An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present - Doreen Valiente 2018

Digitalis

This drug, the active principle of the foxglove plant, was first introduced into general medical practice by a doctor who bought its secret from a witch.

He was Dr. William Withering (1741—1799), who was born at Wellington in Shropshire. He published An Account of the Foxglove and Some of its Medical Uses in 1785.

Withering discovered in his practice in Shropshire that people resorted to village wise women, or white witches, for cures; and he was intrigued to find that such cures were sometimes successful. There was one old lady in particular, who had a herbal medicine which benefited certain heart conditions.

Having established this as a fact, Withering went to see the old witch-wife, and bought the recipe from her. He found that the most important ingredient was foxglove, and this started him on his own study of the properties of this plant.

He became famous during his lifetime as a result of his contribution to medicine; and his monument in Edgbaston Old Church was ornamented with carvings of foxglove, in tribute to his discovery.

The foxglove plant has for a very long time been associated with witches, and is sometimes called witches’ glove or witches’ thimble. Its name is really nothing to do with foxes; but was originally folks’ glove, ’the glove of the good folk, or fairies’.

Digitalis is in regular use in medical practice today. This proves that the traditional lore of the witches was not all superstitious nonsense; especially in the department of ’wortcunning’, or knowledge of the properties of herbs.