Lady Celia Congreve

[Billhook]

Always worth a second read,  not sure if I agree with her about Elm which burns hot and well here and Sycamore is nearly as good as Ash here also.  Is she right about the other woods?

I

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Lady Celia Congreve
 

 

 

 

Published in The Times: March 2nd 1930

These hardwoods burn well and slowly,
Ash, beech, hawthorn oak and holly.
Softwoods flare up quick and fine,
Birch, fir, hazel, larch and pine.
Elm and willow you’ll regret,
Chestnut green and sycamore wet.

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.
But Ash new or Ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.

Birch and fir logs bum too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last.
It is by the Irish said,
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood bums like churchyard mould,
E’en the very flames are cold.
But Ash green or Ash brown,
Is fit for a 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.

Oak logs will warm you well,
That are old and dry.
Logs of pine will sweetly smell,
But the sparks will fly.
Birch logs will burn too fast,
Chestnut scarce at all sir.
Hawthorn logs are good to last,
That are cut well in the fall sir

Holly logs will burn like wax,
You could burn them green.
Elm logs burn like smouldering flax,
With no flame to be seen.
Beech logs for winter time,
Yew logs as well sir.
Green elder logs it is a crime,
For any man to sell sir.

Pear logs and apple logs,
They will scent your room.
And cherry logs across the dogs,
They smell like flowers of broom.
But Ash logs smooth and grey,
Buy them green or old, sir.
And buy up all that come your way,
They’re worth their weight in gold sir.

Logs to Burn, Logs to burn, Logs to burn,
Logs to save the coal a turn.
Here’s a word to make you wise,
When you hear the woodman’s cries.
Never heed his usual tale,
That he has good logs for sale.
But read these lines and really learn,
The proper kind of logs to burn.

 

[Stubby]

No .  Just no .

[petercb]

No .  Just no .

+1

[Dan Maynard]

I'm guessing from the name "Lady Celia Congreve" isn't an old woodsman.

[Squaredy]

I can remember soon after I had my logburner installed many years ago shivering in front of a miserable 'fire' consisting mainly of freshly cut Ash, and wondering why it was so poor.  "After all", I thought, "Ash is OK to burn green". 

 

I never tried burning green ash again.

 

Best firewood is dry firewood.

 

 

[Paul in the woods]

Well, slowly doesn't rhyme with holly and then poem gets worse!

 

I tend to think these sorts of things are aimed at outdoor camping fires or emergency use but I'd never want to burn green or wet wood.

 

I note there's no alder, so I can't have the usual alder's terrible / alder's great argument.

[Billhook]

Cecilia Henrietta Dolores Blount La Touche,  Lady Congreve, quite a mouthful.  Do not think that she would have spent much time cutting firewood or laying fires as she probably had lots of servants to do that.  Her husband and son were both awarded a VC which was unusual and they spent a lot of time in India and South Africa so probably had  some very different woods out there.  

I think I would agree with here about the Ash, not green from the tree but if it has been down and split in a dry well ventilated store for a week or two, it can be used in emergencies but obviously better to do the job properly.