Sacred Sierra (48 page)

Reflecting the wide range of medicinal uses of both the plant and its oil, a local saying runs:

La Verge Maria

quan pel món anava

amb oli de cresol

tot ho curava
.

When the Virgin Mary

Walked the Earth

She cured all illnesses

With the oil from her lamp.

The healing properties of olive oil are widely known, and it can be used to cure almost anything from constipation to earache. The oil is known to have strong analgesic properties.

PINE

(
Pinus; Pí
Val.;
Pino
Cast.)

The most common pine tree in the area is the
halapensis
– the Aleppo pine, or
pí blanc
. The
sylvestris
and
nigra
– the Scots and Austrian pines – are found at higher altitudes, on the upper slopes of Penyagolosa, while the
pinea
– the stone pine, which produces pine nuts – is also commonly found. Pines have been used extensively in recent years in reforestation programmes, to the annoyance of some conservationists, who claim that the oak and holm oak are more suited to the landscape: pine trees grow more quickly, but burn easily, thus creating optimum conditions for yet more forest fires. Much of the countryside between Penyagolosa and the sea has yet to recover properly from a massive forest fire that swept through the area in the early 1990s. Nonetheless, pine-clad valleys and mountains can still be found, particularly around the River Villahermosa, where the heady smell of pine resin fills the summer air.

The pine was linked to Pan, ‘the god of the wood’, dancing and playing his pipes under the trees: he tried to seduce a wood nymph, Pitys, but she avoided his advances by turning herself into a pine tree. Pines were also sacred to Cybele, the ‘Great Mother’ goddess of the Phrygians.

Pine needles have traditionally been used in combination with rosemary and thyme to make a herbal tea said to be beneficial for bronchial problems. The mixture should be boiled only briefly and then left to cool, and should be taken twice a day. Pines are also said to cure warts: find a young tree and peel off its bark; when the tree dries up and dies the wart will disappear.

A legend tells of how a pine tree sheltered Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus during the Flight to Egypt. Having nowhere to stay, they stopped en route under the branches of a bean trefoil. But selfishly the bean trefoil decided to pull up its branches and so the family had to move on, until a generous pine tree extended itself over them that they might rest safely for the night. Since that time the fruit and leaves of the trefoil have given off a vile smell, similar to rotting beans: some still refer to it as the Mediterranean stinkbush.

Locally, pine resin mixed with fresh beeswax is used to treat burns and lightly infected wounds.

STRAWBERRY TREE

(
Arbutus unedo; Alborç
Val.;
Madroño
Cast.)

Mention of the name ‘strawberry tree’ tends to invoke one of two responses: 1) ‘You know strawberries don’t grow on trees, don’t you?’; or 2) ‘I didn’t know strawberries grew on trees!’ The name in English comes from the bright red strawberry-sized fruits the tree produces, creating one of the most colourful sights of the year. The fruits, which go from yellow to orange to red as they ripen, are edible, but owing to their high tannin levels are not easily digested. They can, however, be turned into jam. Very ripe fruits often contain high levels of alcohol.

The leaves are used medicinally for their astringent, diuretic and antiseptic qualities. Some local herbalists say strawberry tree roots cut up and boiled can help against migraine and memory loss.

The town of Albuixec takes its name from an older version of the Valencian name for the tree,
alborç
. According to the legend, in September 1268 a priest from Valencia cathedral sent out a farm worker to plough some land in the area. But every time the poor labourer
passed
a nearby strawberry tree with his plough, the oxen pulling it would stop and kneel. After this had happened for a third time, he went to the tree to investigate, and there, in a hollow, he found a statue of the Virgin Mary, which had been hidden hundreds of years before. The Madonna is known as
La Moreneta
, for the dark-brown colour of her skin.

YEW

(
Taxus baccata; Teix
Val.;
Tejo
Cast.)

The yew is a fast disappearing tree in Spain, rarely planted or replaced. Place names attest to it once being very common –
Fuente del Tejo, Sierra Tejada
etc. – but being a slow grower and with a lingering popular association with the Underworld, it has become an ever rarer sight. As in some European countries, it is found in churchyards in northern parts of the country, where the Celtic influence was strongest; on the Mediterranean and most other parts the cypress is the tree of graveyards and resurrection. Locally, the most impressive yews can be found at the Sant Joan de Penyagolosa hermitage, where they line the route leading away towards the Carbó Valley.

Yew wood was traditionally used for making longbows, and Spanish yew was particularly prized for this, being considered straighter and stronger than other varieties. It was also common in ancient times for the poison from yew berries to be smeared on arrow points. The tree was sacred to Hecate, the triple goddess of sorcery, birth and death.

A Spanish expression for ‘to flirt’ or ‘to declare one’s love or attraction to someone’ is
echar los tejos
, or
tirar los tejos
, literally ‘to throw yews’. It comes from an ancient practice where young men and women would try to woo potential marriage partners by casting either yew branches or yew berries in their direction.

The yew trees I planted by the path leading down to the olive groves are still there, slowly taking root and producing new shoots. I sometimes ask myself if the spot is too exposed for them – they like a certain amount of shade, but a large pine tree to one side and a holm oak to the other should be enough to see them through. The ibex have
nibbled
on their branches a little, as they have on the cypress nearby, but they appear to have quickly moved on to sweeter plants. And so I water them during the hotter season, cleaning away the weeds that threaten to choke them in the spring, willing them on to survive and grow. I wonder if they will still be there a thousand years from now.

Note on Language

The area of Spain described in this book is linguistically complex, being essentially bilingual, with speakers of both Castilian Spanish and Valencian. Nonetheless, there are important variants within Valencian from valley to valley. Depending on context, names and key words, are usually given in the local Valencian dialect, but in some instances it has been more appropriate to use ‘standard’ Valencian, while in others the Castilian word or phrase is given.

