nothing natural or supernatural could harm them -

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1 Culture factsheet Fairies & Witches Fairies and witches have a very mixed reputation in the cultural history of Britain and Ireland. In many cases they are associated with evil or danger but equally they are also sometimes associated with good fortune, beauty and healing. Many of our wild plants are associated either with providing protection for humans or animals or homes, or as the materials for the enchantments of fairies and witches. Fairies in particular are a popular subject in our art and culture history from mythology, poetry, literature, to the ever popular Flower Fairies of Cicely Mary Barker. Protection: several plants are particularly associated with providing protection from fairy charms and witchcraft. The rowan is one of the most powerful, as are hazel, St John s wort, mugwort, vervain, holly in winter, bracken and wood avens. Hazel, rowan and sun spurge are supposed to be effective in rescuing people from fairy abduction. There is an Irish tale of a man who enters a fairy hill to rescue his brother with a rowan branch for protection, and others tell how it is possible to pull someone from a fairy ring with a rowan rod. In Scotland, the butterwort or mòthan, was a particularly powerful plant for protecting against witchcraft. In Ireland seven herbs were thought to be so powerful that nothing natural or supernatural could harm them - St John s wort, vervain, speedwell, eyebright, mallow, yarrow, and self-heal. They should be gathered at noon on a bright day near the full moon to be most effective, if they were collected on May Eve in the name of Satan

2 Livestock: the threat of fairies and witches to livestock is one of the major themes of rural cultural history in Britain and Ireland. In the Scottish Highlands wreaths of ivy, rowan and honeysuckle were hung on the doors of barns to protect livestock from witchcraft. Rowan loops were hung on the tails of cows on May Eve to protect them from witchcraft. A piece of bramble found on a cow s tail could be a sign of witchcraft. Cameron (1883) tells a story of an old woman in the Highlands found cutting the heads of watercress with a pair of scissors while reciting a rhyme to stop her neighbour s milk. Witchcraft trials: the notorious witchcraft trials of the 17th century in Europe and America were an intense period of persecution for those accused of being witches but they were a continuation of medieval and Tudor practices. In one trial in Orkney the witch was accused of collecting yarrow in a ritualised manner. Victorian Fairies: by the Victorian period fairies have lost many of their malign or dangerous associations. Cicely Mary Barker s Flower Fairies display no evil intent and this has continued into the modern period where fairies are usually perceived as benign magical creatures. References: Eland, S. Plant Lives Website ( Mac Coitir N. & Langrishe G., 2008, Irish Wild Plants Myths, Legends and Folklore Mac Coitir N. & Langrishe G. 2003, Irish Trees Myths, Legends and Folklore Mabey, R, 1996, Flora Britannica Milliken W. & Bridgewater S., 2004, Flora Celtica Some of the plants associated with fairies and witches Alder (Alnus glutinosa) - Associated with fairies in Scotland, when people are abducted by fairies an alder log can be left in their place Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) - Both good and bad associations; can be used by witches and fairies, but also used for protection and for healing wands; associated with childbirth, in the Highlands the sap of ash was sometimes given to newborns to protect against fairies Bronze Age witch cremation Denmark (ash & aspen)

3 Aspen (Populus tremuloides) - Tree of ill omen, associated with crucifixion of Christ (also hawthorn, blackthorn & elder); Bronze Age witch cremation Denmark (ash & aspen); could also be used for healing Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) - In County Limerick bilberries & flowers were laid on the strickeen, an entrance to an underground palace of the local king of the fairies ; after 1 August the devil or fairies spit on the berries Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) - Both good and bad luck, could be used to protect against fairies and witches, and cast out the devil but also carried by witches Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) - Avoided by witches; associated with St John s eve Bramble (Rubus fructicosus) - Bad luck to eat brambles after Halloween or Samhain or Michaelmas in England because fairies or the devil had spat on them or trodden on them; Ireland you could invoke evil spirits or ask the devil for talent (e.g. music) at the cost of your soul, if you crawled through a briar arch on Halloween; a bramble attached to a cow s tail on May Eve could be a sign of witchcraft Broom (Cytisus scoparius) - A plant that fairies used & also sometimes for witches brooms Butterwort (Mothán) (Pinguicula vulgaris) - A powerful plant in Scotland to protect people and cows from witchcraft Cats Tail (Bulrush) (Typha latifolia) - Irish coigeal na mban sí (fairy woman s spindle) Deadly Nightshade (Atropa bella-donna) - Often said to be used by witches to produce hallucinations Elder (Sambucus nigra) - Associated with witches and evilness, unlucky to burn it or to make objects from the wood; also associated with protection from evil; Scotland if you put green juice of elder inner bark on your eyes & waited near a fairy hill on Halloween you could see the fairies Eyebright (Euphrasia species) - Used as a cure for being fairy-struck. One of the seven Irish herbs that nothing natural or supernatural could harm Fairy Flax (Linum catharticum) Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) - Fairy cap; fairy bells, fairy fingers, fairy gloves, fairy thimbles; used as a remedy for fairy stroke in Ireland; you could cut it if you were paid but not if it was for yourself; Ireland foxglove would nod its head if the fairies passed;

