Posted on 09/28/2003 4:36:12 PM PDT by blam
Boudicca's warpaint puts farmer on the woad to recovery
By Sarah Lonsdale
(Filed: 28/09/2003)
Woad, the plant whose deep blue pigment was used as a warpaint by the ancient Britons to frighten their enemies, is to be farmed commercially in Britain for the first time in 500 years.
Large-scale production of woad, which was most famously used by the warrior queen Boudicca, finally died out in the 16th century when cheaper dyes imported from India made it uneconomic.
Now, however, farming of the spinach-like plant, which produces colours ranging from pale blue to indigo, is to be resumed by a Norfolk farmer, who intends to sell woad pigment to clothes manufacturers.
Ian Howard, who will begin planting next year, has conducted a successful trial at his farm near Dereham, Norfolk. He intends to market the natural pigment as an environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic indigo, which is made using aniline, a by-product of oil, formaldehyde and potassium cyanide.
Some small clothes designers, including the British firm Boudicca, which exhibited at London Fashion Week last week, have already used Mr Howard's woad-based indigo for their blue colours.
Mr Howard also hopes to persuade jeans manufacturers to use woad to dye denim.
"Woad is easy to grow, seems to like the soil and climate, and is environmentally friendly," he said. "I love the wonderful rich blue colour it produces and the fact that I am doing something unique."
Mr Howard, whose forearms are almost permanently blue from his dyeing experiments, decided to turn to woad production after his farm income from growing wheat, sugar beet and potatoes dropped in the late 1990s.
"I was snowed under with bureaucracy, and Blair's apparent indifference to the countryside took the fun and buzz out of farming," he said. "I was very disillusioned with farming, but now it has become fun again."
Mr Howard's decision to grow woad is particularly appropriate. His farm is on land which once belonged to the Iceni, the tribe led by Boudicca that rebelled against the Roman conquest and sacked Colchester and London in ad60.
Pliny, the Roman historian, described how the ancient Britons' "blue aspect made them look more fearsome" - their appearance created either by applying woad body paint, or tattoos etched in woad.
In the 1995 film Braveheart, William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, wears woad in the battle scenes to dramatic effect, but this is probably an anachronism, as the dye was no longer in use.
The blue threads in the Bayeux Tapestry were dyed using woad and the blue in the tapestry is the only colour not to have faded in more than 900 years. Woad was also used as a natural insecticide.
When woad leaves are harvested, in July and September, they are washed and heated in hot water for several minutes. The blueish water is then mixed with chalk and left to settle. A blue paste is left after the water is poured off and this, when dry, can be ground into a fine powder to be used in paints, dyes and ink-making.
Clothes dyed with woad indigo at first appear yellow, but as they dry they turn green, then turquoise then finally deep blue.
Mr Howard's experiments show that in good growing conditions with plenty of sun, almost 10 tons of woad leaves per acre can be produced twice a year. Each ton of leaf produces about 2lb of indigo pigment, worth about £200.
His trial received financial backing from Spindigo, a research partnership which also involves Reading University and the University of Bristol's biological sciences department, aimed at showing farmers how they can use alternative crops to boost their falling incomes.
Kerry Gilbert, a researcher in biological sciences at Bristol University, said: "We are delighted that Mr Howard has decided to go ahead and farm woad commercially."
Although woad has not been grown commercially since the 16th century, it was produced in Lincolnshire during the 1920s and 1930s to provide dye for Royal Air Force uniforms, before the adoption of synthetic colourings. It has also been grown occasionally by artisan weavers and spinners for their own use.
There is a segment from Tony Robinson's* documentary series, The Worst Jobs in History which covers the lives of woad dyers. They very often had to live and work outside of the city walls due to the stench. His description of the smell is as good as any, except that I would add an overpowering stench of hot road tar to the mix. It really is just awful.
The Worst Jobs in History - The Tudor Age - Part 4 (^) (it'll be just after pin making, a few minutes in).
*Baldrick from Black Adder
I happened to be at Boudicca’s statue near Westminster bridge last Thursday evening after my ride on the London Eye. Will post pics later in week.
Excellent. Please ping me.
Thanks CJ!
THanks mountainbunny.
Vewy funny.
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