"A Pen from 563 AD"
Product Description
Irish Bog Oak CEO Series - Medium
This CEO Style pen features Irish Bog Oak. Irish Bog Oak Quercus/Irish Bog oak is a form of wood unique to the ancient peat bogs of Ireland. The special acidic conditions of the peat bog helped preserve giant trees that formed the great oak forests which covered the island thousands of years ago. Wood that happened to fall into the swamps sank slowly and was gradually buried beneath semi-solid layers of peat. The low pH levels acted as a preservative, effectively pickling the wood and preventing it from rotting. As the bogs have been reclaimed for agriculture or exploited for fuel in recent times huge trees have been thrown up. These trees, miraculously preserved, emerge blinking into the sunlight after thousands of years of slumber. If a piece of bog oak has had the time and special conditions necessary for its preservation it attains a jet black hue akin to ebony.
In the past bog wood had many uses. It was an important resource particularly during the famine. It was often the only wood that people had access to - wood was not available outside the estate woods of the gentry in the 18th and 19th century in Ireland. The preservation of the wood in the bog gave the wood strength and durability. Use for bog wood included structural wood for houses, rope, fuel, deal torches, thatches and salmon spearing. Occasionally people made a living from the sale of bog wood.
The method used to find tree trunks in intact bog remains unexplained today. People would search bogs for areas wherever the early morning dew, frost or snow disappeared first, these areas suggested the presence of buried wood. A long metal probe was used to confirm the presence of wood. It is said that an experienced hand was able to tell the size, the way in which the wood laid, the tree species and the quality of the wood, all with a metal pole. Buried trees and forests are common and widespread in Irish bogs. In extensive areas of the west of Ireland entire forests of pine lie preserved underneath the blanket bog. In raised bogs pine forest is part of the natural vegetation succession from lake to bog. The three important types of wood found preserved in bogs today are Scot's pine, oak and yew. They can be from 4,000 to 7,000 years old. Scientifically, bog wood has proved invaluable as a dating tool and for studying climate change. This is made possible because of annual variation in the diameter size of tree rings. Tree rings are wide in a good and narrow in a poor growth year. Studying variation in the pattern of tree rings is known as dendrochronology. By studying and matching the patterns in tree rings from a wide range of bog wood samples, a year by year chronology can be built up. Queens University in Belfast has tree ring records compiled from 4,000 samples of bog oak and other ancient woods that spans 7,000 years. A pine chronology for Ireland is also under development. The tree ring chronology allows accurate dating of anything made from oak or pine in Ireland. The annual growth rings in bog wood also give a record of past climatic conditions. The basis of these studies lies in the fact that in a favorable growth year the tree lays down a wide growth ring. In unfavorable years, a narrow ring and so on. The patterns in the rings analyzed using statistical packages and related to calendar years give a detailed record of climate change over time.
All exposed accent rings, bands and caps include elegant 22K Gold custom hand-cast 3 dimensional designs surrounded by a sea of brilliant Rhodium. This pen is available as a smooth flowing German made Schmidt® rollerball, Iridium tipped medium fountain or both/dual. An upgraded fountain nib in 18kt gold is also available. This one of a kind pen was handcrafted from a block of wood/acrylic using a proprietary 64 step process by Frederick fine handcrafted writing instruments a.k.a. frederickpens.com. Copyright © 2008 Frederickpens.com.
This CEO Style pen features Irish Bog Oak. Irish Bog Oak Quercus/Irish Bog oak is a form of wood unique to the ancient peat bogs of Ireland. The special acidic conditions of the peat bog helped preserve giant trees that formed the great oak forests which covered the island thousands of years ago. Wood that happened to fall into the swamps sank slowly and was gradually buried beneath semi-solid layers of peat. The low pH levels acted as a preservative, effectively pickling the wood and preventing it from rotting. As the bogs have been reclaimed for agriculture or exploited for fuel in recent times huge trees have been thrown up. These trees, miraculously preserved, emerge blinking into the sunlight after thousands of years of slumber. If a piece of bog oak has had the time and special conditions necessary for its preservation it attains a jet black hue akin to ebony.
In the past bog wood had many uses. It was an important resource particularly during the famine. It was often the only wood that people had access to - wood was not available outside the estate woods of the gentry in the 18th and 19th century in Ireland. The preservation of the wood in the bog gave the wood strength and durability. Use for bog wood included structural wood for houses, rope, fuel, deal torches, thatches and salmon spearing. Occasionally people made a living from the sale of bog wood.
The method used to find tree trunks in intact bog remains unexplained today. People would search bogs for areas wherever the early morning dew, frost or snow disappeared first, these areas suggested the presence of buried wood. A long metal probe was used to confirm the presence of wood. It is said that an experienced hand was able to tell the size, the way in which the wood laid, the tree species and the quality of the wood, all with a metal pole. Buried trees and forests are common and widespread in Irish bogs. In extensive areas of the west of Ireland entire forests of pine lie preserved underneath the blanket bog. In raised bogs pine forest is part of the natural vegetation succession from lake to bog. The three important types of wood found preserved in bogs today are Scot's pine, oak and yew. They can be from 4,000 to 7,000 years old. Scientifically, bog wood has proved invaluable as a dating tool and for studying climate change. This is made possible because of annual variation in the diameter size of tree rings. Tree rings are wide in a good and narrow in a poor growth year. Studying variation in the pattern of tree rings is known as dendrochronology. By studying and matching the patterns in tree rings from a wide range of bog wood samples, a year by year chronology can be built up. Queens University in Belfast has tree ring records compiled from 4,000 samples of bog oak and other ancient woods that spans 7,000 years. A pine chronology for Ireland is also under development. The tree ring chronology allows accurate dating of anything made from oak or pine in Ireland. The annual growth rings in bog wood also give a record of past climatic conditions. The basis of these studies lies in the fact that in a favorable growth year the tree lays down a wide growth ring. In unfavorable years, a narrow ring and so on. The patterns in the rings analyzed using statistical packages and related to calendar years give a detailed record of climate change over time.
All exposed accent rings, bands and caps include elegant 22K Gold custom hand-cast 3 dimensional designs surrounded by a sea of brilliant Rhodium. This pen is available as a smooth flowing German made Schmidt® rollerball, Iridium tipped medium fountain or both/dual. An upgraded fountain nib in 18kt gold is also available. This one of a kind pen was handcrafted from a block of wood/acrylic using a proprietary 64 step process by Frederick fine handcrafted writing instruments a.k.a. frederickpens.com. Copyright © 2008 Frederickpens.com.
