Berry Curiosities
Blackberry Lore
Blackberry Winter is the Appalachian term for the cold snap occurs each spring about the same time the Blackberry Blossoms appear. Happened this spring just like it always does.
Native Americans used Blackberry stems to make rope/twine.
There is forensic evidence from the Iron Age Haraldskær Woman that she consumed blackberries some 2,500 years ago; apparently blackberries have been eaten by humans over thousands of years.
Blackberry tea was said to be a cure for dysentery during the Civil War. During outbreaks of dysentery, temporary truces were declared to allow both Union and Confederate soldiers to “go blackberrying” to forage for blackberries to ward off the disease.
The blackberry leaf was also used as an early hair dye, having been recommended by Culpeper, the English herbalist, to be boiled in a lye solution in order to “maketh the hair black”.
People would use blackberry bushes to magically cure whooping cough: They’d pass the victim under the arching bramble seven times, reciting: In bramble, out cough. Here I leave the whooping cough.
Some believe the blackberry bush was used in the crown of thorns.
Superstition in the UK holds that blackberries should not be picked after Old Michaelmas Day (October 11). The devil was kicked out of Heaven on this day and landed in a blackberry briar. Each year he commemorates this event by urinating on the plants making the fruit poisonous. (There is some value behind this legend as wetter and cooler weather often allows the fruit to become infected by various molds such as Botryotinia which give the fruit an unpleasant look and may be toxic.)
Strawberry Lore
The Seneca Indians, of the northeastern United States, associate Strawberries with spring and rebirth, because strawberries are the first fruit of the year to ripen. The Seneca also believe that strawberries grow along the path to the heavens and that they bring good health.
According to Roman legend, when Adonis died, Venus wept uncontrollably. The tears rolled down her cheek and dropped to the earth turning into heart shaped strawberries.
Many cultures believe that strawberries are an aphrodisiac and they make sure that newlyweds are served these magical berries.
In parts of Europe, the strawberry, is considered sacred to the Virgin Mary, who is said to accompany children when they go strawberry-picking on St. John’s Day.
According to Mrs. Grieve a cut Strawberry rubbed over the face immediately after washing will whiten the skin and remove slight sunburn. For a badly sunburnt face she recommends rubbing the juice well into the skin, leaving it on for a half hour, then washing it off with warm water to which a few drops of simple tincture of benzoin have been added; no soap should be used. This recipe may come in useful if you are out in the sun all day on Fourth of July.
The roots, leaves, and fruits of the Alpine Strawberry, Fragaria Vesca, were used as a digestive aid and skin tonic. The berry was prescribed for diarrhea and digestive upset, while the leaves and roots were supposed to relieve gout. The berry itself was rubbed on the skin to ease the pain of sunburn and to relieve blemishes. The juice of the strawberry has its own special prescription-it brightened discolored teeth.
The ancient Romans were staunch believers in the curative powers of the strawberry. They believed it relieved melancholy and masked bad breath. According to the ancients, strawberries could cure inflammations, fevers, throat infections, kidney stones, gout, fainting spells, and diseases of the blood, liver, and spleen.
Legends often tell about love rituals. Be careful with whom you share a double strawberry. It is destined that the two of you may fall in love.
Because of their bright red colors and heart shapes, strawberries were the symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love.
Henry VIII’s second wife, Ann Boleyn, was thought to have been a witch because she had a strawberry shaped birthmark on her neck.
During medieval times, strawberries symbolized righteousness and perfection. Stone masons applied their carved strawberry signs onto altars and at the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals.
If you live in Bavaria, somewhere out in the country, you might be participating in an annual spring ritual that recognizes the importance of strawberries. The farm folk make an offering to the elves that they believe will help their cows produce healthy calves and a good supply of milk. The spring offerings of little baskets filled with wild strawberries are tied to the horns of their cattle to wait for the berry-loving elves to enjoy the berries and offer their good spirits to their hosts.
The United States honored the strawberry with a 33-cent stamp first issued on April 10, 1999. The stamp featured a cluster of bright red strawberries peeking out from their brilliant green leaves.
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