The Edmondson Blog

Beech wood fires burn bright and clear,
If the logs are kept a year;
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new cut holly laid beside;
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for years 'tis stored away.

Birch and fir-wood burn too fast,
Blaze too bright and do not last.
Flames from larch will shoot up high,
Dangerously the sparks will fly;
But ash wood green and ash-wood brown
Are fit for a queen with a golden crown.

Oaken logs, if dry and old,
Keep away the winters cold;
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold.

Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
So it is in Ireland said.
Apple-wood will scent the room;
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom,
But ash wood wet and ash wood dry
A king may warm his slippers by.