Warts

Why is it that imagination seems to run wild where wart-cures are concerned, and why is it that even in the 1990s there are wart-charmers who claim success with both people and animals? In a recent survey of members of the Folklore Society, the variety of wart remedies reported was very surprising. The present leaflet reports on this survey, and compares it with the findings of an earlier study done by the English literature department at University College, London. This is a small study which raises more questions than it answers. As one informant has commented, warts really need a book to themselves. Hopefully they will get one soon, when the present author has completed current work on the subject.

Gabrielle Hatfield studied Botany at Cambridge (BA), following that with a PhD at Edinburgh on the history of domestic medicine in Scotland. She has been pursuing her interest in the use of plants in domestic medicine for 20 years.