Old-World Names for Herbs and Plants

 

Song of the Witches:

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,  In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,  wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and howler's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,  then the charm is firm and good.

From Macbeth by William Shakespeare  

The minute you here these words your mind conjures up a picture of three Scottish witches chanting  and tossing goodness only knows what into a cauldron. But while it seems that their spell is made with dismembered animal parts, they are really just herbs.  In Shakespeare's time, herbalist and healers would have been considered witches or warlocks.   So they often wrote the ingredient list for their spells or medicines in what today would be considered a secret code; or for you techies’ encrypted files.
 For example;
Adder's Tongue is an old name for the plant dogs tooth violet.
Eye of Newt is a daylily or mustard seed; it depends on who you ask.
Tongue of Dog: Hounds tongue

To anyone in Shakespeare’s time this shopping list of ingredients would have sent shivers of fear running down your spine and helped spark the rampant fear of witches that ran through the middle ages; and we all know how that ended.  Regardless of the reasons behind the most stems from ancient times most are Old English, but some can be traced back to ancient China. I personally know some witches and herbalist that still use these names in their spells today. They claim its to honor those that paid dearly for their beliefs, but I think they also get a slight kick out of freaking people out.
 

 Below you will find Old-World Names for Herbs and Plants;
and some commonly used terms for their parts.

 

 

Animal / Herb

 

Blue Jay - Bay Laurel      Cat – Catnip     Dog - Couch Grass     Eagle - Wild Garlic     Frog - Cinquefoil

Hawk -Hawkweed      Lamb - Lettuce     Lizard –Calumniate     Nightingale –Hops     Rat - Valerian

Toad -Sage      Weasel – Rue     Woodpecker - Peony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When a specific part of an herb needed to be used, they were referred to usually as a body part.
 Here’s a handy table to help you figure it all out.

Actual Part of the Herb Used

Eye Inner - part of a blossom      Paw, Foot, Leg, Wing, or Toe - Leaf      

Guts - Roots and stalk     Privates - Seed      Hair- Dried, stringy herbs      Tail -Stem      Head –Flower

     Tongue- Petal     Heart-  A bud or seed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old world name for hebs
 

A Bone of an Ibis: Buckthorn      Adders Tongue: Dogstooth Violet      A Titan's Blood: Wild Lettuce
 

A Lion's Hairs: Tongue of a Turnip (the leaves of the taproot)     A Man's Bile: Turnip Sap

 

A Pig's Tail: Leopard's Bane     A Hawk's Heart: Heart of Wormwood      An Eagle: Wild Garlic

 

Ass's Foot or Bull's Foot: Coltsfoot     Blood: Elder sap or another tree sap   

Blood of Hephaistos: Wormwood      Burning Bush: White Dittany      Bread and Cheese Tree: Hawthorne

 

Blood from a Head: Lupine      Bird's Eye: Germander Speedwell      Blood of Ares: Purslane

 

Blood of a Goose: Mulberry Tree's Milk      Bloodwort: Yarrow      Blood of Hestia: Chamomile

 

Blood of an Eye: Tamarisk Gall     Blood from a Shoulder: Bear's Breach      Bat's Wings: Holly

 

Black Sampson: Echinacea      Bull's Blood or Seed of Horus: Horehound     Bear's Foot: Lady's Mantle

 

Calf's Snout: Snapdragon      Cat's Foot: Canada Snake Root and/or Ground Ivy

 

Candelmas Maiden: Snowdrop     Capon's Tail: Valerian      Christ's Ladder: Centaury

 

Cheeses: Marsh Mallow       Chocolate Flower: Wild Geranium      Christ's Eye: Vervain Sage

 

Clear-eye: Clary Sage     Click: Goosegrass      Cucumber Tree: Magnolia     Clot: Great Mullein

 

Corpse Plant: Indian Pipe      Crowdy Kit: Figwort     Cuddy's Lungs: Great Mullein

 

Crow Foot: Cranesbill     Cuckoo's Bread: Common Plantain      Clear Eye: Clary Sage

 

Crow's Foot: Wild Geranium      Devils Dung: Asafoetida      Dragon's Blood: Calamus

 

Dog's Mouth: Snap Dragon      Daphne: Laurel/Bay     Devil's Plaything: Yarrow

 

Dove's Foot: Wild Geranium      Dew of the Sea: Rosemary      Dragon Wort: Bistort

 

Earth Smoke: Fumitory      Eye of Christ: Germander Speedwell      Elf's Wort: Elecampane

 

Enchanter's Plant: Vervain     Englishman's Foot: Common Plantain      Erba Santa Maria: Spearmint

 

Everlasting Friendship: Goosegrass      Eye of the Day: Common Daisy

 

