Dartmoor Ivy

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'The first year it sleeps;

The second year it creeps;

The third year it leaps'.

As with anywhere in the UK ivy can be found growing abundantly in most woods, hedgerows, on buildings and even on some of the tors. As a climbing plant it cannot be equalled with records showing the plant reaching the dizzy heights of over 100ft and as the old adage above suggests this is at first no sudden occurrence but once established - look out.. Today many folk regard it as a nuisance and the damage that ivy can do to walls can be catastrophic especially if those walls belong to an ancient monument. But one example of this is the old castle at Lydford, below is a postcard from the early 1900s on which huge patches of ivy can be seen colonising it's already crumbling walls:

I have heard from local Lydford people who can remember as children climbing up the castle walls by means of the thick mats of ivy growing on the walls. As mentioned above, Lydford Castle is but one example, many of Dartmoor's old buildings have their 'coat' of ivy as can be seen in any farmyard. There is a debate that has been bubbling for ages as whether or not ivy can cause poisoning in cattle. Some farmers will say yes, some farmers will say no, others will say it taints the milk whilst a few will sit on the fence and say it's ok in small quantities. During the 2010 cold snap I have watched over a period of days a herd of beef cattle gradually strip a hedge of all its ivy and they seemed to come to no harm. Getting really technical, ivy contains saponins (hederasaponins A and B) which goes through a process of partial hydrolysis, with loss of sugars, to form the toxic substances alpha and beta hederin. In 1984 MAFF (now DEFRA) stated the following:

 'Ivy poisoning has been reported in cattle, deer, sheep and dogs with symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, excitement, muscular spasms, paralysis and initial dilation and later contraction of blood vessels. After consuming large quantities of leaves and berries, when pasture was scarce, two dairy cows started to stagger, became excitable and occasionally bellowed loudly as if in pain. A strong odour of crushed ivy leaves, both in the breath and in the milk, persisted for about three days, after which recovery was complete and uneventful'.

I think as with most things it's a case of  "everything in moderation" or in other words providing livestock does not have a feast on ivy they should be fine, especially sheep and horses. An ivy clad hedgerow can also afford a good amount of shelter for livestock from the bitter moorland winds and weather.

Anyway there are always two sides to a story and so 'enough of them negative vibes' about ivy it also had it's uses both in everyday lives and folklore. Despite what has been said earlier there was a time when people were only too glad to have ivy clad walls because they believed if afforded them protection against all manor of witchcraft and evil. From a wildlife perspective ivy is a godsend as its dense 'coats' afford shelter in wintertime and nesting sites in Spring  and in autumn hedgerows that sport ivy are usually alive with insect life which feeds on its nectar and in turn provide a food source for birds etc. The berries are also an additional food source in wintertime although this old rhyme suggests not:

'Ivy hath berries as black as any sloe,

There comes the owl and eat them as she goe.

Holly hath of birds a fair flock,

The nightingale, and popinjay, the gentle laverock (skylark)

Ivy what birds hath thou?

None but the owlet that cries 'How! How!'

There was also a time when moorland householders were only too glad to have ivy clad walls because it was believed that the ivy would ward of all manner of witchcraft and evil. But there was a gamble with this belief, should the ivy suddenly shrivel and die then that was a portend that bad luck was on its way. Not only would the presence of ivy afford protection it would also afford fertility for the family within as it has been regarded as a feminine symbol (some might suggest this is due to its clinging habit but far be it from me to condone such a suggestion). This is also why in days gone by that brides carried it as part of their wedding bouquets. This whole feminine symbol is meant to come from ancient mythology where it comes under the dominion of Saturn as symbolises fidelity. Additionally the altar of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage was always decorated with ivy, again probably the root of brides taking it to the altar. The Roman wine god Bacchus wore a crown of ivy and from this stemmed the old belief that it was a cure for drunkenness. I was once told of such a remedy by an elderly lady living near Chagford, apparently her grandfather used to say that to cure a hangover you must the next day drink some more of the offending liquor with a handful of crushed and boiled ivy leaves in it (maybe the next time The Tavistock Badger visits it might be worth a try)??? It was this association with alcohol that led to Medieval tavern keepers to hang an ivy bush over their establishment to denote the fact that they were selling ale. To see how this tradition lives on in name simple put the term Ivy Bush into Google and see how many inns, pubs and hotels still bear the name.

For most people ivy is closely associated with Christmas as the carol signifies and the first line; 'The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown, Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown'. Some will say that those lines along with; 'Holly standeth in the hall fair to behold, Ivy stands without the door, she is full sore a-cold', reflect the early Christian distain for ivy. The reasoning for this being the early pagan associations with the plant and from this comes the traditional rivalry between the holly and the ivy at Christmas. On Dartmoor, despite there being the belief of the protection ivy affords outside the house there are some places where it's deemed most unlucky to have it inside the house. Again this could well stem back to the Christian belief of it having pagan associations.

Medicinally a used widespread across Devon and Dartmoor was as an infusion of the leaves and berries which when taken regularly would cure mumps. Other uses were to boil ivy stems in butter and then use the concoction to help soothe scalds and sunburn, it may be worth noting the cost of modern day sun-blocks? Another option was to use pig's lard instead of butter although I would imagine it may well attract the local dogs somewhat. Corn sufferers may well bind ivy leaves that had been soaked in vinegar over the offending spot. For any man (oe woman come to that) who was concerned about hair loss then the simple act of wearing an ivy wreath around their would surely restore a healthy head of hair, may look a complete twonk during the process but what the heck?

There are very few known placenames on Dartmoor relating to ivy, the only ones I have been able to find are that of Ivy Tor, the nearby Ivy Tor Mine and a small associated stream called Ivy Tor Water. In addition there is also the town of Ivybridge which clings to the southern Dartmoor National Park, the etymology of both names is fairly obvious; the tor clad in ivy and the bridge clad in ivy.

20/12/2011