Encyclopedia of Folk Medicine

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Encyclopedia ofFolk MedicineOld World and New World Traditions

Gabrielle Hatfield

Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado Oxford, England

Copyright �2004 by Gabrielle HatfieldAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, inany form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusionof brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hatfield, Gabrielle.Encyclopedia of folk medicine : old world and new world traditions /

Gabrielle Hatfield.p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Alternative medicine—Encyclopedias. 2. Traditionalmedicine—Encyclopedias.

[DNLM: 1. Medicine, Traditional—Encyclopedias—English. WB 13 H362e2004] I. Title.

R733.H376 2004615.8'8'03—dc22

2003022101

08 07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ABC-CLIO, Inc.130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911

This book is printed on acid-free paper. �Manufactured in the United States of America

ISBN 1-57607-874-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 1-57607-825-6 (eBook)

To my husband, John, with love.

Contents

Guide to Related Topics, xiAcknowledgments, xv

Introduction, xvii


AAbortion, 1Abscesses, 3Acne, 4African tradition, 5Alder, 7Aloe vera, 9Amber, 10Amulet, 10Anemia, 13Apple, 14Arthritis, See Rheumatism and arthritis,

287Ash, 16Asthma, 17

BBackache, 21Bad breath, 23Baldness, 24Balm of Gilead, 25Bartram, John, 26Beans, 27Bed-wetting, 28Bee, 29Birch, 31

Bites and stings, See Insect bites and stings,211

Black, William George, 32Black cohosh, 32Blackberry, Bramble, 33Blacksmith, 34Blackthorn, 35Bleeding, 35Blisters, 38Blood, 39Bloodroot, 40Bogbean, 41Boils, 42Boneset, 44Bread, 45Breast problems, 46Bruises, 49Bryony, 52Burdock, 53Burns, 54Buttercups, 57Button snakeroot, 57

CCabbage, 59Cancer, 61

viii ; Contents

Catnip, 65Caul, 65Cayenne, 66Celtic tradition, 67Chamomile, 68Chapped skin, 69Cherry, 71Chickweed, 72Chilblains, 73Childbirth, 74Colds, 78Colic, 80Colonists, 82Color, 83Columbo, 85Comfrey, 86Concepts of disease, 87Constipation, 89Consumption, See Tuberculosis, 352Contraception, 91Corn, 93Corns, 95Coughs, 97Cowslip, 100Cramp, 101Cricket, 102Croup, 103Cuts, 104

DDandelion, 109Dead man’s hand, 111Deafness, 111Depression, 113Dew, 115Diabetes, 116Diarrhea, 118Dizziness, 119Dock, 120Doctrine of signatures, 122Dog, 122Dropsy, 124Drunkenness, 126Dysentery, 127

EEarache, 129Earth, 131Echinacea, 132Eczema, 133Eggs, 135Elder, 136Elm, 138Epilepsy, 139Eryngo, 142Erysipelas, 143Evil eye, 145Excreta, 146Eye problems, 148

FFat, 153Felons, 154Fevers, 155Figwort, 159Fish, 159Flax, 160Forge water, 162Foxglove, 163Fractures, 164Freckles, 165Frogs, See Toads and frogs, 341Frostbite, 167

GGarlic, 169Ginger, 172Ginseng, 174Gold, 175Golden seal, 175Gout, 176Gravel and stone, 178

HHair problems, 181Hand, Wayland D., 183Hawthorn, 184Hay fever, 185Head lice, See Hair problems, 181Headache, 187Healer, 190

Contents : ix

Heart trouble, 191Heartburn, See Indigestion, 209Hemlock, 195Hemlock spruce, 195Hemorrhoids, See Piles, 263Hiccups, 196Hives, 197Holly, 198Honey, 200Hops, 201Horehound, 203Houseleek, 204Hunger, 206

IIndigestion, 209Insect bites and stings, 211Insomnia, See Sleeplessness, 310Ivy, 213

JJaundice, 215Jimson weed, See Thornapple, 339Josselyn, John, 219

KKing’s Evil, See Tuberculosis, 352

LLobelia, 223Lumbago, See Backache, 21

MMad dog, bite of, 225Mallow, 226Mandrake, 228Medicine man, 230Menopause, 231Menstrual problems, 232Mexican tradition, 235Midwife, 235Migraine, 237Milk, 238Mistletoe, 239Molds, 241Moon, 242

Moss, 244Mouse, 245Mugwort, 246Mullein, 248

NNative American tradition, 251Nausea, 251Nettle, See Stinging nettle, 332Nosebleed, 252

OOnion, 255Otter, 257

PPalsy, 259Peach, 260Piles, 263Pine, 265Plague, 267Plantain, 269Poison ivy, Poison oak, 271Poke, 273Poppy, 274Potato, 276Poultice, 279Pregnancy, 280Prickly ash, 281Puffball, 281

QQuinsy, 285

RRenal colic, See Colic, 80Rheumatism and arthritis, 287Rickets, 291Ringworm, 292Rose, 295Rowan, 296

SSt. John’s wort, 299Sarsaparilla, 300Sassafras, 301

x ; Contents

Scrofula, See Tuberculosis, 352Scurvy, 303Seventh son, 305Shakers, 306Shingles, 306Silverweed, 308Skull, 309Sleeplessness, 310Smallpox, 311Snail, 315Snake, 316Snake bite, 318Snow, 320Soda, 321Sore feet, 321Sore throat, 323Specialist, 325Sphagnum moss, 326Spider, 327Spit, 328Spots, See Acne, 4Sprains, 329Stinging nettle, 332Sunburn, 334Sympathetic magic, 335

TTeething, 337Tetters, See Ringworm, 292Thomson, Samuel, 338Thornapple, 339

Thyme, 340Toads and frogs, 341Tobacco, 344Tonic, 345Toothache, 346Tormentil, 349Traill, Catherine Parr, 349Transference, 349Tuberculosis, 352

UUrine, 357

VValerian, 359Vinegar, 360

WWarts, 363Water, 365Whitlows, See Felons, 154Whooping cough, 367Willow, 369Witch, 371Worms, 373Wounds, 376Wrinkles, 378

YYarrow, 381Yew, 382

Index, 385About the Author, 393

Guide to Related Topics

PeopleBartram, JohnBlack, William GeorgeHand, Wayland D.Josselyn, JohnThomson, SamuelBlacksmithColonistsHealerMedicine manMidwifeSeventh sonSpecialistWitch

AilmentsAbortionAbscessesAcneAnemiaArthritisAsthmaBackacheBad breathBaldnessBed-wettingBites and stingsBleedingBlistersBoilsBreast problemsBruisesBurnsCancer

Chapped skinChilblainsChildbirthColdsColicConstipationConsumptionContraceptionCornsCoughsCrampCroupCutsDeafnessDepressionDiabetesDiarrheaDizzinessDropsyDrunkennessDysenteryEaracheEczemaEpilepsyErysipelasEye problemsFelonsFeversFracturesFrecklesFrostbiteGoutGravel and stoneHair problems

xii ; Guide to Related Topics

Hay feverHeadacheHeart troubleHeartburnHiccupsHivesHungerIndigestionInsect bites and stingsJaundiceKing’s EvilLumbagoMad dog, bite ofMenopauseMenstrual problemsMigraineNauseaNosebleedPalsyPilesPlaguePoison ivy, Poison oakPregnancyQuinsyRheumatismRicketsRingwormSt. Anthony’s fire (Erysipelas)ScrofulaScurvyShinglesSleeplessnessSmallpoxSnake biteSore feetSore throatSpotsSprainsSunburnTeethingTettersToothacheTuberculosisWartsWhooping coughWorms

WoundsWrinkles

Healing AgentsAcornAlderAloe veraAmberAppleAshBalm of GileadBeansBeeBirchBlack cohoshBlackberryBlackthornBloodBloodrootBogbeanBonesetBreadBryonyBurdockButtercupsButton snakerootCabbageCatnipCaulCayenneChamomileCherryChickweedColumboComfreyCornCowslipCricketDandelionDead man’s handDewDockDogEarthEchinaceaEggsElder

Guide to Related Topics : xiii

ElmEryngoExcretaFatFigwortFishFlaxForge waterFoxgloveGarlicGingerGinsengGoldGolden sealHawthornHemlockHemlock spruceHollyHoneyHopsHorehoundHouseleekIvyJimson weedLobeliaMallowMandrakeMilkMistletoeMoldsMossMouseMugwortMulleinNettleOnionOtterPeachPinePlantainPokePoppyPotatoPoulticePrickly ashPuffball

RoseRowanSt. John’s wortSarsaparillaSassafrasSilverweedSkullSnailSnakeSnowSodaSphagnum mossSpiderSpitStinging nettleThornappleThymeToads and frogsTobaccoTonicTormentilUrineValerianVinegarWaterWillowYarrowYew

IdeasAmuletColorConcepts of diseaseDoctrine of signaturesEvil eyeMoonSympathetic magicTransference

Cultural TraditionsAfrican traditionCeltic traditionMexican traditionNative American traditionShakers

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all those who havehelped in the preparation of this work. I amgrateful to Jennifer Westwood for initiatingthe idea; to my editor Bob Neville for hishelp, patience, and encouragement; and toSimon Mason for seeing the projectthrough to completion. I also wish to ac-knowledge gratefully financial support fromthe Author’s Foundation.

Not least, I wish to thank my husband,John, and my family for their encourage-ment and support.

NOTES ON SOURCES

Each entry is provided with a full bibli-ography. Manuscript sources are given ref-erence numbers where these exist. In thecase of manuscripts in private hands, thename of the owner is given.

The amazing resource of the Folklore Ar-chives at the University of California at LosAngeles includes a vast database of NorthAmerican folk remedies. These are referredto as UCLA Folklore Archives.

Introduction

Examples in this book are drawn from thefolk medicine of Britain and Ireland andfrom that of North America. Any attemptto define folk medicine is fraught with dif-ficulty. William George Black was the firstperson to use the term in print, and he de-fined it as “meant to comprehend the sub-jects of charms, incantations, and thosehabits relating to the preservation of health,or the cure of disease, which were and arepracticed by the more superstitious and old-fashioned” (Black 1878). To modern earsthis sounds patronizing, and such socialcondescension would not be acceptable tomost people today. Although folklore stud-ies have moved on, it is surprising to findhow neglected this particular area of folk-lore has been, particularly in Britain. His-torians of medicine have on the wholeneglected it as a subject hardly worthy ofmention; they have concentrated instead onthe history of official medicine, assumingthat, in the words of the highly respectedhistorian Singer, folk medicine is “usuallymedieval or renaissance medicine misun-derstood” (Singer 1961: xlvii). However,there is much more to folk medicine thanthis. Far from representing an ignorant ver-sion of orthodox medicine, it should be re-garded as the origin of all types of medicalpractice. It predates any form of officialmedicine and includes self-treatment as wellas treatment by community healers.

Its being based largely on oral traditions

accounts in part for the relatively slight at-tention it has received from students of thewritten word. Since the practice of folkmedicine is, at least in many parts of Brit-ain, fast becoming obsolete, it is almost toolate now to attempt to record the whole cor-pus of information for posterity. The factthat folk medicine embraces a wide varietyof disciplines, from anthropology and reli-gion to botany, zoology, and pharmaceuti-cal science, may be another reason why ithas been understudied as a subject.

Yet much of orthodox medicine has hadits roots in folk medicine, and folk medicinefar predates any kind of official medicine.The subject that we now call ethnobotanywas born when the first human hunter-gatherers discovered that certain plants weretoxic and could be used to man’s advantage.This was long before written records ex-isted. It seems safe to assume that empiricalknowledge of plant and animal foods andmedicines was passed on from one genera-tion to the next as oral tradition within anyone community. Thus began what Stuarthas called the “longest clinical trial in hu-man history” (Stuart 1979: 10).

Systems of official medicine began oncerecognized healers emerged within a com-munity, but at any given time in history andany given place, official and folk medicinehave coexisted, sometimes peacefully andsometimes at war with each other. In Brit-ain rivalry between official and folk medi-

xviii ; Introduction

cine was so extreme that it led during theeighteenth century to the abandonment ofmany native plant remedies by the medicalprofession. Increasing levels of educationled to devaluation of the “old wives tales”of earlier generations, and this process hasculminated in our modern society, wherewe are no longer self-reliant in treating evenminor illness and depend instead on pillsfor all ills. Reaction against technologicalmedicine and an increasing awareness ofside effects of modern drugs has produceda resurgence of interest among the middleclasses in so-called natural remedies. Un-fortunately, this interest is often ill in-formed. When such remedies were used byour forebears they were hedged around withpractical limitations. But knowledge of ex-act methodology, never written down, hasoften been lost. In this secondary “return tonature” we lack our forebears’ detailedknowledge, and what was for them a saferemedy can be lethal in ignorant hands.There is probably no such thing as a per-fectly safe remedy, natural or otherwise.Medicine in all its forms is a risky businessand doubtless has always been. All these arereasons for preserving such knowledge as westill have of all forms of folk medicine.

Any collection of folk medicine is kalei-doscopic in nature, the fragments of infor-mation within it making different patternsdepending on the viewpoint. The picture inBritish folk medicine is complex. In NorthAmerica, it is even more so.

It is still sometimes possible to trace aparticular remedy to one tradition of heal-ing, such as the Native American traditionor the Celtic tradition. Over the centuries,communities have obviously borrowed in-formation from each other, so that distinc-tions between disparate traditions havebecome increasingly blurred. Confusing thepicture further, official medicine has bor-rowed from folk medicine, and vice versa.For every folk remedy that we have todayon record, there are many that have been

forgotten, as the chain of oral tradition hasbeen snapped. For all these reasons, gener-alizations in folk medicine are largely mean-ingless. The best we can do is to attempt torecord for posterity what is left.

Folk medicine has had no scribes to re-cord it in the past, and attempts retrospec-tively to interpret it are destined to failure.As Thompson has pointed out, too muchof written history is “a description of socialrelations as they may be seen from above”(Thompson 1991: 21). We have no clearidea of past folk concepts of disease but areforced to infer these from the remedies usedand their manner of use. In every field it isonly the educated and the literate who haverecorded their theories. In folk medicinethis has sometimes led to misleading attri-bution to folk medicine of ideas that wereactually formulated by the learned ratherthan the folk. An example is the doctrine ofsignatures.

Within our incomplete reservoir of in-formation on folk medicine it is possibleto detect some recurrent themes. One ofthese is the idea of transference of diseaseto an inanimate object (such as a stone orwater [see entry]), or to an animal (suchas a dog [see entry]), or to a plant (such asan apple [see entry] tree). In an extensionof this idea, a disease may be “left behind”by a “passing-through ceremony,” such asthe cure for hernia, which involves passingunder a blackberry arch. Wart remedies inparticular are rich in examples of transfer-ence. They also illustrate several otherthemes common in folk medicine, such asthe idea of sympathetic magic and of likecuring like, sometimes described as “ho-meopathic magic.” (Thus, the warty toad[see entry] can be a cause of warts.) Manyfolk remedies involve some kind of mea-surement or counting; Wayland D. Handgives numerous examples from North Car-olina (Hand 1961: xxix–xxx). A British ex-ample is to cut as many notches in an elderstick as you have warts and dispose of the

Introduction : xix

stick. Many, too, have a built-in time ele-ment: rub the wart with meat and bury themeat; as it decays, the warts will disappear.For a child suffering from asthma, plugsome of its hair into a hole bored in a treeabove their head; when the child grows be-yond it, the asthma will disappear.

It is in the nature of human study to cat-egorize information, but there is much infolk medicine that does not lend itself tothis treatment. Partly because our recordedinformation is so incomplete, and partly be-cause the roots of folk medicine are so dis-persed in time and place, many folkremedies can only be described as “miscel-laneous.”

In British plant medicine it is neverthe-less possible to distinguish between thetruly traditional, orally preserved folk med-icine, practiced on the whole by those toopoor to afford, or too remote from, officialmedical help; and the “book” medicine ofofficial practitioners. The numerous printedbooks on do-it-yourself medicine occupy aposition intermediate between folk and of-ficial medicine.

The origin of folk medicine in Britain iscomplex; in North America it is even moreso. The Native American tradition is a vastsubject in its own right, and one in whichit is difficult, and perhaps meaningless, toattempt to separate treatment by healersfrom domestic folk medicine. Every subse-quent wave of colonists to North Americatook with it its own folk medical traditions,some of which have become incorporatedinto what we might call “general” folk med-icine. As in Britain, the role of printed in-formation in American folk medicine is adifficult one to define. In fact, it is evenmore difficult in North America than inBritain, since many colonists came frombackgrounds where they would have de-pended on official medical aid. Theybrought with them orthodox medical booksof their day and depended on these in con-ditions where little else was available by way

of medical help. These books include someBritish orthodox medical texts, such asThomas Phaire’s The Boke of Children (firstpublished in London in 1553 and subse-quently reprinted) and texts of domesticmedicine, such as John Wesley’s PrimitivePhysic (London, 1781) and Culpeper’s En-glish Physician (London, 1652). In Britainthese would not be regarded today as folkmedicine in the strict sense, whereas inNorth America they have all gone into thegiant melting pot of introduced traditionsand information that has become today’sNorth American folk medicine. Almanacsand books of domestic medicine aboundedduring the nineteenth century. These werea mix of official and folk medicine. Some,such as J. C. Gunn’s New Family Physician(New York, 1869) were written by doctorsbut became immensely popular and raninto numerous editions. Indeed, in NorthAmerica the dividing lines between“trained” doctors, herbalists, and folk prac-titioners are almost impossible to draw pre-cisely. Some of the Shaker practitionerswent on to become orthodox practitioners.Samuel Thomson, whose experience beganin folk medicine, became a famous herbal-ist, profoundly influencing not only NorthAmerican but also British herbalism (Griggs1997: 166–187).

As with all aspects of folklore, there is adanger that the subject is misrepresented byan emphasis on the bizarre and, indeed, bya misunderstanding on the part of the re-corders who are rarely themselves the usersof folk medicine. The contrasting strands ofpracticality and credulity that characterizefolk medicine are fascinating. In this book,emphasis has been placed on actual re-corded folk remedies, which allow the“folk” to speak for themselves.

Nolan in Ireland and Hufford in Penn-sylvania have both emphasized the com-munity aspect of folk medicine. Nolandescribes “healing and helping taking placeevery day” in rural communities (Nolan

xx ; Introduction

1988: 55), while Hufford describes folkmedicine as “community resources for deal-ing with illness” (Hufford 1992: 15). Thiscaring aspect of folk medicine is another co-gent reason for preserving our knowledge ofit.

British folk medicine can be comparedto a fabric composed of several interwovenstrands. In North America, folk medicine ismore like a patchwork. Just as with a quiltit is sometimes possible to recognize from ascrap the source of the original material, soin folk medicine the origin of a particularremedy may be traceable to one tradition.A whole quilt, composed of scraps, is an artform in its own right. Similarly, the corpusof folk medicine, with its contributionsfrom many cultures and eras, is somethingmore than the sum of its parts. It is a richmosaic worth preserving for posterity. It ishoped that this book will arouse further in-terest and curiosity in this once underval-ued aspect of human culture.

ReferencesBlack, William George. Journal of the British Ar-

chaeological Association 34 (1878): 327–332.Griggs, Barbara. New Green Pharmacy: The Story

of Western Herbal Medicine. London: Ver-milion, 1997.

Hand, Wayland D. Introduction to The Frank C.Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore.Durham, NC: Duke University Press,1961.

Hufford, David J. Folk Medicine in ContemporaryAmerica: In Herbal and Magical Medicine.Edited by James Kirkland, Holly F. Mat-thews, C. W. Sullivan III, and Karen Bald-win. Durham, NC, and London: DukeUniversity Press, 1992.

Nolan, Peter W. “Folk Medicine in Rural Ire-land.” Folk Life 27 (1988–1999): 44–56.

Singer, Charles. Introduction to Leechdoms, Wort-cunning and Starcraft of Early England. Col-lected and edited by Rev. Thomas OswaldCockayne. London: Holland Press, 1961.

Stuart, Malcolm, ed. The Encyclopedia of Herbsand Herbalism. London: Orbis, 1979.

Thompson, E. P. Customs in Common. Suffolk:Merlin Press, 1991.

See also Apple; Asthma; Black, WilliamGeorge; Blackberry; Celtic tradition;Colonists; Concepts of disease; Doctrineof signatures; Dog; Elder; Hand, WaylandD.; Healers; Native American tradition;Thomson, Samuel; Shakers, Sympatheticmagic; Toads and frogs; Transference;Warts; Water.

;A:

AbortionIn this highly sensitive area, the folk

medical practices are almost certainlyunderrepresented in the records. Religious,legal and ethical issues involved have led tosecrecy. Such terms as “emmenagogue”(meaning an agent that provokes menstru-ation) are in many cases likely to be euphe-misms for abortion. More picturesquely, inthe eighteenth century, such remedies wereemployed to “bring down the flowers” (Le-ven and Melville Papers, SRO). Probablysuch remedies were used, as stated, to reg-ulate menstruation, but probably also, atleast unofficially, they were used to bringabout abortions. Although these remediesare listed freely in the herbals from the six-teenth century onward, it is difficult toknow what “the folk” actually did aboutsuch matters. It is not until we come to re-cent times, within living memory, that wecan discover with any certainty the meansused. Even within living memory, this hasremained such a delicate matter that fewpeople are ready to provide information.

Apart from purely mechanical means ofdestroying the fetus, in poor country areasof Britain girls “in trouble” would resort tostrong laxatives or jumping off walls orstairs in an attempt to abort. If this failed,often gin was the next resort. Interestingly,gin is flavored with juniper (Juniperus spp.),one of the few plants that we know was al-

most universally used for abortion. In partsof Britain, the plant is known by the un-compromising name of “bastard killer”(Grigson 1955: 24). John Pechey, writingin 1694, says of this plant that it “forces thecourses. . . . Upon which Account they aretoo well known, and too much used bywenches” (Pechey 1694: 164). Juniper wasknown by a number of names, includingsavin. Under this name it appears in thetraditional ballad of the “Queen’s Maries.”When one of Mary Queen of Scot’s ladiesin waiting was found to be pregnant by theking, this, according to the ballads, was theplant she used to try to bring about an abor-tion (Child 1965: 379). Her attemptsfailed, and she was executed in the Tol-booth, Edinburgh.

Other plants used in British folk medi-cine as abortifacients include raspberry.Used in the later stages of pregnancy, a teamade from the leaves has been found tostrengthen the uterine muscles and speeddelivery, but in the early stages of pregnancyit has been used to procure an abortion. An-other plant used similarly is pennyroyal,Mentha pulegium. This is native to Britainand has probably been one of the more se-cretive remedies handed down (usually bywomen) from one generation to the next.It has been used successfully as recently astwenty years ago in the United Kingdom(Hatfield MS). Actual records of its use arevery rare, and it is still rarer to know the

2 ; Abortion

outcome. There is an oral history record ofthe use of houseleek (Sempervivum tecto-rum) in Ireland to procure abortion (Vick-ery 1995: 198). In this instance, the plantwas apparently often used to cleanse cowsof the afterbirth, a use that would have sug-gested the secondary use as an abortifacient.Three native plants that we know were usedin the Scottish Highlands to procure abor-tions are meadow-rue (Thalictrum minus),fairy flax (Linum catharticum), and fir club-moss (Huperzia selago). All were recordedin use in the seventeenth century in thewestern Highlands by James Robertson,who, as Beith points out, was unusual inapparently being able to gain women’s con-fidence on such matters (Beith 1995: 96).

In general North American folk medi-cine it is equally difficult to find out aboutabortifacients, and for the same reasons.Collections of folk medical cures rarely ad-dress the subject at all. It is interesting thatthe UCLA folk medicine archive, so vastand extensive in many respects, has few rec-ords on this subject. This, of course, couldreflect unwillingness on the part of record-ers as well as of informants to discuss suchmatters. Meyer’s collection of folk remediesfor “suppressed menses” almost certainly in-cludes some that were used to procure abor-tion (Meyer 1985: 171–173). For example,juniper appears here, more than once. Ithad official sanction as a menstrual regula-tor and was described by two nineteenth-century doctors as among the “best andmost powerful medicines for the regulationof retained or obstructed menses,” a medi-cine that “may be found upon almost anyfarm in New England” (Capron and Slack:1848). Other plants recommended for reg-ulation of menses are smartweed (Polygo-num sp.) and seneca snakeroot (Polygalasenega), as well as the herb called “femaleregulator” that Meyer identifies as Senecioaureus (Meyer 1985: 171–173).

European colonists to North Americadoubtless brought with them some knowl-

edge of unofficial abortifacients, but theiruse is unlikely to have been recorded. Didtheir learning from Native Americans aboutunfamiliar plants, native to North America,include this subject? The plant called pen-nyroyal in North America is different fromthe British pennyroyal. American penny-royal is Hedeoma pulegioides, also calledsquaw mint, and was used by the NativeAmericans, and perhaps by colonists too, toregulate the menstrual cycle and to procureabortions. The Cherokee, for example, areknown to have used this plant as an abor-tifacient (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 48).The amount of information about aborti-facients used by Native Americans, as listedin Moerman’s Ethnobotany (Moerman1998), is truly amazing and suggests few ofthe taboos surrounding the subject that wehave noted in Britain. More than a hundredgenera are listed as abortifacients (Moerman1998: 765–766). Among them are Juniper(Juniperus virginiana) and Polygala seneca(both used by the Cherokee [Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 55]). Species of Artemisiawere used very widely, by nine differenttribes (Moerman 1998: 765). This genushas been used all over the world as a“woman’s herb,” use that probably includedcontraception and sometimes abortion. Ar-temisia franserioides is used by New MexicoSpanish Americans for abortion (Kay 1996:106).

Apart from plant remedies, there wereother, ceremonial means of procuring abor-tions among the Native Americans. Themedicine men of the Blackfoot claim to usethe power of the moth for this (Wissler1905: 260). An Ozark belief is that countrywomen should never expose their nakedbodies before a flowering hawthorn, or“redhaw” (Crataegus sp.), as this tree wasassociated with “rape, unfortunate pregnan-cies and disastrous abortions” (Randolph1953: 336).

See also Hawthorn, Houseleek.

Abscesses : 3

ReferencesBeith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-

cines of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon 1995.

Capron, George, and David Slack. New EnglandPopular Medicine. 1848. Quoted in Meyer,1985.

Child, F. J. English and Scottish Popular Ballads.Volume 3, 1882–1898. New York: DoverPublications, 1965. Page 379.

Grigson, Geoffrey. The Englishman’s Flora. Lon-don: Phoenix House, 1955.

Hamel, Paul B., and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Chero-kee Plants and Their Uses: A 400 Year His-tory. Sylva, NC: Herald, 1975.

Hatfield MSS. Manuscript notes in private pos-session of Gabrielle Hatfield.

Kay, Margarita Artschwager. Healing with Plantsin the American and Mexican West. Tucson:University of Arizona Press, 1996.

Leven and Melville Papers. Scottish Records Of-fice, Edinburgh. SRO GD 26.

Meyer, Clarence. American Folk Medicine. Glen-wood, IL: Meyerbooks, 1985.

Moerman, Daniel E. Native American Ethnobo-tany. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 1998.

Pechey, John. Compleat Herbal of Physical Plants.London: 1694.

Randolph, Vance. “Nakedness in Ozark Folk Be-lief.” Journal of American Folklore 66(1953): 333–339.

Vickery, Roy. A Dictionary of Plant Lore. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1995.

Wissler, Clark. “The Whirlwind and the Elk inthe Mythology of the Dakota.” Journal ofAmerican Folklore 18 (1905): 257–268.

AbscessesMany folk remedies for these were used

in the form of poultices and depended onheat to bring the abscess to a head. Cowpats were used in this way in Britain as re-cently as the twentieth century, and theireffectiveness has been vouched for in treat-ing humans and animals (Hatfield 1994:11; Beith 1995: 172–173). Less drastically,a bread poultice applied hot was often used,or a poultice made from flax seed. Alter-

natively, a glass bottle was filled with veryhot water, emptied, and immediately ap-plied to the abscess; the combination ofheat and suction was apparently painful butoften effective. Among plant poultices,common mallow (Malva sylvestris), house-leek (Sempervivum tectorum), and chick-weed (Stellaria media) were some of themost frequently used in British folk medi-cine, but a large variety of other plants werealso used, including vegetables such as on-ion, cabbage, and carrot.

In North American folk medicine poul-tices were used in a similar way, and againthe use of bread or of cornmeal, or flaxseedwas common. Nine bark (Physocarpus opu-lifolius) was a Native American remedy forabscesses, a decoction of the root beingmixed with bran or Indian meal (Meyer1985: 204). Sphagnum moss was also usedas a poultice by the Native Americans (Sou-ter 1995: 128) and was adopted as a remedyby settlers as well. North American folkmedicine used a wide variety of plants forpoulticing abscesses and these included cab-bage, carrot, and houseleek (as in Britain),as well as fenugreek seed (a German rem-edy) and a wide variety of North Americannative plants not found in Britain, such aspoke, slippery elm (Ulmus fulva), smart-weed (Polygonum punctatum and P. hydo-piper), catnip, and black alder (Alnusglutinosa). Interestingly, many of theseNorth American plants were imported intoBritish and European herbalism in thenineteenth century (Meyer 1985: 200–205;Griggs 1997: 188 ff.).

See also Boils, Catnip, Houseleek, Poke,Poultice, Sphagnum moss.


cines of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon, 1995.

Griggs, Barbara. New Green Pharmacy. London:Vermilion, 1997.

4 ; Acne

Hatfield, Gabrielle. Country Remedies: TraditionalEast Anglian Plant Remedies in the TwentiethCentury. Woodbridge: Boydell, 1994.


Souter, Keith. Cure Craft: Traditional Folk Rem-edies and Treatment from Antiquity to thePresent Day. Saffron Walden: C. W. Daniel,1995.

AcneIn British folk medicine various plant in-

fusions were drunk to improve the com-plexion. The commonest of these were aninfusion of nettles and a decoction preparedby boiling the roots of burdock. In theHighlands of Scotland, dulse soup, pre-pared from seaweed, was recommended forskin disorders (Beith 1995: 240). Externalapplications to clear spots include juice ofmarigold leaves (Calendula officinalis) (Hat-field 1994: 53); the crushed leaves of woodviolet (Viola sp.), or of the juice of the iceplant, also called houseleek (Prince 1991:93); a face pack made from oats and lemon(Souter 1995:131); and an ointment madefrom elder flowers (Sambucus nigra) boiledwith almond oil and lard (Beith 1995: 215).Application of water from natural springsor simply drinking plenty of cold water wasrecommended in the Highlands (Beith1995: 133); bathing the face in early-morning dew was held to be good for thecomplexion (Hatfield MS), as well as help-ing to remove freckles. Less pleasantly,urine was much used in folk medicine fortreating and preventing acne (Souter 1995:131). Rubbing the baby’s face with a re-cently wet nappy was practiced in the High-lands of Scotland to prevent the childdeveloping acne later and to give it a goodcomplexion (Beith 1995: 188). A remedyfrom Norfolk was prepared from oak treegall, strong vinegar, flowers of sulphur, andthe root of Iris (Hatfield 1994: 53).

In North American folk practice, many

similar remedies have been used. AmongNative American remedies, burdock rootwas used for treating pimples, and one spe-cies of violet, Viola pubescens, has been usedby the Iroquois to treat spots (Herrick1977: 387, 474), both these remedies mir-roring ones found in Britain. In addition, ahuge number of other plant species havebeen used, including Achillea species (Dens-more 1928: 350; Perry 1952: 40); Alnus ser-rulata (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 22);various species of Artemisia, such as A. lu-doviciana, used by the Paiute (Train, Hen-richs and Archer 1941: 40–42); A.tridentata, used by Havasupai (Weber andSeaman 1985: 246). Other remedies fea-tured in North American folk medicineinclude sulphur and molasses (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 15_5255), or water in whichsulphur had been boiled (UCLA FolkloreArchives 6_5446). Poultices of chamomile(Chamaemelum nobile) or of red clover (Tri-folium sp.) were used by early settlers, alsothe juice of watermelons (Citrullus lanatus).Water that collected in old tree stumps wasused to wash the face (Micheletti 1998: 21).Urine was widely recommended (UCLAFolklore Archives 8_8446).

Perhaps because acne is associated withpuberty, there have been some strange ideasas to its cause. It has been suggested thatmasturbation (Cannon 1984: 91), or eventhinking about sex (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 13_5255), causes acne; on the otherhand, having sex has been claimed by oneteenager in Arizona to clear up acne!(UCLA Folklore Archives 14_5255).

See also Burdock, Dew, Freckles,Houseleek, Nettle.



Cannon, Anthon S. Popular Beliefs and Supersti-tions from Utah. Edited by Wayland D.

African tradition : 5

Hand and Jeannine E. Talley. Salt LakeCity: University of Utah Press, 1984.

Densmore, Frances. Use of Plants by the ChippewaIndians. Smithsonian Institution-Bureau ofAmerican Ethnology Annual Report 44,1928.



Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany.PhD thesis. Albany: State University ofNew York, 1977.

Micheletti, Enza (ed.). North American Folk Heal-ing: An A-Z Guide to Traditional Remedies.New York and Montreal: Reader’s DigestAssociation, 1998.

Perry, F. “Ethno-Botany of the Indians in the In-terior of British Columbia.” Museum andArt Notes 2(2), 1952.

Prince, Dennis. Grandmother’s Cures: An A-Z ofHerbal Remedies. London: Fontana, 1991.


Train, Percy, James R. Henrichs, and W. AndrewArcher. Medicinal Uses of Plants by IndianTribes of Nevada. Washington, DC: US De-partment of Agriculture, 1941.

Weber, Steven A., and P. David Seaman. Hava-supai Habitat: A. F. Whiting’s Ethnographyof a Traditional Indian Culture. Tucson:University of Arizona Press, 1985.

African traditionEvery oral tradition is as extensive as its

community. In the case of the manythousands of black African slaves importedfrom the seventeenth century onward intoNorth America, these traditions were drawnfrom all over West Africa, and never rep-resented a single tradition. Since emanci-pation of the slaves, all the fragmentarycommunities have become gradually ab-sorbed into the wider patchwork of North

American traditions, yet there still remainmany distinctive features, and indeed to-day’s folk medicine is indebted to Africanslaves for some of its remedies. At least oneslave owed his freedom to imparting a rem-edy for gravel and stone to a white man.

As displaced people with no rights andno wealth, slaves must have been even moreself-dependent than their forbears in timesof illness. Although to their owners blackslaves represented a valuable investment,which it was in their interest to keep welland working, plantation owners soon foundthat the remedies known to the slaves wereat least as good as anything they could offerthemselves.

Faced with a completely unfamiliar flora,it must have been a daunting task indeedfor slaves to find their own remedies. Fooditems such as yams, okra, and kola importedto feed them cheaply were probably amongthe few familiar items, and it is not surpris-ing, therefore, to find that some of their folkmedical remedies were based on these. Podsof Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), boiled,formed a nutritious broth for invalids (Hei-nerman 2001: 70), and kola nuts (Colaacuminata) were used to treat stomach pain(Sloane 1707–1725, 2: 61). Experimenta-tion with the local flora led to use of a largenumber of native plant species, too. Pneu-monia, to which the slaves of SouthCarolina were apparently particularly sus-ceptible, was treated with snakeroot (Aris-tolochia serpentaria). Ringworm was treatedwith a wash prepared from the so-calledringworm bush (Cassia alata). The seeds ofavocado (Persea americana) were ground totreat diarrhea, dysentery, and whitlows(Heinerman 2001: 72, 88).

Not only was the flora unfamiliar, butsome of the diseases that afflicted the slaveswere unfamiliar too. There were parasiticworms different from those in Africa. Bar-ton in his early nineteenth-century journalrecorded the use of persimmon fruit (Dios-

6 ; African tradition

pyros virginiana) among the black Africanslaves (Barton 1802, 2: 52). Plantationowners sometimes dosed slave children witha plant called cowitch (Macuna pruriens),which, according to Bancroft in the eigh-teenth century, was remarkably successfulin expelling worms (Bancroft 1769: 39).The disease known as yaws was especiallyprevalent among black slaves, and it seemsthat their own remedies for it were fairlyeffective. The roots of the lime (Citrusaurantifolia) were used in treating this con-dition, as described in an eighteenth-century account by Du Pratz (Du Pratz1774: 378–380). An infusion of hollyberries (Ilex obcordata) was successfully usedas a wash for treating the sores of yaws (Hei-nerman 2001: 85). Lime was also used totreat scurvy and sores on the feet. The fruitof papaya (Carica papaya) was used to treatsores and stomach ache. Cayenne pepperwas used to treat a condition described as“cachexia,” characterized by weight loss, fallin body temperature, and, if untreated,death (Heinerman 2001: 74). Snake bitewas treated with various plants, includ-ing so-called rattlesnake’s master (Araliaspinosa), while it was claimed that “inocu-lation” with boneset (Eupatorium perfolia-tum) could actually render a snake biteharmless (Descourtilz 1833, 3: 214). Bar-ton records the cure of a black slave suffer-ing from consumption. It consisted of theroot of Indian turnip (Arisaema triphyllum)boiled in milk (Barton 2001, 1: 110).

Pregnancy among slaves represented an-other child born into slavery; this was ofbenefit to the slave owner, but womenwould often go to extreme lengths to avoidpregnancy and childbirth under these cir-cumstances. It is ironic that the very plant,cotton (Gossypium herbaceum), for whichtheir freedom had been sacrificed was insome cases able to afford relief from un-wanted pregnancy (especially unwantedwhere this was a result of rape by the plan-

tation owner, anxious to see his human in-vestment multiply). A decoction of theroots of the cotton plant was found to bean effective abortifacient, taken during thefirst two months of pregnancy. The plant-ers, in their turn, tried to prevent the effectsof this plant by forcibly administering blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) to their femaleslaves (King’s American Dispensatory,1898, quoted by Micheletti [ed.] 1998).

Apart from the empirical folk remediesthey used, slaves have also bequeathed a leg-acy of their fundamentally different ap-proach to illness, which was seen by themas caused by a loss of balance between forcesfor good and evil. Some illnesses were re-garded as natural, others as having super-natural causes. For the latter category, it wasnecessary to have recourse to magical heal-ing, administered usually by a respectedvoodoo healer. Indeed, these unnatural ill-nesses were often thought to be caused byan enemy, and they could be cured only bysomeone with magical powers. Some plantswere directly associated with spiritual heal-ing and magical powers. Among them thecotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) was regardedas consecrated to spirits. It was never cutdown; religious ceremonies were often heldunder it. The overlook bean, or horse bean(Canavalia ensiformis), was regarded as awatchman and was planted around valuablecrops to protect them from plunder (Mac-fadyen 1837, 1: 179). Remnants of thesefolk beliefs, mixed and modified by reli-gious and Western medical systems, stillpersist among black Africans today (Mat-thews 1992: 68–98).

The extent to which there was anexchange of information between NativeAmericans and the black slaves is difficultto establish, but there are examples of rem-edies used in common. The Indian turnip(Arisaema triphyllum), for example, wasused by the Cherokee as well as by slaves totreat consumption (Hamel and Chiltoskey

Alder : 7

1975: 41), and papaya fruit were used totreat cuts by the Hawaii, in much the sameway as the slaves used them (Akana 1922:43). The snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria)was used among numerous Native Ameri-can tribes to treat snake bite (Moerman1998: 92). One healer who today combinesthe heritage of Native American, European,and African folk medicine is John Lee ofMoncure, in the North Carolina Piedmont.He is of mixed Lumbee, Cherokee, African,Irish, and English descent. He combinesempirical treatment with herbs with spiri-tual divination. He was born with a caul, afact that has probably enhanced his repu-tation as a healer (Micheletti 1998: 179).

See also Caul, Cayenne, Gravel and stone,Ringworm, Scurvy, Snake bite,Tuberculosis.

ReferencesAkana, Akaiko. 1922. Hawaiian Herbs of Medic-

inal Value. Honolulu: Pacific Book House.Bancroft, E. Essay on the Natural History of Guiana

in South America. London: 1769.Barton, B. S. Journal of Benjamin Smith Barton on

a Visit to Virginia in 1802. Quoted in Hei-nerman 2001: 72.

Descourtilz, M. E. Flore Pittoresque et Medical DesAntilles. Paris, 1833.

Du Pratz, M. L. P. History of Louisiana, or of theWestern Parts of Virginia and Carolina. Lon-don: T. Becket, 1774.


Heinerman, John. Folk Medicine in America To-day: A Guide for a New Generation of FolkHealers. New York: Kensington, 2001.

Macfadyen, J. Flora of Jamaica. London: Long-mans Green, 1837.

Matthews, Holly. “Doctors and Root Doctors:Patients Who Use Both.” In Herbal andMagical Medicine: Traditional Healing To-day. Edited by James Kirkland, Holly F.Matthews, C. W. Sullivan III and KarenBaldwin. Durham, NC: Duke UniversityPress, 1992.

Micheletti, Enza (ed.). North American Folk Heal-

ing: An A-Z Guide to Traditional Remedies.New York and Montreal: Reader’s DigestAssociation, 1998.


Sloane, H. Natural History of Jamaica. London.1707–1725.

Alder (Alnus spp.)The British species of alder, Alnus gluti-

nosa, has not been prominent in folk med-icine. Its leaves have been placed in shoesto prevent tired, sore feet and also have beenused in treating burns (Salhouse, Norfolk,pers. com. 1990). Parson Woodforde, in hisdiary for March 7, 1767, reported using al-der bark steeped in water for his unspecifiedailment (Woodforde Society 1985, 3, 71),and recommended it as a springtime tonic.There are reports of using alder cones boiledin water for the treatment of gout (Vickery1995: 2), while in the nineteenth century apiece of alder wood was carried as a preven-tive against rheumatism (Gomme 1884:134). Otherwise, British uses of alder arenonmedicinal.

In North America the picture is quitedifferent. There are ten species of alder na-tive to North America. The range of usesfor them in folk medicine is wide. The useof the “tags” (conelike fruits) of tag alder,Alnus serrulata, for treating chills has beenreported in Carolina (Brown 1952–1964,6: 145). Alder bark ointment has been usedfor treating itching (Brendle and Unger1935: 61) and burns (Bergen 1899: 110).In colonial days, alder bark was used to pre-vent scarring from smallpox (Lick andBrendle 1922: 233–234). The water inwhich alder buds have been steeped wasdrunk for rheumatism (Bergen 1899: 110).To help teething in children, a necklace wasmade from threaded pieces of alder twig(Browne 1958: 25). For coughs a tea wasmade from swamp alder bark (Brewster1939: 35). Red alder bark is recorded as a

8 ; Alder

treatment for leucorrhoea (Meyer 1985:164). More generally, alders have had a rep-utation in North America as blood purifiers(Meyer 1985: 41), to be taken as a spring-time tonic (Meyer 1985: 258). Alder barkhas also been used, combined with elderbark and wild cherry bark, for eczema(Meyer 1985: 106).

In the Native American tradition, theuses of alder have been very numerous(Moerman 1998: 60–64). The bruisedleaves of the tag alder are reported to havebeen used by Native Americans as a poul-tice on the breasts to stop the flow of milk(Meyer 1985: 47). Willard reports a widerange of uses in the Rockies and neighbor-ing territories. The use by Native Ameri-cans of alder leaves for sore and aching feetechoes that in Britain. The leaves wereplaced by a wife under her husband’s hat asa cure for grumpiness and hangover. As inBritain, alder leaves were used in treatmentof burns. In addition, the alder tree inNorth America has yielded remedies for avery wide range of other complaints: theleaves were used to deter fleas, the fresh barkto treat rashes, including that from poisonivy; a decoction of the bark was used by theKutenai Indians to regulate menstruation,and by the Blackfoot for treating tubercu-losis; in addition it was used for constipa-tion, jaundice and diarrhea. The inner barkwas used for wounds and skin ulcers (Wil-lard 1992: 67–69). Four different speciesof alder have been recorded in use fortreating toothache and for cleaning teeth(Turner, Thompson, and Thompson et al.1990: 188; Black 1980: 153; Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 22). Mixed with driedbumblebees, alder has been used to helpchildbirth (Densmore 1928: 358).

See also Burns, Childbirth, Constipation,Coughs, Diarrhea, Jaundice, Poison ivy,Rheumatism, Smallpox, Sore feet,Teething, Tonic, Tuberculosis, Wounds.

ReferencesBergen, Fanny D. Animal and Plant Lore Collected

from the Oral Tradition of English SpeakingFolk. Boston and New York: Memoirs ofthe American Folk-Lore Society 7, 1899.

Black, Meredith Jean. Algonquin Ethnobotany: AnInterpretation of Aboriginal Adaptation inSouth Western Quebec. Ottawa: NationalMuseums of Canada. Mercury Series 65,1980.

Brendle, Thomas R. and Claude W. Unger. “FolkMedicine of the Pennsylvania Germans.The Non-Occult Cures.” Proceedings of thePennsylvania German Society 45, 1935.

Brewster, Paul G. “Folk Cures and Preventativesfrom Southern Indiana.” Southern FolkloreQuarterly 3 (1939): 33–43.

Brown, Frank C. Collection of North CarolinaFolklore. 7 vols. Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press, 1952–1964.

Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices fromAlabama. Folklore Studies 9. Berkeley andLos Angeles: University of CaliforniaPublications, 1958.

Densmore, Frances. “Uses of Plants by the Chip-pewa Indians.” Smithsonian Institution-Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report44 (1928): 273–379.

Gomme, G. L. (ed.). The Gentleman’s MagazineLibrary: Popular Superstitions. London,1884.


Lick, David E., and Thomas R. Brendle. “PlantNames and Plant Lore among the Pennsyl-vania Germans.” Proceedings and Addressesof the Pennsylvania German Society 33(1922).



Turner, Nancy J., Laurence C. Thompson, andM. Terry Thompson et al. Thompson Eth-nobotany: Knowledge and Usage of Plants bythe Thompson Indians of British Columbia.Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum,1990.

Aloe vera : 9

Claimed to be one of the most widely used healingplants in the world, Aloe vera has been used primarilyto treat a variety of skin conditions, such as burns,dermatitis, and boils. (Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS)


Willard, Terry. Edible and Medicinal Plants of theRocky Mountains and Neighbouring Territo-ries. Calgary: Wild Rose College of NaturalHealing, 1992.

Woodforde, Parson James. Ansford Diary. Editedby R. L. Winstanley, Parson Woodforde So-ciety, 1985.

Aloe veraThis is an African plant, used in official

medicine by the ancient Egyptians as wellas in classical Greek and ancient Chinesemedicine. It was introduced into NorthAmerica by missionaries and gradually be-came a familiar plant of domestic medicinethroughout North and South America. Itsmain use in official medicine was as a pur-gative, but in folk medicine it has been usedprimarily as a skin healer, and its fame hasspread for the treatment of burns (the gelfrom the scraped leaves is used). Along withmany other people, Columbus confusedaloe with the rather similar-looking but un-related agave, which he found growing as anative in the New World. The true aloereached Mexico shortly after the conquest(Valdes and Flores 1984: 86), when Her-nandez reported that the Aztecs used it intreating various skin conditions. The aloenow thrives throughout North and SouthAmerica. In modern times in the Americanand Mexican West it has been used fortreating a variety of skin conditions, such asdermatitis and boils (Kay 1996: 91). It haseven been used in the treatment of radiationburns (Meyer 1985: 54). As its popularityhas increased, extravagant claims have beenmade for the plant as a panacea. At leastsome of these claims are justifiable in thelight of modern research (Chevallier 1996:57), and it is now widely used by herbalistsand as an over-the-counter medication in

both North America and Britain. It hasbeen claimed to be one of the most widelyused healing plants in the world (Bloom-field 1985: 2). Although most of these usesbelong to modern herbalism, the plant hasbeen used to some extent in folk medicinetoo. It has been applied to rashes, burns,warts, insect stings, and taken internally forstomach ache (Anderson 1970: 70).

Recently Aloe vera has become a popularconstituent of many cosmetic as well asherbal preparations in Britain as well as inNorth America. It is one of a number ofplants to achieve fame in the modern sec-ondary return to herbalism among the mid-dle class.

10 ; Amber

ReferencesAnderson, John Q. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin:

Encino Press, 1970.Bloomfield, Frena. Miracle Plants: Aloe Vera. Lon-

don: Century, 1985.Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal

Plants. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1996.Kay, Margarita Artschwager. Healing with Plants

in the American and Mexican West. Tucson:University of Arizona Press, 1996.


Valdes, Javier, and Hilda Flores. Comentarios a laObra de Francisco Hernandez. Vol. 7 of Ob-ras Completas. Mexico City: UniversidadNacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1984.

AmberThis is the translucent golden resin ob-

tained from coniferous trees now largely ex-tinct. It was credited with the power to easedepression, when worn next to the skin. Itwas also considered to be an aphrodisiac. InScotland amber beads were a traditional giftby the parents to a bride, to make her ir-resistible to her new husband (Souter 1995:176). Amber was also rubbed onto a stye toheal it (Souter 1995: 190). In Englandnecklaces of amber beads were used as am-ulets to prevent whooping cough, croup,and asthma (Gardner 1942: 98).

In North American folk medicine amberbeads were worn both to prevent and curea range of ailments, especially goitre (Koch1980: 94). Other ailments for which amberwas used include asthma (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 119), croup (Whitney and Bullock1925: 92), teething (Thomas and Thomas1920: 118), and weak eyes (Hoke 1892:117). In contrast to the belief in Scotland,it has been reported from Salt Lake Citythat an amber bead necklace will preventdesire (Cannon 1984: 158).

See also Amulet, Asthma, Croup,Depression, Teething.

ReferencesBrown, Frank C. Collection of North Carolina

Folklore. 7 vols. Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press, 1952–1964.

Cannon, Anthon S. Popular Beliefs and Supersti-tions from Utah. Edited by Wayland D.Hand and Jeannine E. Talley. Salt LakeCity: University of Utah Press, 1984.

Gardner, Gerald Brosseau. “British Charms, Am-ulets and Talismans.” Folk-Lore 53 (1942):95–103.

Hoke, N. C. “Folk Customs and Folk Belief inNorth Carolina.” Journal of American Folk-lore 5 (1892): 113–120.

Koch, William E. Folklore from Kansas: Beliefs andCustoms. Lawrence: Regent Press, 1980.


Thomas, Daniel Lindsay, and Lucy Blayney Tho-mas. Kentucky Superstitions. Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press, 1920.

Whitney, Annie Weston, and Caroline CanfieldBullock. “Folk-Lore from Maryland.” Mem-oirs of the American Folklore Society 18(1925).

AmuletAn object that is carried to avert illness

or misfortune. In folk medicine it some-times represents the vestiges of an earlierremedy. For instance, potatoes were carriedin the pocket to ward off rheumatism intwentieth-century Norfolk (Hatfield 1994:47); in the eighteenth century in Scotlandthe potato was used as an actual remedy forrheumatism. A necklace of horse chestnuts,made by a child who has never sufferedfrom rheumatism, has been worn to preventrheumatism (Mundford Primary School,Norfolk, unpub.), or an acorn has been car-ried (Hatfield 1994: 46). Rose hips werecarried against piles (Hatfield 1994: 44).For toothache, carrying an amulet of a ha-zelnut with two kernels was recommendedin Suffolk. A necklace of pieces of figwort(Scrophularia sp.) was worn by teething

Amulet : 11

children in Essex (Hatfield MS). Ninepieces of elder cut from between two knotswas used as an amulet against epilepsy(Black 1883: 120). Beads made from peonyroot were used in Sussex as an amuletagainst epilepsy and to help in teething(Thiselton Dyer 1889: 284).

In Cambridgeshire, carrying rabbit teethor bones, or a hedgehog’s skull, was prac-ticed for toothache (Porter 1974: 46), whilein Sussex, carrying a paw cut from a livemole was recommended (Black 1883: 161).Samuel Pepys reported in his diary forMarch 1665 the success of the hare’s footamulet he carried against cramp (Radfordand Radford 1974: 183). Spiders were wornfor ague (Black 1883: 59). In Sussex duringthe Great Plague, amulets of toad poisonwere carried (Souter 1995: 124). An alter-native was to wear an arsenic-containingamulet around the neck (Miller 1933: 473).The stump of the umbilical cord was usedin East Anglia as an amulet (Newman andNewman 1939: 185).

Colored threads served as amulets. Forlumbago, red and white silk threads wererecommended (Wright and Lovett 1908:299, 302). An example from the 1960s ofthe use of the “cure of the threads” is citedby Beith (Beith 1995: 198). Black threadswere used for treating sprains (Black 1883:79).

Small stones credited with healing pow-ers were handed down from one generationto another in Scotland. A stone was in somecases regarded as a specific cure for one ail-ment—for instance, the adder stones of theScottish Highlands (Beith 1995: 152–155).A tooth-shaped stone might be valued as acure for toothache (Guthrie 1945: Plate VI,opp. p. 13). In 1633 the countess of New-castle was offered an aetites stone to wearto ease labor pains (Thomas 1973: 224).Birthstones have traditionally been given toa child according to its birth month to pro-tect it against illness and other evil (Souter1995: 37–38). A necklace of amber was

worn by a child to ward off croup, whoop-ing cough, and asthma (Gardner 1942: 98).Stones with holes through them are widelyregarded as “lucky” in general and as likelyto avert misfortune; in this way they overlapwith talismans. The concretions from goatintestine, known as bezoar, were prized un-til the late eighteenth century in officialWestern medicine as well as folk medicine.Eel-skin garters were regarded in Suffolk asa preventive and treatment for rheumatism(Porter 1974: 52); in Scotland, they wereused as amulets against cramp (Black 1883:161).

In North American folk medicine, toward off illness in general, the wearing of agold chain or a copper chain, a dime, orsow’s teeth or owl’s claws have all been rec-ommended (Puckett 1981: 272). Otheramulets worn to preserve health include abuckeye (chestnut, see entry) carried in apocket (UCLA Folklore Archive 3_6345),an onion worn around the neck (UCLAFolklore Archives 8_6345), or a string ofgarlic (UCLA Folklore Archive 6_6345).An old lemon carried in the purse has alsobeen suggested (UCLA Folklore Archive7_6345). Asafoetida has been frequentlyused as an amulet, either to protect healthin general (UCLA Folklore Archives1_6344), or to help with a particular ail-ment. To bring on labor, a pregnantwoman was advised to wear asafoetidaaround the neck and put rabbit’s foot underthe head when she slept (Brown 1952–1964 6: 7). Carrying a shell during laborwas another recommendation (De Lys1948: 92). Jasper has been worn as an am-ulet against drowning (UCLA FolkloreArchives 14_7584). Copper amulets havebeen claimed to reduce blood pressure(UCLA Folklore Archives 17_5290).Teething children were given necklaces ofthe bean called Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi) (Meyer 1985: 248). Various amuletshave been used against rheumatism. As inBritain, a potato carried in the pocket has

12 ; Amulet

been recommended (Wintemberg 1918:137). In Newfoundland, a haddock fin hasbeen used as a rheumatism amulet (English1968: 443). In Lebanon County, the centsplaced on the eyelids of the dead to keepthem shut were subsequently used as amu-lets for rheumatism (Grumbine 1905–1906: 274–275). Amulets used for feversinclude birch catkins (Betula sp.) (Brendleand Unger 1935: 83) and Solomon’s seal(Polygonatum sp.) (UCLA Folklore Archive11_6235).

In the Native American tradition, amu-lets made of bone and shell, or of maize, orof wood, were used by Shamans duringhealing ceremonies (Lyon 1996: 99, 175,296). An ivory doll was held by Inuitwomen in labor (Micheletti 1998: 326).The Alasakan eskimo medicine man some-times carried the soul of a sick child in anamulet for safekeeping (Frazer 1923: 679).

Examples of amulets still in use today arecopper bracelets, worn against rheumatism,and hare’s paws, made into costume jew-elry, worn to protect against illness and evil.

See also Amber, Caul, Elder, Epilepsy,Fevers, Plague, Rheumatism, Teething.



Black, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chapterin the History of Culture. London: FolkloreSociety, 1883.

Brendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. “FolkMedicine of the Pennsylvania Germans:The Non-Occult Cures.” Proceedings of thePennsylvania German Society 45, 1935.


De Lys, Claudia. A Treasury of American Supersti-tions. New York: Philosophical Library,1948.

English, L. E. F. Historic Newfoundland. St.John’s: Newfoundland Tourist Develop-ment Division, 1968.

Frazer, Sir James George. The Golden Bough: AStudy in Magic and Religion. London: Mac-millan, 1923.

Gardner, Gerald Brosseau. “British Charms, Am-ulets and Talismans.” Folk-Lore 53 (1942):95–103.

Grumbine, E. “Folk-Lore and Superstitions Be-liefs of Lebanon County.” Papers and Ad-dresses of the Lebanon County HistoricalSociety 3 (1905–1906): 252–294.

Guthrie, Douglas. A History of Medicine. London:Thomas Nelson, 1945.


Lyon, William S. Encyclopedia of Native AmericanHealing. Denver and Oxford: ABC-CLIO,1996.



Miller, Joseph L. “The Healing Gods or MedicalSuperstitions.” West Virginia Medical Jour-nal 29 (1933): 465–478.

“Mundford Primary School Project,” Norfolk,1980, unpublished.

Newman, Barbara, and M. A. Newman. “SomeBirth Customs in East Anglia.” Folklore 50(1939): 176–187.

Porter, Enid. The Folklore of East Anglia. London:Batsford, 1974.

Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, AnnaCasetta, Sondra B. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.

Radford, E., and M. A. Radford, ed. “ChristinaHole.” Encyclopaedia of Superstitions. Lon-don: Book Club Associates, 1974.

Souter, Keith. Cure Craft. Traditional Folk Rem-edies and Treatment from Antiquity to thePresent Day. Saffron Walden: C. W. Daniel,1995.

Thiselton Dyer, T. F. The Folk-Lore of Plants. Fac-simile reprint of 1889 edition by Llanerch,Dyfed, 1994.

Anemia : 13

Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic:Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth- andSeventeenth-Century England. Harmonds-worth: Penguin, 1973.

Wintemberg, W. J. “Folk-Lore Collected in theCounties of Oxford and Waterloo, On-tario.” Journal of American Folklore 31(1918): 135–153.

Wright, A. R., and E. Lovett. “Specimens of Mod-ern Mascots and Amulets of the BritishIsles.” Folk-Lore 19 (1908): 288–302.

AnemiaThis was not always recognized as a dis-

tinct ailment but a number of remedies forblood disorders in general clearly involveanemia. Water from a so-called chalybeatewell (rich in iron salts) was one such rem-edy. In Dumfriesshire, Scotland, for ex-ample, there is a well whose water wasparticularly recommended for “women’sailments” (Beith 1995: 132). In Ireland too,chalybeate waters were valued for anemia(Logan 1972: 142). Water from the forge,in which iron had been quenched was an-other folk remedy for anemia (Souter 1995:132). One lady in Cambridgeshire madepills for anemia consisting of dust from theanvil and powdered dandelion root rolledin butter (Porter 1964: 9–11). Until fiftyyears ago, children suffering from what wasthen called pernicious anemia were givenraw liver to eat (J.C., pers. com., 1960).This remedy can be traced back to the writ-ings of Hippocrates (Raycroft 1940: 125–131). The most widely used plant remedyfor anemia is nettle (Allen and Hatfield, inpress), still recommended today by herbal-ists for its high iron content. Many of thetonics used in folk medicine were describedas blood purifiers, and some of these toowere probably useful in treating anemia.Into this category come burdock (Arctiumlappa) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium).Dandelion tea (Taraxacum officinale), gen-erally regarded as a tonic, was used in theEast Anglian fens for anemia (Chamberlain

1981). Carrot has traditionally been rec-ommended for anemia (Souter 1995: 132).In Sussex, beetroot was used to treat anemia(Brew, n.d.).

In North American folk medicine, someof the same remedies for anemia have beentraced. Water out of a rusty can was rec-ommended in New Mexico (Moya 1940:74). Red beets were regarded in Pennsyl-vania as blood “makers” (Brendle and Un-ger 1935: 39) (compare with the remedyfrom Sussex, England, above). Dandelionleaf tea was used to treat anemia in WestVirginia (Mason 1957: 29). Blackstrap mo-lasses was held to be good for anemia(UCLA Folklore Archives 17_5461). Astrange ritual of bleeding an anaemic child,diluting the blood with water, and giving itback as a drink, is reported by Brown(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 117).

In Native American practice, a largenumber of plants were used “for the blood”(Moerman 1998: 775–776). Some at leastof these were targeted specifically at anemia.Dandelion tea, for example, was usedwidely (e.g. Herrick 1977: 478) for thispurpose, as was sarsaparilla. Oregongrape(Mahonia repens) was taken to “enrich”(Hart 1992: 18) or “thicken” the blood(Nickerson 1966: 47).

See also Burdock, Dandelion, Forge water,Sarsaparilla, Stinging nettle, Yarrow.

ReferencesAllen, David E., and Gabrielle Hatfield. Medicinal

Plants in Folk Tradition: An Ethnobotany ofBritain and Ireland. Portland, OR: TimberPress, in press.

Beith, Mary. Healing Threads Traditional Medi-cines of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon, 1995.

Brendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. “FolkMedicine of the Pennsylvania Germans:The Non-Occult Cures.” Proceedings of thePennsylvania German Society 45, 1935.

Brew, Barbara. Grandmother’s Remedies. Privatelypublished pamphlet, East Grinstead. Copyin Folklore Society archives, E30.

14 ; Apple

Apples have treated bruises, sprains, sores and warts.They have been found to regulate the bowels. Cidervinegar has many varied uses on both sides of theAtlantic. (Sarah Boait)


Chamberlain, Mary. Old Wives’ Tales. London:Virago, 1981.

Hart, Jeff. Montana Native Plants and Early Peo-ples. Helena: Montana Historical SocietyPress, 1992.

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany.PhD thesis, State University of New York,Albany, 1977.

Logan, Patrick. Making the Cure: A Look at IrishFolk Medicine. Dublin: Talbot Press, 1972.

Mason, James. “Home Remedies in West Vir-ginia.” West Virginia Folklore 7 (1957): 27–32.


Moya, Benjamin S. Superstitions and Beliefs amongthe Spanish-Speaking People of New Mexico.Master’s thesis, University of New Mexico,1940.

Nickerson, Gifford S. “Some Data on Plains andGreat Basin Indian Uses of Certain NativePlants.” Tebiwa 9(1) (1966): 45–51.

Porter, Enid M. “Some Old Fenland Remedies.”Education Today (July 1964).

Raycroft, Joseph E. “Old Wine in New Bottles.”Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 28(1940): 125–131.

Souter, Keith. Cure Craft: Traditional Folk Rem-edies and Treatment from Antiquity to thePresent Day. Saffron Walden: C.W. Daniel.1995.

AppleFolk medicine does not usually distin-

guish between different kinds of apple.Strictly speaking, only crab-apple (Malussylvestris) is native to Britain; cultivated va-rieties of apple belong to a separate species(Malus domestica). Emerson (1887: 15) re-ports the use in Suffolk of crab-apple juicefor treating bruises. In general, though, thetype of apple is not specified. In Britain rawapple has been rubbed on warts (Hatfield1999: 148; Allen 1995: 179). In Lincoln-shire the method was further refined: the

apple was cut into nine pieces and rubbednine times over the warts (Black 1883: 42).Apple juice has been used to treat consti-pation (Mrs. B., Essex 1991). Rotten appleshave been used to poultice sore eyes (Gun-ton Household Book), weak eyes (Black1883: 201), and styes (Vickery 1995: 13),as well as chilblains (Vickery 1995: 13),boils (Gutch 1908: 69), or “any sore place”(Hatfield 1994: 52). Withering reportedthat apple juice, or “verjuice,” was exten-sively used in England for treating sprains(Withering 1787–1792: 296). It was re-ported in Cambridgeshire that an apple wasplaced in the bedroom of a smallpox patientand that the disease then transferred to theapple (Vickery 1995: 13). Warts too havebeen “transferred” to an apple (Lafont1984: 8).

In New England, the following remedywas reported in 1879 as a cure for an ague(fever): the patient should take a piece ofyarn made of three colors and go by himselfto an apple tree. Using his right hand, heshould then tie his left hand loosely to thetree, then slip his hand out and run fromthe tree without looking back (Black 1883:38). In the Appalachians, apple bark had areputation for treating stomach ailments

Apple : 15

(Crellin and Philpott 1990: 185). A “cure”for cancer has been recorded involving vis-iting an apple tree three mornings in suc-cession and saying special words (Thomasand Thomas 1920: 98). A treatment for adrunkard is to eat an apple held by a dyingman (Grumbine 1905–1906: 280).

Apple has been used in the treatmentboth of diarrhea and of constipation; it isclaimed that apples regulate the bowels. InAmerican folk medicine raw apple is rec-ommended for diarrhea in older childrenand adults (Meyer 1985: 90). As in Britain,a rotten apple is recommended as treatmentfor sore eyes (Browne 1958: 61). This hasalso been a treatment for frostbite (cf. inBritain its use for chilblains, above) (UCLAFolklore Archives 5_6834). A poultice ofrotten apples has been used to treat mumps(Parler 1962: 783). The same wart remedyusing an apple reported from Britain figuresin North American folk medicine too (Hy-att 1965: 291). Eating the core of a greenapple has been recommended for arthritis(Puckett 1981: 309); an alternative hasbeen the bark of the crabapple steeped inwhisky (Meyer 1985: 212). An infusionprepared by pouring boiling water on appleslices has been drunk for asthma (UCLAFolklore Archives 5_5266).

Apple-cider vinegar has been regarded asa cure for a very wide variety of ailments. Ithas been used to staunch bleeding (Browne1958: 500) and to treat the rash of poisonivy (UCLA Folklore Archive 4_5453). Ithas been made famous in particular by Jar-vis, whose books on folk medicine in Ver-mont have run into numerous editions.Jarvis recommends apple-cider vinegar fordiarrhea and vomiting, for kidney inflam-mation, as an aid to weight loss, to relievelameness, and to treat poison ivy rash, shin-gles, night sweats, burns, varicose veins, im-petigo and ringworm (Jarvis 1961). Hisbooks underline the old proverb that “Anapple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Various species of apple have been widely

used in Native American medicine (Moer-man 1998: 333–334). Malus sylvestris hasbeen used for hoarseness (Taylor 1940: 29),earache, black eyes and bruises, and even forblindness (Herrick 1977: 350).

See also Asthma, Bleeding, Boils, Cancer,Chilblains, Constipation, Eye problems,Poison ivy, Rheumatism, Smallpox,Transference, Warts.

ReferencesAllen, Andrew. A Dictionary of Sussex Folk Medi-

cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Black, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chapter

in the History of Culture. London: FolkloreSociety, 1883.


Crellin, John K., and Jane Philpott. A ReferenceGuide to Medicinal Plants. Durham, NC:Duke University Press, 1990.

Emerson, P. H. Pictures of East Anglian Life. Lon-don: Sampson Low, 1887.

Grumbine, E. “Folk-Lore and Superstitious Be-liefs of Lebanon County.” Papers and Ad-dresses of the Lebanon County HistoricalSociety 3 (1905–1906): 252–294.

Gunton Household Book. Seventeenth/eigh-teenth century manuscript in Church of St.Peter Mancroft, Norwich.

Gutch (Eliza), and Mabel Peacock. County Folk-lore. Vol. 5, Lincolnshire. London: Folk-loreSociety, 1908.


Hatfield, Gabrielle. Memory, Wisdom, and Heal-ing: The History of Domestic Plant Medicine.Phoenix Mill: Sutton, 1999.

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany.PhD thesis. Albany: State University ofNew York, 1977.

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Folklore from AdamsCounty Illinois. 2nd rev. ed. Memoirs of theAlma Egan Hyatt Foundation, 1965.

Jarvis, D. C. Folk Medicine. London: Pan Books,1961.

16 ; Arthritis

Lafont, Anne-Marie. A Herbal Folklore. Bideford:Badger Books, 1984.



Parler, Mary Celestia, and University StudentContributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas. 15vols. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas,1962.

Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, AnnaCasetta, and Sondra B. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.

Taylor, Linda Averill. Plants Used as Curatives byCertain Southeastern Tribes. Cambridge,MA: Botanical Museum of Harvard Uni-versity, 1940.



Withering, William. A Botanical Arrangement ofBritish Plants. 2nd ed. 3 vols. Birmingham:M. Swinney, 1787–1792.

ArthritisSee Rheumatism and arthritis.

Ash (Fraxinus spp.)The British native species of ash, Fraxi-

nus exclesior has had numerous uses in folkmedicine and folklore. In the ScottishHighlands, ash sap was traditionally givento a newborn baby as its first nourishment(Beith 1995: 203)—a practice that it hasbeen suggested, could originate in Persia,where the sweet sap of the so-called mannaash (Fraxinus ornus) was dried and eaten forits food value and its action as a gentle lax-ative. Ash sap has been used to treat earachein Ireland, and also in England right up tothe present day (Hatfield MS). This remedycan be traced back to Saxon Britain (Black

1883: 197). In the Scottish Highlands,burned ash bark was used as a treatment fortoothache (Beith 1995: 203). Other folkmedicinal uses for the native British ash in-clude a poultice of the leaves to treat snakebites (Beith 1995: 203). Both Pliny and Ge-rard claimed that there was such a strongantipathy between the ash and the snakethat a snake would pass through fire toavoid the tree (Black 1883: 196). A Som-erset proverb recorded in 1912 reflects thisbelief (Tongue 1965: 35). In West Somer-set, there was a custom of hanging a wreathof flowers on an ash tree near a farm toprotect the animals and people againstsnake bites (Tongue 1965: 28). Smokefrom burning ash was used to treat ring-worm (Vickery 1995: 20).

Folk uses of the ash involve some clearexamples of the transference of disease. Onecustom, made famous by Gilbert White inthe eighteenth century (White 1789–1822,1: 344), was to make a so-called shrew-ash,by imprisoning a live shrew in a hole boredin an ash tree. This tree then maintained itsmedicinal virtue for its lifetime. Such treeswere used as “cures” for a variety of ail-ments, including whooping cough (Vickery1995: 19) and paralysis (Grieve 1931: 67).Warts were “transferred” to ash trees in avariety of ways. In one method, a pin wasstuck in each wart and afterward in the ashtree, where it was left (Grieve 1931: 67).Hernia in children was thought to be cur-able by splitting open a growing ash saplingand passing the child through the opening.The tree was then bound up, and as ithealed, so would the child. This custom hasbeen recorded in use in Sussex as recentlyas the 1920s (Allen 1995: 162).

In North American folk medicine, as inBritish and Irish, ash sap was used to treatearache. Another use for the ash was as anaid to weight reduction; for this purpose,the dried leaves were used as a tea (Meyer1985: 101, 265). A preparation of ash barktea was used in the treatment of snake bite,

Asthma : 17

again reflecting the claim of an antipathybetween snakes and ash. There is an echoof the British folk remedy for hernia in areport from Burlington County, New Jer-sey, of children being treated for rupturesby being passed through a split in a tree,but the type of tree is not specified (Black1883: 68). A child could be passed througha split holly, oak, or ash, for the cure ofhernia (Puckett 1981: 396). Other uses ofash in North American folk medicine in-clude wound treatment (Brendle and Unger1935: 75). Fraxinus americana was also usedas an emmenagogue (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 1_5605).

In Native American medicine there werenumerous uses for various species of ash(Moerman 1998: 238–239). Ash sap waswidely used to treat earache, and themethod of obtaining the sap is identical tothat described for Scotland (Black 1980:218). White ash (Fraxinus americana) wasused to provoke menstruation and as anabortifacient by the Abnaki (Rousseau1947: 154, 172). Both roots and flowers ofthis species have been used in snake bitetreatment (Moerman 1998: 238). Black ash(Fraxinus nigra) has been used as a tonicand an antirheumatic (Moerman 1998:239).

See also Earache, Ringworm, Snake bite,Toothache, Transference, Whoopingcough.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-


Black, Meredith Jean. Algonquin Ethnobotany: AnInterpretation of Aboriginal Adaptation inSouth Western Quebec. Mercury Series 65.Ottawa: National Museums of Canada,1980.


Brendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. “FolkMedicine of the Pennsylvania Germans:The Non-Occult Cures.” Proceedings of thePennsylvania German Society 45 (1935).

Grieve, Mrs. M. A Modern Herbal. Edited by Mrs.C. F. Leyel. London: Jonathan Cape, 1931.




Rousseau, Jacques. “Ethnobotanique Abenakise.”Archives de Folklore 11 (1947): 145–182.

Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. Edited Ka-tharine Briggs. County Folklore 8. London:Folklore Society, 1965.


White, G. The Natural History of Selbourne. Lon-don, 1822. (First edition 1789).

AsthmaIn acute phases this can be life threat-

ening, and as one would expect, folk med-icine has over the centuries developed alarge and miscellaneous range of remedies.One plant remedy stands out in recenttimes as being used in folk medicine onboth sides of the Atlantic. This is the thorn-apple (Datura stramonium), also known inNorth America as Jamestown weed or Jim-son Weed. In Britain, the dried leaves weresmoked as a treatment for asthma (e.g., bythe fishermen of the North Norfolk coast;T.E., pers. com., 1988). The plant is notnative to Britain but turns up as a weed ofrecently disturbed land. Clearly the remedywas imported from North America, but itis unusual in that it was adopted not onlyby medical herbalists but by the folk tradi-tion as well. Going back farther in time itbecomes increasingly difficult to separateasthma remedies from those of bronchitis;

18 ; Asthma

in folk medicine the two complaints seemto have been linked together. For example,coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) was recom-mended by Pliny for the treatment of bron-chitis and has continued in herbal and infolk medicine to be used for coughs eversince. This use has extended to asthma inthe Scottish Highlands (Beith 1995: 212)and in England (Prince 1991: 11). In theEnglish early twentieth-century use of hon-eysuckle for treating asthma (Miss N.,Hampshire, pers. com., 1990) we have anearly example of the now-popular comple-mentary medicine of aromatherapy (MissN., Hampshire, pers. com., 1980). Aromantic-sounding remedy was recorded inthe 1950s by Beith from Inverness-shire inScotland. The sufferer had to row aloneacross a lake and back before sunrise (Beith1995: 135). Also in the Scottish Highlands,dogfish oil was given to asthma sufferers(Beith 1995: 174). In some parts of Scot-land, the skin of a hare, placed over thechest during sleep, was apparently used toward off asthma attacks (Souter 1995: 136).Bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) was rec-ommended in the Isle of Lewis (Beith 1995:207). An infusion of bramble root (Rubusfruticosus) and pennyroyal (Mentha pule-gium), wine made from elder berries (Sam-bucus nigra), snuff made from the driedleaves of ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea),an infusion of horehound (Marrubium vul-gare) and a decoction of the roots and barkof the sloe (Prunus spinosa) have all beenused in the Scottish Highlands for treatingasthma (Beith 1995: 215, 221, 223, 232,242).The story of a lifesaving poultice madefrom hot, cooked potatoes was told by alady now in her nineties who has lived allher life in Norfolk, England (Hatfield1994: 75).

In North American folk medicine theremedies used for asthma reflect those inBritain. The Inverness-shire method to re-lax the patient is echoed in a remedy fromRochester: the patient is advised to walk

alone three times round the house at mid-night when the moon is waning (Black1883: 125). There are records for the useof oil from a goose and of the fat from achicken, reminiscent of the Scottish use ofdogfish oil, while the skin of a muskratworn against the lungs echoes the Britishuse of hareskin (Meyer 1985: 31). Amonga large collection (almost eighty) of differ-ent asthma remedies in the UCLA FolkMedicine Archive there are several bizarreones, such as a stew containing badger andjackdaw (Bourke 1894: 120). Miscellane-ous remedies include drinking goat’s milk(UCLA Folklore Archives 6_5263), swal-lowing a teaspoonful of sea sand (UCLAFolklore Archives 24_6175), or eating bees’honey and sulphur (Welsch 1966: 360).

A good example of transference comesfrom the African American tradition. Threenights in succession, the patient must finda frog by moonlight and spit into its throat(UCLA Folklore Archives 24_6176). An-other transference remedy is to sleep with achihuahua (UCLA Folklore Archives1_6828). Some of the remedies are clearlyrelated to the observation, or the hope, thatchildren often “grow out of” asthma. Someof the child’s hair is cut off and placed intoa hole in a tree bored above the child’s head.When he or she grows above the hole, theasthma will be cured (see e.g. Puckett 1981:312). Ash, birch, willow, sugar maple, andhickory all feature in versions of this rem-edy. Amulets worn to prevent or to cureasthma include amber beads (Brown1952_1964, 6: 119).

Among plant remedies used, the smok-ing of jimson weed has already been men-tioned (UCLA Folklore Archives 1–5263).Other plants native to North America butnot to Britain used in asthma treatment in-clude Aloe vera, bloodroot, skunk cabbage(Symplocarpus foetidus) and licorice (Glycyr-rhiza glabra), as well as so-called asthmaweed (Lobelia inflata) (Meyer 1985: 32–35). This plant became celebrated for its

Asthma : 19

fame in treating a wide range of conditions,after it was promoted by Samuel Thomson.However, long before that it was known toand used by the Native Americans (Grieve1931: 495). Cottonseed water was a remedyfrom the African tradition (UCLA FolkloreArchives 21_5263). Boiled chestnut leaves(Castanea sp.) have also been used (Browne1958: 32).

Plants common to both Britain andNorth America that were used in Americanfolk remedies for asthma include daisy (Bel-lis perennis), elecampane (Inula helenium),wild plum (Prunus spinosa), elder (Sambu-cus nigra), mullein (Verbascum thapsus),wild cherry (Prunus sp.), and horehound(Marrubium vulgare) (Meyer 1985: 31–35).

In the Native American tradition, willowbark (Salix lucida) was smoked for asthma(Speck 1917: 309). Among the Kwakiutl arecommendation for asthma was to eat partof the heart of a wolf (Boas 1932: 184).

See also African tradition; Aloe vera;Amber; Amulet; Ash; Asthma; Birch;Bloodroot; Honey; Lobelia; NativeAmerican tradition; Thomson, Samuel;Transference; Willow.


cines of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon,1995.


Boas, Franz. “Current Beliefs of the Kwakiutl In-

dians.” Journal of American Folklore 45(1932): 177–260.

Bourke, John G. “Popular Medicine, Customs,and Superstitions of the Rio Grande.” Jour-nal of American Folklore 7 (1894): 119–146.







Puckett, Newbell Niles. “Popular Beliefs and Su-perstitions.” A Compendium of AmericanFolklore from the Ohio Collection of NewbellNiles Puckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand,Anna Casetta, and Sondra B. Thiederman.3 vols. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.


Speck, Frank G. “Medicine Practices of theNortheastern Algonquians.” Proceedings ofthe 19th International Congress of American-ists (1917): 303–321.

Welsch, Roger L. A Treasury of Nebraska PioneerFolklore. Lincoln: University of NebraskaPress, 1966.

;B :

BackacheStill one of the commonest causes of lost

working days, backache has attracted a widevariety of folk remedies. For the lower-backpain often known as lumbago, ironing witha flat iron was a traditional if drastic treat-ment used in East Anglia until very recenttimes; the patient lay down, his back wascovered with red flannel, and he was ironed!(D.T., Norfolk, pers. com., 1980). Thecomfort provided by heat is exploited in theuse of various “rubs” that increase the localblood circulation and give rise to a feelingof warmth. Horse oils were often used byfarm laborers in East Anglia before the ad-vent of the National Health Service. Thesehad a very wide variety of constituents butoften contained turpentine. On St. Kildathe fat of black-throated divers was used torelieve sciatica (Beith 1995: 165). In Sussex,England, there was a belief that a personsuffering from lumbago could be relievedby rolling on the ground when he heard thefirst cuckoo of the spring (Allen 1995: 42).

Another approach was to seek a curefrom a local healer with a reputation forcuring bad backs and other skeletal prob-lems. The treatment sometimes involvedthe healer walking along the patient’s spine.When the healer was a large man, as in thecase of Neil in the Inner Hebrides, thismust have been a heroic procedure! (Beith1995: 168). Reputedly in the northeast of

Scotland it was believed that a child bornfeet first had the power of healing lumbago,rheumatism, and sprains; the usual proce-dure again was to walk on the part afflicted.In Cornwall, this special power extended tothe mother of a child born feet first (Black1883: 137).

An intriguing cure for severe backachewas related by a retired carpenter from Es-sex. His pain was so bad it made work al-most impossible, and a painter workingwith him on a building site one day toldhim about “the potato cure.” He was to liein a warm bath and then rub the sorest partof his back with the newly cut surface of araw potato. The other half of the potato wasto be carried in his trouser pocket at alltimes. The man was cured of his pain andalways carried the dried-up potato (A.G. S.,Age Concern Essays, 1991). In the High-lands of Scotland potatoes carried in apocket had a reputation for preventingrheumatism (Beith 1995: 235).

Other plants used in folk medicine forthe treatment of back pain and sciatica in-clude ground elder (Aegopodium poda-graria), which was crushed and made intoa poultice to treat sciatica in the ScottishHighlands (Beith 1995: 215). Plantain,used in healing at least since Anglo-Saxontimes, was an East Anglian remedy for lum-bago (Rider Haggard (ed.), 1974: 16). Oilof juniper (from Juniperus sp.) was used to

22 ; Backache

A treatment approach for backache was to seek a cure from a local healer with a reputation for curingbad backs. The treatment sometimes involved the healer walking along the patient’s spine. (NationalLibrary of Medicine)

treat low back pain in humans and in ani-mals (I. N. Norfolk, pers. com., 1980).

In North American folk medicine, a sim-ilar array of remedies for back pain exists.There is even an American counterpart forthe Sussex remedy mentioned above. Thesufferer is instructed to lie down and rollover three times when he hears the whip-poorwill call! (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 120).Red flannel features, as in Britain, in back-ache cures. In one, a piece of red flannelwith a hole in it is positioned so that thehole is on the small of the back. The evilspirit passes out through the hole (UCLAFolklore Archives 15_5273). Trampling ona sore back was also practiced in NorthAmerica (Cannon 1984: 92). Other mis-cellaneous folk remedies for backache in-clude wearing a snakeskin belt (Parler 1962,3: 443a). Carrying a chestnut (buckeye) inthe pocket was said to help backache

(Brown 1952–1964, 66: 121). Turpentinefeatures in backache cures in North Amer-ica as well as Britain. In New Mexico, it wascombined in a poultice with rosemary (Ros-marinus officinalis) (Moya 1940: 47).

Various plants native to North Americabut not to Britain have been used to treatbackache and sciatica. They include bugle-weed (Lycopus virginicus), black cohosh, andbull thistle (Carduus lanceolatus) (Meyer1985: 220). In addition, wintergreen, alsoknown as checkerberry (Gaultheria procum-bens), has been widely used, both by NativeAmericans and later by European settlers.Oil of wintergreen was adopted for use indomestic medicine both in North Americaand in Britain, and it still forms a constit-uent of some “rubs” for painful joints andbacks. Other plants used by Native Amer-icans in the treatment of backache includepipsissewa, confusingly also called winter-

Bad breath : 23

green (Chimaphila unbellata), mannagrass(Glyceria obtusa), and horsemint (Monardapunctata) (Speck 1944: 41, 45).

See also Amulet, Black cohosh, Plantain,Rheumatism, Snake.

ReferencesAge Concern Essays. Held in Suffolk Record Of-

fice, England, 1991.Allen, Andrew. A Dictionary of Sussex Folk Medi-









Rider Haggard, Lilias (ed.). I Walked by Night.Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1974.

Speck, Frank G. “Catawba Herbals and CurativePractices.” Journal of American Folklore 57(1944): 37–50.

Bad breathThis must have been a common problem

when teeth decayed and no dental treat-ment was available. One simple British folkremedy was to drink and gargle with a so-lution of salt (Prince 1991: 15). This rem-edy also appears in a book of North

American household remedies first pub-lished in 1895 (Wilkes 1895: 94). Bakingsoda was used similarly (Micheletti 1998:43). In both Britain and North America, avariety of cultivated plants were and are tra-ditionally chewed to sweeten breath, in-cluding parsley (Petroselinum crispum) andcinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) (Souter1995: 164). To remove the smell of garlicon the breath, chewing parsley is particu-larly recommended. Chewing spice fromthe spice wood tree (? Styrax sp.) is anothersuggestion (UCLA Folklore Archives14_5299). Other plants used to sweeten thebreath include peppermint (Mentha piper-ita), wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens),myrrh (Commiphora myrrha), and fennel(Foeniculum vulgare). Both chamomile andraspberry (Rubus idaeus) tea were used inNorth American folk medicine. Chewingcloves (buds of Syzygium aromaticum), car-damom seeds (Elettaria cardamomum), or acubeb (Piper cubeba) was also recom-mended (Meyer 1985: 177). The CherokeeIndians used a mouthwash made fromfoamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) to clean acoated tongue (Micheletti 1998: 42).

See also Chamomile.

ReferencesMeyer, Clarence. American Folk Medicine. Glen-

wood, IL: Meyerbooks, 1985.Micheletti, Enza (ed.). North American Folk Heal-

ing: An A-Z Guide to Traditional Remedies.New York and Montreal: Reader’s DigestAssociation, 1998.



Wilkes’ Priceless Recipes. Compiled by Dr. N. T.Oliver. Stockton, Rugby: G. & F. Wilkes.Entered in Library of Congress, Washing-ton, DC, 1895.

24 ; Baldness

BaldnessAt a time when the human genome is

being unraveled for the first time and thehunt for the gene controlling baldness isnow possible, it is interesting to see the va-riety of weird and sometimes revoltinghome remedies tried for treating baldness.In Roman times, the ashes from the burnedgenitals of an ass were mixed with one’sown urine and rubbed onto the scalp to pre-vent baldness (Souter 1995: 164). Rubbingon the dung of various animals was rec-ommended not only in folk medicine butalso in the official pharmacopoeia at leastuntil the eighteenth century. As well as rec-ommending hedgehog fat mixed with bear’sgrease as a baldness remedy, the physicianWilliam Salmon also lists a great variety ofother animal products, including mousedung and hedgehog dung, for the treatmentof baldness (Salmon 1693: 356). In Sussexfolk medicine, the hindquarters of hedge-hogs were cooked and mixed with the innerfat of the pig to produce an ointment forbaldness (Allen 1995: 81). Well-rotted micewere recommended by a healer in the High-lands of Scotland, but as Beith (1985)points out, one wonders how far such rem-edies were given tongue in cheek (DewarMS, quoted in Beith 1995: 65). Bat’s bloodwas recommended for treating baldness inboth England and North Carolina (Mc-Cracken 1992: 14). Onion rubbed on thehead was considered a cure for baldness inboth England and Ireland (Vickery 1995:267). Rosemary, nettle, and hedgehog fatwere made into an ointment to rub into thescalp to stimulate hair growth (Souter 1995:164). A “miracle ageing brew” recorded inthe twentieth century from Shropshireclaimed to restore hair. It was composed ofnettle, dandelion flowers, and roots, red clo-ver, sugar, honey, and lemon, fermentedovernight with yeast (Prince 1991: 10).Drinking a decoction of burdock root was

also claimed to be effective (Prince 1991:31). More bizarrely, “gas-water” (the waterthrough which coal gas is passed during pu-rification) was rubbed into the scalp as ahair restorer (Prince 1991: 31).

In Native American practice, various spe-cies of Yucca have been used to produce ahair tonic to treat baldness (Kavasch andBaar 1999: 100). A recent compilation offolk remedies from North America includesthe use of Aloe vera juice, onion juice, oliveoil, lemon juice, burdock “oil,” or vinegarto treat baldness. Eating kelp and horserad-ish is also recommended. Less pleasantly, apoultice on the scalp of chicken dung orcow manure is suggested (Trent 2000: 45,46). Among a collection of “Old Settlers’Remedies” from Nova Scotia, there is onefor increasing hair growth. It consists ofhartshorn shavings mixed with oil (Robert-son 1960: 6). Rubbing the scalp with thecut surface of an onion is recorded (UCLAFolklore Archives 13_5650). Bear’s greaserubbed on the head is recorded from Ala-bama (Puckett 1981: 315) and rattlesnakeoil from the central Midwest (UCLA Folk-lore Archives13_5277). Drinking very darktea is said to prevent baldness, a remedy re-corded from California but apparently orig-inating in England (UCLA FolkloreArchives 24_5579). A Mexican NativeAmerican remedy for baldness was to usegreasewood root as a hair rinse. This plant,Sarcobatus vermiculatus, is a native of west-ern North America and known mainly forits hard wood used as fuel and in tool mak-ing (Moerman 1998: 518).

See also Hair problems.




Kavasch, E. Barrie, and Karen Baar. American In-

Balm of Gilead : 25

dian Healing Arts. New York: BantamBooks, 1999.

McCracken, Gary. “Bats in Magic, Potions andMedicinal Preparations.” Bats 10(3) (1992).

Moerman, Daniel E. Native American Ethnobo-tany. Portland, OR: Timber Press. 1998.



Robertson, Marion. Early Settlers’ Remedies. Bar-rington, NS: Cape Sable Historical Society,1960.

Salmon, William. The Compleat English Physician.London: 1693.


Trent, Wendell Campbell. Colossus of Folk Medi-cine: An Encyclopedia. First Books Library,2000.


Balm of Gilead (Populusbalsamifera)

This tree is native to North America, butnot to Britain. The sticky resin from itsbuds has formed the basis for many homeremedies. It was named after the balm ofGilead mentioned in the Bible, althoughthat reference is to quite a different plant.It has been used in official medicine andherbalism in Britain (Chevallier 1996: 252)but not in traditional folk medicine there.It has, however, played a significant role inNorth American folk medicine. The stickyresin has been used as a basis for cough syr-ups (Meyer 1985: 82) and for treating colds(Browne 1958: 87) and earache (Dykeman1955: 253). It was an ingredient of a tonictaken for “female weakness” (Meyer 1985:

124). It was used for a large range of skinconditions. Mixed with sheep’s tallow andbeeswax, it has formed an ointment fortreating chapped hands (Meyer 1985: 225).Eczema has been treated with an ointmentprepared from balm of Gilead and lard(UCLA Folklore Archives 17_5368). Theresin has been used to treat burns (Clark1970: 14), wrinkles (Oklahoma Folklore:57), and boils (Ansell 1959: 9). Steeped inalcohol, the buds have provided a tincturefor treating sores and ulcers (Meyer 1985:229). It was an ingredient of a tonic for aweak stomach (Meyer 1985: 242) and hasbeen used to treat piles (Brown 1952–1964:249). The bark of the tree reputedly curesleprosy (Hatcher 1955: 150–155).

Along with other species of poplar, itsuses in Native American practice have beenvery numerous and diverse (Moerman1998: 427–429). The resinous buds haveprovided a cough medicine (Smith 1929:54), a salve for wounds, sores (Black 1980:148) and eczema (Smith 1933: 80), and awash for sore eyes (Gunther 1973: 26) orsore throat (Train, Henrichs and Archer1941: 210). These uses may have beenpassed on from Native Americans to the set-tlers. The bark of the balsam poplar and itsroot are also widely used in Native Ameri-can practice, for uses ranging from rheu-matism (Reagan 1928: 231), excessivebleeding during childbirth (Densmore1928: 358), tuberculosis (Train, Henrichsand Archer 1941: 121), and worms (Her-rick 1977: 291) to broken bones (Turner etal. 1990: 276).

See also Colds, Coughs, Earache,Fractures, Piles, Rheumatism,Tuberculosis, Worms.

ReferencesAnsell, Henry B. “Recollections of a Knotts Island

Boyhood.” North Carolina Folklore 7(1)(1959): 1–13.

Black, Meredith Jean. Algonquin Ethnobotany: AnInterpretation of Aboriginal Adaptation in

26 ; Bartram, John

South Western Quebec. Mercury Series 65.Ottawa: National Museums of Canada,1980.



Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of MedicinalPlants. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1996.

Clark, Joseph D. “North Carolina Popular Beliefsand Superstitions.” North Carolina Folklore18 (1970): 1–66.


Dykeman, Wilma. The French Broad (Rivers ofAmerica). New York: Rinehart, 1955.

Gunther, Erna. Ethnobotany of Western Washing-ton. Rev. ed. Seattle: University of Wash-ington Press, 1973.

Hatcher, Mildred. “Superstitions in Middle Ten-nessee.” Southern Folklore Quarterly 19(1955): 150–155.

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany.Ph.D. thesis, State University of New York,Albany, 1977.



Oklahoma Folklore. Oklahoma Writers Project.UCLA Folklore Archives 21_3939.

Reagan, Albert B. “Plants Used by the Bois FortChippewa (Ojibwa) Indians of Minnesota.”Wisconsin Archaeologist 7(4) (1928): 230–248.

Smith, Harlan I. “Materia Medica of the BellaCoola and Neighboring Tribes of BritishColumbia.” National Museum of CanadaBulletin 56 (1929): 47–68.

Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the Forest Pot-awatomi Indians.” Bulletin of the Public Mu-seum of the City of Milwaukee 7 (1933): 1–230.

Train, Percy, James R. Henrichs, and W. AndrewArcher. Medicinal Uses of Plants by Indian

Tribes of Nevada. Washington, DC: U.S.Department of Agriculture, 1941.

Turner, Nancy J., Laurence C. Thompson, M.Terry Thompson, and Annie Z. York.Thompson Ethnobotany: Knowledge and Us-age of Plants by the Thompson Indians of Brit-ish Columbia. Victoria: Royal BritishColumbia Museum, 1990.

Bartram, John(1699–1777)

Descended from an English grandfatherwho went from Derbyshire to America in1682, John Bartram received little formaleducation but became a very successfulfarmer. He bought a 102-acre plot of landnear Philadelphia, and alongside conven-tional crops he grew numerous medicinalplants from both the Old World and theNew. He corresponded with various plantcollectors in Britain and at one stage of hislife was supplying more than fifty individ-uals with plants. At a time when little in-formation was available to European settlersabout the medicinal uses of Native Ameri-can plants, he provided some of the earliestprinted information on the subject, pub-lishing in 1751 an essay entitled Descrip-tion, virtues and uses of sundry plants of thesenorthern parts of America, and particularly ofthe newly discovered Indian cure for the ve-nereal disease. In the same year, after a tripto Onondaga, he wrote Observations on theinhabitants, Climate, soil, rivers, productionsworthy of notice, made by John Bartram inhis travels from Pennsylvania to Onadaga,Oswego and the Lake Ontario in Canada(London: J. Whiston and B. White, 1751).Apart from the importance of the infor-mation he printed, during his lifetime hewas highly respected and liked, and was ableto assist others as a result of his knowledgeof medicinal plants. Though he was self-taught as a botanist, the importance of hiswork was recognized by induction as one ofthe original members of the American Phil-

Beans : 27

osophical Society. He was appointed bota-nist to King George III, for which servicehe received an annual income of fiftypounds. His contribution both to knowl-edge of folk medicine during his lifetimeand to subsequent botanical studies earnedhim the title of “father of American bot-any.”

ReferenceEarnest, E. John and William Bartram. Philadel-

phia: University of Pennsylvania Press,1940.

BeansThe broad bean (Vicia faba) is not a na-

tive of Britain but has been grown in cul-tivation as a vegetable since the Iron Age(Harrison, Masefield and Wallis 1985: 40).In folk medicine in Britain its principal usehas been in the treatment of warts. The wartis rubbed with the fluffy inside of the broadbean pod. This remedy is widespreadthroughout Britain and persisted well intothe twentieth century (Hatfield 1999: 148;Vickery 1995: 50; Allen 1995: 176). InDevon, the same remedy is applied tochapped lips and to nettle stings (Lafont1984: 13). Another folk use is for whoopingcough; in Suffolk, a child suffering fromthis disorder was carried through a field ofbeans in flower, where inhaling the scentwas thought to be helpful (Taylor MSS). Apoultice of bean flowers was used in Irelandto reduce hard swellings (Radford and Rad-ford 1961: 36). In some areas of Britain thescent of the broad bean flower was said tobe powerfully aphrodisiac (Vickery 1995:49–50). Worldwide, there is a general as-sociation between beans of various kindsand lust and fertility (Souter 1995: 106). InVedic India, urd beans were associated par-ticularly with conception of male offspring(Simoons 1999: 173).

Beans of various kinds were carried asamulets. Horse beans were used in this way

in Lincolnshire within living memory (Tay-lor MSS), where, carried in the pocket, theywere thought to prevent thirst. Exotic seeds,carried by the Gulf Stream, are sometimeswashed up on the western coasts of Britain,and in Scotland especially these were valuedas bringing good luck. Though described as“beans,” many are not strictly beans in thebotanical sense. They were also used as am-ulets to ease childbirth. Seeds of the genusMerremia, which have a crosslike marking,were especially valued in this way (W. B.Hemsley 1892: 371).

Beans of various kinds have been widelyused in North American folk medicine inthe treatment of warts. In most of theseremedies, the wart is rubbed either with abean (Brown 1952–1964, 66: 321) or withthe leaves of a bean (Fentress 1934: 58).The beans are then disposed of by throwingthem away, burying them, or plantingthem. In a wart cure recorded from Illinois,each of eight beans is named after a spitefulwoman, rubbed on the wart, and thenthrown in a well (Hyatt 1965: 295). Apartfrom treating warts, beans have been usedin a wide variety of ailments in NorthAmerica. As amulets red beans have beenworn as a necklace to prevent rheumatism(Wheeler 1892–1893: 65) or smallpox(UCLA Folklore Archives 5_5472). Placedunder the tongue or upper lip, a bean hasbeen recommended for nosebleed (Wilson1967: 302). As a dietary item, various kindsof beans have been recommended to treatindigestion (UCLA Folklore Archives8_6473), alcoholism (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 4_7630), arthritis (UCLA FolkloreArchives 1_6214), high blood pressure(UCLA Folklore Archives 24–5289), fevers(Puckett 1981: 376), bruises (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 21_6199), and dysentery(UCLA Folklore Archives 19_5362). Eat-ing specially prepared black beans on NewYear’s Day is a Japanese folk tradition im-ported into North America; it is said to en-sure good health for the following year

28 ; Bed-wetting

(UCLA Folklore Archives 6_6370). Beanshave played a role in childbirth, too; eatingpinto beans was believed to precipitatechildbirth (Marquez and Pacheco 1964:83), while eating green beans during preg-nancy was held to ensure the offspring wasmale (UCLA Folklore Archives 22_6651).Poultices of cooked beans have been usedin a wide variety of remedies, too—fortreating freckles (UCLA Folklore Archives2_6008), sore throat (Anonymous, 1939:215), and lung congestion (Levine 1941:488), and for drawing out poisons (Bergen1899: 114), infections, and even tetanus(UCLA Folklore Archives 5_5292). Sittingover a pot of beans was believed by some tocure mumps (Puckett 1981: 417).

See also Amulet, Bruises, Childbirth,Dysentery, Fevers, Freckles, Indigestion,Nosebleed, Pregnancy, Rheumatism,Smallpox, Sore throat, Warts, Whoopingcough.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Anonymous. Idaho Lore. Caldwell, ID: AMS Press

Incorporated, 1939.Bergen, Fanny D. “Animal and Plant Lore Col-

lected from the Oral Tradition of EnglishSpeaking Folk.” Memoirs of the AmericanFolklore Society, Boston and New York 7(1899).


Fentress, Elza E. Superstitions of Grayson County(Kentucky). M.A. thesis, Western StateTeachers College, 1934.

Harrison, S. G., G. B. Masefield, and MichaelWallis. The Oxford Book of Food Plants.London: Peerage Books, 1985.

Hatfield, Gabrielle. Memory, Wisdom and Healing:The History of Domestic Plant Medicine.Stroud: Sutton, 1999.

Hemsley, W. B. “A Drift-Seed (Ipomoea tuberosaL.).” Annals of Botany 6 (1892): 369–372.

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Folklore from Adams

County Illinois. 2nd rev. ed. New York:Memoirs of the Alma Egan Hyatt Foun-dation, 1965.

Lafont, Anne-Marie. Herbal Folklore. Bideford:Badger Books, 1984.

Levine, Harold D. “Folk Medicine in NewHampshire.” New England Journal of Med-icine 224 (1941): 487–492.

Marquez, May N., and Consuelo Pacheco. “Mid-wifery Lore in New Mexico.” AmericanJournal of Nursing 64(9) (1964): 81–84.


Radford, E., and M. A. Radford. Encyclopedia ofSuperstitions. Edited and revised by Chris-tina Hole. London: Hutchinson, 1961.

Simoons, Frederick J. Plants of Life, Plants ofDeath. Madison: University of WisconsinPress, 1999.


Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylor,Norfolk Record Office, Norwich. MS4322.

Vickery, Roy A Dictionary of Plant Lore. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1995.

Wheeler, Helen M. “Illinois Folk-Lore.” Folklorist1 (1892–1893): 55–68.

Wilson, Gordon W. “Swallow It or Rub It On:More Mammoth Cave Remedies.” SouthernFolklore Quarterly 31 (1967): 296–303.

Bed-wettingMice, burned to a cinder, powdered and

mixed with jam, were given to children inSussex to cure them of bed-wetting (Allen1995: 114). Honey is claimed to help pre-vent bed-wetting (Souter 1995: 138). Mar-joram (Origanum vulgare) and sea lavender(Limonium spp.) have also been used totreat urinary incontinence (de Baıracli Levy1974: 97, 131). St. John’s wort (Hypericumperforatum) as an infusion has been used to

Bee : 29

treat enuresis in young and old alike(Quelch n.d.: 142).

In North American folk medicine, miceagain feature in several remedies (see, forinstance, UCLA Folklore Archives recordnumber 4_5887). An alternative is the pow-der of a burned hog’s bladder (Allen 1963:85). A frog tied to the child’s leg is anothersuggestion (Puckett 1981: 96). Breaking atwin loaf over a child’s head is a curiousremedy from Pennsylvania (Myers 1954:10). Alternatively, the child can be stood inice-cold water (Cannon 1984: 34). Othersuggestions include placing hazel twigs un-der the sheets (UCLA Folklore Archivesrecord number 1_5279) or giving pulver-ized toasted egg-shell (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives record number 23_5277). Parchedcorn from a red ear of corn is an alternative(Puckett 1981: 97). Other plant prepara-tions used to prevent bedwetting includemullein (Verbascum thapsus), St. John’swort (Hypericum perforatum, as in Britain),and red bark (Cinchona officinalis). Honeyhas also been used, as in Britain (Meyer1985: 36). A tea made from pumpkin seedshas been used, for example in Saskatchewan(UCLA Folklore Archives 13_5867); onemade from sumac berries (Rhus sp.) is re-ported from North Carolina (Walker 1955:9). The red berries of sumac (Rhuscopallinum) are chewed for bed-wettingamong the Cherokee (Hamel and Chiltos-key 1975: 57).

Chewing pine gum has been encouragedto prevent bed-wetting (Baker and Wilcox1948: 191). An African American sugges-tion is that if a newborn baby is marchedaround the house before it is washed, it willnever get measles or wet the bed (Turner1937: 147).

See also Corn, Honey, Mouse.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Allen, Jon W. Legends and Lore of Southern Illinois.

Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois Univer-sity, 1963.

Baker, Pearl, and Ruth Wilcox. “Folk Remediesin Early Green River.” Utah Humanities Re-view 2 (1948).


de Baıracli Levy, Juliette. The Illustrated HerbalHandbook. Devon: Reader’s Union, 1974.



Myers, George H. “Folk Cures.” PennsylvaniaDutchman 5(9) (January 1, 1954).


Quelch, Mary Thorne. Herbs for Daily Use. Lon-don: Faber and Faber, n.d.


Turner, Tressa. “The Human Comedy in FolkSuperstitions.” Publications of the TexasFolklore Society 13 (1937): 146–175.

Walker, Jon. “A Sampling of Folklore from Ruth-erford County.” North Carolina Folklore3(2) (December 1955).

BeeAll the products of the bee have been

used in folk medicine; honey, royal jelly,beeswax, propolis (the gluey substance usedfor filling in cracks within the beehive), andeven bee venom have all found uses. Royaljelly, a rich food source, has been used as atonic and propolis as a wound healer (Stein1989: 25, 44). Bee stings have been usedfor rheumatism (Souter 1995: 86) and bees-wax from local bees chewed to prevent hay

30 ; Bee

fever (Hatfield, pers. com., 1980). Beeswaxformed the basis for many healing salves.For example, an ointment for healing soresused in Badenoch in the Scottish Highlandswas composed of beeswax, hog’s lard, andpine resin (Beith 1995: 233).

The British folk remedies associated withbees have their counterparts in NorthAmerican folk medicine. The honey bee(Apis mellifera) was introduced to NorthAmerica in the early seventeenth century.The Native Americans termed honey bees“white man’s flies,” since their presence in-dicated a colonist settlement nearby (Mich-eletti 1998: 197). They had used wild beesand their products for many hundreds ofyears, and the Aztecs are known to havekept wild bees in captivity. There are morethan two thousand species of wild bee inNorth America (Kavasch and Baar 1999:19).

Honeycomb cappings are chewed inVermont for colds and hay fever (Jarvis1961: 110). Bee stings as a cure for rheu-matism have been reported, for example inPennsylvania (Brendle and Unger 1935:206) and in Nebraska (Welsch 1966: 343).As in Britain, beeswax formed the basis formany healing ointments. A salve forchapped skin consisted of resin, sheep tal-low, and beeswax (Browne 1958: 46); it wasvery similar to the one in Scotland above.Beeswax has been used to prevent a burnfrom blistering (UCLA Folklore Archives5_5301). A quasi-magical cure for a swell-ing was to make a model of the swelling inbeeswax and stand it in the sun; as themodel melted, so the swelling would sub-side (Crosby 1927: 307). In Texas,“parched” bees have been used to treat hives(UCLA Folklore Archive 8_5415).

Dried bumblebees form part of severalNative American remedies—for example,one for easing labor. The importance ofbeeswax in Native American medicine is in-dicated by the Navajo folktale of BeeWoman, who reveals that beeswax is good

to take away the pain of scratches from ea-gle’s claws and to heal the wound (New-comb 1940: 66). Honey, propolis, andlemon are the components of a present-dayNative American salve used for treating mi-nor burns and scratches (Kavasch and Baar1999: 22).

There is a widespread country traditionthat a death in the family must immediatelybe reported to the bees (Radford and Rad-ford 1974: 38).

See also Childbirth, Hay fever, Hives,Honey, Rheumatism.





Crosby, Rev. John R. “Modern Witches of Penn-sylvania.” Journal of American Folklore 40(1927): 304–309.


Kavasch, E. Barrie, and Karen Baar. American In-dian Healing Arts. Herbs, Rituals and Rem-edies for Every Season of Life. New York:Bantam Books, 1999.

Micheletti, Enza (ed.). North American Folk Heal-ing: An A–Z Guide to Traditional Remedies.New York and Montreal: Reader’s DigestAssociation, 1998.

Newcomb, Franc J. “Origin Legend of the NavajoEagle Chant.” Journal of American Folklore53 (1940): 50–77.

Radford, E., and M. A. Radford. Encyclopaedia ofSuperstitions. Edited by Christina Hole.London: Book Club Associates, 1974.


Birch : 31

Stein, Irene. Royal Jelly: The New Guide to Nature’sRichest Food. Wellingborough: Thorsons,1989.


Birch (Betula spp.)In British folk medicine, birch has been

employed as a pain killer. In Scotland, theleaves were made into an infusion for treat-ing rheumatism. The bark of the tree as adecoction has been used for headache andrheumatism. The springtime sap was be-lieved in the Scottish Highlands to be ben-eficial for the kidneys and bladder. It wasalso fermented and made into wine (Dar-win 1996: 85). Resin from the buds hasbeen used to form an oil rubbed into in-flamed joints. Birch juice has been used inSussex as a laxative (Allen 1995: 182).

In North America, birch has been usedin innumerable ways, some of them medic-inal. Birch bark has been used in New-foundland for treating frostbite (Bergen1899: 110). An infusion of the bark hasbeen used to treat night sweats (Browne1958: 105), and chewing a piece of bark hasbeen recommended for hiccups (UCLAFolklore Archives 5_5404). Birch catkinshave been worn as an amulet against inflam-mation (Brendle and Unger 1935: 83). Thejuice of various birches has, as in Britain,been used to treat pain. The oil of one spe-cies of birch, Betula lenta, was used fortreating rheumatism and was marketed as“wintergreen” oil, presumably because of asimilarity in its scent. Birch sap was used bythe pioneers as a springtime tonic, as a gar-gle for sore throats, and a wash for skin con-ditions (Willard 1992: 70). The inner barkor the root of birch was cooked and eatenfor a weak stomach (Meyer 1985: 242).Ground birch bark was said to get rid ofintestinal worms (Meyer 1985: 268).

In the Native American tradition birchhas been used extensively. The inner barkof the paper birch has been used by theThompson Indians as a contraceptive(Turner et al. 1990: 189); the bark is verystrong, pliable and waterproof, and squawsused it to make contraceptive diaphragms(Fischer 1989: 92). Birch bark has beenused to splint fractures (Wells 1954: 282).A syrup has been made from birch buds andused for ringworm (Speck 1944: 43). Birchsap has been used in treatment of con-sumption (Vogel 1970: 95–96). (For thenumerous other uses of birch by NativeAmericans see Moerman 1998: 122–125.)

See also Contraception, Fractures,Frostbite, Headache, Hiccups, NativeAmerican tradition, Rheumatism, Tonic.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Bergen, Fanny D. “Animal and Plant Lore Col-

lected from the Oral Tradition of EnglishSpeaking Folk.” Memoirs of the AmericanFolk-Lore Society 7 (1899).



Darwin, Tess. The Scots Herbal: The Plant Lore ofScotland. Edinburgh: Mercat Press, 1996.

Fischer, David Hackett. Albion’s Seed. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1989.




Turner, Nancy J., Laurence C. Thompson, M.Terry Thompson, and Annie Z. York.Thompson Ethnobotany: Knowledge and Us-age of Plants by the Thompson Indians of Brit-

32 ; Bites and stings

ish Columbia. Victoria: Royal BritishColumbia Museum, 1990.

Vogel, Virgil J. American Indian Medicine. Nor-man: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.

Wells, Warner. “Surgical Practice in North Car-olina: A Historical Commentary.” NorthCarolina Medical Journal 15 (1954): 281–287.


Bites and stings.See Insect bites and stings.

Black, William GeorgeBlack was born in 1857 and lived in Hill-

head, Glasgow, Scotland. Trained as a law-yer, he wrote on a number of subjects andwas the first to use the term “folk medicine”in print, first in newspaper articles and laterin a paper published in 1878 by the BritishArchaeological Society (Black 1878). Herehe defined folk medicine as “meant to com-prehend the subjects of charms, incanta-tions, and those habits related to thepreservation of health, or the cure of dis-ease, which were and are practiced by themore superstitious and old-fashioned.” Hisdefinition reflects the patronizing attitudeof folklorists of his time. His book FolkMedicine: A Chapter in the History of Cul-ture was published by Elliot Stock for theFolklore Society in London in 1883. It wasthe first book on folk medicine to be pub-lished in Britain, and despite its emphasison the bizarre and its strong flavor of socialcondescension, it contains a wealth of valu-able information, gathered together for thefirst time. In Black’s words, it did indeedserve to direct attention to “the importantstudy which I have ventured to call Folk-Medicine” (Black 1878: 332). Black died in1932.

ReferenceBlack, William George. “Folk-Medicine.” Journal

of the British Archaeological Association 34(1878): 327–332.

Black cohosh (Cimicifugaracemosa)

Native to Canada and Eastern NorthAmerica but not to Britain, this plant wasused by Native Americans to treat rheu-matic pain. Among the Iroquois, the af-fected limbs were held in the steam from adecoction of the plant (Herrick 1977: 320).The Cherokee used an infusion of the plantto treat rheumatism (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 30). Its other principal uses were foramenorrhoea (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:30) and to aid childbirth (Coffey 1993: 14);hence its alternative name of squaw root.(For other uses see Moerman 1998: 162–163.)

Among settlers in North America, it be-came a very fashionable and expensive med-icine, in the seventeenth century reachingthe price of three pounds sterling per pound(Hughes 1957). By the nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries, partly owing to its pro-motion by the Eclectic school of herbalists,it was viewed as a panacea (Crellin and Phil-pott 1990: 166). The root was used, as adecoction, for treating rheumatism (Meyer1985: 40, 214, 216, 217, 220). It was aconstituent of an herbal mixture for treatingbronchitis (Meyer 1985: 51). It was rec-ommended for female “weakness” (Meyer1985: 124, 125) and figured in a liver tonic(Meyer 1985: 168). Herbalists in Europeadopted the plant as part of their materiamedica, and it is still used by them todayfor treating period pain, menopausal prob-lems, and rheumatic complaints (Chevallier1996: 78). It is currently the subject ofstudies in Germany for the treatment ofmenopausal symptoms (Micheletti 1998:97).

Blackberry, Bramble : 33

See also Childbirth, Rheumatism andarthritis.

ReferencesChevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal

Plants. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1996.Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of

North American Wildflowers. New York:Facts On File, 1993.




Hughes, Thomas P. Medicine in Virginia 1607–1699. Jamestown 350th AnniversaryHistorical Booklet 21. Williamsburg, VA:1957.




Blackberry, Bramble(Rubus fruticosus)

In British folk medicine the bramble hashad a reputation for curing and preventinga wide variety of ailments. The shoots havethe unusual ability to root where they touchthe ground, and sufferers from boils, rheu-matism, and hernia were passed through thearch formed in this way (Grieve 1931: 109).A child suffering from whooping cough wassometimes passed under the arch seventimes. The cough was then thought to leavethe child and stay with the bramble, an ex-ample of transference (Black 1883: 70). Toward off evil spirits, the Scottish High-landers used a length of bramble shoot en-twined with ivy and rowan (Grigson 1955:

145).The blackberry has been used to treatdiarrhea (Lafont 1984: 17). In Scotland, theroots of bramble were used with pennyroyalto treat bronchitis and asthma and theleaves were used to treat erysipelas (Beith1995: 209). In Somerset, the sufferer frombronchitis was advised to carry a blackberryshoot and nibble it when the cough started(Tongue 1965: 37). In England, as well asScotland, the leaves have been used to treatburns and swellings (Grigson 1955: 145).The leaves of the blackberry have beenchewed for toothache (Hatfield 1994: 55)and the fruit in the form of a jelly used totreat sore throat, a use that can be tracedback to Dioscorides (Chevallier 1996: 261).The first blackberry of the season was saidin Cornwall to cure warts (Black 1883:202). To eat blackberries after the first frostwas considered unlucky, a belief widespreadthroughout Britain (Vickery 1995: 45).

The species of blackberry (Rubus fruti-cosus) most common in Britain is natural-ized throughout most of the world,including North America. In folk medicinalrecords, it is often not possible to trace theactual species used in the past. Blackberryroots are one component of a decoctionused to treat dysentery (Meyer 1985: 98).Blackberry root has been used to treat di-arrhea (Cadwallader and Wilson 1965:220) and thrush (Meyer 1985: 178). “Pass-ing through” a blackberry bush has beenused to treat whooping cough (Hohman1904: 111) and pleurisy (Pickard and Buley1945: 82). Blackberry juice has been rec-ommended for colitis (Browne 1958: 52)and for nausea and vomiting (Parler 1962,3: 980), while a tea made from the rootshas been used for labor pain (Parler 1962,3: 51) and as a wash for rheumatism (Cad-wallader and Wilson 1965: 220), as well asa lotion for sore gums in teething babies(Parler 1962, 3: 287). Whereas in Englandblackberry leaves have been used to treattoothache, in Pennsylvania the gall growingon a blackberry has been carried as an am-

34 ; Blacksmith

ulet to protect against toothache (Brendleand Unger 1935: 116).

In Native American medicine at leastthree different species of Rubus have beenrecorded in use for diarrhea and four forsore throat (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:26). The so-called Long Blackberry (Rubusallegheniensis) has been used by the Iroquoisfor treating coughs, colds, and tuberculosis(Herrick 1977: 357). Burns have beentreated using the bark or leaves of the salm-onberry, Rubus spectabilis (Gunther 1973:35). Whooping cough has been treated witha decoction of the black raspberry (Rubusoccidentalis) (Herrick 1977: 356). Therewas a Cherokee belief that a blackberrybramble pulled backward could cure black-heads (Mellinger 1967: 69).

See also Amulet, Asthma, Burns,Erysipelas, Rheumatism, Transference.






Cadwallader, D. E., and F. J. Wilson. “FolkloreMedicine among Georgia’s Piedmont Ne-groes after the Civil War.” Collections of theGeorgia Historical Society 49 (1965): 217–227.


Grieve, Mrs. M. A Modern Herbal. London: Jon-athan Cape, 1931.


Gunther, Erna. Ethnobotany of Western Washing-

ton. Rev. ed. Seattle: Washington Press,1973.

Hamel, Paul B., and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Chero-kee Plants and Their Uses: A 400 Year His-tory. Sylva, NC: Herald Publishing,1975.



Hohman, John George. “The Long HiddenFriend.” Journal of American Folklore 17(1904): 89–152.


Mellinger, Marie B. “Medicine of the Cherokees.”Foxfire 1(3) (1967): 13–20, 65–72.



Pickard, Madge E., and R. Carlyle Buley. TheMidwest Pioneer, His Ills, Cures and Doctors.Crawfordsville, IN: R. E. Banta, 1945.

Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. Edited by Ka-tharine Briggs. County Folklore 8. London:Folklore Society, 1965.


BlacksmithThe Celtic smith-god Gobniu was asso-

ciated with healing, which may explain thefaith in the power of the blacksmith to treata variety of illnesses. Blacksmiths were usu-ally strong men, which would have addedto the esteem in which they were held.Their association with fire and iron wouldhave further strengthened this faith. Someof their “cures,” such as one for depressionreported by Martin in the seventeenth cen-tury from the Scottish Highlands, de-pended on terrifying the patient by almoststriking them with a hammer (Beith 1995:100). Blacksmiths were thought to have the

Bleeding : 35

power to arrest bleeding (Radford and Rad-ford 1974: 56). As part of their treatmentof patients, some blacksmiths in Scotlandused bloodletting, a practice reported as re-cently as the 1930s (Beith 1995: 116). Oth-ers used herbal treatment, such as thenineteenth-century Mackintosh from Bo-huntin in the Scottish Highlands (Beith1995: 149). He pounded his herbs in theoil-lamp mold of his anvil, a practice thatwas probably thought to enhance the powerof the herbs. The water in which the smithquenched his iron was in demand for folkmedicine right up to the twentieth century,for healing sick children and strengtheningthe weak.

Some of these beliefs are also to be foundin North American folk medicine. Atwentieth-century Pennsylvania blacksmithcured people suffering from erysipelas(Shoemaker 1951: 2). By applying slake wa-ter from his forge and saying certain words,it was believed that a blacksmith could curewarts (Puckett 1981: 497). Whoopingcough, poison ivy rash (Puckett 1981: 427,500), and freckles (Brown 1952–1964, 66:198) have all been treated with “slake” wa-ter.

See also Bleeding, Erysipelas, Forge water,Warts.





Radford, E., and M. A. Radford. Encyclopaedia ofSuperstitions. Edited and revised by Chris-tina Hole. London: Book Club Associates,1974.

Shoemaker, Alfred L. “Blacksmith Lore.” Pennsyl-vania Dutchman 3(6) (August 1, 1951): 2.

Blackthorn (Prunusspinosa)

This plant has been used for a wide rangeof conditions in British folk medicine, rang-ing from diarrhea to sore throat (Allen andHatfield, in press) and the treatment of fe-vers (Beith 1995: 205). Particularly insouthern Britain, the fruit, known as sloes,have been rubbed on warts. Though intro-duced in North America, blackthorn doesnot feature in folk medicine there; instead,other species of Prunus have been used.

See also Cherry, Warts.


Plants in Folk Tradition. Portland, OR:Timber Press, in press.

Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-cines of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon, 1995.

BleedingAs one of the most obvious domestic

emergencies, bleeding has attracted a widerange of home remedies. In British folkmedicine, the simplest treatment has beencold water. Cobwebs were very widely usedright up to the end of the twentieth centuryto treat serious cuts in humans and animals.In the Highlands of Scotland so-calledtoadstones (actually the teeth of fossil fish)were used to arrest bleeding (Beith 1995:158). Ashes of a burned frog were reputedlyused to stop bleeding (Beith 1995: 176).Pepper has been used as a styptic in bothScotland (Beith 1995: 232) and North-umberland (Prince 1991: 122). Also in theHighlands, individual healers had a repu-tation for treating bleeding, and their treat-ment included administering dried blood of

36 ; Bleeding

the patient (Beith 1995: 165). Puffballshave been another source of emergency firstaid. The spores have been sprinkled onto awound to arrest bleeding, and the wholefungus has been chopped to provide a poul-tice. In barber shops and in farm sheds adried puffball was kept throughout the yearto use in emergencies. In Sussex, bracketfungus, known there as amadou, was usedsimilarly (Allen 1995: 27).

A remedy common throughout Britain,but especially in Suffolk, was to preserve thepetals of a lily (usually the Madonna lily) inbrandy. The petals were then used to ban-dage cuts (Hatfield 1994: appendix). Alsoin East Anglia, the root of the horseradish(Armoracia rusticana) was used to treat deepcuts (Porter 1974: 43). Horsetail (Equise-tum spp.) has been recommended by theancients in official medicine but has alsobeen used in folk medicine, for example onthe Isle of Man, to stop bleeding (Quayle1973: 70). Plantain leaves were used tostem the bleeding from minor wounds, inScotland, England, and Ireland (Beith1995: 233; Vickery 1995: 285; Westropp1911: 449–456). In Somerset, bird’s foottrefoil (Lotus corniculatus) has been used tostaunch bleeding (Tongue 1965: 36). In thenineteenth century mistletoe (Viscum al-bum) was reputedly chopped small and ap-plied to injuries to stop the bleeding (Notesand Queries 1849: 325). The boiled plantof St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)was used in the Scottish Highlands tostaunch bleeding (Beith 1995: 238), as werethe leaves of tobacco or dried tobacco(Beith 1995: 246). Shepherd’s purse (Cap-sella bursa-pastoris) was used to staunchbleeding (Beith 1995: 242). Yarrow (Achil-lea millefolium) was universally accepted asa styptic and formed a constituent of manyhealing ointments (Hatfield 1994: 33).Willow (Salix spp.) was used in Cumbria toarrest bleeding (Freethy 1985: 118). Theblood-staunching properties of marshwoundwort (Stachys palustris) were drawn

to Gerard’s attention in the sixteenth cen-tury when he witnessed their effectivenesson a man badly cut by a scythe. Gerard wasso impressed that he adopted the plant inhis own practice (Allen 1995: 184). Boththe marsh and the hedge woundwort(Stachys sylvatica) have been used in thisway. Also in Sussex, the leaves of woadplants (Isatis tinctoria) naturalized from cul-tivation for dye, have been used to stem theflow of blood (Allen 1995: 185). The resinfrom pine trees (Pinus spp.) has been usedto staunch bleeding in both England andScotland (Allen and Hatfield, in press). Inthe twentieth century, castor oil was usedin Hampshire with great success to treatdeep cuts (Prince 1991: 114).

In North America amulets worn to stopbleeding have included pieces of bloodrootworn as a necklace. In Georgia, a necklaceof mulberry roots and buttons has beenused (Waller and Killion 1972: 75). As inBritain, certain individuals have been cred-ited with the power to stop bleeding. Awoman born with a caul (Dorson 1952:159) was thought to have this ability, alsothe seventh son of a seventh son (UCLAFolklore Archives record number 2_5287).It is claimed that people who have neverseen their fathers have this power too(Brown 1952–1964: 6: 126). When the in-jury has been caused by a knife, a wide-spread belief goes, the knife should bethrust into the ground or into a tree (Ran-dolph 1931: 103).

Recommended applications in NorthAmerican folk medicine for bleeding in-clude cobwebs, pepper, tobacco (all used inBritain as well), tea leaves, ashes of burnedrags, a paste (made from flour, salt, and wa-ter), and wood soot, as well as powderedbone and powdered dried beef (Meyer1985: 276–277). Powdered rice (Parler1962: 450), coffee grounds (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 18_6287), corn silk (Koch1980: 70), urine, bread, sugar (Puckett1981: 318, 319), the lining of an eggshell

Bleeding : 37

(Cannon 1984: 94), and bleeding chickenmeat (Brown 1952–1964, 66: 123) have allbeen applied to bleeding injuries. For arte-rial bleeding in an arm, thrusting the arminto a sack of flour has been found to help(UCLA Folklore Archives 10_6287). Ap-plying brown paper, as in the nursery rhymeof Jack and Jill, has also been used to stembleeding (Secrest 1964: 481–482). The sapfrom a pine tree (Pinus elliottii) has beenused in Florida to stem bleeding (as inCumbria, England, where a different Pinespecies was used; see above) (Murphree1965: 178). The sap of spruce trees (Piceasp.) has been used similarly (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 22_5286). Wild alum root(Heuchera sp.) has been used in the moun-tain South of the United States to stopbleeding (Long 1962: 5). A poultice ofwolf’s bane (Arnica sp.) was used in Mexico(UCLA Folklore Archives record number3_6182). Other plant remedies includesumac (Rhus sp.) (Beck 1957: 45), witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana) (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 19_6287), goldenrod (Soli-dago sp.) (Clark 1970: 13), and bloodweedblossoms (Conyza canadensis) (Creighton1968: 199). Plant-derived remedies also in-clude puffball spores, woundwort, yarrow,and woad, as used in Britain. In addition,the leaves of sunflower (Helianthus annuus)or peach (Prunus persica), as well as sassafrasleaves (Sassafras albidum), chewed fine andapplied, are recommended. Matico-leaf(Piper angustifolium) and bistort (Polygo-num bistorta) have been used, also the leavesand bark of willow, as in Britain (Salix spp.)(Meyer 1985: 277). Green walnut juice(Juglans sp.) has been used in Tennessee(Parr 1962: 11). In Mexico, the organ pipecactus (Pachycereus sp.) was particularlypopular for healing cuts in the eighteenthcentury, and it is still used today to checkbleeding after a tooth extraction (Kay 1996:57). The crushed young leaves of Mexicanelder (Sambucus mexicana) are used to poul-tice cuts (Kay 1996: 247).

In Native American medicine, plants be-longing to nearly a hundred different generahave been used to staunch bleeding (Moer-man 1998: 772). They include red willow(Salix lucida) (Wallis 1922: 26); wormwoodleaves (Artemisia sp.) (Vogel 1970: 396),various species of juniper (for instance Jun-iperus occidentalis, used by the Paiute)(Train, Henrichs, and Archer 1941: 92),and the chewed leaves of pigeon berries orpoke (Phytolacca americana) (Van Wart1948: 577). Interestingly, both puffballspores and spider webs have been used—for example, by the Kwakiutl—to stembleeding (Boas 1932: 188).

See also Amulet, Bloodroot, Caul, Corn,Mistletoe, Nosebleed, Poke, Puffball,Seventh son, Spider, Sympathetic magic,Wounds, Yarrow.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Beck, Horace P. The Folklore of Maine. Philadel-

phia and New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1957.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-

cines of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon 1995.

Boas, Franz. “Current Beliefs of the Kwakiutl In-dians.” Journal of American Folklore 45(1932): 177–260.

Brown, Frank C. Collection of North CarolinaFolklore. 7 vols. Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press 1952–64.



Creighton, Helen. Bluenose Magic, Popular Beliefsand Superstitions in Nova Scotia. Toronto:Ryerson Press, 1968.

Dorson, Richard M. Bloodstoppers and Bearwalk-ers: Folk Traditions of the Upper Peninsula.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,1952.

38 ; Blisters

Freethy, Ron. From Agar to Zenry. Marlborough:Crowood Press 1985.


Kay, Margarita A. Healing with Plants in the Amer-ican and Mexican West. Tucson: Universityof Arizona Press, 1996.

Koch, William E. Folklore from Kansas. Beliefs andCustoms. Lawrence, KS: Regent Press, 1980.

Long, Grady M. “Folk Medicine in McMinn,Polk, Bradley, and Meigs Counties, Ten-nessee, 1910–1927.” Tennessee Folklore So-ciety Bulletin 28 (1962): 1–8.



Murphree, Alice H. “Folk Medicine in Florida:Remedies Using Plants.” Florida Anthropol-ogist 18 (1965): 175–185.

Notes and Queries, London 1849 ff. Vol. 43, p.325.


Parr, Jerry S. “Folk Cures of Middle Tennessee.”Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 28(1962): 8–12.



Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, AnnaCasetta, and Sondra B. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall,1981.

Quayle, George. Legends of a Lifetime: Manx Folk-lore. Douglas: Courier Herald, 1973.

Randolph, Vance. The Ozarks: An American Sur-vival of Primitive Society. New York: Van-guard Press, 1931.

Secrest, A. Jack. “Contemporary Folk Medicine.”Carolina Medical Journal 25 (1964): 481–482.

Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. Edited by K.M. Briggs. London: Folklore Society, 1965.

Train, Percy, James R. Henrichs, and W. AndrewArcher. Medicinal Uses of Plants by IndianTribes of Nevada. Washington, DC: U. S.Department of Agriculture, 1941.

