Beer is a popular drink in many parts of the world. In the US, it’s the most popular alcoholic beverage. It’s not surprising then that we’d have plenty of folklore of beer to explore. It also enjoys an incredibly long history. Barley beer is likely to come from the Middle East, since evidence of beer […]
The Lily and the Lady: Plants of Purity and Protection
There are few flowers quite as recognisable as the lily. Yet despite its beauty, the lily (Lilium) is a toxic plant. All parts of the plant are poisonous, which is why it’s recommended not to grow them if you have pet cats. It’s probably helpful then that the orange variety represents hatred and revenge, as […]
Lavender Folklore: The Tales Behind The Calming Plant
From cleaning wounds to repelling plague, lavender has had a myriad of uses throughout the centuries. It’s now quite a common garden plant in the UK. It’s come to represent devotion, purity, luck, cleanliness, and compassion (Gray 2015: 112). It also represents constancy, faith, humility, and love (Dietz 2020: 126). Yet in the Victorian language […]
From Medicine to Murder: How the Apothecary Garden Found Its Dark Side
There’s something about the concept of a poison garden that either titillates or terrifies, depending on your preferences. The UK’s most famous poison garden is at the Alnwick Garden. Its influence is so far-reaching that if you Google “poison garden”, it dominates the first several pages of results. So much so that I assumed the […]
The Victorian Language of Flowers: Hiding Secret Messages in Plain Sight
If a bouquet of flowers arrives at our door, we’re more interested in who sent them. The Victorians were more concerned with what it meant. The Victorian language of flowers, also known as floriography, was a way to send messages using specific plants and flowers. Combining different flowers allowed them to send more complex or […]
The Not So Holy Ghost: England’s Haunted Churches
Churches in England are often portrayed as quaint, picturesque centres of their community. But given they’re also often one of the oldest buildings in a town or village, it’s hardly surprising that we’d have so many tales of haunted churches too. Some of these tales immortalise previous parishioners, but more usually, the tales commemorate dark […]
