Dear Readers, I have what is officially known as ‘the week from hell’ this week, with another two half-days of Away Day and a whole gamut of ‘stuff’ to sort out. So, having been most intrigued with the mugwort that I found last week, I thought I’d give my post another airing. And, so that you don’t think I’m slacking off completely, here are a few new photos from the weekend. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!
Dear Readers, it is always a pleasure to write about a very common and widespread ‘weed’, especially one that may have slipped under our radar. So it is with Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), a member of the Daisy (Asteraceae) family. It has sprays of little, unobtrusive flowers, deeply-cut leaves that look silver underneath, and it is said to be faintly aromatic, though as usual I forgot to check out the scent.
Mugwort looks like a quintessential ‘weed’ – not the kind of thing that you’d want to pop up in your garden for its good looks. Indeed, Richard Mabey reports that in Lancashire it’s known as ‘Council Weed’ because it always seems to appear after the local council have sprayed everything else. And yet, it was once known as Mater Herbarum (the Mother of Weeds) and is one of the Nine Sacred Herbs of the Anglo-Saxons:
‘Remember, Mugwort, what you made known,
What you arranged at the Great proclamation.
You were called Una, the oldest of herbs,
you have power against three and against thirty,
you have power against poison and against infection,
you have power against the loathsome foe roving through the land.’
Medicinally, it seems to have been mainly used in two ways: to ease period and childbirth pains, and to lessen the shaking of ‘the palsy’. It was thought in Wales that a bunch of the plant tied to the left thigh of a woman in labour would ease her distress, though the plant had to be removed immediately after delivery to prevent haemorrhage. The dried leaves were used to ease ‘hysterical fits’, and were also thought to be a cure for epilepsy. It was probably these medicinal properties that resulted in it being imported into the UK in ancient times (it’s native to mainland Europe, Asia, North Africa and Alaska, and is naturalised throughout North America).
An alternative reason for the name might be that ‘mug’ is a variant on the old word ‘mouchte’, meaning moth – the leaves have long been thought to be efficacious against clothes moths.
In Cornwall, the leaves were used as a tea substitute when ‘real’ tea grew too expensive during World War ii. It is also used as a culinary herb for stuffing roast goose on St Martin’s Day in Germany, although as it is closely related to that bitterest of herbs, Wormwood, I suspect it may be an acquired taste. Mugwort is used extensively in Korean and Japanese cuisine, but the plant they use is not ‘our’ mugwort. Some members of the genus Artemisia are much more bitter in flavour than others.
Mugwort has a long association with St John the Baptist, and with travellers. The saint was said to have worn a girdle of the plant for protection when he was in the wilderness, and stuffing your shoes with mugwort is said to be a talisman against everything from fatigue to being attacked by wild beasts. In Holland and Germany, the plant was gathered on St John’s Eve (23rd June) as a protection against misfortune in the year to come. I note that this is very close to the Summer Solstice, and may be yet another example of the blending of Christian and Pagan beliefs.
And to end, here is one of the last poems of Edward Thomas. I don’t recall the honeycomb smell of ‘mugwort dull’, but there is something about this work that captures that moment, poised between summer and autumn, between hope and despair, that I feel in my bones. I’ve read it once, and then again. It haunts me. Strange days, indeed.
The Brook
When I lived in Asia I used to have moxibustion made from burning mugwort . It is said to be good for the immune system, arthritis…most things. It is quite a pleasant sensation and means that shopping centres with little acupuncture/moxibustion clinics tucked away all smell as if someone has been smoking very strong marijuana.
Hopefully you will be back on an even keel next week and be sailing on calmer waters.
I hope you quickly and easily escape the ‘hell’ bit and have a calmer time of it asap.
Thanks Gail, yep, it’s all over and done with now, and some of it was actually quite interesting!
I do have mugwort on my allotment: deliberately planted as it hasn’t appeared on its own. Enjoy your week off.
Thank you, R! Glad to hear that you’re a mugwort fan 🙂
It must be mugwort season – I posted about it this week too, in my own amateurish way: https://malsedallotment.blogspot.com/2020/07/mugging-up-on-mugwort.html
Your flowers are further on than mine and I have lost patience with the whole thing as it is dominating one of my flowerbeds. On the etymology my source (Watts) suggests: O E muogwyrt, from German base meaning a fly or gnat.
Ah, interesting Mal! This seems to be a plant that is so easily ignored, but has such an interesting history.
Wonderful poem, a favourite of mine: thank you. Creates a place and a moment so quietly and precisely.
It does, doesn’t it…