Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 73: 151-176
July/September/October 1976
The history and ethnobotany of bracken
L. RYMER
Botany School, University of Cambridge *
The fossil record shows that Pteridium has been present in all the temperate stages of the
Quaternary, but that for most of this period it formed a component of the herb layer of
deciduous woodlands. Bracken did not begin to reach its present abundance and importance
until widespread forest clearance began with the arrival of Neolithic man about 5000 years ago.
Some of the factors that have played a role in the history of bracken are illustrated by a
discussion of the spread of bracken in Scotland that occurred contemporaneously with the
change from cattle- to sheep-farming in the 18th century. It is shown that man has played a
dominant role in influencing the spread of bracken in Scotland, but that bracken was
considered of great positive economic value. The ethnobotany of bracken is discussed, and it is
suggested that i t was once an important source of potash for the glass, soap and bleaching
industries. The use of the plant as fuel, thatch, litter, compost and food, and for medicinal
purposes is considered, and mention is made of various minor uses of the plant. Unfortunately
it is difficult to estimate the amount of bracken consumed by these various employments, but
it is suggested that the increased abundance of the plant may have been exaggerated because
what w a s once a useful resource has now become a pest.
CONTENTS
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Introduction
History
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Pre-Quaternaryhistory
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Quaternary history
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Interglacial and other temperate stages
Glacials
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Flandrian history
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Recent history
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Ethnobotany
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Bracken as a source of potash
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In glass manufacture
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For soap and bleaching
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Use as afuel
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Use for thatch
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Use as litter
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Use as compost
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Use as food
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Use in medicine
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Miscellaneous uses
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Folk-lore
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Conclusions
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Acknowledgements
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* Present address: Department of Botany, University of New South Wales, Box 1, Kensington, N.S.W.
2033, Australia.
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INTRODUCTION
Bracken is one of the most important weeds in Britain. In 1957 over
450,000 acres of land, mainly rough grazing, were said to be infested with
bracken in Scotland alone; and in the counties of Selkirk, Argyll and
Kirkcudbright over one quarter of all holdings were affected (Hendry, 1958).
In 1970, taking into account the amount of land taken over for forestry, it was
estimated that 400,000 acres of land in Scotland were bracken-infested (M.
Morison, pers. comm.). Some 4000 acres are cut each year, and other areas are
sprayed, in an attempt to control Pteridium.
Under suitable conditions bracken forms a complete ground cover which,
with the thick layer of litter covering the ground during the winter months, is
able to exclude all competitors, so that areas covered by bracken are next to
useless for grazing. Dense stands of Pteridium interfere with the recreational
use of land, and the growth of bracken can be a problem in young forestry
plantations.
Bracken can grow on a very wide range of soils, and there are many areas of
Britain in which it could and would grow, were it not for the activities of man.
In the absence of man, however, except for areas that lack soil, or that are too
wet to support trees, the whole of Britain would be covered by forest of one
sort or another. Although bracken can persist under a tree cover, it is generally
kept in a subordinate role, and it cannot achieve the dominance that it exhibits
under present conditions. It is therefore likely that bracken has achieved its
present abundance and dominance through the activities of man, and that an
understanding of its present distribution and ecology in Britain must rest on a
knowledge of its history.
HISTORY
Pre-Quaternary history
The genus Pteridium has a long history, and the cosmopolitan distribution of
Pteridium aquilinum tends to suggest that this species is of ancient origin. Fern
foliage comparable with Pteridium is found in Oligocene deposits from the
Zsilvolgy Valley, Petrozseny, Hungary (Harland et al., 1967). Two species of
Pteridium occur in deposits of late Miocene age in southern England (Long &
Fenton, 1938). Pteridium aquilinum seems to have appeared well before the
beginning of the Quaternary.
Quaternary history
The Quaternary period covers approximately the last two million years, and
the history of our flora during this time is now reasonably well known.
Quaternary records of Pteridium aquilinum have been obtained from the
data-bank of British Quaternary plant-fossil records, held in the Subdepartment of Quaternary Research, Cambridge. The bank includes both
microfossil (pollen and spores) and macrofossil (seeds, fruit, leaves, etc.)
records, and is based on an exhaustive survey of the literature (Deacon, 1972).
The records used here were kindly extracted by Mrs S . M. Peglar.
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
153
Bracken spores are easily identifiable, and the great majority of bracken
records relate to its fossil spores. In interpreting these data it is essential to
remember that sporulation in Pteridium is very variable, both annually and
spatially (Conway, 1957), and that dispersal of bracken spores appears to be
erratic (Tinsley & Smith, 1974). In one area of Knapdale, for example, the
pollen stratigraphy shows a definite decrease in frequency of Pteridium spores,
but field evidence proves that a great expansion of bracken has recently
occurred (Rymer, 1974b).
Interglacial and other temperate stages
Low frequencies of Pteridium spores (less than 2% total pollen) are recorded
from the early temperate stages of the Ludhamian and the Cromerian.
The interglacial deposits found in Britain may be referred to the Hoxnian
(Holstein) and Ipswichian (= Eemian on the continent) interglacial stages
(Mitchell, Penny, Shotton & West, 1973). Each of these stages can be divided
into four zones, the earliest of which, Zone I, is a pretemperate zone
characterized by the boreal trees, Betula and Pinus. Zone 11, the early
temperate zone, is dominated by forest trees of the mixed oak forest. Zone I11
is characterized by the expansion of trees such as Carpinus, Abies and Picea.
Zone IV is the post temperate zone (Turner & West, 1968).
Table 1. Records of Pteridium in the Hoxnian
interglacial
Spore frequency
Locality
H IV
less than 2% total pollen
Marks Tey, Essex
H 111
less than 2% total pollen
less than 2% tree pollen
less than 2% tree pollen
Gort, Ireland
Hoxne, Suffolk
Marks Tey, Essex
less than 2% total pollen
t leaf
less than 2% total pollen
Gort, Ireland
H I1
Zone
t
H I
less than 5% total pollen
less than 2% total pollen
t
Marks Tey, Essex
Kilbeg, Ireland
Gort, Ireland
Marks Tey, Essex
Kilbeg, Ireland
All known interglacial records of Pteridium are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
Their southern distribution is simply a reflection of the absence of
pre-Devensian biogenic deposits in the north of Britain. Bracken was present in
both interglacials, but generally with only low frequency and, although the
number of records is small, there does not seem to be any real differences
among the zones in terms of the abundance of bracken, nor do there seem to
be any real differences in the abundance of bracken among the sites
investigated, or between the two interglacials.
Glacials
There are a few records of bracken spores from the Late Anglian, and a
bracken frond was found in Late Anglian deposits at Gort, Ireland, showing
L. RYMER
154
Table 2. Kecords of Pteridium in the Ipswichian
interglacial
Zone
Spore frequency
Locality
I111
+
Hutton Henry, Durham
i I1
10% tree pollen
less than 2% tree pollen
less than 2% tree pollen
less than 2% total pollen
less than 2% tree pollen
+ and macro
I1
less than 2% tree pollen
Bobbitshole, Suffolk
Selsey, Sussex
Wortwell, Norfolk
Wretten, Norfolk
Stone, Hants
Trafalgar Square,
London
Bobbitshole, Suffolk
that the spores, in this case, were not the result of long-distance transport.
Pteridium spores are also recorded from the early and late Wolstonian, and
from Zones I, 11, and I11 of the Late Devensian (the lateglacial).
Nan drian h istory
The Flandrian covers the last 10,000 radiocarbon years (Mitchell et al.,
1973), and it is well represented by biogenic deposits. Table 3 gives an analysis
of all known bracken spore records relating to the Flandrian. Zones IV to VIII
are the pollen zones as originally defined by Godwin (1940, 1956), and, except
for the Zone VIIa/VIIb boundary (drawn at the ‘elm decline’), all the zone
boundaries appear to be time-transgressive (Smith & Pilcher, 1973). The elm
decline dates from approximately 5000 radiocarbon years before the present.
