Lady’s Bedstraw ( T)

7. Lady’s Bedstraw Galium verum  T

Gaelic: Bun am Ruamh , ruamh, leabadh ban sith,  lus chneas Chu-Chulainn (the herb of Cu Chulainn’s skin)

 Other names: yellow bedstraw

Perennial plant – widespread - grows wild in Argyll – prefers sandy coastal soils.

In Gaelic mythology the hero Cu Chulainn drank an infusion of it to calm his battle frenzy. Traditionally used in medieval times to stuff mattresses (hence the common name Lady’s Bedstraw) and on floors as the smell repels fleas. The flowers were used to coagulate milk in cheese-making (the botanical name Galium derives from the Greek gala – milk. Used to colour Double Gloucester cheese. Used to infuse spirits in Denmark. Used as a sedative during childbirth in Scandinavia and named Frigg’s grass after the goddess of married women. In Romania it is called sanziana and  linked to the Sanziene faries and their festival on 24th June.

It has a long tradition of use as a dye in the Western Isles  but is not recorded elsewhere in Scotland – possibly because the roots would be much more difficult to dig in soils other than sandy machair. Roots were traditionally lifted in summer. Dye potential  was known to vary from site to site. Because of damage to coastal machair, the digging of the roots along the sea coast was prohibited in 1695. However the practice continued at night and a report in the Oban Times on 10th April 1915 said that ‘Tales are still told in the Islands about uncanny happenings while digging out ‘rugh’ roots during the night, as no one dared do it openly in daylight’

Dyes: the flowering tops give good yellow shades. The roots give pink and red shades. The older roots give darker (less yellow) shades.  In Icelandic it is called gulmaðra – yellow madder