Six saplings from acorns belonging to the renowned Birnam Oak in Scotland have survived their first year, with one recently on display at Perth Museum. Part of a multi-stranded project led by Dr Toria Johnson to protect the ancient tree and help tourism in the area made famous by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the saplings are being nurtured by the Wolfson Advanced Glasshouses at the University of Birmingham and will eventually be planted out around the country.
“The Birnam Oak is the oldest survivor of the Birnam Wood, which 'moves' in Macbeth when the advancing soldiers chop down its branches and use them to conceal their approach,” says Dr Johnson, Associate Professor of Early Modern Literature. “Our project will see these saplings given to arts, environmental, educational and community groups across the UK to plant, creating a new, 21st-century movement of the Birnam Wood and preserving the legacy of the Birnam Oak.”
Plans for a community heritage trail along the banks of the River Tay, connecting Birnam Arts with the Dunkeld Community Archive, are also progressing after the unveiling of a specially commissioned sculpture of Birnam Wood in August to promote the venture. It’s the first piece of public art as a solo artist by Lewis Morrison, a stone carver who trained at York Minister, who was selected for the project by the local community.
“In research terms I’m interested in the Birnam Oak as a cultural symbol that has captured the imagination of local and global communities alike,” says Dr Johnson, who is applying for new funding to continue the ambitious project in partnership with the Dunkeld Community Archive and Chapter House Museum, Birnam Arts and a range of local schools and community groups.
“By reinvigorating the site’s heritage narrative – telling a fuller and more complete story about this tree, which combines global literary significance with local and regional history – this project is modelling a way of extending Shakespeare’s heritage reach meaningfully beyond Stratford and exploring his role in shaping Scotland’s national identity.”
