I have posted on this site the full text of a book entitled The Folklore of Herbs, which was published in 1946 by the writer Katherine Oldmeadow. This is an intriguing book, and Oldmeadow was a significant figure in the modern witchcraft revival.
Who was Katherine Oldmeadow?
Katherine Louise Oldmeadow (1878-1963) was a children’s author. Born in Chester, she spent most of her life in the town of Highcliffe in Dorset. She was a neighbour of Gerald Gardner and other members of the ‘New Forest Coven’ from which the witch religion of Wicca seems to have emerged.
Between 1919 and 1957, Oldmeadow wrote a string of novels for girls. She was a kind of philo-pagan Enid Blyton. Her books contain themes which will be familiar to anyone acquainted with the pagan revival, including pre-Christian deities, divination, numerology and initiatory societies. Her attitude towards witches seems to have become much more favourable around 1925–26. This may (or may not) mean that she got involved in witchcraft revival activities at around this time.
The Folklore of Herbs is something of a departure from Oldmeadow’s stories for girls. As the title suggests, it is a non-fiction book on herbalism, seemingly intended for an adult readership. It was published shortly after World War II by a Birmingham publisher, Cornish Brothers Limited.
The book’s religious perspective
At times, Oldmeadow appears to write as a Christian. She spends some time talking about herbs in the Bible and in Christian tradition. She refers to past Christian writers, although at times she seems to do so with irony.
Oldmeadow is equally happy to write about polytheistic deities and the role of plants in ancient paganism. She writes that there was a knowledge of herbs in pre-Christian England, and observes that “there was a vast amount of superstitious beliefs”. She suggests that pagan ideas and practices connected with herbs have survived into Christian times and “linger in remote country districts to this day”. She refers several times to Christian prayers which were traditionally said when picking herbs; and she says that these were replacements for older pagan prayers.
There is one odd pagan-esque reference in Chapter 10 to a “Deity of the garden”:
Another garden plan, simple to carry out, would be one planted with all the herbs of the sun.
This could be marked out with the beds cut out as “rays,” with little paths between, of the sun’s fragrant and aromatic herb, camomile, kept closely cropped.
This garden should have a sun dial as a central ornament, surrounded by a golden garland of marigolds. The sun dial would be to represent the Deity of the garden.
In similar vein, Chapter 12 has a passing reference to “the Spirit of the herb garden”.
In Chapter 2, Oldmeadow dwells on the astrological associations of herbs. She is aware, however, that she is writing in a rationalistic age:
The practical herbalist of modern days has little belief in the influence of the stars and magic charms and he no longer picks his herbs with prayers….
Witches black and white
Oldmeadow writes that both good (“white”) and evil (“black”) witches existed in pre-modern times. The latter used herbs and beeswax in their poisons and curses. The good witches were sometimes wrongly victimised by Puritans; but in fact they fought against the evil witches:
If in the old days, you were being tormented by a black witch, who had perhaps made a waxen image of you and was causing you daily suffering by sticking pins into it, you would seek out a white witch and ask her advice. After ordering you a soothing herbal medicine, and reminding you of the comforting white paternoster, she would take you into her garden – witches always had herb gardens – pick you a large bunch of St. John’s wort and tell you to place it in your window or over your door. The black witch, and even Satan himself, terrified of all good and holy things, would flee at the sight of this blessed plant.
Nevertheless, the two kinds of witches had certain things in common:
Both kinds of witches believed in auguries, portents, votive offerings and the power of the evil eye; and both kept a good stock of antidotes against bad luck in the shape of horse shoes, two-tailed lizards, four-leaved clover, mice’s tails and what not.
Most interestingly of all to the historian, Oldmeadow says that there is a continuing legacy of witchcraft:
The witches of the past left a vast amount of superstition behind them which is still practised in remote country districts. But they left, too, a vast amount of useful knowledge, and some of the homeliest and most efficacious of hedgerow medicines were first brewed in a witch’s cauldron.
There is even one enigmatic reference to white witches surviving today, although it may relate specifically to Romani (Gypsy) people:
The white witch of to-day still holds queer beliefs about mixing creatures with her simple medicines, and only a short time ago a gypsy woman advised the author to take “a strong cup of snail tea” for a bad cough.
Oldmeadow refers to the Roma at several points, and it appears that she was acquainted with Romani people in the New Forest area.
The book
Dedication and Foreword
The dedication of the book reads as follows:
To my sister Anne,
Whose affection means so much to me.
It also contains this short Foreword:
This little book is based on the traditional story of herbs as told to the author by country people, and compiled from herbals old and new and from chronicles of the past.
Two or three of the legends have been taken from Miss Eleanour Sinclair Rohde’s beautiful books, “A Garden of Herbs” and “Shakespeare’s Wild Flowers and Fairy Lore,” by her kind permission.
Contents
IV. Some of the Old Herbalists
XI. Sundials: Garden Ornaments: Doves: Peacocks: Birds and Bees
XII. The Harvest of the Garden
Note: This material is copyright, but there does not appear to be an Oldmeadow literary estate, and no-one seems to be interested in claiming rights over Katherine’s works. Nevertheless, I will take down this material immediately if the copyright owner asks me to.
Dr Robin Douglas 