WYCH ELM - MYTHS, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF WYCH ELM


WYCH ELM, ULMUS GLABRA
The wych elm is the only elm tree which is native to Britain and is also native to Scotland, which can only boast around twenty indigenous trees. It is known as the Scotch elm too because of this and has given rise to the names of Loch Leven and Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond is a corruption of the name Leamhán which is Scots Gaelic for elm, as is Leven. In Irish Gaelic the elm is slόibhe. Not to be outdone the Welsh epic poem, The Battle of the Trees, Cad Geddau, supposedly written in the 6th century by the bard Taliesin, features the elm as being steadfast and unyielding in battle. The wood from the wych elm was used by mediaeval Welsh archers to great effect. The English bowmen favoured the wood of the yew tree. However the wood of the elm is flexible which is reflected in the Old English word, wice, meaning pliant or supple which became wiche in Middle English and hence wych.
  The wych elm has the largest leaves of all British trees and seems to be more resilient to the ravages of Dutch elm disease, caused by the Ceratocystis ulmi fungus, than other elms. In Britain more than 20 million elm trees have been lost to this disease since the 1970s.
  The wych elm is associated with death and has been since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. There is a myth which tells how the first elm grove sprang up when Orpheus paused to play a love song on his lyre for his wife Eurydice whom he had just rescued from Hades (the Greek name for the Underworld). Other Greek myths say that Orpheus and his Argonauts met the Hesperides in their garden and the nymphs transformed themselves into trees; Erytheia became a wych elm which in Greek is ptelea. This story can be found in the work of Apollonius Rhodius. Homer relates that nymphs planted trees on the burial mound of the King of Trojan Thebes, King Eetion, after he was slain by Achilles. Virgil says that Oneiroi, the spirit of dreams, slept at night in a wych elm which guarded the entrance to Hades.
  Greeks planted the wych elm in burial grounds and regarded it as sacred to Dionysus as it was used to support grape vines; Dionysus was the god of wine and debauchery whose Roman equivalent was Bacchus.
  There are other reasons why the wych elm has been associated with death, one being that its branches fall unexpectedly and can kill anyone underneath them at the time. There have been several deaths recorded because of branches falling on them. The wood was also favoured for coffin-making because of its resistance to water.
  In the 17th and 18th centuries in Britain wych elm wood was used to make underground water pipes in cities such as Bristol and London and these have stood the test of time remarkably well. The wood has been made for groynes (wooden breakwaters in the sea) and for piers and harbour works. Waterwheels have also been made from this wood as have the ‘platforms’ from which church bells are swing in bell towers. The wood is used for furniture and to make smaller decorative items and it is truly a beautiful close-grained wood. It has also been employed in boat-building to make keels and rudders as well as boards.
  Wych elms can tolerate the most polluted cities as you will see if you visit Thessaloniki on the Greek mainland and stroll down Tsimiski Avenue. The poor trees have been pollarded and endure exhaust fumes on a daily basis but are still growing despite the odds.
  The trees can grow to around 70 feet tall and have broad canopies. They can also live for many years and there are some examples still left in Europe of really ancient wych elms. Yellow dye can be obtained from the tree and the inner bark fibres can be used for tie dying fabrics and for securing thatch as well as for caning traditionally made wooden chairs.
  Pollen from wych elms found in archaeological sites in Scotland has been dated to 8,500 years ago, showing that they have been growing there for at least that long. There is also evidence from sites in Britain that the tree was used to make bows as far back as the Mesolithic Age. According to tradition, magicians favoured wands made from wych elm wood.
  The young leaves of the wych elm are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked, but have a mucilaginous texture. The fruit (seed) is also edible; the inner bark has sometimes been dried then ground to a powder and used to thicken soups and stews and added to flour to make bread.
  The inner bark of the wych elm has also been used in traditional medicine as a remedy for rheumatism, when used internally as a tisane or externally on the affected area. It has astringent properties and is said to be a useful remedy for diarrhoea. The tisane made from this also has a mildly diuretic action.
  Sometimes galls grow on the wych elm leaves as they do on the oak leaves, and the water found in them has been used in traditional medicine as according to the 17th century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, “the water that is found in the bladders (galls) on the leaves is very effectual to cleanse the skin and make it fair.” In autumn the insects inside these galls die and the yellow or black balsam that is left has been used for chest ailments.
  In the UK there are some projects designed to help ensure the continued existence of these trees and hopefully soon there will be a cure for Dutch elm disease. These trees need all the help they can get.
  

