There’s another theory that’s centered around Bella being involved with Nazi spies. Working at the factories was stable enough but soon after befriending a Dutchman, Jack started to come into money that wouldn’t be explained by his factory wages. While this theory seems exceptionally more plausible than witchcraft, it was impossible to truly verify. But 15 years after Una Mossop came forward with this case, a historian published a book titled “Murder by Witchcraft’ that, despite its name, delved deeper into the Nazi spy ring. Taliesin wrote of elm … Embla, the first human woman in Norse mythology, was created by Odin and his brothers, Vili and Ve, whose incantations roused a fallen elm tree into life. This theory was exceptionally more plausible than witchcraft because the area where Bella had been found had been home to munitions factories. Simpson and his trial; Netflix recently released a documentary about Amanda Knox; and a mini series about JonBenet was released last year. In recent years, the stocks were greatly reduced by an ascomycete (Dutch elm disease). Police were stretched thin because of the war – many men had gone off to war, leaving local police forces and general resources limited. But in 1953, an anonymous person wrote to a local journalist and explained that Bella died because she was involved in a Nazi spy ring. ( Log Out / Elm mythology and folklore Support our work Our vision is of a revitalised wild forest in the Highlands of Scotland, providing space for wildlife to flourish and communities to thrive. Sapphire Sandalo. SKIP TO 41 MINUTES IF YOU DON'T LIKE INTROS AND JUST WANT … Mediaeval Welsh archers made their long bows from elm wood, whereas English bowmen preferred yew. Twine made from the inner bark of the elm tied tightly at regular intervals, to form ‘hanks’ of the yarn, was used to stop a dye from reaching the wool. Intermittent colours in woollen yarns (by which a weaver could more easily create a pattern in the weave) could be introduced by way of an early form of tie-dyeing. Still, a search through thousands of missing persons cases and through dental practices from around England proved unsuccessful. We hope you have enjoyed reading about Elm and have taken away some useful knowledge. It usually grows in … Donald McCormick, the historian, had obtained some Germany Military intelligence files that pointed exactly to Jack’s contact and the real identity of Bella. Wych-elm in Hagley Woods. It has been noted that two elm-motifs have arisen from classical literature: (1) the 'Paradisal Elm' motif, arising from pastoral idylls and the elm-and-vine theme, and (2) the 'Elm and Death' motif, perhaps … A twisty pageturner that considers the bruised relationship between the world and the self. The Witch Elm takes place in Ireland, and is narrated in the first person. In April of 1943, in the town of Worcestershire, England, four boys stumbled across the skeletal remains of a deceased woman that had been shoved into a cavity of a large wych elm… As a result of Dutch elm disease, wych elm is now rare. Folk Names: Sweet Elm, Elven, English Elm, European Elm. Their large distinctive shapes feature prominently in many English pastoral paintings by Constable (eg his famous “The Haywain” painting) and his contemporaries. The man went by the name Lehrer and the woman was Clarabella Dronkers. But in December 1943, graffiti started to appear. A dog walker noticed the legendary saying, which refers to the finding of a woman's body in a wych elm … One of the boys begun climbing the tree to look for birds eggs … Then sow barley never fear;” While the graffiti gave the woman a nickname, the police were no further in the case and the person behind the writings was never apprehended. On 18th April 1943 four Stourbridge teenagers, Fred Payne, Tommy Willetts, Robert Hart and Bob Farmer discovered the remains of a woman inside a hollow Wych Elm (also known as Scots … However, Jack started to have a mental breakdown, which resulted in both a divorce between him and Una and was eventually institutionalized. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, the elm was the tree of Oneiros, the son of the night and God of dreams. The inner bark was especially efficacious when chewed or boiled into a liquor to treat colds and sore throats, while the boiled bark was also used to treat burns. Many thanks for reading this offering. We, as a society, seem to be obsessed with true crime and the morbidly horrifying. feat. The wych elm is moderately shade-tolerant, but requires deep, rich soils as typically found along river valleys. She based this theory on the fact that the right hand had been buried away from the rest of the body – an act that may have been a part of an occult ceremony known as the hand of glory. Our vision is of a revitalised wild forest in the Highlands of Scotland, providing space for wildlife to flourish and communities to thrive. Prior to 2005, the archdeaconry was called Scandinavia. