After a long break, the CoC returns with a brief look at some arboreal delights and wonders:

Earth's oldest living inhabitant, Methuselah, is a bristlecone pine nearly 3,050m (10,000ft) up in California's white mountains. It was found in 1957 and is reckoned to be 4,768 years old - so it would have been a seedling when the pyramids went up. A much older pine, known only as WPN-114, was cut down in 1964 by a geography student! Another ancient is Wonderboom, a 1,000-year-old willow leaf fig tree found in South Africa and the world's heaviest known organism - thanks to a massive root system - is an aspen colony named 'Pando' in Utah.

Britain has some record-breaking trees such as the Yew found at Shugborough Hall, Staffs that has a canopy the width of the Albert Hall. There's also Britain's tallest tree, a Stronardron Douglas fir found in the grounds of Dunster Castle, West Somerset. In High Wycombe, locals are still left baffled by the Shoe tree, something which seems to be a common-place theme in the USA.

Previously on CoW, we saw a tree that you can milk and also a tree that has apparently developed a taste for the rest of the cow, the pili mara or Tiger Tree. There are also trees that grow in strange places and fairy doors discovered in trees which leads me finally onto the Elfin Oak, found in Kensington Gardens - a 900-year-old oak stump. Teeming with elves and animals carved during the late 20s/ early 30s, during the 1990s a campaign to preserve and restore the oak for future generations was lead by the late, great Spike Milligan.

I’m really excited and proud to announce that Cabinet of Wonders is hosting the 14th edition of the Cabinet of Curiosities Blog Carnival!

Started by Tim Abbott of the excellent genealogy and history blog, Walking the Berkshires, the Cabinet of Curiosities is basically a show-and-tell of wonders, marvels and oddities (something close to our own hearts here at CoW) from museum collections, barely trodden corners of the internet and our own cabinets and shelves.

In keeping with our Fortean predilection, we’re away with the fairies for this Cabinet of Curiosities:

The Luck of Edenhall is a glass beaker decorated in gold and coloured enamels that was said to have been left behind by a troop of fairies who had been disturbed while drinking from a well in the grounds of Edenhall, Cumbria.

Considered to be linked to the fortunes of the Musgrave family, it was said to have been left behind when the fairies were interrupted in their merry-making by a butler, who had gone to draw water from St Cuthbert’s well. The last fairy to make a hasty retreat, screamed; ‘If this cup should break or fall, Farewell the Luck of Edenhall’.

The first printed account of the tale appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine for August 1791 and even inspired an 1834 ballad ‘Das Glück von Edenhall’ by Johan Ludwig Uhland (translated by Longfellow) that imagined the downfall of the family when the Luck was broken:

As the goblet ringing flies apart,
Suddenly cracks the vaulted hall;
And through the rift the wild flames start;
The guests in dust are scattered all,
With the breaking Luck of Edenhall!
In storms the foe with fire and sword;
He in the night has scaled the wall,
Slain by the sword lies the youthful Lord,
But holds in his hand the crystal tall,
The shattered Luck of Edenhall.

The Luck is 13th century Syrian in design but other than this, it’s early history is unknown. It may have been brought to Europe by a crusader returning from the Holy Land and it survived throughout the years thanks to a leather case - stamped and decorated with cut work - thought to have been made in France during the 14th century, made specifically for the beaker.

The glass eventually entered into the possession of the Musgrave family, of Edenhall in Cumberland, England, but its real origin was forgotten and gained the reputation of a fairy cup.

An account from the 1844 journal of nine-and-a-half year old Georgiana Rosetta Smyth, god-daughter of Sir George Musgrave, records:

'At our dinner Sir George brought the enchanted Cup, he told us that Duke Wharton used to throw it up in the air, and have a manservant to catch it again. We all drank out of it, the little Musgraves were not allowed to come into the room for fear of breaking it. Sir George showed us where the cup was kept, there was an Iron door and stone wall, in case of fire, the Cup was then put into a tin box.'.

The glass remained in the possession of the Musgrave family until 1926 when it was loaned to the V&A Museum. In 1958 it was finally acquired for the nation and now remains on permanent view in the Glass gallery.

Cumbria is also home to other such ‘lucks’ and you can find more about the Luck of Muncaster and of Burrell Green, here.

Over on the Cabinet of Wonders forum, I may have once or twice mentioned the variety of items I found while clearing out my late uncle's house (okay, maybe I have possibly mentioned it more than that). There were family photos and slides that I had never seen. There were thousands of books, numerous ornaments stuffed into nooks and crannies, jewellery and prints. One of the items that really hit me with the ’wow factor' was this dusty and cobwebbed advertising hoarding of Prometheus which was originally designed for an Edison-Mazda lamp calendar by the American illustrator, Maxfield Parrish. 

Goodness knows how long it had lain in his shed - judging by some of the items stacked in front of it I imagine it may have been put in there in the early 70s and then forgotten. Maxfield Parrish - while his name may not be that familiar, his work and certainly his influence, will be. Edison-Mazda took the latter part of its name from Ahura Mazda, who in the Zoroastrian faith is the divine creator and bringer of illumination.

Now, searching for information on the background of the print lead me onto a whole raft of other interesting items about electric light bulbs and Thomas Edison.

