BURNING FIREWOOD
Here's an old mnemonic
rhyme that describes the relative effects of burning different kinds
of log wood in the fireplace at home.
The rhyme is quoted in two versions, with slight differences probably
derived from the rhyme's origin as a series of couplets.
The first (and likely older) version has two 12-line verses referring to
13 types of wood, while the second has three 8-line verses with only
11 types (10 as before, but with one additional "superstitious"
couplet connecting elder with death!).
Version one (with 13 woods):
Beech-wood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year;
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new-cut holly laid beside;
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for years 'tis stored away;
Birch and fir-wood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last;
Flames from larch will shoot up high,
Dangerously the sparks will fly;
But ash-wood green and ash-wood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown.
Oaken logs, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter's cold;
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke;
Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold;
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread -
So it is in Ireland said;
Apple-wood will scent the room,
Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom;
But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dry
A King may warm his slippers by.
Anon
Version two (with 11 woods):
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year;
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for long 'tis laid away;
Make a fire of elder tree,
Death within your house shall be;
But ash new or ash old
Is fit for Queen with crown of gold.
Birch and fir logs burn too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last;
It is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread;
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
E'en the very flames are cold;
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for Queen with golden crown.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke;
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense like perfume;
Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winter's cold;
But ash wet or ash dry
A King shall warm his slippers by.
Anon
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