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Its pliancy was also put to use in a variety of ways. Rations were thin and so four boys near Birmingham went hunting for bird eggs in the Hagley Woods. Even with all this information, finding a positive identification was difficult. A yellow dye could also be derived from the elm, and the leaves were fed to livestock when other fodder was scarce. No one came forward and the case went cold for several months. The following edition was used to create this study guide: French, Tana. The elm’s wood bends well, or distorts easily, depending on which way you look at the situation, and indeed the ‘wych’ in wych elm refers to its wood being pliant, and not to witches, who were said to shun elm trees. “When the elmen leaf is as big as a mouse’s ear, Her real name was Una Mossop and she had been married to a factory worker named Jack during the war. The woman was Clara Bauerle, a cabaret singer and German movie star who had, according to Jakobs, been recruited by the Gestapo as an agent. The elm was also considered the tree of justice in … They are typically mountainous species preferring moist soils and higher humidity’s, its name in Irish means mountain elm… It is interesting to note that both the yew’s and the elm’s mythology is intimately bound up with death and the transition into the Underworld, and that both woods were used to such deadly effect in mediaeval warfare. There is a myth which tells how the first elm grove sprang up when Orpheus paused to play a … In Scotland the stick used to play shinty, called a caman, can be made from a variety of woods, with elm being a popular choice as it often has a natural bend already in the wood. Identify trees with our … She also had two crooked front teeth. Jack had died while still institutionalized in 1942 and no one else related to the ring had been identified. A Gestapo agent by the name of Josef Jakobs had been captured after parachuting into Cambridgeshire in 1941 and a photo of a young woman had been found on his person. In French folklore, the elm was considered the “tree of justice”. While this theory remained popular for quite some time, there was nothing else that been found to support it. The argument between the man and woman grew violent and the man ended up killing the woman. The heart of the case comes down to a single question: who put Bella in the old wych elm? The novel is divided into 13 … The graffiti simply read — “ Who put Bella down the Wych Elm — Hagley Wood.” No evidence of any ritualistic murder was found, however, leaving the case unsolved to this day. A pathologist named James Webster did a forensic examination on the body and established that it had been a woman who had died sometime around October 1941. Who put Bella in the Wych Elm? And it was during that time that he met with his contact at a local pub one night. Notwithstanding elm’s legendary associations with death and the Underworld, people also looked to elm for medicinal cures. This was later corrupted to “witch” … 605079649. Perhaps people who knew elms well were reminded of their own mortality when remembering the elm’s reputation for dropping large boughs without warning on otherwise still, warm days; “Elm hateth man, and waiteth” as the old saying goes. A weekly column of mythology and folklore. VAT No. The first – “Who put Luebella down the wych–elm?” was followed by many other … Phrases like “who put Luebella down the wych-elm?”, “Hagley wood Bella”, and “who put Bella in the wych-elm” appeared in chalk around town. Like Scots pine, hollowed-out elm was used to make urban water pipes prior to the introduction of metal ones. SC143304, with registered offices at The Park, Findhorn Bay, Forres, Moray, IV36 3TH. As well as the Macabre, wych elm’s other conceptual concern is folklore. The wych elm is associated with death and has been since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. The police arrived at the elm and in addition to the skull, an almost complete skeleton, scraps of clothes, battered shoes, and a wedding ring were found inside the hollow trunk. Viking, 2018. Elm, wych Elm, field Elm, Huntingdon Hazel Trees woods and wildlife. ( Log Out / It is a wide ranging Elm tree, it can be found from Ireland to Russia and as far north as the Arctic Circle. Failing that, it could easily be heated, bent and set to the required shape. Trees for Life is a registered Scottish charity – number SC021303. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Steve Zaragoza. His contact was already there, arguing with a woman and eventually the three left in Jack’s car. This characteristic made the wood largely unsuitable as a building material, nor does it make a good fuel. Elm’s roots run deeply through folklore, an associate of the Otherworld, symbol of both creation and death. Underneath its branches, judges reflected and received inspiration for how they would rule. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Around Christmas 1943, graffiti began to appear on the walls of empty buildings in various parts of the West Midlands area. Episode 50: Filipino Folklore feat. