If you've
walked from Tarr Steps along the banks of the Barle river, you will
no doubt have spotted a number of tree trunks with coins hammered
into them. You might even have added a coin or two yourself.
Seen
from a distance, you could almost imagine the trees to be scaly
dinosaurs. I guessed that they must be 'wishing trees', but nobody I
asked could confirm that, or tell me anything else about them. |
| One of Exmoor's wishing trees |
She says: 'For centuries
and across cultures, people have attributed trees with special
powers. In some countries, trees are covered in red ribbons or notes,
and throughout the UK, coins play a special role. One of the
money trees can be found near Tarr Steps on Exmoor.
The wishing tree is studded with coins, hammered
in by villagers and tourists with the help of stones. People used to
believe that sticking a coin into a wishing tree would pass an
illness to the tree – and onto the person who pulled the coin out
again. The custom goes back to the beginning of the 18th
century; one of them, an oak wish tree in the Scottish Highlands,
gained fame when Queen Victoria visited it in 1877.
So far we have been unable to find out how old the
wishing tree is at Tarr Steps...'
Some of the coins do look as if they've been there
for a very long time. If anybody knows more about this rather
intriguing mystery, please tell.
