Traditional dyes of the Scottish Highlands are the native vegetable dyes used in Scottish Gaeldom.
The following are the principal dyestuffs with the colours they produce. Several of the tints are very bright, but have now been superseded for convenience of usage by various mineral dyes. The Latin names are given where known and also the Scottish Gaelic names for various ingredients. Amateurs may wish to experiment with some of the suggestions, as urine (human or animal) is used in many recipes as a mordant. A number of the recipes used are for more than one colour, and that this chart is only a guide, and also that Scottish Gaelic spelling is subject to variations. Many of the dyes are made from lichens, the useful ones for this purpose being known as crottle.
Claret – "corcur" – the cudbear lichen, Lecanora tartarea, scraped off rocks and steeped in urine for three months, then taken out, made into cakes, and hung in bags to dry. When used these cakes are reduced to powder, and the colour fixed with alum.Black (finest) –Common dock root with copperas."Darach" – oak bark and copperas(also grey), "seileastair", iris root"Sgitheach", hawthorn bark with copperasAlder bark with copperasBlue-blackCommon sloe – Prunus spinosa – "preas nan àirneag"Red bearberry – Arbutus uva ursi, "grainnseag"BlueBlaeberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) with alum or copperasElderberry (Sambucus nigra) with alum"Ailleann" elecampaneBrownCommon yellow wall lichen – Xanthoria parietinaDark "crotal" (type of lichen) – Parmelia cetarophilia"Duileasg" (dulse), a kind of seaweed.Currant with alumDark chestnut-brownRoots of "rabhagach", the white waterlilyDark brownBlaeberry with nut-gallsReddish brown - RuadhThe dark purple lichen ‘cen cerig cen du' (gun chéire gun dubh – i.e. neither crimson nor black) treated in the same way as the lichen for the claret dye.PhilamotYellowish "crotal" (type of lichen), the colour of dead leaves – Parmelia saxatilisDrab or fawnBirch bark, Betula pubescensGreenRipe privet berries with salt (listed for crimson too)Wild Mignonette (Reseda), reseda luteola, "lus buidhe mòr", with indigo"Rùsg conuisg", whin barkCow weed"Lively" greenCommon broomDark greenHeather, Erica cinerea, "fraoch bhadain" with alum. The heather must be pulled before flowering and from a dark, shady place.Iris leaf ("Duilleag seileisteir")MagentaDandelion, Taraxacum officinale, "bearnan Brìde"OrangeRagweed ("Stinking Billy") – Senecio jacobaea, "buaghallan"Barberry root –Berberis vulgaris, "barbrag"Dark orangeBramble –Rubus fruticosus, "preas smeur"PurpleEuonymus (Spindle tree), with sal-ammoniacSundew – Drosera rotundifolia, "lus-na-feàrnaich"Blaeberry – Vaccinium myrtillus, with alumRedTormentil – Potentilla tormentilla, "leanartach"Rock lichen – Ramalina scopulorum, "cnotal"White "cnotal" – Lecanora pallescens, "cnotal geal"Fine redRue – Galium verum, "ladies' bedstraw". A very fine red is obtained from this. Strip the bark off the roots, then boil them in water to extract the remainder of the virtue, then take the roots out and put the bark in, and boil that and the yarn together, adding alum to fix the colour.Galium boreale – treated in the same way as gallium virum above.Purple-redBlaeberry – Vaccinium myrtillus, lus-nan-dearc, with alum, verdigris and sal-ammoniacCrimson"Cnotal corcur" – Lecanora tartarea, white and ground with urine. This was once in favour for producing a bright crimson dye.ScarletLimestone lichen – Urceolaria calcaria, "Cnotal clach-aoil" – used by the peasantry in limestone districts, such as Shetland.Ripe privet berries with salt. (Listed for green too!)VioletWild cress – Nasturtium officinalis "biolair"Bitter vetch – Lathyrus tuberosus—cairmealBilberries fixed with alumYellowApple-tree, ash and buckthornPoplar and elmBog myrtle, RoidAsh rootsTeazle – Dipsacus fullonum – lùs-an-fhùcadair/leadanBracken roots – Raineach mhòrCow weedTops and flowers of heather, Erica, fraochWild mignonette, Reseda luteola, "lus buidhe mòr", dried, reduced to powder and boiled.Leaves and twigs of dwarf birch, beithe beagBright yellowSundew – Drosera rotundifolia, "lus-na-feàrnaich" with ammoniaRich YellowSt John's Wort, achlasan Chalum cille, fixed with alumDirty yellowPeat soot. Obviously this ingredient on its own will not produce yellowRhubarb, (monk's) – Rumex alpinus – lus na purgaidThe process employed is to wash the thread thoroughly in urine long kept ("fual"), rinse and wash in pure water, then put into the boiling pot of dye which is kept boiling hot on the fire. The thread is lifted now and again on the end of a stick, and again plunged in until it is all thoroughly dyed. If blue, the thread is then washed in salt water but any other colour uses fresh water.
This article incorporates text from "Dwelly's [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary" (1911). (Dath), with additions and corrections