Eye of the Star: Horehound      Eye Root: Goldenseal      Eyes: Aster, Daisy, Eyebright

 

Frog's Foot: Bulbous Buttercup      From the Loins: Chamomile     Fat from a Head: Spurge

 

Fairy Smoke: Indian Pipe      Felon Herb: Mugwort       From the Belly: Earth-apple

 

From the Foot: Houseleek      Five Fingers: Cinquefoil      Fox's Clote: Burdock

 

Graveyard Dust: Mullein      Goat's Foot: Ash Weed      God's Hair: Hart's Tongue Fern

 

Golden Star: Avens      Gosling Wing: Goosegrass      Graveyard Dust: Mullein

 

Great Ox-eye: Ox-eye Daisy      Hairs of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Seed

 

Hair of Venus: Maidenhair Fern      Hag's Taper: Great Mullein

 

Hagthorn: Hawthorn      Hare's Beard: Great Mullein      Herb of Grace: Vervain

 

Hind's Tongue: Hart's Tongue Fern     Holy Herb: Yerba Santa      Holy Rope: Hemp Agrimony

 

Hook and Arn: Yerba Santa      Horse Tongue: Hart's Tongue Fern     Horse Hoof: Coltsfoot

 

Hundred Eyes: Periwinkle      Innocense: Bluets      Jacob's Staff: Great Mullein

 

Joy of the Mountain: Marjoram      Jupiter's Staff: Great Mullein     King's Crown: Black Haw

 

Knight's Milfoil: Yarrow     Kronos' Blood: sap of Cedar      Lady's Glove: Foxglove

 

Lion's Tooth: Dandelion      Lad's Love: Southernwood      Lamb's Ears: Betony

 

Little Dragon: Tarragon      Love in Idleness: Pansy      Love Leaves: Burdoc

 

Love Lies Bleeding: Amaranth/Anemone     Love Man: Goosegrass      Love Parsley: Lovage

 

Love Root: Orris Root      Man's Health: Ginseng      Maiden's Ruin: Southernwood

 

Master of the Woods: Woodruff      May: Black Haw      May Lily: Lily of the Valley

 

May Rose: Black Haw      Maypops: Passion Flower      Mistress of the Night: Tuberose

 

Mutton Chops: Goosegrass     Nose Bleed: Yarrow      Old-Maid's-Nightcap: Wild Geranium

 

Old Man's Flannel: Great Mullein      Old Man's Pepper: Yarrow      Oliver: Olive

 

Password: Primrose      Pucha-pat: Patchouli      Peter's Staff: Great Mullein

 

Priest's Crown: Dandelion leaves      Poor Man's Treacle: Garlic      Queen of the Night: Vanilla Cactus

 

Queen of the Meadow: Meadowsweet      Queen of the Meadow Root: Gravelroot

 

Ram's Head: American Valerian     Red Cockscomb: Amaranth      Ring-o-bells: Bluebells

 

Robin-run-in-the-grass: Goosegrass      Semen of Helios: White Hellebore

Semen of Herakles: Mustard-rocket      Semen of Hermes: Dill      Semen of Hephaistos: Fleabane

 

Semen of Ammon: Houseleek      Semen of Ares: Clover      Seed of Horus: Horehound

 

Sparrow's Tongue: Knotweed      Soapwort: Comfrey or Daisy      Shepherd's Heart: Shepherd's Purse

 

Swine's Snout: Dandelion leaves      Shameface: Wild Geranium      See Bright: Clary Sage

 

Scaldhead: Blackberry      Seven Year's Love: Yarrow      Silver Bells: Black Haw

 

Sorcerer's Violet: Periwinkle      St. John's Herb: Hemp Agrimony      St. John's Plant: Mugwort

 

Star Flower: Borage      Star of the Earth: Avens      Starweed: Chickweed      Sweethearts: Goosegrass

 

Tarragon: Mugwort      Tartar Root: Ginseng      Thousand Weed: Yarrow      Thunder Plant: House Leek

 

Tanner's Bark: Toadflax      Torches: Great Mullein      Tongue of dog: Houndstongue

 

Tears of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Juice      Unicorn Root: Ague Root      Unicorn's Horn: False Unicorn

 

Unicorn Horn: True Unicorn Root      Wax Dolls: Fumitory      Weazel Snout: Yellow Archangel

 

White: Ox-eye Daisy      White Wood: White Cinnamon      Witch's Asprin: White Willow Bark

 

Witch's Brier: Brier Hips      Weasel Snout: Yellow Archangel      Wolf Foot: Bugle Weed

 

Wolf Claw: Club Moss      Wolf's Milk: Euphorbia      

Weed: Ox-Eye Daisy     White Man's Foot: Common Plantain

* please forgive any misspelling- auto correct often is not my friend! *