Van Wart, Arthur F. “The Indians of the Mari-time Provinces, Their Diseases and NativeCures.” Canadian Medical Association Jour-nal 59(6) (1948): 573–577.



Waller, Tom, and Gene Killion. “Georgia FolkMedicine.” Southern Folklore Quarterly 36(1972): 71–92.

Wallis, Wilson D. “Medicines Used by the Mic-mac Indians.” American Anthropologist 24(1922): 24–30.

Westropp, Thomas J. “A Folklore Survey ofCounty Clare” (continued) XVIII “Animaland Plant Superstitions” (continued). Folk-Lore 22 (1911): 449–456.

BlistersAlthough medically trivial, foot blisters

are sufficiently painful to have attracted anumber of folk remedies. There have beenconflicting fashions in the domestic treat-ment of blisters. Some have recommendedpreserving the blisters intact in order toavoid infection; others have advised punc-turing the blister and applying surgicalspirit to cleanse and harden the skin. Pass-ing a needle and thread through the blisterhas been practiced (Harvey, pers. com.,1955). Soaked cabbage leaves have beenused in treating blisters, while the leaves ofgreater plantain (Plantago major) have beenused both to prevent and to treat blisters(Souter 1995: 138). In the west country ofEngland, ashes of burned wood from theash (Fraxinus excelsior) have been used to“draw” blisters (Hartland 1895: 29). In Ul-ster, poultices were made from bread or lin-seed meal (Foster 1951: 61, 261).

In North American folk medicine,many similar blister treatments were used.

Blood : 39

It was suggested that blisters should bebroken, but only after sunset (Anderson1968: 313). Drawing a worsted threadthrough the blister to dry it up is a rec-ommendation familiar from Britain also(Parler 1962: 456). It has been suggestedin California that urinating on the handstoughens the skin and prevents blisters(UCLA Folklore Archives 4_6185). As inBritain, cabbage leaves were used through-out the United States for blister treatment(Bergen 1899: 110). Onions applied wasanother recommended treatment from Cal-ifornia (UCLA Folklore Archives 3_5291).Both pepper and grease have been used totreat blisters (Woodhull 1930: 18, 19).Venison tallow has also been used (Yoder1965: 23). A recommendation from Chinaused in California is to rub the blisters withheated pieces of dried turnip (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 7_6185).

ReferencesAnderson, John Q. “Popular Beliefs in Texas,

Louisiana and Arkansas.” Southern FolkloreQuarterly 32 (1968): 304–319.

Bergen, Fanny D. “Animal and Plant Lore Col-lected from the Oral Tradition of EnglishSpeaking Folk.” Memoirs of the AmericanFolk-Lore Society 7 (1899).

Foster, Jeanne Cooper. Ulster Folklore. Belfast: H.R. Carter, 1951.

Hartland, Edwin Sidney. County Folklore: Glou-cestershire. Printed extract 1, vol. 37. Lon-don: Folklore Society, 1895.



Woodhull, Frost. “Ranch Remedios.” Publicationsof the Texas Folklore Society 8 (1930): 9–73.

Yoder, Don. “The ‘Domestic Encyclopaedia’ of1803–1804.” Pennsylvania Folklife 14(3)(Spring 1965): 10–27.

BloodAs a healing agent in folk medicine,

blood has been widely used. In the High-lands of Scotland, administering the pa-tient’s own blood in dried form was held tocure a hemorrhage (Beith 1995: 94). In theseventeenth century, there was a belief thatthe blood of healthy people could curebleeding (Wright 1912: 495–496). Humanblood has been widely used to treat epi-lepsy. In Scotland, the patient’s own bloodwas administered (Beith 1995: 101). Theblood of a cat has been used since Anglo-Saxon times to treat epilepsy (Newman1948: 135). In the Isle of Lewis the bloodof a black cock, or of a person namedMunro, was applied for treating shingles.Blood from a black cat was an alternativein the north of Scotland (Black 1883: 151).The blood of members of the clan Keoghwas held to be effective in treating tooth-ache in Ireland and was also used in thetreatment of erysipelas (Black 1883: 140).In the Scottish Highlands, kidney andgallstones were treated with the blood ofwild goats (Beith 1995: 177), while hare’sblood was used to treat skin blemishes(Beith 1995: 177). The blood of numerousdifferent animals has been used in warttreatment. In the north of England, eelblood was used (Black 1883: 162), while inEast Anglia, the blood obtained by sharplytapping the nose of a live mole was appliedto warts (Randell, pers. com., 1989). InScotland pig’s blood was used in wart treat-ment (Beith 1995: 180). Styes too were tra-ditionally treated with either hair or bloodfrom a black cat (Black 1883: 151). In Ire-land, a black cat’s blood was used to treatthe itch (Jones 1908: 316–317).

In North American folk medicine bloodhas been used in most of these ways, and inothers as well. For treatment of epilepsy, theblood of an executed criminal has been used(Hand 1970: 325). An alternative was theblood of a black hen (Wintemberg 1899:

40 ; Bloodroot

47). The latter was also used to treat measles(Letcher 1910–1911: 172), rheumatism(Pickard and Buley 1945: 84), and soregums (Brewster 1939: 39). The blood of ablack cat was used for shingles (Roberts1927: 167) and scarlet fever (Hyatt 1965:218), as well as for warts (Cannon 1984:130). Mole blood (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 1_6825) and bat’s blood (Anderson1970: 60) were both used in treating rheu-matism. Drinking the hot blood from theheart of a heifer was considered a cure forconsumption (Puckett 1926: 370), while achild suffering from asthma was stood inthe warm blood of a newly killed animal(Creighton 1950: 85). Woodpecker bloodwas considered a cure for heart trouble(UCLA Folklore Archive 2_5404). A dropof blood from a “bessy” bug was used totreat earache (Norris 1958: 105).

For pneumonia, deer blood and winewere mixed and drunk among the Nahuatl(Madsen 1955: 135).

See also Earache, Erysipelas, Heart trouble,Rheumatism, Shingles, Toothache,Tuberculosis.

ReferencesAnderson, John. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin: En-

cino Press, 1970.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-



Brewster, Paul G. “Folk Cures and Preventivesfrom Southern Indiana.” Southern FolkloreQuarterly 3 (1939): 33–43.


Creighton, Helen. Folklore from LunenburgCounty, Nova Scotia. National Museum ofCanada Bulletin 117, Anthropological se-ries 29. Ottawa: 1950.

Hand, Wayland D. “Hangmen, the Gallows, and

the Dead Man’s Hand in American FolkMedicine.” In Medieval Literature and Folk-lore Studies: Essays in Honor of Francis LeeUtley. Edited by Jerome Mandell and BruceA. Rosenberg. Pages 323–329, 381–387.New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UniversityPress, 1970.

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Folklore from AdamsCounty Illinois. 2nd rev. ed. New York:Memoirs of the Alma Egan Hyatt Foun-dation, 1965.

Jones, B. H. “Folk Medicine.” Folk-Lore 19(1908): 315–319.

Letcher, James H. “The Treatment of Some Dis-eases by the ‘Old Time’ Negro.” RailwaySurgical Journal 17 (1910–1911): 170–175.

Madsen, William. “Hot and Cold in the Universeof San Francisco Tecospa, Valley of Mex-ico.” Journal of American Folklore 68(1955): 123–139.

Newman, Leslie F. “Some Notes on the Pharma-cology and Therapeutic Value of Folk-Medicine.” Folk-Lore 59 (1948): 118–135,145–156.

Norris, Ruby R. “Folk Medicine of CumberlandCounty.” Kentucky Folklore Record 4(1958): 101–110.


Puckett, Newbell Niles. Folk Beliefs of the SouthernNegro. Chapel Hill, NC: Greenwood Press,1926.

Roberts, Hilda. “Louisiana Superstitions.” Journalof American Folklore 40 (1927): 144–208.

Wintemberg, W. J. “Items of German-CanadianFolklore.” Journal of American Folklore 12(1899): 45–86.

Wright, A. R. “Seventeenth Century Cures andCharms.” Folk-Lore 23 (1912): 230–236,490–497.

Bloodroot (Sanguinariacanadensis)

This plant is not native in Britain, andhas played no role in its folk medicine. InNorth American folk medicine it has beenvery widely used. In gin or whisky it has

Bogbean : 41

been recommended to sufferers fromasthma (Meyer 1985: 32). Eating the root,or drinking an infusion made from it, wassaid to hasten menstruation (Puckett 1981:414). A similar infusion has been used totreat coughs and colds, and to relieve thepain of burns (Mellinger 1968: 50). Com-bined with tormentil (Potentilla erecta), cin-namon (Cinnamomum sp.), and plantain(Plantago sp.), it has been used as a treat-ment for dysentery among the PennsylvaniaGermans (Brendle and Unger 1935: 171).For “winter itch” the root has been steepedin strong pure apple vinegar and applied(Parler 1962: 731). Croup in children hasbeen treated with a similar decoction ofbloodroot in vinegar (Browne 1958: 18).The plant has been used, combined withscokeroot (Phytolacca americana), to treatnasal polyps (Browne 1964: 35–70). It haseven been used to treat cancers, the pow-dered root being mixed to a paste withwheat flour and zinc chloride and applied(UCLA Folklore Archives 2_6285). It hasbeen considered useful for liver troubles(Clark 1970: 25). A wash made frombloodroot has been used to treat poison oakrash (UCLA Folklore Archives 5_6462).Boiled in olive oil, the root has been usedto treat sores (Street 1959: 81). It has beenused by African Americans to treat tetters(? ringworm) (Cadwallader and Wilson1965: 220, 224). A tea made from blood-root has been drunk for rheumatism (Jack1964: 36). In New England, a piece ofbloodroot has been hung over the bed toprevent nosebleeds (Levine 1941: 489).

See also Asthma, Burns, Cancer, Colds,Coughs, Nosebleed, Poison ivy,Rheumatism.

ReferencesBrendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. “Folk

Medicine of the Pennsylvania Germans:The Non-Occult Cures.” Proceedings of thePennsylvania German Society 45 (1935).

Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices from

Alabama. Folklore Studies 9. Berkeley andLos Angeles: University of CaliforniaPublications, 1958.

Browne, Ray B., (ed.). “The Indian Doctor.” In-diana History Bulletin 41 (1964).



Jack, Phil R. “Folk Medicine from Western Penn-sylvania.” Pennsylvania Folklife 14(1) (Oc-tober 1964): 35–37.


Mellinger, Marie B. “Sang Sign.” Foxfire 2(2)(1968): 15, 47–52.




Street, Anne C. “Medicine Populaire des IslesSaint-Pierre et Miquelon.” Arts et TraditionsPopulaires 7 (January–June 1959): 75–85.

Bogbean (Menyanthestrifoliata)

This plant, widespread in the boggyplaces of the north and west of Britain andIreland, has been valued in folk medicine asa tonic. In the Scottish Highlands an infu-sion of the shoots has been drunk for stom-ach pain, constipation, and skin complaintssuch as boils; the roots have been used fortuberculosis (Beith 1995: 206–207). Thefresh leaves have been laid on cuts to pro-

42 ; Boils

mote healing and “draw out” infection(Beith 1995: 206). In Ireland, the plant hasbeen highly valued not only as a tonic butalso to treat kidney troubles (Allen and Hat-field, in press). In Wales it has been usedfor treating kidney and liver complaints, aswell as treating wounds in humans and an-imals (Jones 1980: 59–60). In that countryit has also been used particularly widely fortreating rheumatism.

This plant is also native to North Amer-ica, where it is known as buckbean. Its rolein folk medicine has been a minor one. Ithas been used to soothe the stomach and asa general tonic (Meyer 1985: 59, 256). InNative American medicine it has been usedfor stomach pain, rheumatism, and tuber-culosis (Moerman 1998: 342–343), a liststrikingly similar to that for Celtic Britain.

See also Boils, Constipation, Cuts,Rheumatism, Tonic, Tuberculosis,Wounds.




Jones, Anne E. “Folk Medicine in Living Memoryin Wales.” Folk Life 18 (1980): 58–68.



BoilsThis affliction seems to have been even

more common in the recent past in Britainthan it is today, and there was once a pro-portionately larger number of folk medicaltreatments for boils. In Ulster, the seventhson of a blacksmith could cure boils simplyby opening and shutting tongs three timesin front of the boil (Rolleston 1940: 74). InCornwall, crawling through a loop of bram-

ble rooted at both ends was one way of get-ting rid of boils. Another was to poulticethe boils and then place the bandaging andpoultice in the coffin of a corpse, to whichthe disease would be passed (ThiseltonDyer 1880: 171). Swallowing enough gun-powder to cover a sixpence, rolled into a pillwith some butter, was a gypsy cure adoptedin Essex (Prince 1991: 122). Nutmeg wasa common treatment for boils; one sugges-tion was to eat ground nutmeg mixed withwater (Prince 1991: 118); another versionwas to wear a nutmeg around the neck andnibble a bit every morning, fasting for ninedays (Hawke 1973: 28).

A simple method of bringing boils to ahead, used in twentieth-century Norfolk,was to fill a glass bottle with boiling water,empty it, and rapidly clamp the open endon the boil. The partial vacuum created“drew” the boil painfully but effectively(Hatfield MS). Bread poultices were widelyused to treat boils (Hatfield 1994: 22).Drinking a mixture of soot and milk hasbeen recommended for boils (EFS 111La).In Scotland, soap and sugar, or oatmeal andbutter, were used to “draw” the pus fromboils and infected wounds (Beith 1995:174). In Suffolk, as recently as the twentiethcentury a poultice of cow-dung was used totreat boils (Rolleston 1940: 74). Herbaltreatments were numerous. Among themost common were dock (Rumex sp.) rootsor seeds, boiled, and the decoction drunk;a poultice of houseleek, or of mallow(Malva sylvestris), or of groundsel (Seneciovulgaris) and onions, either eaten or ap-plied. Chickweed and woundwort (Stachyssylvatica) were also used (Hatfield 1994:21–22). Poultices were made from bothparsley and cabbage in East Anglia (TaylorMSS). Another commonly used poulticewas linseed, prepared from flax (Linum usi-tatissimum) (Beith 1995: 218). Potato poul-tices were used in Wales (Jones 1980: 61).A large number of plants that have beenused for healing infected wounds have been

Boils : 43

seen in a dual role: the lower, generallyrougher, side of the leaf has been used todraw the pus, the upper side to heal theinjury. This practice has been widespreadthroughout Britain. Examples of plantsused in this way include bogbean (Menyan-thes trifoliata) (Beith 1995: 206), madonnalily (Lilium candidum) (Fragments of Ox-fordshire Plant Lore 1951), and plantain(Plantago major) (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). Elder berries (Sambucus nigra) friedin mutton fat were a boil treatment inCounty Clare, Ireland (Vickery 1995: 124).A Dorset remedy was to find a place wherea foot could cover seven or nine daisies (Bel-lis perennis), then pick and eat them (Rawl-ence 1914: 84). Other plants used in boiltreatment include foxglove (Digitalis pur-purea), figwort (Scrophularia sp.), burdock(Arctium lappa), dandelion (Taraxacum of-ficinale), and comfrey (Symphytum officin-ale) (Allen and Hatfield, in press). InGloucestershire, the buds of beech (Fagussylvatica) were infused for treating boils(Palmer 1994: 122). Pineapple weed (Ma-tricaria discoidea) has been used to treatboils in Wales (Plant Lore Notes and News1999: 289). This is an unusual instance ofa folk remedy of demonstrably recent ori-gin. The plant is native to North Americaand was introduced to Britain in the mid-nineteenth century.

In North American folk medicine bothgunpowder and nutmeg appear as frequentremedies, as in Britain. There were a num-ber of other household remedies for treatingboils. They were poulticed with salt pork,wrapped with the skin of a boiled egg,treated with cooked milk and salt, or bathedwith vinegar. Among the herbal treatmentsused, flaxseed, elder, plantain, white lily,burdock, beech, onion, and cabbage are allfamiliar in British folk medicine too. In ad-dition, poultices were made from ripe figs(Ficus carica), from the leaves of the dollarvine (Rhynchosia tomentosa) or of sea squill(Urginea maritima), from the bark of slip-

pery elm (Ulmus fulva), from black hore-hound (Ballota nigra), and from a mixtureof chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile), yar-row (Achillea millefolium), and ground ivy(Glechoma hederacea) (Meyer 1985: 42–44). Prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) (Browne1958: 380) and red oak (Quercus rubra)(Brown 1952–1964, 66: 132) were otherplants widely used in boil treatment.

Some plant preparations were thought toprevent boils developing. These includeburdock (Arctium sp.), sassafras (Sassafrasalbidum), St. John’s wort (Hypericum per-foratum), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans),horseradish (Armoracia rusticana), coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia), yellow dock(Rumex crispus), birch tree bark (Betula sp.),and boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)(Meyer 1985: 44).

In Native American practice, some ofthese same plants were used in the treat-ment of boils. Burdock (Arctium minus), forexample, was used by the Micmac (Chan-dler, Freeman and Hooper 1979: 55). Onespecies of cone flower (Echinacea pallida)was mixed with skunk oil and puffballspores and applied to boils by the Cheyenne(Hart 1992: 38), and slippery elm (Ulmusrubra) bark was used by the Potawatomi(Smith 1933: 86).

See also Blackberry, Chickweed, Elder,Elm, Houseleek, Mallow, Seventh son,Transference.






44 ; Boneset

Chandler, R. Frank, Lois Freeman, and Shirley N.Hooper. “Herbal Remedies of the MaritimeIndians.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 1(1979): 49–68.

EFS. English Folklore Survey. Manuscript notesin University College London.

Fragments of Oxfordshire Plant Lore. Oxford andDistrict Folklore Society. Annual record1951.



Hawke, Kathleen (comp.). Cornish Sayings, Super-stitions and Remedies. Redruth: DyllansonTruran, 1973.



Palmer, R. The Folklore of Gloucestershire. Tiver-ton: Westcountry Books, 1994.

Plant Lore Notes and News, no. 6 (1999): 289.Prince, Dennis. Grandmother’s Cures: An A-Z of

Herbal Remedies. London: Fontana, 1991.Rawlence, E. A. “Folk-Lore and Superstitions Still

Obtaining in Dorset.” Proceedings of theDorset Natural History and AntiquarianField Club 35 (1914): 81–87.

Rolleston, J. D. “Dermatology and Folk-Lore.”The British Journal of Dermatology and Syph-ilis 52 (March 1940): part 2, 74–86.


Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylor,in Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.MS4322.

Thiselton Dyer, T. F. English Folk-Lore. 2nd ed.London: Bogue, 1880.


Boneset (Eupatoriumspp.)

The species of this genus most widelyused in North American folk medicine is

Eupatorium perfoliatum. The name “bone-set” is thought to refer to its use in treating“breakbone,” dengue fever, common in thenineteenth century in southern NorthAmerica (Crellin and Philpott 1989: 107).Agueweed is another of its country names,and as both these names suggest, its mainuse in folk medicine was originally for treat-ing fevers of all kinds. Another of its names,gravel-root, implies another of its uses, totreat kidney stones and gravel. In his col-lection of folk medicine, Meyer includesnumerous references to this plant, whichwas used in remedies for colic, to preventboils; for the treatment of bronchitis,chicken pox, coughs, diarrhea, erysipelas,and headache; to “restore the tone of thestomach” after intoxication; for jaundice,renal colic, and hoarseness; and as a tonic(Meyer 1985). It was widely used for colds(Barrick 1964: 104) and chills (Brown1952–1964, 6: 145). It was also used asboth an emetic and a purgative. When gath-ering the herb, the leaves were pulled up-ward to use as an emetic, downward to useas a purgative (Lick and Brendle 1922: 86).Boneset tea was drunk for a sick headache(Browne 1958: 70) and for treating gall-stones (Browne 1958: 68) and indigestion(Puckett 1981: 403). There are records ofits use in treating broken bones (Dober1956: 17).

In the nineteenth century, Millspaughsuggested that in his time it was one of themost frequently used domestic remedies,and dried bunches of it were kept in mostfarmhouses (Millspaugh: 1892). Perhaps itsreputation for treating fevers led to experi-ments with treating nearly everything else.On the other hand, its uses by NativeAmerican tribes are equally diverse. It wasused by them to treat fevers, colds, coughs,sore throat, snakebite, broken bones, as anemetic and a purgative (Moerman 1998:229). It was regarded by the Mohegan as apanacea (Tantaquidgeon 1928: 265). A re-lated species, Eupatorium purpureum, is

Bread : 45

known as Joe-Pye Weed, a name of dis-puted origin. It could have been named af-ter an individual of that name or could betaken from the Indian word Jopi, meaningfever (Micheletti 1998: 63). In NativeAmerican practice Eupatorium purpureumhas been used to treat rheumatism, gout,dropsy, and kidney and gynaecologicalproblems, as well as colds, constipation, andburns (Moerman 1998: 230). Joe-Pye weedis not a native of Britain and does not ap-pear in the folk records there. However, arelated species, Eupatorium cannabinum, isa native of Britain and was used in officialmedicine there. Its claims as a British folkherb are tenuous. In the eighteenth century,Lightfoot (Lightfoot 1777: 464) suggestedit was used for gout and dropsy by thepoorer people, but no convincing recordsof its folk usage have been traced.

See also Boils, Colic, Coughs, Diarrhea,Dropsy, Erysipelas, Gout, Gravel andstone, Headache, Jaundice, Rheumatism,Tonic.

ReferencesBarrick, Mac E. “Folk Medicine in Cumberland

County.” Keystone Folklore Quarterly 9(1964): 100–110.




Dober, Virginia. “We’ll Tell ’Em.” North CarolinaFolklore 4(1) (July 1956): 15–22.


Lightfoot, John. Flora Scotica. 2 vols. London:Benjamin White, 1777.



Millspaugh, Charles F. American Medicinal Plants:An Illustrated and Descriptive Guide to PlantsIndigenous to and Naturalized in the UnitedStates Which Are Used in Medicine. 1892.Reprint, New York: Dover, 1974.



Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. “Mohegan MedicinalPractices, Weather-Lore and Superstitions.”Smithsonian Institution-Bureau of AmericanEthnology Annual Report 43 (1928): 264–270.

BreadBread poultices have been much used in

British folk medicine for swellings, boils,and sprains and for removing splinters(Prince 1991: 15, 52). Boiled bread andmilk poultices were used for sore eyes (EFS100Db). In East Anglia, so-called GoodFriday bread was kept for first-aid purposesthroughout the year. Baked on Good Fri-day, it had the reputation of healing anyslight injury and was also considered goodfor fevers as well as indigestion, diarrheaand dysentery (Thiselton Dyer 1876: 149).Hot cross buns, again if baked on GoodFriday, were similarly thought to bringgood luck and were kept for many years,small pieces being grated off when neededfor medicinal use (Porter 1974: 29). Onenineteenth-century remedy prescribed bur-ying a piece of bread in earth for three days.It was then dug up and given to a sufferer

46 ; Breast problems

from whooping cough (Radford and Rad-ford 1974: 66). Moldy bread has also beenused for treating infected cuts and for pre-venting infection (Foster 1951: 62).

In North American folk medicine, breadpoultices were similarly used. To “drawout” infection, a poultice of bread and milkwas recommended (Brown 1952–1964, 6:225). A similar poultice was used for treat-ing boils (Koch 1980: 72), smallpox (La-throp 1961: 14) and sore eyes (Hyatt 1965:242). Bread dough has been used to treatsunburn (Levenson and Levenson 1960:27), and a paste of chewed white bread hasbeen used to treat a sty (UCLA FolkloreArchives 4_5506), while as in Britain, wetbread has been used to poultice a splinter(UCLA Folklore Archives 5_6470). For di-arrhea, the water in which burned bread hassoaked has been given (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 4_6284). Moldy rye bread hastreated sores (Puckett 1981: 449), whilebread made from ground corn shucks hasbeen a remedy for measles (Anderson 1970:51). A remedy for whooping cough was forthe parents each to have some bread, thengive some to the child: however, the cureonly worked in families where the parentsshared the same surname (Puckett 1981:121).

Bread has been widely used as a mediumfor transferring disease, as in the cure fortoothache in which one gives a child a crustthat a mouse has nibbled (Wintemberg1899: 48). Numerous warts cures also em-ploy bread as an agent of transference.

See also Boils, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Eyeproblems, Indigestion, Molds, Smallpox,Sunburn, Transference, Warts.

ReferencesAnderson, John. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin, TX:

Encino Press, 1970.Brown, Frank C. Collection of North Carolina


EFS. English Folklore Survey. Manuscript notesat University College London.



Koch, William E. Folklore from Kansas: Beliefs andCustoms. Lawrence, KS: Regent Press, 1980.

Lathrop, Amy. “Pioneer Remedies from WesternKansas.” Western Folklore 20 (1961): 1–22.

Levenson, Beverly, and Myron H. Levenson.“Some Southern Folk Remedies and Re-lated Beliefs.” North Carolina Folklore 8(2)(1960): 26–31.




Radford, E., and M. A. Radford. Encyclopaedia ofSuperstitions. Edited and revised by Chris-tina Hole. London: Book Club Associates1974.

Thiselton Dyer, T. F. British Popular Customs,Present and Past. London, 1876.

Wintemberg, W. J. “Items of German-CanadianFolklore.” Journal of American Folklore 12(1899): 45–86.

Breast problemsThe embarrassment surrounding this

subject, together with the fact that the ma-jority of books are written by men, has ledto a scarcity of written information con-cerning folk medicine in this field, at leastin Britain. Advice concerning breast feedingwas handed down orally, and once officialmedicine took over antenatal and postnatalcare, much of this oral tradition was lost.There are occasional clues—for instance, inthe names of plants. Two Gaelic names for

Breast problems : 47

Lapsana communis translate as “good leaf”and “breast leaf”; the plant was used in theScottish Highlands for sore nipples in nurs-ing mothers (MacFarlane 1929: 1–48). Par-kinson learned of a similar use in Prussia(Britten and Holland 1878–1886: 354) andcoined the English name of “nipplewort”for the plant. In Ireland the heath speedwell(Veronica officinalis), again judging by itsGaelic name, was used similarly (Moloney:1919).

For treating breast abscesses, a largewarmed cabbage leaf, with the main veinremoved, has been used in England withinliving memory (Hatfield MS). To dry upthe milk supply at weaning, there is a recordfrom the Forest of Dean of the large leavesof foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) being usedto poultice the breasts (Hatfield MS). Swol-len breasts were treated in the ScottishHighlands with a poultice of groundsel (Se-necio vulgaris) or with the roots of celandine(Chelidonium majus), applied under thearmpits. A hot compress of peppermintleaves (Mentha sp.) was used in Somerset(Tongue 1965: 41). A less attractive remedyfor swollen and engorged breasts was topoultice them with fresh cowdung (Beith1995: 210, 221, 172).

In the Western Isles of Scotland, a brothmade from limpets was used to increase themilk supply in poorly nourished nursingmothers (Martin 1716: 146). In both theHighlands of Scotland and in Wales thereare records of limpet shells being collectedand used as nipple shields for nursing moth-ers (Jones 1980: 63). Their name in Caer-narvonshire translates as “breast shell.”These shells can often be found with a cir-cular hole; failing this, the center wasknocked out.

Books on midwifery, such as Jane Sharp’sbook (Sharp 1724), contain a large numberof prescriptions for increasing the milk sup-ply; whether these can really be regarded asfolk medicine in Britain is doubtful, butprinted sources such as these doubtless were

used by European settlers in North Americaand became a part of folk medicine there.

An account is on record of a womantaken captive shortly after giving birth byCanadian Indians in the seventeenth cen-tury. Her newborn baby’s life was saved byice-cold water from a brook, a broth madefrom beaver entrails, and finally by afriendly squaw who showed her how tomake a nourishing broth with walnut ker-nels and fine cornmeal (Ulrich 1991: 231).

Poultices of cow dung were used, as inBritain, to treat inflamed breasts (Black1935: 99). For engorged breasts it was rec-ommended to let a puppy suckle (Puckett1981: 124). The skin of either a mole(Hyatt 1965: 154) or a weasel (Waugh1918: 22) has been placed over the breastto relieve “caked” breasts. Poulticing thebreast with clay was an alternative (Hyatt1965: 154), as was poulticing with corn-starch (Lathrop 1961: 6). Massaging thecaked breasts with goat’s milk was also tried(Hyatt 1965: 154). There was a belief thatplacing a broad axe under the mother’s bedwas a remedy for caked breasts (Rogers1941: 41). Sore nipples at the time of de-livery were sometimes relieved by rubbingwith the afterbirth (Hyatt 1965: 154).

For sore and swollen breasts, poulticeswere made from hot pancakes, or baked po-tatoes, roasted turnips, whisky and soap,chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile), mal-lows (Malva sp.), peach leaves (Prunus per-sica) or wild indigo (Baptisia sp.). Anointment made from elderflowers (Sambu-cus canadensis) fried in lard was also used.For treating sore nipples, clear molasses wasrecommended, or brandy and water, starchpowder, or mutton tallow. Herbal salves forsore nipples were prepared from bayberry(Myrica sp.), comfrey (Symphytum officin-ale), quince seed (Cydonia oblonga), andfalse bittersweet (Celastrus scandens). An ap-plication of fir balsam (Abies sp.) or of theoil from butternuts (Juglans cinerea) has alsobeen used (Meyer 1985: 46–50). Herbal

48 ; Breast problems

applications for caked breasts included jim-son weed (Datura stramonium) (Browne1958: 42) and tobacco (Free 1962: 10). Torelieve sore or inflamed breasts during nurs-ing, collard leaves were sometimes used(reminiscent of the cabbage leaf remedy inBritain) (Parler 1962: 65), an ointmentmade from male fern buds (Dryopteris filix-mas) (Fosbroke 1835: 165), or a poulticemade from queen-of-the-meadow roots(Eupatorium purpureum) (Jack 1964: 36).

In North American folk medicine anumber of herbs were used to increase milksupply, such as fennel (Foeniculum vulgare),anise seeds (Pimpinella anisum), and rose-mary (Rosmarinus officinalis), all of whichappear in Sharp’s Manual of Midwiferymentioned above, as well as the plantnamed squaw weed (Senecio aureus): the lastnamed clearly borrowed from the NativeAmerican tradition. A gruel made frompowdered mulberry twigs (Morus sp.) wasthought to boost milk production (Bourke1849: 123). Another recommendation wasto scrape elm bark (Ulmus sp.) upward onthe east side of the tree and drink an infu-sion of the scrapings (Marie-Ursule 1951:177).

To dry up the milk supply at weaningsage tea (Salvia sp.) was given, or an oint-ment made from smartweed (Polygonumsp.) was applied, or the fresh leaves of tagalder (Alnus serrulata) were bruised and ap-plied, the latter a remedy said to be of Na-tive American origin (Meyer 1985: 47).Another suggestion was to rub the breastswith soot for three days (Hyatt 1965: 156).

For helping breast development at pu-berty, there are a number of herbal sugges-tions, including goat’s rue (Galegaofficinalis) (Meyer 1985: 46), bananas(Musa spp.) (UCLA Folklore Archives3_5664), and rubbing with cocoa butter(UCLA Folklore Archives 4_5664). Forsore, tender breasts during puberty, drink-ing an infusion of pigweed (Amaranthus

sp.) or the juice from milkweed (Asclepiassp.) was recommended in Ontario (UCLAFolklore Archives 12_6187). Rubbing withcamphor and cabbage leaves was believed toshrink breasts that are too large (UCLAFolklore Archives 2_5972).

In Native American medicine, thedowny white pea (Galactia volubilis) wasused by the Seminole to treat babies whowere unwilling to suckle (Sturtevant 1955:255). Various plants were used to increasethe mother’s milk supply; for instance, Be-tula papyrifera was used by the WoodlandsCree (Leighton 1985: 32) and skeleton-plant (Lygodesmia juncea) by the Cheyenne(Grinnell 1905: 41). Various species of let-tuce are used to ease lactation—for exam-ple, Lactuca biennis, used by the Ojibwa(Smith 1932: 364). Salix tristis was used toprepare a wash for sore nipples (Vogel1970: 55). Red baneberry (Actaea rubra)and puffball poultices (Lycoperdon sp.), or apreparation of elder roots (Sambucus sp.)were used to relieve sore and inflamedbreasts (Vogel 1970: 235, 301). Reputedlya live duck or goose cut open was some-times applied to inflamed breasts (Hyatt1965: 154).

From Alabama, the belief has been re-ported that holding a live mole above one’shead for an hour will cure sore breasts(Browne 1958: 42).

See also Jimson weed, Poultice, Puffball.



Black, Pauline Monette. Nebraska Folk Cures.University of Nebraska Studies in Lan-guage, Literature, and Criticism 15. Lin-coln, NE: University of Nebraska Press,1935.

Bourke, John G. “Popular Medicine, Customsand Superstitions of the Rio Grande.” Jour-nal of American Folklore 7 (1849): 119–146.

Britten, James, and Holland, Robert. A Dictionary

Bruises : 49

of English Plant Names. London: Trubnerfor English Dialect Society, 1878–1886.


Fosbroke, John, M.D. “On the Effects of MaleFern Buds, in Cases of Worms.” BostonMedical and Surgical Journal 13(11) (1835):165–168.

Free, William Joseph. “A Note on TobaccoMagic.” North Carolina Folklore 10 (1962):2, 9–10.

Grinnell, George Bird. “Some Cheyenne PlantMedicines.” American Anthropologist 7(1905): 37–43.





Leighton, Anna L. Wild Plant Uses by the WoodsCree (Nihithawak) of East-Central Saskatch-ewan. Mercury Series 101. Ottawa: Na-tional Museums of Canada, 1985.

MacFarlane, A. M. “Gaelic Names of Plants:Study of their Uses and Lore.” Transactionsof the Gaelic Society of Inverness 32 (1929):1–48.

Marie-Ursule, Soeur. “Civilisation traditionelledes Lavalois.” Les Archives de Folklore 5–6(1951): 1–403.

Martin, M. A Description of the Western Islands ofScotland. 2nd ed. London, 1716 (facsimile,James Thin 1976).


Moloney, Michael F. Irish Ethnobotany and theEvolution of Medicine in Ireland. Dublin:M. H. Gill and Son, 1919.

Parler, Mary Celestia, and University StudentContributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas.Vol. 3. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas,1962.

Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Belief and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, AnnaCasetta, Sondra B. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.

Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practices in Ten-nessee. Murfreesboro, TN: Mid-South,1941.

Sharp, Jane. The Compleat Midwife’s Companion.London, 1724.

Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the OjibweIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofMilwaukee 4 (1932): 327–525.

Sturtevant, William Curtis. The Mikasuki Semi-nole: Medical Beliefs and Practices. Ph.D.thesis, Yale University, New Haven, Con-necticut. Ann Arbor, MI: University Micro-films, 1955.

Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. In CountyFolklore, edited by K.M. Briggs. Vol. 8.London: Folk-Lore Society, 1965.

Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Good Wives: Image andReality in the Lives of Women in NorthernNew England 1650–1750. New York: Vin-tage Books, 1991.


Waugh, F. W. “Canadian Folk-Lore from On-tario.” Journal of American Folklore 31(1918): 4–82.

BruisesIn British folk medicine there were a

number of first-aid measures for bruising.Cold water or a cold compress has oftenbeen used. In Wales, a poultice of vinegarwas employed (Jones 1980: 66). A slice ofraw potato was applied to a black eye in theScottish Highlands (Beith 1995: 235).Other plant remedies used have includedblack bryony (Tamus communis) (Bromfield1856), yellow-horned poppy Glaucium fla-vum (one country name for which is bruse-wort, another being “squatmore”—“squat”in west country dialect means bruise)(Aubrey 1881: 254), soapwort Saponariaofficinalis (Vesey-Fitzgerald 1944: 28),

50 ; Bruises

comfrey (Symphytum officinale) (EFS CardIndex No. 277), and kidney vetch (Anthyllisvulneraria) (Beith 1995: 247). Solomon’sseal (Polygonatum multiflorum) was usedboth in official medicine (it was recom-mended by Gerard in his sixteenth-centuryherbal) and in folk medicine to treatbruising (Porter 1974: 43). Crushed mal-low leaves (Malva spp.) have been used totreat bruising (Hawke 1973: 28). Crab-apple juice has been used to treat bruises(Emerson 1887). Rubbing with a raw onion(Allium cepa) was recently reported fromManchester as a cure for bruises (Vickery1995: 267). Lily leaves steeped in brandy,a cure widely used in England for treatingcuts, has also been applied to bruises (Allen1995: 45). In recent times, arnica (Arnicamontana) has been widely used. This is notnative to Britain, but its fame in treatingbruises has spread from continental Europe,and it is now a worldwide remedy (Souter1995: 141).

In North American folk medicine, firstaid for bruises included application of coldmetal, such as the flat surface of a knife(Koch 1980: 132). Epsom salts have beenused (Cannon 1984: 96), or a poulticemade from soap (Frazier 1936: 34). Eggshave been used to treat bruising (Mc-Glasson 1941: 17). Animal fat in variousforms has also been used: unsalted butter(Koch 1980: 133), raw pork (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 1_5495), or hog’s grease(Beck 1957: 77). Unwashed sheep’s wool(which contains lanolin) has similarly beenused (UCLA Folklore Archives 5_5578). Ina curious example of transference, stonebruises have been treated by placing themin contact with a live toad (Brewster 1939:39) or frog (Farr 1935: 34). As the animaldies, the bruise disappears. Cutting the turffrom around a bruised foot and reversingthe turf, soil upward, is an unusual remedysuggested from Virginia. As the grass dies,the bruise will heal (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 25_5495). Other miscellaneous

cures for bruising include human urine(UCLA Folklore Archives 12_6188), woodashes (Puckett 1981: 332), and renderedjellyfish (Bergen 1899: no. 828). Cow ma-nure has been used as a poultice for bruising(UCLA Folklore Archives 6_5295).

Plant remedies for bruises used in NorthAmerican folk medicine are numerous.Green tobacco leaves have been used (Clark1970: 19), or tansy leaves bruised in vinegar(Bergen 1899: 1323). A salve has been pre-pared from self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)(Lick and Brendle 1922: 63) or from thestalk of evening primrose (Oenothera bien-nis) (Lick and Brendle 1922: 155). Crushedplantain leaves (Plantago sp.) have beenused (Matschat 1938: 88), or a poulticemade from wheat bran (Frazier 1936: 34)or from the inner bark of black oak (Quer-cus sp.) (Randolph 1947: 100), or fromsumac bark (Rhus sp.) and wheat bran(Browne 1958: 104). A poultice of corn-meal and salt has been used (Wilson 1968:61). Other plant remedies include witch ha-zel bark (Hamamelis virginica) (Wintem-berg 1925: 621), or the bark of slippery elm(Ulmus rubra) (McGlasson 1941: 17) or ofelder (Sambucus sp.) (Fogel 1915: 131).Poultices have been prepared from pricklypear (Michael and Barrow 1967: 781),from the leaves of mullein (Verbascum thap-sus) (Clark 1970: 14), or of peach (Browne1958: 43), or of wild sage (UCLA FolkloreArchives 24_6746) or burdock (Puckett1981: 454). A lotion prepared from daisies(?Bellis perennis) was reputedly used by col-onists to treat bruising (Kell 1956: 371).Arnica is native to North America and bothhas been and continues to be used to treatbruises (Peattie 1943: 118). Not only thespecies Arnica montana but also Arnica ful-gens is used in this way (Chevallier 1996:170). As in Britain, both raw onion (Koch1980: 133) and raw potato (Waller and Kil-lion 1972: 76), as well as white lily steepedin whisky (Lick and Brendle 1922: 97),have been used in treatment of bruises. A

Bruises : 51

Mexican American remedy is to apply thejuice of Aloe vera (UCLA Folklore Archives14_5592). Balm of Gilead has been used tocure bruising (Beck 1957: 78). Pine tar hasbeen applied to bruises (Wilson 1968: 324).The Jack and Jill remedy of vinegar andbrown paper has also been employed in re-cent times for bruising (Wilson Sr. 1968:79). Interestingly, brown paper used to bemade from pine wood; vinegar would ex-tract some of the pine tar (Howkins, pers.com., 2001). Poultices have been preparedfrom turpentine and sugar (UCLA FolkloreArchives 4_5300), or from a mixture of tur-pentine, coal oil, camphor, gum, and lard(Trice 1956: 91). Finally, eating radishes isheld to prevent bruising (UCLA FolkloreArchives 9_5303).

In Native American treatment of bruises,spermaceti, from stranded whales, was usedin the seventeenth century, as was sassafrasointment. The root of sunflower (Helian-thus sp.) or of jimson weed was also used(Vogel 1970: 42, 83, 230). In eastern Can-ada, ground hemlock (Taxus sp.) was usedto treat bruising (MacDonald 1959: 223).Many of the plants mentioned above werealso used in Native American practice, suchas arnica, self-heal (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 54, 58), and witch hazel (Herrick1977: 347), as well as various species of pine(e.g., Pinus virginiana [Hamel and Chilto-skey 1975: 49]) and of sumac (Herrick1977: 372).

See also Aloe vera, Balm of Gilead,Burdock, Earth, Elm, Jimson weed,Mullein, Sassafras, Thornapple, Tobacco,Transference.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Aubrey, John. Remaines of Gentilisme and Juda-

isme. Edited by James Britten. London,1881.

Beck, Horace P. The Folklore of Maine. Philadel-phia and New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1957.




Bromfield, William Arthur. Flora Vectensis. Editedby Sir William Jackson Hooker and Tho-mas Bell Salter. London: Pamplin, 1856.







Farr, T. J. “Riddles and Superstitions of MiddleTennessee.” Journal of American Folklore 48(1935): 318–336.

Fogel, Edwin Miller. “Beliefs and Superstitions ofthe Pennsylvania Germans.” AmericanaGermanica 18 (1915).

Frazier, Neal. “A Collection of Middle TennesseeSuperstitions.” Tennessee Folklore SocietyBulletin 2 (1936): 33–48.


Hawke, Kathleen. Cornish Sayings, Superstitionsand Remedies. Redruth: Dyllanson Truro,1973.



Kell, Katherine T. “The Folklore of the Daisy.”

52 ; Bryony

Journal of American Folklore 69 (1956):369–376.



MacDonald, Elizabeth. “Indian Medicine in NewBrunswick.” Canadian Medical AssociationJournal 80(3) (1959): 220–224.

Matschat, Cecile Hulse. Suwannee River (Riversof America). New York: Rinehart and Com-pany, 1938.

McGlasson, Cleo. “Superstitions and Folk Beliefsof Overton County Tennessee.” Folklore So-ciety Bulletin 7 (1941): 13–27.

Michael, Max, Jr., and Mark V. Barrow. “‘OldTimey’ Remedies of Yesterday and Today.”Journal of the Florida Medical Association54(8) (August 1967): 778–784.

Peattie, Roderick (ed.). The Great Smokies and theBlue Ridge. New York: Vanguard Press,1943.



Randolph, Vance. Ozark Superstitions. New York:Columbia University Press, 1947.


Trice, Henry L. “The Lore of the Hopkins-Webster Line.” Kentucky Folklore Record 2(1956): 91–97.

Vesey-Fitzgerald, B. “Gypsy Medicine.” Journal ofthe Gypsy Lore Society 23 (1944): 21–33.




Wilson, Gordon, Sr. Folklore of the MammothCave Region. Kentucky Folklore Series 4.Bowling Green, KY: Kentucky Folklore So-ciety, 1968.

Wilson, Gordon. “Local Plants in Folk Remediesin the Mammoth Cave Region.” SouthernFolklore Quarterly 32 (1968): 320–327.

———. “‘Store-Bought’ Remedies in the Mam-moth Cave Region.” North Carolina Folk-lore 16 (1968): 58–62.

Wintemberg, W. J. “Some Items of Negro-Canadian Folk-Lore.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 38 (1925): 621.

Bryony (Bryonia dioica)This plant has had a role in magical med-

icine and in purely practical folk medicinetoo. The plant is poisonous, and most rem-edies employ it externally, as in the remedyfrom Essex for chilblains, which uses thecrushed berries rubbed on. For rheumatismthe roots were scraped and applied (Pratt1898, 1: 70), or a piece was carried in thepocket (Taylor 1929: 117). Its roots weremade into a tea for promoting fertility (Por-ter 1974: 21)—a remedy where the plantwas being used as a native substitute formandrake, with its associated aphrodisiacand magical powers. It has been the subjectof “gender pairing,” being regarded as thefemale plant of a pair, with the in fact un-related black bryony (Tamus communis) asthe male. This notion occurs in British folkmedicine for a number of species, but inthis instance the idea was reinforced by theofficial herbals. The plant is not native toNorth America and does not have a signif-icant role there in folk medicine.

See also Chilblains, Mandrake.

ReferencesPorter, Enid. The Folklore of East Anglia. London:

Batsford, 1974.Pratt, A. Wild Flowers. 2 vols. London: Society for

Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1898.Taylor, Mark R. Norfolk Folklore. Folk-Lore 40

(1929): 113–133.

Burdock : 53

Burdock (Arctium lappa,Arctium minus)

Native to Britain and Ireland, this planthas been extensively used in folk medicineas a tonic and a “blood purifier.” Specifi-cally, it has been used for treating skin com-plaints such as boils and acne, and for thetreatment of rheumatism (Deane and Shaw1975). The seeds were carried by gypsies asan amulet against rheumatism (Vesey-Fitzgerald, 1944: 23). In addition, the planthas been used to treat a wide and miscel-laneous group of ailments, including uri-nary complaints (Johnston 1853: 129) andnervous disorders (Johnson 1862), as wellas burns (McClafferty 1979).

The plant was introduced into NorthAmerica and has been used very similarlythere. It formed an ingredient of manypreparations for treating rheumatism, beingcombined, for example, with dandelion andVirginia snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria)or with white pine bark and seneca snake-root (Polygala senega) (Meyer 1985: 213,216). Meyer reports its use in the treatmentof boils, and, combined with dandelion, asa liver tonic (Meyer 1985: 44, 167). Themashed fresh leaves have been used to treatburns (Meyer 1985: 54). For diarrhea inbabies, the seed or the root has been mixedwith yeast and bandaged on to the navel(Meyer 1985: 90), and for severe dysenteryin adults the seeds have been ground andinfused like coffee (Meyer 1985: 97). Alarge leaf with the rough veins removed waswarmed on a shovel and rolled up to fit inthe hollow of a sore foot (Meyer 1985:120). Mixed with white mustard, horserad-ish and cider the seed was used for treatingheadache (Meyer 1985: 137). An infusionof the seed treated sleeplessness and teeth-ing in infants (Meyer 1985: 146, 249),while a stronger decoction of the seedtreated kidney pain (Meyer 1985: 159) andneuralgia (Meyer 1985: 186), as well as

asthma (Puckett 1981: 311). The leaveswere applied to piles (Meyer 1985: 193)and were worn in the hat to prevent sun-stroke (Wilson 1968: 199) and for head-ache (Lick and Brendle 1922: 124). Theroot boiled in vinegar was used as a washfor ringworm (Meyer 1985: 221). Forwarts, the leaf was rubbed on and then bur-ied; as it decayed, the wart would go(UCLA Folklore Archives 20_5521).Quinsy was treated with burdock (Browne1958: 87). A teething necklace was madefrom pieces of burdock root. These variedand extensive uses of burdock in NorthAmerica are perhaps surprising in view ofthe fact that neither species is native there.However, similar uses have been recordedamong Native Americans. The species Arc-tium lappa has been used to treat rheuma-tism (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 27).Arctium minus has been used as a tonic(Smith 1933: 49) for the relief of pain(Tantaquidgeon 1942: 66, 82) and for thetreatment of boils (Herrick 1977: 474). Forother Native American uses of burdock, seeMoerman 1998: 84–85.

See also Acne, Amulet, Asthma, Boils,Burns, Dandelion, Headache, Piles,Quinsy, Rheumatism, Teething, Tonic,Warts.

ReferencesBrowne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices from


Deane, Tony, and Tony Shaw. The Folklore ofCornwall. London: Batsford, 1975.



Johnson, C. Pierpoint. The Useful Plants of GreatBritain: A Treatise. London: William Kent,1862.

Johnston, George. The Natural History of the East-

54 ; Burns

ern Borders. Vol. 1, The Botany. London:Van Voorst, 1853.


McClafferty, George. The Folk Medicine of Co.Wicklow. Master’s thesis, National Univer-sity of Ireland, 1979.





Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. A Study of Delaware In-dian Medicine Practice and Folk Beliefs.Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical Com-mission, 1942.



BurnsThere seems to have been a widespread

tradition throughout Britain that certain in-dividuals could cure burns. In Scotland abelief existed that anyone licking the liverof a newly killed otter would receive thepower to soothe burns by licking them(Beith 1995: 180–181). In Ireland it wassuggested that licking a newt conferred thesame power (Jones 1908: 317). Variouscharms were recited to draw the fire out ofa burn (Black 1883: 80–81). Sometimesthey accompanied a healing ointment (Por-ter 1974: 44–45). In Worcestershire it is

reported that a cure for a burned finger wasto keep it secret, spit on it, and press it be-hind the left ear (Black 1883: 189). It is areflection of the importance of immediatetreatment for burns that a very wide varietyof mineral, plant, and animal products havebeen used in folk medicine. Cold water isone of the simplest treatments, still used forminor burns. In Norfolk, the water frommelted snow was particularly recommended(Mundford Primary School project 1980,unpub.).

In Britain native plants used include al-der. The leaves were lightly crushed andplaced on the burn (Hatfield 1994: 23).Chickweed was used for burn treatment inScotland (Vickery 1995: 65), and so was ivy(Hedera helix). The leaves were crushedwith vinegar and olive oil and applied to theburn (Hatfield 1994: 24). The leaves of el-der were crushed in an ointment for burns,used particularly in Scotland (Beith 1995:215) and Ireland (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). Primrose (Primula vulgaris) leavescrushed in oil were used to treat burns inNorfolk (Taylor 1929: 118). Hart’s-tonguefern (Phyllitis scolopendrium) was also madeinto a burn ointment in Scotland (Beith1995: 216). An ointment made frommarshmallow (Malva sp.) was used in theCambridgeshire fens (Porter 1974: 44), andin Somerset a burn was crossed with spittle,and then mallow leaves were laid on(Tongue 1965: 37). In that same county, aburn ointment was prepared from fat andSt. John’s wort (Tongue 1965: 38). In Ire-land, the boiled bark of elm was used totreat burns (Vickery 1995: 127). Houseleekand navelwort (Umbilicus rupestris) wereboth widely used in the treatment of burns(Allen and Hatfield, in press). Plantainleaves were used in burn treatment in En-gland, Scotland and Ireland (Allen and Hat-field, in press). Blackberry leaves were usedfor treating burns, for instance in Cornwall(Hunt 1871: 413). A particularly interest-ing burn remedy has been recorded from

Burns : 55

Norfolk. It involves boiling the prickly fruitof thornapple in pork fat to make a salve.The self-same remedy is recorded by Gerardin his herbal of 1597, where the author tellsus that he had learned the remedy from alady in Ipswich, Suffolk. Here, then, is aremedy that has passed into official medi-cine from folk medicine and then reap-peared in folk medicine. Whether thetwentieth-century lady in Norfolk learnedthe remedy from Gerard or from the oralfolk tradition, we will probably never know(Hatfield 1994: 23). Potato was used inburn treatment: raw scraped potato was laidon burns in Norfolk (Taylor MSS) and rawonion was used “to take the fire out” (Hat-field 1994: 23).

For trawler men in the days of steam,burns were a regular risk of the trade. InSuffolk, many relied on an ointment madefrom the liver of a fish (Hatfield MS).Goose grease was considered excellent fortreating burns (Prince 1991: 121). Oil pre-pared from seal-liver was similarly used inthe Highlands of Scotland. Boiled creamwas used as a burn salve in Scotland. Eggwhite was found helpful in reducing thepain of burns (Prince 1991: 17). Cold teawas another pain-relieving application, usedin Cambridgeshire (Porter 1974: 44). Bak-ing soda solution was used to bathe burnsand scalds (Hatfield MS). Human excre-ment was apparently used in Ireland (Logan1972: 154). A more pleasant-sounding Irishremedy was to rub the burns with wax can-dles that had been used at a wake (Wilde1919: 82). In Sussex moldy bread was usedas a burn treatment (Allen 1995: 116).

As in Britain, there has been a belief inNorth America that burns could be treatedby certain individuals. A seventh son wasbelieved to have the power to cure burns bybreathing over them (Puckett 1981: 336).A woman who has never known her fatherhas also been credited with this power (Mu-sick 1947: 48). Sometimes an incantationaccompanied the process of taking the fire

out of a burn (Rogers 1968: 50). In a studyof burn healers in North Carolina it hasbeen shown that these individuals reliedmore on the incantation used, which usu-ally had religious overtones, than on the ac-companying physical agent (Kirkland 1992:41–51).

Some of the plant remedies noted abovehave also been used in North American folktreatment of burns. Boiled elm bark hasbeen used, as has raw potato. Crushed plan-tain leaves were found helpful. Tea has alsobeen used, as in Britain (Brown 1952–1964, 66: 137). The bark of alder wasmixed with suet to form a burn salve inNew Brunswick (Bergen 1899: 110). In ad-dition, numerous plants native to NorthAmerica but not to Britain have been em-ployed in burn treatment. They includesweet gum leaves and balsam juice (Brown1952–1964, 6: 136–137), a salve madefrom “live forever” (Sedum purpureum) andlard (Bergen 1899: 110), the rootstock ofbloodroot (Mellinger 1968: 50), golden sealroot (UCLA Folklore Archives 9_62216),peach tree leaves (UCLA Folklore Archives13_6216), poke berries (Pickard and Buley1945: 334), and a poultice of prickly pear(Roberts 1927: 170). Particularly in Mex-ico, Aloe vera gel has been used in the treat-ment of burns. Although this plant is notnative to North America, it has become nat-uralized. The gel scraped from its fleshyleaves has even been used to treat radiationburns. Pine pitch has also been used (UCLAFolklore Archive 5_7611).

As in Britain, cold water has been rec-ommended (UCLA Folklore Archive3_6589). Also as in Britain, a number oftypes of fat have been applied to burns andscalds. They include linseed oil, butter, lard,and kerosene oil. Miscellaneous substancesused to relieve burns include mud, soap,ditch water, charcoal, and freshly killedchicken flesh (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 136–137). Vanilla flavoring has been recom-mended (Puckett 1981: 334). Bread baked

56 ; Burns

with worms inside has been used in Ala-bama (Browne 1958: 45). Bicarbonate ofsoda has been used (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 25_5300), and honey (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 9_6202), a use vindicated byits present employment in some Westernhospitals (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein 2000: 185). Egg white has beenused, as in Britain (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 1_7591). Less pleasantly, the excre-ment of hens (Hyatt 1965: 231), or of geese(De Lys 1948: 26) or cows (Harris 1968:41), has been applied.

More than a hundred different genera ofplants have been used by Native Americansas burn dressings (Moerman 1998: 776–777). Among them are alder, pine and plan-tain, all of them in use in general NorthAmerican folk medicine too. Elder barksimmered in lard has produced an ointmentfor burns much like that used in Ireland(Vogel 1970: 302). A poultice of “Indianmeal” has also been used (Vogel 1970:128). Ashes of the cedar whips used in theNavajo fire ceremony have been used as agood burn medicine (New Mexico FolkloreRecord 1948: 8).

See also Alder, Aloe vera, Blackberry,Bloodroot, Chickweed, Elder, Elm,Golden seal, Honey, Houseleek, Ivy,Mallow, Peach, Pine, Plantain, Poke,Potato, St. John’s wort, Seventh son,Thornapple.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Allen, David E., and Gabrielle Hatfield. Medicinal




Black, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chapter





Harris, Bernice Kelly (ed.). Southern Home Rem-edies. Murfreesboro, NC: Johnson, 1968.


Hunt, Robert (ed.). Popular Romances of the Westof England. London: J. C. Hotten, 1871.


Jones, B. H. “Folk Medicine.” Folk-Lore 19(1908): 315–319.

Kirkland, James. “Talking Fire Out of Burns: AMagico-Religious Healing Tradition.” InHerbal and Magical Medicine. TraditionalHealing Today, edited by James Kirkland,Holly F. Matthews, C. W. Sullivan III, andKaren Baldwin. Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press, 1992.


Mellinger, Marie B. “Sang Sign.” Foxfire 2(2)(1968): 15, 47–52.


Musick, Ruth Ann. “Folklore from West Vir-ginia.” Hoosier Folklore 6 (1947): 41–49.

New Mexico Folklore Record. 10 vols. Albuquer-que, NM: 1946–1956.




Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklore

Button snakeroot : 57

from the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, AnnaCasetta, and Sondra B. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.

Roberts, Hilda. Louisiana Superstitions. Journal ofAmerican Folklore 40 (1927) 144–208.

Rogers, James C. “Talking Out Fire.” North Car-olina Folklore 16 (1968); 46–52.

Root-Bernstein, Robert, and Michele Root-Bernstein. Honey, Mud Maggots and otherMedical Marvels: The Science behind FolkRemedies and Old Wives’ Tales. London: PanBooks, 2000.

Taylor, Mark R. “Norfolk Folklore.” Folklore 40(1929): 113–133.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich MS4322.




Wilde, Lady. Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms andSuperstitions of Ireland. London: Chatto andWindus, 1919.

Buttercups (Ranunculusacris, Ranunculusbulbosus, Ranunculusrepens)

These grassland species have been usedin British folk medicine mainly to raise blis-ters, a technique popular in official medi-cine for many centuries as a way of riddingthe system of impurities. It was applied torheumatism in particular (Vickery 1995:55). In addition, the flowers of buttercupswere used to make a skin ointment, andthey were also used to treat eye ulcers(termed “kennings”). In Cornwall Ranun-culus repens was known as kenning herb(Davey 1909: 10, 23). Warts have beentreated with buttercup juice (Tongue 1965:43). In Ireland there have been additional

folk uses for buttercups. They have treatedjaundice, hydrophobia, swellings, tubercu-losis, toothache, and headache, as well asthe ailments mentioned (Allen and Hat-field, in press).

None of these species is native to NorthAmerica, and not surprisingly their role infolk medicine there has been minor. Amongthe Native Americans these three Ranun-culus species have been used in ways similarto those of Ireland—for headache, tooth-ache, swellings, rheumatism, as well as fordiarrhea, a use not recorded in Britain(Moerman 1998: 467–469).

See also Headache; Jaundice; Mad dog,bite of; Toothache; Tuberculosis.



Davey, F. Hamilton. Flora of Cornwall. Penryn:F. Clegwidden, 1909.




Button snakeroot(Eryngium yuccifolium)

This and a related species of Eryngium(Eryngium aquaticum) have been used as di-uretics in North American folk medicineand to treat sexual exhaustion (Coffey1993: 158–159). Interestingly, the Britishnative species of this genus, Eryngium mar-itimum, also has a reputation as an aphro-disiac. E. aquaticum has been used to treatwomen after childbirth (Meyer 1985: 210).In Native American practice these plantswere used to treat a wide variety of ailments,including stomach trouble, snake bite, kid-ney problems and whooping cough (Moer-

58 ; Button snakeroot

man 1998: 225–226). E. yuccifolium wasused by the Seminole Indians ceremoniallyas well as to treat loneliness after bereave-ment (Snow and Stans 2001: 90–91 andplate 19).

See also Eryngo, Snake bite, Whoopingcough.

ReferencesCoffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of

North American Wildflowers. Facts On File,New York, 1993.



Snow, Alice, and Susan Enns Stans. HealingPlants: Medicine of the Florida Seminole In-dians. Gainesville: University Press ofFlorida, 2001.

;C :

Cabbage (Brassicaoleracea)

Wild cabbage is native to parts of Britainand the Mediterranean, and cabbage hasalso been grown in cultivation at least sincethe time of the ancient Greeks (Harrison etal. 1985: 156). Pliny ascribed great healingpowers to the cabbage. His influence onsubsequent written works in official medi-cine has probably spread over the centuriesto folk medicine too. He particularly rec-ommended it for drunkenness. This use infolk medicine is widespread, described inthe European literature from the sixteenthcentury onward, and recorded in Britain asrecently as the 1940s (Vickery 1995: 58).Many of the other British folk uses of cab-bage relate to its large cooling leaves. Thesehave been used as a compress for breast ab-scesses and ulcers, as well as (in Ireland) forreducing fever (Vickery 1995: 58). DuringWorld War I they were similarly used totreat “trench foot” (Hatfield MS). In Wales,they have been used for a great variety ofailments, including the treatment of sprains(Hatfield MS). The water in which cabbageleaves have been cooked has been used totreat rheumatism. In Ireland, burns havebeen treated with fresh macerated cabbageleaves (Logan 1972: 105), and cabbageleaves tied around the throat have been rec-ommended for a sore throat (Black 1883:192). Hoarseness has been treated in En-

gland with a mixture of cabbage juice andhoney (Black 1883: 193). Cabbage cookedwith honey and salt has been recommendedfor colic and melancholy (Prince 1991:106).

In folk medicine in the southern UnitedStates the cabbage has a reputation for help-ing to cure a hangover (Crellin and Philpott1990: 129), just as in Britain. The use of ayoung cabbage leaf warmed and applied asa treatment for an abscess is among a col-lection of early settlers’ remedies from Shel-burne County (Robertson 1960: 30).Sprains have been treated in New Mexico,as in Wales, with cabbage leaves soaked invinegar (Moya 1940: 70). The coolingleaves were tied around the neck, wrists,and ankles for typhoid fever (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 308), or bound on the foreheadfor a fever (Hyatt 1965: 216). For a head-ache, cabbage leaves were applied to theforehead (Puckett 1981: 390). For prevent-ing sunstroke, wearing a damp cabbage leafon the head is suggested (UCLA FolkloreArchives 12_5505). The leaves have formeddressings for blisters (Bergen 1899: 110)and chilblains (Parler 1962, 3: 511). Forcroup, a cabbage leaf was bound round achild’s throat with a black thread (Fife1957: 157). Other folk uses in NorthAmerica are described by Meyer: the largeleaves of cabbage, with their midribs re-moved, have been used in the same way asburdock for soothing sore feet (Meyer

60 ; Cabbage

1985: 120); mashed, they have formed thebasis of healing poultices (Meyer 1985:205). Cabbage poultices have been used to“draw” boils (Redfield 1937: 19). Hotleaves have been used for pneumonia(Baughman 1954–1955: 25) and appendi-citis (Doering and Doering 1936: 64). Cab-bage juice has been taken for ulcers (Puckett1981: 468) and for dysentery (Parler 1962:10), as well as dripped into the ears for deaf-ness (Clark 1970: 19). Even the stump ofan old cabbage has found a use in folk med-icine; ground in vinegar, it has been usedto treat warts (Dieffenbach 1952: 2). Theurine of a cabbage eater is credited withhealing and strengthening powers (UCLAFolklore Archives 5_6153).

In Native American practice, the Cher-okee used wilted cabbage leaves as a poulticefor boils (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 28),and the Rappahannock bound the leaves onto an aching head (Speck, Hassrick andCarpenter 1942: 25).

This enormously variable species hasgiven us vegetables as diverse as cauliflower,Brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, andkohl rabi. Recent interest in the possibleanti-cancer properties of various forms ofBrassica oleracea may mean that it will inthe future be regarded as an important me-dicinal as well as a nourishing vegetable.

The so-called Skunk cabbage (Symplo-carpus foetidus), used by Native Americansfor treating scurvy and as a sedative, is bo-tanically unrelated.

See also Abscesses, Blisters, Boils, Breastproblems, Burdock, Chilblains, Colic,Croup, Deafness, Depression, Honey,Rheumatism, Sprains, Warts.

ReferencesBaughman, Ernest Warren. “Folk Sayings and Be-

liefs.” New Mexico Folklore Record 9 (1954–1955): 23–27.

Bergen, Fanny D. “Animal and Plant Lore Col-lected from the Oral Tradition of English

Speaking Folk.” Memoirs of the AmericanFolk-Lore Society 7 (1899).





Dieffenbach, Victor C. “Cabbage in the Folk Cul-ture of My Pennsylvania Elders.” Pennsyl-vania Dutchman 3(22) (April 15, 1952): 1–2.

Doering, John Frederick, and Eileen Elita Doer-ing. “Some Western Ontario Folk Beliefsand Practices.” Journal of American Folklore51 (1936): 60–68.

Fife, Austin E. “Pioneer Mormon Remedies.”Western Folklore 16 (1957): 153–162.


Harrison, S. G., G. B. Masefield, and MichaelWallis. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Ox-ford: Oxford University Press, 1985.







Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions. A Compendium of American Folklore

Cancer : 61


Redfield, W. Adelbert. “Superstitions and FolkBeliefs.” Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 3(1937): 11–40.

Robertson, Marion. Old Settlers’ Remedies. Bar-rington, NS: Cape Sable Historical Society,1960.

Speck, Frank G., R. B. Hassrick, and E. S. Car-penter. “Rappahannock Herbals, Folk-Loreand Science of Cures.” Proceedings of theDelaware County Institute of Science 10(1942): 7–55.


CancerIn the past in both folk and official med-

icine the diagnosis and definition of cancerwas far from clear. Folk remedies for cancertherefore have to be viewed with some cau-tion: some of them were probably used totreat conditions that we would not todayregard as cancerous. Conversely, some ill-nesses treated in folk medicine may, by to-day’s definition, have been malignant butwere not recognized as such. In this ac-count, the term “cancer” is used where theinformants of remedies have used it, andthis ambiguity needs to be borne in mind.

There is a widespread idea that the handof a corpse has the power to cure cancer.This belief lingered in East Anglia up to thetwentieth century (Rider Haggard, ed.1974: 17). Toads were reputed to have thepower to “suck the poison” from cancers(Thiselton Dyer 1878: 151). For breastcancer, a west country remedy used in thenineteenth century was to take mud fromthe puddles formed by hoof prints of cattleand apply this as a plaster (Aubrey 1881:255). In Lincolnshire, the same cancer wastreated with an infusion of horse spurs inale (Gutch and Peacock 1908: 115).Woodlice in wine was another East Anglian

folk remedy for breast cancer (Newman1945: 353). In the Scottish Highlands, itwas once believed that the bite of a pigcould cause cancer; on the other hand, alegend there suggests that the eating of amagical pigskin will cure all diseases andprevent them in the future (Beith 1995:180, 181).

In British folk medicine a number ofplant remedies were used to treat cancers.Carrot (Daucus carota) poultices were usedboth in the Highlands of Scotland (Beith1995: 210) and in England (Taylor MSS);both wild carrot and cultivated have beenused for this purpose. In the seventeenthcentury, ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea)was used for cancer treatment (Wright1912: 493). Violet (Viola sp.) leaf poulticeswere used throughout Britain, particularlyfor treating skin cancers (Tongue 1965:38). This remedy has been used in Norfolkas recently as the mid-twentieth century(Hatfield 1994: 26). Herb Robert (Gera-nium robertianum) had a reputation in theScottish Highlands for treating skin cancer(Beith 1995: 222). There is an isolated rec-ord of the stems of thistles being used in theScottish Highlands for cancer treatment(Prince 1991: 126–127). Narrow-leaveddock (Rumex sp.) was used to poultice tu-mors in East Anglia (Taylor MSS) andcelandine, probably greater celandine (Cheli-donium majus) was used internally to treatliver cancer (Taylor MSS). In Essex, a poul-tice of houseleeks has been used to treat“cancerous growths.” Dandelion (Tarax-acum officinale) has been used to treat a can-cer on the lip, while in recent times a facialcancer has been treated using banana skin(Hatfield 1994: 25). Red clover tops infusedhave been used in Ireland for can-cer treatment (McClafferty 1979). Wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) has also provided anIrish folk treatment for cancer (Egan 1887).A poultice of hemlock (Conium maculatum)has been used to treat cancer in Suffolk (Tay-lor MSS). More drastically, a plaster of

62 ; Cancer

hemlock has been used both in the Isle ofMan (Gill 1932: 188) and in the ScottishHighlands (Carmichael 1900–1971: 2,257, 266; 4: 201) to tear out a tumor by itsroots. Hemlock was used by the ancients incancer treatment and was promoted by aViennese physician, Van Storck, in theeighteenth century; this may be a folk rem-edy borrowed from official medicine. Otherplants too were used in plaster form. A par-ticularly detailed account comes fromCounty Tyrone, Ireland, where creepingbuttercup (Ranunculus repens) leaves weredried and powdered and mixed with ar-senic. White silk was coated with egg whiteand the mixture was sprinkled on. The plas-ter was applied to the cancer and remained inplace for three to six weeks (Dickie andHughes 1961: 99, 100).

Cancer treatment in North Americanfolk medicine has been even more diverse.Visiting an apple tree at daybreak on threesuccessive mornings was recommended inKentucky (Thomas and Thomas 1920:98). Allowing the sun to shine through aknothole onto a mouth cancer for ninemornings (with prayer) was another rec-ommendation, this one from the AfricanAmerican tradition (Hyatt 1965: 286). Asin Britain, there is an association of cancercures with the dead. Rubbing a tumor witha human bone from a graveyard was sug-gested in Illinois (Hyatt 1965: 286).Touching the tumor with a dead hand wasalso recommended (Cannon 1984: 98). Avariation was to tie a string around acorpse’s finger, transfer the string to a tu-mor, and replace it in the coffin (Hyatt1965: 286). The same belief in the efficacyof toads found in Britain is recorded fromIllinois (Kimmerle and Gelber 1976: 11),while swallowing young frogs was recom-mended in Ohio (Puckett 1981: 336). Nu-merous other cures involve animal flesh,blood, or fat. Laying on the teats of a cowwas recorded from Ohio (Puckett 1981:336). A freshly killed cat, opened and laid

on the tumor, has also been suggested(Puckett 1981: 336). A chicken has beenused similarly in Iowa (Stout 1936: 186),or a piece of beefsteak in California (UCLAFolklore Archives 10_6285). The blood ofa buzzard was recommended in Arkansas(Parler 1962: 496). Sheep’s fat bound onfor more than a week will reputedly removea tumor with it when taken off (UCLAFolklore Archives 20_5306). Alligator fathad a reputation for curing cancer (Brown1952–1964, 6: 139). An ointment preparedfrom fishing worms and tallow was de-scribed in Ohio (Puckett 1981: 336). Thetea made from horse-hoof scrapings in Illi-nois (Hyatt 1965: 286) recalls the remedyabove used in Britain’s west country. Eatingor applying marrow from the jawbone of apig is an interesting remedy recorded fromMichigan (UCLA Folklore Archives13_7609); this could tie in with the Britishbelief that cancer can be caused by the biteof a pig (see above). In the Ozark moun-tains, a moleskin was worn between thebreasts as an amulet to protect against breastcancer (Randolph 1947: 155). Other ani-mal products used in folk treatment of can-cer include cobwebs (UCLA FolkloreArchives 9_5307), rattlesnake rattles inwhisky (Thompson 1959: 101), and the oilfrom egg yolks (UCLA Folklore Archives7_5309). Animal excreta were also em-ployed: for rectal cancer, hog manure friedwith lard and turpentine and applied as anointment was recommended (Hyatt 1965:286), and goose droppings boiled in waterwere given internally for cancers (Hyatt1965: 286).

Among the plethora of plant remediesused in North American folk medicine forcancer treatment, some are recognizably thesame as ones used in Britain. Thus an in-fusion of violet (Viola sp.) leaves was used(De Lys 1948: 316), as was a poultice ofnarrow-leaved dock (Pickard and Buley1945: 42). Red clover was widely used(Browne 1958: 45). As in Britain, hemlock

Cancer : 63

has been used in cancer treatment (Peattie1943: 118), as have the blossoms of thistles(UCLA Folklore Archives 16_7610). Sheepshower, or sheep sorrel (Oxalis sp.), waswidely used. The juice was beaten on ametal plate and combined with other con-stituents into an ointment (Clark 1970:14).

However, many of the plants used inNorth American folk medical treatment ofcancers are not native to Britain and notused in folk medicine there. Poke root wasused as a poultice in the Native Americantradition (Vogel 1970: 351). Ashes ofprickly pear were sprinkled on cancers(Rogers 1941: 28). Bloodroot was madeinto a plaster, with zinc chloride and flour,and left on a tumor for twenty-four hours,at the end of which time it could be tornout bodily (cf. the plaster prepared in Ire-land, above) (UCLA Folklore Archives2_6285). Cancer weed (Salvia lyrata), as itsname suggests, was crushed, both stem androots, and rubbed on cancerous sores (Clark1970: 14). A poultice of fresh cranberries(Vaccinium vitis-idaea) was suggested(UCLA Folklore Archives 6_5308), or asalve prepared from spikenard (? Aralia sp.)tallow, and beeswax (Puckett 1981: 336). Atea prepared from the roots of yerba mansa(Anemopsis californica) was drunk in theMexican west (Kay 1996: 95), while oneprepared from beech tree (Fagus grandifolia)sprouts has been used in Ohio (Puckett1981: 337). Indian hemp (Cannabis sativa)in a sulphur bag is a cancer treatment re-ported from Ohio (Puckett 1981: 337).Various fruit and vegetables have been usedin folk medical treatment of cancer. Theseinclude a poultice of raw grated potatoes forskin cancer (UCLA Folklore Archives12_6189), a grapefruit rubbed on (UCLAFolklore Archives 12_6749), raisins soakedin whisky, eaten two a day (Hendricks1966: 31), and a poultice of turkey figs(UCLA Folklore Archives 10_6189). Stolenmusty corn (infected with the smut fungus)

has been claimed to cure a cancer whenrubbed onto it (Hyatt 1965: 286). In ad-dition to all these relatively simple plantremedies, a large number of complex oint-ments were prepared, often including treebarks of various kinds. One such ointment,used in Kentucky, included the barks of redoak (Quercus sp.), persimmon (Diospyrossp.), dogwood (Cornus sp.), and the rootsof sassafras and dewberry (Rubus sp.). Thebarks were to be gathered from the northside (Thomas and Thomas 1920: 98).Wood ashes were also used to prepare acaustic treatment for tumors (Creighton1950: 89).

Folk medicine has dietary recommen-dations for cancer. Drinking large volumesof carrot juice (UCLA Folklore Archives11_6749) (cf. use of carrots in Britain) hasbeen claimed to cure cancer, as has a dietof grapes (UCLA Folklore Archives9_6189), lemon juice (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 13_6749), figs (Browne 1958: 45),or almonds (UCLA Folklore Archives1_6285). Eating raw onions has beenclaimed to prevent cancer (UCLA FolkloreArchives 11_6189). Even more simply,keeping a plant of live-forever (Sedum tele-phium) in the room wards off cancer (Stout1936: 189).

Native American treatments of cancerare numerous. As well as numerous plants(Moerman 1998: 777), wood ashes wereused (Vogel 1970: 137). The juice of ashthat emerges from the ends of burning ashtwigs (Fraxinus sp.) was claimed to curecancerous sores (which may or may nothave been malignant) (Vogel 1970: 276).Ash sap has been prized in the ScottishHighlands and was the first drink tradition-ally given to a newborn child there.

See also African tradition, Amulet, Ash,Bloodroot, Excreta, Houseleek, Poke,Potato, Sassafras.

ReferencesAubrey, John. Remaines of Gentilisme and Juda-

isme. Edited by James Britten. London,1881.

64 ; Cancer



Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices fromAlabama. Folklore Studies 9. Berkeley andLos Angeles: University of California Press,1958.


Carmichael, Alexander (1900–1971). CarminaGadelica: Hymns and Incantations. 6 vols. (3and 4 edited by J. Carmichael Watson, 5and 6 by Angus Matheson). Edinburgh:Constable (1900); Oliver and Boyd (1940–54); Scottish Academic Press, 1971.


Creighton, Helen. Folklore from LunenburgCounty, Nova Scotia. Ottawa: National Mu-seum of Canada Bulletin 117, Anthropo-logical Series 29, 1950.


Dickie, W. R., and N. C. Hughes. “CausticPastes: Their Survival as Quack CancerRemedies.” British Journal of Plastic Surgery14(2), (1961): 97–109.

Egan, F. W. “Irish Folk-lore: Medical Plants.”Folk-lore Journal 5 (1887): 11–13.

Gill, W. Walter. A Second Manx Scrapbook. Lon-don and Bristol: Arrowsmith, 1932.

Gutch, Mrs., and Mabel G. W. Peacock. Examplesof Printed Folk-Lore Concerning Lincolnshire.Publications of the Folk-Lore Society 63.London: Nutt, 1908.


Hendricks, George D. Mirrors, Mice and Mus-taches: A Sampling of Superstitions and Pop-ular Beliefs in Texas. Austin: Texas FolkloreSociety, 1966.

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Folklore from AdamsCounty Illinois. 2nd rev. ed. New York:

Memoirs of the Alma Egan Hyatt Foun-dation, 1965.


Kimmerle, Marjorie, and Mark Gelber. PopularBeliefs and Superstitions from Colorado.Boulder, Colorado, 1976, unpublished.

McClafferty, George. The Folk Medicine of Co.Wicklow. Master’s thesis, National Univer-sity of Ireland, 1979.


Newman, Leslie F. “Some Notes on Folk Medi-cine in the Eastern Counties.” Folk-Lore 56(1945): 349–360.








Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practices inTennessee. Murfreesboro, TN: Mid-South,1941.

Stout, Earl J. “Folklore from Iowa.” Memoirs ofthe American Folklore Society 29 (1936).

Taylor MSS. Manuscript Notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.MS4322.

Thiselton Dyer, T. F. English Folk-Lore. London:Hardwick and Bogue, 1878.


Caul : 65

Thompson, Lawrence S. “A Vanishing Science.”Kentucky Folklore Quarterly 5 (1959): 95–105.



Wright, A. R. “Seventeenth Century Cures andCharms.” Folk-Lore 23 (1912): 490–497.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria)This plant is not native to North Amer-

ica, but was introduced by the settlers, pro-moted by the Shakers, and now has a widevariety of uses in folk medicine in NorthAmerica. It is used for colic, in babies andadults, as an infusion of the leaves (Mich-eletti 1998: 76), as well as for coughs, coldsand asthma. In Britain it does not appearto have played a significant role in folk med-icine. There are records of its use as an ar-omatic and medicinal infusion in Englandand France (Grieve 1931: 174), where itwas generally drunk before the introductionof tea. Perhaps it was as a mildly stimulatingalternative to tea that it was introduced bycolonists. It has also been used to provokemenstruation, and perhaps also to procureabortions. In general North American folkmedicine, Meyer (Meyer: 1985) records itsuse in treating asthma, chicken pox, chestcolds, colic, erysipelas, nettle rash, urinaryincontinence, as a gentle sedative, for pleu-risy, for treating the rash of poison ivy, forboils, and mixed with unsalted butter andsugar for treating fresh wounds. Innineteenth-century Pennsylvania, catnip isdescribed as being “highly popular amongthe good ladies who deal in simples” (Dar-lington 1847). The wide popularity of cat-nip in folk medicine is reflected in thenumerous records (more than 350) for itsuse in the UCLA Folklore Archives. Manyof these are for infant colic, as well as theailments mentioned by Meyer. One record

from Nova Scotia recommends the use ofcatnip under the pillow to help a child sleep(Creighton 1968: 219). Another, from theSmoky Mountains, includes catnip in apoultice to treat blood poisoning (Hall1960: 50).

In Native American practice, there arerecords for use of this plant from thirteendifferent tribes (Moerman 1998: 353–354).Again, the variety of uses is wide. Rheu-matism, boils, diarrhea, colic, stomachache, headache, colds, pneumonia, andworms have all been treated with catnip.There is an emphasis on its use for treatingchildren. The plant has also been used toprocure abortions (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 28).

See also Abortion, Asthma, Colds, Colic,Coughs, Erysipelas, Shakers.

ReferencesCreighton, Helen. Bluenose Magic, Popular Beliefs

and Superstitions in Nova Scotia. Toronto:Ryerson Press, 1968.

Darlington, William. Agricultural Botany: AnEnumeration and Description of Useful Plantsand Weeds. Philadelphia: 1847.


Hall, Joseph S. Smoky Mountain Folks and TheirLore. Gatlinburg, TN: Great Smoky Moun-tains Natural History Association, 1960.





CaulOccasionally a baby is born with its head

partially covered by fetal membrane. This

66 ; Cayenne

membrane has been called a caul, and it hasattracted a number of superstitions and folkremedies. In the north of England, the caulwas called “sillyhow,” meaning blessedhood (Radford and Radford 1974: 92).Fishermen carried a caul as an amulet whileat sea to protect them from drowning, andalso from seasickness and scurvy (Souter1995: 40). In Scotland it was believed thata person born with a caul had special heal-ing powers (Beith 1995: 94). A man fromthe Isle of Eigg in the Inner Hebrides, whodied in the 1960s, was born with a caul. Hecame of a line of hereditary healers, famousfor curing bad backs by walking on them.The fact that he had been born with a caulwas thought to have added to his powers(Beith 1995: 169). If a caul was given away,its condition was believed to indicate thestate of health of the owner: if it was dry,the owner was in good health, if moist, theconverse. If it was lost or thrown away, theowner could die (Buchan, ed.: 1994, 91).

In North American folklore the beliefsimilarly exists that a person born with acaul will have healing powers. The caul isconsidered generally lucky for the child,and it is also thought to confer special pow-ers of seeing the supernatural (Brown1952–1964, 6: 41). Mexican NativeAmericans preserved the caul as an amuletfor the child to bring luck throughout life(Madsen 1955: 127).

See also Amulet, Backache.




Buchan, David (ed.). Folk Tradition and FolkMedicine in Scotland: The Writings of DavidRorie. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic,1994.

Madsen, William. “Hot and Cold in the Universe

of San Francisco Tecospa, Valley of Mex-ico.” Journal of American Folklore 68(1955): 127.

Radford, E., and M. A. Radford. Encyclopedia ofSuperstitions. Edited by Christina Hole.London: Book Club Associates, 1974.

Souter, Keith. Cure Craft: Traditional Folk Rem-edies and Treatment from Antiquity to thePresent Day. Saffron Walden: C.W. Daniel,1995.

Cayenne (Capsicumannuum)

Botanically, all the wide variety of redpeppers belong to this species. This plant,a native of tropical America, has beenwidely used as a condiment but has alsobeen used in folk medicine, particularly asa stimulant. The important role it hasplayed in food culture as well as medicineis outlined in Wilson and Gillespie’s recentbook (Wilson and Gillespie (eds.). 1999:89–119). In folk medicine it has been usedfor nausea, nosebleed, pain relief, rheuma-tism, sprains, stomach upsets, toothache,sore throat and tonsillitis (Meyer 1985:184, 191, 219, 232, 236, 247, 250, 251).Samuel Thomson used cayenne as one ofthe main plants in his materia medica(Chevallier 1996: 25), along with lobelia.For colds, the ground pepper has been usedwith water and honey (Long 1962: 5). Forcoughs, it has been mixed with vinegar andbutter (Fife 1957: 161). For earache, a pep-per without its seeds is wrapped in cottonand applied to the sore ear (Browne 1958:59). The ground pepper has been sprinkledon cuts to stop the bleeding (Cannon 1984:93). A tea of ground cayenne has beendrunk for nosebleed (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 16_6429) and for ulcers, as well asfor yellow fever (Long 1962: 6). For ty-phoid, cayenne and vodka has been admin-istered (UCLA Folklore Archive 10_6543).Cayenne in cold water has been given for aheart attack (Cannon 1984: 111).

Celtic tradition : 67

In Native American medicine, the planthas been used by the Cherokee for fevers,colic, gangrene and as a stimulant (Hameland Chiltoskey 1975: 48).

In Britain the plant has not been used infolk medicine, although it has been used inofficial herbalism (Chevallier 1996: 70). In-terestingly, its analgesic properties have nowbeen recognized by orthodox medicine, andthe chemical capsaicin forms part of a prep-aration used for pain relief in rheumatismand headaches.

See also Colds; Coughs; Cuts; Earache;Lobelia; Nosebleed; Rheumatism;Thomson, Samuel; Toothache.





Fife, Austin E. Pioneer Mormon Remedies. Folk-lore 16 (1957): 153–162.


Long, Grady M. “Folk Medicine in McMinn,Polk, Bradley and Meigs Counties, Tennes-see 1910–1927.” Tennessee Folklore SocietyBulletin 28 (1962): 1–8.


Wilson, David Scofield, and Angus Kress Gillespie(eds.). Rooted in America. Knoxville: Uni-versity of Tennessee Press, 1999.

Celtic traditionFolk medicine in the Celtic areas of Brit-

ain (the Scottish Highlands and Wales) andIreland differs in some respects from that ofthe rest of Britain. There is greater conti-

nuity with early pre-Christian traditions,and this has lasted right up to the presentday in some areas. Many of the Christiansaints were seamlessly incorporated into thereligious traditions of the Celts (Souter1995: 32). There has been less impact fromoutside sources than in England, where agreat mixture of influences from outsidesources has infiltrated folk medicine. Thesurvival until relatively recent times of theGaelic language has served to emphasizeand preserve the isolation of the Celtic tra-dition. These remarks hold true also for theso-called Celtic fringe, which includesCornwall, the Isle of Man, and Wales.The Isle of Man has maintained, along withits governmental autonomy, a number ofunique folklore traditions. On TynwaldDay, when the island’s parliament con-venes, it was customary to wear a sprig ofmugwort, a practice that was revived in the1920s. This plant symbolizes the power toavert evil; it is also used in practical folkmedicine.

The manufacture of amulets was a well-developed Celtic art from long before theRomans brought Christianity to the BritishIsles. Many of these amulets, designed toavert the evil eye, have survived, some ofthem in Christianized form. Similarly,some pre-Christian beliefs, such as the useof salt to avert the evil eye, have survivedright through to the present day (Buchan1994: 202). The Gaelic-speaking areas ofScotland remained free from the witch-hunts in much of Britain during the six-teenth and seventeenth centuries, anotherreason that many of the ancient traditionswere left untouched (Beith 1995: 84). Anintimate blend of poetry, myth, and reli-gion with a knowledge of the indigenousplants has led to a tradition that in someways resembles that of the Native Ameri-cans. There has been a strong tradition ofhealers, often successive generations of onefamily. Some of these healing dynastieswere learned doctors; others had no medical

68 ; Chamomile

education but were valued nevertheless fortheir healing powers. Many blacksmithswere in this category. The Beaton dynastyyielded several generations of famous heal-ers in Scotland, the more recent of whomincorporated many of the contemporary of-ficial medical ideas into their practice(Comrie 1927). This development was alsoseen in Wales, where in the thirteenth cen-tury the famous Physicians of Myddvaipracticed a system of medicine which was ablend of folk tradition and official learnedmedicine (Williams ab Ithel 1861).

Although the Celtic tradition of folkmedicine is now largely incorporated intothat of the rest of Britain, differences do stillremain. One informant in Ireland wasasked whether folk medicine was enjoyinga revival: “No,” he said, “it has never goneaway” (Nolan 1988: 55). This cannot besaid of much of mainland Britain.

See also Amulet, Evil eye, Mugwort, NativeAmerican tradition.




Comrie, John D. History of Scottish Medicine to1860. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox,1927.

Nolan, Peter W. “Folk Medicine in Rural Ire-land.” Folk Life 27 (1988–1989): 44–56.

Souter, Keith. Cure Craft. Traditional Folk Rem-edies and Treatment from Antiquity to thePresent Day. Saffron Walden: C. W. Daniel,1995.

Williams ab Ithel, John (ed.). The Physicians ofMyddvai. Llanodovery: D. J. Roderic; Lon-don: Longman, 1861.

Chamomile(Chamaemelum nobile)

Throughout Britain and Ireland, this na-tive plant has been used in folk medicine torelieve pain, including stomach pain (a useimmortalized by Beatrix Potter in the “Taleof the Flopsy Bunnies”!), toothache (Allen1995: 45), sore eyes, (Hatfield 1994: 37),neuralgia (Vickery 1995: 63), “stitches”(Beith 1995: 209), and as a general mildsedative. It is sometimes known as Romanchamomile or English chamomile, and itwas introduced to North America by earlyBritish settlers. However, its place there infolk medicine was usurped by the Germanchamomile, Matricaria recutita.

German chamomile is estimated to bethe most popular herb in use among Mex-icans (Kay 1996: 192). It was introducedthere, as manzanilla, by the Spanish in theeighteenth century. In other regions in theNorth American folk records it is difficultto know which chamomile is referred to.Meyer (1985), for example, gives more thanthirty folk medical uses for chamomile.Probably most of these refer to the Germanchamomile. They include relief of asthmaand croup; teething in infants; indigestion,nausea and bad breath, menstrual pain, soreor weeping eyes, headache, measles, mumps,bites and stings, piles and rheumatism. TheUCLA folklore archive reveals a variety ofuses for chamomile, including stomachpain (UCLA Folklore Archives 20_5582)and colds (UCLA Folklore Archives4_5318). The Native Americans usedchamomile for abortions, ulcers, and unset-tled stomachs (Moerman 1998: 152).

The related pineapple weed (Matricariadiscoidea), native to North America but notto Britain, was used by the Eskimo for coldsand indigestion (Oswalt 1957: 22, 23), bythe Costanoan Indians for stomach painand fever (Boceck 1984: 27), and by theShuswap Indians for colds and the heart

Chapped skin : 69

(Palmer 1975: 59). For other uses in theNative American tradition, see Moerman1998: 337.

Pineapple weed became naturalized inBritain in the nineteenth century, and thereis a single record of its use in folk medicinein Wales, where it was used to treat boils(Plant Lore Notes and News, no. 6 [1999],289).

See also Abortion, Asthma, Bad breath,Colds, Croup, Eye problems, Headache,Indigestion, Insect bites and stings,Menstrual problems, Nausea, Piles,Rheumatism, Teething, Toothache.




Boceck, Barbara R. “Ethnobotany of CostanoanIndians, California. Based on Collections byJohn P. Harrington.” Economic Botany38(2) (1984): 240–255.





Oswalt, W. H. “A Western Eskimo Ethnobo-tany.” Anthropological Papers of the Univer-sity of Alaska 6 (1957): 17–36.

Palmer, Gary. “Shuswap Indian Ethnobotany.”Syesis 8 (1975): 29–51.

Plant Lore Notes and News, no. 6 (1999): 289.Vickery, Roy. A Dictionary of Plant Lore. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 1995.

Chapped skinWorking for long hours out of doors in

the British winter and returning home toan inadequately heated house meant that

many agricultural workers until the recentpast suffered from chapped skin as well aschilblains. It was widely believed that one’sown urine was a good lotion for chappedskin, applied night and morning. In York-shire, goose grease was considered an excel-lent ointment for chapped hands (Souter1995: 142). Glycerine was widely used totreat chapped skin: badly chapped handswere thickly coated with glycerine and cot-ton gloves were worn during the night (MHpers. com., 1955). A mixture of mutton fatand caster sugar was another recommen-dation (Prince 1991: 32). Honey and lardmade another hand cream for chapped skin(EFS 2441). In the Scottish Highlands,deer tallow was used on chapped skin, orthe resin normally used to sew leather. Al-ternatively, a poultice of oatmeal and butterwas applied (Beith 1995: 174).

Traditional plant remedies include theouter papery skin of an onion, applied to asore chapped lip and the use of large dockleaves (Rumex sp.) wrapped around sorechapped legs in the winter (Hatfield 1994:48). In North Norfolk, where marsh sam-phire (Salicornia sp.) is locally abundant, anointment was made from it for treatingcracked and chapped skin. Houseleek juicewas another application used. Elder flowers(Sambucus nigra) were made into an oint-ment for treating various skin complaints,including chapped skin (Hatfield 1994:48–49). An ointment was made fromchicken fat and parsley (Petroselinum cris-pum) in the East Anglian fens (Porter 1964:9). Alternatively, in the same area, bran andwater was applied, or the water in whichpotato had been cooked (Chamberlain1981, chap. 8). The water in which chick-weed has been boiled was used for treatingchapped skin (Prince 1991: 32). The fish-ermen of Whitby in Yorkshire used a salvemade from gorse (Ulex europaeus) flowersand lard to heal cracked skin (Sekers 1980:147). In the Scottish Highlands an infusionof groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) was em-

70 ; Chapped skin

ployed, and in the island of Uist tormentil(Potentilla erecta) was used to treat a sorelip. In Suffolk, blackcurrant leaves (Ribes ni-grum) served the same purpose (Emerson1887: 15). Black records the use of leekjuice and cream for chapped hands (Black1883: 203).

In North American folk medicine, someof the same ingredients were employed totreat chapped skin. Salt and water (Welsch1966: 361) or Epsom salts and water(Browne 1958: 46) were used to bathe theskin. Urine was widely used too. In Kansasa cloth soaked in urine was applied (Koch1980: 110). In New Mexico, the urine of amale child was stipulated (Espinosa 1910:410). Ointments were prepared from sugarand soap (Moya 1940: 73), or cider vinegarand glycerine (Gruber 1878: 25), or vase-line and oatmeal (Welsch 1966: 361). Fatsof various kinds were used—pure cream(UCLA Folklore Archives 6–6192), or but-ter from grass-fed cows in May (MississippiState Guide 1938: 14), or lard (Stout 1936:186), mutton tallow and rosewater (Puckett1981: 339), buffalo tallow (UCLA FolkloreArchives 2_6751), or possum fat (Parler1962: 501). Beeswax was mixed with resinand sheep tallow, or with turpentine andsweet oil, to form a soothing ointment(Browne 1958: 46). Plant remedies used in-clude the sap of balm of Gilead (UCLAFolklore Archives 25_7595), fir balsam(Abies sp.) (used in Newfoundland) (Bergen1899: 111), a lotion prepared from soakingthe seeds of quince (Cydonia oblonga)(Meyer 1985: 224), and an ointment pre-pared from equal parts of yellowroot (Xan-thorhiza simplicissima), goldenseal (Hydrastiscanadensis), and elder bark (Sambucus sp.),simmered in lard (Browne 1958: 46). Sorelips were treated with a decoction of whiteoak (Quercus alba) (Meyer 1985: 180).

There has been a widespread belief thatwashing hands in the first snow of the sea-son will prevent them from becoming

chapped (UCLA Folklore Archives 1_6750).A cure for chapped lips is to kiss the middlebar of a five-rail fence (Cannon 1984: 98).

In Native American practice an enor-mous number of plants have been used forskin conditions (Moerman 1998: 783–788). Of those used in general North Amer-ican folk medicine, golden seal was used bythe Micmac for chapped lips (Chandler,Freeman, and Hooper 1979: 57), and whiteoak was used for sore chapped skin by theCherokee (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:46), suggesting that these two remedies maybe of Native American origin.

See also Balm of Gilead, Chickweed,Chilblains, Dock, Houseleek.





Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices fromAlabama. Folklore Studies 9. Berkeley andLos Angeles: University of California Press,1958.


Chamberlain, Mary. Old Wives Tales. London: Vi-rago, 1981.


EFS. English Folklore Survey. Manuscript notescompiled in the 1960s by the Departmentof English, University College London.


Cherry : 71

Espinosa, Aurelio M. “New Mexican SpanishFolk-Lore.” Journal of American Folklore 23(1910): 395–418.

Gruber, John. Hagerstown, MD: HagerstownTown and Country Almanac, 1852–1914.



Koch, William E. Folklore from Kansas: Beliefs andCustoms. Lawrence: Regent Press, 1980.


Mississippi State Guide. Federal Writers Project.New York, 1938.




Porter, Enid M. “Some Old Fenland Remedies.”Education Today (July 1964): 9–11.



Sekers, Simone. Grandmother’s Lore. A Collectionof Household Hints from Past and Present.London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1980.



Welsch, Roger. A Treasury of Nebraska PioneerFolklore. Lincoln: University of NebraskaPress, 1966.

Cherry (Prunus avium)In British folk medicine this plant has

provided a cough and cold remedy, pre-pared from the bark (Hatfield 1994: 30),the gum, or the fruit stalks (Beith 1995:219). A similar infusion has also been usedto treat bladder inflammation (Vickery1995: 64).

In North America, wild cherry has beenwidely used in folk medicine, but anotherspecies (Prunus serotina) has mainly beenused. Like its equivalent in Britain, it haslargely been used for treating coughs (Crel-lin and Philpott 1990: 153). However, incombination with other herbs, wild cherryhas treated a wide range of other conditions,including colic, jaundice, kidney com-plaints, and rheumatism (Meyer 1985: 70,151, 156–157, 212). It has also been usedas a blood tonic (Meyer 1985: 41). NativeAmerican uses of Prunus serotina have beenextensive. In addition to all the uses men-tioned, the plant has been used for indiges-tion, worms, burns, labor pains, diarrhea,headache, bronchitis, and tuberculosis(Moerman 1998: 443–444). Another spe-cies, Prunus virginiana, known as choke-cherry, has been even more extensively used(Moerman 1998: 444–448).

See also Colds, Colic, Coughs, Jaundice,Rheumatism.






72 ; Chickweed



Chickweed (Stellariamedia)

This juicy plant common in the wild andas a weed of cultivated land has been usedin British folk medicine, above all else, as apoultice for healing all kinds of skin ail-ments. In the Scottish Highlands it wasused to heal cuts and grazes, abscesses, andinflammation of the breasts (Beith 1995:211). It was also used to induce a refreshingsleep after a fever and was used generally totreat insomnia (Beith 1995: 211). An in-fusion of chickweed was used in the Scot-tish Highlands as an aid to slimming (Beith1995: 211). Throughout Britain the planthas been eaten (and still is) in salad, and fedto chickens and caged birds, as its namesuggests. In East Anglia it has been used totreat eczema and skin rashes (Hatfield1994: 49), as well as boils and abscesses(Hatfield 1994: 21), rheumatism (Newmanand Wilson 1951), and (mixed with saf-fron), jaundice (Newman 1945: 354). Inthe northeast of England it has been appliedto bee stings (Johnston 1853: 43). In Som-erset, the plant has been used, together withrose leaves, to form an eye lotion. It has alsobeen used there for treating external ulcersand swellings (Tongue 1965: 39, 42). InIreland the plant has been used for a verywide range of additional ailments, includ-ing headache (Barbour 1897: 389), coughsand sore throat, burns, and jaundice, as wellas for treating the swellings of sprains andof mumps (Allen and Hatfield, in press).

This plant is not native in North Amer-ica but has become naturalized. It does notappear to have been as widely used in folkmedicine as in Britain, although it has beenused as a salad (Long 1962: 5). As in Brit-

ain, the plant was used in Newfoundlandfor treating boils (Bergen 1899: 111); inOntario, this extended to wound treatment,and even to hydrophobia (Wintemberg1950: 13, 15). The Shakers promoted itsuse in a number of conditions, mainly forskin troubles, much as in Britain (Crellinand Philpott 1990: 156). Meyer reports theuse of an ointment prepared by boiling theplant in lard for treating piles and externalsores and ulcers (Meyer 1985: 193, 230),while the water in which the plant has beenboiled was used for treating freckles (Meyer1985: 225). This same infusion had a rep-utation for aiding weight reduction (Puck-ett 1981: 224), as it had in the Highlandsof Scotland.

See also Abscesses, Boils, Burns, Coughs,Eczema, Freckles, Headache, Jaundice,Piles, Poultice, Rheumatism, Shakers,Sleeplessness, Sore throat.



Barbour, John H. “Some Country Remedies andTheir Uses. Folk-Lore 8 (1897): 386–390.





Johnston, George. The Natural History of the East-ern Borders. Vol. 1, The Botany. London:Van Voorst, 1853.

Long, Grady M. “Folk Medicine in McMinn,Polk, Bradley, and Meigs Counties, Ten-nessee, 1910–1927.” Tennessee Folklore So-ciety Bulletin 28 (1962): 1–8.

Chilblains : 73


Newman, L. F. “Some Notes on Folk Medicinethe Eastern Counties.” Folk-Lore 56 (1945):349–360.

Newman, L. F., and E. M. Wilson. “Folk-LoreSurvivals in the Southern ‘Lake Counties’and in Essex: A Comparison and Contrast.Part I.” Folk-Lore 62 (1951): 252–266.



Wintemberg, W. J. Folk-Lore of Waterloo County,Ontario. Ontario: National Museum ofCanada, Bulletin 116. Anthropological Se-ries 28, 1950.

ChilblainsThese were a common affliction in Brit-

ain until cars replaced winter walking andhouses were centrally heated. Folk remedieswere varied. Walking in the snow, dippingthem in one’s own urine, and beating withholly sprigs until blood was drawn areamong the remedies used within livingmemory in East Anglia (Hatfield 1994: 26).In another version of the holly remedy, theberries were crushed with lard to make anointment (Whitlock, 1976: 167). The ber-ries of bryony were crushed and rubbed onchilblains in Essex (Hatfield 1994: appen-dix). In the Highlands of Scotland, deer tal-low was rubbed on chilblains (Beith 1995:170). Dipping in urine was used here too,or in a solution of washing soda and hotwater (Beith 1995: 187). An ointmentmade from pig’s fat, flowers of sulphur, andolive oil was a traditional remedy of Rom-any origin but used in Scotland, and an oilprepared from fat and the leaves of adder’stongue fern (Ophioglossum vulgare) was also

used (Souter 1995: 142–143). Chickweedboiled in lard made a healing ointment forchilblains in Inverness-shire, Scotland(Vickery 1995: 65). Berries of bittersweetor woody nightshade (Solanum dulcamara)were used in the Cotswolds (Bloom 1930:25), and the berries of black bryony (Tamuscommunis) were used in the Isle of Wight(Bromfield 1856: 507). Poultices were pre-pared from various fruits and vegetables.Rotten apples were used to treat chilblainsin County Antrim, Ireland; beetroot winewas used in Devon; onion was rubbed ontochilblains in Wales; potato was used simi-larly in County Dublin (Vickery 1995: 13,29, 267, 292). In Essex, a slice of raw saltedpotato was rubbed on (E.M., Barking, Es-sex, 1985, pers. com.). The celebrated Mrs.Beeton recommended the inner flesh of tur-nip mixed with mustard and grated horse-radish, as an application for chilblains(Souter 1995: 143). Leek juice mixed withcream was another suggestion (Black 1883:203).

In North American folk medicine, as onewould expect given the harsher extremes ofclimate, there is a wealth of remedies forchilblains. In a collection of early settlerremedies, there are several recommenda-tions taken from Wesley’s Primitive Physic,and also two domestic remedies of un-known origin. One consists of chalk dippedin vinegar and rubbed on the surface of thechilblain; the other of a hog’s bladderdipped in spirits of turpentine and applied(Robertson 1960: 9). Meyer in his collec-tion of American folk remedies gives recipesincluding turnip, parsnip juice, potato, on-ion, pine tar, and sassafras, as well as solu-tions containing vinegar, or ammonia, oriodine, or alum, potassium permanganate,or “muriatic acid.” A salt solution and amixture of brandy and salt are also given.The berries of poke could be rubbed on tochilblains, or twigs of hemlock spruce(Tsuga canadensis) pounded in lard to forman ointment (Meyer 1985: 60–62). Walk-

74 ; Childbirth

ing in snow is another recommendation, asare applying lard and gunpowder, and im-mersing them in water and horse dung(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 143).

See also Bryony, Chickweed, Holly, Poke,Sassafras, Snow, Urine.


cines of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon,1995.


Bloom, J. Harvey. Folk Lore, Old Customs and Su-perstitions in Shakespeare Land. London:Mitchell, Hughes, and Clark, 1930.








Whitlock, Ralph. The Folklore of Wiltshire. Lon-don: Batsford, 1976.

ChildbirthIn all sections of British society until the

nineteenth century, and long after that inrural communities, childbirth was an ordealin which the mother was supported andtreated by her fellow women. As a result, wehave little written evidence of what actually

happened. Printed books, such as Sharp’sMidwives Book, 1671, reveal a plethora ofordinary and extraordinary agents used dur-ing childbirth, but to what extent thesewere really used we shall probably neverknow. Likewise, the recommendations ofthe herbals may or may not have influencedthe village midwife. Most women livingin the countryside would have had someknowledge of herbal healing. The livingmemories of twentieth-century elderly peo-ple showed that the local midwife was atrusted and respected figure in the village,often doubling as layer-out of the dead.What medicines, if any, did she use for awoman in labor? The “wise wife” of Keithwas burned at the stake in 1560 for usingherbs to ease another’s labor pains (Beith1985: 85). The witch-hunt spread, withCalvinism, to the New World. In Massa-chusetts in the mid-seventeenth centurythree midwives who used medicines wereaccused of witchcraft. In 1648 a midwifewas hanged for witchcraft in Charlestown(Donnison 1988: 17). It is hardly surprisingthat women who used herbs did not broad-cast the fact.

There were a large number of supersti-tions surrounding pregnancy. The mother-to-be and her unborn child were clearlyrecognized as vulnerable. Any shock to thesystem could endanger the development ofthe child, and as recently as the twentiethcentury in parts of Britain it was considereddangerous for a pregnant woman to meet atoad. Developmental abnormalities were of-ten ascribed to such bad luck during preg-nancy (Marshall 1967: 172).

Nowhere is the link between the magicaland medicinal use of healing agents clearerthan in the folk medicine associated withchildbirth. At this time of obvious peril tomother and child, it was necessary to har-ness all the help possible. Pre-Christiancharms and rituals survived the advent ofChristianity in many places. In the Scottish

Childbirth : 75

Highlands a woman in labor was recom-mended to have a piece of cold iron in herbed and a Bible under the pillow. NearBraemar in the Scottish Highlands, preg-nant women used to visit the “wife stone”to ensure an easy time during labor. On theisland of Rona, there was a series of stoneskept in a small chapel. One of them wasvalued by pregnant women as a means ofensuring easy labor (Beith 1995: 98, 147,151).

Otter skin was used as an amulet for pro-tection in childbirth in the Scottish High-lands (Beith 1995: 180). Another birthamulet was provided by the “sea beans,” thefruit of tropical species washed ashore onthe western coasts of Britain by the GulfStream. These were considered lucky inmany respects and were especially valuedduring childbirth. The kidney-shaped seedsof Entada spp. were noted by Carew at thebeginning of the seventeenth century tohave a reputation for easing childbirth (Ca-rew 1602: 27). The so-called Bonduc beanwas used in Uist in the Hebrides as recentlyas the twentieth century to speed delivery;the mother-to-be took the bean in her righthand and prayed (Beith 1995: 208). Higherup in society, charms were also used in la-bor; the aetites stone was recommended tothe Countess of Newcastle in 1633 (Tho-mas 1973: 224).

We do know that some plants were usedduring pregnancy to minimize the pain oflabor, and of these the most widespread inBritain, right up to the present time, is rasp-berry (Rubus idaeus). In early pregnancy itwas used (unofficially) to procure abortions,but taken throughout the last three monthsit has been found to speed and ease delivery.An infusion of the dried leaves is drunk liketea. In East Anglia, an infusion of hawthornleaves was used similarly (Newman andWilson 1951). In the Norfolk fens, somemidwives used to make a special pain-killing cake from whole-meal flour, hemp

seed (Cannabis sativa), rhubarb root(Rheum sp.), grated dandelion root, eggyolks, milk, and gin. This was given notonly to the mother in labor but also to thefather! (Porter 1974: 20). Henbane (Hyos-cyamus niger) was used to procure “twilightsleep” during labor (Whitlock 1992: 109).

Warm fomentations were used to easethe pain of delivery. In the seventeenth-century kitchen book of the Gunton house-hold there is a remedy “For a poor countrywoman in labor to hasten their birth.” Itconsists of mugwort boiled with cloves inwhite wine. The footnote to this recipereads, “You may gather mugwort and dry itin a chamber and soe keep it all the yearwhich is as usefull as the green is.” Althoughsuch kitchen books largely contain remediescopied from official, learned sources and aretherefore not strictly folk medicine, this de-tail suggests that the writer had some ex-perience of actually using the plant for hersocial inferiors and perhaps for her ownfamily too (Gunton Household Book).

In the Scottish Highlands, a poultice ofthe seaweed called dulse (Laminaria pal-mata) was applied to the belly to help expelthe afterbirth (Beith 1995: 241). Also in theScottish Highlands, fairy flax (Linum ca-tharticum) was placed under the soles of thefeet to bring about an easy delivery (Car-michael 1900: 5: 125). To nourish thenewly delivered mother, one twentieth-century country midwife made up a gruelof sifted bran, oats, and skimmed milk(Rigby, pers. com.). In the Scottish High-lands there was a tradition that the first liq-uid tasted by a newborn child should be thesap of the ash (Fraxinus excelsior). The mid-wife therefore put one end of an ash twiginto the fire and gathered the drops of sapthat oozed from the other end. It has beensuggested (Kelly 1863: 145) that this tra-dition might go back to Persian origins,where the sap of another ash species, Frax-inus ornus, was fed to children as a divinefood.

76 ; Childbirth

Nowhere is the link between the magical and medicinal use of healing agents clearer than in the folkmedicine associated with childbirth. At this time of obvious peril to mother and child, it was necessaryto harness all the help possible. (National Library of Medicine)

Colonial women in North America musthave had an even harder time than theirEuropean counterparts when it came to sur-viving pregnancy and childbirth. Thousandsof miles from their extended families anddivorced even from the familiar plant rem-edies they might have used, they must have

had to depend on any printed books theyhad and on a newly acquired knowledgeof the local flora. There is occasional, inci-dental, information about plants used dur-ing labor, such as the reference in aneighteenth-century diary in New Hamp-shire to a husband gathering betony for his

Childbirth : 77

wife (Ulrich 1991: 128). However, withoutfurther detail we cannot know whether thiswas the betony used as a sedative by theCalifornian Indians (Pedicularis spp.) or theunrelated English plant known as betony(Betonica officinalis), which was a plant re-garded as sacred from the time of Dioscor-ides and used for a huge variety of ailments.

Folk medical recommendations forbringing on labor include eating a red on-ion, sniffing up red pepper, taking quinineor gunpowder, and wearing asafoetidaaround the neck and a rabbit’s paw underthe pillow (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 7–8).During labor, a stone with a hole in it hungabove the head, or an axe or knife under thebed, were suggested; tansy tea (Tanacetumvulgare) might be given (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 10, 11).

In contrast with this fragmentary infor-mation, there is a wealth of information forthe Native American usage of plants duringpregnancy and childbirth. Artemisia is a ge-nus that has been associated worldwide withwomen’s ailments since the time of Pliny.The British species A. vulgaris (mugwort) isnot native to North America, but variousother species in the genus have been usedby Native Americans to facilitate childbirth(Levi-Strauss 1966: 46). Forty-four plantgenera are recorded as in use in the Amer-ican and Mexican West for easing delivery(Kay 1996: 69) These included plants suchas sage (Salvia sp.) and chamomile (Cha-maemelum sp.), familiar to the Europeanherbalist, as well as many local indigenousspecies, such as the star thistle, cardo santo(Centaurea sp.), the flowers of which arechewed during labor by Spanish Americanwomen in New Mexico (Kay 1996:17).Among the Catawba, plants used in child-birth include poplar (Populus deltoides),dogwood (Cornus florida), and squaw weed(Senecio aureus) (Speck 1944: 41, 42, 44).Another plant still used today by NativeAmericans to speed delivery is blue cohosh(Caulophyllum thalictroides) (Kavasch and

Barr 1999: 4). This use was adopted by set-tlers in North America and during the nine-teenth century became increasingly wellknown among herbalists. Raspberry wasused in just the same way by the CherokeeIndians (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 52)as it was by the East Anglians (see above).

See also Amulet, Ash, Dandelion,Hawthorn, Midwife, Mugwort,Pregnancy, Toads and frogs.




Carew, R. The Survey of Cornwall. London, 1602.Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymns

and Incantations. 6 vols. (3 and 4 edited byJ. Carmichael Watson, 5 and 6 by AngusMatheson). Edinburgh: Constable, 1900;Oliver and Boyd, 1940–54; Scottish Aca-demic Press, 1971.

Donnison, Jean. Midwives and Medical Men: AHistory of the Struggle for Control of Child-birth. London: Historical Publications,1988.

Gunton Household Book. Suffolk. Church of St.Peter Mancroft, Norwich.


Kavasch, E. Barrie and Karen Baar. American In-dian Healing Arts: Herbs, Rituals and Rem-edies for Every Season of Life. New York:Bantam Books, 1999.


Kelly, Walter Keating. Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore. London:Chapman and Hall, 1863.

Levi Strauss, Claude. The Savage Mind. London:Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966.

Marshall, Sybil. Fenland Chronicle. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1967.

Newman, L. F., and E. M. Wilson. “Folk-Lore

78 ; Colds

Survivals in the Southern ‘Lake Counties’and in Essex: A Comparison and Contrast.Part I.” Folk-Lore 62 (1951): 252–266.


Sharp, Jane. The Midwives Book. London: 1671.Speck, Frank G. “Catawba Herbals and Curative

Practices.” Journal of American Folklore 57(1944): 37–50.

Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic.Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973.

Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Good Wives: Image andReality in the Lives of Women in NorthernNew England 1650–1750. New York: Vin-tage Books, 1991.

Whitlock, Ralph. Wiltshire Folklore and Legends.London: Robert Hale, 1992.

ColdsIn British folk medicine one of the com-

monest remedies, and preventatives, forcolds in children was to coat brown paperin goose grease or tallow and wrap it roundthe child’s chest. A Yorkshire version of thisremedy was to sprinkle brown sugar ontothe bacon fat from a frying pan, coat a pieceof brown paper with the mixture, and applyit as a poultice around the child’s chest(Souter 1995: 146). In the Scottish High-lands, seal oil was used similarly, rubbed onthe chest for a cough and taken internallyto prevent or cure colds (Beith 1995: 181).An alternative was camphorated oil rubbedinto the chest, or a small bag of camphorworn around the neck (Beith 1995: 91). Ahot footbath in which mustard seeds havebeen steeped was another recommendation.In contrast, a popular cold cure in the Scot-tish Highlands was to run fully clad intothe sea, then go home, go to bed and sleep,still in the sea-soaked clothes (Beith 1995:135). “Sweating” a patient by lighting a fireon the earthen floor, removing the fire,strewing the floor with straw and wateringthe straw, then laying the patient on thesteaming straw, was another Highland curefor a cold (Beith 1995: 137). For a feverish

cold, elder flower infusion, or elderberrywine was much used for children andadults. Whisky with hot water, lemon, andhoney was a favorite remedy, especially inScotland. Horehound, or “haryhound,” teawas also very commonly used, preparedusually from white horehound (Marrubiumvulgare). An infusion of yarrow was used totreat bronchitis and colds (Taylor MSS;Hatfield MS). Ground-ivy (Glechoma hed-eracea) was dried during the summermonths and kept for winter use againstcolds (Taylor MSS). Infusions of variousspecies of mint (Mentha spp.) were alsowidely used. Elecampane infusion (Inulahelenium) was used, for instance in Sussex,for colds and coughs (Allen 1995: 66). Inthe Scottish Highlands, snuff preparedfrom the helleborine (Epipactis latifolia) orfrom the root of yellow flag (Iris pseudaco-rus) was used to treat a cold (Beith 1995:217, 222). Also in Scotland, the gum of thewild cherry, known there as “gean” (Prunusavium), was dissolved in wine to treat colds(Beith 1995: 219). An infusion of thyme(Thymus spp.) was used especially for“bronchial” colds in Devon (Vickery 1995:371).

Onions stewed in milk were recom-mended as a diet during a cold. In Scotland,water gruel, made from unsalted oatmeal,sweetened with honey, was given as nour-ishment during a cold (Beith 1995: 231).The bulbs of ramsons (Allium ursinum)were preserved in rum and brown sugar andkept to treat heavy, chesty colds in the Isleof Man (Vickery 1995: 306). Teas madefrom rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), sage(Salvia officinalis), chamomile (Chamaeme-lum nobile), or balm (Melissa officinalis)were also used. Blackcurrant tea (Ribes ni-grum), usually made from hot water andblackcurrant jam, was another soothingdrink used both to prevent and to treat acold. For a heavy cold, the vapor fromgrated horse-radish (Armoracia rusticana)

Colds : 79

was inhaled (Vickery 1995: 197; EFS195Bd).

In North American folk medicine, coldswere treated in many similar ways. Amongchest poultices used were a flannel wrungout in boiling water and then sprinkledwith turpentine. Tar or mustard plasters(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 154) or red flannelcoated with oils (Brown 1952–1964, 6:155) were applied. Poultices of onion or offlaxseed, of hot hops or of catnip were alsoused (Meyer 1985: 67). Rubbing the chestwith skunk oil was also recommended. Fora baby congested with a cold, rubbing thehands and soles of the feet with pure lardwas suggested. For a head cold, snuffing upthe powdered flowers of sneezeweed (Helen-ium autumnale) or powdered borax couldhelp congestion. Smoking rabbit-tobacco(Gnaphalium sp.) in a corn cob pipe was aremedy for a head cold from the AfricanAmerican tradition. Smoking crushed cu-beb berries (Piper cubeba) was also consid-ered good to clear congestion. Hot drinksto help a cold included lemon and ginger;milk and molasses; hot water, brown sugar,and rum; black tea; honey; brandy; andnutmeg. Herbal infusions included may-weed tea (Anthemis cotula), an infusion ofwhite pine needles sweetened with sugar,peppermint tea alone or mixed with elderblossoms and yarrow, horsemint (Monardapunctata), pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioi-des), boneset, dittany (Cunila origanoides),or horehound. Camphorated oil was used,rubbed onto the nostrils—or oil of marjo-ram (Origanum vulgare), or a spray of witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana) (Meyer 1985:64–68). Bark of wild cherry was anothercold remedy (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 148).

There are more than fifteen hundred rec-ords of cold treatments in the UCLA Folk-lore Archives. One common treatment,which stands out as different from anythingused in Britain, is asafoetida. This evil-smelling plant (Ferula assafoetida) is a native

of Asia and some parts of Europe. It becamefashionable in the eighteenth and nine-teenth centuries in official European med-icine, and it has evidently persisted in usein North American folk medicine. Some-times it is worn in a bag around the neck:in this case it probably acted not simply asan amulet, but also as an inhalant, since thefumes are very penetrating. Other amuletsused include a string of amber beads (Can-non 1984: 101), a sowbug, and a wet cottonstring (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 149, 155).

There are occasional examples of trans-ference of a cold, for example to a spider ora woodlouse sewn up in a bag and keptaround the neck until it dies, or to a livefish thrust into the throat and then returnedto the water (Pickard and Buley 1945: 81).Another example of transference is to burya piece of hair or toenail from the cold suf-ferer in a hole in a tree (Brown 1952–1964,6: 155). In Maine, a child with a cold couldbe passed three times under the belly of ahorse (Beck 1957: 78).

Breaking open a blister on a balsam treeat the time of a full moon is another sug-gestion for a cold (Relihan 1947: 82).Catching a falling leaf in the autumn is saidto ensure no colds during the winter (Kim-merle 1976: 22). Moustaches and beardsare claimed to protect against colds (Mas-terson 1940: 45). Walking barefoot aroundthe house or eating the first snow of thewinter are other cold precautions reportedfrom Illinois (Hyatt 1965: 278). Rollingchildren naked in the first snow of the sea-son was claimed to protect them from colds(Parler 1962: 524).

Miscellaneous substances recommendedfor a cold include chicken soup (also rec-ommended for flu) (UCLA Folklore Ar-chive record number 2_5318) or, lesspleasantly, the urine of a polecat (Puckett1981: 344). A tea made from a hornet’s nestwas a remedy collected from Pennsylvania(Brendle and Unger 1935: 132). Usingleeches has been suggested to draw off

80 ; Colic

blood during a bad cold (Puckett 1981:344).

Among the very numerous herbs used incold treatment by the Native Americans arespecies of fir (Abies spp.), yarrow (Achilleaspp.), sweet flag (Acorus calamus), sagebrush(Artemisia spp.), dogwood (Cornus spp.)and juniper (Juniperus spp.) (Moerman1998: 780–782).

See also African tradition, Amber, Amulet,Boneset, Catnip, Cherry, Elder, Flax,Hops, Horehound, Onion, Pine, Snow,Transference, Yarrow.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Beck, Horace P. The Folklore of Maine. Philadel-



Brendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. “FolkMedicine of the Pennsylvania Germans:The Non-Occult Cures.” Proceedings of thePennsylvania and German Society 45 (1935).



EFS. English Folklore Survey. Manuscript notesat University College London., EFS 195Bd.


Kimmerle, Marjorie, and Mark Gelber. PopularBeliefs and Superstitions from Colorado.Boulder: University of Colorado, 1976 (un-published).

Masterson, James R. “The Arkansas Doctor.” An-nals of Medical History. Series 3, no. 2(1940): 30–51.



Parler, Mary Celestia, and University of ArkansasStudent Contributors. Folk Beliefs from Ar-kansas. 15 vols. Fayetteville: University ofArkansas, 1962.



Relihan, Catherine M. “Folk Remedies.” NewYork Folklore Quarterly 3 (1947): 81–84.


Speck, Frank G. “Medicine Practices of theNortheastern Algonquians.” Proceedings ofthe Nineteenth International Congress ofAmericanists, 1917, 303–321.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Record Office, NorwichMS4322.


ColicIn folk medicine the different types of

colic distinguished today (renal, biliary,etc.) were often not clearly distinguished inthe records of treatment. Although graveland stone were clearly recognized, renalcolic was sometimes referred to simply ascolic. An example of this is the “colickwort”(Aphanes arvensis) reported in use by John-son in the seventeenth century (Johnson1633, preface). This plant, also known asparsley piert, was definitely known for itsuse in treating gravel and stone. However,it is likely that many of the folk records forcolic treatment are referring to the morecommon griping pain in infants and adultscaused by trapped wind.

Colic : 81

There were some mechanical suggestionsin folk medicine for relieving this. Standingon one’s head for a quarter of an hour wasa suggestion from Cornwall (Black 1883:183). In the Scottish Highlands the drasticsuggestion of swallowing a bullet wasthought to relieve colic (Beith 1995: 158).For infant colic, rubbing the baby’s stom-ach, or rocking the child, will sometimeshelp it to pass wind and bring relief. Poul-ticing with turf is a novel cure for colic.

Plants used in folk medical treatment ofcolic include chickweed, used in Ireland,centaury (Centaurium erythraea) and dulse(Palmaria palmata) used in Scotland, sloewine (from the fruit of Prunus spinosa) sug-gested in Suffolk (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). Pepper saxifrage (Silaum silaus) wasreported by Parkinson to soothe “frets” ininfants (Parkinson 1640: 908). Nowadaysin domestic medicine, dill water from therelated plant Anethum graveolens is oftenused to treat infant colic (Lafont 1984: 34).

In North American folk medicine similargroups of colic remedies are to be found.For infant colic, rocking the baby, hangingit upside down, or rubbing its back are me-chanical suggestions (Brown 1952–1964, 6:48–49). Hanging round its neck a newlykilled mouse is another suggestion. Catniptea was a favorite remedy for colic in suf-ferers of all ages. An infusion of calamusroot (Acorus calamus) or of ground ivy (Gle-choma hederacea) were other herbal sugges-tions for infant colic, or blowing tobaccothrough the baby’s milk (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 49). Preparations of aniseed (Pim-pinella anisum), fennel seed (Foeniculumvulgare), or caraway seed (Carum carvi)have all been used, especially for infants.For patients of all ages peppermint (Menthasp.), wild ginger (Asarum canadense), gin-seng and yarrow have all been used (Meyer1985: 69–71). Lobelia has been called colicweed in New England.

A suggestion for colic in adults is to standthe person on his head and shake him (cf.

the Cornish recommendation above). Rub-bing the back has also been suggested, or“cupping” over the abdomen (Brown1952–1964, 6: 155–156). Warm water,soda, salt water, or application of hot poul-tices are other practical suggestions (Brown1952–1964, 6: 157–158). Dog dung (Hy-att 1965: 246) or wolf dung are less ap-pealing remedies. Alternatively, colic can betransferred to a duck. Among plants usedby Native Americans to treat colic, catnipwas used by the Cherokee (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 28) and mint (Menthacanadensis) by several tribes, including theOkanagon (Perry 1952: 42). Garlic and on-ion have also been used, as has rattlesnakevenom.

See also Catnip, Earth, Excreta, Garlic,Ginseng, Gravel and stone, Lobelia,Mouse, Onion, Snake, Soda,Transference, Yarrow.


Plants in Folk Traditions. Portland, OR:Timber Press, in press.





Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Folklore from AdamsCounty Illinois. 2nd rev. ed. New York:Memoirs of the Alma Egan Hyatt Foun-dation 1965.

Johnson, Thomas (ed.). The Herball or GenerallHistorie of Plantes. London: Islip, Nortonand Whitakers, 1633.



82 ; Colonists

Parkinson, John. Theatrum Botanicum. London:Thomas Cotes, 1640.

Perry, F. “Ethnobotany of the Indians in the In-terior of British Columbia.” Museum andArt Notes 2(2) (1952): 36–43.

ColonistsForced to be self-reliant in times of ill-

ness, the early European settlers of NorthAmerica brought with them their inheritedknowledge of their own folk medicine andtheir few medical books, such as ThomasPhaire’s The Boke of Chyldren (London,1553) and later John Wesley’s PrimitivePhysic; or an Easy and Natural Method ofCuring Most Diseases (London, 1747).Other medical texts available from Europeand known to have been owned by earlysettlers include William Buchan’s DomesticMedicine, first published in 1772 and run-ning into numerous editions into the nine-teenth century. In the nineteenth centuryvarious North American publications be-came available, such as the two herbals writ-ten by Catherine Parr Traill in Canada (TheCanadian Settler’s Guide, 1855, and Studiesof Plant-Life in Canada, 1885) and CharlesMillspaugh’s book American MedicinalPlants (1852), as well as Samuel Thomson’sNew Guide to Health; or, Botanic FamilyPhysician (1831). The Tennessee physicianDr. John Gunn published in 1857 his NewDomestic Medicine or Family Physician,which became enormously popular, reach-ing its 213th edition in 1885.

To what extent such texts were actuallyused in times of illness is impossible toknow. Faced with a lack of some of theplants that they normally used at home, andpresented with a whole new and unfamiliarflora, early European settlers must havebeen forced to experiment, and many werewilling to learn from Native American heal-ers. Groups such as the Shakers developedtheir own, largely home-grown, pharma-

copoeia. At a time when orthodox medicinerelied heavily on such drastic measures asbleeding, purging, and “chemical medi-cine,” this self-reliance might ironicallyhave been good for the health of the com-munity. Newspaper articles and “alman-acks” published medical advice, and someindividuals set themselves up as healers andas herbalists (for example, Samuel Thom-son). However, the basic first aid for mostearly European settlers, whether French,German, Dutch, or English, must havebeen the knowledge of the women of thehouseholds, brought from their nativecountries and supplemented by any localsources they could find. This was largelyoral knowledge, handed down from onegeneration to the next, so that by definitionthere is a very incomplete record in the lit-erature. As Ulrich has put it, remedies camefrom the barnyard and the forest (Ulrich1991: 128). The types of remedy broughtfrom home would depend on the socialbackground of the immigrants (Fischer1989). During the long journeys madeacross the North American continent bymany settlers, a basic medicine chest wasthe only source of medical help, other thanlocal remedies. Immigrants sometimes re-ceived advice from earlier pioneers. Emer-gency medical supplies often includedcastor oil and peppermint essence; by theeighteen hundreds, purpose-built kits ofdried herbs were available (Micheletti 1998:297).

Some householders kept kitchen books,collections of household recipes, and rem-edies. Those that have survived indicate areliance initially on remedies brought fromhome, together with medical texts andnewspapers (see, for example, Robertson1960). The few “orthodox” Western doc-tors among the settlers were influenced bythe existing medical knowledge of the Na-tive Americans, especially by their treat-ment of wounds, treatments that appeared

Color : 83

often to be much more successful than theirown. Some individuals exploited the appealto the new arrivals of the native medicineand even set themselves up as quasi-NativeAmerican healers. Lighthall, for example,published in 1883 a book entitled The In-dian Folk Medicine Guide. He was of onlyone-eighth Indian descent but is describedin the book as “The Great Indian MedicineMan.”

What was mainstream medicine for theNative Americans therefore became par-tially incorporated, with modifications andin some cases distortions, into Americanfolk medicine. Colonists adopted, for ex-ample, the Native American use of sweattents (Hanzlik 1936: 276). There was un-doubtedly some exchange between NativeAmericans and the colonists of New En-gland, New France, New Netherlands, andNew Sweden, though it is hard to know towhat extent remedies were shared (Fenton1942: 514). Vogel cites the examples ofgoldthread (Coptis spp.), used for a soremouth by both Native Americans and col-onists, and skunk cabbage (Symplocarpusfoetidus) roots used for itch (Vogel 1970:310, 367). The dogwood (Cornus spp.),used by early colonists for treatment of ma-laria (Brewster 1969: 39), might be anotherexample of a remedy learnt from NativeAmerican practice; species of dogwood werecertainly used by various Native Americantribes to treat fevers (Moerman 1998: 176–179). There are numerous examples of con-temporary remedies used by both generalNorth American folk medicine and by Na-tive Americans, but whether they all rep-resent direct “borrowing” in colonial timesfrom the Native American tradition is dif-ficult to establish. Systematic studies of themedicinal plants used by Native Americansbegan in earnest in the nineteenth century(Croom 1992: 138), and at least somepresent-day uses of Native American rem-

edies by the general population of NorthAmerica probably postdate these works.