It’s Christmas Day, time for a quickie Compendium and a time where people generally stuff themselves silly with food and drink at rates they wouldn’t normally consume at any other given time of the year. It’s fairly well known that the customs associated with Christmas actually stem from ancient pagan festivals.  Christmas had initially never been about such celebrations or extravagance but absorbed the indigenous customs of the land. Midwinter in Europe had been a time for merriment and mischief long before the missionary monks made their way across the continent and into the UK and Ireland converting the populace.

Here in the UK, up until the reign of Queen Mary in the 16th Century, the Lord of Misrule (in Scotland, the Abbot of Unreason) was chosen by fellow villagers to levy fines and collect money to pay for their ‘subjects’ revelries from whomever they saw fit. This theme of role-reversal was a continuation from Roman times, where the winter festival of Saturnalia was celebrated in honour of the Golden Age - where Saturn ruled and humans lived equal to one another - and slaves became the master for a day and vice-versa. It was also usual for the rich to donate money and clothing to the poor during Saturnalia while gifts were exchanged between family members on the Kalend of January (Jan 1) Presents were known as strenae, as according to tradition they had originally been twigs and garlands collected from the groves of the goddess, Strenia.

The medieval church had similar traditions with the Feast of Fools which took place in early January (the original date for Christmastide until the introduction and widespread use of the Gregorian Calendar) initially aimed as an act of teaching humility to the higher levels of the clergy who briefly handed over responsibility to their lowest orders. Some clearly took advantage of the situation and even though it was sternly prohibited by the Council of Basle in 1434, one incident in Paris during 1495 brought forth complaints that mask-wearing, cross-dressing priests and clerks ran amok through their church, burnt old shoes as mock incense and ate black pudding at the altar! Another act of role-reversal during the medieval period was the installation of Boy Bishops, generally a boy-chorister on the 6th December, Saint Nicholas' Day. While the adults misbehaved during midwinter, it was generally conceded that the Boy Bishops were more diligent than their adult counterparts during the winter festivities, holding office until the 28th December. They were given miniature vestments to wear and feasts were also miniaturised - tiny wild birds such as woodcock and plover being presented to their tables and if they were to die in office, they would be buried with the same honours due to an adult prelate.

Returning back to the 28th December, this was the day that Herod ordered the slaughter of the innocent children. For centuries, the date was considered to be the unluckiest day of the year. Edward IV even changed the date of his coronation as soon as it was realised that it would coincide with Holy Innocents Day or Childermas. In pre-reformation times, a muffled peal would be rung in memory of the martyred children on this day. The idea that the feast presented misfortune to anyone wanting to start a new venture or indeed, even work on this day carried on in some parts of the UK and Ireland until the beginning of the 20th Century. Not only was the festival itself doomed but also the day that it fell upon would be considered unlucky or ill-omened throughout the coming year. People would avoid carrying out business transactions, set out on journeys, get married or even scrub floors and wash linen on such days.

There was also a custom of whipping children on this day, so that they would remember the suffering of the Herod’s victims more clearly! Again, this may be another case of the church absorbing much older pagan customs as there are whipping customs associated with various countries throughout Europe, Krampus is just one example which I touched upon in the previous Christmas CoC, and such whippings (usually just small strikes or taps rather than drawing blood and leaving the person incapacitated!) were used to drive away evil or bestow health and fertility on the young person.

La Machine’s amazing street theatre in Liverpool earlier this month, has influenced this edition of the Compendium of Curiosities (returning after a summer break). We’ll be peering into the magnifying glass at some beautiful bugs and interesting insects.

A Brazilian Wandering Spider, the world's deadliest spider, recently forced a UK supermarket to close after a worker spotted a spider under a box of bananas. Another specimen was found just last week, again, in a consignment of bananas sent to a Teeside primary school!

Of the genus ‘Phoneutria’ (Greek for ‘murderess’) they are thought to have hitch hiked from South America and the Cameroon, hidden in the fruit. The spider’s venom is potent neurotoxin and can be fatal. 

Isabella Rossellini’s directorial debut, ‘Green Porno’, was a series of shorts where Rossellini dressed up as insects such as a fly and a bee in an attempt to shed some light on the curious sex lives of insects and other creatures. If you’re looking for strange, then look no further than the poor male jumping spider who has to go through a series of rigorous rituals in order to even get near a female. The sentiment behind Kipling’s ‘The Female of the Species’ certainly holds true when it comes to spiders. Females are generally larger and more prone to eating their potential partners instead of procreating. 

Scientists have also discovered that the male jumping spider uses ultraviolet B (UVB) rays in order to communicate with females. The latter are more inclined to reciprocate when a male ‘talked’ to them by reflecting UVB on his body. 

I love amber jewellery (particularly green amber), did you know Pliny commented on amber in his Naturalis Historia and correctly supposed it to be fossilised resin? Of course, throughout the years extinct species have been discovered embedded in amber. From 40-million-year-old bees, to unlocking the secrets of an ancient arachnid and even revealing secret ‘dino bugs’.

The Guardian has a slideshow of  tropical butterflies marking the Natural History Museum’s opening of a tropical butterfly house on its front lawn on April 5 - August 17. They highlighted some of the moths and butterflies on display.

The Atlas moth (Attacus atlas) found in South East Asia (although mysteriously, in 2006 a live specimen was discovered in Sheffield!) and is one of the largest moths in the world - they can have a wingspan of up to 24cm. Atlas Moths can spend anything from three months to two years in the cocoon but the adult moths live for only a few days. I actually have two of these specimens (I believe the larger specimen to be the female, the smaller moth, male) in a case along with two Rhinoceros beetles, a bird-eating spider, a number of stick insects and two scorpions: