Bluebells

Bluebells go by the Latin name Hyacinthoides Non-scriptus – which literally means ‘the hyacinth that is not written about’. Could it be because of their supposed magical powers and ancient folklore, that it was considered too dangerous to commit to the written word?

It is thought that bluebells first appeared in Britain soon after the last Ice Age and it seems that throughout time they have held a fascination for us, be it practically, medicinally, through folklore and old wives’ tales and visually.

As early as the Bronze Age around 4,000 years ago, people used glue made from bluebells to attach feathers to their arrows and from then on, adhesives of all types have been made from bluebells for sticking many different mediums. In the 1500’s bluebell bulbs were crushed to a sticky paste from which a starch was extracted to stiffen the fashionable ruffs of the Tudor period.

Bluebells are poisonous when ingested and are known to have repellent qualities for keeping insects and animal pests at bay, however herbalists have used them for treating spider bites, treating leprosy, tuberculosis and preventing nightmares. It was also said that planting them in your garden would keep unwanted visitors away.

They are often associated with fairies and it is said that a person can become “enchanted” by bluebells whilst walking through the woods so much so that it is impossible to find your way out again. Such was the fear of enchantment that people thought it foolish to bring bluebells into the house or that should a child gather bluebells they would be snatched away never to be seen again, this was because fairies hang their spells on bluebells to dry and that disturbing this process would unleash the wrath of the fairies upon you! Is this what Beatrix Potter was referring to in her 1929 book, “The Fairy Caravan” where Tuppenny the guinea pig and friends go round and around a bluebell wood in a horse drawn caravan for hours before finally finding their way out?

Yet despite all of their negative publicity, every year, round about this time, people go in search of those pretty blue swathes, like a ritual that compels us to take our chances with the fairies….and time after time we are once again “pixy-led” into the enchantment of the sea of blue and intoxicated by its heady perfume.

Written by: Sharon Arrowsmith

Photograph: Sharon Arrowsmith