Scotland Part 1 -- Awae wi ye

In many ways Scotland compared to England is like Canada compared to the US. Like Scotland, Canada has worse weather, fewer people, and is filled with places named Stornoway, Dunbar, Selkirk, Lanark, Perth, and Bannockburn. There are many Scots by birth or heritage in both countries. They are both lands of great beauty and empty spaces, forests, ruggedness, and water.

In the southwest, where my husband grew up, near to the Borderlands, the land is more English in appearance -- low rolling hills, green everywhere, dotted with sheep and grazing cattle, occasional trees, grids of stone fences overgrown with hawthorn, brambles, roses, sticky willie and honeysuckle. The sides of the smaller roads are lined with thick verges of grasses, foxgloves, thistles, buttercups, fireweed, wild meadow geraniums, Queen Anne's Lace, and nettles.

Nettles were in high season at the time of our visit, poking out everywhere the wild plants were allowed to grow. My son was convinced he was immune to them, and even touched a few to prove his invincibility. Inevitably the day came when he firmly grabbed the nettle that would have the better of him and reacted with predictable drama and horror. Simply stated, it went like this: "Agggggghhhhh, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, Aggggghhhhh!"

In most places nettles grow, they are partnered with dock weed, which provides an instant antidote, as my husband likes to point out each and every time the word or even the concept of nettle arises. My sister-in-law has a most vigilant grounds keeper at Kennox House, her home in Southwestern Scotland, where the nettle in question was growing. Robert his name is and Robert had pretty much managed to eliminate every dock plant within a five mile radius, even as he had inexplicably let the nettles live. I finally found a tiny scrap of dock leaf and applied it to my injured son. It took a few more applications of equally tiny leaves to fully cure him, but soon after, my son was feeling better and had also acquired a new found awareness of stinging plants.

This will come in handy the next time we are traipsing along a poison-oak lined trail in California and my son denies he will be affected. "Remember that time in Scotland..." we'll be able to tell him, and he might just listen.

Comments

[AnOn]

I've met a few sticky willies over 'ome!

[A H]

He must have been very thorough as there were always plenty of dock leaves when we lived there.

A