Natural dyes

Gipsywort derived its name from the practice of gypsy fortune-tellers in England, who made use of the juice to darken their skin so that they appeared like Africans to make their tales more credible.

A scarlet dyestuff used throughout ancient and medieval times was obtained from the insect kermes, a parasite on holly and oak. It was harvested before sunrise by women bearing lanterns and picking the insects from the leaves with fingernails kept long for the purpose.

It seems that the fermented, pulpy masses of woad leaves produced such an unpleasant stench that early woad dyers were forbidden from heavily populated urbanised areas. In fact, Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) declared that no woad processing could take place within five miles of her residence.

Egyptian safflower was utilised to dye the bindings of mummies nearly 4000 years ago.