Comfrey, Vervain and Mints 213for purifying the blood, in Cumbria^65 for curing indigestion and in Somer-
set^66 for driving away a headache. Though household recipe books rank as
folk records in the true sense only in part, a migraine remedy extracted c.
1800 from one in Cardiganshire is worthy of mention in that last connec-
tion: block the nostrils each day of the week with a mixture made from
‘betony’ leaves and primrose roots.^67 Finally, if it really was Stachys officinalis
which existed in sufficient quantity in part of Kent for ‘large bundles’ to be
hung up in cottages for winter use, the plant had a further use there as a drink
for coughs and colds,^68 presumably because it cleared the nasal passages.
Stachys sylvatica Linnaeus
hedge woundwort
western and southern Europe, mountains of western and central
Asia; introduced into North America, New Zealand
Stachys palustris Linnaeus
marsh woundwort
Europe, temperate Asia, North America; introduced into
New Zealand
Stachys ×ambigua Smith
hybrid woundwort
‘Woundwort’ has probably always been applied interchangeably to both
Stachys sylvaticaandS. palustris,and to the hybrid between them,S.×ambigua,
as well. Though only botanists would normally be expected to distinguish
hybrids, the one in this case occurs widely in some parts of Britain, especially
the far north and west, in the absence of one or both parents even though it
is normally—though by no means invariably—sterile. It is difficult to see
how it could have attained an independent distribution which extends in the
Hebrides to many remote parts without helping hands; elsewhere in the
north of Scotland, for example, close observation does indeed leave the
impression that in places it owes its origin to gardens instead of spontaneous
crossing in the wild,^69 for noticeably more often than the parents it is found
round houses and farmyards. Its presence in a cave in Rum has even led to the
suggestion that it was introduced there and elsewhere in that region during
the Bronze Age or later ‘for medicinal or other purposes’.^70 The implication
is that its hybrid character was recognised and that the plant was deliberately
selected for propagation. That may have been for consumption as a vege-
table—in the nineteenth century a Dr Joseph Houlton was awarded a medal