See also Shakers; Thomson, Samuel; Traill,Catherine Parr; Wounds.

ReferencesBrewster, Paul G. “The Myth of Modernity.” Ten-

nessee Folklore Bulletin 35 (1969): 37–40.Croom, Edward M., Jr. “Herbal Medicine among

the Lumbee Indians.” In Herbal and Mag-ical Medicine: Traditional Healing Today.Edited by James Kirkland, Holly F. Mat-thews, C. W. Sullivan III, and Karen Bald-win. Durham, NC: Duke University Press,1992.

Fenton, William N. Contacts between IroquoisHerbalism and Colonial Medicine. AnnualReport of the Smithsonian Institution1941. Washington, D.C., 1942, 503–527.


Hanzlik, Harold. “Medical Conditions, Practicesand Foundations in the Continental Colo-nies.” California and Western Medicine 45(1936): 275–278.

Lighthall, J. I. The Indian Folk Medicine Guide.New York: Popular Library Edition, n.d.

Micheletti, Enza (ed.). North American Folk Heal-ing. New York and Montreal: Reader’s Di-gest Association, 1998.



Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Good Wives: Image andReality in the Lives of Women in NorthernNew England 1650–1750. New York: Vin-tage, 1991.


ColorCertain colors are associated in folk med-

icine with healing. Red is one such color,perhaps because it is associated with heat(Black 1883: 108). Red threads are tied

84 ; Color

around parts of the body—for instance, toprevent nosebleeds. Red is the preferredcolor for flannel to wrap around an injury.Backache was in the recent past treated by“ironing” with a flat iron, over a piece ofred flannel. Patients suffering from small-pox were given red bed coverings to drawout the pustules (Black 1883: 108). Redflannel worn around the neck was used toward off whooping cough in the west ofScotland (Black 1883: 111). In the nine-teenth century “tongues” of red flannel weresold in London to be worn around thenecks of patients suffering from scarlet fever(Notes and Queries, 5th series, vol. xi, 166).In fourteenth-century Ireland in sacrificialceremonies associated with healing, a redcock was specified as the sacrificial victim(Black 1883: 112). Black suggests that aswell as its association with heat, red wasthought to ward off evil spirits and quotesthe example of cattle in nineteenth-centuryAberdeenshire having a red thread tiedaround their tails before going out to pas-ture for the first time (Black 1883: 112). Ahealing charm known as the “cure of thethreads” is still practiced on one of the Scot-tish islands. It is known there as barr a’chinn (the top of head). Red threads arewound around the neck while reciting acharm to drive evil spirits out through thetop of the head (Beith 1995: 198).

Blue is another color that figures fre-quently in folk medical cures. A necklace ofblue beads was worn in Norfolk as a curefor bronchitis (Porter 1974: 43). This coloris associated in Christian, and particularlyCatholic, belief with the Virgin Mary. Thismay explain its use for “evil” purposes inthe Orkneys, where anything that smackedof popery was abhorred. In 1635 a man inOrkney was ruined by a blue necklace givento his sister (Black 1883: 112). By contrast,a blue thread was treasured and handeddown the female line in families in the Scot-tish borders. It was worn to prevent feversat the time of weaning (Black 1883: 113).

Black is another color associated withfolk cures. The tail of a black cat was rec-ommended for curing styes, and the bloodof a black cat for shingles. Black wool hasbeen recommended for deafness. Blacksnails were used in wart treatment.

Very similar color associations are to befound in North American folk medicine.Again, red has the dual significance ofwarmth and blood. As a symbol of warmth,red flannel or red thread was recommendedfor rheumatism (Brown 1952–1964, 6:264), sore throat (Black 1935: 13), andcolds (Morgan 1934: 669). Red ribbon wassaid to protect a baby from the evil eye(Puckett 1981: 131). Red thread was usedto stop hiccups (UCLA Folklore Archives2_5411). Warm milk from a red cow wasrecommended for tuberculosis (Hyatt1965: 252). Examples of the association be-tween red and blood include red beadsworn for nosebleed (Bergen 1896: 94) or ared bean worn around the neck (Brown1952–1964, 6: 241). To trigger periods, redfood should be eaten (Hyatt 1965: 219).For palpitations of the heart, a red tape wasworn around the chest (Riddell 1934: 262).To arrest bleeding, the sufferer should bewrapped in a red cloak (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 2_6287).

As in Britain, blue seems to have beenassociated with chest ailments. For whoop-ing cough, wearing stolen blue ribbon (Au-rand 1929: 71), or eating from a blue dish(Fogel 1915: 339) is suggested. Perhaps be-cause of an association with coolness, paleblue stones were worn for headache (Can-non 1984: 111) and blue string for cramp(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 164); wearing ablue sweater was a suggestion for a high fe-ver (UCLA Folklore Archives 2_5377).Blue was also recommended as protectionagainst the evil eye (Puckett 1981: 1080).

As in Britain, black cats were chosen infolk medicine. Again, the tail of a black catwas used as a cure for styes (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 294), and blood from a black cat

Columbo : 85

for shingles (Roberts 1927: 167). Blacksnails were rubbed on warts (Wintemberg1918: 127). Black threads were used in warttreatment (Cannon 1984: 134), backache(Puckett 1981: 313), and croup (Whitneyand Bullock 1925: 92).

The color of plants used in folk medicineis discussed under doctrine of signatures.

See also Backache, Bleeding, Colds,Cramp, Croup, Deafness, Evil eye, Eyeproblems, Fevers, Headache, Hearttrouble, Nosebleed, Rheumatism,Shingles, Smallpox, Sore throat,Tuberculosis, Warts, Whooping cough.

ReferencesAurand, A. Monroe, Jr. The Pow-Wow Book: A

Treatise on the Art of “Healing by Prayer” and“Laying on of Hands.” etc., Practised by thePennsylvania Germans and others. Harris-burg: Aurand Press, 1929.



Black, Pauline Monette. Nebraska Folk Cures.Studies in Language, Literature, and Criti-cism 15. Lincoln, Nebraska: University ofNebraska, 1935.






Morgan, Edward A. “Some Traditional BeliefsEncountered in the Practice of Pediatrics.”Canadian Medical Association Journal 31(December 1934): 666–669.

Notes and Queries 5th Series, Vol. xi, p. 166. Lon-don, 1849.



Riddell, William Renwick. “Some Old CanadianFolk Medicine.” Medical Record 140(1934): 262.



Wintemberg, W. J. “Folk-Lore Collected in To-ronto and Vicinity.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 31 (1918): 125–134.

Columbo (Fraseracaroliniensis)

This plant is not native to Britain, and isunused there in folk medicine.

In North American folk medicine, it hasbeen used for stomach trouble and vomit-ing caused by teething in infants or by preg-nancy (Meyer 1985: 242, 248, 262). It hasbeen a constituent of many tonics (Coffey1993: 168) and has treated worms and con-stipation in children (Meyer 1985: 208,271). In Native American medicine, theCherokee used it to treat gastrointestinaldisorders of all kinds and used it as a tonic(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 30).

See also Constipation, Pregnancy,Teething, Tonic, Worms.

ReferencesCoffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of


86 ; Comfrey



Comfrey (Symphytumofficinale)

From the Highlands of Scotland (Beith1995: 212) to the southwest of England(Lafont 1984: 26), comfrey has been usedin British folk medicine for treating sprainsand fractures. There are innumerable storiesof the dramatic healing power that the plantappears to have (Hatfield 1994: 5; Lafont1984: 26). It has also been used for healingwounds and for treating the pain of arthri-tis. In Ireland comfrey root has been usedfor treating boils, and the juice of the roothas been considered good for the complex-ion (Logan 1972: 61, 77). Early writersidentified the plant with the “sumphuton”of Dioscorides, hence its botanical nameSymphytum, the “grow-together” plant(Grigson 1955: 281). Interestingly, it hasbeen used in the western parts of Britain,where it is abundant in much the same wayas houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) hasbeen used in the rest of Britain, where com-frey is relatively scarce (Allen and Hatfield,in press). Despite recent scares over the hep-atotoxicity of some of its alkaloids, the plantis still widely used by herbalists, especiallyas an external treatment. It has been re-ferred to as “nature’s putty,” and the rootwhen scraped and soaked does indeed makea thick healing sludge. The plant has twoforms, a red-flowered and a white-flowered;in some areas, such as Dorset (FLR 6(1888); 116), there was a belief that thered-flowered form should be used for treat-ing men, the white-flowered reserved forwomen.

The plant is not native to North Americabut has become naturalized there, and itspopularity in folk medicine is again strik-

ing. Meyer records uses for treatment ofsore breasts and nipples, cough medicine,diarrhea, “female weakness,” liver com-plaints, as a soothing poultice, for sores andsurface ulcers, for hoarseness, and for cutsand wounds (Meyer 1985: 48, 50, 51, 81,87, 91, 124, 125, 168, 202, 254, 276). Ithas been used to treat crush injuries (Puck-ett 1981: 373), dysentery (Browne 1958:40), and asthma (Cannon 1984: 92), as wellas being used as a boost to virility (Peattie1943: 190). Some of these uses are also re-corded among the Cherokee (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 30), by whom it is alsotaken for constipation and heartburn dur-ing pregnancy.

See also Arthritis, Asthma, Boils,Dysentery, Houseleek, Pregnancy,Rheumatism, Wounds.

ReferencesAllen, David E., and G. V. Hatfield. Medicinal


Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-cines of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon 1995.



FLR. Folk Lore Record 6 (1888): 116.Grigson, Geoffrey. The Englishman’s Flora. Lon-

don: Phoenix House, 1955.Hamel, Paul B., and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Chero-

kee Plants and Their Uses: A 400 Year His-tory. Sylva, NC: Herald, 1975.




Concepts of disease : 87

Comfrey has been used in British folk medicine fortreating sprains, fractures, and arthritic pain. It hasalso been used for healing wounds. The juice of theroot is considered good for the complexion. (Staple-ton Collection/CORBIS)




Concepts of diseaseBy definition, folk medicine was primar-

ily a practical response to illness by thosetoo poor to afford official medical aid.Much of British folk medicine has been do-it-yourself practical treatment of illness

within a family or small group. A system ofbeliefs has developed only when there is anestablished group of healers within a tradi-tion (see, for example, the Celtic tradition).On the whole, theories of disease were aluxury for the more educated. However,glimpses are to be found of some folk ideasabout the causation of disease. In Britishfolk medicine, certain ailments were in thepast ascribed to witchcraft. They includeepilepsy, drastic weight loss, and loss of ap-petite (Porter 1974: 51). The devil, in Brit-ain a personification of old paganism, wasblamed for many illnesses but was also cred-ited with the power to cure them. Blackquotes a witch in Scotland famous for hercures of children who would apply the rem-edy saying it was given in God’s name “butthe devil give thee good of it” (Black 1883:14). In Scotland Rorie comments that dis-ease is regarded as an entity that can be“drawn” from the body—for example bymeans of poultices, which should then beburned (Buchan 1994: 239). Warts weresaid to be caused by a host of externalsources, including sea foam (Black 1883:30), the water in which eggs have beenboiled, touching a frog or toad, etc. Birth-marks and congenital abnormalities werefrequently attributed to shock sustained bythe mother during pregnancy.

Contagious magic has seeped into folkmedicine, giving rise not only to the like-curing-like principle but also to practicesinvolving transference of disease to plantsor animals. Ideas concerning infectious dis-eases were inconsistent. Long before the dis-covery of bacteria and viruses, the air wasblamed for spreading contagion, such as theplague, and efforts were made to purify theair by carrying highly scented herbs or bythe use of onion left lying in a sick chamberor around the house. In more recent times,“bad air” was often seen as a cause of dis-ease. In some parts of England country peo-ple wore pieces of tansy in their boots toprotect themselves from the “miasma” ris-

88 ; Concepts of disease

ing from the ground, which was seen thereas a cause of ague (Quelch 1941: 153). Thenight air of the fens was blamed for theprevalence there of fevers and rheumatism(Porter 1974: 48). Conversely, some air wasvalued as “healthy.” In Wales there is a placein Parc Llewelyn where it is supposed thatfour winds meet; sufferers from tuberculosiswere recommended to walk to this spot(Jones 1980: 63–64). In Norfolk there wasa curious belief that tuberculosis could onlybe spread within a family between membersof the same sex. Also in East Anglia, it wasbelieved that bringing wild arum into ahouse could cause tuberculosis and that eat-ing kernels of wheat could cause scarlet fe-ver (Porter 1974: 48). In Fife, Scotland, itwas believed that an infectious disease didnot pass from a young person to an olderone, also that if a person was unafraid ofinfection he would not catch it (Buchan1994: 240).

The picture in North American folkmedicine is different. Here folk medicine isa much broader-based conglomerate ofideas drawn from the oral folk traditions ofmany different countries, but also in partfrom their medical literature (see introduc-tion). It follows that not only is NorthAmerican folk medicine richer in theoriesof disease but that it shows more overlapwith official medical ideas and with the con-cepts of healers within any one community.No generalizations are meaningful in thiscontext, and attempts to produce an over-view must remain, as Hufford puts it, “anintellectual device” (Hufford 1992: 24).

Supernatural causes for disease have beeninvoked by many different traditions. As inBritain, so in Mexico, witchcraft has beenregarded as a significant cause of disease(Holland 1963: 93). In the Native Ameri-can tradition the role of spirits is central inaffecting man’s welfare (Lyon 1996: 60–61). In the past, five causes of disease wererecognized by the Seminole Indians: soul

loss, external agents, sorcery, intrusion offoreign objects, and wounds (Snow andStans 2001: 29). Among the external agentswere animals, seen as causes of disease,while plants were seen as providing reme-dies (Levi-Strauss 1966: 164–165). In theAfrican tradition, “natural” illness is seen asa punishment for sin, “unnatural” illness asthe work of malevolent forces (Micheletti1998: 176). Alongside influences from cul-tural and religious beliefs there are to befound vestiges of official medical concepts.An example is the belief in heat or cold asthe cause of disease among Spanish-Americans (Foster 1953: 205).

In North America, as in Britain, birth-marks and deformities of all kinds are at-tributed to events during the mother’spregnancy, including fear, shock, or crav-ings (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 18–24). Someillnesses are thought to be caused by ani-mals, in which case the remedy will be fromsomething related to the same animal(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 107). Eating thefirst snow of the season is thought to causesickness (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 108). Onthe other hand, cold air is sometimes re-garded as healthy (Brown 1952–1964, 6:99). Blindness is said by some to be causedby sleeping in moonlight (Brown 1952–1964, 4: 126). Eye ailments can be “caught”simply by looking at a person suffering fromthem (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 293). Livingon recently cleared land is thought by someto be a cause of typhoid fever (Brown1952–1964, 6: 308). As in Britain, han-dling frogs is thought to cause warts; othersupposed causes are handling jellyfish andwashing hands in water in which eggs havebeen boiled (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 310).

See also African tradition, Celtic tradition,Doctrine of signatures, Fevers, Onion,Plague, Pregnancy, Rheumatism,Transference, Tuberculosis, Warts.

Constipation : 89

ReferencesBlack, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chapter




Foster, George M. “Relationships between Span-ish and Spanish-American Folk Medicine.”Journal of American Folklore 66 (1953):201–217.

Holland, William R. “Mexican-American MedicalBeliefs: Science or Magic?” Arizona Medi-cine 20(5) (May 1963): 89–101.

Hufford, David J. “Folk Medicine in Contem-porary America.” In Herbal and MagicalMedicine: Traditional Healing Today, editedby James Kirkland, Holly F. Matthews, C.W. Sullivan III, and Karen Baldwin. Dur-ham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.


Levi-Strauss, Claude. The Savage Mind. London:Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966.

Lyon, William S. Encyclopedia of Native AmericanHealing. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1996.



Quelch, Mary Thorne. Herbs for Daily Use. Lon-don: Faber, 1941.

Snow, Alice Micco, and Susan Enns Stans. Heal-ing Plants: Medicine of the Florida SeminoleIndians. Gainesville: University Press ofFlorida, 2001.

ConstipationRecommendations in British folk medi-

cine for constipation include drinkingplenty of water, eating prunes or rhubarbor orange juice, chewing the fruit of mal-

low, and eating molasses and flowers of sul-phur, or castor oil. Woodlice have beenused to treat constipation in Norfolk (Tay-lor MSS). More pleasantly, ripe blackberries(Rubus fruticosus) have been eaten for theirlaxative effect in Devon (Lafont 1984: 17).Herbal treatments include groundsel (Se-necio vulgaris) boiled in milk, used in Ire-land for constipated babies (Moloney1919: 30). In Scotland fairy flax (Linum ca-tharticum) has been used as a purgative(McNeill 1910: 108). Cloves soaked inboiling water overnight have been used inSuffolk (Taylor MSS). Bogbean has beenused in Scotland to treat constipation(Beith 1995: 207). In the Western Isles ofScotland the seaweed known as dulse (Rho-dymenia palmata) was eaten raw to relieveconstipation (Beith 1995: 241). Chamo-mile tea, or a tea made from rice and raisins,or eating boiled onions, were all recom-mendations in Norfolk in the twentiethcentury (Hatfield 1994: 28). The rhizomesof the stinking iris (Iris foetidissima) havebeen famous as a purge since Anglo-Saxontimes. Gerard writing in the sixteenth cen-tury records the use of stinking iris root asa purge by the country people in Somerset(Gerard 1597: 54), and Parkinson recordsits use in the seventeenth century (Parkin-son 1640: 259). By the nineteenth century,the milder leaves were being used (Pratt1855). Seeds of various species of plantain(Plantago spp.) have also been used to treatconstipation (Newman 1948: 150).

In North American folk medicine,household remedies for constipation againinclude hot water. Other suggestions are awell-beaten fresh hen’s egg with cold wateror a pinch of salt in water. Olive oil hasbeen recommended. In Canada, bear’sgrease has been similarly used (Tantaquid-geon 1932: 266). In New Mexico, an eggbroken against a child’s stomach is a remedyfor constipation (Espinosa 1910: 410). Astrange idea reported from Utah and else-

90 ; Constipation

where is that sewing a piece of sheep’s in-testine to the shirttail helps constipation(UCLA Folklore Archives 5_6797). Soupmade from a totally black chicken, cookedwhole with its feathers on, is another sur-prising remedy (Rupp 1946: 254). Molassesand honey make up a more prosaic remedyfrom Utah (UCLA Folklore Archives4_6797). A recommendation from Califor-nia is to boil almonds until their skins comeoff, then insert them into the rectum(UCLA Folklore Archives 17_6276).

Dietary suggestions to help constipationare similar to those in Britain; eating apples(UCLA Folklore Archives 16_7612), rhu-barb, celery, parsley, asparagus, and water-cress (Lathrop 1961: 16). The use of theseaweed dulse (Rhodymenia palmata), underthe name “varette,” is reported in the Mar-itime Provinces as a purgative, just as inScotland (UCLA Folklore Archives4_5341). Both the berries and the bark ofelder (Sambucus sp.) have been used to treatconstipation (Browne, Ray B. 1958: 390).It is reported that if the bark is scrapeddownward it acts as a laxative, upward asan emetic, a belief reported for a number ofdifferent plants in Native American practice(Black 1935: 37). This belief evidently ex-tends to general North American folklore,too; boneset is used as a purge, but in thisinstance it is the leaves that are stripped up-ward to provide an emetic, downward for apurge (Fogel 1915: 278).

Other herbal recommendations includetea made from the roots of queen’s delight(Stillingia sylvatica) (Hendricks 1980: 97).Wild cherry bark has been used in Ken-tucky (Wilson 1968: 326). An infusion ofweeping willow tree leaves (Salix babylon-ica) has been reported in Arkansas (Parler1962: 554). Life everlasting tea (Gnap-halium obtusifolium) was used to cureconstipation in Virginia (UCLA FolkloreArchives 5_5341). Roots of silkweed (Ascle-pias syriaca) have been used in Alabama totreat constipation (Browne, Ray B. 1958:

400). Flaxseed has been widely used. Othernative plants used to treat constipation arebutternut (Juglans cinerea), sweet flag (Aco-rus calamus), mayapple (Podophyllum pelta-tum), alder bark (Alnus spp.), bark of whiteash (Fraxinus americana), and buckthorn(Rhamnus spp.). Manna from another typeof ash, Fraxinus ornus, has been used espe-cially for children, as it acts gently (Meyer1985: 71–75). Tobacco and water havebeen used as an enema for severe constipa-tion (UCLA Folklore Archives 1_1346).The use of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) leaveshas been recorded from California (UCLAFolklore Archives 1_6276). In Mexico, atea has been made for constipation from theseeds of ripe apricots (Madsen 1955: 133).Senna (Senna spp.) and prunes as well as or-ange juice have been used both in Britainand in North America, and they continuein use today.

All these plants, and many more besides,have been used in Native American practiceto treat constipation. Moerman lists morethan 150 different genera used by differenttribes as laxatives (Moerman 1998: 805–806). Of these, the most widely used areelder and alder. Two Native American spe-cies of Senna are used as laxatives, Sennahebecarpa and Senna marilandica. Thesenna used in commercial preparations inBritain is derived from an African species,Cassia senna (formerly known as Senna al-exandrina).

See also Alder, Bogbean, Boneset,Chamomile, Cherry, Elder, Flax.



Black, Pauline Monette. Nebraska Folk Cures.Studies in Language, Literature, and Criti-cism 15. Lincoln: University of Nebraska,1935.

Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices fromAlabama. Folklore Studies 9. Berkeley and

Contraception : 91

Los Angeles: University of CaliforniaPublications, 1958.



Gerard, John. The Herball or General Historie ofPlantes. London: John Norton, 1597.


Hendricks, George D. Roosters, Rhymes and Rail-road Tracks: A Second Sampling of Supersti-tions and Popular Beliefs in Texas. Dallas:Southern Methodist University Press, 1980.




McNeill, Murdoch. Colonsay: One of the Hebrides.Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1910.



Moloney, Michael F. Irish Ethno-botany and theEvolution of Medicine in Ireland. Dublin:M. H. Gill & Son, 1919.

Newman, Leslie F. “Some Notes on the Pharma-cology and Therapeutic Value of Folk-Medicine.” 2 parts. Folk-Lore 59 (1948):118–156.

Parkinson, John. Theatrum Botanicum. London:Thomas Cote, 1640.


Pratt, Anne. The Flowering Plants and Ferns ofGreat Britain. London: Society for Promot-ing Christian Knowledge, 1855.

Rupp, William J. “Bird Names and Bird Lore ofthe Pennsylvania Germans.” Pennsylvania

German Society Proceedings and Addresses 52(1946).

Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. “Notes on the Origin andUses of Plants of the Lake St. John Mon-tagnais.” Journal of American Folklore 45(1932): 265–267.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.MS4322.


ConsumptionSee Tuberculosis.

ContraceptionThis is probably the most sensitive area

for enquiry within folk medicine, and therelative paucity of records probably reflectsthis fact rather than the absence of sug-gested methods within folklore. In Britishfolk medicine, one of the simplest contra-ceptive agents, known to have been widelyused up to the present day, is vinegar, usedas a spermicidal douche (Unpublished AgeConcern Essay 1991). Breast feeding waswidely believed to at least delay the nextpregnancy, though it must have been real-ized that it offered no real guarantee. Ex-plicit herbal records of contraceptives arerare, and one has to read between the linesto recognize what is probably a contracep-tive remedy. In Cambridgeshire in thetwentieth century a strong infusion of whitehorehound (Marrubium vulgare) and rue(Ruta graveolens) was taken “to delay child-birth.” In Yorkshire, at the same time, ruewas given forcibly to women who had “beenon the razzle” to “reduce the activity of theova” (EFS 100Db). It seems highly likelythat in these instances the rue was acting asan abortifacient, and indeed until very re-cently abortion was probably the only ef-fective means of limiting family size for a

92 ; Contraception

large number of country women in Britain.Remedies such as raspberry tea and ryemouldy with ergot were used for procuringabortion, and in effect were also used ascontraceptives. The same was probably trueof juniper (Juniperus spp.) and pennyroyal(Mentha pulegium). Taken at the time whena period is due, the woman would probablynever know whether or not she was preg-nant.

Riddle (Riddle 1992: 155) suggests thatwomen in the past had some control overtheir own fertility by dietary methods, andinstances pot herbs such as rue and pen-nyroyal, which possibly doubled as foodand contraception. Such assertions are, ofcourse, hard to prove, but the idea is at leastplausible and may well have applied all overthe world. This whole area must have beenkept necessarily even more secret than mostplant remedies, since at least in post-Christian times the penalty for abortion washeavy.

For European colonial women in NorthAmerica the situation was similar; there wasno simple and effective means of limitingfamily size, and indeed in many colonial cir-cles a large family was seen as a blessing,particularly when infant mortality was high.Breast feeding, whether it was the intentionor not, may have helped space childrenwithin a family (Ulrich 1991: 139), a beliefthat has survived to recent times (Parler1962, 3: 65). Such simple means as the vin-egar douche used in Britain may well havebeen used by them as well. Certainly inpresent-day America women are still awareof this method, and in a survey done by amagazine in 1980 the belief was recordedthat a white vinegar douche would lead toconception of a girl (Sullivan 1992: 179).Eating starch has been practiced as a con-traceptive measure, and carrying a buckeyehas been suggested too (Parler 1962, 3; 14,16, 17). In the African tradition, eatingheart ventricles has been claimed to preventconception (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 5). Inthe same tradition, jimson weed has been

used for contraception and abortion (Peavy1966: 446).

To what extent colonial women supple-mented their knowledge of contraceptivemeans from Native American knowledge isdifficult to know for certain. The NativeAmerican knowledge in this field is enor-mous, and the wealth of records suggest fewor no inhibitions associated with the sub-ject. Some plants familiar to British folkmedicine in this context were also used byNative Americans, such as tansy (Tanace-tum parthenium), used for example by theMicmac (Chandler, Freeman and Hooper1979: 62) and juniper species, used widelyby, for example, the Zuni (Camazine andBye 1980: 373). Many other non-Britishnative American plants were also used, suchas Viburnum sp., used by the Iroquois (Her-rick 1977: 445); Senecio aureus, used by theCherokee (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:52); Cornus sericea by the Okanagan-Colville (Turner, Bouchard and Kennedy1980: 96); Prunus emarginata by theLummi (Gunther 1973: 37); and Maian-themum stellatum by the Shoshoni (Train,Henrichs and Archer 1941: 139). The Nav-ajo used Rhus trilobata to induce impotenceas a means of contraception (Vestal 1952:35), while Gaultheria shallon was recom-mended among the Nitinaht to be taken byboth newlyweds to ensure a male as theirfirstborn (Turner, Thomas, Carlson andOgilvie 1983: 102). The Native Americansmade contraceptive diaphragms from birchbark (Fischer 1989: 92).

See also Abortion, Birch, Thornapple.

ReferencesAge Concern Essay, 1991. Average Age of Inform-

ants 80 years. Unpublished: in Suffolk Rec-ord Office.


Camazine, Scott, and Robert A. Bye. “A Study ofthe Medical Ethnobotany of the Zuni In-

Corn : 93

dians of New Mexico.” Journal of Ethno-pharmacology 2 (1980): 365–388.


EFS. English Folklore Survey. Unpublished notesat University College London.




Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany.PhD thesis. State University of New York,Albany, 1977.


Peavy, Charles D. “Faulkner’s Use of Folklore inThe Sound and the Fury.” Journal of Amer-ican Folklore 79 (1966): 437–447.

Riddle, John M. Contraception and Abortion fromthe Ancient World to the Renaissance. Cam-bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,1992.

Sullivan, C. W. “Childbirth Education and Tra-ditional Beliefs.” In Herbal and MagicalMedicine, ed. Kirkland et al. Durham, NC:Duke University Press, 1992.

Train, Percy, James R. Henrichs, and W. AndrewArcher. Medicinal Uses of Plants by IndianTribes of Nevada. Washington, D.C.: U.S.Department of Agriculture, 1941.

Turner, Nancy J., R. Bouchard, and Dorothy I.D. Kennedy. Ethnobotany of the Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia. Victo-ria: British Columbia Provincial Museum,1980.

Turner, Nancy J., John Thomas, Barry F. Carl-son, and Robert T. Ogilvie. Ethnobotany ofthe Nitinaht Indians of Vancouver Island.Victoria: British Columbia Provincial Mu-seum, 1983.

Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Good Wives: Image andReality in the Lives of Women in NorthernNew England 1650–1750. New York: Vin-tage, 1991.

Vestal, Paul A. “The Ethnobotany of the RamahNavaho.” Papers of the Peabody Museum ofAmerican Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4)(1952): 1–94.

Corn (Zea mays)Maize was domesticated by Native

Americans in about 5000 B.C. and sincethen has occupied a central role in their nu-trition, religion, and ritual (Melendez, inWilson and Gillespie [eds.], 1999: 48). Dif-ferent Native American tribes have devel-oped different medicinal uses for the plant.Fresh corn silk quickly grows molds, andthese were used medicinally for aiding labor(Kavasch and Baar 1999: 11). Corn mealwas used as the basis for poultices, as wellas being infused and drunk for stomachproblems. Corn pollen was important inNavajo ritual (Lyon 1999: 54) but was alsoeaten by the Keres for “almost any kind ofmedicine” (Swank 1932: 77). A gruel madefrom cornmeal is used by the Mayo fortreating diarrhea (Kay 1996: 269). OtherNative American uses for corn include thetreatment of gravel among the Cherokee(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 30), of poi-son ivy rash among the Mohegan (Tanta-quidgeon 1972: 77), and sore throat amongthe Navajo (Elmore 1944: 27).

The European settlers in North Americamust have been extremely grateful for thisplant, which grew where their own cropsfailed. Apart from its food value, corn mealquickly became a familiar medicinal itemused as the basis of poultices. A collection ofsettlers’ remedies from Shelburne Countyincludes a poultice, applied between theshoulder blades for a cough. It is composedof vinegar, mustard, and “Indian Meal”(Robertson 1960: 12). Medicinal uses forcorn multiplied; the oil was used for treat-ing dandruff (UCLA Folklore Archives9_5357). Corn meal formed a poultice for aheadache (Thomas and Thomas 1920: 105)

94 ; Corn

Maize was by Americans in

role in their nutrition, religion and rituals. Corn mealquickly became a familiar medicinal item used as the

and, mixed with onion, for pneumonia(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 250). Corn starchwas used for chapped skin and for bee stings(UCLA Folklore Archive 7_6192, 7_5281).The “silk” of the corn (its threadlike stig-mas) was dried and made into a tea that wasused in particular for complaints of the uri-nary tract, such as kidney stones (Campa1950: 341) and bedwetting (Clark 1970:9). In a curious extension of its medicinaluse for urinary complaints, a child was laidon a bed of corn shucks to cure bedwetting(UCLA Folklore Archives 22_5281).

Cornmeal gruel combined with cinna-mon is used by Mexican Americans for di-

arrhea in infants (Kay 1996: 269). Cornstarch was rubbed onto the blisters of poi-son ivy (UCLA Folklore Archives 8_5453),used to treat nappy rash (Cannon 1984: 37)and, mixed with peach leaves, formed apoultice for boils (UCLA Folklore Archives3_5299). “Parched” corn was ground andboiled in sweetened milk and used to treatdiarrhea and dysentery in children. It wasalso dusted onto the rash of prickly heat(Meyer 1985: 90, 227). Tea made fromcorn shucks was used to bring out the rashof measles (Puckett 1926: 387). Warm cornwhiskey was drunk for colds (Bryant 1949:139). Corn seems to have been a favoriteremedy for the treatment of warts andcorns. In many of these, the affected skinwas rubbed with corn kernels, which werethen fed to chickens (Anderson 1970: 82)or otherwise disposed of; such remedies aregood examples of transference.

Nosebleeds could be prevented by wear-ing a necklace of red corn kernels as an am-ulet (Miller 1933: 474).

See also Amulet, Bed-wetting, Boils,Chapped skin, Childbirth, Colds,Coughs, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Gravel andstone, Headache, Nosebleed, Poison ivy,Poultice, Sore throat, Transference,Warts.




Bryant, Margaret M. “Folklore from EdgefieldCounty, South Carolina: Beliefs, Supersti-tions, Dreams.” Southern Folklore Quarterly13 (1949): 136–148.

Campa, Arthur L. “Some Herbs and Plants ofEarly California.” Western Folklore 9(1950): 338–347.


domesticated

basis of poultices. (North Wind Picture Archive)

Nativeabout 5000 B.C. and since then has occupied a central

Corns : 95


Elmore, Francis H. Ethnobotany of the Navajo.Santa Fe, New Mexico: School of AmericanResearch, 1944.


Kavasch, E. Barrie, and Karen Baar. American In-dian Healing Arts: Herbs, Rituals and Rem-edies for Every Season of Life. New York:Bantam Books, 1999.


Lyon, William S. Encyclopedia of Native AmericanHealing. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 1999.

Melendez, Theresa. “Corn.” In Rooted in America,edited by David Scofield Wilson and AngusKress Gillespie. Knoxville: University ofTennessee Press, 1999.


Miller, Joseph L. “The Healing Gods or MedicalSuperstition.” West Virginia Medical Journal29 (1933): 465–478.

Puckett, Newbell Niles. Folk Beliefs of the SouthernNegro. Chapel Hill, NC: Greenwood Press1926.


Swank, George R. The Ethnobotany of the Acomaand Laguna Indians. M.A. thesis, Albuquer-que, University of New Mexico, 1932.

Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. “Folk Medicine of theDelaware and Related Algonkian Indians.”Pennsylvania Historical Commission Anthro-pological Papers, no. 3 (1972).

Thomas, Daniel Lindsay, and Lucy Blayney Tho-mas. Kentucky Superstitions. Princeton, N.J.:Princeton University Press, 1920.

CornsThere are a large number of folk treat-

ments for corns. Corns were often removedby cutting; in folk belief, this should bedone on the first Friday after a full moon

(Salisbury 1894: 71). Simple measures in-clude soaking in a solution of soda, or ap-plying a mixture of potash and gum arabic(Prince 1991: 20). A pearl button dissolvedin lemon juice was a cure recommended inLincolnshire (Notes and Queries 1849:550). A variety of plant remedies have beenrecorded. The juice of red campion (Silenedioica) has been used in Somerset (Tongue1965: 38). Dried and crumbled elder leaveshave been soaked in water and used as acorn treatment (Prince 1991: 26). Ivy leaveshave been widely used for corn treatment;in the simplest version of the remedy, theleaf was bound to the corn (Taylor MSS).Alternatively, it could be crushed in vinegarand applied, a remedy used in Essex (Hat-field 1994: 53) and Somerset (Tongue1965: 38). The ivy was thought to beparticularly effective if taken from an ashtree (Taylor MSS). Ground-ivy (Glechomahederacea) was mixed with lard to form anointment for corns in East Anglia (TaylorMSS). A poultice of houseleek has beenused in Cornwall (Davey 1909: 193). Theroots of celandine (Ranunculus ficaria), bet-ter known for their treatment of piles, havebeen used on the Isle of Colonsay to treatcorns as well (McNeill 1910: 96). Penny-wort (Umbilicus rupestris) has been used inIreland to treat corns (Vickery 1995: 280).In Derbyshire hot boiled potato has beenapplied to corns (Black 1883: 193).

In North American folk medicine, awide variety of corn remedies were used.Corns should traditionally be cut in thewane of the moon (Aurand 1941: 24). Sim-ply walking barefoot in the morning dewwas recommended in West Virginia (Mu-sick 1964: 38). Another simple treatmentwas to throw beans into the fire and runaway before they popped (Puckett 1981:352). A mustard plaster and soaking in saltwater were measures recommended in Kan-sas (UCLA Folklore Archives 8_5347).Various caustic solutions were used tosoften the corn; pearl buttons dissolved in

96 ; Corns

lemon juice have been used in Kentucky(Norris 1958: 103), as in Britain. Bindingon a piece of lemon was an alternative(UCLA Folklore Archives 7_5343). Woodashes in hot water were used in Nebraska(Welsch 1966: 362). Other applications in-clude vinegar and breadcrumbs (Puckett1981: 352), cow’s urine (Cannon 1984:102), or the “lye” from human urine (thedeposit left on a chamber pot) (Riddell1934: 41). Walking in fresh animal drop-pings was successfully tried in Illinois(Hyatt 1965: 225).

Covering corns with chewing gum wastried in California (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 4_6278).

Several remedies employ fat of varioustypes. Rattlesnake oil was used in Texas(Hendricks 1966: 39), and fatty salt porkin Colorado (Kimmerle and Gelber 1976:16). Castor oil was used in Utah (UCLAFolklore Archives 1_6797) and ear wax inArkansas (Parler 1962: 563).

A variety of plants or plant products havebeen employed to treat corns. Soaking thefeet in sauerkraut was recommended inUtah (Cannon 1984: 102). Rubbing thecorns with cedar wax (Norris 1958: 103) orbathing them with turpentine (Browne1958: 53) or with vanilla (UCLA FolkloreArchives 2_6278) were alternatives. As inBritain, houseleek had a reputation for cur-ing corns (Baker 1969: 191). In Pennsyl-vania, cabbage stumps and vinegar wereapplied to corns (Dieffenbach 1952: 2).

Corns have been subjected to some of thesame cures used for warts, including someof the quasi-magical ones. In Utah, the ad-vice was to steal a piece of beef and bury it;as the meat rots, the corn will disappear(UCLA Folklore Archives 2_6798). Bury-ing corn kernels in the ground is anotherremedy using a time factor: as the cornsprouts, the corns will disappear (UCLAFolklore Archives 11_6278). Various rem-edies involve transference. In North Caro-lina, corns have been rubbed with a snail

(Clark 1970: 17). In California, rubbingthem with a wooden peg, which is thendriven into a tree, has been suggested(UCLA Folklore Archives 9_6278). Rub-bing a piece of cotton onto a corn and thenburying it alongside a corpse is another sug-gestion (Hoffman 1889: 31). A candlerubbed on a corpse and then on a corn wasanother cure from Pennsylvania (Fogel1915: 274). Paring corns with the razor ofa dead man is another version of this rem-edy (Hyatt 1965: 226).

See also Ash, Dew, Elder, Houseleek, Ivy,Snail, Soda, Transference, Warts.

ReferencesAurand, A. Monroe, Jr. Popular Home Remedies

and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Ger-mans. Harrisburg, PA: The Aurand Press,1941.

Baker, Ronald L. “Folk Medicine in the Writingsof Rowland E. Robinson.” Vermont History37 (1969): 184–193.





Davey, F. Hamilton. Flora of Cornwall. Penryn:F. Clegwidden, 1909.

Dieffenbach, Victor C. “Cabbage in the Folk-Culture of My Pennsylvania Dutch Elders.”Pennsylvania Dutchman 3(22) (April 15,1952): 1–2.


Hatfield, Gabrielle. Country Remedies: Traditional

Coughs : 97

East Anglian Plant Remedies in the TwentiethCentury. Woodbridge: Boydell, 1994.


Hoffman, W. J. “Folk-Lore of the PennsylvaniaGermans.” Journal of American Folklore 2(1889): 23–35.


Kimmerle, Marjorie, and Mark Gelber. PopularBeliefs and Superstitions from Colorado,unpublished manuscript, University of Col-orado, Boulder, 1976.


Musick, Ruth Ann (ed.) “Superstitions.” West Vir-ginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.

Norris, Ruby R. “Folk Medicine of CumberlandCounty.” Kentucky Folklore Record 4(1958): 101–110.

Notes and Queries 41, p. 550. London, 1849.Parler, Mary Celestia, and University Student

Contributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas. 15vols. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas,1962

Prince, Dennis. Grandmother’s Cures: An A–Z ofHerbal Remedies. London: Fontana, 1991.


Riddell, William Renwick. “Some Old CanadianFolk Medicine.” The Canada Lancet andPractitioner 83 (August 1934): 41–44.

Salisbury, Jesse. A Glossary of Words and PhrasesUsed in South East Worcestershire. London:English Dialect Society, Series C. OriginalGlossaries, no. 72, 1894.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylor,in the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich. MS4322.




CoughsThough the causes of coughs, in medical

terms, are diverse, in folk medicine this hasbeen treated as a single ailment and over thecenturies has attracted a great variety of folkremedies. Even today many people resort tohomely remedies, when the cause of thecough is often viral and antibiotics are ir-relevant. In British folk medicine, a largenumber of cough treatments have beenused, ranging from very simple measures,such as chewing a leaf, to more complexpreparations involving different mixtures ofplant and animal and mineral ingredients.In Norfolk, it was maintained that wearinga necklace of blue beads would cure bron-chitis (Mundford Primary School project1980, unpub.). Among native Britishplants, black-currant (Ribes nigrum) hasbeen widely used in cough remedies. It isarguably native in Britain, but since it hasbeen grown as a fruit-crop, there has beena ready supply from plants in cultivation aswell. An infusion of the berries, or jammade from them, has been used to soothecoughs. Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus) wereused similarly, in both England and Scot-land. Honey has been a common ingredientin numerous cough mixtures, valued for itssoothing nature (Beith 1995: 213; Allenand Hatfield, in press). Recent studies havevindicated its use in this way, showing it tobe antibiotic and antiviral as well as simplysoothing (Root-Bernstein 1997).

There is, of course, an overlap betweencough and cold remedies. Lemon juice andhoney, for example, have provided a rem-edy for both; in Scotland, whisky has beenadded. Elderberries have formed a coughmedicine throughout much of Britain.

98 ; Coughs

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farafara) has been usedin cough preparations at least since the timeof Pliny, and probably for far longer thanthat. Other native British plants used totreat coughs include horehound, both thewhite horehound, Marrubium vulgare andblack horehound (Ballota nigra), as well asthyme (Thymus serpyllum), wild cherry(Prunus avium), mullein, and cowslip. Ele-campane (Inula helenium), though not a na-tive plant in Britain, has been cultivated asan herb and vegetable since Roman timesand now exists in scattered parts of the Brit-ish isles semiwild (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). As well as being used in official med-icine, it has been used in folk remedies, suchas the cough treatment recorded from Suf-folk in the 1920s, where the grated root wasmixed with sugar, raisins, and the dried rootof marshmallow (Malva officinalis) (TaylorMSS).

Vegetables have been widely used incough preparations. Sliced onion, alone ormixed with grated carrot, has been sprin-kled with brown sugar and left to standovernight. The resulting syrup was a cheapcough medicine (Prince 1991: 108). Tur-nip was used similarly (Hatfield 1994: 30).

Animal ingredients used in cough rem-edies include the solan goose (gannet) usedon the island of Kilda. Martin Martin in histravels in the late seventeenth century wastold by the inhabitants of St. Kilda of a dis-ease they termed “boat cough,” since it al-ways appeared after outsiders visited theisland. He was sceptical until he witnessedfor himself an outbreak after one such visit.The local remedy was to melt the fat of a“solan goose” and eat it with oatmeal (Beith1995: 79–80). This is an unusual instanceof early recognition of the infectious agentin coughs, and interesting also in that itshows lack of resistance of an isolated pop-ulation to what was probably an everydayailment on the mainland.

Cough cures made from snails were usedin rural Britain as recently as the early twen-

tieth century. Either the snails were crushedand the liquid drunk, or the snails were im-paled above a bowl, which caught theirjuice, and this juice was used. Its primaryuse was in consumption, but it was alsoused for ordinary coughs and bronchitis(Allen 1995: 149).

In his collection of North American folkremedies for coughs, Meyer includes manyvariants on the lemon and honey mixturementioned for Britain. The honey in somecases is replaced with molasses; glycerine,olive oil, or egg may be added. There is aninteresting cough mixture prepared by dis-solving an egg, including the shell, in vin-egar and adding sugar (Meyer 1985: 77).Exactly the same remedy was used in Brit-ain for treating whooping cough (Prince1991:115). The onion remedy was evi-dently as popular in North America as inBritain, and again there are several varia-tions. Beetroot and turnip were used simi-larly to produce a cough syrup. Syrup ofblackberries was used, as in Britain. Theblackberry is not native to North Americabut is naturalized there; presumably thisremedy arrived with European settlers.

A remedy used by early settlers in Shel-burne County was to mix marshmallowroot with poppy heads and add conserve ofroses (Robertson 1960: 12). Prominentamong plants used in cough mixtures ispine, all the parts of which have been usedmedicinally. The simplest pine-based coughmixture consisted of the inner bark, steepedin water, simmered with honey to form asyrup. Other native herbs used to treatcoughs include many of those already men-tioned for Britain: horehound, mullein,coltsfoot (or coughwort, as it is oftencalled), wild cherry (Prunus spp.), and ele-campane (Inula helenium). In addition,many plants native to North America butnot to Britain were used in cough treat-ment. They include skunk cabbage (Sym-plocarpus foetidus), wild Indian turnip(Arisaema triphyllum), and balm of Gilead,

Coughs : 99

slippery elm and flaxseed (Linum usitatissi-mum) (Meyer 1985: 76–84). Feverfew(Tanacetum parthenium), today betterknown for its treatment of migraine, wasused on both sides of the Atlantic to treatcoughs (Hatfield 1994: appendix; Meyer1985: 83), as was ground ivy (Glechomahederacea) (Taylor MSS: Meyer 1985: 83).Inhaling the fumes from smoking freshground coffee mixed with pine sawdustsounds like an original cough treatment(Meyer 1985: 84). Ironically, tobaccosmoke was also tried as a cough remedy(McCullen 1962: 34).

Some at least of these remedies that havefound their way into general North Amer-ican folk medicine are perhaps attributableto Native American knowledge. Variousspecies of pine were extensively used, suchas Pinus strobus by the Abnaki (Rousseau1947: 163), the Iroquois (Herrick 1977:264), the Micmac (Chandler, Freeman, andHooper 1979: 59), and the Shinnecock(Carr and Westey 1945: 121). The AlaskaEskimos used juice of Pinus contorta to treatcoughs (Smith 1973: 331). The Kwakiutlused a decoction of the buds and pitch ofthis species (Turner and Bell 1973: 269),the Shushwap used an infusion of the innerbark (Palmer 1975: 51), and the Sikanichewed the pitch and swallowed the salivafor a cough (Smith 1929: 49, 50), while theThompson chewed the gum for the samepurpose (Perry 1952: 40). Various otherspecies of Pinus were similarly used, andother coniferous trees were sources of coughmedicines as well, notably Picea (used bythirteen different tribes) and Juniperus(used by eighteen tribes) (Moerman 1998:782–783).

Another plant very widely used forcoughs among Native Americans is Prunus.The Cherokee used an infusion of the barkof Prunus cerasus for coughs (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 28); Prunus pennsylvanicawas used by the Algonquin (Black 1980:184) and the Cherokee (Hamel and Chil-

toskey 1975: 28), Prunus serotina by theCherokee (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:28) and the Delaware (Tantaquidgeon1972: 27) and the Iroquois (Herrick 1977:360). Other very widely used plant generainclude Acorus (used by thirteen tribes) andArtemisia (used by fifteen tribes) (Moerman1998: 782). Slippery elm (Ulmus rubra) isused for cough treatment by the Cherokee(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 33) and theMohegan (Tantaquidgeon 1972: 132). El-ecampane (Inula helenium) is used by theCherokee (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:33) and the Iroquois (Herrick 1977: 466).Polypodium, used in Ireland for treatingcoughs (Hart 1873: 339), has also beenused in North America—for example, therhizomes of P. glycirrhiza are eaten by theHesquiat for coughs (Turner and Efrat1982: 30). The buds of balsam poplar wereused by the Southern Carrier (Smith, H. I.1929: 54) and the Upper Tanana (Kari1985: 4).

See also Asthma, Balm of Gilead, Colds,Cowslip, Elder, Elm, Honey, Migraine,Mullein, Pine, Snail, Tuberculosis,Whooping cough.



Plants in Folk Tradition. Portland, OR:Timber Press (in press).



Carr, Lloyd G., and Carlos Westey. “SurvivingFolktales and Herbal Lore among the Shin-necock Indians.” Journal of American Folk-lore 58 (1945): 113–123.

Chandler, R. Frank, Lois Freeman, and Shirley N.Hooper. “Herbal Remedies of the Maritime

100 ; Cowslip

Indians.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 1(1979): 49–69.


Hart, H. C. “Euphorbia hyberna, Equisetumtrachyodon, etc. in County Galway.” H. C.Journal of Botany 11 (1873): 338–339.



Kari, Priscilla Russe. Upper Tanana Ethnobotany.Anchorage: Alaska Historical Commission,1985.

McCullen, J. T. “The Tobacco Controversy,1571–1961.” North Carolina Folklore 10(1)(1962): 30–35.



Mundford Primary School, Norfolk. School proj-ect, 1980, unpublished.

Palmer, Gary. Shuswap Indian Ethnobotany.Syesis 8 (1975): 29–51.

Perry, F. “Ethno-Botany of the Indians in the In-terior of British Columbia.” Museum andArt Notes 2(2) (1952): 36–43.



Root-Bernstein, Robert, and Michele Root-Bernstein. Honey, Mud and Maggots andOther Medical Marvels: The Science behindFolk Remedies and Old Wives’ Tales. Lon-don: Pan, 1997.


Smith, G. Warren. “Arctic Pharmacognosia.” Arc-tic 26 (1973): 324–333.

Smith, Harlan I. “Materia Medica of the BellaCoola and Neighbouring Tribes of BritishColumbia.” National Museum of CanadaBulletin 56 (1929): 47–68.

Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. A Study of the DelawareIndian Medicine Practice and Folk Beliefs.Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical Com-mission, 1942.


Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylor,in Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.

Turner, Nancy Chapman, and Marcus A. M. Bell.“The Ethnobotany of the Southern Kwak-iutl Indians of British Columbia.” EconomicBotany 27 (1973): 257–310.

Turner, Nancy J., and Barbara S. Efrat. Ethnobo-tany of the Hesquiat Indians of Vancouver Is-land. Victoria: British Columbia ProvincialMuseum, 1982.

Cowslip (Primula veris)In British folk medicine this plant has

been valued as a cosmetic (Lafont 1984:29), as a mild sedative for treating coughs(Hatfield 1994: 30), and for promotingsleep. It has also been used to treat jaundice.In Ireland especially it has been used fortreating insomnia, and there it has also beenused to treat dropsy and deafness, as well aspalsy (it is sometimes known as palsywort)(Allen and Hatfield, in press). In Wales, theplant has been used to treat “the decline”(?tuberculosis) and also to strengthen thesenses (Trevelyan 1909: 91, 97).

The plant is an introduction to NorthAmerica and has been used to a relativelyslight extent in folk medicine there. Anointment has been used to treat eczema,and it has been recommended as a bedtimedrink for insomnia (Meyer 1985: 106,145). There has been little or no usage ofthe plant by Native Americans.

See also Coughs, Deafness, Dropsy,Jaundice, Palsy, Sleeplessness.

Cramp : 101

ReferencesAllen, David and Gabrielle Hatfield. Medicinal





Trevelyan, Marie. Folk-lore and Folk-stories ofWales. London: Elliot Stock, 1909.

CrampThere is a small but strange collection of

British folk remedies for cramp. Cork fea-tures in several of them; keeping a piece ofcork in the pocket, or under the pillow, orunder the bed is said to prevent cramp.Even standing on a cork bath mat is said tohelp (Porter 1969: 78). Sometimes the corkwas sewn between silk ribbons and madeinto garters, worn to avoid cramp (Black1883: 199). In Norfolk, tying a flint with alarge hole in it under the bed was said tocure cramp, as was a potato under the bed(Mundford Primary School project, 1980,unpub.) or a bowl of water (Taylor 1929:119). Carrying the fore feet of a mole in thepocket is recorded as an East Anglian pre-ventative. In Suffolk it was common prac-tice to place shoes “one coming and onegoing” at the foot of the bed (Rider Hag-gard [ed.] 1974: 164). Cramp bones wereanother type of amulet. The ankle bone ofthe hare is reputedly good against cramp. InNorthamptonshire, the patella of a sheepwas worn, as near to the skin as possible, tocure cramp; at night, it was placed underthe pillow (Black 1883: 154, 156, 182).Brass, especially the brass from coffin han-dles, again kept under the bed, is recom-mended (Hatfield MS). Sometimes “cramprings” were made from these handles (Sou-

ter 1995: 35); in Devonshire, England,such rings were also made from nails orscrews that had been used to fasten a coffin(Black 1883: 175). In Somerset, rubbingthe feet with Jack by the hedge (Alliaria pe-tiolata) or wearing yarrow leaves in theshoes were both thought to help (Tongue1965: 38). Among other plants used to treatcramp in British folk medicine, chamomileis one of the commonest. Scurvy grass(Cochlearia officinalis) was made into apoultice and used to treat cramp in theHighlands of Scotland (Beith 1995: 239).

Some of these folk practices are alsofound in North America. In New Jersey, itwas believed that walking over a gravecaused cramp (Black 1883: 27). Perhapsthis belief was at one time widespread andled to the use of coffin handles as preven-tatives.

The idea of positioning shoes in a par-ticular way under the bed (with toes point-ing outward, or upside down) seems to havebeen particularly common in North Amer-ican folk medicine (see, e.g., Brown 1952–1964, 6: 165). Twentieth-century remediesinclude putting the feet in hot ashes (Black1935: 36). As in Britain, putting a bowl ofwater under the bed at night was also sug-gested (Thomas and Thomas 1920: 101).Alternatively, a buckeye (chestnut) could becarried in the pocket to ward off cramp(Browne 1958: 55), or a thread could betied around the leg (Brown 1952–1964, 6:164). Eelskin (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 163)or snakeskin worn (Bergen 1899: 76) wasthought to protect against cramp. A fish-bone was another amulet used for cramp(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 163–164), andwearing a brass ring was recommended, asin Britain (Brown 1952–196, 6: 165).

Rubs for treating cramp have included adecoction of cranberry bush bark (Meyer1985: 182) (probably a species of Viburnum[Willard 1992: 194]), as well as various oils

102 ; Cricket

In European folk medicine, the cricket has been usedto nibble off warts. In North American folk medi-cine, there is a similar tradition. Crickets have alsobeen used to treat hives. (North Wind Picture Ar-chive)

that doubled as rheumatism treatments,such as oil of wintergreen, camphorated oil.

See also Amulet, Chamomile, Rheumatism,Yarrow.




Black, Pauline Monette. Nebraska Folk Cures.Studies in Language, Literature, and Criti-cism 15, Lincoln: University of Nebraska,1935.





Mundford Primary School, Norfolk. School proj-ect, 1980 (unpublished).

Porter, Enid. Cambridgeshire Customs and Folk-lore. London: Routledge, 1969.



Taylor, Mark R. “Norfolk Folklore.” Folk-Lore 40(1929): 113–133.

Thomas, Daniel Lindsay, and Lucy Blayney Tho-mas. Kentucky Superstitions. Princeton, N.J.:Princeton University Press, 1920.


Willard, Terry. Edible and Medicinal Plants of theRocky Mountains and Neighbouring Territo-

ries. Calgary: Wild Rose College of NaturalHealing, 1992.

CricketIn European folk medicine, the cricket

has been used to nibble off warts. In NorthAmerican folk medicine there is a similartradition. Crickets have been used to eithereat the center out of a wart (Wilson 1965:39) or to suck the blood from a prickedwart (Parler 1962, 3: 1038). Grasshoppershave been used similarly (UCLA FolkloreArchives 14_5532), and “grasshopper’s mo-lasses” has also been recommended (Brown1952–1964, 6: 317). In a variation of thisremedy, the left hind leg of a frog and theright hind leg of a cricket were placed underthe pillow of the person suffering fromwarts (Anderson 1970: 81). Crickets havealso been used to treat hives.

See also Hives, Warts.



Folklore. 7 vols. Durham, North Carolina,1952–1964.


Croup : 103

Wilson, Gordon. “Studying Folklore in a SmallRegion. VI: Folk Remedies.” TennesseeFolklore Society Bulletin 31 (1965): 33–41.

CroupA common method of treatment, still in

use today, is to boil water in the roomwhere the child is, so that the patient in-hales steamy air. This is done either by sim-mering a kettle in the bedroom orencouraging the child to inhale steam froma bowl of water held under the chin, witha towel over the head (Hatfield MS, schoolssurvey Norfolk, 1980). A hot flannelaround the neck was another version (Ter-rington St. Clement, Norfolk, 1980,schools survey). A remedy from Derbyshire,used as recently as 1959, was to fry currantsand spread them on fat bacon, which is thenapplied as a poultice (EFS 305). In Norfolk,balls of sugar and butter were given forcroup (Schools survey, Alderman Peel HighSchool, 1980). Another treatment was toplace a pot of tar under the bed (Porter1974: 50). Smelling tar was another sug-gestion (Schools survey, Toftwood,Norfolk, 1980). In Suffolk houseleek wasused in the treatment of croup (Taylor1929: 119).

In North American folk medicine onionsmixed with sugar or honey are used forcroup, or vinegar and molasses. Vinegarboiled in the bedroom is recommended: analternative was to hang a vinegar-soakedsheet in the room (Brown 1952–1964, 6:166–167). A cold or a warm-water com-press was used (Meyer 1985: 84–85).Inhaling night air was recommended (Can-non 1984: 103). To dip one baby sock inholy water and have the sufferer wear it wasanother croup treatment (Hyatt 1965:279). Various fats were used to rub into thethroat and chest. Lard, hog’s foot oil, goosegrease, and olive oil have all been used, bothrubbed into the chest and sometimes giveninternally too. Sometimes an oil was given

as an emetic (Meyer 1985: 85–86). Asoothing mixture was made from molassesand soda (Puckett 1981: 356). A thick“stew” made from apple cider vinegar,sugar, water, and butter was sometimesgiven (Pope 1965: 444) (a remedy reminis-cent of the East Anglian butter balls, above).

Sulphur, or alum, was administered(Meyer 1985: 85–86), or a mixture of al-cohol and water. Urine was given (Parler1962, 3: 582), or ground deer antler(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 166). A tea madefrom the white portion of chicken drop-pings (Puckett 1981: 356) or a poultice ofcow manure on the chest (Smith, Stewart,and Kyger 1962: 133) were other recom-mendations. Dried bumblebees in molasses(Levine 1941: 487) or tea made from a hor-net’s nest (Letcher 1910–1911: 171) werealternatives, or the hair from a donkey’sflank chopped and given with treacle(UCLA Folklore Archives 5_6271). Plug-ging some hair from the sufferer into a treewas a remedy involving transference (Puck-ett 1926: 370).

Plant remedies administered for croupinclude a cabbage leaf, tied with a blackthread around the neck (Fife 1957: 147).Beet juice was given in small quantities, orpowdered bloodroot in molasses, or a mix-ture of chamomile and false saffron flowers(Carthamus tinctorius) fried in butter(Meyer 1985: 85–86). A tea made frommullein or horehound was sometimes given(Rogers 1941: 18). Infusions of pine-tops(Pinus sp.) (Browne 1958: 18), red cloverroots (Trifolium pratense) (Lick and Brendle1922: 113), tobacco (Nicotiana sp.) (Gard-ner 1937: 263), or leaves of black walnut(Juglans nigra) (Parler 1962: 582) have allbeen used.

Folk medicine provided suggestions foravoiding croup. A newborn child should beheld so that its feet make tracks in newsnow; this would ensure it would never suf-fer from cramp (Parler 1962, 3: 582).Amulets worn to prevent croup include a

104 ; Cuts

penny with a hole in it worn around theneck, and a black thread tied around theneck (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 166–167).Amber beads were also worn to protectagainst croup (Killion and Waller 1972:108), or beads made from the rattan vine(Berchemia scandens) (Parler 1962: 586). Itwas believed that a person born after thedeath of his or her father had the ability tocure croup by blowing into the sufferer’smouth (Randolph 1947: 136).

Bloodroot was used also in the NativeAmerican tradition for treating croup (Ha-mel and Chiltoskey 1975: 26).

See also Amber, Bloodroot, Chamomile,Horehound, Houseleek, Mullein, Onion,Poultice, Transference.






Fife, Austin W. “Pioneer Mormon Remedies.”Western Folklore 16 (1957): 153–162.

Gardner, Emelyn Elizabeth. Folklore from theSchoharie Hills, New York. Ann Arbor: Uni-versity of Michigan Press, 1937.



Killion, Ronald G., and Charles T. Waller. ATreasury of Georgia Folklore. Atlanta: Cher-okee, 1972.

Letcher, James H. “The Treatment of Some Dis-eases by the ‘Old Time’ Negro.” The Rail-

way Surgical Journal 17 (1910–1911): 17–175.





Pope, Genevieve. “Superstitions and Beliefs ofFleming County.” Kentucky Folklore Record11 (1965): 41–51.





Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practices in Ten-nessee. Murfreesboro, TN: 1941.

Schools survey. Manuscript notes from survey ofNorfolk schools, 1980, unpublished.

Smith, Elmer Lewis, John G. Stewart, and M.Ellsworth Kyger. “The Pennsylvania Ger-mans of the Shenandoah Valley.”Publications of the Pennsylvania GermanFolklore Society 25 (1962): 1–278.


CutsAs an obvious domestic emergency, cuts

have attracted a number of folk remedies.Cold water and bandaging was one basictreatment. In Norfolk one lady recalls how

Cuts : 105

when she cut herself, she had to “swish itaround in a bucket of cold water, until itwas all red” (V.W., Halvergate, Norfolk,1988 pers. com.). Salt water was sometimespreferred (Toftwood, Norfolk, 1980:schools survey, unpub.). The innermembrane of an egg was used as a naturalplaster (B.G., Cambridgeshire, pers. com.,June 2002). Cobwebs were widely used, asthey were for more serious wounds. Shagtobacco was used to stop the bleeding (Al-derman Peel school, Norfolk: schools sur-vey, unpub.). Pepper was also used as astyptic (Taylor MSS). Moulds of variouskinds were used to heal cuts. Moldy cheesewas used in Sussex (Candlin 1987), as wasmoldy jam (Prince 1991: 113). In York-shire, moldy curd tarts have been used oncuts (Prince 1991: 95). In Sussex, moldybacon fat has been used (Allen 1995: 118).The shed skin of an adder was sometimesused to heal deep cuts (Tongue 1965: 35;Prince 1991: 101). Dog’s spit was consid-ered beneficial by some (Simpkins 1914:403).

Plant remedies include the root of horse-radish (Armoracia rusticana), thick slices ofwhich were bound onto cuts (Porter 1974:44). Alternatives include the bruised leavesof geranium or an ointment made fromcomfrey (Schools survey, Norfolk 1980,unpub.). St. John’s wort (Hypericum perfor-atum) was used to stem bleeding (Beith1995: 238), and the bruised leaves of arelated species, tutsan (Hypericum androsae-mum), were used in Buckinghamshire (Sci-ence Gossip [1866]: 83). Primrose (Primulavulgaris) and tormentil (Potentilla erecta)were both used in Cumbria (Freethy 1985:87, 127). Periwinkle, also known as cutfin-ger, was used in Devon for treating cuts(Baker 1980: 52).

In recent times, the large leaves of dock(Rumex sp.) have been crushed and laid oncuts (Vickery 1995: 108). Mallow has beenused for cuts (Vickery 1995: 229). The in-ner layer of an onion skin was used as a

natural plaster (Vickery 1995: 267). Vale-rian (Valeriana sp.) was called cut-leaf inSussex, and its leaves were rubbed onto cuts(Vickery 1995: 379). Water betony, alsoknown as water figwort (Scrophularia auri-culata), was used to treat cuts (Vickery1995: 385). Lily leaves preserved in brandywere a country standby for treating cuts,used all over Britain, but especially com-monly in Suffolk (Taylor MSS). Castor oil(from Ricinus communis), more commonlyused as a treatment for constipation, hasalso been used to treat cuts (Prince 1991:114). A slice of bracket fungus was used inSussex to stem bleeding from a cut (Allen1995: 27). Woundwort (Stachys spp.) wasanother plant used to treat cuts (Allen1995: 184). Leaves of ribwort plantain(Plantago lanceolata) have been used to treatcuts (Beith 1995: 233). Self-heal (Prunellavulgaris), as its name suggests, has been usedto treat cuts; its use was reported in theWeald of Kent as recently as the 1940s(Mabey 1996: 317). Cleavers (Galium apar-ine) has been used for cuts and grazes (Hat-field 1994: 33, 88). The related species,woodruff (Asperula odorata), was reportedby Parkinson in the seventeenth century inuse for treating cuts (Parkinson 1640: 563).In Norfolk, it was still being used in thetwentieth century (Bardswell 1911: 111).Rose leaves (Rosa canina) have been crushedand laid on cuts (Hatfield 1994: 32). Com-frey was used for treating cuts and wounds(Killip 1975: 135). Yarrow has been widelyused to heal minor injuries both in Scotland(Beith 1995: 252) and in England (Tongue1965: 36). In Scotland, an ointment madefrom daisies (Bellis perennis) was applied tocuts (Beith 1995: 213).

To this list could be added a large num-ber of plants used in Ireland for treatingcuts. They included chickweed, watercress(Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum), black-berry, ivy, lady’s mantle (Alchemilla vul-garis), hazel (Corylus avellana), anddandelion (Allen and Hatfield, in press).

106 ; Cuts

Puffballs were important in first aid andwere often kept dried in a shed for year-round use. The spores were sprinkled on tocuts, and the “body” of the puffball wasused to poultice severe cuts (Hatfield 1994:32).

In North American folk medicine thereis an even greater array of remedies for cuts.Some of these are recognizably the same asin Britain—for instance the use of spiderwebs (Brown 1952–1964 6: 168) and of theinner membrane of an egg (UCLA FolkloreArchives 18_6257). Sugar and flour,sheep’s wool (Puckett 1981: 358), mud(UCLA Folklore Archives 20_6256), soot(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 168) or glue (Puck-ett 1981: 359) are other recommendations.Chicken manure and lard (Hyatt 1965:207) or fresh horse manure (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 168) have been suggested. As inBritain, various molds have been used intreatment of cuts. Moldy bread and moldyorange peel have both been used (Parler1962, 3: 591), as well as rotted wood(UCLA Folklore Archives 16_6259). Spithas been used on cuts (Brown 1952–1964,6: 168). Spitting on a cut and then holdingit against the bark of a tree is a variant ofthis (Cannon 1984: 104). Coon fat (Parler1962, 3: 587) and bacon fat (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 4_6591) have both beenrubbed on cuts. Tea leaves (UCLA FolkloreArchives 19_6259) or coffee grains mixedwith kerosene (Anderson 1970: 25) havealso been used.

Among the plant remedies used in NorthAmerican folk medicine, some are recog-nizably the same as ones used in Britain. Asalve made from houseleek and lard hasbeen used (UCLA Folklore Archives9_6259), as has one made from elder bark(Puckett 1981: 358). Plantain leaves havebeen used (Hand 1958: 66), and horserad-ish leaves crushed in vinegar (Pickard andBuley 1945: 42). Geranium leaves havebeen bruised and laid on cuts (Puckett1981: 358). White lilies in whisky, used in

Pennsylvania (Lick and Brendle 1922: 97),mirror the lilies in brandy used in Suffolk,England. The daisy lotion used by colonists(Kell 1956: 371) may have been broughtwith them from Scotland. Where East An-glians used the bruised leaves of rose, inNorth America the dried stems of roseshave been powdered and applied (Clark1970: 19). A salve has been made from wa-tercress (Puckett 1981: 358). Puffballspores have been used (Clark 1970: 19) justas in Britain.

This is an impressive overlap betweenBritish and American plant remedies, butin addition to these a large number of plantsnot native to Britain have been used inNorth American folk treatment of cuts.Pine extracts, resin, and turpentine (Brown1952–1964, 6: 168), or pitch (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 5_7611), have been widelyused. A poultice of prickly pear has beenused (Murphree 1965: 179). Crushedsquash seeds (Cucurbita sp.) have been ap-plied (Clark 1970: 19), or the liquid frombalsam blisters (Abies balsamea) (Clark1970: 18). Green tobacco leaves (Nicotianasp.) have been used to dress cuts (Clark1970: 19). An ointment has been preparedfrom pokeberry roots (Pickard and Buley1945: 42). Spruce juice (Picea sp.) has beenused (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 168), or thejuice of milkweed (Asclepias sp.) (Woodhull1930: 53). A salve has been made from de-vil’s bush (? Aralia spinosa) and lard (Miller1958: 64).

In the Native American tradition manyof these plant remedies have been used totreat cuts. In particular, the gum of manyconiferous trees has been used. Juniper gumhas been used (Van Wart 1948: 576), aswell as the gum or pitch derived from nu-merous species of pine (Moerman 1998:409–413) and fir (Moerman 1998: 33–36).Basswood bark (Tilia americana) has beenused (Carmer 1940: 366). Apart from plantremedies, mutton tallow has been used bythe Shinnecock Indians (Carr and Westey

Cuts : 107

1945: 122), and the bodies of snails havebeen applied to cuts by the Kwakiutl (Boas1932: 193).

See also Blackberry, Bleeding, Chickweed,Comfrey, Dandelion, Elder, Houseleek,Ivy, Mallow, Molds, Plantain, Poke,Puffball, Snail, Wounds, Yarrow.




Anderson, John. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin, TX:Encino Press, 1970.

Baker, Margaret. Discovering the Folklore of Plants.2nd ed. Aylesbury: Shire, 1980.

Bardswell, Frances A. The Herb Garden. London:Adam and Charles Black, 1911.


Boas, Franz. “Current Beliefs of the Kwakiutl In-dians.” Journal of American Folklore 45(1932) 177–260.


Candlin, Lillian. Memories of Old Sussex. Coun-tryside Books, 1987.


Carmer, Carl. Listen for the Lonesome Drum. NewYork: Blue Ribbon Books 1940.

Carr, Lloyd G., and Carlos Westey. “SurvivingFolktales and Herbal Lore among the Shin-necock Indians of Long Island.” Journal ofAmerican Folklore 58 (1945): 113–123.


Freethy, Ron. From Agar to Zenry. Marlborough:Crowood Press, 1985.

Hand, Wayland D. “Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions from Pennsylvania.” Keystone Folk-lore Quarterly 3 (1958): 61–74.

Hatfield, Gabrielle. Country Remedies: Traditional

East Anglian Plant Remedies in the TwentiethCentury. Woodbridge: Boydell, 1994.


Kell, Katherine T. “The Folklore of the Daisy.”Journal of American Folklore 69 (1956):369–376.

Killip, Margaret. The Folklore of the Isle of Man.London: Batsford, 1975.


Mabey, Richard. Flora Britannica. London: Sin-clair Stevenson 1996.

Miller, Mary E. “A Folklore Survey of DicksonCounty, Tennessee.” Tennessee Folklore So-ciety Bulletin 24 (1958): 57–71.


Murphree, Alice H. “Folk Medicine in Florida:Remedies using Plants.” Florida Anthropol-ogist 18 (1965): 175–185.







Simpkins, John Ewart. Examples of Printed Folk-lore Concerning Fife, with Some Notes onClackmannan and Kinross-Shires. CountyFolklore 7. London: Publications of theFolklore Society, 1914.

108 ; Cuts

Taylor MSS. Manuscript Notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich. MS4322.


Van Wart, Arthur F. “The Indians of the Mari-

time Provinces, Their Diseases and NativeCures.” The Canadian Medical AssociationJournal 59(6) (1948): 573–577.



;D:

One of the most widely used plants in British folkmedicine, dandelion has been used to treat jaundiceand other liver troubles and has formed a commoncure for coughs and colds. In Ireland dandelion hasbeen used for a large number of other ailments(Library of Congress)

Dandelion (Taraxacumofficinale)

This is one of the most widely usedplants in British folk medicine. The whitelatex present in all parts of the plant hasbeen used to treat warts. The root containspowerful diuretics and has been used as akidney tonic. This has earned the plant thename of “piss-a-bed” and has given rise to awidespread idea that touching the plant, orpicking bunches of the flowers, will make achild wet the bed (Vickery 1995: 102–103).Dandelion has been regarded as a generaltonic. It has been used in the treatment ofjaundice and other liver troubles, and it hasformed a common cure for coughs andcolds. The leaves are eaten in salads. In ad-dition to these common uses, there are alarge number of minor ones. The leaveswere used in both Scotland and Ireland totreat stings (Vickery 1995: 105), in muchthe same way that dock leaves were used. Inthe Scottish Highlands, the plant was par-ticularly valued for promoting the appetiteof sufferers from tuberculosis. Eaten in abread and butter sandwich, the leaves wereregarded as an ulcer cure in Glencoe (Beith1995: 213–214). Other minor British usesinclude the treatment of indigestion, ofcorns, of scarlet fever, and even of lip cancer(Allen and Hatfield, in press).

It is from Ireland that the widest rangesof folk medical uses of dandelion have been

recorded. A wise woman from Donegal rec-ommended three leaves on three successivemornings eaten for heart trouble (Black1883: 199). The plant was called by her“heart fever grass.” Such use of the dande-

110 ; Dandelion

lion for treating heart problems is exclusiveto Ireland. In Ireland it has been used for alarge number of other ailments too, includ-ing cuts, sprains, fractures, sore eyes, dia-betes, headache, toothache and anemia, andstys (Logan 1972: 59). In Donegal it is de-scribed as being used for “every disease” (Al-len and Hatfield, in press). There is aninteresting belief recorded from Limerickthat when used as a tonic, the white-veinedleaves should be eaten by a man, the red-veined ones by a woman (Allen andHatfield, in press).

Though not native to North America,dandelion is widespread and much used infolk medicine there too. As in Britain, it hasbeen used as a tonic, for jaundice, kidneycomplaints, rheumatism (Meyer 1985: 37,150, 157, 213–216) and the sap has beenused to treat nettle stings (UCLA FolkloreArchives 2_5442). Also similar to the Brit-ish use is the common employment of theplant juice to treat warts (see, for example,Puckett 1981: 475). Dandelion wine,drunk hot, has been used as a cold cure(“Folklore Fragments” 1964: 118). A coughsyrup has been made in Pennsylvania fromthe blossoms, with lemon and sugar (Fogel1915: 131), while for cataract, pieces of theroot have been worn as an amulet aroundthe neck (Brendle and Unger 1935: 124).A tea made from the root has been recom-mended for the nerves (Lick and Brendle1922: 73) and for dyspepsia, dropsy, andedema (Harris 1968: 99). Dandelion leaveshave been suggested for insomnia (UCLAFolklore Archives 10_6769) and to increasevirility (UCLA Folklore Archives 8_6386).In Pennsylvania there is a custom of eatingdandelion leaves on Green Thursday(Maundy Thursday), as a health promoter,and to prevent the itch (Brendle 1951: 7).Echoing the Irish belief mentioned above,dandelions are regarded as a cure-all (UCLAFolklore Archive 6_6446).

The uses of dandelion by Native Amer-icans are very wide (Moerman 1998: 550–

551) and include many familiar in Britain,such as kidney complaints, toothache,tonic. In addition, they have been used totreat gynecological troubles. The flowers areeaten for menstrual cramps—for instance,by the Papago (Castetter and Underhill1935: 65); the Navajo have used an infu-sion of the plant to speed delivery (Vestal1952: 53). The Meskwaki took dandelionroot for chest pain when other remediesfailed (Vogel 1970: 298–299).

See also Amulet, Anemia, Bed-wetting,Colds, Corns, Coughs, Cuts, Diabetes,Dock, Dropsy, Eye problems, Fractures,Headache, Heart trouble, Indigestion,Jaundice, Sleeplessness, Sprains, Tonic,Toothache, Tuberculosis, Warts.





Brendle, Rev. Thomas R. “Customs of the Yearin the Dutch Country.” PennsylvaniaDutchman 3 (November 15, 1951): 12.

Brendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. “FolkMedicine on the Pennsylvania Germans:The Non-Occult Cures.” Proceedings of thePennsylvania German Society 45 (1935).

Castetter, Edward E., and Ruth M. Underhill.“Ethnobiological Studies in the AmericanSouthwest II. The Ethnobiology of the Pa-pago Indians.” University of New MexicoBulletin 4(3) 1935: 1–84.


Folklore Fragments. Keystone Folklore Quarterly 9(1964).


Lick, David E., and Thomas R. Brendle. “PlantNames and Plant Lore among the Pennsyl-vania Germans.” Proceedings and Addresses

Deafness : 111

of the Pennsylvania German Society 33(1922).








Dead man’s handIn British folk medicine, the touch of a

dead man’s hand was used as a cure for var-ious kinds of swelling, especially goiter. InCambridgeshire in the 1940s this was stillbeing practiced (Porter 1974: 47). That themethod involved the idea of transference isconfirmed by the story of a man who placedhis dead grandfather’s hand on his warts,asking his grandfather to “take them withyou” (Porter 1974: 51). “Wens,” a folkmedical term for a swelling, including se-baceous cysts as well as goiter, were some-times so treated (Radford and Radford1974: 125). Sometimes people attended anexecution so that they could be cured in thisway; the hangman charged the sufferer a fee(Black 1883: 100–101). Sometimes it wasspecified that the corpse must be of the op-posite sex to the sufferer (Taylor 1929:119). The touch of a suicide’s hand wasconsidered effective against the King’s Evil(Black 1883: 101).

In North American folk medicine, thesame treatment for goiter was practiced un-

til the twentieth century (Wintemberg1918: 137). In the Carolinas, wens werelikewise treated by the touch of a deadman’s hand (Hand 1970: 327). The “cure”extended to cancer as well (Cannon 1984:98).

See also Transference, Tuberculosis.




Hand, Wayland D. “Hangman, the Gallows, andthe Dead Man’s Hand in American FolkMedicine.” In Medieval Literature and Folk-lore Studies. Essays in Honor of Francis LeeUtley. Edited by J. Mandel and B. A. Ro-senberg. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Uni-versity Press, 1970, 323–330.




Wintemberg, W. J. “Folk-Lore Collected in theCounties of Oxford and Waterloo, On-tario.” Journal of American Folklore 31(1918): 135–153.

DeafnessThe water of a particular healing well was

sometimes believed to help deafness. Forexample, on the remote island of St. Kildathere is a well named, in Gaelic, the Wellof the Special Powers (Beith 1995: 142).Hedgehog oil was widely used to treat deaf-ness; this is a remedy reputedly of gipsy or-igin (Taylor MSS, Norfolk). The oil isprepared by baking the hedgehog, whole, ina clay covering. The flesh could be eaten.Melted-down fat from the adder was usedto treat deafness and earache in Sussex as

112 ; Deafness

recently as the 1920s (Allen 1995: 164).Ants’ eggs mixed with onion juice was an-other remedy for deafness from Scotland(Black 1883: 161). More prosaic remediesfor deafness include juice of the houseleek.The Gaelic name for this plant translates as“ear plant.” It was used for both earache anddeafness (Beith 1995: 224).

An Irish remedy for earache was recordedby Oscar Wilde’s mother at the end of thenineteenth century. The flowers, leaves androots of the cowslip were crushed and theresulting juice mixed with honey. This mix-ture was dripped into the nostrils and earsof the prone patient. After a few minutes,when the patient turned over, the juiceflowed out, and, one hoped, the deafnesswas improved (Wilde 1898: 42). Mint juice(Mentha sp.), squeezed from nine plants,was another Irish remedy (Allen and Hat-field, in press). Wearing black wool in theears was considered in nineteenth-centuryScotland to be a preservative against deaf-ness (Dalyell 1835: 116).

North American folk medicine for deaf-ness includes an analogous assortment ofanimal oils and plant remedies. Meyer inhis collection (Meyer 1985: 102–103) in-cludes hedgehog oil, skunk oil, pickerel oil,eel oil, goose fat, and civet. He mentions amid-nineteenth-century recipe calling forblack wool (as in Scotland, see above) to bedipped in civet and placed in the ears. Aremarkably similar recipe appears in a lateseventeenth-century recipe from Stafford-shire, England (Smith and Randall 1987:25). Powdered earwig is another recom-mendation (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 169).

Plant remedies include sow-thistle juice,houseleek (as in Britain), sassafras oil, andoil of bitter almonds (Meyer 1985: 102–103). The juice of black radish has also beensuggested (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 169).

At least some of the folk remedies listedhere may be an inheritance from official“book” medicine. Innumerable animal in-gredients in official medicine at the end ofthe seventeenth century include civet for

deafness, as well as spirit of ants (Salmon1693: 328, 680).

Native American remedies for ear “dis-orders,” presumably including deafness, in-clude the use of wintergreen (Pyrola sp.) bythe Blackfoot (Hellson 1974: 82). Thesame tribe used the juice of the berries ofAmelanchier alnifolia as eardrops (Hellson1974:80). The Tarahumara use the pin-cushion cactus (Mamillaria heyderi) to treatearache and deafness (Kay 1996: 190).

See also Cowslip, Earache, Houseleek,Sassafras.





Black, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chapterin the History of Culture. London: FolkloreSociety, London, 1883.


Dalyell, John Graham. The Darker Superstitions ofScotland. Glasgow: Griffin, 1835.

Hellson, Jon C. Ethnobotany of the Blackfoot In-dians. Mercury Series 19. Ottawa: NationalMuseums of Canada, 1974.



Salmon, William, M.D. The Compleat EnglishPhysician. London, 1693.

Smith, Janet, and Thea Randall, eds. Kill or Cure.Medical Remedies from the Staffordshire Rec-ords Office. Staffordshire Record Office,1987.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.MS4322.

Wilde, Lady Jane. Ancient Cures, Charms and Us-

Depression : 113

ages of Ireland. London: Ward and Downey,1898.

DepressionUnder varying names, this condition

must be as old as mankind. Simply becauseit is less tangible than many afflictions, wehave probably even less written evidence offolk treatments for depression than of othermore obvious physical illnesses. The term“melancholy” is a learned rather than a folkone, meaning literally “black-humored,” re-flecting the official medical humoral theory.In folk medicine among the less educatedthere would have been many ways of de-scribing what we would call depression,ranging from “possessed by evil spirits,” castdown, to simply bad tempered. Wearing asjewelry carnelian, amber, garnet or jasperwas thought to ease depression (Souter1995: 152). In the Highlands of Scotlandin the seventeenth century a heroic cure for“faintness of the spirits” was recorded byMartin Martin from the Isle of Skye. Thehealer was a smith, the thirteenth genera-tion in his family to practice this treatment.The cure consisted of laying the patient onthe anvil and bringing down a huge ham-mer, as if to strike him. This, they say, “hasalways the design’d effect” (Martin 1716:183). Perhaps more acceptably, whisky wasregarded in the Scottish Highlands as a curefor most things, including melancholia,having the power to “make the sad maninto a happy man” (National Library ofScotland Advocates MS 72.1.2).

Some plants thought to protect againstevil spirits were also thought to prevent de-pression, for example ivy, which was grownon Roman houses for these purposes (Sou-ter 1995: 41). Of the plants mentioned inthe herbals, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)and Rosa gallica would probably have beenavailable only to those wealthy enough toafford physicians or a physic garden at least,so it seems unlikely that these nonnative

plants would have featured in British folkmedicine. The proverb “I borage bring al-ways courage” is quoted by Gerard in hisherbal. Perhaps this plant, Borago officinalis,a native of the Mediterranean but natural-ized in Britain, may have been used in Brit-ish folk medicine. A rare glimpse of aneighteenth-century treatment for badmoods is given in the Diary of a Farmer’sWife 1796–1797. The recipe is given forviolet pudding, “a good sure cure for crosshusbands” (The Diary of a Farmer’s Wife1796–1797: 104). A twentieth-centurycure for “sour nature” is recorded fromHampshire, consisting of eating cabbagecooked with honey and salt (Prince 1991:106). There is a fascinating legend from theHighlands of Scotland involving the plantSt. John’s wort, which has recently sprungto fame throughout the Western world asan antidepressant. The story tells of CalumCille treating a young herd boy whose mindhad been disturbed by long lonely nights onthe hills. St. John’s wort was placed in theboy’s armpit, and he recovered. The Gaelicname for the plant translates as “St. Co-lumba’s oxterful,” which suggests that treat-ing with plants in the groin or armpit mayhave been regularly practiced (Beith 1995:40). Apart from this allusion, the plant hasnot figured widely in the British folk med-ical literature as a treatment for depression,though it has had a wide variety of otheruses. A late-nineteenth-century book refersto its use in the Isle of Man for treatinglowness of spirits (Moore 1898). Other-wise, this use seems to have been confinedto the herbals and official medicine. In theScottish Highlands, a tea made from thistleswas used to treat depression (Beith 1995:246). In very recent times, a mixture ofchamomile flowers and angelica leaves (An-gelica sp.) has been successfully used to treatdepression (P.S., Nottingham, 1985, pers.com.).

In North America, a number of nativeplants not found in Britain have been used

114 ; Depression

to treat depression. In Mexico, the Mayotreat depression using “brasil” (Haematox-ylon brasiletto) (Kay 1996: 159). Lady’s slip-per (Cypripedium spp.) is also known asnerve root and has been used in the RockyMountains for depression (Willard 1992:61), and by the Iroquois as a nerve medicine(Herrick 1977: 289). It was apparentlywidely used as a sedative in domestic prac-tice (Meyer 1985: 146). According to Raf-inesque it is used by the Indians “in allnervous disorders” (Rafinesque 1828–1830). Asafoetida (Ferula asafoetida) had areputation for treating nervous disorders,both in the medical literature and to someextent in folk practice (McWhorter 1966:13). A tea made from tansy (Tanacetum vul-gare) has been used to treat melancholy(UCLA Folklore Archives 11_5398). Rhu-barb (Rheum spp.) and senna leaves (Sennaspp.) have likewise been used (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 24_6394). An American folkremedy of German origin for treating “mel-ancholy” uses elecampane (Inula helenium)combined either with yarrow and sassafrasor with wine heated with red-hot steel (Wil-son 1908: 71). Both onions (Puckett 1981:292) and turnips (Gruber 1902: 15) havebeen recommended for depression and ner-vous disorders. Motherwort (Leonurus car-diaca) was recommended for nervousdisorders and to “raise the drooping spirits”(Meyer 1985: 185). St. John’s wort, al-though used in North American folk med-icine for a number of disorders, does notseem to have been used in folk medicine inthe past for its antidepressant properties.Pine trees have been said to comfort a dis-eased mind (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 357).

In the Native American tradition, nu-merous plants have been used for psycho-logical disturbances (Moerman 1998: 816),though few seem to have been singled outfor treating what in the modern West istermed depression. Mental, psychologicaland physical symptoms were not separatedas they are in orthodox modern Western

medicine, and many plants used ceremo-nially by the Native Americans may wellhave treated what we would call depression.James’s buckwheat (Eriogonum jamesii) wasused by the Western Keres to treat despon-dency (Swank 1932: 43). A modern NativeAmerican herbal mixture recommended forits cheering qualities includes the flowers ofSt. John’s wort and passionflower (Passifloraincarnata) and the bark of Devil’s Club(Oplopanax horridus) (Kavasch and Baar1999: 179).

Nonbotanical folk treatments for depres-sion in North America include iodine so-lution mixed with sugar water (UCLAFolklore Archives 15_5597). The flesh ofscreech owls was eaten by both NativeAmericans and black Americans and wasthought to be good for melancholy (Hud-son 1960: 13). More poetically, the musicplayed on pipes made from cinnamon bark(Cinnamomum aromaticum) is recom-mended for melancholy (Leland 1892:188). In the Native American culture musicis widely used for healing. This usage, it hasbeen claimed, is largely based on the “actualpower of rhythm” (Densmore 1954: 109).The color red has been associated withcheerfulness, and in the Mexican culturewearing something red is held to combatdepression. A red dress may be worn (Hatch1969: 164) or a gold ring threaded on a redribbon (Kay 1972: 178).

There has been a folk belief that burnedbread can cause depression (Puckett 1981:290).

See also Blacksmith, Cabbage, Chamomile,Color, Ivy, Mexican tradition, St. John’swort, Sassafras, Yarrow.




Dew : 115

Densmore, Frances. “Importance of Rhythm inSongs for the Treatment of the Sick byAmerican Indians.” Scientific Monthly 79(2)(August 1954): 109–112.

The Diary of a Farmer’s Wife 1796–1797. Har-mondsworth: Penguin, 1981.

Gruber, John. Hagerstown, MD: HagerstownTown and Country Almanac, 1852–1914.

Hatch, E. Le Roy. “Home Remedies MexicanStyle.” Western Folklore 28 (1969): 163–168.


Hudson, Arthur Palmer. “Animal Lore in Law-son’s and Brickell’s Histories of North Car-olina.” North Carolina Folklore 8(2) (1960):1–15.

Kavasch, E. Barrie, and Karen Baar. American In-dian Healing Arts: Herbs, Rituals and Rem-edies for every Season of Life. New York:Bantam Books, 1999.


———. Health and Illness in the Barrio: Women’sPoint of View. Ph.D. dissertation, Univer-sity of Arizona, 1972.

Leland, Charles Godfrey. “The Folklore of Straw.”Journal of American Folklore 5 (1892): 186–188.

Martin, M. A Description of the Western Islands ofScotland. 2nd. ed. London, 1716 (facsimileJames Thin, 1976).

McWhorter, Bruce. “Superstitions from RussellCounty, Kentucky.” Kentucky Folklore Rec-ord 12 (1966): 11–14.



Moore, A.W. Folk-Medicine in the Isle of Man.”Yn Lioar Manninagh 3 (1898): 303–314.


Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, Anna

Casetta, and Sondra B. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.

Rafinesque, C. S. Medical Flora; or Manual of theMedical Botany of the United States of NorthAmerica. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Atkinson andAlexander, 1828–1830.


Swank, George R. The Ethnobotany of the Acomaand Laguna Indians. M.A. thesis, Universityof New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1932.


Wilson, Charles Bundy. “Notes on Folk-Medicine.” Journal of American Folklore 21(1908): 68–73.

DewBathing in early-morning dew on the

first day of May was recommended in Brit-ish folk medicine for improving the com-plexion and removing freckles. In folkmedicine dew was used especially for eyetroubles (Tongue 1965: 39). The custom ofbathing in May dew for eye ailments wasobserved by Samuel Pepys’s wife in 1667and was still being followed in Edinburghuntil recently (Radford and Radford 1974:134). In Ireland dew was also recom-mended for preserving the eyesight (Logan1972: 60). May dew was collected and usedto bathe weak children (Addy 1895: 92).The dew from particular flowers was usedin official medicine and also in folk medi-cine. Since the time of Pliny, the water col-lecting in the leaf-bases of teasel (Dipsacusfullonum) has been regarded as magical.This water has been used in England forsore eyes and also for removing warts (Vick-ery 1995: 368). The dew shaken from theflowers of chamomile was believed to curetuberculosis (Trevelyan 1909: 315). Run-

116 ; Diabetes

ning barefoot in the dew is recommendedfor chilblains (Souter 1995: 143).

In North American folk medicine, as inBritain, dew has been widely recommendedfor removing freckles (Brown 1952–1964:196–198). Again as in Britain, it has beenused to treat warts (Brown 1952–1964, 6:333) and sore eyes (Boudreaux 1971: 140).A number of other conditions too havebeen treated with dew: rashes (Brown1952–1964, 6: 253), sweaty feet, ringworm(Hyatt 1965: 221, 328), bed-wetting, rheu-matism, fever, and hay fever (Puckett 1981:98, 108, 388, 431).

See also Bed-wetting, Chamomile,Chilblains, Eye problems, Fevers,Freckles, Hay fever, Rheumatism,Ringworm, Tuberculosis, Warts.

ReferencesAddy, Sidney Oldall. Household Tales with Other

Traditional Remains Collected in the Coun-ties of York, Lincoln, Derby and Nottingham.London, 1895.

Boudreaux, Anna M. “Les Remedes du VieuxTemps: Remedies and Cures of the KaplanArea in Southwestern Louisiana.” SouthernFolklore Quarterly 35 (1971): 121–140.






Souter, Keith. Cure Craft: Traditional Folk Rem-edies and Treatment from Antiquity to the

Present Day. Saffron Walden: C. W. Daniel,1995.

Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. County Folk-lore 8. Edited by Katharine Briggs. London:Folklore Society, 1965.

Trevelyan, Marie. Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories ofWales. London: Elliot Stock, 1909.


DiabetesThis illness was recognized and named

more than two millennia ago by the pre-Christian Greek physicians. It is not clearto what extent diabetes was recognized infolk medicine; there are relatively few rec-ords of folk treatments for the condition. InSussex, powdered mice were recommended(Allen 1995: 115). In Herefordshire, eatingpeanuts (Arachis hypogea) was said to begood for diabetes (Vickery 1995: 278).Other plant remedies used for diabetes in-clude a mixture of chickweed and comfrey(Hatfield MS), and a wormwood (Artemisiaabsinthium) preparation was used in the Isleof Man (Fargher n.d.). In Ireland, an in-fusion of herb Robert (Geranium rober-tianum) was recommended (Moloney1919), or one of dandelion (Allen and Hat-field, in press). Boiled nettles were also usedto treat diabetes (EFS 112). The “hungrygrass” well known in Irish folklore, proba-bly Agrostis stolonifera, was held by some tocause not only hunger when trodden on,but also diabetes (Allen and Hatfield, inpress).

In North American folk medicine thereare some dietary recommendations for di-abetes. Drinking goat’s milk (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 11_6283) or buttermilk(Puckett 1981: 360) is recommended. Tak-ing a small amount of vinegar before everymeal is also advised (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 13_5586), as is eating honey (UCLAFolklore Archives 10_6283). Drinking sau-erkraut juice has been found helpful (Puck-

Diabetes : 117

ett 1981: 360). “Winter” diabetes has beentreated with a mixture of sulphur and mo-lasses (Cannon 1984: 138). Salt and soda isanother suggestion (Rogers 1941: 15–16).Drinking one’s own urine has been held tobe beneficial in diabetes (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 169). A strange-sounding sugges-tion to cure diabetes is to allow a poisonoussnake to bite the sufferer (Browne 1958:57). It is suggested that eating brown sugarrather than white is helpful in avoiding di-abetes (Cannon 1984: 138).

Among plant remedies recommended inNorth American folk medicine, one of themost widespread is the roots of huckleberry(Vaccinium sp.) (Puckett 1981: 360). A teamade from the “heart” of mullein has beenused (Wintemberg 1925: 621), or onemade from alfalfa (Medicago sativa) (Can-non 1984: 104). Other suggestions are aninfusion of queen of the meadow (Eupato-rium purpureum), devil’s shoestrings (Yuccafilamentosa) (Browne 1958: 57), sage brush(Artemisia sp.) (Smithers 1961: 37), yarrowblossoms (Musick 1964: 51), or horsetailgrass (Equisetum sp.) (Carey 1970: 27). In-fusions of Spanish moss (? Tillandsia usneo-ides) (Michael and Barrow 1967: 781–782)or of bugle weed (Lycopus sp.) (Lathrop1961: 16) are alternatives.

Among Native American plant remediesare sumac leaves (Rhus sp.) (Vogel 1970:199) and devil’s club root (Oplopanax hor-ridus) (MacDermot 1949: 181), as well asdevil’s shoestring (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 25).

See also Chickweed, Comfrey, Dandelion,Mullein, Nettle, Soda, Urine, Yarrow.




Brown, Frank C. Collection of North Carolina




Carey, George G. “An Introductory Guide toMaryland Folklore and Folklife.” In FinalReport of the Study Commission on MarylandFolklife. Bethesda, MD, 1970, 25–27.

EFS. Manuscript notes from English Folklore Sur-vey, 1960s. Held in University College Lon-don.

Fargher, D. C. The Manx Have a Word for It: 5.Manx Gaelic Names of Flora. Port Erin: pri-vately published (mimeo), n.d.



MacDermot, J. H. “Food and Medicinal PlantsUsed by the Indians of British Columbia.”Canadian Medical Association Journal 61(2)(August 1949): 177–183.

Michael, Max, Jr., and Mark V. Barrow. “Old Ti-mey Remedies of Yesterday and Today.”Journal of the Florida Medical Association54(8) (August 1967): 778–784.

Moloney, Michael F. Irish Ethno-Botany and theEvolution of Medicine in Ireland. Dublin:M. H. Gill and Son, 1919.

Musick, Ruth M. (ed.). “Superstitions.” West Vir-ginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.



Smithers, W. D. “Nature’s Pharmacy and theCuranderos.” Sul Ross State College Bulletin41(3) (1961).

118 ; Diarrhea



Wintemberg, W. J. “Some Items of Negro-Canadian Folklore.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 38 (1925): 621.

DiarrheaDiarrhea resulting from contaminated

water and food must have been a serioushazard for both children and adults beforeadequate sanitation and food preservation.A very large number of plant remedies,many of them “astringents” rich in tannins,were used in the domestic treatment of di-arrhea. Among them are the bark andacorns of oak, and ribwort plantain (Plan-tago lanceolata) (Hatfield 1994: 36).Meadow sweet (Filipendula ulmaria) hasbeen used in both England and Ireland (Al-len and Hatfield, in press). Other plantremedies for diarrhea include leaves of mul-berry tree (Morus nigra) (Taylor MSS),raspberry leaves (Rubus idaeus) (Vickery1995: 306), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)(Beith 1995: 205), shepherd’s purse (Cap-sella bursa-pastoris), tormentil (Potentilla er-ecta) (Beith 1995: 208), and wood avens(Geum urbanum) (Vesey-Fitzgerald 1944:22). Mullein has been used particularly inIreland to treat diarrhea (Allen and Hat-field, in press). The berries and the innerbark of blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) havebeen used throughout Britain (Allen andHatfield, in press). An intriguing remedyfrom the Scottish Highlands is the use ofthe so-called bonduc bean (Caesalpinia bon-duc), boiled in milk for dysentery and di-arrhea (Beith 1995: 208). This and otherexotic species of nuts are washed ashore onthe Hebrides by the Gulf Stream; they werevalued both as amulets and for their use infolk medicine. Though it is surprising tofind that they are used in Hawaii as a lax-ative (Akana 1922: 47), these two uses are

not mutually exclusive. Apples, for exam-ple, are claimed to “regulate” the bowels,aiding both diarrhea and constipation. Redlavender, as much as could be absorbed ona lump of sugar, was a cure used in Wilt-shire (Prince 1991: 94) but originating else-where.

Nonplant remedies in use in British folkmedicine include eating a hard-boiled egg(still in use today). In the Highlands ofScotland, where whisky is regarded as apanacea, setting fire to a glassful and lettingit burn for a couple of minutes, then drink-ing it, was said to cure stubborn diarrhea(Beith 1995: 116).

North American folk medicine includesa wide array of remedies for diarrhea. Boiledmilk, cream, the oil from mutton suet,scorched corn or flour, burned cork, char-coal, eggs in various forms, vinegar and salt,and lemonade are all dietary recommenda-tions that occur widely (Meyer 1985: 90–96). Among the large number of plant rem-edies recorded, burdock, mullein, black-berry, raspberry, cranesbill, shepherd’spurse, bistort, elder, and tormentil are allused in North American as well as Britishfolk medicine. Mullein, with its large, vel-vety leaves, has been named “Adam’s Flan-nel” or “Beggar’s Flannel,” and the leaveshave been used in lieu of toilet paper; thecentral leaves, steeped in milk, were givento children with diarrhea or dysentery(Meyer 1985: 91, 194). Many other plantsnative to North America and not to Britainhave been used in North American folkmedicine to treat diarrhea. Among them aresassafras, white pine bark (Pinus sp.), Can-ada fleabane (Conyza canadensis), spottedspurge (Euphorbia sp.), boneset (Eupato-rium spp.), sweetfern (Comptonia pere-grina), black birch (Betula nigra), dewberry(Rubus spp.), slippery elm (Ulmus rubra),alum root (Heuchera spp.), black cohosh,and sumac (Rhus spp.) (Meyer 1985: 90–99). Spiraea tomentosa leaves and flowerswere commonly used in colonial New En-

Dizziness : 119

gland (Meyer 1985: 93). Josselyn recordedthe use of water lily roots, and of powderedaloes (Aloe sp.) in apple pulp (Josselyn1833: 264, 333). A broth prepared from de-thorned prickly pear has been recom-mended (UCLA Folklore Archives 20_5359),or an infusion of rose leaves (Hendricks1980: 82), or eating the inside of an acorn(as recorded in Britain too, see above)(UCLA Folklore Archives 9_5358). Smart-weed tea (Polygonum spp.) has been drunkfor diarrhea (Wilson 1968: 72).

Many of these plant remedies have beenused in the Native American tradition.Thus sassafras (Sassafras albidum) was usedby the Cherokee to treat diarrhea (Hameland Chiltoskey 1975: 54); Canadian flea-bane (Conyza canadensis) was used by theBlackfoot in the Dakotas (Johnston 1987:56) and the Cree, who lived along HudsonBay (Holmes 1884: 303). Smartweed (Po-lygonum hydropiper) is given by the Chero-kee (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 55) tochildren with diarrhea. Mullein was used bythe Iroquois for diarrhea (Herrick 1977:431). The list could be continued. (Forother plants used by the Native Americansin treatment of diarrhea, see Moerman1998: 770–771).

Finally, if all this plethora of remediesfail, the Yuma suggest that singing may stopdiarrhea! (Harrington 1908: 335).

See also Amulet, Apple, Beans, Birch,Black cohosh, Boneset, Elm, Mullein,Plantain, Sassafras.

ReferencesAkana, Akaiko. Hawaiian Herbs of Medicinal

Value. Honolulu: Pacific Book House.1922.

Allen, David E., and Gabrielle Hatfield. MedicinalPlants in Folk Tradition. Portland, OR:Timber Press (in press).


Collyns, W. “On the Economical and Medical

Uses to Which Various Common WildPlants Are Applied by the Cottagers in De-vonshire.” Gardener’s Magazine 2 (1827):160–162.


Harrington, John Peabody. “A Yuma Account ofOrigins.” Journal of American Folklore 21(1908): 324–348.




Holmes, E. M. “Medicinal Plants used by CreeIndians, Hudson’s Bay Territory.” Phar-maceutical Journal and Transactions 15(1884).

Johnston, Alex. Plants and the Blackfoot. Leth-bridge, ALTA: Lethbridge Historical Soci-ety, 1987.

Josselyn, John. An Account of Two Voyages to NewEngland Made during the Years 1638, 1662,1674. Reprint 1833.




Taylor, Mark R. Manuscript notes in NorfolkRecord Office, Norwich. MS4322.

Vesey-Fitzgerald, B. “Gypsy Medicine.” Journal ofthe Gypsy Lore Society 23 (1944).


Wilson, Gordon, Sr. Folklore of the MammothCave Region. Bowling Green, KY: KentuckyFolklore Series 4. 1968.

DizzinessIn British folk medicine there is a small

number of remedies for dizziness. One is todrink the blood of a black cat mixed with

120 ; Dock

wine (Souter 1995: 153). “Cupping” witha cow or sheep’s horn was practiced in theScottish Highlands for dizziness (Beith1995: 163–164). Also in Scotland, kelpsoup (made from seaweed) was thought tohelp (Souter 1995: 153). In some parts ofIreland, hemlock was used as a cure for gid-diness (Barbour 1897). A more harmless-sounding remedy was to snuff up dewthrough the nostrils (Radford and Radford1974: 133).

In North American folk medicine, carry-ing salt in the pocket was recommended fordizziness (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 171). Fe-verfew (Tanacetum parthenium) was rec-ommended by the Shakers, as it was also byofficial herbalists and doctors on both sidesof the Atlantic from the sixteenth centuryonward (Crellin and Philpott 1990: 209–210). A tea made from mistletoe has beenused (Wilson 1968: 323), as has an infusionof goldenrod (Solidago sp.) (UCLA FolkloreArchives 10_5361). Taking the waters atSchooley’s Mountain was recommended fordizziness, among other ailments. A lousehidden in the sufferer’s bread was a sug-gested cure in Indiana (Knortz 1913: 127).The brain of a mountain goat was anotherpossibility (Saul 1949: 75). Among the Na-tive Americans, tansy (Tanacetum vulgare),a plant related to the feverfew mentionedabove, was used by the Cheyenne (Grinnell1972: 190). A mixture of charcoal and beargall worked into the skin was another Na-tive American remedy (Mahr 1951: 348).A cure among the Papago was to sing theOwl Song (Wilson 1950: 339).

See also Dew, Hemlock, Mistletoe,Shakers, Water.

ReferencesBarbour, John H. “Some Country Remedies and

Their Uses.” Folk-Lore 8 (1897): 386–390.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-





Grinnell, George Bird. The Cheyenne Indians:Their History and Ways of Life. Vol. 2. Lin-coln: University of Nebraska Press, 1972.

Knortz, Karl. Amerikanischer Aberglaube der Ge-genwart: Ein Beitrag zur Volkskunde. Leip-zig: T. Gerstenberg, 1913.

Mahr, August C. “Materia Medica and Therapyamong the North American Forest Indi-ans.” Ohio State Archaeological andHistorical Quarterly 60 (October 1951):331–354.


Saul, F. William. Pink Pills for Pale People. Phil-adelphia: Dorrance, 1949.


Wilson, Eddie W. “The Owl and the AmericanIndian.” Journal of American Folklore 63(1950): 336–344.


Dock (Rumex spp.)Rubbing dock leaves on to nettle stings

is probably the most commonly knowncountry remedy in Britain today, but eventhis is the vestige of very much wider usesof the plant. Until the recent past, dockleaves were eaten as a vegetable in bothScotland and England; they were tied ontocuts and grazes to stop the bleeding (Hat-field 1994: 32; Vickery 1995: 108), andthey were used to treat sunburn (Vickery1994: 108), chapped skin (Hatfield 1994:48), and rheumatism (Vickery 1994: 108).The roots of various species of dock wereboiled and the decoction drunk to clear

Dock : 121

boils (Hatfield 1994: 22) and to treat skinrashes (Hatfield 1994: 50). Dock has evenbeen used in folk medicine in the treatmentof cancer (Taylor MSS). The root of YellowDock (Rumex crispus) was used to treat in-digestion (Souter 1995: 169). In Scotland,dock has been used for treating scurvy andfor cleaning teeth; the roots were made intopoultices for treating nettle and bee stingsand other inflammations (Beith 1995:214). In County Donegal, Ireland, it wassaid that a bag of dock seeds worn underthe left oxter prevents barrenness in women(St. Clair 1971: 58). Other species of Ru-mex, such as garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa)and sheep’s sorrel (Rumex acetosella), wereused both in folk medicine and official her-balism in Britain as salad herbs, for treatingskin complaints, and as a cooling drink forfevers.

Docks have not been as important inNorth American folk medicine. Yellowdock is not native to North America buthas been introduced. In eighteenth-centuryNew Jersey it was eaten as a vegetable, whilein twentieth-century Maine it was a con-stituent of a spring tonic (Coffey 1993: 60).Meyer reports the use of mashed leaves ofyellow dock in treating burns (Meyer 1985:54). Sorrel is native to North America and,as in Britain, was used to treat fevers (Meyer1985: 138). In the Mexican tradition, theroots of various species of dock were usedto treat coughs, colds, and sore throat (Kay1996: 239).

Native Americans used various species ofdocks for a very wide range of conditions(Moerman 1998: 495–499). The root ofthe yellow dock (Rumex crispus) was used totreat liver disorders, as well as diarrhea(Willard 1992: 77). The Iroquois regardedit as a panacea (Herrick 1977: 311). Swell-ings were treated by the Blackfoot withwillow-leaved dock (Rumex salicifolius)(McClintock 1909: 274). Rumex obtusifol-ius was used for many skin conditions(Densmore 1928: 350) and as a tonic (Her-

rick 1977: 313), uses similar to those ingeneral folk medical use in North America.Several species of dock were used for treat-ing rheumatism. Water dock (Rumex orbi-culatus) treated foul ulcers, while thewinged dock (Rumex venosus) was knownby the Shoshone in Nevada as “burn med-icine.” The roots were used, mashed as apoultice, or dried and powdered. (Coffey1993: 62, 63).

See also Boils, Burns, Cancer, Chappedskin, Colds, Coughs, Cuts, Indigestion,Insect bites and stings, Poultice,Rheumatism, Scurvy, Sore throat,Sunburn, Tonic.



Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore ofNorth American Wildflowers. New York:Facts On File, 1993.

Densmore, Frances. “Uses of Plants by the Chip-pewa Indians.” Smithsonian Institution–-Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report44 (1928): 273–379.




McClintock, Walter. “Materia Medica of theBlackfeet.” Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie 11(1909): 273–276.




122 ; Doctrine of signatures

St. Clair, Sheila. Folklore of the Ulster People. Cork:Mercier Press, 1971.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Records Office, Norwich.MS 4322.



Doctrine of signaturesThe “doctrine of signatures” states that

the healing properties of a plant are indi-cated by features of its appearance resem-bling the ailment to be treated.Yellow-flowered plants will be good for cur-ing jaundice, simply because their flowersare yellow. Although frequently cited as adogma of folk medicine, the doctrine wasin fact formulated by the fifteenth-centuryphysician Philippus Theophrastus Bombas-tus von Hohenheim (1493–1541), whocame to be known as Paracelsus (Griggs1981: 43–53). Subsequent herbalists elab-orated on the theme, and many, such asCulpeper, made it a central tenet of theirmateria medica. Robert Turner, writing inthe seventeenth century, stated, “God hathimprinted upon the Plants, Herbs, andFlowers, as it were in Hieroglyphicks, thevery signature of their Vertues” (Arber1953: 254).

It is plausible to suggest that the doctrinewas in fact a misinterpretation of what wasoriginally a practical system of mnemonics.Folk medicine depends on oral transmis-sion almost entirely. It is easier to rememberwhich plant was used for which ailment ifa salient feature of the plant can be used asa reminder. Thus the pile-like swellings onthe tuber of the lesser celandine (Ranuncu-lus ficaria) could remind the collector thatthis was a treatment for hemorrhoids. The“doctrine,” however, was developed to an

extreme extent by some writers, such as theseventeenth-century Richard Sanders (Hat-field 1999: 141). It blended into imitativemagic and the principle of like curing like.Imitative magic was and is widespread, inboth folk and official medicine, and can befound in cultures as widely separated as thefenmen of East Anglia (Porter 1974: 47–48) and the Seminole Indians of Florida(Snow and Stans 2001). Examples are theuse of bloodstone or of red thread to curenosebleed, and of bryony root resemblingthe human form as an aphrodisiac; amongthe Seminole Indians, a forked tree branchof the relevant plant is favored for treatingwomen’s problems (Snow and Stans 2001:39).

See also Bryony, Nosebleed.

ReferencesArber, Agnes. Herbals: Their Origin and Evolution.

2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1953.

Griggs, Barbara. Green Pharmacy: A History ofHerbal Medicine. London: Jill Norman andHobhouse, 1981.

Hatfield, Gabrielle. Memory, Wisdom and Healing:The History of Domestic Plant Medicine.Phoenix Mill: Sutton, 1999.


Snow, Alice Micco, and Susan Enns Stans. HealingPlants. Medicine of the Florida Seminole In-dians. Gainesville: University Press of Flor-ida, 2001.

DogDog saliva has widely been regarded as

curative, a belief that to modern ears soundsunhygienic. There is a famous sixteenth-century story of a great Italian mathemati-cian whose life was saved by having a fearfulfacial wound licked by his pet dog (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein 2000: 110).In the Scottish Highlands, dog lick was rec-ommended for healing running sores (Gre-gor 1881: 127). A more recent instance is

Dog : 123

In folk medicine, dogs were sometimes used as vic-tims of transference, and in North America, sleepingwith a dog has been widely recommended for rheu-matism. Dog saliva (dog lick) has been credited withhealing wounds, sores, and snake bites. (Library ofCongress)

cited in the British medical journal Lancetin 1970 (Verrier 1970: 615). Recent chem-ical analysis has shown saliva to contain awide range of antimicrobial substances,which may account for the apparent successof dog lick as a treatment for wounds (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein 2000: 110–118). Dog saliva has been shown to bemuch richer than human in so-called trans-forming growth factors, which could speedhealing (Allen 1995: 58). Obviously path-ogens too can be introduced into woundsin this way, and it is not a method that canbe recommended today. In folk medicine,dogs were sometimes used as victims oftransference. An eighteenth-century curefor gout recommends laying a dog on thepatient’s feet, so that the pain will pass fromhuman to dog (Clerk of Penicuik papers1740–1751). In both Scotland and En-gland, whooping cough was “transferred” toa dog by feeding it some of the child’s hairin bread and butter; in Ireland, ague wascured by making a barley cake with the suf-ferer’s urine, which was then fed to a dog(Black 1883: 35). In other instances, a doghas been a sacrificial victim, as in a cure forconvulsions that involved eating the heartof a white hound baked with meal (Black1883: 117), and in a fever remedy of carry-ing the right foot of a black dog (Black1883: 148). In the seventeenth century, dogbones were hung around the neck as amu-lets for moles (Wright 1912: 231). A pieceof a dog’s tongue hung around the neck wasused in Yorkshire as an amulet to cure scrof-ula, and the fat of dogs was used in a rheu-matism cure in Ireland (Barbour 1897:387).

In North American folk medicine manysimilar beliefs and practices concerningdogs have been recorded. Dog lick has beencredited with healing wounds (Musick1964: 51), sores (Thomas and Thomas1920: 115), and snake bites (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 279). Sleeping with a dog has beenwidely recommended for rheumatism

(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 255). Other dis-eases have been “transferred” to dogs too.Asthma has been “cured” by sleeping witha Chihuahua (Anderson 1968: 194). Forwarts, applying butter and allowing a dogto lick it off (Hyatt 1965: 306) has beensuggested. Fevers have been “transferred” todogs by feeding them beef cooked in thepatient’s urine (Brendle and Unger 1935:93). Thrush has been treated by rubbing achild’s mouth with a piece of meat andfeeding the meat to a dog (Browne 1958:27). Various medicines have been preparedfrom dogs. As in Ireland, dog grease hasbeen valued for rheumatism (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 256). Sometimes a black dog isspecified. Alternatively, the disemboweledcarcass of a dog has been used to poultice asore limb (Grumbine 1905–1906: 278).For tuberculosis, soup made from a blackdog (UCLA Folklore Archives 5_5517) oreating the hind leg of a dog (Thomas andThomas 1920: 100) are suggested. Dog lard

124 ; Dropsy

has been used to treat bruises (Puckett1981: 332). The blood of a black dog hasbeen considered a cure for smallpox (Ran-dolph 1933: 4). Dog excrement has beenused in a number of folk treatments: fordiphtheria (UCLA Folklore Archives10_6261), sore throat (Saxon 1945: 532),hives, colic, and bedwetting (Hyatt 1965:246, 267, 289).

Dogs were used in the Native Americantradition too. Burns and scalds were treatedwith dog excrement by the Opata (Vogel1970: 214). Native Americans of BritishColumbia fed a child’s shed tooth to a dog,presumably to ensure the child would havestrong teeth like a dog (Radbill 1964: 138).

See also Amulet; Asthma; Bed-wetting;Bruises; Colic; Color; Epilepsy; Excreta;Fevers; Hives; Mad dog, bite of;Rheumatism; Smallpox; Sore throat;Transference; Tuberculosis; Warts;Whooping cough.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Anderson, John Q. “Magical Transference of Dis-

ease in Texas Folk Medicine.” Western Folk-lore 27 (1968): 191–199.

Barbour, John H. “Some Country Remedies andTheir Uses.” Folk-Lore 8 (1897): 386–390.





Clerk of Penicuik, Sir John. Manuscript papers inthe Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh.SRO 18/2142.

Gregor, Walter. Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland. London: Folk-lore Society,1881.

Grumbine, E. “Folklore and Superstitious Beliefsof Lebanon County.” Papers and Addressesof the Lebanon County Historical Society 3(1905–1906): 252–294.


Musick, Ruth Ann (ed.). Superstitions. West Vir-ginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.


Radbill, Samuel X. “The Folklore of Teething.”Keystone Folklore Quarterly 9 (1964): 123–143.

Randolph, Vance. “Ozark Superstitions.” Journalof American Folklore 46 (1933): 1–21.

Root-Bernstein, Robert, and Michele Root-Bernstein. Honey, Mud, Maggots and otherMedical Marvels: The Science behind FolkRemedies and Old Wives’ Tales. London: PanBooks, 2000.

Saxon, Lyle. Gumbo Ya-Ya. Boston: HoughtonMifflin, 1945.


Verrier, L. “Dog Licks Man.” Lancet (1970): PartI: 615.



DropsyAmong the plants used in British folk

medicine to treat dropsy, foxglove is prob-ably the most famous, since observations ofits use by Withering in the eighteenth cen-tury led to his development of foxglove fortreating heart conditions, and eventually to

Dropsy : 125

the development of the drug digoxin. Otherplants use include broom (Cytisus scoparius),used, for example, in the Scottish High-lands (Beith 1995: 209), and butcher’sbroom (Ruscus aculeatus), used in Ireland(Vickery 1995: 54). Dandelion made intotea or wine was used in Norfolk to treatdropsy (Taylor MSS), and bogbean waswidely used throughout Britain, as was ju-niper (Juniperus communis) (Allen and Hat-field, in press). Elder, among its many uses,was recommended for dropsy (Porter 1969:80). Wild carrot (Daucus carota) has alsobeen used (Allen and Hatfield, in press). InIreland an infusion of nettles, especiallythose growing in a churchyard, was rec-ommended for dropsy (Wilde 1919: 201).Wearing an iron ring was supposed to pre-vent dropsy (Black 1883: 174). In Scotland,the same cure recorded for jaundice ofdrinking urine passed during fasting wasused to treat dropsy (Souter 1995: 75).

Some of these same remedies are to befound in North American folk medicine.Drinking one’s fasting urine was recom-mended among the Pennsylvania Germans(Brendle and Unger 1935: 191). Wearing abrass ring was thought to prevent dropsy,and whipping the body was thought to help(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 172, 173). A prep-aration of dandelion root has been used totreat dropsy (Harris 1968: 99), as has oneof elder root or bark (Brown 1952–1964,6: 173). Juniper berries have been used ina mixture to treat dropsy (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 172). A large number of otherplants have also been used, most of themnot native to Britain. They include sour-wood (Oxydendrum arboreum), ragweed(Ambrosia sp.), and mullein (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 173). A bath of hemlock infusionwas another recommendation (Lick andBrendle 1922: 281). An infusion of bulrush(Scirpus sp.) or of watermelon seed (Citrul-lus lanatus) has also been used (Parler 1962,3: 602, 603), or a preparation of skunk cab-bage (Symplocarpus foetidus) (Lick and

Brendle 1922: 54) or of black snakeroot(Sanicula sp.) (Pickard and Buley 1945:44).

Interestingly, most of the plants listedabove were used by Native Americans intreating heart disease, which is, of course,the main cause of dropsy (Moerman 1998:801–802).

See also Bogbean, Dandelion, Elder, Hearttrouble, Hemlock, Jaundice, Mullein,Stinging nettle, Urine.




Black, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chapterin the History of Culture. Folklore Society,London, 1883.






Parler, Mary Celestia, and University StudentContributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas. 15volumes. Fayetteville: University of Arkan-sas, 1962.



Souter, Keith. Cure Craft: Traditional Folk Rem-edies and Treatment from Antiquity to the

126 ; Drunkenness

Present Day. Saffron Walden: C. W. Daniel,1995.



Wilde, Lady (Jane). Ancient Legends, MysticCharms and Superstitions of Ireland. Lon-don: Chatto and Windus, 1919.

DrunkennessAccording to Pliny, the ancient Celts

used betony (Betonica officinalis) to preventdrunkenness and to cure hangover (Beith1995: 205). In the seventeenth century, inthe Western Isles of Scotland, the dried roottubers of bitter-vetch (Lathyrus linifolius)were chewed to prevent drunkenness (Hen-derson and Dickson 1994: 80). In the six-teenth and seventeenth centuries a popularcure for drunkenness was prepared in Sus-sex from glow-worms (Allen 1995: 80).Also in the seventeenth century, a liquiddistilled from acorns was used to controldrunkenness and hangover (Radford andRadford 1974: 254). Until the twentiethcentury, willow bark was chewed for theheadache of a hangover in Lincolnshire. Al-ternatives were celery or the seeds of thewild poppy (Hatfield 1994: 40). Raw cab-bage was chewed for a hangover (Vickery1995: 58). An infusion of hops has beensuggested too (Souter 1995: 83). A decoc-tion for curing drunkenness was preparedfrom iron sulphate, magnesia, peppermintwater, and nutmeg, administered on a lumpof sugar (Prince 1991: 23). A drastic-sounding remedy for drunkenness was todrink beer or wine in which a frog had beendrowned (Souter 1995: 131). Hangoverscould be transferred to slugs or snails byrubbing them on the forehead and throw-ing them away (Souter 1995: 164). Placinga live eel in someone’s drink was reputedlya cure for alcoholism (Radford and Radford1974: 148). Dietary advice for a hangover

includes drinking more alcohol the morn-ing after, eating fried food, and, probablymore sensibly, drinking plenty of water. Ep-som salts and all kinds of proprietary prep-arations have also been suggested.

In North American folk medicine thereare some similar suggestions for drunken-ness and hangover, including, as in Britain,drinking more of the same drink the follow-ing morning—advice known as the “hair ofthe dog that bit you” (Hand 1970: 119).Whisky in which a toad has been soaked(Wheeler 1892–1893) or with water addedin which ten tiny fish have soaked (Moya1940: 74) has been recommended as a curefor alcoholism. Among the Ozarks it hasbeen suggested that owl eggs cure drunk-enness (Rayburn 1941: 322). Dietary ad-vice for a hangover is abundant, rangingfrom greasy food to elaborate cocktails (see,for example, Paulsen 1961: 152–168). Cab-bage in various forms, both raw and asjuice, has been recommended for a hang-over (Micheletti 1998: 183). In New En-gland in colonial times an infusion ofIndian St. John’s wort was used for drunk-enness (Spicer 1937: 153). Chamomile teahas been recommended for a hangover(UCLA Folklore Archives 22_6331). InMexico, an infusion of an herb called huevode torro (? Ruellia sp.) was used to treat ahangover (Hendricks 1966: 46). Willowand rattle box (Crotalaria pallida) areamong the plants that feature in the “on thewagon” medicine used by the Seminole In-dians (Snow and Stans 2001: 87). A NativeAmerican recommendation for a hangoveris to wear the leaves of species of alder underone’s hat (Willard 1992: 69).

See also Alder, Chamomile, Hops, Poppy,St. John’s wort, Snail, Transference,Willow.



Dysentery : 127


Hand, Wayland D. “North Carolina Folk Beliefsand Superstitions Collected in California.”North Carolina Folklore 18 (1970): 117–123.


Henderson, D. M., and J. H. Dickson. A Natu-ralist in the Highlands: James Robertson, HisLife and Travels in Scotland 1767–1771. Ed-inburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1994.




Paulsen, Frank M. “A Hair of the Dog and SomeOther Hangover Cures from Popular Tra-dition.” Journal of American Folklore 74(1961): 152–168.



Rayburn, Otto Ernest. Ozark Country. New York:Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1941.

Snow, Alice Micco, and Susan Enns Stans. Heal-ing Plants. Medicine of the Florida SeminoleIndians. Gainesville: University Press ofFlorida, 2001.


Spicer, Dorothy Gladys. “Medicine and Magic inthe New England Colonies.” Trained Nurse99 (1937): 153–156.


Wheeler, Helen M. “Illinois Folk-Lore.” Folk-Lorist 1 (1892–1893): 55–68.

Willard, Terry. Edible and Medicinal Plants of theRocky Mountains and Neighbouring Territo-ries. Calgary, ALTA: Wild Rose College ofNatural Healing, 1992.

DysenteryAmoebic dysentery, now confined to the

tropics, was once prevalent in Britain too.In the seventeenth century the botanistJohn Ray reported the use in Wales of adysentery treatment made from moonwort(Botrychium lunaria) (Ray 1670: 199). Inthe same century one of the St. John’s wortspecies (Hypericum elodes) was used in Ire-land for treating dysentery; its Gaelic nametranslates as “dysentery herb” (Lankester1848: 319). In the eighteenth century inIreland, purple loosestrife (Lythrum sali-caria) was used to treat diarrhea and dys-entery (Threlkeld 1726). In more recenttimes in the Isle of Man, sanicle (Saniculaeuropaea) (Quayle 1973: 70), wood sage(Teucrium scorodonia) (Moore 1898), andmallow (Quayle 1973), have been used.Mallow was similarly used in Devon (Col-lyns 1827).

Dysentery was one of the diseases intro-duced in the sixteenth century to North andSouth America. It is an irony of history thatone of the most valuable plant remedies fortreating it, ipecacuanha (Cephaelis ipecacu-anha), was actually imported to Europefrom South American usage and became anestablished drug of Western practitioners.

In North American folk medicine the in-ner leaves of mullein were given to childrenwith dysentery (Meyer 1985: 91). Navybeans ground into powder were also used(UCLA Folklore Archives 19_5362). A teaof broom straw (Andropogon sp.) and pineneedles was another recommendation(UCLA Folklore Archives 7_5362). Otherplants used include red oak bark, low myrtle(? Myrica sp.) and dewberry (Rubus sp.)

128 ; Dysentery

(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 174). Spruce bark(Picea sp.), elderberries, and blackberrieshave all been used too (Meyer 1985: 95,96). Remedies not involving plants includeeggs, chalk, vinegar mixed with salt, char-coal (Meyer 1985: 94–95), and a mixtureof flour and milk (Brown 1952–1964, 6:174).

In the Native American tradition, dys-entery was treated with sassafras root(Meyer 1985: 96). The inner bark of pinewas used by the Alabama for treating dys-entery (Taylor 1940: 5). Steeple bush (Spi-raea tomentosa) was used by the Mohegan(Tantaquidgeon 1928: 266).

See also Blackberry, Diarrhea, Elder,Mallow, Mullein, Pine, St. John’s wort,Sassafras.



Collyns, W. “On the Economical and Medical

Uses to Which Various Common WildPlants Are Applied by the Cottagers in De-vonshire.” Gardener’s Magazine 2 (1827):160–62.

Lankester, Edwin (ed.). The Correspondence ofJohn Ray. London: Ray Society, 1848.


Moore, A. W. “Folk-Medicine in the Isle of Man.”Yn Lioar Manninagh 3 (1898): 303–314.

Quayle, George E. Legends of a Lifetime: ManxFolklore. Douglas: Courier Herald, 1973.

Ray, John. Catalogus Plantarum Angliae, et Insu-larum Adjacentium. London: John Martyn,1670.



Threlkeld, Caleb. Synopsis Stirpium Hibernicarum.Dublin: F. Davys et al., 1726.

;E:

EaracheEarache is typical of an ailment where,

until the recent past, domestic medicinewould be used initially. A vast number offolk medical treatments have been used onboth sides of the Atlantic. In Britain, onionhas probably been the most frequently usedremedy. In the commonest form of theremedy, a small roast onion is inserted intothe ear. Sometimes a poultice of cooked on-ions is applied (see, for example, Vickery1995: 265, 266). Other plant remediesinclude the juice of houseleek (Sempervivumtectorum), or of stinging nettle (Urticadioica) dripped into the ear (Hatfield MSS).A Norfolk country remedy was to take aninfusion of the wild poppy (Papaver rhoeas);the urban equivalent of this remedy, re-corded from Essex, was to buy a poppy seedhead (presumably an opium poppy, Papaversomniferum) from the chemist and bind itround the ear (Hatfield 1994: 37). In bothEngland (Black 1883: 158) and Ireland(Logan 1972: 34), froth from a prickedsnail dropped into the ear was used for ear-ache. Ash sap was also used to treat earache(Vickery 1995: 20). In the Highlands ofScotland, a drop of cave water from a par-ticular cave on the Black Isle had the rep-utation of curing earache (Beith 1995:132). Less exotic measures, such as applyinga hot water bottle, still help today. Variantson this were to apply a poultice of hot salt

or a mustard leaf behind the ear (Prince1991: 22). An interesting example of trans-ference is given by Souter. Here the suffererremoved wax from the aching ear, rubbedit on some bread, and threw the bread forthe birds. The birds would take the painaway with them (Souter 1995: 154).

In North America, folk remedies for ear-ache have been even more diverse. In theMexican West, a variety of plants have beenused to treat earache, of which the juice ofRue (Ruta graveolens) is the most commonlyused (Kay 1996: 61). In the Appalachiansa great variety of plants have been used tra-ditionally to treat earache. They includechinaberry juice (Melia azedarach), oilwarmed with peach pits (Prunus persica),persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), pricklyash (Xanthoxylum americanum), and yucca(Yucca filamentosa). A drop of molasses orthe smoke from tobacco have also been re-ported (Crellin and Philpott 1990: 159,324, 336, 354, 406, 430, 467). Intrigu-ingly, Meyer reports the juice from a greenash stick (Fraxinus sp.), dripped into the earfor earache (Meyer 1985: 101), just as inBritain. Persimmon juice has been usedsimilarly, and the method of obtaining thejuice is the same as for ash: one end of apersimmon stick is heated in a fire, and thejuice that drips from the other end is col-lected (Parler 1962, 6: 610). As in Britain,roast onion and roast garlic appear fre-quently among folk treatments for earache

130 ; Earache

(Meyer 1985: 100, 101). Alternative treat-ments include lemon juice (Citrus limon),or even of the juice of roast mutton (Meyer1973: 101). Tobacco smoke was blown intothe ears for earache (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 22_5368). Wild honey, warmed andput in the ear was an alternative (Browne1958: 58). To clear wax from the ear, awide variety of plant juices were employed,such as sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus),houseleek, and, rather surprisingly, foxglove(Digitalis purpurea) (Meyer 1985: 103).Animal oils were used too for this purpose,including hedgehog oil, skunk oil, and eel’soil (Meyer 1985: 103). Ear wax from ahealthy person has been another recom-mendation (Cannon 1984: 105). Humanmilk has been used (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 2_5364), as has urine from either acow (Koch 1980: 61) or a human (Brown1952–1964, 6: 175). A drop of blood froma Betsy bug (UCLA Folklore Archives7_5365) or the juice of a cockroach (Brown1952–1964, 6: 175) has been dripped intoa sore ear. A preparation of worms has alsobeen used (Bergen 1899: 73).