Table 3 shows that the post-glacial history of Pteridium is strikingly different
from its interglacial history. Up to, and including, Zone VIIa, it exhibits the
same low spore frequencies that it shows in the Hoxnian and Ipswichian. Until
this time it would appear to have been widespread, but not particularly
abundant. Tree pollen frequencies are high, the country was still under its
natural cover of woodland, and Pteridium would have been growing in what is
Table 3. Flandrian records of Pteridium
‘Godwin’ pollen zone
Number of records
Frequency
-__
to SO%, 80-100%
tree pollen
mostly 10-20%
VIII
130
VII b
113
VII a
71
mostly less than
2% tree pollen
VI
41
mostly less than
2% tree pollen
V
10
mostly less than
2% tree pollen
IV
6
mostly less than
2% tree pollen
2-100% tree pollen
mostly less than
2-10%
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
155
probably its natural habitat, as a component of the herb layer of deciduous
woodlands.
At the Zone VIIa/VIIb boundary bracken shows a sudden change in its
behaviour, a change that is not paralleled in any of the interglacial records. In
interpreting the figures given in Table 3 it must be borne in mind that they are
averages, obtained from a large number of sites, and, further, that ‘Zone VIIb’
covers a considerable time span. To fully appreciate the history of bracken it
would be necessary to consider each site separately. Nevertheless, a few general
points can be made.
The boundary between the two Sub-zones VIIa and VIIb is one of the most
studied horizons in the whole history of British vegetation. I t now seems to be
generally accepted that it represents the time when Neolithic people began to
play an important role in modifying vegetation. It is possible that Mesolithic
cultures may have been responsible for temporary clearances of woodland
(causing temporary increases in the abundance of bracken) in areas such as
Dartmoor (Simmons, 1969) or the Breckland (Sims, 1973), but these were
localized, and not sustained. The disturbances initiated by Neolithic man were
widespread (as shown by the relative synchroneity of the ‘elm decline’), and
they were the forerunners of a succession of anthropogenic landscape changes
that have continued to the present day.
The relationship between forest clearance and increased Pteridium
frequencies in pollen diagrams was first pointed out by Iversen (1949), and
since that time has been abundantly confirmed. In some areas short-term
Neolithic disturbances were followed by almost complete forest regeneration,
but on poorer soils, as in the Breckland, a more lasting effect was produced, so
that from Neolithic times the non-tree pollen (including ferns) of the Hockham
Mere diagram show substantial and maintained increases (Godwin, 1944). A
good example of the effect of a small temporary clearance on Pteridium levels
is shown in the diagram from Tregaron Bog (Turner, 1965: fig. 1). This
particular clearance dates from Iron Age times, and probably did not last more
than 50 years. A dense, or fairly dense, canopy of woodland is able to keep
bracken in check. As the woodland is opened out the bracken is able to spread
and increase in density; it may also show an increase in sporulation (Conway,
1957). As the forest regenerates the bracken is once again brought under
control by the increased shade.
It is difficult to speak in general terms of the subsequent history of bracken
because (as shown by the range of pollen frequencies in Table 3 ) its status in
any particular area was very much dependant upon man’s activities in that area.
However, it can be safely said that as the areas covered by woodland decreased,
areas dominated by bracken would tend to increase. There would probably be a
tendency for bracken to become restricted to the soils too poor for cultivation.
Fluctuations in climate, population pressure and grazing regime would also
have affected its distribution and abundance.
Certainly by medieval times bracken was both common and a weed. In 1373
it could be written that “Ferne is an erbe that is comovn to know for he growis
in all places”, and in Chaucer’s translation of Boethius’s De Consolatione
Philosophia (c. 1380) we find “Let him . . . kerve asondir with his hook the
bussches and the feern, so that the corn may commen heavy of erys.” (Kurath
& Kuhn, n.d.). Later, in 1697 Worlidge described bracken as “this so common
156
L RYMER
and known an annoyance”, and in 1726 Laurence thought fern to be
“undoubtedly one of the worst weeds”. Recalling the quotation from Boethius,
William Eking and John Lynstead, in 1713, were paid 4s. “for cutting Brakes
out of the Barley” at East Wretham (G. Crompton, pers. comm.).
Recent history
Some idea of the varying history of bracken since Neolithic times, and the
factors affecting it, may be obtained from a study of its recent history and, in
particular, from an investigation of the apparent rapid spread of bracken that
was initiated in 18th and 19th century Scotland as a result of the change from
cattle- to sheep-farming. To quote F. Fraser Darling (1955): “We may say quite
definitely that unbalanced grazing with a high preponderance of sheep furthers
the spread of bracken . . . When the grazing was predominantly by cattle, and
very little bracken was to be seen, it was certainly kept in check by their
grazing habits, their heaviness and capacity to break growing stems.”
Unfortunately, I am not sure what evidence leads to the conclusion that
“very little bracken was to be seen” before the great arrival of the sheep that
began in the 1750s. As I hope t o demonstrate later, bracken played an
important role in the Highland economy at this time, and it would have been in
the interest of the local population to ensure a sufficient supply for their needs.
Indeed, for some of the Western Islands there is a possibility that bracken
patches were actually planted, and that protective regulations as to their
subsequent treatment were laid down in the lease (Braid, 1934).
There seems to be very little documentary evidence relating the changeover
to sheep-farming with an immediate increase in bracken, although, and this
may be significant, there is abundant evidence for a decrease in the area
covered by Calluna. The minister of Inverchaolain, Argyll, wrote in 1792 that:
“All the mountains some years ago, were covered with heath, but many of
them now, by being pastured with sheep, are mostly green, and it is likely,
(from the rapid change that has already taken place) that the heath will soon
be entirely extirpated, and the value of the ground by that means considerably
increased.” (Sinclair, 1793a). Many similar statements could be quoted from
the Old Statistical Account of Scotland. There is also a statement, undoubtedly
erroneous, in the second edition of Encyclopedia Britannica (1779) that: “the
frequent treading [of Bracken] down by sheep, while that sort of cattle feed
upon them, is an infallible method of killing them” (Tytler, 1779). The only
eye-witness account I know of that describes the spread of bracken as a result
of the change to sheep farming refers to Strathmore in the 1830s, and is given
by Ritchie (1909). Latham (1883), in his discussion of the deterioration of
mountain pastures in Scotland brought about by sheep grazing, states: “It is
equally superfluous to give any definition of the coarse herbage or weeds which
have taken the place of finer grasses . . . mosses, sorrel, bents, heath and rushes
will be found in soils congenial to them.” Clearly, so far as he was concerned,
the main cause of recent deterioration in hill pasture was not bracken
infestation.
Although it is impossible to date accurately the spread of bracken, it is
certain that it occurred. A very familiar sight in Scotland is that of bracken
growing over old lazy beds, the relics of former cultivation. It is interesting that
Prior (1863) derives the name bracken from the German Brache or Brach-feld,
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
157
uncultivated land, or land that is breakable, or open to tillage after a term of
years; an etymology which suggests it has long been known as a colonizer of
abandoned arable land. This distribution of bracken suggests that an important
factor in its spread was the abandonment of arable land that accompanied the
great depopulation of the Highlands, itself a partial consequence of the coming
of the sheep (Prebble, 1963).
Another aspect of the depopulation of the Highlands is that bracken was no
longer purposefully cut. Cutting might discourage the spread of bracken in two
ways: any cutting in mid-summer would reduce the vigour of the plant, and
repeated cutting at this time would eventually lead to its eradication; secondly,
even cutting towards the end of the season would reduce the amount of
accumulated litter, and make the plant more susceptible to frost (cf. the use of
bracken fronds in gardens to protect plants against frost). A cessation of
cutting should enable the plant to spread.
Also intimately bound up with the spread of bracken is the practice of
‘muirburn’, the burning of uneaten herbage to provide new shoots for both
sheep and game. In many areas of Scotland muirburn had only recently been
introduced before the Old Statistical Account was written in 1792-4, although
regulations controlling dates between which muirburn could take place were
passed as early as 1685 (Tivy, 1973). These earlier regulations, however, were
probably meant to control burning in the Southern Uplands, rather than the
Highlands. If too rank heather is burnt, the temperatures generated are so high
that the plant is killed, and cannot regenerate from the stool (Braid, 1940). The
deep rhizomes of bracken, however, are protected from the fire, so the
Pteridium can easily invade the burnt area (Gimingham, 1971). This resistance
of bracken to burning may have been important for its behaviour in Neolithic
clearances (Iversen, 1949). Burning also provides suitable conditions for the
germination and development of bracken spores, .and in Finland sporal
regeneration of Pteridium is almost entirely connected with fire (Oinonen,
196 7a).
