Firewood & that poem again

A break in the rain allowed me to get a load of firewood processed over the weekend. The logs are naturally seasoned over the summer and I wanted to get them in before more rain started to soak them. Cutting up the logs in the gentle autumn sunlight I was reminded of the 'burning wood' poem. Different versions abound, the one that I know of is this..

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Oaken logs burn steadily
If the logs are old and dry
Chestnut 's only good they say
If for long it's laid away
But Ash new or Ash old
Is fit for a Queen with a crown of gold

Birch and fire logs burn to fast
Blaze up bright and burn too fast
Make a fire with elder tree -
death within your house you'll see
It is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
But Ash green or Ash brown
Is fit for a Queen with a golden crown

Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Een the very flames are cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke -
fills your eyes and makes you choke
Applewood will scent your room
With an incense like perfume
But Ash wet or Ash dry
Is fit for a Queen to warm her slippers by

There isn't a lot more to add really, the poem says it all. I don't get a lot of ash though I use every scrap of waste from my turning and greenwood work. I do get a lot of birch which I mix with old oak and beech and this gives a good result with the birch building the fire up and the oak or beech to keep it going.

Strange this version doesn't mention hazel, is there another verse that I'm missing perhaps?

The poem contains a lot of useful lore. The best oak is from old windfall trunks which are propped slightly off the ground. The sapwood can rot off but the heartwood will be just ready to burn. But beech will rot surprisingly fast and not last more than a few years so it's best after just a year or two. Of course birch rots very quickly and needs to be used or stored inside within a year.


I tend to saw up the logs into rounds and bring them back to put under a tarp until I split them. Splitting logs is very therapeutic exercise and with the right tool and a steady rhythm an hours work will split a goodly pile of firewood.


In my view the right tool is a splitting maul. I split a few rounds using a maul and I hope the photos give an idea of how effective it is,



Here is the head of the maul. This is my favourite one with a wooden handle. The gaffer tape is not a fix but a precaution I learnt from a couple of local coppicers. Inevitably the handle hits the wood occasionally. The gaffer tape absorbs the blow and prevents the handle splintering extending its life. I prefer a good wooden handle, less vibration than a poor plastic one.

The weight is the same as a sledgehammer and the cheeks of the blade are very wide which reduces the likelihood of the it getting stuck. The tail of the blade allows it to be rocked out of the wood in the event it does stay in the cut - I've never managed to get one stuck. These days I don't have to use wedges at all for firewood splitting, it's normally fairly clear if the wood is knotty enough not to split and I just saw it into shorter rounds.


Another load of logs ready for the fire. It feels good to have a supply of dry firewood laid up ready for the winter.