HAREBELL - THE BLUE BELL OF SCOTLAND: SUPERSTITIONS AND MEDICAL USES OF HAREBELLS


HAREBELL, CAMPANULA ROTUNDIFLORA 
Harebells are the Bluebell of Scotland, although they are not called bluebells elsewhere. These are delicate flowers that grow on a long, thin stem which produces a milky sap when cut. The stem is so thin that the weight of the flowers makes them bend; the flowers themselves are paper thin however and do not weigh much. They have been little used in traditional medicine in the UK as there are various superstitions attached to them. In Scotland they are known as Aul Man’s Bells and the old man in question is the Devil. They have sinister reputations and are linked with witches, as it was believed that they put the juice from the stems in ointments to make flying potions. In Scotland the plant is also known as Milk-ort, or milk plant, the name deriving from the sap found in the plant.
  More benignly these delicate bell-shaped flowers were also associated with fairies in Victorian times, and were said to be fairies’ sleeping bowers, or their drinking goblets, for dew. Some superstitions say that these plants help you to see the fairies or the little people and it was believed that they could help transport a mortal to Faerieland. It was supposed that they could part the veil between this world and that of the faeries.
   Some of the Native American tribes used the sap from these flowers to cure earache and a decoction of the plants was used as eyewash. The root was chewed for heart and lung problems.
  It is said that the plants have antifungal and antiviral properties, as well as possibly having compounds in them which might help in the battle against cancer. The leaves are edible and so are the flowers which can be added to salads.
  It has been considered unlucky to pick the plants in the UK because of their associations with witches and fairies, and it was believed that their wrath would fall on people who picked the flowers.
  For those of you who are interested, here are the lyrics to the Blue Bells of Scotland song.
   
  Blue Bells of Scotland
 
Oh where, tell me where, is your Highland laddie gone?
Oh where, tell me where, is your Highland laddie gone?
He's gone wi' streaming banners where noble deeds are done
And it's oh, in my heart I wish him safe at home

Oh where, tell me where, did your Highland laddie dwell?
Oh where, tell me where, did your Highland laddie dwell?
He dwelt in Bonnie Scotland, where blooms the sweet blue bell
And it's oh, in my heart I lo'ed my laddie well

Oh what, tell me what, does your Highland laddie wear?
Oh what, tell me what, does your Highland laddie wear?
A bonnet with a lofty plume, and on his breast a plaid
And it's oh, in my heart I lo'ed my Highland lad

Oh what, tell me what, if your Highland laddie is slain?
Oh what, tell me what, if your Highland laddie is slain?
Oh no, true love will be his guard and bring him safe again
For it's oh, my heart would break if my Highland lad were slain

DOCK LEAF - ANTIDOTE FOR NETTLE STINGS: HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF DOCK LEAF


DOCK LEAF, BROAD-LEAVED DOCK, BUTTER DOCK, RUMEX OBTUSIFOLIA

Dock leaves are commonly found growing with stinging nettles and are a useful antidote when you get stung. I always did as a child because I couldn’t understand how stinging nettles worked. My father would crush a dock leaf and wrap it around the area that had been stung which gave instant relief. There seems to be some debate about whether this actually works, but it does, although the red dock and crispy or yellow dock don’t. Perhaps the wrong dock leaf has been applied to the sting?
  Here is a poem about the dock leaf which I think is apt: -

The Dock
Come here, son: look! that leaf is dock,
Beside the dandelion clock.

Wherever stinging nettle grows
There, too, the healing dock leaf blows

As if to show some grand Design
Of Mother Nature, all benign,

Who suffers with her children's pain
And longs to make them well again:

Who cannot but provide relief
As in this sting-­removing leaf.

      ………………………..

Or are there flowers that can abate
The pain when people love, or hate?

No: men and towns to dust return:
The fires drink up the clouds, and burn.

Oh no, relief is never there.
Come, we must go: and son, beware,

For where the balmy dock leaves stand
Are stinging nettles close at hand. 

Or perhaps the dock leaf didn’t work because this rhyme wasn’t said when the dock leaf was applied?

'Nettle in, Dock;
Dock in, Nettle out
Dock rub Nettle out,”
This is a traditional rhyme that country people used to say on such occasions.
  Nicholas Culpeper writing in the 17th century wrote about docks in particular and in general, and although the red dock, or bloodwort was commonly used in medicine he says that other docks such as the common one had similar properties: -
“The seed of most of the other kinds, whether gardens or fields, doth stay laxes and fluxes of all sorts, the loathing of the stomach through choler, and is helpful for those that spit blood. The roots boiled in vinegar helpeth the itch, scabs, and breaking out of the skin, if it be bathed therewith. The distilled water of the herb and roots have the same virtue, and cleanseth the skin from freckles, morphewa, and all other spots and discoloured rings therein. All Docks being boiled with meat, make it boil the sooner.”
 While it is true that young dock leaved can be used as a pot herb, it isn’t to be recommended as even grazing animals avoid them.
  The dock is related to sorrel as both belong to the Rumex genus, and so are also related to rhubarb as they are in the Polygonaceae family of plants. The dock leaf contains an antihistamine, chlorphenamine, which is responsible for it astringent action. The bruised leaves have been used to treat burns and scalds too by country people throughout the ages as they have cooling properties. The plant is called Butter dock because farm made butter was wrapped in the big, broad leaves to keep the butter cool while it was transported to markets. Mention of this use is made by George Eliot in her 19th century novel, “Adam Bede” in chapter 8 when Mrs. Poysner summons Molly.
   “Molly,” she said rather languidly, “just run out and set me a bunch of dock leaves: the butter’s ready to pack now.”
  Dock leaves have had many uses in the past, and next time you get stung by nettles, make sure you pick the right kind of dock leaf to treat the sting!