I t is not impossible that climatic factors have played a part in the spread of
bracken, which is a frost-sensitive plant. The 17th century was a period of
general coldness (Lamb, 1969) that may well have helped to keep bracken in
check. Similarly, the warmth of the 1730s, and the more sustained warmth of
the first half of the present century (Lamb, 1969), may have encouraged
bracken.
According to Farrow (1925) rabbits confer a great advantage on Pteridium
by attacking all its competitors, thereby enabling it t o spread far more rapidly
than it could otherwise do, and Home (1926) has suggested that rabbits play a
role in bracken invasion in Scotland. It is therefore significant that apart from a
single warren in Loch Awe (belonging to the Dukes of Argyll) rabbits were not
introduced into Argyll, which now contains about one quarter of all the
bracken in Scotland, until 1854 (Gathorne-Hardy, 1900). Twenty years later
they were being described as vermin in the leases of the Knapdale farms
(Rymer, 1974b). Especially in the west of Scotland, where sexual reproduction
of bracken is not uncommon (Long & Fenton, 1938), rabbit burrows may
provide sheltered and humid areas for spore development.
The increase in bracken, beginning perhaps in the mid-18th century, seems
to have continued well into the present century. Home, writing in 1926, said
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L RYMER
that most competent observers were agreed that bracken had been increasing
on hill land in Scotland over the past 20 or 30 years. Braid (1934) thought that
under British conditions it was by no means uncommon “. . . for a farmer, who
forty years ago possessed 2000 acres of ground suitable for grazing, to be faced
with a reduction to 1000 acres suitable for grazing today”, because of the
spread of bracken. In 1938 Long & Fenton concluded their paper by saying:
“The writers desire very definitely to record their view that the bracken
menace has grown so rapidly, and has now attained such proportions, that it is
of real national importance.”
The spread of bracken in the early years of this century would have been
aggravated by the conditions of diminished labour during and after the First
World War, which made cutting for eradication almost impossible. Other
important factors were the tendency for people to live in villages rather than on
isolated farms, making it more inconvenient to cut bracken growing in
out-of-the-way places, the mild weather already referred to, and an increase in
hill drainage which was providing more suitable habitats (Home, 1926). (Just as
in the 18th century the abandonment of irrigation systems built to irrigate
pasture and control bracken would have played a part in its spread.)
In 1943, the Balfour of Burleigh Committee on Hill Sheep Farming in
Scotland obtained statistics on bracken infestation of hill farms and, in 1957, a
question in the Agricultural Return asked all farmers to estimate the area of
land infested with bracken on each holding. A direct comparison between the
two sets of figures is impossible, but Hendry (1958) concludes that the figures
“do not indicate any rapid encroachment by Bracken.”
ETHNOBOTANY
Bracken is nowadays considered to be one of the worst weeds of rough
pasture and moderately acid grassland, not only in this country (Salisbury,
1961) but in many other parts of the world as well (Nelson, 1946). Not only
does it reduce the agricultural potential of the land that it colonizes but it also
interferes with the recreational use of land by discouraging public access and
reducing the amount of ground available for walking, camping etc. (Denman,
Roberts & Smith, 1967). This is especially so as its period of maximum growth
coincides with the peak holiday months.
It is ironic that the present great abundance of bracken is, as we have seen, a
direct result of our own activities. The development of bracken into a pest,
however, is not simply a result of its recent spread. Changes in our economy
have altered our relationship with the plant so that an understanding of its
recent history is dependent on our appreciation of its past role in our society.
The importance of bracken to man is easily demonstrated by the ancient
privilege of Fern bounds, greenhue, or fernigo (Wright, 1900) and the rules
which once governed the dates on which bracken could be harvested. In some
areas it was even the practice to set out, by agreement among commoners, the
parcels of land on which bracken could be cut. The respective allotments were
then carefully measured out, and rigidly adhered to (Denman et aZ., 1967).
These rules were not intended to eradicate the bracken, quite the reverse. On
27 June 1544, for example, it was decreed that the tenants of Pennington
manor, Furness, must not cut any bracken upon the moor yearly before 29
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
159
September, but, after that date, every one of them was to have daily one
mower or four reapers, under pain for every forefeiture of 12d, a considerable
sum of money in those days (Davies-Shiel, 1972). Cutting for eradication has to
take place in midsummer, and this was expressly forbidden. Bracken on
Lakenheath Warren, West Suffolk, continued to be cut until 1939 (Crompton,
1971). As late as the 1960s the commoners of Goathland (an upland grouse
moor) received E750 from the Air Ministry, as compensation for the
acquisition of the common rights to cut ten acres of bracken each year, and, in
a few places, the purposeful cutting of bracken still continues (Denman et al.,
1967).
Detailed examples of the use of bracken will be discussed later, but a few
quotations to illustrate its importance can be usefully given here. In the Pipe
Roll of East Wretham, Norfolk, 1288-9, there is the entry “De Fuger vend 5s”;
that is, bracken had been sold for five shillings, or the same price as could be
obtained for two quarters of rye (G. Crompton, pers. comm.). Celia Fiennes
describes Cannock Chase in 1695: “In Kank wood . . . is also great quantetys of
ferne, which thc.’ it overuns their ground and so spoiles the grass where its
much, yet the usefullness of it renders it necessary to be preserv’d.” (Morris,
1947). Lightfoot (1777), after discussing the difficulty of destroying bracken,
concludes “It has, however, many good qualities to counterbalance the few bad
ones.” It was not only the poorer people who found a use for bracken: for
example, in November 1742 John Cockburn of Ormistoun ordered his gardener
to carry “Farnes” to his town house, and stack them up as dry as possible
(Colville, 1904). The most striking example that I know of, however, comes
from Knapdale, Argyllshire. According to the “Decreet of Sale of the Lands of
Kilmorie . . . in favour of Sir Archibald Campbell, 1776”, the rents of the farms
in this area, which were paid partly in kind, included “sixteen cart loads of
pulled fern” from each tenant, the ferns being deliverable on the tenant’s
expense, at the mansion house of Fernoch, for the use of the biggings of the
same (Rymer, 1974b). I would imagine that many hill farmers today wish they
were allowed t o pay their rent in bracken!
The discussion of the ethnobotany of bracken which follows will deal only
with the positive value of bracken. The role of bracken as a weed and the vast
amount of research carried out into methods of eradicating bracken are well
known, and are amply described elsewhere.
Bracken as a source of potash
Potash is the term originally applied to the alkaline substance obtained by
lixiviating the ashes of terrestrial vegetables, and evaporating the solution in
large iron pans or pots (whence the name). Chemically, it is a crude form of
potassium carbonate. The word was also used to refer to the plant ashes before
lixivation. The cleansing properties of wood ashes have been known from very
early times, and the early Greeks and Romans knew how to prepare potassium
carbonate from them. Together with soda (sodium carbonate, which, until
about 150 years ago, was chiefly obtained from the ashes of maritime plants),
it can lay claim to being one ot the earliest industrial chemicals, finding
applications in the manufacture of soap and glass, in dyeing, bleaching and
wool scouring.
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L. RYMER
Table 4 gives the percentage ash content and the partial composition of
various air-dried plant materials that might have been important in potash
manufacture. Bracken stands out, not only because it has a high potassium
content, but also because it has a large proportion of ash per unit dry weight.
So long as it was in plentiful supply, it would seem to be the obvious plant to
use for potash production. Note, however, that other constituents of the ash
may have been important for various processes. A high calcium content (cf.
beech) was of importance in making glass (see below).
