And Now It's Raining

[poliphilo]

After a day of unseasonal heat, a heavy downpour. This weather is positively tropical.

I was up on Oldham Edge the other day and admiring the rowan berries. I read or heard the other day that the rowan- which is one of Northern England's signature trees- may be unable to cope with the change in our climate.

O the oak, and the ash, and the bonny rowan tree  Do flourish at home in the North Countrie

But not for much longer, perhaps...

Comments

[seaslug-of-doom.livejournal.com]

O the palm, and the orange, and the bonny lemon tree
Do flourist at home in the North Countrie

[seaslug-of-doom.livejournal.com]

bollocks on that misspelling

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I rather like the idea of vineyards and olive orchards on the flanks of the Pennines.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

North Countrie...

Tony, what is a "fen"? I am reading about a house in which the fen has come right to the door, and if one is quiet, one can hear the water. The fen seems to be filled with dogwoods and thistles and willows.

I always thought the "fen country" was swampland. Is that right? Is that what is called by the beautiful name a "water meadow"?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's right. Fen is swampland. The low-lying country of East Anglia- which is now drained for farming- is known collectively as The Fens.

Water meadows are a little different I think. They're the fields bordering a river which are liable to flooding. That's my understanding, anyway. You can keep cows in a water-meadow, but you wouldn't want to keep them in a fen.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

P.S. Does this fen feature in a Ruth Rendell mystery, by any chance?

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! A cottage in The Brimstone Wedding has been abandoned for 25 years, and the fen has come to its door!

Thank you for the explanation.