Scottish plant uses

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Urtica dioica
The 'juice' of stinging nettles produces a dull green dye.

Bibliographic reference: Johnson, C. P. & Sowerby, J. E. (1862) The useful plants of Great Britain. Robert Hardwicke, London.

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	Urtica dioica The 'juice' of stinging nettles produces a dull green dye. Bibliographic reference: Johnson, C. P. & Sowerby, J. E. (1862) The useful plants of Great Britain. Robert Hardwicke, London.

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	Urtica dioica The roots of nettles were used in the production of a yellow dye, along with alum as a mordant. Using the whole plant yields a yellow with a more greenish caste. Bibliographic reference: Shaw, M. F. (1955) Folksongs and folklore of South Uist. Routledge, Kegan & Paul.

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	Urtica dioica Produces a black dye, with iron as mordant. Bibliographic reference: Grierson, S. (1986) The colour cauldron. Published Privately.

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	Urtica dioica Boil nettle tips for 5 minutes. Chop and serve with a knob of butter or marg., or tossed in a little vegetable oil. Serve as a green veg. Season the water the nettles were cooked in, as cup soup. Information obtained from: Verity Poole

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	Urtica dioica Nettles in many parts of Scotland were till not very many years ago used as a food, and were looked upon as a wholesome diet. The young and tender leaves were gathered, boiled, then mashed . . . Mixed with a little oatmeal, and reboiled for a short time. They were cooked in the same way as 'greens', which were and still are thought to possess medicinal virtues. In the north such a dish went by the name of 'nettle kail', as the dish of greens went by that of 'chappit kail'. But the nettle . . . . Was used as a medicine, under the form of 'nettle ale', for the cure of jaundice. The ale was gathered, thoroughly washed, and then boiled for hours in water till a strong extract was got. This extract was then treated with yeast, 'barm,' fermented, 'vrocht' and bottled. A man whose mother was in the habit of making this ale lately told me he had often drunk it, and found it quite palatable. In one district at least the medicinal virtue lay in its being 'unspoken,' I.e. no one must speak to the gatherer of it, and collected at the hour of midnight. The following story [set in Kincardineshire] . . . 'Geordie Tamson, who lived near Jollybrands on the south turnpike, not far from the toll-bar, lay sick. After weeks of treatment by the doctor, Geordie lay ill, without the least token of improvement. A Skeely woman from the Dounies, a village not far off, was called in. She at once prescribed a supper of nettle kail and added that the dish must be made of unspoken nettles, gathered at midnight. That very night by eleven o'clock three young men friends of Geordie's, from Cairngrassie, were on their way to the Red Kirkyard of Portlethen, where there was a fine bed of nettles . . .the nettles were gathered, carefully taken to the sick man, cooked of course and given to him. A complete and speedy recovery followed. [Gregor, 1884b: 377] Bibliographic reference: Vickery, R. (1995) A dictionary of plant lore. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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Urtica dioica
Nettles in many parts of Scotland were till not very many years ago used as a food, and were looked upon as a wholesome diet. The young and tender leaves were gathered, boiled, then mashed . . . Mixed with a little oatmeal, and reboiled for a short time. They were cooked in the same way as 'greens', which were and still are thought to possess medicinal virtues. In the north such a dish went by the name of 'nettle kail', as the dish of greens went by that of 'chappit kail'. But the nettle . . . . Was used as a medicine, under the form of 'nettle ale', for the cure of jaundice. The ale was gathered, thoroughly washed, and then boiled for hours in water till a strong extract was got. This extract was then treated with yeast, 'barm,' fermented, 'vrocht' and bottled. A man whose mother was in the habit of making this ale lately told me he had often drunk it, and found it quite palatable. In one district at least the medicinal virtue lay in its being 'unspoken,' I.e. no one must speak to the gatherer of it, and collected at the hour of midnight. The following story [set in Kincardineshire] . . . 'Geordie Tamson, who lived near Jollybrands on the south turnpike, not far from the toll-bar, lay sick. After weeks of treatment by the doctor, Geordie lay ill, without the least token of improvement. A Skeely woman from the Dounies, a village not far off, was called in. She at once prescribed a supper of nettle kail and added that the dish must be made of unspoken nettles, gathered at midnight. That very night by eleven o'clock three young men friends of Geordie's, from Cairngrassie, were on their way to the Red Kirkyard of Portlethen, where there was a fine bed of nettles . . .the nettles were gathered, carefully taken to the sick man, cooked of course and given to him. A complete and speedy recovery followed. [Gregor, 1884b: 377]

Bibliographic reference: Vickery, R. (1995) A dictionary of plant lore. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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	Urtica dioica A friend, now over 80 years old, who came from Fife recalled being told how her father was cured of a frozen shoulder when nettles were put on the skin of the shoulder area and kept on for, probably several days. When the nettles were removed, and despite the blisters caused by them and the pain suffered, the man was cured for all time. [Edinburgh, January 1992] Bibliographic reference: Vickery, R. (1995) A dictionary of plant lore. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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Urtica dioica
A friend, now over 80 years old, who came from Fife recalled being told how her father was cured of a frozen shoulder when nettles were put on the skin of the shoulder area and kept on for, probably several days. When the nettles were removed, and despite the blisters caused by them and the pain suffered, the man was cured for all time. [Edinburgh, January 1992]

Bibliographic reference: Vickery, R. (1995) A dictionary of plant lore. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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	Urtica dioica During the First World War, there was a call for nettles, from which the chlorophyll was extracted in order to make camouflage. Bibliographic reference: Vickery, R. (1997) Plant lore notes and news. June Issue.

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	Urtica dioica Nasturtium and nettle leaves in a marinade of rum [were] applied for hair loss! Information obtained from: Jean Fisher

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	Urtica dioica Herbalist Karen Brine makes some herbal tinctures herself for her own use (in her practice). This year she has made tinctures of lady's mantle, St. John's wort, chickweed, cleavers, meadowsweet, ribwort, nettles and comfrey. The two first species are grown for her by a friend, all others are collected locally. Information obtained from: Karen Brine

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	Urtica dioica Used in the 'Celtic Fringes' in a kind of soup with oatmeal - reference to surviving recipe for 'St Columba's broth'. Nettle cloth was manufactured in Scotland into the early 19th Century (the fibres were treated in much the same way as flax). Bibliographic reference: Mabey, R. (1996). Flora Britannica. Sinclair-Stevenson, London.

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