‘A generous book, a model of research and organisation’ – Times Literary Supplement
‘Worthwhile and entirely relevant, not just to Scotland’ – BBC Wildlife
‘A unique and longed-for book’ – Scottish Book Collector
‘A very thought provoking book and full of fascinating information – great credit to the author’ – Highland News
This is the new edition of the first ever comprehensive guide to the many ways in which wild plants have been used in Scotland from prehistoric times to the present day. To our ancestors, there was no such thing as a weed. Every growing thing had a role to play in daily life – as an ingredient for food, as medicine, as a dye or as fodder for livestock. Tess Darwin reveals the forgotten secrets of Scottish plant lore in fascinating detail, showing how many of the plant remedies which were dismissed by modern scientists as superstition have since been found to be effective in treating illness and have led to the creation of many new drugs.
Tess Darwin has delved deeply into the forgotten secrets of Scottish plant lore, gathering information from a wide range of sources – from old herbals to the most up-to-date scientific research. She has uncovered the uses and folklore of hundreds of plants – as an ingredient for food, as medicine, as a dye or the raw material for textiles, as fodder for livestock, and in traditional crafts like basket-making and thatching, wine-making and wood-carving.
Tess Darwin gained her ethnobotanical expertise in Central Africa and Australasia. She later returned to Scotland and began a decade of research on the usage of plants.
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