The Scottish Bluebell: The Harebell and the Name Confusion

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

The botany is well established. The cultural claims, such as which flower the famous song meant and the folklore attached to the harebell, rely on tradition and are labelled accordingly.

Two bluebells

established The confusion is a matter of regional language. In England, and increasingly in Scotland too, "bluebell" means Hyacinthoides non-scripta, a bulb that carpets woodlands with deep blue flowers in April and May. In traditional Scottish usage, "bluebell" means the harebell, Campanula rotundifolia, a quite different plant in the bellflower family. Some Scots called the English bluebell the wild hyacinth. Both flowers are blue and bell-shaped, but they flower at different seasons, in different habitats, and belong to different families.

shared The neat split is less tidy than it is usually made to sound. Richard Mabey, in Flora Britannica (1996), says the name "bluebell" for Hyacinthoides had become almost universal, despite a persistent belief, held mostly by English people, that in Scotland it is the wild hyacinth and "bluebell" means the harebell. Peter Marren's appendix on Scottish vernacular plant names in the same book agrees: the harebell is the Scottish bluebell, "but not as often as is claimed". Marren cites the Glasgow botanist Jim Dickson, who learned as a boy to call Hyacinthoides the bluebell and knew the woods where it grew as "bluebell woods". Another contributor, Alison Rutherford, suggested that "bluebell" was the name of the urban working class and "wild hyacinth" that of the rural middle class. That is one observer's view, but it fits the evidence that usage in Scotland has always been mixed.

How old is the split?

shared Mabey argues that two centuries ago there was no sign of a Scots/English divide. Robert Burns, writing in the 1790s, set "the blue-bell and the gowan" in a springtime scene in the song beginning "Their groves o' sweet myrtle", which Mabey takes as Burns using bluebell for the spring flower, the wild hyacinth. The reading depends on the season of the poem, so it is suggestive rather than conclusive. A few decades later the English poet John Clare used "blue bell" and "harebell" for the same flower in "The Nightingale's Nest" (c.1832). Mabey dates the general use of "bluebell" for the woodland flower to the Romantic poets of the early nineteenth century. The firm rule that the Scottish bluebell is the harebell therefore looks like a later tidying-up of a much looser usage.

Other names

established Marren records that the harebell is also called aul' man's bells in Buchan and, occasionally, gowk's thummles, "cuckoo's thimbles" (a gowk is a cuckoo, or a fool). Its Gaelic name is currac na cubhaig, "cuckoo's hood", or brog na cubhaig, "cuckoo's shoe". To add to the confusion, the giant bellflower, Campanula latifolia, has itself been called harebell in Scotland.

established The woodland bluebell has its own Scots name. Marren records that in the Borders it is still called crawtraes, "crow's toes", from the shape of the petals; Mabey lists cra'tae among its vernacular names.

Where the woodland bluebell grows in Scotland

shared Mabey describes the native bluebell as a British speciality, growing from the cliffs of Cape Wrath to Land's End. Marren, writing in the same book, says that as a wild plant it is rare or absent in the north of Scotland, where the paler Spanish bluebell or the hybrid is more likely to be found, and wonders whether this is the real "wild hyacinth" of Scotland. The two accounts differ in emphasis, and current distribution maps should be used to settle where native, Spanish and hybrid bluebells grow today.

The plant

established The harebell is a perennial with slender, wiry stems up to about 40 centimetres tall, carrying one or a few nodding, bell-shaped flowers of pale to violet blue, each about a centimetre and a half long. Its name rotundifolia, "round-leaved", refers to its rounded basal leaves, which often wither before flowering, leaving only the narrow leaves on the stem. It flowers from about July to September.

established It grows on dry, well-drained, often poor soils: grassland, heath, sand dunes, sea cliffs, rocky ground, walls and road verges, from sea level to high in the mountains. It is one of the most widespread wildflowers in Scotland and is also found across the northern hemisphere.

established Its flowers are pollinated by bees, and it is a food plant for some insects. The bells hang downwards, protecting the pollen from rain.

established Mabey calls the harebell one of the most delicately beautiful of Britain's common wild flowers and one of the least fussy about habitat, growing throughout Britain and scarce only in parts of Devon and Cornwall, from mountain-tops to sand-dunes. The one thing it cannot tolerate is damp: he had seen colonies in water-meadows surviving on the tops of ant-hills. He notes that it is one of the last flowers of the year, blooming into the first autumn gales.

In song and folklore

shared The song "The Bluebells of Scotland" ("Oh where, tell me where, is your Highland laddie gone?"), popular from around 1800 and often attributed to the actress Dorothea Jordan, is generally taken to refer to the harebell, the Scottish bluebell.

traditional Folklore links the harebell with fairies and witches, and with hares, which were believed to be witches in disguise. It is sometimes said to have been called "witches' thimbles" in parts of Scotland, but Marren's list of Scottish names gives witches' thimbles for the foxglove and gowk's thummles for the harebell, so that name should be used with care. Such names vary from place to place and are hard to date.

• In Scotland, "bluebell" traditionally means the harebell.
• The English bluebell is a different plant, sometimes called the wild hyacinth in Scots usage, though many Scots just call it the bluebell.
• Harebells flower in late summer; English bluebells in spring.
• Rotundifolia means "round-leaved", though the round leaves often vanish by flowering time.
• Harebells grow from sea cliffs to mountain tops.
• Robert Burns seems to have used "blue-bell" for the spring woodland flower, not the harebell.
• A Glasgow botanist, Jim Dickson, grew up calling the woodland flower "bluebell" and its woods "bluebell woods".
• In Buchan the harebell has been called aul' man's bells; its Gaelic name means "cuckoo's hood".
• In the Borders the woodland bluebell has been called crawtraes, "crow's toes".
• Harebells cannot stand damp; in wet meadows they have been found growing on the tops of ant-hills.

• Myth: Scots always call the harebell the bluebell, and the woodland flower the wild hyacinth. Usage has always been mixed. Richard Mabey calls this a persistent belief held mostly by English people, and many Scots, especially in towns, have always called Hyacinthoides non-scripta the bluebell. The harebell is a different plant in a different family.
• Disputed: How old the Scots and English naming split is. There is little sign of it two centuries ago. Robert Burns appears to have used "blue-bell" for the spring woodland flower, not the harebell, though that reading depends on the season of his poem.
• Myth: The harebell is Scotland's national flower. The thistle is Scotland's national emblem. The harebell is a much-loved wildflower.
• Myth: "Witches' thimbles" is a Scottish name for the harebell. Peter Marren's list gives it for the foxglove and gives gowk's thummles for the harebell. Folk names and beliefs vary from place to place and are hard to date.
• Disputed: Whether the woodland bluebell grows wild in the north of Scotland. Mabey places it as far north as Cape Wrath, while Marren thought it rare or absent as a wild plant there, where Spanish or hybrid bluebells are more likely.