Table 4. Percentage ash content and partial composition of
various air dried plant materials
Substance
% Total Ash
K,O
% composition of ash
Na,O
SiO,
CaO
42.8
13.3
8.6
33.2
36.6
11.5
21.2
16.4
13.8
9.5
4.6
5.3
0.26
7.3
6.6
2.8
4.6
3.6
2.4
3.9
~
Bracken
Heather
Reeds
Sedge
Rush
Wheat straw
Barley straw
Beech (trunk)
Beech (brushwood)
Oak
5.89
3.61
3.85
6.95
4.56
4.26
4.39
0.55
1.23
0.5 1
6.1
5.3
71.4
31.4
11.0
66.2
53.8
5.4
9.8
2.0
14.1
18.8
6.0
5.3
9.4
6.1
7.5
56.4
48.0
72.5
Calculated from data in Thorpe (1937).
According to Berry (1917) potash content is determined more by the age
and condition of the frond than by the varying soil conditions experienced by
the plants. Table 5 is taken from his paper. All three areas are in Ayrshire, but
Dundonald Glen has a deep, fertile soil; Shewalton Moss has a depth of six to
seven feet of peat; and Cleavance is an area of shallow soil in an exposed
position on the side of a hill. Although the percentage of potash in the ash is
highest in the young fronds, the bracken harvest should take place in July or
August, in order to obtain the greatest yield of potash per acre. Berry (1917)
recommends that harvesting should begin when some of the pinnules begin t o
wither, and when the green begins to give place to a yellowish colour in the
stems. Under the favourable conditions of Dundonald Glen and Shewalton
Moss, about four acres of fully stocked bracken land yield one ton of ash. At
Cleavance seven acres of land are required to produce one ton of ash.
Table 5. Monthly ash and potash content of bracken
Monthly samplings
1916
h Y
June
July
August
September
October
Dundonald
Glen
41
287
556
678
60 1
186
Taken from Berry (1917).
Ash (Ib/acre)
Shewalton Cleavance
Moss
36
296
5 62
642
403
132
16
111
2 36
323
193
Potash (K,O) (lb/acre)
Dundonald Shewalton Cleavance
Glen
Moss
23
152
2 64
289
225
40
19
132
239
204
88
13
9
53
106
130
20
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
161
Having shown that bracken fronds are a suitable source of potash, it is now
necessary to demonstrate that they were used for this purpose. Specific
reference to its use will be found under the description of glass and soap
making, and suggest its usefulness was recognized at least by the 10th century
AD. A late description of the process is given by Simpson (1669), and shows
that the need for collecting the plant at the correct time of the year was even
then recognized: ‘‘. . . those who burn Brakes for their ashes. . . . do it while
they are green and strong, cutting them down and give fire to them, and so let
them burn in great heaps, with a smothering fire: whereas if they should let
them till they turn yellow, and then burn them, they would not get (as they
find by experience), half so much Salt.” One advantage of cutting the bracken
later in the year would be that its vigour the following year would not be
reduced; it is well known that repeated cutting of the plant in mid-summer will
kill the plant within a few years. I t is worth emphasizing that only the fronds
seem to have been used as a s6urce of potash. The statement by Francis Bacon
(1627) that glass is made “of a certaine sand, and Brake-Roots, and some other
matters” is probably incorrect.
The technology of burning bracken seems to have been very simple. One of
the most detailed descriptions is given by James Dunbar (1736), and I will
quote it in full:
“Take a Piece of burning Peat-Coal, about the Bigness of your Fist, and
lay on it a handful or Two of dry Breckens by Degrees, and you will soon
have a Fire; continue thus till you lay on a Cart-Load or Two, but you must
take Care they do not Flame; . . . . When your Fire is near burnt down, you
must steer it up from the Bottom, till that which lyes in the Heart . . . be
burnt black, then steer them up frequently till they turn white; afterwards
you may augment the Fire upon the same Heap, and burn on so long as you
have Day-Light; if the Wind blows too much, make a Sconce of Breckens to
the Windward, to prevent the Ashes blowing away: If there come a deal of
Rain, you must house or hut them with the Ash-Board; if it be small Rain or
flying Showers, throw on Breckens on the Fire, which will defend it; if you
burn more than one Day house every Day’s burning at Night; and, being put
all in a Heap, they will burn themselves for some Days, till all turn white,
and be sure they will be turned twice or thrice a Day, from the Bottom to
the Top, and they will be whiter; then, when they are cold, sift and barrel
them. ”
It is remarkable how similar this is to the method recommended by Berry, in
1917. The main difference is that Berry replaces the ‘Ash-Board’ by corrugated
sheet-iron, or tarpaulins, and suggests that the base of the fire should first be
hollowed out.
In the Lake District specially constructed pits were used, and examples have
recently been described by Davies-Shiel (1972). The pits are very uniform in
size, and never more than 11 feet diameter internally. Many of these pits are
marked as limekilns on the second edition 6-inch O.S. maps, perhaps a mistake
for lye-kilns. So far, 147 potash pits have been found, including larger ones that
are probably older, and were used for making wood ashes. The bracken pits are
probably post-1 700 (Davies-Shiel, 1972).
The 18th and early 19th centuries saw a period of rapid industrial expansion
162
L RYMER
which greatly increased the demand for industrial chemicals. It was also a time
of political unrest which, especially in the case of the American War of
Independence and the Napoleonic Wars, meant that much less alkali could be
imported from abroad. This led to a great deal of experimentation on the
methods of producing alkali, and was the stimulus for the development of the
kelp industry, which was to have far-reaching social and economic effects in the
Scottish Highlands (Rymer, 1974a). In particular, it was a contributory factor
leading to the change from cattle- to sheep-farming, which, as we have seen,
had a considerable effect on the distribution and abundance of bracken.
At least three works were written in Scotland at this time that deal with the
production of potash from bracken. The earliest, by James Dunbar (1736), has
the title: “Smegmatologia, or the art of making Potashes and Soap . . . with the
Produce of our Own Country.” Next came “Experiments on Bleaching” by
Francis Home (1756). Finally, there is an unpublished memoir by William
Cullen (1762) dealing with: “ . . .an extensive series of experiments to ascertain
the quantities and qualities of the alkaline salts obtained by burning ferns and
different kinds of wood.” (Thompson, 1832). All three of these works are
concerned mainly with bleaching, and may well be a result of the encouragement given to the linen industry by the state, beginning in 1727 (Turner,
1972). Bracken ash was widely used for other purposes at that time, and Home
(1756) said the Irish were already making great use of bracken ash in bleaching
fields. With the well known scarcity of timber in Scotland, many districts
would have had no option but to use fern ash.
There seems to be no way of estimating the amounts of Pteridium burnt for
potash in the 18th century, but I think it safe to say that it was the maximum
ever reached in this country. William Cullen regarded fern as a very favourable
source of potash, especially as fern ashes could be made for only 1%d per lb
(compared with 3d per lb for ashes from already felled timber), as women could
manage bracken, but men were required to fell and handle timber. In 1736
ashes were selling at eight shillings the boll in Scotland, and four shillings the
bushel in London (Dunbar, 1736), while in 1764 bracken ash was sold in
Glencoe for seven shillings a barrel (Fairweather, 1973). The island of Jura, in
1772, was manufacturing about El00 worth of bracken ash a year (Pennant,
1776). If we suppose a price of 2d per lb of ash then 12,000 lbs of ash were
being manufactured there each year. Conditions of burning would not have
been as careful as those used by Berry (1917), and an average of 120 lb of ash
per acre might well be higher than obtained. So, on Jura, at least 100 acres of
bracken were made into potash each year, quite apart from those areas of
bracken cut for thatch, litter etc.
In the 19th century it became possible to import large quantities of good
quality alkali once again. By 1831, for example, Canada was exporting 3 5,000
tons of potash and pearl ash (a purified form) annually to Britain. Further
innovations in the chemical industry, and the abolition of the duty on salt,
made it possible to manufacture pure alkali cheaply, and in great quantity. In
1837 it could be written that the ashes of fern were no longer used in Scotland
for the soap and glass industry “from the expense of obtaining them in
sufficient quantity” (M’Turk, 1837), although in Wales they continued to be
used commercially until about 1860 (Denman et al., 1967).