CLARY (SAGE) - HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS


CLARY (SAGE), SALVIA SCLAREA
It is thought that Clary originated in Syria or south west and central Europe where it can still be found growing wild. It was known to the ancients and the essential oil was prized by Dioscorides, Theophrastus and Pliny. This is still used in cosmetics and the perfume industry as a fixer and cultivated for these industries in France and Russia. It is a member of the sage family and closely related to the sage we commonly use in cooking. Clary can be used in exactly the same way if you have any growing in your garden, or know where to find the herb growing wild.
  These days clary is little used except for its essential oil in aromatherapy. It seems that it acts on the hypothalamus, a ‘primitive’ part of the brain and is used to relieve anxiety, fear and paranoia. It also provokes vivid dreams and gives clarity to them so that you will easily recall those dreams that have troubled you during the night. The calming effect of clary was known to the Physicians of Myddfai who had this to say about its use.
  “If you would never be in an envious mood, drink as much as would fill an egg shell of the juice of the herb called wild clary, and you will not after fall into an evil temper. If you would be always in good health, drink a spoonful of the juice of the herb mallows, and you will always be so.”
  Many Internet sites say that clary can be used to make fritters, and I suppose you could put them in pakoras, but tastes have changed over the centuries, so clary might be something of an acquired taste. The idea that you can cook fritters with them seems to have originated from the Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper, who wrote this in the 17th century. He wrote this about clary.-
  “The seed put into the eyes clears them from motes and such like things gotten within the lids to offend them, and it also clears them from any white and red spots which may be on them. The mucilage of the seed made with water, and applied to tumours or swellings, disperseth and taketh them away. It also draweth forth splinters, thorns, or other things got into the flesh. The leaves used with vinegar, either by itself or with a little honey, doth help boils, felons, and the hot inflammations that are gathered by their pains, if applied before it be grown too great. The powder of the dried root put into the nose provoketh sneezing, and thereby purgeth the head and brain of much rheum and corruption. The seeds or leaves taken in wine provoketh to venery. It is of much use both for men and women that have weak backs, and helpeth to strengthen the reins; used either by itself or with other herbs conduces to the same effect, and in tansies often. The fresh leaves dipped in a batter of flour, eggs, and a little milk, and fried in butter and served to the table, is not unpleasant to any, but exceedingly profitable for those that are troubled with weak reins, and the effects thereof. The juice of the herb put into ale or beer, and then drunk, bringeth down women's courses and expelleth the after-birth.”
  It is from Culpeper then that we learn about the use of clary as an aphrodisiac (“venery” is sexual activity), as well as its use for kidney (reins) problems. There is no medical evidence to support these statements, so if you use clary for any of these ailments, remember that such uses belonged in the 17th century. Please also note that pregnant women should not use this herb as it acts on oestrogen production and the uterus. While it may help some menopausal problems it is not advised to take it while pregnant as its effects are not known.
  The herb has been used not only to flavour ale (which didn’t traditionally use hops), but also some liqueurs and vermouth. Wine can be made from the flowering plant too, but it taste better when mixed with other flowering herbs and blossoms such as elderflowers. Also the herb may be infused in other white wine to give it a muscatel flavour.
   It is also found in some cosmetic products such as shampoos to increase sebum production and in some ointments and creams.
  The Latin name “sclarea” is a corruption of “clarus” meaning “clear” and it is thought it got this name because it was used to get foreign bodies out of the eyes. Salvia means salvation or to save, and this is because of the reputation the plants of the sage family had in ancient times. It is thought to be a native of south western and central Europe and parts of Asia; in other places such as Britain it is naturalized.
  The leaves when young can be eaten raw, or you can add them to dishes as you would sage, but use the young, tender leaves only, as older ones tend to have a bitter taste. The flowers are also edible and can be added to salads.
  Clary is a herb which has been overlooked in modern times, but perhaps we should be using it more as it was so prized by the ancients, who, when all is said and done, knew a thing or two about medicine that we have forgotten.