Numerous plants were used by NativeAmericans in the treatment of earache, in-cluding members of more than seventy gen-era (Moerman 1998: 791). Some of theremedies are similar to those already men-tioned in general North American folkmedicine. Ash sap, from Fraxinus ameri-cana, was used for treating earache by theIroquois (Rousseau 1945: 60) and by theAlgonquin (Black 1980: 218). Tobaccosmoke (in this case from native species ofNicotiana) was blown into aching ears bythe Cahuilla (Bean and Saubel 1972: 90),among others. Among the Diegueno a sprigof rue was placed in the sore ear (Hinton1975: 218). The warmed juice of houseleekwas used by the Cherokee (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 42). In addition, therewere a large number of other plants used.The Native Americans of Appalachia usedoil of mullein flowers to treat earache, while

those of Nevada used the root pulp of falseSolomon’s seal (Smilacina spp.) (Willard1992: 54, 186).

See also Ash, Houseleek, Mullein,Poultice, Snail, Transference.

ReferencesBean, Lowell John, and Katherine Siva Saubel.

Temalpakh (From the Earth): Cahilla IndianKnowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning,CA: Malki Museum Press, 1972.











Hinton, Leanne. “Notes on La Huerta DieguenoEthnobotany.” Journal of California Anthro-pology 2 (1975): 214–222.

Kay, Margarita Artschwager. Healing with Plants

Earth : 131

in the American and Mexican West. Tucson:University of Arizona Press, 1996.





Parler, Mary Celestia, and University StudentContributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas. 15vol. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas,1962.


Rousseau, Jacques. “Le Folklore Botanique deCaughnawaga.” Contributions de l’InstitutBotanique de l’Universite de Montreal 55(1945): 7–72.




EarthA number of folk remedies in British folk

medicine involve partial or complete burialof the patient in the earth. In the eighteenthcentury a treatment for rheumatism was re-ported that involved burial up to the neckfor several hours at a time. Similar treat-ment was advised for the victim of a light-ning strike. For colic, a turf laid on thestomach was recommended (Radford andRadford 1974: 147–148). Earth from agrave was used in Shetland to treat a stitch(Radford and Radford 1974: 147), and inSandbach to treat fits (Black 1883: 95).Some remedies involved removing a turfand laying it face downward; in Cornwallthis was used to cure warts; as the grass

withered, so the wart would disappear(Radford and Radford 1974: 148). Wesleysuggested as a remedy for consumption thatthe sufferer breathe into a hole made by re-moving the turf (Trimmer 1965: 166). InFifeshire a miner partially asphyxiated waslaid over a shallow hole in the earth andwhen recovered was put to bed with thepiece of turf from the hole laid on his pillow(Buchan 1994: 40). In the mid-twentiethcentury a practice known as “turning thesod” was still in use for treating the diseaseknown as “foul” in cattle (Doherty 2002:49–51). Whooping cough was sometimestreated by holding the child over a hole inthe earth.

A remedy from Virginia for a bruisedfoot involves cutting out the turf around thefoot and reversing it, grass downward.Other foot ailments such as bunions, sores,and felons (infected sores, usually under thefinger nail), were treated similarly by thePennsylvania Germans (Brendle and Unger1935: 75). John Wesley’s treatment forconsumption was evidently used in NorthAmerican folk medicine too (Pickard andBuley 1945: 42). For removing a foreignbody from the head, the patient was placedwith his head in a circular hole and the turfremoved was placed on his head. Someonethen sat upon the turf (Parler 1962, 6: 684).

See also Bruises, Colic, Epilepsy, Felons,Rheumatism, Tuberculosis, Whoopingcough.




Buchan, David, ed. Folk Tradition and Folk Med-icine in Scotland: The Writings of David Ro-rie. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic,1994.

132 ; Echinacea

In North American folk medicine, echinacea hasbeen used as a tonic. Native Americans used it inaddition for treating pain and infections. The plantis now known to boost the immune system. (SarahBoait)

Doherty, Michael L. “The Folklore of Cattle Dis-eases: A Veterinary Perspective.” Bealoideas70 (2002): 41–75.




Trimmer, Eric J. “Medical Folklore and Quack-ery.” Folklore 76 (1965): 161–175.

EchinaceaThis genus, also known as coneflower, is

not native to Britain and does not appearin its folk medicine, but many of the folkmedicinal uses in North America have beenincorporated into British medical herbalismsince the eighteenth century. Currently theplant is the subject of pharmacological re-search worldwide, and its ability to boostthe immune system is exploited in a largenumber of herbal preparations for coughs,colds, and other infections. It is also thesubject of anti-AIDS research. Herbalistsrecommend it for postviral fatigue syn-drome (myalgic encephalomyelitis [ME])(Chevallier 1996: 90).

The species most widely used in herbalmedicine are Echinacea angustifolia and E.purpurea; they occur throughout centralNorth America but are now cultivated,both in North America and in Europe, formedicinal use. Today, Echinacea is the mostwidely sold herbal in both North Americaand Germany (Micheletti 1998: 135). InNorth American folk medicine, the cone-flower was seen as a “blood purifier” andwas recommended as a tonic, often in com-bination with other herbs such as burdockand yellow dock (Meyer 1985: 41). It wasalso recommended as both treatment for

and preventative against boils (Meyer 1985:44).

The Native Americans used the plant ina large number of ailments. The rhizomeproduces a numbing sensation whenchewed. As a painkiller, it has been used,for example, by the Cheyenne to treat sorethroat (Grinnell 1905:188); by the Dakotato treat toothache, headache, burns andsnakebite (Gilmore 1919: 131); and by theSioux for bowel pain (Densmore 1913:270). The related species E. pallida has beenused by the Cheyenne as an antirheumaticand as a treatment for boils (Hart 1981:20). Coneflower’s antibacterial and antiviralproperties were evidently recognized too bythe Native Americans, who used the plantfor tonsillitis (Kraft 1990: 47), venereal dis-ease (Tantaquidgeon 1972: 33), smallpox,mumps, and measles (Hart 1992: 38), aswell as coughs (Campbell 1951: 288) andcolds (Hart 1981: 20).

See also Boils, Burdock, Burns, Dock,Headache, Snake bite, Sore throat,Toothache.

Eczema : 133

ReferencesCampbell, T. N. “Medicinal Plants Used by

Choctaw, Chickasaw and Creek Indians inthe Early Nineteenth Century.” Journal ofthe Washington Academy of Sciences 41(9)(1951): 285–290.


Densmore, Frances. Teton Sioux Music. Smithson-ian Institution-Bureau of American Ethnol-ogy Bulletin, no. 53, 1913.

Gilmore, Melvin R. Uses of Plants by the Indiansof the Missouri River Region. Bureau ofAmerican Ethnology Annual Report 33.Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution,1919.


Hart, Jeffrey A. “The Ethnobotany of theNorthern Cheyenne Indians of Montana.”Journal of Ethnopharmacology 4 (1981): 1–55.

Hart, Jeffrey A. Montana Native Plants and EarlyPeoples. Helena: Montana Historical SocietyPress, 1992.

Kraft, Shelly Katherine. Recent Changes in the Eth-nobotany of Standing Rock Indian Reserva-tion. M.A. thesis, University of NorthDakota, Grand Forks, 1990.



Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. “Folk Medicine of theDelaware and Related Algonkian Indians.”Pennsylvania Historical Commission Anthro-pological Papers, no. 3, 1972.

EczemaSince the term “eczema” is not always

used in folk medicine, there are probablymany folk records concealed under suchheadings as “skin complaints,” “dry, itchyskin,” or “tetter,” a term that seems to havebeen used to cover a number of skin con-ditions, sometimes including eczema.

In British folk medicine a number ofcommon native plants have been used overthe centuries in the treatment of eczema.Different parts of the elder have been usedall over Britain to treat this as well as a num-ber of other skin conditions. In the High-lands of Scotland an ointment was madefrom the flowers (including particularly thepollen) of the tree, mixed with lard (Beith1995: 215). In England also, elder has beenused for treating eczema in both humansand animals (Hatfield 1995: 51). Chick-weed, a widespread and common weed ofcultivated land, has been used, crushed, inthe form of a poultice (Prince 1991: 123).Under the local name of “markery,” an-other weed of cultivated land, good KingHenry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus), wasused in Cambridgeshire (Porter 1974: 47).In Ireland, white dead-nettle (Lamium al-bum), was made into an ointment withmutton suet and used for eczema (Logan1972: 73). In the Scottish Highlands mois-tened foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) leaveswere used (Beith 1995: 218). Anotherplant, not native to Britain but widely nat-uralized, has been used right up to the pres-ent time in eczema treatment. The juicyleaves of the houseleek have been split andbound on the affected area, or, for largerareas, a poultice has been made of thecrushed leaves, mixed with single cream(Hatfield 1994: 51; Taylor MSS). Boiledivy shoots have been recommended in Der-byshire (Vickery 1995: 203), while in Scot-land a cap of ivy leaves was placed on achild’s head to treat eczema (Simpkins1914: 411). In Essex the root of the dockwas boiled and mixed with lard to form aneczema ointment (Taylor MSS). In Suffolkin the twentieth century, rue—not a nativeplant of Britain, so presumably grown inthe garden—was used. The instructionswere to boil a few sprigs of rue and whencool to “bathe the inflammation of the skinand poultice with a few of the leaves onparts that burn and tingle and itch” (Taylor

134 ; Eczema

MSS). Elm wood (Ulmus procera) tea wasdrunk in Hampshire to treat eczema. In Ire-land, the bark of the birch was used simi-larly (Allen and Hatfield, in press).

Miscellaneous remedies reported fromSuffolk include application of milk and thetouch of a dead man’s hand (Rolleston1940: 79).

In North American folk medicine, awide diversity of plant remedies have beenused in the treatment of eczema, most ofthem native to North America and not toBritain. Poke root was recommended, aswell as prince’s pine (Chimaphila sp.), sas-safras and sarsaparilla, mountain grape(Mahonia aquifolium), Indian turnip (prob-ably Arisaema triphyllum), bloodroot, tag al-der (Alnus serrulata), and checkerberry(Gaultheria probumbens) (Meyer 1985:104–107). In addition, there were someplants used that although native in Britainhave not been traced there in the folk rec-ords for eczema. These include strawberry(Fragaria vesca) leaves, burdock, and water-cress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum). Elm,dock, and elder were used in both Britishand North American folk medicine for thisailment.

Corn oil was used by the settlers bothinternally and externally in the treatment ofeczema (Micheletti 1998: 111); it is re-corded as a part of Vermont folk medicineby Jarvis (Jarvis 1961: 149). An ointmentmade from unsalted butter or lard and thebuds of the balm of Gilead is recordedfrom Georgia (UCLA Folklore Archives17_5368).

Some of these folk uses can be correlatedwith Native American usage of the plants.A salve made from balm of Gilead (Populusbalsamifera) was used by the Cherokee andthe Potawatomi (Micheletti 1998: 44;Smith 1933: 80, 81). Prince’s pine (Chi-maphila maculata) was used by the Chero-kee for “tetter and ringworm,” the formerperhaps a reference to eczema (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 62). More definitely, the

root of poke (Phytolacca americana) wasused by the Cherokee for treating eczema(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 50). In ad-dition, the powdered root of black cohoshwas used (Micheletti 1998: 97). Pine (Pinusvirginiana) was used by the Cherokee on“scald head, tetterworm” (Hamel and Chil-toskey 1975: 49).

Apart from all these plant remedies usedin the treatment of eczema, a number ofcommon household substances have beenused as well. Glycerine (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 11_5367) has been recommended inNorth American folk medicine, and castilesoap, alum, vinegar, and sulphur have allbeen applied (Meyer 1985: 104). More po-etically, May dew has been applied, a rem-edy of Pennsylvanian German origin(White 1897: 79). As in the treatment ofboth acne and freckles, the use of urine hasalso been suggested (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 6_6244).

See also Acne, Alder, Balm of Gilead,Birch, Black cohosh, Bloodroot, Burdock,Chickweed, Corn, Dead man’s hand,Dew, Dock, Elder, Elm, Freckles,Houseleek, Ivy, Pine, Poke, Poultice,Sarsaparilla, Sassafras, Urine.






Jarvis, D. C. A Doctor’s Guide to Good Health.London: Pan Books, 1961.



Eggs : 135


Porter, E. M. The Folklore of East Anglia. London:Batsford, 1974.


Rolleston, J. D. “Dermatology and Folk-Lore,Part II.” The British Journal of Dermatologyand Syphilis 52 (March 1940): 74–86.

Simpkins, John Ewart. Examples of Printed Folk-lore concerning Fife, with Some Notes onClackmannan and Kinross-shire. London:Sidgwick and Jackson, 1914.


Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin Norfolk Records Office, Norwich.MS4322.


White, Emma Gertrude. “Folk-Medicine amongPennsylvania Germans.” Journal of Ameri-can Folklore 10 (1897): 78–80.

EggsHen’s eggs have been used in a number

of ways in British folk medicine. In the pastdoubtless eggs from other birds were usedtoo. The eggs of gannets were eaten raw fora chest infection on the island of St. Kilda(Beith 1995: 172). A whole hen’s eggsteeped in vinegar with honey added hasbeen a widespread cure for a cough (Prince1991: 115). Hard-boiled eggs have beenrecommended as a treatment for diarrhea,a remedy still in use (Jones 1980: 62). Eggwhite has been used as a dressing for frac-tures. In Ireland, it was believed to improvethe complexion (Sharkey 1985: 88). Eggshells ground up in milk or water weregiven in Lincolnshire to children to curethem of bedwetting (Radford and Radford1974: 151). The membrane of an egg hasbeen used as a natural plaster for a cut or

wound; this is another remedy still in usewithin living memory (Hatfield MSS). Thewater in which eggs have been cooked hasbeen credited both with causing and curingwarts.

In North American folk medicine a sim-ilar array of remedies have been used in-volving eggs. Egg white beaten with lemonand sugar has been used as a cough cure(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 219). A sore mouthhas been treated with a mixture of egg,honey, and alum (Brown 1952–1964, 6:234–235). Egg white has been applied to asty on the eye (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 294).Eating eggs has been recommended for“phthisic” (tuberculosis) (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 248). The egg membrane, or theegg white raw with honey, or an egg hard-boiled, has been used to “draw” a boil(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 130). An egg laidon Good Friday was believed to be a curefor colic (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 156). As inBritain, eggs have been used to treat wartsand have also been claimed to cause them(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 309).

See also Bed-wetting, Boils, Colic, Coughs,Diarrhea, Fractures, Tuberculosis, Warts.







Sharkey, Olive. Old Days, Old Ways: An IllustratedFolk History of Ireland. Dublin: O’BrienPress, 1985.

136 ; Elder

ElderEvery part of the elder tree has been used

in British folk medicine. The tree’s semi-magical status in folklore, including the su-perstition that one must never cut down anelder tree (without first asking the druids)—or that burning green elder branches cancause rheumatism (Hatfield 1999: 76)—may reflect simply the great usefulness ofthis tree in medicine in the past, whichwould lead to its protection. In Ireland thetree was so highly valued medicinally thateven the clay from around the roots was saidto cure toothache (Sharkey 1985: 145). Theroot has been boiled and used to treat rheu-matism in Ireland (Vickery 1995: 124).The bark has been used to treat rheuma-tism, and in powdered form as a laxative inScotland (Beith 1995: 215) and in Devon(Lafont 1984: 35). The crushed leaves havebeen used to treat insect bites and stings, orwarmed and laid on the forehead for a head-ache (Quelch 1941: 80).

In Devon they have been chewed fortoothache, and bandaged on leg sores (La-font 1984: 35). They have been made intoan all-purpose ointment, used especially fortreating eczema, and for healing stubborncuts (Hatfield MS). Even the buds wereused in domestic medicine; they were can-died and given to children as a gentle lax-ative (Quelch 1941: 80). The flowers ininfusion have treated fevers, and been usedas a cosmetic, as well as to remove sunburn(Hatfield MS). In Northumberland, theskin was rubbed with an elder flower prep-aration to keep midges away (Vickery 1995:122), a use reminiscent of the well-knownpractice of tying elder branches to thehorse’s harness to keep flies away (Vickery1995: 122). In Scotland the flowers wereboiled with birch bark to make a tonic(Beith 1995: 214). In Ireland, an ointmentwas made from the flowers, with particularcare to gather the pollen too. This ointmentwas used for eczema, chapped skin, and net-

tle stings (Beith 1995: 214). Particularly inIreland, burns and scalds were treated withelder ointment (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). In Gloucestershire a similar oint-ment was made and used for aches, sprains,and whitlows (Vickery 1995: 124). InWorcestershire, hot elderflower tea wasused to treat fevers and even pneumonia(Vickery 1995: 125). The berries, madeinto wine, produce a drink for pleasure andfor the treatment of sore throat, colds, andflu, as well as for bronchitis and asthma. Anamulet for epilepsy was to wear nine piecesof elder cut from between two knots (Black1883: 120). The pith of elder wood hasbeen used in Gloucestershire to treat ring-worm (Hartland 1895: 54).

Even the plants that grow in the shadeof an elder tree are believed to take onsomething of its powers. The Gaelic namefor figwort (Scrophularia nodosa), a plant re-vered in folk medicine, translates as “underelder” (Allen and Hatfield, in press). Thefungi that grow on elder have been used infolk medicine too—for example, the fungusfrom elder bark was used in the ScottishHighlands for treating sore throat (Beith1995: 215). Warts have been treated by cut-ting notches into an elder tree equal innumber to the warts; or by rubbing thewarts with a green elder stick and buryingthe stick. The latter remedy was recordedin the seventeenth century by Francis Bacon(Bacon 1631: 258), and recorded again inthe mid-twentieth century, in use by aschoolchild (Opie 1959: 315). A spring ris-ing from the ground under an elder treeyielded water believed to cure sore eyes(Quelch 1941: 79).

In North America, the native elder spe-cies is Sambucus canadensis, but the Euro-pean species has been naturalized in NorthAmerica since the seventeenth century andhas been used by North American Indians,by Shakers, and by Appalachian healers.Many of the same uses have been recordedfor Britain and North America. Folk med-

Elder : 137

ical records do not always distinguish be-tween the native S. canadensis and theintroduced S. nigra (Crellin and Philpott1998: 200). Meyer records the use of elderleaves for asthma and boils, and of the barkfor liver complaints and eczema (Meyer1985: 31, 37, 43, 106). The flowers sim-mered in lard made a salve for sore breasts,and with the inner bark were used to treatburns. The flowers were also used for coldsand flu and for constipation in children(Meyer 1985: 55, 66, 75). The berries weresimmered in brandy for dysentery, theleaves laid over the eyes to clear the eyes andbrow (Meyer 1985: 96, 106, 110). The in-ner bark was simmered in hen’s oil for frost-bite and mixed with cream and chamomilefor treating piles (Meyer 1985: 133, 196).Both the flowers and the leaves were usedas a tonic (Meyer 1985: 258). Elder leaveswere held to attract maggots out of a wound(Shelby 1959:10). A necklace made fromelder stems has been used as a teething aid(Fowler and Fowler 1950: 175). Leaves ofelder placed in the hat were claimed to pro-tect from sunstroke (Fogel 1915: 138).Simply carrying elder leaves in the pocketwas thought to help galled arms (Musick1964: 48). For croup a child was touchedwith an elderberry wand which was keptwhere neither sun nor moon could shineupon it (Brendle and Unger 1935: 136).

In Native American practice, the Amer-ican elder (Sambucus canadensis) was verywidely used, by at least seventeen differenttribes (Moerman 1998 : 511), and many ofthe same uses recorded by Meyer are rec-ognizable in Native American practice, sug-gesting that this was probably the speciesmost widely employed in folk medicinegenerally. By contrast, the European elder(Sambucus nigra) seems only to have beenspecifically selected by the Cherokee, forrheumatism, burns, skin eruptions and fe-vers, as a diuretic, and as an emetic (Hameland Chiltoskey 1975: 33). Among the Mo-hegan, the bark of S. canadensis was scraped

upward to obtain an emetic, downward toobtain a laxative (Tantaquidgeon 1928:265). Other species too, such as the blueelder (Sambucus cerulea) and scarlet elder(Sambucus racemosa), were used medici-nally, though not quite as widely as Amer-ican elder. S. racemosa seems to be the onlyspecies used in childbirth (see, for instance,Reagan 1936: 69).

See also Amulet, Asthma, Birch, Burns,Childbirth, Colds, Constipation, Croup,Cuts, Dysentery, Eczema, Epilepsy, Eyeproblems, Fevers, Frostbite, Headache,Insect bites and stings, Piles,Rheumatism, Ringworm, Shakers, Sorethroat, Sunburn, Teething, Tonic,Toothache, Warts.



Bacon, F. Sylva Sylvarum. 3rd ed. London, 1631.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-






Fowler, David C., and Mary Gene Fowler. “MoreKentucky Superstitions.” Southern FolkloreQuarterly 14 (1950): 170–176.


Hartland, Edwin Sidney. County Folklore: Glou-cestershire. Printed Extracts 1, Vol. 37. Lon-don: Folk-Lore Society, 1895.

Hatfield, Gabrielle. Memory, Wisdom and Heal-

138 ; Elm

ing: The History of Domestic Plant Medicine.Phoenix Mill: Sutton, 1999.




Musick, Ruth Anne (ed.). “Superstitions.” WestVirginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.

Opie, Iona, and Peter Opie. The Lore and Lan-guage of Schoolchildren. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 1959.

Quelch, Mary Thorne. Herbs for Daily Use. Lon-don: Faber and Faber, 1941.

Reagan, Albert B. “Plants Used by the Hoh andQuileute Indians.” Kansas Academy of Sci-ences 37 (1936): 55–70.

Sharkey, Olive. Old Days, Old Ways. Dublin:O’Brien Press, 1985.

Shelby, Carolyn. “Folklore of Jordan Springs,Tennessee.” Tennessee Folklore Society Bul-letin 25 (1959): 6–17.



Elm (Ulmus spp.)Considering how widespread the elm

tree was in Britain, at least until the out-break of Dutch elm disease in the 1970s,the number of ways in which it has beenused in folk medicine is relatively small.There is a record of one particular tree inBedfordshire that grew at the spot where amurderer had been executed being used tocure ague (fever). The patient nailed someof his hair or nail clippings to the tree, andthe fever was transferred to the tree (Vickery1995: 127). The inner bark of the elm hasbeen chewed or boiled and made into ajelly-like liquid, to treat colds and sorethroats (Vickery 1995: 127). In Ireland, theliquid obtained from boiling the bark has

been used at least since the eighteenth cen-tury for treating burns (Threlkeld 1726). Ithas also been used in Ireland for treatingsprains, swellings, and jaundice (Allen andHatfield, in press), as well as for staunchingbleeding (Maloney 1972).

In North America, the slippery elm (Ul-mus rubra) is widespread and has been ex-tensively used in folk medicine as well as inofficial medicine and herbalism. Many ofthe uses of this species of elm are similar tothe British ones for their native elms (Ulmusprocera, U. glabra and U. minor), but theuse of slippery elm in North American folkmedicine seems to have been much moreextensive. The bark has been chewed forsore throats and coughs (just as the nativespecies of elm have been used in England),and it was also made into proprietary loz-enges (Micheletti 1998: 114). Meyer re-corded the use of slippery elm, or simply“elm,” for a large range of ailments in ad-dition to sore throat. The list includes skinailments (Meyer 1985: 106, 108), eye ail-ments (Meyer 1985: 109–114), kidneycomplaints (Meyer 1985: 157–161), piles(Meyer 1985: 194–196), heartburn, andupset stomach (Meyer 1985: 235, 242).

Native Americans had many uses forelm. The bark was chewed for sore throats(Densmore 1928: 342) and made into aninfusion for coughs (Tantaquidgeon 1972:31). A poultice of the bark was used to treatburns and wounds (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 33) and also swellings, including tu-bercular glands (Herrick 1977: 304). Theplant was in addition used to treat bleedingcuts (Reagan 1928: 231), as well as bleedinglungs (Chandler, Freeman, and Hooper1979: 63). (For further Native Americanuses of this and other species of elm, seeMoerman 1998: 576–578.)

Though slippery elm is not native toBritain, its use has been imported by herb-alists into Britain, and it now forms a stapleof many herbal preparations there also.

Epilepsy : 139

See also Bleeding, Burns, Colds, Coughs,Eye problems, Indigestion, Jaundice, Sorethroat, Sprains, Transference, Wounds.







Maloney, Beatrice. “Traditional Herbal Cures inCounty Cavan: Part 1.” Ulster Folklife 18(1972): 66–79.




Reagan, Albert B. “Plants Used by the Bois FortChippewa (Ojibwa) Indians of Minnesota.”Wisconsin Archaeologist 7(4) (1928): 230–248.


Threlkeld, Caleb. Synopsis Stirpium Hibernicarum.Dublin: F. Davys et al., 1726.


EpilepsyThis disease has always been regarded

with fear and superstition, and it still is to-

day. This unease is reflected in the widerange of magical and semi-magical “cures”in British folk medicine. In Aberdeenshire,Scotland, there was a belief that burning theclothes of a person who had had a fit wouldproduce a cure (Black 1883: 72). Some ofthe remedies for epilepsy have a strong as-sociation with death. In Ireland, gratedhuman skull has been ingested to cure epi-lepsy, and in Scotland too the bones of aman were regarded as a cure for a woman,and those of a woman for a man. Again, theskull was particularly valued (Black 1883:96, 97). A medal made from coffin handleswas worn as an amulet against epilepsy inthe Scottish Highlands (Souter 1995: 37).Other amulets include the skin of a wolf,which was valued in England as well as onthe continent of Europe (Black 1883: 153).An alternative was to wear nine pieces of el-der, cut from between two knots (Black1883: 120). Mistletoe was thought toprevent harm from witches. It was reput-edly used by the Druids against epilepsy(Souter 1995: 41), and even the eminenteighteenth-century physician Sir ThomasBrowne recommended that it be worn as aprecaution against epilepsy (Black 1883:196).

Rings that had been hallowed by the kingwere another popular charm against epi-lepsy, particularly during the sixteenth cen-tury; they were distributed by reigningmonarchs until the death of Mary Tudor(Thomas 1978: 235). Originally they hadbeen made from “Maundy Money,” theroyal offering to the church on MaundyThursday, but later they were purpose-made. A strange survival of the idea of coinscuring epilepsy is recorded from Sussex inthe twentieth century. The mother of ayoung child suffering from fits was told tocollect seven threepenny bits from sevenstrange men, without telling them whatthey were for. These were then placed se-cretly in a bag around the child’s neck. Thechild had no further fits until the bag was

140 ; Epilepsy

Man having an epileptic seizure. Epilepsy has always been regarded with fear and superstition. This isreflected in the wide range of magical and semi-magical ‘cures’ in British folk medicine. Some of theremedies for epilepsy have a strong association with death. (National Library of Medicine)

seen by another child (Esdaile 1942). Therewas a belief that a piece of coal found undera mugwort plant (Artemisia vulgaris) was acure for epilepsy (Radford and Radford1961).

In a symbol of rebirth, large standingstones with a hole in them were employedas a gateway to health. For example, inCornwall a person suffering from epilepsywould be passed naked through the hole ofthe “Men-an-Tol” (Souter 1995: 37). InSussex and elsewhere in England there wasbelief that sleeping under a walnut treecould lead to fits or madness (Souter 1995:172). Another Sussex belief was that eatingashes of a roast cuckoo was a cure for fits(Allen 1995: 42). Interestingly, the plantknown as cuckoo-flower (Cardamine pra-tense) had a reputation in the Scottish High-lands for soothing epileptic fits (Beith 1995:213), while “cuckoo sorrel” (Rumex acetosa)was similarly used in Cumbria (Newmanand Wilson 1951: 252–266). There is onrecord from the early twentieth century thestory of a cure for epilepsy practiced in theIsle of Lewis by a healer, a cure that com-

bines many of these different epilepsy treat-ments in one. The patient had to drinkblood taken from his left foot. He had toeand finger nail clippings and hair clippingsfrom moustache and eyebrows wrapped inparcels. A cross of ropes was laid on hisbody, the ends of the ropes being knotted.The knots were then cut off and wrappedand, together with the clippings were bur-ied in a place where neither sun, wind, norrain could reach them. A black cock wasburied at the place where the patient hadhad his first fit. The patient was then in-structed to drink water out of a human skull(Henderson 1910: 319–320). Near thehead of Loch Torridon in Wester Ross thereis a well that within living memory was usedto treat a man suffering from epilepsy. Hewas instructed to drink its water from theskull of a suicide and thereafter to abstainfrom excessive alcohol and not to act as acoffin bearer (Beith 1995: 131).

Herbal treatments for epilepsy in Britishfolk medicine are comparatively few innumber. Mistletoe was used especially insouthern England, also in southern Ireland

Epilepsy : 141

(Allen and Hatfield, in press). Juniper ber-ries (Juniperus communis) were used in theScottish Highlands (Carmichael 1900–1971, 4: 268), and in Cavan the fernknown as spleenwort (Asplenium ruta-muraria) was infused in milk to treat epi-lepsy (Maloney 1972: 66–79).

All the elements of folk healing discussedabove are also to be found in North Amer-ican remedies for epilepsy. In Alabamathere was a belief that if a baby has convul-sions, burning its clothes will stop them(Browne 1958: 23). If an epileptic’s shirt isburned (Kanner 1930: 208) or pulled overhis head and pulled up through the chim-ney of the house and buried (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 2_6805), the fits will cease.Many of the remedies show an associationwith blood or death. A woman who hadepilepsy witnessed an execution at Karis,collected some of the dead man’s blood,and drank it to cure herself (Hand 1970:325). A piece of rope with which someonehad hanged himself was believed to be acure for epilepsy (Fogel 1915: 292). Thefresh blood of a turtle dove, drunk, was asuggested cure for epilepsy in Pennsylvania(Smith 1950: 4). Hair cuttings from the pa-tient, buried either under the bed (Wilson1908: 70) or in a hole in an oak tree (Si-mons 1954: 3), were believed to stop epi-lepsy. Cuckoo ashes were recommended forepilepsy, as in Britain (McAtee 1955: 172).Less drastically, holding a child in thesmoke from burned black chicken featherswas a cure suggested in Alabama (Browne1958: 23). Rubbing a naked baby with anewly born pig is an example of transfer-ence in epilepsy treatment (Bourke 1894:119). An idea remarkably similar to onefound in Britain is to dig under the rootsof red wormwood, take two pieces of coalfrom there, then eat one and wear the otheras a cure for epilepsy (Brendle and Unger1935: 105). Miscellaneous “cures” for epi-lepsy include getting the patient to drinkout of a dish from which a crossbill has

drunk (Brendle and Unger 1935: 108); eat-ing beaver fat (Hendricks 1953: 126); and,from Arizona, passing a worm dipped in al-cohol down the sufferer’s throat on a threadduring a fit and pulling it up gradually(UCLA Folklore Archives 4_6245).

To avoid “catching” epilepsy, wearing anamulet made from the backbone of a rattle-snake is a suggested precaution in California(UCLA Folklore Archives record number3_6245). Another precaution against get-ting epilepsy is to crush the shells of eggsafter eating them (Kanner 1930: 192).

Herbal treatments for epilepsy, as inBritain, are not very numerous in NorthAmerica. They include nibbling the end ofa hop (Humulus lupulus) vine every morn-ing for seven mornings in the spring beforesunrise (Hyatt 1965: 248). Other herbalremedies involve fresh parsley (Petroselinumcrispum) (Randolph 1947: 110); cow pars-nip seeds (Heracleum maximum) (Partridge1838: 286–288), pansies (Viola sp.) (UCLAFolklore Archives record number 2_6245),and dog fennel (Anthemis cotula) (Pickardand Buley 1945: 44). Of these herbal treat-ments, dog fennel is used by the Cherokeeto treat epilepsy (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 32), and cowparsnip is used similarlyby the Winnebago (Gilmore 1919: 107),suggesting a Native American origin forthese remedies. A large number of otherplant genera were employed by the NativeAmericans in treating epilepsy (Moerman1998: 769–770).

See also Amulet, Elder, Mistletoe,Mugwort, Skull, Witch.





142 ; Eryngo





Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymnsand Incantations. 6 vols. (3 and 4 ed. J. Car-michael Watson, 5 and 6 ed. Angus Mathe-son). Edinburgh: Constable (1900); Oliverand Boyd (1940–54); Scottish AcademicPress (1971).

Esdaile, K. A. Sussex Notes and Queries. Lewes:Sussex Archaeological Society, Vol. 9(1942).


Gilmore, Melvin R. “Uses of Plants by the Indiansof the Missouri River Region.” SmithsonianInstitution-Bureau of American EthnologyAnnual Report, no. 33 (1919).


Hand, Wayland D. “Hangmen, the Gallows andthe Dead Man’s Hand in American FolkMedicine.” In Medieval Literature and Folk-lore Studies: Essays in Honour of Francis LeeUtley, edited by Jerome Mandell and BruceA. Rosenberg, 323–329, 381–387. NewBrunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press,1970.

Henderson, George. The Norse Influence on CelticScotland. Glasgow: James Maclehose, 1910.

Hendricks, George D. “Misconceptions Concern-ing Western Wild Animals.” Western Folk-lore 12 (1953): 119–127.


Kanner, Leo. “The Folklore and Cultural History

of Epilepsy.” Medical Life 37 (1930): 167–214.


McAtee, W. L. “Odds and Ends of North Amer-ican Folklore on Birds.” Midwest Folklore 5(1955): 169–183.



Partridge, Oliver. “Of the Cow-Parsnip.” BostonMedical and Surgical Journal 18 (1838): 18.


Radford, E., and M. A. Radford. Encyclopaedia ofSuperstitions. Edited and revised by Chris-tina Hole. London: Hutchinson, 1961.


Simons, Isaak Shirk. “Dutch Folk-Beliefs.” Penn-sylvania Dutchman 5(14) (March 15, 1954):2–3, 15.

Smith, Richard. “Collecting Folk Cures in Leba-non County.” Pennsylvania Dutchman 2(8)(September 15, 1950).


Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic.London: Peregrine, 1978.

Wilson, Charles Bundy. “Notes on Folk Medi-cine.” Journal of American Folklore 21(1908): 68–73.

EryngoThe roots of sea-holly (Eryngium mari-

timum and other species) were highly prizedin the past in both official and folk medi-cine as a tonic and worm-treatment (O Sıo-chain 1962), a cure for coughs and colds(Shenstone 1887), and as an aphrodisiac. Inthe latter role they are mentioned by Shake-speare in The Merry Wives of Windsor (5.5).

Erysipelas : 143

Colchester in Essex was famous for manycenturies as the center of the eryngo trade.Though Eryngium maritimum is not nativeto North America, other members of thegenus are, and these have been used in avariety of ways in North American folkmedicine.

See also Button snakeroot.

ReferencesO Sıochain, P. A. Aran, Islands of Legend. Dublin:

Foilsiuchain Eireann, 1962.Shenstone, J. C. “A Report on the Flowering

Plants Growing in the Neighbourhood ofColchester.” Essex Naturalist 1 (1887): 30–33.

ErysipelasIn Christian times, this disease, also

known as St. Anthony’s fire, became asso-ciated with Saint Anthony, and by the six-teenth century he was credited with thepower not only of relieving it but also of in-flicting it (Thomas 1973: 29). Apart fromnumerous charms (preferably including aline of Latin [Beith 1995: 197]), the ail-ment attracted a number of folk remediesinvolving either fire, water, or blood. InWales, it was believed that the sparks struckfrom stone and steel against the face wouldcure erysipelas (Radford and Radford: n.d.,115). In the seventeenth century in Perth-shire, Scotland, washing in running waterand applying hog’s lard was considered ef-fective (Perth Kirk Session Record, May1623). Individuals were sometimes creditedwith the power of healing erysipelas. In Ire-land, the blood of a member of the Keogh,Walch, or Cahill family was considered tobe an erysipelas cure (Black 1883: 140). InEast Anglia, up to the nineteenth century,in rural areas leeches were applied to re-move the “bad blood” of erysipelas (RiderHaggard 1974: 17). In Ireland, the diseasewas sometimes called “wild fire,” and curesfor it include the blood of a black cat

(Wilde 1898: 30). The left shoe of a personof the opposite sex from the patient, re-duced to ashes and ingested, was once con-sidered a cure for erysipelas (Black 1883:190). An amulet made from elder on whichthe sun had never shone was a seventeenth-century remedy for erysipelas (Blochwich1665: 54). More prosaically, in Ulster,salted butter was a cure for erysipelas(Hickey 1938: 268). Frogspawn was used inthe Scottish Highlands (Beith 1995: 176).

Herbs used to treat the condition inScotland were stonecrop (Sedum acre),blackberry leaves (Beith 1995: 244, 209),and herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)(Gregor 1881: 47). In East Anglia, agri-mony was used (Agrimonia eupatoria) (Tay-lor MSS).

In North American folk medicine, a sim-ilar medley of magical and practical reme-dies for erysipelas has been reported.Amulets worn for erysipelas include elder(as in Britain) (Puckett 1981: 368) andgreen glass beads (Whitney and Bullock1925: 93). There are a number of cures in-volving fire—for instance, passing a shovelof burning coal in front of a patient, prac-ticed in Maryland (Whitney and Bullock1925: 90), or striking sparks from an Indianarrowhead (Hyatt 1965: 264). In Pennsyl-vania there was a blacksmith credited withthe power to heal erysipelas (Shoemaker1951: 2). There, as in Ireland, the diseasewas also known as “wildfire.” Blood fromeither a black cat (as in Ireland) or blackhen was used in Pennsylvania (Weiser1954: 6, 14). Rubbing with a dead toad wassuggested in Indiana (Brown 1952–1964,6: 179). Also from Indiana comes the sug-gestion of collecting nine catkins from abirch branch on a Friday morning, withoutspeaking to anyone, and rubbing them onthe affected area (Pickard and Buley 1945:79). In Pennsylvania, an ointment for treat-ing erysipelas was made from sheep tallow,elder scrapings, and goose dung (Fogel1915: 270).

144 ; Erysipelas

Simple household remedies for erysipelasinclude boric acid solution, sprinkling withstarch or wheat flour, and bathing with asolution of sodium bicarbonate or with amixture of salt and brandy, with butter-milk, with glycerine, or with egg wine.Poultices prepared from beans, or from on-ions and bran, have also been used (Meyer1985: 107–108). Herbal treatments for thecondition include a poultice of cranberries(Vaccinium vitis-idaea) (Meyer 1985: 108),a preparation made from sumac roots (Rhussp.) (Michael and Burrow 1967: 782) or theoil from infusing blossoms of dog fennel(?Anthemis cotula) in the sunshine (UCLAFolklore Archives 5_6245). In Georgia, apoultice was made from cornmeal andpeach leaves (Prunus persica) (Brown andLedford 1967: 28). In Nebraska, a poulticewas prepared from red beets and fresh-cutchewing tobacco (Black 1935: 18). Otherherbal poultices include aralia roots (Araliasp.) (Pickard and Buley 1945: 45) andhouseleek (Browne 1958: 61). Sweet fern(Comptonia peregrina) and berries or rootsof poke have also been used (Meyer 1985:108). At least some of these remedies areprobably borrowed from Native Americanusage; Anthemis cotula was given by the Ir-oquois to children with “red spots” (Her-rick 1977: 471), and peach leaves were usedby the Cherokee for a number of skin con-ditions (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 47),while the roots of Rhus copallinum wereused by the Delaware to treat skin eruptions(Tantaquidgeon 1972: 32). In addition, avery large number of other plants were usedin treating skin complaints in Native Amer-ican practice (Moerman 1998: 783–788).

See also Amulet, Blackberry, Blacksmith,Houseleek, Poke, Poultice, Toads andfrogs.



Black, Pauline Monette. Nebraska Folk Cures.Studies in Language, Literature, and Criti-cism 15. Lincoln: University of Nebraska,1935.


Blochwich, Martin. Anatomia Sambuci: or, the An-atomie of the Elder. 1665.


Brown, Judy, and Lizzie Ledford. Superstitions.Foxfire 1(2), (1967): 25–28.



Gregor, Walter. Notes on the Folk-Lore of theNorth-East of Scotland. London: Publi-cations of the Folklore Society, vol. 7, 1881.



Hickey, E. M. “Medical Superstitions in Ireland.”Ulster Medical Journal 2 (1938).



Michael, Max, Jr., and Mark V. Burrow. “‘OldTimey’ Remedies of Yesterday and Today.”Journal of the Florida Medical Association54(8) (August 1967): 778–784.


Perth Kirk Session Record, May 1623.Pickard, Madge E., and R. Carlyle Buley. The

Midwest Pioneer, His Ills, Cures and Doctors.Crawfordsville, Indiana: R. E. Banta, 1945.

Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-

Evil eye : 145

stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, AnnaCasetta, and Sondra B. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.

Radford, E., and M. A. Radford. Encyclopaedia ofSuperstitions. London, n.d.


Shoemaker, Alfred L. “Blacksmith Lore.” Pennsyl-vania Dutchman 3(6) (August 1, 1951).



Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic.Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1973.

Weiser, Rev. Daniel. “Braucherei.” PennsylvaniaDutchman 5(14) (March 15, 1954).

Whitney, Annie Weston, and Caroline CanfieldBullock. “Folklore from Maryland.” Mem-oirs of the American Folklore Society 18(1925).

Wilde, Lady (Jane). Ancient Charms, Cures andUsages of Ireland. London: Ward and Dow-ney, 1898.

Evil eyeThe idea that disease can be caused by

being “overlooked” (i.e., looked at) bysomeone with evil powers is a very ancientone, recorded in ancient Babylon five thou-sand years ago (Souter 1995: 29). It stilllingers today in folk medicine across theworld. Protection against the evil eye hasoften been provided by wearing amulets.The ancient Egyptians used as an amuletthe eye of Horus, while in Rome horseshoeswere nailed to the doors of houses to pro-vide protection against the evil eye (Souter1995: 31), a practice still current in Britainand elsewhere. In the nineteenth century inboth England and Scotland there was still afirm belief that certain individuals possessedthe evil eye, and its effects were countered

with elaborate ceremonies (Black 1883: 22–23). As recently as the early years of thetwentieth century, Tongue recalls as a childbeing hidden when a certain woman passedby. The woman was thought to have theevil eye since she praised a young child whosubsequently died (Tongue 1965: 68). Por-ter describes several twentieth-century in-dividuals in East Anglia who were thoughtto possess the evil eye (Porter 1974: 154–155). Protection against it could be ob-tained by using certain plants, such as mug-wort (Black 1883: 201). A witch in aNorfolk village in the twentieth century wasreported to have obtained services free fromher neighbors, for fear of her powers of“overlooking.” She was never allowed tolook at a newborn baby, “for fear of the EvilEye” (Taylor 1929: 129–130).

Similar beliefs are to be found in NorthAmerican folk medicine. As in Britain, cer-tain people regarded as having the evil eyewere not allowed to look at a baby (UCLAFolklore Archives 11_5413). Headaches inbabies were thought to be caused by the evileye (Jones 1951: 17). Amulets worn to avertthe evil eye include a locket in the shape ofa heart and a red spot on the forehead.When meeting a cross-eyed person it hasbeen suggested that one must cross one’sfingers to avert the evil eye (Brown 1952–1964, 7: 136). A red ribbon helped to pro-tect a baby against the evil eye; alternatively,written prayers could be used as an amulet,or crossing oneself could provide protection(Puckett 1981: 131, 1078, 1079). Snakeskin or snake heads have also been used asamulets (Cannon 1984: 319). In the Mex-ican tradition there was a belief that whenadmiring a child, it was necessary to touchthe child at the same time, to ward off theevil eye (Dodson 1932: 84). Protectioncould be had by embroidering spiders onthe child’s clothing or giving it coral to wear(Baca 1969: 2174). In the Native Americantradition garlic, among its many powers,

146 ; Excreta

was thought to ward off the evil eye (UCLAFolklore Archives 9_6794).

See also Amulet, Mexican tradition,Mugwort, Native American tradition,Witch.

ReferencesBaca, Josephine Elizabeth. “Some Health Beliefs

of the Spanish Speaking.” American Journalof Nursing 69 (October 1969): 2172–2176.




Dodson, Ruth. “Folk Curing among the Mexi-cans.” Publications of the Texas Folklore So-ciety 10 (1932): 82–98.

Jones, Louis C. “The Evil Eye among European-Americans.” Western Folklore 10 (1951):11–25.






ExcretaThe dung of a wide range of animals has

been used in British folk medicine fromearly times to the present day. It is not al-

ways appreciated that official medicine em-ployed animal products, including theirfeces, and that at least some of the folk usesmay in fact have been derived from bookknowledge. William Salmon’s English Phy-sician of 1693 gives the official uses of thedung of no fewer than thirty-four differentbirds and beasts (Salmon 1693). In folkmedicine the excreta of various animals hasbeen used. Sheep droppings have been usedin the Scottish Highlands as an infusion inmilk for smallpox, and fresh pig dung hasserved to staunch a nosebleed (Marwick1975: 130). Sheep’s dung and water havebeen used to treat jaundice and whoopingcough in Scotland (Gregor 1881: 46).Mixed with porter and sulphur, it was usedto treat children in Ireland with measles inthe nineteenth century (Black 1883: 157).Cowpats were used to poultice wounds inHampshire in the nineteenth century(Black 1883: 161) and to help in the re-moval of splinters (Hatfield 1994: 11). Asa hot poultice, cow dung has been used totreat a badly swollen knee (Prince 1991:111) and to bring an abscess to a head (Al-len 1995: 42). A Yorkshire remedy for ar-thritis was a poultice of cow dung andvinegar (Souter 1995: 135). In Scotlandcow dung has also been used to treatblotches on the face, as well as “quinsy,” ortonsillitis (Beith 1995: 172). Bird dung hasbeen used as a remedy for baldness. Thewhite part of hen’s dirt has been used todraw pus (Beith 1995: 173). Human feces,dried and powdered, have been blown intothe eyes for blindness (Beith 1995: 173). Inthe eighteenth century, in his Flora Scotica,Lightfoot (Lightfoot 1777) recorded the useof human feces as a poultice for snake bite(Beith 1995: 173). Logan records the useof human excrement in Ireland in the treat-ment of quinsy, inflammation, scalds andburns, gout, and erysipelas (Logan 1972:154).

In North American folk medicine thereis a similar usage of dung. Human excre-

Excreta : 147

ment has been used to treat “felons” (in-fected sores usually under the finger nail)(see, for example, Welsch 1966: 368). InSpanish American folk medicine, it hasbeen used to treat scorpion bites (UCLAFolklore Archives 12_6180) and cramps(Espinosa 1910: 411). It has been claimedto be commonly used to treat toothache inthe New World and Spain (Foster 1953:213–214.) Dried and powdered, it has beenrecommended for epilepsy and for inter-mittent fevers (Saul 1949: 65). Burying ina hole in a tree the excrement of a personsuffering from asthma is said to be a cureof African American origin (Hyatt 1970, 1:386). Chicken excrement has been used totreat hives in children (Hendricks 1966:48), as well as warts (Puckett 1981: 474),diphtheria (UCLA Folklore Archives9_6261), whooping cough (Anderson1970: 91), and as a deterrent to thumb-sucking (Frankel 1977: 128). Sheep dunghas been used particularly in the treatmentof measles (see, for instance, Wheeler1892–1893: 66), as in Ireland. This prac-tice has also been recorded among theMohegan (Tantaquidgeon 1928: 268). Ithas also been used to treat scarlet fever(Brendle and Unger 1935: 90) and hives(Anderson 1970: 42). The water collectingon cowpats has been used to treat warts(Waugh 1918: 23). Cow excrement hasbeen used, like that of sheep, as an infusionto treat measles (Anderson 1970: 51). As apoultice it has been applied to boils (Win-temberg 1950: 11) and for rheumatism(Wintemberg 1918: 127). The dung spe-cifically of a black cow has been suggestedas a treatment for a whitlow (inflammationof finger or toe, especially at the nail) (Rid-dell 1934: 43), and again the cowpat andurine of a black cow are recommended forscabs (Bourke 1894: 139–140). Dog excre-ment has been applied to the stomach forindigestion (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 220).White dog feces are specified as a treatmentfor sore throat (Saucier 1956: 23) and

pneumonia (Parler 1962: 819). There arerecords of the use of dog feces among Na-tive Americans in Mexico in the treatmentof burns and scalds (Vogel 1970: 214). Hogdung has been used to treat diphtheria(Hoffman 1889: 29), nosebleed (Riddell1934: 43), and mumps (Brendle and Unger1935: 137). Goose dung has been used totreat burns and erysipelas (Brendle and Un-ger 1935: 82, 153). Finally, wolf dung wasrecorded by Josselyn in the seventeenth cen-tury as a treatment for colic (Josselyn 1833:238).

See also Abscesses, Asthma, Baldness,Boils, Burns, Colic, Cramp, Erysipelas,Eye problems, Felons, Gout, Hives,Indigestion, Jaundice, Nosebleed,Poultice, Quinsy, Rheumatism, Smallpox,Snake bite, Sore throat, Toothache,Warts, Whooping cough, Wounds.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Anderson, John Q. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin:

Encino Press, 1970.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-


Black, W. G. Folk-Medicine: A Chapter in the His-tory of Culture. London: Folklore Society,1883. Reprinted New York: Burt Franklin,1970.





Foster, George M. “Relationships between Span-ish and Spanish-American Folk Medicine.”

148 ; Eye problems

Journal of American Folklore 66 (1953):201–217.

Frankel, Barbara. Childbirth in the Ghetto: FolkBeliefs of Negro Women in a North Philadel-phia Hospital Ward. San Francisco: R and EResearch Associates, 1977.

Gregor, Walter. Notes on the Folk-Lore of theNorth-East of Scotland. London: Publi-cations of the Folk-Lore Society, vol. 7,1881.



Hoffman, W. J. “Folk-Lore of the PennsylvaniaGermans.” Journal of American Folklore 2(1889): 23–35.

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Hoodoo, Conjuration,Witchcraft, Rootwork. 5 vols. New York:Memoirs of the Alma Egan Hyatt Foun-dation, 1970.

Josselyn, John. Two Voyages to New England.Cambridge, MA: Historical Society Collec-tion III, 1833.

Lightfoot, J. Flora Scotica. London, 1777.Logan, Patrick. Making the Cure: A Look at Irish

Folk Medicine. Dublin: Talbot Press, 1972.Marwick, Ernest. The Folklore of Orkney and Shet-

land. London: Batsford, 1975.Parler, Mary Celestia, and University Student

Contributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas. 15volumes. Fayetteville: University of Arkan-sas, 1962.



Riddell, William Renwick. “Some Old CanadianFolk Medicine.” Canada Lancet and Prac-titioner 83 (August 1934): 41–44.


Saucier, Corinne L. Traditions de la Paroisse desAvoyelles en Louisiande. Philadelphia: Amer-ican Folklore Society, 1956.

Saul, F. William, MD. Pink Pills for Pale People.Philadelphia: Dorrance, 1949.


Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. “Mohegan MedicinalPractices, Weather Lore and Superstitions.”In Forty-third Annual Report of the Bureauof American Ethnology, 1925–1926. Wash-ington, DC: 1928.


Waugh, F. W. “Canadian Folk-Lore from On-tario.” Journal of American Folklore 31(1918): 4–82.

Welsch, Roger L. A Treasure of Nebraska PioneerFolklore. Lincoln: University of NebraskaPress, 1966.

Wheeler, Helen M. “Illinois Folk-Lore.” The Folk-Lorist 1 (1892–1893): 55–68.


Wintemberg, W. J. Folk-Lore of Waterloo County,Ontario. Bulletin 116. Anthropological Se-ries 28. Ontario: National Museum of Can-ada, 1950.

Eye problemsBritish folk medicine has recommenda-

tions for most eye problems. For foreignbodies in the eye, the seeds of clary (Salviaverbenaca) were used (Allen and Hatfield,in press). In contact with the film of wateron the surface of the eye, the mucilaginousseeds swell up, and particles in the eye canbe easily removed along with the swollenseed. For stys, infections of the rim of theeye, rubbing with hair from the tail of ablack cat or with a gold wedding ring wasrecommended (Black 1883: 116, 173). InIreland, a cure was to pick ten thorns of thegooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa). One wasthrown away, nine were pointed to the eyeand then buried (Vickery 1995: 155). Zincsulphate solution was used to bathe soreeyes (Prince 1991: 107).

Eye problems : 149

In the Scottish Highlands, individualswere credited with the power to soothe eyeinflammations by rubbing the eye with astone on which they had placed soot andspittle (Beith 1995: 94). Foreign particleswere often removed from a child’s eyes bythe mother licking them out (Beith 1995:103); this was thought to be more effectiveif a frog’s eye were licked first (Beith 1995:176). For a sty one recommendation in theScottish Highlands was to stand on one’shead in the sea until nine waves had passedover, or to count to one hundred withoutdrawing breath (Beith 1995: 135). Askinga man on a white horse to remove a sty wasa method practiced in Aberdeenshire (Beith1995: 178). Among the Celts, the gall ofthe hare was used to treat eye problems(Beith 1995: 177). In the west Highlands,a cure for blindness was to dry and powderhuman excrement and blow it into the eyes(Beith 1995: 173). For inflammation of theeyelid, a poultice of watercress (Rorippanasturtium-aquaticum) was used in East An-glia (Hatfield 1994: 37). If just one eye wassore, a remedy from Suffolk suggested anointment of egg white, red ochre, bay salt,and finely chopped leaves of hemlock (Co-nium maculatum), to be applied to thehealthy eye (Porter 1974: 43). Water col-lected among the basal leaves of teasel (Dip-sacus fullonum) was widely suggested tosooth sore eyes (Latham 1878: 45). The liq-uid from boiled mallow leaves was used tobathe sore eyes in Cornwall (Vickery 1995:230). In parts of Norfolk, the commonspeedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) was knownas “sore eyes” because an infusion of thelittle blue flowers was used for this purpose(Hatfield 1994: 37). The juice of houseleekwas dripped into children’s eyes to treatconjunctivitis (Hatfield 1994: 37). For in-fections of the eye the herb eyebright (Eu-phrasia officinalis), as its country namesuggests, was widely used. In the ScottishHighlands eyebright was infused in milkand applied to the eye with a feather (Beith

1995: 215). Daisy flowers (Bellis perennis)were also used in Scotland for eye troubles,as were the flowers of plantains (Plantagolanceolata and Plantago media) (Beith 1995:213, 234). For eyestrain and tired eyes, aslice of cucumber laid on the closed eyes, ora moistened teabag were recommended.Compresses made from the flowers ofchamomile and infusions made from theshoots of ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea)were other applications used for sore eyes(Hatfield 1994: 37). For a black eye, witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana) was recom-mended, or a piece of raw steak laid on theeye. In the Scottish Highlands, a slice of rawpotato was used (Beith 1995: 235). Eatingraw seaweed was thought to improve eye-sight (Beith 1995: 241). For failing eye-sight, the flowers of the cornflower(Centaurea cyanus) have been used as an in-fusion at least since the eighteenth century.This flower, once a common field weed, isnow comparatively scarce. In the eighteenthcentury it was known as “break spectacleswater,” so high was its reputation (GuntonHousehold Book). Ulcers of the eye used tobe termed “kennings”; a country remedy forthese was an ointment made from thecreeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens),which in some parts of England was knownas “kenning herb.” Another herb used forthis purpose was the greater celandine(Chelidonium majus) (Davey, 1909: 10,23). In Devon scarlet pimpernell (Anagallisarvensis) was used to treat sore eyes (Vickery1995: 336). In Cornwall leaves of the treemallow (Lavatera arborea) were used totreat kennings or stys (Vickery 1995: 375).

In North American folk medicine manyof the same remedies as in Britain have beenrecorded, as well as many more besides. Forsore eyes, zinc sulphate was again recom-mended as an eyewash, or boracic powder,or simply warm water or milk, ordinary tea,diluted witch hazel extract (Hamamelis vir-giniana), cheeseplant (Malva neglecta)leaves, or roots in infusion, or water in

150 ; Eye problems

which seeds of quince (Cydonia oblonga)have been soaked. Sassafras twigs boiled andwith mare’s milk added, an infusion of blueviolet (Viola cucullata) tops and roots, thebark of green ozier (Cornus circinata), rootsof basswood (Tilia americana), chamomile(Chamaemelum nobile) simmered in milk,the old leaves of a beech tree (Fagus gran-difolia) steeped in water, rosewater andwitch hazel, eyebright (Euphrasia officin-alis), and purple loosestrife (Lythrum sali-caria)—all formed eyewashes. Poultices forsoothing sore eyes were made from gratedraw potato, beetroot, slippery elm (Ulmusfulva), or cold tea. Fumes from cajuput oil(Melaleuca cajuputi) were found beneficial.Golden seal (Hydrastis canadensis), some-times combined with other herbs, waswidely used (Meyer 1985: 109–114). Flax-seed (Linum spp.) was widely used to treateye problems. The seeds were used, likethose of clary in Britain, to aid removal offoreign particles in the eye. The plant wasalso used to treat eye problems in generaland was still found to be widely used in the1960s (Humphrey 1970: 287–290). For ablack eye, raw steak was used, as in Britain.Other recommendations include a poulticeof slippery elm or of the fresh mashed rootsof Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum spp.), orbathing with hot water, an infusion of hys-sop (Hyssopus officinalis) leaves, or a decoc-tion of the roots of soapwort (Saponariaofficinalis) (Meyer 1985: 112).

The amount of folklore surrounding thesubject of stys is enormous. As in Britain,the tail of a black cat or rubbing with a goldring are suggested cures (Kimmerle andGelber 1976 [unpublished]: 31). Con-versely, there is an idea that cats cause stys(Cannon 1984: 126). Another frequentlycited “cause” is urinating on the sidewalk(Puckett 1981: 456). Even looking at an-other person’s stys can cause them in theviewer (Parler 1962, 3: 939). Carrying anutmeg as an amulet is claimed to preventstys (Bergen 1899: 100), while carrying a

sweet potato is said to cure them (Parler1962, 3: 938). Other cures include salt pork(Simon 1953: 93) or fresh urine (UCLAFolklore Archives 1_6515). Passing over thesty a pebble or a doorknob that has gathereddew is a suggested cure from the westernSouth (Perez 1951: 110). There are abouta thousand cures for stys recorded in theUCLA Folklore Archive.

Many of the plants mentioned in thesecures have been reported in use by NativeAmericans for eye problems. Witch hazel,for instance, has been used by the Chip-pewa to treat sore eyes (Gilmore 1933: 31).Sassafras has been used by five differenttribes as an eye medicine (Moerman 1998:519–520). Slippery elm bark has been usedby the Iroquois, the Catawba, and the Pot-awatomi for sore eyes (Moerman 1998:577). Flaxseed (Linum spp.) has been usedby the Great Basin Indian, the Paiute, theShoshoni, the White Mountain Apache,and the Ramah Navajo to prepare eye med-icine (Moerman 1998: 309). Eyedrops havebeen prepared from Golden Seal by the Ir-oquois (Moerman 1998: 270). In addition,a great number of other plants have beenused in the treatment of eyes by NativeAmericans; about two hundred differentgenera are recorded by Moerman (Moer-man 1998: 793–794).

See also Amulet, Dew, Elm, Excreta,Golden seal, Houseleek, Mallow,Poultice, Sassafras, Toads and frogs.

ReferencesAllen, David E., and Gabrielle Hatfield. British

and Irish Plants in Folk Medicine. Portland,OR: Timber Press, in press.


Bergen, Fanny D. “Animal and Plant Lore Col-lected from the Oral Tradition of EnglishSpeaking Folk.” Memoirs of the AmericanFolklore Society 7 (1899).


Eye problems : 151



Davey, F. Hamilton. Flora of Cornwall. Penryn:F. Clegwidden,1909.

Gilmore, Melvin R. Some Chippewa Uses of Plants.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,1933.

Gunton Household Book. Collection of seven-teenth and eighteenth-century remedies,Church of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich.


Humphrey, William T. “Flaxseeds in OphthalmicFolk Medicine.” American Journal of Oph-thalmology 70(2) (August 1970): 287–290.


Latham, C. “Some West Sussex Superstitions StillLingering in 1868.” Folk-Lore Record 1(1878): 1–67.




Perez, Soledad. “Mexican Folklore from Austin,Texas.” Publications of the Texas Folklore So-ciety 24 (1951): 71–127.




Simon, Gladys Hughes. “Beliefs and Customs Re-ported by Students at Tokyo AmericanSchool.” Western Folklore 12 (1953): 85–93.


; F:

FatAnimal fats have been used as remedies

for a wide variety of ailments, as well as thebasis of ointments. In the Scottish High-lands, bruises were treated with butter or fatbacon, and butter with oatmeal was used tobring boils to a head and to soothe chappedskin. The fat of deer was especially valuedas a basis for ointments and was also usedto treat chapped hands and feet. Snake biteswere treated with butter from a cow of onecolor (preferably white) (Beith 1995: 173–174). In England, goose grease was appliedto burns (a practice not recommended to-day) and, spread on brown paper, was usedas a wrap for the chest during the winter,to help ward off colds and infection. It wasalso used to treat chapped hands (Souter1995: 142). In Wales, pork fat has beenused to treat ringworm, and smeared onmuslin it has formed a wrap for sore throat.Butter was rubbed onto sore lips or noses,and into the hair to treat head lice. Goosegrease was rubbed into swollen joints (Jones1980: 62). Clarified lard (usually pork lard)was used as the basis for many ointments(Prince 1991: 107).

In North American folk medicine, fatshave been used similarly. Pork fat hastreated boils; lard and brown sugar havebeen applied to bruises; butter or lard hasbeen applied to burns (Brown 1952–1964,6: 130, 135–137). Goose grease has been

rubbed into muscles to make them suppleand with molasses has been used to treatcroup (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 167, 236).Lard has been used as the basis for oint-ments—for example, for treating piles(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 249). Grease froma buzzard, goat, or black dog has been usedas a rheumatism treatment (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 255–256). Pork fat and snake fathave both been used to treat snake bites(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 278–279). Bear fatwas highly regarded in nineteenth-centurydomestic medicine and was used to treatquinsy and stiff joints (Meyer 1985: 19).Hedgehog fat, eel oil, and skunk oil haveall been used to clear the wax from ears(Meyer 1985: 103), and whale oil has beenapplied to athlete’s foot (Meyer 1985: 116).

See also Boils, Bruises, Burns, Chappedskin, Colds, Croup, Piles, Quinsy,Rheumatism, Ringworm, Snake bite, Sorethroat.






154 ; Felons



FelonsIn folk medicine this term has been ap-

plied mainly to the inflamed sores on fin-gers known today as “whitlows.” However,it has also sometimes referred to other skinconditions. Various native plants have beenused in British folk medicine to treat felons.Navelwort (Umbilicus rupestris) has beenused in the Isle of Man (Roeder 1897). Inthe seventeenth century, Parkinson re-corded that country people used crushedberries of bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara)to treat felons (Parkinson 1640: 350), andin some English counties this plant isknown as felon-wood or felon-wort. Par-kinson also recorded the use of butterwort(Pinguicula vulgaris) for hands chapped bywind, known as felons (Parkinson 1640:534). In the eighteenth century a poulticeof the very poisonous hemlock water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) was used forfelons (Watson 1746: 228). In Ireland,hounds tongue (Cynoglossum officinale) wasused to treat arm rashes, known as felons(Colgan 1904: 309). There are a number offolk medical records from Ireland for treat-ing whitlows, named as such, in the twen-tieth century. They include gorse (Ulexeuropaeus), bugle (Ajuga reptans), mouse-earhawkweed (Hieracium pilosella), daisy (Bel-lis perennis), chamomile (Chamaemelumnobile), and bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) (Allen and Hatfield, in press). So-called whitlow-grass (Draba verna) wasrecommended in the herbals, but there areno convincing records of its use in folk asopposed to official medicine.

In North American folk medicine thereare various miscellaneous cures for felons,

such as tying on a toad bone or applying asalve of soap and turpentine (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 186). A hand that has squeezed amole to death is believed to be capable ofcuring a felon (Porter 1894: 111). Placingthe sore finger into the ear of a cat (Fogel1915: 272) is a felon cure that depends ontransference. An alternative was to place thepalm of the hand on the grass and cut outthe turf in the shape of the hand. The sodwas then turned, and in the time the grasstook to rot away the felon would heal(Puckett 1981: 375). In the African tradi-tion, felons, also known as “ring-arounds,”were treated with the patient’s urine, withcow dung or by pressing the affected fingerinto the mud (Hyatt 1965: 327). Plantremedies include lemon, sweet potatoleaves, and red pepper pods (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 186). Poultices of raw onion or ofsassafras root bark, smartweed (Polygonumsp.), yellow dock root, blue flag root (Irisversicolor), white birch bark (Betula papyri-fera), poke root, Jack-in-the-pulpit (Ari-saema sp.), or true love leaves (Trilliumerectum) are other recommendations(Meyer 1985: 120–123). Poultices of redoak bark (Quercus sp.) (Browne 1958: 64)or jimson weed (Datura sp.) (Puckett 1981:375) have been recommended. In the Mex-ican tradition, warmed prickly pear with thethorns removed was used as a poultice(Dodson 1932: 85–86). A remedy from theNative American tradition is a salve pre-pared from the bark of wild red cherry (Pru-nus serotina) (Meyer 1985: 122).

See also African tradition, Birch, Dock,Earth, Excreta, Mexican tradition, Poke,Poultice, Sassafras, Transference, Urine.



Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices fromAlabama. Folklore Studies 9. Berkeley and

Fevers : 155

Los Angeles: University of CaliforniaPublications, 1958.

Colgan, Nathaniel. Flora of the County Dublin.Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1904.






Porter, J. Hampden. “Notes on the Folk-Lore ofthe Mountain Whites of the Alleghenies.”Journal of American Folklore 7 (1894): 105–111.


Roeder, C. “Contribution to the Folk Lore of theSouth of the Isle of Man.” Yn Lioar Man-ninagh 3 (1897): 129–191.

Watson, W. “Critical observations concerning theOenanthe aquatica, succo viroso crocante ofLobel..,” Philosophical Transactions of theRoyal Society 44 (1746): 227–242.

FeversUntil late in the nineteenth century, ma-

laria was endemic in large areas of Britain.This was one of the illnesses often referredto as “ague.” Folk medical treatment for itincluded willow bark. It was observation ofthis practice by the Rev. Edward Stone inthe eighteenth century that eventually ledto identification of the salicylates and laterto the development of aspirin. Other treebarks too were employed in fever treatment,notably poplar (Tongue 1965: 40). In the

fenland districts of England, where theabundant marshes made malaria a particu-lar problem, opium poppies were frequentlygrown for the relief they could bring. Ascommercial “laudanum” became availableand cheap, it rapidly became a householditem for most fenland families.

In the seventeenth century, according tothe botanist John Ray, many people woreleaves of toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) underthe soles of their feet to ward off certaintypes of fever (Ewen and Prime 1975: 80).Fuller’s teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) was usedas a fever cure in some parts of England(Black 1883: 202). Tansy (Tanacetum par-thenium) leaves were worn in the shoes toprevent ague (Borlase 1758: 126). Black-thorn berries (Prunus spinosa) were used inthe Scottish Highlands for treating fevers(Beith 1995: 205). In the Inner Hebrides,poultices of chickweed were applied to theneck and shoulders of a person recoveringfrom fever. Ladies smock (Cardamine pra-tense) and butterbur (Petasites albus) areother plants used to treat fevers in the Scot-tish Highlands (Beith 1995: 209, 213). Inthe eighteenth century, tea was made fromdried mistletoe for treating fevers, a remedystill in use at the end of the nineteenth cen-tury (Beith 1995: 227–228). Onions hungin the house were thought to attract fevers,and the survival of one family in an epi-demic that wiped out most of the village inthe eighteenth century in Angus, Scotland,was attributed to the fact that the house hadbeen “hung about” with onions (Hatfield1999: 108). The great Celtic hero Cu-Chulainn was said to have been cured of afever by bathing in a meadowsweet infusion(Filipendula ulmaria) (Beith 1995: 236). InBedfordshire one woman was renowned forher cures of fevers using meadowsweet andgreen wheat (Aubrey 1881: 255). An infu-sion of sorrel (Rumex acetosa) was given asa cooling drink during fevers (Beith 1995:243). Wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) wasused similarly (Beith 1995: 251). Pine bark

156 ; Fevers

was used in the Scottish Highlands in thetreatment of agues (Beith 1995: 233).

Some fever treatments depended ontransference; for example, ague was some-times treated by making a cake with barleymeal and the urine of the sufferer, and giv-ing the cake to a dog to eat (Black 1883:35). In parts of Scotland, blue woollenthreads worn around the neck were thoughtto avert fever (Black 1883: 113). In Nor-thamptonshire a lace given freely by awoman must be worn by a fever sufferer fornine days (Notes and Queries: 36). In EastAnglia in the nineteenth century, notchesin a stick were cut equal in number to theattacks of fever. A stone was then tied to thestick, which was secretly thrown into apond, taking the fever with it (Black 1883:58). A spider worn in a nutshell around theneck was held to cure fever. This remedy,still practiced in Leicestershire in the nine-teenth century, can be traced back to Dios-corides (Black 1883: 59). In the west ofScotland, pills made from cobwebs wereused to treat fevers (Black 1883: 60). Theright foot of a dead black dog hung on thearm was said in Scotland to be a fever cure(Black 1883: 148). Pieces of rose quartzknown as “fever stones” were also used inScotland. They were dipped into water,and the water was drunk to cure the fever(Beith 1995: 154). Also in the Highlands ofScotland, otter skin was used to make a po-tion for curing fevers (Beith 1995: 180).Apples, combined with charms, were alsoused to treat a fever (Beith 1995: 203). InHampshire, ague patients were given thesnuff of a tallow candle on sugared breadand butter to eat (Black 1883: 183).

In Ireland, a son born after his father’sdeath was held to have the power to curefevers, as was the seventh son of a seventhson (Wilde 1919: 205). Inhaling the smellof a burning leather shoe was claimed toprevent fevers in Nottinghamshire (Addy1895: 92).

Some folk medical treatments were

thought to “draw out” the fever. Warmedsalt placed inside socks is a gypsy cure re-ported from Hampshire (Prince 1991:124). In South Wales, a woollen sock wasfilled with earthworms and placed around afeverish child’s neck (Prince 1991: 119).“Melts” from the butcher’s shop tied to achild’s feet were another fever remedy fromHampshire (Prince 1991: 109).

In North American folk medicine, vari-ous poultices were similarly applied to thesoles of the feet to “draw” fevers. Onionswere used in this way, as were heated bagsof hops, slices of potato, and horseradishleaves (Meyer 1985: 128). Salt has beenused similarly, as in Britain (Brown 1952–1964: 149). A freshly killed chicken splitopen and applied to the chest was a remedyfrom Indiana (Brown 1952–1964: 187).Examples of transference of fevers fromNorth American folk medicine includeboring a hole in the south side of a tree;the patient blows into the hole, which isthen plugged (UCLA Folklore Archives1_5684). A method reported from NewEngland involved cutting a number of wil-low rods corresponding to the hour of theday, then burning the rods one at a time,pronouncing at the same time that as therod burns, the ague will depart (Black 1883:58).

Amulets used to cure fevers include a spi-der worn around the neck, as in Britain (Si-mons 1954: 2). A bag of asafoetida (Ferulaassafoetida) hung around the neck wasclaimed to ward off fevers (Lary 1953: 11).An undyed woollen cord worn by a motherwas thought to protect a child from feversuntil it was weaned (Editor 1893: 66)(compare this with the blue woollen threadmentioned above as used in Scotland). Asuggestion from Pennsylvania is that threekinds of food set out on the window sill onChristmas Eve and eaten the followingmorning will prevent fevers, as will eatinghailstones on Ascension Day (Brendle1951: 1, 7). In North Carolina it has been

Fevers : 157

Until the late nineteenth century, malaria was endemic in large areas of Britain. This was one of theillnesses often referred to as “ague.” Pictured here is Ayer’s Ague Cure “Warranted To Cure All MalarialDisorders.” (National Library of Medicine)

suggested that keeping an ear of purple cornin the house will keep away fevers (Clark1961: 11) From Mississippi there is a reportof a custom of hanging empty blue quininebottles on tree limbs beside a house to wardoff fevers (Orr 1969: 109).

Of cures ingested for fever, one of thenastiest-sounding is pills made from driedand powdered human excrement (Saul1949: 65). Rattlesnake gall mixed with claywas made into pills for fever (Masterson1946: 185).

Dietary recommendations in fevers werevery numerous in North American folkmedicine. Eating water melons or bilberries(two kinds, black and sky colored) (Cobb1917: 103) was recommended, and drink-ing sarsaparilla mead was very popular inthe eighteenth century (Pickard and Buley1945: 267). Peppermint tea was also rec-ommended (Puckett 1981: 377). Straw-berry leaf tea was another cooling drinkrecommended during fevers (Hoffman1889: 29).

Herbal preparations used in NorthAmerican folk medicine for fever treatmentare very numerous and include willow (as

in Britain, although probably different spe-cies) and snakeroot (Aristolochia sp.), com-bined with white-walnut bark peeledupward (Juglans cinerea) (Pickard and Buley1945: 40). In Tennessee pennyroyal tea(Hedeoma pulegioides) and lobelia tea weregiven for a “slow fever” to clear out the poi-son, while feverweed tea (?Triosteum perfol-iatum) was given to counteract the hightemperature of the patient (Rogers 1941:15, 17). Another simple remedy for feversfrom Tennessee was to swallow peppercornsas pills (Wilson 1965: 36). Other plantsused in fever treatment include boneset,also known as “ague weed,” borage (Boragosp. or ?Cryptantha sp.), and slippery elm(Lick and Brendle 1922: 70, 86). Dogwood(Cornus sanguinea) has been used particu-larly in the treatment of malaria (Cadwal-lader and Wilson 1965: 221). In Kansas, atea made from black oak (Quercus velutina)was used to treat malaria (Parler 1962:516).

Among numerous other plant remediesfor fevers, a tea made from the black jackvine (Berchemia scandens) or a poulticemade from castor bean leaves (Ricinus com-

158 ; Fevers

munis) was used in Georgia (Campbell1953: 3). A tea made from cherry and applebark mixed was used in North Carolina(Brown 1952–1964: 187). In the easternstates a tea was made from evening primrose(Oenothera biennis) for fevers (Bergen 1893:142). A tea made from five finger grass (Po-tentilla sp.) has been used in Alabama(Browne 1958: 65); broom weed (?Gutier-rezia sp.) in Texas (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives record number 11_5379); and theroot of wolfsbane (Aconitum sp.) in theGreat Smokies (Peattie 1943: 118). Othersuggestions for fever treatment include theinner membrane of the pomegranate(Bourke 1894: 127) and a poultice of cin-namon and saliva, used in California(UCLA Folklore Archives record number3_6249). Many of these plant remediesclearly originate from Native Americanpractice—for example, the use of slipperyelm and of boneset in fevers (Vogel 1970:303). Others, such as asafoetida, may havetheir origins in official herbalism. Yet oth-ers, such as elder, could have come fromeither tradition. (For the numerous otherplants used by the Native Americans totreat fevers, see Moerman 1998: 794–796.)

See also Amulet, Apple, Boneset,Chickweed, Dog, Elder, Elm, Excreta,Lobelia, Mistletoe, Onion, Otter, Poppy,Poultice, Seventh son, Spider,Transference, Willow.


Traditional Remains Collected in the Coun-ties of York, Lincoln, Derby and Nottingham.London, 1895.

Aubrey, John. Remaines of Gentilisme and Juda-isme. Edited and annotated by James Brit-ten. London, 1881.


Bergen, Fanny D. “Popular American Plant

Names II.” Journal of American Folklore 6(1893): 135–142.

Black, W. G. Folk Medicine. A Chapter in the His-tory of Culture. London: Folklore Society,1883.

Borlase, William. The Natural History of Cornwall.Oxford: privately published, 1758.

Bourke, John G. “Popular Medicine, Customs,and Superstitions of the Rio Grande.” Jour-nal of American Folklore 7 (1894): 119–146.

Brendle, Rev. Thomas R. “Customs of the Yearin the Dutch Country.” PennsylvaniaDutchman 3 (November 15, 1951): 12.




Campbell, Marie. “Folk Remedies from SouthGeorgia.” Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin19 (1953): 1–4.

Clark, Joseph D. “Superstitions from North Car-olina.” North Carolina Folklore 9(2) (1961):4–22.

Cobb, Carolus M. “Some Medical Practicesamong the New England Indians and EarlySettlers.” Boston Medical and Surgical Jour-nal 177(4) (1917): 97–105.

Editor. “Folk-Lore Scrap Book.” Journal of Amer-ican Folklore 6 (1893): 63–67.

Ewen A. H., and C. T. Prime. Ray’s Flora of Cam-bridgeshire. Hitchin: Wheldon and Wesley,1975.


Hoffman, W. J., MD. “Folk-Lore of the Penn-sylvania Germans.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 2 (1889): 23–35.

Lary, Preston A. “William’s Township Lore.”Pennsylvania Dutchman 5(2) (June 1953).

Lick, David E., and Thomas R. Brendle. “Plant

Fish : 159

Names and Plant Lore among the Pennsyl-vania Germans.” Proceedings and Addressesof the Pennsylvania German Society 33(1922).

Masterson, James R. “Travellers’ Tales of ColonialNatural History.” Journal of American Folk-lore 59 (1946): 51–67, 174–188.



Notes and Queries. London. 1st series, 2: 36.Orr, Ellen. “The Bottle Tree.” Mississippi Folklore

Register 3(2) (1969): 109–111.Parler, Mary Celestia, and University Student

Contributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas. 15vols. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas,1962.





Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practice in Ten-nessee. Murfreesboro, TN, 1941.

Saul, F. William, MD. Pink Pills for Pale People.Philadelphia: Dorrance, 1949.

Simons, Isaac Shirk. “Dutch Folk Beliefs.” Penn-sylvania Dutchman 5(14) (March 15, 1954).

Tongue, R. L. Somerset Folklore. County Folklore8. Edited by K. M. Briggs. London: Folk-lore Society, 1965.



Wilson, Gordon. “Studying Folklore in a Small

Region. VI: Folk Remedies.” TennesseeFolklore Society Bulletin 31 (1965): 33–41.

Figwort (Scrophulariaspp.)

This plant has been highly valued inBritish and especially in Irish folk medicine.In Ireland it was known as “queen of herbs”and was used as a tonic and was made intosalves for treating piles and skin conditions.One of its Irish names translates as “underelder,” indicating that it shared the magicalpowers of that tree. Like mistletoe, it wasthought to lose its effectiveness if it touchedthe ground (Allen and Hatfield, in press).It was used in England similarly for skinconditions, but less widely (Lafont 1984:36).

Different species of figwort are native toNorth America. Their use in folk medicineis relatively slight. They have been used asa blood tonic and for treating erysipelas(Meyer 1985: 40, 108). In Native Americanmedicine they have been used for skin con-ditions and as a blood tonic after childbirth,as well as for poor vision (Moerman 1998:524).

See also Elder, Erysipelas, Mistletoe, Piles,Tonic.

ReferencesAllen, David, and Gabrielle Hatfield. Medicinal





FishIn British folk medicine there are a num-

ber of remedies involving fish. For whoop-

160 ; Flax

ing cough, placing a live fish in the mouthhas been widely recommended (Black1883: 36); when it is released in the water,it swims away taking the illness with it, avery clear example of transference. Thetench, known as the doctor fish, was usedto treat jaundice (Radford and Radford1974: 339). In East Anglia in the days ofsteam trawlers, an ointment prepared fromthe liver of a fish was taken on board to healburns, a frequent occurrence on these ves-sels (Hatfield MSS). In the Scottish High-lands, the juice of the cuddy fish was usedto treat indigestion, and boiled herring wassimilarly used. Dogfish oil was given toasthma sufferers (Beith 1995: 174). Oilfrom the liver of a sting-ray was used to treatrheumatism.

In North American folk medicine, thefish has also been used as a whooping-coughtreatment (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 351).Rubbing a teething child’s gums with aminnow and returning the fish to the wateris another example of transference (Barker1941: 250). Fish oil has been rubbed intosore joints (UCLA Folklore Archive12_5423), and rubbed over the throat formumps (UCLA Folklore Archives 5_5435).Fish have been bound onto sore feet (Hyatt1965: 222), and also applied to the feet fortreating typhoid fever (Stout 1936: 190).Slime from the skin of a fish has been usedto soothe nettle stings (Welsch 1966: 359).Cod-liver oil, for most people nowadays a“shop medicine” and only marginally a partof folk medicine, has been widely used totreat rickets (Brown 1952–1964, 6), as wellas arthritis, boils, burns and piles (Miche-letti 1998: 61, 69, 153, 194).

Some Native Americans used fish-liveroil to treat rickets.

See also Asthma, Boils, Burns, Indigestion,Jaundice, Piles, Rheumatism, Rickets,Sore feet, Transference, Whooping cough.

ReferencesBarker, Catherine S. Yesterday Today. Caldwell,

ID: Caxton, 1941.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-









Flax (Linum spp.)So-called fairy flax, Linum catharticum,

is native to Britain and has been used in folkmedicine for centuries as a purge and, es-pecially in the Highlands of Scotland, for“suppressed menses” (Robertson 1768,quoted in Beith 1995: 96). It has also beenused to treat rheumatism (Pratt 1855). Cul-tivated flax, Linum usitatissimum, has beengrown as a source of fiber and of linseed,which has been used in cattle feed but alsoas a basis for poultices for man and beastalike. In present-day herbalism such poul-tices are still used. The seeds of flax swell inwater to form a thick mucilaginous mass,the basis for a poultice for treating boils andrespiratory complaints (Chevallier 1996:227).

Flax : 161

The major use of flax in folk medicine has been topoultice swellings, boils, and styes. Its use has ex-tended to the treatment of sore teeth and gums or asore and swollen throat. (Library of Congress)

In North America, Linum catharticumhas been introduced. The cultivated flax(Linum usitatissimum), being the most read-ily available, is probably the species mostwidely used in folk medicine. The majoruse of flax in folk medicine has been topoultice swellings (Meyer 1985: 243), boils(UCLA Folklore Archives 1_5296), andstys (Puckett 1981: 456). Its use has ex-tended to the treatment of sore teeth andgums (Meyer 1985: 247) or of a sore andswollen throat (Meyer 1985: 253). As inBritain, the plant has also been used to treatrespiratory complaints: pneumonia hasbeen treated with a poultice of mustard andflaxseed (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 250);whooping cough has been treated with amixture of honey and flaxseed (Clark 1970:34); and tuberculosis with lemon, honey,and flaxseed (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 308).A flaxseed poultice has treated chicken pox(Lathrop 1961: 5) and smallpox (Lathrop1961: 14), as well as infected wounds(UCLA Folklore Archives 6_5292) andeven (during the eighteenth century) bulletwounds (Vogel 1970: 129). In addition,flaxseed has been used to treat a miscellanyof other conditions. Flax seeds, which swellin water, have been used to remove foreignparticles from the eye (Puckett 1981: 360)and splinters from the flesh (Lewis 1938:267). Flaxseed has also been used as the ba-sis of a soothing drink during fevers (Meyer1985: 132), as a mild diuretic (Meyer 1985:154), and for kidney trouble (Koch 1980:63). The plant has been used to treat piles;linseed oil has been rubbed on piles, or anemulsion of the seeds used as an enema(Meyer 1985: 192). Constipation has beenrelieved by eating flaxseed (Randolph 1947:97), while diarrhea has been treated usingthe scraped root of flax (Browne 1958: 41).The water in which flaxseed has been boiledhas been applied for headache (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 3_1913) and drunk as an aidto digestion (UCLA Folklore Archives

3_5360), to ease labor (Puckett 1981: 20),and to treat diabetes (Puckett 1981: 360).It has even been drunk for heart ailments(Marie-Ursule 1951: 174). Both hand lo-tion and hair-setting lotions have beenprepared from flaxseed (Cannon 1984: 85;UCLA Folklore Archives 1_5910). Flaxseedmeal and vinegar have been used to relievepain (Puckett 1981: 422).

It is not surprising that a plant with somany uses has in addition been creditedwith the power to prevent or avert disease.Flax fiber has been braided around the neckto prevent mumps (Levine 1941: 490).String or cloth made from flax has beenworn to prevent croup (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 4_7593), while a child failing togrow has been passed through a loop of flaxthread: as the thread wears out, so will thechild grow (Fogel 1915: 136).

In Native American medicine, many ofthese same uses are found. The species offlax most widely used is the prairie flax,Linum lewisii. This has been used for swell-ings, as an eyewash, and to aid digestion(Moerman 1998: 309). Another species,Linum australe, has been used to treat head-ache and to ease labor (Moerman 1998:308).

162 ; Forge water

See also Boils, Childbirth, Constipation,Croup, Diabetes, Diarrhea, Eye problems,Fevers, Headache, Heart trouble, Piles,Poultice, Rheumatism, Smallpox, Sorethroat, Tuberculosis, Whooping cough,Wounds.












Lewis, Gabe. “Old-Time Remedies from MadisonCounty.” Publications of the Texas FolkloreSociety 14 (1938): 267–268.

Marie-Ursule, Soeur. “Civilisation Traditionelledes Lavalois.” Les Archives de Folklore 5–6(1951): 1–403.



Pratt, Anne. The Flowering Plants and Ferns of

Great Britain. 5 vols. London: Society forPromoting Christian Knowledge, 1855.




Forge waterThe water in which a blacksmith had

quenched iron was regarded as therapeuticin British folk medicine. In the East An-glian fens it was recommended for whoop-ing cough (J.C., pers. com. 1994). Moregenerally, it was considered a good tonic foranemia and weakness (Souter 1995: 122).In Suffolk it was recommended for “delicateboys” and for toughening fighters’ fists(EFS MSS). It was recommended in Irelandfor tiredness as well as for chilblains and forwarts (Logan 1972: 68, 120, 140).

In North American folk medicine, forgewater was used to treat a number of skinconditions including warts (Parler 1962, 3:1078), pimples (Wilson 1967: 300), ec-zema (Hyatt 1965: 263), and freckles(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 198). It was used asa mouthwash for a sore mouth (Wintem-berg 1950: 13) and as a soak for sore handsand feet (UCLA Folklore Archives7_7592).

See also Anemia, Blacksmith, Chilblains,Eczema, Freckles, Sore feet, Warts,Whooping cough.



EFS. English Folklore Survey, Manuscript notesat University College London, 1960s.


Foxglove : 163

Book illustration depicting a girl among foxglove. InBritish folk medicine, the foxglove plant was widelyknown to be poisonous, but was nevertheless used ina number of ailments. The foxglove was introducedto North America in colonial times. (Blue LanternStudio/CORBIS)





Wilson, Gordon W. “Swallow It or Rub It On:More Mammoth Cave Remedies.” SouthernFolklore Quarterly 31 (1967): 296–303.

Wintemberg, W. J. Folk-Lore of Waterloo County,Ontario. Bulletin 116, Anthropological Se-ries 28. Ontario: National Museum of Can-ada, 1950.

Foxglove (Digitalispurpurea)

Thanks to Withering’s careful research inthe eighteenth century into a Shropshirefolk remedy for dropsy, the development ofdigoxin in treatment of heart disease hasmade foxglove one of the best known plantsof herbal medicine. In British folk medi-cine, before the days of Withering, the plantwas widely known to be poisonous but wasnevertheless used in a number of ailments.It formed an all-purpose salve, used fortreating boils and other skin conditions, forexample in the Isle of Man (Fargher 1969)and in the Highlands (Beith 1995: 219). Inthe Forest of Dean up to the twentieth cen-tury, the large leaves of the foxglove werewrapped around the breasts to stop lacta-tion at weaning (Hatfield MS).

In Orkney, after it was noticed that geesedied after eating the plant, it was not usedat all in human folk medicine. In Shrop-shire, children suffering from scarlet feverwere given leaves of the foxglove to wear intheir shoes for a year (Vickery 1995: 141);presumably this custom arose out of knowl-

edge of the plant’s dangers when taken in-ternally. There are numerous records offatalities among children in Scotlandthrough drinking foxglove tea (Dalyell1834: 113), although, according to With-ering’s son, some people in Derbyshire usedthe brew as a cheap form of intoxication(Withering 1830). Foxglove tea was used inthe treatment of coughs, colds and fevers—for example, in Fife in Scotland (Simpkins1914: 133). This was a widely used remedyin Ireland (Allen and Hatfield, in press).

The folk records for the treatment ofheart disease, of which there are a number,particularly from Ireland, may represent asecondary use, infiltrating from learnedmedicine and from the publicity surround-ing Withering’s work.

164 ; Fractures

The foxglove is not native to NorthAmerica but was introduced in colonialtimes. Meyer records a nineteenth-centuryfolk remedy for deafness caused by accu-mulation of wax in the ears. It uses the freshjuice of flowers, leaves, and stalks of fox-glove, mixed with brandy and used as eardrops (Meyer 1985: 103). Foxglove wasmixed with white rose petals, elder flowers,St. John’s wort, and lard to make an oint-ment for hard swellings (Meyer 1985: 244).It was also used for sores (the fresh juice)and for healing wounds (the fresh leavesbound on) (Meyer 1985: 273). No NativeAmerican records of medicinal usage havebeen traced.

See also Boils, Colds, Coughs, Deafness,Dropsy, Fevers, St. John’s wort.


Plants in Folk Traditions. Portland, OR:Timber Press (in press).


Dalyell, J. G. The Darker Superstitions of Scotland.Edinburgh: Waugh and Innes, 1834.

Fargher, D. C. The Manx Have a Word for It. 5.Manx Gaelic Names of Flora. Port Erin: pri-vately published, 1969.


Simpkins, John Ewart. Examples of Printed Folk-lore Concerning Fife, with Some Notes onClackmannan and Kinross-shire. London:Sidgwick and Jackson, 1914.


Withering, William, Jr. (ed.). An Arrangement ofBritish Plants. 7th ed. London: Longman,1830.

FracturesBy far the commonest plant remedy in

British folk medicine used for helping

bones to heal is comfrey. Extract of the rootproduces a sludgelike putty that can bemoulded around a broken limb. Withexpert splinting, it can produce remarkableresults (Hatfield 1994: 6). Sometimes, as inSomerset, a charm accompanied the appli-cation (Tongue 1965: 37). In the ScottishIsle of Skye in the seventeenth century, bar-ley and white of egg was applied to a brokenlimb, which was then splinted (Beith 1995:204). Goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea) wasalso used in Scotland for healing brokenbones (Beith 1995: 221; Martin 1934[1703]: 230). Mallow was occasionally usedin Ireland for treating fractures (Allen andHatfield, in press). St. John’s wort was usedthroughout Britain to help heal brokenbones (Carmichael 1900–1971, 4: 208). Inthe Isle of Man, a preparation of sanicle(Sanicula europaea) was used (Quayle 1973:70). An alternative in the rural past was avisit to a “bonesetter,” who was often thelocal blacksmith (Buchan 1994: 27–30).

The Mexican equivalent of Scotland’sbonesetter was the sobador (or sobradora),skilled in massage and manipulation (Mich-eletti 1998: 236). In northern Mexico,chewed peyote root (Lophophora williamsii)was applied to fractures (Vogel 1970: 166).A poultice of Yerba Pasma was used to re-lieve the swelling of fractures (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 7_6259). In general NorthAmerican folk medicine, a dressing of eggwhite beaten with salt was used for simplefractures (cf. the remedy from Skye, above)(Puckett 1981: 330). Carrying a raw potatoin the pocket was supposed to prevent frac-tures or to avoid complications (Puckett1981: 330, 402). Dressings of cow dungwere sometimes applied to fractures (Ran-dolph 1947: 99). There were some strangefolk beliefs concerning fractures; steppingover someone’s leg could cause it to break;killing a wren could lead to a broken armshortly afterward (Brown 1952–1964, 6:193). Even acting as though an arm was

Freckles : 165

broken could cause a later breakage of thearm (Browne 1958: 42).

In the Native American tradition, a poul-tice of mallow was used to help the healingof fractures (Herrick 1977: 385). Variousspecies of Artemisia were used as bone set-ters, as were species of biscuitroot (Loma-tium spp.) (Turner et al. 1990: 154, 170).Birch bark and rawhide were used to formsplints (Wells 1954: 282), as were cotton-wood (Populus sp.) and cedar branches(Micheletti 1998: 315). The root of jimsonweed was used as an anaesthetic during set-ting of fractures (Vogel 1970: 84), andspruce gum (Pinus rigida) was used to im-mobilize fractures (MacDermot 1949:182).

See also Birch, Blacksmith, Comfrey,Excreta, Mallow, Poultice, St. John’swort, Sprains, Thornapple.







Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymnsand Incantations. 6 vols. (3 & 4, ed. J. Car-michael Watson; 5 & 6, ed. Angus Mathe-son). Edinburgh: Constable, 1900; Oliverand Boyd, 1940–54; Scottish AcademicPress, 1971.



MacDermot, J. H. “Food and Medicinal PlantsUsed by the Indians of British Columbia.”Canadian Medical Association Journal 61(2)(August 1949): 177–183.

Martin, Martin. A Description of the Western Islesof Scotland. London: A. Bell, 1703. (Pagereferences cited are from the 4th edition of1934 [Stirling: Eneas Mackay]: ed. DonaldJ. Macleod.)



Quayle, George E. Legends of a Lifetime: ManxFolklore. Douglas: Courier Herald, 1973.





Wells, Warner. “Surgical Practice in North Car-olina: A Historical Commentary.” NorthCarolina Medical Journal 15 (1954): 281–287.

FrecklesFreckles are in no way a serious medical

condition, which makes the frequency offolk remedies for them surprising. One ofthe most poetic British remedies is to bathein early morning dew, preferably on the firstday of May (Hatfield MSS). Another widely

166 ; Freckles

used remedy was to wash them in an infu-sion of elderflowers. This country remedywas also used to remove the blackish dis-coloration of skin from sunburn. Lemonjuice was also recommended. In Scotland,buttermilk in which the leaves of silverweed(Potentilla anserina) had been steeped fornine days formed a face wash for removingfreckles (Black 1883: 119). The juice ofsundew (Drosera spp.) mixed with milk wasused on Colonsay in Scotland; evidently theaddition of milk made this “an innocentand safe application to remove freckles andsunburn” (McNeill 1910: 123). Honey-suckle flowers (Lonicera periclymenum)crushed in boiling water were used to re-move freckles and sunburn in the High-lands of Scotland (Beith 1995: 223). Aninfusion of fumitory (Fumaria spp.) wasused in Wiltshire (Vickery 1995: 143).

In North American folk medicine, nu-merous plants were used to remove freckles.An infusion of elderflowers was recom-mended, or the juice from chickweed, or aninfusion of meadowsweet (Filipendula ul-maria), or the seeds of marshmallow (Malvasp.) bruised in vinegar (Meyer 1985: 225).An infusion of cleavers (Galium aparine)has been recommended, both applied ex-ternally and drunk (Willard 1992: 189).Freshly cut potato has been used (Anderson1970: 36). Grated horseradish (Armoraciarusticana) is another suggestion (Bishop1979: 130). Dandelion juice was claimedto prevent freckles (Cannon 1984: 109).Nonplant remedies include buttermilk ap-plied (UCLA Folklore Archives 1_5385), orcarbonic sulphur, salt, and alcohol (UCLAFolklore Archives 12_5385). Morning dewappears in freckle remedies in North Amer-ica, as in Britain. In one, washing the facein red clover in the morning dew is claimedto prevent freckles (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 14_5387). Applying vinegar (UCLAFolklore Archives 10_5988), or egg-whiteand alum (Wilson 1908: 71), or ammonia,lavender water, and rainwater (UCLA Folk-

lore Archives 11_5385) have also been sug-gested. As in Scotland, urine was claimedto be effective (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 194).Other suggestions are to lie face down incow manure (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 194)or to plaster the freckles with red mud(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 195). In the NativeAmerican tradition, Yucca roots and corn-meal make a face mask recommended forall kinds of skin blemishes (Kavasch andBaar 1999).

See also Chickweed, Dandelion, Dew,Elder, Excreta, Native American tradition,Sunburn, Urine.




Bishop, Carol. The Book of Home Remedies andHerbal Cures. Toronto: Octopus, 1979.




Kavasch, E. Barrie, and Karen Baar. American In-dian Healing Arts. Herbs, Rituals and Rem-edies for Every Season of Life. New York andToronto: Bantam Books, 1999.






Frostbite : 167

FrogsSee Toads and frogs.

FrostbiteThis is not a common enough problem

in Britain to have attracted a repertoire offolk remedies. In North America, however,there are a host of suggestions for prevent-ing and treating frostbite.

A newborn baby should have his or herfeet and hands bathed in spring water toprevent suffering from frostbite later(UCLA Folklore Archives 12_5389). Wear-ing snuff (UCLA Folklore Archives2_6305) or salt (Hyatt 1965: 221) in theshoes has been suggested as a means ofwarding off frostbite. Walking barefootthree times round the outside of the housein the first snow is a poetic alternative (Farr1935: 318–336).

Suggestions for treating frostbite includebathing the feet in a westward-runningstream (Thomas and Thomas 1920: 104)or soaking in rum (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 5_6305), or wiping with an old dish-rag (Hyatt 1965: 221) or with a mixture ofsoda and molasses (Frazier 1936: 35). Amixture of water and wood ashes has beenrecommended (O’Dell 1944: 3). Rubbingwith various oils has been tried—for ex-ample, olive oil (Browne 1958: 68) orskunk oil (Koch 1980: 1931) or rabbitgrease (Puckett 1981: 383). Wrappingfrostbitten feet in the skins of rabbits hasalso been suggested (Thomas and Thomas1920: 103). Raw beefsteak (UCLA FolkloreArchives 7_6834) or cow’s gall (UCLAFolklore Archives 6_6834) has been ap-plied, or chicken dung in hot water (Hyatt1965: 221), or a poultice of cow manureand milk (Beck 1957: 45). Bread and milkhas also been used as a poultice (Puckett1981: 383).

Among numerous plant-based remediesare warm roast potato (Browne 1958: 67),

rotten apple (Cannon 1984: 109), and roastturnip (Meyer 1985: 133) as poultices. El-der bark boiled in hen’s oil has been rec-ommended (Meyer 1985: 133). The boiledinner bark of pine has been used (Beck1957: 45), as has the inner bark of birchcombined with cod oil (Bergen 1899: 110).The smoke from burning cedar boughs(Juniperus sp.) has been used (Frazier 1936:35), as has a beech leaf poultice (Fagus gran-difolia) (Maxwell 1918: 100). These lasttwo remedies are probably of Native Amer-ican origin. The Potawatomi use beechleaves to “restore” frost-bitten extremities(Smith 1933: 58). Cedar branches areburned to treat a large number of derma-tological conditions (Moerman 1998: 282–292).

See also Birch, Elder, Pine, Poultice, Soda.

ReferencesBeck, Horace P. The Folklore of Maine. Philadel-

phia and New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1957.Bergen, Fanny D. Animal and Plant Lore Collected

from the Oral Tradition of English SpeakingFolk. Boston and New York: Memoirs ofthe American Folk-Lore Society 7, 1899.



Farr, T. J. “Riddles and Superstitions of MiddleTennessee.” Journal of American Folklore 48(1935): 318–336.



Koch, William E. Folklore from Kansas. Beliefs andCustoms. Lawrence, KS: Regent Press, 1980.

Maxwell, Hu. “Indian Medicines: NumerousPopular Remedies Obtained from Forest

168 ; Frostbite

Trees.” Scientific American Supplement86(2224) (August 1918): 100–103.



O’Dell, Ruth W. “Signs and Superstitions.” Ten-nessee Folklore Society Bulletin 10(2) (1944):1–6.





;G:

Garlic (Allium sativum)Like the onion, garlic was cultivated in

ancient Egypt, and it has been grown inEuropean gardens since at least the six-teenth century (Grieve 1931: 343). Boththe cultivated garlic and wild garlic or ram-sons (Allium ursinum) have been used infolk medicine. There are records of garlicused for treating worms in children in eigh-teenth century Scotland (Lochead 1948:338), and in twentieth century Suffolk(Hatfield 1999: 134), as well as in treat-ment of whooping cough in East Anglia,where it has variously been rubbed into thehands and feet, worn in the socks, or madeinto an ointment (Taylor MSS). A mixtureof garlic and May butter was regarded as acure-all in the Scottish Highlands (Beith1995: 176). In the same area, garlic wasused in poultices to treat diphtheria and badknees (Beith 1995: 231). In Somerset, anointment of garlic and lard was rubbed onthe soles of the feet to treat bronchitis(Tongue 1965: 37). Wild garlic has beenused especially in Ireland, where it has beencarried as a prophylactic against fever, usedto treat toothache, boils, colds, coughs,worms, and indigestion (Allen and Hatfieldin press), and in the Aran Islands, it waseven held to prevent blood clots (O h-Eithir). Its country name of “ramsons” isreflected in the name of “ramp” applied inNorth America (where this species does not

occur) to Allium tricoccum. Both these spe-cies are eaten as a spring vegetable.

In recent North American folk medicine,as in Britain, records do not usually specifywhat type of garlic was involved. The num-ber and diversity of ailments to which garlichas been applied in North American folkmedicine are impressive. There seems tohave been a widespread belief that many ill-nesses could be prevented by surroundingoneself with garlic. Garlic hung over thefront door was thought to prevent diseaseentering the house (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 6_6352). During epidemics in Penn-sylvania, some children were sent to schoolwith garlic bags around their necks (Hand1958: 65). Placing garlic under the pillowwas another way of avoiding illness (UCLAFolklore Archives 5_6352). Worn on theperson, garlic was thought to protect againstsmallpox (Brendle and Unger 1935: 97). InUtah, a bag of garlic has been claimed tokeep away all infections (Cannon 1984:113). The ultimate accolade also comesfrom Utah, where it has been suggested thatall sickness can be combated or preventedby wearing a bag containing garlic, sulphur,and cheese, tied with a red ribbon (Cannon1984: 80).

Wearing garlic has been used to treat aswell as prevent disease. Worn around theneck, it has been credited with curing influ-enza (UCLA Folklore Archives 7_5423),mumps (UCLA Folklore Archives 7_5435),

170 ; Garlic

In North American folk medicine, there was a wide-spread belief that many illnesses could be preventedby surrounding oneself with garlic. Garlic hung overthe front door was thought to prevent disease fromentering the house. (Library of Congress)

goiter (Puckett 1981: 385), spasms in in-fants (Saucier 1956: 139), tuberculosis(Webb 1971: 297), colic (Louisiana StateGuide 1941: 97), croup (Anderson 1970:24), and, as in Britain, worms (Puckett1981: 503). Garlic placed in the shoes is aremedy suggested for insomnia (Hyatt1965: 270).

The fumes from garlic have been used totreat eye disease (Puckett 1981: 369), faint-ing (Puckett 1981: 373), and hiccups (Funk1950: 66). Eating garlic has been recom-mended for sore throat (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 2_6499), and arthritis (Puckett1981: 309), and to prevent snoring (Parler1962: 891) or bedwetting (Browne 1958:29). Garlic has been eaten to treat gout(Koch 1980: 128), tuberculosis (Puckett1981: 468), malaria (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 15_64046), diabetes (UCLAFolklore Archives 6_5358), colds andwhooping cough (Puckett 1981: 346, 501),

sinus problems (UCLA Folklore Archives1_5467), croup (Davis 1945: 48) andasthma (Pickard and Buley 1945: 41). Gar-lic has been given to children to rid themof worms, as in Britain (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 10_587). It has been eaten to lowerblood pressure (Clark 1970: 13) and totreat hardening of the arteries (Koch 1980:127). It has been claimed that eating garlicwill prevent mosquitoes from biting(UCLA Folklore Archives 6_6820).

As a topical application, the folk uses ofgarlic have been equally diverse. It has beenapplied to ringworm (Parler 1962: 864), tothe stings of wasps (Parler 1962: 918), bees(Cannon 1984:114), and scorpions (Brown1952–1964: 292) and to snake bites (Pick-ard and Buley 1945: 42). It has beenrubbed onto the rash of poison oak (UCLAFolklore Archives 22_6429) and of shingles(UCLA Folklore Archives 13_7616).Worked into and around finger nails, it hasbeen claimed to strengthen them (UCLAFolklore Archives 6_6003). It has been usedto treat sores (UCLA Folklore Archives9_2584), bunions (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 9_6200), stone bruises (Fentress1934: 88), and stys (UCLA FolkloreArchives 4_6485). The juice of garlic hasbeen dripped into the ear for a migraineheadache (UCLA Folklore Archive19_2185) and rubbed into muscles to curecramps (UCLA Folklore Archives13_5592), or rubbed into the scalp forbaldness (UCLA Folklore Archives5_6830). An ointment for wrinkles hasbeen made from garlic and honey (UCLAFolklore Archives 12_5964). Garlic hasbeen widely used to treat toothache (see, forexample, Anderson 1970: 76), and a cloveof garlic has been placed in the ear for ear-ache in much the same way as onions havebeen used in Britain (Doering 1945: 153).As a poultice, mashed garlic has treatedheadaches (Lick and Brendell 1922: 115),moles (Herrera 1972: 43), stomachache

Garlic : 171

(Puckett 1981: 453), pneumonia (Creigh-ton 1968: 225), and yellow fever (Hen-dricks 1980: 109).

As an enema, garlic has been used to treat“locked intestines” (Kay 1972: 183), con-stipation (UCLA Folklore Archives18_6276), hemorrhoids (Parler 1962: 811),and worms (Street 1959: 84).

In Native American practice, numerousspecies of Allium have been widely used asfood and medicine. Cultivated garlic hasbeen used by the Cherokee for scurvy, deaf-ness, worms, croup, asthma and colic (Ha-mel and Chiltoskey 1975: 35). Vogelrecords how soldiers at Camp Missouri in1819–1820 were cured of scurvy usinggreen herbs and the bulbs of wild garlic(Vogel 1970: 109). For all the other nu-merous uses of garlic recorded in NorthAmerican folk medicine, it is difficult to tellwhether they arrived with immigrants orwere borrowed from the Native Americantradition.

Cultivated garlic is one of a number ofplants in which there is currently a middle-class resurgence of interest, as part of thetrend toward “natural” medicines. Whereour forebears, on both sides of the Atlantic,depended largely on native plants for theirfolk medicine, we now buy packaged ex-tracts of their cultivated relatives. Currentresearch on the chemistry of garlic andother Allium species is vindicating a largenumber of earlier folk uses (Crellin andPhilpott 1990: 319).

See also Asthma, Bed-wetting, Boils,Colds, Colic, Constipation, Coughs,Cramp, Croup, Deafness, Diabetes,Earache, Fevers, Gout, Headache,Hiccups, Indigestion, Insect bites andstings, Piles, Poison oak, Poultice,Ringworm, Scurvy, Shingles,Sleeplessness, Smallpox, Snake bite, Sorethroat, Toothache, Tuberculosis,Whooping cough, Worms.



Anderson, John Q. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin:Encino Press, 1970.






Clark, Joseph D. “North Carolina Popular Beliefsand Superstitions.” North Carolina Folklore18 (1970): 1-66.



Davis, Julia. The Shenandoah: Rivers of America.New York: Rinehart and Company, 1945.

Doering, J. Frederick. “More Folk Customs fromWestern Ontario.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 58 (1945): 150-155.

Fentress, Elza E. Superstitions of Grayson County(Kentucky). MA thesis, Western StateTeachers College, 1934.

Funk, William D. “Hiccup Cure.” Western Folk-lore 9 (1950): 66-67.



Hand, Wayland D. “Popular Beliefs and Super-

172 ; Ginger

stitions from Pennsylvania.” Keystone Folk-lore Quarterly 3 (1958): 61–74.



Herrera, Mary Armstrong. “The Miseries andFolk Medicine.” North Carolina Folklore 20(1972): 42–46.


Kay, Margarita Artschwager. Health and Illness inthe Barrio: Women’s Point of View. Ph.D.dissertation, University of Arizona, 1972.



Lochead, Marion. The Scots Household in the Eigh-teenth Century. Edinburgh: Moray Press,1948.

Louisiana State Guide. New York, Federal WritersProject, 1941.

O hEithir, Ruarı. Folk Medical Beliefs and Practicesin the Aran Islands, Co. Galway. Master’sthesis, National University of Ireland, 1983.




Saucier, Corinne L. Traditions de la Paroisse desAvoyelles en Louisiane. Philadelphia: Amer-ican Folklore Society, 1956.

Street, Anne C. “Medicine Populaire des IlesSaint-Pierre et Miquelon.” Arts et TraditionsPopulaires 7 (January–June 1959): 75–85.

Taylor MSS. Mark R. Taylor Manuscript notes inthe Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.MS4322.

Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. Edited by K.M. Briggs. County Folklore 8. London:Folklore Society, 1965.


Webb, Julie Yvonne. Louisiana Voodoo and Super-stitions Related to Health. HSMHA HealthReports, 86 (April 1971): 291–301.

Ginger (Zingiberofficinale)

The name of this Asian spice has passedinto colloquial English as a verb meaningto stimulate, indicating one of its medicinalroles. The plant is not native to Britain, norcan it be readily cultivated there. It is there-fore unsurprising to find that its uses inBritish folk medicine are very limited. Itformed a constituent of the official MateriaMedica, in both Scotland (Beith 1995: 60)and England (Pechey 1694: 262) and isused in official herbalism today (Chevallier1996: 153). Its only apparent role in Britishfolk medicine is a recent one: it is used as ahome remedy to check nausea and indiges-tion (Souter 1995: 169, 179).

The plant has a quite different history inNorth American folk medicine. Introducedinto North America by the Spaniards, it be-came naturalized there, was cultivated, andbecame a valuable export during the six-teenth century (Grieve 1931: 353). Notonly has it been used in official medicineand herbalism, but it has a well-establishedplace in North American folk medicine aswell. It has been used to treat nausea andvomiting, as a digestive tonic, and to treatan upset stomach (Meyer 1985: 239, 256,261). Ginger and honey tea has been takenas a cure for stomach ulcers (Clark 1966:

Ginger : 173

Popular in North American folk medicine, ginger hasbeen widely used as a digestive tonic. It also has beenused to treat nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, and anumber of respiratory conditions. (Library of Con-gress)

10). Ginger ale is recommended for hiccups(Barrick 1964: 106). For diarrhea and dys-entery, an infusion of ground ginger hasbeen used (Browne 1958: 41). Ginger hastreated a number of respiratory conditions.Sprinkled on brown paper, it has formed apoultice for a chest cold (Neal 1955: 286).With molasses it has formed a cough syrup(UCLA Folklore Archives 4_7597). It hasbeen an ingredient of a syrup taken forasthma (Miller 1958: 64), and another forsore throat (Puckett 1981: 446). Ginger hashelped bring out a rash (Puckett 1981:430), treat a fever (Wilson 1968: 78), andrelieve a hangover (Paulsen 1961: 157). Ithas treated fainting (a remedy from theChinese tradition) (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 22_6303), headaches (Browne 1958:

70), high blood pressure (Puckett 1981:402), and insomnia (Roy 1955: 76). It hashad varied gynecological uses: for leucor-rhoea, for obstructed menstruation, forpainful or profuse periods (Meyer 1985:165, 171, 174, 175). It has relieved neu-ralgia (Meyer 1985: 186) and formed thebasis of a “drawing” poultice, in addition tobeing used in the treatment of rheumatismand as a constituent of a tooth-cleaningpowder (Meyer 1985: 201, 217, 246).

In Native American practice, gingerseems to have played only a minor role(Moerman 1998: 613). The so-called wildginger (Asarum canadense and other speciesof Asarum) is botanically unrelated, belong-ing to the birthwort family. Wild ginger hasbeen widely and variously used in NativeAmerican practice.

See also Asthma, Colds, Coughs, Diarrhea,Dysentery, Fevers, Headache, Hiccups,Indigestion, Nausea, Poultice,Rheumatism, Sleeplessness, Sore throat.

ReferencesBarrick, Mac E. “Folk Medicine in Cumberland

County.” Keystone Folklore Quarterly 9(1964): 100–110.

Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-cines in the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon, 1995.



Clark, J. D. “North Carolina Superstitions.”North Carolina Folklore 14: 1 (1966): 3–40.

Grieve, Mrs. M. A Modern Herbal. Edited by Mrs.C. E. Leyel. London: Jonathan Cape, 1931.


Miller, Mary E. “A Folklore Survey of DicksonCounty, Tennessee.” Tennessee Folklore So-ciety Bulletin 24 (1958): 57–71.


Neal, Janice C. “Grandad-Pioneer Medicine

174 ; Ginseng

Man.” New York Folklore Quarterly 11(1955): 277–291.


Pechey, John. The Compleat Herbal of PhysicalPlants. London: 1694.


Roy, Carmen. La Litterature Orale en Gaspesie.Bulletin 134, 36 de la Serie Anthropolo-gique. Ottawa: Ministre de Nord Canadienet des Ressources Nationales, 1955.


Wilson, Gordon, Sr. Folklore of the MammothCave Region. Bowling Green, KY: KentuckyFolklore Society, Folklore Series 4. 1968.

Ginseng (Panax spp.)In China ginseng has been used as a me-

dicinal plant for several thousand years. InBritain, where no ginseng species is native,the plant did not reach official medicineand herbalism until the eighteenth century(Chevallier 1996: 116), and the plant hasplayed no part in British folk medicine.

In North America, various species ofPanax are native. The one most commonlyused medicinally is the American ginseng,Panax quinquefolius. This has been prizedin both official and folk medicine, and sinceit is the root that has been mainly used, itsuse has endangered the plant in the wildand driven up its price (Micheletti 1998:174–175). In folk medicine the plant hasbeen used as a tonic, a treatment for hives,to soothe nervousness (Meyer 1985: 141,185), and to “comfort the bowels” (Brown,1952–1964: 134). It has been chewed to

ward off heart attack (Clark 1970: 23), andthe smoke from burning dried ginseng hasbeen inhaled for asthma (Redfield 1937:14). The root chewed can soothe a ticklingthroat (Meyer 1985: 255).

Usage among the Native Americans hasbeen similar. Panax quinquefolius has beenwidely valued as a tonic, even as a panacea(Smith 1928: 204). It has also been rec-ommended for its aphrodisiac properties—for example, by the Pawnee (Gilmore 1919:106). Numerous other ailments, rangingfrom intestinal worms to tuberculosis, havealso been treated with ginseng by NativeAmericans (Moerman 1998: 373–377).Among the Seminole, ginseng has been sohighly valued that long after being displacedfrom their original territories, they havecontinued to import it from other tribes(Snow and Stans 2001: 43).

See also Asthma, Hives, Tonic,Tuberculosis, Worms.



Chevallier, Andrew The Encyclopedia of MedicinalPlants. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1996.


Gilmore, Melvin R. “Uses of Plants by the Indiansof the Missouri River Region.” SmithsonianInstitution-Bureau of American EthnologyAnnual Report 33 (1919).




Redfield, W. Adelbert. “Superstitions and FolkBeliefs.” Texas Folklore Society Bulletin 3(1937): 11–40.

Smith, Huron. “Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki

Golden seal : 175

Indians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofthe City of Milwaukee 4 (1928): 175–326.


GoldEspecially in the form of a wedding ring,

gold has been used quite extensively in Brit-ish folk medicine. Rubbing a sty with a goldring is a commonly known remedy in Brit-ish folk medicine (Porter 1974: 43). Goldrings have also been used to treat warts andcuts “throughout Christendom” (Black1883: 173). In Fife, Scotland, a gold ringhas also been used to treat ringworm(Buchan, ed., 1994: 242). Wearing one ormore gold rings was held to prevent epi-lepsy (Tongue 1965: 39). Earrings, often ofgold, were worn to improve eyesight or treatinflammation of the eyes (Buchan, ed.,1994: 242). A golden goblet, obviously aremedy only for the wealthy, was consid-ered to protect the person who drank fromit from leprosy, jaundice, and heart disease(Souter 1995: 43).

In North America a similar range of con-ditions has been treated with gold in folkmedicine. A gold ring has been rubbed ona sty and on ringworm (Brown 1952–1964,6: 270, 295), as well as cold sores (UCLAFolklore Archives 4_6275). Wearing a goldring has been thought to guard against lep-rosy (Cannon 1984: 116). Earrings of goldhave been worn to strengthen the eyes andto prevent sore eyes (Brown 1952–1964, 6:183, 274). A string of gold beads has beenworn around the neck to prevent or treatgoiter and quinsy (Brown 1952–1964, 6:201, 253). A suggested cause of heart trou-ble is to wear a gold watch near the heart.

See also Cuts, Epilepsy, Eye problems,Heart trouble, Jaundice, Ringworm,Warts.









Golden seal (Hydrastiscanadensis)

This plant, native to Canada and theeastern United States, has been extensivelyused in folk medicine both by Native Amer-icans and by settlers. Native Americans usedthe plant as a tonic and soother of the di-gestive tract, as well as for sore eyes (Grieve1931: 363). The Iroquois used it in addi-tion for liver trouble, fever, pneumonia, andscrofula (Herrick 1977). The Cherokeeused it as a tonic and to treat local inflam-mations (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 36).(For other uses by Native Americans, seeMoerman 1998: 270.)

Settlers in North America adopted theplant and found numerous uses for it, rang-ing from abortion (Micheletti 1998: 180)to prevention of pitting from smallpox(Grieve 1931: 364). Among the uses for itdescribed by Meyer in folk medicine aretreatment of weak eyes, impetigo, and in-

176 ; Gout

digestion (Meyer 1985: 113, 239, 336). Incombination with other herbs, he reports itsuse for bronchitis, chicken pox, diarrhea,sore eyes, female “weakness,” as a tonic afterflu, to help alcoholism, for jaundice, livercomplaints, heavy periods, sore mouth, gas-tric ulcer, sore throat, and as a general tonic(Meyer 1985: 51, 60, 93, 112, 124, 133,135, 147, 151, 168, 175, 179, 243, 250,256). Clearly the plant was very widelyused. It was used for kidney troubles (Clark1970: 24) and lack of appetite (Roy 1955:66), and the dry root was powdered andapplied to wounds (Randolph 1947: 101).Long records its use for treating nightsweats and constipation and adds that it wasregarded as a cure-all (Long 1962: 3). Dur-ing the nineteenth century its reputationspread, and the plant was adopted by theThomsonian herbalists and by Europeanherbalists, who still use it and prize it. Over-collection in the wild brought the plantnear to extinction, but it is now cultivatedfor medicinal use. Golden seal is not nativeto Britain and is not easily grown there.

See also Abortion; Constipation; Diarrhea;Eye problems; Fevers; Indigestion;Jaundice; Smallpox; Sore throat;Thomson, Samuel; Tonic; Tuberculosis;Wounds.

ReferencesClark, Joseph D. “North Carolina Popular Beliefs

and Superstitions.” North Carolina Folklore18 (1970): 1–66.




Long, Grady M. “Folk Medicine in McMinn,Polk, Bradley and Meigs Counties, Tennes-see, 1910–1927.” Tennessee Folklore SocietyBulletin 28 (1962): 1–8.





Roy, Carmen. La Litterature Orale en Gaspesie.Bulletin 134, 36 de la Serie Anthropolo-gique. Ottawa: Ministre de Nord Canadienet des Ressources Nationales, 1955.

GoutThere were a number of herbal and di-

etary recommendations for gout in Britishfolk medicine. Among the plants used,ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria) isalso known as goutweed and was used inboth official medicine and in folk medicine(Vickery 1995: 162). A poultice of horse-radish root (Armoracia rusticana) was alsoused (Taylor MSS) or a preparation of tansy(Tanacetum vulgare) (Vickery 1995: 367).Roasted hemlock roots were used to treatgout (Radford and Radford 1974: 189).Other plant remedies include bryony, aseventeenth-century remedy (Lankester1848: 238), and vervain (Verbena officinalis)used as a plaster in the eighteenth century(Quincy 1718: 133). In more recent times,herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) wasused in Devon (Lafont 1984: 46). In Ire-land elder has been used (Maloney 1972),as well as comfrey (Logan 1972: 125) andash leaves (Allen and Hatfield, in press). Inthe seventeenth and eighteenth century, saf-fron (from the stigmas of Crocus sativus) wasused in both official medicine and, where itwas grown commercially, in folk medicine(Newman 1945: 355). From this plant col-chicine was derived, still sometimes used to-day in the official treatment of gout.

In the Scottish island of St. Kilda, theashes of a crow were used to treat gout(Beith 1995: 165). Walking through dew

Gout : 177

Man with gout. In British folk medicine, there werea number of herbal and dietary recommendations forgout. Ground elder was also known as goutweed andwas used in both official medicine and in folk med-icine. (National Library of Medicine)

was a seventeenth-century recommendationfor gout (Radford and Radford 1974: 133).The foot of a frog wrapped in deerskin andworn as an amulet was thought to preventgout (Black 1883: 63). Bathing the afflictedjoint with urine was suggested in Ireland(Logan 1972: 77). Alternatively, gout couldbe transferred to a dog by laying on it thepainful foot.

North American folk medicine offers di-etary advice for gout: abstention from al-cohol; eating fruit, such as apples (Browne1958: 69), strawberries (Pickard and Buley1945: 45), or cherries (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 6_5392); and eating bread and water(Puckett 1981: 386) or garlic morning andevening (Koch 1980: 128). Plants used intreating gout include thornapple (Aguirre

Beltran 1950: 494, 502), aralia (Pickardand Buley 1945: 45), and burdock (Clark1970: 22). Other remedies included snakeoil (Knortz 1913: 66) and placing the feetin manure (Carranco 1967: 171) or in hotwater (UCLA Folklore Archives 19_5393).Spring waters were recommended too, suchas Chippewa natural spring water (Saul1949: 58). Miscellaneous treatments in-clude tying a string dipped in meat greasearound the toes, placing a bowl of water andturpentine under the bed (Parler 1962, 3:662), burning a string equal in length to thepatient’s girth (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 201),or transferring the illness to a tree or to acat or dog (Cantero 1929: 306).

Plant remedies used in the Native Amer-ican tradition include boneset and a hallu-cinogenic mushroom called Teonanacatl(Vogel 1970: 164, 284).

There was considerable overlap betweenfolk remedies for gout and for rheumatism.

See also Amulet, Ash, Boneset, Bryony,Burdock, Comfrey, Dew, Elder, Excreta,Garlic, Hemlock, Rheumatism,Thornapple, Transference, Urine.

ReferencesAguirre Beltran, Gonzalo. “Las Daturas en la Co-

lonia.” Anuario de la Sociedad Folkloria deMexico 6 (1950): 493–502.

Allen, David E., and Gabrielle Hatfield. MedicinalPlants in Folk Tradition. Portland, OR:Timber Press, in press.





Cantero, Antonio. “Occult Healing Practices in

178 ; Gravel and stone

French Canada.” Canadian Medical Associ-ation Journal (New Series) 29 (1929) 303–306.

Carranco, Lynwood. “A Miscellany of Folk Beliefsfrom the Redwood Country.” Western Folk-lore 26 (1967): 169–176.


Knortz, Karl. Amerikanischer Aberglaube der Ge-genwart zur Volkskunde. Leipzig: T. Ger-stenberg, 1913.



Lankester, Edwin, ed. The Correspondence of JohnRay. London: Ray Society, 1848.


Maloney, Beatrice. “Traditional Herbal Cures inCounty Cavan. Part 1.” Ulster Folklife 18(1972): 66–79.

Newman, L. F. “Some Notes on Folk Medicinein the Eastern Counties.” Folk-Lore 56(1945): 349–360.




Quincy, John. Pharmacopoeia Officinalis et Extem-poranea. London: A. Bell et al., 1718.



Taylor MSS. Manuscript Notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Record Office MS 4322.



Gravel and stoneThere are innumerable folk remedies for

these painful conditions in British folkmedicine. One gentleman in Scotland kepta diary of his own health matters during theseventeenth century and built up a collec-tion of remedies for gravel and stone overthe years. Though Clerk of Penicuik was amember of the landed gentry and thereforehad access not only to medical books butalso to the orthodox medicine of his day,some of the remedies he collected from in-dividuals clearly fall into the category of folkmedicine. From a wheelwright he had thesuggestion of using grated carrot in whitewine. Burdock was another suggestion. Aremedy provided by the Laird of Innes con-sisted of the inner bark of the ash, dried andpowdered (Clerk of Penicuik Papers).

In the Highlands of Scotland, the bloodof wild goats was believed to dissolve bothkidney and bladder stones (Beith 1995:177). In Sutherland, the blaeberry (Vaccin-ium myrtillus) was valued as a remedy forkidney stones (Beith 1995: 206). Dietaryadvice included avoiding salt (Beith 1995:160). Wild garlic was recommended for thestone, as was dulse (Rhodymenia palmata)boiled and eaten in its own juice (Beith1995: 219, 241). In the West Midlands,parsley piert (Aphanes arvensis) was used totreat gravel (Vickery 1995: 276). Aneighteenth-century Sussex remedy for thestone entails roasting a hedgehog skin andadding the powdered prickles to a drink(Allen 1995: 81). In Staffordshire, drinkingone’s own urine was recommended forgravel (Bergen 1899: 148). In Yorkshire,fasting spittle taken internally was recom-mended for gravel and stone (Gutch 1901:177). More pleasantly, in Ireland, the water

Gravel and stone : 179

from a particular well at Larne was drunkto cure gravel (Foster 1951: 115). In Suffolkin the seventeenth century, beans were con-sidered to promote formation of kidneystones (Packard, J. and F. Packard 1981: 9).

In North American folk medicine, anumber of fruit and vegetables have beenused in treating gravel and stone. Beanseeds, pods and leaves, have been used, ashave parsnips and onions. A remedy forgravel consisting of red onion juice andhorsemint tea was so successful that the pa-tient gave his informant, a slave, his free-dom in thanks for it (Meyer 1985: 161).The kernels of peach stones eaten first thingin the morning have brought great relief tosome (Hohman 1930: 26–27). There are alarge number of different herbal teas rec-ommended for treating gravel and stone.They include watermelon seed tea (Harder1956: 98), or an infusion made from cornsilk, or pansy (Viola sp.), or sarsaparilla(Browne 1958: 69). As its alternative nameof “gravel-root” implies, Joe-Pye weed (Eu-patorium purpureum) was used to treatgravel, an infusion being made from theroots (Bergen 1899: 112). Infusions of flax-seed, buttonweed roots (?Cephalanthus oc-cidentalis) (Puckett 1981: 409), or of theleaves and stems of huckleberry (Vacciniumsp.) (Yoder 1965–1966: 48) were also used.Other plants, used alone or in combination,include cleavers (Galium aparine), nephriticplant (Parthenium integrifolium), honey-suckle (Diervilla lonicera), bearberry (Arc-tostaphlos uva-ursi), mountain mint(Pycnanthemum virginianum), spleenwort(Asplenium trichomanes), broom tops (Cy-tisus scoparius), smartweed (Polygonumspp.), milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), shavegrass (Equisetum arvense), wild carrot (rootand seeds) (Daucus carota), and thimble-weed (Anemone virginiana) (Meyer 1985:161–163). Tea made simply from “boiledgrass” has been used (Brown, Frank C.1952–1964, 6: 201). In North Carolina atea made from sunflower seed (Helianthus

sp.), prickly pear (Opuntia sp.), and greencoffee has been used (Parker 1907: 249).From the same area, there is a suggestionthat applying to the abdomen a hot greasyplate used over cooking beans or meat canbring relief from pain.

To prevent formation of gravel andstones, eating strawberries is recommended(Meyer 1985: 161), or carrying a snail shellas an amulet (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 201).

Many of these plants have been used totreat urinary complaints by the NativeAmericans too. For instance, Arctostaphylosuva-ursi has been used as a tonic for thekidneys and bladder by the Okanagon(Perry 1952: 40); Equisetum arvense by thePotawatomi (Smith 1933: 55); and Galiumaparine by the Ojibwa (Smith 1932: 386).Others, such as broom, may owe their placein North American folk medicine to theEuropean tradition.

See also Amulet, Ash, Burdock, Colic,Corn, Flax, Garlic, Peach, Sarsaparilla,Spit, Urine.







Clerk of Penicuik Papers, Scottish Record OfficeEdinburgh, GD18 2125.