In the period immediately preceding the First World War the potash fertilizer
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
163
used in this country was almost entirely imported from Germany (Rymer,
1974a). The beginnings of hostilities obviously cut off this supply, and in 1917
the Board of Agriculture for Scotland produced a leaflet entitled Bracken us a
source of potash (Anon., 1917). As the supply situation of the 18th century
stimulated the work of Home, Dunbar and Cullen, this 20th century crisis
caused similar work to be carried out by Berry (1917); As a secondary aim of
the utilization of Pteridium, the Board of Agriculture pamphlet cites the
eventual eradication of bracken. Dunbar (1739) made a similar point; making
ash, by the early cutting of the fern, would provide more and better grass for
cattle. Berry (1917), as Cullen before him, emphasized that the cutting of fern
can be done with a scythe or hook, by boy or woman labour, a factor of great
economic importance in those days. In 1917 a ton of ash could be sold for E 2 5 ,
a price that left a good margin of profit, even after deducting the cost of
manufacture and quite apart from the enhanced value of the land.
In glass manufacture
Glass is a double silicate of lime with potash or soda. It is produced by fusing
silica (sand), which comprises about three-quarters the whole, with a potash or
soda flux which renders the silica fusible at a relatively low temperature. The
need for a second base (Ca, from lime), to make for easier working, and to
produce a greater toughness, was not recognized until 1689, it having
previously been present as an impurity in the soda or potash (Turner, 1956a, as
shown in his Table 1).
Potash glass is heavier than soda glass and is more difficult to work and
manage because it passes from the molten into the rigid state more rapidly.
Being harder and more brilliant it is especially suitable for certain decorative
techniques such as facet-cutting (Savage, 1973). The earliest known recipes for
glass date from 1700 BC and are all for soda glass (Turner, 1956b). Potash glass
did not become common until the end of the 10th century AD when the
European glassmakers began utilizing the ashes of bracken and other land
plants on a large scale (Douglas & Frank, 1972). It then became characteristic
of Britain and central Europe, whilst soda glass continued to be made in a few
coastal regions.
It is impossible to estimate the proportion of potash glass manufactured
using fern ash as the alkali. The 10th century treatise of Theophilus
recommends the use of beech ashes (Hawthorne & Smith, 1963). Kenyon
(1967) says that early glass-makers in the Weald used beech and oak billets,
supplemented by the ash of plants such as bracken. Birinuccio, in his book
Pirotechniu written in 1540, tells the prospective glass maker to “. . . take ashes
made from the saltwort [Salicorniu] . . . Now some say that this ash is made
from fern and some from lichen; which of these it does not matter here . . .”
(Douglas & Frank, 1972). Taylor & Singer (1956) state, without giving any
references, that ashes of bracken were especially esteemed for glass making, and
that in England they “. . . were said to be used exclusively.”
In France potash glass went by the name ‘verre fougkre’ (Savage, 1973), and
the place-name ‘Fougkres’ (bracken) is associated with districts in which
glass making is known to have occurred. In 1466 the Abbess of St. Croix of
Poitiers received one gross of glasses in return for leasing the rights of gathering
fern to the glass works of La Ferrikre (Knowles, 1927).
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L RYMER
I t seems likely that several sources of potash were used, even at a single site.
The ashes of the wood used in firing the furnace, for example, might have been
used along with bracken ash. A 12th or 13th century addition to the third
book of Eraclius, after describing the manufacture of colourless glass from fern
ashes, says that purple or flesh-coloured glass can be produced by using the
ashes of the beech tree (Hawthorne & Smith, 1963). Beech ash contains large
amounts of manganese, and the different oxidation levels of manganese are
probably responsible for the colours described by Eraclius and Theophilus
(Turner, 1956b). Clear, colourless glass was especially valued, and could be
made most easily with bracken.
The use of bracken in the glass industry was well known and widespread, as
is shown by reference to it in the non-technical literature. In The Squieres Tale
of Geoffrey Chaucer, written about 1388, we find (lines 253-255):
“But natheless, somme seyden that it was Wonder to maken of fern asshen
glass, And yet nis glass nat lyk asshen of fern.”
(Skeat, 1912). Thomas Norton, in his Ordinal1 of Alchimy (1477), refers to
glass being made “Of Ashes of Fern in this Lond.” (Ashmole, 1652). The use
of bracken ash in the manufacture of glass is mentioned by John Parkinson
(1640) in his Theatrum Botanicum.
Although large quantities of alkali were being imported into Britain by the
18th century, bracken still played a role in the glass industry. In 1701 James
Montgomery “. . . stated that for the previous ten months he and his partners
had been erecting glass works in Glasgow at a large outlay . . . He had
discovered that fern ashes . . , were a most useful material in glass-making, and
ferns abounded near Glasgow” (Clow, A. & N. L., 1952). As late as 1772
crofters in the Western Isles of Scotland were able to make “a very considerable
profit” from the sale of fern ashes to the glass manufacturers (Lightfoot,
1777). I have no evidence that the use of bracken ash for this purpose
continued into the nineteenth century, but the shortage of alkali brought about
by the Napoleonic Wars might have encouraged its use.
For soap and bleaching
Soap is made by combining oils and fats with alkaline bases. According to
Gibbs (1939), it was an important medical preparation among Anglo-Saxon
leeches, but it is quite likely to have been in use long before then, and alkaline
ashes were probably used by themselves before, as well as after, the invention
of soap.
Various 15th century recipes for soap exist, and one for white soap is quoted
by Gibbs (1939). Fern ash was to be mixed with unslaked lime to produce a lye
which was to stand for two days. This was then to be run out from a hole in
the bottom of the barrel into a metal kettle, mixed with oil and tallow, and
made seething hot. After thickening with bean flour, it could be moulded by
hand.
The use of bracken ash in the manufacture of soap continued into 17th
century England, being mentioned by Simpson (1669). An indication of the
importance of bracken at this time is given by the fact that, in November 1634,
Patrick Mauld of Panmure was granted a patent, for 3 1 years, for “the sole and
full licence to make and cause to be made . . . soap for washing of clothes” in
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
165
Scotland. The King, considering that there were certain ingredients necessary
for the making of soap, which it might be as well to obtain from within the
Kingdom, also gave Mauld sole licence “to make potasses . . . of all sorts of
ferns and other vegetable things whatsoever, fit for the purpose” (Chambers,
1858).
Often, however, bracken ashes were used by themselves. This was cheaper,
and seems to have been especially effective for the washing of cloth. Celia
Fiennes, who, in 1695, made a riding tour through England, described how, at
Wolseley, they burnt all their fern in July, made the ashes up into little balls
and kept them “to make Lye for driveing their Buck of Cloth’s which whitens
them much” (Morris, 1947). In Kank Wood [Cannock Chase] they would
“rowle” the ashes up in balls “and so sell them or use them all the year for
washing and scouring, and send much up to London, the ashe balls being easily
sent about.” (Morris, 1947). This practice also occurred in Warwickshire where
“above any country in this land, instead of sope t o wash their clothes, [they]
gather the female ferne . . . make it up into good big balls, which when they
will use them they burne them in the fire, until1 it becomes blewish, which
being then laid by, will dissolve into powder of itself, like unto lime: foure of
these balls being dissolved in warme water is sufficient to wash a whole bucke
full of clothes” (Parkinson, 1640). Lightfoot (1777) says that the use of
bracken ash to wash linen was of importance in some parts of Scotland, and the
importance of bracken lye in the Scottish bleach-fields has already been
discussed.
The burning of bracken to make soap continued into the 19th century.
Bladon (1840) describes how “. . . in many of the open mountainous parts of
Wales” the fern-ash balls were made for sale in the market, and were
“frequently kept by shopkeepers to supply their customers.’’ The price of the
ash balls varied according to season from 3d to 8d per dozen.
In the 1830s women in the Forest of Dean went “day after day into the
woods to cut, and then burn, the green fern to make ley to put into hard water
to wash our clothes, and the clothes of the aristocracy.” The ash balls were sold
“by the dozens to the shops in Gloucester” (Hart, 1966).
