Each month, Rachel Lambert of South West Wild Walks will be writing a blog post for us, reflecting on the changing seasons and observations on nature and landscape around us. Rosyansow is the Cornish word for wanderings or ramblings, and for the month of September, she has written for us about apples.
It is autumn and here at the Gardeners’ House there are numerous apple comings and goings. Apples for snacks, apples for decorations, apples to look at, to share, give away and get creative with. After all, it is apple season…
Avalowa is the Cornish word for gathering apples. We like to think of it sounding like ‘ave a load of’ which is easy to do when they are dropping from trees all around us.
In Morrab Gardens, where the Gardeners’ House is situated, there are two apple trees. Joe, the head gardener isn’t sure of the variety or name, as there are so many varieties in our county. We tried these though, and they taste sweet.
Delving in to the archive of Cornish heritage that we have and are adding to at the Gardeners’ House, an insert from James Stevens’ A Cornish Farmer’s Diary from September 1895 states:
- Drove to Penzance with pork.
- Honour went too.
- Bought mawn of apples for preserving.
It’s unclear what ‘mawn’ means, but there is a similar old Scottish dialect word ‘maund’ which means basket or hamper, so it could be a container or some kind of measurement of apples.
Allantide, a Cornish festival, traditionally celebrated in late October, early November, is known as the season of the spirits (or apples) where markets would be set up selling ‘Allan apples’. The red apples would be polished and displayed in the shops of Penzance and sometimes they would be used for good luck or put under someone’s pillow to dream of and attract a future love.
Kelsey Michael is a local singer and songwriter here in Penzance. Kelsey is inspired by the natural environment as well as traditional Cornish songs and has been collecting apple and wassailing songs. Here in Cornwall, the apple wassail is normally done in January as a way to bless the trees with cider and for ‘good health’.
Here’s a traditional apple song sung by Kelsey – look out for her Folk Tree singing sessions here at the Gardeners’ House and in the gardens too.
Where do you get your apples?
Are there any ‘free apple’ signs near you? Boxes filled with extra apple harvests at the end of the street?
We’ve found a give-away box of them on Bread Street and a wheelbarrow of apples on Paul Hill coming up out of Mousehole. Where have you seen them? Or pop down to the community garden on Love Lane in Penzance, where all the apple varieties are Cornish and falling, ready to be enjoyed…
Look out for our apples from 2026
Here at the Gardeners’ House, we’ll be planting two types of heritage apples, espalier-style, in the sensory garden soon. They are called Ben’s Red and Cornish Aromatic apples – hopefully to enjoy for many autumns to come.
References:
Apple folklore – St Ives Community Orchard CIC
Cornish Wassails – Cornish National Music Archive
kelseymichael.com | Music song landscapes Cornwall | Penzance, UK