Gutch, Mrs. Eliza. Examples of Printed Folk-LoreConcerning the North Riding of Yorkshire,

180 ; Gravel and stone

York and the Ainstie. Vol. 2 of County Folk-Lore. London: Folk-Lore Society, 1901.

Harder, Kelsie B. “Home Remedies in PerryCounty, Tennessee.” Tennessee Folklore So-ciety Bulletin 22 (1956): 97–98.

Hohman, John George. Long Lost Friend, or Bookof Pow-Wows: A Collection of Mysterious andInvaluable Arts and Remedies for Man as Wellas Animals. Edited by A. Monroe Aurand,Jr., Harrisburg, PA: The Aurand Press1930.


Packard, J., and F. Packard. Herbal Review. Vol.6 (1981). London: The Herb Society.

Parker, Haywood. “Folk-Lore of the North Car-olina Mountaineers.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 20 (1907): 241–250.

Perry, F. “Ethno-Botany of the Indians in the In-

terior of British Columbia.” Museum andArt Notes 2(2): 36–43 (1952).


Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the OjibweIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofMilwaukee 4 (1932): 327–525.

———. “Ethnobotany of the Forest PotawatomiIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofthe City of Milwaukee 7 (1933): 1–230.


Yoder, Don. “Official Religion Versus Folk Reli-gion.” Pennsylvania Folklife 15(2) (Winter1965/66): 36–52.

;H:

Hair ProblemsRosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is one

of the most commonly recommendedplants for hair problems. Native to southernEurope, it is cultivated worldwide. An in-fusion of the chopped leaves is added to thefinal rinse water (Vickery 1995: 319; TaylorMSS). Proprietary shampoos often containrosemary extract, which thickens the hairand leaves it shiny. A gypsy cure for thin-ning hair was prepared from rosemary andhedgehog fat (Souter 1995: 164). Chamo-mile (Chamaemelum nobile) is widely usedas a rinse, especially for blonde hair (Vick-ery 1995: 63). Sage (Salvia officinalis) hasbeen used as a hair tonic and to darken hairgoing grey (Quelch 1941: 274). To preventdandruff, a folk cure was to rub a raw egginto the scalp before washing (Prince 1991:21). In the nineteenth century the juice ofhouseleek was used (Weston, Norfolk Rec-ord Office). To encourage regrowth ofhair—for example, after ringworm—it wasclaimed that the powder of a burned corkrubbed into the scalp would help (TaylorMSS). Burdock has been claimed to aid re-growth of hair (Prince 1991: 95). Head licehave been treated with a preparation ofspindle berries (Euonymus europaeus) (Free-thy 1985: 100).

In North American folk medicine a rem-edy used by early settlers to thicken the hairwas made from shavings of hartshorn mixed

with oil (Robertson 1960: 6). Castor oil(from Ricinus communis) and corn oil (fromZea mays) have both been used in Vermontto improve the health of the hair and re-move dandruff (Jarvis 1961: 146, 150). Ol-ive oil to strengthen the hair and correctsplit ends is a remedy used in Mexico(UCLA Folklore Archives 3_5592). InCanada, Native Americans made a hair oilfrom the sunflower (Helianthus sp.)(Bourke 1895: 48). A hair oil was preparedby the Blackfoot from the balsam fir, Abieslasiocarpa (McClintock 1909: 273). Vari-ous species of Yucca (known as soapwort)have a reputation as a hair tonic and to pre-vent baldness (Willard 1992: 58). On theother hand, this plant apparently causesrashes in some people, and one Mexicanremedy suggests instead the juice of theCholla cactus (Opuntia sp.) (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 10_5590).

Specifically to treat falling hair, a numberof folk remedies have been recorded fromNorth America. Sagebrush tea (Artemisiaspp.) was found to help hair grow and pre-vent greyness and hair loss (Fife 1957: 155).In Saskatchewan, a mixture of castor oil(from Ricinus communis) and iodine hasbeen suggested (UCLA Folklore Archives16_5393). Also in Saskatchewan, watercress(Nasturtium officinale) has been found use-ful to prevent falling hair (UCLA FolkloreArchives 16_5391). In Texas, persimmonjuice (Diospyros sp.) has been recommended

182 ; Hair Problems

(Hendricks 1980: 85), and in Oregon, on-ions steeped in rum (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 12_5391). Cleaning the head withkerosene is an old-fashioned remedy forhead lice used in both Britain (HatfieldMS) and North America (Cannon 1984:116).

Among the Native Americans, variousspecies of sage (Salvia spp.) have been usedto strengthen the hair, dye it, and even,among the Cahuilla, straighten it (Bean andSaubel 1972: 136). The maidenhair fern(Adiantum spp.) has been used as a hairwash by the Lummi, Makah, and Skomish(Gunther 1973: 14). The Blackfoot used awash of little blanket (Apocynum canna-binum) or of bear grass (Yucca glauca) toprevent hair falling out (McClintock 1909:276, 274). Yucca root has been recom-mended for dandruff (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 20_6282). The berries of Devil’sClub (Oplopanax horridus) were used as ahair tonic and to treat dandruff in youngchildren (Willard 1992: 151). Among theOweekeno, the berries were rubbed into thescalp to treat head lice (Compton 1993:85). The Chinook used fermented urine forhealthy, flea-free hair (LaBarre 1951: 175).In the nineteenth century, Josselyn reportedthe use of Hellebore root (probably Vera-trum viride) in New England for the treat-ment of head lice (Josselyn 1833: 262).This plant is on record as used by the Kwak-iutl for treating dandruff (Turner and Bell1973: 273) and by the Shushwap to makehair grow on a bald head (Palmer 1975:55).

Hair has always been regarded as a sym-bolic part of a person, hence many spellsand curses employ hair from the would-bevictim. Perhaps this explains in part thelarge number of superstitions surroundinghair. Of these, the commonest in NorthAmerica seems to concern disposal of haircombings; if a bird acquires the combings,the owner will die, go mad, or lose all his

or her hair. Some suggest that March is anunlucky time to cut hair (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 121), others that cutting hair onthe first day of March ensures its health(Puckett 1981: 163). A German-Americanbelief is that to cut the hair when the moonis increasing will ensure a healthy luxurianthead of hair (Starr 1891: 322). In Britain ithas been believed that hair should be cutwhen the moon is waxing to ensure it growsquickly, and when the moon is waning forslower growth (Radford and Radford 1974:177). These beliefs are reported from NorthAmerican too (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 202,203).

Among Native Americans, the Micmacused an eel skin to tie the hair, which wouldensure the hair grew long (Parsons 1926:485). Oddly, there seems to have been abelief among African Americans that thissame practice would cause lice to breed(Bergen 1899). Rattlesnake oil was used bythe Nahuatl to make the hair grow “as longas a snake” (Madsen 1955: 132).

See also Baldness, Burdock, Houseleek.

ReferencesBean, Lowell John, and Katherine Siba Saubel.

Temalpakh (From the Earth): Cahuilla In-dian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Ban-ning, CA: Malki Museum Press, 1972.

Bergen, F. D. “Animal and Plant Lore.” Memoirsof the American Folklore Society 7 (1899).

Bourke, John G. “Folk-Foods of the Rio GrandeValley and of Northern Mexico.” Journal ofAmerican Folklore 8 (1895): 41–71.



Compton, Brian Douglas. Upper North Wakashanand Southern Tsimshian Ethnobotany: TheKnowledge and Usage of Plants. Ph.D. dis-

Hand, Wayland D. : 183

sertation, University of British Columbia,Vancouver, 1993.

Fife, Austin E. “Pioneer Mormon Remedies.”Western Folklore 16 (1957): 153–162.



Hendricks, George D. “Roosters, Rhymes andRailroad Tracks.” In A Second Sampling ofSuperstitions and Popular Beliefs in Texas.Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist UniversityPress, 1980.


Josselyn, John. An Account of Two Voyages to NewEngland Made during the Years 1638, 1663.Reprint 1833.

LaBarre, Weston. “Aymara Biologicals and OtherMedicines.” Journal of American Folklore 64(1951): 171–178.



Palmer, Gary. “Shuswap Indian Ethnobotany.”Syesis 8 (1975): 29–51.

Parsons, Elsie Clews. “Micmac Notes.” Journal ofAmerican Folklore 39 (1926): 460–485.





Robertson, Marion. Old Settlers’ Remedies. Bar-

rington, NS: Cape Sable Historical Society,1960.


Starr, Frederick. “Some Pennsylvania GermanLore.” Journal of American Folklore 4(1891): 321–326.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin Norfolk Records Office, Norwich.MS4322.



Weston, Maryanne. Diary notes in Norfolk Rec-ord Office, Norwich NRO MC 43/9.


Hand, Wayland D.(1907–1986)

Born in New Zealand and a student orig-inally of German, Wayland Debs Handtaught at the University of Minnesota be-fore joining the University of California atLos Angeles (UCLA). Here he developedhis studies of folklore, a subject to which hedevoted the rest of his life. He gave the first-ever undergraduate lectures in folklore atthe university. His work in collecting andarchiving folk medical remedies led directlyto the formation of the Folklore Archive atUCLA, now a world-famous resource.Among his many publications, one of themost famous is The Encyclopedia of Ameri-can Popular Belief and Superstition, pub-lished in 1976. He edited and annotatedvolumes 6 and 7 of the Frank C. BrownCollection of North Carolina Folklore. Hewas president and a fellow of the American

184 ; Hawthorn

The hawthorn tree has attracted numerous supersti-tions, including the idea that it is unlucky to bringits flowers into the house. In Britain, rubbing theface with dew from a hawthorn bush on the first dayof May was believed to remove freckles and ensure agood complexion. (Pat Jerrold)

Folklore Society and was awarded a knight-hood in Finland.

ReferenceCattermole-Tally, Frances. Obituary: Wayland

Debs Hand (1907–1986). Journal of Amer-ican Folklore 102(404) (1989): 183–185.

Hawthorn (Crataegusspp.)

Also known as “may” in many countryareas, this tree has attracted numerous su-perstitions, including the idea that it is un-lucky to bring its flowers into the house(Vickery 1995: 166). In British folk medi-cine there are records from Devon and theIsle of Man of its use as a heart tonic (Lafont1984: 44; Quayle 1973: 70) and from Scot-land of its use in controlling blood pressure(Beith 1995: 221)—both uses familiar tomodern-day herbalists.

In the Highlands of Scotland, the barkhas also been used for sore throat (Beith1995: 221). In East Anglia an infusion ofthe leaves has been used to ease labor pains(Newman and Wilson 1951), in much thesame way raspberry leaves are widely used.The leaves were used as a poultice to bringboils to a head and to remove stubbornsplinters (Souter 1995: 128). An infusionof the leaves was used to treat anxiety andto stimulate the appetite (Souter 1995:134). The young leaves (known as “breadand cheese” in many country areas of En-gland) are eaten by country children in thespring. Dew from the hawthorn tree, gath-ered on the first day of May, was thoughtto ensure a beautiful complexion (Souter1995: 147). A twentieth-century toothacheremedy from Ireland is to chew hawthornbark (Westropp 1911: 57–58). Because thehawthorn was revered, some remedies gainpower by being associated with it. Mistletoegrowing specifically on hawthorn was re-garded as a cure for epilepsy (Leather 1912:79). A common wart cure involved rubbing

the wart with a slug or snail, which was thenimpaled on a hawthorn twig. Hawthornwas often planted in the hedges around pas-tures, and traditionally the afterbirth of acow was hung in the thorn to prevent milkfever and ensure fertility of the cattle for thefollowing year (W.A., pers. com., Trunch,Norfolk 1980; Vickery 1995: 170).

English may (after which the Mayflowerwas named) was taken to North America byEnglish settlers. Meanwhile, the numerousnative species of hawthorn were already inuse by Native Americans. Interestingly,some of these were used to improve bloodcirculation (e.g., Crataegus spathulata wasused by the Cherokee [Hamel and Chilto-skey 1975: 37]). The “discovery” of haw-thorn as a blood tonic is attributed to anineteenth-century Irish physician (Chev-allier 1996: 86), but evidently there was atleast scattered knowledge of its use long be-fore then. Other Native American uses forhawthorn include treatment of diarrhea, us-ing berries and bark (e.g., Turner, Thomp-son et al. 1990: 258). (For further NativeAmerican uses of hawthorns see Moerman1998: 182–183.)

Hay fever : 185

In general North American folk medi-cine, hawthorn berries have been used in amixture to treat rheumatism (Meyer 1985:215). Simply wearing hawthorn around theneck as an amulet was an alternative rec-ommended in Arkansas (Parler 1962, 3:854). A French Canadian cure for stubbornulcers was to hide the dressings under ahawthorn; anyone touching them would ac-quire the ulcers, an example of transference(Cantero 1929: 306). As in Britain, rubbingthe face with dew from a hawthorn bush onthe first day of May was believed to removefreckles and ensure a good complexion(Puckett 1981: 383).

See also Amulet, Boils, Dew, Diarrhea,Freckles, Heart trouble, Mistletoe,Poultice, Rheumatism, Sore throat,Toothache, Transference, Warts.



Cantero, Antonio. “Occult Healing Practices inFrench Canada.” Canadian Medical Associ-ation Journal. Canadian Medical Associa-tion, New Series, 20 (1929): 303–306.




Leather, Ella Mary. The Folk-Lore of HerefordshireCollected from Oral and Printed Sources.Hereford and London: Jakeman andCarver, 1912.



Newman, L. F. and E. M. Wilson. “Folk-LoreSurvivals in the Southern ‘Lake Counties’and in Essex: A Comparison and Contrast.Part I.” Folk-Lore 62 (1951): 252–266.

Parler, Mary Celestia, and University Student



Quayle, George E. Legends of a Lifetime: Manx-Folklore. Douglas: Courier Herald, 1973.


Turner, Nancy J., Laurence C. Thompson, M.Terry Thompson, and Annie Z. York.Thompson Ethnobotany: Knowledge andUsage of Plants by the Thompson Indians ofBritish Columbia. Victoria: Royal BritishColumbia Museum, 1990.


Westropp, Thomas. “A Folklore Survey ofCounty Clare.” Folk-Lore 22 (1911): 49–60.

Hay feverOne of the most interesting folk treat-

ments for hay fever in Britain is the use ofhoney. Honey produced locally (and there-fore containing the pollen from the localflora) and eaten throughout the winter hasbeen found very helpful by some sufferersfrom hay fever (pers. com., 1977, 2002).Lime water and milk has been suggested asa hay fever medicine. Another remedy wasto inhale the fumes from Friar’s balsam andto drink sherry with hot milk and sugar(Prince 1991: 32). Inhaling the scent ofmint, by placing it under the pillow andwearing a sprig during the day, is a remedyof gypsy origin (Vickery 1995: 240).

In North American folk medicine rec-ommendations include rubbing the ears un-til they are red and hot, inhaling the fumesfrom coffee sprinkled on hot coals, or fromvinegar and horseradish (Armoracia rusti-

186 ; Hay fever

cana), or from a pungent oil such as pep-permint (cf. British remedy above) orrosemary. Inhaling salt and water has beensuggested (UCLA Folklore Archives1_6308), or bathing in vinegar and warmwater (Doering 1944: 141). Lying on a pil-low of hemlock boughs (Tsuga sp.), or in-haling the smell of freshly crushedmilkweed (Asclepias sp.) are alternatives. Ithas been claimed that the leaves and flowersof ragweed (Ambrosia sp.) and golden rod(Solidago sp.) infused in boiling water cancure hay fever (Meyer 1985: 135–136).Other herbal treatments include inhalationof steamed camphor; smoking mulleinleaves, use of snuff made from yellow dockroot, and a pillow stuffed with “life ever-lasting” (Gnaphalium obtusifolium) (Mich-eletti 1998: 185). Smoking dried lifeeverlasting, also known as rabbit tobacco,has been tried (Browne 1958: 70). Drink-ing sassafras tea in the spring was thoughtto help prevent hay fever (UCLA FolkloreArchives 16_5394). Drinking an infusionof the weed thought to be the cause of thehay fever is another remedy (Parler 1962,3: 708).

As in Britain, local honey is recom-mended to “immunize” against hay fever(Jarvis 1961: 115–119). Chewing honey-comb is also recommended (Hendricks1966: 46). A poetic hay fever remedy is toeat the color out of violets in the spring(Cannon 1984: 110). Walking barefoot inthe dew at the time of a new moon has alsobeen suggested (Puckett 1981: 388). Alter-natively, one can cut a willow branch thesame length as the sufferer and put it in theloft. By the time it is dry, the hay fever willbe better (Browne 1958: 70).

Biscuitroot (Lomatium dissectum) is oneof the plants used by Native Americans totreat hay fever (Train, Henrichs, and Archer1941: 97–100). Strawberry (Fragaria sp.)has also been used (Willard 1992: 112), ashas mint (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:427).

See also Dew, Dock, Honey, Mullein,Sassafras.




Doering, J. Frederick. “Folk Remedies for DiversAllergies.” Journal of American Folklore 57(1944): 140–141.









Train, Percy, James R. Henrichs, and W. AndrewArcher. Medicinal Uses of Plants by IndianTribes of Nevada. Washington, DC: U.S.Department of Agriculture, 1941.


Willard, Terry. Edible and Medicinal Plants of theRocky Mountains and Neighbouring Territo-

Headache : 187

ries. Calgary, ALTA: Wild Rose College ofNatural Healing, 1992.

Head liceSee Hair problems.

HeadacheThere are some very strange magico-

medical folk cures for headache. In bothIreland and Scotland, a piece of the shroudof a man who had died prematurely wassaid to be good for headaches (Souter 1995:165). The rope by which a man had beenhanged was also thought to be a cure forheadache (Black 1883: 100), a belief thatcan be traced back to the writings of Pliny(Peacock 1896: 272). A modification of thisidea was to wrap round an aching head partof a sheet that had wrapped a corpse (Wilde1919: 82). The sloughed skin of a snake,worn as a bandage, was said to help head-aches; this remedy was in use in Sussex asrecently as the nineteenth century (Allen1995: 169). One man in Cambridge madean income from selling snakeskins for thispurpose (Black 1883: 156).

Many more prosaic folk remedies forheadache involve cold or hot compressesapplied to the head, the simplest being acloth wrung out in cold water and appliedto the forehead. Water from a particularhealing well was sometimes reckoned espe-cially effective (Beith 1995: 142). Rhubarband cabbage leaves were used in Britain ascooling applications (Hatfield 1994: 39).Jack and Jill’s famous recipe of vinegar andbrown paper has actually been in use inBritish folk medicine until very recenttimes. Interestingly, brown paper used to bemade from pine wood, and the vinegarcould have extracted some of the active in-gredients of the pine (C.H., pers. com.,2001).

Other headache remedies relied onsuch actively painkilling remedies as willow

(Salix spp.) (from which aspirin was devel-oped) and meadowsweet (Filipendula ul-maria) (Beith 1995: 123), also now knownto contain salicylates. Various species of wil-low were used as poultices or infusions, orthe bark was chewed (Hatfield 1994: 40).In Britain, the seeds of the wild poppy (Pa-paver rhoeas) were chewed for a hangover, ause that may have given the plant its coun-try name of “headache flower” (Hatfield1994: 40). Betony (Stachys officinalis),viper’s bugloss (Echium spp.), and mintwere all used in Somerset (Tongue 1965:40). Yarrow leaves (Achillea millefolium)were used in Norfolk for soothing headache(Bardswell 1911: 132) and in Ireland forprovoking a nosebleed and thus relievingheadache (Allen and Hatfield, in press). Inthe Scottish Highlands, dried ground ivy(Glechoma hederacea) was ground into asnuff and sniffed up for headaches (Beith1995: 221). Violet (Viola spp.) was alsoused as a headache cure in Scotland (Beith1995: 250). In Suffolk, a garden plant,American cudweed (Anaphilis margaritacea)was smoked for headache (Jobson 1967:59). Could this have been borrowed fromthe Native American tradition? (see below).

In the west of Scotland there was a beliefthat if hair cuttings were used by a bird tobuild its nest, the owner of the hair wouldsuffer from headaches (Black 1883: 16).

In North American folk medicine therewere many and miscellaneous folk cures forheadache. Some of these are recognizablythe same as British ones. The wearing of asnakeskin (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 208) orof the rattles from a rattlesnake (Wilson1968: 63) have been widely reported fromNorth America. Putting a tight band ofsome description around the head has beenrecommended, as has a towel wrappedtightly round (UCLA Folklore Archive25_6290). Wearing a jet necklace (Brown1952–1964: 210) or cornbeads (Roberts1927: 166) has also been suggested.

188 ; Headache

Another cure was to wear around the necka string with nine knots (Parler 1962, 3:680), or alternatively a red ribbon (Hyatt1965: 234). Other items carried as amuletsto prevent headache include a nutmeg on ablack thread (UCLA 4_6312) and a buck-eye (Fentress 1934: 78). Cobwebs placedacross the bridge of the nose were thoughtto be helpful for headache (as well as nose-bleed) (UCLA Folklore Archive 7_6811).Salt placed on the head was recommended(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 210). Applyingurine was also suggested (UCLA FolkloreArchive 4_6312). Jack and Jill’s vinegar andbrown paper was widely recommended(Brown 1952–1964: 209). Having a sev-enth child blow into the ear of the suffererwas another folk cure for headache (Ander-son 1970: 36). A remedy involving trans-ference was to lean against a tree whilesomeone hammered a nail into the oppositeside of the tree (Anderson 1968: 198).

In North America, as in the west of Scot-land, there seems to have been a widespreadbelief that if a bird used hair cuttings for itsnest, the owner of the hair would sufferfrom headaches. It was therefore advisableto burn or bury hair cuttings. Perhaps as anextension of this idea, a headache cure wasto bury secretly hair from the sufferer undera stone for seven days (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 22_6311). A simple remedy for aheadache reported from Illinois was towatch a spider from the ceiling drop downto the floor (Hyatt 1965: 235). Allowingthe head to get wet in the first rain of Maywas thought to ensure a headache-free yearahead (UCLA Folklore Archives 18_6811).

Meyer reports the smoking of dried su-mach leaves (Rhus sp.) in a clay pipe to ar-rest a developing headache (Meyer 1985:138). Coffee is found helpful in some head-aches (UCLA Folklore Archive 3_5393)and is a component of many proprietaryheadache pills. Blowing smoke into the earor inhaling the smoke from a burning hemprope are other suggestions (UCLA Folklore

Archive 1_5395; UCLA Folklore Archive13_6289). A piece of raw potato bound tothe head is another recommendation(Meyer 1985: 138). As in Britain, willowbark was chewed (Micheletti 1998: 190).Peppermint oil was a popular headacheremedy in the early twentieth century(Micheletti 1998: 190). Among numerousplant remedies used in North American folkmedicine are catnip (Campbell 1953: 3),cactus juice (Hendricks 1966: 47), an in-fusion of yarrow (UCLA Folklore Archive11_6289) or elderflower (Roberts 1927:166), cabbage leaves laid on the forehead(Puckett 1981: 390), or plantain leaveslightly salted and crushed (Curtin 1930:190). The leaves of jimson weed or of mal-low have been applied (Puckett 1981: 379;UCLA Folklore Archive 1_6287). A prep-aration of lady slipper (Cypripedium spp.)has been used (Clark 1970: 22). A pillowof pine needles has been used, particularlyfor a migraine headache (UCLA FolkloreArchive 10_6288).

The Native Americans bound sliced rawpotato to the head (Micheletti 1998: 191).The brown-paper remedy finds an echo inthe use by the Ojibwa of steam from thecrushed needles of white pine (Pinus stro-bus) or from the leaves and bark of red pine(Pinus resinosa) for treating headache (Hoff-man 1891: 198). Another species of pine,Pinon (Pinus edulis), was used by the Nav-ajo for treating headache (Vestal 1952: 12,13). A relative of the poppy, Indian turnip(Argemone triphyllum), was used by thePawnee as a dusting powder for headache(Micheletti 1998: 191). The Californiapoppy (Escholtzia californica) was used inMendocino County as a wash for headache(Chesnut 1902: 351). The leaves of the but-tercup (Ranunculus acris) were crushed andsniffed for headache by the Montagnais In-dians (Vogel 1970: 297). Yarrow was usedby, for example, the Algonquin (Raymond1945: 118) and the Iroquois (Herrick 1977:469). Numerous other plants have also

Headache : 189

been used by the Native Americans in head-ache treatment, including fleabane (Erige-ron spp.) (Moerman 1998: 218, 219).Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)was used by the Cherokee for headache(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 48), as it wasin Suffolk, England.

Interestingly, feverfew (Tanacetum par-thenium), which has received much atten-tion recently as a treatment for migraine,seems in the past to have been used in folkmedicine mainly for other ailments—es-pecially, as its common name suggests, forfever—although in official medicine it wasused for headaches and migraine too.

There is a reference to its use in “hemi-crania” in John Pechey’s herbal of 1694(Pechey 1694: 81). On the whole its use infolk medicine seems to have been as a gen-eral painkiller. In our own time it has be-come well known as a migraine treatment(UCLA Folklore Archive 10_6288) and ac-cepted by orthodox Western medicine aftersuccessful clinical trials (Johnson et al.1985: 569–573).

See also Amulet, Cabbage, Catnip, Elder,Hair problems, Mallow, Migraine,Nosebleed, Pine, Plantain, Snake,Thornapple, Transference, Urine, Yarrow.




Anderson, John. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin: En-cino Press, 1970.

Anderson, John Q. “Magical Transference of Dis-ease in Texas Folk Medicine.” Western Folk-lore 27 (1968): 191–199.

Bardswell, Frances Anne. The Herb-Garden. Lon-don: A. and C. Black, 1911.






Chesnut, V. K. “Plants Used by the Indians ofMendocino County, California.” Contri-butions from the U.S. National Herbarium 7(1902): 295–408.


Curtin, L. S. M. “Pioneer Medicine in New Mex-ico.” Folk-Say (1930): 186–196.

Fentress, Eliza E. Superstitions of Grayson County(Kentucky). M.A. thesis, Western StateTeachers College, 1934.





Hoffman, W. J. “The Midewiwin or ‘Grand Med-icine Society’ of the Ojibwa.” SmithsonianInstitution-Bureau of American EthnologyAnnual Report No. 7. Washington, DC:1891.


Jobson, Allan. In Suffolk Borders. London: RobertHale, 1967.

Johnson, E. S., et al. British Medical Journal 291(1985): 569–573.


Micheletti, Enza (ed.). North American Folk Heal-ing: An A–Z Guide to Traditional Remedies.

190 ; Healer

New York and Montreal: Reader’s DigestAssociation, 1998.



Peacock, Mabel. “Executed Criminals and FolkMedicine.” Folk-Lore 7 (1896): 268–283.

Pechey, John. The Complete Herbal of PhysicalPlants. London, 1694.


Raymond, Marcel. “Notes Ethnobotaniques surles Tete-de-Boule de Manouan.” Contribu-tions de l’Institut Botanique de l’Universite deMontreal 55 (1945): 113–134.







Wilson, Gordon, Sr. Folklore of the MammothCave Region. Bowling Green, KY: KentuckyFolklore Society, Kentucky Folklore Series4, 1968.

HealerBritish folk medicine has largely been

community medicine, handed down byword of mouth. Those who administered it

were often family members or friends, andvery few documented records exist exceptin the recent past. Even then, we are oftenoffered only tantalizing glimpses, such as aname only. Goody Shepherd was the wisewoman of Upton, and widow Bernard wassimilarly regarded in Severn Stoke, both inGloucestershire, but of their practices wehave no details (Lawson 1884: 103). How-ever, sometimes an individual became lo-cally, or even nationally, famous for his orher “cures,” and in such cases written rec-ords do sometimes exist. Examples of suchlocal healers are Mrs. Eileen Pearsons in Ire-land, who became famous and wealthy forher remedy for scrofula using brooklime(Veronica becccabunga) (“‘O Clara’” 1978:35), and, in East Anglia, Mrs. Wesby, whopublished pamphlets on her herbal cures inthe mid-nineteenth century (Wesby 1855).In Aberdeenshire the life of Adam Donaldof Bethelnie has been documented. He wasborn in 1703 into a poor family, was disa-bled and unfit for manual work, but pros-pered as a local healer (Anderson 1791). InScotland, Ireland, and Wales the situationwas somewhat different, in that local fami-lies became famous as physicians. The Bea-ton clan in the Scottish Highlands, and thethirteenth-century Physicians of Myddvaiin Wales are examples. In these cases theboundaries between folk and official medi-cine break down almost entirely. In addi-tion, certain trades were associated withhealing; thus the blacksmith was oftenregarded as a healer. Local midwives, untilthe twentieth century, often doubled asherbal practitioners as well as layers-out ofthe dead.

In North American folk medicine thepicture is more complex. So many differenttraditions have contributed to its folk med-icine that generalizations are impossible.Doubtless within any given communitythere were individuals famous for theirknowledge of herbs, such as Mrs. Benton,the woman who taught Samuel Thomson

Heart trouble : 191

(Fox 1924: 22). Another example is MaryCurby of Louisiana, after whom one speciesof Eryngium is named, “merry-curvye.” Shepublicized its use for snake bite (Coffey1993: 159). As in Britain, documentationof such people is largely lacking. Apart fromindividual experts, within each traditionthere were recognized hierarchies of healers:the curanderismo in Mexico; the medicinemen among many Native American tribes;and the so-called Indian root-doctors, whowere herbalists, drawing on the NativeAmerican knowledge as well as their own.Tommy Bass in the Appalachians is an ex-ample of this type of healer; fortunately, hispractice and life have been very well docu-mented (Crellin and Philpott 1998).

See also Blacksmith, Medicine man,Midwife, Snake bite, Specialist.

ReferencesAnderson, Dr. James. “Life of Adam Donald.” Bee

6 (December 21, 1791).Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of


Crellin, John K., and Jane Philpott. Trying to GiveEase: Tommie Bass and the Story of HerbalMedicine. Durham, NC: Duke UniversityPress, 1998.

Fox, William. Family Botanic Guide, or Every ManHis Own Doctor. Sheffield: William Fox andSons, 1924.

Lawson, Emily M. Nation in a Parish. London,1884.

“‘O Clara, Padraig:’ The Big Mrs. Pearson.” CorkHolly Bough (Christmas 1978): 35.

Wesby, Mrs. E., Doctress. A Few Words of FriendlyAdvice. 1855. Uncatalogued pamphlet inLocal Studies Library, Norwich.

Heart troubleMany of the symptoms of heart disease

recognized in modern medicine were notrelated to the heart in folk medicine in thepast. As a result, folk remedies specificallyfor heart conditions are probably underre-

presented in the literature, some of thembeing “hidden” under the categories ofbreathlessness, dropsy, or chest pain, all ofwhich are sometimes symptoms of heartdisease. In Yorkshire, a traditional preven-tative of angina was to wear brown papercoated with fat and brown sugar (Souter1995: 167). Fasting and drinking one’s ownurine were apparently recommended too(Souter 1995: 167). Wearing a cork as anamulet was reputed to prevent heart attacks(Notes and Queries, 1849: 449). In Ox-fordshire, a heart patient was given the lastnine drops of tea from the teapot afterguests had departed (Kahn 1913: 93). InIreland, a cup of oatmeal covered with acloth was placed over the heart patient’schest and bandaged in place (Logan 1972:29).

Especially in Irish folk medicine, a num-ber of native plants have been used in treat-ing heart disease. These include rocksamphire (Crithmum maritimum) and wa-tercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum)(Vickery 1995: 313, 384). In England aninfusion of the flowers of wild pansy (Violatricolor), also known as heart’s-ease, wasused (Wharton 1974: 185). Dandelionleaves were recommended in Irish folkmedicine for every illness, including a weakheart (Vickery 1995: 104). Foxglove isprobably one of the most famous plants ofherbal medicine in the West. AlthoughWithering developed the use of the plant intreating heart disease, in folk medicine ithad, prior to that, been used mainly in thetreatment of dropsy (in some cases a symp-tom of heart disease) and as a salve. Haw-thorn was regarded as a heart tonic—forexample, in Devon (Lafont 1984: 44)—and it is used in modern herbalism (Chev-allier 1996: 86). In the Highlands of Scot-land, bogbean was regarded as good for theheart (Beith 1995: 207). Mistletoe was alsoused for heart trouble in the Scottish High-lands (Beith 1995: 227–228) and in Glou-cestershire, England (Kanner 1939: 922).

192 ; Heart trouble

In North American folk medicine, thereseems to have been a widespread associationof metals with heart disease. Wearing a goldwatch near the heart was said to cause heartdisease, but wearing brass rings on the fin-gers could cure heart trouble (Brown 1952–1968, 6: 211). Wearing copper (Cannon1984: 111) or a piece of silver (UCLAFolklore Archive 2_7608) has been rec-ommended for heart trouble. Eating goldleaf and dried venison was claimed to helpheart disease (UCLA Folklore Archives7_5416). Wearing a nutmeg as an amuletabove the heart was claimed to cure “flut-tering” of the heart (Brown 1952–1964, 6:211). Other amulets worn for heart diseaseinclude a wasp nest in the breast pocket(Campbell 1953: 2), a bag containing cam-phor (Puckett 1981: 395), a buckeye (Puck-ett 1981: 395), the rattles of a rattlesnakewrapped in silk (Hyatt 1965: 331), or aheart-shaped bag containing hair from achild born after the death of his or her fa-ther (Marie-Ursule 1951: 174). Tying a redtape around the chest was recommended inCanada for palpitations (Riddell 1934:262), while in Illinois for strengthening aweak heart a black silk string was tiedaround the left arm (Hyatt 1965: 331).

Spitting three times on a stone andthrowing it over the shoulder was reputedto cure palpitations (Fogel 1915: 286). Yel-low clay poultices on the soles of the feetwere a cure for palpitations from Illinois(Hyatt 1965: 331). White clay was eaten forheart trouble in Illinois (Hyatt 1965: 331).An infusion of porcupine quills has beenrecommended in Quebec for heart disease(Roy 1955: 28). In Louisiana, ants wereconsidered good for heart trouble (Roberts1927: 169). In Alabama, drinking butter-milk was recommended (Browne 1958:72). From Alabama also comes the sugges-tion that smelling one’s own farts will curea heart attack (Puckett 1981: 395). Generalrecommendations for avoiding or treatingheart disease include always sleeping on the

right side (Lathrop 1961: 15) and sleepingin a north-south orientation (Hyatt 1965:331). A glass of water recently brought fromthe river drunk on five consecutive nightswas said to cure heart sickness (Dodson1954: 265). Lukewarm tea rubbed into thechest was recommended for heart pains inMinnesota (Lathrop 1961: 10, note 12), aremedy reminiscent of the Oxfordshire cureabove. In French Canada, eating plenty ofhoney was considered good for the heart(Roy 1955: 68).

There was a widespread belief in Europeand North America that roasted toads weregood for heart trouble (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 1_5403). Perhaps surprisingly, thisstrange remedy is fully vindicated by mod-ern science: toad skin has been shown tocontain cardiac glycosides called bufadien-olides, which have a direct action on theheart (Allen 1995: 159). A number ofNorth American folk remedies for heart dis-eases involve ingesting the blood or theheart of an animal (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 6_5401). In Mexico, blood from adeer was mixed with powdered antler andgiven for heart trouble (Smithers 1961: 24).A recommendation from Texas was to killa woodpecker and drink its blood (UCLAFolklore Archives 2_5404). Eating a boiledroadrunner was also suggested (Hendricks1966: 47).

There are a very large number of plantremedies in North American folk medicinefor treating the heart. For palpitations,clove water (from Syzygium aromaticum)was rubbed on (Vestal 1973: 168), or redclover tea (Trifolium pratense) was drunk(UCLA Folklore Archives 11_6437). Eat-ing garlic every day was recommended forkeeping the heart healthy (UCLA FolkloreArchives 8_5416), a remedy imported fromAustria. In Mexico, boiled sweet lemon(Agastache sp.) was recommended for painsin the heart (Woodhull 1930: 61), as wasorange blossom tea (Kay 1972: 178). Dillseeds were used in New Mexico (Curtin

Heart trouble : 193

1930: 188). Chewing the root of butterflyroot (Asclepias tuberosa) was recommendedin Arkansas (Parler 1962: 687). A tea madefrom Lady’s slipper (Cypripedium sp.) wasdrunk in Virginia (Musick 1948: 6).Among numerous other plants used to treatheart conditions are costmary (Balsamitamajor) (Puckett 1981: 395), cherry (Puck-ett 1981: 395), wintergreen (Gaultheria sp.)(Rayburn 1941: 250), bugleweed (Lycopussp.) (Lathrop 1961: 16), heart’s-ease orheal-all (Prunella vulgaris) (Bergen 1899:110), and lily-of-the-valley (which couldrefer to the European lily-of-the-valley,Convallaria majalis, or to a species ofMaianthemum).

Another plant also called heart’s ease, orpipissewa (Chimaphila umbellata), was usedfor heart disease in New England (Levine1941: 488). Chewing ginseng was recom-mended to ward off heart trouble (Clark1970: 23). A broth of heart-shaped leaveshas been claimed to cure heart trouble(UCLA Folklore Archives 3_6437). Otherplant remedies that may be examples ofsympathetic magic include the use of smart-weed (Polygonum persicaria) (Bergen 1899:115), which has heart-shaped spots on itsleaves, and of the Yoloxochitl plant (Loomis1944: 95), which has heart-shaped flowers.Simply wearing a bag of herbs around theneck has been suggested (Puckett 1981:395). Cayenne pepper in a glass of cold wa-ter has been recommended for a heart at-tack (Cannon 1984: 111). A suggestionimplying little faith in the medical profes-sion is to take two-thirds of the prescribedmedicine and bury it (Cannon 1984: 111).

In Native American practice, a largenumber of plants have been used to treatheart conditions. These include white cedar(Thuja sp.), known also as arbor-vitae (Tan-taquidgeon 1972: 266), and skunk cabbage(Symplocarpus foetidus) (MacDonald 1959:222), as well as the pisissewa and Prunellamentioned above in general folk medicine(Moerman 1998: 801–802). When in 1837

a party of Canadian Indians visited Dr.Deerfield, they offered him their medicinefor the heart palpitations from which he wassuffering and were offended when he de-clined. The preparation was composed ofwild ginger root (Asarum canadense) (Vogel1970: 391). Among the Cherokee, therewas apparently a belief that heart troublewas caused by the lungs being wrappedaround the heart, so a preparation of fernleaves, which in nature uncurl as they grow,was given (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 211). InNahuatl lore, a person with heart diseaseshould wear red clothes (Madsen, 1955:130). (For other plants used by the NativeAmericans in heart disease, see Moerman1998: 801–802.)

See also Amulet, Bogbean, Cayenne,Cherry, Dandelion, Dropsy, Foxglove,Ginseng, Gold, Hawthorn, Mistletoe,Poultice, Sympathetic magic, Toads andfrogs.








Campbell, Marie. Folk Remedies from SouthGeorgia. Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin19 (1953): 1–4.

Cannon, Anthon S. Popular Beliefs and Supersti-tions from Utah. Edited by Wayland D.

194 ; Heart trouble

Hand and Jeannine E. Talley. Salt LakeCity: University of Utah Press, 1984.



Curtin, L. S.M. “Pioneer Medicine in New Mex-ico.” Folk-Say (1930): 186–196.

Dodson, Ruth. “The Curandero of Los Olmos.”Publications of the Texas Folklore Society 26(1954): 264–270.




Kahn, Max. “Vulgar Specifics and TherapeuticSuperstitions.” Popular Science Monthly 83(1913): 81–96.

Kanner, Leo. “Mistletoe, Magic and Medicine.”Bulletin of the History of Medicine 7 (1939):875–936.

Kay, Margarita Artschwager. Health and Illness inthe Barrio: Women’s Point of View. Ph.D.dissertation, University of Arizona, 1972.





Loomis, C. Grant. “Some Mexican Lore Prior to1670.” California Folklore Quarterly 3(1944): 91–101.


Madsen, William. “Hot and Cold in the Universeof San Francisco Tecospa, Valley of Mex-

ico.” Journal of American Folklore 68(1955): 123–139.



Musick, Ruth Ann. “Western Virginia Folklore.”Hoosier Folklore 7 (1948): 1–14.

Notes and Queries. London: 1849. Vol. 123.Parler, Mary Celestia, and University Student



Rayburn, Otto Ernest. Ozark Country. New York:Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1941.

Riddell, William Renwick. “Some Old CanadianFolk Medicine.” Medical Record 140(1934): 262.


Roy, Carmen. La Litterature Orale en Gaspesie.Bulletin 134, 36 de la Serie Anthropolo-gique. Ottawa: Ministre de Nord Canadienet des Ressources Nationales, (1955): 61–105; 107–136.

Smithers, W. D. “Nature’s Pharmacy and theCuranderos.” Sul Ross State College Bulletin41(3) (1961): 24.



Vestal, Paul K., Jr. “Herb Workers in Scotlandand Robeson Counties.” North CarolinaFolklore 21 (1973): 166–170.



Hemlock spruce : 195

Wharton, C. The Folklore of South Warwickshire:A Field Collection with Comparative Anno-tations and Commentary. Ph.D. thesis, Uni-versity of Leeds, 1969.


HeartburnSee Indigestion.

Hemlock (Coniummaculatum)

Despite its very poisonous nature, thisplant has been used in British folk medi-cine. The name “hemlock” has been appliedto various other species of umbellifers too,particularly to “water-hemlock,” Oenanthecrocata, so that it is not always possible toassign a record with certainty to the “true”hemlock. A Suffolk ointment for sore eyeswas prepared from hemlock but was appliedto the healthy eye, not the sore one! (Porter1969: 43). A similar salve was used in York-shire by the Fairfax family, but in this in-stance it was applied to the arm on theopposite side from the sore eye (Radfordand Radford 1974: 189). Hemlock was aconstituent of pills given to procure abor-tion (Porter 1969: 11). The most wide-spread use of hemlock in British folkmedicine has been as an external poulticeapplied to sores and ulcers (Hart 1898:378), and even to cancers. This latter usemay have been influenced by theeighteenth-century cancer “cure” promotedby the Viennese physician Storck, but evi-dently folk medicine in some instancesadopted the plant for this use. In Cornwalla man claimed to have cured himself of can-cer by drinking hemlock juice (Polwhele1806: 76). In Ireland the plant was alsoused for treating rheumatism (Allen andHatfield, in press).

Hemlock was introduced into NorthAmerica. Its use there in folk medicine ap-

pears to have been only slight. Among theKlamma Native Americans it was rubbedon a woman’s body to make her attractiveto men (Gunther 1973: 42). The namehemlock in North America generally refersto the unrelated hemlock spruce.

See also Abortion, Cancer, Eye problems,Hemlock spruce, Poultice, Rheumatism.




Hart, Henry Chichester. Flora of the County Do-negal. Dublin: Sealy, Bryers, and Walker,1898.

Polwhele, Richard. The Civil and Military Historyof Cornwall. Vol. 5. London: Cadell andDavies, 1806.



Hemlock spruce (Tsugaspp.)

This tree is not native in Britain and isunknown there in folk medicine. In NorthAmerica, the twigs of hemlock poundedwith lard have been used to treat chilblains.Essence of hemlock was an ingredient ofcough medicines. The inner bark of thehemlock tree has been used to treat dysen-tery and as a constituent of a tonic (Meyer1985: 62, 81, 96, 257). Lying on freshhemlock boughs has been found to help hayfever. Hemlock bark has been used in uri-nary incontinence and in a mixture forrheumatism. The pulverized bark has beenused for chafed skin (Meyer 1985: 135,156, 215, 224). The water in which hem-lock bark has been boiled has been used to

196 ; Hemorrhoids

treat dandruff (Beck 1957: 78). The sameinfusion has been used to treat itches andsore feet (UCLA Folklore Archives5_5418), as well as dropsy (Lick and Bren-dle 1922: 281). Hemlock tea has been usedto treat measles (Puckett 1981: 413).

In Native American medicine these usesand many others have been recorded(Moerman 1998: 570–573). Additionaluses include burns (Smith 1929: 51), gy-necological problems (Hamel and Chilto-skey 1975: 38), and tuberculosis (Herrick1977: 268). The gum of the tree has beenused to treat eye inflammation (Boas 1932:190). Hemlock is believed by some to bethe plant used in the sixteenth century byNative Americans to cure the explorerJacques Cartier’s men of scurvy (Vogel1970: 316).

Confusingly, hemlock in Britain refers tothe unrelated and highly poisonous plantConium maculatum.

See also Burns, Chapped skin, Chilblains,Coughs, Dropsy, Dysentery, Hay fever,Hemlock, Rheumatism, Scurvy, Sore feet,Tonic, Tuberculosis.


phia and New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1957.Boas, Franz. “Current Beliefs of the Kwakiutl In-

dians.” Journal of American Folklore 45(1932): 177–260.







Smith, Harlan I. “Materia Medica of the BellaCoola and Neighboring Tribes of BritishColumbia.” National Museum of CanadaBulletin 56 (1929): 47–68.


HemorrhoidsSee Piles.

HiccupsFor a usually trivial ailment, this has

gathered a surprising amount of folk-lore.Recommendations in British folklore in-clude holding the breath, drinking from thefar side of a glass of water, drinking waterwhile standing on one’s head, and persuad-ing someone to give the sufferer a fright. Anineteenth-century “cure” is to spit on theforefinger of the right hand and make across on the front of the left shoe while say-ing the Lord’s prayer backward (Hawke1973: 28). Holding the nose, closing themouth, and counting to twenty backwardis a Somerset suggestion (Tongue 1965:40). Various plants found to soothe diges-tive problems have been used, such aschamomile tea or peppermint (Mentha x pi-perita). In Ireland gorse (Ulex europaeus) hasbeen used to treat hiccups (Lucas 1960:185).

In North America, there is a wealth ofhiccup cures. In addition to those men-tioned for Britain, they include swallowingsugar or vinegar, breathing into a paper bag,snuffing up pepper to provoke sneezing,and pulling on the tongue (Micheletti

Hives : 197

1998: 195). Placing a hand on the pit ofthe stomach and applying pressure is an-other suggestion (Meyer 1985: 139).Drinking sips of water of varying numberand with deep breaths between was a com-mon recommendation (Brown 1952–1964,6: 213–215). Holding the breath has oftenbeen found to help, as has giving the suf-ferer a shock (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 215–217). Sipping sugared water, chewingcrushed ice, and drinking cold soda waterhave all been tried; drinking sips of waterwhile keeping the ears blocked is anothersuggestion, as is sucking a lump of sugarthrough a slice of lemon or tomato (Meyer1985: 140). Herbal suggestions include cin-namon (Cinnamomum verum), dill (Ane-thum graveolens), fennel (Foeniculumvulgare), mint, and peppermint (Mentha xpiperita) (Meyer 1985: 140). Chewing pinestraws and eating damson jam have alsobeen recorded (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 213).

Among Native Americans, an infusion ofjuniper (Juniperus spp.) or of valerian (Val-eriana spp.) was recommended (Micheletti1998: 195).

See also Chamomile.



Hawke, Kathleen. Cornish Sayings, Superstitionsand Remedies. Redruth: Dyllanson Truran,1973.

Lucas, A. T. Furze: A Survey and History of Its Usesin Ireland. Dublin: Stationery Office, 1960.




HivesThis is a disease commonly mentioned

in folk medicine but difficult to define interms of modern medicine. In Scotland, itrefers to almost any condition in a childthat involves skin eruptions thought to becaused by some internal disorder (Buchan1994: 110). Use of the term extended fur-ther to different types of hives, such as“bowel-hives” (a form of diarrhea) and“bannock-hive,” thought to be due to over-eating. The word was even used as anadjective, “hivie,” meaning that a child wasill from almost any cause. Treatment forhives included an infusion of herb Robert(Geranium robertianum). The Gaelic namefor this plant means “plant for the hives”(Beith 1995: 223). In Ireland, ragwort (Se-necio sp.) was used to treat bowel hives inchildren (Vickery MSS).

The term hives is used in North Ameri-can medicine, where it seems to refer some-times to an urticarial (nettle-like) rash(Buchan 1994: 111). Various teas weregiven to a baby to “bring out” the hives, asit was believed this was desirable. Bullnettletea (Cnidoscolus stimulosus) was given forthis purpose (Anderson 1970: 42), as wasground-ivy tea (Glechoma hederacea) (Mul-lins 1973: 38). Other infusions were usedto treat the hives—for example, tea madefrom catnip (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 52–53), onions, mistletoe (Browne 1958: 20),mullein, or maple leaf (Acer sp.) (Parler1962, 3: 250, 704). A more drastic treat-ment involved a form of cupping, whereblood was sucked out from small slits madebetween the infant’s shoulders (Brown1952–1964, 6: 52–53). It was recom-mended to give a newborn baby a drop ofits own blood to prevent it from dying ofhives (Hatcher 1958: 152).

Other treatments for hives had a magicalelement. Water in which nine pieces ofbuckshot (Randolph 1947: 111) or a bor-

198 ; Holly

rowed silver dollar (Frazier 1936: 34) hadbeen soaked was suggested. A tea madefrom the hind legs of crickets (Parler 1962,3: 702) or from the stings of nine honeybees(UCLA Folklore Archive 19_5890) wasgiven to a child with hives. Wearing a nut-meg (Farr 1939: 113) or a bag containingnine silverfish (Browne 1958: 20) wasclaimed to cure hives. Passing a baby back-ward through a horse collar (UCLA Folk-lore Archive 5_5685) or allowing a studhorse to breathe on the child (Parler 1962,3: 706) were other recommendations. Thebreath of various humans was consideredcurative. A seventh child could cure hivesby blowing into a child’s mouth (UCLAFolklore Archive 9_5415), as could a manwho had never seen the baby’s father (Hand1971: 265) or a man born with a caul (Par-ler 1962, 3: 706).

To prevent hives occurring, it was sug-gested that a baby be exposed to thesunshine on three successive mornings(Brewster 1939: 36).

See also Bee, Catnip, Caul, Cricket,Mistletoe, Mullein, Onion.








Farr, T. J. “Tennessee Folk Beliefs Concerning

Children.” Journal of American Folklore 52(1939): 112–116.


Hand, Wayland D. “The Folk Healer Calling andEndowment.” Journal of History of Medicine26 (1971): 263–275.

Hatcher, Mildred. “Superstitions in Middle Ten-nessee.” Southern Folklore Quarterly 19(1958): 150–155.

Mullins, Gladys. “Herbs of the Southern High-lands and Their Medicinal Uses.” KentuckyFolklore Record 19 (1973): 26–41.



Vickery MSS. Roy Vickery, manuscript material.

Holly (Ilex aquifolium)Christian symbolism now overlies what

was probably a much older tradition of rev-erence for this tree. The holly not only sym-bolizes survival, with its tough evergreenleaves and its very slow rate of growth, butwas used in the past to mark out bounda-ries—it was a crime to cut down suchboundary hollies. This perhaps led to theidea still prevalent today that it is unluckyto cut down hollies (Vickery 1995: 181).

In British folk medicine, holly has beenused for one purpose above all others—treating chilblains. By beating the affectedtoes and fingers until they bled, it wasthought that the local circulation could beimproved and the chilblains helped to heal.This practice has been recorded from Nor-folk and Oxfordshire (Allen and Hatfield,in press). That the use of holly was notmerely symbolic is shown by the fact thatin some areas, including Wiltshire (Whit-lock 1976: 167) and Essex (Hatfield 1994:27), an ointment made up of holly berriesand lard was used to treat chilblains.

Holly : 199

In British folk medicine, holly has been used to treatchilblains. In North America, influenza has beentreated with a tea made from holly and holly leaf teahas been used to treat measles. (North Wind PictureArchive)

Rheumatism and arthritis were sometimestreated in a similar way, by beating withholly twigs—for example, in Somerset(Tongue 1965). In Waterford, Ireland, astiff neck was treated similarly (Allen andHatfield, in press). The belief is reportedfrom Scotland that at Hogmanay (NewYear’s Eve) if a boy is beaten with holly hewill live a year for every drop of blood spilt(Banks 1937–1941, 2: 42). An infusion ofthe leaves was used as a rheumatism treat-ment in Devon (Lafont 1984: 47), andthere is a record from Hampshire of a treat-ment for whooping cough by drinking milkout of a cup made from wood from a var-iegated holly (Notes and Queries 1851:227). There is also an isolated record fromLimpsfield, Surrey, of the holly tree’s beingused in a cure for hernia in children, inmuch the same way that ash trees have beenmore generally used. In Meath, Ireland,holly leaves were used to treat burns (Allenand Hatfield, in press).

English holly was introduced in NorthAmerica and arises occasionally in folkmedicine. There is a record from New En-gland of the use of powder of dried“French” holly (variegated garden holly) for

treating worms in children (Fosbroke 1835:165). Often there is no precise informationabout which species was used in folk med-icine, and presumably one of the indige-nous species was used by Swedish colonistsfor the treatment of stitches and pleuriticpains; the process involved drying andgrinding the leaves, and boiling the powderin beer (Kalm 1747–1751: 185). Influenzahas been treated with a tea made from holly(Wilson 1968: 323). Holly leaf tea has beenused to treat measles (Brown 1952–1964,6: 234). During the Civil War, a tea madeof yaupon (holly) was used in the South totreat ulcers (Woodhull 1930: 66). A mix-ture of honey and holly ashes was used totreat thrush (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 65).Walking through a split trunk of holly as acure for hernias, just as in England, hasbeen reported from Ohio (Puckett 1981:396). Evidently, holly leaf tea was regardedas a tonic (Clark 1970: 10), with one sug-gestion that “he-holly” is good for boys,“she-holly” for girls (Brown 1952–1964, 6:114).

Some of these folk uses of holly are rec-ognizable from Native American practice;for example, among the Micmac, the rootof English holly (Ilex aquifolium) is used intreating coughs, consumption, and kidneycomplaints (Chandler, Freeman, andHooper 1979: 57), and the plant is alsoused for treating fevers. Ilex opaca is usedby the Catawaba to treat measles (Speck1944: 41). The use of leaves of Ilex opaca,American holly, to scratch cramped muscles(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 38) providesan interesting echo of the British folk usesfor holly as a counter-irritant. Ilex vomito-ria, as its specific name suggests, has pro-vided an emetic, used by several NativeAmerican tribes to provoke vomiting andinduce hallucinations (see, for example, Ha-mel and Chiltoskey 1975: 12, 62).

See also Ash, Burns, Chilblains,Rheumatism, Tonic, Whooping cough.

200 ; Honey



Banks, Mrs. M. MacLeod. British Calendar Cus-toms: Scotland. 3 vols. London: 1937–1941.




Fosbroke, John. “On the Effects of Male FernBuds, in Cases of Worms.” Boston Medicaland Surgical Journal 13(11) (1835): 165–168.



Kalm, P. Travels in North America (1747–1751).Edited by A. P. Benson. New York: Wilson-Erickson, 1937. Reprint, Barre: Imprint So-ciety, 1972.


Notes and Queries, series 1, 4 (1851): 227.Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-



Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. Ed. K. M.Briggs. London: Folklore Society, 1965.


Whitlock, Ralph. The Folklore of Wiltshire. Lon-don: Batsford, 1976.

Wilson, Gordon. “Local Plants in Folk Remedies

in the Mammoth Cave Region.” SouthernFolklore Quarterly 32 (1968): 320–327.


HoneyAs far back as records go and on both

sides of the Atlantic, honey has been usedin the treatment of wounds. It was used, forexample, by the ancient Egyptians and bythe Aztec. Recent scientific studies havelargely vindicated its use, showing that,alone or mixed with sugar, honey can ac-celerate the healing of obstinate sores andhelp in the treatment of burns (Root-Bernstein 2000: 31–43). Modern clinicalstudies pioneered in Argentina and in Mis-sissippi are demonstrating the use of honeyand sugar in aiding the clean healing of sur-gical wounds (Root-Bernstein 2000: 36).Here is one folk remedy that will not goaway; in time it may well be adopted andadapted into mainstream medicine.

Other folk uses include its use (oftenmixed with lemon juice or vinegar) tosoothe a sore throat (EFS 155 Sf). Oatmealgruel mixed with honey was used for treat-ing coughs in the Highlands of Scotland(Beith 1995: 231). Pure honey, or honeymixed with meal, was used to treat infectedwounds and bites in Suffolk (EFS 155 Sf).Honey made by local bees and eatenthroughout the winter seems to confer pro-tection against hay fever, at least for somesufferers. Honey is an important ingredientof many salves and cosmetic products.Hand cream was once made from honeyand lard (EFS 241).

In North American folk medicine, honeywas used in many of the same ways. Mixedwith butter and sulphur it has been used totreat burns (Anderson 1970: 11). Red clo-ver honey has been recommended for a sorethroat (Smith 1930: 76). Local honey hasbeen recommended for pollen allergies inOklahoma (UCLA Folklore Archive

Hops : 201

3_5256). Honey with sulphur has beentaken for asthma (Welsch 1966: 360).Mixed with vinegar, it has been used forrheumatism (UCLA Folklore Archive2_6466). Honey has even been used to treatbee stings (Rayburn 1941: 60). In addition,there have been many cosmetic uses ofhoney. Early settlers infused honey withvine tendrils and rosemary tops to form awash to thicken hair, while with egg-yolk,hog’s lard, rosewater, oatmeal and almond-paste it formed a remedy for chapped hands(Robertson 1960: 6, 10). Meyer gives nu-merous folk medical uses of honey, in prep-arations to treat ailments as diverse asbee-stings and bronchitis, burns, and rheu-matism (Meyer 1985: 38, 50, 53, 217). Jar-vis, the well-known exponent of cidervinegar, gives numerous folk uses of honeyin his books (e.g., Jarvis 1961: 95–119).

In Native American medicine, bothwhole bees and honey are widely used inhealing preparations. Other products of thebee are also used in folk medicine.

See also Asthma, Bee, Burns, Chappedskin, Coughs, Hay fever, Insect bites andstings, Rheumatism, Sore throat,Wounds.




EFS. English Folklore Survey. Manuscript notesfrom the 1960s, in University College Lon-don.



Rayburn, Otto Ernest. Ozark Country. New York:Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1941.


Root-Bernstein, Robert, and Michele Root-

Bernstein. Honey, Mud, Maggots, and OtherMedical Marvels: The Science Behind FolkRemedies and Old Wives’ Tales. London: PanBooks, 2000.

Smith, Walter R. “Northwestern Oklahoma FolkCures.” Publications of the Texas Folklore So-ciety 8 (1930): 74–85.

Welsch, Rogers L. A Treasury of Nebraska PioneerFolklore. Lincoln: University of NebraskaPress, 1966.

Hops (Humulus lupulus)The pollen of this plant has been iden-

tified from prehistoric sites in Britain, mak-ing it likely that it is native. However, it hasalso been widely cultivated in Britain sincethe sixteenth century, when it replacedground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) as a fla-voring for beer. Folk medical supplies of theplant may therefore have come mostly fromthe cultivated plant. It is thought to helpinsomnia, and hop pillows are sold com-mercially. There are records of its use in folkmedicine as a sedative, especially in Ireland(Allen and Hatfield, in press). In England apoultice of bread and hops was used as adressing for obstinate sores and ulcers(Quelch 1941: 99).

In North America the plant has a sur-prisingly high profile in folk medicine,given that the plant is not native there.Whether the so-called American hop (Hu-mulus lupulus var. lapuloides) is in fact a na-tive is a matter of disagreement (Crellin andPhilpott 1990: 248). Either way, the planthas been widely used in general NorthAmerican folk medicine as a sedative. In ad-dition, it has been used as an external poul-tice for inflamed bowels, mixed with otherherbs taken internally for bronchitis; as achest poultice on the lungs and throat forchest colds (Meyer 1985: 46, 51, 67); as ahot fomentation applied externally for pleu-risy; as a fomentation on its own or mixedwith lobelia or thornapple for constipation;and as a component of cough mixtures

202 ; Hops

(Meyer 1985: 71, 80, 198). It has been usedin the treatment of erysipelas, applied inheated bags to the feet and wrists for a fever,given as a tea for headache, and heated in apillow for headache and neuralgia (Meyer1985: 109, 128, 137, 139). As a syrup withsugar it has been given for jaundice; as aninfusion for period pain, as a mouthwashfor thrush; as a fomentation for the afterpains of childbirth; as an infusion drunk forindigestion; in a mixture inhaled for sorethroat or tonsillitis; and as a constituent ofa general tonic (Meyer 1985: 152, 174,180, 210, 238, 251, 252, 258). Flannelsdipped in a hot infusion of hops have beenused to poultice mumps (UCLA FolkloreArchives 17_6410), and the hop shootsthemselves have been used as a chest poul-tice for colds (Pope 1965: 43).

A recommendation for asthma has beento sleep on a pillow filled with hops (Puck-ett 1981: 312). Hop tea has been drunk forbladder inflammation (Browne 1958: 33).Hops fried in lard have been applied tocaked breasts (Browne 1958: 42). Wildhops have been made into a brew to feed tobabies (Lathrop 1961: 5). Folk faith in hopsextends to the use of a hop-filled pillow un-der the bed to treat rheumatism (Cannon1984: 121), or a bag of hops carried as anamulet to prevent motion sickness (Thomas1920: 121). Hops have even figured in atreatment for epilepsy, a regimen involvingvisiting a hop vine for seven consecutivemornings and biting the end of a shoot(Hyatt 1965: 248).

Some of these uses can be traced in therecords of Native American medicine, sug-gesting that they may have been learnedfrom there rather than imported from Eu-ropean usage. As in general folk medicine,a warm application of the herb is a commonmethod of preparation. In this way it wasused to treat earache and toothache amongthe Delaware (Tantaquidgeon 1972: 31)and pneumonia among the Shinnecock(Carr and Westey 1945: 120). A decoction

of the fruit has been used to treat intestinalpain and fever among the Dakota (Gilmore1913: 32). An infusion of the blossom hasbeen widely used as a sedative—for exam-ple, by the Mohegan (Tantaquidgeon 1972:130) and the Cherokee (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 39). (For other NativeAmerican uses of hops see Moerman 1998:269–270.)

See also Amulet, Asthma, Breast problems,Childbirth, Colds, Coughs, Earache,Epilepsy, Erysipelas, Fevers, Headache,Indigestion, Jaundice, Lobelia, Poultice,Rheumatism, Sleeplessness, Thornapple,Tonic, Toothache.






Crellin, John C., and Jane Philpott. A ReferenceGuide to Medicinal Plants: Herbal MedicinePast and Present. Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press, 1990.

Gilmore, Melvin R. “Some Native NebraskaPlants with Their Uses by the Dakota.” Col-lections of the Nebraska State Historical So-ciety 17 (1913): 358–370.




Horehound : 203



Pope, Genevieve. “Superstitions and Beliefs ofFleming Country.” Kentucky Folklore Record11 (1965): 41–51.





Horehound (Marrubiumvulgare)

This common hedgerow plant has had areputation in both official and folk medi-cine in Britain for treating coughs andcolds. Horehound candy could still bebought in chemist shops in the late twen-tieth century. The plant was also made intobeer, which was considered a good tonic.There were a few more minor uses for it infolk medicine: mixed with rue it was usedin East Anglia as a contraceptive, and inCumbria it was used to treat nosebleeds. Itsuses in Ireland include headache, earache,as a heart tonic, and for treating rheuma-tism (Allen and Hatfield, in press).

It was introduced to North America, andalthough some of its uses there in folk med-icine are similar, others seem to be uniqueto North America. As in Britain, its primaryuse has been for the treatment of respiratorycomplaints. It has been used to treat bron-chitis (Meyer 1985: 51), asthma (Puckett1981: 311), catarrh (Meyer 1985: 59),

croup (Rogers 1941: 18), colds (Cannon1984: 99), and coughs (Meyer 1985: 80),including whooping cough (Brown 1952–1964: 353). In addition it has been used totreat sore throat (Smith 1929: 76), “femaleweakness” (Meyer 1985: 124), and, com-bined with raspberry, scanty or painfulmenstruation (Randolph 1947: 194). Bothdiarrhea (Black 1935: 19) and constipation(UCLA Folklore Archives 11_6391) havebeen treated using horehound, as have kid-ney and liver complaints (Meyer 1985: 157,168). Horehound candy has been used forstomach ache and heartburn (Meyer 1985:235). As a tea the plant has been used forcolic (Wilson 1968: 71), as a diuretic(Browne 1958: 111), and to aid weight loss(Meyer 1985: 265). In either tea or candyform, the plant has been used to treatworms in children (Browne 1958: 30).

In the Mexican tradition, it has beenused, as Marrubia, to treat jaundice (Campa1950: 341). Horehound tea has been usedas a tonic, as in Britain (Brown 1952–1964,6: 114). Its use in Alabama to stop profusebleeding and to soothe toothache has beenreported (Browne 1958: 108). A slave inCarolina in the eighteenth century wasawarded his freedom for revealing a cure forrattlesnake bite consisting of horehoundand plantain (Schopf 1788). Perhaps as anextension of this use, the juice has been rec-ommended for poisons generally (Brown1952–1964: 251).

In Native American practice the planthas had similar uses: for coughs, colds (Ha-mel and Chiltoskey 1975: 39), sore throat(Elmore 1944: 73), as a diuretic (Bean andSaubel 1972: 88), and for stomach ache(Vestal 1952: 41). In addition, it has beenused to treat boils (Bocek 1984: 16) breastcomplaints (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:39) and has been given before and afterchildbirth (Vestal 1952: 41).

See also Asthma, Bleeding, Boils, Breastproblems, Childbirth, Colds, Colic,

204 ; Houseleek

Constipation, Contraception, Coughs,Croup, Diarrhea, Earache, Headache,Jaundice, Mexican tradition, Nosebleed,Rheumatism, Snake bite, Sore throat,Tonic, Toothache, Whooping cough,Worms.

ReferencesBean, Lowell John, and Katharine Siva Saubel.

Temalpakh (From the Earth): Cahuilla In-dian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Ban-ning, CA: Malki Museum Press, 1972.

Black, Pauline Monette. Nebraska Folk Cures.University of Nebraska Studies in Lan-guage, Literature and Criticism 15. Lincoln:University of Nebraska, 1935.

Bocek, Barbara R. “Ethnobotany of CostanoanIndians, California: Based on Collections byJohn P. Harrington.” Economic Botany38(2) (1984): 240–255.





Elmore, Francis H. Ethnobotany of the Navajo.Santa Fe, NM: School of American Re-search, 1944.





Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practices in Ten-nessee. Murfreesboro, TN: Rogers, 1941.

Schopf, Johann David. Travels in the Confederation(1783–1784). Translated by A. J. Morrison.1788. Reprint Philadelphia: Campbell,1911.

Smith, Walter R. Animals and Plants in OklahomaFolk Cures: Folk-Say—A Regional Miscel-lany. Edited by B. A. Botkin. Norman:Oklahoma Folk-Lore Society, 1929.


Wilson, Gordon., Sr. Folklore of the MammothCave Region. Bowling Green, KY: KentuckyFolklore Society, Kentucky Folklore Series4. 1968.

Houseleek (Sempervivumtectorum)

This is a plant very widely used in Britishfolk medicine and known by a variety oflocal names. One such name, sengreen, isof Anglo-Saxon origin and translates as“house plant.” Though not a native of Brit-ain, it must have been an early introductionfrom Central Europe. Botanically it is asterile hybrid, which means that it is de-pendent for its spread on vegetative repro-duction alone; the fact that it is now socommon and widespread in Britain on wallsand roofs probably is a direct result of itsimportance in folk medicine. The Romansclaimed that it would protect a house fromlightning and dedicated the plant to Jupiter(an association reflected in the name “thun-der plant”). Country people had manymore prosaic uses for it: it has been used fortreating corns and warts, and the juice hasbeen dropped into sore eyes and into earsfor earache. It has been used within livingmemory in East Anglia, England, for treat-ing eczema (Hatfield 1994: 50). In theHighlands of Scotland it was used for treat-ing earache, deafness, shingles, and fevers(Beith 1995: 224). In Devon one of its uses

Houseleek : 205

In Britain, houseleek is often grown on roofs and isclaimed to protect the house from lightning. It hasbeen widely used to treat skin, eye, and ear problems.(Sarah Boait)

was the treatment of chilblains (Lafont1984: 48). In both England and Ireland,sore eyes were treated with its juice (Hat-field 1994: 37; Barbour 1897: 388). Theplant has succulent rosettes of leaves and hasbeen used as a poultice to treat abscesses(Hatfield 1994: 21), while there are also re-ports of its use in the treatment of asthmaand epilepsy (Allen and Hatfield, in press).In Cambridgeshire, cancerous growths, af-ter the application of a toad, had houseleekpoultices applied to them (Porter 1974:47).

In North American folk medicine, theplant has had similar, though not wide-spread, uses in folk medicine. There is anineteenth-century report of its use forclearing blocked ears (Meyer 1985: 103),while it is claimed that the leaves of thehouseleek “make the best salve known forwounds” (Meyer 1985: 273). The name“houseleek” has also been applied in NorthAmerica to species of stonecrop, Sedum(Crellin and Philpott 1990: 256), which hasalso been used in treating skin complaints.In some of the folk records, it is not clearwhich plant is being used. Houseleek wasused in an ointment to treat ringworm, andthe fresh split leaf was applied to warts(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 269, 327). It wasused for “risings” (Browne 1958: 92) and

for cuts, bruises, and swellings (UCLAFolklore Archive 9_6259). For improvingthe complexion, the juice was mixed withcream and applied (UCLA Folklore Archive24_5615). It seems that the role of house-leek in treating burns in domestic medicine(Meyer 1985: 54) has largely been replacedin recent times by the use of aloe (Crellinand Philpott 1990: 46). In Native Ameri-can practice, species of Sempervivum havebeen used in treatment of earache, corns,and salivary gland swelling (Moerman1998: 526).

See also Abscesses, Aloe vera, Asthma,Chilblains, Cuts, Deafness, Earache,Eczema, Epilepsy, Eye problems, Fevers,Poultice, Ringworm, Shingles, Toads andfrogs, Warts.













206 ; Hunger

HungerOne of the ironies of modern civilization

is the present quest for agents that will re-duce appetite and so help in slimming, incommunities where food is abundant. Inthe past, folk medicine has been more con-cerned with the suppression of appetitewhen food was scarce and work had to bedone and journeys undertaken on an emptystomach. Some such agents are currentlyunder investigation by pharmaceuticalcompanies—for example, an African cactusis being developed as a slimming aid (Hen-derson 2001).

In British folk medicine, a number ofplants were eaten to quell the sense of hun-ger, among them elm leaves (Hatfield MS).In Scotland, the root of a tuberous vetch(Lathyrus linifolius) was chewed to satisfy asense of hunger (Pennant 1774: 310). Theuse of this plant in the Celtic tradition canbe traced back at least to the first centuryA.D. When chewed, the roots taste like lic-orice (Beith 1995: 247–249). Among itsother magico-medical properties, the but-terwort plant (Pinguicula sp.) was thoughtto protect against hunger if simply carriedas an amulet (Beith 1995: 207). Whileworking on the seashore, Scottish highland-ers chewed the seaweed known as dulse(Rhodymenia palmata) (Beith 1995: 240) toward off hunger. As an actual slimming aidin the Highlands, water in which chickweedhad been boiled was recommended (Beith1995: 211). There is an anomalous tradi-tion in parts of Ireland that walking on acertain type of grass makes one extremelytired. It is known as “hungry grass,” and thistradition still survives (pers. com., CountyMeath, Ireland 2001; Vickery 1995: 199–200). In Gloucestershire, the buds of theash tree were used as an aid to slimming(Allen and Hatfield, in press).

In Native American traditional herbalmedicine, a large number of plants havebeen used to remove the sensation of hun-

ger. The Devil’s Club (Oplopanax horri-dum) has been used during fasts to relievehunger and assist in visions (Willard 1992:151). The inner bark of slippery elm wasused much like chewing gum (Micheletti1998: 307); like the tuberous vetch of Scot-land, it tastes of licorice. Among theCherokee, an infusion of the root of Agri-monia gryposepala was given to children toquell hunger (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:22). The root of Balsamorrhiza sagittata waschewed and sucked for hunger among theThompson tribe (Steedman 1928: 493).The powdered root of Mirabilis multiflorais mixed with flour and made into bread todecrease appetite among the Zuni (Cama-zine and Bye 1980: 377). An infusion ofOenothera biennis is taken by the Cherokeefor reducing weight (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 33), while among the Mahuna an in-fusion of witch grass, Panicum capillare, isused similarly (Romero 1954: 66). Cana-dian clearweed (Pilea pumila) was used bythe Cherokee to curb excessive hunger inchildren (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 52,53). Plantago patagonica, woolly plantain,was used as a cold infusion by the Navajoand Ramah to reduce appetite (Vestal 1952:45). Saturejo douglasii was used by thePomo to help weight loss (Gifford 1967:15). Sassafras albidum was used to help fightobesity both among the Native Americans(Perry 1975: 44) and in general folk med-icine (Meyer 1985: 264). Other plants usedin European-American folk medicine in-clude chickweed, as used also in the ScottishHighlands, and sea-wrack (Fucus vesiculo-sus). The latter is a component of a numberof modern proprietary slimming aids. A teamade from the leaves of the ash tree wasdrunk to reduce weight, a remedy echoingthe English one above. An infusion of cleav-ers (Galium aparine) or of fennel seed(Foeniculum vulgare) was claimed to reducethe sense of hunger (Meyer 1985: 262,264). Chewing tree leaves has been reported

Hunger : 207

as a way of removing hunger (UCLA Folk-lore Archive 1_5725).

See also Amulet, Ash, Celtic tradition,Chickweed, Elm, Sassafras.




Camazine, Scott, and Robert A. Bye. “A Study ofthe Medical Ethnobotany of the Zuni In-dians of New Mexico.” Journal of Ethno-pharmacology 2 (1980): 365–388.

Gifford, E. W. “Ethnographic Notes on theSouthwestern Pomo.” Anthropological Rec-ords 25 (1967): 10–15.


Henderson, Mark. “Cactus Pricks Obesity Prob-lem.” (London) Times, April 14, 2001.



Pennant, Thomas. A Tour in Scotland and Voyageto the Hebrides. Chester: John Monk, 1774.

Perry, Myra Jean. Food Uses of “Wild” Plants byCherokee Indians. M.S. thesis, University ofTennessee, Knoxville, 1975.

Romero, John Bruno. The Botanical Lore of theCalifornia Indians. New York: VantagePress, 1954.

Steedman, E. V. “The Ethnobotany of theThompson Indians of British Columbia.”Smithsonian Institution-Bureau of AmericanEthnology Annual Report 45 (1928): 441–552.

Vestal, Paul A. “The Ethnobotany of the RamahNavaho.” Papers of the Peabody Museum ofAmerican Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4):(1952): 1–94.


Willard, Terry Edible and Medicinal Plants of theRocky Mountains and Neighbouring Territo-ries. Calgary, ALTA: Wild Rose College ofNatural Healing, 1992.

; I:

IndigestionThere are numerous herbal infusions rec-

ommended in British folk medicine fortreating indigestion. Among the most com-monly used are infusions of various mints(Mentha spp.), and in particular pepper-mint (Mentha piperita). A mixture of so-dium bicarbonate and peppermint has beenrecommended (Prince 1991: 33). House-leek (Sempervivum tectorum) has been usedsimilarly, and rue (Ruta graveolens) (Hat-field 1994: 54). In the Scottish Highlands,apples were regarded as a cure for indiges-tion (Beith 1995: 203), and the inner barkof barberry (Berberis vulgaris) was used theretoo (Beith 1995: 204). A preparationknown as salep was also used in the ScottishHighlands for soothing indigestion. Themain ingredient of this is the twayblade(Listera ovata) (Beith 1995: 232). Through-out Britain, chamomile was used to treatindigestion, a use made famous in BeatrixPotter’s “Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies.” Fieldgentian (Gentiana campestris) was a wellknown “bitter,” considered to stimulate di-gestive juices and counter indigestion. Theroot of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) hasbeen similarly used (Taylor MSS).

In Northern Ireland in the nineteenthcentury there was a woman who specializedin curing indigestion. She eyed the patientfrom head to foot and measured him onthree successive mornings before sunrise,

using green thread; the patient then atethree dandelion leaves in the name of theBlessed Trinity on three successive morn-ings (M’Lintock 1899: 224). In the ScottishHighlands, dulse soup prepared from theseaweed Rhodymenia palmata was used as atreatment for indigestion (Beith 1995:240). Dill (Anethum graveolens) has beenused to treat indigestion especially in in-fants (Lafont 1984: 34). In Bedfordshire,sloe gin, prepared by pricking fresh sloes(berries of blackthorn, Prunus spinosa) witha silver pin and steeping them in gin (EFS195Bd) was a pleasant remedy for indiges-tion. In Somerset, a tea prepared from thebark of white poplar (Populus alba) has beenused (Tongue 1965: 40).

One of the simplest treatments in NorthAmerican folk medicine for indigestion isto drink hot water (Meyer 1985: 237).Bathing in hot water was an alternative(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 223). Other simplehousehold recommendations are sodiumbicarbonate solution, salt and water, andlemon juice and water. Chicken gizzard,dried and powdered, has been used to treatindigestion (Meyer 1985: 238). In a varia-tion on this remedy, the gizzard of the wildpigeon is used (McAtee 1955: 172). Coarsesand is another suggestion, recorded fromboth Canada and the United States (see, forexample, Bradley 1964: 28). The Papagoare reported to eat the red earth taken fromunder a fire with salt added as an indiges-

210 ; Indigestion

tion cure (Vogel 1970: 202). Some othersimple recommendations for indigestionare to bend over, turn over a rock, and walkstraight forward without looking back (Mu-sick 1964: 46). A remedy with an Irish or-igin reported from Nova Scotia is to pass achild with indigestion backward around atable leg seven times (Creighton 1968:221). Performing a somersault is anothersuggestion (UCLA Folklore Archives recordnumber 11_5414). Inhaling underarmsmell is claimed to be good for indigestion(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 223). Cigar smokeinhaled is claimed to help indigestion(UCLA Folklore Archives record number8_5494). To prevent indigestion, carryinga castor bean has been recommended as anamulet (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 221).

Among herbal recommendations aregentian (as in Britain), alder, golden seal,hops, samphire (Salicornia maritima), lov-age (Levisticum officinale), chamomile (as inBritain), and bark of prickly ash root andmayapple root (Podophyllum peltatum)(Meyer 1985: 237–240). Dandelion rootshave been used as in Britain, as has a teamade from the ashes of hickory wood(Carya sp.) or maplewood (Acer sp.), or aninfusion of yarrow blossom in water(Browne 1958: 73, 74), or a tea made fromwhite oak bark (Quercus alba) (Randolph1947: 97), or poke root (Phytolacca ameri-cana) (Redfield 1937: 18). Eating rawparsley (Petroselinum crispum) (Lick andBrendle 1922: 182) or the root of Indianturnip (Arisaema triphyllum) (Wilson 1968:323) are further suggestions for indigestion;others are chewing parched coffee, parchedcorn or pine rosin (Brown 1952–1964:221, 222). The inner bark of the slipperyelm, peeled and eaten, was found to helpindigestion (Rogers 1941: 16). Calamusroot (Acorus calamus) has been given for in-digestion (Clark 1970: 23).

Some of the herbs mentioned above havebeen used in Native American practice forindigestion. Both slippery elm and calamus

have been very widely used by NativeAmerican tribes (Moerman 1998: 46–48,577). Alder (Alnus rubra) has been used bythe Mendocino for stomachache (Chesnut1902: 332). Golden seal (Hydrastis cana-densis) has been used for dyspepsia by theCherokee (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:36). Hop has been used for intestinal painby the Dakota (Gilmore 1919: 77) andchamomile by the Mahuna for unsettledstomachs (Romero 1954: 7). The Mendo-cino have used the leaves and flowers of yar-row for stomachache (Chesnut 1902: 391).White oak bark has been used for indiges-tion by the Cherokee (Hamel and Chilto-skey 1975: 46). Pine resin from Pinusmonophylla has been used by the Paiute forindigestion (Train, Henrichs, and Archer1941: 117). Several species of hickory havebeen used in Native American tribes to in-vigorate the stomach; Carya alba has beenused in this way by the Cherokee (Hameland Chiltoskey 1975: 38). The other herbsmentioned above do not appear to havebeen used for treating indigestion in NativeAmerican practice; presumably their usewas developed by settlers.

See also Alder, Amulet, Ash, Chamomile,Dandelion, Elm, Golden seal, Hops,Houseleek, Soda, Yarrow.



Bradley, Francis W. “Sandlappers and Clay Eat-ers.” North Carolina Folklore 12(2) (1964):27–28.


Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practice fromAlabama. Folklore Studies 9. Berkeley andLos Angeles: University of CaliforniaPublications, 1958.

Chesnut, V. K. “Plants Used by the Indians ofMendocino County, California.” Contri-

Insect bites and stings : 211

butions from the U.S. National Herbarium 7(1902): 295–408.



EFS. English Folklore Survey, 1960s. Manuscriptnotes at University College London.






McAtee, W. L. “Odds and Ends of North Amer-ican Folklore on Birds.” Midwest Folklore 5(1955): 169–183.


M’Lintock, Letitia. “Some Superstitions of the Ul-ster Peasant.” Gentleman’s Magazine 286(January–June 1899): 221–228.


Musick, Ruth Anne (ed.). “Superstitions.” WestVirginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.

Prince, Dennis. Grandmother’s Cures. An A-Z ofHerbal Remedies. London: Fontana, 1991.


Redfield, W. Adelbert. “Superstitions and FolkBeliefs.” Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 3(1937): 11–40.

Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practice in Ten-nessee. Murfreesboro, TN: Mid-South,1941.

Romero, John Bruno. The Botanical Lore of the

California Indians. New York: VantagePress, 1954.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Records Office, NorwichMS4322.

Tongue, R. L. Somerset Folklore. Edited by K. M.Briggs. County Folklore 8. London: Folk-lore Society, 1965.

Train, Percy, James R. Henrichs, and W. AndrewArcher. Medicinal Uses of Plants by IndianTribes of Nevada. Washington, DC: U.S.Department of Agriculture, 1941.



Insect bites and stingsAs a common minor emergency, insect

bites and stings have attracted a whole hostof household and botanical remedies inBritish folk medicine. Spit, urine, soda, thewashday “blue bag,” vinegar, and well-chewed tobacco have all been used withinliving memory. Plant remedies appliedfresh, in the form of the crushed leaves, in-clude plantain, dock, elder, chickweed, anddandelion (Vickery 1995: 105). In theScottish Highlands, a poultice of dock rootwas applied to bee or nettle stings (Beith1995: 214). Raw onion juice was widelyused (Hatfield 1994: appendix). An onionwas found to be particularly valuable forstings inside the mouth, which could oth-erwise cause swelling (Prince 1991: 117).The juice of houseleek, sometimes mixedwith milk or cream, was another recom-mendation (Taylor MSS). Betony (Stachysofficinalis) was made into an ointment withunsalted lard to treat bites and stings(Thompson 1925: 160). Scarlet pimpernel(Anagallis arvensis) was used in Devon(Vickery 1995: 336).

In North American folk medicine, rem-edies for bites and stings also include anumber of domestic remedies, such as am-

212 ; Insect bites and stings

Insect bites and stings have attracted a whole host ofhousehold and botanical remedies in both Britishand North American folk medicine. Spit, urine, soda,ammonia, the washday “blue bag,” vinegar, lemonjuice, olive oil, and well-chewed tobacco have allbeen used. (National Library of Medicine)

monia, vinegar, lemon juice, bicarbonate ofsoda, and rubbing alcohol. Olive oil, castoroil, sweet oil, and kerosene have all beenused. Snuff has been suggested, especiallyfor hornet or yellow jacket bites (Meyer1985: 38), and damp tea leaves for waspstings. There is a suggestion in Illinois thatan insect bite will not swell if the body ofthe insect is rubbed on the wound (Hyatt1965: 204). For a centipede bite, a sugges-tion is to rub it with brandy in whichcentipedes have been soaked (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 293). A remedy from Kansas for aspider bite is to split open a live chickenand put it on the wound (Koch 1980: 103).In Georgia, toad oil smeared on the bodywas claimed to immunize against insectbites. From the same area, a poultice madefrom ground peach seeds, dough, andhoney was recommended for bee stings andmosquito and spider bites. (Killion andWaller 1972: 104). Plant remedies includepreparations of lobelia or of chamomileflowers. As in Britain, both garlic and onionhave been used, as well as sliced potato.Cabbage leaves have been recommended inArkansas (Parler 1962: 912). Plantain leaveshave been used, especially for spider stings,as has the juice of tobacco (Meyer 1985:39). The powdered root of black cohoshwas used to treat insect bites and stings(Micheletti 1998: 97). The crushed leavesof sassafras were used similarly.

Many plant remedies were used in Na-tive American practice. A remedy from aPawnee Indian was to use the juice of thewild locust shrub (? Robinia sp.) (Hewitt1906: 184). Various species of plantainhave been used in Native American practiceto treat insect bites and stings. The Cher-okee used Plantago aristata (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 50), as well as Plantagolanceolata and Plantago major. The chewedleaves of Rosa acicularis were used for beestings by the Okanagan-Colville (Turner,Bouchard, and Kennedy 1980: 131), andsassafras by the Koasati (Taylor 1940: 24).

Echinacea was used by the Dakota for bitesand stings (Gilmore 1919: 131).

See also Black cohosh, Cabbage,Chamomile, Chickweed, Dandelion,Dock, Echinacea, Elder, Garlic, Honey,Houseleek, Lobelia, Onion, Peach,Plantain, Poultice, Sassafras, Soda, Spit,Toads and frogs, Tobacco, Urine,Vinegar.







Ivy : 213

Hewitt, Randall H. Across the Plains and over theDivide. New York: Broadway, 1906.


Killion, Ronald G., and Charles Y. Waller. ATreasury of Georgia Folklore. Atlanta: Cher-okee, 1972.








Thompson, T. W. “English Gypsy Folk-Medicine.” Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society3(4) (1925): 159–172.

Turner, Nancy J., R. Bouchard, and Dorothy I.D. Kennedy. Ethnobotany of the Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia andWashington. Victoria: British ColumbiaProvincial Museum, 1980.


InsomniaSee Sleeplessness.

Ivy (Hedera helix)Common throughout Britain, this

woody evergreen climber has been exten-sively used in British folk medicine. In the

distant past it had religious and magicalconnotations. Bacchus’s wreath was com-posed of ivy leaves, and ancient writersmaintained that the plant could prevent in-toxication. A bush of ivy was used as a signoutside British taverns, hence the saying, “Agood wine needs no bush.” In Scottish lore,a wreath of three plants twisted together—ivy, honeysuckle, and rowan—was placedover the lintel of a cow byre to protect thecattle from evil of all sorts (Darwin 1996:72). In folk medicine, ivy has been usedparticularly extensively in the treatment ofcorns. Sometimes the leaves were soaked invinegar (Hatfield 1994: 52). In other in-stances the leaves were simply worn insidesocks. In one record, from Norfolk, UK, itis stipulated that an ivy leaf growing on anash tree is a cure for corns (Hatfield 1994:53), a remedy that perhaps reflects the rev-erence in which the ash tree is held in folkmedicine worldwide. Crushed in oil, ivyleaves formed a treatment for burns , a rem-edy recorded from both Scotland and Ire-land (Allen and Hatfield in press). It hasbeen used for a variety of other skin com-plaints, including ringworm, boils, and ec-zema.

In Ireland it has been recorded that a capmade from ivy leaves was used as treatmentfor eczema, while in Shropshire drinkingfrom a cup made from ivy wood was con-sidered a cure for whooping cough (Notesand Queries, series 1, 7 [1853], 128). Thejuice of ivy leaves was used in Ireland totreat wounds (Logan 1972: 69). An infu-sion of ivy leaves has been used throughoutBritain to treat sore eyes (Jobson 1967: 59).The juice of the leaves has been snuffed upthe nose to cure a cold (Radford and Rad-ford 1974). The berries have been used foraches and pains in Ireland (Barbour 1897:386–390), for mumps in Devon (Lafont1984: 49), and for “nerves” in Gloucester-shire (Gibbs 1898: 57). From Devon thereis a record of using a wash of ivy leaf infu-sion on the throat as a cure for stutters

214 ; Ivy

(Prince 1991: 103). Warts have beentreated with ivy leaves steeped in vinegar(Tongue 1965: 43).

No Hedera species is native to NorthAmerica, although Hedera helix has becomenaturalized and ivies are grown horticultur-ally. Not surprisingly, ivy does not figuresignificantly in North American folk med-icine. There are records of its use for kidneytrouble (Peattie 1943: 113). Crushed leavesrubbed onto the forehead or the juicesnuffed up the nose has been used for treat-ing headache (UCLA Folklore Records4_1904; 3_1904). A poultice of ivy leaveshas been used to treat boils (Parr 1962: 9).An infusion of ivy leaves has been given tochildren suffering from hives (Rogers 1941:38), and an infusion of the leaves has beengiven for croup (UCLA Folklore Archive11_5355).

There is some confusion arising from thename “ivy,” as it is also applied to the un-related ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea)and to poison ivy (Rhus radicans). It is pos-sible that some of the records above maybelong to one of these.

See also Ash, Boils, Burns, Colds, Croup,Eczema, Eye problems, Headache, Hives,Poultice, Ringworm, Warts, Whoopingcough, Wounds.




Darwin, Tess. The Scots Herbal: The Plant Lore ofScotland. Edinburgh: Mercat Press, 1996.

Gibbs, J. Arthur. A Cotswold Village. London:John Murray, 1898.





Notes and Queries, series 1, vol. vii, p. 128. Lon-don, 1853.

Parr, Jerry S. “Folk Cures of Middle Tennessee.”Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 28(1962): 8–12.






; J:

JaundiceIn British folk medicine there are some

unusual remedies for jaundice. A bizarre su-perstition from Staffordshire is that if abladder is filled with the patient’s urine andplaced near the fire, as it dries out, the pa-tient will recover (Black 1883: 56). In WestSussex, a live spider rolled up in its own weband swallowed as a pill is a cure for jaundice(Black 1883: 60). Live head lice ingestedwere a jaundice treatment in Westmore-land, and roasted and powdered earth-worms have been used in Ireland (Radfordand Radford 1961: 155, 218). In the sev-enteenth century, snails were recommendedfor jaundice (Antrobus 1929: 78). In Scot-land, sheep’s dung in water was reputedlyused to treat jaundice (Black 1883: 157), aswas cooked mouse (Black 1883: 159). Alsoin Scotland, there was a belief that jaundicecould be cured by giving the patient a vio-lent fright (Beith 1995: 103). A decoctionof the common slater (woodlouse) in beerwas also used in Scotland to treat jaundice(Beith 1995: 159). Sweetened urine was an-other remedy for jaundice used in the High-lands of Scotland (Beith 1995: 188). InIreland, urine was mixed with milk anddrunk for jaundice (Logan 1972: 47). AYorkshire version of this remedy suggestsbaking a rye cake with the patient’s urineand then burning it slowly; as it burns, theillness will abate (Gutch 1901: 191).

An issue of the North British Mail for1883 records a jaundice remedy from theisland of Tiree involving boiling nine stonesin water taken from the crests of nine waves.The patient’s shirt was then dipped in thiswater and put on while still wet. Alterna-tively, the water could come from ninesprings where cresses grow (North BritishMail, March 20, 1883).

There are a number of herbal remediesas well. Bogbean combined with raspberryand wild mint (Mentha spp.) was used fortreating jaundice (Beith 1995: 207). Bog-bean’s name in Shetland, gulsa girse, means“yellow sickness plant” (Vickery 1995: 42).Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is known inCornwall as the “jaundice tree” and hasbeen widely used in England and Irelandfor treating jaundice. A decoction of thebark was used (Vickery 1995: 25). Broom(Cytisus scoparius) has also been used fortreating jaundice (Vickery 1995: 51). Par-ticularly in Ireland, dandelion (Taraxacumofficinale) has been used, as were the flowersof gorse (Ulex europaeus) (Vickery 1995:158). Ale made from nettle roots was usedin Scotland for treating jaundice (Gregor1884: 377). Infantile jaundice was treatedin the Isle of Wight with a preparation ofthe greater celandine (Chelidonium majus)(Bromfield 1856: 26). Primrose (Primulavulgaris) has been used in Ireland, and cow-slip in England, for treating jaundice. Thereis a record from Wales of the leaves of the

216 ; Jaundice

“savage tree” (?Juniperus sp.) being used totreat jaundice (EFS record number 221). InEast Anglia, chickweed and salsify (Trago-pogon porrifolius) have been used in jaun-dice treatment (Newman 1945: 354). Theinner bark of the elm (Ulmus spp.) boiledin milk was taken for jaundice in Hereford-shire (Leather 1912: 80) and in Ireland(Vickery 1995: 127).

There is a similar, larger but equally mis-cellaneous, group of remedies for jaundicein North American folk medicine. Variousforms of lice figure in a number of them.Sowbugs (the equivalent of the Englishwoodlouse, Scottish slater) boiled in waterhave been taken to treat jaundice (Brownca. 1930: 5). In Ohio parched wood licehave been given mixed with molasses(Puckett 1981: 407). Sheep lice in milkhave been used in Illinois, as has goose-manure tea (Hyatt 1965: 329). Fishwormsrolled in lard made an alternative (Ran-dolph 1947: 107). Less unpleasant sugges-tions were pearls dissolved in vinegar (DeLys 1948: 285) and a mixture of hornscrapings and honey (Allen 1963: 86). Eat-ing shellfish is a recommendation of Japa-nese origin (UCLA Folklore Archives,record number 23_5423). A remedy strik-ingly similar to the one reported from York-shire suggests baking a cornmeal cake withthe patient’s urine, burning it, and throw-ing it away (Hyatt 1965: 329).

There were numerous amulets used inNorth American folk medicine to protectagainst jaundice or to cure it. They includea copper necklace or penny worn aroundthe neck (UCLA Folklore Archives recordnumber 11_6404); red beets worn roundthe neck (Wine 1957: 151); amber (Curtin1907: 465); a wedding ring worn round theneck, and a five dollar gold piece strappedto the chest (Puckett 1981: 407). FromPennsylvania the practice has been reportedof dressing the patient in yellow clothes tocure jaundice, a custom apparently of Rus-sian origin (Crosby 1927: 307). There are

also examples of jaundice remedies involv-ing transference. Hard-boiled eggs wereplaced under the armpits overnight (Hyatt1965: 329) or strung on a necklace over-night. Next morning the egg-whites wouldbe yellow, and the patient white (Rogers1941: 31). Tying a fish against the stomachwas a suggestion from California (UCLAFolklore Archives, record number17_6404). Urinating through a bored-outcarrot (Lick 1922: 107) or filling a scooped-out apple or turnip with urine (Hyatt 1965:329) were other suggestions.

Miscellaneous remedies include havingsomeone spit on the patient three timesduring the night without his or her know-ing (Puckett 1981: 407) and, for a jaun-diced baby, placing it between two pillows,to “bleach” out the jaundice (UCLA Folk-lore Archives record number 23_58900).“Taking the waters” at Schooley’s Moun-tain in western Morris County was reck-oned to be a cure for many ailments,including jaundice (Wildes 1943: 313).

There were a number of household rem-edies ingested for jaundice, including eggs,vinegar, new cider, and a tea made fromoats (Avena sp.). Herbal remedies includedandelion, greater celandine, and barberry,as used in Britain. Sometimes the celandine(Chelidonium majus) was worn in the shoes(Lick and Brendle 1922: 215), sometimesingested (Meyer 1985: 152). Other botan-ical remedies include the leaves or the barkof peach (Prunus persica), wild cherry bark,hops, boneset, walnut bark (Juglans sp.),black alder (Ilex verticillata), and cinquefoil(Potentilla canadensis) (Meyer 1985: 150–152). Strawberry leaves (Fragaria spp.) havebeen used (Lick and Brendle 1922: 35), ashas a tea made from catnip (Puckett 1981:407) or from mullein (Parler 1962: 735).Other herbal infusions used include St.John’s wort (Wilson 1960: 317), yarrow(Hendricks et al. 1959: 112), mayappleroot (Podophyllum peltatum) (Clark 1970:24), mulberry roots (Morus nigra) (Mason

Jaundice : 217

1957: 31), root of yellow dock (Rumex cris-pus) (Lick and Brendle 1922: 295), hore-hound (Campa 1950: 342), rosemary leaves(Rosmarinus offficinalis) (UCLA FolkloreArchives record number 4_2092), calamusroot (Acorus calamus) (Puckett 1981: 407),ironwood bark (Carpinus caroliniana), andcrossvine (Bignonia capreolata) (Rogers1941: 17). Several herbs were sometimescombined, as in a pleasant-sounding rem-edy from Carolina consisting of a teabrewed from wild oranges and basil (Brown1952–1964, 6: 227). Bruised lobelia withred pepper pods in whisky was used by thepioneers in the Midwest (Pickard and Buley1945: 43). A mixture of sarsaparilla root,red sumac (Rhus sp.), bitter root (Lewisiasp.), wild cherry bark (Prunus sp.), and wildpoplar root (Populus sp.) was used in Indi-ana (Halpert 1950: 3–4). In New Mexico,logwood (Haematoxylon spp.) has been usedto treat jaundice. The liquid extract isdrunk, and a glassful is placed on a windowsill for the patient to gaze at; the yellowcolor, it is hoped, transfers from the patientto the liquid (Curtin 1930: 195). A remedyunusual for combining plant and animal in-gredients is a mixture of Aralia racemosa,molasses, and sowbugs (Mellinger 1968:49).

Various vegetables were used in jaundicetreatment, such as artichokes (Helianthustuberosus) (UCLA Folklore Archive recordnumber 6_7607) and collards (Brassica oler-acea) (Browne 1958: 75). It was believedthat tobacco (Nicotiana spp.) could destroyjaundice (Smith 1929: 74), while daisies(Bellis perennis) were credited with the abil-ity to restore color after jaundice (Clark1970: 11).

In Native American practice, a largenumber of plants have been used to treatliver disorders in general (Moerman 1998:806). Specifically for treating jaundice, Jug-lans cinerea has been used by the Iroquois(Herrick 1977: 295). Various species ofPrunus have been used; for instance, Prunus

cerasus has been used by the Cherokee (Ha-mel and Chiltoskey 1975: 28). Collardswere eaten for jaundice by the Catawba(Speck 1944: 46). Many other plants usedto treat jaundice by Native Americans havenot been traced in general folk usage inNorth America. Interestingly, swallowing alouse for jaundice was collected from Al-berta as a Native American remedy (Adam1945: 14).

See also Amber, Amulet, Bogbean,Boneset, Cherry, Chickweed, Cowslip,Dock, Gold, Hops, Horehound, Lobelia,Mouse, Mullein, St. John’s wort,Sarsaparilla, Snail, Spider, Stinging nettle,Transference, Urine, Yarrow.

ReferencesAdam, Francois. “Duhamel.” Alberta Folklore

Quarterly 1 (1945), 12–17.Allen, John W. Legends and Lore of Southern Illi-

nois. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois Uni-versity, 1963.

Antrobus, A. A. “Scraps of English Folklore,XVII.” Folk-Lore, 40 (1929): 77–83.



Bromfield, W. A. Flora Vectensis. London: 1856.Brown, Charles E. American Folklore: Insect Lore.

Madison, WI: State Historical Museum, ca.1930.





Crosby, Rev. John R. “Modern Witches of Penn-

218 ; Jaundice

sylvania.” Journal of American Folklore 40(1927): 304–309.


Curtin, Roland G. “The Medical Superstitions ofPrecious Stones, Including Notes on theTherapeutics of other Stones.” Bulletin ofthe American Academy of Medicine 8 (De-cember 1907): 444–494.


EFS. English Folklore Survey, 1960s. Manuscriptnotes in University College London.

Gregor, W. “Unspoken Nettles.” Folk-Lore Jour-nal 2 (1884): 377–378.

Gutch, Mrs Eliza Examples of Printed Folk-LoreConcerning the North Riding of Yorkshire,York and Ainsty. County Folk-Lore 2,Printed extracts 4. London: Folklore Soci-ety, 1901.

Halpert, Violetta. “Folk Cures from Indiana.”Hoosier Folklore 9 (1950): 1–12.


Hendricks, George D., et al. “Utah State Univer-sity Folklore Collection.” Western Folklore18 (1959): 107–120.



Leather, Ella Mary. The Folklore of HerefordshireCollected from Oral and Printed Sources.Hereford: Jakeman and Carver; and Lon-don: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1912.



Mason, James. “Home Remedies in West Vir-

ginia.” West Virginia Folklore 7 (1957): 27–32.

Mellinger, Marie B. “Sang Sign.” Foxfire 2(2)(1968): 15; 47–52.



Newman, L. F. “Some Notes on Folk Medicinein the Eastern Counties.” Folk-Lore 56(1945): 349–360


Pickard, Madge E., and R. Carlyle Buley. TheMidwest Pioneer, His Ills, Cures and Doctors.Crawfordsville, IN: R. E. Bantam, 1945.

Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, AnnaCasetta, and Sondra D. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.

Radford, E., and M. A. Radford. Encyclopedia ofSuperstitions. Edited and revised by Chris-tina Hole. London: Hutchinson, 1961.


Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practice in Ten-nessee. Murfreesboro, Tenn.: Mid-South,1941.

Smith, Walter R. Animals and Plants in OklahomaFolk Cures: Folk-Say—A Regional Miscel-lany. Edited by B. A. Botkin. Norman:Oklahoma Folk-Lore Society, 1929.



Wildes, Harry Emerson. Twin Rivers (Rivers ofAmerica). New York: Farrar and Rinehart1943.

Wilson, Miki. “St. John’s Wort.” Journal of theIndiana State Medical Association 53(2)(February 1960): 316–317.

Wine, Martin L. “Superstitions Collected in Chi-cago.” Midwest Folklore 7 (1957) 149–159.

Josselyn, John : 219

Jimson weedSee Thornapple.

Josselyn, JohnBorn in the early years of the seventeenth

century, Josselyn (1608–1675) made twovisits to the colonies, where his brother wasa wealthy landowner. He published twobooks as a result of his nine years spent inNorth America: New England’s Rarities Dis-covered in Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, andPlants of That Country (London, 1672) and

An Account of Two Voyages to New-England,Made During the Years 1638, 1663 (Lon-don, 1674). The earlier of these bookscontained the first account of the localplants to be published in English. Much ofthe plant natural history that he recordedconstituted a very valuable contribution tothe knowledge of the plants of that regionand their medicinal applications.

ReferenceFelter, H. W. (ed.). “The Genesis of the American

Materia Medica including a BiographicalSketch of Josselyn.” Bulletin Lloyd Library,no. 25 (1927).

;K:

King’s EvilSee Tuberculosis.

;L:

Lobelia (Lobelia inflata)This herb has attracted a great deal of

attention and even some notoriety amongmedical practitioners on both sides of theAtlantic. A native of North America, it wasintroduced to Britain by the Thomsonianschool of herbalism in the nineteenth cen-tury. The plant is poisonous, and SamuelThomson was actually tried for murder in1809 after treating one of his patients un-successfully. It is still used in herbal practicein Britain but has no role there in folk med-icine.

In North America it was one of the im-portant herbal discoveries in early colonialdays. Widely used by the Native Americansfor a variety of respiratory problems, it wasadopted into herbalism and then into folkmedicine, especially as a treatment forcoughs and asthma. It was one of the herbsgrown commercially by the Shakers. It isoften called Indian tobacco, and ironicallyit finds a use today in reducing nicotine ad-diction to the “true” tobacco, Nicotianaspp. (Chevallier 1996: 108). In Maine it iscalled asthma weed or pukeweed, reflectingits main uses in folk medicine. Describedby a mid-nineteenth century writer as “agrand article to be relied upon for the alle-viation or cure” of asthma, it was preparedin a number of ways. The dried seed podswere crushed and eaten, or the herb wasboiled and sweetened to make a syrup

(Meyer 1985: 32, 33). It has also been used,mixed with raspberry vinegar and honey, tosoothe whooping cough. Other more minoruses in North American folk medicine in-clude application of the herb as a fomen-tation to boils, felons, or the swellings ofmumps, and as an eye wash for sore eyes(Meyer 1985: 44, 111, 123, 181). It wasalso used externally as a fomentation fortreating neuralgia, colic, and sprains (Meyer1985: 71, 187, 232). In cases of pneumoniathe herb was used as a chest poultice(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 250). For croup ininfants, it was given mixed with molasses(Jack 1964: 36). With red pepper andwhisky, it formed a treatment for consump-tion (Richmond and Van Winkle 1958:124). New Englanders called the plant“colic weed” and used it to treat gastritis(Jordan 1944: 146). Mixed with glycerine,a tincture of the plant was used to make eardrops for deafness (Stout 1936: 191).

In Native American usage, this species oflobelia has been used by the Cherokee invery similar ways; it has been applied exter-nally for aches and pains, bites, and sores;it has been chewed for sore throat and givenfor croup as well as asthma; and, interest-ingly, it has been used to “break the tobaccohabit” (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 40). Itseems likely that many of the American folkmedical uses have been learned from NativeAmerican practice, as have many of thepresent-day uses in British herbalism.

224 ; Lumbago

Other species of lobelia have been usedmore extensively by Native Americans, es-pecially Lobelia cardinalis, which had a widevariety of uses and was considered a panaceaby the Iroquois (Herrick 1977: 453). A re-lated species, Lobelia siphilitica, was, as itsname implies, used to treat syphilis amongboth Native Americans and European set-tlers. Among the Meskwaki this plant wasalso used as a love medicine, eaten by a cou-ple to avert divorce (Smith 1928: 231).

See also Asthma; Boils; Colic; Coughs;Croup; Deafness; Felons; Poultice;Shakers; Sprains; Thomson, Samuel;Tuberculosis; Whooping cough.




Hamel, Paul B., and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Chero-

kee Plants and Their Uses: A 400 Year His-tory. Sylva, NC: Herald, 1975.

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany.Ph.D. thesis, State University of New York,Albany. 1977.


Jordan, Philip D. “Botanic Medicine in the West-ern Country.” Ohio State Medical Journal40 (1944): 143–146.


Richmond, W. Edson, and Elva Van Winkle. “IsThere a Doctor in the House?” Indiana His-tory Bulletin 35 (1958): 115–135.

Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the MeskwakiIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofthe City of Milwaukee 4 (1928): 175–326.


LumbagoSee Backache.

;M:

Mad dog, bite ofFear of rabies, which even today is nor-

mally fatal to humans, has naturally led toa diversity of folk medical treatments for thebite of mad dogs. Black reports a practicein Scotland of drying the heart of a maddog and giving it to the person bitten as acure. Similarly, a case was reported in the1860s of a child bitten by a rabid dog whodied despite having been given a slice of itsliver roasted (Black 1883: 51–52). Theseremedies are clearly sympathetic in nature.“Madstones” were used in treating hydro-phobia and protecting against it. Thesewere smooth, rounded stones, said to havebeen concretions formed inside one of a va-riety of animals. The distinction betweenbezoar and madstones is unclear. Suchstones have been used therapeutically sincethe thirteenth century (Black 1883: 145).One such stone, found in Switzerland, wasobtained by an Italian, who sold it to afarmer in Kentucky. The farmer is said tohave used it to cure fifty-nine people of hy-drophobia (Black 1883: 144). In SouthWales, the grass in a particular churchyardwas held to be a cure for hydrophobia(Black 1883: 96). In the sixteenth century,in order to tell whether a dog bite was thatof a mad dog, it was held that a roastedwalnut, laid over the bite, should be fed toa chicken: if it died, the dog causing the bitewas a mad one (Allen 1995: 59–60). In Ire-

land, the touch of a seventh son was be-lieved to cure hydrophobia (Wilde 1919:201).

In British folk medicine, the ash-coloredliverwort (Peltigera canina) was used, as itwas also in official medicine, to treat hydro-phobia. It was still in use in Caernarvon-shire, Wales, in the early nineteenth century(Trevelyan 1909: 314). One of the New-market huntsmen of James II told the kingof a cure for hydrophobia using a plantcalled “star-of-the-earth,” which was sub-sequently shown to be buck’s-horn plan-tain, Plantago coronopus (Cullum MS). Apreparation of the leaves of scarlet pimper-nel (Anagallis arvensis) was used in the pastfor treating the bites of mad dogs (Nuttall,n.d., 1: 181) and was still in use relativelyrecently in Glamorgan, Wales, for treatingdog bites (Trevelyan 1909: 313). Salt wasvalued as a bandage for the bites of maddogs (Black 1883: 131).

In North American folk medicine as inBritish, madstones were used in treatmentof hydrophobia. One such was described inuse in about 1806 in Frederick County. Itwas claimed to have cured eighty cases(Blanton 1935: 272). In Alabama, a mad-stone derived from a deer was recom-mended (Browne 1958: 78). The stone wassometimes applied warm to the bite, afterbeing boiled in milk (Koch 1980: 90). Asin Britain, various parts of the dog that hadbitten were used in cures. The powdered

226 ; Mallow

jawbone was part of a mixture applied tobites (Pickard and Buley 1945: 80). Theliver of the dog was claimed to cure the biteof the same dog (Bergen 1899: 77), muchas in Scotland, above. A person bitten by amad dog was advised to eat some of its hairin a bread and butter sandwich (Simon1954: 2); remedies such as this are presum-ably the origin of the phrase “hair of thedog.” Wearing a tooth taken from a maddog as an amulet against hydrophobia wasanother suggestion (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 25_7597). A variety of substanceswere recommended as applications to thebite of a mad dog. They include deer gall(Browne 1958: 78), kerosene, or a mixtureof soda, alcohol, and tobacco (McGlasson1941: 18). Wrapping a chicken round thebite was suggested (Puckett 1981: 362).Cauterizing the wound with a hot metal barmade from a horseshoe was recommended(Brendle and Unger 1935: 215). As in Ire-land, the touch of the hand of a seventh sonwas believed to cure the bite of a mad dog(Puckett 1981: 363).

Plant remedies used to treat hydrophobiain North American folk medicine includeelecampane (Inula helenium) (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 8 6478), mugwort, and gar-lic and burdock (Brendle and Unger 1935:214, 215); mint (Mentha sp.) mixed withsalt (Clark 1970: 23); red chicken weed(Anagallis arvensis, known in Britain as scar-let pimpernel, see above) (Hetrick 1957:249); and rattlesnake plantain (Goodyerapubescens) (Bergen 1899: 166).

See also Amulet, Burdock, Garlic,Mugwort, Seventh son, Sympatheticmagic.






Blanton, Wyndham B. “Madstones: With an Ac-count of Several from Virginia.” Annals ofMedical History 7 (1935): 268–273.




Cullum MS. Hand-written notes by Sir John Cul-lum in his copy of Hudson’s Flora Anglica.1762. Suffolk Record Office.

Hetrick, George. “Practice of Medicine in Berksfrom Time of Early Settlers to 1824.” Med-ical Record 48(8) (October 1957): 247–250.


McGlasson, Cleo. “Superstitions and Folk Beliefsof Overton County.” Tennessee Folklore So-ciety Bulletin 7 (1941): 13–27.

Nuttall, G. Clarke. Wild Flowers as They Grow. 5vols. London: Waverley Book, n.d.



Simon, Isaak Shirk. “Dutch Folk-Beliefs.” Penn-sylvania Dutchman 5(14) (March 15, 1954):2–3, 15.

Trevelyan, Marie. Folk-Lore and Folk-stories ofWales. London: Elliot Stock, 1909.


Mallow (Malva spp.)The common mallow (Malva sylvestris)

has held an important place in British folk

Mallow : 227

medicine. It is a common and widespreadplant in Britain, and its flowering shootshave been crushed and used as a poulticefor healing boils and abscesses, for treatingcuts and sores, and for soothing sprains andrheumatic joints. In addition, the fruitshave been eaten as a gentle laxative (Hat-field 1994: 28). These fruits were known as“cheeses” in East Anglia, and as “biscuities”in Scotland (Vickery 1995: 229). Otherfolk uses for the plant include treatment ofburns, sore and strained eyes, ulcers, vari-cose veins, and sore feet (Tongue 1965: 37,39, 42, 43). The crushed leaves have alsobeen used for treating bruises (Hawke1973: 28). The far less common marsh mal-low (Althaea officinalis), famous for thesweets originally made from its root, wasthe mallow recommended by the herbalsand used in official medicine in the past,and in present-day medical herbalism. Al-though this species is native in a few placesin Britain, it has probably never been com-mon enough to be exploited as a folk rem-edy on a large scale. However, there isinevitably some confusion here, since com-mon mallow is also called “marshmallow”by many. In Devon, marsh mallow has beenused to treat bruises and blisters, and theroots have been given to teething babies tosoothe their gums (Lafont 1984: 53). Mal-low has been widely used to treat coughsand colds and related complaints. Less com-mon has been its use for kidney complaints(Allen and Hatfield, in press).

Like several other species of mallow,Malva sylvestris is naturalized in NorthAmerica and has been used similarly forpoulticing and reducing pain and inflam-mation. Sometimes known as the “cheeseplant,” mallow has also been made into anointment for treating eczema and used totreat sore eyes, nettle rash, and gastric ulcers(Meyer 1985: 105, 110, 141, 243). Amonga collection of “Old Settlers’ Remedies”from Shelburne County, bruised mallowsare recommended to soothe a wasp sting,

while the root of marshmallow mixed withpoppy heads and conserve of roses is sug-gested as a cough medicine (Robertson1960: 12, 29). Meyer reports a similar usefor an infusion of mallow flowers to loosenphlegm. The dried roots of marshmallowboiled in milk have been used for “chin-cough” (i.e., whooping cough); the seeds ofmarshmallow, mixed with vinegar, havebeen used to remove skin discoloration;while the mashed leaves can be used to re-move splinters and made into an ointmentfor wounds and salves (Meyer 1985: 191,225, 228, 267, 276). Mallow juice has beenplaced in the ear for earache (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 1_1545). An infusion hasbeen used to treat falling hair (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 3_1890), colic (Valleta 1965:37), skin rash, and sore feet (Lick and Bren-dle 1922: 77). The plant has also been usedto treat kidney troubles (as a diuretic) (Law-ton 1967: 12) and to treat bed-wetting (Fo-gel 1915: 281). Headache and fever havebeen treated with a poultice of mallow(Saucier 1956: 36). In these remedies, it isnot clear which species of mallow is in-volved. In Ontario, the named speciesMalva rotundifolia has been used to treatwounds (Wintemberg 1950: 15). Cheese-weed (Malva parviflora) has been used totreat piles (Browne 1958: 84).

It is reported that a tea made of one mal-low species (Malva neglecta) has been usedin New Mexico to ease labor pains (Willard1992: 139). Malva rotundifolia, known as“cheese plant,” has been used similarly byNative Americans, and it still is today (Ka-vasch and Baar 1999: 143). In Mexico, thisspecies has been used as an infusion to treatwounds, as a poultice for sore throat andmumps, and internally for stomach andkidney complaints. A modern use there isas a wash for treating hair loss after che-motherapy (Kay 1996: 188). Another mal-low, Malva parviflora, has been used forheadache, fever, sores, and digestive com-plaints (Kay 1996: 188). Among the Iro-

228 ; Mandrake

quois, Malva neglecta has been used to treatswellings and broken bones (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 385). Several species ofmallow have been used by Native Ameri-cans for treating headache and fevers(Moerman 1998: 334–335).

See also Abscesses, Blisters, Boils, Bruises,Burns, Childbirth, Colds, Colic, Coughs,Cuts, Earache, Eczema, Eye problems,Fevers, Fractures, Headache, Insect bitesand stings, Piles, Poultice, Rheumatism,Sore feet, Sprains, Whooping cough,Wounds.







Hawke, Kathleen (comp.) Cornish Sayings, Super-stitions and Remedies. Redruth: DyllansonTruran, 1973.




Lawton, Arthur J. “Living History.” PennsylvaniaFolklife 16(4) (Summer 1967): 10–15.

Lick, David E., and Thomas R. Brendle. “PlantNames and Plant Lore among the Pennsyl-vania Germans.” Proceedings and Addresses

of the Pennsylvania German Society 33(1922).




Saucier, Corinne L. Traditions de la Paroisse desAvoyelles en Louisiane. Philadelphia: Amer-ican Folklore Society, 1956.


Valleta, Clement. “Italian Immigrant Life inNorthampton County, Pennsylvania 1890–1915.” Pennsylvania Folklife 14(3) (Spring1965): 36–45.



Wintemberg, W. J. Folklore of Waterloo County,Ontario. Bulletin 116, Anthropological Se-ries 28. Ontario: National Museum of Can-ada, 1950.

MandrakeIn different cultures, this name has been

applied to different plants. The botanically“true” mandrake (Mandragora officinarum)is a native of the Mediterranean and theNear East. It is especially revered in Indiaand Persia (Simoons 1998: 101–133),where it is held sacred as well as used me-dicinally. The tap root of the plant is di-vided into two and bears some resemblanceto the human form. It contains hallucino-genic, narcotic, and highly poisonous com-pounds and was used three thousand yearsago in Persia as an anesthetic. The plant wasbrought to Britain by the Romans and cul-tivated for medicinal use through the me-dieval and Tudor periods. As a native of

Mandrake : 229

The mandrake plant became highly fashionable inofficial British medicine as a narcotic, hallucinogen,and aphrodisiac. In British medicine the mandrakehas been “paired” with the unrelated black bryony(Tamus communis); one was regarded as male, onefemale. (National Library of Medicine)

The idea of male and female mandrakes has persistedinto recent times. (National Library of Medicine)

warmer climates, it was difficult to grow,and when the British climate became colderduring the sixteenth century, its cultivationstopped, and the plant was imported in-stead.

The various legends that grew up aroundthe plant included the suggestion that itshrieked when dug up and that the personwho harvested it would die—so a dogshould be used instead to uproot it. Thislegend was recorded by Gerard in hissixteenth-century herbal and has been re-peated in Western writings ever since. Theplant became highly fashionable in officialmedicine in Britain, as a narcotic, hallucin-

ogen, violent purgative, and aphrodisiac; itcommanded a very high price. In time athriving counterfeit industry grew up, inwhich fake mandrake roots were sold forhigh prices. On account of its cost, truemandrake probably never figured in Britishfolk medicine, but other plants took itsplace, including white bryony, the tap rootof which bears a resemblance to that of thetrue mandrake. This was one of the plantsfrom which counterfeit mandrakes wereproduced from the seventeenth century on-ward. It became known as English man-drake, false mandrake, or, as in East Anglia,simply as mandrake. John Ray in 1691came across an old woman who had curedher gout using this plant (Lankester 1848:238). Particularly in horse medicine it was

230 ; Medicine man

highly prized, though in light of the usualsecrecy surrounding horsemen’s remedies,it is difficult to find out how it was used,even in recent times. One man recalls thatas a boy in the 1930s in Norfolk he wenthunting for bryony roots because he couldget a good price for them—half a crown(the equivalent of about ten pounds today).The horseman he supplied roasted andgrated the root and fed it to his horses, os-tensibly to improve the condition of theircoats (Hatfield MS). In Sussex as recentlyas the twentieth century there was a man-drake seller who sold the roots of white bry-ony as mandrakes for healing rheumatism,malaria, indigestion, pains in the chest, andheadaches (Allen 1995: 113). In recent folkmedicine, white bryony figures occasion-ally—for example, as a chilblain remedyand carried as an amulet for rheumatism.Its reputation as an aphrodisiac has per-sisted into recent times, at least in Glouces-tershire (Palmer 1994: 122).

Oddly, in British medicine this plant hasbeen “paired” with the unrelated black bry-ony (Tamus communis); one was regardedas male, one female. Probably this was dueto early herbalists’ identifying the whitebryony and the black bryony respectivelywith the plants recorded by Dioscorides as“ampelos leuke” and “ampelos agria.” Theblack bryony, which also has a large taproot, though much darker in color than thatof white bryony, became known as he-mandrake, or just mandrake. White bryonywas regarded as female, and some herbalistsreferred to it as womandrake (Allen 1995:111). This concept spread into folk medi-cine, and, according to Rudkin, the “male”black bryony was used to treat women andmares, the “female” white bryony men andstallions (Rudkin 1933). The idea of maleand female mandrakes has persisted in thefens into recent times (Randell 1966). InBritish folk medicine, black bryony was re-garded as an aphrodisiac—for example, in

Lincolnshire (Woodruffe-Peacock 1894–1897)—and in addition was widely usedfor treating rheumatism, gout, and chil-blains (see, for instance, Whitlock 1992:104). Because of the confusion in names, itis very difficult to know to which plant anyparticular record refers. Any plant called“mandrake” would obviously share some-thing of the “true” mandrake’s aura ofmagic. North American medicine also hasits “mandrake”; the mayapple (Podophyllumpeltatum) is also known as the Americanmandrake, or as devil’s apple. Like the“true” mandrake, it is a powerful purgative,and its medicinal use seems to have beenadopted direct from Native American usageinto official North American medicine(Crellin and Philpott 1990: 299).

See also Amulet, Bryony, Chilblains, Gout,Headache, Indigestion, Rheumatism.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Crellin, John K., and Jane Philpott. A Reference

Guide to Medicinal Plants. Durham, NC:Duke University Press, 1990.

Lankester, Edwin (ed.). The Correspondence ofJohn Ray. London: Ray Society, 1848.

Palmer, Roy. The Folklore of Gloucestershire. Tiv-erton: West Country Books, 1994.

Randell, Arthur R. Sixty Years a Fenman. Editedby Enid Porter. London: Routledge, 1966.

Rudkin, Ethel H. “Lincolnshire Folklore.” Folk-Lore 44 (1933): 189–214.

Simoons, Frederick J. Plants of Life, Plants ofDeath. Madison: University of WisconsinPress, 1998.

Whitlock, Ralph. Wiltshire Folklore and Legends.London: Robert Hale, 1992.

Woodruffe-Peacock, E. Adrian. Lincolnshire FolkNames for Plants. Lincolnshire Notes andQueries (1894–1897), 4.

Medicine manThis name for a Native American healer

is thought to have been invented by French

Menopause : 231

Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth cen-tury. It is not quite synonymous with theterm “shaman.” Shamans depend for theirpowers on reaching an altered state of con-sciousness, whereas medicine men do not.Some individuals combine both roles (Lyon1996: 168–169). The medicine man is re-sponsible in many tribes for keeping the sa-cred medicine bundles used in ceremonies(Snow and Stans 2001: 27). It is the med-icine man (or, more rarely, woman) whouses prayer and chants to render the medi-cine effective (Snow and Stans 2001: xi).

ReferencesLyon, William S. Encyclopedia of Native American

Healing. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO,1996.

Snow, Alice Micco, and Susan Enns Stans. Heal-ing Plants. Medicine of the Florida SeminoleIndians. Gainesville: University Press ofFlorida, 2001.

MenopauseBecause of the reticence surrounding so

many “women’s complaints,” and the factthat many folklore authors are male, folkremedies for menopause as for other“women’s complaints” are probably under-represented in the literature. From York-shire comes the suggestion that eating acock’s liver after fasting will cure the hotflushes of menopause (EFS: 90Db). Drink-ing parsley tea (Petroselinum crispum) everyday during the change of life was also rec-ommended (EFS: 100Db). Teas made fromsage (Salvia officinalis) (Hatfield 1994: 95)or from chamomile (Mrs I.P., Suffolk, pers.com., 1989) have also been used to treat thehot flushes of menopause.

In North America there is again a relativepaucity of folk remedies. Meyer records theuse of motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) atchange of life, and of nutmeg in Jamaicarum. A mixture called “mother’s friend”was composed of white plantain (Anten-

naria plantaginifolia), sumac leaves (Rhusglabra), yellow dock (Rumex crispus) or bur-dock, and devil’s bit (Leatris spicata) (Meyer1985: 176). Chestnut leaf tea (Castanea sp.)was recommended in Alabama to be drunkduring menopause (Browne 1958: 65), or atea made from mayapple roots (Podophyl-lum peltatum) (UCLA Folklore Archives12_5210). In Georgia, a tea prepared fromparched eggshells or from green coffee wasdrunk during menopause (Killion and Wal-ler 1972: 105). A remedy of French originwas to drink savory tea (Satureja sp.) (Roy1955: 78). In California, Jamaica ginger(Zingiber officinale) tea was given (UCLAFolklore Archives 22_5431). In Arkansaschewing cinnamon bark (Cinnamomumsp.) was suggested (Parler 1962, 3: 1112).Chewing peach kernels was held to shortenmenopause. Also from Arkansas comes thesuggestion of curing hot flushes, or flashes,by placing under the bed an axe, a pan ofwater, and a sack of meal (Parler 1962, 3:1112). Mexican American women use a teamade from the leaves of Ambrosia to treatmenopausal symptoms (Kay 1996: 71).The Spanish-Americans of New Mexico usea tea made from the leaves of the worm-wood (Artemisia franserioides) to treat thehot flushes of menopause (Kay 1996: 106).A remedy of Catawba origin was an infu-sion of sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)(Speck 1944: 47). The Iroquois used falseSolomon’s seal (Maianthemum stellatum)during menopause (Herrick 1977: 283).Many other plant remedies used in NativeAmerican practice are described as treating“female weakness” or “women’s com-plaints.” Doubtless some of these were usedto ease menopause.

See also Burdock, Chamomile, Peach.



232 ; Menstrual problems

EFS. English Folklore Survey. Manuscript notes,University College London.







Roy, Carmen. La Litterature Orale en Gaspesie.Bulletin 134, 36 de la Serie Anthropolo-gique. Ottawa: Ministre de Nord Canadienet des Ressources Nationales, 1955, 61–105, 107–136.


Menstrual problemsLike other socially sensitive areas of en-

quiry, the folk treatment of menstrual prob-lems is probably underreported in theliterature. Perhaps women were forced to bemore stoical in the past, but a lack of rec-ords seems to be a more likely explanation.Country people questioned about remediesused within living memory in East Angliahave mentioned only such simple measuresas application of heat to ease period pain.Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is one of the fewnative British plants known to have beenused to ease period pain (Hatfield 1994: ap-pendix). Various tonics were recommendedfor the anemia that doubtless affectedmany. The waters of certain springs werethought to be rich in iron and thereforegood for treating anemia. One such was the

Hart Fell spa in Dumfriesshire, Scotland(Beith 1995: 132). Among plant remedies,one of the commonest was an infusion ofnettles. With the benefit of modern knowl-edge, this is now known to be rich in ironand also to have hemostatic properties, sothat it would have served the double func-tion of correcting anemia and reducingmenstrual flow.

A plant used in present-day herbalism toreduce heavy bleeding at menstruation isyarrow. Although there are many records ofits use as a wound healer in the folk litera-ture, the only record of a gynecological usecomes from Devon, where it was used forheavy uterine bleeding (Collyns 1827).Chamomile, used generally in folk medi-cine as a painkiller, was used in Dorset forperiod pain (Dacombe 1935). Variousplants have been used for “women’s prob-lems.” In Scotland, fairy flax (Linum ca-tharticum) was one of these (Allen andHatfield in press). Mugwort was another“women’s herb,” used for period pain inEngland and in Scotland (Hatfield 1999:79). Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) has been used in Essex for heavyperiods (Hatfield 1994: appendix). Irregu-lar periods could be treated with one of anumber of plant remedies, including rasp-berry tea. This subject is considered underabortion, since many so-called emmena-gogues doubled as abortifacients.

In general, North American folk medi-cine information on this subject is lesssparse. Warming spices such as ginger wererecommended for period pain. Raspberrytea was used in much the same way as inBritain. Among the plants used in NorthAmerican folk medicine generally, Meyerlists a number of plants used for periodpain, including blue cohosh (Caulophyllumthalictroides), extract of Viburnum (Vibur-num spp.), chamomile, hops, logwood(Haematoxylon campechianum), wormwood(Artemisia spp.), and pennyroyal (Hedeomapulegioides), as well as the root of the cotton

Menstrual problems : 233

In North American folk medicine, witch hazel was used as a douche or takenin a mixture with bayberry and ginger to treat heavy menstrual flow. As shownin this advertisement, witch hazel was also used to treat nosebleeds, burns,inflammation, chilblains, and sore throat. (National Library of Medicine)

plant (Gossypium herbaceum). For reducingthe flow of heavy periods, Meyer mentionsthe use of a plain diet, avoidance of alcohol,and herbal preparations including yarrowand shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) (both used in Britain too, seeabove); black haw (Viburnum prunifolium)and wild alum root (?Geranium maculatum

or Heuchera americana); and prince’sfeather or amaranth (Amaranthus hypochon-driacus). Another plant used was witch ha-zel (Hamamelis virginiana), as a douche orin a mixture with bayberry and ginger. Toregulate periods, both mugwort and “Jill-grow-over-the ground” (Glechoma hedera-cea) have been used, both familiar in British

234 ; Menstrual problems

folk medicine, as well as squaw weed (?Se-necio aureus). To provoke menstruation,tansy (Tanacetum vulgaris), blue cohosh(Caulophyllum thalictroides), juniper (Juni-perus spp.), boneset (Eupatorium perfolia-tum), blood root (Sanguinaria canadensis),motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), senecasnakeroot (Polygala senega), fennel seed(Foeniculum vulgare), and wintergreen(Gaultheria procumbens) have all been used(Meyer 1985: 171–176).

