'They've nourished us, sheltered us, protected us... we owe trees far more than they owe us': Aidan Meighan on the folklore of trees
About this episode
Aidan Meighan discusses the folklore of trees and their significance in human history.
For as long as he can remember, the writer and illustrator Aidan Meighan has been inspired by Nature. His early exploits might not have been entirely welcomed by those around him — collecting and storing slugs and snails in a cupboard at school, and stashing a dead adder in a drawer at his parents' home — but they paved the way for a career illustrating the beauty of the natural world, both in words and pictures. Subscribe to the Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts Subscribe to the Country Life podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the Country Life podcast on Audible We're delighted, then, that with his new book The Folklore of Trees about to appear, Aidan came to join James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast. He talks about some of the 36 varieties of tree that he discusses in his book, the creative freedom of working as both writer and illustrator on a project, and how trees have left their mark on human history — not least in the form of the hill in Rome that owes its existence to the Ancient Roman habit of discarding empty olive oil containers. 'We absolutely could not survive without trees,' says Aidan, 'but trees would easily prosper, if not flourish, without us…
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