Those be Rubies, Fairy's Favours

I always had a pretty 'Beatrix Potter' image of where Prinula Veris got its common name. I imagined a sweet black-nosed cow in petticoats. A benign Mrs Tiddywinkle type character, wearing a straw hat. Sadly not, cowslip is the polite version of cowslop - it was thought that it grew best where the cow evacuated. Sorry about that.

Shakespeare provided a more pleasant image for us to enjoy. One of Puck's fairy friends sings about this little flower:

Over hill, over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough brier,

Over park, over pale,

Thorough flood, thorough fire!

I do wander everywhere,

Swifter than the moon's sphere;

And I serve the Fairy Queen,

To dew her orbs upon the green;

The cowslips tall her pensioners be;

In their gold coats spots you see;

Those be rubies, fairy favours;

In those freckles live their savours;

I must go seek some dewdrops here,

And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

Once upon a time, even within living memory, children used pick the flowers and sucked on the sweet nectar drops. In fact, this was a common fate for many a wild flower. It's very hard to imagine now in our indulgent times, when a chocolate or a sweet is too inexpensive and available. More attainable than the wildflower in fact.

Cowslip flowers were used in love divination usually by making Cowslip Balls. Flowers were picked and hung close together along a string stretched between the backs of two chairs. When the string was full, it was carefully loosened and gently tied together so the flower heads formed a ball. This lovely Margaret Tarrant illustration is called Making the Cowslip Ball.

A rhyme was chanted whilst throwing the balls. "Tisty, tasty tell me true, Who shall I be married to?" Of course there are many regional variants. Eligible bachelors were added to the rhyme. When the ball was dropped, the last boy mentioned was thought likely to marry the lass nearest to the ball. Seems there was much scope for a pertinent, clumsy miss here.

As with most of the old healing traditions, plants that had characteristics of a malaise were thought to be a cure for those afflicted with the same condition. The heads of cowslips, which trembled in the wind were known as the 'shaking palsy' and were used as a cure for Parkinson's disease. It was also thought to be a cure for jaundice. In fact, the cowslip cured such a myriad of ills that it was known as 'St Peter's keys of heaven'. A favourite old country recipe sees the cowslip making an excellent, curative and flavoursome wine. My family once tried gorse flower wine, most definitely only the once but that's another story.

I can't remember a spring with less butterflies than I've seen this year. There is hardly a brimstone fluttering about and where are there any orange tips? Neonicotinoids, those vile bee-killing pesticides appear to be having an insidious effect on ever-more insects. It seems our meddling with nature continues to despoil our beautiful countryside at a frighteningly, ever-increasing pace. These lovely yellow flowers were so numerous, that no one thought twice about picking vast quantities of them. Now I feel lucky when I find one plant, like the one above. At least seeds are often planted along new verges when roads and estates are built. Garden centres sell these now too so you can help reduce some of the shortfall and add these pretty additions to your own green space.

Please enjoy the cowslips, especially if you spot a large grouping but do refrain from picking the flowers and never dig any up. We need to protect every single specimen, they literally are gold.

With love, Annie x

© Norfolk Psychics 2016

Bibliography

Freethy Ron: Agar to Zenry (The Crowood Press, 1985)

Johns C A: Flowers of the Field (Society for Promoting Christian Knowlegde, 1902)

Mabey Richard: Weeds (Profile Books, 2012)

Vickery Roy: Garlands, Conkers and Mother-Die (Continium, 2010)

#cowslip #flower #wildflowers #spring #may