A day for the gathering and admiring of heather with this beautifully coloured tartan! Heather vies with the thistle as one of Scotland's most recognized flowers, especially in the Highlands where it grows in such purple profusion! The Gaelic for heather is "fraoch" and appears in many place names including Allt Fraoch Coire (stream of the heather corrie) in Glen Affric. As a plant, the beautiful heather has historically had many practical uses: its long leggy stems made durable thatching as well as strong rope which withstood the effects of seawater. Heather was also gathered together in bundles to make a variety of besoms and brooms. In fact heather’s botanical name Calluna comes from the Greek kalluna, meaning ‘to brush’. On the Isle of Lewis, a particular kind of heather hoe was used by drawing two rows of wooden teeth followed by a row of heather to smooth the soil. Heather has also been used in folk medicine. An infusion of heather tops were used to treat coughs, consumption and to soothe the nerves. Highlanders also made heather tea and ointments to treat arthritis and rheumatism. ‘Moorland tea’ made from heather flowers, was a favourite of poet Robert Burns! The sleep-inducing aroma from the dried flowers was also put to use to make heather mattresses. Long lengths of dried, flowering heather were placed together in the bed frame, flowers uppermost and leaning towards the bed head. These were so effective that In the 16th century James VI’s tutor George Buchanan was moved to write that a heather bed was “… so pleasant, that it may vie in softness with the finest down, while in salubrity it far exceeds it … and restores strength to fatigued nerves, so that those who lie down languid and weary in the evening, arise in the morning vigorous and sprightly.” 💜 💙 💚 💜 🌿