As You Wort

n                        The other day’s mention of beernput me in mind of the word ‘wort’. The liquid that makes beer, before itnferments, is called ‘wort’ – it’s the mash, the liquor or the brew – thenstuff that the action of the yeast will turn into beer. In the past, Blackburnnhad three separate breweries in the town centre and the smell of fermentingnwort regularly wafted over the town – maybe it’s no surprise that at one timenBlackburn had more pubs per head of population than anywhere else in Britain.nBut ‘wort’ has other meanings too, one of which is ‘herb’ – it’s an oldnAnglo-Saxon word, coming from Germanic roots, variously spelled wort, wurt,nwyrt or woort, and has associations with the word ‘root’. 

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nI’ve mentionednbefore that herbalism, the medicinal use of plants, was called in Anglo-Saxonntimes ‘wort-cunning’, and ‘cunning’ simply meant ‘knowledge’ – it hasnlinks in the word ‘ken’, now largely Northern English and Scots, as in thensong, ‘D’ye ken John Peel’ i.e. ‘Do you know John Peel’. Wortnfell out of use during the seventeenth century, although it remains in thennames of many plants, as in Colewort and Liverwort. Another, which has come tonthe fore recently, is St John’s Wort. 

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nSt John’s Wort has many attributes thatnlink it with St John the Baptist – the black spots are said to be the trail ofnblood spot that were left after his decapitation, the tiny perforations ornoil-glands in the leaves are the tears that were shed for him, and the reddishnsap is the blood itself. Tradition has it that the plant flowers first on StnJohn’s Eve, the day before his feast day on June 24^th, one of thenfew saints’ days that celebrated the birth, rather than the death, of a saint.nSt John was Christ’s older cousin, born six months before him at aroundnmidsummer’s day. The botanical name of the plant Hypericum Perforatumncomes from the Greek hyper = ‘above’ and eikon = ‘picture’ as thenplant was placed above icons, or pictures of saints, on St John’s Day to wardnof evil – for maximum protection, the herb was to be picked before sunrise,nwith dew still on it; and perforatum refers to the oil glands,nresembling windows, in the leaves. 

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nThe practice of placing herbs abovenpictures, windows and doors reaches back at least to the ancient Babylonians –na cuneiform tablet from Babylon has the following charm: –

nHerbal uses of the plant includena variety of decoctions and ointments for use on bruises and wounds to speednhealing, powders to be taken in broths for internal bleeding, and as a tincturentaken in ‘spirits of wine’ (brandy) as a cure for ‘melancholy and madness’ –naccording to Culpepper. 

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nIn recent times, St John’s Wort has been used as annanti-depressant, very often self-diagnosed and self-medicated, which is andangerous practice in any case, particularly as research has shown that therenis no benefit to be gained from the herb in the treatment of depression, andnwhich should always be dealt with by qualified medical practitioners, butnanother use of St John’s Wort was as an abortifacient (to bring on abortion)nand it may also affect the effectiveness of female contraceptive pills.nHerbalism may have a place, but please be sure to research whatever it is younmay plan on taking and, if in any doubt, ask your doctor first.

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