“For the Liver Complaint. The leaves of plantain, wild sage, the shamrock, and dock-leaf, with valerian and the flower of the daisy, are to be plucked by the person before sunrise, and fasting, on Mondays and Wednesdays, while Hair Mary is said, and the Paternoster; all these are to be boiled and strained, and the herbs afterwards, to be carefully burned. A glassful of the liquor to be taken twice a day.”

Lady Wilde, Ancient, Charms and Usages of Ireland, 1890

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Cover art by Claude Monet

Bitter dock, Rumex obtusifolius, Sour dock, Rumex acetosa, Curly Dock, Rumex crispus or Water dock, Rumex hydrolapathum or aquaticus are also called broad leaved dock, butter dock, yellow dock, red dock and great water dock. They’re called copóg in Gaeilge and copag or copagach in Scots Gaelic. The Latin name Rumex simply refers to plants related to dock or sorrel. The plant family Polygonacease was originally called Lapathum, a Greek word which means ‘to cleanse’. Interestingly, the old name for red dock or great water dock was Brittanica which many scholars feel is not related to Britain but rather meant the plant was used to treat loose teeth.¹ 

Various species of dock in general are incredibly prolific to the point of annoyance for me and I don’t particularly enjoy their flavor. However, there’s a more modern phrase common amongst herbalists about dock that says “A dock a day may keep the doc away.” alluding to its well rounded benefits as a ‘heal all’. I digress, I appreciate all of these species as best I can ignoring their obscenely prolific nature as well as their bitter flavor to enjoy their medicinal properties and inherent value just as they are. 

In the famous tale of Oisín in Tir na nÓg, when Oisín returns from the land of youth, it’s mentioned that docks, thistles and moss have grown over the graves and lands of his beloved family that have been many years gone. The plant may have been a favored plant of the fairies as it was folk belief that ‘The foxglove, odhran, cow-parsnip, copagach, and the docken, were credited with great power in breaking the fairy spell; on the other hand, some plants were supposed to facilitate the fairy spell, and would cause the individual to be fairy ” struck”.’² Although it feels twee to even mention… leprechauns were said to hide under dock leaves and women would often tie the plant to their left arm to prevent barrenness.³ 

In the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, baskets called caisie were made of the stems of thistles, dock and ragwort due to being low on natural wood sources. It was also Scottish folk belief that on bad nights, the wee wandering souls of the earth would take shelter under dock and ragwort stems.⁴ In Ireland, docks had many uses and out rivaled nettles in the sheer volume of folk references. It was commonly used to treat fevers, colds, cough, asthma, sore throats, jaundice, scurvy, anemia, cancer, headaches, wounds, burns, warts, ringworm, teeth and skin ailments as well as a kidney and liver tonic. 

The herb was typically boiled and drank, eaten as a pot herb or put into a poultice. As an example, one folk reference from Cavan suggests to boil dock in water, add sugar and then drink every night before bed to cure a sore throat.⁴ The juice and leaves were famously used to cure the pain out of a nettle sting as well as being cited as eaten by the impoverished and starving masses in Ireland during the famine.

One folk remedy for ‘the king’s evil’ or tuberculosis was to boil burdock, dock, bog-bean and rose-noble into an infusion and drink three times a day.⁵ Tadhg O’Cuinn included dock in 8 of his recipes and John K’Eogh said of dock that is was a gentle purgative and good for the liver and spleen. 

Docks were used somewhat unanimously in all corners of Europe to cleanse the blood and treat digestive issues as well as toothache and had similar medicinal uses as Ireland throughout Scotland, Wales and Britain specifically. There are 15 recipes that include dock in the Welsh Physicians of Myddvai (1861). Clearly, these were an incredibly well known, prolific and popular family of herbs with many various uses. It was seemingly both a chagrin and a blessing, as folk records mention its annoyance in the fields, how hard it was to get rid of and in the same breath discuss its medicinal uses. Dock was also commonly cited as being used for poultry, pig or cattle feed as a nutritive supplement as well as for medicinal purposes. However, it wasn’t to be used for horses as it makes them very ill. For as many uses that have been listed here, there are many more obscure and singular uses such as to treat rheumatism. 

Docks are in the Polygonaceae family and native to Europe but have become naturalized in most of the temperate world from North America to Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. Dock has large, elongated and ovular shaped leaves, (furled at the edges of its curly dock) while the flowers are small green sepals that turn brown after maturity. They bloom from mid to late summer and the young leaves are harvested in early through late spring so it may have been associated with the Spring Equinox or Bealtaine. It’s not recommended to take the leaves by late summer as they may begin to contain higher amounts of oxalic acid that are not ideal as it can cause digestive issues but also the flavor is increasingly bitter. 

It’s a perennial that is hardy from zones 4 through 8, grows to approximately 1 1/2 m. or 4.5 ft and does well in part shade to part sun and loamy and moist soil.  Dock’s energy is hot and drying. The new young leaves, roots and seeds are edible and have a cucumber flavor but can be quite bitter. It’s most commonly eaten as a whole food or as an infusion, decoction or poultice. Due to this plant’s high content of oxalic acid which can cause illness, it’s recommended to only eat sparingly fresh on salads or it can be boiled, changing the water at least twice. Generally, it’s good to eat this plant like you would eat spinach and with a few leaves per salad. People that are prone to kidney stones are not recommended to eat dock because it can slightly increase your risk. 

Benefits

astringent, blood tonic, demulcent, digestive tonic, laxative, liver tonic, nutritive

Recipe

Dock Nutritive Syrup

Ingredients: 3 tbsp. dock, 3 tbsp. dandelion root, 3 tbsp. nettle leaf, 3 tbsp. raspberry leaf, 3 tbsp. chickweed, 1 tbsp. hawthorn berry, 16 oz. or 2 cups vegetable glycerin, 4 oz. or 1/2 cup of brandy, 2 oz. or 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses 

Instructions: Combine all of your ingredients in a large jar. Let it sit in a cool and dark location for 2 to 4 weeks, stirring every other day. Strain well with a mesh cloth and store in amber bottles in the refrigerator where it should keep for many months. 

References

1. Van Arsdall, Anne, Medieval Herbal Remedies, The Old English Herbarium and Anglo-Saxon Medicine, New York, 2002 (5^th century original text), pg. 160.
2. Cameron, John, Gaelic Names of Plants, J. Mackay Glasgow, 1900, pg 120.
3. Wilde, Lady, Ancient Legends of Ireland, London, 1911, pg. 202. 
4. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1014, Page 210
5. Carmichael, Alexander, Carmina Gadelica Vol. 2, Scotland, 1900, pg. 245, 330. 
6. Wilde, Lady, Ancient Cures, Charms and Usages of Ireland, London, 1890, pg. 34. 

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