To
avoid linguistic confusion I had better state that I am using
the name Bluebell for this plant which in England is called the
Harebell, rather than for Hyacinthoides non-scripta (synonyms
Endymion nonscriptus, Scilla nonscripta) which is known as the
Bluebell in England and sometimes called the Wild Hyacinth in
Scotland. Some older English sources like Gerard's Herbal confusingly
also use the name Harebell for Hyacinthoides non-scripta.
Campanula rotundifolia is associated with the fairies
and with witches. The juice was an element in some of the witches
'flying ointments'. The name Harebells may also allude to a folk
belief that witches used juices squeezed from this flower to transform
themselves into hares. These juices lent the flower another Scottish
folk name, "Milk-ort" (milk herb).
In folklore, the flowers assist mortals in seeing
fairies or seeing into their reality, but were regarded by some
as unlucky because they could also reveal or even attract malign
spirits, including the Devil himself, hence "Aul Man's Bells,",
Aul or Old Man being used as a way of naming the Devil without
invoking him by speaking his name. They are also called Dead Men's
or Dead Man's Bells, because hearing the bells ringing is an omen
of death. As a garden weed, it was often left un-pulled for fear
of offending the 'Aul Man' or the fairies; hence it was in every
garden with suitable soil. Contrarily it is also dedicated to
St Dominic de Guzman, confessor, founder of the Friar Preachers.
This plant and the Wild Hyacinth both seem to serve
as thinning agents on the walls between realities or worlds, attuning
us to the multi-valence of existence simply by being present in
our environment. A complexity of perception most of us cannot
cope with, thus the folk concept of being lost in the bluebell
wood and needing led out by another. How they achieve this effect
is a mystery, Campanula rotundifolia is not noted as a narcotic,
perhaps it is the frequency of that unusual blue that affects
the mind, making us feel that if we could just focus our peripheral
vision well enough we would see wonders. Or perhaps they do really
exist simultaneously in more than one world.
The names tell the same story as for yarrow, elder,
and other once revered plants. What is considered as sacred in
Pagan times mutates into the fairies' or the witches' with the
emerging dominance of the new, text and rulebook based, religions,
then, after the rise of a Calvinist fundamentalism, it becomes
the Devil's. In more recent times all awe, of any sort, is lost
and with a new arrogance we hold it a virtue to destroy what in
our ignorance we see as having no utility .
Non-medical uses of scottish bluebell
As a food, leaves can be eaten, raw
or cooked but they are hardly substantial enough to be worth it.
Medicinal uses of scottish
bluebell
Anti-Fungal.
Definitons
of medical actions
The root has been chewed in the treatment of heart
and lung problems. An infusion of the roots has been used as eardrops
for sore ears. A decoction of the plant has been drunk or used
as a wash in the treatment of sore eyes. All these uses have also
occurred in Native American contexts. Has also been claimed as
anti-depressant.
(The plants constituents Polyacetylenes: [aliphatic tetrahydropyran
derivatives] +, iridoids and tannins 0; caffeic acid. Polyacetylenes
have been found in many families of higher plants. More recently,
linear polyacetylenes have become a major element in the search
for bioactive substances from marine sponges. It has been reported
that these compounds exhibit potent cytotoxic, antimicrobial,
antiviral, RNA-cleaving, sedative, and enzyme-inhibitory activities,
as well as brine-shrimp lethality.).
Sources:
Plants For A Future,
www.pfaf.org/index.html
The Really WILD Food Guide,
www.countrylovers.co.uk/wildfoodjj/index.htm
Flora Celtica, www.floraceltica.com/,
Flora Celtica is an international project based at the Royal Botanic
Garden Edinburgh, documenting and promoting the knowledge and
sustainable use of native plants in the Celtic countries and regions
of Europe.
http://www.northdaysimage.ca/crotundifolia.html
