The Humble Garlic by Cidwm Silures The humble garlic is often taken for granted, but it is a vital herb in the arsenal to fight evil. Botanicaly known as Allium sativum, Garlic is also know as Poor Man’s Treacle. Garlic is of the same family as the Onion and has been cultivated for so long it is difficult to trace with any certainty the country of its origin. The bulb (the only part eaten) is of a compound nature, consisting of numerous bulblets, known technically as 'cloves', grouped together between the membraneous scales and enclosed within a whitish skin, which holds them as in a sac. The whitish flowers are at the end of a stalk that rises directly from the bulb and are grouped together in a globular head, or umbel, with an enclosing kind of leaf or spathae, and among them are small bulbils. Garlic has a long history. Theophrastus relates that it was placed by the ancient Greeks on piles of stones at cross-roads as a supper for Hecate, and according to Pliny garlic and onion were invocated as deities by the Egyptians at the taking of oaths. Garlic is mentioned in several Old English vocabularies of plants from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries and is described by the herbalists of the sixteenth century since Turner (1548). It is stated to have been grown in England before the year 1540. In Cole's Art of Simpling, we are told that cocks which have been fed on Garlic are 'most stout to fight, and 50 are Horses' and that if a garden is infested with moles, Garlic or leeks will make them 'leap out of the ground presently'. The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, being derived from gar (a spear) and lac (a plant), in reference to the shape of its leaves, which are long, narrow and flat like grass. There are three types of garlic commonly found in England: CROW GARLIC (A. vineale) is widely distributed and fairly common in many districts, but the bulbs are very small and the labour of digging them would be great. It is frequent in pastures and communicates its rank taste to milk and butter, when eaten by cows. Medieval herbalist with garlic WOOD GARLIC (A. ursinum) grows in woods and has a very acrid taste and smell, but for its evil smell would rank among the most beautiful of our British plants. Its broad leaves are very similar to those of the Lily-of-the-Valley, and its star-like flowers are a dazzling white, but its odour is too strong to admit of it being picked for its beauty, and many woods, especially in the Cotswold Hills, are spots to be avoided when it is in flower, being so closely carpeted with the plants that every step taken brings out the offensive odour. The FIELD GARLIC (A. oleraceum) is rather a rare plant. Both this and the Crow Garlic have, however, occasionally been employed as potherbs or for flavouring. It is an old country notion that if crows eat Crow Garlic, it stupefies them. There are many species of garlic grown in the garden, the flowers of some of which are even sweet-smelling (as A. odorum and A. fragrans), but they are the exceptions, and even these have the Garlic scent in their leaves and roots. Many marvelous effects and healing powers have been ascribed to Garlic. It possesses stimulant and stomachic properties in addition to its other virtues. In olden days, Garlic was employed as a specific for leprosy. It was also believed that it had most beneficial results in cases of smallpox, if cut small and applied to the soles of the feet in a linen cloth, renewed daily. It formed the principal ingredient in the 'Four Thieves Vinegar', which was adapted so successfully at Marseilles for protection against the plague when it prevailed there in 1722. This originated, it is said, with four thieves who confessed that whilst protected by the liberal use of aromatic vinegar during the plague, they plundered the dead bodies of its victims with complete security. Garlic bulbs have been used to absorb diseases, are considered very protective and have been used by sailors to protect against wreckage. Placed in the home to ward against the intrusion of evil, robbers, and thieves. Garlic is especially protective of new homes. Garlic worn around the neck protects against undead of all sorts, especially Vampires. When evil spirits threaten, bite a fresh clove of garlic to force them to back away from you, Evil Spirits will not manifest or cross an area sprinkled with powdered garlic. Place beneath children’s pillows to ward their dreams against evil.