A standard of the British countryside, sloes appear regularly in literature such as George Eliot’s Adam Bede Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift and even The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.  These mostly appear as colour and shape comparisons resulting in the less commonly used phrase “sloe-eyed” meaning to have dark almond-shaped eyes.  Boss-eyed is what you get when you drink too much SLOE Gin.

The blackthorn also has a cultural history with the branches being made into crowns at Christmas and ritually burnt in the fields to bring success to the crops in Medieval times.  Straight blackthorn stems also have traditionally been made into walking sticks and clubs, known in Ireland as a shillelagh.