Devil in the detail for Highland bramble pickers
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Beautiful Botanicals by Joanne Howdle
Bramble (Rubus fruticosus), also known as blackberry, dris-muine (prickly thorn) and smeur-an-dubha (black stain) in Gaelic is a perennial evergreen shrub with long, thorny, and arching stems growing up to two metres high.
Bramble is native to Scotland, and archaeological evidence indicates that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers ate the fruit of the botanical, a practice that continues with modern foragers. Bramble is commonly found growing in woodland, in hedgerows, and on waste ground, and thrives in acidic soils.
Its leaves are alternate and compound-palmate and are dark green on top and pale green beneath. Clusters of white or pink flowers appear on bramble from late spring to early summer. The classic bobbly aggregate black fruit comes into season in Scotland in August (or occasionally, late July, depending on the weather) and continues to ripen into plump, juicy sweetness throughout September.
Bramble has nectar/pollen-rich flowers which are a food source for bees and other beneficial insects, butterflies, and moths. The leaves of the botanical are eaten by certain caterpillars as well as grazing mammals, especially deer.
Ripe bramble berries are eaten, and their seeds are dispersed by mammals such as foxes, badgers, and small birds. Song thrushes and wrens like to nest in bramble therefore the botanical is often grown in gardens as it makes a good wildlife hedge.
In parts of Scotland, there are taboos about picking brambles from hedgerows after Old Michaelmas Day (October 10) as tradition has it that the Devil sullies the botanical by spitting on it after this date. However, the truth is that in October the fruit becomes watery and unpalatable.
According to Margaret Bennett, the renowned Gaelic folklorist, bramble wreaths were hung above door lintels in the Highlands and Islands to ward off the evil eye, and bramble was planted on graves to stop the dead from rising.
In the Highlands in the past bramble was used to produce a variety of shades of dye from rose pink to mauve and brown. The older shoots of bramble were sometimes used to make baskets, whilst the stems and roots were used for carving traditional tobacco pipes.
In traditional medicine bramble roots, infused in water with pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), were used in the treatment of asthma and bronchitis. Bramble leaves were also applied to the skin to treat bacterial infections and soothe burns and swellings.
Bramble berries and leaves boiled in water, with honey, garlic, and a little white wine added to the concoction, were said to make an excellent mouthwash for the treatment of cold and flu, sore throats, and mouth ulcers and as a cure for toothache.
They were also made into a douche to treat infections in the private parts of adults. A decoction of dried bramble leaves boiled in water was thought to be a cure for diarrhoea and dysentery. The young shoots, steamed and eaten as a vegetable were also said to be excellent for digestive ailments and skin problems.
The berries of the botanical are delicious eaten on their own, embodying sunshine, with a sharp, nostalgic tang of autumn. Bramble berries freeze well and can be made into jam, jelly, and crumble, and are used to add flavour to various other puddings, especially apple and bramble pie.
Bramble leaves make an excellent caffeine-free alternative to tea, whilst the berries can be boiled along with sugar, lemon juice, and cloves to make a bramble cordial. Bramble berries can also be turned into an excellent bramble wine, beer, and whisky liqueur.
In gin manufacture, bramble berries are used to add the taste of a late summer hedgerow and produce a slightly sweet and gorgeously fruity spirit.
- Joanne Howdle is interpretation and engagement manager at the multi-award-winning Dunnet Bay Distillers Ltd.
