300 Artemisia absinthium
Isles is it anything like so common. It can only have been introduced for pur-
poses for which that long-standing counterpart had shown itself inadequate.
Wormwood’s main use has been as a digestive and for curing stomach
upsets. This is outstandingly true of Wales, where it has been found fulfilling
that function in every county—to an extent that it emerges as one of the most
widely used of all contemporary herbal medicines in the rural parts of that
country.^223 It has also found favour for the same purpose in Essex,^224 Derby-
shire,^225 Berwickshire^226 and Orkney^227 —a curious scatter of counties which
may merely be the fragments of a distribution formerly more general.
Only slightly less widespread has been wormwood’s popularity as an
insecticide (Wiltshire,^228 Sussex,^229 Suffolk,^230 parts of Wales^231 ), which has
considerably outstripped its deployment against intestinal worms (northern
Wales,^232 Inverness-shire,^233 Orkney^234 ). When taken internally, though, it
has been well recognised as having risks: too large a dose (more than a table-
spoonful in the case of adults) causes vomiting and pain.^235 In ‘some parts of
rural England’ it has also served as a disinfectant: in one house with cases of
scarlet fever the floor of the bedroom was washed with a strong decoction
made from the achenes.^236
The plant has also been valued almost as much as a tonic and purifier of
the system (Essex,^237 Montgomeryshire,^238 Flintshire,^239 Cheshire,^240 Ork-
ney^241 ) and for rheumatic complaints (Essex,^242 Norfolk,^243 Pembroke-
shire^244 ). The exceptional strength of its following in Wales has found further
reflection there in its use for colds in Pembrokeshire,^245 kidney trouble in
Montgomeryshire^246 and—perhaps the same thing—colic (in combination
with syrup of elderberries) in ‘South Wales’,^247 while as a narcotic it has served
as a cure for insomnia in Cardiganshire.^248 Finally, a decoction of the plant
has been taken for diabetes in the Isle of Man.^249
The near-absence of Irish records for wormwood (and mugwort, too) is
hard to explain. The sole ones traced are as a remedy for stomach pains in
Mayo^250 and as an insecticide^251 and a cure for epilepsy (by pouring the juice
into the sufferer’s mouth) in unidentified parts of the country.^252
Achillea ptarmica Linnaeus
sneezewort
Europe, south-western Asia, Siberia; introduced into North America,
New Zealand
Despite its English name, no folk records of the use ofAchillea ptarmica for
colds have been discovered, though it allegedly promoted the flow of saliva
and has been claimed effective therefore against toothache.^253 An infusion