The Wood Betony (S. Betonica according to present-day nomenclature, though named Betonica officinalis) was held in high repute not only in the Middle Ages, but also by the Greeks, who extolled its qualities. An old Italian proverb, ‘ Sell your coat and buy Betony, ‘ and ‘He has as many virtues as Betony,’ a saying of the Spaniards, show what value was placed on its remedial properties. Antonius Musa, chief physician to the Emperor Augustus, wrote a long treatise, showing it was a certain cure for no less than forty-seven diseases.

Throughout the centuries, faith in its virtues as a panacea for all ills was thoroughly ingrained in the popular estimation. It was largely cultivated in the physic gardens, both of the apothecaries and the monasteries, and may still be found growing about the sites of these ancient buildings. Robert Turner, a physician writing in the latter half of the seventeenth century, recounts nearly thirty complaints for which Betony was considered efficacious, and adds, ‘I shall conclude with the words I have found in an old manuscript under the virtues of it: “More than all this have been proved of Betony.” ‘

In addition to its medicinal virtues, Betony was endowed with power against evil spirits. On this account, it was carefully planted in churchyards and hung about the neck as an amulet or charm.

‘It is good whether for the man’s soul or for his body; it shields him against visions and dreams, and the wort is very wholesome, and thus thou shalt gather it, in the month of August without the use of iron; and when thou hast gathered it, shake the mold till nought of it cleave thereon, and then dry it in the shade very thoroughly, and with its root altogether reduce it to dust: then use it and take of it when thou needst.’

Betony was once the sovereign remedy for all maladies of the head, and its properties as a nervine and tonic are still acknowledged, though it is more frequently employed in combination with other nervines than alone. It is useful in hysteria, palpitations pain in the head and face, neuralgia and all nervous affections. In the Medicina Britannica (1666) we read: ‘I have known the most obstinate headaches cured by daily breakfasting for a month or six weeks on a decoction of Betony made with new milk and strained.’

As an aromatic, it also has astringent and alternative action, and combined with other remedies, is used as a tonic in dyspepsia and as an alternative in rheumatism, scrofula, and impurities of the blood.

The weak infusion forms a very acceptable substitute for tea, and in this way is extensively used in many localities. It has somewhat the taste of tea and all the good qualities of it, without the bad ones. To make Betony tea, pour a pint of boiling water on an ounce of the dried herb. A wineglassful three times a day proves a benefit against nervous headaches. The dried herb may also be smoked as tobacco, combined with Eyebright and Coltsfoot, for relieving headaches. A pinch of the powdered herb will provoke violent sneezing. The dried leaves formed an ingredient in Rowley’s British Herb Snuff, which was at one time quite famous for headaches.

The fresh leaves are said to have an intoxicating effect and have been used to dye wool a fine yellow.