From Sores to Toothaches: remedies with Wild Garlic

Another dreich morning with poor visibility. So my eyes were drawn to the abundance of flowers blooming in Newton Woods. Ramsons, also known as Wild Garlic, are plentiful in the damper areas of the wood. Personally, I find their display equally impressive as the Bluebells, although some may dislike their scent.

Throughout history, plants from this family have been valued for medicinal purposes. Garlic juice, soaked in moss, was applied to festering sores, particularly those with leprous characteristics. It alleviated toothaches and headaches. When mixed with carrageen and lemon juice, it provided relief for bronchitis. It was believed to be effective against bites from rabid dogs: “layde with profite to the bitings of mad dogges.” Moreover, it was employed as a remedy for ‘pip,’ a disease affecting chickens and birds, as well as ‘tail-disease’ in cattle¹‘Nature Note Wild Garlic | Derry Journal | Monday 25 May 1953 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2023. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001123/19530525/069/0004> [accessed 12 May 2023].

Eat leeks in Lide²March and Ramsims in May.
And all ye year after physitians may play³“The English Dialect Dictionary, Being the Complete Vocabulary of All Dialect Words Still in Use, or Known to Have Been in Use during the Last Two Hundred Years; Founded on the Publications of the English Dialect Society and on a Large Amount of Material Never before Printed”. In six volumes edited by Joseph Wright, 1898. Volume III. Page 587. Internet Archive, 2014, https://archive.org/details/englishdialectdi03wriguoft. Accessed 10 Apr. 2021.

As long ago as 5,000 B.C., garlic roots were employed to ward off witchcraft in spellbinding and invoking oaths. The “lilies of the field” mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount are thought to be garlic plants. In Ireland, garlic is called Gairleog Mhuire (Mary’s Garlic), and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary due to its beautiful white flowers symbolising purity.

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  ‘Nature Note Wild Garlic | Derry Journal | Monday 25 May 1953 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2023. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001123/19530525/069/0004> [accessed 12 May 2023]
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  March
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  “The English Dialect Dictionary, Being the Complete Vocabulary of All Dialect Words Still in Use, or Known to Have Been in Use during the Last Two Hundred Years; Founded on the Publications of the English Dialect Society and on a Large Amount of Material Never before Printed”. In six volumes edited by Joseph Wright, 1898. Volume III. Page 587. Internet Archive, 2014, https://archive.org/details/englishdialectdi03wriguoft. Accessed 10 Apr. 2021