary marker and has strong associations with May Day festivities. Young people would go ‘A-Maying’ and collect sprigs of flowering hawthorn to decorate their homes to welcome Spring. It was unlucky however to bring the blossoms in doors, as this would herald a death in the family. Later in the year hawthorns bear small red berries called Haws, which also have the folk name ‘Pixie-Pear’.