Davies-Shiel (1972) has discussed the making of potash for soap in the Lake
District, and comments that the use of bracken ash became especially common
post-1700. The end of this trade in the Lake District seems to have occurred at
the beginning of the 19th century, but in north Wales, more particularly in the
Conway valley, it is known that bracken was regularly harvested and burnt
until about 1860, the ashes being collected and transported by boat to soap
making establishments in Lancashire (Denman et al., 1967). In 1837 fern-ashes
were no longer used commercially in Scotland (M’Turk, 1837), but it is more
than likely that they were still manufactured and used for local consumption, to
offset the cost of soap. The industry seems to have died out completely by the
beginning of the present century.
Use as a fuel
As almost any dried plant material can be used as a fuel the fact that bracken
is often singled out for mention may be more a reflection of its abundance,
than of any peculiar properties that it may possess. Lowe (1869) relates that
12
166
L RYMER
bracken was extensively used as a fuel, presumably for domestic purposes.
Specific references range over a large area, and tend to support him: people in
areas as far apart as Orkney and Shetland (Grant & Murison, 1938), the Lake
District (Linton, 1878), the Midlands (Purton, 1817) and Jersey (Blench, 1966)
have all used bracken to provide warmth. In Jersey the “fern, furze or
brake” was mixed with dried seaweed. It must not be thought that only the
poorest people would use it, for an inventory, dated 18 November 1563, and
relating to Mathew Dixon, a yeoman of Brantfell, includes “In peatts, iij s. ij d.
Burning brackens ij” (Raine, 1853).
Bracken is a light and quick-burning fuel (which is why large areas of
bracken form a severe fire risk, particularly in areas used for camping and
picnics) and it affords a very violent heat. Purton (1817) describes it being used
for burning limestone (and according to John Lucas this was a use to which it
was frequently put in Sussex). I t was also used for heating ovens, and Lightfoot
(1777) mentions,-along with its use in baking, the fact that it was used as a fuel
in brewing. This is illustrated by a letter written by Sir Robert Boyle in May
1621. He wrote that he had “compounded with Mr Green of Tallagh to be the
common beer and ale brewer. . . and he is to use ffyrnes and heath but not
wood to brew withal” (Grosart, 1886).
The production of bricks must once have consumed large amounts of
bracken. According to Richard Neve (1703) bricks were first dried with wood,
but the actual burning was performed with “Bush, Furz, Heath, Brake or Fern
Faggots.” Some 600 faggots were required to burn a kiln of one thousand
Statute-bricks of size 9 x 4%x 2% inches. The use of fern faggots in brickmaking is also described in the first edition of Encyclopedia Britannica, 1769.
There is ar) entry in the Journal of John Dernell, a carter working on the Lathes
Estate of St Giles hospital, Norwich, which, it is tempting to suggest, implies
that the use of bracken in brickmaking goes back to the 15th century. In
October and November of 1417 he had to carry several loads of bracken and,
on the same days, he always carried clay. For example, on 4 October 1417
there is the entry: “Die Martis a lode Brakis xij d Item lodis Cley viij d”
(Tingey, 1904).
An even earlier reference occurs in the Hundred of Farnham, where, during
the Black Death (1348), no buyer could be found for the fern and the
brickmaking industry came to an end (Robo, 1929).
The use of bracken as a fuel seems to have been fairly widespread, but it was
of little ecological consequence, because for this purpose it was not cut until
very late in the season.
Use for thatch
The use of bracken as thatch is a well-known, and an old-established
practice. Article 3 of “The Statute of Labourers, 1 3 5 1 ” (an attempt to control
inflation by limiting incomes, which at that time were rising because of the
labour shortage brought about by the Black Death), stipulates the wages that
can be paid for “workmen of houses”. It includes “tilers 3d and their boys
l%d; and other coverers of fern, and straw 3d and their boys 1%d” (Meyers,
1969). In 1688 Randle Holme defined thatching as “. . . to cover . . . with
Straw, Fern, Rushes, or Gorst.”
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
167
Pennant (1776) said that the general thatch on Skye was fern. He thought it
would last “above twenty years”, which agrees with Smith’s statement (1805)
that a good coat of bracken, well put on, would last 1 5 to 20 years. Under
particularly favourable conditions a bracken thatch need not be replaced for 30
years (Campbell, 1831). Only a heather thatch will last longer. However, with
the short leases so prevalent in the Highlands at that time, thatch would seldom
have been well put on. The minister of Edderachylis complained that the
houses required a new cover every year to render them watertight (Sinclair,
1793b). Campbell’s emphasis that the need “to secure the thatch from being
blown off by the wind is a matter of greater importance than would appear to
be attached to it, from the number of accidents of this kind that occur” also
suggests that the thatch seldom survived its potential lifespan (Campbell,
183 1).
The use of a bracken thatch was by no means confined t o Scotland. In
Lancashire it was thought that “fern made the best [thatch] being naturally
dry, and not apt to ferment like straw” (Holt, 1795). References to bracken
thatch could be quoted from most other counties.
On Skye both the frond and rhizome were used in the thatch (Pennant,
1776), but it was more usual to use only the fronds, and then with some
branches removed. Braid (1934) says that the rhizomes were used in the thatch.
Detailed instructions for making a fern thatch are given by Campbell (1831).
He estimates that an average crofter’s house in Scotland, 40 feet long, with a
roof 1 3 feet high, would require 1 1 5% square yards of thatch. In an area where
fern was abundant an “active man” would be able to pull a cart load of fern a
day, enough to thatch an area of about 6% square yards. It is obvious that
considerable quantities of fern might be used up in this way, but as the
thatching was not carried out until mid-September to October, it would not
lead to the eradication of the bracken.
I do not know any recent examples of bracken thatch, but Innocent (1916)
described examples from near Sheffield at the beginning of this century. In one
case the bracken was laid over clay sods (a common practice in Scotland), in
another example straw was laid on top of the bracken.
Use as litter
The harvesting of Pteridium for litter was a widespread practice and, in terms
of the amount of bracken consumed, may have been the most important use to
which the plant was put. According to Lightfoot (1777) the utilization of fern
for this purpose was “known to every farmer”. Alexander Stewart (1883)
recounts a highly improbable conversation with an old woman, in which he was
warned not to use green fern for bedding horses or cows, particularly milch
cows. Ferns cut in autumn when “brown and ripe”, however, were said to
make “excellent bedding for milch cows as for all other cattle,” Smith (1805)
describes the harvesting of bracken for litter in autumn, and this seems to have
been the standard practice. In the 1830s the bracken in Strathmore was said to
be too sparse for profitable regular cutting, and fern was not cut for litter to
any large extent, except in dry summers, when straw was likely to be short and
scarce (Ritchie, 1909).
The effect of bracken litter on the composition and value of dung was
168
L. RYMER
investigated by Russel (1908) who concluded that in some respects,
absorbency, for example, bracken is preferable to straw. He thought that where
bracken is easily obtainable its use for litter is a matter deserving serious
consideration.
A related use of bracken is for ‘carpeting’ or bedding for humans. Evidence
for this goes back at least to Roman times. A bracken floor covering was used
at the Roman camp of Vindolanda on Hadrian’s Wall (Seaward, 1976), and
Palladius, in 1440, wrote that “this mapil, oak, & asshe endureth long In
floryng yf me ferne hit wel” (Kurath & Kuhn, n.d.). Until the middle of the
18th century the majority of the tenants in the parish of Fortingall, Perth,
“. . . had no such things as beds. They lay on the ground with a little heather,
or fern under them’’ (Sinclair, 1792). In some parts of Scotland, after a
wedding, the bride and groom were sent to sleep in the barn, fern and a couple
of blankets being provided for a bed (Plant, 1952). More sophisticated people
would use the bracken to stuff a mattress. Miriam Rothschild (1973) recently
exhibited a flea (Pulex irrituns) that she had found in a 10th century Viking
pit, the fill of which was dominated by bracken, grasses and clover which, she
thought, must once have been the stuffing of a palliasse.
Use as compost
Bracken was once in great regard as a compost, even though recent work is
against this, because of its low nitrogen content.
