Life in Newburgh on Ythan

By Talpa

Frankincense

Incense owns a Deity nigh
Prayer and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high

From the American carol We three Kings of Orient written in 1857 by the Rev. John Henry Hopkins.

Frankincense is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra which grows in the moat demanding of arid and rocky conditions. The English word is derived from Old French "franc encens" (i.e., high quality incense).

Frankincense is obtained from the scraggy tree by slashing the bark and allowing the exuded resin to bleed out and to harden. The hardened resin known as tears is then collected. 

The incense was bought in the Souk in Muscat, and the  little olive-wood basket was brought back from Palestine by Mrs Talpa's grandfather at the time of the Great War.

Myrrh yesterday, Frankincense today; you can probably guess what it is that I have planned for tomorrow!

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