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Mince Pies

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Anonymous

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David Knight

After the death of my father around seven years ago, my mother lived alone on the outskirts of Leicestershire, near the village of Anstey, where they had lived since about 1968. Her garage was at the bottom of the garden and had been built by my father in the early 1970's. Shortly after the building was completed a conifer was planted near to the back door of the garage. The tree was a slim conifer ( I think that they are called sky rocket) and grew to the height of around seven feet. The tree remained undisturbed for about 25 years.

http://www.forteantimes.com/happened/mincepies.shtml

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This is one of the weirdest stories I've ever read. Umm...nope can't think of an explanation. What a valuable post this was:D
 
Someone might have put mince pies into the compost when the tree was planted which would have got imbeded among the roots as the tree grew. But why wouldn't they decay? Did your mum have a habit of baking mince pies that were like stones and throwing them on the compost heap?
 
I doubt they could have broken it in two without a strong axe. :D
 
So mince pies are a subterranean fungus? Explains a lot.
 
Silly me.

I read a story as bizare an' improbable as that, an' with me modern an' inqueeesitive mind workin' like a bee's hive poked, the one string of thoughts stick in me mind;

"I wonder how they tasted?"

"Why didn't you eat them?"

"What kind of meat?"

"I don't really like meat pies..."



I dunno, let me wrap my mind around a few more moments...

Some sorta ghostly bussiness? Yer mother's concern of someone behind the tree could be some sorta psssycic reaction to a some spirit of some sort or somethin', somethin' like that; her husband just died, eh? (Don't mean to be disrespectfull, that's just how the thought came out)
An' then, of course, the mince pies would be a peace offerin' to calm her, as she seemed scared off it...

But you didn't eat 'em?
Seems ungrateful.


I dunno, me otherworldly ideas are even farther off base than my technicall ones...


Tree pie.

Tree pie?

Tree pie...

I'm going to get something to eat.
 
Why mince pies, though, why not apple pies?:confused:

Carole
 
Were these mince pies the ones with meat in them or the sweet ones the British have for Christmas?

I remember the first time my American flatmate and I were offered mince pies with our mid-morning tea. Cue exchange of horrified looks - until someone told us they didn't actually have any meat in them.

They did originally, though, didn't they?

Are there any fungus specialists on the thread? Could the pies just be weird mushrooms? And how do the conifers stop other plants from growing? Could it explain the preservation of the pies - if they really are pies?
 
Mince pies.

Have you tried burying more mince pies since uprooting the conifer? As an experiment, I mean. There may be something in the soil there that promotes incorruptibility! Never mind how the pies got there in the first place, just think of the preservative potential of the soil in your mother's garden.

This could make freezers a thing of the past!;)
 
Sally said:
I remember the first time my American flatmate and I were offered mince pies with our mid-morning tea. Cue exchange of horrified looks - until someone told us they didn't actually have any meat in them.

They did originally, though, didn't they?
Click to expand...

Yeah - they contained minced mutton (or beef) and spiced fruit - a sort of festive kebab.

The very thought's put me off my breakfast, now.
 
Handy

it would be handy if your hungary.

'I'm just going outside to get some mince pies off the tree,'
'Ok!'

save on a shopping bill :D
 
If these mince pies survived for so long under the conifer, why did they need to be frozen once dug up? I love mince pies (the fruity Christmas ones that is) so would probably have just blessed my luck, zapped them in the microwave and eaten them with ice cream and custard... yummy - another fortean mystery in my tummy!

Jane.
 
If only Bob Flowerdew were a member of this board. He'd know what to say. :rolleyes:
 
Well, there were the fish that the Cosmic Joker (or possibly seagulls) deposited on the lawn...

Jane. :)
 
Can I just ask a question that sounds so blindingly, stupidly obvious that a three year old would even take the piss out of me?
It's as follows.
How did you know that it was mince meat in the "pastry"?
Did you taste it or just look at it?
Because maybe it was fossilized fecal matter of some kind.
 
My mum used to throw old, stale mince pies (and other things) out into the garden for the birds. She figured that anything that was left would rot down and feed the shrubs and plants.

It's possible that your mum did the same.

However, I can't think how they would stay in the soil for years unless something had preserved them.

They'd have to be pretty dry and stale to start with (i.e., rock hard). The soil would have to have been consistently dry for some time. And perhaps some chemical in the soil (released by the pine needles and bark) preserved them further, preventing them from rotting or being eaten.

This still doesn't explain their colour - they would surely be stained by the chemicals in the soil.

A real mystery.
 
If I remember my botany correctly don't confiers prefer to grow in lime rich soil?
If so maybe the lime in the soil preserved the pies thrown out by your mother???
 
I'm with Foul Ole Ron, I think you stole some poor garden Dwarfs dinner.:hmph:
 
Three pies... sounds like a magic number. The fact that they were fresh proves that they had been placed there recently. I suppose this could have something to do with a neighbourhood witch practising her rituals. Good thing you didn't eat them!
 
As a bit of a mycologist, I do know that many plants have got this symbiotic relationship with specific fungi. If you're doing the gardening you might see white hyphae (mushroomy threads) in the soil. The fungi are often associated with specific trees (birch with fly agaric) so maybe this was a fungus associated with the conifer.
There are types of puff-balls called 'earthballs' which are white on the outside and black inside, they look a bit like potatoes. Not mince pies. And I think you'd normally get them above ground not under ground.
But it could be something similar.
Or otherwise who can say.
 
It seems slightly suspect to me that the author (or should I say contributor?) of the original story hasn`t once made any reply to any of the queries or remarks. If it were my story, I`d get to a computer somehow and see what people were saying about it.

MsT
 
mince pie veracity

Perhaps the author is interested in the debate and other's opinions rather than needing to affirm what happened.
Oh and by the way...the mince pies were English sweet pies. I know .....it was me doing the digging.
 
Fair enough!

Did they look" home-made" or "bought"?
If they were bought ones, they might have had an excess of "preservative" in them! (No wonder bought pastry gives me indigestion.)

MsT
 
:) home made...but very pale....bearing in mind that the ground was undisturbed for a couple of decades they were remarkably fresh!
 
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