Trying to trace these remedies to theirorigins, it becomes evident that many ofthem are similar to, and presumably learnedfrom, Native American practice. Blue co-hosh was used, for instance by the Mesk-waki, for profuse menstruation (Smith1923: 205). Chamomile was used by theCherokee as an abortifacient (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 28, 30); tansy was usedsimilarly by the Micmac (Chandler, Free-man, and Hooper 1979: 62), again illus-trating the overlap between stimulatingmenstruation and achieving abortion. Kayrecords the use among Mexican Americansof various species of Artemisia to treat heavyperiods. The roots of Ambrosia are usedsimilarly. A douche of Ambrosia leaves, orone prepared from walnut or pecan, is usedto clear out the uterus after menstruation(Kay 1996: 71). Moerman’s extensive sur-vey of Native American ethnobotany revealsthat various species of Artemisia are widelyused for menstrual and other gynecologicalproblems (Moerman 1998: 799–800).These species include Artemisia vulgaris, themugwort familiar in British folk medicine,and other species, such as A. ludoviciana,native to North America but not to Britain.Blue cohosh, Caulophyllum thalictroides, isused to treat profuse and painful menstru-ation by the Menominee (Smith 1923: 25),the Ojibwa (Smith 1932: 358), and thePotawatomi (Smith 1933: 43). Erigeronspecies are used for menstrual pain by theThompson (Turner, Thompson, Thomp-son, and York 1990: 80) and the Navajo

(Vestal 1952: 50). Heavy menstrual flow ischecked using red baneberry (Actaea rubra)among the Chippewa (Densmore 1928:358) and the Woodlands Cree (Leighton1985: 25); among the Iroquois Viburnumacerifolium is used similarly (Herrick 1977:447). The list of other plants used in NativeAmerican practice to treat gynecologicalproblems is enormous (Moerman 1998:799–801), but these examples serve to dem-onstrate that some at least of this knowledgewas evidently shared by them with the col-onists. The use of cotton (Gossypium spp.)roots seems to come from the AfricanAmerican tradition, where the roots wereused to procure an abortion.

See also Abortion, African tradition,Chamomile, Hops, Mugwort, Stingingnettle, Yarrow.





Collyns, W. “On the economical and medical usesto which various common wild plants areapplied by the cottagers in Devonshire.”Gardener’s Magazine 2 (1827): 160–62.

Dacombe, Marianne R. (ed.). Dorset up along andDown Along. Dorchester: Dorset Federationof Women’s Institutes, 1935.




Hatfield, Gabrielle. Memory, Wisdom and Healing:

Midwife : 235

The History of Domestic Plant Medicine.Phoenix Mill: Sutton, 1999.

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany.Ph.D. thesis, State University of New York,Albany. 1977.


Leighton, Anna L. Wild Plant Use by the Wood-lands Cree (Nihithawak) of East-Central Sas-katchewan. Mercury Series 101. Ottawa:National Museums of Canada, 1985.



Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the MenominiIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofthe City of Milwaukee 4(1) (1923): 1–174.

Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the OjibweIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofMilwaukee 4(3) (1932): 327–525.

Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the Forest Pot-awatomi Indians.” Bulletin of the Public Mu-seum of the City of Milwaukee 7(1) (1933):1–230.


Vestal, Paul A. “The Ethnobotany of the RamahNavaho.” Papers of the Peabody Museum ofAmerican Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4):(1952): 1–94.

Mexican traditionThe system of healing known as curan-

derismo embraces four categories of healers:midwives, herbalists, specialists in sprainsand fractures, and the curanderos (or cur-anderas) themselves. In addition, as withother folk medical traditions, there is abroad spectrum of folk medical knowledgepassed down orally from one generation tothe next and held in common among thewhole community. As far as healing with

plants is concerned, Mexican ethnobotanyuses a number of South American plantsand in addition a large number of plant spe-cies endemic to the southwest of NorthAmerica. The importance of these plantmedicines in the past, including the recentpast, would have been great for a peoplewho historically have been impoverishedand denied access to the health systemsavailable to much of North America. Thereis in addition a significant number of Med-iterranean herbs, such as rosemary, basil,and marjoram, whose use can be tracedback to Spanish origins.

The Mexican tradition of folk medicine,though it uses physical agents such as herbs,has a strong spiritual side, as well—faith inthe system, and particularly in the healer,forms a considerable part of the cure. Activeparticipation of the patient is another im-portant aspect of the treatment.

ReferencesJones, Michael Owen, Patrick A. Polk, Ysamur

Flores-Pena, and Roberta J. Evanchuk. “In-visible Hospitals: Botanicas in EthnicHealth Care.” In Healing Logics: Cultureand Medicine in Modern Health Belief Sys-tems, edited by Erika Brady. Logan: UtahState University Press, 2001.


Maduro, R. “Curanderismo and Latino Views ofDisease and Curing.” Western Journal ofMedicine 139(6): 868–874, 1983.


MidwifeIn rural Britain until well into the twen-

tieth century communities were dependenton the local nurse/midwife, who often alsoattended the dying and laid out corpses. Of-ten she was regarded as a “wise woman,”

236 ; Midwife

Midwife wrapping her kit to go on a call in GreeneCounty, Georgia, 1941. (Library of Congress)

and the few records that exist show that sheoften had a wide knowledge of herbs. Onesuch person was Granny Davies from a vil-lage in Norfolk, who is fondly rememberedby Mr. Wigby, brought into the world byher in the early years of the twentiethcentury (Wigby 1976). In Bedfordshire inthe late years of the nineteenth century,Jane Cullip attended women in childbirthand administered raspberry tea (EFS 195).Among Highland communities the so-called henwife often served as midwife too(Beith 1995: 95), and it was she who madesure that traditional protective customswere observed. During labor the womanmight have iron in her bed and a Bible un-der the pillow, appeasing both the paganand the Christian deities (Beith 1995: 98).The midwife would ensure that all the locksin the house were open so that no ill couldbefall the mother and child. Straw from thewoman’s bed was formed into a rope andburned in the fire, again to protect from evil(Beith 1995: 98). A sea-bean was often usedas an amulet during delivery, its use accom-panied by prayers (Beith 1995: 208). As itsfirst drink, the midwife would administerto the newly born child sap from an ashstick (Beith 1995: 208). In Ireland, mid-wives often invoked both God and themoon to protect the expectant mother(Black 1883: 128).

Since midwives were powerful figures intheir own communities and were the firstto make contact with newborn children,both church and state were anxious to limittheir influence. Some midwives were ac-cused of sorcery, and some even died asconvicted witches in the sixteenth and sev-enteenth centuries (Donnison 1988: 17).By the eighteenth century the official roleof the village midwife was becomingusurped, at least in urban settings andamong the richer classes, by the medicallytrained obstetricians (Donnison 1988: 48);in rural Britain their role survived muchlonger.

In colonial North America until theeighteenth century midwives were mostlyuntrained but experienced women. Thefirst record of a non-Indian midwife inCanada is that of Catherine Guertin,elected as the community midwife by thecitizens of Ville-Marie in 1713. It is a tes-timony to the skills of such midwives thatfewer colonial women died in childbirththan among their English counterparts(Micheletti 1998: 147). This could havebeen partly due to healthier living condi-tions than in England’s crowded cities; sta-tistics are not available to show how thecountry midwives of the two nations com-pared. One such midwife, “Aunt Prudie,”is said to have delivered nearly three thou-sand babies in her sixty-five years of practicein Mississippi (Meyer 1985: 4). After theeighteenth century, as in Europe generally,the role of the country midwife was largelytaken over by “official” midwives, many ofthem men.

See also Amulet, Ash, Beans, Childbirth,Pregnancy.

Migraine : 237




Donnison, Jean. Midwives and Medical Men: AHistory of the Struggle for the Control ofChildbirth. London: Historical Publi-cations, 1988.




Wigby, Frederick C. Just a Country Boy. Wymon-dham: Geo. R. Reeve, 1976.

MigraineA number of British folk remedies for

migraine involve snuffing plant materialinto the nose. In Suffolk, primrose (Primulavulgaris) was used in this way (Jobson 1967:60); in Wales, a mixture of betony leaves(Stachys officinalis) and primrose roots wasused (Jones 1996: 89). Yarrow leaves wereused similarly (Pratt 1855). Various sea-weeds were used as poultices to relieve thepain of migraine. In the Isle of Skye, dulse(Palmaria palmata) and “linarich” (?Ulvalactuca) were both used (Martin 1703:203). Feverfew, which has recently sprungto fame as a migraine treatment, was usedin a number of folk remedies as a generalpain reliever (Hatfield 1994: 90), but as amigraine treatment its use belonged untilthe twentieth century to official medicine.In Scotland, the brain of a hare was used totreat severe headache, including migraine(Beith 1995: 177).

In North American folk medicine thereare a number of suggested applications tothe head for easing migraine. They include

rags dipped in vinegar (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 2_6290), horseradish leaves (Armo-racia rusticana) wrapped around the head(UCLA Folklore Archives 14_5430), po-tato slices enclosed in a scarf similarly ap-plied (UCL Folklore Archives 24_6288),resting the head on a pillow filled withpine needles (UCLA Folklore Archives10_6288) or with dried hops (Puckett1981: 414). Both corn (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 6_5394) and corn oil (Jarvis 1961:149) have been recommended to mitigatemigraine. To prevent it, wearing nutmegaround the neck has been suggested (UCLAFolklore Archives 8_6288), while placingthe feet in plastic bags has been thought toward off a migraine (Cannon 1984: 111).

In the Native American tradition, yarrowis used as a snuff for headaches much as inBritish folk medicine (Moerman 1998: 42).

Migraine has not always been distin-guished in folk medicine from other head-aches, and treatments overlap.

See also Corn, Headache, Hops, Pine,Poultice, Yarrow.







Jones, Dewi. The Botanists and Guides of Snow-donia. Llanwrst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch,1996.

Martin, Martin. A Description of the Western Islesof Scotland. London: A. Bell, 1703. (Pagereferences cited are from the fourth edition

238 ; Milk

of 1934 [Stirling: Eneas Mackay], edited byDonald J. Macleod.)


Pratt, Anne. The Flowering Plants and Ferns ofGreat Britain. 5 vols. London: Society forPromoting Christian Knowledge, 1855.


MilkMilk from a variety of animals has been

used in folk medicine. In ancient healingrituals, milk was sometimes poured on theground as a sacrificial offering (Beith 1995:139). A bath of milk was said to have savedcasualties of a Pictish battle (Beith 1995:167). In the Scottish Highlands milk of amare, a goat, or a donkey was particularlyrecommended as a drink for sufferers fromtuberculosis (Beith 1995: 97). The milkfrom white cows was especially valued(Beith 1995: 168). Cow’s milk, in the formof buttermilk, was recommended for tuber-culosis too (Pennant 1776). Both butterand cream were valued for healing. Butter,especially from the milk of a white cow, wasused for treating adder bites (Beith 1995:174). In the Scottish borders butter madefrom the milk of cows grazed in church-yards reputedly cured a blacksmith’s ap-prentice of tuberculosis (Black 1883: 96).Cream, boiled until oily, was applied toburns (Beith 1995: 168). Goat’s milk wasvalued as a tonic, especially after influenza,and mare’s milk was recommended forwhooping cough (Beith 1995: 177, 178).The mold growing on milk was used inMull, in western Scotland, for treating ul-cerated legs (Beith 1995: 179). In Ireland,sow’s milk was recommended for epilepsy(Notes and Queries 1849), and goat’s milkwas drunk for eczema (Logan 1972: 72).

Many of these uses for milk and morebesides have been recorded in North Amer-ican folk medicine. For tuberculosis, drink-ing the milk of a red cow was recommended(Hyatt 1965: 252). For the treatment ofwhooping cough both mare’s milk (Can-non 1984: 38) and goat’s milk (UCLAFolklore Archives 1_5570) have been rec-ommended. Cream has been used to treatchapped skin (UCLA Folklore Archives3_6835), sunburn, and burns (Anderson1970: 12, 73). Human breast milk has beenwidely used for eye ailments, including stys(UCLA Folklore Archives 10_6515), soreeyes (Puckett 1981: 370), and even blind-ness at birth (Hyatt 1965: 241). Goat’smilk has been used for treating menstrualpain (Hendricks 1980: 89), rashes (Puckett1981: 430), diabetes (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 11_6283), typhoid (Hyatt 1965:218), and ulcers (Puckett 1981: 468). It hasalso been drunk to prevent asthma (Ander-son 1970: 5). Mare’s milk has been rubbedon for croup (Campbell 1953: 2) and drunkfor flu (Anderson 1970: 34), diphtheria,hives (Browne 1958: 57, 18), and measles(Creighton 1968: 223). Cow’s milk hasbeen used in innumerable ways, includingwarmed with honey as a drink for insomnia(UCLA Folklore Archives 11_6769); boiledfor diarrhea (UCLA Folklore Archive13_6284); drunk to aid healing of a fracture(Cannon 1984: 108); as a bath, mixed withwine, for a premature child (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 17_6095); and as an antidoteto poisons (Puckett 1981: 450) and togerms in the atmosphere (Hyatt 1965:195). To prevent one from getting old,drinking buttermilk is recommended!(UCLA Folklore Archives 3_6772).

See also Asthma, Burns, Chapped skin,Color, Diabetes, Diarrhea, Eczema,Epilepsy, Eye problems, Fractures, Hives,Sleeplessness, Snake bite, Sunburn,Tonic, Tuberculosis, Whooping cough.

Mistletoe : 239


Encino Press, 1970.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-







Hendricks, George D. “Roosters, Rhymes andRailroad Tracks.” A Second Sampling of Su-perstitions and Popular Beliefs in Texas. Dal-las, TX: Southern Methodist UniversityPress, 1980.



Notes and Queries, London. 1849 ff. Vol. 11:349.

Pennant, Thomas. 1776. A Tour in Scotland andVoyage to the Hebrides, 1772. Ed. 2. 2 vols.London: Benjamin White.


Mistletoe (Viscum album)Traditionally believed to have been a sa-

cred plant of the druids, this plant has many

folkloric beliefs associated with it. It hasbeen suggested that one reason why theplant was regarded as sacred was that itnever touches the ground; it is a parasiticplant, growing on the bark of various trees,such as oak, apple and poplar, hawthorn,and lime. Birds eat the berries and brushthe sticky seeds from their beaks, leavingthem on the bark, where they may grow toform new plants. Both the druid name forthe plant and the present-day Gaelic nametranslate as “all-heal,” indicating widespreaduse of this plant in the past. In the eigh-teenth century Thomas Pennant reportedon the practice in Scotland of keeping mis-tletoe all year round to use for fevers andother troubles. There is a nineteenth-century record of a woman in Inverness-shire, Scotland, using the plant to treatpalpitations of the heart (Beith 1995: 227–228).

These records from Scotland are of par-ticular interest since the plant rarely occursthere in the wild and so was presumablydeliberately grown for use, or imported.Mistletoe is commonest in the south andwest of Britain, and not surprisingly mostof the records of its use in folk medicine arefrom these regions. An infusion was drunkfor measles in Somerset (Plant Lore Notesand News 1992: 112), while in Essex a leafsoaked in milk has been eaten to prevent astroke (Hatfield 1994: 91). It was widelyused to treat St. Vitus’s dance (chorea)—for example, in Wiltshire (MacphersonMSS) and in Sussex (Arthur 1989: 45). Ep-ilepsy was treated with it in East Anglia andin Herefordshire (Jobson 1959: 144; Bull1907: 335 fn). The types of mistletoegrown on different species have been as-cribed different powers. The mistletoe fortreating measles in Somerset was gatheredfrom the hawthorn (Vickery 1995: 243). InHereford, the mistletoe growing on haw-thorn was favored for treating epilepsy(Leather 1912: 79). Similar uses are re-corded in Ireland. There is an interesting

240 ; Mistletoe

record from seventeenth-century Essex ofits use in cleansing cows of the afterbirth(Vickery 1995: 243). In Herefordshire toothe plant was given to cows and to sheepafter giving birth (Grigson 1955: 202).These varied surviving medical uses for mis-tletoe suggest a significant role indeed forthe plant in the past.

Viscum album is not native to NorthAmerica. In North American folk medicinethere are records of the use of mistletoe forcuring headache, either by chewing theleaves or simply wearing them in a hat(UCLA Folklore Archives 1_5397). An in-fusion of mistletoe has been drunk for highblood pressure (Puckett 1981: 367), for diz-ziness (Wilson 1968: 323), and for hives(Browne 1958: 20). An infusion made fromthe berries has been used to treat epilepsy(Long 1961: 80). Alternatively, mistletoehas been worn as an amulet against epilepsy(Puckett 1981: 367). Instructions for gath-ering mistletoe sometimes specify that theplant must not touch human hands or theground (Walker 1955: 10).

In Native American medicine the relatednative genera Arceuthobium and Phoraden-dron, also called mistletoe, have been usedto treat a large number of conditions—forinstance, hemorrhage, rheumatism, highblood pressure, warts, and sores (Moerman1998: 84, 393–394). An echo of the En-glish veterinary use of mistletoe is found inthe Zuni use of Phoradendron juniperum toprevent postpartum bleeding in humans(Stevenson 1915: 55). This same species isused by Native American herbal healers to-day to treat diarrhea and stomach problems,as well as baldness. Epilepsy, palsy, strokes,and tuberculosis are also treated with thisspecies and the related Phoradendron flaves-cens (Kavasch and Baar 1999: 163).

Both European and North Americanmistletoes have magical associations and aretraditionally believed to protect against poi-son, witchcraft, and lightning (Notes and

Queries, 4 (1857) 506; Vickery 1995: 242–243; Whiting 1939: 72, Elmore 1944: 41).

See also Amulet, Baldness, Diarrhea,Epilepsy, Fevers, Headache, Hearttrouble, Hives, Warts.

ReferencesArthur, Dave, (ed.). A Sussex Life. The Memories

of Gilbert Sargent, Countryman. London:Barrie and Jenkins, 1989.



Bull, H. G. “The Mistletoe in Herefordshire.”Trans. Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club(1852–65): 312–47. Reprint 1907.

Elmore, Francis H. Ethnobotany of the Navaho.Santa Fe, NM: School of American Re-search, 1944.





Leather, Ella Mary. The Folk-Lore of HerefordshireCollected from Oral and Printed Sources.Hereford and London: Jakeman and Carver1912.

Long, Grady M. “Folk Customs in Southeast Ten-nessee.” Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin27 (1961): 76–84.

Macpherson MSS. Collection of folk medicinescompiled by J. Harvey Macpherson, in thearchives of the Folklore Society, UniversityCollege London.


Notes and Queries, 4 (1857).Plant Lore Notes and News, no. 24 (1992): 112.Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-

Molds : 241


Stevenson, Matilda Coxe. Ethnobotany of the ZuniIndians. Bureau of American Ethnology An-nual Report 30. Washington, DC: Smith-sonian Institution, 1915.


Walker, John. “A Sampling of Folklore fromRutherford County, North Carolina.”North Carolina Folklore 3(2) (December1955): 6–16.

Whiting, Alfred F. “Ethnobotany of the Hopi.”Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 15(1939).


MoldsLong before the official Western “discov-

ery” of antibiotics, the value of molds inhealing had been realized and used by folkmedicine for a wide variety of conditions.There are records of the use of moldy soyabeans to treat wounds in China three thou-sand years ago (Bickel 1972: 60–61) and ofa moldy corn mash in the Jewish Talmud(Townend 1944: 158–159); the propertiesof molds are referred to in ancient Egyptianwritings of about 1500 B.C. (Kamel 1960:487–488). In much more recent times,molds have featured in folk medicine. Oneof the best known and best-documented ex-amples in Britain is that of “Good FridayBread.” Traditionally a small loaf from abaking on Good Friday was preserved,sometimes for many years, for use in firstaid. When a family member became in-jured, small pieces were cut off, made intoa mash, and plastered on the injury. InDevon and Cornwall, this procedure wasused to treat animals as well as humans(Townend 1944: 158–159). The practice

has been used within living memory in EastAnglia (Hatfield MS). In Ireland, the bluemold from bread was used to prevent cutsfrom festering (Foster 1951: 62).

Molds on other foodstuffs were used infolk medicine. On the Scottish island ofMull, milk was kept until it went moldyand the mold used to treat ulcerated legs(Beith 1995: 179). In Sussex, in the twen-tieth century, mold from jam was appliedto cuts before bandaging (Prince 1991:113). In Yorkshire, moldy curd tarts weresaved from Christmas baking and used totreat cuts (Prince 1991: 95). In Essex, thecloth from around a cheese “with the moldstill adhering” was used to heal wounds(Hatfield MSS). A seventeenth-eighteenthcentury household book from Norfolk re-cords the use of a poultice of rotten appleto treat sore eyes. The same manuscriptcontains the recipe for an ointment fortreating “green wounds or any swellings.” Itconsists of Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria)beaten in butter, then left in a cellar to gomoldy (Gunton Household Book). Moldyapples have been used in the twentieth cen-tury to treat stys (Anon. 1959: 343). Themold from leather was used similarly(Wainwright 1989: 163) in Cambridge,right up to the twentieth century. A letterin the Daily Express in 1943 describes howa Suffolk lady used to smear copper pennieswith lard and leave them in a damp placeto grow mold; the mold was then scrapedoff into pots. The resulting ointment wasmuch in demand locally (Wainwright1989: 163). In Herefordshire, the fungusfrom around the bottom of beech trees wascollected and mixed with vaseline and usedfor “septic places” (Prince 1991: 119). Inthe Highlands of Scotland, the molds grow-ing on the sides of caves were used inwound treatment, especially for damagedlimbs (Beith 1995: 179).

In North American folk medicine, moldswere used in much the same way. Meaderecords the use of moldy bread and milk to

242 ; Moon

treat infections (Meade 1965: 823–828). Inthe UCLA folk medicine archives there arerecords of the use of moldy bread appliedto wounds (Schedler 1971: 13). Moldybread also features in an ointment used totreat animal bites (UCLA Folklore Archives11_5260). From the western South, thereis a record of using cheese mold to heal asore (UCLA Folklore Archives 1_5474).From Missouri, there is a record of the useof wet tree mold to treat wounds (UCLAFolklore Archives 24_5574). Meyer recordsthe use of pork rind “well molded” placedbetween bandages and applied to a woundto draw out infection. The informant addsthat the pork rind is kept in the cellar foruse when needed (Meyer 1985: 278).

See also Cuts, Eye problems, Poultice,Wounds.

ReferencesAnonymous. “Gypsies’ Penicillin.” Folklore 70

(1959): 343–344.Beith, Mary. Healing Threads: Traditional Medi-

cine of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon, 1995.

Bickel, L. Rise Up to Life. London: Angus andRobertson, 1972.


Gunton Household Book, Manuscript Seven-teenth/Eighteenth Century. Church of St.Peter Mancroft, Norwich.

Hatfield, Gabrielle. Manuscript Notes in Her Per-sonal Possession.

Kamel, H. “Antibiotics, Vitamins and Hormonesin History.” Egyptian Medical AssociationJournal 43 (1960).

Meade, G. M. “Home Remedies in Rural Amer-ica.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sci-ence 120 (1965): 823–828.


Prince, Dennis. Grandmother’s Cures: An A–Z OfHerbal Remedies. London: Fontana, 1991.

Schedler, Paul W. “Folk Medicine in DentonCounty Today: Or, Can Dermatology Dis-

place Dishrags?” Publications of the TexasFolklore Society 35 (1971): 11–17.

Townend, B. R. “Penicillin in Folk Medicine.”Notes and Queries 186 (1944).

Wainwright, Milton. “Moulds in Folk Medicine.”Folklore 100(2) (1989): 162–166.

MoonThe moon has been regarded as a cause

of mental illness by a very wide variety ofdifferent cultures, and over a great timespan, and the word “lunacy,” of course, de-rives from this belief. Insanity was thoughtto be worse at the time of a full moon, anidea that is still controversial today. Sleep-ing in moonlight was considered dangerous,causing madness or blindness (Radford andRadford 1974: 239). The phase of themoon at the time of a child’s birth was be-lieved to control the child’s destiny andhealth, even the sex of the next child to beborn in the family (Black 1883: 128). Achild born under a waning moon would beunlucky, and in the Orkneys it was believedthat a marriage celebrated at the time of awaning moon would not be fruitful (Rad-ford and Radford 1961: 239). At least untilthe mid-nineteenth century it was tradi-tional to curtsey to a new moon and un-lucky to point at the moon. It was alsounlucky to see the new moon through treesor other obstacles (Radford and Radford1961: 237, 238). Moonlight plays a part inseveral wart cures: blowing on warts at thetime of a full moon was one such cure.“Bathing” the warts in moonbeams in ametal dish was a folk remedy made famousby Sir Kenelm Digby in the seventeenthcentury. A cure for whooping cough was totake afflicted children outside and let themlook at the moon while their stomachs wererubbed and a charm recited (Radford andRadford 1961: 239). In Scotland it is sug-gested that medicine for treating worms isbest administered at full moon, for at that

Moon : 243

The moon has been regarded as a cause of mental illness by a very wide variety of different cultures.Insanity was thought to be worse at the time of a full moon, an idea which is still controversial today.(National Library of Medicine)

time the worms are more likely to come out(Buchan 1994: 107).

In North American folk medicine thereis a belief that conception is more likely tooccur at the time of a full moon (Parler1962, 3: 14). A child born at full moon wasdestined to become a lunatic (Cannon1984: 34). Stomach ailments are under thecontrol of the moon (Brown 1952–1964,6: 293). Sleeping in moonlight will makeone go crazy (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 356),a belief evidently held on both sides of theAtlantic. Sitting under a full moon wasreckoned to be a cure for freckles (Puckett1981: 383). The phase of the moon, it wasbelieved, could alter the outcome of a rem-edy. The rabbit skins used for treating frost-bite should be from rabbits killed in thedark of the moon (Thomas and Thomas1920: 103); hysteria can be cured by dip-ping the sufferer in an icy stream at thesame phase of the moon (Neal 1955: 291);

hair cut at full moon will grow faster(UCLA Folklore Archives 1_5657). Manyrecords document the idea that it is unluckyto view the moon through obstacles (in-cluding glass windows) and lucky to view itin other ways (Brown 1952–1964, 7: 184–189), and that it was bad luck to point atthe moon (Brown 1952–1964, 7: 189),both beliefs found in Britain.

Among the Native Americans the lunarcycle was the basis of the calendar; themoon played an important role in their re-ligious as well as healing ceremonies. It wasthought to control subconscious activity,and one’s personality was affected by thephase of the moon at one’s birth. The mooncould indicate when the birth of a baby wasimminent (Frankel 1970: 76). Boys wholearned to walk at new moon would be fastrunners (Parler 1962, 3: 166). It was un-lucky to point at the moon—the fingerwould rot off (Cannon 1984: 108).

244 ; Moss

See also Freckles, Frostbite, Warts,Whooping cough, Worms.






Frankel, Barbara. Childbirth in the Ghetto: FolkBeliefs of Negro Women in a North Philadel-phia Hospital Ward. M.A. thesis, TempleUniversity, 1970.

Neal, Janice C. “Grandad: Pioneer MedicineMan.” New York Folklore Quarterly 11(1955): 277–291.





MossApart from Sphagnum moss, in British

folk medicine different types of moss wereoften not distinguished, and the term fre-quently covered some of the lichens as well.In general, moss was used as an absorbent

dressing and as a styptic. “Moss” from adead man’s skull was famously used in bothfolk medicine and official medicine for cur-ing bleeding and headaches (Black 1883:96–97). In Ireland, wounds were treatedwith moss from human skulls (Logan 1972:89). Such moss was sometimes a constitu-ent of the so-called weapon salve, which waspopular in the seventeenth century (Rad-ford and Radford 1974: 368). Perhaps asan extension of this idea, the moss fromtombstones was carried as a protective am-ulet against agues and rheumatism (Souter1995: 35). These so-called mosses may wellhave been species of lichens, such as Usnea.Other mosses in a general sense have beenused in British folk medicine for treatinginsect bites and stings (Hatfield MS) and tostaunch bleeding (Allen and Hatfield, inpress).

In North American folk medicine mossfrom a human skull was similarly recom-mended for treating a wound, either di-rectly (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 123) or viathe instrument causing the wound (Spicer1937: 154). Among the Pennsylvania Ger-mans it was also used, combined with mar-igold water, for treating vomiting (Brendleand Unger 1935: 177).

See also Amulet, Bleeding, Headache,Insect bites and stings, Skull, Sphagnummoss, Sympathetic magic, Wounds.






Mouse : 245




Spicer, Dorothy Gladys. “Medicine and Magic inthe New England Colonies.” Trained Nurse99 (1937): 153–156.

MouseThe use of fried mouse for treating

whooping cough is a folk remedy that, sur-prisingly, persisted in Scotland and parts ofEngland well into the twentieth century(Prince 1991: 104). The dish apparentlytastes similar to chicken (Hatfield MSS). InSussex roast or stewed mouse was used as atreatment for consumption and diphtheria,as well as for whooping cough (Allen 1995:114). The origin of the remedy is obscure,but it is known that mouse was regarded byEastern medicine as a remedy for a child inextremis, and it has been found in the ali-mentary canal of children’s remains datingto the fourth millennium B.C. at Naqada inEgypt (Beith 1995: 179). Four thousandyears later, a mother in Cromarty, Scotland,gave her seriously ill child the liver of amouse. The child recovered (Beith 1995:8). In ancient Egypt, roast mouse was alsoconsidered a cure for bed-wetting, and anamulet consisting of a mouse bladder wasused in the Scottish Highlands for the samepurpose (Souter 1995: 137). This remedyhas also been reported from England(Prince 1991: 12). Roast mouse has alsobeen used in Aberdeenshire for treatingjaundice (Black 1883: 159). A Sussex vari-ant is to bake the mouse to a cinder andpowder it. The powder, mixed with jam,was fed to a child to cure bedwetting. It was

also used to treat diabetes (Allen 1995:114). Reputedly, the milk in which a mousehas been boiled was used to procure barren-ness in women in Ireland (Black 1883: 159footnote). Roast mouse has been used totreat croup in children (Gutch 1912: 69).

In North America, there are records offried mice given for bedwetting, and friedrat has also been recorded for the same pur-pose (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 47, 48). Roastmouse has been eaten for measles (Welsch1966: 363) and for fever (Whitney and Bul-lock 1925: 85). A mixture of mouse meatand lard has been given to children to ridthem of worms (Cannon 1984: 38). For in-fant colic the head of a freshly killed mousewas hung around the neck of the child(UCLA Folklore Archives 21_5889), andwearing a dead mouse was a recommendedtreatment for warts (Parler 1962, 3: 1076).Ashes of mouse mixed with honey wererubbed on the teeth for bad breath (UCLAFolklore Archive 15_2196). Mouse brothwas given, more generally for “illness”(Koch 1980: 128). For pain, squeezing amouse to death was suggested (Browne1958: 123).

To put all these strange remedies intoperspective, it should be remembered thatthe official materia medica of Western med-icine contained many animal products rightup to the eighteenth century. At least someof these mouse remedies can be found inofficial Western medicine. Salmon’s EnglishPhysician, published in 1693, included achapter on mice. The whole mouse, burnedto ashes, is the basis of an ointment to treatbaldness. The flesh of the mouse is recom-mended for consumption, palpitations, andfaintings, as well as for bites and removingsplinters; the fat treats tumors; the blood isto be used for warts and to clear the eyes;and the liver is given for fever, the gall foreyesight, the urine for gout, the dung forworms in children (Salmon 1693: 393–397).

Mice also figure in a quite different as-

246 ; Mugwort

pect of folk medicine. From all over theworld there are reports similar to the prac-tice in the Highlands of Scotland of placinga child’s milk tooth at the entrance to amouse hole, and asking for a strong newtooth in return (Beith 1995: 179). Frazerin the Golden Bough reports similar prac-tices from Germany and from the Pacificisland of Raratonga (Frazer 1923: 39). InNorth America there are records of otherassociations between mice and teeth; a curefor toothache is to eat a crust that the micehave gnawed (Wintemberg 1899: 48). Astring used to hang three mice was placedaround a child’s neck to assist in teething(Brendle and Unger 1935: 120).

See also Amulet, Bad breath, Bed-wetting,Colic, Croup, Diabetes, Fevers, Jaundice,Teething, Toothache, Tuberculosis,Warts, Whooping cough, Worms.









Frazer, Sir J. G. The Golden Bough: A Study inMagic and Religion. Abridged edition, Lon-don: Macmillan, 1923.

Gutch, Mrs. (Eliza). Examples of Printed Folk-Lore

Concerning the East Riding of Yorkshire.County Folk-Lore 6, Printed Extracts 8.London: Folklore Society, 1912.

Hatfield MSS. Manuscript notes in personal pos-session of Gabrielle Hatfield.




Salmon, William, M.D. The Compleat EnglishPhysician. London, 1693.




Wintemberg, W. J. “Items of German-CanadianFolk-Lore.” Journal of American Folklore 12(1899): 45–50.

Mugwort (Artemisiavulgaris)

This is one of the nine sacred herbs de-scribed in the Anglo-Saxon Lacnunga, andin British folk medicine it has filled a dualrole of protection and therapy (Grigson1955: 382). As recently as the early years ofthe twentieth century a Somerset manclaimed that if the plant is picked right,there is nothing one cannot wish for(Tongue 1965: 33). Smoking the driedherb was found to prevent tiredness and in-crease appetite (Beith 1995: 229). Placedinside shoes, mugwort gave one the ability“to run all day” (Tongue 1965: 33). It wasalso considered to keep away evil spirits. Infolk medicine one of its main uses in Britain

Mugwort : 247

has been as a woman’s herb, regulating themenstrual cycle and assisting in childbirth.

This reputation was held in official med-icine too: according to the thirteenth-century physicians of Myddvai, to inducechildbirth all that was necessary was to strapthe herb mugwort to the left thigh (Chev-allier 1996: 171). In a seventeenth-centurykitchen book kept by successive generationsof the Harbord family in Gunton, England,there is an entry headed, “For a poor coun-try woman in labor.” It consists of an in-fusion of mugwort; a footnote adds that theplant can be dried and kept for use allthrough the year, suggesting that this mayhave been a remedy that was actually usedrather than merely recorded (GuntonHousehold Book). There is a proverb inScotland, “Wad ye let the bonny may diein your hand, And the mugwort floweringin the land?” It has a Welsh counterpart.Until the twentieth century some gardensgrew a clump of mugwort for use by thewoman of the house (Hatfield 1999: 22).

The plant was brought to the NewWorld by European settlers and was reput-edly used in frontier medicine to cure ticsand twitches, the hands being bathed in wa-ter in which the plant had soaked overnight(Souter 1995: 192). Meyer records the useof mugwort to regulate menstrual function(Meyer 1985: 176). It was also used inNorth American folk medicine to counter-act plant poisoning (Meyer 1985: 200).Among the Pennsylvania Germans, theplant was used for treating edema, to inducesweating (Brendle and Unger 1935: 90,189) and for women’s complaints (Lick andBrendle 1922: 39). In the 1920s the plantwas still to be found growing in Pennsyl-vania “around very old gardens” (Lick andBrendle 1922: 298). There are numerousspecies of Artemisia native to North Amer-ica, and these have been used in a wide va-riety of disorders. Confusingly, Artemisiavulgaris is known as common wormwoodin North America, the name “mugwort”

usually being applied to other species of Ar-temisia.

In Native American practice Artemisiavulgaris has been used for a number of con-ditions, notably for afterpains of childbirth(Schenck and Gifford 1952: 390) and forthe treatment of rheumatism (Barrett andGifford 1933: 167). Various other speciesof Artemisia were used similarly for theseand many other complaints (Moerman1998: 92–103). According to Levi-Strauss,the reputation of Artemisia in North Amer-ica was similar to that in British folk med-icine: it was primarily an herb for women(Levi-Strauss 1966: 46). Several differentspecies have been used in New Mexico totreat dysmenorrhea, difficult childbirth andretained afterbirth and to prevent infectionof the umbilical cord (Kay 1996: 71). A.ludoviciana, native to North America, wasused by the Cheyenne to drive away evilspirits (Coffey 1993: 245). The same plant,known in Mexico as estafiate or westernmugwort, is used for intestinal spasm andfor treating diabetes (Kay 1996: 106). It wasso highly valued that there is a Mexican say-ing, “God may fail, but estafiate never”(Campa 1950: 341). Artemisia tridentata,the sagebrush, is very widely used by variousNative American tribes for a variety of ail-ments, including rheumatism, fever, pain,and as an aid to delivery (Moerman 1998:101–102). Another species of Artemisia, A.tilesii, has been called the panacea of theEskimo peoples (Fortuine 1988: 215).

See also Childbirth, Rheumatism.

ReferencesBarrett, S. A., and E. W. Gifford. “Miwok Ma-

terial Culture.” Bulletin of the Public Mu-seum of the City of Milwaukee 2(4) (1933).


Brendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. “FolkMedicine of the Pennsylvania Germans:

248 ; Mullein

The Non-Occult Cures.” Proceedings of thePennsylvania German Society 45 (1935).




Fortuine, Robert. “The Use of Medicinal Plantsby the Alaska Natives.” Alaska Medicine 30(1988): 185–226.


Gunton Household Book. Seventeenth/eigh-teenth century manuscript, Church of St.Peter Mancroft, Norwich.



Levi-Strauss, Claude. The Savage Mind (La PenseeSauvage). London: Weidenfeld and Nicol-son, 1966.




Schenck, Sara M., and E. W. Gifford. “Karok Eth-nobotany.” Anthropological Records 13(6)(1952): 377–392.


Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. Edited byKatherine Briggs. County Folklore 8. Lon-don: Folklore Society, 1965.

Mullein (Verbascumthapsus)

This plant has been used as long as rec-ords can be traced, in both official and folk

medicine, particularly for treating respira-tory troubles. A cough mixture is madefrom the leaves (Newman 1945: 356); inSussex, this has been used to treat whoopingcough (Allen 1995: 46). In Ireland, theplant has been specially valued for treatingtuberculosis; the leaves have been dried andsmoked for the treatment of consumptionand asthma (Vickery 1995: 251). The planthas also been used to treat colds, bronchitis,and catarrh. The soft flannelly leaves ofmullein have been used in Ireland to treatrunning sores, stings, and goiter; the juicehas been used as a rub for the pain of rheu-matism (Allen and Hatfield, in press). Atleast since the seventeenth century, theplant has also been used to treat warts (Allen1995: 178). One of its old English namesis “hagtaper,” or hedgetaper, from the useof the plant in the past as a wick. One ofits names in Ireland, Mary’s candle, also re-flects this use.

The plant was introduced in NorthAmerica and has been widely used in folkmedicine there in much the same way as inBritain. Meyer records its use for treatingasthma and coughs (Meyer 1985: 33–35,83). As in Ireland, it has also been used totreat tuberculosis; an infusion of the flowerswas recommended for consumption (Anon.1939: 210). The plant has also been usedto treat bedwetting, diarrhea, sore feet, as adrink to soothe flu, and for treating hay fe-ver (Meyer 1985: 36, 91, 120, 132, 136).An infusion of the seeds has been used totreat headache, and to control suppressionof urine or loss of control of urination(Meyer 1985: 138, 155, 156). The juice ofthe fresh leaves has been snuffed up to stopnosebleeds, and as “Adam’s flannel” theleaves have been used as toilet paper and totreat piles (Meyer 1985: 189, 194). Evencarrying the leaves in a pocket is said to pre-vent piles (Brendle and Unger 1935: 184).As in Ireland, the leaves have been used asa poultice for treating swellings, sprains,and inflammation. A tea made from the

Mullein : 249

flowers has been recommended for stomachupsets (Meyer 1985: 202, 236). Diarrheahas been treated with mullein tea, and thesame infusion has been used as a lotion forswollen limbs in dropsy (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 170, 173). Eczema has beentreated with glycerine and mullein leaf tea(Browne 1958: 60). Diabetes has also beentreated with mullein leaf tea (Wintemberg1925: 621).

In Native American medicine, the planthas been used to treat a wide range of ail-ments, including teething, rheumatism,cuts, fevers, piles, and respiratory troublesof all kinds (Moerman 1998: 590–591).The dried leaves have been smoked to treatfits, hiccups, and “craziness,” as well asasthma.

See also Asthma, Bed-wetting, Colds,Coughs, Cuts, Diabetes, Diarrhea,Dropsy, Eczema, Fevers, Hay fever,Headache, Nosebleed, Piles, Poultice,Rheumatism, Sore feet, Tuberculosis,Warts, Whooping cough.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.

Allen, David, and Gabrielle Hatfield. MedicinalPlants in Folk Tradition. Portland, OR:Timber Press, in press.

Anonymous. Idaho Lore. Caldwell, ID: AMS PressIncorporated, 1939.








Wintemberg, W. J. “Some Items of Negro-Canadian Folk-Lore.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 38 (1925): 621.

;N:

Native Americantradition

Spirituality is the single outstandingcharacteristic of Native American healing.Religion and medicine are so closely inter-twined that most religious ceremonies areassociated with either healing or mainte-nance of health. Health is regarded as a stateof balance, illness as a loss of this balance.Native American knowledge of the healingproperties of plants is probably unsur-passed, but the plants themselves are re-garded as only agents in the healing process.Of equal importance is the empowermentof the herbs, which can be done only by thedoctor and the treatment that he provides,including the traditional songs that he singsover the patient (Snow and Stans 2001: xv).The medicine man, who may or may notbe a doctor himself, is the keeper of themedicine bundles used in the most sacredhealing ceremonies, such as the Green CornDance of the Seminole Indians, or theNightway ceremony of the Navajo. To therationalist Western mind, it is all too easyto dismiss the spiritual and magical ele-ments in Native American healing; if we dothis, we are ignoring a whole dimension ofthe healing process, a dimension well rep-resented in Lyon’s fascinating study (Lyon1996). Not only do the ceremonies varyfrom one tribe to another, but the plantsused in healing also vary, as a glance at

Moerman’s index of tribes will quicklydemonstrate (Moerman 1998: 625–764).

See also Concepts of disease, Medicineman.

ReferencesLyon, William S. Encyclopedia of Native American

Healing. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO,1996.



NauseaIn British folk medicine for morning

sickness during pregnancy, raspberry leaveshave been eaten (CECTL MSS). For gen-eral nausea, an infusion of balm (Melissa of-ficinalis) has been used (Lafont 1984: 11).Various mints (Mentha spp.) were used inherbalism for treating nausea and indiges-tion, and sometimes these were used in folkmedicine too. In one remedy, a mixture ofmint and ginger was used (F.C.W., pers.com., 1988).

For travel sickness, jellied eel and pigeonpie have been recommended. Carrying acaul was thought to protect sailors againstseasickness (Souter 1995: 40, 193).

In North American folk medicine an in-

252 ; Nettle

fusion of goldenrod (Solidago sp.) wasused to treat nausea (Clark 1970: 11).Chamomile tea was used for nausea as wellas indigestion (UCLA Folklore Archives3_5431). Willow ashes in water were an-other recommendation (Smith 1929: 72),as was an infusion of dried chicken gizzards(UCLA Folklore Archives 4_5431). Otherremedies include egg white and lemon,wormwood tincture (Artemisia sp.), cay-enne pepper, strong green tea, chamomiletea, peppermint essence (from Mentha pi-perita), or chewing a leaf of mint (Menthasp.) or sage (Salvia sp.) (Meyer 1985: 184).

It was suggested that nausea in preg-nancy could be prevented by ensuring thatthe husband sampled everything that thewife drank (UCLA Folklore Archives2_6048). For general nausea, a dishrag onthe throat or a red string tied around thewaist are other suggestions (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 236). For trainsickness, a piece ofstationery placed on the chest is believed tobe a preventative (Brown 1952–1964, 6:307).

Among the Native Americans, plantsused to treat nausea include yarrow (Welch1964: 84), spearmint (Mentha sp.) (Mac-donald 1959: 222), and ragweed (Ambrosiaspp.) (Larson 1953: 246). Indian cup-plant(Silphium perfoliatum) was used to alleviatepregnancy sickness (Meyer 1985: 208).

See also Caul, Cayenne, Chamomile,Indigestion, Willow, Yarrow.



CECTL MSS. Manuscript notes in the Centre forEnglish Cultural Tradition and Language,University of Sheffield.



Larson, John A. “Medicine among the Indians.”Quarterly Bulletin of NorthWestern MedicalSchool 27 (1953): 246–249.

Macdonald, Elizabeth. “Indian Medicine in NewBrunswick.” Canadian Medical AssociationJournal 80(3) (1959): 220–224.


Smith, Walter R. “Animals and Plants inOklahoma Folk Cures.” In Folk-Say: A Re-gional Miscellany. Edited by B. A. Botkin.Norman: Oklahoma Folk-Lore Society,1929, 69–78.


Welch, Charles E., Jr. “Some Drugs of the NorthAmerican Indian: Then and Now.” KeystoneFolklore Quarterly 9(3) (1964): 83–99.

NettleSee Stinging nettle.

NosebleedFolklore has provided some novel ways

of stopping nosebleeds, many of them basedon coldness, such as sliding a cold key downthe sufferer’s back, or holding a cold flannelon the forehead. The cold-key remedy hasbeen claimed to be the remnant of an oldNorse ritual connected with Thor (Black1883: 183). A ceremonial treatment re-corded from Worcestershire involves the“healer” bowing to the sufferer and touch-ing his right forefinger if the bleeding isfrom the left nostril, and vice versa (Black1883: 191). A shock tactic recorded fromthe Scottish Highlands was to hold a livetoad in front of the sufferer’s face (Beith1995: 187). More drastically, in Nor-thamptonshire a toad was killed and hungaround the person’s neck to stop nosebleed

Nosebleed : 253

(Black 1883: 62). In the seventeenth cen-tury, Boyle recorded how he had cured hisown nosebleeds by using moss from a hu-man skull (Black 1883: 96). A skein of scar-let thread tied around the neck with nineknots was suggested to prevent nosebleedsin the nineteenth century. The knots wereto be tied by a man for a woman patient,and vice versa (Black 1883: 111). In Nor-folk in the twentieth century it was rec-ommended to take a large marble with ahole in it and thread this onto a red thread,tying a knot every three inches. This wasworn as a necklace to cure nosebleeds(Mundford Primary School project, 1980,unpub.).

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), sometimescalled “nosebleed,” had an ambivalent role.It was used to stop bleeding from the nosetaken as an infusion, but the leaves stuffedup the nose could provoke a nosebleed,leading to the superstition that if a girlwanted to know whether her boyfriendloved her, she could put the leaves up hernose: if her nose bled, then her love wouldbe reciprocated (Page 1983: 41). This wassurely preferable to the remedy recorded inOrkney and Shetland, which was to plugthe nose with fresh pig dung to stop itbleeding (Markwick 1975: 130). In the sev-enteenth century yew berries were appar-ently used to treat nosebleed (Wright 1912:233). A slice of cold raw potato held on theback of the neck, or a bunch of broom (Cy-tisus scoparius) around the neck, were Scot-tish remedies for a nosebleed (Beith 1995:209, 235). A green seaweed applied to thetemples was another remedy used in thenineteenth century in the Scottish High-lands (Beith 1995: 239).

Meyer records a variety of North Amer-ican folk treatments for nosebleeds, manyof them the same as those recorded in Brit-ain. Two of interest seem like “sanitized”versions of the Orkney remedy above—stuffing a wedge of salt pork, or ground

beef, up the nose. Raising one or both armsabove the head is suggested. Soaking thefeet in hot water is an alternative (Meyer1985: 188–189). Putting a piece of news-paper between the upper lip and the gum(Killion and Waller 1972), tying a redthread around the thumb (similar to Brit-ain, above) (Thomas and Thomas 1920:95), or snuffing up ashes from a burnedgoose feather (Roy 1955: 79) are furthersuggestions for stopping a nosebleed. Al-lowing the blood to drip onto twigs placedin the form of a cross or onto the placewhere a brick lay, then replacing the brick,or inserting into the nostril an odd numberof hairs plucked from the underarm, arefurther nosebleed remedies (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 239, 243, 247).

Herbal suggestions include snuffing uppowder of horsetail (Equisetum spp.) orjuice of mullein or witch hazel (Hamamelismollis), all of which are known to staunchbleeding in general. Chewing the roots ofnettles is suggested as a preventative fornosebleeds. It has been maintained thatdrinking an infusion of yarrow for threedays will prevent nosebleeds for a year(Meyer 1985: 188–189). In the SpanishSouthwest, the blue-green alga that formsslime on ponds was applied to the back ofthe neck and left to turn yellow as a pre-ventative for nosebleeds (Micheletti 1998:252). A few drops of dragon’s blood fromthe dragon tree (Arisaema sp.) simply heldin the hand are maintained to stop a nose-bleed (Wilson 1908: 70).

In Native American practice, among theBlackfoot, pieces of puffball were held tothe nose for nosebleeds (Hellson 1974: 84).A large variety of other plants have beenused to stem a nosebleed, including wood-land pinedrops (Pterospora andromeda).The stem and berries are used to make aninfusion, which is snuffed up the nose(Grinnell 1905: 39).

254 ; Nosebleed

See also Bleeding, Color, Moss, Mullein,Puffball, Stinging nettle, Toads and frogs,Yarrow, Yew.






Hellson, John C. Ethnobotany of the Blackfoot In-dians. Mercury Series 19. Ottawa: NationalMuseums of Canada, 1974.


Markwick, Ernest. The Folklore of Orkney andShetland. London: Batsford, 1975.



Mundford Primary School Project, Norfolk, En-gland, 1980, unpublished.

Page, Robin. The Country Way of Love. London:Penguin, 1983.

Roy, Carmen. La Litterature Orale en Gaspesie.Bulletin 134, 36 de la Serie Anthropolo-gique. Ottawa: Ministre de Nord Canadienet des Ressources Nationales, (1955): 61–105, 107–136.

Thomas, Daniel Lindsey, and Lucy Blayney Tho-mas. Kentucky Superstitions. Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press, 1920.



;O :

Like garlic, onions have been used to protect againstinfection. They have treated a wide range of condi-tions from earache to frostbite. (Sarah Boait)

Onion (Allium cepa)The origin of the cultivated onion is

obscure, but it is known that both onionand garlic were cultivated in ancient Egypt(Harrison, Masefield, and Wallis 1985:166). The onion vividly illustrates theoverlap between food and medicine infolk practice. A particularly dramatic ex-ample of this is described in the ninth-century Saga of King Harald. Warriorswith severe abdominal injuries were givena meal of onions and herbs; if their inju-ries shortly afterward smelt of onions, thisindicated internal organs were damaged,and they were given up for dead (Beith1995: 34). Less drastically, onion gruelwas regarded as a good cure for colds andfevers, right up to the twentieth century.A Scottish Highland remedy for pneumo-nia was to place a boiled onion in eacharmpit (Beith 1995: 231). Onions werecut open and placed in the sickroom,where it was thought that they attractedthe infection to themselves, an example oftransference. The fact that a cut onion leftexposed to the air soon goes black mayhave supported the idea that it attracts in-fection.

A Scotsman living in England has re-lated the story, told to him by his grand-mother, and to her by her grandmother,of a village in the Scottish Highlandswhere all but her own family were wiped

out by an epidemic fever. The reasongiven for her family’s survival was that thehouse was “all hung about with onions”(Hatfield pers. com.). A much more mod-ern story concerns a farm in Cheshire thatescaped the 1988 foot-and-mouth epi-demic. This was attributed to the farmer’swife having placed cut onions along thesills and lintels of the cowsheds (Vickery1995: 266). Another very widespread folkuse for onion was in the treatment of ear-ache: a small piece of roasted onion wasplaced in the ear. Onions also featured in

256 ; Onion

cough medicine. Sliced and sprinkled withsugar, they provided a thick cough syrup.Raw onion was also used to treat minorburns, and to treat insect bites and stings(Hatfield 1994: 29, 23; Hatfield MS). Anonion poultice was used in the Scottishhighlands for treating toothache (Beith1995: 231). Onion has been rubbed onbruises and on chilblains (Vickery 1995:267), and an onion has been carried inthe pocket to ward off rheumatism. On-ion has even been used by schoolchildren,rubbed onto the palm of the hand, tolessen the pain of caning (Opie and Opie1959: 375).

European settlers in North America usedonions in folk medicine in many of thesame ways. Meyer records its use in treatingwasp stings, earache, boils. Raw, they wererecommended for catarrh, cooked as gruelfor colds. An onion poultice was applied ex-ternally for chest colds. Syrup made fromonions and honey or sugar was used to treatcoughs in adults, whooping cough in chil-dren, and croup in infants (Meyer 1985:39, 43, 65, 67, 78, 86, 100, 266, 558). On-ions soaked in vinegar, or roasted and madeinto an ointment with soap, were used tosoften and remove corns. Cooked onionswere applied to sore feet (Meyer 1985: 118,120). For a fever, sliced onions were appliedto the soles of the feet. Roast onion appliedto the wrist on the opposite side of the bodyfrom the aching tooth was suggested as acure for toothache, while a poultice of saltpork and raw onion was recommended fora sore throat (Meyer 1985: 129, 247, 253).Cooked onions with cayenne pepper wererecommended for insomnia (Meyer 1985:145). Onions were also used to treat graveland stone. A Baptist minister in Virginiawas given a recipe for gravel by a slave; itconsisted of horsemint tea (Monarda punc-tata) and red onion juice. The minister wascured by this, bought the slave, and gavehim his freedom (Meyer 1985: 161). The

UCLA Folklore Archive contains more thantwo thousand records for folk medicinaluses of onion. Many of these are for coughs,colds, and fevers. In addition, onions havebeen used to treat falling hair (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 5_1872), worms (Puckett1981: 503), warts (Stout 1936: 178), burns(as in Britain, see above) (UCLA FolkloreArchives 11_5304), diphtheria (Puckett1981: 362), asthma (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 10_6176), pneumonia (Browne1958: 85), and snake bite (Koch 1980:112).

There are twentieth-century recordsfrom the Shinnecock Indians of garden on-ion placed in the sickroom to draw out afever (Carr and Westey 1945: 120). Onionswere not cultivated by the Native Ameri-cans in the remote past, but in their medi-cine they used a number of related nativespecies, such as wild onion (Allium cern-uum) and ramp (Allium tricoccum). A. cern-uum, the nodding onion, was used as apoultice applied to the feet for fever by theCherokee, and its juice was taken, afterhorsemint tea, for gravel and dropsy. An in-fusion was taken for colic, and the plant wasfried and put on the chest for treating croup(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 47). Amongthe Isleta, a poultice was applied for infec-tions and for sore throats (Jones 1931: 20).The soaked bulbs were used to treat soresand swellings by the Southern Kwakiutl In-dians (Turner and Bell 1973: 272), whileamong the Quinault, in western Washing-ton, the plant was chewed and applied tothe chest for pleurisy pains (Gunther 1973:24). Bee stings were treated with wild onionby the Native Americans (Vogel 1970:306).

See also Amulet, Asthma, Bruises, Burns,Chilblains, Colds, Colic, Corns, Coughs,Croup, Dropsy, Earache, Fevers, Garlic,Gravel and stone, Insect bites and stings,Poultice, Sleeplessness, Snake bite, Sore

Otter : 257

In the Native American tradition, the otter was val-ued for its healing powers and medicine bags wereoften made from otter skin. In the Scottish High-lands, licking the liver of a newly killed otter wasthought to give a person the power to cure burns.(Library of Congress)

feet, Toothache, Transference, Warts,Whooping cough, Worms.







Harrison, S. G., G. B. Masefield, and MichaelWallis. The Oxford Book of Food Plants.London: Peerage, 1985.


Jones, Volney H. The Ethnobotany of the Isleta In-dians. M.A. thesis, University of New Mex-ico, 1931.



Opie, Iona, and Peter Opie. The Lore and Lan-guage of Schoolchildren. London: OxfordUniversity Press, 1959.






OtterIn the Highlands of Scotland, the skin of

the otter was used as an amulet duringchildbirth, as well as being dried and pow-dered and taken as medicine for smallpoxand fevers (Beith 1995: 180). Licking theliver of a newly killed otter was thought togive a person the power to cure burns(Goodrich-Freer 1902: 56).

In the Native American tradition toothe otter is valued for its healing powers.Medicine bags were made from otter skin(Skinner 1925: 433). Illness brought onby ingratitude to water animals on thepart of a hunter could be cured by an ot-ter medicine man (Vogel 1970: 15).Among the Cheyenne, difficult childbirthwas attended by the otter medicine man(UCLA Folklore Archives 20_5807). For

258 ; Otter

lung trouble, otter brains and the waterfrom a rock fissure was used by the Cher-okee (Mellinger 1967: 20).

See also Amulet, Burns, Childbirth, Fevers.



Goodrich-Freer, A. “More Folklore from the Heb-rides.” Folk-Lore 13 (1902): 29–62.


Skinner, Alanson. “Traditions of the Iowa Indi-ans.” Journal of American Folklore 38(1925): 425–506.


;P:

PalsyThis is the old-fashioned term for paral-

ysis, but in folk medicine it also coveredillnesses that caused trembling and shaking.In Irish folk medicine there were a numberof plant remedies used to treat it. The cow-slip (Primula veris) was known as “palsy-wort” in some parts of Ireland and was usedto treat the condition. The powdered rootof cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum) placedunder the tongue and swallowed with salivawas another Irish folk cure for palsy. Wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) was also used. Par-alyzed limbs have been rubbed withstinging nettles (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). Fasting spittle, ingested, was rec-ommended as a cure for palsy in Yorkshire(Gutch 1901: 177–178). A very ancientremedy for paralysis (as well as lameness)was to place a live mouse or shrew in a boxaround the neck; when the animal died, thepatient was, ideally, cured (Souter 1995:40). The animal was sometimes pluggedinto a hole in an ash tree; such trees becameknown as “shrew ashes” (Radford and Rad-ford 1974: 308).

In North American folk medicine jimsonweed was sometimes used to treat palsy(Peattie 1943: 118). The leaves of aspen(Populus tremula) were also used, becausethey tremble in the wind. This is an ex-ample of like curing like. Leeches were alsoused in palsy treatment (Clark 1970: 26,

27). An African American suggestion wasto tie a rope around each ankle to preventthe shaking of palsy (Parler 1962, 3: 809).Fowl have been associated in folk medicinewith palsy. A bundle of their feathers at thehead of the patient’s bed was thought tocure palsy (Parler 1962, 3: 808). On theother hand, to hold a dying chicken orother bird in the hand was thought to causepalsy (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 247). In theNative American tradition the songs sungto treat a patient with palsy had a speciallysteady rhythm (Densmore 1954: 110).

See also African tradition, Ash, NativeAmerican tradition, Spit, Stinging nettle,Sympathetic magic, Thornapple.





Densmore, Frances. “Importance of Rhythm inSongs for the Treatment of the Sick byAmerican Indians.” Scientific Monthly 79(2)(August 1954): 109–112.

Gutch, Eliza. County Folklore, Vol. II. Printed Ex-tracts Concerning the North Riding of York-shire, York and Ainsty. London: FolkloreSociety, 1901.

260 ; Peach


Peattie, Roderick, ed. The Great Smokies and theBlue Ridge. New York: Vanguard Press,1943.



Peach (Prunus persica)This plant is thought to have originated

in China and is one of the world’s mostwidely grown trees. Although it has beengrown in Britain since the sixteenth centuryand used in official medicine, particularlyfor treating worms in children (Black 1883:199), it does not appear to have had a rolein British folk medicine. In contrast, its usesin North American folk medicine are wide-spread. In China, the plant had magical as-sociations and was used ceremonially. Thepeach stones, or pits, were carried as amu-lets and believed to confer longevity. Asianimmigrants to North America brought thisbelief with them (Dwyer 1967). In the Af-rican tradition, it is believed that mixing se-men with peach sap will prevent a manbeing unfaithful to his wife (Hyatt 1978, 5:415). Apart from these semimagical beliefs,the practical uses to which it has been putin folk medicine are impressively varied. Ithas treated thrush (Browne 1958: 27), er-ysipelas (Brown and Ledford 1967: 28),poison ivy and poison oak (UCLA FolkloreArchives 2_6461), rashes in general (Puck-ett 1981: 430), itching (Clark 1970: 24),insect bites and stings (Killion and Waller1972: 104), and snake bite (Browne 1958:95). A poultice of peach tree leaves has beenused for removing splinters (Hudson 1928:

154) and treating boils (Mason 1957: 30).Mixed with buttermilk the leaves have beenused to lighten the complexion (Parler1962: 548), and the water in which theleaves have been boiled reputedly preventsbaldness (Puckett 1981: 315). Dandruff hasbeen treated with a tea made from peachleaves and sulphur (Clark 1970: 22).

Another major use has been in pain re-lief. A peach leaf poultice was regarded as agood general standby for pain relief (Rogers1941: 27). It has treated sore muscles(UCLA Folklore Archives 21_5432) and re-lieved stone bruises (Long 1962: 1). Pain inthe neck has been treated using a youngtwig tied around the neck (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 237), and burns have been soothedwith a compress of peach leaves (Puckett1981: 334). Gall stones (Brendle and Unger1935: 192) and jaundice (Parler 1962: 735)have both been treated using peach (thekernels and a leaf tea, respectively). The wa-ter in which peach leaves have been boiledhas been used as a hot compress to treatappendicitis (Parler 1962: 433). Dried andpowdered and mixed with chalk, the leavesand the seeds were used to treat heartburn(Meyer 1985: 234), and the bark was usedfor an upset stomach (Meyer 1985: 241),while a tea made from the leaves has beenused for stomach ailments in general(Woodhull 1930: 66). Indigestion has beentreated by chewing the kernels (Koch 1980:90); vomiting, including pregnancy sick-ness, has been stopped using a tea madefrom peach leaves (Browne 1958: 111).Colic was treated with a tea prepared fromthe bark of the peach tree scraped down-ward (Rogers 1941: 14). Dysentery (Puck-ett 1981: 363), diarrhea (Clark 1970: 19),and constipation (Lick and Brendle 1922:277) have all been treated with peach. Hic-cups have apparently been cured by drink-ing juice from canned peaches (Hand 1966:144). Rheumatism has been averted bywearing peach leaves in the hat as an amulet

Peach : 261

(Wilson 1968: 65). The peach has had gy-necological uses too in folk medicine. Laborhas been hastened by drinking tea madefrom peach tree bark: again, according totradition, the bark should be scraped down-ward (Hyatt 1965: 135). As a poultice, ittreated caked breasts (Meyer 1985: 48).Eating peach kernels has been claimed toshorten change of life (Parler 1962: 1110).Both bleeding (Guerin 1953: 55) and bloodpoisoning (Los Angeles News 1869) havebeen treated with peach leaves. Worms havebeen treated with peach-leaf tea (Randolph1947: 106) or with an infusion of the flow-ers (Meyer 1985: 270), a use echoed in of-ficial medicine and herbalism in Britain.The “meat” of the peach stone was anineteenth-century remedy for a sick head-ache (Meyer 1985: 138). Sore throat(UCLA Folklore Archives 6_6500) andgum ailments (UCLA Folklore Archives 6–6545) have both been poulticed with peachleaves. A syrup made from peach kernels hasbeen dripped into sore ears (Parler 1962:610), and peach kernels have been rubbedonto the forehead for a headache (UCLAFolklore Archives 3_1939). Various infec-tions have been treated using peach leaves.These included cholera (Cadwallader andWilson 1965: 222, 225), scarlet fever(UCLA Folklore Archives 1_5466), mumps(Anderson 1970: 52), typhoid (Saxon1945: 535), and malaria (Parler 1962: 763).Peach has been used for a number of res-piratory illnesses: for bronchitis (Clark1970: 14), asthma (McWhorter 1966: 13),pneumonia (Hall 1960: 52) and tubercu-losis (Browne 1958: 110). A cure forwhooping cough from Randolph Countyinvolves passing the child through the forkof a peach tree (Richmond and Van Winkle1958: 134). A wart cure from Kentucky in-volves cutting notches in a peach tree equalin number to the warts (Pope 1965: 46).Eating both leaves and bark was recom-mended for nervousness (UCLA Folklore

Archives 22_6416). Peach stones were aconstituent of a tonic prescribed by SamuelThomson (Meyer 1985: 257). In the 1950sa tea was still being made, as a tonic, frompeach-tree bark (Browne 1958: 121).

In Native American practice, peach seedshave been eaten to relieve swellings frombruises (Speck 1942: 46). The leaves (Tan-taquidgeon 1972: 31) and the seeds (Hameland Chiltoskey 1975: 47–48) have beenused to treat worms. The plant has in ad-dition been used in many of the ways de-scribed above, including the treatment ofvomiting, constipation, fever (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 47), and kidney trouble(Speck, Hassrick, and Carpenter 1942: 33).

See also African tradition; Amulet; Asthma;Baldness; Bleeding; Boils; Breastproblems; Childbirth; Colic; Constipation;Diarrhea; Erysipelas; Headache; Hiccups;Indigestion; Insect bites and stings;Jaundice; Menopause; Poison ivy, Poisonoak; Poultice; Rheumatism; Snake bite;Sore throat; Thomson, Samuel; Tonic;Tuberculosis; Warts; Whooping cough;Worms.


Encino Press, 1970.Black, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chapter


Brendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. FolkMedicine of the Pennsylvania Germans: TheNon-Occult Cures. Proceedings of the Penn-sylvania German Society 45 (1935).


Brown, Judy, and Lizzie Ledford. “Superstitions.”Foxfire, 1(2) (1967): 25–28.


Cadwallader, D. E., and F. J. Wilson. “FolkloreMedicine among Georgia’s Piedmont Ne-

262 ; Peach

groes after the Civil War.” Collections of theGeorgia Historical Society 49 (1965): 217–227.


Dwyer, Philip M. Herbalism and Ritual: Folk Med-ical Practices Among Asian Immigrants inSouthern California. Unpublished disserta-tion, UCLA Folklore and Mythology Stud-ies Center, 1967.

Guerin, Wayne. “Some Folkways of a StewartCounty Community.” Tennessee FolkloreSociety Bulletin 19 (1953): 49–58.

Hall, Joseph S. Smoky Mountain Folks and TheirLore. Gatlinburg, TN: Great Smoky Moun-tains Natural History Association, 1960.


Hand, Wayland D. “More Popular Beliefs and Su-perstitions from Pennsylvania.” In TwoPenny Ballads and Four Dollar Whiskey, ed-ited by Robert H. Byington and KennethS. Goldstein. Hatboro, PA: Folklore Asso-ciates, 1966, 137–164.

Hudson, Arthur Palmer. Specimens of MississippiFolk-Lore. Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Broth-ers, 1928.


Hyatt, Harry Middleton, M.A. Hoodoo, Conju-ration, Witchcraft, Rootwork. 5 vols. NewYork: Memoirs of the Alma Egan HyattFoundation, 1978.




Long, Grady M. “Folk Medicine in McMinn,Polk, Bradley, and Meigs Counties, Ten-

nessee, 1910–1927.” Tennessee Folklore So-ciety Bulletin 28 (1962): 1–8.

Los Angeles News, April 14, 1869.Mason, James. “Home Remedies in West Vir-


McWhorter, Bruce. “Superstitions from RussellCounty, Kentucky.” Kentucky Folklore Rec-ords 12 (1966): 11–14.



Pope, Genevieve. “Superstitions and Beliefs ofFleming County.” Kentucky Folklore Records11 (1965): 41–51.



Richmond, W. Edson, and Elva Van Winkle. “IsThere a Doctor in the House?” Indiana His-tory Bulletin 35 (1958): 115–135.

Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practices in Ten-nessee. Murfreesboro, TN: Rogers, 1941.

Saxon, Lyle. Gumbo Ya-Ya. Boston: Houghtonand Mifflin, 1945.




Wilson, Gordon, Sr. “Folklore of the MammothCave Region.” Kentucky Folklore Series, no.4 (1968).


Piles : 263

PilesA number of simple first-aid suggestions

for treating piles included bathing them infresh morning dew (the equivalent of to-day’s ice pack) (Hatfield 1994: 44). As pre-ventative measures, avoiding constipationand eating plenty of vegetables were rec-ommended in British folk medicine (Prince1991: 40). There were a number of plantremedies used in the treatment of piles, thebest-known being lesser celandine, alsoknown as pilewort (Ranunculus ficaria). Anointment was made from the bulbils (smalltubers in the leaf axils). This has been usedboth in folk medicine and official herbalismand continues in use. In the east of Englanda number of other plants were used, includ-ing red nettle (Lamium purpureum), groundelder (Aegopodium podagraria), and scabi-ous (Knautia arvensis) (Hatfield 1994: 42–44). In Lincolnshire, the berries of meze-reon (Daphne mezereum) were swallowedlike pills to cure piles (Rudkin 1936: 26).In Devon, plantain juice was used to soothepiles (Lafont 1984: 68). In Sussex, an in-fusion of elder flowers has been used (Vick-ery 1995: 124).

Both garlic and onion have been used(Hatfield 1994: 43; Vickery 1995: 268) intreatment of piles. Figwort and puffballwere both used in the Scottish Highlandsin treating piles (Beith 1995: 216, 235). InDevon, various species of figwort wereknown as “poor man’s salve” (Britten andHolland 1878–1886). An ointment fortreating piles was made from lard and theground-up roots. In Scotland, a remedy forpiles involved sitting over a pail containingsmouldering leather (Simpkins 1914: 409).Carrying a rose-hip in the pocket as an am-ulet was thought to prevent piles (Hatfield1994: 42–44). A horse chestnut (Aesculushippocastanum) has similarly been carried(Vickery 1995: 196).

In North American folk medicine, anumber of plant and animal products have

been carried as amulets to prevent piles.These include chestnut (buckeye) (Aesculussp.), as in Britain (Welsch 1966: 342), nut-meg (Myristica fragrans) (Hyatt 1965: 250),potato (Fogel 1915: 305), elderberry leaves(Hyatt 1965: 250), oakum (UCLA FolkloreArchives 5_7593), and the rattles of rattle-snakes (Hyatt 1965: 250). Dietary recom-mendations for piles include whole blackpepper (Hyatt 1965: 250), Epsom salts andsulphur (Hyatt 1965: 250), lemons (Hyatt1965: 250), brown sugar and walnuts(UCLA Folklore Archives 5_7593), a teamade from the leaves of wild currant bushes(Ribes sp.) (UCLA Folklore Archives21_6836), roasted onions (Parler 1962:811), and raw potato and castor oil (Hyatt1965: 250).

Some folk remedies were taken internallyfor piles. These include milk of sulphur(Meyer 1985: 192), a decoction of yellowdock root, or of wild lettuce (Lactuca can-adensis), the fresh juice of mountain ashberries (Sorbus aucuparia) (Meyer 1985:193, 194), essence of fir and tar water(Meyer 1985: 196), or the roots of iron-weed (Vernonia sp.) infused and mixed withhoney (Hohman 1930: 24). However, thegreat majority of piles remedies were ap-plied externally. Rubbing with burned corkhas been suggested (Puckett 1981: 423).Sitting on mullein leaves apparently soothespiles (Fogel 1915: 305), and using these vel-vety leaves in lieu of toilet paper is also rec-ommended. Sitting on a pine board soundsless comfortable (UCLA Folklore Archives12_7595). Crouching over steam (Puckett1981: 423) or over a pot of boiling rattle-snake broom (UCLA Folklore Archives16_5445) are further suggestions. Someremedies were used in enema form, such ashot water and flaxseed (Meyer 1985: 192),or the juice of pokeberries) (Meyer 1985:195), or an infusion of raspberry, witch ha-zel or sumac leaves (Rhus glabra) (Meyer1985: 195), or a warm solution of alum(Browne 1958: 84).

264 ; Piles

A great variety of ointments have beenemployed in the folk treatment of piles.Many forms of grease have been used: oliveoil (UCLA Folklore Archives 78_6438),lard and gunpowder (Puckett 1981: 423),mutton tallow (Puckett 1981: 423), rabbitfat (Brendle and Unger 1935: 184), buffalotallow (Welsch 1966: 342), axle grease(Wilson 1968: 77), coal oil (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 13_6438), and lard mixedwith white droppings from a dog (Hyatt1965: 250). Numerous ointments were pre-pared using plants. These include peach(Browne 1958: 84), red oak bark (?Quercusrobur) (Browne 1958: 84), frankincense(Gaine 1796: 19), cinnamon (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 4_6438), pokeberries (Clark1970: 27), persimmon bark (Diospyros sp.)(McLean 1972: 26), cheese plant (Malvarotundifolia) (Browne 1958: 84), the flow-ers of butter and egg (Linaria vulgaris) (Lickand Brendle 1922: 130), the bark of whitepine (Pinus strobus) (Meyer 1985: 192),jimson weed, balm of Gilead (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 249), the leaves of fireweed (Er-echtites hieracifolia) (Meyer 1985: 196), orof celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) (as used inBritain too) (Meyer 1985: 195), Solomon’sseal root (Polygonatum multiflorum), or slip-pery elm bark (Meyer 1985: 194). Chest-nuts (Aesculus sp.) were made into anointment for piles (Meyer 1985: 193), aswell as being carried as a preventative. Acomplex ointment was prepared from thebarks of witch hazel (Hamamelis virgini-ana), black cherry (Prunus serotina), whiteoak, apple tree, and the leaves of sage(?Salvia sp.) (UCLA Folklore Archives19_6532). A recommendation from the Af-rican tradition was to wipe the piles with abanana skin (Puckett 1981: 423). A re-markable recipe was to cook a wasp nest inhoney, to produce a salve (Hyatt 1965:250).

In Native American practice, a very largenumber of different plants have been em-ployed in the treatment of piles (Moerman

1998: 802). Oak, sumac, buckeye, mullein,persimmon are all used in Native Americanpractice, and their use in general NorthAmerican folk practice may have originatedhere.

See also African tradition, Amulet, Apple,Balm of Gilead, Dew, Dock, Elder, Elm,Figwort, Flax, Mullein, Oak, Onion,Peach, Plantain, Poke, Potato, Puffball,Thornapple.




Britten, James, and Holland, Robert. A Dictionaryof English Plant Names. London: Trubnerfor English Dialect Society, 1878–1886.





Gaine, Hugh. The Journals of Hugh Gaine. NewYork, 1796.


Hohman, John George. Long Lost Friend, or Bookof Pow-Wows: A Collection of Mysterious andInvaluable Arts and Remedies for Man as Wellas Animals. Edited by A. Monroe Aurand,Jr., Harrisburg, PA: The Aurand Press,1930.


Pine : 265

In Scotland, pine bark has been used for treatingfevers and a plaster for treating boils and sores hasbeen made from pine resin. The number of nativepine species is large in North America, and pine hasbeen extensively used in North American folk med-icine. (North Wind Picture Archive)


Lafont, Anne-Marie. A Herbal Folklore. Bideford:Badger Books, 1984.


McLean, Patricia S. “Conjure Doctors in EasternNorth Carolina.” North Carolina Folklore20 (1972): 21–29.






Rudkin, E. Lincolnshire Folklore. London: Gains-borough, 1936.

Simpkins, John Ewart. Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning Fife, with Some Notes onClackmannan and Kinross-shire. CountyFolk-Lore 7. London: Publications of theFolklore Society, 1914.



Wilson, Gordon, Sr. “Folklore of the MammothCave Region.” Kentucky Folklore Series, no.4 (1968).

Pine (Pinus spp.)In Britain the only native pine is Pinus

sylvestris, the Scots pine, and the popula-tions of this have declined over the centu-

ries, leaving only small areas of natural pineforest in the Scottish Highlands. The folkmedicine surrounding the tree has probablysimilarly declined, but there are remnants,especially in Scotland, of its former use. Thebark has been used for treating fevers (Beith1995: 233), and a plaster for treating boilsand sores has been made from the resin(McCutcheon 1919: 235). In England toothe resin was used to heal cuts (Hatfield1999: 101). The young shoots were madeinto a cough syrup (Hatfield 1999: 169). Inthe seventeenth century, pine tree “pine-apples” (presumably the young floweringshoots) were used to treat lice (Wright1912: 230–236). There are large numbersof planted pines, especially in East Anglia,and even their smell has been consideredtherapeutic; there is a record of a child suf-fering from a polio-like illness being takento the pine woods (Hatfield MS), and asimilar record from Wales of an ill childbeing taken for a holiday to an area wherepines were planted in order inhale the smell(Vickery 1995: 283).

In North America, in contrast, the num-ber of native pine species is large, and pineshave been very extensively used in folk med-icine. A remedy very similar to the Scottishone for a plaster uses the pitch pine (Pinuspalustris); the pitch or resin is extracted and

266 ; Pine

mixed with beeswax to form a plaster fordressing sore areas. Sometimes the plasterwas prepared with hemlock gum and sul-phur (Meyer 1985: 197). The white pine,Pinus strobus, has been extensively used infolk medicine, as well as for timber; it wasso important that the white pine is the em-blem on the first flag of the American rev-olution. It is said that in the sixteenthcentury the lives of many colonists sufferingfrom scurvy were saved by Native Ameri-cans treating them with pine needle tea(Micheletti 1998: 261). A sweetened brewof the needles was used for treating coldsand coughs (Meyer 1985: 65, 81). The in-ner bark of white pine was boiled in milkand used to treat diarrhea and dysentery(Meyer 1985: 91, 96). A plaster of whitepine turpentine was used to treat corns(Meyer 1985: 119). A poultice for treatingpiles was prepared from white pine bark,and a tea made from the same was drunkat the same time (Meyer 1985: 192). Forrheumatism, pitch from a white pine logwas mixed with sulphur, honey, and brandyto make a liniment to be used hot. This wasalso taken internally (Meyer 1985: 217).For burns and sores, a poultice was pre-pared from the bark of the white pine(Meyer 1985: 229). Pine tar, distilled fromthe wood, formed the basis of many woundsalves and cough syrups.

The importance of pine in folk medicineis indicated by the huge number of recordsfor it, more than a thousand, contained inthe UCLA Folklore Archives. In additionto the ailments already mentioned, theserecords show that pine has been used totreat insomnia, by sleeping on a pillow filledwith the needles (Lathrop 1961: 18). Spiderbites have been treated with pine sap (Hen-dricks 1980: 98). Heartburn has beentreated by chewing pine needles (Parler1962: 685). A solution from boiled pinecones has been used in New Mexico to treatsore eyes (Moya 1940: 69). Pine tree tea hasbeen used to cure worms (Puckett 1981:

503). Some pine remedies involve ritual.For biliousness, the sufferer is advised tobore a hole in a pine tree and walk threetimes around the tree, telling the biliousnessto go away (Hyatt 1965: 276). For tooth-ache, the advice is to take two pine splinters,push them into the gum surrounding theaching tooth, then bury the splinters in ahole on the north side of a dogwood tree(Waller and Killion 1972: 74). For nose-bleed, pine splinters dipped in the bloodwere driven into a tree (Parler 1962: 804).For fever, the patient is advised to break apine branch while facing into the settingsun (Fitchett 1936: 360). Another sugges-tion for fever is to tie a string to a pine tree(Cannon 1984: 98). For backache, the rootsof pine from a road where no corpse haspassed by should be burned and the rosinapplied to the back (Brown 1952–1964, 6:121). Finally, there is a suggestion thatmental troubles can be cured simply bywalking in pine woods and inhaling thesmell (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 357).

Impressive though the list of uses in folkmedicine generally may be, it reflects onlya fraction of the ways in which NativeAmericans used different species of pine.Moerman has records for Pinus strobusalone that cover thirteen tribes and morethan twenty different ailments (Moerman1998: 411–412), including tuberculosis,coughs and colds, rheumatism, brokenbones, venereal disease, and many others.Twenty-six species of pine have been re-corded in Native American use (Moerman1998: 403–414). Ponderosa pine (Pinusponderosa) was used extensively, as well asthe singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla)and the lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta).Even a pine-tree fungus has been used me-dicinally. Scraped into whisky, it was givenas a remedy for colic (Chamberlain 1888:156).

See also Backache, Boils, Burns, Colds,Colic, Corns, Coughs, Cuts, Diarrhea,

Plague : 267

Dysentery, Eye problems, Fevers,Indigestion, Nosebleed, Piles, Poultice,Rheumatism, Scurvy, Sleeplessness,Toothache, Worms.





Chamberlain, A. F. “Notes on the History, Cus-toms and Beliefs of the Mississagua Indi-ans.” Journal of American Folklore 1 (1888):150–160.

Fitchett, E. Horace. “Superstitions in South Car-olina.” Crisis 43 (1936): 360–361, 370.

Hatfield, Gabrielle. Manuscript notes, in her per-sonal possession.


Hendricks, George D. Roosters, Rhymes and Rail-road Tracks: A Second Sampling of Supersti-tions and Popular Beliefs in Texas. Dallas,TX: Southern Methodist University Press,1980.

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Folklore from AdamsCounty, Illinois. 2nd rev. ed. New York:Memoirs of the Alma Egan Hyatt Foun-dation, 1965.


McCutcheon, Alexander. “Some HighlandHousehold Remedies.” Pharmacology Jour-nal 19 (April 1919): 235.





Parler, Mary Celestia, and University StudentContributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas.Vol. 3. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas,1962.




Wright, A. R. “Seventeenth Century Cures andCharms.” Folk-Lore 23 (1912): 230–236.

PlagueBubonic plague is caused by the bacillus

Yersinia pestis and spread by flea bites as wellas in breath and clothing. Rats form a res-ervoir for the disease. It is thought to havewiped out a quarter of the Roman Empirein the sixth century (Porter 1996: 28). Asecond wave of the disease at the beginningof the fourteenth century devastated muchof Europe, Asia, the Middle East, andNorth Africa. Ancient talismans against theplague include nailing a horseshoe abovethe door, a practice inherited from the Ro-mans (Souter 1995: 30), and the well-known magic word “abracadabra,” recordedin the second century A.D. by a Roman phy-sician (Souter 1995: 36). In Britain, theplague arrived during the fourteenth cen-tury and disappeared during the eighteenthand nineteenth centuries. Between thosedates it was naturally one of the most fearedillnesses, wiping out entire communities.

Folk medicine, probably powerless in theface of such epidemics, seems to have con-centrated on what it was hoped were pre-

268 ; Plague

ventive measures, as had the Romans. InSussex in the sixteenth century the vicar ofRye recorded that many people in the areaused toad poison to protect themselvesagainst the plague; it caused blistering,which, unlike the plague, could be cured(Souter 1995: 124). Vinegar was regardedas a preservative against the plague. It fea-tured both in remedies (Smith and Randall1987: 42) and as an antiseptic for the coinsplaced, in return for food supplied to vic-tims, on the “plague stones” (Allen 1995:124). In Scotland, loaves were hung up onpoles to “catch” the plague; when they be-came discolored they were burned (Simp-kins 1912: 134). Wealthier people couldafford so-called plague drinks, which oftencontained expensive imported spices, suchas ginger and nutmeg (Souter 1995: 123).Herbal prescriptions against the plaguewere often complex, and it is impossible to

know how widely they were used by themajority. In Cornwall, butterbur (Petasiteshybridus) is known as “plaguewort” (Vick-ery 1995: 284), suggesting that it mighthave been used in folk medicine. TheGerman name for this plant is pestilen-zwurz. It was certainly recommended in of-ficial medicine for treating “pestilentialfevers” (Pechey 1694: 33). Angelica fea-tured in a number of plague remedies andwas credited with both preserving peopleagainst and curing the plague (Pechey1694: 5). However, this was probablythe garden-grown angelica (Angelica arch-angelica), and it was again a prescription forthe relatively wealthy.

Plague reached parts of the Americaswith European colonizers, but in most ofNorth America it did not reach the epi-demic proportions seen in Europe. It wasreintroduced, from Asia, in the middle of

In Britain, the plague arrived during the fourteenth century and disappeared during the eighteenth andnineteenth centuries. Between those dates it was naturally one of the most feared illnesses, wiping outentire communities. (National Library of Medicine)

Plantain : 269

the eighteenth century (Porter 1996: 28).Given that plague was not the mass killerin North America that it had been in Eu-rope, it is not surprising to find a relativelack of folk remedies for the plague there.One remedy, a clear example of sympa-thetic magic is to catch the rat that bit one,cook it, and eat it (Puckett 1981: 332).

See also Sympathetic magic, Toads andfrogs, Vinegar.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Pechey, John. The Compleat Herbal of Physical

Plants. London: 1694.Porter, Roy (ed.). The Cambridge Illustrated His-

tory of Medicine. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1996.


Simpkins, John Ewart. Fife. County Folk-Lore Se-ries. Vol. 7. London: Folk-Lore Society,1912.

Smith, Janet, and Thea Randall. Kill or Cure:Medical Remedies of the 16th and 17th Cen-turies from the Staffordshire Record Office.Staffordshire: Record Office, 1987.



Plantain (Plantagomajor)

Still known in country areas in Britainby its Anglo-Saxon name of “waybread,”this was one of the nine healing herbs men-tioned in the Lacnunga, and is still used infolk medicine today. In British folk medi-cine its main uses are for treating minor cuts

and wounds (Vickery 1995: 285), as well asfor sores and ulcers (Hatfield 1994: 52),rashes, nettle stings (Tongue 1965: 41), in-sect bites and stings (Lafont 1984: 68), andvaricose veins (Evans 1940: 98). In bothScotland (Goodrich-Freer 1902: 205) andIreland (Allen and Hatfield, in press), therehas been a belief that the upper side of theleaf is for healing whereas the lower sidedraws out the poison. Plantain has also beenused to treat burns and piles (Lafont 1984:68). In Ireland it has also been used to treatjaundice, headache, chapped skin, and gout(Allen and Hatfield, in press). Its leaveshave been carried as an amulet against snakebite (Souter 1995: 186). Plantago major fol-lows where humans go and is highly resis-tant to trampling, which explains itscommonness in gateways and beside foot-paths. When introduced into North Amer-ica by the early settlers (deliberately oraccidentally) it became known by NativeAmericans as “white man’s footsteps” (Cof-fey 1993: 212).

It is used in North American folk med-icine in much the same way as in Britain—for minor wounds, bites and stings, burns(Meyer 1985: 39, 272, 54). In addition, ithas been used to treat swollen feet, neural-gia, and toothache (Meyer 1985: 119, 187,248). An infusion of plantain leaves hastreated diarrhea (UCLA Folklore Archives12_5361). It has been used for treating therash caused by poison ivy (Micheletti 1998:264). The crushed salted leaves have beenused to soothe headache (Curtin 1930:190). The leaves have also been used fortreating rheumatism (Puckett 1981: 433),sore throat (Musick 1948: 6), varicose veins(Stout 1936: 186), liver complaints, and ep-ilepsy (Lick and Brendle 1922: 218). Theyhave been rubbed onto the chest for tuber-culosis (Puckett 1981: 468) and made intoa salve for treating cancer (Puckett 1926:387–388). They have been smoked forasthma (Relihan 1946: 158). The seedshave been given on bread and butter for

270 ; Plantain

treating worms in children (Bomberger1950: 7).

Mexican Americans use plantain fortreating dysentery (Kay 1995: 216). NativeAmericans chew plantain root for toothache(Willard 1992: 187), a use echoed by thatrecorded by Meyer, in which the fibrousstrings of the plantain leaves are chewed fortoothache (Meyer 1985: 248). A number ofdifferent species of plantain native to NorthAmerica have been used medicinally, in ad-dition to Plantago major. Native Americansin Mexico use various species of plantain fortreating diarrhea, fever, constipation, head-ache, loss of appetite, as a tonic and diu-retic, as well as for sore feet (Kay 1996:215–216). Other Native American usesinclude treatment of snake and insect bites(Tantaquidgeon 1972: 74), sores and ulcers(Turner et al. 1983: 115), burns (Raymond1945: 130), and wounds (Murphey 1990:43). Both the Chippewa (Densmore 1928:376) and the Ojibwa (Smith 1932: 341)carried powdered roots as an amulet againstsnake bite (cf. folk remedy above).

See also Amulet, Asthma, Burns, Cancer,Chapped skin, Constipation, Cuts,Diarrhea, Dysentery, Epilepsy, Fever,Gout, Headache, Insect bites and stings,Jaundice, Piles, Poison ivy, Rheumatism,Snake bite, Sore feet, Sore throat, Tonic,Toothache, Tuberculosis, Worms,Wounds.



Bomberger, C. M. “Almanacs and Herbs.” Penn-sylvania Dutchman 2(2) (May 15, 1950): 1,7.



Densmore, Frances. “Uses of Plants by the Chip-pewa Indians.” Smithsonian Institution-

Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report44 (1928): 273–379.

Evans, John. “Folk-Medicines.” Collections. Mont-gomeryshire 46 (1940): 98–99.

Goodrich-Freer, A. Outer Isles. London: Consta-ble, 1902.







Murphey, Edith Van Allen. Indian Uses of NativePlants. Glenwood, IL: Meyerbooks, 1990.

Musick, Ruth Ann. “West Virginia Folklore.”Hoosier Folklore 7 (1948): 1–14.



Raymond, Marcel. “Notes Ethnobotaniques surles Tete-de-Boules de Manouan.” Contri-butions de l’Institut Botanique de l’Universitede Montreal 55 (1945): 113–134.

Relihan, Catherine. “Farm Lore: Herbal Reme-dies.” New York Folklore Quarterly 2:2(1946): 156–158.

Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the OjibweIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofthe City of Milwaukee 4 (1932): 327–525.

Souter, Keith. Cure Craft: Traditional Folk Rem-

Poison ivy, Poison oak : 271

edies and Treatment from Antiquity to thePresent Day. Saffron Walden: C. W. Daniel,1995.




Turner, Nancy J., John Thomas, Barry F. Carl-son, and Robert T. Ogilvie. Ethnobotany ofthe Nitinaht Indians of Vancouver Island.Victoria: British Columbia Provincial Mu-seum, 1983.



Poison ivy, Poison oakThese names are used interchangeably

for Rhus toxicodendron and Rhus radicans.Both species are native to North America;neither occur in Britain. They both causecontact dermatitis, for which a number offolk medical cures have been developed.These include bathing in very hot water andapplying a paste of powdered chalk or a lo-tion composed of glycerine and carbolicacid, or of quicklime or alum. Other washesinclude a strong solution of alum, a mixtureof calomel and water, or a solution of gumshellac in sulphuric ether (Meyer 1985:198–199). Copperas water has been used tosoothe the rash (Parler 1962: 826), as haschlorinated water (UCLA Folklore Archives5_6460) or even bleach (UCLA FolkloreArchives 19_6460). Liquid shoe polish, orthe water in which an old shoe has beenboiled, has been applied (Parler 1962: 826,828). Pennies boiled in vinegar have beenrubbed on (Musick 1964: 38). Bathing

with bicarbonate of soda is also said to bringrelief, as will application of wood ashes.Kerosene rubbed in or olive oil applied arealternatives. Mud from the river bottom hasbeen used (Parler 1962: 826), or a mixtureof red clay and water (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 6_6460).

Animal products too have found a use.Heavily salted milk or sour milk beaten un-til thick (UCLA Folklore Archives 7_6460)have been suggested; alternatives are calfslobber (Parler 1962: 830) and the waterused to scald a chicken (Parler 1962: 827).Crayfish meat has been applied (Koch1980: 109).

Numerous plant products have been em-ployed. These include cornstarch, rubbedon (UCLA Folklore Archives 8_5453), andthe inside of a banana skin (Anon. 1968:116). The smoke from cedar boughs hasbeen recommended (Parler 1962: 826).Wild nasturtiums rubbed on (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 7_6430), a tea from plantainleaves (Puckett 1981: 426), fig leaf juice(Ficus carica) (Parler 1962: 833), hollyhockleaves (Alcea rosea) (Clark 1970: 27), syca-more bark (Platanus sp.) (Parler 1962:834), and Indian tobacco (? Lobelia inflata)boiled in milk (Koch 1980: 109) have allbeen tried. Other applications include freshtomatoes (Parler 1962: 829), string beanleaves (UCLA Folklore Archives 20_7595),and squashed melon flowers (Parler 1962:630), as well as an infusion of sweet fern(Comptonia peregrina) (Browne 1958: 86).Poplar (Populus sp.) bark has been madeinto a lotion (Bruton 1948: no. 29), as haveeucalyptus leaves (Eucalyptus sp.). An infu-sion of wormwood (Artemisia sp.) (UCLAFolklore Archives 23_5451) or of Manza-nita leaves (Arctoctaphylos sp.) (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 23_6460) has been tried.Other plant remedies include oil of gold-enrod (Solidago odora), mouse-ear herb(Gnaphalium uliginosum) in milk, greenleaves of nightshade (Solanum nigrum)mashed in milk, and green tansy (Tanace-

272 ; Poison ivy, Poison oak

tum vulgare) leaves crushed in buttermilk.Fresh leaves of jewel weed (Impatiens sp.) orof fireweed (Erechtites hieracifolia) or catniphave all been used; in addition, the root ofwild Indian turnip, also known as Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), has beenscraped and applied (Meyer 1985: 198–200).

There has been a belief that the plantitself could help cure the itch of poison ivy.Drinking water from a stream flowing pastthe plant has been suggested, as has eatinghoney made in the locality where the plantgrows (Herrera 1972: 43). In a practicereminiscent of the English cure for nettlesting using nettle juice, it has been sug-gested that rubbing the affected area delib-erately with more of the plant can bringabout relief, or that eating a small piece ofthe root of the plant can do so (Brown1961, 6: 251).

Carrying a wild cherry or elderberry inthe pocket was thought to confer protectionagainst poison ivy (Parler 1962: 825).Other amulets worn to protect against itseffects include a string worn around thethumb and big toe (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 18_6461) and a fishing sinker wornaround the neck (Black 1935: 33). Finally,if all else fails, the sufferer can simply cursethe plant! (UCLA Folklore Archives7_5453).

Among Native American remedies forpoison ivy are the root of Jack-in-the-Pulpit(Arisaema triphyllum), eaten (MacDonald1959: 223); the bark of red oak (Quercussp.) boiled to make a lotion; and the rootof graybeard (Cladastris lutea) (Speck 1944:30). A powder of the stems and leaves ofthe milk vetch Astragalus adsurgens var. ro-bustior has been used by the Cheyenne(Grinnell 1905: 40). Another species of So-lanum, S. carolinense, is used by the Cher-okee for treating poison ivy (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 46). Impatiens capensis isused by them also (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 41) and by the Potawatomi (Smith

1933: 42), while another species, Impatienspallida, is used by the Cherokee (Hameland Chiltoskey 1975: 41) and by the Iro-quois (Herrick 1977: 379).

See also Catnip, Cherry, Elder, Plantain,Soda, Stinging nettle.

ReferencesAnon. Home Remedies. Foxfire 2: 3–4 (1968).Black, Pauline Monette. Nebraska Folk Cures.

University of Nebraska Studies in LanguageLiterature and Criticism 15. Lincoln, NE:University of Nebraska Press, 1935.



Bruton, Hoyle S. “Medicine.” North CarolinaFolklore 1 (1948): 23–26.




Herrera, Mary Armstrong. “The Miseries andFolk Medicine.” North Carolina Folklore 20(1972): 42–46.





Musick, Ruth Ann (ed.). “Superstitions.” WestVirginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.


Poke : 273




Poke (Phytolaccaamericana)

This shrub, native to eastern NorthAmerica and California, has in folk medi-cine a particular reputation for treatingrheumatism. It is also eaten as a vegetable,the young greens being parboiled and thewater discarded because of the toxicity ofthe raw plant. There are a large number ofother subsidiary uses for the plant in folkmedicine. It has a reputation for treatingskin cancer (Crellin and Philpott 1990:350) as well as various other skin com-plaints, including “itch.” In Meyer’s collec-tion of American folk medicine there arenumerous remedies that include poke. Thefresh juice of pokeberries was used for treat-ing burns, chilblains, eczema, and erysipelas(Meyer 1985: 54, 62, 105, 108). Theroasted root was used for treating felons (in-fected finger sores); the fresh root appliedto soles of the feet was a suggested cure fora headache; and the powdered root mixedwith lard provided an ointment for treatingitch (Meyer 1985: 122, 139, 149). Theyoung shoots, parboiled, were claimed toprevent typhoid fever (Meyer 1985: 130).For treating rheumatism, both the berries,steeped in brandy, and the root have beenused as a decoction (Meyer 1985: 213). Fortreating ulcers, freshly sliced root was used;for tonsillitis the fresh root was roasted,

mashed, and applied warm (Meyer 1985:230, 253). In Alabama, poke root in whiskywas used to treat thrush in children(Browne 1958: 28). In Carolina, the juiceof pokeberry has been used to treat tumors(Clark 1970: 22).

In Native American practice, at least sixdifferent tribes used poke as an antirheu-matic (Moerman 1998: 397–398). In ad-dition, all the uses listed above appear inNative American records, as do other usesof the plant, such as for “building blood”among the Cherokee (Hamel and Chilto-skey 1975: 50); for chest colds, and forsprains and bruises among the Iroquois(Herrick 1977: 316, 317); for severe painamong the Mahuna (Romero 1954: 65);and for dysentery among the Rappahan-nock (Speck, Hassrick, and Carpenter1942: 29).

The plant is not native to Britain, andthough used by medical herbalists (Chev-allier 1996: 245) it has no role in Britishfolk medicine.

See also Bruises, Burns, Cancer,Chilblains, Eczema, Erysipelas, Felons,Headache, Rheumatism, Sprains.








274 ; Poppy



Romero, John Bruno. The Botanical Lore of theCalifornia Indians. New York: VantagePress, 1954.


Poppy (Papaver spp.)Both the native wild poppy (Papaver

rhoeas) and the imported opium poppy (Pa-paver somniferum) have been widely used infolk medicine for the relief of pain and as asedative. There are records of the native redpoppy being used to treat toothache (Allen1995: 43), earache (Tongue 1965: 39),neuralgia (Evans 1940), and swollen glands(Dacombe 1935). The wild poppy has alsobeen used to treat headaches, especiallyhangover headaches, for which the seedswere chewed. Infused in a baby’s milk,poppy seeds were used to calm fretful ba-bies; they were especially used by the LandGirls (women seconded to work on the landto replace the men who were fighting) dur-ing World War II, when they had to worklong hours in the fields (Hatfield 1994: 40).Sometimes a dummy was dipped in poppyseeds and given to a baby who was teething.In the Highlands of Scotland, the juicefrom wild poppies was put into children’sfood to make them sleep, and the flowerswere infused to make a liquid to helpwith teething (Beith 1995: 234). The wildpoppy was used in official medicine in Brit-ain right up to the mid-twentieth century(it is included in the British PharmacopoeiaCodex for 1949), and it continues to be usedby herbalists as a gentle sedative. Though itcontains alkaloids known to affect the cen-tral nervous system, it does not appear to

be addictive. In marked contrast, theopium poppy—widely grown, for exam-ple, in the fens during the eighteenth andnineteenth centuries—became an everydaypanacea. Its extract was so cheap thatmany families bought a large Winchestercontainer of “laudanum” every week forsixpence. Doubtless it brought relief fromthe rheumatic pains and fevers commonin the fens, but it also brought addiction.It has been claimed that the stunted stat-ure of the fen population was attributableto this practice. In the 1920s, a generalpractitioner in Lincolnshire remarked thata fenman would not thank a person for apint of beer unless it was spiked with lau-danum, nor for a pipe unless it containedopium as well as tobacco (letter to Dr.Mark Taylor, Taylor MSS). Although theopium poppy is a native of much warmerAsian climates, it has been known in Brit-ain at least since the Bronze Age. It doesnot appear to have been grown on acommercial scale but was grown in manycottage gardens. Failing this, the liquid ex-tract, known as laudanum, was cheap andeasily accessible.

The related yellow horned poppy (Glau-cium flavum), a less common plant ofcoastal areas of Britain, has had a differentuse. It is known as “squatmore” in thesouthwest of England (Grigson 1955: 50)and was used to treat bruises. “Squat” is alocal dialect word for bruise probably de-rived from the Anglo-Saxon. In the Isles ofScilly it was also used to treat pain in thelungs or intestines, and the root was scrapedupward to form an emetic, downward toform a purge (Notes and Queries, 10[1854], 181). The yellow poppies burnedto drive away evil spirits in the Highlandsof Scotland (Beith 1995: 234) presumablybelong to this species.

The red poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is notnative to North America, although it hasbecome widely naturalized there. In generalNorth American folk medicine there are a

Poppy : 275

Both wild and cultivated poppies have been widelyused for pain relief and for their sedative properties.(Sarah Boait)

few records of the use of poppies as a sed-ative; usually it is unclear what type ofpoppy was used. In California, poppyflowers under the pillow were recom-mended for insomnia (Clark 1970: 24).In Mexico, poppy tea was recommendedas a general sedative (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 2_6372). As in Britain, poppieshave been useful in soothing crying babies(UCLA Folklore Archives 10_6146). Evenholding the flower under a baby’s nose wassufficient to induce sleep (Parler 1962, 3:217). A poultice of poppy seed was used forpain relief (Creighton 1968: 225).

It is mainly other members of the poppyfamily, such as the prickly poppy (Argemonemexicana), that have been used in NativeAmerican folk medicine. This species hasbeen used to treat cataract, while the Cali-fornia poppy (Escholtzia californica) hasbeen used for toothache, headache, sores,and as an emetic (Coffey 1993: 27, 29).

The flowers of California poppy laid underthe bed have been used to help childrensleep (Bocek 1984: 9), an interesting par-allel with the use of red poppy in England.The seed pods of Escholtzia have been usedto dry up a nursing mother’s milk (Good-rich and Lawson 1980: 94). The opiumpoppy has been used for pain and as a sed-ative by the Cherokee (Hamel and Chilto-skey 1975: 51).

See also Earache, Headache, Sleeplessness,Teething, Toothache.



cine of the Highlands and Islands. Edin-burgh: Polygon, 1995.

Bocek, Barbara R. “Ethnobotany of CostanoanIndians, California: Based on Collections byJohn P. Harrington.” Economic Botany38(2) (1984): 240–255.




Dacombe, Marianne R. (ed.). Dorset Up Along andDown Along. Dorchester: Dorset Federationof Women’s Institutes, 1935.

Evans, John. “Folk-Medicines.” Collections. Mont-gomeryshire 46 (1940): 98–99.

Goodrich, Jennie, and Claudia Lawson. KashayaPomo Plants. Los Angeles: American IndianStudies Center, University of California,Los Angeles, 1980.




276 ; Potato

Notes and Queries, 10:181. London, 1854.Parler, Mary Celestia, and University Student




Potato (Solanumtuberosum)

Introduced from South America to Brit-ain, probably via Spain, in the latter half ofthe sixteenth century (Harris et al. 1969:176), the potato has become one of theworld’s most important food sources. Alarge number of ancillary uses for it havebeen developed, including folk medicalones. In Scotland and in Ireland it has beenused to treat rheumatism, either by poultic-ing the afflicted area or by immersing sorejoints in water in which potatoes have beencooked (Grieve 1931: 655). Raw potato hasalso been used to treat severe back pain. Pre-sumably derived from these empirical uses,the practice of carrying a potato as an am-ulet to ward off rheumatism is widespreadin Britain (Grieve 1931: 655; Black 1883:182; Vickery 1994: 291–292). A similaruse, but for warding off cramp, has beenreported from Suffolk (Vickery 1995: 292).

Cooked potatoes have been used, hot, asa chest poultice to relieve asthma (HatfieldMS). Hot potatoes have also been appliedto corns (Black 1883: 193). Raw, they havebeen used to treat minor burns (Black1883: 193; Allen 1995: 46). For frostbite,cooked potato mixed with sweet oil hasbeen used (Grieve 1931: 655). In Wales thepotato has been used within living memoryto treat boils, sore throat, and chilblains aswell as rheumatism (Jones 1980: 61). InIreland, as in Wales, sore throat was treated

with a poultice of boiled potatoes in a sock;raw potato was an Irish treatment for ulcers(Vickery 1995: 292). The belief is wide-spread that the water in which potatoeshave been cooked can cause warts on thehands, and yet potatoes are, paradoxically,used in the treatment of warts (Allen 1995:179; Tongue 1965: 43).

In North American folk medicine, all theuses for potato described above have beenrecorded in folk medicine, and many morebesides. The wide array of conditionstreated is unusual. Rheumatism and wartsare the two ailments most commonlytreated using potatoes, and as in Britain, thepotato was sometimes applied or ingested,sometimes used as an amulet. A potato inthe pocket was used to treat chills (Hyatt1965: 213), to cure lumbago (Cannon1984: 93), and to prevent rheumatism(Mississippi State Guide 1938: 14), gallstones (UCLA Folklore Archives 1_6305),and nosebleed (UCLA Folklore Archives5_5441), as well as, more generally, to pro-tect against illness (UCLA FolkloreArchives 1_6353). A belief has been re-ported that keeping a potato under the bedaids conception (UCLA Folklore Archives6_6689), and is a good remedy for nightsweats (Hyatt 1965: 271). Three potatoesin the pocket are suggested as a cure forpiles (Fogel 1915: 305); alternatively, thepotatoes are eaten with castor oil, on threeconsecutive nights (Hyatt 1965: 250).Worn around the neck, a potato is sug-gested as a cure for neuritis (UCLA FolkloreArchives 3_5436).

Other conditions treated using potatoesinclude mumps (UCLA Folklore Archives18_6410), blood poisoning (Creighton1968: 199), earache (Welsch 1966: 331),headache (UCLA Folklore Archives1_5396), tonsillitis (Puckett 1981: 466),appendicitis (treated, unusually, with po-tato leaves rather than the tuber) (Saxon1945: 170), and even ruptured appendix(Randolph 1947: 118). A potato poultice

Potato : 277

on the feet was used as a cure for colds(UCLA Folklore Archives 2_6792) and,placed over the nose, for sinusitis (Clark1970: 29). Raw potatoes were applied tothe stomach for cramps (Cannon 1984:103), and applied as well to cuts, sores, andwounds (Anderson 1970: 25).

As in Ireland, cooked potatoes in a sockwere used to poultice a sore throat (UCLAFolklore Archives 3_5479). Potatoes wereeither eaten (Hyatt 1965: 237) to cure hic-cups or applied as a poultice to the abdo-men (Wilson 1968: 323). Bruises weretreated using potatoes (Puckett 1981: 370;Cannon 1984: 108), and even fractures(UCLA Folklore Archives 5_5487). Tiredmuscles were relieved by soaking in waterin which peeled potatoes had been standing(Neal 1955: 277). For indigestion or travelsickness potatoes were either eaten (Lathrop1961: 17) or worn (Stair 1966: 45). Potatoscrapings were laid on an aching tooth(UCLA Folklore Archives 9_5514) andused to treat conjunctivitis (Puckett 1981:370), snow blindness (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 14_6476), and even cataract (Puck-ett 1981: 338). Potato peelings have beeneaten for diarrhea (UCLA Folklore Archives18_6474). A poultice of raw potato (Mu-sick 1964: 48), or a drink of water in whichpeeled potatoes have been standing (Clark1970: 21), has been used to reduce fever.In addition, potatoes have been used totreat a very wide range of skin conditions,including heat rash (Street 1959: 78), frost-bite (Browne 1958: 67), chilblains (UCLAFolklore Archives 10_5312), eczema (Puck-ett 1981: 367), boils (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 1_5314), stys (Puckett 1981: 456),ringworm (Anderson 1970: 62), and molesand skin blemishes in general (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 1_5615). There are very nu-merous records for the treatment of wartsusing potatoes (see, for example, McAtee1958: 152). The juice of potatoes has beenapplied to insect bites (Wilson Sr. 1968:72) and to poison ivy rash (UCLA Folklore

Archives 1_7614). The water in which po-tatoes have been boiled is recommended forfalling hair (Doering 1945: 153) and forpreventing rickets (Puckett 1981: 114).Eating potatoes is recommended for a hang-over (Paulsen 1961: 154) and for treatingscurvy (Puckett 1981: 438), while for gall-stones, the water in which potatoes havebeen boiled should be drunk (Allison 1950:313). A potato poultice has been used totreat caked breasts (Mason 1957: 30), chestcongestion (Baker 1948: 191), and pneu-monia (Cannon 1984: 119). A tea madefrom boiling potato peelings has beendrunk for tuberculosis (Puckett 1981: 468).Potatoes have even been used to treat tu-mors, either directly as a poultice (Puckett1981: 468; UCLA Folklore Archives12_6189) or symbolically by cutting thepotato into three pieces and throwing itaway (Creighton 1968: 235).

This very wide array of uses is not re-flected in Native American usage, wherethere are records only of its use in treatingwarts (Speck, Hassrick, and Carpenter1942: 27), eye inflammation (Herrick1977: 431), and loneliness due to be-reavement (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:51). This suggests that most North Amer-ican folk medical uses have been reim-ported, like the potato, from European andother sources.

See also Amulet, Asthma, Backache, Boils,Breast problems, Bruises, Burns, Cancer,Chilblains, Colds, Corns, Cuts, Diarrhea,Earache, Eczema, Eye problems, Fevers,Fractures, Frostbite, Hiccups, Indigestion,Insect bites and stings, Nausea, Piles,Poison ivy, Poultice, Rheumatism,Rickets, Ringworm, Scurvy, Sore throat,Tuberculosis, Warts, Wounds.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Allison, Lelah. “Folk Beliefs Collected in South-

278 ; Potato

eastern Illinois.” Journal of American Folk-lore 63 (1950): 309–324.

Anderson, John. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin, TX:Encino Press, 1970.

Baker, Pearl, and Ruth Wilcox. “Folk Remediesin Early Green River.” Utah Humanities Re-view 2 (1948): 191–192.


Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices fromAlabama. Folklore Studies 9. Berkley andLos Angeles: University of CaliforniaPublications, 1958.




Doering, J. Frederick. “More Customs fromWestern Ontario.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 58 (1945): 150–155.




Harris, S. G., G. B. Masefield, and Michael Wal-lis. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1969.

Herrick, James. William Iroquois Medical Botany.Ph.D. thesis, State University of New York,Albany, 1977.




Mason, James. “Home Remedies in West Vir-


McAtee, W. L. “Medical Lore in Grant Country,Indiana, in the Nineties.” Midwest Folklore8 (1958): 151–153.

Mississippi State Guide. New York: Federal WritersProject, 1938.

Musick, Ruth Ann (ed.). “Superstitions.” WestVirginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.






Speck, Frank G., R. B. Hassrick, and E. S. Car-penter. “Rapphannock Herbals, Folk-Loreand the Science of Cures.” Proceedings of theDelaware County Institute of Science 10(1942): 7–55.

Speck, Frank G., R. B. Hassrick, and E. S. Car-penter. “Rappahanock Herbals, Folk-Loreand Science of cures.” Proceedings of the Del-aware County Institute of Science 10 (1942):27.

Stair, Madalyn. “Superstitions in HawkinsCounty.” In A Collection of Folklore by Un-dergraduate Students of East Tennessee StateUniversity, edited by Thomas G. Burtonand Ambrose N. Manning. Institute of Re-gional Studies Monograph 3. Johnson City:East Tennessee State University, 1966.

Street, Anne C. “Medicine populaire des IlesSaint-Pierre et Miquelon.” Arts et TraditionsPopulaires 7 (January–June 1959): 75–85.



Poultice : 279


Wilson, Gordon, Sr. Folklore of the MammothCave Region. Kentucky Folklore Series No.4, 1968.


PoulticeDefined as a mass of healing material ex-

ternally applied, the poultice is a commonmethod of treatment in folk medicine. To-day it is rarely used in orthodox medicine,though it is sometimes still employed inherbalism. In addition to its soothing andhealing properties, a poultice was thoughtto “draw” out any infection or badness froma sore or injury. In Britain, bread poulticeswere a familiar method of treatment wellinto the twentieth century. They were ap-plied to boils, cut and grazed knees, andmany other minor injuries. Less pleasantly,poultices were often made from cow dung;these were used for drawing out splinters(Hatfield 1994: 11) and for easing swollenknees (Prince 1991: 111–112), as well as forinflamed breasts and as a treatment for aswollen throat (Beith 1995: 172–173).Poultices were often applied warm.

A large number of healing herbs were ap-plied in folk medicine as poultices. Some-times the fresh herb was lightly crushed andwrapped in muslin; alternatively, driedherbs or herbal extracts were added to a ba-sic poultice—made, for example, of flour orflaxseed. Mallow and houseleek were fre-quently used as poultices. Vegetables toowere used as poultices, especially the potato.Potato poultices have been applied partic-ularly to respiratory ailments, such as pneu-monia, asthma, and croup. Carrot poulticeswere used to treat external cancers. Onionpoultices were used to treat chest colds andearache. Cabbage leaves were used, heatedand crushed, to heal abscesses.

Colonists settling in North Americawould have brought with them the tradi-tion of using poultices, and the picture inNorth American folk medicine is similar tothat in Britain. Bread poultices were usedas in Britain (Koch 1980: 72). Vegetablepoultices were much used, and red beetseems to have been particularly used(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 25). Cabbage leaveshave been used to poultice swellings and ab-scesses (Robertson 1960: 30). In addition,many plants gathered from the wild havebeen used, lightly crushed, as poultices. Asin Britain, mallow (Malva spp.) has beenused in this way to poultice swellings andtreat insect stings (Robertson 1960: 29).Slippery elm was a much-used basis for apoultice (Meyer 1985: 204).

Native Americans also used poultices,though these were sometimes composed ofdifferent ingredients; for instance, burnswere treated with a poultice of prickly pear,and swellings and strains with a poultice ofalder bark (Crellin and Philpott 1989: 356,42). Nine-bark (Physocarpus opulifolius)roots mixed with corn meal formed anothermuch-used poultice of Native American or-igin, adopted into general North Americanfolk medicine (Meyer 1985: 204).

See also Alder, Cabbage, Cancer, Conceptsof disease, Elm, Flax, Houseleek, Insectbites and stings, Mallow, Onion, Potato.






Koch, William E. Folklore from Kansas: Beliefs

280 ; Pregnancy

and Customs. Lawrence, KS: Regent Press,1980.




PregnancyRelatively little appears in the literature

about folk medical aids during pregnancyand childbirth, but this is more likely to bedue to a reticence surrounding the subjectand under-recording rather than a lack ofremedies. In Britain right up to the adventof the National Health Service, the villagemidwife frequently doubled as health ad-visor to pregnant women. Remedies werealso handed down from one generation tothe next, usually through the women, butlittle was written down. In the days of per-secution of witches, there was anotherstrong reason to keep such knowledge quietand so not be answerable to charges ofwitchcraft. We do know that raspberry teawas one of the staples of folk medicine inpregnancy. It was recommended (and stillis) during the last three months of preg-nancy, to strengthen the uterine musclesand ensure a speedy delivery. This use iswidespread throughout Britain, thoughrarely recorded from Ireland (Allen andHatfield, in press). In East Anglia hawthornleaves were used similarly (Newman andWilson 1951). During pregnancy therewere various restrictions to be observed. InScotland, for example, a pregnant womanwas advised not to cross her legs or her arms(Buchan, ed. 1994: 72). Abnormalities in ababy were often ascribed to experiences ofthe mother during pregnancy. Birthmarkstoo were ascribed to an incident duringpregnancy, and it was thought they could

be removed by licking (Radford and Rad-ford 1974: 54).

Colonial women must have had an evenharder time than their European counter-parts when it came to surviving pregnancyand childbirth. Divorced from their ex-tended families and even from the nativeplant remedies they might have used, theymust have had to depend on newly acquiredknowledge of the local flora. Meyer cites ex-amples of plants used during pregnancy aslearned from the Native Americans. Theyinclude black snakeroot (Cimicifuga race-mosa), used to relieve sickness and heart-burn during pregnancy, and a decoction ofthe roots of Indian cup-plant (Silphium per-foliatum), also used to allay pregnancy sick-ness (Meyer 1985: 207–208). Peach wasused to treat pregnancy sickness. Raspberrytea was used, as in Britain, and was rec-ommended by the herbalist Samuel Thom-son (Meyer 1985: 207). In North Americanfolk belief, as in British, numerous super-stitions surround pregnancy. Birthmarksare attributed to a shock during pregnancyor an unfulfilled craving (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 17–22).

Pregnancy among Native Americans, asamong the Scots, was accompanied by cer-tain restrictions. Among the Seminole, thepregnant woman was not allowed to stepover anything or to run. The downy milk-pea (Galactea volubile) was used as medicineto protect the unborn baby and to ease la-bor (Snow and Stans 2001: 83). Raspberrywas used by a number of Native Americantribes to ease childbirth (Moerman 1998:488).

See also Childbirth; Hawthorn; Midwife;Peach; Thomson, Samuel; Witches.




Puffball : 281








Prickly ash(Zanthoxylum spp.)

This genus does not occur in Britain andhas not been used in folk medicine there.In North American folk medicine, pricklyash has been used as a tonic and to treatrheumatism, fevers, and toothache. Duringthe nineteenth century it was marketed bythe Shakers, as an herb valuable for all theseailments and for colic and diarrhea as well(Crellin and Philpott 1990: 355). Meyerrecords its use as a tonic and as an infusionfor washing carbuncles. Cloths soaked in adecoction of prickly ash bark and cayennewere applied for renal colic. For stomach-ache both the berries and the bark havebeen used. For toothache, the bark waschewed, or poulticed around the achingtooth (Meyer 1985: 40, 57, 71, 158, 216,236, 238, 247). This use has led to thename of “toothache tree” as an alternativeto prickly ash. A tea from the buds ofprickly ash has been used to treat measles

(Puckett 1981: 413). Boils have beentreated with a decoction of the bark (UCLAFolklore Archives 20_6185). In the Mexi-can tradition the bark has also provided acough medicine (Dodson 1932: 88). Theburned ashes of the plant have been sprin-kled on cancers (Rogers 1941: 28).

All these uses, and others besides, are re-corded in Native American usage (Moer-man 1998: 610).

See also Boils, Cancer, Colic, Coughs,Diarrhea, Fevers, Mexican tradition,Rheumatism, Shakers, Toothache.

ReferencesCrellin, John K., and Jane Philpott. A Reference

Guide to Medicinal Plants. Durham, NC:Duke University Press, 1990.




Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, AnnaCasetta, and Sondra B. Thiederman. 3 vols.Boston: G. K. Hall,1981.

Rogers, E. G. Early Folk Medical Practices in Ten-nessee. Murfreesboro, TN: 1941.

Puffball (Lycoperdon spp.;Bovista spp.)

There are numerous British countrynames for this fungus (bulfer, Norfolk; de-vil’s soot bag, Suffolk; Smoky Jo, Norfolk;blindball, Ireland), but there was one prin-cipal use for it in British folk medicine, andthis was to staunch bleeding. Either thespores were dusted onto a wound, or a poul-tice was made from the whole fungus andapplied. This use occurs throughout Europeand is evidently an ancient practice. In the

282 ; Puffball

prehistoric village of Skara Brae, Orkney, agroup of fruit bodies was found accumu-lated in such a way as to suggest deliberateharvesting, probably for medicinal use (Wa-tling and Seaward 1976). Nearly two thou-sand years later, in the seventeenth century,Parkinson reported their use for chafed skinas well as for staunching bleeding (Parkin-son 1640: 1324). In much more recenttimes, well into the twentieth century, theywere so commonly used in East Anglia thatmost farmers kept one hanging in the shedor the kitchen, for use on humans and farmanimals; barbers frequently kept them foremergency use on cuts they inflicted on cus-tomers, and butchers likewise kept themhandy in case of accidents (Vickery 1995:298). In the Highlands of Scotland theywere used similarly for treating wounds,and also piles, burns, and scalds (Beith1995: 235). Their use for burns is also re-ported from East Anglia (Evans 1966: 90).In Norfolk, the spores were claimed to pre-vent tetanus (Wigby 1976: 67). The plantwas burned and the fumes smoked into beehives to sedate the bees while honey wascollected. It was believed in Scotland thatthe spores were injurious to eyes, and it hasbeen claimed that, inhaled in largeamounts, the spores have an anesthetic ef-fect on humans (Beith 1995: 236).

In North American folk medicine, thesame principal use of the puffball appears,but not extensively. It has been claimed thatthe spores can stop the bleeding even froman amputated limb (Meyer 1985: 277).There are records from Carolina of the useof spores to stop bleeding (Clark 1970: 19).Snuffing up the spores has been recom-mended for nosebleeds (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 240).

Among Native Americans the plantswere used much as in East Anglia, to treatcuts on humans and animals (Carr andWestez 1945: 121). In addition the spores,

mixed with water, were used to treat inter-nal bleeding (Hellson 1974: 84, 89). Puff-balls featured in Native American legend,too (Moerman 1998: 323). Interestingly,the spores had a reputation among NativeAmericans for their poisonous quality, and,as in Scotland, they were considered espe-cially harmful to the eyes (Compton 1993:134). Just as in seventeenth-century Britain,several Native American tribes used puff-balls as baby powder to prevent chafing(Vogel 1970: 236).

See also Bleeding, Burns, Nosebleed, Piles,Poultice.




Carr, Lloyd G., and Carlos Westez. “SurvivingFolktales and Herbal Lore among the Shin-necock Indians of Long Island.” Journal ofAmerican Folklore 58 (1945): 113–121.


Compton, Brian Douglas. Upper North Wakashanand Southern Tsimshian Ethnobotany: TheKnowledge and Usage of Plants. Ph.D. dis-sertation, University of British Columbia,Vancouver, 1993.

Evans, George Ewart. The Pattern under thePlough. London: Faber, 1966.



Moerman, Daniel E. Native American Ethnobo-tany. Portland OR: Timber Press, 1998.



Vogel, Virgil J. American Indian Medicine. Nor-

Puffball : 283

man, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press,1970.

Watling, R., and M. R. D. Seaward. “Some Ob-servations on Puff-balls from British Ar-

chaeological Sites.” Journal of ArchaeologicalScience, 3 (1976): 165–172.

Wigby, Frederick C. Just a Country Boy.Wymondham: Geo. R. Reeve, 1976.

;Q :

QuinsyThis term was used in both official and

folk medicine to denote swelling and in-flammation of the throat, with an abscesson or near the tonsils. Unsurprisingly,many of the remedies overlapped with thoseused for sore throats. Many folk medicalremedies involved the use of poultices, of-ten hot, which could burst the abscess andbring relief. In the Scottish Highlands apoultice of cow dung applied externally wasrecommended (Beith 1995: 173). Theleaves of greater plantain were also appliedas a poultice (Beith 1995: 234). A bakedpotato placed in a sock and applied hot wasanother remedy of modern times (Prince1991: 98). A piece of fat bacon tied ontothe throat was also used (Prince 1991: 105).Fried mouse was eaten for quinsy, as wellas for whooping cough (Billson 1895: 55).In one Cambridgeshire village in the 1930sthere was a man renowned for his ability tocure quinsy. His method was to dip a long,black, satin ribbon in hartshorn oil and giveit to the sufferer to wear next to the skin(Porter 1974: 44).

In North American folk medicine, wear-ing gold beads was claimed to preventquinsy. Treatments included wearing redflannel around the neck and swallowingwhole figs that had been boiled in milk(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 252–253). Othersuggestions include smoking dried catnip in

a pipe, or drinking an infusion of slipperyelm (Puckett 1981: 429), or inhaling thefumes from an infusion of hops (Jack 1964:36). Gargling with sage tea (UCLA FolkloreArchive 9_7613), with a tea of burdockroot (Browne 1958: 87), or, more drasti-cally, with a mixture of gunpowder andglycerin (Black 1935: 14) have all been rec-ommended. Poultices were widely used, asin Britain. They include poke root and flax-seed (Puckett 1981: 429). Hot pancakescould be applied to the throat (UCLA Folk-lore Archive 3_6478) or live earthwormsbound on with a cloth (Puckett 1981: 429).Toads, frogs or snails were applied to thethroat (Puckett 1981: 429). A poultice ofhog manure was sometimes used, echoingthe use in Scotland of a cow manure poul-tice (Fogel 1915: 133). One reported rem-edy involved holding each of three frogs inturn in the affected throat; the frogs werereputedly poisoned, a clear example of aremedy using transference (Ballard 1956:167–168).

The native Americans used a number ofplant remedies for treating quinsy, includ-ing wild cherry, sumac (Rhus spp.), and el-der (Edgar 1960: 1038).

See also Burdock, Catnip, Cherry, Elder,Elm, Excreta, Flax, Gold, Hops, Mouse,Plantain, Poke, Potato, Poultice, Snail,Sore throat, Toads and frogs,Transference, Whooping cough.

286 ; Quinsy

ReferencesBallard, Hattie R. “The Year We Were Sick.” New

York Folklore Quarterly 12 (1956): 164–170.


Billson, C. J. Leicestershire and Rutland: CountyFolklore. London: Folklore Society, 1895.

Black, Pauline Monette. Nebraska Folk Cures.Studies in Language, Literature and Criti-cism 15. Lincoln: University of Nebraska,1935.



Edgar, Irving I. “Origins of the Healing Art.” TheJournal of the Michigan State Medical Society59(7) (1960): 1035–1039.






;R:

Renal colicSee Colic.

Rheumatism andarthritis

The number and variety of folk remediesfor these conditions are indicative of theirfrequency and of the fact that no really suc-cessful cure has been or is available.

In Norfolk, fastening a stone with a holein it under the bed was one suggestion, orplacing a thick glass under one leg of thebed (Taylor MSS, Cringleford W.I., Nor-folk, 1925). Liniments composed of tur-pentine, vinegar, and eggs have been usedright up to the present day (L.H., Norwich,1985, pers. com.). Epsom salts have beenfound helpful, as has old draft cider turningto vinegar (T.W., Gwent, Wales, 1980,pers. com.). The herbal treatments used inBritish folk medicine include oak (Hat-field 1994: 46), celery seed (Apium graveo-lens) (Taylor MSS, Cringleford W.I., Nor-folk, 1925), bogbean (Vickery 1995: 441),wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), agri-mony (Agrimonia eupatoria), chicory (Ci-chorium intybus), yarrow, willow, stingingnettle, parsley (Pterselinum crispum), horse-radish (Armoracia rusticana), cabbage water,potato water (Hatfield 1994: 46–47), andwhite deadnettle (lamium album) (TaylorMSS, Cringleford W.I., Norfolk, 1925). In

the fenlands of East Anglia, poppy tea pre-pared from white opium poppies grown ingardens was a standby for rheumatism andague (Porter 1974: 52). Dandelion waswidely used in Ireland for rheumatism, andburdock was also used there (Allen andHatfield, in press). Among the more un-usual rheumatism treatments, recordedfrom the Highlands of Scotland, is poultic-ing with molehill earth, as hot as possible,and then with seaweed (Beith 1995: 178).The burst vesicles of bladder-wrack, a typeof seaweed (Fucus vesiculosus), were some-times added to the bath to relieve the painof bunions and stiff joints (Hatfield MS).Eating an apple that has been halved andwrapped around a cobweb was recom-mended in Norfolk in recent times. An al-ternative was to eat a spider and wash itdown with cider! (Mundford PrimarySchool project, 1980 unpub.).

Various plants have been carried to wardoff rheumatism; these include acorns (R.H., Brandon, Suffolk, 1990), horse chest-nuts (Aesculus hoppocastanum) made into anecklace (Mundford Primary School proj-ect, Norfolk 1980, unpub.), potato, nut-meg (Myristica fragrans) (Vickery 1995:291, 259), hazel nut (Corylus avellana)(Foster 1951: 60), and white bryony (Tay-lor 1929: 117). Animal-derived amuletsworn against rheumatism include the legsof a mole—the front legs if the arms were

288 ; Rheumatism and arthritis

Cabbage water was among the many herbal treat-ments used for rheumatism in British folk medicine.Many of the other British folk uses of cabbage relateto its large cooling leaves. These have been used as acompress for breast abscesses and ulcers, as well asfor reducing fever. (Library of Congress)

affected, the back ones for sore legs (Em-erson 1887).

Another category of folk remedies forrheumatism depend on counter-irritation;“rubs” of oil of wintergreen (from Gaulth-eria sp., or from Betula lenta), hot mustardpoultices (from Brassica spp.), chilli pep-pers, even beating with stinging nettles (aremedy attributed to the Romans in Britainand still practiced in parts of East Anglia)(Hatfield MS), or with holly (Tongue 1965:42) all produce local heat and sometimescomfort. Interestingly, there is increasingevidence for a more directly therapeutic ac-tion for some of these, and chilli pepperextract has recently been endorsed as a pain-killer by the orthodox medical profession,while stinging nettle is undergoing clinicaltrials in Germany.

Other counter-irritants were producedfrom animal sources. In Sussex folk medi-cine, both bee stings and wood-ant stingswere used (Allen 1995: 86–87), and thesepractices were probably far more wide-spread than the written records might sug-gest.

The oil from the liver of the sting-ray wasanother treatment for rheumatism used bySuffolk fishermen in the nineteenth century(Emerson: 1887) and reflected in the moremodern use of cod-liver-oil, which is wide-spread and currently fashionable. “Oil” ofearthworms, made by burying a bottle ofworms in a dung heap until they becameliquefied, was similarly used (LowestoftJournal 1.2.1957). This last remedy mayhave been “borrowed” from conventionalmedicine. It appears, for example, in Sal-mon’s English Physician of 1693 (Salmon1693: 698). In Fife, a preparation of blackslugs was used (Simpkins 1914: 411). Onthe now-uninhabited island of St. Kilda,fulmar oil was used as a rub and during theseventeenth century was exported to Lon-don, where it was used similarly for rheu-matism (Beith 1995: 165).

