Bog Myrtle & Peat

This time last year, I was surprised by the appearance of several dollops of semi transparent jelly which appeared as if at random across the Chayne. The damp items varied in size from a pound coin to an orange, and they were found in wet grass, on open moorland and on gateposts. Assuming it was some sort of bizarre fungus, I thought no more of it.

Two days ago, I discovered it again on the Chayne, this time as a closely gathered selection of partially opaque lumps lying in the wet rushes on a misty morning. Searching online for more details, I found that I was looking at a common but totally mysterious phenomenon which continues to baffle our finest scientists. In-depth laboratory testing have revealed that the dollops have no DNA, meaning that they are technically not alive in any recogniseable form. Over 99% of their content is simply water, but what that remaining fraction of a percentage is, no one knows.

For many years, folklore held that the dollops were fluid dropped from shooting stars, or represented blood spilt during battles between fairies. More recent explanations have suggested that they are formed when female frogs are partially eaten by predators and their mucus glands go into overdrive, producing vast quantities of frogspawn-like jelly. Other suggest that the dollops are made up of gel from disposable nappies dropped from commercial aircraft flying high overhead. Whatever the hell they are, they are certainly a curious addition to the changing seasons on the Chayne.