Around The Mulberry Bush

During my trip to Wales last week I visited Tre-tŵr (Tretower ) Court and Castle, and in the grounds was a magnificent Mulberry Tree. I’m sure many of us have sung the childhood nursery rhyme ‘Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush’, but why are we singing it and what folklore does this fruiting tree hold? On the off chance you have no idea what song I am talking about here it is for your consideration:

Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush. Here we go round the mulberry bush On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we wash our face, Wash our face, wash our face. This is the way we wash our face On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we comb our hair, Comb our hair, comb our hair. This is the way we comb our hair On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we brush our teeth, Brush our teeth, brush our teeth. This is the way we brush our teeth On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we put on our clothes, Put on our clothes, put on our clothes. This is the way we put on our clothes On a cold and frosty morning.

Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush. Here we go round the mulberry bush On a cold and frosty morning.

First things first, the mulberry is most definitely a tree and not a bush. Roy Vickery, in his book of Folk Flora, notes that this song was perhaps referring to the compulsory exercise that went on in the prison exercise yard and the eternal circles prisoners would have walked in.

In East Anglia a folk remedy for diarrhoea involves making a tisane with the leaves of the tree, although eating too much of the fruit is likely to have the opposite effect. The silk industry is also dependant on the leaves of the white mulberry as silk worms feast on them and their cocoons are used for silk making.

In Tottenham there is the tradition of a Tottenham cake which was once made as a cheap cake, by a Quaker baker, for the pauper children of the district. The icing on the top of the pink cake was made with mulberries and the cake is still made today, often to celebrate Tottenham Hotspur wins, although pink food colouring is used instead of less readily available mulberries. You can find a recipe here.

In weather lore the tree does not unfurl its new leaves until late in the year, avoiding frosts, and therefore it’s a good indicator there will be no more frosts if the leaves are out on the Mulberry. Its Latin name ‘Morus ‘ may refer to this as morus is Latin for delay.

If, after reading about the wonders of the mulberry, you fancy growing one of these in your garden, don’t forget, mulberry should be grown to the south of your house and a quince to the north in order to avoid bad luck.