All my stories seem to be long ones. On my resent trip to England I was given a private tour of a 16th century manor home. The home once belonged to the family of the man I took to do genealogy research. Thinking ahead of me, as usual, Trudy asked for a piece of firewood wood from the estate. This piece made from that firewood, is a gift to the owners of Rainthorpe Hall as thank you for their hospitality and generosity. I have sense learned that the wood is from the Haxel cob-nut tree. It is used as a hedge as it grows thick and the branches can be bent over and woven into the next plant to close the gap. You may call the fruit Hazel nuts or Filberts.
Have a look here for Rainthroup Hall:(
http://search.struttandparker.com/assets/brochures/NOR120026.PDFas)
The blonde wood is the Hazel, the stem and finial are Walnut. the piece is 7.25" tall. Comments welcomed.