Materia Celtica – a personal visual study into the myth and magic of Scottish Herblore
Earthly otherworld: where it all began It all started with a ballad. I had already been interested in ethnobotany for a number of years but when I stumbled across on old Scots ballad on one of those late night YouTube sessions, it was like finding buried treasure and I realised we are sitting on a wealth of lore in Scotland, especially with regard to our natural environment. The ballad in question is the Gairdener Chyld , my favourite rendition sung by Ewan MacColl and accompanied by Peggy Seeger’s accomplished musicianship. Sometimes called Proud Maisrie , this curious little ballad vividly mixes romance and plant imagery as the hero of the tale, the titular ‘gairdener chyld’ tries to seduce proud Maisrie by offering to make her an outfit out of flowers. Less than impressed, Maisrie spurns his offer with a cold retort. You can listen to this beautiful rendition of the song here . While I had been inspired to transcribe some of the beauty of this song into a paintin...