Rowan or mountain ash, together with sycamore, birch, pine and spruce, will be appearing shortly on ... South Uist. Oxfam is among the groups providing the funding for 20,000 saplings to be planted on this island, better known for its machair, marram and mountains. The name rowan comes from the proto-Germanic word raudnian meaning 'getting red' which, of course, refers to its foliage and berries of Autumn. The Old Norse shortened it to raun, while the Gaelic linguistic tradition developed it as caorann or rudha-an, with the latter pronounced as the English rowan.
Scottish Islands Explorer - obviously has a vested interest in trees
...and as a added benefit winter tourists with flock to the island to see the invading waxwings gorging themselves on the berries.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I applaud the planting of trees on South Uist I'm struggling to see why this should be of interest to Oxfam?
ReplyDeleteRichard Clubley