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Episode 49: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm? Archdeacons in the Diocese in Europe (3,963 words) exact match in snippet view article find links to article Eastern and Northern Europe. The wych elm of the novel had pigs' teeth embedded in the trunk by country people long ago and it was said that chewing some of the bark could cure toothache. Pieces of the right hand were soon found buried nearby. The youngest of the group, though, had trouble dealing with the discovery and soon told his parents, who then told the police. A company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland – company No. In Scotland wych elm is the more common species of elm. Unravelling the mystery of the skull found in a tree trunk. The case died down a bit, with witchcraft still remaining the most popular public theory. In a hollow tree trunk of a wych elm, one of the boys found a skull but because they were trespassing on private property, the boys put the skull back and made a pact that they would keep quiet. There were still strands of hair left, which indicated that she was also a brunette. The Hagley Woods Mystery: Bella in the Wych Elm, Is this the Bella in the wych elm? She could have been a sex worker killed by an angry client or a barmaid killed by an American GI. In Gaelic it is known as ‘leven’, as in Loch Leven in Kinross, and was valued for its roles in the dyeing of wool. Having grown up in Weston-super- Mare, near the home of occultist Aleister Crowley, or ‘The Great Beast 666’, Caitlin’s imagination … The Wych Elm by Tana French review – a portrait of privilege. DAVID SAUNDERSON talks to Black Country film-maker Tom Lee Rutter about his new dark docu-drama, Bella in the Wych Elm, which investigates an unsolved murder turned folklore in the … There are so many other theories that attempt to explain who and what happened to Bella. ( Log Out / One folklorist, named Margaret Murray, thought that Bella’s death had been occult and witchcraft related. There is one case that remains open after 75 years and theories range from a Nazi spy ring to witch craft. The question of who put Bella in the Wych Elm became part of the modern folklore of the Black Country – a fact which gives the lie to the idea that the modern age doesn’t allow for new folk … … Change ). In 1943, four young boys, out poaching in Hagley Wood came across a large Wych Elm, a broad, spiderlike tree. The famous Who Put Bella in the Witch Elm graffiti, which has been on the Wychbury Hill obelisk for decades, now reads Hers Put Bella in the Witch Elm. And there are other flaws in this theory: Bella in the tree was roughly 5ft, while Baurele was known to quite tall. Elm’s connection with death does not end there, as its wood is traditionally used to make coffins, though the wood’s durability underground may also play a part in this choice. The woman had also given birth, was roughly five feet tall, around 35 years old, and based on how she was laying in the trunk, must have been placed in it shortly after death. ( Log Out / It belongs to the Ulmaceae genus and is popular for wood production. Despite the English elm's name, wych elm is the only elm that is regarded as being truly native to the UK. … Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Who put Bella in the Wych Elm? One April … The podcast Casefile True Crime has maintained a large audience over the last year; several shows and documentaries have come out about O.J. Elm trees in Britain can grow to become some of the tallest and largest native trees. As well as their widespread use in hedges, their stature made them imposing landmarks and boundary markers, and travelling preachers and judges would often pronounce from beneath them. Bauerle had even worked in Birmingham before the war and developed a convincing local accent in the process. © 2020. This theory gains further traction with the fact that an actual Nazi spy named Johannes Marines Dronkers had been captured in mid-1942. ... Wych, from wych elm… Like the oak, they often had very specific customs and folklore attached to individual, named trees such as the Tenor, Bass and Alto elms on Humberside, or the Dancing elms of Devon around which May Day dances were held (these trees have all sadly succumbed to Dutch elm disease). Part of a rural planting verse. In Gaelic it is known as ‘leven’, as in Loch Leven in Kinross, and was valued for its roles in the dyeing of wool. About Wych elm is rarely found as a tree, but is more common as a hedgerow shrub. While there have been many theories and many leads over the past few decades, a definitive answer to who Bella is exactly and what happened to her still remains a mystery. Plus, Bauerle was never heard from after 1941, the same year Bella died. If so, please give us … Pop culture is filled with shows, podcasts, and films about true crime and we can’t seem to get enough. In Scotland wych elm is the more common species of elm. In 1943, England and the rest of Europe was in the midst of the second world war. ... Who put Bella in the Wych elm? The Wych elm is the only native elm in Ireland. is graffiti that appeared in 1944 following the 1943 discovery by four children of the skeletonised remains of a woman inside a wych elm in Hagley Wood, Hagley, in … We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. / Change ), you wych elm folklore commenting using your WordPress.com account a yellow could... Baurele was known to quite tall poaching in Hagley wood came across a large audience the... The English elm has fewer serrations along the leaf margin which helps wych elm folklore! A registered Scottish charity – number SC021303 edition was used to create this study guide: French,.! 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