Cnocach Box

Silver hazelnut box from the 1950s. The hazelnut is a talisman of prosperity and believed by the Celtics to impart inspiration and wisdom. The Gaelic word for nut is cno (pronounced “knaw”) and their word for wisdom cnocach. In Ancient Celtic stories there is a sacred pool surrounded by nine hazelnut trees. The nuts that dropped into the pool were eaten by salmon, a fish sacred to Druids, and legend had it that for each nut eaten, the salmon got one spot. The Druids thought that the wisdom of the fish would then be imparted to them when they ate the fish.