CRUCIFEROUS TRIBE 55 



15. WOAD {Isdtis). 



Dyers' Woad (/. tinctdria). — Pouch wedge-shaped, very blunt, smooth, 

 thrice as long as broad, compressed on the summit and at the sides into a 

 sharp edge ; root-leaves numerous, stalked, inversely egg-shaped, tapering at 

 the base, crenate, smooth, or slightly hairy ; stem-leaves entire, arrow-shaped 

 at the base. Plant biennial. Many botanists consider that this plant is not 

 truly wild, but it occurs in many places, as in the Isle of Ely, about old 

 stone pits in some parts of Cambridgeshire, and in chalk quarries at other 

 places. The old name of this plant was Glastum, from the Celtic glas, 

 blue, whence also came the name of the town of Glastonbury. The ancient 

 Britons are believed to have stained their bodies with the indelible woad ; 

 hence came the name of Britain, from the Celtic Brith, which signified paint. 

 Brithon, according to Camden, signified a stained man ; but it would be too 

 rugged a word to suit the ear of the Romans, accustomed to a more eupho- 

 nious language ; hence, their historians called the country by the more 

 sonorous name of Britannia. That we thus owe our oldest national name 

 to the Woad, is an opinion pretty generally received ; but of the origin of 

 the name itself, we have no certain knowledge. The Picts were so called by 

 the Romans because they, like the Britons, painted themselves, at first, it 

 Avould seem, to render themselves attractive, as the South-Sea Islander would 

 now stain himself with red ; but that which was originally a mark of personal 

 finery, was made in later times, by a refinement of barbarism, an object of 

 terror, and the blue stains were deepened to frighten the enemy. Probably 

 this staining of the body was, as Mr. Disraeli conjectured, a slight defence 

 from the rigours of the atmosphere, or the annoyance of insects. The bright- 

 ness of the blue induced the Celts to call the plant Gived, a name still re- 

 tained in France, vv^here it is now sometimes termed Gwesde. The Anglo- 

 Saxons appear to have called it JFad, or Woad. The German name for it is 

 Fdrherwaid ; and it is the Guado of the Italians. The Spaniard calls the 

 plant Pastel, and it is also so called in some parts of France. 



Woad is still sometimes cultivated in Lincoln, as the dye obtained from 

 its leaves is a substitute for indigo ; but its cultivation is rare, because the 

 price of labour in this land renders it more expensive than the foreign dye. 

 Before the introduction of indigo, however, woad was commonly raised in 

 various parts of Europe, especially in Germany ; but the introduction of that 

 plant had a sudden effect in diminishing the use of woad. At first, indigo 

 and woad were used together in dyeing ; then came the plan of using certain 

 salts instead of woad, which in the then state of science produced so much 

 mischief by injuri ig the cloths, that orders were issued by the Government 

 of Thuringia, in the sixteenth century, that the use of indigo should be 

 abolished ; and it was in our country denounced as a dangerous drug, and 

 ordered to be burned. Woad does not appear to have been a common crop 

 in England at that time ; and efforts were made to discourage its growth 

 altogether. From the archives of the Corporation of Southampton, in 1597, 

 it appears that a remonstrance was entered against the sowing of woad in 

 Hogland, " because the common sort of people find themselves greatly grieved 

 withal, for that, after woad-sowing, there will grow no grass, or anything else 

 for the cattle to feed upon." 