Francis Bacon (1627) thought that “brakes cast upon the Ground, in the
Beginning of Winter, will make it very Fruitfull.” Linton (1878) agreed,
recommending them especially for potatoes and, according to Lightfoot (1777),
fern buried beneath potato roots never fails to produce a good crop. In
Sutherland cut fern was left to rot on the ground during winter (Pennant,
1776) but, in some areas, the cut, green fern, was gathered into heaps with
thistles and “all sorts of green vegetables” and, after covering with earth, was
allowed to rot out before being applied to the land (Sinclair, 1794). There is
evidence that fern ashes were used as a fertilizer (Sinclair, 1793b). According to
John Smith (1805) the use of green fern for manure should take precedence
over the cutting of ferns for litter.
Recent evidence form the south of England definitely suggests that the use
of bracken as compost was known even in Neolithic times (Dimbleby & Evans,
1974). A midden from the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae, Orkney, which
contains a great deal of Pteridium and other plant material, and dates from
2000 BC, might lead t o a similar conclusion 0 . H. Dickson, pers. comm.).
It must not be forgotten that old fern thatch, enriched with soot, and
bracken litter, enriched with dung and urine, would eventually find their way
to the dung heap, even when bracken was not cut primarily as compost.
Use as food
The use of bracken as food for man and beast is well documented. Both the
fronds and rhizomes have been eaten.
A bread can be made out of the dried and powdered rhizomes, and was being
eaten by the Maoris of New Zealand well into the 19th century. A detailed
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
169
account of its use in New Zealand is given by Hooker (1861). In the Canaries
“a miserable sort of bread” was made by mixing the flour obtained by grinding
bracken rhizomes with barley meal (Lindley, 1838). The Rev. M. J. Berkeley
spoke of bread made from Pteridium as “better to my taste, and probably not
less nutritious, than Cassava bread” (Linton, 1878). But most authors would
seem to agree with Lightfoot (1777) when he describes the mixing of fern
rhizome with flour, by the poor in Normandy, as a “miserable necessity.” A
well-researched review of this use of bracken in France is given by Coquillat
(1950), who says that as late as the winter of 1816 the poor workers in the
town of Creusot “faisaient un pain avec de la racine de fougtre sechte et pilte
puis m8li.e avec un peu de son”, and that bracken bread was eaten in any time
of great famine. It would not be surprising if a similar situation also held in
Britain, although the only definite reference that I have comes from William
Caxton (1480): “Poure peple made them brede of fern roots.” During the first
World War, when the food position in this country gave cause for anxiety, an
investigation into the food value of bracken rhizomes, for both humans and
animals, was initiated in Scotland, and similar research was being carried out in
other countries, “including enemy countries” (Hendrick, 1919).
According to Schery (1954) American Indians eat the rhizomes of Pteridium
aquilinum without first making them into a flour.
Benjamin Clarke (1857) investigated the use of young and tender bracken
fronds, blanched, as a food. He distributed parcels of fronds as samples of a
new, unnamed, vegetable, to various unsuspecting . . parties who have, all of
them, in return sent back written acknowledgements. . . stating that it was
equal or superior to others named by them.” He recommended Pteridium
fronds as a substitute for asparagus and this recommendation, which has been
repeated by other English authors, is not simply a result of the insensitive
English palate, for in France ‘ I . . . plusieurs aureurs . . . avaient bien signal6 la
commestibilitk des frondes de fougtres, gCntralPment mangtes en guise
d’asperges” (Coquillat, 1950).
In Japan, bracken fronds, sometimes with a soy sauce, are widely served as an
appetizer in bars, just as olives and niblets are served in Europe and America.
Demand for bracken fronds in Japan is so high that in 1969 Japan began
importing bracken from Siberia, and over 300,000 kg of young fronds are
consumed every year in Tokyo alone. The London Japanese obtain their
supplies from Richmond Park (Moyes, 1970). In the light of recent research it
may be significant that Japan has one of the highest rates of gastric cancer in
the world.
During World War I recipes for cooking bracken fronds appeared in British
newspapers (Braid, 1934).
John Sheail (1971) describes fern fronds being used as winter fodder for
rabbits in warrens, and Lees (1842) has recorded that in the Forest of Dean he
saw girls carrying recently cut fern fronds, which they retailed at 2d per bushel.
I t was said to be extensively employed in the forest for feeding pigs, being cut
while the fronds were still uncurled, and boiled to produce a slushy,
mucilaginous mass. Bladon (1840) describes how, in Wales, the dried fronds
were chopped up when dry, mixed with straw or hay, and given in winter to
the horses and mules kept for working on tram roads. The feeding of cut fronds
to stock is also recorded from Scotland, but, especially when mature, the
‘ I .
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L RYMER
fronds appear to be poisonous, and cases of cattle being killed by bracken are
well known, a review being given by Tocher (1941).
According to earlier authors (e.g. Lightfoot, 1777; Linton, 1878), pigs are
very fond of bracken rhizomes, especially if boiled, and it is often suggested
(e.g. Nelson, 1946) that on small fields pigs, by ‘rooting’ for, and eating the
rhizome, can be used to control the plant. This was investigated by Hendrick
(1919) who came to the opposite conclusion, finding that lean pigs would eat
the rhizomes, especially if uncooked and unwashed, but that well-fed pigs
could not be induced to take them. Cattle, on the other hand, were said to eat
the meal made from dried rhizomes “with relish” and, as on a good deep soil
up to 43 tons per acre of clean rhizome can be collected, Hendrick concluded
that it was a fodder source worthy of consideration in war time, especially as
its collection leads to the eventual eradication of the fern.
Many attempts have been made to make silage from Pteridium fronds, and
Aitken analysed in 1887 several samples from several estates in different parts
of Scotland. He stated that the stock to which it was offered ate it readily, and
throve on it. He concluded that: “ I t cannot fail to excite surprise that such a
substance as bracken . . . should be found to have the composition of the
choicest cultivated fodder” (Aitken, 1888). Attempts to repeat this method
since have never been successful (Long & Fenton, 1938), which is somewhat
surprising, considering Aitken’s samples came from several farmers working
independently, and had been produced by different methods.
Use in medicine
There can be few plants in Britain that have never been used in medicine,
and bracken is no exception. Langham, in The garden of health (1579), gives
21 recipes for using bracken. “Burnings, Cattell galled, Festers, Gnats,
Horsesicke, Kanker, Miltpaine, Mother suffocat, Nosebleeding, Purgation,
Sinewes griefes, Skinne off, Sores, Wormes, Wounds” can all be cured by the
use of bracken, and it even “maketh women barren” if you know how to use it
correctly.
Most authors are agreed that the rhizome is antihelmintic (Lindsay, 1853). It
is administered as a powder, obtained by drying the rhizome in an oven (Tytler,
1779). Langham (1579) recommends that the powder be dissolved in wine.
Parkinson (1640) dispenses with the powder altogether, and suggests the
rhizome should be “bruised and boyled in Mede or honeyed water, and drunk”
to kill “both the broade and long wormes in the body.”
Also widely quoted is the fact that a bed of green fern is “a sovereign cure
for rickets” in children (Cameron, 1900; Lightfoot, 1777; Linton, 1878 etc.).
There is general agreement that “the ancients” used the rhizome and fronds in
decoctions and diet drinks, especially against chronic disorders arising from
obstruction of the viscera, and for hypochondriac cases. In 1779 the point was
made that, although there were not wanting “modern authors who give it as
high a character . . . as the antients have done . . . it is an illtasted medicine, and
in no great use in the shops” (Tytler, 1779). This makes it all the more
surprising that Cameron (1900) describes the rhizome as an aphrodisiac, even
though this may be a use supported by the observation of Hendrick (1919) that
“bracken makes pigs lively, and take more exercise.”
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
171
Miscellaneous uses
It is easy to find references in the literature to several uses of bracken that
have not yet been mentioned. Unfortunately, there are no indications of how
widespread these practices were, where they occurred and, often, one is not
even sure when they occurred. For example, several authors state that the
rhizomes of Pteridium were used as a substitute for hops in the brewing of
beer, one third rhizome being mixed with two thirds malt. This was meant to
occur in Siberia “and other places.” The rhizomes were also said t o be “much
used abroad in preparing chamois and kid leathers” on account of the quantity
of tannin and astringent matter contained in them. These statements are
repeated in exactly the same words by Lightfoot (1777), Lindley (1838),
Linton (1878) and others. Apart from their general vagueness, if, as seems
quite likely, Lightfoot copied .these statements from an earlier author, there is
no way of knowing when bracken was utilized for these purposes.