4 Fairy Ring Mushrooms (Marasmius oreades) - Fairy ring mushrooms have lots of association with being abducted by fairies or enchanting the person who steps inside Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) - Fairy bells; witch s-thimble Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) - Also known as the fairy thorn & whitethorn; Ireland and Scotland associated with fairies, also with wells, but planted round houses to keep away witches, associated with fertility Hazel (Corylus avellana) - Protective plant, could be used to protect and rescue people and animals from the fairies; also thought to make a person invisible; in Scotland two nuts joined together effective charm against witches, also called St John s nut; Roodmas Sep (14-26) was the night when the devil went nutting; used for divination Hemlock (Conium maculatum) - Scotland hemlock favoured by witches, & fairies dipped their arrows in the dew that lay on hemlock Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) - A powerful plant used by witches and sorcerers Hogweed (Heracleum spondylium) - Scotland said to be able to break the power of fairies over a child Holly (Ilex aquifolia) - In Scotland used to decorate the house at New Year to protect from fairies; a protective plant against fairies & witches; you could annoy the fairies by misusing it; in England unlucky to cut down a holly; a garland of holly and bittersweet hung round its neck would cure a hag ridden horse Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) - Believed in Ireland and Scotland to protect against witches and bad spirits; wreaths of ivy, honeysuckle and rowan made to protect livestock in the Western Isles of Scotland Juniper (Juniperus communis) - Associated with protecting people and animals from witchcraft; Scotland rods of juniper & rowan were put above lintel on Beltane & Hallowmass to ward off witches; often burned for cleansing & purification; Scottish cattle had juniper burned before them at Shrovetide sained Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) - Protection from fairies and witches also called plant of Beltane Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) - Can cause people to fall into a deep and fatal sleep, but also in County Galway could help a person pining from fairy influence if placed under bed

5 Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris) - Known as Fairy soap Moonwort (Botrychium lunaria) - Used by witches and wizards in their incantations; had the power to open locks and un-shoe horses Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) - Powerful protective herb, associated with St John s Eve, worn as chaplets by men and beasts in Scotland to protect the home and farm Oak (Quercus species) - In the Scottish Highlands a man could draw a circle round himself with an oak sapling to protect from fairies Ragwort (Senecio jacobea) - Fairy horse in Ireland and Scotland Burns writes of ragwort ridden by witches and warlocks; said to be where leprechauns mend their shoes on sunny days Red Campion (Silene dioica) - Isle of Man unlucky to pick as it was a fairy plant Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) - Used in Ireland with vervain as protection for livestock against witchcraft; used in Scotland for many protective charms, planted outside houses as protection against witches; rowan loops put on cows tails on May Eve to protect them from fairies; often planted in Welsh graveyards; in Scotland tale of man with rowan stick who can enter a fairy hill to rescue his brother; a person held captive in a fairy ring could be pulled to safety with a rowan pole; rowan worn on hat or clothes as protection; bunch of rowan twigs held by a red thread, charm against witchcraft; rowan could also be used by witches in Ireland, e.g. Fúamnach turns Étain into a pool of water with a scarlet rowan wand Rush (Juncus species) - Juice from 9 rushes grown near a holy well could be a cure from standing on hungry grass Seaweed Linked to the fairy water horse or kelpie Shamrock (Trifolium or Medicago species) - Glens of Antrim - rubbing clover & whiskey into the eyes would lift fairy blindness ; leaves of red clover in Britain could ward off witches and wizards Spurge (sun) (Euphorbia helioscopia) - Ireland could be used to rescue a woman from fairy abduction St John s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) - Said to protect from evil forces, fairies, witches; in England the devil could not approach within 9 paces, had the power to drive out the devil

6 Vervain (Verbena officinalis) - Used in Ireland with rowan as protection for livestock against witchcraft; in Scottish Highlands used as protection against witchcraft one of the seven Irish herbs Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) - Tale of old woman cutting the heads off watercress to stop the milk of her neighbours while repeating a rhyme reported in both Scotland and Ireland Waterlily (Nymphaea alba) - Scotland could cause people to become fairy-struck Wood Avens (Geum urbanum) - A powerful protective plant worn in amulets, mentioned in many European 15 th century herbals, the three-lobed leaves were supposed to represent the Trinity and the five petals the five wounds of Christ Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra) - Scotland a twig placed in the churn would ensure the fairies could not take the butter Images taken from: A painting of Puck, character of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night, by Arthur Rackham ( ) This project is supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union