The evidence that hemp was grown in Britain comes in
several different forms. First there is some written evidence in parish
records and government reports. There aren't that many references
to hemp, because agricultural practices were not widely written about.
Secondly there are many places in Britain today with names such as
Hemphill or Hempriggs, and many more places are marked on old maps
such as Hemp-buttis, Hempisfield and Hempriggis. Thirdly there is
evidence from pollen analysis of lake sediments, although again not
much for two reasons. Firstly the sites chosen for pollen studies,
tended to avoid agriculturally favourable areas. Secondly, until 1987
it was diffficult to identify hemp's pollen.
Sediment accumulates slowly at the bottom of lakes and the pollen
of whatever plants were grown around the lake is buried with it. A
metre of sediment contains a few hundred years of history, and deeper
you core the older it gets. The sediment can be carbon-dated or there
may be distinctive bands of other plants' pollen which have known
dates. Gradual variations in the amount of hemp grown can be seen
across the years.
England
There was an early peak in hemp production in England
from 800 - 1000 AD, followed by a slackening in interest by farmers
as new crops were discovered. In the early sixteenth century hemp
was re-introduced and its growth recommended. Large quantities of
hemp were needed to supply the English navy, and Henry the Eighth
ordered his subjects to grow hemp. Large amounts of hemp were grown
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but not enough for the
British Navy - the war against Napolean's France in 1812 was fought,
in part, to control the supplies of Russian hemp. In Victorian times
peasant produced imported hemp undercut domestic hemp, and its growth
died out in Britain.
Scotland
Hemp didn't appear in Scotland until about 1000 AD,
200 years later than in England. There was a general explosion in
agriculture around this time (shown in the pollen records) and hemp
was one of a number of crops, such as cereals and carrotts, that were
grown widely for the first time. By 1200 agriculture became more intensive
in Scotland, and specialist crops were grown in different areas. Thus
hemp became less common in most of Scotland, but stayed an important
crop near the fishing communities where hemp was used for fishing
nets, ropes and sails for the fishing boats, and where manure and
seaweed were availiable for fertilizer. Hemp was grown in Scotland
up to the 18th century when hemp fields were replaced by the wooded
estates of the gentry.
Place names which still exist include:
- Hemphill
(Kilmarnock Parish, Aryshire)
- Hempland
(Torthorwald, Dumfriesshire)
- Hempriggs
(Wick, Caithness)
- Hempy
Shot (Oldhamstocks, East Lothian)
Placenames found on old maps include:
- Hemp-buttis
(1556, Auchtermuchty, Fife)
- Hempriggis
(1571, Alves, Morayshire)
- Hempisfield
(1642, Plenderleith, Roxburghshire)
- Hempshaugh
(1663, Selkirk)
The Kelton (Kirkcudbright-shire) Kirk Session Minutes of 1724 mentioned
that a man appeared before the church court because he had thrown
a woman against a hemp rigg, while another old history book records
that a papal legate travelling in Scotland in the fifteenth century
observed in every rural habitation, the people employed in speparating
the hemp from the stalks. Other old books mentioned hemp being grown
in:
- Lewis,
Outer Hebrides, 1771
- Islay,
Inner Hebrides, 1814
- Mouswald
parish, Dumfriesshire, early 18th century
Two
lake cores, taken from Black Loch in north-west Fife (near Newburgh)
and Kilconquhar Loch in south-east Fife (near Elie) were analysed
for hemp pollen. In Black Loch cannabis appeared around 1045, at the
time of the increase in agriculture. Large amounts of hemp were grown
until 1210 after which there was a decline and no more hemp was grown
after 1265. In Kilconquhar Loch however hemp pollen was found consistently
throughout the core, only dissapearing during the eighteenth century.
In Medieval times religious hospitals commonly grew hemp. Hemp features
in the recommended plants section of the great religious gardening
books! Many monastic houses have areas of land named after hemp, and
some have remenants of hemp-retting pools. It is likely that hemp
was mainly grown for its fibre, but also for medicine for the hospitals.
Little evidence exists of the growth of hemp at archeological sites
because traditional archeologists threw away the soil etc looking
for artifacts. Only a few environmental archeologists bothered to
look for (and find) hemp pollen in the grounds of medieval hospitals.
References
SHARP
(1989) Third report into the medieval hospital at Soutra, Lothian/Borders
Region, Scotland. ISBN 09511888 28
Whittington, G. & Edwards, K.J. (1990) The cultivation and utilisation
of hemp in Scotland. Scottish Geographical Magazine 160
p167-173.
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