In folk medicine, damp is often regardedas a cause of rheumatism, perhaps becauseinflamed joints are often more painful indamp conditions. It is interesting to find,then, that water animals seem to be asso-ciated with rheumatism cures. Gartersmade from eelskin were a Suffolk folk rem-edy, used both for prevention and cure ofrheumatism well into the nineteenth cen-tury (Lowestoft Journal: 1.2.1957). The as-sociation with water is paralleled in NativeAmerican medicine, where the beaver wasconsidered a cause of rheumatism (Lyon1996: 18). The use of sea water for bathingrheumatic joints and of water from specialhealing wells in the Scottish Highlands(Beith 1995: 136, 140) and elsewhere couldbe extensions of this association.

In Britain there is a superstition that cut-ting the green boughs of elder will causerheumatism in later years (Hatfield MS).

Some individuals were famed for theirability to treat rheumatism. In the ScottishHighlands one such healer was a seventhson. He treated sore backs by walking alongthem (Beith 1995: 94, 97–98).

Rheumatism and arthritis : 289

In North American folk medicine thereare innumerable rheumatism treatments.Like those in Britain, they can be catego-rized into counter-irritant “rubs,” healingherbs, amulets, and other superstitions. Nu-merous plants have been used by differentcultures at different times for the treatmentof rheumatism and arthritis. Celery seedwas used as in Britain (and continues to beused by herbalists), but many of the otherplants used are natives of North Americaand, until relatively recently, were not gen-erally available in Britain. Some of them,such as black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa),were originally folk remedies but have nowreached official herbalism on both sides ofthe Atlantic. As its common name of squawroot suggests, this plant was originally a Na-tive American remedy. Wild yam (Dioscoreavillosa), a native plant of North and CentralAmerica, is sometimes called “rheumatismroot,” indicating its use by early colonialsettlers. This remedy too has been importedinto official herbalism in Europe (Cheval-lier 1996: 89). Willow, the plant fromwhich salicylic acid, and hence aspirin, wasdeveloped, was used in folk medicine onboth sides of the Atlantic, the white willow(Salix alba) in Britain and various species,including black willow (Salix nigra), inNorth America. Creosote bush (Larrea tri-dentata) was used by Indians, Mexicans,and Spanish of the southwestern states; aninfusion was made from the leaves (Meyer1985: 214). All these varied herbal treat-ments were used for their painkilling or di-uretic properties. Poke was widely used fortreating rheumatism. Both the berries andthe roots have been used (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 261). Other plants used in thetreatment of rheumatism include horserad-ish and cayenne pepper (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 259, 260). Dandelion tea has beenrecommended (UCLA Folklore Archives4_6465), as has a poultice of burdock leaves

(UCLA Folklore Archives 4_6838), bothremedies familiar also in Ireland. Both cat-nip and prickly ash have been used in rheu-matism treatment. A poultice of mulleinleaves has also been used (Puckett 1981:433). In Newfoundland, an infusion of al-der buds has been drunk (Bergen 1899:837). Lying down and covering oneselfwith elm leaves is another suggestion (Parler1962: 838). In New Mexico, adding boiledcedar leaves to the bath has been recom-mended (Moya 1940: 47). In Pennsylvania,a rub has been made from hemp seed (Can-nabis sativa) and chicken fat (Rupp 1946:254).

As in Britain, numerous amulets havebeen carried to protect against rheumatism.These include acorns, horse chestnuts, nut-megs, and potato (all familiar in British folkmedicine too). Both snakeskin and eelskin(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 256, 258) havebeen worn, and carrying a rabbit’s foot hasbeen practiced (Brown 1952–1964, 6:257)—again, remedies similar to those inBritain. A leather strip has been worn, aremedy from the African tradition (Brown1952–1964, 6: 265). Flannel, especially redflannel, has been used to bandage affectedparts (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 264) or hasbeen worn as an amulet. Threads of variouskinds have also been used, tied around thewrist, around a toe, or around the waist(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 265–266). Coins,rings, bracelets, and anklets of copper,brass, lead, and pewter have been widelyworn as amulets against rheumatism(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 266–268). Otheramulets used are the feather of a buzzardand a fin-bone of the haddock (Brown1952–1964, 6: 255, 257).

Transferring rheumatism to a cat was afolk remedy in North America taken fromthe German tradition (Meyer 1985: 218).Sleeping with a dog has been widely rec-ommended (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 255).

290 ; Rheumatism and arthritis

Rheumatism has even been “transferred” toa tree, by rubbing against it after a hog hasrubbed there (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 257).Live toads bound to an aching limb, or splitfrogs applied to the feet, are further exam-ples of transference (Brown 1952–1964, 6:256, 258).

Animal-derived remedies for rheuma-tism also bear a striking resemblance toBritish folk remedies. An oil derived fromangleworms or grubworms has been used(Brown 1952–1964: 254, 257). Bee stingsare recommended (Brown 1952–1964, 6:254). Grease derived from goat, dog, orbuzzard (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 255, 256)has been used as a rub. Walking throughcow manure and then through wet grass hasbeen suggested (UCLA Folklore Archive2_6464), or applying hard, dry horse dung(Browne 1958: 89). Drinking one’s early-morning urine has been recommended(Puckett 1981: 431). The blood of a blackhen applied to the sore areas has also beensuggested (Pickard and Buley 1945: 84).

Miscellaneous remedies from the NorthAmerican folk medicine include bathing ina cold stream where the ice has broken(Wilson 1968: 302) or using the mineralwaters of St. Louis, Michigan (MichiganState Guide 1964: 446). The associationbetween water and rheumatism is also illus-trated in a common “cure” involving plac-ing water under the bed of the sufferer(Hendricks 1956: 10).

As in Britain, certain individuals werecredited with the ability to cure rheuma-tism. A posthumous son or a seventhdaughter (Puckett 1926: 363) was thoughtto have this ability, as was a widow who hadgiven birth to twins (Neal 1955: 284).

Folk medicine emphasizes the role of dietin rheumatism, and numerous special dietshave been suggested as helpful. One of thebest-known such diets in recent times is thecider vinegar diet propounded by Jarvis,whose books based on folk medicine in Ver-

mont have run into numerous editions andbecome widely popular in North Americaand Britain (Jarvis 1961).

In Native American medicine a verylarge number of plants, belonging to severalhundred different genera, have been used totreat rheumatism (Moerman 1998: 772–774). Among these, nettle (Urtica spp.),wormwood (Artemisia spp.), yarrow (Achil-lea millefolium sp.) and juniper (Juniperusspp.) have been particularly widely used, allof them as external applications.

See also African tradition, Alder, Amulet,Apple, Bogbean, Bryony, Burdock,Cabbage, Catnip, Cayenne, Dandelion,Elder, Holly, Mullein, Poke, Poppy,Potato, Prickly ash, Seventh son, Spider,Stinging nettle, Toads and frogs,Transference, Urine, Yarrow.












Rickets : 291

Hendricks, George D. “Superstitions Collectedin Denton, Texas.” Western Folklore 15(1956): 1–18.

Jarvis, D. C. Folk Medicine. London: Pan Books,1961. Originally published W. H. Allen,1960.

Lyon, William S. Encyclopedia of Native AmericanHealing. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO,1996.


Michigan State Guide. 8th ed. New York: FederalWriters Project, 1964.



Mundford Primary School, Norfolk, England.School project, 1980, unpublished.

Neal, Janice G. “Grandad: Pioneer MedicineMan.” New York Folklore Quarterly 11(1955): 277–291.






Rupp, William J. “Bird Names and Bird Lore ofthe Pennsylvania Germans.” PennsylvaniaGerman Society Proceedings and Addresses 52(1946).

Salmon, William, M.D. The Compleat EnglishPhysician. London: 1693.

Simpkins, John Ewart. Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning Fife, with Some Notes on

Clackmannan and Kinross-shires. CountyFolklore 7. London: Folklore Society, 1914.


Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes by Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.MS4322.



Wilson, Gordon, Sr. Folklore of the MammothCave Region. Bowling Green, KY: KentuckyFolklore Series 4, 1968.

RicketsIn British folk medicine snail slime was

used as a treatment for rickets (Prince 1991:104). In parts of Scotland, snails in vinegarwere eaten for rickets (Beith 1995: 185).Alternatively, the child could be passedthree times through a split ash tree or wil-low tree. The tree was then bound up, andas it healed, so the child would recover(Radford and Radford 1974: 21, 365). An-other version of this passing-through cere-mony involved stones with huge holes inthem, such as Men-an-Tol in Cornwall.The child was passed nine times throughthe hole (Souter 1995: 37). Lime-containing springs were also used to treatrickets (Souter 1995: 95). There seem tohave been few plant remedies used for rick-ets. In Ireland, the Royal Fern (Osmundaregalis) had a reputation for healing rickets(Page 1988: 22), and Shepherd’s Purse(Capsella bursa-pastoris) was also used (OSuilleabhain 1942: 313).

In North American folk medicine, advicefor rickets included washing in cold water,administering cod liver oil or bone and limewater, or sarsaparilla (Brown 1952–1964,6: 269). The grease from dishwater rubbedon the child was another recommendation(Puckett 1981: 437), as was washing thechild’s legs with cow’s milk (Saxon 1945:

292 ; Ringworm

532) or with the water in which potatoeshave been boiled (Puckett 1981: 114). ANew England remedy was to bury some ofthe child’s hair at a crossroads, preferably atfull moon (Black 1883: 125). Dipping thechild nine times in a spring was anothersuggestion (Levine 1941: 489) or, as inBritain, passing it three times through asplit in a young tree (Brown 1952–1964, 6:56). Sunshine and fat meat (Ross 1934: 59)were obviously sound recommendations, asboth increase the vitamin D necessary tocorrect rickets. There was a belief that achild under a few months old should notbe allowed to see itself in a mirror, other-wise it would develop rickets (Parler 1962,3: 209).

The Native Americans of the Pacificnorth coast used oolachan fish oil, a naturalsource of vitamin D equivalent to the codliver oil officially recommended today (Fid-des 1965: 401).

See also Ash, Moon, Sarsaparilla, Snail.





Fiddes, G. W. J. “He Took Down His Shingle (ABackward Look at the Indian MedicineMan).” Canadian Journal of Public Health56 (1965): 400–401.


O Suilleabhain, Sean. A Handbook of Irish Folk-lore. Wexford: Educational Company ofIreland, 1942.

Page, Christopher N. Ferns: Their Habitats in theBritish and Irish Landscape. London: Col-lins, 1988.

Parler, Mary Celestia, and University Student





Ross, R. A. “Granny Grandiosity.” Southern Med-icine and Surgery 96 (February 1934): 57–59.



RingwormThis fungal skin complaint was also

known in the past as “tetter,” or “tetters,”and was thought to be caused by a worm.In British folk medicine, there were a num-ber of semi-magical ways of curing it. Fossilbelemnites were thought to help heal ring-worm (Blakeborough 1898: 141). In Ire-land, a priest who is a seventh son can cureringworm by breathing on the affected areathree times and blessing it; this procedureis repeated three times in an eight-day pe-riod (Huttson 1957: 57). In Shetland, aperson suffering from ringworm took apinch of ashes between forefinger andthumb, and recited a suitable charm eachmorning before eating on three successivemornings (Black 1883: 42). Tracing a fin-ger around the child’s face three times, eachday for three days, was supposed to cure achild of ringworm (Addy 1895: 91). Rub-bing the patient’s head with a silver watch

Ringworm : 293

was recommended, or measuring the dis-eased area and then rubbing it with a shil-ling (Black 1883: 182).

As in the treatment of warts, fasting spit-tle was thought to be effective, but a shillingtreated first with fasting spittle was more so(Black 1883: 184). Rubbing with a goldring was also suggested in the ScottishHighlands (Beith 1995: 159). An Irish rem-edy was to rub the affected area with goldensyrup (Hatfield MS). Herbal remedies in-clude an infusion of chickweed (Prince1991: 123), or of houseleek (Vickery 1995:199). In Ireland boiled garlic was used(Vickery 1995: 151) or the juice of laurelleaves (Prunus laurocerasus) mixed with un-salted butter (Logan 1972: 74), or water inwhich oak leaves have been boiled (Vickery1995: 264). A poultice of burdock leaves isanother Irish cure. It was recommendedthat this should be prepared on the oppositeside of a river from the patient, so the“worm” would not smell the remedy andchange position (Wellborn 1963: 161). InSuffolk, an ointment to heal ringworm wasmade from lard and the leaves of primroses(Primula vulgaris) (Vickery 1995: 297).Walnut tree bark (Juglans sp.) and sun-spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia) have alsobeen used to treat ringworm (ThiseltonDyer 1889: 210, 296). In Wales, ringwormwas treated with rotten apples or rottenpears, or with an infusion of coltsfoot leaves(Tussilago farfara). Wood tar collected onan axe held in the flame was also used inWales to treat ringworm. The fat of friedbacon was another ringworm treatmentfrom Wales (Jones 1980: 62). In Suffolkcoal oil was used with apparent success totreat ringworm (Hatfield MS).

In North American folk medicine thereis a similar mixture of practical and magicaltreatments for ringworm. The touch of aposthumous child has been suggested as ef-fective (Puckett 1981: 379). One very sim-ple method was to scratch the surface of theskin around the affected area, which

stopped it from spreading. Copper coinsdipped in vinegar were a common cure(and, given that copper salts are toxic tofungi in general, one that may have a sci-entific basis). Iodine solution was used topaint the affected area of skin. Butter andsulphur, and gunpowder and vinegar, werealso used. A widespread folk treatment forringworm was the ash of paper. This wasburned on an axe (just as in the Welsh rem-edy described for wood above), and the re-sulting oily ash was rubbed onto theringworm (Cannon 1984: 122). Rubbingthe affected area with a sowbug is a remedyfrom Mexico (UCLA Folklore Archives4_6482), while in Louisiana the blood of ablack hen was claimed to be effective(Boudreaux 1971: 127). Blood from the tailof a black cat has been suggested, as a rem-edy that will prevent the ring of ringwormclosing up, which could presage death ofthe patient (Bergen 1899: 68). Allowingflies to crawl over the affected area is per-haps an example of transference (Puckett1981: 437). Rubbing with one’s mother’swedding ring nine times a day for nine daysis a remedy from Texas (Hendricks 1980:94). Urine has been used to treat ringworm,especially the first urine in the morning(Puckett 1981: 437). Fasting spittle was an-other cure. In Alabama, the spit of a black-eyed person is specified. Calf slobber hasbeen suggested too (Puckett 1981: 379).Wash-day blueing was also used (Browne1958: 90, 91). In Maine, placing a saltpickle on the area of ringworm was sug-gested (UCLA Folklore Archives 1_7602),and in Nebraska, a mixture of egg yolk, tur-pentine, coal oil, vinegar, and salt wasrubbed on (Welsch 1966: 362). In Ohio,ringworm on the head was treated with sourbuttermilk (Puckett 1981: 437).

Herbs used to treat ringworm includeburdock (as in Britain), yellow dock, andbloodroot, as well as tobacco or the greenrind of a walnut (Juglans sp.) (Meyer 1985:220–221). Garlic has been used in Arkansas

294 ; Ringworm

(Parler 1962: 864), as has the root of may-apple (Podophyllum peltatum) (Dennie1956: 278). Another suggestion is to eat figleaves (Ficus carica) and milk (Puckett1981: 437), or to rub on the juice of figleaves (Cadwallader 1965: 221, 225). Rub-bing with a carrot has been successful inIndiana (Halpert 1950: 6). Other herbaltreatments include an ointment made frompokeberries, or the root of the rain lily (Ze-phyranthes sp.) rubbed on (Woodhull 1930:45, 64). Aralia roots (Aralia sp.) have beenused (Pickard and Buley 1945: 45), as hasoil of corn (Neal 1955: 289). Green gourdtea, thickened into a paste with cornmeal,is a remedy from Alabama (Browne 1958:91).

Native American herbals for ringwormtreatment include a poultice of poison ivyleaves (Toxicodendron sp.), the sap of thered mulberry (Morus rubra) (Vogel 1970:220, 350), and a salve made from yellowbirch buds (Betula nigra) (Speck 1944: 43).Pine tar (from Pinus virginiana) is used bythe Cherokee for treating “tetterworm”(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 49).

Miscellaneous ringworm cures includedimmersing the head (where the head is af-fected) in a horse trough (Puckett 1981:437) and applying a thimble to the oppositeside of the hand from that affected by ring-worm (Parler 1962: 861). A seventh sonwas thought to have the power to cure ring-worm, but only if a nurse had put a wormin his hand at birth (Puckett 1981: 438).

See also Apple, Bloodroot, Burdock,Chickweed, Corn, Dock, Garlic, Gold,Houseleek, Poke, Poultice, Seventh son,Spit, Tobacco, Transference, Urine,Vinegar, Warts.


Traditional Remains Collected in the Coun-ties of York, Lincoln, Derby and Nottingham.London: 1895.




Blakeborough, Richard. Yorkshire Wit, Character,Folklore and Customs. London: 1898.

Boudreaux, Anna M. “Les Remedes du VieuxTemps: Remedies and Cures of the KaplanArea in Southwestern Louisiana.” SouthernFolklore Quarterly 35 (1971): 121–140.




Dennie, Charles C. “Old Doc.” Virginia MedicalMonthly 83 (1956): 278–284.




Huttson, Arthur E. “Folklore in the News: OtherTreatments.” Western Folklore 16 (1957):56–58.




Rose : 295







Thiselton Dyer, T. F. The Folk-Lore of Plants.London: 1889.



Wellborn, Grace Pleasant. “Plant Lore and theScarlet Letter.” Southern Folklore Quarterly27 (1963): 160–167.



RoseThe wild roses native to Britain have

been used to a limited extent in folk med-icine. The crushed leaves were used in thetwentieth century in Essex for treatment ofcuts. The juice has been used in treatingcolds and sore throats in both England andIreland (Allen and Hatfield, in press). Thegall growing on rose, known as a “robin’spincushion,” has been used in treatment ofwhooping cough (Taylor MSS) and carried

as an amulet to prevent toothache (Leather1912: 82). Rose-hip syrup, a rich source ofvitamin C, has traditionally been given tobabies and was a valued source of vitaminsduring the Second World War. Cultivatedroses were more widely used in official med-icine, especially the so-called apothecariesrose, Rosa gallica.

In North American folk medicine, roseshave featured in a number of remedies, thetype of rose not usually being specified.Rose petals have been chewed to sweetenthe breath (Traux 1957: 48), and rose petaltea has been used to soothe sore eyes ) (Lev-ine 1941: 491) or an upset stomach (Cre-son, D.L., et al. 1969: 265). The dew fromrose petals has been used to remove freckles(UCLA Folklore Archives 7_5963). Roseleaves have been used to treat sores (Puckett1981: 449) and diarrhea (Hendricks 1980:82) as well as fever (Parler 1962: 635).Breathing the fumes from burning roseleaves has been used for rheumatism (Koch1980: 65). A belief has been reported thatred roses cure anemia (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 15_6742), a possible example ofsympathetic magic.

The native species Rosa acicularis hasbeen used in many ways among the NativeAmericans, for treating cuts, stings, laborpains, dysentery, muscle pain, indigestion,and colic. The galls have been used fortreating burns (Willard 1992: 118–119). Awash for sore eyes is prepared by the Pawneefrom the roots of wild roses (Nebraska StateGuide 1947: 110). Other rose species havebeen used by the Native Americans in nu-merous ways (Moerman 1998: 482–486).

See also Amulet, Anemia, Bad breath,Burns, Childbirth, Colds, Colic, Cuts,Dew, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Eye problems,Fevers, Freckles, Indigestion, Insect bitesand stings, Rheumatism, Sore throat,Sympathetic magic, Toothache,Whooping cough.

296 ; Rowan



Creson, D. L., et al. “Folk Medicine in Mexican-American Sub-Culture.” Diseases of the Ner-vous System 30 (April 1969): 264–266.






Nebraska State Guide. New York: Federal WritersProject, 1947.



Taylor MSS. Taylor, Mark R. Manuscript notesin the Norfolk Records Office. MS4322.

Traux, Grace H. “Down Our Way, Our DailyBread.” Kentucky Folklore Record 3 (1957):45–48.


Rowan (Sorbusaucuparia)

The role of this tree (also known asmountain ash) in British folklore is primar-

ily a protective one. The tree was thoughtto confer protection against the forces ofevil, and it is still frequently planted neara house. Even a stick of rowan kept nearthe home can be useful. In Devon in thelate twentieth century one lady kept apiece of rowan near her cottage to protectbut also to cure minor ailments; shetreated her own eczema by rubbing withthis stick (Lafont 1984: 55). The herbalremedies prepared from rowan mainlycome from the Celtic areas of Britain,where the tree is most common. The ber-ries were used in the seventeenth centuryin Wales to treat scurvy (Ray 1670: 290).In the eighteenth century in Scotland thebark was used to treat constipation, and inthe nineteenth century a toothache remedywas obtained from rowan (Pennant 1771:311). The berries were boiled in the Scot-tish Highlands as a cure for sore throat;mixed with apples, they were also used forwhooping cough (Beith 1995: 237). In Ire-land, an infusion of the leaves was used totreat rheumatism, and the dried leaves weresmoked to treat asthma (Moloney 1919:22). The leaves were also used to treat soreeyes. The bark was boiled to form a coughmixture, and was included in a remedy forscrofula. The berries were eaten raw as ablood tonic and were also eaten to get ridof worms (Allen and Hatfield in press).

A piece of rowan was carried as an amuletto protect against rheumatism (Hawke1973: 28). Another semi-magical use wasfor whooping cough; hair from the suffererwas plugged into a rowan tree (Radbill1955: 48).

Rowan is not native to North Americabut has been introduced there. A stick ofrowan, or “wicken” as it is also known, wasused in a protective role, as in Britain(Brown 1952–1964, 7: 154). The freshjuice of mountain ash berries has beendrunk to treat piles (Meyer 1985: 194), andjelly made from them has been used to treatasthma (Neal 1955: 283). The British

Rowan : 297

mountain ash has been used by the Pota-watomi as an emetic to treat pleurisy, pneu-monia, and croup (Smith 1933: 78). Otherrelated species of Sorbus are native to NorthAmerica, and these have been used in Na-tive American medicine as a tonic, analge-sic, emetic, and for treating rheumatism, aswell as for bed-wetting, stomach problems,and head lice (Moerman 1998: 538–539).

See also Amulet, Apple, Asthma,Bed-wetting, Constipation, Coughs,Croup, Eczema, Eye problems, Hairproblems, Piles, Rheumatism, Scurvy,Sore throat, Tonic, Toothache,Tuberculosis, Whooping cough, Worms.





Hawke, Kathleen. Cornish Sayings, Superstitionsand Remedies. Redruth, Cornwall: Dyllan-son Truran, 1973.




Moloney, M. F. Irish Ethnobotany and the Evolu-tion of Medicine in Ireland. Dublin: M. H.Gill and Son, 1919.

Neal, Janice C. “Granddad: Pioneer MedicineMan.” New York Folklore Quarterly 11(1955): 277–291.

Pennant, Thomas. A Tour in Scotland 1769. Lon-don: John Monk, 1771.

Radbill, Samuel X. “Whooping Cough in Factand Fancy.” Bulletin of History of Medicine11 (1955): 277–291.



; S :

St. John’s wort(Hypericum perforatum)

In European folk medicine this plant wasused above all in the treatment of wounds.The flowers infused in oil yield a bright or-ange liquid, which has formed the basis formany healing ointments. Among its coun-try names is “rosin rose,” a name recordedin Yorkshire, England, as well as in NorthAmerica (Grigson 1955: 75). A related spe-cies Hypericum androsaemum is known astutsan, from the French “toute-saine” (allhealthy). St. John’s wort was recommendedin many of the herbals and was a constitu-ent of official wound-healing salves. In Brit-ish folk medicine such salves were used fortreating wounds (one of its Gaelic namestranslates as “bloodwort”) and burns, as wellas being used internally for treating diarrhea(Allen and Hatfield, in press). Though theherbals recommended it as a soothing herbfor nervous conditions including melan-choly, in folk medicine this has been a rel-atively minor use.

The other major use for the plant was asprotection against evil spirits. Whether theplant was used in this way in pre-Christiandays is difficult to know, but it certainlybecame associated with the Christianizedmidsummer night bonfires held on the feastof St. John, June 24. A French proverb, tohave “all the herbs of St. John,” is used to

imply that one is ready for anything! (Grig-son 1955: 76).

The plant was reputedly introduced intoPhiladelphia in 1696 by pilgrims, and it waspopular among the Pennsylvania Dutch asthe basis of a salve. It first appeared in Cal-ifornia in 1900 and became a troublesomeweed there for the next half-century. It be-came known there as “Klamath Weed” andwas eventually controlled by introductionof a European beetle that eats it (Coffey1993: 66); now it is extensively grown forherbalists and has become world renownedfor its treatment of depression. Meanwhile,in rural folk medicine, the plant had a rep-utation in North America similar to that inBritain. Pioneers hung sprigs of the plantover doorways to keep away evil spirits(Micheletti 1998: 286). It was used to treatwounds, including, during the AmericanCivil War, gunshot wounds (Micheletti1998: 286). In addition it has been used forhealing scalds and burns, in a salve to re-duce swellings, as a liver tonic, to treat in-flamed bowels, and to cure bed-wetting inchildren (Meyer 1985: 36, 45, 55, 167,244).

In Native American usage, the Cherokeeused it to treat bloody flux and bowel com-plaints as well as sores, nosebleed, snakebite, diarrhea, and to promote menstrua-tion (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 53).Other species of Hypericum have been usedby the Native Americans for a wide range

300 ; Sarsaparilla

of ailments, including tuberculosis (Smith1923: 37) (Moerman 1998: 272–273).

See also Bed-wetting, Burns, Depression,Diarrhea, Nosebleed, Snake bite,Tuberculosis, Wounds.









Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the MenominiIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofthe City of Milwaukee 4 (1923): 1–174.

Sarsaparilla (Smilaxspp.)

This woody climber is a native of easternNorth America and Central America andthe rain forests of South America. It doesnot occur in Europe but is currently usedthere by medical herbalists, since its intro-duction into their materia medica in the six-teenth century. Originally it was hailed as acure for syphilis, but subsequently it wasused mainly as a tonic and blood purifier totreat skin conditions and rheumatism, andthese are its main uses in North Americanfolk medicine (see, for example, Meyer1985: 41, 215). Sarsaparilla mead wasdrunk in nineteenth-century North Amer-ica to treat indigestion, fever, headache, and

diarrhea (Pickard and Buley 1945: 267).Sarsaparilla tea was taken for gravel(Browne 1958: 69). At the present time itis sold in proprietary form as a laxative andused as a flavoring for soft drinks (Kay1996: 255).

Native American uses for species of Smi-lax include treatment of burns, cuts, sores,rheumatism (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975:37) and leg ulcers (Taylor 1940: 7). TheAztecs used it for treating joint pain (Kay1996: 254).

Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) be-longs to another botanical family (Arali-aceae). It is native to North America andhas been used by Native Americans forburns, wounds, sores, and as a cough med-icine (Willard 1992: 148). Because of theconfusion surrounding the name “sarsapa-rilla,” it is not always clear to which plant aparticular record refers. An infusion of theroots of Aralia nudicaulis has been used infolk medicine in the treatment of tubercu-losis (Roy 1955: 85). An infusion of theplant has also been used as a tonic (UCLAFolklore Archive 2_5634).

See also Burns, Cuts, Diarrhea, Fevers,Gravel and stone, Headache, Indigestion,Rheumatism, Tonic, Tuberculosis.







Roy, Carmen. La Litterature Orale en Gaspesie.Bulletin 134, 36 de la Serie Anthropolo-

Sassafras : 301

Originally hailed as a cure for syphilis, sarsaparilla was used mainly as a tonic and blood purifier to treatskin conditions and rheumatism. (National Library of Medicine)

gique. Ottawa: Ministre de Nord Canadienet des Ressources Nationales (1955): 61–105, 107–136.



Sassafras (Sassafrasalbicum)

Native throughout North America, thisshrub was “discovered” by French, Spanish,and later English colonists in the sixteenthcentury. It had been used by the NativeAmericans as a tonic and a treatment forsyphilis and was greeted as a panacea for theills of the New World, becoming of greatcommercial value. As it became evident thatit did not in fact cure syphilis, it began tofall from fashion in European medicine, butit has continued to be widely used in do-mestic medicine in both the New and theOld Worlds. Early colonists used it for

treating fevers and for rheumatic pain, andas a general tonic. It is still known by thename “ague tree” in New England (Mich-eletti 1998: 293). Combined with otherherbs, it was drunk as a “blood purifier.”With slippery elm and corn meal, it formeda poultice for treating boils and ulcers; adecoction of sassafras root and burdock wasclaimed to prevent boils (Meyer 1985: 40,44, 58, 204). Oil of sassafras was used fortreating chilblains as well as earache, corns,and sprains (Meyer 1985: 101, 118, 233).A decoction of the twigs, mixed with mare’smilk, was used as an eye wash (Meyer 1985:110). The pith from the stalk, mixed withwarm water, was similarly used to bathesore eyes (Meyer 1985: 114). Chewing thebark was recommended to prevent a feelingof faintness (Meyer 1985: 115).

In addition, sassafras was a componentof many rheumatism remedies (Meyer1985: 215, 217, 219). The UCLA FolkloreArchives contain more than five hundredremedies involving sassafras and show thatit has been used for almost every conceiva-ble ailment. In addition to those alreadymentioned, the plant has been used to treatkidney disease, sore throat (Halpert 1950:

302 ; Sassafras

Sassafras is a shrub native to North America. As itbecame evident that sassafras did not cure syphilis, itbegan to fall from fashion in European medicine, butit has continued to be widely used in domestic med-icine in both the New and the Old Worlds. (NationalLibrary of Medicine)

3, 4), pain (Lick and Brendle 1922: 282),measles (UCLA Folklore Archive 1_6407),poison ivy rash (Mullins 1973: 40), headlice (Miller 1959: 7), colic (Long 1962: 4),croup (Browne 1958: 18), high blood pres-sure (Caroland 1962: 44), and asthma(Clark 1961: 11). Sassafras tea was widelydrunk, especially in the Appalachian region,until recent times (Crellin and Philpott1990: 363). It was considered pleasant as adrink, hot or cold, and with lemon added.It was even claimed to aid weight reduction(Meyer 1985: 264), a claim reflecting oneof its uses by the Cherokee (Hamel andChiltoskey 1975: 54). Faith in its healingpowers has extended to wearing the planttoo, as an amulet; a necklace of pieces of

sassafras root was claimed to help teething(Parler 1962: 277), while a bag of sassafrasaround the neck could prevent illness(UCLA Folklore Archives 1_6728).

In Native American usage, sassafras hasbeen used for treating dysentery (Meyer1985). Its main uses have been in the treat-ment of fevers and of rheumatism (Hameland Chiltoskey 1975: 54), as a wash for soreeyes, and as a general tonic (Tantaquidgeon1928: 266). It has also been used by theCherokee for aiding a difficult labor.

Recent scares concerning its possible tox-icity have banned sassafras from official me-dicinal use in North America.

See also Amulet, Asthma, Boils, Burdock,Chilblains, Childbirth, Colic, Corn,Corns, Croup, Dysentery, Earache, Elm,Eye problems, Fevers, Hair problems,Hunger, Poison ivy, Rheumatism, Sorethroat, Sprains, Teething, Tonic.



Caroland, Emma Jean, ed. “Popular Beliefs andSuperstitions Known to Students of Clarks-ville High School.” Tennessee Folklore Soci-ety Bulletin 28 (1962): 37–47.

Clark, Joseph D. “Superstitions from North Car-olina.” North Carolina Folklore 9(2) (1961):4–22.





Long, Grady M. “Folk Medicine in McMinn,Polk, Bradley and Meigs Counties, Tennes-

Scurvy : 303

see, 1910–1937.” Tennessee Folklore SocietyBulletin 28 (1962): 1–8.



Miller, Genevieve. “The Sassafras Tree.” Bulletinof the Cleveland Medical Library 6(1) (Jan-uary 1959): 3–7.

Mullins, Gladys. “Herbs of the Southern Islandsand their Medicinal Uses.” Kentucky Folk-lore Record 19 (1973): 36–41.



ScrofulaSee Tuberculosis.

ScurvyIn British folk medicine a number of na-

tive wild plants were eaten to prevent andcure scurvy. In Scotland cuckoo flower(Cardamine pratense), dock, and scurvy-grass (Cochlearia spp.) were among them.The latter, as its name suggests, was widelyrecognized for its value in treating scurvy,and the plant was taken by fishermen andsailors on voyages; its Gaelic name translatesas “the sailor.” It has been suggested thatthe Vikings may have used this plant (Beith1995: 239). Sailors off the Welsh coast usedto disembark to collect alexanders (Smyr-nium olusatrum) to prevent scurvy (Quelch1941: 200). In the south of England, seabindweed (Calystegia soldanella) also wentby the country name of “scurvy-grass.” Wa-tercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum) has

also been used to prevent scurvy—for ex-ample, in the Isle of Mull (Vickery 1995:384). The berries of rowan were eaten forscurvy in Wales in the seventeenth century(Ray 1670: 290). In both Scotland and Ire-land, the seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata)was used for scurvy (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). Many plants today regarded as weedswere eaten in the past to supplement a poordiet, and some of these, such as goosegrass(Galium aparine), were rich in vitamin Cand would have helped prevent scurvy (La-font 1984: 39). In Norfolk there was a be-lief that drinking one’s own urine, fasting,was good for scurvy (Taylor 1929: 120); inthe North of England, fasting spittle wasrecommended (Gutch 1899: 177).

In North American folk medicine, rawpotatoes sliced in vinegar have been rec-ommended for scurvy, or a mixture of saltand charcoal (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 271).As in Britain, an infusion of scurvy grass, oreating the plant fresh was another sugges-tion (Meyer 1985: 224). Also as in Britain,watercress has been used to treat and pre-vent scurvy (Parler 1962, 3: 866). Sprucebeer (from Picea spp.) was used as a scurvypreventive by Captain Cook in the eigh-teenth century, and a century later an in-fusion of spruce was used in the CalifornianGold Rush (Vogel 1970: 249). Fir tops(from Abies spp.) were another remedy(Bergen 1899: 111). As in Britain, various“weeds” were used, eaten raw, to preventscurvy. They include dandelion (as in Brit-ain) (Clark 1970: 29) and winter cress (Bar-barea sp.) (Lick and Brendle 1922: 158).Strawberries were found to be useful(Pickard and Buley 1945: 45). Nonplantremedies include burying one’s legs indirt (Lawson and Porter 1951: 163) anddrinking rum (UCLA Folklore Archives25_6466).

In the Native American tradition, cran-berries, now known to be a rich source ofvitamin C, were used to prevent and treatscurvy (Cobb 1917: 103). Various types of

304 ; Scurvy

cranberry were eaten raw in the summerand dried for winter use (Moerman 1998:583), and this knowledge was used by set-tlers in New England. Sea captains theretook supplies of cranberries on their voyagesto prevent scurvy (UCLA Folklore Archives4_5467). Also in the Native American tra-dition, the bark, leaves, and stems of whitespruce (Picea glauca) have been used (Chan-dler, Freeman, and Hooper 1979: 59).Many wild plants were eaten raw as dietaryaids; the Alaskans ate raw dandelion leaves(Heller 1953: 71). Wild garlic (Allium re-ticulatum) was used to treat scurvy. AtCamp Missouri in the early nineteenth cen-tury, soldiers were cured of scurvy using thisplant (Vogel 1970: 109). Jacques Cartier’screw were treated for scurvy by the Iroquoisusing a preparation of hemlock spruce (Ed-gar 1960: 1038). Eating the adrenal glandsof the moose and the walls of its secondstomach was said to prevent scurvy amongNative Americans (Vogel 1970: 250).

See also Dandelion, Dock, Garlic,Hemlock spruce, Rowan, Spit, Urine.







Clark, Joseph D. “North Carolina Popular Beliefs


Cobb, Carolus M. “Some Medical Practicesamong the New England Indians and EarlySettlers.” Boston Medical and Surgical Jour-nal 177(4) (1917): 97–105.

Edgar, Irving I. “Origins of the Healing Art.” TheJournal of the Michigan State Medical Society59(7) (1960): 1035–1039.

Gutch, Mrs. (Eliza). Examples of Printed Lore Con-cerning the North Riding of Yorkshire, Yorkand the Ainsty. County Folk-Lore 2,Publications of the Folk-Lore Society 45(1899). Printed Extracts 4. London: 1901.

Heller, Christine A. Edible and Poisonous Plants ofAlaska. College, AK: Cooperative Agricul-tural Extension Service, 1953.


Lawson, O. C., and Kenneth W. Porter. “TexasPoltergeist, 1881.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 64 (1951): 371–382.






Quelch, Mary Thorne. Herbs for Daily Use. Lon-don: Faber, 1941.





Seventh son : 305

Seventh sonIn traditional healing the seventh son, or,

better still, the seventh son of a seventh son,was often credited with powers of healing.The origin of this tradition is unclear, butit appeared in England during the sixteenthcentury and was common during the sev-enteenth century. When such an individualclaimed to cure scrofula, also known as the“king’s evil,” he was seen as a threat to themonopoly of the king in this respect andwas liable to punishment (Thomas 1973:237). Sometimes such power was seen as athreat to the church, as in the case of a sev-enth son who claimed to cure the deaf,blind, and lame, and was investigated in1607 by the bishop of London (Thomas1973: 239). In the Celtic tradition there aremany documented examples of a seventhson believed to have special healing powers(Napier 1879: 90). In some parts of Irelandand Scotland, a seventh daughter was cred-ited with similar powers.

Scrofula in particular was often treatedby a seventh child; in Caithness and Suth-erland, a seventh daughter treated a man forscrofula, a seventh son treated a woman.The seventh son of a seventh son was par-ticularly gifted and thought to be able tocure many diseases. In Ireland a famoushealer, Finbarr Nolan, based his claimsupon being the seventh son of a seventhson. Such a claim could be tested by puttingan earthworm on the palm of the hand. Ifthe claimant was genuine, the worm woulddie immediately (Beith 1995: 93, 188). Ithas been suggested that the seventh son inScotland should have worms put into hishand before baptism, to confirm his healingpowers. In Ireland, such a child was rubbed,before baptism, with an object that hewould in future use to heal with—a silvercoin, or a piece of his father’s hair. Thisobject had then to be worn by his parentsthroughout his life (Black 1883: 136).

Sometimes the healer gave the patient acoin with a hole through it, which mustthen be worn by the patient throughouthis life (Henderson 1879: 306). Althoughscrofula was the commonest disease tobe treated by a seventh child, sometimesthrush was cured too. The healer blew threetimes into the sufferer’s mouth (Jones 1908:315–319). In the twentieth century in Ca-van, Ireland, sore throat was still beinghealed by a seventh son (Westropp 1911:57).

These same beliefs appear in NorthAmerican folk medicine. A seventh son wasbelieved to have the power to heal (Brown1952–1964, 6: 38). A seventh son of a sev-enth son was able to cure warts, burns,bleeding and other conditions (Rayburn1941: 162), and the seventh daughter of aseventh daughter was believed to have sec-ond sight (Puckett 1981: 1049). FromPennsylvania there is a report of the hair ofa seventh son preventing whooping cough(Phillips 1892: 248). Goiter could be curedby the touch of the seventh son of a seventhson (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 201). Bleedingcould be stopped by a seventh son (Brown1952–1964, 6: 212). Thrush was cured, asin Britain, by a seventh son blowing intothe patient’s mouth (Lassiter 1947: 32).

The belief in the healing powers of a sev-enth son is to be found among NativeAmericans too. Among the Cherokee a sev-enth son is regarded as a prophet, with thepower of healing by touch (Bourke 1892:457).

See also Bleeding, Burns, Sore throat,Tuberculosis, Warts, Whooping cough.




306 ; Shakers

Bourke, John G. Medicine Men of the Apache.Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Eth-nology, 1887–1888. Washington, DC:1892, 443–603.


Henderson, William. Notes of the Folk-Lore of theNorthern Counties of England and the Bor-ders. London: Folklore Society, 1879.

Jones, B. H. “Folk-Medicine.” Folk-Lore 19(1908): 315–319.

Lassiter, W. R. “Why I’m an Old Bachelor.” Ten-nessee Folklore Society Bulletin 13 (1947):27–35.

Napier, James. Folk Lore or Superstitious Beliefs inthe West of Scotland within this Century.Paisley: 1879.

Phillips, Henry, Jr. “Second Contribution to theStudy of Folk-Lore in Philadelphia and Vi-cinity.” Proceedings of the American Philo-sophical Society 31 (1892): 246–249.


Rayburn, Otto Ernest. Ozark Country. New York:Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1941.

Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic.Penguin University Books, 1973.

Westropp, Thomas. “A Folklore Survey ofCounty Clare.” Folk-Lore 22 (1911): 49–60.

ShakersFounded in 1746 by immigrants from

Manchester, England, this community, likeother groups of colonists, was forced by notonly the scarcity of official medical aid butalso their own creed of self-sufficiency to belargely self-reliant for medical treatment.They brought with them their own knowl-edge of herbs but in their new home en-countered many medicinal plants that wereunknown to them. The detailed records

that they kept show that they not onlylearned from Native American Indiansabout the uses of some of these but em-ployed local Indians to gather the herbsfor which they became famous. A largeand profitable industry in the productionof herbs, seeds, and herbal preparationswas built up by the Shaker communitiesand finally ended in only 1947. Their prod-ucts supplied the pharmaceutical trade allover North America and were eventuallydistributed worldwide. They had self-appointed “doctors” within their commu-nities, some of whom, like “Doctor”Barnabas Hinkley (1808–1861), went on totrain as recognized orthodox medical prac-titioners (Miller 1998: 35). The school ofherbalism that the Shaker physicians fol-lowed was that of Eclectics. The Shakers il-lustrate the impossibility of defining theboundaries between folk medicine and or-thodoxy: their materia medica was virtuallyindistinguishable from that of the recog-nized and officially qualified doctors of theday.

ReferenceMiller, Amy Bess. Shaker Medicinal Herbs: A Com-

pendium of History, Lore and Uses. Pownal:Storey Books, 1998.

ShinglesThis painful affliction has attracted di-

verse remedies in British folk medicine. Inthe Isle of Wight an ointment was madefrom the verdigris scraped off church bells(Prince 1991: 100). In Dorset, the sourceof the verdigris was the pump (Udal 1922:220). In the seventeenth century, the bloodof a cat was recommended for shingles(Newman 1948: 135). Blood taken fromthe tail of a black cat was a cure in Ireland(Black 1883: 116). On the island of Lewis,in the Scottish Highlands, the blood of ablack cock was recommended, or the blood

Shingles : 307

of a person named Munro (Beith 1995:166). In Devon, the leaves of the blackberrywere applied as a soothing poultice (Lafont1984: 17). In the Scottish Highlands, thejuice of the houseleek was particularly rec-ommended for shingles (Beith 1995: 224).The same plant was used similarly in Essex(Taylor MSS). In Wales, stonecrop (Sedumacre) has been used within living memoryin the treatment of shingles. Another Welshcure for shingles is egg yolk and linseed oil(Jones 1980: 59). In Gloucestershire, wheathas been used in shingles treatment (Burne1911: 238). Dried primrose leaves (Primulavulgaris) soaked in sweet oil are a remedyfrom East Anglia (Taylor 1929: 116).

A nineteenth-century example of trans-ference of shingles comes from Hartland, inDevon. The patient was taken to runningwater, where seven rushes were picked andstroked across the shingles. The rushes werethen thrown into the river. The process wasrepeated three mornings in succession (La-font 1984: 74).

There is a widespread belief that if therash of shingles reaches right around thebody, the patient will die (Thiselton Dyer1878: 147).

Sometimes individuals were creditedwith the power to heal shingles. In Wales,it was believed that a person who had eatenthe flesh of an eagle had this ability, and sodid his descendants (Jones 1980: 67).

In New England, the blood of a com-pletely black hen was said to be a cure forshingles (Black 1883: 117), and this cureand variants on it appear frequently inNorth American folk medicine. A variationfrom Illinois is to split open a black hawkand lay it on the affected area. This remedyis said to be Native American in origin. InAdams County (Illinois) the skin of a snakewrapped around the sufferer has also beenused to relieve shingles (Hyatt 1965: 240).The blood of a black cat is a frequently re-corded remedy for shingles (see, for exam-

ple, Roberts 1927: 167). Wearing a cordaround the waist with either seven or nineknots in it is a remedy collected in Ohio.Another from the same region is to make across on the shingles with moistened mudfrom a dirt dauber’s nest (Puckett 1981:439). In Newfoundland, a child with shin-gles was passed under the belly of a jackassto cure shingles, another example of trans-ference (Patterson 1897: 215). Some indi-viduals in Nova Scotia were credited withthe power to “charm” shingles (Creighton1968: 212). In North America, as in Brit-ain, there was a belief that if the shinglesencompassed the body completely, the pa-tient would die (Browne 1958: 93). Oneway to prevent this was to wear an eelskinaround the waist (UCLA Folklore Archives22_7597).

Substances topically applied to shinglesinclude gunpowder (Hendricks 1980: 96)and black ink (Browne 1958: 93). Oatstraw fried in lard has been drunk for shin-gles and applied to the rash (always with acircular motion, to avoid the blisters closingup inside, which would mean death) (Hyatt1965: 240). As in England’s Gloucester-shire, wheat has been used to treat shingles.A poultice of burned wheat straw has beenused in Alabama (Browne 1958: 93). Cot-ton wool soaked in castor oil (Puckett 1981:439), ashes of a hickory log applied (Brown1952–1964, 6: 273), and a salve of cran-berries and sulphur or of currants (Puckett1981: 439) are other applications that havebeen used to treat shingles. Drawing a circlearound the affected area with the juice froman old pipe stem is claimed to prevent themfrom spreading and with bringing about acure (Hyatt 1965: 240). Asafoetida (Ferulasp.) and whisky taken internally has beenused (Puckett 1981: 439). Finally, wearinga string soaked in turpentine around theneck will reputedly prevent the wearer fromgetting shingles (Puckett 1981: 439).

308 ; Silverweed

See also Blackberry, Houseleek, Poultice,Transference.






Burne, Margaret. “Parish Gleanings from UptonSt. Leonard’s, Gloucestershire.” Folk-Lore22 (1911), 236–239.


Hendricks, George D. Roosters Rhymes and Rail-road Tracks: A Second Sampling of Supersti-tions and Popular Beliefs in Texas. Dallas,TX: Southern Methodist University Press,1980.




Newman, Leslie F. “Some Notes on the Pharma-cology and Therapeutic Value of Folk-Medicine.” Folk-Lore 59 (1948): 118–135.

Patterson, George. “Folk-Lore in Newfoundland.”Journal of American Folklore 10 (1897):214–215.





Taylor, Mark R. Manuscript notes in NorfolkRecords Office, Norwich MS4322.

Taylor, Mark R. “Norfolk Folk Lore.” Folk-Lore40 (1929).

Thiselton Dyer, T. F. English Folk-Lore. London:Hardwicke and Bogue, 1878.

Udal, John Symonds. Dorsetshire Folk-Lore. Hart-ford (privately published), 1922.

Silverweed (Potentillaanserina)

In British folk medicine, this plant hasbeen used consistently over a number ofcenturies for two principal uses. As a cos-metic, it was reported in use in the sixteenthcentury by Pena and De l’Obel (Pena andDe l’Obel 1571), and it was still used toremove freckles and suntan in the High-lands in the nineteenth century (Pratt 1857,1: 32). Traditionally, according to Black,the silverweeed should be steeped for ninedays in buttermilk (Black 1883: 119). Itwas used specifically to treat the scars ofsmallpox in Leicestershire (Friend 1883–1884, 2: 371). Its second major use was torelieve soreness of the feet. Reputedly usedby the Roman soldiers on long marches, itsleaves were later placed in the shoes of pil-grims and of eighteenth-century carriers(Deering 1738: 162). This custom persistedamong schoolboys in Yorkshire into thenineteenth century (Allen and Hatfield, inpress), and in East Anglia it has been usedwithin living memory (Newman 1945;Hatfield MS). The Irish uses of the planthave been different. Here it has been usedto treat diarrhea, bleeding piles (MooreMS), and heart troubles (Gregory 1920).

Though the plant is native in NorthAmerica too, it does not appear to havebeen widely used there in folk medicine.

Skull : 309

Other species of Potentilla, such as P. can-adensis, seem to have been used instead.There is an eighteenth-century record of theuse of an infusion of Potentilla erecta or Po-tentilla canadensis to treat fever (Meyer1985: 127). During the nineteenth century,various species of Potentilla were used in do-mestic medicine for treating diarrhea (Crel-lin and Philpott 1990: 212). In NativeAmerican practice, various Potentilla specieshave been used, especially in the treatmentof diarrhea (Moerman 1998: 435).

See also Diarrhea, Heart trouble, Piles,Smallpox, Sore feet.





Deering, G. C. Catalogus Stirpium; or a catalogueof plants.. more especially about Nottingham.Nottingham: privately published, 1738.

Friend, Hilderic. Flowers and Flower Lore. 2 vols.London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1883–1884.

Gregory, (Isabella Augusta), Lady. Visions and Be-liefs in the West of Ireland. First Series. NewYork and London: Putnam, 1920.



Moore MS. Botany of the County of Londonderry1834–1835. Unpublished report producedby David Moore for the Irish OrdnanceSurvey. Herbarium Library, National Bo-tanic Gardens, Dublin.


Pena, Pierre, and De l’Obel, Mathias. StirpiumAdversaria Nova. London: Thomas Purefoy,1571.

Pratt, Anne. Wild Flowers. London: Society forPromoting Christian Knowledge, 1857.

SkullThe human skull, unsurprisingly, has

held symbolic significance in folk medicine,but in addition it has been used as a physicalremedy, in both official (Salmon 1693:290) and folk medicine. A much-quotedstory from a small town in Wales concerneda miner’s wife in the mid-nineteenth cen-tury who asked a local sexton for a smallportion of human skull, which was thenpowdered and given for epilepsy (Grendon1909: 123). In Scotland, where the sameremedy was used, it was stipulated that theskull should be that of a man for treating afemale patient, and vice versa (Black 1883:96). Part of an epilepsy cure from the Scot-tish Highlands involved the patient’s drink-ing water from a human skull (Beith 1995:101). Elsewhere in Scotland, drinking froma suicide’s skull was particularly recom-mended for epilepsy and for insanity.Grated skull was also ingested, as in Wales(Beith 1995: 183). A tooth from a deadman’s mouth was sometimes worn as anamulet against toothache (Black 1883: 98).

In North American folk medicine an am-ulet of a piece of human skull was wornagainst epilepsy (Brown 1952–1964, 6:178). The “distillate” of a human skull wasused in the past to produce a sweat (Brown1952–1964, 6: 298). Among the NativeAmerican Nooka, scrapings from inside askull were used as a contraceptive (Peacock1896: 277).

See also Amulet, Epilepsy, Moss,Toothache.



Black, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chap-

310 ; Sleeplessness

ter in the History of Culture. London: Folk-lore Society, 1883.

Brown, Frank C. Collection of North CarolinaFolklore. 7 vols. Durham, North Carolina:Duke University Press, 1952–1964.

Grendon, Felix. “The Anglo-Saxon Charms.”Journal of American Folklore 22 (1909):105–237.

Peacock, Mabel. “Executed Criminals and FolkMedicine.” Folk-Lore 7 (1896): 268–283.

Salmon, William. The Compleat English Physician.London, 1693.

SleeplessnessA variety of native plants were used in

British folk medicine to treat insomnia, in-cluding agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria).This was said to be so effective that if thesufferer put a sprig under the pillow, hewould sleep until it was removed! (Souter1995: 172). In Scotland, chickweed tea wastaken for insomnia (Beith 1995: 211),while cowslip is used in Devon (Lafont1984: 29) as well as in Ireland (see, forexample, Moloney 1910: 32). In the High-lands of Scotland, heather (Calluna vul-garis) was recommended as bedding toensure a good sleep. It was also used as apoultice for the head and drunk as an in-fusion to counter insomnia (Beith 1995:222). Syrup of white poppies was widelyused and abused for procuring oblivion,and laudanum was so cheap in VictorianBritain that every household had access toit. The milder and nonaddictive native redpoppy was also used as a gentler alternativein East Anglia. Hops were also thought tobe helpful in ensuring a good sleep (Vesey-Fitzgerald 1944: 25). The commonestmethod of use was to fill a pillow with driedhops; such pillows are, of course, still avail-able in health food shops.

Dietary advice in both Britain and NorthAmerica included having a light supper,having a milky drink before retiring, eatingbananas, or roasted apple, and eating honey

(Jarvis 1961: 105). Onions were recom-mended too, and even rubbing the soles ofa child’s feet with garlic has been suggested(Meyer 1985: 145). Pumpkin (Cucurbitasp.) was thought to help sleep. Lettuce (Lac-tuca sativa) (both wild and cultivated) andchamomile were used in orthodox Westernmedicine and in herbalism to promotesleep, but their inclusion in Beatrix Potter’sThe Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies has enshrinedthem in the annals of folk medicine. Here,as is so often the case, it is hard or impos-sible to draw a clear distinction betweenfolk and official remedies. The water fromboiled lettuces was used in recent times toprocure sleep in Essex, where saffron tea(Crocus sativus) was also used (E.M., Bark-ing Essex, 1985, pers. com.).

As in Europe, hops were used to aid sleepby settlers in North America as well as byNative Americans. Sleeping on a hop-filledpillow is still recommended in folk medi-cine. A tea made from catnip is alsorecommended. For a sleepless baby, onionjuice is suggested (Browne 1958: 22, 93,94). A preparation of the roots of purpleboneset is another recommendation (Long1962: 3). The root of species of Lady’s slip-per (Cypripedium acaule, C. pubescens) wasused as a sedative by the Indians, and earlysettlers named it “American valerian.” Theyellow lady’s slipper occurs throughout Eu-rope as well as in North America, but itsuse as a sedative seems to have been learnedby Europeans from the Native Americans.Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), on the otherhand, was originally a Western sedative,praised in the herbals, and introduced andnow naturalized in North America. In Brit-ain it is used for insomnia in herbalist prac-tice (Chevallier 1996: 146), but not in folkmedicine, which has found other uses forthe plant. In North America valerian hasbeen adopted by folk medicine for a num-ber of uses, but in Meyer’s book, for ex-ample, the only instance of its use forinsomnia is quoted from a physician’s rec-

Smallpox : 311

ommendation (Meyer 1985: 146). Theopium poppy was used by the Cherokee topromote sleep (Hamel and Chiltoskey1975: 50).

Miscellaneous advice for treating insom-nia includes taking a glass of hot water(Gruber 1894) and putting a pan of water(Frazier 1936: 35) or salt (Hyatt 1965: 270)under the bed. Keeping a bedroom windowopen is another suggestion. The tooth of adead dog or a dead jackal is said to be a curefor sleeplessness (Puckett 1981: 292).

The idea of counting sheep to help oneto fall asleep is a widespread one, and allkinds of other repetitive mental activitieshave been suggested. Lullabies, with theirsimple repetitive tunes and words, fall intothis category too.

See also Apple, Boneset, Catnip,Chamomile, Chickweed, Cowslip, Garlic,Honey, Hops, Onion, Poppy, Poultice,Valerian.






Gruber, John. Hagerstown Town and Country Al-manac. Hagerstown, MD: John Gruber,1852–1914.





Long, Grady M. “Folk Medicine in McMinn,Polk, Bradley and Meigs Counties, Tennes-see 1910–1927.” Tennessee Folklore SocietyBulletin 28 (1962): 1–8.


Moloney, M. F. Irish Ethnobotany. Dublin: M. H.Gill, 1910.


Potter, Beatrix. The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies.Frederick Warne, reissue edition 1987.




SmallpoxThe disease was known early in ancient

India and China, but it does not seem tohave reached Europe until the sixteenthcentury. For Europeans the illness, thoughserious, was not always fatal, and those whosurvived it presumably passed on a degreeof immunity to their children. Little infor-mation seems to be available concerningfolk treatments for smallpox. This may in-dicate that in domestic medicine, as in thebest of orthodox practice, survival de-pended more on good nursing and goodluck, than on any specific treatment. Inseventeenth-century England, a pupil of Sy-denham was fortunate to be nursed throughthe disease by his master, to whom heclearly felt he owed his survival (Nixon1941, 2: 774). Both John Wesley, in his

312 ; Smallpox

The real breakthrough in controlling smallpox na-tionally came when Jenner discovered the practice ofvaccinating with cow pox which was practiced in folkmedicine in rural Gloucestershire. Jenner’s interestand hard work ultimately led to the adoption of avaccination in Britain. Pictured here is the hand Jen-ner used as a source of his vaccine. (National Libraryof Medicine)

book Primitive Physic, and William Buchanin his Domestic Medicine recommend a lightdiet, with milk (or milk and water) to drink,apples to eat, and fresh air in the patient’sroom.

In Britain, smallpox epidemics were par-ticularly prevalent in the seventeenth andeighteenth centuries. Even those wealthyenough to turn to physicians for advicesometimes chose domestic medicine in-stead. In Scotland, Lady Clerk of Penicuikwrote to her husband in 1699 telling himthat their son Jamie had smallpox. She hadgiven him marigold posset (Calendula offi-cinalis) to drink and sent for some saffron(Crocus sativus), which she would bindabout his neck to prevent the soreness, andalso give him as medicine (SRO GD18/5219). These items would have been tooexpensive for most people to afford, unlikethe boiled sheep’s droppings used in theHighlands of Scotland or the mice or thepotion made from otter’s skin (Beith 1995:173, 179, 180). Wood lice in a small bagwere used as a “charm” against smallpox upto the nineteenth century (Brown 1951:337). Ground cinders of toads were ad-ministered for smallpox in the nineteenthcentury (N & Q 1849: 426). The greenhellebore (Helleborus viridis) apparently hada reputation as a prophylactic against small-pox. This is mentioned by Gerard in hisherbal, but whether it was used in folk prac-tice is unknown. In the eighteenth century,an infusion of vetch seeds (Vicia sativa) wasused to treat smallpox (Lightfoot 1777:396).

Those who did survive smallpox were of-ten left disfigured, and kitchen books andmedical books alike contain numerous rec-ipes for ointments to heal the scarring. Towhat extent these were actually used in folkmedicine is unknown. One plant that wasused in folk medicine to heal the scarringof smallpox is silverweed (Friend 1884, 2:371). An East Anglian smallpox remedythat has survived up to recent times is to

put an apple beside the bed. The spots willbe transferred to the apple, which is thenburied (Mundford 1980).

The story of vaccination against smallpoxis a curious blend of folk and orthodoxmedicine. We know that inoculation (de-liberately introducing a small dose of thedisease) was practiced in ancient China andin India in the fifth century. During theearly eighteenth century Lady Mary Mon-tagu was responsible for introducing thepractice from Turkey to Britain, althoughthere is evidence that the practice of givinga “kindly pock” was already in use in partof the Highlands of Scotland (Kennedy1715). The real breakthrough in control-ling the disease nationally came when Jen-ner discovered the practice of vaccinatingwith cow pox as practiced in folk medicinein rural Gloucestershire. His interest andhard work ultimately led to the adoption ofvaccination in Britain (Guthrie 1945: 248).

Smallpox reached the New World dur-ing the sixteenth century, when it wasbrought to the Caribbean and spread withdevastating results throughout South andlater North America. Waves of the diseasearrived with settlers throughout the six-teenth and seventeenth centuries, and theNative Americans died in thousands, evi-

Smallpox : 313

dently having no natural resistance to thedisease. Though not quite so devastating forEuropeans, it nevertheless caused thousandsof deaths among them as well.

In North American folk medicine therewere several prophylactic remedies againstsmallpox. Onion (Brown 1952–1964, 6:275), garlic (Brendle and Unger 1935: 97),or asafoetida (Ferula sp.) (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 275) were carried as amulets.Wearing a necklace of three kidney beans(UCLA Folklore Archive 5_5472) or of rat-tlesnake rattles (Cannon 1984: 122) wasanother protective measure. Cutting off thetongue of a heifer, rubbing the smallpoxsores with the still-warm tongue, throwingit over the head three times, and finally giv-ing it to a black cat to eat is a remedy thatis an example of transference, and one thatsmacks of desperation (Brown 1952–1964,6: 275).

There were some practical measuresadopted by folk medicine for treating small-pox. Saltpeter and brandy were recom-mended, as was cream of tartar (Hendricks1980: 97). An alternative was a steam bathfollowed by jumping into ice cold water(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 275). Skunk oilrubbed on was another suggestion (Stout1936: 184). Buzzard grease was said to bea cure (Puckett 1926: 389). As in Scotland,a tea made from sheep manure was used(Cannon 1984: 122). The blood of a blackdog was recommended (Randolph 1933:4).

Plant remedies used to treat smallpox in-clude a tea made from pokeberry leaves(Pickard and Buley 1945: 41), an ointmentmade from alder bark (Lick and Brendle1922: 234), a preparation of foxglove(Gruber 1881: 15), watermelon juice (Ci-trullus lanatus) (Hendricks 1966: 52), anda drink made from barley (Hordeum sp.)and pumpkin (Cucurbita sp.) stem (Bourke1894). A salve made from yarrow and tal-low was also used (Long 1962: 5). Mormonmidwives used a mixture of cornmeal gruel

and whisky, which was applied with afeather (Noall 1944: 112). Among slaves,two remedies used were black pepper teaand cornshuck tea (Saxon 1945: 248).

There were a number of remedies usedfor treating or preventing the scars of small-pox. These include sweet oil and lemonjuice (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 275) and asalve made from golden seal (Long 1962:3). Rue (Ruta sp.) hung around the neckwas thought to prevent damage to the eyesfrom smallpox (Brendle and Unger 1935:97). In New Mexico an infusion of logwood(Haemotoxylon sp.) was used (Curtin 1930:195).

The introduction of smallpox to the Na-tive Americans proved so devastating thatin seventeenth-century New England thesettlers were able to take over empty Indianfarms, whose owners had all died of small-pox (Johnson 1997: 31). Gumweed (Grin-delia spp.) was apparently used by theNevada Indians during smallpox epidemics(Willard 1992: 215). Other plants used bythe Native Americans to treat the diseaseinclude a mixture of princess pine (Chi-maphila sp.), black cherry (Prunus serotina),and wild turnip (Brassica napus) (Wallis1922: 29). Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpen-taria) was also used (Vogel 1970: 51), aswas an infusion of the stems and leaves ofrabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus sp.) (Welch1964: 88). However, even the extensiveherbal knowledge of the Indians was inad-equate in the face of this invading illness.

There is evidence that inoculation waspracticed in folk medicine in Africa andthat knowledge of it was brought by theslaves to North America (Farmer 1958:600). After a century of controversy sur-rounding both inoculation and vaccination,the latter was finally approved by orthodoxmedicine. The first North Americans to bevaccinated were in fact slaves, and it was notuntil early in the nineteenth century that aprogram of vaccination among the whitepopulation began (Bassett 1940: 18).

314 ; Smallpox

See also Alder, Amulet, Apple, Corn,Foxglove, Garlic, Golden seal, Onion,Poke, Silverweed, Transference, Yarrow.

ReferencesBassett, Victor H. “Plantation Medicine.” Journal

of the Medical Association of Georgia 29(1940): 112–122.





Brown, P. W. F. “Correspondence: Another Var-iation of Lucky Pig Charm.” Folk-Lore 62(1951): 337.

Buchan, William. Domestic Medicine. Edinburgh,1769.



Farmer, Laurence. “The Smallpox InoculationControversy and the Boston Press 1721–1722.” Bulletin of the New York Academy ofMedicine 34(9) (1958): 599–608.

Friend, Hilderic. Flowers and Flower Lore. 2 vols.London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1884.

Gerard, John. The Herball or Generall Historie ofPlantes. London: John Norton, 1597.

Gruber, John. Hagerstown Town and Country Al-manac. 1852–1914.

Guthrie, Douglas. A History of Medicine. London:Thomas Nelson, 1945.


Hendricks, George D. Roosters, Rhymes and Rail-

road Tracks: A Second Sampling of Supersti-tions and Popular Beliefs in Texas. Dallas,TX: Southern Methodist University Press,1980.

Johnson, Paul. A History of the American People.London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1997.

Kennedy, P. Essay on External Remedies. 1715.Quoted in H. G. Tait, Edinburgh MedicalJournal 58 (1951): 182.



Long, Grady M. “Folk Medicine in McMinn,Polk, Bradley and Meigs Counties, Tennes-see, 1910–1927.” Tennessee Folklore SocietyBulletin 28 (1962): 1–8.

Mundford Primary School Project, Norfolk,1980,unpublished.

N&Q Notes and Queries, London.Nixon, J. A. “Salt-Water Surgeons.” Lancet 2

(1941): 774.Noall, Claire. “Superstitions, Customs and Pre-

scriptions of Mormon Midwives.” Califor-nia Folklore Quarterly 3 (1944): 102–144.



Randolph, Vance. “Ozark Superstitions.” Journalof American Folklore 46 (1933): 1–21.


SRO. Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh.Stout, Earl J. “Folklore from Iowa.” Memoirs of

the American Folklore Society 29 (1936).Vogel, Virgil J. American Indian Medicine. Nor-

man: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.Wallis, Wilson D. “Medicines Used by the

MicMac Indians.” American Anthropologist24 (1922): 24–30.

Welch, Charles E., Jr. “Some Drugs of the NorthAmerican Indian: Then and Now.” KeystoneFolklore Quarterly 9(3) (1964): 83–99.

Snail : 315

The snail was a recognized part of the official EnglishMateria Medica, used especially to treat consump-tion. In folk medicine, snail slime also had a repu-tation for helping straighten children’s deformedlimbs, and in Yorkshire, swallowing live snails wasrecommended for asthma. (National Library of Med-icine)

Wesley, John. Primitive Physic. London, 1755.Willard, Terry. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the

Rocky Mountains and Neighbouring Territo-ries. Calgary, ALTA: Wild Rose College ofNatural Healing, 1992.

SnailThe snail was a recognized part of the

official English materia medica, used espe-cially to treat consumption (see, for exam-ple, Salmon 1693: 693). This recipe wasalso used in domestic medicine. NathanCoward, of Dersingham, in Norfolk, En-gland, writing in 1778, records how a brothmade from “dodmans” (Norfolk word forsnails) removed from their shells cured hiswife when doctors had failed. The recipehad been given to him by his grandmother,Tabitha (Coward 1800: 24). The reputa-tion of snail broth for treating consumptionsurvived in England at least into the twen-tieth century (Taylor 1929: 115). “Dis-guised with herbs and other condiments,”it was said to be not unpalatable (Gerish1920). In the mid-twentieth century thereis a record of a woman, then aged seventy-four, who remembered from her childhooda longshoreman of Weymouth harbor whohad been cured of consumption by a dietof snails (EFS Record Number 342).

In folk medicine, snail slime also had areputation for helping straighten deformedlimbs in children (Prince 1991: 104). Tostrengthen the spine, it was recommendedto rub with grey snails (Addy 1893: 91).Froth from a pricked snail was a Worces-tershire cure for earache (Black 1883: 158),and it was used similarly in Ireland (Logan1972: 34). Swallowing live snails was rec-ommended for asthma in Yorkshire (Rol-leston 1944: 8). In Somerset, raw limpetsand snails were recommended for bronchi-tis (Tongue 1965: 37). An eighteenth-century cure for a cough was snails boiledin barley water (Black 1883: 157). Snail

slime mixed with brown sugar was a rec-ommendation for whooping cough (Rad-ford and Radford 1974: 312). In Sussex,snail juice as a cough remedy survived intothe twentieth century (Allen 1995: 150). InScotland, snails figured in a wide variety offolk remedies, for treating rheumatism,rickets, cold sores and swellings (especiallytubercular tumors) (Beith 1995: 185).Snails have frequently been used, within liv-ing memory, throughout Britain to treatwarts; the snail was encouraged to walk overthe wart and was then impaled on a thorn;as it withered, so the wart disappeared.

In North American folk medicine, thecommonest ailments treated with snails areconsumption (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 159)and warts (see, for example, Wintemberg1918: 127). Various other ailments havebeen treated with snails. Snail slime hasbeen rubbed on thrush (Puckett 1981: 118)and on erysipelas (Foster 1953: 212).Cooked snails soaked in raisin wine havebeen applied as a poultice for a sore throat(UCLA Folklore Archive 4_2615). A snail’shead has been wrapped and worn on the

316 ; Snake

neck to treat headache (UCLA Folklore Ar-chive 11_1907). Ashes of snail shells havetreated a sore scalp (UCLA Folklore Ar-chive 10_2611) and, mixed with honey,have been used on sore gums (UCLA Folk-lore Archive 2_1875). For rheumatism, anamulet consisting of a snail soaked in vin-egar and rolled in meal has been wornaround the neck (Puckett 1926: 362).Snails and their shells, ground up andwarmed, have been applied to neck swelling(UCLA Folklore Archive 1_2236). For diz-ziness, it has been recommended to eat largeground-up snails, warmed (UCLA FolkloreArchive 1_1481).

In the Native American tradition, snailshave also been used in healing. Among theKwakiutl, a snail has been placed in thethroat for tonsillitis and diphtheria. A poul-tice of snail bodies has been applied to cuts(Boas 1932: 193).

See also Amulet, Asthma, Coughs, Cuts,Dizziness, Earache, Erysipelas, Headache,Poultice, Rheumatism, Rickets, Sorethroat, Tuberculosis, Warts, Whoopingcough.


Traditional remains Collected in the Countiesof York, Lincoln, Derby and Nottingham.London: 1893.

Allen, Andrew. A Dictionary of Sussex Folk Medi-cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.





Coward, Nathan. Quaint Scraps and Sudden Cog-

itations. Lynn, Norfolk: Wm. Turner,1800.


Foster, George M. “Relationships between Span-ish and Spanish-American Folk Medicine.”Journal of American Folklore 66 (1953):201–217.

Gerish, W. B. Norfolk Beliefs. 1920. Manuscriptnotes in Yarmouth Public Library.






Rolleston, J. D. “Respiratory Folk-Lore.” Tubercle25 (1944): 7–12.





SnakeThe symbolism of the snake as a healing

agent stretches back at least to the time ofthe ancient Greeks, whose god of healing,Aesculapius, was represented by a snake.The same symbolism has been adopted bythe British Medical Association, the badgeof which includes a snake. In folk medicine,parts of the snake have been used in prac-

Snake : 317

Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing (picturedhere), was represented by a snake. In folk medicine,parts of the snake have been used in a practical wayto treat a wide variety of ailments. (National Libraryof Medicine)

tical ways to treat a wide variety of ailments.The sloughed-off skin of a snake, in partic-ular, has been credited with healing powers.In the middle to late nineteenth centurythere was a man who sat on the steps ofKing’s College Chapel in Cambridge andmade his living selling the cast skins ofsnakes as a remedy for headache (Black1883: 156). They were also used against in-fection right up to the twentieth century. Alady from Devon recalls her sister’s septicfinger being cured by a piece of snakeskinwrapped around it (Prince 1991: 101). Thewhole snake was regarded as a cure for snakebite, an example of sympathetic magic. InSussex, one treatment for a swollen neckwas to draw a snake along the swelling, thenput the snake in a bottle and bury it; as thesnake rotted, so the swelling would disap-pear, a clear example of transference (Black1883: 58). Snakeskin was used to removesplinters—it was rubbed on the skin op-posite the thorn and was believed to repelit, so that it fell out (Notes and Queries, 3[1851] 258; Black 1883: 156). The oil frommelted adder fat was used in Sussex as a curefor deafness as recently as the twentieth cen-tury, and the sloughed skin was used simi-larly. Soaked in wine, it was eaten to treattoothache (Allen 1995: 164).

In the official materia medica of the six-teenth and seventeenth centuries, the fleshof “vipers” was regarded as a panacea andwas used for ailments as diverse as leprosyand poor eyesight. Snake blood had a rep-utation as a cosmetic. The price of suchitems put them out of reach of ordinarypeople, unless they prepared their own. SirKenelm Digby, famous for his “powder ofsympathy” in the seventeenth century, hada very beautiful wife who ate capons fedwith viper flesh (Allen 1995: 168). In Eliz-abethan Sussex a snakeskin was worn toprevent backache and rheumatism (Allen1995: 169).

In North American folk medicine therewas a much wider range of snakes available

for use. Many of the medicinal uses are sim-ilar to those in Britain. In New England inthe nineteenth century either keeping a petsnake or wearing a snakeskin around theneck was thought to prevent rheumatism(Black 1883: 156). Snake oil was used forgout in colonial Virginia (Eggleston 1899:204). In Kansas snakeskin was worn as ahatband to cure headache (Davenport1898: 132). Snakeskin soaked in vinegarwas used to treat a wound (UCLA FolkloreArchives 1_5578). A live snake’s belly wasrubbed on warts to remove them (UCLA

318 ; Snake bite

Folklore Archives 24_5542). The rattle-snake features in a large number of NorthAmerican remedies. Much as in Britainwith the adder skin, a rattlesnake skin wasworn to prevent rheumatism (Thomas andThomas 1920: 113) and backache (Bergen1899: 76). Rattlesnake oil has been usedto treat rheumatism (Puckett 1981: 431)and baldness (UCLA Folklore Archives13_5277), as well as earache (Parler 1962,3: 613). The gall of the rattlesnake was usedto treat eye disorders (a remedy originatingfrom China) (UCLA Folklore Archives24_5372) and biliousness (UCLA FolkloreArchives 8_6737). Even the bite of the rat-tlesnake found its uses. The venom wasclaimed to cure cramp-colic (Porter 1894:112). A bite from a rattlesnake was said tocure tuberculosis (Pound 1946: 166).

In the Native American tradition it wasbelieved that gently biting along the bodyof a living green snake would cure tooth-ache (Speck 1923: 278).

See also Backache, Baldness, Colic,Deafness, Earache, Gout, Headache,Rheumatism, Snake bite, Sympatheticmagic, Toothache, Transference,Tuberculosis, Warts, Wound.





Davenport, Gertrude C. “Folk-Cures from Kan-sas.” Journal of American Folklore 11 (1898):129–132.

Eggleston, Edward. “Some Curious ColonialRemedies.” American Historical Review 5(1899): 199–206.

Notes and Queries, 3: 258. London, 1851.Parler, Mary Celestia, and University Student

Contributors. Folk Beliefs from Arkansas. 15

vols. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas,1962.

Porter, J. Hampden. “Notes on the Folklore ofthe Mountain Whites of the Alleghenies.”Journal of American Folklore 7 (1894): 105–117.

Pound, Louise. “Nebraska Snake Lore.” SouthernFolklore Quarterly 10 (1946): 163–176.



Speck, Frank G. “Reptile Lore of the NorthernIndians.” Journal of American Folklore 36(1923): 273–280.


Snake biteVarious amulets were used in British folk

medicine to protect against snake bite, thecommonest of these being fossil ammo-nites, popularly called “snake-stones.” So-called adder stones, thought to be fossilizedsecretions from the adder, were similarlyused in the Scottish Highlands (Beith 1995:157). Agate had a dual role; worn as an am-ulet it was thought to protect against snakebite, while rubbed on a snake bite it wassaid to absorb the poison (Souter 1995:186, 187). The leaf of the plantain was car-ried as an amulet against snake bite (Souter1995: 66).

In British folk medicine, treatments forsnake bite were varied and strange. Goat-shorn shavings in goat’s milk was an Anglo-Saxon remedy (Cockayne 1864, 1: 351,353). The milk of a one-colored cow (pref-erably white), when churned into butter,formed a cure for bites of snakes, especiallyadders, in the Highlands of Scotland (Beith

Snake bite : 319

1995: 174). More recent nineteenth- andtwentieth-century remedies are no lessstrange. The entrails of a newly killed henwere recommended as an application to asnake bite in Wiltshire (Black 1883: 46); ina Devonshire variation of this remedy, thewound should be thrust into the stomachof a newly killed chicken—if the flesh ofthe chicken turned dark, the cure had beenachieved (Thiselton Dyer 1880: 137).Dried adder heads were valued in the Scot-tish Highlands as a cure for adder bite, anexample of sympathetic magic. In the islandof Skye adder heads were collected in a bag.When needed, they were dipped in a streamat a place where it divided two crofts. Thewater dripping from the bag when it wasremoved from the stream was used to treatadder bite (Matheson, 1949: 391). Muchmore simply, application of salt immedi-ately after the animal had been bitten wasan East Anglian treatment for cows bittenby an adder (Lilias Rider Haggard, ed.,1974: 129). In the Highlands of Scotland,baking soda was used similarly for treatingsnake bites (Beith 1995: 185).

Among plants used to treat snake bite inBritish folk medicine are ground ivy (Gle-choma hederacea) and juniper (Juniperuscommunis). In the latter case, the berrieswere crushed and placed on the wound(Beith 1995: 221, 225). Ash leaves weresometimes used as a poultice to treat snakebites (Beith 1995: 203).

In North America, the variety of indig-enous venomous snakes is much greaterthan in Britain. It is therefore unsurprisingthat the range of plants used in their treat-ment is correspondingly greater. It is re-ported that in 1690 a woman in Virginiatreated a victim of a rattlesnake bite by giv-ing him ground-up bezoar (the concretionfrom the stomach of various animals, in-cluding goat—this was an item popular inthe official pharmacopeia of the day), fol-lowed by an infusion of dittany (Eggleston

1899: 206). American dittany (Cunila ori-ganoides) was a popular herb among earlycolonists, drunk usually as a tea for colds.The country names of some species indicatetheir former use; snakeroot (Aristolochia ser-pentaria) and snakebutton (Liatris squar-rosa) were both used to treat snake bites, thelatter especially for the rattlesnake bite(Grieve 1931: 746). Rattlesnake weed (Ly-copus sp.), as its name implies, was used too(Jeffrey 1955: 255). As in Britain, ash wasused. A tea made from white ash barkmixed with corn meal was applied as a poul-tice to snake bites (Puckett 1981: 442).Rubbing ash wood over the wound was an-other recommendation. The ash has beenassociated with the power to deter snakessince the time of Pliny. Dock leaves havealso been used to poultice snake bitewounds (Clark 1970: 30). In the AfricanAmerican tradition Aralia spinosa was usedto treat snake bite (Vogel 1970: 273).

A plethora of nonplant remedies havebeen used for snake bite. They include (asin Britain) the application of parts of asnake, or of a split chicken. Alternativeswere mouse flesh, or a toad. Salt, whisky,turpentine, tobacco, and kerosene wereamong other applications (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 275–282).

In the Native American tradition a largenumber of different plants have been usedfor the treatment of snake bite. Moermangives more than ninety different genera(Moerman 1998: 819–820). They includeash (Fraxinus spp.), used by several tribes,including the Iroquois, and Aristolochia,again used by several tribes. Different spe-cies of milkweed (Asclepias spp.) werewidely used. Peyote was chewed and poul-ticed onto snake bites in northern Mexico(Vogel 1970: 166).

See also Amulet, Ash, Colds, Dock,Mouse, Plantain, Poultice, Soda,Sympathetic magic, Toads and frogs,Wounds.

320 ; Snow






Cockayne, Rev. O. Leechdoms, Wortcunning andStarcraft of Early England. 3 vols. London:Rolls Series, 35, 1864.



Jeffrey, Lloyd N. “Snake Yarns of the West andSouthwest.” Western Folklore 14 (1955):246–258.

Matheson, Neil. “Highland Healers.” Scots Mag-azine Feb. 1949, 391.





Thiselton Dyer, T. F. (ed.). English Folk-lore. Lon-don: Bogue, 1880.


SnowA British folk remedy for chilblains is to

rub them with snow or to run through the

snow (Porter 1974: 44). Rubbing a baby’sfeet in the first snow of the season wasthought to prevent it from getting chil-blains (Leather 1912: 78). Water frommelted snow was saved and used for treatingburns (Mundford Primary School project,unpublished).

In North American folk medicine theseremedies and others are found. Again, walk-ing barefoot in snow is recommended forchilblains (Anon. 1939: 208). Runningaround the house three times in the snowwas recommended for frostbite (Brown1952–1964, 6: 199). Washing the hands inthe first snow would prevent chapped handsduring the winter (Farr 1935: 15). Marchsnow water was held to be good for thecomplexion (Allen 1963: 68) and for thehair (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 204). Runningbarefoot in snow or ice was suggested for asore throat (Anderson 1970: 67). Placing ababy’s feet in the first snow prevented itfrom having croup or pneumonia (Parler1962, 3: 238, 260). Eating some of the firstsnow prevented toothache (Hyatt 1965:285). March snow was credited with re-moving warts (Browne 1958: 115) andfreckles (Hyatt 1965: 267). Snow held onthe back of the neck was recommended fornosebleed (Gardner 1937: no. 36). A curefor headache was to wash in snow water onGood Friday (Hyatt 1965: 235). As in Brit-ain, water from melted snow was bottledand used for treating burns (Mason 1957:29). In addition, snow water was used forsore or weak eyes (Hyatt 1965: 243).Catching the first snow in the mouth andswallowing it would ensure good health allyear (Hyatt 1965: 196).

In the Native American tradition, ice andsnow were invoked to heal sunburn (Mel-linger 1967: 20).

See also Burns, Chilblains, Croup,Freckles, Frostbite, Headache, Nosebleed,Sore throat, Sunburn, Toothache, Warts.

Sore feet : 321

ReferencesAllen, John W. Legends and Lore of Southern Illi-

nois. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois Uni-versity, 1963.

Anderson, John. Texas Folk Medicine. Austin: En-cino Press, 1970.

Anon. Idaho Lore. Caldwell, ID: AMS Press In-corporated, 1939.

Brown, Frank C. Collection of North CarolinaFolklore. 7 vols. Durham, North Carolina,1952–1964.

Browne, Ray B. Popular Beliefs and Practices fromAlabama. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Uni-versity of California Publications, FolkloreStudies 9, 1958.

Farr, T. J. “Tennessee Superstitions and Beliefs.”Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 1(2)(1935): 13–27.

Gardner, Emelyn Elizabeth. Folklore from theSchoharie Hills, New York. Ann Arbor: Uni-versity of Michigan Press, 1937.



Mason, James. “Home Remedies in West Vir-ginia.” West Virginia Folklore 7 (1957): 27–32.

Mellinger, Marie B. “Medicine of the Cherokees.”Foxfire 1(3) (1967): 13–20.

Mundford Primary School project, Norfolk,1980. Unpublished.



SodaSodium bicarbonate is one of a small

number of household ingredients that havebeen widely used in folk medicine. In Brit-ain it has been used to treat insect bites and

stings, indigestion, and heartburn, and as asoak for tender feet (Prince 1991: 27, 32,33). It has also been used in Scotland forsnake bites and for treating chilblains (Beith1995: 185, 188).

In North America soda has been used invery similar ways, to treat insect stings andindigestion (Micheletti 1998: 43) as well ashiccups and snake bites (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 215, 281).

See also Chilblains, Hiccups, Indigestion,Insect bites and stings, Snake bite.






Sore feetRubbing feet with deer tallow or with a

mixture of oatmeal and butter to preventsoreness was practiced in the Highlands ofScotland (Beith 1995: 174). An Englishequivalent was to rub the feet with meltedcandle wax and spirits (The Daily ExpressEnquire Within 1934: 439). Urine was usedto treat sore feet—for example, in Wales(Jones 1980: 61). Fresh alder leaves placedin the shoes were claimed to prevent feetbecoming sore (Beith 1995: 202). Silver-weed leaves were used similarly. An oint-ment made from the roots of mallow, or afoot bath prepared by steeping the flowersof marigolds (Calendula officinalis) in hotwater, were both remedies in Somerset(Tongue 1965: 40, 43). A rub for tired feet

322 ; Sore feet

in the Scottish Highlands was the water inwhich Sphagnum moss had been boiled(Beith 1995: 244). The water in whichhouseleeks had been boiled was used inNorfolk for sore feet (Mundford PrimarySchool project, 1980, unpub.). Cabbageleaves were recommended for tired andsweaty feet, and were used by soldiers dur-ing the Second World War to counter“trench foot” (Hatfield MS). Bladder wrack(Fucus vesiculosus) was used in Ireland fortreating sore and sweaty feet (Allen andHatfield, in press). The bark of oak has beenadded to the bath water to relieve sore andsweaty feet in Donegal (McGlinchey 1986:84). Mugwort leaves inside the shoes havebeen claimed to prevent a traveler from be-coming weary (Lafont 1984: 6). Dockleaves have been used inside the shoes totreat sore feet (EFS 241Sr) or sweaty feet(CECTL MSS). Excessive sweating of thefeet has been checked by beating with holly,a procedure better known as a chilblaintreatment (EFS 107 Ch). Plantain leaveshave been use to relieve rubbing (Shaw1955: 49).

In North American folk medicine, therewere a number of suggestions for sore andaching feet. These include oatmeal or branin the socks, or fuller’s earth, mixed withpowdered starch and zinc. A foot bath ofwheat bran and soda was another recom-mendation, as was hot water or warm moistsand, or vinegar. Herbal soothers includeda poultice of plantain leaves, a decoction ofthe bark of white oak or red oak, or the largeleaf of horseradish (Armoracia rusticana),burdock or cabbage, with the main vein re-moved, warmed and applied to the foot. Apoultice of mashed roast onions was alsosuggested (Meyer 1985: 119–120). Rawpotato (Puckett 1981: 374) and dried tur-nip (UCLA Folklore Archives 7_6185)have also been used to relieve sore feet andblisters. Foot soaks have been preparedfrom weeping willow leaves (Salix ?babylon-

ica) (Puckett 1981: 374), jimson weed(Datura sp.) (UCLA Folklore Archives20_5377), elderberry bark (Parler 1962:631), hemlock bark (Browne 1958: 63), orviolet (Viola sp.) (Cadwallader and Wilson1965: 223). Grape leaves (Vitis spp.) havebeen recommended worn in the shoes toprevent sore feet (Hyatt 1965: 222).

A thin slice of salt pork bound ontosore feet overnight was recommended inMaine (UCLA Folklore Archives 18_7590).Washing sore feet in dishwater is a sugges-tion from Kentucky (Thomas and Thomas1920: 103). During the Civil War, whiskywas put in the shoes to prevent sore feet(Hyatt 1965: 222). Among the Pennsylva-nia Germans, a cure for sore feet was to cutout a foot-sized piece of turf and replace itupside down, then rest the sore foot on it(Brendle and Unger 1935: 75). Perhaps themost poetic cure for sore feet comes fromIllinois, where the recommendation is towalk barefoot in the early morning dew(Hyatt 1965: 222).

In Native American practice, a numberof plants were used to relieve sore feet, in-cluding princess pine (Chimaphila umbel-lata) (UCLA Folklore Archives 17_7610).Steam from a hot infusion of tansy (Tana-cetum vulgare) was also used (Speck 1944:45). Pine needles (Pinus lasiocarpa) wereplaced in the moccasins as a foot deodorant;sagewort leaves (Artemisia ludoviciana) wereused similarly, as well as for treating blisters(Hellson 1974: 75, 123, 124). Aspen leaves(Populus tremuloides) were also used as afoot deodorant and antiperspirant (Turner,Bouchard, and Kennedy 1980: 134).

See also Alder, Burdock, Cabbage,Chilblains, Dew, Dock, Earth, Elder,Hemlock spruce, Holly, Houseleek,Mallow, Mugwort, Onion, Pine, Plantain,Potato, Silverweed, Soda, Sphagnummoss, Urine.

Sore throat : 323







CECTL MSS. Manuscript material at the Centrefor English Cultural Tradition and Lan-guage, University of Sheffield.

The Daily Express Enquire Within. London: DailyExpress, 1934.

EFS. English Folklore Survey. Manuscript mate-rial at University College London.





McGlinchey, Charles. The Last of the Name. Ed-ited by Brian Friel. Belfast: Blackstaff Press,1986.


Mundford Primary School, Norfolk. School proj-ect 1980, unpublished.



Shaw, Margaret Fay. Folkways and Folklore ofSouth Uist. London: Routledge, 1955.


Thomas, Daniel Lindsey, and Lucey Blayney Tho-mas. Kentucky Superstitions. Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press, 1920.

Tongue, Ruth L. Somerset Folklore. County Folk-lore. Edited by K. M. Briggs. Vol. 8. Lon-don: Folklore Society, 1965.

Turner, Nancy J., R. Bouchard, and Dorothy I.D. Kennedy. Ethnobotany of the Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia andWashington. Victoria: British ColumbiaProvincial Museum, 1980.

Sore throatThe many and varied causes of sore

throat have not been clearly distinguishedin folk medicine in the past, but obviouslyit has been observed that this conditionsometimes led to serious and even fatal ill-ness. Even in domestic medicine, it was nottherefore taken lightly, and this is reflectedin the very wide variety of folk remedies.The various plant infusions, such as blackcurrant (Ribes nigra) (both the leaves andthe fruit) (see, e.g., Hatfield 1994 appen-dix), raspberry, lemon, and honey (oftenwith whisky added) are all readily under-standable to the modern reader. Otherplants used to make a gargle were sloe ber-ries (Prunus spinosa), berries of rowan, andsage (Salvia officinalis). In the ScottishHighlands, a fungus growing on the barkof elder was made into a gargle for a sorethroat, as were the leaves and flowers ofhawthorn and an infusion made from thepowdered bark of oak (Beith 1995: 215,

324 ; Sore throat

Wrapping up warmly and going to bed made obvioussense for those who suffered from a sore throat.Much more obscure in its origin is the practice, wide-spread in England up to the twentieth century, ofwrapping one of the sufferer’s worn socks around thethroat. (National Library of Medicine)

221, 230, 237). The root of comfrey (Sym-phytum officinale) was chewed for a sorethroat (Hatfield 1994: 30). A poultice for asore throat was made from cooked potatoes.In Ireland, cabbage leaves tied around thethroat were used similarly (Black 1883:192). A decoction of the bark of wild cherrywas used in East Anglia (Hatfield 1994: 30).

Wrapping up warmly and going to bedmade obvious sense. Much more obscure inits origin is the practice, widespread in En-gland up to the twentieth century, of wrap-ping one of the sufferer’s worn socks aroundthe throat. Similarly, a rasher of bacon wornaround the throat overnight was used inNorthamptonshire (Prince 1991: 98). In

Ireland, salt herring applied to the soles ofthe feet was a remedy for a sore throat(Black 1883: 182). Wearing a red threadaround the neck has also been reported asa traditional cure for a sore throat (Souter1995: 187).

In general, North American folk medi-cine treatments for sore throat were similarto those in Britain. A sock worn around thethroat was widely used (Brown 1952–1964,6: 286–287). Bacon and other forms ofmeat were wrapped around a sore throat(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 284). Herrings wereused, as in Scotland (Bergen 1899: 77) andred flannel was also recommended (Brown1952–1964, 6: 286). Wearing beads of am-ber or gold were measures recommended toprevent a sore throat (Brown 1952–1964,6: 288). Plant remedies used include a poul-tice of navy beans or of jimson leaves, or ofroasted onions or slippery elm (Brown1952–1964, 6: 284, 285). As in Britain, asyrup of sugar and onion was recommended(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 285). Also as inBritain, comfrey roots was used in sorethroat treatment (Meyer 1985: 254). Nu-merous other examples of sore throat treat-ment are to be found in the UCLA FolkloreArchives.

In the Native American tradition, innu-merable different plants were used in sorethroat treatment, belonging to nearly twohundred different genera (Moerman 1998:821–823). Among them are some plantsrecognizable in British folk medicine too—for example, plum and cherry (Prunusspp.), oak (Quercus spp.), and dock (Rumexspp.). The majority, however, are plants un-familiar to British folk medicine. Spruce(Picea spp.), wormwood (Artemisia spp.),and biscuitroot (Lomatium spp.) are amongthe most widely used.

See also Amber, Cherry, Coughs, Dock,Elder, Elm, Gold, Hawthorn, Onion,Potato, Poultice, Quinsy, Rowan,Thornapple.

Specialist : 325











SpecialistThere are many examples in folk medi-

cine of an individual who is famous for theability to cure one illness. These individualsmay or may not be healers in the generalsense. In Ireland and Scotland, often theseventh son was considered to have specialhealing powers, in particular the power tocure the “evil” (i.e., the King’s Evil, scrof-ula). Wart charmers are a good example ofthe specialist folk healer, but there are manyothers. In East Anglia in the twentieth cen-tury there was a woman locally famous forher treatment of eczema, another for herointment for “festered fingers” (HatfieldMS). Irish folk medicine abounds with ex-amples of individuals who had “the power”to cure one particular ailment.

The power was usually of unknown ori-

gin, sometimes inherited, and it could usu-ally be deliberately passed to another. In thecase of an herbal remedy, this, of course,holds no mystery; however, there are nu-merous examples of people who themselveshad no explanation for their special ability.Often there was an element of secrecy sur-rounding the way in which the cure wasperformed; if details were revealed, thepower would be lost. In Ulster, Buckley re-cords, the person who has the “cure” maybe a seventh daughter, a posthumous child,a woman who marries a man of the samename, or the seventh son of a seventh son(Buckley 1980: 15–34). Given the secrecysurrounding such “cures” and the oraltransmission of any knowledge concerningthem, it is unsurprising that we have so littleknowledge of how the cures were per-formed. It is unclear whether specialists rep-resent the end-point of a folk medicalsystem of healers or whether they were al-ways a distinct phenomenon. Bone settersare another example of specialist healers. InCeltic areas of Britain they persisted intothe twentieth century. A highland bone set-ter who died in 1902 had learned his skillboth from his father and from a cousin. Hispractice was extensive, and on a Saturdayhe would see as many as thirty patients. Therest of his time was spent farming (Buchan1994: 52).

Similar specialists served North Ameri-can communities. As in Britain, few ofthem are fully documented, but each wouldhave been well known in the communitywhere they worked. Among the Cajuns ofsouthern Louisiana there were many faithhealers, each specializing in treating oneparticular ailment (Micheletti 1998: 206–207). In Syracuse there was a family of bonesetters whose practice spanned seventy years(Jones 1949: 480). As in Britain, many peo-ple suffering from warts had recourse towart charmers. Other specialist healers hadthe power to “talk the fire” out of burns(Kirkland 1992: 41–52).

326 ; Sphagnum moss

See also Healer, Seventh son, Tuberculosis,Warts.

ReferencesBuchan, David, ed. Folk Tradition and Folk Med-

icine in Scotland: The Writings of David Ro-rie. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic,1994.

Buckley, Anthony D. “Unofficial Healing in Ul-ster.” Ulster Folklife 26 (1980): 15–34.

Jones, Louis C. “Practitioners of Folk Medicine.”Bulletin of the History of Medicine 23 (1949):480–493.

Kirkland, James. “Talking Fire Out of Burns: AMagico-Religious Healing Tradition.” InHerbal and Magical Medicine. TraditionalHealing Today. Edited by James Kirkland,Holly F. Matthews, C.W. Sullivan III andKaren Baldwin. Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press, 1992.

Micheletti, Enza, ed. North American Folk Heal-ing: An A–Z Guide to Traditional Remedies.New York and Montreal: Reader’s DigestAssociation, 1998.

Sphagnum moss(Sphagnum spp.)

This remarkable plant can hold manytimes its own weight of water, and folkmedicine has exploited this characteristic. Ithas been used as a wound dressing as longago as the Battle of Clontarf in 1014(Grieve 1931: 553) and as recently asWorld War I and World War II, where itsantiseptic as well as its absorptive qualitiesproved useful (Chevallier 1996: 26; Beith1995: 244). It has formed the basis for san-itary towels and babies’ nappies, both inrural communities and, more recently, incommercialized form (Willard 1992: 28).As a wound dressing, it was sometimes cov-ered with clay to give added protection, asin Devon (St. Clair 1971). In the ScottishHighlands it has been used as a rub for soreand tired feet (Beith 1995: 244). In Som-erset, it has treated sore eyes (Tongue 1965:39). In Ireland, it has been packed tightly

around sprains (Logan 1972) and has beenused to treat rashes and burns (Allen andHatfield, in press).

In North American “frontier medicine”it was used for cuts, grazes, abscesses, andhemorrhoids, sometimes combined with anantiseptic herb such as garlic or witch hazel(Hamamelis sp.) (Souter 1995: 170). As adressing for wounds and sores it has beenused in Newfoundland “from earliesttimes” (Grieve 1931: 553), and knowledgeof this usage has persisted to recent times(UCLA Folklore Archive 10_6556). In Na-tive American medicine it was used as awound dressing, as well as for nappies andsanitary pads. It also served as a disinfectant(Turner et al. 1983: 59), and was used totreat children’s sores (Carrier LinguisticCommittee 1973: 87).

See also Abscesses, Burns, Cuts, Eyeproblems, Garlic, Piles, Sore feet, Sprains,Wounds.




Carrier Linguistic Community. Plants of CarrierCountry. Fort St. James, British Columbia:Carrier Linguistic Committee, 1973.



Logan, Patrick Making the Cure: A Look at IrishFolk Medicine. Dublin: Talbot Press, 1972.

St. Clair, Sheila. Folklore of the Ulster People. Cork:Mercier Press, 1971.



Turner, Nancy J., John Thomas, Barry F. Carl-

Spider : 327

Both the spider and its web have been used in British folk medicine. Rolled in its own web, a spider wasoften swallowed for whooping cough, fever, and sore throat. (National Library of Medicine)

son, and Robert T. Ogilvie. Ethnobotany ofthe Nitinaht Indians of Vancouver Island.Victoria: British Columbia Provincial Mu-seum, 1983.


SpiderBoth the spider and its web have been

used in British folk medicine. Cobwebshave been a handy first-aid measure fortreating cuts for as far back as records ex-tend; and they were used both in officialmedicine (recommended by Dioscorides)and in folk medicine. They have been usedin country areas, with apparent success,within living memory. Especially when

someone cut their hand between the thumband index finger, it was believed that teta-nus was a possible outcome; in many ruralareas the tetanus bacillus is still endemic inthe soil. Surprisingly to modern ears, thistype of cut in particular was treated withcobwebs. The effect seems to have beentwofold: the web helps blood clotting andtherefore stems blood loss; in addition itseems to have reduced the rate of infection.Though there have not been detailed stud-ies of the chemical composition of spiders’webs, from what little is known it seemsthat there is an anti-infective agent in thecobweb.

The spider itself was used in some folkremedies. Rolled in its own web, it wasswallowed for whooping cough, fever, andsore throat. In Sussex, a spider rolled in but-

328 ; Spit

ter was used as a treatment for fever (Allen1995: 22). In Norfolk, the spider in its ownweb was used (Mundford Primary School,Norfolk, 1980, unpub.). Spiders were alsoused as amulets, to ward off fever. In theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries theywere carried in nutshells or muslin bagsaround the neck (Allen 1995: 23). EliasAshmole records in his dairy for May 11,1681, how he took a dose of elixir and hungthree spiders about his neck “and they drovemy ague away” (Black 1883: 60). In thenineteenth century in West Sussex live spi-ders rolled in butter were taken for jaundice(Black 1883: 60), while in Norfolk the un-fortunate spider was pinned above the man-telpiece as a cure for whooping cough. As itdied, the whooping cough would disappear(Thiselton Dyer 1880: 154). In Worcester-shire, the spider was worn as an amuletagainst toothache (Black 1883: 61), whilein the Highlands of Scotland it was sealedin a goose-quill and hung around a child’sneck as a cure for thrush (Beith 1995: 186).It was, and still is, considered unlucky tokill a spider: “If you want to live and thrive,let a spider run alive” is a well-known prov-erb (Opie and Opie 1959: 220).

In North American folk medicine theuses of spiders and their webs are similarto those in Britain. In New England, pillswere made for treating fever composed ofa spider rolled in molasses (Black 1883:61). Spider webs were used for stemmingnosebleeds (Kimmerle and Gelber 1976:14). Turpentine mixed with spider webswas applied to cuts (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 1_5356). Spider webs from thenorth side of a barn were recommendedfor treating fever (Hendricks 1966: 44). Aspider in a nutshell was believed to cureall kinds of illness (Puckett 1981: 271).As in Britain, it was considered unluckyto kill a spider (UCLA Folklore Archives17–6779).

Native Americans used a compress made

from spider webs for treating cuts andgrazes (Souter 1995: 151).

See also Amulet, Cuts, Fevers, Jaundice,Nosebleed, Sore throat, Toothache,Whooping cough.






Kimmerle, Marjorie, and Mark Gelber. PopularBeliefs and Superstitions from Colorado.Boulder: University of Colorado, unpub-lished, 1976.

Mundford Primary School, School project, 1980,unpublished.

Opie, Iona, and Peter Opie. The Lore and Lan-guage of Schoolchildren. London: OxfordUniversity Press, 1959.



Thiselton Dyer, T. F. English Folk-lore. 2nd ed.London: Bogue, 1880.

SpitIn British folk medicine human and dog

saliva have been credited with healing pow-ers. So-called fasting spittle, the first salivain the mouth on waking, is supposed tohave particular virtues in healing warts andringworm as well as in counteracting the

Sprains : 329

evil eye (Black 1883: 184). In the twenty-first century, there are still plenty of peoplewho claim to have cured warts in this wayand minor injuries too, even skin ulcers(E.J., Perthshire, Scotland, pers. com. 2003).The instinct to lick small cuts and woundshas now been “justified” in scientific terms;saliva has been shown to contain antibac-terial and antifungal as well as growth-promoting substances (Root-Bernstein andRoot-Bernstein 2000: 113–118). In theearly years of the twentieth century therewas a man in Dorset famous for his curesof cataract, which he performed simply bylicking the patient’s eye (EFS 342). In Fife,Scotland, eye inflammations and foreignbodies in the eye were treated by licking theeye with fasting spittle (Buchan 1994: 242).Many healers employed spit in their healingmethods (Beith 1995: 94). Spit played apart in a cure for hiccups. Some plant rem-edies involved saliva, too; dock leaves plusspit were recommended to soothe stings(Allen and Hatfield, in press), and ribwortplantain leaves with spittle were used tohelp heal cuts (Beith 1995: 234).

In North American folk medicine spithas been used in similar ways; for treatingwarts, to avert bad luck and to treat cuts(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 168, 312, 502).Stys have been treated with spittle, and lick-ing or spitting on burns has been suggested(Cannon 1984: 96, 126). Interestingly, inthe Native American tradition, folk talessuggest a similar role for spit, healing soreeyes (Harrington 1908: 335) and arrowwounds (Radin 1931: 151).

See also Burns, Cuts, Dog, Evil eye,Healer, Hiccups, Ringworm, Warts.









Harrington, John Peabody. “A Yuma Account ofOrigins.” Journal of American Folklore 21(1908): 324–348.

Radin, Paul. “The Thunderbird Warclub: A Win-nebago Tale.” Journal of American Folklore44 (1931): 143–165.

Root-Bernstein, Robert, and Michele Root-Bernstein. Honey, Mud Maggots and OtherMedical Marvels: The Science behind FolkRemedies and Old Wives’ Tales. London: PanBooks, 2000.

SpotsSee Acne.

SprainsOne simple measure for treating sprains

has been cold water (Prince 1991: 49), stillrecommended in official medicine today.Confusingly, hot water was also suggested,or an alternation of cold and hot (Souter1995: 188). In Scotland, pig fat was usedas an embrocation for sprains, as was a lin-iment prepared from egg white, and eelskinas a bandage (Simpkins 1914: 410, 411).Another household remedy was malt vine-gar, rubbed on (Prince 1991: 102). Innortheast Scotland, the water in which skatehad been boiled (known as “skate bree”)was recommended as a lotion for a sprain(Gregor 1881: 46). In Wales, a poultice of

330 ; Sprains

warm manure was used for sprains (EFS221).

A thread tied around the damaged areawas a traditional semi-magical cure for asprain. In Ireland, it was specifically a redthread used in this way (Logan 1972: 124).In the north of Scotland, a linen thread wastied in place while a charm was recited.Nine knots were tied in the thread, thecharm being recited as each was secured(Black and Northcote 1903: 144). In theScottish Highlands, a thread made from asinew from a rutting stag was regarded asthe most efficacious (Beith 1995: 170). Inthe north of England, individuals who werebreech born were credited with the abilityto heal sprains by stamping on them; afterthis, the sprain was wrapped in eelskin(Radford and Radford 1974: 321–322).

A number of native plants have beenused in Britain and Ireland to treat sprains.Comfrey was very widely used for this pur-pose (EFS 277). In the north and west ofBritain, where comfrey is relatively uncom-mon, its place was largely taken by royalfern (Osmunda regalis) (Phytologist 5[1854]: 30; Logan 1972: 124). The bark ofvarious trees was used—wych elm (Ulmusglabra) in Ireland, and oak (Quercus robur)in England. Withering recorded in theeighteenth century the use of “verjuice,”from crab-apple (Malus sylvestris) for treat-ing sprains (Withering 1787–1792: 296).St. John’s wort was widely used for treatingsprains (Tongue 1965: 35). Chickweed wasused especially in Ireland (Allen and Hat-field, in press), as was mallow. Elder wasused in Scotland and England, and an oint-ment was made from the root of coltsfoot(Tussilago farfara) (Johnston 1853: 129).The petals of Madonna lily soaked inbrandy were used to treat sprains as well ascuts and bruises (EFS 195). The jelly-likecontents from the vesicles of the seaweedFucus vesiculosus was used to treat sprains(Freethy 1985: 82). A number of otherplants were used in sprain treatment in Ire-

land. They include figwort (Hart 1898:385), foxglove, dandelion, ragwort (Seneciojacobaea), broom (Cytisus scoparius), ivy,and woodsage (Teucrium scorodonia) (Allenand Hatfield, in press). Willow moss (Fon-tinalis antipyretica) was packed aroundsprains (Logan 1972: 124). In Wales, a cab-bage leaf was wrapped around a sprainedankle and held in place with a sock (W.T.,Gwent, 1980, pers. com.). In Cambridge-shire, dock leaves were used similarly(D.M.P., 1996, pers. com.).

In North American folk medicine anumber of simple household remedies wereapplied to sprains. As in Britain, both hotwater and cold have been recommended.Epsom salts were recommended (UCLAFolklore Archives 17_5487). A poultice ofbread, oatmeal, or bran mixed with vinegarhas been used. A liniment of egg white,mixed with salt, or salt and honey, has beenapplied. An alternative was resin and butter(Meyer 1985: 231–232), or hot salted corn-meal (G. Wilson 1968: 322). Mud wassometimes applied to soothe sprains(UCLA Folklore Archives 1_6787), or adirt-dauber’s nest mixed with vinegar(Clark 1970: 31). A crushed wasp nestmixed with vinegar has also been used(UCLA Folklore Archives 2_5490). An un-usual embrocation was made from wormsand cooking oil (UCLA Folklore Archives3_5490). Rendered jellyfish were an alter-native (Bergen 1899: 73). A number of an-imal fats were employed to treat sprains,including skunk oil (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 20_7615), goose grease (Thomasand Thomas 1920: 115), bear oil (UCLAFolklore Archives 7_7590), snake fat (Eg-gleston 1899: 204), and dog lard (Puckett1981: 451). Both eelskin and snakeskinwere used to bandage sprains (Bergen 1899:76), as were wet rabbit skins (De Lys 1948:116). In the African tradition, leather isworn around the wrist to cure a sprain(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 288). As in Britain,a cow-dung poultice was used by the Ozarks

Sprains : 331

(Randolph 1931: 99). A salve has beenmade from toads, butter, and arnica (Arnicasp.) (Relihan 1947: 169).

Arnica was also used alone for treatingsprains (Cannon 1984: 1925), and is stillmuch used today, although nowadays it iscommercially available as an ointment.Other plant remedies used in North Amer-ican folk medicine to treat sprains includeagrimony (Agrimonia sp.), boiled with vin-egar and homemade soap (Lick and Brendle1922: 179); smartweed (Polygonum sp.),cooked in vinegar and packed around theinjured part (Puckett 1981: 451); dande-lion juice mixed with alcohol (Cannon1984: 125); lily of the valley (Maian-themum sp.) (Clark 1970: 31); white-flowered boneset with vinegar (Eupatoriumsp.) (UCLA Folklore Archives 21_7611);and wormwood (Artemisia sp.) (Relihan1946: 157). As in Britain, various tree barkswere used: elder (Fogel 1915: 131), smoothalder (Alnus incana) (Lick and Brendle1922: 233), black oak (Randolph 1947:100). In the Mexican tradition a poulticeof sunflower seeds (Helianthus sp.) was used(Smithers 1961: 27). Whole leaves wereused to comfort sprains. Mullein was usedin this way (Parler 1962: 911), as were bur-dock (Meyer 1985: 233) and jimson weed(Brown 1952–1964: 289).

Eelskin bandages were used in the NativeAmerican tradition, just as in Britain (Par-sons 1926: 485). Plants used in the NativeAmerican tradition include mouse-ear ev-erlasting (Gnaphalium obtusifolium) (Welch1964: 92), juniper balsam (Juniperus com-munis) (Wallis 1922: 28), and water hem-lock (Cicuta maculata) (Taylor 1967: 279).Various species of jimson weed (Moerman1998: 1944–1964) were used, as well as thesmooth alder mentioned above (Moerman1998: 60).

See also African tradition, Alder, Bruises,Burdock, Cabbage, Chickweed, Comfrey,Cuts, Dandelion, Dock, Elder, Excreta,

Figwort, Foxglove, Ivy, Mallow, Mexicantradition, Mullein, St. John’s wort,Thornapple, Toads and frogs, Vinegar.





Black, G. F., collector, and W. Thomas North-cote, editor. “Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning Orkney and ShetlandIslands” (County Folklore Printed Extracts3:5). Publications of the Folklore Society 49(1903).

Brown, Frank C. Collection of North CarolinaFolklore. 7 vols., Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press, 1952–1964.








Gregor, Walter. “Notes on the Folklore of theNorth East of Scotland.” Publications of theFolklore Society 7 (1881).

Hart, Henry Chichester. Flora of the County Do-negal. Dublin: Sealy, Bryers, and Walker,1898.

Johnston, George. The Natural History of the East-

332 ; Stinging nettle

ern Borders. Vol. 1, The Botany. London:Van Voorst, 1853.






Parsons, Elsie Clews. “Micmac Notes.” Journal ofAmerican Folklore 39(1926): 460–485.





Relihan, Catherine. “Farm Lore: Herb Remedies.”New York Folklore Quarterly 2(2) (1946):156–158.

———. “Folk Remedies.” New York FolkloreQuarterly 3 (1947): 81–84, 166–169.

Simpkins, John Ewart. Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning Fife, with Some Notes onClackmannan and Kinross-shire. CountyFolk-Lore 7. London: Publications of theFolklore Society, 1914.

Smithers, W. D. “Nature’s Pharmacy and theCuranderos.” Sul Ross State College Bulletin41 (1961): 3.


Taylor, Dorothy Bright. “Indian MedicineHerbs.” New York Folklore Quarterly 23(1967): 274–282.



Wallis, Wilson D. “Medicines Used by the Mic-mac Indians.” American Anthropologist 24(1922): 24–30.

Welch, Charles E. “Some Drugs of the NorthAmerican Indian: Then and Now.” KeystoneFolklore Quarterly 9(2) (1964): 83–89.


Withering, William. A Botanical Arrangement ofBritish Plants. 2nd ed. 3 vols. Birmingham:M. Swinney, 1787–1792.

Stinging nettle (Urticaspp.)

There are two species of nettle probablynative to Britain: Urtica dioica, which hasbeen present at least since the Bronze Ageas a weed of cultivated land, and the smallerannual Urtica urens. A third species, Urticapilulifera, occurs in Britain as a casual weedand was reputedly introduced by the Ro-mans as a rheumatism cure for their sol-diers. Folk remedies do not generallydistinguish between these species.

Nettle is one of the most widely usedplants in British folk medicine, its usesranging from treatment of rheumatism,anemia, and heavy periods, rashes (an ex-ample of sympathetic magic), coughs andcolds and ear infections to the suppressionof sexual excitement (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). Rheumatism was treated both withan infusion of nettles and externally bybeating the affected area (Vickery 1995:255). In Suffolk, England, in the twentiethcentury the use of juice from the stalk totreat a nettle sting was still current (Taylor

Stinging nettle : 333

Man scything stinging nettles, Britain, 1941. Nettleis one of the most widely used plants in British folkmedicine. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS)

MSS), a remedy mentioned in John Wes-ley’s Primitive Physic, first published in1747. In the Scottish Highlands, uses ofnettle include treatment of insomnia andtuberculosis as well as the staunching of mi-nor wounds (Beith 1995: 230). The youngtops in springtime are the part of the plantthat is used, and tradition seems to haveensured that the older parts of the plant,now known to be toxic, are not included.

The stinging nettle is probably an intro-duction to North America but is now wide-spread as a weed of cultivated land. Its firstappearance in New England was noted byJosselyn in the seventeenth century (Josse-lyn 1672). In North American folk medi-cine, nettle roots have been chewed to cureand prevent nosebleed and nettle tea hasbeen recommended to clear phlegm. Net-tles form part of an ointment to treat bleed-ing hemorrhoids. The juice of nettles wasgiven for a “scall head,” while nettle rootsdried and powdered and mixed with mo-lasses was a cure for hoarseness (Meyer1985: 189, 191, 195, 222, 254).

The use of stinging nettles to beat limbsafflicted with rheumatism is still practicedtoday in England, and the same practice hasbeen followed by many Native Americantribes (see, for example, Turner, Thomas etal. 1983: 128; and Gunther 1973: 28). Net-tles were also used in a steam bath for treat-ing rheumatism—for example, among theShushwap (Palmer 1975: 229–251). OtherNative American uses for nettles includecold treatment (Train et al. 1941: 146) andthe soothing of rashes (Carrier LinguisticCommittee 1973: 83) and of bleeding hem-orrhoids (Turner et al. 1990: 289). Nettleswere used as a hair tonic (Turner et al.1990: 289) and a general tonic (Gunther1973: 28). The Nevada Indians used fumesfrom nettles in sweat lodges to treat pneu-monia and flu, while the Salish used an in-fusion, or the young leaves chewed, to easelabor (Willard 1992: 74). For other NativeAmerican uses of nettles, see Moerman(Moerman 1998: 578–582).

Young nettles are still eaten as a vegetablein many parts of the world; they are excel-lent sources of iron.

See also Anemia, Bleeding, Childbirth,Colds, Coughs, Menstrual problems,Nosebleed, Piles, Rheumatism,Sleeplessness, Sympathetic magic, Tonic,Tuberculosis.




Carrier Linguistic Committee. Plants of CarrierCountry. Fort St. James, BC: Carrier Lin-guistic Committee, 1973.


Josselyn, John. New England’s Rarities Discovered.London: Widdowes, 1672.

334 ; Sunburn



Palmer, Gary. “Shushwap Indian Ethnobotany.”Syesis 8 (1975): 29–51.


Train, Percy, James R. Heinrichs, and W. AndrewArcher. Medicinal Uses of Plants by IndianTribes of Nevada. Washington, DC: U.S.Department of Agriculture, 1941.

Turner, Thomas, et al. Ethnobotany of the NitinahtIndians of Vancouver Island. Victoria: BritishColumbia Provincial Museum, 1983.

Turner, Nancy J., Laurence C. Thompson, andM. Terry Thompson et al. Thompson Eth-nobotany: Knowledge and Uses of Plants bythe Thompson Indians of British Columbia.Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum,1990.



SunburnA number of plants have been used in

British folk medicine to treat sunburn. InEast Anglia an infusion of vervain (Verbenaofficinalis) or of meadowsweet (Filipendulaulmaria) or of sage (Salvia officinalis) wasused to soothe it (Hatfield 1994: 50). InDevon, an ointment was used made fromboiling ivy stalks in butter (Lafont 1984:49). The berries of black bryony were usedin the Isle of Wight (Bromfield 1856: 507).In Scotland, the juice of sundew (Droserasp.) was mixed with milk and applied tosunburn (McNeill 1910: 123), or an infu-sion of tormentil (Potentilla erecta) could beused (Vickery 1995: 373). Honeysuckle(Lonicera periclymenum) also provided asunburn remedy in the Highlands of Scot-land (Beith 1995: 223). In Wales dockleaves were wrapped around sunburned ar-

eas to soothe them (Vickery 1995: 108).Raw potato juice, a common first-aid rem-edy for minor burns in general, was alsoused to treat sunburn, as was the juice fromcrushed strawberries (Fragaria vesca) (Sou-ter 1995: 190).

Sage features in North American folktreatment of sunburn too (Meyer 1985:228), and so also do strawberries (UCLAFolklore Archives 15_6476). The juice ofAloe vera has been used, or a salve preparedfrom lemon or lime juice mixed with vin-egar and olive oil (Meyer 1985: 228). Freshcream has been recommended, or a salve ofbuttermilk and tansy (Tancetum vulgare)(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 297). Bathing theaffected area with strong tea has also beenrecommended (Koch 1980: 76), as haswrapping with vinegar and brown paper(UCLA Folklore Archives 24_6475). Apreparation of witch hazel twigs (Hama-melis sp.) has been used (Clark 1970: 32).Nutmeg has been worn as an amulet to pro-tect against sunburn (Brown 1952–1964, 6:297). Bathing in an easterly flowing streamhas been recommended for sunburn (Parler1962, 3: 947). There was a belief that anaged person could “blow” the fire out of sunblisters (Turner 1937: 168).

Among the Cherokee, sunburn wastreated by invoking ice and snow (Mellinger1967: 20).

See also Aloe vera, Bryony, Burns, Dock,Ivy, Potato.




Brown, Frank C. Collection of North CarolinaFolklore. 7 vols. Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press,1952–1964.

Clark, Joseph D. “North Carolina Popular Beliefs

Sympathetic magic : 335










Turner, Tressa. “The Human Comedy in FolkSuperstitions.” Publications of the TexasFolklore Society 13 (1937): 146–175.


Sympathetic magicSome folk remedies are derived from the

source that caused the ailment in the firstplace, a treatment described as “sympatheticmagic.” Examples are the use of a deadsnake to cure a snake bite, or of the “hairof the dog that bit you” to cure a dog bite.In the seventeenth century the idea of cur-ing a wound by treating the weapon thatcaused it was promulgated by Sir KenelmDigby, adopted by barber surgeons, andthen filtered into folk medicine. As recentlyas the twentieth century it was common inthe Cambridgeshire fens for farm workerswhen they cut themselves to apply salve to

both the wound and the instrument thathad inflicted it (Porter 1974: 45).

In North American folk medicine, sim-ilar practices are to be found (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 229–231). By extension of thisidea, substances that produced symptomssimilar to the disease were sometimes thebasis of remedies. Inducing the symptomsof fever by giving something that caused thepatient to sweat is an example of this.Sympathetic magic blends into “imitativemagic.” Folk remedies involving holedstones as a cure for barrenness or to easelabor are examples of imitative magic(Buchan 1994: 46), as are red substancesused to cure nosebleed. Again, numerousexamples are to be found in North Ameri-can folk medicine too, such as the use ofstrings of toothlike objects in aiding ababy’s teething (Gardner 1937: 51). Nu-merous wart cures involve counting thewarts and then cutting a similar number ofnotches in a stick, or putting the same num-ber of pebbles in a bag. In Native Americanmedicine too the idea can be recognized.Corn grains, themselves resembling warts,were used to treat warts (Vogel 1970: 294).

See also Color; Dog; Fevers; Mad dog, biteof; Nosebleed; Snake bite; Warts; Wound.




Gardner, Emelyn Elizabeth. Folklore from theSchoharie Hills, New York State. Ann Arbor:University of Michigan Press, 1937.



;T:

TeethingIn British folk medicine many different

amulets were recommended to ease teethingin infants. A necklace of coral or of ninestrands of scarlet silk, or a bag containingwood lice or some hairs from a donkey,were placed around a baby’s neck to protectit from the dangers of teething (Radfordand Radford 1974: 336). Plants were usedas amulets too. They include a necklace offigwort stems (Hatfield 1994: 55) or ofdried bittersweet berries (Solanum dulca-mara) (Taylor 1929: 123), or peony root(Paeonia sp.) (Latham 1878: 44) or seabeans. Stems of elder and traveler’s joy(? Clematis vitalba) were similarly made intoteething beads (Bloom 1830: 26). Thatsome of these plants used as amulets wereat least originally intended to be chewed bythe teething infant is suggested by aseventeenth-century recipe from Sussex formaking a necklace from dried roots of thenarcotic plant henbane, orpine (Sedum te-lephium), and vervain (Verbena officinalis),all soaked in alcohol and dried. Then let thechild “wear and chew them” (Allen 1995:83). In official herbalism ready-made neck-laces of imported orris (Iris x germanica)were available commercially to aid teething.This usage can be traced back to the fourthcentury (Radbill 1964: 134).

Various native plants were used topicallyto ease the pain of teething. They include

the wild red poppy (Papaver rhoeas), usedboth in England (Hatfield 1994: 55) andScotland (Beith 1995: 234). The cultivatedopium poppy (Papaver somniferum) wasused similarly (Porter 1969: 85). Leaves ofgroundsel (Senecio vulgaris) were infused ina baby’s milk to soothe teething pains (Job-son 1967: 58).

In North American folk medicine thereis a wide array of amulets for teething chil-dren. They include a necklace of coral, amole’s foot tied in a piece of cloth, or ninesillybugs, a bone from the head of a hog,rattlesnake bones, a tooth of a bear or adeer, and a frog tied around the neck(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 58–61). At leastsome of these threaded objects were for thechild to chew on; for this purpose a turtlebone was sometimes tied around the neck(Browne 1958: 25). Amber beads were alsothought to help in teething (Thomas andThomas 1920: 118), as was a coin on athread around the neck (UCLA FolkloreArchives 25_5854). A necklace could bemade from beans known as Job’s tears (Coixlacryma-jobi) (Meyer 1985: 248), a remedyevidently learned from the Native Americantradition, since it is reported in use by theCherokee (Moerman 1998: 171). In the Af-rican tradition necklaces were made fromthe stems of horse nettle (Solanum caroli-nense), a species related to the British bit-tersweet used similarly (Puckett 1981: 346).Beads were also made from pieces of elder

338 ; Tetters

stalk, as in Britain, and from Jerusalem root(?Helianthus tuberosus) (Brown 1952–1964,6: 61). Salves were prepared from rabbit’sbrains or from garlic (Brown 1952–1964,6: 60, 61) or from the root of butterfly weed(Asclepias tuberosa) (Browne 1958: 25).Whisky was rubbed on the gums (UCLAFolklore Archives 4_5871), or melon rinds(Brandon 1955: 97), or tea made from cat-nip (Stekert 1970: 139), or the juicedripped from burned persimmon twigs(Diospyros virginiana) (Browne 1958: 25).

A treatment for teething involving trans-ference was to rub the baby’s gums with alive fish, which was then returned to thewater (Randolph 1931: 107).

See also African tradition, Amber, Amulet,Beans, Catnip, Elder, Figwort, NativeAmerican tradition, Poppy, Transference.




Bloom, J. Harvey. Folk Lore, Old Customs and Su-perstitions in Shakespeare Land. London:Mitchell Hughes and Clark, 1830.

Brandon, Elizabeth. Les Moeurs de la Paroisse deVermillon en Louisiane. Ph.D. dissertation,University of Laval, Quebec, 1955.



Hatfield, Gabrielle. Country Remedies: TraditionalEast Anglian Plant Remedies in the TwentiethCentury. Woodbridge: Boydell Press Press,1994.


Latham, C. “Some West Sussex Superstitions Lin-

gering in 1868.” Folk-Lore Record 1 (1878):1–67.



Porter, E. M. Cambridgeshire Customs and Folk-lore. London: Routledge, 1969.


Radbill, Samuel X. “The Folklore of Teething.”Keystone Folklore Quarterly 9 (1964): 123–143.



Stekert, Ellen J. “Focus for Conflict: SouthernMountain Medical Beliefs in Detroit.” Jour-nal of American Folklore 83 (1970): 115–147.



TettersSee Ringworm.

Thomson, SamuelBorn in Albany, New Hampshire, into a

farming family, Samuel Thomson (1769–1843) inherited a body of oral knowledgeof folk medicine. During his childhood,this was supplemented by information fromfriends and neighbors, especially Mrs. Ben-ton, a local “doctoress” in roots and herbs(Fox 1924: 21). By the time he was sixteenhis knowledge was extensive, and he hoped

Thornapple : 339

Samuel Thomson devised a system of herbalism thatbecame famous and influential both in North Amer-ica and in Britain. (National Library of Medicine)

to become a doctor. However, the familydecided they could not spare him. At agetwenty-two he had a farm and a family ofhis own, but his interest in medicinal plantscontinued, and after successfully treatinghis own children, he decided to become anherbal practitioner. He read extensively, es-pecially the writings of Hippocrates, anddevised a system of herbalism that becamefamous and influential both in NorthAmerica and in Britain (Griggs 1981: 175).Though the roots of his knowledge belongin folk medicine, “Thomsonianism” be-came assimilated into official herbalism,both in North America and in Britain.

ReferencesFox, William. Family Botanic Guide. 23rd ed.

Sheffield: William Fox and Son, 1924.Griggs, Barbara. Green Pharmacy: A History of

Herbal Medicine. London: Jill Norman andHobhouse, 1981.

ThornappleThis genus (Datura spp.) is not native to

Britain, and it is known to be poisonous.For both these reasons, it is surprising tofind that it has a place in British folk med-icine. It occurs as a weed of cultivated landthroughout the world. The name “Datura”is Sanskrit in origin, and the plant probablyoriginated in India. In England one species,Datura stramonium, appears sporadically,especially after a hot summer, and mostcommonly in East Anglia, and it is fromhere that the known folk medical usescome. A village midwife who died in theearly years of the twentieth century used aburn ointment prepared from this plant inmuch the same way as Gerard records it inhis sixteenth-century herbal. Gerard gives asthe source of this remedy a woman fromIpswich who had been badly burned andwas helped by this remedy; it may thereforeoriginally have been a folk remedy, “bor-rowed” by the medical profession (Gerard1597: 278). Possibly the Norfolk midwiferediscovered the remedy from the pages ofGerard’s herbal, an illustration of the inter-action throughout the centuries betweenfolk and mainstream medicine. An Essexremedy used thornapple in an unusual way:the top of the fruit was cut off, the insidewas pulped, and vinegar was added. Inhal-ing the fumes brought about pain relief(Hatfield 1994: 40).

The plant sprang into fashion ineighteenth-century North America as anasthma remedy. This use was introduced toBritain by General Gent in 1802, and thedried leaves were still being smoked forasthma by fishermen on the North Norfolkcoast at the beginning of the twentieth cen-tury (Hatfield MS). More than one speciesof Datura occur in North America. InNorth American folk medicine thornapple

340 ; Thyme

is known as “Jimson weed,” or “Jamestownweed,” after the colonial settlement of thatname. One of its principal uses has been therelief of asthma, with smoked, dried leaves.Sometimes the leaves were mixed withother herbs, such as rosemary (Rosmarinussp.), aniseed (Pimipinella anisum), skunkcabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), or lobelia(Meyer 1985: 34–35). The root has beenmade into a salve for treating piles (Meyer1985: 194). The green leaves have been ap-plied as a poultice to inflamed bowels(Meyer 1985: 202). The seeds, mixed withelder root and fried in lard, form an oint-ment used to remove splinters (Meyer1985: 228).

Some of these uses were probably learnedfrom the Native Americans. A nineteenth-century doctor, J. C. Gunn, recorded thatthe plant was much used by the NativeAmericans for bruises, contusions, wounds,ulcerations, and bites of reptiles (Meyer1985: 272). More recently, Croom has in-dicated that it was used by the LumbeeIndians to treat external cancers and tickbites (Croom 1982). Moerman gives usesof three different species of Datura (Moer-man 1998: 194–196). The desert thornap-ple, Datura discolor, was used by the Pimaas an analgesic in childbirth, and as an ap-plication to boils, sore eyes, and sore ears(Curtin 1949: 85). Datura stramonium hasbeen used by five different tribes, applied asan external application to wounds, piles,and inflammations (Moerman 1998: 194).Among the Cherokee, the leaves weresmoked for asthma, just as in Britain (Tan-taquidgeon 1972: 37). Another species ofthornapple, Datura wrightii, the sacredthornapple, has, as its name suggests, beenused ceremonially as a hallucinogen amonga large number of different tribes, as well asbeing used for its painkilling properties,and, at least in the past, as a poison (Moer-man 1998: 194). Probably such a poisonousplant was used mainly by experts, as in theaccount given by Stevenson in 1915 of an

operation carried out by Nai’uchi, a famousmedicine man of the Zuni, who used thepowdered root as an anesthetic while op-erating on a woman’s breast (Stevenson1915).

See also Asthma, Boils, Bruises, Burns,Cancer, Childbirth, Earache, Elder, Eyeproblems, Lobelia, Medicine man,Midwife, Piles, Poultice, Wounds.

ReferencesCroom, E. M. Medicinal Plants of the Lumbee In-

dians. Ph.D. dissertation, North CarolinaState University, 1982.

Curtin, L. S. M. By the Prophet of the Earth. SantaFe, NM: San Vincente Foundation, 1949.


