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Clearing the Head

If you follow the Braan walk from Rumbling Bridge up towards Tomgarrow Farm just now, you will see in the fields a cloud of vibrant purple-pink flowers. This plant is Stachys officinalis, or Betony. It has a confusion of common names, Wood Betony and Bishopswort among them – but Wood Betony also refers to a Canadian Lousewort, which is quite different.

Worthy of a place in any garden, with its glossy, attractively divided leaves and compact, clump-forming habit, our Betony is supposedly uncommon this far north. But it has been widely cultivated for centuries as a cure-all medicinal herb in monasteries and physic gardens, whence it has escaped.

The name “betony” refers to the head – and its main medicinal use was as a tonic for nervous headaches. It has also been recommended in the past for neuralgia, palpitations, rheumatism, scrofula, dyspepsia and – inevitably – the bites of mad dogs! At one time it was smoked as a herbal tobacco and was an ingredient in snuff. Its use goes back to the Romans and beyond, so it is unsurprising that some fantastic properties and tales have attached to it.

One of these is its ability to ward off witches and evil spirits, which led to a fashion for planting it in churchyards. Those prone to “fearful visions” or unpleasant dreams were advised in the middle ages to wear an amulet of betony as protection (a course in the safe identification of certain mushrooms might have helped too), and by the 17th century, the physician Robert Turner listed thirty illnesses which could be cured by the herb.

The magic of Betony was also believed to be recognised by wild animals, who would seek it out when wounded, and be healed. The most bizarre is the belief that you could make a kind of bullring out of Betony, find a couple of snakes to put in it, with the guaranteed outcome that they would then fight each other to the death. You can’t help asking, why? Who on earth thought that one up?

It is also a dye plant – the leaves yield a nice yellow colour. These days, Betony is mostly used in combination with other “head-herbs” such as Vervain (Verbena officinalis) or Mad Dog Scullcap (Scutellaria laterifolia), and as usual, don’t try this at home, seek out a qualified herbalist to get the right treatment for you.

What you can do with Betony, though, is make a pleasant tea from the leaves and flowering tops. Leave it to brew for a good ten minutes. It is aromatic and very refreshing. It may even clear a muzzy head! Try combining it with other refreshing herbs such as lemon verbena or peppermint, and drink it cold with ice on a hot summer’s day. There are bound to be some in August. Surely!

© Margaret Lear

www.plantswithpurpose.co.uk