I have tried to remain as neutral as possible with regard to the relationship between Valencian and Catalan.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people have helped us over the past few years on the slopes of Penyagolosa, but our life at the farm, and the writing of this book, would be unthinkable without the involvement of three in particular: John Gordon, John Wildash and my father, John Webster. I am forever grateful to them. Many thanks also to Terry, Kevin, Dangerous Dave, Justin and my brother Chris for pitching in. Tanya, my sister, and my mother, Karole, were also incredibly supportive.

María José Soriano and José Crespo were extremely kind and hospitable throughout the period. Montse Arribas was a great source of information and inspiration, as were Rosa and Eduardo. Silvia kept us supplied with the local gossip, while María José gave us great gardening encouragement. Enrique, Toni, Gonzalo, Fidel and Jesús were also very helpful along the way, as were José at Molina in Xátiva and Jordi Martín.

Thanks also to Vincente and Tania, Vicentín and Cristina, and Marta and Alex.

My Spanish editor and friend Enrique Murillo was kind enough to correct some of my spelling of Valencian/Catalan words.

Thanks to my agent Natasha Fairweather for laying the groundwork for this book. Also to Alison Samuel at Chatto & Windus for believing in it from the start. And to Jenny Uglow: I don’t think a writer could ask for a better editor. Many thanks also to Laetitia Bermejo for her wonderful drawings, and to Reginald Piggott, who managed to draw exactly the map I had in mind.

There is no full English translation of Ibn al-Awam’s
Kitab al-Falaha
. However, a small selection taken from the book was translated by Philip Lord and published by The Black Swan Press of Wantage,
Oxfordshire
in 1979 under the title
A Moorish Calendar
. Although I haven’t quoted from it directly, it proved to be an invaluable aide in a number of instances when faced with some of the more impenetrable passages of Banqueri’s Spanish rendition, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to both the translator and the publisher.

INDEX

The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

Locations are in Spain unless stated otherwise.

Aín (village), 338

Albuixec (town), 340

Alcalatén (region), 6

alcohol distillation, 280–5

Alhambra Palace (Granada), 2

Alt Millars (region), 6

archaeology and geology, 81–2, 152–9, 162, 321

Archangel (Saint) Michael, feast of, 36–40

Argelita (village), 293

Atzeneta (town), 338

Avenc
(legendary chasm), 269–70, 304

Banqueri, José, 31

Barcelona, 4

bees and bee-keeping, 46–52, 146–9, 218–20

Belibaste, Guilhem (
aka
Pere Pentiner), 198–202

Benassal (town), 143, 144

Benedict XIII, Antipope (Pedro de Luna), 253, 254, 256–9, 293

Benedict XIII, Pope, 259

Book of Agriculture, The
(
Kitab al-Falaha
; Ibn al-Awam), 30–2

acorn bread, 331

bee-keeping, 218–19

fertilisation, 101, 178, 328

laurel trees, 334

monthly advice, 18, 46, 74, 99, 122, 146, 172, 192, 217, 251, 275, 300

mulberry trees, 337

olive trees, 338

pruning, 330

tree planting, 83, 176–7, 179

bullfighting, 4, 36–40

Camino Real de Aragon (ancient road), 176

carajillo
(alcoholic coffee), 207–8

Carbó Valley, 341

Carcassonne (France), 200, 202

Castellón (province), 5, 65, 124, 129–30

see also
commercial development

Cathars, 198–202

Catí (village), 268

Cavanilles, Antonio José:
Observaciones … de Valencia
, 287

‘Charcoal-burner’s Daughter, The’ (story), 95–8

Christian and pagan festivals, 265–6

climate and weather, 30, 31, 46, 122, 256, 276

winds, 131–3, 165, 181, 219, 310

see also
rainfall and water supplies

Columbrete Islands, 131–2, 244

commercial development, 65–7,

79, 82, 138, 151, 223

cooking, 149–50, 172–3, 221–3,

264, 266, 333

co-operatives, agricultural, 28, 29, 104–7

Dama de Baza
(Iberian artwork), 159

Dama de Elche
(Iberian artwork), 159

‘Devil and the Carob Tree, The’ (story), 119–21

Dioscorides (Greek writer), 337

dolçainer
(wind instrument), 136

drinking culture, 4, 24

dry-stone walls, 99–100

East Iberian Mountains, 5–6

Eco, Umberto, 197

El Cid
(film), 257

El Día del Pilar (Spanish national day), 53–4

forest fires, 186–7, 266, 310–18, 324, 339

Fournier, Jacques, 199, 200, 202

Garnier, Bartolomé, 199

‘Golden Bull, The’ (story), 215–16

Granada, 292

Graves, Robert:
The White Goddess
, 332

Gúdar (region), 6

herbal remedies

see
plants and vegetables

superstitions and traditions

trees and shrubs

Heston, Charlton, 257

hoopoe (
pu-put
; bird), 260

‘Horse’s Leap, The’ (story), 249–50

‘How the Rosemary Flower Turned Blue’ (story), 273–4

hunting and hunters, 26, 54, 55–9, 84, 101

see also
wild boar

Iberians (ancient peoples), 159

ibex, 10, 20, 107–9, 110

Ibn al-Awam, Yahya ibn Muhammad

see Book of Agriculture, The

Ibn Azib, al-Bara, 74, 99, 172, 192, 217

Ibn Khaldun, 31

ice houses (
neveras
), 304–8

Immaculate Conception, feast of the (
Immaculada
), 104

ink, making of, 260–2

Inquisition, the, 124–5, 199, 258

Jaén (province), 107

James I, King (of Aragon), 6

John the Gazelle (Yahya al-Ghazal), 336–7