Other uses are better documented, but of uncertain importance. The fronds
have been used (and still are) to protect plants from frost. Another well
established horticultural use was in the packing and storing of fruit. One of the
French names for bracken is “fougkre a cerises”, an allusion to its use in
packing cherries for market. It was said to keep the fruit in excellent condition
(Fenton, 1938) but it might serve other purposes, as is shown by the entry in
Machyn’s diary for 1552 when he tells of a man convicted of selling “potts of
Straberries, the whych the pott was not alff fulle, but fylled with farne”
(Nichols, 1848).
The rhizome can be used to dye wool yellow (Fairweather, 1973), and tartan
dyed with fern is on display in the museum in Fort William. The plant was still
being used for dyeing tweed in 1914 (Scott, 1914).
Parkinson (1640) claims the ‘ I . . . fume of ferne being burned driveth away
Serpents, Gnats, and other noisome Creatures that in the Fenny Countries
much molest both strangers and inhabitants that lye in bed at night time, with
their faces uncovered.” This seems to be true for, in 1973, at the International
Meeting of European Quaternary Botanists, I noticed botanists burning bracken
in order to repel the midges. Also pertinent is the statement by Long & Fenton
(1938) that, if fresh green fronds are boiled up in an old pot, the resulting
liquid is effective in killing green fly (Aphis) on roses.
Braid (1940) has suggested that the carbohydrate of bracken could be
fermented for the production of power alcohol, whilst the fibre could be
converted into bracken board. At that time he thought that “the feasibility of
small local industries [based on bracken] is not a dream.” I t was recently
suggested that “some consideration might well be given to the possibility of
evolving some economic use of bracken, such as the manufacture of paper”
(Denman et al., 1967). However, it has already been tried for this purpose but,
on account of the wastage in the preparation of the pulp compared with that of
esparto grass and because the frequent knots are a disadvantage, its use is
definitely not recommended (Berry, 1917).
Fo 1k-lore
The folk-lore of a plant is as much a part of its ethnobotany as are the uses
to which it has been put. There are many legends concerning bracken, which
172
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has always been accounted a sacred plant in the Scottish Highlands (Stewart,
1883). A review of the various European traditions connected with ferns and
“fern-seed” is given by James Britten (c. 1881) and there is no point in going
into details here. Many of the superstitions are concerned with the ability of
“fern-seed” to confer invisibility:
“We have the receipt of fern-seed, we walk invisible.” King Henry IV, Part 1,
11, i, 95.
Francis Bacon, in a discussion of transmutations, thought it was “. . .
certaine, that a Brake hath been knowne to growe out of a Pollard.” (Bacon,
1627).
I cannot finish this account of the ethnobotany of Pteridium aquilinum
without quoting a letter found in a volume of miscellaneous collections by Dr
Richard Pococke, in the British Museum (‘M’, 1852). It was written by Philip
Herbert, third Earl of Pembroke, then Lord Chamberlain, and addressed to
“My very loving friend, the High Sheriff of the County of Stafford.”
“S‘ .-His Majesty taking notice of an opinion entertained in Staffordshire,
that the burning of Ferne doth draw downe rain, and being desirous that the
country and himself may enjoy fair weather as long as he remains in those
parts, His Majesty hath commanded me to write unto you, to cause all
burning of Ferne t o bee forborne, until his Majesty be passed the country.
Wherein not doubting but the consideration of their own interest, as well as
of his MatieS,will invite the country to a ready observance of this his Maties
command, I rest,
Your very loving friend,
Pembroke and Montgomery.
Belvoir, 1 August, 1636”.
CONCLUSIONS
I t is easy to demonstrate that bracken was used for a variety of purposes. I t
is far more difficult to find quantitative information on the amounts of
bracken used in different areas, and at different times. In some cases, for
example the cutting of bracken fronds as litter, the practice was so widespread
that it did not deserve notice. The use of bracken as food probably occurred
only in times of extreme stress and, unless an interested and competent
observer happened to be in the right place at the right time, it might easily have
gone unrecorded. Information on the use of bracken as a source of potash may
lie untapped in old estate papers, a source that, unfortunately, I have not yet
had time to exploit.
Similarly, one can easily show that bracken has spread since the 18th
century, because areas then cultivated are now covered with Pteridium. It is not
so easy to pinpoint the time of this spread, or even to indicate its extent,
because we have no real information on the amount of bracken in hill pastures
in the eighteenth century. It seems to me that bracken played such an
important role in the Highland economy, that it would have been in the
interests of the people to conserve bracken stocks on the hills. Cutting would
have prevented the further spread of the plant, but a tenant having to pay his
THE HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF BRACKEN
173
rent partly in bracken would have no interest in complete eradication,
especially as he would have required a supply for his own use, as well as for his
rent.
Cutting bracken for fuel, thatch and litter did not take place until well past
the optimum time for cutting bracken for eradication. The use of the young
fronds as food is not likely to harm the plant. Any harvesting of the rhizomes,
and the cutting of fronds for potash and compost might, in time, lead to a
reduction in the area occupied by the plant, but this does not seem to have
been the main purpose for cutting. The abandonment of arable land may have
been a more important factor than the lack of cutting, or the different grazing
behaviour and weight of sheep and cattle, in allowing the spread of bracken in
18th century Scotland. The extent of the spread may have been exaggerated
because of a change in attitude towards the plant, from a useful resource, to a
pest reducing the value of grazing.
Although this account has concentrated on the history of bracken in
Scotland, it must not be forgotten that bracken covers large areas in England
and Wales, and that some of the factors discussed, such as the shortage of
labour after World War I, are also applicable to the history of Pteridium in
these other areas. The most important factor in allowing the spread of bracken
has undoubtedly been the removal of the tree canopy, and this is equally true
of all areas. The more humid and temperate conditions within the forest
canopy might have enabled bracken to spread much more easily by spores, and
the presence of large areas of bracken in the east, where spore development is
now rare, may indicate that the initial colonization took place when the area
was still wooded, and that present bracken areas are extentions of former
woodland relic populations, some of which may have been deliberately
preserved because of their value. On the other hand, bracken spores are widely,
if not efficiently, dispersed, as shown by the appearance of bracken on bombed
sites in London during the second world war (Salisbury, 1961), and even a brief
period of suitable conditions may allow the plant to become established, and
begin vegetative spread. Oinonen (1967b), using a correlation between the
dimensions of a bracken clone and the age of the clone, has found that in
Finland there is a strong coincidence between the widespread initiation of
bracken clones and periods of war. He attributes this t o the large number of
forest fires resulting from wartime conditions which would provide suitable
environments for sporal regeneration.
Perhaps the only safe conclusion is that we still have a great deal to learn
about the history of bracken in Britain, and that social-economic factors, as
well as the more usual ecological factors, have played an important role in
determining its behaviour over the past 5000 years.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work was carried out whilst I held a N.E.R.C. research studentship. I
would like to express sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr H. J. B. Birks, for
allowing me this brief excursion into the realms of history, and for many
helpful comments on the manuscript. Many people have helped in tracing
references, special debts of gratitude being due to Mrs G. Crompton, Mr Joe
Davies, Mrs M. Heap, Dr K. R. Sporne, the staff on the University Library,
174
L RYMER
Cambridge, and the staff of the Applied Biology Library, Cambridge. Professor
G. W. Dimbleby allowed me to see a copy of his paper before publication, and
Dr J. H. Dickson provided information about Skara Brae. Mr M. Morison
provided information on the area of Scotland infested with bracken. Mrs S. M.
Peglar undertook the tedious task of extracting all Pteridium records from the
Quaternary data bank. I am especially grateful to Dr A. S. Watt, who first
suggested this line of enquiry and has given help and encouragement
throughout its progress. Last, but not least, I would like t o thank my wife,
Julia, who, although she would not eat bracken for me, had the unenviable task
of deciphering my handwriting, and typing the early draft of this paper.
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