The Medlar and the Forest

𝐅𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐲𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞 - 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠!

I have now found Medlars in three locations in the Forest. Groenendaal, at the intersection of the Drève des Bonniers and the Chaussée de Waterloo and along the cycle path between Grande Espinette and the Hoppinpunt parking at the end of Drève Saint-Michel. I don’t doubt there are others. All three of these locations are on the edges of the Forest, close to where humanity has lived and travelled for centuries and perhaps this explains it.

However, there is a ‘𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑥 𝑁𝑒́𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠’ deep in the Forest, close to Ticton. You can see it on Stevens’ 1907 map and it is still mentioned on the modern-day Carte de la Forêt de Soignes by Patrick Huvenne, a Topographic and Tourist map, readily available. The latter has misplaced the name a little and should you visit Medlar Mountain you can see by the steep gradient rising from the intersection of Drève Joséphine and the Chemin Parmentier that the mountain is where Stevens indicated.

I have been there and there are no Medlars in evidence. True, I didn’t climb the mountain, one shouldn’t stray from the paths, but it didn’t feel like Medlar territory.

Pierron wrote in his 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒 𝑙𝑎 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑒̂𝑡 𝑑𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑠, 1905, while describing the prehistoric Forest and the things its inhabitants might have gathered and traded that ‘𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑒𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑒́𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒̂𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒’; that wild apples and Medlars grew in abundance in the immense forest.

There is little reason, however, to think Medlars reached this part of Europe much before Roman times but they certainly arrived at some point. Turning to Pierron again, he also notes that ‘𝐴 𝑐𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒 𝑒́𝑝𝑜𝑞𝑢𝑒, 𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑒́𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑢𝑥 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑐𝑎𝑟, 𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑣𝑟𝑖𝑙 1633, 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑒́𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑢𝑥 𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑒𝑢𝑥 𝑞𝑢𝑖 𝑠’𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑢𝑥 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠.’ They were given special protection. Note that the Dutch word ‘𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠’ for Medlars was used in the same sentence. We are in Brabant, certainly.

We are left with a name that remains to this day. Were there Medlars there? It seems plausible, probable even. What happened to them? We don’t know for sure but I suspect the locality became unsuitable for them; the conifers that have been there for at least a century (Stevens notes on his 1917 map that this was a 𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑒́𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑥) could have tipped the soil past the trees’ acidity tolerance and certainly the light-loving Medlars would not have enjoyed the increasing shade being cast.

Like many things noted on his map from 1907, they are no longer there physically, but some echo across time through their names leaving traces on the ground.