Cumbrian Coin Tree Mystery Solved
‘The vast log stretches west away from the footpath, unremarkable but for the thousands of coins embedded in its bark…’
This is how our research begins but let’s skip to the questions: What is a Coin Tree? What does it mean? How did it start?
Ceri Houlbrook answers all this and more in new research that shows the world of fairies, spells, and wishing is closer than you think! Be warned, however, the gravest mistake you can make is think the questions have one answer.
Houlbrook traces the origins of the coin tree, investigating different interpretations and potential starting points.
First, the coin tree is linked to a tradition of healing. One of the oldest known coin trees was said to grow beside a holy well that could cure insanity. People would hang rags, nails and pins, as payment to use the well.
Now that contemporary medicine has taken away the need for magic healing, the coin tree has become associated with good luck.
According to a National Trust Ranger, a coin tree once originated when a tree was felled for safety reasons. It happened to fall beside a public path leading to a popular tourist attraction. He shrugs, “visitors started knocking coins in more or less straight away”.
Some take liberty with even the name of the coin tree! More than one Grandparent has told a child it’s a ‘fairy tree’.
So what is a coin tree? Houlbrook argues that a coin tree is all of the above and more.
If someone hammers a coin in to a tree for good luck, they perform the same action as the person who hammers it in for a fairy.
The action is the same but the purpose can be as unique as the individual. “The coin-tree custom can ‘mean’ whatever its participants want it to ‘mean’”, says Houlbrook.
You may feel a little cheated by this answer but wait! Houlbrook argues that multiple meanings are at the heart of a coin tree. Change is its life-blood: if the meaning cannot change with the times, then people may not participate in the ritual at all. What this leaves us with is the conclusion that for meaning to remain, it must change.
For more understanding, read the full research today. Not only is it packed with more fascinating facts about coin trees, customs, and rituals, but it’s free to access online!
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