>Like Peer Gynt's onion, what layers we uncover whenever we look beneath the surface!<

Indeed, and...

"...I won't have the stick poked down his hole!" cried Swan, while Hugh shouted down his defiance-- "'Underneath this hazelin mote There's a braggerty worm with a speckled throat, Now! Nine double hath he.' "That means he's got nine rings." "Well, I shall allers say I'm surprised at such nonsense. What do you think he cares for it all?" "Why, we told you it would make him twist himself up to nothing. Go on, Hughie. It's very useful to be able to get rid of snakes." "'Now from nine double to eight double, And from eight double to seven double, And from seven double to six double. And from six double to five double, And from five double to four double, And from four double to three double.' (He's getting very tight now!) "'And from three double to two double, And from two double to one double, Now! No double hath he,' "There, now he's gone, doubled up to nothing. Now dig, Swanny, and you'll see he's gone." "It's only an old Cornish charm," said Valentine. "I often heard it when I was a boy."

Diary of Samuel Pepys. Volume 62 pp 913. February 1667-68

Also check out http://homepage.ntlworld.com/blackbirdhollins/articles/Hazel%20of%20Wisdom.htm - an excellent site from which also the following...

"Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame,
And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name
This, with the loudest bounce me sore amazed
That, with a flame of brightest colour blazed.
As blazed the nut, so may thy passion grow,
For t'was thy nut that did so brightly glow."

And also from the same source, a reference closer to home -

"Was the hazel as important in Britain as in Ireland? Some people, opting for a pan-Celtic approach think so. But as yet, there is no evidence to prove that this was the case.
One discovery that might have relevance was made at Ashill in Norfolk. A shaft well was excavated, and the finds within date to the Iron Age. This type of well often seems to have been dug purely as a place to make offerings. Many such wells have been found in Britain, but the finds within the Ashill well are unique. The well is three and a half feet square and forty feet deep. The more recent items from the upper part of the well, included an iron knife, some pot sherds, including Samian ware, and various bones, including those of a toad. It is in the lower part of the well that the older and for our purposes, more interesting finds were made.

In the lower two thirds of the well were intact urns. These had been placed in layers within the well, sandwiched with thick layers of hazel nuts and leaves. The urns mostly contained bones along with a few iron items. Curiously, the nuts higher up the well were more mature than those in the lower sections. It is hard to know if this is by accident or design. It does seem that the shaft was in use for a prolonged period of time. The upper layers of much later material indicate that the practice of making deposits there continued for a long while after the well was initially in use, despite the fact that the nature of the deposits had changed considerably. There was also evidence for a series of very well worn paths leading up to the well, these would not have survived unless the well was visited frequently over a long period of time.

Ross takes this shaft well as evidence that the hazel was of great importance in Britain, and as in Ireland, was connected with wells. She also speculates that the God Callirius and the place he was honoured in, Colchester, derive their names from the hazel. I am not skilled enough in linguistics to know if this is a valid idea. But even if this is true, to my mind, these two pieces of evidence in themselves cannot prove that the hazel shared similar lore and importance to that of Ireland, tempting though that might be."