Hatfield, Gabrielle. Country Remedies: TraditionalEast Anglian Plant Remedies in the TwentiethCentury. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1994.



Stevenson, Matilda Coxe. “Ethnobotany of theZuni Indians.” In Thirtieth Annual Reportof the Bureau of American Ethnology. Wash-ington, D.C.: U.S. Government PrintingOffice, 1915.


Thyme (Thymus spp.)In British folk medicine this plant has

been used mainly for coughs, colds (Tongue1965: 38), and sore throats, and as a seda-tive to help insomnia and prevent night-mares (Jobson 1967: 32). In the Highlandsof Scotland, thyme tea was an everydaydrink (Beith 1995: 246). The smell ofcrushed thyme was inhaled for headache inparts of Ireland (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). Thyme is primarily a Mediterraneanherb, not native to North America but in-

Toads and frogs : 341

troduced there. It has not been used exten-sively in folk medicine there, but its uses aresimilar. It has been used for bronchitis,head cold and sore throat (Meyer 1985: 50,67, 252). As a sedative, it has been used torelieve menstrual pain (Meyer 1985: 174).It has been used to treat a sore mouth (Lickand Brendle 1922: 157), and bathing incrushed thyme has been recommended forfevers (Campbell 1953: 3). As in Britain,thyme tea has been drunk for insomnia(Browne 1958: 94).

In Native American practice thyme hasbeen little used. Moerman (1998) gives arecord for its use in treating chills and fever(Tantaquidgeon 1942: 56, 84).

Thymol, a constituent of thyme, is acomponent of many proprietary mouth-washes and gargles.

See also Colds, Coughs, Fevers, Headache,Sleeplessness, Sore throat.





Campbell, Marie. “Folk Remedies from SouthernGeorgia.” Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin19 (1953): 1–4.





Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. A Study of the DelawareIndian Medicine Practice and Folk Beliefs.Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical Com-mission, 1942.


Toads and frogsIn British folk medicine these animals

have been exploited in a number of differ-ent ways. It was believed that to hold a livefrog or a toad in the mouth of a child suf-fering from whooping cough would resultin a cure, an example of transference (Notesand Queries, 3 [1851]: 258). In Cheshire,a live frog was held in the mouth of a childsuffering from thrush (Black 1883: 35).Drinking the water in which a toad had pre-viously been placed was a variation of thistreatment used in the Scottish Highlands(Beith 1995: 143). A live frog or toadbound onto an open wound was said topromote healing. A live toad was worn in abag to treat fits (Notes and Queries, 11[1897]: 384), or scrofula (Notes and Que-ries, 4 [1875]: 83). Sometimes the ashes ofa burned frog were used in a similar way(Beith 1995: 174). The powdered ashes oftoad were used to treat smallpox (Notes andQueries, 9 [1902]: 426).

The power attributed to frogs and toads,and perhaps their association with witch-craft, has led to a variety of folk beliefs. Inthe fens of Cambridgeshire the story is toldof a pregnant woman who picked up a toadby mistake when collecting potatoes. Sheshook with fright so much that the babywhen it was born had had its fingers shakenoff—they were just little stumps (Marshall1967: 172). In the Scottish Highlands somehealers, as recently as the twentieth century,carried a “bag of heads” to help them intheir work, and one of these was a toad’shead (Matheson 1949: 391). By associa-tion, small stones named frog or toad stonesin Scotland (probably fossil fish teeth) wereused for drawing poison out of wounds andfor staunching bleeding (Beith 1995: 158).Land toads were thought to have the powerto draw out the poison of cancer (Notes and

342 ; Toads and frogs

Queries. London, 1849 ff. 16: 193).Dropsy was treated in the Scottish High-lands by cutting a frog in half and applyingthe two halves to the patient’s swollen body(Beith 1995: 175–176). It was said thatlicking a frog’s eyes can give a person thepower to heal sore eyes, by licking them inturn (Gregor 1881: 144). The practice oflicking a person’s eye to remove a foreignbody was claimed to be more effective if afrog’s eye was licked first.

Frogspawn was used in Scotland to treatinflammations of the skin, including erysip-elas (Beith 1995: 176). Also in Scotland, atoad was held in front of a person’s facesuffering from a bleeding nose; whether thiswas meant to act as shock therapy or de-veloped from association with the healingpowers of frogs and toads is debatable(Beith 1995: 187).

Modern pharmacology has confirmedthe highly poisonous nature of toad venom,secreted when the animal feels itself underthreat. This venom has been used in Chinaas a heart medicine, while Romans areknown to have poisoned each other with it.The same poison was used in an attempt tofend off the plague. In nature, it protectsthe toad from being swallowed by other an-imals. A strange form of quackery devel-oped in England in the seventeenth andeighteenth centuries, based on the well-known toxicity of the toad. Itinerant quackshired “toadies,” who, as the crowd watched,swallowed a toad, feigned death, and werethen miraculously “cured” by their master.Whether they really did swallow the toadsis impossible to know with certainty. Fromthis bizarre practice comes the use of thephrase “toadying,” used of someone willingto do anything to suck up to another (Allen1995: 155).

Many of the same beliefs and practicesare to be found in North American folkmedicine. There are a number of examplesof transference of disease, using a frog or atoad. A remedy of African American origin

suggests that as a cure for asthma the suf-ferer should, three nights in succession, finda frog by moonlight and spit into its throat(UCLA Folklore Archives 24_6176). Otherexamples of transference include wrappinga live toad around the part of the body af-fected by rheumatism (Brown 1952–1964,6: 258). Quinsy (Pickard and Buley 1945:82), goiter (Hyatt 1965: 230), heavy men-struation (Josselyn 1875: 253), and evencancer (De Lys 1948: 316) have all beentreated with a live toad bound to the body.Live frogs have been applied to cuts to helpthem heal (UCLA Folklore Archives8_6260). They have been applied to stonebruises (Miller 1933: 475) and swollenglands (Jones 1908: 1207), and hungaround a child’s neck to ease teething (Smi-ley 1919: 379). Such widespread use of thetoad in transference reflects presumably thebelief that the toad has the power to absorbillness from the human patient. This beliefis reflected in a record from Utah thatclaims that toads have the power of remov-ing the poison of cancer from the body(Cannon 1984: 98).

It is not just as a victim of transferencethat the toad or frog has been used in folkmedicine, however. The blood of the toadhas been used to treat a scar (UCLA Folk-lore Archives 25_5465). The ashes of aburned frog hung around the neck wereclaimed to check bleeding (UCLA FolkloreArchives 13_5285). Fever could be treatedwith ground frog heads (Hendricks 1966:44), and whooping cough with a soup madefrom nine frogs (Hendricks 1980: 109).Heart trouble was treated with ground-uptoad skins (Hendricks 1980: 86).

Among Native Americans there are nu-merous beliefs concerning the curing powerof toads and frogs. The Fox believe thattoads have the power to cure sickness (Jones1911: 215). Among the Penobscot a livetoad is worn in a bag and placed at the siteof pain, an example of transference, as inBritish folk medicine above (Speck 1923:

Toads and frogs : 343

276). Frogs and toads both figure in the loreof the Kwakiutl, especially surroundingpregnancy and childbirth. In order to con-ceive a child, it is suggested a woman shouldsquat where a frog has been squatting. If apregnant woman sees a toad, to preventmisfortune the husband should kill and dryit; when the child is born, the dried toad ispassed four times over the child’s belly.During the last two moons of pregnancy, awoman should drink water in which toads’toes have been rubbed (Boas 1932: 193–196).

The folklore surrounding frogs, toadsand warts is extensive, and similar on bothsides of the Atlantic. Frogs and toads arecredited with both causing warts and beingable to cure them. Given these numeroususes of toads and frogs in folklore, it is notsurprising that there is thought to be a pen-alty for damaging them. In Florida it hasbeen suggested that if you pick up a toadand it tries to jump you should release it,otherwise you will have nervous twitchingfor the rest of your life (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 23_5602). There is a widespread be-lief, particularly among children in NorthAmerica, that if you kill a frog or a toad,you will stub your toe (Puckett 1926: 435).

Modern studies have shown that the toadskin contains cardiac glycosides fifty timesmore potent than those obtained from thefoxglove. It also contains hallucinogens thatcould have been the basis of witches’ “fly-ing” ointment (Allen 1995: 158). Frogs toohave been shown to contain some remark-able compounds, called maganins, whichprovide a protective shield against bacterialand fungal infection (Allen 1995: 76).

See also Asthma, Bleeding, Bruises,Cancer, Childbirth, Cuts, Dropsy,Epilepsy, Erysipelas, Eye problems,Fevers, Heart trouble, Menstrualproblems, Plague, Pregnancy, Quinsy,Rheumatism, Smallpox, Teething,Tuberculosis, Warts, Whooping cough,Witch, Wounds.









Gregor, Walter. Notes on the Folk-Lore of theNorth-East of Scotland. Publication 7. Lon-don: Folklore Society, 1881.


Hendricks, George D. “Roosters, Rhymes andRailroad Tracks.” A Second Sampling of Su-perstitions and Popular Beliefs in Texas. Dal-las, TX: Southern Methodist UniversityPress, 1980.


Jones, Frank A. “Some Medical Superstitionsamong the Southern Negroes.” Journal ofthe American Medical Association 50 (1908):1207.

Jones, William. “Notes on the Fox Indians.” Jour-nal of American Folklore 24 (1911): 209–237.

Josselyn, John. An Account of Two Voyages to NewEngland Made during the Years 1638, 1663.Reprint Boston: Veazie, 1875.

Marshall, Sybill. Fenland Chronicle. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1967.

Matheson, Neil. “Highland Healers.” Scots Mag-azine (February 1949).

344 ; Tobacco

Miller, Joseph L. “The Healing Gods or MedicalSuperstition.” West Virginia Medical Journal29 (1933): 465–478.

Notes and Queries 4, p. 83. London, 1875.Notes and Queries 11, p. 384. London, 1897.Pickard, Madge E., and R. Carlyle Buley. The

Midwest Pioneer, His Ills, Cures and Doctors.Crawfordsville, IN: R. E. Banta, 1945.


Smiley, Portia. “Folk-Lore from Virginia, SouthCarolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.”Journal of American Folklore 32 (1919):357–383.

Speck, Frank G. “Reptile Lore of the NorthernIndians.” Journal of American Folklore 36(1923): 273–280.

Tobacco (Nicotianatabacum)

This plant is a native of tropical America.After its introduction to Britain in the six-teenth century, it was used medicinally aswell as recreationally. During outbreaks ofthe plague there was a belief that smokingtobacco could protect from infection(McMullen 1962: 33). Chewed tobaccowas used to treat insect bites and stings, andto kill fleas on humans and domestic ani-mals (R.C., Norton Subcourse, Norfolk,pers. com., 1990). Some insecticides arestill manufactured from it. In Ireland, theleaves were chewed for toothache (Vickery1995: 372), a remedy also reported fromSomerset (Tongue 1965: 42). In the Scot-tish Highlands tobacco leaves were used tostem bleeding (Beith 1995: 246), and inBedfordshire a slice of shag tobacco wastightly bound onto cuts, using a red hand-kerchief (EFS 195).

In North American folk medicine, to-bacco has been more widely used. A salveprepared from tobacco and butter was usedto treat piles (Meyer 1985: 192). Tobaccojuice was applied to ringworm (Meyer1985: 221). The leaves pounded with

honey formed a poultice for treating worms(Meyer 1985: 268). A moistened tobaccoleaf was applied to soothe bruises (Meyer1985: 274). Infant colic was treated withtobacco smoke (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 49),and colic in an adult was treated with pillsmade from tobacco (Brown 1952–1964, 6:157). Tobacco juice was applied to warts(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 331). As in Britain,wounds were bound with tobacco (Meyer1985: 277), insect bites were treated withchewed tobacco (Brown 1952–1964, 6:289, 291), and toothache was treated bychewing tobacco (Brown 1952–1964, 6:305). Snakebite (Smith 1929: 74), appen-dicitis (Kell 1965: 109), labor pain (Ander-son 1970: 49), and headache (Callahan1952: 89) were all treated with tobacco aswell. The belief in Britain that tobaccocould protect against infection was alsofound in North America, where during theeighteenth century smoking it was thoughtto protect against smallpox (Long 1956:274).

In Native American practice, various spe-cies of tobacco were extensively used cere-monially. In addition they were usedmedicinally in a large number of ailments,including insect bites, worms, toothache,earache, bruises, cuts and bleeding, snakebite, fever, fainting, tuberculosis, dropsy, la-bor pain, and as an emetic (Moerman 1998:354–357).

See also Bleeding, Bruises, Childbirth,Colic, Cuts, Dropsy, Fevers, Headache,Insect bites and stings, Piles, Plague,Ringworm, Smallpox, Snake bite,Toothache, Tuberculosis, Warts, Worms.





Tonic : 345

In North American folk medicine, tonics were madefrom dandelion, dock, elder, burdock, and other na-tive plants. (National Library of Medicine)

Callahan, North. Smoky Mountain Country. NewYork: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1952.


Kell, Katherine T. “Tobacco in Folk Cures inWestern Society.” Journal of American Folk-lore 78 (1965): 99–114.

Long, Dorothy. “Medical Care among the NorthCarolina Moravians.” Bulletin of the MedicalLibrary Association 44 (1956): 271–284.

McMullen, J. T. “The Tobacco Controversy,1571–1961.” North Carolina Folklore 10(1)(1962): 30–35.



Smith, Walter R. “Animals and Plants inOklahoma Folk Cures.” In Folk-Say: A Re-gional Miscellany. Edited by B. A. Botkin.Norman: Oklahoma Folk-Lore Society,1929.



TonicA springtime tonic was a familiar feature

of country life in Britain right up to thetwentieth century. It often included sting-ing nettles, and a wide variety of other wildplants (Hatfield 1994: 55–56), includinggoosegrass (Galium aparine) and hore-hound, dandelion, dock, burdock, and el-der. Often children receiving the tonic didnot know what it contained; one elderlylady described vivid memories of her child-hood when every spring an old lady visitedthe house with a large bucket of unpleasant-tasting medicine, with small green applesbobbing about in it. Every year, despite pro-tests, it was administered! There was evi-dently a widespread (and probably wellfounded) idea that everyone, especially chil-dren, needed building up after the winter,and these tonics were regarded as “good for

the blood.” In Fife, Scotland, the water ofa particular well was drunk to purge the sys-tem in the springtime. Sulphur with creamof tartar was also used as a springtime drink(Buchan 1994: 241).

In North American folk medicine, manyof these same plants were similarly used. Inaddition to dandelion, dock, elder, and bur-dock, tonics were made from other plantsnative to North America but not Britain,such as Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifol-ium), mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum),spruce (Picea spp.), and sassafras (Meyer1985: 255–259). The naturalized black al-der (Alnus glutinosa) also features in a tonicin North American folk medicine, wherewe are told it should be “esteemed as ajewel” (Meyer 1985: 258). Interestingly, itseems to have been used as a tonic in thepast in British folk medicine, judging by the

346 ; Toothache

eighteenth-century diary of the Rev. JamesWoodforde. Calamus root (Acorus calamus)and cherry bark were also used as tonics(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 115–116). Sulphur,mixed with either molasses or cream of tar-tar, provided another springtime tonic(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 116), as it did inScotland.

Among Native Americans, more than160 genera of plants have been used as ton-ics! (Moerman 1998: 823). In herbalism avery large number of medicinal plants bothin Britain and in North America are re-garded as “tonics,” a concept that has lin-gered in folk medicine and herbalistpractice long after being discarded by or-thodox medicine.

See also Alder, Burdock, Cherry,Dandelion, Dock, Elder, Horehound,Sassafras, Stinging nettle.



Buchan, David, Ed. Folk Tradition and Folk Med-icine in Scotland: The Writings of David Ro-rie. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic,1994.




ToothachePliny in the first century A.D. recom-

mended the tooth of a mole as an amuletworn against toothache, and since then var-ious versions of this remedy have been usedin folk medicine. In England the foot of amole was carried as a protection againsttoothache (Souter 1995: 192). Bizarrely, atooth from a corpse, worn as an amulet, wassaid to have been used against toothache

in Northamptonshire (Black 1883: 98).Carrying a double hazelnut (Corylus avel-lana) has also been reported (Porter 1974:46), while in Cornwall it is said that bitingoff the first fern that appears in the springwill cure toothache and prevent it for therest of the year (Black 1883: 202). In Nor-folk, a remedy involving transference re-corded in the late twentieth century was tocut one’s toenails, wrap them in tissue, andplace them in a slit in an ash tree (Mund-ford 1980, unpub.).

Some in Scotland resorted to holy wellsfor a cure (Notes and Queries, 4 [1851]:227). Beith reports an interesting exampleof transference in which an oatmeal ban-nock is baked with saliva and placed in wa-ter under a bridge where the living and deadcross; as it disintegrates, so the toothachewill disappear (Beith 1995: 138). In an-other version of this cure, the sufferer mustgo between the sun and the sky to a placewhere the living and dead cross (i.e., a ford)and take a stone from there with his teeth(Black 1883: 182). Also in Scotland, a rustynail taken from a graveyard and rubbed onthe gum of an aching tooth, then buried inthe churchyard, was another “cure” involv-ing transference. Simply driving a nail intoan oak beam was used as a toothache curein nineteenth-century Kilmarnock (Black1883: 39). Cutting toenails while under anash tree was a cure from Cornwall (Eyre1902: 173). Interestingly, a caterpillarwrapped in a small piece of red cloth andplaced under the aching tooth has also beenreported in Scotland (Beith 1995: 167); thiscould be related to the very ancient andwidespread idea that toothache is caused bysome kind of worm.

Examples of more understandable tooth-ache remedies include whisky (in Scotland)and the burned bark of ash. In the Isle ofMull (western Scotland) in the eighteenthcentury, Lightfoot reported the use of amixture of yellow flag root (Iris pseudacorus)and daisies (Bellis perennis), poured into the

Toothache : 347

Young girl with a toothache. In British and NorthAmerican folk medicine, there was a wide array oftoothache cures and preventatives. (National Libraryof Medicine)

nostrils, as a toothache cure (Lightfoot1777, 2: 1078). A poultice of red onionscould be applied to the cheek (Beith 1995:231), or the root of scabious (Scabiosa suc-cisa) applied to the aching tooth (Beith1995: 238). More drastically, a poulticemade from spearwort (Ranunculus flam-mula), bruised and placed in alimpet shell, was applied to the jaw; pre-sumably the resulting blistering effect was acounter-irritant, similar to the use of horse-radish (Armoracia rusticana) in Norfolk inthe twentieth century. In the latter remedy,the horseradish was tied to the wrist on theopposite side from the toothache. Feverfew(Tanacetum parthenium) was used similarly,as were cabbage leaves. Inhalations fortoothache in East Anglia include the smokefrom burned senna leaves (Taylor MSS).

There is a record of henbane root (Hyoscy-amus niger) soaked in vinegar being used ina Norfolk village in the early twentieth cen-tury for toothache (F.C.W., pers. com.,1990). This remedy is clearly recognizablefrom Gerard’s herbal of 1636. Mixed withacorn meal, henbane was a toothache rem-edy in Saxon times (Cockayne 1864, 2: 51).Also in East Anglia, the leaves of blackberrywere chewed for toothache (E.M., Essex,pers. com., 1985).

Cloves, the flower buds of a tropical tree(Syzygium aromaticum), have frequentlybeen used to allay toothache and are stillused today as a domestic remedy. Presum-ably this is, in folk medical terms, a rela-tively recent remedy, probably derived frombook knowledge.

In North American folk medicine, therewas a similarly wide array of toothache curesand preventatives, falling into the samebroad categories as those in Britain. In thesemi-magical category, amulets carried orworn against toothache include a tooth orbone from an animal (Brown 1952–1964,6: 302), a dime with a hole drilled throughit (UCLA Folklore Archives 20_5513), anutmeg, a pewter ring, carrying a bead or abullet (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 304, 307), orcarrying a double nut (Cannon 1984: 128)(echoing the British remedy of a double ha-zelnut). The nail-clipping remedies fromBritain find their counterparts too in NorthAmerica. Finger and toenail trimmings,buried in a hole bored in a tree, is a remedyfor toothache (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 302).Onion strips worn around the wrist wererecommended (Anderson 1968: 198). In-halations for toothache include tobaccosmoke and smoke from the leaves of “lifeeverlasting” (Gnaphalium sp.) (Brown1952–1964, 6: 304). Applications to thesore tooth include salt, soda, ashes, a hotraisin and red pepper (Brown 1952–1964,6: 304–305).

Oil of cloves and Cajeput oil (derived

348 ; Toothache

from Melaleuca leucadendron) were used,neither of these plants being native toNorth America. (Meyer 1985: 247). Anumber of poultices were used to providecounter-irritation, such as toast sprinkledwith pepper or ginger grated onto vinegarand brown paper. As in Britain, onion poul-tices were also used. Sometimes a roast on-ion was applied to the wrist on the oppositeside from the aching tooth (cf. horseradishremedy above). Fresh bloodroot insertedinto a cavity of an aching tooth was used togive relief (Meyer 1985: 247).

Among the Native Americans manyother plants were also used, including thebark of the so-called toothache tree (Zan-thoxylum americanum), which was eithermashed and applied to the aching tooth orchewed (Herrick 1977: 368). The roots ofbull nettle (Solanum eleagnifolium) weresimilarly chewed (Stevenson 1915: 60), aswere the leaves of yarrow. The use of to-bacco for toothache was widespread; eitherthe smoke was blown onto the achingtooth, the leaves were crushed to form apoultice, or the tooth was plugged with to-bacco (Carr and Westez 1945: 113–123).The roots of purple coneflower (Echinaceaspp.) were chewed for toothache (Hart1992: 38). Various species of Iris were usedfor toothache by Native Americans, as inScotland (Train, Henrichs, and Archer1941: 89). More than a hundred differentgenera of plants are known to have beenused by the Native Americans to treattoothache (Moerman 1998: 824–825).

Finally, there are several snake-relatedNorth American remedies for toothache.From French Canada comes the suggestionthat a piece of sloughed-off snakeskinplaced in an aching tooth will bring relief(Wintemberg 1908: 362). A Native Amer-ican cure and preventative for toothache isto bite gently along the length of a livingsnake.

See also Amulet, Ash, Blackberry,Bloodroot, Cabbage, Cayenne, Pricklyash, Snake, Soda, Tobacco, Transference,Yarrow.

ReferencesAnderson, John Q. “Magical Transference of Dis-






Carr, Lloyd G., and Carlos Westez. “SurvivingFolktales and Herbal Lore among the Shin-necock Indians.” Journal of American Folk-lore 58 (1945): 113–123.

Cockayne, Rev. T. O. Leechdoms, Wortcunningand Starcraft of Early England. 3 vols. Lon-don, 1864.

Eyre, L. M. “Folklore Notes from St. Briavel’s.”Folk-Lore 13 (1902): 170–177.






Mundford Primary School Project, Norfolk,1980, unpub.

Notes and Queries 4, p. 227. London, 1851.Porter, Enid. The Folklore of East Anglia. London:

Batsford, 1974.Souter, Keith. Cure Craft. Traditional Folk Rem-

edies and Treatment from Antiquity to the

Transference : 349

Present Day. Saffron Walden: C.W. DanielCompany, 1995.

Stevenson, Matilda Coxe. Ethnobotany of the ZuniIndians. Smithsonian Institution-Bureau ofAmerican Ethnology Annual Report Num-ber 30, 1915.


Train, Percy, James R. Henrichs, and W. AndrewArcher. Medicinal Uses of Plants by IndianTribes of Nevada. Washington, D.C.: U.S.Department of Agriculture, 1941.

Wintemberg, W. J. “Items of French-CanadianFolklore, Essex Co., Ontario.” Journal ofAmerican Folklore 21 (1908): 362–363.

Tormentil (Potentillaerecta)

The main use of this plant in British folkmedicine has been to treat diarrhea. Amongits less common uses, it has treated cuts inCumbria (Freethy 1985: 127) and wormsin the Scottish Highlands (Beith 1995:246), and it has served as a general tonic—for example, in the Shetlands (Vickery1995: 373).

The plant is not native to North Amer-ica, and its folk usage there is minimal.Meyer records the use of a plaster of tor-mentil root and vinegar for treating kidneycomplaints (Meyer 1985: 156). In NativeAmerican usage, various species of Potentillathat are native to North America have beenused in wound treatment, as a tonic, andfor treating diarrhea and dysentery (Moer-man 1998: 435).

See also Cuts, Diarrhea, Dysentery,Silverweed, Tonic, Worms, Wounds.







Traill, Catherine ParrCatherine Parr Traill (1802–1899) was

one of six daughters of a wealthy Suffolk,England, merchant. She married an armyofficer and emigrated to Canada, a week af-ter one of her sisters. She wrote two booksgiving advice to future settlers—The Back-woods of Canada in 1836 and The CanadianSettler’s Guide, 1855. She became an experton the wildflowers of Canada, and thebooks she wrote about them brought herfame and recognition from the Canadiangovernment in the form of a hundredpounds and the gift of an island on theOtonabee River (Miller 1994: 77).

ReferenceMiller, Charles. Early Travellers in North America.

Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1994.

TransferenceThe idea of a disease being voluntarily

passed to another person, an animal, aplant, or an inanimate object is of great an-tiquity. Black suggests that it may havearisen from the observation of the spread,by infection, of many diseases from one in-dividual to another. If this happened nat-urally, could it be made to happen at will?In the simplest examples of transference,the disease is passed directly from the pa-tient to the animal or object. The story inthe New Testament of the devils cast outinto the Gadarene swine is sometimes in-terpreted as an example of transference.Pliny gives examples in his writings of trans-ference. At least one of them, involvingtransfer of colic to a duck, was still practiced

350 ; Transference

in relatively recent times in Yorkshire(Hand 1965: 94). A very explicit exampleof transference comes from the eighteenth-century writings of Sir John Clerk of Pen-icuik, Midlothian, in Scotland. For gout, herecommends laying a dog to one’s feet—the pain will pass from one’s own limbs tohis (SRO GD18/2142). Moncrief, in hiseighteenth-century book The Poor Man’sPhysician, states that in cases of smallpox,“many keep an Ewe or Wedder in theirchamber or upon the bed; because thesecreatures are easily infected and draw thevenom to themselves—by which meanssome ease may happen to the sick Person”(Moncrief 1731: 60). From this originalconcept of transference, the idea has beendeveloped to include many ailments thatare not contagious.

In both British and North American folkmedicine there are countless examples oftransference. Although almost every com-mon ailment has its transference “cure,”some stand out for the number and fre-quency of such cures. The majority of wartcures involve transference, but this issometimes of a more complex kind, involv-ing an intermediate agent of transfer. Thewart is rubbed with an object that is thendestroyed or placed where someone else willcollect it. Snails, slugs, pebbles, grains ofwheat, and beans have all been used in thisway in both British and North Americanfolk medicine. Snake-bite cures often in-volve transference—to a snake or a fowl, forexample. Whooping cough is another ail-ment for which transference cures havebeen widely used. Living frogs, toad, or fishwere held in the mouth of the patient andthen released. A spider in a nutshell wornaround the neck was another cure forwhooping cough; in this instance, as thespider died, the cough would fade away. InGloucestershire, hair from a child sufferingfrom whooping cough was fed to a dog,transferring the disease with it (Notes andQueries 1849: 37). In Ireland, mumps was

transferred to a pig (Rolleston 1943: 298).Examples of transference of illness to an-

imals abound in North American folk med-icine. Epilepsy was “cured” in Pennsylvaniaby having the patient sleep above a cowshed(Hohman 1930: 69). A child with fits wasencouraged to play with a puppy; as thepuppy sickened and died, the child recov-ered (Johnson 1896: 75). Another epilepsytreatment was to trap a grasshopper in athimble; as it died, the disease would dis-appear (Relihan 1947: 84). Tuberculosiscould be transferred to a cat, just by keepingit company (Puckett 1981: 467). Andersongives numerous examples taken from Texasfolk medicine of transference to animals.They include asthma transferred to a Chi-huahua; or to crickets tied on a silken string;red ants in a bag suspended around thepatient’s neck as a sore throat cure; andwood lice used similarly for teething prob-lems (Anderson 1968: 191–199). Forchicken pox, it was apparently necessaryonly to let a chicken fly over the patient toachieve transference (Anderson 1968: 197).In Georgia, pain could be transferred sim-ply by touching the corresponding part ofan animal’s body (Killion and Waller 1972:107).

Sometimes the disease is deliberatelytransferred to another person, as when wartsare rubbed on pebbles that are then placedat a crossroad; whoever picks them up willdevelop warts. Labor pain was transferredto the husband by crawling over him (Hyatt1978, 1: 391). Simply wishing the diseaseonto another person could cure a sufferer(UCLA Folklore Archives 9_5826). Thebelief that venereal diseases could be curedby communicating them to others has beena cause of much suffering (Randolph 1947:150).

In other instances, a dead person is theintended recipient, as in the story of anIrishman who attended a wake for a deadneighbor in order to ask him to take away

Transference : 351

his rheumatism. According to the account,the cure was effective (Black 1883: 43). Inanother version of this procedure, dressingsfrom an invalid were placed in a coffin andburied with the corpse (Thiselton Dyer1878: 171).

Water sometimes acted as an agent oftransfer. In Scotland, the water used towash an invalid was poured over a cat, totransfer the illness. It was considered dan-gerous to cross water that had been used ina cure, as this could mean catching the ill-ness (Dalyell 1835: 90, 104).

Trees were often the recipients of trans-ferred disease. An elm in Bedfordshire wasfamous at the end of the nineteenth centuryas a “recipient” for ague (Vickery 1995:127). Ash trees were used to cure hernia, bysplitting a young tree, passing the suffererthrough, and binding up the tree again. Inthis instance the tree, one hoped, mended,and so did the patient. Toothache curessometimes involved attaching hair or fin-gernails to a tree; simply driving a nail intoan oak tree was believed to take away tooth-ache (Black 1883: 39). From New Englandthere is a story of transference of a fever toan apple tree. In Sussex, nail clippings ofthe person suffering from fever were placedin a hole in an aspen tree (Populus tremula)(Allen 1995: 24). A similar practice is re-corded from Newfoundland (Bergen 1899:66). In Missouri, a complex ritual of trans-ference involved a piece of string equal inlength to the circumference of the patient’schest. A knot was tied in it for each fever apatient had suffered. It was then fastened atchest height to a tree, the whole ceremonyto be done secretly (Randolph 1947: 134).

Trees near healing wells were sometimesdecorated with pieces of clothing or hairfrom visiting patients. Examples of this aregiven by Hastings from Ireland (Hastings1956–1960, 4: 749); these may representan element of transference, or they mayhave been votive offerings to the tree or wa-

ter spirits. Either way, this practice isknown worldwide.

See also Ash, Asthma, Colic, Fevers, Gout,Snake bite, Sore throat, Spider,Toothache, Tuberculosis, Warts,Whooping cough.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Anderson, John Q. “Magical Transference of Dis-




Dalyell, John Graham. The Darker Superstitions ofScotland. Glasgow: 1835.

Hand, Wayland D. “The Magical Transference ofDisease.” North Carolina Folklore 13(1965): 83–109.

Hastings, James, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion andEthics. Reprint ed. 13 vols. New York:1956–1960. Originally published Edin-burgh: Clark, 1908-1926.

Hohman, John George. Long Lost Friend, or Bookof Pow-Wows. Edited by A. Monroe Au-rand, Jr., Harrisburg, PA: Aurand Press,1930.

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Hoodoo, Conjuration,Witchcraft, Rootwork. Memoirs of the AlmaEgan Hyatt Foundation, 5 vols. New York:Hyatt Foundation, 1978.

Johnson, Clifton. What They Say in New England.Boston: G. K. Hall, 1896.


Moncrief, John. The Poor Man’s Physician, or theReceits of the Famous John Moncrief of Tip-permalloch. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: 1731.

Notes and Queries, p. 37. London, 1849.Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-

stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, Anna

352 ; Tuberculosis



Relihan, Catherine M. “Folk Remedies.” NewYork Folklore Quarterly 3 (1947): 81–84.

Rolleston, J. D. “The Folklore of Children’s Dis-eases.” Folk-Lore 54 (1943): 287–307.

SRO. Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh. Papersof Clerk of Penicuik. GD18/2142.

Thiselton Dyer, Rev. T. F. English Folk-Lore. Lon-don: Hardwick and Bogue, 1878.


TuberculosisThis disease is known from Palaeolithic

and Neolithic bones, and from the skele-tons of Egyptian mummies (Guthrie 1945:2, 29). To what extent in folk medicine alink was made between the pulmonarysymptoms and the skeletal ones is unclear.In common parlance, “consumption” gen-erally refers to the characteristic cough andwasting, which was readily recognizable.“Scrofula” was the name given to the swol-len glands and bones of tuberculosis, butthe term probably covered all kinds of othermalignant and nonmalignant swellings too.Famously, scrofula was also called the“King’s Evil,” because there was a wide-spread belief throughout Europe from thefifth century that it could be cured by theroyal touch (Guthrie 1945: 210). For thosewithout access to the royal touch, therewere other variations on this “cure.” In theScottish Highlands, scrofula was consideredcurable by the touch of the hand of a deadcriminal (Beith 1995: 170). In parts ofScotland it was believed that a seventh soncould cure scrofula in a woman and that aseventh daughter could cure a man. Wear-ing a silver coin (with the royal image onit) as an amulet was considered protectiveagainst tuberculosis (Beith 1995: 161).

In East Anglia there was a belief that tu-berculosis could not be passed within a fam-

ily between members of the opposite sexunless they were husband and wife, so incrowded families it was not seen as a riskfor an infant daughter to sleep in the sameroom as her father with tuberculosis (TaylorMSS). There was also a belief that butchersdid not catch consumption.

Sea air was considered helpful to con-sumptives, while the water of some healthspas was recommended for scrofula (Souter1995: 90, 94–95). A well near Cromarty inthe Black Isle, Scotland, was once famousas a cure for consumption (Beith 1995:141). In the west of Scotland, a cure fortuberculosis consisted of pouring over thepatient the tops of nine sea waves, thenpassing the sufferer through a hole in a seacliff three times (Rolleston 1941: 63). InCornwall a holed stone was used to healchildren with scrofula, by passing themthree times through the hole (Black 1883:66). In Shropshire, the advice was to risebefore the sun and remove a sod of turf,returning to the spot on nine successivemornings to remove it and breathe ninetimes into the hole (Rolleston 1941: 54).Another rural remedy was to breathe in theair surrounding penned sheep or cattle, apractice mentioned by John Wesley in theeighteenth century (Wesley 1792) and stillrecommended in Sussex, England, as re-cently as 1936 (Allen 1995: 39). The waterfrom cow pats was an East Anglian recom-mendation for tuberculosis (Taylor MSS).Pennant recorded that in the eighteenthcentury buttermilk was drunk for consump-tion (Beith 1995: 167). A number of otherremedies were animal based, such as the ex-tract of snail slime employed in seven-teenth- and eighteenth-century orthodoxEuropean medicine, and still used in Britishfolk medicine right up to the twentieth cen-tury (Allen 1995: 148–150). Roasted mousewas used for consumption. Stag-horn jellyin whisky was a Scottish Highland remedyfor consumption, and a broth made fromleeches was also used there (Beith 1995:

Tuberculosis : 353

170, 178). Wood lice were taken as pills forscrofula in Cornwall (Black 1883: 198).

A number of plant remedies were usedin British folk medicine. There is atwentieth-century record of a child beingtreated with lichen for tuberculosis (EFS,record number 342). For the pulmonarysymptoms of tuberculosis, an extract of theroot of elecampane (Inula helenium), mixedwith honey, was a Sussex home remedy (Al-len 1995: 67). A decoction of lungwort(Pulmonaria officinalis) was used in Nor-folk, as was beer made from nettles (Urticadioica), while in Suffolk red roses, crushedwith sugar, were used for the spitting ofblood that accompanies consumption (Tay-lor MSS). Other plants used in British folkmedicine to treat consumption includebogbean, ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea),and the root of nettle as well as the flow-ering tops of heather (Erica spp.) (Beith1995: 207, 221, 222, 230). The Gaelicname for woodruff (Asperula odorata) is lusna caithimh, meaning “wasting wort,” in-dicating its use in consumption (Beith1995: 250). Centaury (Centaurea nigra)and dandelion were used to boost appetitein consumptives (Beith 1995: 211, 213).Common sorrel (Rumex acetosa) was eaten,and oat gruel was recommended as nutri-tious (Beith 1995: 231, 243). Martin re-corded the use in the eighteenth century inthe Scottish Highlands of a lamb brothmade with alexanders (Smyrnium olusa-trum) and lovage (Ligusticum scoticum)(Beith 1995: 202). In the eighteenth cen-tury in Orkney a drink known as “Arby”was made for consumptives from the rootsof thrift (Armeria maritima) boiled in milk(Neill 1805: 59). In South Wales, the dewshaken from the flowers of chamomile wasa remedy for tuberculosis (Trevelyan 1909:315). Nettle leaf tea was used to treat con-sumption. In Ireland, a species of buttercup(Ranunculus acris) was applied, pulped, to“suppurating” tuberculosis (Barbour 1897:

388). An alternative was a preparation madefrom seven stalks of knapweed (Centaureanigra), seven of fairy lint (Linum catharti-cum), and seven of maidenhair (Adiantumvenus-capillaris), pounded in seven nogginsof water from a place where three streamsmeet (McGlinchey 1986: 87). Aneighteenth-century doctor from CountyCork, Ireland, made her fortune with a tu-berculosis remedy prepared from brooklime(Veronica beccabunga) (O Clara 1978: 35).For scrofula, wearing a bag of vervain (Ver-bena officinalis) was recommended (Molo-ney 1919: 37). Burdock was an ancientremedy in Ireland for scrofula (Wilde 1898:34).

Tuberculosis was introduced by settlersinto the New World, with devastating re-sults. It has been suggested that the glan-dular form of the disease, scrofula, was thepredominant one in medieval Europe,whereas the pulmonary form of the diseasebecame epidemic in the nineteenth andearly twentieth centuries (Porter 1996: 37).African Americans and Native Americanshad less resistance than did the white set-tlers to either form of the disease. As in Brit-ain, folk remedies were derived frommineral, animal, and plant sources. Stayingin the sun was a recommendation for avoid-ing tuberculosis (Cannon 1984: 129). Eat-ing coal oil and table salt was also thoughtto prevent the disease (UCLA Folklore Ar-chive 4_5517), as was wearing a dimearound the ankle (Saxon 1945: 353) (cf.wearing a silver coin in the Scottish High-lands, above). A pan of water under thebed was thought to help the night sweatsof tuberculosis (UCLA Folklore Archive3_6426). For a tubercular child, a lock ofhair was removed and plugged into a treeat a point higher than the child’s head;when the child grew to that height, he orshe would be cured. Sticking a table forkinto the bedhead of the patient was alsopracticed (Thomas and Thomas 1920:100). Snail flesh was recommended, as in

354 ; Tuberculosis

Britain (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 159). An-other suggestion was eating small frogs(DeLys 1948: 322), a cooked coon (Puckett1981: 467), or the hind leg of a fat dog(Thomas and Thomas 1920: 100). Theblood from the tail of a cat without a whitehair was also suggested (Brown 1952–1964,6: 159). A catskin worn on the chest wasused to treat tuberculosis (Cannon 1984:129), while in the African American tradi-tion, allowing a cat to sleep on the bed wasthought to prevent tuberculosis (Hyatt1965: 252). Drinking turtle fat was rec-ommended in Mexico (UCLA FolkloreArchive 4_6543). Alligator fat (UCLAFolklore Archive 3_6543) and rattlesnakegrease (UCLA Folklore Archive 2_6543)were other suggestions. Mustang linimentwas claimed to be a cure for consumption,and eating a pickled rattlesnake skin wasalso recommended (Brown 1952–1964, 6:160, 308). Eating a rat was a suggested cure(UCLA Folklore Archive 3_5519). Forscrofula, codfish skins were applied (Meyer1985: 223). As in Britain, the fumes froma cattle shed or horse stall (Hyatt 1965:252) were inhaled, or those from the skunk(Reynolds 1950: 13). Drinking warm milkfrom a red cow was considered helpful (Hy-att 1965: 252), and goat’s milk was also rec-ommended (UCLA Folklore Archive20_6542). As in Britain, the dew from amanure pile was used (Hyatt 1965: 252).

Many different plants were used inNorth American folk medicine to treat thesymptoms of tuberculosis. It is ironic thatelecampane (Inula helenium), like the dis-ease, was introduced into North America bycolonists (Coffey 1993: 266), and a decoc-tion of the root was used to treat the lungsymptoms. In the nineteenth century, theroots were boiled with sugar and licorice(Glycyrrhiza glabra), skunk cabbage (Sym-plocarpus foetidus), or bloodroot, to formcough lozenges (Micheletti 1998: 139).Nettle leaf tea was used to treat consump-tion, as in Britain. Pine bark and honey

were recommended (Lick and Brendle1922: 237), or simply inhaling the air ofpine woods (Woodlief 1964: 162). Bothbathing in and drinking a preparation oflogwood (Haematoxylon campechianum)was suggested (Curtin 1930: 195). Mulleintea was used, as in Britain (UCLA FolkloreArchive 7_7593). Other plants used intreating scrofula in North American folkmedicine include yellow dock, whortleberries (Vaccinium arboreum), hellebore(Veratrum viride), wild lettuce (Lactuca can-adensis), and noble liverwort (Hepatica sp.)(Meyer 1985: 223). Salves were made fromtwinleaf root (Jeffersonia diphylla), deer’stongue (Erythronium americanum), or elder(Sambucus canadensis) (Meyer 1985: 223).Other plants used include sagebrush (Arte-misia sp.) (Attebury 1963: 93), red clover(Trifolium pratense) (Hyatt 1965: 252), san-icle (Sanicula sp.) (Lick and Brendle 1922:212), and cocklebur (Xanthium strumar-ium) (Parler 1962, 3: 974). Chaparral (Lar-rea tridentata) was used in the Southwest bypioneers (Micheletti 1998: 81), who pre-sumably learned its use from Native Amer-icans. The Pima in Mexico used the plantin this way (Kay 1996: 179). Pine has beenknown as an antiseptic and expectorantfrom the time of Pliny; it was recom-mended by, for example, Gerard as a curefor tuberculosis. In Mexico a similar rec-ommendation was made by a Tucsoncurandero (Kay 1996: 213). There is aBlackfoot story of a beaver that in returnfor kindness appears in a dream to a womansuffering from tuberculosis and suggests shetry the resin of lodge-pole pine, which curesher (Moerman 1998: 404). The buds of thistree (Pinus contorta) are made into a decoc-tion for treating tuberculosis (Willard1992: 39). The Alaskan Athabascan use atea made from the berries or twigs of Ju-niper (Juniperus communis) in the treatmentof tuberculosis (Kay 1996: 171). Interest-ingly, St. John’s wort (Hypericum perfora-tum) was made into a tea by Native

Tuberculosis : 355

Americans and drunk to treat tuberculosis.Modern research shows that the plant is ac-tive against the bacteria causing tuberculosis(Micheletti 1998: 287). More than twohundred genera have been used by the Na-tive Americans in the treatment of tuber-culosis (Moerman 1998: 825). Aside fromplant remedies, there were dietary recom-mendations among the Native Americans.Bear liver was eaten (MacNeish 1954: 198).Drinking sour cream was thought to pre-vent tuberculosis (UCLA Folklore Archive2_5522). Among the Umatilla, a steambath followed by immersion in cold waterwas used for tuberculosis sufferers (UCLAFolklore Archive 1_5521).

See also Amulet, Bloodroot, Bogbean,Burdock, Chamomile, Dandelion, Dew,Dock, Earth, Mouse, Mullein, Pine,St. John’s wort, Seventh son, Snail,Stinging nettle.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Attebury, Louie W. “Home Remedies and Super-

stitions.” In Idaho Reader, edited by GraceEdgington Jordan. Boise, ID: Syms-York,1963.









EFS. English Folklore Survey. Manuscript notesin University College London.

Guthrie, Douglas. A History of Medicine. London:Nelson, 1945.




MacNeish, June Helm. “Contemporary Folk Be-liefs of a Slave Indian Band.” Journal ofAmerican Folklore 67 (1954): 185–198.

McGlinchey, Charles. The Last of the Name. Ed-ited by Brian Friel. Belfast: Blackstaff Press,1986.




Moloney, Michael F. Irish Ethno-Botany and theEvolution of Medicine in Ireland. Dublin:M. H. Gill and Son, 1919.

“‘O Clara, Padraig’: The Big Mrs. Pearson.” CorkHolly Bough Christmas (1978): 35.

Neill, Patrick. “Remarks Made in a Tour throughSome of the Shetland Islands in 1804.” ScotsMagazine 67 (1805): 347–352, 431–435.


Porter, Roy, ed. The Cambridge Illustrated Historyof Medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 1996.

Puckett, Newbell Niles. Popular Beliefs and Super-stitions: A Compendium of American Folklorefrom the Ohio Collection of Newbell NilesPuckett. Edited by Wayland D. Hand, Anna

356 ; Tuberculosis


Reynolds, Hubert. “Grandma’s Handbook.” Ten-nessee Folklore Society Bulletin 16 (1950):13–14.

Rolleston, J. D. “The Folk-Lore of PulmonaryTuberculosis.” Tubercle 22 (1941): 55–65.



Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin the Norfolk Records Office, Norwich.MS4322.

Thomas, Daniel Lindsay, and Lucy Blayney Tho-

mas. Kentucky Superstitions. Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press, 1920.

Trevelyan, Marie. Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories ofWales. London: Elliot Stock, 1909.

Wesley, John. Primitive Physic: Or an Easy andNatural Way of Curing Most Diseases. Lon-don: 1792.

Wilde, Lady (Jane). Ancient Cures, Charms, andUsages of Ireland. London: Ward and Dow-ney, 1898.


Woodlief, Ray. “North Carolina’s MineralSprings.” North Carolina Medical Journal 25(1964): 159–164.

;U:

UrineUrine has been used as a remedy since

ancient times, and its use has persisted infolk medicine right up to the present.Throughout Britain one of the commonesttreatments for chilblains was to dip them inthe chamber pot, a practice recorded forEngland, Scotland, and Wales (Hatfield1999: 102; Beith 1995: 187; Jones 1980:61). In Scotland, urine has been used as anapplication to treat thrush, erysipelas, blad-der trouble, and gonorrhea (Buchan 1994).For jaundice and dropsy it was recom-mended that the patient should fast for ninedays and drink all the urine produced dur-ing this time. In Scotland, urine has alsobeen applied to chapped hands, infectedwounds, and leg ulcers. For rheumatismurine was applied to the sore joints andtaken internally (Souter 1995: 74–75). InIreland a mixture of milk and urine wastaken for jaundice (Logan 1972: 47). Some-times stale urine and bran was used to poul-tice sore joints (Beith 1995: 187). Boilswere treated with urine, and washing theskin with a wet nappy (diaper) was recom-mended to prevent teenage spots (Beith1995: 188). Warts were frequently treatedwith urine. Bed-wetting was thought to becured by urinating on the grave of a personof the opposite sex. An alternative was tourinate on burned ash keys (the fruit of theash) (Radford and Radford 1974: 22, 347).

In North American folk medicine, urinehas been widely used for many of thesesame ailments and others as well. Skin con-ditions treated with it include ringworm(Puckett 1981: 437), itching or chappedskin (UCLA Folklore Archives 10_5309),freckles (Bergen 1899: 71), erysipelas(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 179) and felons(Hyatt 1965: 327), as well as acne. Sore eyeshave been treated with urine (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 180). Earache was treated with afew drops of warm urine (Parler 1962, 3:611). It has been given alone or in a mix-ture, for croup (Creighton 1968: 210),coughs (Riddell 1934: 44), and tuberculosis(Marie-Ursule 1951: 180). Other miscella-neous uses include treatment of malaria (forwhich cow urine was used) (UCLA FolkloreArchives 20_5427), snake bite (Kimmerleand Gelber 1976: 13), poison vine rash(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 252), insect bitesand stings (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 289),fright (UCLA Folklore Archives 21_5596),and for childbirth, during which the urineof a young girl was recommended (Creigh-ton 1968: 206).

In the Native American tradition, urinewas used to wash the eyes to keep themhealthy and to treat diseases of the ear (Boas1932: 190), including deafness (Van Wart1948: 576).

Urea is still today a component of manyface creams, a “sanitized” version of folkmedicine of the past. Modern analysis has

358 ; Urine

justified many of the other folk uses of urineas well (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein2000: 119–132).

See also Acne, Ash, Bed-wetting, Boils,Chapped skin, Chilblains, Childbirth,Coughs, Croup, Deafness, Dropsy,Earache, Erysipelas, Eye problems,Felons, Insect bites and stings, Jaundice,Poultice, Rheumatism, Ringworm, Snakebite, Tuberculosis, Warts, Wounds.






Buchan, David (ed.). Folk Traditions and FolkMedicine in Scotland: The Writings of DavidRorie. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic,1994.











Riddell, William Renwick. “Some Old CanadianFolk Medicine.” Canada Lancet and Prac-titioner 83 (August 1934): 41–44.

Root-Bernstein, Robert, and Michele Root-Bernstein. Honey, Mud Maggots and OtherMedical Marvels: The Science behind FolkRemedies and Old Wives’ Tales. London: PanBooks, 2000.


Van Wart, Arthur F. “The Indians of the Mari-time Provinces: Their Diseases and NativeCures.” Canadian Medical Association Jour-nal 59(6) (1948): 573–577.

;V:

Valerian (Valerianaofficinalis)

This is an example of an herb used dif-ferently in British folk medicine than it isin official medicine and herbalism. Its folkmedical uses have been limited. It has beenused for treating cuts (Vickery 1995: 379)and as a general tonic (Palmer 1994: 122).In Scotland it has also been used for treatingindigestion (McDonald 1958: 248), and inIreland it has also been used to treat tuber-culosis (Maloney 1972). In official medi-cine and in herbalism the plant has beenused as a sedative, to overcome nervousnessand help sleeplessness (Chevallier 1996:146). This use has not been found in therecords of folk medicine, however (Allenand Hatfield, in press). The related gardenvalerian (Valeriana pyrenaica), also knownas “setwall,” was used in official medicinefor treating epilepsy and wounds (Pechey1694: 188). Gerard quoted in his sixteenth-century herbal the proverb, “They that willhave their heal Must put setwall in theirkeale” (Gerard 1597: 919), suggesting thatthis plant was more extensively used in histime and may have been used in folk med-icine too.

Valeriana officinalis is not native toNorth America, although some other spe-cies of valerian are. Its use in North Amer-ican folk medicine has been slight. ThePennsylvania Germans used valerian for

treating fevers, headache, spasm and dys-entery (Lick and Brendle 1922: 167). In-terestingly, the garden valerian mentionedabove as used by British physicians was“brought to us out of Germany” during theseventeenth century, according to WilliamSalmon (Salmon 1693: 794). Other recordsfor folk use of valerian are relatively few. Fornervousness, a piece of valerian root underthe pillow has been recommended (Saxon1945: 531), and for removing the pain ofbruising a strong decoction of valerian rootwas used (Meyer 1985: 274).

Related native species of valerian havebeen used in the Native American tradition;for example, Valeriana dioica has been usedby the Blackfoot for stomach trouble(McClintock 1909: 275) and by theThompson for diarrhea (Turner et al. 1990:290), while rheumatism and wounds havebeen treated by the Blackfoot and the Me-nominee with Valeriana edulis (Chamberlin1911: 350; Smith 1923: 57). More thanone species of valerian has been used to treattuberculosis (Vesta 1952: 45). For otheruses by the Native Americans, see Moerman(Moerman 1998: 587–588).

A quite unrelated species, Cypripediumacaule, sometimes called “American Vale-rian,” is used for treating nervousness (Ber-gen 1899: 115).

See also Bruises, Cuts, Diarrhea,Dysentery, Epilepsy, Fevers, Headache,

360 ; Vinegar

Indigestion, Rheumatism, Tonic,Tuberculosis, Wounds.




Chamberlin, Ralph. “The Ethno-Botany of theGosiute Indians of Utah.” Memoirs of theAmerican Anthropological Association 2(5)(1911): 331–405.






McDonald, Allan. Gaelic Words and Expressionsfrom South Uist and Eriskay. Edited by J. L.Campbell. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Ad-vanced Studies, 1958.



Palmer, Roy. The Folklore of Gloucestershire. Tiv-erton: Westcountry Books, 1994.

Pechey, John. The Compleat Herbal of PhysicalPlants. London: 1694.



Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the MenominiIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofthe City of Milwaukee 4 (1923): 1–174.

Turner, Nancy J., Laurence C. Thompson, M.Terry Thompson, and Annie Z. York.

Thompson Ethnobotany: Knowledge and Us-age of Plants by the Thompson Indians of Brit-ish Columbia. Victoria: Royal BritishColumbia Museum, 1990.

Vesta, Paul A. “The Ethnobotany of the RamahoNavaho.” Papers of the Peabody Museum ofAmerican Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4)(1952): 1–94.


VinegarA vinegar douche was widely used as a

contraceptive in British folk medicine. Vin-egar was also used to treat insect bites andstings (Prince 1991: 49–50). A small quan-tity of vinegar dripped into the ear was acure for nosebleeds; it was used on bothsides of the Atlantic (Souter 1995: 180).There were numerous other householdremedies involving vinegar. A newly laidegg, complete with shell, was dissolved invinegar and mixed with melted honey toform a cure for whooping cough (Prince1991: 115). Vinegar was used to “bringout” a bruise (Porter 1974: 46), and band-ages soaked in vinegar were used as a sooth-ing dressing for sprains and bruises (Prince1991: 102). Vinegar and brown paper, ofJack-and-Jill fame, was used not only as aplaster applied to headaches and bruises,but also as an application for toothache(Prince 1991: 121). Vinegar was sometimesused as a solvent for herbal ingredients, asin a cure for corns that involved soaking anivy leaf in vinegar (Tongue 1965: 38).

In North American folk medicine theuses of vinegar have been similar. Poulticesmade from bread and vinegar or clay andvinegar have been used to treat bruising andsprains (Meyer 1985: 232, 274), and thesame whooping cough remedy of dissolvingan egg in vinegar has been recorded inNorth America as in Britain (Meyer 1985:266). A paste of flour and vinegar, or oflinen ashes and vinegar, has been applied to

Vinegar : 361

wounds to stop bleeding (Meyer 1985:276). Vinegar has been used as a wash forpiles (Meyer 1985: 192). A cloth steeped inhot vinegar has been applied for pain(Meyer 1985: 186). Warm water and vin-egar has been used as a vaginal douche forinfection (Meyer 1985: 165). Vinegar hasbeen recommended as a soak for swollenfeet (Meyer 1985: 119). Vinegar, sugar, andsalt has been recommended for dysentery(Meyer 1985: 95). Vinegar has been widelyused as a solvent for herbal remedies, as inthe ringworm remedy of bloodroot sliced invinegar (Meyer 1985: 221). Sprains havebeen treated, as in Britain, with vinegar andbrown paper or with chalk and vinegar; hic-cups have been treated with sugar and vin-egar (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 213, 289).Both poison ivy and warts have been treatedwith vinegar (Anderson 1970: 55), as hassunburn (Koch 1980: 76). As in Britain,vinegar has also been used as a contraceptive(Puckett 1981: 11). Other examples of thenumerous uses of vinegar in North Ameri-can folk medicine can be found in theUCLA Folklore Archives.

Often the type of vinegar is not specifiedin folk medicine, but apple cider vinegar hasbecome famous largely through the work ofDr. Jarvis, who recommended it for a widevariety of ailments including rheumatismand a variety of skin conditions (Jarvis 1961:90, 175–177). His books have been verypopular both in North America and in Brit-ain, and cider vinegar is now used in Britainin domestic medicine as well.

See also Bleeding, Bloodroot, Bruises,Contraception, Corns, Dysentery,Headache, Hiccups, Insect bites andstings, Ivy, Nosebleed, Piles, Poison ivy,Poultice, Rheumatism, Sore feet,Sunburn, Toothache, Warts, Whoopingcough.












;W:

Because they were so common, warts provided anideal ailment for folk experimentation. Methods usedfor treating warts both in the past and up to thepresent include plants and products of animal originthat are applied to the wart. (National Library ofMedicine)

WartsEvery aspect of folk medicine is repre-

sented in miniature in the vast array of folktreatments for warts. Why they should haveattracted quite so much attention is notclear; perhaps it was observed at an earlystage that warts were mysterious, came andwent without apparent cause, and suc-cumbed to all kinds of treatments. Perhapsbecause they do not represent a life-threatening condition, warts provided anideal ailment for folk experimentation.

In modern medical parlance, warts arecaused by a papilloma virus; what in thepast were described as warts may have in-cluded a variety of other skin complaints,such as corns, calluses, and even malignantlesions of the skin. As is always the casewhen considering folk categories of disease,we cannot be sure retrospectively of the di-agnosis. However, warts are such a com-monly recognized complaint that we cansafely assume that the majority of wart cureswere indeed applied to warts.

Methods used for treating warts both inthe past and up to the present time includephysical agents that are rubbed on the wart.These for convenience can be divided intoplants, products of animal origin, and mis-cellany. In the first category fall such com-mon plants as dandelion (the white juice isrubbed on the wart); numerous species ofspurge (Euphorbia spp.) (again, the thick

white latex is rubbed on); and the greatercelandine (Chelidonium majus), which ex-udes a bright orange latex when the stemsand leaves are broken. The use of theseplants appears to be purely practical and de-

364 ; Warts

void of ritual, perhaps suggesting the plantjuice is itself the effective agent. Other Brit-ish plant species used as simple applicationsto warts are too numerous to list individu-ally (Hatfield 1999: 147–159).

Animal products used as wart applica-tions include human saliva, menstrualblood, urine, and the blood of a mole. Mis-cellaneous agents include soot, ash, coal,and ink.

Wart treatments also include wart“charming,” buying and selling warts, andsimply counting them. However, there isno hard and fast line between these differ-ent methods. Even apparently practicalmethods, such as rubbing the wart with aslice of apple, are often accompanied by rit-ual, such as throwing the apple over theshoulder.

One feature common in the treatment ofwarts is the idea of using a stolen object inthe cure. In East Anglia, this has variouslybeen recorded as a stolen piece of beef or ofbacon—but its stolen nature is stressed, andthe operation must be done secretly (Hat-field 1999: 155). The meat after beingrubbed on the wart is then disposed of (usu-ally buried in the garden), and as it rots, sothe wart will disappear.

The idea of transference of the disease istaken a step farther in a remedy for wartsthat consists of placing in a parcel the samenumber of pebbles as one has warts. Theparcel is then placed at a crossroad, andwhoever picks it up will acquire the warts.A commonly recorded remedy from EastAnglia is to take a slug or a snail, allow itto walk over the warts, and then impale iton a thorn outside. As it withers, so will thewarts disappear. Cutting notches in an ashtree, the same number as there are warts, isanother example of transference.

It is significant that many folk remediesfor warts have built-in time factors. Sincewarts are often a self-limiting condition, askeptical view would suggest that the rem-edy itself is irrelevant—it is simply a

matter of time before the warts disappearnaturally. A modern dermatologist claimsthe most effective treatment for warts he hasfound is to make the patient an appoint-ment at a wart clinic; by the time of theappointment, the warts have often van-ished! However, it is difficult to account forreports of warts disappearing literally over-night. Such reports are numerous, andmany are of cases of wart “charming.” Herewe are entering the realm of suggestion andpsychotherapy, though it is unconvincingto evoke these as curative mechanisms toexplain reported rapid cures of warts in an-imals (Hatfield 1999: 155).

Why should such a plethora of folk rem-edies exist for the treatment of warts? Oneobvious reason could be their commonnessin the recent past—a small survey in En-gland in 1999 revealed surprisingly thattwo-thirds of the informants had had wartsat some time in their lives (Hatfield 1998).Another factor may be the observation thatwarts are susceptible to the power of sug-gestion. This is underlined by the findingthat hypnotherapy can be a useful tool inthe official treatment of warts (Ewin 1992:1).

All the remedies mentioned for warts inBritish folk medicine, and many morebesides, have been recorded in NorthAmerican folk medicine. To attempt tosummarize them is almost impossible.Their wealth and variety is illustrated by thefact that the Brown Collection of NorthCarolina Folklore contains almost threehundred entries, while the UCLA FolkloreArchive contains more than 4,500 records!All the elements noted in British folk med-icine are present. Secrecy is often involved,as in stealing a piece of meat, rubbing it onthe wart, and hiding it (Brown 1952–1964,6: 318). Many of the remedies involvetransference to an inanimate object, such asa stolen dishcloth (Brown 1952–1964, 6:337), a plant (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 330),

Water : 365

or an animal (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 324).As in Britain, warts are bought or sold orcharmed away (Baldwin 1992: 188–189).

See also Apple, Blood, Cricket, Dandelion,Snail, Spit, Sympathetic magic,Transference.

ReferencesBaldwin, Karen. “Folk Medical Practices of North

Carolinians.” In Herbal and Magical Medi-cine, edited by James Kirkland, Holly F.Mathews, C. W. Sullivan III, and KarenBaldwin. Durham, NC: Duke UniversityPress, 1992.


Ewin, D. M. “Hypnotherapy for Warts.” Ameri-can Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 35(1) (July1992): 1–10.

Hatfield, Gabrielle. Warts: Summary of Wart-CureSurvey for the Folklore Society. London:Folklore Society, 1998.

———. Memory, Wisdom and Healing. The His-tory of Domestic Plant Medicine. PhoenixMill: Sutton. 1999.

WaterApart from its obvious symbolism of

cleansing, water has played many roles inBritish folk medicine. Sometimes particular“healing wells” had reputations for healingone sort of ailment. In later times, manysuch wells were dedicated to a particularsaint. Thus when the name “St. Mary’sWell” was used, it often applied to a wellthat in the past had been thought to pro-mote fertility (Buchan 1994: 267). The wa-ter of a particular well often had areputation for curing certain ailments. Thehistoric well at Orton, for example, was be-lieved to cure whooping cough as well aseye and joint diseases (Buchan 1994: 267).In Herefordshire, St. Peter’s well had a rep-utation for curing rheumatism (Leather1912: 13). During the seventeenth andsubsequent centuries the use of healing

wells was rationalized by the medical pro-fession, which pointed to the differingchemical composition of the water fromdifferent wells. This led to the fashion of“taking the waters” (Souter 1995: 93–95).Meanwhile, locally famous water sourcescontinued to be used by ordinary people infolk medicine. The so-called chalybeatesprings, with iron-rich water, were visitedfor tuberculosis, as well as for women’s dis-eases (Beith 1995: 132). In Somerset, wellswere used to treat a great variety of ail-ments, including leprosy, rheumatism, ep-ilepsy, and jaundice (Tongue 1965: 218–219). The famous healing well of Holywellwas visited by the lowly and the royal, fromthe time of William the Conqueror onward(Black 1883: 103).

As well as the water from springs, cavewater was sometimes attributed with heal-ing powers. Water dripping from a cave onthe Black Isle in Scotland was thought tocure ear ailments (Beith 1995: 132). Thewater of fast-flowing streams was also usedin folk medicine, often accompanied byprayers or charms. Rushes from a runningstream were placed in the mouth of a childwith thrush and then returned to thestream, carrying the disease with them(Black 1883: 104). Mumps was treated inIreland by drinking three times from astream (Black 1883: 105–106), while onExmoor, running water was part of a curefor “boneshave,” or sciatica (Black 1883:107). In Devon for shingles, rushes growingnear a stream were laid on the affected areaand then thrown into the stream (Lafont1984: 74).

In North American folk medicine, par-ticular springs have again had individualreputations for healing. Sulphur springs hada reputation for curing boils (Wilson 1968:68) The White Sulphur Springs of MeagherCounty were used by Native Americans andlater by settlers to help rheumatism (Mon-tana State Guide 1939: 270). For kidneydisease and typhoid, Chippewa natural

366 ; Water

spring water was used until well into thetwentieth century (Saul 1949: 58). Ther-mal water in North Carolina was believedto cure rheumatism and other ailments(Woodlief 1964: 162). There was a generalbelief in the healthiness of well water. It wasconsidered purer than city water, and theminerals it contained were healthy (UCLAFolklore Archive 9_6776). Rusty well waterwas good for poison, but green well waterwas itself a poison (UCLA Folklore Archive5_5453). Drinking well water was said tomake a person grow tall (Cannon 1984:69).

As in Britain, the curative power of run-ning water was used in North American folkmedicine. Water from the Mississippi Riverwas considered to aid fertility (Robinson1948: 132–133). Bathing in free-flowingwater was considered beneficial for rheuma-tism (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 265). Some-times the direction of flow was specified. Forfrost bite bathing the feet in a westward-flowing stream was recommended (UCLAFolklore Archives 3_6834), while water run-ning northward was believed by some tohave healing powers (UCLA Folklore Ar-chive 10_6808). Some folk cures used theidea of flowing water carrying away disease.Warts were rubbed with salt, then washed inrunning water (Puckett 1981: 484). Bloodfrom a hemorrhage was placed in a bottlethat was then thrown into running water(Hyatt 1970: 386).

See also Boils, Deafness, Dew, Earache,Epilepsy, Forge water, Frostbite,Jaundice, Rheumatism, Shingles, Snow,Tuberculosis, Whooping cough.



Black, William George. Folk-Medicine: A Chap-

ter in the History of Culture. London: Folk-lore Society, 1883.







Montana State Guide. New York: Federal WritersProject, 1939.


Robinson, Lura. Old New Orleans Custom. NewYork: Vanguard Press, 1948.





Woodlief, Ray. “North Carolina’s MineralSprings.” North Carolina Medical Journal 25(1964): 159–164.

Whooping cough : 367

WhitlowsSee Felons.

Whooping coughIn British folk medicine this has attracted

a very wide range of remedies, some of themseemingly bizarre. In East Anglia, Sussex,and in Scotland, and probably in other partsof Britain too, eating a fried mouse was apopular remedy right up to the twentiethcentury. Apparently this is a very ancientidea and can be traced back to the ancientEgyptians (Beith 1995: 179). A preparationmade from the wood louse, or slater, wasalso used to treat whooping cough in theScottish Highlands (Beith 1995: 184). Alsoamong the Gaels, swallowing a live spiderwas recommended (Beith 1995: 186). In-haling the tar fumes from roadworks or thefumes from old-fashioned gasworks was alsowidely believed to be helpful (Hatfield MS).A new-laid egg dissolved in vinegar, shelland all, and mixed with honey, has beenused for whooping cough (Prince 1991:115). In Westmoreland in the 1930s, amoleskin was tied around the necks of chil-dren suffering from whooping cough(Prince 1991: 112). Another amulet, usedin the west of England, was stranger still:the patient was told to wear, in a silk bag,hair taken from the end of the cross on thedonkey’s back (Prince 1991: 100). Anothercure was to pass the sufferer over the backof a donkey and under its belly (Tongue1965: 44).

The belief that a child who rode on abear would never have whooping cough wassaid to be widespread in England at onetime and to have earned a lot of money forbear keepers (Black 1883: 159). The ex-haled breath of various animals was held tobe beneficial; standing near a horse or cowin an enclosed space and breathing in theirbreath was practiced in Sussex until quite

recent times (Allen 1995: 38), and in Nor-folk ferrets have been used similarly (Hat-field MS). Syrup made from sweetenedjuice of crushed snails was used in Sussexwell into the twentieth century (Allen 1995:149). There are also reports of a broth madefrom owls being taken for whooping coughin Sussex (Allen 1995: 154). A live spiderhung in a bag by the fire until it died (Porter1974: 50) has been used to treat whoopingcough in East Anglia, and in the ScottishHighlands a live spider was swallowed as acure (Beith 1995: 186).

Any remedy recommended by someoneriding a piebald horse was claimed to besuccessful (Allen 1995: 180). This idea wasalso prevalent in the Highlands of Scotland.It has been suggested that it could be relatedto the cult of a Celtic Apollo, often depictedon horseback (Beith 1995: 91). AnotherHighland remedy was to give the child wa-ter to drink in which a toad had been placed(Beith 1995: 143) or giving the child waterto drink out of an animal horn that hadbeen taken from a living animal (Beith1995: 143). Water from a hollowed rock orstone was considered especially useful(Beith 1995: 148). Mare’s milk was rec-ommended in the Highlands of Scotland asa soothing drink for a child with whoopingcough (Beith 1995: 178).

Numerous whooping cough remediesprovide examples of the transference of dis-ease. Particular ash trees were until thenineteenth century revered for their abilityto cure various ailments, including whoop-ing cough (Vickery 1995: 19). Passing thesuffering child under an arch formed by abramble (Rubus fruticosus) bush rooted atboth ends was a popular whooping coughremedy, still in use in Wales in the twen-tieth century (Simpson 1976: 108). Some-times an offering of bread and butter wasleft for the bramble bush (Leather 1912:82). Passing a child under the belly of adonkey, holding a live fish in the mouth of

368 ; Whooping cough

the sufferer, or a frog or toad (MundfordPrimary School project, 1980, unpub.), areall further examples of transference.

The concept of rites of passage, as inthe bramble remedy mentioned above,appears in other whooping cough remedies.Crossing water was a suggested Scottishremedy (Beith 1995: 143). Taking a childwith whooping cough to the edge of the seaand waiting while the tide ebbed and tookthe cough with it was another suggestion(Radford and Radford 1974: 341). Anothersuggestion was to hold the child upsidedown in a hole made in the ground, after-ward filling in the hole. Bread and buttergiven by a posthumous child or by a womanwhose married and maiden names were thesame (Radford and Radford 1974: 67) wasregarded as a whooping cough cure.

A pleasant-sounding remedy was to walkthe child up and down between the rows ofa bean field in flower (Taylor MSS; HatfieldMS). Drinking milk from a cup made ofthe wood of variegated holly was recom-mended. The water from boiled hay wasadministered in Essex (E.M., Barking, Es-sex, 1985, pers. com.). Onion and garlicwere used, as well as other vegetables slicedand soaked with sugar to form a coughsyrup. Other members of the onion familywere also used in whooping cough reme-dies, such as chives (Allium schoenoprasum)(Vickery 1995: 66) and crow garlic (Alliumvineale) (Bloom 1920: 246). Other plantmedicines include blackcurrant (Ribes ni-gra) shoots boiled with licorice and sugar,figs soaked in gin, mulberry (Morus sp.) andcastor oil, marigold flowers (Calendula of-ficinalis), and “mouse’s ear” (probably Pi-losella officinarum). Even the gall that growson rose bushes, and is called a “Robin’s pin-cushion,” has been used in an infusion forwhooping cough (Taylor MSS). Mistletoewas considered in East Anglia “a sure cure”(Rider Haggard, ed. 1974: 16). Elecampane(Inula helenium) was used as the basis of awhooping cough medicine in Sussex (Allen

1995: 66). In the Scottish Highlands, ap-ple, rowan, and brown sugar were given forwhooping cough (Beith 1995: 203). Agypsy remedy used wild thyme (Vesey-Fitzgerald 1944: 28).

Almost all these British remedies forwhooping cough, and many others as well,are represented in North American folkmedicine. In the UCLA folk medicine ar-chive are numerous records of the use of livefish, toads, frogs, spiders, etc. Again, a num-ber of the remedies involve transference;not only does the remedy using donkey hairappear, but riding on a donkey, ass, horse,or bear is suggested. Exhaled breath fromvarious animals, including a guinea pig, hasbeen used. Mare’s milk is again recom-mended, also a tea made from white ants.The remedy involving passing through anatural arch of vegetation in North Amer-ican folklore is applied to the native “rasp-berry briar” (probably Rubus idaeus) ratherthan the British blackberry, which thoughintroduced in North America is not nativethere (Brown 1952–1964, 6: 352). Inhalingsmoke, tar, and fumes are all suggested.There are a large number of records of plac-ing a child in a mill hopper and grindingthe corn underneath (Brown 1952–1964,6: 67). Preparations of urine and dung fromvarious animals are also numerous. Thereare a number of examples of the idea thatbread should be received by the suffererfrom a woman whose maiden name was thesame as her husband’s one, and a posthu-mous child was thought to have the powerto cure whooping cough—two ideas famil-iar in British folk medicine as well.

Other remedies familiar from Britain in-clude an egg dissolved in vinegar and sweet-ened with honey; onion, garlic, andmouse-ear, and elecampane were all usedtoo. In addition, various plants native toNorth America but not Britain were used,such as bloodroot, skunk cabbage root(Symplocarpus foetidus), chestnut leaves(Castanea sp.), pennyroyal (probably the

Willow : 369

American pennyroyal, Hedeoma pulegioi-des), and prickly pear (Opuntia sp.). Rootsof marshmallow, or flowers of red clover(Trifolium pratense) also appear in Ameri-can folk remedies, though not in Britishones. Water in which oat straw has beenboiled, sweetened with brown sugar, wasanother recommendation. Rubbing thesoles of the child’s feet with hog’s lard, orthe chest with eucalyptus oil or rum orbrandy, sweet oil and onion, was also tried(Meyer 1985: 266–268).

In Native American practice, many ofthe plants mentioned above have been usedin the treatment of coughs generally. Theuse of skunk cabbage root has been re-corded among the Delaware specifically forwhooping cough (Tantaquidgeon 1972:37); the Mohegan are known to have usedan infusion of chestnut leaves (Castaneadentata) for treating whooping cough (Tan-taquidgeon 1928: 265). An infusion of redclover (Trifolium pratense) has been used bythe Quebec Algonquin to treat whoopingcough (Black 1980: 88), suggesting that thisremedy reached general North Americanfolk medicine from this source, rather thanfrom Europe.

See also Amulet, Apple, Beans, Bloodroot,Bread, Coughs, Earth, Excreta, Garlic,Holly, Mallow, Mistletoe, Mouse, Onion,Rowan, Snail, Spider, Thyme, Toads andfrogs, Transference, Urine.






Bloom, J. H. “Modern Folklore of Warwickshire:Cures.” Notes and Queries 12(7) (1920):245–246.


Leather, E. M. The Folk-lore of Herefordshire. Lon-don and Hereford: Jakeman and Carver,1912.


Mundford Primary School project, 1980, Nor-folk, unpublished.

Porter, Enid. The Folklore of East Anglia. London:Batsford,1974.




Simpson, Jacqueline. The Folklore of the WelshBorder. London: Batsford, 1976.

Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. Folk Medicine of theDelaware and Related Algonkian Indians.Pennsylvania Historical Commission Anthro-pological Papers, no. 3 (1972).


Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylorin Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.MS4322.




Willow (Salix spp.)In British folk medicine willow has pri-

marily been used in the treatment of fevers,headache, and rheumatism. Although a

370 ; Willow

member of the clergy, Rev. Edward Stone,is credited with the “discovery” during theeighteenth century of the painkilling prop-erties of willow, he actually learned it fromcontemporary folk medicine and was re-sponsible only for drawing it to the atten-tion of the medical fraternity. This act intime led to the isolation of salicylic acid andeventually to the development of aspirin.Willow bark tea was drunk in the East An-glian fens for fever (Porter 1974: 52). Asrecently as the twentieth century, willowbark was still chewed in the Lincolnshirefens to relieve headache, especially due tohangover (Hatfield 1994: 40). There wereother minor uses of willow in British andIrish folk medicine, including wart treat-ment and various skin conditions (Allenand Hatfield, in press). Toothache and ear-ache have both been treated using willow(Vickery 1995: 401). In Cumbria, it hasbeen used for staunching bleeding (Freethy1985: 133). In Ireland willow has been usedto form a hoop through which a child witha hernia was passed; as the sides of the splitwillow rod grew together, so the childwould mend (Hunt 1938: 197). The flow-ers of weeping willow have been used inIreland for treating burns (Allen and Hat-field, in press).

In North American folk medicine, sim-ilar uses of willow have been recorded. Wil-low bark tea has been used for fevers(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 191), ashes ofburned willow mixed with vinegar havebeen used to treat warts (Meyer 1985: 263),and a willow stick has been rubbed on awart seven times and then planted (Brown1952–1964, 6: 331). Willow ashes havealso been used to treat nausea (Smith 1929:72). Willow bark tea has been drunk fordiarrhea (Wilson 1968: 326). An infusionof willow root has been used to treat tooth-ache (Puckett 1981: 462); more magically,a splinter of willow used to prick the gumof an aching tooth was placed over the door(Hyatt 1970, 1: 513). Just as in Britain, wil-

low has been split and a patient with a her-nia passed through it (UCLA FolkloreArchive 18_5464). For other uses of wil-lows in North American folk medicine, seethe UCLA Folklore Archives.

There are very many species of nativewillows in North America, and many ofthem have been used medicinally by theNative Americans for treating fevers andrheumatism (Moerman 1998: 798, 774–775). They have also been used for a widerange of other ailments, including dysen-tery, bleeding cuts and sores, stomach ail-ments, scrofula, and venereal disease, and asa hair tonic. (For these and other examplesof Native American usage, see Moerman1998: 500–508.) The strength and flexibil-ity of willow wood has been exploited byNative Americans for splinting fractures(Bourke 1892: 471).

See also Bleeding, Burns, Diarrhea,Dysentery, Earache, Fevers, Fractures,Headache, Nausea, Rheumatism,Toothache, Warts.




Bourke, John G. Medicine Men of the Apache.Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau ofEthnology. 1887–1888. Washington, DC:1892, 443–603.



Hunt, William. “County Donegal, Ireland, Parishof Killymard.” Folk-Lore 49 (1938): 193–197.


Witch : 371





Smith, Walter R. “Animals and Plants inOklahoma Folk Cures.” Folk-Say: A Re-gional Miscellany. Edited by B. A. Botkin.Norman: Oklahoma Folklore Society,1929.



WitchThe subject of witchcraft, like sorcery,

strictly belongs with religion and folklore,but since in the modern mind witches arestrongly associated with herbal medicine, itis necessary to consider the subject as it re-lates to folk medicine. In societies where al-most everyone needed, and had someknowledge of, home remedies, anyone pos-sessing especially great knowledge was re-garded with awe, reverence, fear, or amixture of these emotions. Reginald Scotwrote in 1584, “It is indifferent to say inthe English tongue, ‘she is a witch’ or ‘sheis a wise woman’ ” (Scot, Discoverie, V, ix:quoted in Thomas 1973: 518). There is nodoubt that many of the women branded aswitches in the past were really wise women,with perhaps psychological insight as wellas herbal knowledge. Although some distin-guished between “white” witches who didgood and “black” witches who caused harm(Thomas 1973: 316), all types of witch be-came labeled by theologians in Europe as in

league with the devil and therefore deserv-ing of death.

“Witch,” therefore, was not a title thatanyone would want to earn. Of those ac-tually brought to trial, many had physicaldeformities; even though mention of thiswas not made at the trials, it is surely in-dicative of the fear bred in people by any-thing unusual or inexplicable (Thomas1973: 677). It was easier to blame somesudden illness in man or beast on witchcraftthan to agree it was inexplicable. A midwifepresent at the birth of a grossly deformedbaby risked accusation of witchcraft, as didthe mother herself (Donnison 1988: 17).Once the perception that a woman was awitch had developed, she was a useful scape-goat for any misfortune. To “prove” thecharge of witchcraft, confessions were elic-ited from the accused, who sometimes ad-mitted to flying. Ointments were rubbedonto the skin of the accused, includingdeadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), oneof the effects of which is to create the illu-sion of flying (R. Vickery, Flora Facts andFables, no. 25, 8). At the beginning of theseventeenth century, persecution of witcheswas at its height. A few accused womenwere doubtless entrepreneurs, trading ontheir abilities and on the fears of those af-flicted with illness. Some were supported bytheir communities due to the fear they in-spired. In seventeenth-century Yorkshire, “awoman notoriously famed for a witch, hadso powerful a hand over the wealthiestneighbours about her, that none of themrefused to do anything she required; yea un-besought they provided her with fire andmeat from their own tables” (Thomas1973: 675; Fairfax 1882: 34). But for everyunscrupulous character like this, there weremany hundreds of ordinary women whowere valued by their communities for theirsuperior knowledge of healing. Shakespeareprobably did many of these a disfavor byhis portrayal of the witches’ brew in Mac-beth, an image that has lingered to the pres-ent long after we have forgotten the

372 ; Witch

extraordinary materia medica in use in of-ficial European medicine. The English Phy-sician of 1693 lists an amazing variety ofanimal products, exceeding any fictitiouswitch’s brew. Interestingly, it also reportsthe opinion of several authors that mercury,worn around the neck as an amulet, pro-tected against “Inchantments and Witch-craft” (Salmon 1693: 8).

Some of the Calvinist settlers in NorthAmerica brought with them their crusadeagainst witches, and there are several ex-amples of midwives being prosecuted forwitchcraft because they used herbs to easepain. The famous incidents in Salem, Mas-sachusetts, where a minister’s children ap-peared to be possessed and local womenwere accused of witchcraft, illustrates howwitchcraft was a convenient scapegoat forany unexplained and therefore fearful inci-

dent. Epilepsy and mental illnesses were in-explicable and frequently attributed towitchcraft.

At least in England, the image of the vil-lage witch survived into the twentieth cen-tury. Tongue gives examples of black,white, and “ambivalent” witches in Som-erset (Tongue 1965: 63–70). Taylor citesexamples of twentieth-century witches inNorfolk (Taylor 1929: 125–133). In ruralNorfolk in the 1920s there was a locallyfamous woman who visited children everyspringtime. She wore a black Trilby hat andhad a bucket containing a syrupy concoc-tion in which little green apples were float-ing. Every child was dosed with this. Itstaste was very bad, but the children weregiven no choice (Hatfield, pers. com.,1988). In another village, two sisters livingin a cottage at the edge of the village werefamous for their herbal brews. Childrenwere sent to collect these by their mothers,but they were scared to go alone, as theyregarded the women as witches (D. T.,Rockland St. Mary, Norfolk, pers. com.,1988). How far this witch image is a prod-uct of fairy tales and how far it is a genuinedescent from old beliefs is, of course, hardto ascertain, but these examples do illustratethe link even in the contemporary mind be-tween witchcraft and herbal remedies. Onelady, recently trained as a medical herbalist,remarked that the children in her village re-gard her as a witch (S. R., Poringland, Nor-folk, pers. com., 2001).

An East Anglian “cure” for witchcraft re-corded in the twentieth century involvedthe fungus that grows on a wych elm (Ul-mus glabra); adder’s tongue fern leaves(Ophioglossum vulgatum), known locally as“devil’s tongue”; “castor” from a horse’s leg;and blood from the person who had beenbewitched. All this was placed in a stone jugand boiled on a fire made from the woodof the thorn tree. When the whole concoc-tion was burned away, the power of thewitch was destroyed (Rider Haggard 1974:14). Various plants were used to protect

The herb doctor within a Native American tribe,whose knowledge of plant medicine has set him orher aside, is perhaps the nearest equivalent to the Brit-ish “white witch.” (Library of Congress)

Worms : 373

against witchcraft, especially the rowan ormountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia). It is stilltoday often planted near houses. Elder(Sambucus nigra) was likewise thought toprotect from witches; the idea that it is un-lucky to cut down an elder still lingers inrural Britain. At some level the memory ofthis protection still survives even in a worldwithout witches. A number of plants wereassociated with witchcraft, such as foxglove,known in some areas as “witches’ thimbles,”and bryony (Thiselton Dyer 1889: 58, 64).

There is no strict equivalent of the witchin Native American healing. Indeed, thedistinction between black and whitewitches implies a separation between thespiritual and the physical or rational.Whereas supernatural powers are feared inEuropean circles, in Native American heal-ing the spiritual and the rational are notseparated: both are essential parts ofhealing. The herb doctor within a tribe,whose knowledge of plant medicine has sethim apart, is perhaps the nearest equivalentto the British “white witch.” Among theCrow, the term akbaria is used to describesuch an herbal healer. Shamans who usetheir powers to cause harm to people arecalled agotkon by the Iroquois (Lyon 1996:10). They are perhaps closer to the Euro-pean concept of the black witch.

See also Amulet, Bryony, Epilepsy, Evileye, Foxglove, Midwife.

ReferencesDonnison, Jean. Midwives and Medical Men. Lon-

don: Historical Publications, 1988.Fairfax, E. Daemonologia. Edited by W. Grainge.

Harrogate, 1882.Lyon, William S. Native American Healing. Santa

Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1996.Rider Haggard, Lilias (ed.). I Walked by Night.

Ipswich: Boydell Press, 1974.Salmon, William, M.D. The Compleat English

Physician. London: 1693.Taylor, Mark R. “Norfolk Folklore.” Folk-Lore 40

(1929): 113–133.Thiselton Dyer, T. F. The Folk-Lore of Plants.

London: 1889. Facsimile Felinfach: Llaner-ech, 1994.

Thomas, K. Religion and the Decline of Magic.Harmondsworth: Penguin: 1973.


Vickery, Roy. “Witches’ Flying Ointment.” Flora,Facts and Fables 25 (2000): 8.

———. A Dictionary of Plant Lore. Oxford: Ox-ford University Press, 1995.

WormsAs a common affliction of children, at

least in the past, this was an ailment fre-quently treated in domestic folk medicine.One of the commonest treatments was gar-lic and other members of the onion family.This was either eaten or used as a supposi-tory. In Ireland, wild garlic (Allium ur-sinum) was used as a vermicide (Allen andHatfield, in press); elsewhere, and in morerecent times, cultivated garlic (Allium sati-vum) is used. Other plants used to treatworms include box (Buxus sempervirens)(Jobson 1959: 144). Box was still in veter-inary use for worming in Dorset in the1930s (Vickery 1995: 43). In Cumbria, bis-tort (Persicaria bistorta) was used (Vickery1995: 34), and gathering the plant at fullmoon was recommended. Bog myrtle (Myr-ica gale), a plant common in the west ofBritain, was used as a worm killer in bothScotland (McNeill 1910: 167) and Wales(Evans 1800: 149). As its common name of“wormwood” implies, various species of Ar-temisia were used to treat worms, especiallyin Wales and Ireland. Native species of Ar-temisia, such as mugwort and A. mariti-mum, were used, as were introduced speciessuch as A. absinthium from southern Eu-rope (Allen and Hatfield, in press). The rootof the male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas), wasused for worming (Beith 1995: 216), a rem-edy used by official medicine in the nine-teenth century (Allen and Hatfield, inpress). A number of gently laxative plants

374 ; Worms

were used in Sussex to purge children ofworms, including the juice of carrot (Dau-cus carota), birch (Betula sp.), and fir (Abiessp.).

More drastic, and sometimes dangerous,purges included hellebore (Helleborus spp.),caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris), spurgelaurel (Daphne laureola), black bryony (Ta-mus communis), and white bryony (Bryoniadioica). “Wormwort,” Senecio fluviatilis,also from southern Europe, was introducedby the Romans and became a naturalizedsource of worming remedies (Allen 1995:182). In Orkney, fumitory (Fumaria sp.)was used for worming humans and animals(Spence 1914: 101), and in Ireland theflowers of gorse (Ulex europaeus) wereboiled in milk and used for worming chil-dren (Vickery 1995: 158). An infusion ofhop flowers (Humulus lupulus) was a gypsyremedy for worms (Vesey-Fitzgerald 1944:225). In Gloucestershire, horseradish root(Armoracia rusticana) was used (Vickery1995: 197). Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) wasused throughout Britain as a worming agent(see, for example, Taylor MSS, Norfolk).

In North American folk medicine, a sim-ilarly wide range of plants were used in thetreatment of worms. Some of these are rec-ognizable in British folk medicine too, suchas garlic, tansy, wormwood, and birch.(Meyer 1985: 268–271). The root of male-fern (Dryopteris filix-mas) is used by theCherokee for the treatment of tapeworm(Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 34), just asin Britain. Other remedies use plants nativeto North America but not to Britain. Intothis category come sassafras, blue flag (Irisspp.), witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana),huckleberries, (Vaccinium spp.), Canadathistles (Cirsium arvense), and pumpkinseeds (Cucurbita spp.) (Meyer 1985: 268–271). Some of these remedies are evidentlyderived from Native American practice;Cirsium arvense, for example, has been usedas a vermicide by the Abnaki (Rousseau1947: 155), and the seeds of Cucurbita pepoby the Cherokee (Hamel and Chiltoskey

1975: 51). Sassafras albidum has been usedby both the Cherokee (Hamel and Chilto-skey 1975: 54) and the Iroquois (Herrick1977: 334). Lavender cotton (Santolinachamaecyparissus), on the other hand, is anative of the Mediterranean, and this rem-edy is presumably imported from there. Je-rusalem oak seed was used for worms(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 354). This plant(Chenopodium ambrosioides), also known as“wormseed” or “Mexican tea,” was usedboth in folk medicine and herbalism (Crel-lin and Philpott 1990: 270). Among theNative Americans, it was used by theHouma (Speck 1941: 63), the Koasati(Taylor 1940: 22), the Natchez (Taylor1940: 22), and the Rappahannock (Speck,Hassrick, and Carpenter 1942: 30). Theliquid from boiled mint (Mentha sp.) is aremedy of Spanish origin collected in thePacific Southwest (UCLA Folklore Archives19_5572). Both the bark and the sap of Po-pulus tremuloides were used in treatingworms (Meyer 1985: 269)—another rem-edy also used by the Native Americans andprobably learned from them. It has beenrecorded in use by the Abnaki (Rousseau1947: 165). Peach, though a native ofChina, has been used in both folk medicine(Meyer 1985: 270) and Native Americanpractice, among the Cherokee and Dela-ware (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975: 47;Tantaquidgeon 1972: 31). Carolina pink(Spigelia marilandica) was used in folk prac-tice, and knowledge of its antihelminthicproperties was passed on from the Cherokeeto a “number of the faculty” (Meyer 1985:269). It was used by the Creek (Swanton1928: 669) as well as the Cherokee (Hameland Chiltoskey 1975: 40). A large numberof other plants used by the Native Ameri-cans do not seem to have been adopted intogeneral North American folk medicine,such as the infusion of flowers and leaves ofboneset used by the Meskwaki (Smith1928: 214), and the bark of the Europeanspindle (Euonymus europaeus) used by theIroquois (Herrick 1977: 374).

Worms : 375

Apart from plant remedies for worms, anumber of household substances were rec-ommended, such as salt and water or flow-ers of sulphur (Meyer 1985: 268), the vaporfrom hot milk (UCLA Folklore Archives16_5572), and sugar and coal oil (UCLAFolklore Archives 16_5573).

Worms seem to have attracted a numberof superstitions and social taboos, bothamong the Native Americans and in generalNorth American folk practice. For example,children have been warned that they will getworms if they chew their fingernails and eatthem (UCLA Folklore Archives 14_5572);if they pick their noses (Cannon 1984:138); if they fail to eat all their toast crusts(UCLA Folklore Archives 9_5573); or ifthey eat too much sugar (numerous records,e.g., UCLA Folklore Archives 5_6063).Among the Native American Jicarilla, it issuggested that eating “forbidden things”will cause worms to grow fast inside one.Even “marrying a Pueblo when young” cancause worms to grow (Opler 1947: 128).

See also Boneset, Bryony, Garlic, Moon,Mugwort, Onion, Peach, Sassafras.








Evans, J. A Tour through Part of North Wales in

the Year 1798, and at Other Times. London:1800.



Jobson, Allan. An Hour-Glass on the Run. London:Michael Joseph, 1959.



Opler, Morris Edward. “Mythology and Folk Be-lief in the Maintenance of Jicarilla ApacheTribal Endogamy.” Journal of AmericanFolklore 60 (1947): 126–129.


Smith, Huron H. “Ethnobotany of the MeskwakiIndians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum ofthe City of Milwaukee 4 (1928): 175–326.

Speck, Frank G. “A List of Plant Curatives Ob-tained from the Houma Indians of Louisi-ana.” Primitive Man 14 (1941): 49–75.

Speck, Frank G., R. B. Hassrick, and E. S. Car-penter. “Rappahanock Herbals, Folk-Loreand Science of Cures.” Proceedings of theDelaware County Institute of Science 10(1942): 30.

Spence, Magnus. Flora Orcadensis. Kirkwall: D.Spence, 1914.

Swanton, John R. “Religious Beliefs and MedicalPractices of the Creek Indians.” SmithsonianInstitution-Bureau of American EthnologyAnnual Report 42 (1928): 473–672.

Tantaquidgeon, Gladys. Folk Medicine of theDelaware and Related Algonkian Indians.Pennsylvania Historical Commission Anthro-pological Papers, no. 3 (1972).


Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylor,in the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.MS4322.



376 ; Wounds

WoundsHome treatment of wounds right up to

the twentieth century in Britain and inNorth America has been a mixture of basiccommon sense and, at least apparently, bi-zarre remedies. Washing the wound in coldwater and bandaging tightly seems good ad-vice in any time and place. Applying a livefrog, a cow pat, or moldy bread, at least atfirst sight, seems much more dubious. Of-ficial medicine also includes many strange-sounding wound treatments. The list ofsubstances used to treat wounds in Sal-mon’s English Physician (Salmon 1693) in-cludes copper, mercury, bee, snail, worm,man (!), camel, cow. Some of these ingre-dients (including dried mummy!) were in-cluded in a seventeenth-century salve madefamous by Sir Kenelm Digby. It was de-signed to treat wounds by sympatheticmagic and was applied not to the woundbut to the weapon that had caused it. Aris-ing from this idea, folk medicine containsmany examples of wound healing whereinthe instrument causing the wound is eithercleaned or buried, and some of these prac-tices have continued until recent times inboth Britain (Newman 1945: 291) andNorth America (Puckett 1981: 429).

In Sussex folk medicine, from the six-teenth through to the nineteenth centuries,strapping a live frog to a wound was con-sidered to help healing. Frogs under stressrelease maganins, which might have pro-moted healing (Allen 1995: 76). To en-courage licking of a wound by the patientor by a pet dog sounds unhygienic, butthere is evidence that it might indeed behelpful in some cases (Root-Bernstein andRoot-Bernstein 2000: 110). Cobwebs werefound to be effective at stopping bleedingand encouraging healing, and they havebeen used within living memory in Britain(Prince 1991: 118) and in North America(UCLA Folklore Archive 1_5589), both in

human and in veterinary practice. Currentstudies of the structure of cobwebs showthat they encourage blood clotting and helpseal wounds. The more dubious soundinguse of cowpats to treat wounds is a practicethat again persisted in country veterinaryuse as well as for human patients, well intothe twentieth century, in Britain (Hatfield1994: 11) and in North America (UCLAFolklore Archive 4_5437). Other animalproducts used in wound healing includesnakeskin, used in particular for septicwounds (Prince 1991: 101).

Numerous plants have been used forwound healing in British folk medicine. Inmany cases, the country names indicatetheir use. “Self-heal” and “all-heal” arenames used for Prunella vulgaris, a nativeBritish plant used in wound healing in bothfolk medicine and orthodox medicine untilthe modern period. Woundwort (Stachysspp.) is similarly a self-explanatory name,while yarrow, used in healing since the an-cients, has among its English country names“carpenter’s weed” and “staunchweed.” Thename “yarrow” is thought to be derivedfrom the Anglo-Saxon gearwe, meaninghealer (Stockwell 1989: 28). St. John’s wortis another plant used for healing through-out Britain. In folk medicine it was oftenused on its own (Tongue 1965: 35); in or-thodox medicine it was one of many ingre-dients in wound salves, such as the famouseighteenth-century Admiral Wade’s bal-sam. Comfrey has been widely used inwound healing in Britain, as have mallowand elder. Of the plants used to treatwounds in British folk medicine, the petalsof Madonna lily (and of other lilies to alesser extent), steeped in brandy, is one ofthe more surprising—because, unlike mostplants used in traditional remedies, it is nota native. In recent times, castor oil (fromRicinus communis) has been used to cleanand heal wounds in both humans and ani-mals (M.H., Attleborough, Norfolk, 1990,

Wounds : 377

pers. com.) (Prince 1991: 114). Pine resinhas been used in recent times for treatinginfected wounds (Hatfield MS). Sporesfrom puffballs were dusted onto wounds toarrest bleeding, and the whole fungus wasalso made into a poultice for dressingwounds. Puffballs were, at least in East An-glia, commonly kept in barbers’ shops aswell as farm buildings for use in treatingcuts in humans and animals.

Fungi have been exploited by folk med-icine in another approach to the treatmentof wounds. A number of moldy substances,at least some of which probably containedantibiotics, were used in folk medical treat-ment of wounds. Rotten apples, moldycheese wrappings, and even purpose-grownmold from copper pennies coated with lard(Daily Express, November 19, 1943) areamong twentieth-century pre-antibioticuses of molds. The use of moss, particularlyof the bog moss (Sphagnum sp.) as a wounddressing in both official and unofficial med-icine was recognized on both sides of theAtlantic.

In North American folk medicine, as inBritain, animal products were used inwound treatment. Aside from the cowpatsmentioned above, these include mashedroaches (Saxon 1945: 536), fat meat andturpentine (Puckett 1981: 427), beef gall(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 355), and spit(Brown 1952–1964, 6: 355). Soot and thesmoke from burning wool are among othermiscellaneous wound remedies used inNorth American folk practice (Brown1952–1964, 6: 355, 356).

Among plant remedies used as woundhealers in North American folk medicine,some are recognizably the same as thoseused in Britain. During the American CivilWar, yarrow gained the name of “soldier’swoundwort,” from the use of the crushedplant as first aid for wounds in battle (Cof-fey 1993: 237). Comfrey was used as inBritain for wound healing (Brown 1952–

1964, 6: 355). Elder bark and dandelionleaves were mixed to form a wound oint-ment (Clark 1970: 34). Other plant reme-dies used include green tobacco leaves forbullet wounds (Clark 1970: 19) or poulticesof American elm bark (Ulmus americana)(Vogel 1970: 303). Jimson leaves werecooked in lard to form a wound salve(McAtee 1955: 214). Leaves of geraniumwere used (Puckett 1981: 505). Chapparal(Larrea tridentata), a native of the South-west, was used in wound treatment there(Micheletti 1998: 81). As in Britain, puff-ball spores were used (Wilson 1968: 322).Molds were also used. From Missouri thereis a record of wet tree mold wrapped overa wound with cheesecloth (UCLA FolkloreArchive 24_5574). For a nail wound,moldy bread and sweet milk was recom-mended (Parler 1962: 754).

Among the numerous plants used forwound healing by Native Americans, heal-all (Collinsonia canadensis) has, its namesuggests, been used for treating wounds aswell as other ailments. Agave (Agave spp.)was used by the Mexican Indians (Kay1996: 88), as was the succulent cactus Pa-chycereus pecten-aboriginum (Kay 1996:131). More than a hundred different generaof plants were used by the Native Ameri-cans to check bleeding, and in excess of ahundred were used as disinfectants (Moer-man 1998: 772, 789). Different species ofpine were very widely used. The gum fromPinus edulis was used to heal cuts in a sim-ilar way to that reported in East Anglia,above (Weber and Seaman 1985: 205).

Among nonplant remedies used by theNative Americans are slices of beaver kidney(Van Wart 1948: 576) and maggots (Fisher1945: 73–73). The latter were purpose-bred and used to clean up infected wounds,just as they were in warfare in the twentiethcentury in Europe, and as they are onceagain in the twenty-first century in NorthAmerican and European hospitals (Root-

378 ; Wrinkles

Bernstein and Root-Bernstein 2000: 21–30).

See also Bleeding, Comfrey, Cuts,Dandelion, Elder, Mallow, Molds, Pine,Poultice, Puffball, St. John’s wort,Sphagnum moss, Spider, Spit,Sympathetic magic, Thornapple,Tobacco, Yarrow.


cine. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1995.Brown, Frank C. Collection of North Carolina

Folklore. 7 vols., Durham, NC: Duke Uni-versity Press, 1952–1964.



Fisher, Anne B. The Salinas, Upside-Down River.Rivers of America. New York: Farrar andRinehart, 1945.



McAtee, W. L. “Home Medication in GrantCounty, Indiana, in the Nineties.” MidwestFolklore 5 (1955): 213–216.



Newman, L. F. “Some Notes on the Folklore ofCambridgeshire and the Eastern Counties.”Folk-Lore 56 (1945): 287–293.





Root-Bernstein, Robert, and Michele Root-Bernstein. Honey, Mud, Maggots and OtherMedical Marvels: The Science behind FolkRemedies and Old Wives’ Tales. London: PanBooks, 2000.



Stockwell, Christine. Nature’s Pharmacy. A Historyof Plants and Healing. London: ArrowBooks, 1989.


Van Wart, Arthur F. “The Indians of the Mari-time Provinces, Their Diseases and NativeCures.” Canadian Medical Association Jour-nal 59(6) (1948): 573–577.


Weber, Steven A., and P. David Seaman. Hava-supai Habitat: A. F. Whiting’s Ethnographyof a Traditional Indian Culture. Tucson:University of Arizona Press, 1985.


WrinklesElderflower water and an ointment

made from cowslip leaves were among thefolk remedies for the treatment and pre-vention of wrinkles. A mixture of violets(Viola odorata) and goat’s milk was highlyvalued in the Scottish Highlands as a lo-tion to produce a smooth complexion(Beith 1995: 249–250). A facepack couldbe made from oatmeal, lemon juice, andcream. Cucumber slices placed on the eye-lids were soothing and thought to preventwrinkles (Souter 1995: 147). The juice ofthe greater celandine (Chelidonium majus)was used to remove wrinkles (Vickery

Wrinkles : 379

MSS). In Westmoreland an infusion ofbutterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) was drunkto procure a smoother skin (Freethy 1985:128). Wild strawberry leaves (Fragariavesca) were rubbed on the face inseventeenth-century Cornwall to procure asmooth complexion (Deane and Shaw1975). In Ireland, comfrey juice wasthought to be good for the complexion (Lo-gan 1972: 77). In both Scotland and En-gland, May dew was thought to preventwrinkles (Napier 1879: 170).

In North American folk medicine,washing with cold water was thought toprevent wrinkles (UCLA Folklore Archives3_5964). Alternatives were to wash with al-cohol (UCLA Folklore Archives 7_5964) orurine (UCLA Folklore Archives 4_5964),or a mixture of vinegar and water (UCLAFolklore Archives 8_5964). Face packs toremove wrinkles include cow manure (Par-ler 1962, 3: 550), a paste of oatmeal andeggs (UCLA Folklore Archives 17_5576),honey and garlic (UCLA Folklore Archives12_5964), or goose grease (UCLA FolkloreArchives 16_5964). Plant remedies forwrinkles include a wash of sassafras tea(Musick 1964: 38), the juice of green pinecones (Beck 1957: 45) or of lily bulbs(Koch 1980: 110), or eating prunes (Hyatt1965: 161).

There were various folk beliefs concern-ing wrinkles. They could be caused bycounting stars (Espinosa 1910: 414), by let-ting the moon shine on the face (Brown1952–1964, 6: 102), or by sleeping withthe head raised (Hyatt 1965: 161). Thenumbers and positions of wrinkles on theface and hands were suggested to indicatehow many children the owner would have,or how many spouses, as well as indicatingthe character of the owner (see, for example,

Brown 1952–1964, 6: 26; Hyatt 1965:167).

See also Comfrey, Cowslip, Dew, Elder,Excreta, Moon, Pine, Sassafras, Urine,Vinegar, Water.





Deane, Tony, and Tony Shaw. The Folklore ofCornwall. London: Batsford, 1975.






Musick, Ruth M. (ed.) “Superstitions.” West Vir-ginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.

Napier, James. Folk Lore or Superstitious Beliefs inthe West of Scotland within this Century.Paisley: 1879.



Vickery MSS. Roy Vickery. Manuscript notes inhis personal possession.

;Y:

Yarrow is a healing herb valued in both Old and NewWorlds particularly for its blood-staunching prop-erties. (Sarah Boait)

Yarrow (Achilleamillefolium)

As its country name of “soldiers’ wound-wort” implies, this plant has been highlyvalued over the centuries as a wound-healing herb. In addition, an infusion of theplant has been drunk for respiratory com-plaints, including coughs, colds, andasthma, as well as for rheumatism. Theleaves have been pushed up the nose to pro-voke a nosebleed and thereby relieve head-ache. Paradoxically, they have also beenused to treat nosebleeds (Bardswell 1911:132). Other uses include chewing the leavesfor toothache, a remedy particularly used inIreland (Allen and Hatfield, in press). Theleaves, worn in a shoe, protected the weareragainst cramp (Tongue 1965: 38). Highblood pressure has been treated with yarrow(Ibbott 1994: 64). Yarrow has been takenas a general tonic in, for example, Shetland(Tait 1947). In some parts of Britain, suchas the Isle of Man, the plant was regardedas a panacea (Fargher n.d.). The plant hasmagical associations too. It was used as adivinatory herb to test whether a boy loveda girl (Page 1983: 41). In Norfolk a sprigof yarrow was traditionally tied to a baby’scradle to ensure its future happiness (Porter1974: 18).

In North American folk medicine, yar-row has been used in many of the same waysas in Britain. During the Civil War, wounds

were staunched with yarrow (Micheletti1998: 354). Yarrow tea has been used fortreating colds (Lathrop 1961: 13), fever(Levine 1941: 488), indigestion (Browne1958: 74), and dysentery (Brendle 1935:171), as well as for preventing nosebleeds(Meyer 1985: 189) or the bleeding of piles(Meyer 1985: 195). As in Britain, it wasalso used for toothache (Meyer 1985: 47),headache (UCLA Folklore Archives11_6289), and cramps (Musick 1964: 46).It was regarded as a tonic for the liver (Hen-dricks 1959: 112) and as good to clear in-fection from the body (UCLA Folklore

382 ; Yew

Archives 14_6816). It has been creditedwith giving long life to anyone who eats itat least once a week (UCLA Folklore Ar-chives 6_6772).

The uses of yarrow by the Native Amer-icans are numerous and varied. They in-clude staunching the bleeding of wounds,piles, nosebleeds, and heavy periods; treat-ing respiratory disorders, fevers, rheuma-tism, toothache, and headache; and forheart complaints (Moerman 1998: 42–45).At least one tribe regarded the plant as apanacea (Turner et al. 1990: 66). Like theEnglish East Anglians, the Potawatomicredited the plant with the power to repelevil spirits (Smith 1933: 47).

See also Asthma, Colds, Coughs, Cramp,Dysentery, Fevers, Headache, Hearttrouble, Indigestion, Menstrual problems,Nosebleed, Piles, Rheumatism, Tonic,Toothache, Wounds.



Bardswell, Frances Anne. The Herb-garden. Lon-don: A. & C. Black, 1911.



Fargher, D. C. The Manx Have a Word for It. Vol.5, Manx Gaelic Names of Flora. Port Erin:privately published (mimeo).

Hendricks, George D., et al. “Utah State Univer-sity Folklore Collection.” Western Folklore18 (1959): 107–120.

Ibbott, Selena. Folklore, Legends and Spells (ofGloucestershire). Bath: Ashgrove Press,1994.


Levine, Harold D. “Folk Medicine in New

Hampshire.” New England Journal of Med-icine 224 (1941): 487–492.




Musick, Ruth M. (ed.). “Superstitions.” West Vir-ginia Folklore 14 (1964): 38–52.

Page, Robin. The Country Way of Love. Har-mondsworth: Penguin Books, 1983.



Tait, Robert W. “Some Shetland Plant Names.”Shetland Folk Book 1 (1947): 73–88.



Yew (Taxus baccata)This tree is notoriously poisonous and

has been used only in a limited way in Brit-ish folk medicine. The fact that as recentlyas the nineteenth century infusions of itsleaves were used to sponge corpses and pre-vent putrefaction (Rootsey 1832–33) mayexplain the custom of planting yews inchurchyards. A preparation of the twigs hasbeen used in Lincolnshire for kidney com-plaints (Taylor MSS). The plant has alsobeen used as an abortifacient, but such us-age has sometimes proved fatal (Taylor1848: 790). In Ireland, yew has been usedfor treating ringworm (Allen and Hatfield,in press). The only part of the plant that is

Yew : 383

not toxic is the pulp of the fruit. The “ber-ries” were used in treating scrofula, nose-bleeds, and heart palpitations in theseventeenth century (Wright 1912: 233).

The English yew has scarcely been usedin general North American folk medicine.Both this species and the Pacific yew (Taxusbrevifolia) and Canada yew (Taxus canaden-sis) have been used by Native Americans totreat a wide range of ailments, particularlyrespiratory complaints and rheumatism(Moerman 1998: 551–553). The Iroquoisused English yew as an abortifacient (Her-rick 1977: 264). Pacific yew was used bythe Hanaksiala for kidney complaints andby the Tsimshian for treating cancer(Compton 1993: 187). Yew has recentlysprung to fame for providing a “new” offi-cial treatment for ovarian cancer (Chevallier1996: 273).




Compton, Brian Douglas. Upper North Wakashanand Southern Tsimshian Ethnobotany: TheKnowledge and Usage of Plants. Ph.D. thesis,University of British Columbia, Vancouver,1993.



Rootsey, Samuel. “Observations upon Some ofthe Medical Plants Mentioned by Shake-speare.” Transactions of the Medico-BotanicalSociety of London for 1832–33 (1834): 83–96.

Taylor, Alfred S. On Poisons, in Relation to MedicalJurisprudence and Medicine. London: JohnChurchill, 1848.

Taylor MSS. Manuscript notes of Mark R. Taylor,in Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.


Index

Abortion, 1–3, 6, 17Abscesses, 3–4, 47, 279Acne, 4–5Acorus, 99African folk tradition, 5–7, 88Agrimony, 310Ague. See FeversAgueweed. See BonesetAir quality, disease and, 87–88Alcoholism. See DrunkennessAlder, 7–9Aloe vera, 9–10Alum root, 37Amber, 10, 11Amenorrhea, 32Amoebic dysentery, 127–28Amulet, 10–13

for asthma, 18beans as, 27blackberry as, 33–34for bleeding, 36for colds, 79for epilepsy, 139–40, 141for evil eye, 145for fevers, 156–57for heart trouble, 192for jaundice, 216for poison ivy, 272for rheumatism, 289for snake bites, 318for teething, 337for toothache, 346, 347

Anemia, 13–14, 232Animal dung, 146–48, 279Animal fat, 50, 55, 69, 70, 73, 111, 153–54Aphrodisiacs, 10, 27, 57, 142–43, 228–30

Appendicitis, 60Appetite suppressants, 206–7Apple, 14–16Apple-cider vinegar, 15Arnica, 50Arsenic, 11Artemisia, 2, 77, 99, 246–48Arthritis, 15, 199, 287–91

See also RheumatismAsafoetida, 11, 79Ash, 16–17, 75Ashes, 36, 38, 63Asthma, xix, 11, 15, 17–19, 223Asthma weed, 18–19Astringents, 118

Babies. See InfantsBackache, 21–23Bad breath, 23Baldness, 24–25, 181–82Balm of Gilead, 25–26Barberry, 215Bartram, John, 26–27Beans, 27–28Bed-wetting, 28–29, 245Bees, 29–30Bee stings, 211–13Beeswax, 29–30Beetroot, 13Beets, 13Betony, 76–77Bezoar, 11Birch, 12, 31–32Birth defects, 87, 88, 280Birthmarks, 87, 88, 280Birthstones, 11

386 ; Index

Bitesinsect, 211–13snake, 16–17, 318–20

Black (color), 84–85Black, William George, xvii, 32Blackberry, 33–34, 98Black bryony, 230Black cats, 84–85Black cohosh, 22, 32–33, 289Black haw, 6Blackheads, 34Blacksmith, 34–35Blackstrap molasses, 13Blackthorn, 35Bladder infections, 71Bladder stones, 178–80Bleeding, 15, 35–37, 281–82

See also Nosebleeds; WoundsBlindness, 15, 88, 149Blisters, 38–39Blood

disorders, 13–14as healing agent, 39–40pressure, 11, 27purifiers, 8, 13, 53, 132, 300, 301

Bloodroot, 18, 36, 63Bloodweed, 37Blue (color), 84Blue cohosh, 77Bogbean, 18, 41–42, 215Boils, 9, 14, 25, 33, 42–44The Boke of Children (Phaire), xixBonduc bean, 75, 118Bones

amulets of, 12broken, 25, 31, 164–65powdered, 36

Boneset, 6, 44–45, 90Bramble, 18, 33–34Bread, 3, 36, 38, 45–46, 279Breast cancer, 61Breastfeeding, 8, 46–48, 91, 92Breast problems, 46–49Breath, bad, 23British folk tradition, xvii–xxBronchitis, 32Bruises, 15, 27, 49–52Bryony, 52–53, 229–30Bubonic plague, 267–69Buckbean. See BogbeanBuckeye, 11

Bugleweed, 22Bull thistle, 22Burdock, 4, 13, 24, 53–54Burial, 131Burns, 9, 54–57, 200, 334–35Butter, 238Buttercups, 57Button snakeroot, 57–58

Cabbage, 3, 38, 39, 59–61, 279Cancer, 15, 61–65Cancer weed, 63Cardamom seeds, 23Carrot, 3, 13, 279Catnip, 3, 65, 81Cats, black, 84–85Caul, 36, 65–66Cayenne, 6, 66–67Celandine, 263Celtic tradition, 67–68Chalybeate water, 13Chamomile, 23, 68–69, 181Change of life. See MenopauseCheckerberry, 22Cherry, 19, 71–72Chestnut leaves, 19Chickweed, 3, 72–73, 133Chilblains, 14, 15, 73–74, 198, 320Childbirth, 11, 12, 27, 28, 30, 32, 74–78, 247

See also MidwivesChildhood illnesses

croup, 103–4hives, 197–98measles, 40, 46mumps, 15, 28rickets, 291–92worms, 373–74

Chili pepper, 288Chills, 7Chokeberry, 71Cinnamon, 23Cloves, 23, 347Cobwebs. See Spiders/spider websCod-liver oil, 160Colds, 78–80Colic, 80–82Colickwort, 80Colitis, 33Colonists, 82–83Colors, 83–85Coltsfoot, 18

Index : 387

Columbo, 85–86Comfrey, 86–87, 164Coneflower (Echinacea), 43, 132–33Congenital abnormalities, 87, 88, 280Constipation, 89–91Consumption. See TuberculosisContraception, 91–93Corn, 93–95, 134Corns, 95–97, 213Cotton, 6Cottonseed water, 19Coughs, 7, 25, 34, 97–100Cowslip, 100–101Cramps, 11, 101–102Cranberries, 303–4Crickets, 102–103Croup, 103–104Cuts, 104–108

See also Bleeding; Wounds

Daisy, 19Dandelion, 13, 24, 109–111Dandruff, 181Dead man’s hand, 111Deafness, 111–113Dengue fever, 44Depression, 113–115, 299Devil, 87Dew, 115–116Diabetes, 116–118Diarrhea, 5, 8, 15, 33, 34, 35, 118–119, 349Disease, concepts of, 87–89Dizziness, 119–120Dock, 120–22, 133Doctrine of signatures, 122Dogs

as healing agents, 122–24mad, 225–26

Dogwood, 83Dropsy, 124–26Drunkenness, 126–27Dung, 146–48, 279Dysentery, 5, 33, 127–28

Earache, 16, 17, 112, 129–31Earth, 131–32Echinacea (coneflower), 43, 132–33Eczema, 8, 25, 133–35Eggs, 50, 135Elder, 90, 133, 136–38Elecampane, 19, 98

Elm, 134, 138–39English Physician (Culpeper), xixEpilepsy, 11, 39, 139–42, 350Epsom salts, 50, 70Eryngo (sea-holly), 142–43Erysipelas (St. Anthony’s Fire), 143–45Ethnobotany, xviiEuropean settlers, 82–83Evil eye, 67, 145–46Evil spirits, 299Excreta, 146–48, 279Eye problems, 15, 88, 115, 148–51, 195

Fat, 50, 55, 69, 70, 73, 111, 153–54Feet

corns, 95–97sore, 321–23

Felons, 154–55Fertility, 27, 52Feverfew, 189, 237Fevers, 12, 155–59, 369–70Figwort, 10–11, 136, 159Fish, 159–60Flax, 160–62Fleas, 8Folk medicine

African tradition of, 5–7, 88British tradition of, xvii–xxconcepts of disease in, 87–89defined, xviihistory of, xvii–xxMexican tradition of, 235Native American tradition of, xix, 6–7, 82–

83, 88, 230–31, 251North American tradition of, xix–xx, 82–83,

93–94Forge water, 35, 162–63Foxglove, 124–25, 133, 163–64, 191Fractures, 31, 125, 164–65Freckles, 4, 28, 35, 165–66Frogs. See Toads and frogsFrostbite, 15, 31, 167–68Fungi, 377

Gallstones, 39Garlic, 11, 169–72Ginger, 172–74Ginseng, 174–75Glycerine, 69Goiters, 111Gold, 175

388 ; Index

Golden rod, 37Golden seal, 175–76Goldthread, 83Gout, 176–78Gravel and stone, 178–80Gravel-root. See bonesetGunn, J. C., xixGunpowder, 43

Hair problems, 24–25, 181–83Hand, Wayland D., 183–84Hangovers, 59, 126Hawthorn, 184–85Hay fever, 29–30, 185–87Headaches, 31, 187–90, 369–70

See also MigrainesHead lice, 181, 182, 215, 216Healers, 67–68, 190–91, 230–31, 325–26Heartburn. See IndigestionHeart problems, 40, 109, 125, 163, 184, 191–

95Hemlock, 62–63, 195Hemlock spruce, 195–96Hemorrhages. See BleedingHemorrhoids. See PilesHenbane, 75Hernia, 16, 17, 33Hiccups, 31, 196–97High blood pressure, 11, 27Hives, 197–98Hoarseness, 15, 59Hohenheim, Philippus Theophrastus Bombastus

von, 122Holly, 198–200Honey, 24, 28, 98, 185, 186, 200–1Hops, 201–3, 310Horehound, 203–4Hot cross buns, 45Houseleek, 2, 3, 4, 133, 204–5Hufford, David, xix–xxHuman skulls, 309–10Hunger, 206–7Hydrophobia, 225–26

Imitative magic, 122, 335Impetigo, 15Inanimate objects. See TransferenceIncontinence, 28–29Indian turnip, 6–7Indigestion, 209–11

Infantscolic in, 80–81evil eye and, 145–46jaundice in, 215–18teething, 10–11, 33, 246, 337–38weaning, 47–48

Infections, 42Inflammation. See SwellingInsect bites and stings, 211–13Insomnia. See SleeplessnessIpecacuanha, 127Ivy, 133, 213–14

Jamestown weed. See ThornappleJasper, 11Jaundice, 215–18Jimson weed. See ThornappleJoe-Pye weed, 44–45Josselyn, John, 219Juniper, 1, 2, 21–22, 37

Kidneys, 15, 31, 42Kidney stones, 39, 178–80King’s evil. See TuberculosisKola nuts, 5

Labor. See ChildbirthLactation, 8, 46–48, 91, 92Lameness, 15Laudanum. See OpiumLaxatives, 89–90, 300Lee, John, 7Lemon balm, 113Lemons, 11, 24, 98Leprosy, 25Leucorrhoea, 8Lice, 181, 182, 215, 216Lichens, 244Lighthall, J. I., 83Lily, 36, 50Lime, 6Limpets, 47Linseed, 38Liquorice, 18Liver, 13Liver troubles, 41, 42, 109

See also JaundiceLobelia, 223–24Logwood, 217Lumbago. See Backache

Index : 389

Mad dog, bite of, 225–26Madstones, 225Magic

in African tradition, 6causation of disease and, 87–88imitative, 122, 335sympathetic, 269, 317, 335

Maize. See CornMalaria, 155–56

See also FeverMallow, 226–28Mandrake, 228–30Mannagrass, 23Manzanilla. See ChamomileMarshmallow, 54, 227Matico-leaf, 37Mayapple, 230Meadow-rue, 2Measles, 40, 46Medicine man, 230–31, 251Melancholia, 113–15Menopause, 32, 231–32Menstrual problems, 8, 17, 32, 109, 232–35,

247See also Abortion

Mental illness, 242Mexican elder, 37Mexican tradition, 235Mice, 28, 29, 245–46Midwives, 74, 190, 235–37

See also ChildbirthMigraines, 237–38

See also HeadachesMilk, 238–39Mint, 23, 209Mistletoe, 36, 239–41Molds, 105, 106, 241–42Moon, 242–44Morning sickness, 251–52, 260, 280Mosquito bites. See Insect bites and stingsMoss, 244–45Mountain ash. See RowanMugwort, 37, 67, 75, 246–48Mulberry, 36Mullein, 19, 29, 118, 248–49Mumps, 15, 28Myrrh, 23

Nasal polyps, 41Native American tradition, xix, 6–7, 82–83, 88,

93, 230–31, 251

Nausea, 33, 172, 251–52See also Morning sickness

Nervous disorders, 113–15Nettles. See Stinging nettlesNewborns. See InfantsNew Family Physician (Gunn), xixNight sweats, 15, 31Nine bark, 3Nolan, Peter, xix–xxNorth American tradition, xix–xx, 82–83, 93–

94Nosebleeds, 27, 252–54Nutmeg, 42, 43

Official medicine, vs. folk medicine, xvii–xviiiOnions, 129, 155, 255–57, 279Opium, 155, 274, 310Organ pipe cactus, 37Otters, 257–58

Pain killers, 31, 68, 132, 187, 189, 226–28,260

Palsy, 16, 259–60Papaya, 6, 7Paracelsus, 122Paralysis. See PalsyParasitic worms, 5–6, 373–75Parsley, 23Parsley piert, 80Peach, 37, 260–62Pechey, John, 1Pennyroyal, 1–2, 18, 92Peony, 11Pepper, 36, 39Peppermint, 23, 209Persimmon fruit, 6, 129Phaire, Thomas, xixPigeon berries, 37Piles, 25, 263–65Pine, 29, 36, 37, 98, 99, 265–67Pineapple weed, 43, 68–69Pipsissewa, 22–23Plague, 267–69Plantain, 21, 36, 38, 269–71Pleurisy, 33Plum, 19Pneumonia, 5, 40Poison ivy, 8, 15, 35, 271–73Poison oak, 271–73Poisons, 28

390 ; Index

Poke, 3, 37, 63, 273–74, 289Poppy, 274–76, 310Potatoes, 10, 18, 21, 276–79Poultices, 279–80

for abscesses, 3for colds, 78, 79for erysipelas, 144for felons, 154flax, 160–61for quinsy, 285vinegar, 360–61

Pregnancy, 28, 280–81See also Abortion; Childbirth

Prickly ash, 281Prickly pear, 63Primitive Physic (Wesley), xixPrimrose, 54Prunus, 99Puffballs, 36, 37, 106, 282–83Pumpkin seeds, 29

Quinsy, 285–86

Rabbit’s foot, 11, 12Rabies, 225–26Ramsons, 78Rashes, 8, 9, 15Raspberry, 1, 23, 75, 77, 280Rattlesnake’s master, 6Red (color), 83–84, 114Red bark, 29Red clover, 4, 24Red pepper. See CayenneRenal colic. See ColicRheumatism, 10, 11–12, 31, 32, 33, 199, 273,

287–91, 332–33, 369–70Rice, 36Ringworm, 5, 15, 16, 31, 292–95Rose, 295–96Rosemary, 24, 181Rowan, 296–97Rue, 133, 91-92

Salicylic acid, 370Saliva, 328–29Sarsaparilla, 13, 300–1Sassafras, 37, 301–3Savin. See JuniperScarlet fever, 40Sciatica. See BackacheScokeroot, 41

Scotland, 67–68Scrofula. See TuberculosisScurvy, 303–4Scurvygrass, 303Sea-holly (eryngo), 142–43Sedatives, 68, 100, 201–2, 310–11, 340–41,

359Seneca snakeroot, 2Senna, 90Seventh son, 288–89, 305–6, 325Sexual problems, 57Shakers, 82, 306Shamans, 231, 373Sheep shower, 63Shells, 12Shepherd’s purse, 36Shingles, 15, 39, 40, 306–8Signatures, doctrine, 122Silverweed, 308–9Skin conditions

acne, 4–5aloe vera for, 9beeswax for, 29–30blemishes, 39bruises, 15, 27, 49–52chapped skin, 69–71eczema, 8, 25, 133–35erysipelas (St. Anthony’s fire), 143–45felons, 154–55freckles, 4, 28, 35, 165–66hives, 197–98houseleek for, 205itching, 7ivy for, 213poison ivy/oak, 8, 15, 35, 271–73poke, 273rashes, 8, 9, 15ringworm, 5, 15, 16, 31, 292–95skin cancer, 61ulcers, 8

Skulls, 309–10Skunk cabbage, 18, 60, 83Slake water, 35, 162–63Sleeplessness, 100, 310–11Slippery elm, 3, 43, 138–39Sloe, 18Smallpox, 7, 14, 27, 311–15Smartweed, 2, 3Snails, 98, 315–16Snakeroot, 5, 7Snakes/snake bite, 16–17, 316–20, 348

Index : 391

Snow, 320–21Soda, 321Sodium bicarbonate, 321Solomon’s seal, 12Sore feet, 321–23Sore gums, 40Sores, 6, 25, 30Sore throat, 323–25Specialists, 325–26Sphagnum moss, 326–27Spider bites. See Insect bites and stingsSpiders/spider webs, 11, 37, 106, 327–38Spiritual healing, 6Spit, 328–29Spots. See AcneSprains, 11, 14, 329–32Spruce trees, 37Squaw root. See Black cohoshSt. Anthony’s fire (erysipelas), 143–45St. John’s wort, 28–29, 36, 113, 114, 299–300Stinging nettle, 232, 288, 332–34Stings, 211–13Stinking iris, 89Stomach ailments. See Indigestion; NauseaStone, Edward, 155Stones, 11

See also Gravel and stoneStyes, 10, 14, 39, 148–49, 150Sugar, 24, 36Sumac, 29, 37Sunburn, 334–35Sunflower, 37Swelling, 30, 33, 72Sympathetic magic, 269, 317, 335Syphilis, 300, 301

Tea leaves, 36Teething, 10–11, 33, 246, 337–38Tetanus, 28Tetters. See RingwormThomson, Samuel, xix, 18–19, 223, 338–39Thornapple, 17, 54–55, 339–40Throat

inflammation, 285–86sore, 323–25

Thrush, 33Thyme, 340–41Toad poison, 11Toads and frogs, 341–44Toadstones, 35Tobacco, 36, 99, 344–45

Tonics, 31, 345–46Toothaches, 16, 33–34, 39, 246, 346–49

See also TeethingTormentil, 349Traill, Catherine Parr, 349Transference, xviii–xix, 349–52

for asthma, 18of colds, 79for corns, 96dead man’s hand and, 111for earache, 129of fevers, 156of rheumatism, 289–90of shingles, 307of toothache, 346using apples, 14using ash, 16using blackberry, 33using corn, 94using dogs, 123using fish, 159–60using frogs and toads, 341–42using onions, 255using trees, 16, 351of warts, 364of whooping cough, 367–68

Trees, 16, 351See also specific types

Tuberculosis, 8, 25, 34, 88, 304, 315, 352–56Turf, 131Turner, Robert, 122Turpentine, 22Typhoid fever, 88

Ulcers, 25, 72Umbilical cord, 11Urinary conditions, 178–79Urine, 4, 36, 39, 357–58

Vaccination, 312, 313Valerian, 359–60Varicose veins, 15Venison tallow, 39Vinegar, 91, 92, 103, 360–61Vomiting, 15, 33, 172

See also NauseaVoodoo healers, 6

Wales, 68Walnut juice, 37

392 ; Index

Warts, xviii–xix, 14, 15, 27, 35, 102, 136, 350,363–65

Water, 13, 35, 162–63, 351, 365–66Waybread. See PlantainWeaning, 47–48Weight loss, 15, 16, 72, 206–7Wens, 111Wesley, John, xixWhiskey, 78, 118White bryony, 229–30Whitlows. See FelonsWhooping cough, 245, 350, 367–69Willow, 19, 37, 155, 289, 369–71Wintergreen, 22–23Witches/witchcraft, 74, 87, 88, 280, 371–73

Witch hazel, 37, 233Wolf’s bane, 37Wood, 12Worms, 5–6, 25, 31, 373–75Wormwood. See MugwortWounds, 8, 17, 35–37, 122–23, 200, 242, 299,

326, 376–78See also Bleeding; Cuts

Woundwart, 36Wrinkles, 25, 378–79

Yam, 289Yarrow, 13, 36, 232, 253, 381–82Yaws, 6Yew, 382–83

About the Author

Gabrielle Hatfield, Ph.D., is a botanist andfolklorist and has served on the committeeof the Folklore Society. Her work on EastAnglian plant remedies won the Michaelis-Jena Ratcliffe Prize for folklore in 1993. Forthe past twenty years, she has researchedplant medicines in Scotland and Englandduring the eighteenth, nineteenth, andtwentieth centuries, work which led to her

appointment as an Honorary Research As-sociate at the Royal Botanic Gardens inKew. Her publications include CountryRemedies: Traditional East Anglian PlantRemedies in the Twentieth Century and Mem-ory, Wisdom, and Healing: The History of Do-mestic Plant Medicine. She is married withfour grown-up children, and lives on a farmin Norfolk, England.

Encyclopedia of Folk Medicine

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