Nettles: Their Uses and Folklore in the British Isles

Abstract

Nettles (Ortica dioica L.) are widespread perennial herbaceous plants, which ‘are so well known that they need no description at all, they may be found by the feeling in the darkest night’. Being well armed with stinging hairs, and frequent in man-made habitats, the nettle is one of the first plants recognized by children. The present article attempts to survey the folklore and uses of nettles in the British Isles from the late nineteenth century up to the present. During this time nettles have been used as a food for man and poultry, as a fly deterrent, as a dye, in folk medicine and in traditional customs.